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Geographically, the selection leans towards the south and the west, ranging from ‘pokey’ grant-driven tower houses, to fortresses, fortified houses and grand Gothic piles of the more recent centuries, some of which are now plus-five star hotels such as Ashford and Dromoland. |
Others, like Limerick’s Castle Oliver, linked to one of Europe’s most famous courtesans Lola Montez, have gone back to private homes, while ostensibly at the opposite end of the moral spectrum, Kylemore Abbey is now an income-earning visitor attraction for a religious order. |
Image-wise, the spread spans aerial and drone photography for locational purposes, atmospheric and infrared-filtered black and whites, mossy and ivied takeovers of ruins, and crafted and recreated interiors. Included are old lithographs and depictions of artefacts and ancestry. |
Within, there’s tales of treachery, scheming, inheritances gone wrong, accidental shootings, and questionable conceptions. Check out Galway’s Dunguaire Castle’s script, for example and the origin of the nickname ‘Sponge Baby’ for a 20th century scion’s birth to an allegedly never-consumated marriage. |
This well-researched, well ferreted out publication (castle folk were the Hello! Magazine tribe of their day, remember) is an engrossing condensing of centuries of Irish castle life and death. |
Tarquin Blake shows in sterling imagery the precarious setting of Antrim’s Dunluce Castle. It had a chunk fall into the sea in 1639, with loss of dinner, tables, silverware and, oh, staff (nine victims), thanks to coastal erosion and a cliff-top setting. |
Much of Dunluce Castle’s stones remain standing, but shifting, perhaps, is Blarney Castle’s famous stone’s schtick. |
Delving into Cork’s Blarney Castle — (surely one of the world’s most famous castles?) he points out at there’s a bit of dispute as to whether or not the many thousands of stone-kissing suitors in search of the gift of the gab are smacking their lips on the wrong receptacle. |
There is, it would appear, a muck-stirring tabloid hack, buried (shallowly) in Tarquin Blake’s own bones, and he has close on a thousand years of Irish castle dynastic skullduggery to delve into. His exploring Ireland’s Castles should run, and run. |
More than thirty bills regarding foster children are already being worked through in the Indiana capital. |
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - Child advocates in the Hoosier state have been working closely with lawmakers. They say they hope new laws will create some common sense changes for the state's most vulnerable kids. |
"Our state's most vulnerable children need us and there needs to be some accountability on how they're treated." |
Advocate and foster mom Kristi Cundiff says many of the proposed bills make a lot of common sense. |
"This is extremely important because Indiana's child welfare system has been in trouble for a long time." |
Cundiff says she knows of thirty-one bills so far and there could be more. |
"Some of them do duplicate each other and so what we're doing is working with representatives and senators to let them know that these are duplicate bills." |
Child advocates like Cundiff are paying close attention to bills that would help foster parents provide for the children in their care. |
"We're asking them to take care of this child and to love them as their own but we're not willing to support that family financially in helping with childcare, diapers or wipes or any of those needs." |
Cundiff says other bills will hold the Department of Child Services more accountable. |
"There are some very significant, very good bills that is really going to help DCS and give them guidance and give them direction. They're just going to really help the foster families and the foster children of Indiana." |
Cundiff explains many of these bills are so new they are not even online yet. She says voters should push their elected leaders to make common sense changes for the kids. |
The International Olympic Committee is letting Russia off far too easy. Russia has argued nonsensically its new anti-gay law is in keeping with the Olympic Charter's protections against discrimination, and the IOC simply has accepted it. |
The law, approved by the Russian parliament in June, prohibits "propaganda" in support of "nontraditional" sexual relationships. This means virtually any expression of homosexual love, or approval of or information about homosexuality. Russians face fines; foreigners, deportation. But this is not discrimination, Russia... |
The IOC said this incredible explanation amounts to "strong written reassurances from the Russian government everyone will be welcome at the Games in Sochi regardless of their sexual orientation." |
That's not the issue, though. Being gay hasn't been illegal in Russia since 1993 - even if being openly gay is increasingly dangerous. |
The point is tolerating homosexuality as long as it is closeted is not a policy of fairness. And, as the sixth fundamental principle of Olympism has it: "Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olym... |
