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Saturday, March 26, 2016

Personality Differentiation and Emotional Weather

Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca (~1490–~1557), author of La Relación (1542; translated variously as "The Relation", “The Narration”, ”The Account" or “Shipwrecks” - from later editions re-titled as Naufragios), was a proto-anthropologist who recorded details of many North American indigenous tribes. A chief officer and treasurer to the 1527 Pánfilo de Narváez expedition of 600 men to Florida, which arrived in April, 1528, he was one of only 242 who escaped Florida in boats made from their horses, and of only four who remained alive to reach Mexico, in 1532. Another was rescued about a decade later, but less than 20 survived the first winter, and it was nothing short of miraculous that any survived at all. No more than a handful disappeared to go native until death; Cabeza de Vaca reported one or two doing so.
Most famous for his report for King Charles V of Spain (La Relación), a classic of colonial literature, Cabeza de Vaca was later posted to South America, but his work there isn’t much remembered, except maybe for the tragedy involved. After living among nomadic (sometimes moving camp every few days) foragers with incomparable understanding of their environment and consummate knowledge of seasonal patterns (but also susceptibility to illnesses introduced through Europeans), for a couple of years, he worked alone for over three, as a trader between mutually hostile tribes. Having thus gained some limited freedom, with his last three expedition companions he gained notoriety among indigenees as a healer – and eventually gathered a large following of natives who regarded them as “children of the sun”, endowed with the power to both heal and destroy. Able then to travel on unthreatened, the group walked away from their goal on the eastern coast of Mexico, when less than 100 miles north of it, to travel far west as explorers. Soon they were fed and protected by a large following, often of thousands. Having met coastal peoples and Mississippian tribes, he now saw nomads of the Plains, then Pueblo farmers and merchants and what they called “people of the cows”. After 8 years and “going native,” his group reached Mexico City, having explored much of Texas and the five northernmost mainland Mexican states (Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, Chihuahua and Sonora - largely along the Rio Grande).
When he finally met other Spaniards, near Mexico’s west coast, these "friends" wanted to enslave his followers. But, having developed strong sympathies for the indigenous population, he got the Spaniards so lost in the desert they had to agree to release the Indians in return for being led back to safety.
Later on, in 1540 he was appointed governor of Rio do la Plata (now Paraguay, Argentina and surroundings); as in North America, he was unusually sensitive and benevolent towards the Natives. He was the first European to behold the Iguazú Falls, among the most spectacular in the world. But political intrigue and resentment against him led to his arrest and return to Spain in chains. He was eventually exonerated, then wrote an extensive report on South America, which, bound with his La Relación was published under the title Comentarios (Commentary).
Shown in Cabeza de Vaca’s “Narration” is a spectrum of tribal personalities indicative of something interesting in the human condition: Take 20 similar people (or even 10, 50 or 100, seminarians, priests, ballerinas, accounting geeks or soccer players) and isolate them. Previously unobserved facets of personality will emerge while the various personalities differentiate, separating further and further. Over time, one will exhibit more leadership traits, another become the most noticeable care-giver; one will be more of a clown, yet another the leadership's main enforcer. Sexuality will differentiate also, so that all various possible roles be more fully represented.
This may take place as specialization can increase personal value to others. Less ego- or anthro-centrically, it involves a natural tendency to leave no space (niche, physical or character type, involving tendencies, proclivities, orientations) unfilled, unused.
One individual will tend to ruffle feathers, another to soothe. One will be more aesthetically inclined, one more of a bum (maybe the same one, maybe not). Similarly, one tribe will be more friendly to outsiders, another more suspicious, reserved, willing to take offense. Some will prefer the seashore or at least proximity to water, while others prefer mountains, desert or high plains. Some will give more importance to vowel sounds, while a competing group may prefer to use guttural consonants.
We like our distinctions, but use similarities to bond. The distribution phenomena is not without contradiction, and hardly explains everything, but that is the case with much science. Cabeza de Vaca was at least observing, instead of just asserting, as was so sadly the case with so many other “explorers”.
This kind of differentiation was also depicted by William Golding in “Lord of the Flies”; something similar is shown through the development of new powers and capacities by groups with this or that mental illness, in Philip K. Dick’s “Clans of the Alphane Moon”. On the other hand, some character traits seem locked-in and predictable in some folk; even though patterns can change, old proclivities are likely to creep back into opinions expressed in conversation, mood tendencies, activity choices. Habitual behavioral tendencies can be a cultural thing, sometimes similar in cultures extensively separated geographically, while extremely dissimilar in groups living close by in quite similar ecological territory. The meekest of a really warlike group might be more warlike than the most aggressive of a peaceful people, but one of a group of thieves will be more trustworthy than the others. We have a tendency to differentiate, but even this differentiation is differentiated – the spectrum shown in Asia is hardly the same as the spectrum shown in Africa. That Asia and Africa have not experienced the isolation of the desert tribes encountered by Cabeza de Vaca was surely an element involved in that.
For a long time his work was regarded with skepticism, until archaeologists found heavily trampled ground, as would occur from hundreds if not a thousand or more people dancing and jumping around all night if not for days, as narrated and in places within accord with the narration.

In a third, “The men do not carry burdens or loads, the women and old men have to do it, for those are the people they least esteem. They have not as much love for their children as those spoken of before. Some among them are given to unnatural vices. The women are compelled to do very hard work and in a great many ways, for out of 24 hours of day and night they get only 6 hours’ rest. They spend most of the night in stirring the fire to dry those roots which they eat, and at daybreak they begin to dig and carry firewood and water to their houses and attend to other necessary matters. Most of these Indians are great thieves, for, although very liberal towards each other, as soon as one turns his head, his own son or the father grabs what he can. They are great liars and drunkards and take something in order to become intoxicated. They are so accustomed to running that, without resting or getting tired, they run from morning till night in pursuit of a deer, and kill a great many, because they follow until the game is worn out, sometimes catching it alive. Their huts are of matting placed over four arches. They carry them on their back and move every 2 or 3 days in quest of food; they plant nothing that would be of any use.
“They are a very merry people, and even when famished do not cease to dance and celebrate their feasts and ceremonials. Their best times are when ‘tunas’ (prickly pears) are ripe, because then they have plenty to eat and spend the time in dancing and eating day and night.”

Dick posits psychiatric diagnostic groups differentiated themselves into seven clans: The Pares are paranoids who function as the statesman class and live in a heavily fortified settlement. Some have developed "psionic powers". The Manses suffer from mania; they are an active class, warrior class. They live amidst “a hodgepodge of incomplete projects, started out but never finished.” They operate a television transmitter constantly try to stage a coup d’état. The Skitzes are schizophrenic poets and religious visionaries. The Heebs suffer hebephrenia (disorganized schizophrenia) and live in Gandhitown, “an inhabited garbage dump of cardboard dwellings.” To the other clans, their only use is for manual labor, but some are religious visionaries, mostly ascetic saints (as opposed to the dogmatists among the schizophrenics), with "visionary powers". The Polys suffer from polymorphic schizophrenia; they’re the creative members of society, producing new ideas. Children from all clans are born Polys, then become differentiated in their tenth or eleventh year. Some never became differentiated, though, perhaps having no mental disorder at all. Ob-Coms have obsessive-compulsive disorder (some might once have been called anal-retentive). They are the clerks and office holders of the society, ritualistic functionaries lacking original ideas. Their conservatism balances the radical quality of the Polys, providing social stability. Lastly, the Deps are sufferers of clinical depression. They live in Cotton Mather Estates “in endless dark gloom.”
Dick himself could be said to have suffered from any or all of the psychiatric disorders referred to there, and they are hardly representative of anything but his imagination, but the novel does show the concept of the value of differentiation even with accompanying weaknesses. Unity is not the only form of strength.

There are various ways of intentionally manipulating personality. Widely known is behavior modification or operant conditioning (an academic-obfuscatory term from Latin ‘that works,’ present participle of operari ‘to work’ - coined in 1937 by behavioral psychologist B.F. (“Fred”) Skinner to indicate “involving behavior modification”… operant also means effective, a person or thing that operates, functioning or tending to produce effects, of or relating to the observable or measurable, or even behavior (as bar pressing by a rat to obtain food) that operates on the environment to produce rewarding and reinforcing effects. Or too, relating to, or being a response that occurs spontaneously and is identified by its reinforcing or inhibiting effects. Thus, something with measurable results; as, for instance, a fairly scientific method of evaluating personality change or achieved learning.
Skinner noted that the best way to understand behavior is to look at the causes of an action and its consequences, set out to identify the processes which made certain behaviors more or less likely to occur, especially in terms of responses, internal or external, as in stimuli from the environment that increase probability of a behavior being repeated. Behaviors have consequences, and living organisms tend to learn from them. Changes in behavior are the result of an individual’s response to events (stimuli) that occur in the environment.
Reinforcement, anything that strengthens a response (desired or not), can be negative or positive (as in the carrot or stick analogy). One learns to behave so as to obtain rewards and avoid punishments, and behavioral psychologists examine how this works, especially in terms of effective reinforcement schedules. Behavior modification can reduce a variety of behavior problems. It can also be called ‘brain-washing’ and involve more than just overtones of Orwellian manipulative techniques, an also the effects of ‘soma’ as described in Huxley’s “Brave New World”. The methods of behaviorism can have positive effects even on severe autism, but problems can come from inappropriate application or intent, poor assessment, and/or poor design and/or implementation. Much of this goes back to early animal-training, but, for instance, unlike obedience training that gets and animal to perform specific actions when requested, there is an ideal in behavior modification of manipulating a total change in reaction - producing not simply compliance, but change in attitude (thinking or feeling) and thus action also. This can be particularly significant in terms of uniformed services training, keeping zoo animals from boredom to the extent of severe depression, and could conceivably help with rehabilitation of penitentiary convicts, although to date that might remain controversial if not outright objectionable. Unfortunately, along with lowered interest in education and learning over the decades of improved “information technology” (and simultaneous increases in financial concerns), interest in techniques of behavioral conditioning have decreased also.
Behavioral modification techniques which condition voluntary behaviors that are maintained over time by the consequences that follow those behaviors, can be for a moral good or, equally, for something questionable! Whether conditioned behavior is always perfectly voluntary, remains a debatable issue.
Training affects personality, as does affection, animosity, activity, luck and especially genetics and epigenitics. Personality can and perhaps should take a lead in directing enquiry and thought, and thus education, but stifled personalities often do not do that. Trauma will produce personality change quickest; positive reinforcement is slow, except when done with love, which tends to reinforce what is already there.

