What do Africans think about China? How does this compare with the US? I get asked these questions a lot, and I always try to resist responding with anecdotes along the lines of: "a taxi driver I spoke with in Ethiopia believes X about China/the US." The best data we have will be found in public opinion polls. Below is a quick survey of polls I know about. If readers have links to other polls, I'd love to include them.
The Afrobarometer asked a public opinion question on China in 2008 but I don't think they've repeated it. In that survey, 47% thought that China "helped somewhat" or "helped a lot" while 30% answered "don't know". For the US, 54% thought we "helped somewhat" or "helped a lot" and 29% didn't have a response.
The BBC regularly does a World Public Opinion poll (PIPA) asking some comparative questions on China, although their coverage of African countries is spotty. Their survey in 2011 had five African countries, Kenya (73% positive), Nigeria (85%), Ghana (72%), Egypt (55%) and South Africa (53%). All had at least 50% positive rating. Another BBC survey in two African countries in 2011 reported a positive view of the impact of China's growth on their country: Kenya (77% positive), Nigeria (82%). In 2013, the PIPA survey showed positive ratings of 78% for China in Nigeria, 68% in Ghana, and a decline to 58% in Kenya. Their 2014 survey showed a rise in favorable public opinion on China in Kenya (65%), stable in Ghana (67%) and a bit of a positive jump for Nigeria (85%).
The Pew Charitable Trust also includes some questions on China/US public opinion.
I think the most recent Pew survey took place in the Spring of 2013. The table from the US/China question is reproduced to the right. On average, 65 percent of Africans viewed China favorably, and 73 percent the US.
Earlier Pew surveys on this topic seem to have only included one country, Kenya. In 2010, 94% of Kenyans surveyed viewed the US favorably and in 2011, 83%. In the table on the right we can see a favorable opinion for the US of 81%, In 2010, 86% of Kenyans surveyed viewed China favorably, and in 2011, this dropped to 71% and in 2013, it rose to 78%.
The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) SAIS China Africa Research Initiative (SAIS-CARI) announces a call for papers for a Conference on China's Overseas Finance and Aid, April 10 and 11, 2015.
The SAIS China Africa Research Initiative (SAIS-CARI) will hold its second public conference on April 10, 2015 with a private researchers' workshop on April 11, 2015, in Washington, DC at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). The theme will be Researching China’s Overseas Finance and Aid: What, Why, How, Where and How Much? The goal will be a deeper, comparative understanding of the rise of China's state-supplied overseas finance, including grants, foreign aid loans, commercial loans, export credits and special investment funds. Papers will examine the motives and modalities, trends, sectors, and impacts using a variety of methods from quantitative analysis to case studies.
We are pleased to announce a Call for Papers for this conference and workshop. Proposals can be submitted at any time but are due by February 1, 2015.
The list is for suggestion only; other topics are also welcome. We especially welcome papers that are based on fieldwork and focus on case studies of specific projects. Applicants are welcome to discuss their proposed research with the conference organizers before making a proposal. Comparisons between Chinese and other financiers and donors would be particularly welcome, or comparisons between Chinese finance in Africa and in other regions (including China).
Prospective authors should submit a two page proposal to SAIS-CARI@jhu.edu by February 1, 2015. Proposals should include a 500 word abstract of the paper, a brief description of the research project and methodology, and a short biography of the author. We may request other information. Researchers whose papers are accepted will be provided with two nights accommodation and meals during the conference. A limited amount of travel support will be available for selected researchers to attend the conference. Authors should indicate whether they need travel support in order to participate.
We've seen a lot of discussion of the news media coverage of the new report by the Environmental Investigation Agency of the criminal ivory smuggling racket and its claims of Chinese diplomatic involvement in this criminal activity. Anthropology Professor Stephanie Rupp at the City University of New York is an expert on these issues, and a China-Africa hand. I asked her if she would give us a guest post for the blog.In the wake of recent claims regarding officials from the Chinese government’s involvement in ivory smuggling, the impact and demand of China for elephant ivory has once again come to the fore. A recent report released by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) catalogues the impact of Chinese criminal syndicates and Tanzanian corruption in the ivory trade. This report dovetails with other research indicating that Tanzania – and the ports of Dar and Zanzibar – provides a significant point of exit for ivory aggregated by means of networks that criss-cross the continent. It is important to emphasize that the ivory trade is a complex network that spans multiple nations in both Africa and Asia, a point that is indicated, but not emphasized in the EIA Report.
In the Congo River basin, where my research is focused, elephants have been aggressively targeted with a marked surge over the past decade. Indeed just this week 256 elephant tusks were confiscated in southern Cameroon. When I returned to my research site in southeastern Cameroon on the border with the Republic of Congo in the summer of 2014, the price of ivory in had increased tenfold over the past decade, from $40/kilo to $400/kilo. The urgency of the situation for elephant populations throughout the continent is clear: elephants in both forest and savannah contexts are under severe pressures from poaching.
On the Asian side, Thailand is the second-leading destination of African ivory after China. When I went to Thai markets to look for ivory during the summer of 2013, it was apparent that Thai markets are awash in ivory. Most of it appears to be “new stock,” ivory harvested after the 1989 CITES ban on international ivory trade. The CITES ban prohibits the trade of ivory across international boundaries, but not within particular nations – such as Thailand, India, or Zimbabwe, for example – that host elephant populations. Given the state of deterioration of the Thai national elephant herds, the relatively paucity of ivory on Asian elephants (only males produce tusks), and the proliferation of ivory networks throughout both African and Asian nations, new stocks of ivory in Thai – and other Asian markets – are likely to be from Africa.
Numerous governments – the US, France, the Philippines,and China -- have staged the very high-profile destruction of ivory. For the most part, these public performances of ivory destruction are media events designed to signal the state's official line in cracking down on ivory poaching. While these events signal important official recognition of the issues of ivory markets, such events are primarily public performances that may well allow trade in ivory to continue.
The issue of direct government involvement in the specific visit by the Chinese delegation in 2013 needs additional – and rigorous – substantiation. Evidence for involvement by Chinese government in exporting ivory through this official delegation comes from Tanzanian carvers who supplied carvings (ebony, ivory, or both) to the delegation.While particular relationships between international “officials,” business people, or travelers and particular artisans would not seem unusual, such specific ethnographic comments require substantiation.
Moreover, the idea of “Chinese” pressures on African elephant populations has to be much more carefully disaggregated: participants in contemporary ivory networks hail from multiple nations in addition to China. Even in EIA report highlights the involvement of actors in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Thailand. Though the primary destination, China is not the only end-market for ivory.
The plight of elephants today is a result of many centuries of human exploitation of these animals for their ivory. The last surge of demand (only one of many) spiked about a century ago, when consumers were the nouveau riche of the Gilded Age in North America. At the end of the 19th century, approximately 95% of all ivory leaving Africa left through Zanzibar, bound for New England ports and ultimately for elite markets in cities such as New York City, Philadelphia, and Boston. Piano keys, billiard balls, hair combs, handles on knives and revolvers: elite commodities drove the hunting of the largest “tuskers” in East central, and southern Africa a century ago, with detrimental affects on the population size and genetic pool of elephants that remained in the 20th century. Today's pressures on elephants, driven again by a surge of consumption of elite commodities by another nouveau riche – this time in Asia – needs to be seen in the context of this larger global history.
Taking a larger historical view helps us see that contemporary ivory networks rest on cultural values and historically deep pathways that are multiregional and multicultural, and should not devolve into “China-bashing.” This perspective allows us to break through the facile dichotomies such as “China-Africa” and “Chinese traditional vs. Western liberal values” to appreciate the global complexities of cross-cultural appreciation for ivory, and the long-term multifaceted pressures that this appetite for ivory exerts on elephants.
Thought I would share an interview I did last week with Young China Watchers (YCW), which is "a dynamic group of young professionals seeking to foster the next generation of China thought-leaders. Through regular roundtables and talks with senior figures in the China academic, policy, and business communities, and through original interviews and feature articles, it provides a chance for engaged individuals to interact and discuss the most pressing issues emerging from China today."
Click here for the interview, where you can also see the latest version of the cover of my new book!
And as we’ve seen recently with the Ebola epidemic, China has also shown that it is prepared to take on a bigger role in addressing international crises – including those that emerge far from Asia, even those on the opposite side of the globe. We’re very grateful that China has committed more than $130 million to date in aid and supplies to help address the Ebola crisis. And last week, China announced its plans to dispatch a unit from the People’s Liberation Army to Liberia to help manage the crisis. That’s global leadership, and it’s important, and that cooperation with us is more than welcome.
It's not been easy for the US and China to build a cooperative relationship in Africa. Much more could be done in fighting Ebola together -- a good place to build some positive guanxi among Americans and Chinese in Africa.
Looking into oil exports from Africa today -- an intern wrote up a story on a recent talk I gave. She sent me a draft, and I saw that she had mistakenly heard me say that China was taking 90 percent of Africa's resources (what I had actually said was that natural resources and commodities make up 90 percent of Chinese imports from Africa).
I know a lot of people still believe that China is vacuuming up the vast majority of Africa's resource exports. So what is the data? Let's look at oil. According to the US government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) China is importing 22% of sub-Saharan Africa's oil.
Thanks to fracking and shale gas, the US has cut way back on sub-Saharan African oil. We only imported 13% of SSA's oil exports in 2012. Europe gets the most: 28%. So, China imports 22% of sub-Saharan African oil and "the West," 41%.
What about North Africa? The major producers there are Libya (Europe has 71%, China has 12%, the US 4%) and Algeria (Europe gets 72%, "Asia" gets 10%). If this was added to the totals, China's percent would shrink and Europe's would expand.
China is a big consumer of African resources -- timber, cotton, copper -- but as far as oil, it is still quite a bit smaller than "the West".
The Financial Times tongue-in-cheek "Danwei Model Workers" list of websites on China honored the excellent China Africa Project in its "Model Worker of the Year (Podcast)" awards today. I love what the China Africa Project is are doing. Always lively, always worth checking out.
I am also pleased -- even though I haven't been blogging much as I focus on my new book -- that the Financial Times once again retains China in Africa: the Real Story blog on their "Model Worker" list of the best websites on China -- the only China in Africa website to make the list. This year they also include a Twitter list, which honors the indefatigable Winslow Robinson and the China Africa Reporting Project at Witts.
