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A very special figure in the architectural history of the Netherlands has finally a architectural monograph dedicated to his work in a new international edition: Hugh Maaskant. Architect of Progres.
It is not just the architect Maaskant himself, but especially also the context he was working in and his home city of Rotterdam that makes this a very interesting and insightful book. Rotterdam was the very logic or 'functional' city with its strong focus on the port and its logistics and with this was the ideal context for the rational and functionalist strategies of Hugh Maaskant.
The story is beautifully put together and researched in detail by author Michelle Provoost who spent almost a decade researching and tracing Maaskant's work finally summarising it in her PhD thesis that was originally published in Dutch as Hugh Maaskant. Architect van de vooruitgang (Hugh Maaskant. Architect of Progress).
The new international version of the book is also publisher by nai010 publishers, designed by Simon Davies with Stephanie de Man and also features an essay by photographer Iwan Baan.
Image taken from baunetz / One of the court yards of the Groothandelsgebouw (1945-1953) today. Part of the photo essay by Iwan Baan.
Provoost makes it clear that Maarkant was a modern architect and clearly saw himself as a modernist architect. However she ale points out that Maaskant did not share the ideological background with the modernist movement. Provoost claims that in Masaskant's work social criticism is absent and "that he was not a 'critical' architect but a 'consensual one." (p. 13).
Interestingly, it appears that Maaskant did exclusively focus on construction and realisation. He was not interested in theory and intellectual reflection on his own work. He was a businessman with a keen sense for strategy and opportunities without artistic leanings.
Image taken from fotorob on flickrFlu / Akragon (1955-1970) sports tower in Rotterdam by Hugh Maaskant.
Nevertheless his work is still inspiring today. The clarity of his functionalism approach, the rigour of his style and the dedication to detail and design in his works are part of what makes the fascination. And this fascination is bleed, not only for architecture students, architects or architecture historians. The interest group is much larger. Michelle Provoost's original Dutch publication was sold out within the first year. The interest in this period and Maaskant's work in particular is amazing, his work is still captivating today.
Image taken from Wikipedia, article 'Scheveningse pier' / Scheveningse pier (1954-1961) in Scheveningse by Hugh Maaskant.
As Provoost points out in the preface, her work on Maaskant and the wider subject of urban planning in and around the city of Amsterdam has helped to shape a new approach to and appreciation of the past and lead to a number of MAAskant's buildings being refurbished or reused, saving them from being replaced by a new wave of renewal. This kind of continuity might not be what Maaskant's approach to architecture was in his time, but it is what we have learned from his work and what Provoost beautifully demonstrates in this book. It is not about critique but this lesson is about understanding the work in a wider context, commenting it to draw inspiration for the present.
Image taken from naibooksellers / Book cover.
Provoost, M., 2013. Hugh Maaskant – Architect of Progress nai010 publishers, Rotterdam.Read More


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Gregorius can't suppress smiles after first homer
Prospect becomes seventh D-back to homer in first at-bat with team
NEW YORK -- Didi Gregorius tried to keep his emotions in check as he rounded the bases.
He did a good job of it until he got between second and third. That's when a giant smile took over his face.
"I was really happy rounding the bases," Gregorius said. "At first I was trying not to smile, but then I smiled anyway."
When you hit your first career home run, you deserve to get the ball back. twitter.com/Dbacks/status/…- Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) April 19, 2013
No one will begrudge Gregorius the his joy at hitting his first big league homer in his first at-bat as a D-back. While it was not his first Major League at-bat -- he had 20 at-bats for the Reds last year -- it took place in Yankee Stadium, a place he said he always dreamed of playing.
The D-backs acquired Gregorius last December from the Reds in a three-team deal that sent pitching prospect Trevor Bauer to Cleveland.
Two weeks after the trade, Gregorius, the D-backs' No. 3 prospect and No. 63 overall prospect according to MLB.com, injured his elbow playing catch and he did not begin throwing a baseball again until Spring Training was well underway. The plan was to take things slowly with Gregorius and he was probably going to stay with Triple-A Reno at the end of his injury rehab assignment.
But when second baseman Aaron Hill was lost for four to six weeks with a broken hand, the D-backs activated Gregorius and he made his first start on Thursday.
Not only did Gregorius hit a homer in his first at-bat, he did so on the first pitch he saw from Phil Hughes.
"I am, let's put it this way, a little bit aggressive at the plate," Gregorius said. "I try to be patient, too, sometimes. He threw me a first-pitch fastball. I saw he was throwing first-pitch fastballs to everybody, so I decided why not take a swing at it?"
Gregorius became the seventh player to homer in his first at-bat with the D-backs, joining Alex Cabrera, Bobby Estalella, Jose Cruz Jr., Felipe Lopez, Gerardo Parra and John Hester. He is the first of the group to do it on the first pitch.
Gregorius' homer was caught by a fan wearing a D-backs hat and shirt.
Following the game, Gregorius met with the fan and traded a signed baseball for the home-run ball.

subset: commoncrawl


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To some people, science fiction is a toy-box packed with neat gadgets and shiny gewgaws, which they pull out and deploy in service to their story. They need, for example, a locale in which certain events happen a certain way, so they invent an alien world. That alien world needs to be distant, so some form of travel to reach it is required. And since distance in most people's minds equates to time taken to reach the destination, some type of long-journey travel is required. To early writers of science fiction, there was only one model they could use: sea travel. And that worked pretty well because distant lands were exotic, and the distance – ie, journey time – itself was a signifier of exoticism.
Initially, Mars was pretty distant, but as we learned more about the Red Planet, so it became closer and less "colourful". Locales in sf thus moved further afield. But by that point, the limits of the knowledge of the time had been reached, so imagination took over. The worlds were made-up, with no basis in reality. The universe itself became a fiction.
We now know a great deal more about the universe than we did in the 1920s and 1930s. We know that it is unimaginably vast, that the distances between stars preclude any meaningful relationship in human terms. The universe is no longer a fit place on which to map distant shores and strange new lands.
We also have over fifty years actual space travel, and we know how difficult it is to keep alive in space the fragile human organism and to travel useful distances in useful times. We also know there is an enormously expensive barrier between our world and the rest of the universe: our gravity well.
The spaceship-as-ocean-liner trope belongs to the fictional universe, not the real one. But the metaphor for the journey to far-off places has become so embedded in genre that it's used as if it were no more than setting – as if it were a signifier of the genre itself. And while sf writers over the decades have rung a variety of changes over the spaceship trope – inventing new and more imaginative ways to explain how it circumvents the real universe, how it can traverse those distances beyond imagination in an eyeblink – the spaceship still operates very much as it did back in sf's earliest days.
Except now, the spaceship trope is not enough. Now it has to be disguised, by referring to it metaphorically.
I work in computing, so the illustration of this which works best for me is that of the operating system. An OS is, according to Operating Systems Design and Implementation, by Andrew S Tannenbaum and Albert S Woodhull, a fundamental system program "which controls the computer's resources and provides the base upon which the application programs can be written". In the beginning, as Neal Stephenson once said, was the command line. Using it, computer operators could call on programs which would perform specific tasks. They understood that listing files from an area of the filesystem entailed reading data embedded in a magnetic media and then rendering that data in a human-readable format. But when computers moved onto the desks of business people and then into the home, that knowledge was unnecessary. Worse, it was potentially confusing. So someone invented the idea of a metaphor to represent the data on the magnetic media and the programs which performed operations on the data: the Graphical User Interface. (Invented by Alan Kay at Xerox PARC in 1973.) A GUI such as Windows or OS X or X11 is a metaphor which allows users to easily and simply perform complex operations on a computer using its built-in resources.
An interesting aside: several people have researched, and even built, orthogonally persistent operating systems. These are ones which run entirely in memory, and the complete memory-state is flashed to persistent storage (disk, flash card, etc) at regular and frequent intervals. Should the computer crash, the last memory-state image can be loaded back into memory, and the user returns to exactly where they were before the crash. The interesting thing about an orthogonally persistent operating system is that it needs a new metaphor. The existing one has become uncoupled from the underlying reality. The orthogonally persistent OS does not keep files in folders on a disk because it doesn't need to put data way somewhere safe while it's not in use. It doesn't need to organise the stored data so it can be navigated. Everything is in use all the time. So it has a workspace, and everything is accessible within it all the time.
This concept of the operating system metaphor is one of the chief problems I had with cyberpunk as a subgenre – aside from its uncritical use, and tacit approval, of neoliberalism, of course. It took the metaphor that was the GUI and then layered another metaphor, cyberspace, on top of it. Cyberpunk writers wrote about the metaphor as if it were the thing itself.
And that's what I see some twenty-first century sf writers doing. They've taken sf's tropes, and are not only using them as if they were the thing itself but are adding a layer of metaphor on top. So when you dig deep into the story, you don't find reality, you find a metaphor which has become uncoupled from its underlying reality. This is how I interpreted Paul Kincaid's reference to "exhaustion".
Personally, I think understanding how something works is key to learning how to do it better. It's important to my development as a writer, I feel, to know what science fiction does, how it does it, and in what ways I can bend or break or subvert it to best effect. The uncritical use of tropes, and subsequent disguising of them, doesn't appeal to me as a technique for writing sf. It pushes all the emphasis to the presentation layer, to the prose. Yes, good prose is important, I appreciate good writing. And I like to think my prose is good. But choosing pretty words is not enough for me.
I would sooner explore science fiction itself. I think as a genre we've stopped doing that. We're either playing postmodernist shellgames, or metaphorising the metaphors, or deep-mining the genre for tropes as if those tropes were its sole raison d'être. Some might say these are indicators of decadence. Perhaps they are. But I don't think it means science fiction is dead or dying, just that it needs a good kick up the bum…


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I held an ink pen out in front of me and it was steady as can be. And tears came down. – Fred, deep brain stimulation patient
Brain and Spine Surgery
Your nervous system affects the way you think, speak and move. There are many types of neurosurgery, and each is complex and delicate. Our neurosurgery team specializes in a variety of techniques aimed at the most positive outcomes and smoothest recoveries possible.