Operant conditioning my not make one more creative, more vain, or more flexible, although is certainly can change one, as shown in Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange”.
Some people are going to be more materialistic, others more hedonistic, some more punitive, others more hospitable. Some will be more ego-driven, vain and acquisitive, others will be more niche-adapted and stable. This may apply to groups as well as individuals, as seems to be shown by the Amish, Masai, Australian Aborigines and other relatively extreme groups.

Barometric pressure, ions and wind affect human moods. As also the kind of events reported as news. Sometimes also, there seems to be an inexplicable increase in hilarity in a region, or adventuresomeness. People in a specific area might, for a time, be more melancholic than usual, or show tendencies to irrational optimism. There might be a general increase in irritability, anger, suspicion &/or self-doubting. Similarly, might be a decrease in bad moods, either from an increase in negative ions or a decrease in bad news, or perhaps from reasons we’ve yet to discern. The individual is affected by much that he or she cannot even be aware of. Moods are contagious, as with yawning, and occasionally crowd hysteria, but sometimes walls separate people similarly affected by emotional weather, and not just the weather of barometric pressure and ions. It could relate to other physical events; it could relate to “collective unconscious” polities. It might even be spiritual, but it happens. It might sometimes be an aftereffect of a popular fashion.
But we should not pretend that there is no group dynamic, or even that we know of each grouping that we participate in. We are social, we are dependent, and one can not only not decide everything, one cannot even be aware of everything. To pretend otherwise is self-defeat (the popularity of which might well depend on emotional weather).
Not only our emotions are dependent on a wide variety of factors, but our rational thinking also. We can be presented with too much data. Perhaps sensory deprivation produces dysfunction from too little data, as can isolation. Our verbal, and rational, processes are affected by a variety of subconscious cues. What goes on in our lower digestional guts certainly affects how we feel and think, and muscular activity also has its affects.
Some attribute much to the stars – perhaps they have reason to not want to look closer to home. It is important to recognize that strengths usually have corresponding weaknesses, vice versa, and that our strengths and weaknesses aren't "reflections" of the society we live in, but rather, components of it. And when you enter someone else's psychological territory you pay a fee. When folk from different physical territory but similar psychological position meet, there may be what feels as if an inexplicable sense of recognition. Mostly, we know where it is safe to go, and stay to it; outside of those boundaries internal changes must begin,threatening possibility of return. And no-ne is safe outside of their niche, and by it we define, and delineate, our world.

Whether it’s stormy weather, totally enraging politics, the season of beatniks out to make it rich, the summer of waiting to find out who shot JR Ewing of Dallas TV show, the day after the atomic bombing of Nagasaki or the one after Mighty Casey struck out, there might be at least as good a legal defense in the emotional weather that contributed to one’s legal delinquency as ever was affluenza.

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Cambridge Sorrento Fireplace Mantel with Electronic Fireplace Insert

from $442.58

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Office Coordinator-Full-Time (M-F 8:30-5:30)-Santa Rosa Sleep Center

    Applying For A Job?

    *Northern California Medical Associates is an Equal Opportunity Employer

    JOB TITLE: Office/Department Coordinator

    LOCATION: Santa Rosa, CA

    GENERAL SUMMARY OF DUTIES: Assists in managing daily operations of medical office or department unit.

    SUPERVISION RECEIVED: Reports directly to Office Supervisor/ Manager.

    1. Plans and coordinates office or unit staff. Assumes responsibility for department or unit in absences of Supervisor/Manager.

    2. Assists with establishing policies and procedures for the office or unit.

    3. Identifies problems, reports them and offers suggestions for improvement.

    4. Assists with data collection, reports and compilation of statistical data.

    5. Works with other staff and agency representatives as assigned. Provide back-up to co-workers as needed.

    6. Attends required meetings and participates in committees as requested.

    7. Participates in professional development activities and maintains professional affiliations.

    8. Monitors and verifies patient eligibility for all upcoming appointments.

    9. Monitors patient visits to help facilitate provider productivity and ensure insurance and authorizations are in place.

    10. Address patient questions related to insurance as needed.

    11. Maintains patient confidentiality.

    12. Performs related work as required.

    Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

    Knowledge of the methods and procedures of health data systems and medical records coding, classification, indexing, quality control and assessment. Knowledge of some medical technology, anatomy and physiology to assist in reviewing and developing procedures used in health data records. Knowledge of medical record regulations and laws regarding appropriate: release of information. Skill in identifying problems and recommending solutions. Skill establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with staff, patients and the public- Ability to maintain confidentiality of sensitive information. Ability to exercise initiative, judgment and decision-making. Ability to prepare and maintain detailed records, files, reports and other correspondence.

    Education: High school diploma or GED.

    Experience: One year of experience in a medical office.

    Certificate/License: None

    Additional appropriate education may be substituted for one year of medical records experience.

    Back to All Career Opportunities


Fox News: From Child Care to Gay Bashing in Minutes

Reported by Melanie - October 16, 2004 -

One of the guests on Your World w/Neil Cavuto on Friday (October 15, 2004) was James Dobson, the radical, ultra-conservative Christian fundamentalist founder of Focus on the Family.

The Dobson segment, consisting of a conversation between Cavuto and Dobson, initally centered around techniques parents should use to comfort their children when they're confronted with horrific and terrifying events, such as 9/11 or the school massacre in Beslan.

By the end of the segment though, Dobson was lamenting the curriculum taught in schools in California and Massachusetts (states he mentioned, interestingly enough), and he was urging parents to take their kids out of those school systems if the curriculum couldn't be cleansed of things like sex education. As Dobson spoke, Fox News aired video of same-sex couples embracing and kissing, so Dobson's point was made clear.

COMMENT: This segment started out being about one thing (comforting children), but it quietly drifted into being about another thing (gay bashing).

Such is Fox News.


'THAAD' anti-missile system can't protect South Korea from missile attacks by itself

South Korea has gaps in its countermeasures against North Koreanmissiles — with or without America’s state-of-the-art defense system in place.

The first is its range. The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, which is currently positioned only in Seongju County of North Gyeongsang Province, is designed to intercept missiles within a range of 200 kilometers (124 miles). Southern parts of the country lie within that area, but the capital Seoul — by far the most densely populated area of the country — is not.

THAAD and Patriot working together

Against the backdrop of recent missile and nuclear tests by North Korea, reports out of South Korea have suggested the possibility of the country buying an upgraded version of Patriot or an interceptor system called the SM-3. Japan already uses those batteries.

THAAD is built by Lockheed Martin, while both the Patriot and SM-3 are manufactured by Raytheon.

Following North Korea’s nuclear test earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump declared on Twitter that he would let South Korea and Japan expand their military purchases from the United States.

The White House formally announced that the president “gave his conceptual approval for the purchase of many billions of dollars’ worth of military weapons and equipment from the United States by South Korea” in a phone call with South Korea President Moon Jae-in. South Korea’s presidential office said only that they discussed ways “to adopt the United States’ state-of-the-art weapons and technology in response to evolving military threats from the North.”

‘Multi-layer defense system’

But South Korea certainly doesn’t deny its need for better protection. Defense Minister Song Young-moo said in a press briefing this month that “South Korea will be considering options such as SM-3 for a multi-layer defense system, once the Aegis radar system is brought in.” Aegis refers to a complex, land-and-sea system pioneered by the U.S. Navy that uses elements from multiple defense contractors.

The problem is money. According to a calculation by South Korean media, it would cost the country about $1.7 billion for South Korea to load 20 SM-3 missiles onto three Aegis naval vessels, including the cost to renovate the ships. That would be about a fifth of the $10 billion allocated for the country’s military acquisition and research and development.

And there’s a competing item on the defense budget bill. The new president of South Korea promised during his campaign to increase monthly wages for soldiers. The military budget could get tighter for South Korea down the road if the president keeps that promise, according to Rand Corp.’s Bennett.

South Korea’s government decided last month to increase the defense budget for next year by 6.9 percent, to 43.1 trillion won, or $38.4 billion. The hike still needs the National Assembly’s green light. Even if the budget is passed, it’s unclear whether it would be sufficient to both boost military pay and expand the country’s missile defense.


