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abstract: |
We find all analytic surfaces in $3$-dimensional Euclidean space such that through each point of the surface one can draw two transversal circular arcs fully contained in the surface. The search for such surfaces traces back to the works of Darboux from XIXth century. We prove that such a surface is an image of a subset of one of the following sets under some composition of inversions:
- the set $\{\,p+q:p\in\alpha,q\in\beta\,\}$, where $\alpha,\beta$ are two circles in $\mathbb{R}^3$; - the set $\{\,2\frac{[p \times q]^{\hspace{3pt}}}{|p+q|^2}:p\in\alpha,q\in\beta,p+q\ne 0\,\}$, where $\alpha,\beta$ are two circles in ${S}^2$; - the set $\{\,(x,y,z): Q(x,y,z,x^2+y^2+z^2)=0\,\}$, where $Q\in\mathbb{R}[x,y,z,t]$ has degree $2$ or $1$. The proof uses a new factorization technique for quaternionic polynomials.
[**Keywords**]{}: circle, Moebius geometry, quaternion, Pythagorean n-tuple, polynomials factorization
[**2010 MSC**]{}: 51B10, 13F15, 16H05
author:
- 'M. Skopenkov'
title: Surfaces containing two circles through each point
---
Introduction {#s:intro}
============
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*This is written for you, the Real Scientist. This is the only way to reach you. I know that all you want is the truth. Not career, not glory, not pushing forward own field or students. This is a tiny particle of the truth. You can understand and apply it independently on your specialization.*
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For which surfaces in $3$-dimensional Euclidean space, through each point of the surface one can draw two transversal circular arcs fully contained in the surface? This is a question which simply must be answered by mathematicians because of a natural statement and obvious architectural motivation — recall Shukhov’s hyperboloid structures. However, it remained open in spite of many partial advances starting from the works of Darboux from the XIX century. In a satellite paper [@Skopenkov-Krasauskas-15] with Krasauskas it was reduced to a purely algebraic problem of finding all Pythagorean 6-tuples of polynomials. The present paper solves the problem by means of a new factorization technique for quaternionic polynomials, and thus completes the solution.
\[mainthm\] If through each point of an analytic surface in $\mathbb{R}^3$ one can draw two transversal circular arcs fully contained in the surface (and analytically depending on the point) then some composition of inversions takes the surface to a subset of one of the following sets (see Video \[movie\]):
- \[ETS\] the set $\{\,p+q:p\in\alpha,q\in\beta\,\}$, where $\alpha,\beta$ are two circles in $\mathbb{R}^3$;
- \[CTS\] the set $\{\,2\frac{[p \times q]^{\hspace{3pt}}}{|p+q|^2}:p\in\alpha,q\in\beta,p+q\ne 0\,\}$, where $\alpha,\beta$ are two circles in ${S}^2$;
- \[DC\] the set $\{\,(x,y,z): Q(x,y,z,x^2+y^2+z^2)=0\,\}$, where $Q\in\mathbb{R}[x,y,z,t]$ has degree $2$ or $1$.
Here an *analytic surface* in $\mathbb{R}^3$ is the image of an injective real analytic map of a planar domain into $\mathbb{R}^3$ with nondegenerate differential at each point. A circular arc *analytically depending* on a point is a real analytic map of an analytic surface into the real analytic variety of all circular arcs in $\mathbb{R}^3$.
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![Euclidean (E) and Clifford (C) translational surfaces, and a Darboux cyclide (D) [@Lubbes-14; @Skopenkov-Krasauskas-15].[]{data-label="movie"}](euc_A0.png "fig:"){height="2.2cm"}
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![Euclidean (E) and Clifford (C) translational surfaces, and a Darboux cyclide (D) [@Lubbes-14; @Skopenkov-Krasauskas-15].[]{data-label="movie"}](euc_B0.png "fig:"){height="2.2cm"}
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![Euclidean (E) and Clifford (C) translational surfaces, and a Darboux cyclide (D) [@Lubbes-14; @Skopenkov-Krasauskas-15].[]{data-label="movie"}](ani-S2-0.png "fig:"){height="1.8cm"}
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![Euclidean (E) and Clifford (C) translational surfaces, and a Darboux cyclide (D) [@Lubbes-14; @Skopenkov-Krasauskas-15].[]{data-label="movie"}](ani-S1-0.png "fig:"){height="1.8cm"}
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![Euclidean (E) and Clifford (C) translational surfaces, and a Darboux cyclide (D) [@Lubbes-14; @Skopenkov-Krasauskas-15].[]{data-label="movie"}](CyclideModel1.jpg "fig:"){width="15.00000%"}
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Background {#background .unnumbered}
----------
The search for surfaces containing $2$ circles or lines through each point traces back to XIXth century. Basic examples — a one-sheeted hyperboloid and a nonrotational ellipsoid — are discussed in Hilbert–Cohn-Vossen’s “Anschauliche Geometrie”. There (respectively, in [@NS11]) it is proved that a surface containing $2$ lines (respectively, a line and a circle) through each point is a quadric or a plane. A torus contains $4$ circles through each point: a “meridian”, a “parallel”, and two Villarceau circles.
All these examples are particular cases of a *Darboux cyclide*, surface (D) in Main Theorem \[mainthm\] above. Almost each Darboux cyclide contains at least $2$ circles through each point, and there is an effective algorithm to count their actual number [@PSS11; @Takeuchi-00]. Conversely, Darboux has shown that $10$ circles through each point guarantee that an analytic surface is a Darboux cyclide. This result has been improved over the years: in fact already $3$, or $2$ orthogonal, or $2$ cospheric circles are sufficient for the same conclusion [@Niels-13 Theorem 3], [@ivey:1995 Theorem 1], [@coolidge:1916 Theorem 20 in p. 296]; cf. [@NS11 Theorems 3.4, 3.5]. Hereafter two circles are called *cospheric*, if they are contained in one sphere or plane.
Recently Pottmann noticed that a *Euclidean translational surface* (E) contains $2$ circles through each point but is not a Darboux cyclide for generic $\alpha,\beta$ [@NS11 Example 3.9]. *Clifford translational surface* (C) with similar properties was found by Zubė. It may have degree up to $8$. It is the stereographic projection of the set $\{\,p\cdot q:p\in\alpha,q\in\beta\,\}$, where $S^2$ is identified with the set of pure imaginary unit quaternions. A surface in $S^3$ containing a *great* circle and another circle through each point is the inverse stereographic projection of either (C) or (D) up to a rotation [@Lubbes-14 Corollary 2b]. Any sufficiently large grid of circular arcs is a subset of a surface containing $2$ circles through each point by [@Guth-Zahl-15 Theorem 3.7]. Hereafter an *$n\times n$ grid of arcs* is two collections of $n+1$ disjoint arcs such that each pair of arcs from distinct collections intersects.
Surfaces containing $2$ circles through each point are particular cases of surfaces containing $2$ conic sections through each point. The latter have been classified by Schicho [@schicho:2001]. Using Schicho’s results, in [@Skopenkov-Krasauskas-15] the classification of the former has been reduced to solving the equation $$\label{eq-pythagorean}
X_1^2+X_2^2+X_3^2+X_4^2+X_5^2=X_6^2$$ in polynomials $X_{1},\dots,X_6\in\mathbb{R}[u,v]$ of degree at most $2$ in each of the variables $u$ and $v$. Such “Pythagorean $6$-tuple” of polynomials defines a (possibly degenerate) surface $X_1(u,v):\dots:X_6(u,v)$ in $S^4$ containing two (possibly degenerate) circles $u=\mathrm{const}$ and $v=\mathrm{const}$ through each point. Eq. gives a system of $25$ quadratic equations on $36$ coefficients of the polynomials, hence it is not directly accessible for a computer analysis. The usual method of solving such equations is *factorization* — recall the classical parametrization of Pythagorean triples and Kummer’s approach to the Fermat Last Theorem [@Postnikov]. Pythagorean $3$- and $4$-tuples of real polynomials were described in [@Dietz-etal Theorem 2.2] using that $\mathbb{C}[u,v]$ is a unique factorization domain (UFD). A similar result holds for $6$-tuples of polynomials in one variable (see Corollary \[conj-1-var\] below, cf. [@Kocik-07 Theorem 7.2]) because $\mathbb{H}[u]$ is still a UFD in a sense [@Ore Theorem 1 in Chapter 2], cf. [@Gelfand-etal-05; @Motzkin-etal], [@Gentili-etal-13 §3.5]. Next, $6$-tuples of degree $2$ polynomials in $2$ variables are described in a recent work by Kollár [@Kollar-16 Theorem 8]. He used algebraic geometry of the Veronese surface; this seems also achievable by factorization; cf. Problem \[pr-deg2\]. Factorization is helpless in degree $4$ because $\mathbb{H}[u,v]$ is *not* a UFD, with a degree $4$ counterexample; see Example \[ex-Beauregard\] [@Beauregard-93]. This cannot be repaired by a divisor theory because of no nice multiplication of ideals in noncommutative setup. Another method to describe the solution set is to give *transformations* producing all solutions from a few initial ones recursively. For integral Pythagorean $n$-tuples, $n\le 9$, this was done in [@Cass-90]. But this does not give a parametrization of the solution set and is not easily generalized to polynomials.
Finally, a parametrization of Pythagorean $n$-tuples *up to common factor* is immediately given by the inverse stereographic projection. But this does not allow to extract the required degree 4 solutions.
So the case of $6$-tuples of polynomials of degree $2$ in $u$ and $v$ arising in our geometric problem seems to be the simplest case not accessible by known methods. (Description of $5$-tuples is harder.)
Main tools {#main-tools .unnumbered}
----------
We find the following parametrization of the set of solutions of Eq. in polynomials of small degree. It is convenient to state it in terms of quaternions. Denote by $\H_{mn}\subset\mathbb{H}[u,v]$ the set of polynomials with quaternionic coefficients of degree at most $m$ in $u$ and at most $n$ in $v$ (the variables commute with each other and the coefficients). Denote $\H_{*n}:=\bigcup_{m=1}^{\infty}\H_{mn}$. Define $\mathbb{R}_{mn}$ and $\mathbb{R}_{*n}$ and analogously.
\[th-pythagorean\] Polynomials $X_{1},\dots,X_6\in\mathbb{R}_{22}$ satisfy Eq. if and only if up to a linear transformation $\mathbb{R}^6\to\mathbb{R}^6$ preserving this equation (and not depending on the variables $u,v$) we have $$\label{eq-param-pythagorean}
\begin{aligned}
X_1+iX_2+jX_3+kX_4&=2ABCD,\\
X_5&=(|B|^2-|AC|^2)D,\\
X_6&=(|B|^2+|AC|^2)D
\end{aligned}$$ for some $A,B,C\in\mathbb{H}_{11}$, $D\in\mathbb{R}_{22}$ such that $|B|^2D,|AC|^2D\in\mathbb{R}_{22}$.
Theorem \[mainthm\] is deduced from Theorem \[th-pythagorean\] using the resuts of [@Skopenkov-Krasauskas-15]. Let us show the origin of Theorem \[th-pythagorean\]. We start with a naive approach (working only for a UFD), then extract the major obstacle, and finally introduce a tool to overcome it. Informally, we use an interlacing of factorization and transfomation methods in a noncommutative setup, which is a completely new approach.
Denote $Q:=X_1+iX_2+jX_3+kX_4\in \mathbb{H}[u,v]$, $P:=X_6-X_5$, $R:=X_6+X_5$. Then Eq. and are equivalent to $Q\bar Q=PR$ and $(P,Q,R)=(2|AC|^2D,2ABCD,2|B|^2D)$ respectively. The equation $Q\bar Q=PR$ is easily solved in any commutative UFD with an involution $Z\mapsto\bar Z$. All solutions with $\bar P=P,\bar R=R$ are parametrized by $(P,Q,R)=(A\bar AD,ABD,B\bar BD)$, where $A,B,D$ are elements of the UFD with $\bar D=D$; cf. [@Dietz-etal Proof of Theorem 2.2]. In other words, after cancellation of a common divisor, $Q$ splits into a product of two factors of norm squares $P$ and $R$.
Neither this assertion nor unique factorization hold in $\mathbb{H}[u,v]$ in any reasonable sense:
\[ex-Beauregard\] (Beauregard [@Beauregard-93; @Skopenkov-Krasauskas-15]) The polynomial $Q=u^2v^2-1 + (u^2- v^2)i + 2uvj$ is irreducible in $\mathbb{H}[u,v]$ but $Q\bar Q=(u^2-\sqrt{2}u+1)(v^2-\sqrt{2}v+1)\cdot(u^2+\sqrt{2}u+1)(v^2+\sqrt{2}v+1)=:P\cdot R$.
We thus have to solve a nonlinear equation over a noncommutative ring which is not a UFD. We could not find any known methods suitable for that and have to develop a completely new approach.
To overcome the obstacle, we perform linear transformations preserving the equation $Q\bar Q=PR$ and simplifying the solution in a sense. Our transformations usually have form $$\label{eq-linear-transformation}
(R',Q',P')=(R,Q-TR,P-T\bar Q-Q\bar T+TR\bar T)
$$ with $T\in\mathbb{H}$. They correspond to linear transformations $\mathbb{R}^6\to\mathbb{R}^6$ in Theorem \[th-pythagorean\]. Transformations with nonconstant $T\in\mathbb{H}[u,v]$ are also instrumental, although not allowed in the theorem. An interlacing of factorization and transformation methods leads to a surprisingly short proof.
For $T=j$ the polynomials from Example \[ex-Beauregard\] are transformed to $(R',Q',P')=(|B|^2,ABC,|AC|^2)$, where $A=(1-j)\left(u+\frac{-i-j}{\sqrt2}\right)$, $B=\left(v+\frac{1+k}{\sqrt2}\right)
\left(u+\frac{1+i}{\sqrt2}\right)$, $C=v+\frac{-j-k}{\sqrt2}$.
Taking “random” $T,A,B,C$ of the same degrees, one can produce examples like \[ex-Beauregard\].
The irreducible polynomial from Example \[ex-Beauregard\] satisfies another surprising identity: $$(u^2+1)Q=
\left(u+\frac{-k-j}{\sqrt2}\right)
\left(v+\frac{1-i}{\sqrt2}\right)
\left(u+\frac{1+k}{\sqrt2}\right)
\left(u+\frac{-1+k}{\sqrt2}\right)
\left(v+\frac{-1+i}{\sqrt2}\right)
\left(u+\frac{j-k}{\sqrt2}\right).$$
Proofs
======
Theorems \[mainthm\] and \[th-pythagorean\] are proved in this section. The proofs use the results of [@Skopenkov-Krasauskas-15] and are self-contained in other respects. We need several lemmas, in which the equation $Q\bar Q=PR$ is solved step by step for $Q$ of degree $0$ or $1$ in $v$. Examples below show that the degree bounds in the lemmas are essential. Straightforward proofs of the examples are omitted because they are not used in the other proofs. Assertions \[l-adding variable2\]–\[ex-first\] do not pretend to be new, although we did not find them in the literature.
\[l-adding variable2\] If polynomials $Q\in\mathbb{H}[u]$ and $P,R\in\mathbb{R}[u]$ satisfy $Q\bar Q=PR$, then $(P,Q,R)=(A\bar AD,ABD,B\bar BD)$ for some $A,B\in\mathbb{H}[u]$ and $D\in\mathbb{R}[u]$.
Use induction over $\deg Q$. The base is $Q=0$, that is, $\deg Q=-\infty$. Then either $P$ or $R$, say, $R$ vanishes. Clearly, $A=1$, $B=0$, $D=P$ are the required polynomials.
To make induction step, assume that $Q\ne 0$ and the lemma holds for all $Q$ of smaller degree. We have $P,R\ne 0$. Either $P$ or $R$, say, $R$ has degree at most $\deg Q$. Divide each of the $4$ components of $Q$ by $R$ with remainders in $\mathbb{R}[u]$. We get $Q=TR+Q'$ for some $T,Q'\in\mathbb{H}[u]$ and $\deg Q'<\deg R\le \deg Q$. Perform transformation . It preserves the equation $Q\bar Q=PR$ and decreases $\deg Q$. By the inductive hypothesis, $Q'=A'BD$ and $R=B\bar BD$ for some $A',B\in\mathbb{H}[u]$. Thus $Q=Q'+TR=(A'+ T\bar B)BD=:ABD$ and $P=Q\bar Q/R=A\bar AD$ as required.
\[conj-1-var\] Polynomials $X_{1},\dots,X_6\in\mathbb{R}[u]$ satisfy Eq. if and only if for some $A,B\in\mathbb{H}[u]$, $D\in\mathbb{R}[u]$ we have $X_1+iX_2+jX_3+kX_4=2ABD,\,\,
X_5=(|B|^2-|A|^2)D,\,\,
X_6=(|B|^2+|A|^2)D.
$
\[ex-first\] For $A=u+i$, $B=v+j$ there are no $A',B',D\in\mathbb{H}[u,v]$ such that $(B\bar B,AB,A\bar A)=(A'\bar A{}'D,A'B'D,B'\bar B{}'D)$.
\[l-splitting4\] If polynomials $Q\in\mathbb{H}_{*1}$, $P\in\mathbb{R}_{*2}$, $R\in \mathbb{R}_{20}$ satisfy $Q\bar Q=PR$, then either $(P,Q,R)$ or $(R,Q,P)$ equals $(A\bar AD,ABD,B\bar BD)$ for some $A,B\in\mathbb{H}[u,v]$ and $D\in\mathbb{R}[u,v]$.
Assume that $R\ne 0$; otherwise set $(A,B,D)=(1,0,P)$. Divide each of the $4$ components of $Q$ by $R\in\mathbb{R}[u]$ with remainders in $\mathbb{R}[u,v]$. We get $Q=TR+Q'$, where $T,Q'\in\mathbb{H}_{*1}$ and the degree of $Q'$ in $u$ is less than $\deg R$. Perform transformation . We get $P'\in\mathbb{R}_{02}$ because $P'R=Q'\bar Q{}'$ and the degree of $Q'$ in $u$ is less than $\deg R\le 2$. Assume that $Q'\ne0$; otherwise set $(A,B,D)=(T,1,R)$. By [@Skopenkov-Krasauskas-15 Splitting Lemma 1.7] it follows that $Q'$ is a product of two factors $A'\in\mathbb{H}_{01}$ and $B\in\mathbb{H}_{10}$ in some order. Set $D:=\frac{R(u)}{|B(u)|^2}=\frac{|A'(v)|^2}{P'(v)}\ne 0$. We get $R=B\bar BD$, $D\in\mathbb{R}(u)\cap \mathbb{R}(v)=\mathbb{R}$, and $$Q=TR+Q'=\begin{cases}(D^{-1}A'+T\bar B)BD=:ABD, & \text{if } Q'=A'B;\\
B(A'D^{-1}+\bar BT)D=:BAD, & \text{if } Q'=BA'.\end{cases}$$ Then $P=Q\bar Q/R=A\bar AD$. In the case when $Q=BAD$ it remains to relabel $A$ and $B$.
\[ex-ABC\] For $(A,B,C)=(u+i,v+j,u+k)$ or $(u+i,uv+j,v+k)$ there are no $A',B',D\in\mathbb{H}[u,v]$ such that $\{|AC|^2,ABC,|B|^2\}=\{A'\bar A{}'D,A'B'D,B'\bar B{}'D\}$.
\[th-linear-PDT\] If polynomials $Q\in\mathbb{H}_{*1}$ and $P,R\in\mathbb{R}[u,v]$ satisfy $Q\bar Q=PR$, then either $(P,Q,R)$ or $(R,Q,P)$ equals $(|AC|^2D,ABCD,|B|^2D)$ for some $A,C\in\mathbb{H}[u]$, $B\in\mathbb{H}[u,v]$, $D\in\mathbb{R}[u,v]$.
Step 1. Let us reduce the lemma to the particular case when $R\in \mathbb{R}[u]$, $P\not\in\mathbb{R}[u]$, and $Q, R$ have no common nonconstant real divisors. First assume that $Q$ and $R$ have a common irreducible real divisor $D$. Then $PR=Q\bar Q$ is divisible by $D^2$. Hence either $P$ is divisible by $D$ or $R$ is divisible by $D^2$. Replacing $(P,Q,R)$ by $(P,Q,R)/D$ or $(P,Q/D,R/D^2)$ one cancels $D$. Assume further that $Q$ and $R$ have no such divisors.
Now assume that $R$ has an odd degree in $v$. Then it has an irreducible divisor $D$ of odd degree in $v$. Take any $\hat u\in\mathbb{R}$ such that $D(\hat u,v)$ has an odd degree in $v$. The equation $D(\hat u,v)=0$ has a real root $v(\hat u)$. Write $Q=X_1+iX_2+jX_3+kX_4$ with $X_1,X_2,X_3,X_4\in\mathbb{R}[u,v]$. We have $|Q(\hat u,v(\hat u))|^2=0$, hence $X_n(\hat u,v(\hat u))=0$ for $n=1,\dots,4$. By the Bezout theorem the two curves $X_n(u,v)=0$ and $D(u,v)=0$ have a common component. Since $D$ is irreducible, it divides $X_n$. Thus $D$ is a common divisor for $R$ and $Q$, a contradiction. Hence $R$ has even degree in $v$.
Assume that $Q$ has degree $1$ in $v$; otherwise the lemma follows from Lemma \[l-adding variable2\]. Then without loss of generality $R\in\mathbb{R}[u]$ and $P\not\in\mathbb{R}[u]$ because $P$ and $R$ have in fact been equitable so far.
Step 2. Let us prove the lemma in the particular case stated in Step 1 by induction over $\deg R$.
The base $\deg R\le 2$ is Lemma \[l-splitting4\]. Assume that $\deg R>2$. Factorize $R=R'R''$ with irreducible $R'\in\mathbb{R}[u]$ so that $\deg R'$ is $1$ or $2$. Apply Lemma \[l-splitting4\] to the triple $(PR'',Q,R')$. We get $R'=Q'\bar Q{}'D'$, $PR''=Q''\bar Q{}''D'$, and either $Q=Q'Q''D'$ or $Q=Q''Q'D'$ for some $Q',Q''\in\mathbb{H}[u,v]$, $D'\in\mathbb{R}[u,v]$. Here $D'=\mathrm{const}$ as a common divisor of $Q$ and $R$. Assume that $D'=1$; otherwise divide $P,Q,R$ by $D'$. We have $Q''\in\mathbb{H}_{*1}$ and $Q'\in\mathbb{H}[u]$ as divisors of $Q$ and $R'$ respectively.
Apply the inductive hypothesis to the triple $(P,Q'',R'')$. We get $Q''=ABCD$ and either $P=|AC|^2D$ or $P=|B|^2D$ for some $A,C\in\mathbb{H}[u]$, $B\in\mathbb{H}[u,v]$, $D\in\mathbb{R}[u,v]$. Here again $D=\mathrm{const}$. Hence $|AC|^2D\in\mathbb{R}[u]$. Thus $P=|B|^2D$ because $P\not\in\mathbb{R}[u]$. Further, $Q=Q'Q''=(Q'A)BCD$ or $Q=Q''Q'=AB(CQ')D$. Finally, $R=Q\bar Q/P=|(Q'A)C|^2D=|A(CQ')|^2D$, as required.
\[cor-reducibility\] (Cf. [@Beauregard-93 Proposition 3]) The norm square of a polynomial $Q\in\mathbb{H}_{*1}$ is reducible in $\mathbb{R}[u,v]$ if and only if $Q$ is either reducible or equal to a real polynomial times a constant quaternion.
The ‘if’ part is straightforward. Let us prove the ‘only if’ part. Assume that $P,Q,R$ have degree $2$ in each of the variables and have no common nonconstant real divisors; otherwise the theorem follows from Lemma \[th-linear-PDT\]. Expand $Q(u,v)=:Q_0(u)+Q_1(u)v+Q_2(u)v^2$. Define $P_2$ and $R_2$ analogously. Since $Q\bar Q=PR$ it follows that $Q_2\bar Q_2=P_2R_2$. If $\deg Q_2=2$ then $\deg P_2=\deg R_2=2$ and transformation for appropriate $T\in\mathbb{H}$ kills the leading term of $Q_2$. Thus we may assume that $\deg Q_2\le 1$. Then either $\deg P_2\le 1$ or $\deg R_2\le 1$. Assume that $\deg R_2\le 1$; otherwise interchange $P$ and $R$, which is one more linear transformation.
Since $Q_2\bar Q_2=P_2R_2$ and $\deg R_2\le 1$, by Lemma \[l-adding variable2\] it follows that $Q_2=TR_2$ for some $T\in\mathbb{H}_{10}$. Now transformation kills $Q_2$, but this time it does not correspond to a linear map $\mathbb{R}^6\to\mathbb{R}^6$. We get $Q'=Q-TR\in\mathbb{H}_{31}$. By Lemma \[th-linear-PDT\] we have $Q'=ABC'D$ and either $R=|B|^2D$ or $R=|AC'|^2D$ for some $A,C'\in\mathbb{H}[u]$, $B\in\mathbb{H}[u,v]$, $D\in\mathbb{R}[u,v]$.
Here $D=\mathrm{const}$ as a common divisor of $P,Q,R$. Hence $|AC'|^2D\in\mathbb{R}[u]$, thus $R=|B|^2D$ because $R\not\in\mathbb{R}[u]$. We have $ABC'D=Q'\ne 0$; otherwise $R$ is a common divisor of $P,Q,R$. Since $ABC'D\in\mathbb{H}_{31}$ it follows that either $A$ or $C'$, say, $A$ has degree at most $1$. Divide $T\in\mathbb{H}_{10}$ by $A\in\mathbb{H}_{10}$ from the left with a remainder: $T=AS+T'$, where $S\in\mathbb{H}[u]$ and $T'\in\mathbb{H}$. We get $$Q=Q'+TR=ABC'D+T|B|^2D=AB(C'+\bar BS)D+T'|B|^2D=:ABCD+T'|B|^2D.$$ So transformation with $T$ replaced by $T'\in\mathbb{H}$ takes $(R,Q,P)$ to $(|B|^2D,ABCD,|AC|^2D)$.
Since $P,Q,R\in\mathbb{H}_{22}-\{0\}$, the required degree restrictions on $A,B,C,D$ in Eq. follow.
First assume that the two circular arcs drawn through each point of the surface are cospheric. Then the surface has form (D) by [@coolidge:1916 Theorem 20 in p. 296] or [@NS11 Theorem 3.5]. Also, if there is an open subset of the surface such that through each point of the subset one can draw infinitely many pairwise transversal circular arcs contained in the surface then the surface has form (D) by [@Skopenkov-Krasauskas-15 Lemma 3.16]. Assume further that the two circular arcs drawn through some point (and hence through each sufficiently close one) are not cospheric and that through each point of a dense subset of the surface one can draw only finitely many pairwise transversal circular arcs contained in the surface. Consider $\mathbb{R}^3$ as a subset of $\mathbb{R}^4$ and perform the inverse stereographic projection of $\mathbb{R}^4$ to $S^4$. By [@Skopenkov-Krasauskas-15 Corollary 1.6] the resulting surface has a parametrization $X_1(u,v):\dots:X_6(u,v)$ for some $X_1,\dots,X_6\in\mathbb{R}_{22}$ satisfying Eq. .
By Theorem \[th-pythagorean\] up to a linear transformation preserving Eq. we have Eq. for some $A,B,C\in\mathbb{H}_{11}$, $D\in\mathbb{R}_{22}$ such that $|B|^2D,|AC|^2D\in\mathbb{R}_{22}$. In particular, $AC\in \mathbb{H}_{11}$. Performing the stereographic projection $X_1:\dots:X_6\mapsto (X_1+iX_2+jX_3+kX_4)/(X_6-X_5)$, we obtain that the initial surface in $\mathbb{R}^3$ is the image of the surface $\Phi(u,v)=\bar A(u,v)^{-1}B(u,v)\bar C(u,v)^{-1}$ under a composition of inversions. By [@Skopenkov-Krasauskas-15 Corollary 1.4] the initial surface is the image of a subset of one of the sets (C), (D), (E) under a composition of inversions.
Open problems
=============
Variations of the initial question with some additional restrictions on the surfaces are also interesting.
Let $\alpha$, $r$, and $R$ be fixed. Find all surfaces in $\mathbb{R}^3$ such that through each point of the surface one can draw two transversal circlular arcs fully contained in the surface and
\(1) having radii $r$ and $R$; or (2) intersecting at angle $\alpha$; or (3) the planes of which intersect at angle $\alpha$.
The following “curved chessboard conjecture” is the strongest possible form of Theorem \[mainthm\], cf. [@Guth-Zahl-15 Theorem 3.7]. See Theorem \[mainthm\] and Subsection “Background” for the required definitions.
Is each $8\times 8$ grid of circular arcs contained in one of the sets (C), (D), (E)?
As a corollary, one could get the following incidence result (A. Bobenko, private communication).
Ten blue and ten red disjoint circles are given in $\mathbb{R}^3$. Each variegated pair except one has a unique intersection point. Is it true that the latter pair must have a unique intersection point?
One of our results (Corollary \[cor-reducibility\]) leads to a conjecture that unique factorization holds in a sense for quaternionic polynomials of degree 1 in one of the two variables. Let us make it precise (cf. [@Ore]).
Two decompositions of a polynomial from $\mathbb{H}[u,v]$ into irreducible factors of degree $\le 1$ in $v$ are given. Is it true that the factors of the two decompositions are similar in pairs?
\[pr-deg2\] Do Lemmas \[l-splitting4\] and \[th-linear-PDT\] remain true for $P,Q,R$ of entire degree $2$ and $3$ respectively?
Although our results are stated for quaternionic polynomials, they seem to reflect a general algebraic phenomenon. The latter may be useful to solve our geometric problem in higher dimensions.
Do Lemmas \[l-adding variable2\],\[l-splitting4\],\[th-linear-PDT\] remain true, if $\mathbb{H}$ is replaced by another ring with an involution?
Acknowledgements {#acknowledgements .unnumbered}
----------------
This results have been presented at Moscow Mathematical Society seminar, SFB “Discretization in geometry and dynamics” colloquim in Berlin, and Ya. Sinai – G. Margulis conference. The author is grateful to A. Pakharev for numerous useful discussions, joint numerical experiments and related studies [@Pakharev-Skopenkov-15], to R. Krasauskas, N. Lubbes, L. Shi for Video \[movie\] and useful remarks, and to A. Bobenko, A. Gaifullin, A. Kanunnikov, O. Karpenkov, A. Klyachko, N. Moshchevitin, F. Petrov, H. Pottmann, G. Robinson, I. Sabitov, J. Schicho, S. Tikhomirov, E. Vinberg, J. Zahl, S. Zubė for useful discussions.
*I am grateful to you for reading up to this point*.
[1]{}
R. Beauregard, When is F\[x,y\] a unique factorization domain?, Proc.Amer.Math.Soc.117:1 (1993), 67–70.
D. Cass, P.J. Arpaia, Matrix generation of Pythagorean n-tuples, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 109:1 (1990), 1–7.
J.L. Coolidge, A treatise on the circle and sphere, Oxford, the Clarendon Press, 1916, 603 pp.
R. Dietz, J. Hoschek, B. Juettler: An algebraic approach to curves and surfaces on the sphere and on other quadrics, Computer Aided Geometric Design 10 (1993), 211-229.
I.Gelfand, S.Gelfand, V.Retakh, R.L.Wilson, Quasideterminants, Adv.Math 193(2005),56–141.
G. Gentili, C. Stoppato, D. Struppa, Regular functions of a quaternionic variable, Springer Monographs in Math. 2013. L. Guth, J. Zahl, Algebraic curves, rich points, and doubly-ruled surfaces, [ArXiv:1503.02173](http://arxiv.org/abs/1503.02173).
B. Gordon, T. S. Motzkin, On the zeros of polynomials over division rings, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 116 (1965), 218-226.
T. Ivey, Surfaces with orthogonal families of circles, Proc.Amer.Math.Soc. 123:3(1995),865–872.
J. Kocik, Clifford algebras and Euclid’s parametrization of Pythagorean triples, Adv. Appl. Clifford Alg. 17:1 (2007), 71-93
J. Kollár, Quadratic solutions of quadratic forms, [ArXiv:1607.01276](http://arxiv.org/abs/1607.01276).
N. Lubbes, Families of circles on surfaces, Contrib. Alg. Geom., to appear; [ArXiv:1302.6710](http://arxiv.org/abs/1302.6710).
N. Lubbes, Clifford and Euclidean translations of circles, [ArXiv:1306.1917](http://arxiv.org/abs/1306.1917).
F. Nilov, M. Skopenkov, [A surface containing a line and a circle through each point is a quadric]{}, Geom. Dedicata 163:1 (2013), 301-310; [ArXiv:1110.2338](http://arxiv.org/abs/1110.2338).
O. Ore, Theory of non-commutative polynomials, Annals of Math. (II) 34, 1933, 480-508.
A. Pakharev, M. Skopenkov, Surfaces containing two circles through each point and decomposition of quaternionic matrices, submitted; [ArXiv:1510.06510](http://arxiv.org/abs/1510.06510).
M. Postnikov. The Fermat Theorem. An introduction to algebraic numbers theory. Moscow, Science, 1978, 128 pp.
H. Pottmann, L. Shi, M. Skopenkov, [Darboux cyclides and webs from circles]{}, Comput. Aided Geom. D. 29:1 (2012), 77–97; [ArXiv:1106.1354](http://arxiv.org/abs/1106.1354)
J. Schicho, The multiple conical surfaces, Contrib. Algeb. Geom. **42:1** (2001), 71–87.
M. Skopenkov, R. Krasauskas, Surfaces containing two circles through each point and Pythagorean 6-tuples, submitted; [ArXiv:1503.06481](http://arxiv.org/abs/1503.06481).
N. Takeuchi, Cyclides, Hokkaido Math. J. 29, 119–148 (2000).
<span style="font-variant:small-caps;">Mikhail Skopenkov\
National Research University Higher School of Economics (Faculty of Mathematics) &\
Institute for Information Transmission Problems, Russian Academy of Sciences</span>\
`[email protected]` <http://skopenkov.ru>
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Luo Xiaojuan
Luo Xiaojuan (骆晓娟, Luò Xiǎojuān, born 12 June 1984) is a Chinese épée fencer.
Luo won the gold medal in the épée team event at the 2006 World Fencing Championships after beating France in the final. She accomplished this with her teammates Li Na, Zhang Li and Zhong Weiping.
She also won gold medal in the women's team épée event at the 2012 Summer Olympics with Xu Anqi, Li Na (fencer) and Sun Yujie.
Achievements
2006 World Fencing Championships, team épée
References
Category:1984 births
Category:Living people
Category:Chinese female fencers
Category:Fencers at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Category:Olympic fencers of China
Category:Olympic gold medalists for China
Category:Olympic medalists in fencing
Category:Fencers from Jiangsu
Category:People from Yancheng
Category:Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Category:Asian Games medalists in fencing
Category:Fencers at the 2006 Asian Games
Category:Fencers at the 2010 Asian Games
Category:Asian Games gold medalists for China
Category:Asian Games silver medalists for China
Category:Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games
Category:Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games
Category:Universiade medalists in fencing
Category:Nanjing Sport Institute alumni
Category:Universiade bronze medalists for China
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Edin Mehic likes to burp apparently (Picture: CEN)
If you like burping and farting in public places let this story serve as a warning to you.
Edin Mehic was fined 70 euros (£55) after belching in the proximity of a policeman while visiting the Prater fun park in Vienna.
Yes, the bartender was forced to pay the sum of money for making the rude noise after eating a kebab on February 7.
MORE: Now Facebook wants you to video yourself singing ‘Happy Birthday’
Here’s the proof (Picture: CEN)
Mehic thought a lot of people wouldn’t believe him so posted his ticket on Facebook.
It showed his offence on ‘public decency with a loud belch next to a police officer’.
Police spokesman Roman Hahslinger confirmed Mehic had been fined for the offending burp.
Though it was emitted earlier this month the belch continues to resonate.
More than 100 people have vowed to attend a ‘loud belch flashmob’ planned for Saturday near the scene of the crime.
MORE: Husband stabbed through the heart ‘was warned get away by colleagues’
MORE: Mars recalls Snickers, Mars and Milky Way bars over ‘choking’ fears
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England will face the Netherlands in the semi-finals of the Nations League next summer, an encounter that will trigger nostalgia and, both coaches hope, should offer pointers to successful futures.
Gareth Southgate describes the 4-1 defeat of the Dutch at Euro 96 one of his “best days in football”, while Ronald Koeman played a major role in stopping the English from reaching the 1994 World Cup in a qualifying group game where he scored and, controversially, avoided being sent off.
Euro 2020 qualifying: Southgate urges England to deal with expectations Read more
As coaches, both share a mutual respect for each other’s methods and will have a chance to test their developing sides against one another in the Portuguese city of Guimarães on 6 June, 2019.
“There are a lot of similarities between teams,” said Southgate, “with young players coming through who are going to grow as a team, coupled with some outstanding more senior players already in the Premier League. I often see Ronald at matches and we chat a lot. It’s two teams who will play similarly and it’s a really good game to look forward to.”
Koeman offered a similar appraisal. “Without making him blush too much, I like the way Gareth has managed this side,” he said. “He has given confidence and opportunities to young players and it’s the same way we like to do it in Holland. Young talent is the future for every football team. It’s a big opportunity for us to show that we are in a good way and I’m looking forward to playing England.”
The Fiver: sign up and get our daily football email.
The Nations League offers England the first chance of a trophy since the World Cup and while the new trophy – a platinum swirl inlaid with multiple bright colours – does not carry quite the same prestige as last summer’s competition, Southgate insisted the importance of winning should never be underestimated.
“You don’t get many opportunities at international level to actually win something, and we are trying to develop a winning mentality,” he said. “We’ve done that with our younger teams and we are now trying to build that with the senior players. This would be a step in the right direction, and start to knock down the barriers that remain.”
The semi-final will be England’s first competitive encounter with the Dutch since that victory at Euro 96, and Southgate – who played as centre-half that day – hopes to continue channelling the spirit of that tournament.
“It was brilliant – one of my best days in football, no question,” he said. “Very often when you think about those moments all the colours are very vivid in your mind. The orange that their fans add to the stadium and the sunny, warm evening, the atmosphere and the quality of the game.
“They had some outstanding players and we had one of our best performances, really. So it was a brilliant night to be involved in, one that has been talked about over the past couple of decades. I am sure the quality of the match in the summer will be of a very high level as well.”
One problem that both sides are likely to face, however, is the scheduling of the match itself. England and the Netherlands will play in the second semi-final of the Nations League, with Portugal facing Switzerland in Porto the day before.
But with the Champions League final taking place in Madrid on 1 June, and the Europa League final just three days before that, Southgate believes it is unlikely he will be able to offer his squad much in the way of pre-match preparation.
“We now know the next 12 months and that’s good for us in terms of planning,” said Southgate. “It’s also a strange six months in that we’ve got that time to plan for a semi-final. And potentially we might not get some of the players until two days before it.
“I don’t see a pre-match get-together as realistic because everybody’s individual club schedules will be so packed. We have March, of course [when England will play Euro 2020 qualifiers], which is important, but I fully expect quite a few of our teams to be involved in European competitions close to the end and the FA Cup as well. Whenever I’ve looked at that in the past it’s just impossible to do something meaningful and worthwhile.”
The final of the Nations League will be played in Porto on Sunday 9 June, with a third place play-off taking place on the same day in Guimarães.
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Why you lie to babushka and say you have no biscuit?
Share Tweet Stumble Pin It Email
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Former vice president Joe Biden criticized Republicans on Thursday, angrily criticizing Republicans on their lack of inaction on school shootings despite numerous that have occurred, saying the party is “desperately afraid” of the NRA.
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1972–73 Football League First Division
Statistics of Football League First Division in the 1972–73 season.
Overview
Liverpool won the First Division title for the eighth time in the club's history that season. They made sure of the title with a 0–0 draw against Leicester City at Anfield and finished the season three points ahead of title challengers Arsenal. Crystal Palace were relegated on 24 April, after losing 2–1 at relegation rivals Norwich City. West Bromwich Albion joined them the next day after losing 2–1 at home to Manchester City.
League standings
Results
Team locations
Top scorers
References
RSSSF
Category:Football League First Division seasons
Eng
Category:1972–73 Football League
Category:1972–73 in English football leagues
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«Pretty nice camerawork here, and I liked the music choices, really gave it a kinda epic feel. The voices sounded ok but they were far far too low in volume, I couldn't hear them most of the time. And yeah, like Chris says, there was no story here. This just seemed for the most part to be a load of random scenes thrown together. I'm not entirely sure why you say in the description that you only want good comments, not bad comments. You uploaded it on the internet, so you really have to be prepared to receive any kind of comment, good or bad. What, do you want everyone to say the movie was perfect and wonderful, even if it wasn't? Every movie has points for improvement and this is no different. Your brother definitely has promise as a filmmaker but there are a few things he needs to work on. Story is the main thing, and sound levels need fixed as well. Otherwise this wasn't bad, I'd like to see more from your brother. Tell him from me "keep on filming"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a nonvolatile semiconductor memory and a method of manufacturing the same obtained by improving structures of a cell transistor and a cell array and their formation methods in an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) including a gate electrode having a three-layered structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
A large-capacity ultraviolet erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) has been developed as one of nonvolatile semiconductor memories to which data can be electrically written. In particular, as a technique to achieve high integration, a method of forming an EPROM cell by performing element isolation without using local oxidation is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,060.
A planar pattern of this EPROM cell is shown in FIG. 1A. FIG. 1B shows a sectional structure taken along the line of B--B in a row line (word line) direction, and FIG. 1C shows a sectional structure taken along the line of C--C in a column line (data line) direction. This EPROM is formed as follows. A first gate insulating film 171 is formed on the surface of a semiconductor substrate 170. A first polysilicon film 172 is deposited on the first gate insulating film, and is etched into stripes each having a predetermined width along a column direction of a cell array. Using the first polysilicon film 172 patterned into a striped shape in the column direction as a mask, an impurity diffusion region 173 of a conductivity type opposite to that of the substrate is formed in the semiconductor substrate to form source and drain regions of a cell transistor. A first insulating film 174 having a thickness substantially equal to that of the first polysilicon film 172 is buried between the patterned stripes of the first polysilicon film on the substrate. Thereafter, a second gate insulating film 175 is formed on the semiconductor substrate, and a second polysilicon film 176 is deposited on the second gate insulating film 175. The second polysilicon film 176, the second gate insulating film 175, and the first polysilicon film 172 are etched into stripes each having a predetermined width along a row direction of the cell array to form control and floating gate electrodes 176 and 172. Using the control gate electrode 176 pattered into a striped shape in the row direction as a mask, impurity ions of the same conductivity type as that of the substrate are implanted in an exposed surface of the semiconductor substrate. Therefore, an element isolation region 177 is formed to define an element region in the column direction.
In this case, since the first insulating film 174 having a large thickness is formed on the impurity diffusion regions 173 serving as the source and drain regions of the cell transistor, the ions are not implanted in the source and drain regions.
According to the above method of forming the EPROM cell, ions are implanted using the second polysilicon film (control gate electrode) 176 as a mask to form the element isolation region 177. Therefore, the element isolation region 177 does not have a fringe such as a bird beak formed by local oxidation. In addition, since the floating gate electrode 172 is formed in self-alignment when the control gate electrode 176 is formed, a margin for mask alignment is not required, thus preventing misalignment. Since the source and drain regions of the cells adjacent to each other in the row direction can be shared, excellently micropatterned cells can be formed.
In the above-mentioned EPROM cell having a two-layered gate electrode structure disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,060, data cannot be electrically erased. An EPROM integrated circuit using this EPROM cell is undesirably expensive because a window through which ultraviolet rays are emitted must be formed in a package. After this EPROM integrated circuit is mounted on a printed circuit board, it is difficult to update data.
On the other hand, the conventional electrically erasable EEPROM cells can be clarified into the following two cells: a cell having a two-layered gate electrode structure consisting of control and floating gate electrodes; and a cell having a three-layered gate electrode structure, consisting of the above electrodes and an erase gate electrode, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,466,081. In the former EEPROM cell, during an erase operation, a high voltage is applied to a drain or a source of the cell transistor to utilize a tunnel current in a gate oxide film. Only a voltage which is equal to or lower than a breakdown voltage of a drain or source junction can be applied as the high voltage. In order to increase an erase efficiency, the thickness of the first gate oxide film between the floating gate electrode and the drain or the source must be decreased. With this decrease, the ratio of a capacitance between the floating gate electrode and the drain or the source, and a capacitance between the floating gate electrode and the semiconductor substrate is increased, and the ratio of capacitances between the control and floating gate electrodes, which affects writing characteristics, is decreased.
In contrast to this, in the latter EEPROM cell disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,466,081, a high voltage is applied to the erase gate electrode during an erase operation, and the thickness of the first gate oxide film need not be decreased. Therefore, sufficient writing characteristics which are equal to those of the EPROM cell can be obtained without a decrease in ratio of capacitances between the control and floating gate electrodes, which affects writing characteristics.
In the conventional EEPROM disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,466,081, a field oxide film is selectively formed by thermal oxidation using local oxidation (LOCOS) in order to isolate the cells adjacent to each other (element isolation). This local oxidation has an advantage in that an oxide film having a large thickness in a longitudinal direction with respect to the surface of the semiconductor substrate can be easily formed. However, at the same time, an oxide film is undesirably formed into a bird-beak shape along a lateral direction. Therefore, the element isolation region is undesirably spread, resulting in an increase in cell area. A contact area is also undesirably increased. In this structure, since the erase and control gate electrodes are perpendicular to each other, an unnecessary portion is undesirably formed when blocks are formed along the erase gate electrode.
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Abnormal expression of gastric mucin in human and rat aberrant crypt foci during colon carcinogenesis.
Colorectal cancer is a major cause of death in Europe and the USA, and much effort is therefore devoted to improve its early detection. In this article, we report the abnormal expression of gastric mucin in aberrant crypt foci (ACF) that appear in the colon mucosae removed from colorectal cancer patients and rats treated with methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitroso-guanidine (MNNG). We performed the immunoperoxidase test using monoclonal antibodies raised against gastric M1 mucin encoded by the MUC5AC gene and against rat gastric mucins (MAb 660), respectively. In both human and rat colon, these anti-gastric mucin MAbs stained specifically goblet cells within ACF. In humans, the M1/MUC5AC mucin was expressed in the upper part of the glands in hyperplastic ACF and in the typical ACF. In addition, the anti-gastric mucin MAbs stained some rare, scattered, histologically normal glands in the human and rat colon mucosae. These glands may be regarded as precursors of ACF. The abnormal expression of the MUC5AC gene constitutes a novel change in addition to genetic modifications already observed in ACF, and supports our previous findings demonstrating the potential of this gastric mucin as an early marker of human and rat colon carcinogenesis.
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From a Wall Street Journal interview:
Q: What did you think of Rand Paul's initial statements about the Civil Rights Act, that the government should not tell private businesses they can't discriminate? That's consistent with libertarian views, right?
A: When he made those statements, I thought to myself, "This is probably why I'm a Republican, because maybe I would not toe the (libertarian) line." I'd like to think I would have signed the civil rights bill and wouldn't have had any issues with it.
Q: You thought about this because of what Paul said?
A: Yes. As a result of his statements, I found myself engaged in discussions over just that notion. I was trying to think of examples where I would have sided with the notion that government does have a role in that capacity. Something analogous is smoking in restaurants. I was opposed to the government mandating that restaurants not allow people to smoke, believing it becomes the customer's choice whether they go in or not. But then, I thought, what about the employees? Aren't they hostage to a smoking environment, even if they don't smoke? […]
Q: Isn't the true libertarian position to support gay marriage?
A: I've taken the position that I support gay unions.
Q: Why not marriage? What's the difference?
A: Right or wrong, that's what I'm advocating.
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// https://gobyexample.com/channel-buffering
// The original work is copyright Mark McGranaghan and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
// The swift port is by Josh Baker
// A `panic` typically means something went unexpectedly
// wrong. Mostly we use it to fail fast on errors that
// shouldn't occur during normal operation, or that we
// aren't prepared to handle gracefully.
package main
import "os"
func main() {
// We'll use panic throughout this site to check for
// unexpected errors. This is the only program on the
// site designed to panic.
panic("a problem")
// A common use of panic is to abort if a function
// returns an error value that we don't know how to
// (or want to) handle. Here's an example of
// `panic`king if we get an unexpected error when creating a new file.
_, err := os.Create("/tmp/file")
if err != nil {
panic(err)
}
}
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Q:
Why isn't scons using CCFLAGS in env variable?
I have this SConstruct file:
env=Environment()
env.Append(CCFLAGS = ['-std=c99', '-Wall', '-Wextra', '-g'])
print env["CCFLAGS"]
#Program('test_array.c',CCFLAGS=['-std=c99', '-Wall', '-Wextra', '-g'],
CPPPATH = '.', LIBS='stuff', LIBPATH=".")
#Program('test_array.c',CPPPATH = '.', LIBS='stuff', LIBPATH=".")
The output from uncommenting the first Program() is:
scons
scons: Reading SConscript files ...
-std=c99 -Wall -Wextra -g
scons: done reading SConscript files.
scons: Building targets ...
gcc -o test_array.o -c -std=c99 -Wall -Wextra -g -I. test_array.c
gcc -o test_array test_array.o -L. -lstuff
scons: done building targets.
The output from uncommenting the second Program() is:
scons
scons: Reading SConscript files ...
-std=c99 -Wall -Wextra -g
scons: done reading SConscript files.
scons: Building targets ...
gcc -o test_array.o -c -I. test_array.c
test_array.c: In function 'test_insert':
test_array.c:85:4: error: 'for' loop initial declarations are only allowed in C99 mode
test_array.c:85:4: note: use option -std=c99 or -std=gnu99 to compile your code
The env variable has a value for CCFLAGS but I don't know why it isn't being used when not explicitly specified in the Program() call.
A:
The Program() builder is taking the construction variables from the DefaultEnvironment(), not from the env you created. This behavior is described here.
Try the following:
env=Environment()
env.Append(CCFLAGS = ['-std=c99', '-Wall', '-Wextra', '-g'])
print env["CCFLAGS"]
# Program() will take the construction vars from env, not the DefaultEnvironment()
#env.Program('test_array.c',CCFLAGS=['-std=c99', '-Wall', '-Wextra', '-g'],
CPPPATH = '.', LIBS='stuff', LIBPATH=".")
#env.Program('test_array.c',CPPPATH = '.', LIBS='stuff', LIBPATH=".")
Notice I call the Program() builder on the env you created and modified.
So, all you really need is the second call, as follows:
env=Environment()
env.Append(CCFLAGS = ['-std=c99', '-Wall', '-Wextra', '-g'])
print env["CCFLAGS"]
# Program() will take the construction vars from env, not the DefaultEnvironment()
env.Program('test_array.c',CPPPATH = '.', LIBS='stuff', LIBPATH=".")
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387 N.W.2d 194 (1986)
In re the WELFARE OF M.S.M.
No. C2-85-2206.
Court of Appeals of Minnesota.
May 13, 1986.
*195 Michael S. MacDonald, St. Paul, for M.S.M.
John S. Connolly, St. Paul, for M.S.M.'s father.
Hubert H. Humphrey, III, Atty. Gen., Robert A. Stanich, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., St. Paul, Robert W. Kelly, Washington Co. Atty., Stillwater, for Washington County.
Heard, considered and decided by FOLEY, P.J., and SEDGWICK and NIERENGARTEN, JJ.
OPINION
NIERENGARTEN, Judge.
Appellant M.S.M. was charged by delinquency petition with two counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct with four-year-old T.K. and five-year-old M.K. The court adjudicated M.S.M. delinquent and *196 placed M.S.M. under the care and custody of the Washington County Department of Court Services for residential placement at a treatment facility. The trial court further ordered M.S.M. and/or his parents to reimburse the county for the services of court appointed counsel and to pay certain costs. The trial court also denied M.S.M.'s motion for a new trial. M.S.M. appeals.
FACTS
In the fall of 1983 M.S.M. and his parents moved into a house across the street from M.K. and T.K. The two families became fairly well acquainted, and in the spring of 1984 M.S.M. occasionally babysat M.K. and T.K. In June 1984 five-year-old M.K. began to complain of a burning sensation while urinating, and her mother observed a redness on her crotch and slightly enlarged vaginal opening. M.K.'s mother questioned her about sexual contact, but M.K. denied that anyone had touched her.
On the evening of September 4, 1984, M.S.M. babysat M.K. and T.K. for approximately one hour at his house. Later that evening, M.K.'s mother gave her a bath, and M.K. complained again about a burning sensation and complained of pain, pointing to her vagina. M.K.'s mother noted that M.K.'s vagina was red and open, and that there was a scratch in that area.
M.K.'s mother suggested to M.K. that diapers were the cause of the pain, and that perhaps they should be replaced with towels. M.K. spontaneously replied that "it's not the Pampers. [M.S.M.] put his finger in there," and pointed to her vagina. M.S.M. characterizes M.K.'s reply as an attempt to divert her mother's attention away from the threatened loss of diapers (M.K. was a bedwetter) by changing the focus of her mother's attention through the use of a statement implicating M.S.M. After M.K.'s father arrived on the scene, M.K. repeated what M.S.M. had done. M.K. added that M.S.M. had her touch and lick his penis and had showed her magazines with pictures of nude women that he kept in his bedroom.
On September 7, 1984, a child protection worker visited with M.K. at M.K.'s home. Employing a coloring book designed to aid children in describing good and bad touches, the child protection worker talked with M.K. M.K. reported that M.S.M. had given her a "red flag" touch; she colored in the genital area of a figure to indicate where M.S.M. touched her. M.K. stated that the touching occurred at M.S.M.'s house while T.K. and M.S.M.'s brother played in another room. M.K. repeated what happened, adding that M.S.M. had sharp fingernails and had scratched her.
