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Buhari Reveals What He Plans To Do To NNPC

President Muhammadu Buhari has revealed what he will do to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the national oil company considered to be an underground pit of corruption.

President Muhammadu Buhari  Credit: SAHARA REPORTERS
President Muhammadu Buhari

In an interview granted by the president in Washington DC during his two-day visit to the US, Buhari said his administration plans to split the NNPC in two in a bid to reform the oil sector. He said rather than breaking the NNPC into four companies, it would be divided into two – regulator and investment vehicle. Read excerpts from the interview made available to The Punch below:

Boko Haram has killed over 400 people in the first half of July alone, and managed to further expand its reach beyond its core areas. You were elected on a promise to destroy the insurgency, what’s gone wrong?

Boko Haram is on the run. We are beginning to turn the tide against Boko Haram. Yes, we have seen a recent increase in civilian deaths, but that is because Boko Haram members are now desperately changing tactics to avoid confronting a renewed and more effective military effort. Instead, they are now targeting civilians. It is a sign of their weakness, not their strength.

Defeating Boko Haram will not happen overnight – it needs a combined military and social answer that will defeat and address the underlying social issues that are driving it. I am putting these measures into place step by step.

First, I have moved the centre of military operations from Abuja to the heart of the insurgency in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, so that the military leaders are on the ground to lead the effort at the frontline.

Secondly, I have revamped the nation’s military leadership with a new team that has the skills, experience and commitment to defeat the terrorists on the ground.

Thirdly, I am working to improve the professionalism and accountability of the armed forces, including clamping down on the misappropriation of funds that has led to serious lack of resources and equipment in the battle against Boko Haram.

Lastly, I am seeking to work with Nigeria’s partners, both our neighbours in the region and internationally such as the United States to develop a package of measures to tackle the entrenched marginalisation in North Eastern Nigeria and the surrounding areas in neighbouring states – where poverty levels are over 75 per cent.

We need a marshal programme for the Sahel region to be able to prevent further radicalisation and insecurity in the long-term.

The shocking truth is that Nigeria’s cupboard is bare. Despite receiving $400bn in oil revenue in the last 40 years, Nigeria’s treasury is almost empty. Partly, that is because of falling oil prices; it is also because money has been stolen – shipped out of the country by corrupt officials into foreign bank accounts.

Some of that money is here in the United States. One of the things America can do is help recover those stolen funds so that we can reinvest them in Nigeria to combat the poverty that is driving insecurity.

It’s been over a year since the Chibok girls were kidnapped and there has been no real progress made in recovering them, what measures are you taking to bring the girls home?

The kidnap of the Chibok girls is a stain on our national honour and my government will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to rescue them. However, I will not lie to the Nigerian people. After the time that has passed, it is increasingly difficult to know whether we will be able to find all of them as they are likely to have been split up and married off or hidden deep in the forest or countryside.

Nonetheless, my government will not give up. We will do everything in our power to bring back our girls.

You have said that the solution to the Boko Haram insurgency will not just be a military one; does that indicate that you are prepared to negotiate with the group?

Yes, we are prepared to talk to the more moderate elements of Boko Haram. We are prepared to address the legitimate concerns over unemployment, poverty and marginalisation that have driven the insurgency.

We are even prepared to consider some form of amnesty, similar to what is in place in the Niger Delta, for the rank and file who lay down their arms and commit to the peaceful reintegration into society.

However, there can be no forgiveness for the barbaric leadership that has pursued a deliberate policy of diabolical war crimes and terror against the innocent civilian population of Nigeria.

Last week, you replaced the service chiefs and the chief security adviser over the failure to defeat Boko Haram. However, there is some concern that you have replaced many of them with your own supporters from the North. Are you using the pretext of Boko Haram to politicise the leadership of the Nigerian armed forces?

I am the Commander-in-Chief. It is my job to ensure that the best and most qualified leaders are in charge of the armed forces, so that we can keep the Nigerian people safe.

We will only defeat the military threat of Boko Haram if we have the right leadership team in place leading from the frontline.

Having the right military leadership in place, who know and understand the local terrain, together with the counter-insurgency team in the North, is vital to winning the military battle.

These new officers have been selected strictly on merit, on the basis of their record and skills. Other than the new Chief of Army Staff, of whom I have prior experience, I have no prior relations with the other heads before I appointed them – it was their track record that recommended them.

Turning south to the Niger Delta, the amnesty for former combatants which has helped to keep the peace in the Niger Delta is due to end in December this year. What measures do you propose to replace it?

The amnesty still plays an important part in ending the insurgency in the Niger Delta and I am committed to continuing it as long as it is necessary to do so. However, it is not a long-term answer to the problems there.

Just as in the North, the Niger Delta requires long-term investment in both economic and social infrastructure – from roads and railways, to schools, hospitals and housing. That is what people want, a fair share of the resources that their region is producing.

But you have already said that Nigeria’s cupboard is bare – how can you afford such programmes?

Nigeria is not a poor country: we have the natural resources and ingenuity to be an economic superpower. It is our people who have been made to be poor because of incompetence and corruption.

If we can recover the stolen money, attract private sector investments, and tackle corruption, then we will be able to provide the economic growth and development that is the long-term answer to insecurity.

An NGO, Global Financial Integrity, recently calculated that $150bn was illegally shipped out of Nigeria over the last decade. What measures do you intend to adopt to clamp down on the industrial scale corruption that has bedevilled Nigeria and held back its economic growth and social development?

Corruption is one of the top three issues facing Nigeria, along with insecurity and unemployment. We must act to kill corruption or corruption will kill Nigeria. I am determined to lead that fight.

My government is already taking several steps to cut out the cancer of corruption that has been eating away the state for so long.

First, we are reorganising the existing plethora of anti-corruption bodies into a single powerful agency that will have the focus, power and budget to clamp down on corruption at the federal and state level.

Secondly, I have already acted to remove political control over awarding of contracts from ministers who use them to get favours and kickbacks.

Thirdly, I will introduce a new system of plea bargains, that will allow those who have stolen assets and funds to return them – but if they do not take that opportunity, we will pursue them through the courts.

Fourthly, I am reforming the oil and gas sector, breaking up the NNPC (the state oil company) into two parts – the first will become an independent regulator for the sector, while the second will act as an investment vehicle for the country.

I will also end political control of the awarding of drilling and exploration rights by introducing a system of independent, transparent auctioning for licences.

Lastly, we shall be asking foreign countries, including authorities here in the United States, to work with us to return stolen funds that are now sitting in private accounts in their banks and rightfully belong to the people of Nigeria.

But you have also said that you will “draw a line” under past corruption – doesn’t that mean that some of the worst offenders will now go scot-free?

We will vigorously pursue any and all anti-corruption cases and investigations that are currently ongoing, but the government has to be realistic; we are not going to mount a new wave of prosecutions over historic cases.

So, yes it is inevitable we will indeed draw a line under some historic abuses, but there will be zero tolerance for corruption going forward.

Does that apply to everyone; will you take action if it is found that your supporters, leading members of the APC have been involved in corruption?

You cannot cure a sick patient by only treating one half of them. There will be no political interference in the fight against corruption – and no political favours to protect the corrupt from justice.

There is some concern that despite spending 14 years trying to become president, you did not exactly hit the ground running and that you will not now be appointing members of the cabinet until September. Why is it taking you so long to get started and put your team in place?

We cannot clean up 16 years of mess in a few months of frantic activity. I know that people are impatient for change, but it is far more important to take your time and take the right steps and appoint the right people than to run around pretending to be doing something, yet achieve nothing.

First, I will make sure that the right rules and management structures are in place to ensure good government.

Only then will I appoint credible ministers, with the track record of delivery and probity in good time. After all, President Obama did not complete the appointment of his first cabinet until five months after he was elected and America did not cease functioning in the meantime.

Nigeria’s economy is heavily over-dependent on the oil and gas sector, accounting for over 80 per cent of GDP and 90 per cent of government revenues. What measures are you putting in place to diversify the economy?

Nigeria is blessed with a rich array of natural resources, not just oil and gas, but abundant solid minerals and huge tracts of arable land.

Forty years ago, Nigeria was a net exporter of food; today we are an importer. We should not only be self-sufficient, we should be the bread basket for Africa.

We have only become over-dependent on oil because of the incompetence and corruption of government that concentrated on how best to steal oil revenues instead of how best to use our oil windfalls to invest in a modern, growing economy.

However, we cannot be content to just export raw materials and commodities abroad: we must become a manufacturing giant. I will not be satisfied until the label “Made in Nigeria” is as common globally, as the label “Made in China.”

My government has a clear plan to diversify and rejuvenate Nigeria’s economy. We are shifting our economic focus to expanding and modernising our agricultural and mining sectors by attracting new private investment – moving away from the overdependence on oil.