Personal Planning

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1. Summary of ‘The Personal Financial Planning Process’

1. Introduction

2. Body

• The purposes

• The Benefits

3. Conclusion

• Recommendation

2. References

Most people want to handle their finances so that they get full satisfaction from each available dollar. Typical financial goals include such things as a new car, a larger home, advanced career training, contributions to charity, extended travel, and self- sufficiency during working and retirement years. To achieve these and other goals, people need to identify and set priorities. Financial and personal satisfactions are the result of an organization process that is commonly referred to as personal money management or personal financial planning.

Personal financial planning is the process of managing your money to achieve personal economic satisfaction. This planning process allows you to control your financial situation. Every person, family, or household has a unique financial position, and any financial activity therefore must also be carefully planned to meet specific needs and goals. Most of these decisions are quite simple and have few consequences. Some are complex and have long-term effects on our personal and financial situations. While everyone make decisions, few people consider how to make better decisions. The financial planning process is a logical, six step procedure that can be adapted to any life situation.

Personal Financial Planning Process is important because it is the key to financial success. At the same time, it is a life-long process or also knows as life-cycle planning which can control one’s financial situation. In fact, a good financial planning can lead to enhancing the quality of life and increasing personal satisfaction by reducing uncertainty about future needs and resources. The findings of this study are useful to personal finance as it could analyze the process for making financial decisions thus, leads one’s to develop his or her personal financial goals. Apart from that, it could assess personal and economic factors that influence personal financial planning. Besides, it helps one’s to determine personal and financial opportunity costs associated with personal financial decisions. With personal financial planning process, one’s manage to identify strategies for achieving personal financial goals for different life situation.

Personal financial planning involves the following process such as determine your current financial situation, develop financial goals, identify alternatives courses of action, evaluate alternatives, create and implement a financial action plan and reevaluate and revise the financial plan. In order to develop personal financial goals, the financial goals itself should be realistic, be stated in specific, measurable terms, have time frame and indicate the type of action to be taken. Essentially, the financial decisions are affected by a person’s life situation in term of income, age, household, size, situation and personal values. Economic factors also affected in term of prices, interest, rates and employment opportunities.

In addition, every decision involves a trade-off with things given up. Personal opportunity costs include time, effort and health. Financial opportunity costs are based on the time value of money. Future value and present value calculations enable one’s to measure the increased value or lost interest that results from a saving, investing, borrowing or purchasing decision.. Therefore, successful financial planning requires specific goals combined with spending, saving, investing and borrowing strategies based on your personal situation and various social and economic factors.

The first step of proper...
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"When I create a video work, for the most part, I am creating videodance, (also known as screendance) - I am not documenting. I am making a dance for the camera. I choreograph a piece knowing that I will re-organize and ‘manipulate’ the material during the editing process, combining Elements such as time, space, speed and spatial composition. I incorporate the movement of the camera, as well as the composition of the frames. Even though the body in movement is the ‘seed’ and inspiration of screendance, the movement phrases also get ‘thrown’ around, the end becomes the beginning, the body gets fragmented and layers of dancers end up superimposed into different backgrounds, creating a new work, which in some cases is far from the movement material that it was based on. My decisions are based on the rhythm and composition of the the new piece, as well as on the design, contrast and the proximity to the camera. I am trying to create a visual metaphor. Using a combination of both, narrative and location. The concept of a video choreography, in my films, is based on my own lyrics texts and ideas."


Ayre K-5xeMP close to K-1xe?

Can anyone tell me if the MP version of the K-5xe can get me reasonably close to a K-1xe? I'm trying to rationalize the expenditure for the latter.

Stereophile now puts the MP version of the K-5xe in their class a category....
Don't think you can go wrong either way . The discontinued K1 preamp had the more traditional Ayre sound , smoother with great balance . The latest K-5 seems quieter and more to the neutral side , maybe a whisker thiner . You'll need to evaluate the sound of your other components to help find the best match .


In Search of Concealed Evidence Using Warrants: The Detectives

The station parking lot was usually the operational staging point of executing search warrants at my department. Police convoys aligned the nearby streets circling the Hall of Justice and stuffed the empty spaces in the lot: multi-agencies in marked and unmarked units, officers clad in raid vests and uniforms, long guns prepared for tactical purposes. We might have resembled “The Mob” to onlookers, but we were the good guys on white horses. It was a great mixture of expertise-running a multi-agency operation to execute a search warrant-kind of like alphabet soup, only better. Entry operations were planned and discussed prior to arrival on the “target structure” during an operational meeting at the station involving all officers, agents, and supervisors.

Citizen Protections

One of the most protected rights provided by constitutional law, statutes, and case laws is the freedom against unlawful search and seizure and arbitrary searches by the police and any agents. A parameter of the Fourth Amendment is that it prohibits against unreasonable search and seizure. Additionally, history has defined further what the Constitution has left unaddressed or silent.

Search and seizure procedures and law enforcement conduct have developed over time and become further defined with statutes and case law. With the laws governing the methods of law enforcement, search and seizure is another element highly scrutinized by the public and the judicial system, as it should be. Police have a duty to uphold the rights of individuals and abide by the rules dictating their ability to gather evidence when consent and other exceptions do not apply. Warrants are not required in every scenario, but are a valuable instrument as well as a protection against capricious intrusions. Warrantless searches will not be discussed in this post.

Basic Police Administrative Procedures

I will offer oversimplified steps here to demonstrate the process of a search warrant, however, it is one of the most carefully considered procedures by an investigator involving exact courses of action. A search warrant is a judicially approved document which authorizes law enforcement and agents to search a particular place, person, or conveyance (vehicle). It is an order which defines where the police can search and in which place, for which items, and at a particular time. An affidavit accompanies the warrant request which is a statement made under oath and may be oral or written.

Police investigations can lead to probable cause that concealed evidence is contained within a place (stolen goods, drugs, for example) or on a person (biological evidence-i.e.: DNA). Progress toward obtaining a search warrant may eventually move the investigation to a direction to seek out that veiled evidence to support the prosecution of a crime. Police labor diligently to gather facts and information to be included into search warrant affidavits. Investigations are often dynamic and change rapidly within hours or a few days which may reveal probable cause a crime has been committed and provide a reason to conduct a search warrant in a particular place or on a person. An investigator compiles this knowledge into a document to seek authorization to administer a search of property, a person, or a vehicle. Furthermore, prior to composing search warrant documents, law enforcement must have probable cause to believe a crime has been committed and the items of evidence are contained within the target structure(s), person, or vehicle which are to be listed on the documents.

The warrant itself must be signed under oath (sworn to its truthfulness) by the affiant in front of a judge or magistrate who gives approval of the warrant particulars to be carried out by law enforcement and any agents. It becomes an order. The affiant is usually the lead investigator who compiles the affidavit for the court. Upon a judge’s approval, a time limit begins and then again following the execution when a return must be provided to the courts and a copy left on or in the property or given to the suspect. If time constraints are not met, the warrant becomes invalid or expired.

Law enforcement must honor constitutional rights as well as stay within the scope of a judge’s order. The scope of a warrant depends on the information detailed in the documents and the evidence sought for the crime. For example, if police are looking for only a stolen BMW with no provisions for other items, they cannot search under the bed. A car would not fit in that space nor would it be concealed in a clothing drawer. It does not apply and therefore, it would be going beyond the scope. However, if the provisions state officers may search for a stolen BMW and any paperwork associated with determining ownership of the stolen goods and residency of the target structure in order to identify a suspect, then the police can look in any place a person could conceal a piece of paper.

If evidence of another crime is found within the scope of the warrant or in plain view, police may seize that item(s) even if it is not contained or listed in the warrant, i.e.-drugs, known stolen items, etc. Most often, we would obtain a “piggy back warrant” for evidence to be seized which were discovered but not detailed in our first warrant. A piggy back warrant is another search warrant request for additional items uncovered within the target structure, but not contained on the initial search order, however, still found within the scope or in plain view. For instance, if the lead detective discovered drugs and drug trafficking evidence in the desk where he was searching for phone records, those items could be seized. Similarly, if stolen goods from a burglary were discoverable upon plain sight or within the scope, they could also be seized. In most instances, it is not necessary to request a piggy back warrant but it would be beneficial to do so to include searching for items of evidence related to another crime if they might lead outside the scope.

When a search warrant is obtained, operational meetings are held to liaise with all agencies, communicate case data, disclose suspect photographs/bios, describe target structure information, provide full disclosure of the warrant information/scope, distribute tactical stratagem, and delegate duty assignments. In short, plans are a detailed outline of how the search warrant will be executed, what will be seized, a reveal of dangerous subject/persons/environment details, and which resources will be deployed. All search warrant executions, often referred to as “raids” are high risk operations. Many executions warrant the need for special response teams (S.W.A.T. or SRT) to assist investigators in the breach of a structure because of tactical resource needs and risk.

A target structure is the building or dwelling in which (and usually includes structures on the property not attached if defined in the affidavit) a search warrant provides lawful permission from a judge for police to force entry. Additionally, the warrant provides instructions on which type of items can be seized as evidence. The law enforcement objective and outcomes include priorities for the operation to be conducted safely and efficiently.