China is still a relatively new player in African resource investments. Given the poor social and environmental record of Chinese mining and oil companies at home -- and the challenges that face most companies operating in these sectors in Africa (think: Shell in the Niger Delta) or even off the shores of the United States (think: BP in the Gulf of Mexico) Chinese companies have had a steep learning curve about the risks of "going global". Global Witness has come out with a helpful new report on one aspect of these risks: complicated new laws that prohibit the import of minerals from conflict zones, and require source tracing: "Tackling Conflict Minerals: How a New Chinese Initiative Can Address Companies' Risks."
The report is timed to coincide with the launch of (un)official new guidelines on responsible supply chain management in conflict-affected countries put together by the China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals and Chemicals Importers and Exporters (CCCMC) the major Chinese business association grouping mineral import/export companies. It uses the DRC as a case study.
The guidelines themselves are being released today and I will provide a link when available. They were developed with assistance from the German development agency, GIZ. Bravo to GIZ and Global Witness for good, practical work. I hope you plan to translate the report into Chinese so it can have impact in the right places!
As many readers know, I am writing a book on China's agricultural investments in Africa. One of pieces of conventional wisdom I am questioning is the assumption that China wants to source its food in Africa. It's clear from detailed COMTRADE trade data that China actually exports far more food to Africa than the reverse. But that database is a pain to use.
Over the past few days I've been playing with the quick and easy FAOSTAT version 3, and I am really thrilled with its interface, and the range of data it provides. I hope it's good data -- it seems to match with other sources I'm using -- but what I especially love about it is the ease of queries on production and trade. Want to know where the Chinese sugar project in Benin exports its sugar? Bingo! (Portugal, France -- not China). Want to know if China exports rice to Mozambique? Bingo! (yes).
I know, this is all impossibly nerdy, but what a great job FAO is doing with making their data on food accessible. UN-COMTRADE: "eat" your heart out.
A Title for My New Book?
OK, here is where I really need some help from readers. I am down to the wire on a title for my new book on Chinese agricultural investment (or not) in Africa. I had what I thought was a great title, Feeding Frenzy, which would play off of the general perception that the Chinese are leading the land grab in Africa, to grow food to ship back to China. (There is little evidence of any grand strategy to do this, let alone of Chinese farms in Africa growing food for China -- at least for now). Then, a few months ago, someone else published a book with that title. It's about the global food crisis and not about China and Africa, but my publisher (Oxford again), emailed me on Friday: "Ok - we're at the finish line for titles. We need one asap (for the catalog). Feeding Frenzy is taken and doesn't work." They proposed The African Rice Bowl: China, [Global] Food Security, and the Agricultural Revolution in Africa [or African Agricultural Revolution].
Hmmmm ... this doesn't work for me. It's too much of an echo of other writers who have argued the thesis I am going to dispute, i.e. that China does want to make Africa into its rice bowl.
Update, October 10: Oxford has decided to go with Will Africa Feed China? -- no subtitle, but the cover will have a blurb or other written material that makes the point about the myths and realities. They liked the link with Lester Brown's famous 1995 book: "Who Will Feed China?" and the simplicity of the title which, they said, "says it all." So there we are. If anyone thinks this is really a problem title, please post! I still shudder to recall the original title selected by my last editor for The Dragon's Gift. They wanted to call it Rogue Donor? The book will be published at some point next year, probably in the summer.
I am again looking for an excellent candidate to undertake Ph.D. research on China-Africa economic engagement under my supervision, to enter in the Fall of 2015. SAIS offers fully funded Ph.D. fellowships. Candidates must already have an MA degree, ideally in development studies, economics, or international relations.
The ideal candidate will have some background in China-Africa relations, fluency in Chinese including the ability to read Chinese, field experience, and excellent English. Admission will depend on academic excellence (high GPA, excellent GRE scores), and a convincing statement of research interests that includes China's going-out engagement in Africa, broadly defined. This year I am particularly interested in candidates with interests in infrastructure, mining, and development finance. Quantitative skills (econometrics), Portuguese or French would be assets, but not required.
The deadline for applications is December 15. For more information, and to apply, consult the SAIS Ph.D. program website here.
Over the past couple of years I have been hard at work on a new book focused on China's agricultural investments in Africa. Some are very hard to track down. China State Farm Agribusiness Corporation (中国农垦)'s Togo Agriculture Development Company Ltd. for example. They reportedly developed a small-scale mixed farm offering demonstration and technical services in modern aquaculture, poultry, and pigs in an alluvial area 30 kilometers north of Lomé, according to a paper by J. R. Chaponniere and Zheng Qi, but as of 2014, we have not been able to find a trace of it.
China in Zambia: "On-Par with Industry Averages"?
CIFOR -- The Center for International Forestry Research -- has just published another paper in its series on Chinese investment in Africa: George Schoneveld, Laura German, and Davison Gumbo, "The developmental implications of Sino‑African economic and political relations: A preliminary assessment for the case of Zambia." CIFOR does great, very solid work, and this team is particularly good. I have enjoyed and profited from their studies for years.
contrary to popular perception, China's direct participation in other primary sectors, such as forestry and agriculture, is negligible.
Chinese investments have ...led to a rehabilitation of dilapidated mining infrastructure, while enhancing the country's production capacity through the construction of new processing facilities and the development of greenfield mines.
These investments have proven to be more stable and less subject to commodity price fluctuations than their Western counterparts.
Moreover, while Chinese investors are widely criticized for their poor corporate performance, on most labor-related and environmental dimensions, Chinese mines perform on-par with industry averages.
"Early evidence appears to contradict many of the long-held assumptions about Chinese economic and political participation in resource-rich countries."
Although the CIFOR report does not cite the Human Rights Watch study of Chinese mining in Zambia, it will be interesting to compare the two. I predict that CIFOR will get little publicity for their report -- compared with HRW.
A h/t to Christian Straube.
Will China Be Buying African Rice?
Recently colleagues at Devex published a story about what China's move away from grain self-sufficiency means for African agriculture. Curiously, they illustrated this story with the photo and caption above, of a pile of 50kg bags of rice ... coming INTO Senegal. Devex said these imports are from China. As the Ameropa label shows, this is unlikely. Ameropa is a Swiss multinational with a branch that specializes in importing Asian rice for African markets. The rice in this photo was probably sourced in Vietnam or Thailand, not China. As our recent SAIS-CARI conference on Chinese agricultural investment in Africa pointed out, China is not exploring ways to feed its growing population using food grown in Africa. At least, not yet.
I wrote my first book analyzing the problems and challenges faced by Chinese rice projects in West Africa (Chinese Aid and African Development, 1998), so this is a special interest of mine. Here's what is going on in Senegal -- excerpted from an excellent analysis by Adama Wade at Financialafrik.com.
Senegal, with 13 million inhabitants, is the world’s tenth biggest importer with 700,000 to 900,000 tonnes per year. ... « It is strange that the rice produced in central Vietnam, transported to Ho Chi Min Port, loaded in bulk and shipped to the ports of Abidjan or Dakar, landed and then transported by road to Bobo Dioulasso or St. Louis is preferred by the population and is cheaper than local rice», wonders aloud an operator, formerly shareholder of Glencore International. ... Local production accounts for 200,000 tonnes of paddy rice, the equivalent of 140,000 tonnes of local rice. The Government’s goal is to reach 1 million tonnes by 2015, including 800,000 tonnes produced through irrigated rice. The Senegalese Government has made food self-sufficiency its key priority. But, there are still some inconsistencies. More tax incentives are given to investors who make 80% of their turnover from exports. Amazing! This is just the tip of the iceberg- while Asian producers receive subsidies on energy, water and fertilizers, in the Senegal River Valley, support mechanisms remain elusive. So, there are no energy subsidies for rice production and development (offset). Urea, which was subsidised by 50% between 2006 and 2011 and sold at CFAF 6,000 now costs CFAF 9,000. Although the price of DAP actually decreased, the quantity available barely covers half of the requirements. There is an energy challenge in the processing of local rice.«There are fixed monthly electricity costs. Whether you work or not, you pay CFAF 250,000 a month.» Under such conditions, can local rice sold at CFA 12,500 mill price (12,500 for whole grain rice) be competitive and generate enough income for a quantitative and qualitative leap?
Adama's analysis makes it clear why the Chinese are not likely to be coming to Senegal for their rice. When it comes to that -- if it does -- they will go to Vietnam. Just as the Senegalese do.
China's second foreign aid white paper published -- finally!
Last summer, we started hearing that Chinese analysts were working on the second white paper on foreign aid. It has been many months in the works, and unexplicably delayed for months, but now, at last, the second White Paper on Foreign Aid has been published. It is much less detailed than the first, and perhaps that reflects the triumph of whatever concerns delayed it. Here's what's interesting.
These figures do not include additional funding (over $1.3 billion) provided through the UN and multilateral and regional development banks over this period.
According to the paper, 51.8 percent of Chinese aid goes to Africa. This means an average of $2.5 billion per year between 2009 and 2012.
China is also still providing debt relief in Africa. Nine countries: Tanzania, Zambia, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, Togo, Benin, Cote d'Ivoire and Sudan, had 16 mature interest-free loans cancelled, for a total of 1.42 billion yuan ($229 mn). This continues the practice begun more than a decade ago of loan cancellation only for the interest-free loans. Countries thinking they might have their concessional loans cancelled need to think again: concessional loans have never been included in the loan forgiveness program.
The "Chinese Peace Corps" is still alive, with some 7000 volunteers sent abroad over the past three years. Why do we hear almost nothing about this program? Has anyone run across a volunteer in Africa?
Another interesting development: China is providing some assistance to Burkina Faso, a country that recognizes Taiwan. This is done as part of a WTO-related program, where Benin, Mali, Chad and Burkina Faso -- the Cotton-4 countries -- receive cotton seeds, farm machinery and fertilizers, technology transfer and training, and support for other aspects of their cotton value chain. Cotton is probably the top agricutural export from Africa to China, so this clearly shows economics trumping politics.
A hat tip to Winslow Robertson who was even faster than my google alert to pick up news of the White Paper!
