text:
Rob L. Wagner روب لستر واقنر

February 5, 2018

The True and Tragic Adventures of Dr. Laura E. Forster

As Dr Laura Elizabeth Forster stood on the platform at London’s Victoria Station, she must have pondered with some amusement the fuss from bystanders over the departure of her medical unit’s doctors and nurses for the war front. It was 4 September 1914 and Great Britain had only been at war with Germany a month when the British Committee of the French Red Cross, the umbrella group supervising Forster’s unit, was established. The train was taking the team to Folkestone for the boat trip across the channel to a Red Cross hospital near the front in Antwerp, Belgium. It would not be Forster’s first time in a combat zone. Although she was a seasoned physician in London, she had volunteered as a nurse – female doctors were not permitted near the front lines – to travel to Epirus in the autumn of 1912 to treat the wounded during the First Balkan War. Then, few Britons seem to notice that a war was raging. The commotion she was witnessing two years later at Victoria Station was an entirely new experience.

Dr Laura Forster portrait

Nine nurses dressed in pristine violet cloaks and sky blue dresses, four male doctors in khakis and four female physicians were on the platform for a send-off by family members and colleagues. Accompanying them were drivers, orderlies and an unexpected quartet of women farmers dressed in crisp officer’s khaki tunics, breeches and sun helmets. At Folkestone the attention was even greater as a film camera operator convinced the group, about 20 members in all, to march down the quay as he cranked his camera to record their departure. They may have been heroes in their mismatched uniforms, but they were not military. Unlike the Royal Army Medical Corps, where only male physicians were sent to the front, women medical officers had no such military support. They volunteered to private organisations to treat the wounded and the rampant diseases among refugees in war zones. While the British Expeditionary Force documented the services of its personnel, many private organisations’ record-keeping was haphazard or lost.

As a result, most independent women doctors were rarely recognised for their sacrifices during the Great War. Forster’s contributions to the war effort are officially documented through the British Committee of the French Red Cross as serving a single month in a combat zone – 14 September to 14 October 1914 – although she worked as a surgeon and epidemic specialist for 29 consecutive months at the fronts in Belgium, France, Russia, the Caucasus and Turkey.

Dr Forster was an independent surgeon travelling from one battlefield to another. She ran hospitals with beds numbering in the hundreds to tiny far-flung outposts with minimal medical supplies and support staff. She treated soldiers with severe battle wounds, farming accident victims and rampant diseases among refugees in war zones. And she died alone in Russia.

This is her untold story originally published in the Australian military journal Sabretache vol. LVIII, no.4 — December 2017. Read the PDF file.

Click to OpenForster.article

December 25, 2016

GCC Countries Embrace Social, Economic Change for Survival

Filed under: Uncategorized — Rob L. Wagner @ 07:54
Tags: , ,

By Rob L. Wagner

The Arab Weekly

25 December 2016

Jeddah – When General Motors chief Charles Wilson was misquoted as saying, “What’s good for General Motors is good for the country” in 1953, there was outrage that he put GM’s interests first and the country’s economic welfare second. Yet many observers attending his confirmation hearing to be US Defense secretary silently agreed with the sentiment.

The same can be said for Saudi Arabia’s $650 billion economy because a robust Saudi economy brings fiscal stability to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), if not to the world. Simply, what is good for Saudi Arabia is good for the GCC.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said as much at December’s GCC summit in Bahrain when she urged Arab leaders to build with Britain “economies that work for everyone”.

“We in the UK are determined to continue to be your partner of choice as you embed international norms and see through the reforms, which are so essential for all of your people,” May told the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar.

May singled out Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 as a bold step to enact social and economic reforms along with changes proposed by other Gulf countries “for more fundamental and lasting change”.

At the helm of that engine of change is Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, second in line to the throne and the first prince in Saudi Arabia’s 85-year monarchy to implement radical economic and social reforms.

Saudi Arabia has long been a country of soft diplomacy and a go-it-slow, test-the-waters philosophy in implementing social changes. But Prince Mohammed, faced with a $98 billion budget deficit and oil revenue dropping to less than $30 a barrel in January, has shaken the country from complacency.

His Vision 2030 austerity programme, at least in the eyes of many Saudis, is severe if not brutal. If that is not enough pressure, other Arab leaders are carefully looking at whether he will succeed.

Promising to force the kingdom to quit cold turkey its addiction to oil revenues, he focused on Saudis’ spendthrift habits. He slashed ministers’ salaries 15%, government employees’ pay and allowances as much as 40% and planned to privatise ministries and force employees to reapply for their jobs.

Among the many non-oil revenue alternatives explored by Saudi Arabia is expanding its tourism industry by inviting more investors to build hotels and to improve infrastructure at heritage sites.

For the first time, the government is opening portions of the country to haj and umrah pilgrims who were once restricted to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Although non-Muslims struggle to obtain tourist visas, Western expatriate workers and business- and family-related visitors have freer access to venues once deemed off-limits. Tourism is perhaps the kingdom’s greatest non-oil revenue that has yet to be fully exploited.

Western economic analysts lauded Prince Mohammed’s programmes as a bold move to wean Saudis from cushy government jobs that, in their view, are nothing more than entitlements. Many Saudi fiscal observers, however, complain that cutting workers’ salaries will affect consumer spending, putting pressure on small and medium-sized businesses to generate revenue and possibly leading bank customers to default on loans.

Ehsan Ahrari, adjunct research professor at the Pennsylvania-based Strategic Studies Institute, Army War College and chief executive officer of Strategic Paradigms, said he was sympathetic to the challenges the deputy crown prince faces.

“I very much would want him to succeed,” said Ahrari. “The biggest fly in the ointment remains the Yemeni war, which is eating up Saudi dollar reserves.”

Ahrari said Prince Mohammed’s success depends on the support he is currently enjoying from the royal family and the stability of the government.

Some Saudi analysts have warned since April, when Saudi Vision 2030 was announced, that a fiscal austerity programme could lead to a recession. Indeed, London-based BMI Research concluded in December that Saudi Arabia is headed for a recession in 2017, its first since 1999.

The kingdom’s economy is expected to contract 0.2% as non-oil growth continues its slow pace along with declining oil production and the austerity drive. Saudi Arabia saw slight growth of 0.8% in 2016.

“There is no way not to expect consequences when consumers stay at home instead of spending their money for goods and services,” one Jeddah-based Saudi economist told The Arab Weekly.

To further complicate efforts to boost the economies of GCC member states is the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate increase. It raised its benchmark interest rate to a range of 0.50% to 0.75%.

The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain joined Saudi Arabia in raising its interest rates to match the Federal Reserve and remain committed to pegging their currencies to the US dollar. As the cost of borrowing money rises, however, it will be more difficult to ease the squeeze on cash that is hindering growth.

Qatar, which is considering spending cuts and eliminating some entitlements, recently reported its 2017 budget has a $7.8 billion deficit. It is not on the scale of Saudi Arabia’s but large enough for the GCC member to ponder what the new year will look like without a more aggressive austerity programme.

Saudi Women Enter Pharmaceutical Retail Industry

Filed under: Uncategorized — Rob L. Wagner @ 07:52
Tags: , , ,

By Rob L. Wagner

The Arab Weekly

18 December 2016

Jeddah – In a significant move that promises to level the playing field for women in the pharmaceutical industry, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health has agreed to issue licences for women to work in pharmacies and herbal medicine facilities.

The decision is a boon for female pharmacists looking for employment in a sector that has been unavailable to them for decades. Pharmaceutical jobs remain available for women in the government sector but their exclusion from private employment limits choices of where to work.

The Ministry of Health reported in 2015 that the kingdom, which has a population of 28.8 million, has about 7,000 privately owned pharmacies, twice the number of the global average in which one pharmacy serves an average of 8,000 potential customers.

The proliferation of private pharmacies stems in part from the Health Ministry eliminating a requirement that pharmacies must be at least 250 metres apart.

A majority of the kingdom’s pharmacies employ Arab expatriates as workers but the government’s Vision 2030 aims to extend job opportunities not only to Saudi citizens in general, but specifically women. The Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry reported that 500 female pharmaceutical students graduated from just one university this year and need jobs.

Ghadi Ghulam, a pharmacist working in a government pharmacy in Jeddah, said she welcomed the advantages jobs in the private sector would offer women.

“It will provide good opportunities for women in general but, in our culture, we must go slow to get people used to the idea,” she said.

The average salary of a pharmacist in the private sector is about $20,000 annually, although pharmacists with more than 20 years’ experience can earn as much as $64,000 per year, according to PaySale, which collects data on salaries for virtually every profession around the world.

Only about one-quarter of the government-run pharmacies are staffed by women but some private companies are working to boost the number of women working in the profession.

Ahmed S. Dahduli, communications director for AbbVie Biopharmaceuticals, which has offices in Jeddah and Riyadh, said interest among women pharmacists in the private sector is growing. The Chicago-based AbbVie provides training programmes for student pharmacists in Saudi Arabia and other countries.

“The female Saudi pharmacist talent pool is significantly large,” Dahduli said. “When students started the programme with us, only 33% of them expressed interest in considering working in the private sector. At the end of the programme, after witnessing the opportunities and career development plans, more than 75% of them are considering working with the private sector after graduation.”

The AbbVie training programme provides Saudi university students a look at the practicalities and career possibilities of a pharmacist. The company offers daily summer courses that focus on supply chain management, government and regulatory requirements and quality assurance among other topics.

Dahduli said Vision 2030 “has placed a significant amount of focus on Saudi human talent”.

“Given the number of pharmacy college graduates and the demand for professionals in the pharmaceutical industry in the kingdom, the intent of our programme is to help provide female candidates with the skills that can help them compete for available positions within this important sector,” he said.