The number one guy is the one with the ram or the boot to the door. The number two is most often a uniform. The officer who was the first one through the door in a dynamic entry was jokingly called “the sacrificial lamb” because it was the most dangerous position, exposing himself or herself first to the unknown inside. However, the police humor has gone by the wayside as the streets have become much more dangerous and those jokes have waned with time. Other law enforcement officials follow suit with police covering every entry and exit and watching at angulated points on the corners and sides- even going to distances of three dimensional operations- depending on the target structure.

If the breach to the door is mighty…it’s a good day. It was…

Investigations can run along many jurisdictional lines. This was a case involving local, state, and federal agencies. The warrant happened to be a “no knock” warrant: one where police are not required to knock or identify before entering.  We were executing on known suspects who were familiar with the justice system and had dangerous associates.

Wood splinters exploded with one pound to the brittle front door and simultaneously,  we turned our heads to protect our eyes from flying debris. As the door caved under the pressure, I turned my head forward and blew wood splinters out of my face. Firearms drawn, we entered the unknown.

With a swift kick to discard the broken door to the side while still being alert to our surroundings and not wavering from our forward approach, we charged into the dark house. As we rushed to take up our points of position, we aimed our firearms into the faces of the surprised drug dealers. After loud yelling of police commands followed by compliance and cuffing, it was over as fast as it started; concluding with “All Clear” confirmations from each team member.

This entry ceased with every person being safe. The suspects were charged accordingly after interviews and taped statements were gathered at the station. All but one waived their Miranda rights. The execution of the search revealed multiple scheduled drugs, paraphernalia, guns, drug trafficking records called “pay-owes”, and money (drug profits). The suspects ultimately were convicted.

You might be curious if persons must comply with a judge’s order for a search warrant? Yes. Physical confrontation at the time of execution could lead to interference charges as well as obstruction or tampering if a person tries to destroy evidence. If a person disagrees with the parameters of a search or seizure, the defendant must seek legal recourse through the courts. In some instances, suppression hearings are brought forward to challenge the police search and evidence obtained. Civil suits may be filed if a defendant has suffered a civil wrong or rights violation.

 Legal Principles

In Mapp v. Ohio, the exclusionary rule was forwarded to apply to state levels as well as federal levels. The police have a duty to uphold the legal restrictions barring arbitrary searches. Evidence gathered by police and agents in violation of a person’s constitutional rights is not admissible in a court of law. Prohibited evidence which led to other evidence which would not be discovered otherwise, is commonly referred to as “fruit of the poisonous tree” and also becomes excluded in criminal procedures.  Evidence obtained outside the scope of a search warrant could be an example of items elminated from a criminal case. Furthermore, the exclusionary rule applies to only law enforcement and not private parties.

Additionally, if the evidence was determined to be discovered or searched for by police upon good faith (authentic) but in violation of privacy rights, then the evidence may still be considered in court as admissible under the “good faith exception.” These determinations when brought forward usually involve a court decision and often are the result of a suppression hearing filed on behalf of the defendant. The good faith exception has been criticized for its merit and comes under scrutiny in criminal cases. The burden is upon the police and often times a judge’s consideration is required to differentiate a conflict.

Sealed Affidavits

Warrant affidavits may be sealed with a judge’s approval for a certain period before made public record or indefinitely to protect an ongoing investigation and the integrity of a case or identity of persons. Most documents become unrestricted information. Journalists often check court records daily for these filings as they seem to be important to their news releases while following a specific crime. After all, the warrant contains details of a crime and criminal elements not made public and with exclusive access to the filed information, the media may likely feel it is essential to breaking the story.

With that in mind, a detective must also keep secure informants, juvenile information, and special victim bio data. An affiant may number an informant in the affidavit which is revealed in the documents as “known unnamed person CI123″, for example. A child victim may be referred to as ‘juvenile female victim, date of birth (xx-xx-xxxx), known as CV”, disclosing the gender, age, and initials only. These labels are accepted by the courts and identities may have to be revealed at a later date when a victim or informant is required to testify, but until then, it keeps their privacy intact and identity concealed. Child victims’ information were not made public in my jurisdiction nor were any juvenile records.

Necessary Instrument for Police and Protection against Arbitrary Intrusions

As a detective, it was not unusual for my investigation team to conduct multiple search warrants on a weekly basis. Police searches and search warrant executions are necessary exercises in the pursuit of criminals, but should be given careful consideration by law enforcement. They are valuable as well as time consuming and document intensive for investigators. In the hunt for justice and the search for evidence to support charges, search warrants are secure measures to protect against unlawful seizures and assure the police can search for and confiscate certain items of evidence to assist their investigations.


Resources for

Mental Health & Wellness

Dealing with alcoholism or drug dependence is never easy, and it is even more difficult when you are also struggling with mental health problems. When a person has both a drug, alcohol problem and a mental health issue - such as depression, bipolar disorder or anxiety - it is called a co-occurring disorder or dual diagnosis. However, there are treatments that can help. At Mission Hospital, we provide research-based treatment, support, and additional resources to help adolescents and their families create a life that is both rewarding and gratifying.

The following resources help identify signs in adolescents struggling with drug, alcohol dependency or a mental health issue:

Adolescent Substance Abuse Crisis

Help for Teens in Trouble

Top 5 Mental Illness Myths

Camp Fear


Joanna Yeates may have known her killer, say Bristol police

Postmortem reveals that the landscape architect was strangled, and privately police believe she knew her murderer
Joanna Yeates parents
David and Theresa Yeates lay flowers close to Bristol and Clifton Golf Club to pay tribute to their daughter Joanna Yeates, where her body was found. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

Joanna Yeates may have known her killer, say Bristol police

Detectives believe that landscape architect Joanna Yeates may have been murdered by someone she knew rather than a random stranger.

Although in public police insist they are keeping an open mind over whether Yeates knew her killer, privately officers think it more likely that the murderer was a friend or an acquaintance.

Extra patrols are taking place in the Clifton area of Bristol, from where Yeates disappeared, but police have not issued warnings for women to take more precautions than usual. A police source said the way the inquiry was taking shape was not suggesting there was an "increased threat" to women.

Operation Braid, which was launched after Yeates went missing on 17 December, has been ratcheted up following the discovery of her body on Christmas morning and the conclusion of a postmortem that revealed Yeates had been strangled.

What began as a missing persons inquiry headed by two officers in charge of policing in Bristol has become a murder hunt led by Detective Chief Inspector Phil Jones, one of the most experienced members of Avon and Somerset police's major crime investigation unit.

He is running the investigation, which involves 70 detectives, uniformed officers and civilian staff, from a large open plan incident room at Kenneth Steele House, a modern building on an industrial estate at the back of Temple Meads railway station near the centre of Bristol.

Yeates, 25, was last seen on Friday 17 December at 8pm leaving the Ram pub on Park Street, near the city centre, where she had been drinking with work colleagues. She was reported missing on Sunday 19 December by her boyfriend, Greg Reardon, when he returned from a weekend in Sheffield with family and found her gone but her coat, keys, purse and bankcards still at the flat they shared.

At lunchtime the following day police launched a public appeal for help in finding Yeates.

Her route home was quickly established. Detectives found CCTV footage capturing her at Waitrose, a five minute walk from the Ram. They also obtained CCTV footage from the off-licence, the Bargain Booze store, where she bought cider.

Police established that Yeates then went to Tesco in Clifton and bought a pizza. CCTV footage shows her standing at the till, apparently alone. Yeates left Tesco at around 8.40pm and would have reached home in Canynge Road five minutes later. Police know she got there because they found the Tesco receipt in the flat, but not the pizza nor its packaging.

The police use of the media during the missing persons part of the inquiry was textbook. They first released a description, photos and CCTV footage of her visiting Waitrose. Her parents made a harrowing appeal for information and then the footage of her at Tesco was issued.

But she was almost certainly already dead, and on Christmas morning a couple walking their dogs at Failand three miles from Yeates's flat found her frozen, clothed body on a roadside verge.

The discovery gave officers another crime scene and, of course, the body itself. The snow was a blessing and curse. It meant that any biological evidence would have had a better chance of surviving. The conditions also helped narrow down when the body was left there – it was covered in snow suggesting strongly it was dumped on the weekend she disappeared because that was when the snow fell in Bristol.

But the state of the body also meant the postmortem took longer because the pathologist had to wait for it to unfreeze naturally - a desperate delay for detectives wanting to know how and when Yeates died.

During their press conference police were careful to hold back details. They would not say, for example, if tests showed she had eaten the pizza she bought from Tesco. Though the body was clothed they would not say if Yeates had a coat on.

Officers are studying CCTV footage taken from the cameras on the Clifton Suspension Bridge – the most direct route between the flat and the spot where the body was found. But they stressed there are other routes the killer may have used.

While the police have released images of Yeates in the supermarkets, they are holding back footage seized from the pub, which could show people who left at the same time – and who she was talking with.

Though there had been a great deal of focus on it, the CCTV footage is only one line of inquiry. Police have had a "number of telephone calls" from people in the Clifton area they are chasing up. They have, of course, spoken in detail to friends and colleagues and examined Yeates's phone and computers to build a picture of her life. They have also spoken to officers involved in other unsolved murders of young women.

Over the next few days the police will be keen to keep the case in the headlines, though it is unlikely they will stage a reconstruction of Yeates's last movements this Friday – two weeks after she vanished – because it will be New Year's Eve and the streets will be full of a different crowd.

