Friday, November 17, 2017

By Lev Blumenstein, Energy Fellow
Image by Tai Viinikka

Legal Framework for ITC Remedies

Proposed Remedies

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

American Prosperity and the Role of Environmental Regulation: Part I

By Natascha Smith, Energy Fellow
U.S. National Archives

Recently, Scott Pruitt announced the EPA’s plans to 'withdraw' the Clean Power Plan. While this step is receiving a lot of attention from the media, the Clean Power Plan is just one of 52 environmental rules that President Trump has sought to reverse since he took office in January. During a visit to the EPA in March, President Trump signed an executive order instructing regulators to rewrite many environmental regulations, stating: “We’re ending the theft of American prosperity and rebuilding our beloved country.” These rollbacks of environmental regulations should come as no surprise, since during Trump’s presidential campaign he made clear that he would like to abolish the EPA.

Since several of the EPA regulations on the chopping block concern critical environmental issues, such as climate change, there are a few questions we should be asking ourselves. First, what benefit do we get from the EPA and environmental regulations? Second, why is the Trump Administration pushing to dismantle federal environmental protections? And third, what kind of impacts can we anticipate if Trump succeeds in significantly rolling back environmental protections? This post is part one of a three-part series that aims to consider these issues in further detail.

Part I: The Benefits of Federal Environmental Protections

To fully evaluate the benefits of the EPA, one must consider what our country was like without it. To glimpse what the U.S. environment looked like before the EPA protections, check out "Project Documerica," a photo project commissioned by EPA at its founding to document the state of the environment at the time and the agency’s efforts to improve environmental conditions. This was an era where rivers in industrial areas caught on fire, and where both republicans and democrats agreed that environmental regulation was necessary.

Since its formation in 1970, the EPA has implemented a series of successful regulations, including those prohibiting use of the pesticide DDT, significantly reducing air emissions that cause acid rain, removing lead from gasoline and paint, and regulating asbestos as a pollutant. Despite false and misleading claims by opponents, data indicates that the benefits of environmental regulations far outweigh the costs and supports job creation. EPA regulations have eliminated dangerous toxins from out daily live while simultaneously promoting economic growth and adding social value.

Environmental Regulations Help Create Jobs

A 1994 Economic Policy Institute study reported that “environmental spending has actually boosted aggregate employment.” Moreover, a 2008 study published in the Journal of Environmental Management found that employment in environmental protection industries increased from 700,000 jobs in 1970 to 5 million jobs in 2003. This study concluded that environmental regulations have a positive net effect on employment. While environmental regulations create jobs on an economy-wide scale, localized job losses may occur. However, we can reduce potential negative employment impacts through implementation of policy solutions, such as retraining workers for jobs in cleaner industries. The overall impact of environmental regulations on employment is positive. Similarly, these regulations have positive effects on economy at large and lasting create social benefits.

Environmental Regulations Promote the Economy and Add Social Value

From 2001–2010, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) conducted a cost-benefit analysis for 106 major regulations. OMB determined that the combined value of these regulations far exceeded their combined costs; in fact, the value of the estimated benefits was seven times the costs associated with these regulations. The OMB study noted that clean air regulations have one of the highest benefit-to-cost ratios. For example, for every dollar of cost associated with the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, $25 dollars of benefits accrued. With billions of dollars in economic benefits added to the economy annually, the cost effectiveness of environmental regulations makes them vital for both the environment and the economy.

Another way in which environmental regulations promote the economy is by keeping workers healthy. As a result of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, the U.S. added 13 million days of work and productivity to the economy in 2010. Even more important than the economic impact of the amendments is the social value added. In 2010, the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments saved an estimated 160,000 lives. By the end of 2011, the estimated number of total lives saved by the amendments will reach approximately 2 million people. Additional societal benefits include 86,000 fewer emergency room visits and 1.7 million fewer asthma attacks. With results like these, it is hard to ignore the benefits of environmental regulations.

So, what benefits do we get from the EPA and environmental regulation? Well, we increase employment, receive benefits that far exceed the costs expended to achieve them, we increase worker productivity, we protect public health, and last but not least we save lives. With pronounced benefits such as these, why would the Trump administration push for rollbacks of environmental regulations? Part two of this series will explore Trump’s motivation for eliminating environmental protections.

Thursday, October 26, 2017

The Bipartisan Case for Transitioning to a 100% Renewable Energy Grid

By Casille Systermans, Policy Extern

Combatting climate change is an urgent issue that requires immediate action. To that end, the United States should commit now to transitioning to a 100% renewable energy grid. However, climate change remains a divisive political issue that almost inevitably divides people along party lines. Therefore, it is unlikely that the need to act on climate change is going to bring about a national commitment to renewable energy any time in the foreseeable future. Renewable energy proponents urgently need to find a way to reach across the aisle and build broad bipartisan support for a 100% renewable energy grid.

Conservatives view fossil fuels as an economically beneficial means of preserving jobs in rural America and providing the United States with cheap and reliable electricity. Luckily, a renewable energy transition can provide the United States with these same benefits. Climate change is only one of many reasons why the United States should commit to transitioning to a 100% renewable energy grid. Burning fossil fuels contaminates America’s air and water and has negative effects on public health. Additionally, fossil fuels are a finite resource and therefore cannot meet America’s energy needs indefinitely. Continuing to rely on fossil fuels leaves America dependent on foreign imports, and thus vulnerable to changing international circumstances. Transitioning to an entirely renewable energy electric grid will bring opportunity and jobs to rural and urban America and can provide the United States with sustainable energy that will almost certainly be cheaper than fossil energy in the long run because renewables have no added fuel costs. Additionally, transitioning to a renewable energy grid will improve the health and wellbeing of all Americans by dramatically reducing pollution-related health impacts and mitigating the devastating and expensive impacts of climate change. Building a 100% renewable energy grid will not be easy; however, renewable energy is best for the United States, its people and the world, and the first step toward achieving a 100% renewable energy grid is committing to the goal.

An Unproductive Conversation

The conversation around what to do about climate change and the associated impacts from America’s energy system has traditionally focused on how, when, and if fossil fuels should be regulated. During the 2008 campaign, then-candidate Barack Obama declared: “If somebody wants to build a coal plant, they can – it’s just that it will bankrupt them.” Environmental groups like the Sierra Club campaign to move ‘Beyond Coal.’ In response to the environmental push to drive coal out of business, conservative groups have accused environmentalists and the Obama administration of waging a “war on coal.” However, each side in the partisan debate about America’s energy future is missing the point.

Proponents of regulating coal and other fossil fuels are well intentioned, yet they often diminish or dismiss conservative concerns about the costs regulations impose directly on businesses and indirectly on consumers. However, focusing exclusively on the potential cost of fossil fuel regulation and not on the larger issues associated with burning fossil fuels is also short-sighted and ultimately worse for consumers. Burning fossil fuels for electricity has negative impacts on public health that are not reflected in the cost of electricity. Research shows that the hidden health costs associated with burning fossil fuels in the United States are as much as $886.5 billion annually. Transitioning to a 100% renewable energy grid will reduce pollution-related health impacts and save all Americans money. This will be particularly beneficial for rural America, because rural areas are far more likely to lack access to affordable, high-quality health care.

While each side on the debate about if and how to regulate fossil fuels is well-intentioned, fossil fuel regulation alone is an incomplete strategy for securing America’s energy future. Regulations on fossil fuels can help to protect public health and reduce environmental degradation; however, regulation alone cannot ensure that the U.S. will achieve an efficient transition to a clean and reliable renewable energy grid. Additionally, focusing on regulating the negative effects of fossil fuel consumption, rather than focusing on how to most effectively and economically transition away from fossil fuels, bolsters the conservative argument that regulations are bad for business. Assuring a secure, reliable and clean energy future for the United States requires committing to a long-term goal that everyone should be able agree on: transitioning to a 100% renewable energy grid.

Re-Focusing the Conversation

Regulatory uncertainty is bad for business and can cause consumer prices to go up, particularly in the energy industry, where planning to meet customer’s future energy needs is essential. The dramatic shifts in U.S. energy policy that the country has experienced recently make it hard for businesses to plan for the future. For example, the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to repeal the Clean Power Plan create substantial uncertainty regarding the regulation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at the federal level. Businesses understand that even if the Clean Power Plan is repealed, it is highly likely that a future presidential administration will prioritize regulating GHG emissions at the federal level. This uncertainty encourages utilities to make reactionary financial decisions, rather than strategic investments, because any decisions made under the current regulatory conditions could be undermined after the next national election.

Transitioning to an entirely new energy grid will require planning and commitment. Committing to a 100% renewable energy transition creates certainty, and therefore is better for businesses and consumers. When utilities create their integrated resource plans and determine how to best meet their customers’ energy needs, there will be no need to account for the constant threat of major policy shifts; instead, the policy will already be in place, so utilities can focus on the task of reaching the ambitious goal of a 100% renewable energy grid.

Committing the United States to transitioning to a 100% renewable energy grid is good for businesses, communities, and consumers. The most common argument conservative politicians use to justify their opposition to clean energy is the potential cost to consumers, in the form of increased energy bills. However, coal is becoming less competitive on its own because of the proliferation of cheap natural gas-fired electricity, and the price of renewable energy has gone down significantly in recent years. Indeed, some renewable energy sources have already achieved price parity with traditional fossil resources.

