Kigali, Rwanda – The University of Rwanda (UR) is excited to announce the beginning of a new Master of Science degree program in Agribusiness. The gender-sensitive degree program will enroll its first cohort of students in February 2015.

 

The degree program was developed in partnership with Michigan State University (MSU) with funding provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Women’s Leadership Program, implemented globally by Higher Education for Development (HED).

 

The graduate program is prioritizing accessibility to women and mid-career professionals, and is incorporating extensive experiential learning opportunities for the students. The structure of this program in particular will require all students to partake in an internship opportunity thus better preparing them for leadership and entrepreneurial roles in agriculture in Rwanda.

 

“Agriculture is vital to the people and economy of Rwanda and many of those involved in agriculture are women. Their input to the business of agriculture is essential. It is also important that agriculture adopts a modern business strategy because it is a business and all those involved must learn the relevant skills," said Emeritus Professor James McWha Vice Chancellor University of Rwanda. " This program brings together all the components necessary for a major development of the future of the agriculture and food industries in Rwanda.”

 

Using a collaborative approach, the Women’s Leadership Program is designed to support access of women to higher education and advanced degrees, strengthen institutional capacity in research and education on women’s leadership, and promote women’s leadership through higher education extension/outreach efforts in underserved communities.

 

“The empowerment of women through the expansion of their leadership opportunities and spaces for their voices to be heard is a top priority for USAID globally, including in Rwanda,” said Joseph Lessard, USAID/Rwanda Economic Growth Director. “We really believe this program will give women rich opportunities to share their expertise and play major roles in the country’s economic development. We congratulate the University of Rwanda and Michigan State University on this achievement, and look forward to seeing how it will benefit Rwanda into the future.”

 

Michigan State University has a rich history of working collaboratively with the Rwandan government and their institutes of higher education.

 

“It has been a great honor to continue the tradition of our two universities working together to advance the agriculture sector in Rwanda,” said Dr. Gretchen Neisler, Principle Investigator on this project from MSU. “Working collaboratively on the Rwanda Women’s Leadership Program has been very rewarding. I look forward to strengthening our partnership with UR through the continued development of this degree program. I am also excited to explore new and innovative ways for our two universities to work together to educate the next generation of thought leaders at both Michigan State University and the University of Rwanda.”

 

##The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is the foreign assistance agency of the United States Government. USAID supports $150 million of development assistance annually to Rwanda, with programs in health, economic development, education, and democracy and governance.

 

All Photos: Jack Nkinzingabo

Cady's Alley in Georgetown is the only example of a woonerf in Washington, DC (at least that I know of). A woonerf is a street designed to prioritize non-motorized uses, while still permitting motor vehicles to navigate the spaces slowly and cautiously.

Supporters of Rev. Edward Pinkney packed the courtroom in St. Joseph, Michigan on Mon. Oct. 27, 2014. The prosecution presented opening arguments and eight witnesses. All of the community people who testified expressed their objections to the status quo of underdevelopment and prioritizing the interests of the wealthy in Berrien County.

While the Dominican Republic generates a relatively low volume of radioactive waste, it has prioritized their safe and secure treatment. Any disused radioactive source identified in the country is transported, characterized, classified, conditioned and stored in a centralized facility built in 2010 in Sierra Prieta, outside the capital Santo Domingo.

 

Around 170 sources from applications in hospitals and industry as well as so-called orphan sources — radioactive sources that are lost and then found again — detected in scrap metal industries have found a home in the facility. Some are high-activity sources, meaning they emit high levels of radiation, such as those used in radiotherapy to treat cancer. Others are low-activity sources, such as those used for industrial and research applications. Other disused sources come from mining, agriculture and construction.

 

The facility is equipped with radiation detectors provided by the IAEA. A team of professional staff trained under IAEA technical cooperation projects is in charge of the operation, maintenance and regular inspection of the storage facility.

Sierra Prieta, Dominican Republic. October 2016

 

Photo Credit: Laura Gil-Martinez / IAEA

 

Timor-Leste: Prime Minister Rui Maria Araujo

 

“The Timor-Leste Constitution…provides that men and women must be treated equally in all aspects of life.… Our Government…prioritized action to end the discrimination of women and girls…and to stop gender-based violence. Timor-Leste fully supports [Sustainable Development Goal 5], which seeks to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. We also recommit to implement the Beijing Platform for Action as we celebrate 20 years since its adoption. Our country has a proud history of support for women. During our fight for independence, women participated actively in all fronts of the struggle. And now Timor-Leste has one of the biggest proportions of women parliamentarians in the world and the highest in the Asia-Pacific region. In our last elections, 38 per cent of those elected to the national parliament were women. …We must improve the situation of women and address the pervasive gender discrimination if we are to meet our development goals. …We fully commit to achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls.”

 

World leaders convene at the United Nations on 27 September 2015 for the “Global Leaders’ Meeting on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment: A Commitment to Action” to personally commit to ending discrimination against women by 2030 and announce concrete and measurable actions to kick-start rapid change in their countries.

 

Read More: www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2015/9/press-release-glob...

 

Read every country's committment from the event: beijing20.unwomen.org/en/step-it-up/commitments

 

Photo: UN Women/Sarah Stacke

  

Elizabeth Maerz, Vice President, Strategy and Execution

The Travelers Companies, Inc.

 

As Vice President of the Strategy & Execution Office for Personal Insurance, Beth Maerz works with the Personal Insurance (PI) Leadership Team to define business strategy, prioritize initiatives, and align investments to the PI strategic roadmap. Previously, Beth was Vice President of Country Wide Products and Services, where she helped lead the ongoing development of Travelers’ Home and Auto product lines. Prior to joining Travelers in 2005, Beth held leadership positions with a variety of marketing and management consulting firms, helping senior executives of leading financial services firms prioritize their strategic business objectives, identify critical enabling capabilities and create implementation plans. Beth holds a Masters degree in Business Administration and Economics from Boston University.

(for integration/climate vulnerability mapping theme): In Midhega Tola Woreda, men and women community members are engaged in the participatory disaster risk assessment. They are identifying and prioritizing their hazards, vulnerabilities and capacities. The assessment is the key initial step to develop community action plans that addresses targeted and prioritized disaster risks. Once action plan is completed and approved by local government, communities start implementing the activities from the plan collectively to build community resilience to climate related shocks. The picture was taken by CRS REAAP staff during community participatory disaster risk assessment conducted in February 2016. REAAP Implementer and partners are: Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Ethiopian Catholic Church Social Development Coordination Office of Harar (ECC-SDCOH), Handicap International (HI) and Catholic Organization for Relief and Development Aid (Cordaid).

A desktop of my old mac that I made after I read the lifehacker post about this easy gtd system here: lifehacker.com/5270297/quickly-prioritize-your-tasks-by-u...

 

All it is is a todo.txt, but seperated into four categories; I put @UI [or whatever] before each task, and I made a simple applescript to sort through todo.txt and put it in UI.txt, NUI.txt, UNI.txt, and NUNI.txt. It was really easy; just using 'do shell script 'x'', and using some old skool sed and grep commands.

 

In the bottom left corner I have Bowtie displaying my album artwork and info.

 

I have a completely transparent dock skin so it looks like the color behind it; this case, black

 

I used crystal clear icons to decorate the 'add to todo' and 'refresh' applescripts in the bottom-right corner that I also just wrote.

 

The wallpaper is from vladstudio here:

vladstudio.com/wallpaper/?grass

 

I find it very relaxing and nice to look at.

 

Well, that's it!

 

Thanks!

 

Alex Hwang, 6th grader

The Kard Bar Fire on January 12, 2015, in Cross Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear, England, was a significant event that had a profound impact on the local community and garnered national attention. The fire, which engulfed the iconic Kard Bar music store, marked the end of an era and left a lasting legacy in the city's history.

 

The Kard Bar was a well-known institution in Newcastle upon Tyne, particularly among music enthusiasts. Located in the heart of the city, the store served as a cultural hub and a gathering place for generations of music lovers. The store was renowned for its vast collection of vinyl records, CDs, and other music memorabilia, attracting customers from all walks of life.

 

On that fateful day, January 12, 2015, a fire broke out at the Kard Bar, quickly spreading through the premises. The fire was first reported in the early morning hours, and the emergency services were alerted promptly. Firefighters from the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service rushed to the scene to combat the blaze and prevent it from spreading to neighboring properties.

 

Despite the firefighters' valiant efforts, the fire raged on, fueled by the store's extensive stock of music records and CDs. The iconic wooden structure of the building, along with its accumulated stock, made it difficult for the firefighters to gain control over the inferno. The blaze consumed the entire store, reducing it to ashes within hours.

 

As news of the fire spread throughout Newcastle and beyond, an outpouring of grief and shock swept across the city. The Kard Bar held a special place in the hearts of many, who mourned the loss of a cherished landmark. The store had become synonymous with the vibrant music scene of the city, and its demise marked the end of an era.

 

In the aftermath of the fire, investigations were launched to determine the cause of the incident. The authorities worked tirelessly to piece together the events leading up to the fire. Ultimately, it was revealed that an electrical fault in the building's wiring was the likely cause. The age of the structure and its outdated electrical systems contributed to the rapid spread of the fire.

 

The loss of the Kard Bar was deeply felt by both the local community and the wider music industry. Musicians, artists, and fans rallied together to express their support and solidarity. Benefit concerts and fundraising initiatives were organized to help the store owners and employees recover from the devastating incident. The overwhelming response demonstrated the profound impact the Kard Bar had on the lives of countless individuals.

 

In the years following the fire, the Kard Bar's legacy lived on through the memories and stories shared by those who had visited the store. The music community in Newcastle united to honor the store's memory and preserve its spirit. Local artists dedicated their performances to the Kard Bar, ensuring that its influence would endure.

 

The Kard Bar Fire also highlighted the importance of fire safety regulations and the need for improved infrastructure maintenance. The incident prompted authorities to review safety protocols, particularly in heritage buildings, to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future. The fire served as a wake-up call for both the city of Newcastle and other communities across the country to prioritize the preservation of cultural landmarks and implement effective fire prevention measures.

 

Today, the site where the Kard Bar once stood remains a poignant reminder of the store's rich history and the impact it had on Newcastle's music scene. The memories and stories associated with the Kard Bar continue to resonate, ensuring that its spirit remains alive in the hearts of those who cherished it. The Kard Bar Fire of January 12, 2015, remains a significant event in the city's history, forever etched in the collective memory of Newcastle upon Tyne.

 

Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle is a cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is located on the River Tyne's northern bank, opposite Gateshead to the south. It is the most populous settlement in the Tyneside conurbation and North East England.

 

Newcastle developed around a Roman settlement called Pons Aelius, the settlement became known as Monkchester before taking on the name of a castle built in 1080 by William the Conqueror's eldest son, Robert Curthose. It was one of the world's largest ship building and repair centres during the industrial revolution. Newcastle was part of the county of Northumberland until 1400, when it separated and formed a county of itself. In 1974, Newcastle became part of Tyne and Wear. Since 2018, the city council has been part of the North of Tyne Combined Authority.

