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Projets et contacts européens

La Semaine Européenne de la Réduction des Déchets est un projet coordonné par 5 organismes partenaires. Ce projet est cofinancé par le programme LIFE+ de la Commission européenne. Pour plus d’information sur le rôle de ce programme dans votre pays, contactez votre Point de Contact National LIFE+ dont la liste est disponible sur le site de la Commission européenne.

Autres projets européens:

C.C.H.P Environmental Challenges Project

Le projet C.C.H.P. – Défis environnementaux (2010-2014) a pour objectif de prouver l’efficacité de nouvelles approches d’aménagement territorial en termes d’amélioration de la gestion des déchets de cuisine, des taux de recyclage, de l’efficacité énergétique ainsi que la préservation de la terre et des ressources aquifères.

The LIFE CLEANSED (2013-2016) project will demonstrate, evaluate and disseminate an innovative, integrated, multi-sector approach for the smart and sustainable management of polluted dredged river sediments. Polluted sediments will be dredged, transformed from a contaminated waste into valuable material via a specific decontamination treatment, and subsequently used.

COR – Campaña Objetivo Residuos

COR – Campaña Objetivo Residuos (Campagne “objectif déchet”) est une campagne (2010 – 2012) barcelonaise qui cherche à encourager les citoyens à changer leurs habitudes et inculquer des bons réflexes à toute la famille en matière de gestion domestique des déchets. Ceci afin de faire de Barcelone un précurseur dans la société européenne du recyclage.

EcoSolar envisions an integrated value chain to manufacture and implement solar panels in the most ecologic way by maximising resource efficiency, taking into account reuse of materials during production and repurposing solar panel components at end of life stage. EcoSolar will demonstrate that during the lifetime of a solar electricity producing field, individual panels can be monitored, allowing to identify defaulting panels at an early stage, replacing or repairing them and thus to increase the overall energy yield.

Ecolife (2013-2016) intends to transfer the knowledge and experience gained in professional communication on risk perception and prevention to communication on climate change. It will launch a long-term, sustainable, information and communication campaign to reach the following goals:

· Improved population awareness about climate change;

· Reduction of CO2 emissions through the adoption, by the target audience, of a new and environmentally-friendly lifestyle;

· Enhanced effectiveness of the project’s communication approach by extending it to other environmental communicationoperators.

Ecotic has the main objective to raise awareness about the environmental issues surrounding the manufacture and use of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), the handling of WEEE and its treatment and recovery (including reuse and recycling). The project also aims to promote green energy with a special emphasis on households and school children in Romania. The project aims to engage all the relevant project stakeholders in a joint effort to tackle the problem of WEEE at national, regional and local level.

The EMaRES (2013-2016) project focuses on the problem of waste management in those areas that have no incineration facilities, and where residual waste is managed mainly by mechanical biological treatment (MBT) and landfill. The aim is to demonstrate the potential to increase material recycling and recovery, while reducing landfill needs through innovative concepts in waste collection, mechanical sorting, biological treatment and landfill management.

Life Ewas project aims to foster innovation in waste management by demonstrating the potential of new information technologies to optimise current EU waste management practices and to establish a way forward for the adoption of a standard and more sustainable model. The project will also study the current waste management systems of the regions involved in order to identify ways of making them more sustainable waste.

FENIX project

Le principal but du projet FENIX project (2010-2012) est de créer un outils simple d’utilisation et flexible pour réaliser des analyses du cycle de vie (ACL) des déchets d’emballage. Cet outil permettra par ailleurs de prendre en compte des données économiques et sociales et sera adaptables aux différents contextes Européens.

The LIFE FIBERS (2013-2016) project aims to improve knowledge on the treatment of asbestos-bearing waste through actions such as manufacturing and implementing two prototype ovens (which will be up-scaled to medium and then to pre-industrial scale), dedicated to inerting asbestos-bearing waste by a technique known as ‘self-propagating high temperature synthesis’ (SHS); verifying the extent of transformation of fibrous waste into newborn minerals, with changed chemistry and behaviour from asbestos; optimising the quality (i.e. purity) and the amounts (i.e. the stoichiometry) of chemical reagents to be adopted for the industrial extension, as a part of a move towards green and sustainable industrial processes, etc.

The successful completion of the FineSol project would lift the ultra-miniaturisation/functionality road block and also enable reduction in raw material usage, reduction in WEEE, reduction in pollution and associated health costs and also a major reduction in EU energy demand with all its indirect benefits for environment and society.

FLAT to FLAT (2013-2017) aims to develop and validate an innovative method for recycling and up-cycling glass and other waste materials in the production of flat glass.This aim will be achieved through an innovative grinding technology that allows the content of recycled materials of the final flat glass to be raised to 25%, and the use of up to 55% of glass cullet.

FUSIONS (Food Use for Social Innovation by Optimising waste prevention Strategies) will contribute to achieving a Resource Efficient Europe by significantly reducing food waste. It will achieve this through a comprehensive and experienced European partnership covering all key actors across the food supply chain, including regulatory, business, NGOs and knowledge institutes, all with strong links to consumer organisations.

The approach to waste management as well as the common values of the European Union and the Mediterranean Partner Countries are based on three principles: waste prevention, recycling and re-use, improvement of final disposal and waste monitoring. The success of the strategy is highly dependent on the effective implementation of unified actions at Mediterranean level creating opportunities to exchange best practices, share knowledge and raise awareness on the importance of waste recycling. In addition the move towards long-term environmental sustainability shall also be supported by legislative frameworks enforcing waste recycling.

These are the aims of GMI (2013-2015), which represents a pioneer effort of six Mediterranean countries to develop a cross-border incentive based recycling program and communication campaign targeting 200 schools and universities.

Green Commerce

Green Commerce est un projet qui vise à promouvoir la responsabilité environnementale dans le secteur de la distribution. En d’autres termes, il est destiné à rendre écologiques les activités de petites boutiques en Europe, par exemple en les impliquant dans la campagne contre le changement climatique ou en les aidant à réduire leur consommation d’énergie et leur production de déchets. D’autre part, Green Commerce vise à sensibiliser les consommateurs sur les pratiques commerciales les plus vertes.

Green Cook

Green Cook est un projet cofinancé par le programme INTERREG IV B de la Commission Eeuropéenne pour une durée de 4 ans (2010 – 2013). Ce projet a pour ambition de faire de l’Europe du Nord-Ouest un modèle en matière de gestion durable de l’alimentation. Au-delà de la réduction du gaspillage alimentaire, cette initiative s’intéresse à la relation entre le consommateur et les aliments sous un angle innovant grâce à un partenariat multisectoriel.

Infocycle aims at addressing the limited available quantity of WEEE in the Ipirus and Thessaly regions. Actions will aim at increasing the quality of processes by the partners of the existing collective recycling scheme, thus minimising its environmental footprint. Complementary, several actions are foreseen to increase environmental awareness and local culture regarding the risks of maltreating WEEE.

Know Waste

The main goal of Know Waste is to promote waste reduction, reuse and recycling (RRR) in Cyprus, through an awareness raising campaign based on an integrated communication strategy aiming to inform, educate and motivate.

The project aims to bring about notable changes in perceptions, awareness and habits of the general public and targeted groups.

LANDCARE MED (2013-2015) project aims to provide the necessary tools and methodology for local authorities (i.e. rural villages) in order to develop integrated strategies and policies in the field of rural waste management. In particular, the actors involved in the project will implement a system where any kind of residual in livestock and agriculture related activities has a reasonable and efficient way of reusing. This objective will be achieved through a small-scale rural waste management approach and the exploitation of innovative technologies, which both allow to enhance the role of the farmer from source of the problem to key factor of its solution by changing its role from passive actor to active stakeholder.

LIFE+ISR project aims to demonstrate the environmental and economic benefits of two highly innovative sludge pre-treatment technologies that substantially reduce waste (i.e. sludge) production at municipal WWTPs. Both complementary technologies realise substantial sludge reduction, but are targeted at different types of WWTPs and situations. Thermocrack is an innovative technology based on thermal pre-treatment of sludge, which results in sludge and chemical reductions and enhanced biogas production. This technology will be implemented in the facilities of the Kralingseveer WWTP, which already has a digester. Optigest is a novel technology for sludge digestion, in which the hydraulic retention time and solids retention time are separated. Implementing Optigest results in sludge reduction, increased sludge volume handling capacity and enhanced biogas production. This technology will be tested in the facilities of the Tollebeek WWTP.

The general objective of LifeCIP (2013-2016) is to help SMEs in France, Belgium, Portugal and Spain to reduce the environmental impacts of their products and services in the building/construction, energy equipment and waste management sectors through the application of lifecycle approaches – including LCA, ecodesign and environmental labelling. This will enhance resource efficiency and reduce environmental emissions relating to the products and services (i.e. the extraction and treatment of raw-material, manufacture, distribution, and use and disposal of the product or service - including all intervening transport steps).

MED-3R (2012-2015) suggests innovation in approaches and services in order to meet with the specific needs of the beneficiary territories experiencing great difficulties in defining or implementing efficient and sustainable waste management plans. The developement of management plans will be innovative and adapted as it results from a unique initiative between complementary stakeholders of the territory, through the MED-3R strategic plateform.

Miniwaste est un projet cofinancé par le programme LIFE+ pour une durée de 3 ans (2010 – 2012). Le principal objectif de ce projet est de démontrer qu’il est possible de réduire considérablement la production de déchets organiques à la source (déchets alimentaires & de jardin) et de contrôler efficacement les actions de réduction mises en œuvre en Europe. Ramenons les déchets organiques à la vie !

