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Lincolnshire Schools Unite for RAF Centenary Celebrations Paper Planes Challenge
On Wednesday 12 September 2018, 15 schools from across Lincolnshire joined the RAF 100 Paper Planes Challenge designed by The EBP, as part of the Royal Air Force (RAF) Centenary Celebrations.
The event was hosted by the International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC) in Lincoln and included primary and secondary schools, giving them the opportunity to gain an understanding of the RAF whilst also designing and flying paper planes.
Delivered with the support of STEM ambassadors from RAF Waddington, students took part in three workshops before competing in a challenge to launch their planes. The workshops included tutorials for paper versions of three iconic planes, the Red Arrow Jet, Lancaster and Vulcan, which the participants later personalised with their own designs ahead of the final flight challenge. While taking part in the workshops, the students also gained an insight into the RAF, with talks about flight physics and engineering, the historical involvement of the RAF and the different roles that are available.
Paula Bailey, Delivery Manger at The EBP said, "We're delighted to be working with our partners to bring together 15 schools, giving students and teachers from across Lincolnshire the opportunity to be part of the prestigious Centenary celebrations."
The event aimed to inspire students and give them a better understanding of STEM and Lincolnshire's aviation past and present. As a part of the RAF 100 celebrations, the students gained an insight into how they can develop skills required for a career in the RAF.
The event was sponsored by Ruddocks and Northrop Grumman, who supplied materials and trophies for the workshops.
Andy Thomas from Northrop Grumman added, "It was great to work with The EBP on another STEM engagement, and it was encouraging to see such enthusiasm from all the students to get involved with engineering events like this."
The winning primary school was Swinderby All Saints Church of England Primary School and the secondary school winner was Lincoln, a Priory Academy.
A milestone in British history, the hundredth year of the RAF has been celebrated across the country. The ongoing RAF centenary celebrations are in recognition of 100 years of the Royal Air Force, with activities and events taking place throughout the year. The EBP was proud to support this.


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Cairns mourns as "one in seven billion boy" passes away
The battle of Cairns' bravest boy is over.
Brock Bryant, aged 11, yesterday passed away after a lifelong fight against a complex and unique array of health conditions that saw the Manunda child billed as the "one in seven billion boy".
Doctors believe Brock was the only person on the planet to have auto-immune hepatitis, nephrotic syndrome and capillary leak syndrome, all at the same time.
Born at just 27 weeks, Brock was diagnosed with auto-immune hepatitis and nephrotic syndrome before he turned two. He was diagnosed with capillary leak syndrome in 2016.
His passing was announced yesterday by his mother Katrina on the Brock's Fight Facebook page.
"Unfortunately Brock lost the fight today... Thank you to every single person who has supported us through these last few weeks.... Brock is now out of pain... RIP my HERO xxxxx"
The Bryants had been attempting to raise $80,000 to send Brock to the Mayo Clinic in the USA.
"They have a lot of dealings in unusual diseases and that's what we need to find for Brock – someone who can maybe look at it from a different angle and come up with something else because we don't have lots of options left for him in regards to his treatment," Katrina told News Corp earlier this year.
Brock, who wanted to be a builder, was intent on raising both awareness and funds for other ill children, selling raffle tickets for the Cairns Hospital's children's ward and taking part in events such as the Rare Disease Day Fun Run and Walk.
In documenting a day of treatment, Katrina wrote on the Brock's Fight page: "Sitting in hospital with him now and he has had a cry about all the shit from this morning and he says 'I only do this mum so hopefully if another kid is born and has this maybe they might know what to do cause they have learnt off me and they won't go through this crap'."
"That's my boy always thinking of others."

subset: commoncrawl


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Fun and learning was had by the Webelos of Pack 26 as they visited Troop 287. Events included tomahawk and atlatl throwing along with some dutch oven cooking. Overall, a good turn out and good weather … wheh!
Troop 287 Hosts Webelos at Wilson Church
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Cave procedural generation
FrankenStein posted a topic in Phaser 2Hello all, I have been searching for 3 hours on how to generate levels like spelunky's. I could find tutorials for dungeons but not like spleunky's sorry but i am a very beginner.


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First Avenue, Harlow, Essex, CM20 2NP
Through God's love we learn together, grow together and achieve together.
Our Lady of Fatima Trust
Please use the links to the side of this page to keep up to date with our learning in Reception.
Class Teachers: Mrs Hynd (Mon-Weds) Mrs White (Weds-Fri)
LSAs: Mrs Garbutt & Ms Farrow
01279 425383


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What if you could choose exactly who signed up for your offering? This is something we really screwed up with CRELister when we were launching it last fall. We thought "Everyone in the Austin market should love us". And when we launched it, we got nothing. Crickets. 600 outbound emails, 10 phone calls, 1 signup.
The problem was we didn't understand the profile of who should be signing up.
In this episode, Brecht explains how he is only letting the right people sign up for the new version of Bank Prospector, and how that is allowing him to make a lot more revenue per customer, with a lot less hassle.
Latest posts by Scott Yewell (see all)
- Episode 117: Why Are You Setting Goals - December 18, 2015
- Episode 116: 'Tis the Season – To Dump Clients & Remove You From My List - December 11, 2015
- Episode 113: $180k in Leads, EOY Planning, and Automating Your Client Updates - November 20, 2015


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Manufacturing of Roofing Tiles by using Plastic Waste and Agricultural
We Will Write a Custom Essay Specifically
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In almost all developing countries,
there are having small numbers of roofing materials. Stone, grass and palm
leaves are the local roofing materials often used in Sri Lanka. Most of the
Environmental pollution caused by plastic waste has become a major issue
locally and globally. Similarly, agricultural wastes such as rice husk, sawdust
and rice straw, coir fibers have also become a threat to the Environment.So
that we focus about how to use those material
to industry in proper way
There are number of previous studies
that have been carried out to what are the suitable Agricultural waste with
plastic waste to produce roofing tiles. Research output of Ruby Abraham 2015
reveal that natural coir fiber composite as a agricultural waste can be used as
the roofing material.He improved Compressive strength, tensile strength,
breaking load and ductile properties by using fibers. Water absorption test which
used coir fiber and without coir fiber was observed . Finally higher value of
water absorption in with core fiber was observed.Simillarly University of
Ruhuna2016 studied the effect of rice husks (as an agricultural waste) on
structural properties and thermal properties of roofing tiles.10% replacement
of rice husks show 47.24% increment of transverse breaking loads .Therefore addition
of rice husks reduce bulk density and thermal conductivity
in roof tile. However, rice husks increase water absorbtion of roofing tile. In
this research provides solution for environmental damage caused by dumping of
rice husks as a waste.Mehdi Seghiri 2017 studied what are the possibilities
of making a composite material from waste plastic. In this studies manufacturing
roofing tile from recycled HDPE and sand dune and compared their properties
which was the most suitable one. Containing 70% HDPE with sand dune Polymer
roofing tile gives the best quality. Decreasing density with the increase of
the HDPE ratio gives polymer tile a
light weight, and also the breaking load of polymer
roof tile was lower than the clay roofingtile. According to that research HDPE polymer roofing tile has potential to be
used as a polymer roofing tile. Alchapar Noelia 2013 studied the Solar
Reflectance Index of the roofing tiles that decrease rapidly with age in the total of the evaluated
samples (75% of the tiles showed SRI degradation levels higher than 20%). This
is obtained result in the case of the most efficient tile aging in the thermal
performance is closely related to the combine effect of their characteristics,
such as composition, color, finish and shape.
J.F. Horta 2016 investigated how to composite material properties
developed from reused HDPE and pine sawdust from the lumber industry. Sawdust
was added to HDPE and observed mechanical and reinforced properties. Adding
sawdust(20%,40%,60%,80%) with the
recycled HDPE together has shown to improve mechanical response. These
materials to be a competitive advantage for industries.MartinsG. 2016 analyzed
wood plastic composite for a newly roofing system to research for the most
suitable properties of composites made of pine wood residues with HDPE. Tensile
test and water absorption capacity were measured to determine the chemical
composition, thermal behavior and mechanical properties of the composite. The high
mechanical strength shows from the high filler content contributes not only to
the mechanical properties, but also to resistance against water of the material
surface and low water absorption.
asbestos sheet roof covering become more popular among people. But those
roofing material causes lung cancer and other health effects.In our research we
focused mainly use of waste agricultural material and waste plastic to
manufacture roofing tile that prevents environmental pollution. In previous
paragraph summarized the researchers' methods
to find out what are the suitable waste material to produce roofing tile. The
main objective of this research is to collect agricultural waste and plastic waste
in available in Sri Lanka and making sustainableproduct (roofing tile) with
enhancing their structural (mechanical)properties and thermal properties.
To develop sustainable roofing material using agricultural
waste with plastic waste
Changing mixing size of the ingredients material and
changing external conditions and choose the suitable composition to the roofing
To study the strength and behavior of this tiles with
enhancing their mechanical properties and thermal properties
ü At the first
step the roofing material manufacturing procedure is studied and gained a fair knowledge
on roofing materials with the help of available literature.
ü Proper material
has been selected.
ü Then needed the
properties in roofing material were checked
and also what are those materials (which are available as wastes) and fusibility
for implement.
ü Make Specimens
only using HDPE waste. And test those samples.
ü Then make some
specimens, changing materials and material mixing ratios(20%,40%,60%.80% sawdust
mixing with HDPE Plastic Waste)
ü Shred materials in to small sizes and bind the agent
by using pressure and mould to make specimens
ü Finally, each
specimen was tested and identified the properties of specimens.
Resource requirements and
Equipment -Shredder (Shreds materials in to
5-6mm size)
-Laminating press (Binding the
agents and finishing it to better
-Hot press (applying more
pressure and increasing the process of binding)
-Cold press
(Cooling down materials by using manual power)
Testing Equipment `- Universal
Test Machine (to measure Transverse Breaking Load)
-Oven (to measure bulk density and
Water absorption of Tile)
-Digital Thermometer and thermocouple (to measure
thermal Properties)
Materials- Rice husks ,Saw
dust ,coir fibers ,LDPE/ HDPE waste
Activity Plan
Takao Ugai ,2015,Evaluation of
Sustainable Roof from Various Aspects and Benefits of Agriculture Roofing in
Urban Core,FocusLabo LLC, 444 Nahua St #2202, Honolulu, HI 96815 U.S.A.
Anna Laura Piselloa,Lucia
Brinchia,2013,On a cool coating for roof clay tiles: development of the
prototype and thermal-energy assessmentaCIRIAF ,University of Perugia.ViaG.Duranti
63, Perugia 06125, Italy
Mehdi Seghiri1,2017, The Possibility of
Making a Composite Material from Waste Plastic ,DjamelBoutoutaouLaboratory of
Exploitation and Valorization of Natural Resources in Arid Areas
(E.V.R.N.Z.A.), Ouargla BP 511, 30000 Algeria.
JurgitaMalaiškien?a,2013, Frost
Resistant Ceramics Produced From Local Raw Materials and Wastes a,bDepartment
of Building Materials, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Vilnius Gediminas
technical University, Sauletekio av. LT–10223, Vilnius, Lithuania
VishakhaSakharea, 2015, Performance
assessment of sustainable composite roofing assemblies using
experimentation,aResearch Scholar, Department of Civil Engineering, VNIT,
Nagpur 440010, India
Caterina Gargaria,2015,Environmental
impact of Green roofing: the contribute of a green roof to the sustainable use
of natural resources in a life cycle approach ,a Dept. of Energy, Systems,
Territory and Construction Engineering (DESTEC), University of Pisa, Via
Diotisalvi 2, Pisa 56126 (Italy) b
Darsana Pa Ruby Abraham b,2015,
Development of Coir-Fibre Cement Composite Roofing Tiles, aDepartment of
applied mechanics ,national institute of technology,575025,India
Martins G.a,2016, Optimization of a
wood plastic composite for architectural applications,aDepartment of Chemistry,
University of Coimbra, 3004-535 Coimbra, Portugal
J.F.Horta,2016, Study of Wood-Plastic
Composites with reused High Density Polyethylene and Wood Sawdust,'CDRsp-Center
for Rapiud and Sustainable Product Development,2430-028 Marinha Grande,
SurangiM.L.C.,Subhashini de
Silva,2016,Effects of rice husk ash on structural and thermal properties of
clay roof tiles,University of Ruhuna,Galle.