 

The history of Newcastle upon Tyne dates back almost 2,000 years, during which it has been controlled by the Romans, the Angles and the Norsemen amongst others. Newcastle upon Tyne was originally known by its Roman name Pons Aelius. The name "Newcastle" has been used since the Norman conquest of England. Due to its prime location on the River Tyne, the town developed greatly during the Middle Ages and it was to play a major role in the Industrial Revolution, being granted city status in 1882. Today, the city is a major retail, commercial and cultural centre.

 

Roman settlement

The history of Newcastle dates from AD 122, when the Romans built the first bridge to cross the River Tyne at that point. The bridge was called Pons Aelius or 'Bridge of Aelius', Aelius being the family name of Roman Emperor Hadrian, who was responsible for the Roman wall built across northern England along the Tyne–Solway gap. Hadrian's Wall ran through present-day Newcastle, with stretches of wall and turrets visible along the West Road, and at a temple in Benwell. Traces of a milecastle were found on Westgate Road, midway between Clayton Street and Grainger Street, and it is likely that the course of the wall corresponded to present-day Westgate Road. The course of the wall can be traced eastwards to the Segedunum Roman fort at Wallsend, with the fort of Arbeia down-river at the mouth of the Tyne, on the south bank in what is now South Shields. The Tyne was then a wider, shallower river at this point and it is thought that the bridge was probably about 700 feet (210 m) long, made of wood and supported on stone piers. It is probable that it was sited near the current Swing Bridge, due to the fact that Roman artefacts were found there during the building of the latter bridge. Hadrian himself probably visited the site in 122. A shrine was set up on the completed bridge in 123 by the 6th Legion, with two altars to Neptune and Oceanus respectively. The two altars were subsequently found in the river and are on display in the Great North Museum in Newcastle.

 

The Romans built a stone-walled fort in 150 to protect the river crossing which was at the foot of the Tyne Gorge, and this took the name of the bridge so that the whole settlement was known as Pons Aelius. The fort was situated on a rocky outcrop overlooking the new bridge, on the site of the present Castle Keep. Pons Aelius is last mentioned in 400, in a Roman document listing all of the Roman military outposts. It is likely that nestling in the shadow of the fort would have been a small vicus, or village. Unfortunately, no buildings have been detected; only a few pieces of flagging. It is clear that there was a Roman cemetery near Clavering Place, behind the Central station, as a number of Roman coffins and sarcophagi have been unearthed there.

 

Despite the presence of the bridge, the settlement of Pons Aelius was not particularly important among the northern Roman settlements. The most important stations were those on the highway of Dere Street running from Eboracum (York) through Corstopitum (Corbridge) and to the lands north of the Wall. Corstopitum, being a major arsenal and supply centre, was much larger and more populous than Pons Aelius.

 

Anglo-Saxon development

The Angles arrived in the North-East of England in about 500 and may have landed on the Tyne. There is no evidence of an Anglo-Saxon settlement on or near the site of Pons Aelius during the Anglo-Saxon age. The bridge probably survived and there may well have been a small village at the northern end, but no evidence survives. At that time the region was dominated by two kingdoms, Bernicia, north of the Tees and ruled from Bamburgh, and Deira, south of the Tees and ruled from York. Bernicia and Deira combined to form the kingdom of Northanhymbra (Northumbria) early in the 7th century. There were three local kings who held the title of Bretwalda – 'Lord of Britain', Edwin of Deira (627–632), Oswald of Bernicia (633–641) and Oswy of Northumbria (641–658). The 7th century became known as the 'Golden Age of Northumbria', when the area was a beacon of culture and learning in Europe. The greatness of this period was based on its generally Christian culture and resulted in the Lindisfarne Gospels amongst other treasures. The Tyne valley was dotted with monasteries, with those at Monkwearmouth, Hexham and Jarrow being the most famous. Bede, who was based at Jarrow, wrote of a royal estate, known as Ad Murum, 'at the Wall', 12 miles (19 km) from the sea. It is thought that this estate may have been in what is now Newcastle. At some unknown time, the site of Newcastle came to be known as Monkchester. The reason for this title is unknown, as we are unaware of any specific monasteries at the site, and Bede made no reference to it. In 875 Halfdan Ragnarsson, the Danish Viking conqueror of York, led an army that attacked and pillaged various monasteries in the area, and it is thought that Monkchester was also pillaged at this time. Little more was heard of it until the coming of the Normans.

 

Norman period

After the arrival of William the Conqueror in England in 1066, the whole of England was quickly subjected to Norman rule. However, in Northumbria there was great resistance to the Normans, and in 1069 the newly appointed Norman Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Comines and 700 of his men were killed by the local population at Durham. The Northumbrians then marched on York, but William was able to suppress the uprising. That same year, a second uprising occurred when a Danish fleet landed in the Humber. The Northumbrians again attacked York and destroyed the garrison there. William was again able to suppress the uprising, but this time he took revenge. He laid waste to the whole of the Midlands and the land from York to the Tees. In 1080, William Walcher, the Norman bishop of Durham and his followers were brutally murdered at Gateshead. This time Odo, bishop of Bayeux, William's half brother, devastated the land between the Tees and the Tweed. This was known as the 'Harrying of the North'. This devastation is reflected in the Domesday Book. The destruction had such an effect that the North remained poor and backward at least until Tudor times and perhaps until the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle suffered in this respect with the rest of the North.

 

In 1080 William sent his eldest son, Robert Curthose, north to defend the kingdom against the Scots. After his campaign, he moved to Monkchester and began the building of a 'New Castle'. This was of the "motte-and-bailey" type of construction, a wooden tower on top of an earthen mound (motte), surrounded by a moat and wooden stockade (bailey). It was this castle that gave Newcastle its name. In 1095 the Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Mowbray, rose up against the king, William Rufus, and Rufus sent an army north to recapture the castle. From then on the castle became crown property and was an important base from which the king could control the northern barons. The Northumbrian earldom was abolished and a Sheriff of Northumberland was appointed to administer the region. In 1091 the parish church of St Nicholas was consecrated on the site of the present Anglican cathedral, close by the bailey of the new castle. The church is believed to have been a wooden building on stone footings.

 

Not a trace of the tower or mound of the motte and bailey castle remains now. Henry II replaced it with a rectangular stone keep, which was built between 1172 and 1177 at a cost of £1,444. A stone bailey, in the form of a triangle, replaced the previous wooden one. The great outer gateway to the castle, called 'the Black Gate', was built later, between 1247 and 1250, in the reign of Henry III. There were at that time no town walls and when attacked by the Scots, the townspeople had to crowd into the bailey for safety. It is probable that the new castle acted as a magnet for local merchants because of the safety it provided. This in turn would help to expand trade in the town. At this time wool, skins and lead were being exported, whilst alum, pepper and ginger were being imported from France and Flanders.

 

Middle Ages

Throughout the Middle Ages, Newcastle was England's northern fortress, the centre for assembled armies. The Border war against Scotland lasted intermittently for several centuries – possibly the longest border war ever waged. During the civil war between Stephen and Matilda, David 1st of Scotland and his son were granted Cumbria and Northumberland respectively, so that for a period from 1139 to 1157, Newcastle was effectively in Scottish hands. It is believed that during this period, King David may have built the church of St Andrew and the Benedictine nunnery in Newcastle. However, King Stephen's successor, Henry II was strong enough to take back the Earldom of Northumbria from Malcolm IV.

 

The Scots king William the Lion was imprisoned in Newcastle, in 1174, after being captured at the Battle of Alnwick. Edward I brought the Stone of Scone and William Wallace south through the town and Newcastle was successfully defended against the Scots three times during the 14th century.

 

Around 1200, stone-faced, clay-filled jetties were starting to project into the river, an indication that trade was increasing in Newcastle. As the Roman roads continued to deteriorate, sea travel was gaining in importance. By 1275 Newcastle was the sixth largest wool exporting port in England. The principal exports at this time were wool, timber, coal, millstones, dairy produce, fish, salt and hides. Much of the developing trade was with the Baltic countries and Germany. Most of the Newcastle merchants were situated near the river, below the Castle. The earliest known charter was dated 1175 in the reign of Henry II, giving the townspeople some control over their town. In 1216 King John granted Newcastle a mayor[8] and also allowed the formation of guilds (known as Mysteries). These were cartels formed within different trades, which restricted trade to guild members. There were initially twelve guilds. Coal was being exported from Newcastle by 1250, and by 1350 the burgesses received a royal licence to export coal. This licence to export coal was jealously guarded by the Newcastle burgesses, and they tried to prevent any one else on the Tyne from exporting coal except through Newcastle. The burgesses similarly tried to prevent fish from being sold anywhere else on the Tyne except Newcastle. This led to conflicts with Gateshead and South Shields.

 

In 1265, the town was granted permission to impose a 'Wall Tax' or Murage, to pay for the construction of a fortified wall to enclose the town and protect it from Scottish invaders. The town walls were not completed until early in the 14th century. They were two miles (3 km) long, 9 feet (2.7 m) thick and 25 feet (7.6 m) high. They had six main gates, as well as some smaller gates, and had 17 towers. The land within the walls was divided almost equally by the Lort Burn, which flowed southwards and joined the Tyne to the east of the Castle. The town began to expand north of the Castle and west of the Lort Burn with various markets being set up within the walls.

 

In 1400 Henry IV granted a new charter, creating a County corporate which separated the town, but not the Castle, from the county of Northumberland and recognised it as a "county of itself" with a right to have a sheriff of its own. The burgesses were now allowed to choose six aldermen who, with the mayor would be justices of the peace. The mayor and sheriff were allowed to hold borough courts in the Guildhall.

 

Religious houses

During the Middle Ages a number of religious houses were established within the walls: the first of these was the Benedictine nunnery of St Bartholomew founded in 1086 near the present-day Nun Street. Both David I of Scotland and Henry I of England were benefactors of the religious house. Nothing of the nunnery remains now.

 

The friary of Blackfriars, Newcastle (Dominican) was established in 1239. These were also known as the Preaching Friars or Shod Friars, because they wore sandals, as opposed to other orders. The friary was situated in the present-day Friars Street. In 1280 the order was granted royal permission to make a postern in the town walls to communicate with their gardens outside the walls. On 19 June 1334, Edward Balliol, claimant to be King of Scotland, did homage to King Edward III, on behalf of the kingdom of Scotland, in the church of the friary. Much of the original buildings of the friary still exist, mainly because, after the Dissolution of the Monasteries the friary of Blackfriars was rented out by the corporation to nine of the local trade guilds.

 

The friary of Whitefriars (Carmelite) was established in 1262. The order was originally housed on the Wall Knoll in Pandon, but in 1307 it took over the buildings of another order, which went out of existence, the Friars of the Sac. The land, which had originally been given by Robert the Bruce, was situated in the present-day Hanover Square, behind the Central station. Nothing of the friary remains now.

