Rec tax extension moves closer to November ballot – West Life News

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This graphic from Bandstetter Carroll Inc. shows the planned layout of the proposed family aquatics center to be built at Clague Park.

By Kevin Kelley

Westlake

Westlake City Council took two key steps Thursday toward finalizing a package of recreation amenities it hopes voters will agree to fund at the Nov. 7 election.

At a meeting of Councils public grounds, buildings and recreation committee, members approved a conceptual plan for a new $7.4 million family aquatics center that would replace Peterson Pool at Clague Park. The committee also agreed to have an architectural firm prepare detailed plans so construction bids can quickly be obtained should the funding measure pass.

Assuming voters agree to extend an existing income tax dedicated to recreational purposes, Peterson Pool would be demolished in early 2018, with the new pool opening in May 2019, according to Recreation Director Bob DeMinico.

Council members also agreed a proposed new $9.4 million community services center should be located at the Westlake Recreation Center, which has entrances on both Center Ridge Road and Hilliard Boulevard. Council also accepted a study that determined the new center should contain approximately 24,000 square feet of space.

Thats about double the size of the current community services center, which houses the citys programs for senior citizens.

Community Services Department Director Lydia Gadd said the current center lacks the space for activities sought by a growing senior population. The fact that the current center is a multi-level building makes access a challenge for many seniors, Gadd said, even though it contains an elevator.

Mayor Dennis Clough noted focus group interviews with seniors who regularly utilize the center preferred that the new center be built at the Parkside School building. In a recent complex real estate transaction, the city acquired the Parkside School, but agreed to rent it back to the Westlake City Schools to continue to use for its administrative offices. Seniors second choice was the current community services center location at the corner of Center Ridge and Crocker roads. Council members, however, preferred it be located at the rec center, saying it gave more flexibility in the utilization of municipal property.

City leaders hope to fund the new aquatics center and community services center, as well as roughly $17.7 million in other recreational projects such as running trails and athletic fields, by extending an existing income tax earmarked for recreational purposes. The current tax of one-eighth of 1 percent (0.00125) expires at the end of 2020. The proposal would extend it for 25 years.

The recreation department sought public input throughout 2014 as it developed a rec master plan. Efforts to solicit residents opinions included a public workshop, written and online surveys, and meetings with community focus groups. A new outdoor pool was determined to be the priority of residents.

City Council President Mike Killeen said he was confident voters will pass the tax extension. Killeen also denounced rumors to the effect that the city can fund the proposed projects without extending the recreation income tax.

The council president later told West Life that members have received letters from residents claiming the legislative body is opposed to building the aquatics center. This is not true, Killeen said.

Someone out there is stoking that fire, Killeen told West Life.

Public Grounds Committee Chairman Ken Brady said the balance in the citys rec fund will be around $5 million or $6 million when the current tax expires at the end of 2020. Thats not enough to fund any of the major projects envisioned in the citys recreation plan, the Ward 5 councilman said.

These projects are basically being dependent on the levy being passed as soon as possible so we know the funds are coming in, Brady said. If that levy is passed, then we can start those projects as soon as we get that word. So I just want to make it clear, we dont have the money now, I dont believe, to start any of these projects. Or, if we did, theyd be minor [projects].

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Rec tax extension moves closer to November ballot - West Life News

Dear Mandarins in the Public Service, Let’s Recall 16 June 1976 – Daily Maverick

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There is no fitting tribute to the sacrifices of the youth of 1976 than implementing fully policies aimed at transforming our education system. We have the means, the tools, and significantly, political will backed by a popular mandate.

When chronicling milestones towards the fall of apartheid, an odious system declared a crime against humanity by the United Nations, 16 June 1976 takes pride of place. Not least because this political development changed our history forever by not only universalising our experience in graphic fashion but also because it set in motion the liberatory impulse in the soil of our nation across generations.

The calamity witnessed on this day exceeded what befell people in the Bulhoek massacre, the Bhambatha Rebellion and the Sharpeville Massacre. Not so much in terms of numbers but more for the systematic and vicious nature of violence against unarmed teenagers. June 16 is significant because the apartheid regime actively and knowingly butchered school children with modern weaponry in broad daylight.

Yes, massacres by their nature contain no mercy. In neo-Nazi states like apartheid South Africa, it would be unreasonable to expect mercy, more so because the victims were regarded as sub-human. Yet such brutality as witnessed in the June 76 uprising was enough to convince even the doubting Thomas' that South Africa had a paranoid regime married to fascist ideals of controlling all aspects of Africans lives, with nothing but cheap labour to offer. They were systematically removed from the countrys body politic.

It is a matter of historical record that the 16 June uprising was not a spontaneous act of rebellion by young people against a sudden introduction of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction. The root cause goes as far back as 1948 when the National Party won elections (although already immediately after the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910 successive efforts were made by the union government to provide inferior education to black people).

As leader of the new racially-based state, Dr DF Malan appointed Dr HF Verwoerd as Minister of Native Affairs whose main purpose was to implement a policy of separate development, or more appropriately, to ensure that Africans stood no chance of development.

In dealing with the native question, Verwoerd crafted the Bantu Education system based on his conviction that there is no place for the native in the European community and that Africans were incapable of rising above the level of certain forms of labour. The native, he continued, has been subjected to a school system which drew him away from his own community and misled him by showing him the green pastures of European society in which he was not allowed to graze.

And so the Bantu Education Act 47 of 1953 was passed to drive Africans from the green pastures of white civilisation. To ensure total onslaught, Verwoerd went as far as starving mission schools of subsidies since they had no obligation to implement Bantu Education. Given miniscule per-capita spend on the education of black children, depriving independent schools of funds squeezed out possible quality learning opportunities for non-Europeans.

But the most important components of Bantu Education was governments takeover of teacher training colleges and the introduction of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction for at least half of the school subjects. The two are not mutually exclusive. If every black child had to learn half the subjects in Afrikaans, every teacher had to learn the same and acquire the ability to use it in class. And so the policy was rolled out in 1953 for Coloureds and 1965 for Indians.

It was only in 1974/75 that the 50/50 English/Afrikaans rule was strictly applied to Africans, starting in the Transvaal. Reasons given for this gradualism were that teachers had to master the art of teaching maths and social sciences in Afrikaans and learning material had to be available. And sure teachers did learn the language since the system used its control of colleges to prepare them for the ultimate roll-out of the project.

Whereas some elements of flexibility existed in the policy African schools could choose the main language of instruction in practice, the exemption principle was ignored and administrators of the southern Transvaal education directorate forcibly introduced Afrikaans.

All this happened in a context where a plethora of repressive laws were robustly implemented while draconian measures were employed to stifle any form of resistance to the apartheid system. Pass laws were enforced. The Group Areas Act was in place. The Sharpeville Massacre had taken place along with the Langa Massacre and other atrocities. The Rivonia Trial had ended, sending many in the leadership of the liberation movement to prison. Others were tortured, killed or exiled.

The 1973 Coronation Strike, a labour uprising in a bricks factory (KwaMagenqe) in Avoca interrupted the post-Sharpeville hiatus. Historical records say the regime tried to end the strike by asking the new King Zwelithini KaBhekuzulu and Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi to intervene. The strike eventually ended but the spirit of resistance was reawakened nationally, building on the agitation of young students like Bantu Biko. In less than 24 months after this strike, government announced that it was ready to implement the Afrikaans medium policy universally. And sure it did.

This signalled total control of Bantu Affairs. Land had been taken; Bantustans created as enclaves along tribal lines; further industrial laws passed to restrict and control movement of African labour; townships and hostels created for urban reserve labour force; every political activity was banned and penalties went as far as capital punishment. Every social and economic space had been colonised, now it was the mind.

Why is all of this important for the public sector mandarins in post-apartheid South Africa?

First, we learn that the Bantu Education policy succeeded because of the confluence of policy and praxis. Apartheid architects made sure that once the policy was in place, all layers of the state machinery (especially public sector managers) were ready to implement it. This applied to national, provincial and Bantustan government officials, teacher training colleges, school inspectors and district officials as well as school administrators. Where necessary, even the police were ready to enforce the implementation of this policy.

