John Bruton

Opinions & Ideas

Tag: Europe

I recently greatly enjoyed reading “Europe, the Struggle for Supremacy 1453 to the Present” by Brendan Simms.

He writes from a perspective that sees continuing conflict as the determining force in European politics. Military and strategic considerations are paramount.

This emphasis would not be shared by all historians. Peter Wilson’s “The Holy Roman Empire, a thousand years of European history” lays stress, instead. on a long surviving effort to build a European  legal order, that curbed and contained conflicts, under a shared allegiance to an elected Emperor and to a commonly accepted set of mutual expectations. This thousand year old arrangement only ended in 1806, after 1000 years.

Indeed, Simms own book throws light on later attempts to reconstitute a common European Home with common European set of house rules.

In the 1920s, the French leader Aristide Briand was prepared to trade French sovereignty for permanent restraints on German power. The UK stood aside from this because it relied instead on guaranteed of military support for its position from Australia, New Zealand, and Canada at the Imperial Conference of 1925. Although the Irish Free State was at that Conference, it offered no similar guarantee.

After the Second World War, a meeting, chaired by Winston Churchill, took place in the Hague in 1948 in a second attempt to build a structure for unity in Europe and avoid another war.

It could not agree on a model for European unity. Most countries were prepared to pool some sovereign powers, but the UK insisted that it would only work on an intergovernmental basis, which maximised its freedom of action. Even when it eventually joined the European Common Market, which did contain some sharing of sovereignty, UK politicians, and public opinion continued to see “Europe” as something apart from the UK, with which the UK would do business on a transactional case by case basis. Therein lay the seeds of Brexit.

In their hearts, many English people never joined the European Union at all.

While Simms may over emphasise the geostrategic conflicts in and around Europe, others ignore these at their peril.

Russian pressure on the Baltic States and Ukraine harks back to conflicts that last came to the surface at the end of the First World War. Rumania feels threatened by Russian pressure in Moldova, which was occupied by Stalin in 1940 under cover of his pact with Hitler.

I do not think there is a true European Union consensus on how to deal with any escalation of these types of conflicts, notwithstanding the mutual defence assurances NATO members have given one another. There is still an implicit reliance on the United States to save Europe.

But, unless there is a crisis, European defence policy will evolve very slowly.

The EU is not a state and is not about to become one. It is, instead, a habit of consultation and common action between states, underpinned by legal and institutional arrangements that are evolving in response to needs as they arise.

Ireland will remain within that structure with some influence on its evolution. The UK is turning aside, which is unfortunate because the security of much of Ireland’s infrastructure is dependent on links through the UK and its territorial waters. The sea is not the barrier to interference by hostile forces that it was in 1939. Increased interdependence has brought  increased vulnerability

Brendan Simms writes very well and there is new insight or angle on European history to be found on every second page.

I recommend this book, and also Peter Wilson’s book too (although I am only a quarter way through it!).

Eurofound Forum

It is an honour to be invited to address the topic of convergence at this major event The goal of European convergence will not be achieved by experts or elites.

It will require the whole hearted support of the broad mass of the peoples of the European Union. In what say tonight, I will try to tackle that.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs has outlined to you today Ireland’s approach to the Brexit negotiations. I support all he said.

Tonight I would like to move beyond Brexit.

I would like to talk about what the European Union might look like in 2025, the date by which I expect the UK will finally have settled on its relationship, as a non member, with the EU.

I do not, of course, exclude the possibility that the UK will change its mind about leaving, but the two year time limit of Article 50 has, unintentionally, created a hot house atmosphere in which a re examination of proclaimed positions is almost impossible, politically.

I have advocated that the 2 year period in Article 50 should be extended to 6, but, for the purposes of this presentation tonight, I will assume that we stick with the 2 years and that the UK will be out in March 2019, and have finally agreed a permanent relationship with the EU by March 2025.

Ireland will remain a full member of the EU, notwithstanding the fact that a large non member country will, from 2019 on, constitute a large geographic, cultural and political barrier between Ireland and the rest of the EU. This geographic difficulty can, and will, be overcome but it will require extra commitment here in Ireland, and in the rest of the Union.

For the service sectors of our economy, this geographic barrier will be manageable, but it will be much less so or the goods sector, particularly for food, where UK and EU tariffs and standards may diverge. Assurances on the permanent arrangements this point from the UK will be a key point for Ireland in any framework for a future relationship that might be agreed with the UK.

The potential cultural gap between Ireland and the rest of the EU is of equal long term significance. Irish people consume their news through English, and what we see that the English language media about the EU  is dominated by suspicious, and often under informed, Anglo Saxon notions about Europe, which go back hundreds of years. Yes, many Irish people do read French, German and Italian papers too, but they are in a minority.

In this context of avoiding cultural isolation, there are  two  of the aspects of President Macron’s excellent Sorbonne speech, which I especially welcome.

One was his setting a goal that all students should speak two EU languages by 2025.

The second one was and all EU 25 year olds should, by 2015, have been assisted to spend six months working in another EU country. This could be described as an “Erasmus for All”.

In practice, in the Irish case as far as language is concerned, that means being able to speak English and a continental European language as well.

If President Macron’s suggestion is taken up by the EU, each EU country should be benchmarked between now and 2025 on how far it is from the 2025 goal and EU funds allocated on a results basis.

As the European Parliament starts work on the next seven year budgetary perspective, it should allocate substantial funds to these goals and to the broader cultural unification of the European Union. We need to build a strong European Union sense of identity among people to go alongside their already strong national and regional identities.

The Erasmus for all idea is particularly important. Ultimately, in building the European Union, we are aiming to build a sense of shared identity among the peoples of this vast continent.

Among the minority of university students who have benefitted from Erasmus, I believe that has been a great success. But these students are part of an elite, and many are drawn from socio economic groups that that are pro EU anyway.

Extending the opportunity of Erasmus across the entire under 25 population would widen horizons for young people, and create a sense that the EU does good for everybody, and not just for the upwardly and outwardly mobile section of the community.

I hope the fact that educational policy is a primary function of the member states ( and in some cases of regions) will not be allowed to be an obstacle to action by the EU on these two activities, from which Ireland could gain,  and from which Ireland  needs more than most, because of the separation from the EU that Brexit will otherwise create.

It is said that Brexit will also create something of a political barrier between Ireland and the rest of the EU.

The absence of the UK at the table will create some difficulties on some regulatory issues, but even in my time in government, I felt that UK Ministers were beginning to disengage psychologically from the common EU goals, and to adopt a purely transactional, issue by issue, approach.  If everybody had done  that the EU would not last long.

The isolation of Irish public opinion from some of the thinking and ideas on the future of Europe in other countries is relevant.  It is natural that different countries want different thing from the EU, and their needs will change over time.  How much thought do Germans give to Greek public opinion about the EU, or vice versa? What Estonia expects of the EU will differ from what France expects.

If the EU is to work, voters in each country need to begin to understand, and take into account, the public opinion in other EU countries, and not just in their own.

We cannot just leave the job of building that better understanding to Ministers and diplomats alone.

One way of making the public opinions of all 27 member states aware of the public opinions in the other 26 states would be to have a genuine European Election for some of the seats in the European Parliament. This could be done by allocating the seats, soon to be vacated by UK MEPs, to a single constituency to elected on an EU wide basis. These seats could be filled from lists led by prominent figures who would have to campaign in all 27 EU states, and whose electoral programmes would have to be informed by the thinking in all of them too. It would harness democratic competition to build a shared understanding across national boundaries.

In his speech, President Macron laid great stress on the security threats facing Europe, from terrorism of which France has had more than its share, and from the inevitable, if gradual, disengagement of the United States from European military security. He also raised the threat to EU security from civil wars in our neighbourhood and the resultant refugee flows.

As an island of an offshore island, Ireland has been able to take more relaxed view on some of these matters.

But there are fewer and fewer threats nowadays, from which the sea is a sufficient protection.

Cyber attacks can be used to disable critical infrastructure, to alter medical records, to spy on personell files  and thus to create opportunities for blackmail.

As a highly internationalised high tech and  service economy, Ireland is vulnerable to these threats, especially now that so much of our energy supply will come to us through a non EU member state.

Ireland should work to through the EU and Partnership for Peace to strengthen its cyber defences. President Macron envisaged a European Intelligence Academy, which is also something from which smaller EU states could benefit.

This conference is concerned with working and living conditions. These will come under increasing stress as our population ages, and as proportionately fewer people of working age find themselves  having to pay for the health and pension entitlements of a ever increasing retired population.

Germany, the dynamo of the EU economy at the moment, will be hit by this problem sooner than most of us. The median age in Germany is 47, whereas the median age in the US is 38, and that affects relative dynamism. Like Italy it is getting older faster, and this is not fully taken into account by some commentators when they look to Germany to loosen its purse strings  for the good of Europe.

