We may still be a year out from the next general election, but until the polls close on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, politics will be inescapably in the air—and in the workplace. Employees will be talking, sometimes arguing, and sometimes participating in one campaign or another. Prudent nonprofits should take note of what they may be required to do or are prohibited from doing about their employees’ desire to participate in the electoral process.

The Workplace Is Not a “Free Country.” Let’s start with the basics: the First Amendment does not apply to the private workplace. The Constitution does not prevent private employers from restricting their employees’ political speech. Nonprofits generally can restrict employees’ speech during work time and on work equipment, especially if the organization has a legitimate, business-related reason to do so.

Your Tax-Exempt Status. Nonprofits that are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) may not themselves engage in any political campaign activity (i.e., activity to support or oppose candidates for elective office). The IRS has said that individuals who work for 501(c)(3)s generally maintain their right to engage in political campaign activity, but they have to do so in a way that does not implicate their employer. For example, employees—particularly senior employees—must be careful when endorsing candidates or making other political statements so that it does not appear the organization is endorsing the candidate. The IRS has said that communications should include a clear disclaimer that “titles and affiliations of each individual are provided for identification purposes only” when a nonprofit leader’s name and position are included. Employees also should not make endorsements during nonprofit meetings and events.

For 501(c)(4), (5), and (6) organizations, which are allowed to engage in some political campaign activity, what an employee does or says on his or her own time is not likely to threaten your tax-exempt status.

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register nowLast month the Chicago Board of Ethics made headlines when it fined former Obama administration official David Plouffe $90,000 for failing to register as a lobbyist after communicating with city officials by email.

But the story did not end there. According to the Chicago Tribune, the city’s ethics board is now looking into potential lobbying registration violations by dozens of individuals and companies. As with the Plouffe matter, these potential violations trace back to messages sent to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s personal email accounts, which were released in response to a pair of open records lawsuits.

These developments in Chicago serve as a potent reminder of the penalties and reputational risks from ignoring state and local lobbying registration laws.

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On January 28, 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order that imposes an extra layer of ethics obligations on presidentially appointed members of the White House and Executive Branch.

Overall, President Trump’s Executive Order takes a somewhat different approach than the “Ethics Pledge” issued by the Obama administration, expanding some restrictions and loosening others. In


Thank you for attending the Ultra-Containment Berm webinar. Resources are below:

  •  Q&A

    What chemicals are compatible with the liners?
    There is a "Chemical Compatibility" link toward the bottom of each product page on our website. You can also go to the "Support" section of our website and click on the "Chemical Compatibility" link. Please keep in mind there are five different guides so be sure that you are choosing the correct one.

    Is there a Containment Berm that works better for snow or cold climates?
    There is not a particular model of Ultra-Containment Berm that is better for snow but it may be wise to avoid the Rapid Rise Model since large accumulations of snow could prevent the sidewalls from rising if a spill occurs. Our Containment Berms can be made using a urethane material that has a lower operating temperature. Contact us for more information.

    Can you modify the products on request?
    Most of our Containment Berms are made to order. We can build them to just about any size that is needed by your customer.

    On the berm flowchart (Path to the Perfect Product), there is no specification for forklifts; both pneumatic and solid tires. Big issue is with solid tires and having an effective berm solution.
    This is a good point. We will have to take a look at revising the chart to help indicate which Berms would do better with forklifts.

    Can you make a Containment Wall 6 feet high?
    Not at the moment. The highest size right now is 3 feet.

    Can the Self-Bailer absorb chemicals?
    No unfortunately only hydro-carbon based liquids.

    Another company makes a nice bag with handles on it that carries their containment berms. This is a nice feature for those pulling the berms from inside a warehouse to take on site. Are we able to make something similar that we can pack our smaller sized berms in?
    We have before. It is only beneficial though on the initial set. Hard to put a spilled in berm back in it.

    Will there be other meetings for the rest of the products to clarify more rather than see the product specifications from the company's website to understand more?
    We plan to have more webinars and would love to get input/feedback from you on what you might like to learn about.


Divingand Snorkelling in Sri Lanka

Explore old shipwrecks and experience the stunning marine life that thrives in the tropical waters of Sri Lanka.

The island of Sri Lanka is surrounded by a number of sites that are great for scuba diving and snorkelling. If you are a beginner, or have never done diving before, there are PADI diving centres that can assist and guide you to make the most of your underwater adventures. If you are an experienced diver, you can hire equipment from diving schools and explore wrecks, reefs and marine life to your heart’s content.

Sri Lanka is an all-year-round scuba diving destination. However, there are certain sites that can only be accessed during specific times of the year, so it is best to check before you plan your trip. November to May is the ideal time to dive in the west and southwest coast of the island, while April to October is the best time to dive in the northeast coast.

The waters that surround the island are home to an incredibly diverse array of marine life, ranging from massive blue whales to tiny sea slugs. You will see a variety of reef fish such as clown, sweet lips, batfish and titan triggerfish, as well as giant barracuda, humphead parrotfish, humphead wrasse, honeycomb moray eels and sea turtles. For those who love macro critters, nudibranch, shrimp, crabs, mollusks, hard and soft corals and sponges can be found at many of the dive sites. Some lucky divers will be able to see blue whales, sperm whales, reef sharks, whale sharks, spotted and bottlenose dolphins in deeper waters. Snorkelers and divers who explore the waters around the island can always be certain of seeing a spectacular display of colours and activity.

Sri Lanka has long been a prominent port of call for ships sailing along the central Asian maritime routes. Therefore, it is not surprising that a number of ships have met their tragic ends along the more treacherous parts of the island. The country has a high concentration of shipwrecks in a smaller area, compared to other South Asian destinations. Of the hundreds of wrecks found around the coast, about 75 can be explored by divers. Since many of them lie at a depth of 30-40 meters, they can be reached by recreational divers as well. However, wrecks below 40 meters can only be accessed by trained, advanced divers. Some wrecks are still being discovered by local divers. Apart from containing intriguing objects such as cannons and crockery that sank with ships, many of these wrecks are also covered in colourful marine life, corals, macros critters and much more.

Check out the many diving sites available in Sri Lanka, and make plans to visit the country for your next diving expedition.


Lenovo 4180HM8

Performance Results

Benchmarks - excluding SSD
Gaming 12%
Tree trunk
Desktop 32%
Sail boat
Workstation 15%
Tree trunk
PC StatusOverall this PC is performing as expected (41st percentile). This means that out of 100 PCs with exactly the same components, 59 performed better. The overall PC percentile is the average of each of its individual components.
ProcessorWith an average single core score, this CPU can handle browsing the web, email, video playback and the majority of general computing tasks including moderate gaming when coupled with an appropriate GPU. Finally, with a gaming score of 37.3%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is below average.
SystemLenovo 4180HM8  (all builds)
MotherboardLENOVO 4180HM8
Memory0.9 GB free of 4 GB @ 1.3 GHz
Display1366 x 768 - 32 Bit colors
OSWindows 10
BIOS Date20111128
Uptime24.6 Days
Run DateDec 07 '19 at 23:38
Run Duration147 Seconds
Run User USA-User
Background CPU 26%

 PC Performing as expected (41st percentile)

Processor Bench Normal Heavy Extreme
Intel Core i5-2520M-$144
CPU, 1 CPU, 2 cores, 4 threads
Base clock 2.5 GHz, turbo 3 GHz (avg)
Performing below expectations (39th percentile)
37.3% Below average
1-Core 80.7
2-Core 125
50% 103 Pts
4-Core 140
8-Core 186
21% 163 Pts
64-Core 187
13% 187 Pts
Poor: 20%
This bench: 37.3%
Great: 44%
Graphics Card Bench 3D DX9 3D DX10 3D DX11
Intel HD 3000 (Mobile V2 1.3 GHz)
Legend(17AA 21CE) 1.8GB
Driver: igdumd64.dll Ver.
Performing below expectations (32nd percentile)
1.35% Terrible
Lighting 6.3
Reflection 9.2
Parallax 4.9
2% 6.8 fps
MRender 6.7
Gravity 3.9
Splatting 8.4
1% 6.33 fps
Poor: 1%
This bench: 1.35%
Great: 1%
Drive Bench Sequential Random 4k Deep queue 4k
WD Blue 2.5" 320GB (2010)-$28
157GB free (System drive)
Firmware: 01.01A01
SusWrite @10s intervals: 37 32 35 30 24 29 MB/s
Performing way below expectations (3rd percentile)
13.1% Very poor
Read 14
Write 55
Mixed 42
SusWrite 31.1
27% 35.5 MB/s
4K Read 0.5
4K Write 1.5
4K Mixed 0.6
115% 0.87 MB/s
Poor: 17%
This bench: 13.1%
Great: 48%
Memory Kit Bench Multi core Single core Latency
Samsung M471B5773CHS-CH9 2x2GB
2 of 2 slots used
Performing way above expectations (92nd percentile)
47.4% Average
MC Read 17
MC Write 16.5
MC Mixed 14.8
46% 16.1 GB/s
SC Read 13.5
SC Write 15
SC Mixed 13.3
40% 13.9 GB/s
Latency 67.2
60% 67.2 ns
Poor: 16%
This bench: 47.4%
Great: 48%
Take a copy of your results

 System Memory Latency Ladder

Typical 4180HM8 Builds (Compare 2 builds) See popular component choices, score breakdowns and rankings.
Gaming 0%
Desktop 0%
Workstation 0%

System: Lenovo 4180HM8

EDIT WITH CUSTOM PC BUILDER Value: 45% - Average Total price: $144
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Performing Arts

Performing Arts

Performing Arts

Japan’s history of performing arts is as diverse as its many islands, with traditions that stretch back centuries. Lovers of theatre will marvel at the ornate costumes, larger than life characters, physical precision, and stirring musical scores. Japanese theatrical experiences are also lessons in history and architecture, with many performing arts events occurring in purpose-built theatres that have been used for centuries.

