Building Trustworthiness AI in Aerospace
Exploring AI Trustworthiness in Aerospace, emphasising EASA Concept Paper guidance for enhancing safety, ethics, and transparency in AI applications.
In today’s article I navigate the complexity of AI Trustworthiness in Aerospace.
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But let’s start from the beginning. What is Trustworthiness in AI?
Trustworthiness in the AI field refers to the assurance that AI systems perform reliably, safely, and ethically, producing consistent and fair outcomes.
It contains several key principles that aim to make AI systems more secure, private, transparent, and accountable, ultimately building user and trust in AI technologies.
The European Union has identified the following requirements for trustworthy AI:
Human agency and oversight: AI systems should enhance, not diminish, human autonomy and decision-making capabilities. They should also include effective oversight mechanisms to ensure they work as intended.
Technical robustness and safety: AI should be secure, reliable, and robust enough to deal with errors or inconsistencies during all life cycle phases.
Privacy and data governance: Personal data collected by AI systems should be securely managed and processed, respecting privacy and data protection rights.
Transparency: The data, system, and AI decision-making processes should be understandable to users and stakeholders. This includes explainability of AI system outputs and decisions.
Diversity, non-discrimination, and fairness: AI systems should consider diverse human abilities, skills, and requirements, and ensure equal and fair treatment.
Societal and environmental well-being: AI systems should be used to enhance positive social change, sustainability, and ecological responsibility.
Accountability: Mechanisms should be put in place to ensure responsibility and accountability for AI systems and their outcomes.
But how are the above aspects being adopted within the Aerospace industry?
Today I provide an overview of what the EASA Concept Paper says about the Trustworthiness Analysis Objectives and Anticipated Means of Compliance.
Introduction to the Trustworthiness aspects in Aerospace
The EASA’s Trustworthiness analysis: Objectives and AMCs
Let’s dive in! 🤿
Trustworthiness aspects in Aerospace
As introduced in the article The Regulatory Landscape of AI in Aerospace, Trustworthiness Analysis is Block #1.
The concept paper introduces Objectives and Anticipated Means of Compliance addressing the following aspects regards the AI application:
The EASA’s Trustworthiness Analysis: Objectives and AMCs
Characterisation of the AI application
The aim is to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the interaction between end-users and AI-based systems.
The Objectives and AMC serve to promote a thorough and precise characterisation of the human-AI relationship, ensuring clarity in responsibilities and expectations, which is crucial for maintaining safety and reliability.
Objective CO-01: The applicant should identify the list of end users that are intended to interact with the AI-based system, together with their roles, their responsibilities (including indication of the level of teaming with the AI-based system, i.e. none, cooperation, collaboration) and expected expertise (including assumptions made on the level of training, qualification and skills).
Objective CO-02: For each end user, the applicant should identify which goals and associated high-level tasks are intended to be performed in interaction with the AI-based system.
Objective CO-03: The applicant should determine the AI-based system taking into account domain-specific definitions of ‘system’.
Concept of operations for the AI application
These Objectives are aimed at ensuring that the AI-based systems are designed with a clear understanding of their operational context and user interactions, which is crucial for their safe and effective implementation.
Objective CO-04: The applicant should define and document the ConOps for the AI-based system, including the task allocation pattern between the end user(s) and the AI-based system. A focus should be put on the definition of the OD and on the capture of specific operational limitations and assumptions.
Objective CO-05: The applicant should document how end users’ inputs are collected and accounted for in the development of the AI-based system.
Functional analysis of the AI-based system
The intent of the Functional Analysis is breaking down the system's operations into individual functions and further decomposing these functions down to the most granular level. The purpose is to understand precisely how the system works at every level and how its various functions are distributed and interconnected.
This analysis helps in identifying and documenting each specific function of the AI-based system, allowing for a thorough understanding of its capabilities, limitations, and the interrelation between its various components. It's a critical step to ensure that the system's design and operation are fully understood and can be safely integrated.
Objective CO-06: The applicant should perform a functional analysis of the system, as well as a functional decomposition and allocation down to the lowest level.
Classification of the AI application
The intent of the Classification of the AI application is for the applicant to categorise the AI-based system according to the defined levels of automation and human-AI interaction.
Each level describes the degree of automation and the extent of the end user's authority over the system.
Objective CL-01: The applicant should classify the AI-based system, based on the levels presented in Table 2, with adequate justifications.
Safety assessment of ML applications
The intent of the Safety assessment of ML applications is for the applicant to conduct a thorough safety evaluation for all AI-based systems and subsystems.
This safety assessment is to determine and manage the specific risks associated with AI/ML technology. This includes defining the Development Assurance Level (DAL) or Software Assurance Level (SWAL) appropriate for each AI/ML constituent, ensuring rigorous verification standards that are compliant with existing rules and guidelines.
Objective SA-01: The applicant should perform a safety (support) assessment for all AI-based (sub)systems, identifying and addressing specificities introduced by AI/ML usage.
Objective SA-02: The applicant should identify which data needs to be recorded for the purpose of supporting the continuous safety assessment.
Objective SA-03: In preparation of the continuous safety assessment, the applicant should define metrics, target values, thresholds and evaluation periods to guarantee that design assumptions hold.
Information Security Objectives
The intent of the Information Security Objectives for AI/ML applications is to ensure that applicants identify, address, and mitigate any information security risks related to AI/ML that could impact safety.
Objective IS-01: For each AI-based (sub)system and its data sets, the applicant should identify those information security risks with an impact on safety, identifying and addressing specific threats introduced by AI/ML usage.
Objective IS-02: The applicant should document a mitigation approach to address the identified AI/ML-specific information security risk.
Objective IS-03: The applicant should validate and verify the effectiveness of the security controls introduced to mitigate the identified AI/ML-specific information security risks to an acceptable level.
Ethics-Based Assessment Objectives
The intent of the Ethics-Based Assessment Objectives is to ensure the ethical deployment of AI systems in compliance with trustworthiness, societal norms, and regulatory requirements.
This includes conducting an ethics assessment, preventing the AI from causing user dependency or manipulation, adhering to data protection laws like GDPR, avoiding unfair biases in AI decision-making, informing users of their interaction with AI and any personal data collection, assessing and mitigating environmental impacts throughout the AI's life cycle, identifying new skill requirements for users, and preventing user de-skilling by providing necessary training.
Objective ET-01: The applicant should perform an ethics-based trustworthiness assessment for any AI-based system developed using ML techniques or incorporating ML models.
Objective ET-02: The applicant should ensure that the AI-based system bears no risk of creating overreliance, attachment, stimulating addictive behaviour, or manipulating the end user’s behaviour.
Objective ET-03: The applicant should comply with national and EU data protection regulations (e.g. GDPR), i.e. involve their Data Protection Officer, consult with their National Data Protection Authority, etc.
Objective ET-04: The applicant should ensure that the creation or reinforcement of unfair bias in the AI-based system, regarding both the data sets and the trained models, is avoided, as far as such unfair bias could have a negative impact on performance and safety.
Objective ET-05: The applicant should ensure that end users are made aware of the fact that they interact with an AI-based system, and, if applicable, whether some personal data is recorded by the system.
Objective ET-06: The applicant should perform an environmental impact analysis, identifying and assessing potential negative impacts of the AI-based system on the environment and human health throughout its life cycle (development, deployment, use, end of life), and define measures to reduce or mitigate these impacts.
Objective ET-07: The applicant should identify the need for new skills for users and end users to interact with and operate the AI-based system, and mitigate possible training gaps (link to Provision ORG-07, Provision ORG-08).
Objective ET-08: The applicant should perform an assessment of the risk of de-skilling of the users and end users and mitigate the identified risk through a training needs analysis and a consequent training activity (link to Provision ORG-07, Provision ORG-08).
Trustworthiness is crucial for AI integration into society, as it addresses ethical, legal, and technical concerns, ensuring that AI technologies benefit humanity while minimizing risks and adverse impacts.
Adhering to these principles is not a matter of regulatory compliance but an objective in encouraging AI technologies that are respectful and enhancing human autonomy, ensure safety, and operate ethically within our societal and environmental contexts.
This is all for today.
See you next week 👋
Disclaimer: The information provided in this newsletter and related resources is intended for informational and educational purposes only. It reflects both researched facts and my personal views. It does not constitute professional advice. Any actions taken based on the content of this newsletter are at the reader's discretion.
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On November 30th, a well-known author in the small town of Salida, Colorado passed away. His name was Kent Haruf, famous for well-known books such as Benediction, Plainsong, and The Tie that Binds. You may not know him but I did because I was one of his nephews.
Growing up, I never had a father, so uncles and grandfathers were more father than he was. I loved him like a father, not because of money or anything like that, because he was there for me. He was there for me like any father would be for their child. Several years ago, I lost my grandfather to both a stroke and diabetes. When he died, Kent was there for me if I needed that shoulder to cry on, to talk to, anything because he was there for me.
A few years ago, he developed a virus in his small intestine. Right there, I was afraid to let him go, I would never have the chance to see him again. He recovered from it, but he was so frail, I wish I could help him but couldn't.
I got to see him one last time last summer. What he did is he took me up the mountain where you can get a large view of everything in Salida. The last day before I left to go back to Iowa, he took me to a diner because I told him I wanted to be a writer just like him. I forget what he said to me, but I told him what I wanted to do and he said I might have something worthy of a novel.
I was making breakfest when I got the phone call from my grandmother saying he passed away. She told me a story about Kent and his wife's last conversation. He looked at her and said he was ready to go. She said to go ahead, and that's what he did. He went back to bed and closed his eyes for the last time, and died peacefully in his sleep. I knew he wasn't going to last long, but I wasn't ready to let him go.
I'm having a tough time trying to write all this and keep myself from crying. Everyone grives in their own way, but the connection he and I had...I've tried to hard to cry when I got the phone call, but nothing.
I hope somewhere in Heaven, he's free and happy, going about with no pain and being company with my grandfather.
His funeral was held Sunday, just a few days ago. I wished I was there to say what I wanted to say, but I knew I was there in spirit. I'll miss him so much.
Rest in Peace, Kent Haruf (1943-2014).
Uncle, Husband, Father, Friend


