Logan Hatter for President

The hair we need

A true honest Conservative

Logan has been a conservative since he was a kid. He was born in Avon IN and knew that this country needed to be led by someone who was deeply rooted in their beliefs and will hold true to the promises they make.

What Logan will contribute


Mr Perfect

Linda Howards

The List

Everything starts as a joke four friends at its weekly meeting. Does the topic of conversation? Once again, the men. Between laughs, decide to make the portrait of the perfect man, and put in writing the qualities that you should gather: sincere, friendly, attractive, with a sense of humor... and, well, there is something more, a detail that will eventually trigger a veritable nightmare. However, Janie and her friends do not feel in danger. See No threat in the whispering telephone calls, nor perceive the hate-filled gaze of a character near. They are unaware that a mind is unbalanced as the snow piles on the side of a mountain: sometimes just a sneeze to cause an avalanche.

Long time ago that Janie has ceased to believe in the perfect man. After several failed relationships, took a deep breath... and it takes a few years without a partner. In addition, what you need for a man? Have a good job, with her friends and just bought a house. Pity that their neighbor will prove to be an individual so irritating: brazen and arrogant, but physically imposing and owner of a smile that stops at the same time angry and disarmed. In what other person could rely Janie to escape an assassin.

It is called Sam Donovan and is a policeman. Works daily with the threat of violence, crime and deception, is accustomed to see the darkest part of the human being, and know how to appreciate the honesty and the ability to struggle. Perhaps for this reason, feel hopelessly attracted to its beautiful and impatient neighbor: has thrust, is brave and sincere, warm and cheerful. From the first moment, Sam decides that this woman will be important in your life, and do not allow anyone to harm. Absolutely no one.


Change the world

Centre for Access Assessment & Research

Why a Developmental Approach?

Nelson Mandela University aims to provide a supportive and affirming environment that enables its students to reach their full potential. Student success is promoted by encouraging all students to participate in the academic, social, and personal development initiatives on offer at the Nelson Mandela University.

In promoting student success, CAAR makes developmental recommendations for each student who has written the Access Assessment Test (AAT) and has been accepted into a Nelson Mandela University academic programme.

What types of developmental recommendations are made by CAAR

Different types of academic development or academic monitoring recommendations are made. These recommendations identify areas of academic growth for students or suggest that formalised monitoring of student progress is necessary.

How are developmental recommendations communicated?

The CAAR recommendations are communicated to students in a feedback report with some suggestions on how these recommendations can be implemented. While participation in these developmental initiatives is not usually enforced, students are strongly encouraged to seek out support and develop themselves further in the areas suggested.

A list of students who have received developmental recommendations from CAAR is also sent to the Deans, Directors of Schools, HoDs and Programme Co-ordinators for monitoring and follow-up in the year.

Who is responsible for implementing these developmental recommendations?

Ideally, both students and the university are responsible for developing students to their full potential. While the university is responsible for creating positive learning environments, students are responsible for being active learners who take responsibility for their own learning.

How can we implement these developmental recommendations?

Students are provided with some suggestions in their feedback report on developmental initiatives at Nelson Mandela University which could support them in the areas of growth recommended.

Some learning programmes may also assist students in implementing the developmental recommendations by providing individual or group development and support initiatives within the learning programme or by referring students to workshops or activities offered by Student Counselling or CTLM. The Student Success website for Nelson Mandela University staff provides guidance on developing and supporting students for academic success.


Gene Fuels Age-Related Obesity and Diabetes

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Practically everybody gets fatter as they get older, though some people can censure their genes for a additional padding. Researchers have shown that dual opposite mutations in a gene called ankyrin-B means cells to siphon adult glucose faster than normal, fattening them adult and eventually triggering a form of diabetes related to obesity.

Fat cells with a R1788W ankyrin-B spin (shown on a right) have lengthened lipid droplets. The immature tone highlights a sites of fat storage in rodent gross cells. Nuclei are shown in blue. Photo credit: Damaris Lorenzo

The some-more serious of a dual mutations, called R1788W, is carried by scarcely one million Americans. The milder mutation, famous as L1622I, is common by 7 percent of a African American race and is about as common as a trait for sickle dungeon anemia.

The findings, that were generated in mice, could assistance brand at-risk people who competence be means to tip a beam behind in their preference by eating improved and sportive more. The formula seem Jul 13 in a Journal of Clinical Investigation.

“This is one of a initial examples of a ionization gene that would usually be manifested by a complicated lifestyle,” pronounced Vann Bennett, M.D., Ph.D., comparison author of a investigate and George Barth Geller Professor of Biochemistry, Cell Biology, and Neurobiology during Duke University School of Medicine. “The plumpness widespread unequivocally took off in a 1980’s, when sweetened sodas and French fries became popular. It’s not like we unexpected altered genetically in 1980, though rather we have carried ionization genes that were exacerbated by this new diet. We consider a commentary are only a beginning, and that there are going to be many genes like this.”

Bennett, who is also an questioner with a Howard Hughes Medical Institute, rescued ankyrin-B some-more than thirty years ago. He found that ankyrin-B acts as a kind of protein anchor, tethering critical proteins to a inside of a cell’s plasma membrane. Since his initial discovery, Bennett and other researchers have concerned defects in ankyrin-B in a far-reaching accumulation of tellurian afflictions, including strange heartbeat, autism, robust dystrophy, aging, and, some-more recently, diabetes.

Diabetes is fast apropos one of a biggest threats to open health, as waistlines enhance around a universe and here in a United States. If a stream trends continue, one in 3 Americans will have diabetes by 2050. Patients with form 1 diabetes do not make adequate insulin, a hormone that helps routine a glucose that builds adult in a bloodstream after a meal. Patients with form 2 diabetes, a form related to obesity, make insulin though spin resistant to a effects.

Several years ago, a Bennett laboratory found justification that ankyrin-B mutations competence play a purpose in insulin secretion and metabolism. Since then, several studies have unclosed singular ankyrin-B variants that are compared with form 2 diabetes. One mutation, called R1788W, was some-more common in Caucasians and Hispanics. Another, called L1622I, was found exclusively in African-Americans, a organisation famous to be during a quite high risk of diabetes. But it was still misleading how these changes in a genetic formula could set a march for diabetes.

To get during that answer, Bennett’s MD/PhD tyro Jane Healy combined rodent models that carried these same tellurian genetic variants. She and her colleagues found that animals with dual copies of a R1788W spin done reduction insulin than normal mice. Despite this shortcoming, their blood glucose levels were normal. So a researchers achieved a rodent homogeneous of a glucose toleration exam –- ordinarily used to shade for form 2 diabetes in people — to establish how fast glucose was privileged from a bloodstream in a mutant mice. To their surprise, a mutant mice metabolized glucose some-more fast than normal mice.

“We suspicion that a categorical problem in these mice would be with a beta cells that constructed and secreted insulin,” pronounced Healy, co-author of a investigate and a former trainee in Bennett’s laboratory. “Instead, a many poignant anticipating lay with a aim cells, that took adult most some-more glucose than expected.”

Glucose doesn’t enter cells and tissues all on a own, though instead has to rest on a second molecule, called GLUT4 transporter, to benefit access. Normally, GLUT4 hangs out in a cell, like a stewardess watchful for celebration guest to arrive. When insulin is benefaction it acts as a kind of doorbell, alerting GLUT4 to open into movement and open a doorway to let glucose into a cell. When insulin goes away, a GLUT4 transporters tighten a door, spin around, and go behind into a center of a cell.

However, postdoctoral associate Damaris Lorenzo, Ph.D., found that wasn’t a box with a mutant mice. After conducting a series of biochemistry experiments, Lorenzo ddiscovered that a mice had lots of GLUT4 on a aspect of their flesh and fat cells even when there wasn’t any insulin around. That meant that glucose could upsurge in but indispensably carrying to worry with a doorbell.

This open doorway process was an advantage when they were young, since it stable a animals from low insulin levels. But when a mice got comparison — or switched to a quite high-fat diet — it done a mice fatter and, eventually, led them to spin insulin resistant.

The researchers trust that prolonged ago, a R1788W spin — and a milder L1622I spin — competence have supposing an evolutionary advantage. Aging hunter-gatherer types, who weren’t as effective during chasing down their subsequent meal, indispensable to benefit as most fat as probable to equivocate starvation. Now that high-fat, high-calorie dishes are abundant in most of a world, these variants put people during increasing risk for complicated afflictions like plumpness and diabetes.

“If people with these mutations are rescued early enough, they spin primary possibilities for involvement with personalized therapies.” pronounced Lorenzo, lead author of a study. “That competence engage specific strategies to conduct their deficits in insulin secretion, as good as adhering to a normal diet and an active lifestyle, with a wish that they can equivocate a metabolic diseases that could exceedingly deteriorate their peculiarity of life.”

Next, a researchers would like to try either a effects they celebrated in mice reason loyal in humans. They devise to genotype people in a ubiquitous population, brand families with ankyrin mutations, and afterwards perform family histories as good as glucose metabolism tests to consider a consequences of these genetic variants during a mobile level.

Source: Duke University


PG Impact Investments, a global impact investment firm, has recently invested in an affordable housing program aiming to create more than 20,000 new homes in South Africa.

In a country with one of the highest levels of economic inequality in the world, more than 5 million South African households currently face the challenge that their income is too high to qualify for public housing programs yet too low to afford quality and safe homes, forcing these families into informal housing. PGII’s investment will address this gap in South Africa’s housing supply, targeting underserved communities that represent 26% of the total population.