On debt sustainability, an official from the IMF confirmed: "The Chinese look at debt very differently [from the IMF]. It's a function of the project investment." He noted that the IMF Board has had "intense debate" on the debt limits policy (a post-HIPC innovation). "The debate has been heavily influenced by the way China has been approaching Africa. And that's all to the good."
A World Bank official working on the China-Africa relationship noted that the World Bank signed an MOU with China Eximbank in 2007, but nothing really resulted. Now, the World Bank has two new MOUs, one with China Eximbank signed in September 2013, and the other with China Development Bank, signed in June 2013. They may co-finance a project in South Sudan using World Bank standards [DB: we'll see about that, given the fighting there...].
An official from Kenya noted, "It's still early days" in this relationship, but "China is the most pragmatic development partner operating in Africa today." Someone related a story about Chinese pragmatism. A delegation from Tanzania went to Beijing with a list of vague ideas amounting to $10 bn. The Chinese looked at the list and said: "There are no bankable projects here."
Our panel had many of the same old questions about neo-colonialism, do Chinese import all their own workers, are they the largest investor, positive/negative influence, African opinion, and so on. An important point concerned procurement practices. Many Chinese companies are getting contracts on a no-bid basis. This tends to inflate costs. Competition is good. Transparency is good.
At last, a team of experienced researchers with extensive experience on official development assistance (and foreign aid), and with deep background on China, the OECD, and the Asian approach to aid and cooperation more generally, has come up with an estimate of China's total annual official development assistance (ODA) in 2013 of $7.1 billion. This fits well with the latest glimpse into official figures, when a Chinese official let slip in April 2013 that China's official aid was about $6.35 billion, and with my own estimates.
I highly recommend their paper: "Estimating China's Foreign Aid, 2001-2013 JICA-RI Working Paper No. 78, June 2014. Lead author Naohiro Kitano and his colleague Yukinori Harada have done a superb job. The methodology is carefully worked out and fully explicated.
One of the gnarly questions in estimating Chinese aid is how to treat subsidized (preferential) export credits, which like everything else out of the Chinese policy banks, seem to be growing rapidly. Kitano and Harada follow the method required by the OECD's Development Assistance Committee (DAC), which states that export credits, no matter how concessional, cannot be considered -- by definition -- official development assistance for DAC members, as their main purpose is the promotion of a country's exports. Of course they can be counted as foreign aid, just a military aid is foreign aid. But to be comparable with the OECD countries, neither of those two should be mixed up with ODA.
From what I can see, the Chinese also follow this recommendation. Though many in China do not understand the difference between the two (this is also true for many in the OECD), the budget lines that subsidize the two different loans (concessional foreign aid loan, or "you hui dai kuan" and preferential export buyer's credits, or "you hui mai fan xin dai") are also separate, and only one, concessional foreign aid loan, is included in Chinese announcements of their foreign aid.
"200,000 Ugandans have signed up to a company believing it will cure all their illnesses and help them make a fortune. But it is more likely to do the opposite."
This is the kind of balanced, important, deeply researched reporting that China Africa specialists long for. I particularly like the interview with an authentic Chinese doctor who is at first amused by the claims being made and then, as he learns more, genuinely alarmed by their implications.
Reported by James Wan. Another great effort supported by South African Wits University's China-Africa Reporting Project.
China: Exempt from Zimbabwe's Indigenization Policy?
In southern Africa, many people believe that Chinese companies are exempt from the indigenization policy in Zimbabwe -- a requirement that firms submit plans as to how they will achieve 51 percent Zimbabwean ownership over a set period. I don't think Chinese firms have a blanket exemption. True, I have read that the tobacco buyer Tian Ze -- which has been working with indigenous Zimbabwean tobacco farmers in a contract farming arrangement, supplying inputs and credit, and purchasing their crop -- was given an exemption. There may be some other Chinese companies that have negotiated exceptions just as some other foreign firms have been trying to do, but despite the oft-stated "Chinese are exempt" belief, the evidence suggests that Chinese firm have no blanket exemption.
"Zimbabwe's Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Act "(2010 Amendment) and Localization and Economic Empowerment Ministry No. 66 File 2013" provide that commercial activities in the reserved sectors must obtain localization certificates before January 1, 2014. Businesses are required to submit proof of localization options or plans. Failure to comply will be punishable by a fine, 3 to 4 months imprisonment, or both. The Chinese Embassy in Zimbabwe reminds those Chinese citizens engaged in reserved sectors, including retail and wholesale, to fully understand and comply with the relevant laws and regulations in time, in order to avoid unnecessary trouble and losses. The 14 sectors include: 1. Agriculture: food and cash crops of primary products; 2. Transportation: passenger buses, taxis and car rental services; 3. retail and wholesale; 4. barber shop, a hairdresser and a beauty salon; 5. Employment Agencies; 6. Real estate agent; 7. valet service; 8. grain milling; 9. bakery; 10. tobacco grading and packaging; 11. tobacco processing; 12. advertising agency; 13. milk processing; 14. The local art and handmade products marketing and distribution.
Comments on the website reveal a lot of confusion about the policy and how it will be implemented, but the message from the embassy is consistent: obtain your localization certificate in time or risk fines and imprisonment.
Here in Washington, I am asked a lot by people at USAID and the World Bank: why is it so hard to cooperate with China in Africa? Usually the person asking the question has in mind doing a foreign aid/development project together. It's not always clear exactly what the purpose of such cooperation is -- and I suspect that usually the subtext is "we need to teach the Chinese how to be better donors." I am collecting examples of US-China-Africa cooperation that already exist. Usually these are commercial deals where cooperation has a business rationale. This is an excellent, and more sustainable way to go.
China, Ethiopian Airlines to finance purchase of Boeing Aircraft by reporter Kaleyesus Bekele: This deal is still at an early MOU stage, but as the article notes, if it goes forward, it would involve a financing facility of $500 million from China's largest bank, ICBC, provided through a leasing vehicle, to Ethiopian Airlines, so that they could buy Boeing aircraft. Boeing, a US company, and China are "old friends". According to Boeing, more than 50 percent of the commercial jetliners operating in China are Boeing airplanes. Apparently ICBC has already been involved as a junior partner in another aircraft financing deal for the B777-200LR freighter in Ethiopia. This marks additional maturing of the China-Africa financial relationship. And it's the kind of tripartite cooperation that's likely to endure.
If anyone knows of other examples like this, please contribute.
A h/t to the Centre for Chinese Studies, Stellenbosch University.
According to the Financial Times, the Chinese and the Africa Development Bank will soon announce a contribution of $2 bn to an Africa-wide investment vehicle, "Africa Growing Together Fund." Unlike most Chinese finance on the continent, this would be open to all companies to compete. If it's true (and it is still to be confirmed), this is a huge change and a very welcome one. While the multilateral banks are not immune from corruption and embezzlement challenges, they do have stakeholders that try to hold them accountable in a transparent process. That has not been the case with the Chinese policy banks. I suspect that Chinese firms will still win the majority of contracts but what an excellent tactic by a maturing Chinese leadership to make them compete internationally for their wins. This kind of competition is how companies become excellent, not by having deals handed to them, or by winning through collusion or non-competitive means. I can't wait to learn more.
Mysterious Chinese Imports from Africa?
UPDATE April 28, 2014: A paper by Africa trade expert Dr. Ron Sandrey, "Assessing South Africa's Trading Relationship with China," also raises questions about this strange gap in data for South Africa's exports to China. He wonders if perhaps it represents exports of gold (although China is itself one of the largest gold producers in the world). Chinese trade experts, do weigh in!
The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) SAIS China Africa Research Initiative (SAIS-CARI) will hold an inaugural public conference: Researching China’s Agricultural Investment in Africa: ‘Land Grabs’ or ‘Friendship Farms’? May 16, 2014 and private research workshop on May 17, 2014, in Washington, DC at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. The goal of the conference is a deeper, comparative understanding of the motives and experiences of Chinese investors; the network of relationships: investors, governments in China (national and provincial) and in Africa, intermediaries and brokers; and the impact of their investments.
We are pleased to welcome an international group of experts from China, Mali, Mozambique, the Netherlands, the UK, South Africa, Spain, Uganda, France, and the US, presenting on a number of cases: Philippe Asanzi, Centre for Chinese Studies, Stellenbosch University (DRC and Mozambique), Deborah Brautigam, Johns Hopkins-SAIS (various), Lila Buckley, International Institute for Environment and Development, London (Senegal tbc), Xiaochen Chen (Tanzania) Sérgio Chichava, Instituto de Estudos Sociais e Económicos, (Mozambique), Solange Guo Chatelard, Max Plank Institute (Zambia), Jiao Yang, University of Florida (Ghana, Nigeria tbc), Josh Maiyo, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Uganda), Margaret Myers, Interamerican Dialogue (China in Latin America), Nama Ouattara, Université Paris-Sud (Mali), George Schoenveld, CIFOR (various), Xiaoyang Tang, Tsinghua University (Malawi), Henry Tugendhat, IDS-Sussex (various), Eckart Woertz, Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (Gulf States in Africa), Xiuli Xu, China Agriculture University (Tanzania), Jinyan Zhou, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (Angola), and others still to be confirmed.
Data and details: why did the land grab databases get it so wrong?
The business model behind China’s agro-technology demonstration centers.
The conference is free, and open to the public, although seats are limited. We will open Eventbrite for tickets one month before the conference date -- link will be at the website of the SAIS China Africa Research Initiative SAIS-CARI. To reserve a seat in advance, or to request an invitation to the private researchers workshop, please email: SAIS-CARI@jhu.edu.
Anyone who has been to Luanda knows that the city lacks housing. The hotels are extremely expensive, and researchers have been known to rent a room in someone's house for $100 a day. Angolan president Jose dos Santos pledged to build a million new homes, between 2008 and 2012. Kilamba City was part of that promise. The idea of constructing a new town, Kilamba City, 20 km outside Luanda, where flats would be available for purchase, seemed like a good one.