This account of history demands of us as bureaucrats in a democratic dispensation to devote ourselves to the efforts of creating a quality education system that empowers young people to fully participate in all aspects of economic, political and social life of South Africa; an education system that remembers Africans for the dismemberment of apartheid colonialism eroded their ontological density, their being, their agency.

We are called to action to actualise the imperative of having learners and teachers in school, on time, teaching. It is us who must ensure that learner support materials are procured and delivered to all schools on time; we must ensure that indigent learners are fed and offered safe transport. Money allocated to upgrade school facilities must be applied for that purpose. Squandering monies aimed at improving the quality of education of a black child is the highest act of dishonour to the service.

There is no fitting tribute to the sacrifices of the youth of 1976 than implementing fully policies aimed at transforming our education system. We have the means, the tools, and significantly, political will backed by a popular mandate.

Second, no society changes without decisive interventions in education. This reminds one of a debate with Prince Mashele who wrongly attributed poor education outcomes to public policy. Employing caricature, he contrasted apples and oranges: Japan and South Africa at different historical epochs between 1868 and 2010.

Betraying his own reminder that the weight of history influences current conditions, he drew inconsequential parallels between education outcomes of the two countries without due consideration of the conditions that influenced such outcomes.

A word of caution I offered to Mashele ought to have been obvious: the corresponding period of the Meiji dynasty of Japan (1868 1912) was a time of colonial wars and internal displacement that produced devastating results for the indigenous people. Boer Republics were starving-off British advance which intensified in pursuit of control of the newly discovered precious metals.

What we now call the South African War (formerly Anglo-Boer War) in recognition of the role played by Africans and other racial groups shaped internal conditions and resulted in public policies that systematically excluded the majority from meaningful participation in the economic and political life of the country. The formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910 gave the trusteeship of the country to a minority settler group. The Bantu Education policy of 1953 sealed the fate of Africans, intellectually and culturally.

From this short history we deduce that many of the problems facing our society today emanate from the racially inspired successive laws of the illegitimate minority government. Many historians and educationist have made correct attributions in this regard.

What I affirmed though from Prince Masheles then Sunday Independent treatise was the assertion that often, the weight of history does impose itself on generations far beyond the immediacy of an historic moment.

It goes without saying therefore that by identifying education as priority number one, government aimed to alter the weight of history of colonialism and apartheid that imposed itself on successive generations. Once again, ours in the public service is a basic yet revolutionary task: to ensure that learners and teachers are at school, on time, learning, teaching; to deliver books on time; to enrol teachers in further training programmes; to disburse financial aid to all needy students, especially those in scarce skills professions like education, engineering, science, accounting, etc.

In an accountable, professional and conscientious civil service that we aspire for, we ought to regard these as non-negotiables, and go on to build a peer pressure mechanism to the extent of shaming our colleagues who undermine efforts to intensify the delivery of quality education from early childhood education to higher education.

In short, it is to ensure that the doors of learning and culture are open for all. Ultimately, true to the statement that education is the greatest equaliser, the challenge of youth unemployment will be undermined if we all did what we have to do to actualise this government priority.

Along this important task of delivering quality education, public-service mandarins are expected to accelerate the implementation of other state-led youth development programmes. Moreover, youth development does not happen in a vacuum. It occurs in each and every state intervention implemented by public servants. Young people need water, shelter, economic infrastructure and quality healthcare. They need funds for their businesses. They need access to value chains to supply their products. As the Freedom Charter declares, they need to access affordable and decolonised higher education the doors of education and culture shall be open. Therefore, every state policy implemented by public sector managers is vital for youth development.

Finally, if we all accept that Bantu Education was the most perverted form of colonial education systems globally, it stands to reason therefore that national calls for decolonised education are beyond legitimate, if not overdue. We need to continue searching for innovative ways of making our system responsive, informed by the pedagogy of total liberation (not just liberal democracy) to the extent that through education, black people can reclaim their ontological density, their being, their agency.

So, as we remember those who perished in June 1976, we should also remember the potency of our action in building the democratic developmental state where education policies (and all other social and economic development programmes) seek to unleash the potential of young people to fully participate in all activities of the evolving national democratic society which must ultimately be characterised by non-racialism, non-sexism, democracy and prosperity for all.

Becoming a professional, responsive, prudent and efficient civil service would be a fitting tribute to the youth of 1976, the martyrs of our freedom who sacrificed their future in the service of the greater ideal: liberation. That spirit of sacrifice should be our zeitgeist, an antidote to the now creeping democratic indifference. DM

*Ngcaweni works in The Presidency. Views contained here are private. His books are available on amazon.com

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Dear Mandarins in the Public Service, Let's Recall 16 June 1976 - Daily Maverick

Neural Implant Tech Raises the Specter of Brainjacking – Singularity Hub

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The human mind is already pretty open to manipulationjust ask anyone who works in advertising. But neural implant technology could potentially open up a direct digital link to our innermost thoughts that could be exploited by hackers.

In recent months, companies like Elon Musks Neuralink, Kernel, and Facebook have unveiled plans to create devices that will provide a two-way interface between human brains and machines.

While these devices could undoubtedly bring many benefits, they would be networked to computers and therefore essentially part of the Internet of Things. That should immediately set off alarm bells for anyone paying attention to cybersecurity news.

There have been repeated warnings in recent years about the huge number of vulnerabilities in smart devices designed by consumer goods companies with little experience of or consideration for cybersecurity.

One would expect that the added sensitivity of a device set to be integrated into peoples bodies would warrant more caution. But it has already been demonstrated that it is possible tohack medical implants to harm patients,and there seems to be no reason the same wouldn't be true of neural implants.

In a paper in World Neurosurgery last year, Oxford PhD student Laurie Pycroft warned about the possibility of 'brainjacking'hackers exerting unauthorized control of brain implants.

Deep brain stimulation implants are already being used to treat diseases like Parkinsons and chronic pain, but he warned that hackers could gain control of the device and alter stimulation settings to cause pain or inhibit movement.

Even with these comparatively simple devices, a determined and technically competent attacker could carry out more advanced attacks that could alter the victims behavior in crude ways, Pycroft said.

Future neural implants designed from the bottom up to interface with our cognitive processes may make far more nuanced and sophisticated hacks possible. Earlier this month it was shown that aneural headset could be used to guess someone's PIN. How much more intimate would the access be if we were talking about an invasive neural implant like the one Elon Musk has proposed?

While a targeted attack on a neural implant designed to manipulate someones behavior is unlikely to be worth the effort for most hackers,a bigger threat may be dumb malwarethat spreads to thousands of devices. Spyware could be used to access highly sensitive personal information, and a neural implant locked by ransomware is not as easy to replace as a laptop.

Perhaps, though, its not hackers we should be worrying about. Edward Snowdens revelations about the NSAs PRISM surveillance program in 2013 demonstrated wide-ranging collusion between the security services and technology companies to intercept the supposedly secure communications of innocent citizens.

Its hard to imagine the spooks would pass up the opportunity to do the same with neural implants, and once that threshold has been crossed, it would likely be a short leap to taking advantage of the two-way nature of these future devices to subtly influence peoples behavior.

Even if you trust your government not to abuse these capabilities, the leak of a massive cache of hacking tools stockpiled by the NSA suggests they may not be the only ones with access.

And its hard to imagine that the tech companies building these devices dont know where the back doors are. Facebook, one of the companies developing neural technology, has already been caught carrying out questionable psychological experiments that altered users emotions without their permission.

However, this example also highlights that it may not be necessary for us to install neural implants to make our brains susceptible to hacking. The mediabe that newspapers, advertisers or Hollywoodhave long been accused of manipulating the way we think.

With the rise of social media there are now a host of new tools for those looking to influence the zeitgeist:fake news websites, swarms of Twitter bots, and targeted advertising based on psychological profiles drawn from our internet behavior.

One researcher recently showed they couldread neural responses to subliminal images embedded in a game. The information is crude, but they said it could be scaled up to mind-reading level capabilities if combined with other technology, like VR or wearable devices.

