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FANS’ FORUM: Boston United have found their ‘Mr Right’ | Bad year financially | Pilgrims to stay two years at York Street
David Newton.
Boston United have found their ‘Mr Right’ - according to chairman David Newton.
Speaking candidly at last night’s Fans’ Forum, he discussed the departure of former manager Dennis Greene and the arrival of current boss Adam Murray, who had previously been in the hotseat at Mansfield Town.
Adam Murray.
Giving supporters an overview of the past 12 months, the chairman also offered his thoughts on all aspects of the club, including a frustrating year financially, the community project, and youth academy and plans to stay at York Street.
Here is a snapshot of Mr Newton’s comments...
ON THE DEPARTURE OF DENNIS GREENE
“In terms of the season, we didn’t start too well and felt we needed a change.
Dennis Greene.
“So we came to an understanding with Mr Greene and we parted company on, what I think, was amicable terms.
“We have to recognise what Dennis has done.
“I know he was a bit marmite, but he did take us to the play-offs last two season and did give us quite a bit of success.
“We wish him well.”
ON APPOINTING ADAM MURRAY
“We were faced with going to the market to find a manager, which is always pretty dreadful.
“It was very fortuitous Adam was available at the time.
“He stepped down quite a level to come to us, but we were very impressed by him at interview and in discussions afterwards.
“My opinion has not changed since. I genuinely think we’ve got the right guy.
“He understands the football club needs to operate as a whole and we need income from every area.
“He understands he needs to be involved at every level of the football club, not just the first team.
“He understands the community side and youth structure and how important it is to bring through the young players in the right way.”
ON THE UNDER 19S WINNING THE LEAGUE
“In terms of the youth team, I’ve got to congratulate Martyn (Bunce, manager) and the youth team for winning the league.
“We look forward to hopefully trying to bring some of those guys through further.
“The under 21s have also done well under Lewis Thorogood.”
ON THE CLUB’S FINANCES
“As a result of a relatively poor season on the pitch, finances have been very difficult for us.
“This has come down to lower attendances, although they have held up well, and higher costs and costs relating to supporting Dennis.
“We had lots of long-term injuries so we supported him through that, and we’ve supported Adam as best we could.
“It was a double whammy but, overall, it’s been a pretty dire season financially, but we’ve picked that (tab) up.
ON THE COMMUNITY SECTION
“At the league AGM in Cardiff we were awarded Community Club of the Year (award).
“That’s a great feather in the cap as that’s across the National League, North and South.
“It’s a great achievement.
“It has been a challenging year as we rely on funding bids.
“We’re seeing that due to cuts, everybody is in there now bidding for the same things we’re bidding for.
“We’ve grown as a programme over the years.”
ON EXTENDING THE YORK STREET LEASE
“We took out a new lease on York Street.
“The existing lease was due to end in January next year, which wouldn’t meet (league) requirements anyway, as we need a lease for the full season ahead.
“We’ve put a new lease in place for the next two seasons, which takes a bit of pressure off us.
“I must thank the Malkinson family. They’re great, still great supporters of the football club, and there was no problem agreeing a new lease.”
ON THE FUTURE
“We are going in the right direction.
“We’re getting a new stadium built.
“We’ve got a great community programme and the right man on the pitch.”
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Canyon, city, seat (1889) of Randall county, northern Texas, U.S., in the Texas Panhandle, 16 miles (26 km) south of Amarillo, at a point where the Palo Duro and Tierra Blanca creeks meet to form the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River. The site originated in 1878 as headquarters for the T-Anchor Ranch; with the arrival of the Pecos and Northern Texas Railway in 1898, it emerged as an important regional shipping centre for cattle and agricultural produce. Although still a ranching and farming centre, the major economic influence is West Texas A&M University, which was established there as a college in 1910.