A Frenchman, Pierre Falcon, the famous architect of the "Angola-gate" arms trade and corruption scandal, owns the company that oversaw the project: Pierson Capital Group. The complex was financed by ICBC, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, allegedly backed by oil-revenues. CITIC built the flats. The state-owned oil Angola was in charge of marketing the apartments (they would use those revenues to repay the loan). Chinese firms built Kilamba. And then the apartments seemed to stand empty. Visiting Western journalists photographed the long, lonely expanses of buildings. Kilamba City was filled, it seemed, by ghosts.
Until recently. Or so it seems. According to the official Angolan news agency, some 40,000 people moved into Kilamba after their families took advantage of long-term, low-cost mortgages to buy flats with prices ranging from US$70,000 to US$140,000. One account said people are standing in line for days to buy one (photo left).
The news stories on Kilamba, the "ghost town" mainly date from 2012. If it is actually now becoming a thriving town, why hasn't anyone gone back to report on it?
Readers: have you seen Kilamba? Your comments and stories are very welcome.
Update May 6, 2014: New SAIIA analysis exactly on this topic, by David Benazeraf and Ana Alves, "Oil for Housing: Chinese-Built New Towns in Angola." Highly recommended.


Usage ===== rst2s5 [options] [<source> [<destination>]] Generates S5 (X)HTML slideshow documents from standalone reStructuredText sources. Reads from <source> (default is stdin) and writes to <destination> (default is stdout). See <http://docutils.sf.net/docs/user/config.html> for the full reference. Options ======= General Docutils Options ------------------------ --title=TITLE Specify the document title as metadata. --generator, -g Include a "Generated by Docutils" credit and link. --no-generator Do not include a generator credit. --date, -d Include the date at the end of the document (UTC). --time, -t Include the time & date (UTC). --no-datestamp Do not include a datestamp of any kind. --source-link, -s Include a "View document source" link. --source-url=<URL> Use <URL> for a source link; implies --source-link. --no-source-link Do not include a "View document source" link. --toc-entry-backlinks Link from section headers to TOC entries. (default) --toc-top-backlinks Link from section headers to the top of the TOC. --no-toc-backlinks Disable backlinks to the table of contents. --footnote-backlinks Link from footnotes/citations to references. (default) --no-footnote-backlinks Disable backlinks from footnotes and citations. --section-numbering Enable section numbering by Docutils. (default) --no-section-numbering Disable section numbering by Docutils. --strip-comments Remove comment elements from the document tree. --leave-comments Leave comment elements in the document tree. (default) --strip-elements-with-class=<class> Remove all elements with classes="<class>" from the document tree. Warning: potentially dangerous; use with caution. (Multiple-use option.) --strip-class=<class> Remove all classes="<class>" attributes from elements in the document tree. Warning: potentially dangerous; use with caution. (Multiple-use option.) --report=<level>, -r <level> Report system messages at or higher than <level>: "info" or "1", "warning"/"2" (default), "error"/"3", "severe"/"4", "none"/"5" --verbose, -v Report all system messages. (Same as "--report=1".) --quiet, -q Report no system messages. (Same as "--report=5".) --halt=<level> Halt execution at system messages at or above <level>. Levels as in --report. Default: 4 (severe). --strict Halt at the slightest problem. Same as "--halt=info". --exit-status=<level> Enable a non-zero exit status for non-halting system messages at or above <level>. Default: 5 (disabled). --debug Enable debug-level system messages and diagnostics. --no-debug Disable debug output. (default) --warnings=<file> Send the output of system messages to <file>. --traceback Enable Python tracebacks when Docutils is halted. --no-traceback Disable Python tracebacks. (default) --input-encoding=<name[:handler]>, -i <name[:handler]> Specify the encoding and optionally the error handler of input text. Default: <locale-dependent>:strict. --input-encoding-error-handler=INPUT_ENCODING_ERROR_HANDLER Specify the error handler for undecodable characters. Choices: "strict" (default), "ignore", and "replace". --output-encoding=<name[:handler]>, -o <name[:handler]> Specify the text encoding and optionally the error handler for output. Default: UTF-8:strict. --output-encoding-error-handler=OUTPUT_ENCODING_ERROR_HANDLER Specify error handler for unencodable output characters; "strict" (default), "ignore", "replace", "xmlcharrefreplace", "backslashreplace". --error-encoding=<name[:handler]>, -e <name[:handler]> Specify text encoding and error handler for error output. Default text encoding: system encoding. Default error handler: backslashreplace. --error-encoding-error-handler=ERROR_ENCODING_ERROR_HANDLER Specify the error handler for unencodable characters in error output. Default: backslashreplace. --language=<name>, -l <name> Specify the language (as BCP 47 language tag). Default: en. --record-dependencies=<file> Write output file dependencies to <file>. --config=<file> Read configuration settings from <file>, if it exists. --version, -V Show this program's version number and exit. --help, -h Show this help message and exit. reStructuredText Parser Options ------------------------------- --pep-references Recognize and link to standalone PEP references (like "PEP 258"). --pep-base-url=<URL> Base URL for PEP references (default "http://www.python.org/dev/peps/"). --pep-file-url-template=<URL> Template for PEP file part of URL. (default "pep-%04d") --rfc-references Recognize and link to standalone RFC references (like "RFC 822"). --rfc-base-url=<URL> Base URL for RFC references (default "http://tools.ietf.org/html/"). --tab-width=<width> Set number of spaces for tab expansion (default 8). --trim-footnote-reference-space Remove spaces before footnote references. --leave-footnote-reference-space Leave spaces before footnote references. --no-file-insertion Disable directives that insert the contents of external file ("include" & "raw"); replaced with a "warning" system message. --file-insertion-enabled Enable directives that insert the contents of external file ("include" & "raw"). Enabled by default. --no-raw Disable the "raw" directives; replaced with a "warning" system message. --raw-enabled Enable the "raw" directive. Enabled by default. --syntax-highlight=<format> Token name set for parsing code with Pygments: one of "long", "short", or "none (no parsing)". Default is "long". --smart-quotes=SMART_QUOTES Change straight quotation marks to typographic form: one of "yes", "no", "alt[ernative]" (default "no"). --word-level-inline-markup Inline markup recognized at word boundaries only (adjacent to punctuation or whitespace). Force character-level inline markup recognition with "\ " (backslash + space). Default. --character-level-inline-markup Inline markup recognized anywhere, regardless of surrounding characters. Backslash-escapes must be used to avoid unwanted markup recognition. Useful for East Asian languages. Experimental. Standalone Reader ----------------- --no-doc-title Disable the promotion of a lone top-level section title to document title (and subsequent section title to document subtitle promotion; enabled by default). --no-doc-info Disable the bibliographic field list transform (enabled by default). --section-subtitles Activate the promotion of lone subsection titles to section subtitles (disabled by default). --no-section-subtitles Deactivate the promotion of lone subsection titles. HTML-Specific Options --------------------- --template=<file> Specify the template file (UTF-8 encoded). Default is "/usr/share/docutils/writers/html4css1/template.txt". --stylesheet=<URL[,URL,...]> Comma separated list of stylesheet URLs. Overrides previous --stylesheet and --stylesheet-path settings. --stylesheet-path=<file[,file,...]> Comma separated list of stylesheet paths. Relative paths are expanded if a matching file is found in the --stylesheet-dirs. With --link-stylesheet, the path is rewritten relative to the output HTML file. Default: "html4css1.css" --embed-stylesheet Embed the stylesheet(s) in the output HTML file. The stylesheet files must be accessible during processing. This is the default. --link-stylesheet Link to the stylesheet(s) in the output HTML file. Default: embed stylesheets. --stylesheet-dirs=<dir[,dir,...]> Comma-separated list of directories where stylesheets are found. Used by --stylesheet-path when expanding relative path arguments. Default: "['.', '/usr/share/docutils/writers/html4css1', '/usr/share/docutils/writers/html5_polyglot']" --initial-header-level=<level> Specify the initial header level. Default is 1 for "<h1>". Does not affect document title & subtitle (see --no-doc-title). --field-name-limit=<level> Specify the maximum width (in characters) for one- column field names. Longer field names will span an entire row of the table used to render the field list. Default is 14 characters. Use 0 for "no limit". --option-limit=<level> Specify the maximum width (in characters) for options in option lists. Longer options will span an entire row of the table used to render the option list. Default is 14 characters. Use 0 for "no limit". --footnote-references=<format> Format for footnote references: one of "superscript" or "brackets". Default is "brackets". --attribution=<format> Format for block quote attributions: one of "dash" (em-dash prefix), "parentheses"/"parens", or "none". Default is "dash". --compact-lists Remove extra vertical whitespace between items of "simple" bullet lists and enumerated lists. Default: enabled. --no-compact-lists Disable compact simple bullet and enumerated lists. --compact-field-lists Remove extra vertical whitespace between items of simple field lists. Default: enabled. --no-compact-field-lists Disable compact simple field lists. --table-style=TABLE_STYLE Added to standard table classes. Defined styles: "borderless". Default: "" --math-output=MATH_OUTPUT Math output format, one of "MathML", "HTML", "MathJax" or "LaTeX". Default: "HTML math.css" --no-xml-declaration Omit the XML declaration. Use with caution. --cloak-email-addresses Obfuscate email addresses to confuse harvesters while still keeping email links usable with standards- compliant browsers. S5 Slideshow Specific Options ----------------------------- For the S5/HTML writer, the --no-toc-backlinks option (defined in General Docutils Options above) is the default, and should not be changed. --theme=<name> Specify an installed S5 theme by name. Overrides --theme-url. The default theme name is "default". The theme files will be copied into a "ui/<theme>" directory, in the same directory as the destination file (output HTML). Note that existing theme files will not be overwritten (unless --overwrite-theme- files is used). --theme-url=<URL> Specify an S5 theme URL. The destination file (output HTML) will link to this theme; nothing will be copied. Overrides --theme. --overwrite-theme-files Allow existing theme files in the ``ui/<theme>`` directory to be overwritten. The default is not to overwrite theme files. --keep-theme-files Keep existing theme files in the ``ui/<theme>`` directory; do not overwrite any. This is the default. --view-mode=<mode> Set the initial view mode to "slideshow" [default] or "outline". --hidden-controls Normally hide the presentation controls in slideshow mode. This is the default. --visible-controls Always show the presentation controls in slideshow mode. The default is to hide the controls. --current-slide Enable the current slide indicator ("1 / 15"). The default is to disable it. --no-current-slide Disable the current slide indicator. This is the default.