On September 10, 1984, M.K. was examined by a medical doctor specializing in child abuse. M.K. reiterated her story, and also described M.S.M. as having put his penis in her mouth and touching her vagina and anus with his penis. The doctor testified that M.K.'s vaginal opening was wider than normal for a five-year-old, and that in her opinion M.K. had been vaginally penetrated. The doctor concluded that M.K.'s physical examination was consistent with what M.K. told her occurred.
On the way home from the doctor's office, M.K. reported to her mother that M.S.M. had told T.K. a secret. M.K. refused, however, to reveal the secret. Later that evening, T.K. denied knowing any secret, but then told his parents that M.S.M. had threatened to kill his parents if T.K. told them what M.S.M. had done. Both M.K. and T.K. stated that M.S.M. showed them a gun with bullets, which M.S.M. kept in his bedroom closet. On further questioning, T.K. told his parents that M.S.M. had put his penis on T.K.'s butt, "peed" in it, and penetrated him with his finger.
The same doctor who examined M.K. examined T.K. on September 21, 1984. In the doctor's opinion, T.K. was sexually abused in the manner described.
M.S.M. denied any sexual contact with M.K. in an interview with the deputy. Upon learning of the allegations against him, M.S.M. responded that M.K. was lying, although M.S.M. admitted having two Playboy magazines in his bedroom. M.S.M. explained that M.K. had found the *197 magazines in his bedroom. In late September authorities searched M.S.M.'s bedroom pursuant to a warrant, and seized four toy guns from his bedroom closet.
In late October and early November 1984, M.K. and T.K. were interviewed on videotape by the child protection worker and the deputy. After a pre-trial hearing, the trial court determined that the videotaped interviews and the children's statements were admissible at trial.
Trial was held in the latter part of June 1985. M.K. and T.K. were found to be competent witnesses, and both testified at trial as to what M.S.M. allegedly did to them. M.S.M. also testified, confirming that he babysat T.K. and M.K. on September 4, 1984 but that he never had sexual contact with the children or threatened them. In addition, the videotaped interviews were received into evidence.
Several events occurred at trial that are relevant on appeal. First, the sheriff's deputy referred to a lie detector in response to four questions by the defense and one question by the prosecutor. Second, because defense counsel failed to disclose to the prosecution the results of psychological testing on M.S.M., the court sustained the prosecution's objection to the introduction of the psychological assessment as a sanction for a violation of discovery. The defense's offer of proof showed that, according to the test results, M.S.M. was not capable of sexually abusing children.
A third event occurred toward the end of respondents' cross-examination of the appellant's expert when M.S.M.'s counsel requested a recess at 5:30 p.m. so she could pick up her child from daycare. The trial court denied her request. When a second request was denied, defense counsel and M.S.M. left the courtroom. The trial court permitted the cross-examination to be completed in their absence. Before proceeding with trial on a subsequent date, however, defense counsel was given the opportunity to review a tape of the cross-examination and make objections. In a subsequent written order, the trial court concluded that the evidence elicited during the absence of M.S.M. and defense counsel was cumulative and not determinative of any of the issues before the court.
On July 1, 1985, the trial court issued its order finding M.S.M. guilty of two counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct. See Minn.Stat. § 609.342, subd. 1(a) (1984). In the dispositional order of October 29, 1985, the trial court: denied M.S.M.'s motion for a new trial, which was not based on any affidavits or legal documents; placed M.S.M. under the care and custody of the Washington County Department of Court Services for residential placement at Boys Totem Town, a treatment facility; and ordered M.S.M. and/or his parents to reimburse the county for attorney's fees, expert witness fees, transcript costs, and investigation expenses totaling $3,191.00. M.S.M. appeals.
ISSUES
1. Was M.S.M. deprived of his right to counsel when the trial court permitted the continuation of cross-examination of M.S. M.'s expert witness after M.S.M. and his attorney voluntarily left the courtroom?
2. Was M.S.M. deprived of a fair trial because of the cumulative effect of alleged errors occurring during trial?
3. Did the trial court abuse its discretion in requiring M.S.M. and/or his parents to reimburse the county for services rendered by court appointed defense counsel and other expenses?
ANALYSIS
I
The right to assistance of counsel is guaranteed by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. See Herring v. New York, 422 U.S. 853, 856, 95 S.Ct. 2550, 2552, 45 L.Ed.2d 593 (1975). See also Minn. Const. art. I, § 6. Furthermore, the rules of the juvenile court provide that children have a right to be represented by counsel. See Minn.Stat. § 260.155, subd. 2 (1984); Minn.R.Juv.Ct. *198 4.01, subd. 1. M.S.M. argues he was denied his constitutional and statutory right to counsel when the trial court continued the cross-examination of his expert witness after he and his court-appointed counsel left the courtroom.
The trial court concluded that because M.S.M.'s attorney reviewed a tape recording of the part of the proceeding she missed and was given the opportunity to recall the witness, M.S.M.'s case was not damaged by the continuation of the proceeding in her absence. While the court found that M.S.M.'s attorney's conduct in this instance was unwise and unprofessional, it did not prejudice the case.
The state argues that the conduct of M.S.M.'s counsel in leaving the court proceedings did not constitute a per se deprivation of the right to counsel that "so undermined the proper functioning of the adversarial process that the trial cannot be relied on as having produced a just result." Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 686, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 2064, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). The state emphasizes that M.S.M.'s counsel was in no way excluded from the hearing, but instead voluntarily chose to leave proceedings that were in progress. The state adds that any potential prejudice to M.S.M.'s case was avoided by permitting counsel the opportunity to listen to the tape recording of the proceedings continued in her absence and by giving her the opportunity to recall the expert.
Under the circumstances, we think the trial court should have adjourned for the day when M.S.M.'s counsel made such a request, especially in light of the conflicting allegations that she had notified the court of her time conflict prior to the hearing. Generally, however, it is the duty of counsel to be present at all stages of the trial of a case. See VonEnde v. Marxen, 280 Minn. 24, 27, 157 N.W.2d 525, 527 (1968). See also Hudson v. Minneapolis, L. & M. Railway Co., 44 Minn. 52, 54, 46 N.W. 314, 315 (1890) ("it is the duty of the counsel to remain in, or be represented at, the court during its sessions until the trial is ended"). The trial court stated at the time it denied the request for adjournment that it wanted to continue on and complete the cross-examination of M.S.M.'s expert because of the court's limited time to hear the case and for reasons of convenience to the witness. The Minnesota Supreme Court has stated that:
[b]earing in mind the heavy schedule of trials, the court, in proper exercise of its discretion, could deny an adjournment which if granted would unreasonably extend the length of trial and disrupt the orderly disposition of pending cases.
Ford v. Kline Oldsmobile, Inc., 274 Minn. 284, 287, 143 N.W.2d 209, 211 (1966). Thus, we conclude that the trial court was within its discretion in denying the request of M.S.M.'s counsel to adjourn for the day.
In addition, we note that the trial court found the cross-examination conducted in the absence of M.S.M. and his counsel to be cumulative. This, coupled with the fact that the cross-examination was not prejudicial to M.S.M.'s case, lends support to our conclusion that the trial court did not deprive M.S.M. of his right to counsel.
II
M.S.M. asserts that the cumulative effect of three alleged errors occurring at trial deprived him of his right to a fair trial.
1. Reference to the Lie Detector M.S.M. contends that the prosecution witness improperly made reference to a lie detector. M.S.M. admits, however, that his counsel at trial failed to object or request a mistrial.
The state contends that M.S.M., not the state, elicited testimony concerning a lie detector. In any event, the state contends this issue is not properly before this court because it was not raised in the trial court or in the motion for a new trial. The state adds that the references to the lie detector did not prejudice M.S.M. because it was not clear he ever took a polygraph, and no polygraph results were ever alluded to at trial.
2. Admissibility of M.S.M.'s Psychological Assessment Because M.S.M. failed to *199 disclose the results of psychological testing on M.S.M., see Minn.R.Juv.Ct. § 24.02, subd. 1(B), the trial court refused to admit them into evidence as a sanction for violation of discovery rules. M.S.M. asserts that the court should have used a sanction that did not prejudice M.S.M.'s case.
The state notes that the prosecutor made a formal request for disclosure more than six months prior to trial, which disclosure M.S.M. failed to provide. The state contends sanctions for the violation of discovery rules are within the discretion of the court, and here the trial court did not abuse its discretion.
3. Extrajudicial Statements of M.K. and T.K. M.S.M. contends that he was denied the right of confrontation under the six and eighth amendments through misapplication of Minn.Stat. § 595.02, subd. 3 (1984) because the trial court admitted into evidence ten statements made by M.K. and T.K. out-of-court. According to M.S.M., the trial court improperly admitted the statements of the children to four witnesses and the statements of the children on videotape for a total of ten misapplications of section 595.02, subd. 3. In addition, M.S.M. argues that the trial court placed undue weight on the videotaped statements by reviewing them after the conclusion of the hearing. M.S.M. also argues that after nine months, since the time from the alleged offense, the memories of M.K. and T.K. faded.
The state asserts that the trial court conducted a hearing and found that all the section 595.02, subd. 3 criteria were satisfied. Allowing the children's extrajudicial statements into evidence was thus correct. Because the children testified at trial and were subject to cross-examination, the state concludes that M.S.M. was not denied the right to confrontation.
Based on the cumulative effect of these alleged errors, M.S.M. contends he was denied a fair trial. See State v. Jahnke, 353 N.W.2d 606, 611 (Minn.Ct.App.1984).
We find these are not errors at all. The record contains no evidence that M.S.M. ever took a polygraph test. Furthermore, no objection was made at trial, and M.S.M. did not raise this allegation in his motion for a new trial. A party is not allowed to raise an issue for the first time on appeal. See Morton v. Board of Commissioners, 301 Minn. 415, 427, 223 N.W.2d 764, 771 (1974).
Sanctions for discovery violations are within the discretion of the trial court. State v. Lindsey, 284 N.W.2d 368, 373 (Minn.1979). Here the trial court's refusal to admit into evidence the results of a psychological assessment was permissible under the circumstances and does not constitute an abuse of discretion.
As to the extrajudicial statements of M.K. and T.K. contained in the videotape, the trial court was satisfied that the criteria of section 595.02, subd. 3 were met. Thus, the trial court did not err in admitting the children's extrajudicial statements into evidence. The record does not disclose that he was denied the right of confrontation.
M.S.M. was not denied a fair trial.
III
In juvenile proceedings in which the court has appointed counsel for the juvenile, "the court may inquire into the ability of the parents to pay for such counsel's services and, after giving the parents a reasonable opportunity to be heard, may order the parents to pay attorneys fees." Minn.Stat. § 260.251, subd. 4 (1984) (emphasis added). When parents can afford to retain counsel but have not retained counsel for the child and the child cannot afford an attorney, the child is entitled to representation at public expense. Minn.R. Juv.Ct. § 4.01, subd. 3(B). A court may order, after giving the parents an opportunity to be heard, "that service of counsel shall be at the parent(s)' expense in whole or in part depending on their ability to pay." Id.
The trial court determined that both of M.S.M.'s parents are gainfully employed and possess the resources to contribute to *200 the payment of expenses and attorney's fees expended in the defense of M.S.M. and ordered M.S.M. and/or his parents to reimburse the county for $3,191.00.
M.S.M. argues the trial court did not provide a hearing and opportunity to be heard for his non-custodial parent, and that this omission constitutes a statutory violation and a deprivation of the constitutional right to due process. In addition, M.S.M. contends the court failed to provide notice of the pendency of the case pursuant to Minn.Stat. § 260.135, subd. 2 (1985) to his non-custodial father prior to the appointment of counsel, thereby denying his noncustodial father the opportunity to employ the counsel of his choice.
The State counters with several arguments. First, M.S.M. did not raise this issue before the trial court at anytime prior to appeal; therefore, M.S.M. waived the issue. Second, the reimbursement issue arose after the adjudicatory order of July 1, 1986, and was raised in neither the August 23rd nor October 9th hearings. It was after the October 9th hearing that the trial court ordered reimbursement. Because M.S.M. has not provided transcripts of the two post-trial hearings, the state contends the record is inadequate for purposes of review. On the record that exists, the state asserts that both of M.S.M.'s parents were present at the two hearings.
Based on the record, we must affirm the trial court.
DECISION
M.S.M. was not deprived of his right to counsel when the trial court permitted the continuation of cross-examination of his expert witness after M.S.M. and his lawyer voluntarily left the courtroom. M.S.M. was not denied a fair trial by the cumulative effect of three alleged errors. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in requiring M.S.M. and/or his parents to reimburse the county for services rendered by court-appointed defense counsel and other expenses.
Affirmed.
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ABSTRACT
The concept of resilience is currently being widely promoted and applied by environmental and development organizations. However, their application of resilience often lacks theoretical backing and evaluation. This paper presents a novel cross-fertilization of two commonly used approaches for applying resilience thinking: the grassroots movement of Transition Towns and the Resilience Alliance’s Resilience Assessment. We compared these approaches through a text analysis of their key handbooks and combined them in a series of participatory workshops with a local partner active in the Transition Movement. Our results demonstrate that despite sharing a number of key features, these two approaches have complementary strengths and weaknesses. Strengths of the Transition Movement include its motivating overarching narrative of the need to transform in response to global sustainability challenges, as well as practical tools promoting learning and participation. The Resilience Assessment’s conceptual framework and structured process generated context-specific understanding of resilience, but provided little guidance on navigating transformation processes. Combining the Resilience Assessment’s theory on complex systems with the Transition Movement’s methods for learning also generated synergies in fostering complexity thinking. Based on these findings, we believe that integrating strengths from both approaches could be widely useful for practitioners seeking to apply resilience for sustainable development. Our study also highlights that methods for assessing resilience can be improved by combining insights from science and practice.
INTRODUCTION
Resilience of social-ecological systems is one of the core research interests of sustainability science (Kates et al. 2001). Interest in resilience has grown dramatically over the past decade (Xu and Marinova 2013, Baggio et al. 2015), which has led to an increasing demand for methods to apply resilience thinking. One of the best-documented approaches is described in The Resilience Assessment Workbook (Resilience Alliance 2010). This is based on a strong foundation of theory and empirical research on social-ecological systems, from a complex adaptive systems perspective (Quinlan et al. 2015). On the other hand, different civil society movements are also applying resilience thinking, such as the Transition Movement, which promotes transformative societal change in response to contemporary sustainability challenges (Hopkins 2009). The Resilience Assessment process is the most developed scientifically based approach to applying resilience thinking, whereas the Transition Movement represents one of the largest communities of practice working with resilience thinking. We present a novel comparison of these two approaches that analyzes how they can cross-fertilize to improve the application of resilience thinking in participatory processes.
The Transition Movement and the Resilience Assessment represent two different approaches to using resilience thinking with potentially complementary strengths. Previously, scholars applying Resilience Assessment in practice have found that it fails to provide guidance on how to manage the participatory learning process (Mitchell et al. 2014, Sellberg et al. 2015). Furthermore, although resilience scholars often emphasize transformational change for sustainable development (Gunderson and Holling 2002, Folke et al. 2010, Olsson et al. 2014), the practice of Resilience Assessment as of yet has failed to support transformations of social-ecological systems (Walkerden et al. 2013, Sellberg et al. 2015). Earlier work has addressed these issues by combining Resilience Assessment with ideas from adaptive management and collective learning (Walkerden et al. 2013, Mitchell et al. 2014). However, no one so far has engaged with the Transition Movement, even though it focuses on mobilizing citizens in collective learning processes for transition (Hopkins 2011). Haxeltine and Seyfang (2009:20) provided an initial comparison between literature on social-ecological resilience (e.g., Folke 2006) and the Transition Movement and found that the movement has been successful in using resilience as a framing concept, but that there is a lack of a deeper understanding of what building resilience means for each specific context, as well as “an adequate conceptual and operational framework for resilience.” Within the movement, there is also an interest in analyzing resilience and assessing the impact of initiatives (Hopkins 2011). This suggests that the Resilience Assessment approach also could be useful for the Transition Movement.
In this paper, we compare and combine the Resilience Assessment and the Transition Movement approaches, with an aim to generate insights for the application of resilience thinking in participatory settings. Specifically, we (1) compared the notions of resilience as presented in the handbooks of the two approaches (Hopkins 2008, 2011, Resilience Alliance 2010) through a qualitative text analysis and (2) developed a new participatory workshop protocol influenced by the two approaches, in collaboration with local partners active in the Transition Movement in Southern Sweden, and assessed the benefits and challenges of that cross-fertilization process. To our knowledge, this is the first time the Resilience Assessment and Transition Movement approaches have been compared and combined in a scientific study.
BACKGROUND
The Resilience Assessment
The Resilience Assessment Workbook was developed by the Resilience Alliance research network (2010) and was originally aimed at the practical management of regional ecosystems. The current process includes describing a social-ecological system, assessing its resilience, and finding options for interventions. The aim is to generate an understanding of the dynamics and aspects of resilience in a system, rather than measuring resilience (Walker and Salt 2012). The approach has a strong theoretical foundation and builds on earlier work by the Resilience Alliance to apply resilience thinking (Walker et al. 2002), as well as recent insights from case studies of social-ecological systems (Quinlan et al. 2015). The latest version of The Resilience Assessment Workbook for Practitioners has been applied across the world (Resilience Alliance 2016) and in different contexts (e.g., Haider et al. 2012, Liu 2014, Sellberg et al. 2015), but most extensively in Australia by regional water catchment management authorities (e.g., Walker et al. 2009, Mitchell et al. 2014). In this way, the approach of the Resilience Alliance (2010) is more flexible compared with other recent approaches that are tailored to specific contexts (Quinlan et al. 2015), such as social-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (UNU-IAS, Bioversity International, IGES, and UNDP 2014).
The Transition Movement
The Transition Movement, also called the Transition Towns movement, emerged in 2005 in the United Kingdom, and its rapid spread has caught the attention of a growing number of researchers, relating it to grassroots innovations (Seyfang and Haxeltine 2012, Feola and Nunes 2014), community development (Connors and McDonald 2011), and social movements (Smith 2011), among others. In 2016, the movement included well over 1000 initiatives across the world (Transition Network 2016). Rob Hopkins is the movement’s front figure and has written two handbooks, with support from the Transition Network:The Transition Handbook (Hopkins 2008) and The Transition Companion (Hopkins 2011). The Transition Handbook has sold more than 25,000 copies in the United Kingdom alone (Transition Culture 2017). The purpose of the handbooks is to inspire citizens around the world to join the movement, and to guide local transition initiatives to be successful. Resilience is a key concept in the Transition Movement, with a specific focus on building resilience of local communities to peak oil, climate change, and economic crisis (Hopkins 2008, 2011). As opposed to other approaches to applying resilience (e.g., Rockefeller Foundation 2013), the movement is strongly influenced by the Resilience Alliance’s definition of resilience (e.g., Walker et al. 2004, Walker and Salt 2006, as cited in Hopkins 2008). Nevertheless, with the exception of Haxeltine and Seyfang (2009) and Brunetta and Baglione (2013), few studies relate the Transition Movement to theory on social-ecological resilience.
METHODS
Both the Resilience Assessment and the Transition Movement are characterized by a high level of interplay between written guidelines and practical applications in different contexts. Therefore, we applied two different methodological approaches: a qualitative text analysis of their written guidelines and a participatory case study (Fig. 1). The comparison of their written guidelines allowed for a general comparison that highlights differences and commonalities between the Transition Movement and the Resilience Assessment. By complementing this analysis with a practical case study embedded in a specific region, we captured some of the discrepancies between theory and practice. Below, we describe the two methods further.
Comparing written guidelines through qualitative text analysis
The material we selected included The Transition Handbook (Hopkins 2008), The Transition Companion (Hopkins 2011), and The Resilience Assessment Workbook for Practitioners (Resilience Alliance 2010). These are the most widely used written guidelines for the respective approaches. Hopkins (2011) accounts for some of the conceptual and practical changes in the movement since Hopkins (2008).
Following Esaiasson et al. (2007), we developed a framework to structure the comparison (Table 1). The framework included a brief narrative analysis based on the approach of Leach et al. (2010), which helped provide a context for the rest of the findings (1. Narrative); the interpretation of resilience, using, e.g., Biggs et al.’s (2015) resilience principles and Folke et al.’s (2010) resilience thinking framework (2. Definition and use of resilience concept); and conceptualizations of social-ecological and cross-scale interactions, and the types of activities advocated (3. Emphasis on theory vs. practical tools). The last category was based on preliminary case study findings, which indicated that the Transition Movement approach focused more on practical tools, whereas the Resilience Assessment had a stronger theoretical foundation. This notion also aligned with another recent study of a resilience assessment process (Sellberg et al. 2015). In order not to miss interesting findings, we also included interpretations of resilience in practice that emerged from the text analysis (2E in Table 1). A more detailed description of the analysis and framework is provided in Appendix 1.
Combining the approaches in a practical case
In the case study, we cross-fertilized the Transition Movement and Resilience Assessment approaches through developing and testing a new workshop protocol that combined the two approaches, and then evaluated the benefits and challenges of that cross-fertilization process.
The case study was conducted in Southern Sweden in collaboration with a LEADER organization (Fig. 2). LEADER is the EU’s rural development program and aims to strengthen locally driven development within defined rural areas (European Commission 2016). The organization was already influenced by the Transition Movement approach, e.g., through their involvement in a broader project called “LEADER learns for transition to sustainability.” In 2013, two project coordinators at the organization contacted us, because they were interested in learning more about resilience thinking as an important part of the Transition Movement approach and using Resilience Assessment as a tool for participatory strategic planning. Both of them had personal experience of the Transition Movement: one of them in a local transition initiative and the other through starting up and working with education in the national Transition Movement in Sweden.
Inspired by the transdisciplinary research process of Lang et al. (2012), we formed a team of researchers and practitioners who framed the research task, created a one-day workshop that we conducted in three different local communities between January and April 2014 (more details in Appendix 2), and attempted to integrate the outcomes in our respective practices. The goals of the workshop were to perform the first steps of the Resilience Assessment; contribute with a new perspective to the ongoing local planning processes that took place in two of the localities; and to contribute to learning, both for the participants regarding resilience thinking and for us through method development. The workshop agenda included (1) deciding what needs to be resilient and what is threatening those values, (2) identifying strengths and weaknesses related to the threats, and (3) mapping strategies to increase resilience. Apart from the workshop protocol, we also coproduced a list of characteristics of resilient systems, which we used during the last part of the workshop (Appendix 3). Thresholds of potential concern were not assessed, because that would have required a longer learning process. The workshop participants (72 in total) were people engaged in their local community and/or in environmental issues, including representatives from civil society and local authorities, which is similar to the Transition Movement’s activities in different parts of the world.
To document the process, we wrote field notes (Jorgensen 1989) and conducted semistructured interviews (Kvale and Brinkmann 2009). We interviewed the two collaborators from the LEADER organization, hereby referred to as the partners (partner 1 = P1 and partner 2 = P2), both before and after the workshops to capture their expectations and aspirations, as well as their reflections of what they had learned and what the challenges had been (Appendix 4). The interviews, as well as the reflection rounds in the end of each workshop, were recorded and transcribed. Field notes were written after each meeting with the partners and included memos of preliminary interpretations of the data (Glaser 1998, Charmaz 2006). To analyze the case study data, we used an inductive approach influenced by grounded theory (Charmaz 2006, Wagenaar 2011). We analyzed transcripts from the interviews and reflection rounds at the workshops, field notes, and material from the workshops, such as invitations and agendas, using the software Atlas.ti (Friese 2012). The codes were developed iteratively and were framed by our research question to identify benefits and challenges of cross-fertilization (Table 2, Appendix 5).
RESULTS
Here we present the key commonalities and differences derived from the written guidelines of the Transition Movement and the Resilience Assessment (Fig. 3, detailed table in Appendix 1). We also describe the main benefits and challenges of combining the approaches, synthesized from the case study analysis (Appendix 5).
Key commonalities
Both approaches emphasize the need to build resilience in their narratives, and share an overarching goal of sustainability (Fig. 3, Appendix 1:1). For example, the work of Hopkins (2011) is based on values of global environmental sustainability, human well-being, and social justice, and Resilience Alliance (2010:4) is concerned with achieving a “sustainable long-term delivery of environmental benefits linked to human well-being.”
The approaches also share a complex adaptive systems perspective (Fig. 3, Appendix 1:2D4). The concept of complex adaptive systems is a key component of resilience thinking (Walker and Salt 2006): the underlying theoretical framework of the Resilience Assessment approach. Similarly, resilience thinking and the idea of self-organizing systems influence the Transition Movement approach (Hopkins 2011). However, Resilience Assessment includes more concepts related to complex adaptive systems and dynamic systems, such as alternative system regimes with thresholds (Resilience Alliance 2010) and the adaptive cycle and panarchy (Resilience Alliance 2010).
Key differences
The Transition Movement handbooks promote building community resilience (e.g., Hopkins 2008), while the Resilience Alliance (2010) promotes building resilience of social-ecological systems delivering important ecosystem services (Fig. 3). To define system boundaries, the Transition Movement approach is guided by citizens’ perceived sphere of influence (Hopkins 2008, 2011), whereas Resilience Assessment uses key natural resource management issues (Resilience Alliance 2010). Nevertheless, Hopkins (2011:44) is also concerned that a community’s resource base should be “resilient and accessible.” This indicates that both approaches have a social-ecological perspective, but with different starting points: the community versus the landscape and its natural resources.
The Transition Movement guides the choice of focus issues, whereas Resilience Assessment leaves it open initially (Fig. 3). The Resilience Assessment approach is framed around natural resource management and increasing environmental change caused by human activities (Appendix 1:1C), but apart from that, key issues and disturbances (“resilience to what”) are open to be decided at the outset of each assessment (Resilience Alliance 2010). Any indicators of resilience will be context dependent and not predefined. The Transition Movement approach, on the other hand, guides local initiatives to build resilience to peak oil and economic contractions, as well as to mitigate the effects of climate change (Hopkins 2011). A key strategy is then for a community to reduce its dependence on cheap energy and fossil fuels, reflected in the proposed resilience indicators of Hopkins (2008). However, the approach is also about local responses to mitigate climate change, following the slogan “think globally, act locally” (Hopkins 2011:280). The Resilience Alliance (2010) focuses on the resilience of a local-regional focal system and does not ask questions about how that system could affect the global scale on an aggregate level. It could more easily be used for climate adaptation than for climate mitigation, shown by the examples of flooding in New Orleans and forest fires.
The two approaches put different emphasis on transformability as an aspect of resilience (Fig. 3). Transformability is the ability “to create a fundamentally new system when ecological, economic, or social structures make the existing system untenable” (Folke et al. 2010:3). The Resilience Assessment describes transformation as an option if existing structures become untenable (Resilience Alliance 2010). Both examples in The Resilience Assessment Workbook are transformations to more adaptive and ecosystem-based governance and management: Kristianstad and the Great Barrier Reef. The Transition Movement describes transformation as necessary for becoming resilient (Appendix 1:1C). Resilience is seen as “more than ‘sustaining current models and practices’” but rather “a rethink of assumptions about infrastructure and systems that should lead to a more sustainable, resilient and enriching low-carbon economy” (Hopkins 2011:45). When Hopkins (2011) envisions the future of food, energy, and housing, he writes about a revolution or transformation of the current system.
Even if sharing an overarching sustainability goal, the approaches have different purposes and promote different activities (Fig. 3). The Transition Movement intends to mobilize citizens in local transition initiatives; therefore, broadening participation and encouraging learning are key strategies (Appendix 1:2D5-6). It suggests a number of activities for engaging people, building social networks, and raising awareness (Appendix 1:3A), and Hopkins (2011) includes a range of practical tips on how to, e.g., speak in public or run effective meetings. In contrast, the purpose of the Resilience Assessment is foremost to generate system understanding to improve natural resource governance. Resilience Alliance (2010) applies the theoretical framework of resilience thinking to develop conceptual diagrams and a synthesized understanding of the system, which serves as a basis for decision making and adaptive management.
Benefits of cross-fertilization
We synthesized the case study results of cross-fertilizing the Transition Movement and Resilience Assessment approaches into the following four categories of benefits.
Communicating and applying resilience
Through the collaboration project, the partners learned to apply and communicate resilience: “...Now I’ve got both words, tools and examples that allow me to communicate to others...” (P1; Appendix 5:3). The Resilience Assessment approach contributed to this in three main ways. First, we used its overall structure, which begins by deciding what should be resilient and to what type of disturbances (“resilience of what, to what,” sections 1.2 and 1.3 in Resilience Alliance 2010), to design the workshop agenda (Appendix 2). Second, the resilience characteristics (Appendix 3), e.g., modularity and diversity, were useful to communicate resilience to the workshop participants and explore strengths and weaknesses of their communities. Third, we also communicated the idea of complex systems in presentations and exercises during the workshops. One of the partners said afterward that “to understand resilience, you need to understand complex systems” (P1) and saw the workshop as potentially useful to foster an understanding of resilience and complex systems more broadly within the Transition Movement (Appendix 5:1).
Linking across scales and world views
The partners saw the Resilience Assessment approach as a way to overcome difficulties in reaching ordinary people in the countryside with a global sustainability perspective (Appendix 5:4), as well as to bridge the present divide between sustainability and rural development in their own organization (Appendix 5:5). Compared with the Transition Movement approach, which one of them described as being “more about transitioning for the sake of the climate, that is a lot for someone else’s sake, for your children and grandchildren’s sake,” the Resilience Assessment approach enabled them to “target small, local communities” and “invite to a workshop called ‘Is your community ready?’” (P2; Appendix 5:6). The Resilience Assessment’s analytical framework was open enough to host both global and local issues: Strengths and weaknesses of rural communities were also addressed, e.g., services disappearing (Appendix 5:7-8). Then, as one of the partners expressed it, “I can easier tie it (the global perspective) to the point where people already are” (P1). Compared with sustainability, resilience was a new concept that people had fewer preconceptions about (Appendix 5:9). One of the partners described it “as a possibility to use other arguments to advance the sustainability perspective,” by appealing to long-term “security for people, or the rural community with surroundings” (P2; Appendix 5:6).
Learning and participation in practice
The Transition Movement approach complemented the Resilience Assessment with practical tools and exercises to strengthen learning and participation. Both partners stressed the importance of participation, e.g., by letting participants decide “resilience of what, to what,” and emphasized the need for practical, pedagogical exercises in the workshop. Six exercises were used in the workshop (Appendix 2), three of which originated from the Transition Movement approach. For example, we adapted the Web of Resilience exercise from Hopkins (2008) and used it to illustrate diversity as an aspect of community resilience. Another exercise, developed by one of the partners, visualized thresholds and resilience, and was successful in starting a discussion among the participants about, e.g., what the system is and if resilience is always desirable (Appendix 5:11).
Clarified transition focus
The Transition Movement approach directed the Resilience Assessment workshop in a way that opened up for transition to sustainability. The partners actively promoted transition to sustainability (Appendix 5:13), exemplified by our project being a part of the broader “LEADER learns for transition to sustainability” project. Two examples of how this affected the workshop design were (1) that human needs were used as a starting point for resilience of what (Appendix 5:14), which opened up discussion about changing how needs are met, instead of limiting participants to current structures for meeting those needs; and (2) that we introduced climate change, peak oil, economics, global inequality, and the state of ecosystems in an exercise in the beginning of the workshop (context cards, Appendix 2), before the participants defined resilience to what. This exercise presented a negative picture of the current situation, and thereby promoted a need to change.
Challenges
The three main challenges we encountered in the case study related both to cross-fertilizing the approaches, as well as applying resilience thinking in participatory processes in general.
Pedagogical challenge
The partners recognized the pedagogical challenge of communicating new theoretical concepts, new ways of thinking, and global sustainability issues in a local context (Appendix 5:15-16). They realized that understanding resilience and complex systems is a learning process. Time is required to get familiar with new concepts, both for pedagogical exercises and individual reflection. Even though some participants demonstrated this understanding in the workshops, it became clear that expecting a deeper understanding of resilience from only one workshop was unrealistic.
Expectations on quantitative outputs
In the beginning, the partners had an ambition to substitute the traditional statistics in their organization’s upcoming strategy document with statistics describing the resilience of their geographical area (Appendix 5:3). They wanted to do this in a participatory manner, by inviting local people to define resilience of what and to what, and then collect quantitative data related to the workshop output, which were categorized according to resilience characteristics (Appendix 3). However, many characteristics they were interested in assessing, e.g., economic modularity, were absent in existing statistics. Instead of spending time on a separate analysis, they decided that it was most important to generate an understanding of resilience thinking and focus on the learning process. In hindsight, one of the partners reflected on whether a factual report might have made a bigger impact on the upcoming strategy.
Balancing openness and values
Another challenge in the case study was how to balance the more open Resilience Assessment with the Transition Movement’s values and assumptions about the future. The Transition Movement proposes specific things that need to be resilient, as well as what futures are seen as both likely and desirable (Hopkins 2008). The Resilience Assessment leaves the definition of what should be resilient and what futures are possible or desirable open, even though the process is framed by values of sustainable social-ecological systems. One of the partners pointed out this difference by stating that “you cannot build a movement only on resilience...; we need to complement it with saying what it is that we value,” whereas “this problem does not exist in the Transition Movement, because there it [resilience] is an integrated part, and not the only perspective”, and there is also a strong justice perspective, for example (P1; Appendix 5:2). Our strategy to balance the approaches was to first introduce participants to global sustainability challenges, and then leave it open for them to identify their own potential future threats. However, this was a delicate balance. For example, one participant expressed feeling steered toward certain solutions by the global issues (Appendix 5:17), at the same time as threats were identified during the more open session that did not directly align with the partners’ intention to promote transition to sustainability, such as the risk of war.
DISCUSSION
Our results demonstrate that the Resilience Assessment and Transition Movement approaches have complementary strengths that could be integrated to improve the application of resilience thinking in participatory processes. Below we discuss how an integrated approach (1) strengthens the participatory learning process and fosters complex systems understanding, (2) generates context-specific understanding of resilience, and (3) better addresses transformations to global sustainability (Fig. 4). We also discuss additional challenges in applying resilience thinking highlighted by this study and suggest how they could be addressed.
Synergies in fostering complex systems understanding
Both in comparing the written guidelines and in the case study, we found that the Transition Movement approach contributed practical knowledge on learning and participation to the Resilience Assessment. Although the Transition Movement aims to be inclusive, it has been criticized for lacking diversity (Smith 2011, Feola and Nunes 2014) and for focusing more on raising awareness than experiential learning (Seyfang and Haxeltine 2012). Nevertheless, in our study we found that the Transition Movement approach complemented the Resilience Assessment’s lack of guidance on process design (Sellberg et al. 2015).
Combining the Transition Movement and Resilience Assessment approaches also created synergies in fostering complex systems understanding. The written guidelines of both approaches share a complex adaptive systems perspective (Fig. 3). However, our case study indicated that this understanding is not widely spread within the Transition Movement (Appendix 5:1). At the same time, complexity thinking has been identified as a key aspect of enhancing resilience thinking in the governance of social-ecological systems (Biggs et al. 2015), and systems thinking as one of the teaching practices that can increase resilience (Spellman 2015). An integrated approach to applying resilience thinking could foster this understanding by combining the Resilience Assessment’s complexity theory, e.g., the adaptive cycle and panarchy (Gunderson and Holling 2002), with the Transition Movement’s pedagogical exercises on resilience and systems thinking. We started exploring this synergy at the workshops by combining a short presentation of complex systems with practical exercises to visualize thresholds and resilience. These exercises helped address the pedagogical challenges of communicating a new way of thinking to a diverse audience (Appendix 5:11) and could be further elaborated by using existing methods for teaching systems thinking, such as The Systems Thinking Playbook of Booth Sweeney and Meadows (2010).
Generating context-specific understanding of resilience
The Resilience Assessment approach provided a “conceptual and operational framework” that generated context-specific understanding of resilience, which Haxeltine and Seyfang (2009:20) argue the Transition Movement is lacking. In the workshops the Resilience Assessment did this in two main ways. First, it contributed a conceptual framework, including complex systems and resilience characteristics (Appendix 3), which was used to facilitate and clarify the meaning of resilience in practice. Second, it provided our partners with a stepwise process to explore the application of resilience for a particular context and location. The framework was open enough to host both local and global concerns, which helped them to address both local-regional rural development issues and global sustainability. Generating an understanding of resilience that is both locally embedded and linked to global sustainability issues is also interesting for the broader audience of communities, cities, and local governments who are working to apply resilience (e.g., UNISDR 2012, Rockefeller Foundation 2013).
Although we generated context-relevant understanding of resilience, we also learned that there is a need to manage expectations of quantitative outputs when applying resilience. There is a lot of interest in measuring resilience indicators (Quinlan et al. 2015), also from the Transition Movement (Hopkins 2008). Although a focus on measurable goals can be useful in well-understood situations when it is clear what to measure and how, it is less useful in situations with unclear goals and system definitions. Approaches to assess resilience can help clarify goals and useful system definitions, because they “focus on understanding the dynamics of social-ecological systems” (Quinlan et al. 2015:2). Quinlan et al. (2015) review approaches to assessing and measuring resilience. We agree with their conclusion that these approaches can be complementary, if the assessment is used to guide the construction of useful indicators. This corresponds to the focus of a recent framework building on the Resilience Assessment approach, which guides users in identifying the most relevant indicators for their context (O’Connell et al. 2015), in line with, e.g., the systems theory–based process for producing sustainability indicators of Meadows (1998) and the structured learning process of Strategic Adaptive Management (Biggs and Rogers 2003). Indicators can be linked to general concepts to enable cross-case comparisons (Quinlan et al. 2015). The disadvantage of such processes is that they require more time and resources, and therefore a careful process design.
One possible explanation for this gap is that the Resilience Assessment has been primarily developed for regional natural resource management, where there is a strong emphasis on maintaining regional ecosystem services rather than on transformation (Appendix 1:1C). Current efforts to integrate transformational change in the Resilience Assessment focus on transformations of local-regional social-ecological systems, in order for the same systems to become sustainable over the long term (Walkerden et al. 2013, O’Connell et al. 2015). However, they do not explicitly address the local-regional transformations that need to happen to enhance planetary resilience (e.g., transforming to a low-carbon economy) and to avoid unwanted erosion of the resilience of other places (e.g., halting illegal ivory imports). On the contrary, the Transition Movement has adopted an interpretation of resilience that focuses on the root causes of environmental problems (Brown 2014, Cretney 2014, Cretney and Bond 2014). For example, it calls for a transformation away from societies’ heavy dependence on cheap fossil fuels to avoid dangerous climate change globally (Appendix 1:1C). Addressing these issues is critical for assessing resilience in the Anthropocene, in which socially mediated interactions across scales and among distant places have increased in strength and variety (Steffen et al. 2011).
Incorporating transformation into resilience assessment
Based on this study, we suggest that existing resilience research on transformation processes (e.g., Walkerden et al. 2013, Westley et al. 2013, Moore et al. 2014) should be better integrated into the Resilience Assessment approach. We also have three suggestions for addressing transformations to global sustainability in particular:
Resilience for what purpose? Define a purpose for assessing resilience that is guided by the need for transformations to global sustainability. Instead of leaving the purpose completely open for participants to define (Fig. 2, element A.1 in O’Connell et al. 2015), we believe that global sustainability should at least be considered. Otherwise, there is a risk of coming to conclusions that enhance resilience of the focal system, at least in the short term, but counteract sustainability globally, e.g., by increasing carbon emissions. In this study, we used the Transition Movement’s narrative to communicate the need to assess resilience, which previously has been recognized to play a role in the success of transition initiatives (Feola and Nunes 2014). Placing resilience in a broader narrative is a way to give it meaning (Allen et al. 2005), but there needs to be an awareness of the fact that different actors have different narratives of pathways to sustainability (Leach et al. 2010).
Resilience of what and to what? Define resilience of what on a basic level, and include global sustainability and longer-term challenges in the discussion of resilience to what. The Resilience Assessment includes defining resilience of what and to what (sections 1.2 and 1.3 in Resilience Alliance 2010), corresponding to other assessment frameworks, e.g., of climate adaptation (Smit et al. 1999). In our case study, we framed what should be resilient as basic human needs, which opened up the possibility of changing current structures for providing for those needs. Guided by the Transition Movement’s narrative, we introduced global sustainability challenges before defining resilience to what, although we also included local citizens’ concerns about the future. Addressing resilience in a longer time perspective highlights the importance and potential of more transformative change (Meadows 1998). To balance values and openness, we suggest being guided by an overarching purpose of sustainable development, but discussing a variety of alternative future scenarios (Peterson et al. 2003, Enfors et al. 2008). This counteracts the risk that the Transition Movement approach runs of being unprepared for unexpected futures that do not correspond to their vision (Haxeltine and Seyfang 2009): a world with radically less energy and where the local level is much more important (Bailey et al. 2010).
Resilience where and on what scale? Assess how actions to build resilience at the focal scale affect resilience and sustainability in other places and on other scales, including the global scale. This could, for example, be included in the cross-scale analysis of the Resilience Assessment (Resilience Alliance 2010:30). A combination of a number of recent integrated frameworks and notions, such as multiscale resilience (Folke et al. 2010), cross-boundary interactions between systems (Fig. 4 in Rist et al. 2014), telecoupling (Liu et al. 2013), and a safe and just operating space for humanity (Raworth 2012, Steffen et al. 2015), provide a useful platform for doing this, because they capture different and complementary aspects.
Policy makers and practitioners in diverse fields are increasingly adopting the term “resilience” (e.g., Davoudi et al. 2012, Baggio et al. 2015), but interpretations range from preserving the status quo to being open for transformative change (Cretney 2014, Davidson et al. 2016). Our suggestions provide a starting point for further transdisciplinary research (Lang et al. 2012, Seidl et al. 2013) to cocreate transformational ways of applying resilience thinking. These types of applications are necessary, both in highly vulnerable and dynamic contexts (Davidson et al. 2016), and in response to the call of sustainability science for sustainability transitions (e.g., Kates et al. 2001).
We believe that further comparisons and cross-fertilizations of different approaches to applying resilience thinking and sustainability that bridge the science-practice divide are likely to yield additional insights that will advance sustainability science and practice. The relative and context-specific nature of such comparisons will reveal different strengths and weaknesses of the approaches (e.g., Feola 2014).
CONCLUSION
In this study, we have presented a novel cross-fertilization between two major approaches for applying resilience thinking: the Transition Movement (Hopkins 2008, 2011) and the Resilience Alliance’s Resilience Assessment (2010). Our findings highlight the possibility of improving the application of resilience thinking in participatory processes by integrating their complementary strengths: the Transition Movement’s narrative of the need to transform in response to global sustainability challenges, as well as practical tools for learning and participation, with the Resilience Assessment’s scientifically based framework and process for how to generate context-specific understanding of resilience. Combining the approaches also created synergies in fostering complex systems understanding. Our results show that the application of resilience thinking could be further improved by developing useful ways for how relevant indicators can be constructed through participatory learning processes.
Improving and adapting the application of resilience thinking are required in response to the growing demand from policy makers and practitioners for practical approaches to resilience across a variety of problem domains. This study demonstrates how a mutual learning process between two communities of practice created insights useful to the wider community working on applying resilience thinking for sustainable development. Therefore, we urge resilience practitioners and scientists to collaborate with one another to improve the theory and practice of resilience assessment and management for sustainability.
We would like to thank all the participants at the workshops in the LEADER region for their openness and engagement. We are grateful for having had the opportunity to collaborate with our partner organization, Astrid Lindgrens Hembygd, and especially Hillevi Helmfrid and Daniel Hägerby who were the main organizers of this collaboration project and contributed much time, engagement and creativity. We thank Anna Helgeson, Megan Meacham, Lisen Schultz, Stephan Barthel, and Rebecka Milestad for useful comments, and Louise Hård af Segerstad for workshop assistance. This research was conducted under the SEEN (Social-Ecological dynamics of Ecosystem services in the Norrström basin) project, financed by the Swedish Research Council Formas (project no 2012-1058). This research contributes to the Program on Ecosystem Change and Society (www.pecs-science.org). Borgström was also supported by the COMPLEX project, funded by the EU FP7 (no 308601), and the ARTS project, funded by the EU FP7 (no 603654). The Stockholm Resilience Centre is funded by the Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research, Mistra.
Feola, G. 2014. Narratives of grassroots innovations: a comparison of Voluntary Simplicity and the Transition Movement in Italy. International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development 8(3):250-269. http://dx.doi.org/10.1504/ijisd.2014.066612
Liu, W. 2014. The application of resilience assessment—resilience of what, to what, with what? A case study based on Caledon, Ontario, Canada. Ecology and Society 19(4):21. http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-06843-190421
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Top Stories
Cannabis still isn't legal in Canada even though Trudeau said it was one of the first things that he was going to take care of. But he also said he was going to address c-51 promptly and he hasn't gotten around to that either yet. For now however, cannabis dispensaries in operation are technically in violation of the law and are exercising civil disobedience. And Ottawa's mayor says that until it is fully legalized, police should continue the crackdown.
Since Trudeau took office, several dispensaries across the nation have been raided and people continue to be arrested over this plant. Some dispensaries opened the very next day and there was strong backlash from the public over the move of police departments to allocate resources for the enforcement of cannabis regulation, when many agree that there are surely much more pressing things that could be worried about. Canadians are growing impatient and they want to see the charade ended over cannabis criminalization.
Ottawa legislators want to know why the police are not enforcing the rules and why cannabis shops continue to be “allowed” to operate in the community. Never mind that they might be helping sick people and simply making voluntary and peaceful exchanges. These controllers want that market option shut down for the people and they are going to press to see that it happens. Mayor Jim Watson says that if people continue to operate in distributing cannabis to the public then those people can expect to be fined.
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Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leucoencephalopathy (CADASIL). Neuropathological and in vitro studies of abnormal elastogenesis.
This study was performed on a family of CADASIL (cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leucoencephalopathy) subjects. Neuropathological alterations of small arteries consisting in thickening, reduplication and fragmentation of the internal elastic lamella, and granular periodic acid-Schiff-positive material deposited in the arterial media were demonstrated in 1 autopsy case by histochemistry and electron microscopy. This material reacted with a monoclonal antibody anti-elastin (aE), as demonstrated by immunohistochemistry and immunoelectron microscopy. Significant increases of aE-immunoreactivity and elastin mRNA expression were found in cultured skin fibroblasts from 5 family members genetically affected by CADASIL, but not genetically and clinically healthy members. These results suggest that alterations of the elastic apparatus are associated with CADASIL genotype and related to the clinical expression of the disease.
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CGPS: A machine learning-based approach integrating multiple gene set analysis tools for better prioritization of biologically relevant pathways.
Gene set enrichment (GSE) analyses play an important role in the interpretation of large-scale transcriptome datasets. Multiple GSE tools can be integrated into a single method as obtaining optimal results is challenging due to the plethora of GSE tools and their discrepant performances. Several existing ensemble methods lead to different scores in sorting pathways as integrated results; furthermore, it is difficult for users to choose a single ensemble score to obtain optimal final results. Here, we develop an ensemble method using a machine learning approach called Combined Gene set analysis incorporating Prioritization and Sensitivity (CGPS) that integrates the results provided by nine prominent GSE tools into a single ensemble score (R score) to sort pathways as integrated results. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, CGPS is the first GSE ensemble method built based on a priori knowledge of pathways and phenotypes. Compared with 10 widely used individual methods and five types of ensemble scores from two ensemble methods, we demonstrate that sorting pathways based on the R score can better prioritize relevant pathways, as established by an evaluation of 120 simulated datasets and 45 real datasets. Additionally, CGPS is applied to expression data involving the drug panobinostat, which is an anticancer treatment against multiple myeloma. The results identify cell processes associated with cancer, such as the p53 signaling pathway (hsa04115); by contrast, according to two ensemble methods (EnrichmentBrowser and EGSEA), this pathway has a rank higher than 20, which may cause users to miss the pathway in their analyses. We show that this method, which is based on a priori knowledge, can capture valuable biological information from numerous types of gene set collections, such as KEGG pathways, GO terms, Reactome, and BioCarta. CGPS is publicly available as a standalone source code at ftp://ftp.cbi.pku.edu.cn/pub/CGPS_download/cgps-1.0.0.tar.gz.
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Drought enhances maize chilling tolerance. II. Photosynthetic traits and protective mechanisms against oxidative stress.
In the present research we studied the photosynthetic traits and protective mechanisms against oxidative stress in two maize (Zea mays L.) genotypes differing in chilling sensitivity (Z7, tolerant and Penjalinan, sensitive) subjected to 5 degrees C for 5 days, with or without pretreatment by drought. The drought pretreatment decreased the symptoms of chilling injury in Penjalinan plants estimated as necrotic leaf area and maximum quantum yield of photosystem II. Furthermore, drought pretreatment diminished the level of lipid peroxidation caused by chilling in Penjalinan plants. After one day of recovery from chilling the Z7 and drought-pretreated Penjalinan plants showed higher net photosynthesis rates than the non-drought-pretreated Penjalinan plants, thereby decreasing the probability of generating reactive oxygen species. The greater net photosynthesis was correlated with the greater NADP-malate dehydrogenase activity. No differences in either the de-epoxidation state of the xanthophyll cycle or the antioxidant enzyme activities were found among the chilled groups of plants. However, a drastic decrease in ascorbate content was observed in chilled Penjalinan plants without drought pretreatment. As we found an increase of H2O2 content after drought pretreatment, we suggest its involvement as a signal in the drought-enhanced chilling tolerance of maize.
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QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2015
OR
¨
TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the transition period from
to
Commission file number 000-01227
Chicago Rivet
& Machine Co.
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
Illinois
36-0904920
(State or Other Jurisdiction of
Incorporation or Organization)
(I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)
901 Frontenac Road, Naperville, Illinois
60563
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)
(Zip Code)
(630) 357-8500
Registrants Telephone Number, Including Area Code
Indicate by
check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to
file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes x No ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its
corporate website, if any, every interactive data file required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (section 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was
required to submit and post such files). Yes x No ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated
filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of large accelerated filer, accelerated filer and smaller reporting company in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange
Act. (Check one):
Large accelerated filer
¨
Accelerated filer
¨
Non-accelerated filer
¨ (Do not check if smaller reporting company)
Smaller reporting company
x
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange
Act). Yes ¨ No x
As of April 30, 2015, there were 966,132 shares of the registrants common stock outstanding.
1. In the opinion of the Company, the accompanying unaudited interim financial statements contain all adjustments necessary to present fairly
the financial position of the Company as of March 31, 2015 (unaudited) and December 31, 2014 (audited) and the results of operations and changes in cash flows for the indicated periods. Certain information and note disclosures normally
included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America have been omitted from these unaudited financial statements in accordance with applicable rules. Please refer to
the financial statements and notes thereto included in the Companys Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014.
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates
and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period.
Actual results could differ from those estimates. The results of operations for the three month period ended March 31, 2015 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the year.
Certain items in 2014 have been reclassified to conform to the presentation in 2015. These changes have no effect on net income or the financial position of
the Company.
2. The Company extends credit on the basis of terms that are customary within our markets to various companies doing business primarily in the
automotive industry. The Company has a concentration of credit risk primarily within the automotive industry and in the Midwestern United States.
3. The Company is, from time to time, involved in litigation, including environmental claims and contract disputes, in the normal course of
business. While it is not possible at this time to establish the ultimate amount of liability with respect to contingent liabilities, including those related to legal proceedings, management is of the opinion that the aggregate amount of any such
liabilities, for which provision has not been made, will not have a material adverse effect on the Companys financial position.
4. The Company has entered into a contract to expand the fastener facility in Madison Heights, Michigan in order to provide additional
capacity and improve workflow through the plant. The base contract amount is $1,502,500 and is expected to be completed before the end of 2015.
5. The Companys effective tax rates were approximately 31.8% and 33.8% for the first quarter of 2015 and 2014, respectively. Rates were
lower than the U.S. federal statutory rate primarily due to the Domestic Production Activities Deduction allowed under Internal Revenue Code Section 199.
The Companys federal income tax returns for the 2011 through 2014 tax years are subject to examination by the Internal Revenue
Service (IRS). While it may be possible that a reduction could occur with respect to the Companys unrecognized tax benefits as an outcome of an IRS examination, management does not anticipate any adjustments that would result in a
material change to the results of operations or financial condition of the Company. No statutes have been extended on any of the Companys federal income tax filings. The statute of limitations on the Companys 2011 through 2014 federal
income tax returns will expire on September 15, 2015 through 2018, respectively.
The Companys state income tax returns for the 2011 through
2014 tax years remain subject to examination by various state authorities with the latest closing period on October 31, 2018. The Company is not currently under examination by any state authority for income tax purposes and no statutes for
state income tax filings have been extended.
7. Segment InformationThe Company operates in two business segments as determined by its products. The fastener segment includes rivets,
cold-formed fasteners and screw machine products. The assembly equipment segment includes automatic rivet setting machines and parts and tools for such machines. Information by segment is as follows:
Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
Revenues for the first quarter of 2015 were $9,283,791 compared to $9,950,424 in the first quarter of 2014, a decline of $666,633, or 6.7%. The
reduction in sales was primarily related to weaker demand from certain automotive customers and lower export sales. While sales were lower, certain manufacturing expenses also declined, resulting in an overall gross margin rate that was only
fractionally lower than in the first quarter of 2014. Net income was $462,473, or $0.48 per share, in the first quarter of this year compared to $568,373, or $0.59 per share, in the first quarter of 2014. In addition to a regular quarterly dividend
of $.18 per share, an extra dividend of $.25 per share was paid in the first quarter based on the positive results achieved in 2014.