Safe, high-quality and well-located affordable housing, which provides access to social amenities, has a profound tangible impact on the lives and overall welfare of residents. With this most recent investment, PGII will fund 400 new homes in areas close to schools, employment and healthcare infrastructure, allowing more than 1,600 people a chance at shelter, security and the first step toward social inclusion and integration into the formal economy.

Additionally, 20% of these affordable housing units will include EDGE-certified ‘green’ technology to reduce usage of water, electricity and building materials. This will help to lower household expenses while promoting environmentally friendly practices.

Our investment is part of a program managed by International Housing Solutions (IHS), an experienced and longstanding developer of affordable housing in South Africa. The program aims to deliver a total of 20,000 homes for rental and sale by 2021, developing sustainable communities and creating local jobs.

About PG Impact Investments

PG Impact Investments contact
Caroline Reuter
Phone: +41 41 784 68 55


Following initial discussion, Portchester will provide a rapid answer to managers, owners and advisors in respect of our willingness to purchase the company, and the terms upon which we would be prepared to acquire a majority stake.

The investment process after agreeing exclusivity involves a short period of due diligence, with professional advisors who we have worked with over many years. We would expect to complete and fund acquisitions 8-10 weeks after entering exclusivity, on the terms agreed.

The executives who own and control Portchester form its board and investment committee. This gives absolute clarity on deliverability and decision making to management teams and vendors.


The Relationship of the Diverse Branches of Natural Science to Astronomy
Lecture IV

Rudolf Steiner

Stuttgart, January 4, 1921

My dear friends,

We must, however, distinguish two things in the formation of these ideas. First, the ideas are derived from observation of the celestial phenomena, and theoretical explanations are then linked on to the observations. Sometimes very far-reaching, spun-out theories have been linked on to relatively few observations. That is the one thing, namely, that a start is made from observations out of which certain ideas have been developed. The other is that, the ideas having been reached, they are further elaborated into hypotheses. In this creating of hypotheses - a process which ends in the setting up of some definite cosmology - much arbitrariness prevails, since in the setting-up of theories, any preconceived ideas existing in the minds of those who put forward the theory make themselves strongly felt.

In the whole mode of thought of modern Science there prevails what might be called, and indeed has been called, the 'Regula philosophandi'. It consists in saying: What has been traced to definite causes in one realm of reality, is to be traced to the same causes in other realms. In setting up such a 'regula philosophandi' the starting-point is as a rule apparently self-evident. It will be said - scientists of the Newtonian school will certainly say - that breathing must have the same causes in man and in the animal, or again, that the ignition of a piece of wood must have the same cause whether in Europe or in America. Up to this point the thing is obvious enough. But then a jump is made which passes unnoticed, - is taken tacitly for granted. Those who are wont to think in this way will say, for example, that if a candle and the Sun are both shedding light the same causes must surely underlie the light of the candle and the light of the Sun. Or again, if a stone falls to Earth and the Moon circles round the Earth, the same causes must underlie the movement of the stone and the movement of the Moon. To such an explanation they attach the further thought that if this were not so, we should have no explanations at all in Astronomy. The explanations are based on earthly things. If the same causality did not obtain in the Heavens as on Earth, we should not be able to arrive at any theory at all.

What I am now describing thus abstractly has, however, become a historical fact. There is a continuous line of development from what the great thinkers at the opening of the modern age - Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo - concluded from comparatively few observations. Of Kepler - notably of his third Law, quoted yesterday - it must be said that his analysis of the facts which were available to him is a work of genius.

It was a very great intensity of spiritual force which Kepler brought to bear when, from the little that lay before him, he discovered this 'law' as we call it, or better, this 'conceptual synthesis' of the phenomena of the universe. Then however, by way of Newton, a development set in which was not derived from observation but from theoretical constructions, including concepts of force and mass and the like, which we must simply omit if we only want to hold to what is given. The development in this direction reaches a culminating point - conceived, admittedly, with genius and originality - in Laplace, where it leads to a genetic explanation of the entire cosmic system (as you will convince yourselves if you read his famous book Exposition du Systeme du Monde), or again in Kant, in his Natural History and Theory of the Heavens. In all that has followed in this trend we see the effort constantly made to come to conclusions based on the thought pictures that have thus been conceived of the connections of the celestial movements, and resulting in such explanations of the origin of the universe as the nebular theory and so on.

Proceeding in this way - pursuing the modern method of forming concepts in this particular field - we must first form a concept which presented itself inductively to Kepler and was then developed further. I repeat that I will only go so far in these concepts that even if the picture in the form in which it was conceived should be mistaken, it has departed only so far from reality that it will be possible to eliminate the mistake and return to what is true. We need to develop a certain flair for reality in the concepts we entertain. We cannot proceed in any other way if we wish to build a bridge from reality to the spun-out theories of modern scholarship and science.

Here then, to begin with, is a concept which we must examine. The planets have eccentric orbits - they describe ellipses. This is something with which we can begin. The planets have eccentric orbits and describe ellipses, in one focus of which is the Sun. They describe the ellipses in accordance with the law that the radius - vectors describe equal areas in equal periods of time.

Upon these two thought-pictures - that the orbital planes of the planets lie in the proximity of the plane of the Sun's equator, and that the orbits are eccentric ellipses - Kant, Laplace and their successors built up the nebular hypothesis. Follow what emerges from this. At a pinch, and indeed only at a pinch, it is a way of imagining the origin of the solar system. But the astronomical system thus constructed contains no satisfactory explanation of the part played by the cometary bodies. They always fall out of the theory. This discordance of the comets with the theories which were formed, as described, in the course of scientific history, proves that the cometary life somehow contradicts a concept formed, not from the whole but only from a part of the whole. We must be clear, too, that the paths of the comets frequently coincide with those of other bodies which also play into our system and present a riddle precisely through their association with the comets. These are the meteoric swarms, whose paths very frequently - perhaps even always - coincide with the cometary paths. Here, my dear friends, taking into account the totality of our system, we are led to say: A sea of ideas has gradually formed from the study of our planetary system as a whole - ideas with which we cannot do justice to the seemingly irregular and almost arbitrary paths of the comets and meteoric swarms. They simply refuse to be included in the more abstract pictures that have been reached. I should have to give you long historical descriptions to show in detail how many difficulties have arisen in connection with the concrete facts, when the investigators - or rather, thinkers - approached the comets and meteoric swarms with their astronomical theories.

Starting in this way from concepts which still have a remnant of reality in them, we will now try to go back a little towards what is real. It is indeed always necessary to do this in relation to the outer world in order that our concepts may not stray too far from reality - for this is a strong propensity of man. We must go back again and again to the reality.

The other is: We have said that the planes of the planetary orbits are inclined to the plane of the Sun's equator. Where the planets cross the point of intersection of their orbits (with the Ecliptic) in an upward or downward direction, they are said to form Nodes. The lines joining the two Nodes (KK1 in Figure 1), are variable. So too are the inclinations of the planes to one another, so that even these inclinations, if we try to express them in a single concept, bring us to a rigid concept which we must immediately modify in face of the reality. For if an orbit is inclined at one time in one way, and at another time in another way, the concept we deduce in the first instance must afterwards be modified. To be sure, once such a point has been reached we can take an easy line and say that there are 'disturbances' and that the reality is only grasped 'approximately' with our concepts. We then go on swimming comfortably in further theories. But in the end we swim so far that the fanciful and theoretic pictures we are constructing no longer correspond to the reality, though they are meant to do so.

It is easy to agree that this mutability of the eccentric orbits and the mutual inclination of the planes of the orbits must somehow or other be connected with the life of the whole planetary system or, shall we say, with its continuing activity. It must be connected in some way with the living activity of the whole planetary system. That is quite evident. Starting from this, one might again try to form the concept, saying: Well now, I will bring such mobility into my thoughts that I picture the ellipses continually bulging out and contracting, the planes of the orbits ascending, descending and rotating, and then from this starting-point I will build up a world-system according to reality. Good. But if you think the idea through to the end, then precisely as the outcome of such logical thought the result is a planetary system which cannot possibly go on existing. Through the summation of the disturbances which arise especially through the variability of the Nodes, the planetary system would move towards its own ultimate death and rigidity. Here there comes in what philosophers have pointed out again and again. While such a system can be thought out, in reality it would have had ample time to reach the ultimate finale. There is no reason why it should not, The infinite possibility would have been fulfilled; ridigity would long ago have set in.

Now, however, we come to something else, to which we must pay special attention. In pursuing these things further - you can find the theory of it in the work of Laplace; I will only relate the phenomena - one finds that the reason why the system has not actually reached rigidity under the influence of the disturbances - the variability of the Nodes, etc. - is that the ratios of the periods of revolution of the planets are not commensurable. They are incommensurable quantities, numbers with decimals to an infinite number of places. Thus we must say: If we compare the periods of revolution of the planets in the sense of Kepler's Third Law, the ratios of these periods cannot be given in integers, nor in finite fractions, but only in incommensurable numbers. Modern Astronomy is clear on this. It is to the incommensurability of the ratios between the periods of revolution of the several planets (in Kepler's third Law) that the planetary system owes its continued mobility. Otherwise, it must long ago have come to a standstill.

Observe now what has happened. In the last resort we are obliged to base our thoughts about the planetary system upon numbers which in the end elude our grasp. This is of no little importance.

What does this mean? It means that we apply the most secure of our sciences, mathematics, to the celestial phenomena, and in the last resort the celestial phenomena do not .....; the moment comes where they elude us. Precisely where we are about to reach their very life, they slip away into the incommensurable realm. Here then our grasp of reality comes to an end at a certain point and passes over into chaos.