Dahduli said there is a great demand for Saudi women pharmacists. Ghulam agreed, noting that although the percentage of women working in government pharmacies is low, employment in the field — whether in the government or private sector — is available.

“Women would be more than happy to work in either the government or private sector,” she said.

Employment at private pharmacies is not just limited to pharmacists but also to support personnel. Many pharmacies, particularly in shopping malls, count most of their sales in cosmetics with about 30% of sales in medicinal products and prescriptions. Pharmacists say female customers prefer speaking with another woman when discussing details of their prescriptions.

Other medical-related professions are also expected to open more job opportunities to women, including ophthalmology. For example, 60 of the 68 recent graduating ophthalmologists at King Saud University were women. This year, an estimated 13,000 women were certified ophthalmologists although jobs in the private sector do not exist for them.

November 28, 2016

Marriage Rate Among Saudis Dropping

Filed under: Uncategorized — Rob L. Wagner @ 03:10
Tags: , ,

By Rob L. Wagner

The Arab Weekly

27 November 2016

Jeddah – One-quarter of Saudis of marriage age are single, the General Authority for Statistics for 2016 said. The trend in the increase in the number of unmarried men and women over the age of 15 has prompted the Saudi government to implement policies to encourage marriage but it has met with little success.

The government estimates that 5.26 million Saudis are single. Perhaps the most startling statistic from the authority’s demographic survey is that 3 million men over the age of 15 are single, exceeding the number of unmarried women. The population of Saudis in the kingdom is estimated at 21.1 million. About 8 million foreigners work in Saudi Arabia and they were not included in the survey.

Potential Saudi brides and grooms generally point to high dowries demanded by the brides’ families, the expense of a wedding party and the high unemployment rate among Saudi men, estimated at 10-12%, as reasons for so many single people.

Alawyah Salama Murjan, former administrative supervisor in the social studies department for the Ministry of Higher Education in Medina, said the media and exposure to Western culture also play a part in young people remaining single.

“Families put pressure on their children to have weddings according to their own traditions and customs,” she said, “but young people want more practical weddings and want to spend less. They see that on television and in movies, and the types of weddings they see appeal to them.”

She said Saudi men often have unrealistic expectations about the kind of women they want to marry. “They might want someone with lighter skin and different colour eyes because this is something they see in the media and it’s desirable but can be unrealistic, so they marry later.”

Another underlying and less discussed aspect of Saudis remaining single are the expectations of Saudi women who find their choice of husbands wanting.

“Saudi women are better educated, hold better, high-paying and prestigious jobs and they are often treated very well at home,” said one Saudi sociologist. “They don’t want to risk marriage with a careless man.”

Maryam Alyenbaawi, 30, of Jeddah, said she has had several suitors over the years. Although her family vetoed marriage proposals from some, she found that none were compatible because they hinted early in the courting process between families that they sought to control her.

“I have it good at home,” she said. “I have a good job and my own money and a good place to live. I don’t need a man to fulfil me. I might want a husband in the future but not another father. I already have one.”

Magda Muhammad Ali, 39, of Medina, said her father rejected several suitors over the years. She is resigned to a single life but she does not see it as a curse. “There is nobody out there that I’d run to for marriage. There are few men I see that I would tolerate,” Ali said.

Saudi Arabia is not alone in its struggle to have its citizens marry but is part of a trend in Middle East countries in which marriage is often not regarded as the first life choice among young adults.

Alrai of Kuwait reported that 45% of the Jordanian women of marrying age remain single. Lebanon ranks first with 86% of its women unmarried. War conditions in Syria have led to 70% of the country’s women being single. About 40% of all Egyptian women eligible to be married are single.

The government of the United Arab Emirates reported that 60% of its marriage-age female population were single and that about 20% of Emirati men marry foreigners. There are fewer than 1 million Emirati citizens in a nation of 8 million people.

Said Al-Kitbi, a member of the UAE’s Federal National Council, said 175,000 Emirati women over 30 are unmarried. “This is very worrying,” he said.

The Saudi General Authority for Statistics indicated that women account for 49.01% of the Saudi population with the total percentage of unmarried females at 34.12%, including single women who are divorced or widowed. Once women reach the age of 32 their chances of marriage greatly diminish, with only 2.8% getting married. About 10% of Saudi women aged 15 or over, have never been married.

The authority reported there were 336,780 divorced Saudis in the kingdom and 411,540 people are widowed.

The authority makes the distinction between unmarried women and “spinsters” for statistical purposes. Unmarried women could be widowed or divorced, while spinsters have never been married and are above the age of 32. The age a woman is considered a spinster differs from one country to another. For example, at the end of 1999, the Saudi government recorded more than 1 million unmarried women over the age of 30, although those women could have been divorced or widowed and are not necessarily spinsters.

To encourage marriage the Saudi government implemented a programme to limit the amount of money a groom pays the bride’s family for a dowry. In 2015, a $13,300 limit was established for a “virgin bride” and $8,000 for a bride who had a previous marriage. Khalid al-Faisal, the emir of Mecca, sought assurances from local tribal leaders to agree to the new limits and document the dowries and have them ratified by the local courts.

Yet dowries and expensive wedding parties remain a sticking point between the younger generation of Saudis and the previous generation.

“This is a social problem that leads to a breakdown in society,” said Murjan. “People don’t want to get married like their parents did. They can’t afford it and Saudi society is family-oriented and being single is frowned upon. There is a lot of family pressure but the young people are resisting that pressure.”

November 19, 2016

Saudi Women’s Rights Advocate No Stranger to Adversity

By Rob L. Wagner

Gulf News

19 November 2016

Jeddah: Earlier this month, Qatar University administrators forced Dr Hatoon Al Fassi, a leading Saudi scholar instrumental in helping women gain the vote in Saudi Arabia, to postpone a Debate Club discussion on women in Islam at the university where she teaches.

University students launched an online petition demanding her sacking, alleging that her views on women’s rights in Islam are “contrary to the Qatari culture and values” and she sought to “spread poison in students’ brains.”

Twitter users created the hashtag #I’mWiththeExpulsionofHattonAl-Fassi in their efforts to oust the professor. Critics claimed her teachings were against “Islamic Sharia,” although they provided no evidence.

Such is the lot of an Arab women’s rights activist: condemnation, threats, intimidation. And there is perhaps a no more sensitive topic in the Gulf region, especially in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, than the discussion of exactly what rights are accorded women in Islam.

The Qatar incident appears to have boiled over following an article written by two of Al Fassi’s students.

“The problem was they wrote an article and argued there were some laws and gaps in women’s rights in Qatar,” Al Fassi told the Gulf News. “It was done professionally based on evidence. It’s common knowledge. I endorsed them and tweeted how proud I was of them. The girls were attacked and then I was attacked [on social media].”

The irony is that if Al Fassi’s lecture were to be held in Saudi Arabia, a considerably more conservative country than Qatar, it would be unlikely to have raised eyebrows given her reputation as a respected scholar and an activist who works with a soft touch to raise awareness on women’s issues.

Al Fassi doesn’t court controversy, but she is also no stranger to it and does not shy away from a good fight. It was Al Fassi and her legion of followers who worked virtually non-stop since 2005 to help win women’s right to vote in municipal elections.

The first elections were held in December 2015 and saw 20 women win council seats throughout the kingdom. Nearly 1,000 women had registered as candidates and an estimated 132,000 women cast ballots for the first time.

Al Fassi said she keeps in touch with some of the elected council members and their success has had varying results. “I don’t think we expected to change the norms or a lot in the community,” she said.

Women members are hampered by council rules and still must contend with gender segregation, which makes performing their duties difficult.

In Jeddah, Rasha Hefzi has faced marginalisation from her male colleagues, but has battled on.

“She doesn’t submit to that and has kept on working by going into areas trying to meet with the people,” Al Fassi said.

Al Fassi noted that the Saudi government can say it has accomplished its commitment to human rights groups, noting that Saudi Arabia can write in its annual report that women have participation and can stand for elections. The box can be checked there, but the work ahead is to ensure that female participation is not just cosmetic, but actual engagement, she said.

Born in 1964, Al Fassi is a member of the Sufi Al Fassi family of Makkah and is a descendant of Qutbul Ujood Hazrat Muhammad Al Fassi, the spiritual leader of the Fassiyah branch of the Shadhiliyya Sufis. When she retired as associate professor of women’s history at King Saud University in Riyadh with a full pension, she accepted a post as visiting professor at Qatar University. A mother of two children, her husband is Dr Abdul Aziz Abu Hamad Aluwaisheg, the assistant secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Among Saudis she is instantly recognised for her traditional Hijazi-style hijab that honours the history and traditions of the Hijazi tribe and inspired by an aunt. Her parents, she once told a reporter, infused her with “the spirit of Islam, about what is the essence of being a Muslim woman.”

Her pride in her history and Hijazi tradition is evident in how she wields her influence in women’s rights.

While younger and more militant Saudi women have emerged using blunt language to advocate for their peers, Al Fassi uses a less confrontational approach that has garnered important allies. Her rhetoric is minimal and she relies on fact-based research to argue her point. It makes her popular among the more traditional and conservative Saudi women who view with skepticism aggressive activists who are often perceived as posturing with their attention-getting language usually spoken by Western activists.

But even gaining acceptance among Saudi women to accomplish her goals is a challenge. A vast cross-section of Saudi women claim no interest in voting or running for elected office, mainly because they perceive the council as having no relevance in their lives and their voice would not be effective.

“I see no advantage to being a member of a council or asking them for anything,” said one female Saudi academic who holds a doctorate. “If they can build a park that is not a safety hazard, fine, but that is like asking for the world.”