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Seven years ago I set out to launch a t-shirt company… back in 2007 there weren't a lot of t-shirt companies out there, it wasn't as accessible as it is today. True there were screen printers in every city, but only if you wanted to produce large runs of shirts. The on-demand printing market wasn't nearly what it is today in both quality and scalability. In addition, it wasn't easy to build a website like it is today… the companies like Big Cartel and Shopify that allow you to easily do commerce online weren't there. I went with more traditional sales methods like trade shows and cold calling people.
When I launched GrowndFlore in 2007 I never intended it to replace my day job although it quickly could have. I worked 12 hour days at my day job and then would come home and start working with the West Coast to get tees in stores or produced. I would then have sleepless nights designing tees or updating a website or doing what would later be coined as "social media", while I just called it telling my friends I had a t-shirt they should buy.
GrowndFlore sold in 7 countries, 29 states and over 100 different boutiques. The logo product quickly became a favorite of the skate scene in both San Diego and Los Angeles, when that market was taken over by the small companies that were becoming bigger we found the brand in better boutiques in Austin, Seattle and LA.
GF received it's share of press maybe it was featured in an epic list from blogs like Hide Your Arms, Coty Gonzales and Cottonable or more traditional news outlets like the Columbus Dispatch for our area code tees, the Austin Statesman for a untimely release of Ninjas Love Pirates Collection or OUT Magazine for our humorous take on gay rights. Probably the biggest break came when Kanye interrupted Taylor Swift at the VMAs and I was able to have a t-shirt at Kitson the following morning as National news picked up the story while butchering the pronunciation and spelling of the brand name or leaving it out of the story all together. This wouldn't be the last time GF would be involved with the VMAs, a year later Shontelle would wear one of our shirts while performing the hit single T-shirt. In addition to that TV exposure GrowndFlore was featured on the ABC Family TV show 10 Things I Hate About You. Although I'll be honest, the Holy Grail of TV exposure escaped me as we never saw Sheldon Cooper don a GrowndFlore t-shirt.
I launched two additional brands in Poindexter Delicious which was an ode to my love of Paul Frank and all things Julius while also giving homage to my dorky upbringing. These limited edition tees would eventually be the best sellers online as I refused to sell them to stores and limited each print to less than 50. The second brand was Awesome Enough, a kids line that started out just sizing down adult GrowndFlore tees and eventually developed tees of their own. Selling almost exclusively in LA at Kiddie Shack and Fred Segal these tees have become quite popular and have a great following.
Why do I write all of this today? I have decided to close GrowndFlore. In 7 years this t-shirt company has become a definition of my existence. I look back on the first sale ever to Merchbot in Seattle, my first web order ever to someone with the first name Amy and now 7 years later we close our virtual doors. The brand that once defined me has been replaced with kids and family who now define what is important to me. While it is closing, much like my entrepreneurial spirit, it is not gone. We are making all designs available on Skreened for people to customize and purchase and I am working on a new projects which you can follow at http://www.michedwenger.com.
Thank you to those who have supported and loved the brand. Also thank you to the brand for giving me a creative outlet, a bigger purpose and most of all a closet full of the most awesome t-shirt ever printed on cotton. I will never forget these 7 years and look forward to the many that follow.


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Allen West, Americans face eviction, Apple Daily, Australia floods, bankruptcy, baseball sized hail, Beijing, Bible prophecy, blood moon tetrad, blood moons, Chinese national security law, Chinese torture, coronavirus, CSEM-EMSC, earthquake stats, earthquakes, Ecuador, end times, end times prophecy, Ethiopia, Ethiopia floods, Evia, Evia floods, Evia Island, Extreme Weather Reports, fake COVID-19 stats, famine, flash floods, giant hail, Greece, Greece floods, Hong Kong, Hong Kong national security law, IMERG map, India, India floods, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Jimmy Lai, Langila volcano, Langila volcano eruption, last days Bible prophecy, Liberal Luciferian Lunatics, LLLs, lockdown, major earthquake stats, major earthquakes, Minnesota, Minnesota storm, monsoon rains, Mount Etna, Mount Etna volcano eruption, Mount Sinabung, Mount Sinabung volcano eruption, Mumbai, NASA, New South Wales, New South Wales flood, Nicaragua, Nishinoshima volcano, Nishinoshima volcano eruption, Now Prophecy, Now Prophecy Wordpress, nursing home deaths, Pakistan, Pakistan floods, pandemic, pandemic evictions, pandemic lockdown study, pandemic lockdowns, Papua New Guinea, prophecy, prophetic news, rain map, record breaking rains prophecy, Reventador volcano eruption, severe weather reports, signs in the earth, Somalia, Somalia floods, South Korea, South Korea monsoon, Star of Bethlehem, Sudan, Sudan floods, Suwanosejima volcano, Suwanosejima volcano eruption, Tanzania, Tanzania earthquake, Telica volcano, Telica volcano eruption, The Watchers, Tianamen vigil, Tseung Kwan O, tycoon, United States, USGS, Virgo and Leo lineup, volcano eruption
8/13/20 Update to include Mount Etna photo
Please be advised that WordPress includes advertisements on this site; they are not selected by the publisher
**Including Severe Weather Report**
and Prophetic News
Joe Biden with president of China; Kamala Harris with Nancy Pelosi
Biden picks Kamala Harris – they are both MURDERERS!
They promote and support legislation to KILL BABIES AFTER THEY ARE BORN!
Too bloody blatant, do you think? Stand beside an "abortion" clinic murderer sometime, while he/she is dissecting a live baby, and then tell me this is too bloody blatant! They don't give these babies anesthetic or pain medication while they are slaughtering them either! When legislators support and approve laws that allow murderers to slaughter babies, they are equally as guilty as the MURDERERS themselves!
"Abortionist." Now that sounds sort of benign, doesn't it? "Fetus" sounds not human either. These are just terms used to hide the truth! We need to call them what they really are, MURDERERS, MURDERERS, MURDERERS OF BABIES!
Biden-linked AI firm and US social media giants sponsored Beijing tech conference
More of Biden's links to Communist China.
Colombian Socialist leader, ex-terrorist, says: 'I would vote for Biden, without a doubt'
Screen shot: YouTube.com
Joe Biden is one of the Communists Allen West warned us about
End BABY KILLING and the progression of Socialism-Communism in the US – Vote for President Donald Trump!
Severe storm hits Minnesota with baseball-sized hail, damaging winds
Record-breaking monsoon in South Korea kills at least 30, 12 missing
Record-breaking rains cause floods/landslides in Trinidad and Tobago
Monsoon rains with severe flash floods kill 41 in Pakistan
Severe floods hit Sudan, at least 10 dead
Record-breaking rains, 300 mm (12 inches), hit Evia, Greece, 7 dead
New South Wales, Australia, hit by strong winds and record-breaking flood
Mumbai sees more record-breaking rains
This is a fulfillment of prophecy (see the Record-breaking Rains prophecy: https://signswonders.home.blog/2019/03/27/3-27-19-update/)
Screen shot – YouTube.com – Mt Etna
Italy's Mount Etna volcano explodes
Ecuador's Reventador volcano continues to explode, new lava flow
Powerful eruption at Mount Sinabung, Indonesia, ash 10 km (32,000 feet)
Nicaragua's Telica volcano explodes
Japan's Suwanosejima volcano explodes
Series of powerful eruptions at Nishinoshima volcano, Japan
Langila volcano explodes, Papua New Guinea
This is a fulfillment of Bible prophecy (Acts 2:19)
Screen shot: USGS
A major 6.0 earthquake hit Tanzania on August 12, 2020, at 17:13:15.9 UTC, at a depth of 15 km, reported CSEM-EMSC.
Since when does Tanzania have such earthquakes? It's a shallow one at that. Since we are living in the last days and the Word tells us that there will be earthquakes in "diverse places" (Matthew 24:7).
Screen shot: CSEM-EMSC
1,325 major (6.0+) to super (8.0+) earthquakes hit various places worldwide over the last 2,715 days. Among these were 137 7.0+ and 14 8.0+ magnitude quakes. (Sources: CSEM-EMSC; Geoscience Australia; USGS; National Weather Service [NWS]; NWS National Tsunami Warning Service; Pacific Tsunami Warning Center [PTWC]; NOAA/United States Tsunami Warning System [NOAA/USTWS]; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; China Earthquake Networks Center; GEOFON; Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory [LDEO] of Columbia University; BMKG [Indonesia]; Japan Meteorological Agency [JMA])
Jesus said these signs would appear before He returns,
"Nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines, pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places" Matthew 24:7
"Great earthquakes shall be in diverse places and famines and pestilences, and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven" Luke 21:11
Jesus also said,
"There shall be signs in the sun, in the moon and the stars (we have seen this with the blood moon tetrad in 2014-15 on Israel's feast days, with a solar eclipse; the Star of Bethlehem and the Virgo and Leo lineup of stars over Jerusalem on September 23, 2017) and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring (tsunamis)" Luke 21:25
"Blessed are those servants whom the Master, when He comes, will find watching" Luke 12:37
Hundreds of Bible prophecies have been fulfilled and those remaining shall surely come to pass. Are you prepared to stand before God and give an account of the life you have lived on this earth (Revelation 20:12-15)? If not, salvation is only a prayer away. Please visit the How Can I Be Saved page – your eternal destiny depends on it. God bless you.
All written publications on this site may be copied and shared for evangelistic and educational purposes.
God bless you with the Light of the world.
* Please provide attribution to this site via link. *