The economic arguments that conservative opponents of clean energy use to justify continuing to subsidize and prefer fossil resources are outdated, short-sited, and a disservice to America. America has been and should continue to be a world leader, and innovation and hard work are key to the nation’s continued success. If the United States commits to transitioning to a 100% renewable energy grid, it can be done.

Renewable Energy and Conservative Values

The so-called ‘war on coal’ is sometimes characterized as a war on Appalachia or on ‘coal country,’ which is made up primarily of predominantly conservative rural communities. For decades, these areas have been dependent on coal for economic success, and therefore conservatives have come to view any regulations designed to reduce coal consumption as an attack on these communities and their way of life. However, a renewable energy transition can offer new economic opportunity to these areas and can revitalize rural communities. The solar industry employs far more people than the coal industry, and the solar and wind energy industries are creating jobs at a rate 12 times faster than the rest of the U.S. economy.

Utility-scale solar and wind power facilities must be located where sunlight and wind are most abundant, which is often in rural communities. Therefore, adding large amounts of wind and solar power to the U.S. electric grid will require investing in rural communities, thereby creating more rural jobs. Additionally, transitioning to an entirely renewable energy grid will require investment in new transmission lines to connect remotely located utility-scale renewable projects to the cities that they need to power. Depending on state law, the development of new transmission lines can bring significant economic benefit to rural communities.

Additionally, transitioning to a 100% renewable energy grid will require significant investment in distributed generation technology. Distributed generation, like roof-top solar, is located at or near the site of consumption and therefore can bring jobs and economic benefits to communities throughout the United States, including communities in Appalachia and in depressed urban areas.

A renewable energy transition can and will bring benefits to communities throughout the United States, whether they are urban, suburban or rural communities. By creating good, stable, and high-paying energy jobs throughout the country, the renewable energy transition will help rebuild struggling communities and foster strong community spirit.

America should commit to transitioning to a 100% renewable energy grid. Making this commitment now will create regulatory certainty, and therefore will benefit the energy industry moving forward. The transition to a renewable energy grid will revitalize communities across the United States by creating jobs and economic opportunities. Additionally, the transition will reduce pollution and therefore will help protect people from pollution-related illness. In turn, the increase in high-quality jobs, stronger energy security, and reductions in pollution-related illnesses will strengthen American families. Committing to a 100% renewable energy grid will ensure that America has a sustainable and reliable energy future and will benefit the American people, no matter what side of the political aisle they are on.

Monday, October 23, 2017

Recapping GEI’s Re-Energizing the West Conference

By Lev Blumenstein, Energy Fellow

On October 7, 2017, GEI hosted Re-Energizing the West: the Western Clean Energy Future, a conference on clean energy development in the western United States. It was a full day of interesting panels with great participants. The conference began with welcoming remarks from Wim Wiewel, President of Lewis & Clark College, and Melissa Powers, Professor of Law at Lewis & Clark Law School and Director of GEI. Professor Powers set the stage for the conference by describing her post-college attempt to bicycle from Berkeley, California, to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, which she ultimately failed to complete due to poor planning.

After the welcoming remarks, the first panel discussed the opportunities and challenges associated with shifting to a zero-carbon grid. After United States Senator Jeff Merkley provided opening remarks, Tarika Powell of the Sightline Institute led a discussion featuring Senator Jeff Merkley; Mike Garland, CEO of Pattern Energy, and Arthur Haubenstock, General Counsel and Vice President of Government and Regulatory for 8minutenergy. The panel’s discussion focused on shifting residential energy demands away from fossil fuels and upgrading transmission systems to increase efficiency, reduce bottlenecks, and geographically diversify renewable resources. The panel also noted that the shift towards cleaner energy has been enabled by consistent, large decreases in the price of solar panels and that the price of solar panels is expected to continue declining.

The second panel discussed the conservative case for low-carbon energy. Sarah Hunt, Director of the Center for Innovation & Technology at the American Legislative Executive Council, led a discussion between California Assemblymember Rocky Chávez and Scott Bolton, Senior Vice President of External Affairs and Customer Solutions at Pacific Power. The panelists lamented the politicization of climate change and green energy, noting that climate change is occurring and poses serious long-term threats. The discussion highlighted that there is a strong conservative case for low-carbon energy these days, both economically and philosophically. However, much work must be done to cut through the political noise.

The third panel turned to transportation. Eileen Wenger Tutt, Executive Director of the California Electric Transportation Coalition, led a discussion featuring United States Representative Earl Blumenauer, a staunch advocate for bicycling and sustainable transportation, and Steven Douglas, Senior Director of Energy and Environment for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. The panel engaged in a lively discussion of the mechanics of decarbonizing the transportation sector. One highlighted issue was the complex role time-of-use pricing plays in a consumer’s decision to purchase an electric vehicle (EV). The complexity makes it hard for salespeople and consumers to provide an accurate operational-cost comparison between electric and internal-combustion engines.

After lunch, the fourth panel discussed the role California has played in leading the transition to greener energy. Michelle Romero, Deputy Director of Green for All, led a discussion featuring United States Representative Jerry McNerney and Tom Starrs, Senior Vice President of SunPower. The panel’s discussion focused on the factors that enabled California to become a leader in low-carbon energy and how its model might be exported to other states in the west.

The fifth panel was led by Kelly Hall, the Washington Policy Manager for Climate Solutions and featured Commissioner Megan Decker of the Oregon Public Utility Commission; Barbara Hins-Turner, Director of the Pacific Northwest Center of Excellence for Clean Energy; and Ruchi Sadhir, Energy Policy Advisor to Oregon Governor Kate Brown. This panel focused on the role of states in implementing a low-carbon energy future. One subject discussed was the role that states can play through public education to ensure that there is an available workforce capable of executing the shift to a low-carbon future. Another subject was the role that public utility commissions can play in facilitating the shift to cleaner energy.

The sixth panel focused on opportunities and challenges associated with developing regional energy markets. Don Furman, Director of Fix the Grid, led a discussion between California State Senator Bob Wieckowski; Elliot Mainzer, Administrator of Bonneville Power Administration; and Matt Baker, Environmental Program Officer for the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. This panel focused on the regulatory challenges standing in the way of greater regional integration of the electricity markets. At its heart, the problem seems to be a lack of trust between various governments and regulators. The panel discussed how governments and regulators have been slowly building trust through cooperative projects, such as the western Energy Imbalance Market. The panelists were optimistic that the western energy market can become more fully integrated over time, resulting in a more efficient and lower-carbon energy market.

The conference concluded with a call by Professor Melissa Powers and Don Furman for a more strategic approach to decarbonizing the electricity and transportation sectors, and transitioning to a renewable energy system in the West. This closing discussion emphasized that while western states have succeeded in adopting a variety of policies to reduce carbon emissions and promote renewable energy and EV deployment, western states (with the exception of California) have failed to commit to mandatory carbon reduction targets, and the vast majority of states have yet to complete a comprehensive pathways analysis to identify the most promising emissions reduction strategies for various economic sectors or develop strategic plans outlining  comprehensive strategies to reduce emissions and transition to clean energy sources over the coming decades. The panelists emphasized the moral and ethical imperatives to reduce the region’s climate change impacts and noted that while many interim tactical policies have the potential to reduce emissions from certain sources, without state-wide strategic approaches incorporating a comprehensive plan to achieve carbon targets, we will likely to fail to achieve our long-term climate and energy goals.

Monday, October 16, 2017

Solar Tariff Case May Throw Shade on Growing Solar Industry

By Lev Blumenstein, Energy Fellow
Department of Energy

In April, the United States International Trade Commission began an investigation under section 201 the Trade Act of 1974 into whether U.S. manufacturers of crystalline silicon photovoltaic (CSPV) cells were being harmed by imports of cheap solar panels. CSPV cells and panels are the most common commercially available type of solar cells and panels. The impetus for the investigation was a petition filed by Suniva. The company, which manufactures CSPVs cells in the United States, filed for bankruptcy shortly before filing its petition. In May, SolarWorld, another U.S. manufacturer, joined Suniva’s petition. On September 22, 2017, the Commission unanimously found that the two manufacturers were harmed by imports of cheap solar panels.

The Commission’s next step is to determine possible trade remedies. The remedies sought by Suniva would double the cost of imported CSPV cells and panels. The Commission is scheduled to present its findings and recommendations to President Trump by November 13, 2017. The Trump Administration will then have sixty days to issue a final decision.

This represents one of the Administration’s first opportunities to put its protectionist tariff rhetoric into practice. The Administration should think long and hard before reflexively imposing tariffs that would double the cost of CSPV cells and panels. This decision, like most decisions involving international trade, does not fall neatly into a United States vs. the World dichotomy. Nor does this issue neatly divide the solar industry between manufacturers and installers. Opposition to the tariffs cuts across partisan and sectoral lines. Numerous manufacturers, utility holding companies, and even the American Legislative Exchange Council have declared their opposition to the complaint filed by Suniva and SolarWorld.

Over the past several years, the American energy industry has undergone large shifts. The solar industry employs an estimated 373,807 people in the United States. That is twice as many jobs as the coal industry and roughly equal with the entire natural gas industry. Two percent of all new jobs in the United States are in the solar industry. Over 50% of those jobs involve the installation and repair of solar panels. Solar manufacturing employs about 15% of solar related jobs. An analysis by Greentech Media estimates that the increased cost of CSPV cell and panels would reduce the amount of solar installed in the United States by over half. The solar industry estimates that such a reduction in demand would cost the American economy 88,000 jobs.