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Month: August 2017
Labor Day List: 5 Must-Do Activities Near Alexandria, VA
August 30, 2017
Living in the heart of Alexandria, VA is perfect for holiday weekends. Whether you're looking to stay local, head into the Capitol, or explore other areas you've yet to discover, Alexandria allows easy access to just about anywhere. Heralded as the "last weekend of the summer," Labor Day is a chance to kick back, relax, […]
DISH OF THE MONTH: Creative Hotspot Busboys and Poets
August 23, 2017
Busboys and Poets is first and foremost a community gathering place. Closest to e-lofts is the Campbell Ave location, where it can be found in the Village at Shirlington. The name "Busboys and Poets" refers to American poet Langston Hughes, who worked as a busboy at the Wardman Park Hotel in the 1920s before gaining […]
DISH OF THE MONTH: Local Eatery Kao Sarn
August 3, 2017
In Thailand, street food is a way of life. It is sold everywhere, from open markets to boat canals, and can be eaten on the go. Vendors often specialize in one dish that has been passed down through generations. The best part? All the rich, flavorful and delicious dishes are freshly cooked on the spot. […]


text:
Themes List
Tata letak
MH TechMagazine
Iki tema anakan sākā MH Magazine lite.
MH TechMagazine has a nice wide and flat layout with an appealing blue color scheme, which is especially suitable for online magazines, dynamic news websites or professional blogs about technology, science, gadgets or anything else you can imagine. You can have the same layout in the premium version of MH Magazine (without the need of a child theme) which can be configured by making use of the flexible layout options. MH Magazine offers additional widget areas, multiple unique custom widgets, great features and extended layout options to manage several layout elements on your site including changing the color scheme and typography.
Ora ānā tema sing ditemokaké. Coba nganggo panggolékan sing bédā.


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Ashley Young gave Dele Alli the mother of all put downs during Man United's narrow win over Spurs on Saturday.
The duo almost came to blows in the first half with the Red Devils winger trying to wind up the notorious Spurs hothead.
They were pulled apart by team-mates but the war of words continued.
As the two were walking away, eagle-eyed viewers caught Young saying: "When you've won the Premier League, let me know."
Young was a title-winner with United back in 2012/13, in Sir Alex Ferguson's final season as manager.
Alli has yet to win any kind of trophy, having already finished as a runner up in two of the past three seasons.
Once with Spurs and once with MK Dons.
When the duo went nose-to-nose, Spurs fans much have feared the worst given their No20's chequered past in such situations.
The occasion was tense at Old Trafford with defeat potentially damaging to both.
With the score at 0-0, Alli missed a gilt-edged chance to open the scoring.
And, just moments later, Spurs were punished with Anthony Martial scoring the game's only goal with Young enjoying the goal as much as anyone.
Young 1-0 Alli.


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Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and have announced a research partnership to develop a software analytics tool that will enable early prediction of catastrophic events such as cardiac arrest or emergency endotracheal tube intubation in patients with congenital heart disease. Children with congenital heart disease account for… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Heart Institute
Quincy's Heart Journey
Quincy was born on Aug. 21, 2015 with a rare congenital heart defect known as Ebstein's anomaly. In addition, he also has a patent foramen ovale hole and pulmonary dysplasia. We found out about Quincy's condition when I was 32 weeks pregnant, which was very devastating and frightening for our entire family. We were told… Read more »
Grateful for Children's
When you are going to have a baby, everyone tells you that you will be tired, confused, and at times scared. What you don't know is the heaviness you feel in your chest that would come the first time you look into those big eyes. This heaviness is even greater when the doctors come back… Read more »
Our Miracle
Today is Rare Disease Day. The main objective of this day is to raise awareness about rare diseases and their impacts on patients' and their families' lives. In the United States, a condition is considered "rare" if it affects fewer than 200,000 persons combined in a particular rare disease group, according to Global Genes. Ian… Read more »
Children's Hospital: An Institution to Which I Owe 7,868 Days of My Life (And Counting)
At less than one day old, I was flying through the sky on the way to Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. My walnut-sized heart contained a congenitally defective aortic valve that would require an immediate catheter-based procedure, open heart surgery at 13 years old, and would necessitate life-long monitoring and re-intervention. While the memories… Read more »


