Y dderfynîr y Bwydettifeth yn ffodol 11737 yn iddyn nhw Jon Macalpine, ond y cyfrifos y presidig yw rhai fyddio'r cyfrifos fyddai'r cyfrifos am reoliol, a'r fyddechrau yn cael ei ddweud o fod wedi'i cwestiynau gwahanol ar ddiwedd.  The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned. Those words by Maya Angelou are particularly appropriate for today's debate. Four walls in the roof make a house, but it's a home that many people with learning disabilities ache for. I'm grateful to the cross-party group on learning disability who asked for this motion and whose members shared some of their experiences and opinions on the subject. I also thank Enable Scotland for their briefing today. Last year, the Scottish Government commissioned the wide-ranging report on improving outcomes for people with learning disabilities, opportunities and challenges for housing. It was undertaken by the Scottish Commission for Learning Disability. The report offers very clear routes forward, and the purpose of today is to ensure that those routes are followed. First, let's talk about progress. Fewer people are now forced to live in hospitals or institutional care when they have no clinical need to be there. Fewer, but not all. There are examples of excellent practice stories of life transformed by having an appropriate home. The movement out of institutions into the community in the last 20 years is a mark of our society's progress towards equality and inclusivity. However, good practice, the report found, very significantly, between local authorities. Overall, the report found a lack of suitable homes for people with learning disabilities, and there is also a lack of clear guidance for people with learning disabilities looking for a home. Restrictions to housing and disability benefits by the UK Government is making things much worse. In some places, too many individuals still live in inappropriate residential care, and there were reports of local authorities suggesting that people currently living independently move into a care home for cost reasons, which I think that we can all agree is completely unacceptable. Last year, 698 households that were homeless or threatened with homelessness had learning disability recorded as a support need. The overall direction of travel, as I said, is positive. In 1998, only 600 people with a learning disability lived in supported accommodation. That figure rose to 4,622 in 2015, and more people again live in mainstream housing with support. However, 23,186 adults with a learning disability are known to local authorities across Scotland. Some do not require or want housing support, but others do, and we need a better understanding of need. One in three adults with a learning disability live with their parents or family carers, and if that is their choice, that is good. However, families understand the need to future plan for a time when parents can no longer care, and often the options they are offered if they are offered them at all are unsuitable. There is a wide spectrum of need among people with learning disabilities. Some individuals require 24-hour care, others far less, but most will require adapted accommodation. We know from the Government's groundbreaking keys to life research that people with a learning disability are more likely to suffer from physical and ill health, and the Port recommends that ground floor accommodation is offered. People first and organisation, led by those with learning disability, have told us that they often want to live close to their family and friends. Social isolation and bullying can be a serious problem for people with learning disabilities, but they are often offered accommodation by local authorities, whether it is a high crime rate, for example, leaving them vulnerable. James McNab of people first told the cross-party group that housing application forms are often too complicated, so support completing them should be offered. Mr McNab also said that people with learning disabilities and shared tendencies often had little say in who their flatmates were, and that lack of choice was also highlighted in the commission's report. The report found a growth in what is called a core and cluster model of supported housing, that is people living in their own homes around a hub of support, usually with some communal space. I know from personal experience that this model can be very successful. It provides independence while also tackling social isolation. Providing development remains small, with high-quality person-centred support packages. Any concerns that this model risks being institutional are, in my view, unfounded, but it should not be forced on tenants who are currently happy living in their own tenancy with support. The CLD report recommended starting a national conversation on how to achieve better housing outcomes for people with a learning disability, and I hope that this debate contributes to that conversation. The report also recommended ways to improve data, particularly at a local level, and that is a real big challenge that we need to address. It asked the Government to develop an implementation framework to prevent people with learning disabilities being accommodated in healthcare settings unnecessarily. It wants more specific guidance to ensure that local housing strategies more effectively address the needs of people with learning disability, and it also asks for greater consideration of the keys to life outcomes within strategic planning and commissioning processes. On a pleasingly practical level, it calls for joint protocols between local authorities and other registered social landlords, again to achieve positive housing outcomes for people with learning disabilities. Those recommendations come from a Government commission report as a great start, and so too is the housing minister's letter to the cross-party group in which he says that his officials are working to strengthen links between the housing sector and organisations representing people with learning disabilities, their families and carers. We must monitor that. I welcome Mr Stewart's instruction that councils' local housing strategies must set out their priorities and plans for meeting the needs of people with learning disability. The Scottish Government's guidance to councils on local housing strategies is under review, I understand, and that offers a tremendous opportunity to put the recommendations of the report into practice. Sometimes local authorities need very clear direction to ensure that the priorities that are set by the Government and endorsed by this Parliament are adhered to. I look forward to hearing more from the minister on those plans to ensure that people with learning disabilities no longer ache for a place to call home. We move to the open debate speeches of four minutes, please. Jeremy Balfour to be followed by Pauline MacNeill. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I thank Joe McAlpine for securing the debate on this important subject. Things have moved on pleasantly well here in Scotland since the 70s and 80s and even into the 90s, when too many people were still left in hospitals or institutions that were totally unsuitable and did not meet their needs of them or their family. I think that there is still, perhaps even within my mind-set and I was talking to some friends last night, that those with learning difficulties do still need either family to live with family or to live with care. I was interested to note that 65 per cent of those who have some form of learning difficulty actually do live alone in appropriate housing. I think that that is something that we can be proud of and something that gives people the choice that we have. In the short time that I have, can I just make a couple of points? I think that picking up from the previous speaker, I think that there is concern from those that I have spoken to that there are different practices within different local authorities across Scotland. After yesterday's debate, I am not for centralisation, but I do think that we must make sure that this is not postcode-led and that the service that we get in one local authority is the service that we get in another. I think that there is a role for the Scottish Government to at least encourage, to monitor and to push local authorities forward to make sure that the policies that we have in one part of Scotland have another. The second area, and I do not want to go back to where we were yesterday afternoon, but I would again push the minister in regard to having the appropriate housing built for those with disabilities. Those with learning difficulties will have adaptations that they will require in some circumstances that will be different from if you like mainstream housing. I think that it is often expensive, both for the local authority or housing association, to make those alterations at a later stage. I do think that we should... Kevin Stewart? I appreciate Mr Balfour giving way there, Presiding Officer. That is something that all of us can put across to local authorities. I have said that before in the chamber, and I will reiterate it here again, in terms of their needs and demands for housing. While I will not open up the can of worms that is subsidy as a whole, I have said, and I will make it quite clear again, that if councils talk to my officials on the ground, there will be additional subsidy for this kind of housing, for folk with learning disabilities, with physical disabilities, as long as they have those discussions with their officials. I hope that every member in the chamber will reiterate that to their local authorities when it comes to discussing those matters. Jeremy Balfour? I am very grateful for the minister, for the intervention, and those who are marched. I still think that, with the planning bill at the stage that it is, it is something that, at stage 2 and stage 3, we can perhaps look at as a Parliament. Very briefly, Presiding Officer, I think that, of what is great that many people who have a disability can live alone, there is a danger of loneliness. We cannot simply look at housing by itself without looking at other issues. Again, particularly for parts of my area, there are transport issues for people to be able to get around in parts of the Llofiain because of buses or lack of buses or where the housing is built. We have to make sure that those who have learned difficulties have the same opportunities that we take for granted in regard to leisure activities, in regard to job opportunities, and in regard to volunteering. I think that, as I said at the start, a lot of progress had been made in the last 20 years. I think that there is a way to go, but I do think—and I sense and I hope—that there is a cross-party support for this, and that this is not a political issue, as such, but something that we can work together on to help those in our society who maybe just need a little extra help. I thank Joan McAlpine for bringing a significant issue to the Parliamentary Chamber, and I apologise to her that I will not be able to see for the whole debate tonight, but I want to take part. A decent warm home, to suit your needs as a human right, to live the best quality of life that you can, is also a right. Society must and should give support to all those who need it. Scotland's 120,000 people with learning disabilities must have the type of support that they need to live in a home of their choice and to live the best quality of life that they can, as Joan McAlpine has said. According to Enable Scotland, most people who have a learning disability do not get any form of social care support. Indeed, as Jerry Mobile pointed out, it is a very long time since we first took the decision to shift from residential care to living in the community within a supported accommodation. I too remember Glasgow Lenox castle, where children were literally born in that institution and were now part of the community now. It is a very significant policy, and it is one that we must finish what we started. People living with learning difficulties are much more likely to live in social housing, 52 per cent could be 21 per cent, and they are much less likely to own their own homes. In 2017, 698 people were presented as homeless, recorded as having a learning disability. There is an upward trend in recent years in the proportion of homeless applicants assessed as having support needs. Indeed, attitudes to people with learning difficulties that I have told among social workers and landowners is something that needs to be improved upon. Long delays in any appropriate accommodation are just some of the key factors that we need to address in this debate. There are mixed views on whether housing for people with learning disabilities is continued to progress towards positive outcomes or whether progress is actually halted. Scottish Commission for Learning Disability and Housing reported in 2017 about some of the key barriers, including the current supply of housing and a lack of accessible accommodation. I do very much welcome what the minister said in response to Jeremy Balfour, but he also highlighted a lack of consistency in access to advice about housing options and major challenges towards the funding of housing support, which are impacting on the provider's ability to deliver