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Lately I've been playing with roses, photographing them at different stages in bloom, at different times of day, against varied backgrounds, just to see what I could capture.
I love this first one, the delicate color, the fat soft petals, open, exposed, framing the center. The way the gentle light catches the edges of the petals and swirl in toward the center where the deeper shadows lie.
The eye moves from the edges spiraling ever inward, round and round toward the tight bud. This is where the eye rests, at that center, probing the inner depths, where the spiralling continues past where we can see.
The spiral is a symbol of infinity, an inward eternal flowing. Water spirals, wind spirals, dancers spiral, galaxies spiral. Thought spirals round and round, ever inward, toward a place past knowing.
This next one stops my heart, I don't know why.
The color is so tender, the center so closed, the outer petals so utterly open, leaving the center defenceless. There's a feeling of vulnerability, a careless disclosing, an utterly unstudied becoming.
Here it is again from a different angle. See the way the light flows upward through the petals? It breaks my heart.
And the one below . . . I have no words.Now we go outside to where I pluck the roses from the only bush that has survived the deer and gophers. It's a tall, gangly bush that grows outside our bathroom window where we see it every morning, watching the roses burst and bloom from one stage to another.
I cut only the ones that grow below and above where we can see and bring them into our home–orphans, offerings, honored guests, gracious gifts.
This first one is stunning. The contrast between the deep rose and deeper blue. I'm thinking flags flying, sails billowing, kites dancing across the sky.
Hotdogs? Baseball? Blasting trumpets? There's something heroic, cheering, utterly wholesome and deeply comforting about this photo.
That shade of blue in contrast with bright colors heralds all our summers, all our bright hopes, all our pride and enduring optimism. Endless summer. It lives like a flame in our hearts, in the faces of laughing children, in the roar of jets, in fireworks bursting against a twilit sky.
This deep blue sky is the background for all our hopes and dreams and unites us wherever we live in the world. The whole rounded globe is cupped in this blue.
The next is especially sweet and hopeful. The way the light shines through it conveys a sense of innocence, purity. There's a freshness here. You can almost smell the sweetness.
The following seems more serene, mature, even though it is the same rose against the same sky, but the light is different, There's an intensity here, a romantic allure. I'm thinking candlelit dinner, silk stockings, love letters strewn on a bed.
The one below is pure happiness. I can only smile and smile.
The following photos evoke something else. The rose and the clouds seem to drift across the sky, lightly as feathers.
We sense movement here, of passing time, fleeting moments.
There's a dreamlike quality with the soft focus, the soft petals, soft as the clouds they float upon.
I'm thinking of a rowboat rocking gently on a pond, fingers trailing in the cool water, eyes gazing at the sky above, clouds gentle as a breeze gazing downward, stroking soft skin.No we go indoors again.
These roses are shot against a gold wall. I like the way the pink and gold play against each other. The contrasting colors startle each other, but they do not clash. The boldness of the gold deepens the warmth of the rose, releasing its sweet aroma. Can you smell it?
There's a tropical feel here. It reminds me of a conch shell I have sitting near my bath, the deep rose at the center of its hollow, the broad lip curling outward turning shades of gold, the whole sculpture a study of pink and gold, of curls and whorls and crowns. The smooth inner lips reflecting the light, the rough and rugged shell absorbing it.
This following was shot out of focus against rippling water. I filtered it to see what would happen.
It's hardly a rose anymore, hardly water, it's all melted together, water and rose.
There's a surreal quality, what a rose might look like painted by Van Gogh, underwater, floating among the seaweed. A still face just below a rippling surface, holding you with its gaze. Trying to tell you. You strain to hear. What is it? What do you hear?
The next is also filtered, shot against the travertine tile. Romanesque, don't you think? An old world quality. Ivory and old lace.There's a coolness and stillness here, yet the light still brightens.
I'm reminded of ancient statues, the way the light wraps around them, tempering the cool marble with its warmth. The skin of the rounded limbs, the muscled thighs, the bent elbows, broad shoulders, soft and silky to the eye's touch, the embracing gaze.
Can you feel the cool, soft petals?
The following is one of my favorites.
She's just past full bloom, just a shade before fading, still buoyant, full faced, gracious in her giving, nothing hidden, nothing withheld.
The sepia tones capture that inner light, the golden glowing, the gracefulness and graciousness. We know where this ends. But the end is not here, not here at all, not in her, not in this elegant awakening, this gathering awareness, this full-throated opening to all there is.
Here are my lovely ladies, gathered in a crystal vase, growing old together. See how the petals sag ever-so-slightly?
You want to cup them and hold them up, you want to feather your face against them, you want to say, it's okay my sweets, I love you still, I love you ever more, I love you just this way.
Never has your beauty been more achingly tender than in its fading, its falling away, it ethereal effervescence.