At my Church, the members give talks each Sunday. I came across this talk I gave a few years ago when I was going through some old papers. At this stage in my life reading this talk was important to me. It has been an interesting four weeks. W are all on Earth to learn. Sometimes the lessons are harder than others. But with the Holy Ghost we can look forward with hope knowing that there are solutions to any problem.
“Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.” 2 Nephi 2:27. Many parts of my talk will be from 2 Nephi chapter 2, for that is where I am in my reading of the Book of Mormon. Right now in my life, I feel similar to the way Joseph Smith might have felt when he was fifteen. Joseph said: “if any person needed bwisdom from God, I did” (Extracts from the History of Joseph, the Prophet 1:12). There are many times in my life, I have had these feelings, and each time I felt this way and acted upon the promptings of the Holy Ghost, good results happened. We may not see those results immediately, but through the Holy Ghost’s promptings we can know we are doing what is right and righteous in God’s sight. There is a promise that is made that if we lack wisdom and we truly want to understand the will of God in our lives, to read the Book of Mormon. It is a beautiful companion to The Holy Bible and further testifies of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Most of my talk will be from 2 Nephi, Lehi’s farewell address to his sons. Chapter 2 is the portion that addresses Jacob, Lehi’s first-born in the wilderness. The whole chapter is something I need to read when I need to search for the counsel that Heavenly Father, through the Holy Ghost, would have me have at this time. The one personage that I need as a close companion in order to understand what is being said in this chapter is the Holy Ghost. It is the Holy Ghost that truly explains the meaning of all things to us. If it were not for the Holy Ghost, there would be no personal insights and, for that matter, no inventions in this world.
The Holy Ghost is our primary tool to understanding the will of God in our lives. He is the primary force to counteract the wiles of the adversary. But, like any relationship, to fully understand the influences of the Holy Ghost, we need to be in communication with God through daily (constant) prayer and daily reading of the scriptures. We ask God, in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, for the things we need to grow in the ways of the Lord. The answers to our prayers come from the promptings of the Holy Ghost. For example, I came home from my job teaching in Greeley at 11:00 PM. I prayed to receive guidance on what I would say about the Holy Ghost. I woke up at 3:30 AM with ideas for various parts of this talk. I would prefer not being up at 3:30 AM, but through the promptings of the Holy Ghost, I knew I would not be able to remember all of the parts I am supposed to remember if I went back to sleep. The Still Small Voice whispers to us and we need to take advantage of what He says when He says it, or we may lose that opportunity forever.
The Light of Christ (Our Conscious)
We all have the Light of Christ, which tells us if we are doing right. Some people refer to it as our conscious. The Holy Ghost is more. The Holy Ghost can be a guide in our lives as to what we need to be doing to better serve God, ourselves, and our families. As is mentioned in the scriptures, anyone can be touched by the Holy Ghost when they need to make important decisions. However, we can receive the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost through membership in Christ’s restored Church. It is up to us to live worthily so that we can enjoy that privilege.
How many of you have seen the movie Cars? What was Lightning McQueen’s personality at the first of the movie? How did he treat his pit crew? Would you want him for a friend? I sometimes listen to CDs on the way home from Greeley and was listening to the soundtrack of Cars the other night. There are many good songs on the CD, but there was one that especially touched me that night. Do you remember the part of the movie where he starts to see the importance of service to others? Do you remember the song that played during that scene? The line I remember most is “When you lose yourself, it is the best thing that ever happens.” At that point, do you suppose the person that Lightning represents just might be a little in tune with the Holy Ghost? For the youth, how many of you have received the Holy Ghost as a constant companion or look forward to when you can receive that gift?
What do we gain from service? What do we gain from listening to the Holy Ghost to guide us to the opportunities we may have to serve others? King Benjamin stated in Mosiah 2:17 “And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.” There is that wisdom word again. How does the Holy Ghost help us develop wisdom? I would contend that the only way any of us can gain wisdom is through listening to the Holy Ghost.
Service is important to our eternal salvation. It is through the Holy Ghost that we are prompted how we best need to serve our God, ourselves, our families, our community, and our Church. If we do not serve our God and ourselves, through prayer, education, diligence in all that we do, and finding innovative solutions to problems, we cannot serve others. As we serve, some of us are blessed with fantastic opportunities and careers. Others may be blessed at times, and still others may struggle their entire lives. We all know people who fit into all of these categories. What I admire about the people I know is how they love God and take care of their families, along with using the resources God has given them to serve others. To build the kingdom, God needs people who love Him with all their heart and mind and are humble enough to be guided by the Holy Ghost. Besides love from each of us, sometimes God needs financial and material resources. I am personally grateful for those who have such resources and are willing to share generously to build up the kingdom here on earth. God only expects from each of us what we are capable of giving at any particular time in our lives, no more and no less. To truly understand what we need to do to serve others, we also must be willing to be served. There are times in each of our lives that we do need the help of others. We must all be humble enough, and be guided by the Holy Ghost to understand when those times are and to be able to graciously accept that help when it is needed. When we know what service is, through the service others have given unto us, we can be better guided by the Holy Ghost to lovingly serve others by discerning their true needs and serve as God would have us serve.
2 Nephi 2:11 says “For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibilities.” Our goal is to bring righteousness to pass. The devil will help us do the opposite. We each need the Holy Ghost to give opposition to the evil that is around us. As a side note, have you ever thought about the word devil (da evil)? Evil is 4/5 of his name. To avoid evil, we must avoid the devil and cling tight to the promptings of the Holy Ghost.
The promptings of the Holy Ghost are to remind us of whom we are and who redeemed us from the dead. “And the Messiah cometh in the fullness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given.” 2 Nephi 2:26. We have our freedom to act in whatever way we would like. But we will be accountable to God, through the judgment of Jesus Christ, for all that we do here on earth. It is the promptings of the Holy Ghost that helps each of us to make wise choices.
In closing, God wants each of us to have joy in our lives. Jesus Christ is our guide and savior. He guides each of us, through the Holy Ghost, to do what is right and righteous so that we can live with Heavenly Father again. It is through the promptings of the Holy Ghost that we can live up to our potential. Our purpose here on earth can be summed up by 2 Nephi 2:25 “Adam fell that men might be; and men are that they might have joy.” With the Holy Ghost we can obtain the joy that Jesus Christ wants each of us to have.
I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.


"I've interviewed 1,200 people in the last twelve years, and nobody sees the future like Richard Swenson! Read this book. It may catch you off balance, but it will change your future!" - Phyllis Wallace, host of the syndicated Woman to Woman show.
Free Discussion Guide is also available at NavPress.com
Special Note: All books personally signed by author
Kerby Anderson: I have benefited from the previous books by Richard Swenson on margin and overload, so I was excited to hear about In Search of Balance. In the midst of the aggressive progress of our age, we are no longer in tune with the rhythm of God's creation. Richard Swenson warns us about profusion and provides practical help in connecting balance (equilibrium) with margin (capacity).
Patricia Katz: Thanks to Dr. Swenson for continuing to raise his voice in support of a more sane, more satisfying, more sustainable world. Overload and imbalance are neither desirable nor inevitable. Pushing back will move us forward. In Search of Balance offers both insights and strategies to take us to a better place.