President Macron suggested a European Labour Office to help achieve fair and equal pay for the same work. I expect your discussions here today will have made suggestions as to what this office might do.

He also recognised the competitiveness challenge that the EU economy faces.

Competitiveness is enhanced by investment, more so even than it is by wage restraint. In the past ten years in Europe, we have had wage restraint, but not enough investment.

One area of investment for the EU is the electricity grid. If renewable energy is to replace fossil fuels, we will have to greatly enhance our electricity grid across the EU quickly, and in a cost effective way. Ireland has something to learn here.

We will also need to ensure that the EU is in pole position in R and D. That is not the case now. Rand D spending is 2% of GDP in Europe as against 2.8% in the US and 3.5% in Japan.

The spin off from R and D is best if it takes place in clusters. These clusters are usually around big cities, where people can move from job to job, without moving house. And Europe has no technological clusters of this kind, whereas the US had two or three.

President Macron suggested the following, and I quote

Objections will be raised to this.

Is a European Agency the best body to pick winning technologies? Will it become prey to national rivalries within Europe? Will firms that have non EU parents, of which there are many here, be eligible to participate?

But the idea is forward looking and its adoption would suggest that Europe is awake to the challenges of the modern world.

Another theme at the conference here today is the growth in income inequality across the world, not just in the west, but also in Socialist China. This divergence has been most rapid since 1988

The European Parliament’s Global Trends Report 2035 puts it this way

“Economic inequality has grown in the United States and Europe for most of the last thirty years in real terms and in political salience. The gap between the rich and poor was described as a “very big problem” by a majority of respondents in France, Italy, Spain, and Greece in a 2014 Pew survey.”

They measured this by comparing the share of income earned by the top 1% with the rest of society. From 1949 to the mid 1980’s that share actually fell slightly, but, since 1988, the gap has widened.

Of the countries surveyed the growth in inequality has been fastest in the United States and the UK, but significantly less in France , Netherlands and Sweden. I believe Ireland would be somewhere in between.

The factors causing increased inequality are identified, by IMF researchers ,as

  •  technological change,
  •  globalisation,
  •  less union protection and
  •  tax policies.

Their view is that this problem will not solve itself over time. In fact it could get worse. New technologies, like artificial intelligence and driverless cars, will hit lower income jobs first.

A big challenge will be designing a combination of tax and social security measures that mitigate inequality without leading to the flight of capital and talent from the countries that take a lead in this field. I do not see the EU taking a prescriptive lead in this matter, but I do believe it should disseminate best practice.

It should also use its competition and state aid policies to ensure that the tax base is as wide as possible. The wider the tax base the lower can be the tax rate.

I would like now to say a word about how the EU sets is policies.

Increasingly the agenda of the EU is being set by the 28 or 27 elected Heads of State and Government (HOSG), rather than by the European Commission, as might have been envisaged with the Monnet method.

This is because HOSGs face their electorates in way that Commissioners do not, and because much of the EU’s work combines EU and national action.

But there is a disadvantage, in that HOSG’s are part time Europeans. They have heavy domestic agendas. With 28 of them around the table, it must also be very difficult to brainstorm and avoid the tyranny of a pre set agenda.

Commendably, the Council President Tusk has set out a detailed rolling agenda for all the meetings right up to June 2019.

That gives civil servants time to prepare, but does it allow Leaders enough time to think?

Thankfully President Tusk has also increased the frequency of meetings, and that will give HOSGs more time to think together about the longer term issues.

Finally I will say a word about the euro. A lot has been done to underpin it. But private and public debt levels are still considerably higher than they were before the 2008 crisis.

I do not believe the EU needs an ongoing transfer union to underpin the EU. Transfers are already reaching 4% of GDP in some recipient countries.

But a facility is needed to help euro member countries that are hit by an asymmetric shock (a big migration surge, a technological shock, or even Brexit).

Some form of temporary top up from EU funds for Unemployment Relief might help.

A Limited form of European Bank Deposit Insurance would be good. It should be combined with a restriction of banks buying too many of their own countries bonds and thereby creating the risk of banks dragging down their own governments if they get into difficulty.

It is much better to allow the markets to discipline governments that borrow unwisely through interest rate differences than it would to try to achieve the same goal by threatening fines after the country that is already in trouble.

I thanks Eurofound for the contribution it has made to the EU since 1978 .

I pay tribute to our late President Paddy Hillery, whose initiative Eurofound was when he was Commissioner for Social Affairs.

I hope the deliberations today will help make a big success of the Social Summit of the EU in Gothenburg next week

Speech by John Bruton, former Taoiseach and former EU Ambassador to the United States,  at the Gala Dinner  of the Eurofound Forum in the State Rooms, George’s Hall, Dublin Castle at 7.30pm on Tuesday 12 November

Stonyhurst College

The fact that the British voters are free to have a referendum, and free to decide to leave the
European Union shows that the European Union is a voluntary Union.
It is not an Empire, which something a country would not be free to leave.
Nor is it a Federal Union like the United States, which does not permit its member states to leave either.
The EU’s voluntary character is one of the reasons why a number of states are still looking to join the EU.

The 23 rd of June 2016 will, however, be the first time in the EU’s 60 year history, that any state has contemplated leaving.
This is a serious matter not just for Britain, but for all the countries of the EU.
So British voters, acting as as citizen legislators on 23 June, ought to think of the risks, that a British decision to leave might create for neighbouring countries in the EU, like Ireland. Voters here in Lancashire need to think about the consequences for peace in Ireland of the deepening of the border in Ireland that would flow from a Brexit decision on 23 June.

They also should consider the risk that Britain deciding to leave would create a precedent that would weaken the bonds that hold the remaining 27 countries together. The Parliament in Westminster has passed to voters the responsibility for deciding if a possible breakup of the EU would really be good for Britain, and for Europe too. It is a big responsibility.

Stability in Europe has been a long term British goal.
Edmund Burke in the 1790’s favoured a Commonwealth of Europe.
Castlereagh worked for a Concert of Europe, with regular Summit meetings like the EU now has, after the end of the Napoleonic Wars.
Winston Churchill, in 1930,advocated a United States of Europe.
These statesmen did not advocate these ideas out of some sort of dewy eyed sentimentalism. No, they had a hard headed appreciation of the fact that stability on the continent meant greater security for Britain, and they made their suggestions to achieve that end.

Now it is British voters, not British statesmen, who must decide what is best for Europe,

+ a Union with Britain on the inside, or
+ a fractured Union, which Britain has left of its own free will.

We hear much about EU Regulations and the burdens they impose. But even if Britain left the EU, it would still have regulations of its own on things like the environment, financial services and product safety.

In fact, to the extent that a Britain that had left the EU wanted to sell goods or services to Europe, it would have to comply with TWO sets of regulations,

+ British regulations for the British market, and
+ EU regulations for the EU market, including Ireland.

Arguably the duplicated post Brexit regulatory burden on British business would be greater than the present one.

Some believe that the UK could leave the EU, and then quickly negotiate a free trade agreement which would allow British firms to go on selling in Ireland and the other EU countries.
I am sure an agreement of some kind could eventually be worked out, but it would not be quick.
Switzerland negotiated trade agreements with the EU, but that took 9 years.
Canada negotiated a Free Trade agreement too, but that took 7 years.
The British Agreement would be much more complicated than either of these, because it would involve new issues like financial services, and freedom of movement ,and access to health services, for example for Britons in Spain. It would have to cover agriculture.
Even with maximum goodwill from the European Commission, a post Brexit EU trade agreement with Britain would become prey to the domestic politics of the 27 remaining EU countries, each of whom would have their own axes to grind.
There would be a lot of uncertainty, over a long period.

I believe British people should accept that entities like the EU, which provide a structure, within which the forces of globalisation, can be governed politically are essential, if the prosperity that flows from globalisation is to be shared fairly.
Rather than leave, Britons should consider how they can make the EU better than it is, and there is plenty of scope for that.

Speech by John Bruton, former Taoiseach of Ireland, in Stonyhurst College, near Clitheroe in
Lancashire on Sunday 29 May at 5pm

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén

Enjoy this blog? Please spread the word :)


Your browser doesn't support javascript.

Portal Regional da BVS

Informação e Conhecimento para a Saúde

Home > Pesquisa > ()
Imprimir Exportar

Formato de exportação:

Adicionar mais destinatários
| |

Managing conflicts between economic activities and threatened migratory marine species toward creating a multiobjective blue economy.