Think the thought through to its conclusion. You can do so, since it is a purely 'methodological' thought, that is to say the reality of it is in our own inner life.

If in arithmetic we reach the incommensurable numbers - that is, we reach a point where the reality is no longer represented by a number that can be shown in its complete form - then we should also begin to ask whether the same thing may not happen with geometrical forms as with arithmetical analysis. (We shall speak more of this in the next lecture.) The analytical process leads to incommensurable numbers. Now let us ask: How do geometrical forms image the celestial movements? Do not these images perhaps lead us to a certain point similar to that to which arithmetical analysis is leading when we reach incommensurable numbers? Do we not in our study of the heavenly bodies - namely the planets - come to a boundary, at which we must admit we can no longer use geometrical forms as a means of illustration; the facts can no longer be grasped with geometrical forms? Just as we must leave the region of commensurable numbers, it may well be that we must leave the region where reality can still be clothed in geometrical (or again arithmetical, algebraic, analytical) forms, such as in drawings of spirals and other figures derived from Geometry. So, in Geometry too, we should be coming into the incommensurable realm. In this sense it is indeed remarkable that in Embryology, though arithmetical analysis is not yet of much use, Geometry makes its presence felt quite strongly the moment we begin to take hold of the embryological phenomena as they emerge from chaos. Here we are dealing, not indeed with incommensurable numbers but with something that tends to pass from incommensurable into commensurable form.

Such laws are those encountered by anyone who studies Mathematics. In lectures given recently in Dornach by our friend Dr. Blumel, significant indications were given of this line of mathematical research. One of the laws in question is termed the Commutative Law. It can be expressed in saying: It is obvious that a x b equals b x a, or a + b equals b + a. This is a self-evident fact so long as one remains within the realm of real numbers: But it is merely an inductive law derived from the use of the implicit postulates in the arithmetic of real numbers.

The fourth law may be expressed as follows: 'A product can only equal zero if at least one of the factors equals zero.' This law again is only an inductive one, derived by working with the implicit postulates in the arithmetic of real numbers.

In other words: We first set up postulates which we then apply to reality and take them as axioms of the reality itself. We ought only to say: I will consider a certain sphere of reality and see how far I get with the statement A + b = b + a. More than that, I have no right to say. For by approaching reality with this statement we meet what answers to it, and elbow aside anything that does not. We have this habit too in other fields. We say for example, in elementary physics: Bodies are subject to the law of inertia. We define 'inertia' as consisting in the fact that bodies do not leave their position or alter their state of motion without a definite impelling force. But that is not an axiom; it is a postulate. I ought only so say: I will call a body which does not alter its own state of motion 'inert', and now I will seek in the real world for whatever answers to this postulate.

In that I form certain concepts, I am therefore only forming guiding lines with which to penetrate reality, and I must keep the way open in my mind for penetrating other facts with other concepts. Therefore I only regard the four basic laws of numbers in the right way if I see them as something which gives me a certain direction, something which helps me regulate my approach to reality. I shall be wrong if I take Mathematics as constituting reality, for then in certain fields, reality will simply contradict me. Such a contradiction is the one I spoke of, where incommensurability enters in, in the study of celestial phenomena.

Previous lectures


Symantec beats the competition…

By Thomas Kristensen

With a mind-blowing detection rate, almost 10 times higher than the nearest competitor, Symantec has beaten eleven other Internet Security Suites by offering a superior detection rate of exploits.

Congratulations, Symantec!

Secunia has tested the ability of twelve different Internet Security Suites to find out what level of protection they offer against 300 exploits targeting vulnerabilities in various high-end, high-profile programs.

So, does this mean that Symantec customers can feel safe surfing the Internet?

By no means!

Even the "high" score from Symantec was disappointing. Symantec detected a mere 64 out of 300 exploits, or less than one-fourth, leaving 236 exploits undetected!

Users don't patch
This, combined with the fact that too few users and companies patch their software, leaves the gates wide open for criminals. Recent statistics based on a nationwide campaign in Denmark show that approx. one-third of all programs installed on Danish PCs lack one or more security patches. These findings are, by and large, applicable to the rest of the world as well.

While we did suspect that the popular security vendors would score quite poorly in detecting exploits, the extremely low detection rate took us by surprise and this really begs the question: Do the customers get their money's worth?

You can find the complete list of exploits and vulnerabilities tested as well as details on which ones were detected and not detected, on the following link:

What is wrong
It is important to understand that once an exploit has been developed for a particular vulnerability, then it is possible to change the payload (e.g keylogger, bot code, remote control software, or other malicious code) at any time, however, the characteristics of what triggers the vulnerability is static.

Based on proper in-depth analysis of the vulnerabilities it is possible to create signatures for these characteristics for each individual vulnerability with a very reliable detection.

Since this isn't the approach taken by the established security vendors providing those twelve Internet Security Suites, one can only hope that these vendors are superior in their ability to create signatures very rapidly for the payload of the various exploits and all the new virus strains that keep coming.

However, even with a very rapid creation of payload-based signatures, all their customers are still left exposed for a considerable amount of time from the point when the criminals start distributing their new payload until it has been "caught", analysed, a signature has been created, the signature has undergone quality assurance testing, the signature is published, and finally downloaded and activated by the security software. This process is lengthy and will in a best case scenario take several of hours.

Determining the characteristics of a vulnerability is somewhat more complicated and takes longer than creating a payload based signature, however, it need only be created once. Often the security vendors can finish their analysis and create a signature in the same time as the criminals can develop an exploit and start their criminal attacks.

What to do
Users and businesses need to take the threat seriously and realise that firewalls and traditional security software, such as that included in Internet Security Suites, isn't sufficient to protect PCs and corporate networks.

Because the security industry can never offer a protection that matches that of a properly patched program, consumers and businesses have to put more effort into patching their programs. If your programs are vulnerable and unpatched, then you're left quite exposed to new attacks.

What makes patching even more attractive is the fact that it is free-of-charge. It only costs the amount of time invested in downloading and installing the patch/update. With tools such as the free Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI) and the similar functionality offered by Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 it is very easy to identify the programs that needs patching.

Stay Secure,

Thomas Kristensen

CTO Secunia


Syndicate content

Counting the uncounted: 1.1 billion people without IDs

Vyjayanti T Desai's picture
Also available in: Français | العربية| Español
Photo: Daniel Silva Yoshisato

Identification matters

Electricity and the internet: two markets, one big opportunity

Anna Lerner's picture

Who shares in the European sharing economy?

Hernan Winkler's picture

This can also generate important disruptions.

How can developing countries make the most of the digital revolution?

Nagy K. Hanna's picture

Also available in: French | Spanish

Digital technologies have been transforming the global economy. Yet many countries have yet to experience the full developmental benefits of digital technologies, such as inclusive and sustainable growth, improved governance, and responsive service delivery. Given the magnitude of change in competitive advantage that digital technologies can confer on adopters, the risks of slow or poor adoption of these innovations can be dire for industries, governments, individuals, and nations. So, how can policy makers successfully harness the digital revolution for development? This is the motivation behind my new publication: Mastering Digital Transformation (Emerald, 2016).

From my long experience in development assistance, I saw how information poverty in its many forms has led to policy planning and management without facts, disconnected enterprises, inefficient markets, poor service delivery, disempowerment, corruption, and more. The ongoing ICT revolution has been long ignored in development thinking and practice. Development practitioners and ICT specialists remain disconnected. I studied the experiences of countries pursuing digital transformation, and captured key lessons and takeaways in several books.

Digital transformation is not a technological fix, a blueprint plan, a one-off event, or a one-size-fits-all strategy. Rather, it is a social learning process, sustained over time, involving diverse stakeholders. Its ultimate objective is to harness the global digital revolution to meet a country’s specific socio-economic priorities. This process is a marathon, not a sprint. It is driven by vision, leadership, innovation, learning, and partnerships among government, business, and civil society.

Ten Principles on Identification for Sustainable Development

Vyjayanti T Desai's picture
The global identification gap is a significant challenge for sustainable development. We hope the new Principles on Identification are an important step to closing it.
In the modern world, many everyday transactions—such as opening a bank account, registering for school, activating a SIM card or mobile phone, obtaining formal employment, or receiving social transfers—require individuals to prove who they are. For the estimated 1.5 billion people in developing countries who lack proof of identity (World Bank data, 2016), this creates a serious obstacle for full participation in formal economic, social, and political life.  Like individuals, governments also need robust, secure identification systems to perform core state functions and administer many of the programs and services vital for development, including social transfers, education and healthcare, and emergency and disaster response.
Growing awareness of the need for more inclusive, robust identification systems has led to a global call to action, embodied in Target 16.9 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): “by 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth registration”. As public attention is increasing, a number of successful initiatives from around the world have highlighted the development benefits of reliable identification systems.

Burkina Faso’s digital ambition: transforming through eGovernment and digital platforms

Samia Melhem's picture

Watching Tanzania leapfrog the digital divide

Boutheina Guermazi's picture

ICT essentials for rebuilding fragile states

Mark Jamison's picture
Photo credit: STARS/Flickr

All text messages are not created equal

Pierre Guislain's picture
Photo credit: Adam Fagen/Flickr
Eight months after the launch of the World Development Report 2016 on Digital Dividends, I am happy to report that our efforts to operationalize the findings are well under way. For digital technologies to benefit everyone everywhere, affordable access to broadband internet is key. This requires both robust broadband infrastructure, and the strengthening of analog complements to digital solutions, including a pro-competitive and effective regulatory framework, a sound business environment, good governance and digital skills.