ANTIBIOTIC PROPHYLAXIS FOR ORTHOPEDIC PATIENTS
The use of antibiotics prior to dental treatment for specific patients as recommended by dentists or physicians is called antibiotic prophylaxis.
Many dental procedures, and even daily activities like brushing and flossing, can allow the bacteria present in the mouth to enter the bloodstream. For most healthy patients, this bacteremia is not problematic since the immune system prevents these bacteria from causing any harm. However, for certain people there is a concern that this bacteremia could cause a dangerous infection elsewhere in the body.
Guidelines for Patient Selection:
In the past, antibiotic prophylaxis was suggested within the first two years of an artificial joint placement and for select patients with orthopedic implants such as metal pins, rods, screws, or plates. However, in 2012 the American Dental Association (ADA) and American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) updated these recommendations.
The new guidelines do not recommend routinely prescribing antibiotics prior to dental treatment for patients with artificial joints. Therefore, healthcare providers are currently relying more on individual assessment and consultation with patients to determine when antibiotic prophylaxis is advisable.
Patients with compromised immune systems are at greatest risk for implant infection and therefore are most likely to benefit from antibiotic prophylaxis. The following examples are suggestive of immunosuppression:
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Cancer and/or Chemotherapy
- Chronic Steroid Use
Reason for Change in the Guidelines:
The antibiotic prophylaxis guidelines are reviewed every few years to ensure that they are based on the best scientific evidence. The most recent reviews have shown no evidence that taking antibiotics before dental treatment prevents infections of artificial joints or orthopedic implants. Therefore, for most people, the potential for side effects and/or allergic reactions when taking antibiotics may outweigh the uncertain benefits.
Please help us to ensure your safe treatment in our office. Depending on your past and present medical conditions, we may require a physician’s letter indicating whether or not antibiotic prophylaxis is recommended. It is ultimately your physician’s decision whether these guidelines are appropriate for your specific condition, and your willingness to help us obtain this information is appreciated.Download Information Here


Masonic Rule for the Reunited and Rectified lodges uses (1782)
Arrested at the Wilhemsbad General Congress, in 1782.
Quest. “Are Macoones gudder men then-odhers ?”
Answ” Some Maconnes are not so vertuous as some other menne ; but,
y’n the most parte, thay be more gude than they woulde yf thay war nor Maconnes”
Quest. “, Doth Maconnes love eidtber odther mightylye as beetb sayde ! ”
Answ, “yea verylyjcbe, and that may not odherwise be :
for gude menne and treu, kennynge eidher oder to be suche,
doeth aiways love the more as thay be more gude.”
(Examination on “The Mystery of Masonry” under Henry VI.)
O you who have just been introduced to the lessons of wisdom! son of virtue and friendship! Have for our accents a listening ear, and may you soul be opened to the meddled precepts of truth! We’ll teach you the path to a happy life, we will teach you to please your Author, and develop with energy and success all the means that Providence entrusted you to make yourself useful to men, and enjoy the charms of benevolence.
Duty to God and religion.
§ 1. – Your first tribute belongs to the Divinity. Adore the Being full of majesty, who created the universe by an act of his will, who retains it by a continuing effect of his action, who fills your heart, but your narrow mind can not conceive or define. Pity the sad delusion of one who closes his eyes to the light and walks in the thick darkness of chance that your heart touched and grateful for the blessings of your father’s God, scornfully rejects the vain sophistry, to prove your degradation human mind, when it moves away from its source. Students often your soul above the material beings that surround you, and looks full of desire in the upper regions, which are your inheritance and your true home. To do what God the sacrifice of your will and your desires, make yourself worthy of its invigorating influences, filled the laws he wanted you to accomplish in your career as a man on earth. Please your God, that your happiness: to be reunited with him forever, that’s all your ambition, the compass of your actions.
§ II. – But, how dare you support his eyes, fragile being ! who transgress his laws at all times and insults his holiness, if his fatherly kindness had not arranged you an infinite repairman ? Abandoned the errors of your **** would you find the comforting certainty of a future? Delivered to the justice of thy God, which would be your refuge? So go through your Redeemer; prostrate yourself before the incarnate Word, and bless the Providence that made you be born among Christians. Everywhere professes the divine religion of Christ, and not ashamed ever to belong. The gospel is the basis of our obligations, if you do not believe it, you cease to be a Mason. Announce in all thy actions an active and enlightened piety without hypocrisy, without fanaticism; Christianity is not confined to truths of speculation: Practice all the moral duties it teaches, and you will be happy, your contemporaries will bless you, and you will remain undisturbed in front of the throne of the LORD.
§ III. – Above all, penetrates up to this principle of charity and love, based on this holy religion: be sorry for the mistake without hate and without persecution: let God alone to judge, and content yourself to love and tolerate. Masons! Children of one God! united by a common belief in our divine Saviour! May this bond of love closely unite us, and eradicates all prejudice opposite to our brotherly harmony!
Immortality of the soul.
§ 1. – Man! King of the world! masterpiece of creation when God animated you with his breath! meditates your sublime destination. All that vegetates around you, and that has an animal life, perishes with time, and is subject to its sway. Your immortal soul alone, emanated from within the Godhead, survives to material things, and not perishes. That’s your real title of nobility, strongly feel your happiness, but without pride, and he lost your race, and you would dive again into the abyss. Be degraded! Despite of your primitive greatness, what are you in front of the Lord? Adore him in the dust, and carefully separates this heavenly principle and indestructible from foreign alloys; cultivate your immortal and perfectible soul and make it likely to be united to the pure spring of the Wellness when it is released from coarse vapors of the material. Thus you will be free in the middle of iron chains; even happy in misfortune, steadfast in the midst of storms, and you will die without fear.
§ II. – Mason! if ever you could doubt the immortal nature of your soul, and your high destination, initiation would be fruitless for you; you would cease to be the adopted son of thy wisdom, and you would be lost in the crowd of material and profane beings, groping in the darkness.
Duties to the Sovereign and the Homeland.
§ 1. – The Supreme Being gave the most positive way his powers on the earth to the sovereign; respect and cherish its legitimate authority on the corner of the earth you live, your first honor belongs to God, your second to your homeland.
The man wandering in the woods without culture and fleeing his fellows, would be ill suited to meet the views of Providence, and to grasp the full weight of the happiness reserved for him. His being is growing among his fellows, his mind is strengthened by the clash of opinions: but, once met in society, he would have to fight constantly self-interest and disordered passions, and innocence soon succumb under the force or trickery. So we had laws to guide him, and heads to keep them.
§ II. – Sensitive man! you honor your parents: honor the same the fathers of your State, and prays for their conservation: they are the representatives of divinity on earth. If they err, they will respond back to the Judge once, but your own feelings can deceive you, and never dispense them to obey you. If you missed this sacred duty, if your heart would not tremble to the sweet name of your country and sovereign, the Mason would repel you from his breast as public refractory, as unworthy to participate in the benefits of an association that earns the confidence and esteem of the government, since one of its majore mobile is patriotism, and, jealous to form that citizens it requires from its children, with more distinction and the most purified reasons , to all civic duties. The most courageous warrior, the most upright judge, the sweetest moor, the most faithful servant, the most tender father, the most sustainable husband, the most submissive son, the Mason must be, since the citizen’s common and ordinary bonds were sanctified and strengthened by the Mason’s free and voluntary wishes, and that neglecting it would join the weakness hypocrisy and perjury.
Duties towards humanity in general.
§ 1. – But, if the circle of patriotism that opens you a so rich and satisfying carrer, does not yet meet all your activity and if your sensitive heart wants to overstep the empire’s borders, and ablaze with the fire power of the humanity all men, all nations, if, going back to the common source, you like to fondly cherish all those who have the same organs, the same need for love, the same desire to be useful and have an immortal soul like you, then come and offer thy Temples in our homage to the Sacred Humanity, the universe is the home of Mason, and nothing that concerns man is foreign to him.
§ II. – Look with rispect this majestic building, designed to strengthen the too loose morals ties: cherish a general association of virtuous souls, able to exalt themselves; widespread in every country where reason and the lights have penetrated ; united under the holy banner of humanity governed by simple and uniform laws. Finally feel the sublime goal of our Holy Order; devote your whole life to charity and benevolence, ennobled, purifies and strengthens this generous resolution, working tirelessly on your perfection, bringing you more intimately to the Deity.
§ I. – Created in the image of God, who deigns to communicate to the men and spread them happiness; get closer of this infinite model, by a constant desire to pay steadily on the other men, the whole mass of happiness that is in your power: everything that the mind can design, is the heritage of Mason.
§ II. – See the helpless misery of childhood, it demands your support: consider the fatal inexperience of youth, it seeks your advice: put your happiness to maintain errors and deceptions that threaten it: it excites or sparks of the sacred fire of genius, and help her to develop them for the happiness of the world.
§ III. – Any being who suffers and groans has a sacred rights over you, beware of the misunderstanding, do not expect much so that the scream of misery beseech thee; warn and reassure the unfortunate shy, do not poison, by the ostentation of your gifts, sources of living water where the unfortunate must drink, do not seek the reward of thy charity in vain applause of the multitude: the Mason found it in the quiety of his conscience, and in the fortifying smile of the Deity, in whose eyes he is always placed.
§ IV. – If Providence has given you some liberal superfluous, beware of making a frivolous and criminal use, it insisted that a free and spontaneous movement of your generous soul, you made others less sensitive to uneven distribution property, which entered into its plans: enjoy this beautiful prerogative. Never let greed, the most sordid of passions, not debase your character, and that raises your heart is cold and arid calculations suggest it. If he ever came to dry out his breath and sad person, flee our charity workshops, they would not appeal to you, and we could not recognize in you the old image of the Deity.
§ V. – Let your charity be informed by religion, wisdom and prudence: your heart wants to embrace the needs of mankind: but your mind has to choose the most pressing and important. Instruct, advise, protect, gives relief, in turn: never believe he had done enough, and do rest of your works to show that a new energy in you and delivering the bursts of sublime passion, an endless source of enjoyment is preparing for you: get on this earth a foretaste of heavenly bliss: your soul will grow, and every moment of your life will be filled.
§ VI. – When you finally feel the limits of your finite nature, and that alone could not suffice although you would do your soul is sad, just in our Temples: see the sacred bundle of benefits that unites us, and competing effectively in all your faculties to plans and institutions that help you present Masonic association, and it achieves, welcomes you to be better citizens of this world: tasting the sweet fruits of our combined forces and concentrated on a single object, then multiply your resources, you will help to miles instead of a happy and your wishes will be crowned.
Moral duties to other men.
§ I. – Love your neighbor as yourself and that does not make him what you would not like you did. Help yourself from the sublime gift of speech, outward sign of your dominance over nature, to go to meet the needs of others, and to excite in all hearts the sacred fire of virtue. Be gracious and informal, built by your example: sharing the happiness of others without jealousy. Never allow the urge to rise for a moment in your womb, it would disturb the pure source of your happiness, and your soul would be prey to the saddest of the Furies.
§ II. – Forgive your enemy, not revenge thee by thy favors; this generous sacrifice, we owe the sublime precept to religion, you will provide the purest pleasures and most delicious: you will return the living image forgiving of Divinity, with a heavenly goodness, the offenses of man and the epitome of grace despite his ingratitude. Remember always that this is the triumph the best that reason can get on instinct, and that the Mason forget the insults, but never benefits.
Moral perfection of oneself.
§ I. – In devoting yourself and the good of others, do not forget thy own perfection, and does not neglect the needs of your immortal soul. Often stay in your heart, to probe the most secret recesses. Knowledge of self-[same is the great backbone of Masonic precepts. Your soul is the rough stone roughing it takes: to offer tribute to the Deity set your affections, your passions conquered.
§ II. – That chaste and severe are your inseparable companions, and make you respectable in the eyes of the profane:
that your soul is pure, straight, true and humble. Pride is the most dangerous enemy of man, it maintains the illusion of confidence in his strength. Does not consider the term where Lu bones came, he would slow down your race: fixed one where you have to reach the short duration of your way just leave you hoping to achieve: to take away your pride hazardous food comparison with those who are behind you: feel the sting of a rather virtuous emulation, seeing more models made before you.
§ III. – What ever your mouth does not alter the secret thoughts of your heart, she is always true and faithful body; a Mason who would divest of candor, to take the mask of hypocrisy, and the trick would be unworthy to live with us, and sowing distrust and discord in our peaceful temples, he would soon become one of horror and evil.
§ IV. – That sublime idea of the omnipresence of God will strengthen you, uphold you; every morning renews vow to get better, watch and pray, and when the night meets your heart reminds you of a good deed, it a victory over yourself, then just sits quietly in the bosom of Providence, and take back new strength.
§ V. – Studied at last the meaning of the hieroglyphics and emblems of the Order that you present. The very nature of sailing most of his secrets, she wants to be observed, and surprisingly often compared in its effects. Of all the sciences which the vast field presents the results of the happiest in the industry of man and to the benefit of society, one that will teach you the relationship between God, the universe and you, will fill the desires your heavenly soul and you learn to better perform your duties.
Duties to the Brothers.
§ 1 °. – In the great multitude of beings, which this universe is populated, you chose a vow Free Masons for your brothers. So do not forget that every Mason never, in any Christian communion, or country provided it is in you with his right hand is a symbol of brotherly frankness, has sacred rights on your support and your friendship. True to nature do vow, which was equal, the Mason Temple restored to its original rights of the human family, he never sacrifices to popular prejudices, and assimilates the sacral level by all states. Civil society meets in the distances established or tolerated by Providence often imagined the pride, there would censure them, and want to disregard them. But beware especially to establish artificial distinctions among us, that we disavow: let your dignity and your decorations lay at the door, and enters with the escort of your virtues. Whatever your position in the world, gives way in our Lodges at most virtuous, most enlightened.
§ II. – Do not be ashamed of never publicly obscure but honest man, that in our asylums as you embrassas brother moments before, the Order of blush you turn and you would return with your pride, to spread it on theaters secular world.
If your brother is in danger, rescues her, and not afraid to expose your life to him. If it is read in need, pays him on your treasures, and rejoice to be able to do as good a job: you swore to practice charity towards men is general, you owe your brother in preference to groaning. If he is wrong, and he wanders, come to him with the lights of sense, reason, persuasion, back to virtue beings who falter, and lifts up those who fell.
§ III. – If your heart hurt by real or imaginary offenses, harbored some secret enmity against one of your brothers, to dissipate the cloud which now stands: call to your aid any honest referee, claims his fraternal mediation: but never crosses the threshold of the temple before filing any feelings of hatred and revenge. You would invoke in vain the name of the LORD, for he deigned to dwell in our temples, if they are purified by virtue of their brothers and sanctified by concord.
Duties to the Order.
§ I. – When you were finally admitted to participation in the benefits resulting from the Masonic organization, you forsake him in exchange for a tacit part of your natural liberty:
made strictly moral obligations it imposes on you, yourself according to its laws and respects those wise that public trust has appointed to be guardians and interpreters of bis of the general will. Your will in the Order is subject to that law and superiors: you’d be a bad brother, if you ever méconnaissais this subordination necessary in any society, and ours would be forced to exclude you from their midst.
§ II. – It is primarily a law which you promised in the face of heaven the scrupulous observance: this is one of the most inviolable secrecy of our rituals, ceremonies, signs and shape of our association. Keep yourself to believe that this commitment is less sacred than the oaths you swore in civil society. You were saying it is free, but you’re never more to break the secret that binds you. The Lord invoquas you as a witness, the ratified: fear the penalties of perjury: you never escape the punishment of thy heart, and you would lose the esteem and confidence of a large company, who would be entitled declare to you without faith or honor.
That the lessons that the Order to address you the way do you facilitate truth and happiness, are etched deeply into your soul docile and open to impressions of virtue, if salutary maxims, which will mark virtually every step you do in the Masonic career, become your own principles, and the invariable rule of your actions, my brother what will be our joy! you will accomplish your sublime destiny, you recouvreras this divine likeness, which was the lot of man in his state of innocence, which is the goal of Christianity, and whose Masonic initiation is its primary purpose, you will return the creature darling Heaven: its fertile blessings will stop on you, and deserving the glorious title of wise, always free, happy and constant, you will walk on this earth the equal of kings, the benefactor of mankind, and model of your brothers.