9 out of 10 based on 280 ratings. 1,730 user reviews.
Section 12–3 RNA and Protein Synthesis (pages 300–306) This section describes RNA and its role in transcription and translation. The Structure of RNA(page 300) 1. List the three main differences between RNA and DNA. a. RNA has ribose sugar instead of deoxyribose. b. RNA is generally single-stranded, instead of double-stranded.
Date: 2 AUTHOR: verfmealsform answers to section12-1 dna pages 287-294 NAME: KEY Biology I DNA ReplicationPeriod:Section 12-1 DNA (pages 287-294): This section tells about the experiments that helped scientists discoverthe. Section 12–1 DNA Section 12 1 DNA Answers - PDF documents Download: Section 12 1 dna answers pages 287 294..
Section 12–4 Mutations(pages 307–308) This section describes and compares gene mutations and chromosomal mutations. Introduction (page 307) 1. What are mutations? Mutations are changes in the DNA sequence that affect genetic information. 2. Is the following sentence true or false? Chromosomal mutations result from changes in a single gene.


How to use stored procedure for insert, update and delete using grid view control?
In this article I am going to explain you in detail all grid view operation like Insert, update, delete and select using stored procedures using ASP.net.
Most frequently we are use gridview control to display data from the database but some time we are struggle to manipulate data operation through gridview using stored procedure. For this reason I am write here one simple article to explain all operation using stored procedure.
Then I have created four separate stored procedures to manipulate data in that table.
How to insert new record using stored procedure in grid view?
Here I have insert new record details using grid view footer template. If user wants to add new record then he/ she use footer row to insert new data like below screen.
Here I am using insert_emp stored procedure to insert new record in the table.
How to update data using stored procedure in grid view?
Here I am going to explain how to update using stored procedure. I am call here previously created update_emp stored procedure to update existing record in the table.
How to delete data using stored procedure in grid view?
<asp:GridView ID="GridView1" runat="server" AutoGenerateColumns="false" ShowFooter="true"
<asp:ImageButton ID="ImageButton1" runat="server" ImageUrl="~/img/edit.png" Width="25"
<asp:ImageButton ID="ImageButton2" runat="server" ImageUrl="~/img/delete.png" CommandName="Delete"
I hope this article is help you to know about all gridview operations using stored procedure.
Thanks! It worked and helped me a lot!


The girlfriend of rapper Nipsey Hussle gave an emotional eulogy at a celebration of his life at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Thursday morning.
'Never was I prepared for anything like this,' Lauren London began in an moving tribute.
'I had to write something because I've never felt this type of pain before. His soul was majestic. He was the strongest man that I ever knew,' she said.
Adding to the heartbreak, London and Hussle had a two-year-old son together, called Kross.
They were also parents to Emani Asghedom, Hussle's seven-year-old daughter from a previous relationship, along with Cameron Carter, London's nine-year-old son whom she had with ex-boyfriend Lil Wayne.
London also took a moment to send a message to the city of Los Angeles whom she said was 'hurting'.
London joined more than 20,000 people and a star-studded array of celebrities who came to the Staples Center on Thursday morning looking to pay their respects to the slain rapper who was shot and killed late last month.
The Nipsey Hussle's Celebration of Life ceremony began at 10am PDT (1pm EST) with thousands lining the streets in a 25-mile procession through the city afterwards.
Among the bustling crowd, fellow musicians Kendrick Lamar, P. Diddy, The Game and Usher were seen entering the stadium. Other stars, including NBA players James Harden and Russel Westbrook, were also in attendance.
The hearse carrying Hussle's coffin arrived at the stadium flanked by a convoy of black Rolls Royces.
The last time Hussle appeared at the venue was when he headlined the BET Experience in June.
Longtime friend and social media manager of the troubadour, Karen Civil, read out a letter written by former president Barrack Obama.
In the moving tribute, Obama wrote of his admiration for Hussle's community work, and insisted he's learned a lot about the man behind the music since his death.
'While most folks look at the Crenshaw neighborhood where he grew up and see only gangs, bullets and despair, Nipsey saw potential,' Obama wrote.
'He set an example for young people to follow and is a legacy worthy to follow,' he continued.
Hussle was shot to death on March 31 while standing outside The Marathon, his South Los Angeles clothing store, not far from where the rapper grew up.
Barack Obama has paid moving tribute to the slain rapper and activist Nipsey Hussle, who was gunned down last month prompting an outpouring of grief among the black community.
At a celebration of the late rapper's life at the Staples Center in Los Angeles today, a close friend, Karen Civil, read out a letter written by the former president in which he wrote of his admiration for Hussle's community work and philanthropy.
'While most folks look at the Crenshaw neighborhood where he grew up and see only gangs, bullets and dispair, Nipsey saw potential,' Obama wrote. 'He saw hope. He saw a community that even through its flaws, taught him how to keep going.
Hussle, real name Ermias Asghedom, was murdered allegedly following a dispute on March 31 while standing outside The Marathon, his South Los Angeles clothing store.
News of Hussle's death was greeted with a mixture of disbelief and sorrow, as the the rapper, 33, had earned enormous admiration and respect for reinvesting in his deprived Crenshaw community.
'His choice to invest in that community rather than ignore it — to build a skills training center and a coworking space in Crenshaw; to lift up the Eritrean-American community; to set an example for young people to follow — is a legacy worthy of celebration. I hope his memory inspires more good work in Crenshaw and communities like it,' Obama wrote.
'Michelle and I send our sympathies to Lauren, Emani, Kross and the entire Asghedom family and to all those who loved Nipsey,' Obama, 57, said.
'I would like for him to be remembered as a humble, spirited, respectful man who had, since his childhood, had an extraordinary and unlimited intellectual capacity,' his mother, Angelique Smith, said to the LA Times, in reference to her son leaving behind a positive legacy.
A number of star-studded guests, including Stevie Wonder, performed at the tribute.
Stevie Wonder's appearance had previously been requested by the rapper in his 2016 song, 'Ocean Views', in which Hussle envisioned what he would want his funeral to look like.
'Hundred-thousand in my coffin, that's just life though. Play a Stevie Wonder song, smoke some flight, bro,' the rapper outlines.
Following his performance of 'Rocket Love' and 'Tears in Heaven', Stevie Wonder described Hussle as a 'great man', adding that he hope his untimely death helps to bring an end to gun violence and prompt tighter gun control.
'It's unacceptable. It's as if the world is going blind,' Wonder added.
The 33-year-old Grammy-nominated artist, whose real name was Ermias Asghedom, was an Eritrean-American father of two who was engaged to actress Lauren London.
Lauren took to the stage on Thursday, along with Hussle's son, daughter and his nephew, who shared a dream he had of his uncle shortly after his death.
The words reportedly prompted the gunman, suspected to be Eric Holder – also known as 'Sh***y Cuz' - to turn around and fire several more times.
He suffered multiple gunshot wounds to his head and torso, and was pronounced dead 35 minutes later.
The store will be one of the places where Hussle's casket passes during the procession through South Los Angeles.
Following Thursday's ceremony, the car carrying Hussel's body traveled deep into the neighborhood where the deadly Rodney King race riot began in 1992 and on past the property where Hussle had planned to turn an aging strip mall into new businesses and affordable homes.
Finally, it arrived at a funeral home in the city's hard-scrabble Crenshaw district, where the rapper was born on August 15, 1985.
Hussle was a beloved figure for his philanthropic work that went well beyond the usual celebrity 'giving back' ethos. Following his death, political and community leaders were as quick and effusive in their praise as his fellow hip-hop artists.
'He wasn't scared of anything. [God] sent him to send a message. It looks like, 'Your time is up because you have completed what I sent you to do.' We all have a plan, but God has his own plan.
For a decade, Hussle released much sought-after mix-tapes that he sold out of the trunk of his car, helping him create a buzz and gain respect from rap purists and his peers. His said his stage name, a play on the 1960s and '70s rhyming stand-up comic Nipsey Russell, was given to him as a teen by an older friend because he was such a go-getter - always hustling.
He charged $100 for his 2013 mixtape 'Crenshaw', scoring a cash and publicity coup when Jay-Z bought 100 copies for $10,000.
Last year he hit new heights with 'Victory Lap,' his critically acclaimed major-label debut album on Atlantic Records that made several critics' best-of lists. The album debuted at No. 4 on Billboard's 200 albums charts and features collaborations with Kendrick Lamar and CeeLo Green.
But long before his tragic death last month, Hussle had already envisioned how his funeral would play out in his 2016 track 'Ocean Views'.
The 'blue rag', for which Hussle's image became synonymous with, was a symbol for his historic ties to a subsidiary of the Los Angeles gang, the Crips, called the Rolling 60s.
Hussle regularly addressed his gang-plagued past, and later stated it was his rise out of gang-life to spotlight stardom that helped inspire him to give back to vulnerable members of the community, through entrepreneurship and activism.
Family members of Hussle asked those in attendance to act respectfully, in a bid to avoid a repeat of the violence at last week's vigil Slauson Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard.
Reports of a gunman triggered a huge stampede that injured 19 people. Authorities later determined that no shots were actually fired at the vigil, but there was evidence of an unspecified brazen attack during the crowded candlelight gathering.
But April 11's celebration of life began in true party style with a DJ and a live band, who played a musical tribute to Hussle by playing a number of his hit-songs, including 'Victory Lap'. The track featured on the album of the same title and secured the rapper his first Grammy-nomination last-year.
'It's a victory, baby,' called out DJ Battlecat to the crowd. 'The marathon continues,' a reference to his 2010 mix-tape, 'The Marathon'.
In an emotional tribute, Hussle's brother, Samuel Asghedom, said his sibling just wanted to inspire his community.
The silver hearse carrying Hussle's remains later pulled in to the Angelus Funeral Home after a 25-mile procession through the city that started following the rapper's memorial service at the Staples Center earlier Thursday.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets to catch a glimpse of the procession.
The hearse carrying Hussle's casket stopped outside The Marathon clothing store after being on the road for more than three hours on its trek.
Thousands of people had gathered at the shop to pay tribute to the rapper, who was fatally shot outside the store on March 31.