Al Fassi said she understands their position. Even the 30 seats on the Shura Council granted to women in 2013 does not change perceptions among some women.

“It’s very hard to see the result and the impact of women on the Shura Council and you really have to follow closely to see what is going on to have a real grasp of what they are doing,” she said. “And they don’t relate easily to the issues of what the municipal councils do. Women feel their opinions don’t count and it’s a cultural problem.”

Al Fassi points to the councils for failing to be more transparent, but also the Saudi media. She credits Saudi newspapers for their growth and maturity in journalism over the last decade, but problems persist. Journalists generally don’t cover specific beats, leading to a lack of expertise.

Saudi journalists cover issues in which they lack understanding, she said.

“It depends on the journalist,” she said. “You have progressive newspapers and you have people who mix things up. Somebody does an interview on a hot topic and then it’s published after the interference of the editor-in-chief and you have a very provocative title of just the opposite of what you are saying.”

However, she said there are more female journalists than 10 years ago. “There are a lot of new voices and new journalists who are doing a very good job.”

Al Fassi is less active in the #IAmMyOwnGuardian campaign, which seeks to eliminate male guardianship rules that require women to obtain permission to receive an education, marry, seek medical treatment or leave the country.

Yet she is vocal about its control over women and supports the movement by keeping in touch with its organisers.

Aziza Al Yousuf, a leader of the campaign, argues that guardianship applies to issues of marriage in which the husband serves as the breadwinner and protects his wife and nothing more.

But in her 2007 book, ‘Women in Pre-Islamic Arabia,’ Al Fassi goes further. She contends that Arabian women in the pre-Islamic Nabataean period had immense rights. The concept of male guardianship is rooted in Greek and Roman law and is neither Islamic nor Arabian.

Simply, contemporary clerics have misinterpreted the origins of Islamic law, she said.

“I dispute that marriage is a part of guardianship,” Al Fassi said.

“It’s not compulsory and when talking about a divorced woman, there is definitely no need for a guardian. As for compulsory consent from a minor [guardian], I oppose it. If a woman needs a guardian for a marriage, it’s only for support, but it’s not up to him [the guardian] to decide who she must marry.”

Meanwhile, cooler heads have prevailed over the Al Fassi’s discussion dust-up at Qatar University.

At the moment, the Debate Club event is on hold as university administrators seek a more “comprehensive” view on women in Islam “that takes into consideration its religious, social and academic aspects.”

November 6, 2016

Saudi Government Employees Face Austerity

Filed under: Uncategorized — Rob L. Wagner @ 04:41
Tags: , ,

By Rob L. Wagner

The Arab Weekly

6 November 2016

Jeddah – Saudi government employees have received their first pay cheques since the announcement that salaries would be slashed as part of a fiscal austerity programme.

The new salaries, deposited in bank accounts at the end of October, provided Saudis — including all ministers and Shura Council members — with their first glimpse that belt-tightening was a stark, and perhaps permanent, reality.

“The economic programme will affect the lower- and middle-income people and won’t affect the wealthy,” said Assad Jawhar, an economics professor at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah.

The salary cuts are a bitter pill for many Saudis to swallow. Basic salaries are not particularly high in the government sector but allowances for housing, transportation, computer skills and other competencies vital to performing duties can add up to 40% to the total salary package.

By eliminating allowances, some public workers saw their take-home pay reduced almost half. In some cases, Saudi workers had previous deductions of up to one-third of their basic salary to repay government overpayments. With the elimination of allowances and up to one-third in deductions from their basic pay, some employees saw their monthly income drop as much as 60%.

The Saudi middle class has been steadily shrinking and the cuts in wages among government workers will have a significant effect on the growth of middle-income breadwinners.

The salary cuts are just one avenue Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and his advisers are pursuing to boost government coffers. It also raises the issue of whether austerity programmes work, especially when sacrifices from lower- and middle-income workers serve as the backbone of the programme.

Economists caution that Saudi Arabia’s economic woes cannot be compared to those of the European Union or the severe austerity plan that caused considerable upset in Greece. Consumer confidence, high among the desirables to produce a robust economy, does not necessarily apply to Saudi Arabia.

Charles Schmitz, professor of geography at Towson University in Baltimore, Maryland, and a specialist in Gulf economic policies, said Saudi Arabia’s austerity programme and salary cuts are painful but necessary.

“State employment in the kingdom is welfare,” he said. “The state’s bureaucracy is bloated as a means of passing the revenues from the state to society.

“The Saudis are used to a high standard of living that is based upon rents from oil, not labour productivity. The prince’s programme is to help Saudis get used to the idea of tying their level of living to their productivity. It may be hard landing for a lot of Saudis but it is a necessary one.”

While salary cuts among ministers and the Shura Council and the recent sacking of Finance minister Ibrahim al-Assaf and replacing him with Mohammed al-Jadaan have garnered attention, most of the ministries have quietly reduced the number of expatriate workers, curtailed travel to seminars and conferences and discouraged extra training at the employer’s expense.

In October, the Civil Service Ministry’s Replacement Administration rejected 478 out of 516 contract renewals for expatriate medical workers at King Saud University. The decision affects employees on the job for more than ten years and paves the way for the university to hire Saudis with postgraduate degrees.

Jawhar said the burden of the government’s programme is placed squarely on the average worker. He said spending is higher among the low- and middle-income Saudis in proportion to their monthly salaries compared to the buying habits of the wealthy.

He said a priority should be to eliminate corruption but also to ensure high-income earners contribute revenue to the government through taxation.

“They should go to the rich and target companies,” Jawhar said.

“The question is who is going to be affected negatively by the decision? During the past ten years, the middle class has been shrinking. [The programme] will affect them.”

The Saudi government is determined to eliminate entitlements to reduce the country’s $98 billion fiscal budget deficit. The International Monterey Fund is optimistic that the government can cut the deficit to 13% of the gross domestic product in 2016 and to less than 10% in 2017.

To help accomplish this, Saudi consumers have been encouraged to curb recreational activities and spend less on luxury items and even curtail how much they spend at the market.

Schmitz said he is optimistic the strategy will be successful. “Demand comes from two sources: Consumers and investors. The Saudis want to shift the demand from the consumer market to the private investment market so that there is more investment in the non-oil private sector. Investment can drive an economy just as much as consumer demand.”

A Conversation with Saudi Women’s Rights Advocate Aziza al-Yousef

Filed under: Uncategorized — Rob L. Wagner @ 04:38
Tags: , , ,

By Rob L. Wagner

The Arab Weekly

6 November 2016

Jeddah – When Aziza al-Yousef registered as a student at King Saud University in the Saudi capital Riyadh in the 1980s, she did not need her father’s permission. When her daughter enrolled in the same university in 2001, she was required to have her father’s signature on the permission slip.

Yousef, 58, the mother of four sons and one daughter, has seen many changes in how Saudi women are treated in public and private institutions. She has witnessed a reduction of women’s rights in reaction to the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran but has observed, in recent years, restrictions eased ever so slightly and slowly.

The retired professor — she taught computer science at King Saud University for 28 years — is leading a campaign to abolish male guardian regulations that require Saudi women to obtain permission from their father, brother, son or closest male relative to attend a university, travel or seek medical treatment.

“We are just asking to remove the government rule that affects our daily lives,” Yousef told The Arab Weekly.

Yousef recently attempted to deliver to the Royal Advisory Council a 14,700-signature petition seeking to abolish the guardianship regulations but she was rebuffed and told to mail it. She sent the document but has yet to hear back from the government. Whether the government is taking the petition seriously — it has ignored similar efforts — is unknown but a Twitter hashtag, #IAmMyOwnGuardian, has gone viral to help gain support for the cause.

Yousef said she is optimistic that changes can be made.

“We are used to 26 years of making demands,” Yousef said. “There is nothing we can do but to continue this thing. I hope the government treats this as an economic situation and we hope to get more allies. We have a young population with 50% under the age of 26. It’s time to listen.”

Saudi Arabia’s efforts to diversify its economy mean it must help female university graduates obtain employment in the private sector. They are an untapped resource that women’s rights organisers say can help turn around the kingdom’s sagging economy. The government hopes to increase women’s employment from 22% to 30% by 2030. Women have made progress in obtaining some rights, including appointments to the Shura Council and the right to vote and run for office in municipal elections.

However, the broader issue facing Saudis is not simply allowing women to travel without a man’s permission but how to interpret women’s rights in Islam. In a country where Saudis often ask foreigners to make the distinction between religion and culture, even Saudis can blur the lines. Throwing in government mandates affecting every female citizen only adds to the confusion. Where religious obligations end and culture and tradition, backed by government regulations, take over is often a mystery.

To Yousef and the signatories of the petition the difference in religious obligations and government mandates is stark.

“In Islam the man should be the breadwinner and the woman who gets pregnant and takes care of the household is not responsible for money,” Yousef said. “Islam does not say that women should not work or study but that she is responsible for her own actions and if she has a debt, she is responsible for that debt.”

Yet the very essence of guardianship in Saudi Arabia has morphed over more than three decades into one in which a man who earns the household income “must control the woman”, she said.

A woman under any interpretation of Islam is responsible for her own actions, Yousef noted. She added that if a woman “committed a robbery she doesn’t get half the punishment of a man” because she is female but “in the eyes of the government she is treated the same as a man”.

Conventional wisdom among Western observers is that educated Saudi women understand the difference between male guardianship as defined in Islam and arbitrary government regulations that limit women’s rights, but Yousef said supporters and opponents cannot be pigeonholed into one category.

“We have very educated women who are suffering because of the guardianship laws but we also have a lot of educated women who are firmly against eliminating guardianship,” Yousef said. “We have ladies who go abroad to study, get their PhD and then return and oppose what we are doing. There is no general rule of who is with who.”