Kabuki is one of three major classical theatres of Japan, emerging in the Edo Period and still performed to this day. Those seeking a colourful, energetic example of Japanese theatre would enjoy this traditional art form. Kabuki is not unlike a version of Japanese opera, in that everything is very big, with highly exaggerated performers adorned in extravagant costumes and makeup.

The purpose-built Kabuki theatres are replete with trapdoors for surprise appearances, and a catwalk that cuts a path through the audience so you can see the ornate costumes up close. Like Western opera, Kabuki draws on classic tales of love, intrigue, and betrayal to create their narratives, and is performed in an older version of Japanese that even locals rarely understand, but visitors can often hire headsets with an English commentary so you can follow the story.

Noh was the first theatrical art in Japan, and one of the oldest surviving theatrical forms in the
world. Established in the 14th century, Noh draws on classic myths and history to present meditative performances with a slow, hypnotic rhythm.

Much of Noh concerns itself with dreams and the supernatural and as such the performances are highly stylised, relying on masks and a deep, slow style of vocal delivery. Since the 14th century, all the performers in a Noh company have been men.

Bunraku is an elaborate form of puppet theatre in which three-quarter-life sized wooden and porcelain figures are masterfully manipulated and seemingly come to life. Like Kabuki, Bunraku draws on classic tales of love, intrigue, and betrayal to create their narratives. While each puppet is controlled by three separate puppeteers, the entire performance is narrated by just one vocalist, who gives voice to every character.

Geisha and Maiko

The theatre is not the only place visitors can experience Japanese performing arts. One of the most recognisable symbols of Japanese culture, the geisha, and their younger apprentices known as Maiko, are trained in Japanese cultural arts such as tea ceremony and flower-arrangement, traditional song and dance, and musical instruments. They typically entertain guests with dance, musical performances, and artful conversations in ochaya, or tea houses, as well as Japanese-style restaurants.

Within the walls of the very private ochaya, exquisite Japanese banquets usually accompany every geisha performance. When they are not singing, dancing or playing musical instruments for their intimate gathering of guests, the geisha’s utmost priority is making everyone feel comfortable. While ochaya can be found in several areas across Japan, those in Tokyo, Kyoto and Kanazawa are most likely to welcome international guests to this exclusive world.


UEFA Champions League Qualifying

UEFA Champions League Qualifying

For much of its history the UEFA Champions League has been contested by clubs winning their domestic leagues in the season prior to the competition. The event started as a knockout tournament contested by clubs from Europe’s biggest leagues.

As the UEFA Champions League expanded, so did the number of clubs participating, and in the 1992/1993 season the rules for qualification were amended to allow teams finishing at the top of their domestic leagues to compete for Europe’s biggest football prize.

The UEFA Coefficients Table

At present the UEFA Champions League is contested by the league champions of every UEFA member association, including tiny member nations like Andorra and San Marino. The only European member country presently excluded from the competition is Liechtenstein.

In UEFA Champions League qualifying the remainder of the teams entering the competition are decided by ranking in their domestic league and the ranking of that nation’s league on the UEFA coefficients table. Depending on a country’s ranking on the table that country is allowed to submit additional teams to the competition.

The countries ranked first, second and third are allowed to submit four teams each, countries ranked fourth to sixth submit three teams each, countries ranked seventh through to 15th submit two teams each and the remaining members of UEFA are restricted to submitting their national league champions.

In effect this means that clubs in the most competitive leagues are rewarded with European berths even if they are only within the top four in the final standings of their domestic leagues. Finally, a berth is reserved for the reigning UEFA Champions League champions if they do not qualify through their domestic leagues.

A country’s position on the UEFA coefficient table is subject to change and is based on the performance of member clubs in European competitions. The latest league standings on the UEFA coefficient table are available here. Standings reflect the number of teams permitted to enter the Champions League in the next season.

Stage of Entry

The final important factor in UEFA Champions League qualifying is the stage of entry into the competition. Clubs qualifying through national associations placed lower on the UEFA coefficients table are entered into the competition during the qualifying rounds. In contrast, clubs from the top leagues automatically qualify for the UEFA Champions League group stages.


Conservation groups sue to block start of seismic airgun blasting in atlantic – eastern shore post gas national average 2009

The suit and the injunction contends the Trump administration has given approval to five companies for seismic airgun blasting in violation of three federal laws: the Marine Mammal electricity storage association Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act. The request for an injunction was filed because the suit has not yet been heard d cypha electricity futures.

“Up and down the Atlantic coast, businesses, communities and bipartisan elected officials are overwhelmingly opposed to seismic airgun blasting,” said Hoskins. “Every East Coast governor and over 90 percent of coastal municipalities in the blast zone are opposed to opening our coast to drilling – this is ‘States versus President Trump.’ We are going to do everything in our power to stop this unlawful, irreparable and needless harm.”

The filing also asserts that because the blasts will happen approximately electricity units of measurement every 10 seconds for weeks or months at a time, there will be overlapping, simultaneous, and cumulative effects greater than the effects of any individual seismic blasting operation. It also takes issue with the National Marine Fisheries Service gas vs electric oven (NMFS) determination that a small number of whales and dolphins would be harmed.

The “harassments” are divided into Level A, those with the potential to injure a marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild, and Level B, those with the potential to disturb a marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild by causing disruption of behavioral patterns, including, but not limited gas 78 to, migration, breathing, nursing, breeding, feeding, or sheltering.

TGS was given authorization for Level basic electricity quizlet A harassments (potential direct injury) for four humpback whales, four minke whales, four fin whales, five Kogia, and three harbor porpoises. Level B harassment authorizations were granted for nine right whales, 56 humpback whales, 208 minke whales, two Bryde’s whales, two sei whales, 1,140 fin whales, one blue whale, 3,579 sperm whales, 1,216 Kogia whales, 12,072 beaked whales, four bottlenose whales, 50 melon-headed whales, six pygmy killer whales, 28 false killer whales, and 8,902 pilot whales. In addition la gas prices now, the permit grants Level B harassment of 261 rough-toothed dolphins, 40,595 common bottlenose dolphins, 821 clymene dolphins, 41,222 Atlantic spotted dolphins, 1,470 Pantropical spotted dolphins, 91 spinner dolphins, 23,418 striped dolphins, 53,728 common gas bloating diarrhea dolphins, 204 Fraser’s dolphins, 48 Atlantic white-sided dolphins, 3,241 Risso’s dolphins, and 322 harbor porpoises. That’s 20 Level A harassments and more than 150,000 Level B harassment authorizations for one of the five companies, albeit the largest operation of the five.

The suit also alleges the number of mammals authorized to be harassed is contrary to the Marine Mammal Protection gas and water Act, which prohibits activities that can disturb, injure, or kill marine mammals, unless NMFS authorizes the activities after making certain findings. “NMFS may give its authorization only gas vs electric water heater cost per year if it finds, among other things, that activities will injure or disturb ‘small numbers’ of marine mammals and will have no more than a ‘negligible impact’ on each marine mammal species or stock.


28 foreign life insurance companies' net profit increased by

A few days ago, the Office of the Financial Stability Development Committee of the State Council announced 11 policy measures for further opening up of the financial industry (referred to as “National 11 Articles”), which caused widespread concern. In fact, with the further promotion of the opening up measures of the insurance industry in the past two years and the deepening of the industry transformation, foreign life insurance companies (domestic joint venture life insurance and one wholly foreign life insurance company collectively referred to as “foreign life insurance companies”) According to the statistics of the "Securities Daily" reporters, the total net profit of 28 foreign life insurance companies has increased by more than five times in the past two years.

With the landing of “National 11 Articles”, the ills that have been plaguing foreign-invested life insurance companies, such as equity structure problems, capital issues, and channel problems, are expected to be cured. Guo Ting Securities analyst Ma Tingting believes that the channel, ownership structure and capital are still the three major mountains that restrict the development of foreign life insurance companies. Among them, the ownership structure problem is expected to be formally resolved in 2020 under the promotion of “National 11 Articles”. Some foreign shareholders have the willingness to acquire all the shares to become sole-owned life insurance companies. The stable management and company strategy will become the cornerstone of the company's long-term development. At the same time, the overall competition in the insurance industry will be strengthened.

Liu Zhenyu, general manager of Hengan Standard Life Insurance, said in an interview with Securities Daily that the liberalization of foreign shareholding restrictions would benefit the development of joint venture life insurance companies. Joint venture life insurance companies also have advantages in the development process. For example, the company can learn from the foreign shareholders a lot of advanced management concepts in management and investment. In general, the shareholders of the company get along well and are optimistic about the development prospects of the joint venture insurance company.

Intensifying the “squid effect” of the life insurance industry

Recently, the Office of the Financial Stability Development Committee of the State Council announced that it has introduced 11 measures for opening up the financial industry on the basis of in-depth research and evaluation, including the insurance industry. There are three main related policies: First, the transition period from the 51% to 100% limit for personal insurance for foreign-invested individuals is advanced from 2021 to 2020. Second, the cancellation of the domestic insurance company's total holding of the insurance asset management company's shares must not be less than 75%, allowing foreign investors to hold more than 25% of the shares. The third is to relax the conditions for entry of foreign-invested insurance companies and cancel the 30-year operating period.