One of our main areas of focus is the enabling environment – helping governments foster digital development by putting in place the right policies and regulations.

Now, what are some of the main issues?

First, across the world, but especially in developing countries, competitiveness continues to be dragged down by ‘red tape’, including numerous procedures, authorizations and delays to start a business or launch a service, costly and unreliable property registration, or stifling labor regulations. I am sure you are all familiar with the Doing Business report and the World Bank’s many programs to support business reforms worldwide.

While the digital industry also faces these regulatory hurdles, it is confronted with additional challenges.

Let me give you an example. With your phone in hand, you are about to send a text message to a friend. Your phone offers you a choice: to send the text message through your mobile operator, or to send it via the internet through an app. Depending on what platform you use, your text message will be taxed differently. All text messages are not created equal: different digital services are treated differently from a regulatory and fiscal point of view, with no real level playing field.

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Navigators International Rotterdam is an open community consisting of mostly international students. Each Thursday we have dinner together, which is truly “gezellig”. Afterwards we read from the Bible and discuss in small groups what we read.

Have you ever read in the Bible? Why do we like to read the Bible? The Bible addresses big questions about the purpose of life. The Bible tells us that we are already loved by Someone and gives the counter-cultural message that we don’t need to earn our lives by being successful, have many friends, please the people around us or being morally superior. It thus inspires many people to follow Jesus and live a life of love.

To serve international students The Navigators collaborate with the ICF Rotterdam as a church. Every Sunday 40 different nationalities guarantee fascinating differences and surprising encounters. A great experience to add to your time in Holland. Check out for more information about their meetings.


3 Surprising Facts About The Economy Everyone Should Know

Discussing economic theories is important, but using real world observable evidence to support or refute those theories is even more crucial. Progressives may hate libertarian ideas, but it turns out that the most empirical research supports the notion that libertarian economic policies lead to faster economic growth and a greater standard of living for everyone, including the poorest and most vulnerable.

On the other hand, progressive economic policies don’t fare so well. While people will be arguing about the following issues for years to come, it appears as though the research on such issues is close to consensus.
Here are three facts about the economy that everyone needs to know:

1. Large Government is Tremendously Bad for Growth
Conventional wisdom says government spending boosts economic growth. But like most conventional wisdom, this belief does not hold up under empirical scrutiny.

According to a late survey, “The most recent studies [on the relationship between government spending and economic growth] find a significant negative correlation: An increase in government size by 10 percentage points [as a share of the economy] is associated with a 0.5 to 1 percent lower annual growth rate [even when controlling for other confounding variables].”

That may not sound like a big difference, but even a small reduction in a country’s economic growth rate can reduce that country’s future wealth tremendously. Consider the fact that “[A]n annual growth rate of 2 percent means that the economic standard of living doubles in thirty-six years. But if the annual growth is instead 3 percent, a doubling of the standard of living takes a mere twenty-four years.”

According to researchers, the optimal size of government spending as a share of the economy (Gross Domestic Product) is no more than 25 percent. Unfortunately, total government spending in the United States is over 40 percent of GDP, and is even higher in other developed countries.

2. Capitalism Really Does Make Everyone Richer
Free Market Capitalism (economic freedom) is constantly under attack by its opponents who claim that it impoverishes people, causes income inequality and destroys the environment. While it certainly is popular to blame economic freedom, it’s also popular to assume these claims are true rather than prove them using observable evidence.

Contrary to its opponent’s claims, economic freedom (measured using the Heritage Foundation’s Economic Freedom Index) is highly correlated with higher environmental protection, improved sanitation, cleaner water, longer life expectancy, lower infant mortality rates, more income equality, etc.

Additionally, economic freedom is positively correlated with economic growth and national income per capita. There is significant evidence that economic freedom is the cause of this prosperity. It’s also worth noting that this income isn’t just going to the very rich, rather, it is going to the poor as well. The poorest 10 percent of income earners in the most economically free countries have an average income which is 11 times greater than the average incomes of the poorest 10 percent in the least economically free countries (when adjusting for purchasing power disparities across countries). CoreyIacono_Economy

The opponents of the free market, though they may be genuine in their intentions, are actually fighting the greatest anti-poverty program in the world.

3. Corporate Taxation is a Terrible Idea
Benjamin Franklin once famously stated, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” He was certainly right. Americans today face many different types of taxes and nearly all are harmful to economic growth, but some more than others.
Corporate taxes, for example, are widely loved by both the public and politicians. After all, who better to tax than “greedy” corporations? Unfortunately, reality is not that simple. Taxing corporate income reduces the incentive to invest in capital. Slow growth in the capital stock necessarily corresponds with slow growth in worker’s wages since worker’s wages are dependent on worker productivity. Ultimately, research finds that corporate taxes result in a smaller economy and are much more harmful than other forms of taxation. Take for example a study by economists Young Lee and Roger Gordon which concluded by stating:

“This paper finds that the corporate tax rate is significantly negatively correlated with economic growth in a cross-section data set of 70 countries during 1970-1997, controlling for many other determinants of economic growth.”

Abolishing the corporate tax in order to stimulate economic growth may sound like the dreaded “trickle-down economics” to some, but in reality, workers directly benefit from the abolishment of corporate taxes. For example, economist Laurence Kotlikoff has found that abolishing the corporate tax would raise workers’ wages by an astounding 12-13 percent. Ultimately, if we want to grow the economy and raise workers’ wages, abolishing the corporate tax is a large step in the right direction.


Armageddon: The Final World War (Part 2)

Armageddon: The Final World War (Part 2)

100 Days of Preaching the Gospel #92 | with Daniel Whyte III

SCRIPTURE: Revelation 16:17-21: "And the seventh angel poured out his
cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance

Today, we return to the scene at Armageddon. The vast armies of the
antichrist and all the nations of the world are assembled in Israel
for the purpose of preventing Jesus Christ's return to this earth.
Jesus is on the threshold of Heaven, ready to descend with his army to
defeat forever the rebellious forces of the devil and the antichrist.
But first, the final vial needs to be poured out, and judgment will be


Benefits of Intermittent Fasting

Diets | December 4, 2017 | Author: Naturopath

Benefits of Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting has risen in popularity due to numerous studies showing it has powerful effects on weight loss, blood sugar balancing and heart health. Common fasting methods involve daily 16-hour fasts, or fasting for 24 hours, twice per week.  Intermittent fasting is nothing new—our hunter gatherer ancestors would fast when food was scarce and some people fast for religious reasons. In fact, once a year, Muslims observe Ramadan, a month of fasting from dawn until sunset.

What is intermittent fasting?

Intermittent fasting is a term used to describe a pattern of eating that cycles between periods of eating and fasting. It does not refer to what you should eat, but rather when you should eat. There are many different variations of intermittent fasting that are used around the world. Here are some examples:

What is intermittent fasting?Alternate day fasting—eat every second day to achieve your health goals. On fast days either don’t eat or restrict calorie intake to a maximum 500.

The 5:2 diet—on two non-consecutive days of the week consume 500-600 calories. Eat normally on the remaining 5 days.

The 16/8 method—skip breakfast and restrict your daily eating period to 8 hours during the day, for example from 12pm-8pm. This diet, also called the Leangains protocols, involves 16 hours of fasting in between eating.

The warrior diet—eat light meals of fruit and vegetables during the day and eat a large meal at night.

Eat-stop-eat—pick 1-2 days a week where you fast for 24 hours. For example, you fast from lunch one day until lunch the next day.

The benefits of intermittent fasting

The mechanisms by which intermittent fasting improves health and counteracts disease processes involve activation of adaptive cellular stress response signalling pathways that initiate important cellular repair processes and change the expression of genes that relate to longevity and protect against disease. In doing so it also achieves the following benefits:

Weight loss

Weight lossThe main benefit of intermittent fasting is weight loss. Provided you don’t “pig out” on your eating days, most people find it a straightforward way to lose weight. By eating fewer meals you are automatically eating less calories which facilitates weight loss and fat-burning. If you don’t have a constant intake of food your body will find alternate sources of energy such as fat stores. In addition to this, fasting improves levels of hormones such as insulin, growth hormone, noradrenaline and leptin. Due to the changes in these hormones short-term fasting may increase your metabolic rate by 3.6-14% and body weight by 3-7%.

A study that focused on the 16/8 method of intermittent fasting showed that it significantly reduced fat mass while retaining both muscle mass and strength. This is one reason why the 16/8 method of intermittent fasting is the most popular, and it does seem easier to follow than other fasting diets.

Heart health

Having your weight in the healthy weight range is beneficial to your heart. However, there are lots of other benefits of intermittent fasting for our cardiovascular system by reducing disease risk factors. Whole-day fasting trials lasting 12-24 weeks found a reduction in total cholesterol by 5-20% and triglycerides by 17-50%. Having elevated levels of cholesterol and triglycerides can contribute to the development of heart disease.

One animal study showed that intermittent fasting caused an increase in levels of adiponectin which is a protein involved in the metabolism of fat and sugar that may be protective against heart disease. In fact, in one study, rats who fasted every other day were nearly 66 % more likely to survive a heart attack than those on a normal diet.

Reduce insulin levels

Intermittent fasting has many benefits for diabetics and those with insulin resistance by having a positive effect on blood sugars. When we eat carbohydrates, insulin is released to help transport sugar from our bloodstream into cells for energy. When you fast for regular intervals insulin levels drop which makes stored body fat more accessible. Insulin doesn’t always work well when you have diabetes and intermittent fasting changes this by making insulin more efficient and our cells more sensitive to its effects. One study showed that fasting decreased blood sugar by 12 % and lowered insulin levels by nearly 53 %.