So, whether its through neural implants or clever social engineering, it seems technology is already challenging the sanctity of our mental processes. Just last month I reported on calls from neuroethicists to introduce new human rights designed to protect our mental privacy.

While new rights would be welcome, more pressing is the need to ensure that cybersecurity is built into future neural devices from the outset, and from the bottom up.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

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Neural Implant Tech Raises the Specter of Brainjacking - Singularity Hub

Friends of Netarts Bay WEBS presents Photography on The Bay, June 25 at 9 am – North Coast Citizen

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Friends of Netarts Bay WEBS will host a FREE course for emerging landscape and nature photographers. The class will emphasize the basics of photography and how to take a good image. Traveling along Netarts Bay, participants will practice new skills in the field with professional photographer and marine scientist, Jim Young.

This event is part of theExplore Natureseries of hikes, walks, paddles and outdoor adventures. Explore Nature events are hosted by a consortium of volunteer community and non-profit organizations, and are meaningful nature-based experiences highlight the unique beauty of Tillamook County and the work being done to preserve and conserve the areas natural resources and natural resource-based economy.

When:June 25, 2017 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Where:Netarts Bay area. Register for details.

Cost:There is no cost to attend this program. Tax-exempt donations to Netarts Bay WEBS to enable programs like this are encouraged, but not required.

Details:Class size is limited to 10 participants. Participants need to have their own cameras and should be familiar with transferring photos from the camera to a computer. Transportation to natural areas provided by WEBS.

Questions?Contact jimyoung4990@gmail.com or call503-842-2153.

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Friends of Netarts Bay WEBS presents Photography on The Bay, June 25 at 9 am - North Coast Citizen

SoftWear Automation raises $4.5 million to build robots that sew … – TechCrunch

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SoftWear Automation raises $4.5 million to build robots that sew ... - TechCrunch

IT infrastructure automation lessens the load for data center teams – TechTarget

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For IT admins, the maintenance of networking, storage and compute is an overwhelming task -- especially as data center technology becomes more complex. Fortunately, automation can ease the burden of tedious and time-consuming management tasks, leaving room for admins to focus on other projects.

Data center operators can use automation practices and tools in a variety of a different ways, from network configuration to server documentation. Explore these five ways IT infrastructure automation can ease your day-to-day routine.

While traditional networks relied heavily on hardware, modern networks incorporate more software and automation to reduce manual deployment, configuration and management efforts. Automation can also reduce human error, thus improving security and network uptime.

Network provisioning traditionally requires admins to manually configure each device, but software enables them to automatically provision network resources across workloads and thousands of devices. With automation, admins can associate specific network and security policies with applications and devices that can follow them as they migrate. Admins can also enable the network to identify specific traffic types and then prioritize resources accordingly and implement policies to automatically change bandwidth.

Network automation, however, is a challenge to implement in most enterprise data centers. There are a limited number of suppliers with products that can help begin to automate manual processes. Also, a lack of clear architecture and universal standards makes it difficult for enterprises to jump on the network automation bandwagon.

As data center complexity increases, policy-based management has become an important skill for data center management. An admin, for example, can apply multiple policies to a single VM to meet needs around security, performance, availability and disaster recovery. These policies drive IT infrastructure automation and reduce manual effort.

Two especially common areas for this kind of automation are VM availability and applications. Admins can create availability policies for web servers that require a minimum number of VMs, for example, or policies that allow those VMs to run on local (rather than shared) storage to cut costs. Admins can also tag VMs to categorize them as being part of a certain application and then apply automated policies for disaster recovery, replication and more.

Hardware and applications aren't the primary reasons behind system downtime -- rather, it's due to system administrators' mistakes. This is partially because many admins still use command-line interfaces (CLI), which don't provide much of a buffer between what an admin types and how the system responds. As an alternative to this risky method, admins should drive IT infrastructure automation through a library of scripts. Unlike the CLI, running a script will always produce the same outcome and leave no room for human error.

Orchestration systems also help avoid downtime by provisioning script outcomes, patches, updates and code rollouts. Admins can find these features in DevOps orchestration systems, such as Chef Automate and Terraform. Organizations with hybrid cloud deployments should consider orchestration tools, such as Electric Cloud and Platform9, to automate these tasks across different cloud platforms.

Documenting and taking inventory of each detail of your data center's hardware is extremely tedious, but automation can eliminate some of the frustration. However, automating the documentation process via scripts is most valuable for smaller organizations with limited IT deployments, since the process can get complicated when too many diverse systems are involved.

Use custom scripts, such as Windows Server PowerShell, to perform system inventories and capture server configurations -- but first verify that the scripts work and collect the information you need. You can sometimes update an existing script to add more inventory or write new scripts from scratch. To prevent "unintended consequences" -- or a change in one system that disrupts other systems -- use change management features, such as Microsoft's Desired State Configuration, to bring hardware and software components back to a known configuration.

When you operate a data center in a Linux environment, there are a variety of options to customize and enable IT infrastructure automation. For example, CFEngine enables admins to automate large-scale configurations and can automatically fix system errors and configuration inconsistencies as it finds them. Its many features include package update automation, remote execution, patch management, configuration management and much more.

Automate for increased IT productivity

Automation can help to manage multicloud environments

The effect of automation on the IT skills gap

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IT infrastructure automation lessens the load for data center teams - TechTarget

Trade, logistics support many of Southern California’s good paying jobs but automation is coming – The Pasadena Star-News

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Trade and logistics is big business in Southern California and automation is playing an increasingly bigger role as the industry seeks to remain competitive.

Thats the takeaway of a new report from the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. The study reveals that 598.3 million tons of freight valued at $1.7 trillion moved throughout the region in 2015. That equated to a daily average of 1.6 million tons valued at $4.7 billion.

Needless to say, all of that activity fueled lots of jobs.

The LAEDC report shows that the regions trade and logistics sector employed 580,450 direct payroll workers in 2015, a 9.7 percent increase since 2005. An additional 273,840 jobs were supported through indirect effects and another 310,490 were supported by induced effects, creating a total employment impact of nearly 1.2 million jobs.

Indirect jobs include workers who dont directly produce goods or services but make their production possible or more efficient. Induced jobs take into account employees who work at local restaurants, gas stations, supermarkets and other businesses where trade and logistics workers spend their money.

The Inland Empire supported about half of those jobs and Los Angeles County supported another 40 percent.

The pay isnt bad. The average annual wage in the trade and logistics industry in 2015 was $63,130, about 14 percent higher than the $55,310 average annual wage for all industries in Southern California.

Wages were much higher in certain segments of the industry. Those involved in support activities for water transportation earned an average of $111,120 a year, for example, and others who work in air transportation earned an average of $75,710 a year.

Trade and logistics in Southern California generates $224.6 billion in economic output annually, sustained by direct spending of $131.9 billion, which includes $43.5 billion in labor income paid to its employees, according to the report. Industry-related expenditures indirectly generate $47.2 billion in spending at supplier businesses in the region, and compensation paid to employees fueled additional spending of $45.6 billion.

But while wages are good, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are increasingly integrating automation in their operations and thats displacing workers. Trade and logistics industries are looking to become more capital-intensive versus labor-intensive through the use of new technologies.

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The Port of Los Angeles has been transforming its TraPac terminal over the last several years by outfitting it with massive robots. Some are tasked with moving shipping containers from ships and stacking them nearby, and others load the stacked containers onto trucks for the next leg of their journey.

We have eight terminals here and one is TraPac, port spokesman Phillip Sanfield said. Its the only automated terminal and it was very expensive. The Port of L.A.s investment in TraPac was more than $400 million. Well get that back and more over the course of their lease, but its very expensive to do this. And it takes years for a company to plan and get the environmental approvals to build an automated terminal.

The Port of Long Beach has also been outfitting its Middle Harbor terminal with automated equipment, which is expected to be operative by 2020.

Self-driving trucks are also being used in warehouses in the form of autonomous forklifts. More recently, the truck transportation and drayage (short-haul) industries are looking at self-driving trucks as ways to reduce costs and boost their profit margins. But thats not going to happen right away.