In this regard, Ma Tingting believes that the rapid advancement of opening up will help the overall quality of the industry, but the competition in the life insurance industry will haveThe enhancement is mainly reflected in the following three aspects.

In terms of life insurance, the advancement of time and the moderate relaxation of business requirements will enable more overseas quality insurance companies to enter the Chinese market, introduce more diversified products and more advanced management concepts, and increase the vitality of the life insurance market. Enhance the economic ability of the service entity, enrich the supply of products in the insurance market, and promote product innovation and development under the protection of the source.

In terms of asset management business, overseas insurance companies have more experience in asset management, more stable investment and stronger global asset allocation capability. Joint venture insurance management companies help domestic insurance companies to absorb foreign countries. Experience in asset allocation of high-quality insurance companies, long-term stable asset allocation for insurance, strengthen risk control, and promote high-quality development of the industry as a whole.

For domestic insurance companies, foreign-invested insurance companies will form a certain competitive edge in the mid- to high-end customer base of life insurance business. In the context of foreign capital entry, China's life insurance companies improve customer service and customer satisfaction through the advantages of agent team and network construction, and enhance customer stickiness by providing cost-effective products with health insurance and long-term savings insurance as the core. .

28 joint venture insurers increased their net profit by 5 times in two years

From the perspective of the development path of foreign life insurance companies in China, foreign life insurance companies first entered China. In 1992, AIA established a branch in Shanghai. Prior to this, foreign insurance companies could set up representative offices in China, while other branches of foreign insurance companies and joint ventures were also severely restricted, mainly providing insurance services for foreign-invested enterprises and individuals in China. Since then, joint venture insurance companies have been established one after another, with a total of 28 developments, of which the majority of foreign-invested shares are 50:50.

From the current situation of joint ventures, it is basically based on foreign-invested enterprises + Chinese-funded state-owned enterprises. This is not only considering capital strength, avoiding horizontal competition, but also because state-owned enterprises have more resource advantages and at the same time Prevent capital outflows. State-owned enterprises have also expanded their business scope by means of joint ventures to establish insurance companies, and can insure their own insurance business.

Since 2005, due to the rapid rise of domestic bancassurance channels, the main risk-insurance companies have not had advantages in terms of channels and products, and the proportion of premiums has fluctuated. But since 2011, the sales channels andThe Internet channel has gradually exerted its strength, and foreign-invested insurance companies have also actively seized channel opportunities, and the proportion of premium income has started to increase year by year.

However, after 2017, subject to industry regulation, the size of medium and short-term surviving products has shrunk sharply, while foreign-invested insurance has been dominated by traditional insurance and health insurance because of the small number of such businesses. The impact is relatively limited, and the proportion of premium income has increased significantly.

In this round of industry transformation and upgrading, the business advantages of foreign life insurance companies have begun to manifest themselves. For example, according to the Securities Daily reporter, the original premium market of foreign life insurance companies in 2016, 2017 and 2018 The share was 6.4%, 7.42%, 8%, although the share did not break through 10%, but there was a sustained and steady growth.

At the same time, with the increase in the proportion of premium income, there is also an improvement in operating efficiency. The better management and control of foreign life insurance companies, the gradual improvement of liability-side premiums, the impact of reserves and the capital increase of some companies have significantly improved their strength. Many companies have gradually realized profitability. In 2016, 2017 and 2018, 28 foreign capitals The number of loss-making companies in life insurance companies has decreased year by year (12, 10, and 8 respectively), and the total net profit has increased significantly (2.426 billion yuan, 7.834 billion yuan, 12.988 billion yuan respectively), and 2018 compared with 2016 net profit. More than 5 times the increase.

Institutional problems are expected to be resolved

With the introduction of “National 11 Articles”, institutional problems that have plagued foreign life insurance companies for many years are expected to be completely resolved. Ma Tingting believes that the shareholding structure, channels and capital are still the three major mountains that restrict the development of foreign life insurance companies, and the introduction of the “National 11 Articles” is expected to solve these problems.

From the perspective of equity issues that have received much attention from the industry, the equity issue has had drawbacks in terms of management structure and capital transfer. First, in terms of management structure, frequent changes in management and strategy are the biggest costs of the company's operations. At present, the joint venture life insurance company is basically a 50% shareholding of the Chinese and foreign shareholders. In practice, the foreign shareholder usually arranges the CEO or the general manager, the Chinese shareholder to arrange the chairman, or the two shareholders rotate in the management. . This will cause differences between the two shareholders in terms of management and management due to differences in philosophy and objectives, and the rotation system will also make both shareholdersThere are reservations about source support. Second, in terms of capital increase and transfer, due to the regulatory requirements of the shareholding ratio structure, the capital increase requires the two parties to reach an agreement and increase the capital in the same proportion. When the share transfer, the Chinese capital needs to be transferred to Chinese capital and foreign capital to foreign investment, which limits the development of the company's business to a certain extent. However, the issue of shareholding structure is expected to be formally resolved in 2020 under the promotion of “National Article 11”. At that time, some foreign shareholders will have the willingness to acquire all the shares to become sole-owned life insurance companies. The stable management and strategy will become the long-term development of the company. cornerstone.

In terms of capital issues, the company’s development will be significantly restricted if the equity issue has not been resolved. If it has become a sole-owned life insurance company, the issue of future capital will depend more on the positioning of foreign shareholders in the mainland market. Willingness. At present, the shareholders of foreign life insurance companies in China are mainly developed countries such as the United States, Europe, and Japan, and these countries have entered a state in which the growth rate of premiums has been stagnant for a long time. China's current life insurance market and space are still very broad, and the total premium growth rate is expected to maintain a compound growth rate of more than 15% per year in the next decade, which is a huge market for foreign shareholders. Therefore, how to position the Chinese market will become the basis and prerequisite for the future development of foreign life insurance companies.

In terms of channels, the current large-scale foreign-invested insurance companies have a high dependence on the bancassurance channels. For example, foreign-invested life insurance companies with the highest premiums, such as ICBC Ansheng and other banks The proportion is over 90%. Although the sales channels are not smooth, it will restrict the development of foreign life insurance companies in the future.


Between Two Worlds—
The Dybbuk at 100

June 2020–November 2020
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Dybbuk logo

Notes by the composer Ofer Ben-Amots

The Dybbuk is a chamber opera in three acts inspired by S. An-sky's timeless Yiddish play, The Dybbuk: Between Two Worlds. The play’s subtitle indicates the duality at the center of this haunting drama, which holds in tension life and death, the demonic and angelic, the natural and supernatural, and ancient traditions and modernity. The story of transcendental love between two ill-fated lovers is shrouded with magic, fear, and mystical yearning to repair a shattered world. Leah must choose between life with a man she does not know and death with her beloved.

There are at least 35 different operas and ballets based on this epic play. The current production differs from all previous interpretations in telling the story from Leah’s point of view, in stark contrast to the original play, where Leah’s strictly orthodox community allows her no rights to express her wishes, hopes, or dreams. Viewers can identify with her as the central character and join her on her shattering emotional journey.

Another new dramatic aspect of the opera is the use of an instrument as her lover: the role of Hannan is performed on the clarinet. Since Hannan is a ghost (or wandering soul) throughout most of An-sky's play, the clarinet’s soulful sound portrays him more poignantly than would an operatic voice. When we hear dialogue between the soprano and the clarinet, we are listening to an imaginary conversation between Leah and Hannan.

Finally, the musical score reinforces the multi-cultural and universal themes of the story. It combines elements from Western, Eastern European, Middle-Eastern, Japanese, and Korean musical traditions, along with klezmer and Jewish cantorial chanting. Ultimately, the opera is meant to express the collective ground that is shared among and passed through all humanity.

NCJF logo
Background photo copyright:
National Center for Jewish Film.


Rovine Teotihuacan

Teotihuacan Ruins, Mexico

Rovine Teotihuacan, Messico

Teotihuacan Ruins are located 30 miles northeast of Mexico City, in what is now the San Juan Teotihuacan municipality in the state of Mexico. The site is known for having the most architecturally significant pyramids built in Pre-Columbian Americas. Also of interest are the anthropologically significant residential compounds, the Avenue of the Dead and beautifully preserved murals. The nameTeotihuacanis an Aztec phrase meaningplace where gods were born.

(Foto Via: Wikicommons)


Worth Reading - 3/24

1. Harry Emerson Fosdick's famous sermon, "Shall the Fundamentalists Win?," shaped a generation of revisionist Christians. That sermon, calling for steadfastness in rejecting Christian heritage motivated mainly in the liberal denomination to resist biblical doctrine. John Piper's 2000 sermon, "You Have One Life - Don't Waste It," preached at the One Day event that brought about 40,000 college students together may have had a similar impact. Time will tell. This post at The Gospel Coalition on the influence of that sermon is worth reading. The sermon itself is also worth your time.

The morning of May 20, 2000, dawned damp and grey over a grassy field in Memphis, where a portable city had sprung up overnight. Thousands of muted tents stood in wet rows; fog made everything hazy.

About 40,000 college students had arrived for the fourth Passion Conference, its first outdoors. It was a day they wouldn’t forget, one they describe with words like “special” and “holy” and “weight of glory.”

Even people who weren’t there remember it, because that day author and pastor John Piper gave his famous “seashells” message.

“What an epic message it was!” said Desiring God executive editor David Mathis. “When we trace the history of Desiring God and John Piper’s rise in influence over the years, One Day 2000 may be the single most significant event in terms of exposing a wider audience to Piper.”

Before he spoke, Piper asked God for “a prophetic word that would have a ripple effect to the ends of the earth and to eternity.”

He got it. The message exploded out, sparking a book, a study guide, tracts, and even a rap song.