President Trump has expressed a strong desire to impose taxes on foreign goods and promote American energy. However, imposing the tariffs sought by Suniva and SolarWorld would result in immediate harm to American workers, including many from states that voted for him. He should exercise his authority and decline to impose the sought after tariffs.

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria Teach America a Lesson it Should Have Learned Years Ago: It is Time to Invest in a More Resilient Electric Grid

By Casille Systermans, Policy Extern

Three major hurricanes hit the United States this year. About 300,000 Americans lost power because of Hurricane Harvey. Utility companies estimate that 16 million Americans in the Southeast lost power because of Hurricane Irma. In Puerto Rico, 3.4 million Americans are without power and are unlikely to have it restored for months because of Hurricane Maria. This is not the first time that millions of Americans have been left without power for weeks because of a major hurricane, but it should be the last.

For coastal states and territories, major hurricanes are an inevitability. Additionally, future storms are likely going to be more powerful because of rising ocean temperatures caused by climate change. Powerful hurricanes are expensive. Hurricane Katrina, currently the costliest hurricane on record, caused $108 billion dollars in damage, and that doesn’t include the economic impacts, like lost wages and disruption of trade and other economic activity, associated with the recovery period. The total cost associated with Harvey and Irma has not been determined yet; however, they both have the potential to surpass the damage costs associated with Katrina. Additionally, the impacts of hurricanes are more than just economic. For example, in Hollywood, Florida, 11 senior citizens died when their nursing home lost power during Hurricane Irma.

The damage caused by major hurricanes can be mitigated if utilities invest in building a more resilient electric grid. First, utilities should start investing significant resources into distributed generation and storage systems, which can keep power running during and after major storm events. Any investments in distributed generation and storage should be grid connected and have the ability to provide power to other homes or businesses in the area. Additionally, wherever feasible, power lines should be moved underground. In Longboat Key, Florida, about 60 percent of the power lines are buried underground, and the areas with buried power lines did not lose power for any significant period during Hurricane Irma. In areas where is not feasible to move powerlines underground, utilities should invest in strengthening power lines by, for example, switching to steel power lines. Even with steel power lines, trees can still represent a threat to power lines during wind events. Therefore, utilities and local governments should invest in keeping trees near powerlines well-trimmed. Finally, since it is impossible to ensure that power will never be disrupted, utilities should maintain a disaster response plan to ensure that when power outages do occur, the power is restored as quickly and efficiently as possible.

There is no one-shot solution to building a more resilient electric grid, and therefore utilities should employ an all of the above strategy when planning to upgrade the electric grid. Cost is often cited as the primary obstacle to large-scale investment in upgrading the electric grid. The long-term benefits of investing in a more resilient energy grid far outweigh the short-term costs associated with that investment. For example, last year Longboat Key voters elected to borrow $50 million to bury all existing powerlines underground; however, it is much cheaper to put new power lines underground. Florida Power and Light (FPL) customers are currently paying a special charge to cover $318.5 million in Hurricane Matthew clean-up costs. Hurricane Matthew hit Florida in 2016 and is currently the ninth-costliest hurricane on record. However, even with the lowest cost estimates for Hurricanes Irma, Maria and Harvey, Matthew is projected to become the twelfth-costliest hurricane on record. FPL customers are destined to receive another special charge for Hurricane Irma recovery. By investing more money upfront to strengthen the electric grid, utilities can cut down on future recovery costs for inevitable future hurricanes.

The recent storms that have devastated Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico highlight the need to update the grid and underscore the simple truth that cost should no longer be used as an excuse to avoid investing in a resilient electric grid. America has experienced large-scale devastation from hurricanes before, and while it is certain that America will be hit by more hurricanes in the future, it is possible to avoid large-scale damage and prolonged power outages if America begins preparing for future storms now. The first step is investing in a more resilient electric grid throughout the east and gulf coasts and the Caribbean.

Monday, October 2, 2017

Similar Cost, Less Risk: The Argument for Solar Photovoltaic as a Preferred Resource

By: Natascha Smith, Energy Fellow

Since solar photovoltaic technology became popular in the 1950s, many critics have questioned the economic viability of solar energy. For decades, utility-scale solar generation failed to reach grid parity, or the point at which the levelized cost of solar energy matches the market price of electricity, without the need for subsidies or incentives. Luckily, recent investments in solar research and development have yielded substantial benefits to this growing energy sector. The Department of Energy’s SunShot initiative announced on September 12th that the cost of utility-scale photovoltaic power reached its 2020 goal of $0.06 per kilowatt-hour three years early. This means that utility-scale solar energy is now at a price point that is market-competitive with traditional forms of electricity.

Achieving grid parity has done more than allay the concerns of solar critics; it has also set up solar to take on a new role as a preferred generation resource in the integrated resource planning process. An Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) acts as a roadmap for how a utility plans to meet its long-term energy needs, with the end goal of identifying the best mix of resources to provide a reliable supply of energy at the least cost and risk to the utility and its customers. To achieve this goal, the Oregon Public Utility Commission, which oversees and approves IRPs developed by Oregon’s investor-owned utilities, requires utilities to examine all environmental compliance costs associated with energy resource options, including state and federal energy policies.

Now is arguably solar energy’s chance to shine. Having reached a competitive price point, utility-scale solar generation has similar costs as fossil-fuel resources, but with fewer risks. With solar, utilities can evade the lengthy and often expensive process of meeting pollution control standards, plus they avoid the risk that the external costs of carbon may be internalized by future regulation. For Oregon utilities subject to the coal-to-clean bill, which the state adopted in 2016, solar has the added benefit of helping utilities meet the requirement of producing at least 50 percent of electricity from renewable sources by 2040. When determining what mix of resources will help it meet its long-term needs, utilities cannot ignore that solar’s cost competitiveness and low risk gives it a leg up on traditional generation resources, namely coal and natural gas plants. The IRP process is sure to show that utility-scale solar is a key component of a least cost/ least risk resource portfolio.

With Oregon utilities required to complete an IRP every two years, utility-scale solar should be playing a larger role in Oregon’s electricity generation in the relatively near future. The solar industry has done its part to reach grid parity; now it is time for the utilities and Public Utility Commission to do theirs by ensuring that utility-scale solar is treated as a preferred generation resource in utility resource plans.


July 7, 2014

Geologists Confirm Oxygen Levels Of Ancient Oceans

Syracuse University

Geologists in the College of Arts and Sciences have discovered a new way to study oxygen levels in the Earth’s oldest oceans.

“More than 2.5 billion years ago, there was little to no oxygen in the oceans, as methane shrouded the Earth in a haze,” says Lu, a member of Syracuse University’s Low-Temperature Geochemistry Research Group. “Organisms practicing photosynthesis eventually started to overpower reducing chemical compounds [i.e., electron donors], and oxygen began building up in the atmosphere. This period has been called the Great Oxidation Event.”

“Iodine geochemistry enables us to constrain oxygen levels in oceans that have produced calcium carbonate minerals and fossils,” says Lu, who developed the proxy. “What we’ve found in ancient rock reinforces the proxy’s reliability. Already, we’re using the proxy to better understand the consequences of ocean deoxygenation, due to rapid global warming.”


UN General Assembly adopts arms trade treaty

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - The UN General Assembly on Tuesday adopted the first-ever treaty to regulate the conventional arms trade that is worth an estimated US$80 billion (S$99 billion) a year.

The assembly voted 154-3 for a resolution that will open the treaty for signature from June. Syria, North Korea and Iran - which had blocked the treaty last week - voted against it. Russia was among the 23 abstentions.

The first major arms accord since the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty would cover tanks, armoured combat vehicles, large-calibre artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles and missile launchers, as well as small arms and light arms.

It would aim to force countries to set up national controls on arms exports. States would also have to assess whether a weapon could be used for genocide, war crimes or by terrorists or organised crime before it is sold.

Every country is free to sign and ratify the treaty, which will take effect after the 50th ratification from among the 193 UN member states, which could take up to two years.


Straight from the horse's mouth, Dr Stuart McGill, an expert on lower back pain:

- "Athletes use this core as a “spring for stiffness.” They do not take their torso and bend them under load. i.e. A throw or punch = The hips generate the movement–>stiffness is produced by the core (spring stiffens)–>followed by the power in the shoulder."

Keep an eye out for 4 of my favourite core functioning exercises to be posted up this week...


MALTA (The Hidden Treasures) MOSTA

Shrouded by myths, Mosta is considered to be one of Malta’s most historical places of interest and is now a very important tourist location. A large town in central Malta, with a population of about 20,000 people, Mosta is always buzzing with hordes of tourists mingling with local residents and the commercial sector busy and flourishing. Being located in the centre of Malta and with a road connection between south and north, the main street has to carry a huge volume of traffic, mainly buses and coaches, on their way from Valletta to Buġibba, St. Paul’s Bay, Qawra, Xemxija, Ċirkewwa and Mellieħa.

 Mosta is connected with several local popular legends. The town is surrounded by many historical places of interest, including the Victoria Lines, which were built by the British Empire as a defence mechanism against land invasion from the North. But by far the greatest treasure in Mosta is an iconic building dominating the town centre and attracting visitors from all corners of the world.