If there are no quick breakthroughs, Yeates's family could be encouraged to make another appeal for help. They are said to be keen to help if they can.

Yesterday DCI Jones asked for help to solve the mystery and ease the pain of Yeates's family.

"Someone out there is holding that vital piece of information to help provide Joanna's family with the answers they need and want," he said.


Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Orhan Pamuk’s Snow: Tiring But Insightful

In Orhan Pamuk’s acclaimed novel Snow,a middle aged writer on political exile returns to his home country only to find that everything that was once familiar to him is changed. The novel set in Kars, a border town in Turkey, is a multilayered story dealing with subjects as varied as the conflict between East and West, religion, belief, God, secularism,love, art and power. The book has a snail-like pace, but rewards the patient reader with several profoundinsights about the topics it deal with. It makes us think about real people living and dealing with issues in a world where the gap between politics and religion is getting narrow by the day. Ka reaches the border city of Kars (Snow) as a journalist to investigate the suicideof several young girls and also to report on the mayoral elections. The previous mayor was killed and this time Muhtar Bey, of anIslamic party is the popular candidate expected to win the election. Radical Islam is slowly getting popular in a nation governed by seculars. The secular government has banned girls coming to educational institutes wearing head scarves. Political Islamists claim this as the reason for suicides. Ka has one more personal agendato fulfill- returning to Germany with his old lover Ipek, ex-wife of Muhtar. Heavy snowfall blocks the road for three days and there occurs a chain of events that change the life of everyone in Kars. Ka witness the death of an official and a drama troupe with the help of secret police and ex-military personnel conducts a coup. These events makes everyone involved introspect and find what is really important to them in life. More than the plot, it is the characterizationthat makes this novel interesting. Each person in the story is integral to the plot. Every one of the characters is strong willed and has their own value system according to which they act. Some of themlike Blue, the enigmatic terrorist and Sunoy, the actor who leads the coup, pronounce their beliefoutright. But some of them like Ipek or Kadife, her sister reveals it through their actions. Snow that falls incessantly and blocks all the exitsto Kars is also an integral character in the drama. Sometimessnowfall is contributesto solitude, sometimesto happiness and many other emotions according to the occasions. Ka gets back his ability to write poems in Kars and later he organizeshis poems that ‘come to him’ in Kars in the shape of a snow flake.Orhan Pamuk’s Snow is a profound novel that can be tiring but also insightful to readers who are ready to invest their time and effort.

  1. Nice review. I have yet to read a book by Orhan Pamuk, but I have wanted to read one ever since I heard of him. I gave the Museum of Innocence as a birthday gift to my sister, and she said the same things about it that you've said here about Snow : tiring, long but insightful. Having read him yourself, which Orhan Pamuk book would you recommend me to first read?

  2. I love your reviews and this one was no exception! Books that reward patient readers... Sometimes I love them, sometimes I don't. I guess it depends on how patient I am at the moment. But it's amazing when I reach the point in such a book when everything ties together and the insights come pouring in! I have My Name is Red the same author on my shelf but I'm yet to read it. This sounds like an amazing book too. Will be sure to check it out when I'm in the mood for something that requires introspection!


Forest Hills to Readville

From the MBTA passenger station with platforms on all tracks at Forest Hills  (MP 223.7), and the junction at Forest (MP 223.5), where freight speed revert to 45 mph, the Needham Branch turns away southwest and the Main Line turns south, CETC, overhead electrification, with speed limit 100 mph for passenger trains and 45 mph for freights, past the MBTA passenger station at Hyde Park (MP 220.3), the junction at Read (MP 219.6), where the Franklin Branch heads away west and the freight speed limit drops to 20 mph, the MBTA passenger station at Readville (MP 219.2), and the junction and crossovers at Transfer (MP 218.5), where the Dorchester Branch trails in on the east side, the number of tracks drops to two, and the speed limits become 95/50 on Track 1 and 100/50 on Track 2.


2 wounded by AK-47 gunfire in Bend

An argument that erupted in AK-47 gunfire over the weekend wounded 2 men and has 2 men facing criminal charges, including attempted murder.

The coin toss has an extensive history

Navia Aut Caput


While just after the accident the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) stated that there was no way that such a serious incident could have been predicted, the NRA's on-site investigation has revealed that, regardless of whether the accident could have been predicted, the facility staff were working without conducting proper safety procedures.

"There was no way to know the state of the vessel's contents, so the work was done extremely carefully," the JAEA had initially explained. It had also stated that the workers had been aware that the plastic bag around the materials had degraded over the 26 years it was in storage. The JAEA had also been aware since January of a similar case at another facility where the plastic bag in a container had swelled up.

However, the recent inquiry found that the workers at the Ibaraki facility decided that the item on the inspection safety checklist stating "risk of explosion, rupture or dispersal" was non-applicable before beginning their task, which their supervisor also approved. Furthermore, though there were five sealed workstations in the room, the workers chose to open the container at a simple, unsealed workstation instead. No work plan had been put together prior to the task.

"If the workers had used a sealed workstation, it is clear that this accident could have been prevented," lamented a JAEA representative.

"When handling plutonium, we cannot afford to make inexperienced or groundless decisions," declared NRA Chairman Shunichi Tanaka at a regular meeting of the authority on July 5. "(The JAEA's) safety culture is lacking."

The Mainichi on social media


Impound fees waived in Atlanta, DeKalb County

ATLANTA — Vehicle impound fees are being waived for some metro Atlanta drivers who became stranded during a winter storm earlier this week.

Atlanta police said in a statement Thursday that drivers of vehicles that were impounded by the department after the storm Tuesday will be given a credit form and case number they can present to the wrecker service to retrieve their vehicle at no cost.


51. Cold War

The Cold War is the name given to the historical period of strategic disputes and indirect conflicts between the United States and the Soviet Union, comprising the period between the end of World War II in 1945 and the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991, a conflict of political order, military, technological, economic, social and ideological between the two nations and their zones of influence.

The Cold War was also a dispute between capitalism, which sponsored dictatorial regimes in Latin America, represented by the United States, and the expansionist totalitarian socialism, which had abolished private property, defended by the Soviet Union and China. However, this characterization can be considered only for the period of the immediate post-WWII until the 50s. Soon after, in the 60s, the socialist bloc was divided and during the 70s and 80s, Communist China allied with the United States in the race against the Soviet Union.

It is cold calling because there was no direct war between the two superpowers, given the impossibility of victory in a nuclear war. The arms race by building a large arsenal of nuclear weapons was the central goal during the first half of the Cold War, stabilizing in the 60s to 70s.

Given the impossibility of resolving the conflict in the strategic plan, the traditional system of open and direct war would involve nuclear confrontation, the two superpowers began to dispute the power of political, economic and ideological influence worldwide. This process was characterized by the involvement of the United States and the Soviet Union in various regional wars, where each power supported one side in war. United States and the Soviet Union not only financed opposite sides in the clash, vying for political and ideological influence, but also to show their firepower and strengthening regional alliances.

The Korean War (1950-1953) and Vietnam (1962-1975) War are the most famous conflicts of the Cold War. Besides the famous tension in the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) and also in South America, the Falklands War (1982).

In 1991 the superpowers agreed to eliminate all ground tactical missiles armed with tactical nuclear warheads that were in Europe and on the Korean Peninsula by putting a definitive mark the end of the Cold War.

51. Cold War

Conteúdo correspondente:


Maleficent, the Mistress of All Evil

Maleficent is the head of the grand council of the Villain League before Facilier was ordered to recruit Cynder to the dark side once again. She is also the main antagonist of Sleeping Beauty.

To make a long story short, Maleficent represents pure evil. She is ruthless and devious, and will do whatever it takes to achieve her goals. Additionally, she is very spiteful, which is shown by taunting Prince Philip after she captures him. Her most famous quote "You poor simple fools. Thinking you could defeat me?! Me! The mistress of all evil!" indicates that she is somewhat narcissistic. She thinks herself above everyone, even calling her closest allies "her pets".

Role in the film

Placing a curse on Aurora

At the christening of the newly born Princess Aurora, the Three Good Fairies come to bestow three gifts on the child: Flora’s gift is Beauty, and Fauna’s is Song. Before Merryweather has a chance to give the child a gift Maleficent arrives with her Raven, perched on her staff. Angry at not receiving an invitation, she curses the child, decreeing that, before the sun sets on Aurora’s 16th birthday, the child shall die, by pricking her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel. She then leaves, cackling. Merryweather, unable to undo the entire curse herself, is able nevertheless to alter it such that Aurora will not die, but merely enter a deep sleep, to be broken with true love’s kiss.

Exacting Revenge

As Aurora's 16th birthday draws near, Maleficent punishes her Goons, who have stupidly been searching for a baby for 16 years, to find the princess. She then sends her raven Diablo to search for the princess. Diablo manages to find the hiding location of Aurora and the fairies. With this new information Maleficent plans her next move. When the princess and the fairies return to the castle late that afternoon, Maleficent finds Aurora alone and, as a hypnotic apparition resembling a will-o-the wisp, lures her up a secret stairway in the castle atop a high tower to a spinning wheel. She pricks her finger and falls to the floor. The fairies arrive in time for Maleficent to scoff at them; she then disappears. She and the Goons go to the cottage, where they wait for Prince Philip, who had arranged to meet Aurora (whom he only knew to be as a peasant girl). When he arrives, they capture him and take him to Maleficent's domain, the Forbidden Mountain.