The Life Memory project aims to demonstrate (at an industrial prototype scale) an anaerobic technology, using the innovative Submerged Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor (SAnMBR) technology, as an alternative to traditional urban wastewater treatment. The SAnMBR technology combines anaerobic digestion and membrane technology, allowing for the treatment of urban wastewater at ambient temperatures. Anaerobic digestion allows the conversion of the organic matter into a biogas flow (composed mainly by CH4 and CO2) that can be used at the WWTP to generate heat energy and electric power. On the other hand membrane filtration allows the sludge retention time (SRT) to be increased by 100% without increasing the reactor volume – thus in turn permitting anaerobic processes to be used for low-loaded wastewaters. Low growth rate of anaerobic bacteria coupled to longer sludge retention time reduces sludge production, so that there is less residual waste to be disposed of and fewer emissions.

NOW Project

Le projet NOW – No more organic waste – project (halte aux déchets organiques) vise au développement d’un nouveau système intégré d’élimination des déchets organiques dans la grande distribution. Ce projet (2011-2014) rassemble notamment des autorités locales et des représentants des grands groupes de distribution.

Prewaste est un projet cofinancé par le programme INTERREG IV C de la Commission européenne pour une durée de 3 ans (2010 – 2012). Ce projet vise à faire réduire la production et la dangerosité des déchets, notamment via la diffusion de guides de bonnes pratiques sur la mise en place de programmes de prévention locaux ou régionaux, ainsi que la définition d’indicateurs et d’outils de contrôle en Europe. Il est temps de prévenir !

Societal challenges, RTD and innovation offer opportunities to rejuvenate and transform the resource intensive chemical and process industries into eco-efficient high-tech solution providers, by switching to bio-based feedstock, improving efficiency of processes, by recycling waste materials and by looking at industry as an integrated system (industrial symbiosis). Objective of the Chemicals Regions for Resource Efficiency project (2012-2015) is to overcome European fragmentation of ambitious and innovative regions, to improve triple helix collaboration within and between some of the most process intensive European regions.

Re-Purpose Life

The RE-PURPOSE LIFE project was developed in response to the flagship initiative “A resource-efficient Europe” under the EU 2020 strategy, and translates its commitments into a transferable approach for establishing locally-developed, enterprise-led solutions for re-use in social housing contexts. The project aims to support community groups who wish to create their own social enterprises for turning redundant spaces into re-use hubs for the collection, storage and repair of bulky re-use items, which provide an alternative to illegal dumping. This will be complemented by an in-depth engagement and behaviour-change programme to tackle the root causes of illegal dumping and encourage positive environmental action.

The LIFE REBus (2013-2016) project will demonstrate how businesses and their supply chains can implement resource efficient business models. It will focus on four key markets: electrical and electronic products; clothing; furniture; and construction products. These have a total annual value of more than €350 billion across the EU.

RECO Baltic 21 Tech

RECO Baltic 21 Tech est un projet, cofinancé par le programme INTERREG IV B – Région de la mer Baltique, qui promeut une gestion durable des déchets dans cette partie de l’Europe. Ce projet a pour but de renforcer les capacités techniques & humaines des pays de la Baltique afin qu’ils puissent se conformer aux diverses directives européennes en matière de gestion des déchets. Pour cela, 30 décideurs locaux / régionaux et nationaux se verront être formés et assistés dans leurs choix d’investissements, afin de les orienter vers les meilleures technologies disponibles (Best Available Technologies - BAT).

REEcover (2013-2016) aims to:

A) Improve European supply of the critical Rare Earth Elements Y, Nd, Tb and Dy
B) Strengthen SME positions in REE production and recovery value chain
C) Innovate and research two different routes for hydro/pyro metallurgical recovery of REEs: as Rare Earth Oxides (REO) or Rare Earth Oxy-Carbides (REOC) in electrolytic reduction
D) Demonstrate and compare viability and potential for these routes on two different types of deposited industrial wastes:
1. tailings from the iron ore industry (high volume but low concentration of REE)
2. magnetic waste material from the WEEE recycling industry (low volume but high concentration REE)

The main objective of Rewaco is to demonstrate a new, more efficient and cost-effective waste collection system - reversed waste collection - in three different neighbourhoods of Arnhem. By offering a series of incentives to the local population, the reversed waste collection system is designed to encourage people to separate valuable household waste.

The generation of organic solid waste is rising significantly everywhere in the Mediterranean region due to population’s increase and development of industrial and agricultural sectors.This situation causes growing pressure on groundwater, soil and air and calls for strategies allowing for sound waste management systems.

In addition to the lack in some Mediterranean countries of separate collection of municipal solid waste, the implementation of integrated waste management plans at local level is still undermined by the high costs of transport and treatment. In this framework, SCOW (2013-2015) focuses on the collection of organic waste in tourist areas with a view to valorizing biowaste as compost for sustainable agriculture practices.

Life MED

LIFE-MED, Medical Equipment Discarded – A new integrate system to reduce waste by medical equipment and medical WEEE. MED project deals with the management of discarded medical equipment and devices. The project addresses primarily the environmental problem of sustainable waste and natural management. It supports waste prevention programmes and measures to promote the application of the waste hierarchy.

REFRESH is an EU research project taking action against food waste. 26 partners from 12 European countries and China work towards the project’s goal to contribute towards the objectives of reducing food waste across Europe by 30% by 2025, reducing waste management costs, and maximizing the value from un-avoidable food waste and packaging materials.

The 3xEnvironment project consists of three campaigns integrating the SMEs sector and their surroundings in an effort to protect the environment. Its primary goal is to support the entrepreneurs in the implementation of some changes to make their enterprises pro-ecological. This will be possible due to reducing use of energy, water, paper supplies as well as raw materials. They are encouraged to save money, while protecting the environment. This project also aims to increase SMEs employees’ awareness in the topics of ecology and the efficient use of resources.

The SRNEXT_4_LIFE (2013-2016) project would demonstrate an integrated recycling solution for automotive and WEEE shredder residue. Using an innovative separation process, this solution would have been able to separate and increase the recycling efficiency of SR waste streams to 97%, thus surpassing the 95% objective fixed by the European Union’s ELV legislation. The process would be demonstrated in a first full-scale application.

In many cases energy, water and resources contained in wastewater may have significant value if recovered. Therefore, the EU is currently confronted with a paradigm shift from wastewater treatment to resource recovery. To facilitate this shift, the SuPER-W European Joint Doctorate programme trains early-stage researchers (ESRs) in developing technologies for water, energy, nutrient and metal reuse, and bioproduction from (waste)water.

The WASP Tool

Le projet de création de l’outil WASP, qui s’étend de 2011 à 2014, a pour objectif de développer et faire connaître un outil d’aide à la décision en matière de prévention des déchets pour les autorités locales. Cet outil web d’aide à la décision (web-based decision support tool – WASP) sera testé lors d’une phase pilote par les 3 municipalités y participant (2 municipalités grecque et 1 chypriote).

Waste on a Diet

Waste on a Diet aims to deploy solutions to facilitate full implementation of the pay-as-you-throw scheme. It aims to address the particular challenges of collective housing and rural areas to reduce quantities of waste and increase local treatment and recycling of organic waste.


Turkmenistani Manat

Turkmenistani Manat

The manat is the currency of Turkmenistan. It was introduced on 1 November 1993, replacing the Russian ruble at a rate of 1 manat = 500 rubles. The ISO 4217 code was TMM, and the manat was subdivided into 100 tenge. The abbreviation m is sometimes used, e.g., 25 000 m is twenty-five thousand manat. On January 1, 2009, the new manat was introduced with ISO 4217 code TMT at the rate of 5000 old manat to 1 new manat.

Canadian Dollar

Canadian Dollar

The Canadian dollar (symbol: $; code: CAD; French: dollar canadien) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or sometimes Can$ or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. It is divided into 100 cents (¢). Owing to the image of a loon on the one-dollar coin, the currency is sometimes referred to as the loonie by foreign exchange traders and analysts, as it is by Canadians in general, or huard in French. Accounting for approximately 2% of all global reserves, the Canadian dollar is the fifth most held reserve currency in the world, behind the U.S. dollar, the euro, the yen and the pound sterling. The Canadian dollar is popular with central banks because of Canada's relative economic soundness, the Canadian government's strong sovereign position, and the stability of the country's legal and political systems.

2 Turkmenistani Manat to Canadian Dollar exchange rates chart

2 TMT to CAD exchange rates graph

2 TMT to CAD exchange rates table

Exchange TMT to CAD
2 Turkmenistani Manat = 0.757 Canadian Dollar
4 Turkmenistani Manat = 1.513 Canadian Dollar
10 Turkmenistani Manat = 3.783 Canadian Dollar
20 Turkmenistani Manat = 7.565 Canadian Dollar
Exchange Turkmenistani Manat to Canadian Dollar

2 TMT to CAD exchange rates news

Turkmenistan: Reading between the lines | Eurasianet

Turkmenistan’s government will not admit the economy is creaking, but there are clues aplenty

conditional neutral
UK, Malta buy oil products in Turkmenistan

Last week, 14 transactions were registered at the State Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange of Turkmenistan

indicative positive
Turkmenistan discusses currency regulation issues with IMF

indicative positive
C$ steadies after hitting 4-month low on oil price slump

updates prices); Canadian dollar near flat against the greenback; Loonie touches its weakest since July 20 at 1.3264; Price of U.S. oil slumps 7.1.

indicative neutral
Canadian dollar steadies after hitting four-month low on oil price...

The Canadian dollar was little changed against the greenback on Tuesday, steadying after it touched the weakest level in nearly four months earlier in the session as a sell-off in oil accelerated.

indicative neutral
USD/CAD - Canadian Dollar Sinking in Oil

The Canadian dollar is caught between a rock and a hard place. The rock is widespread U.S. dollar demand against the major G-10 currencies, and the hard place is falling oil prices. West Texas Intermediate oil prices have dropped 11% in November, and ...

imperative negative

2 TMT to CAD currency converter


praying mantis eating dragonfly

What Do Praying Mantis Eat?