 

The friary of Austinfriars (Augustinian) was established in 1290. The friary was on the site where the Holy Jesus Hospital was built in 1682. The friary was traditionally the lodging place of English kings whenever they visited or passed through Newcastle. In 1503 Princess Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII of England, stayed two days at the friary on her way to join her new husband James IV of Scotland.

 

The friary of Greyfriars (Franciscans) was established in 1274. The friary was in the present-day area between Pilgrim Street, Grey Street, Market Street and High Chare. Nothing of the original buildings remains.

 

The friary of the Order of the Holy Trinity, also known as the Trinitarians, was established in 1360. The order devoted a third of its income to buying back captives of the Saracens, during the Crusades. Their house was on the Wall Knoll, in Pandon, to the east of the city, but within the walls. Wall Knoll had previously been occupied by the White Friars until they moved to new premises in 1307.

 

All of the above religious houses were closed in about 1540, when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries.

 

An important street running through Newcastle at the time was Pilgrim Street, running northwards inside the walls and leading to the Pilgrim Gate on the north wall. The street still exists today as arguably Newcastle's main shopping street.

 

Tudor period

The Scottish border wars continued for much of the 16th century, so that during that time, Newcastle was often threatened with invasion by the Scots, but also remained important as a border stronghold against them.

 

During the Reformation begun by Henry VIII in 1536, the five Newcastle friaries and the single nunnery were dissolved and the land was sold to the Corporation and to rich merchants. At this time there were fewer than 60 inmates of the religious houses in Newcastle. The convent of Blackfriars was leased to nine craft guilds to be used as their headquarters. This probably explains why it is the only one of the religious houses whose building survives to the present day. The priories at Tynemouth and Durham were also dissolved, thus ending the long-running rivalry between Newcastle and the church for control of trade on the Tyne. A little later, the property of the nunnery of St Bartholomew and of Grey Friars were bought by Robert Anderson, who had the buildings demolished to build his grand Newe House (also known as Anderson Place).

 

With the gradual decline of the Scottish border wars the town walls were allowed to decline as well as the castle. By 1547, about 10,000 people were living in Newcastle. At the beginning of the 16th century exports of wool from Newcastle were more than twice the value of exports of coal, but during the century coal exports continued to increase.

 

Under Edward VI, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, sponsored an act allowing Newcastle to annexe Gateshead as its suburb. The main reason for this was to allow the Newcastle Hostmen, who controlled the export of Tyne coal, to get their hands on the Gateshead coal mines, previously controlled by the Bishop of Durham. However, when Mary I came to power, Dudley met his downfall and the decision was reversed. The Reformation allowed private access to coal mines previously owned by Tynemouth and Durham priories and as a result coal exports increase dramatically, from 15,000 tons in 1500 to 35,000 tons in 1565, and to 400,000 tons in 1625.

 

The plague visited Newcastle four times during the 16th century, in 1579 when 2,000 people died, in 1589 when 1700 died, in 1595 and finally in 1597.

 

In 1600 Elizabeth I granted Newcastle a charter for an exclusive body of electors, the right to elect the mayor and burgesses. The charter also gave the Hostmen exclusive rights to load coal at any point on the Tyne. The Hostmen developed as an exclusive group within the Merchant Adventurers who had been incorporated by a charter in 1547.

 

Stuart period

In 1636 there was a serious outbreak of bubonic plague in Newcastle. There had been several previous outbreaks of the disease over the years, but this was the most serious. It is thought to have arrived from the Netherlands via ships that were trading between the Tyne and that country. It first appeared in the lower part of the town near the docks but gradually spread to all parts of the town. As the disease gained hold the authorities took measures to control it by boarding up any properties that contained infected persons, meaning that whole families were locked up together with the infected family members. Other infected persons were put in huts outside the town walls and left to die. Plague pits were dug next to the town's four churches and outside the town walls to receive the bodies in mass burials. Over the course of the outbreak 5,631 deaths were recorded out of an estimated population of 12,000, a death rate of 47%.

 

In 1637 Charles I tried to raise money by doubling the 'voluntary' tax on coal in return for allowing the Newcastle Hostmen to regulate production and fix prices. This caused outrage amongst the London importers and the East Anglian shippers. Both groups decided to boycott Tyne coal and as a result forced Charles to reverse his decision in 1638.

 

In 1640 during the Second Bishops' War, the Scots successfully invaded Newcastle. The occupying army demanded £850 per day from the Corporation to billet the Scottish troops. Trade from the Tyne ground to a halt during the occupation. The Scots left in 1641 after receiving a Parliamentary pardon and a £4,000,000 loan from the town.

 

In 1642 the English Civil War began. King Charles realised the value of the Tyne coal trade and therefore garrisoned Newcastle. A Royalist was appointed as governor. At that time, Newcastle and King's Lynn were the only important seaports to support the crown. In 1644 Parliament blockaded the Tyne to prevent the king from receiving revenue from the Tyne coal trade. Coal exports fell from 450,000 to 3,000 tons and London suffered a hard winter without fuel. Parliament encouraged the coal trade from the Wear to try to replace that lost from Newcastle but that was not enough to make up for the lost Tyneside tonnage.

 

In 1644 the Scots crossed the border. Newcastle strengthened its defences in preparation. The Scottish army, with 40,000 troops, besieged Newcastle for three months until the garrison of 1,500 surrendered. During the siege, the Scots bombarded the walls with their artillery, situated in Gateshead and Castle Leazes. The Scottish commander threatened to destroy the steeple of St Nicholas's Church by gunfire if the mayor, Sir John Marley, did not surrender the town. The mayor responded by placing Scottish prisoners that they had captured in the steeple, so saving it from destruction. The town walls were finally breached by a combination of artillery and sapping. In gratitude for this defence, Charles gave Newcastle the motto 'Fortiter Defendit Triumphans' to be added to its coat of arms. The Scottish army occupied Northumberland and Durham for two years. The coal taxes had to pay for the Scottish occupation. In 1645 Charles surrendered to the Scots and was imprisoned in Newcastle for nine months. After the Civil War the coal trade on the Tyne soon picked up and exceeded its pre-war levels.

 

A new Guildhall was completed on the Sandhill next to the river in 1655, replacing an earlier facility damaged by fire in 1639, and became the meeting place of Newcastle Town Council. In 1681 the Hospital of the Holy Jesus was built partly on the site of the Austin Friars. The Guildhall and Holy Jesus Hospital still exist.

 

Charles II tried to impose a charter on Newcastle to give the king the right to appoint the mayor, sheriff, recorder and town clerk. Charles died before the charter came into effect. In 1685, James II tried to replace Corporation members with named Catholics. However, James' mandate was suspended in 1689 after the Glorious Revolution welcoming William of Orange. In 1689, after the fall of James II, the people of Newcastle tore down his bronze equestrian statue in Sandhill and tossed it into the Tyne. The bronze was later used to make bells for All Saints Church.

 

In 1689 the Lort Burn was covered over. At this time it was an open sewer. The channel followed by the Lort Burn became the present day Dean Street. At that time, the centre of Newcastle was still the Sandhill area, with many merchants living along the Close or on the Side. The path of the main road through Newcastle ran from the single Tyne bridge, through Sandhill to the Side, a narrow street which climbed steeply on the north-east side of the castle hill until it reached the higher ground alongside St Nicholas' Church. As Newcastle developed, the Side became lined with buildings with projecting upper stories, so that the main street through Newcastle was a narrow, congested, steep thoroughfare.

 

In 1701 the Keelmen's Hospital was built in the Sandgate area of the city, using funds provided by the keelmen. The building still stands today.

 

Eighteenth century

In the 18th century, Newcastle was the country's largest print centre after London, Oxford and Cambridge, and the Literary and Philosophical Society of 1793, with its erudite debates and large stock of books in several languages predated the London Library by half a century.

 

In 1715, during the Jacobite rising in favour of the Old Pretender, an army of Jacobite supporters marched on Newcastle. Many of the Northumbrian gentry joined the rebels. The citizens prepared for its arrival by arresting Jacobite supporters and accepting 700 extra recruits into the local militia. The gates of the city were closed against the rebels. This proved enough to delay an attack until reinforcements arrived forcing the rebel army to move across to the west coast. The rebels finally surrendered at Preston.

 

In 1745, during a second Jacobite rising in favour of the Young Pretender, a Scottish army crossed the border led by Bonnie Prince Charlie. Once again Newcastle prepared by arresting Jacobite supporters and inducting 800 volunteers into the local militia. The town walls were strengthened, most of the gates were blocked up and some 200 cannon were deployed. 20,000 regulars were billeted on the Town Moor. These preparations were enough to force the rebel army to travel south via the west coast. They were eventually defeated at Culloden in 1746.

 

Newcastle's actions during the 1715 rising in resisting the rebels and declaring for George I, in contrast to the rest of the region, is the most likely source of the nickname 'Geordie', applied to people from Tyneside, or more accurately Newcastle. Another theory, however, is that the name 'Geordie' came from the inventor of the Geordie lamp, George Stephenson. It was a type of safety lamp used in mining, but was not invented until 1815. Apparently the term 'German Geordie' was in common use during the 18th century.

 

The city's first hospital, Newcastle Infirmary opened in 1753; it was funded by public subscription. A lying-in hospital was established in Newcastle in 1760. The city's first public hospital for mentally ill patients, Wardens Close Lunatic Hospital was opened in October 1767.

 

In 1771 a flood swept away much of the bridge at Newcastle. The bridge had been built in 1250 and repaired after a flood in 1339. The bridge supported various houses and three towers and an old chapel. A blue stone was placed in the middle of the bridge to mark the boundary between Newcastle and the Palatinate of Durham. A temporary wooden bridge had to be built, and this remained in use until 1781, when a new stone bridge was completed. The new bridge consisted of nine arches. In 1801, because of the pressure of traffic, the bridge had to be widened.

 

A permanent military presence was established in the city with the completion of Fenham Barracks in 1806. The facilities at the Castle for holding assizes, which had been condemned for their inconvenience and unhealthiness, were replaced when the Moot Hall opened in August 1812.

 

Victorian period

Present-day Newcastle owes much of its architecture to the work of the builder Richard Grainger, aided by architects John Dobson, Thomas Oliver, John and Benjamin Green and others. In 1834 Grainger won a competition to produce a new plan for central Newcastle. He put this plan into effect using the above architects as well as architects employed in his own office. Grainger and Oliver had already built Leazes Terrace, Leazes Crescent and Leazes Place between 1829 and 1834. Grainger and Dobson had also built the Royal Arcade at the foot of Pilgrim Street between 1830 and 1832. The most ambitious project covered 12 acres 12 acres (49,000 m2) in central Newcastle, on the site of Newe House (also called Anderson Place). Grainger built three new thoroughfares, Grey Street, Grainger Street and Clayton Street with many connecting streets, as well as the Central Exchange and the Grainger Market. John Wardle and George Walker, working in Grainger's office, designed Clayton Street, Grainger Street and most of Grey Street. Dobson designed the Grainger Market and much of the east side of Grey Street. John and Benjamin Green designed the Theatre Royal at the top of Grey Street, where Grainger placed the column of Grey's Monument as a focus for the whole scheme. Grey Street is considered to be one of the finest streets in the country, with its elegant curve. Unfortunately most of old Eldon Square was demolished in the 1960s in the name of progress. The Royal Arcade met a similar fate.