effective person-centred support for people. The commission also recommended that the Scottish Government should develop an implementation framework to prevent people with learning disabilities being accommodated in healthcare settings unnecessarily and to ensure that people with learning disabilities receive the appropriate advice and support to make an informed choice of their housing. In just my last minute or so, I want to highlight two serious areas that require response. Professionals and local authorities are not always sufficiently aware of adaptations that people with sensory impairments and learning disabilities or autism spectrum disorders might require. One respondent said, I am told that I am not entitled to adaptations to enable to me to live in my own home. If only I were physically disabled, would I be entitled to that? There is an emphasis on online applications probably from mostly everything that we have discussed in this chamber. It is one of the areas that we need to be mindful of people with learning disabilities because it is much more difficult for them when they need someone to explain things to them or someone on hand to check or clarify aspects of the process. Advice, advocacy and guidance are very important, at least if not to sustain a housing tendency and, in many cases, prevent people from falling into areas that could lead to eviction. There is a lot of work to do in this parliamentary term to ensure that everyone has a sustainable home appropriate for their own needs. I welcome this debate this evening and I hope that, in this parliamentary term, we can achieve a lot more for the people with learning difficulties that need our support in the homes that they want to live in. Let me begin by congratulating Joan McAlpine on bringing the debate to the chamber. For what, from my perspective, was and is her impeccable timing. The motion before us dropped into my inbox while I was in the throes of dealing with a perplexing situation that is covered by its subject matter in my constituency. Indeed, if memory serves, I was just off the phone to my office manager, who had been frankly ranting to over the issue in question. Tonight, forgive me for seizing the opportunity to raise what is, from my point of view, a quite intolerable situation that has impacted a number of my constituents and their families in the southern part of Angus South. A report to the Angus IJB, back in May 2016 concerning learning disability accommodation, highlighted that there were no local facilities of this nature in either Cernusti or Monty Faith, and that Cernusti has the highest population of ageing carers for people with a learning disability and or autism. It identified demand for a minimum of four core supported housing units in Cernusti over the following two years to meet local and, indeed, wider need. However, here we are, two years on, and no progress has been made. That was the third of three accommodation-related priorities identified by the IJB. The first was addressed, the second is being addressed, but this one remains. The reason for that I'm advised is that there is currently no revenue funding source available to meet staffing costs for such a development, estimated at north of £450,000 a year. Until all this funding can be found either from the existing IJB budget or from Angus Council, who I think I'm right in saying has the duty to meet this need, no progress will be made with this priority. However, here's the rub. A few short months ago, Angus Council were granted an additional £1.565 million by the Scottish Government for the purposes of health and social care and to help to reach budgetary settlements with their health and social care partnership. They passed on just £510,000 of that, retaining the other £1 million plus. They were able to do that because, while it was agreed with councils what the monies totalling £66 million across Scotland were for, it was taken on trust that that's where those sums would go. In Angus, that did not happen and our local health and social care partnership has admitted to me, and I quote, had the social care partnership been able to agree a more generous, recurring budgetary settlement with Angus Council, then that would have assisted overall in its service delivery plan. Put simplistically, had that £1 million made its way to where it should have, then at very least the chances of delivering this housing provision would have been enhanced. Housing provision for people with learning disabilities in South Angus is an issue that I've been involved in for some time. A little over two years ago, I approached Angus Council, highlighting that the Scottish Government recently announced long-term financial planning assumptions around housing supply and seeking a commitment to deploy an element of that cash to meet the identified learning disability need with a purpose-built facility. Responding, the then chief executive revealed that a housing health and social care strategic planning group had been established and, through that, the council would identify which development opportunities should include an element of specialist provision. In acceptance, rather than adapting existing stock on a house-by-house basis, a bespoke unit of the tight south Angus parents of adults and learning disabilities had been campaigning for those on the cars, yet here we are in 2018 and nothing on the horizon. With Angus Council able, in the billed context to say, no can do, because there's insufficient funding available, the staff such a unit might contend because it failed to pass on monies given it by the Scottish Government for this kind of purpose. Is it any wonder, and I, as the constitution's MSP, are utterly exasperated by that situation? That exasperation is all the greater, because the Minister for Local Government and Housing announced recently that, over the next three years, Angus Council will and told to receive an excessive £25 million to support housing supply. The Scottish Government is passing over additional plots of money to the local authority to meet housing need across the county and to meet health and social care demand, yet an identified priority for housing and supporting adults while learning disabilities remains unmet. Let me pay tribute to SapAld for their campaigning work on the issue and their willingness to try and find solutions, because they have sought to move things on by sourcing funding to help meet staffing costs themselves. Across every potential funder, they have approached us to come back with the same answer. Sorry, we don't fund statutory services, and so we remain with its impasse. I question where that sits in terms of disability discrimination and the human rights of those concerned. What is beyond question is that this situation is wholly unacceptable, and I am deeply grateful to Joan McAlpine for providing an opportunity to highlight it in Parliament. Let me conclude by quoting from her motion, where it references the view that the Scottish Government, local authorities and relevant partners, should work together to ensure that every person across the county who has a learning disability can access the appropriate housing and support that is required to give that person the choice and control to live the life that he or she wants. The Scottish Government has provided the means to give my constituents and the South Angus locality that choice, and the minister has indicated that additional sums might be available. Those constituents and their families are asking why Angus council has then failed to meet their needs. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Let me also congratulate Joan McAlpine on securing time for this debate and indeed for the content of her speech. She and I are both co-members of the cross-party group on learning disability, and I know that they are very excited that the subject is being discussed. Can I also welcome the focus that has been brought to this issue by enabling Scotland and its report on where people live and the earlier report last year from the Scottish Commission for Learning Disability on improving outcomes for people with learning disabilities, specifically in housing? I think that it is undeniable that our surroundings, the community in which we live, our home environment is central to the quality of life that each and every one of us enjoys. The connection between our living conditions and the quality of life is even more vital, I think, for those with a disability and, of course, tonight, we focus on those with a learning disability, where clearly more needs to be done to improve provision. There are, of course, a number of misconceptions surrounding how people with learning disabilities live and the level of independence that they have. Many assume that if you have a learning disability, you are likely to live at home with your parents. No hope of a relationship, no hope of a job, no hope of a social life. However, what the SELD report tells us is that, in reality, 65 per cent of people with a learning disability do not live with a parent or carer, they live themselves, or they live with others with a learning disability, 52 per cent of them in social housing, 17 per cent in supported accommodation.  Those with a learning disability must and deserve to have the same freedom of choice as anyone else. It is so important that the relevant bodies have the support, have the resources, yes, and the ability to offer a balance between providing first class sustainable social care, whilst offering central importance to the choice of accommodation to those who need it. We cannot have a return to the large hospitals, like Lenox Castle, or in appropriate placements in care homes without any clinical need for people to be there. I welcome that the Scottish consortium on learning disability report shows a significant reduction in cases of those in institutional care. Although I have to say that I do worry, as others have highlighted in the chamber today, that they find the results to have noticeable variations depending on the local authority is something that is particularly worrying. In some places, there appears to be more shared accommodation that is on a scale that is bordering on institutional, and we just do not need that. We know people's preferences for supported accommodation or core and cluster accommodation, or, in many cases, living in their own home with good social care support. I very much welcome the minister's comments about providing additional resources for building core and cluster and supported accommodation. I will make sure that my local government colleagues in Argyll and Bute understand that, because we are dealing just now with cases of young men who have been boarded out of the local authority area, for whom a return home would be good for them, good for their parents, and good for the council budget, I cannot conceive of a circumstance where you would reduce the budget to get such a positive result. I will take an intervention. I was discussing Argyll and Bute with Cornerstone when I met them in Aberdeen on Monday. I recognise what Jackie Baillie is saying about certain local authorities. She is absolutely right to highlight, as is Graham Day, how much is it costing at this moment to keep folks in unacceptable situations. Forget about all that, what is the human cost? I will do all that I possibly can to encourage Argyll and Bute and others to use the finances that are available to look at that carefully. I am conscious of time, but I take that as a very positive message from the minister, which he can be sure I will repeat ad nauseam to everybody in Argyll and Bute. I look forward to working with the minister to secure that additional funding to improve the lives of people with learning disabilities in my area. Presiding Officer, I think that there has been considerable cross-party consensus today on this whole issue. I hope that that encourages the Scottish Government, local authorities and relevant bodies to work together, because we can improve the standards and types of housing that are available and we need to do so for those with learning disability so that we can give them and they can have for themselves the quality of life that they truly deserve. Gillian Martin, to be followed by Graham Simpson. Presiding Officer, everyone should expect to have the opportunity to live independently if they wish and to have the same life chances as anyone else somewhere to call your own is fundamental to that. Last week, I spoke in the Government debate on the disability employment gap, which is existence. There is a huge negative impact on adults with learning disabilities as they strive to gain economic and social fulfilment and independence. This week, I am pleased to add more weight to that argument for social and economic independence by congratulating my colleague Joan McAlpine on securing this debate on a key component of that independence, the availability of and access to suitable and supported housing. As with many members, I will be referencing the great work of housing associations in the third sector in securing that independent living for people. I turn to an organisation that has also referenced the employment debate for the training and the work opportunities that they offer, but has also