She also noted that Saudis are pragmatic when it comes to opposing the petition’s goals: “People may understand the difference between rights for women in Islam and what the government is doing but they hold positions in government and they don’t want to risk their interests.”

Yousef grew up in a free environment in which her father was open-minded. She said she did not suffer the rigid patriarchal control that many of her peers experienced. “We were the lucky ones,” she said.

Yousef enrolled at King Saud University when she was a teenager. She dropped out after one semester to attend Virginia Commonwealth University in the United States, a 178-year-old institution known for its medical research. She was a wide-eyed, 19-year-old with limited English but became a fluent speaker possessing boundless self-confidence during her seven-year residence in the United States. She earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science and returned to King Saud to complete her master’s degree.

Yousef said the changes she has seen gave her hope for the future but some of the changes can be discouraging; a two-steps-forward-one-step-back process that can be both frustrating and exhilarating.

She said since the mid-1980s she has seen dormitory rules, which kept female students as virtual prisoners, relaxed. It is a small, but nonetheless important, change in campus life. She has also seen that women, who in the 1980s could arrive and leave campus any time during the day, face restrictions.

“Now the gates are closed, so if a student finishes a class at 9 in the morning, she must wait until the gates open at 12 noon to leave,” she said.

It is a system that treats women as children with maddening inconsistency but it has not always been that way.

In the 1980s, Saudi Arabia was a closed society with strict cultural boundaries and specific, yet unwritten, rules for the roles of men and women. However, women conducted their lives relatively freely only to see that freedom slowly ebb away.

Yousef points to the 1979 Islamic revolution and the Afghanistan war in the 1980s as turning points.

“We had people making statements to young men that they had to fight the Afghanistan war, which brainwashed a young generation. It wasn’t even our war,” she said. “After the war finished, everything became corrupted and now it is difficult to correct it.”

November 5, 2016

Saudi Arabia Looks to Build on Medical Tourism as Austerity Bites

Filed under: Uncategorized — Rob L. Wagner @ 07:07
Tags: ,

By Rob L. Wagner

Gulf News

4 November 2016

Jeddah: When Faisal Banjar founded Arabian Gulf Medical Tourism Agency he secured what he thought was an important contract with the 600-bed Dr Soliman Fakeeh Hospital to bring foreign patients for treatment and capitalise on the $40 billion-a-year (Dh147 billion) medical tourism industry.

Eighteen months later he is still waiting to bring his first client to the hospital. Instead, he is sending as many as 20 Saudis a month to foreign countries — mostly to Turkey and Germany — for medical treatment.

“Visas are hard to come by for people to visit Saudi Arabia for medical treatment,” Banjar told Gulf News.

Arabian Gulf Medical Tourism is one of a handful of Saudi businesses that offer domestic and international medical liaison services between Saudis and foreign patients and hospitals. But virtually all of their clients are Saudis leaving the Kingdom for medical treatment elsewhere. Few foreigners are coming into the country.

Saudi Arabia’s nearly $100 billion fiscal budget deficit and its depressed economy is forcing the government to implement a severe austerity programmeme and seek non-oil revenue. The health sector is part of that revenue plan and has been toying with the idea of developing a medical tourism programme.

Boost revenue

Medical tourism involves patients actively seeking low-cost medical care not available in their native country. It does not include accidents or illnesses that require medical treatment while abroad, but to travel to a foreign country to seek specific care.

To boost revenue and create a thriving tourism segment in the private sector the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage has endorsed a proposal that combines religious and medical tourism to attract the world’s 1.6 million Muslims who often seek spiritual solace during a health crisis.

Saudi Arabia has developed a five-year plan to encourage medical tourists to seek treatment in its government and private hospitals, but there has been little input from the private sector to engage in a public-private partnership.

According to the Medical Tourism Index (TMI) the Kingdom ranks 37th among the most desired countries to receive medical care. Canada ranks first in global ranking followed in order by the United Kingdom, Israel, Singapore and India.

Rankings also show that Saudi Arabia trails Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia, all of which have established specific medical specialities marketed to foreigners. The International Medical Travel Journal reports, for example, that Dubai projects that it will receive 500,000 medical tourists annually by 2020.

Although Saudi medical visas remain the primary obstacle to receiving a steady flow of foreign patients, services are available to any individual already in the country on a Haj, Umrah or work visa.

Competent treatment

Valorie Crooks, Canada Research Chair in Health Services Geographies at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia and scholar at the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, cautioned that patients should not be seduced by the perception that one country is more popular than another. Rankings do not necessarily reflect a country’s ability to provide competent treatment, and the reported number of patients visiting a country may be exaggerated, she said.

“I do think it’s important to question the numbers that are reported,” Crooks told Gulf News. “Is the UAE truly attracting medical tourists [such as] people who travel there for the expressed purpose of medical care, or are they including others in these numbers [like] ill and injured vacationers, expats living there who need care? Some clinics also report numbers of procedures rather than patients, and patients travelling from abroad may have multiple procedures and so can be double- triple- or even quadruple-counted.”

Crooks said she cannot speak specifically about Saudi Arabia, but she noted the kingdom is not “missing out” on large numbers of international patients travelling each year.

“In reality, the true numbers of people travelling abroad for medical are likely far less than what those in the industry report,” Crooks said. “Unfortunately this has resulted in many clinics finding difficulty in filling their international patient wards.

Once Saudi Arabia sorts its visa issues it is more than ready to accommodate international patients. The country has 95 hospitals — out of a total of 400 countrywide — and 74 medical programmes accredited by the Joint Commission International, which provides accreditation to medical facilities worldwide. The kingdom has also gained international recognition for its separation of conjoined twins. Since 1990, 34 sets of twins from 20 countries have been separated at the King Abdullah Specialist Children’s Hospital in Riyadh. Transplants

Perhaps more important is Saudi Arabia’s organ transplant programme. Dr Faisal Shaheen, director general of the Saudi Centre for Organ Transplantation, said transplants jumped 40 per cent in 2015 over 2014. Saudi government hospitals, he said, conducted 1,031 heart, lung, liver and kidney transplants in 2015.

But Shaheen said it’s virtually impossible to bring foreigners into the kingdom for surgery because of the 6,000 Saudis and expats already on transplant waiting lists.

“Only about 5 per cent of the cases for transplants are non-citizens,” he said. “Patients here on a visitor’s visa are not accepted for transplants.”

Yet visitors who hold Haj, Umrah or business visas will discover that costs for other treatments such as paediatric, obesity and eye care, are relatively low in Saudi Arabia compared to its European or even Gulf competitors.

Ashok Laguduva, founder and CEO of Anavara Ltd, a London-based medical tourism agency, told Gulf News that low-cost treatment is the primary factor in patients seeking foreign medical care.

“I have seen that by and large cost is the predominant consideration for folks when travelling for medical treatment,” Laguduva said. “The second most important thing they look for is referrals or word of mouth. The latter plays a very important role.”

Crooks said that, “Costs are certainly a consideration, but patients are heavily concerned about their health as well as factors such as language, [having] medical documentation provided in the language they speak at home.”

November 4, 2016

Saudi Artists Struggle for Recognition at Home

Filed under: Uncategorized — Rob L. Wagner @ 11:44
Tags: , , ,

By Rob L. Wagner

Gulf News

4 November 2016

Jeddah: When artist and calligrapher Nasser Al Salem decided that traditional Arabic calligraphy was too confining and sought break the bonds of the centuries-old art form, he was met with criticism and derision.

“I wanted to break out with a new art form,” the 32-year-old Makkah native told Gulf News. “Calligraphy needs to keep evolving to a different, unique style.”

The transition from traditional to contemporary calligraphy did not sit well with the old guard who view a modern take on what is considered a sacred expression of Arabic writing a violation of the standards of design. But Al Salem, who has been a calligrapher since he was 13 years old, is expressing a modern Saudi Arabia that is steeped in national, if not regional, pride.

Strict moral and cultural codes kept most art genres underground since 1979, a sharp reversal from the 1960s when the Saudi government encouraged art as a career by sending students abroad on scholarships to study and return home to teach.

But a majority of the next generation of Saudis eschewed the arts and humanities as frivolous and barriers to careers that generated a healthy income and prestige. Teaching and medicine reigned supreme while artistically-inclined children were discouraged to pursue their talent.

The culture changed dramatically for Saudis born after 1990 and who came of age in post-9/11 Saudi Arabia.

Satellite television and the internet exposed young people to Western and Asian media, particularly filmmaking, music and other forms of artistic expression.

The King Abdullah Scholarship Programme gave Saudi university students a full free ride to just about any accredited university in the world.

It allowed them to absorb and be comfortable with other cultures. No longer was a government job an answer to one’s future.

Many young Saudi artists today are self-taught while an increasing number are receiving formal training in foreign countries.

Maryam Bilal, who curates exhibits and serves as a liaison between the Athr Gallery of Jeddah and undiscovered artists, said the gallery looks for artists with a deep sense of regional identity.

“Their art has to be relative to what is happening today,” Bilal told Gulf News.

“Today we see displacement and home, and an identity to what is happening in the region. There is a longevity in their art.”

The government has brought 2.5 million displaced Syrians from their war-torn country into Saudi Arabia.

Their presence, influence and the tragedy of their experiences and losses are deeply felt among Saudi artists who express the emotional toll of war and its impact on the region less in political terms and more of its humanity.

Afia H. Bin Taleb, 26, who trained as an interior designer and is a project associate with Athr Gallery, said Zarah Al Ghamdi, who often creates site-specific installations, is one artist who depicts the human relationship to the environment in a visceral manner by using black paint to allude to the scorched, scarred and polluted earth, not unlike the destruction witnessed in the region.