New details emerged Monday about the mysterious blueprints that led to a criminal investigation and a costly reset of the quarter-billion-dollar Colorado Convention Center expansion project. |
The scandal, which has embroiled two major development companies, began when a city employee discovered unauthorized changes to plans for the expansion of the center. Until now, the city has been vague about the change, but city attorney Kristin Bronson provided new details in an interview Monday with The Denver Post. |
The unauthorized changes to the blueprints, she said, were related to previously rejected plans for a $4 million-plus suite of rooms. |
“It’s an executive suite of offices and boardroom that was added that was outside the city process, which caused a red flag to go up,” Bronson said. |
The idea of an executive suite had been debated for months, but the project’s planners ultimately decided not to include it. Bronson could not say who might have changed the plans, or why. |
To read the full story, click here or go to denverpost.com. |
Large estate lot situated in beautiful gated community offers exclusivity and privacy in this one of a kind neighborhood. Over 9 beautifully wooded acres provide the perfect backdrop for your new custom home. This small estate community features amenities normally reserved for large neighborhoods, including a recreatio... |
Tomáš Zdechovský is a member of the center-right European People’s Party in the European Parliament. |
He spoke with Sarantis Michalopoulos. |
Several surveys suggest that illicit tobacco trade has increased in the EU over the last years. What are the implications for Europe? |
There are far-reaching implications of the illicit tobacco trade. The loss for EU member states national governments is estimated at €11.3 billion in 2015 and is expected to reach €13 billion in lost tax revenues. |
This means illicit tobacco trade causes severe damage to both the legal trade and national economies. Both member states, particularly the ones bordering Belarus, and legal traders lose huge amounts of money. So it would not be prudent to leave this without any adequate response. |
In Belarus, there is massive tobacco production, which is supported by the black markets in Poland, Latvia, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and the Czech Republic. |
We are talking about quite cheap products whose quality is not very high and are illegally exported, apparently untaxed. They are legally produced with a very low taxation regime and are exported illegally. |
Could the failure to combat illicit tobacco trade be attributed to poor cooperation between EU member states, whether customs or intelligence services? |
It could be. Cooperation among EU member states and their intelligence services is indeed a crucial condition in tackling problems that go beyond borders. |
But for me, it’s more related to border police cooperation. There are people who work against fraud and financial crimes but their staffing is insufficient. In addition, there is not so much information exchanges between Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary. We need a better government and police cooperation. |
I was recently informed by Europol and Eurojust that there were many tobacco smugglers from Belarus and that there was insufficient exchange of information among the member states. |
We know the names of companies, which are “mobile”. Once they realise they are spotted, they move to other countries from one day to the other, e.g. from Poland to Slovakia and then in Hungary. |
They are organised in an excellent way. They can be found in so many countries and they have a wide network. |
Apart from Belarus, where does illegal tobacco products come from? |
Mainly Ukraine and, in the past, also Moldova. Producers are also using the Russian market as they can take advantage of the customs union. From Russia, the products then come back to Europe. |
You recently asked a parliamentary question to the Commission regarding the issue, focusing on Belarus. What could the EU do in order to convince the Belarus authorities to step up controls? |
Member states and the EU as a whole should put efficient pressure on Belarus to combat illicit tobacco trade with the EU. Sanctions should be imposed if Minsk does nothing about it. In my opinion, a kind of stick and carrot policy toward Belarus would be a fine solution. |
The EU should also put more pressure on the Belarus government to fight organised crime in the country. They are totally aware of the problem and they have to crack down on small producers. Belarus is interested in a better cooperation with Europol as well, but it needs to send a clear message that it is willing to sto... |
In some cases, I think the government in Belarus is closing its eyes on the problem due to the high level of corruption on the ground, especially among the local police authorities. The EU should make it clear that this corruption should not be accepted. It’s not only dangerous for the EU, it is also dangerous for them... |
The EU recently ended the collaboration with Philip Morris International on illicit tobacco trade. Do you believe that the EU can address the situation without the industry’s assistance? |
