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Research on the System Cohesion of Basic Health Care for the Urban and Rural Residents in Hainan Province - Master's thesis - Dissertation
Research on the System Cohesion of Basic Health Care for the Urban and Rural Residents in Hainan Province
Keywords: The new rural cooperative medical care system the basic medicalinsurance system for urban residents system cohesion
The new health care plan established everyone will have access to basic medical andhealth services, to establish the basic medical and health system covering both urban andrural residents, Party’s sixth plenary of sixteen session and will to2020basic to establishthe social security system covering urban and rural residents as an important goal ofbuilding a harmonious socialist society and task clearly put forward the eighteenthcongress as a whole to promote the social security system in urban and rural areas. Asurban and rural integration process accelerated, the acceleration of population structure andthe change of professional identity, the social basic medical insurance system betweenurban and rural occupation and region urgently needs to realize the system integration andpolicy convergence in recent years, the state attaches great importance to the reform ofmedical and health care system, increased public investment in medical and healthundertakings, has accelerated the advancing the new rural cooperative medical care systemand the construction of medical insurance system for urban residents, rapidly expanded thecoverage of medical security system, easing the people see a doctor difficult, expensiveproblemsIn the current system of Health Insurance，which consists of Urban Basic Healthcare for employees， Urban Resident Basic Health Insurance and The New RuralCooperative Medical Care. The system has achieved great achievements in the past severalyears in Hainan Province, however, during the development，some problems also exist. Forexample, the division of System, barriers between town and country, managing separation,decentralization of resource. These problems influence the society fair and the economicdevelopment. Now with the rapid development of Hainan International Tourism Island, ithas the conditions to carry out basic health care system cohesion. Also, Hainan Provincehas the ability to establish a unified basic health care system, which reflects the fairnessand indemnificatory of the basic Medical Insurance well，furthermore, it could improve theharmonious development of Urban and rural Medical security system integrating. For this reason, under the background of each basic medical insurance systemachieving full coverage in rural and urban areas, this paper tentatively makes an overallstrategic thinking on building the interface model between the new rural cooperativemedical care system and the basic medical insurance system for urban residents in China.The features and possible innovations of the paper：the topic is combined with livelihoodof Hainan closely, has undertaken extensive field surveys；Study the development of basicmedical insurance for urban residents by the method of comparative analysis from variousangles,simultaneously, the paper focus on the application and operability ofcountermeasures．First, Using the hierarchy of needs, welfare economics theory and urban and rural dualstructure theory and the theory of social justice provide necessary theoretical support forthe system of cohesion; Residents in hainan province new farming and health care systemdesign and operation state of comparison, analysis of both the homogeneity and differenceof construction, points out the two problems of running, to explore new farmers andresidents health care model from the system of internal cohesion provides the basis.Second, Further comprehensive analysis from the perspective of social environment,the new farmers and the necessity of linking to the residents’ health, comprehensiveanalyses the feasibility of the new farmers and residents health cohesion of hainanprovince, on the basis of judging from the current of hainan province began to build thenew farmers and the reality of cohesive mechanism residents health condition has beenbasically mature. Set up covering the breakthrough point, based on the basic research ofbasic principles, the core content, realization of new farmers in the basic framework oflinking to the residents’ health care. By using fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method toinvestigate the satisfaction degree of the residents to participate in social medical insurancewere analyzed, and the degree understand its policy response, combined with thecharacteristics of the system, establish a mathematical model of quantitative cohesivestrategy from three aspects, thus for dynamic adjustment and reform on the implementationof the system of perfect to provide theoretical reference and countermeasures.Through consulting and analyzing related literature, as well as historical data searchingand sorting, combining the field investigation and research of the specific conditions of thebasic medical insurance of hainan province, through the questionnaire survey, experts andgovernment management department for urban and rural residents to visit, the analysis ofthe current system of evaluation and the actual effect of the implementation of the views, the mathematical model is used to establish correlation index analysis of the influencingfactors, and connecting with the urban and rural residents of hainan province to thesatisfaction of basic medical insurance system integration model results, find out are keyfactors in the system, and evaluate the effect of the current system, find out the problem inthe system implementation process and the insufficiency, and further for the urban andrural residents basic medical insurance system of the cohesion of hainan province toprovide theoretical basis and the countermeasures and suggestions
Yongchun town hospitals in the new rural cooperative medical system of doctor-patient relationship,R197.1
Commercial Insurers to Participate in the Path Analysis of the Construction of the Rural Medical Security System,F323.89
Study on the New Rural Cooperative Medical Care System of Linfen City from the Perspective of Fairness,F323.89
A Study on System and Operation of New Rural Cooperative Medical System in Linfen City of Shanxi,F323.89
Study on the Interface between the New-type Rural Cooperative Medical System and the Basic Medical Insurance System for Urban Residents,C913.7
Distance from Ensenada to Huntington Beach is 238 kilometers. This air travel distance is equal to 148 miles.
The air travel (bird fly) shortest distance between Ensenada and Huntington Beach is 238 km= 148 miles.
If you travel with an airplane (which has average speed of 560 miles) from Ensenada to Huntington Beach, It takes 0.26 hours to arrive. |
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IBM SPSS team is now sharing the extensions for IBM SPSS Modeler and IBM SPSS Statistics onGithub. The goal is to use it as a collaborative platform. We provide transparency and you have access to the source code of the extension so you can get inspiration and ideas to create new ones.
IBM SPSS welcomes contributions from anyone. You retain full ownership and control of your contribution subject. All you need to do is to create your own (free) Github account, upload the item with a description and your contact information, and send a note to the SPSS Community manager with the item url. Details are below. If the item is packaged as an extension command, you can take advantage of extra features available for that packaging as described below, but this is not a requirement. IBM does not test third-party submissions, but they are accepted for listing in the SPSS Community subject to its discretion. Once your extension is accepted if will appear in the “IBM SPSS Predictive Analytics Github” account tagged as ‘Community’ extension.
Please do not contribute code you did not write yourself unless you are certain you have the legal ability to do so. Also, ensure all code contributed can be licensed under the Apache License 2.0. For more details please see our guidelines for contributing.
If you are just looking for help, you will probably attract the most attention if you post in SPSS dWAnswers forum.
If you want to connect to the developer of one of the SPSS extensions, you can use the ‘Issues‘ feature on Github. This helps to keep track of tasks, enhancements, and bugs for the extensions.
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In IBM SPSS Statistics version 22, we have added a feature to download and install extension bundles directly from the website from within the product. This will substantially increase the exposure and use of Python- and R-based extensions. The user will see a list of all files meeting certain criteria along with summary information and can just check off the ones they want.
Users of the older version will not be able to use this mechanism, but they can still download from the community. Check more information here.
If you have been considering using Zesty.io, but already have a functioning website on another platform, we can help you seamlessly and easily transfer it to Zesty.io. In order to help you cut down on migration time, we've implemented the following key features to help you move your website in a short amount of time.
One of our best tools is the ability to drag and drop a text file, directly into the Zesty.io interface. This can be done through our Editor section, on the side bar. In the picture below you can see a file about to be dropped into the Zesty.io interface.
In order to do this, all you need to do is open your file manager of choice, and then drag and drop a file into the Zesty.io Editor sidebar. When completed, you can select the code file you've just uploaded by clicking on it in the sidebar:
Compared to other solutions where an FTP or SCP file transfer is the best solution, we believe that this method is a more straightforward way to import non-native code into the platform.
It is important to note that this is especially useful for such cases as somebody placing a link from an old version of your website in documentation, or perhaps just a favorite in their browser. Zesty.io, will work with Google Webmaster to import the link information from Google and allow you to redirect every link that is entered there through setting up a simple 301 redirect. In order to do this, you will need to connect your website to Google Webmaster tools. This is a relatively simple process and the steps can be found here.
Once you have connected, you simple select a CSV file extracted from your current platform into Zesty.io, allowing you to have your older links redirect right to your new links that will be on Zesty.io, where you can align all of the details to where each link will redirect to.
Then you will need to spend some time making your website look as polished and professional as can be, but that should not take to long. In order to do this, you will need to extract the csv from your website you currently have. We have made a guide or how to do this on Wordpress, with a link below.
Once you have done these first couple basic steps, you can also easily add a page to Zesty.io. To do this simply click on the “Add New Item” button in the Pages bar on the side of the Zesty.io interface:
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These are the main tools provided to migrate your entire website over to Zesty.io. These steps do not take a long time, and when completed, you should have the beginings of a functioning Zesty.io site.
This is definitely from an embedded browser in an Electron app (electron.atom.io). Electron lets you create cross platform applications using web technology (HTML, JavaScript, CSS etc), and it also lets you embed a web browser interface, which is what this appears to be from.
This particular user agent has both an "Electron/1.0.0" fragment as well as an "Electron/1.4.3" fragment.
We've seen this user agent tens of thousands of times, so it doesn't appear to be a single developer making a mistake with configuring their user agent, but rather something native to Electron. If any Electron developers can shed some light, please get in touch.
We see developers do some strange things with user agents sometimes; our hunch is that it might be there to show that it's a "1.0.0" branch of Electron (in case some websites scan for that specific user agent, without doing proper version checking), but then it also includes the actual version number: 1.4.3...
Over the last several months, we worked with local middle school student, Miles, to create a one-of-a-kind custom snowboard for a school project. He is an avid maker and worked tirelessly to not only assist with as much of the process as possible, but to document it exquisitely. There’s no better feeling than designing and building your own board and then getting to ride it and enjoy the fruits of your labor. We love doing projects like this, especially with such a passionate youngster. Check out the video here.
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Jennifer Cravens is School Partnership Clinician with PresenceLearning. Jen started her career with PresenceLearning as a contracted speech-language pathologist in 2013. Jen explains how she made the transition from contractor to employee and offers advice to those looking to advance their career with PresenceLearning. Can you tell me about your background and how you came to work with PresenceLearning? I have over 20 years of school-based experience as a speech-language pathologist. I spent 14 years in schools and medical settings and 6 years as a Clinical Instructor at the University of Illinois. During this time, I realized how I could reach more students by practicing online and I quickly learned how to teach online. I taught an online course and over 700 students were able to attend my class (the classes in…
Michelle Brownlee is School Partnership Director with PresenceLearning. Michelle started her career with PresenceLearning as a contracted speech-language pathologist in 2012 when she was living in Japan. Michelle explains how she made the transition from contractor to employee and offers advice to those looking to advance their career with PresenceLearning. Can you tell me a little about your background and how you came to work for PresenceLearning? I have been a licensed Speech Language Pathologist since 1991. For several years, I lived in Japan. Although I speak some Japanese and was employed part-time teaching English, I was unable to work as an SLP. The year prior to my big move back to the United States, I decided to take a look at what opportunities were available…
Erin O’Connell, an online school psychologist with PresenceLearning, and her family are currently living on the Naval Air Facility Atsugi (NAF Atsugi) in Japan where her husband is stationed. Despite being more than 5,000 miles away from her students, Erin is able to continue her professional career via teletherapy and, importantly, help students succeed. Preparing to Move Erin originally began working as a school psychologist in Florida, but she knew her family would be moving frequently and that she would need to expand her career and certification to other states. In preparation, Erin became a Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP). Later, when she worked in Maryland, she was allowed to practice part-time without expanding her state certification, but when a subsequent move brought the O’Connells…
Many clinicians turn to teletherapy due to life changes: some need time to care for children or family members, some are looking for more freedom, and some move frequently due to a spouse in the military. Brittney Franklin, an occupational therapist, got involved with teletherapy when she and her husband decided to move from a city on Lake Superior to a city on the Atlantic coast. She is now in her fourth school year with PresenceLearning, and we are thrilled to have her as part of our network. Brittney, thank you for all that you do for your students! Q. Why did you decide to try your hand at online therapy with PresenceLearning? A. My husband and I took a life adventure. We moved from Duluth,…
Changing gears from being a school-based SLP to starting a private practice can be a big change, especially when your new practice is online. PresenceLearning has a wide range of ways to support independent telepractitioners including an assigned onboarding specialist, technical support, mentoring, and professional development opportunities. However, moving to the online world does mean learning new technology and finding the most effective way to communicate with school staff, parents, and peers from hundreds of miles away. Janet Courtney, an SLP who has contracted with PresenceLearning as an SLP for five years, shares her insights on what it takes to be successful in telepractice and what she likes most about working online. Janet, it is great to have you in our network, and thank you for all…
"If your brother should sin against you, go and point out his sin."� �Matthew 18:15, our translation
Jesus prays that His Church would be one as He and His Father are one (Jn 17:21). Jesus has exceptionally high standards for unity in His Church so that the world would believe that the Father sent Jesus (Jn 17:21). This may come as a surprise to us, for our experience in our local churches may be that of denominational and factional disunity. Yet Jesus never changes His standards. He insists on His Church reflecting the unity of the Trinity.
To prevent disunity, dispel disunity, and build unity, the Holy Spirit works in the following ways. He gives us:
the responsibility and wisdom to correct our brothers and sisters in Christ (see Ez 33:8; Mt 18:15),
the charity and discipline to keep our differences with another brother or sister between the two of us (see Mt 18:15),
the deeper presence of Jesus and the power of prayer when Christians gather in unity in Jesus' name (see Mt 18:19-20), and
The Holy Spirit enables us never to have to settle for less than the best unity in the Church. However, we must be docile to the Holy Spirit and follow His ways of reconciliation and unity exactly and sacrificially. Come, Holy Spirit of unity! (see 1 Cor 12:13; Eph 4:3) Come and give us a new Pentecost of unity!
Prayer: Father, free the Church to accept her participation in the unity of the Trinity, as soon as possible. |
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Pharmacy use by dual-eligible non-elderly veterans with private healthcare insurance | BMC Health Services Research | Full Text
Utilization of private sector healthcare services among dual enrolled veterans with private healthcare insurance plans (PHIP) has not been well-characterized. Concurrent use of Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and non-VHA pharmacies may increase risk for adverse outcomes. Thus, the objectives of this study were to determine the extent to which dual VHA-PHIP enrollees obtain medications through VHA and non-VHA pharmacies and to characterize medications obtained through non-VHA pharmacies.
This observational study used merged administrative data from VHA and a predominant regional PHIP to select veterans < 65 years of age, residing in two Midwestern US states, and simultaneously enrolled in both VHA and the PHIP during fiscal years (FY) 2001–2010. Primary outcome measures included counts of prescriptions dispensed from VHA and non-VHA pharmacies, and frequencies of medications dispensed by non-VHA pharmacies based on PHIP claims.
Of 5783 veterans who filled ≥ 1 prescription in FY10, 2935 (50.8 %) used non-VHA pharmacies exclusively, 1165 (20.2 %) used VHA pharmacies exclusively and 1683 (29.1 %) were dual users. Health services utilization was higher for dual users compared to exclusive users of either VHA or non-VHA pharmacies across multiple measures, including total prescriptions, outpatient encounters, and inpatient admissions. The most common medications dispensed by non-VHA pharmacies, by proportion of veterans treated, were hydrocodone (20.9 %), amoxicillin (18.5 %), simvastatin (17.5 %), azithromycin (17.4 %), and lisinopril (15.1 %). Antidepressants comprised 3 of 10 most common medications dispensed by VHA, but none of the most common medications dispensed to exclusive non-VHA pharmacy users.
Our findings align with VHA-Medicare dual enrolled veterans where only a minority of veterans used VHA services exclusively. Younger veterans relied disproportionately on VHA for mental health medications.