 

In 1849 a new bridge was built across the river at Newcastle. This was the High Level Bridge, designed by Robert Stephenson, and slightly up river from the existing bridge. The bridge was designed to carry road and rail traffic across the Tyne Gorge on two decks with rail traffic on the upper deck and road traffic on the lower. The new bridge meant that traffic could pass through Newcastle without having to negotiate the steep, narrow Side, as had been necessary for centuries. The bridge was opened by Queen Victoria, who one year later opened the new Central Station, designed by John Dobson. Trains were now able to cross the river, directly into the centre of Newcastle and carry on up to Scotland. The Army Riding School was also completed in 1849.

 

In 1854 a large fire started on the Gateshead quayside and an explosion caused it to spread across the river to the Newcastle quayside. A huge conflagration amongst the narrow alleys, or 'chares', destroyed the homes of 800 families as well as many business premises. The narrow alleys that had been destroyed were replaced by streets containing blocks of modern offices.

 

In 1863 the Town Hall in St Nicholas Square replaced the Guildhall as the meeting place of Newcastle Town Council.

 

In 1876 the low level bridge was replaced by a new bridge known as the Swing Bridge, so called because the bridge was able to swing horizontally on a central axis and allow ships to pass on either side. This meant that for the first time sizeable ships could pass up-river beyond Newcastle. The bridge was built and paid for by William Armstrong, a local arms manufacturer, who needed to have warships access his Elswick arms factory to fit armaments to them. The Swing Bridge's rotating mechanism is adapted from the cannon mounts developed in Armstrong's arms works. In 1882 the Elswick works began to build ships as well as to arm them. The Barrack Road drill hall was completed in 1890.

 

Industrialisation

In the 19th century, shipbuilding and heavy engineering were central to the city's prosperity; and the city was a powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle's development as a major city owed most to its central role in the production and export of coal. The phrase "taking coals to Newcastle" was first recorded in 1538; it proverbially denotes bringing a particular commodity to a place that has more than enough of it already.

 

Innovation in Newcastle and surrounding areas included the following:

 

George Stephenson developed a miner's safety lamp at the same time that Humphry Davy developed a rival design. The lamp made possible the opening up of ever deeper mines to provide the coal that powered the industrial revolution.

George and his son Robert Stephenson were hugely influential figures in the development of the early railways. George developed Blücher, a locomotive working at Killingworth colliery in 1814, whilst Robert was instrumental in the design of Rocket, a revolutionary design that was the forerunner of modern locomotives. Both men were involved in planning and building railway lines, all over this country and abroad.

 

Joseph Swan demonstrated a working electric light bulb about a year before Thomas Edison did the same in the USA. This led to a dispute as to who had actually invented the light bulb. Eventually the two rivals agreed to form a mutual company between them, the Edison and Swan Electric Light Company, known as Ediswan.

 

Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine, for marine use and for power generation. He used Turbinia, a small, turbine-powered ship, to demonstrate the speed that a steam turbine could generate. Turbinia literally ran rings around the British Fleet at a review at Spithead in 1897.

 

William Armstrong invented a hydraulic crane that was installed in dockyards up and down the country. He then began to design light, accurate field guns for the British army. These were a vast improvement on the existing guns that were then in use.

 

The following major industries developed in Newcastle or its surrounding area:

 

Glassmaking

A small glass industry existed in Newcastle from the mid-15th century. In 1615 restrictions were put on the use of wood for manufacturing glass. It was found that glass could be manufactured using the local coal, and so a glassmaking industry grew up on Tyneside. Huguenot glassmakers came over from France as refugees from persecution and set up glasshouses in the Skinnerburn area of Newcastle. Eventually, glass production moved to the Ouseburn area of Newcastle. In 1684 the Dagnia family, Sephardic Jewish emigrants from Altare, arrived in Newcastle from Stourbridge and established glasshouses along the Close, to manufacture high quality flint glass. The glass manufacturers used sand ballast from the boats arriving in the river as the main raw material. The glassware was then exported in collier brigs. The period from 1730 to 1785 was the highpoint of Newcastle glass manufacture, when the local glassmakers produced the 'Newcastle Light Baluster'. The glassmaking industry still exists in the west end of the city with local Artist and Glassmaker Jane Charles carrying on over four hundred years of hot glass blowing in Newcastle upon Tyne.

 

Locomotive manufacture

In 1823 George Stephenson and his son Robert established the world's first locomotive factory near Forth Street in Newcastle. Here they built locomotives for the Stockton and Darlington Railway and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, as well as many others. It was here that the famous locomotive Rocket was designed and manufactured in preparation for the Rainhill Trials. Apart from building locomotives for the British market, the Newcastle works also produced locomotives for Europe and America. The Forth Street works continued to build locomotives until 1960.

 

Shipbuilding

In 1296 a wooden, 135 ft (41 m) long galley was constructed at the mouth of the Lort Burn in Newcastle, as part of a twenty-ship order from the king. The ship cost £205, and is the earliest record of shipbuilding in Newcastle. However the rise of the Tyne as a shipbuilding area was due to the need for collier brigs for the coal export trade. These wooden sailing ships were usually built locally, establishing local expertise in building ships. As ships changed from wood to steel, and from sail to steam, the local shipbuilding industry changed to build the new ships. Although shipbuilding was carried out up and down both sides of the river, the two main areas for building ships in Newcastle were Elswick, to the west, and Walker, to the east. By 1800 Tyneside was the third largest producer of ships in Britain. Unfortunately, after the Second World War, lack of modernisation and competition from abroad gradually caused the local industry to decline and die.

 

Armaments

In 1847 William Armstrong established a huge factory in Elswick, west of Newcastle. This was initially used to produce hydraulic cranes but subsequently began also to produce guns for both the army and the navy. After the Swing Bridge was built in 1876 allowing ships to pass up river, warships could have their armaments fitted alongside the Elswick works. Armstrong's company took over its industrial rival, Joseph Whitworth of Manchester in 1897.

 

Steam turbines

Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine and, in 1889, founded his own company C. A. Parsons and Company in Heaton, Newcastle to make steam turbines. Shortly after this, he realised that steam turbines could be used to propel ships and, in 1897, he founded a second company, Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company in Wallsend. It is there that he designed and manufactured Turbinia. Parsons turbines were initially used in warships but soon came to be used in merchant and passenger vessels, including the liner Mauretania which held the blue riband for the Atlantic crossing until 1929. Parsons' company in Heaton began to make turbo-generators for power stations and supplied power stations all over the world. The Heaton works, reduced in size, remains as part of the Siemens AG industrial giant.

 

Pottery

In 1762 the Maling pottery was founded in Sunderland by French Huguenots, but transferred to Newcastle in 1817. A factory was built in the Ouseburn area of the city. The factory was rebuilt twice, finally occupying a 14-acre (57,000 m2) site that was claimed to be the biggest pottery in the world and which had its own railway station. The pottery pioneered use of machines in making potteries as opposed to hand production. In the 1890s the company went up-market and employed in-house designers. The period up to the Second World War was the most profitable with a constant stream of new designs being introduced. However, after the war, production gradually declined and the company closed in 1963.

 

Expansion of the city

Newcastle was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835: the reformed municipal borough included the parishes of Byker, Elswick, Heaton, Jesmond, Newcastle All Saints, Newcastle St Andrew, Newcastle St John, Newcastle St Nicholas, and Westgate. The urban districts of Benwell and Fenham and Walker were added in 1904. In 1935, Newcastle gained Kenton and parts of the parishes of West Brunton, East Denton, Fawdon, Longbenton. The most recent expansion in Newcastle's boundaries took place under the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974, when Newcastle became a metropolitan borough, also including the urban districts of Gosforth and Newburn, and the parishes of Brunswick, Dinnington, Hazlerigg, North Gosforth and Woolsington from the Castle Ward Rural District, and the village of Westerhope.

 

Meanwhile Northumberland County Council was formed under the Local Government Act 1888 and benefited from a dedicated meeting place when County Hall was completed in the Castle Garth area of Newcastle in 1910. Following the Local Government Act 1972 County Hall relocated to Morpeth in April 1981.

 

Twentieth century

In 1925 work began on a new high-level road bridge to span the Tyne Gorge between Newcastle and Gateshead. The capacity of the existing High-Level Bridge and Swing Bridge were being strained to the limit, and an additional bridge had been discussed for a long time. The contract was awarded to the Dorman Long Company and the bridge was finally opened by King George V in 1928. The road deck was 84 feet (26 m) above the river and was supported by a 531 feet (162 m) steel arch. The new Tyne Bridge quickly became a symbol for Newcastle and Tyneside, and remains so today.

 

During the Second World War, Newcastle was largely spared the horrors inflicted upon other British cities bombed during the Blitz. Although the armaments factories and shipyards along the River Tyne were targeted by the Luftwaffe, they largely escaped unscathed. Manors goods yard and railway terminal, to the east of the city centre, and the suburbs of Jesmond and Heaton suffered bombing during 1941. There were 141 deaths and 587 injuries, a relatively small figure compared to the casualties in other industrial centres of Britain.

 

In 1963 the city gained its own university, the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, by act of parliament. A School of Medicine and Surgery had been established in Newcastle in 1834. This eventually developed into a college of medicine attached to Durham University. A college of physical science was also founded and became Armstrong College in 1904. In 1934 the two colleges merged to become King's College, Durham. This remained as part of Durham University until the new university was created in 1963. In 1992 the city gained its second university when Newcastle Polytechnic was granted university status as Northumbria University.

 

Newcastle City Council moved to the new Newcastle Civic Centre in 1968.

 

As heavy industries declined in the second half of the 20th century, large sections of the city centre were demolished along with many areas of slum housing. The leading political figure in the city during the 1960s was T. Dan Smith who oversaw a massive building programme of highrise housing estates and authorised the demolition of a quarter of the Georgian Grainger Town to make way for Eldon Square Shopping Centre. Smith's control in Newcastle collapsed when it was exposed that he had used public contracts to advantage himself and his business associates and for a time Newcastle became a byword for civic corruption as depicted in the films Get Carter and Stormy Monday and in the television series Our Friends in the North. However, much of the historic Grainger Town area survived and was, for the most part, fully restored in the late 1990s. Northumberland Street, initially the A1, was gradually closed to traffic from the 1970s and completely pedestrianised by 1998.

 

In 1978 a new rapid transport system, the Metro, was built, linking the Tyneside area. The system opened in August 1980. A new bridge was built to carry the Metro across the river between Gateshead and Newcastle. This was the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, commonly known as the Metro Bridge. Eventually the Metro system was extended to reach Newcastle Airport in 1991, and in 2002 the Metro system was extended to the nearby city of Sunderland.

