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The little boy who washed up on a Turkish beach was one of 13 million kids who aren’t going to school because of war, the UN says. |
The little boy whose lifeless body photographed on a beach in Turkey sparked the kind of outcry that is long overdue has a name. He is 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi, and a different published photo shows another disturbing image, that of a happy, smiling child who didn’t deserve to die. |
The toddler’s journey may have ended tragically, but it wasn’t for his family’s lack of trying to get to safety legitimately. His family, most of whom are now dead, including his mother and 5-year-old brother, Galip, had fallen through an ever-widening crack in which even the survivors of such harrowing journeys are tr... |
This week the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) released a troubling report (PDF) as part of its “No Lost Generation” campaign on the dismal state of children caught up in the crisis. |
Topping the statistics is the fact that more than 13 million children are not in school in the affected areas, meaning a whole generation of uneducated people will grow up in war zones and hardship areas. The report notes that an estimated 8,805 schools are not in use, either because they have been bombed or because th... |
Those uneducated children will have little hope integrating into Europe as adults, not least of all because they will scarcely be able to attain skills for the competitive European job market, which will push them further into the margins. Putting aside for a moment the irreparable scars this lack of education will hav... |
It is estimated that one in five children caught up in the crisis right now suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder that will likely never be treated, leading to any number of problems these children will face as adults. |
Aside from the obvious emotional impact those entering Europe endure, the children also suffer from any number of physical maladies as well, including malnutrition, tooth decay, and chronic skin diseases, including parasites and head lice that come from living rough for extended periods of time. Few have had vaccines, ... |
Still, amid unthinkable odds, there are fleeting moments of relative joy. This week, two babies were born in middle of the refugee mass in an underpass near the Keleti central train station in Budapest, Hungary, both to Syrian mothers. One was named Sada, which means shelter. The other was named Shems, which means hope... |
This law is fundamentally unjust because it specifically targets students. If the law were, nothing can be ridden on a street besides a vehicle, it might pass; however many adults who complain about skateboarding on city streets, enjoy leisurely rides on their bicycles, and many more require them as their means to get ... |
Duncan O'Brien has compiled a history of the ?white ships? ? the Malolo, Mariposa, Monterey, Lurline and Matsonia ? from 1927 to 1978. |
Anytime travel becomes more difficult (or at least less likely) in times of economic woe, there is always the refuge of books that for some are the next best thing to being there. |
-- "The White Ships: A Tribute to Matson's Luxury Liners," by Duncan O'Brien (2008, hardcover, 284 pages, $65 through the publisher): When it comes to ocean liners and San Francisco, the name Matson still evokes the romance and wonder from the golden age of pre-airline Pacific voyages. To experience Hawaii on a Matson ... |
In what obviously is a very personal labor of love, Duncan O'Brien has compiled a history of the "white ships" - the Malolo, Mariposa, Monterey, Lurline and Matsonia - from 1927 to 1978, told through timelines, text and, most importantly, hundreds of photographs. The book's real strength is as a scrapbook: The writing ... |
Among the gems are a photo of Hilo Hattie performing a hula on the deck of the Matsonia in 1948; an advertisement for the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco offering rooms for $3.50 per night; and several pages of celebrity passengers, including Cary Grant, Eddie Cantor and Elvis Presley on his first visit to the islands. |
Over the course of 248 pages, O'Brien describes the beginnings, revels in the glory years and mourns the eventual obsolescence and death of the Matson ships. The preface makes it clear that his family spent a good amount of time on these vessels. It shows in the book. |
"The White Ships" is available from www.whiteships.com. |
-- "The Liner: Retrospective & Renaissance," by Philip Dawson (2005, hardcover, 256 pages, $30 at Amazon.com): A good companion book to "The White Ships" with a broader topic - the history of ocean liners in general, especially in the context of the Queen Mary 2, a somewhat-ocean liner launched in 2004. |
An extensive, well-organized history book with fabulous photos. |
-- "Cruise Confidential: A Hit Below the Waterline: Where the Crew Lives, Eats, Wars and Parties. One Crazy Year Working on Cruise Ships" by Brian David Bruns (2008, paperback, 384 pages, $15 at Amazon.com): OK, other than having the world's worst subtitle, this is a really entertaining true tale by a guy who struggles... |
The book is not for everyone: There is a fair amount of vividly described debauchery and rough language, but the tone is consistent throughout and Bruns paints a clear picture of "how the sausage is made" on the average cruise ship. The only complaint is you stop feeling sorry for the guy - who signed on to follow his ... |