The praying mantis is a really fascinating insect to have as a pet, as a lot of kids have been lucky enough to discover. Not only is it intriguing to look at, it is also very easy to take care of. If you are thinking of keeping a praying mantis as a pet, you must ensure it is well taken care of at all times. Part of taking care of a praying mantis is understanding its diet and eating habits.

Praying mantises are carnivorous, which means they eat meat. Most of them are also exclusively predatory, which means that they actively hunt their prey. A praying mantis will capture insects using its front legs and feed on them. Even though insects form the primary diet of a praying mantis,its diet changes as the mantis grows bigger. Large species of mantis have been known to prey on small lizards, frogs, rodents, snakes and even fish. Basically, mantises will eat anything that is smaller than them in size, as this way they are able to capture the prey without struggle.

A praying mantis is very patient when it comes to hunting for prey. In fact, a mantis will wait for hours for prey to come along. It will carefully camouflage itself so that the prey cannot easily spot it and ambush the unsuspecting prey at the opportune moment.

Praying mantises make use of the spikes on their front legs to grasp their prey. Once the prey is captured, the mantis will bite its neck to paralyze it and then devour it. A mantis will start by eating from the insect’s neck, in order to ensure the insect’s struggle ends quickly.

Most predatory insects will liquefy their prey or drain away the body fluids of their prey. However, for a praying mantis the feeding process is different. When a praying mantis catches an insect, it slices and chews it with its mandibles. A mantis will eat the entire insect, leaving only fragments that may have been accidentally severed during the feeding process.

When thinking of how you’ll be feeding your praying mantis, ensure there is selected habitat for the feeding. A cage that has been made to look like a mantis’ natural habitat will be much appreciated by your pet mantis. Don’t forget to regularly release your mantis so it can enjoy the fresh air and fresh diet in your backyard. Of course, keep an eye on it so that it doesn’t run away!

praying mantis facts

Praying Mantis Facts

The mantis is an insect best known for its prayer-like posture. Sometimes confused with its close relative, the grasshopper, the mantis is a very interesting insect. Below we look at some of the features that make it so unique among the millions of insect species in the world.

  • Not all mantises are winged. Depending on the nature and presence of their wings, mantises can be classified into apterous (wingless), micropterous (with vestigial wings), brachypterous (short winged) and macropterous (long winged).
  • Other than flying, wings in mantises are also used to scare away predators and in makes, to attract females.
  • Their two forelegs legs have spines by which prey is caught and securely held.
  • The prothorax, the part of the body containing the head and forelegs, is highly flexible which allows the insect to move its forelegs and head in a wide range of movements while the rest of the body remains immobile.
  • The neck is extremely flexible and in some species, the neck has been observed to rotate through an angle of up to 180 degrees.
  • Praying mantises can see up to a distance of 20 meters. Their compound eyes are widely spaced and found at the sides of their faces so as to allow for a wide range of vision.
  • Since bats are one of their biggest predators, mantises are equipped with an auditory thoracic organ. This organ detects the high pitched sound bats produce for echolocation and immediately respond evasively.

Behavior (Feeding & Defense)

  • Most mantises tend to feed during the day (diurnal) as this is when they can take advantage of their vision. However, they can also fly at night and will be attracted to any artificial lights nearby.
  • The primary prey of a mantis is insects and so they make up a large part of its diet. When young, a mantis feeds on small insects and sometimes can also eat its own siblings. As it grows bigger, it needs larger insects to survive. In full adulthood the diet may vary and can consists of small snakes, rodents, birds, lizards and scorpions.
  • Most mantises hunt by ambush. They can stand still at a spot, well camouflaged, for a long period of time awaiting prey. Other species tend to pursue their prey.
  • When caught, prey is held in the spiked legs of the mantis. The prey is usually eaten live if it does not resist but if it does, then the mantis will eat off the head first.
  • After finishing a meal, the only remnants left behind are those that were accidentally dropped. Otherwise, a mantis is capable of eating everything.
  • The major form of defense in mantises is hiding and camouflage. They also threaten their predators by standing tall and spreading their forelegs with their wings fanned out. This makes the mantis appear larger and more intimidating.
  • Mantises are capable of producing sound especially when threatened. The hissing sound is used to scare away enemies.
  • As for camouflage, they will develop wing colors to blend in perfectly with the vegetation in the region of their habitat. Some species have become so good at camouflage that they can even mimic vegetation by turning into shapes and colors that resemble withered leaves or dry barks.
  • If you get bitten or slashed by a mantis, do not worry, it contains no venom at all.

Reproduction & Life Cycle

  • Many mantis species display what is referred to as sexual cannibalism. This is where the female eats the male after mating. The feeding usually begins by biting off the head of the male. Due to this phenomena, it has been observed that hungry females are approached by less male mantises as compared to satiated ones due to fear of being cannibalized.
  • The female lays between ten and four hundred eggs which come out in a frothy mass which then hardens to form a protective capsule around the eggs.
  • Like most insects, the lifecycle of a mantis consists of egg, nymph then adult. The major difference between a nymph and an adult is the lack of wings and functional genitalia.
  • The general lifespan of a mantis is between 10 to 12 months.

Interestingly enough, mantises can be used to control pests. In some parts of the world, there are thriving businesses that sell mantis eggs. These eggs hatch into nymphs which tend to have a huge appetite. Thus, they will eat any and all insects they can find including those that are harmful to plant growth.

9 Cool Facts About Insects

Just about everyone encounters some form of insect on a daily basis – it’s inescapable. Despite their prevalence and ubiquity, they may go basically unnoticed by most people. Here are some interesting insect facts to consider next time you see an insect creeping about.

  1. There are between 6-10 million different species of insects in the world. While the actual number of individual insects in the world is thought to be at least in the quadrillions or higher, there is an extreme amount of diversity with 6-10 million species in the class of Insecta, which is the scientific name for insects.
  2. The above number is speculative, because scientists have only actually cataloged 1.5 total species of living creatures on the earth. 2/3rds of known living species, or 1 million known & cataloged species of living creatures, belong to the ever-present insects.
  3. Thought to be the most numerous of insects, there are estimated to be more than 10 quadrillion ants on Earth. This means there’s at least a million ants on Earth, and due to their strength, we could technically each be carried around by our own collection of ants if that were a thing.
  4. As far as biodiversity is concerned, the most broad and successful living creatures are the beetles. The beetles, of the order Coleoptera, consists of more than 400,000 different species.
  5. Insects have been around for about 400,000 years. This means they were around long before and long after the dinosaurs. This is likely due to their adaptability, quick life cycle, and the breadth of their range.
  6. Speaking of range, insects are one of the few living creatures that are found on every continent. Even Antarctica has the tiny Belgica antarctica. Perhaps ironically, there are no ants on Antarctica.
  7. There are no ocean-dwelling insects. As widespread and successful as insects are, you will be hard-pressed to find any if you’re out at sea.
  8. Insects breath through their exoskeleton. Insects exchange oxygen through structures called spiracles on their exoskeletons. From their, oxygen is transported throughout the insects body through the trachea system.
  9. Insects don’t have veins, arteries, capillaries or any such structure. Their organs soak in a bath of blood within their body, and as mentioned, the trachea system ensures a fresh supply of oxygen to that blood.

There you have 9 basic but interesting facts about insects. Perhaps next time you see one, you will admire its success and beauty, rather than being creeped out.

10 Cool Termite Facts

Termites have been around for millions of years. What do we know about them? Most people think that they are a pest and nothing else. That couldn’t be further from the truth: we should be thankful that termites exist. Let’s take a look at 10 interesting facts about termites:

termite-facts1.) Termites are ecologically beneficial

They can be pests to some homeowners, but the environment is better off because of what termites do. They are decomposers: they recycle decaying and dead trees into soil by breading down plant fibers. Forests need these insects. Termites improve and aerate the soil too.

2.) Respect your elders

Termites are much older than the human race. They descend from an ancestor that’s similar to the modern cockroach. Mantids, cockroaches, and termites all share this ancestor that lived over 300 million years ago. Termites hold the record for the oldest mutualism between two organisms known to man. Today, there are over 2,700 species of termites in the world. There are about 40 species in the United States.

3.) Termites digest wood with the help of microorganisms

Termites need help to digest tough cellulose, or plant fibers. They eat plants directly or fungus that grows on plant material. Their gut is full of microorganisms that break down the cellulose. Both organisms benefit from this relationship.

4.) The old raise the young

There are no deadbeat dads here. Termite kings won’t leave their offspring. They’re not like males bees; male bees die after mating. The termite king will stay with the queen after he’s fertilized her eggs. He helps to feed the young, too, by giving them predigested food.

5.) They eat each other’s feces

They do this because they are not born with those beneficial microorganisms inside them. They need them before they can begin to munch away on food.

6.) Most of them are blind

Termite soldiers and workers are usually blind because they don’t need to be able to see in order to perform their duties. They live in the dark, where their eyesight would be useless. The only termites with eyesight are reproductive termites, they need it in order fly and find their mates.

7.) They have a sophisticated communication system

If there’s a threat, termite soldiers will bang the walls of the galleries with their heads in order to warn the other termites.

8.) Chemical communication is important too

They use pheromones (chemical scents) to provide information to one another. They can guide other workers by leaving scent trails using the glands that they possess. Each colony has its own unique scent.

9.) Good hygiene is very important

Most people would be surprised at how much time termites spend grooming themselves and each other. They do it because it is important for their survival; if they didn’t put any effort into staying clean, they’d get in trouble with harmful bacteria and parasites.

10.) Some of them can fly

Queens and kings can fly. They are called alates, and use their wings to leave their colony, look for a potential mate and start their own colony. Once they’ve found a new home, they break off their wings and raise their offspring.