 

As the 20th century progressed, trade on the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides gradually declined, until by the 1980s both sides of the river were looking rather derelict. Shipping company offices had closed along with offices of firms related to shipping. There were also derelict warehouses lining the riverbank. Local government produced a master plan to re-develop the Newcastle quayside and this was begun in the 1990s. New offices, restaurants, bars and residential accommodation were built and the area has changed in the space of a few years into a vibrant area, partially returning the focus of Newcastle to the riverside, where it was in medieval times.

 

The Gateshead Millennium Bridge, a foot and cycle bridge, 26 feet (7.9 m) wide and 413 feet (126 m) long, was completed in 2001. The road deck is in the form of a curve and is supported by a steel arch. To allow ships to pass, the whole structure, both arch and road-deck, rotates on huge bearings at either end so that the road deck is lifted. The bridge can be said to open and shut like a human eye. It is an important addition to the re-developed quayside area, providing a vital link between the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides.

 

Recent developments

Today the city is a vibrant centre for office and retail employment, but just a short distance away there are impoverished inner-city housing estates, in areas originally built to provide affordable housing for employees of the shipyards and other heavy industries that lined the River Tyne. In the 2010s Newcastle City Council began implementing plans to regenerate these depressed areas, such as those along the Ouseburn Valley.

...so much going on, changes to make, prioritizing...looking forward, though.

***UPDATE**Doug and Tim always prioritize their agenda, and news flash....they will make sure to prioritize their needs. Thank you both for your continued support!

  

Nine drawers on a vaulted support. Measurements 66 inches long x 19 inches deep x 30.5 inches tall. I also have the matching nightstand

2015-12-03: Photo of Sheila Khama, Director, African Natural Resources Centre, AfDB; Kurt Lonsway, Manager, Environment and Climate Change, AfDB; MR. Collins R.U. Ihekire, Executive Secretary, Niger Basin Authority and delegates during COP21-Seizing Opportunity for Africa Prioritizing water in The new climate financing mechanism in Paris, France.

The Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning and UNDP just published the key findings of a major initiative —a National Inventory of Greenhouse Gas Emissions for the period 2003 to 2009 - developed to help the country meet the requirements of the International Convention on Climate Change. Theinfo in this database provides important guidance for policy-makers in their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change. It shows that the key emitting sectors in the country are: energy, industry, waste, agriculture, forestry, and transport. The inventory clearly indicates the proportion of emissions produced by each sector of the economy— information invaluable for prioritizing efforts and designing technical solutions to reduce GHGs. The scope of the inventory is unprecedented, introducing emissions calculations for a number of important sub-sectors for the first time in the country—including the aviation sector. As a signatory of the UN Convention on Climate Change, the country has an obligation to compile an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions as part of the National Communications it regularly submits to the UNFCCC Secretariat. These Communications must include a database of direct and indirect emissions for each period reported. UNDP has been providing support to help the Government meet this obligation since 2000.

Design by: UNDP Office in Skopje and Artistika

 

View a bigger version of this infographic on Visual.ly.

Iraq officials trained in assessing oil contaminated sites from the ISIL conflict

  

•UN Environment conducts a five-day training workshop for 26 national experts from Iraq’s ministries of environment and oil.

•Workshop strengthens national capacity to assess and clean-up oil-contaminated sites from the conflict in Iraq.

•Joint team of trained staff to carry out field-survey of oil contaminated sites after which UN Environment will review survey findings and provide guidance on site prioritization process.

  

Baghdad, 27 September 2018 –In Iraq’s post-conflict period, characterized by extensive destruction of infrastructure and looting - from oil resources to archaeological artefacts - by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), UN Environment conducted a five-day training workshop on oil-contaminated site assessment in Baghdad from 23-27 September 2018.

The workshop trained 26 national experts from the ministries of environment and oil on practical aspects of oil-contaminated site assessment, with a focus on sampling strategies and techniques. At the end of the event, a package comprising portable oil-contamination analysers and sampling tools, as well as personnel protective equipment was handed over to the Environment Ministry to support the assessment campaign.

 

“I cannot overstate the need to strengthen the capacity of our environmental experts in assessing contaminated sites and oil activities, and to develop pollution monitoring programmes which represents not only a threat to local communities, but whose impacts will also extend for generations to come’” said Dr. Jassim Humadi, Iraq’s Deputy Environment Minister.

 

“During the past few years, Iraq has undergone a transformative leap in its oil production driven by large investments. This poses a major capacity challenge for environmental staff to monitor and oversee the industry’s performance, assess the current situation and extrapolate future projections.”

 

As an immediate follow-up to the workshop, a preliminary field-based mapping survey of oil-contaminated sites in the four conflict-affected governorates (Nineveh, Salah El-Deen, Kirkuk and Diyala) will be conducted by a joint team from Iraq’s ministries of environment and oil in October-November 2018. The survey will aim to identify priority sites for cleanup that pose a serious risk to human health and the environment.

 

UN Environment is guiding this mapping campaign through the provision of assessment protocols and an initial inventory of around 60 oil-contaminated sites, including satellite image maps. UN Environment will also review the survey findings and provide guidance to the site prioritization process and conducting of detailed assessments.

 

“We commend UN Environment’s contaminated site assessment training programme, which is assisting environmental institutions in Iraq to fulfill their responsibility in achieving environmental security in accordance with the objectives of sustainable development to protect the environment and the public health of citizens,” added Dr. Jassim.

This is the second training course on contaminated site assessment which UN Environment has held in Baghdad this year to support Iraqi institutions address conflict pollution from the ISIL conflict. The training programme is generously supported by Norway’s Oil for Development Programme and conducted in collaboration with Spiez Laboratory of the Swiss Federal Office for Civil Protection and ALS Global Laboratory in the United Kingdom.

 

NOTES TO EDITORS

 

About UN Environment

UN Environment is the leading global voice on the environment. It provides leadership and encourages partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations. UN Environment works with governments, the private sector, civil society and with other UN entities and international organizations across the world.

  

Photos by UNAMI PIO and UNEP

The Forest Service and volunteer partners are working to clear a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) in the Columbia Gorge in early 2018. These initial trail work parties, with volunteer crew leaders from Pacific Crest Trail Association and Trailkeepers of Oregon, are focused on opening a corridor along the PCT. This work has been prioritized in order to help create a safe environment for future work parties, and to clear a path for search and rescue personnel in case of emergency.

 

Conditions are different on all the trails that the Forest Service has been able to assess. Impacts haven’t been as severe on the PCT due to it’s a lower elevation, topography, and fire intensity, and it is an example of a lesser impacted trail. One concern is the presence of stump holes on and near the trail, which occur when fire gets into the root system of a stump and burns all the organic matter in those roots. The loss of organic matter creates holes where the roots and stump existed, making an unstable situation on the trail. These are not always obvious to see and hikers could easily twist a knee or ankle, similar to post holing in snow. Volunteers are filling in these stump holes that they come across as well as clearing brush, rock slides and other hazards from the trail.

 

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf answers questions from the press. As the General Assembly convenes for a new legislative session, Governor Tom Wolf today outlined his agenda, in which he continues to prioritize ensuring that Pennsylvania businesses and workers have a path toward recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic, building on bipartisan progress by removing barriers to help everyday Pennsylvanians succeed, and demanding accountability through government reform. Harrisburg, PA – January 28, 2021

  

In 2012, 23 City playgrounds were completely replaced and four playgrounds received a new fall surface at a cost of approximately $2.6 million. Maintaining safe and wholesome places for children to play and families to socialize supports The City of Calgary’s goal of complete communities.

 

The City maintains 1,048 playgrounds and each one is inspected seven times a year. Life expectancy of a playground is approximately 15 years. Replacements are prioritized through a rating system that evaluates:

Condition of each piece of equipment

Usage of equipment

Opportunity of leveraging funds from partner organizations. Seventeen of the 23 playgrounds received funding from Parks Foundation Calgary’s Building Playgrounds and Communities Grant Program in 2012.

 

calgary.ca/communityinvestmentfund

***UPDATE**Doug and Tim always prioritize their agenda, and news flash....they found a great pair. Thank you both for your continued support!

  

Nice little character piece.

While the Dominican Republic generates a relatively low volume of radioactive waste, it has prioritized their safe and secure treatment. Any disused radioactive source identified in the country is transported, characterized, classified, conditioned and stored in a centralized facility built in 2010 in Sierra Prieta, outside the capital Santo Domingo.

 

Around 170 sources from applications in hospitals and industry as well as so-called orphan sources — radioactive sources that are lost and then found again — detected in scrap metal industries have found a home in the facility. Some are high-activity sources, meaning they emit high levels of radiation, such as those used in radiotherapy to treat cancer. Others are low-activity sources, such as those used for industrial and research applications. Other disused sources come from mining, agriculture and construction.

 

The facility is equipped with radiation detectors provided by the IAEA. A team of professional staff trained under IAEA technical cooperation projects is in charge of the operation, maintenance and regular inspection of the storage facility.

Sierra Prieta, Dominican Republic. October 2016

 

Photo Credit: Laura Gil-Martinez / IAEA

 

The CSA Prioritization Framework, provides a process for targeting investment towards best-bet CSA options in a given context. The Framework does this by identifying existing and promising CSA practices, assessing the tradeoffs between practices using indicators of CSA and analyzing the costs and benefits of these practices, and identifying possible barriers to adoption. This process aims to contribute to optimized national and sub-national planning, promoting a participatory process for the development of CSA investment portfolios. Photo: J.L.Urrea (CCAFS)

Kids touching and playing with colours in a moment of joy.

 

What a beautiful moment I like to capture.

 

To protect children's online privacy, I prioritize framing the image to minimize the visibility of their faces while still allowing their emotions to be conveyed

In recent years, there has been a substantial movement in built environment that prioritizes human welfare and improvement. Experience design, a fresh and interesting concept which brings to life what great design looks like, is built on those key concepts. @ www.spaceagency-design.com/services

by danielle_colby_american_picker bit.ly/XBJHct

The investment project will finance the first of three prioritized corridors of the planned regional rapid transit system (RRTS) network in India's National Capital Region (NCR). The Delhi-Meerut RRTS will pass through the densely populated sections of the NCR, connecting Delhi to Meerut in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The 82-kilometer corridor will provide safe, reliable, and high-capacity commuter transit services between various locations along the corridor. The investment project will finance rail track, signaling, station buildings, and maintenance facilities. It will also support capacity and institutional development of the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), a joint venture company of the Government of India and states of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, that is mandated to implement the RRTS project across the NCR.

 

Read more on:

India

Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System Investment Project

GVSHP unveiled a historic plaque to mark the site of The New York Infirmary for Women and Children, the first hospital for women, staffed by women, and run by women, founded by Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell. Blackwell was the first woman in America to receive a degree in medicine, blazing the trail for the entry of women into medicine and focusing her work on public health efforts for the poor and working classes. The hospital provided free care for women and children, and instruction for women studying for their medical degree.