Brain power

Unfortunately, studies on intermittent fasting and its effect on brain health have only been conducted on animals. But here is what researchers found:

  • enhanced cognitive function
  • protection against changes in memory and learning function
  • aids in the growth of new nerve cells
  • it may also slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease

As a result of all the above benefits intermittent fasting promotes longevity and provides protection against inflammation, cancer and chronic disease

In some cases, intermittent fasting may be harmful. If you are underweight, or suffer from an eating disorder this way of dieting isn’t advised. Women who are pregnant, breastfeeding or even trying to conceive should avoid fasting periods. There is also some evidence that intermittent fasting may not be as beneficial for females when compared to males by actually worsening blood sugar control. In animal studies intermittent fasting may lead to infertility, missed menstrual cycles and emaciation. If you have a medical condition or take medications, then it is important you consult with your doctor first before trying intermittent fasting. Australia’s best online discount chemist

Wan RAhmet IBrown MCheng AKamimura NTalan MMattson MP. Cardioprotective effect of intermittent fasting is associated with an elevation of adiponectin levels in rats. J Nutr Biochem. 2010 May;21(5):413-7

Katare RGKakinuma YArikawa MYamasaki FSato T. Chronic intermittent fasting improves the survival following large myocardial ischemia by activation of BDNF/VEGF/PI3K signalling pathway. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2009 Mar;46(3):405-12

Mattson MPLongo VDHarvie M. Impact of intermittent fasting on health and disease processes. Ageing Res Rev. 2017 Oct;39:46-58

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A style of painting which is a reaction to the works of de Stijl. The term was coined by Theo van Doesburg (1883-1931) in a dislike to the vertical and horizontal lines insisted upon by Piet Mondrian (1872-1944).

Van Doesburg introduced the diagonal lines to purposely create tension, movement and dynamics in his art.


After Dvořák and Smetana: Czech Music in the 20th Century

by Leon Botstein

The four composers on this ASO program were major twentieth-century figures in the musical tradition of a region in Central Europe: the Czech lands of Bohemia and Moravia, famed for contributions to European culture, particularly in music. The historic capital of Bohemia, Prague is now the capital of the Czech Republic. Before this, it was the capital of a nation spliced together after the end of World War I—Czechoslovakia—which existed from 1918 until the fall of the Soviet Empire just over a quarter of a century ago, when it was divided into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Prior to 1918, both major regions of today’s Czech Republic—Bohemia and Moravia—had been part of the Habsburg Empire. The historic center of gravity in that dynastic and much maligned multi-national Empire was Vienna. Already in the 18th century these regions were centers of German (not Czech) high culture. Mozart’s Don Giovanni was premiered in Prague. Franz Kafka is perhaps the best-known figure from the vital German-speaking Jewish community of Prague into which Erwin Schulhoff was born.

Indeed, from the Baroque era on, music was a distinctive component of Bohemian and Moravian life. In the mid-19th century, two Czech composers rose to international fame: Antonín Dvořák and Bedřich Smetana. Dvořák’s career was assisted by support from Vienna through the advocacy of Brahms. Smetana—who wrote both the first famous Czech national opera, The Bartered Bride, and the best-known national cycle of tone poems, Má Vlast—was ironically far more comfortable in German than in the Czech language, and he spent an important part of his career in Sweden.

But despite their affiliation with German culture, both composers became associated with a burgeoning Czech nationalism that blossomed after the Habsburg defeat at the hand of the Prussians in 1866. Once the Habsburg Empire began to crumble, a Prussian-dominated German nation was configured which excluded the Habsburg lands, in which German was spoken, particularly Austria and the lands where these composers were born. Although they were citizens of the same empire as the Germans and Austrians, Dvořák and Smetana came to be seen as Czech nationalists.

It is ironic in the context of the current revival of extreme nationalism in Central and Eastern Europe and the fragility of the European Union that, in retrospect, the multi-national Habsburg Empire may have been a far more promising framework than once thought for the expression of disparate linguistic and cultural autonomy within a tolerant, pluralist governing political structure. But in the late 19th century the Empire, which was centered in Vienna (and after 1867 in Budapest), was seen as archaic and oppressive.

In turn-of-the-century and early twentieth-century Czech musical life, opposing camps emerged: one centered around Smetana (viewed to be the more radical nationalist voice) and one around Dvořák (a figure seen as more loyal, politically, to the Habsburg model). Two of the composers on this program were students of Dvořák: Josef Suk (his son-in-law) and Vítězslav Novák. Like Dvořák, on whose music both Brahms and Wagner exerted influence, Suk and Novák were acutely aware of their leading German-speaking contemporaries, Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler (who was born in Moravia). In the cross currents of political ferment in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Prague became more than a place in which national sentiment flourished; it became a major center of modernist innovation in literature, art, and music.

Bohuslav Martinů (who spent a great deal of his career in Paris and the United States) was a Czech patriot who felt the trials of exile keenly. He was brilliant and prolific and more of his music deserves to be heard. Schulhoff, who began as an experimental modernist in the Kafka mold, eventually turned to communism. His achievements can be rightly compared to those of his Czech-Jewish German-speaking contemporaries in other fields: Kafka and the writers Egon Erwin Kisch and Max Brod (who played a decisive role in bringing the great original Moravian-Czech composer of the previous generation, Leos Janáček, to international attention during the interwar years). But Schulhoff is now mostly remembered as a victim of the Nazis, and not the major European composer he was.

This concert offers the public an opportunity to sample the achievements of the music that emerged from a tumultuous era of political change. The post-Habsburg development of nationalism, democracy, fascism, anti-Semitism, and socialism all collided in the twenty years of Czechoslovakia after 1918. In 1938, democratic Czechoslovakia was dismembered by the Nazis; after 1945 it fell within the Soviet Empire.

However, the composers on this program all represented a sense of nationalism compatible with a vital cosmopolitan culture, both Czech and German. Their remarkable output is a welcome reminder of the urgent need for an alternative to the narrow xenophobic and provincial nationalisms that have, in recent years, reasserted their allure and power—nationalisms that are unlikely to offer the multi-faceted sources of inspiration that Suk, Novák, Martinů, and Schulhoff drew upon.

On a personal note, I would like to dedicate this concert to the memory of Rudolf Firkušný (1912–94), the consummate musician and phenomenal pianist, student of Janáček’s, and ardent partisan of the democratic Czechoslovakia in which he grew up. It was through Firkušný, a close friend of Martinů’s, that I first became acquainted with the music of the composers on this program, particularly the works of Suk and Novák.

by Michael Beckerman

Died July 18, 1949, in Skuteč, Czech Republic
Composed in 1902
Performance Time: Approximately 25 minutes

by Jon Meadow

Born December 8, 1890, in Polička, Czechoslovakia
Died August 28, 1959, in Liestal, Switzerland
Composed in 1944
Premiered on October 12, 1945 in Boston by the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Serge Koussevitsky
Performance Time: Approximately 30 minutes

Before coming to New York City in 1941 as a political refugee, Czechoslovak composer Bohuslav Martinů obtained recognition internationally in a variety of musical genres and styles. Until his American residency, however, Josef Suk’s former student avoided the conventional symphony. When he composed for the orchestra, he preferred to work in the neobaroque concerto grosso genre, which relies upon the alternations between groups of solo instruments and full orchestra. Martinů, ever the consummate professional, attuned himself to the moods and tastes of his new wartime American market. He composed the first five symphonies between 1942 and 1946. The sixth came a little over a decade later. The Third Symphony, which Martinů composed without a commission in Ridgefield, Connecticut, premiered in Boston on 12 October 1945. It unfolds in three movements instead of the more conventional four.

In each movement, Martinů mobilizes what he called “germs,” or endlessly generative, particle-like melodic cells. Similar to Suk’s offering, the charm of Martinů’s Third Symphony is equally attendant upon the composer’s treatment of rhythm, meter, orchestral color (especially percussion), and dynamics as it is on harmonic and melodic planning. The contrasts of the Allegro poco moderato’s opening are representative of how such treatment cuts across the symphony.

Following an arresting fortissimo sonority and a subsequent brief, dramatic pause, Martinů commences an addition of melodic germs in the violins and woodwinds. Serving in a percussive capacity, the hushed piano and harp, sounding at low and high extremes of register, respectively, provide a steady pulse and sense of meter. However, Martinů’s stacking of syncopated melodic germs fog such efforts at metric legibility. But the tables turn. The impulses of the charismatic woodwinds and strings become clear pulses, and the piano and harp hammer out descending, fortissimo impulses, obfuscating the meter once again.

From one perspective, Suk’s scherzo being programmed beside Martinů’s symphony provides Martinů’s work with the jocular dance movement that it was missing. From another, Martinů’s symphony is dressed up in the clothes of a fantastic scherzo. Therefore, the programing possibly offers two fantastic scherzi where once there was one.