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Modiwl QXL-2253:
Teaching English in the Classroom
Ffeithiau'r Modiwl
Rhedir gan School of Arts, Culture and Language
20.000 Credydau neu 10.000 Credyd ECTS
Trefnydd: Dr Athanasia Papastergiou
Amcanion cyffredinol
This module introduces students to theoretical and practical aspects of teaching English, examining both teaching in primary and secondary schools as well as teaching English as a second or foreign language.
Since learning English is now a key part of education programmes across most of the world, this module provides students with an overview of cutting-edge research into this field, allowing to students to explore how people learn English grammar (speaking, reading, writing and comprehension) and gain insights into the skills teachers need in order to teach learners from different backgrounds. This module aims to encourage the understanding of key principles related to best practice in teaching English, stimulating critical analysis and reflection of the teaching of English and use of Linguistics in primary and secondary schools, as well as English as a Foreign Language (EFL), and to provide a guide to the major issues and available literature on the teaching of English.
This module will be of interest to students studying linguistics, the English language, modern languages and cultures, or related subjects. It will be of particular relevance to students who have an interest in teaching English (or other languages) and developing their knowledge of the field.
Cynnwys cwrs
Students will learn about topics such as the following:
- Teaching grammar
- Teaching phonetics
- Reading skills and reading comprehension
- Teaching literature
- Teaching English in ESL classrooms
- Teaching English in EFL classrooms
- Bi-Multilingual/Heritage Education
- Teaching English to pupils with developmental disorders or disabilities
Meini Prawf
A: Student has achieved a thorough standard of understanding and/or knowledge in all learning outcomes; or student has demonstrated an exceptional level of achievement in one or more learning outcomes together with a good overall standard: student has achieved a thorough understanding of the subject, both in terms of content and theory; student is able to apply concepts clearly and accurately; substantial evidence of critical and original thought and analysis; clear, logical argument; high level of communicative competence; free from irrelevant material and errors of spelling and punctuation; evidence of extensive reading beyond basic texts and clear and accurate references to source material.
B: Student has achieved a better-than-average standard of understanding and/or knowledge in all learning outcomes, and has a clear and accurate understanding of concepts; ability to apply concepts to data critically and thoughtfully; evidence of wide reading and clear and accurate reference to source materials; free from misunderstanding and errors of content; free from irrelevant material.
Threshold D: Student has achieved the minimum acceptable standard of understanding and/or knowledge in all the learning outcomes. Student can demonstrate a minimum level of understanding of the basic concepts and be able to apply them to data with some degree of accuracy.
Canlyniad dysgu
Students will show a developing understanding of some of the major issues in research on English language teaching.
Students will show a developing understanding of theoretical aspects of teaching English in primary and secondary schools as well as teaching English as a second or foreign language.
Students will show a developing understanding of the practical aspects of teaching the English language in the classroom in an informed manner on approaches to this subject.
Students will be able to demonstrate a developing familiarity with and an ability to use appropriately the specialist terminology associated with the subject
Dulliau asesu
|Short Essay
|Microteaching presentation and reflection
|Written assignment, including essay
|Final Exam
Strategaeth addysgu a dysgu
One 2 hour lecture per week over 11 teaching weeks.
Students are encouraged to see the lecturer on a one-to-one basis during published office hours (or by appointment) to discuss issues with the module content, seek clarification on topics and discussions, and discuss feedback on assessments and class exercises.
One 1 hour seminar per fortnight (5 over the 11 weeks) for discussion of issues from lectures, exercise tasks and brief presentation tasks; Seminars will include practical problem solving and analytical exercises via individual and group work.
|Private study
Directed Reading - students are given required reading each week (of about 2 hours) on the topic of that week's lecture.
Sgiliau Trosglwyddadwy
- Literacy - Proficiency in reading and writing through a variety of media
- Computer Literacy - Proficiency in using a varied range of computer software
- Self-Management - Able to work unsupervised in an efficient, punctual and structured manner. To examine the outcomes of tasks and events, and judge levels of quality and importance
- Exploring - Able to investigate, research and consider alternatives
- Information retrieval - Able to access different and multiple sources of information
- Inter-personal - Able to question, actively listen, examine given answers and interact sentistevely with others
- Critical analysis & Problem Solving - Able to deconstruct and analyse problems or complex situations. To find solutions to problems through analyses and exploration of all possibilities using appropriate methods, rescources and creativity.
- Presentation - Able to clearly present information and explanations to an audience. Through the written or oral mode of communication accurately and concisely.
- Teamwork - Able to constructively cooperate with others on a common task, and/or be part of a day-to-day working team
- Argument - Able to put forward, debate and justify an opinion or a course of action, with an individual or in a wider group setting
- Self-awareness & Reflectivity - Having an awareness of your own strengths, weaknesses, aims and objectives. Able to regularly review, evaluate and reflect upon the performance of yourself and others
Sgiliau pwnc penodol
- Writing & scholarly conventions - students will be able to present data, argumentation, findings and references in written form in keeping with the conventions current in language science and English language studies.
- Problem solving - students will be able to evidence problem-solving skills in formulating problems (factual, empirical, theoretical) in precise terms, identifying key issues, and developing the confidence to address challenging problems using a variety of different approaches
- Personal organisation - students will develop the ability to undertake self-directed study and learning with appropriate time-management
- Learning to learn - students will learn to reflect upon, modify and improve their learning strategies
- Working effectively with others - students will develop the ability to work well with others as part of a group or a team
- Fluency, confidence and proficiency in the use of English -students will demonstrate their ability and proficiency to use and understand and instruct others in English in a range of academic and classroom contexts.
- Effective communication - students will develop the ability to communicate effectively, appropriately and confidently, in a range of contexts, to different audience types, and making use of a range of supporting materials
- Knowledge of linguistic theory and application - students will demonstrate a detailed knowledge of terms, issues, principles, aspects and best practices related to the study of human language and linguistics.
- Understanding of the nature and organisation of language - students will demonstrate detailed knowledge of observations and findings relating to various aspects of linguistic phenomena and organization.
- Proficiency in the use of English in reading, writing, speaking and/or listening - students will demonstrate proficiency in their ability to use and understand English in a range of different contexts and via different media.
Goblygiadau o ran adnoddau ar gyfer myfyrwyr
There are no resource implications.
Rhestr ddarllen Talishttp://readinglists.bangor.ac.uk/modules/qxl-2253.html
Rhestr ddarllen
Cyrsiau sy'n cynnwys y modiwl hwn
Gorfodol mewn cyrsiau:
- Q315: BA English Language for TEFL year 2 (BA/ELT)
- Q314: BA International English Language for TEFL year 2 (BA/IELT)
- Q140: BA Ling & the Eng Lang year 2 (BA/LELA)
- QQ31: BA Linguistics & the English Language with International Exp year 3 (BA/LWEL)
- Q316: MArts English Language for TEFL year 2 (MARTS/ELT)
- Q317: MArts English Lang for TEFL with International Experience year 2 (MARTS/ELTI)
Opsiynol mewn cyrsiau:
- N2R1: BA Business Management and French year 2 (BA/BMFR)
- NR1C: BA Business Studies/French year 2 (BA/BUSSF)
- T104: BA Chinese and French year 2 (BA/CHFR)
- T101: BA Chinese and Linguistics year 2 (BA/CHL)
- WQ93: BA Creative Stds & English Lang. year 2 (BA/CSTEL)
- WR91: BA French and Creative Studies year 2 (BA/CSTFR)
- Q301: BA English Language year 2 (BA/EL)
- QQ3M: BA English Language & Cymraeg year 2 (BA/ELC)
- T123: BA English Language and Chinese year 2 (BA/ELCH)
- 8G55: BA English Language with Creative Writing (with Int Exp) year 3 (BA/ELCIE)
- Q3WL: BA Eng Lang with Creat Writ year 2 (BA/ELCW)
- Q310: BA Eng Lit with Eng Lang year 2 (BA/ELEL)
- QR3C: BA English Language and French year 2 (BA/ELFR)
- Q3WP: BA Eng Lang with Film Studs year 2 (BA/ELFS)
- QR3F: BA English Language and German year 2 (BA/ELG)
- Q312: BA English Language (with International Experience) year 2 (BA/ELIE)
- QR3H: BA English Language and Italian year 2 (BA/ELIT)
- PQ54: BA English Lang & Journalism with International Experience year 2 (BA/ELJIE)
- PQ53: BA English Language & Journalism year 2 (BA/ELJO)
- 1Q3Q: BA Linguistics and English Literature year 2 (BA/ELL)
- QQC3: BA English Lang and Lit year 2 (BA/ELLIT)
- QQCF: BA English Language & English Lit [with Foundation Year] year 2 (BA/ELLITF)
- Q3P3: BA English Lang with Media Stds year 2 (BA/ELMS)
- Q30P: BA English Language with Placement Year year 2 (BA/ELP)
- CQ83: BA English Language & Psychology year 2 (BA/ELPSY)
- Q318: BA Eng Lang for Speech & Language Therapy (Subj to Validn) year 2 (BA/ELSLT)
- LQ3J: BA English Lang. & Sociology year 2 (BA/ELSOC)
- QR3K: BA English Language and Spanish year 2 (BA/ELSP)
- Q3Q2: BA English Language w English Lit year 2 (BA/ENGEL)
- R101: BA French year 2 (BA/F4)
- R1N2: BA French with Business Management year 2 (BA/FBM)
- R1NC: BA French with Business Studies year 2 (BA/FBS)
- 06CD: BA French and English Literature year 2 (BA/FEL)
- RR13: BA French/Italian(4 years) year 2 (BA/FI)
- R102: BA French with International Experience year 2 (BA/FIE)
- R181: BA French with Psychology (with International Experience) year 2 (BA/FPIE)
- R1C8: BA French with Psychology year 2 (BA/FPSY)
- NR41: BA French/Accounting year 2 (BA/FRA)
- NR31: BA French/Banking year 2 (BA/FRB)
- MR91: BA French/Criminology&Crim'l Just year 2 (BA/FRCR)
- R1W8: BA French with Creative Writing year 2 (BA/FRCW)
- LR11: BA French/Economics year 2 (BA/FREC)
- R1P5: BA French with Journalism year 2 (BA/FRJO)
- R1N1: BA French with Marketing year 2 (BA/FRMKT)
- R1P3: BA French with Media Studies year 2 (BA/FRMS)
- RR14: BA French and Spanish year 2 (BA/FS4#)
- PQ3J: BA Film Studies and English Language year 2 (BA/FSELAN)
- PR31: BA Film Studies and French year 2 (BA/FSFR4)
- RR12: BA German/French year 2 (BA/G4F)
- R2N2: BA German with Business Management year 2 (BA/GBM)
- R2NC: BA German with Business Studies year 2 (BA/GBS)
- T109: BA German with Chinese year 2 (BA/GCH)
- R200: BA German year 2 (BA/GER)
- R2W8: BA German with Creative Writing year 2 (BA/GERCW)
- R2N1: BA German with Marketing year 2 (BA/GERMKT)
- R2R1: BA German with French year 2 (BA/GERWFR)
- R12R: BA German and French with International Experience year 2 (BA/GFIE)
- R2W6: BA German with Film Studies year 2 (BA/GFS)
- R2R3: BA German with Italian year 2 (BA/GI4)
- R2P5: BA German with Journalism year 2 (BA/GJO)
- R2P4: BA German with Media Studies year 2 (BA/GMST)
- R2C8: BA German with Psychology year 2 (BA/GPSY)
- R2R4: BA German with Spanish year 2 (BA/GS4)
- RV11: BA History/French year 2 (BA/HFR)
- QR13: BA Italian/Linguistics year 2 (BA/ITL)
- Q1Q3: BA Ling with Eng Lit year 2 (BA/LEL)
- QR11: BA Linguistics/French year 2 (BA/LFR)
- QR15: BA Linguistics and French with International Experience year 2 (BA/LFRIE)
- QR12: BA Linguistics/German year 2 (BA/LG)
- Q100: BA Linguistics year 2 (BA/LING)
- Q104: BA Linguistics (with International Experience)) year 3 (BA/LINGIE)
- Q1C8: BA Linguistics and Psychology year 2 (BA/LP)
- QR14: BA Linguistics/Spanish year 2 (BA/LSP)
- NR51: BA Marketing and French (4 year) year 2 (BA/MKTFR#)
- RW13: BA Music/French year 2 (BA/MUFR)
- VVR1: BA Philosophy and Religion and French year 2 (BA/PRF)
- R4N2: BA Spanish with Business Management year 2 (BA/SBM)
- 8M74: BA Spanish with Creative Writing (with International Exp) year 2 (BA/SCIE)
- LQ31: BA Sociology/Linguistics year 2 (BA/SL)
- R400: BA Spanish year 2 (BA/SP4)
- R4N1: BA Spanish with Business Studies year 2 (BA/SPBS)
- T110: BA Spanish with Chinese year 2 (BA/SPCH)
- R4W8: BA Spanish with Creative Writing year 2 (BA/SPCW)
- R4R1: BA Spanish with French year 2 (BA/SPFR)
- R4R2: BA Spanish with German year 2 (BA/SPG)
- R4R3: BA Spanish with Italian year 2 (BA/SPI)
- R4P5: BA Spanish with Journalism year 2 (BA/SPJO)
- R4N5: BA Spanish with Marketing year 2 (BA/SPMKT)
- R4P3: BA Spanish with Media Studies year 2 (BA/SPMS)
- CR61: BA Sports Science/French year 2 (BA/SPSFR)
- QR51: BA Cymraeg/French year 2 (BA/WFR)
- QQ15: BA Cymraeg and Linguistics year 2 (BA/WL)
- Q102: MArts Bilingualism year 2 (MARTS/BILING)
- Q105: MArts Linguistics with International Experience year 2 (MARTS/LIE)
- Q101: MArts Linguistics year 2 (MARTS/LING)


text:
General Laborer/Warehouse - Insight FS - Antigo, WI
Insight FS is headquartered in Jefferson, Wisconsin with 23 branches across the state and upper peninsula of Michigan. Insight FS has 430+ employees (including seasonal workers) and approximately 50,000 customers. The cooperative does business in agronomy, agri-finance, precision agriculture, nutrient management, energy, feed, grain, and turf. Insight FS is part of the GROWMARK System, an agricultural cooperative serving more than 100,000 customers across North America and Ontario, Canada.
The purpose for this position is to assist in daily operational duties at the facility.
Responsible for maintaining operations at retail supply location.
Follows maintenance schedule of facility and equipment.
Responsible for inventory and distribution of products.
Drives and delivers miscellaneous products as requested.
Stocks and moves warehouse product and material.
Assists both full-time and part-time operations personnel.
Maintains the facility and equipment image.
Assists in obtaining goals by improving efficiency and reducing costs.
Provides excellent customer service.
Works with location manager on all safety and compliance issues.
Follows GROWMARK's Code of Conduct and Corporate Compliance Program, Environmental Health and Safety, OSHA and DOT policies and procedures, as they apply.
May be required to drive and run local errands as needed.
Performs all other duties as assigned.
Normally requires a high school diploma or the equivalent thereof, and 1 or more years of retail related work experience to demonstrate knowledge of basic business principals of inventory management and mechanics.
Demonstrates essential abilities including business knowledge, collaboration, communication, customer focus, decision making and skill development.
Must be able to obtain and maintain a valid driver's license and satisfactory driving record.
Normally requires Commercial Driver's License (CDL).
Frequently required to lift 51-70 lbs as needed.
Frequently required to work in extreme weather conditions (hot, cold, wet, etc.)
Frequently exposed to working conditions may include dust, fumes, chemicals, and electrical hazards with appropriate safety measures
Will be required to work hours other than those considered "normal" to meet seasonal demands.
Ability and willingness to participate in required training that may include education on GROWMARK's policies and procedures and additional training as it relates to the requirements of the position.
We are an equal opportunity employer, including protected veterans and qualified individuals with disabilities. Employment is contingent upon receipt of an acceptable and job-related background check, drug test, motor vehicle report, and/or reference check, as applicable and permissible by law.
Nearest Major Market: Wausau
Job Segment: Laborer, Facilities, Labor, Electrical, Scientific, Engineering, Operations