2. The promotion of a wellness lifestyle by the government and big business is a gateway to being controlled by others. This article at First Things argues that point well:

Promoting wellness is becoming a means for government and big business to exercise control over our lives.

The pretext is cost-cutting—the idea that if employers and government can persuade us to live healthier lifestyles, then society will benefit from less government spending on health care and reduced business costs from lowered health-insurance premiums and fewer employee sick days.

But when does helpfully promoting wellness—say, by providing exercise classes, or professional assistance to employees who decide to quit smoking—become an intrusion into personal privacy? When does a laudable desire to reduce healthcare costs become an obsession with controlling how we live our lives?

Here’s one example. Republicans in the House of Representatives want to empower employers to induce their employees to be genetically tested so that the obtained information can be compiled and used in fashioning company wellness programs. Currently, employees can volunteer to be genetically tested if their employer’s wellness program offers the service. However, it is illegal under federal law—the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)—for an employer to punish those who refuse such testing or to offer incentives to persuade workers to allow their genetic makeup to be assessed.

3. The ongoing Russell Moore kerfuffle in the SBC has had the potential to distract from the promulgation of the gospel. This week, the Board of Trustees of the ERLC issued a statement. Russell Moore also issued an apology. Hopefully this is a step toward reconciliation and continued pursuit of the Great Commission.

4. Fake news isn't a new thing. This is a really interesting article in the Smithsonian Magazine about how fake news (a.k.a., propaganda) helped to turn the tide in World War II.

Although this was hardly the first instance of a wartime disinformation campaign, Delmer’s “Black Propaganda,” as he called it, shared plenty with today’s “fake news.” It was agitprop masquerading as inside dirt. To be sure, British intelligence agents played a role, but it was behind the scenes, unlike traditional government propaganda. By most accounts the broadcasts were insidiously effective: Hitler’s high command repeatedly attempted to block the signal.

It turns out that Delmer, the subject of a new documentary, Come Before Winter, developed a fake news factory aimed at disrupting the Nazis. He introduced several other radio stations, including one anchored by a young German named “Vicki,” who read a mixture of real news culled from intelligence sources and fake items, including a fabricated report about an outbreak of diphtheria among German children.

In November 1943, Delmer ended Der Chef’s reign of error by penning a script that had Nazi troops storming the studio and “shooting” him mid-broadcast, but many other ruses lived on. Beginning in May 1944, he produced a German-language newspaper called Nachrichten für die Truppe (News for the Troops), which was air-dropped to soldiers on the Western front.

5. Bruce Ashford of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary takes on the common assertion that Jesus was not political during his time here on earth.

So, was Jesus “political” during his time on earth?

In certain contemporary American senses of the world “political,” no he was not. He never took out newspaper ads telling the folks in Nazareth to “vote for option C in the sewage referendum.” He was not a government official and never ran for public office. He never spent his free time on Facebook yelling at people from the other side of the political aisle, employing a generous use of the CAPS LOCK and !!!!!!!!!! keys to make his points.

But in a deeper sense, Jesus’ ministry was profoundly, thoroughly, and inescapably political.

6. If you are interested, I had an article published in the Journal of Biblical and Theological Studies. In the article I argue that work has value inasmuch as it glorifies God. Work is not valuable in and of itself.

In his 1972 book, Working, Studs Terkel begins with a startling description of the purpose of his book and the nature of work. He writes, “This book, being about work, is, by its very nature, about violence––to the spirit as well as to the body. It is about ulcers as well as accidents, about shouting matches as well as fistfights, about nervous breakdowns as well as kicking the dog around. It is, above all (or beneath all), about daily humiliations.” But he goes on to note that the book is “about a search, too, for daily meaning as well as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash . . .; in short, for a sort of life rather than a Monday through Friday sort of dying.” For Terkel the reality falls far short of the ideal, but there is an ideal for which people earnestly yearn. For Terkel’s subjects, work is instrumentally necessary to earn a living but lacks deeper value. He interviews dozens of workers and mostly finds out how unhappy they are. The accounts are poetic, rich, and raw. His work is powerful, but it leaves the reader longing for a better ending. It conveys the deep human longing to find value in work.

Worth Reading - 7/8

This week has been tragic and gut wrenchingly hard. I would like to find bright and cheery posts and set up an oasis of humor in the midst of the waves of raw emotion. However, I have chosen not too because there are a few posts that I think are very important to share and discuss at this time.

1. Aaron Earls is asking meaningful questions in light of the two shootings of black men on back to back days.

Why are many conservative white Christians afraid of government overreach from a federal government they never see, but never questioning the militarization of the local police department in their backyards?
Why do we acknowledge that the justice system can be unfairly tilted toward someone because of name and connections, but refuse to accept the possibility that it might be unfairly tilted away from someone because of the color of their skin?
If we truly believe that all lives matter, why would we react negatively to someone saying that black lives matter?
As the church in America has increasingly looked to politics as the primary solution for culture, we have allowed that perspective to color everything.
As individual Christians, we should also be thinking through how often our principles shift depending on the circumstances and those involved.
These shootings and the reactions become political. We view it as an “us versus them” situation, instead of treating it as an “us” situation—an attack on human dignity.
The church has to be better. Christians have to be better.

2. A lecture to The Gospel Coalition deals with the issue of Black Lives Matter and whether it is the contemporary Civil Rights movement. This address is vital to understand what the majority of the individuals engaged in the BLM movement feel. Here is the link to the article, but the audio below is worth your time, too. It has helped me shift my understanding of the movement, and I think it is worthwhile to listen to even if you disagree with it in the end.

Before we go any further, I just want to clear up a common misconception about the Black Lives Matter sentiment. Black Lives Matter does not mean “black lives matter only.” It means “black lives matter too.” It’s a contextualized statement, like saying “children’s lives matter.” That doesn’t mean adult lives don’t matter. But in a culture that demeans and disparages them, we understand we have to say forthrightly and particularly that children’s lives matter. In the face of a historic and contemporary context that has uniquely disparaged black life as not worth valuing or protecting in the same way as others, they are saying black lives matter just as much as every other life. Ironically, saying “Black Lives Matter” is really a contextualized way of saying, “All Lives Matter.”

3. At the National Review Online, David French calls for an effort to tap the breaks on the cultural and political divide that seems to be pushing us toward the abyss.

Last night, as the shots rang out across Dallas – as protesters scattered, and we watched the horrible, endlessly replayed video of a police officer’s cold-blooded murder on cable news – I felt that we were witnessing an unraveling. Our unrest hasn’t yet reached the levels of 1968, but it’s moving in that direction – against the backdrop of the worst partisan polarization in decades.
We are faced with choices today. At a time when all the short-term incentives point toward unreason, our leaders, political and cultural, must choose reason. At a time when group solidarity is trumping individual accountability, we must choose individual accountability. At a time when the loudest voices don’t wait for evidence to make sweeping judgments, we must wait for the evidence.

4. John Piper deals with the larger issue of truth in relation to the racial tensions, protection of the unborn, and potential for deception. We must pursue truth, particularly the truth found in the person of Jesus Christ. Some might see this as a deflection of the central issue of the week--the ongoing racial tensions--however, I think Piper is trying to reach the audience of white conservatives struggling with how to engage that issue by relating it to an issue in which they are already engaged. In any case, I think it's worth a read.

Finally, the reality of truth. It is a great irony that the philosophical, academic, and social power of left-wing elites since World War II have devoted themselves to showing that there is no truth. It has no transcendent reality. Truth, they say, is an outmoded enlightenment construct created to justify political, racial, and gender privilege.
This is an irony because it is precisely these left-wing elites that cry most loudly against injustice, not realizing that the limb of truth that they just sawed off is the only one that can provide trans-racial, trans-political, trans-gender, trans-cultural support for justice, and decisive resistance to injustice.

5. Russell Moore writes to help the church process the this week's events. It originated at his blog, but has been reposted at The Gospel Coalition. We have to talk about it. We have to deal with it. The moral fabric of the nation may well depend on it.

What we should understand, first, is that this crisis isn’t new. Many white evangelicals will point to specific cases, and argue the particulars are more complex in those situations than initial news reports might show. But how can anyone deny, after seeing the sheer number of cases and after seeing those in which the situation is all too clear, that there is a problem in terms of the safety of African Americans before the law? That’s especially true when one considers the history of a country in which African Americans have lived with trauma from the very beginning, the initial trauma being the kidnapping and forced enslavement of an entire people with no standing whatsoever before the law. For the black community, these present situations often reverberate with a history of state-sanctioned violence, in a way that many white Americans—including white evangelicals—often don’t understand.
Second, we should understand the peril here. These shootings, and the root causes behind them, come at a time when the United States is hyper-polarized and socially fragmenting. In addition, there’s a resurgent wave of blatant racism and anti-Semitism on display in social media channels and in upheavals around the world. The social bonds in our culture are weak indeed, and ought to cause us to have the same gravity Great Depression leaders had, not knowing whether the crisis would propel the nation to greatness in problem-solving or to meltdown.

6. A post from the Reformed African American Network on processing pain in a time of grief:

We must also guard our hearts. During times of pain, we are more susceptible to lies and deception. We are prone to self-medicate. We are tempted to look for an escape from reality. Family, we can’t check out. We must pray and stay grounded in the Word. We must process our pain through redemption and truth. Where sin abounds, God’s grace abounds much more.
Processing our pain doesn’t mean that we are to be inactive and silent. It helps to ensure that our hearts do not become bitter. Wounds that are not properly cared for become infected and deadly. Our hearts are wounded. The wounds are deep. The wounds are old, but there is a balm in Gilead.