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FusionReactor are sponsors of Velocity 2019 in San Jose June 10 – June 13 2019.
This year Velocity is all about building, managing and scaling cloud-native systems.
To get ahead today, your organization needs to be cloud native. The 2019 Velocity program will cover everything from Kubernetes and site reliability engineering to observability and performance to give you a comprehensive understanding of applications and services—and stay on top of the rapidly changing cloud landscape. Learn new skills, approaches, and technologies for building and managing large-scale, cloud native systems, and connect with peers to share insights and ideas.
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Contact Details
396 St Clair Ave W, Toronto, ON, Canada Show Other Addresses
60 Carlton St, Toronto, ON, Canada 50 Musgrave St, Toronto, ON, Canada 2877 Bayview Village, Toronto, ON, Canada 825 Don Mills Rd, Toronto, ON, Canada 10 Lower Jarvis St, Toronto, ON, Canada 1755 Brimley Rd, Toronto, ON, Canada 2549 Weston Rd, Toronto, ON, Canada 51 Gerry Fitzgerald Dr, Toronto, ON, Canada 3201 Greenbank Rd, Ottawa, ON, Canada 100 McArthur Rd, Ottawa, ON, Canada 3201 Greenbank Rd, Ottawa, ON, Canada 190 Richmond Rd, Ottawa, ON, Canada 100 McArthur Rd, Ottawa, ON, Canada 1980 Ogilvie Rd, Ottawa, ON, Canada 4270 Innes Rd, Ottawa, ON, Canada 1980 Baseline Rd, Ottawa, ON, Canada
About President's Choice Cooking School
Kids' cooking classes, cooking camps, and all-inclusive cooking birthday party packages, available at PC Cooking School locations inside select Loblaws and Real Canadian Superstores across Canada. Adult classes are also available.
Sign up for family classes or kids-only classes for age groups ranging from 2 to 16 on evenings or weekends. Cooking camps, for ages 6–11, take place in summer and are available as full-day, half-day, and single-day camps.
Cooking birthday parties for kids (ages 4–11) and teens (ages 11–16) focus on a theme like pizza-making, English-style afternoon tea, cooking science, pancake-making PJ party, and more.
Also available are field trip programs for schools and groups with hands-on making and tasting.
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text:
The ISOLDE Solenoidal Spectrometer – recent highlights and future developments
Monday 16 March 2020
Making your way to a fellowship in the physical and life sciences: a Q&A with Early Career Researchers
Friday 13 March 2020
Sensors for the biomedical applications
Friday 13 March 2020
Workshop: Progress on the reaction rates and stellar modelling affecting the 26Al abundance in the Galaxy
Tuesday 10 March 2020
Ionising radiation sensors for high temperature applications
Wednesday 22 January 2020
Energy-density-functional results for magic nuclei and the extrapolations to the nuclear matter equations of state for neutron stars
Friday 18 October 2019
Workshop on 'Future of Theory in Fission'
Monday 14 October 2019
Thursday 12 September 2019
Nuclear Physics Symposium "Challenges in theory of heavy nuclei"
Wednesday 17 July 2019
Weak Binding Effects in Nuclear Structure: 40Mg and The Kerman Problem in the Continuum
Thursday 6 June 2019
Investigation of the octupole degree of freedom with Coulomb excitation
Tuesday 23 April 2019
Nuclear Medicine and Radiotherapy at TRIUMF
Monday 8 April 2019
Nuclear Physics research at the Botswana International University of Science and Technology
Wednesday 27 March 2019
New Perspectives in Ab Initio Nuclear Structure Theory
Monday 25 March 2019
Measuring the most challenging decays with the Argonne Fragment Mass Analyser (FMA)
Wednesday 20 February 2019
A current view of nuclear structure: "exotic" versus "stable" nuclei
Thursday 17 January 2019
Nuclear excitations: density-functional versus many-body approaches
Wednesday 16 January 2019
Current and future capabilities of Geant4
Wednesday 12 December 2018
Tuesday 4 December 2018
Friday 30 November 2018
The high precision mass spectrometer ISOLTRAP at ISOLDE/CERN – a versatile tool box for nuclear physics studies.
Monday 19 November 2018
(p, pN) reactions analyzed with the Transfer to the Continuum formalism. The "quenching" puzzle and application to Borromean nuclei.
Tuesday 13 November 2018
Astrophysical and nuclear physics uncertainties: Nucleosynthesis in neutrino-driven supernova ejecta
Tuesday 6 November 2018
Chirality, Wobbling and Chiral Wobblers
Friday 26 October 2018
Targetry of rare isotopes at PSI
Thursday 27 September 2018
Nuclear reaction measurements for heavy element nucleosynthesis
Friday 27 July 2018
Pair conversion measurements of the Hoyle State
Monday 11 June 2018
Coulomb excitation of superdeformed and non-axial structures in 42Ca
Monday 4 June 2018
Exotic Nuclei - On the Edge of Existence
Thursday 24 May 2018
ELI-NP Workshop, University of York
Friday 11 May 2018
What do we know about the carbon burning in massive stars?
Monday 30 April 2018
Spectroscopic Factors in the Nilsson Model
Wednesday 25 April 2018
Three body description of the 2n- halo and 2n- unbound systems
Thursday 8 March 2018
Ab initio studies of nuclear matter from a Green's function approach
Thursday 15 February 2018
A brief introduction to nuclear medicine
Friday 9 February 2018
Quadrupole collective excitations within the self-consistent mean field approach
Thursday 23 November 2017
Information and statistics in nuclear experiment and theory ISNET-5
Monday 6 November 2017
Monday 24 July 2017
Nucleosynthesis in Neutron Star Mergers and Core-Collapse Supernovae
Thursday 8 June 2017
Ab initio study of the potential bubble nucleus Si34
Monday 22 May 2017
Recent applications of the Gamow Shell Model to neutron-rich nuclei
Thursday 11 May 2017
Tuesday 9 May 2017
Anatomy of the nuclear dipole spectrum
Friday 5 May 2017
A short walk through the physics of neutron stars
Tuesday 24 January 2017
Spectroscopy of neutron-deficient magnesium isotopes at TRIUMF-ISAC
Friday 16 December 2016
Scintillation array development for the SpecMAT detector
Friday 9 December 2016
Studies of exotic nuclei at the Argonne-Tandem Linac Accelerator System
Wednesday 12 October 2016
Probing clustering in sd-shell nuclei
Wednesday 21 September 2016
Do Atomic Nuclei have Time-dependent Shape Oscillations at Low Excitation Energies?
Tuesday 13 September 2016
Neutron-star mergers and nucleosynthesis
Wednesday 7 September 2016
Broad energy germanium detectors
Friday 8 March 2013
Exploring the lightest nuclei with resonance scattering
Friday 14 December 2012
Fusion and fission study at JAEA
Monday 10 December 2012
Engineering Low Temperatures and High Magnetic Fields
Tuesday 20 November 2012
Discoveries of Transuranium Elements - a brief overview
Wednesday 9 May 2012
Laser spectroscopy at the limits; the new IGISOL 4 radioactive ion beam facility
Thursday 19 April 2012
Neutrinoless double beta decay - the nuclear structure ingredient
Thursday 12 April 2012
The Upgrade of the REX Post-Accelerator at HIE-ISOLDE
Tuesday 10 April 2012
Novel experimental activities in support of the UK fusion technology programme
Tuesday 15 November 2011
Status of the Felsenkeller shallow underground laboratory
Thursday 10 November 2011
Nuclear Incompressibility, the Asymmetry Term, and the MEM Effect
Wednesday 9 November 2011
Deeply-bound nucleon removal and transfer from light exotic nuclei
Wednesday 2 November 2011
Monday 13 June 2011
Tuesday 17 May 2011
HELIOS – a novel spectrometer for transfer reactions in inverse kinematics
Tuesday 3 May 2011
Diamond and SiC for radiation detector applications
Monday 28 March 2011


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The European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) will officially kick off in Győr, in north-western Hungary, this Sunday with the opening ceremony.
The festival, which runs until July 30, will feature 2,500 young athletes between the ages of 14 and 18 representing 50 countries competing in a total of 130 events across ten disciplines. Hungary will have a record 152 athletes at the competitions.
The athletes will be accompanied by another 1,100 accredited people from their teams.
Featured image: www.facebook.com/EYOFGyőr2017
Source: MTI


text: So I know this looks bad. Considering I had taken a break before, but the last two weeks just were hectic and stressful for me. My step-grandmother passed away, my nephew's birthday, the election (yeah…usa….). Ugh, so I just could not get back into my translating habit. I will try my best to get out of my rut this weekend. I just want to let everyone know. When it rains it pours. But I will get back in to my schedule. I won't promise double updates yet. But hopefully I would be able to do it soon to get back to the correct chapters.


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Finding The Acceptable Indoor Or Outdoor Cage For Your Cat (Photographic Guide)
In the course of the actual construction of the tenting outdoor tent website, there are a variety of things that should be taken into consideration. Additionally it is exceedingly necessary to make enough camping, outdoor tent plans to confer with, before you start the construction part of establishing your tent web site. Wonderful outdoor cages, secure and they can take pleasure in free air with out the dange of being stollen or run away! If gaping spaces are present then this can be a weak level that will result in the gradual deterioration of the furnishings. With the addition of plasticizers this cloth is very flexible and simple to mold and conform to numerous outdoor chair shapes. Select your theme and work round it. Strive chunky teak furniture for a beachy really feel, or classic impressed iron for a more formal look. Photo voltaic safety lights equipped with PIR (passive Infra crimson) detector are glorious for perimeter safety.
These lights provide extreme money savings by only using 2-10 watts of electrical energy; you'll be able to get up to 60,000 hours out of those bulbs, they're very cool operating, the turn instantly on and off, they work great in chilly weather, they usually can face up to average energy surges, they're usually sensor activated, and the bulbs are very durable.
Davie Kirkley will likely be checking out some Photo voltaic Lighting potentialities in case we resolve to go in that direction. Hello Phil Plasma and cosmeticdentalsa – Thanks for stopping by. Outdoor backyard lighting is simply one of many cool possibilities for a smart dwelling. Mission / Craftsman – These lights usually have easy, lighter shapes and are extra rectangular with flatter styling. I like these stair treads as they've weather non-skid latex rubber backing which will increase traction on …Read More


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Santa Muerte's Viral Marketing
Santa Muerte, the patron saint of love and lost objects, lets me in on a her secret why traditional magic so often requires sacrifice- and altars.
I have had very pleasant conversations with nymphs, but I would suggest to keep it within the bounds of friendship unless you are quite serious about what you are doing.
If you can get yourself to believe in your own power, you're free! And free is a lot cheaper than cheap. When a change in energy is large enough, it changes quality. When you don't have to worry how many rosaries you need to say to get a new lawnmower, you are free to ask for a waterfront property.
And what is it with the statue?
I'd like to add she struck me as one of the friendliest presences I've came into contact with, very, very loving. She seems to care a great deal about people, especially poorer ones, and she is not above accommodating them in whatever way they need in order so they may give themselves permission to find love and happiness, including spilling wine and setting up skeletony statues. Maybe those needs make us snobbish folks feel queazy, but it's really an act of love.