text:
In some respects, we were incredibly lucky. True, two of our three days in Utah's Monument Valley were completely blown away by dust storms. And on our fourth day those same gusty winds threatened to force us off the road as we tried to escape the wicked weather. But that second day, the day we arranged an off road tour of the Valley? That day was perfect.
We arose well before sunup to get the first tour of the morning. Our only complaint is that we didn't get up even earlier. We couldn't have known that this would be our only clear day in the Valley, and our only chance to photograph the monuments as they emerged from night's inky blackness into beautiful blue silhouettes of dawn.
We saw them briefly in that light as we pulled into our appointed pick-up spot but had no time for photos. Our jeep was waiting and a bit impatiently too.
Through the meager morning light, our driver navigated us around divots and bounced us over boulders before arriving at a desert plateau just in time to watch the sun crest over the horizon. As we watched, we also learned.
The coming of each new day parallels the ancient Navajo creation legend. It is believed that First Man traveled through four worlds, each a different color–black, blue, yellow and white–before finally settling in this world. As we watched the sun banish the nighttime darkness, it changed the colors of our world in exactly the same way. The birth of each new day, a daily reminder of the start of all things.
With the sun now just above the horizon, we set out again and bounced our way to colorfully named formations like Artist's Point (above), The Three Nuns, Sleeping Dragon Rock, Big Chief Monument as well as these . . .
Eye of the Sun
Big Hogan
We're told Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark shot its famous "Snake Pit Scene" at Big Hogan, although we saw neither snakes nor the Ark of the Covenant there. Nor did we see the movie's less famous R2D2 hieroglyphic (on the post to Hans Solo's, um, I mean Indiana Jones' right in the linked photo).
We did, however, see petroglyphs of non-robotic criters all through the Valley.
The weather held out long enough for us to complete our tour under beautiful blue skies. It was a short reprieve, though. Soon the wind kicked up a gale and drove us back inside again. But not before we had a magnificent morning in Monument Valley.


text:
SHARANYA KANVILKAR writes from Bombay: Well-placed sources in command central of The Times of India group confirm that the paper's executive editor, Jaideep Bose aka JoJo, has indeed put in his papers as has been rumoured for the last couple of days, but not even editors who have his ear are in a position to say if this means the end of his long association with the Old Lady of Bori Bunder.
The buzz over JoJo's exit turned into a blaze this morning when Mint, the business daily owned by Hindustan Times, put out a story that he was on his way out, possibly to head the Indian edition of Financial Times that is slated to come out of the stable of Network 18, which owns CNBC-TV18 and has major plans in the print space including a Hindi business daily and a slew of magazines starting with Forbes.
For the record, Bose delivered a "no-comment" to Mint:
"I have just come back from Chennai after successfully launching the paper (The Times of India). I am very much with the Times. I have no comments (on the buzz on my departure)".
To give the JoJo-is-not-leaving version its due, there has been no outward sign of his wanting to quit The Times group, where he served as editor of The Economic Times before being summoned by Samir Jain nearly four years years ago to take over as executive editor of The Times of India.
JoJo was present at the inauguration of the Times School of Journalism on April 7 where he said "We are all set to launch four new editions in the coming months and our appetite for journalists is insatiable". He was there at the launch of the Madras edition on April 14 and stationed himself there all through the launch week. And he has disregarded a small mountain of resignation letters that had accumulated on his table when he returned to Bombay on April 18.
"If he wanted to leave, he would have let his trusted aides go, too, to flex his editorial muscle in a manner of speaking," says one Times editor.
However, PR companies have been circulating a long list of Times staffers who are leaving for various editorially greener pastures (including Charles Assisi national business editor who is leaving to join Forbes). National features editor Manu Joseph, too, is watching the exit sign over the newsroom floor afer putting in his papers, possibly to join a new magazine coming out of the RPG group.
One blogger, who recently called JoJo the best editor of his generation, is emphatic that Samir Jain is in no danger of losing his top editorial staff since there is some "unfinished business" at The Times.
However, to give the JoJo-is-leaving version its due, there are many in The Times who say that JoJo, who is seen to have earned the trust of Samir Jain with his low profile and strong work ethic, would not have let word about his possible exit to leak out, if there was no truth to it or if he didn't want to send some signals. In other words, there is a spark behind the smoke.
So if it is not posturing, what could be the reasons for JoJo to leave?
1) More money: The word in the Times' building is that Network 18 has offered him a Rs 3 crore per annum package, with generous stock options, which could add another Rs 25-30 crore to his bank balance over five years.
2) More control: Times insiders say JoJo has been angling for greater editorial control over group's publications and products, including Economic Times and the Times Now channel, but there has been some resistance within the group, especially from the marketing men who run the paper, who believe journalists shouldn't get too big for their boots.
3) General fatigue: JoJo has been there, done that, and bought the lousy tee-shirt too many times. Having helped take The Times of India national, there might not be too much fun in cracking the egg again and again for him. In other words, it's time to do something new, even if it is small, over which he can claim proprietorship.
4) Content is king: Regardless of Times' perceived editorial successes, the marketing men walk away with all the glory. For instance, despite JoJo's presence, brand director Rahul Kansal did all the talking on the Madras edition. So the desire "to do something on my own" "where the editor is respected" could be a motivating factor.
However, there could be two other small but key reasons for word leaking out that JoJo is on his way out.
The first might be to tell the Jains that he cannot be taken for granted. When Hindustan Times and DNA were being launched in Bombay three years ago, The Times' marketing mavens gave sufficient legroom for editorial under JoJo to retain domination of the Times' place of birth. It was seen by many to have made The Times a much, improved paper that no longer thought its readers to be frivolous fools.
But with the threat posed by HT petering out and with DNA settling down comfortably enough not to rattle the motherhen, there is a feeling among the Times' journalists that the marketing men are running haywire once again, leaving editorial credibility in tatters.
The "private equity treaties", by which the group invests in companies in return for guaranteed advertising, is seen by many journalists in The Times as a killer blow in a group where the distinction between news and advertisement has almost completely been obliterated. In Delhi, many journalists say that the marketing intrusions have gotten even more brazen in recent times.
An equally key reason could be a signficant realignment of stars within the Times' planet.
For long, after bossman Ashok Jain's death, his widow Indu Jain was chairman of the company, with sons Samir and Vineet Jain being vice-chairmen and managing directors. But there are indications that the reclusive older brother Samir may have made way for his younger sibling, to avoid the kind of intra-family squabbles that have consumed family-owned papers like The Hindu and Deccan Herald.
Businessweek suggests that Vineet may now be completely in charge of Bennett, Coleman & Co as chairman and managing director. In fact, it no longer lists Samir Jain among the key executives of the organisation or on the board of directors. If that report is accurate, it means JoJo, who was seen to be close to Samir, may not share the same vibes with Vineet, who himself might want somebody else for the job.
Rumour and speculation, yes, but the only other option is reading tea leaves.
Besides the Financial Times venture with Network 18, the buzz on the Times' newsroom floor in Bombay is that JoJo might be looking at a possible entry of Rupert Murdoch's Star group in the print media space, in collaboration with the Ananda Bazar Patrika group, where JoJo served earlier in The Telegraph.
But with Network 18 and Star all cut from the same Bennett, Coleman loincloth that has run Indian media credibility into the ground in boom time, will the softspoken but quietly assertive JoJo, who edited a large newspaper without once sounding like Dileep Padgaonkar (who called it "the second most important job in the country") want to jump from the third floor into the fire?
Watch the cubicle next to R.K. Laxman's.
This is the second time in four years that JoJo's exit has been the subject of media speculation. In May 2005, when the launch of DNA was in the air, it was rumoured that JoJo would be joining the small mob of his colleagues that had joined the paper. JoJo admitted as much to close friends. But he was wooed back by the Jains. Will they do so again? Or is it one time too many?