Regulations have to catch up with the technology, said Shannon Sedgwick, the LAEDC economist who authored the report. That kind of technology wont be widespread until that issue is resolved.

The federal government has yet to establish laws that deal specifically with autonomous vehicles. But several states have opted to enact their own statewide laws. Another major hurdle to widespread adoption is the publics innate fear of seeing self-driving trucks on the road.

Automation is also widespread in warehouse operations. Amazon is known for its orange Kiva robots, which transport shelving and bins to workers who then pick the products. Several new startups are also poised to enter and transform the warehouse robot space. San Jose-based company Fetch Robotics has created industrial robots that simplify warehouse product handling by following pickers to catch their selected items.

Fetch Robotics spokesman Tim Smith explains it this way:

Our robots are almost like moving pallets, he said. They dont necessarily replace jobs, but they can do the worst part of a job.

A Fetch device can autonomously deliver items to wherever they need to go in the building. That eliminates the need for an employee to walk miles and miles throughout the day to deliver the products.

A map of the environment is created when a robot is installed. That takes a few hours and it takes two to three days to get the system up and running, Smith said. We have about 15 customers all over the world. One of our U.S. locations is in Livermore and others are in Asia and Europe.

The LAEDC report also notes that delivery drones are being readied by several companies, including Amazon, Google and UPS to make deliveries to remote areas or areas with heavy traffic congestion more efficient.

But drones without direct supervision of a person are not currently legal in the U.S. Until they are, delivery drones will still require a human component.

Technology isnt the only game changer in the trade and logistics sector. Labor issues, including disruptions and domestic outsourcing, have the potential to negatively affect the Southern California-based industry in terms of growth for trade volumes and wages, the report said.

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Trade, logistics support many of Southern California's good paying jobs but automation is coming - The Pasadena Star-News

Too Much Automation? – Printing Impressions – Printing Impressions

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A senior technician and Iwere at a system install last week when we got into aphilosophical discussion on bindery system design. I noted that bindery systems weregetting to the point where the only hands on requirement for an operator was the ability topush the right buttons. My technician friend immediately jumped in and said (in no uncertain terms) that this was not a good thing. Why? I asked.

He countered that all bindery systems process paper. Paper is an organic substance. And all saddle-stitched, perfect-bound and hardcover products (and more) are builtof this organic material. Therefore,an operator should know how paper behaves. They should know how it flows through a system, how it should fold (properly), and how moisture, heat and cold affect it. They should know what the grain direction of a sheet should be for each process. They should also know what the properties of offset, text, cover, tag and newsprint stocks are, and how they perform in different binding processes.How does the speed of the machine affect it? (And believe me, it does). How does the print affect the binding?

After some minutes of discussion with my friend, I began to see his pointabout the dangers of pushing too many buttons and not knowing enough about the finerpoints of the process you are dealing with.

Isthis an argument for better (and more in depth) training for both offset and digital bindery people? You bet. Thats a real investment in both dollars and time, but the result is an operator who both understands their machine automation, and also the underlying processes that the machine is trying to achieve. The end result is a system thatruns better, with less downtime and fewer defective products. So as we were troubleshooting our machine on thatFriday afternoon, I began to pay very close attention to all of those little belts, rollers, scoring wheels and others that had an impact on our high-speed paper path and their proper adjustment with regard to our paper source.

I will leave you with a quote from the great Professor Emeritus Werner Rebsamen of RIT who knew how paper behaved in binding like no one else, and who once described the perfect book block as well pressed is half bound. Thats an accurate statement!

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Too Much Automation? - Printing Impressions - Printing Impressions

Child Soldiers in Africa: ICC Trial of Congolese Warlord Puts Recruitment of Girl Fighters in Spotlight – Newsweek

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Almost two years after the trial opened, Congolese military commander Bosco Ntaganda will take the stand on Wednesday at the International Criminal Court (ICC), charged with 13 war crimes and five crimes against humanity.

Ntagandas charges including the murder and rape of civilians and the recruitment, use, rape and sexual slavery of childrendate back to 2002 and 2003, while he was deputy chief of the general staff for Force Patriotiques pour la Libration du Congo (FPLC), a rebel group in eastern Congo.

Described by ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda as a notorious and powerful military leader, the 43-year-old was a central figure in the FPLC, one of Congos many armed groups, and is accused of recruiting hundreds of children under the age of 15 into combat in the countrys mineral-rich east.

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They recruited and used hundreds of childrento wage their bloody war, Bensouda said at The Hague. They forced these children to kill and treated them cruellyalso raped and sexually enslaved the girls.

The ICCs pursuit of Ntaganda, who evaded authorities for nearly seven years before he surrendered in 2013, is a welcome move for an institution criticized over the years for inaction. In 2014, Ntagandas ally Thomas Lubanga Dyilo was sentenced to 14 years in prison for the recruitment and use of children under 15 by the ICC. It was the courts first ever conviction.

Prior to that, in 2007, the international community had already sent a clear message that those who use children in war would have to face justice. The Special Court for Sierra Leone convicted Alex Tamba Brima, Ibrahim Bazzy Kamara, Santigie Borbor Kanu and Allieu Kondewa of the recruitment and use of children among other crimes under international law during the West African countrys 11-year armed conflict that ended in 2002.

A Congolese boy and former rebel soldier is pictured at a center for demobilized child soldier in Rutshuru, in the North Kivu province in Democratic Republic of Congo, on January 26, 2006. Four in 10 child soldiers in Congo are estimated to be girls. JOSE CENDON/AFP/Getty

And later in 2012, the former Liberian president, Charles Taylor, was found guilty of a range of crimes, including recruiting children under the age of 15 and using them to participate actively in hostilities in the same conflict in Sierra Leone.

Pinpointing an exact number of child soldiers globally is impossible given the disparate nature of many armed groups. But Child Soldiers International estimates the numbers remains in the tensif not hundredsof thousands.

Read more: Why the U.S. and Uganda are dropping the hunt for warlord Joseph Kony

Congo has been a major breeding ground for underage combatants over the years. What is unique about the Ntaganda trial is its focus on the exploitation and serial abuse of girls in armed conflict, an area largely overlooked by international media. Strikingly, it is estimated that up to 40 percent of all child soldiers in the country are girls.

Bensoudas remarks at the trial opening reveal the horrific extent of abuse suffered by many at the hands of the FPLC. She argues that girls in the group were reduced to objects which soldiers and commanders could pass around and use for sex whenever they pleased.

Her comments strike an alarmingly similar tone to those of many girls we interviewed in the country in 2016. I was often drugged,17-year-old Jeanette*, who was formerly part of a Congolese armed group, told us. I would wake up and find myself naked. They gave us drugs so that we would not get tired of all of them using us.

Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda sits in the courtroom of the International Criminal Court (ICC) during the first day of his trial in The Hague, on September 2, 2015. Ntaganda is charged with 13 counts of war crimes, including the recruitment, rape and sexual slavery of children. MICHAEL KOOREN/AFP/Getty

The account forms part of Child Soldiers Internationals extensive new research detailing the experiences of 150 former girl soldiers in eastern Congo to be released on June 19, the International Day for Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict. A majority of girls we interviewedsome who had joined armed groups and self-defense militias voluntarily, others who were forcibly recruitedsaid they had suffered sexual abuse in captivity. Many had been forced to be wives for soldiers. We were treated like toys, 15-year-old Sara explained. Lucky were those who only had one man.

Girls roles in armed groups take on multiple forms. Some will indeed be involved in direct fighting but many are exploited as cooks, porters, spies and forced to carry out hard labor. For Anourite, who was only eight years old when she was abducted from her school by Joseph Konys Lords Resistance Army a Ugandan militant group active in Congo and Central African Republiclife in the group meant caring for babies (many born to other female soldiers) and carrying the armed groups belongings, because she was too small to serve men.

Held captive for four years by the infamous group, she told us that physical and psychological suffering was common: We were beaten, even though we were only children. At first I said: I want to see my family, and they beat me even more. So I stopped crying. I had my first period in the bush. I managed using leaves.