Creating an Ascending Clock Auction (ACA)

TagsAuction software, help

Common features

The ACA shares several common features with the other auction types:

  • Title
  • Description
  • Auction start time
  • Price units
  • Bidders
  • Round duration
  • Break duration
Setting these up is described in the Common features page.

Specific requirements of the ACA

The ACA has specific features as well as a particular way of using common features:

Assignment stage duration

assignment stage

As the clock stage of the ACA sells generic rather than specific lots these is usually an assignment round to see if any bidder wishes to pay more to acquire a licence in a specific frequency range.

This box allows the administrator to specify the length, in minutes, of that assignment round. If you are only selling a single lot there is no need for an assignment round

ACA lots

Here you should give a name to each generic lot, specify how many lots are available and give the start price, increment and eligibility points. In the first example above there are three 800 MHz lots available, bidding will start at 500  and rise at an increment of 75 when there is excess demand.

If you wish to set a spectrum cap then you need to put each generic lot into a category, represented by a letter. In the example above 800 MHz is category A and 2.6 MHz is category B.

Spectrum Caps

ACA caps

A spectrum cap allows the administrator to specify a maximum amount of bandwidth which can be bought in a particular category. This can be expressed as either paired or unpaired spectrum. In the example above bidders can buy a maximum of two category A 800 MHz licences (2 x 10 Mhz paired) or four category B 2.6 MHz licences (4 x 20 Mhz paired).

If a bidder tries to exceed their spectrum cap the software will prevent them making the bid.


37 inches in yards

37 inches is equivalent to 1.02777777777778 yards.[1]

Conversion formula
How to convert 37 inches to yards?

We know (by definition) that: 1in 0.027777778yd

We can set up a proportion to solve for the number of yards.

1 in 37 in 0.027777778 yd x yd

Now, we cross multiply to solve for our unknown x:

x yd 37 in 1 in * 0.027777778 yd x yd 1.027777786 yd

Conclusion: 37 in 1.027777786 yd

37 inches is equivalent to 1.02777777777778 yards

Conversion in the opposite direction

The inverse of the conversion factor is that 1 yard is equal to 0.972972972972973 times 37 inches.

It can also be expressed as: 37 inches is equal to 1 0.972972972972973 yards.

An approximate numerical result would be: thirty-seven inches is about one point zero three yards, or alternatively, a yard is about zero point nine seven times thirty-seven inches.

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Enterprise Europe Network

Moldovan company is interested in identifying a partner for building a medical centre

Country of origin:
External Id:
Last update
Expiration date

Partner keyword:
Other medical/health related (not elsewhere classified)
Development of building projects
Construction of residential and non-residential buildings

A Moldovan company specialized in construction of buildings is interested in identifying partners from the European Union countries or the Community of Independent States for establishing a joint venture and implementing a real estate project offering modern medical services.

A Moldovan construction company founded in 2003, building for its customers modern and energy saving dwellings, made to the highest quality standard is looking for partners in the EU of CIS for a joint venture establishment The company is developing a real estate project with medical specifics.The company plans to build a centre for local and foreign medical clinics.
The centre would offer a range of modern and innovative medical services for the Republic of Moldova. The concept was developed in order to attract the best specialists, create modern medical spaces and ensure access of the population to qualitative health services. The centre would allow continuous experience exchanges between local and foreign specialists through a modern conference room and presentations of various medical innovations.
The project foresees the provision of various private and specialized medical services in a single technically adapted building.
The company is interested in identifying a partner or investor for the development of a medical complex, bu establishing a joint venture. The partner contribution could be expertise or any types of building materials, supplies for finishing the centre. Details would be discussed with interested foreign companies.

Advantages & innovations

Cooperation plus value:
The building of a medical centre would allow creating a sustainable tool for expanding and developing new medical operators in the Republic of Moldova and in the region. Moreover in future is planned to export medical services in the region by investing in the described project. This type of medical centre is an alternative to the traditional system of health services, offering complex modern and innovative solutions under the same roof.

Technical Specification or Expertise Sought

Cooperation sought:
The company is interested in identifying a partner for investing in the necessary equipment, furniture, engineering networks, electricity, heating, lighting and ventilation systems.

Partner sought

Cooperation area:
The company is interested in identifying a reliable partner/investor for further development of a medical complex. A joint venture would be established in order to further develop and finalize the project. The terms and conditions would be negotiated with the identified partner and a fair distribution of revenues would be ensured. The company is flexible to the innovative ideas of potential partners.The partner could contribute with modern building materials, furniture, equipment, depending on its activity. Mostly preferred is an agreement with a company with rich experience in building large and complex projects..


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MAInternational Liaison and Communication

Tuition fee £13,000.00 per year
More information

Expenses, accommodation, working etc.

This is a dynamic, pioneering interdisciplinary Masters course which meets the global demand for greater professionalism in interpersonal and inter-institutional bilingual communication. The course will focus on enhancing your personal skills as a communicator and facilitator of communication. This can be as an advocate, as a mediator, communication strategist, intermediary or communication facilitator. Firmly grounded on the latest international communications theories and using real life simulations, you will learn to locate and analyse resources, pre-empt communications challenges and develop strategies to overcome obstacles to successful interaction.

The course will enrich your knowledge and application of the key paradigms of international communication, information handling and presentation in a range of contexts from the field of public diplomacy to international media, intelligence, business and international NGOs. It also enhances your competencies in handling information across and between languages and cultures, in various professional settings. You will have the training and preparation to make significant contributions in your chosen profession.

Course applicants typically come from fields such as language studies, translation and interpreting, social work, teaching, journalism and other areas of the media as well as from public office. However, the course will prove invaluable to anyone with high-level bilingual competence and experience in mediation between peoples from different cultural backgrounds.

By the end of the course you will be able to use the knowledge gained through a detailed study of diplomatic, intelligence and policy questions, and combine this with a high level of linguistic competence. This will enhance your ability as a presenter of information and as a mediator between communities. The course is designed to help you develop your professional specialism and enhance your skills within an appropriate conceptual framework.

Programme structure

Core modules

This compulsory part of the course will help you to develop an understanding of the major components of research methodology: locating and using available research sources, (these will include, inter-alia, general and specialised libraries, reference works, indices and bibliographies, abstract services, and online databases; recording information and material collected; analysing data for reliability, comprehensiveness, bias and factuality; and finally assimilating material gathered into a dissertation.

As a result, you will have established research skills such as locating and using available research sources and being able efficiently to analyse the material that you have collected. For your dissertation you will be required to synthesise the skills, factual knowledge, methods and perspectives that you have acquired. You will also need to provide evidence of independent enquiry and a creative approach. Thus the Dissertation should accurately reflect both your personal development and the educational effectiveness of the course.

The accelerating process of globalisation, and the growing international flow of information, goods and people, have changed the way individuals, institutions, businesses and governments operate in the international arena. They have also highlighted the demand for bilingual professionals who can meet the needs of an increasingly transnational work environment.

This module examines the key theories of international communication, language and culture and provides an understanding of the political, economic, cultural and ideological dimensions of communication in a global context. It explores issues such as global media corporations, international flow of information, public diplomacy, and the role of NGOs. It focuses on developing language and communication skills applicable to a variety of bilingual professional settings.

Particular attention is given to the impact of cultural differences on multicultural and transnational encounters.

The need for effective communication in a global world is increasingly apparent. Effective communication is important not only for the individual but for those whose role is to facilitate interaction between representatives of professional and governmental and non- governmental organisations where people do not share the same language, culture or systems.

This module considers current theories of information processing, communication and interpretation and places them in a professional environment. Particular emphasis is placed on the role of the liaison official as advocate and facilitator, the link between cultures, the semiotic value of language, and its use as a tool of power. Various negotiation strategies are examined with reference to different cultures. Techniques for equal effective communication in two or more languages are examined and put into practice.

Career opportunities

Apply now! Spring semester 2019/20
Application start
Sep 1, 2019
Application deadline
Sep 1, 2019 23:59
Europe/Vilnius time

We are currently NOT ACCEPTING applications from NON-EU countries.

Studies commence
Feb 1, 2020

Application deadlines apply to citizens of: United States


This question already has an answer here:

I guess the novel I'm reading (「キッチン」 by 吉本ばなな) will be a source of many questions.

The part I want to ask about now is the passage where the main character is thinking about moving house. The passage is the record of her thoughts and contains some sentences that are not complete. In two places she's thinking:

and later

I'm guessing maybe 「出なくては。」 is a shortened, incomplete form and normally has something after は. Is it the same as 「出なくてはいけない。」 and the meaning is "I have to leave"?