If nothing else, Bruns' book offers passengers a few lessons, including: Being sleep-deprived for a year isn't a good idea; tip well, but also urge cruise lines to pay a living wage; expect good service, but don't be the person who thinks his ticket entitles him to act like Emperor Caligula. |
-- Fodor's cruise-related guides: Unlike the travel guide companies that don't categorize cruises as "serious travel," Fodor's offers a series of books that are handy for anyone planning a voyage in Europe, Alaska and the Caribbean. Most have been updated within the past 12 to 18 months, but make sure to get the most r... |
They are available for $16.95 to $23.95 at bookstores and at Amazon.com. |
-- As always, true cruise-a-philes should get the 2009 version of Berlitz's "Cruising & Cruise Ships" by Douglas Ward. It's an essential reference book for anyone who loves to go on - or even talk about - cruise ships. Available for $24.95 at a few bookstores and Amazon.com. |
Velia “Betty” Rodriguez, 87, a resident of San Marcos, Texas, passed away Dec. 20, 2018. Funeral Services were held Monday, Dec. 24, 2018, at Thomason Funeral Home in San Marcos, Texas. She will be laid to rest at Memory Lawn Memorial Park in Martindale. For more information and to sign the online guest register please... |
When the Rangers begin their day in Surprise by shooting free throws, it is indeed March Madness. |
At about 8:30 each morning the players gather around a hoop erected at their facility and essentially have a free-throw shooting contest. It’s a one-on-one, double-elimination, five free-throw contest each day that will run throughout their stay in Arizona. |
It’s team-building, via another sport. |
Banister got the idea after meeting last July with Seattle Seahawks’ coach Pete Carroll. The manager is also injecting more energy into camp by allowing music to be played on the team’s back fields in Surprise. |
If football plus basketball plus music in March makes the Rangers field better come October, I’m all for it. |
Do you stay awake at night, worried about the coming Japanese assault on the US computer industry? Do you keep careful watch on monthly auto import figures, just in case Toyota tries to sneak in more than its limit? Have you ever worn a ''Boycott EC Steel'' T-shirt? |
As far as import-export issues go, it's the big boys who get most of the attention. First it was autos, now it's steel. Seven domestic steelmakers, in suits filed Jan. 11 with the Commerce Department and International Trade Commission, have charged competitors in 11 countries with unfair trade practices. US Steel fired... |
In 1978 hard times were staring West Paris, Maine, straight in the face. With 125 workers, the largest employer in town was the family-run Penley Corporation, a clothespin manufacturer. And at that time cheap clothespins from the Far East were grabbing almost 60 percent of the US market. |
The domestic industry - five small companies in Maine and Vermont - was ''headed for its last roundup,'' in the words of an expert observer. |
Enter the ITC. After investigating the situation, the commission recommended protection for the besieged industry. And in 1979 President Carter limited imports to 2 million gross annually for each of three price categories. |
The limits expire on Feb. 22, 1982. Two weeks ago, the International Trade Commission released a report to the President on clothespins, recommending the quotas be extended for another three years. |
American makers claim their product - mostly a spring-type pin made with New England hardwood - is a ''Cadillac'' compared with the cheaper imports from Taiwan and Hong Kong. And, after the planned installation of new equipment, they say prices will be competitive with imports. |
President Reagan, despite his free trade penchant, may find it difficult to ignore the ITC recommendation. The clothespin industry is politically appealing - most manufacturers are small, Ma and Pa operations with a New England entrepreneurial spirit. |
Ideal hopes to obtain an exclusion order, which would prohibit illegal cubes from entering the country, as well as a cease-and-desist order to stop domestic pirating. |
The ITC has agreed that something illegal may be afoot. On Dec. 16, the commission ordered an investigation into the problem. |
The ruling New Azerbaijan Party (NAP) believes the Jan.20 tragedy should be legally assessed. |
"The political evaluation of the Jan.20 tragedy is there, but there should also be a legal assessment," Ali Ahmadov, NAP's executive secretary, said. |
According to Ahmadov, the events of January 1990 must be discussed once again in the Azerbaijani parliament. |
"The NAP will do everything in its power to intensify discussions and taking appeal to world public opinion and parliaments of the world," he added. |
On June 16, the Huffington Post reported that Obama instructed White House aides to draft an executive order for him to sign that would ban federal contractors from discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees in the workplace. |
The move is a clear indication that the Obama Administration is prepared to act on an LGBT rights issue when congress has not acted, according to the Huffington Post report. |
The administration has been calling on congress to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would make it illegal for any employer to fire or harass someone based on their sexual orientation. The bill was passed by the senate, but has been stalled in the house. Speaker of the House John Boehner has not allowed... |
In his statement on the executive order, Nadler (D-Brooklyn-Manhattan) referred to the stalled legislation. |