Flora, Fauna and Merryweather rescue Philip and give him the Shield of Virtue and Sword of Truth; this is noticed by Diablo, who fetches the goons. The prince and fairies are still able to escape, and Merryweather turns Diablo to stone. However, Maleficent emerges, sees Philip escaping and attempts to strike him down with lightning. As he continues, she summons thorns to surround Stefan’s castle. When she sees that Philip, with help from the Good Fairies, is able to hack through the thorns, she appears before him, and transforms into an enormous dragon. The two battle, but Philip eventually kills her when Flora, Fauna and Merryweather enchant his sword. She falls from a great height, and Philip looks down to see that she has become her cloak on the land; the Sword of Truth, still embedded in the cloak, turns black.

Role in the series

Maleficent (Armor)

Maleficent's Dark Mode - by frame10

Maleficent serves as the Villain League's grand high sorceress and main instigator of the Heartless invasions aside from the darkspawn bird Fagin. She has the secret ability to summon a keyblade of darkness, forged from the fires of hell and with the ability to make Maleficent into her dragon form and to open dark portals for her to get to other worlds. She is also mentioned to be the second in command of Deathwing's forces in the Jak series, although how that works with her being Mirage's dragon in the Villain League is anyone's guess, it could be that the Jak series is more, alternate then the Spongebob series, like, another dimention thing.

Cruel Essence keyblade

The Cruel Essence; Maleficent's Keyblade

It is soon revealed in Spirited Away that in a one night stand with the Dark Dragon, she became the mother of Kohaku, a.k.a Haku. She wields the Cruel Essence keyblade, as well as owns a keyblade should guard armor that can allow her to be enshrouded in Keyblade Armor. However, the only time she used this was when Master Xehanort mind-controlled her during the crisis of the Great Cycle.

Her appearance in Disney Castle in KH 3D to threaten Minnie in person contradicts the existence of the Cornerstone of Light, to keep her and her villain forces out of the castle in the first place. However, this could be explained in that Master Xehanort's extensive enhancements to the timestream in order to awaken the 13 Seekers of Darkness caused a massive backlash of dark and time energy to cancel out the Cornerstone of Light's protective spell, allowing Maleficent brief access to make her attempt for Jiminy's Journal. Once she finds out about Master Xehanort's true scheming and her pawn role within it, Maleficent realizes that the data of the worlds would not help in the future and so decides to pay the old master a visit to warn him of her coming fury and reawakened powers of controlling that which sleeps in people's hearts, robbing his youngest self of the ability to control the Dream Eaters.

Ad blocker interference detected!


By NCoppedge
An index concept of programming incorporating AI-learned preferences to create functional and quickly accessible category options.

As a basis for this, opposites can be used as a basic conceptual framework for determining modes and contexts that constitute areas of functionality that have exclusivity.

The menu format makes major errors easily correctible.

Reward: I'd like to see consumer-level editions of this for designing books, artwork, etc.
By NCoppedge
Formatting menus to look like diagrams could expand the capacity of a standard indexical format. By "index" I don't necessarily mean a standard index as you might expect it to appear. Instead, every listing within the menu is categorized typologically so that the system efficiently uses all available options. If the index requires "dummy" listings that are dysfunctional, this just implies that the implementation needs to be re-designed.

Within any area of discrete applicability, exclusive categories combined with a menu-index system should create a logical network for refining and re-defining functional definitions or object-states, so that systems-level decisions can be made on the fly.
By NCoppedge
I take for granted that this concept could apply to interactive experiences in which one creates a scenario which may consist of category-based impressions in addition to standard visual and sound content.

A Place for problems and solutions

Team Innovating Forum

Are there forums for team innovating? Normally peo[…]

Whats your favorite Xbox game?

Mine is outrun2


Respiratory research

PMID 19116009

IL-13 is a critical mediator of allergic asthma and associated airway hyperresponsiveness. IL-13 acts through a receptor complex comprised of IL-13Ralpha1 and IL-4Ralpha subunits with subsequent activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 (STAT6). The IL-13Ralpha2 receptor may act as a decoy receptor. In human airway smooth muscle (HASM) cells, IL-13 enhances cellular proliferation, calcium responses to agonists and induces eotaxin production. We investigated the effects of pre-treatment with IL-4, IL-13 and IFN-gamma on the responses of HASM cells to IL-13. Cultured HASM were examined for expression of IL-13 receptor subunits using polymerase chain reaction, immunofluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. Effects of cytokine pre-treatment on IL-13-induced cell responses were assessed by looking at STAT6 phosphorylation using Western blot, eotaxin secretion and calcium responses to histamine. IL-13Ralpha1, IL-4Ralpha and IL-13Ralpha2 subunits were expressed on HASM cells. IL-13 induced phosphorylation of STAT6 which reached a maximum by 30 minutes. Pre-treatment with IL-4, IL-13 and, to a lesser degree, IFN-gamma reduced peak STAT6 phosphorylation in response to IL-13. IL-13, but not IFN-gamma, pre-treatment abrogated IL-13-induced eotaxin secretion. Pre-treatment with IL-4 or IL-13 abrogated IL-13-induced augmentation of the calcium transient evoked by histamine. Cytokine pre-treatment did not affect expression of IL-13Ralpha1 and IL-4Ralpha but increased expression of IL-13Ralpha2. An anti-IL-13Ralpha2 neutralizing antibody did not prevent the cytokine pre-treatment effects on STAT6 phosphorylation. Cytokine pre-treatment increased SOCS-1, but not SOCS-3, mRNA expression which was not associated with significant increases in protein expression. Pre-treatment with IL-4 and IL-13, but not IFN-gamma, induced desensitization of the HASM cells to IL-13 as measured by eotaxin secretion and calcium transients to histamine. The mechanism of IL-4 and IL-13 induced desensitization does not appear to involve either downregulation of receptor expression or induction of the IL-13Ralpha2 or the SOCS proteins.


Raising a glass to life

American composer and child prodigy Philip Glass has a life story that resonates on many levels, you need not even like music much to enjoy the book.

Light, love and laughter lift the oft-tragic life of contemporary musical colossus Philip Glass, as seen in his memoir of great style, depth and wit

By Philip Glass / Liveright hardback / 416 pages / $47.95 with GST from major bookstores or on loan from National Library Board branches under the call number English 780.92 GLA-[ART]

If you have a child who is gifted beyond his years, read this rousing memoir by American composer Philip Glass.

Glass, 78, was a child prodigy. Since then, he has spent the better part of 60 years confounding critics and audiences alike with his mesmerising, if head-scratching, music that can take more than five hours to perform.

His works also often pay homage to a host of cultures. For example, his 2005 composition Orion features musicians on the didgeridoo, sitar and pipa (Chinese lute), as well as a high-kicking, kilt-clad fiddler.

Composers of the 20th and 21st centuries consider Glass the most prolific living writer of contemporary music. Glass himself says that he has composed so many works, including more than 30 film scores and 20 operas, that he has forgotten some of them.

His is a life story that resonates on many levels, so you need not even like music much to enjoy the book.

  • How far would you go for your dreams?

  • Join senior writer Cheong Suk-Wai to ponder this on July 29 as the Big Read Meet discusses American composer Philip Glass' autobiography, Words Without Music. We will also discuss, in some depth, the nature of the creative process and how Glass' ideas could best be adapted to suit Singaporeans.

    The Meet will be held from 6.30pm in the Central Public Library at Basement 1, National Library Board headquarters, 100 Victoria Street.

    Sign up for it at the e-Kiosks in any NLB branch or go to and follow the steps there.

    If you cannot attend the Meet but have thoughts about Glass' ideas, e-mail your views, in no more than 100 words, to We will publish the best contributions in the Big Read.

First, it is a triumph of will over circumstance. As a musician, Glass tasted commercial success only at age 42. Up till then, he fed himself and his family by loading trucks, fixing pipes and driving cabs. Life in 1970s New York was so bleak that whenever he took his daughter Juliet for night spins in his cab, she "was sure that I had stolen the cab and that we were all going to be arrested".

Second, it is a cautionary tale about being too loyal to one's own. Glass looked up to his father Ben, a radio repairman-turned-record seller. But his burly father was also a vigilante, beating ne'er-do-wells to a pulp in the street such that Glass resolved never to tell his father who the street bullies were, to save them from being walloped. Glass is garrulous again in recalling his mother on her deathbed, still worrying about whether people would pay him for his music.

Third, it is a rare, telling insight into how creators of art think and behave. They include his great French teacher, the late Nadia Boulanger who, in between screaming at him in exasperation, taught him that "an authentic personal style cannot be achieved without a solid technique at its base".

For much of the book, he straddles two worlds at once - the first, full of posh palaces of culture such as New York's Metropolitan Opera, and the second, an unending grind of grit, grime and secondhand pianos and motorcycles.

Glass does seem to have had more than his fair share of tragedies. In 1983, his mother died after several amputations. Then his third wife, Candy Jernigan, a painter almost 20 years his junior, died of liver cancer after they were together for 10 years.

Glass is unsparing, but never cutting, about his most inexplicable setbacks, such as when he and his father did not speak for 15 years because he married someone who was not Jewish. Then, a week after father and son made up, the elder Glass died at age 67 after being hit by a car.