Despite that fact that a lot of people find them to be pests, and spend a lot of time and effort trying to kill termites, and get rid of termites, they are truly fascinating little creatures.

What Are The 5 Largest Insects In The World?

Giant Dobsonfly

Credit: Insect Museum of West China

Titan Beetle

Chan’s Megastick (Phobaeticus chani)

Chan’s Megastick (Phobaeticus chani)

Little Barrier Island Giant Weta

Little Barrier Island Giant Weta

Atlas Moth

atlas moth

Atlas Moth


Solaris Catalyst™ 2 oz, bottle

Solaris Catalyst™ (a.k.a. “The Molecule”)  EPF™is a plant based pathogen neutralizing agent which is safe orally and topically. This small dropper bottle is the first phase to better health in more ways than imaginable. Taken internally, an average of 3 drops in a few ounces of purified water or juice, 3 times each day will provide amazing results.  With antibiotic, antioxidant, antiviral and anti-fungal properties, Solaris Catalyst™ assists the body in killing and removing pathogens…a gentle detox action, helping to maintain, restore and repair healthy cells throughout the body!

In stock

Solaris Catalyst™ – THE FUTURE OF HEALTH   (formerly known as EPF)

  • 2 oz (bigger size, also available in 1/2 oz)

Brushing aside centuries of home remedies and primitive science where harsh and often ineffective chemicals were used for hygiene, sanitation and general clean up, this paper intends to unveil a new and exciting body of knowledge in the fight of cell wall structures.

Nearly 200 years ago two scientists, Matthias Jakob Schleiden and Theodor Schwann first observed that all living tissue is made up of cells. In 1839, Schwann published “Microscopic Investigations on the Accordance in the Structure and Growth of Plants and Animals.” His work was the first public statement of cell theory, namely, that cells make up all living things.
Scientists approached the new world of cellular biology with unbridled passion, and they commenced extensive testing on a level that was previously unheard of—all in search of the properties of various chemicals and their effects. Of interest to our immediate discussion is the testing that was done to firmly establish chlorine as a universal sanitizer, a reputation that has survived to this day. Like other chemicals, the scientists of long ago also observed that in addition to its great disease fighting properties, chlorine could be used as a weapon of war.
Cellular research continued. We learned about pathogens, specific diseases, viruses, molds and funguses and discovered more about the relationship of chemistry to cells. The development of chemicals continued to expand and it was not long until science realized that chemicals all too often have a dangerous side effect on humans, plants and animals. Frustrated by the dual nature of many chemicals, confounded by their contrasting bright and seemingly inevitable dark and dangerous side effects, scientists began to long for an enduring, simple fix to these problems.

“There has to be a new substance that we have not found,” many reasoned. “There has to be a solution for both the medical and the industrial fields to eliminate, once and for all, the pathogenic organisms and bacteria that cause disease, foul odors, hazardous waste and environmental dangers—a new substance with no dark or dangerous side effects and one for which pathogens will not develop resistance.”

Scientific investigation affords a new way of looking at the building blocks of life and a new way of thinking about how living organisms are affected by various elements in the environment. There now exist novel ways of enhancing, controlling and manipulating the building blocks of cells for positive and predictable results currently exists. Chemists have uncovered many mysteries and cracked codes that were thought to be impossible, giving humanity the ability to unravel the strands of countless proteins in order to stop and in many cases repair the damage done to healthy cells.

Our research team believed that God had given man the answers if we just looked deeper to find them. Looking at the plant families that God had given man on this earth it was obvious humanity we had to dig deeper.
What if there were a plant based product developed using what God gave us in many essential oils and esters of plants to create a unique formulation?

The earliest, original and naturally occurring keys, protokeys and protocatalysts from God’s plants, allow protein molecules to be unwound, thus allowing other agents to break down the cell wall of the protein molecule and decompose it to its basic elements. While the keys and catalysts have existed since the dawn of creation, the process whereby these keys became activated is in the ascendency. What if it were possible to eliminate harmful, caustic and acid-based chemicals from the workplace and the home, and eventually replace them with safe, natural products that are in large part derived from plant derivatives? The next step in restorative biochemistry is to compost and recycle the matter from decomposed toxins.

Diseased cells, pathogens or intoxicated cells often harbor improper proteins due to damaged DNA. Dead formerly healthy cells in particular have amino acids that contain sulfur, which certain bacteria use as food, producing foul smelling substances known asmercaptans and hydrogen sulfides (H2S). Proteinaceous waste materials are some of the hardest substances to control as they grow bacteria faster than most other materials. These target cells have salt markers on their surface. A salt marker is a poorly understood and underutilized Achilles heel on all pathological and pathogenic cells.

Imagine if a biochemical “early warning system” existed which would recognize salt markets in dangerous cells and selectively uncloak or unravel those bad players allowing the body’s native immune function to decompose them selectively and recycle the elements within for a healthier use?

Imagine if a biochemical “early warning system” existed which reacts with the unhealthy proteins and prevents harm to healthy cells all by recognizing the salt base marker within that protein.
These proteins that do not have a salt base cannot put up a resistance to our formulation; and unlike the old “wonder drugs” that have lost their efficacy because viruses and pathogens build an immunity to them, when MIROR EPF based formulations work they always work.

Cells use proteins as nutrient transport systems to import food, vitamins, minerals and oxygen into the cell and export carbon dioxide and wastes out of the cellular processes. Mammals, fish and reptiles use similar processes to create and use energy from food, while processing ions and oxygen for use in cellular respiration and replication; and organisms of these kinds have special purposes but as organ systems all are designed to work together for the best of the animal.

Plants have similar nutrient transport systems, with some differences in respiration systems that work together for the health of the plant. In contrast to these processes are systems that work only for themselves, such as single cell organisms. Some of these bacteria, yeasts, and molds use different chemical processes for respiration and have different cellular structures. Such opportunistic organisms use waste products and other sources of food to live. They often have different cellular structures and different cell walls.

Unhealthy cells and certain pathogenic bacteria normally have one thing in common: extraneous proteins. Imagine being able to notice and target these extraneous proteins because of the all-important salt marker. If the cell does not have a salt marker it will break the bonds of the amino acids making up the proteins that hold it together and if it does have a salt marker (healthy cells), it will strengthens the proteins that cell wall consists of improving the health of that cell.

How might a targeted bioactive agent melt proteins? Melt is actually a poor choice of words because we don’t melt it, we break down its cell structure, but “melt” is the simplest form in which to explain and for people to easily grasp what happens.
Proteins are very long chain molecules, so long that they only behave as solids when they are dissolved in water or bodily fluids—and accordingly they must be decreased in chain length to dissolve the proteins completely. Proteins are often structural, providing the glue that holds things together. Breaking this glue when it does not dissolve is a job that scientists previously thought could only be done by enzymes. For instance, removing a bloodstain from clothing requires a detergent with enzymes that will break down the proteins in the congealed blood—because again, it cannot dissolve without first breaking down. The world needs formulations that are unique in their ability to behave like enzymes and carry out the protein melting process.

“Melting proteins” again, is a figure of speech, as technically proteins do not melt per se, but simply the bond holding it together (the cell wall) degrades to the point that it is no longer the cell it was. Proteins must be lysed “chemically modified” and adhesions broken in order “open” the protein to be degraded.

What does it mean to “open” the protein molecule? Protein molecules are often bound together with linking pairs of amino acids and immobile sulfur bonds which, when broken, render them reactive so that other enzymes can break down the amino acids that are no longer linked. This also allows for the catalytic break down of proteins like an enzyme, with in situ reactant matrices that encourage regeneration of the healthy cells and breakup the amino acid chain of unhealthy cells all by recognizing this marker. Using this mechanism, we would expect that all pathogens would be decomposed and recycled using this mechanism. This revolutionizes the future of health and healing!

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Hypnotherapy in Oxfordshire

Overcome fears, anxiety and bad habits with the power of hypnosis*

What is Hypnotherapy?

If you want to change a habit, a way of thinking or even perform better at something, hypnosis can really help. In fact, on my personal journey to wellbeing, having hypnotherapy for self esteem and confidence in my early twenties was the catalyst that really began to turn things around for me...

Hypnosis occurs through a process of relaxation,  ensuring the subconscious feels safe and therefore more receptive to positive suggestions and fresh perspectives that can more effectively lead to tangible change than conscious work alone. ( i.e you get to sit in a comfy chair with a comfy blanket and have some cosy 'you' time for 30 minutes while I talk you through a pleasant journey in a meditative voice )

Hypnosis isn't the only approach I offer and I understand it can take a little while to trust in what really is a natural, relaxing process due to the myths and mystique that surround it. Many clients begin with coaching, mindfulness and meditation and of course that's a lovely, healing route as well,

Hypnosis has been shown to work effectively used for anxiety, weight loss and gain, smoking, fears such as heights, spiders, claustrophobia and any irrational fears. It can also be used to increase confidence and self esteem, improve performance, reduce nerves and fear.

* Results may vary from person to person.

How does a Hypnotherapy session work?

It makes total sense to have the conscious and subconscious working together harmoniously, therefore hypnotherapy sessions are always combined with an element of coaching.

The first 30 minutes of the session will be spent looking at a practical, thought challenging exercise with manageable tasks set for you to do before the next session.

Our conversation will then be  further reinforced in the second 30 minutes, through a tailored and personalised hypnosis experience.You will even receive a recording of the hypnosis element to repeat at home for even deeper results.

Step 1 - Email me at stephanieclarksontherapies@outlook.com to book in your free telephone consultation or see me in person online via Zoom or at my Thame therapy practice for a reduced session rate.

Step 2 - After an initial consultation, I will take payment for the first 3 sessions and begin writing a series of tailored , personalised guided hypnosis sessions for you based around your personal barriers, lifestyle and interests.