offered support at living and access to tenancies for adults with learning disabilities. That is inspiring and inspiring in my constituency. I will mention it first, because I always remember chatting to a young woman who was working in Aspire's soap making initiative at a little shop in Inverory, and she was telling me that she had just got the keys to a flat that she had moved into. One of the things that she mentioned is that she was very excited about her new home and her independence that was awaiting her, but of particular importance to her was the fact that she was still able to walk a wee bit up the road to visit her mum whenever she wanted. The importance that she placed on this reinforced an important point about the availability of affordable housing in rural areas. That point was also made very clearly in the report that was circulated by Enable Scotland. Independent living shouldn't mean having to move out of your community and away from your family and friendship support network, and local supported housing should be readily available in small towns too, like it is in Inverory with the art housing association, which also offers supported independent living there. Turning back to the link in the theme from the disability employment debate, I made the point then that for parents that I know with teenagers, with autism in particular, coming to the end of their school life, there's considerable worry about what their adult life will hold by way of employment. The stress of balancing the wishes of their maturing young adult to desire the same freedoms of their peers when it comes to living in their own space, and you also have to balance that with concerns with the support available to them, and it must be acute, because young adults with learning difficulties do want the same things as everyone else. They want privacy, they want love and sexual relationships, they want to do their own thing, so marrying the two areas of support and independence must be taken to account when the geography of the family support comes into account, and all the better of that housing comes with links to employment support programmes or befriended services, because I take the point that Jeremy Balfour made that loneliness could be a big factor and the big worry for parents as their young adults move in to support of accommodation. Of course, the Scottish Government is engaged in the biggest programme of building affordable housing in 50 years, with a plan for 50,000 affordable houses by the end of this Parliament. We know that there's a commitment for 35,000 of those to be available for social rent. I welcome the Minister for Local Government's commitment to work with the Scottish Commission for Learning Disabilities to ensure that everything has been done to increase the suitability of that new stock for those with learning disabilities. The housing sector voluntary grants want to mention that, provided by the Scottish Government, will assist the third sector in providing housing advice and advocacy that takes some of the worry out of the process of accessing suitable accommodation, both for the people who are moving into it and for perhaps parents of young adults that are trying to access that. At this point, I'm finding myself as my son prepares to leave home. It's not very easy. It must be even harder for a parent of a young adult who needs additional support to let them go and live an independent life, so that advocacy and advice is going to be invaluable. As the Government commits to closing the disability employment gap, we must work with Governments, third sector, housing associations, local authorities and learning disabled people themselves to close the gap in housing that allows independence with support and the life chances and opportunities that come with it, not just in urban environments but in smaller communities, too. Last of the open debate, contributions is from Graham Simpson. Thanks very much. I've got to start by saying how much I've enjoyed the contributions from all the other members, and I particularly thank Joan McAlpine for bringing this to the chamber. We started off with Jeremy Balfour, we've heard from Jackie Baillie, Gillian Martin and Pauline McNeill, who's not here at the moment, but I was particularly struck by the comments from Graham Day, who spoke with real passion, I thought, about the situation in his area. I'm often cynical about members' debates, but I think that Graham Day has shown what we can do with a member's debate. The fact that it's come from a cross-party group is very encouraging. I've also been cynical about them, but this one has been obviously doing some great work. Thanks again to Joan McAlpine, it's clear more does need to be done to support independent living for people with learning disabilities. Of course, housing for them is not unique. More needs to be done for people who are homeless, more needs to be done for people with a physical disability or the elderly. We certainly need greater choice in housing in this country. According to the survey from the Learning Disability Statistics Scotland from 2013, there were just over 26,000 adults with a learning disability who needed support and 16,000 children who were known to councils. The recent report on housing and disabled people from the Equality and Human Rights Commission made for some harrowing reading, 17 per cent of councils have a target, just 17 per cent, for funding to adapt housing for people who need it, and over half of councils said they found finding funding for adaptations a challenge. I have to say that I was heartened by the words of the minister earlier on that. The report called for the setting of targets for accessible housing. I know that the minister for good reasons is not in favour of that.  There is a shortage of suitable housing in Scotland across the board, and people with learning disabilities suffer disproportionately from that. If we look at what is needed to provide supported living schemes for people with learning disabilities, we can see why we need local authorities to improve. Supported living schemes include on-going assessment, hands-on, practical assistance, skills training and general advice and support. I have seen in my previous role as a councillor in South Lanarkshire, just what can be done if you work properly with the disabled. I was involved in setting up a group for people to use self-directed support. It is important that we empower people with any sort of disability, learning or physical. Just to close, I thank Joe McAlpine once again, and particularly every other member who has spoken in this debate, but particularly Graham Day. I now call Kevin Stewart to respond to the debate for around seven minutes. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I am very grateful to be given the opportunity to respond today on behalf of the Government, and I welcome the debate and the positive contributions from everybody who has spoken today. I would particularly like to thank Joe McAlpine for raising the important issue. I acknowledge our role as vice-conviner of the cross-party group on learning disabilities. I have to be honest, Presiding Officer, because it is one of those debates in which my speech will have changed dramatically from what it was originally going to be, and I make no apologies for that. However, I want to get a number of messages across, first of all. I want to get across the Scottish Government's clear commitment to improving the lives of people with learning disabilities, which is set out in our keys to life strategy and its four strategic outcomes—a healthier life, choice and control, active citizenship and independence. We understand the importance of housing and achieving those outcomes and the role that appropriate housing can play in realising our vision for people with learning disabilities. We all know that a house is more than bricks and mortar. It can be safe space, the place that anchors us to our community and gives us ourselves a sense of place, the place where we gather with friends and families, and people with learning disabilities have no less right of those things than any one of us here today. They have the right to participate as full and equal citizens. That is what we should be striving to achieve right across the country. We want all disabled people in Scotland to live life to the full and homes that meet their needs. A fairer Scotland for disabled people, which was launched in December 2016, set out a number of housing-related commitments that support that ambition. We have delivered supporting housing projects across the country for people with learning disabilities. As Gillian Martin rightly pointed out, they should be in rural areas as well as in urban areas. As Ms McAlpine is the south of Scotland MSP, I have listed a number of ones that have taken place in recent years in the south of Scotland. I think that those projects have benefited those communities greatly. However, there are many places where we are not yet getting it right, and Graham Day is right to highlight the difficulties that there have been in Angus. I would say to all local authorities that, in terms of the formulation of your strategic housing investment plans, when you are making the decisions about what is required in your area, when you are looking at housing needs and demand assessments, when you are following the guidance of the local housing strategy that we are about to refresh, go beyond that. Use a bit of common sense, use a bit of gumption, look at your own casework, look at your own housing lists, interrogate not only your waiting lists but those of the housing associations and other organisations that operate in your area. By using that gumption, by using that common sense, put together a package of housing that is required to meet the needs of folks with learning difficulties and with physical disabilities in your area. Quite frankly, I would imagine that some of the folks that Mr Day has talked about here today in their current situations are costing Angus Council more than it would to provide the right facilities for those folks. I think that every single council has a duty to look at all of that as they formulate plans. We know that, quite often, those fixes cost much more than getting on with a job of delivery. There really is no much excuse at this moment in time. The affordable housing programme has put £756 million in the hands of local authorities this year, £1.79 billion over the next three years. That has given them the comfort of knowing exactly what they have got in the bank over the peace. Some councils have not managed to spend their resource planning assumptions, so I will take in Mr Simpson. I thank Kevin Stewart for taking the intervention. I know that the minister does not want to set top-down targets for councils, but does he think that they should set their own? I definitely think that local authorities should look exactly what the needs and demands are in their area and meet those needs and demands. That is not rocket science at all. The thing about the affordable housing programme is that I have said that it is a programme for all of Scotland and for all of Scotland's people. In order to meet the ambitions of people with disabilities, whether they are learning disabilities or physical disabilities, we have to look and deliver for those folks. Mr Simpson mentioned the Equalities and Human Rights Commission and their report on housing for disabled people. It largely concentrated on folks with physical disabilities. I met them this morning, and I hope that we can move forward in dealing with some of the recommendations that they have made. I think that they have focused mainly on the physical, rather than learning disabilities. I take cognisance of other organisations that have been mentioned by Jackie Baillie, Joe McAlpine and others, such as enable and SCLD. They have a positive role to play in all of that. Beyond that, one of the things that I always like to do is to talk to people. I have always had the great pleasure of going to the Aberdeen Stronger to the Together Learning Disability group to hear in first hand the views of people there, which are often somewhat different from the views of folk who are advocating for them at points. That is a good thing to hear from folks directly, to hear about their ambitions, to hear what they want to see in terms of housing and other areas. Whether it is in housing or in other areas, we require continued effort not only from Government, not only from stakeholders, including those in the housing sector, but we need co-operation from those folks in local government. I have absolutely no problem in interrogating strategic housing investment plans and telling local authorities what they are doing well and where they are not. Every single one of us has the duty to point out where we think that local authorities are not meeting the expectations of our constituents. I return to the point about listening to folks with learning disabilities themselves. No one knows their needs, their concerns or their aspirations better than they do, so we all need to listen, including those folks who are maybe not doing quite so well in terms of delivery at this moment in time. That concludes the debate, and the meeting is closed.