The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the largest nationally integrated healthcare system in the United States, operating 168 medical centers and more than 1000 community based outpatient clinics. However, many veterans seek care outside the VHA system, particularly when they are also covered by state or federal programs such as Medicare or Medicaid, or have access to private health insurance, often through employment. Concerted efforts have been made to facilitate communication and coordinate care between VHA and private sector healthcare, but concurrent use of these systems adds to an already fragmented U.S health care system. The use of private sector healthcare services by veterans dual enrolled in Medicare and VHA has been well characterized in older adults [1–4]. Of dual enrolled elderly veterans who used outpatient healthcare services in 1999, 18 % were VHA only users, 36 % were Medicare only users, and the remaining 46 % were dual users of both VHA and private sector services [1]. A more recent report examining both inpatient and outpatient services during 2004–2009 for veterans dual enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan found that 10 % of patients used VHA exclusively, 35 % used the Medicare plan exclusively, 50 % used both systems, and the remaining 4 % did not use services in either system [4]. In addition to potential inefficiencies and unnecessary duplication of services [4], a chief concern is that dual use may increase risk for adverse events arising from lack of coordination between systems, though studies supporting this hypothesis are inconclusive [5, 6].
While on-going examination of VHA-Medicare dual use in older adult veterans is warranted, virtually no data exist regarding younger veterans enrolled in a private health insurance plan (PHIP). The influx of younger veterans returning from service in Operation Enduring/Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) makes this issue increasingly relevant, as most of these individuals will qualify for VHA enrollment, and many will concurrently have access to a PHIP through employment or purchased through Affordable Care Act exchanges. A large survey of veterans conducted in 1999 found that 32.7 % of VHA enrollees less than 65 years of age had private insurance without Medicare [3]. Of these, 16.8 % were VHA only users, 35.0 % used non-VHA services exclusively, 39.9 % were dual users, and the remaining 8.3 % used no services. Unfortunately, more recent data are unavailable and a more detailed characterization of the type of services used is also lacking. For example, in the Medicare aged population, the proportion of VHA patients who used Medicare-reimbursed services was approximately 30 % for primary care, exceeded 60 % for specialty services, but was only 3–4 % for mental health care [2].
One such service domain of particular salience is dual pharmacy use across systems, where lack of appropriate care coordination could lead to dangerous drug-drug interactions, as well as unnecessary duplication or gaps in therapeutic monitoring. One survey conducted among veterans age ≥ 65 years and engaged in care at a single VHA site in 2008 found that 44.3 % used only VHA pharmacies, and the remaining 55.7 % had some degree of non-VHA pharmacy use [7]. In this sample, 21.2 % of veterans had medication coverage through Medicare Part D, and a further 39.7 % of veterans had private insurance not obtained through Medicare Part D. Unsurprisingly, veterans with non-VHA drug benefits were significantly more likely to use non-VHA pharmacies. However, 43.8 % of veterans without any form of non-VHA drug coverage still reported some pharmacy use outside the VHA system. Unfortunately, no data are available concerning dual pharmacy use among younger veterans, pharmacy use among VHA enrolled veterans engaged exclusively in non-VHA care, or specific information about the most commonly filled medications outside VHA by dual users.
In order to address some of these important knowledge gaps, we acquired claims data from a predominant regional PHIP to combine service utilization data across both systems. Our study is the first to focus on pre-Medicare age veterans and examine how dually enrolled VHA-PHIP beneficiaries use VHA and non-VHA services. The specific objectives of this report are to determine the extent to which dual enrollees < 65 years obtain medications through VHA and non-VHA pharmacies, contrast patient characteristics among primary VHA pharmacy users, non-VHA pharmacy users, and dual users, and to characterize the most common medications obtained through non-VHA pharmacies.
Patients included all veterans under age 65 who resided in two Midwestern states and were simultaneously enrolled in both VHA and our partnered PHIP for at least one full fiscal year between October 1, 2000 and September 30, 2010. The current analysis focused on veterans who were dual enrolled during the most recent year (FY10). We also conducted some analyses among dual enrollees during FY02, the earliest year where pharmacy refill data was available, to examine potential changes in dual system pharmacy use over the study timeframe. The PHIP agreement stipulated that we could only link their claim-level data to aggregated, patient-level VHA data. Therefore, summary variables of VHA utilization were extracted by Veterans Affairs (VA) National Data Systems (NDS) for each fiscal year of enrollment and linked to person-level PHIP membership data extract. VHA summary variables included annual counts of: 1) inpatient medical admissions, 2) outpatient medical visits, 3) inpatient mental health admissions, 4) outpatient mental health visits, and 5) dispensed prescription medications. These variables were derived from the Medical SAS Outpatient Data and the Acute Care Medical SAS Inpatient Data constructed from the National Patient Care Database (NPCD), and the Decision Support System (DSS) Pharmacy Data. Comparable summary variables were created at the patient-level using claim-level PHIP data to measure private sector service utilization. Since VHA can bill PHIPs for services provided to veterans for non-service connected conditions, we identified all PHIP claims originating from VHA facilities based on their federal tax identification numbers, and these events were omitted from the PHIP utilization variables. Service connection is a proportion ranging from 0 to 100 % that is assigned by the U.S. Department of Affairs to individual veterans though a benefits review process and denotes the extent to which a veteran’s injury or disease is linked to their military service. Veterans with greater levels of service connection generally have lower out-of-pocket costs, such as reduced or eliminated copays for medications, which may impact their decision whether to use VHA versus non-VHA care.
Patients were classified into pharmacy user status groups: exclusive VHA users, exclusive non-VHA users, or dual users. Individual prescription medications dispensed by non-VHA pharmacies were identified in PHIP claims using a text field containing the drug name. Medication frequencies included all single agent and combination products that contained that ingredient, identified using both brand and generic drug names. For example, the frequency of lisinopril use included all single agent drug products and combination products (e.g. lisinopril/hydrochlorothiazide combination products) and included all brand name versions of these products.
Since we were restricted to patient-level aggregate VHA data, we could not identify individual medications dispensed by VHA to patients in our cohort. In order to provide a point of reference for interpreting the frequencies of common medications dispensed by non-VHA pharmacies, we created a proxy using the most common prescription medications dispensed to all VHA patients age 18–64 years receiving care at the 4 VHA medical centers with geographic boundaries overlapping the PHIP coverage area. These analyses used prescription data from the VA Decision Support System National Data Extract SAS Pharmacy datasets.
Differences in patient characteristics and health service utilization variables were compared across patient groups using chi-squared tests for categorical variables and analysis of variance for discrete variables. The equivalent nonparametric Wilcoxon rank sum test was substituted for variables that were not normally distributed. All statistical tests were conducted using SAS version 9.3 (Cary, NC) and were two-sided with a significance threshold of α = .05.
In FY02, 4022 non-elderly veterans were simultaneously enrolled in both VHA and the PHIP, which increased to 7087 veterans in FY10. Of the FY02 cohort, 1117 (27.8 %) patients were also dual enrolled in FY10. The mean age of dual eligible veterans increased from 51.2 to 52.4 years during this time period (Table 1). The distribution of age was highly skewed, where only 8.3 % of patients were < 35 years in FY02, and 40.8 % were 55–64 years. The over 55 age group increased to nearly 60 % of the sample by FY10. The majority of patients were male, though the proportion of women grew from 3.6 to 5.6 % during the observation period. The proportion of rural veterans decreased from 67.2 to 59.5 %.
Of the 7087 dual enrolled veterans in FY10, 5783 (81.6 %) filled at least one prescription. Of these, approximately half (N = 2935, 50.8 %) used non-VHA pharmacies exclusively, 20.2 % (N = 1165) used VHA pharmacies exclusively, and the remaining 29.1 % (N = 1683) had some degree of dual use between VHA and non-VHA pharmacies (Fig. 1). This distribution remained stable across individual years from FY02 through FY10, where the proportion of VHA only users varied from 18.6 to 22.1 % and non-VHA only users varied from 48.4 to 51.9 %.
Proportion of Prescriptions Filled by Non-VHA Pharmacies in Non-Elderly, Dual-Eligible Veterans, 2010 (N = 5783)
Demographic characteristics and health service utilization were contrasted across FY10 pharmacy user status groups (Table 2). The proportion of women was highest among non-VHA only users (6.9 %) and lowest among VHA only users (3.4 %). The proportion of rural veterans was highest among dual users (64.2 %), compared to rates of 58.3 and 60.7 % for exclusive non-VHA and exclusive VHA users, respectively. The level of service connection was similar between VHA only and dual users, but significantly lower among non-VHA only pharmacy users. Overall health service utilization, which included both non-VHA care reimbursed by the PHIP and VHA care, was highest among dual users, including the number prescription fills, number of outpatient visits, and the proportion of patients who had an inpatient hospitalization. Dual users also had the highest mean number of outpatient mental health visits and the greatest proportion of patients with an inpatient mental health admission.
The medications most frequently dispensed by non-VHA pharmacies to dual enrolled veterans are listed in Table 3. Hydrocodone (with or without combined acetaminophen) was the most commonly filled medication and dispensed to 963 (20.9 %) unique patients. Five of the most common medications were antibiotics, including amoxicillin and azithromycin in the top 5, followed by cephalexin, ciprofloxacin, and levofloxacin. Several chronic medications for cardiovascular-related diseases were also present, including simvastatin and lisinopril in the top 5, as well as metoprolol, hydrochlorothiazide, metformin, and atorvastatin. The frequency of these non-VHA dispensed medications was further contrasted between dual pharmacy users and exclusive non-VHA pharmacy users. The consistent trend across medications was that frequencies for medications commonly taken on an acute basis did not differ between groups, whereas the frequency of chronic medications was significantly lower among dual users. For example, hydrocodone was dispensed to 963 (20.9 %) dual users and to 616 (21.0 %) non-VHA only users, which was not significantly different (X2 = .09; DF = 1; p = .766). In contrast, simvastatin was dispensed by non-VHA pharmacies to 180 (10.7 %) dual users versus 629 (21.4 %) non-VHA only users (X2 = 85; DF = 1; p < .001).
aIncludes all single agent and combination products that contain the ingredient medication (e.g. lisinopril includes combination formulations with other active ingredients such as hydrochlorothiazide; amoxicillin includes amoxicillin plus clavulanate combination products). Cell counts represent the number of unique patients who received each medication during FY10
bStatistically significant difference based on Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons (α = 0.0033)
The frequency of the most common medications dispensed by VHA (i.e. the 4 VHA medical centers with geographic boundaries that overlapped the PHIP coverage areas) was contrasted with the most common medications dispensed to dual enrolled veterans who used non-VHA pharmacies exclusively (Table 4). Use of common chronic medications including lisinopril, metoprolol, metformin, and hydrochlorothiazide, was generally consistent between VHA patients and non-VHA pharmacy users in the older age group (45–64 years). Simvastatin use was more common in VHA, but comparable to the combined use of simvastatin plus atorvastatin use in the dual enrolled, non-VHA pharmacy user group. In contrast, important differences were observed in the younger age group (18–44 years), particularly related to psychotropic medication. The 10 most frequent medications in VHA included two antidepressants (citalopram and bupropion), one hypnotic (zolpidem), and one antidepressant used almost exclusively as a hypnotic (trazodone). No antidepressants appeared in the top 10 medications for the non-VHA pharmacy group.
Most common medications dispensed in VHA contrasted with dual enrolled exclusive non-VHA pharmacy users, 2010
aThe VHA system included all patients receiving care at the 4 VHA medical centers with geographic borders that overlapped with the coverage area of the private health insurance plan. Cell counts represent the number of unique patients who received each medication during FY10
Our primary objective was to determine the extent to which younger, dual VHA-PHIP enrolled veterans obtained medications from VHA versus non-VHA pharmacies. We found that in FY10, approximately half (50.8 %) used non-VHA pharmacies exclusively, only 20.2 % used VHA pharmacies exclusively, and the remaining 29 % used both. This finding is similar to older, VHA-Medicare dual enrolled veterans, where 20 % or less of this population used VHA services exclusively [1, 4]. However, exclusive non-VHA pharmacy use was more common in our sample of younger PHIP enrolled veterans (50.8 %), compared to approximately 35 % in previous reports involving the older, Medicare enrolled veteran population [1, 4]. While the number of dual enrolled veterans increased, the distribution of VHA versus PHIP use was stable over the span of our observation period, which extended from FY02 to FY10. While not a focus of the current research, we hypothesize that the increase in dual enrollees resulted from increasing numbers of working age veterans enrolling in VA over the study period, and that use of VA health care has increased across all ages since 2005. Furthermore, the proportion of veterans under 35 years of age who are VA patients increased 3-fold during this period [8]. This growth has been attributed to increased outreach efforts by the VA, expanding lists of conditions that qualify for VA coverage, and a streamlined enrollment process [8].
Several differences in patient characteristics were observed across pharmacy user groups. Compared to the other two groups, exclusive non-VHA pharmacy users were disproportionately women and had lower rates of service connection. Dual users differed from both VHA and non-VHA exclusive users in having a higher proportion of rural residents and greater total service utilization across all domains, including inpatient hospitalizations, outpatient visits, and prescription fills. These patterns are generally consistent with previous reports involving dual VHA-Medicare users [1, 3, 9, 10]. VHA has made strides to address many of these issues, particularly in expanding women’s health services to meet the growing population of women veterans and in creating the VA Office of Rural Health in 2007 to expand access for rural veterans using telehealth and other innovative approaches to healthcare delivery. Future studies will be needed to determine the success of these initiatives in ensuring that all eligible veterans who want to receive their healthcare from VHA are able to access these services.
Our analysis further examined the specific medications most commonly dispensed to dual VHA-PHIP enrolled veterans in non-VHA pharmacies. The most common medications included treatments for both chronic diseases such as hyperlipidemia (simvastatin, atorvastatin), diabetes (metformin), and hypertension (lisinopril, metoprolol, hydrochlorothiazide), as well as acute indications such as infectious diseases (amoxicillin, azithromycin, cephalexin, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin) and pain (hydrocodone). Among medications dispensed by non-VHA pharmacies, dual users and exclusive non-VHA pharmacy users had similar rates for acute medications, but dual users had significantly lower rates for chronic medications. This pattern suggests that both patient groups seek care outside VHA for acute conditions such as pain or infection at approximately equal rates. In contrast, dual users may be less likely to have chronic medications filled by non-VHA pharmacies because they are being filled and managed within VHA. Unfortunately, we could not test this assumption directly because we did not know which specific drugs were dispensed by VHA pharmacies, only the total number of prescriptions dispensed. Despite this important limitation, our findings suggest that dual users seek care across systems in a rational manner, selectively using VHA for the management of chronic disease states, but preferring more accessible non-VHA services for acute conditions.
In order to indirectly address the lack of drug specific information for prescriptions dispensed by VHA pharmacies to patients in our sample, we identified the most common medications dispensed to all veterans across the four VHA facilities that overlapped geographically with the PHIP catchment area as a proxy. The drugs most commonly prescribed to PHIP enrolled veterans who were exclusive users of non-VHA pharmacies was very similar to the VHA system as a whole for patients in the 45–64 year age range. Rates of use were nearly identical between systems for medications used to treat chronic diseases, including statins (simvastatin and atorvastatin), lisinopril, metoprolol, and others. These patterns suggest not only similar frequencies of common chronic diseases between VHA users and non-users in this age range, but also very similar provider choices regarding specific medications. However, prescribing patterns were substantially different for patients under 45 years. The antidepressants citalopram (15.0 %) and bupropion (11.2 %) were among the most common drugs in this age group in VHA. The antidepressant trazodone was also common (10.5 %), though this medication is used almost exclusively for insomnia. In contrast, the most common drugs dispensed to non-VHA pharmacy users did not include any antidepressants. This discrepancy has several potential explanations. First, prior reports have documented that veterans selectively seek mental health services from VHA [2]. This may be partly explained by individuals with major mental disorders having less access to employer-based PHIPs, or fewer mental health benefits offered by their PHIP than available through VHA. Alternatively, it is possible that PHIP patients more often choose non-drug treatments such as psychotherapy. Finally, rates of mental disorders may be similar across settings but the private sector is less adept than VHA in recognizing and screening their veteran patients for posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, suicidal ideation, and other related mental health issues.