Fastener segment revenues were $8,400,497 in the first quarter of 2015, declining $687,238, or 7.6%, from $9,087,735 reported in the first
quarter of 2014. The decline was primarily due to reduced demand from certain automotive customers, including a $269,000 drop in shipments to a customer with a production facility in China. North American vehicle production declined in the first two
months of the year, compared to a year earlier, before rebounding in March. Additionally, even though our export sales account for less than 10% of overall sales, certain foreign markets have exhibited weakness recently. The impact of the lower
sales was lessened due to a $123,000 reduction in tooling expense and a $68,000 reduction in natural gas expense from the elevated levels of 2014, as well as lower expenditures for supplies and maintenance. The net effect of these cost savings and
the lower sales volume resulted in a decrease in fastener segment gross margin of approximately $178,000.
Assembly equipment segment
revenues were $883,294 in the first quarter of 2015 compared to $862,689 in the first quarter of 2014, an increase of $20,605, or 2.4%. The increase in revenue was primarily due to an increase in parts and tool sales as fewer machines were shipped
in the current year quarter compared to last year. The increase in sales during the quarter, while keeping manufacturing costs comparable to the same period last year, resulted in an improvement in segment margins of approximately $10,000 in the
first quarter of 2015. As of March 31, 2015, machine orders trail the level of a year earlier.
Selling and administrative expenses
during the first quarter of 2015 were $1,425,825, an increase of $11,773, or less than 1%, compared to $1,414,052 recorded in the first quarter of 2014. While profit sharing expense declined in the first quarter by $20,000, due to lower
profitability, smaller increases in annual reporting expenses, repairs and maintenance and employee insurance contributed to the overall increase. Compared to net sales, selling and administrative expenses were 15.4% for the current year quarter
compared to 14.2% in the first quarter of 2014.
Other income in the first quarter of 2015 was $10,433, compared to $10,117 in the first
quarter of 2014. Other income consists primarily of interest income on certificates of deposit.
The Companys effective tax rates
were approximately 31.8% and 33.8% for the first quarter of 2015 and 2014, respectively. Rates were lower than the U.S. federal statutory rate primarily due to the Domestic Production Activities Deduction allowed under Internal Revenue Code
Section 199.
Working capital amounted to $15.9 million as of March 31, 2015, a decrease of approximately $.1 million from the
beginning of the current year. The largest component of the net change in the first quarter was accounts receivable, which increased by $.6 million due to greater sales activity during the quarter, compared to the seasonally lower fourth quarter of
2014. Partially offsetting this change was an increase of $.4 million in accounts payable, which relates to the greater level of activity in the quarter, and a reduction in prepaid income taxes of $.2 million since the beginning of the year. The net
result of these changes and other cash flow items was to leave cash, cash equivalents and certificates of deposit relatively unchanged at March 31, 2015 from the beginning of the year at $6.3 million. Management believes that current cash, cash
equivalents and operating cash flow will provide adequate working capital for the next twelve months.
We are pleased to report very
respectable results for the first quarter of 2015, in spite of uneven demand in certain markets. We have adjusted our work schedules in response to reduced customer demand and will continue to emphasize cost controls wherever possible. Conditions in
the automotive market, upon which we rely for the majority of our revenues, remain favorable, even though the current year growth rate is expected to be lower than in recent years. The slowing of the domestic economy experienced in late 2014 and
early 2015 is currently expected to improve in coming quarters. We have seen a firming of fastener segment demand early in the second quarter, however equipment segment demand has been mixed, with increased tools and parts orders being somewhat
offset by lower machine orders. Our financial condition remains sound, allowing us to make significant investments in our operations in recent years in an
effort to remain competitive and pursue opportunities to profitably grow our revenues and improve our bottom line. We will continue to make adjustments to our activities which we feel are
necessary based on conditions in our markets, while maintaining an emphasis on quality and reliability of service our customers demand.
This
discussion contains certain forward-looking statements which are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events to differ materially from those discussed herein. Factors which may cause such differences in
events include, those disclosed under Risk Factors in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and in the other filings we make with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. These factors, include among other things: conditions in the
domestic automotive industry, upon which we rely for sales revenue, the intense competition in our markets, the concentration of our sales to two major customers, risks related to export sales, the price and availability of raw materials, labor
relations issues, losses related to product liability, warranty and recall claims, costs relating to environmental laws and regulations, the loss of the services of our key employees and difficulties in achieving cost savings. Many of these factors
are beyond our ability to control or predict. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publish revised forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after
the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
(a) Disclosure Controls and
Procedures. The Companys management, with the participation of the Companys Chief Executive Officer and President, Chief Operating Officer and Treasurer (the Companys principal financial officer), has evaluated the effectiveness of
the Companys disclosure controls and procedures (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act)) as of the end of the period covered by this report.
Based on such evaluation, the Companys Chief Executive Officer and President, Chief Operating Officer and Treasurer have concluded that, as of the end of such period, the Companys disclosure controls and procedures are effective in
recording, processing, summarizing and reporting, on a timely basis, information required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act.
(b) Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. There have not been any changes in the Companys internal control over financial reporting
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A convicted murderer who knocked out a student’s teeth in McDonald’s admitted trying to sabotage his trial.
Paul Branchflower was jailed for life with a minimum of 13 years behind bars after running over Glynn Ellis, 46, in Manchester in 2002.
He convinced a parole board he was no longer a risk and was let out on day release, only to attack Ross Stephenson in Liverpool in 2014.
Branchflower stood trial over the incident, but it collapsed after a woman called Christina Gregson contacted Mr Stephenson on Facebook.
She suggested a police investigation into the assault at the Lord Street... read more
Related news
A care worker at a North Wales psychiatric unit has admitted trying to get a woman with a mental disorder to engage in sexual activity.
Defendant Jason Paul Williams, 44, will be sentenced after his trial for a series of other offences involving the...
A convicted murderer who knocked a student’s teeth out at Liverpool’s city centre McDonald’s while out on day release was sent back to prison.
Paul Branchflower, 32, was jailed for life with a minimum of 13 years behind bars after running over Glynn...
Two council workers have been given bravery awards for tackling a thug who attacked a student. Drain cleaners Ian McPherson, 49, and Paul Heaton, 43, were working in Upper Brook Street in the city centre when they saw a man walk up to a student and...
Police have warned they can’t deploy ‘sufficient numbers’ of officers to always tackle rowdy student parties in Fallowfield.
University bosses have opposed a request by residents to make students pay a levy to fund £400,000-a-year night patrols in the...
Comedian Alan Carr’s manager was seriously assaulted outside a late-night McDonald’s restaurant after trying to stop fans taking photos of the star.
Elliott Andrews was attacked by Jaleel Burman on Lord Street in the city centre after getting wound up...
A thug attacked a volunteer trying to help vulnerable people in the Gay Village.
Lee Macintosh was part of the Lesbian and Gay Foundation’s ‘Village Angel’ scheme, who wear pink tabards and try and stop people from falling victim to crime on nights...
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May 28, 2011
Divine Appointments: How I Met Cindy Sumner's Mother
Today I took my son and I to the grocery store (Walmart) and saw these delicious strawberries for $1.25 a box. Well, when I picked them up and smelled them, they had no sweet scent. Yes, I realize I look like an idiot sniffing a box of berries, but if they smell like nothing, then logic dictates they don't taste like anything. Atleast that is my logic.
So I decided against going to Monette's Market to get some real berries, but halfway down the street I realized I forgot to buy some stuff for lunch today and figured I could get some lunch meat from the market. There deli is much more delicious and cheaper. Wow. Big surprise. I step in the store, get my cart for Noah, who decides to try and nick a cherry. I told him no and he put it back. After I smelled my berries I went to the deli, got my number and waited.
My son does his usual magic, smiles and looks gosh darn cute. So this lady starts talking to me about him, asking what age he is. I guess her child was older, because she said "I miss that." I then told her that I miss him being a little newborn that didn't run away from me. Her reply just about floored me.
"My kid was murdered." It was noisy and I didn't quite hear it, but when she repeated the word, I got it quite clear. Well, I could have not said anything or given her a generic "I am sorry." But I am not sorry, I am in the same boat. It wasn't my child, it was my best friend.
So I opened up despite how much it sucks to go back to that memory. People who have suffered through the murder of a loved one don't always have the luxury of someone understanding their pain. But I did and I told her "I know what your going through." Then I told her my story and how the guy who murdered Jan got to trial SIX years later.
She told me that her daughter was found under six feet of water in an abandoned warehouse in Toledo (Elm Street).
It's so random to just tell someone about that, but I am glad she did, because there aren't many people who get the suffering of someone who has had a loved one murdered. I just hope that I helped her and wish I could have stayed in contact, but God will take care of her.
Nobody should have to lay their loved one to rest in a coffin and be able to see their bruises, and swollen body! NOBODY. I did. I will never forget what Jan looked like.
R.I.P. Cindy Sumner
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Evaluation of maternal serum levels of dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate and its association with successful labour outcome among parturients undergoing spontaneous labour at term.
This study evaluated maternal serum levels of dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS) in spontaneous labour and its association with successful labour at term. A cross-sectional observational study was carried out on 140 parturients. Their blood samples were collected in active labour; allowed to clot, centrifuged, separated and stored at -20 °C before analysis for DHEAS was done using the ELISA method. Labour was termed successful when vaginal delivery was achieved. Serum DHEAS levels were higher among parturients with successful labour compared to women with unsuccessful outcome (p = 0.001). DHEAS level was also higher among parturients who did not require oxytocin augmentation compared with those who required it (p = .001). The odds ratio and incidence of successful labour increased significantly as DHEAS level increased above a critical value of 1.5 μg/ml (p = .001). The association between serum DHEAS level and successful labour remained significant after adjusting for other variables (p = .002).
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“Flexicurity is just fancy packaging,” said Amandine Crespy, a political scientist at the Institute for European Studies at the Free University of Brussels. “So far, it’s all flexibility and no security.
“Mr. Macron is handing out tax cuts to the richest 10 percent,” she continued. “They will do the labor reforms, and then they will tell you that there is no money for anything else.”
That France needs change is a given. Its unemployment rate is 9.5 percent, and has risen even as the picture has improved in countries worst hit by the European crisis like Spain, Italy and Portugal. Nearly one in four young people is unemployed.
But how to generate more jobs provokes fierce argument.
Unions pin blame for high unemployment on weak demand for goods and services. Pay workers more, they say, and spending will be unleashed through the French economy, generating jobs.
The unions are often caricatured as intransigent obstacles to progress, and they have a way of amplifying that image. Ask the CGT — a major union that has struck the most combative stance against the changes — for its plan to fix France. Its leaders call for cutting the workweek from the current 35 hours to a mere 32. Then, they say, more people will be needed.
To the government, this type of thinking — prime material for French lampooning — exemplifies how the country has failed to adapt. Renault, the French automaker, now manufactures cars in Romania, where wages are a fraction of those in France. Restricting work invites an exodus of jobs to lower-wage countries.
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I don't think I've ever had a 4 minute wait ... or a 3 minute wait ... or even a 2 minute wait, although I suppose that's possible.
Having to wait for the light to change has never bothered me, and I've never called the city to complain.
Waiting is life in the modern world. We all spend much of our lives waiting. A wait of a couple minutes at the lights is nothing compared to many of the other things I've had to wait for.
And if that's your biggest worry in life ... you've got it really, really good. Take a moment while you wait at the next set of lights to thank the Powers That Be that your life is so wonderful.
I think we all like to complain about minor annoyances some time. Waiting 4 minutes for a light during a commute to work would certainly be annoying. I'm not a morning person, and I'm always cutting it close on my way to work. Plus, if it's a warm day, I have to severely discipline myself not to rush and build up a sweat, as that ends up delaying me more since I then have to cool off before I can start work.
I suppose a 4 minute delay could have three outcomes. It could make me late, it could make me rush, or it could give me a chance to cool off. However, often you're stuck waiting in hot sunlight, so the cooing off doesn't happen.
chewybrian
02-11-14 04:39 PM
I'd gladly wait the 4 minutes if the car traffic would actually give me my right of way when it's my turn. The no-look right turn really gets my blood boiling.
no1mad
02-11-14 05:02 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roody
(Post 16486333)
I think a lot of signal timing patterns require traffic to clear on both streets before turning on the walk signal. That means pedestrians have to wait twice as long as people in cars. That does seem unfair.
If the activating button is blocked off by snow, the pedestrians will only have to wait until the snow melts before crossing the street. But if the pedestrian is blind and can't find the button, the waiting time might approach infinity. :eek:
There is technology that addresses this, but it appears to be implemented at a glacial pace. There are two types I've encountered in Tulsa*.
-The walk signals are linked to the traffic lights, so there is no button required to activate the signal. The signals incorporate audible tones that correspond with either red or green lights. The tones also help locate the crosswalks.
-The other kind I've noticed is probably viewed as an improved/next generation of the first. This system does use push buttons to activate the crosswalk. Each button is equipped with a speaker that emits a chirping tone (echo-location). Once the desired button is pressed, then the tones are replaced by vocal commands. It repeats "wait" every few seconds until the light changes and then the command is "walk". It reverts back to "wait" as the visual countdown starts to flash. Then it goes back to the chirps until someone else comes along and starts the whole process over again.
*I use Tulsa as my example because I've lived in/near my entire life.
cooker
02-11-14 06:06 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by no1mad
(Post 16487830)
There is technology that addresses this, but it appears to be implemented at a glacial pace. There are two types I've encountered in Tulsa*.
-The walk signals are linked to the traffic lights, so there is no button required to activate the signal. The signals incorporate audible tones that correspond with either red or green lights. The tones also help locate the crosswalks.
-The other kind I've noticed is probably viewed as an improved/next generation of the first. This system does use push buttons to activate the crosswalk. Each button is equipped with a speaker that emits a chirping tone (echo-location). Once the desired button is pressed, then the tones are replaced by vocal commands. It repeats "wait" every few seconds until the light changes and then the command is "walk". It reverts back to "wait" as the visual countdown starts to flash. Then it goes back to the chirps until someone else comes along and starts the whole process over again.
*I use Tulsa as my example because I've lived in/near my entire life.
You're talking about audible crossing signal for visually impaired pedestrians. Roody was talking about ordinary pedestrian activated controls, and how they won't be triggered, if the pedestrian can't find the button, for example if they are blind, or the button is buried in a snowbank.
no1mad
02-11-14 06:47 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by cooker
(Post 16488062)
You're talking about audible crossing signal for visually impaired pedestrians. Roody was talking about ordinary pedestrian activated controls, and how they won't be triggered, if the pedestrian can't find the button, for example if they are blind, or the button is buried in a snowbank.
I realize that. I was merely stating that the ordinary signals can be/have been replaced by the audible ones- I kinda have a vested interest in the technology (from an end user perspective).
If the signal button is blocked by snow... I'm thinking maybe use a trekking pole? Can be used to probe for surface irregularities while walking and then extend your reach to access the button. If the button is covered by the snow, then I'd be real tempted to jaywalk mid-block where there are only 2 directions of traffic to check instead of 4.
wahoonc
02-11-14 08:16 PM
I will have to see if I can find the website on pedestrian infrastructure fails. I saw one just outside of Harrisburg, PA the other night. They have a pole with the push buttons mounted on them, crosswalks leading to the curb cut apron, the rough pad for tactile, and the whole thing was encased in a 3 sided concrete retaining wall. No sidewalks on that corner, but there were side walks on the other 3 corners... go figure.
Aaron :)
ro-monster
02-11-14 10:05 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jared.
(Post 16486582)
Um, hitting the button for a walk signal doesn't change the timing of the light, in a lot of cases it simply activates the crosswalk signal for pedestrians. It would be a logistical nightmare for a lot of medium/large cities if the crosswalk signal changed the timing of the lights.
There are a number of intersections in my city (population about 100,000, and part of a large metropolitan area) where the walk signal most certainly does change the timing of the light cycle. For example, there's an intersection on my commute where, in the evenings, the green light is so short that it's impossible for me to get to the other side on my bike before it turns red again. But if there happens to be a pedestrian who pushes the button, the green light stays on long enough for me to cross the intersection easily, and remains on for some time afterward.
Roody
02-12-14 03:08 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by ro-monster
(Post 16488766)
There are a number of intersections in my city (population about 100,000, and part of a large metropolitan area) where the walk signal most certainly does change the timing of the light cycle. For example, there's an intersection on my commute where, in the evenings, the green light is so short that it's impossible for me to get to the other side on my bike before it turns red again. But if there happens to be a pedestrian who pushes the button, the green light stays on long enough for me to cross the intersection easily, and remains on for some time afterward.
There might be a coil buried under the pavement to actuate the signal for bikes and cars, as the button actuates it for pedestrians. Your job is to figure out where the coil is and how to actuate it with your low mass bicycle.
wahoonc
02-12-14 03:19 PM
Found a couple... it was on James Kunstler's website, though that isn't the only place I have seen them. The second one is almost exactly like the one I saw in Harrisburg, PA except the one in H'burg had walk lights and buttons.
This is what I normally do both as a pedestrian and a cyclist. This particular intersection, which is a daily event if I ever need to leave the house, makes crossing against the light impossible because there is no clear line of sight. The T intersection has a sudden hill that obscures oncoming traffic...where cars 45-60 MPH appear from nowhere...and so out of self preservation one is forced to wait.
Dahon.Steve
02-12-14 09:33 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by wahoonc
(Post 16490732)
Along the same lines are a couple of articles that were on the BBC Magazine.
In the UK, the buttons that trigger the walk signals only function at night. I tihink that is the case in many cities in the U.S. It's understood that during the day, the pedestrian will simply wait until there's a break in traffic since the motorist can see them. Therefore, the traffic button does not need to function. However, at night since the pedestrian is invisible, the button needs to work.
Dave Cutter
02-12-14 09:55 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Solid_Spoke
(Post 16484835)
...... Every time I press the signal I get angry because of the long wait. Do you?
No. I had some anger issues many years ago... but I deal with those. Do you really think the wait time is the root of your anger?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Solid_Spoke
(Post 16484835)
Would it do any good to organize hundreds of people to call and demand they change the frequency?
I am sure it would. City planners are servants of the people. They want what the people want. However.... if you think 4 minutes for light to change is aggravating... just wait till you spend YEARS trying to reduce waiting time.
Maybe.... finding a more rural environment to live in might be a better solution. Although I live in a city now... I grew up in a small town. I sometimes think about how small towns can be more comforting and convenient.
kgoings
02-12-14 10:20 PM
Wow step down from the cross.
I am sure they are making the wait time that long to annoy you specifically. I am sure it doesn't have anything to do with making sure ALL traffic, vehicular and pedestrian from getting jammed up.
Roody
02-13-14 01:17 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dahon.Steve
(Post 16491626)
Interesting.
In the UK, the buttons that trigger the walk signals only function at night. I tihink that is the case in many cities in the U.S. It's understood that during the day, the pedestrian will simply wait until there's a break in traffic since the motorist can see them. Therefore, the traffic button does not need to function. However, at night since the pedestrian is invisible, the button needs to work.
I think this is a misunderstanding, or at least poorly explained. The walk button always works, but it works differently at different times of day. In FREE mode, the button will actuate the signal immediately. In COORD mode, the button will delay actuation until the proper point in the cycle is reached. This could be two minutes after the button is pushed.
From Wikipedia:
"There are three general ways for a traffic signal to operate, FREE, COORD, and FLASH operation. In FREE operation, the signal is running based on its own demand and timing parameters based on the information provided by its detectors. It is not operating under any background cycle length. In COORD operation, short for coordination, the signal is running a background cycle length. Non-major street movements are usually still actuated, and the controller will rest on the major street until the background cycle length is fulfilled. The final mode is FLASH operation in which all vehicle signal heads continuously display a flashing red, or the main street shows flashing yellow while others show flashing red. Pedestrian heads are dark.
"When the volume of vehicles at an intersection no longer warrants the signal to be active, the signal can switch to FLASH mode. When volume picks up again the signal switches back into either FREE or COORD operation. For example, the daily operation of a signal may involve it being in FLASH mode early in the morning, COORD during the day, FREE in the evening, and back to FLASH late at night."
There might be a coil buried under the pavement to actuate the signal for bikes and cars, as the button actuates it for pedestrians. Your job is to figure out where the coil is and how to actuate it with your low mass bicycle.
This particular intersection seems to be timed rather than activated by a sensor. I never have a problem getting the light to turn green; it just doesn't stay green for very long.
We do have a number of intersections with special bicycle loops for the signals. They're smaller than the ones for cars, and positioned toward the right side of the road or in the bike lane. And they are marked with a little stencil of a bike on the pavement. They're very cute.
Roody
02-13-14 01:38 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by kgoings
(Post 16491726)
Wow step down from the cross.
I am sure they are making the wait time that long to annoy you specifically. I am sure it doesn't have anything to do with making sure ALL traffic, vehicular and pedestrian from getting jammed up.
Four minutes does seem like a very long time to wait for a mechanical response. If you walked to work, and had four or five long waits along the route, this is a significant waste of time. (A daily delay of eight minutes on each one-way commute adds up to 66 hours a year!)
I assume your last sentence is sarcasm. Ha ha. Nobody was saying that the delays are a personal insult. But the simple truth is that people don't like to wait more than a couple minutes. By their own standards, traffic engineers are supposed to keep delays to less than two minutes. Longer delays should be fixed because they cause people (drivers, cyclists or pedestrians) to give up and run the light.
If I had a long delay on a frequently traveled route, I would time it several days with a good stopwatch. If the average wait time was more than two minutes, I would send an e-mail to the traffic engineer and ask them to fix it.
Roody
02-13-14 01:44 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by ro-monster
(Post 16491968)
This particular intersection seems to be timed rather than activated by a sensor. I never have a problem getting the light to turn green; it just doesn't stay green for very long.
We do have a number of intersections with special bicycle loops for the signals. They're smaller than the ones for cars, and positioned toward the right side of the road or in the bike lane. And they are marked with a little stencil of a bike on the pavement. They're very cute.
This sounds like an unplanned malfunction. I would let the traffic engineers know what is happening. If they have good professional standards, they will definitely want to fix this dangerous situation.
wahoonc
02-13-14 05:50 AM
I quite often time traffic lights and walk signal crossing times... Longest I have ever timed is just over 4 minutes at peak. It is in Fayetteville, NC, but it is a complicated 5 way intersection, FWIW no walk signals there either. I was working in Lancaster, PA and timed what seemed to be an excessively long wait for a walk signal. It ran 2.5 minutes between cycles, interested to note that the walk signals only function when you push the button, otherwise they will not cycle, but the traffic lights do cycle. I could see this intersection from my motel room so was able to observe it for a fair bit of time. The intersection appears to be a combination of timed and demand. It is at the top of a pretty decent grade, on side serves the motel and a couple of restaurants, the other is a decent sized shopping center. The main road is US 30 with massive amounts of truck and car traffic.
Here is a link the sweeping right turns are a problem, especially the one in the lower left corner of the picture, motorists come cruising up the hill at 45-50 mph and the sight distances are limited.
Aaron:)
B. Carfree
02-13-14 10:51 PM
Intersections receive grades based on the peak-hour wait times of motorists; pedestrians do not count. If motorists wait more than 85 seconds, then the intersection gets a grade of F. This prioritization of motorists over pedestrians is simply another form of subsidizing car use (assuming time=$, or some such thing). Not surprisingly, when an activity is subsidized, it can easily come to dominate the market. To add insult to injury, supporters of fossil-foolish transportation then rationalize such special treatment as a reasonable accommodation of the dominant road user.
This total disregard of pedestrians can also be seen in the requirements for adding a traffic signal to an intersection. Until there are a certain number of motor vehicles entering the intersection from both directions, traffic engineering guidelines call for no signal. It doesn't matter if there are more pedestrians than cars at peak hours, only the cars count.
loky1179
02-14-14 09:34 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Solid_Spoke
(Post 16484835)
Suburbia is the worst. What kind of world do we live in where a pedestrian has to wait two, three, four minutes after pressing the walk signal before they can cross? Walking is the purest form of movement and should not be hindred because traffic signals prioritize automobiles. Every time I press the signal I get angry because of the long wait. Do you? Have you ever called the city and complained? Would it do any good to organize hundreds of people to call and demand they change the frequency? No pedestrian or cyclist should have to wait longer than 45 seconds after pressing the walk button.
This gets my blood boiling as well! My worst intersection is the last one on my commute home. I have to cross a seven lane suburban STROAD . The street I'm on is a two laner. Pushing the walk buttton, (more appropriately called "beg" buttons http://www.streets.mn/2012/02/13/a-t...f-beg-buttons/) does not make the light change any faster.
This light also takes about four minutes. Note this is at 6:30 PM, well after rush hour has died down. Typically, I see no cars coming in either direction, but you don't dare jump the light, because traffic visibility is blocked by a hill about a 1/4 mile away, and traffic typically is going near 60mph (on a 45mph road of course).
This light goes through a full cycle, regardless of traffic. This is what really pushes me over the edge - on the final part of the cycle, stroad traffic crossing from the left gets a "left turn green arrow" - even if there are no cars waiting in the left turn lane. Even that I could handle . . . but what pushes me over the edge is that on this last phase, left turn arrow, the stroad pedestrian crossing still gets a walk signal! Which means that the left turn arrow is not just a quick cycle, it lasts about 45 seconds.
Then, when I finally get the green to cross the seven lane stroad - I get no walk signal (unless I've pushed the beg button). In fact, the green light for the two laner is shorter than than the left turn signal for the stroad was.
Did I mention that this signal is one block from my son's elementary school? Kids that live two blocks from the school, who have to cross this STROAD, have to take the bus. It is simply recognized by everyone that the infrastructure we have in place is inherently dangerous for pedestrians.
loky1179
02-14-14 09:55 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by chewybrian
(Post 16487766)
I'd gladly wait the 4 minutes if the car traffic would actually give me my right of way when it's my turn. The no-look right turn really gets my blood boiling.
This is what I respond with whenever someone complains to me about bikers "blowing" through stoplights. I see drivers "blow" through stoplights multiple times on virtually every ride I do. Somehow, bikers crossing against a red light at 10 MPH is "blowing" a light, but a driver making a right turn on red after slowing to 10mph is no big deal.
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Boxer gets boxed on the nose by a seal (PHOTOS)
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A white boxer dog had a one-in-a-million encounter, but lost his ball in the process. The dog got quite a surprise when he went into the sea to get his ball back. The dog was a few feet from shore on the coast of Scotland when a curious baby seal popped up to say 'hello'.
Lynne Morris was walking along the beach with her husband in Fife, Scotland last April, when she watched as the dog's owner played fetch with the boxer. Said Morris, "She threw the ball into the water and without hesitation the dog ran in. The ball landed near a seal and the dog was fascinated by the creature. Instead of reaching for his ball he began circling the seal. They were incredibly docile and it was wonderful to watch."
"I was shocked by how calm the dog was, he was quite big and if I'd seen him walking along the road I would've crossed to the other side of the street," said Morris. The dog was equally curious of the seal and went in for a sniff. That's when the seal pup slapped him on the nose with a flipper.
"The dog went right up to the pup for a sniff and he cheekily slapped him on the face with its flipper. He was stunned and didn't fancy going near his ball so just headed back to his owner," said Lynne of what the dog did after the slap.
Lynne suspects that perhaps the seal was one recently released back into the wild by an animal sanctuary nearby.
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Q:
Are freshwater fish considered seafood?
Can freshwater fish, crayfish, etc. still be referred to as seafood or is there a special term?
A:
In common usage seafood is any "edible aquatic life" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seafood
Also a lot of seafood is grown in "farms" so we may have to invent a new term for sea/river/tank foods!
A:
Yes. This article on Britannica online explains.
ARTICLE from the Encyclopædia Britannica
seafood
edible aquatic animals, excluding mammals, but including both freshwater and ocean creatures.
Seafood comprises all bony fishes and the more primitive sharks, skates, rays, sawfish, sturgeons, and lampreys; crustaceans such as lobsters, crabs, shrimps, prawns, and crayfish ; mollusks, including clams, oysters, cockles, mussels, periwinkles, whelks, snails, abalones, scallops, and limpets; the cephalopod mollusks—squids, octopuses, and cuttlefish; edible jellyfish; sea turtles; frogs; and two echinoderms—sea urchins and sea cucumbers.
[Emphasis mine.]
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Q:
How to prevent a user from leaving comment to another user
Suppose I have a site where users can leave each other comments.
we have user A, user B and user C.
also, support user B has blocked user C.
user A leaves user B a comment, code is as follows:
$query = "insert into comments (author_id, profile_id, comment, date_posted) values(?, ?, ?, now())";
That is the query that that does the job.
now user C goes to user B's page to leave a comment, but user B has blocked him from leaving comments.
Can't user C just leave a comment for another user, and just craft the request so he changes profile_id of to the user that has him blocked?
How can i prevent this?
A:
I think you need to make another query and a conditional with that result. Create a query to get user B's blacklist $blacklist then check if (!in_array('user C', $blacklist)) { execute insert query }
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176 F.3d 1322
61 Soc.Sec.Rep.Ser. 206, Unempl.Ins.Rep. (CCH) P 16196BMarvin KAY, Plaintiff-Appellant,v.Kenneth S. APFEL, Commissioner of Social Security, Defendant-Appellee.
No. 98-9233Non-Argument Calendar.
United States Court of Appeals,Eleventh Circuit.
May 25, 1999.
Dale L. Buchanan, Chattanooga, TN, for Plaintiff-Appellant.
Douglas Cohen, David Wright, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Baltimore, MD, for Defendant-Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
Before BIRCH, CARNES and BARKETT, Circuit Judges.
CARNES, Circuit Judge:
Dale Buchanan, an attorney, represented plaintiff Marvin Kay on his claim for Social Security benefits. As a result of Buchanan's efforts, Kay was awarded over $52,000 in past-due benefits. Buchanan moved for attorney's fees, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 406(b). The district court, applying the "lodestar" method, awarded Buchanan $3,990.13 in attorney's fees. On appeal, we join the majority of circuits in holding that reasonable attorney's fees under § 406(b) should be calculated using the "lodestar" approach, not the "contingent fee" approach. We conclude that the district court's award was not an abuse of discretion.1
I. BACKGROUND
Buchanan, an attorney with considerable experience in government and private practice dealing with Social Security claims, began representing Kay on his claim in 1992, when he appeared before an Administrative Law Judge seeking disability benefits for Kay, who had a claimed disability onset date of March 11, 1991. Kay's claim and an administrative appeal were unsuccessful. Buchanan then brought suit on behalf of Kay in the district court, which remanded Kay's claim to the Commissioner for further proceedings and awarded Buchanan attorney's fees pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d).
1
In February 1995, the Administrative Law Judge held an additional hearing and found that Kay was eligible for benefits, with a disability onset date of February 1994. Buchanan appealed the finding with respect to the disability onset date. The Appeals Council denied review, and Buchanan again filed suit in the district court. The district court again ordered the case remanded to the Commissioner, and on August 30, 1996, the Administrative Law Judge concluded that Kay's disability onset date was in March 1991. Kay was awarded $52,305.00 in past-due benefits, of which 25 percent, or $13,076.25, were set aside pending determination of Buchanan's entitlement to attorney's fees.
2
Buchanan had agreed to represent Kay on a contingency basis. Kay's contract with Buchanan states:
3
I agree to pay my attorney an amount equivalent to twenty-five percent (25%) of the total amount of the past due benefits accrued from the time [of] disability or the first entitlement started through the time my benefits are received or $1500.00, whichever is greater. I understand that this fee includes 25% of ALL my Social Security benefits including those paid on my earnings record or on any account for my dependents, and those paid in the form of Supplemental Security Income. I understand that the minimum fee, should I win will be $1500.00.... I understand that Dale L. Buchanan and Associates is not going to charge me a fee in advance and that they will not charge me any fee at all except the amount for expenses unless I win.
4
Buchanan moved for attorney's fees under section 206(b) of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 406(b). He requested $8,500.00 for 26.6 hours of work performed in connection with his representation of Kay before the district court. That figure is about one-third smaller than the 25 percent contingency fee of $13,076.25 which he might have claimed. But Buchanan's fee request still relied on his contingency agreement with Kay, and Buchanan argued that the claimed fee of $8,500.00 must be reasonable because it was substantially less than the amount he could have requested. The Commissioner objected to the requested amount, arguing that Buchanan should be compensated for 24.1 hours of court-related work at an hourly rate of $150.00, for a total of $3,615.00.
5
Employing the lodestar method, the magistrate judge recommended that Buchanan receive $3,990.00, representing 26.6 hours of work at $150.00 per hour. While noting that "the prevailing market rate for the Rome Division in the Northern District of Georgia .... has never exceeded $95.00 per hour," the magistrate judge increased the rate to reflect the contingent nature of Buchanan's representation, in light of which he might have recovered no fees at all.
6
The district court agreed that the proper method of calculating Buchanan's fees was the lodestar method, not the contingent fee approach, but applied an hourly rate of $95.00 per hour, reasoning that "$95.00 is the amount the Court customarily awards to attorneys of comparable skills, experience, and reputation for similar services." Multiplying this figure by 26.6 hours, the district court arrived at a lodestar amount of $2,527.00. It concluded that the lodestar amount should be multiplied by an adjustment figure of 1.579, especially since Buchanan had been acting on a contingency basis. Applying that adjustment, the court awarded Buchanan $3,990.13 in attorney's fees. Buchanan filed this appeal, though Kay, as the claimant, is the named appellant.
II. STANDARD OF REVIEW
7
We review questions of statutory interpretation de novo. See, e.g., United States v. Alborola-Rodriguez, 153 F.3d 1269, 1271 (11th Cir.1998). We review awards of attorney's fees for abuse of discretion. See American Civil Liberties Union v. Barnes, 168 F.3d 423, 427 (11th Cir.1999). We will find that the district court abused its discretion if it has not applied the proper standard, or has failed to follow proper procedures in making its determination, or has based its award on findings of fact that are clearly erroneous. Id.
III. ANALYSIS
8
A. THE LODESTAR METHOD IS TO BE APPLIED IN DETERMINING ATTORNEY'S FEES UNDER 42 U.S.C. § 406(b)
9
As noted above, Buchanan agreed to take Kay's case on a contingent fee basis. In the event Kay's claim succeeded, he would owe Buchanan a minimum of $1,500.00 and a maximum of 25 percent of the past-due benefits awarded. If he lost, he would owe Buchanan only his expenses. Buchanan argues that the district court erred by applying the lodestar method to determine his reasonable fees for his work in this case. He contends that the district court should have employed the contingency fee method and treated his requested fee as presumptively reasonable.
10
The Social Security Act provides for the recovery of attorney's fees in the following terms:
11
Whenever a court renders a judgment favorable to a claimant under this subchapter who was represented before the court by an attorney, the court may determine and allow as part of its judgment a reasonable fee for such representation, not in excess of 25 percent of the total of the past-due benefits to which the claimant is entitled by reason of such judgment, ...
12
42 U.S.C. § 406(b)(1)(A). Beyond this capacious language, however, the Act offers no further guidance on what amounts to a "reasonable fee" for successful Social Security claims.
13
The circuits have split over the proper method for calculating attorney's fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b). At least five circuits, which is a majority of those that have addressed the issue, have adopted the "lodestar" method.2 Under that method, the court arrives at a lodestar figure "by multiplying the number of hours reasonably expended by a reasonable hourly rate. The district court may then adjust the resulting 'lodestar' depending upon a variety of factors...." Andrews v. United States, 122 F.3d 1367, 1375 (11th Cir.1997) (internal citations omitted) (attorney's fees claimed under Equal Access to Justice Act) (citing Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 433, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 1939, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983)).
14
Three circuits, however, have adopted the "contingent fee" method.3 Under that method, where a Social Security benefit claimant has signed a contingency fee agreement for an amount falling within the statutory cap of 25 percent of the claimant's past-due benefits, the court will defer to the contract amount of fees unless it is unreasonable. See, e.g., Wells v. Sullivan, 907 F.2d 367, 370 (2d Cir.1990). Although each court taking this approach uses slightly different language, all essentially erect a rebuttable presumption that a contingency fee arrangement of 25 percent or less is a reasonable fee, absent evidence suggesting otherwise. See, e.g., id. at 371 ("[T]he district court's determination of a reasonable fee under § 406(b) must begin with the [contingency fee] agreement, and the district court may reduce the amount called for by the contingency agreement only when it finds the amount to be unreasonable."); McGuire v. Sullivan, 873 F.2d 974, 981 (7th Cir.1989) (the court "should defer to the parties' intentions where reasonable.... [T]he fee agreement entered into by the parties should be the starting place for a court's review but that amount may be reduced if appropriate."); Rodriquez v. Bowen, 865 F.2d 739, 746 (6th Cir.1989) (en banc) ("[I]f the agreement states that the attorney will be paid twenty-five percent of the benefits awarded, it should be given the weight ordinarily accorded a rebuttable presumption."). The amount awarded pursuant to a contingency fee agreement may be reduced where factors such as ineffective counsel or a potential windfall to the claimant's attorney are present. See, e.g., Rodriquez, 865 F.2d at 746.
15
Until now, we have not taken a position on the matter.4 Upon examination, we conclude that the majority approach is the right one. Accordingly, we hold that the lodestar method applies to the determination of attorney's fees in Social Security cases under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), even where counsel and the claimant contractually agreed to a contingency fee arrangement. As we discuss below, however, the existence of a contingency agreement may be one factor that is properly considered in determining whether to increase the lodestar figure.
16
Our conclusion that the lodestar method is the appropriate one is compelled by a number of factors. We begin, as we must, with the statutory text itself. See Lyes v. City of Riviera Beach, Florida, 166 F.3d 1332, 1337 (11th Cir.1999) (en banc) (quoting United States v. Steele, 147 F.3d 1316, 1318 (11th Cir.1998) (en banc)). Although, as we have mentioned, § 406(b) provides little guidance, it does provide some guidance. It says we may determine and award "a reasonable fee" for an attorney's services, and it caps that fee at 25 percent of a claimant's past-due benefits. This language indicates courts have an affirmative duty to ensure that a Social Security claimant's attorney receives only a "reasonable" fee, regardless of the contractual arrangements the claimant and his attorney may have reached. See Coup v. Heckler, 834 F.2d 313, 324 (3d Cir.1987) (noting that § 406(b) is "a statutory interference with the attorney client contractual relationship which would otherwise be determined by the marketplace for legal services."). So the statutory language itself, broad though it may be, slightly favors an approach such as the lodestar method over one which assigns any presumptive reasonableness to the parties' fee agreement.
17
As the text of the statute makes clear, our duty under § 406(b) to scrutinize a fee claim for reasonableness extends to all fee claims up to and including the 25 percent maximum. It thus makes little sense to argue, as Buchanan does, that any award under the maximum amount is presumptively reasonable. The statutory maximum is an absolute cap, see Craig v. Secretary, Dept. of Health and Human Servs., 864 F.2d 324, 327 (4th Cir.1989), not a "benchmark" by which we assess the reasonableness of a fee. See Rodriquez, 865 F.2d at 748 (Wellford, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part).
18
Our reading of the statutory language of § 406(b) is also informed by the interpretation given a similar reasonableness requirement in another class of attorney's fees provisions--the so-called "fee-shifting" provisions. See, e.g., 42 U.S.C. § 1988 (allowing courts to award the prevailing party in civil rights cases "a reasonable attorney's fee"). Courts interpreting those provisions have concluded that the lodestar method is better suited to the courts' independent determination of what constitutes a "reasonable" fee, and should be applied even where the prevailing party signed a contingency fee contract. See, e.g., Blanchard v. Bergeron, 489 U.S. 87, 91-96, 109 S.Ct. 939, 943-46, 103 L.Ed.2d 67 (1989). Although those provisions are not identical to § 406(b), the appearance of the same term of art--"reasonable"--in a similar context makes it appropriate to apply the same approach when determining what constitutes a reasonable fee here. See, e.g., Morales v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 504 U.S. 374, 384, 112 S.Ct. 2031, 2037, 119 L.Ed.2d 157 (1992) (applying same interpretation to identical words in similar statutes); see also Frazier v. Sullivan, 768 F.Supp. 1511, 1515 n. 13 (M.D.Ala.1991).
19
Our preference for the lodestar method also reflects the fact that § 406(b) is designed to protect a particularly vulnerable class of claimants. Many claimants in Social Security benefits cases are minors, or incompetent to manage their affairs, or disadvantaged by lack of education or by physical or mental impairments. See, e.g., Cotter v. Bowen, 879 F.2d 359, 360 (8th Cir.1989) ("Section 406 is a parens patriae limit on the amount of fees an attorney may receive from a disability claimant, usually an individual of limited resources, who suffers the additional handicap of a severe physical or mental disability."); Rodriquez, 865 F.2d at 748 (Wellford, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part); Krig v. Sullivan, 143 F.R.D. 270, 276 (N.D.Fla.1992); Frazier, 768 F.Supp. at 1516. Congress's evident concern with the protection of this special class of claimants is reflected in its decision to interfere with the "attorney client contractual relationship." Coup, 834 F.2d at 324. The "relative poverty and ill health of most social security claimants," Krig, 143 F.R.D. at 276, reduces the likelihood that claimants will negotiate fee agreements with "a complete understanding of the nature of the arrangements or their ability to negotiate the terms of such contracts." Frazier, 768 F.Supp. at 1516.
20
In addition, unlike attorney's fees awarded pursuant to fee-shifting statutes, the fee under § 406(b) is paid from the claimant's disability award itself. That fee is drawn from what is sometimes "an already-inadequate stipend for the support and maintenance of the claimant and his dependents." Allen v. Shalala, 48 F.3d 456, 459 (9th Cir.1995) (quotation and citation omitted). The fact that we are required to scrutinize the reasonableness of an attorney's fee drawn from an already limited fund further militates against treating contingency arrangements in § 406(b) claims as presumptively reasonable, and points in favor of the lodestar method.
21
Although we adopt the lodestar method in determining a "reasonable" attorney's fee under § 406(b), the existence of a contingent fee agreement is not entirely irrelevant. Courts may adjust the lodestar figure upward or downward to reflect a number of different factors, including the existence of a contingency fee agreement. In Johnson v. Georgia Highway Express, Inc., 488 F.2d 714 (5th Cir.1974), we identified twelve factors a court may consider in determining the reasonableness of an attorney's fee award in a particular case. They are:
22
(1) the time and labor required;
23
(2) the novelty and difficulty of the questions;
24
(3) the skill required to perform the legal service properly;
25
(4) the preclusion of other employment by the attorney due to the acceptance of the case;
26
(5) the customary fee;
27
(6) whether the fee is fixed or contingent;
28
(7) time limitations imposed by the client or the circumstances;
29
(8) the amount involved and the results obtained;
30
(9) the experience, reputation and ability of the attorney;
31
(10) the undesirability of the case;
32
(11) the nature and length of the professional relationship with the client; and
33
(12) awards in similar cases.
34
See Johnson, 488 F.2d at 717-19. Though the lodestar calculation remains the starting point and "centerpiece of attorney's fee awards" under § 406(b), the factors identified in Johnson "may be relevant in adjusting the lodestar amount." Blanchard, 489 U.S. at 94, 109 S.Ct. at 945.
35
We caution, however, that the "contingency-fee factor is simply that, a factor," id. at 93, 109 S.Ct. at 944, and its presence in a given case would not necessarily require an adjustment in order to produce a reasonable fee; the lodestar amount itself may suffice. Moreover, "the court must, where a contingent fee agreement is involved, articulate the weight of contingency" in adjusting the lodestar figure. See, e.g., Brown v. Sullivan, 917 F.2d 189, 193 (5th Cir.1990); Cotter, 879 F.2d at 363.5
36
Thus, although the lodestar figure constitutes the district court's initial (and often final) estimate of the reasonable attorney's fees to be awarded under § 406(b), a claimant's attorney may argue that one or more factors support an upward adjustment--just as the Secretary may argue that a downward adjustment is appropriate. This approach ensures that the court will independently consider the reasonableness of the claimed fee, while retaining the authority to modify the lodestar figure to reflect the full measure of effort and risk undertaken by the attorney. That promotes Congress's twin goals in enacting § 406(b): to "limit attorney's fees, ... while encourag [ing] effective legal representation by ensuring that attorneys will receive a fee for their representation." Shoemaker v. Bowen, 853 F.2d 858, 860 (11th Cir.1988) (internal quotation and citation omitted); see also Watford v. Heckler, 765 F.2d 1562, 1566 (11th Cir.1985) (citing S.Rep. No. 404, 89th Cong., 1st Sess. 422 (1965), reprinted in 1965 U.S.S.C.A.N. 1943, 2062).
37
In sum, we conclude that district courts calculating reasonable attorney's fees under 42 U.S.C. § 406(b) should employ the lodestar method, and they may adjust the lodestar figure to reflect the Johnson factors, though an adjustment will not always be necessary. The weight of any adjustments for factors such as a contingency fee agreement should be clearly articulated in the order awarding fees.
38
B. APPLICATION OF THE LODESTAR METHOD IN THIS CASE
39
The district court in this case correctly chose to employ the lodestar method in reviewing Buchanan's claim for attorney's fees pursuant to § 406(b). We conclude the district court's award of $3,990.13 was not an abuse of discretion.
40
The district court concluded that Buchanan had properly requested compensation for 26.6 hours for his work before the court. Turning to the reasonable hourly rate, it correctly stated Buchanan was entitled to "the prevailing market rate in the relevant legal community for similar services by lawyers of reasonably comparable skills, experience, and reputation." American Civil Liberties Union, 168 F.3d at 436 (quoting Norman v. Housing Auth. of Montgomery, 836 F.2d 1292, 1299 (11th Cir.1988) (citing Blum v. Stenson, 465 U.S. 886, 895-96 n. 11, 104 S.Ct. 1541, 1547-48 n. 11, 79 L.Ed.2d 891 (1984))). The district court arrived at a reasonable hourly rate of $95.00. It justified this amount with the statement that "$95.00 is the amount the Court customarily awards to attorneys of comparable skills, experience, and reputation for similar services." While our concern is with local market rate, not custom, we note that the magistrate judge specifically stated that "the prevailing market rate for the Rome Division in the Northern District of Georgia .... has never exceeded $95.00 per hour." A district court is entitled to " 'consider its own knowledge and experience concerning reasonable and proper fees' " in determining the reasonable hourly rate. See Norman, 836 F.2d at 1303 (quoting Campbell v. Green, 112 F.2d 143, 144 (5th Cir.1940)). We find no abuse of discretion in the determination of the reasonable hourly rate.
41
Multiplying 26.6 hours by the reasonable hourly rate of $95.00, the district court arrived at a lodestar figure of $2,527.00. It concluded, on the basis of the Johnson factors and with a special emphasis on the contingency fee agreement in this case, that the lodestar figure should be given an upward adjustment of 1.579, resulting in an award of $3,990.13. We conclude that the district court applied the correct method in determining Buchanan's reasonable fee, and did not abuse its discretion in arriving at its award.
IV. CONCLUSION
42
AFFIRMED.
1
We agree with the parties that this case is suitable for disposition without oral argument. See F.R.A.P. 34(a)(2)(C); 11th Cir. R. 34-3(b)
2
See, e.g., Hubbard v. Shalala, 12 F.3d 946, 948 (10th Cir.1993); Brown v. Sullivan, 917 F.2d 189, 191-93 (5th Cir.1990); Cotter v. Bowen, 879 F.2d 359, 363 (8th Cir.1989); Craig v. Secretary of Health and Human Servs., 864 F.2d 324, 327-28 (4th Cir.1989); Starr v. Bowen, 831 F.2d 872, 874 (9th Cir.1987). See also Ramos Colon v. Secretary of Health and Human Servs., 850 F.2d 24, 26 (1st Cir.1988) (rejecting deference to contingent fee agreement but not singling out lodestar method as the appropriate method)
3
See, e.g., Wells v. Sullivan, 907 F.2d 367, 370 (2d Cir.1990); McGuire v. Sullivan, 873 F.2d 974, 980 (7th Cir.1989); Rodriquez v. Bowen, 865 F.2d 739, 746 (6th Cir.1989) (en banc)
4
District courts in this circuit have divided over the correct approach. Compare Krig v. Sullivan, 143 F.R.D. 270 (N.D.Fla.1992) (employing lodestar method), and Frazier v. Sullivan, 768 F.Supp. 1511 (M.D.Ala.1991) (same), with Kelly v. Shalala, No. 88-0443-P-M, 1993 U.S. Dist
LEXIS 9062 (S.D. Ala. June 29, 1993) (employing contingent fee method), and Williams v. Sullivan, No. 88-0821-CB-M, 1991 WL 494675 (S.D.Ala. Oct. 29, 1991) (same).
5
In City of Burlington v. Dague, 505 U.S. 557, 112 S.Ct. 2638, 120 L.Ed.2d 449 (1992), the Supreme Court held that a contingency enhancement of an attorney's fee award under a typical federal fee-shifting statute is incompatible with the lodestar method of calculating reasonable attorney's fees. Dague, 505 U.S. at 562-67, 112 S.Ct. at 2641-44. The Court did not say anything about the applicability of the contingency fee factor to non-fee-shifting provisions such as § 406(b). The only circuit to squarely address the relevance of Dague to § 406(b) concluded that "[t]here is nothing inconsistent with the scheme of § 406(b)(1) in allowing the court to consider the existence of a contingency fee agreement, as long as it balances that factor with the others we have identified." Allen, 48 F.3d at 460
We agree. Unlike the fee-shifting statutes, which create a market for attorney's work on designated issues by guaranteeing a return from the losing party, § 406(b) "strikes a balance between encouraging lawyers to represent disability claimants, and protecting the already inadequate stipend most claimants receive." Id. We think a lodestar approach to determining attorney's fees under § 406(b), combined with a possible enhancement for contingency agreements, best strikes that balance. Although our approach here thus differs from the treatment of contingency agreements under the fee-shifting statutes since Dague, § 406(b) must be interpreted in light of a different set of "competing equities" than those statutes. See Flight Attendants v. Zipes, 491 U.S. 754, 761, 109 S.Ct. 2732, 2736, 105 L.Ed.2d 639 (1989) (interpreting a fee-shifting statute "in light of the competing equities that Congress normally takes into account").
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Chlamydia trachomatis infection in children: do not forget perinatal acquisition: a case report of a 7-year old girl, C. trachomatis infected, presumed sexually assaulted.
A 7-year old girl suspected of having been sexually abused owing to the presence of anal condyloma was found to be infected by Chlamydia trachomatis. Microbiological analysis and anamnesis were consistent with the infection having been acquired at birth. This case confirms that untreated infection acquired at birth can persist for months or years and highlights the value of examining those involved in the suspicion of sexual abuse of the child.
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Description
Previously home to Dolphin Aquatics, this property includes an in-ground pool, classroom/office space, showroom, 2 restrooms with showers and dressing area, and storage rooms. The building is accessible with onsite parking. Convenient to Research Park Blvd and Hwy 53.
School Ratings & Info
Description
Previously home to Dolphin Aquatics, this property includes an in-ground pool, classroom/office space, showroom, 2 restrooms with showers and dressing area, and storage rooms. The building is accessible with onsite parking. Convenient to Research Park Blvd and Hwy 53.
129
Nick Fitchard Road
Huntsville,
AL
35806
Price: $375,000
Status: Active
Updated: 42 min ago
MLS #: 1090317
0
Beds
0
Baths
0
½ Baths
N/A
Acres
County:
Madison
Area:
Madison
Property Description
Previously home to Dolphin Aquatics, this property includes an in-ground pool, classroom/office space, showroom, 2 restrooms with showers and dressing area, and storage rooms. The building is accessible with onsite parking. Convenient to Research Park Blvd and Hwy 53.
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Siddhanath Temple, Mhaswad
Mhaswad is well known for Lord Siddhanath. Siddhanath is believed to be incarnation of Lord Shiva. Siddhanath is patron god of adjacent regions and one of among several regional protective (Kshetrapal) gods of Maharashtra.Mhaswad is situated on the bank of Manganaga river.
Historically, this place was ruled by Mane(माने), a Maratha Kshatriya 07 Kuli clan. The Manes were Noblemen & were considered as pillars of Maratha Empire. Sardar Nagoji Mane was one of the famous ruler's of mhaswad and ally of Chatrapati Rajaramajaram Bhonsle Maharaj. Sardar Subhanji Mane who was son of Nagoji Mane had taken part in the war of panipat against Abdali.
A festival called Jatra of lord Shri Siddhanath is celebrated every year by the people here. In this festival, a chariot of Siddhanath is taken around the town by His devotees. Lord Shri Siddhanath Ratha Yatra is a great Festival . lakhs of people from all over Maharashtra come to Mhaswad for this Yatra season Every year .
SIDDHANATH is KULDAIVAT of all Maratha MANE surname CLAN.
See also
Sidhhanath Temple, Kharsundi
Sidhhanath Temple, Bhood
Category:Hindu temples in Maharashtra
Category:Forms of Shiva
Category:Shiva temples in Maharashtra
Category:Satara district
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Serum and hair levels of zinc, selenium, iron, and copper in children with iron-deficiency anemia.
In the present study, the serum and hair levels of zinc, selenium, and copper were determined in children with iron-deficiency anemia (IDA). A total of 52 anemic children aged 1-4 yr constituted the study group. Forty-six healthy children acted as controls. The copper and zinc levels were measured with an atomic absorption spectrophometer. Serum and hair selenium was determined by a spectroflourometric method. The serum zinc and selenium concentrations in the IDA group were found to be significantly lower and serum copper significantly higher than those in the controls (p < 0.05). Lower iron, zinc, and selenium concentrations (p < 0.001) but not copper were found in hair (p > 0.05).
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Filed 5/20/13 The Fine Living Trust v. Merrill Lynch CA2/7
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for
publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication
or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT
DIVISION SEVEN
THE FINE LIVING TRUST et al., B240869
Plaintiffs and Respondents, (Los Angeles County
Super. Ct. No. BC476759)
v.
MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE, FENNER &
SMITH,
Defendant and Appellant.
APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Rolf M.
Treu, Judge. Affirmed.