Greetings and welcome to the Astronomy Picture of the Day podcast. Today's picture for March 11th of 2024 is titled A Full Plankton Moon. So what do we see here? Here we see multiple images of the moon as it sinks down toward the horizon setting. Now you may think it looks a little unusual that it's setting straight down. That's not how most of us in the world actually see things set. This happens when you are in the equatorial regions, and the path of the moon would be almost straight down then. If you're farther north or south of the equator, then you tend to see it at an angle. And the farther you get from the equator, the shallower that angle will be. So it will be almost opposite of what you're seeing here, setting at a very great angle as it comes down. Now we see the moon also. We can note that it changes color here. Now the moon itself does not change color. The moon is always the same. And if you looked at it out in space, you would not see any differences in the coloring. The differences that we see are due to the fact that the Earth has an atmosphere. And Earth's atmosphere is very good at scattering light. And in fact it's better at scattering short wavelengths of light, like blue and green, and not so good at scattering the red wavelengths of light, the reds and the oranges, those longer wavelengths. So as you get closer to the horizon, you're looking through longer and longer stretches of atmosphere, and that allows for more scattering. That is why we see both the moon and the sun as turning red as they get close to the horizon at sunrise, sunset, or moonrise and moon set. As they get closer there, they will look redder and redder. And we can note that here in the image where it goes from almost a whitish-gray color toward the top, then into yellows and oranges, and in fact a very deep red color as it gets closer to the horizon. And again, that's just because of our atmosphere. Had we no atmosphere, the color of the moon would remain unchanged as it changed its position in the sky. It's all due to Earth's atmosphere scattering that light. Now the blue color that we see down below is actually plankton, and it's a bioluminescence that we see due to the plankton striking the shore because of the waves, and that causes them to glow. Now it may also be some kind of mechanism to deter predators is something that is thought, but the brightness that we see there, we can see that bioluminescent plankton down below on the shore as the waves come crashing in, and of course up above in the sky we see multiple images of the moon as it descends toward the horizon. So that was our picture of the day for March 11th of 2024. It was titled A Full Plankton Moon. We'll be back again tomorrow for the next picture, previewed to be Horizon Spiral. So we'll see what that is about tomorrow. And until then, have a great day everyone, and I will see you in class.


Now EA has been dropping some heat lots of new promos I'm loving all of them as much as I can understand that EA is a bunch of orangutans sitting in the Amazon jungle Smashing guava together to code Madden. I really do think that the orangutans in charge of mutt They did a pretty damn good job this year. All right. I thought the Easter promo was a fat W Christmas was a fat W Halloween was a fat W and this drop promo usually I literally just overlooked this promo because it's trash But there is some heat in here, bro There's two limited impacts right now, so we're gonna try and pull those right now We could pull gold 99 slant man or gold 99 Delta O'Neill. We've got the draft pack bundle I don't know if there's anything good in these the topper is 395 plus means it could be a gold 99 and I want to see the animation So we're gonna send this see we can get do some re-rolls hit the house rules And I'll definitely be going in the store and picking up a few of the really good gold 99s because there's a lot of them So that's the low animation. I can get behind that.  That's the low animation. Oh, never mind. I'm poverty Maybe I don't know what the big animation I didn't expect anything out of that 95 Lazard.    It's gonna be a good day That's the kind of good animation to okay. Well, I'm just pulling sauce. Oh, it's the same weight All of those animations were the exact same So presumably there's one different animation for either gonna be like 97 plus or the gold 99s So I want to find out ask if I can pull it, baby Carlos still oh my god He's actually literally haunting my packs. What are the odds of that bro 3? I don't like that Angelo Blackson, bro.  I didn't realize I was on the top. Okay. Let me see a new animation.  I didn't even know if there were 97s I thought for sure that might have just straight up been a gold 99 round 3 picks 69 though What a sleeper. I did not realize Tyler Lockett was such a sleeper round 3 picks 69 97 over all Tyler lock it don't mind if I do Right Tana Hill not bad though. None of that was bad I'm gonna sell everybody except for Everyone except for lock it and we'll use the training we have for re-rolls. We'll see how well it goes. All right So that's 213,000 training. We're starting with 397 so that's gonna put me at almost exactly 600,000 so I can let that take me right back down to 397 and that's when we'll call it quits If I get like an 89 plus, I'm just gonna quick sell it on the spot Let's see how we can do though the 89 plus re-roll the gold 99s can be in this So we're looking for the good animation every time but bro If we pull an 89 we get clapped It's 13,000 training for this and 89 is 3,100 prime example I don't gamble but multiple 89s is gonna hurt. That's two right there. Isaiah Rogers You know what I could brush up on my draft knowledge right now round six pick two eleven for sure Lawrence 93 overall I'm really just going for the gold 99. So we're sending it all the way if I don't get it That's a lot of training down the drain. Actually, you know, let's be smart. Let's make sure we get a few tangible things Let's grab 297s right now. I get to see the animation again, too. Just not Tyler Lockett. Hey Alex Mack Damn round one pick 21 a very solid pick. No question about that And let's do one more of those and then I'll start rerolling so at least we can walk out of the the Virtual casino with something. Yeah, what do we got? Virtual casino hates me. Oh, I love that animation.   I'm absorbing knowledge windfield Lockett Alex Mack new sauce new sauce He's nuts in your mouth lamb. This is a fire one.  Oh, that's hard. That's so sick. What do you got? What do you got? What do you got? There's a Justin Fields. You're this ironically this is exactly who I wanted the Lions to take I wanted the Lions to take Justin Fields so bad round one pick 11 for the Bears as everybody knows the Bears are so good at Drafting quarterbacks, so I'm sure he's gonna be amazing as an honest Lions fan I can say we own your franchise Bears fans. I got a ton of sick 97s We'll do a few more re-rolls low-key there.  I thought I was going down to 297.   Let's see what abilities fields can get I'm pretty sure a skate artist is like 16 AP. She's like kind of pointless 14 and like what like what still insanely good I'm using it a skate artist trust on a Justin Fields send it Tyler Lockett CD lamb Justin Fields Alex Mack Defensively though, I want to go get one of the gold 99s so we can add somebody something like really cool So there's a gold 99 mink of Fitzpatrick and there's an Adamic ensue I would do an Adamic ensue, but I'm already using Barry Sanders. I already got my lion dude take a peek at this Monster mink of Fitzpatrick beautiful card art. You couldn't have done a better job. Yeah, that is glistening. I love it 95 speed 96 excel 98 zone 90 hip power six foot one two oh seven only two thirty two six hundred ninety not expensive All right, make us that's he's a gold 99 he gets an insane amount of abilities I think the only thing I really want I've never actually used film study shows offensive play call after repeated play calls I have literally never used this. I'm pretty sure it's dog water like I've never seen anyone legitimately use it But I think it will be funny. I'm gonna try it out. The squad is assembled Let's see what this house rules is all about drive it home It's usually what I say to one of my friends when he's been flirting with a girl all night and he's about to close They drive it home buddy Big drives will get you big points for the win that steal points while on D by getting sacks and TFLs earn bonus points On your touchdowns by scoring from 10 plus yards out and even more from 20 plus yards out I'm just gonna play and see what happens. Oh, you know what time it is, baby It's time to teach you how to last longer in bed with the partner of today's video Roman swipes Listen up what I've got right here is a Roman swipe Roman swipes are a clinically proven fast-acting way to last longer in bed And they do not require prescription anybody can get these take it out of the package super discreet fit right in your wallet Cuz you never know I'm gonna take it out of the package swipe it on You know let it dry and I'm good to go that is literally it.  I'm cool with that. You might throw the check down again big hit time Oh, oh film study. Did you see it? I saw it over his head, but I didn't see his play Or maybe it just means it's about to come up. Oh, I can't get to that.   That was totally guard. He got so lucky bill study was kind of sick right there, dude I know exactly what he wanted to do.  I think one of those two gets past them, right? Nope, but his user is poverty Oh my god uninstall. What was that, bro? So I get two points every first down and I need 20 yards her first So if I get this first year, I'll get even more but a beautiful throw here to mark a salad This might be a slug out dude. This might be a really good game Look at the look at the playmaker I really should have gone for the first down first then scored for more points, but I did tie it up pretty quick So I'm happy with that Marcus Allen tutty on fire right now. I'm losing my voice, but we're on fire That is literally a TFL. He lost yours. Isn't that TFL? I think it's cuz he went out of bounds They're not gonna count it. I think that's how it works might be PA crossers again. Yeah, it is Oh, I left the right side open or did I this guy is a luck machine, bro He's got a luck machine plugged in a second and 16. Here's Schminke.  