This study is subject to several important limitations. First, we only had a count of prescriptions dispensed by VHA to our dual enrolled PHIP veterans but did not know specifically which medications were dispensed. We were thus unable to examine some important questions regarding dual VHA-PHIP pharmacy use, such as whether unsafe or duplicative medications were dispensed across systems to an individual patient. A further limitation was that we could only examine dual use in one regional Midwest PHIP. We did not have access to data from other PHIPs in the same region or information about out-of-pocket pharmacy purchases, and thus the actual rate of exclusive VHA pharmacy use may be even lower than our estimate of 20.2 %. Importantly, our PHIP accounts for 50–75 % of market share across the two states included in our study. We also do not know whether our findings can be generalized to other regions of the country, where factors such as regional differences in available PHIP benefits and VHA access could impact how dual enrolled veterans selectively use VHA versus non-VHA services. It is also unclear what impact recent legislation, such as the Affordable Care Act and the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act, may have on how dual enrolled patients seek services across systems.
Our findings have important implications for various stakeholders. It is critical for national healthcare policy to understand how patients selectively interact with VHA and the private sector as beneficiaries of Medicare, Medicaid, PHIPs, and other payers. The consistency of our findings with prior studies of Medicare dual users suggests that patterns of dual use may be well-established prior to reaching Medicare eligibility. It is likely that PHIP enrolled veterans selectively use private sector services and then maintain this pattern as they transition to Medicare. Policy-makers and organizations specifically concerned with ensuring healthcare access among individuals with mental health disorders should recognize the key role that VHA plays for veterans with these illnesses. Our findings are relevant to VHA clinicians who face co-management across VHA and the private sector, and specifically with knowing common drugs their patients may be receiving from non-VHA sources and not necessarily well-documented in the VHA medical record. Our findings should also be of interest to investigators conducting research using VHA administrative data to understand what drug exposures are most likely to be missing from VHA data in pre-Medicare aged veterans and the potential impact on their findings. For example, studies concerned with identifying outpatient medication use for acute conditions such as pain or infection may be substantially biased since dual enrolled PHIP users frequently get these medications filled outside VHA. Our findings highlight the need for further research examining the potential risks, as well as potential benefits, of dual VHA and private sector healthcare use among younger veterans.
This study was supported by the Health Services Research and Development Service, Department of Veterans Affairs (IIR 11-319-2, CDA 10-017 and CIN 13-412).
The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to contractual agreement with the cooperating private health insurance plan but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
All authors have: (1) made substantial contributions to conception and design, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data (BCL, MEC, ANW); (2) been involved in drafting the manuscript or revising it critically for important intellectual content (BCL, MEC, ANW); (3) given final approval of the version to be published and participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content (BCL, MEC, ANW); and (4) agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved (BCL, MEC, ANW). All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
The study was approved with a waiver of consent by the University of Iowa Institutional Review Board and the Iowa City VA Research and Development Committee.
Multidrug-resistant and rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (MDR/RR-TB) represent an important challenge for global tuberculosis (TB) control. The high rates of MDR/RR-TB observed among re-treatment cases can arise from diverse pathways: de novo amplification during initial treatment, inappropriate treatment of undiagnosed MDR/RR-TB, relapse despite appropriate treatment, or reinfection with MDR/RR-TB. Mathematical modelling allows quantification of the contribution made by these pathways in different settings. This information provides valuable insights for TB policy-makers, allowing better contextualised solutions. However, mathematical modelling outputs need to consider local data and be easily accessible to decision makers in order to improve their usefulness. We present a user-friendly web-based modelling interface, which can be used by people without technical knowledge. Users can input their own parameter values and produce estimates for their specific setting. This innovative tool provides easy access to mathematical modelling outputs that are highly relevant to national TB control programs. In future, the same approach could be applied to a variety of modelling applications, enhancing local decision making.
Drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) is a threat to TB control and a barrier to disease elimination. TB treatment is complicated by resistance to rifampicin and/or isoniazid, the two most active first-line TB drugs. At the global level, 3.9% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.7–5.1%) of all new TB cases are multidrug-resistant (defined as resistant to at least rifampicin and isoniazid) or rifampicin-resistant (MDR/RR-TB). However, the proportion of MDR/RR-TB globally is even higher among re-treatment cases, reaching 21% (95% CI: 15–28%) according to estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO) [1]. Mathematical modelling suggests that MDR-TB strains could become dominant over the drug-susceptible (DS) ones in the coming decades [2], threatening the success of WHO’s End TB Strategy and targets for TB elimination. A more comprehensive understanding of the different mechanisms leading to MDR/RR-TB at re-treatment is important to provide enhanced insight into the local determinants of drug-resistant TB emergence and to support the development of better contextualised solutions.
The higher proportion of MDR/RR-TB in re-treatment cases compared to new cases has long been attributed to resistance amplification due to poor treatment adherence, focusing the response to emergent drug-resistant TB on better treatment supervision of patients treated with first-line therapy [3, 4]. Among re-treated cases, finding of MDR/RR-TB rarely triggers consideration of pathways that involve primary transmission of drug-resistant strains, i.e. involving infection with an already drug-resistant pathogen. However, three different causal pathways to MDR/RR-TB at re-treatment can be identified that do not involve resistance amplification and are therefore illustrations of primary transmission. First, the low rate of drug susceptibility testing among new TB cases results in a large proportion of initially drug-resistant cases being treated with inappropriate regimens, leading to treatment failure or disease relapse and re-presentation as a “re-treatment case” [1]. In addition, among new cases correctly diagnosed with MDR/RR-TB, treatment outcomes are often unfavourable, making resistant cases more likely to present for re-treatment. Finally, reinfection with a drug-resistant strain may also contribute to the burden of MDR/RR-TB seen at re-treatment, especially in settings where TB transmission is poorly controlled. We developed a modelling approach to quantify the likely proportions of MDR/RR-TB at re-treatment attributed to the different causal pathways specified [5]. Findings highlighted the failure to identify drug resistance at first presentation as a leading source of MDR/RR-TB among re-treatment cases at the global level. However, when applying our model to different regions and countries, we demonstrated substantial variability in the respective contributions of the various sources at the national and local levels. This finding highlights the need for better contextualised solutions that utilise local data to guide local TB control priorities and interventions.
While our previous study provided estimates at the national level for more than 100 countries, detailed assessment of the dominant drug resistance pathways in specific settings would assist local control efforts. Strong spatial heterogeneity in the burden of MDR/RR-TB has been identified in several countries [6–9], with demonstration that transmission can reach extreme intensities in small localities [10], emphasising the need for better contextualised solutions. In such settings, refined estimates incorporating local information would be invaluable in producing realistic and actionable model outputs. Estimates reported in our previous study only provided insight relevant to 2015 data, as reported in the 2016 WHO Global Tuberculosis Report [1]. However, this fails to take account of the changing aspects of the TB epidemic and the need for real-time decision making in order to optimize programmatic responses. Allowing real-time assessment of likely MDR/RR-TB pathways will provide updated estimates as routine data are gathered and refreshed over time. In addition, policy makers may wish to test alternate assumptions or to use parameter values that they believe more appropriate. Such continuity and flexibility cannot be provided by occasional external expert support or traditional research project-based approaches, and thus represent a major barrier to the effective use of mathematical modelling for everyday policy guidance.
To overcome this limitation, present in most modelling outputs reported to date, we developed a user-friendly interface for real-time analysis of local data using our recently published model of MDR/RR-TB pathways [5]. In the current paper we introduce a web-based interactive tool to quantify the likely contribution of different MDR/RR-TB pathways among re-treatment cases, accommodating localised parameterisation via a user-friendly interface.
The user interface is available online at www.tb-modelling.com/mdr_tb_at_retreatment. Its main objective is to quantify the proportions of MDR/RR-TB at re-treatment attributed to four principle causal pathways: I) initial drug-susceptible TB with resistance amplification during treatment; II) initial MDR/RR-TB inappropriately treated as drug-susceptible TB; III) MDR/RR-TB relapse despite appropriate treatment; and IV) re-infection with MDR/RR-TB. The model employed to estimate these contributions was described in detail in our previous publication [5]. The online tool allows users to produce estimates by using the model in combination with their own inputs. The associated model outputs are produced in real time and exporting features allow the user to download personalised reports in a PDF format. Figure 1 summarises the general principle and the different functionalities of the platform. Javascript language was used to build the interactive platform as we needed immediate responsiveness to produce model outputs instantaneously when users specify new inputs. Thus, the webpage is only loaded once from the remote server and calculations are then performed on the user’s device in real time when parameter values are changed. We used Chart, jVectorMap and jsPDF libraries to generate the charts, maps and exporting functionalities, respectively.
The user must specify the area (WHO region or country) to which the model will apply. This process allows preselected parameter sets to be generated based on local WHO data. While these default values correspond to the ones that were used in the initial study [5], they can here be adjusted using a set of slider bars. Parameters are classified into two main categories: ‘area-specific’ and ‘global’, with only parameters of the first category updated when a new area is selected. Compatibility tests on parameter values are run in the background to ensure that the parameterisation remains realistic. For example, if the user selected a treatment success rate for DS-TB of 80%, a ceiling is set for the death proportion during treatment for DS-TB at 20%.
The Model Outputs panel consists of two charts that are automatically updated when any of the parameter values is modified. First, a doughnut chart represents the proportions of MDR/RR-TB at re-treatment attributed to the four principle causal pathways I-IV. Second, a bar chart displays the proportion of MDR/RR-TB among all re-treatment TB cases. A comparison between the model output and the WHO estimate regarding this proportion is also presented on the second chart when relevant data are available from WHO for the selected area. Quantitative estimates are displayed when the user moves the pointer over the different shares of the two charts. Figure 2 presents a screen capture of the interface containing the Inputs and Model Outputs panels for an example model estimation.
Exporting functionalities are available allowing the users to download PDF documents incorporating the model outputs associated with their own parameterisation. Two different types of report can be produced: one including the charts as displayed in the Model Outputs panel and one containing the selected map. The values of the parameters that are defined by the user also appear in the generated documents.
We introduce a user-friendly online tool capable of quantifying the proportions of MDR/RR-TB at re-treatment attributed to different causal pathways. This interface will help policy-makers to better identify the pathways to drug resistance and to design tailored programs to fight drug-resistant TB. While the higher rates of MDR/RR-TB at re-treatment by comparison to new cases have long been recognised and reported by WHO, the pathways leading to such gaps and their implications for effective local control strategies have remained unexplored for too long. Our findings suggest that primary transmission of drug-resistant strains is the predominant pathway in most settings. This challenges the old dogma that drug resistance amplification as a result of poor quality or adherence to treatment was the main explanation for the high rates of MDR/RR-TB at re-treatment. It highlights the need to refocus TB control interventions towards solutions that are specific to the drivers of MDR/RR-TB in a particular location.
The modelling interface presented in this report will enhance the applicability of this finding and we believe that it provides an important “proof of principle” of how modelling approaches can be adapted to provide a user-friendly interface for assisting local decision making. In this instance it could assist countries to estimate the contribution of different pathways to the generation of drug resistant TB cases, allowing for better targeted and better contextualized interventions to be considered. For example, finding high proportion of MDR/RR-TB at re-treatment arising from pre-existing MDR/RR-TB primary transmission may lead to a response to universally test all new cases of TB for resistance, whereas a finding of acquired amplification of MDR/RR-TB being the dominant source may lead to examination of the failure/loss to follow-up rates of those with DS-TB. As a “proof of principle” this tool demonstrates how user-friendly interfaces can be developed to allow public health decision makers, at different levels of care, access to modelling data that is relevant to their local setting.
The platform allows our existing model to be used in combination with flexible parameterisation entered by the user. In addition to offering the possibility for alternate parameter sets from those employed in our previous study, this interface also allows estimates to be obtained for a broader range of settings, and in particular at local levels. Most importantly, this tool will allow users with no specific technical knowledge to use a mathematical model and to compute personalised estimates.
We chose not to include uncertainty around parameter values when building this online interface in order to maximise the tool’s simplicity and to make it accessible to the broadest possible audience. Nevertheless, the users will be able to assess the sensitivity of the model estimates to the different parameters by using the different input sliders and produce outputs related to alternate parameter sets. In contrast, our previous study incorporated uncertainty and sensitivity analyses that highlighted the influence of some parameters on the contributions of the respective pathways [5]. In particular, we demonstrated that the contribution of inappropriate diagnosis to the burden of MDR/RR-TB at re-treatment was significantly affected when varying the rate of drug susceptibility testing or the parameters that relate to treatment outcomes (success and death rates). Further, we noted that the contribution of the pathway involving drug resistance amplification increased when reducing the treatment success rate for DS-TB and the individual-level risk of drug resistance amplification in unsuccessfully treated patients. Other conceptual assumptions than those considered in the baseline analysis may also be explored using the sliders. For example, patients who are lost to follow-up are assumed to experience unsuccessful treatment under the default behaviour of our model but alternate scenarios may be considered by increasing the parameter values that define the treatment success rates.
The web-based tool addresses some of the limitations of the original model, especially regarding the level of resolution of the analysis and the uncertainty around parameter values and underlying assumptions. However, some limitations that are linked to the intrinsic structure of the model could not be addressed here. For example, only two phenotypes of TB are considered in the model – DS-TB and MDR/RR-TB – although we know that other resistance profiles exist. This simplification was made in order to make the model broadly applicable and to match with the approach used by WHO to classify drug-resistant TB. Another limitation is that some more specific causal pathways such as nosocomial transmission of MDR/RR-TB are not considered in the model although there is evidence of their importance in some settings [11, 12]. More specific model structures may be designed to investigate the causes of MDR/RR-TB among re-treatment cases in such contexts. It is also important to note that the estimates provided by our interface are relative contributions of the different pathways expressed as percentage of the total burden of MDR/RR-TB at re-treatment. Therefore, the overall absolute burden of MDR/RR-TB at re-treatment should also be taken into account by users if they wished to estimate the absolute number of cases that are attributed to each of the four causal pathways.
User-friendly tools such as ours can contribute to building confidence in the use of modelling, which is essential to facilitate the bidirectional exchange between modellers and TB control program developers and improve the understanding of the local epidemic. We believe that this user-friendly adaptation presents an important exemplar of how modelling approaches could become more useful to guide everyday decision making processes using local data inputs for optimal contextualisation.
All authors contributed to outline the web interface. RR gathered the data and coded the model. RR coded and designed the web-based interface. RR wrote the first version of the manuscript. All authors reviewed the interface. All authors reviewed and approved the final report.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne at the Peter Doherty Institute, Melbourne, Australia |
This post aims to provide an overview of a milestone in the recognition as a professional activity of the work performed by translators and interpreters: its inclusion in the Occupational Outlook Handbook of the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. Before doing so, it is necessary to establish what is understood by the terms profession and occupation, as these concepts vary from person to person, from one field to another, and even over time. The terms profession and occupation also tend to be used interchangeably, but for some actually refer to two different ideas.
Some of the considerations about what makes an occupation and a profession can be found on the site Key Differences. According to this site, an occupation is an activity a person performs regularly to earn a living, while a profession is an occupation or vocation requiring a high degree of knowledge and expertise in the specific field. It also points out that a profession differs from an occupation in that the former presupposes the existence of a code of ethics, compulsory training, is regulated by statutes (an assertion that would benefit from deeper analysis) and compensation is based on skills and knowledge (another arguable assertion). One may or may not agree with all these assertions, but the fact is they summarize key differences.