The sexual abuse suffered by many of the girls we interviewed also makes them the focus of ridicule and rejection when they return home. Stigmatization of returning girl soldiers, heightened because of their sexual relations with soldiers, is a major problem in the region and stifles their reintegration back into communities. Every girl from the bush, the community points to her and says: Watch out: HIV, one 16-year-old girl explained.

Reintegrating these girls brings many challenges. This is why Child Soldiers International works with our national partners and communities to help them better understand the suffering these girls have gone through and support them accordingly when they go home.

The trial of Bosco Ntaganda is clearly a positive step in bringing to justice those individuals and armed groups who continue to recruit children for war. Butthe international community needs to ensure that the girl soldiers in Congo and elsewhere in the world are not forgotten on their return home. And sadly, there are still countless other perpetrators recruiting and using children that remain free and operate outside of the law.

We hope that the events at The Hague will send another strong message that these war crimes will no longer be tolerated and provide a small shred of justice to Ntagandas many victims, offering some hope to the thousands of other children who suffer, and have suffered at the hands of armed groups and forces.

Sandra Olsson is program manager at Child Soldiers International , an international human rights organization that seeks to end the military recruitment of all children.

*Names of individuals in this article have been changed to protect their identities.

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Child Soldiers in Africa: ICC Trial of Congolese Warlord Puts Recruitment of Girl Fighters in Spotlight - Newsweek

Leftist Rage Unleashed Against ‘The Last Night’ Creator During E3 … – Breitbart News

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The game, developed by newcomer Tim Soret, turned heads when it was revealed earlier today at E3, the worlds largest gaming expo.

It also attracted the fury of the social justice left, after it emerged that Soret once supported the GamerGate movement, which criticized feminist and leftist attempts to make the world of gaming politically correct.

Soret has also said he opposes feminism but supports egalitarianism.

Sorets claim that GamerGate was an egalitarian movement is borne out by the evidence.Two surveys of the movements political views, including my own, found that a majority of the movement were left-leaning liberals who happened to disagree with censorship and political correctness.Onesurvey even found that most GamerGate supporters voted for Barack Obama in 2012.

Zoe Quinn, the feminist games designer whose complaints about allegedly sexist internet trolls drove coverage of GamerGate, was quick to condemn Soret for endorsing the anti-censorship consumer movement.

Quinn is famous for Being Mad Online, and has arguably elevated the practice to an art form. She was even invited to the United Nations in 2015 to lecture the world on the dangers of cyberviolence.

Progressive anger is likely to increase when they learn more about the gamespolitical message, which offers a moderate critique of the left.

The game takes place in a future dystopia brought about by the rise of intelligent machines. Work has been abolished, and all humans (aside from the games protagonist) are sustained by a universal income. However, the abolition of work historically a leftist goal does not lead to utopia.

From the games website:

Humans first knew the era of survival. Then they knew the era of work. Now they live in the era of leisure. Machines have surpassed human labour not only in strength, but in precision, intellect, and creativity. Stabilised by universal income, people struggle to find their calling or identity, and define themselves by what they consume, rather than what they create.

According to Heat Street, Soret originally envisaged the game as a warning against extreme progressivism.

I find it interesting to show the danger of extreme progressivism, in the background of the game, the characters, and the story. Finally, well have another take on the cyberpunk oppression instead of Big Brother/1984/HAL/big companies. What if the surveillance, bullying, marginalization wont come from governments but from the Internet?

Leftists have been known to freak out when their favourite entertainers fail to make their acts sufficiently anti-Trump. If political neutrality is objectionable to leftists, the thought of a smart, visually appealing entertainment product that actuallycritiquestheir goals would send them into a tailspin.

It remains unclear, however, whether Sorets views have changedsince the comments published by Heat Street. In the wake of the controversy, Soret reiterated his belief in equality & inclusiveness but also acknowledged that the game will challenge techno-social progress as a whole.

Nevertheless, expect little, if any news coverage in the mainstream gaming press aboutThe Last Night,apart from outraged op-eds. Now that its developers former GamerGate sympathies have been revealed, however,politicized elements of the gaming press are unlikely to judge the game by its artistic merits alone.

Unfortunately for them, some left-leaning gaming outlets already published pieces onThe Last Nightslaunch trailer before news of its creators GamerGate heresyspread on social media.

The Verge, a Vox publication, called the trailer gorgeous.Polygon, regarded as one of the most leftist gaming sites, and hailed it as one of the best-looking indie games showed off by Microsoft at E3. Bleeding Cool praised its vibrant and highly stylized feel, while PC Gamer called it stunning.

The Last Nightis scheduled for release in 2018 on PC and Xbox One.

You can follow Allum Bokhari on Twitterandadd him on Facebook.Email tips and suggestions toabokhari@breitbart.com.

P.S. DO YOU WANT MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE DELIVERED RIGHT TO YOUR INBOX?SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY BREITBART NEWSLETTER.

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Leftist Rage Unleashed Against 'The Last Night' Creator During E3 ... - Breitbart News

Your Child Care Conundrum Is an Anti-Communist Plot – Slate Magazine (blog)

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We begin with circle time, then move on to Leninist doctrine.

Photo illustration by Lisa Larson-Walker. Photo by Thinkstock.

Before I became a parent, this countrys lack of affordable, government-supported child care was something I thought about sympathetically every once in a while, in between long yoga classes and leisurely novel-reading. I always diagnosed this hole in our social services as a feminist issuethere arent publicly funded day cares because conservatives dont want women to work.

But a few weeks ago, as I negotiated a change in my baby daughters day care setup and inwardly raged against our countrys sorry support for child care, I suddenly remembered reading historian Nancy Cohens 2013 piece in The New Republic about the role of red-baiting in the failure to pass universal child care in the early 1970s. Do we really lack good, publicly funded preschools not only because some people think women should stay at home, but also because some people are afraid of Communism? Maybe! At the very least, the government-run day care services the Soviet Union provided have shadowed our efforts to get a version of the same in the United States.

The first Americans to think and talk about Soviet day care were leftist feminists in the 1920s, who praised it as an exciting innovation. The Bolsheviks believed that capitalism had created a new contradiction, felt most painfully by women, between the demands of work and the needs of family, historian Wendy Z. Goldman writes. Capitalism would never be able to provide a systematic solution to the double burden women shouldered. Services such as day care and communal kitchens and laundries were the Bolsheviks way of putting into practice Marx and Engels ideas about eliminating the oppressive structures of the bourgeois family. S. Ia. Volfson, a Soviet sociologist, wrote in 1929 that the traditional family will be sent to a museum of antiquities so that it can rest next to the spinning wheel and the bronze axe, by the horsedrawn carriage, the steam engine, and the wired telephone. Historian Julia Mickenberg writes in American Girls in Red Russia: Chasing the Soviet Dream that many American suffragists and New Women were drawn to the Soviet Union because it embodied a promise of the good life and explicitly included womens emancipation in that promise. (Disclosure: Mickenberg was one of my dissertation advisors.)

When American feminists visited the new nation in the 1920s, they wrote about what they saw in glowing terms. The Soviets set up day nurseries at a time when Americans would have known them only as charities operated to house poor children while their mothers worked. In a 1928 book, American visitor Jessica Smith described the day nurseries in glowing terms: Wide sunny rooms, rows of cribs with gay coverlets, play rooms with slides and chutes and steps to exercise tiny limbs, great colored blocks, pictures on the walls. Mothers could drop by to nurse their infants, and a sanitary kitchen with a trained dietician made the proper food for every age.

This beautiful dream of quality universal day careif it ever truly existedwent sour quickly. As Mickenberg writes, material shortages and deep-seated sexism within Russian society limited womens gains. By the middle of the 1930s, Goldman argues, the process of forced collectivization created fresh streams of homeless, starving children, and rapid industrialization subjected the family to new and terrible strains. Trying to get things back on track, leaders began to encourage Soviet women to return to the home, and female workers lost much of the ground they had gained in entering male-dominated fields. Workplace discrimination continued despite government regulations, and cuts in funding for day care followed.