Tackling illicit tobacco trade is primarily a matter for the EU and the individual member states. However, the industry’s assistance plays an important role in combating illicit trade and counterfeiting as well. Their help is thus necessary because they have information on the ground. The industry has an interest in en... |
Will you take an initiative in the European Parliament on this? |
Of course. As a member of the Budgetary Control Committee of the European Parliament, I even have to. |
Next week, we are meeting with Ms Federica Mogherini and we will ask her about the issue, what she intends to do. Belarus has declared it wants closer cooperation with the EU but we need to make it clear that if they wish to boost the economic ties with us, they also have to deliver on specific commitments. |
Democratic friendships mean democratic practices and taxes need to be paid. |
In an exclusive interview with the India Today TV, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said that banned terror group ISIS may carry out terror strikes anywhere in the country using a single terrorist also known as ‘lone wolf’ to create a mayhem. |
The minister also said that certain steps have been taken to prevent such nefarious designs. |
“Challenges are there. We have to accept that it is a reality. The threat is there,” Rijiju told Karan Thapar in an interview to the India Today TV programme To The Point. |
Rijiju was replying to a question on the possibility of an ISIS ‘lone wolf’ carrying out a terror attack in India on the occasion of the seventh anniversary of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. |
Rijiju also said that Muslims from the southern states were attracted more to the ISIS ideology than their north Indian counterparts. |
“It is a reality (some South Indian Muslims getting attracted to ISIS). It is a fact. But we should not undermine our vigil in other parts of the country,” he said. |
Rijiju said the government has been successful in enhancing security apparatus after the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. |
Asked about the incidents of the hoisting of the ISIS flag in Jammu and Kashmir, the minister said these were isolated cases and not spread across the state or the country. |
Rijiju said some web portals are under watch for their role in spreading the ISIS propaganda, but it is important to note that the servers of the web portals were not located in India. |
Asked about the ongoing debate on alleged intolerance, the minister questioned why these comments were not raked up when there was a mass migration of north-east people from Bengaluru and Pune or when a student from Arunachal Pradesh was brutally killed on a Delhi street or when someone said that there might be tremor ... |
Rijiju said the incidents of communal violence have gone down ever since the NDA government came to power in May 2014. |
“This is Hollywood — not really,” the director joked to the class, before chatting quietly with Alexander about how to tweak her performance for a different shot. A film crew then signaled the next take with the crack of a clapperboard. |
Alexander was demonstrating several effective teaching techniques for a video-intensive online course aimed at helping higher education faculty improve their classroom performance. While many of the students who filled the room actually study under Alexander — the casting was meant to enhance authenticity — this partic... |
Faculty members at three Florida public higher education institutions — FAMU, Florida International University and Miami Dade College — are showcasing their teaching talents for the videos, piloting and providing feedback on the yet-incomplete course, or both. So far, participants in the Florida pilot programs have off... |
The project, which aims to boost student retention and graduation rates by improving teaching quality at the college level, is a collaboration of the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE), a New York City-based private company, and the American Council on Education (ACE), a national advocacy group repr... |
ACUE plans to finish developing the 26-unit course by June so it’ll be available for purchase in its complete form by September. The standard cost will be $1,500 per faculty member but will vary depending on how many faculty members at an institution enroll and whether participants want to take the entire course or onl... |
ACE’s role is to assess the scope and rigor of the course, similar to how the group evaluates military or workforce training programs to determine how they might translate into college credit, said Deborah Seymour, the advocacy group’s chief academic innovation officer. The group also has a financial stake in the cours... |
Seymour said ACE wanted to collaborate with ACUE on the program because the advocacy group’s historical mission has been to solve problems that arise in higher education. When veterans returned from their service during World War I and World War II, they were looking for a way to get college credit for their military t... |