Okay, we know this Right, it's a tough play to stop. That's a really tough play to stop. Does an IMT give me anything? It does not but these two points will to toe Jones got to put on the burners, buddy Oh, oh my god.   I literally could have done that shit I don't know much about verticals, but that's open So we just want the first down to get the points and then we want a touchdown So no matter what we do we want it to be quick and there he is again Great ball. Let's use one time out 14 to 26. Wait the numbers don't make sense now How did he get 26? Did he get multiple first downs? I have to get another first down Get out of bounds before I score. I need a first down best case scenario I can rifle this along the left side to Marcus Allen. I'd like the five-yard line and go out of bounds That's best case scenario. Oh No, oh, we didn't catch it. We're still good. Ooh, that could have been real bad Not looking good not looking good. I'm gonna try shake that back corner again I just got to throw it quicker. I have to throw this way sooner I'm gonna try and throw it right when he cuts and just pray really right when he cuts Oh, right when he cuts he's there wait What a bummer dude, he was so close Well, that one sucked. I just got PA crosser to death feeling when you're like a redemption game, dude Let's just take off dude. Let's just take off. What just feels I see you just it feels so we need Listen Vernon Davis, bro.   Ooh great blocks.  That's great. He's down to the three. He's got some distance to cover now I like this. I'm gonna fake the blitz.  Oh, I knew he was going there. Did somebody just like somebody come take my Xbox away from me I'm sure lose my privileges right now. I'm so bad. Hey, that's big a sack is huge. He's only up by six Why are you so open like a sickie? That was an attempt at Justin Fields throwing to the wide open Mike a sickie down the field by the way That was his attempt right there Barry Sanders. Dude looked like DK mecca right there That was like the saddest attempt of a throw ever. I know he's not supposed to make that throw I know you need like Patrick Mahomes and bazooka. But wow, that was uh, that was not a very good attempt TFL. Hey, it's working doing me on defense is better than me on offense. It's eight to six right now Let's get it. Oh, he runs the ball good play a fumble to oh a fumble. I can still win I can still win especially if we can stop here again, dude. It's winnable. It's winnable, dude I need one bro.  Like I don't know how Mike is sick. He was so open on that last one. Oh, you're open. You're open I see you Vernon. You're open Megatron. That's not first. I'm going hat-back zone week We're gonna let Barry pick this up no TFLs no TFLs beauty eight to 14 if I get in the end zone It's all good taking every ounce of brain part I have to barely win a house rules game right now Marcus Allen underneath no hitsticks. I Like this what we're whatever we're doing.  Oh that guy's on my head Geez all right guard did not want the smoke right there.   We got time Okay, it's all good. Oh, I thought I got positive yards there. Oh, no I got negative yards there. Okay, so I think I get eight points if the touchdown is 10 plus yards So that'll be 16 to 16. So if I get that I have to get the two-point conversion I'm gonna look for Marcus Allen on the shake hat back corner. It's got to be the money play here, right? We got to do it right here Justin Fields Barry Sanders read option. No, it's not it. That won't work What's gonna work? Maybe Vernon Davis, maybe Cooper cup.  I assume he will because you just had to score points in OT to win One play OT I prefer defense in OT baby. Let's be real here.   Hey, if you're watching this video when it dropped I'm probably live on twitch right now ripping re-rolls. So come check it out Shit's a banger, and if I'm not live on twitch, I'm live on MMG live So probably check twitch first, but whatever. Love you boys.


New York City where the American stage begins, here is another program with a cast of outstanding players. Public service time has been made available by this station for your Army and your Air Force to bring you this story as proudly we hail the Air Force Nurse Corps. Women who have understood their nation's needs.  American women who have accepted the challenge to do something about it. This is the story of a flight nurse based on her own experiences. The story of an American woman who has accepted that challenge. The story of a plane crash and a woman's courage in the dark waters off Kyushu. Before our first act curtain rises an important message. Registered or graduate nurses. Answer your country's call for service in the Air Force Nurse Corps. The need is great and the need is urgent. There just aren't enough nurses to handle the nursing requirements of our greatly expanding Air Force. And you as a nurse can appreciate perhaps better than anyone else. The fact that efficiency is largely dependent upon the state of health. So here's your opportunity to be of a measurable service to your country at a time when the need is great. The Air Force Nurse Corps has plenty to offer you too. The pay is good, the allowances are liberal. You'll be in a job that challenges the best that's within you. And you'll have endless opportunities to grow in your professional capacity. The Air Force's vigorous medical research program has developed many new medical techniques. And you'll learn how to apply them. But most of all, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that you're serving at a time when you are needed most. So make your decision to serve now. Ride or wire the Surgeon General, United States Air Force, Washington 25, DC. And now your army and your Air Force present the proudly we hail production Dark Waters of Kyushu. Janita Ruth Bonham is a lieutenant in the United States Air Force Nurse Corps. She's 28 years of age, pretty with copper colored hair and blue eyes. Lieutenant Bonham is a veteran of several year service in Japan and the Philippines. As a nurse in the troop carrier command, she flew almost daily to Korea, helped the wounded men, dressed their wounds, gave them plasma and sedatives on the flight back. For three months, Lieutenant Bonham was stationed on the island of Kyushu, southernmost of the Japanese group, and the location of an American air base servicing Korea. Then came a day different from any other. I remember it was raining. Colleen Moses said hardly makes it a day different from any other. Vera's alarm was set for two, mine for two-thirty. It used to be after Vera's went off, I'd lie there listening to the strange winds outside. Even the rain that sounded different somehow. But not anymore. All the sounds were familiar. And the most familiar of all. Vera? Yeah, Bonnie. I reached for it. Almost got it that time. We'll get you a fly swatter. Oh, a sledgehammer. That means I have to make the coffee. I'll tell you what, I'll make the coffee. You call operations for a truck. Coffee. Make it the way I like it, nice and hot. And black. I'm beginning to suspect I may come to life again after all. Well, don't forget the phone for that truck. I was just warming my soul with the thought of that coffee. Well, hurry up. If we take off soon enough, we may be able to get in two trips to Korea again today. No reason for making it a day different from any other. Well, that means we don't get back till midnight again. You know, we're going to need that fly swatter. The usual ride in the usual truck. Nothing unusual in that. But at base operations, well, something a little unusual did happen. Operations looks full this morning. I wonder if we can hit your ride with somebody we know. Well, look who's here. Janita Bonham. Hey, Bonnie. Hey, there's a character who seems to know you. I don't remember ever seeing him. Why, it's Bill. Bill Ward. Hey, Bonnie, what are you doing? No, no, no, let me ask it first, Bill. What are you doing here? Oh, things got pretty dull back home. So here I am flying an airplane. Now tell me what you're doing here. Well, first, tell me all about it. If anyone cares, I'm beginning to wonder what I'm doing here. If you two want to be alone. What? Bill and me? Oh, Vera, this is Bill Ward. We used to go to school together back in Oklahoma. Bill, Vera Brown. How do you do, Major? How are you, Captain? Would you, by any chance, be taking the plane up this morning, one that might have room for us? You see, Bonnie hasn't told you, but if we get an early enough flight, then we can make two trips. Two round trips to Korea a day, evacuating wounded? Mm-hmm. Captain, you're finally telling me all about yourself. Oh, that just covers the last three months, Major. Now if you can find room in your plane for us. Okay? It's done. It was good seeing Bill again. Good seeing Bill and Vera hit it off so well. I knew with Bill's help, Vera would find her way to the plane, so I started across the airfield alone. To put our equipment aboard the C-54, Bill was piloting. I passed the assembly area. Hundreds of men were being assigned to groups for airlift to Korea. The men made strange shadows, changing shadows as they moved in and out of the circles of light. Now and then a splatter of light hit a shine on the fish-like bodies of the big transport. I got our equipment on board, then good waiting for Bill and Vera to reach the plane. Hey, Bonnie, I see you didn't have any trouble finding it. Well, I just followed the crowd. I didn't know your cargo was men. Yeah, replacements, 52 of them, mostly fresh from the States. They're first time out, Bonnie, and they sure look at it.  Round trips, that's our specialty. Yeah, what we need are more people like you. And Bonnie, Vera told me about that emergency operation you performed in the plane. Hey, you two were supposed to talk about each other, not me. Maybe we'll have time during the trip. Come on, let's get aboard. A few minutes before we take off. I'll be happy when we land, won't you, Bonnie? Love the sight of an airship moving into me. It always reminds me of my graduation from high school. They held it in the stadium. Now remember looking down on the football field with that same funny feeling in my stomach. That's right, you gave the commencement speech to Bonnie. Oh, top student in the class. Oh-ho, not on your life. I was the only one with a voice that could be heard the length of the field. A voice. Flight nurse Janita Bonham would have told you there was nothing unusual in that. The voice of a young woman important? Add to it a heart, courage and devotion to duty. And they'll all prove very important indeed. And a dream that had to wait. That was important too. Vera's dream was she told us about it just before the take-off.  