Conserv Biol; 2017 Aug 02.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-28766846
Harnessing the economic potential of the oceans is key to combating poverty, enhancing food security, and strengthening economies. But the concomitant risk of intensified resource extraction to migratory species is worrying given that these species contribute to important ecological processes, often underpin alternatively livelihoods, and many are already threatened. We thus sought to quantify the potential conflict between key economic activities (five fisheries and hydrocarbon exploitation) and sea turtle migration corridors in a region with rapid economic development: Southern and East Africa. From 20 loggerhead and 14 leatherback tracks, we used movement-based kernel density estimation to identify three migration corridors for each of the two species. We overlaid these corridors on maps of the distribution and intensity of economic activities, quantified the extent of overlap and threat posed by each activity on each species, and compared the effects. These results were compared to annual bycatch rates in the respective fisheries. Both species' corridors overlap most with longlining, but the effect is worse for leatherbacks: bycatch rates are substantial (ca. 1500 per annum) relative to the regional population size (<100 females nesting per annum), likely slowing the population growth rate. Artisanal fisheries are of greater concern for loggerheads, but the population appears to be withstanding the high bycatch rates because it is increasing exponentially. The hydrocarbon industry currently has a moderately low impact, but exploitation in key areas (e.g., Southern Mozambique) has the potential to undermine more than 50 years of conservation efforts, affecting >80% of the loggerhead population, 33% of the (critically endangered) leatherback population, and their nesting beaches. We support establishing blue economies, but oceans need to be carefully zoned and responsibly managed in both space and time to achieve economic (resource extraction), ecological (conservation, maintain processes) and social (maintain alternative livelihood opportunities, combat poverty) objectives. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


Feeling Everything

A transcribed and edited talk by David Spero

It's somewhat anticlimactic to speak after the eloquence and translucence of pure silence. But, in a sense, isn't that what the creation is? It really has ruined everything! So I’ll go ahead and speak knowing that for some it will ruin the beautiful atmosphere of awakened silence.

We come here with a certain vibration, with a certain feeling-tone, which is being radiated by our body. It's being radiated by our emotions. It's being radiated through our mind, and finally, it's the sum total and more than the sum total of all that we are as a living presence. All of that is welcome in this room of "satsang." This is not a "satsang" about changing anyone into anything. It's about coming into this sense of wholeness that already is vibrating with the supreme frequency. You can feel the fire of this pitch and energy. If you can't feel the fire, stick around, and breathe and feel in this atmosphere of Divine Light. Let it come into you completely through osmosis, by letting yourself be absorbed by it, so that at some point there's no more inner and outer, no more up and down. There's just this wholeness of Love and Feeling. It's exquisite just to sit and feel each other. To feel, not just this "satsang," this Divine Mother Consciousness, but actually to feel everybody in the room, to feel our togetherness.

You could be in a very high state of enlightenment and still be very obstructed in the field of feeling. If you experience full "advaita" (nonseparative consciousness) you realize that the mind is nothing, it's empty, and that emptiness is Light. In addition to this, if your feeling-nature is unobstructed, it means that you feel everything, every single thing. So, the issue of vulnerability begins to come up in such a state, knowing the nature of vulnerability. You'll know that you're in this unobstructed state of Total Feeling when everybody runs away from you! It's as if everywhere you are, you're saying, "I'm ready for everything, come on!" – and everybody turns around and flees.

Don't get me wrong, what I'm describing as this unobstructed ability to relate on the level of feeling is not different than the consciousness of nonseparation ("advaita"). So, this is not a dualistic teaching, whatever this is. It's not really a teaching, whatever it is, whatever is being shared. It's something that you can actually feel gripping your body. It's something that is holding you, something that is making love to you, this ability to feel this Mother-ness, this quality of Divine Mother, Kali, whatever you want to call it – Shakti. It's something that is felt and known throughout the body. It's not just for the mind – to think it has realized something and then proclaim some kind of subjective enlightenment – that's so petty.

I remember once, I was sitting with this Jnani (an enlightened teacher who teaches through the Mind or through Consciousness only) [and] he was banging his arm on a table saying, "I don't feel anything! I don't feel anything!" I said to myself, "You've awoken to the Self only and look where it has led. Here you are professing numbness." You can feel everything, not just see into your Self’s emptiness. You may not fit comfortably into any psychological definition of normality at that point, but who does, anyway? When you feel everything, all the time, it gives rise to a very unique kind of life, a life that doesn't prize dissociation or mere emptiness.


Figure shows an example of MIRCPSP with activities

Figure 1 shows an example of MIRCPSP with 7 activities where 1 and 7 are dummy activities.
An example of the mode identity structure for this network is presented in Table 1. The set of activities is partitioned into four disjoint subsets. The second subset, for example, consists of activities 2, 3 and 5 for which four possible modes are specified. All three activities, however, must be executed in the same mode. If mode 2 is selected, the three activities, 2, 3 and 5 are executed in the second mode.

Proposed GA
In this section, we describe the Genetic Algorithm (GA), which is a well-known meta-heuristic that has been successfully applied to a noticeable number of project scheduling problems  [5–10], to solve MIRCPSP. In order to increase the quality of the proposed GA, we implement an efficient local search. We also consider an exact method based on the branch and bound algorithm  [3] to provide comparable computational efforts for the GA.

Parameter tuning
Full factorial experimentation is an exhaustive approach to designing experimental investigations and calibrating the parameters of algorithms  [22,23]. When the number of parameters is high, a Fractional Factorial Experiment (FFE) is applied to reduce the number of required experiments  [24]. Taguchi  [25] developed a method based on FFE and offered a set of orthogonal arrays for designing experiments of quality improvement in manufacturing. A comprehensive study of orthogonal arrays can be found in Hedayat et al.  [26].
Taguchi divides factors into controllable and noise factors. Although there is no direct control of noise factors, the Taguchi method, using the concept of robustness, minimizes the effect of noise and determines the optimal level of controllable factors  [25]. The aim is to maximize the Signal-to-Noise (S/N) ratio, where the term signal denotes a desirable value (response variable) and noise denotes an undesirable value (standard deviation).
There are various formulas for the S/N ratio and it order Cisplatin depends on the experimental objective. In general, there are three basic quality characteristics: smaller is better, larger is better and nominal is best. Since we are trying to minimize the makespan, we use the smaller is better type. The corresponding S/N ratio is: where is the response variable and is the number of experiments. Each level that has a higher value of is selected as the optimum level.
In the proposed GA, the factors that should be tuned are PS, , NU and NL, where PS is the population size, and are the reproduction and mutation probabilities, NU is the number of best chromosomes used for updating Memory, and UL is the number of iterations in the local search. Different levels of these factors are shown in Table 2. Using MINITAB 16, L27 is selected as the most fit orthogonal array design to fulfill all our requirements. This design is shown in Table 3.
Figure 7 shows the average S/N ratio obtained at each level. According to this table, the optimal levels of PS, , NU and NL are 30, 0.2, 0.15, 3 and 30, respectively.
Using MINITAB16, a variance analysis (ANOVA) for SN ratios is performed and the results are shown in Table 4. This Table indicates the relative significance of individual factors in terms of their main effect on the objective function. Table 5 is response table for signal to noise ratios. The last row in these tables ranks the factors according to their impact degree, where lower rank means higher impact.

Experimental results
In order to validate the proposed genetic algorithm for the MIRCPSP, a problem set, consisting of 180 problems, was generated by the project generator, , which was developed by Drexl et al.  [27], using the parameters given in Table 6.
The indication means that the value is randomly generated in the interval . Resource availability is assumed to be constant over time. For each combination of parameters (number of activities and job subset strength), 10 problem instances were generated. The resource factor, RF, reflects the average portion of resource required per activity. The resource strength, RS, reflects the scarceness of the resource. The job subset strength, JSS, introduced by Drexl et al.  [27], is an index which determines the number of disjoint subsets of activities, , depending on the number of project activities, , according to: If , then activity subsets with one activity per subset are created. If , then activity subsets are created with (dummy start activity), (dummy finish activity).


Process Engineering Calculator

Process Eng CalculatorThe software currently stands at 25 calculators but have the potential to grow further in the near future.

Process Engineering calculator features

Process engineering calculator contains the calculators below;

Unit converter
Orifice Design Calculator
Control Valve Sizing Calculator
Relief Valve Sizing Calculator
API Gravity calculator
Cavitation Coefficient
Cavitation Number
Erosional Velocity calculator
Head loss calculator
Heat Exchanger Unknown Temperature Calculator
Heat Transfer rate or Heat duty calculator
Hydraulic Diameter calculator
Linear interpolation calculator
LMTD calculator
MMScfd Converter
Nozzle Pressure Drop calculator
Pipe Friction Factor Calculator
Pipe Sizing Calculator
Pumping Power Calculator
Reynold’s Number Calculator
Scale Resistance Calculator
Sonic Velocity Calculator
Vapor Pressure Calculator
Velocity in Pipe Calculator
Vessel Volume Calculator
Vessels Liquid Height Calculator

No. Calculator Description
1. Unit converter 23 measurements with 200 unit conversions.
2. Orifice Design Calculator The following features is available For Gas or Liquid;

·         Size an Orifice using International Standard ISO 5167-2:2003 Edition

·         Calculate the Mass flow rate upstream of an Orifice

·         Includes Standard pipe sizes, schedules, thicknesses…etc.