The ‘Mosta Dome’ is a gigantic church with the third largest unsupported dome in the world. Built between 1833 and 1860 on the site of a previous church, the plan was based on the Pantheon in Rome. It was designed by George Grognet de Vasse, a French citizen resident in Mosta. Local residents, at that time totalling not more than 1500, built the church with their own hands and their own cash collections. It took them 27 years to complete but the result is a tourist attraction of world standard. Grognet was a perfectionist and he chose the type of stone by getting one slab from each quarry operating in the Islands. He then proceeded to test their durability. In the end he chose the stone from a quarry in Mosta.

The people of Mosta dismiss accusations of deliberate pomposity in building such a huge dome on their church. It had to be those proportions because the church was constructed around the existing church which could not be demolished until the new one was complete. In fact the old church came in handy as scaffolding while building the new one. The facade of the ‘Retunda’ is immensely impressive and being so high and of such huge proportions, it can be seen almost all over the island of Malta.

The interior is just spellbinding with its size, design and decor. A coffered ceiling of gilded stone-carved flowers set on a blue background and a floor on inlaid marble gives a feeling of rich splendour. There are eight splendid side altars and a magnificent high altar. The murals behind the side altars, painted by the famous Maltese artist, Giuseppe Cali, are simply beautiful. The whole interior, lavishly decorated by local artists and trimmed with gold leaf is a joy to behold.

The Mosta Retunda, as it is best known, is dedicated to The Assumption of Our Lady and a very popular feast among the locals as well as the tourists is the feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed Lady on the 15th August. This day is a public holiday and is celebrated with lots of music, food and fireworks. The church had an amazing escape in 1942 when it could have been demolished by a direct hit from a German bomber but by some miracle it was granted a reprieve.

The location of Mosta near to Ta’ Qali airfield placed it right in the path of attacking planes during World War 11. On one such raid on the 9th April 1942, several bombs were dropped around the church, with one actually piercing the dome, landing on the floor where three hundred people were attending Mass, and incredibly, it failed to explode. No one was injured, the dome was only slightly damaged, and to commemorate the miracle, the empty shell of the bomb can be seen today in the sacristy of the church.

Another renowned attraction in Mosta is the Speranza Chapel which is situated close to the Speranza Valley. Legend has it that during the Turkish invasion between 1760 and 1761, a young girl and her siblings were taking care of the family’s sheep. The siblings managed to escape but the little girl could not run fast enough so she found refuge in a cave where she prayed to Our Lady who intervened and created a spider web over the opening of the cave. The Turkish invaders did not look for her in the cave as the web was still intact.

The town of Mosta is surrounded by many historical places of interest, including the famous and historic Victoria Lines. Those were originally known as the North West Front and sometimes unofficially known as the Great Wall of Malta. They are a line of fortifications flanked by defensive towers that spans 12 kilometres along the width of Malta, dividing the north of the island from the more heavily populated south.

The Victoria Lines run along a natural geographical barrier known as the Great Fault, from Madliena in the east, through the limits of the town of Mosta in the centre of the island, to Binġemma and the limits of Rabat, on the west coast. The complex network of linear fortifications known collectively as the Victoria Lines, cuts across the width of the island north of the old capital of Mdina, and built by the British Empire as a defence against land invasion, is a unique monument of military architecture and can still be viewed today.

Another item of interest to those visiting Mosta would be the historical farmhouse overlooking the valley of Wied il-ghasel. This old farmstead was the property of the noble family of the Marquis Mallia Tabone. It is now run by the Philanthropic Society, ‘Talent Mosti’ in collaboration with the adjacent school council. It is now a busy resource hosting lots of exhibitions throughout the year.

The town of Mosta is now a bustling market town but is also a major tourist location. Traffic can be heavy especially in Constitution Street; the main artery that skirts around the ‘Dome,’ but it doesn’t bother the thousands of visitors who flock to this amazing architectural and spiritual phenomenon.  I’m sure they are all amazed by the eye-opener that is the Mosta Dome, and like me, depart uplifted and inspired.

From ‘IN LOVE WITH MALTA’ (The Hidden Treasures)

Paperback cover

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Guided Discovery

Math Teaching Tip #3: An Example of Informal Assessment

A few years ago I tried out a new kind of informal assessment. I had noticed that some of the high school algebra students were confused by expressions like “5a + 3(a + 7).” I wanted to find out what they really understood about the distributive property and the gathering of like terms. So I took a pencil and a clipboard with two pieces of paper on it, and wrote “8a” on the top piece of paper. Next, I lifted up the top paper and drew a vertical line down the middle of the second page—and then let the top page fall back into place. As the students meandered in before class, I went up to one of them and said quietly, “I’m taking a little survey; mind if I ask you a question?” Then I pointed to the “8a” on my clipboard and asked, “What does this mean to you?” The kid said, “I don’t know.” “OK, thank you,” I said politely, and turned away from the student. I jotted down the kid’s name to the left side of the vertical line on the second page; that was where I wrote the names of students who I would gather later in a small group for remedial work. I turned to another pupil, who said, “It means eight times some number.” I thanked him and wrote his name on the right side of my recording page. The next student said, “It means you’ve got eight a’s.” “And what does that mean—that you’ve got eight a’s?” I asked. “I don’t really know,” she said. I wrote her name on the left side. The passing period between classes is short, but it was enough time to identify a small group of students that needed remediation.

Looking back at this experiment, I think there were certain aspects that made it successful. First, my survey focused on a key underlying concept that was essential for success in the students’ current math work. Second, I selected students that I suspected might not know the answers to my survey question (students who usually scored low on homework and tests, or who rarely spoke up in class). Third, I approached the students in a relaxed, informal manner before class, when the ambient noise and movement would provide the mini-interviews with a pressure-removing cover of privacy. Fourth, I wanted them to feel and know that I was sincerely interested in knowing what they thought; and I wanted them to feel at ease, so they would be inclined to honestly tell me what was on their minds. So I purposely used a conversational tone of voice, rather than an authoritative teacher voice—which could have communicated a feeling of “I’m going to ask you something that you really ought to know, so pay attention, concentrate, and answer correctly!” Fifth, to keep the students feeling at ease and to protect the authenticity of future similar encounters, I didn’t tell them if they were right or wrong; I purposely suspended judgment in favor of just getting honest input.

This worked so well with the first class, I decided to try it again with several students from the next class. As before, there were a few students who did not understand the meaning of the “8a” notation. Then it occurred to me to probe a little farther, so I also wrote “5a + 3a” on my clipboard, and asked the students what that meant. Every single student told me that would equal 8a. And when asked again what 8a meant, they still didn’t know. Now that was interesting—they were fluent with the process of gathering like terms, but did not understand what the terms meant!

I tried this same informal assessment technique another time when I wanted to find out who needed help with squares and square roots. When undertaking the Pythagorean Theorem or quadratic equations, it’s essential for students to know what a2 or x2 stands for—and that they know squares at least up to 152. So this time I wrote 52 on the top page of my clipboard, and asked selected students what it meant to them. Some said “twenty-five,” others said “ten,” others waffled between those two answers, one thought it might be “seven,” some were certain, some were not sure, and some had no idea. To probe further, I also wrote 112 and 142 and √100 and √169 and √225 on the clipboard. I found that some students who knew 52 did not know the larger squares; some knew about the squared numbers, but knew nothing about square roots. I also noticed that some students overheard what other surveyed students near them had said, so I added 72 and 82 to my list of questions to prevent them from merely mimicking their classmates. Once again, this survey process produced an accurate selection of students for small-group remediation later in the class period.

When helping out another teacher with his class, I asked if I could do a similar informal survey with his students. I had recently helped one of his students with some other math work, and discovered that she knew nothing at all about squares and roots. I was hoping to help her and some other students with that on this day, and wanted to gently and accurately identify students who would benefit from a small group remedial lesson. The teacher didn’t like the survey idea, and instead wrote a dozen simple expressions containing squares and roots on the board, explained that he wanted to find out who needed help on this sort of thing, passed out paper, and asked students to write their answers. This approach seemed to be simple and direct, but it had less than the desired effect. Students were immediately troubled: “Why were they being tested on this?! No one said anything about there being a test today! Everyone knew that stuff! Who on earth would need help with that?! Did he think they were stupid?! What a waste of time! Etc.” Finally the class quieted down and wrote their answers. Then they exchanged and corrected papers. Guess who got all the answers right but one? Yes, the girl who didn’t know any of it. She was very proud, very protective of her ignorance—and an absolutely consummate cheater. No way was anyone going to find out that she didn’t know that stuff; she made sure that one way or another she got those answers. I wished that we could have just taken the informal survey approach; even though it was less comprehensive than a written quiz, it was more gentle, more accurate, and less time-consuming.

Judging from the number of low-achieving math students in almost every school, it’s clear that even an excellent teacher can give a splendid lecture to an interested, involved class—and the students’ subsequent class work, homework, and tests can nevertheless be riddled with conceptual and factual mistakes. “I taught it, but they didn’t learn it” is an oft-repeated teacher lament.

Trying to teach students lessons that they are not prepared to learn is an exercise in futility. To be successful, lessons must address the minds of the students exactly where they are—not where they are supposed to be. For that to happen, teachers must be aware of what their students really know. In an effort to put their finger on the pulse of their pupils’ minds, teachers usually utter two obligatory words at the end of every lecture: “Any questions?” But all too often, students do not ask questions when given the opportunity to do so. So the teachers are left to wonder: Who doesn’t know what?