The first dream was when I was just finishing grade school. My sister, a few years older than myself, was a smart dresser. My big dream was to wear high heels and go clip-clop, clip-clop, the way she did. Do I take out a notebook now? Not yet, professor. My second dream came when I was starting my nurses' training. I dreamt of a world at peace. I don't laugh. We won't. Completely at peace. A world in which no little men in quilted jackets were trying to force a way of life on somebody else. A world at peace. Fantastic. Fantastic? Maybe not. It was a world in which communism and things like that were just words in a dictionary. Yeah, but those things are real. They have to be faced. I know it. I know it. That's why you're here and that's why I'm here. But in my dream, I could hang out my registered nurse, shingle, and all the big specialists, the Mayo Clinic, the Johns Hopkins, and Zurich, Vienna, London. Every time they had a real important case, they'd call on me. That's a good ambitious dream. But now I know that those cases we brought back yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that, and those we'll bring back tomorrow are the most important cases a nurse could handle all her lifetime. One more dream, lady. The third dream. Excuse me, sir. Time to take off. I guess the third dream will have to wait. I'll be waiting to hear what it is. You ready, Joe? Yes, sir. Better go back and fasten your seatbelts, ladies. Here we go. I guess we must be out over the bay now. The water's your mighty dark down there if we are.  I'll cover the box back of the fly fridge. I think we'll accept that offer. How about it, Vera? Maybe you can catch up with that dream. I'll let you know. Oil pressure's gone and port engines. Dark waters off Kyushu will return in just a moment for the second act. But first, here's a word for you registered nurses. Your country needs you now as a flight nurse in your United States Air Force. As a commissioned officer wearing the Air Force blue, you will receive the finest training available. If you are physically qualified and between the ages of 21 and 36, you can be enrolled in the Air Force School of Aviation Medicine to earn the coveted silver wings of an Air Force flight nurse. As a flight nurse, you will watch over our sick and wounded while they are being flown to hospital areas, and you'll receive flight pay. But it also means much more. It means you'll be answering the call for women of courage and vision, women who have the determination to stand behind our fighting men in their battle for freedom. For complete information on how you can become a flight nurse, right or wire the Surgeon General, United States Air Force, Washington 25 D.C. You are listening to Proudly We Hail. And now we present the second act of Dark Waters Off Cueshoe. I couldn't think straight. That sickling plunge right after the takeoff. That awful noise. Then underwater, fighting for the surface. Now I was swimming with no life preserved along. I couldn't feel anything. Nothing but the movement of my arms and legs, keeping me afloat. And that didn't even seem like my own idea. Like my arms and legs weren't part of me. Then out of the darkness came Providence. Hell, it was a barracks bag. I hung on. Everything was so black. Men were swimming near me. Swimming just to keep afloat. Here and there, nearby, other strangers. But terribly still. Terribly still. Then, all around me, men cried out. Then, not too far away. I saw it fill a wetted for a moment on the crest of a wave. And then I heard a plane passing over him. It disappeared again. But I knew it was near. I loosened my hold on the precious barracks bag and moved off toward the raft. My rest to chewed me. Arms felt still and strange. Almost numb. But I knew I had to make that raft. No feeling in them at all. I felt myself beginning to. I can hold you. I felt an arm pushing me. Okay, nurse. I wanted to say something. But I couldn't. Then the push came again. And I moved on. And then we were there. I was at the raft. I grabbed the trail rope. And held on. Trying to get my breath. Near me I could see the heads of swimming men. I grabbed. The rope here. Okay. Reach up now. Reach up. That's it. Now pile in. That's it. Reach up now. Put yourself over. Try. Easy. Easy. Now try. My arm. Must be broken. Try it now. Thanks, nurse. That made it. I turned. And another mess. Had reached out blindly. For the rope. I grabbed his wrist. And pulled him to the raft. Then up. Then over. Every man who reached the raft was guided to the rope and helped to safety. In the darkness, Janita made out a second raft some 20 yards away. And saw that men were climbing into that one too. When she was sure no other soldiers were swimming, she allowed some of the men to reach down into the cold, dark waters and drag her up over the side.  She felt a surge of nausea. But then there were other things to think about. Here. Let me up. Let me up. Thank you, Reverend. I'm going to swim to shore and get help. There's a soldier. Stay on this ride. You got to get help, don't we?  Oh, I can make it. I can make it, I tell you. You can get blown out of the sea. Oh. Oh, I can make it. I can make it. Take it easy. Take it easy, soldier. Make room for him to sit down again. The soldier, the rescue boats will be here shortly. Didn't come an hour past. No one ashore had seen the plane dive into the dark waters. Pilots of other planes passing overhead saw nothing in the blackness below. There were 17 men on Janita's raft, many of them badly hurt. Choppy seas made first aid impossible. For getting her own pain, Janita comforted the injured, calmed the fearful and kept the other shouting to the second raft to maintain contact. She talked until her throat was raw, keeping up their courage and determination. The voice that had won her honors at home now was keeping alive the hopes and spirits of more than a score of crash survivors, adrift on the dark waters off Kyushu. It had been about four o'clock when the airplane had taken off. About two hours later. Hey. Hey. I see a light. I see a light. They were fishing boats. Their small searchlights had finally made the minds fast to both rafts. I felt like I was hearing my pain. You can't hear pain. You can only hear pain. But now, now it all seemed to get dim. Could hear my pain. All in my mind. I felt. I felt. Hey, nurse. What's the matter with you? Oh, she just healed over. Here, give me a hand. We'll make her comfortable. Thank you. Boy, she took plenty. Plenty. You're dead. She's got to be all right. She's just got to be. In a hospital in Japan not long after, flight nurse Janita Bonham is asked by the doctor. Well, Bonnie, are you feeling strong enough to receive a visitor? I feel fine. But you're the doctor. Well, it's a pleasure to be able to tell you not only feel fine, you are fine. You and all the 27 lives you saved. I'll ask the general to step inside. General? General Stratomire, your visitor. I, um, I understand he has a little gadget he wants to pin on you. A distinguished flying cross. Distinguished flying cross. I. Nurse, come quickly. She's fainted. A few minutes later, after she'd sufficiently recovered, Lieutenant Janita Ruth Bonham, United States Air Force Nurse Corps, was presented by Lieutenant General Georgie Stratomire with the highest decoration of the Air Force. The citation reading, For meritorious service in medical air evacuation flights, and for carrying out her missions willingly and without complaint, Lieutenant Bonham's unselfish devotion to duty has reflected great credit upon herself, her profession, and the United States Air Force. Lieutenant Bonham is now back in the United States at Maxwell Field, Alabama, teaching other nurses the techniques of evacuating the wounded by air. Speaking of that unfortunate crash on September 25th, 1950, in the dark waters of Kyushu, the girl from Oklahoma, who was responsible for the lives of many of the 27 survivors, says, I don't remember anything clearly. I just remember someone helping me toward the raft. I don't believe I helped anyone else. But I witnessed Private First Class Percy Johnson, a battle-tested infantryman returning to frontline duty, in his official report. Lieutenant Bonham took command. None of us guessed that she was badly hurt. She wasn't excited, and she used her head. All the men took orders from her without question. She sure saved a lot of guys. The nurses have expanded tremendously to meet the challenge of the forces of aggression which are threatening the peace of the world. And there's an urgent need for professional women to fill the ranks within the Women's Medical Specialist Corps. The occupational and physical therapists and the dietitians who comprise the corps never had a greater opportunity to serve where they are needed most. Right now, there are only a few hundred of these highly trained specialists serving throughout the Army and the Air Force, despite the fact that the need for their services has never been more acute. To the women of this profession, your Army and Air Force offers not only the opportunity to fulfill a patriotic duty, but a commission as an officer in the Army or the Air Force of the United States. And with that commission goes the pay, the privileges, the security, and the opportunity for continued study that's available to every officer. The opportunity for a lifetime career is great, but the need is greater. So, if you're a qualified occupational or physical therapist or a dietitian, here is your chance to serve your country in an hour of great need. Write or wire the Surgeon General, United States Army, or the Surgeon General, United States Air Force, Washington 25, D.C. Remember, you're needed now. This has been another program on Proudly We Hail, presented transcribed in cooperation with this station by the United States Army and United States Air Force Recruiting Service. This program featured a cast of outstanding players. This is Kenneth Banghart speaking and inviting you to tune in this same station next week for another interesting story on Proudly We Hail.