·         Ability to plot a chart profile for Calculated Mass flow rates versus Calculated Orifice diameters

3. Control Valve Sizing Calculator calculate the control valve sizing coefficient CV using Masoneilan method. Sizing options include;

·         Gas and vapor service (Calculate CV or Flow rate from a given CV)

·         Liquid service Turbulent flow (Calculate CV or Flow rate from a given CV)

·         Liquid service Non-Turbulent flow (Calculate CV)

4. Relief Valve Sizing Calculator Carry out calculations based on equations used in API 520 “7th Edition” and API 521 “4th Edition” evaluate multiple cases for;

·         Sizing conventional and pilot operated relief valves for gas or vapour relief.

·         Sizing conventional and pilot operated relief valves for liquid relief.

·         Sizing conventional and pilot operated relief valves for saturated and superheated steam relief.

·         Sizing conventional and pilot operated relief valves for vaporizing liquids (wetted vessels)

5. API Gravity calculator American Petroleum Institute gravity is a term often used to measure how heavy or light a petroleum liquid is comparing to water

·         Calculating the API gravity from Liquid density or specific gravity or preloaded database of fluids.

·         Calculate the specific gravity from API gravity

6. Cavitation Coefficient Used for Fluid flow in centrifugal pump. The calculator can also calculate the pump head providing that the Cavitation coefficient is defined

·         Calculate the Cavitation Number

·         Back calculate the local Pressure or Fluid vapor Pressure or Fluid velocity

8. Erosional Velocity calculator Use API RP 14E to estimate the erosional velocity, the calculator will calculate the following:

·         Mixture Density

·         Erosional velocity

·         Minimum pipe cross sectional area

9. Head loss calculator Calculate the head loss and pipe cross sectional area using Darcy Weisbach equation also plot profile charts of pipe cross sectional area versus head loss and velocity versus head loss
10. Heat Exchanger Unknown Temperature Calculator Calculate any unknown one or two temperatures on the hot side or the cold side.
11. Heat Transfer rate or Heat duty calculator Calculate the duty for sensible and latent heat transfer
12. Hydraulic Diameter calculator Calculate the hydraulic diameter for rectangular, elliptical and annulus pipe types
13. Linear interpolation calculator Perform linear interpolation between tabulated values.
14. LMTD calculator Calculate the Log Mean Temperature Difference for counter current and co-current flow, also known as parallel flow arrangement.
15. MMScfd Converter Convert mass flow or volume flow to Million Standard Cubic Feet per Day and vice versa
16. Nozzle Pressure Drop calculator Calculate the pressure drop for nozzles in shell and tube heat exchangers
17. Pipe Friction Factor Calculator Calculate the Darcy friction factor also commonly obtained from the Moody chart and also calculate the Fanning friction factor. Choose from two different equations CHURCHILL EQUATION or COLEBROOK-WHITE EQUATION
18. Pipe Sizing Calculator Calculate the diameter of pipe. The calculator also has a predefined list of services the includes typical velocities which can be used for the velocity input.
19. Pumping Power Calculator Calculate the following;

·         Pump hydraulic power

·         Shaft power

·         Motor power

20. Reynold’s Number Calculator Calculate the Reynold’s number for turbulent and laminar flow
21. Scale Resistance Calculator Calculate the scale resistance or Dirt factor for shell and tube heat exchangers
23. Vapor Pressure Calculator Use Antoine equation constants to calculate the vapor pressure of fluids,

·         699 available components/fluids and their equation constants included in internal database.

·         Calculate Vapor pressure at a specified temperature

·         Calculate the Temperature at specified Vapor pressure

24. Velocity in Pipe Calculator Calculate the fluid velocity in pipe

Process Engineering Calculator

Other screen shots can be seen by following the top menu icon for “Screen shots

Software Download:

Process engineering calculator demo version is available for download, the demo version of this product will function for 30 days with some limitations in some of the included calculators.

Click here to Download

The is a mobile application version of this software, to read more about is on click here, alternatively visit the application page on Google Play store,

Demonstration Video Link

YouTube video link click here or watch the video on this website

System Requirement:


Brexit is a victory for mass surveillance; EU rules Snoopers Charter is illegal

Originally published at:

Minor correction #1: “the UK is scheduled to leave the EU in two years or less”.

That is, two years or less after some unspecified time in the future, probably next year, when Britain formally declares its intention to leave the Union. Or more than two years after that, in case Britain and the EU Council unanimously agree to extend the time limit.

Minor correction #2: It wasn’t “the EU” that ruled here. It was the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Unless you’re in the habit of referring to the Supreme Court of the United States as “the USA”, there’s a difference.

Minor correction #3: In fact, the court hasn’t ruled, either. This is the “Opinion of the Advocate General”, not the final ruling. The final ruling follows the Opinion of the Advocate General most of the time, but not always.

So when the court finally rules, Britain will probably still have a full two years of ignoring court rulings left before the exit is complete.

Also, does anyone else suspect that they might potentially not have announced this opinion had Brexit gone the other way? Who can say, but it’s potentially just sour grapes. Snooper’s Charter’s been around a while. Brexit’s only a couple weeks old.

Good thing the british voter won’t be bothered by those pesky protections and liberties the EU provides for much longer.

Conservative parties are experts in phobomancy.

They can take economic fear, and transmute it into xenophobic fear, or even existential terror - the reason terrorism is their favorite tool.

They mix a potent brew of fears and use it to enrich their owners, and I’m sick of it!

I really wish people would wake up, evaluate the sources of their information, question some assumptions (and allegiances), and think think think

No. Britain is not the center that all of Europe revolves around.

The opinion is actually about two “joint cases” before the court, one about the British Snoopers Charter and the other one about Sweden.

Those cases were referred to the court after the court invalidated the EU data retention directive. The court is now dealing with the question of whether EU rules prohibit national laws that do the same (or even more) as that invalidated directive.

“Referred to the court” means that means the British half of the case was explicitly referred by some appeals court in Britain. I see no reason why the court would not have returned an answer if Britain had stayed.

I’m sometimes amused by the fact that our undemocratic House of Lords are often a better protector of the people of the UK from the excesses of the government than the more-or-less democratically elected House of Commons.

This may be the reason that the previous pig-fucker in chief decided that maybe he might be in favour of reforming the Lords, after they got in his way over something or other that was close enough to being financial that he could chuck out their opinion.

The fact that MPs can be deselected by the party at the next election might be some of the reason for that, but I do like to think that a few of them in “the other place” have some recollection of noblesse oblige, and of the idea that Parliament is supposed to be senior to the executive, rather than subservient.


Food and Faith

I have had the privilege to experience the hospitality from a few different cultures.

In Zambia , I sat cross-legged on the dusty ground and ate with my fingers a meal of ground cabbage and mielie meal ( a thick porridge made from ground maize) ; in Taiwan I ate a selection of fish and noodles with chop sticks , plus a delicious turtle jelly( a delicacy I understand );  in Palestine it was falafel wrap standing outside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem ; and in Jamaica it was a goat curry with mannish water( a so called’ soup’ which accompanies goat curry , made up from the carcass, tongue and eyes of the goat); and finally experienced the wonderful hospitality of a Sikh temple in Manchester , where tens of people sat and ate the food made by the women of the Sikh community .

With all these encounters and many more, food always provides a space for ‘conversation’, whether it is spoken or silent. Let me explain …

Spoken conversation can be discussing Theology; the meaning of Life; cajoling children to eat the food you have provided;  catching up with friends, or even a meeting with new colleagues to explore new ways of working (I have had a few working lunches in recent weeks with my new move). Jesus experienced many meals like this, excited chatter, intense questions and food was central to the openness and inclusive nature of this meal.

Silent conversation can be different; silence can mean you are undertaking silent retreat discovering the stillness of God and savouring the food as you eat it; silence can mean you are alone; Silence can mean you are struggling with an eating disorder; silence can mean you are eating the scraps left over from someone else’s meal; silence can mean there is no food. Jesus experienced many difficult mealtimes none more so than one night in an upper room.

There are times in our life, when eating a meal can be a wonderful experience. or it can be  challenging and painful.

Let us never expect food to be provided for us,…. yet when it is,… let us give thanks to God,… and welcome the conversation as it enfolds ….whether spoken or silent…. Let us make the experience Quality time with God

God who provides our food,

Help us to appreciate the many experiences to lay before us .