During the same time period in the U.S., the Depression and then World War II forced a reimagining of mothers role in the economy. As more middle-class moms went to work, the idea that day care was a welfare service for desperately poor single mothers began to transform, historian Elizabeth Rose writes. The understanding had been that day care was simply custodial: a way to keep poor kids from cutting themselves with knives or falling out of windows while their mothers toiled at factories. Now, however, people started to think of day care as potentially educational or enriching. In this social climate, the Works Progress Administration created 1500 preschools, mainly as an employment scheme for teachers. These schools served 50,000 children between 1933 and 1943. It was the first time the government put money into early childhood care, with hopes that the successful pilot would lead to more permanent and extensive services. WPA nursery school leaders expected their program to lead to public preschools for all young children, historian Molly Quest Arboleda writes. During World War II, the Lanham Act funded child care centers (including some of the former WPA schools) that served as many as 1.5 million kids.

In the immediate postwar period, many women wanted to see the Lanham Act centers stay open. One activist fighting to keep public centers open in Philadelphia at the end of the war wrote to the Childrens Bureau: Weve won the bloodiest war in history, now lets win permanent Day Care for our children.

It was not to be. Molly Quest Arboleda found that many women involved in the WPA nursery schools, either as teachers or supporters, faced accusations of Communist sympathies. Susan B. Anthony II (the more famous Susans grandniece) came under investigation by the House Un-American Activities Committee for her work with the Congress of American Women, which had named the conversion of wartime day care centers into permanent social fixtures as one of its three main goals. Governor Thomas Dewey of New York called protestors asking him to keep child care centers open Communists. Elizabeth Rose found that many of those who wrote in to a Philadelphia Bulletin forum on publicly funded child care used anti-Communist language. One wrote, America is built on the bedrock of family ties and we refuse to imitate the Soviet Union, where 6,000,000 children are in such centers while the mothers are in forced labor camps.

The Soviet Unions child care system was indeed expanding and becoming more systematized. In 1956, wanting more women to enter the workforce, Nikita Khrushchevs regime started an early childhood education program that became an extensive network of kindergartens and nurseries. These day cares did (as American critics charged) de-emphasize parental involvement in childrens education, instead leaning on the theories of psychologists and pedagogues who were considered more up-to-date than parents. Psychologist Alison Clarke-Stewart writes that childrens activities in Soviet day cares were the most highly developed and uniform in the world, and that nothing was left to chance in the curriculumeverything was planned and specified, even the temperature. Children were taught industriousness, aesthetics, charactergroup awareness, problem solving, and creativity. Soviet day cares put a strong emphasis on cooperation and sharing, and as soon as they could talk, children weregiven training in evaluating and criticizing each others behaviors from the point of view of the group.

These readily available, sophisticated, but highly standardized day cares made an impression on Western visitors wary of Communist centralization and indoctrination. One such impression may have led to the downfall of a possible American equivalent to the Soviet day care system. The Comprehensive Child Development Act, which got through Congress in 1971 before being vetoed by Richard Nixon, would have created nationally funded child care centers providing early childhood services and after-school care, as well as nutrition, counseling, and even medical and dental care. The centers would charge parents on a sliding scale. But Pat Buchanan, as special assistant to the President, convinced Nixon to veto the plan.

Brigid Schulte interviewed Buchanan about this decision for her book Overwhelmed, and he told her hed visited the Soviet Union when the CCDA was being debated: We went to see the Young Pioneers, where these little kids four, five, and six years old were being instructed in Leninist doctrine, reciting it the way I used to recite Catechism when I was in the first grade, he said. Either this experience truly, deeply affected Buchanan, or perhaps he wantedas the bills sponsor Walter Mondale later wroteto use the issue to rally cultural conservatives and create a little maneuvering room to make the China trip. (If Nixon threw conservatives a bone in the matter of day care, he could more easily sell them his plan to normalize relations with Communist China.)

Whatever his motivation, Buchanan successfully influenced Nixon to inject anti-communist language into his veto. Our response to the challenge of child care must be a measured, evolutionary, painstakingly considered one, consciously designed to cement the family in its rightful position as the keystone of our civilization, Nixon wrote. For the Federal Government to plunge headlong financially into supporting child development would commit the vast moral authority of the National Government to the side of communal approaches to child rearing over against the family-centered approach.

When Mondale and his co-sponsor, Representative John Brademas, tried again in 1975, grassroots fundamentalists torpedoed the revised legislation. As Nancy L. Cohen writes, an anonymous flyer circulated widely in churches in the South and West, claiming that the legislation would give children fantastical rights to sue their parents and organize labor unions. Sally Steenland, director of the faith and progressive policy initiative at the Center for American Progress, said of the conversation over day care at the time: I remember seeing books with these really alarming pictures of state-funded nurseries in the Soviet UnionSwaddled infants tightly wrapped in rows of beds side by side, massive rows, and it was impersonal and supposed to be terrifying. And it was like: this is daycare. According to Cohen, Buchanans redwashing of day care was a political hijacking so fabulously successful it wiped away virtually any trace of its own handiwork.

When my friends and I bemoan our own child care conundrums, anti-communism is not the first thing we blame. But on the right, writers and pundits still invoke it to condemn the very concept of government-funded day care. Michele Bachmann, speaking on the floor of Congress in 2009, characterized President Obamas vision for child rearing as send that little baby off to a government day care center from the day that baby is born. A cheerily designed website called Daycares Dont Care features a history of day care that sports a clip-art hammer and sickle. It quotes a woman who spent most of her childhood in Communist Polands daycares: The assembly line time table, with everyone having to perform together on cueThe grubby, institutional food. The absence of real contact with adults, which meant that fights and squabbles were usually settled on the survival of the fittest principle. In the Federalist, political scientist Paul Kengor explicates the Marxist idea of the abolition of the family, describing the Soviet push to put kids in day care and the Supreme Courts support for same-sex marriage as equally radical measures. On the website of Concerned Women for America, a blog post asserts, True feminist ideology is steeped in Marxist thought. The government must redistribute wealth, control businesses to make them hire us, and even take on the responsibility of raising our children via government daycare for us to be equal.

Does it help to know that some of the mindset keeping us from having government-funded day care is anti-communism, in addition to simple anti-feminism? Im not sure. But Im still making phone calls to figure out how to cover my daughters care on Fridays! That part I'm sure about.

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Your Child Care Conundrum Is an Anti-Communist Plot - Slate Magazine (blog)

Pourakarmikas return to work – Star of Mysore

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Mysuru: A day after temporarily withdrawing their protest following State Governments assurance to fulfil their demands, the Pourakarmikas, donned their green aprons and returned to work this morning to clear the city garbage that was rotting on the streets for the past two days.

Pourakarmikas were seen cleaning the surroundings of Devaraja Market, Boti Bazaar, Sayyaji Rao Road, Devaraja Urs Road and other main thoroughfares of the city. The workers were also seen collecting waste from individual residences, business establishments and hotels bringing huge relief to residents and hotel owners.

It may be recalled that the Pourakarmikas were on a State-wide stir demanding for abolition of contract system and a minimum wage of Rs. 18,000.

The Pourakarmikas, headed by former Chairman of State Safai Karmachari Commission Narayan, had staged a dharna at Bannappa Park in Bengaluru. Later, the Pourakarmikas withdrew their protest temporarily after the State Government assured to look into their demands within June 20.

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Pourakarmikas return to work - Star of Mysore

Out-of-state group fights Florida’s death penalty – WFTV Orlando

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by: Field Sutton Updated: Jun 14, 2017 - 5:03 PM

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - An out-of-state group--funded by out-of-state dollars is setting up a Florida operation to fight the state's death penalty.

The group, Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, plans on lobbying lawmakers in Tallahassee to influence the states potential abolition of capital punishment.

During an announcement made on the steps of Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayalas office, Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty told Channel 9s Field Sutton it believes it will be able to build bi-partisan support for repealing Floridas death penalty statutes.

Photos: Death row inmates in Orange County

"We urge these prosecutors to take a stand for life, and for fiscal responsibility, and to prudently only seek sentences other than death, said Mark Hyden, withConservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty.