If they knew the answer to that question, they would have a realistic chance to do something about it. But even better than the typical end-of-the lesson query—the before-the-lesson mini-survey is an informal assessment tool that teachers can use to get a more accurate picture of the current state of their students’ mathematical thinking. This awareness can help them to adapt the content, delivery style, and pace of the lesson in ways that fit more comfortably to the developing minds of their students—right where they are, not where they should be. When the teachers know the mathematical contents of their students’ minds half as well as they know the content of the math lesson they’re about to teach, then it will be much more possible for them to proudly proclaim, “I taught it, and they learned it!”

Since this post is part of a series, it may be helpful to read over A Model for Ongoing (Formative) Assessment – To Sit Beside and Observe #3 and Beginning a Lesson Using Guided Discovery to put it in context. You may also want to look over the podcast posted earlier on the Partner or Folding Pages to see a model of the content of this post.

Earlier this month, we posted an outline approach to integrating assessment into a math lesson. Teacher and student ongoing assessment run throughout that initial step. Equally important, doing something about what is observed, with every student, is also integrated into that step.

This post takes up the second step in the guided approach – working with a folding or partner page of problems. This engages students in quickly reconstructing and re-experiencing the work they did on the graphic manipulative. Both the graphic and partner pages are deceptively simple looking, while being highly flexible and engaging tools for building understanding and fluency together – in a way that can be directly observed.

On the left is an image of a negative number partner page with the problems at one end and the answer key facing the opposite direction at the other end. (Our March 2 post has an image of a Soccer Teams partner page.) The same teaching approach laid out in the post on Guided Discovery should be used here – 1. use short phrases, 2. begin with an action verb, 3. model your directions as needed, and 4. look around to make sure everyone is on track. There is no point in having students construct and build visual memories of a wrong procedure or amount!

These steps for delivering a lesson with the partner pages follow on the approach with the graphic pages. While not prescriptive, they do help keep students actively engaged in the work.

Start by saying:
1a. “Fold the partner page in half and set it down on top of the graphic page.” The partner page takes the place of the blank paper described in the earlier post.

1b. “Read the first problem on the partner page and move it to show that many…” teams, weeks, squares or roots, dollar bills, tickets, shirts, gallons, fractions of a cake, cheese slices, negative temperatures, “quadratic hearts”, or whatever graphic starts the lesson.

2. Ask “How many players (teams, fractions, weeks…) do you see?”

3. Respond to correct answers with a simple “good” or “correct.” Respond to every correct as well as incorrect answer. By doing this, there is no question as to whether the answer is correct or not. For an incorrect action or response, never give the answer. Instead, guide students to correct themselves with: “Try again” or  “Show me on the chart how you got that answer.” As they reconstruct and rethink their solution, many will see for themselves what they did wrong and how to do it right. A few may require further guiding questions.

Do the next problem or two as a class as needed. Then ask the class to work the rest of the problems like that individually. Ask them to read the problem; move their paper; and say the answer in a quiet voice. So that students won’t copy each other, have some work the problems going across the page; some going down (from top to bottom); and so on. Circulate around the room checking on their work responding to correct and incorrect answers.

4. Ask for a volunteer to do the first row of problems for the class. Remind them that it is not cheating to use the graphic page. Ask for others to do the next rows. Have the rest of the class follow along with the answer key to make sure these students are answering each problem correctly.

5. Ask for two volunteers to model working in partners, one doing the problems, the other checking the accuracy with the answer key. The partner checking the answers follows the model in step #3, never giving answers and saying “good” for every correct answer. And the partner simply says “try again” if the answer is incorrect. They have the graphic page to refresh their understanding of the procedure and the basic facts. The rest of the class follows to make sure these two are doing it correctly.

6. Now have everyone work in partners following the model in step #5.

Summary: The partner pages build understanding and fluency together – in a way that can be directly observed. They involve cooperative learning with individual accountability, students receive immediate and ongoing feedback (but no answers), so they engage teacher, peer, and student in student self-correction. Going in different directions on the partner pages enables non-rote repetition. Like music students, math students benefit from going over a familiar exercise more than once. Getting better at what they are starting to get good at builds confidence along with competence.

At this point, students have achieved the first two levels of success: 1. they understand what they are doing, and can accurately solve problems slowly, with the aid of the graphic page; 2. using a partner page, they connect manipulation with computation and gradually wean themselves from the graphic page, accurately solving problems with greater fluency. The next level, developing independent speed, accuracy, and understanding, using the progress chart, will be addressed in an upcoming post.

How to learn the way around a new city? In a more traditional approach, the teacher, in the classroom, explains some basic turns and landmarks and even models how to get to a specific location, then hands the student the keys to find someplace specific for homework. In this approach, the teacher is pulling on past experience with the city, and the explanations and modeling on the board are a short-hand for that experience. The student needing extra help (intervention) has no or at best a mixed experience to make accurate sense of the short-hand.

In a second approach, the teacher and student get in the car together but the teacher drives, pointing out the turns and landmarks he or she knows and again asks the student to find a specific location for homework. Better, but it is a second-hand experience for the student.

A third approach is to have the student drive with the teacher in the passenger seat not telling where or when to turn. The teacher first orients the student to a map of the city to be experienced. With good questions, the student notices landmarks on the map and is able then to begin making connections between the map and what is experienced while driving, “Oh this turn coming up is right here on the map.” “Good,” says the teacher, and that’s it, no lecture on the history and use of gazetteers. The teacher keeps the student in the driver’s seat.

If the student makes a wrong turn, the teacher simply asks the student to show on the map what they did and where they wanted to go. The student retraces the steps and notices that a left turn was needed not a right turn. “Good,” says the teacher and the student turns left. The city is slowly internalized as it is experienced, guided by the teacher and the map.

A good graphic representation of the math, not explained but oriented to and guided through, can be the map of the conceptual and procedural processes students have to navigate through.

Students are their own best teachers, including those who need extra help. This is true even though they will not take a very efficient approach to learning on their own and they will probably miss some essentials. This does say that teachers and parents have an important function to perform. But that function is far too often seen as sharing an insight or explaining something.

We can explain to our students that if an altitude is drawn to the hypotenuse of a right triangle, then either leg of the given right triangle is the mean proportional between the hypotenuse of the given right triangle and the segment of the hypotenuse adjacent to that leg, or of course the projection of that leg on the hypotenuse.  The amazing thing is not that we get some blank stares for our efforts, it is that we get as many students as we do looking like they got something. We then hope the homework will solidify it for them and make it clear to a reasonable number of the others who gave us the blank stare.

And we can explain to them the FOIL approach to working with quadratic equations and some of them will solve many of the problems correctly. But most of them will not know what they’re doing or why it works. They are not fishing; they are eating the fish we gave them.

In between the extremes of unaided student discovery and teacher explaining and modeling is guided student discovery. See the post on “Guided Student Discovery” for a little more on this topic.


According to Ayurveda, disease or illness is a gradual process and it happens with time and various stages that involves in the process of disease. Every individual is susceptible for this process.

The main purpose of Ayurveda is to recognize the process at early stage by recognizing the warning signs of imbalance in “DOSHA”, primordial elements, that maintains individual health. It is crucial to find the imbalance and treat the disease in early stages, before it manifests as a chronic condition.

Symptoms most of the people that complain such as, mood imbalance, low digestion, irregular appetite, irregular toilet pattern, constipation, persistent body pains and aches over the long period of time and ignored them may lead to DISEASE.

According to Ayurveda “ AMA” (Toxins or Waste Products) is responsible for the DISEASE, which occurs due to the doshic imbalance, signs and symptoms such as lack of proper appetite, coating on tongue (thick and yellow), lack of proper emptying habits and lethargy are early symptoms of accumulation of AMA. The best Ayurvedic approach to bring the balance is to cleanse AMA by various Ayurvedic methods such as fasting, Deepana (Appetising ) and pachana (Carminative ) therapies, in some cases it may need Panchakarma to eliminate effectively. By consulting Ayurvedic Practitioner may be able find the suitable PK therapy according to the Doshic imbalance.

Ayurvedic Seven steps that involved are

Nidana Doshic Imbalance

(Aetiology) the constant indulgence in the wrong doing, it can be physical, mental, and spiritual. Example: eating incompatible foods, mixing opposite potencies (veerya virrudha). Usually due to poor diet, inadequate rest, pollution and stress are the contributing factors.

Elevation of Doshas

Due to the above factors the doshas become imbalance, which reaches the threshold limit to cause either signs or symptoms.

The aggravated Doshas will be transformed to other locations in the body.

The accumulated Doshas relocates to different regions and causes the increase in AMA (toxins).

Poorva Roopa

(Early Symptoms) Due to the imbalance and AMA it will cause some dis-ease in the system and its function which leads to physical and functional dys function.

Acute Disease (Roga)

all the symptoms will occur at this stage.