Canyon: Panhandle-Plains Historical MuseumPanhandle-Plains Historical Museum on the campus of West Texas A&M University, Canyon, Texas. Who What Where Nguyen Why
Of note within the city is the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum (1921) on the university campus. Canyon is also a gateway to the scenic Palo Duro Canyon State Park, 12 miles (19 km) east; with an area of 16,402 acres (6,638 hectares), it is the largest state park in Texas, extending across the tabletop expanse of the High Plains of the Panhandle. Palo Duro Canyon (about 120 miles [200 km] long) was carved by the main channel of the Red River, aided by rains and wind erosion; it has ravines that plunge 1,000 feet (300 metres), exposing multicoloured rock strata covering 300 million years of four geologic ages. The canyon was the scene of the last great Indian battle in Texas (1874) when U.S. cavalry under Colonel R.S. Mackenzie routed a camp of Comanches who had left their reservations. Charles Goodnight, the famed Texas cattleman, later established his Old Home Ranch nearby. The Canyon Pioneer Amphitheatre, within the park, is the setting each summer for Texas, a musical drama by Paul Green. Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge and Six Gun Territory (a replica of a frontier town) are additional local attractions. Inc. 1906. Pop. (2000) 12,875; (2010) 13,303.
Texas, constituent state of the United States of America. It became the 28th state of the union in 1845. Texas occupies the south-central segment of the country and is the largest state in area except for Alaska. The state extends nearly 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from north to south and…
Amarillo, city, seat (1887) of Potter county (and partly in Randall county), on the high plains of northern Texas, U.S. The chief city of the Texas Panhandle, Amarillo is located on a sandy playa, or dry lake bed, and the tawny colour of its soil lends the city its name…
Red River, navigable river rising in the high plains of eastern New Mexico, U.S., and flowing southeast across Texas and Louisiana to a point northwest of Baton Rouge, where it enters the Atchafalaya River, which flows south to Atchafalaya Bay and the Gulf…
Comanche, North American Indian tribe of equestrian nomads whose 18th- and 19th-century territory comprised the southern Great Plains. The name Comanche is derived from a Ute word meaning “anyone who wants to fight me all the time.”…
Paul Green, American novelist and playwright whose characteristic works deal with North Carolina folklore and regional themes; he was one of the first white playwrights to write perceptively about the problems of…
Official Site of the City of Canyon, Texas, United States
Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
canyon - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
canyon - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
Canada, second largest country in the world in area (after Russia), occupying roughly the northern two-fifths…
United States, country in North America, a federal republic of 50 states. Besides the 48 conterminous…
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Bilateral relations Switzerland–Romania
Switzerland and Romania
The Swiss embassy and the Swiss Contribution Office for Romania publish a newsletter containing information on culture, science and politics
Local job vacancies open at the Swiss embassy / Swiss Contribution Office for Romania
Embassy of Switzerland in Romania
The Swiss embassy represents Switzerland's interests in the country
Regional Consular Centre South-East Europe
Provides consular services and visa support for people resident in: Roumanie, Bulgarie
Swiss Contribution Office Bucharest
Coordinates funding and projects on the ground
All consular services and visa support for people resident in Romania and Bulgaria are provided by the Regional Consular Centre South-eastern Europe Bucharest. Information can be found on the websites concerned:
Travel advice for Romania
The dossier is intended for people who leave Switzerland to take up permanent residence in another country and work abroad.
Dossier: Living and working in the European Union (PDF, Number of pages 38, 780.6 kB, French)
Dossier: Leben und Arbeiten in der Europäischen Union
Projects in Romania
Switzerland supports 59 projects in Romania with its EU enlargement contribution
Thematic Funds in Romania
In Romania the SDC is working with thematic funds in the areas of health, public security, civil society, research, and integration of the Roma and other minorities.
Results in Romania
Switzerland uses its enlargement contribution to take part in a capital and loan fund to create jobs, support the Romanian police reforms and promote a sustainable energy policy
Bilateral Framework Agreement with Romania
Switzerland has concluded a bilateral framework agreement with Romania. Switzerland decides in consultation with Romania and independently of the EU which projects it will support
News, highlights and information on the projects in Romania
The political, economic and cultural contacts are dynamic and intensive. As a member of the European Union (EU), Romania is one of the beneficiaries of Switzerland's contribution to reduce economic and social disparities in the expanded EU.