(Let me know if I need to post more to give context.)

marked as duplicate by snailboat May 29 '14 at 12:50

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Laracasts The best source of Laravel training on the web. 2019-08-22T02:43:50-04:00 Jeffrey Way,2019:/feed Apply an Index to Drastically Improve Performance,2019-08-21:/lessons/apply-an-index-to-drastically-improve-performance 2019-08-21T15:28:09-04:00 Database indexing can be a fairly confusing topic - at least initially. Over the next few episodes, let's review a series of examples that illustrate precisely why, when, and how you should apply an index. Use Unique Keys to Avoid Duplication,2019-08-20:/lessons/use-unique-keys-to-avoid-duplication 2019-08-20T14:24:13-04:00 There's one issue that we didn't address in the previous episode on many-to-many relationships. Currently, there's nothing keeping us from creating multiple records with identical post_id and tag_id combinations. Let's apply a UNIQUE index to solve this problem. Many-to-Many,2019-08-19:/lessons/many-to-many 2019-08-19T15:27:46-04:00 Many-to-many is one of the more confusing relationships to understand - at least initially. The most common example consists of posts and tags. Notice that any one post may have multiple tags, and any one tag may be associated with multiple posts. In situations such as this, a connection may be created between the two tables by constructing a linking table. Let's review the workflow. One-to-Many,2019-08-16:/lessons/one-to-many 2019-08-16T14:49:48-04:00 A one-to-many relationship is the second easiest to understand. A user may have many posts. A post may have many comments. A team may have many members. In each of these examples, a single record is related to any number of related records from a related table. One-to-One,2019-08-16:/lessons/one-to-one 2019-08-16T14:44:22-04:00 A "one-to-one" database relationship is incredibly simple to understand. If you can say that a single record from one table is related to a single record from another table, in both directions, then you have a one-to-one relationship. Here are a few examples to get you started: "A person has one social security number." "A subscriber has one profile." "A manager has one team." Filtering Aggregated Data,2019-08-13:/lessons/filtering-aggregated-data 2019-08-13T16:14:38-04:00 Here's another question we might ask: "Which movies have been the most profitable?" Once we solve this riddle, we can then answer a second question based on that information: "Of those results, which movies have made at least $200?" Multiple Joins in One Query,2019-08-06:/lessons/multiple-joins-in-one-query 2019-08-07T09:00:00-04:00 If necessary, you can join any number of tables as part of your SELECT statement. In this episode, we'll add a second LEFT JOIN clause to the query we wrote in the previous episode. This will also give us the opportunity to discuss subqueries. Group Results With Aggregate Functions,2019-08-06:/lessons/group-results-with-aggregate-functions 2019-08-06T14:16:54-04:00 An excellent way to learn MySQL is to ask yourself: "If this was my domain, what sorts of questions might I ask?" One such question might be, "How many movies has each user rented?" To calculate numbers like this, we'll leverage MySQL aggregate functions and the GROUP BY clause. The Difference Between MySQL Join Types,2019-08-05:/lessons/the-difference-between-mysql-join-types 2019-08-05T10:42:10-04:00 If the various MySQL join types confuse you, don't worry: you're not the only one. Inner Join, Outer Join, Left Join, Right Join...what the heck? But, as it turns out, once you understand the basic structure of a join, everything else should quickly fall into place. In this episode, we'll review everything you need to know. Choose Your Class Names Wisely,2019-08-02:/lessons/choose-your-class-names-wisely 2019-08-02T16:14:11-04:00 Technique #10. Last, but not least, pay special attention to the names you choose for your classes. You might find that the wrong choice will cascade down and affect all of your method names as well. Laravel and Foreign Key Constraints,2019-08-01:/lessons/laravel-and-the-foreign-key-constraints 2019-08-01T15:47:09-04:00 Now that you understand keys a bit more, let's switch over to a fresh Laravel app and review how we can represent these relationships and constraints through Laravel migrations. Foreign Key Constraints,2019-07-30:/lessons/foreign-key-constraints 2019-07-30T15:29:18-04:00 A constraint allows you to protect the integrity of your database tables. Imagine an order that is associated with a customer who no longer exists in your system. Luckily, we can guard ourselves against such orphans. Primary and Foreign Keys,2019-07-29:/lessons/primary-and-foreign-keys 2019-07-29T15:34:08-04:00 If a primary key is a unique identifier for a record within a table, then a foreign key is a reference to a primary key on a foreign table. The Example MySQL Database,2019-07-29:/lessons/the-example-mysql-database 2019-07-29T15:30:11-04:00 Before we begin, let's import an example MySQL database to toy around with. We'll use the popular Sakila database, available on MySQL's main website.


Screenshot from an amateur silent film adaptation of "The Outsider". Names of the filmmakers are unknown.

"The Outsider" is a short horror story by the American author H.P. Lovecraft. Written in 1921, the story was first published in the magazine Weird Tales in April 1926.

The unnamed narrator of the story lives alone in a dark, ancient castle surrounded by a dense forest. He never sees sunlight, and he has no memory of human contact. One day, desperate to see the sun, the narrator decides to climb the ruined tower which is the only part of the castle taller than the trees. After the dangerous climb to the top room of the tower, the narrator is delighted to see the moon through a grating. Soon, however, he discovers the horrible truth behind his confinement.

Although it is not part of the Cthulhu Mythos for which Lovecraft is best known,"The Outsider" is one of the most popular and frequently anthologized tales by the author. The story is generally considered among Lovecraft's works to be the closest in style to the classic tales of horror by Edgar Allan Poe.

The unnamed narrator does not know where he was born. He only remembers the ancient and dark castle where he believes he must have lived for years. The castle is surrounded by tall trees so that no sunlight reaches it. There is one tower which is taller than the trees, but it is ruined and can only be ascended by climbing up the stone wall.

The narrator does not recall ever having been with people. The only company he has, other than such creatures as rats and spiders, are bones and skeletons in the underground crypts of the castle. He has learned all he knows from books. He does not remember hearing anyone speaking, and he never speaks aloud himself. He does not know how old he is, although he suspects he is young because he does not remember much. There are no mirrors in the castle so he imagines he looks similar to the illustrations of youths he has seen in books.

The narrator has tried to go beyond the dark forest surrounding the castle, but found it grew denser and darker the farther he went. One day his longing for light finally becomes so great that he decides to risk his life and climb the ruined tower. He ascends the stone stairs as far as they go then begins to climb the wall, clinging to small holds in the dark. After a long, slow crawl up the tower, his head finally comes up against a barrier, perhaps a trapdoor. He manages to push it up and crawl through the opening. The heavy slab falls down blocking his way back.

The room is dark. The narrator gropes around until he finds a stone door. It is locked, but he forces it open with a mighty effort. He is rewarded with the sight of the full moon through a grating at the end of the passageway. He opens the grating carefully expecting to see treetops at some distance below. He is shocked to see instead the solid ground stretching before him. The narrator staggers out and finds himself among the marble slabs and columns on the grounds of a ruined stone church. Driven by the desire to see people, he stumbles along the gravel path and goes out through an arch into open country.

After two hours of wandering, the narrator comes upon a castle in a wooded park. The castle looks oddly familiar to him, although it appears to have new wings and some towers have been demolished. Delighted to see open windows, he looks into the brightly lit room. He sees a party of strangely-dressed people making merry. He enters the room through the low window. Suddenly, everyone begins to scream and flee. The narrator stands in a daze, not knowing what has caused the panic. Fearing there is something terrible lurking nearby, he begins to walk towards the arched doorway leading to another room.

As he approaches the arch, the narrator detects a presence. When he finally sees what everyone else must have seen, he is horrified into near paralysis. The ghoulish monstrosity, a hideous carrion still retaining some outline of the human shape, stares at the narrator with its glassy eyes. In his attempt to flee, the narrator loses his balance and staggers forward. As he extends his arm to ward off the creature, his fingers come in contact with the monster's paw.

In that second, the narrator's memory comes flooding back to him, and he recognizes the abomination standing in front of him. He runs back to the churchyard and finds the stone trapdoor immovable. Although he is now doomed to roam in the darkness, the narrator prefers the newfound freedom to the confinement of the ancient castle. He has also come to accept his alienation. He knows that he is an outsider, a stranger who does not belong – because what his fingers touched was not a creature but "a cold and unyielding surface of polished glass."

The American film Castle Freak written and directed by Stuart Gordon is loosely based on "The Outsider". The film was released directly to video on November 14, 1995.

There have been multiple short-film adaptations of "The Outsider" made by students and other amateur filmmakers. The story has also been adapted as a radio play.

External links


I am trying to classify permutations of n, in this case n=6, elements depending on the cycles that contian the points 1 and 2, since these are considered to be special points.

So for example, I will consider the permutations 1->3->2->4->1 6->5->6 to be equivalent to 1->5->2->3->1 4->6->4 because we have exactly one cycle that contains the elements 1 and 2 with exactly one between 1 and 2 and one element between 2 and 1 and we have one cycle with the remaining elements.

If I had the permutations 1->3->2->5->1 4->6->4, 1->5->2->3->1 4->4 6->6, then this permutations are not equivalent because the elements 4 and 6, which are not in the same cycle as 1 and 2, do not form just one cycle.

I would do a similar analysis if the elements 1 and 2 are in separate cycles.

What I want to do is to loop through a set of permutations Permutations[Range[n]] and classify the permutations according to the rules I established above. I have a working code for classifying the permutations up to n =8, but after that it takes too much time doing the classification. Is there any data structure that might be helpful with this task, like a data structure that allows me to evaluate all 9! or more options in a faster way? I would like to optimize my code somehow but am not sure how to do it since I don't have that much experienc programming. Thanks so much for any suggestion.

  • $\begingroup$ Why not try to generate your permutations in Cycles[] format? $\endgroup$ – J. M. is away Jun 23 '16 at 14:41
  • $\begingroup$ Since my input data are permutations of the form {1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 3}, to get the cycles I am using PermutationCycles[{1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 3}]. $\endgroup$ – user41204 Jun 23 '16 at 14:45
  • $\begingroup$ Right; the documentation claims that Cycles[] is automatically canonicalized, so convert everything to Cycles[] and do your comparisons on those. $\endgroup$ – J. M. is away Jun 23 '16 at 14:48

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Can You Really Stop Gambling And Gambling Problems By Tapering Off

Compulsive gambling is definitely an illness that affects lots of people every single day. Within my act as a counselor I worked with compulsive gambling along with other problem behavior and viewed as my clients attempted different ways of controlling their gambling behavior. Many people would attempt to stop gambling by gradually tapering off and allowing themselves rather less gambling every week. Others used the “cold poultry” method and quit completely.