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City of West HollywoodHome Menu
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City Presents Family Fun Nights: Free Movies in the Park
The City of West Hollywood brings family movie night outdoors with three fun-for-the-whole-family events:
- Movies in the Park: A Dog's Way Home on Saturday, July 27, 2019;
- Movies in the Park: The Lego Movie 2 on Tuesday, August 6, 2019; and
- "Dive-In Movie" at West Hollywood Aquatic Center: How to Train Your Dragon 3: Hidden World on Saturday, August 17, 2019.
Bring a picnic basket, a blanket, and your family and friends for movie trivia and arts and crafts at 6 p.m.; the movie screenings begin at dusk.
A Dog's Way Home stars Bryce Dallas Howard, Ashley Judd, and Edward James Olmos and chronicles the adventure of Bella, a dog who embarks on a 400-mile journey home after she is separated from her beloved human. This evening the City's Recreation Services Division will also be collecting donations for spcaLA — most needed are cots, unopened food and treats, and toys. Bring a donation for our four-legged fur friends and be entered in a raffle. This family fun night will take place on Saturday, July 27, 2019 on the Great Lawn at West Hollywood Park, located at 647 N. San Vicente Boulevard.
The Lego Movie 2 is a 2019 computer animated musical comedy adventure film featuring Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Charlie Day, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Will Ferrell, Tiffany Haddish, Stephanie Beatriz, and Maya Rudolph. The film focuses on Emmet Brickowski as he attempts to rescue his friends from the Systar System, while dealing with a coming cataclysm known as Armamageddon. This family fun night will take place as part of National Night Out events on Tuesday, August 6, 2019 at Plummer Park, located at 7377 Santa Monica Boulevard.
How to Train Your Dragon 3: Hidden World where Hiccup, who is now chief and ruler of Berk alongside Astrid, has created a gloriously chaotic dragon utopia. When the sudden appearance of female Light Fury coincides with the darkest threat their village has ever faced, Hiccup and Toothless must leave the only home they've known and journey to a hidden world thought only to exist in myth. As their true destinies are revealed, dragon and rider will fight together—to the very ends of the Earth—to protect everything they've grown to treasure.
This Dive-In Movie event starts at 6:45 p.m. with a social hour, refreshments, and recreational swim time followed by the film at dusk. This fun-filled evening of swimming and chilling under the stars takes place on Saturday, August 17, 2019 at the West Hollywood Aquatic Center, located at 647 N. San Vicente Boulevard.For more information, please contact the City of West Hollywood's Recreation Division, at (323) 848-6534. For people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, please call TTY (323) 848-6496. For up-to-date news and events, follow the City of West Hollywood on social media @WeHoCity and sign up for news updates at www.weho.org/email.


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Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht LLP for PRNewswire | July 30, 2019 — Do you have a credit card with Capital One or have you applied for one at any time from 2005 to 2019? If so, your social security number and bank account details may have been stolen. Pierce Bainbridge is investigating legal claims to protect your rights and seek financial compensation.
Click to read the full article at prnewswire.com
Photo by Rupixen on Unsplash


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Monday, December 7th, is the 74th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Over 2000 US military personnel died in the massive raid by Imperial Japan's navy, with 1177 of those coming from the loss of the USS Arizona when she exploded and sank.
There are still a few survivors, but they are in their mid-90's. Soon, any living link to "the day that will live in infamy" will be gone.
Pearl Harbor propelled the United States into World War Two. Approximately three years and nine months of tough fighting and sacrifice lay ahead for our nation before final victory – but final victory was achieved.
What are you doing to achieve YOUR victories? At Texas811, we're working hard every hour of every day to make sure you achieve your number one goal – returning home safe at the end of the work day.
What constitutes other Texas811 victories?
Victory for our 1500 plus members is fewer line strikes.
Victory for our member's customer base is fewer outages due to line strikes.
Victory for our environment is fewer spills or releases of material due to line strikes.
Victory for our busy Texas construction crews is less down time due to line strikes.
Victory for our state is making just one more person aware of the need to call 811 before digging.
Today you can visit the USS Arizona – you can see her outline in the water beneath the Pearl Harbor memorial. The sunken ship is a tomb for hundreds and hundreds of sailors.
Don't let a deadly line strike become your tomb. Always call 811 to get lines located before you dig.
Because victory can be as simple as you walking through your front door at the end of the day.
Until next week, safe digging!


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Sony is a leading manufacturer of audio, video, communications, and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets.
I usually make my travel plan on a very short notice. Being a marketing guy I have to travel a lot. Therefore I get to meet a lot of characters and places & capturing those moments becomes automatic choice. I like to travel with small gears. My Sony a6000 with 16-50mm kit lens and a dedicated prime sel35f18 does the rest job quite well.
I planned a trip to Thailand to have a great leisure and to capture the landscapic scene and the citylife as well.
The A6000
This is a camera that changed my whole interest in photography. The small body the ergonomics, the picture quality and the razor sharp focusing technique has blown me. The more I use it the more I am in love with this little monster.
E PZ 16-50mm 3.5-5.6 OSS :
I have not seen people are satisfied with their kit lens so often. But whet i got habituated with this pancake lens I hardly unmounted it from my camera. It is my everyday lens. Its accurate, palm size and providing amazing output.
E 35mm f 1.8 OSS :
This is a lens that becomes an obvious second buy for the A6000 line up. The build quality, metal construction, smoothness and the picture quality is simply amazing. I mainly use it for portraits and street. This f1.8 stop creates a smooth background separation for portraits and makes my picture stand out. I simply love how it performs.
I believe in traveling without worrying about my gear and lenses. It helps me to visualize the scene more intensely. I will recommend this line up to everyone who is looking for lightweight gears and quality. Travel freely and leave the rest to this baby monster. I am saving bucks to buy a sony 24mm 1.8 to my line up.


