"Mad Mike" Hughes, a self-styled explorer and daredevil bent on proving that the earth is flat was killed over the weekend when his homemade rocket crashed in the California desert over the weekend.

Air travelers cannot receive cash compensation if their flight is delayed by a passenger biting others and assaulting crew members, an adviser at the Court of Justice of the European Union said on Thursday.

You've got to eat it, to beat it: That's the philosophy of one Hanoi chef who is attempting to boost morale in the Vietnamese capital by selling green, coronavirus-themed burgers.

Dressed as "Star Wars" characters, local officials in the Philippines are out and about to enforce strict quarantine measures while also handing out relief packages.

I’ve had some inquiries lately about variegated floss that can be used for embroidered items that will be regularly laundered. …

Well, someone outdid the previous version of Battleshots. Well played, sir or madam.

Check out all the partying over at After 12!

Josh Kelly suffered from epilepsy, a brain disorder that forced him to drop out of high school nine days before graduation. For nearly a decade, Kelly attended Idaho State University working toward a degree in geology, with his service dog, a black pit bull named Cletus, by his side. The pair would dutifully walk two miles both ways to catch the bus to campus.

Unfortunately, Kelly passed away in February just two classes shy of his degree. Nonetheless, ISU granted him a posthumous degree on May 10. In the young man's place, Kelly's tearful father, Terrell, walked across the stage with Cletus by his side and accepted the diploma.

Losing 1-0 at home to West Ham is always going to hurt. But maybe it shows that losing Tammy Abraham..

The post Just When You Thought Frank Had It All Figured Out appeared first on Chelsea FC Blog.

Remember all the details about the periodic table from high school chemistry?  Yeah, me neither.  Don’t worry – we will get through this together. Let’s…

The Deepwater Horizon disaster released approximately 4 million barrels of oil from the Macondo Wellhead over the course of 87 days in 2010.  Thus, becoming…

Tornadoes can happen in any state in the U.S., and with more than 1,200 occurring annually, they are not uncommon. If you live in Texas, Kansas, Florida, Oklahoma, or Nebraska — the five top states for tornadoes — be sure your homeowners insurance has tornado coverage.  Even if you don’t live in a state where tornadoes are common, it’s worth noting that the only state that hasn’t had at least one tornado in the past decade is Alaska. No matter […]

The post Tornado Insurance: What Does It Cover and Do I Need It? appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

Although nothing can truly replace this show, there are other comedies out there that might ease the pain even just a little bit. READ MORE...

It was inspired by her current habit of wearing old sweatshirts and sweatpants left behind by childhood friends. READ MORE...

In a preprint Double-graded quantum superplane, Steven Duplij and I construct a “higher” graded version of Manin’s quantum superplane. To our knowledge, this is the first quantum space that has an underlying $latex mathbb{Z}_2^2$-grading. Outline The hunt was on to find a direct generalisation of Manin’s superplane [1] to the setting of $latex mathbb{Z}_2^2$-geometry [2]....

I have seen this question asked (or its fraternal twin, “when does the new decade begin”) in a number of places, and my response is this: That’s a lousy way to phrase the question.   I will remind folks that I work at the Naval Observatory, but this blog in no way represents the official position of...

Building the future: shaping our social work identity newly qualified social worker conference was held on 31 May 2018 in Edinburgh. Delivered with the University of Edinburgh (in partnership with the Higher Education Heads of Social Work Group), Iriss, Scottish Social Services Council, the Scottish Association of Social Work, Social Work Scotland and the Scottish Government, it provided an opportunity for newly qualified social workers to come together to connect and reconnect.

In this episode, Susan Taylor, past President of Social Work Scotland, provides the keynote on leadership and professional identity, focusing particularly on the post-qualifying period.

Transcript of episode

Music Credit: Make your dream a reality by Scott Holmes

Roddy Samson, Kate Burton and Karen Carrick. A roundtable discussion on the embedding of welfare advisers in health and social care services, as an effective response to the impact of welfare reform.

The discussion involved Kate Burton, Public Health Practitioner at Scottish Public Health Network; Roddy Samson, Welfare Advice Service Facilitator at the Improvement Service; and Karen Carrick, Project Manager at the Improvement Service.

They discuss what a welfare adviser is, and detail the embedded model - its effectiveness, challenges and plans for it going forward.