text:
The cold, long corridors, leading into the intensive care unit, smelled of death, deeply depressing Cole, as he silently fought the demons within himself. He stared, hopelessly down at her lifeless body. She lay there too peacefully, while tightly secured underneath the sterile, white hospital sheets.
He hadn't slept since the ambulance had arrived days before, frantically working to keep her fragile body alive. Cole had been informed that she had almost died, leaving him alone to raise their daughter, but miraculously, she had come through. She was stabilized for now, but still in critical condition.
Cole got down on his hands and knees, saying a quick prayer, as the tears streamed down his face, wondering why she had done it.
Written By: Ask Ms Mandi
Photograph By: Ask Ms Mandi


text:
(Community Matters) an epic evening at their home on the river with so many dear friends it was a completely relaxing evening.
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text:
Advanced Acoustics 1" Acousti-Slab Acoustic Foam Treatment Panel
What's In The Box?
- The 1" Acousti-Slab Panel is sold individually.
- Each acoustic panel is sized 24" (610mm) by 48" (1220mm) and is 1" (25mm) thick.
- One acoustic panel will cover an area of 8sqft (0.744sqm).
- The acoustic panels are precision cut and on average will absorb 55% of the sound waves.
- These acoustic foam panels are available in either Mid Grey or Dark Grey.
There is also the option to have the panels mounted onto 6mm MDF so that you can easily fix mirror plates or a D-Ring to the back of the panels for easy, damage free mounting.
What Are The Benefits?
The Acousti-Slab is a very versatile panel for acoustic treatment. These panels can be easily trimmed and cut to size with a sharp knife. They can be used for building custom enclosures or they can be wrapped in your own open weave cloth to make your own acoustic panels or simply left as they are and mounted to the wall or ceiling.
By installing these acoustic foam panels in the room at first reflection points or at other key areas you will increase acoustic clarity and remove unwanted distortion.
These acoustic panels work hard at controlling mid to high frequencies to help remove echo and control reverberation. Additionally these panels can also be used in conjunction with our other acoustic panels to create a unique design. Care is taken in optimising size, profile, foam cell structure and foam density to present a product that offers high visual and acoustic value.
Durability is high on our list of priorities too, we manufacture a foam that won't crumble and turn to dust and won't change colour as soon as you've mounted them to the wall or ceiling. The bottom line is that the Acousti-Slab Acoustic Panels will assist both you and your room in working to it's full potential.
Where Can I Use Them?
There are a wide range of applications for our acoustic products including:
- High End Professional Studios
- Home Studios
- Rehearsal Rooms
- Home Cinemas
- Dedicated Listening Rooms
- Public Buildings
- Professional and Home Offices
- Server Rooms
- Custom Enclosures
- And more
What Are The Technical Details?
|Product Name
|1" Acousti-Slab Acoustic Foam Panel
|Individual Acoustic Tile Size
|24" x 48" (610mm x 1220mm)
|Quantity Of Acoustic Tiles Per Box
|Total Area Covered Per Box
|8ft2 (0.744m2)
|Acoustic Tile Thickness
|1" (25mm)
|Noise Reduction Coefficient (NRC)
|Absorption at 250Hz
|Absorption at 500Hz
|Absorption at 1000Hz
|Absorption at 2000Hz
|Absorption at 4000Hz
|Acoustic Foam Colour
|Charcoal Grey
|Acoustic Foam Density
|Acoustic Foam Composition
|Open Cell Polyurethane Acoustic Foam
|Fire Classification
|Crib 5 and Schedule 1, Part 1 of the Furnishings and Furniture (fire)(safety) Regulations 1988 (amended 1989)
|Profile Description
|Precision cut acoustic foam panel
Performance Data
Once the acoustic panels are mounted to the wall or ceiling they are hard to remove so it is important to get the layout right before you begin. Once you have a sketch of the layout you plan you can then mark up the wall with the layout. You can either use pencil, masking tape or lasers to layout the design on the wall or ceiling.
When mounting the acoustic panels to the wall apply Advanced Acoustics Contact Adhesive to both the back of the panel and the mounting surface. There is no need to heavily cover the acoustic foam or wall with adhesive, a band of adhesive around the perimeter of the tile along with 50% - 75% coverage of the rest of the acoustic panel will be fine. Use the same equivalent amount on the wall. Avoid overspray on the tile and the wall so that adhesive can't be seen when the panels are in place. Masking Tape on the wall will help with this. If you do get webbing overspray on the foam panel, don't touch it, allow it to dry, in most cases you will be able to peel the adhesive off.
The adhesive we supply is solvent based so we recommend that you keep all doors of the room and any windows open whilst completing the installation.
If you prefer to have a more temporary installation of acoustic panels there is the option to have the panels pre-mounted onto 6mm MDF. This will enable you to hang the panels on the wall using a D-Ring (not supplied) and picture hook for a damage free installation. If fitting them to a ceiling then 4 mirror plates (not supplied) would be required.
To quickly find out the shipping cost for your order simply add the required items to your cart. Place your cursor over the cart icon at the top of the page. Click on "Calculate Cart Shipping". Select your country and region and enter your postcode. The shipping rate will be displayed. If your country is not listed please contact us for a shipping quote.
UK Shipping Charges For Most Products
Orders with a value of £0.00 to £54.99 have a £7.00 carriage charge with tracked next working day delivery.
Orders with a value of 55.00 to £99.99 have a £12.00 carriage charge with tracked next working day delivery.
Orders with a value of £100.00 or more qualify for free next day shipping.
Excluded Items
For carts which contain Plasterboard, Soundproofing Mat, SilentBoard, QuietPanel, Silent Floor Ultra, M20 and R10 the following charges apply
£8.00 carriage for the first item and £4.00 carriage for every item added up to a maximum charge of £75.00.
Some soundproofing items have a minimum order due to shipping constraints.
Bulk Products have a £75.00 pallet charge per item.
Our policy lasts 30 days. If 30 days have gone by since your purchase, unfortunately we can't offer you a refund or exchange. To be eligible for a return, your item must be unused and in the same condition that you received it. It must also be in the original packaging.
Non-returnable items:- Made to order items such as our Office Acoustic Panels and High End Audio Acoustic Panels, Gift cards.
To complete your return, we require a receipt or proof of purchase. Please contact us for your return authorisation number. Once your return is received and inspected, we will send you an email to notify you that we have received your returned item.
We only replace items if they are defective or damaged. If you need to exchange it for the same item, send us an email at firstname.lastname@example.com and send your item to: Advanced Acoustics LTD, Unit B, Maunside, Green Line Industrial Estate, Mansfield, NG18 5GU, United Kingdom.


text:
- This is the recognized website for the St Anne's Guild of Clothiers, Kingdom of Atlantia of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc. and is maintained by Beatriz Aluares (Kate Newton). This site may contain electronic versions of the group's governing documents. Any discrepancies between the electronic version of any information on this site and the printed version that is available from the originating office will be decided in favor of the printed version.
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In a blog entry written yesterday, Mozilla CEO Mitchell Baker discusses plans to create a new organizational structure for Thunderbird so that Mozilla can focus exclusively on the Firefox web browser.
Mozilla's CEO is concerned that the organization can't give Thunderbird the attention it needs without degrading its efforts to continue building and supporting the Firefox ecosystem. The top priority, Baker says, should be "delivering the web, mostly through browsing and related services." What Thunderbird needs now, according to Baker, is "a separate organization focused on Thunderbird [that] will both be able to move independently and will need to do so to deepen community and user involvement."
Mozilla wants to give the Thunderbird project more autonomy and create an independent organizational structure that is better equipped to the needs of the Thunderbird community. Baker hopes that placing the responsibility for managing Thunderbird in the hands of an independent body will create new potential for innovation and help the project achieve broader community involvement.
In order to facilitate public discussion, Baker articulates the benefits and challenges of three potential organizational models. Mozilla could create a nonprofit Thunderbird Foundation, establish a subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation just for Thunderbird, or push Thunderbird back into the community and help the Thunderbird developers create their own independent services and consulting company.
Commercial software companies tend to broaden their focus and expand vertically into other markets as they grow, but Mozilla is moving in the other direction and increasingly embracing greater specialization. On the surface, Mozilla's decision to spin off Thunderbird as an independent project may seem counterintuitive, but when one takes a closer look at the community dynamics and the relationship between Firefox and Mozilla, the reasoning begins to make more sense. Mozilla—both the foundation and the corporation—exists to serve as a vehicle for moving development forward by coordinating the efforts of a globally-dispersed community and interfacing with other organizations and corporate entities that have a vested interest in empowering Mozilla to achieve its goals or leveraging the resulting technologies.
Baker recognizes that, despite considerable overlap in agenda and underlying technology, Thunderbird and Firefox both have their own distinct communities with very different needs. Nothing of tangible relevance is gained by maintaining both projects within the same organizational infrastructure, and nothing is lost by pushing Thunderbird out of the nest, especially since an independent Thunderbird would likely still have access to Mozilla's considerable financial resources. Mozilla is already providing funding to other closely aligned external projects that are leveraging Mozilla technologies and there is nothing that would preclude similar provision of funding for Thunderbird.
Establishing a separate foundation or creating a Mozilla subsidiary for Thunderbird would increase the flexibility of both projects by allowing them to each focus on their own agendas, operate in a manner most conducive to their own individual growth, and establish their own partnerships with external organizations. Mozilla has ensured a sufficient level of transparency in the process of organizational transition by starting the debate out in the open and involving the community. I think we can look forward to seeing exciting new opportunities for Thunderbird emerge as it becomes independent and flies out of the nest.


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Hello friends! Zva Creative and our talented Design Team welcome you to our September blog hop! Thank you for joining us today and we hope you enjoy all that we have created to share.
The hop begins at Zva Creative's blog! Be sure head on over to check it out! You will also find a complete list of all the participating blogs there (in case there is a glitch along the way).
As you know, Zva offers many beautiful color groupings for pearls, flowers and crystals. If you like what you see along the hop you can find a list of stores and online retailers that sell Zva HERE.
If you would like to play along with our design team, just follow along the blog path. I am linking to one of the Zva designers and that designer is linking to the next and so on. Be prepared to be inspired along the way!
The Blog Hop starts today, September 28th and runs through midnight US Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, September 29th.
Hidden on FIVE of the blogs along the way is a Zva Creative prize package! Winners will be randomly chosen after the hop is over. All you need to do is leave a comment on one post... you do not need to leave a comment on each and every designer's blog post to qualify. However, the more times you comment along the blog hop path, the more chances you will have to win.
The 5 winners will be announced on Wednesday, September 30th on Zva Creative's Facebook page. We will do our best to notify each winner, but it's best if you can pop in to Zva's page on Wednesday to see if you are a winner!
You have reached the end of this month's hop & we thank you so much for joining us! If you happened to miss the start of the hop you can catch it at the blog of Nicole Martel. Enjoy!
Thank you for joining us!
P.S. Mark your calendar to join us again on October 26th for our next Zva blog hop!