“A lot of the art we see today is conceptual,” Bin Taleb said.

Such themes have attracted museums and galleries from the Smithsonian and the Armory Show in New York to Art Dubai to showcase Saudi artists.

International exhibits can be a heady experience for a young Saudi attempting to make a name in art circles.

Yet recognition, particularly in Saudi Arabia, remains elusive. The number of artists, whose work has matured, is increasing significantly, but the environment to support such artists has failed to mature with them.

Jeddah artist Fatima Baazeem said artists were “not highly appreciated” in the past.

While the arts community is blossoming, she said, recognition is difficult to come by, giving some artists the feeling they are being marginalized in the community where they work.

Baazeem noted that a group of artists recently staged a protest to draw attention to their art. Each artist cut up one of their works and donated it to create a collage as a single expressive theme. It was a collective statement that their work had value. “I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the final result, but it certainly sent a message.”

Al Salem agreed that artists struggle to be seen and heard.

“There is not enough exposure,” Al Salem said.

“There is not enough media. We can’t find good critiques. We can’t find serious art critics.”

Bilal said there is a lack of infrastructure to support local talent.

“There is not enough platforms for artists,” she said. “There are not enough museums and galleries. We don’t have a collecting culture here. I understand the frustration of artists. We are very slow in developing a collecting culture.”

The Saudi art scene appears to be in a state of limbo. Artists are eager to see whether Saudis with the financial means will evolve into art patrons and benefactors to help establish galleries and museums to bring art to the public. It hasn’t happened on a scale that will draw enough attention both domestically or internationally, but there is an expectation among artists that it’s only a matter of time.

There is also an anticipation of “what’s next” in Saudi society, Bilal said.

“I think the public is ready,” she said. “We see it in social media, photography, YouTube and other media outlets. They are ready for galleries, for museums and for cinemas.”

October 30, 2016

Huge Spike in Saudi Visa Fees

Filed under: Uncategorized — Rob L. Wagner @ 03:23
Tags: , , , ,

By Rob L. Wagner

The Arab Weekly

30 October 2016

Jeddah – New visa fees intended to boost non-oil revenue and narrow Saudi Arabia’s near $100 billion budget deficit have gone into force and are likely to have a significant effect on pilgrims with the price of a haj visa rising five-fold.

An estimated 1.86 million pilgrims performed the 2016 haj, about 1.32 million of them foreigners, according to Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Statistics. The United Nations’ World Tourism Organisation said Saudi Arabia had 18 million international visitors in 2015.

Visitor numbers dropped by about 600,000 in 2015 from 2014 but did not have a significant effect on the nascent tourism industry centring on heritage sites in Mecca and Medina and tourist destinations such as Yanbu and Taif.

The price of a haj visa skyrocketed from $94 to $533. The hike sparked protests among South African Muslims. Moulana Ebrahim Bham, secretary-general of the Council of Muslim Theologians in South Africa, said a 10,000-signature petition was submitted to the Saudi Embassy and General Commission for Tourism and National Heritage seeking relief from the fees.

The price of a visa to perform umrah, a pilgrimage that may be performed at any time of the year, also rose sharply. Ahmed Bilal, an expatriate worker living in Taif, said the new fees will make it difficult to get his family to Saudi Arabia on umrah visas. “It makes it not easy to get the visa and it means I might have to take on some extra work,” he said, “but we will find a way.”

Short-term and transit visas issued by Saudi Arabia are close to what other countries charge. Short-term Saudi visa fees are slightly higher than Schengen visas issued by some EU countries. However, visitors incur greater expenses the longer they intend to stay in Saudi Arabia.

The visa fee hikes were implemented to boost income as Saudi Arabia struggles to wean itself from oil revenues and develop a sustainable economy. Measures taken include privatising 13 ministries, which will require public sector employees to reapply for jobs once the ministry goes private; taxing vacant land to encourage construction; slashing government employee bonuses and allowances; and raising fuel prices.

“The measures are intended to help raise much-needed non-oil revenues. Businesses will have to pay an extra cost for travel as per global fee structures. The fee comes from a relatively low base and remains competitive,” John Sfakianakis, director of economic research at the Gulf Research Center, told Saudi Arabia’s Arab News.

A Saudi economist in Jeddah said the increased fees would have little effect on the number of international visitors.

“Saudi Arabia is riding a big wave in interest from foreign Muslims who want to see the land of the two holy mosques,” he said. “Visa requirements are easier to meet and, although it may be more expensive now to get here, it’s every Muslim’s dream to come to Mecca and Medina.”

The new fees would have little effect on large companies doing business in Saudi Arabia, he said, adding: “Large corporations see this as the cost of doing business and can absorb the costs but small and medium-sized businesses that rely heavily on expat labour may pass those costs to the consumer or client.”

Next Page »

Blog at


Content-Type: application/http; msgtype=response

WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: text/html

WARC-Type: response

text:
San Francisco

San Francisco

Constant Contact
  • Join us for one of world’s largest coding events, hosted by NASA on 12-13 April 2014, and design an app that could end up in space!

    The Space Apps Challenge is a global student-organized event created by NASA, its supporting agencies and collaborating companies. The Challenge takes place at locations across the globe simultaneously, and the Constant Contact office in San Francisco is among the 84 host locations.

    The Challenge is a codeathon-style event, which will bring together people interested in collaborating on developing solutions to address some of NASA's real-life challenges, to improve life on Earth and in space. Challenges cover five areas – technology in space; human space flight; asteroids; Earth watch; and robotics - and data visualization and educational challenges will cut across all five themes. Find out more about the challenges involved at

    The challenge is an international collaboration between government agencies, organizations, academic institutions and individuals from across the globe. Participants will work together in teams to create these solutions over the two-day event. Over 9,000 people participated simultaneously in last year’s event from over 50 locations on the globe.

    San Francisco’s event is organized and run by former SpaceApps winners and with the support of Constant Contact.

    Participants are encouraged to form teams, whose members can be either physically co-located or collaborating remotely from other locations. Local winners will be nominated to compete at a global level, and winning global projects will go on show at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, with the winning teams receiving special attention from NASA to further develop their app.

    The NASA Space Apps Challenge will take place from 9.30am on Saturday, 12 April until 6.30pm on Sunday, 13 April. Before the event ends, teams will present their solutions to a panel of judges and their peers attending the event. The challenge is open to anyone interested in helping humankind explore space.

    Projects Nominated for Global Judging

    Best Use of Hardware

    Sat Alert

    Best Use of Data

    Halley's Hitchhikers

    People's choice

    Projects Receiving Local Awards

    1st Place - Sat Alert
    2nd Place - Halley's Hitchhikers

    Constant ContactMap it
    85 2nd St San Francisco
    Suite 100
    San Francisco, CA
    United States

    David Greenfield
    Email David
    Email AREZU
    Jason English
    Email Jason
    Patrick Canfield
    Email Patrick
  • The following projects were worked on at San Francisco:

    • Sat Alert

      Project Members from this location
      • Matthew Knudsen
      • Matt Higgins
      • Roman Zadov
      • Harry Whelchel
      • Quentin Devauchelle

      We used the Pebble Javascript SDK, satellite-js, SunCalc, and Visit Project

      Project Members from this location
      • Shruti Satrawada

      Our project can help astronauts do a multitude of tasks. We want to make a robot efficient enough to be faster and better than the astronaut at a particular task, independent of environmental issues. We can do this through different robots with different purposes, all controlled with Leap Moti... Visit Project

    • Halley's Hitchhikers

      Project Members from this location
      • Luis Rodriguez
      • Billy Goe
      • Billy Goe

      Our project hopes to excite and educate people of all ages by showing the actual data for detectable asteroids. As more data becomes available the objects, images, speeds and relative location will automatically populate. By allowing users to grab and rotate asteroids, we hope to increase inte... Visit Project

warcinfo:
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2018-47
publisher: Common Crawl
description: Wide crawl of the web for November 2018
operator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)
hostname: ip-10-232-159-122.ec2.internal
software: Apache Nutch 1.15 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)
robots: checked via crawler-commons 0.11-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)
format: WARC File Format 1.1
conformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/


text:
This subtle fusion of documentary and fiction follows a young Roma boxer as he embarks on a tragicomic return to the ring in order to pay for his girlfriend's abortion.

Contemporary World Cinema

Ivan Ostrochovský

Ivan Ostrochovský's first narrative feature was a standout at the Berlinale Forum, surprising the audience with its raw truthfulness and beauty. A subtle balance of documentary and fiction, Koza casts young Roma boxer Peter "Koza" Baláz as "himself," mixing details of Baláz's real life with invented situations to funny, touching, and sometimes revelatory effect.

Koza (Slovak for "goat"), an ex-flyweight Olympic boxer who now ekes out a bare living in a rundown public-housing project, finds himself cornered when his girlfriend Misa (Stanislava Bongilajová) announces that she is pregnant and needs money for an abortion. In the absence of any alternative sources of income, he decides to get back in the ring once again. Travelling with his boss Zvonko (Zvonko Lakcevic), who has now assumed the role of his manager, Koza embarks on a tragicomic tour through the frozen landscape of northeastern Europe, dragging himself from fight to pathetic fight. It's been years since Koza has had any training, he's not nearly as strong or agile as he once was, and the public is not exactly clamouring to see him in action again, but with his dogged persistence, the chance for success is but a few knockouts away.

Under Ostrochovský's measured yet sympathetic direction, Koza takes on the dimensions of a larger-than-life figure even as he remains humbly, often amusingly relatable. We can only sympathize with this dubious hero and wish him all the best for the match of his life — which, one hopes, is still to come.