We will use our oil revenues to upgrade our decaying infrastructure – boost electricity generation and build new road and rail networks while upgrading our ports.

We will also focus on improving education and skills training so that we can take advantage of the growing global trend for new sources of labour and tackle the crisis of youth unemployment and create a new value-added manufacturing sector.

We are reforming the out-of-date and bureaucratic land laws, giving title deeds to millions of ordinary farmers, so that they will finally be able to use their land to raise capital to invest in modern agricultural equipment and transform production throughout the country.

The global fall in oil prices has hit Nigeria hard, with the Federal Government losing up to half of its revenues in the past year. How is this affecting your reform plans?

Nigeria cannot spend what it doesn’t have. However, given the previous levels of waste and corruption, if we spend what we have more wisely and effectively, we can achieve a great deal more.

One step I have already taken is to pay the salaries of civil servants, some of whom had not been paid for over 10 months.

In the long-term, we must sort out Nigeria’s chaotic finances – we have to diversify government income – both by increasing the size of the non-oil economy and by expanding the tax base, so that the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes.

However, we must also sort out spending – we cannot have a situation where half the government’s expenditure goes on the salaries of just two per cent of the population. That said though, we must first pay people the salaries that they have earned.

What about the fall in the Naira, how will you prevent another run on the currency further depleting Nigeria’s reserves?

Nigeria has to win the confidence of the markets; we will only do that by demonstrating our commitment to probity and prudent public spending.

Meanwhile, President Buhari recently held a secret meeting with fuel importers in a bid to stem the disorderliness in the country’s oil sector.

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Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

American Tour Diary: Blog 7 – Houston to SxSW Festival Austin, Texas   Leave a comment

American Tour Diary: Blog 7 – Houston to SxSW Festival, Texas

Wednesday 16th March 2011

Location: Houston, Texas

Tonight’s journey from Dallas to Houston is a pretty accurate reflection of the strain that touring can have on you. We leave Poor David’s Pub in Dallas around 11pm and have to be in Houston for a 6am Fox News TV appearance. Sleep is often overlooked but it has to be factored in somewhere. It is a four hour drive to Houston and everyone is now seriously suffering from the after effects of a long string of sleepless nights, exhausting drives and alcoholic poisoning.

Tour manager and driver Keef however, seems to be dealing with this fatigue noticeably better than the rest of us.

“How come you don’t look tired?” I quiz him.

“Cos I’ve had a nice little sleep today already”

“When did you find the time to do that?!” I ask.

“When you were onstage” he smirks.

Keef’s boasts are short lived however. About an hour into the journey as Rob and I are finally nodding off, we are rudely awaken by the sudden movement of our vehicle jolting across 3 lanes of traffic and then swerving back again.

“Sorry…” Keef murmurs with a look of confusion on his face.

“I dozed off”

From then on Rob and I agree to take it in turns to talk to Keef whilst he is driving to try to help keep him awake whilst the other one of us sleeps. The plan works, but pretty much means that we’re going to be showing up for our big TV appearance with about two hours kip between us.

We pull into our Holiday Inn Express at around 3am and set our alarms for 5.30. There is only one bed so once again I’m back to the blow-up mattress. Or should I say blow-up mattress that now has a hole in it. And so I am softly sung to sleep by the gentle and reassuring ‘sissssss’ of air escaping from the bed beneath me, the only comforting thought being that it probably won’t be completely flat by the time I wake up – because  that will be in approximately 56 minutes time.

My air-bed defeat is slightly rectified by my morning victory of being the only person that actually has time for a shower. My only other memory of the morning being that I notice my shoes are now starting to fall to pieces.

We arrive at Fox 26 News and the immaculate looking crew are celebrating St Patricks Day with an array of equally amazing looking cupcakes which they kindly share with us. I had no idea that it was St Patricks day but enjoy the cakes all the same.

I sing Joanna and the show goes well, despite the fact that half way though the performance I catch a glimpse of myself on the huge TV monitors and notice that the bags under my eyes are now so big that I may have to check them in on my next flight… Sleep is the order of the day, although it’s still only 9am and we can’t check into our next hotel room until 2pm.

Decide to decamp to the mall. My shoes are now a kind of Chaplin-esque homage, my toes palpably peeking out and reaching for the sympathy of eschewing passers by.  I purchase some super glue to patch them back together and climb back into the van and attempt to reattach my sole (I guess this could also be construed spiritually). Bad idea. I fall asleep half way through and awake to find my foot glued to the carpet and my hand partially attached to the front seat. Rob has just bought a hat that makes him look like Bruno Mars, which is a real shame because I am in no position to be making fun of someone else in my current predicament.

The Hideaway on Dunvale is a cool little venue in a beaten up part of town. After sleeping most of the afternoon I am eager to play. I perch myself on the fence of the patio area outside and do a little busking before the show starts and a lovely young lady named Courtney bestows me with some English treasures including tea bags, Marmite and a packet of Hob Nobs. The Hob Nobs I am especially happy to see, for it seems I have spent half my time in the US so far playing music and the other half trying to convince people that Hob Nobs are actually a real type of biscuit. I am generally met by disbelieving eyes and the scorned remarks of folks who refuse to accept that they are very popular in the UK and that there is absolutely nothing whatsoever remotely sexual about them. Well, depending on their useage.

The Houston show goes well and we stay for an hour or so afterwards to chat to everyone and take snaps before crawling off for an early bed around midnight. Tomorrow is the ledgendary SxSW Festival in Austin. Something tells me it could be a long few days.

Thursday 17th March 2011

Location: SxSW Festival Austin, Texas

The streets are a kaleidoscope of people. Bob Geldof walks past. I shout “Hey Bob!” and give him a wave, but he pretends not to see me. Everyone looks impoverishly cool like they are in a band or they have just stepped out of the latest fashion blog, having administered acme Mumford & Sons identikit accoutrements. I’m not too fussed about all that and my pastey white arms are in desperate need of some vitamin D, so I dispense with my jacket and give the wife beater an airing. Spot the Brit anyone?

Head to meet my manager Phil Taylor and fellow labelmates Flipron for a posh industry brunch. They have already been at the Driskill Hotel bar amongst the two hundred or so revellers around an hour, and it appears that most of the complimentary alcohol is already adorning our table when we arrive. Better still, it is mostly empty by the time we arrive. It’s 1pm. Spot the Brits anyone?

Tonight I’m playing at The Hilton Garden Hotel on the Bedford stage as part of the official festival line-up. Being involved in such a prestigious event is a very nice feeling and one that I have waited a long time for. It’s a big crowd teaming with industry bods and palms are sweaty.

I steal Flipron’s keyboard maestro Joe to play keys on a couple of tracks and we decamp backstage to do a hasty rehearsal.  We are running through “Joanna” when in walks legendary cult singer/songwriter Ron Sexsmith who is due to take to the stage straight after me. We have a little exchange of pleasantries and I can’t help but smile at the irony. I took the real “Joanna” to see Ron Sexsmith on our first date when I first set foot on London’s Utopian streets many moons ago. He seems pleased to hear this little tale and enquires if we are still together?

“No” I reply.

“Did you not listen to the lyrics??”

It’s a great show,  the crowd are awesome, many having travelled from all over the US to be there. One girl tells me she came all the way from Seattle to see me and also had tickets to see a secret show by Duran Duran. She was devastated to find out that they were then scheduled to perform at exactly the same time as me. “Nevermind,” she says nonchalently. “I’ll catch them some other time..”

The rest of the night is a blur. I know we celebrated the show, and I know I had a long conversation with a police officer on a horse, and I know we victoriously squeezed six people into a tiny little car and went to see Denny at 4am. But alas, that is all I know.

Friday 18th March 2011

Location: SxSW Festival Austin, Texas

Decide to go and see Denny again for a spot of brunch. It’s hard not to be impressed by his menu. Pancakes, granola, yoghurt, seasonal fruit, and a sausage. All on one plate. I ask the waitress if I can speak with Denny to congratulate him on the steller job he is doing, but I’m fresh outta luck – for the second time in as many days – Denny isn’t there.

As it’s SxSW we decide rather aptly to spend our night off going to see some bands. We head down to the Electric Barbarella where a couple of friends of mine from London called Chaz and Dave (seriously) are playing with their band The Coolness. They are an electro glam band, all hair, make-up, crotch-hugging lycra and sexual innuendo. We are soon enjoying their shambolic eroticised genius and phallyic mic stand gestation, and it isn’t long before we begin to merrymake with a group of young ladies.

Spiced rum is devoured, obligatory shots are quickly demolished and the familiar warm hug of drunkeness once again smothers each one of us like a child’s comfort blanket.