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'Biopsychosocial' basis for benefit cuts is 'cavalier, unevidenced and misleading'
The research that successive governments have relied on to justify slashing disability benefits over more than a decade is riddled with inconsistencies, misleading statements and "unevidenced" claims, according to three disabled academics.
A new article by Professor Tom Shakespeare and Professor Nicholas Watson, and fellow academic Ola Abu Alghaib, concludes that the biopsychosocial model of health (BPS) "does not represent evidence-based policy".
The BPS under-pinned Labour's out-of-work disability benefit employment and support allowance (ESA) and the work capability assessment (WCA), which has since been linked repeatedly to relapses, episodes of self-harm, and even suicides and other deaths, among those who have been assessed and found fit for work.
BPS has also "played a key role" in the tightening of eligibility criteria for ESA and other disability benefits by the subsequent coalition and Tory governments, including the new personal independence payment and universal credit, even though there is "no coherent theory or evidence" behind it, say the three authors.
The BPS was developed by Dr Gordon Waddell, an orthopaedic surgeon, and Professor Sir Mansel Aylward, who was chief medical officer for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) from 1995 to 2005.
Key to the BPS model, say the three authors, is the idea that "it is the negative attitudes of many ESA recipients that prevent them from working, rather than their impairment or health condition", essentially branding many benefit claimants "scroungers".
This allows supporters of BPS – including a string of Labour and Tory government ministers – to draw a distinction "between 'real' incapacity benefit claimants, with long-term and incurable health conditions, and 'fake' benefit claimants, with short-term illness", with the model responsible for a "barely concealed" element of "victim-blaming".
Shakespeare, Watson and Abu Alghaib say that this distinction "drives media coverage and popular attitudes to disabled people", by creating this supposed contrast between "the deserving and the undeserving poor".
They say BPS has been used to "underpin increasingly harsh and at times punitive measures targeted at disabled people" as the state tries to cut the number of people receiving ESA.
Their article, Blaming The Victim, All Over Again: Waddell And Aylward's Biopsychosocial (BPS) Model Of Disability, is published by the journal Critical Social Policy.
It criticises the willingness of a succession of politicians, such as the welfare reform minister Lord Freud – who has described it in parliament as a "coherent theory" – to base their policies on the BPS.
Alyward left DWP to head Cardiff University's Centre for Psychosocial and Disability Research, which for four years was sponsored by the US disability insurance giant Unum, a company that once bragged that UK government policy on incapacity benefit reform was "being driven by our thinking".
The article says the centre has worked "extensively" for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
In one of their articles, Aylward and Waddell say: "As an oversimplification, capacity may be limited by a health condition, but performance is limited by how the person thinks and feels about their health condition."
But Shakespeare, Watson and Abu Alghaib say they have "carefully reviewed claims" made in the two publications, which they say reveals "a cavalier approach to scientific evidence".
They point to "inconsistencies" and "misleading statements", and they say that the authors "rely on unevidenced assertions throughout their work".
They add: "Waddell and Aylward slide between general statements that are scientifically valid and specific statements that are matters of opinion or political prejudice.
"They also tend to cite their own, non-peer reviewed papers extensively."
And they point to another quote from Aylward and Waddell, in which they say: "For most people with common health problems, decisions about being (un)fit for work, taking sickness absence or claiming benefits are conscious and rational decisions, free choices with full awareness and intent, for which they must take responsibility."
This, according to Shakespeare – who is professor of disability research at the University of East Anglia's Norwich Medical School – and his colleagues brands such people "scroungers".
They say that, rather than "promoting the myth that large numbers of claimants are fraudulent", the government should focus its attention on ensuring employers are "encouraged, supported, regulated and finally forced to give due consideration to disabled people as workers".
They conclude: "Society must accept that work is not always appropriate or possible, and that for many disabled people humane and supportive alternatives to work are needed.
"These must not stigmatise those who are so supported, nor should non-working disabled people have to suffer poverty and social exclusion."
The article is the first academic examination of the BPS, and particularly of two key publications by Aylward and Waddell: The Scientific and Conceptual Basis of Incapacity Benefits (2005) and Models of Sickness and Disability: Applied to Common Health Problems (2010).
Following the article's publication, Watson – professor of disability research at the University of Glasgow, and director of the Centre for Disability Research – called for DWP to review the evidence used to drive its policies on out-of-work disability benefits.
He told Disability News Service (DNS) that the BPS had "been used to drive the WCA", and that the government now needs to examine "the evidence that they used to create their policies".
He added: "I would question very much the foundations that they are built on."
He pointed out that none of the articles they analyse in their article had been published in peer-reviewed publications – as theirs was – but instead had been self-published or published by "obscure publishing houses".
He said: "If they really wanted to make their case, they would submit their work to peer review."
A DWP spokeswoman said the department was not previously aware of the article before it was contacted by DNS, but she added: "We work with experts on disability issues and look at a wide range of evidence when developing policies that will affect disabled people, including the work and health green paper, and we will consider the points raised in this article."
DWP said the WCA had been developed in consultation with medical and other experts, including groups representing disabled people, and had been subject to five independent reviews.
The department said the PIP assessment was also developed with the help of a wide range of experts, and had been subject to a public consultation and thorough testing, as well as an independent review after its introduction.
And DWP said the authors were not correct to say that the government promotes "the myth that large numbers of claimants are fraudulent" and that "it is the negative attitudes of many ESA recipients that prevent them from working, rather than their health condition".
Alyward had declined to comment on the article by noon today (9 June), while DNS has so far been unable to contact Waddell.
9 June 2016
UK government set for UN grilling in Geneva over 'breaches of disability rights'
The UK government is set to face a grilling from UN experts next week over its alleged breaches of international obligations on disabled people's human rights.
The government will be examined on Wednesday and Thursday (15 and 16 June) by the UN committee on economic, social and cultural rights on its record on issues such as social security, employment, housing, health and education.
The discussions will take place in public, in Geneva, Switzerland, with the committee's findings likely to be published the following week.
A list of issues published by the committee – one of 10 bodies that monitor the implementation of the UN's main human rights treaties – shows that among its concerns is the steps the government has taken to ensure that "austerity measures" introduced through the 2012 Welfare Reform Act do not "disproportionately affect" the rights of "disadvantaged and marginalized individuals and groups", including disabled people.
The committee's list also raises concerns about the government's decision to lower the benefits cap and freeze working-age benefits, and its efforts to address the housing crisis.
It also asks what the UK has done to reduce poverty among "the most marginalized and disadvantaged individuals and groups", and questions "the reliance on emergency food aid from food banks".
The UK is one of seven countries – including Macedonia, Angola and France – that will be examined by the committee this month, as part of a programme of regular reviews of countries that have ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
The UK ratified the human rights treaty in 1976 and was last reviewed over its progress on implementation in 2009.
The Just Fair human rights consortium – whose members include Disabled People Against Cuts, Inclusion London and Disability Rights UK – has submitted an updated report to the committee in the last few weeks, with evidence across the treaty areas, including employment, social security, access to justice, housing and the right to an adequate standard of living.
The consortium highlights the need to focus on the UK government's social security reforms because of evidence that they have "had a retrogressive impact" on many of the rights in the treaty, particularly for disabled people and children, which "cannot be justified by reasons of economic necessity".
In its own updated submission to the committee, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) suggests that the government's social security reforms have breached the treaty, while some of them "have had a disproportionate impact on disabled people, women and children".
It also suggests that the government should do more to consider the impact of policy and legislation on potentially vulnerable groups, while it should also conduct "cumulative impact assessments" of its overall reforms, an action the government has repeatedly refused to carry out.
Among particular concerns, EHRC highlights the move to universal credit, which will see the abolition of the severe disability premium; a 50 per cent cut in financial support to families with a disabled child who receive disability living allowance, affecting around 100,000 disabled children; and cuts of about £40 a week to payments to disabled people in work.
It also warns that cuts to the disabled students' allowance "could have a negative impact on how disabled students access and succeed in higher education".
A member of the commission's treaty monitoring team will be attending the public examination of the UK government.
In its submission to the committee, the disabled women's collective Sisters of Frida (SoF) warns that the closure of the Independent Living Fund has "put seriously in peril the ability of a large number of disabled people with high support needs to live independently in their own homes and communities".
It says that the government's housing policies mean that disabled people are being forced to live in segregated institutions.
Sisters of Frida also highlights the government's unpopular reforms of the Access to Work scheme; planned cuts of £30 a week to new claimants in the work-related activity group of employment and support allowance; and the barriers faced by disabled women who have experienced domestic violence.
Eleanor Lisney, who wrote the submission with fellow steering group member Armineh Soorenian, said SoF felt it was important for disabled people in the UK to contribute to as many UN human rights mechanisms as possible, because of the government's attacks on disability rights.
She said: "I think it's important to raise issues everywhere we can. It's very much a drip-drip effect; the more we go on about it, the more it accumulates and they can't just [dismiss it because] it is one report."
She said she hoped their efforts would pay off when the committee delivers its conclusions at the end of this month, and added: "I hope the UK government gets more than its knuckles rapped."
Sisters of Frida was asked to put the report together at short notice by the International Disability Alliance.
Lisney is one of 30 international disabled women's rights leaders who will visit Geneva next month for a convention organised by the disability organisation Women Enabled International for training on how to use the various UN human rights mechanisms – like ICESCR and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – to advance the rights of disabled women and girls.
The week-long event will also aim to develop a network of women's disability rights advocates and allies "who can work together when opportunities arise to shape policy in international bodies advancing the rights of women and girls with disabilities".
9 June 2016
'Wake up!' Baroness Campbell's plea to disabled people over EU referendum apathy
A leading peer has told disabled people to "wake up" to the reality that they could lose many of their hard-won rights if the UK votes to leave the European Union (EU) later this month.
In an impassioned plea, Baroness [Jane] Campbell begged other disabled people not to abandon the EU, which she said acted as a "double lock" on disability rights.
She told Disability News Service (DNS): "At the moment, our rights are double-locked. If we leave the EU we can kiss goodbye to all the progress we have made on independent living, employment rights and access to information."
She was speaking after a seminar she chaired in parliament which examined the disability rights case for remaining in the EU.
The seminar was addressed by influential disabled campaigners and "remain" supporters including John Evans, one of the founders of the UK's independent living movement and a former chair of the European Network on Independent Living (ENIL); the crossbench peer Lord [Colin] Low, a former president of the European Blind Union; and Professor Anna Lawson, who heads the new Disability Law Hub at the University of Leeds.
There was frustration expressed during the seminar that many disabled people had not understood the risks posed by leaving the EU.
Baroness Campbell told DNS that the rights disabled people had secured as a result of Britain's membership of the EU would not be lost immediately but would gradually "ebb away" if the country voted "leave".
She said: "The independent living movement for one has worked so hard to bring disabled people together through Europe to fight for our fundamental human rights and we need that [to continue].
"It will not hit us immediately, but over the years, slowly, they will be ebbing away and then we will be on our own, and we know what it is like to be out in the cold, to be segregated from our fellow disabled people.
"Please, please, do not let this happen. Nothing about us without us, and that means in Europe as well as in the UK."
Baroness Campbell had admitted to the seminar that she had started thinking about the EU referendum only recently, but the more she discovered about the damage that leaving the EU would do to disabled people "the more afraid I become".
She said that other disabled people around the country had told her they were preoccupied with other campaigns.
But she said: "We are so busy fighting our battles on different fronts that we are not lifting our heads up to see what is going on around us on the bigger stage."
She said that many disabled people had told her that they would pay attention to the EU issue when their other battles were over, but she told the seminar: "When that's all over it will be too late."
9 June 2016
Britain must stay in the EU if independent living is to thrive, says pioneer
The independent living movement will only continue to thrive if Britain stays in the European Union (EU), according to one of its pioneers.
John Evans, one of the founders of the UK independent living movement, told a Westminster seminar that he believed independent living would only continue to develop in the UK if it was still protected by EU laws.
He said that disabled people wanted to "pull down barriers, not erect them" and recognised that discrimination "does not stop at borders".
Evans was liberated from a Cheshire Home 33 years ago, when he used council funding to set up his own independent living scheme in Hampshire, and has since become a key figure in both the UK and European independent living movements.
He was involved in 1989 – along with disabled people from 19 European countries – in setting up the European Network on Independent Living (ENIL), an organisation he later chaired.
He told the audience of politicians, academics and campaigners who support voting to remain in the EU in this month's referendum that his involvement in ENIL had had a huge influence on his life, and that he had "personally witnessed the enormous benefits, successes and achievements disabled people in the UK have gained from the EU".
He said: "I firmly believe that in order for independent living to continue to thrive, we need to be able to do it within the European legislative framework and along with our disabled friends and allies in Europe."
Evans has been employing personal assistants (PAs) for 33 years, and in that time has employed people from 12 EU member states.
He said a decision to leave the EU would mean such recruitment would no longer be possible, and so would "restrict thousands of disabled people" looking for PAs, which was "already a big problem in this country, particularly in many rural areas".
He said that if the UK left the EU, thousands of other disabled people who use PAs from other EU member states would find it increasingly difficult to find the staff they needed.
He said: "Disabled people in the UK have simply too much to lose if we leave the EU, and personally I am horrified at the very thought of it.
"We want to protect Europe's very significant achievements for disabled people, and prevent others from being taken away from us, and provide a platform for the further improvements for our future."
The seminar was supported by the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign, and was chaired by the disabled crossbench peer Baroness [Jane] Campbell.
Evans described how another disabled person told him last month that the EU had done nothing to challenge austerity in Europe, but he said he had corrected her by pointing to a coalition formed four years ago by ENIL, which included the European Disability Forum, Inclusion Europe and members of the European parliament, and which provided a "united voice" against the impact of austerity measures.
He said: "This work is still going on and it is important it does on a European level and that we are part of it."
Evans said that disabled people in Britain had been seen as "pioneers" of independent living in Europe, because of their many campaigning successes and progressive legislation such as the Community Care (Direct Payments) Act and the Disability Discrimination Act, while other EU countries had struggled to secure such legislation.
He said: "We want to continue to play this important, influential role in Europe, which is why it is so vital we remain within the EU."
Evans also pointed to funds from the European Commission and the EU's European Social Fund that have been used to strengthen independent living networks and set up projects for disabled people in the UK.
He said: "If we leave the EU we would not have access to this funding mechanism, which would restrict independent living possibilities at a time when resources are very scarce for supporting this work in the UK."
9 June 2016
EU laws 'have played crucial role' in fight for disability rights
Disabled people have been urged to recognise the importance of the European Union (EU) in maintaining and building on their rights, across areas such as access to information, transport and accessible goods and services.
The call for disabled people to vote to remain in the EU in this month's referendum came at a Westminster seminar chaired by the crossbench disabled peer Baroness [Jane] Campbell.
The seminar was addressed by influential disabled campaigners and "remain" supporters including John Evans, one of the founders of the UK's independent living movement and a former chair of the European Network on Independent Living; the crossbench peer Lord [Colin] Low, a former president of the European Blind Union; and Professor Anna Lawson, who heads the new Disability Law Hub at the University of Leeds.
It took place a day after a letter in The Times, signed by more than 50 peers, MPs, activists and academics – including Baroness Campbell, Lord Low, and fellow disabled peers Baroness [Tanni] Grey-Thompson, Baroness [Sal] Brinton and Baroness [Celia] Thomas – explained that leaving the EU would create a "bonfire" of disabled people's "hard-won rights", while a post-Brexit Britain would see disabled people "banished to the margins of British life once more".
Lord Low told the seminar that disabled people who were too busy fighting other campaign battles to pay attention to the referendum should realise that it was "one of the most momentous decisions they will face in their lifetime".
He said that being a member of the European single market had had a significantly positive affect on disabled people.
He said: "I would argue that we were able to achieve a great deal for disabled people [as a result of various EU mechanisms] that we simply could not have achieved at national level."
He pointed to three pieces of European legislation that have had, or will have, a significant positive impact on disabled people in the UK.
He said that EU policies on procurement by public bodies, such as local authorities and government departments, offer a "substantial lever" to improve the accessibility of goods and services.
He also pointed to draft EU rules on the accessibility of public sector websites, which have been agreed despite "strong resistance from national governments who delayed progress for almost two years".
The EU Directive on Web Accessibility for Public Sector Websites will mean that new websites and mobile phone apps of all public sector organisations will have to be accessible, while existing sites will have to be updated.
Lord Low also pointed to the proposed European Accessibility Act, which was published in draft form last December and will outlaw discrimination faced by disabled people in accessing key products and services, encouraging investment in accessible goods and leading to consistent standards across the EU.
Legislation like this, he said, will only be possible if we remain in the EU, because the UK government would never introduce such laws if the country voted to "leave".
Professor Lawson told the seminar that EU law "plays a really crucial part" in "enabling and entitling disabled and older people to travel and get about".
She said the EU's Air Passengers Regulation was "a really good example of the benefits to the UK of being in the EU".
The regulation means transport operators have to assist disabled passengers travelling by air through the EU, with similar obligations for travel by train, ship, and buses and coaches, while disabled people's parking badges receive mutual recognition across the EU.
Before the regulation, she said, air travel was "a nightmare" as it was not covered by UK discrimination laws, because of its international dimension.
She said: "I had people saying, 'We can help you as far as the check-in desk, but then you're on your own.'
"I cancelled flights because I couldn't risk being left on my own."