“Today is a great day for equality and I vigorously applaud President Obama. However, even after the signing of this executive order, there will still be far too many workplaces where LGBT workers are not protected from discrimination. Congress must follow President Obama’s lead and pass the Employment Non-Discriminati... |
Still, there is plenty to celebrate, according to Nadler. |
“President Obama’s executive order will take the American values of fairness and equality and place them into the law for federal contractors. Civil rights are best advanced by protecting all members of the LGBT community,” Nadler said. |
Nadler, vice chairman of the House LGBT Equality Caucus, spearheaded the amicus brief submitted by 212 members of congress in United States v. Windsor, the landmark case that successfully challenged the federal Defense of Marriage Act’s (DOMA) definition of marriage as unions between men and women only. |
Nadler is author of the “Respect for Marriage Act,” a piece of legislation that would repeal DOMA, and is the author of the “Uniting American Families Act,” which advocated on behalf of immigration rights for bi-national couples. |
Female experimental rock. Sounds 4 tracky home studio, the way it should be. Strange electronics, simple beats, no wave moments. Subdued female vocs, male here and there. Treated organic instruments. Tape tricks. Primo stuff, play any. |
1) (1:27) post punk no wave dissonant urgent punky 2) (2:38) simple slow weird pop. 3)* (2:11) bizarre low fi electro abstract noise feel 4) (0:15) interlude 5)* (2:41) male vocs appear, this ones more electro creepy than previous 6) (1:23) woodwinds join the weird fray 7)* (1:34) cool plodding, weird with melodic voca... |
Falcon Heights, MN — Philando Castile, a 32-year-old employee of a St. Paul Public school, died after being shot by a St. Anthony police officer during a traffic stop. Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, used her mobile phone to Facebook Live the immediate aftermath of the shooting. In the graphic 10-minute video, ... |
-Alton Sterling And Now Philando Castile: How Many Of Us Have To Be Killed For Things To Change? |
WARNING: This video contains graphic content. Viewer discretion is advised. |
On the video — which was removed from Facebook and placed on YouTube — Reynolds claims Castile was pulled over for a “busted taillight” and that he was trying to grab his license and registration when the officer shot him four times. |
During the video, Reynolds said that Castile did have a gun on him because he is licensed to carry and says he wasn’t reaching for it but his wallet instead. |
At one point Reynold shifts the camera to show her boyfriend in a bloodied white t-shirt. “Oh my God, please don’t tell me he’s dead. Please don’t tell me my boyfriend just went like that,” she said. |
She was eventually told to exit the vehicle, however Reynolds kept her camera rolling for the video to feed live on the social media network. The cellphone video shows officers with their guns drawn and one holding her daughter who was once in the back seat during the ordeal. |
Castile was rushed to Hennepin County Medical center where he succumbed to his wounds. Castile’s uncle told local TV station KARE 11 that his nephew was a “upstanding young man.” His mother, Valerie Castile told WCCO that her son was a cafeteria supervisor at J.J. Hill Montessori School and that he was going to turn 33... |
St. Anthony’s Interim Police Chief Jon Mangseth said he hasn’t seen the Facebook Live video. He says that the officer involved in the shooting has been on the force for five years. However, he stopped short of going into specifics of the case. |
Castile’s death occurred one day after another high-profile police killing of a black man. Anthony Sterling was shot and killed by Baton Rouge police officers outside a convenient store. Sterling’s shooting caused a national outcry from the black community and news of Castile’s death may only add to that angst. |
According to KARE 11, protests and vigils have already begun at the scene of Castile’s shooting. A crowd of nearly 100 people chanted, “We will stand our ground. We will not move,” as officers tried to clear the scene. Another crowd consisting of Castile’s friends and family gathered at the hospital to console each oth... |
The British invasion of the U.S. government IT market continues as QinetiQ Group Plc announced an agreement to buy Top 100 company Apogen Technologies Inc. for about $300 million. |
QinetiQ, pronounced "kinetic," made its first play into the U.S. market with the purchases of Foster-Miller Inc. of Waltham, Mass., and Westar Aerospace & Defense Group Inc. of St. Louis in late 2004. |
The company joins other British firms such as BAE Systems Plc, Pearson Plc and Serco Plc as active acquirers in the U.S. government market. |
The Apogen deal, announced Aug. 3, creates a third platform for growth in the United States, said Sir John Chisolm, chief executive officer of Farnborough, U.K.-based QinetiQ. |
Foster-Miller and Westar brought in technology, systems engineering and customer support business, and Apogen will be QinetiQ's IT platform. |
"Our objective now is to develop the synergies between these three operating businesses, which together delivered some $600 million in revenue in 2004," Chisolm said. |
Apogen of McLean, Va., will become a wholly owned subsidiary of QinetiQ's North America operations once the deal closes in September, said Todd Stottlemyer, Apogen's chief executive officer. |
Apogen, a provider of technology solutions to the U.S. government, will retain its name, management team and staff of 900, Stottlemyer said. |
The merger will allow Apogen to expand by adding QinetiQ's capabilities to its offerings. The company also will be positioned to pursue business opportunities in the United Kingdom and the rest of the European Union. |