Step 3 - Sessions are best taken 2-3 weeks apart. We'll start with 3 sessions and assess the need for subsequent sessions after the third. For simple issues 3 can be the perfect number. However depending on what comes up, it may be appropriate to continue or even move onto associated issues as they rise.

Step 4 - Listen to your personalised recordings, book back in whenever you like. Many clients enjoy returning beyond their sessions monthly or bi-monthly for continued life coaching or continued 'check-ins' around their wellbeing. It can be a regular thing or just a lifeline available when life throws a curve ball and you need a friendly face and objective voice, I'm always available for a kind chat and holistic guidance.

Why 4 Sessions?

I would always recommend at least 4 sessions (of one hour) for any presenting issue and potentially longer term support for more complex barriers. Hypnotherapy is not a 'quick-fix' however studies have often shown faster results than traditional talking therapies where changes to the subconscious often take longer*

* Results may vary from person to person.

Testimonials for Hypnotherapy

Barnsley client

Anne. Barnsley

* Results may vary from person to person.


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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is World Cup Soccer Camp located?

Are there any multi child discounts?

What is your Refund Policy?

For cancellations received in writing 14 days prior to the camp start date, a full refund minus a $50.00 non-refundable deposit will be issued.  Anyone canceling after the 14-day window or departing early from camp for any reason (including illness or injury) will not be entitled to a refund.  Exception:  If your team club team (for any sport) makes Regionals or Nationals and the tournament dates conflict with camp, we will refund your money in full provided written notification is received 14 days prior to the start of camp.

Do I need to bring a soccer ball?

Are cleats and shin guards required?

What happens if it rains or there is a thunder storm?


You wouldn’t call Batgirl a conspiracy theorist as she’s certainly been ingrained to use her detective skills to understand the world around her. So now that Batgirl #12 is bringing us a ghost story will Barbara be swayed by the evidence that ghosts do exist?

Batgirl #12
Writer: Hope Larson
Artist: Eleonora Carlini
Publisher: DC Comics

So what’s it about?

The official summary reads:

Why does this book matter?

Hope Larson has been writing a fantastic series that feels grounded but also progressive with its ideas. Given the premise of this issue I’m interested to see how she adds a little reality to a ghost story.

Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?

Kinda odd she’d sign up to be filmed like this.

Opening with Barbara joining up with a ghost TV show crew, Larson quickly introduces the reader to the paranormal event taking place in a community gym. True, this case might seem like small beans, but Barbara is up for any challenge, especially if it means proving supernatural believers wrong. As is customary for this series these days, Larson knocks the detective angle out of the park. You’ll witness Barbara do research, follow clues, and generally be a badass when it comes to solving a problem. It’s an angle you don’t see a lot of these days given most comics are all about fighting.

That includes a satisfying conclusion to the entire mystery. There’s a science fiction angle to it all that’s probably less believable than ghosts, but Larson will make you a believer. It also helps she ties character into everything, from Barbara’s detective work to the eventual reveal of what and who is involved.

Eleonora Carlini pencils and inks this issue and the style continues the thin lined more realistic feel for the book that Wildgoose has been imploring. There’s an interesting use of Facebook like status updates in Barbara’s detective work and a great moment showcasing a schematic of a scientist that looks legit. Plus, Carlini draws a mean Batgirl bathing suit. Yes, that actually is a thing!

Everyone stay calm. Please avoid touching the electricity while you swim!

It can’t be perfect can it?

The lack of action does make the early parts of the issue drag a tad. There’s also the inescapable feeling that the mystery is solved too easily. Barbara does the work to come to a conclusion, but the fact that she’s right on and it all resolves itself by the end does seem farfetched. Given the shortness of a comic and the need to wrap the story up you can’t blame the creators, but it makes the detective angle feel a tad cheapened as it comes so easily.

Is It Good?

Hope Larson is writing the freshest most down to Earth Batgirl in ages. Read it if you love Barbara Gordon.

Batgirl #12
Is it good?
A fun done in one story with great detective work.
Great art that's down to Earth
The detective work is fantastic
Great characterization as always
A slower story for sure with little action
The mystery comes together too nicely


the bottle with the red ink on the gray polystyrene tray

A bottle is a narrow-necked container made of an impermeable material (clay, glass, plastic, aluminium, etc.) in various shapes and sizes to store and transport liquids (water, milk, beer, wine, ink, cooking oil, medicine, soft drinks, shampoo, and chemicals, etc.) and whose mouth at the bottling line can be sealed with an internal stopper, an external bottle cap, a closure, or a conductive "inner seal" using induction sealing. Some of the earliest bottles appeared in China, Phoenicia, Crete, and Rome.

Since red is the color of blood, it has historically been associated with sacrifice, danger and courage. Modern surveys in Europe and the United States show red is also the color most commonly associated with heat, activity, passion, sexuality, anger, love and joy. In China, India and many other Asian countries it is the color of symbolizing happiness and good fortune.

Ink can be a complex medium, composed of solvents, pigments, dyes, resins, lubricants, solubilizers, surfactants, particulate matter, fluorescents, and other materials. The components of inks serve many purposes; the ink's carrier, colorants, and other additives affect the flow and thickness of the ink and its dry appearance.

Grey (British English) or gray (American English; see spelling differences) is an intermediate color between blackand white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is a color "without color." It is the color of a cloud-covered sky, of ash and of lead.

Polystyrene (PS) /ˌpɒliˈstaɪriːn/ is a synthetic aromatic hydrocarbon polymer made from the monomer styrene. Polystyrene can be solid or foamed. General-purpose polystyrene is clear, hard, and rather brittle. It is an inexpensive resin per unit weight. It is a rather poor barrier to oxygen and water vapour and has a relatively low melting point. Polystyrene is one of the most widely used plastics, the scale of its production being several million tonnes per year. Polystyrene can be naturally transparent, but can be coloured with colourants. Uses include protective packaging (such as packing peanutsand CD and DVD cases), containers (such as "clamshells"), lids, bottles, trays, tumblers, disposable cutlery and in the making of models.
As a thermoplastic polymer, polystyrene is in a solid (glassy) state at room temperature but flows if heated above about 100 °C, its glass transition temperature. It becomes rigid again when cooled. This temperature behaviour is exploited for extrusion (as in Styrofoam) and also for molding and vacuum forming, since it can be cast into molds with fine detail.
Polystyrene is slow to biodegrade and is therefore a focus of controversy among environmentalists. It is increasingly abundant as a form of litter in the outdoor environment, particularly along shores and waterways, especially in its foam form, and also in increasing quantities in the Pacific Ocean.

A tray is a shallow platform designed for the carrying of items. It can be fashioned from numerous materials, including silver, brass, sheet iron, paperboard, wood, melamine, and molded pulp. Trays range in cost from inexpensive molded pulp trays which are disposable, to inexpensive melamine trays used in cafeterias, to mid-priced wooden trays used in a home, to expensive silver trays used in luxury hotels. Some examples have raised galleries, handles, and short feet for support.
Trays are flat, but with raised edges to stop things from sliding off them. They are made in a range of shapes but are commonly found in oval or rectangular forms, sometimes with cutout or attached handles with which to carry them.


Click on the brands below to view the water treatment options that are available.

Parasitic: The most common parasites of fish are protozoa. These include species found on external surfaces and species found in specific organs. Examples include External Ciliates (Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, Trichodina), Flagellates (Ichthyobodo spp, Costia spp), Internal Flagellates (Hexamita, Spironucleus spp , Cryptobia) and Sporozoans.

Fungal: Aquatic fungi often are considered secondary tissue invaders that follow traumatic injuries, infectious agents, or environmental insults such as poor water quality or low water temperatures. Because many fungi grow on decaying organic matter, they are especially common in the aquatic environment.

Bacterial: Epidemics of bacterial diseases are common in dense populations of aquarium fish. Predisposition to such outbreaks frequently is associated with poor water quality, over feeding, handling and transport of fish, marked temperature changes, insufficient air flow or other stressful conditions. Examples include Fin rot, Fish tuberculosis, Mouth rot and Skin ulcers.

Stress Reduction: As noted in the Bacterial description; bacterial infections are most likely to occur whilst fish are under stress, this is also true for their susceptibility to parasitic infections like White Spot (Ichthyophthirius multifiliis). Stress reduction medications help fish during times where stresses are likely to occur, moving fish in bags/buckets for example.


Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain

Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain

“Much will be written and said about the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum in the future; we will simply be able to say that we built it.’   Juan Ramón Pérez, Works Manager for the Guggenheim Museum and Head of Building for the Basque country.

 Humans tend to be fascinated by several sights and places.  We see pictures and videos of those places we want to visit. And then we go.

The Guggenheim is bigger and bolder than I thought it would be. I had a window view and it is as peaceful to me as looking at the sea.

It is one of those rare works of contemporary architecture that dazzle the world with its modern styling and intricate structure. It is located in Northern Spain in the city of Bilbao, an industrial port encircled by the green mountains in Basque Country.  The museum stands right next to the banks of the Nervión River that flows through Bilbao down to the Cantabrian Sea. The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao features exhibits and works of artists from all over the world.

The glittering titanium museum is designed by Frank Gehry, an award-winning Canadian-American architect. When he was chosen by Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation as the architect, Thomas Krens, its director, asked him to design the museum extraordinarily. Gehry surely exceeded their expectations. The construction took place from 1993 to September, 1997. On October 18, 1997, the former of King of Spain, King Juan Carlos I, inaugurated the museum. When it was first introduced, the design awed the critics as well as the public. After its immediate and immense success, many similar buildings popped up all around the world.

 Gehry is known for a number of renowned architectural designs including Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris.