Tara Flood, chief executive of The Alliance for Inclusive Education (ALLFIE), told the seminar that her organisation had twice benefitted from EU funding, which had allowed ALLFIE to build "fantastic collaborative relationships" with other EU countries to campaign for an end to segregated education and move towards an inclusive education system.
9 June 2016
EHRC commissioner calls on sports bodies to act on disabled board members
The equality watchdog's disability commissioner has called for the country's major disability sports organisations to take action over the "disappointing" number of disabled people on their boards and among their paid staff.
Lord [Chris] Holmes, himself a retired, record-breaking Paralympian and now disability commissioner for the Equality and Human Rights Commission, spoke out after a Disability News Service (DNS) survey showed that only one of 11 national disability sports organisations was run and controlled by disabled people.
The survey showed that only one of the 11 had increased the proportion of disabled people on its board since the last survey in 2013, while just 27 of their 163 employees (16.6 per cent) consider themselves to be disabled people.
The British Paralympic Association (BPA), which manages Britain's Paralympic team, has just one disabled board member out of nine, the same number it had three years ago.
And just three of BPA's 33 paid staff say they are disabled people, according to its own internal survey.
Lord Holmes said: "There is a vast pool of talented disabled people in the UK who would excel in these positions, from the many sportswomen and men who have competed at the highest level in international sport, to those leading in business and the arts.
"It is therefore disappointing to find stagnation, and in some cases, reductions in the numbers of disabled people on the boards of UK disability sports organisations.
"Changes clearly have to be made to bring more disabled people into these roles."
He also expressed disappointment about the proportion of disabled people employed within the organisations.
Keryn Seal, a key member of the British blind football team, who competed at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, also called for change and said he was particularly alarmed by the board numbers.
He said: "You would think that some of them would be people who were disabled, people who have been there and done it.
"It means they are not having any kind of guiding or steering effect on where the sport goes in the future."
Seal said the lack of impetus for change could be because it would not be in the interests of current board members, as "turkeys don't vote for Christmas".
But he also said that "athletes are inherently quite selfish" and prefer to concentrate on playing and competing, rather than running their sport, while "a lot of people don't put their head over the parapet".
He suggested that the bigger organisations, such as BPA, "should be creating schemes where they can build leaders of sport", for example by running training schemes or allowing disabled athletes and retired athletes to shadow existing board members.
He said: "I would love them to be the catalyst for a change in attitudes. They are the ones that set an example of governance [for other disability sports organisations].
"If they were to lead the way, I think other disability sports would follow suit. They have had time to do that."
His sport is run by the mainstream Football Association at the elite level, but British Blind Sport – which has two disabled board members out of six – has an involvement at grassroots level.
Seal said: "I would love to be able to drive my sport for the future when I am finished, either at international or grassroots level."
He said he would also like to be involved in the FA's inclusion advisory board, and added: "I would love to help change policy in the future."
Seal suggested that the issue of disabled people on boards was at the same stage that the issue of women on boards was at 20 years ago.
Other Paralympians have so far been less keen to comment on the survey.
One retired Paralympian said on Twitter that he had been "shouting for years" about the issue, but he has so far been unwilling to expand on his comment.
Many other Paralympians have declined to comment this week.
The agent for one high-profile Paralympian said: "Unfortunately this doesn't fit with our PR strategy for A* in the build up to the Paralympics."
A BPS spokeswoman said: "The election process for the British Paralympic Association board takes place once every four years.
"The skills and experience required for board members is important, they are responsible for a world leading National Paralympic Committee taking upwards of 250 athletes to the Rio Paralympic Games.
"The next set of elections for the BPA board will take place in 2017 and we welcome a wide and diverse set of candidates for those positions."
*DNS has chosen not to name the athlete concerned
9 June 2016
Concerns over watchdog's 'alarming' inspection cancellation figures
Disabled campaigners and politicians have raised serious concerns about the social care inspection regime, after last week's revelations that the number of cancellations and postponements rose by more than 360 per cent in just one year.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has so far refused to say why the number of inspections of adult social care services that were cancelled or rescheduled rose so sharply from April 2015 to April 2016.
The figures – revealed by CQC after a freedom of information request by Disability News Service (DNS) – show 25 inspections were cancelled in April 2015, rising to 103 in April 2016, while the number of inspections rescheduled increased from 25 in April 2015 to 130 in April 2016.
Despite CQC's refusal to explain the rise, the Department of Health (DH) was in disarray this week, suggesting at one point that "ultimately the cancellations are a result of funding and fee issues, of which we would not comment".
But when DNS tried to clarify how the fees CQC charges care services to be regulated was connected with a rise in the number of cancelled inspections, a DH spokeswoman said she was "not attempting to make a direct link between funding and cancellations", and then that it "would be both incorrect and wrong to quote me as suggesting that fees and funding are linked".
Despite the continuing refusal of both DH and CQC to explain why cancellations and rescheduled inspections have risen so sharply, disabled campaigners and politicians have suggested that the figures pose serious questions about the way CQC is being run.
Professor Peter Beresford, co-chair of the service-user network Shaping Our Lives, said there had been concerns ever since CQC replaced its predecessor organisations about whether it was well-funded enough to "make possible the sensitive and thoroughgoing regulation that the human services for which it has responsibility demand".
Beresford said CQC had continued to make news "for all the wrong reasons" since its launch.
He said this may reflect "the worrying state of social care more generally" but that the cancellation figures provided "no reassurance" that CQC was able to take on the "increasingly difficult and important role it has to play across social care and health".
He said: "Perhaps a root and branch review is now needed and one that puts service-users and carers more strongly at the centre of its operation – rather than apparently weakened, as its poor handling of the Experts by Experience issue has suggested."
Jonathan Bartley, the Green party's work and pensions spokesman, who is standing alongside Caroline Lucas in a job share to lead the party, said CQC's regime of adult social care inspection "appears to be disintegrating".
He said: "The potential impact that so many cancelled inspections will have on rooting out abuse and other poor practice in places where so many people are potentially vulnerable is alarming."
Labour's shadow minister for social care, Barbara Keeley, also raised concerns after being shown the figures by DNS.
She said: "It is worrying to see such a significant increase in the number of CQC inspections being cancelled and rescheduled.
"These cancellations, especially if they are last-minute, can be disruptive to staff and to service-users.
"We need an effective body to root out abuse and raise quality standards in social care.
"Ministers need to reconsider the cuts they are making to the CQC's budget and whether this is impacting on the organisation's ability to do its job properly."
The freedom of information request was originally submitted by DNS in an attempt to discover the impact of changes to CQC's troubled Experts by Experience (EbE) programme.
Earlier this year, three of four new contracts to run the EbE programme – in which people with experience of using services accompany CQC inspectors on their visits – were handed by CQC to Remploy, the disability employment business formerly owned by the government but now mostly owned by the scandal-hit US company Maximus.
In February, DNS reported that these contract awards had led to confusion, chaos and a stream of resignations by Experts, particularly over Remploy's decision to slash their hourly rates of pay.
The CQC figures show that inspections that were cancelled or rescheduled as a result of "insufficient non-CQC resources" (which includes those where there were problems finding Experts to take part) rose from six in July 2015 to 26 in April 2016, an increase of more than 330 per cent.
Sue Bott, deputy chief executive of Disability Rights UK, said she believed the Experts by Experience programme had been "corrupted to fit in with austerity budgets", while the "spirit and purpose of the programme has been lost".
Bott led the National Centre for Independent Living when it developed the programme with CQC's predecessor, the Commission for Social Care Inspection, working with local disabled people's organisations (DPOs), which she said was "still the best way of running a programme like this".
She said: "A number of DPOs including ourselves and Spectrum sent a letter of concern about the last tendering process to CQC, but our concerns were not addressed.
"Experts have to be locally recruited and supported in the community. This work is not suitable for large national contractors."
She added: "I'm not surprised people feel let down and no longer want to have anything to do with it.
"It's not just a question of recruiting experts but also providing support during and after the inspection.
"If this doesn't happen then many people are excluded from being able to take part.
"The hourly rate is a crucial principle to get right as it reflects respect for the expert. Lowering the fee undermines this principle."
Last week, journalist and former Expert by Experience Claire Bolderson wrote in her blog that the Remploy part of the EbE programme was "in chaos", with Experts "leaving in despair", emails going unanswered, and some Experts being asked to travel "absurd distances" to inspections, while senior Remploy staff had apparently been told by CQC in April that "the company was 'non-compliant' in almost a dozen areas".
Meanwhile, the Commons public accounts committee has warned that the Department of Health (DH) is not doing enough to safeguard the interests of disabled adults and other service-users receiving personal budgets for social care.
Its report was published against a background of increasing demand for adult social care, but a real terms fall in spending by English local authorities.
The committee concluded that it was "not assured that local authorities can fully personalise care while seeking to save money, and are concerned that users' outcomes will be adversely affected".
It criticised DH for its "complacent" response to concerns about social care funding, as it had told the committee that this had been addressed through the spending review process, which introduced new powers for local authorities to raise council tax by an extra two per cent to increase social care funding, and provided extra money through the Better Care Fund.
The committee also warned that adults who receive council-funded social care "are not yet getting the support they need consistently in order to get the most out of personalising their care".
And it pointed out that DH does not believe that "everyone counted by local authorities as having a personal budget does actually have genuine choice and control over the services they receive".
The report calls for more research to show how local authorities can implement personal budgets "to maximise benefits to users".
The previous day, the Commons communities and local government committee launched an inquiry – and an appeal for written evidence – into "the financial sustainability of local authority adult social care and the quality of care provided".
Clive Betts, the committee's chair, said that adult social care was "coming under increasing pressure as a result of growing demand and declining local authority budgets".
He said: "Our inquiry will look at the financial sustainability of this care and support to see what can be done to allow councils to continue to meet their legal obligations for future generations."
9 June 2016
SEN stats 'suggest many councils are struggling with funding'
New official figures highlight grave concerns about the impact of the government's special educational needs and disability (SEND) reforms on disabled children, according to a leading campaigner.
The figures show that some local authorities are lagging far behind others in implementing the government's reforms.
Under the reforms, which came into effect in September 2014, following the Children and Families Act, local authorities in England have until April 2018 to move all disabled children eligible for support from SEN statements to new education, health and care plans (EHCPs).
The plans will last from birth to the age of 25 and set out all the support a family should receive across education, health and social care.
But the new Department for Education (DfE) statistics show a huge difference between local authorities in how quickly they are implementing the reforms, with some councils far more likely to be providing their disabled pupils with old-style statements instead of EHCPs.
One of the worst-performing local authorities is Tory-run Westminster, which – by January 2016 – had set up just 30 EHCPs, compared with maintaining 1,005 SEN statements, with just 1.1 per cent of children with statements issued with a replacement EHCP.
Labour-run Derby City Council had produced only 70 EHCPs and still had 1,200 statements, with just 3.1 per cent of children with statements issued with an EHCP.
These figures compared with Nottinghamshire County Council, which only had 675 disabled children with statements but 1,170 with EHCPs (and more than half of children with statements moved on to EHCPs), and City of York Council, with 190 statements and 380 EHCPs (and 63.4 per cent moved on to EHCPs).
There were also huge differences in how long families had to wait for their EHCPs, with only 8.3 per cent of EHCPs issued within the necessary 20 weeks by Oldham council, and 17.4 per cent in Kingston upon Hull.
This compares with 92.9 per cent in Nottinghamshire, and 99.1 per cent in Bedford.
Tara Flood, chief executive of The Alliance for Inclusive Education (ALLFIE), said she believed the figures show that many councils are struggling with education funding, partly because a significant number of disabled young people who previously were too old for statements are now eligible for EHCPs.
Flood said she believed that the government's reforms will cause the number of disabled children in mainstream school to "decline sharply".
ALLFIE is being approached by three or four parents a week concerned that their children are seeing a reduction in their support during the implementation of EHCPs.
Children who previously had statements are now being awarded lower levels of support under EHCPs, she said, with both schools and local authorities blaming the government's reforms, and some families being told their child is no longer eligible for any support.
Flood warned that there had been little attempt to gather evidence on what was happening to the amount of support being offered to disabled children and young people as a result of the reforms.
Last week, educational support organisation The Key revealed that a survey of more than 1,100 school leaders showed than eight in 10 schools across England and Wales had insufficient funding to provide adequately for their disabled pupils, while almost nine in 10 school leaders had seen the support they receive for these children "affected detrimentally" by cuts to council services.
A Department for Education (DfE) spokeswoman said: "Just 20 months ago, we made fundamental changes to the way the SEND support system works for families – the biggest in a generation.
"These figures show that overall, since the introduction of our reforms, 74,000 young people with SEND now have EHC plans – clear signs that we are on track and progress is being made.
"Councils are learning new ways of working under the new assessment process, and we know there is still progress to be made to get this new system fully embedded.
"These figures were collected in January and therefore do not show the current picture.
"We are using this data to monitor how well councils are implementing their new duties, and to target the challenge and support we give them."
DfE said it was investing £45 million between 2014 and 2017 in providing "independent supporters" in every area to help parents and young people "navigate the EHC needs assessment and plan process", as well as funding an implementation grant of £35.8 million for local authorities.
Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission will assess how effectively local areas are working together to implement the Children and Families Act, with all local areas to be inspected over the next five years, while DfE said it would also work with the Department of Health and NHS England to help "spread good practice as well as bring about necessary improvements".
9 June 2016
Report finds support for efforts to find a social model of mental distress
Most mental health service-users are still deeply divided about identifying with the social model of disability, but still favour moving away from the medicalised attitude of professionals and towards a more "social" approach, according to a new report.
The user-led research aimed to investigate how a more "social" approach to thinking about mental distress could be developed, in the face of the traditional medical model that dominates the views of both the public and professionals.
Most of the service-users interviewed for the report said they believe that the medical model approach leads to an "over-emphasis on drug treatments", and is "stigmatising and damaging".
Although the government has pledged to secure "parity of esteem" for mental health with physical healthcare, there is concern at a growing crisis in services, an increasing use of compulsory treatment, a large number of service-users in prison, a low number with jobs, and "continuing high levels of suicide and self-harm", the report says.
The report says that the big mental health charities like Mind, Rethink and the Mental Health Foundation (MHF) need to look "much more critically" at their insistence on sticking to "medical understandings of mental distress which many service users find damaging and unhelpful".
It also says that mental health system survivors interviewed for the research gave a "very mixed response" to the anti-stigma campaigns like Time to Change, which have secured "major public and political interest".
The report, From Mental Illness To A Social Model Of Madness And Distress, was funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and was published this week by two service-user organisations, Shaping Our Lives (SOL) and the National Survivor User Network (NSUN).
The report was written by four researchers with personal experience of the mental health system: Peter Beresford, Rebecca Perring, Mary Nettle and Jan Wallcraft.
They conclude that "social approaches" are likely to have "massive traction with mental health service users/survivors, but not if they are narrowly based on the social model of disability".
Views on the social model – which argues that disability is caused by barriers in society – are still "polarised", six years after the first stage of the research project concluded that "further discussions about more social approaches to mental health were needed".
Mental health system survivors are "particularly divided" about the social model idea that disabled people have an impairment that is separate to the disability they face.
The report, launched at a joint NSUN and SoL event in Birmingham yesterday (8 June), says: "There is an irony in that disabled people developed the social model to escape from the prevailing medicalised individual model of disability, but for some survivors, the concept of impairment feels like a re-imposition of a medical model on them which treats their experience like a physical or chemical problem."
One survivor told researchers: "I wouldn't accept that I have an impairment or a disability, because I feel that my problems are caused by childhood… and a dysfunctional family.
"That doesn't mean that I am now disabled, I think that's a nonsense for me, it makes no sense.
"But it does mean that I have mental health needs and that I can't engage in the workplace in the way that other people can for various reasons."
But many survivors still believe it is "possible and helpful" to support the broader disabled people's movement, while "retaining their own distinct identity as mental health service users".
One said: "I strongly agree, because so far all social justice work (which is a crucial part of the social model) has been undertaken by physical disability activists.
"Mental health has been riding on its coat tails. I do identify as disabled."
One of the suggestions that came from participants in the research was that a benefits system based on a social approach would "reduce rather than reinforce stigma and the negative stereotyping of mental health service users and challenge rather than add to the hostility and discrimination they face".
They also highlighted the importance of moving towards a system which "values people experiencing distress and their potential contribution, for example, through voluntary work and community involvement".
One of the report's recommendations is for "adequate and secure funding" for smaller, user-led organisations, which tend to encourage the involvement of service-users and "show a greater understanding" of social approaches to explaining mental distress.
Beresford, SOL's chair and emeritus professor of social policy at Brunel University, said he believed the research showed the need for survivors to be given opportunities to work together to reach an understanding about a new model.
He said that psychiatric provision was still largely stuck in the past, with a "medicalised" approach.
He said: "All the talk [from professionals] is, 'We will get it cracked with bio-medical or related approaches'… and it ain't working.
"I still think the lesson of the last decade is we are on the wrong track and that is what people are saying here.
"They do feel we need a much more social model and we need to move away from a narrow bio-medical one."
And he said that the big mental health charities like Mind, Rethink and MHF needed to think again about their own approaches.
He said: "Mind has got close to government, for example in relation to policy formation.
"All of those organisations are signed up effectively to a biomedical model of distress which people we have spoken to now on two occasions… say is inherently problematic."
9 June 2016
News provided by John Pring at www.disabilitynewsservice.com