Hussle founded his store 'The Marathon' and planned it to be the anchor of a revitalization effort for the area where he grew up.
Last year he hit new heights with 'Victory Lap,' his critically acclaimed major-label debut album on Atlantic Records that made several critics' best-of lists and earned him a Grammy nomination.


What Caused This Eerie White Ring in a Woman's Eye?
, published yesterday (Feb. 28) in The New England Journal of Medicine. But eventually, her vision troubles sent her to the doctor.
The condition is usually caused by an infection, such as from syphilis or herpes simplex virus. But tests for a number of infections came back negative, leaving the doctors puzzled over the cause.
It wasn't until six months later — when the woman started having other symptoms, including vertigo, tinnitus (ringing in the ears) and hearing loss — that doctors were able to pinpoint the ultimate cause of the women's problems. Her constellation of symptoms was the result of a rare autoimmune condition called Cogan's syndrome, according to the report.
Doctors don't know what causes Cogan's syndrome, but they think it may occur when the body's immune system mistakenly attacks tissues in the eyes and ears, according to Harvard Medical School.
Having this type of eye inflammation caused by an immune condition is very uncommon, said Dr. Anat Galor, a clinical spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology who was not involved with this patient's case.
"It's super-rare to have an autoimmune disease cause" interstitial keratitis, Galor told Live Science. Instead, the condition is almost always caused by an infection, often the herpes simplex virus, she said.
But regardless of what causes the interstitial keratitis, doctors think the eye symptoms result from the body's immune response, either to the infection or to its own tissues, Galor said.
The whitening seen in the cornea can be either edema, or swelling, in the initial stages of the disease, or scarring in the later stages, she said.
The white ring seen in this patient's eye looks different from the typical presentation of interstitial keratitis, Galor noted. Usually, the whitening starts at the limbus, or the border between the cornea and the white part of the eye, and makes its way into the center of the cornea. But in this woman's case, there is clear space between the limbus and the ring-shaped opacity, Galor said.
Galor said she has never seen a case of Cogan's syndrome in her 15 years of practice. But eye doctors always consider it in a case like this, since it can be one of the causes of interstitial keratitis, she said.
Because many conditions and diseases can cause eye symptoms, ophthalmologists can help guide a patient's diagnosis by communicating with the patient's other doctors, and helping to put the full story together, Galor said.
Patients with interstitial keratitis receive treatment for inflammation and for the underlying condition (such as an infection). Sometimes, the condition can lead to permanent scarring and vision problems, Galor said.
In the Portuguese woman's case, she received treatment with glucocorticoids, or steroid hormones that treat inflammation. One month later, the patient saw some improvements in her vision, but she still had mild hearing loss in both ears, the report said.
Why Does This Woman's Eyeball Look Like a Sliced Pizza?


Seems like they insist on mobile numbers, and that is a piece of data I am not willing to share with the public or Google.
Several people I spoke with were surprised to hear about Google enforcing the disclosure of phone numbers.
-I have now tried creating accounts several times, from different browsers and via different internet connections (mobile, work, home) and always got the same result.
+Google themselves say on their [help page](https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/1733224?hl=en) that submitting a phone number "is optional but highly recommended".
+That's a lie: I have now tried creating accounts several times, from different browsers and via different internet connections (mobile, work, home) and always got the same dialog asking me for a phone number, with no way to skip.
I even tried a friend's computer who said he just recently created an account without having to give a phone number.
-I am not sure what kind of profiling Google is doing here, but I was never able to skip the phone validation step.
+I am not sure what kind of profiling Google is doing here, but they seem to have some kind of heuristics for whom they ask for a phone number and whom they don't.
I am considering various options, including getting a cheap prepaid SIM card just for Google.
All of this may sound somewhat paranoid, but the point I am trying to make is this: at some point we have crossed the barrier where having a Google account was optional.


Because people with one disease entity (schizophrenia) do not exist, only persons with experience with psychosis, with very different background, very different symptoms and very different needs, therapy for people with psychosis must be need adapted. So for instance one person will benefit most from psychodynamic therapy another person from paid work. Also the needs of a person can change overtime. Therapy can be short sometimes but must be longtime if needed, without changes of therapist caused by the system. A psychosis affects not only a person but also family and friends. Good relationships with family and friends are good for recovery. Therefore most effective programs are need adapted, offer continuity of care and include also family work. In this page you find examples.
In this book you find memorable case vignettes along with research findings and is recommended for clinicians, students, teachers of mental health and those in public policy involved in creating effective treatment methods.
In Finland, family with a psychotic person are visited from the very first day, while everybody including the psychotic person tells about his or her experiences, the meaning of psychosis becomes clear. OPEN DIALOGUE: 74-minute documentary film on the Western Lapland Open Dialogue Project, the program presently getting the best results in the developed world for first-break psychosis -- approximately 85% full recovery, a far majority off antipsychotic medication. Filmed in Finland. Directed by Daniel Mackler.
Five-year experience of first-episode nonaffective psychosis in open-dialogue approach: Treatment principles, follow-up outcomes, and two case Studies Jaakko Seikkula , Jukka Aaltonen , Birgittu Alakare , Kauko Haarakangas , Jyrki Kera¨ Nen , & Klaus Lehtinen, Psychotherapy Research, March 2006; 16(2): 214/228 Abstract: The open dialogue (OD) family and network approach aims at treating psychotic patients in their homes. The treatment involves the patient’s social network and starts within 24 hr after contact. Responsibility for the entire treatment process rests with the same team in both inpatient and outpatient settings. The general aim is to generate dialogue with the family to construct words for the experiences that occur when psychotic symptoms exist. In the Finnish Western Lapland a historical comparison of 5-year follow-ups of two groups of first-episode nonaffective psychotic patients were compared, one before (API group; n/33) and the other during (ODAP group; n/42) the fully developed phase of using OD approach in all cases. In the ODAP group, the mean duration of untreated psychosis had declined to 3.3 months (p/.069). The ODAP group had both fewer hospital days and fewer family meetings (p B/.001). Nonetheless, no significant differences emerged in the 5-year treatment outcomes. In the ODAP group, 82% did not have any residual psychotic symptoms, 86% had returned to their studies or a full-time job, and 14% were on disability allowance. Seventeen percent had relapsed during the first 2 years and 19% during the next 3 years. Twenty nine percent had used neuroleptic medication in some phase of the treatment. Two cases from both periods are presented to illustrate the approach.
Involving clients and their relatives and friends in psychiatric care: Case managers' experiences of training in resource group assertive community treatment, Tommy Nordén, Anders Eriksson,Anette Kjellgren and Torsten Norlander2 The purpose of this project was to do a qualitative study of an integrated and flexible ACT model, the Resource Group Assertive Community Treatment (RACT), as seen from the perspective of case managers in training. The resource group normally consists of the client, the case manager and other available personnel in the medical and support areas, as well as family members. Nineteen theses were randomly chosen from a set of 80 theses written by a group of Swedish trainee case managers. The exams were conducted as case studies and concerned 19 clients with psychotic problems, 11 men and 8 women. “The Empirical Phenomenological Psychological Method” was used in the analysis, which generated five overarching themes: (a) the RACT program; (b) the resource group; (c) the empowerment of the client; (d) progress in treatment; and (e) the case manager. These together constituted a “therapeutic circle,” in which methods and tools used within the RACT made it possible for the resource group to empower the clients who, as a result, experienced progress with treatment, during which the case manager was the unifying and connecting link.
The Clinical Strategies Implementation scale (CSI) was originally designed to be used by external reviewers in order to measure the extent to which evidence-based strategies had been implemented in the treatment of persons with schizophrenia spectrum disorders according to Resource-group Assertive Community Treatment (RACT). The present investigation had two aims: 1) to conduct a revision of CSI and to examine the revised instrument (CSI-R) in terms of interrater reliability (Study I); 2) to compare assessments of CSI-R made by experienced assessors with assessments made by students in case management (Study II) in order to determine whether the instrument has validity even when more inexperienced persons are using it. In Study I six raters, who took part in 12 to 15 cases from three outpatient community mental health teams, participated. Results indicated that internal consistency of the CSI-R was strong (alpha = 0.89) as well as correlations between individual raters’ (r between 0.80-0.98). In Study II 91 newly trained RACT praxis trainees participated. Each of them followed one case for eighteen months, i.e., the client which they had been assigned during training (n = 91). The five external auditors in the education program then independently assessed the 91 cases with the CSI-R. Results showed significant correlations between experts and trainees (rho = 0.68, p < 0.001). The conclusion was that the new CSI-R scale was shown to have acceptable internal consistency and interrater reliability and may be used for continuous self-monitoring of praxis fidelity by inexperienced raters.
Resource Group Assertive Community Treatment (RACT) as a Tool of Empowerment for Clients with Severe Mental Illness: A Meta-Analysis, Tommy Nordén, Ulf Malm, and Torsten Norlander The aim of the current meta-analysis was to explore the effectiveness of the method here labeled Resource Group Assertive Community Treatment (RACT) for clients with psychiatric diagnoses as compared to standard care during the period 2001 – 2011. Included in the meta-analysis were 17 studies comprising a total of 2263 clients, 1291 men and 972 women, with a weighted mean age of 45.44 years. The diagnoses of 86 % of the clients were within the psychotic spectrum while 14 % had other psychiatric diagnoses. There were six randomized controlled trials and eleven observational studies. The studies spanned between 12 and 60 months, and 10 of them lasted 24 months. The results indicated a large effect-size for the ”grand total measure” (Cohen´s d = 0.80). The study comprised three outcome variables: Symptoms, Functioning, and Well-being. With regard to Symptoms, a medium effect for both randomized controlled trials and non-randomized studies was found, whereas Functioning showed large effects for both types of design. Concerning Well-being both large and medium effects were evident. The conclusions of the meta-analysis were that the treatment of clients with Resource Group Assertive Community Treatment yields positive effects for clients with psychoses and that the method may be of use for clients within the entire psychiatric spectrum.