ACM Transactions on Reconfigurable Technology and Systems
(TRETS) is a peer-reviewed and archival journal that covers reconfigurable
technology, systems, and applications on reconfigurable computers.
Authors are invited to submit original manuscripts for consideration after
having reviewed the
Information for Authors on this website.
The first issue was published in March 2008.
TRETS focuses on reconfigurable technology, systems, and applications on
reconfigurable computers. Its focus is on research in, on, and with
reconfigurable systems and on the underlying technology (which may be
FPGAs but could include other adaptable fabrics). The scope, rationale,
and coverage by other journals are often limited to particular aspects
of reconfigurable technology or reconfigurable systems. TRETS
covers reconfigurability in its own right.
Topics appropriate for TRETS include all levels of reconfigurable system
abstractions and all aspects of reconfigurable technology including platforms,
programming environments and application successes, such as:
In considering whether a paper is suitable for TRETS, the foremost
question should be whether reconfigurability has been essential to success.
Topics such as architecture, programming languages, compilers, and
environments, logic synthesis, physical design algorithms, and high
performance applications are all suitable if the context is appropriate.
For example, an architecture for an embedded application that happens
to use FPGAs is not necessarily suitable for TRETS, but an architecture using
FPGAs for which the reconfigurability of the FPGAs is an inherent part of
the specifications would be appropriate.
The systems architecture of a reconfigurable platform.
The programming environment of a reconfigurable system.
Applications on which success can be demonstrated.
The underlying technology from which reconfigurable systems are developed,
including FPGA architectures and their associated computer-aided design
New options for authors to manage rights and permissions for their work
April 2013 : ACM has introduced a new publishing license agreement, an updated copyright transfer agreement, and a
new author-pays option which allows for perpetual open access through the ACM Digital Library. For more information,
visit the ACM Author Rights webpage at authors.acm.org.


How to Smell Mythical No. 9 Through the Internet
An Open Letter to the Bearded Community: How and Why to Use Beard Oil
Back to School Hairstyles and Beard Styles
10 Positively Unique Back to School Supplies
Amla: The Next Super-Fruit
Connecting People Through Stories: How Beard and Lady Came to Be
The art of storytelling dates back centuries, as it serves as a way to connect cultures, educate people and serve as a form of overall communication. Stories come in all forms, from bedtime fairytales and newspaper articles to a company pitch and how a group of people came together to create something new.
This story in particular, is only the first chapter of our story. It's the story of how Beard and Lady came to be.