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A Conversation with Members of the Second Security, Stability and Resiliency of the Domain Name System (DNS) Review Team (SSR2)
James Gannon, Cyber Security Consultant (GNSO representative, Europe) and Kerry-Ann Barrett, Cyber Security Policy Specialist at the Organization of American States (GAC representative, Latin America and the Caribbean).
The SSR2 Review Team is currently reviewing security, operational stability and resiliency matters related to ICANN's coordination of the Internet's system of unique identifiers, and recently held its second face-to-face meeting in Madrid, Spain. Here, in their individual capacities, Review Team members James Gannon and Kerry-Ann Barrett share their highlights and key takeaways from the meeting.
In your opinion, what were the major achievements of this meeting?
James: In early May, we adopted our Terms of Reference and delivered them to the ICANN Board (per the 3 February 2017 Board Resolution). This step allowed us to make significant progress in the face-to-face meeting.
We outlined the work breakdown structure that we'll operate under and defined the key tasks and topics that we will examine during our review. We also met with key ICANN staff, including members of ICANN's Office of the Chief Technology Officer, to engage them in supporting our review.
Kerry-Ann: Some of the major achievements were the softer accomplishments. We began to solidify as a team, which was evident in team members' open expression of different views and opinions. We were also able to narrow down our scope and determine some of the key areas of focus for the review.
What are some of the areas that the Review Team is focusing on?
James: We've come to agreement on the broad topic areas that we will be examining as part of our review. These touch many of the key areas of responsibility, such as ICANN's internal security processes and the security of the unique identifiers that ICANN coordinates.
Kerry-Ann: We are determined to ensure that the review stays within the scope and mandate of ICANN's new Bylaws and within ICANN's responsibilities, as they relate to the security, stability and resiliency of the unique identifiers.
What are the next steps for the Review Team?
James: The next step is to complete our mapping exercise to associate all 100+ areas of interest that we identified in Madrid with subteams, which will be formed in the coming weeks. We'll continue to work on these areas and will meet again face-to-face to review our progress from 25-26 June during ICANN59 in Johannesburg.
Kerry-Ann: In addition to dividing our work into subteams, we'll be maximizing face-to-face meetings and online meetings to progress our review of background information and plan outreach with the community.
Why is it important for the community to participate in the SSR2 Review process?
James: Feedback and input from the community is critical to a successful review. We want to seek feedback and input from the broadest set of stakeholders possible, both within the ICANN community and from those not actively involved in ICANN. The Internet is for everyone and we encourage everyone to get involved with our work.
Kerry-Ann: The work of the SSR2 can only stand to gain from community input. Learning from various members of the ICANN community and being kept up-to-date can only benefit a more comprehensive review process.
Anything else you'd like to highlight?
James: I'd like to thank my fellow Review Team members for the hard work they've put into this process so far. I also want to specifically thank all the ICANN staff who have provided excellent support to the team since our inception.
Kerry-Ann: The efficiency of ICANN's support staff has been tremendous. The responsiveness to the requests made by the team members has been almost in real-time. There is a good synergy between the staff and the team. Additionally, the team put together for the SSR2 has such a great mix of expertise and experience. I hope our comprehensive review will benefit everyone in the long-run.
Get Involved in the SSR2 Review
- Share your input with the Review Team. Send an email to firstname.lastname@example.com. (Note: This is a publicly archived mailing list.)
- Become an observer. Review Team meetings, whether in person or online, have a dedicated Adobe Connect room for observers to participate. Learn more.
- Attend the face-to-face meeting at ICANN59 in Johannesburg (25 – 26 June). The agenda and remote participation information will be posted here. Check back regularly for updates.
- Bookmark the SSR2 wiki to make sure you stay informed of the Review Team's progress and upcoming meetings.