One might say that the artistic contents and exhibits of the museum are not as impressive as the structure of the building itself. To be honest, it would not be wrong. People from all over the globe  pay a visit to the museum to witness the avant-garde structure that they have heard so much about. It is on the Northern route of the Camino de Santiago and the pilgrims usually make a stop at the museum.

There are no photos allowed  inside the museum.  This is good because it give me a chance to enjoy the works in a more relax and peaceful way instead of busily taking pictures.  Sometimes I do wonder why I need to take so many photos and whether  I miss anything by doing this.

The urban building is covered in glass, titanium, and limestone. The exterior structure feature random curves and hurls that catch and throw the lights while the interior is built around a huge, lighted atrium offering picturesque views of Bilbao’s river banks and the mountainous greenery of the Basque country.

The building spans an area of 32,500-square-meters (350,000 sq. ft.) The exhibition area has nineteen galleries.

You will be surprised to know that the museum was built on a strict time limit and budget.  Gehry said he ensured that he had an accurate estimate of the budget, and that no political and business interests interfered with the project. Furthermore, he used his own software, Digital Project, to create detailed computer visualizations and teamed up with the individual building trades to cut down the costs.

Immediately after opening, the museum became a popular tourist attraction.  The taxes collected from the hotels, restaurants, shops and transport itself has more than paid for the building cost.

The  “Bilbao effect” refers to how the museum transformed the city.   This is amazing because before the museum, Bilbao was just a faded industrial town.

My trip to Spain and Portugal started in Bilbao – a bucket list place for me.  It was a more expensive trip than usual and I struggled with the decision to do it. But I believe that you should invest in your life for the things you love. I have no regret for this decision. Life should be spontaneous and without too much thought. Just go. The memories will be worth it.

Fly safe,

Museums In Tel Aviv, Israel

Museums In Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv is an outdoor city with beautiful soft sandy beaches, flea markets, food and craft markets and alfresco dining most of the year.

This time I was there in January and February. The first ten days were particularly cold and rainy so I spent some time exploring a few museums.

I’ve written about the Tel Aviv Museum Of Art designed by Preston Scott Cohen before. If you are into architecture as I am you will love the building.

It is located in central Tel Aviv within a Cultural Complex inside a beautiful park.

My god-daughter lives nearby. In a city where everything closes on Saturday, this museum is open.

We walk passed the families in the playground and through the skateboarders to the entrance. The temporary exhibits are always interesting. The one I wanted to see was called Total Red which was photography from early twentieth century Soviet Photographers. Pastel, the museum’s restaurant i is beautiful and delicious.

Visiting Eretz Israel Museum in the rain is probably not the best way to see it. It is a collection of several pavilions and excavations spread out all over.

The focus is on culture and history. When I travel and do large museums, I usually just pick a few exhibits to see, Otherwise it is too overwhelming.

I love photography so I went to those exhibits.

There was one about life in the internment camps in Cyprus where the Holocaust survivor were kept until Israel became a nation.

And another about the Italian ship captain that brought refugees to Israel.

I also watched a film on how Baron de Rothschild helped Israel grow. The restaurant is delicious and the gift store is one of the best in Tel Aviv for art and crafts.

Exodus was one of my favorite TV movies when I was very young.  Paul Newman played Ari Ben Canaan who was the head of the Haganah. I was always interested in them. The Haganah was the military organization that protected the Jewish settlements in Palestine.

It was the predecessor to the Israeli Defense Forces.

The Haganah Museum is located on beautiful Rothschild Blvd in the house of one of the Haganah founders.

It traces the story from the earliest watchtowers to the struggle for independence to the development of the modern army.

You will see many troops of Israeli soldiers being brought there on field trips.

Fly safe,

Israeli Museum In Jerusalem

Israeli Museum in Jerusalem.

“Art is only relevant, if it asks the most critical questions and expresses emotions with an innocent eye.” Ai Wei Wei

The Israeli Museum in Jerusalem is the largest museum in the Middle East.

It is located near the Knesset (government), the Israeli Supreme Court and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

One of the highlights in the museum collection is the Shrine of the Book which houses the Dead Sea Scrolls. The white roof of the building emulates the lid of a Qumran jar where they were found. Upon entering this incredible cave-like display you feel like you are actually in one of the Qumran jars.

The scrolls are the oldest biblical manuscripts in the world, and were found near the Qumran area in eleven different caves over a ten-year period (1946-1956). The age and scope of these amazing scrolls basically proved the authenticity of our modern Bible’s Old Testament.

Upon arrival there was an added bonus, an exhibit by one of my favorite artists, Ai Wei Wei. It was an odd choice of country for the pro Palestinian Chinese artist. In the age of fake news and the manipulation of truth, the timely exhibit is called Maybe/Maybe Not. The money from the exhibit goes to an Israeli Palestinian relief fund. It features large-scale works such as part of his “Sunflower Seeds” installation featuring millions of seeds made from porcelain, weighing some 23 tons. (sorry, no flash)

Wallpaper across part of  the exhibition depicts the plight of refugees while mixing in classical images, giving it the look of a frieze from ancient Greece.

His “Soft Ground” installation has particular resonance for Israel.  It is a hand-woven carpet that replicates the floor of the Haus Der Kunst in Munich, commissioned by the Third Reich for the display of Nazi-approved art.

Everything at closer inspection was not what it seemed. There were self portraits made of legos,

chandeliers made of surveillance cameras

and a selfie taken through mirror when he was being arrested in China.

Iron trees are “planted” at the museum.

They are made from casts of parts of trees from Southern China and part of series that started in 2009.

Were the porcelain cups real or fake?

Even the artist himself raises questions. Ai Wei Wei is one of the richest artists in the world.  He is a Chinese dissident who had his passport taken away  by his government but he can travel freely throughout the world. Is what we are told true? Is what we see real? Maybe or Maybe Not. (middle finger all over the world)

Fly safe,

Yad Vashem, Holocaust Memorial, Jerusalem

Yad Vashem, Holocaust Memorial, Jerusalem

Kurt Tucholsky (quote on the wall as you enter)

Fly safe,


Diprotic acids

Diprotic acids are those acids in their molecules contain two hydrogen acids, potentially separable.

Remember that for the acids oxygenates (or oxyacids), the hydrogens acids are those of -OH groups.

Examples of common diprotic acids are hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S), sulfurous acid (H 2 SO 3), sulfuric acid (H 2 SO 4), orthophosphorous acid (H 3 PO 3) and carbonic acid (H 2 CO 3).

The complete dissociation of a diprotic acid door in solution two moles of H 3 O + per mole of acid.

However, usually, the only significant dissociation is the first.

For certain acids, the first dissociation is quantitative (K a1 very large). And 'the case for example of H 2 SO 4:

1st dissociation

2nd dissociation

For other acids instead, also the first dissociation is partial only. And 'the case for example of H 2 S:

1st dissociation

2nd dissociation

The second dissociation usually is almost insignificant, or at least it is for the purposes of calculation of pH. We take the specific case of the H 2 S. His first dissociation constant is very low. In fact, H 2 S is an acid weak. HS - is its conjugate base, and being the conjugate base of an acid weak and relatively strong and its tendency to donate the second proton acid is really poor.

For further clarification about the calculation of pH see calculation of pH - solutions of polybasic acids


“Do I have any?” and other questions about your rights as a renter

Image: kaboompics.com.

Around a fifth of people living in the UK rent their homes. And increasingly, they're a bit cheesed off.

In the run up to May's London mayoral election, the #VentYourRent hashtag and blog collated renters' grisly stories of astronomica prices and lack of basic amenities. Meanwhile, the Debrief's Make Renting Fair campaign is pushing for an end to letting agency fees across England and Wales.

But a basic part of fighting back against the rather rubbish lot renters have in much of the UK is to know exactly what your rights are, because dodgy landlords are usually relying on the fact that you don't. We've collated the answers to some common questions, based on laws, information from the Citizen's Advice Bureau, and The Tenant's Rights Manuala helpful ebook summarising the law by solicitor Naomi Moore.

It's worth noting that these guidelines are specific to England and Wales, as the law differs in Scotland and Northern Ireland. (You can find out information on your renters' rights in those jurisdictions at the Citizens' Advice Bureau.)

We've broken down the questions into sections; click on the titles below to jump to the one you need.

Finding your property  handing over money, making sure you have furniture, and tenancy agreements

Living there  pests, repairs, and resisting eviction

Moving out  your deposit back, and whether you need to shell out for that professional cleaner.

Finding your flat

Or: don’t be so grateful they’re putting a roof over your head that you forget to check the following

Do landlords have to be accredited?

A big no, sadly. There are a few landlord accreditation schemes, plus something called the National Landlord Association, but landlords don’t have to be a member of any of them. Same goes for estate agents.

Ask from the outset if they are, though, because then you can look up the standards or code of practice they’ve signed up to and report them to the scheme if they break the rules.

Are holding fees and letting agency fees legal?

Yes, at least for now  though every major party but the Conservatives proposed banning them in their 2015 election manifesto.  Ask early on what these will be, as extortionately high ones aren’t illegal, either.

What should my tenancy agreement have in it?

Under the Housing Act 1988, it must include: the date the tenancy began, the rent payable and its due date, the length of the term, any information about when rent will be reviewed, and any cases where the landlord wants you to take responsibility for things (e.g. specific repairs) which they would usually be liable for.

The landlord also needs to give you a copy of the latest gas safety check, which should be carried out once a year; plus an Energy Performance Certificate.

Do I have to have one of those fiddly inventory things?

Yes. Either your agent or landlord must write out a list of the objects in the property, which you then check (with a fine-toothed comb, ideally) and sign. It's worth quibbling anything that isn't exactly as it says on the inventory if something's broken, say so that you can't be charged for it at the end of your tenancy.

Is it illegal for my landlord to hold my deposit themselves?