Another view comes from the Profession Standards Council, which defines a profession as a disciplined group of individuals who adhere to ethical standards and possess special knowledge and skills in a widely recognized body of learning derived from research, in which education and training is at a high level, and which is recognized by the public as such. Professional knowledge and skills are used and applied in the interest of others. A professional thus is a member of a profession, which as pointed out before is governed by codes of ethics and is bound by ethical principles such as competence, integrity and morality, altruism, and the promotion of the public good within their professional domain.
The existence of ethical standards seems to be the common denominator in the definition of profession. Standards are, in general, created and applied to bring predictability to the manufacture and delivery of goods and services, with the ultimate goal being the establishment of trust by their consumers. Of course, standards can also bring about liability for failing to comply with them.
As can be seen in previous posts, translation and interpretation meet the definition of profession as described above. Of course, translation and interpretation involve different sets of skills, taken as a whole there is no doubt that they are both professions and both translators and interpreters are considered professionals.
While both activities have been performed since time immemorial, there have been several stages in their development as a profession. Their inclusion in the 2002-2003 Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor contributed greatly to their perception as a profession. In the 2002-2003 edition, the OOH included translators and interpreters in the section Occupations Not Studied in Detail, which means it included only a brief employment projection and not an occupational profile[1]. This is the entire entry:
As modest as it may appear, this event represented a milestone in the recognition of T&I as professional activities in that it joined the ranks of occupations such as nursing, engineering, accounting, and numerous others. The Bureau of Labor Statistics gathers occupational information through the Occupational Information Network – O*NET, which is a wide-ranging database that describes worker competencies. Information gathered in this database come mainly from job descriptions and professional associations. It is also worth noting that in its glossary of terms, the Bureau of Labor Statistics includes the term occupation but not profession; defining the former as a “set of activities or tasks that employees are paid to perform.”
Since its first entry in the OOH, significant changes can be seen in the description of the occupation for translators and interpreters. The 2010-2011 edition of the OOH includes an occupational profile for the T&I industry. In its Significant Points section, it says that about 26 percent of interpreters and translators are self-employed; that some work only sporadically; and that employment was expected to grow faster than average depending on specialty and language. It also provided a distinction between translation and interpretation – a distinction a great number of people still do not know. The OOH described the work of interpreters and translators in settings such as conferences, the judiciary, healthcare and services for the deaf and provided information on working environments, education requirements (indicating that it can vary but a bachelor’s degree is often requested) certification, and means for advancement. Very importantly, it provides job projections, earnings, and sources for additional information. Information for the occupational profile is drawn from professional associations such as the American Translators Association, the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators, the National Council on Interpreting on Health Care, and the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf.
Technology has allowed for more innovative ways to display data, and this is reflected in 2016-2017 edition of the OOH. Not only is information in this latest edition presented differently; i.e. in separate tabs, but it is also more detailed. For example, the tab What Interpreters and Translators Do describes the difference between these two activities and provides details about simultaneous and consecutive interpreting. Unfortunately, it includes a third category – whispered interpreting – which is, in fact, simultaneous interpreting performed without any equipment. A third mode of interpreting which was not included is sight translation – the oral translation of a written document, which is used in many settings.
While there is room for improvement in the description of this profession – or occupation – great progress has been made. In less than fifteen years, this profession has gone from one that did not have a profile in the Occupational Outlook Handbook to one whose profile is now over eight pages in length. Despite some errors, the OOH can be used as a tool to educate and sensitize the public on the skills of translators and interpreters and the challenges they face in the delivery of their services.
This post does not address the evolution of compensation in the T&I industry as it will be discussed in a separate post which is coming soon.
[1] Personal email to the author dated August 26, 2013 from an Economist of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections Program.
Osteopathic treatment is about getting your body to work as well as it can. Hands-on techniques are applied that stimulate and encourage the release of soft tissue structures enabling your joints to move more freely and helping create an environment in which the body can heal
Daniel qualified from the British School of Osteopathy in 1998 and has worked at clinics in London and Leeds gaining experience before moving to Glasgow.
He takes a huge amount of satisfaction from being able to work with and treat a wide range of people, helping them to function at their best. Over the years he has successfully treated people of all ages – from just a few weeks old, to patients in their 90’s. These have been people of all activity levels from people in wheel chairs to professional athletes.
Daniel aims to treat clients with the lowest number of treatments possible. He will listen to your story and do tests to assess your health-care needs accurately. Working with you he’ll formulate a plan of action to help you achieve your health goals, whatever they may be.
By working together with you, he ensures the treatments are as effective and few as possible. Probably one of the reasons so many of patients recommend Daniel to their family and friends.
Daniel always minimise the use of Osteopathic “clicking” techniques. In fact, in most cases he find they’re not really needed at all, and by using gentle joint movements and a selection of soft-tissue techniques to work through the muscles he helps to return people to a full active life. I have found these methods to be just as effective with older patients as they are with the athletes I treat. |
10. Frederick V of Denmark – Frederick V was king of Denmark-Norway and Duke of Schleswig-Holstein from 1746 until his death. He was the son of Christian VI of Denmark and Sophia Magdalene of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, Frederick was born on 31 March 1723 at Copenhagen Castle. He was the grandson of King Frederick IV of Denmark and the son of Crown Prince Christian, on 12 October 1730, King Frederick IV died and Fredericks father ascended the throne as King Christian VI. Christian VI and Sophia Magdalene were deeply devoted to Pietism, although not unfamiliar with religious sentiments, Frederick grew into a hedonist who enjoyed the pleasures of life such as wine and women. His mother ironically referred to him as Der Dänische Prinz because he occasionally spoke Danish, Fredericks propensity for debauchery accelerated his marriage negotiations. He was married at Altona, Holstein, on 11 December 1743 to Princess Louise of Great Britain, daughter of King George II and they were the parents of six children, but one was stillborn. Meanwhile, Frederick continued to enjoy liaisons with others. During the years 1746-51, the king had a favorite named Madam Hansen who bore him five children, the Norwegian Masonic historian Karl Ludvig Tørrisen Bugge claims that Frederik V as crown prince was included in the Copenhagen Masonic Lodge St. Martin. This was probably third June 1744, and inspired by the Prussian king Frederick the Great who was included in a masonic lodge in his youth. They both had fathers who were opposed to the Masons, but unlike the Prussian king. As an active Freemason, he set up on 24 June 1749 the first Masonic lodge in Norway, on 6 August 1746 – the day before his parentss silver marriage festivities– his father died at Hirschholm Palace, the royal familys summer retreat. Christian VI was interred in Roskilde Cathedral, Frederick and Louise immediately ascended Denmark-Norways throne, being anointed in Frederiksborg Palaces Chapel the following year. The personal influence of Frederick was limited, making him one of absolute rulers who least made for the states strength and these men marked his reign by the progress of commerce and the emerging industry of gunpowder plant and cannon foundry in Frederiksværk, built by Johan Frederik Classen. They also avoided involving Denmark in the European wars of his time, in the same period the Royal Frederiks Hospital and the Royal Orphanage was created, a school intended for poor boys that still exists today, opened in Christianshavn on 1 October 1753. On 29 June 1753 Frederick V created Denmarks first lottery, called the Royal Copenhagen Lottery - a lottery that exists to this day as Klasselotteriet, one of his main tasks was to take care that his dissolute Majesty didnt damage the Royal households reputation with his constant orgies. Frederick purchased what would become known as the Danish West Indies from the Danish West India Company in 1754. Louise died suddenly on 19 December 1751 at Christiansborg Palace, predeceasing her husband by fourteen years and causing great impact on the family and the courts life. She was buried with great pomp at Roskilde Cathedral, at the time of her death, she was pregnant with her sixth child, who also died
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HRH the Crown Princess of Denmark attends the wedding of the Crown Princess of Sweden. She is pictured here surrounded by (left to right): Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark; Willem-Alexander, King of The Netherlands; Queen Máxima of the Netherlands; Crown Princess of Norway; and Beatrix of the Netherlands, former queen regnant of The Netherlands.
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3 Reasons to Invest in Early Childhood Education for Your Son or Daughter's Childcare - Wilde Kingdom Early Learning Center
As a parent or guardian, you want what’s best for your child. Every experience you provide them with is an investment toward their future. The friendly child care professionals at Wilde Kingdom Early Learning Center are passionate about early childhood education. Below their dedicated staff discusses three major benefits your child receives from programs focused on learning
One of the leading benefits of early childhood education is the social aspect that comes with it. When your child engages with other children, they learn how to interact with their peers, allowing them to overcome shyness and become more self-confident. Waiting too long to give them this social outlet can be detrimental to their growth in the future.
Introducing your child to early childhood education inspires a thirst for knowledge. Preschool programs get them excited about learning while emphasizing the importance of school at a young age. Their attendance will foster a love for math, reading, science, and other subjects that they’ll carry with them into adolescence.
Advantageous character traits are taught in preschool environments. In these programs, your son or daughter will learn the importance of patience, respect, and teamwork through interactions with their teacher and peers. They will understand the value of waiting their turn, respecting those around them, and working together to achieve a common goal.
If you’re looking for a trusted early learning center for your son or daughter’s early childhood education, look no further than Wilde Kingdom Early Learning Center. Conveniently located in Fairfield, OH, this child care facility offers a variety of services for little ones including infant and toddler care, preschool and pre-kindergarten programs, as well as day care. For more information, contact their knowledgeable staff by calling (513) 563-9453 or visiting them onlinetoday. |
Almost 8 years ago, my cousin Jen passed away. She was 20 years old. She was working a temp job with no health insurance and got very ill with what the health clinic told her was just a virus they could do nothing for. They gave her some cough medicine with codeine to help her get some rest and sent her on her way. After being sick on and off for a couple of months, it got to the point where she couldn't keep anything down and was growing very weak. Her mom and boyfriend took her to the local hospital where they admitted her and gave her a medicated mask. We all drove down to Pleasanton to see her, but it was late and they wanted her to get some rest, so we just waved to her from the door way. Early the next morning she had a seizure and went into a coma. Apparently she had a respiratory strain of strep and since it had gone untreated for so long, she had become septic. They kept her on life support for about a week and she had several complications involving blood clots. One made it's way to her brain, which made her essentially brain dead. As hard as it was for my family, they decided to take her off of life support on January 9, 2003. Eight minutes later, she was gone.
You are probably wondering where the hell this is all coming from and why I decided to write about this today.
I stayed home from work today after waking up with a migraine. I thought I might be able to push through it, but I could barely open my eyes with the sensitivity to light. As I laid in my bed trying to go back to sleep, the construction workers building the house next door started their day of work. I made my way to the couch and fell back to sleep. During this painful sleep I had a crazy dream.
I dreamed that my family was on this motorcycle trip with a motorcycle club (this is not that crazy as my parents belonged to one for years). At one point in the trip we all stopped to rest and there was a rest area with couches and stuff. We were all sitting around reminiscing about Jen. At some point she just kind of showed up and was there interacting with us. As long as we were talking about her, looking at pics or videos, she would remain there. But the second we stopped for a moment, she would start to fade away. She would lose her energy and kind of fall asleep and then she would start to disappear. We knew we had to get back on the road, and as much as none of us wanted her to leave, we had to wrap things up there. She started to fall asleep and my uncle wrapped her in a blanket and held her in his arms and just started sobbing as she faded away. We were all crying pretty hysterically and as I started waking up I was whimpering. I sat up, head pounding and kind of let the dream sink in.
Jen loved purple and butterflies. I have always been a fan of purple myself and already had purple bedding and curtains and stuff before JB and I moved in together. The guest room has my old bed in it, which means it has my old bedding and curtains too. I also made a collage frame for her memorial back then of pictures of us from when we were little until just shortly before she passed away. I told JB that the guest room was kind of going to be my Jen room. So I walked in there after waking from my dream and just sat and looked at the pics and cried, which made my head hurt even worse. I just felt like I really had to sit in the moment and let it resonate because I haven't had a visit (I believe that lost loved ones visit in dreams) from her in so long. I can't even remember the last one.
The saddest thing for me, aside from her life ending way too soon, was that after years of being apart, we had just started being a part of each others lives again. Somewhere along the way our moms (her mom was my uncle's first wife and my mom's BFF) had a falling out. With her living in the bay area, and me living in Sacramento, we only really saw each other on holidays. Once we could actually drive ourselves places, we were both in serious relationships and at that time, she was with someone who was very controlling. So, it wasn't until I was about 20, when we all gathered in Pinecrest to spread my Papa's ashes, that we reconnected and started making trips to see each other. She even drove all the way to Sacramento to get me and drive me back down to her place for the weekend when my license was restricted due to an MIP (minor in possession; got caught drinking at Folsom Lake on the 4th). I was so happy when we reconnected and started making an effort to be a part of each others' lives.
I remember when I got the call from my mom about what happened with the clot and they were going to go down and be with my family when they took her off life support. I didn't want to go. I had already seen her in the hospital with a machine breathing for her and swollen from all of the fluids they were pumping into her, and I didn't want to replay that moment in my head for the rest of my life. But I did leave work and go home. I remember being in my Jetta listening to Christina Aguilera and crying a little. But having experienced so much loss at such a young age, it just didn't hit me as hard at that moment.
I can go a long time without thinking about it, just like the rest of them. But once in a while I will hear a song, or think about the fact that she will never be a bridesmaid in my wedding, and I kind of lose it for a minute. JB has walked in on a couple of these and he just really doesn't know what to do in that moment. The truth is, there is really nothing he can do. I'm sad that he never got to know her.
I don't know how I missed this post last week. Reading this just completely made me tear up as that's exactly how we feel (my fam) right now with my cousin's passing last month. His birthday was yesterday and anyone who could met at one of his fave restaurants for dinner. Jon and I go down there tomorrow morning to celebrate him. He would have been 36. It just kills me how life can be so complicated and unfair. And how we get so wrapped up in our lives that days, weeks, months pass from seeing some of our best friends & family . . . and then something tragic happens and you rush to the aid of everyone else - but then you almost kick yourself for not having done that sooner with the person that passed.
These goodies are easily made with your camping equipment- you’ll just need a portable grill, a camping stock pot and a small skillet. It’s the kind of breakfast that you’ll make and enjoy, and it will keep you full for a long hike or a lazy day of reading in a lounge chair under a tall tree.
These awesome camping breakfast sandwiches are made with Thomas’ English Muffins. I use the sourdough variety.
For the eggs, you can make them “camping omelette style.” This is a no-mess way to make the eggs. Just scramble the eggs in a zip baggie and add a little ham or cooked bacon. Drop the (closed) zip baggie into a pot of boiling water and just let it cook until it is no longer runny. This is an amazing way to make an omelette while you’re camping. It turns out perfect!!
For the English muffin part, I spread a little butter on the muffins and toast them butter-side-down on a hot skillet to get them toasty. You can do this while your eggs are cooking.
Once the eggs are cooked, assemble the breakfast sandwiches. Spread mashed avocado on an English muffin, cut a piece of the omelette and place it on top of the avocado. Add the cheese and muffin top. Place the breakfast sandwiches in a skillet with the lid on top and let them heat for a few minutes.
You’re camping, you’re starving, and you get to eat this delicious breakfast sandwich!! Add salsa if you’d like. And let the nearby campers stare at you with big-time envy. Enjoy!
Since 1983 my life has been a joyful, passionate, wild, and sometimes painful yearning for God through Jesus. Read More...
To any visitors: This website is in progress. Thank you for your patience. Both my book and video are available through Amazon
Adam Monk (Rafael Figueroa) is just a normal guy working in the city, until a certain event takes place which gives him superhuman strength. Join him as he grows to realize his abilities.