I additionally saw my clients use similar methods to try and control other undesirable behavior like overeating, smoking, nail biting, etc. After watching countless people attempt to stop problem gambling and control their gambling problems, I have started to the final outcome that the easiest method to get it done is as simple as complete and immediate cessation. Quite simply, stop immediately and don’t gamble whatsoever.

You will find apparent mental causes of this method, but additionally some physiological ones too. Psychologically speaking, attempting to limit an issue behavior and ration it is really a losing fight because a part of your psyche becomes parents and yet another, normally the subconscious, becomes the kid. Your subconscious is really quite effective and controls a number of your bodily processes, memory, along with other important areas of your existence. Pitting the conscious mind from the subconscious more often than not leads to the subconscious winning.

Another element of that struggle is it is extremely tiring and drags the inevitable. While problem gambling is definitely an addiction you’ll have for existence, substantial amount and energy would you like to dedicate to this problem every day? Tapering off means you still be coping with it, considering it, calculating it and seeking to limit it every day.

The majority of my clients wanted to conquer it and start their lives. We found the easiest method to do this was by reprogramming their subconscious minds with Nlp (NLP) and led meditations that helped these to relieve the need to gamble also to relieve the strain brought on by other parts of their lives.

Physiologically speaking, gambling is really a behavior and for that reason, every time that you simply gamble or perhaps fantasize about gambling, synaptic loops are created and reinforced inside your brain. So even gambling less and restricting your gamble is stimulating individuals loops and which makes them more powerful. Whenever you consider restricting gambling you’re still developing loops and strengthening them, so while it may seem you’re manipulating the gambling, you’re really reinforcing it and which makes it more powerful to ensure that whenever your subconscious is able to create a power play, it’ll have a powerful tool to make use of upon your conscious mind.

If you’re serious about stopping gambling, the best way for coping with compulsive gambling, i then suggest led meditations, a great support group like Gamblers Anonymous, and finish cessation.


False Flag

Genre: Action , Drama

Plot: The title of this movie is False Flag which was first released in the year 2018 and takes part in the action, drama genres. You can enjoy the 80 minutes of it here, on Putlocker, for free. As far as the storyline goes you can watch the trailer. Putlockers provided a link for this movie where you can watch it in HD.


The Pagan King

Genre: Action , Drama , History

Plot: The title of this movie is The Pagan King which was first released in the year 2018 and takes part in the action, drama, history genres. You can enjoy the 114 minutes of it here, on Putlocker, for free. As far as the storyline goes you can watch the trailer. Putlockers provided a link for this movie where you can watch it in HD.


From ars technica: “Transistors will stop shrinking in 2021, but Moore’s law will live on”

Ars Technica
ars technica

Sebastian Anthony

A 22nm Haswell wafer, with a pin for scale. No image credit

Transistors will stop shrinking after 2021, but Moore’s law will probably continue, according to the final International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS).

The ITRS—which has been produced almost annually by a collaboration of most of the world’s major semiconductor companies since 1993—is about as authoritative as it gets when it comes to predicting the future of computing. The 2015 roadmap will however be its last.

The most interesting aspect of the ITRS is that it tries to predict what materials and processes we might be using in the next 15 years. The idea is that, by collaborating on such a roadmap, the companies involved can sink their R&D money into the “right” technologies.

For example, despite all the fuss surrounding graphene and carbon nanotubes a few years back, the 2011 ITRS predicted that it would still be at least 10 to 15 years before they were actually used in memory or logic devices. Germanium and III-V semiconductors, though, were predicted to be only five to 10 years away. Thus, if you were deciding where to invest your R&D money, you might opt for III-V rather than nanotubes (which appears to be what Intel and IBM are doing).

The latest and last ITRS focuses on two key areas: that it will no longer be economically viable to shrink transistors after 2021—and, pray tell, what might be done to keep Moore’s law going despite transistors reaching their minimal limit. (Remember, Moore’s law simply predicts a doubling of transistor density within a given integrated circuit, not the size or performance of those transistors.)

The first problem has been known about for a long while. Basically, starting at around the 65nm node in 2006, the economic gains from moving to smaller transistors have been slowly dribbling away. Previously, moving to a smaller node meant you could cram tons more chips onto a single silicon wafer, at a reasonably small price increase. With recent nodes like 22 or 14nm, though, there are so many additional steps required that it costs a lot more to manufacture a completed wafer—not to mention additional costs for things like package-on-package (PoP) and through-silicon vias (TSV) packaging.

This is the primary reason that the semiconductor industry has been whittled from around 20 leading-edge logic-manufacturing companies in 2000, down to just four today: Intel, TSMC, GlobalFoundries, and Samsung. (IBM recently left the business by selling its fabs to GloFo.)

A diagram showing future transistor topologies, from Applied Materials (which makes the machines that actually create the various layers/features on a die). Gate-all-around is shown at the top.

The second problem—how to keep increasing transistor density—has a couple of likely solutions. First, ITRS expects that chip makers and designers will begin to move away from FinFET in 2019, towards gate-all-around transistor designs. Then, a few years later, these transistors will become vertical, with the channel fashioned out of some kind of nanowire. This will allow for a massive increase in transistor density, similar to recent advances in 3D V-NAND memory.

The gains won’t last for long though, according to ITRS: by 2024 (so, just eight years from now), we will once again run up against a thermal ceiling. Basically, there is a hard limit on how much heat can be dissipated from a given surface area. So, as chips get smaller and/or denser, it eventually becomes impossible to keep the chip cool. The only real solution is to completely rethink chip packaging and cooling. To begin with, we’ll probably see microfluidic channels that increase the effective surface area for heat transfer. But after that, as we stack circuits on top of each other, we’ll need something even fancier. Electronic blood, perhaps?

The final ITRS is one of the most beastly reports I’ve ever seen, spanning seven different sections and hundreds of pages and diagrams. Suffice it to say I’ve only touched on a tiny portion of the roadmap here. There are large sections on heterogeneous integration, and also some important bits on connectivity (semiconductors play a key role in modulating optical and radio signals).

Here’s what ASML’s EUV lithography machine may eventually look like. Pretty large, eh?

I’ll leave you with one more important short-term nugget, though. We are fast approaching the cut-off date for choosing which lithography and patterning techs will be used for commercial 7nm and 5nm logic chips.

As you may know, extreme ultraviolet (EUV) has been waiting in the wings for years now, never quite reaching full readiness due to its extremely high power usage and some resolution concerns. In the mean time, chip makers have fallen back on increasing levels of multiple patterning—multiple lithographic exposures, which increase manufacturing time (and costs).

Now, however, directed self-assembly (DSA)—where the patterns assemble themselves—is also getting very close to readiness. If either technology wants to be used over multiple patterning for 7nm logic, the ITRS says they will need to prove their readiness in the next few months.

See the full article here .

Please help promote STEM in your local schools.

Stem Education Coalition


Confused about the new GCSE grading system? 06/07/2017

A numerical system of 9-1 will replace the current system of A- G. 9 will be the highest achievable grade (formerly A) and 1 will be being the lowest. However, grade U will still be used for those who do not achieve the minimum requirements for grade 1.

Grade 5 will be considered a 'good pass'. Performance tables will focus on students achieving grades 9-5. Formerly, grade C was classes as a 'good pass', but the new grade 5 will be equivalent to a low B or a high C. As such, a 'good pass' mark will become harder to achieve than in the old system.

The new system has been designed to reveal differences between candidates at the higher end of the spectrum. The current top two grades, A* and A, will be replaced with three top grades, 9, 8 and 7. Some people are referring to grade 9 as A**. It is estimated that it will only be awarded to approximately the top 3% of GCSE students.

The new GCSEs are being introduced in three stages over three years. English and Maths this year and the rest will follow.

New GCSEs in Maths, English language, and English literature started being taught in September 2015. GCSE English no longer exists; all students must instead take GCSE English language. Most will also take English literature as a separate subject though it is not compulsory. New GCSEs in English Baccalaureate/main curriculum subjects such as sciences, languages, PE, history and geography were introduced in September 2016. New GCSEs in all other subjects such as economics and media studies will be taught from September 2017.

2016/17 year 11 students are sitting new GCSEs in Maths, English language and English literature only. They will still be awarded 'old-style' GCSE grades in all other subjects. However, current year 10 students will take new GCSEs in most subjects. They may still be on an 'old-style' syllabus if they opt for a more unusual subject. Students who are currently in year 9 or below will take new GCSEs in all subjects.

Will they be more difficult?

The course content will be more demanding across all subjects. In English language, for example, students will be required to read a greater range of challenging material.

The majority of subjects will be assessed solely through exams taken at the end of two years of study.

For most courses, all students will sit the same paper instead of opting for a foundation or higher paper according to their ability. The main exception to this is maths, although it is worth noting that a lot of content previously only included in the maths higher paper will now also be tested at foundation level. November resits will only be available in Maths and English language. Alternative qualifications such as GCSEs (International GCSEs) will no longer be an alternative.

Worried in case you don't get the grades?

If you, or a friend, don't get the desired grades, don't panic. Colleges, including Stanmore College, offer a wide range of vocational study programmes across all levels and Stanmore offers a GCSE resit programme. By applying online and attending an interview you are likely to receive a conditional offer and, should you not meet the entry requirements, an alternative study programme can be discussed when you are invited to enrolment. BTEC students who achieve good grades are just as sought after as A level students with good results. These programmes can lead to employment, apprenticeships or university.

Did you know that:

95% of universities and colleges in the UK accept BTEC students

This includes many competitive universities from the Russell Group (a group of universities with a shared focus on reputation, academic achievement and research).