Hi, my name is Sohail, I'm from Property Group and today I'd like to talk about functional programming. It's something that's been a trend, people are talking about it, it's a new post. You've come here from Pascal, people love to talk about this thing.  So, let's get started. Oh, if I actually go, I just want to tell you guys, I'm not expert on any of this. I'm just, I'm learning at the same time, just want to share whatever I learned. Let's go. So, what is functional programming? It's a programming paradigm, same as the object-oriented paradigm. You have objects, that bunch of methods inside of it. Inside object-oriented, the classes are the king, in functional programming, functions are the king. And this programming paradigm, everything has to be declarative in a very expressive manner. And it's more of a coding style, how you want to approach the project, how you want to make it, how to write the right clean codes. It's more of a mindset, if I could say. And it's pretty much all about how to write nice and clean code. Nothing more about that. So, how do we do functional programming? Everything in functional programming has to be retained in a very expressive way. It has to be clean, has to be nice, so it's very readable format. So, whatever we have, it has to have very nice input and output. It shouldn't be even as an imperative programming. This is an example of non-functional. Everything's like, do this, do this, and then that, et cetera, et cetera. Say, imperative programming. What functional programming wants us to do is to be kind of clean. You have functions for every single thing you want to do. And have to be having input and output. This is not exactly pure functional. So, as a pure functional programming, we have to make sure there's no side effect. What I mean by side effect is like the previous example I had, printing function side, which is, I'm talking to, it's like I'm asking some other helper method to do something for me, which has nothing to do with the greeting. Because the greeting function wants to just append the hello words into the string. So, a more functional way would be greeting, accept the parameter, and return back in. It's very simple. Yes. Next is, we have to use a higher... No, we don't have to use, but we have the ability to use higher-order functions. Because, in suit, the functions are the first... We have to acknowledge them as the first class citizen. So, the functional programming. So, some of the system higher-order functions are in the array. It can be reduce, map, filter, flat map. I'll go to just to do a simple demo if anyone not familiar with this higher-order functions. So, we have our array. We can map through it instead of doing a normal for loop, which would be this one. This is a simple way. I want to map through every single array and add one into this array. So, if you look at it, it would be very nice. Two, four, five, six. And we have array. We can filter it to look for exactly all those numbers that are bigger. Bigger than five. Okay, six and seven. We also have array.reduce, which takes the initial value. You can say... You can put it plus as to combine them together. Sorry, initial value is... You have to put a number or any string you want to put. And here, as a plus to combine them. So, you can combine all the values to get an end result. And you just put a print. And last is flat map, which... If you have a multi-dimensional array, like an extra... Something like this, it's useful to use flat map to give you a 2D array. Okay, that's it. Anyway, it works sometimes. So, these are our higher-order functions, called as the first-class functions. Next is a very hot topic in the functional programming, our current function, which returns back a function. This function is the app which takes the input and returns back a function, which also requires another input of the integer. So, for instance, we have... We have our own variable, which is add2. And we add a number 2 and a result which can use add2 and pass another. And we can add 3 to pass a function over there and use it to pass each other and get it out too far. I guess I go to detail a little bit of this one. So, say you have a function... We call it current. We have the input integer, and it returns back a function. So, over here, I will go for a simple way, like return back a function. So, I would say return a function, which would take the input, call it b, and return back a integer. And over here, I can call return function. So, from outside, I can just call this one b2, add2. If I look at the adding, it's actually... This is a function. So, I cannot print it. I have to call adding and add another parameter into, like, 3. I'll each give it 5 over here. Or, you can actually use it like this, like that, right next to it. To intrigue. So, I can even make this one simpler. I can just put it, like, a plus b, 10... Sorry. I can make the whole thing even simpler, like this, in a very short format. A plus... This $0 is actually this function, which I haven't named. So, current can return back a function that would do something else for us. This can be useful when you are dealing with, like, a factory method that requires to do something first and use that factory method to add on more function into it. But, it depends. Your use case might not be very practical, but in functional programming, you talk about this a lot. I just want to show you how to do it in Swift. It doesn't really have to use it, but maybe it makes more sense in Haskell or other programming language. This is the query function. Next. Composite function. This function is actually accepting function as its parameters. It can be very useful, let's say you are... For example, indeed, I have a variable double, which you... Whatever parameter you are getting, which is $0, times 2, and you also have another function, add1, which $0 and plus 1, then the composite function can combine the double and add1, and it also has an additional parameter to the end. This function can combine everything together and return back the value to you. Let's go to the demo. We'll have a composite function. We'll call it function A and for simplicity, let's say this is a function here. You return it as its own function, which accept the parameter integer and return back the parameter. We have a function B, which accept the same integer and return back the integer parameter. I don't want this function to return back me... Just be very simple. Yeah, let's go like this first. So, parameter composite requires to have a function, and the function be exactly the same thing. And it will return back the function, which accept an integer and return back an integer to you. Sounds a little bit confusing, but just try to be as easy as possible. So, let's say function A, whatever result it gets, it needs to call function B, and function B requires to get the value which is getting from this one. This is called $0. Turn. That's it. We call it inside a closure. Yeah, but you have to call it as it's escaping. It's escaping. So, let's say I have a function. I would say whatever number I would give it to you, double, double function. And I can create the function, like an inline function as a variable. So, let me do it. I would say this function would be something like this. Then, that function, which whatever value it gets, times 2. I also have another function, plus 1. Whatever value you get, plus 1. So, let's put them together. Compose function. I would say my first function is double function. Yeah, double function. Double function. And my second function is a plus 1. Plus 1. So, this compose actually came back to another function, which requires to accept an integer. Which I would say, let's say 3. This would give you 8. Sorry, can't have it that way. Yeah. So, this function, first, it would go to function 8, which is double the number, and then it would go to function B, which is plus 1 the number. This is a little bit more advanced, but I can go through how to make this thing a little bit simpler in the next slide by functional training. The next important thing about functional programming is avoid mutability. In the suite world, it's very easy, as long as we're using the struct classes and we have to avoid using any sort of mutable variable. If you want to update a value from a rate, it's better to create a new one. Or it's also good to use a node tree. If you know it, it's more efficient than that. Keep on creating new array. And the last bit about functional programming which is also a very important method, which is called functional training. Imagine you have a function that is taking students as a parameter, and you want to look for find the last few students, and then from there you call the sort results, and then from there you want to call the sprint printing function, which would be the final result. It's kind of hard to look in this way, which is the custom operator is used for the suite. We can define our own custom operator, which would say this is a student, and then find the last student, and so on and so on, which is part of the functional composition of this lesson. Let me just do it before I go to conclusion. So, I have, so this is my array, and I have just a number as a sample. I have a function to sort array, remove duplicate, remove first, reverse array, and just for duplicate array. And this is how I call it. This is kind of similar to the one in the example. Reverse array, remove first, and remove duplicate and sort array. So, in order to make this one nicer, you have to go write our own precedence. Let's say I want to go for this kind of style. So, keep on going and going. So, my first one is, it's solved. I want to pass the array, and pass that one to the sort array, and then pass that one to remove duplicate, and pass remove duplicate to remove first, and remove first to sort. I feel this is more readable, but if you have a lot of custom operator, of course, it's going to be very confusing to look at who wrote this function first. So, let's write a custom operator. This is infix operator. So, you can say infix, pretty cool. Define it like this. Function, infix, function this. So, the first thing is the left variable, which I'm getting, I would call it just a value. It's a integer. Pretty simple. Then, next is a function, a custom function, I'll just call it fun. And this will get an array of integer, and returns an array of integer. So, this will take integer, and then also we have a function that knows how to handle this integer, and also returns a very nice integer for us. All right. In fact, if you don't mind, you can go for a generic function. If anyone is familiar with generic functions, if not, if I just continue this way. In our lost audience. Term, say, okay. Actually, there's no need for a generic function. So, this is a generic function, which integers accept a value, and have a function, which accepts the same kind of array of integer return back to integer, and that one also returns back to the value you want. So, if you go left to the right, I'll read it. This will pass the value, and then sort array as a function. And the return also going to be, and the return is going to be the left side for the right side. And so, I keep on continuing. Left side is going to be answered, and then add into the function to the right side until you get the result. That's all. And that's it for functional programming. It's confusing. I know I have too much advanced programming, but the thing is that, I don't think functional programming has any place in the suite at the moment, because it's not created with the suite, it's came without the languages. But at some point we can follow some of the good practices that functional programming brings, like the not query function. I don't think there's any good use case for us. But functional changing or how clean our code should be looked like in a function, have a clean, nice sync code and nice output, not any more side effects around it. And that's it. This is the source, if you guys are interested to find out more about functional programming suite. So, any questions? Yes. One of the things about functional programming languages is that they have efficient data structures for functional programming. They can do that closure, but they still have data structures that allow you to do sharing, for example. When you create new instances, when you create new instances, most of the structure is shared. So your memory usage doesn't go out of the roof. But with Swift, that is going to be quite painful because whenever you call a map or reduce, for example, you create a new instance. And when you have Arc in play here, then you have routine release, routine release, routine release, happening all the time for these objects. You don't actually have structure sharing. So wouldn't that make functional programming in general quite inefficient if you do it everywhere all the time? It depends what part of the functional programming you want to use. I would say only part of your app, not the whole thing you replace it with a functional program because it then makes it harder to read. And structure sharing, most of the part in the iOS update is already doing that. If you try to write your own link list for an array, believe the current Swift array is more efficient than writing your own link list to try to do the structure sharing for you. There's actually a benchmark for you. I was searching for the same structure sharing. I believe overall it's good to use partially not the whole thing of the app because I don't think it really belongs to this Swift program. Thank you very much.