A coffee and buttered tea cake with the lonely,

A picnic in the park with family and friends

A biscuit and water with the hurting

A piece of bread with those who feel marginalized

The spoken conversation of creativity

The silent conversation of anguish

Bless us as we eat the bread and drink the wine

that sustains our faith


Spectator on facebook

Spectator on facebook

UPDATED: 17. MAY 2018, AT 12:40

Police seized the mobile phone of Kuciak’s colleague, without explanation

Journalists are now calling for a proper explanation of such behaviour, pointing to the duty to protect their sources.

(Source: SITA)

The National Criminal Agency (NAKA) invited Czech investigative journalist Pavla Holcová, close collaborator of murdered journalist Ján Kuciak, for a hearing on May 15. They worked together on an unfinished story on the activities of Italian mafia in eastern Slovakia.

While she thought it would be a friendly conversation to help their investigation into the murder, when she arrived at the police station, the conversation turned into a hostile interrogation, as she described for the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).

Following the hearing, the police seized Holcová’s mobile phone, including the SIM card. The investigators claimed that her electronic communication can help reveal the murderer. However, the explanation was vague, the Sme daily reported.

Read also:General prosecutor: Some police chiefs act unlawfully in Kuciak investigation

“It was an eight-hour, demanding interrogation,” Holcová, who runs the Prague-based Czech Center for Investigative Journalism, told Sme. “They did not properly explain to me why they need my phone.”

Meanwhile, editors-in-chief and publishers of major Slovak media outlets as well as journalists and their associations have called on police to explain their behaviour to Holcová.

Order came from the Special Prosecutor’s Office

The decision to seize a mobile phone is surprising as journalists are required to protect their information sources. This is the reason why Holcová refused to provide the police officers with codes to the phone and encryption applications. She has sensitive information there, not only on the topics she was working on with Kuciak.

The police will now try to break the codes, Sme wrote.

The order was issued by the Special Prosecutor’s Office, which requires information necessary for the investigation. It stressed that Holcová handed in her phone voluntarily, which it explains with the fact that everybody signed a report from the hearing.

“We stress that the objective of receiving this communication was to obtain objective evidence that will help investigate the crime, and not the violation of the journalist’s rights,” the Special Prosecutor’s Office said, as quoted by the Denník N daily.

However, the Czech journalist said she was forced to give it to the police. They allegedly threatened her with a fine of €1,650. She even told the investigators that she does not know details about the Slovak VAT frauds and links between influential entrepreneurs and top politicians. However, the investigator did not believe her and kept repeating the questions, as reported by the Investigace.cz website.

When she said she could not answer them, the police requested her phone.

Support from journalists

Publishers and editors-in-chief of major Slovak media outlets have expressed concern about the incident.

“The duty to protect sources is one of the basics of journalistic work,” they said in a joint statement. “It is one of the conditions under which people give journalists sensitive information that enables fundamental revelations of corruption or other state power failures.”

They referred to the valid press law that orders publishers and their employees, as well as people providing publishers with certain information based on an agreement, to keep silent about their information source, so that it is not possible to identify the sources. The same applies to an information device.

Read also:Is Slovakia’s free press under attack?

They stress that regarding several controversies related to police and prosecutors dealing with the case, the proper protection of sources is more important than before, particularly if there is a risk of abusing this information.

“The police and prosecutor’s office have to clearly explain their steps towards journalist Pavla Holcová, including with which law and at which extent the police and the prosecutor’s office can ask journalists about their information sources.”

They also called on the Culture Ministry to prepare legislative proposals that will strengthen the position of journalists and remove the unclarity of the current valid laws.

Foreign organisations respond too

The International Press Institute (IPI) also called on Slovak authorities to clarify the incident.

“The seizure of a journalist’s phone is a highly serious matter that endangers journalists’ fundamental right and duty to protect their sources”, said IPI Deputy Director Scott Griffen, as quoted on IPI’s website. “Slovak authorities must clarify the reason behind this disturbing interrogation and confiscation and immediately return Ms. Holcová’s device.”

Beata Balogová, editor-in-chief of the Sme daily and a member of IPI’s Executive Board, stressed that the ability to protect sources who provide sensitive information and often risk their jobs or safety, is a crucial part of the watchdog role of journalists.

“The Slovak police, by seizing the mobile phone of investigative reporter Pavla Holcová, seriously weakened this ability,” Balogová said. “It sends out signals to trusted sources that their communication with the journalists is no longer safe.”

At the same time, foreign investigative journalists associated in OCCRP have called on Slovak police to return the mobile phone.

“We’ve seen such behaviour in kidnapped countries and autocratic regimes,” they said, as quoted by Denník N, adding that it does not belong to Europe.

Meanwhile, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) also condemned the incident. It demands the return of the phone and its contents, and urges the Slovak police to focus on what they are supposed to be doing instead going after unrelated targets.

“We call on the Slovak police to return Pavla Holcová’s telephone, which was seized with the official aim of extracting information she had already given them,” said Pauline Adès-Mevel, the head of RSF’s EU-Balkans desk. “The police must refrain from going after the wrong targets. The need to investigate the double murder of Ján Kuciak and his fiancée must not be used as a pretext for harassing an investigative reporter and her sources, whose protection must be safeguarded."

Top stories

Lucia Okoličányová

Pro-EU voters vote for anti-EU governments

This phenomenon is no longer limited to Central Europe.

Planes will steal the sky above Dubová

Sulík: Kiska's party would only further break the centre right

Richard Sulik


If you have an emergency outside of our regular business hours, please contact the hospital at (860) 928-1931. We do provide emergency support outside of normal business hours.

If you are having a pet emergency we refer you to one of the following hospitals:

Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University
For Emergencies dial: 508-839-5395 (press 3)

Ocean State Veterinary Specialist
For Emergencies dial: (401) 886-OSVS (6787)
CALL US! 860.928.1931

Anesthesia & Pet Sedation

We utilize the safest available anesthetics and methods, especially for our older or high-risk patients. Using the most modern equipment, the patient’s vital signs (heart rate, respiratory rate, carbon dioxide output, blood pressure, EKG, oxygen saturation, etc) are monitored continuously during all procedures requiring anesthesia.


3d Cir. Rebukes BIA for Troubling, Erroneous Overreach

Alimbaev v. Att’y Gen. of U.S., No. 16-4313 (3d Cir. Sept. 25, 2017) opens with unusual language: “This disconcerting case, before our court for the second time, has a lengthy procedural history marked by confiict between the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) and the Immigration Judge (IJ)...”  The court observed that the case involved “troubling allegations that the Petitioner...relished watching terroristic videos, while apparently harboring anti-American sympathies.”  But the court noted that the question before it was whether the BIA applied the correct legal standard for reviewing the IJ’s factual findings, which the court found necessary for “preserving the rule of law, safeguarding the impartiality of our adjudicatory processes, and ensuring that fairness and objectivity are not usurped by emotion, regardless of the nature of the allegations.”

There is some history behind the correct legal standard mentioned by the circuit court. Prior to 2002, the BIA could review factual findings de novo, meaning it could substitute its own judgment as to whether the respondent was truthful or not for that of the immigration judge.  In 2002, then attorney general John Ashcroft enacted procedural reforms which limited the scope of the Board’s review of factual findings to “clear error.”  The new review standard meant that even if the Board strongly disagreed with the immigration judge’s fact finding, it could only reverse if it was left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake had been made. The stated reason for the change was that the overwhelming majority of immigration decisions were correct.  The actual motive for the change was more likely that the Board was seen as too liberal by Ashcroft; the new standard would therefore make it more difficult for the Board to reverse deportation orders based on the immigration judges’ finding that the respondent lacked credibility.

The following year, Ashcroft purged the Board of all of its more liberal members.  The resulting conservative lean has not been offset by subsequent appointments, in spite of the fact that several of those appointments were made under the Obama administration.  The Board regularly uses boilerplate language to affirm adverse credibility findings on the grounds that they do not meet the “clearly erroneous” standard.  Furthermore, 2005 legislation provided immigration judges with a broader range of bases for credibility determinations, which again made it more difficult for the Board and the circuit courts to reverse on credibility grounds.

The provisions safeguarding an IJ’s credibility finding should apply equally to cases in which relief was granted, making it  difficult for a conservative panel of the Board to reverse a grant of relief where the IJ found the respondent credible.  Alimbaev was decided by an outstanding immigration judge, who rendered a fair, detailed, thoughtfully considered decision.  Factoring in the REAL ID Act standards and the limited scope of review allowed, the Board should have affirmed the IJ’s decision, even if its members would have reached a different factual finding themselves.  Instead, the Board panel ignored all of the above to wrongly reverse the IJ not once but three times.