James Purdy, the elected public defender for Volusia and surrounding counties, cited one study during his speech Wednesday pegging the cost of the state's death penalty at more than $50 million.

Read: Florida Supreme Court: Death penalty recommendation must be unanimous

"Imagine what it would be like if we could have (an extra $50 extra million) or more a year to pay for teachers, to put police officers back on the street, Purdy said.

Rafael Zaldivar, the father of a son who was murdered in 2012, accused the group of overthinking the death penaltys purpose.

Read: Florida Supreme Court overturns death sentence for Bessman Okafor

"It is the ultimate punishment for heinous crimes. That's all it is, Zaldivar said. "Once one of their wives or children are molested, raped and murdered, they'll be on the other side of the [argument]."

Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penaltyis part of New York-based Equal Justice USA, whose executive director acknowledges her teams past work with Ayala, including providing support in the state attorneys fight against the death penalty. The executive director said Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penaltyitself has "no contact or involvement" with the state attorney.

The leader of Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty echoed that, telling Eyewitness News he and his associates have no connection with Ayala. He said it was a coincidence that the group held Wednesdays announcement outside the Orange-Osceola County States Attorneys Office.

2017 Cox Media Group.

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Out-of-state group fights Florida's death penalty - WFTV Orlando

Pourakarmikas end stir after govt promises to abolish contract … – Times of India

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Bengaluru: Thousands of contract pourakarmikas of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Tuesday called off their strike and decided to return to work from Wednesday after the state government promised to regularise their jobs by July.

In the afternoon, following instructions from chief minister Siddaramaiah, municipal administration minister Eshwar Khandre, social welfare minister H Anjaneya and mayor G Padmavathi met the sanitation workers at Bannappa Park and assured them that their demands would be met.

"We have been told that a meeting will be convened before June 21 to decide on the modalities of abolishing the contract system. We have agreed to this. We will return to work from Wednesday morning," said Muthyalappa, head of the Bengaluru wing of the pourakarmikas' association, at Bannappa Park.

The strike by these workers, who clean the streets and collect garbage from houses, had affected garbage collection and disposal in the city. They have been protesting under the banner of Karnataka Rajya Nagarapalike, Nagarasabha, Purasabhegala Pourakarmikara Mahasangha.

Anjaneya told the pourakarmikas: "The chief minister has promised to fulfill your demands, including abolition of the contract system, immediately. Your jobs will be regularised and salaries will be credited directly to your accounts. There will be no worry about the contractor mafia from now."

The pourakarmikas agitation had come a shock to the BBMP, which is already struggling with waste disposal. The pourakarmikas' strike is not the only problem the civic body faces. Residents of Mittaganahalli and Kannur villages on the outskirts of city continue to block BBMP's garbage trucks from entering the quarries near their villages to dump rubbish.

BOX 1

Minister's Baahubali act

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Pourakarmikas end stir after govt promises to abolish contract ... - Times of India

Engen helps intellectually disabled young adults this Youth Month – Creamer Media’s Engineering News

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/ MEDIA STATEMENT / This content is not written by Creamer Media, but is a supplied media statement.

Ten intellectually disabled students have received the chance to transform their lives and build a better future. In a partnership between non-profit organisation The Living Link and Engen, these students have commenced a year-long Adult Integration Programme aimed at integrating them into society, both in the work place and their communities.

Engen donated R564000 at an official ceremony held at The Living Link Centre in Parkhurst, Gauteng on June 13th, 2017.

The Living Link Managing Director, Stanley Bawden says that they will also make every effort to place the graduates in the workplace on completion of their training in November. We strive to place our graduates in ordinary working environments, doing regular work and where salaries and benefits are real and reflect their work performance.

Engen Corporate Social Investment Manager, Mntu Nduvane says that due to the fact that disability affects a comparatively small percentage of the population, it remains traditionally underfunded. As we enter youth month, Engen is mindful that this is a key area of need which is why we have moved to assist young adults living with disabilities and their families. It is for this reason that Engen have extended their CSI focus areas, which previously included education, health and safety, and the environment, to include support of Persons with Disabilities. These are all closely aligned to the countrys national imperatives and address key issues in our business, society and government, adds Nduvane.

The Adult Integration Programme focuses on employment orientation, personal empowerment, lifestyle management and community survival. It also includes students doing job sampling. The Living Link also provides ongoing job coaching and training to both employer and employee. Everybody in our country has a role to play in enhancing the lives of all citizens especially those that are marginalised through disability. Our partnership with Engen will go a long way in helping to upskill and ultimately aid these disabled young adults to find employment and become contributing members of society, adds Bawden.

By working together with The Living Link we hope to forge a future that is inclusive of all people; where the marginalised have the opportunity to work, and where conditions are created for dreams to be achieved and a brighter future for all South Africans to be manifested, says Nduvane.

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Engen helps intellectually disabled young adults this Youth Month - Creamer Media's Engineering News

‘Just how in the hell did this become my life?’ – The Daily Advertiser

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Lisa Ann Published 9:18 a.m. CT June 14, 2017 | Updated 7 hours ago

Billy Flynn's Facebook post on co-parenting went viral. Here's the back story. SHARI PUTERMAN

Lisa is a single mom who is opening up about love and divorce.(Photo: FILE PHOTO)

Editor's Note:

This is the first installment of a new column titled "Red Curtains." Here, this Lafayette mom will open up about something very personal - and relatable. After 17years of marriage, Lisa and her husband divorced - and it wasn't something she saw coming. Now, fiveyears later, she's ready to share her story - and help others along the way.

Adversity.

This word can either destroy or strengthen.

Up until now, Ive tried to be very private to my own fault but this was not always the case. Full disclosure of our guarded feelings will sometimes hurt if they are said out loud, but if we are being sincere, then why not just find a way to express whats really going on?

Some of us are reaching for something ... anything that will give us clarity of how a certain event or even a life circumstance can completely shatter what we have always known to be safe.

I am beginning this column with months and years of actually wanting to share this journey and honestly, being a little scared to open my heart for fear of judgement. I have considered every single person who would read this, and finally, I am ready to put it out there. I will be truthful and honest, and I promise toinspire others who have been in my shoes.

To my ex-husband: You betrayed me - and I forgive you

My own personal circumstances may be familiar to some, and to those who are going through what Ive been through, this may be a story that will help you from falling off the cliff and trust me it is with my own very reluctant humility that I have taken so long to share and finally acknowledge exactly what I have had to face -the challenges, the struggle its real. Its hard.

Ive had a really difficult time facing my past, but an even harder time facing my future. I tried to run from this fear but, in many different aspects of finding my own identity, I thought about where I was, where I am now and realized that if I can reach just one person who is about to fall, well, thats enough.

Let me begin by saying that sometimes we arent ready to see or know our truth. It takes time and thought, mixed with opening our hearts and minds to heal. I have been in a place where some have been before, some are in now, and some will never understand.

My journey began way before my actual divorce, and it was something I never saw coming. Life as we know it, can change within a minuteI truly believe that everyone goes through some sense of a life trial, not knowing exactly where they are going or how to get there. We can choose to give up, or we can choose to fight our way through it. I choose to fight.

This is not a choice..

We all have our stories and they are all different, but the one thing we all have in common is something so deep that we can begin to move forward or live in the past, with regret and always wondering ... just how in the hell did this become my life??????

This is not just about divorce, its about finding that part of ourselves that we all lose at some point #justbeingreal.

So ... buckle your seat belts.

Its about to get real. Ready????????

#Lets go.

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'Just how in the hell did this become my life?' - The Daily Advertiser

What is youth empowerment in civic education? – NAIJ.COM

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What comes to mind when someone says civic education? Probably boring classes you couldnt wait to be over, isnt it? But what is it actually supposed to be and how can civic education be used for youth empowerment? Continue reading to find out.

Civic education

By definition, civic education is a way to teach people, mostly young kids, about politics (how the countrys political system works), government and how to be a citizen of their own country. In a democratic country, it aims to raise a new generation of politicians, decision makers and generally aware citizens.