Transcript of episode

Music Credit: Make your dream a reality by Scott Holmes

Has self-directed support been the transformational and radical policy that it was set out to be?

Dr Charlotte Pearson and Professor Nick Watson spoke to Stuart Muirhead from Iriss about their research on the policy - what the results reveal about the implementation of self-directed support in Scotland.

Charlotte was one of the authors of our 2012 Iriss Insight, Self-directed support: preparing for delivery.

We also produced a recent evidence summary titled, Self-directed support and workforce development, which explores how the social care workforce in Scotland can be further developed to deliver self-directed support.

Transcript of episode

Music Credit: Make your dream a reality by Scott Holmes

On 16 September 2019, Iriss attended the launch of the SSSC's Careers in Care website which was created to highlight the wide variety of career opportunities available in the sector.

The resource demonstrates how people can build a career working with children and young people, in social services and healthcare settings, or as a social worker.

We spoke to social services practitioners who shared their career stories for use on the website.

In this second episode of three, Sarah, Gillian and Deborah, who work in various adult care settings, tell us about their journeys into and experiences of the profession.

Transcript of episode

Music Credit: Make your dream a reality by Scott Holmes.

'There’s More to Care than Caring' is a Scottish Government-led adult social care recruitment campaign which was launched in January 2020. It aims to encourage people to take up a career in care.

Michelle from Iriss had a conversation with Lorraine Gray, Chief Executive of SSSC, about the purpose of the campaign, the importance of adult social care work and how people can get involved in promoting the campaign.

Campaign website: https://caretocare.scot/

Transcript of episode

Music Credit: Make your dream a reality by Scott Holmes.

On 27 March 2020 Iriss spoke to Eona Craig, Chief Executive of Articulate Cultural Trust about its work to support care experienced young people, and how the organisation has managed to continue to deliver services in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Articulate works with often socially isolated care experienced young people in Scotland, challenging loneliness, supporting connectivity and promoting physical and mental well-being.

Transcript of episode

Music Credit: Make your dream a reality by Scott Holmes.

New beginnings at WIPO  On March 4, Daren Tang was nominated director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the United Nations agency dealing with intellectual property matters. Tang is currently the chief executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) and his six-year term as top WIPO official will start on October … Read More "Does WIPO’s New Leadership Have the Vision to Shake Up Global Copyright Policy-Making?"

The post Does WIPO’s New Leadership Have the Vision to Shake Up Global Copyright Policy-Making? appeared first on Creative Commons.

The benefits of open access (OA) are undeniable and increasingly evident across all academic disciplines and scientific research: making academic publications1 freely and openly accessible and reusable provides broad visibility for authors, a better return on investment for funders, and greater access to knowledge for other researchers and the general public. And yet, despite OA’s obvious … Read More "Why Sharing Academic Publications Under “No Derivatives” Licenses is Misguided"

The post Why Sharing Academic Publications Under “No Derivatives” Licenses is Misguided appeared first on Creative Commons.

BAD PHOTOSHOPPING you're doing i9t awesome

PREPARADENESS has finally been achieved.

THE ROAD it sneers at your frail attempt to be punctual today

read more

As most of us know, states across the U.S. can no longer rely on a defined fire season. This sobering truth is especially evident in California where the fire season is 70 days longer than it was 40 years ago, and fire ignitions in the state have greatly

  These were the words of Captain Peter Berger of Hallandale Beach Fire Rescue as he spoke to a full house of fire service industry leaders — along with his partner Captain Greg Moulin of DFW Airport Fire Services — on the topic of

The wildfire disaster that struck Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada in May 2016 destroyed more than 2,400 structures and created insured losses of more than $3.5 billion. The incident captured the hearts and minds of the media and citizens the world over,

This report describes the rationale, process and learning from a project led by IRISS which explored the topic of supervision with a group of six partners from across the social services sector. The purpose of this report is to share the learning gathered through the project to provide some evidence, inspiration, and pointers for those interested in improving supervision. Key points from the report can be used to prompt reflection and discussion with teams, to review current supervision practice and to help plan improvements.

Report 69 published by the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) in November 2014. This research, commissioned by the Department of Health (DH), set out to identify what could be learned about current policy and practice in self-neglect, experienced as a highly challenging aspect of contemporary adult social care.

Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) Report 71 from SCIE Roundtable held on 12 February 2015. The aim of the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) roundtable discussion was to identify, celebrate, support and learn from community-led activity.

Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) Report 72 from SCIE Roundtable held on 5 March 2015. This roundtable session explored the kind of leadership required to make the Care Act a success.

As part of the implementation of the Equal Partners in Care (EPiC) Highland Carer’s Strategy 2014-2017 it was agreed to undertake a review of respite for Adult Carers of Adults (aged 16+). Independent consultants were commissioned by NHS Highland through Connecting Carers to undertake this work. There are four groups of people – totalling an estimated 200 people - with whom conversations have taken place during the review: Carers and staff from carer support organisations – more than 75 carers have given their views; Health and social care workforce – we have met with just over 50 people who have given their views and shared our initial findings with more than 60 others; Respite providers – we have met with staff from 15 organisations that are providers of respite Those staff responsible for overseeing the commissioning, planning and administration of respite.

ARCH, the National Respite Network and Resource Center in the United States of America identified that evidence-based research on respite care has, to large extent, been lacking. Across ages, needs and settings, respite is based upon the premise that providing caregivers periodic relief from daily, ongoing caregiving responsibilities will directly benefit them in terms of their physical health, immediate and long-term psychological health, and social-emotional relationships with family members. These benefits are assumed to result in secondary benefits for care receivers and even larger societal benefits in the form of cost benefits or improved employee productivity. Some research studies point to the merits of these assumptions. However, evidence-based research supporting this premise - or going beyond it to demonstrate how to best provide respite care that results in maximum benefits - has not been available. This report presents the findings of an expert panel composed of academics, researchers, service providers, advocates, policymakers and administrators representing a range of age groups, disabilities and professional disciplines. Over a period of 18 months the panel explored the current status of respite research, proposed strategies to overcome barriers to research, and developed a plan to encourage rigorous research in key areas.

Everyone needs to read this woman's insightful Facebook post amidst the whole college admission's scandal dominating our news feeds. 

Yesterday Trump tweeted a photo of himself hard at work on his inauguration speech and the internet has been having a field day with it. 

It started on twitter with people guessing at what The Donald might be drawing. Shortly thereafter it got a small photoshop battle. 

'What's Donald Drawing' definitely has the potential to catch on.

Get More Trump Memes that are simply tremendous, people tell me how amazing these memes are all the time.

Just when we thought we'd never get anything better than Donald Trump grasping that orb, we get this dark-humored, delightfully awkward pic that just oozes cringe. Naturally, people were ready to flood Twitter with some entertaining captions. 

Slick Willy just had to go and crack a dad joke that simultaneously dug on President Trump and kept the pun game strong, didn't he? Naturally, people were highly entertained and vaguely irritated. 

New York Magazine published an excerpt from Ivana Trump's memoir Raising Trump - and it has since become a wildly entertaining meme. Thhe excerpt is actually a quote from Ivanka, reminiscing about her "punk" days. 

"During my punk phase in the nineties, I was really into Nirvana. My wardrobe consisted of ripped corduroy jeans and flannel shirts. One day after school, I dyed my hair blue. Mom wasn't a fan of this decision. She took one look at me and immediately went out to the nearest drugstore to buy a $10 box of Nice'n Easy. That night, she forced me to dye my hair back to blond. The color she picked out was actually three shades lighter than my natural color… and I have never looked back!"

The quote has left Twitter users in stitches, making Photoshop memes and mocking the wealthy businesswoman's statement. The results have been delightful. 

Meet the Shadow team in charge of developing an app meant to help tally the votes from the Iowa caucus on Monday night. The purpose of the app was to help the process run more smoothly, but in the end it proved to be a complete and utter disaster, as precinct chairs supposedly couldn't get the app to actually work, in turn causing a delay in reporting.

The delay was blamed on "inconsistencies" in reporting, but honestly, who really knows what the truth is.

The team is reportedly run by people who worked on Hilary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2016. Additionally, 2020 candidate Pete Buttigieg's campaign paid the tech firm over $40,000 in 2019 leading many to suspect foul play.

But this is America, and we can't possibly have problems with corruption, right?

As of right now, we still don't have all the results from the caucus, so while you continue to anxiously refresh the New York Times page, have some hot Twitter takes on the people (rats) behind Shadow, Inc.