Chronic Disease

Due to negligence, and continuing with bad behaviours and eating habits may lead to chronic condition. AT this stage symptoms have take the strong root in the body. This is hard to eliminate and treat.

for any questions and quires please contact Dr kumar at for consultations and booking contact Jeeva Health at 03 99399474 or 0402282745


The Supreme Court on January 15 granted cert. in Murr v. Wisconsin, 359 Wisc. 2d 675 (Wis. App. 2014), rev. denied, 862 N.W.2d 899 (Wis. 2015), a regulatory takings case involving the “relevant parcel” or “parcel-as-a-whole” issue, one of the most important takings issues that the Supreme Court has never addressed.

The relevant parcel issue, which can be determinative in many regulatory takings cases, concerns the extent of property that should be considered in assessing whether a regulatory imposition constitutes a taking.  Generally speaking, the larger the scope of property to be considered, the less severe the regulatory impact on the entire parcel-as-a-whole; conversely, if only a small parcel is relevant to the takings inquiry, the regulatory impact will be more concentrated on that small parcel and likely more adverse.  Because the economic impact of a regulation is the usually most important factor in determining whether a taking has occurred – and, indeed, under the Supreme Court’s Lucas decision a regulation that entirely eliminates the value of the relevant parcel is a per setaking – property owners will benefit from a ruling in Murr that leads courts to define the relevant parcel narrowly, and thus to make regulatory impacts more concentrated and more severe.

The regulatory imposition in Murr is an ordinance that precludes development of one of two contiguous lots (“lot E”) that are both owned by the Murrs.  The Wisconsin court applied a per serule, under which contiguous parcels of land must always be considered together in assessing takings claims.  The court therefore rejected the Murrs’ takings claim because they retained significant value in the relevant property, which was deemed to be the two contiguous parcels together.  Notably, the ordinance in Murr only precludes development of contiguous lots under common ownership.  If lot E were owned by anyone other than the Murrs (who also own the adjacent lot), the development prohibition would not apply, and lot E could be developed.  Even as owned by the Murrs, if lot E could be considered alone for takings purposes, the ordinance likely would be held to work a taking, because the development prohibition it imposes eliminates the value of lot E.  So the question before the Supreme Court is whether or not lot E should be considered alone in assessing the Murrs’ takings claim.

Lower courts have articulated various tests for determining what property is relevant in assessing a regulatory takings claim.  In contrast the per se rule applied by the lower court in Murr — that contiguous parcels must always be considered together — other courts have applied a presumption that separate parcels should be considered separately, even if contiguous.  In a case involving the relevant parcel issue in which Greenberg Traurig represents the landowner, the Federal Circuit held that whether multiple parcels should be considered together for takings purposes depends on the economic plans and expectations of the owner.  Thus, “even when contiguous land is purchased in a single transaction, the relevant parcel may be a subset of the original purchase where the owner develops distinct parcels at different times and treats the parcels as distinct economic units.”  See Lost Tree Village Corp. v. United States, 707 F.3d 1286, 1293 (Fed. Cir. 2013).

The Supreme Court has frequently counseled (and held) against the application of per se rules in takings cases, so there is reason to believe it may also reject the per se rule the lower court applied in Murr.  Whether the Court will go further and articulate its own test for determining whether or not multiple parcels should be considered together remains to be seen.  What is clear is that the Court’s ruling in Murr on the relevant parcel issue will have important implications for many regulatory takings cases.


Donor Behaviour

Project leaders: Eva Maria Merz PhD and Prof Wim de Kort MD PhD

Without blood donors there would be no blood to transfuse or blood products to use. Hence, it is crucial that our donor pool is sufficient, healthy and diverse enough to ensure access to every blood type that is needed. Targeted recruitment of donors with specific characteristics is therefore  crucial to meet the demands. In addition, research has shown that the risk of viral infections in repeat donors is much lower than in first-time donors. Therefore retention of donors guarantees a sufficient and healthy blood supply. Recruitment and retention research uses theories and evidence from social and behavioural sciences to study, explain and influence donor behaviour.

Donor InSight, Part 1

Donor InSight (DIS) is a large-scale, longitudinal survey based study, conducted among a random sample of 50,000 whole blood and plasma donors in 2007-2009. The aim of DIS is to understand the characteristics of donors (socio-demographic, lifestyle), their experiences with donation, reasons and motivation for donor return or lapse, their medical history and physical and psychological effects of donation. 31,338 (63%) donors participated and the majority gave permission for linking their DIS data to donation records and medical records and to be contacted for future studies. Some examples of publications that resulted from the DIS study are:

Furthermore, the DIS results are an important source of information for improvements to the blood supply. A better understanding of donor characteristics and motivation contribute to a more efficient and focused strategy regarding donor recruitment and retention. Knowledge of donation experience and health effects of donation contributes to keeping donors healthy and reducing the number of deferred and lapsing.

Donor InSight, Part 2 (follow up)

In order to investigate changes in donor behaviour and motivation, lifestyle, health, etc., again 50,000 questionnaires were sent out in 2012-2013. All still eligible participants from DIS-1 (n=29,532) and a new random sample of 20,468 donors were contacted. In total, 34,823 (69.7%) donors participated. The questionnaires have been processed and the data will be available to use after data cleaning.
See website

Blood Match

Blood-match-availability: Donor recruitment and retention in minority populations.

Donors matching patients who are negative for common blood group antigens, or who have an uncommon combination of alloantibodies are most likely to be found in ethnic minority populations. For example, certain rare blood types (e.g. U-, Fy-(a-b-)) are more common in populations from African origin. Like in many countries, minority populations are underrepresented in the Dutch donor population. Barriers that are often mentioned by members of minority populations include religious and/or spiritual beliefs, lack of knowledge about blood donation and medical practice, distrust toward the transfusion practice, feeling of social exclusion or discrimination, and fear. So far this knowledge has not been used to target recruitment strategies on. In the Netherlands, a broad variety of ethnic minority populations exist, but frequencies of their blood types may differ from textbook knowledge due to evolving and mixing of subpopulations. This highlights the need to increase the variety of blood types in our donor base by 1. identifying ethnic minority populations to focus on in terms of rare blood type prevalence and 2. subsequently developing effective and efficient recruitment and retention strategies for these specific populations.

The primary objectives of the proposed study are twofold:
2.1. Analysis of blood group antigen frequencies in Dutch ethnic minority populations.
2.2. Development, implementation and evaluation of effective and efficient recruitment and retention strategies for ethnic minority populations that are most relevant in terms of rare blood type matching.

Secondary objectives are:

Blood Match – Availability will start in September 2014 and will run for 4 years.

Optimizing whole blood donation by younger inexperienced donors

In order to maximize blood donor commitment and safeguard the blood supply it is increasingly  recognized that blood agencies must optimize the blood donor experience and take measures to minimize failed collections and complications of blood donation.
The success and duration of the collection will be analysed, as well as the donor’s experience and the occurrence of vasovagal or other complications. For this, participating donors will be sent an email giving them access to a short online questionnaire (if requested a questionnaire will be sent by post instead) a few days after their donation. Moreover the routinely recorded data in eProgesa on the donation and any complications will be analyzed in the study centers as well as in collection centers in other regions of the country. For all participating donors as well as for donors in the other regions, return up to 1 year after the index donation will be analyzed.

Donor Careers

To effectively recruit and retain blood donors, two main questions need to be addressed: what characterizes our (non-)donor population, and what motivates or hinders these (non-)donors to give blood? These questions are definitely not new, as researchers in the 1970s already tried to define sets of typical blood donor characteristics. Although these studies gave useful insights in donors and their motivations, the research methods were static, without taking in mind that people and their behaviour might change.

In our view, the so called ‘donor careers’ (donor behaviour during an individuals’ life) are essential in addressing the right people at the right time. For example, donors who give blood for the first-time are more likely to be motivated by peer pressure from friends and family than experienced donors, while these experienced donors are more likely to be motivated by a sense of ‘blood donor identity’. They feel that donating blood is a part of the self and has become more of a habit. These changing motivations during the donor career ask for more personalized recruitment and retention campaigns.

To get a better understanding of donor behaviour over time, we wonder what influences motivational change. Recent studies show that some of the most important reasons for donors to lapse or reduce their donation frequency are health reasons related to childbirth, time constraints due to work, study or family responsibilities, and changing jobs.

It might be possible that these life events cause trigger a specific individual motivation to donate. For example, health-related events like the death of a relative might confront someone with the need for blood, increasing the so called ‘awareness of need’ or feelings of social responsibility, making it more likely that a person starts donating or increases his or her donation frequency.

Longitudinal analyses of Sanquin registry data and the Giving in the Netherlands Panel Survey (Centre for Philanthropic Studies, VU Amsterdam) gives us the opportunity to explore this understudied field in blood donor research.

Two main objectives of this project are:

The donor careers project has started in December 2015 and will run for 4 years. The first results are expected mid-2017.

Facilitators and barriers for RhD-immunised women to become and remain anti-d donor

Selection and retention of anti-RhD immunoglobulin (anti-D) plasma donors is important to keep up the national prevention program of RhD-immunisation and subsequent haemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN) in RhD-negative pregnant women. The Dutch prevention programme is very successful in reducing complications in pregnancies of RhD-negative women. Anti-D is produced by Sanquin from the plasma of a small group of donors, mostly women who have been RhD-immunised during or after pregnancy. More insight in facilitators and barriers for RhD-immunised women to donate plasma for anti-D production is of utmost importance to retain existing and recruit new anti-D donors and guarantee an ongoing production of anti-D from Dutch voluntary donors.