Then my phone rings. It’s my mum. Ah mother! I think to myself, how I have missed thee! So I decide to venture outside onto the street and away from the pelvic thrustings of The Coolness so that I can attempt a somewhat civilised conversation with the one woman who’s lifelong love for me has so far been undwindling.

I step out onto the grubby sidewalk and before I can say “Hi Mum, have you missed me?” a muscular tree trunk of an arm comes from nowhere and roughly grabs me by my shirt, spinning me vertiginously off balance and almost (almost) to the ground.

“What the f**k do you think your doing?” a gruff thick-set southern drawl malevolently slurs from behind me.

I turn around and into the shadow of a rather angry looking brute of a doorman/hulk, eyes periliously close together and red blood cells clearly outnumbering neurons.

 “Eh? what? Err hang on a minute Mum… What’s your problem you dickhead?”

Normally I would aim to placate this type of happenstance with friendlier vocabulary in a bid to avoid violence (my US Visa would be instantly revoked), however three things on this occasion have thrust me firmly in the opposite direction:

1. This thunkster may have ripped my shirt, my favorate shirt..

2. I was very much looking forward to a good ‘ol chinwag with my dear old Mum, bless her

and 3. I was very drunk.

“You’re not allowed drinks outside.”

His response is agitated, and clemency obviously can’t be something he lists on his CV – as with no advance warning he swipes my freshly purchased can of PBR from my hand and launches it into the trash can.

“Ooops” he grunts disingenuously.

This serves to piss me off possibly more than anything I’ve ever known possible. I leap into a tirade that I’m not altogether sure from wence it came, but definitely feel it worthy of some kind of oscar nomination. Even if just maybe an acknowledgement in the winners speech.

“Errrr Mum, I’ll call you back. ‘Ey!! What did you do that for?! Seriously, mate, why did you do that? I was minding my own business, clearly causing no-one any harm whatsoever, trying to have a conversation with my mother who I’ve not seen in weeks, and you go and do that? Why?! Your job right, if I’m not mistaken is to deter violence and keep order amongst the rabble right? Those with intent to disrupt, yeah? All you had to do was tap me on the shoulder and politely point out the fact I couldn’t take my drink outside… and I would’ve been ‘oh, I beg your pardon guv’nor’, and that would’ve been that.. But then you go and do that!? Like you’re actually trying to get a reaction out of me… Like if I’d actually square up to you or summat.. or to see if I’ve got the minerals.. Are you just really bored? You actually trying to incite violence? Did your boyfriend dump you…?”

I was just reaching full swing and had various other scathingly relevant  points I wished to deliver, when to my actual surprise, The Hulk snapped.

In one movement (and possibly simultaneously bursting the one blood vessel feeding blood to his brain) he lurched forwards, lifting me from my feet by my collar and yanked me towards him.

I suppose my life should have been flashing before my eyes or something, but the only thing I could think of was the huge unsightly wart he had on the end of his nose… This actually made me laugh a little bit, and I think that proved to be the final tipping point, as the further enraged Hulk quickly retracted his other hand – as if about to launch some kind of death move on me.

Now you, like I, would presume that to be case closed. However, the memory of what happened next will forever flood my heart with pride as one of the most selfless acts of gallantry I’ve ever witnessed.

From this point onwards, as I recall, events unfolded in slow motion.

A cacophony of noise erupted behind us, and out of the corner of my peripheral vision I spy Keef, careering towards us at Olympic speed, hurdling tables and chairs, pushing bemused and unsuspecting bystanders out of the way, words spewing from his mouth, literally screaming.

“Oi!! You! Eyyy!!! What the ******* hell are you doing?!!”

Keef had been watching events unfold from the safety of a nearby taco truck, unsure as to what was happening, but becoming more and more dissatisfied by what he was witnessing as he tucked into his beef enchilada. The instant that he perceived I may be in some kind of danger, almost like flipping a switch in his head, and true to blogs previous – the transformation into Clint Keefwood occurred and in a heartbeat he was on his way to my rescue.

Startled, Tiny Brain let go of my throat and I fell back down to Earth many inches below.

“What’s your problem geezer!?” Keef – out of breath, reiterated his confusion toward my nemesis.

“You’re not allowed drinks outside” came the laboured reply.

“If the police see anyone out here drinking alcohol, I could lose my job..”

“Yeah and if they saw you assaulting my mate I wonder what they’d say then?”

Touche Keef, however The Hulk’s patience looks like it is now starting to wear a little thin and he is clearly beginning to find the situation all a bit of a nusiance.

“Right, I’m having you two barred. That’s it, out, you’re not coming back in.”

“Yeah and we’ll have you sacked” Keef retorted back.

“I filmed the whole thing on my phone”

I look over at Keef. I’m impressed. I didn’t see that coming…

“Really?” I say to him.

“Yep, and I’ll have it all over YouTube by the morning”

The Hulk now looks somewhat perturbed.

“Seriously geezer” Keef continued “You’re gonna get in a lot of trouble for this. I think you should apologise and buy my friend here another drink. It’s the decent thing to do…”

Tiny Brain looks down at me, then at Keef, and then back towards me. His tiny brain trying to make sense of what is happening and divulge if there is actually any shred of truth to what has just been said.

“Look, I just can’t afford to risk losing my job that’s all. If I’m not hard on thems that breaks the rules then everyone breaks the rules..”

He is weakening.

Keef looks at me.

“Is your shirt ripped?”

“Yeah… cost me eighty dollars this shirt”

The Hulk, looking greener by the second, is now on the back foot. He has been outthunk.

“Listen, I’ll let you off this time but don’t be bringing any more licquor past this doorway..”

“And what about his drink?”

Keef is still suggestively holding his phone.

(Long pause)

Begrudgingly and somewhat unbelievably, The Hulk acquiesces.

Like David’s triumph over Goliath, or the Karate Kid beating the bigger, dougher, cooler kids at his school – victory is ours. And no victory tastes so good as that over a  doorman in a nightclub. We step back inside the venue like new men, beaming and proud.

“I can’t believe you got the whole thing on your phone” I said to Keef, taking a sip of my brand new PBR.

“Let’s have a look?”

“Nah… you can’t”

“Why not?”

“Cos I didn’t really..”

“Ha ha ha, that’s awesome!”

Through the laughter Keef leans over to me-

“Did that shirt really cost you eighty dollars?”

“Nah….. I bought it for three dollars in a thrift store..”

“Ha ha ha ha!”

The two of us giggle like schoolgirls for the best part of five minutes, and with renewed swag we strut back to our table

“Right then” says I.

“I better call my Mum.”

Thanks Lee for giving us the details of your US Tour!

Posted October 25, 2011 by teamleeitalia in Uncategorized

Facciamo Suonare Lee MacDougall in Italia!!!   Leave a comment

Se qualcuno fosse interessato per un private party con Lee MacDougall o avesse la possibilità di organizzare una serata speciale buona musica+Lee  in qualche locale può contattare direttamente il manager di Lee, Phil Taylor, al seguente indirizzo e-mail:

Posted September 20, 2011 by teamleeitalia in Uncategorized

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Kids Programming–Giant Candy Land

We’ve done this twice now and I think we’ve perfected it by now.  This is one I helped out with, but Gloria and Jess did most of the heavy lifting on this one.  I helped out a bit here and there, but it was the equivalent of licking the spoon when you’re making a cake.  It’s helpful but not essential.

So Gloria saw the idea on Pinned Interests and wanted to bring it here.  To make the squares, Gloria got a bunch of plastic table clothes from the dollar store; the colors we used were purple, blue, green, yellow, and red, which aren’t all the colors that are in the actual game but it worked out fine.  She cut out squares that were 18″ x 18″  so she got six out of each table cloth.

When she was ready to set out the floor she laid them out in a zigzag, alternating the colors.  I then went around and taped each square to the floor to make it last a bit longer.  We tried to make as many of the stops as possible, since that’s what makes the game so special.  Each stop had a candy bucket, and kids could take ONE piece of candy from each stop they passed.  Make sure to emphasize one piece at the beginning.  We had kids with so much candy that you could hear all their plastic wrappers crinkle when they walked.

Candyland Route

While playing each group of 5-6 kids was given a dice with the five colors on it (purple, blue, green, yellow, and red) and a “Pick a Card” spot.  If they landed on one of the five colors they would advance to that color.  If they landed on “Pick a Card” they would pick from 20 oversized cards that I made.  5 of the cards had an icon that represented one of the different stops, like a lollipop for the Lollipop Woods.  If they got that, they had to go to that location and keep going.  5 more of the cards had two colored squares on them, so if you picked that you advanced to two spots of the same color.  The other 10 cards had single colors on them, meaning if you picked one you just advanced one spot.  I think we had ten dice total, five we made and five we were able to borrow and then modify.  We usually gave each group two dice to make it go faster.  Each group usually had at least one adult so I handed the dice to them so they could kinda monitor their group.