Telephone: 020 8420 7700 Email:


JK Bank

Dr. Syed Sehrish Asgar is one of the very few women District Development Commissioner (DDC) in Kashmir. She topped Kashmir Administrative Service (KAS) in 2011, and passed Indian Police Services (IPS) as well as Indian Administrative Service (IAS). A resident of Kisthwar, Jammu, has been serving as a DDC of Budgam district, central Kashmir for more than three years now. The Kashmir Walla sat down with her to discuss the problems that citizens of the district face and her aim to empower women.

KA: In three years of your service as District Development Commissioner in Budgam, what were the major challenges that you faced?

SA: Mostly, there were gender-related issues, including girls opting out of schools, with drop-out rate in education sector rising. One of the most important issues to address in it was the lack of facilities for girls in schools, including toilets. The sanitation facilities were not up-to-the-mark, although, we covered ninety percent of such schools and made basic sanitation facilities functional.

I still feel that the education sector in the district is behind and there is a need to work on this issue to strengthen the literacy rate here.

There is a strong campaign going around over drug menace. What are the steps you have taken to curb this menace? Are there any drug de-addiction centers in the district?

There are no drug de-addiction centers in the district, but we have a psychiatric center in the district hospital, where proper counseling is given to help the drug-addicts overcome the addiction. We are also playing a preventive role in curbing this menace with the help of the police. We are taking every possible step to control such activities in the area, but simultaneously it a collective responsibility of society. At most, we can arrest the drug peddlers but how can we identify him? Only people can help us in tracing them. But, people are not coming up. We are doing awareness programs as well to tackle this menace.

We often see people posting on social media about the bad condition of roads and lack of other basic necessities in the district. What are the steps you have taken to resolve these issues?

There are developmental issues in the district like availability of proper roads, electricity as well as other grievances of people. To meet those demands, we are conducting monthly meetings with the Ex-ens (Executive Engineers) and other officials, in which we discuss the presiding issues and how to deal with them.

Recently, we sanctioned around 238 crore rupees for languished projects, which were halted because of non-availability of funds.  We have to do a road macadamization of around 3,200 kilometers of road length. Obviously, we cannot cover all the roads, as the money that we receive isn’t enough.

In such a scenario, where we have limited funds, we prioritize the roads that connect the villages to districts and tehsils and where public footprints are large.

There is a sense of miscommunication between departments, like one day there is macdimization going on and another day there will be work for the drainage. Why so?

No, this is not the case. There is always a proper manner to conduct work in any area. However, sometimes in case of emergency, we have no other option. If at times, there is a need to cut the road, there is a proper procedure that another department has to follow.

In the meantime, it is also a responsibility of every citizen to work individually for the better cause. I don’t understand why do people encroach lands. In the last few years, we retrieved more than 500 kanals of state and hay land, which was illegally occupied.

Brick Kilns are creating pollution in the area. According to a media report out of 300 brick kilns, 260 are located in Budgam. How are you planning to deal with it?

In Budgam district, brick kilns are going on for the last thirty years. When I took over, I did not give any fresh sanction in that regard. In fact, I canceled the license of many owners who were not following the rules. Also, we have given them strict guidelines to follow, which will reduce the level of air pollution in the area. Whosoever we find violating the rules, we will take strict actions against them.

In your district, there are three tourist destinations and they are not well developed. Why so?

There are separate Chief Executive Officers for tourism development authorities. Since I joined as a DC, I tried to streamline the things but still, we have problems on an administration level. There is an infrastructure deficit in these places, but we are planning to build public parks and have better roads, electricity and mobile connectivity at these places.

To maintain the footfall of tourists at these places, we have submitted a proposal of rupees 2 crores, which hasn’t been approved yet.

The administration has declared Tosa Maidan as a tourist destination. But, there were recent cases of shell explosion and civilian killings as well?

We did the de-mining activity in the area. After the incident where a boy lost his life, while he was playing with the shell, we recovered thirty mines from the place and placed caution boards there. Earlier, it was Northern Command’s firing range, hence there are chances that a few shells might be buried deep under the ground and it is difficult for us even to remove them.

Here, for all of these works, we need CEOs. As a DC, I have to instruct my CEO to complete these tasks, I can’t review everything on my own. We have forwarded the proposal for that also.

How is governor administration different than the elected government in Jammu and Kashmir. What is the difference at the administration level?

I cannot answer that question. It is a political issue. We are public servants and we give our best for people. I make sure that people can easily reach out to me. I also formed a grievance cell in my office, where I make sure that I respond to every problem that drops in.

Recently you were working towards women mensuration health awareness in the district. How are you planning to improve more such women-related issues?

Recently, we have started women-only buses from Srinagar to Budgam to ensure their safe and convenient travel.

In 145 schools across the district, we have planned to install pad-dispensers, wherein we have already installed in fifty schools. The same facility was installed in DC complex, degree colleges and at the airport. In addition to it, we have also formed Pink Communities, where we have taken on board a teacher and three girls from all institutions. They will be provided with an orientation course, guiding them to become ambassadors to maintain hygiene among girls.

Any message?

Being a woman, I want to tell every woman out there that it is very important for you to know your importance and to do something for the betterment of society. I have seen many cases where I found girls hesitating a lot in expressing their will, and that shouldn’t be the case. We need women leaders and I believe we can. But at the same time, we, as a society, also need to create a comfortable environment.

This interview originally appeared in 22-28 July print issue of The Kashmir Walla.


Toddler rolling suitcase through Dublin Airport-Packing Checklist for Babies and Toddlers

Ultimate Packing Checklist for Babies and Toddlers

*This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using this link. I don't know about you but I find packing for my toddler extremely overwhelming, stressful, and downright daunting.  I travel with my son 4-5 times per year and the…

Flying Internationally with an Infant: The Complete Guide

This is a comprehensive guide for flying with an infant. Covering the basics from booking your ticket, to packing, arriving at the airport, to making decisions about where to stay at your destination!


Estate planning

When you’ve worked hard to get where you are, you want to make sure that you and your family can enjoy the benefits. But if the unforeseen happens, how do you ensure your family are well looked after and that your assets are handed down according to your wishes?
Common questions to consider
Some questions you may wish to consider include:
•What is estate planning? Is estate planning just about making a Will?
•What is a Will and why do I need to make one?
•What is a Power of Attorney?
•Is it true that a person’s debt dies with them?
•What should I consider when I make a Will?
•How often should I update my Will?
•What happens if I don’t have a Will?
•What happens to my super when I die?
•Is there anything I can do to protect my estate?
How we can help
As part of a good, comprehensive financial plan, a Will is essential to ensure your wishes for what happens to your assets after you die are executed properly.
What to do next
If you want us to help you with estate planning contact us today.


The Advanced Diploma in Applied Theology is designed to give you a deep knowledge of the Bible, to strengthen your Christian faith, to provide a broad understanding in Theology, and to prepare you for ministry in a local church or organization. This programme is in the process of being accredited by the ECTE.

Goals of the Programme

  • To give you a deep knowledge of Scripture and of the Christian faith, especially from a Wesleyan perspective, and a basic knowledge of the history of the church.
  • To help you to have a clear understanding of and vision for the mission of the Church and the church’s responsibility to the world and its people.
  • To give you a thorough knowledge needed for effective ministry and working with various people.
  • To give you skills to interpret Scripture and to communicate effectively within different cultural contexts.
  • To build the skills needed to communicate clearly with people in order to provide leadership and pastoral care to them.
  • To have you grow in your ability to critically reflect and engage with contemporary issues in society, Bible and Theology.
  • Give you an ability to put into practice your learning and to be able to reflect critically on your experience.

Our courses

  • are offered in English.


In search for creativity

In search for creativity | Talkshow

Start date

Tuesday, 14 May 2019, 16:00

End date

Tuesday, 14 May 2019, 17:30

Erasmus Paviljoen

Everyone wants to be (more) creative. But what is it and why is it so appealing? Is it visible in the brain? Is creativity just a human affair, or can animals or machines also be creative? In this talk show we together explore the magic of creativity with a psychiatrist, a philosopher and an art historian.

From Einstein and Frida Kahlo to Beyoncé creative people shape the world and we as a society are their admirers. Creativity is a highly rated characteristic and it distinguishes you from the crowd. It has become one of the most important skills in the 21st century, where creative thinking and the creation of innovative concepts are increasingly important and visible in diverse aspects of society. But creativity is no longer just the domain of the artist, inventor or enthusiastic amateur.

Everyone wants to be creative or become more creative. But at the same time creativity is one of these things you cannot really grasp. What is creativity and where can you find it? Are some people more creative than others? And can creativity be learned or trained?

Together with art historian Liesbeth De Strooper, neuroscientist Steven Kushner and philosopher Tim De Mey we explore creativity in all its forms. The event will be moderated by science journalist Eveline van Rijswijk.

Liesbeth De Strooper is art historian and lecturer at the Departments of Arts and Cultural Studies at Erasmus University. Her research focuses on the valuation of Impressionism.

Tim De Mey is assistant professor in theoretical philosophy at Erasmus School of Philosophy. His research focuses on the role of imagination and creativity in the acquisition of knowledge in the academic field.

Steven Kushner is professor of Neurobiological Psychiatry at the Erasmus Medical Center.
His researches include cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in storing memories in the brain and the neurobiology behind psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia.

More information

Date: Tuesday 14 May
Time: 16.00 - 17.30 hours Doors open : 15.30
Location: Erasmus Paviljoen, campus Woudestein

Ticket information
Entrance: free, registration is recommended