I am forever changed! How can a Garden change someones life you may ask? Well, it all started with a small garden, composting, then we got a few chickens…. Next thing I knew we started planting fruit trees to create a food forest in our back yard, but before I get ahead of myself let me go back to the beginning, my childhood. My childhood had such an influence in my adulthood as I will soon explain.
Ever since I was young I have just loved nature…. One of the memories that stands out most is playing in my grandmas’ garden and digging for earthworms with my cousin under the heat of the summer sun. Ahh.. I can still remember the texture of the rich black soil in-between my fingers and all the different smells of the garden veggies. I can hear the crisp snap of the green beans and that noise that only corn can make when it’s being shucked and I can just taste the juiciness of those brightly colored tomatoes still warm from the sun picked off the vine. I remember the night sky lit with fire-flies…. I can tell you without a doubt that I am blessed to have experienced the many different and beautiful miracles that a garden and rich soil can bring. I am so happy that I had the opportunity to experience this as a child as it made such an impact on me as an adult I now realize.
I hold dear such fond memories of visiting my grandma in the Midwest and having so many wonderful summers there as it will always be my starting point and where I go back to for inspiration. This is where I was taught the value that the earth has and that it is a relationship that we have with it and with ourselves. Little did I know just how much this would mould my passions in the future. Now fast forward about 30 years…
I have been saying for so too long… I know the difference between a home grown and a store bought tomato and I say no more tasteless “perfect” tomatoes that offer practically no nutritional value to our bodies! So it finally begins…. A Garden is Born…. A new person is reborn…. A new Passion for Life and Nature has been rekindled! So my new journey begins, an evolution of a Chef and Gardener turned permaculturalist. It was actually a natural progression.
A Pandemic called Covid-19 had us on lockdown. Believe it or not, being locked down and taking a break from “business as usual” was a blessing for me, I just hadn’t realized it yet. Sometimes what seems to be a negative can actually be a blessing in disguise. You never know what life has in store for you just beyond the horizon.
So, time to turn home grown lemons into lemonade and add some fresh strawberries and basil from the garden, shall we? Let’s begin! I am an Artist and Chef by Profession. Although it is very rewarding it doesn’t come close to being truly connected to and in touch with nature. I have a spark that has ignited in my soul once again and my heart smiles! So much so that it has caused me to rethink my purpose and direction in life. The people in my life tell me that they can see a change in me and say I glow when I talk about the future and all that is to come.
Now, let me tell you a little bit about how my life has changed since I started a garden and how the light bulb went off like a lightning bolt as one bit of information has lead me to the next, like digging for the treasure of a lifetime. Having this relentless desire to reconnect with nature has lead me to a path of uncovering the keys to living a balanced and healthy life, working alongside and with nature, giving back in ways that make a difference beyond measure, tapping into a more simplistic way of life, as well as learning that there is possibly a simple solution to our global crisis of hunger and climate change.
The wealth of experience as well as knowledge that I have learned in such a little amount of time is amazing as nature is such a beautiful teacher. If you really observe and pay close attention, nature can really teach you so much! Realizing that there is a whole ecosystem involved with having a balanced and healthy garden blew my mind. There are so many organisms seen and unseen that have a crucial role to play as we are all important and need each other. Healthy soil is our answer.
There are a couple of films-documentaries that I watched that opened my eyes to so much as it helped me to discover and put a name to the “calling” and pulling that is within me. I didn’t realize it but Permaculture is my answer, my passion! I watched both of these films and cried like a baby the whole time, realizing the yearning that I have inside me is to create a living sanctuary. Realizing the dream, I believe that we can experience a real life Garden of Eden right here on this planet if we take a small step collectively and heal our soil. The clock is ticking…


Rami Kimchi is an Israeli culture critic and filmmaker. His films include Galia’s Wedding (1986), Travels with My Brother (1997), Cinema Egypt (2001), and Father Language (2006), The Night of Fools ( 2014) His main research interests are Israeli cinema, modern Hebrew literature, Yiddish literature, Palestinian cinema, and Near Eastern cinema. He has published a book- The Israeli Shtetls – Bourekas Films and Yiddish Literature (2012, Resling )- and articles in Shofar, Reeh, Balshanoot Ivrit ,Dapim ,Moreshet Israel and Hakivoon Mizrach.
Kimchi received his PhD in Near Eastern Studies from the University of Michigan, his DEA in Jewish Civilization from Paris University, his MA in Hebrew Literature and his BA in Film Television from Tel Aviv University.
Kimchi was the winner of the Dov Sadan Prize for Hebrew Literature in 1993 and won prizes for his film Galia’s Wedding at the International Film Festival in Jerusalem in 1987 and the Munich International Film Festival in 1986


Need new books, DVDs, CDs and more? Now is the prime
opportunity to stock up as the Friends of the Mid-Columbia
Libraries host their second annual Giant Book Sale of the year.
This fundraiser is a win-win, allowing you to stock up on gently
used books for your baby to your tween, young adult and even
yourself! Get your hands on great DVDs, CDs and books on tapes to
help make long road trips less daunting!
The Mid-Columbia Libraries will use the money raised
during the book sale to provide valuable support for library
programs and resources. The sale includes items from Keewaydin
Park, Kennewick, Pasco and the West Richland libraries and will
take place October 1st through the
3rd at the Kennewick Library located at
1620 S. Union Street. On Friday and Saturday the sale will run from
9 am to 4 pm, and on Sunday the 3rd the
sale will run from 1 pm to 3 pm.


The Third Dimension
This blog is produced by a professional of the Third Dimension. The goal primarily is to focus on connecting Aviators with their past so they can better understand their responsibilities to the future of aviation, and those who will follow in their footsteps. An accomplished author, Mr. Novell publishes short stories, podcast and essays, on his website. Robert Novell is the featured contributor to the editorial section of the FirstNFlight website.
Don't forget to take a look at Robert Novell's site:
Read Robert Novells Blog and buy one of his books found here - Gate Keeper
"Whether outwardly or inwardly, whether in space or time, the farther we penetrate the unknown, the vaster and more marvelous it becomes." - Charles Lindbergh


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When a keen Argentinian blogger brings out to your day excursion of Bueno Aires so you can nearby Uruguay to get $fifteen,one hundred thousand during the bucks and see an early on lady which he had a quick liaison into the past 12 months an individual enjoys a beneficial fair notion of what’s upcoming.
But even though you you’ll do you know what is coming down-the-line it is not through poor plotting of the Pedro Mairal. The guy on purpose sets up the newest inevitable emergency which is on the befall his narrator Lucas Pereyra from the very start. The actual storytelling this is basically the facts about the storyline
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“I became way of life my entire life. Enough sublimating to your literature, creating reports. I desired to live, to see to the touch. To locate to the truth. Score in to the Guerra. Go into a war using my f*****grams imagination, my eternal undetectable globe.”
The fresh hero’s journey is always a story regarding demise and you may resurrection-the newest death of the existing ego or way of becoming and the resurgence of the the fresh new.
Really new death of the outdated Lucas therefore the resurrections of the the. In the terminology regarding W. B. Yeats: “all of the try changed, changed thoroughly,” and even though this is not obvious in the event that a poor charm tend to feel born in how the rest of Lucas’s existence takes on aside, it can certainly never be a comparable.
“We kissed [Guerra], and as we kissed, she ran the woman hand over the back of my personal shoulder, and it delivered an electric charge all the way down my back. She reset me. We forgot what you, my name.”
Uruguay is a straightforward supposed paradise getting Lucas out of shores, dope, in addition to prospective away from relaxed intercourse which have Guerra, versus financial challenges and you will stilted lives he existence during the Argentina
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Students will be well-primed to tackle the text after this delightful prologue. The Roman Spring of Mrs. Men or boys with high-pitched voices and androgenous looks were cast as female characters See the snippet guide to two interpretations of Desdemona in Stage Beauty.
Panoramajazz; Edinburgh Fringe Festival: Closer, To Kill A Mockingbird. Virginia Commonwealth University, professor of theatre. There are a number of wonderful performances in the production including one by Dash, playing a dog named Spot.
Romeo and Juliet Ages: Tyler MarchantCherry Lane Theatre: An Octoroon; Theatre for a New Audience: There was a period of two or perhaps three years during the early s when Shakespeare made the extraordinary artistic leap from writing plays like the flawed and bloody Titus Andronicus to creating his romantic masterpiece, Romeo and Juliet, probably first performed in or End of the Rainbow, High; Off-Broadway partial: All that said, the relentless hilarity and manic drive of the show too often feels like much ado about nothing.
While we try to ensure they are as close to the actual theatre plan as possible we cannot guarantee they are a true representation. In an ironic epilogue, the troupe won the right in to produce plays at Blackfriars, and subsequently split time between there and the Globe.
How I Became a Pirate. Regan and Goneril are two possible successors who have no intention of keeping the company.
Graphic representations of social mobility can be helpful to show the inability to change one's social position in the Middle Ages and the ability the move among vocations and to better oneself in the Renaissance. The Metromaniacs; American Shakespeare Theatre: PremiereThe Boys U.
Globe Theatre Links Home picture credit: The increased social mobility of Renaissance society was the result of many factors, including: Cuthbert Burbage tried to renegotiate the Theatre lease with Giles Allen in autumn of ; Allen vowed to put the wood and timber of the building "to better use.
Chicago; Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma: Romeo and Juliet; Off-Off Broadway: Race; Pioneer Theater Company: Gross Indecency; Shakespeare Festival of St. Steel Magnolias; Asolo Repertory Theatre: Team 2 has the first opportunity to answer question 2, and so on until the worksheet is completed.
Wilson MilamSoHo Playhouse: Terry JohnsonBooth Theatre: The attractive young couple is already in love, and the ensuing 10 minutes of tasteful but very naked lovemaking are interwoven with more rehearsal scenes. Introductory lecture Introduce the film with direct instruction that includes the following points: Sunset Baby; SoHo Playhouse: Piano; Brigham Young University: The Graduate; Wilma Theater: Lascivious Something, Row After Row.
Grand on Navy Pier Tickets: Photo by Liz Lauren. An introduction to the times in which a play was first performed is helpful in appreciating the artistry and meaning of the work.
Professor in the design department of Yale School of Drama since Some scholars claim that Shakespeare was a pen name for the Earl of Essex, who could not write under his own name because writing plays was considered beneath the dignity of the nobility.
This assignment will lead students to pay close attention to the film.
Teachers who skip the scenes showing the couple making love will experience pretty smooth non-R-rated sailing till the end of this extraordinary film. Watch video · Young Will Shakespeare has writer's block. That is, until he finds his muse – Viola.
This beautiful young woman is Will’s greatest admirer and will stop at nothing to appear in his next play. In one of the finer moments in Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s heavily farcical production of “Shakespeare in Love” — the stage adaptation by Lee Hall (“Billy Elliot”) of the much-loved.
Rachel Rockwell, who staged a well-received production last year at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, has brought her same team of designers to Sarasota, where they work some visual magic. "Shakespeare in Love" bears this out, sketching a friendly rivalry between Marlowe and Shakespeare in which Marlowe coaches Will over some unrealized parts.
Shakespeare's work has become a staple of classic literature. His plays, including Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, and King Lear, have all found renown. Young Will Shakespeare has writer's block the deadline for his new play - a comedy called Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter - is fast approaching, he's struggling to finish the first line of a sonnet and he's in dire need of inspiration.
Then he meets the beguiling Viola de Lesseps, the beautiful daughter of a wealthy merchant.Shakespeare in love theatre business plans