Cards and Dice.JPG

So they would go along the track until they reached the end.  The first stop was the Peppermint Forest; Jess made a really simple design for the candy canes.  They were cardboard cutouts painted red with white tape for the stripe.  She wiped up about eight of them to make it an actual forest.  This candy bucket was filled with peppermints.  I dressed up as Mr. Mint because being Lord Licorice would be WAY too hard.

Peppermint Forest.JPG

Next stop was the Licorice Castle and the candy bucket had licorice in it that kids could eat.  I made that easily enough out of pool noodles and a box; I modeled it after our final Candy Castle to make it easier to store, but more on that later.

Licorice Castle.JPG

After that, kids went to the Lollipop Woods, which we borrowed from another library.  To set this up we put wrapping paper rolls on some dowels to stand them up, and then topped them off with balloons.  The candy bucket here was filled with Dum-Dums.  Miss Gloria was awesome to dress up as Princess Lolly.

Lollipop Woods.JPG

Next two stops were the Nut House and the Cupcake Commons.  These ones were borrowed too and weren’t as impressive, but no one really noticed.  Since it’s so prop-intensive, we plan on slowly adding to our different stops over time.  For these stops, we just had regular candy due to nut allergies.  Sorry Grandma Nutt.

The last stop was the Candy Castle.The only instructions I gave Jess were that it had to be easily compacted to fit in our basement and it should be big enough for kids to hang out in.   Jess ran with it and it turned out amazing!!  The four walls are cardboard with masking tape to make it look like a waffle cone.  They all compacted so we can easily store it against a wall downstairs.  To make the four castle turrets she scored a regular piece cardboard, which means that she cut only the top surface of it and left the the back intact.  So she made a bunch of scoring lines and curled it around to make a the turret. To make the ice cream toppers, she used (I think) a plastic bag, stuffed it with tissue paper, and tied it around a dowel with a felt flag at the end.  Last she added sprinkles, everything is better with sprinkles.

Candy Castle.JPG

I’ll finish this up soon!!

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Later On

A blog written for those whose interests more or less match mine.

Archive for June 8th, 2017

How Donald Trump Shifted Kids-Cancer Charity Money Into His Business

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Dan Alexander reports in Forbes:

LIKE AUTUMN LEAVES, sponsored Cadillacs, Ferraris and Maseratis descend on the Trump National Golf Club in Westchester County, New York, in September for the Eric Trump Foundation golf invitational. Year after year, the formula is consistent: 18 holes of perfectly trimmed fairways with a dose of Trumpian tackiness, including Hooters waitresses and cigar spreads, followed by a clubhouse dinner, dates encouraged. The crowd leans toward real estate insiders, family friends and C-list celebrities, such as former baseball slugger Darryl Strawberry and reality housewife (and bankruptcy-fraud felon) Teresa Giudice.

The real star of the day is Eric Trump, the president’s second son and now the co-head of the Trump Organization, who has hosted this event for ten years on behalf of the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. He’s done a ton of good: To date, he’s directed more than $11 million there, the vast majority of it via this annual golf event. He has also helped raise another $5 million through events with other organizations.

The best part about all this, according to Eric Trump, is the charity’s efficiency: Because he can get his family’s golf course for free and have most of the other costs donated, virtually all the money contributed will go toward helping kids with cancer. “We get to use our assets 100% free of charge,” Trump tells Forbes.

That’s not the case. In reviewing filings from the Eric Trump Foundation and other charities, it’s clear that the course wasn’t free–that the Trump Organization received payments for its use, part of more than $1.2 million that has no documented recipients past the Trump Organization. Golf charity experts say the listed expenses defy any reasonable cost justification for a one-day golf tournament.

Additionally, the Donald J. Trump Foundation, which has come under previous scrutiny for self-dealing and advancing the interests of its namesake rather than those of charity, apparently used the Eric Trump Foundation to funnel $100,000 in donations into revenue for the Trump Organization.

And while donors to the Eric Trump Foundation were told their money was going to help sick kids, more than $500,000 was re-donated to other charities, many of which were connected to Trump family members or interests, including at least four groups that subsequently paid to hold golf tournaments at Trump courses.

All of this seems to defy federal tax rules and state laws that ban self-dealing and misleading donors. It also raises larger questions about the Trump family dynamics and whether Eric and his brother, Don Jr., can be truly independent of their father.

Especially since the person who specifically commanded that the for-profit Trump Organization start billing hundreds of thousands of dollars to the nonprofit Eric Trump Foundation, according to two people directly involved, was none other than the current president of the United States, Donald Trump.

IN ORDER TO understand the Eric Trump Foundation, you need to understand the Donald J. Trump Foundation. The president was never known for giving his foundation much money, and from 2009 to 2014, he didn’t give it anything at all. Outsiders still donated, though, allowing Trump to dole out their money to a smattering of more than 200 charities as if it were his own, with many of the donations helping his business interests.

Eric Trump set out to do things differently. . .

Continue reading. And do read the whole thing.

. . . For the first four years of the golf tournament, from 2007 to 2010, the total expenses averaged about $50,000, according to the tax filings. Not quite the zero-cost advantage that a donor might expect given who owned the club but at least in line with what other charities pay to host outings at Trump courses, according to a review of ten tax filings for other charitable organizations.

But in 2011, things took a turn. Costs for Eric Trump’s tournament jumped from $46,000 to $142,000, according to the foundation’s IRS filings. Why would the price of the tournament suddenly triple in one year? “In the early years, they weren’t being billed [for the club]–the bills would just disappear,” says Ian Gillule, who served as membership and marketing director at Trump National Westchester during two stints from 2006 to 2015 and witnessed how Donald Trump reacted to the tournament’s economics. “Mr. Trump had a cow. He flipped. He was like, ‘We’re donating all of this stuff, and there’s no paper trail? No credit?’ And he went nuts. He said, ‘I don’t care if it’s my son or not–everybody gets billed.’ ”

Katrina Kaupp, who served on the board of directors at the Eric Trump Foundation in 2010 and 2011, also remembers Donald Trump insisting the charity start paying its own way, despite Eric’s public claims to the contrary. “We did have to cover the expenses,” she says. “The charity had grown so much that the Trump Organization couldn’t absorb all of those costs anymore.” The Trump Organization declined to answer detailed questions about the payments. But it seems that for the future president, who Forbes estimates is worth $3.5 billion, a freebie to help his son directly fight kids’ cancer took a backseat to revenue.

“I saw that Eric was getting billed,” Gillule adds. “I would always say, ‘I can’t believe that his dad is billing him for a charitable outing.’ But that’s what they wanted.”

It’s also very consistent. The Donald J. Trump Foundation famously acted like an arm of the overall business, using the charity’s money to settle a Trump business lawsuit, make a political donation and even purchase expensive portraits of its namesake. Meanwhile, Trump businesses billed the Trump campaign, fueled by small outside donors, more than $11 million to use his properties, chefs and private aircraft.

At first the extra bills did not cost the Eric Trump Foundation anything. Shortly before the spike in costs, the Donald J. Trump Foundation donated $100,000 to the Eric Trump Foundation–a gift explicitly made, according to Gillule, to offset the increased budget. Thus, the Eric Trump donors were still seeing their money go to work for kids along the same lines as previous years. . .

. . . THE COSTS FOR ERIC’S golf tournament quickly escalated. After returning, in 2012, to a more modest $59,000–while the event brought in a record $2 million–the listed costs exploded to $230,000 in 2013, $242,000 in 2014 and finally $322,000 in 2015 (the most recent on record, held just as Trump was ratcheting up his presidential campaign), according to IRS filings. This even though the amount raised at these events, in fact, never reached that 2012 high.

It’s hard to find an explanation for this cost spike. Remember, all those base costs were supposedly free, according to Eric Trump. The golf course? “Always comped,” he says. The merchandise for golfers: “The vast majority of it we got comped.” Drinks: “Things like wine we were normally able to get donated.” And the evening performances from musicians like Dee Snider of Twisted Sister and comedians like Gilbert Gottfried: “They did it for free.” So many sponsors donated, in fact, that the event invitation has carried enough logos to make a Nascar team proud.

Eric Trump, in speaking with Forbes, maintains that “our expenses on a tournament that made us somewhere in the $2 million range every year was somewhere around 100 grand,” even though his foundation’s tax records show costs soaring to $322,000. When asked for an itemized list of expenses, the Eric Trump Foundation declined to respond.

Thus it’s hard to figure out what happened to the money. . .

There’s more. And it stinks to high heaven.