Having "a $2 billion company behind us gives us more credibility for larger opportunities," Stottlemyer said. |
QinetiQ was formed in 2001 when the British government privatized the majority of its Defense Evaluation and Research Agency, part of the U.K. Defense Ministry. It employs more than 12,000 workers in the United Kingdom and the United States, including 10,000 scientists and engineers, and has a U.S. sales operation in C... |
In February 2003, The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm based in Washington acquired a 33.8 percent stake in QinetiQ. |
Acquisitions will continue to be a part of QinetiQ's growth strategy, Chisolm said. On Aug. 1, Foster-Miller announced it was buying Planning Systems Inc. of Reston, Va., for $42 million. PSI is a 350-employee applied science and systems engineering firm that had 2004 revenues of $44.6 million. |
The deal for Apogen will be QinetiQ's first acquisition of a Washington Technology Top 100 company. Apogen is No. 48 on the 2005 list, which ranks companies according to their prime contracting revenue. |
Apogen had 2004 revenue of $205 million, Stottlemyer said. Its government clients include the Agriculture, Defense, Energy and Homeland Security departments, IRS, Census Bureau, Customs and Border Protection and the Navy. |
Apogen itself is a creation of an acquisition strategy and is backed by the equity investment group Arlington Capital Partners. Apogen was created after ITS Services Inc. of Springfield, Va., and Science & Engineering Associates Inc. of New Orleans merged in January 2004. |
ACS to acquire Ascom's transport division Affiliated Computer Services Inc. will acquire the transport revenue division of Ascom AG for $104 million. ACS plans to fund the acquisition through its existing credit. |
The acquisition takes Dallas-based ACS into the international transportation services industry and expands its U.S. portfolio in the transit and parking payment markets, company officials said. |
The transport revenue division of Bern, Switzerland-based Ascom comprises three business units: fare collection, airport parking and toll collections. The acquisition adds 800 employees to the company. |
Where others have used paint, Eric Daigh uses the humblest of office supplies. And he’s become world-renowned for it. |
Artist Eric Daigh used exactly 22,765 pushpins to create a portrait of Pinterest founder Ben Silbermann for a feature in Fast Company’s 2012 Design Issue. Co.Design interviewed Eric Daigh to learn more about his creative process. |
In 2009, Eric Daigh was your typical multimedia designer. He worked on album covers. Websites. Pretty much anything you could build and sell with an Adobe product. But that year, he won an art contest in his home state of Michigan, submitting a portrait he’d made for his wife’s anniversary. Instead of ink or paint, it ... |
A few years later, Daigh spends about half of his waking hours creating custom commissioned pushpin portraits for some of the biggest brands in the world, like Acura and 3M, while making his way into both the Guinness Book of World Records and Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. He has no formal training in physical art. But y... |
“My father is a painter, so that was always a viable path. Where he made money was he was as an illustrator back when that was a thing you could be,” Daigh tells me. “And then he brought home the first Mac in 1989, and all his colleagues had told him this is the future. But being a draftsman, he had no idea how to make... |
Daigh renders a paint-by-numbers grid. |
About 20 years later, Daigh would become restless in his digital world, craving the satisfaction of creating something analog. |
That experiment turned into a rocket for Daigh’s career. Using software, he simplified a photo of his brother into just five colors, creating an image that’s essentially a very large thumbnail. With the pre-mapped color grid in-hand, Daigh placed correlating pushpins in each spot, recreating this low-fidelity image int... |
That technique led to the portrait of his wife, which led to winning an art show, which led to putting some pieces up in a gallery, which led to his first sale. |
Now, Daigh has his pushpin mosaics down to a science. He photographs his own portrait, runs it through a software conversion process that creates (red, yellow, blue, black, and white) dots and then he examines it at the pixel level for algorithmic abnormalities, which he’s gotten very, very good at spotting. Whereas th... |
While most artists will go on about “inspiration” or “vision,” Daigh’s view of his work is far more practical. He considers his job to be “problem solving,” and in that regard, he sees the role of an artist as parallel to that of a parent, teacher, politician, or engineer … well, almost. |
Of course, Daigh’s pushpin portraiture is about as close as you can get to a winning formula in the art world. Maybe that’s why Daigh is throwing himself back into the realm of the unknown, working on new, avant garde approaches that will challenge the very meaning of a portrait. The first is essentially a television t... |
And notably, neither project would have been possible for his father to create before that first Mac. |
As odd as these approaches may sound now, to Daigh, it fit perfectly into his style. Not only are they all computer-generated; they’re all, ultimately, just images of people. “As much as I try to come up with something different, I don’t know how much more interesting anything else could be to me than portraiture,” he ... |
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