Mon 14

Scotiabank 8

Wed 16

TIFF Bell Lightbox 4

Thu 17

TIFF Bell Lightbox 4

Fri 18

Jackman Hall


text:
Daily Devotional Kenneth Copeland March 6, 2018 – Victorious Praise

Gloria Copeland Devotional April 12

Daily Devotional Kenneth Copeland March 6, 2018

Topic: Victorious Praise Kenneth Copeland and  Gloria Copeland

When he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers to sing to the Lord and praise Him in their holy [priestly] garments as they went out before the army, saying, Give thanks to the Lord, for His mercy and lovingkindness endure forever!
2 Chronicles 20:21, The Amplified Bible

Daily Devotional Kenneth Copeland March 6, 2018

Praise precedes victory!

You can see a graphic example of that in 2 Chronicles 20. There, the Bible tells us that a multitude of forces was marching against Israel. The army of Israel was so outnumbered, they literally didn’t know what to do. So they fasted and prayed until they received a word from God. “Be not afraid or dismayed at this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s” (2 Chronicle 20:15, The Amplified Bible).

Do you know what they did in response to that word? They put together a praise choir! That’s right. They appointed singers and praisers and sent them out in front of the army! And when that choir began to sing, the Word tells us that “the Lord set ambushments against the men…who had come against Judah, and they were [self-]slaughtered” (verse 22).

When it was all over, not one Israelite had fallen—and not one of their enemies had escaped. What’s more, when they came to take the spoil, they found so many cattle, goods, garments and other precious things, it took them three whole days to haul it all home.

Get Free Devotional Updates by Mail:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Now, that’s victory! And it all began with praise.

Are you looking for that kind of victory today? Then stand up and shout, “Glory!” After all, you’re in the same situation those Israelites were in. You have an army marching against you, but Jesus has already defeated it. He won that battle for you on Resurrection morning.

All that’s left for you to do is trust Him and begin to praise. Sound out those praises today. Speak them, sing them, declare them in the face of your enemy. Once he hears them, he’ll know he doesn’t even stand a chance.

Recommended – OPEN HEAVEN 6 MARCH 2018

Scripture Reading:
2 Chronicles 20:1-22

Daily Devotional Kenneth Copeland March 6, 2018

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.


text:
Annual Vacation

Sisters and Brothers,

The Employer has announced to the 4848 Executive that the Annual Union Vacation allotment will be changing. They informed the Local that for the 2018-19 vacation year they would approve the requests at a ratio of 2/8thor ¼ per station per 24 hour period.

The Executive proposed some changes to help maximize the amount of people who will be approved. This is being drafted up in an MOU currently. The Employer and the Executive have agreed to extend the vacation bidding process till the end of the week due to the fact the MOU is late getting signed. As agreed, the vacation request sheets will be accepted up to Friday May 4, 2018.

Once the MOU is completed and signed, the details will be released.

We thank you for your understanding as we work to get this completed.


WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: application/xhtml+xml

text:
Danish, Swedish police arrest 5 terror suspects

December 29, 2010 7:11:58 AM PST
Denmark's intelligence service on Wednesday arrested four people suspected of planning an "imminent" terror attack against a newspaper that printed the controversial Prophet Muhammad cartoons.

Swedish police said they arrested a fifth suspect.

The Danish Security and Intelligence Service, known as PET, said three of the four men were residents of Sweden and had entered the country during the night of Tuesday to Wednesday. The fifth suspect was a 37-year-old Swedish citizen of Tunisian origin living in Stockholm.

Jakob Scharf, the head of PET, said the arrests in Denmark were made after close cooperation with Swedish police.

"An imminent terror attack has been foiled," Scharf said, describing some the suspects as "militant Islamists." He said that more arrests could not be ruled out.

Scharf said they considered the attack had been thwarted and that "there was no need to raise the terror threat alert level" in Denmark.

PET said the group had been planning to enter the building where the Jyllands-Posten daily has its Copenhagen newsdesk and had wanted "to kill as many of the people present as possible."

The other three suspects living in Sweden were a 44-year-old Tunisian citizen, a 29-year-old Lebanese-born man and a 30-year-old whose origin was not immediately known. The final suspect was a 26-year-old Iraqi asylum-seeker living in Copenhagen, PET said.

The four men face preliminary charges of attempting to carry out an act of terrorism. They will face a custody hearing Thursday.

The men were arrested in Greve, south of Copenhagen, and Herlev, west of the Danish capital. During the raids, police found an automatic weapon, a silencer and live ammunition, PET said.

Danish Justice Minister Lars Barfoed described the terror plans as "terrifying."

"The group's plans to kill as many as possible is very frightening and is probably the most serious terror attempt in Denmark," Barfoed said.

The head of Sweden's security police, Anders Danielsson, said that "it has been possible to avert a serious terror crime in Denmark through efficient and close cooperation between PET and the (Swedish) security police."

Danielsson said the suspects who are residents in Sweden are also being investigated for suspected terror crimes in that country.

There have been at least three attacks against the Danish newspaper or the artist who drew the most contentious of 12 cartoons, published by the daily in 2005 as a challenge to perceived self-censorship.

The drawings plunged Denmark into turmoil in early 2006 with massive and violent protests in Muslim countries where demonstrators said the drawings had profoundly insulted Islam.

Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry.

Associated Press Writer Louise Nordstrom contributed to this report from Stockholm.


text:
Terms And Conditions (Current As At 2016)

Welcome to the 7pandas.com.au web site ("Web Site"). This document contains the Terms and Conditions that govern your use of the Web Site. These Terms and Conditions describe your rights and responsibilities and what you can expect from Panda Commerce Group Pty Limited ABN 22 610 767 863 ("7pandas"). We are an Australian Company. Please take a few minutes to review these Terms and Conditions. Your use of the Web Site constitutes your agreement to abide and be bound by these Terms and Conditions. If you do not agree with any of these Terms and Conditions, please do not use the Web Site.

7pandas reserves the right to add to, delete or change these Terms and Conditions from time to time and without notice. By continuing to use the Web Site, you agree to be bound by the changes. We are not obliged to notify you of any changes but we will endeavour to alert you to any significant changes. Nevertheless, you should check our published agreement and policies from time to time to acquaint yourself with the current version.

Placing Orders Through The Website

You must be at least 18 years old to place any orders with 7pandas. By using the Web Site you acknowledge that you are at least 18 years old.

By purchasing any goods through the Web Site, you make an offer to us to purchase the goods you have selected based on these Terms and Conditions. Information contained on the Web Site constitutes an invitation to treat. No information on the Web Site constitutes an offer by us to sell any goods. 7pandas reserves the right to refuse service, terminate accounts, remove or edit content, or cancel orders in its sole discretion. If we are unable to process or accept your order after payment is received we will contact you by email or telephone.

We have done our best to display as accurately as possible the colours of the products shown on the Web Site. However, because the colours you see will depend on your monitor, we cannot guarantee that your monitor's display of any colour will be accurate.

Correction of Errors & Inaccuracies; Limitations on Quantity

Whilst 7pandas makes every reasonable effort to present accurate information on the Web Site, the information may contain typographical errors or inaccuracies and may not be complete or current. We therefore reserve the right to correct any errors, inaccuracies or omissions and to change or update information at any time without prior notice (including after you have submitted your order and/or made payment). Such errors, inaccuracies or omissions may relate to product description, pricing and availability. If, for example, the price or description of a product offered for sale on the Web Site is incorrect due to a technical or administrative error, any agreement arising from any acceptance of such offer will, in Australian Favor' discretion, be void. We also reserve the right to limit quantities (including after you have submitted your order and/or made payment). We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. If you are not fully satisfied with your purchase please see our returns policy below or details on how to obtain a refund.

Sales of Goods & Delivery

On your request, we will organise for the delivery of your order to your designated delivery address. Our delivery contractors are Australia Post and various couriers. We accept PO boxes.

Unfortunately, due to our contracts with the delivery companies, there are a small proportion of our products that we are unable to deliver to more remote destinations for the displayed delivery charges. In these instances once you have entered your address in the checkout process, we will let you know which products can’t be delivered to your address and we won’t proceed with processing of your order of that item. We will however arrange to give you a call if you request it, and will offer to arrange a bespoke delivery to your address. In some cases where your courier shipping charge is extraordinarily large, we reserve the right to contact you to discuss payment of extra shipping charges.

Our default delivery / shipping instruction is given as "Signatory Required" upon delivery, which means that if your address is not attended when your parcel is shipped to you, your item will be resent back to the courier's depot or an Australia Post office for collection depending on the carrier company used. All tracking, collection and re-delivery arrangements must be handled by you as the receiver. First re-deliveries are free, and any extra charges incurred such as for 2nd re-deliveries will not be bourne by 7pandas. Thus, you should ensure that your address provided is attended during working hours to avoid re-delivery arrangements. If you would like the item to be left under "Authority to leave" at a safe place at your home unattended, please note this in the comment box upon checkout and that will be arranged for you. For Authority to leave parcels, 7pandas will not be responsible for any lost parcels.

Our obligation for delivery ends as soon as the item is collected by our couriers. You will be given a tracking ID to track and manage your order thereafter. We are not responsible for correspondence between receiver and carrier companies after that, nor delays in deliveries caused by carrier companies. It will be your responsibility to track your parcel's arrival to you. Our Estimated Time of Delivery (ETA) are those provided by our courier companies and are not a guarantee of delivery times.

Certain of the products available for sale through the Web Site may not be located at 7pandas Australian warehouse. Certain products may be warehoused by the suppliers or manufacturers of those products, including in locations outside Australia.