Jon Meadow is a Ph.D. student in Historical Musicology at New York University. His work is focused on the roles of humor and comedy in Bohuslav Martinů’s Great Depression theatre reforms.

by Jon Meadow

Born January 4, 1874, in Křečovice, Czechoslovakia
Died May 29, 1935, in Benešov, Czechoslovakia
Composed in 1903
Premiered on April 18, 1905 in the Rudolfinum, Prague
Performance Time: Approximately 15 minutes

Canonic figures like Felix Mendelssohn (Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture from 1826), Hector Berlioz (Queen Mab from the 1839 choral symphony Roméo et Juliette), and Paul Dukas (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice from 1897) assisted in bringing the concert hall genre known as the fantastic scherzo into its own throughout the 19th century. The fantastic scherzi of such luminaries grew in popularity because of how they showcased their composers’ innovative use of sonic and formal parameters like orchestral color, rhythm, meter, dynamics, and phrasing. That less ink has been spilled in Josef Suk’s (1874-1935) name than, say, a Mendelssohn or Berlioz, and that he is currently known more for intimate, expressive piano cycles and the funereal Asrael Symphony (1905-1906), does not detract from how the Bohemian composer, violinist, and educator, forcefully drew the fantastic scherzo genre into the 20th century with his Scherzo fantastique. Suk’s Scherzo fantastique received its premiere on 18th April 1905 in the prestigious Rudolfinum auditorium in Prague. Suk’s contribution serves as a powerful introduction to both an underrated composer and to the soundworld of an orchestral genre more broadly.

Scherzo is the Italianization of Scherz, a German word for joke. And within the context of the concert hall, the fantastique refers to the composer’s production of a sort of wavering or hesitation in both the audience and the music’s unfolding. For example, Suk cleverly toggles between the jocular and incongruous phraseology of the scherzo’s first, woodwind-dominated theme and the well-defined triple meter of the balanced, waltz-like second theme, whose lyrical melody is divided between the cellos and violins. So, while contrapuntal as well as modal and chromatic harmonic innovations of the turn-of-the-century are present and accounted for, the Scherzo fantastique reveals its genre credentials less through harmonic and contrapuntal planning and symphonic thematic development and more through subtle shifts in orchestral color, dynamics, metric, and rhythmic conflicts at different temporal levels.

by Michael Beckerman

Born June 8, 1894, in Prague
Died August 18, 1942, in Würzburg, Germany
Composed in 1938–9
Premiered on March 5th, 1965 in Weimar by the Weimar State Orchestra conducted by Gerhardt Pfluger
Performance Time: Approximately 36 minutes

There is no style shift more dramatic than that undergone by Erwin Schulhoff after his “conversion” to Communism in the early 1930s. Beginning his career as an apostle of the avant-garde, mixing jazz, surrealism, nihilism, and a dazzling panoply of national styles, he had established himself as a brilliant pianist and somewhat of an enfant terrible. He wrote a Sinfonia Germanica which is nothing more than a series of mutterings, shouts, and then a distorted version of the German national anthem; a Sonata Erotica which consists only of a woman coming to a climax; and a piece called The Bass Nightingale for solo contrabassoon. Nothing is more surprising, then, after listening to such pieces and some of his extraordinary and edgy chamber music from the 1920s, to confront works like his Second Symphony (written in 1932 at the same time as his setting of the Communist Manifesto), marking an almost complete turn away from the individuality of his earlier works, perhaps comparable only to the kind of break between Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and his Pulcinella.

The Fifth Symphony, though, is something different. Although it has a far more cinematic sound than the works of the 1910s and 20s, it was written in 1938–9 and captures some of the flavor of those years, with dramatic clashes, a full palette of musical passages suggesting tension and forebodings, and, in keeping with the aesthetic of socialist realism, an overriding sense of hope for the future. This is found most notably in the triumphant conclusion to the final movement, but also in the sublime second movement Adagio. Thus Schulhoff’s Symphony No. 5 keeps company with such works as Martinů’s Double Concerto, which for that composer marked a turn to the dramatic and even tragic, and Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony as epic and profound wartime musical canvases.

Although Schulhoff is often grouped with the “Terezin” composer who perished in Auschwitz, his fate was rather different. He was arrested not on account of his Jewish identity but for his Soviet sympathies and died of tuberculosis in a camp in Würzburg near Bavaria.


Dream Vacations

Dream Vacations

- in Vehicle Rental
Comments Off on Dream Vacations

Most people keep a list of places they want to visit during their lifetime. For some, this list might be an entire catalogue of international destinations, while others may prefer to not leave the country they reside in. Whether it be for the holiday season, or just an excuse to get away from reality, vacations can be taken with family, friends, or even by yourself. Wherever and however you chose to spend your vacation, it is important to carefully plan it out to avoid running into any issues while you’re away.

The first question when planning a getaway is that of where you will actually go. Beach destinations can be very popular; whether you’re vacationing on the coast somewhere, or even on an island in the middle of the ocean. A tropical holiday can be peaceful, relaxing, and a great way to get a natural tan. Another option would be ski trips during the winter, where you can stay active by skiing, ice skating, or snowmobiling. Big cities are another popular vacation destination. A bustling city getaway can be exciting and somewhat hectic, as large cities are always full of cultural opportunities to take in, such as museum tours, theatre performances, and diverse shopping malls.

Once that first decision of where to go for your vacation is accounted for, the next thing to be resolved is how to actually get there. If the destination happens to be far away in another country, the obvious mode of transportation would be an airplane. If you are visiting a location closer to home, on the other hand, you may decide to turn the adventure into a road trip. There are plenty of available options when deciding what kind of vehicle to take on a road trip. The first option is a car, but if you are traveling with a big group or your entire family, a larger vehicle may be more comfortable. There are plenty of motorhomes for sale or for rent in your local area. A motorhome is great for families, mainly because they allow you to save a significant amount of money on hotel rooms and food. Most motorhomes come equipped with beds and a kitchen, so you can both eat and sleep right onboard.

The final decision to be made when planning a vacation is where to stay. There are now a wide range of possibilities and choices when it comes to lodging options. Hotels are always available, but they are becoming increasingly more expensive when compared to alternative options. Hostels, on the other hand, are perfect for young travellers because they are very inexpensive. However, most hostels feature shared rooms and bathrooms, so you have to get used to the idea of sharing your space with other travellers.

Short-term apartment rentals are becoming more and more popular for vacationers all over the world. There are both companies and individuals that rent out apartments in every country, which means that you can find serviceable accommodations almost anywhere. Although, staying in an apartment has its pros and cons. It is private, it can feel homey, and you have the possibility of cooking your own meals on a daily basis. However, you also lose the convenience of ordering room service and having your room cleaned each day.

Wherever you chose to go, however you decide to get there, and whichever accommodation option you pick, vacations represent exciting and special moments to share with the people you care about.


Design Engineer

Hunter Stoves
15 Apr 2018
14 May 2018
Contract Type
Full Time
Job Title: Design Engineer

Hunter Stoves Group is a rapidly growing company located on the outskirts of Exeter. We are looking for engineers to work either in the gas or woodburning teams to design and develop our range.

·Responsible for the complete product lifecycle from inception to production, including development, and documentation

·Generate full drawing packs and associated manufacturing documents

·Participate in enhancing the company’s technological capabilities

·Testing products to relevant European and British standards

·Work towards gaining a strong understanding of customer requirements, to ensure that products will be best in class

·Provide technical support to operations and production teams to ensure product designs are understood and can be correctly manufactured and maintained.

·Participate in cost saving and continuous improvement activities

·Support efforts that ensure new products quickly reach the market

·Ideally a degree in a related industry, whilst not essential would be desirable. Consideration will however be given to candidates that can demonstrate an aptitude for general Engineering.

·Ideally, their experience should encompass designing for sheet metal welded fabrications, precision machined and cast-iron products.

·Experience with Solidworks and the ability to produced 2D and 3D technical drawings for manufacture and assembly

·Ability to actively manage their own workload under instruction from the Engineering manager

·Good verbal and written communication skills

·Be able to prioritise, plan and organise workloads

·Creativity, critical thinking and innovative ideas

·A problem-solving mind and hands on attitude

This job was originally posted as

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Chapter 2
Core principles
of trust law

Finding that no trust exists

P2 New legislation should provide that a purported trust that does not satisfy one or more of the three certainties (mentioned in P1(2)(a) above) is not a trust for the purposes of this Act or for any purpose, and is void. The provision would state that it does not limit the court’s ability to find that a trust is invalid on any other basis recognised at law.
Please give us your views on this proposal.

Current law

2.19It is open to the courts to find that a trust was not validly established and therefore that it does not exist. In order for a valid express trust to exist, in addition to any necessary formalities, such as the requirements under the Wills Act 2007 for the valid creation of a will and the requirements under the Property Law Act for trusts including land as trust property,64 the “three certainties” as mentioned in P1(2)(a) above must be met. These are the certainty of intention, the certainty of subject matter and the certainty of objects.65
2.20If the certainty of intention to create a trust is not present, the court may find, depending on the circumstances in which the purported trust was established, that instead of a trust a valid outright gift has been made, or that the gift is imperfect and the property remains with the original owner.66
2.21The certainty of subject matter requires certainty of the property that is to be subject to the trust and the extent of the beneficial interest of each beneficiary. Uncertainty of subject matter means that the trust does not exist and either the property will remain with the alleged settlor (or his or her estate) or, if there was a gift to an intended trustee, the intended trustee will be the absolute owner of the property.67
2.22The certainty of objects means that the beneficiaries (or charitable or other permitted purpose) of a trust must be identifiable. If it is not possible to ascertain the object of the trust, although the other certainties are satisfied, a court will find that the trustees hold the property on a resulting trust for the settlor or the testator’s estate.68

2.23There is a concern that the law lacks a means of addressing arrangements purporting to be trusts but lacking fundamental elements of a trust, such as the intention to create a trust, the duties on a trustee and any separation of beneficial and legal ownership. The law needs to ensure that people who gain the protection and benefits of not being considered the legal owners of property, but who have or will have a beneficial entitlement to the property, are subject to the full legal consequences of the property being in trust, that is the management by the trustees subject to the duties of trustees for the benefit of the beneficiaries (or purpose). The property is no longer at the settlor’s beck and call, even if the settlor is a beneficiary.