Big time. Under the Housing Act 2004 deposits must be paid into a tenancy deposit scheme within 30 days, and you must be given information about where it’s being held. One exception: if your deposit is just rent paid in advance, it doesn’t need to be paid into one of these schemes.

What furniture does the landlord have to provide?

This is a tricky one. In an unfurnished flat, nothing – you’ll need to discuss whether white goods, for example, are included, before signing your contract.

If it’s let furnished, any furniture must be of safe, usable standard. It’s generally accepted that this should include table and chairs, sofa, bed and storage in each bedroom, heating appliances, curtains and floor coverings, a cooker, and a fridge. However, make sure you are happy with what they're providing before you sign anything.

Living there

Or: when the fun really begins.

What general standards must my house meet? Do I just have to put up with leaks/holes in the floor/giant roaches?

The law is a bit mealy-mouthed on this one – basically, the property must meet health and safety standards but not much more. (There was recently a move to enshrine the fact that homes should be “fit for human habitation” in law, but this was recently rejected by the Lords.)

If something directly affects your health and safety, your landlord is obliged under law to sort it out. This can include mould or damp, asbestos, gas leaks, unsecured entrances, a lack of lighting, excessive noise due to poor sound insulation, pests, poor drainage, lack of water supply. If your landlord isn’t acting on any of these problems you have a right to take legal action

But should my landlord fix things even if they're not affecting my health?

No matter what your tenancy agreement says, the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 stipulates that landlords are always responsible for repairs to:

  • The property’s structure and exterior;
  • Anything that comes into contact with water – basins, sinks, baths, pipes, drains;
  • Heating and hot water;
  • Anything to do with the gas;
  • Electrical wiring;
  • Any damage they inflict while fixing the above.

For other things, like broken beds, fridges, washing machines, or sofas, your landlord is generally expected to repair them unless you were directly responsible for the damage or it says otherwise in your tenancy agreement.

Are they allowed to take ages to do it?

Depends what it is. Under law, they must carry out fixes within the helpfully vague definition of a "reasonable period of time".

Lawyer Naomi Moore rekons that for emergencies such as an electrical or gas failure, this would be around 24 hours. For leaks and roof repairs, around a week. For aesthetic problems, like plaster disrepair, broken kitchen units or problems with window or door frames, a reasonable period would be about 28 days.

What do I do if the landlord doesn’t fix the problem within a "reasonable period"?

Sue them! Well, not exactly. You can take legal action through your local council's Tenants Relations Officer (TRO) to seek the repairs and compensation for your inconvenience. You can also pay for the repairs yourself and then bill the landlord, though proceed with this with caution (see "Can I withold rent?", below).

In this situation it's very important that you have a paper trail. Report disrepair to your landlord by text or email so you can prove when you first told them about it, and do the same with any followup.

Can I hang pictures/install cabinets or shelves/paint the walls?

Changes of this kind can be seen as “damage”, since they change the state of the property. As a result, it’s best to check with your landlord first, as they could deduct money from your deposit in order to return the property to its original state when you leave. And it can be a mistake to assume you'll be staying for a while, and therefore it's worth risking it: landlords have no duty to let you stay longer than the time set out in your tenancy agreement.

Who is responsible for rats/mice/spider/zombie infestations that occur after you move in?

Almost always the landlord, unless a) it says they aren’t on the tenancy agreement, or b) the pest infestation is your fault, and they can prove it.

Can they raise my rent?

If you have a fixed term tenancy, not within the length of time set out in your tenancy agreement. At the end of that agreement, they can, as you’d be signing a new agreement if you decided to stay. Currently, there are no legal limits on how much rent can be raised at the end of a tenancy for new or returning tneants.

If you have a periodic, or rolling tenancy, your landlord can generally only increase the rent once a year, depending on the terms in your tenancy agreement. They must give you one month’s notice if you pay rent weekly or monthly.

Can I withhold rent if I'm unhappy with my landlord?

Yes, but it’s very risky. You don’t have a right to withhold rent because repairs haven’t been carried out, for example, and your landlord can start repossession proceedings and put you at risk of eviction if you do.

A better route can be to use your own money for repairs, then recuperate the cost from future rent. You do have a right to do this. However, it’s important to follow the right procedure, including writing letters to your landlord, keeping copies, and sending your landlord quotes from contractors (more specific advice on that here). It’s best to get advice first so you’re protected legally  the Citizens Advice Bureau is a good place to start.

Can my landlord evict me?

Only if they follow a very specific legal procedure and have grounds to do so. The landlord also cannot harass you in order to convince you to leave the property, under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, and could be forced to pay you damages. If you experience any verbal threats or physical violence, go to the police.

If you’ve experienced illegal eviction or think you're at risk of it, go to your local council’s Tenancy Relations Officer, who can take your landlord to court.

Can the landlord turn up whenever they want?

No. It’s against the law for a landlord to enter the property without notice or permission. Under the Housing Act 1988 they must give you 24 hours’ notice in writing before coming round, and should only come at reasonable times so you can be present.

A few exceptions: if there is a fire, a smell of gas, urgent structural damage, or evidence of a criminal incident, they can enter without your permission.

If they do turn up unannounced, you are under no obligation to allow them in, but if you do you’re not revoking your right to expect 24 hours’ notice in future.

During the last 28 days of your tenancy, the landlord can show round new tenants, but again, they must give you 24 hours’ notice in writing before doing so. .

Is subletting illegal?

Moving in a tenant who hasn’t signed your tenancy agreement is illegal if the landlord did not agree with it first. A landlord can evict you if they find out. Subletting social housing is even more serious, and is actually a criminal offence – you can go to prison for up to two years.

Moving out

Or: oh god am I getting my deposit back??

When can they keep my deposit?

The landlord can deduct money for any damage or mess which isn’t due to “fair wear and tear”. This is a tricky definition to apply sometimes, but as a rule, the landlord should not end up in a better position financially or materially than they were when you moved in.

Adjudicators at your deposit protection scheme can investigate any dispute between you and your landlord on this – it’s a good idea to have evidence, including damage noted on an original inventory or photos, to back up your claims if you decide to dispute the landlord's decision.

Do I have to pay for a professional cleaner?

Yes, if it says so in your tenancy agreement. Otherwise no, though you should leave your property in roughly the same condition that you found it, allowing for fair wear and tear.

What next?

Maybe you're buying. Maybe you're moving home for a bit. Otherwise it's back to the beginning

More questions? Tweet them to us at @CityMetric or email Barbara.speed@citymetric.com.

Housing for all. Image: Nicobobinus/Flickr/creative commons.

Homelessness is a growing problem in the UK, where the number of people sleeping rough has doubled since 2010, yet it is dwarfed by the scale of the issue in the US. More than 500,000 homeless were found across the US during just one night, compared to the UK’s 2017 count of 4,751. Changes in the definition of homelessness and flawed methodologies suggest that the true number for the US could be anywhere from 2.5 to 10.2 times greater.

Millions more live in overcrowded or slum housing, forced to choose between the damage that poor conditions do to their physical and mental health, and the street. All of the US’s housing issues – from foreclosures to evictions to poor conditions – hit communities of colour the hardest.

This is due to a legacy of discrimination, which continues to undercut any commitment to safe and decent housing for all residents, whether in the private or public sector. In my recent book, City of Segregation, I explain how the long, violent history of creating spaces for the white and privileged classes is embedded in a number of practices, which continue in US cities to this day.

Exporting inequality

As private developers and investors seek out urban land in major cities around the world to secure their fortunes, real estate patterns and practices developed within the US are increasingly being observed elsewhere.

In cities as diverse as London, Sydney and Durban, community groups which have been working for decades to improve their neighbourhoods languish with little public or private resource. Meanwhile, developers create spaces for foreign investors and new residents, who anticipate certain protections and privileges such as greater security, high quality amenities and neighbours with similar interests and backgrounds.

This is a driving force behind rising evictions and the criminalisation of homelessness, alongside gated communities, hostile architecture, “broken windows” policing with its focus on prosecuting activities such as graffiti or jaywalking and the growing privatisation of public spaces through regeneration.

But there is still time for other countries to choose a different path. The UK, in particular, can build on the legacies of the post-war political consensus that all residents should have access to quality housing, and its acknowledgement of institutional racism and some history of government anti-racist campaigning.

Both legacies should be improved, but a renewed commitment to a programme of housing and anti-racism are central to increasing equality, prosperity and well-being for all. Based on my research, I’ve come up with five steps which the UK and countries like it can follow, to ensure that future development reduces – rather than drives – homelessness and inequality.

1. Build social housing

Unlike the US, the UK acknowledges a right to a home, and within living memory provided it for a huge swathe of British society. Social housing – whether in the form of traditional council flats, cooperatives or community land trusts – provides a variety of housing types and keeps rents from rising too far beyond wages.

When social housing is widely available, it makes a huge difference to people who – for one reason or another, and often through no fault of their own – become homeless. With social housing to fall back on, homelessness is a temporary condition which can be safely resolved. Without it, homelessness can become a life-destroying downwards spiral.

2. Preserve and expand community assets

Severe segregation in the US stripped entire communities of access to quality food, jobs, education, green spaces, services, banks and loans. Poverty is endemic, and can easily tip into homelessness. While far from perfect, the UK’s post-war commitment to universal provision of services, such as education and health care, and building social housing across all neighbourhoods underpinned a surge in upward mobility.

This achievement should be salvaged from the damage done by Right To Buy – a policy which sold off social housing without replacing it – and austerity, which has prompted a sell-off of public assets and land, as well as the closure of childrens’ services, libraries and community centres.

3. Decommodify housing

A market geared towards building apartment blocks for the portfolios of investors who will never live in them cannot produce the kind of housing and neighbourhoods which residents need, much less at a price they can afford.