Returning or Exchanging Items

  • You can return or exchange purchases from 7pandas by registered mail, regardless of whether you made your purchase online or by phone.
  • You must have a proof of purchase (shipping invoice, or member purchase history) for all returns and exchanges.
  • Contact our custom service to notify us your returns before you send merchandise back.
  • Used items must be cleaned for a return or exchange. If you send merchandise that is not cleaned or laundered to the 7pandas Returns Department, a cleaning fee of 30% or more of item value may be charged.
  • 7pandas items go out of stock quickly. As a result, we may not be able to make requested exchanges. If this is the case, we will refund your form of payment for the purchase amount.
  • All exchanges, returns & cancellations are subject to a 10% or A$12.00 admin & restocking fee, whichever is higher, unless we made an error on shipping
  • For more information on returns and exchanges, please proceed to the Returns & Exchanges page.

You agree to indemnify and hold 7pandas and its employees, representatives, agents, affiliates, directors, officers, managers and shareholders (the "Parties") harmless from any damage, loss, or expense (including without limitation, reasonable legal costs and expenses on a full indemnity basis) incurred by you or by the Parties arising from any claim, demand, suit, action or proceeding by any person against you or the Parties where such loss or liability arises out of, in connection with or in respect of your use of the Web Site, any breach by you of these Terms and Conditions and/or any goods purchased by you from 7pandas.

These Terms and Conditions are legally binding upon each party hereto and its successors and permitted assigns, and governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Victoria. Each party submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of Victoria. These Terms and Conditions will not be assignable or transferable by you without the prior written consent of 7pandas. These Terms and Conditions (including all of the policies and other agreements described in these Terms and Conditions, which are hereby incorporated herein by this reference) contain the entire understanding of the parties regarding their subject matter, and supersede all prior and contemporaneous agreements and understandings between the parties regarding their subject matter. No failure or delay by 7pandas in exercising any right, power or privilege under these Terms and Conditions will operate as a waiver thereof, nor will any single or partial exercise of any right, power or privilege preclude any other or further exercise thereof or the exercise of any other such right, power, or privilege. If any part of these Terms and Conditions is found to be void, unlawful or unenforceable then that part will be deemed to be severed from the balance of these Terms and Conditions and the severed part will not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.

Unless otherwise specified, all prices quoted and sales transactions are in Australian Dollars.

Statutory Conditions & Warranties

Statutory conditions and warranties apply. Nothing in these Terms and Conditions excludes the application of those statutory conditions and warranties. For more information about your rights as a consumer, see the ACCC website at www.accc.gov.au.

Shipping & Delivery Times

Delivery times are estimated through our experience with the courier companies, always take our estimated time indications with discretion (consider them as a rule of thumb rather than a guarantee). We do not take any responsibility for misreading delivery times or late deliveries because once the courier collects your parcel from us, we cannot control their delivery arrangements.


text:
Business broadband

ADSL (+,2)

Over 90% coverage throughout the UK, ADSL is a low-cost entry level method of extending remote working functionality & application access to SOHO (Small Office Home Office) locations.

No Service Level Agreements (No guarantee or lead time on issues) – Publicly Shared

FTTC (Fibre Broadband)

Services are delivered via fibre optic cable to the green street cabinets then this is converted into standard copper cable before being terminated on site. Enhanced speeds of upto 80Mbps can be obtained through this type of connection

EFM (Ethernet First Mile)

These business grade services are delivered via multiple twisted copper pairs to deliver uncontended speeds from 5Mbps through to 20Mbps. Enhanced business SLA’s are also available with this service.

Business Service Level Agreements (Fix within 6 hours) – Private Dedicated Circuit

Leased Line (Ethernet/Fibre)

With bandwidths that vary from 10Mbps through to 1Gbps, ethernet is now the preferred method of connectivity for delivering cloud based services to businesses globally. Business grade SLA’s are also provided with this solution

Get in touch

We work with and support some of the most respected businesses across Dumfries & Galloway. Get in touch, we’d love to understand more about yours and see how we can help.


text:
crushing equipment, mobile crusher price, jaw crusher price, stone crusher price, stone crusher mechanism, jual stone crusher, jaw crusher, crusher plant, crusher plant layout, crushing plant, portable crushing plant, spring cone crusher, cone crusher, crusher machine, crusher mobile, mobile crushers for sale, mobile crusher for sale, roll crusher , stone crusher machine, portable rock crusher for sale, mobile crushers for sale, impact crusher for sale, rock crusher, vertical shaft impact crusher,metso mobile crusher, ball milling equipment,

Choosing Your VSI Crushers (Vertical Shaft Impactor Crushers)

Crushing macine, ball mill. Mining Crushers, Jaw Crusher Plant, Grinding Machine, Mobile Jaw Crusher, Impact Crusher, Grinding Mill, Ball Mill, , crusher machine, coal boiler, stone crushing plant, rotary kiln, mixing plant, Boiler, tunnrling equipment, spray dryers equipment, pellet mill, feed machine, feed, grinder, hot mix plant, sliter machine, acc plant, coal boiler,Mining involves some stages in mineral processing. The first step of mineral processing is crushing. Crushing is performed by operating heavy duty machines that reduce large materials into smaller ones. The machines are called crushers. There are many types of crushers, one of which is VSI crushers (Vertical Shaft Impactorcrushers). VSI crusher is one kind of impact crushers, which use impact force in their works. It is suitable for medium to hard materials. It is claimed that crushing with VSI crushers has some benefits that make it simple and economical to use. But of course, not all VSI crushers out there are safe and reliable. To get the best VSI Crushers, you will need to consider some suppliers and choose one that will satisfy your need.

Thereare some considerations in choosing yourVSI Crushers suppliers. First consideration is product quality and price. How much does it cost? How durable is the product? How long is its economic life? How do the suppliers control their products quality? You should not choose a product only because it is the cheapest among the others. Cheapest products may cost you little at the beginning. However, if it is a low-quality product that does not last long, then you will have to incurmaintenance, repairs, and replacement costs in the near future. Remember that the key of mining business is efficiency. You will not want to hurt production of outputs just because you are lured by the cheap but unreliable machines. It does not mean that you should buy the most expensive ones, but finding a realistic price with acceptable quality is a must. Choose reputable suppliers with good customer reviews and ratings. You can get information about them by searching in internet or asking some people.

The next step in choosing the best VSI Crusherssuppliers is by paying attention to their customer service quality. This is important because you will use the product in long-terms. Do your suppliers conduct regular and timely maintenance service to their customers? Do they employ skillful technicians who work well in fixing their customers’ problem? How about the warranty terms? Do they provide quality spare parts for their machines? Do not choose supplierswith poor customer service. They will cost you time and money. You need a fast, responsible, and reliable supplier to help you operate effectively and efficiently.

In conclusion, mining, which employs many steps in its revenue generation activities, needs a lot of heavy equipment. One of the most commonly used equipment is crusher. Crusher is involved in crushing stage of mineral processing. Crusher has many types. VSI Crushersare generally used during the stage. VSI crusher is one type of impact crusher, which employs impact force in its operations. Generally speaking, VSI crushers are simple and economical. In choosing the best VSI crusher supplier, you need to consider price, product quality, as well as customer service provided by the supplier. It is important because bad product and poor customer service will hurt the effectiveness and efficiency of your operation.


text:
Indian government rejects cricket series with Pakistan

04 Dec, 2015 11:55 am

MUMBAI (92 News) – Cricket fans have to wait a while longer for India and Pakistan to resume their famed rivalry as the Indian government has on Friday signaled the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that it is not in favor of playing with the neighbor, even in a neutral venue like Sri Lanka.

In an interview with an Indian newspaper, a top BCCI official said that the government has given them an indication that public sentiment at the moment is against Pakistan. Also, there are only a few days left for the proposed series to start (in the latter half of December).

He said that if the government wanted them to play, they would have got clearance a long time ago. So, I don’t think this series is happening. The Indian government is also believed to have disapproved of the public statements made by some BCCI officials.

An external affairs ministry spokesperson, when asked about the request pending with the ministry, said, “We are yet to take a decision.” The BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur echoed this, saying the board had not received any official word from the government.

The BCCI had sought the government’s permission for a short ODI and T20 series against Pakistan in Sri Lanka sometime after December 15 — a week after its ongoing series against South Africa and before it travels to Australia in January.

The Lanka tie had seemed a certainty with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif giving it the nod on November 26.

It was to be played as part of an MoU agreement between the two boards to hold six bilateral series between 2015 and 2023. After several rounds of discussion and various venue possibilities, Sri Lanka had emerged the choice while there has also been talk of a Test series in England sometime next year.

Latest Videos


text:
Shia LaBeouf live streams his Elvis-themed Vegas wedding

11 Oct, 2016 11:55 am

LOS ANGELES – “Transformers” actor Shia LaBeouf, known for quirky stunts in the name of art, on Monday live streamed his wedding to actress Mia Goth in a ceremony officiated by an Elvis Presley impersonator.

The unconventional wedding was live streamed by celebrity website TMZ, which reported that it was performed at the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel, which hosts Elvis-themed weddings.

Representatives for both actors did not respond to Reuters for comment.

British actress Goth, 23, who met LaBeouf, 30, while they filmed Lars Von Trier’s 2013 film “Nymphomaniac,” wore a simple white dress with a veil. LaBeouf opted for a suit paired with sneakers.

An Elvis impersonator wearing a black rhinestone-studded jumpsuit and sunglasses officiated the short ceremony, quipping “This is a great trip to Vegas” as the pair exchanged rings and vows.

“Mia, Shia, do you both agree to be each other’s hound dogs? Not to wear your blue suede shoes in the rain, to always be each other’s teddy bear and to give each other a hunk, a hunk of burning love?,” the impersonator asked, using lyrics from some of Presley’s most famous songs.

The ceremony ended with the couple’s first kiss as newlyweds while Bruce Springsteen’s “Hungry Heart” played in the background.