Adam didn’t search for Eve, God brought Eve to Adam. You see Adam gladly spent his time totally captivated in God. Until one day, God put Adam to sleep and created Eve. Did they unite right after Eve was created? Although the Bible says Eve was united with Adam, the Word does not give a clue as to when. There are no details as to how long it took between the creation of Eve and when Adam was awakened to meet her. I believe it was necessary for Eve to fall in love with God and spend just as much time with the Lord as Adam had. Why? Because then Adam and Eve would have equally had God as their #1 love before each other. A relationship just doesn’t work if God is not #1 or the center of it all. You see a relationship should be like a triangle with God on the top and man and woman at the bottom corners. The closer the man and woman are to God, they automatically get closer to each other. Wait on the Lord’s timing. and if you are in His will and loving him with all that you are, He will greatly bless you without you having to worry or do any of the work. Just focus on loving the Lord and your princess/prince will come soon enough and trust me, the Lord will only give you the very best because He loves to give good gifts to his children.


Ernie's book collection.
Thank you to Ern Bowles for donating a large collection of books about making wooden toys and dolls houses.
There are some good ideas for simple toys that we could make. Maybe some of us could produce a few for sale at Christmas?
Picture shows four of the books. There are lots more and not only for toys.
Author: Richard Bunce


Has it really been 2 years? Two whole years since one of the best days of my life? Two whole years since my whoppin' 8 lbs. 1 oz., 21 1/2 inch absolutely precious little man entered this world and took his first big breath of fresh air and was laid in my arms. That moment...that VERY moment he stole my heart! Actually, he had already stolen my heart during the 9 months and 1 week that I was pregnant with him. Every little squirm, every BIG KICK, the amazing moments almost every day when he would get the hiccups...cherished moments!
For six long years, I had wanted so badly to have a child. To be called Mama by somebody who would depend on me for everything. There were actually times that I thought it would never happen. There was so much frustration, so many disappointments, so many tears. Times when I wanted to just say forget it and give up on my DREAM. But then, one day, it happened. I heard a song on the radio that made me realize that I didn't have to give up on MY DREAM. I just needed to hand my dream over to the ONLY ONE who had the power to make it come true. The song was called "Surrender" by BarlowGirl. If you've never heard it you should take the time to listen to it here. It just talks about how we hold on to our dreams for years and we try to MAKE them come to fruition on our own. Yet God has plans of his own and they may not always match up with what we think should be happening. Like I said, it took a WHILE, but once I was able to daily surrender my dreams to HIM and let him have control...it was all ok. I'm so thankful that I did end up being blessed with a child of my own, but I also realize that God could have chose otherwise for me. And I had finally gotten to a point in my life where I would have been okay with that. I had to realize that HE WAS ENOUGH...that I only needed Him. Not very easy and like I said it was a daily thing (and still is). Through this extremely tough time, I learned to trust in God a lot more and I also gained a new way of looking at other people who were dealing with hard situations. A new way of wanting to comfort others. I don't ever want to forget this trial.
Anyway...back to the birthday boy. So now the little bitty (chunky monkey) baby is about to be 2. I'm not sure if he wants to be 2 or not, but it's coming anyway (kinda like my 30th birthday came anyway this past Sunday). ha ha! I personally think that he is the cutest 2 year old on earth! Watching him grow and learn so many things has been an amazing journey. It seems like every day there is something new. Or something funny that I want to remember forever (when really it's hard for me to remember my name sometimes). The way he pronounces certain words, the way he looks at me when he says "I yuv you, Mama", and the way he puts his little hand on his heart when we tell him that we're saying a prayer (because he thinks we mean that we're going to say the PLEDGE TO THE FLAG). My little angel, my little man, my dream come true.
Be sweet, precious man. And have a wonderful, fun-filled 2nd birthday! Maybe this year you'll actually EAT some of your cake. :o)
Love you bunches!


This page contains links to full length articles written by Conservation Officers, Investigators and other experts in the field of natural resource protection or law enforcement.
The Long Liner – Written by retired Lt. Ken Didion, this article chronicles a complicated trapping case that he investigated in the mid 1990s. The case was out of the ordinary for a trapping case in that it eventually involved felony level offenses, and the defendant spent time in jail in addition to paying significant financial penalties. This article originally appeared in the International Game Warden magazine in 1996.
The Search for John Henry Wackerman – At the request of Game Protector John Henry Wackerman’s family, Lt. Tom Caifa conducts a search of the DEC’s historical records to locate information about this officer who served during the early 1900s.
Our Law Enforcement Connection – Written by retired Lt. Ken Didion, this is a brief editorial on the close working relationships that ECOs enjoy with other law enforcement agencies.
Ice – Written by retired Lt. Bob Henke. With a humorous look at an incident from early in his career, retired Lt. Bob Henke provides some insight and guidance for staying safe on winter ice.
The Warden’s Son – written by Lt. Deming Lindsley, this is his story of what it was like growing up as the son of a game warden. His father, Burton Lindsley, had a distinguished career as a Game Protector and Conservation Officer for over thirty years.
Game Protectors, The Early Years – written by Capt. Tim Huss, this is a reflection on the dedication and dangerous duties of the Game Protectors in the early 1900’s.
Bears of the Adirondacks – Part I – written by retired Lt. Ken Didion, this is the first installment of his trials and tribulations of dealing with the problems caused by conflict between bears and people in the Cranberry Lake area of the Adirondacks where he patrolled for many years.
Bears of the Adirondacks – Part II – the second installment on dealing with bears and people. This installment is a reflection on the problems encountered when bears are hunted illegally.
History of the Environmental Conservation Officers – The article “Standing Watch” reproduced from the “Conservationist” Magazine.
The Early Years – written by Lt. Deming Lindsley, the Division of Law Enforcement’s most senior officer, this is a description of his first days as an ECO.
Operation Shellshock – written by Lt. Dick Thomas, this is the story behind one of the biggest undercover operations in Division of Law Enforcement history.
“Behind the Badge” – Retired ECO Dick Lang has recently published his first book. I have to assume that it is his first book, because I know that he has a lot more stories to tell about his career as a Game Warden in Niagara County. In his book, Dick relates some of the incidents from a long and distinguished career. Although Dick faced the dangers associated with police duties, this is not a book filled with dangerous encounters and narrow escapes from harm. This book contains the kind of stories that Game Wardens tell when they are gathered in a group of their peers. These are the stories that you accumulate and never forget because of their unusual nature of because of the humor of the circumstances.
Game Wardens can’t help but accumulate these stories. It is just the nature of the job. We deal with people of all walks of life and witness human nature at its finest and at its worst. We deal with accomplished criminals and criminals who botch their attempts to violate the law so badly that they make us laugh. The number of stories that a warden accumulates is a direct function of two things: how many years they spent in the field and how hard they worked at their duties. The hardest working wardens with the longest careers accumulated the most memorable stories. Simple as that.
And, that describes Dick Lang: a hard working Environmental Conservation Officer for 34 years. When you read his stories, you can imagine yourself in an exclusive circle – that of a group of active or retired game wardens as they gather to share their experiences. The excerpts from his book “Behind the Badge” that we will present here are a perfect example of what you would hear if you had the privilege of joining that group. We will start with Dick’s story of “The Skeleton” in the trunk, and will gradually add some more of his collection of stories for you to sample.
Dick’s book “Behind the Badge” can be purchased through this link at Amazon.com. Or, it can be purchase directly from the author. If you would like to get a personally autographed copy directly from Dick, send us an email and we will provide you with the contact information.