The immigration judge heard the case twice, granting the respondent’s applications for relief each time.  In his second decision, the IJ found the respondent’s testimony to be “candid, internally consistent, generally believable, and sufficiently detailed.”  In reversing, the BIA turned to nitpicking, citing two small inconsistencies that the Third Circuit termed so “insignificant...that they would probably not, standing alone, justify an IJ making a general adverse credibility finding, much less justify the BIA in rejecting a positive credibility finding under a clear error standard.”  The Court therefore concluded that the BIA substituted its own view for the permissible view of the IJ, which is exactly what the “clear error” standard of review is meant to prevent.

The Board cited two other dubious reasons for reversing.  One, which the circuit court described as “also troubling,” involved a false insinuation by the Board that a computer containing evidence corroborating the claim that the respondent had viewed “terrorist activity” was found in his residence.  In fact, the evidence established that the computer in question was not the respondents, but one located in a communal area of an apartment in which the respondent lived; according to the record, the respondent used the communal computer only on occasion to watch the news.  In a footnote, the court noted that none of the videos found on the communal computer were training materials; several originated from the recognized news source Al Jazeera, and “that on the whole, the computer did not produce any direct or causal link suggesting that [they] espoused violence, such as email messages of a questionable nature.”  The circuit court therefore remanded the record back to the BIA, with clear instructions to reconsider the discretionary factors “with due deference to the IJ’s factfinding before weighing the various positive and negative factors…”

The question remains as to why the BIA got this so wrong.  One possibility is that as the case involved allegations that the respondent might have harbored terrorist sympathies, the Board members let emotion and prejudice take over (apparently three separate times, over a period of several years).  If that’s the case, it demonstrates that 15 years after the Ashcroft purge, the one-sided composition of the Board’s members (with no more liberal viewpoints to provide balance) has resulted in a lack of objectivity and impartiality in its decision making.  Unfortunately, the appointment of more diverse Board members seems extremely unlikely to happen under the present administration.

But I believe there is another possibility as well.  15 years later, the Board remains very cognizant of the purge and its causes.  It is plausible that the Board made a determination that as a matter of self-preservation,  it is preferable to be legally wrong than to be perceived as being “soft on terrorism.”  If that is the case, there is no stronger argument of the need for an independent immigration court that would not be subject to the type of political pressures that would impact impartiality and fairness.

It also bears mention that unlike the Board, the immigration judge in this case faced the same pressures, yet did not let them prevent him from issuing an impartial, fair, and ultimately correct decision (in spite of having his first decision vacated and remanded by the Board).  Unlike the BIA, whose members review decisions that have been drafted for them in a suburban office tower, immigration judges are on the front lines, addressing crippling case loads, being sent on short notice to remote border locations, and dealing with DHS attorneys who now, on orders from Washington, cannot exercise prosecutorial discretion, must raise unnecessary objections, reserve appeal on grants of relief, and oppose termination in deserving cases.  Yet many of these judges continue to issue their decisions with impartiality and fairness.  Their higher-ups in the Department of Justice should learn from their performance the true meaning of the “rule of law.”

Copyright 2017 Jeffrey S. Chase.  All rights reserved.

Challenging Credibility Findings Before the BIA

9th Cir. Holds Post-Order Departure Did Not Waive Right to Appeal


Room 187:

Whispering Hills

An unspoken whisper of tranquility dances through the willowy grasses that envelope the mountainside above Whispering Hills. A small trestle style bridge guides you across an incline to the secluded back entrance to the 4th floor. The nature-inspired terrain of this bi-level room is enhanced with bronze-colored textured walls and dark green carpet. The bed area, with one king bed, is just a few steps down from the sitting room. The rustic bathroom compliments the theme with a wood-tiled floor, rich green-tiled shower and double sinks. A gentle breeze whispers “welcome” to this hilltop semi-suite.


Tobi Soniyi in Abuja

The Presidency sunday said that it used the World Bank’s Community Based Targeting (CBT) model, established two years ago, to select the beneficiaries of its N5000 monthly stipends to the poorest Nigerians.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Mr Laolu Akande, in a statement in Abuja said the CBT model of the World Bank had been used two years ago to identify most of the beneficiaries in the pilot states.

According to him, the process of selecting beneficiaries is fair and transparent and without mischief.

He said the CBT teams would then engage each group (men, women and youths) in the conversation around the criteria and parameters for determining the poorest people.

He explained further that the groups would then be encouraged to identify those households that fell within the criteria that the community itself determined, and told that the information was required for government’s planning purposes.

He said various poverty criteria had been thrown up so far, explaining that in some cases, people had said it was the number of times they ate, the number of times the fumes of firewood went up from the house, the size of farmland or type of crops grown.

After the discussions, Akande said the groups would resume in plenary and report back the criteria and parameters discussed.

The CBT team, according to him, would then compile the criteria and parameters and ask each group to return to their break-out sessions and begin to identify the households in the community that had been identified as fitting the criteria and parameters.

He said that at that stage, bank accounts were opened for each of the caregivers by capturing the biometric data of households identified as among the poorest and vulnerable.

He said states had been updated on the requirements for the engagement by the federal team, adding that once the lists from sates were enumerated, their details were uploaded onto a server at the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System, NIBSS, which hosts the electronic platform that validates all the payments of the FG for the SIPs.

He said banks had been informed that payments must be at community level, so those banks engaged for the pilot stage had in turn engaged several payment agents, to ensure cash-out to the beneficiaries in their places of residence.


Identifying Rashes

No view

- The rash is often reddish and itchy with a scaly texture. Psoriasis is a common skin condition that can cause a scaly, itchy, red rash to form along the scalp, elbows, and joints. Seborrheic eczema is a type of eczema that most often affects the scalp and causes redness, scaly patches, and dandruff..

No related post!


12 Buckets Mentoring

We are pleased to have a strategic partnership with 12 Buckets to impact and improve the lives of children in Western Australia. 12 Buckets offers an award-winning strengths-based program that equips at-risk and disadvantaged school students with the practical skills, support and connections needed to build a strong future.


This Might be the Weirdest Aircraft Ever Created

By Jesus Diaz on at

Its design reminds me of the B-Wing but the gyroptère—or monocopter—is even weirder than the beloved starfighter from Star Wars. It had a single blade—the long wing you can see in white—which rotated to lift it to the skies. Try to picture that, because I really couldn't until I saw this video:

Unlike this model, however, the gyroptère never got to fly. Theoretically it could but in 1913, when it was invented by by Alphonse Papin and Didier Rouilly, the technical means to get enough rotational speed to fly weren't available yet:

Papin and Rouilly's "Gyroptère" weighed 500 kg (1,100 lb) including the float on which it was mounted. It had a single hollow blade with an area of 12 square metres (130 sq ft), counterweighted by a fan driven by an 80 hp Le Rhone rotary engine spinning at 1,200 rpm which produced an output of just over 7 cubic metres (250 cu ft) of air per second. The fan also propelled air through the hollow blade, from which it escaped through an L-shaped tube at a speed of 100 m/s (330 ft/s). Directional control was to be achieved by means of a small auxiliary tube through which some of the air was driven, and which could be directed in whatever direction the pilot wished. The pilot's position was located at the centre of gravity between the blade and the fan.

Testing was delayed due to the outbreak of World War I and did not take place until 31 March 1915 on Lake Cercey on the Côte-d'Or. Due to the difficulty of balancing the craft a rotor speed of only 47 rpm was achieved instead of the 60 rpm which had been calculated as necessary for takeoff. In addition, the rotary engine used was not powerful enough; it had originally been planned to use a 100 hp car engine which proved unobtainable. Unfortunately, the aircraft became unstable and the pilot had to abandon it, after which it sank.

The weirdest aircraft I've ever seen


Don't say goodbye, yet.

Who are you?

Come on Jas it's Niall

I'm sorry I think you have the wrong number

Wait who is this?

Omg I'm so sorry I guess she changed numbers or something.

It's fine. Hope you can contact your friend.

No problem. Bye I guess lol.

Don't say goodbye just yet.

~ short chapters for the sake of building a plot please enjoy! ~

5. text 4

N - so you're still in school?

L - yea you're not?

N - graduated

L - college?!?

N - oh no never went

L - why not?

N - had too much going on at the time...

L - what could be more important then your education??

N - you wouldn't believe me if I told you...

L - try me

Loading ...


A Christmas Carol Study Guide by Laurel and Associates

By Laurel and Associates

Show description

Read or Download A Christmas Carol Study Guide PDF

Best language arts books

Phunny Stuph: Proofreading Exercises with a Sense of Humor

As an English instructor i am consistently trying to find how you can inspire scholars to benefit from the extra technical aspects resembling grammar, writing, proofreading. it is a nice e-book for any age. it may be used as a brief task at the start of sophistication a number of days every week, or besides instructing writing. it truly is worthy having in your bookshelf!