Options for reform

2.24One option that we have explored for addressing this type of concern is to include a statutory provision setting out factors that indicate when a “trust” is a sham. We have decided not to pursue this option, which is discussed in detail below. An alternative, more moderate option is for the legislation to confirm that the court must find that there is no trust if the elements required for the establishment of a trust are not present. In making such a finding, the court would also determine the legal consequences depending on the circumstances of the case. For instance, the court may find that the legal owner of the property is also the beneficial owner or that he or she holds the property on a resulting trust for the settlor.

2.25The corollary of having principles of law about what is required for an express trust to be established is that the courts must be able to find that a trust does not exist if those requirements are not satisfied. We propose that a legislative provision should remove any doubt that this is an option open to the courts for addressing problem “trusts”. This approach still allows significant court discretion. It would not constrain the court’s ability to assess the situation and make orders responding appropriately, and to find that a trust does not exist on any other basis. We want to make it clear that a finding that no trust exists does not apply solely for the purposes of the new legislation, but for any purpose.

2.26The Commission has considered proposals for legislative interventions to expand and clarify sham trusts, to restrict the purposes for which trusts can be used, to include a general look-through provision whereby trusts can be set aside or trust property considered to belong to the settlor, and to limit settlor control.69 We have decided against each of these approaches because they would have the effect of undermining the concept of the trust and subverting trust principles when they come up against competing public policy considerations. We have concluded that the purpose of this review is to improve the clarity and functioning of trust law and not to alter the concept of a trust, which has been developed over hundreds of years. The courts will be able to continue to develop the sham doctrine relating to trusts separately to the legislation.

2.27Yet we are cognisant that at a time when trusts are at times receiving bad press for being used for purposes some consider unethical and for overriding policies of other legislation, it is essential that the trust concept is seen to have integrity. In other words, if a trust is validly created then all the legal consequences of a trust must flow from that. If a trust is not validly created then the legal consequences from which a settlor or beneficiary may receive an advantage, including the protection of trust assets from creditors and ostensibly lower levels of personal assets and income, cannot apply. This is the case under the current law. If the three certainties were not present when a purported trust is established the court must find that there is no trust. The consequences of a finding that any of the certainties were not fulfilled would be those available to the court under the current law.

2.28While there have been several recent cases in which the validity of a trust has been in question, arguments and judgments have focused on considering whether a trust was a sham or whether despite the existence of a trust, a settlor or discretionary beneficiary has property rights in trust property. We consider that it is worthwhile giving more prominence to the power of the courts to find that a purported trust was never properly established in accordance with the core principles of trust law. A legislative provision is the best way to achieve this. The courts would be able to find that no trust has been created when, for instance, a settlor has failed to identify which of several bank accounts is intended to be trust property,70 or a settlor tries to leave “the bulk of my residual estate” on trust for a beneficiary.71

2.29This approach is preferred because it does not alter the law but confirms the existing law. It does not relate to an aspect of the law about which there is contention, such as sham trusts or the bundle of rights, but relies on settled trust law principles. This option does not alter the balance of how trusts interact with other policy areas, but leaves these matters to the particular statutes governing these areas.

64Wills Act 2007, s 7; Property Law Act 2007, s 25.
65Andrew S Butler “Creation of an Express Trust” in Butler (ed) Equity and Trusts, above n 61, 69 at 73.
66At 77.
67At 80.
68At 84.
69See below [2.30]−[2.50], and ch 16.
70Wilkerson v McClary 647 SW 2d 79 (Texas Ct App 1983).
71Palmer v Simmonds (1854) 2 Drew 221; 61 ER 704.


Amethyst Phantom
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Amethyst Phantom

Here is a great piece of Quartz with both Smoky and Amethyst phantoms. A great combination, not only for its looks, but also for their combined healing abilities.
This cute piece will be a great addition to any altar, and comes in handy in periods of past life healing.

€ 22,50

This product has sold out.

Additional Information

Weight: 55 grams
Size: 5,4 cm high x 3,1 cm wide x 2 cm deep

A Phantom symbolizes the many lives of the soul. It makes it possible to get a more wider spiritual consciousness. It takes you on a multidimensional and inner travel and reveals your spiritual heart. Karmic it can help you to access the Akashic Records. It makes it possible to visit the state between two lives to discover your soul plan for this current life.
Phantom Quartz also makes you embraces you with your shadow side again to reveal the qualities it beholds. Physically it helps the healing capabilities of the body by improving the ethereal blueprint.
Amethyst phantoms facilitate access to the state of pre-birth. It helps to evaluate the progress on this current life, and the lessons the soul has to learn. It brings multidimensional cellular healing and is beneficial to learn about discomforts and mental illnesses.
Smoky phantoms activates the past life chakra, and helps to frame traumatic memories. It takes you back to your spirit group, and connects you with the goal of the incarnations of the group. It helps to connect you with spirits and people from the same spirit group to achieve your karmic and spiritual task, and teaches you that not every experience can be judged from the earthly point of view.
When negative energies mingled in between the group, smoky phantoms traces it, and sends it back. It brings back harmony.


MOOSE MAMAS is a nonprofit organization that focuses on rescuing orphaned moose calves after losing their mothers.   Most of the babies are orphaned due to moose/vehicle collisions and abandonments.

OUR MISSION is to rescue, rehabilitate, and then release orphaned moose calves back into the wild where they belong.  Protecting and preserving one of Alaska's greatest natural resources.

OUR FACILITY is located near Anchorage, Alaska.  We have a team of expert wildlife veterinarians, biologists, interns, and dedicated volunteers.   We typically start rescuing the calves in late May when they are just a few days old.

BACK INTO THE WILD.  After the calves are at a certain weight and age, we transport them to a remote and safe place.  The calves are released with radio collars so that we can track them every  month for the first year.


A Brief Introduction to Synagogue School

A synagogue school is a religious school where students learn together to embrace their heritage and cultivate a spirited Jewish identity. The relationship the students will build between themselves, teachers and the community as a whole will be at the heart of their Jewish journey. The school honors families diversity and thus as a parent when you enroll your child in one of these schools he’ll be guided together with other students to connect to Judaism religion that is meaningful to him.

The purpose of Jewish education in the school

In this school, the purpose of Jewish education that would be taught to your child will be to prepare him for a lifelong, meaningful and motivated journey that is rooted in Judaism. The school goes beyond knowledge acquisition because teachers would also address your child’s heart by exploring his belief and values and guide him to stand in relationship with his classmate’s, school and the world community as a whole.

When to begin

As a parent, you’re encouraged first to enroll your child in kindergarten. For it is the school’s norm for a child to begin her religious education not later than third grade. This is to enable her when she reaches thirteen years of age be able to celebrate bat mitzvah ceremony. Additionally, when enrolling your child, you’ll be required to meet with the senior rabbi for the child’s assessment and grade placement recommendation.

Core curriculum offered

The school offers a Judaic curriculum that would expose your child to the expanding base of Jewish knowledge. This curriculum will also enlighten and encourage your child to embrace the Jewish and Torah community identity.

The child would be instilled value appreciation of Hebrew as ancient, holy and living language of Jewish people. For younger learners, they would learn Hebrew organically through the use of Modern Hebrew selection and songs in their classroom.

A synagogue school is designed to be a safe, trusting and sharing community school as each student is encouraged to participate in community building and enrichment thus building friendship bond that would last.

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Asteroid mining could start this decade

  • A new company is tomorrow expected to announce plans for an asteroid-mining operation.

    Planetary Resources claims its new venture will revolutionize space exploration, and has the backing of film director James Cameron - fresh back from the bottom of the Mariana Trench - as well as Google billionaires Eric Schmidt and Larry Page. A former NASA mission manager and a veteran astronaut are also part of the team.

    "The company will overlay two critical sectors – space exploration and natural resources – to add trillions of dollars to the global GDP," it says. "This innovative start-up will create a new industry and a new definition of 'natural resources'."

    The possibility of mining asteroids for their iron, nickel and other valuable minerals has been a staple of science fiction for decades. This is the first time, though, that any organization's announced plans to actually have a shot at the high-risk, high-cost challenge.

    The rewards could be high, with many asteroids believed to contain large quantities of valuable minerals - indeed, most of the heavy metals found on the Earth are believed to have arrived here through asteroid strikes. It's been estimated that a single 1km asteroid could contain more nickel-iron than the Earth's entire annual production.

    Earlier this month, the Keck Institute for Space Studies produced a report suggesting that it would be feasible within the next decade to capture a 500-ton asteroid around seven meters across and park it in orbit around the moon for leisurely mining.

    "Ever since the completion of the cold-war-based Apollo program there has been no over-arching geo-political rationale for the nation’s space ventures," says the report.

    "Retrieving an asteroid for human exploration and exploitation would provide a new rationale for global achievement and inspiration. For the first time humanity would begin modification of the heavens for its benefit."

    Planetary Resources' first target would likely be a near-Earth asteroid that could be captured relatively easily. In the longer term, however, the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter could provide virtually unlimited quantities of raw materials: NASA has calculated that the mineral wealth resident in the belt amounts to about 100 billion dollars for every person on Earth today.


09 August 2006

Ideas You Can Use in Putting Up a Fall Wedding Theme

Ideas You Can Use in Putting Up a Fall Wedding Theme - Thinking that it is awkward to celebrate your wedding in fall? Think again. In fact, fall is the season that intimacy is most likely to arise. It is also the period when everyone just want to come home and spend more time with their families. You could take advantage of these two factors when considering the season for your wedding. In the following years, all you would want is the communion of everyone to celebrate with you the wedding you had several years past.