While London has been badly affected for some time, this trend is now spreading to other areas of the UK and Europe. Local and national governments must act to prevent global demand for housing as investments from driving prices beyond the reach of those who need real homes.

4. Build communities, not walls

Gates, bars, armed security and homeowner restrictions are all ugly traits of private housing developed within the US context of desperate inequality and racism. The UK has a long and vibrant tradition of community development, creating a supportive built environment and social infrastructure of schools, libraries and other municipal services for residents.

Community assets. Image: Helen K/Flickr/creative commons.

This kind of development, and the social mobility and growing equality it fosters, safeguards public health and safety – not big walls, barbed wire and security guards. The private rented sector in the UK should be regulated to bring it more in line with Europe, where tenants prosper with security of tenure and strong regulation of rents and rent increases.

5. Raise your voice

Those who are bearing the brunt of our current housing crisis must be at the centre of efforts to change it. From tenants’ associations and renters’ unions, to campaign groups such as Justice for Grenfell, it’s vital to support those voices advocating fairer housing rights.

This also means rejecting austerity’s constant cuts to public services, funding social support for physical and mental health and ensuring that homes are safe, decent and secure, to create a safety net for those who are working to improve their communities.

The Conversation

Andrea Gibbons, Researcher in Sustainable Housing and Urban Studies, University of Salford.


Unit History: Royal Australian Armoured Corp

Royal Australian Armoured Corp
The Royal Australian Armoured Corps (RAAC) is the overall umbrella grouping of Regular Army and Army Reserve regiments equipped with armoured vehicles in the Australian Army. The corps was formed in 1941 as the Australian Armoured Corps, before being given the Royal prefix in 1948. It is the senior arms corps within the Australian Army.
The RAAC is primarily equipped with three types of vehicle:
M1A1 Abrams - the Abrams is Australia’s main battle tank (MBT), and equips 1st Armoured Regiment.
ASLAV - the ASLAV is a variant of the LAV II vehicle designed specifically for the Australian Army, and is used in the armoured reconnaissance role with 2nd Cavalry Regiment and 2nd/14th Light Horse Regiment.
Bushmaster – the Bushmaster IMV is an Australian-built wheeled armoured vehicle that is used in the Infantry Mobility role with the 3rd/4th Cavalry Regiment as well as the Cavalry role with the 12th/16th Hunter River Lancers.
Landrover - Re-equiped Land Rover 6x6 LRPV used in the Light Cavalry/Reconnaissance role of the Reserve forces.
M113 - the M113 is an armoured personnel carrier that served in the light armoured and armoured reconnaissance roles primarily with Reserve forces, it is now used in support roles in some Regiments.
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Leland Gustavson (American 1894-1966) Illustrator. People seated and standing around a dinning room table. Drawing on a blue window shade Leland R. Gustavson was active/lived in New York, Illinois. Leland Gustavson is known for illustrator, action genre, interiors.Lealand Gustavson, born in 1894, was a practitioner of fine and commercial art and being prolific and contributing to leading publications of his day, he was a member of the Society of Illustrators.. Title: Meeting the Family. Unframed. Medium: Pen & Ink. Size: 10" X 18". Signature: SLL. Artist: Lelland Gustavson

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Leland Gustavson (American 1894-1966)

Estimate $75 - $100Feb 25, 2018


Data Catalyst - OpenI discovered Data Cuisine a few weeks ago and was immediately intrigued. As described in their tagline—exploring food as a form of data expression—the project combines two of my favourite things: eating delicious meals and talking about information visualization.

The basic premise is simple: people attend a workshop where they use local data (demographic, economic and others) to create meals that not only visually represent the data, but also use the data to dictate ingredient amounts, cooking temperatures and other such variables. Then, of course, they enjoy their data-inspired meals.

To learn more about this data visualization project out of Europe, I reached out to Susanne Jaschko and Moritz Stefaner, the people behind Data Cuisine, to have a chat about what they do, why they do it, and why they chose food as a way to teach people about data. Here’s an excerpt of our conversation:

Data Cuisine: Requiem for Science
Requiem for Science

It’s easy to get distracted by the mouth-watering photos on your website. Other than tantalizing meals, what exactly is Data Cuisine, and how did it come to be?

Suzanne Jaschko: Back in 2011, I was curating a conference and workshop program for the Helsinki festival Pixelache. The program focused on mapping as a social practice and it also addressed the ownership of the data we produce every day. The idea for the Data Cuisine workshop arose from this, since I felt that we generally lack an emotional attachment to data and that we should find new ways to look at data and deal with it. With Moritz [Stefaner], I found a renowned expert in the field of data visualization, who also likes to experiment and push the boundaries of his own discipline. Together we developed the workshop and have done it twice now, hopefully with more to come.

You mentioned that we need to find new ways to look at data with a closer emotional attachment—what made you decide to use food as that lens for data exploration?

SJ: Food is very social: we sit around the table, eat and communicate with each other. Food is also sensual and tangible; we can perceive it with all our senses and it creates an intense experience when we consume it. We have a personal and emotional relation to food: we very much like and dislike some food, we associate certain people and moments in our life with a particular dish. Hence, eating and cooking is a social and multi-perceptual experience, while data is often said to be abstract and “dry,” unemotional, non-tangible and non-sensual. By transferring data into the medium of food, by representing it with dishes, we can overcome those qualities of data and take advantage of the nature of food.

Data Cuisine: Noise Pollution in Salt
Noise Pollution in Salt

Our senses of taste are very subjective, and using food as a form of data visualization carries some serious issues because of the way we all perceive taste differently. How do you take that into account in the work you do?

Moritz Stefaner: I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s worth repeating: generally, when it comes to tasting precise quantities and differences, of course, our taste organs are more limited than our visual system. It is simply much harder to determine what is “twice as sweet” as opposed to a twice-as-long line in a graphic. Then again, taste is a much more emotional and temporally complex experience than just looking at a dot on a screen. So, the mechanisms to encode information might be more fuzzy, but potentially much deeper.

Depending on the theme, a case could also be made for dishes that don’t taste that good. One example of that is the visualization we made of noise pollution with salt.

In the end, our goal is to create eating experiences that teach you something about the data; taste is one dimension you can vary, but there is also temperature, texture, amounts, the plating and all the cultural connotations different dishes and ingredients have. All of this plays together in creating a successful dish. Precision of data readability is not of primary concern, but rather, the overall personal experience, and the dish’s concept.

You’ve been very vocal about using emotional connections through media like food to teach people about data. Why do you think it is important for people to understand how to read, process, use and visualize data?

SJ: Most people don’t have an interest in statistical information, nor do they care about their own data. One of the starting points and motivations for Data Cuisine has been the disproportion between the amounts of data that each of us produces each day, our own data trails and our lack of interest in them. Another reason for Data Cuisine and an intense engagement with numeric information is that we usually get our information from the media, and by then it’s already edited or visualized and may even be twisted. We should start to look at the numbers ourselves—to use open data—to grow an awareness of our own data and to protect and make use of it.

Data Cuisine: Unemployment and Pan Con Tomate
Unemployment and Pan Con Tomate

You’ve held two of these workshops so far, and you have more planned. What do you hope people end up learning after a workshop? What new things are they able to do?

SJ: We hope that the participants have a better idea of the city or country they are living in. The workshops are based on local data, so we actually learn a lot about the places, their specificity and problems. Of course, participants also learn some new cooking techniques or food combinations, and they acquire a basic knowledge of data visualization and representation. On this basis they can continue to experiment with Data Cuisine and use it as a tool to communicate or stimulate discussion.

Sounds like a fun, informative and delicious project! Do you have any appetite (no pun intended) for bringing the Data Cuisine workshops across the ocean to North America?

MS: Yes, that would be great! We have a few contacts and prospects, but nothing concrete lined up yet. If you know of anyone who can help, let us know; it would be great to do a workshop in various parts of Canada and the United States, with lots of relevant local issues and a rich mix of culinary influences.

All photos courtesy of Susanne Jaschko and Moritz Stefaner. For more information or to reach them, please visit Data Cuisine’s website.

Sameer Vasta


Domestic Servant Employment Contract

Topics: Employment, Maldives, Recruitment Pages: 4 (1076 words) Published: August 25, 2013
| | | |
This contract of employment is hereby executed and entered into this 15th day of July 2013 between AISHATH SARWAREE, having NIC No.: A032479 (hereinafter referred to as, “Employer”) and ALAM, a Bangladeshi national having Passport No.: AA5922367 (hereinafter referred to as, “Employee”) and wherein the parties hereto mutually agree to be bound by the following terms and conditions.| | | | |

Job Description & Wages| 1| | The Employer hereby engages the Employee and the Employee agrees to work for the Employer in the position of domestic servant at a net monthly wage of USD 120.00 (One Hundred and Twenty United States Dollars) which shall be paid in cash by the Employer to the Employee at the end of each month in one single payment. | | | | |

Duration of Contract and Place of Work| 2| | The period of this contract shall be 1 year from the date of first issuance of the requisite visa thereof. All dues payable to the government in relation to the Employee’s employment under this contract shall be borne by the Employer. In the course of his work, the Employee shall work at whatever household the Employer resides in.| | | | |

Working Hours | 3| | A regular working day for the Employee shall be comprised of 8 (eight) hours and the Employee shall work a maximum of 6 (six) consecutive working days in a Calendar week. Any work performed beyond the aforementioned limit shall be considered overtime for which the Employee shall be compensated according to the rates in Clause 5 of this Agreement.| | | | |

Rest Day, Leave & Public Holidays| 4| | The Employer shall allow the Employee one (1) rest day in a week, preferably falling on Friday. After completion of one (1) year of employment the Employee shall be entitled to an annual leave of 30 (thirty) days. The Employee shall also be entitled to 30 (thirty) days paid sick leave during each year of employment, however, the...
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