Begin at the Museum for a narrated walk with costumed interpreters through Hope Cemetery to visit the graves and hear the fascinating and sometimes tragic tales of Kennebunk residents from the past three centuries. Tour lasts about one hour.
Cost is $10/person, $30/family; no advance reservations are required unless for large groups (6 or more). |
“A skeptic is one who is willing to question any knowledge claim, asking for clarity in definition, consistency in logic and adequacy of evidence” (adapted from Paul Kurtz, 1994). Evaluate this approach in two areas of knowledge.
Ideas about scepticism are closely linked to ideas about the certainty or lack of certainty of knowledge. Consider these three alternatives:
Like with the expression ‘Knowledge is Power’, this Q is no doubt going to attract students who want to write about Descartes and his ‘method of doubt’ summed up in his famous cogito ergo sum. Descartes was willing to question everything, including his own existence, in an attempt to find those ‘clear and distinct ideas’ which would form the foundation of all human knowledge. His argument goes something like this:
Descartes claims that this is one absolutely certain piece of knowledge and with this in hand, he argued that the only certain knowledge we can have comes through reason and not the senses.
One of the great problems with this idea of knowledge is Descartes’ belief in the dualism of mind and body; he thought that they were separate entities and so left himself open to the extremely difficult issue of explaining HOW the two entities interact. If the body is physical and made of matter, how can something so non-physical and immaterial as a mind or soul possibly influence it or cause it to do anything? Without a clear answer to this question, Descartes’ explanation of how we make knowledge begins to collapse.
Scientific skepticism is less to do with issues about certainty of knowledge and more to do with the idea of testing knowledge against evidence. This has evolved alongside the ‘scientific method’ ever since Sir Francis Bacon introduced us to its basic principles in the 17th Century: theory, experiment, observation, prediction. Michael Shermer discusses a ‘Baloney Detection Kit’ which uses scientific principles to help us filter out strange beliefs by means of grounding our beliefs in pertinent modes of questioning and in evidence. The project of such skepticism is thereby to distinguish between scientific knowledge (eg. about influence of genes on human behaviour) and pseudoscientific knowledge (eg. about the influence of astrology on human behaviour.) Where scientific skepticism converges with philosophical skepticism is its insistence that scientific knowledge (or theory) is only provisional. Think for example about the theory of dark matter: the theory allows us to make predictions about this strange ‘stuff’ of nature, but we have little evidence to justify any KNOWLEDGE about how this phenomenon works. So we need a combination of better theory and better data to help justify that ‘dark mater’ exists.
A problem with skepticism is to sort out the skeptics from the so called ‘pseudoskeptics’ – those who use scientific language to discredit or refute beliefs but in reality fail to apply the scientific method rigorously. Consider the arguments of Deepak Chopra about consciousness and the afterlife in which he uses language from neuroscience to present his conclusions: "And life is, as he said, it's a process. It's one process. It's perception, cognition, emotions, moods, imagination, insight, intuition, creativity, choice making. These are not the activities of your networks. You orchestrate these activities through your synaptic networks. But if I ask you to imagine the color red or look at the color red, there's no red in your brain. There's just electrical firings." (Quoted in Michael Shermer, who calls this the ‘woo-woo’ approach to explaining beliefs.)
How do we differentiate between scientific skeptics and pseudo skeptics? Read this: ‘On Pseudo-Skepticism A Commentary by Marcello Truzzi’ or this Wikipedia article on pseudoskepticism which summarises Truzzi’s ideas neatly.
This can take two possible forms: either using one’s faith to doubt scientific explanations about the world which manifests itself in questioning the knowledge of science (eg. that the universe began with a ‘big bang’) or having doubts about one’s own faith which manifests itself in questioning the grounds of one’s belief in God as a way of reaching a higher level of faith (eg. the problem of evil – why does God allow evil acts?) While questioning one’s faith can lead to a stronger knowledge of self and purpose in life, bringing empowerment and wellbeing (think of the works of Martin Luther King and Gandhi), the questioning of science can lead to a more dogmatic and narrow minded approach to knowledge bringing great disharmony, bigotry and destruction (think of Galileo’s imprisonment for asserting the truth of the heliocentric theory). In its most extreme form, religious skepticism can lead to the kind of radical ideological hold on faith which leads to terrorism.
Read some of these articles on the positive effects of religious doubt while some of the dangers of religious uncertainty are explored here...
The language we use is so important in these matters. Proper scientific always tries to establish knowledge ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ – the theories of science are provisional and true to a high degree of probability and can be modified when better evidence comes along. Skeptics never ask for knowledge ‘beyond (all possible) doubt’. In science (and philosophy), it’s a good thing to be familiar with the ambiguities of the word ‘proof’.
Consider a real life issue in this light: the problems in Syria in September 2013 after Assad had allegedly used chemical weapons against civilians. The US government was ready to attack because it believed there was proof ‘beyond any reasonable doubt’ that Assad had used chemical weapons. The Russians argued to wait until the it could be proved ‘beyond doubt’ that chemical weapons had indeed been used by Assad.
Usually, when skepticism of any kind asserts that knowledge is true ‘beyond (all possible) doubt’ alarm bells should ring. Read this post by Stephen Law about ‘scales of reasonableness’ to see the difference. What sort of knowledge can BE beyond all possible doubt? In the Syrian case, however, we see that while the US politicians used words that sounded good, it was the Russian President’s caution that actually won out and prevented an all out strike – in spite of his fuzzy request for something that any self-respecting skeptic would never ask for: knowledge beyond (all possible) doubt... |
It seems like a year ago... issue #56 posted. In reality it's been a long three months plus a few weeks. This time of year Bill and I are always extra busy. We have also been extremely fortunate. We have four art fairs behind us. Three of them were successful. The fourth show wasn't bad, just not great. For me, production always trumps pen biz during show season.
Neglecting Float About is never intentional, but rather necessary. My income is dependent on the shows. Our son, Josh, will come from Pittsburgh to help us at the Upper Arlington Labor Day Arts Fest. It is our last big event of the season. The following Sunday we will do a small art fair in Berea, OH. The Berea Art Fest will be our final event for 2007. I knew if I didn't get this issue up now, it would have to wait until mid-September. I have tried your patience long enough.
A handful of Eskesen Sample Cases... are still available. Last month I posted one of the cases on eBay. It's a great way to announce availability of new items. Preparing the listing was time consuming, but the investment will help sell the remaining inventory. I used photos from the eBay listing to compose this Sample Case Page. Photos show the contents, interior and exterior of the case. To read the many positive reviews from collectors that have purchased a sample case... click reviews. If you wish to order a case, please do so soon. I have four, I might not be able to reorder.
Alicia Delahunty found an online... contest with prizes that promoted the movie Oceans 11. The contest is over. The only reason I mention this is because they listed 2 floatie pens as prizes. The website didn't offer any more information, which left Alicia and I hungry for more details.
Soon after I posted notice in Float Along, I heard from Miranda. She told me that our own Marisa Barna had recently won an Ocean's Eleven pen on eBay. Miranda went back to the listing and borrowed the photos. The artwork is impossible to decipher, but the caption panel is clear as a bell. Congratulations to Marisa and 'thank you' to Miranda! Sorry. I do not have a source for the pen.
Doug Yeo and his wife, Pat... have covered a lot of territory over the summer months. Doug's travels will continue into September. July 25th I received an update from Doug. “Greetings from Banff, Canada, where I'm in the Canadian Rockies teaching at a brass residency at the Banff Centre. Pat and I tacked a week on to the trip last week, hiking in Glacier National Park. We had a great week. Look where I got to practice each day!”
Doug went on to say, “We are at the Boston Symphony Summer Festival at Tanglewood followed by a three week European tour. I spent the morning in Banff looking for floaties. Initially it was very disappointing. I found one shop that had several classic E pens, one of Banff, one of Lake Louise. They were old and rather beaten up for being in the display for many years. Today I found a store that had two new T&C designs which was heartening, $3.99 each, and also E pens. I couldn't find any pens in Glacier which was a pity. When we fly home, I'll look in the Calgary and Toronto airports to see if there are any offerings. I'm heading to some new places on the BSO tour (specifically cities in Germany - Dusseldorf and Essen - so hold out slim hope I might find some new pens. The other cities on the tour - Lucerne, Paris, London, Berlin - are places from which I already have pens.”
Doug and Pat also toured the The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. The current Unknown Monet: Pastels and Drawings exhibit is getting a lot of attention. Doug discovered two photoramic float pens in the gift shop. The first pen was made to commemorate a 2004 exhibition of the Bruyas Collection. The second is a pen made exclusively for the The Clark.
Thanks to Doug's direction, I contacted The Clark and ordered both of these beauties for the New Arrivals list.
The Clark is a unique and respected art museum. You will find everything you need to know to plan a visit on their website. Click www.ClarkArt.edu to explore the museum and it's artful bounty.
Before I forget... Miranda Wittebol and her boyfriend, Dik, are floating about France on holiday. Just before their departure I asked the big question, “So how many pens do you have in your collection now?” Miranda didn't have an accurate count. She has well over 11,000 Eskesen floaty pens. Miranda has been so busy this summer, she is way behind in her count and cataloging. Expect an update in the next issue.
make it a point to meet for lunch at least two or three times each year. They always have pens to trade and stories to share. This spring the ladies popped in to visit yet another floaty collector... Damon Zilly. Many friendships have been forged over floaty pens. Begin bonding with a fellow collector today? Do you even know if there are other float pen collectors in your area?
I can always count on Tone Helen Hanken to provide a report after the event. Hopefully she can get a few pictures too. I don't know about you, but I think of Norway as a distant and cold destination, but we often have misconceptions about far away locations. It's beautiful! It's no wonder Tone is so proud of her native Norway. The photo (left) is the view from her balcony.
Earlier this month, Danish collector, Finn Sørensen and his family, visited Tone. The picture (right) features Finn's children, Lisbeth and Oliver, plus Finn and Tone. His wife was there, but extremely camera shy. Finn was quick to note that Tone and her boyfriend Steinar were extremely gracious hosts. They opened their home and showered the Sørensen family with warmth and hospitality.
For Finn, seeing Tone's collection was surely the highlight of his holiday. Tone's phenomenal floaty collection is housed in these beautiful wooden cabinets. Her display cases are functional, yet fashionable. A combination that's truly hard to beat. You can see Tone's cases in detail by going back to Issue #46.
Friends and family enjoyed the local sites, including the Geiranger Troll. Finn provided these photos just a few days before publication. I was happy to include the pix.
Finn summed up their visit. “Our stay with Tone and Steinar was a memorable one! We talked floatys for hours and hours. Two die hard collectors! It was truly a FLOATY SUMMIT! Thank you Tone and Steinar for your hospitality. We enjoyed our stay very much!!!”
Sue Buetow is real stickler... for organization. However, she is not so fond of the tedious chore of dusting. Over the years, Sue has tried a number of different systems for organizing and displaying her collection, but many required dusting. Now it seems Sue has found a practical solution for storing and displaying her floaty pen collection. Sue purchased these Plano storage units at a Farm & Fleet store. The units cost about $12 each. A unit consists of a red rack with four plastic boxes. The boxes have hinged lids that snap closed. Each box is divided into six identical compartments, or slots, measuring 1½ inches wide by 7 inches long.
“I can get about a dozen pens in each compartment. Each slot represents a category, although some need more than one slot. I like a lot of categories. It makes it easier to find specific pens. I use a label maker to generate a number for each compartment. The number and contents of each slot is entered alphabetically into a book. Now I can find pens in a flash! I currently have ten units and almost 200 categories. It may seem complicated, but it sure works for me. The best part... no more dusting my pens! It takes about one minute to dust all of the units.” Sue mounted shelves on the wall to hold the units. They are neatly stacked and aligned. Way to go Sue! I have a feeling others will consider your system.
Maryland collector, Alicia Delahunty... and her family just returned from a trip to Ohio and Michigan. Alicia found an Eskesen naked twist and click at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. She is sending one my way. If the design is exciting, I will try to buy a quantity of them.
Alicia's son, Benedict, donated a dollar to the Habitat for Humanity charity at a mall in Adrian, Michigan. The donation granted him one spin of the wheel of fortune for a prize. He could have won an IPOD, but instead got a warm diet Pepsi, some coupons and a choice between a floaty or a yo-yo! He chose the twist n click Eskesen Mountain Dew pen and presented it to his mother. Alicia could not buy any extras. The pens were reserved for the charity fund raiser. Still, it's a serendipitous encounter of the floaty kind.
Amazing eBay Stories... Over the last few months... floaty action has evolved from HOT to HOTTER! Let me begin with a lucky win for Biggy Kuhn in Germany.
Biggy won a real... Eskesen gem on eBay. The seller had chosen an ineffective title and keywords so most floaty collectors overlooked the posting. A friend spotted the auction and noticed the pencil had a floater. Biggy's friend notified her right away.
The item is not the first pencil made by Peder Eskesen, but it is a very old design from the early 1950's. The first pencil featured an oil drum, but it did not have a figure. Kim Rasmussen, at E, confirmed the age of the pencil and congratulated Biggy on winning a true treasure.
Biggy won the pencil for about $25 US. A fabulous price for a fantastic floaty. Biggy asked if I thought this might be a good story for Float About. Yes Biggy.. I certainly do! Kudos on your win.
This may be the biggest eBay score... in floaty pen history. This story begins on June 2nd. Out of the blue, Dennis from Cleveland, contacted me via email regarding the value of a 1959 Eskesen sample case. He didn't provide any photos or explain if he wanted to sell the case or just have it appraised. Not knowing his intentions, it was difficult for me to advise him. I responded with some answers and more questions, but I never heard from him again.
June 10th Dennis's extraordinary sample kit sold on eBay. These photos were borrowed from the eBay listing. I enhanced them as best I could.
So this is what a 1959 E sample case looked like!? WOW. This is truly a glimpse into Eskesen's humble beginnings. In-the-day, I am sure this sample case was state-of-the-art. The sample book seems to have soft felt pages. The items are attached with what I presume to be elastic cord, or some kind of cording. Note the folded piece of paper in the upper right photo? It is unfolded in the last frame to reveal a bevy of tip n strip models.
Just like the modern version of the Eskesen sample case, this case included their extensive product line. I see pencils, letter openers, screw drivers and keyrings. I can't be sure, but I don't think there are any pens. 1959 was early for ballpoint pens. I noticed page two was dedicated to tip n strip items. They were all the rage in those days and their popularity continues in today's market.
What a fabulous find! So how much did this fantastic floaty package sell for? Two very confident and serious collectors duked it out until the last second of the auction. The winning bid was $366.99. What an incredible acquisition. If you are curious, check-out the listing on eBay. Search for item #260125263836.
So maybe vintage Eskesen... isn't your style. This story is about a contemporary celebrity pen. I have been receiving congratulatory notes every since my Dolly Parton auction closed.
I hesitated to post the pen. Bill and I have visited the gift shop at Dollywood on two separate occasions. The only pens we found were traditional photoramics in the classic or naked twist n click style. This was the only Dolly Parton conceal/reveal design I have ever seen. It was from my personal collection, so it was extra hard to let it go. It's possible this pen was made to promote a special performance at Dollywood.
Like many conceal/reveal pens this one has a bubble. Because the background is so black, the bubble was pretty obscure. In a traditional photoramic pen, a bubble can stall or even stop the floater. Unlike classic photoramics, in a conceal/reveal pen, the bubble tends to make way for the movement of the sleeve. I have noticed within my personal collection, when compared to my traditional photoramics, a higher percentage of my conceal/reveal pens have bubbles. Do you find the same to be true?