Written by LeisureGuy

8 June 2017 at 11:38 am

Trump’s brazen and outright lies in the Comey affair

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Steve Benen points out at

. . . Obviously, attorneys are obligated to represent their clients’ interests, but let’s be clear: Comey’s statement yesterday put Trump’s presidency in jeopardy and may help bring about its premature end. If the former FBI director’s account is accurate, the president demanded Comey’s loyalty, and suggested the demand was tied to Comey’s future career. Trump also personally urged the FBI director to back off an ongoing federal investigation, which looks an awful lot like obstruction of justice.

The statement from Trump’s outside counsel doesn’t deny, refute, or contest any of these allegations.

Just as importantly, though Comey’s statement didn’t highlight this, the information the former FBI director documented suggests the president didn’t just obstruct justice – he also brazenly lied about it to the American public.

1. Trump was asked on Fox News last month whether he ever asked Comey for his loyalty. Trump responded, “No, I didn’t.” We now have reason to believe this was a lie.

2. Trump was asked at a White House press conference last month, “Did you at any time urge former FBI Director James Comey in any way, shape, or form to close or to back down the investigation into Michael Flynn?” Trump replied, “No. No. Next question.” We now have reason to believe this was a lie, too.

3. Trump was asked by NBC News’ Lester Holt about the private dinner he had with Comey, and the president said the FBI director “asked for the dinner.” We now have reason to believe this was also a lie.

In other words, before the hearing even begins, and senators help explore Comey’s account in more detail, the former FBI director has documented specific instances about the president of the United States lying to the public about his alleged misconduct. . .

Read the whole thing.

Written by LeisureGuy

8 June 2017 at 11:30 am

Wee Scot, D.R. Harris Lavender shave stick, Fatip Testina Gentile, Barrister & Mann Fougère Classique

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Despite yesterday’s tiny-brush setback (having to reload the Omega Baby Boar for the third pass), I picked another tiny brush, the Wee Scot, and again used a shave stick, this time D.R. Harris Lavender. I had absolutely no problem in getting three passes from the Wee Scot without reloading. In fact, after three passes, the brush had plenty of lather remaining, so I relathered, rinsed, relathered, rinsed, and continued that for a total of 8 passes (the first 3 being the shave, the next 5 being the experiment). I still had lather in the brush and probably could have continued (perhaps by squeezing the knot), but I figured that very few do a shave of 8 passes. I should mention also that it was very good lather: D.R. Harris makes excellent shaving soaps, whether puck or stick.

Why the difference in performance of the two brushes? My theory is that the Wee Scot uses extremely fine bristles, and thus the total wettable surface area is relatively large, whereas the fewer and coarser bristles of the Omega Baby Board have a much smaller wettable surface and thus less lather capacity.

At any rate, the lathering went fine, and with the Fatip Testina Gentile, the shave itself was also fine: very easy, very comfortable, and very smooth in the result.

A splash of Fougère Classique, and the day is belatedly launched. (I got a late start because I was watching the hearing in which James Comey gave his testimony.)

Written by LeisureGuy

8 June 2017 at 11:27 am

Posted in Shaving

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OPST Lazar Running Line – 35lb Test

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Lazar Line is hydrophobic, extremely durable, consistent over a broad range of temperatures, and virtually impervious to memory. It features a slight, calculated stretch that allows for extremely sleek and strong knots. This stuff will rock with your Scandi heads as well. OPST searched far and wide for the perfect running line and knew they could do better than what was out there. Pure Skagit Lazar Line is quickly becoming the favorite running line of fishermen all over the world. Find out why!

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Additional Information


text:
BMW Group

Valtech logo blue Valtech GmbH

LeSS adoption at a bavarian car manufacturer

Valtech Germany was the selected supplier to help applying agile development to create the new BMW i car direct-sales process of the BMW Group. This required new supporting IT systems, all embedded into an existing IT landscape with more than 80 affected systems. There was a large program spanning many projects to create new supporting systems.

One of these projects was the new Unified Sales Platform (USP) system. USP was implemented from scratch and has integrated more than 30 external system interfaces. Other partner projects for the BMW i rollout remained in their non-agile process models. Therefore common milestones, reporting and collaboration across the projects became a challenge.

After developing for more than 2 years, USP was released in time, with high customer (BeNeLux market) satisfaction and high quality.

Phase 1: Before Multiple Feature Teams

In February 2012 USP development started in a challenging environment:

  • high time pressure, because of the already defined launch target date
  • the direct sales business process was still under discussion; not defined
  • therefore the scope of the USP product was pretty unclear
  • the majority of participants were not familiar with BMW Group business/sales processes or agile methodologies
  • the USP project was embedded into a traditional program management system (the BMW i program)

Because of the mentioned circumstances the USP project decided to use Scrum and agile engineering practices to get early and continuous feedback about the product progress and the organizational progress. Development started first with one Scrum initial team to create a solid basis by finding and establishing the appropriate agile development process, development infrastructure and collaboration models with the business departments.

This initial team evaluated the tools they needed, set up the development environment and the continuous integration system, experimented with different Sprint lengths, and implemented the first business functionality to verify that the new organization could work.

Since the first Sprint the USP team demonstrated running and tested software after every Sprint.

Over time additional people were added, organized in traditional functional and component-team structures, reflecting the standard model used in the broader BMW i program.

This organization was used up to a USP Release 1.0.

Phase 2: Transition to Multiple Feature Teams & LeSS

The structure for Release 1.0 was adequate, but it was predicted (by us coaches) that it wouldn’t scale well for the next (and bigger) release. There was a need to be more flexible (agile) in the teams because priorities and requirements changed frequently. Different teams needed to be able to select various items from the Product Backlog, and be able to do complete end-to-end features. And there was a desire to reduce total feature cycle time from “time to market”.

In the prior organization, a team could only do one specialized functional or component kind of work. That constrained the ability to change Product Backlog priorities and flexibly “go to where the new work is.” And it lengthened average cycle time with handoff and delay between specialist groups. Plus it increased the coordination and integration effort and problems.

Therefore, in response to our suggestion, it was agreed to reorganize into multiple feature teams, working together in a LeSS adoption.

The goal was to create five new cross-component and cross-functional feature teams.

Due to existing commercial contracts and program-wide policies, the USP project group could not completely be reorganized into just feature teams. For example, there was a UI design governance group for UI consistency across the entire program. And there was a test-management group that coordinated program-wide test activities with other partner projects and provided reports to the overall program. This group did not do testing; that was still done by the implementing teams themselves. But the test-management group contributed to the “undone” department as well, such as organizing penetration (security vulnerability) tests by external companies. Plus, program policy required a project management group, that did reporting up to the (traditional) program management, and staffing, facilities, and equipment management.

Figure 1: USP project structure of phase 2

Self-Designing Feature Team Workshop

It was also agreed to reorganize into feature teams with a self-designing team workshop, one of the LeSS experiments.

It took the group 3 cycles (each 20 minutes) to come up with an organization matching the vision: all feature teams should be able to work independently on all Product Backlog items across all stakeholders/requestors.

After forming the new teams, they created their new team name, found their team room, elected their Scrum Master and a “lead” developer (still a required role due to policy).

The whole self-designing team workshop lasted about three and a half hours.
Details about the self-designing team workshop can be found here

Team-Building Workshops

A self-designing team workshop is a great start. But at the end of the self-designing team workshop there are new formed teams and they have to cope with new dynamics. This transition to feature teams, according to LeSS, was a serious change of the old system. The project group faced two aspects of scaling. At first, cross-team collaboration, working with all teams following the priorities of the one Product Backlog. This was covered and organized by our Sprint ceremonies and synchronized meetings in the LeSS context. The second aspect was related to the available knowledge within the teams. All teams got team members with knowledge of different components. But they represented a kind of bottleneck within the team and therefore this situation was an impediment for scaling. To improve on a systemic level it was needed to improve the knowledge sharing within the team. In addition it was an aim of the project management team to get these new teams as soon as possible effective again. Therefore the project management offered each team the opportunity to do an additional moderated team-building workshop. The purpose of this workshop was to lower social barriers, initiate measures for knowledge sharing, finding working agreements and reflection of team dynamics in a team challenge.

Workshop agenda:

Duration Topic
00:05 Introduction/agenda
00:10 Ice breaker exercise
00:30 Team Knowledge Model (agile world 2013)
00:45 Agree on measures
00:30 Team Vision/Charter
00:50 Team challenge (outdoor) “Toxic waste”
00:10 Closing/Feedback
03:00 Socializing: Lunch or dinner

The workshop took about three hours, followed by a lunch or a dinner. Some of the agenda topics are described in the following paragraphs.

“Team-Knowledge-Model” and “Agree on measures”

In this workshop the team members used the Team-Knowledge-Model (TKM) to visualize the knowledge distribution across the team members.

The teams did the Team-Knowledge-Model on a business and on a technical skill level.