The Rise and Fall of English: Reconstructing English as a Discipline

A severe examine the character and path of English stories in the USA. It deals an intervention in debates approximately academic and cultural values and pursuits, exhibiting how English got here to occupy its current position within the American academic approach.

Daily Language Review, Grade 7

Provide your seventh-graders the concentrated language arts perform they should preserve their language talents sharp. 36 weeks of perform covers standards-based talents reminiscent of: Vocabulary/Word examine* affixes* analogies* base/root phrases* figurative language* homophones* idioms* spellingPunctuation* punctuation: finish of sentence, discussion, letters, and run-on sentences* apostrophes: contractions an* possessives* commas: sequence, dates, addresses, direct address/interjections, and compound and complicated sentences* semicolonsCapitalization* starting of sentence* books, songs, and poems* right nounsGrammar and utilization* right article, adjective, adverb, conjunction* simply burdened phrases* sentences: components, varieties, constitution, fragments, and mixing* verbs: elements, stressful, contract with topic, utilization, and spelling* nouns: singular/plural, possessive, and correct* pronouns: subject/object, possessive, and antecedents* prepositional phrases/prepositions/objects of a preposition* double negativesOther abilities* dictionary advisor phrases* syllabication* outlines

Writing about Quantitative Research in Applied Linguistics

With expanding strain on lecturers and graduate scholars to post in peer reviewed journals, this ebook deals a much-needed advisor to writing approximately and publishing quantitative learn in utilized linguistics. With annotated examples and invaluable assets, this e-book should be integral to graduate scholars and pro researchers alike.

Extra resources for A Christmas Carol Study Guide

Example text

DATE Circle the hidden words. They may go across, backward, up, down, or diagonally. Check off each word as you find it. R O B W Y O R U B O H E L M S M A N A T G E E N T Y L O D S M O A W N T F H U O I O K E S F T O R L S E T A E M I M K E E R R N I G L R L M ____ CONTAGIOUS ____ HELMSMAN ____ PHANTOM ____ MOOR ____ OFFENSES ____ BLEAK R I S F A F A E S N ____ MISERY ____ HARK Y E B T W H I M S U S T N A D R P A M Y ____ WHIMS ____ REFUGE M O O R E G U F E R ____ SAVAGE ____ SOLEMN C G A V A S E T H E Use words from the puzzle to complete the sentences.

Does the novel focus mostly on character, plot, or setting? Explain your answer. __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ 6. What might have been a different way for the conflicts to be resolved? Think of some events that would have changed the outcome of the plot. Write your new ending here. com 29 SADDLEBACK CLASSICS THEME ANALYSIS: ___________________________________________________ (TITLE OF NOVEL) NAME DATE Review the Glossary definition of theme.

Summarize the plot of the book in one brief paragraph. ) __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ 8. Find your favorite illustration in the book.

Download PDF sample

Rated 4.44 of 5 – based on 13 votes

Categories: Language Arts


Telluride 44: “Wonderstruck”

“Wonderstruck” was shown at the Telluride Film Festival as part of a Tribute to its cinematographer Ed Lachman. Like other collaborations of Lachman with the film’s director Todd Haynes, “Far from Heaven” (2002) and “Carol” (2015), “Wonderstruck”, one of the finest selections at Telluride, has a distinctive period look.

The film is based on the novel by Brian Selznick, who wrote the screenplay. Another Selznick work was also the source of Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo”. “Wonderstruck” intercuts compelling stories of 2 hearing-impaired 12 year-olds in different eras and their personal quests in New York City. For each sequence, the film impressively recreates the style of films of the era.

Todd Haynes at Telluride

In 1977 Minnesota, Ben (Oaks Fegley) has been orphaned after his mother (Michelle Williams in flashbacks) died in a car accident. Ben’s mother had never responded to his questions about the identity of his father. Ben loses his hearing after being struck by lightning. Among his mother’s things, he comes across a book and the address of a book store in New York City. Ben secretly travels to New York City, hoping his findings will offer clues to his father.

In 1927, Rose (Millicent Simmonds) a deaf girl, leaves New Jersey to find a famous actress (Julianne Moore). Her section of the film is in the style of a black & white silent.

Millicent Simmonds in “Wonderstruck”

Ben’s story, particularly In New York City, has the deep color of 1970s films, emphasizing the intensity of the change in Ben’s environment.

Both Rose and Ben will discover the Museum of Natural History. Ben’s search is aided by Jamie (Jaden Michael) whose father works at the Museum. The film captures the wonderment and adventure of new discoveries.

Julianne Moore and Oaks Fegley in “Wonderstruck”

Todd Haynes has made “Wonderstruck” with a deep sensitivity to the emotions of the youthful characters. Julianne Moore portrays a different character in the modern section who connects the two stories. The young actors give notable performances as do Moore (Haynes’ “Safe” and “Far From Heaven”) and the adult cast.

“Wonderstruck” continues Haynes’ interest in the search for connection and affection. The film ends at the location of the 1965 Words Fair as characters poignantly deal with memory and loss.

Jaden Michael, Oaks Fegley, and Julianne Moore in “Wonderstruck”

Telluride 43: “Graduation”

Cristian Mungiu at Telluride

Adrian Titieni and Maria-Victoria Dragus in “Graduation”

Maria-Victoria Dragus and Adrian Titieni and in “Graduation”

Telluride 42: “Son of Saul” with director and actor

“Son of Saul” is a powerful and often shattering Hungarian film about a Saul, a sonderkommando, responsible for cleaning out the concentration camp showers. This film which received the runner-up Grand Prix at Cannes, is a remarkable debut for director Laszlo Nemes who co-write the screenplay.

Géza Röhrig in "Son of Saul"

Géza Röhrig in “Son of Saul”

The film has a unique visual style. Often the images behind Saul (Géza Röhrig) are blurred, reflecting how he has had to block out what’s happening around him in order to survive. Saul’s actions in cleaning out the camp showers are shown to devastating effect. The focus of the film remains on Saul.

Géza Röhrig gives a masterful and often intense performance as Saul. Saul sees the body of a boy he may remember and desperately tries to have a rabbi give funeral prayers. Someone says “We’re already dead.” “Son of Saul” remains an indelible experience.

At the Telluride Film Fesival, director Laszlo Nemes and Géza Röhrig, lead actor of “Son of Saul”, appeared at a wide-ranging outdoor discussion with Meryl Streep and representatives from “Spotlight”. Röhrig was introduced as a poet.

Laszlo Nemes and  Géza Röhrig  at Telluride

Laszlo Nemes and Géza Röhrig at Telluride

Nemes said that he did not want to “show too much” in “Son of Saul”, to “give something to view” of “a visceral experience not common in cinematic form” that would be “at the heart of human experience.”

He added that he wanted the film to be “immersive” and “hypnotic”, by keeping the camera “so close to the main character.”

Röhrig described “mainstream” films on the Holocaust as a “falsification, at worst melodramatic”. He added that most of these films center on “survival tales” which were “an anomaly.” He said these films are “so stereotypical” and full of clichés that he called “Holocaust trash”.

Lazlo Nemes and  Géza Röhrig  at Telluride

Lazlo Nemes and Géza Röhrig at Telluride

Röhrig said that most sonderkommandos like Saul would clean the gas chamber and burn the bodies of the victims for a “better food ratio” and to be able to wear their hair long. He said that every 3 or 4 months these sonderkommando were liquidated.

He spoke about “genocide happening in Yemen, Syria, northwest Iraq” from ISIS, adding that “70 years pass and we haven’t learned a bit, governments condemn and can’t stop” the mass killing.

Nemes described cinema as an “intense medium to speak to the subject of what it means to be a human being in the middle of” the tragedy of the concentration camp. He wanted to “explore the subjectivity of it”, adding that “to create empathy was our hope.”


‘Live’ Performance 2

Simplified, refined version of the performance I previously did called ‘Live’ Performance. Advancing on ideas about the cyber, social media and digital world taking over our lives so much so that in reality it’s hard to say we are ‘living’ anymore. We are so involved with our online presence and increasingly so, for some, they are more involved with their online life than they are with their real one.

This time the character sits still, bolt up right and straight towards the camera and projector. You can sometimes see the whites of the characters eyes, watering, vulnerable and anxious, holding connotations with all emotional elements related to social media and technology. In ways, it’s as if the dark shape of the figure is the soul of the character and is having the ‘live’ video be projected into their heart, directly to manipulating their being and dissolving their reality in the dense network that runs through the wires in our houses and through the signals in the sky, beating the pulses of the modern ‘live’ world into their mind.

I think this is a good adaptation to my first performance but there is an uncomfortable, unease about the first performance that I really like and think adds to the notions it represents about our present and future social landscape and the way people feel and act within it. However, this second version displays the same ideas in a different way; here the character sits motionless and almost dead, behind the powerful rays of the ‘live’ video, really straining the contrast of the video with the actions of the character.