Back to the auction. People assume that I watch my auctions close. I do not! It's just far too stressful. I try to forget about them and wait for eBay to send the end-of-auction notices my way. There were two factors I did not anticipate. Among floaty collectors, the majority of wishlists begin with pens that fall into the celebrity or ad categories. I really under estimated the devotion of Dolly Parton fans. When these two forces collided the bids exploded. Even so, no one was more surprised than I was to see the Dolly Parton pen sell for $224.50! As far as I know, it's the highest fee ever paid for one floaty pen. It has to be a record breaker. Sorry, players in both auctions prefer to remain anonymous.
Several designs from Issue #56... New Arrivals list still remain. However, a few are now endangered. The Multnomah Falls and Tasha - Gardner Monks (very personal custom wedding pen) will soon vanish. The Queen Elizabeth II will be retired in 2008. Now is the time to get the pen. Sorry, only one FloatArt designs this time. Hopefully I will have more of Nancy's pens to include in the next issue.
New Arrivals may be short.... but there are some outstanding custom designs. This one from the Page Museum is a great example. Californians are crazy about the The Page Museum. What's not to love?! The LaBrea Tar Pits are a national treasure. For floaty pen collectors, a custom pen from The Page is a big bonus. I purchased a quantity of these pens retail. The gift shop offers them for $5 each. They will mailorder, but I was quoted $5 shipping for one pen.
As for Issue #58... it will be due right around Halloween. That's doesn't sound impossible to me. I will do what I can to make it happen. We may take a short trip late in September, but it shouldn't delay publication. I do have a request. Does anyone have a Toblerone pen for trade or sale? If so, please contact me.
In each issue I like to share... pictures of extraordinary examples of Eskesen pens or pencils. Usually the examples are from my personal collection. This time, I am not the lucky owner.
Tone does not know the history of these items. She asks, “Does anyone know anything about the background of this pen and pencil? They are so special and wonderful.”
The belly band reads ‘Made in Denmark’, so they are definitely Eskesen. Tone wonders if they were custom made for a celebration? Any information would be appreciated. They are obviously vintage. I have never seen anything like this. I am blown away! I want to thank Tone for sharing with us. I would be envious, but I am happy they are in the hands of such a deserving collector.
Perhaps you are one of the millions... of Americans that are struggling to keep their health insurance? Me too. I was having great difficulty making the $688 monthly payment. In July it increased to $872. That's just for me. Bill pays a little less, but far too much. Our insurance broker attempted to find another company for Bill and I both. Due to our existing medical conditions, we were declined over and over. I intend to hang on as long as I can, but I expect my policy to increase to over $1,000 in July of 2008. Dropping my coverage is inevitable. In the meantime, the situation has pressured me to find supplemental income. Posting on eBay has helped tremendously. I tell you this because it's good news for collectors. Once show season is over I will devote time to scanning and posting pens. I have plenty of other things to sell too. I am equally determined to make changes to improve my personal health. This isn't going to be easy.
Finding time to exercise... has always been a challenge for me. For my birthday, Bill purchased a pet stroller to get me on my feet. The idea of taking the cats for a walk amused me. Much to my surprise they enjoy our daily jaunts. We get a lot of laughs, double-takes and expressions of disbelief. I guess anyone that walks a cat is presumed crazy. To support that presumption, I listen to my Spanish language tapes and practice speaking out loud. My digital camera is handy to capture sunsets, flowers, animals, landscaping, whatever comes along. In the course of a week, my litter bag gets filled too. A different cat accompanies me each evening. Last night it was Kobesan's turn. No time to walk tonight! We have lived here for 20 years. This summer I have met more neighbors than ever before. I feel better too. I may be the crazy cat lady, but it's ok. This has been a positive experience all the way around. I highly recommend it.
Our geothermal system... is installed. The a/c served us well through the hot spells. We are anxious to see how it works in the winter months. We will know soon enough. A friend remarked that we could have snow in as little as six weeks. I almost kicked her! Public school started today, so I know my friend speaks the truth. Summer is over. Sigh.
If you have been watching... National Weather coverage this past week or two, you know the mid-west has been coping with stormy weather.
Clean-up continues in Mansfield. Our main Post Office is situated in the flats. It flooded on the 21st and has yet to reopen. The facility had three feet of water inside and they lost their entire fleet of trucks. Shelby, a small community about 15 minutes from us, really took a beating. They had a few daring water and air rescues. Our house sets high and dry, but many of our neighbors lost everything in their basements. The storms continued through the weekend. Actually, the mid-west has been troubled by tornadoes and heavy rain on and off for weeks. Thanks for sending sunshine. Things are finally looking up.
Now it's your turn. What kind of summer did you have? Did you find floaty pens? Enjoy fine weather? Until the storms came, we were enjoying a fantastic summer. I hope you were just as lucky.
I am not going to keep you a moment longer. It's time to browse the pen list. I will be taking orders Wednesday and Thursday. Friday we will likely make a trip to Pittsburgh. You should not wait for my return. Orders are filled on a first-come first-served basis. I will be here on Saturday. Sunday morning we will leave for the art fair and return late Monday night.
That's more than enough for now, but check Float Along frequently for news! Go forward to Issue #58 posted on Tues/Nov 12, 2007
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Welcome to the GO VEGGIE website. If you're motivated to promote vegetarianism whilst participating in endurance sports or 'active-lifestyle' type competitions / leisure pursuits then you are in the right place. If you have visited our site before and know where you want to go, please select from the items in the menu bar above. If you are visiting for the first time and want to learn more, our home page is probably the best place to start.
Briefly, we are all about passively promoting vegetarianism by wearing GO VEGGIE kit whilst training and competing. We are an 'association' rather than a conventional cycling / running / triathlon club and as such we are in a unique position.
Cutting to the chase - whatever your sport or pursuit - it is generally possible to train and / or compete in our kit and spread the veggie message whilst simultaneously retaining your local club loyalty, or, if you are not into the club scene, maintaining your stealth status as an 'unattached' competitor. Explore our site to see how...
Even in the vast spaces of the American West, driving 1300 miles can seem like forever! So on my journey through Idaho and Eastern Washington a couple of weeks ago I brought along books on disk to listen to. It was a good move—I was able to finish two and a half books while driving!
One of the books was The Year of Living Biblically; it made the best- seller list a few years back. The author, A.J. Jacobs, is a man who decided to live for an entire year as closely and as literally as possible to the rules of the Bible. He combed through both the Old Testament and the New Testament to find laws and rules and teachings to follow. This meant everything from the way he wore his hair, to the kinds of fabric he wore, to the foods he ate.
It also meant visiting different religious communities that also try to follow closely the rules of the Bible. This helped the author learn how they interpret rules of the Bible.
One day he visited a community of conservative Jews who were in the midst of observing a religious festival. Now, I don’t know about you but when I think of conservative Jews I don’t think of wild parties. Well, at this festival the women were quiet; they were sitting in a balcony, separated from the men. But on the floor below, hundreds of drunken men in black hats and beards danced and shouted and sang. The book’s author joined in.
After three hours of dancing I tell [my friend] Gershon that I’m going to [leave the festival]. He walks me out. “Remember,” he says to me as we shake hands good-bye on the street corner, “sometimes you have to look beyond the weirdness. It’s like the temple in ancient Jerusalem. If you went there, you’d see oxen being slaughtered and all sorts of things. But look beyond the weirdness, to what it means.”
In today’s gospel reading Jesus says to his followers, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.” It’s a whole lot of weirdness, and John tells us that “when many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?’” They complained. They were offended. In fact, John reports, “…many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him.” It was all just too weird!
As I read this account I can’t say as though I blame those who turned away from Jesus. What would you have done in that situation? Life-long, church-going people are at a disadvantage in reading the Bible. We forget just how weird it is! As a matter of fact, there’s a whole lot of weirdness in all of today’s readings! In the reading from Joshua God’s people pledge to serve God alone. But this is the same group that complained in the desert and threatened to mutiny against Moses!
The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to erase the remembrance of them from the earth. Really? A God of love is out to “erase the remembrance” of those who do evil from the earth? Is this what love looks like? Sounds like there’s no hope for any of us!
And today’s second reading from Ephesians describes spiritual warfare, comparing the resources of faith to military armor.
But this barely scratches the surface. The Bible is loaded with weirdness! In response, we may find ourselves inclined—like Jesus’ disciples in today’s gospel reading—perplexed, uncomfortable, maybe ready to ignore the weirdness or—except for a few minutes on Sunday morning–to give up on God’s Word, except when it fits whatever we already believe.
But what if we were to stay with it? What if we were to stay with the Scriptures, to hear the weirdness, and then look beyond the weirdness to what it means?
Last week during Sunday morning class we were looking at today’s reading from Ephesians, and one participant picked up on the phrase, “the wiles of the devil.” I don’t believe in a devil,” she said. “I believe there’s evil in the world, but not a devil.” And I said, “Well, some people believe in a devil and some don’t. I’m not too worried about whether you do or don’t. The more important question is, What does the devil represent? What does it mean? How do we live in response?”
The idea of a devil for her is weird. And from a 21st –century point of view many of us might say the same. Does this mean it’s not important? No! We ask, “How can I look beyond the weirdness to see what it means?”
In response to the weirdness of God’s Word we as Jesus’ disciples may be tempted, as in today’s gospel reading, to focus on ourselves: to pretend that the weirdness isn’t there (which is what many Christians do), or to be offended: This stuff doesn’t seem to fit with our modern world so who needs it? (which is what many non-churchgoers conclude).
But what if all of us, whether believers or skeptics, chose to look beyond the weirdness to what it means?
I’m hoping that those who are here and those who aren’t will start taking seriously the weirdness of the Bible and bring their questions to the table. Why do we do what we do during worship? What do we believe? What does it mean?
Can we do that much? Can we bring our questions before God and one another, and together look beyond the weirdness to see what it all means for our lives?
Seems like we could do at least that much—to look beyond the weirdness of God, and God’s Word. Because…God has already looked beyond our weirdness! After all, what can be said about creatures who, in response to God’s unconditional love for us, worry, complain and take for granted the incredible gift of life and opportunities for new life we have each day?
From God’s perspective, our response—or lack of response–to God’s love might seem pretty weird. But God chooses to look beyond our weirdness, to what it means. In response to human fear, greed, and ingratitude, God chooses compassion, patience and, above all, forgiveness without end. That’s the real weirdness of God, weirder than anything human beings could dream up! And yet, is it just possible that we could follow—and even attempt to imitate—such weirdness? As we find in today’s gospel, Jesus’ disciples thought he was pretty weird. Even so, we pray that we can join Peter in asking, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life!”
The game Twinbee-RPG seems like a very underrated game and I like to make gameplays for it, but I just can't understand the language of Japanese, otherwise, I don't know what am I selecting, anyone here knows how to translate a PSX game?
First of all, the Japanese language is sufficiently complex language when referring to his writing. Their languaje is divided in Katakana, kanji, hiragana (and I'm forgetting something more), if one of that simbols changes, the meaning of the word changes too. It's not so easy like the english, spanish, portuguese or any other language.
And second, you will need an advanced hex editor for hack the PSX inner files, change the meaning of these special symbols and fonts for gameplay, and that is a really hard thing to do.
Is a shame...Konami is company that produces as amazing games like Tokimeki Memorial (also 100% in japanese) or Twinbee RPG, but since they haven't enough popularity these games not reach this part of the continent. Or if we find them, they're 100% in their nature language.
I just can recommend you to find a FAQ of this game, I have finded a FAQ of Tokimemo and with some knowledge of Kanji (that helped of course) I completed that game twice (and this game is hard as hell ).
Better try to familiarize with the japanese language, or find a FAQ, if this doesn't work, try the best method to try-and-fail.
There's actually a FAQ available in GameFAQs- I remember trying to clear this game too but stopped somewhere in the middle. It's not too bad tho. (-l3l-); |
Celebrated West Coast filmmaker Chick Strand passed away this past summer, leaving behind a body of sensual and smart work significant for its radical exploration of the space between documentary and poetry, truth and fiction, and the politics and pleasure of representation. A key figure in American independent and avant-garde film movements, she co-founded the film exhibition and distribution collective Canyon Cinema in the mid-1960s. She began her own filmmaking career at the age of 34, combining a background in photographic collage and academic training in anthropology into a series of poetic documentaries shot in Mexico while an ethnography student at UCLA. “Ethnographic films,” Strand once wrote, “should be works of art, symphonies about the fabric of a people.”
This evening, CATE pays tribute to Strand’s legacy with a rare screening of her 1979 film, Soft Fiction (16mm, b/w, sound, 54 min) which uses the ethnographic tool of the informant interview as a jumping-off point for a provocative and sensuous exploration of female sexuality and spirit, while raising questions about storytelling, memory, and the performance and preservation of self. For the critic Marsha Kinder, the Strand’s title “evokes the soft line between truth and fiction and suggests the idea of softcore fiction, which is appropriate to the film’s erotic content and style. It’s rare to find an erotic film with a female perspective dominating both the narrative discourse and the visual and aural rhythm with which the film is structured. Strand continues to celebrate in her brilliant, innovative personal documentaries her theme, the reaffirmation of the tough resilience of the human spirit.” Accompanied by the exquisite Kristallnacht (1979, 16mm, b/w, sound 7 min), an homage to Anne Frank and the resilience of the human spirit.
Born Mildred in northern California and nicknamed Chick by her father, CHICK STRAND studied anthropology at Berkeley in the 1960s, joined the free speech movement, and experimented with photographic collage. She joined the filmmaker Bruce Baillie and editor Ernest Callenbach to found Canyon Cinema, a screening and workshop collective that evolved into the San Francisco Cinematheque and the independent distributor, Canyon Cinema. She enrolled in the ethnography program at UCLA, and after graduating in 1971 taught for 24 years at Occidental College. She made nineteen films, many shot in Mexico, while traveling with her life and artistic partner, the pop-surrealist artist Neon Park (Martin Muller, 1940-93). Her work is held in the collection of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and continues to be distributed by Canyon Cinema.
Luke Clausen of Spokane and Ron Hobbs Jr. of Orting in the Forrest Wood Cup bass fishing event | Reel Time Fishing Northwest | Seattle Times
The first day of the Forrest Wood Cup in Hot Springs, Arkansas on Lake Ouachita ended with National Guard pro Scott Martin of Clewiston, Fla., bringing in a five-bass limit weighing 19 pounds, 2 ounces leading the way.
Martin now holds a 1-pound, 1-ounce lead over Diet Mt. Dew pro Jason Christie of Park Hill, Okla., who weighed five bass weighing 18-1 in a tournament featuring 58 of the world’s best professional bass anglers.
Luke Clausen of Spokane is in 11th place with five bass weighing 13-pounds, 15-ounces, and Ronald Hobbs Jr. of Orting is in 42nd place with five bass weighing 7-pounds, 12-ounces.
Martin’s smallest fish in his limit was a 3 1/2-pounder and he didn’t want to “burn” any more quality fish, so he spent the rest of the day looking for new areas to fish and scouting the amount of fishing pressure his other areas were getting.
Martin said his first-day catch and cooler air temperatures have boosted his confidence about the rest of the tournament.
“I think (the weather) helped everybody,” Martin said. “Any time you have a cloudy, cool day in August when it’s been 110 degrees it’s going to be beneficial. Hopefully the weather will stay like it was today for the next few days. We’ll see what happens.
“I feel like in the area I’m fishing right now I can catch another bag like the one I caught today or even a third-day bag like that,” Martin added. “I feel like there’s the opportunity for that. That being said, I have quite a few more areas that had fish in them that I didn’t even get to fish today. I’m not out of fish and I’m not out of spots to look for them.”