 

Speakers were

:

Andrew Berman, Executive Director of GVSHP

 

Carey Bloomfield, the great, great niece of Elizabeth Blackwell. Carey continues the family engagement in social and philanthropic causes with her thirty-year professional career in non-profit fundraising and active membership in the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), and Women in Development. She was President of Group I Directors of Development, League of American Orchestras, and is a Trustee of the Dana Hall School and Vice President of the Board of Trustees of the Episcopal Chaplaincy at Harvard.

 

Jen Weintraub is a digital archivist and librarian at the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study Harvard University where she coordinates work with born-digital materials while expanding the already robust work to digitize the Library's collections. She served as the chairperson of the Schlesinger library's 2016 exhibition Women of the Blackwell Family: Resilience and Change. She has also held digitization-focused positions at Yale University Library, among others. She holds an MLIS from University of Michigan and a BA from University of Chicago.

 

Betty Bayer is an expert on the intersections of women's history, psychology, science, religion and spirituality, Bayer has explored the abolitionist and women's rights movements, and their common history in central New York. Recognized for her outstanding teaching, Bayer received the Colleges' Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award in 2004 and the Community Service Award in 2009. She has served as the chair of the Hobart and William Smith Colleges Women Studies Program since 2001 and directed the Fisher Center for the Study of Women and Men from 2002 to 2009. A former senior fellow at the Martin Marty Center for the Study of Religion at the University of Chicago, Bayer earned her Ph.D., M.A. and B.A. in psychology from Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.

 

Judy Tung, M.D., is the chair of the department of medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital and associate professor of clinical medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. She also serves as the section chief of ambulatory internal medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. Committed to providing high-quality, comprehensive care, Dr. Tung’s philosophy of practice prioritizes communication and continuity. Her clinical interests are in women's health and preventive medicine.

 

Virginia Reath, RPA MPH, has been a practicing clinician, educator, and activist in the fields of gynecology, sexual and reproductive health care for the past 30 years. She was the recipient of the ACLU Reproductive Rights Project Award for her work and activism in women's sexual reproductive health & justice. She has lived in the neighborhood since 1975.

Some images kind of take a life of their own. The quick shot of these small girls I took outside of their gypsy camp sometime in 94, maybe early 95 is one of them. After many request to have a decent scan of the old negative, different displays of interest in its publication and other uses, here it is.

 

I took it as part of a quick assignment from the School of Arts and Crafts at the time. We were assigned to do some form of open social documentation, alongside a small paper. And I chose to do a brief overview of the history and existing conditions of social exclusion of some gypsy groups in Spain. The picture was taken from a car window, dashing by, with a manual SLR, a Seagull probably one of those cheap and reliable replicas of the manual Minoltas, and with an Ilford HP5 film 400 ASA, which I developed, and it shows... My father took me around between errands, and we barely had 10 minutes to visit the area. Certainly not great reporting on my side, at least not on this part of the project. If he were still around one might be able to pinpoint the exact location. I believe it is in the northern belt of Madrid, around what now is the Campo de las Naciones or thereabouts.

 

This muddled array of grays is not extraordinary but at least is not the burnt out from the existing version I had available, which was a scan of a forced print. I took a while to get this negative sorted out, and I do not know how much longer it will take to get the rest of the archive going. But if there were anything that you know I photographed and you would like me to prioritize its digitalization, just let me know.

 

-----------------------------

 

Algunas imágenes casi arrancan una vida propia. La toma rápida de estas niñas a las afueras de su campamento gitano, en el 94 o quizás a primeros del 95 es una de ellas. Tras muchas peticiones para tener una versión potable del viejo negativo, muestras de interés para su publicación y otros usos, aquí está.

 

La hice como parte de un breve encargo en la Escuela de Artes y Oficios. Se nos asignó hacer algún tipo de documentación social visual junto a un breve escrito y yo elegí hacer una breve nota sobre la historia y las condiciones existentes de exclusión social de algunos grupos gitanos en España. La imagen se tomo desde la ventana de un coche en marcha, con una reflex manual, una Seagull probablemente, una de esas réplicas baratas y de fiar de las Minolta, y con una película Ilford HP5 de 400 ASA que yo revelé, y se nota... Mi padre me llevó entre recados que estaba haciendo, y no debimos de tener más de diez minutos para visitar la zona. No se trata de la mejor muestra de rigor documental por mi parte, al menos no en esta parte del proyecto. Si él aún estuviera por aquí quizás pudiera localizar el sitio exacto. Creo que es por la zona norte de Madrid, cerca de lo que es ahora el Campo de las Naciones.

 

El mejunje de grises no es muy bueno, pero al menos es mejor que la versión quemada que estaba antes disponible, y que era un escaneado de una forzada impresión en papel. He tardado en poner orden con este negativo y no se lo mucho más que tardaré en ir poniendo el resto del archivo de película en marcha. Pero si hubiera algo que sabes fotografié y te gustaría que le diera prioridad a su digitalización no dudes en hacérmelo saber.

April 17, 2020 - Albany, NY - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo provides a coronavirus update during a press conference in the Red Room at the State Capitol. (Mike Groll/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)

201222-N-OH958-1035 PORTSMOUTH, Va. (Dec. 22, 2020) Ensign Fitzroy Hall, left, from Manchester, Jamaica, a Sailor assigned to Naval Medical Center Portsmouth (NMCP), administers the first round of the COVID-19 vaccine to Lt. Adam Groyer, from Cape Town, Africa, assigned to the aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77). NMCP is supporting the fleet by providing the voluntary vaccination within the DoD phased approach to prioritizing mission-essential healthcare personnel in receiving the vaccine. GHWB is at Norfolk Naval Shipyard undergoing its Docking Planned Incremental Availability. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Ryan Pitt)

April 17, 2020 - Albany, NY - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo provides a coronavirus update during a press conference in the Red Room at the State Capitol. (Mike Groll/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)

*U* Eeeep! Guess who just arrived at my door today?!

 

HNNNG

SO. MANY. EMOTIONS.

WORDS. CAN'T. FIND. RIGHT ONES. ASDFGHJKL

 

So first things first, like I've always come to do when I get a new sculpt that is meant to be important to another of my dolls/characters, I shove their faces together and analyze them from every possible angle like a mad scientist for 15 minutes straight. Its become incredibly important to me that a sculpt not only be perfect for their character, but also work perfectly (in my eyes) with the other characters in their story and i've come to realize i'm insanely picky in this regard and it causes me more strife within my dolls than anything else so now I prioritize it before anything else. Of course, in this instance i'm mainly speaking in regards to Calliope and Shu together as they are romantic equivalents (in addition to Eztel, but he's a topic for a different day atm) but also with Faustus and Calliope as they are brother and sister. Overall, my first impression of Calliope with both of them is that her head is a bit too big and it already really annoys me. I think its much less noticeable with her and Shu together but its extremely noticeable for me with her and Faustus.

 

Honestly, that is kind of unavoidable with having them all in MSD scale. Canonically, Faustus/Euclid/Hyacinth/Petra are all "older" or more physically mature (appear 16-20ish) than that of Shu/Calliope/Etzel (appear 12-14ish) but with having them all as MSDs which have little variation in proportion and height its very difficult to accurately translate those canonical differences in their doll forms. Really the only way that I could remedy that while still being canonically accurate to their own characters would be to have Shu/Calliope/Etzel be in the large Yosd/35cm doll range (Bunny Nine, Iplehouse KID, Chibi Unoa etc.) which i've hugely considered but of course that size is a very limited pool of options at this point. Having them as standard YoSD's would be just as much if not significantly more inaccurate (and much more... questionable) so really, until the hobby progresses and more 35cm doll options pop up having them as MSDs is the best option for them but comes with it its own canonically inaccurate frustrations for me. Its incredibly frustrating when it forces me to choose which character(s) hold priority in being proportionally accurate when in this case both Shu and Faustus are incredibly important to Calliope but its impossible for a sculpt to proportionally and canonically work with both at the same time. T__T Ack. Its just sad because Calliope is so important and significant to Faustus as well. OTL

 

Anyways, when it comes to her and Shu together i'm much more happy with them and that is the most important thing at this moment because regardless of whether I like it or not, Shu/Calliope/Etzel have priority over Calliope/Faustus in regards to doll accuracy. I notice that doll couples/pairing etc. tend to work best for me the more similar their facial features are and because Shu and Calliope have very similar mouth and head shapes its doing wonders to satiate my bizarre criteria xD. Of course, Calliope is currently just borrowing my Unoa body that Shu has been stealing for a long time now and in the future will most likely be getting her own Minifee Moe body so how I am interpreting her overall look now to how it will correctly be later may also be a large factor in my initial annoyances. Perhaps once she is on a significantly smaller and shorter body it will even itself out or perhaps make my initial annoyances that much more significant, only time will tell.

 

;__; What truly makes everything so frustrating and difficult for me however is the fact that so far I am just in love with Calliope as this sculpt! Blank in pictures really doesn't do it any justice and I honestly really hate blank dolls but even so I can still see her shining through in it so much. It has so many of her unique canonical features!! I am debating modifying a few things here and there just to make it that much more perfect for her character but asdfghjkl I'm just really in love with this sculpt and especially as Calliope!! Of course, I still need to get her proper eyes, make her wig, get her body and do a faceup on her before I can really say for certain but at least so far in regards to how much I like the sculpt purely for Calliope and not in relation to anyone else I am really in love with it! *U*

Its such a strange yet wonderful feeling to see Calliope again and especially so well in a sculpt i've adored for so long~ I just hope the apprehensions that I have about her in relation to my other dolls doesn't ruin it for me this time like it often does.

 

TwT Anyways, I probably won't be able to do a faceup on her for a while but eeep i'm still so excited and can't wait to see how she comes to life!! Cross your fingers for me that she ends up being the right one and everything works out <3

 

(Also on a side note, her resin totally does not match this Unoa body, I just edited it to look less dramatically different xD //shot)

 

---

Calliope (girl) is a Flower & Junior Yabi head in White Skin borrowing a modded Unoa 1.5 body in Fresh skin.

 

Demonstration of ground application of Lambda cyhalothrin using backpack smoker equipment. Bulgan province, Mongolia.

 

Photo and caption provided by forest entomologist Karen Ripley. In June, 2017, she made a rapid assessment of Mongolia’s forest health surveys, site prioritization, and pest control activities that protect its forests from native defoliating insects. This evaluation was sponsored by the United Nations’ Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation program.

 

Photo by: Karen Ripley

Date: June 12, 2017

 

For more about Forest Health Protection's International Activities see: www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/cs/main/!ut/p/z1/04...

 

Image provided by USDA Forest Service, Region 6, State and Private Forestry, Forest Health Protection: www.fs.usda.gov/main/r6/forest-grasslandhealth

 

While the Dominican Republic generates a relatively low volume of radioactive waste, it has prioritized their safe and secure treatment. Any disused radioactive source identified in the country is transported, characterized, classified, conditioned and stored in a centralized facility built in 2010 in Sierra Prieta, outside the capital Santo Domingo.