Donor deferral management: preventing donor loss

This project is relevant for donor management, in the context of donor deferral. We focus on lapsing after deferral and ultimately on donor retention. Donor deferral, especially on-site deferral, is highly undesirable for several reasons. First, deferrals are disappointing and costly for both donors and the blood bank. Second, high deferral rates may jeopardize a stable and sufficient blood supply, because temporarily deferred are at risk of lapsing. Third, the likelihood of being deferred is rather high at the beginning of the donor career. Unfortunately, deferrals at the donor’s first or second donation attempt are most strongly associated with donor lapse. It is unclear which mechanism drives the association between deferral and donor lapse. In order to fill this knowledge gap and develop effective interventions to prevent lapsing after deferral, a thorough investigation of reasons behind and consequences of donor deferral is of utmost importance. Hence, this research proposal focuses on  reducing deferral likelihood by informing the donors, and managing the deferral process in a cost-effective way that deferred donors are more likely to return.

Chicago Study: Personal characteristics and donation

The decision to become a donor of substances of human origin (SOHO), such as blood, plasma or organs, is a very personal one. Donation of SOHO is a very specific form of prosocial behavior, as it involves an invasive procedure which people undergo without any direct benefit to themselves. We studied a general population in Chicago. Read more on the Chicago study website.

Last edited on: 12 October 2017


Triggering a Flow When a Contact Initiates a Conversation

When a person starts a new conversation with your bot, you can set expectations with a get started flow to kickoff the experience.

To create your conversation trigger, simply navigate to your TextIt account's Triggers page and click the 'Start a flow when a conversation is started by a contact' trigger:

Note that 'Channel' references the Page your Bot is attached to, while 'Flow' represents the flow you'd like to start when a contact initiates contact with your Bot.

Feedback and Knowledge Base


Foundation Development

i. Database using Access

Build databases faster and easier than before with new modular components
Create more impactful forms and reports using conditional formatting
Get a centralized landing pad for your data by importing and linking data from external sources such as Microsoft Excel, Microsoft SQL Server and more

ii. Visual Basic

VB makes it easy to develop graphical user interfaces and to connect them to handler functions
The VB-IDE is highly optimized to support rapid application development ‘RAD’

iii. Programming using C

C is the most commonly used programming language in the industry and is recognized worldwide as programming is becoming a necessary skill for many professions
C is the basic language of all advanced computer languages

Mobile Application Development

i. Objective-C Programming

Objective-C is an object-oriented programming language that is used by Apple for the OS X and iOS operating systems and their respective APIs, Cocoa and Cocoa Touch

ii. Application Development

Almost every company wants an iPhone/iPad app and you could be the person they pay to make it happen

i. Web programming

The CIW Web Development Professional combines a front-end scripting language, a back-end programming language and the skills to integrate them with a database


18.9.2017 - 15.12.2017 - Výuka v zimním semestru 2017/2018

18.12.2017 - 1.2.2018 - Zkouškové období

Více... »

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MindReader Weekly - 21th - The importance of being an optimist and how drinking impairs college performance 04.09.2010
MindReader Weekly - 20th - Why older workers are worthy of their pay and how Good and Evil turn the weak into the Mighty 01.09.2010
Nový paper Petera Boettkeho (GMU): The Tasks of Economics Education 31.08.2010
MindReader Weekly - 19th - Why Ramadan reduces volatility in markets and on inheritance of risk for anxiety 24.08.2010
MindReader Weekly - 18th - Why every group needs a psychopath and when severe punishing doesn't provide right incentives 17.08.2010
MindReader Weekly - 17th - Probability and delay discounting of sexual outcomes and how opinions of others affect us 10.08.2010
MindReader Weekly - 16th - How close family ties inhibit trust and why women reduce effort in competitive environments 03.08.2010
MindReader Weekly - 15th - Why sex could make you smarter and why in economics the singer is more important than the song 26.07.2010
MindReader Weekly - 14th - Why young people drink too much and people forced to be busy are happier 19.07.2010
MindReader Weekly - 13th - Why men should marry educated women and if you experience pain from social rejection, use Paralen 12.07.2010


Nicaraguan Volcanoes

Smoke can be seen streaming from the vicinity of Nicaraguas Masaya volcano in this SeaWiFS image. Another smoke-like feature can be seen further north (perhaps originating at the San Cristobal volcano complex). The smoke plumes are set against the highly productive waters in the upwelling region known as the Costa Rica Dome.

Por Mapas Owje


Joyriding a Camaro

Can you imagine taking your car to the shop (a sweet Camaro) and it shows up at your place of business...IN THE DRIVE THRU....check this video out.

JOY RIDE CONFRONTATION: A service technician is caught on camera taking a customer's Chevy Camaro on a joy ride through a drive-thru. The video, plus what the customer and the dealership have to...

Remember the scene from Ferris Bueller?

Parking Garage Scene

Uh, you fellas have nothing to worry about.


Guidelines for Reviews

Why did you like it?  Lets keep this positive!
Instructions step by step:

The Seven Valleys

The Seven Valleys by Baha'u'llah is my favorite of His writings.  It was written when He was exiled in Bagdad in response to questions from a Sufi mystic.  The book describes the progress of the soul towards God as going through stages or valleys.
In the first valley (Search) Majnun, the Persian archetypal lover is searching for his beloved (Layli, an archetypal beloved also from Persian stories and literature).


Digital Mockups

The Challenge

How to add strategic messaging to various imagery to enhance the resonance.

The Concept

Audiences appreciate imagery that conveys a message and tells a story in a unique way.

The Creation

Telling your story and communicating your message utilizing creative imagery is at the foundation of what we do. We’ll utilized stock images or incorporate custom photography to best meet your strategic and creative needs.


CONCORD — State conservation officers have relocated what they're calling an "urban" moose that was reported to be in downtown Concord before attempting to cross Interstate 93 on Thursday, according to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.

The moose made several attempts to cross I-93 but was forced back due to the presence of State Police troopers and conservation officers along the on ramp at exit 13 southbound, the department said.

Rob Calvert of Fish and Game hit the moose with a tranquilizer dart once the moose was in a wooded area and a safe distance away from I-93, the department said. The moose eventually succumbed to the tranquilizer, passing out approximately 100 yards into the woods behind the Machine Craft Company and JCB Excavators Company. Tranquilizing an animal this size has varied results, the department said, and the decision to tranquilize is difficult as it can often kill the animal due to the stress it endures during transport. Once the moose was subdued by the drug, conservation officers worked to hobble the moose and prepare it for transport.

Volunteers from both JCB Excavators and Machine Craft assisted in pulling the 600-pound moose out of the woods and through a small swamp, where a fork lift operator lifted it and brought it to a trailer provided by USDA Wildlife Services.

The young cow moose was transported to the western part of the state where it was released and eventually walked away. Fish and Game said it thanks all volunteers, state troopers and USDA Wildlife services in assisting in keeping citizens and wildlife safe.


Strengthening The Minimum Wage

You are here: Home / News / Strengthening The Minimum Wage
28 May 2014

I am backing plans to strengthen the National Minimum Wage to ensure that people who do a hard day’s work are rewarded for doing so.

Those on the lowest pay are at the sharpest end of the cost-of-living crisis. Families are on average £1,600 a year worse off since 2010 whilst the value of the National Minimum Wage has declined by five per cent over the same period.

In September last year Alan Buckle, former? Deputy Chairman at KPMG, began an investigation on how to strengthen the minimum wage.

The report recommends that the Low Pay Commission should be set a five-year target to increase the minimum wage to a more stretching proportion of median earnings.

The National Minimum Wage boosted pay for millions, without leading to a loss of jobs and now I can’t imagine a Britain without it. However the issues we face today are different to those we faced at the end of the last century. That’s why I believe we need to strengthen the National Minimum Wage so that local people on low pay are properly rewarded for the work they do.

Bringing the increase in the minimum wage closer to median earnings over a five-year period will help us build an economy that works for everyone and not just a few at the top.


Tales from Around the World is a series of 6 x 5′ animated films for BBC Learning, based on the most interesting and unusual folktales from around the world. The series includes a story about the origin of the night from Brazil, a story about a Punjabi King who allows himself to be fried and eaten for breakfast each day in return for unlimited gold, and a story from Israel about the importance of personal choice and individuality. Other stories in the series come from Iraq, Pakistan and Nigeria.

The films are aimed at Literacy students at Key Stage 1 and provide an engaging way to inform children about different countries, cultures and storytelling traditions. They also provide a great starting point for discussions and constitute an invaluable and versatile resource for further learning across the curriculum, including PSHE and Philosophy.
— Andy Glynne. Executive producer

The Story of Wali Dad

A beautifully animated tale from Pakistan about a grass cutter, who is both happy and generous with the little that he owns. Wali Dad receives numerous gifts from a Princess and Prince but passes them on between them. Wali Dad has no need for these elaborate presents and is content with living moderately. This film invites children to acknowledge that happiness is not dependent on being materially rich.

The Tale of How The Caliph became a Stork

A beautifully animated tale from Iraq about a wicked sorcerer who turned the great Caliph of Baghdad into a stork. The sorcerer was following the orders of the Caliph’s jealous brother, who wanted to lead Baghdad himself. However, the Caliph breaks the spell and harmony is restored. It encourages children to consider the dangers of greed and jealousy, stimulating a discussion on the desire for power.