Overall there were 244 bass weighing 588 pounds, 9 ounces caught by 56 pros. The catch included 39 five-bass limits.
Pros are competing for the title of Forrest Wood Cup champion, the most prestigious award in professional bass fishing, as well as a top award of up to $600,000 — the sport’s biggest award.
Anglers will take off from Brady Mountain Resort & Marina located at 4120 Brady Mountain Rd. in Royal, Ark., at 6:30 each morning. Daily weigh-ins will also be held at Summit Arena & Hot Springs Convention Center located at 134 Convention Blvd., in Hot Springs beginning at 5 p.m.
Given the recent News of the World phone hacking scandal, the timing could not be better for the release of famed hacker Kevin Mitnick’s memoir. At one point, Mitnick went so far as to eavesdrop on National Security Agency telephone calls. At times Ghost in the Wires reads like a thriller, not only for computer […]
July 2014 - Centre for Criminal Justice and Human RightsCentre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights
I’m just back from two days in Geneva at Ireland’s hearing before the UN Human Rights Committee. I was there as part of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (designate) delegation, and, as with other members of civil society attending, had the opportunity to meet with UN Committee members in the café, corridors and meeting rooms of Palais Wilson.
The Committee Rapporteur for Ireland is Professor Yuval Shany, and twitter followers, as well as those who viewed the web-cast, will have heard his sharp questioning of the Irish delegation, on matters ranging from non-discrimination of religious minorities and aetheists in education, abortion, symphsiotomy, and limited access to effective remedies at domestic level, including the failure of the State to incorporate the ICCPR into domestic law.
The Committee’s challenging questions on Ireland’s failings on women’s rights, and on reproductive and sexual health in particular, were remarkable both in tone and substance. The ill-fated attempt by the Irish Govt delegation to invoke Article 25 ICCPR, the right to participation in public life (normally associated with free and fair elections), provoked a strong reaction from Committee members, with Prof Yuval Shany calling on the Govt to withdraw its comments. The suggestion that majority views were determinative of the content and scope of human rights norms, and of the State’s human rights commitments, was shocking to those who listened to the Govt’s responses, and with some time for reflection, Minster Frances Fitzgerald quickly accepted the Committee’s criticism.
Committee member, Flintermann (formerly of CEDAW), challenged the Government as to whether the electorate had ever been given the opportunity to vote on expanded access to abortion. The answer, as I’m sure he knew, was no. Minister Fitzgerald commented only that the most recent referendum, held in 2002, sought to limit the impact of the X case judgment and remove access to abortion in situations of suicide. Flinterman also linked – as noted subsequently by Rodley – access to abortion with the ICCPR’s non-discrimination guarantee.
While the exchanges on women’s reproductive rights provoked the strongest words from the Committee, there was also sharp questioning on the State’s continued failure to recognise Traveller ethnicity, as well as on the prolonged stays of children and families in Direct Provision accommodation. The continuing failure of the State to introduce an independent immigration appeals system or a statutory framework to vindicate the rights of trafficked persons was noted with some frustration by Committee members. On Direct Provision, the Government’s response, presented by RIA representative, Mr Noel Dowling, cited ‘value for money’ and need to avoid ‘pull factors’ as justifications for continued reliance on DP without time limits or exceptions for families with children. The notion of ‘rights as trumps’ clearly overlooked already in the Government’s invocation of Article 25 ICCPR, was again ignored by RIA. The lack of disaggregated data on domestic violence, the habitual residence condition and its impact on migrant women experiencing domestic violence, as well as the €300 charge imposed for those seeking to access immigration permission, were all raised by Committee members.
The wrap up comments from Nigel Rodley, brought together the continuing impunity for gendered historic abuses, including symphsiotomy, with the current law’s treatment of women as ‘vessels’. Failing to provide access to abortion where there existed a risk to health imposed conditions of life on women, that as Flinterman had also noted, violated not only article 6 ICCPR , but also Article 3’s guarantees of non-discrimination. On symphsiotomy, Rodley was even more categorical in his statements. Although a former UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, the information brought to light on the practice of symphsiotomy in Ireland had, he said, been keeping him awake at night. Rather than commenting further, he simply re-stated the Covenant’s prohibition of medical experimentation without consent (art 7 (2)). Clearly, he said, the practice of symphsiotomy fell within the prohibitions of Article 7 – a core non-derogable human rights norm.
Uniting the State’s record on historical abuses, from the Magdalene Laundries, to Symphsiotomy, child abuse and the Mother and Baby homes, was, he said, an absence of accountability, a failing in human rights protection that that he suggested was due to ‘dominant institutional belief systems’ that prevailed within the State — I guess he was talking about the intersections of law, gender and religion here? Strong words from a human rights lawyer not given to emotive outbursts.
The quality of civil society engagement clearly informed the Committee’s scrutiny, and no doubt prompted the need for a high level Govt delegation to respond. Concluding Obs will issue next week. They are likely to be much more muted than the robust exchanges witnessed in Geneva. Let’s hope however for clear signals on the need for urgent reforms, not least on accountability mechanisms for past abuses.
Blog post contributed by Seán Butler (PhD candidate and Government of Ireland IRC PhD scholarship awardee).
The disaster of the civil war in Syria has since its inception been compounded by fears that the conflict could destabilise its neighbours and spur a much larger regional conflagration. The activities of the Syrian rebels expanded into conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon in mid-2012, and now the stuttering attempts to build a stable post-Saddam state in Iraq have been significantly hindered by the activities of the terrorist group styling themselves the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). The group claim sovereignty over the entire Levant region, incorporating Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan and Cyprus, as well as portions of Turkey (the Hatay province) and Egypt (the Sinai), in which they wish to establish a caliphate. ISIS was previously allied to al-Qaeda, but was expelled from the latter in February for excessive brutality in its actions and a political disagreement over control of the Syrian rebel group known as the al-Nusra front.
In early June, ISIS scored a major victory in taking control of Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul, and currently controls approximately 35% of Iraqi territory in the north and west of the country. Their actions have caused a surge in violence in Iraq, leading to over 2400 deaths in June and severely damaging the position of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. It has additionally led to a substantial drop in Iraqi oil production, threatening global crude prices, and spurred a movement towards a referendum on total independence by Iraqi Kurdistan, which would include the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. The Iraqi government has requested help from the international community to deal with the crisis, which so far has come in the form of a shipment of warplanes from Russia and the dispatch of some three hundred military advisors from the US. Earlier in June, Pentagon officials were discussing possible military action in the form of airstrikes, but the US government has since backed away from this position. An airstrike was conducted against the ISIS-controlled city of al-Qaim on 24 June, but the US denied involvement, and it is strongly speculated that it was undertaken by the Syrian government, who are also fighting ISIS.
The rise in influence of ISIS and the involvement of international players in the crisis has generated some notable impacts in politics and law. Politically, the situation threatens to shuffle the deck in the ongoing Sunni-Shia ‘Cold War’, with Iraq pushing closer to Shia-dominated Iran in the absence of American military involvement and Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia likely to fill the vacuum of oil supply being vacated by Iraq. As such, the situation in the Middle East could accelerate towards a state of greater instability and even a potential possible ‘heating’ of this ‘Cold War’. Such fears could force greater US involvement if the crisis does not abate in the future, as military action in Iraq would be (politically) less controversial than similar action in Syria.
A relative lack of political controversy over such a move does not mean that the situation is legally cut-and-dried, however. When the possibility of US military engagement was mooted last month, a number of bloggers questioned whether the move would be legal under domestic US law. The 2001 Authorisation for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists, restricted to those responsible for the 9/11 attacks and their allies, may not apply to ISIS due to its severing of ties with al-Qaeda, while the 2002 statute permitting action against Iraq to deal with its supposed “weapons of mass destruction” would also not apply.
Additionally, Deborah Pearlstein has argued in a post for Opinio Juris that US military action in Iraq may violate international law also, specifically that it would violate Article 2(4) of the UN Charter and Iraq’s human rights obligations, if an armed force conducts military operations on foreign soil absent a state of armed conflict, a Security Council authorisation or an act of self-defence. The primary issue of contention here is whether the US government can target individuals on foreign soil if said individuals cannot be said to be combatants in a conflict, a question with added salience given the US’ continuing drone campaign against militants in Pakistan.
As some have commented under Pearlstein’s piece, the question is largely moot as it is likely that the Iraqi government are in a state of armed conflict with ISIS, even if it would be politically inconvenient for them to admit to this fact. The issue does however raise further questions. As I raised in a previous post on this blog concerning French action in Mali, to what extent should a government be permitted to request or consent to foreign military intervention in regions of its country over which it does not have de facto control? The Iraqi government now essentially comprises one side of a civil war, and its requests for foreign intervention ultimately amount to an attempt to drag the US into the war on its side. The situation is further complicated by the fact that a truly effective counterattack against ISIS would probably involve attacking targets inside Syria as well.
Due to the prominence of sovereignty in international law, particularly post-1945, the law sides with the de jure governments to a strong degree. The ICJ’s famous Nicaragua judgment declared foreign assistance to rebel forces to be a violation of that state’s sovereignty, yet assistance to the government forces is legal. ISIS declared the establishment of a caliphate in the areas of Syria and Iraq that it controls, yet this new ‘state’ is not recognised under international law as it was a unilateral declaration (similar to the declarations recently undertaken by forces in Crimea and eastern Ukraine). Should ISIS gain control of Baghdad, however, it could potentially become the de jure government of Iraq and thus US action against it in favour of the deposed democratic government would ostensibly be illegal. In such a situation, it would become a matter of political wrangling as to what constituted the legal government of Iraq, and thus who foreign states could support.
The complexity of this situation is just another example of contemporary international law’s difficulties dealing with the reality of non-state actors. The brutality of ISIS means its status as a pariah in international law will garner them little sympathy, yet the law which applies to it equally would apply to the more popular secular forces also fighting the Assad regime in Syria. This issue was also relevant in the disagreement over the interpretation of Security Council Resolution 1973, as to whether the targeting of pro-Gaddafi forces in Libya was a necessary component of NATO’s mandate of civilian protection or a violation of the law (see my Mali post for a brief discussion of this). The law needs further clarification and congruence in this area, so that the legal battlefield can better match the requirements of the physical one.
In her word-selection, Radhika, evokes both presence and absence (the presence of Malala and absence of others). And, in so doing, she provokes reflection, illumining the subjugation in presence and self-determination in absence. Of the two, the invocation of absence is perhaps the most powerful. In suggesting the unseen it conjures those intimate relations of subjugation: invisibility, exclusion and above all silencing. However this absence subsists also within the presence of Malala: less the individual and more her celebrated status. Viewed another way, the latter, lives, at least partially, because of absence: the perception of absence; the perceived exceptionality of Malala’s status as child, her gender identity and position as a child human rights defender. However the former Special Representative only evokes absence: she speaks of presence — the presence of other child-human rights defenders.
Undergirding this conjoined presence-absence is a paradox, evocative of still broader dimensions of those interrelations: though Malala’s human rights advocacy is and has been celebrated, how many states (including those of my own continent of citizenship) respect and ensure children’s evolving capacities to seize, shape and express their rights. Consider it this way: they may ensure their right ‘to’ education, but what about their rights ‘in’ and ‘through’ education? Here too those interrelations of subjugation and self-determination loom. The celebration of Malala’s acts of self-determination in defence of her human rights is countered by the subjugation of others closer to home (wherever home may be). And this may only partially be explained by Malala’s perceived exceptionality. It illumines deeper dimensions of those interrelations: specifically the underside of the interface between political and legal imperatives — the politicking that undergirds greater respect for human rights away from home. Here the focus is arguably less on the rights-holder and more the identity of, and our relationship with, the rights-violator (amongst other dynamics).
Still as the discussant affirms ‘we are all postcolonial now’. Herein the affirmation of the rights to self-determination of peoples and individuals represents the beginning of our present ‘postcolonial epoch’. And children were part of this; they too are postcolonial subjects of rights. (Indeed they are arguably the first postcolonials, as recognised by the League of Nations in the Declaration of the Rights the Child (the quasi-juristic forerunner to general and child-specific instruments of international human rights law).) Envisioned in this way, the legal expression of our position as postcolonial subjects of rights was born of the hurt and harm of the subjugation of peoples and individuals — and here is the crux, within the homelands of the colonised and the colonisers. Further as, the individual of Malala, illumines, these rights continue to be seized and shaped by continuing acts of injustice including the suffered injustice of children.
To an extent then, international human rights law is the juristic holder of our embodied vulnerability to hurt and harm of all forms. Thus viewed it has particular significance for children and their aforesaid indivisible worlds. In affirming children’s position as human rights-holders, international law acknowledges and accommodates their differences and disadvantage from adults. However, the applicability of selected rights to children is often underappreciated: specifically the rights transformers — children’s rights to legal remedies, take part in decision-making affecting them and freedom of expression, amongst others. So too is the hurt and harm of the non-fulfilment of these legal obligations. Of course, supporting children’s evolving capacities to seize, shape and express their rights is dignity affirming. However it is also vital to ensuring their other rights including their freedom from all forms of violence (and the rights-based development of international law).
Interwoven within the multilayers of presence and absence evoked here are the vestiges of subjugation; these subsist notwithstanding the identifiable momentum towards child rights infused decision-making and outcomes at all levels. De jure, children remain ‘equal in dignity and rights’. De facto, (with limited access to justice and decision-making affecting them) they are less subjects of rights and more objects of protection. Considered in this way ‘[w]e are thus in need of post-postcolonialism’. Perhaps the beginning is unlocking the abstraction (the child), reconnecting children’s indivisible worlds to their present rights-bearing selves — perceiving and affirming the Malala in each and every child.
* Inspired by the 16th Annual Grotius Lecture of the American Society of International Law — ‘Women and children: the cutting edge of international law’ delivered by Radikha Coomaraswamy (Global Professor of International Law at New York University School of Law and former U.N. Special Representative of the Secretary General on Children and Armed Conflict and U.N. Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women) and the response ‘The post-postcolonial woman or child’ by Diane Marie Amann (Emily and Ernest Woodruff Chair in International Law at the University of Georgia School of Law and Special Advisor to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court). Please note, the views expressed here are my own.
Public Panel Discussion: “Climate Justice and Adaptation Strategies: Linking Global and Local Initiatives”
As a precursor to the third in a series of workshops on Climate Justice, Human Rights, Migration and Adaptation Strategies, hosted by the Centre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights in conjunction with the EU COST Action Programme IS1101, a public discussion took place on 9th June 2014 at UCC highlighting key areas in the climate justice debate, with speakers from diverse viewpoints: academia, policy-level, and from an activist standpoint.
Chair for the discussion, Professor Siobhán Mullally, introduced the evening’s key talking points: how different types of migration, short-term and seasonal for example, can be an adaptation strategy in response to climate change, and the need for examination of the institutional responses to adaptive migration strategies at the global, regional, and national levels.
First to speak was Dr Cosmin Corendea, from the United Nations University (UNU) in Bonn and current chair of the University’s social vulnerability project, who discussed a recent UN collaborative project – Where the Rain Falls – which ran from 2011 to 2013. The project was an empirical study with a participatory ‘bottoms-up approach’ which focused on climate change, food security and human mobility in eight countries in the Global South, where seasonal rainfall, now often erratic due to climate change, acts as a trigger for non-traditional migration. The global findings of the project, based on country specific case studies, highlighted in particular that in 30% of cases forced migration was the main violation of human rights, particularly problematic in the case of rural to urban migration. The study’s key finding however found that the most important issue facing climate-induced migrants in all countries was food security. As a specific example, in Tanzania climate change is now impacting on both the wet and dry seasons, where the monsoon season often falls later than expected thus causing confusion to traditional migratory patterns. As a result, communities who migrate to other regions at non-traditional times, due to crop failure for instance, now face severe human rights problems, often in conflict over resources with host communities. Dr Corendea however was keen to point out that ‘migratory reaction adaptations’ differ considerably in diverse regions of the world. Responses in Vietnam to erratic rainfalls for instance are different for a host of reasons from Peru, for geographic or cultural reasons, and local and national action plans to deal with such a diversity of migratory responses must take this into account.