Fear and loathing are, however, notably absent from this absorbing book of twists and turns of fate. In their place is his laser-sharp focus, canny make-do ways and unflinching unsentimentality.

He is, however, not above launching into tirades against those who misunderstand his music. In Chapter 13, while recalling the first concerts he gave, he notes how a fellow composer described his music as what one would hear "if you take a C-major chord and just play it over and over again". Certainly, the most long-standing criticism of his music is that he plays a cluster of notes over and over again.

But Glass denies doing this, saying that if that was indeed what he did, the results would be "unlistenable". Instead, he claims in the book: "To make it listenable, you have to change the face of the music... so that the ear could never be sure of what it was going to hear."

He stresses further: "To miss that point is like going to a play and falling asleep, but waking up for the intermissions. You miss everything if all you hear are the intermissions."

Here, then, is how he continues to create and manage his muse:

•Determine early what to do with your life: Commit to pursuing what you believe in, no matter what others say or however hard or long it takes. Glass found that the hardest cynic respects talent powered by purpose, so if you know what you want, people will help you achieve it;

•Create beauty every day: Glass does so by setting aside three hours every morning to do nothing but write music. He then wills himself not to write a single note after those three hours. Doing so, he says, shapes one's focus;

•Be open to everything and everyone: By the age of 30, Glass had trekked through Iran, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Turkey and Tibet, reading George Orwell, Jack Kerouac and Herman Hesse along the way. Today, his distinctive music reflects the richness of the East and West and sets him apart from his peers;

•Think less, listen more: He says, let the "activity of playing be shaped by the activity of listening"; and

•Always be aware of your limitations, and work on these: Western-trained Glass wanted to collaborate with sitar supremo Ravi Shankar on a movie soundtrack in 1966. But they could not do so because he knew little about the Indian musical tradition of rhythm matching melody.

Glass' beguiling memories of light, love and laughter will likely linger long after you turn the last page. His friends and family will become yours, and so too their many lessons for living.

1 How should you decide what todo with your life?

2 How might you best focuson getting things done?

3 When are people most likely to help you?

4 Why is the world of a musician so different from the music business?

5 What is it really like to drink deep from the well of life?

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on July 05, 2015, with the headline 'Raising a glass to life'. Print Edition | Subscribe


Food for (my) thoughts

Came across a website earlier on, and read some articles that could be useful for me. One of them talks about addiction to food, which more aptly, the article states, could be “eating addiction”. There’s even a slideshow that was created to discuss it, along with groups at risk, prevention and so on.

As I clicked on the various links that expounded further on the topic of binge eating (disorder), a lot about the behaviour and feelings described resonated with me. I wonder if it could also be a case of a self-fulfilling prophecy as I try to draw myself into the box of people who may fall under the diagnosis of BED.

Looking back on 2016, so many things have happened this year that has physically and mentally worn me out. I hope I have made good progress on some fronts in terms of breaking through on some thoughts and ideas that have ceaselessly spun themselves in a spiral within the small compound of my mind. In the coming new year, I also hope that there can be real tangible progress that will move me forward, even if it is just for an inch. It certainly beats staying in the same spot, pondering the next move but never making it.

Movie Review: Passengers

Yes, I am on a roll today. I feel like I’ve neglected this space for so long, and I really want to get back into writing, even if all that I write (willingly) is for leisure and self-consumption. If only this could generate some sort of revenue that can constitute a side income, that would be great and ideal. But then again we do not live in an ideal world and so that is something that I can dream and hope for; if it doesn’t happen that way, so be it. If God has meant for it to happen, it will. If not, then I shall be content and happy just writing as a form of leisure or stress-relieve.

Back to the topic – movie. After the hiatus from movie-watching, in a span of a few days, I caught a couple of movies. The second show that I caught, on Boxing Day, was Passengers. Interestingly, Assassin’s Creed that I watched on Christmas Eve was based on mythology, while Passengers is a sci-fi movie. They are similar in that the subject matter dealt with is hypothetical. To be fair, most movies have an aspect that is hypothetical to a certain extent, I guess that is the reason why movies exist – to cater to the dreams and fantasies conjured up in the minds of humans that is currently not possible.

Passengers went down better with me in terms of how the plot played out; it flowed better for me and was way easier to grasp and understand in comparison. I am not a fan of science fiction, in fact I would have thought that mythology would appeal to me more, but I enjoyed the pace of this movie and its story. The emotional part felt more real to me, and resonated with me more, and the fact that space travel and hibernation seem more realistic than unravelling secrets through a fusion of technology, time travel and genealogy, especially with the apple of Eden thrown in the mix that supposedly held the secret to human will.

I won’t spoil the movie for anyone who is contemplating watching the movie while reading this, so I’m not talking about the plot but it shouldn’t be hard to guess. It is predictable in that way, and there are not many (if at all) twists – that wasn’t meant to be the case and clocking in at slightly less than 2 hours there also wasn’t that much room to play around if plot twists were planned.

Movie review: “Assassin’s Creed”

Aside from a recent (maybe not exactly ‘recent’ depending on how you would want to define it) movie I caught with a friend as part of the showing for the Israel Film Festival in September this year, it has been a very long time since I last caught a movie at the cinema. I cannot even remember what was the last movie that I had watched at the cinema, even though technically I visit the cinema halls fairly frequently.

On Christmas eve, my friends and I decided to spend part of the day watching a show in between our lunch and dinner. What better way to spend the eve of Christmas away from most of the crowds just feasting and enjoying right? Also, since we were at just one location for food and movie, it also meant we stayed out of the downpour that happened in the afternoon, that we were blissfully unaware of until we emerged post-movie.

Anyway, the movie we caught was ‘Assassin’s Creed’. I didn’t really know what the movie was going to be, except for a quick read of the synopsis hour before the movie when my friends asked if I was okay with catching it.

I shouldn’t think that the lack of background on a movie would have affected the viewing, but in this case, it somehow did. Apparently, Assassin’s Creed is based on a video game franchise of the same name, although the plot is original that expands on the game’s mythology. Being clueless about the the video game and the Spanish Inquisition, coupled with very little knowledge about the Templar Order, etc. got me lost in the movie. Whatever connotation I had of ‘Templar’ vaguely linked to what was being depicted in Dan Brown’s stories such as the Da Vinci Code.

Despite that, it’s quite clear and easy to grasp that the Apple of Eden was the object of desire by an organisation in current times, which they tried to obtain via scientific means that somehow to me, seemed very far-fetched and unbelievable. Maybe I am being unimaginative or too pragmatic to appreciate mythology and the vast possibilities that the reel world offers. However, the need to tell the story within a 2-hour time frame could have limited the scriptwriters’ scope in putting in a better flow of the story to render it more digestible.

I could blame myself for not watching it with a more open frame of mind, or it could boil down to the lack of patience to sit through a whole movie these days. It could still be an enjoyable show for those who revel in mythology and oh, based on how it ended (which for me was a little too abrupt), there could be high chances for a sequel.

Merry (belated) Christmas!

a Christmas that doesn’t feel like Christmas at all

Friendship at work?

I wonder if that is fact or myth.

I would like to believe that it is possible to form friendships at work, because most of the friends who I have now with whom I contact often and meet up with, are from work. There are just a few who have remained friends after we stepped out of the schools’ gates, whether by choice or by circumstance. But the ones I count as close friends now are mainly from my past jobs.

The thing is, we didn’t become friends or grow closer after we leave the companies that we worked together in. Which is why I have this faith in friendships formed at work. Yet, it is with examples that I also start to lose the faith with it.

It does seem now, that developing friendships is becoming an almost impossible feat. People seem to be guarded with information they divulge about themselves, and they seem to not be totally forthcoming in conversations, whether it’s about work or play. I know that we ought to be mindful of what we say, especially when we are still working in the same company, but shouldn’t friendship be characterised by trust? I don’t sense that feeling of trust here somewhat, and there is a lack of candidness. There is still that overall civility that is proof that we are still on ‘colleague’ terms, not friends.

There is certainly no need to feel sad or aggrieved at this, but I just find it strange. Having people at work whom you can talk to without that barrier helps to make an otherwise dreary job more bearable. Perhaps I just tend to trust people too easily, despite my professional background where I was meant to exercise scepticism in my line of work. But yet that is not to be.

right believing leads to right living

My last business trip was to Shanghai.


MONDAY 130114

Every Minute on the Minute for 12:00 perform the following:

9 Deadlift
7 Hang Power Clean
5 Push-Press

Note: Special “penalties” apply if you are unable to complete the evolution within the prescribed minute. Can you make it all 12:00 minutes? Prescribed weight is 135lb. for men and 95lb. for women.

CrossFit Amundson Epic Fitness Hike – Sign up at the Gym!

When you clearly envision a victorious outcome, engrave it in your heart and are firmly convinced that you will attain it, your brain makes every effort to realize the mental image you have created. Then, through unceasing efforts, victory is finally made reality. You are the playwright of your victory.” Daisaku Ikeda


Hall of Bulls, Lascaux

Map of France showing the location of Lascaux

Map of France showing the location of Lascaux

Location, location, location!

How did they do it?