Multilevel-methods Approach Key to Kicking the Toxic HAB Habit
Cyanobacteria harmful algae blooms (cyanoHABs) continue to intensify globally. These blooms represent a potential health risk to both water and food security: the excessive biomass and toxins (cyanotoxins) they produce can render water untreatable to potable quality for either human or animal consumption or even for the irrigation of many crops.
According to a 2020 report by the Society of Environmental Journalists, algae “threatens public health, kills property values, wreaks havoc on tourism, drives up water rates, stymies economic development, hurts your region’s morale, mars its reputation, has psychological impacts, is a symptom of climate change, poor land use, government ineptitude, overpopulation and—frankly—just looks gross.”
The problems presented by cyanoHABs are driven by eutrophication, a word derived from the Greek meaning “well-nourished.” Eutrophication is usually defined as being an excess of nutrients, but the real problem stems from the competitive advantage cyanobacteria can exploit in eutrophic water bodies to become the most “well-nourished” organisms in the ecosystem.
In the absence of effective multilevel solutions to eutrophication, the problem of cyanoHABs has become firmly entrenched in many of our inland waters. Management methods that only focus on one technique; for example, using herbicides and algaecides to kill off the excessive biomass produced in blooms; cause massive cell breakdown and release of toxins and odors followed by the dead biomass decomposing and creating an oxygen deficit. Over time, this creates a sediment nutrient stockpile that is endlessly recycled in eutrophic water bodies.
It has been fifty years since the term eutrophication became part of the common language in referencing the cyanobacteria blooms and water quality in the Great Lakes and Lake Erie in particular. Since then, much effort and money has been spent on HAB “monitoring and detection” giving us a good perspective on the occurrence and distribution of both the organisms and their toxins (i.e., the cyanotoxins and other secondary metabolites).
Why are CyanoHABs a Problem?
Researchers first began to explain water pollution linked with eutrophication and cyanobacteria in the 1970s (Shapiro 1970, 1973).
Over this time period, cyanobacteria water blooms have been continuously linked to nutrient enrichment, especially in the Great Lakes, (Reutter 2019) and again more recently in the 1990s (Carmichael 2003, Scavia et al. 2014, Watson et al. 2016). We now know that when eutrophic conditions prevail in source water bodies like rivers, ponds, lakes and reservoirs, cyanobacteria can proliferate to produce what are known as HABs. Blooms are potentially harmful because many types of cyanobacteria produce a variety of potent cyanotoxins.
These toxins can sicken and kill wild and domestic animals, as well as humans, upon exposure, ingestion and inhalation, as was seen in Brazil in 1996 (Carmichael et al. 2001); or cause drinking water closures as happened in Toledo, Ohio, in 2014; Salem, Oregon, in 2018; and West Palm Beach, Florida, in 2021. “Do-not Drink” warnings are issued in these circumstances, and entire cities may become dependent on bottled water or water trucked in by tankers. There can be no argument that tap water made unsafe to drink by chemicals, pathogens or cyanotoxins represents a crisis.
The threat of cyanotoxins produced by cyanoHABs also leads to water bodies being closed to the public for recreational use. This has severe consequences for local economies and lakeside property values.
Veterinarians first noted that animals were dying after drinking from green watering points in the late 1800s (Australia), the 1930s (South Africa) and again in the 1950s (Canada and the US). I began my research with cyanoHABs and cyanotoxins using waterbloom samples from the Canadian prairie provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1970. By the early 1980s, I had found evidence for several chemical and functional groups of cyanotoxins, especially the potent cyclic peptide liver toxins named the microcystins, which was initially produced by the colonial single-celled cyanobacteria Microcystis aeruginosa (Carmichael 1997).
During this 50-year period, toxic cyanoHABs have become more prevalent, more intense and more enduring around the world. In the US, this is evidenced in several ways, including:
- Increasing numbers of lakes and reservoirs closed to the public by health authorities earlier every summer for longer periods of time.
- Waterways and beaches in Florida facing closures due to toxic HABs (both marine and freshwater), severely impacting the tourism industry.
- Rivers increasingly becoming transport conduits for cyanoHABs. Examples include the rivers feeding Monterey Bay, California; Ohio’s Maumee River contaminating Lake Erie; Lake Okechobee in Florida moving cyanoHABs to coastal beach areas; and the Mississippi River, which is increasingly a major source of contamination both inland and in the Gulf’s coastal waters.
The future trajectory of the cyanoHAB risk will only continue to go up, for a number of reasons. Lakes in the mid-west have suffered more from invasive weeds than cyanoHABs to date, and this was also the case in the northeast a decade ago. Researchers are now reporting that Midwest lakes (i.e., Michigan) are showing a progressive shift that is similar to changes seen in the northeastern states before cyanobacteria became so dominant there.
Insufficient Current Practices
Attempts to prevent eutrophication tend to focus on manipulating water nutrient chemistry, mainly by trying to reduce levels of dissolved phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) in the water. The main interventions to date have involved attempts to:
- Reduce nutrient inflows
Once the process of eutrophication has begun and sediment nutrient stockpiles start to accumulate, it is too late to expect that we can stop the process by simply reducing further nutrient inflows. This is because nutrient recycling from the sediment stockpile becomes self-sustaining for cyanobacteria.
- Chemically precipitate P into the sediment
Alum has been the main chemical used to precipitate P out of the water column, into the sediment. By doing so, P that was available at the surface for uptake by free-floating algae is removed from the surface water and dumped into the sediment nutrient stockpile. This is exactly where the cyanobacteria want it.
In many states, the use of alum has been banned and more expensive, less noxious products are now promoted in its place. Unfortunately, this just means it is costing more to achieve the same harmful effects.
Symptomatic Treatments & Long-term Relief
When everything we have done to try to arrest the spread of eutrophication and toxic cyanoHABs has actually made them worse, we start to develop a mindset that accepts the inevitability of toxic cyanoHABs. If there are going to be fires igniting everywhere, then it seems logical to adopt monitoring and detecting strategies, so that we know when to panic and call the fire brigade. The focus therefore shifts to post hoc or after-the-fact reactive interventions, every time a problem flares up.
- Algaecides & Herbicides
As nutrient-rich sediment accumulates, it provides an ideal rooting bed for invasive macrophytes (often called weeds). These weeds start to displace the native, more diverse aquatic plants that normally grow on the sandy bottom and provide a better spawning ground for fish to lay their eggs.
Because nutrients are also mobilized from this sediment to fuel algae and cyanobacteria blooms, we resort to algaecides and herbicides. They kill off the weeds and algae, but this creates two problems:
- A stress response can induce toxin release by cyanobacteria; and
- The dead weeds and algae sink to the bottom, decompose and add to the sediment nutrient stockpile that fuels future blooms.
- Ultrasound Devices
Another technique to deal with toxic cyanoHABs after they have formed is to use ultrasound to kill the cyanobacteria by destroying their cells. As well as creating the same two problems as algaecides, ultrasound has been shown to impair important zooplankton like Daphnia (Lürling and Tolman 2014) and other organisms. This degrades the food web, directly benefiting cyanobacteria.
- Skimming and harvesting
Sometimes used as a last-ditch effort, surface scums are physically skimmed off for deposit offsite (Finn 2019). The problem then becomes finding somewhere to safely dump the toxic harvest. This process must be repeated often, sometimes weekly or monthly, and does not significantly reduce the nutrient burden that created the problem.
Rethinking the Approach is Key to Kicking the HAB Habit
As toxic cyanoHABs become more prevalent, intense and enduring, it is time to rethink our approach. One-step solutions have proven insufficient, but a growing body of successful implementations suggests a system using a multistep (holistic) treatment can place lakes and reservoirs on a new trajectory.
Case Study: Lake Peekskill, Putnam Valley, Pennsylvania
Lake Peekskill is a 60-acre lake about 60 miles (100km) north of New York City in the town of Putnam Valley. After the lake was declared unsafe for human use over several summers, an RFP was issued in 2017 for a team to help alleviate the toxicity. Key criteria for acceptance of the proposal were that no chemicals not natural to the system (i.e., algicides or alum) would be used.
SIS.bio and their USA sister company Clean-Flo International were selected by Putnam Valley based on their comprehensive, ecological solution, incorporating aeration and enzymes, nutrients and competitive pricing.
The SIS.bio solution does not seek to “kill” the cyanobacteria or bluegreen algae that are responsible for toxic cyanoHABs but rather to support the natural re-establishment of a competitive productive food web so that the cyanobacteria are reigned in through natural competition for available nutrients, thus achieving greater biodiversity and a better balance.
Prior to commissioning the solution, on June 20, 2018, the desired minimum of 5mg/l Dissolved Oxygen (DO) was barely present from 15 feet deep. Nine weeks later (and to this day) the entire water column was destratified and reoxygenated to 23 feet.
Reoxygenating the entire water column opens up water volume for fish and other oxygen-breathing aquatic life that could not otherwise inhabit it. This environment re-establishes a productive food web to take up nutrients and deny them to cyanobacteria.
“The system is now in its fourth year with the lake in pristine condition, full of the aquatic life it had back in the 1960s,” said Sam Oliverio (former supervisor Town of Putnam Valley, New York).
With revised use of existing methods, applied in a multilevel way, we now have field examples showing remediation leading to prevention. This was accomplished through a better understanding of why cyanobacteria come to dominate our water supplies. The next 50 years can be about reducing and removing nutrient laden sediments in lakes, reservoirs, rivers and estuaries using a multilevel approach involving air/water flow, complemented with bioaugmentation and selected nutrients.
This reduction in sediments increases water volume and moves nutrients into food webs that are beneficial. By doing so, not only will we be kicking the HAB habit, but we will replace it with a process that has the potential to restore our lakes and waterways closer to the condition they were in, prior to nutrient overloading.
- Carmichael, W. W. (1997). The cyanotoxins. Advances in botanical research, 27, 211-256.
- Carmichael, W.W. (2003). Reemergence of Cyanobacterial harmful algae blooms in the Great Lakes – The CyanoHABs. Lake Erie Millennium Network – Third Biennial Conference. The Univ of Windsor, Ontario- May 6-7, 2003. (invited presenter)
- Carmichael, W. W., Azevedo, S. M., An, J. S., Molica, R. J., Jochimsen, E. M., Lau, S., Rinehart, K. L., Shaw, G. R., & Eaglesham, G. K. (2001). Human fatalities from cyanobacteria: chemical and biological evidence for cyanotoxins. Environmental health perspectives, 109(7), 663-668.
- Finn, L. (2019). https://patch.com/new- york/southampton/new-pilot-program-tackle-harmful- algal-blooms-lake-agawam
- Lürling, M. F. L. L. W., & Tolman, Y. (2014b). Effects of commercially available ultrasound on the zooplankton grazer Daphnia and consequent water greening in laboratory experiments. Water, 6(11), 3247-3263. https://doi.org/10.3390/w6113247
- Reutter, J. M. (2019). Lake Erie: past, present, and future. Encyclopedia of Water: Science, Technology, and Society, 1-15.
- Scavia, D., Allan, J. D., Arend, K. K., Bartell, S., Beletsky, D., Bosch, N. S., Brandt, S. B., Briland, R. D., Daloğlu, I., DePinto, J. V., Dolan, D.M., Evans, M. A., Farmer, T. M., Goto, D., Han, H., Höök, T. O., Knight, R., Ludsin, S. A., Mason, D., Michalak, A. M., Richards, R. P., Roberts, J. J., Rucinski, D. K., Rutherford, E., Schwab, D. J., Sesterhenn, M., Zhang, H., & Zhou, Y. (2014). Assessing and addressing the re-eutrophication of Lake Erie: Central basin hypoxia. Journal of Great Lakes Research, 40(2), 226-246.
- Shapiro, J. (1970). A statement on phosphorus. Journal of Water Pollution Control. 42(5), 772-775.
- Shapiro, J. (1973). Blue-green algae: why they become dominant. Science, 179(4071), 382-384.
- Watson, S. B., Monis, P., Baker, P., & Giglio, S. (2016). Biochemistry and genetics of taste-and odor-producing cyanobacteria. Harmful Algae, 54, 112-127.