MacCormack said adjunct professors were the original target audience when ACUE began developing the course. But college and university leaders where components of the course have been piloted have said the material is useful for faculty members with varying levels of experience. |
Administrators at the Florida schools that participated said faculty members appreciated the opportunity to learn new techniques and refine ones they already knew and that students reacted positively. Their comments were consistent with data ACUE provided from its exit surveys. |
At FAMU, 20 faculty members participated in the pilot that ended last month. Forty percent had one to five years of experience, 13 percent had between five and 10 years of experience, and 47 percent had more than 10 years of experience, according to data collected by ACUE. |
On ACUE’s exit surveys, 53 percent of participants said at least half of the techniques they studied during the pilot were new to them, and 100 percent said it was valuable to review techniques that they already knew. The group reported that 93 percent of faculty would recommend the course to the colleagues. |
FAMU president Elmira Mangum is on ACUE’s board of advisors. She joined last year at the request of the board’s chair, Matthew Goldstein, who is the former chancellor of the City University New York (CUNY) and knew Mangum when she was an administrator at Cornell University, according to an ACUE spokesman. |
At Miami Dade College, 36 faculty members completed a pilot that ended in November. The college plans to buy the course, but the details of the purchase are not yet worked out, said Lenore Rodicio, provost of academic and student affairs. |
At FIU, 86 percent of the 16 faculty members who participated had at least five years of experience. Eighty-six percent of participants reported that just a few of the techniques were new to them, but 100 percent found it valuable to review techniques they already knew, according to ACUE. Also, 86 percent said they wou... |
Isis Artze-Vega, FIU’s assistant vice president for teaching and learning, said she and other pedagogical experts first assessed the quality of the course modules before committing to the pilot. |
In addition to piloting the program, she and other faculty members also participated in the development of the course modules, either by giving interviews or allowing ACUE to film them teaching in their classrooms. She said she and the other faculty members who participated were not paid. |
FIU has not yet committed to purchasing the course, she said. |
Artze-Vega said FIU has strengthened the focus on teaching quality because of the state’s shift to performance-based funding for public universities. |
A familiar face at Riverside City Council meetings is making another run at a seat on the dais. |
Dvonne Pitruzzello, a teacher of at-risk students in Colton, jumped into what was a four-man race for Riverside mayor. She took out a petition to get signatures in lieu of the filing fee for the seat, which is on the June 5 ballot, City Clerk Colleen Nicol confirmed on Tuesday. |
Pitruzzello, 50, is the first candidate who’s not a current or former council member. She’ll face Ward 1 Councilman Mike Gardner, Ward 2 Councilman Andy Melendrez, Ward 3 Councilman William “Rusty” Bailey and former Councilman Ed Adkison. Gardner and Bailey also have taken out petitions, and Adkison has had an open cam... |
This is Pitruzzello’s second run for office in Riverside. In June, she came in last among four candidates for the Ward 1 council seat held by Gardner. |
In the run-up to that election and the months since, Pitruzzello has attended most council meetings and given input on a variety of city issues such as the charter review process. She also has combed through city finances and publicly raised a number of questions about how they’re managed and whether the city will be a... |
“I just don’t like the way they do business, and I figure we need somebody who knows how to read the audits and question the audits, and not somebody who goes along to get along,” Pitruzzello said Tuesday. She believes the city is in such a tenuous financial position that police and fire jobs could be at risk, she said... |
Adkison, Gardner and Melendrez have said they expect jobs, the economy and managing the city budget in the face of state cuts to be major election issues. Bailey said Tuesday that education is also key to the city’s economic future, and the mayor and council can use the bully pulpit to bring more attention to it. |
Other prospective mayoral candidates have until March9, when the nomination period closes, to start a campaign. More people are expected to run because Mayor Ron Loveridge has said he won’t seek a sixth term. |
Philadelphia Phillies shoot wrapped hot dogs into the stands. One seriously injured a woman's eye in the last few weeks. |
What's lurking in hot dogs? |
Your hot dog is made of what? |
prostate cancer with estrogen! rather than vegan diet. |
Sodium Nitrate: red dye no. 2 forms with animal proteins in the stomach to make carcinogenic nitrosamines is put in hotdogs to cover the brown, the grey, the green of rotting flesh and of the intestines. Now it is found that these nitrosamines block the flow of blood to the brain. |
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