The animals are rendered in what has come to be called “twisted perspective,” in which their bodies are depicted in profile while we see the horns from a more frontal viewpoint. The images are sometimes entirely linear—line drawn to define the animal’s contour. In many other cases, the animals are described in solid and blended colors blown by mouth onto the wall. In other portions of the Lascaux cave, artists carved lines into the soft calcite surface. Some of these are infilled with color—others are not.

The cave spaces range widely in size and ease of access. The famous Hall of Bulls (below) is large enough to hold some fifty people. Other “rooms” and “halls” are extraordinarily narrow and tall.

Archaeologists have found hundreds of stone tools. They have also identified holes in some walls that may have supported tree-limb scaffolding that would have elevated an artist high enough to reach the upper surfaces. Fossilized pollen has been found; these grains were inadvertently brought into the cave by early visitors and are helping scientists understand the world outside.

Hall of Bulls

Left wall of the Hall of Bulls, Lascaux II (replica of the original cave, which is closed to the public). Original cave: c. 16,000-14,000 B.C.E., 11 feet 6 inches long

Given the large scale of many of the animal images, we can presume that the artists worked deliberately—carefully plotting out a particular form before completing outlines and adding color. Some researchers believe that “master” artists enlisted the help of assistants who mixed pigments and held animal fat lamps to illuminate the space. Alternatively, in the case of the “rooms” containing mostly engraved and overlapping forms, it seems that the pure process of drawing and repetitive re-drawing held serious (perhaps ritual) significance for the makers.

Why did they do it?

Many scholars have speculated about why prehistoric people painted and engraved the walls at Lascaux and other caves like it. Perhaps the most famous theory was put forth by a priest named Henri Breuil. Breuil spent considerable time in many of the caves, meticulously recording the images in drawings when the paintings were too challenging to photograph. Relying primarily on a field of study known as ethnography, Breuil believed that the images played a role in “hunting magic.” The theory suggests that the prehistoric people who used the cave may have believed that a way to overpower their prey involved creating images of it during rituals designed to ensure a successful hunt. This seems plausible when we remember that survival was entirely dependent on successful foraging and hunting, though it is also important to remember how little we actually know about these people.

Another theory suggests that the images communicate narratives (stories). While a number of the depictions can be seen to do this, one particular image in Lascaux more directly supports this theory. A bison, drawn in strong, black lines, bristles with energy, as the fur on the back of its neck stands up and the head is radically turned to face us (below).
Disemboweled bison and bird-headed human figure? Cave at Lascaux, c. 16,000-14,000 B.C.E.

A form drawn under the bison’s abdomen is interpreted as internal organs, spilling out from a wound. A more crudely drawn form positioned below and to the left of the bison may represent a humanoid figure with the head of a bird. Nearby, a thin line is topped with another bird and there is also an arrow with barbs. Further below and to the far left the partial outline of a rhinoceros can be identified.

Interpreters of this image tend to agree that some sort of interaction has taken place among these animals and the bird-headed human figure—in which the bison has sustained injury either from a weapon or from the horn of the rhinoceros. Why the person in the image has the rudimentary head of a bird, and why a bird form sits atop a stick very close to him is a mystery. Some suggest that the person is a shaman—a kind of priest or healer with powers involving the ability to communicate with spirits of other worlds. Regardless, this riveting image appears to depict action and reaction, although many aspects of it are difficult to piece together.

Preservation for future study

The Caves of Lascaux are the most famous of all of the known caves in the region. In fact, their popularity has permanently endangered them. From 1940 to 1963, the numbers of visitors and their impact on the delicately balanced environment of the cave—which supported the preservation of the cave images for so long—necessitated the cave’s closure to the public. A replica called Lascaux II was created about 200 yards away from the site. The original Lascaux cave is now a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. Lascaux will require constant vigilance and upkeep to preserve it for future generations.

Many mysteries continue to surround Lascaux, but there is one certainty. The very human need to communicate in the form of pictures—for whatever purpose—has persisted since our earliest beginnings.

Additional resources:
Gregory Curtis, The Cave Painters: Probing the Mysteries of the World’s First Artists (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006).
Cite this page as: Mary Beth Looney, "Hall of Bulls, Lascaux," in Smarthistory, November 19, 2015, accessed October 19, 2017, https://smarthistory.org/hall-of-bulls-lascaux/.


San Salvador

General Information

Tradition holds that this island was the first landmass that Christopher Columbus reached during his voyage to the New World in 1492. Rising to heights of 140 feet above sea level, the island boasts fine beaches, a scrub-covered landscape dotted with lakes that contain both fresh and brackish water, and a landmass that measures 6 by 12 miles. Its height has always made it a useful navigational aid for mariners negotiating local sea lanes, and for several decades, lighthouses have been maintained to assist them. A single, badly rutted road skirts the island's 35-mile perimeter.

More information coming soon.


Version 5.2 Collection of 18 DHS DHS Ryabushko

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DHS - 5.2
№1.18. Prove that the function f (x) = tg (x 2 + 2x); φ (x) = x2 + 2x as x → 0 are the infinitesimal of the same order of smallness.
№2.18 Find limits.
№3.18 investigate these functions continuity and build their schedules.
№4.18 investigate these functions continuity at these points. f (x) = 3x / (x - 4); x1 = 4; x2 = 5.

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I have a CakePHP web application with MS Sql Server as Database.

Currently it has all inline queries.

I would want to convert it to use stored procedures instead of those inline queries.

More details to interested people.

Beceriler: CakePHP, Microsoft SQL Server, PHP, Yazılım Mimarisi

Daha fazlasını görün: web application with cakephp, cake php, ashutosh9910, mssql stored, application mssql, cakephp server, database mssql, mssql web, mssql database, application cakephp, convert php cakephp, mssql convert, php sql stored procedures, convert sql php sql, cakephp application, software procedures, cakephp sql server, convert stored procedures mssql oracle, convert php software, sql mssql, cake cake php, convert net stored procedures oracle, copy stored procedures mssql 2000, convert stored procedures webservice, convert sql stored procedures oracle

İşveren Hakkında:
( 4 değerlendirme ) Jaipur, India

Proje NO: #6547372

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expertise in cakephp, php/mysql,html,html-5,bootstrap,android,css,css-3,(MVC),LARAVEL 4,symfony-2,YII,have more than 11 year of experience we build more then 100 php/mysql projects worked on joomla,wordpress,magento Daha fazlası

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Hello How much queries is in your app? (or how big is your app?) How will be work organizied? ( Regards. Yuriy

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Eco-Friendly Funerals

cardboard-coffinCoffins can be made from eco-friendly materials that have less impact on the environment than the traditional wood options.

Eco-friendly materials available include bamboo, willow, banana leaves and cardboard. These coffins are 100% natural and biodegradable, lined and robust and resemble traditional coffins in their appearance.

Cardboard coffins also offer the option of customising to create a more personalised and unique casket if required.

Our eco-friendly coffins are suitable for burial at woodland burial sites, including the South Downs site in Meon Valley. This location was previously a conifer plantation on part of the naval base HMS Mercury and provides a tranquil resting place. Please ask a member of our staff for more details.


• Welcome

    Osho Kundalini Meditation is a shaking and dancing meditation in four stages, best done at sunset or in the late afternoon.

    This meditation helps your energy to flow and to be transformed into bliss and joy. By being fully immersed in the shaking and dancing of the first two stages, you 'melt' any blocks in your body and being, bringing a liquid flow to places where your energy feels blocked. The last two stages are there to move your energy upwards into silence. It is a highly effective way of unwinding and letting go at the end of a busy day.

    This meditation lasts one hour and has four stages. Each stage is demarked by music which has been specifically made for this meditation. Keep your eyes closed throughout. It can be done alone, but can be even more powerful if it is done with others.

    However, it is an individual experience so you should remain oblivious of others around you and keep your eyes closed throughout, preferably using a blindfold. It is best to wear loose, comfortable clothing.

  • Shaking

    "Enjoy it, but don't will it. And remember, whenever you will a thing you cannot enjoy it. They are reverse, opposites; they never meet. If you will a thing you cannot enjoy it, If you enjoy it you cannot will it."     Osho


Human Factors

Electrical Safety Measures That Power Your Compliance Program

Working with electricity is dangerous. According to OSHA, most workplace incidents involving electricity are caused by unsafe equipment and/or installation, unsafe environment, or unsafe work practices.

7 Common Manufacturing Hazards When Working With Robots

6 Qualities That Make a Safety Leader

A strong safety culture depends on dedicated leaders. They are the people who spearhead the fight for a safer work environment. A good safety leader isn’t shy about bringing concerns to the attention of their superiors or about encouraging others to do their part to keep themselves and others safe.

Strategies for Workplace Noise Protection

Modern life is far from peaceful and quiet. Continuous exposure to sound levels above 85 decibels (dB) are harmful and not many people realize how many everyday sounds are louder than the recommended exposure limit—including lawnmowers, power tools, garbage disposals, blenders and food processors.

How Technology Can Help Your Workforce With Fatigue

How To Identify Workplace Safety Champions

Workplace safety champions are the beating heart of a strong health and safety culture. They are people who are passionate about safety, take an active role on safety committees or lead by example among their peers.

5 Important Topics for Confined Spaces Training

Confined space is an area that has limited space and limited openings for entry and exit. Examples of confined space include tunnels, silos, vats, access shafts, truck or rail tank cars, manholes, and storage bins. These spaces should be occupied for short periods of time only, and always while taking necessary precautions.