Teke Teke (テケテケ), also spelled Teke-Teke, Teketeke, or Teke teke, is a Japanese urban legend about the ghost of a schoolgirl who is said to have been tied by her bullies onto a railway line, where her body was cut in half by a train. She is an onryō, or a vengeful spirit, who lurks in urban areas and around train stations at night. Since she no longer has a lower body, she travels on either her hands or elbows, dragging her upper torso and making a scratching or "teke teke"-like sound. If she encounters an individual, she will chase them and slice them in half at the torso, killing them in such a way that mimics her own disfigurement.
Common elements of the legend include that "Teke Teke" is the vengeful ghost or spirit (also known as an onryō) of a young woman or schoolgirl who was executed by being sliced in half. Missing her lower extremities, she is said to walk on her hands or her elbows, making a scratching or "Teke Teke"-like sound as she moves. If an individual encounters Teke Teke at night, she will chase them and cut their body in half (often with a scythe), mimicking her own death.
One version of the story concerns a young woman known as Kashima Reiko, who is said to have died when her legs were severed from her body by a train after she fell on the tracks. According to some sources, the "Kashima Reiko" story predates TekeTeke. According to legend, her legless spirit haunts bathroom stalls, asking occupants if they know where her legs are. If a questioned individual replies with an answer that Kashima does not find acceptable, she will rip or cut their legs off. Individuals may survive the encounter by replying that her legs are on the Meishin Expressway, or by responding with the phrase "kamen shinin ma", or "mask death demon" (which may be the phonetic root of Kashima's name).
- Aka Manto ("Red Cape"), a Japanese urban legend about a spirit which appears in bathrooms
- Hanako-san, a Japanese urban legend about the spirit of a young girl who haunts school bathrooms
- Kuchisake-onna ("Slit Mouth Woman"), a Japanese urban legend about a disfigured woman
- Miss Koi Koi, an African urban legend of a ghost who haunts schools
- Sadako Yamamura, a ghost from the Ring novels and films
- Teketeke (film), a 2009 film based on the urban legend
- Meyer, Matthew (31 October 2015). "Teke teke". Yokai.com. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
- "Teke-Teke - Japanese Urban Legends". ScaryForKids.com. 24 November 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
- Murguía 2016, p. 317.
- de Vos 2012, p. 170.
- Meza-Martinez, Cecily; Demby, Gene (31 October 2014). "The Creepiest Ghost And Monster Stories From Around The World". NPR. National Public Radio, Inc. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
- Fierro, Romina. "Teke Teke: el fantasma japonés que aterra a quienes caminan por las estaciones de tren" [Teke Teke: the Japanese ghost that terrifies those who walk through train stations]. Vix.com. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
- "Japanese Urban Legends: Kashima-san | Kowabana". 2018-06-30. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
- Grundhauser, Eric (2 October 2017). "Get to Know Your Japanese Bathroom Ghosts". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
- Bricken, Rob (19 July 2016). "14 Terrifying Japanese Monsters, Myths And Spirits". Kotaku. G/O Media. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
- Bathroom Readers' Institute 2017, p. 390.
- Bathroom Readers' Institute (2017). Uncle John's OLD FAITHFUL 30th Anniversary Bathroom Reader (Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Annual). Portable Press. ISBN 978-1684120864.
- de Vos, Gail (2012). What Happens Next? Contemporary Urban Legends and Popular Culture. Libraries Unlimited. ISBN 978-1598846331.
- Murguía, Salvador Jimenez (2016). The Encyclopedia of Japanese Horror Films (National Cinemas). Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 978-1442261662.


My research focuses on how stereotyping leads to mistreatment and biased perceptions of women, creating challenges in their pursuit of success.
I appreciate multi-method research and combining large-scale field studies with experimental data. Across my projects, I have engaged in quantitative methods including laboratory studies, cross-sectional studies, and field studies. I have also done qualitative work such as interviews and observational analysis. I am interested in applied field settings and field interventions and have worked with data from leadership development programs, top tech accelerators, Fortune 100 organizations, small organizations, and the Space Telescope Science Institute.
Gender in Organizations
Empowering Female Leaders: In the first chapter of my dissertation, I explore empowerment leadership as a female advantage. I hypothesize that empowerment, as a feminized leadership style, becomes a requirement for women. However, female leaders are also scrutinized on their relative empowerment of male and female followers and punished for deviations. The results of a field study of executive-level leaders and an experiment support my hypotheses and demonstrate that women in leadership are required to be empowering, particularly with their female followers.
Attractiveness and Harassment: This project explores the connection between attractiveness and harassment of women in organizations with the use of a multi-method approach that combines qualitative, field, and experimental data. We assert that attractiveness leads to harassment through mechanisms related to biased perceptions of opportunities gained by attractive women. The current manuscript received a reject and resubmit (high-risk R&R) at Organization Science and is being prepared for re-submission in August 2018.
Gender and Entrpreneurship
Gender and New Venture Teams: The second chapter of my dissertation explores gender bias in entrepreneurship by considering how the gender composition of NVTs negatively biases evaluations of new ventures. The first study in this paper uses data from 4,564 companies applying to one of the top technology accelerators. Combined with experimental data, the manuscript makes a compelling argument that new venture teams with more women are seen as less emotionally stable and therefore less viable in entrepreneurship.
Gender and Tech Accelerators: The second project in this area is a longitudinal study conducted with the same technology accelerator from the previous study. The aim of this project is to better understand the experience of NVTs with more women as they move through the accelerator program. In addition to facing biased evaluations, anecdotal evidence suggests that NVTs with more women may have fundamentally different experiences in mentorship and support.
Exploration of Solutions
The third chapter of my dissertation is a theoretical paper that presents blinding as a potential solution to bias in organizations and entrepreneurship. The paper looks at blinding as an alternative to affirmative action programs (AAPs), particularly strong affirmative action programs. While AAPs may be effective in some situations, strong programs are often perceived as unfair and met with resistance from stakeholders. The nature and design of blinding programs may offer a more universally fair solution that can eliminate bias in early selection stages.
Several past and present studies have informed this work. I have an ongoing project with the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) to implement and test blinding procedures in the selection process for the Hubble Space Telescope. A manuscript of this study is under review at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science with my coauthor, Stefanie Johnson. Additionally, we are working on a qualitative study that explores reactions to the implementation of blinding procedures.