Figure 2: Example - TKM business skills distribution

In a TKM model all team members show their balance between skill-level (X-axes) and daily challenges (Y-axes) according to the project related knowledge domains. These axes are split into three areas: low, medium and high. Low means in terms of the challenges the team member has no or very simple tasks to do in that specific knowledge area. High challenges indicate that the team member works on high sophisticated tasks. Low, medium and high at the skill level could be understood and/or replaced by the experience level of Shu, Ha and Rhi as mentioned in LeSS.

The example above shows two X’s related to the “TEST FACHLICH” domain. One team member indicates, that her/his knowledge is sufficient for their daily work (currently learning by doing). Another team member has quite good knowledge about this domain but doesn’t work on that domain (that’s somehow waste of expert knowledge). If these two team members pair for tasks in that domain, both can benefit and return very fast into the flow area.

Furthermore the model shows that the team has got nearly all the needed knowledge within the team except the brown-colored domain. In this domain the team needs some help from other teams to increase the team knowledge quite fast. Click here to learn more about the Team-Knowledge-Model

After visualizing the knowledge distribution in a TKM, the teams defined based on these models appropriate measures to improve the knowledge distribution within the team e.g., by defining pairs to work on specific topics, organizing team coding dojos, etc. Some raised afterwards the need of cross-team knowledge sharing and initiated therefore Communities of Practices.

By this model the teams could get feedback whether the they have the right knowledge for their work on the Product Backlog or if they have some knowledge gaps. Based on this visualization each team defined and agreed measures to improve, e.g. who will do pair-programming, organize coding or testing Dojos, other training sessions, pair-working, reading books and sharing afterwards… These teams became aware of being self-responsible for individual and team learning as part of continuous improvement.

“Team Vision/Charter”

The team vision or team charter can help the team to focus on the same direction. So during this activity they created a vision e.g. “We are open minded, willing to improve and support each other.” or a team charter, where some teams defined rules like do’s and don’ts or defined other working agreements like: “We do pair-programming at least once a day”, “We keep our regression tests green”.

“Team challenge (outdoor)”

Figure 3: Team challenge “toxic waste”

With the outdoor team challenge the team got the possibility to reflect on how they work together. How the team communication works, or how they act under time pressure. There were several iterations possible if a team didn’t succeed within the given time. This is a default procedure and is intended so that the team can reflect on their approach. Then they started another round. Some took three rounds others, while others succeeded in two. After the challenge, they all got a common understanding, that they succeed by good communication, inspect and adapt and involving all team members.

After the workshop the teams went for a sponsored lunch or dinner as they prefered. There the team members shared their insights and experiences about the workshop and deepened their understanding of their team dynamics.

One Product Backlog

As required in LeSS (because it supports whole-product focus, transparency, and simplicity), there was just one Product Backlog, worked on by all the feature teams. And after the transition to feature teams that could do end-to-end customer features (rather than component teams and single-function teams), each item in the Product Backlog represented a complete end-to-end customer feature.

To satisfy traditional project reporting of the overall program, we created an automated reporting solution that extracted data from the one Product Backlog, and presented it in a way familiar to the traditional “waterfall” program management group.

Product Ownership & the Design Governance Group

Complementing the one Product Backlog, in LeSS there is only one Product Owner prioritizing it, so that there is a strong and cohesive vision from someone with a strong sense of product ownership. In contrast, there is a default policy that the BMW Group does content, scoping and prioritizing decisions in a governing board. Many stakeholders across different business departments have to be included, if decisions will be taken. Therefore, a BMW Group project has a “design governance” group. This group does the prioritization work as team. This is of course not the same as the standard LeSS framework, but was the art of the possible, and such organizational compromises are especially common when a new way of working is introduced by an outside group (e.g., Valtech DE) rather than internally.

The ordering of the Product Backlog was done in conversation with all stakeholders. The following criteria influenced the order:

  • Legal aspects
  • Stakeholder target dates/milestones
  • Expected value
  • Possible risk reduction
  • Remaining project budget per stakeholder

Related to the LeSS principle “Whole Product Focus”, once a Sprint (biweekly) the group did an overall Product Backlog refinement workshop with delegates from feature- and cross-cutting teams.

The design governance group organized the interaction between the different business departments (Subject Matter Experts) and the feature teams. Together with the feature teams they made sure that conflicts of concurrent requirements were solved before the according backlog Items were taken into a Sprint. Design governance group members also organized and participated at the feature team Product Backlog Refinement workshops.

Our Sprint Ceremonies in LeSS

In phase one the USP project started nearly on a green field. The system was build from scratch. The business department, responsible for the new BMW i sales process got just a system proposal, created in a traditional way. Therefore it was reasonable to break down this system proposal into backlog Items, in our case we wrote user stories with acceptance criteria. This was done on a very high level at the beginning of the project. Over time the teams refined these items according to their priority together with the subject matter experts from the business departments. There was a 1:1 relationship between business department/subject matter expert and a team. Coordination of functional aspects was done at governance group and business department level. Technical aspects were coordinated between the teams in a Product Backlog Refinement meeting in the mid of the Sprint as preview of the following Sprint and in a synchronization meeting at the end of Sprint Planning 1. In both meeting delegates from all teams participated.

The project agreed on following “Definition of Ready” (DoR) valid for all teams:

  • Technically feasible
  • UI mockups designed
  • Acceptance criteria available
  • Product Owner agreed
  • Security, roles and rights defined
  • Estimated

The governance group prioritized only Items matching the DoR for the next Sprint. The teams prepared a maximum amount Items for the next one and a half to two Sprints, according to the group’s velocity.

In phase two of USP, after transforming to feature teams the procedure of refinement changed. Now the project had to cope with requirements from different stakeholders, sometimes conflicting with other requirements or existing functionality. User stories as exclusive items were not sufficient anymore. The gap between the desired functionality from a stakeholder and existing functionality had to be expressed. Therefore the project group introduced the term topic, which described the difference between desired and existing functionality. At this level possible conflicts between requirements of stakeholders were solved. The design governance group was responsible for the topic level. They solved upcoming conflicts with the different business departments before they defined conflict free and roughly refined items. Together with the feature teams they did the further refinement of the items, which were handled as was used to be in phase one.

Scaling our Coordination & Integration Techniques

In LeSS, it is recognized that really strong continuous integration practices are critical for scaling success, so much so that it is one of the guides within the “technical excellence” section of LeSS. It enables coordination, internal open source, increased transparency, and whole-product focus. Thus, the USP group invested in improving the developer behaviors of integrating continuously, and also a powerful continuous integration (CI) system and related processes.

The heart of the CI system is the master-build concept. Every artifact (e.g., JAR files, configuration data, tests, etc.) needed for deployment or verification are bundled with a master-build number. All results (e.g. build artifacts, test results, logs and traces) of this system are stored with reference to it’s related master-build number in a central repository.

The CI system executes in 3 steps, by 3 major components:

  1. Compile and build the executables.
  2. Deploy and test, which deploys master-builds on target systems, executes end to end tests, and stores the according results, logs and traces in the central repository.
  3. Report on the results, creating a master-build history table, which shows the master-build numbers and all corresponding results. And then email interested people with a link to the reports.

The technical view on this concept shows that it is highly scalable and it doesn’t matter if developers work onsite, offsite or even offshore.

Figure 4: Components of the development environment

Each system build, created every 15 minutes, was tagged with a dedicated ordered version number. The latest successful (non-failing unit and module tests) system build was deployed on a target-similar environment.

Afterwards the end-to-end tests on smoke level were executed. The smoke level describes a subset of the automated regression tests reflecting the most important test scenarios to get fast feedback for developers on integration level. The test results were connected to the master-build number and documented in the master-build history table.

Figure 5: Example - Master-build history table with test results and links to detailed results

Only master-builds with successful smoke test run results were taken into the next stage. The next stage was the automated regression runs. As part of the “Definition of Done” the teams implemented the acceptance criteria of an Item into an automated regression test (“executable requirements”). All available regression tests were executed in this stage. In parallel some quality runs, such as Sonar runs or performance measuring were executed as well. These results were documented in the build history table of the corresponding master-build.

All tests were tagged with a reference to the related Product Backlog item and therefore to the functional structure of the USP areas. So it was possible to see in which functional area of the product a problem exists and which was fine.

Figure 6: Example - Functional area test result of a master build

By clicking through the areas all group members were able to drill down to the problematic item and could analyze the problem from a functional perspective i.e. which acceptance criteria was broken. Of course at the lowest level (not shown) the connection to the technical/code level was provided e.g. expected amount of list entries was <2> and received <0>, or exceptions details….

Figure 7: Example: More detailed test results of a functional area

So everyone could immediately get an overview about the current functional quality of a dedicated master-build.

Feedback Cycles

Especially in large-scale development in LeSS, short CI system feedback cycles are critical because it is not possible for everyone to be talking together all the time, so the CI system needs to become a signalling tool that tells the group quickly when there are problems. Then people can figure out who to talk with to coordinate on solving the problem. In this way, a CI system with fast feedback becomes a tool for coordination.