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JAVELIN is a tower of strength
Providing precision components for the global aero-engine market, Accrofab Limited is a key link within the aerospace industry's supply chain. The company depends on Jobshop software, from Planit, for the control of up to 1500 current parts as well as an ever-growing list of legacy components for older engines.
Located in a purpose-built 31,000 ft2 facility in Spondon, Derby, Accrofab was originally established in 1977 to support the rail industry. However, the company quickly moved into aerospace sector and now employs 92 people. Today the company's core business is aero-engine parts with a Derby based aero engine manufacturer being a major customer due to the location and skill sets offered by Accrofab. These include small fabrication and precision machined parts up to 300 or 400 mm3, as well as components that have elements of these two disparate disciplines included. Materials processed include stainless steel, titanium, Inconel and nimonics.
The business started with fabrications and the precision machining section grew to support the fabrication tooling requirements. However, as engines have become more advanced customers required increasingly complex fabricated parts, and many of these now have features that require machining or precision machined elements to be included. As manufacturing manager, Ed Ashworth, explains: "As a company we have a broad range of engineering skills, these include fabrication, machining, laser cutting, welding, heat treatment, spot welding, spark and wire erosion, brazing, and bonding. We hold aerospace customer approvals for all these processes."
Accrofab has used Jobshop for more than 15 years and has grown with the system. As the company expanded the software was networked and very quickly became central to our manufacturing business. "Apart from the accounts and wages it runs everything in the business, everything is done through Jobshop," says Ed Ashworth. "With experience we have used more and more of the features of Jobshop as they have developed. And, because of our specific customer requirements one of the benefits for us has been the customization that Jobshop can offer through bespoke modifications undertaken to meet our customer needs."
This ranges from simple things like packaging and labelling up to bar code data being used in processes on the shopfloor to drive the equipment rather than relying on operators rekeying data. He says: "We face all sorts of customer specific requirements for inspection and we are using the First Article Inspection Report (FAIR) procedure that Jobshop developed for us within the software."
FAIR has to be done every two years if there has been a gap in manufacture. The software flags any parts that require this procedure automatically and ensures that we send the appropriate documentation when the parts are dispatched. This removes the possibility of human error.
Ed Ashworth says: About 18 months ago we began an improvement initiative within our finished parts stores. We were running out of space within our traditional stores area, which had parts in plastic storage bins on racked shelves. Smaller parts were placed in shared boxes and because everything we make is fully batch traceable we had to ensure that the components gathered for assembly or for kits, supplied directly to the customer via a kanban system, were selected from the correct manufacturing batch to maintain traceability."
Parts are produced in economical batch sizes to suit the Customers order profiles. Batch sizes range from one off up to 1000 parts although 20 to 30 is more typical. The finished components are then stored until required for the kitting operation.
A kit of parts may have up to 50 individual items included in it, so reducing the time spent picking parts is crucial. "So our main goals were to increase the storage capacity, minimize the storage area used and improve our pick times," Ed Ashworth says.
Accrofab investigated various solutions to its storage problem and holding parts in a vertical carousel system proved to be the most efficient and effective. "We had seen the systems in operation in other companies," Ed Ashworth recalls, "but assumed it would be an expensive option. In reality the investment was not as significant as we thought it would be."
Although the storage tower was the obvious solution it had to work with Jobshop to provide the level of control the company demands. It was interfaced very successfully as Ed Ashworth confirms: "As we book parts through inspection and into the stores Jobshop prints out a bar code ticket which contains information on the part number, batch number and quantity and then by simply reading the bar code labels we load them into the storage tower."
With up to 4000 random locations, the parts can be placed in any location within the tower providing it fits inside one of the six standard bin sizes. This avoids having empty bins waiting for discrete items and removes any possibility of mixing the manufacturing batches up.
Once a part is loaded into the tower its control system has a stock record with a storage location. Ed Ashworth says: "When it is time to retrieve the parts we simply book them out using Jobshop in the normal manner this creates a CSV file which is sent straight into the tower's SQL database. As we produce a delivery note Jobshop produces a bar code which is printed on the top corner of the delivery note, which when read by the tower will automatically rotate around to present the job that needs to be dispatched to the customer. It removes the need to search in various tote bins as the stores person is directed straight to the correct part from the right batch, which has to be verified in the tower software so the customer is guaranteed to get the right part."
With around 1500 live part numbers going through the shopfloor that can be called upon at any time by its customers, component control is vital to the company's AS9100 quality control procedures. "Jobshop knows what is held in the tower as well as what work in progress is held on the shopfloor, with shop floor data collection providing a real-time update on where any part is at any time - again using bar code technology," concludes Ed Ashworth.
Although the aerospace industry represents a majority of the company's workload Accrofab also provides commercial fabrication, machining and laser cutting services to local engineering firms. Laser cutting is operated as a business cell that acts as a profit center, the company's new 5 kW Trumpf laser was added in April 2007 to supplement an existing 3 kW Trumpf machine. Able to handle sheets up to 3000 by 1500 mm the 5 kW laser resonator was chosen to efficiently deal with the broad mix of materials that the company has to cut as a commercial operation.


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The interfaith prayer gathering at Assisi Oct. 27 draws attention to the mystery of the human person. There, holy people, people whose focus is on the Divine, gathered in startling diversity.
One might think devotion to the one God would inspire humanity with visible unity in worship and belief. Indeed, the Catholic belief is that such unity will one day be a reality.
However, God has implanted in each person, not only a yearning to be one with the divine, but also a soul that walks a unique path. God comes in the person of Jesus, but even before that, each person has struck out on a journey to God.
The situations of persons in different cultures, in different natural environments, have provoked diverse forms of journey. There is the man in the jungle, the woman in the high Andes and the nomad in the desert. Each walks a different path and employs a different form of worship.
What is most striking? Is it that the forms of worship are so different or is it that such different persons have all been drawn to worship in some way? Is the diversity of worship a scandal or is it a sign that the Divine is so beyond human knowing that each effort to see it can only catch one miniscule, fleeting glimpse of the Transcendent?
The mystery of the human person, however, is seen not only in religion. Try to understand the nature of a creature who might become, on one hand, a mass murderer or, on the other, a Mother Teresa who left every comfort to live among dying derelicts.
What is the meaning of a creature who deliberately harms another and then, realizing that fault, turns around and asks for forgiveness, asks that the wrong be undone? On the other side, there is the person who has been wronged. He or she might react with a lifetime of seeking revenge or, alternatively, with total forgiveness.
The human person is a creature of laughter and of tears, of astounding intelligence and of wilful ignorance.
Behavioural science in the 20th century maintained all human actions are predictable. This must be the most pathetically wrong-headed notion ever. The human person is too deep, too mysterious to be the object of sure predictions.
The Christian belief is that the human person only makes sense in the light of the cross, in the light of redemption in Jesus Christ. There, the paradoxes are heightened still further. But through the paradoxes, it is revealed that our nature is to love. Love is often distorted and sinful; other times, it raises us to a share in glory.
The last word goes to Blessed John Paul II: "Love is greater than sin, than weakness, than the 'futility of creation'; it is stronger than death; it is a love always ready to raise up and forgive . . .". In the last analysis, these diverse human creatures find fulfillment only in union with Absolute Love.


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This job is archived
(Archived) Physical Therapist - Acute Care
Job Description
At National Staffing Solutions, we have the privilege and honor of working with dedicated healthcare professionals that make a positive impact in aiding those needing healthcare services across the U.S. every day.
It is our passion, drive and integrity that enables us to continue our focus in assisting remarkable healthcare professionals like yourself in solidifying the best career opportunities available to you.
We're currently seeking a Physical Therapist - Acute Care to join our amazing team.
Details of the Physical Therapist opening:
- Anticipated start date: ASAP
- Salary: $1534.00 - $1878.80 weekly
- Anticipated duration of assignment: 13 weeks
- Anticipated schedule: Days
- Enjoy peace of mind knowing you can elect Day One Medical Benefits
Daily Range of Responsibilities of the Physical Therapist:
- Meet the patient's goals and needs and provide quality care by assessing and interpreting evaluations and test results
- Provide care to patients with various musculoskeletal and neurological conditions and/or patients with complex medical/surgical conditions
- Assures continuation of therapeutic plan following discharge by designing home exercise programs; instructing patients, families, and caregivers in home exercise programs; recommending and/or providing assistive equipment; recommending outpatient or home health follow-up programs
Qualifications for the Physical Therapist:
- Masters of Physical Therapy from an accredited school.
- Physical Therapist license / Licensure in the state of practice.
- One or more years of acute care or inpatient experience.
- Current CPR certification.
Submit your resume to us today for consideration of the Physical Therapist opening and one of our dedicated recruiters will be in touch within 24 business hours.
We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.


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|Product name
|Pan Methyl Lysine Polyclonal Antibody
|Recombinant Protein
|Applications notes
|Optimal working dilutions should be determined experimentally by the investigator. Suggested starting dilutions are as follows: WB (1:1000-1:2000).
|Preparation method
|The antibody was affinity-purified from rabbit antiserum by affinity-chromatography using specific immunogen
|Liquid solution
|1 mg/ml
|Storage buffer
|PBS, pH 7.4, containing 0.02% Sodium Azide as preservative and 50% Glycerol.
|Storage instructions
|Stable for one year at -20°C from date of shipment. For maximum recovery of product, centrifuge the original vial after thawing and prior to removing the cap. Aliquot to avoid repeated freezing and thawing.
|Gel pack with blue ice.
|The product listed herein is for research use only and is not intended for use in human or clinical diagnosis. Suggested applications of our products are not recommendations to use our products in violation of any patent or as a license. We cannot be responsible for patent infringements or other violations that may occur with the use of this product.
|Lysine methylation occurs in three distinct states, having either one (me1), two (me2) or three (me3) methyl groups attached to the amine group of the lysine side chain. In eukaryotes, histone H3 trimethylated at lysine 4 (H3K4me3) is associated with active chromatin and gene expression.
|The antibody detects endogenous protein Methylated Lysine.
Fig. Western blot analysis of 1) Hela, 2) 3T3, 3) Rat Brain tissue, diluted at 1:2000. Secondary antibody was diluted at 1:20000.
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1.The species of antibody reactivity should be the sample species that can be matched normally after Abbkine R&D experts have passed strict scientific verification. If your sample is not within the range of reactivity, in order to improve the efficiency and results of your experiment, it is not suggested to try other species. Otherwise, it may lead to sample mismatch and affect the effect of your experiment.
2.Please aliquot the antibody received as soon as possible and store it at -20℃, avoid repeated freezing and thawing, and use it within one year.
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Address: Bldg C17, Optics Valley International Biomedicine Park, Wuhan, China. 430223