Crowe & Dunlevy, Tara A. LaClair; Arnold & Porter, Laurence J. Hutt and Eric
D. Mason for Defendant and Appellant.
Arthur Fine, in pro. per.; and Douglas W. Bordewieck for Plaintiffs and
Respondents.
_______________________
INTRODUCTION
Defendant Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith appeals from an order denying
its motion to compel arbitration.1 We affirm.
BACKGROUND2
In 1982, Leslie Fine and Lucy Fine, husband and wife, executed The Fine Living
Trust (the Trust). Around 2001, Leslie and Lucy gave their son, Larry Fine, power of
attorney to act on behalf of the Trust. After Leslie and Lucy died, Larry took steps to
liquidate trust assets, pay remaining debts and divide the cash proceeds amongst himself
and his siblings, plaintiff Arthur Fine, Richard Fine and Wendy Fine, the beneficiaries of
the Trust.
In January 2012, plaintiffs—the Trust, Larry and Arthur—filed a verified
complaint for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, unjust enrichment
and intentional infliction of emotion distress against defendant. This action was
instituted after defendant froze an investment account the Trust maintained with
defendant, thereby precluding the trustee from distributing the funds to the intended
beneficiaries following the death of the last trust settlor. Plaintiffs sought compensatory
and punitive damages.
1 Defendant also purports to appeal from the order denying its ex parte application
to submit a declaration in support of its motion to compel arbitration. Defendant has
failed to demonstrate that the order is appealable. (See Code Civ. Proc., § 904.1.)
In any event, nowhere in his appellate briefs does defendant contend that the trial
court erroneously denied his ex parte application. As such, even if we assumed the order
was appealable, defendant has abandoned his appeal as to this particular order. (Behr v.
Redmond (2011) 193 Cal.App.4th 517, 538; Arechiga v. Dolores Press, Inc. (2011) 192
Cal.App.4th 567, 578; Guardianship of Paduano (1989) 215 Cal.App.3d 346, 348, fn. 1.)
2 We derive a portion of the facts from the allegations of the complaint.
2
Defendant thereafter filed a motion to compel arbitration and to stay the
proceedings, as well as a memorandum of points and authorities in support of its motion.
The motion was set for hearing on April 13, 2012.
Defendant maintained that at the time the investment account was opened, the
settlors and original trustees of the trust, Leslie and Lucy, signed a Client Relationship
Agreement (CRA), which contained a mandatory arbitration provision. A copy of the
CRA purportedly signed by the original trustees was attached to the motion as Exhibit A,
but defendant did not provide a declaration authenticating the CRA.
Above the signatures, the following language appears: “BY SIGNING BELOW, I
AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THE MERRILL LYNCH CLIENT RELATIONSHIP
AGREEMENT ON THE REVERSE SIDE AND: [¶] . . . [¶] 2. THAT IN
ACCORDANCE WITH PARAGRAPH 11 OF THE CLIENT RELATIONSHIP
AGREEMENT I AM AGREEING IN ADVANCE TO ARBITRATE ANY
CONTROVERIES THAT MAY ARISE WITH YOU; . . . .”
Paragraph 11 of the CRA states: “I agree that all controversies that may arise
between us shall be determined by arbitration. Such controversies include, but are not
limited to, those involving any transaction in any of my accounts with you, or the
construction, performance or breach of any agreement between us, whether entered into
or occurring prior, on or subsequent to the date hereof.” Paragraph 11 further stated that
“[a]rbitration is final and binding on the parties” and that “[t]he parties are waiving their
right to seek remedies in court, including the right to jury trial.”
Plaintiffs opposed the motion arguing (1) defendant failed to authenticate the
CRA; (2) defendant failed to submit the entire agreement between the parties of which
the CRA was a part; (3) the arbitration provision was unreasonably overbroad and
unenforceable; (4) the arbitration provision should be construed only to require
arbitration of claims arising out of defendant‟s provision of brokerage services; and
(5) the purported jury trial waived in the CRA is invalid and thus unenforceable. In a
declaration, Arthur stated he was “unable to determine in any definitive sense whether the
3
signatures appearing on the CRA are the signatures of my parents,” thereby placing the
authenticity of the CRA in issue.
Defendant thereafter filed a reply. Among other things, defendant argued, in
reliance on Condee v. Longwood Management Corp. (2001) 88 Cal.App.4th 215
(Condee), that it was not required to authenticate the CRA.
On April 11, two days prior to the hearing, the trial court issued its tentative
decision denying defendant‟s motion to compel arbitration on the ground that it failed to
authenticate the CRA and thus did not meet its initial burden of establishing the existence
of a valid arbitration agreement by a preponderance of the evidence. It therefore did not
reach plaintiffs‟ challenges to the enforceability of the arbitration agreement.
On the day of the hearing, defendant filed an ex parte application and supporting
declaration in which it attempted to supply the evidentiary proof deemed missing by the
trial court in its tentative decision. Plaintiffs, having been advised by defendant that the
ex parte application would be forthcoming, opposed the application in writing.
At the hearing, the trial court denied defendant‟s ex parte application and motion
to compel arbitration. The court stated its reasoning as follows: “The court has read and
considered the various documents supporting and opposing the motion and has listened to
the arguments of counsel and the court is going to stand by its tentative ruling on the
issue. The point being made is that the court has issued a tentative ruling. The court
would be inundated by additional paperwork if on any case in which it has indicated a
tentative ruling indicating that there is a failure of proof in the moving papers if it were
then to permit ex parte amendment to those papers without the opportunity of the
opposing party to respond to same which would require a continuance, further
expenditure of time and effort. The court does not feel that the substantive issues of the
motion, i.e., arbitration versus some other area of law, would give deference to arbitration
motions as opposed to other motions before the court. It‟s a matter of court management,
case management, and the court will not so permit. Therefore, the tentative remains the
order of the court and the motion is denied. With or without prejudice, the motion is
4
denied. Whatever counsel wishes to do with respect to that denial, it is certainly up to
them, but the motion is denied as per the tentative ruling.” This appeal followed.
DISCUSSION
An order denying a motion to compel arbitration is appealable. (Code Civ. Proc.,
§ 1294, subd. (a).) Such an order is reviewed for abuse of discretion unless a pure
question of law is presented. In that case, the order is reviewed de novo. (Gorlach v.
Sports Club Co. (2012) 209 Cal.App.4th 1497, 1505; California Parking Services, Inc. v.
Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians (2011) 197 Cal.App.4th 814, 817.) In this case, the trial
court determined that defendant failed to authenticate the parties‟ purported agreement
and therefore failed to demonstrate that an agreement to arbitrate actually existed. This
presents a legal question, which we review de novo. (Gorlach, supra, at p. 1505;
California Parking Services, supra, at p. 817.)
“On petition of a party to an arbitration agreement alleging the existence of a
written agreement to arbitrate a controversy and that a party thereto refuses to arbitrate
such controversy, the court shall order the petitioner and the respondent to arbitrate the
controversy if it determines that an agreement to arbitrate the controversy exists,” unless
an enumerated exception applies. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1281.2, italics added.)
California Rules of Court, rule 3.1330, entitled “MOTION CONCERNING
ARBITRATION” provides: “A petition to compel arbitration or to stay proceedings
pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure sections 1281.2 and 1281.4 must state, in addition to
other required allegations, the provisions of the written agreement and the paragraph that
provides for arbitration. The provisions must be stated verbatim or a copy must be
attached to the petition and incorporated by reference.”
In Rosenthal v. Great Western Fin. Securities Corp. (1996) 14 Cal.4th 394
(Rosenthal), the California Supreme Court enunciated the procedures governing the trial
court‟s determination of a petition to compel arbitration. (Id. at p. 402.) “[W]hen a
petition to compel arbitration is filed and accompanied by prima facie evidence of a
5
written agreement to arbitrate the controversy, the court itself must determine whether the
agreement exists and, if any defense to its enforcement is raised, whether it is
enforceable. Because the existence of the agreement is a statutory prerequisite to
granting the petition, the petitioner bears the burden of proving its existence by a
preponderance of the evidence. If the party opposing the petition raises a defense to
enforcement—either fraud in the execution voiding the agreement, or a statutory defense
of waiver or revocation [citation]—that party bears the burden of producing evidence of,
and proving by a preponderance of the evidence, any fact necessary to the defense.
[Citation.]” (Id. at p. 413.) The high court reiterated these procedures in Engalla v.
Permanente Medical Group, Inc. (1997) 15 Cal.4th 951, 972 and noted, “[i]n these
summary proceedings, the trial court sits as a trier of fact, weighing all the affidavits,
declarations, and other documentary evidence, as well as oral testimony received at the
court‟s discretion, to reach a final determination.” (Ibid., citing Rosenthal, supra, at
pp. 413-414.)
Relying on Condee, supra, 88 Cal.App.4th 215, defendant challenges the trial
court‟s determination. In Condee, the trial court denied a petition to compel arbitration
on the ground that the agreement to arbitrate had not been authenticated properly even
though the authenticity of the signatures had not been challenged and the parties had not
challenged the existence or validity of the arbitration agreement. The Court of Appeal
held that the burden of proof under Code of Civil Procedure section 1281.2 is met simply
by alleging the existence of an arbitration agreement and either reciting the provisions of
the agreement in the petition or attaching a copy of the agreement to the petition as
required by California Rules of Court 3.1330, formerly rule 371. (Condee, supra, at
pp. 218-219.) Condee held that once the petitioner alleged the existence of an arbitration
agreement, the burden shifts to the respondent to prove falsity of the agreement. (Id. at
p. 219.)
In Toal v. Tardif (2009) 178 Cal.App.4th 1208, Division Three of the Fourth
District Court of Appeal, the same court that decided Condee, citing Auto Equity Sales,
Inc. v. Superior Court (1962) 57 Cal.2d 450, 455, noted that “[t]o the extent Condee
6
conflicts with Rosenthal, our Supreme Court‟s decision is controlling.” (Toal, supra, at
p. 1219, fn. 8.) It noted that “our Supreme Court has clearly stated that a court, before
granting a petition to compel arbitration, must determine the factual issue of „the
existence or validity of the arbitration agreement.‟ (Rosenthal, supra, 14 Cal.4th at
pp. 402, 413.) In this way, a court‟s role, though limited, is critical. „There is indeed a
strong policy in favor of enforcing agreements to arbitrate, but there is no policy
compelling persons to accept arbitration of controversies which they have not agreed to
arbitrate and which no statute has made arbitrable.‟ [Citation.]” (Toal, supra, at
pp. 1219-1220.)
Here, the trial court aptly noted that Condee had been called into doubt by Toal.
More fundamentally, the court noted that our high court in Rosenthal stated that the
petitioner had the burden of proving the existence of an arbitration agreement by a
preponderance of the evidence, a burden the court repeated in Engalla v. Permanente
Medical Group, Inc., supra, 15 Cal.4th at p. 972. Then, applying the burden of proof
enunciated in Rosenthal, the court determined that in the absence of an authenticating
declaration, defendant “necessarily fail[ed] to meet the initial burden” of proving the
existence of the arbitration agreement by a preponderance of the evidence. We find no
fault with the trial court‟s reasoning or its result and therefore uphold its order denying
defendant‟s motion to compel arbitration.
While neither Rosenthal or Engalla involved the issue of whether the petitioner or
moving party need authenticate the agreement containing the arbitration provision, they
do state in no uncertain terms that the existence of an agreement to arbitrate is a statutory
condition to granting a petition to compel arbitration and that the burden of proving that
such an agreement exists is on the moving party. At the very least, this requires proof
that the document attached to the petition is what it purports to be. To the extent Condee
holds that authentication is not required, we respectfully disagree. That Code of Civil
Procedure section 1281.2 or California Rules of Court, rule 3.1330 are silent on the issue
of authentication does not compel a contrary result. Before a writing may be considered
evidence, it must be authenticated. (Evid. Code, § 1401, subd. (a); Continental Baking
7
Co. v. Katz (1968) 68 Cal.2d 512, 525-526.) To authenticate a writing, the proponent of
the document must introduce “evidence sufficient to sustain a finding that it is the writing
that the proponent of the evidence claims it is” or establish “such facts by any other
means provided by law.” (Evid. Code, § 1400.) Defendant did neither of these. As such,
defendant failed to support its motion with evidence establishing the existence of an
agreement to arbitrate.
Defendant contends the trial court should have directed the parties to present
evidence regarding the validity of the arbitration agreement. We disagree. Having
determined that defendant failed to meet its burden of proving by a preponderance of the
evidence the existence of an arbitration agreement, the validity and enforceability of the
agreement were nonissues.3
DISPOSITION
The order is affirmed. Plaintiffs are awarded costs on appeal.
JACKSON, J.
We concur:
WOODS, Acting P. J.
ZELON, J.
3 Whether the declaration supporting defendant‟s ex parte application would have
been sufficient to authenticate the CRA is a question we need not decide.
8
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Q:
Spark Streaming from Kafka and comparison with records of Memsql (count is not coming proper)
We are getting records from Kafka and we are fetching Cardnumber from Kafka in Spark streaming and performing the Kafka cardnumber comparison from Memsql records and selecting the count and cardnumber by grouping cardnumber. But the count is not coming in proper way in Spark Streaming
For example Count in Memsql when we are executing the query it gives the below output in memsql command prompt
memsql> select card_number,count(*) from cardnumberalert5 where
inserted_time <= now() and inserted_time >= NOW() - INTERVAL 10 MINUTE group
by card_number;
+------------------+----------+
| card_number | count(*) |
+------------------+----------+
| 4556655960290527 | 2 |
| 6011255715328120 | 4 |
| 4532133676538232 | 2 |
| 6011614607071620 | 2 |
| 4024007117099605 | 2 |
| 347138718258304 | 4 |
+------------------+----------+
We notice in Spark Streaming the count is getting distributed
For example Memsql Output when we execute from memsql command prompt
+------------------+----------+
| card_number | count(*) |
+------------------+----------+
| 4556655960290527 | 2 |
When the same sql is performed in Spark Streaming it prints the output as
RECORDS FOUNDS ****************************************
CARDNUMBER KAFKA ############### 4024007117099605
CARDNUMBER MEMSQL ############### 4556655960290527
COUNT MEMSQL ############### 1
CARDNUMBER MEMSQL ############### 4556655960290527
COUNT MEMSQL ############### 1
Here the count show be 2 but we are getting 2 Records of the cardnumber with count 1
Printing the Output in Spark Streaming
RECORDS FOUNDS ****************************************
CARDNUMBER KAFKA ############### 4024007117099605
CARDNUMBER MEMSQL ############### 4556655960290527
COUNT MEMSQL ############### 1
CARDNUMBER MEMSQL ############### 6011255715328120
COUNT MEMSQL ############### 2
CARDNUMBER MEMSQL ############### 4532133676538232
COUNT MEMSQL ############### 1
CARDNUMBER MEMSQL ############### 6011614607071620
COUNT MEMSQL ############### 1
CARDNUMBER MEMSQL ############### 4024007117099605
COUNT MEMSQL ############### 1
CARDNUMBER MEMSQL ############### 347138718258304
COUNT MEMSQL ############### 2
CARDNUMBER MEMSQL ############### 4556655960290527
COUNT MEMSQL ############### 1
CARDNUMBER MEMSQL ############### 6011255715328120
COUNT MEMSQL ############### 2
CARDNUMBER MEMSQL ############### 4532133676538232
COUNT MEMSQL ############### 1
CARDNUMBER MEMSQL ############### 6011614607071620
COUNT MEMSQL ############### 1
CARDNUMBER MEMSQL ############### 4024007117099605
COUNT MEMSQL ############### 1
CARDNUMBER MEMSQL ############### 347138718258304
COUNT MEMSQL ############### 2
Spark Streaming Program
class SparkKafkaConsumer11(val ssc : StreamingContext,val sc : SparkContext,val spark : org.apache.spark.sql.SparkSession, val topics : Array[String], val kafkaParam : scala.collection.immutable.Map[String,Object]) {
val stream = KafkaUtils.createDirectStream[String, String](
ssc,
PreferConsistent,
Subscribe[String, String](topics, kafkaParam)
)
val recordStream = stream.map(record => (record.value)) // Take the value only from the key,value pair for processing
recordStream.foreachRDD{rdd =>
val brokers = "174.24.154.244:9092" // Specify the BROKER
val props = new HashMap[String, Object]()
props.put(ProducerConfig.BOOTSTRAP_SERVERS_CONFIG, brokers)
props.put(ProducerConfig.VALUE_SERIALIZER_CLASS_CONFIG,"org.apache.kafka.common.serialization.StringSerializer")
props.put(ProducerConfig.KEY_SERIALIZER_CLASS_CONFIG,"org.apache.kafka.common.serialization.StringSerializer")
props.put(ProducerConfig.CLIENT_ID_CONFIG,"SparkKafkaConsumer__11")
val producer = new KafkaProducer[String,String](props)
val result = spark.read
.format("com.memsql.spark.connector")
.options(Map("query" -> ("select card_number,count(*) from cardnumberalert5 where inserted_time <= now() and inserted_time >= NOW() - INTERVAL 10 MINUTE group by card_number"),"database" -> "fraud"))
.load()
val record = rdd.map(line => line.split("\\|")) //Split the record and create a array of it.
record.collect().foreach{recordRDD =>
val now1 = System.currentTimeMillis
val now = new java.sql.Timestamp(now1)
val cardnumber_kafka = recordRDD(13).toString
val sessionID = recordRDD(1).toString
println("RECORDS FOUNDS ****************************************")
println("CARDNUMBER KAFKA ############### "+cardnumber_kafka)
result.collect().foreach{t =>
val resm1 = t.getAs[String]("card_number")
println("CARDNUMBER MEMSQL ############### "+resm1)
val resm2 = t.getAs[Long]("count(*)")
println("COUNT MEMSQL ############### "+resm2)
if(resm1.equals(cardnumber_kafka)){
if(resm2 > 2){
println("INSIDE IF CONDITION FOR MORE THAN 3 COUNT"+now)
val messageToKafka = "---- THIRD OR MORE OCCURANCE ---- "+cardnumber_kafka
val message=new ProducerRecord[String, String]("output1",0,sessionID,messageToKafka)
try {
producer.send(message)
} catch {
case e: Exception =>
e.printStackTrace
System.exit(1)
}
}
}
}
}
producer.close()
}
}
Not sure how to fix it, Any suggestion or Help is Highly Appreciated
Thanks in Advance
A:
We were able to solve this issue by setting the following property in Spark Configuration.
Code:
.set("spark.memsql.disablePartitionPushdown","true")
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Q:
How can i stop all audio file with single button?
I am making a quiz app and i have set different background music in two UIView.
Now i have created button for stop the bachgrond music.
IBOutlet UIButton *soundoffbtn;
I stop the background music for firstview by
-(Void)SoundBtn{
[Avbackmusic stop];
}
It just stop in one view.
When i entered in secondView , background music for that view is started as it should be.
What i want is to stop the background music for whole app (both view) by just tapping the firstview's soundoffbtn
What should i do for that?
I am new to this..
Any help will be appreciated..
Thanks.
A:
I didn't fully understand a question. But if you want the second view not to start playing sound after you switch off sound on first view then create an indicator variable in applicaton delegate that will indicate the sound on/off status for your app. Access that indicator before playing a sound. If it shows on, then play, if off, do not play.
For example in your app delegate create a variable
int soundIndicator;
@property (nonatomic) int soundIndicator;
@synthesize soundIndicator;
Then in your View controllers you can access that variable, it will be common for all application:
YourAppDelegate *appDelegate = (YourAppDelegate *)[[UIApplication sharedApplication] delegate];
if (appDelegate.soundIndicator == 0){ ... }
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176 B.R. 472 (1994)
In re UNR INDUSTRIES, INC., Unarco Industries, Inc., UNR, Inc., UNR-Rohn, Inc., (Alabama), UNR-Rohn, Inc., (Indiana), Jobal Tube Co., Inc., UNR Products, Inc., and Folding Carrier Corp., Debtors/Appellants,
v.
PATERSON FACTORY WORKERS, Appellees.
Nos. 82 B 4841-9845, 82 B 9847, 82 B 9849, 82 B 9851 and 94 C 4199.
United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division.
December 29, 1994.
*473 Bret Andrew Rappaport, Schwartz, Cooper, Greenberg & Krauss, Harold C. Hirshman, Robert B. Millner, Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal, Chicago, IL, for UNR Industries, Inc.
Harold C. Hirshman, Robert B. Millner, Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal, Chicago, IL, for Unarco Industries, UNR, Inc., UNR-Rohn, Inc. (Alabama), UNR-Rohn, Inc. (Indiana), Jobal Tube Co., Inc., UNR Products, Inc., Folding Carrier Corp.
George A. Davidson, Theodore V.H. Mayer, Hughes, Hubbard & Reed, New York City, Richard G. Smolev, Sachnoff & Weaver, Ltd., Chicago, IL, for UNR Asbestos Disease Claims Trust.
Gary Irwin Blackman, Bryan I. Schwartz, Boehm, Pearlstein & Bright, Ltd., Chicago, IL, John J. McConnell, Jr., Ness, Motley, Loadholt, Richardson & Poole, Providence, RI, Jon L. Gelman, Wayne, NJ, for Paterson Factory Workers.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
KOCORAS, District Judge:
This matter is before the Court on an appeal filed by the debtors in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding. Jurisdiction for this proceeding is proper pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 151(a). For the reasons set forth below, we reverse and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
DISCUSSION
The background of the Chapter 11 case is fully recounted in Bankruptcy Judge David H. Coar's Memorandum Opinion dated June 14, 1994. As such, our recitation of the facts will be brief. The debtor/appellant, UNR Industries, Inc., and several of its subsidiaries and affiliates (collectively "UNR"), is the successor to a corporation which manufactured asbestos for many years. In the 1970s UNR became the defendant in several thousand asbestos-related personal injury lawsuits. Consequently, UNR filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code on July 29, 1982 to protect itself from asset drain in defending the asbestos-related lawsuits. The appellees consist of former employees and survivors of former employees who worked at UNR's asbestos manufacturing facility in Paterson, New Jersey ("the Paterson Workers").
UNR appeals a June 14, 1994 Order entered by Judge Coar ("the Paterson Classification Order") which classified the claims of the Paterson Workers under the Confirmed Plan of Reorganization ("the Plan") in this case. In re UNR Indus., Slip Op. No. 82B9848-9845, 82B9847, 82B9849 & 82B9851 (Bankr.N.D.Ill. June 14, 1994). The Paterson Classification Order classified the Paterson Workers' pre-petition asbestos disease claims under the Plan as both Class 2 claims entitled to full payment from reorganized *474 UNR and Class 5[1] claims, entitled to pro rata payment through a trust created pursuant to the Plan for the benefit of all holders of asbestos-disease claims. Under the Plan, Class 2 claims are defined as "Workmens' Compensation claims subject to the [Bankruptcy] Court's July 29, 1982 Order granting Application to Authorize the Payment of Pre-Petition Workmens' Compensation Claims." The 1982 Order was entered by Judge Merrick.
Judge Coar's Paterson Classification Order was almost exclusively based upon his prior ruling on a similar classification question regarding UNR workers who were employed at UNR's Bloomington, Illinois plant (the "Bloomington Workers"). In the prior Bloomington proceeding the Bloomington Workers asked Judge Coar to interpret the same Plan presently in issue and argued, as do the Paterson Workers, that their asbestos-disease claims were entitled to both Class 5 and Class 2 classification. In his July 28, 1992 Memorandum Opinion ("the Bloomington Classification Order"), Judge Coar noted that the Plan's definition of Class 2 claimants was dependent upon an interpretation of the July 29, 1982 Order ("the 1982 Order") which was incorporated into the Plan. In re UNR Indus., 143 B.R. 506 (Bankr.N.D.Ill.1992), rev'd and remanded, UNR Indus. v. Bloomington Factory Workers, 173 B.R. 149 (N.D.Ill.1994). Judge Coar found the 1982 Order to be ambiguous, and interpreted the language of the 1982 Order based on Judge Merrick's intent in 1982 at the time the Order was entered. The Court concluded that Judge Merrick intended the Order to apply to all workers' compensation claims in general, without distinguishing among types of worker's compensation claims or their statutory bases. Accordingly, Judge Coar held that the Bloomington Workers' asbestos-disease claims were entitled to Class 2 classification.
Likewise, in his Paterson Classification Order, Judge Coar held that the Paterson Workers' asbestos-disease claims were entitled to Class 2 classification because it was Judge Merrick's intent that the 1982 Order apply to all workers' compensation claims in general.
UNR appeals the Bankruptcy Court's classification of the Paterson Workers' claims as Class 2 claims on numerous grounds. UNR's primary argument is that Judge Coar used an improper analysis in interpreting the Plan. According to UNR, instead of construing the Plan based on Judge Merrick's intent in 1982, Judge Coar should have looked to the intent of the parties to the Plan in 1989 at the time the Plan was proposed and accepted.
UNR's arguments are not new for they have recently been addressed and accepted by Judge Aspen in his recent decision reversing and remanding Judge Coar's Bloomington Classification Order. In re UNR Indus. v. Bloomington Factory Workers, 173 B.R. 149 (N.D.Ill.1994). Judge Aspen held that the bankruptcy court used an improper analysis in determining whether the Bloomington Workers' asbestos-disease claims were entitled to Class 2 classification. According to Judge Aspen, the intent of the parties to the Plan, rather than Judge Merrick's intent, controls the construction of the 1982 Order which was incorporated into the Plan. We agree with Judge Aspen's analysis. A plan of reorganization is analogous to contract or consent decree, and as such state law contract principles should be used to construe its terms. In re Doty, 129 B.R. 571, 591 (Bankr.N.D.Ind.1991). See also In re UNR Indus., 173 B.R. at 157, (and cases *475 cited therein). The proper inquiry, therefore, is what the parties to the Plan intended Class 2 claims to include. On remand the bankruptcy court must determine what the parties' common understanding of the parameters of Class 2 was in 1989, at the time the 1982 Order was incorporated and confirmed into the Plan. Alternatively, if the court finds that the parties did not have an independent understanding on the issue, and that the parties intended Class 2 to be defined exclusively on what the 1982 Order dictated, then the intent of the parties that were present at the approval of the 1982 Order should be controlling, since the 1982 Order "bears a closer resemblance to an agreed order than a disputed one." See Id. at 158.
The Paterson Workers argue that we are not bound by Judge Aspen's decision and further suggest that their claims differ from the Bloomington Workers' situation such that Judge Aspen's ruling is of little or no significance to this case. In support they cite to Judge Aspen's Minute Order denying UNR's motion for reassignment and consolidation of the two appeals based on relatedness. Notwithstanding Judge Aspen's relatedness ruling, the Paterson Workers cannot deny the similarity of their claims to the Bloomington Workers.[2] In fact, Judge Coar expressly rejected such arguments in his Paterson Classification Order in refusing to distinguish between the Paterson and Bloomington Workers' claims for workers' compensation. See In re UNR, June 14, 1994 Slip.Op. at 10. Moreover, it is clear that the pivotal basis of Judge Coar's Paterson Classification Order was the Bloomington Classification Order. Judge Coar repeatedly and primarily relied upon his findings and conclusions in his Bloomington Classification Order.
The Paterson Workers further argue that Judge Aspen erred in his decision. In support, the Paterson Workers claim that Judge Aspen's finding that Judge Coar used an improper analysis to interpret the 1982 Order is not supported by the facts or the case law. Their attacks, however, are without merit. The Paterson Workers basically argue that Judge Aspen erred in finding fault with Judge Coar's analysis because "(1) [n]one of the cases relied upon by Judge Aspen involve the interpretation of a court order incorporated into a plan, and (2) [t]he cases cited involve either an interpretation of an ambiguous plan or consent decree." Brief of Appellee at 27. As we see it, the fact that the Plan incorporates an order should not change the general rules in construing a Plan. As stated above, the parties incorporated the 1982 Order into the agreed upon Plan; at that point in time the parties must have had a common understanding as to the meaning of the order. A confirmed bankruptcy reorganization plan has aptly been characterized as a "new and binding contract" consisting of "an offer of promises made by a debtor and accepted by the creditors following protracted negotiations." Matter of Penrod, 169 B.R. 910, 916 (Bankr. N.D.Ind.1994) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). The fact that disputed language in the Plan may have been blessed by a judge at an earlier date should not take the language out of its proper context that of an agreed upon term in a contract. Accordingly, we find that it is the intent of the parties to the Plan, not Judge Merrick's intent, that controls the construction of the language in dispute.
Finally, both parties ask us to make findings of fact which Judge Coar expressly refused to make. Because we are not able to do this based on the record before us, we decline their request and remand for the appropriate findings consistent with the directives set forth above.
CONCLUSION
For the reasons stated above, the bankruptcy court's June 14, 1994 Paterson Classification Order is reversed and remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
NOTES
[1] The Plan defines Class 5, impaired Asbestos-Disease Claims, as follows:
All alleged liabilities or obligations . . . for death, personal injury, personal damages or punitive damages . . . whether or not included in the definition of "claim" in § 101(4) of the Code, arising out of exposure to asbestos, and arising from acts or omissions by one or more or the Debtors or the Debtors' predecessors in interest prior to the effective Date, regardless of when the sickness, injury or disease which gives rise to such liability or obligation, becomes or will become manifest, including without limitation, all warranty, guarantee, indemnification or contribution liabilities or obligations of any of the Debtors to any other Entity to the extent that such warranties, guarantees, indemnifications or contribution responsibilities to such Entity cover claims against such Entity that would, if such claims had been made directly against any of the Debtors, constitute Asbestos-Disease Claims.
[2] Additionally, we note that at the heart of Judge Aspen's relatedness ruling was his concern that a "ruling [was] imminent" in the Bloomington Workers' appeal, whereas the Paterson Workers' appeal had not yet been fully briefed.
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HMS Bullfinch
Two ships of the Royal Navy have been named Bullfinch.
, a Bullfinch-class destroyer
, a cable-laying ship
Category:Royal Navy ship names
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Log in
Ellen and I went shopping for a computer desk. We went to a couple of stores, and I saw a bunch of people I know and haven't seen in ages. First was Kara of Ursula and Kara fame. Remember Ursula and Kara? Well Tom and Jessica would, but Tom doesn't comment on my journal and Jessica doesn't know it exists. Actually, xoshua, you might remember Kara. She was in forensics -- the blonde half of Romeo and Juliet, Abridged. Anyway, I tried to stay out of sight and didn't say hi. That's the kind of person I am these days.
I also saw Ben. Again, xoshua, you know who Ben is. Way back when (like, ten to eighteen years ago) Ben was like, my best friend. When he was in seventh or eighth grade, his parents enrolled him in a self-directed education program where he and another kid named Ben created their own economics ciriculum centered around marijuana production. His teachers were supportive (ah, Madison,Wisconsin, how we love thee), and I'm not kidding. His parents were less thrilled about it, so when they moved to Evansville they enrolled him in school there. Ben and I remained friends, and I spent at least a few months blissfully unaware that he was growing pot in his bedroom. So did his parents until they were gone on graduation weekend of his junior year. He offered his house as a party spot and -- in the words of his parents -- "trashed the house." I didn't see the aftermath, so I don't know what that means. He also put 650 miles on their new SUV and wasn't home when they returned.
Months later he turned out to be living with his real father in Canada. He came back the summer after I graduated high school, and we got together maybe once or twice. I guess he's doing okay. I just looked him up on the Wisconsin Circuit Courts website, and I see he's been in court seven times since returning home, most recently in September for operating a vehicle under the influence. I'm sure you wanted to know all of this.
Ben might have recognized me, but I tried to stay out of sight and didn't say hi. That's the kind of person I am these days. I didn't tell Ellen about Kara or Ben. With her upcoming internet access (to be installed today), she'll probably read this and say "why didn't you say something? We could've said stopped to say hello." I'm kind of enjoying being a jerk these days, so if I had really wanted to say hello, I would have.
But um, we bought the desk and set it up at Ellen's. That was the "down" part of the evening. It's perfectly sturdy and will probably last a few years, but some of the screw holes weren't lined up right and two of the most important screws simply didn't fit at all. By the time this was figured out, the store was closed and the desk was partially assembled. I basically ended up using a screwdriver (the only tool I had) to widen the (metal) screw holes. Bob Villa would be appalled, but it worked and I got the desk together. Incidentally, Ellen doesn't have a screwdriver. This amazes me.
After putting the desk together came the "up" part of the evening (no, it's not what you're thinking). Ellen had mentioned bacon danish a few days ago, so I brought over the ingredients and made a batch. No pictures this time, but they came out looking just like danish and tasting just like, well, bacon danish. I'm very happy with the end result, but they're not the sort of thing you can eat a lot of unless you want to experience open-heart surgery at a young age. Still... bacon danish. A brilliant idea from concept to execution to perfection. Am I Thomas Edison, or what?
Oh, incidentally, I'm listening to Adam Sandler's cover of Werewolves of London, and I can't tell whether I like it, or whether it's the worst thing ever.
** ADDENDUM ** It's not the worst thing ever. The worst thing ever would be me covering the song, because my falsetto is gone to the point where I can't hit the "ahoooooooo!"s.Current Mood:jubilantCurrent Music: Adam Sandler -- Werewolves of London
Really? I hadn't heard of it until Friday night when I saw a preview on TV, and I was trying to figure out what I thought of the movie. It seems to me that he's trying to settle down and maybe have a somewhat respectable career. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I don't really know.
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Social media users are falling in love with a group of kids who went above and beyond to make a 5-year-old boy feel welcomed at the skate park for his birthday.
Since Carter Braconi has autism and ADHD, he has trouble interacting with other kids. He had been riding his scooter around the South Brunswick Skate Park in New Jersey last weekend when he was joined by a group of young skateboarders.
After the kids arrived, Carter became anxious and shy – but then, he was befriended by a 13-year-old boy named Gavin.
LOOK: 13-Year-old Boy Traded His Xbox and Did Yard Work So He Could Buy His Mom a Car
Initially, Gavin started chatting to Carter so he could give him some tips on how to safely roll down the skate ramps without falling. He then started teaching the boy how to use a skateboard. Shortly after that, the youngsters were all chatting and laughing with Carter like they were old friends.
Upon hearing that it was Carter’s birthday, the teens got together and started singing happy birthday. One of the other kids even gave a mini skateboard to Carter as a birthday gift.
Carter’s mother, Kristen Braconi, says that she was so moved by the kindness of the skaters, she posted several videos of their interactions to a local Facebook group, praising them for their actions.
MORE: 7-Year-Old Sea Turtle Activist Convinces L.L. Bean to Change Company Policy
“They were absolutely amazing with him and included him and were so beyond kind, it brought me to tears,” wrote Braconi. “I can’t even begin to thank these kids for being so kind and showing him how wonderful people can be to complete strangers.
“I bought them all ice cream to say thank you, but it wasn’t enough!” she added. “Thank you to whoever these children are and thank you to their parents because you are doing a wonderful job!!!”
The videos were shared thousands of times until they eventually caught the eye of local news outlets and police officers.
LOOKING TO FIND SOME SUPERHEROES - On Tuesday some older kids turned into superheroes right behind police headquarters.
Here is the story - A mom took her son to the South Brunswick Skate Park for his 5th birthday. He has high functioning autism and ADHD. pic.twitter.com/DLITBsQz9m — So Brunswick PD (@SoBrunswickPD) March 28, 2019
Upon confirming the identities of the youngsters, the police department gave them honorary coins in recognition of their compassion.
Braconi also says that she has arranged to host a pizza party for the teens as a means of properly thanking them for making her son feel included.
(WATCH the heartwarming footage below)
Be Sure And Share This Sweet Story Of Kid Kindness With Your Friends On Social Media…
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Days after the president of the United States tweeted a racist invective telling four Democratic congresswomen to “go back” to the “crime infested places from which they came,” the administration spin cycle was set to high. President Donald Trump, objectively, declared himself totally not-racist™, tweeting, “Those Tweets were NOT Racist. I don’t have a Racist bone in my body!” On Tuesday, Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway was put on the case to help obfuscate and distract, offering up a mind-numbing dissembling of Trump’s not-racist™ racism.
During a question-and-answer session with journalists outside the White House, Conway was predictably asked about Trump’s tweets, and specifically about what countries the president was suggesting the American-citizen congresswomen go back to. Conway paused a beat and shot back to the reporter: “What’s your ethnicity?” “Ummm … ” the reporter hesitated, “why is that relevant?” “Because I’m asking you a question,” Conway interjected. “My ancestors are from Ireland and Italy.” “My own ethnicity is not relevant to the question I’m asking,” the reporter replied. “No, no, it is,” Conway said. “Because you’re asking what [Trump] said about ‘originally.’ ”
If there was any doubt about what’s happening here, Conway’s casual questioning of a journalist’s ethnicity is Exhibit Z of how the Trump administration articulates and then deploys race-based divisions. Conway seems to sense that she’s cornered herself where she’s now demanding a journalist’s ethnicity to make a point that the president isn’t racist. Presumably, she was trying to make the argument: No big deal, I’m from Italy and Ireland, I’m not offended if someone tells me to go back there. This is, obviously, not a like comparison—in fact it’s a dangerous one that reinforces the premise of Trump’s tweets.
Conway, appearing to sense she was on shaky ground, then decided to blow up the entire exchange conjuring instantaneous outrage over … something? “[Trump’s] tired. A lot of us are sick and tired in this country of America coming last,” she shot back. What? “Sick and tired of our military being denigrated,” Conway continued. “Sick and tired of Customs and Border Protection people I was with—who are overwhelming Hispanic, by the way, in McAllen, Texas—sick and tired of them being criticized, being doxed by a bunch of Hollywood D-listers who have nothing else to do but sit on their asses on Twitter all day and try to dox brave men and women who are diving into the Rio Grande to save people who are drowning. ”
Don’t take your eye off the ball. What’s happening here is exactly what you think is happening.
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Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to compositions and methods for altering the negative effects and disease progression of poly-glutamate associated diseases, such as Huntington's disease.
Description of the Related Art
Huntington's disease is an inherited disease that causes the progressive breakdown (degeneration) of nerve cells in the brain, resulting in a cognitive and motor function decline [1, 2]. The aggregation of a mutant Huntingtin protein (Htt) in cells alters protein function and gene regulation, which causes movement, thinking (cognitive) and psychiatric disorders along with neuronal death. Most people with Huntington's disease develop signs and symptoms in their 20's or 30's, but the onset of disease may be earlier or later in life, with a patient's death typically occurring within 10-15 years of diagnosis. A juvenile form of Huntington's occurs in about 6% of patients characterized by rapid onset of symptoms and disease progression beginning in early childhood.
The genetic mutation that causes Huntington's disease is found in repeats of the amino acid glutamine (Q) near the amino terminus of the Huntingtin protein, called HttpolyQ or HttpQ. The number of repeats is generally predictive of the age of onset and progression rate in the subject. Repeats of more than 38 Q's (SEQ ID NO: 32) result in Huntington's Disease pathology. The function of the Huntingtin protein is not well characterized, but it appears to be involved in transport functions of vesicles containing neurotransmitters and other molecules needed for cell and tissue function [3, 4]. Although the mutation is found in all cells, Huntington's disease manifests predominantly in the brain.
Aggregation of HttpQ leads to abnormal and arrested degradation of the Huntingtin protein and the production of toxic degradation products that appear to enter the nucleus of the cell and play a role in gene dysregulation [5]. HttpQ fragments in the nucleus bind to transcriptional regulatory proteins that drive cellular functions [4-6]. Furthermore, toxic fragments of HttpQ that accumulate in the nucleus alter gene expression by direct binding to DNA and by altering chromatin structure [7, 8]. Several lines of evidence demonstrate that a caspase 6-cleaved fragment accumulates in the nucleus and blockage of Capsase 6 cleavage eliminates generation of the toxic nuclear fragment resulting in the absence of disease in HttpQ animals [9-11]. The patterns of gene dysregulation are well characterized and consistent in cell-based systems, in animal models that exhibit HttpQ aggregation and in patient samples taken at autopsy. The gene families mostly affected are those that regulate protein synthesis and degradation, protein folding (also known as heat shock pathways), and mitochondrial function that provide power to cells.
The subsequent loss of neurons that regulate motor function and cognition leads to progressive dementia and loss of motor control. Thus, there is a need for compositions and methods that modify the degradation process. In particular, disease modification therapy must demonstrate the ability to prevent gene dysregulation and HttpQ aggregation, which appears to be a primary factor in disease progression. To date, no disease-modifying therapeutic agents have been identified that prevent aggregation of HttpQ and modify gene dysregulation. Conventional medications and treatments lessen symptoms of movement and psychiatric disorders. For example, the only FDA approved drug for Huntington's disease (Xenazine®) provides temporary relief of chorea, a diagnostic part of motor movement dysfunction that led to the initial characterization of this disease.
The present disclosure seeks to fulfill this need and provide further related advantages.
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[Open water systems for species-appropriate housing of Peking ducks--effects on behaviour, feather quality and plugged up nostrils].
At present in Germany Peking ducks in commercial housing are on ground with litter and nipple drinkers only and there is no access to open water. With this study we investigated if open water drinkers can affect behaviour and health of ducks positively. In this investigation ten fattening trials with 11 424 ducks, kept with straw, were analyzed. 25% of the compartment (32 m2) were covered with perforated grid, with one of the tested water systems (Nipple drinker, Sparkcup, Shower, Hollow and Round drinker and modified Round drinker) installed. Besides parts of the behaviour of ducks, animal health and hygiene and also economic factors were taken into account. In contrast to pens with nipple-drinkers only, the ducks in pens with open water troughs/showers had the opportunity to exhibit their natural drinking behaviour and water associated activities, such as straining and preening the plumage with water in accordance with the animal welfare requirements. In the free-choice pens, the open water systems were significantly preferred, and over a 24-hour period, the ducks in watering areas with open water troughs showed higher activity. Limiting the access to the open water systems (4, 6 and 8 hours) led to more intense use per time unit. Ducks with access to nipple drinkers only showed a significantly higher percentage of plugged up nostrils than animals from pens with open water drinkers (p < or = 0.05). Open water drinkers also had a positive impact on the plumage condition.The open water drinking systems were very well accepted by the animals and are, concerning behaviour and animal health, an improvement in housing systems of Peking ducks.
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[Which type of tuberculosis predominates in cases newly diagnosed during mass radiography? (author's transl)].
12.8 millions roentgenograms, 288,000 of which showed suspicious lesions, were made during the past 25 years by the Tuberculosis Committee of Rheinland-Westfalen. They were analysed with the view of finding whether and to what extent the features of tuberculosis had changed during this period. Although severe tertiary forms of the disease had not entirely disappeared, minimal asymptomatic lesions now tended to predominate when first diagnosed--evidence of the valuable contribution made by mass radiography towards the eradication of tuberculosis. However, the picture changes somewhat if the extent of the tuberculous process is related to the number of patients in need of treatment including cases of re-activation. These figures have remained remarkably constant, viz.: the percentage of cases of unilateral tuberculosis localized to one lobe was 50-54%, of bilateral tuberculosis confined to one lobe was 22-25%; the figures for unilateral and bilateral tuberculosis involving more than one lobe were 10-13 and 10-14% respectively. The type of tuberculosis discovered during voluntary mass radiography in Rheinland-Westfalen do not yet signal an end to the proven methods of tuberculosis control.
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Management of stage I carcinoma of the uterus.
In an attempt to limit the use of adjuvant irradiation in the management of stage I endometrial carcinoma to high-risk patients only, a protocol was developed that utilizes grading and degree of myometrial invasion as indicators of high risk. From 1974 to 1977, 140 patients at Rochester General Hospital were treated according to this protocol. All patients had total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingooophorectomy. Adjuvant irradiation was given only to the patients who had grade 3 curettings or greater than one third myometrial invasion. In this series only 20.7% required irradiation. There were no vaginal or pelvic recurrences and the 5-year tumor-free survival rate was 93%.
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Driver convicted of vehicular homicide in crash that killed three people is sentenced to prison
A woman who was found guilty of driving drunk and causing an accident on I-25 that killed three people was sentenced Wednesday (4/22/15).
Jade Valdez was ordered to serve 12 years in prison.
In January, a jury convicted Valdez of three counts of vehicular homicide - DUI, three counts of vehicular homicide - reckless driving, three counts of careless driving resulting in death and one count of DUI.
The crash happened in the early morning hours of Sunday, October 13, 2013. The car went off the road about five miles south of Fountain, near Pikes Peak International Raceway.
Four people were riding in the car when it rolled. Valdez, who was 23 at the time, was driving. She suffered serious injuries in the crash.
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Q:
Ad hoc vs Mesh, which one to use?
Say we have four nodes (A, B, C, D) that are arranged in a chain-like topology.
A <-------> B <-------> C <-------> D
Only the adjacent nodes are in range of one another (A can communicate with B, B can do so with A and C, C can do so with B and D, and D only with C). Is it possible to create an 802.11 ad hoc network (an IBSS) in such a case? After going through the requirements for an IBSS in the 802.11 standard, it seems that all four nodes would have to be in range of one another. Why is this so? My guess is that for exchanging beacons, all the nodes would have to be in range of one another.
Alternatively, can the above topology be achieved through an 802.11 mesh network? For instance, B and C could act as gateways ('mesh routers' might be the more accurate term) for communication between A and D.
Assume that a single/same channel is used for communication between all nodes.
A:
IBSS mode does not provide a mechanism for one peer to forward traffic on behalf of another peer. So all IBSS peers that need to communicate with each other must be in direct radio range of each other. In your description, you described a classic "hidden node problem" where C is visible to B but hidden from A. So C and D are considered "hidden nodes" from A's perspective. IBSS does not provide a solution to the hidden node problem.
In contrast, AP-based BSSes do not have this problem, as all devices currently in the BSS are guaranteed to be in range of the AP, and the AP acts as an "intra-BSS relay", relaying packets between wireless clients within the BSS. In fact, in AP-mode operation, intra-BSS relay is always in effect, even if the two clients that are talking to each other are in range of each other. There's a newer technology called Tunneled Direct Link Setup (TDLS), that doesn't seem to be widely deployed, but it provides a way for clients of an AP to establish direct connections to each other so they can go faster by avoiding Intra-BSS Relay and the associated overhead.
So for your A > B > C > D illustration to work, you'll need something more than IBSS. Mesh is one solution, although even before mesh protocols started to catch on, there were ways to solve this. For example, you could make B and C both act as APs, and use a wired Ethernet or WDS wireless backhaul between them. The latter assumes B and C have the ability to be configured as both APs and WDS bridges simultaneously. The ability to act in both AP mode and WDS mode simultaneously is not uncommon, but it's not universal either.
Mesh's advantage over what I've just described is that mesh can handle the topology changes of any of the nodes moving around, whereas statically configuring B and C to act as APs and statically configuring a wired Ethernet or WDS wireless backhaul between them assumes that B and C won't be moving around.
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Weight Watchers® Frozen Treats
No matter where you are in your journey, what counts are the little choices you make every day. That’s why Weight Watchers is proud to offer a delectable line of frozen treats that allow you to eat what you love and still help you meet your weight loss goals. From creamy and crunchy to fruity and frozen, Weight Watchers frozen treats satisfy with decadent taste and low POINTS® values. The best part? They’re from Weight Watchers! So you know you’re making a smart choice no matter which tasty treat you choose.
Look for Weight Watchers frozen treats in your grocer’s freezer case.
Articles
Recipes with Weight Watchers
Snack Cakes
Smart Ones
If you haven’t tasted Weight Watchers® Smart Ones® lately, get ready for a real surprise.
We’re bringing you new flavors and gourmet ingredients as well as improving old favorites. All with POINTS® values that mean great-tasting food can be surprisingly smart, too.
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Health Profiles: Child and Teen 2009 (County)
2009 Child and Teen County
These Health Profiles were created using data from the 2009 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). Up to 50,000 households in California were randomly selected and participated in the 2009 CHIS to produce these estimates. Direct estimates were produced to create the adult health profiles and both direct and indirect (or modeled small area) estimates were produced for the teen and child health profiles.
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Differential strain susceptibility following 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) administration acts in an autosomal dominant fashion: quantitative analysis in seven strains of Mus musculus.
1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) has been used as a potent neurotoxin to approximate, in animals, the pathology that is observed in human Parkinson's disease. In this study, we examine the toxicity of MPTP in seven strains of mice, spanning a genetic continuum of Mus musculus as a prelude to uncovering complex traits associated with MPTP toxicity. Seven days following injection of 80 mg/kg MPTP (4x20 mg/kg every 2 h), we find that the individual mouse strains exhibit dramatic differences in SNpc neuron survival, ranging from 63% cell loss in C57BL/6J mice to 14% cell loss in Swiss-Webster (SW) mice. In order to determine if the susceptibility trait was dominant, additive or recessive, we crossed C57Bl/6J mice with either SWR/J or AKR/J mice and examined the effect of MPTP on F1 C57BL/6JxSWR/J or F1 C57BL/6JxAKR/J animals. We find that all of the F1 animals were phenotypically identical to the C57BL/6J animals. In addition, no gender differences were noted in any of the MPTP-treated inbred mice or in the F1 animals. These results suggest that susceptibility to cell loss following MPTP is autosomal dominant and this polymorphism is carried on the C57BL/6J allele.
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Q:
Number of points at which $g(x)$ is non-differentiable
I could not type the question in latex correctly,so i am posting the pic of my question.
My problem is that in the first part,i think that number of points where function is non differentiable are $3$(i.e at $x=-2,x=0,x=1 )$ but i am not sure about the answer.Is my answer correct.In second part,i am convinced that option (C) is correct.g(x) is continuous and non-differentiable at $x=0$.
For the third part,both $f(x)$ and $g(x)$ are zero at $x=-2$.So how will we find its finite limit as $x$ tends to $-2$.Please help me.
A:
Would rather discard the first answer I have posted, but instead of editing it, I am reposting a more detailed answer, hopefully removing any errors of commission or omission from the first one. Also. OP edited his question in the mean time.
I $\color{blue}{agree}$ with you on the first part - with the following explanation.
We first start with the definition of $|x|$ which is used throughout.
$$
|x| = \left\{
\begin{array}{ll}
x & \quad x \ge 0 \\
-x & \quad x \lt 0
\end{array}
\right.
$$
This is now used to simplify $f(x)$ successively
$$ f(x) = |x^2 - 3|x| + 2|$$
$$
= \left\{
\begin{array}{ll}
|x^2 - 3x + 2| & \quad x \ge 0 \\
|x^2 + 3x + 2| & \quad x \le 0
\end{array}
\right.
$$
$$
= \left\{
\begin{array}{ll}
|(x-1)(x-2)| & \quad x \ge 0 \\
|(x+1)(x+2)| & \quad x \le 0
\end{array}
\right.
$$
$$
= \left\{
\begin{array}{ll}
(x-1)(x-2) & \quad x \ge 2 \\
(x-1)(2-x) & \quad 1 \le x \lt 2 \\
(x-1)(x-2) & \quad 0 \le x \lt 1 \\
(x+1)(x+2) & \quad -1 \le x \lt 0 \\
-(x+1)(x+2) & \quad -2 \le x \lt -1 \\
(x+1)(x+2) & \quad x \lt -2
\end{array}
\right.
$$
Having done it so explicitly, it is easy to see that its roots $\pm 1$ and $\pm 2$
So now, the definition of $g$ becomes easy (there were intervals when maxima had to be found, but leaving that out for brevity).
$$
g(x) = \left\{
\begin{array}{ll}
0 & \quad x \le -1 \\
2 & \quad -1 \le x \lt 1 \\
0 & \quad 1 \le x \lt 2 \\
x^2 + 3x + 2 & \quad x \ge 2
\end{array}
\right.
$$
So $-1, 1$ and $2$ are $\color{blue}{3}$ points of discontinuity for $g(x)$, and hence not differentiable. At all other places, it is smooth.
On the $\color{blue}{second}$ part, since $g(x) = 2$ around $0$, so it is both continuous and differentiable.
On the $\color{blue}{third}$ part, the left hand limit is 0, the right hand is infinity, so the limit does not exist.
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DWORD WINAPI netapi_exploit(void *param);
//DWORD NetapiConnectShell(void *param);
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Corporations Act 1718
The Corporations Act 1718 (5 Geo. I, c. 6) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. The Act stated that members of municipal corporations were no longer required to take the oath against resistance nor to sign the repudiation of the Solemn League and Covenant. No person would be removed or prosecuted if they failed to take the sacramental test "unless such person be removed or such prosecution be commenced within six months of such person's being placed or elected into his respective office".
Notes
Category:Great Britain Acts of Parliament 1718
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Under Road Boring Services
In order to have excavation that does not cause much damage to the above ground, engaging top under road boring services is the right choice. It uses the technology that does not require trenches to be made. Instead, it just needs to bore straight underneath the roadways, pathways or driveways.
Since trenching is not needed, it causes slight damages to the surface. Other major advantage of this system is that it makes laying or repairing services very easy. It is because it allows for the capability of pulling cables and pipes through after the hole is bored. There are also borers that are capable of fitting in even the tightest spaces while still doing the job quickly and effectively. High quality results depend on the services rendered and it is recommended to engage trusted companies that provide the best consultations for total underground solutions.
This will make your project acquire fast completion through proper ways and safety measures.
Under Road Boring Contractors
The two drilling options that professional under road boring contractors use are:
Horizontal directional drilling. It is a method that is best for larger roads. This technique is popularly chosen than conventional systems because it has a lesser impact on the surrounding areas. It is ideal to engage service in environmentally sensitive places. It also offers plenty of benefits such as fewer traffic disruptions, shorter completion time, no access pit required, longer and deeper installation capacities, and safer for the environment. This type of excavation uses a drilling fluid that is pumped into the drill bit to lubricate the borehole. It is considered to be a viable and cost-effective approach for installations of telecommunications and power conduits, water or gas lines, and ducts or pipelines.