In Parachute NYC, Mobile Treatment Teams provide integrated care that is adapted specifically to a person’s needs and allows them to recover in settings that are comfortable and familiar. Trained staff actively engage family and friends to create a network that supports recovery. Crisis Respite Centers offer warm, safe and supportive home like places to rest and recover for up to two weeks when the person needs a type of support that cannot be provided at home. Peers with special training operate a confidential Support Line that offers support for those going through difficult times.The program employs specially trained peer specialists in tandem with behavioral health professionals to work with a person move towards recovery.
Open Dialogue UK has been established to promote the development of the Open Dialogue approach in the UK. On this site you will be able to find out about our clinical services and a UK Open Dialogue Training Programme for NHS teams and independent practitioners, commencing in London in April 2015. If you are interested in us running a seminar in your area, then please see this page. In time you will be able to read articles about the Open Dialogue approach on this website.
A Two-Year Multidisciplinary Training Program for the Frontline Workforce in Community Treatment ofSevere Mental Illness, Torleif Ruud, M.D., Ph.D., Karin Blix Flage, R.N., Ole-Bjørn Kolbjørnsrud, M.D., Gunnar Brox Haugen, R.N.,Tore Sørlie, M.D., Ph.D.


The MicroMolar ADP Assay is for measurement of ADP concentrations in a sub-micromolar to low micromolar range. Other nucleoside diphosphates (UDP, GDP and CDP) showed very little background. Nucleoside triphosphates (ATP, UTP, GTP and CTP) and monophosphates (AMP, UMP, GMP and CMP) are not detected.
The ADP assay is based on fluorescence measurement with emission at 535 nm and excitation at 485 nm. It is a high throughput assay using regular black 96-well or 384-well plates. Micro-cuvettes may also be used for detection of the fluorescence signals. The assay can be used to measure contamination of ADP in ATP samples or monitor hydrolysis of ATP. It can also be used for measurement of kinase activities and other enzyme activities that generate ADP molecules. The ADP assay is compatible with common reaction buffers with magnesium. It is not compatible with samples containing high concentrations of DNA or RNA.
MicroMolar ADP assay kit - 100 assays (Catalog number: MAD100K): The kit contains 10 x buffer, 100 x MAD reagent 1, 100 x MAD reagent 2 and 10 x fluorescence dye. The assay reagents are sufficient for measurement of 100 samples of ADP using a standard black 384-well plate.
MicroMolar ADP assay kit - 500 assays (Catalog number: MAD500K): The kit contains 10 x buffer, 100 x MAD reagent 1, 100 x MAD reagent 2 and 10 x fluorescence dye. The assay reagents are sufficient for measurement of 500 samples of ADP using a standard black 384-well plate.


Headline: "Astronomer says aliens might zap black holes with lasers to travel the galaxy. The idea is a futuristic upgrade of a technique NASA has used for decades."
Please comment & question; The Committee will explain the process in a day or two, by the 17th.
Mentioned in the article is the speed of light, specifically laser beams and photons of light.
Not mentioned: the speed to traverse great distances, by human Earth standards and perception of them, requires velocities vastly superior to 300,000 km/s. Incremental increases of such speeds, brought about through the use of planetary gravity, approach and slingshot style departures, do not achieve the required movement.
This method or technique is viable for use at far lower velocity than is used to cross significant segments of galaxial distances; within a system of planets, when navigating from one to another, this method can be useful.
Planets and their gravity are not used by interstellar travelers; this is achieved, as we have explained previously, with magnetism, magnetic fields and differences, much the way magnetic poles either repel or attract one another.
You never see elephants hiding in trees because the pachyderms are extremely skilled. It's why humans only see alien ETs when they come out of hiding; raw talent.
What's red but smells like blue paint? Red paint, of course.
A man asks a lawyer: "Excuse me, how much do you charge?" Says the lawyer: "£1,000 to answer three questions, no time limit. "Bloody hell" the man responds, "that's a bit expensive, isn't it?" "Yes, it is..." replies the lawyer, "...and what is your third question?"
How do astronauts organize a party? They planet.
How Long is a Chinese man's name? Yes.
Never criticize someone until you have walked a long way in their shoes, which provides excellent separation when the criticism is eventually delivered, plus the shoes as a bonus.
A man died peacefully and in his sleep...unlike the screaming passengers in his car.
Between universes, yes but not among galaxies. Physical beings do not move between different universes; that would undermine the meaning and existence of a universe. It isn't possible for anything physical, in any dimension.
Physical existence is NOT limited to just our 3 dimension, or the 4th or 5th. Previous explanations of dimensions given here, refer.
The word itself - one (Uni) version (verse) - says it all.
What are the differences between these universes? Do the same physical and mathematical laws apply in all these universes?
As mentioned here before, there are nine (9) universes in all of existence. The differences between them are separation from one another.
There are borders and boundaries, but also doorways, gates, passages, conduits, portals, entrances and exits which allow limited movement from, to & between.
Not all existences, beings or objects from every dimension can make the trip to or from; most beings so capable, do not. One's "home" universe is so vast, there is no point or purpose.
The same conceptually similar mathematics and properties of physics apply, however the absolutes are different, if comparisons are made.
The Committee says: "Consider economics; if country B has the same population as country A, with twice as much money but prices twice as high, the material difference only appears during comparisons."
They also say, "The idea of travel to a different universe is much the same as a human seafarer of the sixteenth century being told to navigate the Indian Ocean after only exploring five to ten percent of one side of the Atlantic."
"Why pursue an unknown and irrelevant thing when a huge portion of the known and relevant region remains undiscovered and unexplored?"
Banter? That's a word in English, isn't it? Yes, it is!....a big cat, good looking in black, too.
Trump re-elected is entertaining? I differ my begging, kimosabe....compared to the swelling field of candidates opposing Trump, he's become boring. What the challengers are saying - at least so far - is much funnier.
There are three newly elected women members of the US House of Representatives, and they are a female trio comedy act like none I've ever seen. I cannot wait for one of THEM to run for president.
The next possible female President of USA has not yet decided, as far as I know from previous posts, to include this experience in her life plan.
I like the second-to-the-last joke best, and I've never heard it before.
Can’t wait to see Trump get re-elected. Heads are gonna roll. They have been wasting money and time trying to get him out of office.


Oliver Goldsmith was born in Ireland, the son of an Anglican clergyman. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. After briefly studying medicine at the universities of Edinburgh and Leiden, he travelled through France, Switzerland, and Italy, supporting himself by flute playing.
On arrival in London in 1756 he worked variously as a tutor, medical assistant, and magazine contributor whilst developing his talents as a poet, playwright, and novelist. His writing was greatly admired by literary contemporaries such as Samuel Johnson but his general behaviour was regarded as irresponsible and immature. Johnson wrote of him "No man was more foolish when he had not a pen in his hand, or more wise when he had.". He died prematurely of kidney disease in 1774.


The first Dandridge recorded in Winslow is Geoffrey (d.1671), who married Alice Porter in 1643 and had 5 sons, at least 4 of whom died young. Thomas and Alice Dandridge bought a house in Shipton in 1652, and another messuage in 1662. Joseph Dandridge, who married Anne Eliot in 1664, was Thomas' son, and inherited some land from him in 1667. Joseph and Anne's son Joseph Dandridge was baptised on 2 March 1668 (another child with the same name was baptised in 1665 but presumably died young; however Joseph jr's date of birth is generally given as 1665). Their other surviving children were Francis, William, George, Anne (married Christopher Bigg) and Mary (married William Pursell of Thornborough in 1703), who all benefited under the will of their uncle William Elliott (d.1710). Two other children of Joseph Dandridge were buried at Winslow: Thomas in 1694 and Elizabeth in 1697 (daughter of Joseph and Ann). Joseph sr seems to have been an exciseman, as he was described in the Assize records for 1685, when he took the oath of allegiance, as "gawger" (=gauger, not gouger as suggested by Bristowe). When his son William became an apprentice blacksmith in London in 1687 he was described as "gentleman", and in 1693 he called himself "barber chirurgeon". He was constable for Winslow in 1696-7 and was buried on 16 Aug 1701. He is also found as the witness, and in some cases writer, of a number of Winslow wills in the late 1690s. "Frances wife of Joseph Dandridg", evidently his second wife, was buried on 11 Aug 1702.
Joseph jr became a merchant taylor in 1686 (according to the admission of his son James to the freedom of the City of London in 1724), after serving an apprenticeship with John Cawne alias Corn(e) from 1679. He was a silk pattern designer and drawer in Moorfields, and eventually lived in Jewin Street. He cannot have been a Huguenot as is stated in some places. He described himself as freeman of the City of London and merchant taylor when he made his will in 1737. His claim to fame was as an entomologist; he is "the great forgotten figure of English entomology" according to one writer. He was a founder of the Society of Aurelians, who were butterfly collectors, and drew insects and collected drawings. A species of spider was named after him, Dandridgea dysderoides (although this was later regarded as misidentified). A writer quoted in the Gentleman's Magazine (June 1812) said: "I used to be frequently with him in the summer of 1740, and, though he was then upwards of 80, he was extremely affable and communicative. He told me many anecdotes of the old collectors, was very merry and chatty … He had a fine collection of natural history, as fossils, birds, shells, & c.; but his chief display was in insects, well kept and judiciously arranged, and shewed them with great pleasure, and with instruction". He died in London on 23 Dec 1747.
Joseph jr bought up land in Winslow and Shipton in 1692, and retained his connections with Winslow at least until the death of his uncle William Elliott in 1710, under whose will he inherited 40 acres of land. He sold all his property in Winslow to William Lowndes at a special manor court in August 1710.
Joseph jr mentions three children in his will: James, Elizabeth and Mary. He married Martha Lane at St James, Duke's Place, London, in 1686. Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph and Martha Dandridge, was baptised at All Hallows, London Wall in 1689. Martha must have died before Joseph made his will.
John Dandridge of Winslow had a daughter Susan baptised in 1664.
Widow Dandridge received distributions to the poor in 1687 and 1689. She may be the Ann Dandridge who was buried in 1691.
George Dandridge (probably the son of Joseph sr) married Frances Stutsbury of Winslow at Granborough on 11 Nov 1698 and had several children baptised at Winslow from 1701.
Another George Dandridge, barber, of Winslow, married Anne Waker of Winslow at Granborough on 26 Sep 1702.
Another Joseph Dandridge, son of Francis, cordwainer (who was probably the son of Joseph sr), was bound apprentice to a London vintner, John Knapp jr, in 1706.