Fall is among the best seasons of the year for wedding. While the weather could not be exactly predicted, it would still be nice that you have wedded on a date when the fiery-colored leaves have fallen and everything is prepared for a long calm sleep in winter.

Fall wedding decors
The first thing you would want to do is to set the mood for your fall wedding theme. There are many options to answer this need. For example, you could hang lavish decorations using rich and bold fall colors such as red, orange, brown, or yellow. However, a more modern approach is to use dark chocolate shades with accents of beige or royal blue. This could really create good affects that would suit the entire theme and the season itself.

Fall wedding venue
One of the most common problem couples have is the venue of the wedding. If you are using a fall wedding theme, your best options would be an 18th century place, a vineyard, an apple orchard or an inn. In fact, any place that could help you settle with the fall foliage could be a good option.

Fall wedding flowers
Flowers could never go out of the norm in any wedding theme. Fall flowers are most likely composed of roses, mums, yarrow, and daisies including a rich blend of fall leaves. Each of these could be combined to provide the warmth that is characterized with the season.

Fall wedding attire
A selection of cream, off-white or even brown and green shades could be used as the main color for your wedding dress. Bridesmaids could look best with jeweltone attires while men could wear color shades that match the color of those worn by females.

A fall wedding theme doesn�t only suggest the use of colors that are typically linked with the season. You could also use various costume designs that would explore more into the meanings of the autumn season itself. You don't have to stick with conventional attires. Instead, you could use into the design of your clothes some resemblance of those worn by fairies. This would not only make a difference but would also create a whole new perspective of fall wedding theme.

Fall wedding cake
You don't have to follow the traditional sense of wedding cakes where ivory is the main color and everything else is text booked. You could always experiment on some new flavors of cakes and newer designs. Fall wedding cakes could take a form of anything that is related with fall, say a red-brown leaf. Yet, it could also be that you remove the wedding cake and replace it with a pumpkin, apple or any types of pies and breads.

Fall wedding favors
There are endless lists for wedding favors during this season. Among the most common are the pumpkin-inspired ones and anything related with fallen leaves. You can even provide your guest with a cake or two of your favorite fall bread or cake recipe.


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  • Practicing vs. Playing: What's the Difference?

Practicing vs. Playing: What's the Difference?

Think back to your very first musical encounter. What made you pick up your first instrument? Whatever the answer (whether it was inspiration from seeing a performance, a school requirement, or a demanding mother) - I think we all had that flash of hope in us that someday (soon), we’d be playing our hearts out on that instrument. Instead, we were greeted with years and years (endless!) of grueling practice, weekly lessons, weekly reprimands, and a lot of thinking, “Why do I have to learn this?”

And eventually, this disconnect between expectation and reality leads kids to hate lessons, practice, and the instrument itself.

Playing vs. Practicing

People practice hard with the goal of being able to play freely and musically. Practicing an instrument and playing an instrument are two totally different things.

See, practice time is for locking down, putting on your serious face and doing a lot of often tedious things that require mental strain. It’s like jogging - it should work you out (more mentally than physically in this case), but when you reach the finish line, you feel relieved! Like, “Yes, I finally got this part/technique/piece down!” When I really focus and practice, you’ll see my shell stumble out of the room 4 hours later, in a daze, just mentally exhausted and really, really hungry. This is work that’s necessary to become a better musician.

Playing on the other hand doesn't make you push so hard mentally, so isn't usually a good source of growth. However, it is an equally important but oft-forgotten part of learning an instrument. So many people get lost in their drive for perfection. You don’t want to lose sight of the real meaning of music: a means for expression, togetherness, and celebration. You want to keep close the reason why you wanted to learn this instrument in the first place! Sometimes, you just have to set aside some time to really get lost in the music, play what you love to play, and make your own ideas!

1. Find a good balance

Very important: find a good balance of incorporating both playing and practicing into your schedule. Playing or rehearsing with a group can make for a good session which strongly incorporates both!

Too much practice (or only practice, as many students are doing) can cause you to lose sight of the joy of music and can make lessons something to dread.

Too much playing means you’re avoiding working on the tough things, or only playing what you already know. You can’t expect to improve if you’re only putting in time to play for fun. This may be why some people ‘practice’ for hours and don’t improve much, while others practice only for 30 minutes and improve like crazy!

2. Create a routine

It can be hard to get into the mindset of either playing or practicing right on the spot. That’s why I created a little routine so my mind is always prepared for what I’m about to do, and can switch mentalities as I go. For example, I always start off my practice with just playing. It lets my mind relax, fingers lightly warm up, and it’s fun! When I feel like I’m refreshed and warmed up, I say, “Okay. Now, back to business,” and lock down to do intensive, focused practice. Usually after practicing, I’m too tired to be able to play as much as I’d like, so I put that up front and it works perfectly for me. It may be different for you; maybe for some, it works best when they play in between practice as mental ‘breaks’. So just make sure to find what vibes with you best!

It’s important to make the distinction between playing and practicing - and once students are aware of it and know the importance of each, they can learn to find their own balance and routine that works for them. Maybe their routine is to not have a routine; maybe like me, they have specific time set aside everyday to do both. Everyone’s different. The important thing is, students don’t fall into the trap of just practicing day by day. Teach them the difference and how to make time for both. The joy of music should be first and foremost. If they keep the fun in their playing, they will be more driven to practice as their inspiration levels stay up.

All we want at Better Practice is for students to discover the joy of music in practice. We help them get through both the tough times and the fun times seamlessly by making practice smart, fun, and easy.


Why do you need a website maintenance?

Many of our clients don’t think that they need maintenance for their websites. They don’t know how website maintenance works, and they are unsure if they really need it.
 So, let’s go!

1.Security / Staying alive

There are many reasons why your site could be crashing or working slowly. Maybe your website code is old and needs a renewal? Or maybe your other extensions are merging with your original code, resulting in a conflict? Most commonly, perhaps your website CMS is out of date.

For example, creators often update their open source CMS (WordPress) websites every two weeks (or even more often) in order to fix problems, renew code and add more flexibility and simplicity. Sometimes these sites update by themselves, but most of the time updates need to be done by a developer.

Your website needs to be renewed all the time in order to protect it from hackers, malware, “blank page” issues and other security risks.

Page speed is the amount of time it takes for your website to load.

Plugins or other third part code extensions that help you to work more fluently with CMS (WordPress) are good, but they might cause your site to load very slowly or create other errors. Keep in mind that the more plugins/extensions you have, the more errors and conflicts on your website.

Let’s imagine:

You have a few plugins installed to simplify the control of your website, but then you start to think that you also need plugins for: hamburger menu, back-to-top button, parallax effect, image carousel and more.

So, the website needs to load these plugin style sheets(CSS) and JavaScript(JS) files, and it’s loading them one by one. This is the main problem why some websites have terrible loading speeds, and why something might not be working (secondly). So, simple things like parallax, back-to-top buttons or hamburger menus can now be added by developers in a few lines, instead of loading a huge amount of code from a plugin.

The next thing is images — they should be optimised and scaled for a quick load. After that comes minifying scripts, reducing requests, enabling compression, and checking server response time. Ideally, your website should load in up to 3s.

Back-ups of your website code and databases are the most important thing! I had an experience when one hosting provider crashed and deleted all files and database records from the servers. If you don’t have a back-up, you should think about new website.

Your best bet is to back-up every week, but if it’s a huge amount of data and always refreshing, every day is a better option.

4.Improvements / UX / UI

Those who provide website maintenance plans should offer also improvements, with an intent to reach potential clients and create a better user experience(UX). Maybe some of the enhancements will be complex, and then yes, you will be charged — but only after an explanation about why it will work better with them than without them. That said, simple solutions can sometimes can be more powerful than complex ones. UX and user interface are at the forefront of any successful website.

You need reports in order:

To know your website performance
To know your audience and how often your website has visitors
To know when updates were made and what has been done

In general, everyone should have a website maintenance package in order to sleep well and to have a log reports of how everything is running.


“How mass incarceration creates ‘million dollar blocks’ in poor neighborhoods”

“This is the perverse form that public investment takes in many poor, minority neighborhoods: “million dollar blocks,” to use a bleak term first coined in New York by Laura Kurgan at Columbia University and Eric Cadora of the Justice Mapping Center. Our penchant for incarcerating people has grown so strong that, in many cities, taxpayers frequently spend more than a million dollars locking away residents of a single city block.
In Chicago, Daniel Cooper, Ryan Lugalia-Hollon, Matt Barrington and the civic technology company DataMade have reprised the concept for one of the most divided cities in America . By their count, there are 851 blocks in Chicago where the public has committed more than a million dollars to sentencing residents to state prison for all kinds of crime. The total tops a million dollars for nonviolent drug offenses alone in 121 of those blocks…
What if we spent $2.2 million dollars not removing residents from the corner of West Madison and Cicero but investing in the people who live there? What if we spent that money on preschool and summer jobs programs and addiction treatment? Evidence suggests that such investments could do more to deter crime than locking people away.
“People hear that there’s a very big violence problem in Chicago, but nobody’s really talking about the drivers of it,” says Cooper, the co-executive director of the Institute for Social Exclusion at Adler University in Chicago. “They’re talking about the individuals who take part in shootings. But nobody’s asking the question, ‘why are there shootings in the first place?’ What’s further upstream? What are the bigger determinants of this problem?”
One clap, two clap, three clap, forty?