 

Around 170 sources from applications in hospitals and industry as well as so-called orphan sources — radioactive sources that are lost and then found again — detected in scrap metal industries have found a home in the facility. Some are high-activity sources, meaning they emit high levels of radiation, such as those used in radiotherapy to treat cancer. Others are low-activity sources, such as those used for industrial and research applications. Other disused sources come from mining, agriculture and construction.

 

The facility is equipped with radiation detectors provided by the IAEA. A team of professional staff trained under IAEA technical cooperation projects is in charge of the operation, maintenance and regular inspection of the storage facility.

Sierra Prieta, Dominican Republic. October 2016

 

Photo Credit: Laura Gil-Martinez / IAEA

 

While the Dominican Republic generates a relatively low volume of radioactive waste, it has prioritized their safe and secure treatment. Any disused radioactive source identified in the country is transported, characterized, classified, conditioned and stored in a centralized facility built in 2010 in Sierra Prieta, outside the capital Santo Domingo.

 

Around 170 sources from applications in hospitals and industry as well as so-called orphan sources — radioactive sources that are lost and then found again — detected in scrap metal industries have found a home in the facility. Some are high-activity sources, meaning they emit high levels of radiation, such as those used in radiotherapy to treat cancer. Others are low-activity sources, such as those used for industrial and research applications. Other disused sources come from mining, agriculture and construction.

 

The facility is equipped with radiation detectors provided by the IAEA. A team of professional staff trained under IAEA technical cooperation projects is in charge of the operation, maintenance and regular inspection of the storage facility.

Sierra Prieta, Dominican Republic. October 2016

 

Photo Credit: Laura Gil-Martinez / IAEA

 

Prioritization spreadsheet with priorities assigned to the four columns. The Label column is to identify points on the chart. The Description column reminds you, six months down the road, what the idea meant.

Young, Indi. 2008. Mental Models: Aligning Design Strategy with Human Behavior. New York: Rosenfeld Media.

www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/mental-models/

The Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) prioritized shifting gears to ensure that LDCs are firmly in the driver’s seat on the road to prosperity.

 

With less than a decade to deliver on the 2030 Agenda, supporting LDCs as they harness their social and economic development potential is critical. The five-day conference in Doha, Qatar brought world leaders together with the private sector, civil society, parliamentarians, and young people to accelerate efforts in places where it is needed the most.

 

“LDC5 was a once-in-a-decade opportunity to build momentum on meaningful dialogue so that we can best understand what the next era of sustainable development in these countries will look like,” said UNOPS Acting Executive Director Jens Wandel.

 

© UNOPS/Jason Florio

 

The toilet will always be the most prioritized to clean in the bathroom as well as the one that can give you the most struggle when cleaning. Since it is where we do our business, it’s understandable that you want to keep it as sanitized as possible. But since porcelain toilets tend to easily stain and hold on to it no matter how often you clean due to the buildup of minerals found in hard water, keeping it pristine-looking can be a challenge. But don’t worry, here are some ways to combat those stubborn dirt and grime.

5 Ways To Clean Your Toilet Bowl Rings

Fullsun

While the Dominican Republic generates a relatively low volume of radioactive waste, it has prioritized their safe and secure treatment. Any disused radioactive source identified in the country is transported, characterized, classified, conditioned and stored in a centralized facility built in 2010 in Sierra Prieta, outside the capital Santo Domingo.

 

Around 170 sources from applications in hospitals and industry as well as so-called orphan sources — radioactive sources that are lost and then found again — detected in scrap metal industries have found a home in the facility. Some are high-activity sources, meaning they emit high levels of radiation, such as those used in radiotherapy to treat cancer. Others are low-activity sources, such as those used for industrial and research applications. Other disused sources come from mining, agriculture and construction.

 

The facility is equipped with radiation detectors provided by the IAEA. A team of professional staff trained under IAEA technical cooperation projects is in charge of the operation, maintenance and regular inspection of the storage facility.

Sierra Prieta, Dominican Republic. October 2016

 

Photo Credit: Laura Gil-Martinez / IAEA

 

While the Dominican Republic generates a relatively low volume of radioactive waste, it has prioritized their safe and secure treatment. Any disused radioactive source identified in the country is transported, characterized, classified, conditioned and stored in a centralized facility built in 2010 in Sierra Prieta, outside the capital Santo Domingo.

 

Around 170 sources from applications in hospitals and industry as well as so-called orphan sources — radioactive sources that are lost and then found again — detected in scrap metal industries have found a home in the facility. Some are high-activity sources, meaning they emit high levels of radiation, such as those used in radiotherapy to treat cancer. Others are low-activity sources, such as those used for industrial and research applications. Other disused sources come from mining, agriculture and construction.

 

The facility is equipped with radiation detectors provided by the IAEA. A team of professional staff trained under IAEA technical cooperation projects is in charge of the operation, maintenance and regular inspection of the storage facility.

Sierra Prieta, Dominican Republic. October 2016

 

Photo Credit: Laura Gil-Martinez / IAEA

 

The investment project will finance the first of three prioritized corridors of the planned regional rapid transit system (RRTS) network in India's National Capital Region (NCR). The Delhi-Meerut RRTS will pass through the densely populated sections of the NCR, connecting Delhi to Meerut in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The 82-kilometer corridor will provide safe, reliable, and high-capacity commuter transit services between various locations along the corridor. The investment project will finance rail track, signaling, station buildings, and maintenance facilities. It will also support capacity and institutional development of the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), a joint venture company of the Government of India and states of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, that is mandated to implement the RRTS project across the NCR.

 

Read more on:

India

Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System Investment Project

While the Dominican Republic generates a relatively low volume of radioactive waste, it has prioritized their safe and secure treatment. Any disused radioactive source identified in the country is transported, characterized, classified, conditioned and stored in a centralized facility built in 2010 in Sierra Prieta, outside the capital Santo Domingo.

 

Around 170 sources from applications in hospitals and industry as well as so-called orphan sources — radioactive sources that are lost and then found again — detected in scrap metal industries have found a home in the facility. Some are high-activity sources, meaning they emit high levels of radiation, such as those used in radiotherapy to treat cancer. Others are low-activity sources, such as those used for industrial and research applications. Other disused sources come from mining, agriculture and construction.

 

The facility is equipped with radiation detectors provided by the IAEA. A team of professional staff trained under IAEA technical cooperation projects is in charge of the operation, maintenance and regular inspection of the storage facility.

Sierra Prieta, Dominican Republic. October 2016

 

Photo Credit: Laura Gil-Martinez / IAEA

 

via

   

In our exploration of the “Green New Deal” and its impacts on the alternative energy industry, we examined how the environmental and economic components of the ambitious plan, proposed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, would greatly enhance efforts to slow climate change and create new green jobs. The idea has rallied many Democrats behind a federal environmental policy that has quickly become a litmus test for representatives and candidates, including those eyeing the presidency in 2020.

 

It’s galvanizing for those of us who have worked for years in alternative energy technology, design, and implementation to hear politicians at the highest levels of government prioritizing our work, creating opportunities for broader discussions, and signalling their commitment to environmental action. However, many leaders at the state level have been working to implement policies similar to the Green New Deal over the past several years. Their efforts, and the results, are helping advance federal policy-making regarding the environmental and economic benefits of alternative energy.

 

Let’s take a look at some of the state-level initiatives that give us hope for the success of a Green New Deal:

 

New York Leaps Forward

 

In New York state, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced his own Green New Deal this January. As GreenTech Media reports, the plan aims “to achieve 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2040, and ultimately eliminate the state’s carbon footprint.” An update to the state’s previous energy plans, it sets ambitious goals involving the New York Power Authority (NYPA), the nation’s largest public power organization. Progress in New York foreshadows how both public and private utilities must cooperate with lawmakers and the alternative energy industry in order to achieve these new goals.

 

NYPA has announced its plans to invest in large-scale renewable energy with “a 20-year power-purchase agreement for 290 megawatts of wind” that will create an estimated “140 construction jobs, 300 indirect positions and around $2.5 million a year in tax payments.” Offshore wind energy is on the agenda as well, with the deployment of data collection technology in the near future informing decisions about placement and design.

 

In alignment with Cuomo’s Green New Deal for New York state, Con Edison has announced its plans for a $484 million rate-based investment in energy infrastructure, including charging ports for electric vehicles and energy storage installations. That utility companies, which have fought energy progress for decades, are getting involved as a result of state-level policies is a sign that real forward motion is being made.

 

California Sets an Example

 

On the west coast, California’s new Governor Gavin Newsom is continuing the work of his predecessor to meet climate goals that include eliminating carbon emissions by 2045. Long a stronghold for progressive environmental policy, California’s example now includes eliminating some tax revenue sharing for municipalities that contribute to suburban sprawl instead of increasing density of housing in areas with public transportation options.

 

Grist reports that Newsom also plans to reinstate the Healthy Soils Initiative, which includes soil conservation practices and “techniques to get farmland to soak up carbon from the air.” They note that the Governor will need the cooperation of state legislators to turn these ideas into policy, but that his priorities will shape the upcoming legislative session. California’s example shows that we need passionate leaders like Newsom to continually demand progress if ambitious proposals like the Green New Deal are to be successful.

 

Other States Join the Movement

 

While states like New York and California have long been on the front lines of progressive climate policy, they aren’t alone. The New York Times writes that “midterm elections in the fall brought in a new wave of governors who are now setting climate goals for their states and laying out more ambitious plans to cut emissions and expand low-carbon energy” in states like Michigan, Illinois, and New Mexico. “By advancing technologies like wind, solar or electric vehicles,” these states “pave the way for more ambitious federal action.”

 

State-level initiatives across the country include requiring utilities to use and invest in more renewable power sources, lowering or eliminating carbon dioxide emissions, and creating carbon pricing markets. As the national conversation around environmental and economic policy evolves, educators and activists are focusing on the states to create progress and build support for new federal policy.

 

From New York to California and everywhere in between, state-level policies are giving us a taste of what a national Green New Deal could mean. At Solar Design Studio, we’re excited to be part of the conversation. If you have your own renewable energy goals for your home or business, reach out to us today to learn more about how we can work together to achieve them.

 

from

www.solardesignstudio.com/RSSRetrieve.aspx?ID=13199&A...

 

solardesignstudio.weebly.com/blog/state-level-energy-init...

1936 Lancia Astura Cabriolet Series III 'Tipo Bocca' by Pinin Farina

$1,380,000 USD | Sold

 

From Sotheby's:

LANCIA: TECHNOLOGY MEETS ARTISTRY

 

As might be expected for an automaker founded by an engineer and racing driver, Lancia, established by Vincenzo Lancia in 1906, prioritized technological innovation, performance, and quality from its earliest days. This approach bore bountiful fruit in motorsport, with Lancia’s epic history of competition success needing little introduction here.