The goal is to make young people think about their own future and their active role in it; how they can make the country better by actively participating in their governance. It also aspires to not only instill democratic ideals, but also to teach about the possible pitfalls of democracy.

Most people define three key components of civic education: civic skills, civic virtue and civic knowledge.

Civic skills refers to a persons capabilities to think about, rationalize and understand the basic duties of an aware citizen. In other words, these are intellectual skills. In addition, a good citizen should be able to stand up in the face of injustice, take part in the government processes and influence the decision-making of the highest levels of the political system.

Altogether, these traits form the bulk of participatory skills. To sum up, civic skills include participatory and intellectual skills required to be an active part of a society.

Civic virtues or dispositions relate to personal characteristics of a well-adjusted active member of society. To name a few, tolerance to other peoples views and ideals, respect towards other citizens, moral responsibility and integrity. Without at least some of these dispositions, it is impossible to be a thoughtful and involved citizen. However, it is possible to cultivate them by showing a good example and positive reinforcement.

Civic knowledge is knowing what is required of a person to be a citizen and how to be engaged in the inner workings of a country. It includes the knowledge of the principles of democracy and the basics of governmental processes, as well as the ability to compare how democracy works in other countries to your own by analyzing the available information and making critical conclusions.

Good lessons in civic education should engage the young audience, make them interested in how democracy should work. It means to encourage younger generations to be active in the life of their country, and not be just another dull lesson they cannot wait to get out of. Civic education is incredibly important for the brighter future of any country.

Youth empowerment

READ ALSO: List of youth empowerment programmes in Nigeria

So what is youth empowerment and how does it tie in with civic education? Generally, it is a way to give power to the young ones, to teach them that they could (and should!) take an active part in their own lives. While children are still young, it is possible to instill and mold their ideals, beliefs, hopes and aspirations. Youth empowerment is especially useful to help children at risk: kids from dysfunctional families, young delinquents and generally problematic kids.

In civic education, youth empowerment shows young kids that they can take part in the affairs of their country too. It shows them how things usually work in a democracy and what being a good citizen means. It teaches them to question everything, from what they are taught in school to what they see on the TV, to be vigilant and aware.

Importance of youth empowerment

The whole world relies on the future generation. Depending on what we teach our children and how we do it, the adults of tomorrow will either work on improving the current situation, or do nothing and let everything fall apart. If kids are taught to think for themselves, challenge questionable practices and be in control of their own lives, there is hope for a better future. Some of the most important advantages of youth empowerment are:

Building a stronger nation. Today countries are falling apart from constant conflicts among their own people. If children are taught from a younger age about the importance of a consolidated nation, they can learn how to work on the differences in opinions and keep the countries together.

Increasing tolerance and eradicating hate. People dont know how to hate from birth, they are taught to hate. Therefore, the younger generation still has a chance of accepting people for who they are and not taking into account the bigotry that exists today.

Improving the education. Usually, people that make decisions on education, finished school a very long time ago. Therefore, it is important for younger people to be involved in the education system to change it in accordance with current times. Additionally, these changes will provide the tools for raising new generations that are increasingly more aware.

Lowering the crime rates. Instilling positive personal traits and teaching kids about right and wrong from a younger age will significantly decrease the amount of young delinquents.

There is so much more that can be said on the topic of youth empowerment. The most important thing, though, is that there is no hope for a better future if our children dont want to change what they see around today. We need to show them how crucial it is for them to be active and aware citizens.

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What is youth empowerment in civic education? - NAIJ.COM

Raising a teacup to empowerment through literature – San Francisco Chronicle

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Xandra Robinson-Burns dashed out of a car on Post Street in the middle of Japantown. The tulle of her dress bounced as she raced inside the New People shopping and entertainment building, which is home to, among other things, the Crown & Crumpet Tea Stop Cafe. It was there, in the tearooms private party area next to a Japanese Harajuku fashion store, that Robinson-Burns would inspire us to live like heroines of great fiction.

Robinson-Burns story really starts with Harry Potter. The 25-year-old Boston native was determined to live in England ever since she felt an instant connection with the character of Hermione Granger, the nervous know-it-all, wild-haired bookworm from the seven-book Harry Potter series. As soon as she was old enough, Robinson-Burns left home to study English literature at Oxford University. While there, she fell in love with a Brit (who just happened to be reading a Harry Potter book), and she now lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, where Robinson-Burns writes articles on how we can allow and embrace fiction into our lives.

Basically, Robinson-Burns is a motivational speaker but shes genuine and passionate and kind of nervously nerdy about her job. As a result, she was subtle yet effective in inspiring our small tea party group to root for ourselves like were the protagonists in our own awesome novels. Cheesy as it may sound, I bought it.

I sort of started reading about personal development, said Robinson-Burns with a hint of Madonnas not-quite-British accent. And I realized that I had already learned a lot of it through literature. Its all about finding characters you can relate to.

Robinson-Burns explained this as she sat at the center of a long 14-person dining table covered in floral tablecloths and confetti. An eclectic array of porcelain china hung behind her, while a pink cuckoo clock dominated the far end of the wall. A dozen of us were seated at the table, wearing name tags. Several in attendance were Robinson-Burns blog fans; others were literature die-hards, just excited for a private high-tea experience with a small group of women who were more than delighted to discuss the likes of Jane Austen and J.K. Rowling on a Sunday afternoon.

We were instructed to introduce ourselves one by one, along with our favorite conversational topic. Many in the group said they love to talk about books or travel. I said, My name is Beth and I like to talk about true crime.

We sat upright with our napkins on our laps. We sipped tea. We used big words. We were fabulous literary heroines on the mezzanine level of a multiuse entertainment complex in Japantown.

Robinson-Burns imports lessons from the Harry Potter series into nearly every aspect of her life. She considers herself a member of the Gryffindor House, one of the four houses at the fictional Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and she did a lot of soul-searching to come to that decision. A woman sitting across the table from Robinson-Burns announced Im a Slytherin and was met with nods of approval.

Over tea sandwiches and scones, we werent lectured on how to live our lives more purposefully. Instead, Robinson-Burns encouraged us to talk to one another, she read quotes aloud from Pride and Prejudice, and she casually, quietly facilitated our diverse group to gently dive into deep conversations. We all left with new book recommendations, artists to check out, opinions on tea-based snacks, and two solid hours of intelligent and friendly chitchat with like-minded women.

The self-described introvert plans to continue her tea party tour. Her next one will be in Bristol, England, and shes got a project in the works with the Kate Spade store at the Westfield San Francisco Shopping Centre, which came about while trying on a dress for our tea party. Earlier in the day, Robinson-Burns had hosted an empowerment pop-up there.

Ive been manifesting this for a year now, she said of her blossoming business relationship with the fashion brand she loves. In addition to her tea parties and pop-ups, Robinson-Burns still writes Heroine Training, her mindful words of wisdom gleaned from a quarter-century spent nose-deep in the printed word.

Everything under the Heroine Training umbrella is about becoming aware of how to live your life more intentionally, Robinson-Burns said. You learn it through whichever lens applies to you. For some people, its theater. For some people, its Harry Potter. And for pretty much everyone, its a tea party.

Cheers to that, Hermione.

Beth Spotswoods column appears Thursdays in Datebook. Email: datebook@sfchronicle.com

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Raising a teacup to empowerment through literature - San Francisco Chronicle

The Technology That Will Change Accounting – Forbes

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The Technology That Will Change Accounting
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Lots of people speculate about the next big innovation that will take their industries by storm. In the realm of accounting and finance, there is a major technology often misunderstood by professionals that could dramatically change the game for the ...

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The Technology That Will Change Accounting - Forbes

TSA to test fingerprint technology at DIA – Denver Business Journal

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TSA to test fingerprint technology at DIA
Denver Business Journal
TSA looks at technologies and intelligence capabilities that allow us to analyze and secure the travel environment, passengers and their property. Through these and other technology demonstrations, we are looking to reinvent and enhance security ...
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TSA to test fingerprint technology at DIA - Denver Business Journal