LaBeouf, who rose to fame as a fast-talking child star in the Disney Channel comedy “Even Stevens” and became a franchise leading man with the “Transformers” films, has transitioned into more artistic fare, such as this year’s indie film “American Honey.” -Reuters

Latest Videos


text:
It’s been a few years since the San Bernardino debacle between law enforcement and Apple over the company refusing to create a back door to unlock an iPhone. After going back and forth on the case, the FBI eventually dropped the case entirely after it found a third-party company able to gain access to the device.

However, in 2017, a company by the name of ‘Grayshift’ created a device called ‘GrayKey’ that successfully unlocked iPhones without knowing the passcode.

Based in Atlanta, Georgia, the company employs less than 50 employees, and up until this point it was unknown whether ‘GrayKey’ was a service or product. However, MalwareBytes has been able to get their hands on some photos of the device, and notes that the “website is protected by a portal that screens for law enforcement affiliation.”

The site says GrayKey is a device used in-house at local law enforcement labs and offices, vastly different than Cellebrite, the company behind the unlocking of the iPhone 5c in the San Bernardino case.

The report notes that while this is good for law enforcement, it imposes a risk and should be a concern for the public.

The device itself, which is a box that is four inches wide by four inches deep by two inches tall, with two lightning cables sticking out of the front. You’re able to plug in two iPhones at the same time to the box, however, it will only unlock one iPhone at a time.

After two minutes, the device is unplugged but not yet cracked. It can take anywhere between 2 hours and 3 days depending on the length and complexity of the passcode. The iPhone will display a black screen with the passcode on it.

The exact length of time varies, taking about two hours in the observations of our source. It can take up to three days or longer for six-digit passcodes, according to Grayshift documents, and the time needed for longer passphrases is not mentioned. Even disabled phones can be unlocked.

After the device is fully unlocked, the contents of the backup as well as the full filesystem can be downloaded onto the GrayKey device. And as seen from the picture above, it works with the latest hardware (iPhone X), and the latest software (11.2.5 at the time the photo was taken).

But getting your hands on the device will be pricy, let alone being required to be law enforcement to even know about it. It comes in two options: $15,000 and $30,000, with the former will requiring an internet connection and will geofence to that location, meaning it will not work outside of the original network.

The $30,000 option will not require an internet connection and will allow unlimited attempts on unlimited devices, presumably until the security hole is patched.

The offline model does require token-based two-factor authentication as a replacement for geofencing for ensuring security. However, as people often write passwords on stickies and put them on their monitors, it’s probably too much to hope that the token will be kept in a separate location when the GrayKey is not being used. Most likely, it will be stored nearby for easy access.

Fortunately, boxes like these are short lived. Previously, there was a box known as IP-Box that worked up until iOS 8.2, which forced the creators to build IP-Box 2. The device unfortunately got out of the hands of law enforcement, and is still available to purchase on Amazon today for those who are interested.

Gray Key is presumably a software exploit, and as soon as Apple figures out the loophole, the company will certainly push out a software update to fix it, thus rendering the device completely useless.

It’ll be interesting to see how long the device can be used, and if law enforcement is able to keep the device under wraps. Such a device getting into the wrong hands could create chaos.

Subscribe to 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:

About the Author


text:
Hisgadget (100% positive in the last 12 months from 38,685 ratings) via Amazon is offering the OxyLED Aluminum Stick Anywhere Motion Sensor LED Wall Sconce Light for $9.99 using code UF2W93EJ at checkout. It ships free for Prime members or in orders over $49. That’s nearly 50% below the original listing, $5 below the going rate, matching the lowest we have tracked and the best we can find. It is the number one best selling light of its kind on Amazon and has a 4+ star rating from 700 customers. It has a brushed steel finish, runs on 4 AA batteries and can be mounted right out of the box. This model ships with a “12-month replacement warranty and lifetime support guarantee.”

DEWALT 18V Ni-Cad 1:2%22 Cordless Compact Hammer Drill]

The official Factory Authorized Outlet eBay store offers the manufacturer refurbished DEWALT 18V Ni-Cad 1/2″ Cordless Compact Hammer Drill/Driver for $84.99 shipped. That’s about $115 under the orignal listing, $82 under Amazon’s new price and the lowest total we can find. This hammer drill/driver includes 2 batteries and a charger and features a lightweight design (4.9 pounds), 1/2-inch single-sleeve ratcheting chuck and has a 4.5/5 star rating from over 130 amazon customers. You’ll find more discounted DEWALT tools in our list below.

Today only, as a part of its Gold Box Deals of the Day, Woot via Amazon offers the Cuisinart 180SA Indoor/Outdoor Electric Griddler for $89.99 shipped (Reg. $120+). Features include adjustable temperatures up to 400-degrees, dishwasher safe parts, non-stick cooking surface and a stand. Reviews are somewhat light on this model but Cuisinart products are generally very well-rated.

Today’s Top Home Deals:

Head below for more: expand full story


text:
POINT I/O Modules

Our Bulletin 1734 POINT I/O™ modules offer digital, analog, and specialty I/O, as well as POINT Guard safety-rated I/O, with one to eight points per module. You can mix standard and safety I/O in the same system. Comprehensive diagnostics and configurable features make POINT I/O easy to apply.

Bulletin 1734 POINT I/O Modules
  • Overview
  • Product Selection
  • Specifications
  • Documentation
  • Resources

  • Modular design lets you independently select the I/O, termination style, and network interface
  • Modules slide together for easy install and uninstall for easier maintenance
  • Removable wiring system saves time and money during installation and troubleshooting
  • Comprehensive diagnostics and configurable features makes POINT I/O™ easy to apply
  • Removal and Insertion Under Power (RIUP) lets you replace modules while the system is in operation
  • Mount horizontally or vertically, with no de-rating required
  • Auto Device Replacement (ADR) reduces downtime
  • Add-on-Profiles in the Studio 5000 Logix Designer® application provide smooth integration into Integrated Architecture systems
  • Available with conformal coating

1734 POINT I/O Digital Modules

  • Input, output, and relay output modules
  • Wide variety of voltages
  • Point-level output fault states for short-circuit and wire-off diagnostics
  • Field-side diagnostics on select modules
  • Choice of direct-connect or rack-optimized communications
  • POINT Guard I/O™ modules for safety applications
  • Configurable modules
    • Each point can be configured as a DC input or output
    • Available with DeviceLogix™ technology

1734 POINT I/O Analog Modules

  • Up to eight single-ended inputs or outputs per module
  • Thermocouple and RTD modules available
  • Individually configurable channels
  • On-board scaling
  • Selectable input filters
  • Over- and under-range detection

1734 POINT I/O Specialty Modules

  • Counter and encoder modules
  • Synchronous Serial Interface Absolute Encoder module
  • Serial interface modules (RS-232, RS-485/RS-422)
  • Address Reserve (ARM) module
  • Supports connection to IO-Link enabled devices with the IO-Link master module

Additional Information

  • Our DeviceLogix Smart Component Technology integrates logic-solving capability into I/O, motor starters, push buttons, and other control components, delivering higher-performance and lower-cost distributed control.
  • Protect your people, productivity and environment with our integrated Safety Solutions. We understand your factory floor challenges and can help you meet your goals, using one of the broadest safety portfolios in the industry.
  • Our Integrated Architecture Solutions provide the foundation to drive plantwide optimization efficiently and effectively, enabling you to respond competitively to the economy and changes in consumer demand.
  • Our PartnerNetwork™ offers complementary product solutions for 1734 Point I/O modules and 1734 POINT I/O Add On Profiles through the Encompass Product Reference program. You can sort and filter products from best-in-industry suppliers in your region to connect to the Rockwell Automation® architecture, or to use with our products.
  • Sensors on IO-Link Can Enable the Connected Enterprise — Find out how smart sensors with IO-Link can enable smart machines for The Connected Enterprise.
  • IO-Link Technology allows sensors connected to an IO-Link master module to provide detailed diagnostics and machine health status to improve uptime and increase productivity.

To view commonly ordered and quickly available products, use the Product Configuration Assistant for our complete product offerings.

1734 POINT I/O Selection Guide1734-SG001

  • CE
  • C-Tick
  • ODVA
  • ATEX
  • KCC

For TÜV and SIL certification details, see the Safety Certificates and SIL link.

Product Certifications

Certifications apply when product is marked. See our Product Certification site for Declarations of Conformity, certificates and other certification details.

POINT I/O Product Profile1734-PP001
POINT I/O Selection Guide1734-SG001
EtherNet/IP Embedded Switch Technology Application GuideENET-AP005
POINT I/O Installation Instructions1734-IN510
POINT I/O ASCII Modules User Manual1734-UM009
POINT I/O Digital, Analog, and POINTBlock I/O Modules User Manual1734-UM001
POINT I/O Encoder/Counter Modules User Manual1734-UM006
POINT I/O and ArmorPOINT I/O DeviceLogix User Manual1734-UM015
POINT I/O Synchronous Serial Interface Absolute Encoder Module User Manual1734-UM007
Thermocouple and RTD Input Module User Manual1734-UM004
High Speed Counter Module User Manual1734-UM003
More 1734 POINT I/O publications in Literature LibraryAll Languages

Can’t Find What You Need?

Browse Literature Library where you can search for additional technical and commercial publications in more languages.

Product Certifications

Certifications apply when product is marked. See our Product Certification site for Declarations of Conformity, certificates and other certification details.

Configuration & Selection Tools

Other Resources

  • Electronic Data Sheets — Find DeviceNet™, ControlNet™, EtherNet/IP™, and network-independent EDS files.
  • General Station Descriptions — Find PROFIBUS GSD files.
  • Knowledgebase — Visit our online resource for technical information, support chat and forums, software updates, and product safety advisories/notices.