Calculated from the check-in the continuous integration team was able to keep the fast feedback cycle time for smoke runs between one and one and a half hour. Regression results were available two to three times a day, approximately duration of three to five hours

By a growing functionality of the system the amount of tests increases as well. To keep the cycle times low it’s necessary to parallelize the test runs. This requires more virtual servers and of course more hardware, too. A master-build was deployed on several servers. Tests were split into functional areas according to their tagging (e.g., “finance tests”) and executed on different servers at the same time. Afterwards the test results were merged to a single report.

Structural Aspects

In addition to the environments for automated testing, there were two environments fully integrated with all other relevant BMW Group IT systems for manual testing. Acceptance of item, as required by the “Definition of Done” (DoD), was only possible on these two systems. Also, each feature team got their own test environment for internal exploratory testing. They were able to add new functionality on these test servers and run the test automation against it. Benefit: fast integration feedback before check-in. All these servers were deployed according to the BMW Group staging process via a central Jenkins server.

All other stakeholder could see the displayed master-build number and look in the build history table the functional quality of the current installed software very easily. Green smoke and regression runs were conditions of the overall DoD. Therefore everyone could verify if an implementation had side effects on existing functionality.

Coordination on Failed Builds

The CI system sent out an email with a functional result overview to people after each build/test run. This email contained additionally links to the functional and technical build details provided by the CI system. A so-called “regression daily”, short stand up meeting with delegates from each team was used to coordinate the activities in case the regression run overnight failed.

System Integration

The BMW i program planned an overall six month system integration test phase. There was a fixed code freeze for all related projects announced. Because the USP project was able to deliver high quality software, the BMW i program requested more features and changes as last minute wishes of the markets. So they skipped the code freeze for the USP project. Until two weeks before technical “Go Live” the USP delivered new functionality every week (still having
bi weekly Sprints) into the overall system integration environment. During this period the overall test management, incl. test units in the markets found 95% less defects than in one other comparable BMW Group project. And one-third of those small number of defects were not related to the USP functionality. No critical issues related to USP functionality, which blocked the business and / or couldn’t be solved within very short time periods were discovered in the first five weeks after the “Business Go-Live”.

So the automated test and integration practices of this group strongly contributed to the overall success.

In our coaching of USP we followed the LeSS principles. Very important was the “whole product focus” so we integrated all relevant partner systems in the own development process. As part of the “Definition of Done”, the project defined and executed integration tests of the overall program BMW i from the beginning. Together with the functional test automation, it was a major contribution to the successful launch in autumn 2014. According to my experience with comparable projects the USP project reached an outstanding quality.

Furthermore the project’s transparency and customer centric (LeSS principles) approach, by showing them (as per LeSS) running software every common-to-all-teams single Sprint and on demand throughout the project and adjusting the Product Backlog according to the customers feedback, ensured the high customer satisfaction.

Through empirical process control the project was able to provide realistic, fact-based, concrete-running-features progress forecasts (versus the illusion of “Gantt chart progress”), improving predictability and reliability. The high quality created trust by the overall program and traditional test management, customer and partner system. While other partner systems had to stick to their traditional integration test phase, the USP project was allowed and able to deliver new features (“late” changes) until two weeks before technical GoLive!

LeSS and agile principles provided an excellent guidance throughout the project and they were in many cases the basis for critical project decisions.


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Strengthening Community for a Healthier Future

YMCA of Lethbridge is the largest charitable organization in our community that promotes wellness through recreation for people of all ages and stages. The central theme of your YMCA as a charity is to focus on strengthening communities. We do this by providing opportunities for all to grow in spirit, mind and body. More than ever this integrated approach to personal growth and community development distinguishes the YMCA from other service providers. Everyone is welcome. No one is turned away because they are unable to pay the full fee due to personal circumstances. We cannot have a strong community unless we have strong individuals and families who can contribute to the health and well being of the neighbourhoods, communities and society in which they live, work and play. Through the YMCA of Lethbridge, people are actively involved in improving their own lives and those of others. Our staff and volunteers strive to create a supportive and inclusive atmosphere in all our programs.

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Watch this short video and learn more about how the YMCA of Lethbridge is helping invest in local children, youth and families.

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Here is what our members are saying about their experience at the YMCA!
The YMCA makes it easy for our family to stay active, be enthusiastic about healthy living and have fun too….The YMCA is affordable, inclusive and convenient. To our Lethbridge YMCA family from ours, thank you! Leanne

It is truly the people; both instructors and classmates that make the YMCA so wonderful. Everyone supports, encourages and celebrates your success. It has become like family. I am so grateful for this community. It has made me a more patient mother, a healthier wife, and a more loving self. I thank all of you, for walking with me on this journey. Shannon

Final Spots Available for Student Lifeguard Development

Student Lifeguard Development Program still has four openings for our Monday evening Bronze Medallion and Cross session! One session per week for 10 weeks from 4:00pm to -8:00pm. The program begins January 8, 2018. Hours earned also can be put towards graduation credit Registration cost of $100.00 with opportunity for scholarship and sponsorship

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Harvard University Archives: Recent Acquisition

Diploma of Richard T. Greener, AB 1870

Harvard diploma awarded to Richard T. Greener on Commencement Day 1870

(May 26, 2015) The Harvard University Archives is pleased to announce the addition of Richard T. Greener's Harvard diploma to other Greener papers and memorabilia held by the Archives.

Richard Theodore Greener (January 30, 1844 – May 2, 1922) was the first African-American graduate of Harvard College.

Richard T. Greener, Class Album photograph, 1870, HUP Greener, Richard T. (1b), HUABorn in Philadelphia, Greener moved with his mother to Boston, and then to Cambridge, when he was still a boy.  At the age of fourteen, he left school to help support his family. With the encouragement of journalist and activist Franklin B. Sanborn (Class of 1855), Greener returned to his studies at Phillips Andover Academy and Oberlin College.  In 1865 Greener entered Harvard as a 21-year-old freshman.  The contemporary Boston newspaper The Independent noted that, with Greener’s admission, Harvard had “taken its stand upon the principle of equal rights, irrespective of color.” As an undergraduate, Greener won two Bowdoin Prizes for writing and elocution before graduating in 1870.

After graduation, Greener forged a career in academia and government service, joining the ranks of intellectuals that W.E.B. DuBois later termed the “talented tenth,” the black “aristocracy of character and talent” whose mission, as DuBois saw it, was to help empower black Americans in the wake of the Civil War.  In 1873, Greener became the first African-American faculty member at the University of South Carolina, where he also studied law and was among the law school’s first African-American graduates.  In 1879 he was appointed dean at the Howard University School of Law, leaving in 1881 to open a practice in Washington, DC.

Under President McKinley, Greener held diplomatic appointments in India and Vladivostok, Russia during the Russo-Japanese War.  He wrote for The New National Era, which at the time was edited by Frederick Douglass, and for the National Encyclopedia for American Biography.  His personal acquaintances included DuBois, Douglass, Wendell Phillips, William Lloyd Garrison, John Brown, Booker T. Washington and Ulysses S. Grant.

Richard Greener retired from the Foreign Service in 1905, and moved to Chicago to live with his family until his death in 1922.

For more information about this recent acquisition, please contact the Archives collection development staff at archives_collections@harvard.edu.


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Fit Tip: Time Crunch? Go For 30 Minutes

“But I don’t have enough time in the day to workout.” Have these words ever come out of your mouth? We know it can be a challenge to fit every task and chore into your day, but what are you truly using your time for where exercise could go?

Here’s the thing: you don’t have to carve out two hours for a workout. Here’s how to get a heart-pumping workout in 30 minutes.

Work Out Harder, Not Longer

Research shows that shorter, high-intensity workouts can do more for your health than longer, more leisurely workouts. You can improve your heart health and significantly reduce your risk of metabolic syndrome and a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors, including obesity, high triglycerides, low levels of HDL cholesterol, high blood pressure and high blood sugar.

If you really want to fire up your metabolism in just 30 minutes, try a heart-pumping, high intensity interval workout (HIIT). Go with a Tabata-style HIIT workout where you do eight rounds of all-out effort for 20-second intervals and then have 10 seconds of recovery. That’s four minutes. Rest a minute before moving onto a new interval. Do six rounds of Tabata for a total of 30 minutes, and you’re done for the day.

Strength and Cardio Combo

No time to fit in an hour-long boot camp class? No worries. Be your own fitness instructor! Pair 15 minutes of your favorite cardio (biking, running, jump roping, etc.) with 10 minutes of strength training and finish with five minutes of core exercises. We suggest mixing up the exercises each day. Just remember, less time doesn’t give you a free pass to slack. Each minute needs to count. Be quick with rests and intentional with each exercise!