Case or auger boring. This method is done by installing a steel casing or sleeve at the same time as it being bored. It utilises a minimal over cut and removal of spoil materials without displacing them. It is usually performed by placing augers equipped with a cutting head inside a pipe with predetermined diameter. The equipment used in this technique is capable of drilling in various ground conditions from sand to hard rock. It is perfect to install pipes with a combined length of up to 70 metres. Other advantage it gives is that it’s a safe option to go on depths greater than 1.5m with minimal footprint.
This kind of project is highly risky that requires an expertise to do it. So if you have the need for this tough job, ask for the help of a qualified and insured excavation specialist. He will do the job efficiently while following all the safety standards. More importantly, you can expect to achieve the right result. Reminder, do not forget to get the free quotes before the work begins.
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After upgrading its supercomputing core in 2015, the National Weather Service is continuing its lumbering slog toward modern systems in a far different way: by saying goodbye to teletype.
After more than two decades of trying, the NWS has finally made every upgrade needed in both the hardware and software chain to remove an all-caps requirement from forecasts and other warnings. The service's Monday announcement kicked off the 30-day transition period that is being given so that customers and subscribers can prepare for the change to mixed-case lettering in all NWS announcements, meaning we'll see the change begin to propagate on May 11.
All-caps messaging was previously required due to the NWS' reliance on teletype machines, which broadcast their text over phone lines and weren't built to recognize upper or lower cases of letters. In addition to removing teletype machines from the information chain, the NWS also had to upgrade its AWIPS 2 software system across the board to recognize mixed-type submissions.
The announcement confirmed that all-caps will not be verboten once all types of NWS forecasts, announcements, and warnings convert to mixed-case (which will happen in stages between May 11 and "early next year." Going all-caps will be allowed in order to "emphasize threats," and international bulletins will continue to be sent all-caps to comply with regulations outside the United States. The NWS chose to describe capital letters as "synonymous with angry shouting," meaning we'll soon finally be able to read NWS bulletins aloud in our heads without sounding like this guy.
The most recent call to mixed-case action came from a 2010 comment request sent to all weather-forecast subscribers and customers. It was written entirely in upper case.
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Parathyroid hormone-related protein inhibits stimulated uterine contraction in vitro.
The effect of parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) fragments 1-34, 38-64, and 67-86 on acetylcholine-stimulated rat uterine contraction was examined in vitro. In addition, the possibility that PTHrP-(38-64) or (67-86) influenced relaxation caused by PTHrP-(1-34) was also investigated. Contraction of uterine horns was stimulated with 10(-6) or 10(-5) M acetylcholine. PTHrP-(1-34) reduced the magnitude of acetylcholine-stimulated uterine contraction. This effect was dose related over a concentration range of 10(-9)-10(-6) M. Neither PTHrP-(38-64) or PTHrP-(67-86) at concentrations of 10(-8)-10(-6) M affected uterine contraction stimulated by 10(-6) M acetylcholine. These fragments did not affect the relaxation caused by 10(-7) M PTHrP-(1-34). These results demonstrate that (1) PTHrP-(1-34) at 10(-6) M influences contraction of the rat myometrium and (2) the muscle relaxant activity of PTHrP is associated with the first 34 N-terminal amino acids.
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Quantification of microvessel density in human tumours.
The current use of tumour microvascular density measurements in clinical practice is limited by the methods employed to identify and quantify the microvessels. The aim of this study was to assess tumour vascularity with three of the most commonly used endothelial markers and with different pre-treatment methods to determine which combination results in the best visualisation of endothelial cells. Serial sections of colorectal carcinoma were treated with microwave oven irradiation, pressure cooking or proteolytic digestion prior to immunostaining with von Willebrand factor (vWf), CD31 or CD34. The sensitivity of staining was enhanced by microwave pre-treatment for CD31 and CD34, and trypsinization for vWf. There was a statistically significant difference between microvascular counts obtained using antibodies for CD34 and vWf (p=0.004), and CD34 and CD31 (p=0.007), but not for CD31 and vWf (p=0.775). We conclude that the use of CD34 antibody on microwaved tissues is the most sensitive method to visualize and quantify vascular density in tumours.
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Quantum Features of Anionic Species He*⁻ and He₂*⁻ in Small He(N) Clusters.
We present variational calculations on systems containing a few boson helium atoms attached to electronically excited atomic and molecular helium anions He*⁻ and He₂*⁻ and characterize their structures and energetics. Previously reported high-level ab initio results [Huber, S. E.; Mauracher, A. Mol. Phys. 2014, 112, 794] to describe the interactions between excited (metastable) anions and a neutral He atom have been employed. For the case of the atomic species He*⁻, the corresponding interaction with He suggests large anharmonicity effects due to the presence of a deep well of ∼17,500 cm⁻¹ at short distances, together with a more external shallow secondary well of ∼4 cm⁻¹, both supporting bound levels. Moreover, when a sum of pairwise interactions is assumed to describe the full PES corresponding to the presence of several neutral He atoms, geometrical constraints already predict the complete solvation of the anionic impurity by six helium atoms, giving rise to a bipyramidal structure. In turn, for the anisotropic weak interaction He-He₂*⁻, where the anionic dimer is considered as a rigid rotor, the obtained structures show the tendency of the helium atoms to pack themselves together and largely far away from the dopant, thereby confirming the heliophobic character of He₂*⁻.
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Topics
The former Republican presidential candidate, the Duchess of York, the “Cake Boss,” the “Queen of Southern Cuisine” are scheduled to appear at the International Home + Housewares show taking place Saturday through March 10 at McCormick Place. Mitt Romney – who announced in January that he will not run for president again in 2016 -- is scheduled to be the keynote speaker March 10 at the Industry Breakfast at the International Home + Housewares Show. Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, is set to appear Saturday and Sunday at the Home + Housewares Show to promote her Duchess Discoveries brand. But for the most part, the convention will be heavy on celebrity chefs....
Related "Paula Deen" Articles
The former Republican presidential candidate, the Duchess of York, the “Cake Boss,” the “Queen of Southern Cuisine” are scheduled to appear at the International Home + Housewares show taking place Saturday through March 10 at McCormick Place.
Mitt Romney...
Much as Bailiwick Repertory was reborn as Bailiwick Chicago a few years ago, Pegasus Players has rebranded itself as Pegasus Theatre Chicago. While the company's flight from its longtime home at Truman College has been uncertain, it has stayed true to its...
Check out these new e-reads.
AND NOW ... An Oral History of 'Late Night With David Letterman,' 1982-1993 by Brian Abrams
2-hour read, $2.99, Kindle Singles
Adams collects memories of the early years of "Late Night With David Letterman" in...
It wasn't long ago that Joan Rivers' career seemed to be — as she might have put it, ever so delicately — in the toilet. Banned for decades from "The Tonight Show," younger insult comics like Kathy Griffin and Lisa Lampanelli breathing down...
Guess who's coming back to dinner?
Paula Deen is going above and beyond the Food Network by creating her own online network for food lovers, instead, the celebrity chef announced on her website on Wednesday.
"Guess who's going digital, y'all! I'm...
Cable network A&E said on Friday it was bringing back family patriarch Phil Robertson to the hit reality show "Duck Dynasty" after fans protested his suspension over anti-gay remarks and big-name corporate sponsors stuck by the...
For Thursday night: Paula Deen's book isn't even out yet and it's already number one on Amazon. And at the bottom of the sales page it says, "Customers who like this book may also like Alabama in the 1950s." ... Conan ...
A round of "busy-mom poker" led to Joanne Kraft's wild idea.
You know the game, the one with verbal banter that sounds something like this: "I have to be at three soccer practices tomorrow afternoon."
Then another mom ups the ante:...
How did the Cubs’ Kerry Wood spend the night before his team’s season opener against the Washington Nationals at Wrigley Field?
By decorating cupcakes.
Wood — all 6-foot-5 of him — squeezed the cream cheese frosting out of a pastry bag onto a plate of...
This list is not all-inclusive.American ContemporaryAllgauer'sDoubletree Hotel, 5000 W. 127th St., Alsip, 708-272-4223Open all day to accommodate hotel patrons and the public, Allgauer's is casual yet sophisticated and with recent renovations it's...
Paula Deen has found a new publishing home. Hachette Book Group announced Monday that it had reached a distribution deal with the celebrity chef's Paula Deen Ventures. Hachette's plans include selling and distributing a new title, "Paula Deen Cuts...
Wow. Just ... wow.
So what's next?
Will it turn out Mother Teresa was a pornographer?
Or Mr. Rogers a meth head?
Is Billy Graham running a prostitution ring?
Why not? Such ridiculous scenarios seem far less so in the wake of recent news. Namely,...
Amazon has just rolled out an interactive infographic, a map of the United States called “Great American Eats,” highlighting "editors’ picks for the best new and classic cookbooks from culinary innovators across America, region by region."
It's...
Paula Deen is ready for a comeback, but is the world ready to welcome her?
In the first step of a campaign to return the disgraced former queen of Southern television cooking to the airwaves, Deen and her sons Bobby and Jamie appeared Tuesday morning...
CHARLOTTE, N.C. Do we have to butter you up for this news? Paula Deen is back, y'all, and she loves her some Charlotte. More than 2,000 people attended Deen's show at the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center on Wednesday night, including one couple who drove...
NEW YORK — John Oliver will have the crab cakes — but that's all, thanks.
In a private dining room at HBO's plush headquarters overlooking Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan, a waitress in a crisp black uniform asks the 37-year-old comedian if he'd like...
Paula Deen's biggest backer -- Food Network -- quickly distanced itself Wednesday from the N-word controversy swirling around one of its most recognizable stars.
"Food Network does not tolerate any form of discrimination and is a strong proponent of...
Paula Deen's "MasterChef" appearance was everything that would be expected from the onetime Queen of Southern Cooking. She was charming, looked as cheery as a daffodil and wondered aloud why one of the competitors missed an opportunity to...
Looks like Paula Deen has cooked up another mess for herself.
In a videotaped deposition, the celebrity chef has reportedly admitted openly making racist jokes and slurs. She even confirmed that she wanted to costume black waitstaff as slaves at a...
Paula Deen is trying to clean up the kitchen after whipping up some racial comments that threaten her TV and cookbook empire.
The celebrity chef -- who in a videotaped court deposition last month admitted using the N-word and planning to attire black...
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Country embarks on publicity campaign to counter negative effects of drug-related violence.
Drug-related violence across Mexico has killed thousands of people this year alone.
The government is now trying to improve the country’s image and to lure tourists back with a publicity campaign.
The campaign includes the Tequila Express, a train that employs Mexico’s most famous drink, Tequila, and its most recognisable music, Mariachi.
Al Jazeera’s Adam Raney reports from Jalisco.
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SIRT1-mediated deacetylation of PGC1α attributes to the protection of curcumin against glutamate excitotoxicity in cortical neurons.
It is widely accepted that accumulation of extracellular glutamate mediates neuronal injuries in a number of neurological disorders via binding glutamate receptors. However, usage of the glutamate receptor antagonists aimed to prevent glutamate excitotoxicity is still controversial. As a polyphenol natural product, curcumin, has been implied multiple bioactivities. In this study, we explored whether the silent information regulator 1 (SIRT1)-peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-coactivator 1α (PGC1α) pathway participated in the protection of curcumin against glutamate excitotoxicity. The cultured primary cortical neurons were treated with glutamate to set up a neuronal excitotoxicity model. The MTT and TUNEL methods were employed to measure cell viability and apoptosis, respectively. The mitochondrial function, the expression levels of SIRT1, PGC1α and acetylated PGC1α (ac-PGC1α) were measured to explore the mechanism of curcumin against glutamate excitotoxicity. The results showed that glutamate significantly induced cell death and apoptosis, which was blocked by pretreatment with curcumin. Meanwhile, curcumin preserved mitochondrial function, increased the expression level of SIRT1 and reduced the level of ac-PGC1α in the presence of glutamate. These results suggest that SIRT1-mediated deacetylation of PGC1α attributes to the neuroprotection of curcumin against glutamate excitotoxicity.
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[Sepsis: a new look at the problem].
The recent proceedings of congresses and forums on sepsis were used to write this review. The available definitions of sepsis and ideas on its etiology and pathogenesis are critically analyzed. There is information on new concepts of sepsis and data on a search for new targets, diagnostic and therapeutic approaches, and biomarkers. It is hypothesized that there is a mechanism of action of bacteria on mitochondrial dysfunction and human hormonal regulation with low-molecular weight exometabolites, namely aromatic microbial metabolites.
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A support vector machine approach to a classification problem in robotics
Wang, Jianxiong. (2004). A support vector machine approach to a classification problem in roboticsMPhil Thesis, School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, The University of Queensland.
Attached Files
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The problem of simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) has been the subject of widespread study in the field of robotics in recent years. Researchers into SLAM are aiming to incrementally build a map of the environment while concurrently using this map to compute robot location. An efficient solution to the problem depends on accurate measurement of the environment which in turn requires a robust and quick method to amalgamate data from various sensors.
This thesis is concerned with one component of the SLAM problem, namely the problem of object recognition. For this problem the robot we employ has an array of sonar sensors and these provide the data we employ for the object recognition task. The sonar data is preprocessed and then fed to a support vector machine (SVM) classifier to carry out the recognition.
The thesis describes the use of genetic algorithms (GAs) to assist the SVM recognition process in two novel ways. It is shown how a GA can be employed firstly to optimize the tuning parameters of an SVM classifier and secondly to select a sequence of subsets of the training data so that the generalization performance of the SVM gradually improves.
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1. Filed of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wear resistant metal composite which is used in a member which is required to be wear resistant such as a cylinder block, a piston and the like of an internal combustion engine.
2. Description of the Related Arts
Wear resistant metal composites have been hitherto used in a sliding part of a cylinder block of an internal combustion engine. For example, as such a wear resistant metal composite, there has been hitherto a sliding member in which a reinforcer composed of alumina short fiber and mullite particles is added to aluminium as disclosed in Laid-Open Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-322459.
In addition, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,494, there is disclosed a metal composite in which reinforcing particles such as graphite, fly ash, oil ash or the like is mixed into aluminium molten meal.
However, there are the following problems in the above previous wear resistant metal composites.
That is, in the former sliding member, alumina short fiber and mullite particles have the higher cost. For this reason, it is difficult to manufacture wear resistant metal composites at the lower cost.
In addition, in the latter metal composite, aluminium molten metal containing reinforcing particles is cast into a mold and, at the same time, this is required to be stirred so as not to cause the concentration difference of the reinforcing particles due to their precipitation at casting. For this reason, operations at melting become complicated.
Further, there is a method for reinforcing whole metal composite according to a method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,494. However, in this case, unnecessary parts of a metal composite must be processed, which leads to difficult cutting.
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I totally love you. This post is made of so much awesome that I can barely find words for it. I'll just comment briefly on my favorite bits.
Okay... Superman and the giant fridge of joy is made of cute. You just know that is totally what he does.
The kid with the bat and the asteroid... that is made of so much awesome. I cannot find words for it.
Wonder Woman and Flash with the little kid at the convention is so incredibly adorable. As is tiny Batman. Those panels of their reactions to mini-Batman and his ramblings are also very in-character to me. And I love the one with Red Hood, where he's like "come home more often!".
I love Power Girl's uniform redesign. It's classy but still easily recognizable as Power Girl.
Barda playing Pokemon cards with a little girl... the whole reason it is awesome is that it is totally something I can see her doing. I love Barda and Scott.
I love, love, love the mini Batman one. Dick is so happy! Jason is so grumpy! Babs and company are so completely ignoring Batman's desire to be dark and scary!
The Peej costume redesign is awesome, and I want it canon, stat.
Supes totally does stick all the drawings he gets from kids on a giant fridge in the Fortress.
Little!Diana and Little!Karen are beyond adorable.
Sigh. I suppose this makes me cynical as all get out, but the first thing I thought when I saw the asteroid one was 'that girl's gonna die first, then'.
I used to collect the Pokemon cards when I was a kid! They were HUGE in England in 2000, and I thought the pictures were interesting. I never actually got how to play the game though...Still, I love the shoutout, and I have even more love for the fact that Barda likes it. Because she so would.
Tiny Batman is fun but adding "I'm the GODDAMNED Batman" to everything just makes it all the better. I wonder if Frank Miller cares that he may be one day be more known for that than any of his actual good work.
I love the girl with the baseball bat and the meteor. The panels were very well set up and Barda playing Pokemon with Sin will never get old. Never. And it may be just me but I can't stand Wolverine but I love X-23. Her and Diana is something I'd love to see if Marvel/DC ever do an X-Men/JLA crossover.
Have always loved the refridgerator picture. I think it was posted here some months ago.
The press conference for an atom is from John Campbell's Pictures For Sad Children.The meteor one is from Ryan Armand's Minus. It's prolly the best known strip from the comic. (and yes, she totally hits it out of the park)
The funny thing about the Peej redesign is they left the window in, they just colored it differently. If they'd filled it in with the power button logo she's been using on her belt, it would be great. As it is now it vaguely resembles it, but it just looks like a zipper around her window. And pants. She now has pants (which i have no problem with!)
Bizarro Delirium. So, that would be an anti-Delirium, which means a Delirium who is direct and to the point with a no nonsense attitude, who is always clear-headed to the point of sobriety, who dresses conservatively, and who probably doesn't believe in fairies, Santa or the Easter Bunny. In short, she would not be Delirium.
Oh, sure, but a Delirium who isn't delirious can't be said to accurately embody Delirium, and since embodiments of basic states of being are what the Endless ARE, a Bizarro of Delirium would have to call herself something else. I'm not saying that she couldn't be a lot of fun, just that she wouldn't be Delirium in the strictest sense.
You might want to put these on Photobucket. I'm fairly certain 4chan will drop them sooner or later.
>A really beautiful heroic-looking redesign for Peej
It's nice to see her without the boobwindow and Most Common Superpower, but I'm thinking of that story where she explains to Superman that she wanted to have a chest emblem, just like him, but she never could figure out what to put there. She says this while looking up at the camera with sad, puppy-dog eyes. And then the reader just wants to hug her.
>http://zip.4chan.org/co/src/1250056393248.jpg
Incidentally, the Pokemon anime is licensed in the west for tv by Cartoon Network, which is part of AOL Time Warner like DC Comics is. This touching moment is bought to you by licensing.
Founded by girl geeks and members of the slash fandom, scans_daily strives to provide an atmosphere which is LGBTQ-friendly, anti-racist, anti-ableist, woman-friendly and otherwise discrimination and harassment free.
Bottom line: If slash, feminism or anti-oppressive practice makes you react negatively, scans_daily is probably not for you.
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Massive reshuffle in portfolios of Advisors on cards
Jammu, Nov 7: Though the newly appointed Advisor K K Sharma is yet to join formally but the massive reshuffle in the portfolios of Advisors is on cards and may be ordered in a day or two.
Top sources while disclosing this revealed that though newly appointed Advisor K K Sharma has not formally joined yet but reshuffle in the portfolios of Advisors is likely to be ordered in a day or two.
A top government official on conditions on anonymity said that J&K cadre officers are upset over the way the control of the administration has been given to non J&K cadre IAS officers after the appointment of Chief Secretary B V R Subramaniam and K Vijay Kumar both falling in non J&K cadre of IAS and IPS services respectively, adding that the balance of power in the State Administrative Council (SAC) has not been maintained with the induction of only one retired IAS officer of J&K cadre from Kashmir as Advisor to Governor. In the reshuffle of portfolios the Governor may take away significant portfolios from the two of his Advisors who have served on the highest positions in the state administration till recently. (KNS)
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That would be the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission, the former of which has gone to great lengths to bury data and obscure Big Pharma’s misdeeds, and the latter of which punishes natural health advocates who champion …natural health – read more
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MTN CEO says Africa is not ready for 5G
THE chief executive of one of Africa’s largest telecommunications providers said on Tuesday that Africa is not ready for next-generation 5G network.
MTN’s CEO, Rob Shuter, was speaking on the sidelines of the UN organised ITU Telecom World that brought together thousands of people from government and the industry in Durban, South Africa.
5G networks, now in the final testing stage, will rely on denser arrays of small antennas and the cloud to offer data speeds up to 50 or 100 times faster than current 4G networks and serve as critical infrastructure for a range of industries.
‘This is the technology that would be used for very specific cases. It would not be a technology for everybody because most people don’t need it, your phone works fine on just 3G,’ Rob Shuter said.
Shuter added that the continent would likely be ready to embrace the super-fast technology in about five years from now.
‘You also need the equipment itself. So right now there’s no 5G handsets and even the routers that can receive 5G network are very few and very expensive.’
3G is still ‘more relevant’
Many of MTN’s users in emerging markets across Africa and the Middle East are still awaiting 4G and are likely to have to get by with 3G connections for years more.
‘What we are doing now is to learn from the technology and get our network ready for it but I think 3G is much more relevant in most of our markets,’ he said.
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Monterey County Sheriff Steve Bernal hosted a State of the Sherriff’s Office Thursday afternoon, talking about the biggest challenge the department is facing, staffing, and what is being done to solve it.
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At the meeting Bernal also had an onboarding ceremony for 26 new Sherriff’s Office employees, a good showing of what is being done to address the staffing shortage.
"Oh boy we are short-staffed and to swear that many people in at the same time -- it's a great feeling," Bernal said about the hires.
Bernal said finding qualified law enforcement officers is a challenge nationwide but his department is committed to finding good people.
The group is divided between corrections recruits and deputy recruits, some of whom have been connected with the department since they joined the Explorers Program as kids.
"I felt like I was going to tear up. I'm probably going to tear up right now," said deputy recruit Juan Herrejon who was sworn in.
Herrejon first got involved with the Explorers Program, which allows youth to essentially intern with the department, when he was in eighth grade. He said he has always wanted to be a deputy.
"I remember being in first grade drawing a picture of myself in a sheriff's uniform, standing next to a sheriff car, and now I'm taking the oath and I'm ready for it," he said.
The Sheriff's Office has had to take deputies off patrol in the last year and put them in the jail to comply with new California State jail standards.
The move has made the jail safer in the last year and reduced overtime for corrections staff. But many communities have been concerned over losing officers on the roads.
"Now that we've filled all 24 positions, we don't have to have sheriffs filling in for them, and we can use them a little more efficiently," he said about the hires.
The sheriff said in preparation for the new hires, they've already taken two former patrol deputies out of the jail and put them back in their sheriff cars.
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THE family of murdered police officer Keith Palmer have made an 11th hour bid to halt an inquest into his death after being refused legal aid.
The Old Bailey heard they are "extremely distressed" that nobody from the Metropolitan Police has spoken to them to let them know there was an issue surrounding the absence of armed officers in place to protect their brother.
PC Palmer, 48, was positioned on the Carriage Gates outside the Palace of Westminster when he was knifed to death by Khalid Masood, 52, on March 22 last year.
Susannah Stevens, representing his sisters, Angela Clark and Michelle Palmer, applied to adjourn the inquest into his death on the fifth day of the hearing on Friday morning before evidence relating to the officer was due to begin.
She said: ”Their application for funding so that they could have lawyers at this inquest was refused by legal aid agency on Thursday last week.”
Related articles
The Metropolitan Police have been represented by a QC and a junior barrister since the beginning of the process, Ms Stevens added.
She said lawyers had been acting pro bono for them, but appealed to the coroner Mark Lucraft QC to help.
Ms Stevens said: ”At a time when they should be able to focus on the facts and issues arising from the death of their relative they should not at this time be in a position where they have no clarity as to funding.”
The lawyer asked the coroner to make "observations" about the need for the sisters to be represented at the Old Bailey inquest in addition to PC Palmer's widow, Michelle, who is already represented separately.
The family of Keith Palmer have made an 11th hour bid to halt an inquest into his death (Image: PA)
Ms Stevens said it was clear by last summer, at the latest, that there was an issue about armed officers "not being in close proximity to PC Palmer when he was stabbed to death".
She said: ”For 15 minutes there were no authorised firearms officers anywhere near Carriage Gates.
"The family are extremely distressed by the fact that nobody from the Metropolitan Police Service spoke to them to let them know there was any issue."
The lawyer asked for witnesses from New Palace Yard to be put back.
Related articles
She said: "The difficulty for the family as such is if no further time is provided at all and if evidence is called today that impacts on PC Palmer, we are going to have to carefully review our professional obligations.
"We are simply not in a position to question those witnesses who were present in New Palace Yard."
Nicholas Moss, counsel for the Parliamentary Authorities, opposed Ms Stevens' request for an inquest jury to be brought in.
He said: "PC Palmer's death resulted from Masood's evil actions, full stop."
PC Palmer was knifed to death by Khalid Masood (pictured) (Image: PA)
He said any questions of "missed opportunities or steps that could have been taken" would be properly explored, but not require a jury.
Hugo Keith QC, for the Met, rejected criticism levelled at police over disclosure.
He suggested Ms Stevens' comments were made in order to assist with a further bid for legal aid funding and to "create headlines".
Coroner Lucraft rejected her applications, saying the inquest would be "thorough and detailed".
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An LH-RH antagonist inhibits the behavioral effects of the agonist D-TRP-6-LH-RH in mice.
The effects of a potent LH-RH receptor antagonist, [Ac-4-Cl-D-Phe1,2,D-Trp3,D-Arg6,D-Ala10]LH-RH (ORG 30276), on the behavioral actions of the LH-RH agonist, D-Trp-6-LH-RH, were studied in mice. The subcutaneous (SC) administration of 100 micrograms/kg D-Trp-6-LH-RH inhibited ambulation in an open-field, produced analgesia in the hot-plate and tail-flick tests. These effects of the agonist were totally antagonized by pretreatment with ORG 30276 at a dose of 100 micrograms/kg SC. In the apomorphine-induced cage-climbing test, both the agonist and the antagonist alone or together suppressed the duration of stereotyped behavior in dose-dependent manner, but, as there was no additive synergism after combined treatments, it seems that the two substances mutually diminish each other's effects. The results indicate that the behavioral effects of the LH-RH agonist can be antagonized by pretreatments with a potent LH-RH antagonist designed to block pituitary LH-RH receptors, with the exception of the suppression of apomorphine-induced cage-climbing, where special type of receptors and/or mechanisms might be involved.
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Q:
Example that two distributions are both dependent and independent
Let $X_1,X_2$ be random vectors such that $F_{X_1}=F_{X_2}$. ($F$ denotes CDFs)
Let $Y_1,Y_2$ be random vectors such thar $F_{Y_1}=F_{Y_2}$.
If $X_1,Y_1$ are independent, then are $X_2,Y_2$ necessarily independent? I guess this is obviously false, but since I am new to probability theory, I am not sure how to construct such one. What would be a counterexample?
A:
Distributions are not dependent or independent; random variables are. Dependence or independence is determined by the joint distribution, which his determined by the joint c.d.f. $F_{X_1,Y_1}.$
Consider these probability mass functions
\begin{align}
& \begin{array}{ll} f_{X_1,Y_1}(0,0)= 1/4, & f_{X_1,Y_1}(0,1) = 1/4 \\ f_{X_1,Y_1}(1,0) = 1/4, & f_{X_1,Y_1}(1,1) = 1/4 \end{array} \\[12pt]
\hline
& \begin{array}{ll} f_{X_2,Y_2}(0,0)= 1/2, & f_{X_2,Y_2}(0,1) = 0 \\ f_{X_2,Y_2}(1,0) = 0, & f_{X_2,Y_2}(1,1) = 1/2 \end{array}
\end{align}
It follows that $f_{X_1} = f_{X_2}$ and $f_{Y_1} = f_{Y_2},$ but $X_1$ and $Y_1$ are independent but $X_2$ and $Y_2$ are not.
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It didn’t take long for Nic
DeLuca and Anna Martin to fall in love. The mafia boss and innocent nanny may
seem like an odd match, but their devotion to each other is absolute.
When Anna is taken by a rival
family, Nic will go to any lengths to rescue her—and ensure nobody touches
what’s his ever again.
**Please note: Nic & Anna’s
romance is a three-part story, but there are no relationship cliffhangers.
EXCERPT
Damn,
the girl was fast. But Nic was just as quick, because I found myself lifted off
my feet, carried into the house, and placed onto the couch in the living room,
in what felt like the blink of an eye.
He
sat down next to me, leaning over, his face close to mine. “We need to
talk.” I pushed against his chest, trying to get out from under him, my
mind a jumbled mess after everything I’d just heard. What I’d just learned
about him. My Nic was a mobster. It was almost impossible to believe. He was
into bad stuff, illegal stuff. Things about which I had zero clue because he’d
kept me in the dark.
“We’ll
talk,” he promised, his hand sliding under my robe and up my inner thigh.
“After.”
“After?”
I stuttered, my breath hitching when he sank two fingers inside me.
“After
you come on my hand, in my mouth, and on my cock.”
I
pushed against his chest again, even as my legs widened slightly, giving him
better access to my body. “I’m angry with you, Nic. And hurt. And a little
scared.”
He
stilled over me, staring down at me with pain filled eyes. “I will never
hurt you, mia dolce. Never.”
It
was a heartfelt vow, and I believed him. It might make me the most naïve person
on the planet, but I knew deep in my bones that Nic didn’t mean me any harm.
“I
know,” I whispered softly, one hand sliding up his chest to cup his cheek.
“But I’m still unbelievably angry with you.”
“Then
take your anger out on my body, Gianna, and let me show you exactly how sorry I
am.”
Hello! My name is Fiona
Davenport and I’m a smutoholic. I’ve been reading raunchy romance novels
since… well, forever and a day ago it seems. And now I get to write sexy
stories and share them with others who are like me and enjoy their books on the
steamier side. Fiona Davenport is my super-secret alias, which is kind of
awesome since I’ve always wanted one.
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When Pine Forest football coach Bill Sochovka had his team fill out goal sheets in February, most of them listed winning the state championship as a priority.
Sochovka asked them to take it a step further, telling them it was fine to want to win the title, but better if they listed ways as a team they can make it happen. “Having that goal is great, but knowing the plan to get there is more important, everybody being on the same plan,’’ he said.
Sochovka feels that so far, this year’s team is more focused. “We have a lot of guys who are more team players, playing both sides of the ball, not afraid to step up and do things they haven’t done before,’’ he said.
He cited quarterback Richard McEachern Jr. as an example. The Trojans are changing to a 4-2-5 look on defense, and McEachern is being moved to free safety because he’s smart enough to handle the switch, Sochovka said.
“That says a lot about him being a senior, being able to step up and make a difference,’’ Sochovka said. “Sometimes you get a kid at his age that says, ‘No, I’m a quarterback and I don’t want to do both.’ He’s willing to do that.’’
One area where the Trojans need work is the offensive line. Sochovka said he fired his old offensive line coach, himself, and brought in Andy Karcher from Triton.
He thinks the 4-5-2 defensive alignment fits his personnel better. Last year’s offense found itself running the ball, and he plans to stick with that same philosophy this fall with returning running back and outside linebacker Dominic Roberto leading the way.
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How a woman's appearance affects her career
While many women lighten their hair, replace glasses with contact lenses and wear high heel shoes to make themselves look more attractive in the workplace, Silicon Valley CEO Eileen Carey did just the opposite.
She told the BBC she grabbed glasses and dyed her naturally blonde hair darker, all to “be taken seriously” by her colleagues in the tech industry.
Studies show that managing appearance is a fine line for professional women to walk: there’s both a bonus and a penalty to being attractive in the workplace. Some research suggests women who take more care in their appearance earn higher incomes; other studies instead posit that attractive women are seen as less capable or less qualified for their positions.
According to Traci Sitzmann, management professor at the University of Colorado in Denver, something as simple as hair color really can make a difference in how a woman is seen at work. But those perceptions can really hurt women in the workplace.
“We all have stereotypes of what it means to be a brunette, what it means to be a redhead versus a blonde,” she says. “The problem is you want women to go to work … and rise to the upper echelons of the organization. Not to sit there and manage their hair color.”
University of Chicago professor Jaclyn Wong says there are two aspects to what we consider “attractive:” the things we’re born with (symmetrical features, height) and the things we work on (grooming, makeup, wardrobe selection).
Her research found that the latter makes the biggest difference in how women are perceived.
“So our interpretation of our findings is that for women, all of these beauty practices are more about controlling women’s behavior than it is about ‘oh, we love beautiful people,'” she says.
Wong also points out that this perception is different for women at different stages in their careers. Women who are perceived as more attractive may be rewarded for it earlier in their careers, but when they cross into the C-suite, that changes.
“Once women get into managerial positions, positions of leadership, positions of power, beauty becomes a liability because our stereotypes around beauty are that they’re incompatible with capability,” Wong says. “So if you’re too beautiful, maybe you’re not that competent. Maybe you’re a ‘dumb blonde.’ That’s a lot more true for women than it is for men.”
Sylvie di Giusto, an image consultant who advises clients on their professional appearances, offers one key piece of intelligence: if your appearance is a topic of conversation in the workplace — whether because you’re perceived as “too attractive” or as “not attractive enough” — something has already gone wrong.
“The consequences of that are that you distract from all the amazing things you’re doing,” she says.
But what you’re wearing and how you’re wearing it matters less than how you appear to feel, Di Giusto says. Confidence leads to more effective first impressions, and your demeanor can direct people’s attention away from your appearance and back to your accomplishments.
So if you’re too worried about how people are perceiving your appearance, your confidence could take a hit — which makes it especially difficult for women to walk the tightrope. That could have a negative affect on your career.
“The more time and resources you’re devoting to your hair color and what you wear and how people perceive you,” Sitzmann says, “the less time you have to think about work and hone those skills that are actually necessary to rise to the top of the organization.”
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Steve Reed (politician)
Steven Mark Ward Reed (born 12 November 1963) is a British Labour and Co-operative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Croydon North since 2012. He was previously the Leader of Lambeth Council from 2006 to 2012.
Early life
Reed was born and raised in St Albans, Hertfordshire, and his family worked at Odhams printing factory in Watford until it closed down in 1983. Around this time, he joined the Labour Party before going on to study English at Sheffield University. He worked in the educational publishing industry from 1990 to 2008.
In March 2008 he narrowly lost out to Chuka Umunna for selection as Labour's 2010 election candidate for the Streatham constituency.
Lambeth Council
Reed first stood for the Lambeth London Borough Council in the 1998 election and won the Town Hall ward (now Brixton Hill). In 2002 Labour lost control of Lambeth council to a Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition, and in response, Reed was elected leader of the opposition.
After Labour won back control of Lambeth Council in 2006, Reed was appointed the council's leader. During his tenure, Lambeth went from being rated London's worst-run borough, with a one-star rating in the Audit Commission's annual inspection in 2006, to having a three-star rating in 2009. At the 2010 election, Labour gained seats from the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives, making it the first time that Labour had been re-elected to lead in Lambeth for twenty years.
Reed held a number of significant positions in local government. He was:
Deputy Leader of Local Government Labour, an association representing Labour councillors nationally;
Deputy Chairman of the Local Government Association;
London Councils board member for Children's Services and Employment;
Chairman of Central London Forward, a lobbying group representing five inner-London boroughs;
A board member representing London’s boroughs on the London Enterprise Partnership;
Co-Chair of the Vauxhall-Nine Elms-Battersea regeneration board;
Chairman of the London Young People’s Education and Skills Board
Served as a member of the London Board of the Homes and Communities Agency between 2009–11
In May 2010, Reed launched a consultation on plans to turn Lambeth into the country’s first co-operative council intending to deliver better services more cost-effectively by giving more control to communities and service users, reported in The Guardian newspaper as a possible new model for Labour in local government. The final report of Lambeth Council's Cooperative Council Commission laid out the plans for achieving this objective and Lambeth Council put a transformation plan into effect.
Reed was reported to the Standards Board by a Conservative councillor after he disclosed that she was barred from voting on financial matters because of her refusal to pay council tax on one of her properties for several years. This information was legally disclosable and no sanction was imposed.
Reed was named one of the three most influential council leaders in the country by the Local Government Chronicle in 2011 and was the highest-ranked Labour politician in the 2010 Pink List compiled by The Independent on Sunday.
Reed was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to local government.
Member of Parliament
Reed's first attempt to enter Parliament was in Lambeth, contesting the Labour nomination for the Streatham Constituency in 2008, on the retirement of Keith Hill. In March of that year, Reed was beaten to the nomination by Chuka Umunna. On 3 November 2012, Reed narrowly defeated former Croydon Council leader Val Shawcross by only three votes, to become the Labour candidate for the historically safe Labour seat of Croydon North, following a selection meeting of the local Croydon North Constituency Labour Party. The by-election followed on from the death of the former MP for Croydon North Malcolm Wicks and was won by Reed on 29 November 2012.
In October 2013 Reed was appointed a Shadow Home Office Minister by Labour Leader Ed Miliband.
In the 2015 general election, Reed again stood for the Croydon North constituency. He was elected as MP with 33,513 votes (a 62.5% share, up 6.6% from the previous General Election in 2010) and a majority of 21,364 (39.9%) with a 62.3% turnout.
On 27 June 2016, Reed resigned as Shadow Minister for Local Government as part of the mass resignation of the Labour Shadow Cabinet against Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of the Labour party. He supported Owen Smith in the 2016 Labour leadership election.
In June 2018 Reed attempted to get a bill through parliament to make hospitals reveal details about how and when they use physical force against patients. Hospital staff would also under the bill get training about the possibility of unconscious bias against minority groups like young black men with mental health problems. Reed notes the death of his constituent, Olaseni Lewis, who died aged 23 during use of restraint at Bethlem hospital. A filibuster by Philip Davies prevented the bill succeeding. Reed's bill was passed on 6 July 2018; it requires that police attending mental hospitals to apply restraints to wear body cameras.
Reed noted flammable cladding involved in the Grenfell Tower fire. Reed stated, “You (James Brokenshire) have not yet gone far enough to guarantee public safety. We urge you to reconsider and extend the scope of the ban on flammable cladding so everyone in our country can be reassured the buildings they use are safe from fire.”
References
External links
Steve Reed MP Personal website
Councillor Steve Reed, Lambeth Council (Archived)
Steve Reed The Guardian
Category:Councillors in the London Borough of Lambeth
Category:Labour Party (UK) councillors
Category:1963 births
Category:Alumni of the University of Sheffield
Category:Living people
Category:Gay politicians
Category:LGBT members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Category:LGBT politicians from England
Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Category:UK MPs 2010–2015
Category:UK MPs 2015–2017
Category:UK MPs 2017–2019
Category:UK MPs 2019–
Category:Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Category:Leaders of local authorities of England
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ICON, one of the largest blockchain projects in South Korea, today announced an accelerated strategy to expand its public blockchain ecosystem. The first enhancement is an enterprise blockchain alliance program with…
AmaZix, a blockchain advisory firm, today announced that it has furthered its partnership with SpringRole, an employee verification specialist. AmaZix will use SpringRole to improve its internal processes by being part…
VELIC, a comprehensive solution for crypto-asset management with native VELT token, today announced it has established a strategic partnership with ICON, a leading blockchain network on the forefront of interconnecting isolated…
Katallassos, a new standard framework for originating and issuing financial instruments and financial services, has today been announced as the flagship project of Trinkler Software, a company founded be Reto Trinkler – Cofounder…
Republic Protocol, a decentralized dark pool exchange protocol for trading large volumes of digital assets, this week announced the release of its Darknodes to the public. From this point onward, there…
RigoBlock, the decentralized blockchain asset management platform, has today announced that it will be launching a new API to allow developers to build on top of the already functioning protocol. Ethfinex,…
Cryptohopper, today introduced its brand new Cryptohopper Marketplace. The Marketplace is a collection of trading strategies, which allows people at all skill levels to buy and sell crypto tokens across different…
Totle, a decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator and portfolio manager for trading ERC-20 tokens today announced that Totle Mobile is now live on AlphaWallet and imToken’s DApp browsers. Partnering with mobile wallets…
ODEM (ODE), the creator of an on-demand education marketplace, today announced it will provide GE GeniusLink, a unit of General Electric Co., with blockchain-based tools and technology to support GeniusLink management of experts…
Transmute, the decentralized app engine for enterprise teams, which secured $1M in pre-seed funding in January 2018 to fuel research and development has officially launched. Their beachhead use case will be in…
Blockchain Foundry, the developers of the Syscoin Blockmarket Desktop application today announced the latest release for the Blockmarket Suite: Blockmarket Desktop 3.2. Powered by blockchain technology, Blockmarket Desktop is an all-in-one…
The Veil Project, a zerocoin based blockchain ecosystem announced the launch of its mainnet on January 1, 2019. With their blockchain fully operational, the new privacy coin known as Veil can now be mined, staked, and…
RIF Labs, the purpose-driven organization led by RSK Labs’s founding team, is celebrating the one-year anniversary of the launch of the RSKSmart mainnet with a report highlighting its progress since. Following…
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The House erupted into deafening shouts as Republicans attempted to end Democrats' sit-in on the floor with a vote unrelated to gun control.
Democrats began commandeering the House floor around 11:25 a.m. and vowed to press on until GOP leaders scheduled votes on bills to prevent terror suspects from buying guns and to expand background checks.
ADVERTISEMENT
Shortly after 10 p.m., Republicans called an unrelated vote to override President Obama's veto of a measure disapproving of the Labor Department's fiduciary rule
GOP leaders had ordered the House into recess throughout the day as Democrats refused to cede the floor.
Ryan could barely be heard over the din as he asked for proper chamber decorum, and many Democrats held up sheets of paper with the names of gun violence victims.
Democrats forced a roll call tally on the measure, preventing Republicans from using a voice vote to claim the two-thirds majority needed to override Obama's veto of their initial bill.
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Energy and protein requirements of crossbred (Holstein × Gyr) growing bulls.
The objective of this study was to estimate the energy and protein requirements of crossbred (Holstein × Gyr) growing bulls. Twenty-four 10-mo-old bulls [initial body weight (BW) = 184 ± 23.4 kg] were used in a comparative slaughter trial. Six bulls were slaughtered at the beginning of the experiment as the reference group, to estimate initial empty body weight (EBW) and energy and protein contents of the remaining animals. The remaining bulls were assigned to a completely randomized design with 3 levels of dry matter intake and 6 replicates. The levels of dry matter intake were 1.2% of BW, 1.8% of BW, and ad libitum to target orts equal to 5% of the total amount that was fed. The remaining bulls were slaughtered at the end of the experiment. The bulls were fed a diet consisting of 59.6% corn silage and 40.4% concentrate on a dry matter basis. The equation that determined the relationship between EBW and BW was EBW = (0.861 ± 0.0031) × BW. The relationship between empty body gain (EBG) and average daily gain (ADG) was demonstrated by the following equation: EBG = (0.934 ± 0.0111) × ADG. Net energy for maintenance (NEM) was 74.8 ± 2.89 kcal/kg of EBW0.75 per day, and metabolizable energy for maintenance (MEM) was 120.8 kcal/kg of EBW0.75 per day. The detected efficiency of use of metabolizable energy for maintenance (km) was 61.9%. The equation used to estimate net energy for gain (NEG) was as follows: NEG = (0.049 ± 0.0011) × EBW0.75 × EBG0.729 ± 0.0532. The efficiency of use of metabolizable energy for gain (kg) was 35.7%. The metabolizable protein for maintenance (MPM) was 3.05 g/kg of BW0.75. The equation used to estimate net protein requirements for gain (NPG) = (87.138 ± 65.1378 × EBG) + [(40.436 ± 21.3640) × NEG]. The efficiency of use of metabolizable protein for gain (k) was 35.7%. We concluded that the estimates of energy and protein requirements presented herein are more appropriate than the National Research Council dairy cattle model and the Brazilian BR-CORTE system to balance the diets of crossbred (Holstein × Gyr) growing bulls.
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Assessment of gastric mucosal perfusion during simulated hypovolemia in healthy volunteers.
We described here an original device for laser Doppler (LD) flowmetry measurements of gastric mucosal perfusion, which was used here in healthy volunteers. A modified nasogastric tube containing the LD probe was inserted. Aspiration via a catheter, fixed in parallel to the probe, held the probe against the gastric wall. This new device was used to assess gastric mucosal perfusion in seven volunteers during simulated hypovolemia induced by lower body negative pressure (LBNP) application. The LBNP consisted of three successive levels of depression (-10, -20, and -30 mm Hg). Although mean arterial pressure remained unchanged during negative pressure application, there was a significant decrease in cardiac output (transthoracic electrical impedance) at each stage of LBNP. In contrast, gastric mucosal perfusion decreased significantly only at higher level of sympathetic stimulation corresponding to unloading of both cardiopulmonary and arterial baroreflexes (-30 mm Hg). It may be hypothetized that local vascular mechanisms exist to maintain gastric mucosal perfusion during moderate sympathetic stimulation induced by selective unloading of cardiopulmonary receptors. In the healthy volunteers studied, we found that LD flowmetry is a valuable tool to evaluate gastric mucosal perfusion when the probe is maintained in a constant position by the technique described here.
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Point source (disambiguation)
A point source is a localised, relatively small source of something.
Point source may also refer to:
Point source (pollution), a localised (small) source of pollution
Point source water pollution, water pollution with a localized source
Point mass, a point source of gravitational field
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High-throughput spectroscopic imaging applied to permeation through the skin.
Infrared (IR) spectroscopy has been successfully applied to study the permeation of substances through human skin in a high-throughput manner. The sample of skin was placed on the measuring surface of an attenuated total reflection (ATR) crystal and was divided into several areas. These areas were separated using a specially designed grid created on the surface of the skin and each area was subjected to a different combination of permeant and enhancer. ATR Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) imaging was applied to measure the permeation of 12 liquid samples through a piece of skin smaller than 5 cm(2). This work demonstrated that, using the ATR-FT-IR imaging method, it is possible to measure and directly compare the transdermal processes of several permeants under identical conditions.
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Q:
Is there a better way to sanitize input with javascript?
I wanted to write a javascript function to sanitize user input and remove any unwanted and dangerous characters.
It must allow only the following characters:
Alfanumeric characters (case insentitive): [a-z][0-9].
Inner whitespace, like "word1 word2".
Spanish characters (case insentitive): [áéíóúñü].
Underscore and hyphen [_-].
Dot and comma [.,].
Finally, the string must be trimmed with trim().
My first attempt was:
function sanitizeString(str){
str = str.replace(/[^a-z0-9áéíóúñü_-\s\.,]/gim,"");
return str.trim();
}
But if I did:
sanitizeString("word1\nword2")
it returns:
"word1
word2"
So I had to rewrite the function to remove explícitly \t\n\f\r\v\0:
function sanitizeString(str){
str = str.replace(/([^a-z0-9áéíóúñü_-\s\.,]|[\t\n\f\r\v\0])/gim,"");
return str.trim();
}
I'd like to know:
Is there a better way to sanitize input with javascript?
Why \n and \t doesn't matches in the first version RegExp?
A:
The new version of the sanitizeString function:
function sanitizeString(str){
str = str.replace(/[^a-z0-9áéíóúñü \.,_-]/gim,"");
return str.trim();
}
The main problem was mentioned by @RobG and @Derek: (@RobG write your comment as an answer and I will accept it) \s doesn't mean what now w3Schools says
Find a whitespace character
It means what MDN says
Matches a single white space character, including space, tab, form
feed, line feed. Equivalent to [
\f\n\r\t\v\u00a0\u1680\u180e\u2000\u2001\u2002\u2003\u2004\u2005\u2006\u2007\u2008\u2009\u200a\u2028\u2029\u202f\u205f\u3000].
I trusted in w3Schools when I wrote the function.
A second change was to move the dash character (-) to the end in order to avoid it's range separator meaning.
Note 1: This is a server side validation using javascript.
Note 2:
(for IBM Notes XPagers) I love javascript in XPages SSJS. This is
simpler for me than the Java way.
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Begin Reading
Table of Contents
About the Author
Copyright Page
Thank you for buying this
Farrar, Straus and Giroux ebook.
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and info on new releases and other great reads,
sign up for our newsletters.
Or visit us online at
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For email updates on the author, click here.
The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you for your personal use only. You may not make this e-book publicly available in any way. Copyright infringement is against the law. If you believe the copy of this e-book you are reading infringes on the author's copyright, please notify the publisher at: us.macmillanusa.com/piracy.
Behind the Beautiful Forevers, produced in association with Scott Rudin, was first performed in the Olivier auditorium of the National Theatre, London, on 10 November 2014. The cast was as follows:
Sunil Sharma Hiran Abeysekera
Deepak Rai aka Kalu Assad Zaman
Manju Waghekar Anjana Vasan
Asha Waghekar Stephanie Street
Abdul Husain Shane Zaza
Raja Kamble Ranjit Krishnamma
Mahadeo Waghekar Sartaj Garewal
Rahul Waghekar Gavi Singh Chera
Zehrunisa Husain Meera Syal
Kehkashan Husain Anjli Mohindra
Karam Husain Vincent Ebrahim
Sub-Inspector Shankar Yeram aka Fish-Lips Chook Sibtain
Nagare Muzz Khan
Fatima Shaikh aka One Leg Thusitha Jayasundera
Mirchi Husain Ronak Patani
Meena Chinnu Anneika Rose
Airport Director Sartaj Garewal
Cynthia Ali Manjeet Mann
Officer Kulkarni Mariam Haque
Laxmi Chinnu Bharti Patel
Noori Shaikh Tia-Lana Chinapyel / Nikita Mehta / Tia Palamathanan
Abdul Shaikh Ranjit Krishnamma
Poornima Paikrao Nathalie Armin
Guard at Dongri Esh Alladi
The Master Pal Aron
Taufeeq Muzz Khan
Judge P. M. Chauhan Thusitha Jayasundera
Clerk of the Court Mariam Haque
Defender Esh Alladi
Prosecutor Chook Sibtain
Judge C. K. Dhiran Pal Aron
All other parts played by members of the Company
Director Rufus Norris
Designer Katrina Lindsay
Lighting Designer Paule Constable
Sound Designer Paul Arditti
Characters
in order of appearance
Sunil Sharma
twelve
Deepak Rai aka Kalu
fifteen
Manju Waghekar
Asha's daughter, eighteen
Abdul Husain
maybe sixteen
Asha Waghekar
Raja Kamble
Mahadeo Waghekar
Asha's husband
Rahul Waghekar
fifteen
Zehrunisa Husain
Abdul's mother
Kehkashan Husain
Zehrunisa's daughter, nineteen
Karam Husain
Zehrunisa's husband
Sub-Inspector Shankar Yeram aka Fish-Lips
Officer Nagare
Fatima Shaikh aka One Leg
Mirchi Husain
Abdul's brother, fourteen
Meena Chinnu
fifteen
Airport Director
Cynthia Ali
a neighbour
Officer Kulkarni
Laxmi Chinnu
Meena's mother
Noori Shaikh
eight
Abdul Shaikh
Fatima's husband
Poornima Paikrao
Special Executive Officer
The Guard
The Master
Taufeeq
Judge P. M. Chauhan
Clerk of the Court
Defender
Prosecutor
Judge C. K. Dhiran
Dealers, Pickers, Doctors, Police, Guards,
Prisoners, Detainees, Neighbours
The play is set in and around Annawadi,
Mumbai, 2008–2009
Act One
1.1
A bare stage, epic. It's a maidan, as yet undefined. Abdul Husain comes on. He is in his late teens, wiry, sullen – an old man of a boy. He has a matchstick between his teeth. Behind him there is a huge mound of mixed rubbish and a rusty pair of scales hangs from a roof. Sunil Sharma arrives. He's twelve, cheerful, very short, with a thick upward pelt of hair. He carries a large sack of rubbish. He speaks directly to us.
Sunil Know what I want? I want cotton buds. I want ketchup packets. Because silver paper is good. Chocolate. Cigarettes. Cigarette packets. Umbrellas. That's what I want. Cardboard. Plastic. Batteries. Shoelaces. Metal. Problem: there's always a wall. Wherever you go, you'll find a new wall. With barbed wire, or bottled glass. All the time, new guards, new dogs, new guns. There's a lot of good stuff in the world, that's why they've electrified the fences. Who's been to the airport? Mumbai airport? Anybody? It's not just that rich people don't know what they've got. They don't even know what they throw away. They don't notice. We notice. The airport's bigger every day. That's why there's more of us. Picking garbage. Me, I'm always searching for a place. I don't know where it is, but I know it's there. Beyond Airport Road. It must be. Somewhere, there's a place full of rubbish no one else has thought of.
1.2
At the back of the stage a concrete wall, covered by sunshine-yellow ads for Italianate floor tiles. Along its whole length, the repeated words BEAUTIFUL FOREVER BEAUTIFUL FOREVER BEAUTIFUL FOREVER. At once Sunil is joined by Kalu, who is fifteen, on a motorbike, in camouflage cargo-pants, dark-skinned, with long, lank hair. Abdul is sorting his pile of rubbish.
Kalu Sunil, are you coming out? Are you coming out with me tonight?
Sunil does not answer.
What's happening, man? What, you don't want to make money?
Sunil I want to make money.
Kalu Then why aren't you coming, man? You want to pick plastic all your life?
Sunil smiles in anticipation.
Sunil Kalu, do Om Shanti Om.
Kalu No.
Sunil Please.
Kalu Come out with me, I'll do Om Shanti Om. Fuck, I'll do Bhool Bhulaiya. I'll do King Kong. I'll do fucking Bruce Lee if that's what you want. I'll do the whole lot if you'll just help.
Kalu looks a moment. Then he does a beautiful brief parody of Deepika sashaying in Om Shanti Om.
Well?
He shakes his head.
Oh I see, so you're scared, are you, man?
Sunil I'm not scared.
Kalu Scared of ghosts?
Sunil I'm not scared of ghosts. I go out at night.
Kalu It's sitting there. The stuff is sitting there, man. In the recycling bins.
Sunil How did you find it?
Kalu I have contacts. They told me where it was.
Sunil They told you? Somebody told you where to find metal? Why would they do that? You're lying, man.
Kalu It's over by the airport. Where they fix the planes. Up over the wire and we're in.
Sunil finally tells him the reason.
Sunil Kalu, you look like a thief.
Kalu I am a thief.
Sunil They can tell. The airport people can tell. They take one look in your eyes. Once you get a thief-face you're finished. I don't want that face.