Ann Dandridge married William Morris in 1729. She may be the same Ann Dandridge, widow, who was indicted at the Quarter Sessions in Jan 1724 for keeping a disorderly alehouse, and discharged.
The Dandridges disappear from Winslow records after this.
Joseph Dandridge has a Wikipedia entry, and there is a biographical article about him by W.S. Bristowe in Entomologist's Gazette 18 (1967), 73-89.


When Liam Cassidy was sent to Iowa in 2000 by Gillette, he was given a clear task: to find the best way to close a factory within two years.
Gillette’s Oral-B plant was the biggest toothbrush factory in the world, but it was coming under pressure from low-cost locations such as Mexico and China.
However, instead of shutting it down, Cassidy turned the business around.
His first budget plan showed that the Iowa factory could compete effectively with lower-cost locations, because it was closer to its customers and could offer better service. Instead of being closed down, the factory became a benchmark for Gillette worldwide.
For Cassidy, the Iowa experience proved that the shift of manufacturing to low-cost countries – a trend that has resulted in thousands of job losses in Ireland – is not inevitable.
‘‘Almost any plant can be given a really good chance of surviving if you do the right things,” he said.
Cassidy joined Gillette in the early 1990s and worked in its factories around the world, including its Oral-B plant in Newbridge, Co Kildare, and its Braun factory in Carlow. Following the takeover of Gillette by Procter & Gamble in 2005, he went to Shanghai to run an Oral-B factory with 1,200 staff.
‘‘It’s a big site and getting bigger,” said Cassidy, whose job was ‘‘to prepare the workforce in it for future growth’’.
Last autumn, he left the multinational sector and set up his own consulting business, LCL Consult.
With offices in Dublin and Shanghai, it specialises in turning around manufacturing plants by applying ‘lean’ practices pioneered by Japanese companies such as Toyota.
Cassidy has just returned to Ireland from a project with a German company in the Czech Republic and is also working with two factories in China.
They are joint ventures between western companies and Chinese workforces, and LCL -which stands for ‘leading change through lean’ – is working on modernising their working practices.
‘‘It is possible for any business to slash costs if they apply Lean practices.
We have a formula to turn factories around – in high-cost and in low-cost locations,” said Cassidy, who believes that Ireland has lost a lot of manufacturing operations unnecessarily.
‘‘It’s sad when a factory closes. It’s a tragedy for the people involved and for their communities, but it’s not inevitable,” he said.
Many factories could have survived if they had a greater focus on eliminating waste, according to Cassidy, who uses ten principles in his approach.
‘‘We create a vision of where an organisation can go,” he said.
Cassidy’s message to staff is that they have the ability and responsibility to ‘‘drive out waste’’ and improve the performance of the business.
That isn’t always a painless process – in the case of the Oral-B factory in Iowa, it involved some layoffs and a pay freeze for remaining staff. Cassidy is clear that no one can be insulated from that process, even senior management in an organisation.
‘‘Managers are paid to take the tough decisions, but management teams don’t always do the right things,” he said.
Cassidy firmly believes that Ireland can maintain certain manufacturing operations if the Lean approach is applied. His ideal factory is one with fewer than 600 staff: any more than that and they become unwieldy and wasteful.
‘‘If they are maintained at that level and do the right things, they have a very good chance of survival,” he said.
made it best plant in Gillette within 2 years!
In 2000 parent company Gillette was rationalizing its business and decided in principle to close the Iowa City plant due to its high cost base and inability to compete with sister plants, particularly those in Mexico and Asia. Liam Cassidy was asked to go there, and prepare for closure announcement within 2 years.
Liam quickly identified it as a strategic location in the midst of its largest market, and saw the logistical challenges it would face by moving its business off shore. The lead times would become much longer and they would be unable to react quickly enough to provide the kind of service its largest customers like Walmart and Costco expected. He felt that with an aggressive Program of Change, the implementation of Lean Practices, the removal of many of its managers who were resistant to change, and replacing them with those who would drive change, that they would have a good chance of competing successfully. He wrote and implemented the 10 Principles referred to earlier in this document. Going there in October 2000 he produced a budget the following September that showed that they could successfully compete. Within 2 years it had become the best factory within Gillette and became the benchmark site for the rest of the organisation.
Reduced workforce by 40% and improved productivity by 56% in 3 years. Products costs were slashed between 30-60% and now compared favorably with China and Mexico. Value Streams were created, giving cross functional teams responsibility for “their” factory, thereby making a large plant easier to manage and improving communications. The supplier base was rationalised and an aggressive Supplier Development program implemented.
Secure your future with LCL Lean Change Programs!


How Did The Clintons Outlast The Gores?
Much is sad about the divorce of Al and Tipper Gore, but one thing is truly shocking: while these two are splitting up, the Clintons are still together.
When Monica Lewinsky was making headlines in 1998, plenty of people wondered if Bill and Hillary's marriage was over. But in the same few weeks that Al and Tipper Gore announced the dissolution of their 40-year marriage, Bill Clinton told the graduating class at Yale that "I'm grateful because if I hadn't come here I would have never met Hillary" — and despite many very public troubles, the two remain hitched. If, as a friend of theirs once said, "The Clintons are complicated because they stayed together," the Gores are now complicated because they split up — and both couples have subverted our expectations.
In her funny-sad elegy for Al and Tipper's relationship, Rebecca Traister writes, "they were supposed to be the functional couple. The ones who personally disapproved of the cigars and the thongs and the rest of the ridiculousness so mightily that they eschewed the Big Dog's help in 2000 and look what happened!" And: "It had never occurred to me that it would bother me in the slightest if Al and Tipper Gore got a divorce mostly because it had never occurred to me that Al and Tipper Gore would ever get a divorce." The Gores just seemed reliable — a sweet and wholesome alternative to the Clintons' Sturm und Drang. And yet, if their famous PDA was any indication, they were also passionate. A high school teacher of mine even told us that Al responded to Bill Clinton's infidelity with the witty/icky line, "Nobody touches my zipper but Tipper" — the Internet, perhaps mercifully, appears to contain no trace of this.
It is fascinating . . . how he and his wife had a very complicated relationship. They loved each other very much. They had a bunch of kids, but they had big pockets of estrangement between them, and pain, and they rendered enormous service to this country because they stuck with what they had in common.
Though we'll never know exactly what goes on with the Clintons, two popular explanations for their "complicated relationship" have emerged. One is cynical: they stayed together for his career in the nineties, and now they're staying together for hers (Miller writes that "Hillary has encouraged this endless dissection of her marriage because she seems to want it both ways: she wants to run and win as her own woman and she wants to offer her years as First Spouse as 'experience'"). The other is more nuanced: that although the Clintons have had serious problems, they retain a "shared love of politics – the intellectual and emotional bedrock of their relationship," that may still translate into love for each other. Democratic fundraiser Chris Korge told the Times in 2006, "Who knows how any couple conquers the issues in their marriage, but they did it. It's like when he bought her a new diamond ring recently, you just saw the look in her face." It's certainly possible — the Clintons are two very smart people with powerful shared interests, and the means to pursue those interests to the fullest. At this point in their marriage, that may be enough.
The Gores, by contrast, seemed to have what every political couple claims to want — the privacy to enjoy each other's company, coupled with the freedom to work on their own projects (they also weren't hurting for cash, with their net worth in 2007 estimated at $100 million). There's little clue yet as to what went wrong after 40 years, but if their sad revelation teaches us anything, it's that even marriages lived in the public eye are mysteries to all but their participants. And perhaps that whether a couple stays together or splits apart may have less to do with fidelity or even love than with whether each person's unique expectations for the relationship are met.
But enough with the philosophizing: somebody please tell us the Obamas are okay.


Call center management is just like a game of chess! Each move by the player decides the final fate of the game. Outsourcing vendors often depend on traditional methods of management at the workplace due to which they are unable to establish themselves as the trusted service provider. But some effective techniques are still missed which too are essential for proper functioning of every contact center.
Here are some essential call center management tips which will turn these service providers from average to best.
Examining the quality of work of agents on regular basis ensures that agents of call center are motivated. This should be a regular practice and evaluation forms must be maintained as per the objectives of the call center. Quality assurance personnel and supervisors must prepare the forms and each agent of the workplace must be evaluated through this program.
It is said that successful managers constantly learn whenever they get a chance to ensure better management in their respective field. Managers from call center can gain knowledge from online and offline resources like crash courses, seminars and specialization courses etc.
Even call center companies can sponsor these courses for managers with the aim of betterment of the process.
Having a productive session at the end of each working day can be fruitful for the functioning of call center process. These sessions can include issues occurred during working hours, reasons of low productivity along with a useful tip from manager’s end. This will constantly keep the team motivated and help the agents in rectifying the issues faced by them on daily basis.
Maintaining a balance between internal and operational metrics is equally important to generate the maximum output.
A good environment not only inspires existing agents to work effectively but also attracts new employees with desired skills. Make sure to celebrate every festival and organize team party once a month.
Also, organize creative activities on weekly basis which help in developing skills like team work. These activities will also make sure that the agents do not feel that the job is monotonous.
Good communication skills are the priority when it comes to recruiting workforce for your call center. But call centers must also give emphasis on various other qualities to ensure that their employees have capability to retain the customers. Some qualities to look in a candidate during recruitment process include persuasion power, caring nature, ambitious and a team player. Interviews can be conducted in batches to easily analyze these characteristics among enthusiastic candidates. Do not forget to involve people from quality management to screen the suitable candidates.
This technique is often ignored by regular call centers but the ambitious firms understand its vitality. Companies can examine the work environment, marketing strategies and technology which will help in taking better business decisions. SWOT analysis is one such essential management which can be utilized to get insights on competition in the market.
Various multinational firms from different industries are realizing importance of CCO who have ability to transform the customer experience to a new level. In call center too, a CCO can implement strategies and technologies as per recent trends in consumer-driven market. He can also instruct the QA team and managers on guidelines which are aimed for the improvement of process matching the expectations of the customers.
It is the set of proper planning and right people that help one to win the race. All the techniques discussed above definitely have the potential to help the Call Centers in beating their competitors without heavy investments.