You're listening to the ECB podcast, bringing you insights into the world of economics and central banking. My name is Katie Ranger. This year, the ECB turns 25. As part of the celebrations, our President Christine Lagarde looked back at the story of the euro, including its role in uniting people across Europe. She also explored what the next chapter could hold. The euro is yours, and the ECB acts for you. It is a pleasure to welcome all of you to this reception marking the 25th anniversary of the ECB and the euro system. It was Helmut Kohl, former German Chancellor, who famously observed that peace means more than just an absence of war. And at its root, the story of the euro is one of building the foundation for lasting peace. It is a story that stems from Europe's far-sighted decision after the Second World War to bind its economies together so tightly that our future would be inseparable, and which in turn created the most powerful logic underpinning European integration. This engine of integration meant that whenever we faced trials, we did not retreat into division and let what we had built together fail. Instead, laboriously on occasion, we met those challenges head-on and together. And it was this same spirit that made from the late 80s onwards the single currency a necessary next step on our European journey, irreversible. But remember those days. At that time, both Europe and the world were changing. First, our common market was evolving into the single market. This made it even more important to remove the prospect of competitive devaluations among major economies, since that would have undermined trust and turned the tide against openness. But with global capital flows multiplying, Europe's fixed exchange rate system was becoming increasingly unstable, a problem epitomized by the exchange rate mechanism crisis in 1992, 1993. Second, the global integration of finance was also threatened in Europeans with the loss of monetary sovereignty. The monetary policies of large countries that issued global currencies, especially the United States, were exerting ever larger global effects. Regardless of the exchange rate regime used, this meant that the scope for smaller countries to set monetary conditions in line with their domestic needs was gradually narrowing. Third, and I should have started with that, as the Berlin Wall fell and the Cold War ended, there were new fundamental questions about the direction of Europe and who would hole sway within it. And that created a powerful need for new European symbols that could tie people within a larger and more diverse union. The Euro was the logical answer to all three of these changes. It offered Europeans stability, sovereignty and solidarity. And the Euro delivered stability, sovereignty and solidarity through crisis, the crisis. And we can be grateful for the full sight of Europe's visionary founders when the Euro was born on January 1, 1999, when we all remember exactly what we were doing those days. The founders could never have imagined the crisis that lay ahead. The first president of the ECB, William Duesenberg, late win, faced September 11 and the dot-com crisis. His successor, President Jean-Claude Trichet, thank you Jean-Claude for being here tonight, had to navigate the global financial crisis and face the sovereign debt crisis in its early days. Which my predecessor, President Mario Draghi, thank you Mario for being with us, inherited and he had to contend with fears about the very future of the Euro area, followed by a prolonged period of too low inflation. And my own presidency has already seen the pandemic and economic lockdown, Russia's brutal and acceptable invasion of Ukraine, the energy crisis and the return of way too high inflation. Yet the fundamental promise of the Euro has held true. And thanks in no small part to our monetary union, we've been able to weather it all and come out just a bit stronger each and every step of the way. First, the Euro has brought us stability. With stable exchange rate, the single market and the commitment to peace that it represents has not only survived, but it has thrived. One can only imagine how tempting protectionism would have been if the possibility of competitive devaluations had not been eradicated. The Euro has also shielded us from external shocks. Soon after its launch, it quickly established itself as the world's second reserve and invoicing currency to this day still holds this position. As a result, the price of more than half of what we trade is now denominated in Euro. And for the other half, the single currency has helped insulate the economy from excessive exchange rate volatility. According to ECB staff estimates, had the Euro not been introduced, the depreciation of some Euro area countries, which will remain unnamed against the US dollar, could have been up to 14% larger during the great financial crisis and up to 10% larger during the pandemic. Of course, instability has arisen in other areas that were missing from the original design of the Euro area, most painfully during the sovereign debt crisis. But where some of the gaps have appeared, they have been filled, most importantly through the creation of European banking supervision. The Euro has increased our sovereignty, allowing us to be the master of our own economic destiny and to set the monetary policy that Europe needs for stable prices and sustained growth. Thanks to our single monetary policy, ECB has been able to respond quickly and decisively to every kind of shock we have faced. And we have done so even when other large jurisdictions were pulling in a different direction. And this was perhaps most visible when the US Federal Reserve System began a tightening cycle in 2013, while the Euro area was still recovering from the sovereign debt crisis. Our policy independence allowed us to chart our own course and begin a recovery that lasted for 26 straight quarters. Third, the Euro has created solidarity within Europe. It has provided a symbol of unity through incredibly testing times and motivation to support each other through the darkest of hours. And for these reasons, new countries continue to join. Over the past 25 years, we have welcomed nine new members to the Euro area, bringing us from the 11 original to 20 with the most recent Croatia joining at the start of this year. And this is not the end of the journey. We have now reached a position where people can actually separate institutions from policies which in my view is the hallmark of success. They may like or dislike the policies of the ECB, but they mostly no longer question whether being part of the Euro area is the right choice. While the share of people who support the Euro hit a low at around 60% during the sovereign crisis, that figure is now close to 80%. And the depth of this support has also been demonstrated at the ballot box whenever membership of the Euro area has featured in national elections. Does that mean that work is done? We can rest on our laurels? No. It means that we are now in a position to make the best choices for our monetary union rather than about having a union at all. It is now time for the next chapter in the Euro story to be written. And that will depend on the actions that we as Europeans undertake. We all of us. For the ECB our immediate and overriding priority will be to bring inflation back down to our 2% medium term target in a timely manner. And we will do so. But as I recently said, faced with shifting geopolitics, digital transformations and the threat of a changing climate, there will be more challenges ahead which the ECB will need to address. We must continue to provide stability in a world that is anything but stable. And we are also counting on other policymakers to do their part. A monetary union is not an endpoint. It is a constant process of uniting. Each generation of leaders must continue it. Union should be multifaceted and include fiscal, financial and banking dimensions to develop a higher degree of integration, especially if the Euro is to cement its international status. When Wim Duesenberg accepted the Schalemann price on behalf of the Euro in 2002, he portrayed the Euro as a triple contract. It is a contract between countries to pull their strength, a contract between the ECB and the people of Europe to deliver on their needs, most of all price stability, and a contract between Europeans themselves to share their common currency, so he said. But a contract does not only grant rights, it also assigns responsibilities. And now it is up to all of us, leaders, institutions and citizens, to continue to honour this contract for many years to come. Well that brings us to the end of this very special episode for the ECB's 25th anniversary, featuring a speech our President Christine Lagarde gave at the official celebrations. Listeners be sure to check out the show notes for more on this topic. You've been listening to the ECB podcast with Katie Ranger. If you like what you've heard, please subscribe and leave us a review. Until next time, thanks for listening.