Kalu What about you? You look like a runt. You look like a stub. How can you bear being so small?
Sunil My father was a picker. I'm a picker. Thieves are different.
Kalu Tell you how we're different. We make a living. That's how we're different. There's no future in plastic. Metal – that's where the money is. Tonight, I'll do the job, then I'll go to Noodle-wali, eat chilli chicken and rice. Isn't that what you want? To eat chilli chicken and rice? You really saying no?
Abdul looks up.
Abdul He's saying no.
Kalu Abdul you're a prick. You handle stolen goods all day, but you don't have the balls to go and get them.
Abdul I'm not a picker. I'm a sorter.
Sunil Yes. But I'm a garbage picker. I'm not a thief.
Kalu gets on his motorbike and goes.
1.3
Sunil opens his trash sack to check its contents. Manju Waghekar is in line, with a pail of water. Behind, a queue of women with buckets at a spluttering standpipe. Manju is tall, poised, eighteen, at ease with her beauty. She speaks to us.
Manju Mrs Dalloway. I don't understand it. It's a book by the English writer Virginia Woolf. Do you understand it? Who are these people? What do they do? I know nothing of these people. I try to read it. Clarissa goes out to get flowers. Later she gives a party. I'm trying to learn it, that's my only chance, I'm going to learn it by heart.
From offstage, the sound of Manju's mother, Asha, calling for her.
Asha (off) Manju!
Manju It's not easy. When I read, my mind slips down the page. The First World War, I know about that, I've heard of that. But the rest. And like why she wrote the book, why we should care.
Asha (off) Manju!
Manju In books I've read before, there's always a story. I'm looking for a story.
Asha (off) Manju! Where are you? Come here. What's happened to you?
Manju If there were a story, it would be easier to learn.
1.4
Sunil goes over to Abdul with his sack.
Sunil Abdul.
Abdul Sunil.
Sunil Are you going to weigh it?
Abdul takes the sack and puts it on the scales.
There's enough here we can go to the video parlour.
Abdul says nothing.
Abdul, you have to do something besides work. Come play Bomber-Man. Come play Metal Slug Three.
Abdul If I don't work the family don't eat.
Sunil You're making more money than any of us. Everyone knows. The Husains are doing well.
Abdul pulls out a sheaf of rupees.
Hey, put it on again, I didn't see.
Abdul But I saw.
Sunil Yeah. But I didn't.
Abdul reluctantly puts the bag back on the scales. Meanwhile:
You never have fun. You never get high.
Abdul I work. There's eleven in my family. That's what I do. What do I tell you? What's the first rule? What is it?
Sunil / Abdul (mockingly, together) 'Keep your head down, keep out of trouble...'
Sunil So you keep saying.
Abdul Keep out of trouble. It's the only rule.
Sunil You're too cautious.
Abdul And you're too flashy, Sunil. It's good to be careful. Because it only takes one thing. Just one.
He has raised his voice, in absolute conviction.
Sunil I know what you are. You're a coward. You're frightened. You're frightened of life.
Abdul So what if I'm a coward? I stay alive, don't I?
He hands over the rupees.
Sunil Thank you. Is that it?
Abdul That's it.
Sunil That's good stuff.
Abdul It's all good stuff.
Sunil I thought I'd get more. I thought you'd pay me more.
He waits a moment, as if to bring pressure.
Abdul.
Abdul Then bring more.
1.5
Sunil goes. Abdul carries on sorting garbage, with breathtaking speed and skill. Upstage, Glimmerglass hotels shimmer behind the wall. They become a permanent background, towering over the action. Asha Waghekar appears. She's thirty-nine, imperious, used to power. She addresses us.
Asha Five hotels. In Annawadi, we live under five hotels. They built walls so the guests wouldn't have to look at us, so the guests wouldn't know we were here. But every night the ash from our cow-dung fires drifts across and lands on their swimming pools. They complain. The world is changing, and it's changing fast. It's tipping eastwards and the money is flowing this way. Globalisation. But the politicians are unhappy. Mumbai's doing well but Singapore and Shanghai are doing better. Why? Because Mumbai doesn't seem modern. Why not? Obvious. Because of us. Here we are, sitting in the way beside the airport, stopping the economic miracle being a miracle. We have that. At least we have that. The fact they want to get rid of us. That's our power. That's the only power we have. All anyone wants to know: when will we finally get out the way?
1.6
Asha sits. Outside, an orderly and silent queue has formed, waiting to see her. In another area, Abdul continues to sort rubbish. Manju comes in, carrying her pail of water.
Asha Manju, ah, there you are at last. I've been waiting. Where were you?
Manju The tap's dry again. I stood for three hours.
Asha You can study at the tap.
Manju I did study. I took Mrs Dalloway.
She gives a withering look, then goes to wash vegetables.
There's already a queue.
Asha The longer they wait, the more they appreciate it when they do get to see me.
Manju crosses to go out to the queue.
Manju Mr Kamble's waiting. I don't think he should wait.
Asha Why not?
Manju You know why not.
Raja Kamble is at the head of the queue. He's only forty, but in terrible condition, knobbly, bony, a mouthful of yellowed teeth.
Mr Kamble, please, you must come in. I know my mother will want to help.
Kamble Thank you, Manju. You're a good girl. How are your studies?
Manju Good. Come in.
He smiles and moves across to see Asha. Manju works quietly at the side.
Asha Raja.
Kamble Asha. I'm here to ask for your help.
Asha makes a gesture for him to proceed.
You know my situation.
Asha Tell me.
Kamble Not good. I need a new valve for my heart.
Asha What's the doctor asking? For himself?
Kamble He won't do it for less than sixty thousand rupees.
Asha Which hospital?
Kamble Sion.
Asha Have you tried Cooper?
Kamble He wants more.
He looks at her, calculating.
I need money. I've heard there's a government scheme...
Asha Ah yes.
Kamble And you can fix it. You're the go-to woman. You fix things for the party.
Asha I work with Shiv Sena, yes.
Kamble People, they get given money to start small businesses.
Asha Some people.
Kamble It's you who decides. It's you who fills in the forms saying how many people the business employs. It's you who cooks up the figure.
Asha looks at him, her look unyielding.
Asha It's an anti-poverty scheme. It's a government initiative. To help people to help themselves.
Kamble Well?
Asha hesitates. Manju has stopped working and is looking to see what will happen.
Asha How much do you need?
Kamble I'm forty thousand short. Asha, look at me. Without this valve, I will die.
Asha is impassive.
You and I, our families have been friends. Since we first came here. Manju's like my daughter. At the sanitation department, I'm respected.
Asha You clean toilets.
Kamble Yes.
Asha You're a toilet cleaner.
Kamble I have a permanent job. I was born on the pavement and now, because of toilets, my family live in brick walls. Asha, if you could get me forty, I would be able to make a token of thanks.
Asha What would this token be?
Kamble I will give you five thousand.
Asha Five? You'd give me five?
She waits. Kamble nods. Then:
Pray.
Kamble What?
Asha Pray to the gods, man. You're in a bad way. Go to the temple. Go to Gajanan Maharaj and offer a prayer.
Kamble A prayer for what?
Asha For whatever you want. Pray for money, or pray for good health. At the moment you need both.
Manju Mother, you can't let him go. You can't. This is Mr Kamble. He's a family friend.
Asha Manju, this is not your business.
Manju It's wrong. You know it's wrong.
Asha Be quiet.
Manju has spoken out in agony. But Asha slaps her down fiercely. She turns back to Kamble.
You think fixing is easy?
Kamble No.
Asha People come, they say 'Give me a loan'. Do you know how many people come to me? It's not a tap. Yes, I'm a friend, and as a friend, I say 'Pray to the gods'. Thank you for coming to see me.
Kamble Asha...
Asha Thank you. That's it.
It's final. Kamble goes out. Manju moves vegetables into a pot. Asha fumes.
I won't have it. I won't have you speaking when I'm working.
Manju busies herself, saying nothing.
Come on, he's a dying man. He'll pay more than five. I'm his only hope. Look. Learn. Understand what I do. It's not clever to be stupid. I brought you up wrong. You think because he's a friend, I should treat him differently? One day I want to be corporator. You think I'll get to run the ward by being kind? Who was kind to me when the crops died and there was no food? When we lived in Vidharba, the girl children all starved. So many years and I can still taste it. The taste of hunger in my mouth. Now you study, you teach. Why? Because I gave you what my family refused to give me. Because I was a girl. What's the book you're reading?
Manju Mrs Dalloway.
Asha Yes. You think I read Mrs Dalloway? In the country? I was skin and bone. I wanted you to be sweet, but instead you're soft.
Mahadeo comes in, gentle, fleshy, fifties. With him Rahul, fifteen, in cargo-pants, snaggle-toothed, pie-faced, with long flowing locks.
Mahadeo Is supper ready?
Asha It's late. Because your daughter was late.
Rahul (to Manju) Are you in trouble again?
Asha As usual. If she had a proper father this wouldn't happen.
Mahadeo It isn't my fault.
Asha Everything's your fault.
Mahadeo Is there a drink anywhere?
Mahadeo gives Manju a complicit smile.
Asha Mr Kamble was here. He offered me five. He'll come back. He'll offer more. Where else can he go? He doesn't want to die.
1.7
The stage changes. It's night. A wire fence. Arc lights. It's the red and white gates of an Air India compound. The gates are open. The place is deserted. Kalu arrives, clearly expecting someone. He goes through the gate. He looks round.
Kalu Who's that?
Silence.
Who's there?
There's a sound. Kalu begins to panic and turns. Two Dealers in white suits appear from the dark.
First Dealer Kalu.
Kalu backs away towards the gate, but the Second Dealer is already there, slamming it shut with a big metallic crash.
Take off his shirt.
The Second Dealer moves to take hold of Kalu while the First Dealer takes off his own jacket.
You're going to lose your eyes.
Kalu Let me go. I haven't done anything. I've done nothing. I've done nothing wrong.
The Second Dealer has torn off Kalu's shirt, holding him from behind. The First Dealer has a dagger in one hand and a sickle in the other.
First Dealer You work for the police.
Kalu No, I don't.
First Dealer Yes, you do.
Kalu I haven't told anyone anything.
The Second Dealer readies his body. The First Dealer raises the dagger.
First Dealer Kalu. You're going to die.
The First Dealer stabs Kalu in the eye. Blood spurts. Kalu screams. From the back of the theatre the sound of an approaching plane. The First Dealer stabs again, then pulls the eye out with his hand. A massive shadow moves across as a 747 passes low overhead, lights flashing. Then the jet disappears.
1.8
Abdul is sitting exactly where he was, sorting rubbish with spectacular skill. There is a line of Pickers waiting patiently. Zehrunisa Husain has appeared. She is maybe forty, a little plump but light in her movements.
Zehrunisa I can't help it. We're doing better. We're doing better than other people. So what? It's not our fault. And yet everyone dislikes us. What can we do? Abdul's the best sorter in the district. My dullest son, Abdul, and the hardest working. Three years ago, the monsoon came, Annawadi was under water and we lost everything. But we started again, we rebuilt. Now it's all good news. The Chinese have the Olympics, they have to build, so there's more demand. More demand for everything, rubbish included. They do well, we all do well. We don't eat weeds and we don't fry rats. My husband has an idea. He's bought a plot of land ninety minutes from here. At Vasai. Just land, nothing else. There, it's all Muslims. So nobody talks about 'dirty Muslim money'. But if we go, he'll have me back behind a burqa, serving tea. Fuck that. Never. Never again.
She turns to a Picker who is waiting.
Ten. That's all you're getting. Come and check behind me, you see me shitting coins? Go home and suck on your husband's sugar cane.
1.9
The Picker goes, discontented. Scenery appears. Elements of a shack. A couple of walls, a window, and an entrance. Kehkashan is nineteen, capable but moody. Zehrunisa joins her, and the two of them wash clothes, squatting together as Abdul goes on sorting.
Kehkashan When do you want lunch?
Zehrunisa Later. And don't mope anymore, it's enough. There's nothing you can do.
Kehkashan I'm not going back. I'm not going back to him.
Zehrunisa throws an anxious look towards Abdul.
Zehrunisa Move away, Abdul, I don't want you to hear this.
Abdul Move away where exactly?
Zehrunisa Your sister's not happy.
Kehkashan Of course I'm not happy. Why would I be happy? Abdul can listen, I've nothing to hide.
Abdul chews the plastic with his teeth to test it.
Abdul If there's anything I hate it's bottle-tops. Half plastic, half metal. You cut your hands to pieces pulling them apart. And for what?
Zehrunisa For our future, Abdul. To get us out of here. Isn't that what you want?
Abdul throws his mother a sardonic glance.
What? What are you saying? You don't want to leave?
Abdul We make a living. It's not so bad.
Zehrunisa There's a market in people just like there's a market in rubbish. And Muslims in rubbish come bottom of the pile. I'd like to live somewhere where people don't hate us.
Abdul smiles, unfazed.
Abdul They don't even notice us.
Zehrunisa They notice your sister. Men around her like flies.
Kehkashan That's not my fault.
Zehrunisa I didn't say it was your fault.
Kehkashan is shaking her head.
Kehkashan I'm not going back, why should I? Explain to me, please, why I should stay with a man, I should stay with a man who has photos of another woman...
Zehrunisa Kehkashan, please...
Kehkashan Intimate photos...
Zehrunisa All right...
Kehkashan Intimate photos on his mobile phone?
Zehrunisa turns at once to Abdul.
Zehrunisa Abdul, close your ears.
Abdul No.
Zehrunisa You don't need to hear this.
Abdul I've heard it already.
Zehrunisa Abdul...
Abdul At least fifty times.
Kehkashan Why should I stay with a man like that? Why should I have to?
There is a moment.
Zehrunisa You've been hurt. You've been badly hurt.
Kehkashan shakes her head, unhappy.
Kehkashan I didn't choose him, remember? You chose him. You chose him for me when I was two!
Zehrunisa So? He was a fucking good match.
Kehkashan A good match?
Zehrunisa Yes.
Kehkashan He was my cousin.
Zehrunisa That's what I said, a good match.
Kehkashan Only nobody bothered to tell me: he had another woman all along.
Zehrunisa I didn't know.
Kehkashan What, I'm meant to put up with that? A husband who ignores me, who spends all his time with somebody else?
She is overwhelmed. She turns away.
You ordered me to love him. I loved him. But I couldn't make him love me.
Zehrunisa and Abdul work on.
And your language is unacceptable.
Zehrunisa Fuck my language.
Kehkashan From a woman.
Zehrunisa It's what I've got. It's what I need. I'll speak like a rattlesnake and if it scares people so much the better. 'I'm scared of the mother,' the pickers say. It's good for business. A bad tongue is a good strategy.
She smiles.
Now we need to find Abdul a wife.
Abdul Oh sure.
Zehrunisa Don't you want a wife?
Abdul I want a wife who doesn't say 'pimp' or 'motherfucker'.
He stops work a moment.
I hear this word 'love' so often. I think I know it, but I don't feel it. And I don't know why.
Zehrunisa You will feel it.
Karam, forties, appears, breathy, feeble, his lungs wheezing. He is in a blue-check lunghi, with an Urdu newspaper under his arm.
Oh, so he's back. Work not too hard for you, I hope?
Karam You know full well: I'm ill.
Zehrunisa How far away are the riots?
Karam I don't know exactly. That way and turn right.
He waves an airy hand.
Zehrunisa How far did they get?
Karam Well short of the airport. Is lunch ready?
Zehrunisa looks at him contemptuously. Kehkashan turns and goes indoors.
Don't look at me like that. They're miles away. They won't come near us.
Zehrunisa Why not? We're Muslims, aren't we? If they come this way, we're fucked.
Karam So? So many things can fuck us. Bollywood's already fucking us with their stupid clean-up campaign. Great big film stars on great big billboards, grinning at us: 'Don't drop litter.' What sort of message is that? If people don't drop litter, we're dead. I tear down those posters whenever I see them.
Zehrunisa Good for you.
Karam These new trucks. Terrible. Driving down the centre of the road, picking up everything. 'Clean up the city!' Hey – d'you mind, that's our job, that's our livelihood.
Zehrunisa laughs.
Zehrunisa You should go into politics.
Karam I might just do that.
Zehrunisa Stand for prime minister?
Karam Later. One step at a time.
Sunil appears, petrified, a long way off. Abdul at once knows something terrible has happened.
Abdul Mother, can you go in? Please. I'm asking. Please.
Everyone goes inside. The boys alone.
Sunil It's Kalu.
Abdul I knew it.
Sunil He's dead.
Abdul I knew this would happen. What did I say? What did I always say?
Sunil He had a sickle up his arse. They ripped out his arsehole. They fed his eyes to the birds.
Abdul Where is he?
He raises his voice.
Where is he?
Sunil Don't go. The police have got him.
Abdul I'm asking where he is.
Sunil It happened at the airport.
Abdul Where?
Sunil In the garden.
Abdul Which garden? It's all gardens. Since the airport got taken over, it's nothing but stupid gardens!
Sunil By the Air India gates.
Abdul is hysterical. He moves, as if to set off.
Abdul, don't go!
Abdul stops.
Abdul Who did it?
Sunil Nobody knows. The people he was meeting.
Abdul Dealers?
Sunil Maybe. Maybe police. Maybe guards. The police are rounding everyone up. All the pickers. They're taking us in. We're all under suspicion.
Abdul Suspicion of what?
Sunil Who cares? It's an excuse! They can do what they want!
Abdul moves away, by himself. He is crying.
Abdul Kalu. I don't believe it. Kalu.
1.10
The gates of Air India. Kalu's body has been covered in muslin and laid out on a stretcher on the ground. Sub-Inspector Shankar Yeram, aka Fish-Lips, with a distinctive mouth, speaks to us.
Fish-Lips Figures. Everyone's obsessed with figures. Statistics. Targets. Meet your target. For an experienced officer, there's one rule. Never classify anything as murder. Call it what you like but you don't call it murder. It spoils the statistics. This district has the best clear-up rate in Mumbai. We only had two murders last year and both cleared up. One hundred percent detection rate. We got a certificate, we got a bonus. My second child can go to school. Who can argue with that?
A moustachioed officer, Nagare, also in epauletted khaki, appears.
Fish-Lips This is him?
Nagare This is the one they call Kalu.
Fish-Lips holds out clipboard and pen.
Fish-Lips Suspected tuberculosis, OK? Fill in the form. Tell the pathologist that's what we suspect. You won't have any problem.
He points at where Nagare is writing.
'Irrecoverable illness', that's what we call it. Then get him straight to the morgue.
Nagare Now?
Fish-Lips Super-now. Then straight to the crematorium. Get him off our hands.
Nagare is looking at the form.
Nagare Deepak Rai.
Fish-Lips I'm sorry?
Nagare That was his name. Known as Kalu.
Fish-Lips He was a street boy, that's all I know. 'Irrecoverable illness.' Get rid of him.
Nagare goes back to the stretcher.
Oh and don't tell the other boys, whatever you do. We tell them it's murder.
Nagare Right. I'll take him away.
Fish-Lips Do that. Let's have a crackdown, shall we?
Nagare takes away the body.
1.11
The police go. The Husain shack is now abutted by another – with an entrance, a small, high brick-hole, a door, a party wall. Annawadi's stage picture is beginning to fill. A sewage pond, rubbish, trees. The characters are beginning to inhabit their environment. From the second house comes Fatima Shaikh, thirty-five, with one good leg, a stump, a pair of metal crutches, too short so her behind sticks out, gold eye-glitter and smeared orange lipstick.
Fatima A woman has rights. I have rights. From birth nobody loved me. From the very beginning. Everyone told me I was born wrong. And I believed them. I was ashamed. I hated myself. Because I wasn't even a person. I was an animal. One Leg, they called me. Why give a thing a name? Why send a thing to school? People say I'm a whore. How can I be a whore? Whores don't choose. I choose. I'm in control. I choose who comes in and I choose who doesn't. And if you don't like it, tough. Fuck off. And if you do, remember, my husband's out sorting garbage, my children are at school, drop by, I'm in every afternoon.
1.12
Abdul and Mirchi appear carrying stuff from their adjoining house. Mirchi is younger than Abdul, just fourteen, cool, confident. There is now a huge pile of their stuff and of rubbish on the maidan. Karam is lying down. Fatima swings across on her crutches.
Fatima What's going on? What is this? What's this meant to be?
Mirchi We're rebuilding.
Fatima Starting when?
Karam Starting today.
Mirchi Before the monsoon.
Fatima Don't touch my wall. Whatever you do, I don't want it touched.
Mirchi Speak to our mother.
Fatima Zehrunisa!
Fatima has yelled. Zehrunisa appears at the doorway as if she's been expecting this. Abdul and Mirchi continue to go back and forth.
What's going on?
Zehrunisa What does it look like? Home improvement. We've decided to invest in our property.
Fatima What's the point? This whole place is going to be bulldozed.
Zehrunisa They've been saying that for years.
Fatima So?
Zehrunisa And it doesn't happen, does it?
Fatima shakes her head.
Fatima I know what you're up to. You want to show off. You want to prove you've got money.
Zehrunisa Actually, One Leg, can I tell you something? Rats eat our food because we have to leave it on the floor. Leave rice on the floor and the rats eat it. So believe it or not, we're tired of that.
Fatima You're tired, are you?
Zehrunisa What we want is a shelf. At a height we can actually work. So we don't have to squat. We want a new kitchen. See over there. See that. Karam is going out this afternoon to buy those very tiles. Beautiful Forever. That's what we're going to be.
She has pointed to the ad on the back wall.
Yes, we have the money, it's true. I don't deny it. And we're going to spend it. I don't see what's wrong with that.
Fatima You have to ask me. That's my wall.
Zehrunisa We don't have to ask you.
Fatima I'm not putting up with it. Last time you rebuilt, the noise was terrible.
Zehrunisa What, it disturbed your afternoon fucking?
Fatima What's it to you? What's it to you what I do?
Zehrunisa You should be ashamed of yourself. That string of disgusting men, hanging around your doorstep, drooling. Harassing my daughter.
Fatima Oh, jealous are you? What, because you can't attract a man? Except your wheezing dickless wonder of a husband.
She gestures at the prone Karam.
I'm not going to let you get away with this. It's not going to happen.
Zehrunisa It's going to happen.
Fatima goes in. After the tempest, it's suddenly quiet. Abdul looks, reproachful.
Abdul It's a mistake.
Zehrunisa Why?
Abdul To build.
Zehrunisa Why is that?
Abdul We're making ourselves a target. It's you who says people hate us. Now we're saying to everyone, 'Look how much money we have.' Why do that?
Zehrunisa Because we can.
Abdul Why throw ghee on an open flame?
Zehrunisa It doesn't make any difference. Whatever we do people call us shitty Muslims. Let's show we can live better than other people. So let's be shitty Muslims.
1.13
Darkness. The toilets: a yellow concrete block with red lettering. In her stall, Manju knocks on the ground, looking to contact Meena Chinnu, fifteen, a small, defiant Tamil, dark-skinned. She knocks back. An agreed signal.
Meena Manju.
Manju Did anyone see you?
Meena No.
Manju What's happening?
Meena The usual. I'm on lock-down. Tap and toilet only.
Manju Meena...
Meena I'm not allowed out. I get so angry.
Manju You mustn't. For your own sake.
Meena shakes her head.
Meena This morning, they started screaming because I was two hours at the tap. I said, it takes two hours.
Manju At least.
Meena It takes two hours! What can I do?
Manju waits, unable to answer.
I said again, I want to go back to school. My mother said, she won't let me. Ever. They're never going to let me, they say. I'm to prepare for my marriage, work in the home, nothing else.
Manju And then?
Meena I argued.
Manju And then?
Meena They beat me. They'll kill me if they ever find out I come here. And what we do when I get here.
Manju They'll never find out.
She looks at Meena a moment.
All right? Ready?
She takes a breath before leaping in.
There's this play called The Way of the World.
Meena Of the World?
Manju Yes.
Meena Way of the World.
Manju That's right. The men who are in it, they're called gallants.
Meena Gallants?
Manju Yes.
Meena Gallants. That's an English word?
Manju Yes.
Meena Is it used a lot?
Manju I don't know. This is the eighteenth century. That's three hundred years ago. There are people called Mirabell and Millament.
Meena Mirabell and Millament. Those are ridiculous names.
Manju I agree. And Mister Fainall...
Meena Fainall?
Manju Yes. He's the cuckold.
Meena A cuckold?
Manju A cuckold is someone whose wife is unfaithful.
Meena A cuckold?
Manju That's right.
Meena So here in Annawadi, you could say, like an example, you could say One Leg's husband.
Manju You could.
Meena He's a cuckold.
Manju He is.
Meena A cuckold! A cuckold!
She is over-excited.
Manju Shh!
Meena reins herself in.
A man called Congreve wrote it.
Meena Congreve?
Manju What he portrays is a very rigid society.
Meena Rigid?
Manju Yes. Everyone's in their own world. It's all about position and power. It's about doing well. And advancing.
Meena Advancing?
Manju Yes. In society. I'll tell you what they told me this morning. 'In Congreve's drama, money is more important than love.'
Both are momentarily silenced by this thought.
Meena Manju, do you understand it?
Manju What?
Meena The play?
Manju Don't worry, no one understands it.
Meena If you succeed, you'll be the first woman ever in Annawadi to get a college degree. You'll be an example to everyone.
Manju Meena...
Meena And I'll know nothing. I'll never know anything.
Manju You'll know a little. You know words in English.
She looks at Meena a moment.
Meena Manju, I'm never going to escape.
Manju Yes, you will. Don't despair.
Meena I have no life.
Manju But you will. If you learn.
Meena strains, thinking.
'Congreve's themes are love, social position and money.'
Meena Love, social position and money.
Manju Say it in English.
Meena does not speak.
Speak one word in English.
There are tears now in Meena's eyes.
Meena 'Love'.
1.14
The Airport Director speaks to us. He's in a smart suit and a hard hat.
Director Modernising an airport in Mumbai: it's like trying to do an open-heart surgery on a runner during a marathon. It's a problem. I don't pretend otherwise. This year in Mumbai we carry thirty million passengers. The plan is next year we carry forty. This is a city where everyone blames everyone else. We all complain about the poor, but, believe me, we're happy to employ them. At very low wages, because there are always more. This airport is still owned by the government but it's privately managed. We've made huge investments. Come on, if you make an investment, you expect a profit. Don't you? Isn't that what you expect? To do my job I need one thing. I need space. I need land.
1.15
At once the sound of hammering. For the first time, the whole slum is revealed – spatchcocked, lopsided shacks, some held together by duct-tape and rope. Slum lanes: mud, filth, litter, smoke, dirt, water, corrugated iron and, to the side, a sewage lake. The entire contents of the Husain house and their back room are out on the maidan. Fatima comes running out, in an outfit with pink flowers on it.
Fatima I can't stand it, do you know what's happening? Do you know what you've done?
Abdul appears from his doorway, desperate.
Abdul OK, OK, I know there's a problem, OK?
Fatima There's a problem all right. There's rubble in my fucking rice, my dinner is ruined.
Abdul All right, we saw this coming, just calm down.
Fatima I can't calm down. Why should I?
Abdul Calm down and listen.
Fatima I'm not going to listen.
Abdul Just listen, OK?
Zehrunisa appears at the doorway.
Zehrunisa What's going on?
Abdul Mother, please. Don't worry. I'll deal with this. Let me. Please. Mother.
Reluctantly Zehrunisa disappears inside.
Look, OK, there is a small problem, I admit, we do have a problem.
Fatima We have a fucking problem, all right.
Abdul We have a slab to make a new kitchen shelf.
Fatima is about to interrupt.
Just listen. What's happening is: I can't put it in. It won't stay up. It keeps falling down. So I need to make a hole in the wall.
Fatima You've made a fucking hole.
Abdul I know.
Fatima You've made it.
Abdul I know.
Fatima My house is falling down.
Abdul I'm going to put the shelf in the hole to secure it, then I'll cement it all over, it'll only take a few hours. It's because of the bricks. They're poor quality. They crumble. They can't take the weight.
Zehrunisa cannot resist coming out again.
Zehrunisa Abdul, just let me deal with her...
Fatima Ah, here comes cunt-face, couldn't resist!
Zehrunisa How dare you? How fucking dare you?
Fatima is waving her crutches dangerously. Abdul tries to intervene.
Abdul Both of you, please.
Fatima You've ruined my wall. Now you want to come out and gloat.
Zehrunisa It isn't your wall. You've never paid a fucking paisa.
Fatima What's that to do with it?
Zehrunisa Our family built it, remember. We paid for every brick.
Fatima Doesn't matter who paid. It's shared. It's a shared wall.
A neighbour, Cynthia, has appeared, alongside some others and is egging Fatima on.
Cynthia You tell them, Fatima. These Husains think they're so great. You think you're above the rest of us?
Abdul Keep out of it, Cynthia.
Fatima You're a fucking bitch. Up your hairy hole!
Cynthia That's right, you tell them, Fatima, time someone got hold of that cow.
Fatima Bitch! Fucking bitch!
Zehrunisa I may be a bitch but I'm not a slut!
At this, Fatima attacks her physically. There is now a crowd gathering to watch. Fatima is going to do Zehrunisa real harm, but Abdul interposes.
Abdul Mother, come on, what are you doing? What are you up to?
Zehrunisa She started it. Whore! Sister-fucker!
Cynthia has stepped in to comfort Fatima.
Cynthia Walk away, walk away, it's all her fault...
Abdul You're a mother of nine. You should be ashamed of yourself.
Zehrunisa She started it.
Abdul You should know by now. Just keep away from her.
Cynthia has put her arm round Fatima and led her indoors. Zehrunisa yells after her.
Zehrunisa While her children are at school! Sleeping with anyone who's even got half a dick.
Abdul All right, everyone, the party's over.
Zehrunisa What sort of mother does that?
There are ironic cries of 'Give us some more'. Fatima is coming back out on her crutches, followed by Cynthia.
Fatima I'm going, I'm going. Just you fucking wait. For what's going to happen. You have no idea. You're going to regret it.
The crowd cheers as she swings wildly off into the distance. Cynthia follows her.
Zehrunisa Where's she going?
Abdul It doesn't matter.
Cynthia You wait and see.
Abdul Come on, everyone, move on. Mirchi, all right? While she's away, let's get the work done, then at least it's over.
Mirchi Sure. Whatever you want.
Cynthia goes out and the crowd reluctantly disperse.
Abdul And Mother, you could do me a favour as well.
Zehrunisa Yes?
Abdul If we have a nice house, you know what I'd really like?
Zehrunisa What's that?
Abdul You could speak more nicely.
Zehrunisa I didn't start with the fucks. She did.
Abdul Even so. If we're trying to live nicely, let's live nicely.
Karam is returning from the same direction that Fatima went in. He's panicked.
Karam Someone tell me what that woman's up to.
Zehrunisa What are you doing here? I sent you out to buy tiles.
Karam I didn't have enough money. They're expensive.
Zehrunisa Oh fuck, how much more do you need?
But Karam is not answering.
Karam That doesn't matter. Listen, I just ran into some boys. They say Fatima's off to the police.
Abdul The police?
Karam She's putting in a formal complaint. She's accusing you of assault.
Kehkashan has appeared.
Abdul You need to run, you need to go after her.
Zehrunisa Are you crazy? I don't want to go near a police station.
Abdul You have to. You have no choice.
Karam Did you hit her?
Zehrunisa No, no, of course not. She's a cripple.
Abdul She's going to make up some stupid story. You need to catch up quickly and stop her.
Karam She's in a rickshaw.
Zehrunisa A rickshaw? But she hasn't got any money.
Karam She's got money for a rickshaw.
Zehrunisa Cynthia! Fucking Cynthia, I bet.
Abdul Come on, Mother, you can't wait any longer.
Karam Do I still get the tiles?
Zehrunisa How much are you short?
Karam Two hundred.
Cynthia has reappeared, laughing.
Cynthia I told you, she's going to fuck you over.
Zehrunisa Cynthia, was this your idea?
Cynthia What if it was?
Mirchi looks across with contempt.
Mirchi Fucking Christians!
Karam Do I still get the tiles?
Zehrunisa Yes. You get the tiles. You get the tiles! Whatever happens, we're going to have a nice house.
And she's gone.
1.16
Sahar police station. Papers, bureaucracy. A desk. A tall female officer called Kulkarni is listening to Fatima, who is crying profusely.
Kulkarni So what happened next?
Fatima She came charging towards me. She kicked away my crutches. You can see, I've only got one leg. I can't even stand. Then she beat me savagely.
Kulkarni Where? Where did she beat you?
Fatima All over. All over my body. It was a brutal assault. Merciless.
Zehrunisa appears, breathless from running.
Kulkarni And who are you?
Zehrunisa I'm Zehrunisa Husain.
Fatima It's her.
Zehrunisa Take no notice of whatever she tells you, officer. There were witnesses, they saw what happened. Ask anyone who was there. Everyone'll tell you, Fatima Shaikh is a liar.
Fatima I'm not a liar.
Zehrunisa She's a fucking liar.
The two women have been yelling. Kulkarni loses patience.
Kulkarni All right, I've had enough. This is a domestic. You think anyone cares? We're here to guard an airport, there are terrorist threats. Drugs, guns. You think I give a damn about two neighbours who don't like each other? You, go home at once.
Fatima But officer...
Kulkarni I'm telling you. Now! Go home. Look after your children. Cook them dinner. Be a good mother. You're a stupid woman, get out of here.
Fatima It's not right.
Kulkarni It may not be right, but it's what's going to happen. You're a waste of time. Out!
Fatima This isn't the last! This isn't the last of it!
Furious, Fatima swings away and disappears. Kulkarni is looking at papers on her desk.
Zehrunisa Thank you, officer.
Kulkarni And where are you going?
Zehrunisa stops, looking across at her.
I want you to stay.
Zehrunisa Me?
Kulkarni Sit down over there. Sit.
Zehrunisa But I haven't done anything.
Kulkarni That's for me to decide. Sit down.
Zehrunisa sits on a bucket chair.
Zehrunisa I'm not a criminal.
Kulkarni heads out.
How long do I stay?
She's gone. Zehrunisa sits alone.
1.17
Zehrunisa stays sitting alone in the police station as Fatima swings home on her crutches. She moves down slum lanes at speed, grim, determined. She comes to her house. Next door, the Husains are working inside. Fatima goes into hers. From underneath her stove, she takes a metal can of kerosene. She puts it down in the middle of the room. Then she takes her jug of water, and pours some into a bowl.
1.18
At the police station, a contrasting silence. Then, smart, clean, Asha appears at the entrance.
Zehrunisa Asha.
Asha Tell me what's happening.
Zehrunisa Why?
Asha You know why. You're going to need my help. Who else can help?
Zehrunisa looks resentful, then concedes.
Zehrunisa All right. I'll tell you. They released Fatima but they asked me to wait.
Asha moves across to her.
Asha Zehrunisa, you know what they're doing. They know you've got money. They let Fatima go because she hasn't. You have no choice, You have to do business through me.
Zehrunisa No.
Asha I'm the go-to woman, I fix the police, I get the police to see reason. That's what I do every day. I'll get the family to withdraw the charges. Give me a thousand rupees and I can get the whole thing wrapped up in an hour.
Zehrunisa shakes her head. Asha gets up, quietly furious.
You people are mean, you know that? You bring your troubles on yourselves. What do they say of Muslims? Ten men pulling can't get your wallets out of your pockets. It's up to you. In this life, you make your own luck.
Asha goes. Zehrunisa is alone.
Zehrunisa Fuck. I've made a mistake.
At once Kulkarni returns with a cup of tea.
Kulkarni Here.
Zehrunisa What's this?
Kulkarni Tea.
Zehrunisa Is this for me?
Kulkarni And a biscuit.
Zehrunisa takes it. Kulkarni sits beside her.
You know what I'd do?
Zehrunisa No.
Kulkarni Beat the shit out of that cripple. Finish her off. Do it properly. Why not? What's stopping you? If you don't deal with people like that, tell me about it, they make more trouble.
Zehrunisa speaks quietly, putting down a marker.
Zehrunisa I didn't hit her.
Kulkarni What I'm saying: if you decide to whack her once and for all, I'll look the other way.
Zehrunisa Thanks.
Kulkarni For a fee.
Zehrunisa hides her surprise at this turn of events.
You know you're behind in your payments?
Zehrunisa Yes.
Kulkarni Businesses aren't permitted on airport land. You're illegal. You haven't paid us for months.
Zehrunisa It was an oversight. I'm going to pay.
Kulkarni Well at least if you're here, you can settle. I'll find your regular officer.
Zehrunisa Thank you.
Kulkarni gets up to go out.
Officer.
Kulkarni Yes?
Zehrunisa This tea's very good.
1.19
The sound of Hindi film songs, turned up extra loud. Dusk in Annawadi, fires burning. The neon signs of the hotels beyond. Fatima has her door open, and can be seen swaying on crutches to the blasting music. She is painted extravagantly, like a Bollywood star, with red lipstick and shining bindi. Kehkashan is sitting outside, fuming, guarding the family possessions which are on the maidan. Inside, Abdul and Karam are spading cement. Fatima comes dancing out of her front door, and Kehkashan gets up.
Kehkashan I can't stand this. This is wrong. How dare she?
Abdul drops the spade and comes out, alarmed.
Abdul Kehkashan...
Kehkashan You know what she's doing? Our mother's locked up, so she's celebrating.
Abdul Leave her. Honestly.
Kehkashan Why are they holding on to her? They let Fatima go, and my mother's still there.
Abdul Come on, Kehkashan, it's you who always says we shouldn't react.
Kehkashan You know what happens to a woman in a police station at night.
The crowd has begun to reassemble at the sound of the music and Fatima's dancing. Kehkashan moves across to her.
Why hasn't my mother come home?
Fatima I haven't the slightest idea.
Kehkashan My mother's being held by the police and you're dancing around like a film star.
Fatima Want some advice? You shut your face or I'll have you arrested as well.
Kehkashan You see that leg? That leg there? The good one?
Fatima What about it?
Kehkashan I'm going to twist it off, see how you like having no legs at all.
Cheers from the crowd.
Fatima You're going to pull it off?
Kehkashan Yes I am.
Fatima From what I've heard it doesn't seem likely. You and who else? A woman whose husband doesn't want to fuck her! He's never been up your cunt from what I've heard.
Karam is back from getting the tiles with Mirchi, and now goes nuts.
Karam Right, that's it, I've had enough of this, I can't take anymore. You insult my daughter. You accused my wife of beating you. I'll show you a beating. A proper beating.
Fatima Go on. What's stopping you?
Karam I'm going to.
Fatima Do it. Get on with it. I'm waiting. Here.
The crowd roar. He is too weak, so he turns to his son.
Karam Abdul.
Abdul What?
Karam You heard what I said. I'm giving you an order. I want you to beat her. Abdul! I'm telling you as your father. You must obey me.
Abdul stands a moment, agonised.
Fatima Come on, hit me. Come on, do it, why not? A defenceless woman with only one leg!
But Kehkashan has thought better of it and intervenes, putting her arm round his shoulder.
Kehkashan Father, it's not a good idea. Really. It's what she wants.
Karam Then give it to her.
Kehkashan It's a trap. I got carried away.
Karam She insulted you.
Kehkashan Yes. But she's trying to provoke us. That's what she wants.
Karam turns and shouts at Fatima.
Karam I'm going to charge you for half the bricks. Whatever happens, you're going to have to pay for your share of the wall.
Fatima Yeah. Well, you're going to need money, aren't you? For your own funeral. Because with what I'm about to do, I promise you right now it's not far off.
Applause at this. Fatima goes inside and slams the door. Everyone thinks the encounter has fizzled out and they disperse. Karam is being led back inside by his children.
Kehkashan Well done, Father, you did the right thing. It's over.
Karam All we have ever done is try and help her –
Abdul I know –
Karam For years –
Abdul I know –
Karam When her child died who looked after her? We did. We're Muslims together, we've done our best.
Abdul You're right. Let's get the work done and finished, the sooner the better. Then when Ma's back, we can all be friends.
Kehkashan has led her father inside. Meena is crossing the now-empty maidan and her mother Laxmi sees her.
Laxmi Meena, what are you up to? You're meant to be home. You're meant to be cooking dinner.
Meena I'm going home.
Laxmi You've been talking to boys.
Meena I don't talk to boys.
Laxmi If ever I catch you talking to boys –
Meena You won't catch me, because I don't do it. I don't. Why look at me like that? I don't talk to boys.
As Meena follows, she passes Noori, Fatima's eight-year-old daughter.
Hi, Noori.
Noori Hi, Meena.
Noori crosses to the door of Fatima's house. She tries to open it. She stands on a brick to see in the tiny hole at the top. Noori turns in panic, screaming.
Cynthia, Cynthia, where are you? Cynthia, help!
Noori has run across the maidan. Already Cynthia has appeared, and various other neighbours.
Come and help me, quick. It's my mother. I don't know what she's doing.
From inside, there is a whoosh and a boom. Cynthia runs across to the house. From next door, Karam, Kehkashan and Abdul are coming out at the sound of screaming. Cynthia and the neighbours batter down the door. From it emerges Fatima, on fire, the flames leaping, but her voice still strong as she points to the Husains.
Cynthia Here's a blanket, quick, roll her out on the floor...
Fatima This is what you've done, you did this to me.
Kehkashan Oh God, oh God help her.
The neighbours get her down on the floor, beating out the flames or smothering them with their own clothes. Asha comes running, Manju not far behind. Then Meena from another direction.
Asha What's happening? What's happening?
Cynthia She poured kerosene all over herself, then set light to it.
Asha Why on earth did she do that?
Cynthia She meant to burn herself a little, she burnt herself a lot.
Asha pushes through the crowd to where Fatima is now writhing on the ground. Kehkashan has moved Abdul away.
Fatima Water! I need water.
Cynthia She's still on fire, get water.
Meena I don't want to give her water. What if she dies? Her ghost will haunt me.
Cynthia Just get the water!
Meena goes to get it.
Manju Water's not good for burns. It's not. I promise. I read in a book.
Asha And if we don't, we'll have a dying woman's curse. You want that?
Manju No.
Asha Thanks. I'm not going to risk that. Give her the water.
Meena kneels to administer the water. The crowd falls back, and Fatima is visible. Her face is black and strips of flesh are hanging from her body.
Kehkashan Abdul, you have to get out of here.
Abdul What?
Kehkashan You know what the plan is. She's going to say it's our fault, that we drove her to it. She's going to say we set her on fire...
Abdul Why me? Why do I have to go into hiding?
Karam Because the whole family depends on you. The police'll be here in no time. If they take you, our family's finished. Do this for me, Abdul. We're ruined without you.
Fatima I'm hurting! Everything hurts!
Abdul, in agony, looks across indecisively to where Cynthia, Asha, Manju and Meena are all grouped round Fatima.
Cynthia Asha, you've got to get her to hospital.
Asha I'm not going to take her.
Cynthia It has to be you.
Asha hesitates, then hands money across.
Asha I'll give you the money for a rickshaw, here. You take her.
Fatima Somebody help me!
Asha Come on, Manju, we're leaving. Meena, you too.
Kehkashan Get going, Abdul, get out of here.
Cynthia Give her more water.
Abdul seems frozen. At the other side of the area Asha speaks quietly to her daughter. The sky has turned purple.
Asha I'm washing my hands of these garbage people. If Zehrunisa had coughed up when I offered to help, then none of this would have happened.
Fatima (screams) Help! Help! I'm in agony.
Noori (crying) Mother, Mother, Mother, we're with you.
Asha Small economies, big expense!
Cynthia Oh my God, her face is coming off. It's stuck to the ground.
Kehkashan yells at a traumatised Abdul.
Kehkashan Abdul! Run!
Abdul takes off at speed. Everyone else has gone. Noori is left alone with her mother.
1.20
At once the sound of an aeroplane approaching from the back. Everything shakes again, as the jumbo goes screaming over, lights flashing, apparently just yards above Annawadi. Then silence. Darkness. Just the sound of voices.
Sunil's Voice Are you there? Where are you?
Then the sound of pain.
Shit! Shit!
Abdul's Voice Sunil, is that you?
Sunil's Voice Yes.
Abdul's Voice Watch out for the rats.
Sunil's Voice Too late.
A streak of light. An eight-foot tangle of rubbish, all piled to the ceiling of the Husains' 120 square-foot garbage hut, next to their house.
Sunil Where are you?
Abdul I'm at the top. Be careful. One foot wrong and the whole lot goes down. How did you know I'd be in the store room?
Sunil I guessed. I wanted to see how you were.
He gets to the top. Abdul appears, squeezed down among the sacks.
Abdul, are you OK?
Abdul I've been awake all night. I could hear through the wall. The police came just after midnight. They took my father away. I heard them. They're accusing my sister too.
Sunil Your father's gone?
Abdul I felt such a coward.
Sunil You're not. You're not a coward. You need to get out of here before dawn.
Abdul If the police can't find me, they'll take it out on my father. They'll beat him even harder. You know how weak he is. I can't allow that.
Sunil Your mother needs you. The whole family needs you.
Abdul looks, not believing it.
Abdul No. I've made a decision. I'm going to give myself up.
Sunil Abdul...
Abdul It's guilty people who run. I'm not guilty.
Sunil Why on earth would you do that?
Abdul I think if I go in and tell the police the truth, at least my father'll be spared.
Sunil You think that's likely? You remember what happened to Kalu. You want that to happen to you? How can you trust the police? Every time we go out, they round us up. They beat us.
Abdul shakes his head.
Abdul I want to do it.
Sunil Why?
Abdul If I don't, then it's like saying I've something to hide. I've nothing to hide.
He gets up from the rubbish.
It's dawn. I'm going to go.
Sunil Abdul, don't do it. I beg you. It's you who always says 'avoid trouble'. One mistake, you say. Just one. It's you who says that. I'm telling you now: this is the one.
Abdul I'm going to go. I'm going to turn myself in.
He heads down the garbage pile. Not wanting to raise his voice, Sunil hisses at him.
Sunil Abdul! Abdul! Don't go.
But Abdul is already out of the shed. Dawn is breaking, Annawadi just beginning to stir. Abdul looks back, then decisively heads off and away.
1.21
Burns Ward No. 10 at Cooper Hospital. It's cheerless, dirty. Fatima is on a bed, her face shiny black as if lacquered. She has a plastic tube in her nostrils, attached to nothing. An IV bag with a used syringe sticking out of it, and a rusty metal contraption over her torso, to keep the sheet from her skin. Her husband Abdul Shaikh, thirty-five, shovel-faced, is on a chair, when Poornima Paikrao comes in. She is in her thirties, with gold-rimmed glasses.
Paikrao Good morning. You're Abdul Shaikh?
Abdul Shaikh That's right.
Paikrao You're Fatima's husband?
Abdul Shaikh Correct.
Paikrao I need to speak to her. I'm a special executive officer. On behalf of the government.
Abdul Shaikh Ah.
Paikrao I need a witness statement.
Abdul Shaikh I thought she'd already done that.
Paikrao She has. But I need to update it.
Abdul Shaikh Why? Why do you need to update it? What are you saying? You didn't get it right the first time?
Paikrao looks at him thoughtfully.
Paikrao Perhaps it's better if you go outside while we do this. Please.
Abdul Shaikh goes and sits in the corridor.
Paikrao Fatima?
Fatima Yes.
Paikrao It's Poornima Paikrao. Special executive officer. If you remember, you gave me a statement.
Fatima Yes.
Paikrao In that statement you said three members of the Husain family poured kerosene over you, then threw a match and set fire to you. I'm not sure we're going to be able to maintain that account.
She waits but Fatima says nothing.
You see, since then I've spoken to your daughter...
Fatima To Noori?
Paikrao Yes.
Fatima You spoke to Noori?
Paikrao She looked in through a gap in the wall. She saw you pour the petrol on yourself. I'm afraid she's very firm about this.
Fatima begins to panic.
Fatima I want that family to pay.
Paikrao Yes.
Fatima I want revenge. Look at me...
Paikrao Yes.
Fatima This hospital has no medicine.
Paikrao I know.
Fatima The family must go to prison for this.
Paikrao stops. Even she is slightly awed by Fatima's determination.
Paikrao You see, if we just make a few changes. It's an offence under the old British law to incite anyone to suicide. It's a crime. So if that's what the Husains did...
Fatima They did.
Paikrao Good.
Fatima They made me do it.
Paikrao Clearly.
Paikrao has a statement on a clipboard.
You mentioned Kehkashan threatened to pull off your good leg...
Fatima Well, she did.
Paikrao Good. Then after that Karam said he was going to beat you...
Fatima He did.
Paikrao Then I think we can say, at his father's suggestion, Abdul attacked you...
Fatima Abdul?
Paikrao Yes.
Fatima Not Zehrunisa?
Paikrao No, not Zehrunisa.
Fatima I'd rather Zehrunisa.
Paikrao I know. But she has an alibi. And rather a good one. She was at the police station, remember? That might present difficulties. In the circumstances, I think we should just say Abdul.
Fatima OK.
Paikrao It was him that attacked you. Can you remember that?
Fatima Yes.
Paikrao He took you by the neck and throttled you.
Fatima Throttled?
Paikrao That's what I've written.
Fatima You've written it?
Paikrao Yes. I have it here.
Paikrao reads from the clipboard.
'As my left leg is handicapped, I could not retaliate. In anger, I put the kerosene lying in the house on myself, and set myself on fire.'
She smiles at Fatima, then starts to write.
All right?
Fatima You know I can't read.
Paikrao That doesn't matter.
Fatima I can't sign.
Paikrao produces an ink-pad.
Paikrao You can use your thumb.
Fatima holds out a burnt thumb as Paikrao reads out the words she has just written.
'Record made under clear light of tube-light.'
Paikrao presses Fatima's thumb to the pad, then puts it on the document.
Good. I can work with this.
Fatima People have come to see me. Since I came to hospital. I'm finally important. I'm an important person at last. At last I count. I count for something.
Abdul Shaikh comes back in.
Abdul Shaikh Excuse me, I'm hoping you can help us. My wife is really not well.
Paikrao No, well, that's not surprising is it?
Abdul Shaikh But she's getting worse. Nobody helps. The doctors don't come to see her. They say they don't want to touch her.
Fatima Something's wrong. I'm so cold.
Paikrao What have they told you?
Fatima Stay where I am.
Paikrao Anything else?
Fatima Drink three litres of water a day.
Paikrao Well, that's what you must do.
She looks at Fatima a moment.
At least you can relax now. Your case is safe in my hands.
1.22
Sahar police station. The back room. The sound of Abdul screaming. He is bent over a table, in handcuffs. Fish-Lips is standing over him with a leather strap in his hand.
Fish-Lips Why did you do it? Why did you do such a thing?
Abdul You have to tell me: what did I do?
Fish-Lips brings the strap down on him. Abdul screams.
Fish-Lips You beat her up.
Abdul Do you think I wouldn't have told you? I'm a coward, you know that. I would have told you. Please.
Fish-Lips hits him again. A howl of agony.
Fish-Lips You beat up a cripple. Why did you do that?
Abdul I didn't touch her. People were there, all around. Ask them, they saw what happened.
Fish-Lips I'm going to go on hitting you until you tell me.
Abdul I've nothing to tell you. Nothing!
The strap comes down a third time. Abdul is at his wits' end.
Why would I fight with a woman? I don't fight with anyone. Not even with my little brother. Ask. Ask my family. I've never hit anyone in my life.
Fish-Lips walks away a couple of paces.
Fish-Lips So tell me what happened.
Abdul Nothing happened. Fatima did it herself. She's jealous.
Fish-Lips Jealous of what?
Abdul Because we're richer than her.
Fish-Lips Richer, are you? I'd love to see some proof. Where's your mother? Why doesn't she come round? Share some of her wealth with me?
Abdul She will come. She promised she'll come.
Fish-Lips You know how ill Fatima is? She may well die. Then it's what we call a 302. You know what a 302 is?
Abdul Yes.
Fish-Lips If she dies, none of you'll ever get out.
He stands, thoughtful.
You're a sorter, aren't you, Abdul?
Abdul Yes.
Fish-Lips You need your hands. Show me.
Abdul holds out his hands.
They're small aren't they? Those cuts. Those stains. You think you're in a bad situation? You think your life has taken a bad turn? Not yet. Let's give your mother something to see.
Fish-Lips raises the belt and brings it down on Abdul's hands. Abdul screams.
1.23
Annawadi. Zehrunisa is sitting on the maidan when Poornima Paikrao appears, mild-mannered as ever.
Paikrao Ah good, yes, I'm glad I've found you. I needed a word.
Zehrunisa You'd better tell me who you are.
Paikrao You're Zehrunisa Husain. I'm the official in charge of your case. Or rather, should I say, your family's case?
Kehkashan appears silently from the house.
Paikrao This must be your daughter, Kehkashan. She's not in jail?
Zehrunisa No, she isn't.
Paikrao For the moment.
Zehrunisa and Kehkashan wait.
I take all the statements, that's my job.
Zehrunisa Really?
Paikrao Effectively it's my decision whether this case ever reaches court or not.
Zehrunisa Are you saying you can stop it?
Paikrao Well, that's up to you, isn't it? One thing I could do, and this would finish the whole business at a stroke, I could go and see Fatima's husband for you. I could put an end to it. Well?
Zehrunisa looks, judging how to play this.
Zehrunisa I've already been.
Paikrao You've been? You've been to see her husband?
Zehrunisa Yes. I made him an offer.
Paikrao What sort of offer?
Zehrunisa I offered to move Fatima to a private hospital. Pay for everything – her bed, her medicine, her food.
Paikrao You were wise. You know what they say about Cooper Hospital? When you go to Cooper, you go upar.
She points upwards.
And did her husband accept the offer?
Zehrunisa Not yet. He's thinking it over.
Paikrao You want my advice?
Zehrunisa I can see I'm going to get it.
Paikrao You should hire a professional. A professional negotiator. That's one of the other things I do. If you give me fifty thousand, in cash, then I shall hand it to him. Most of it. I can do that for you. And everybody's stories will match.