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'Oklahoma' and museum exhibit highlight local offerings
Kings Mountain Little Theatre Holding Auditions for "Oklahoma!"
What: Kings Mountain Little Theatre auditions for the musical "Oklahoma!"
When: 7 p.m. Monday, Tuesday Dec. 10-11 and Dec. 13.
Where: Joy Performance Center,
Details: The musical requires approximately 20 singers/actors. There are roles for an equal number of men and women, ages 17 and older. Auditions will include a "cold read" from the script and music plus a simple dance routine.
"Oklahoma!," written by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, is set in the time period just before Oklahoma becomes a new state. Laurey Williams notices that Curly, a handsome though shy ranch hand, has been acting strangely around her. As the story unfolds, Laurey and Curley realize they have feelings for each other. Judd, a hired hand at Laurey's home, also has feelings for her. Laurey and Curley must do something to save their relationship and keep Judd from doing something terrible.
More information: Email firstname.lastname@example.com or call 704-730-9408.
What: "Valley Ablaze: Pottery Tradition in the Catawba Valley" reception and book signing.
When: 2-5 p.m. Dec. 16.
Where: Lincoln Cultural Center, 403 E. Main St., Lincolnton.
Details: The Lincoln County Historical Association will host a reception and book signing to celebrate the new book, "Valley Ablaze: Pottery Tradition in the Catawba Valley" by Jason L. Harpe, Brian Dedmond and Melany Dawn Crouse. The 242 page hardcover volume chronicles the pottery tradition in the Catawba Valley region of North Carolina from the late 18th century to the present. Traditional and contemporary alkaline-glazed forms and wood-fired groundhog kilns are featured in color photographs and mixed with vintage images of potters and their work. With a forward by Dr. Charles "Terry" Zug and with contributions from Scott Smith, Jeff Pruett and Barry Huffman, the book spotlights more than 1,000 pieces of utilitarian forms from the region's earliest documented potters and face jugs of Burlon Craig, a nationally-recognized folk potter from Lincoln County who kept this pottery tradition going from the 1960s through the early 1980s. Refreshments will be available.
Cost: Free admission. Copies of the book, which retails for $49.95, will be available at the discounted price of $5. About 20 people who purchase copies will go home with a commemorative piece made for the event. Pieces will be raffled.
More Information: For more on the book signing, call 704-748-9090. To order the book or find upcoming book signings, email email@example.com or visit www.valleyablaze.com.
What: "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."
When: Through Jan. 5.
Where: Gaston County Museum, 131 W. Main St., Dallas.
Details: "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost" is the site-specific, temporary art installation created by Belmont artist Curtis Gaston in honor of his father, the late Harley B. Gaston, Jr., a former Belmont city attorney, Gaston County commissioner and district court judge. Using Harley Gaston Jr.'s deep faith and life-long civic engagement as its primary theme, the exhibit will interweave samples from the elder Gaston's collection of personal, city and county documents with fragments of Curtis Gaston's artistic works to highlight the commonalities and differences in these men's lives.
Cost: Free.
More Information: The museum is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday. Visit www.gastoncountymuseum.org or call 704-922-7681 ext. 101.
What: "Self-Portraits: Artwork by Kenneth Asbury."
When: Tuesday Dec. 11-Feb. 9.
Where: Gaston County Museum of Art & History, 131 W. Main St., Dallas.
Details: An exhibition of work by Kenneth Asbury, a fine arts major at Gaston College and a Mount Holly native.
Cost: Free.
More Information: Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Call 704-922-7681 ext. 101 or visit www.gastoncountymuseum.org.


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Hatoyama, they tell us, needs to face up to reality. He "needs to become 'Hatobama,' a pragmatist ready to disappoint ideological allies and assuage centrist fears of a policy agenda his country simply can't afford."
They knock Hatoyama and the DPJ for "ambitious" and "contradictory" promises, repeat unquestioningly the Washington line that the DPJ risks undermining the US-Japan alliance (more on this in a moment), and finally worry that the DPJ is too strong, too unhindered and therefore could run up Japan's debt without triggering growth, producing an "an unnecessarily turbulent 2010." Hatoyama needs to become less ideological and more willing to compromise, like Obama.
The central premise of this op-ed is that if Japan struggles, it is because of the unthinking ideology of the DPJ and not because of the intractable problems that years of misrule by the LDP left for the DPJ to solve. There are several critical gaps, however, in this op-ed.
First, aside from suggesting that Hatoyama become more willing to "assuage centrist fears" — whatever those are — they offer few indications as to what the Hatoyama government should be doing. What, if anything, should the government scale back? What should it be doing instead? Japan's national debt is obviously a problem, but, on the other hand, given that the government has managed to run up the national debt to such considerable heights without facing disaster, it seems that Japan is in uncharted waters when it comes to the its debt-GDP ratio.
Second, and related to this last point, Bremmer and Roubini are vague about the consequences of the Hatoyama government's policies. "Unnecessarily turbulent?" What does that mean in real-world terms? More importantly, how much more turbulent could it get compared to 2008-2009? Alternatively, might not turbulence simply be the natural by-product of an electoral victory that even these authors recognize as "historic."
Third, their praise of the American system and its veto points and their recommendation that Hatoyama should act as if he faces a similar environment is strange considering that the DPJ is deliberately trying to move away from a system characterized by a surfeit of veto players, a system that prevented the LDP from introducing reforms that might have reoriented Japan away from its export-led growth model years ago. After years of governments paralyzed by a cumbersome policymaking system, a bit of turbulence may be a small price to pay for a government capable of articulating and implementing policies without having them die by a thousand cuts at the hands of lower-level bureaucrats and parliamentary backbenchers.
Bremmer and Roubini are right to call attention to the contradictions in the DPJ's program, but again, they do not consider that these contradictions are rooted in the contradictory challenges facing the Hatoyama government. As I have discussed in this post and elsewhere, the DPJ faces a trilemma: get the national debt under control, build a more robust social safety net, and develop a new economic growth model rooted in more consumption by Japanese and more investment in sunrise industries, which has heretofore been woefully deficient (with the additional wrinkle of cutting Japan's carbon emissions to 25% below 1990 levels by 2020). In other words, the Hatoyama government isn't just trying to engineer a "recovery": it is trying to, it needs to, construct a new economic model to replace the broken model of growth finally shattered by the global economic crisis. Economic growth alone is not good enough. Had the Japanese people wanted that, they could have returned the LDP to power, which as always promised growth plain and simple.
The problem is not that the Hatoyama government is too ideological, although perhaps on certain issues this complaint has some truth (temporary laborers, for example) — the problem is that the government runs the risk of being mired in these contradictory tasks, unable to deliver satisfactorily on any of them. This is an all-too-real risk, but if the Hatoyama government fails, it will not be on account of a lack of pragmatism.
The same goes for the US-Japan alliance. For all the talk of the DPJ's ideological inflexibility — whether out of conviction or a desire to preserve its coalition with the SDPJ and PNP — the DPJ-led government has proven to be flexible on the Futenma question. Trying to thread the needle between abandoning its promises to the Japanese people outright and saying no for the sake of saying no to the US, the Hatoyama government is trying to develop a constructive alternative to the 2006 agreement. And, meanwhile, when Americans talk of the Hatoyama government's "undermining" the alliance, I cannot help but wonder whether that is a threat or a prediction. If the DPJ damages the alliance, it will be as much the result of the Obama administration's reaction to the Hatoyama government as of the Hatoyama government's actions regarding Futenma.
The point is that both at home and abroad the Hatoyama government has been remarkably open to "pragmatic" solutions to the problems facing Japan. Indeed, if the government's public support has fallen it is because the government has been too yielding, the prime minister too reluctant to commit to a line of policy.
Hatoyama himself is certainly aware of the challenges before him, noting on his return to work Monday that 2010 is a "do-or-die" year for Japan.


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Last night Saturday Night Live brought in James "Game-Changer" Cameron to reboot the entire Laser Cats series. Join Nitro, Captain Spaceship and special guest Ripley back in time. Plus the deleted Avatar sex scene remade by SNL.
LASER CATS 5, possibly the funniest of the sketches. The rest I could take or leave, but I'll always have a special place in my heart for the Laser Cats lunacy.
Caleb McLaughlin Wants to Play Static Shock
Also on SNL last night, we learned that when we call Avatar "Dances With Smurfs," it makes Sigourney cry:


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Brands can be easily compromised with the wrong messaging, the wrong positioning, the wrong look, and the wrong experience.
Toward that end, Wittenberg must have one voice, one look, one feel if it is to live up to its brand identity and execute an effective brand strategy wherein the Wittenberg brand is ours forever -- built to inspire, built to connect, built to engage, and built to last.
The Office of University Communications provides creative solutions to raise Wittenberg's national profile; to amplify the Wittenberg story through unique voices, visuals and video across multiple platforms; and to articulate the university's mission, vision, and strategy for success in compelling, meaningful ways that support admission, advancement and the president, as well as engage alumni in Wittenberg's conversation.
We help interpret and communicate the accomplishments, objectives and aspirations of the University to a variety of audiences, including the campus community. Our office maximizes knowledge, understanding and support for Wittenberg through contact with the news media, the University's Web site and other outlets, as well as in such publications as the Wittenberg Magazine and Around the Hollow, Wittenberg's online newsletter.
We also assist stakeholders on campus in producing printed material to ensure that internal and external publications are designed and produced in an attractive, accurate, consistent and economical manner. All requests for preparation of printed materials incorporating the University logo or any other University symbols must follow established branding guidelines.
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