Here’s the good news about short workouts: you know it’s over in 30 minutes! Plus, it’s your exercise for the day, so you can bring your A-game and give it your all!

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For Admissions call 844-749-1560
For Admissions call 844-749-1560

The Difference between Type I Trauma and Type II Trauma

Monday, 3 April, 2017

By: Lyndsey Karnes, PsyD

Trauma is a word used quite liberally in everyday language, typically to identify a highly stressful event.  When we speak about trauma in the clinical sense, we are referring to an event that has completely overwhelmed an individual’s capacity to cope and this, of course, is entirely defined by the survivor. Two people can experience the same noxious event, one may be left severely psychologically traumatized and the other relatively unharmed. Several factors influence an individual’s response to trauma. Many different events can cause a post-traumatic stress response and various aspects of the event can compound the impact of the traumatic event, including the duration and frequency as well as the nature of the event (e.g., man-made vs. natural). Generally speaking, traumatic experiences that are prolonged, repeated and purposely inflicted by people cause the most severe psychological sequela.  With regards to duration and frequency, the term Type I trauma is used to identify a single incident trauma whereas Type II trauma denotes a trauma that is prolonged and repeated. Furthermore, we use the term complex trauma to categorize prolonged and repeated trauma that only occurs in some type of captivity (not necessarily physical), where a person is subjected to systematic methods of coercive control by the perpetrator who assumes totalitarian control. Examples include domestic violence, concentration camps, cults, organized sexual exploitation and even childhood abuse.

The distinction between Type I and Type II trauma is essential as the type of trauma shapes clinical presentation, conceptualization and treatment approach. As trauma psychiatrist, Judith Herman, articulates, post-trauma responses really should be understood as a spectrum of conditions rather than as a single disorder. The diagnosis of PTSD that is described in the DSM-V is more reflective of the post-traumatic response inflicted by Type I trauma whereas those that suffer from Type II trauma present with a much more diffuse and convoluted clinical manifestation that may include dissociation, self-mutilation, addiction, paranoia as well as somatic preoccupations. Importantly, as clinical presentations differ significantly based on type of trauma, so does the appropriate treatment approach. Those that present with Type I trauma are most effectively treated with a more exposure based treatment, such as Prolonged Exposure, EMDR or Cognitive Processing Therapy.  Given the nature and frequency, and duration of Type II trauma, an individual’s basic functioning and fundamental capacities for coping are more significantly disrupted; therefore, an individual presenting with complex trauma or Type II will not benefit initially from exposure based therapies, and may even experience further decompensation.  These individuals are most effectively treated with a three phase approach that begins with interventions targeting safety, stabilization and improved functioning in day to day life. Once this is achieved, processing and exposure to trauma material may be introduced.  Unfortunately, many individuals suffering from Type II trauma or complex PTSD are often misdiagnosed, thus, do not receive effective and comprehensive treatment. This unfortunate trend points to the importance of seeking out a qualified trauma therapist who can accurately diagnose and conceptualize the continuum of post-traumatic stress responses.

At Lifeskills South Florida, we treat the full continuum of post-traumatic stress responses, including both simple and complex PTSD.  Each client is individually assessed and treatment plans are individualized to address the specific clinical issues.  We offer both female and male trauma tracks where clients have a space to safely process issues related to their traumatic experiences. These groups also offer psycho-education regarding trauma and its effects as well as concrete skills to enable clients to cope with the debilitating aftereffects of trauma including flashbacks, nightmares and dissociation.  In addition to the gender specific trauma groups, the treatment team at Lifeskills includes specially trained clinicians who provide targeted trauma treatment, including Prolonged Exposure, EMDR, and Cognitive Processing Therapy. To learn more about our PTSD treatment programs, please contact us.

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People & Inspiration

In Focus: 8 Famous Ghost Stories From Different Schools

In Focus: 8 Famous Ghost Stories From Different Schools

Ghost stories are an integral part of one's college experience and every school has their own stock of stories that circle around haunting and supernatural activities. If you haven't experienced anything weird just yet, then you've at least heard one or two ghost stories that happened in your campus.

Given that Halloween and All Souls' Day are just a few days away, we collected some of the most famous ghost stories from different schools to prep you before TV news and lifestyle shows air their own Halloween and November specials.

1. University of the Philippines

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A student took the Ikot Jeepney alone late one night on her way to her dorm. When she realized the route the driver had taken was different, she grew wary for the rest of the ride. However, the jeepney took a turn and dropped her right across her dorm.

She hurried to disembark the jeepney but was stopped when the jeepney called after her to explain that he took a different route to ward off the evil spirit and advised her to burn her clothes as soon as she got home. "When I looked in the rearview mirror," said the driver, "you were headless."

2. Miriam College

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Three female students went to the bathroom together after their class. As they all finished their business, another friend of theirs entered to use the loo. When the fourth person entered the cubicle, they thought it would be funny if they locked her in the bathroom so they did and stood outside the door.

The doorknob began to rattle as the girl inside the person demanded to be let out until she started crying. Thinking that was enough fun for the night, they opened the door. There was no one inside the bathroom. They ran and found their friend out on the lanai and asked how she escaped from the bathroom. "Kanina pa ako dito," their friend said.

3. Adamson University

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There was once a 4th grade girl who used to practice on the piano located at the far end of the building. She would play the piano every after class and stories say she was the only person to ever play it. Sadly, she died of leukemia and no one has touched the piano since.

Years later, a music teacher from UST was hired to teach in Adamson University. He wanted to use the piano for teaching purposes and had it moved to the AVR. One time, as he was practicing, the tune of the keys kept messing up so he checked the condition of the piano and found that it was still in its pristine condition.  Later that night, as he was locking up, he looked through the glass panel and found a girl sitting in front of the piano.

The next day, he returned with his students and discovered that the piano was once again in tune. After his class, he went to use the bathroom and heard someone playing the piano. Assuming it was a student who came back to practice, he returned to the AVR and glanced through the glass panel. He found a young girl standing on the other side, staring back at him. The teacher decided to leave Adamson University not long after.

4. Far Eastern University

Maningning Miclat was known as one of the most beautiful professors in the Far Eastern University. Sadly, in 2000, she jumped from the seventh floor of the Education Hall Building and passed away at 28.

Students would frequently sight an unknown entity or figure entering the room where the elementary or high school bandurria players would store their stringed instruments only to find that there was no one inside the room. These students strongly believe that it is the spirit of Maningning Miclat.

5. De La Salle University

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With an examination coming up, a girl stopped by the Chapel of the Most Blessed Sacrament to pray. As she was praying the Holy Mary, she heard faint footsteps from elsewhere in the chapel but brushed it off and continued praying.

Not long after, the footsteps drew closer and she started to hear a voice chanting with her as she prayed. When she opened her eyes, there stood a bloody soldier in front of her with a bayonet pierced through his chest.

6. St. Paul College

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While waiting for someone to pick her up, a student wandered the halls of the college. She passed by a classroom and found a person writing on the blackboard in the front of the room all by herself. Legends say it was either a nun or a student. Thinking it was someone she knew, she moved closer only to realize that the person's foot floating about two inches from the ground.

When the person turned to her, the student found she had a featureless face - no eyes, no mouth or anything. And there, written across the board in huge block letters, were the words, "HELP, I'M IN HELL."

7. Ateneo De Manila University

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A janitor was just about getting ready to lock up the building was approached by a security guard who needed to use the restroom badly. He was hesitant to let him since he had just finished cleaning but he allowed it anyway. Once the guard was done, he thanked the janitor and left. When the janitor double-checked the restroom, he was met with walls covered with handprints of human feces.

He ran to find the guard and confront him but the guard denied that he had been the one who made the mess. When the guard turned away, the janitor was shaken as he found the same handprint inside the bathroom at the back of the security guard's uniform.

8. University of Santo Tomas

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The Main Building's restroom ceilings are ridiculously high. One night, a female student excused herself from class to use the restroom. Having the restroom all to herself, she freely selected a cubicle and relieved herself. In the middle of urinating, she heard a faint voice chanting, "Ole, ole, ole". Knowing that she was supposedly in the bathroom all by herself, she quickly finished up and ran back to the classroom.

Everyone asked her what had gotten her so rattled so she told the tale. The professor explained that it was only good that she left as fast as she could and without a second glance. "Ole, ole means 'look up, look up'", the professor told her. Who knows what she would have found if she did?

Creepy, right? Hearing these ghost stories weren't easy for us either. Looks like we're sleeping with the lights on for the rest of our lives! What other campus ghost stories have you heard? Share them with us by leaving a comment below!

ALSO READ: The Six Fix: Harsh Truths College Students Need To Hear

Banner Photography from World Atlas

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