 

Naturally, when Lancia applied this same uncompromising formula to larger and more luxurious cars, the results were no less spectacular—and this breathtaking 1936 Lancia Astura Cabriolet Series III “Tipo Bocca,” with its unique bodywork by Pinin Farina, represents the very best of the marque’s ample pre-war capabilities.

 

The Lancia Astura was introduced in in November 1931 as a replacement for the flagship Dilambda, and it would be built in four series before production ceased in 1939. Reflecting a new Italian nationalism, Lancia broke their precedent of assigning their cars the letters of the Greek alphabet and instead named the new model Astura, after an ancient island castle south of Rome. The Astura was packed with innovations, including an independent front suspension with self-lubricating sliding pillars; the live rear axle was controlled by friction dampers that could be adjusted to suit with dashboard-mounted controls, and a Bijur central lubrication system was fitted. The third series also received a Dewandre brake servo for the four-wheel drum brakes and a 78-liter fuel tank.

 

The centerpiece, however, was Lancia’s V-8 engine. Although Lancia was not the first automaker to bring a V-8 to market, it had its own distinctive approach to the formula, creating its famous narrow-angle engines. By employing a vee angle much narrower than that of the typical V-8, Lancia was able to build an engine that had some of the casting and production advantages of a traditional inline-eight while offering many of the packaging benefits of the more compact V-8 configuration. Starting with the second series, the Astura’s engine was mounted on rubber isolators, further improving powertrain refinement.

 

The Astura’s third series, known as the Tipo 233 and arriving for 1933, is of particular note. In addition to a larger, 2,973-cubic-centimeter V-8 rated at 82 horsepower, the Astura was for the first time offered in two wheelbase lengths. Nine hundred and eight were built as Lungo, with a wheelbase of 131 inches as the Tipo 233L, while 328 were constructed to Corto specification on a wheelbase of 122 inches as Tipo 233C. When the Astura’s fourth series arrived, only a long-wheelbase version was offered, denying coachbuilders the choice afforded by the previous iteration.

 

THE PREMIERE ‘TIPO BOCCA’

 

The present car, Tipo 233C chassis number 33-5313, is one of the 328 Corto Asturas produced on the short-wheelbase 122-inch platform. Fitted with engine number 91-1171, it was delivered as a bare chassis to Pinin Farina in the summer of 1936 and clothed in a body designed by Mario Revelli di Beaumont, who took full advantage of the narrow-angle V-8 to create a rakish yet restrained cabriolet design. The design would come to be known as “Tipo Bocca” in reference to Vittorio Bocca, an important Lancia dealer at the time who would eventually commission a number of cars in this style.

 

The aerodynamic profile features a sloping, rounded grille, whose horizontal bars are interrupted by a dramatic “waterfall” of chrome strakes running from the slim, elegant bumper to the base of a vee’d windshield. The peaked front fenders are separated from the body by rounded fairings that feature individually integrated headlights and driving lights, while the rear fender spats also contribute to the clean, smooth lines. The open car’s streamlined horizontal emphasis is reinforced by a chrome strake running the entire length of the body as well as horizontal engine compartment vents, features that are accentuated when the halves of the split windshield are folded flat. Gently curving body sides feature an early use of curved side windows. Highlighting the car’s restrained elegance was its subtle, pale grey paint with blue upholstery and power-actuated convertible top, the latter a great novelty for 1936.

 

The newly completed cabriolet was displayed on the Pinin Farina stand at the 1936 Salone del l’Automobile, Milano, where it received the President’s Cup from the Royal Automobile Club of Italy (R.A.C.I.). Following the show, chassis number 33-5313 was acquired by Ghiara & C., Lancia’s main agent in Genoa. Ghiara sold the car to Cav. Piero Sanguineti, a local industrialist, for about 75,000 Lire (the equivalent of about $4,200 at the time). In May 1937, Sanguineti showed the car in the inaugural Concorso d’Eleganza per Automobili, San Remo, where it received a class award.

 

The car was subsequently purchased by Emil Uebel, Lancia’s German distributor, who apparently kept it in his main facility in Berlin-Charlottenburg. Wartime records no longer exist, offering no explanation of whether Uebel sold the car or retained it for himself, or how and where the car survived the conflict. But survive, it certainly did, and in early 1947 it was acquired by American collector Barney Pollard, as part of a package deal with two steam locomotives.

 

Pollard shipped number 33-5313 to the United States and kept the car until 1980, when it was sold to Armand Giglio, former President of the American Lancia Club. Giglio held the car a further two decades, selling it in 2004 to an owner in Connecticut. Other than an older repaint, the car was in largely original condition, but with some deterioration of the body’s wood framing. The new owner undertook restoration of the wood framing, as well as some body preparation work.

 

A RETURN TO CONCOURS-WORTHY GLORY

 

In late 2011, the Astura was acquired by collector Orin Smith. He would commission Vantage Motorworks of Miami to complete the restoration to international concours standards. Refinished in pale grey over blue—a livery replicating its original show-stand appearance—the car easily achieved Best in Class at the Classic Sports Sunday at Mar-a-Lago, and People’s Choice at Amelia Island, both in 2013. The Lancia subsequently journeyed back to Italy, where it was judged Most Sympathetic Restoration at the 2014 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, in the company of a thrilled Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

 

The car was subsequently exhibited at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, as part of their “Rolling Sculpture” exhibit of advanced streamlined design. Notably, a sister car to this lovely Astura, in long-wheelbase form, was awarded Best of Show at the 2016 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, cementing its importance to design and elegance for the era.

 

Oscar Davis acquired this Lancia in 2017, becoming the latest in a series of notable collectors to serve as its caretaker. Undeniably more luxurious than many of Davis’ sport and racing-focused machines, the Astura is nevertheless a true thoroughbred; its style, advanced technology, and remarkable pedigree made it a natural fit for his curated stable.

 

Now offered from the Oscar Davis Collection, this Lancia Astura “Corto” cabriolet perfectly epitomizes Pinin Farina’s design of the pre-war period: restrained elegance with simple but precise details. As such, it represents an opportunity to acquire one of the most important and beautiful examples of Italian engineering and coachbuilding—a show car par excellence, now as then.

---

Kristina and I headed over to RM Sotheby's at the Monterey Conference Center to view some glorious cars at their auction preview.

- - -

Had a blast with our auto-enthusiast friend and neighbor, Fred, at Monterey Car Week 2022.

Prioritizing Workplace Mental Health

Geneva - Switzerland, 25-29 January 2021. Copyright ©️ World Economic Forum/Pascal Bitz

 

Punit Renjen, Global Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte, USA; International Business Council Garen K. Staglin, Chairman and Co-Founder, One Mind, USA

Miranda Wolpert, Head, Mental Health Priority Area, Wellcome Trust, United Kingdom

Moderated by Sir Philip Campbell, Editor-in-Chief, Springer Nature, United Kingdom

While the Dominican Republic generates a relatively low volume of radioactive waste, it has prioritized their safe and secure treatment. Any disused radioactive source identified in the country is transported, characterized, classified, conditioned and stored in a centralized facility built in 2010 in Sierra Prieta, outside the capital Santo Domingo.

 

Around 170 sources from applications in hospitals and industry as well as so-called orphan sources — radioactive sources that are lost and then found again — detected in scrap metal industries have found a home in the facility. Some are high-activity sources, meaning they emit high levels of radiation, such as those used in radiotherapy to treat cancer. Others are low-activity sources, such as those used for industrial and research applications. Other disused sources come from mining, agriculture and construction.

 

The facility is equipped with radiation detectors provided by the IAEA. A team of professional staff trained under IAEA technical cooperation projects is in charge of the operation, maintenance and regular inspection of the storage facility.

Sierra Prieta, Dominican Republic. October 2016

 

Photo Credit: Laura Gil-Martinez / IAEA

 

While the Dominican Republic generates a relatively low volume of radioactive waste, it has prioritized their safe and secure treatment. Any disused radioactive source identified in the country is transported, characterized, classified, conditioned and stored in a centralized facility built in 2010 in Sierra Prieta, outside the capital Santo Domingo.

 

Around 170 sources from applications in hospitals and industry as well as so-called orphan sources — radioactive sources that are lost and then found again — detected in scrap metal industries have found a home in the facility. Some are high-activity sources, meaning they emit high levels of radiation, such as those used in radiotherapy to treat cancer. Others are low-activity sources, such as those used for industrial and research applications. Other disused sources come from mining, agriculture and construction.

 

The facility is equipped with radiation detectors provided by the IAEA. A team of professional staff trained under IAEA technical cooperation projects is in charge of the operation, maintenance and regular inspection of the storage facility.

Sierra Prieta, Dominican Republic. October 2016

 

Photo Credit: Laura Gil-Martinez / IAEA

 

Preparing for prioritization.

Orchestrating Experiences: Collaborative Design for Complexity, Risdon, Quattlebaum, 2018, New York: Rosenfeld Media

rosenfeldmedia.com/books/orchestrating-experiences//

While the Dominican Republic generates a relatively low volume of radioactive waste, it has prioritized their safe and secure treatment. Any disused radioactive source identified in the country is transported, characterized, classified, conditioned and stored in a centralized facility built in 2010 in Sierra Prieta, outside the capital Santo Domingo.

 

Around 170 sources from applications in hospitals and industry as well as so-called orphan sources — radioactive sources that are lost and then found again — detected in scrap metal industries have found a home in the facility. Some are high-activity sources, meaning they emit high levels of radiation, such as those used in radiotherapy to treat cancer. Others are low-activity sources, such as those used for industrial and research applications. Other disused sources come from mining, agriculture and construction.

 

The facility is equipped with radiation detectors provided by the IAEA. A team of professional staff trained under IAEA technical cooperation projects is in charge of the operation, maintenance and regular inspection of the storage facility.

Sierra Prieta, Dominican Republic. October 2016

 

Photo Credit: Laura Gil-Martinez / IAEA

 

Prioritization spreadsheet with averages of the columns.

Young, Indi. 2008. Mental Models: Aligning Design Strategy with Human Behavior. New York: Rosenfeld Media.

www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/mental-models/

While the Dominican Republic generates a relatively low volume of radioactive waste, it has prioritized their safe and secure treatment. Any disused radioactive source identified in the country is transported, characterized, classified, conditioned and stored in a centralized facility built in 2010 in Sierra Prieta, outside the capital Santo Domingo.

 

Around 170 sources from applications in hospitals and industry as well as so-called orphan sources — radioactive sources that are lost and then found again — detected in scrap metal industries have found a home in the facility. Some are high-activity sources, meaning they emit high levels of radiation, such as those used in radiotherapy to treat cancer. Others are low-activity sources, such as those used for industrial and research applications. Other disused sources come from mining, agriculture and construction.

 

The facility is equipped with radiation detectors provided by the IAEA. A team of professional staff trained under IAEA technical cooperation projects is in charge of the operation, maintenance and regular inspection of the storage facility.

Sierra Prieta, Dominican Republic. October 2016

 

Photo Credit: Laura Gil-Martinez / IAEA