Second to speak on adaptation strategies, this time from a Global North policy level perspective was Diego Quiroz-Onate, Policy Officer with the Scottish Human Rights Commission. In his talk on climate justice in Scotland, three themes where outlined. First, he argued that human rights are not adequately discussed in climate change reports. Instead, climate change is communicated overwhelmingly in terms of fiscal policy, economics and depleting resources and as a result the social element is ignored or at best downplayed. Climate change displacement impacts on housing rights, for example when flooding acts as a push factor resulting in homelessness, and sometimes destitution, a direct consequence. Therefore the integration of a strong human rights framework at the policy and legislative level is vital for both adaptation and mitigation. Second, and following on from the first theme, the human rights-based approach gives added value in the design, implementation and evaluation of law, policies and practices. Human rights impact assessments for example, he argued, add moral value, within a strong moral framework, in that they identify both rights-holders with specific claims, and duty-bearers with specific legal obligations. His final point dealt with the concept of climate justice in Scotland, specifically the 2009 Climate Change Act and the 2012 Scottish Parliament motion on climate justice. The 2009 Act creates the statutory framework for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enables the transitioning to a low carbon economy. Meanwhile, the 2012 motion was passed unanimously, and according to Quiroz-Onate, this legislative framework linking human rights to development in Scotland is a highly progressive model, with a climate justice approach as the formal policy of the Scottish Parliament.
Finally, speaking from an activist point of view, Oisín Coghlan from Friends of the Earth (Ireland) spoke on climate change legislation in Ireland – specifically, the Climate Action and Low-Carbon Bill 2014. Unfortunately, and in direct contradiction to the Scottish legislature’s success in passing laws, Ireland is considerably off-track on climate change targets due to legislative inactivity. In a challenging analysis, Coghlan argued that the ‘hold up’, ongoing since 2007, is largely due to ‘complex climate change politics’. Before the 2011 election for instance all the main political parties had explicitly committed to climate change legislation, yet since the new Daíl has convened the current coalition parties, Fine Gael and Labour, have not seen it as a priority. All this, he frankly admitted, despite the inception of the coalition on advocating for a climate change law began in 2007, with development NGO’s and faith groups, has been a somewhat sobering, if enlightening experience.
A law is needed, Coghlan argued, to provide a ‘policy architecture’ robust enough to drive action on climate change. Otherwise, it invariably falls off the political agenda. Part of the reason the legislation itself has taken so long, he maintained, is due to civil service resistance; where there is a preference for policy flexibility over firm timelines and targets, and where increased external oversight and accountability hold no great appeal. It takes considerable political will to overcome that inertia and political leadership has been lacking, especially given the influence of vested interests such as IBEC and the IFA, concerned about the short-term costs of climate action on their members.
Coghlan also argued that climate legislation, while not negating the legitimate interests of the business and farming lobbies, is intended to increase transparency and raise the level of democratic debate on climate policy. The public role of the expert advisory body should help bring the policy decisions out from behind closed doors. Elements in the civil service regard this as restricting Ireland’s room for manoeuvre.
This combination of civil service caution and interest-group concern is what stymied the last Government’s Climate Bill which included targets for 2030 and 2050, beyond the 2020 targets Ireland had already agreed to in EU negotiations. Following discussion of mitigation and adaptation, Coghlan finished the session with a somewhat apt and succinct phrase which had been conveyed to him at a recent environmental convention, in relation to climate change and its consequences: manage the unavoidable, but avoid the unmanageable.
In summing up the three presentations and placing them within tripartite institutional and policy structures, Dr Dug Cubie of the CCJHR and organiser of the evening’s discussion, argued that to protect the most vulnerable in society we must adapt to a changing climate as well as tackling the root causes via mitigation efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In particular, climate change adaptation strategies must be understood in terms of linking the global UNFCCC Cancun Adaptation Framework which prioritises approaches that are country-driven, gender-sensitive, transparent, participatory and based on best available science; with the regional, for example the EU adaptation strategies and climate-proofing action at EU and member State level; while at the local level, it is necessary for the Irish National Adaptation Framework and the Climate Action and Low-Carbon Development Bill to articulate a coherent strategic government policy for both adaptation and mitigation measures.
On Thursday 26th June 2014, the CCJHR will host a free public discussion on the topic of climate justice and adaptation strategies in Room 107, Western Gateway Building, UCC.
Chaired by Professor Siobhan Mullally, this event brings together a panel of international experts on climate change, human rights and migration to analyse the impact of climate change on the most vulernable in society.
Dr Cosmin Corendea from the UN University in Bonn will commence by presenting his recent research into migration decisions by individuals and communities resulting from the increasing variability of rainfall in countries such as Bangladesh, Peru, and Tanzania. Full details of this research can be found at: www.wheretherainfalls.org
Next, Diego Quiroz-Onate will describe the experience of the Scottish Human Rights Commission in promoting a climate justice approach with policy-makers in Scotland.
Bringing the discussion to the national and local level, Oisin Coghlan from Friends of the Earth (Ireland) will analyse the pending Climate Action and Low Carbon Bill 2014, and discuss the approach to climate change taken by the Irish authorities.
Finally, Dr Dug Cubie, Faculty of Law, UCC will describe the national adaptation framework for Ireland before leading a Q&A session with all contributors.
Lots of chilling stories about individual tragedies and individual efforts that saved hundreds. I’ll spare the tragedies, while here are some efforts that saved hundreds of lives:
The litany of errors is long. Unlike their counterparts in the West, or in East Asia, India’s perpetually squabbling leaders have failed to put national security above partisan politics. The country’s antiterrorism effort is reactive and episodic rather than proactive and sustained. Its public discourse on Islam oscillates between crude anti-Muslim bigotry and mindless sympathy for largely unjustified Muslim grievance-mongering. Its failure to either charm or cow its Islamist-friendly neighbors — Pakistan and Bangladesh — reveals a limited grasp of statecraft. Finally, an inability to modernize a 150-million strong Muslim population, the second largest after Indonesia’s, has spawned a community ill-equipped to seize new economic opportunities and susceptible to militant Islam’s faith-based appeal.
A very thoughtful post. Makes me wonder how much you actually must have moved by this incident, that even a reader can feel the shudder out of your researched facts. Touchy. Didn't actually expect it Keep writing. |
All categories have most of the important features needed for administration and management of any charity organisation.
Called a 'vanity project,' since the lead actor, Kit Harrington is a direct descendant of his character, Gunpowder is actually an engaging, entertaining miniseries about the Gunpowder Plot, hampered by unnecessarily gruesome violence.
The Catholics of England live under the brutal oppression of a tyrannical Protestant Government, under the influence of King James I (Derek Riddell). After the king's men storm into a private household, scour the premises, arrest, humiliate and press to death a Catholic woman, passionate young Robert Catesby (Kit Harrington) becomes convinced it is time to take a direct stand. Against the advice of his friend Anne Vaux (Liv Tyler), he conspires with Guy Fawkes (Tom Cullen) to blow up Parliament on the day the king and his wife visits, place their child on the throne, and rule through a regency.
Unfortunately for the conspirators, the shrewd Lord Robert Cecil (Mark Gatiss) has his eye on Catesby as a potential troublemaker, and what unfolds through the three episodes is a daring game of cat and mouse that sticks somewhat to history while taking liberties. It's a bold project, to make a film in still Protestant-leaning England that criticizes the Protestant British Government of the 1600s (and the same King James that had the Bible translated), and it suffered poor ratings in the United Kingdom, perhaps as a result. The filmmakers included scenes of harrowing, gruesome violence, so the viewers would understand what drove these men to their terrorist activities, but I don't think that was necessary; the facts are what they are, and it's not hard to imagine an angry minority under oppression choosing violence as their method of communication.
The real shame here is that the women do not have more to do, and that the script is heavy on conspiracy and light on character development; it's hard to remember who anyone is, apart from Catesby. But the opening scene is one of the most powerful, suspense-filled scenes I've witnessed on screen in a long time, and similar events unfold that left me on the edge of my seat. It's hard to make a movie where everyone knows how it ends, and the filmmakers did an excellent job of introducing unexpected plot twists and subplots to keep us engaged, and dreading the end.
The standout performance is Gatiss, who does not flinch away from the deeply unpleasant side of Robert Cecil's nature. He sneers and snarls his way through his scenes, stoic and distant as he asks when the torture victim will wake up "so we can continue." The rest of the cast ranges from quite good to wooden, but the costume design and presentation are immaculate; scenes in and around the Tower of London are eerie and atmospheric, in sharp contrast to the opulence and immorality of the king's court.
One cannot escape the brutality of this period, and I'm glad one priest holds to his beliefs in a realistic way, never condoning violence and remaining firm in his convictions, but it's a case of everyone Catholic being "good" (even if they are terrorists) and everyone Protestant being "bad," so it's a yet another screen-written case of extreme bias, just in the opposite direction from the normal "evil Catholics" of most English period pieces. That being said, I will watch it again... I just wish it had dialed back a little on making me cringe; the violence is nowhere near as extreme as interviews would lead you to believe (it's mostly shocking, because the first scene of it involves brutality toward a woman), but it's also unpleasant.
None, but a woman is stripped naked in front of a crowd (full frontal nudity, seen for several minutes); the king is openly bisexual (he has men in his room, and one asks if he wants him there tonight, but he chooses his wife instead) and often flirts with men.
A naked woman is pressed to death (forced to lie down, then men pile stones on top of her, until it crushes her -- it's a long, brutal scene); a man is hanged, drawn, and quartered on screen (hung, cut down before he's dead, and disemboweled before a crowd); two people are burned at the stake in Spain; men are pulled on the rack (graphic, we see / hear them being stretched and screaming); a man has his fingernails ripped out as a form of torture; other men are shot and killed; some are hanged.
Some artistic license with history, and it deliberately paints Protestantism in a negative, brutal light.
Transfer from Phnom Penh International airport to hotel. After you will start sightseeing programs in Phnom Penh. visit the Royal palace, Silver pagoda, Raugh Damrei museum and National museum of fine Arts, you will get a first introduction to the rich cultural history of Cambodia, and it is a good introduction to the magnificent things that you will be seeing in the following days, Accommodation at the hotel. In the late afternoon you can stroll along the riverfront of the Mekong river and enjoy the sight of the Cambodians relaxing and playing.
Breakfast at the hotel. Today we will take you to see some of the more sinister parts of Cambodia history; visit the Toul Sleng museum of Genocide and Killing fields memorial, alternatively you can also enjoy a boat ride on the Mekong river, and we will end the day with some serous shopping at the famous Russian market for affordable branding clothes, souvenirs and Cambodian silk. Lunch & Dinner at local restaurant. Overnight at Phnom Penh.
Breakfast in the hotel. After that you will drive along the Tonle Sap River along highway Number 5 towards Kampong Chhnang. On the way you will see the villages where people are skilled in making clay pots and palm sugar. On arrival at Kampong Chhnang you will check in hotel. After lunch, visit the Upper market with local craftsmen and we will make a boat ride to see the floating villages of living people on the Tonle Sap.
After breakfast we will leave for BTB, On the way we will pass the province of PurSat, here we will make a stop to visit the hall mark of Pursat and visit the shrine of Neak Ta Klang Moerng. After this you can get a taste of real local transport : the bamboo train. It takes about 1 hour ride on this train and reach battambang central station around lunch time. In the afternoon you will be able to visit the Chan Thai Chhoeung winery and if time available we will pay a visit to FEDA-friends Economic development association to lean of the some of the development activities that are done in this area.
Breakfast in the hotel, Today we will have a full day sightseeing to visit the various historical places around Battambang where you can see some of the earlier Angkor temples.
After breakfast you will start the last leg of the journey before reaching Siem Reap. we will travel by boat over a period of about 4 hour, during the trip you can enjoy the beautiful views the great lake . Arrival at Rep around lunch time. check in at the hotel and then take a rest of the day off to enjoy some relaxing time at the swimming pool or make a stroll in Rep town.
Breakfast at the hotel. Today you will take to see the absolute highlights of the magnificent temples of Angkor. We start with visit to the south gate of Angkor thom, continue by visiting of Bayon, the Baksei chamkrun, Baphun temple, after lunch continue visit great temple of Angkor Wat and enjoy watching Sunset on the Bakheng mountain.
Breakfast at the hotel. After that you will have opportunity to visit the SOS children’s village. The color of Cambodia and the school for the revival of Khmer traditional crafts: Artsans D’Angkor. After lunch free time.
After breakfast, leaving by road for Phnom Penh via the province of Kampong Thom. On the way we will make a stop over at the impressive Naga Angkor bride. You will see how the local dessert rice in bamboo is made and we will visit the Prasat Andat temple. After lunch we will continue visit and on the way you see more of the traditional crafts done by the silk weaving project. At Skun market we will make a quick stop for tasting local fresh fruit and the famous edible Tarantula called Aping. The last stretch of the trip to Phnom Penh will travel by boat.
After breakfast at the hotel. Transfer by bus to Sihanouk Ville. On the way visit shrine of Yeay Moa at Picnil and see the palm oil and mango plantations. When arrive at Sihanouk Ville around lunch time. check in the hotel and take rest of the day off for leisure at the beach.
After breakfast, Departure for the Ranger station of Ream National Park.Take a boat trip where you can see the coastal mangrove forest and a beautiful tropical Island: “Koh Sampoach”. On the way make a jungle walk. Arrived Koh Sampoach beach, relaxing and enjoy swimming. Picnic Lunch on the island. Departure from Island to the ranger station. Arrived and continued your short tour, visit Ream Beach which is located near Sihanouk Ville airport to get fresh air from ocean. And then returning back to your hotel. Dinner. Overnight in SihanoukVille.
Note: The best month from November to April for the excursion by boat to the Island in Ream National Park.
Ratanakiri Province is located 636 kilometers northeast of Phnom Penh. Banlung is the provincial town of Ratanak Kiri. It can be reached by air and car.Touists are enthralled by many picturesque sights in this remote primitive province.
Yeak Laom Lake is 3 kilometers from banlung. The lake that has a square shape is 800 meters in diameter and 48 meters in depth during the dry season. It is a scenic crater lake of an extinct volcano, which the forest falls down to , and which two tourist wharfs protrude to. The lake offers perfect opportunities for swimming, picnicking, hiking, and sightseeing.
09/08/2012 13:34:13 slat70 +1 This is the album that charted in 1976, the other artwork is from the 1970 album of the same name |
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OSCAR EN 10K for testing
This is a small subset representing the 10K records from the original OSCAR dataset, "unshuffled_deduplicated_en" subset - created for testing. The records were extracted after having been shuffled.
The full 1TB+ dataset is at https://huggingface.co/datasets/oscar.
$ python -c "from datasets import load_dataset; ds=load_dataset('stas/oscar-en-10k'); print(ds)"
DatasetDict({
train: Dataset({
features: ['text'],
num_rows: 10000
})
})
- Records: 10,000
- compressed size: ~37MB
- uncompressed size: 131MB
To convert to jsonlines:
from datasets import load_dataset
dataset_name = "stas/oscar-en-10k"
name = dataset_name.split('/')[-1]
ds = load_dataset(dataset_name, split='train')
ds.to_json(f"{name}.jsonl", orient="records", lines=True)
To see how this subset was created, here is the instructions file.
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