‘Live’ Performance

Term 1 Evaluation

Lost in fluid surroundings

Blindfolded art performance

In between objects body sculpture

Another exploration of surrounding and location. These objects attached to me with wool were also picked up during my time in the lost in between. I challenge whether being surrounded by objects located from somewhere else could mean that you are back in the place that they were originally found. If they are attached to you, have you become part of their location – you are now one with the objects or are the objects still completely different pieces of matter? If they are attached to you then they are with you until you remove them there for arguing that the possible space in between that you are recreating, moves with you and isn’t just a circle to step in and out of.

I also recorded the incredible noise that was created from walking around with it all attached to me, I don’t know what I will do with the sound memo yet but it will be supporting ideas around comparison to the original more calm noise recorded during the time I picked all the objects up.

Reflection: what if all the objects in a space were attached to me and released of their potential sound and noise, could I argue that this is the true sound of your surroundings? – when everything is experienced to it’s full potential? What is the potential of collecting many objects all from a new moment or space (location) in between and bringing them all into a new space and exploiting them of their inner sounds to create a new sense of in between. This could even support popular current issues about equal rights and freedom of speech, or even how we need to listen to and consider our surrounding more as our natural environment is in need of extreme attention as soon as possible, as if the surrounding environment is crying out for help.

Notice my walking in circles. I strengthen the idea of being surrounded and within something, or a place or contained by something. The objects I found in the lost in between are surrounding me and attached to me, but in addition to this, I walk in circles and surround another place of land, space and time with the objects from before. How does this sit within my concept in terms of where this new place sits within time and space.

Lost Stones Performance

When I did the experiment/ performance of getting lost in the in between where a friend drove me blind folded to a place I’d never been before, I picked up objects from the surroundings . In this performance done in central Falmouth, I reposition the stones picked up from the harbour around me challenging the notion of location and whether this could mean I am within that ‘space in between’ once more. What defines a place – surroundings, a feeling, geography, visuals, objects?

Reflection: consider the understanding and part played by the circle within the performance. What does the shape of the circle mean? To stand within a circle you are surrounded and this is a fact, standing in a circle means you are ‘within’ something, and you also within whatever the circle consists of or is made from. For example, I am within the stones that surround me in this circle of lost.


Experian and TPN team up to bring credit and rental data together

Experian today announced that it has signed an exclusive partnership with TPN credit bureau, the largest rental bureau in South Africa specialising in vetting tenants for rental properties. This means that for the first time in South Africa, people who live in rented accommodation and pay their monthly rent on time, will see their positive payment behavior being made accessible to participating credit providers, helping to open up access to more affordable credit.

Information about mortgages payments in South Africa is recorded on credit reports, enabling mortgage holders to build a positive credit history and gain access to more finance deals. Until now, people living in privately-rented properties who meet their rent payments on time have never seen this positive information included on their credit reports.

The partnership will provide Experian South Africa with access to a comprehensive rental payment database. Including rental history in credit files will enable greater financial inclusion, especially those among South Africa’s under-banked population. The inclusion will allow consumers to build or rebuild good credit profiles by paying rent on time, enabling them to qualify for appropriate new leases or other financial products.

The partnership’s benefits include:
Access to more affordable credit. The inclusion of rental-payment data will help strengthen an individual’s credit history.
A boost for first-time buyers. This could provide a welcome boost to the credit histories of people looking to get onto the property ladder for the first time, as lenders will be able to more easily verify their full borrowing history.

This unique partnership offers a secure and compliant way to include a tenant’s payment history in their respective reports, strengthening their credit history and helping them qualify for more and lower-cost credit deals. This enhanced view of an individual’s repayment history will also improve the ability of lenders to treat customers fairly with more accurate lending decisions based on a deeper understanding of their customers.

“This exclusive partnership will not only support our ongoing efforts to capture the total picture of a consumer’s payment record and give lenders in South Africa a better view of what a person can reasonably afford, but it will also play a valuable role in helping to tackle financial exclusion in this country,” said Michelle Beetar, Managing Director Experian South Africa. “There are millions of people who struggle to access affordable credit because they are non-credit-active, cash-based consumers and, therefore, have a poor credit rating.”

“The partnership between TPN and Experian South Africa to bring credit and rental data together is a groundbreaking win for people who rent and gives participating credit providers a more comprehensive view of their applicants so that they can make more responsible lending decisions. Consumers and lenders in the UK and the US have already seen huge benefits thanks to similar partnerships Experian has undertaken there.”

The proposed affordability guidelines mean that credit providers will be required to conduct a thorough assessment of a consumer’s affordability to determine their disposable income – after servicing the necessary and statutory expenses, as well as their current credit agreements. Rental data will enhance the credit provider’s ability to determine the expenses in the affordability assessment, thus providing a clearer indication of the discretionary income.

The information will be shared based on a reciprocal relationship agreed between the participating credit provider, Experian and TPN, which means that TPN’s clients, the property managers, landlords and rental agencies will also gain a more accurate and complete picture of renters.

“TPN focuses on the collection of rental payment behaviour, this partnership with Experian allows both credit providers and landlords see a more complete picture of the consumer,” said Michelle Dickens, Managing Director TPN credit bureau.


ACE team 2018

Our mission is to develop and promote the academic and personal success of students in a confidential, supportive, and professional environment. We strive to empower students to actively engage in their academic career through a comprehensive set of advising services and programs and graduate lifelong learners as they design for the future.


The Engineering Division is responsible for all engineering and construction projects within the City of Elk River. The division within the city is part of a larger Community Operations and Development Department.

The Engineering Division also assists other departments in:

  • Project Development
  • Planning
  • Construction
  • Management of infrastructure

Speed Limits - Why do we have them?

Stop Signs - Why are they on residential roads?

Current Engineering Standard Plates and Specifications.


Ruteng Tourism, Indonesia

Visit Ruteng - Best of Ruteng

Ruteng is a small town towards the western end of Flores Island, Indonesia. It is the capital of Manggarai regency, serviced by Ruteng Airport. The population is predominantly Roman Catholic, but still preserve the ancient Manggarai custom of caci (whip fighting), which is usually practiced at weddings, and serves as a tourist attraction. The Liang Bua archeological site is nearby, around 10 km to the north of Ruteng.

This is a perfect opportunity to take a break from your routine and enjoy a fun-filled holiday. Ruteng in Indonesia is an ideal destination for a vacation! A holiday in Ruteng can generally be of 1-2 days.

Are you looking for a Ruteng travel itinerary? Create an itinerary within minutes, on your own!


Order now

Analyze the social changes and trends that influence mid-level management in health care settings.

Order Description

Upon completion of Module 7 the student will be able to

1. Relate the role communications to overall success of the organization.

2. Present a solution to a nursing administrative issue based on the students personal philosophy of management practice, and consistent with the standards of nursing administration practice, education and research.

AND meets Course Outcomes #1, #2,#3 and #4 as listed below;

1. Demonstrate knowledge of theories and principles pf leadership, administration, and management as they apply to mid-level nursing or health care administrative practice.

2. Describe professional nursing standards that influence management practice and the role of nurse managers.

3. Analyze the social changes and trends that influence mid-level management in health care settings.

4. Formulate a philosophy of professional practice in management consistent with standards in nursing practice, education, and research.

Liebler, J.G and C. R. McConnell. (2012). Management Principles for Health Professionals (6th ed.). Jones and Bartlett Publishers Sudbury, MA
Chapters 11 and 15

Anthony Robbins, entrepreneur and life coach states \”The way we communicate with others and with ourselves ultimately determines the quality of our lives.\”

PRIMARY POST: Do you believe that communication is the \”glue that holds us together\” as the authors suggest? Please consider the way you communicate with others. Think about the feedback that others have given you. In the discussion board labeled \”Module 7\”, share with your colleagues\’ one strategy you could implement that would help you be more effective in your role and ultimately as Robbins suggests improve the quality of your life.
Currently 1 writers are viewing this order

Type of paper Academic level Subject area
Number of pages Paper urgency Cost per page:


Ingredient: black pepper

Garlic Parmesan Pumpkin Seeds

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds are a family tradition for a lot of families in the fall, especially around Halloween. If you carve Jack-0-Lanterns, why not clean off the seeds and roast up those seeds. But did you know you can do more than just put some melted butter and salt on them? One of my favorite variations is the Garlic Parmesan Pumpkin seeds, though you have to be careful...this variation is easy to burn. I do it almost every time for some reason. I always end up burning like a third of my seeds.

Overcrowded Veggie Stew

GenCon 50 2017 was the first sold out GenCon ever and in honor of that momentous occasion, we selected a recipe with a whole lot of ingredients. This overcrowded stew takes a bit of preparation, but it isn't terribly difficult to make.