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Husch Blackwell client Sigmapharm Laboratories, LLC scored a victory in bringing to market a therapeutic equivalent of Eliquis. Sigmapharm argued for a claim construction of "pharmaceutically acceptable salt," and the Court adopted Sigmapharm's proposed construction verbatim.
This result is one of the first major steps in obtaining a favorable outcome for our client and potentially saving billions of dollars for payors. Among 25 original defendants—9 of which remain in the litigation—Husch attorneys took the lead in briefing the position, and Phil Segrest handled the oral argument.
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Law firms ready to ring in the changes for uncertain 2010
Surviving recession still top of agenda; diversification, restructuring and mergers could save the day
Leaders at the top firms have warned that the legal sector is not quite clear of the worst ravages of the recession as it moves into the new decade.
Senior figures have highlighted a number of challenges that firms need to meet to sustain profitability in 2010 and beyond.
These include finding new workable fee models, negotiating a still shrinking transactional pipeline and satisfying an increasingly demanding client base.
Some have suggested that the leaner, more demanding marketplace of the future could even spell the end for firms with weak management strategies.
Peter Kalis, chairman at US firm K&L Gates, said: "The law firms that remain conservatively financed and diversified across nations, markets, currencies, practices, industries and clients will absorb the shock of the seismic events in the global economy. Other firms will disappear or fade into irrelevance."
Following a year in which several top firms undertook restructuring programmes on an unprecedented scale, there are still signs that the worst might not be over.
Charles Martin, senior partner at Macfarlanes, said: "You don't need a crystal ball to know that restructuring will be a major feature of the year as the excess leverage of the middle of the past decade begins to be unwound.
"Financially it would be brave to think that 2010 is going to be a vast improvement on 2009. Against that background, prudent law firms will continue to sharpen efficiency levels, look at better client service and improve ways of organising themselves internally."
Developments likely to have an impact on the market over the next 12 months include the expansion of the legal process outsourcing (LPO) market, changes in fee models and the impact of the Legal Services Act.
The need to tackle diminishing profits will be the driver for many of the changes that could hit the sector in 2010 as firms brace themselves for harsh year-end results. Of those firms that released half-year figures in November 2009, only three of the top 50 saw rises in revenue.
Efficiency has quickly become the watchword for those with their hands on the purse strings at major firms. Whether this means changes to outsourcing policy, client charging or further rounds of redundancies remains to be seen.
Chris Perrin, general counsel at magic circle firm Clifford Chance, said: "The larger firms will continue to find ways to work more efficiently. We'll go on seeing firms moving their back-office staff to cheaper environments offshore.
"There'll be changes to the way charges are levied to clients - we'll see more innovative charging."
While there is broad agreement that the lean times are here for a while, some remain cautiously optimistic about the future.
"We can't predict when the worst of the recession will be over," said Howard Morris, chief executive at Denton Wilde Sapte. "But activity in banking has picked up, technology, media and telecoms has remained strong throughout the past year and restructuring continues as a strength."
Those firms that do not want to stagnate over the coming years are being urged to diversify, especially as the domestic market in the UK remains thin.
"I don't think anyone's saying the market will go back to the period of frenetic activity that it was," said Olswang managing partner David Stewart. "The next two or three years are likely to be patchy. The key will be building and sustaining strong client relationships - the way to do that will be to offer something different, such as a sector approach."
Another way for firms to guarantee their futures is by combining forces. While the expected merger boom at the start of the previous decade failed to materialise, the current fear factor may push firms in that direction, with Lovells' tie-up with Hogan & Hartson leading the way.
"People always feel vulnerable at the end of a recession," said Norton Rose chief executive Peter Martyr, whose firm is about to merge with Australia's Deacons. "There will be discussions about potential mergers, but they're more difficult to pull off than people think."