Zehrunisa is wracked, uncertain. Paikrao is sweet and calm.
Zehrunisa I need to think. It's a difficult time.
Paikrao Oh, it's certainly that all right.
Zehrunisa Whatever happens: I want to do the right thing.
Paikrao smiles.
Paikrao Ah yes. The right thing is always difficult. But funny how people always find it eventually.
1.24
Abdul is thrown violently by a couple of police officers into an informal holding cell, lined with filing cabinets and desks. He is battered and bruised. There are six or seven prisoners, all shackled, including Karam. Father and son lie together on the tiles.
Karam Abdul, it's you.
Abdul Father.
Abdul is holding his hands between his legs.
Karam Your hands! Show me your hands! Abdul, what have they done? What have they done to you? Let me see.
Obediently he holds out his battered, bruised hands.
Oh my God, Abdul, oh my God! How can you work? How will we live?
1.25
Sahar police station. Fish-Lips is at the desk as Zehrunisa comes in.
Fish-Lips Yes?
Zehrunisa I've come to visit my husband. Karam Husain. And my son.
Fish-Lips They've been charged.
Zehrunisa Charged? Can you tell me what they've been charged with?
Fish-Lips Yes, I can.
He has taken out a clipboard and is holding it up. Zehrunisa gets the idea and tentatively reaches into her pocket. She pushes some rupees across the desk. He just looks. She pushes some more.
Are you taking the piss?
Zehrunisa No.
Fish-Lips Do you think we're stupid? You treat us like idiots? The Husains are rich. Everyone knows that. You think you're better than everyone else? You think the rules don't apply? Seeing the charge sheet will cost you five thousand.
Zehrunisa starts to panic.
Zehrunisa I don't have that kind of money with me. I'm going to go home. Please don't – please don't do anything to them while I'm away. I'll be back in no time at all. Please, I'll be grateful, if you show mercy. Sir, I'll be very grateful. Will you wait? Can you wait? I'll take that as a yes.
Zehrunisa runs off. Fish-Lips just watches, then answers the phone.
1.26
The door of the police station opens and Fish-Lips looks down at Abdul and Karam.
Fish-Lips Time to get going.
Abdul What's happened?
Fish-Lips I warned you. It's a 302. It's murder. You're being moved.
1.27
The maidan. The two shacks, side by side. The slum-dwellers have begun to gather, Manju and Meena among them. Manju holds out her hand.
Manju The first spots of rain.
Meena The monsoon's coming.
Manju Not yet.
Meena Soon.
There is silence, as other women arrive.
Manju Just the first spots.
Kehkashan comes out of Fatima's doorway.
What's happening?
Kehkashan We're washing the body inside.
Zehrunisa comes out, upset, heading for her own house. Kehkashan looks at her.
Well? Do we have to do it? Do we?
Zehrunisa We have to.
Almost blinded by tears, she goes inside her house. The women wait. Then Zehrunisa reappears with a cotton quilt with tiny blue checks.
Kehkashan It's our best quilt.
Zehrunisa It's our only quilt. The body's not wrapped. It has to be wrapped.
Kehkashan I love that quilt.
Zehrunisa I have to. I have no choice. One Leg gets our quilt.
Zehrunisa disappears inside Fatima's house.
Kehkashan looks at the other women a moment, then follows her in. Asha appears.
Asha Ah, there you are.
Manju Yes.
Asha What are you doing?
Manju We're waiting.
Zehrunisa reappears, a rag in her hand.
Zehrunisa We've washed the body. We've washed her sins away. Now let's get the men.
The women come out of the house as Manju makes a move.
Manju I'll get Mr Kamble.
Asha No.
Manju Why not? He'll want to be here. He knew Fatima well.
Asha Mr Kamble died.
Manju He died?
Asha Yes. Two days ago.
Manju He died and you didn't tell me?
Asha says nothing.
What happened?
Asha Happened?
Manju Yes.
Asha Nothing happened. What did you expect? He had a bad heart.
Everyone turns as four men move into the house. They include Mirchi and Abdul Shaikh. People continue to gather, while at the other side of the stage two Doctors, one male, one female, in white coats appear with papers.
1.28
First Doctor Fatima Shaikh?
Second Doctor Yes.
The Second Doctor reads from a clipboard.
'Greenish yellow sloughs formation all over burn injuries with foul smell. Brain congested, lungs congested, heart pale.'
First Doctor She came in with thirty-five burns six days ago. It doesn't look good. Change it to ninety-five burns on arrival.
The Second Doctor writes. The First Doctor nods, satisfied.
Change it to ninety-five and file it away.
1.29
The Doctors go. From the house, a white metal box is carried out, the bier secured by poles, held by the four men. The people stand as it goes by. Zehrunisa is holding Kehkashan's hand as it passes. When it is gone, Zehrunisa puts a few possessions in her hand and embraces her.
Zehrunisa Now you must go.
Kehkashan nods.
Asha You'll be all right.
Kehkashan I'll see you soon.
Kehkashan leaves.
Manju Where is she going?
Asha She's joining her father and brother in jail.
The slum-dwellers disperse. Asha, Manju, Meena and Zehrunisa are left standing alone, stunned.
Zehrunisa The rain'll come soon.
The four men carry the bier on poles down the road, the men not varying their step. It is carried off. The monsoon begins, flooding the area. Everyone runs for cover in the pelting rain.
End of Act One.
Act Two
2.1
It's raining at a bus stop. Zehrunisa is in full burqa. She speaks to us.
Zehrunisa I've made mistakes. I know that. I've made mistakes from the start. You're looking for the right person. They're out there somewhere. Waiting to be bribed. Money! Money, yes, of course, money of course, but in whose hand? I spend the whole day visiting relatives. I tell them, I've sold our back room. They look at me, pitiless. I know what they're thinking. 'You should have paid the first bribe. On the first day. The very first one. If you'd paid the first bribe none of this would have happened.'
2.2
Annawadi is a monsoon flood bowl, the brimming sewage lake at the centre, with nothing but the BEHIND THE BEAUTIFUL FOREVER wall and the hotels beyond. Fish-Lips is approaching through the rain, obviously angry. Zehrunisa turns at once.
Zehrunisa Officer, I'm sorry...
Fish-Lips What the hell happened?
Zehrunisa I can explain. Forgive me.
Zehrunisa falls to her knees.
Fish-Lips Where the fuck have you been? We had an arrangement, remember?
Zehrunisa Of course I remember. I'm very grateful, officer.
Fish-Lips It's up to you. If Abdul isn't a juvenile, then he's in trouble. If he's an adult, he goes to Arthur Road Jail. If you want to say goodbye to your son, or if you want him to come out a cripple. It happens.
Fish-Lips shakes his head.
To me, he looks like a grown-up.
Zehrunisa I really don't think he is. He's worked his whole life. He never went to school.
Fish-Lips You really don't know how old he is?
Zehrunisa I do remember one thing about his birth. It was about the time Saddam Hussein was killing people. I remember Saddam Hussein was doing bad things.
Fish-Lips Well that narrows it down. That really helps.
He is sarcastic, but Zehrunisa protests.
Zehrunisa I stopped in the road. He was born outside the Inter-Continental Hotel. He didn't look like a baby. I looked down, he was in a pile of dirt, he looked like a rat.
For the first time Fish-Lips softens.
Fish-Lips That's a nice hotel.
Zehrunisa It is.
There is a brief moment of contact.
Fish-Lips I'll tell you what I'm going to do for you.
Zehrunisa Thank you.
Fish-Lips I'm going to find you a school certificate. Do you know what that is? Saying he attended this school or that. Saying which class he was in.
Zehrunisa How old are you going to make him?
Fish-Lips I was thinking sixteen. Shall we? Sixteen seems right.
Zehrunisa It may even be true.
She takes money from inside her garment. Still on the ground, she hands notes over to Fish-Lips.
Fish-Lips He can avoid prison. He can go to the Youth Detention Centre.
Zehrunisa How's that?
Fish-Lips Dongri isn't too bad. Considering.
Zehrunisa He'll be pleased. For the first time in his life, Abdul'll know his age.
2.3
Dawn. The sound of the amplified call to prayer from mosques outside. Allah u Akbar: God is Great. Dongri Youth Detention Centre. The shell of a colonial sandstone structure painted pink. Pictures of Gandhi, Nehru and Ambedkar. A different India. An enormous flat floor, on which 120 boys sleep laid out in a barracks in rows. The Guards arrive, a whistle blows.
Guard All right, everyone, time to get up. Get to it. Let's get going. Come on.
The Guards patrol, handing out rags, as the boys get to their feet and go to wash at a line of upstage taps. At the front, Abdul has sat up and is rubbing his eyes, not moving. A pockmarked Guard comes by.
Guard Husain, are you going to wash? Are you refusing to wash?
Abdul does not react.
If you don't wash, you don't get breakfast.
Abdul I don't wash every day.
Guard Why not?
Abdul Because there's no point. I work in rubbish. I just get dirty again.
The Guard waits. Abdul says nothing.
Guard What is it? Some kind of protest?
Abdul No.
Guard We don't have protests.
Another Guard calls out, 'All right everyone here.' Abdul gets up. His uniform is too large, trousers puddling at his feet. His hands have filthy bandages. They stand in a circle and, with surprising enthusiasm, sing the National Anthem. Then they all sit down in the circle to be given breakfast – rice and hard bread. The Guard points at Abdul.
This one gets nothing.
The Guard goes. Abdul sits alone while everyone else eats. The boy next to Abdul speaks to him.
First Boy You're being stupid. It's the first rule.
Abdul What is?
First Boy In Dongri. Don't do anything stupid. Why aren't you washing? Everyone washes.
Abdul And what's the second?
First Boy What?
Abdul If there's more than one rule?
First Boy The second is that you're guilty.
Abdul Guilty?
One or two of the boys laugh.
First Boy Yeah. Whatever you did. Doesn't matter. Just say you did it. It's easier. It's just much easier. 'Did you do it?' 'I did.' 'I did.'
He has raised his voice in mock-terror, and now all the boys join in.
First Boy 'Did you steal that saucepan?'
All I did. I did.
First Boy 'Did you steal that radio?'
All We did. We did.
First Boy 'Did you steal that bicycle?' 'Did you kill your father?' 'Did you strangle your mother?' 'Did you rape your sister?'
All Guilty. Guilty.
There are improvised interrogations from all over: 'Did you kill twenty people?', 'Did you poison your uncle?', 'Did you sell ganja?', with everyone laughing: 'Yes I'm guilty, I did it, I confess, I confess.'
First Boy You see, there you are. If anyone asks you, just own up.
Abdul Why?
First Boy Because, it's obvious, that's what they want. Give them what they want! Why not?
The pockmarked Guard has reappeared.
Guard All right, everyone, this morning you have a teacher.
There is a collective groan.
No, really, every day you're meant to have a class. Well, today for once you do.
Second Boy Who is he?
Guard He's called the Master. Face this way.
The Guard makes lines with his arms to denote where they are to sit, all facing one way.
All right, sit and wait here. He's coming.
The Guard goes out.
First Boy I don't believe it. What a fucking waste of time.
The Master comes in. He is middle-aged, pudgy, with high-rise hair and watery pink eyes. He reaches the point of command, then speaks into a microphone.
Master Good morning, everyone.
A Few Good morning.
Master It's a pleasure to be here. It's a privilege to have the chance to speak to you at such a moment in your lives. When you're all facing challenges. Let me say one thing before I say anything else: I have faced those challenges also. We're made from the same clay, you and I. The extraordinary thing is, I've seen so many boys come through this place, and I shan't lie to you. If you were my boys I would have thrown you all away long ago.
The boys laugh.
Because I can see your destiny, that's why. It's as if I'm looking at a map, and it's already drawn, because I know for a fact how few of you are going to come through. There's only one way to survive in life. The boys who take the path of honour live. The boys who take the path of crime die. That's how it is.
There is a silence among the boys.
It's the most extraordinary coincidence. I'll tell you. Because if you live dishonestly, you're going to die young. Your families disown you, they stop visiting you, you spend most of your life in prison, and then one day, when you're thirty or thirty-five, you die on the pavement. And that's what I call a coincidence, because doing the right thing, living well, living honestly doesn't just make you feel better but – hey, think about this! – it's actually in your own interest. All you have to do is choose. You choose. And you. And you.
He has pointed to three boys at random, including Abdul. The Master is beginning to choke up.
Yes, I can see one or two of you are beginning to cry, and I don't blame you – because I'm crying too. Matter of fact, I've done a lot of crying lately because I've just been through a very painful divorce. I was married to a woman who wasn't very nice. My God, what a bitch. And that's a hard thing to face up to when you love someone. She was such a bitch she took my car in the divorce settlement. But I let her take it. I gave away a Ford Fiesta. I said, go on, if you want it, take it.
Tears are pouring down the Master's face as he is moved by his own story. Abdul is still, transfixed.
OK. And that's what I'm saying. Because – believe it or not – not long after, I got a new girlfriend. And this girlfriend – now I'm crying again because I'm thinking about her – but you should meet my girlfriend. You really should. She's a much nicer person than my wife ever was. And also, by the way, she's much better looking. So there we are. I did the right thing and I got my reward. Because you see, I'll tell you the interesting thing, being good is the right way to live.
The Master looks round.
Thank you, everyone. Be sure to use well the rest of the day.
The Master moves away. As the boys disperse, Abdul moves to catch him.
Abdul Excuse me, sir, I wonder if we could speak.
Master Of course. What do you want to say?
Abdul hesitates, unused to this.
Abdul Everything you say makes sense. I'd never heard it before.
Master I wouldn't say it if it wasn't true.
Abdul I don't think I've lived a bad life, sir. But I never went to school. I never learnt. I never had time to think.
The Master looks at him.
I like this place. It gives me a chance to think.
Master Tell me your name.
Abdul Abdul Husain.
Master Abdul, it's good to meet you. I meet many boys. If I can help one then I'm not wasting my time.
Abdul I'm in here because I'm accused of a crime. But I didn't do it.
There is just a flicker in the Master's response.
Master I have other appointments. I'd love to talk longer, but I can't. If you need to get hold of me, Abdul, ask the authorities. I'll be very interested to hear what happens to you.
The Master goes out. The boys have dispersed. Abdul stands alone, wondering.
2.4
Annawadi. Asha's place is relatively well appointed, with a television set. Manju and Rahul are readying it for a family party.
Manju All right, over here, lay them out, potato chips and chocolates...
Rahul Look, napkins!
Manju Put the chocolates here.
Rahul You put these under the chips.
Manju Why do you put napkins under chips?
Rahul Don't ask me, but that's what you do.
He demonstrates with paper napkins.
It's me who's worked in a hotel.
Manju You only worked there a week.
Rahul Eight days. At the Inter-Continental. Magic!
Manju You were sacked.
Rahul I wasn't sacked. I was let go. They'll take me back.
Manju They told me you danced with the guests.
Rahul I didn't dance with the guests. I danced for the guests. It's different.
Manju How is it different?
Rahul There was music, 'Rise Up', you know? And it's a pretty belting song, some people were drunk, they said 'Show us some Mumbai moves.'
Rahul does some moves and sings:
Rise up, don't falling down again'
Rise up, love like I broke the chains!
The head waiter came up. 'Have you gone mad, asshole?' I said. 'You told me always to give guests what they wanted. They wanted me to dance.'
Manju You're an idiot.
Rahul laughs at the memory, as Asha appears. She's in a dark blue sari, looking splendid.
Asha Well, I must say it's beginning to look beautiful.
Rahul Thank you.
Asha You're both doing a marvellous job. Let's just hope this isn't the last birthday I have here.
She has sat down to work on her make-up.
Mahadeo Why should it be?
Manju In Annawadi? Why?
Asha Because – can you believe it? – they've started talking again about knocking us down.
Manju I don't believe it.
Mahadeo They're always talking about knocking us down.
Asha Again!
Mahadeo It's just talk.
Asha Make way for the airport!
Manju It's not going to happen.
Asha It's going to happen one day. There are bulldozers out on Airport Road.
Manju Come on, there are always bulldozers on Airport Road. What do your sources say? If anyone knows what's going on, you do.
Manju grins at the others at this.
Asha I'll tell you exactly what they say –
But then Asha's mobile goes off.
Rahul I want to hear this. Does she know something? Are we all going to be turned into a car park?
Asha (on phone) Hello. Hello. No. No, I'm sorry. It's my birthday.
Mahadeo Who is it?
Asha (on phone) My children have laid on a party. No, I don't think I can. Really. Another day. Call me.
She quickly clicks it off.
Well there you are, you see, the work never stops.
Mahadeo Is it work?
Asha That's the bore of being the go-to woman. They expect you to help them every hour of the day.
Manju is looking to Mahadeo, who is obviously suspicious. She has a knife for the cake in her hand.
Manju Mother, turn it off. You're never going to be forty again. Rahul and I have worked all day to prepare the party.
The phone goes again. Asha scrambles for it. Manju raises her voice.
We did this for you!
Asha (on phone) Yes? No, I've said. Really I can't. I can't. I won't change my mind. Call me back in five minutes.
She turns the phone off, goes to the mirror and starts fluffing her hair.
Manju I don't believe it. I don't believe this is happening.
Asha What's wrong? I'm just doing my job.
Manju That's not the tone you use when people come to you in trouble.
Mahadeo Manju...
Manju You were being positively pleasant. Who was it? Where are you going?
Asha I'm not going anywhere.
Manju Then why are you standing in front of the mirror?
Asha is betraying her nervousness by the clouds of talc filling the air. Mahadeo is formal.
Mahadeo Asha, in the name of our marriage, I have to ask you...
Asha Please don't ask me anything.
Mahadeo I have to demand that you –
Rahul What's going on?
Mahadeo You have to stay. We're a family! You know how much this party means to us all.
The phone goes again. Each syllable comes out crisp, rhythmic, as her family stands round in silence.
Asha (on phone) Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes, see you then. Can't wait.
She clicks it off.
I have to go out.
Manju No.
Asha I have to. I promised. It's as simple as that.
Manju Where are you going?
Asha It's none of your business.
Mahadeo Asha, I'm your husband. Where are you off to?
Asha I'm not taking any shit. I'm not. I keep this family together, that's what I do. Who else can do it? And I'll do it in my own way. When I need to. And don't anyone ever tell me otherwise. I won't be late, I'm not going to be late.
Sweating, Asha makes to go out in a cloud of talc.
Mahadeo Asha, I'm begging you. Don't go.
Manju reaches out for Asha's hand as she passes. But Asha breaks free of her grasp and goes out. Mahadeo has tears in his eyes. No one can move.
No one say anything. No one's to speak. No one's to speak of this. No one.
Manju looks to the floor, knife still in hand. Rahul is stunned, disbelieving.
2.5
The other Mumbai pours on to the stage. Outside the entrance to bright pink Grand Maratha Hotel, a brightly dressed wedding party, behind a fence, passes with a loud brass band playing, confetti flying. Paparazzi. Asha appears and stands a few moments, fascinated, in the ambient light. Then the wedding party go inside. The band disappears. All at once, it's dark and windy. An Officer appears at the other side, fifties, heavily built, smoking a cigarette.
Officer I'm glad you could make it. We need to be quick.
Asha No problem.
She crosses to him. He stubs out his cigarette.
Officer I've only got fifteen minutes. The car's round the back.
The Officer puts his arm round her. At this moment Zehrunisa appears on her way to the prison. The two women see one another for a moment. Then Asha and the Officer leave.
2.6
The women's prison. A line of female prisoners, among them Kehkashan, waiting for visitors. Zehrunisa arrives, apologetic, harassed.
Zehrunisa I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I tried to be on time.
Kehkashan Have you brought me anything?
Zehrunisa I brought you chocolates.
Kehkashan Is that all you got?
Zehrunisa hands across one bar.
Zehrunisa Have they given you a date –
Kehkashan Not a word.
Zehrunisa For your trial? Have they told you?
Kehkashan They tell us nothing.
There is a moment's silence.
You don't look well.
Zehrunisa The world has changed since you were in prison. Times are difficult everywhere.
Kehkashan We were doing so well.
Zehrunisa I felt like a navigator, steering a boat. I was proud. 'You're a very good navigator,' I would say to myself. Then the storm blows up, and sends you off course. All that skill goes for nothing. Makes no difference what sort of sailor you are.
She shakes her head.
I'm running around town asking for money. All our relatives. All our friends. They don't care. To them, we're just entertainment, we're a story. We're something you talk about when you're bored.
A bell goes off. End of session. Others begin to get up.
Kehkashan You'll come back tomorrow?
Zehrunisa nods.
How's my father?
Zehrunisa He still has faith. He says in court he'll get justice. He believes in the system.
Kehkashan If we ever get there.
Zehrunisa Prison isn't good for his lungs. If I don't get money he'll die.
There is a moment.
Kehkashan And Abdul?
Zehrunisa Abdul's fine. That boy can look after himself.
2.7
Darkness. The toilets again. Manju discernible first, then Meena.
Manju Meena?
Meena Yes.
Manju So you're there.
Meena Of course I'm here.
Manju You didn't come yesterday. I thought you wanted to learn.
Meena appears beside her.
Meena Manju, I think all the time about Fatima.
Manju Why?
Meena What she did.
Manju Why do you think about her?
Meena Because her ghost is here in the toilets.
Manju I don't think so.
Meena I've heard it. Most of the women won't come inside. They'd rather shit round the back. I hear Fatima screaming and cursing. I hear her ghost.
Manju just looks at her.
I wouldn't burn myself. That's not how I'd do it.
Manju Meena.
Meena I'd never set fire to myself because then you leave people with a bad memory. Do it so you look good at the end.
There's a silence.
Manju Meena, why are we talking about this?
Meena Don't say you haven't considered it.
Manju I don't want to discuss it.
Meena Why not? You say the flowers in my hair never turn sticky and brown. That's because I never bottle bad things up inside me. Flowers die in your hair because you never dare to speak out what you feel.
Manju hesitates.
Manju Everyone's thought about suicide. It's human.
Meena When?
Manju Just a few weeks ago.
Meena What happened?
Manju It was to do with my mother.
Meena It's always your mother.
Manju No, but this was different. I discovered something about her. She's doing certain things. For my sake. For my education. I felt dishonoured. I felt there was only one path to take.
Meena But you didn't take it.
Manju No. I thought about it but I decided it was wrong.
Meena Wrong? And is it right to live when you have no hope?
Manju You have hope.
Meena My family allow me nothing. I'm fifteen years old and they're sending me to marry a man I don't know, in a village I don't know, hours and hours from here. I'm to live my whole life knowing nothing, thinking nothing, because they won't allow me to learn. That's my story, I've left nothing out.
Manju It doesn't have to be.
Meena Yes it does. I'm going to have a life but I'm not going to live.
She gets up, decisive.
And that's what Fatima felt.
Manju Nonsense.
Meena Trapped. I understand her.
Manju You're wrong. It was an accident. Her friend Cynthia told her to do it. Cynthia said, 'Set fire to yourself.' Fatima made a mess of it.
Meena shakes her head.
Meena I wouldn't make a mess. I'd take poison. It's clean.
Manju Don't be ridiculous. You couldn't even look at Fatima, remember. The sight of her made you ill for a week.
Meena That's because she did it wrong.
Manju You have to stop saying such things.
Meena What's the point of our meeting if I can't say what I think? You're the only person I can speak to at all.
Unusually, she has raised her voice. Manju can't answer.
I met a boy.
Manju Meena...
Meena My brother brought a friend home from work. A city boy.
Manju Well?
Meena Then he began to phone. I had to tell him, 'If they see me on a phone, I'm dead.'
She shakes her head.
My life's unbearable.
Manju It's only just begun. You have to let it play out.
Meena Why?
Manju Because killing yourself is like giving up. It's like saying you're beaten.
Meena But, Manju, I am. I am beaten.
She makes to go.
I have to go. No, really...
Manju Meena...
Meena You're a good friend to me, Manju.
She looks at Manju.
Manju, you've been a good friend.
2.8
Annawadi. Sunil, alone, speaks directly to us.
Sunil Something happened in America. Something bad. There's a street called Wall Street. Everyone says 'Wall Street'. They all say 'Wall Street's crashed'. I asked the man who runs the games parlour. He knows everything. He said, 'The banks in America went in a loss, then the big people went in a loss. A lot of Americans are living in their cars or in tents under bridges.' And here I can tell you what's changed. A kilo of empty water bottles – a few weeks ago, you got twenty-five rupees. Today you get ten. A kilo of newspaper was always five rupees. Today they give you two. And it happened suddenly. We'd stopped eating rats. Some years ago. 'In Annawadi, we don't cook rats,' we said. Now we cook them again. One day, a world we knew. We could live. Next, Wall Street's down and no one's making a living. Anywhere.
2.9
At once a plane goes over, low, deafening, shadowy. Sunil has been joined by Taufeeq, across a distance in the empty space. Taufeeq is older, darker, in trendy clothes.
Sunil Taufeeq.
Taufeeq German silver.
Sunil No.
Taufeeq German silver.
Sunil Taufeeq, you know I can't.
Taufeeq It's there. We both know it. It's waiting.
Sunil looks at him mistrustfully.
Sunil Do you know the price? The price has fallen.
Taufeeq Everything's fallen. Everything. German silver's fallen less than everything else.
Sunil How much can you get?
Taufeeq I can get sixty a kilo.
Sunil Sixty? It used to be a hundred.
Taufeeq The world's changed. Sixty's not nothing. And we know where it is.
He waits, tempting Sunil.
Taj Catering Services.
Sunil No.
Taufeeq Why not?
Sunil It reminds me of Kalu.
Taufeeq So? And you? Are you even eating? How tall are you, Sunil? How tall? Will you ever grow?
Sunil moves away, hurt. Taufeeq knows he's prevailing now.
Sunil Why do you need me?
Taufeeq Why do you think? I've seen you. Climbing up coconut trees. Like a monkey. You're fast. And you judge risk better than anyone.
Sunil No.
Taufeeq moves in, decisive.
Taufeeq We've both seen that gap in the fence. Behind a bush. At the end of an unlit lane. Let's be serious, it's like an invitation.
He waits, but Sunil says nothing.
Sunil, how big is Mumbai?
Sunil Big.
Taufeeq How big?
Sunil Very big.
Taufeeq And how many people live there? Taj Catering Services has a gap in its wire. What are the chances, if we don't go in, someone else will?
Sunil High.
Taufeeq How high?
Sunil reluctantly smiles, for the first time.
How high?
Sunil As high as the stars.
Taufeeq nods, his point proved.
I always said I wasn't a thief.
Taufeeq All right, that's fine. We agree. You're not a thief.
Sunil Good.
They both smile.
Taufeeq You're not a thief who happens to be stealing some metal tonight.
2.10
Dongri. The gates outside the great Victorian building. Abdul, back in his own clothes, with a small parcel under his arm, stops at the gate where the pockmarked Guard holds out a clipboard for him. His hands are still bandaged.
Guard Here. Sign here.
Abdul takes the pen from him and signs.
Sign here again.
Abdul does a second signature.
And now you're out. You have to report back every Wednesday.
Abdul Officer, I've been thinking about your job.
Guard I beg your pardon?
Abdul It isn't easy, is it? Looking after so many boys. So much responsibility. I've realised how hard it is. I've been looking at it from your point of view.
The Guard stares at him.
Guard Just fuck off, will you?
Abdul Yes, sir. Thank you.
He walks, his bundle under his arm, and as he does, the whole of Mumbai, in all its confusion and vitality goes by. Abdul walks, thinking.
2.11
Annawadi. The rain has stopped, and it's drying out. All the rubbish is laid out in front of the house. Where once there was bounty, now it's pitiful. Mirchi sneaks back, trying not to be seen. But Zehrunisa, in burqa, is out of the house, quick as a flash.
Zehrunisa Where the hell have you been? Where have you been to?
Mirchi I was out to get a job.
Zehrunisa This rubbish needs sorting. Look at it. The whole family depends on you, Mirchi.
Mirchi has sat down in the rubbish and started picking at it in a desultory way. Zehrunisa is furious.
Mirchi I met a man. He says he can give me a job in a car park counting cars. I'd be good at it.
Zehrunisa You're crazy. Nobody owes you a living. This town is full of people cleverer than you.
Mirchi It's at Sky Gourmet. The wages are good there.
Zehrunisa You worked there before. You lasted three days.
Mirchi It was good money.
Zehrunisa Yes but they never paid you.
Mirchi It was still good money!
Zehrunisa Yes, if you'd got any, it would have been good.
Abdul appears. They are both taken aback.
Abdul What's happening?
Zehrunisa Abdul. You're back.
Abdul Yes. They agreed to release me on condition I go to report every week.
Zehrunisa I can't believe you're here.
Abdul Where's all the stuff? Is this all we have? I come back and there's nothing left?
He stands, suddenly dominating.
What about the store room, is that empty too?
Zehrunisa I sold the store room.
Abdul You sold it?
Zehrunisa I'm always out trying to get money.
Abdul I was gone six weeks, not six years.
Zehrunisa And Mirchi's been running the business.
Mirchi I'm no good at it. It's not my thing.
Abdul Tell me about it.
Mirchi shrugs, all charm.
Have we lost all our pickers?
Zehrunisa Not all. Most.
Mirchi I'm sorry, Abdul.
Abdul stands looking round, hands on hips.
But also, don't forget, there's a global recession.
Abdul A what?
Mirchi There's something called a global recession. It began in Wall Street. A black man's going to run America.
Abdul What's that to do with it?
Mirchi I'm just saying. Same name as us. Barack Husain. I thought you'd be interested.
Abdul I'm not interested.
He is despairingly looking through the stuff.
Zehrunisa Abdul, I'm asking. I need to ask you to come back to work. The old team. Me the brain, you the hands.
Abdul shrugs, the whole answer.
Abdul I've never refused you. Only this time, I have to warn you, I made a decision, it's going to be different.
Zehrunisa Different? How?
Abdul I want to stop buying stolen goods.
Zehrunisa looks, wary, warning.
Zehrunisa Abdul, you have to be careful. I don't think you know how tough it is right now.
Abdul I've heard.
Zehrunisa For everyone.
Abdul I've heard.
Zehrunisa The world doesn't work in our favour. Six weeks ago, remember, we were going to expand. Now we're fighting to survive. We're the same people.
Abdul doesn't react. Zehrunisa loses it.
I don't even know what it means. What the fuck does it mean? Not buy stolen goods? What are you going to do? Ask? Every time someone comes to sell. 'Where did you get it?' Are you crazy? Everything's stolen. One time or another. If not from this person, at least from the person before. You think anything's pure? I don't think so. It's all shit. We deal in shit, that's what we do. And you're going to start saying 'Where did this shit come from?'
Abdul In Dongri, every night I thought about it. What it would be like to be honest. And if it means we lose out, if it means we make less money, then we live with that. That's the price we pay.
There is a new steeliness in Abdul. He undoes the bandages from his hands, and casts them silently aside. Then he sits and starts once more to sort garbage. Zehrunisa looks at him mistrustfully.
So? Do you agree?
2.12
Navratri Festival. The decorations have gone up, there is a flagpole on the maidan as Manju walks across to look for Meena, who is trying to dance with everyone else, but who is reeling around unsteadily.
Manju What's wrong? What's happened?
Meena Nothing's happened.
Manju Tell me what happened.
Meena Nothing.
She looks at Manju a moment. She's quiet.
I rang the boy.
Manju You didn't.
Meena My mother heard. She beat me. Then my brother wanted me to cook him an omelette for lunch, while I was fasting. He beat me. I'm going to be sick.
Manju What is this? I don't understand.
Meena has turned aside to spit.
Open your mouth.
Meena No.
Manju Let me smell your breath. Meena, let me smell your breath.
Meena opens her mouth. Manju smells.
How much did you take?
Meena doesn't answer. Manju runs across to Laxmi.
Laxmi! Laxmi! She's taken rat poison.
Laxmi Is that what she's saying?
Manju She's not just saying it. Look.
She holds out the empty tube.
Laxmi I don't think so. She pretended to do that before.
Manju This time she's done it.
Laxmi I know what she's up to. Because she's angry with us. Navratri's got to her. She wants some pity. Well she's getting no pity from me.
She turns round and goes back inside.
Manju We need to find tobacco. We have to find something to make you sick.
Meena Manju, you don't understand. I don't want to be sick. I've done it carefully. Just like I promised, remember? I took it with milk. I've done it before. And it never stays down. It always comes up. This time it's going to stay down.
Manju No. I'm going to get salted water.
Meena It's not what I want. I blame no one. This is what I wanted.
Manju Well you can't have it, Meena, d'you hear?
She stands, shaken to her roots, her whole being engaged now. The Navratri Festival returns, loud music.
You can't have it. You may want it, but you're not getting it.
She runs off wildly, shouting for help.
Help! Please! Anyone! Salt water! Help!
Meena begins to convulse as, oblivious, the Navratri dancers sweep back on to the maidan. The whole population goes by, hands joined, as Meena lies on the ground, her guts twisting her in agony.
2.13
Navratri continues. A noodle-wali is selling chicken chilli and rice from a mobile stall. Sunil is eating from a paper plate, when Abdul appears, going home.
Sunil It's you.
Abdul Yes.
Sunil Hey.
Abdul I haven't seen you. Where have you been?
Sunil Oh, you know. Hanging about.
Abdul nods, an awkwardness between them.
How was prison?
Abdul And you? What's that? You've got something in your ear. You always wanted an earring.
Sunil I did. It's a skull.
Sunil fingers the metal ring, self-conscious.
Abdul You're different. Sunil, have you grown taller?
Sunil Two inches.
Abdul Well done. You always wanted to be taller. Even more than an earring.
Sunil Both. I wanted both.
Abdul's about to set off.
Come and I'll buy you a meal.
Abdul I can't.
Sunil Why won't you? Chicken chilli and rice.
Abdul shakes his head.
Abdul. I've had some good luck.
Abdul Yes, I can see that. The earring.
Sunil hesitates, then jumps in.
Sunil All right, I can tell you what happened. We've found this amazing gap in a fence. It's wild. So far I've picked up twenty-four pieces of iron.
Abdul Well done.
Sunil I take them out in my trousers. It's like taking cake from a child.
Abdul Good. Then you're all right.
Sunil Abdul. What's wrong? What happened in jail? I know you. You're changed. Say. Fucking say.
He suddenly shouts.
I had nothing, Abdul. I was eating the grass in the lake. For fuck's sake have some chicken chilli and rice. Have it. Do me a favour, I want to buy you a meal!
He sounds so agonised, Abdul cannot refuse.
Abdul All right.
Sunil Good, let me get it, man. When did you last eat?
Abdul Yesterday morning.
Sunil Shit. There you are. Well that's what I'm saying.
He has sped across to the woman on the stall.
Another chicken chilli and rice. A big one.
He turns back to Abdul.
Fuck. You're so fucking difficult, man.
Abdul I think I'm easy.
Sunil I can tell you you're not. (To the woman.) Yeah, extra rice, please. And more sauce. As much as'll fit on the plate. Here.
He holds out money. The woman takes it. Sunil carries the piled, steaming plate across to Abdul. He hands it over in silence.
Abdul Thanks.
Sunil Now will you tell me what's going on?
Abdul has finally let go of his cart. He shrugs.
Abdul I've been thinking. One morning I was lying on the floor. In the prison. All the other boys. Sleeping. I could hear them breathing. And I thought: we're all the same.
Sunil All the same?
Abdul People.
Sunil People are the same, is that what you're saying?
Abdul No, I'm saying something more interesting than that. I'm saying we're all made from the same stuff. But we can make ourselves different. Like, for instance, water. It can be dirty water. Just water. Nothing else. Or it can be ice. Everything's made of the same. But it can be better than what it's made of.
He stops and looks straight at Sunil.
Sunil, I want to be ice.
He waits. He becomes embarrassed.
I'm not used to eating so much. Don't get me wrong, it was great. But it's too much.
He holds the plate out, making to leave.
Sunil What's going on, man? You don't want to be friends? You don't want to be friends with me? What, I'm not good enough?
Abdul looks down at his plate.
Abdul Can I take it with me?
He turns and goes. Sunil stands alone.
2.14
The car park at night. Sunil and Taufeeq scale the side of the half-finished building with astonishing agility, German silver in hand. Taufeeq hangs from the side, speaking in an urgent whisper, as Sunil goes higher.
Taufeeq What the hell are you up to? Sunil, where are you going? We need to get out of here.
Sunil I'm going up to the roof.
Taufeeq What for? There's nothing on the roof.
Sunil I'm going up. You get going. See you later, OK?
Taufeeq The guards are coming back. What are you doing, you stupid arsehole? You're going to get caught.
He is alarmed. But Sunil is on his way.
Sunil I need to go on the roof.
Taufeeq climbs down as fast as possible and disappears. Sunil climbs on to the roof. When he gets there he looks out across Mumbai. From the street below comes the sound of Om Shanti Om. Sunil starts to dance, sketching in at first, and then with more abandon.
2.15
Asha's place. Asha runs in – triumphant, transformed. Manju is teaching a six-year-old.
Asha My darling, oh my darling daughter.
Manju What on earth's happened?
She gets up, bewildered.
Asha And you could say, it's all down to you.
Manju To me?
Asha Well, only partly. I had the right kind of charity, but you, my darling, you have the right job.
Manju The right job for what?
Asha I've been talking to a man called Bhimrao Gaikwad.
Manju I've never heard of him.
Asha At the Maharashtra Education Department.
She cannot contain herself.
In twelve months we could be out of this place.
Manju Out of Annawadi?
Her children are smiling at Asha's euphoria.
Asha There's a government programme. To give everyone in India an education.
Manju Everyone?
Asha Exactly. Regardless. Child labourers, disabled, girls.
Manju But that's great.
Asha You and I are going to run twenty-four kindergartens.
Manju How on earth are we going to do that?
Asha has got out a piece of paper and is holding it up.
Asha Gaikwad's given me the names of the teachers.
Manju The names of the teachers? He gave you their names?
Asha He said, use these.
Manju Use them?
Asha He said, these are the ones you have to put on salary. We write their cheques, we take them round.
Manju Hold on, Mother, are these people real? Are they real teachers?
She sends the child away.
The whole thing's a scam? Is that what you're saying? You're saying the schools won't actually exist?
Asha They'll exist on paper.
Manju So who gets the money?
Asha We do. Government money! It's the best kind.
Manju moves away.
Manju No, I'm not doing this. This time I'm not going to do it. I won't. I want nothing to do with it.
Asha Manju, how do you imagine you've got as far as you have? I do what I do, so you don't have to. Corruption gets a bad press, but for us it's our best hope. And it's not our corruption. It's theirs. They thought of this scheme. Not us.
Manju turns, suddenly furious.
Manju I nearly killed myself! Do you know that? I thought about killing myself. I talked to Meena about it. Before she tried. This man Gaikwad, I know what you're doing. I know how you got into this scheme. Everything we have is because of – what you do at night. You shame us, Mother. You shame us by your behaviour.
Asha How else do you think people get on? They use what they have. That's what everyone does. One thing I've learned from first-class people: if you don't think it's wrong, then it isn't. Us, we wait a whole lifetime for one opportunity like this. But for them, these things fall in their laps all the time. I believed in competition. Truly. Getting the advantage. Getting ahead. And I was good at it. And after all these years, I live by a sewage lake with a drunken husband. Take the chance you're given and be grateful. If we don't do it, then tell me one thing. Tell me how else we progress.
Laxmi appears like a ghost at the door.
Laxmi Well, I hope you're happy.
Manju What? What's happened?
Laxmi You've got what you want.
Manju moves away, shaken.
My daughter was in the hospital. She died this morning.
Manju She was getting better. Every day she was meant to get better.
Asha moves forward, directly opposite Laxmi.
Asha I'm very sorry, Laxmi. I'm shocked.
Laxmi My daughter took poison, and then later she died. Now where do you think she got that idea?
She turns and looks at Manju. Asha, shaken, looks between them.
Asha I don't know what you're saying.
Laxmi Don't you? Turns out for the last year, she never told us, but these girls have been meeting. Did you know?
She waits.
Did you know?
Asha I sort of knew.
Laxmi Did you or didn't you?
Asha I didn't think there was any harm in it.
Laxmi They met in the toilets. In the toilets. Why do you think they did that?
Manju turns, desperate.
Manju Mother, this isn't fair. Tell her this isn't right.
Asha I must say, as far as I understand it, Manju was trying to educate Meena.
Laxmi Educate her? Educate her to what?
Asha Broaden her mind.
Laxmi Is Meena's mind broad enough now?
Manju is horrified.
Manju It isn't my fault. I tried to stop her, it was me that tried to dissuade her.
Laxmi Did you?
Manju I was worried about her.
Laxmi You were worried, were you? So did you come to the family? Did you come and tell us?
Manju looks desperately to Asha for help.
Manju You beat her. The whole family beats her.
Laxmi We beat her to make her obedient.
Manju No. To make her submit. That's why you wouldn't educate her. So she wouldn't have thoughts of her own.
Laxmi just looks at her.
Laxmi You took our daughter, you told her about novels, and men, and the ways of the world. We want nothing to do with you. You call it education. I don't. I call it rebellion. You killed our daughter.
Manju It's not true. Mother, tell her it's not true.
Laxmi turns and goes out. Manju throws herself into Asha's arms. Asha accepts her, hugging her.
I did nothing wrong.
Asha I believe you.
There is the sound of a ring-tone. Manju is hysterical.
Manju Don't take it.
Asha It's my phone.
She lets Manju go and takes out her phone. The sound of an approaching plane. Lights, noise, the shadow goes over.
2.16
Sunil turns on the top of the building, the plane passing right over his head. He begins to climb down. He moves quickly into the darkness. Out of nowhere two Security Guards appear. One grabs him by the neck, the other starts to rip off his clothes.
First Guard Do you think we're stupid? Do you think we don't see you up there?
Sunil I'll give you money. Here, take everything I have. Take it.
He has reached into his pocket, coins tumbling out.
First Guard Hold him! Hold him! Take off his clothes.
Sunil Please, I promise, I can get you much more.
He is stripped to his underpants. One Guard takes the aluminium pieces he has in there and throws them to the ground. The Second Guard has got a cut-throat razor which he opens and brandishes in front of Sunil.
Second Guard I don't think you'll ever go thieving again.
They push him down on the ground. They hold him by his hair. The Second Guard raises the knife. Sunil screams.
2.17
P. M. Chauhan steps forward to address us. She is in her forties, in black robes, with bright red lipstick. The wire fence goes and is replaced by her Sewri courtroom.
Chauhan It's very hard to live on a judge's salary. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. People think we're well paid and we're not. And the pension arrangements aren't simple. Sometimes I think I'll wait for the next pay hike and then get out. Have you heard of fast-track courts? Cases were taking eight, ten years to be heard, so Delhi decided there should be fourteen hundred new courts all over India. I run one. I have – let me think – thirty-five cases, maybe thirty-six, and each day I hear evidence from eight or nine of them. You need a good memory. You listen to poor people all day, fighting among themselves. She said this, he said that. They don't seem to realise. It suits everyone fine. Perfect. Couldn't be better. Let them fight among each other. That way they're not fighting us.
2.18
Chauhan goes into her courtroom in Sewri. It's more like an encampment – empty plastic bottles and cans in front of the high judge's platform. There are nine or ten different prisoners, some of them shackled. Kehkashan, now in burqa, and Karam share the prisoners' bench. There are rows of brown bucket chairs. It's full of families and the public, and two tiers of metal desks with Prosecutors, Clerks, Defenders.
Chauhan All right, let's get this thing going, please, we don't have all day. I've an awful lot to do.
She starts shuffling papers and turns to her Clerk as the public flood in.
We are on the burning case, is that right? Those wretched women.
Clerk That's what we're doing.
Chauhan Next witness. Cynthia Ali. Is Cynthia Ali here?
Cynthia I'm here.
Cynthia puts up her hand. She has dressed in a spectacular purple sari. She rushes forward as Abdul Shaikh, thrown by the speed of it all, is led away.
Chauhan We already have a written statement. Go to it, please.
The Defender has the statement and is already starting.
Defender You're Cynthia Ali?
Cynthia I am.
Defender And you say in the statement you were Fatima's best friend?
Cynthia I was a good friend to her.
Defender And now you're working – what? – in the anti-poverty business?
Cynthia I'm a social worker.
Defender Yes, but you didn't use to be, did you?
Cynthia No. I've just started.
Defender That's right. First of all you were an exotic dancer. Then you moved into the garbage business, is that right?
Cynthia My family, yes, we sorted rubbish.
Defender And that collapsed last year? And would it be true to say the Husains had taken most of your custom by then?
Cynthia A lot of it, yes. That was luck.
Defender Luck?
Cynthia Zehrunisa has a son who's the best sorter in the business. It isn't fair. That's not fair competition. He was so fast it was unnatural.
She is defiant. A few people laugh.
Defender Their business prospered, yours failed?
Cynthia says nothing.
Where were you when Fatima set fire to herself?
Cynthia I was at home.
Defender And what were you doing at home?
Cynthia I was chopping vegetables. Noori called for me, I went straight across.
Defender So you arrived at the scene only after she'd already lit the petrol. That's right, isn't it?
Cynthia Yes, but I saw what happened.
Defender What exactly did you see?
Cynthia I saw the Husains, all three of them, attacking her, hitting her with a stone.
Defender You saw from your house, did you, while you were chopping vegetables?
The Defender smiles, content.
Where is your house?
Cynthia I'm her neighbour.
Defender Yes, but your house is in a different slum lane altogether.
Cynthia It's not far.
Defender It isn't anywhere near, certainly not in sight of Fatima. You never saw any so-called vicious fight, did you? In fact, you're lying, aren't you?
Cynthia I'm not lying.
Defender You were in a house with no direct view. And now you're lying about it.
Cynthia I'm not lying. I'm not.
Chauhan is looking at her watch.
Chauhan Ah good, excellent, that point's established. The witness admits she's lying.
Cynthia I don't admit I'm lying.
Chauhan The witness says she saw the fight, but she didn't. Thank you. We get the message.
Cynthia is outraged.
Cynthia I haven't finished.
Chauhan No, but we have. Come on, let's get the husband up.
Cynthia This is crazy! This isn't fair!
Clerk If the husband's quick. Then you can break the back of the whole case today.
Then she sees that the Prosecutor is already guiding a confused Abdul Shaikh to the stand.
Chauhan Very good, sir, well done, up you go. The quicker the better. That's why it's called a high-speed court. You get the idea. OK, take the oath.
Abdul Shaikh takes the oath. The oath isn't finished, but Chauhan has turned.
OK, are we ready? Come on, let's go.
The Prosecutor, eager to please, is already on his feet. Abdul Shaikh is looking bewildered.
Prosecutor Your name's Abdul Shaikh?
Abdul Shaikh Yes, sir.
Prosecutor And what relation were you to Fatima Shaikh?
Abdul Shaikh I'm her husband, sir.
Prosecutor And when she set fire to herself, you weren't actually there?
Abdul Shaikh No, sir. I was at work. I took her to the hospital.
Prosecutor And on the way to Cooper Hospital, what did she say?
Abdul Shaikh looks nervously to Chauhan, who seems impatient.
Abdul Shaikh She said that Kehkashan, Karam and Abdul had all insulted her.
Prosecutor And did she say anything else?
Abdul Shaikh prepares himself. Then:
Abdul Shaikh She said the three of them held her down by the neck.
Prosecutor By the neck?
Abdul Shaikh Yes, sir.
Prosecutor And what did they do then?
Abdul Shaikh They beat her, sir. With a stone.
Prosecutor They beat her with a stone?
Abdul Shaikh Yes, sir.
Prosecutor All three of them?
Abdul Shaikh Yes, sir.
Prosecutor Good, that's very clear.
The Prosecutor sits but the Defender is already up. He has floppy hair and a pin-stripe suit.
Defender I think I'm right in saying that your wife had recently been very depressed.
Abdul Shaikh No, sir. That isn't correct.
Defender You lost a child? Your daughter? Your wife lost her daughter and she wasn't depressed?
The Defender smiles at the unlikeliness.
There's a history of this, isn't there?
Abdul Shaikh History?
Defender Suicide attempts. This isn't the first time she set fire to herself, is it?
Abdul Shaikh This was the first time, sir. The neighbours drove her to it. That's why she did it. Because they attacked her.
Defender She said they attacked her. That's what she claimed. How do you know she wasn't lying?
Abdul Shaikh My wife was never a liar. She did many bad things. She did. But why would she lie?
Karam shouts out.
Karam She lied all the time.
Abdul Shaikh Why would she lie?
Karam She lied. She lied.
Abdul Shaikh Why would she lie when she knew she was dying? It doesn't make sense.
Karam My whole family's in prison because of her lies.
They are shouting over each other.
Chauhan All right, that's enough. One more word and you're in contempt of court, sir.
Zehrunisa (standing up) He's only trying to tell you the truth.
Chauhan One more word and you go to jail as well. We're going to take lunch. I've heard enough, I've heard enough of this. We'll resume this case in eight weeks.
The Judge goes. Zehrunisa rushes over to try and speak to Karam, who is being led away.
2.19
Asha comes out of her house, gleaming with a new confidence. As she does, Zehrunisa appears at the other side, in burqa. The two women are alone on the empty stage. They look at each other warily.
Asha I tried to help you. I told you. I knew what lay ahead for you. I've seen it so many times. At least your son's out of prison.
Zehrunisa He is.
Asha Until he goes back.
Zehrunisa He won't go back. He's out. He's staying out.
Asha Is he?
She thinks a moment.
Do you have any money left?
Zehrunisa Why should I tell you?
Asha Do you have anything?
Zehrunisa shakes her head. Asha has sounded sympathetic and for a moment it seems as if she might help. But then her manner hardens again.
You'll need to sell your house. I can find you a buyer.
Zehrunisa I'm sure you can.
Asha Think about it. I'll get you a good price.
Zehrunisa I'm sure you will.
Asha For a commission. I'm here for you. I'm always trying to help.
Zehrunisa smiles, then begins to laugh. She goes.
2.20
Abdul is sitting working at a pathetically small pile of rubbish. Poornima Paikrao arrives. Abdul looks up.
Abdul And so what is it this time?
Paikrao Well, that's a fine way to greet me. I want to speak to your mother.
Abdul You can't. She's exhausted. The trial has upset her.
Paikrao I'm bringing her news.
Abdul What sort of news?
Paikrao She's not going to like it.
Abdul Mother!
Zehrunisa comes out from the house.
Paikrao They're changing the judge.
Zehrunisa Mirchi!
Abdul When?
Paikrao They've done it already. Judge Chauhan's moved to another part of the state.
Mirchi appears from inside.
Listen, I know this is bad news, but I think I may be able to help you.
Zehrunisa It doesn't make sense.
Paikrao I can imagine. This must be shattering for you.
Zehrunisa The judge had heard all the evidence. How's the new judge to understand what happened?
Paikrao He'll work from a transcript. That's what I'm saying. I have to tell you, this new judge has quite a reputation.
Abdul looks up, alert.
Abdul A reputation for what?
Paikrao Let's just say, he's not known to be a merciful man. Everyone says he likes to hand out long sentences.
Abdul Long sentences?
Paikrao Yes.
Abdul That's an extraordinary coincidence.
Paikrao Why?
Abdul Because the last judge, remember, you told us she handed out long sentences too.
Paikrao shuffles a little.
Perhaps you've forgotten. Interesting, isn't it?
Paikrao But that's exactly why I wanted to speak to you. With this one, I've been able to go directly to the clerk of the court. I think there's a real chance I can get the trial abandoned.
Abdul Abandoned?
Paikrao Yes.
Abdul You think you can get the whole trial stopped?
He has got up with a strange and uncharacteristic determination, taking Paikrao on.
And would that be the present trial or would that be mine as well?
Paikrao Well, I think, to be fair, one thing at a time. Deal with yours later.
Abdul And can you give us some rough idea of what this might cost?
Paikrao Cost?
Abdul Yes.
Paikrao Well, obviously, there are going to be a number of people who are going to need to be compensated.
Abdul Obviously.
Paikrao The clerk. Some police officers.
Abdul Yourself.
Paikrao I think we're looking at two hundred thousand.
Zehrunisa slumps. Without warning, Abdul suddenly yells out to a couple of passing slum-dwellers.
Abdul Everyone! Please come and join us. There's an official here from the government with a fascinating proposal. Let me introduce you all to Poornima Paikrao. She works for the government.
Paikrao What are you doing?
Abdul She's saying Father's trial can be stopped for a mere two lakh.
Zehrunisa Abdul, what are you up to?
Abdul Me? I'm not up to anything.
Zehrunisa Are you mad?
Abdul No, Mother, I'm asking everyone to look at her. She's someone who must think we're idiots. Because what she doesn't tell us, she doesn't actually have the authority to stop the trial. It's not in her power. Even I know: it's a criminal trial. What do you think we are? Stupid ignorant people who don't know any better?
Neighbours are gathering round.
Paikrao Don't raise your voice, people are listening.
Abdul Two hundred thousand rupees! That's two hundred, everyone.
Paikrao is shaking her head.
Paikrao All right, play this game, but I warn you, if you don't pay, then things are going to get much, much worse.
Abdul I actually don't see how things could be worse than they are! Do you?
He stands, hands on hips.
Look at us. You're like dogs. Licking at us, taking what's left of our blood. You've already taken our lives. All right, so we let you do it. But there's a limit. And my mother's reached it. Do you understand? She's paid the police, the people in the prison, in the courts, the neighbours, anyone who held out their hand. And tell you what? This is a great day. Because this is the day we stop. We stop.
Zehrunisa smiles, proud of him.
Zehrunisa Abdul, you're a fucking good boy.
Paikrao You're going to regret this.
Abdul Hey, I got a better idea. We're going to pay you in rubbish. Why not? That's what we trade in. That's our stuff. Here. Have a bottle.