Where the Night Came From

A beautifully animated tale from Brazil that playfully imagines how the night came to be. It tells the story of three servants who disobeyed the King of the Ocean’s orders and released the deep-sea shadows into the daylight. This film invites children to think about curiosity, disobedience and to consider how we use narratives to imagine the earth’s phenomenon and origins.


Muhammad Ali was escorted from the armed forces examining station in Houston after refusing to be inducted into the Army on April 28, 1967. Credit Associated Press

This was no dream, but the commemoration of an unforgettable moment that was being replayed on the radio. The clip was taken from a June 20, 1967, interview after Ali was convicted of draft evasion. Two months earlier, at an Army induction center in Houston, Ali refused to step forward.

The radio show host, Joe Madison, who played the clip, said he was a high school senior in 1967 and that Ali’s defiant action made a profound impact on his life.

As a high school junior and varsity athlete in Chicago, I had a similar reaction to Ali’s act of resistance. We were engulfed in the Vietnam War in personal and often tragic ways. Two classmates of mine at Harlan High School — one a great track athlete, the other an outstanding quarterback — each lost their legs in combat.

Continue reading the main story

That phrase triggered heated debates in our school and in our neighborhood, prompting us to ask each other hard questions.

Ali outside court after he was found guilty of draft evasion on June 20, 1967. Credit Associated Press

Why do we continue to use the N-word?

Why should a black man, whose ancestors had been raped and beaten, deprived of human rights in the name of building a democracy, take up arms to fight an immoral war?

Shortly after Ali’s conviction for draft evasion, Jim Brown, the legendary Browns running back who had recently retired, called on some of the most influential black athletes of that era to meet with Ali in Cleveland. Bill Russell, Willie Davis, Bobby Mitchell and Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) were among the athletes who met with, and grilled, Ali. Convinced that Ali was sincere, the athletes held a news conference the next day to express their support. Ali’s actions inspired other athletes to step out of their traditional roles and speak out against injustice.

A year later, a pair of United States sprinters, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, staged their iconic demonstration on the victory stand during a medal ceremony in the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City.

In 1969, Curt Flood, an All-Star center fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, took on Major League Baseball’s reserve clause.

For those athletes who took courageous stands, there was a high price to be paid. Ali was banned from boxing for three years. Smith and Carlos were unable to find consistent employment for years. Carlos’s wife committed suicide. Smith’s first marriage ended in divorce. Flood will likely never be voted into the Hall of Fame.

I’m not sure that contemporary athletes are wired for making those kinds of sacrifices. Taking unpopular stands may jeopardize their earning potential or even their employment.

I have stopped using the word hero to describe greatness.

Muhammad Ali is a great man. What he did 46 years ago was a heroic deed for the ages.

Continue reading the main story


Harmonic oscillator

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In classical mechanics, a harmonic oscillator is a system which, when displaced from its equilibrium position, experiences a restoring force, F, proportional to the displacement, x according to Hooke's law:

where k is a positive constant.

If a frictional force (damping) proportional to the velocity is also present, the harmonic oscillator is described as a damped oscillator. Depending on the friction coefficient, the system can:

  • Oscillate with a frequency smaller than in the non-damped case, and an amplitude decreasing with time (underdamped oscillator).
  • Decay exponentially to the equilibrium position, without oscillations (overdamped oscillator).

If an external time dependent force is present, the harmonic oscillator is described as a driven oscillator.

Mechanical examples include pendula (with small angles of displacement), masses connected to springs, and acoustical systems. Other analogous systems include electrical harmonic oscillators such as RLC circuits. The harmonic oscillator model is very important in physics, because any mass subject to a force in stable equilibrium acts as a harmonic oscillator for small vibrations. Harmonic oscillators occur widely in nature and are exploited in many manmade devices, such as clocks and radio circuits. They are the source of virtually all sinusoidal vibrations and waves.

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Finding Spirituality in Science

Finding Spirituality in Science

Thank you.

Finding Meaning at Auschwitz

Austrian psychiatrist Victor Frankl endured five months of slave labor at Auschwitz towards the end of the war. In his powerful classic about that experience, Man’s Search for Meaning, he stresses how a prisoner’s sense of purpose and meaning helped raise the long odds against survival. “The prisoner who had lost faith in the future—his future—was doomed. With his loss of belief in the future, he also lost his spiritual hold … and became subject to mental and physical decay.” One prisoner gained endurance by focusing on the child waiting for him in another country, another on the book he hoped to complete.

Buchenwald, April, 1945 (

Such purposes gave meaning to the lives of the weakened prisoners. As for the meaning of life in general, Frankl dismisses the tendency to expect a single answer to the big question.

Sometimes a person must take action in some form, sometimes he must contemplate, sometimes he must care for another person, sometimes—as at Auschwitz—he must endure suffering.

Frankl’s emphasis on life’s concrete tasks as the meaning of life startled me. I looked again at my own “sweeping statement” on this blog–that meaning is anchored in the drive of living things to survive, thrive and reproduce and that humans are always working out those purposes in one way or another. Had I fallen into the trap of trying to capture the meaning of life in a big, broad statement? What did my words—”thrive” especially—really mean?

But I’ve come to think, wishfully perhaps, that Frankl’s view and my own are not so incompatible. Frankl’s concrete tasks are similar to the variety of ways I see people carrying out their biologically rooted mission—through children, through art, through social service, through jobs, through self-preservation. These are the variety of tasks, of destinies, that make up individual lives.

We like to try to capture life in a few words. Frankl sees life as too confrontational for that. It will offer us purpose or meaning only if we take on the unexpected work it sends us.

Reverence for (Some) Life

reverence for the world

Celebrating life

Here is a tug-of-war.

At one end of the rope is our common conviction that life—our life, other lives, life in general—is a good thing. For many, this conviction is little more than a cliche, a toast, an instinct for self-preservation that includes just familiar faces. For others with a religious orientation, the concept of life is much more vast, one face of the cycle of birth and death, a name for both flesh and spirit. Both groups, though, lean hard towards life and away from the state of dust and stones. We all ally ourselves with being alive and, in the abstract at least, with all things that are alive.

But pulling hard at the other end of the rope are the distinctions that we make every day between lives that we value and those we value very little or not at all. We favor people who are similar to us, we belittle others, and we are indifferent, sometimes fatally so, to many others. We accept abortion but oppose capital punishment, or vice-versa. We cuddle some animals, save others from extinction, eat a few, exterminate many. We value plants for providing us with food or a desirable environment, but the life of an individual plant in and of itself has no status for us. When it comes to actual living things, we have favorites and losers, the innocents, the inconvenient, and the unacceptable, with life and death consequences.

Despised pests.

In this tug-of-war between reverence for all life and differentiation among lives, it’s differentiation that usually wins. This isn’t surprising. We must draw distinctions each day in order to stay alive, deciding who to align with and who to oppose, what to eat and what to cut down, spray or ignore. Most people go through most days with no interest in revering life universally. We toast our health and long life and then eat our chicken dinner. We wake up in the morning feeling glad to be alive, we send a contribution to help poor children, we call the exterminator, and we pull dandelions. Even the conscientiously devout weed their gardens. None of that seems contradictory.

You might expect that after declaring that we value life above all else, we would place being alive above any other feature of a thing, and we would care for that thing because, no matter what else it is, it is alive. Insects might be repulsive, but they would be precious because they live. Plants might be so abundant that lawns and streets could be overgrown but their right to life would be defended while we starved from trying to subsist on dead animals and fallen fruit. Obviously this is not how things go.

Perhaps tug-of-war is not the best metaphor. Compartmentalization might be a better label. Reverence for life and preference for some lives are not strictly incompatible (we may hasten the death of a beloved relative to stop their pain) but mostly we put them in separate compartments.

marraige equality

Better lives. Marriage equality, June 2013. (

And what we also do is take reverence out of its compartment every so often when the time seems right and try to move society a step in its direction. We join forces to extend a better life to those of other ethnicities or social classes or genders or sexual orientation—as well as to some animals, to fetuses, to endangered plants. Protective reverence for all life may be beyond our reach, but we put it to powerful use when we are able. We may draw grim, unfair distinctions among other lives too easily, but as long as we remain a little uneasy that we do so, reverence for all life remains a cause that can be advanced.


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Whats to puts letters into

Some talk on the game-help channel of sending letters gave me this idea! Envelopes might make a nice addition to the game, if you ever wanted to send someone a letter and be just a bit more confident that your courier won't read it. Sure, there's nothing keeping someone from opening an envelope, but the recipient would be able to tell if it had been opened on the way - unless maybe using the thievery skill or something similar to discreetly open envelopes is a thing that is possible.

Having an envelope to open might also add that little extra bit of tension to getting various kinds of 'letters of termination', as well, perhaps...

And to expand, packages, like 3 sizes of box you can send items in that get 'thrown away' when you pull everything out of it. It would also be cool to attach an envelope to a package or be able to put one inside.

Small, allows a low @coverage item of clothing, or maybe something along the size of a phone. Stuff like that.

Medium, holds a full outfit like 3-4 pieces of clothing or material, several small items like phones. Maybe a single medium sized weapon like a small rifle or an Uzi.

Large: full sets of armor, large rifles, large amounts of small items.

I like the idea of envelopes.

I believe packages are already kind of in the game in the form of 'gift wrapping' - it might be neat to see that expanded a little, too.