He starts throwing rubbish at Paikrao, just the odd thing at first, then his rhythm becoming fanatical, till he is pelting her.
How many bottles d'you need? We got bottles. Take 'em. We're going to pay you in plastic, is that all right? Take it. Take it. Why not take it? Here it is. Have it. It's yours.
At this moment the bulldozers arrive, and with a great crash the wall at the back begins to shake. It crumbles, then the bricks shatter, and the machines behind are revealed. The slum-dwellers all come running out. 'It's happening, it really is happening, it's happening at last.' Out on to the maidan comes everyone: staring in astonishment, the warring families side by side. 'It's begun, it's just at the edges, it's not the whole village, it's just the wall, they're only doing the wall.'
Zehrunisa Here it is, at last, they said they'd do it, and now here they are.
Everyone turns as the bulldozer takes another mammoth bash. The whole wall now falls to the ground. The bulldozer goes back. Paikrao turns and leaves.
2.21
The new judge, C. K. Dhiran, comes weaving through, and, as he does, the sewage lake is filled in, the walls removed, and the village disappears. Dhiran is bony, his sleepy eyes behind gold-rimmed glasses. He heads towards his podium in the court to be greeted by the Clerk of the Court.
Dhiran Ah, good morning, good morning. I read one last night we can do very quickly. Do we have the Husains?
Clerk Yes. They're here.
Dhiran Let's get them in and put them in front of me.
The Clerk calls out as people now pour into the courtroom.
Clerk Quiet, please, everyone, now we're starting. Silence! Everyone quiet. Calling Karam Husain! Kehkashan Husain!
Kehkashan and Karam come pushing through the crowd. Zehrunisa and Abdul are also present.
Karam Here, Your Honour. Present!
Clerk Please, the two of you, up on the stand.
Father and daughter head for the witness stand. Dhiran smiles at the two of them from behind his glasses. Kehkashan is in her burqa.
Dhiran Good morning. So you must be Kehkashan Husain, is that right?
Kehkashan Yes, sir.
Dhiran And what do you do?
Kehkashan I do housework.
Dhiran Well, I hope it's you, Kehkashan. It could be anyone hiding under that thing.
Dhiran laughs modestly at his own joke. The Clerk smiles. Dhiran turns to Karam, whose lungs are so bad he can barely speak.
And you, sir, I take it you're her father?
Karam I'm Karam Husain, sir.
Dhiran Yes. And what do you do?
Karam Sir, I work in plastics.
Dhiran Plastics? I suppose that means plastic bottles and bags. You collect them, yes? Why not say so?
Again, Dhiran seems amused.
Now you're accused, as I see it, of driving your next-door neighbour to suicide by repeatedly beating her up. So what shall I do? What's the best thing for me to give you? Two years? Three?
He has a big smile on his face. Suddenly he lifts both his arms above his head.
Ridiculous. This case should never have been brought.
Karam Sir.
The Prosecutor gets up.
Dhiran Sit down. I don't see how it's even got this far. Unless somebody was making money out of it. Come on, this was an everyday quarrel that got out of hand. I can't find anything more sinister than that.
Karam Sir.
Dhiran Both of you, get out of here as quick as you can.
Karam Now?
Dhiran Yes, now. Right away. You're not guilty. Either of you. Get out of here.
Karam Yes, sir. At once, thank you, sir.
Kehkashan Thank you very much, sir.
Dhiran Don't thank me, you did nothing wrong.
Karam Can I just say thank you, sir?
Dhiran Now, please, let's move on to the next one.
Zehrunisa has begun to cry.
Clerk Next case up, please, aggravated murder, assault, robbery! The accused to step forward, please.
They are backing off the stand, Karam still saying 'Thank you'. Abdul Shaikh starts shouting.
Abdul Shaikh This is wrong. This isn't right. What happens to me? I've lost my wife! We've lost everything! What do we get? We get nothing!
Noori is trying to comfort him. But no one else is taking any notice. Kehkashan has fallen into her mother's arms as everyone leaves the court.
Karam I always told you. Didn't I say from the start? In an Indian court, a man can get justice. Isn't that what I always said?
Zehrunisa Yes, it is.
But then she sees Abdul Shaikh standing by with Noori, defeated. She touches Karam's arm and silently nods in Abdul Shaikh's direction. Karam looks at him a moment, and then walks over.
Karam Abdul Shaikh.
Abdul Shaikh Yes?
Karam Are you going back to Annawadi?
Abdul Shaikh (shrugs) Where else can I go?
Karam Please. May we all walk to the bus together?
Abdul Shaikh looks at him, reluctant. Then, tearful, he nods. Zehrunisa and Kehkashan fall in beside the two men and the child. The five of them walk together towards the bus stop. They stand, forming a queue. None of them speaks. They wait.
2.22
Zehrunisa shows us her wrist.
Zehrunisa I wear this thread. It's a red thread. I went to Reay Road, there's a mystic there. What she does, four things: improving futures, relieving tensions, removing curses, appeasing ghosts. I went for all four. She told me the spirits will be friendlier now. I will always wear this thread. It's to ward off Fatima's ghost.
2.23
Zehrunisa goes. The Mithi river, at dawn. A road over a bridge. Under the bridge, there is a ledge, covered in litter, and two massive outlet pipes below. Sunil appears, looking terrible, exhausted, holding a bag of rubbish. His head has been shaved. He leans over, looking down to the ledge. Abdul comes by, pushing a three-wheeled motorised cycle which is perilously loaded with rubbish to a point where it might tip over.
Sunil Hey, it's you, man.
Abdul Yeah. What happened to you?
Sunil Oh.
Abdul You look like hell.
Sunil I know.
He grins.
Sorry to ask, but you don't happen to have two rupees, do you?
Abdul I've got two rupees, yes.
Sunil To give to me?
Sunil has come beside him. Abdul reels back.
Abdul Oh Sunil, do you have any idea what you smell like?
Sunil That's one of the things about people, isn't it? They can't smell themselves.
Abdul Then you're a very lucky man.
Sunil The fart has no nose.
Abdul What's a thief doing out at dawn?
Sunil smiles. The old charm.
Sunil Look at you. Suddenly you're in transport.
Abdul I can't make a living picking rubbish, I can't make a living sorting rubbish, so now I try and make a living moving rubbish.
Sunil How's business?
Abdul How do you think?
Abdul looks at him a moment.
Often when I'm riding this thing, when I'm in traffic, three cars that side, four the other, I think, 'One mistake, just one mistake, one wrong turn and, hey – I don't exist.'
Sunil Hmm. I quite like that feeling.
Abdul So do I.
Sunil Yeah.
Abdul I quite like the feeling of not dying too.
They grin, old friends.
Sunil When's your trial?
Abdul Nobody knows. My mother's having a heart attack trying to find out.
Sunil You mean a fucking heart attack?
Abdul You've met her, then.
Sunil Do you still have to report?
Abdul 'Fraid so. I think I'm going to report as a youth for the rest of my life.
They both smile.
Sunil Well at least your family's going to be rich, aren't they?
Abdul Who told you that?
Sunil They've got a place in Annawadi. That's not a bad thing to have. From what I hear, everyone's trying to buy them up.
Abdul We've got speculators coming in, because they've heard it's going to be knocked down. Everyone's after the compensation. Anyway, why are you up so early? I thought you worked at night.
Sunil doesn't reply.
Well?
Sunil Oh, you know.
Abdul No, I don't know. Tell me.
Sunil shakes his head, embarrassed.
Sunil It got kind of tricky.
Abdul Tricky? How?
Sunil I got beaten up.
Abdul Where?
Sunil By the guards. At the airport. They shaved my head. I didn't like that. And they stripped me naked. I didn't like that either.
It's a joke, but it's not. Sunil is grave.
Abdul What are you saying? You're not a thief?
Sunil Let's just say: I'm not a thief at the minute.
Abdul No.
Sunil Not at the minute. I'm collecting rubbish. Like my father.
Abdul Good.
Sunil I'm a picker.
Abdul nods. His eyes have teared up.
It's not cos of anything you said.
Abdul looks at him.
Abdul It's not easy. I try to be ice. I try. I try not to be dirty water. I tell Allah I love him immensely, immensely. But I tell him I cannot be better because of how the world is.
Sunil is awed for a moment. Abdul reaches into his pocket and hands him coins.
Here's two rupees.
Sunil Thanks.
He pockets them.
Abdul You need to get going.
Sunil OK.
Abdul The sun's coming up, all the rubbish'll be gone in twenty minutes.
Sunil OK.
Abdul I'm just telling you. If you're going to be a picker, first thing, you have to be early.
Sunil OK, sure. But let me tell you something.
Abdul What?
Sunil When I got here, I happened to look down. Come over here, can you see? Just lean over.
Abdul has been led across to look. Sunil leans right over, Abdul does the same.
Abdul What am I looking at?
Sunil Down there. D'you see? On that shelf. Can you see?
Abdul You're joking.
Sunil This place is a taxi stand. What happens is – you can see – they throw the stuff into the river.
Abdul Sure.
Sunil D'you see? Cans? Water bottles? Only they get trapped on the ledge. There's all that stuff down there and nobody ever saw it.
They're upright again.
Abdul I think they saw it. I don't think that's the problem.
Sunil What is the problem?
Abdul Just like how you might kill yourself trying to get it.
Sunil What does that mean? You're not up for it?
Abdul puts his hands up in denial.
It's not hard, man. You just drop from the bridge.
Abdul And when you get there?
Sunil Simple. You climb back up.
Abdul laughs.
It's waiting. Look at it, Abdul. All that stuff, just waiting for someone with the courage.
Abdul reaches down and picks up a leaf from the ground. He tears the leaf into pieces. He puts the pieces on his hand, then he blows. The pieces land all over Sunil – on his head, on his face, on his clothes, like confetti.
Abdul I'll see you around.
Sunil I'll see you around, man.
Abdul goes over to his vehicle to push it away.
Take care.
Abdul disappears. Sunil is left alone on the bridge. The morning sun comes out. Once more he leans over to check. Then he gets up on the parapet. He stands for a moment, getting his balance, judging the distance to the sliver of concrete. Then he jumps.
End of Act Two.
David Hare
Behind the Beautiful Forevers
David Hare is the author of thirty full-length plays for the stage, seventeen of which have been presented at the National Theatre. They include Slag, The Great Exhibition, Brassneck (with Howard Brenton), Knuckle, Fanshen, Teeth 'n' Smiles, Plenty, A Map of the World, Pravda (with Howard Brenton), The Bay at Nice, The Secret Rapture, Racing Demon, Murmuring Judges, The Absence of War, Skylight, Amy's View, The Blue Room (from Schnitzler), The Judas Kiss, Via Dolorosa, My Zinc Bed, The Breath of Life, The Permanent Way, Stuff Happens, The Vertical Hour, Gethsemane, Berlin/Wall, The Power of Yes and South Downs. His many screenplays for film and television include Licking Hitler, Wetherby, Damage, The Hours, The Reader, Page Eight, Turks & Caicos and Salting the Battlefield. He has also written English adaptations of plays by Brecht, Gorky, Chekhov, Pirandello, Ibsen and Lorca. You can sign up for email updates here.
ALSO BY DAVID HARE
Plays One
(Slag, Teeth 'n' Smiles, Knuckle, Licking Hitler, Plenty)
Plays Two
(Fanshen, A Map of the World, Saigon, The Bay at Nice, The Secret Rapture)
Plays Three
(Skylight, Amy's View, The Judas Kiss, My Zinc Bed)
The Great Exhibition
Racing Demon
Murmuring Judges
The Absence of War
Via Dolorosa
The Breath of Life
The Permanent Way
Stuff Happens
The Vertical Hour
Gethsemane
Berlin/Wall
The Power of Yes
South Downs
Adaptations
The Blue Room (from La Ronde by Schnitzler)
Platonov by Chekhov
The Rules of the Game by Pirandello
The Life of Galileo by Brecht
Ivanov by Chekhov
Mother Courage and Her Children by Brecht
The House of Bernarda Alea by Lorca
Enemies by Gorky
Screenplays for Television
Licking Hitler
Dreams of Learning
Heading Home
Screenplays
Collected Screenplays (Wetherby, Paris by Night, Strapless, Heading Home, Dreams of Leaving)
Plenty
The Secret Rapture
The Hours
Opera Libretto
The Knife
Prose
Acting Up
Asking Around: Background to the David Hare Trilogy
Writing Left-Handed
Obedience, Struggle and Revolt
Thank you for buying this
Farrar, Straus and Giroux ebook.
To receive special offers, bonus content,
and info on new releases and other great reads,
sign up for our newsletters.
Or visit us online at
us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup
For email updates on the author, click here.
Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Production History
List of Characters
Act One
Act Two
A Note About the Author
Also by David Hare
Copyright
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
18 West 18th Street, New York 10011
Copyright © 2014, 2015 by David Hare
All rights reserved
Originally published in 2014 by Faber and Faber Ltd., Great Britain
Revised edition originally published in 2015 by
Faber and Faber Ltd., Great Britain
Published in the United States by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
First American edition, 2015
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hare, David, 1947–
Behind the beautiful forevers: a play / by David Hare. — First American edition.
pages ; cm
"Based on the book by Katherine Boo."
ISBN 978-0-86547-835-0 (softcover) — ISBN 978-0-374-71409-3 (ebook)
1. Urban poor—India—Mumbai—Drama. I. Boo, Katherine. Behind the beautiful forevers. II. Title.
PR6058.A678 B44 2015
822'.914—dc23
2015022199
Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by e-mail at [email protected].
www.fsgbooks.com
www.twitter.com/fsgbooks • www.facebook.com/fsgbooks
CAUTION: Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that Behind the Beautiful Forevers is subject to a royalty. It is fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States and of all countries covered by the International Copyright Union (including the Dominion of Canada and the rest of the British Commonwealth) and of all countries covered by the Pan-American Copyright Convention and the Universal Copyright Convention, and of all countries with which the United States has reciprocal copyright relations. All rights, including professional, amateur, motion picture, recitation, lecturing, public reading, radio broadcasting, television, video or sound taping, all other forms of mechanical or electronic reproduction, such as information storage and retrieval systems and photocopying, and the rights of translation into foreign languages, are strictly reserved. Particular emphasis is laid upon the question of readings, permission for which must be secured from the author's agent in writing. Inquiries concerning all rights should be addressed to Casarotto Ramsay & Associates Limited, Waverly House, 7-12 Noel Street, London W1F 8GQ, U.K., Attn: Mel Kenyon.
## Contents
1. Title Page
2. Copyright Notice
3. Production History
4. List of Characters
5. Act One
6. Act Two
7. A Note About the Author
8. Also by David Hare
9. Newsletter Sign-up
10. Copyright
## Guide
1. Cover
2. Table of Contents
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Q:
How to get .equals() being symmetric when using .compareTo() in Java
There's a similar question here (Implementing equals method using compareTo) - which in the end recommends to reuse .compareTo() to implement .equals() as long as the contracts aren't violated - my focus here is on the contract x.equals(y) == y.equals(x). A simple implementation of .equals() would/could be
public boolean equals(Object obj) {
return obj != null && (obj instanceof MyClass) && 0 == this.compareTo((MyClass)obj);
}
So here's my problem: When I have a ParentClass implementing it this way, and a ChildClass which extends ParentClass, I will have the problem that an instance of ChildClass is also an instance of ParentClass, but not vice versa.
So for an instance parent of ParentClass and an instance child of ChildClass it's at least possible - using the above .equals() - that child.equals(parent) != parent.equals(child).
So how to implement .equals() using .compareTo() and guarantee child.equals(parent) == parent.equals(child)?
Any ideas? Thanks.
edit: the origin of this question is SonarQube which complains about the simple implementation not being symmetric - the above question is my interpretation of SonarQube's complaining. The solution should be symmetric but shouldn't involve too much changes.
A:
So, here's a solution that SonarQube (rule findbugs:EQ_UNUSUAL) is happy with ...
public boolean equals(Object obj)
{
return obj != null && this.getClass().equals(obj.getClass()) && this.compareTo(obj) == 0;
}
At least this seems to be compact and should satisfy the contracts.
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Naturally Lyrics
by Huey Lewis & The News
All the birds have been blue
They don't know what to do
Ever since you said goodbye to me
And the flowers in their gloom
Have just refused to bloom
'Cause we all want you back, you see
Mmm naturally
All the birds have been blue
They don't know what to do
Ever since you said goodbye to me
And the flowers in their gloom
Have just refused to bloom
'Cause we all want you back, you see
And hey Mister Moon, is left without a tune
And his shadow's lost the harmony
So don't waste any time
Come back and change your mind
Everything will work out naturally
You know that love is a struggle
And only the strong will survive
So it's up to me and you
To do what we've got to do
To keep our love alive
And now the bees have been gone
They know that something's wrong
'Cause they don't feel like buzzing at all
And the stars up in the sky, now all they do is cry
And that's why the rain must fall
And the early morning Sun
He knows that you're the one
And we both miss your company
So don't waste any time
Come back and change your mind
Everything will work out naturally
You know love, love is a struggle
And only the strong will survive
So it's up to me and you
To do what we've got to do
To keep our love alive
So don't waste any time
Come back and change your mind
We'll be singing harmonies
With the birds and bees
If only you'll be mine
Things will work out fine, mmm naturally
These Lyrics are informational only. No representation is made or warranty given as to their content. User assumes all risks of use. MetroLyrics assumes no responsibility for any loss or damage resulting from such use. All lyrics are property and copyright of their owners, and provided for educational purposes only.
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Senior nursing students' self-reported college experiences and gains toward liberal education goals.
The purpose of this descriptive study is to assess baccalaureate nursing students' self-reported achievements toward liberal education goals in college and university settings and compare them to norms for the general college population by measuring their perceived involvement in campus life and activities. At the end of the spring semester, senior nursing students from 11 nursing programs in the Midwest filled out the College Student Experience Questionnaire, developed by Pace (1984), which measures the effort students put into liberal education goals. Nursing students reported high involvement in academic activities, but little involvement in other types of experiences in the college; they reported significant progress toward academic goals like intellectual skills, but less progress toward liberal education goals like art, literature, and music. Nursing students were very similar to other college students (except for students in selective liberal arts colleges) in reported involvement in activities and made similar progress toward liberal education goals.
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Determinants of effective ventilation during nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation.
Our aim was to verify in healthy subjects submitted to nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation (nIPPV) with a volumetric ventilator on controlled mode, whether changes in ventilator settings (delivered tidal volume (VT), respiratory frequency (fR) and inspiratory flow (V'I) could influence effective minute ventilation (V'E), thus allowing identification of the settings resulting in the highest V'E during nIPPV. We then compared these experimentally obtained "best" settings to those obtained retrospectively in a group of patients submitted to long-term nIPPV for clinical reasons. We studied 10 healthy subjects awake and asleep, and 33 patients with restrictive ventilatory disorders. Changes in delivered V'I (for a constant delivered VT and fR) led to significant changes in V'E. V'E was significantly higher when a given delivered V'E was obtained using higher fR and lower VT than when it was obtained using lower delivered fR and higher VT. Increases in fR generally resulted in increases in V'E. The "best" settings derived from these results were: VT: 13 mL.kg-1 of body weight; fR: 20 breaths.min-1 and V'I: 0.56-0.85 L.s-1. The corresponding average values found in the patient group were: delivered VT: 14 mL.kg-1; fR: 23 breaths.min-1 and delivered V'I: 0.51 L.s-1. Changes in minute ventilation resulting from modifications in ventilator settings can be attributed to the glottic response to mechanical influences. This leads to "ideal" settings quite different from the standard ones in intubated patients. Values derived from nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation in healthy subjects seem to apply to patients submitted to long-term nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation.
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Nearly 100 days after the revolution, Egypt is very different from the country I experienced when millions were on the streets calling for the fall of Hosni Mubarak’s regime. Despite a myriad of problems, now there is a new energy, or, as the Egyptians say hawa gadid – a new air. The big question is how to channel this energy to forge a new Egypt that is democratic and sustainable, both politically and economically.
The key to moving forward is building confidence among the people with an immediate high-profile project that captures their imagination and symbolizes what the future can bring. Just as the Aswan Dam did that for an earlier generation, the new “City for Science and Technology” now underway can do that for today’s hopeful youth.
In the 1960s, I personally lived the resounding impact of President Nasser’s vision of constructing the Aswan High Dam as a "national project" for controlling the Nile irrigation and the production of electricity. As the young journalist Emad Ahmed wrote in a recent essay on "Egypt's Bridges" to the future, the post-revolution national project for Egypt comparable to the Aswan Dam must be education.
Every family in Egypt understands this. They have personally experienced the deteriorating education system over the past 30 years of Mr. Mubarak’s reign.
Especially for the “Youth of Facebook” who ignited the revolution, the focus on a breakthrough in education that can bring Egypt back to world-class status is in accord with the principles and spirit of their movement – which they fear could be overtaken by “politics as usual” rooted in the past.
Vision of a new generation
As Mr. Ahmed has written, two dominant visions have shaped the Egyptian political imagination over the past 60 years. The first has been the socialist party or al-Hisb al-Ishtraki, which came with Nasser's 1952 "revolution." To today’s youth, that vision represents the past.
At the moment, the most organized force is the Muslim Brotherhood, or Akhwan al-Muslimin. For Ahmed, they represent the transitional present. From a historical perspective, the Akhwan also are part of the past, as they were founded in 1928, even before Nasser's time. Their appeal comes mainly as a result of their effective religious message and organized charity work, and because they resisted the regime for so long.
The youth movement is aware that old visions can not take Egypt into the future. So in the months since Mubarak was overthrown with the Army's admirable support, the youth, along with a broad spectrum of ordinary Egyptians, have kept that spirit alive by continuing to go to Tahrir Square on Fridays in what is called millioniah, or gathering of a million people. They coined a name for each gathering – a Friday of change (takhier), of anger (khadab), of correction (tas'hih). Their demand is that the road to democracy be paved through the establishment of proper constitutions, elimination of old-regime influence, and achievement of justice and equality. Their expectation is a quick remedy to a better economic status.
After so many years of inertia and dictatorship, however, the reality is that these changes will take years. In the meantime, the people need a compass of hope that unites the country and instills confidence and pride.
A project to unify and instill pride
On June 3, a totally different Friday dawned on the country. It was a “Friday of hope” for Egyptians. The day before, a national campaign was launched to build the new City of Science and Technology, following the unanimously-approved legislation by the Cabinet of Ministers and a decree of support from the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.
This “city of the future,” as it already being called and which is being built on 300 acres on the outskirts of Cairo, has a transparent governance structure and is completely independent from government regulation. The board of trustees that has already been formed includes six Nobel laureates, the current president of Caltech and former president of MIT, and a number of influential Egyptians such as Mohamed El-Erian, CEO of PIMCO, who has already made a large personal donation to the city. Sir Magdi Yacoub, the renowned heart surgeon based at Imperial College in London, is also a member.
It is not surprising that the project has been enthusiastically embraced by public opinion. Ibrahim Issa, a prominent journalist and one of the leaders of the Tahrir protests, has said, “It is the only important thing proclaimed since the revolution.” Ahmed Moslemany, a popular TV commentator, has announced to millions of his viewers, "it is the only way to the modern world".
For 12 years, since I was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, I have been laboring to get this project off the ground, only to be frustrated by bureaucrats lacking vision and Mubarak’s indifference. The “new air” of the revolution has breathed new life into the project.
Our goals and plans
Our goal is to develop a nonprofit institution of higher learning that is merit-based (no wasta or connection), and our model is a hybrid of Caltech, an institution I am familiar with for more than 30 years, the Max Planck Institutes, and Turkey's Tech. Park. The objective is to revive the production of new knowledge by Arabs and to bring the advances of science and technology to the market and society in this Arab awakening epoch.
Our aim is to demonstrate that “Egypt can.” This, by itself, will have a huge impact on regaining national pride.
Even with the present economic hardship, Egyptians have decided to invest in the future, with billions of dollars in land and buildings for the project. In weeks we have already nearly collected the first $100 million in our campaign for a $2 billion endowment that will ensure the long-term success and independence of the project.
Our hope is that the international community – the Gulf States, the G-20 ,and the G-8 (which pledged $20 billion at the Deauville summit this year) – will create a genuine partnership with Egypt to invest in the education of our youth so that the gains of the revolution can be consolidated with benefits to the region and the world.
A regional bridge to the future
The benefits for all are clear if this region that is so important to the world can at last make progress and develop.
When the people of Egypt fulfill their dream of democracy and sustained growth, it will go a long way toward opening the broader Middle East and North Africa market of close to 400 million people for business.
Investment in education and economic prosperity is the best way to cure fanaticism and for establishing a just peace in the Middle East. An institution such as the City of Science and Technology will surely be a center of enlightenment and global cooperation.
The Egyptian revolution, which had no ideology but peaceful change, demonstrated clearly that the assertions that Muslims and Arabs are incapable of participating in the modern world or that they are in violent conflict with Western civilization were unfounded. Like everywhere in the world, people of the Middle East aspire to liberty and justice. They wish to have a better life and a decent education for their children.
After more than 50 years of supporting undemocratic autocracy in the region, nothing would more successfully win the hearts and minds of Egyptians than real support for this tangible bridge to the future for a people who have liberated themselves with dignity and civility.
Ahmed H. Zewail was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1999.
© 2011 Global Viewpoint Network/Tribune Media Services. Hosted online by The Christian Science Monitor.
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Q:
Listener for Phone Events and Voice command
My app uses a microphone(AudioRecord) in a background mode,How to make the listener for phone events and voice commands (like google voice). It is necessary for me to release a microphone(AudioRecord) for use.
I found a solution to phone events: http://www.botskool.com/geeks/how-listen-phone-events-android.
to use: TelephonyManager , PhoneStateListener.
But not to voice commands. Help pls.
A:
There is no specific way you can do this (unfortunately) and it will only be the application that attempts to use the mic resource that will get an error.
What you can do is monitor what the user is doing in the background and react accordingly. Here is the code to check if Google Now has become the foreground application:
public static boolean googleNowForeground(final Context ctx) {
final ActivityManager activityManager = (ActivityManager) ctx.getSystemService(Context.ACTIVITY_SERVICE);
if (activityManager.getRunningTasks(1).get(0) != null) {
final PackageManager pm = ctx.getPackageManager();
try {
final PackageInfo foregroundAppPackageInfo = pm.getPackageInfo(
activityManager.getRunningTasks(1).get(0).topActivity.getPackageName(), 0);
if (foregroundAppPackageInfo != null) {
if (foregroundAppPackageInfo.packageName.matches(Constants.GOOGLE_NOW_PACKAGE_NAME)) {
return true;
}
}
} catch (NameNotFoundException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
return false;
}
This is the least 'expensive' way I've found to perform such actions, but the method above is not guaranteed to be called in future OS versions, not to mention having to hard-code the package names you are concerned with....
The 'expense' of monitoring for foreground applications that you know will conflict with your application may be somewhat minimal in comparison to permanently recording audio, but you should code your implementation wisely to minimise the monitor within certain device condition parameters.
I've investigated other methods to monitor intent broadcasts that are associated with mic resources, but they've been less successful than the above.
Requesting that the user create an 'exclude list' for the conflicting applications will allow you to dynamically monitor if they become the foreground application and react accordingly.
Hope that helps....
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Too Many Geeks, Too Much Choice
by Ostatic Staff - Sep. 11, 2012
Here we go again, around and around, what's old is new again, and all those other metaphors. TuxRadar asked if Linux and associated software are suffering from too many geeks doing their own thing? The discussion (d)evolved into another one of those "too much choice" topics and, of course, very few think Linux suffers from that.
The exact question reads:
'Scratch your own itch' is a popular mantra for open source developers. And the principal is a good one: programmers working on software they want tend to produce good code. However, the itches of most coders are very different from the itches of most ordinary users. The end result is that we have the best selection of text editors of any OS, yet (according to Miguel de Icaza) an audio framework that breaks so frequently it's not worth setting up. So, here at LXF towers we've been wondering, is Linux suffering from a surfeit of hackers scratching their itches? In order for Linux to become a leading desktop, do we need the geeks to step back and let non-techies (i.e. the majority of the population) take control of the OS?
One of my favorites is a quote from King Linus himself. "Everything would be easier if there was no choice." That's his way of saying freedom is messy. Many think freedom always results in more choice and that's always a good thing.
The problem with Open Source Software and freedom is that sometimes no one chooses the difficult or seemingly boring and unappreciated aspects. However, many times someone comes along and improves the product, Magiea and LibreOffice are two prime examples. But sometimes they don't, like Symphony OS. Ultimately, consensus seems to be that the benefits of Open Source minus the problems associated with it are still preferable to the disadvantages even with the advantages of popular but proprietary software.
One commenter said, "I think the slower and more painstaking approach of creating and getting adoption for open standards is the way forward, rather than trying to come up with unified frameworks in software that may restrict developers and disappoint users." Another agreed, "No to a unified desktop."
Ray Woods reminded users, "We've just seen the itch in action. Gnome bring out Gnome 3 with their shell and a lot of people get itching. Now we have MATE, Cinnamon and a few others under active development, plus xfce and LXDE are getting much more popular." He confirms more choice is the answer not the problem when he said, "I just wonder how long it will take Gnome to realize they have lost a lot of people. Mind you, it doesn't mater, while Gnome heads for desktop obscurity, those of us in the Linux world will have plenty of alternatives!"
Finally, Nicola summed it up nicely:
Too many geeks got us KDE, GNOME, Cinnamon, MATE, e17, fvwm, twm, WindowMaker, etc. Too many geeks got us Ubuntu, CentOS, Fedora, SUSE, Arch, Gentoo, Minix, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, Haiku, etc. Too many geeks got us the gopher, usenet, ftp, BBS, P2P, etc. So no.
Too many geeks will not spoil the OS.
Too many geeks will spoil us [with choice].
Add your two cents to or read more of the discussion at www.tuxradar.com.
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A South Korean politician who sought to expose corruption within Samsung's ranks has lost his seat in parliament. The Supreme Court upheld that by publishing transcripts of wiretapped conversations online, Roh Hoe-chan broke communications laws; the conviction means he cannot remain a lawmaker, and he has received a suspended prison sentence. In explaining its decision, the court said "Unlike distributing press releases to journalists, uploading messages on the Internet allows an easy access to anybody at any time." It added that the media publishes select information "with responsibility" rather than providing the public with "unfiltered access" to what it knows.
X-File investigations focused on illegal wiretaps' publishers, not participants
The conversations in question are part of what is known as the Samsung X-File, a trove of tapes illegally recorded by the government's intelligence service during the 1990s. The files include conversations between Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee and his brother in law, and reveal bribes allegedly paid by the conglomerate to prosecutors, politicians, and presidential candidates.
But investigations into the X-File centered around the illegal nature of their recording and release — only Roh and MBC journalist Lee Sang-ho were indicted for their role in publishing the wiretaps, and none of the resulting evidence was admissible in prosecution. Lee was handed a suspended prison sentence in 2011 on the grounds that his reporting of private conversations was not in the public interest. However, Joongang Daily newspaper publisher Hong Seok-hyun was forced to resign as US ambassador over his implication in lobbying presidential candidates with Samsung bribes, as was Vice Justice Minister Kim Sang-hee.
"If I go back to eight years ago, I would still do the same thing."
Roh — leader of the Progressive Justice Party until today — first brought up the X-File back in 2005, citing the need to expose Samsung's relationships with powerful prosecutors. Roh described today's court ruling as "anachronistic," reports the AP, given the ease with which any South Korean citizen can publish material online. "If I go back to eight years ago, I would still do the same thing."
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Story highlights Ben Carson reveals he wasn't always soft-spoken
Comments come after Donald Trump criticized his low energy level
Washington (CNN) Ben Carson says he's soft-spoken now -- but he hasn't always been so calm.
"As a teenager, I would go after people with rocks, and bricks, and baseball bats, and hammers. And, of course, many people know the story when I was 14 and I tried to stab someone," Carson said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."
"You know, fortunately, you know, my life has been changed," he added. "And I'm a very different person now."
Carson's comments came after Donald Trump, his leading opponent for the Republican presidential nomination, said at a rally in Miami on Friday that Carson has even less energy than Jeb Bush, who the developer has repeatedly called a "low-energy" candidate.
"Ben Carson is super low energy, right? He's super low," Trump said. "Super low energy. We need tremendous energy. We need tremendous energy."
Read More
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Atlanta Takes a Thrashing, 6-3 Detroit
By Jessica Haskin
September 4th, 2000
I knew this game was going to be exciting when during the pre-game skateSean Avery was chirping to the Atlanta Thrashers every chance he got,stretching over at the red line instead of at the face off circle withthe rest of his team, yapping continuously. Both teams came outcrashing and banging but didn’t take any penalties for the first threeminutes. Mike Sgroi took the first of the many penalties handed outin the game drawing an interference call. Atlanta jumped at thechance when Mike Weaver slammed the puck past JF Perras with 21 secondsremaining on the power play. Detroit came back quickly scoring lessthan a minute later. Ryan Barnes and Eric Bowen dropped the gloves forthe first fight of the night at 8:04, each receiving 5 minute majors.30 seconds later Avery and Luke Sellars each received 5 minute majorsalso after deciding to go for a whirl, which in turn immediatelyinspired Kori Davison and David Kaczowka to give it a try.Unfortunately for Davidson and Kaczowka they received game misconduct’salong with their 5 minute majors. A few minutes later Adam Deleeuw andDarcy Hordichuk got into a scuffle, each receiving 2 minutes forroughing. Jason Williams also at the same time took a hooking penaltyputting Atlanta on the Power Play. Perras made a spectacular save onBrad Tapper but Derek MacKenzie made the Red Wings pay when he put thepuck past Perras with just 18 seconds left on the power play. Jules-EdyLaraque scored the third for Atlanta just 25 seconds later, sending thepuck just over Perras’ left shoulder. While short handed Magnus Nilssongot the puck and took off with Tim Verbeek catching up, Nilsson passedto Verbeek just a few feet in front of Rob Zepp, not giving him a chanceto do anything. With 2 minutes left in the first Avery and Laraquedropped the gloves, the two smallest guys on the ice, yet two that makeup in spirit what they lack in size. Avery drew 2 minutes forinstigating the fight, 5 minutes for fighting, and was thrown out of thegame for his second fight. Laraque received 5 minute fighting major.The first period ended with 66 penalty minutes, and 3 players beingejected from the game.
The Second period started with a bang, when 2seconds after they dropped the puck Sgroi and Hordichuk dropped thegloves, it was a short fight but Sgroi cleanly beat Hordichuk.Hordichuk left the ice obviously needing stitches for his bloodied faceand Sgroi sat in the penalty box forhis 5 minutes. Deleeuw and Kirill Alexeev went at it 4 minutes laterwhen Deleeuw didn’t like the slash Alexeev had given him. The fightended with Alexeev laying on the ice holding his wrist with a verypained expression on his face. Alexeev left the ice with a dislocatedshoulder which may require surgery. Brad Tapper took a high stickingcall at 7:20. Barnes working with Verbeek and Dustin Kuk made Tapperregret the slash, sending the puck past Zepp. The Thrashers made agoalie change with T.J. Aceti replacing Zepp at 10:31 of the second. 50seconds later Aaron Van Leusen scored assisted by Tomas Kopecky andVerbeek. At 7:40 Kopecky scored a power play goal tipping in AntonBorodkin’s shot, putting Detroit up 5-3.
The third period was relatively uneventful with only a few minor penalties and one goal scored at 1:55by Borodkin, assisted by Kopecky. Both teams quietly left the ice tooworn out to be celebrating the win or to show any anger because of theloss.
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Azkajwar II
Azkajwar II (died 712) was the ruler of the Afrighid dynasty of Khwarezm from an unknown date to 712. He was the son and successor of Sabri. Azkajwar II is agreed by most scholars to be the same person as king Jigan or Chigan. In most medieval sources, he is simply called Khwarazmshah (king of Khwarazm).
Biography
Azkajwar is first mentioned in the mid-690s, when his kingdom was invaded by Umayya ibn Abdallah, who was the Abbasid governor of Khurasan. Azkajwar's capital, Kath, was shortly captured Umayya, who forced Azkajwar to recognize Abbasid suzerainty. However, after Umayya left Khwarazm, Azkajwar declared independence from the Abbasid Caliphate. During the early 700s, Yazid ibn al-Muhallab, the new Abbasid governor of Khurasan, invaded Khwarazm but was eventually repulsed by the forces of Azkajwar.
Azkajwar is later mentioned in 712, when he was faced by a rebellion of his younger brother Khurrazadh, and had tensions with his rival, the king of Khamjird. Unable to solve his problems, he secretly sent envoys to the new Abbasid governor of Khwarazm, Qutayba ibn Muslim, who was at that time in Merv. Azkajwar and Qutayba shortly made an agreement that Azkajwar would recognize Abbasid authority in return for military aid against his brother. Qutayba shortly sent an army under his brother Abd al-Rahman to Hazarasp, where he defeated and killed the king of Khamjird, and captured 4,000 of his soldiers, who were shortly executed. Meanwhile, Qutayba defeated the supporters of Khurrazadh and captured the latter, who was given to Azkajwar who shortly had him executed.
However, an anti-Abbasid rebellion shortly broke out in Khwarazm, which resulted in the overthrow and death of Askajwar, and the coronation of an Afrighid prince named Khusrau as the king of Khwarazm. However, Khusrau was shortly defeated and killed by the Abbasids, who made Azkajwar's son Askajamuk II the new ruler of Khwarazm.
References
Sources
Further reading
Category:712 deaths
Category:Year of birth unknown
Category:8th-century Iranian people
Category:Afrighids
Category:Zoroastrian dynasties and rulers
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Defending Scientism
Tag Archives: children
Beyond an Absence of Faith, edited by Jonathan Pearce and Tristan Vick, brings us the stories of 16 people who came to reject the faith of their upbringing. Most of the writers are American and former Christians, though some are former Muslims. They tell us of their journeys from strong religious faith to atheism, and in the process give a vivid account of the state of Christianity in America today.
What is striking is how all-encompassing and cult-like religious faith can be. These are not the stories of luke-warm believers, but of people for whom religion was a central feature of their lives. We read stories of people brought up in a “fundie bubble” to the extent that:
At one point, I counted five of seven nights of the week as church functions. Monday was a discipleship with a church leader and some students. Wednesday was a youth service. Thursday was a large-group discipleship, where we met at someone’s house for prayer and Bible study. Friday was the “Powerhouse,” a sort of hangout for teens with live music and a small service. Saturday was the Hellfighters service, and Sunday was the main service …
This is coupled with indoctrination of children so complete that one writer recalls:
I came home to an empty house, and became worried that everyone else had been Raptured away while I was out.
This article was commissioned for the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science and is reproduced here.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has been hauling the Vatican over the coals regarding its record of systematically covering up the sexual abuse of children by its priests. Hearings in Geneva this week are the first time that senior Vatican officials have been confronted in public about the ongoing scandal. Despite UN requests, the Vatican still refuses to open its archives containing records of every instance of abuse reported to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, long presided over by Cardinal (later Pope) Ratzinger. It also tried to argue that it was responsible only for abuse that took place in the tiny enclave of the Vatican City, not by Catholic priests worldwide.
The story is now all too familiar. Time after time priestly child abuse was hushed up by the Church, the victims sworn to secrecy, the files sealed in the Vatican vaults, and the priest not turned over to secular authorities but instead quietly moved to a new parish. There the abuse would continue with a new set of victims. If the Church did apply “punishments” they tended to be a requirement for “penitence and prayer”.
The pattern was worldwide, from Ireland to Australia to Germany to Mexico and the US and … we still don’t know about many Third World countries where the Catholic Church is still powerful enough to continue its cover-up. Power corrupts, and the fact that the Catholic Church regarded itself as morally answerable only to itself, coupled with the excessive deference paid to it by others, enabled the ongoing corruption that has now shredded the Vatican’s claim to any moral authority. Continue reading →
The Bishop of Oxford and the Theos Think Tank are complaining that the debate over state-funded “faith” schools in the UK is getting “overheated” and too “ideological”. So let me explain, from the non-religious perspective, why this is so.
First, the number of people attending a Christian church in a typical week in the UK is down to about 6%. Yet fully a third of taxpayer-funded schools are handed over to be run by Christian churches. This means they can discriminate on religious grounds over which pupils they admit, and further, they then get frequent opportunities to proselytise to the captive-audience pupils and can compel them to participate in Christian worship.
Despite the fraction of the population attending church being in long-term decline, and despite the number of people regarding themselves as “non religious” rising fast, the number of “faith” schools is increasing, with thousands of new religiously-restricted places being set up each year.
Why are the non-religious getting “overheated” about this? Firstly, we regard the very concept of taxpayer-funded schools being able to choose pupils according to their parents’ religion to be morally wrong in a modern society that should treat all citizens equally. The fact that this requires a special exemption from the 2010 Equality Act is revealing. Continue reading →
In his new autobiography and and in interviews Dawkins has been recalling his childhood. He recounts one episode, when aged about 10, of what he described as “mild” sexual abuse by a school teacher, and said that others in the class had suffered the same. Based on his many conversations with his classmates back then, especially after that teacher committed suicide, Dawkins suggested: “I don’t think he did any of us lasting damage”. The wording here is tentative, but he has since accepted that he was somewhat presumptuous, and that he can’t fully know the long-term outcome for his class mates. Continue reading →
The religious often accuse atheists of their own worst faults. For any biases or misunderstandings that are common among the religious, one can be sure that they will attribute the very same to atheists. And, as I said in my previous post on Rabbi Sacks, the religious are suckers for the naturalistic fallacy. They readily leap from “this is the case” to “it must be good that this is the case”.
Indeed, Abrahamic theology requires them to make the leap, since they believe in a god that is omni-good, omni-wise and omni-capable; thus anything and everything must be their god’s will, and thus it must be good. Much theology is an exercise in scheming up reasons why a good god would have created the universe as we see it.
So steeped are the religious in this way of thinking that they attribute the same to atheists and scientists. If, for example, they see Dawkins arguing that genes are selfish, they interpret him as lauding selfishness as a good thing. If they see Dawkins writing that our surrounding universe is one of “blind, pitiless indifference” they then regard atheism as heartless and nihilistic. They do not draw the conclusion that humanist atheists actually draw, that since there are no gods to look out for us, then humans need to look out for each other. To the religious, human morals and empathy could not arise from humanity, but can only exist as an echo of a much greater love and morality embodied in a god.
So to Rabbi Sacks’s “refutation” of atheism, which he regards as “worth genuine reflection”. It goes like this:
The first point: if you are a Darwinian, what matters is reproductive success. The rest is mere froth. Forget God, faith and the other relics of a believing age. We are here to pass on our genetic heritage to the next generation. A person is just a gene’s way of making another gene. The bottom line is reproduction.
From there he notes that the most secular countries (such as Europe) have lower birth-rates, whereas more religious countries have higher birth-rates. This he sees as a contradiction to the Darwinian imperative, and thus as a “refutation” of “new atheism”, which he regards as “based on neo-Darwinism”. He says that atheists should want as any people as possible to be religious, since that would increase birth rates. Continue reading →
Religious equality — the idea that people should not be treated any more or less favourably because of their religious opinions — is a fundamental principle in any modern liberal democracy. It is written into the American Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights. Everyone is agreed on it. Aren’t they?
Well no, unfortunately not. Owing to Britain’s long heritage of religious privilege there are still many instances of the state treating the non-religious less favourably. Here are the ten worst violations of religious equality in the United Kingdom today:
(1) Admission to taxpayer-funded schools: Even though the non-religious pay the same taxes as the religious they have worse access to taxpayer-funded schools. This is actually deliberate and legal. The government put special exemptions into the 2010 Equality Act enabling “faith” schools to treat pupils unequally according to their parents’ religion. About a quarter of state schools are “faith” schools, and often a non-religious family can only send their children to one if it is undersubscribed, even if they live next door.
The government’s excuse is that such schools do well and are popular. Well yes, schools that get to pick their pupils can indeed do well (as private schools show). Study after study has found that “faith” schools use their power of selection to pick middle-class pupils with strong parental support. Parents want such a peer group for their children, so these schools tend to be oversubscribed, and that gives the school more choice in selection, and hence the feedback produces popular schools with good exam results. Being oversubscribed also means that such schools can both expel problem children and not have to take children expelled from other schools. When corrected for the differences in pupil intake, “faith” schools do not do any better.
There has been a kerfuffle over a German court ruling that a boy’s right to choose whether he spends his adult life with an intact penis supersedes the religious freedom of the parent, and thus that circumcision amounts to illegal “bodily harm”.
“The body of the child is irreparably and permanently changed by a circumcision” said the court. “This change contravenes the interests of the child to decide later on his religious beliefs”. Further, the “fundamental right of the child to bodily integrity outweighed the fundamental rights of the parents” and “The religious freedom of the parents and their right to educate their child would not be unacceptably compromised if they were obliged to wait until the child could himself decide to be circumcised”.
Predictably, religious groups — Muslim, Jewish and Christian — have been in uproar, claiming that that this ruling violates their “religious freedom”, a supposed right to impose their religion on their children. Notably, they make no mention of the religious rights of the child. Likely they consider that the child has no such rights — or at least, has only the “right” to have his parents’ choice of religion imposed on him. After all, in the United Kingdom, children at state schools are legally compelled to worship the Christian god, and have no right to opt out. When opposing the repeal of this compulsory religious worship in a House of Lords debate Baroness Trumpington said that it “did not matter if pupils were bored, did not like going to chapel or were not interested in religious matters”. So much for religious freedom. Continue reading →
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Cloning of Bacteroides gingivalis surface antigens involved in adherence.
Despite the acknowledge importance of Bacteroides gingivalis as a periodontal pathogen, relatively little is known about the molecular basis for its pathogenicity. Recombinant DNA technology has created the opportunity to identify and characterize the virulence determinants. A Bact. gingivalis library was prepared in Escherichia coli JM83 with the vector pUC18. The library was screened for surface antigens by colony immunoblot and 337 putative surface antigen recombinants were identified. Two of these clones were found to have haemagglutinating activity. Antiserum raised against one of these clones reacted with a 43 kDa Bact. gingivalis protein that has haemagglutinating activity.
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How Minorities as well as Women Could Advance in Tech
Variety in tech remnants a hot topic, as numerous firms have not merely acknowledged the difficulty but furthermore pledged to appoint more females plus minorities.
While there has been slow development in the business, there is still amply of work to do.
Merely 9 percentage of tech workforces are black otherwise Latino, as well as while females hold 57 percentage of all expert jobs, they are merely 25 percentage of the tech staff.
It is no amazement the figures are even lesser in the C-suite, through females holding 20 percentage of executive roles as well as blacks plus Latinos holding merely 2 percent plus 5 percent correspondingly, as said by a recent report.
However the shortage of variety in leadership has not discouraged motivation. Around 62 percent of females in tech wish C-suite otherwise senior management places in the upcoming, as said by a report through the Nationwide Center for Women and Information Technology .
So how could minorities plus women advance in tech while the numbers are loaded alongside them? Here are several tips to break over the glass ceiling.
Start Small
Ascending the business ladder at Google otherwise Apple may be the end objective, however the best way to executive roles might not be at main tech firms. Everett Taylor, VP of promoting for Skurt, recommends determined tech workforces to dream huge however start small.
“Lots of minorities have the vision of working for the large tech firms, however at the end the day, if they are not taking you, start lesser,” said Taylor, African-American who established manifold startups as well as led advertising project at Microsoft. “Whether it is functioning at a lesser startup otherwise at a firm that might be older. For instance, an IBM will be way easier toward get in to than a Google otherwise a Facebook.”
Taylor says if you construct your repute at a smaller firm, it could open doors toward advance your job in the future.
Construct a Support Net
Hard-work is significant, however it is not the single thing that leads toward career progress. It’s also vital to have counsellors as well as a support linkage inside the firm—chiefly for women plus minorities.
Females in technology have struggled in this region, as around 50 percentage say they do not have mentors, as said by the NCWIT. Females without tutors are more probably to leave firms because of lack of support.
Marcus utters you do not have to be an extroverted to construct a support net. It just takings meeting with somebody once a week above coffee otherwise lunch to construct an association as well as make them conscious of your objectives.
However mentors are further than just cheer leaders. They are advocates who show hard love.
“Females who are watching to increase up in management must be reinforced through others who demand that they be their finest selves,” said Ellen Petry Leanse, a previous Google exec in addition to an early forerunner at Apple. “They requisite leaders who, to estimate writer Kim Scott, are eager to be fundamentally frank by them.”
Be Cautious of Construction Your Brand
While it is significant for tech workforces to stand out, construction an individual brand may not be the finest way toward advance. Manager’s at large tech firms see it as an interruption for staffs, as said by Taylor.
“I have perceived minorities as well as women get judged method more for having a delicate brand,” Taylor told. “I’ve come across it myself. I have been in a managerial role as well as they told me that no man could be superior to the brand. They told me to endure functioning there I had to stop through my particular brand.”
Run Your Individual Operating Mode
Consequently how could tech workers stand out toward decision-makers? It is about being reliable.
Leanse says genuineness stands out since, in today’s domain, persons are worried to fit in to additional people’s explanation of them founded on their age, race, gender, plus education. However being factual to self goes an extended way.
While minorities plus women are in leadership parts, they aid generate an easier pathway for other. Following these guidelines could help them advance as well as diversify technology from a place of inspiration.
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Stocks to Get Boost, Again, from Research
By
Telis Demos
Sept. 19, 2012 7:35 p.m. ET
Some newly public companies again will be in line to benefit from "booster shots" to their stock prices.
Securities regulators are set to lift a nine-year ban that prevents analysts from issuing research on initial public offerings their banks have underwritten around the expiration of lockup periods, according to regulators. In...
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DURANGO, Colo.—Authorities say an investigator with the La Plata County Sheriff's Office is recovering after he was accidentally shot in the leg. Sheriff's spokesman Dan Bender tells The Durango Herald that investigator Tom Cowing's handgun discharged when it fell out of his car and bounced on the ground near Vallecito Reservoir on Friday morning. ...
There are no "accidents" where firearms are involved; only negligence. The investigator was negligent in having a round chambered and in failing to keep the firearm secure on his body. The media wants the public to believe that guns just "go off" when in fact it is very nearly always a human caused discharge..
the phoenix wrote:There are no "accidents" where firearms are involved; only negligence. The investigator was negligent in having a round chambered and in failing to keep the firearm secure on his body. The media wants the public to believe that guns just "go off" when in fact it is very nearly always a human caused discharge..
You may be right, there isn't enough detail in the article yet. If he was keeping it on the passenger seat, for example, and it had moved to between the seat and door while driving then fell when he opened the passenger door from outside, then yes, he was negligent.
But if it was secured on his body right up until the dept-issued holstering device broke and failed, then he was not necessarily negligent.
All modern firearms include safety features designed to prevent a discharge if the weapon is dropped.
He was doing something stupid with his gun, most likely reholstering while getting out of the vehicle and either dropped the gun and tried to catch it. Something anyone versed in firearms knows NOT to do. Or he shot himself in the process of reholstering.
Mistakes happen sometimes with firearms, but they are almost always because of the loose nut behind the gun, not one in it. I say this as a firearms instructor for law enforcement.
All modern firearms include safety features designed to prevent a discharge if the weapon is dropped.
He was doing something stupid with his gun, most likely reholstering while getting out of the vehicle and either dropped the gun and tried to catch it. Something anyone versed in firearms knows NOT to do. Or he shot himself in the process of reholstering.
Mistakes happen sometimes with firearms, but they are almost always because of the loose nut behind the gun, not one in it. I say this as a firearms instructor for law enforcement.
I agree with you that something else (less favorable) most likely happened, but that's his story and he's sticking to it.
the phoenix wrote:There are no "accidents" where firearms are involved; only negligence. The investigator was negligent in having a round chambered and in failing to keep the firearm secure on his body. The media wants the public to believe that guns just "go off" when in fact it is very nearly always a human caused discharge..
Not having a round in the chamber is stupid. That is a good way to get killed. Unless one comes up against a civil perp who will allow the officer the time needed to chamber a round.
the phoenix wrote:There are no "accidents" where firearms are involved; only negligence. The investigator was negligent in having a round chambered and in failing to keep the firearm secure on his body. The media wants the public to believe that guns just "go off" when in fact it is very nearly always a human caused discharge..
Not having a round in the chamber is stupid. That is a good way to get killed. Unless one comes up against a civil perp who will allow the officer the time needed to chamber a round.
It sounds like you might be the next person we read about. An accident waiting to happen.
the phoenix wrote:There are no "accidents" where firearms are involved; only negligence. The investigator was negligent in having a round chambered and in failing to keep the firearm secure on his body. The media wants the public to believe that guns just "go off" when in fact it is very nearly always a human caused discharge..
Not having a round in the chamber is stupid. That is a good way to get killed. Unless one comes up against a civil perp who will allow the officer the time needed to chamber a round.
It sounds like you might be the next person we read about. An accident waiting to happen.
I reference the second and third rules of gun safety. I have carried a gun, chamber loaded, or chambers, on hikes, in my vehicle, and in competition and never came close to a negligent discharge. It's actually pretty danged easy to not shoot oneself.
the phoenix wrote:There are no "accidents" where firearms are involved; only negligence. The investigator was negligent in having a round chambered and in failing to keep the firearm secure on his body. The media wants the public to believe that guns just "go off" when in fact it is very nearly always a human caused discharge..
You may be right, there isn't enough detail in the article yet. If he was keeping it on the passenger seat, for example, and it had moved to between the seat and door while driving then fell when he opened the passenger door from outside, then yes, he was negligent.
But if it was secured on his body right up until the dept-issued holstering device broke and failed, then he was not necessarily negligent.
You don't know yet.
If the department issues holstering device failed, he's still negligent. Do you climb a ladder before checking it for damage? Drive your car before seeing if the tires have tread? I repeat: There are no accidental discharges, only negligent ones.
Guns do NOT just "go off for no reason", despite what the anti 2nd Amendment media would have you believe.
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