Key aspects of diplomatic relations
Since the end of the communist regime, Switzerland has committed itself to supporting the transition towards democracy and a market economy.
At the economic level, Swiss entrepreneurs are increasingly looking to invest in Romania.
At the energy policy level, the important reserves of raw materials in Romania (gas and oil) and its strategic position on the supply route from Central Asia make it a country of major importance.
Treaty database
Romania and Switzerland are linked by a double taxation agreement as well as an Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement. Since Romania joined the EU, the bilateral agreements between Switzerland and the EU also apply to Romania.
Switzerland is a relatively important investor in Romania. With total capital amounting to 2.2 billion EUR as of 21.12.2015, Switzerland ranks 8th among foreign investors.
The trade volume between Switzerland and Romania in 2017 was around 1.4 billion CHF.
Trade promotion, Switzerland Global Enterprise
Information on countries, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO
Cooperation in education, research and innovation
Through the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), Switzerland provides financial aid to the "New European College" in Bucharest. This is an independent Romanian institute for advanced study in the humanities and social sciences.
Scholars and artists from Rumania can apply to the SERI for Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships.
A trainee agreement enables young people from Rumania to spend a limited period of time in Switzerland in order to acquire additional professional experience and to hone their language skills.
Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships for Foreign Scholars and Artists, SERI
Young professionals, State Secretariat for Migration SEM
Peacebuilding and human security
Since July 2007 Romania and Switzerland have been linked by an agreement on cooperation in combating terrorism and organised crime. Consisting of representatives from the two countries, the working group on countering human trafficking was established in January 2012. On the basis of the abovementioned agreement, a Romanian police attaché has been stationed at the Romanian Embassy in Bern in order to improve police cooperation between the two countries.
Swiss contribution to EU enlargement
As Romania and Bulgaria became EU members in 2007, the Federal Council has given the green light to 257 million CHF in aid for the two countries over ten years.
The global agreement was signed on 7 September 2010 and the programme of cooperation was launched on 25 March 2011. The Swiss contribution to Romania amounts to CHF 181 million. Switzerland has approved 7 thematic funds and 19 projects aimed at reducing the economic and social disparities until the end of the commitment period in December 2014. All projects must be completed by December 2019.
The implementation of projects is being monitored in Bucharest by a Swiss Contribution Office, which is in close contact with the Romanian authority responsible for coordination of the Swiss contribution.
Romania – Partner country for the Swiss enlargement contribution
Swiss nationals in Rumania
According to the Statistics on the Swiss Abroad, 501 Swiss nationals were living in Romania at the end of 2017, most of whom held dual citizenship.
The Swiss Embassy, Pro Helvetia and the Competence Centre for Cultural Foreign Policy of the Confederation (CCC) are the principal actors in Swiss cultural life in Romania. In 2011, the celebrations of the centenary of diplomatic relations between the two countries contributed to developing cooperation between a variety of Swiss and Romanian institutions.
History of bilateral relations
Official relations between Romania and Switzerland were only established after the independence of Romania, recognised by Switzerland on 10 June 1880. A trade agreement between the two countries was signed in 1886, prompting numerous Swiss companies to set up in Romania in the 19th century. The Romanian consulate in Bern, which opened in 1905, was transformed into a legation in 1911. The Federal Council opened the Swiss legation in Bucharest in 1916. The signing of clearing agreements in the 1930s benefited Swiss imports.
The communist period refreshed relations. A crisis affected them in 1955, when there was an attempt by Romanians in exile to seize the Romanian Embassy in Bern. The incident triggered a press campaign against Switzerland and tighter restrictions on Romanians travelling to Switzerland. In 1962, the status of the Swiss legation was raised to the rank of embassy.
The end of the Cold War, followed by the events of December 1989, gave fresh impetus to relations with Switzerland.
Romania, Historical Dictionary of Switzerland (de, fr, it)
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Chelsea Manning Is Punished For Suicide Attempt
By Emily Shire
Sept 23 2016
On Friday, it was reported that Chelsea Manning would serve 14 days in solitary confiment for her suicide attempt. This past July, Manning, who is serving 35 years at Fort Leavenworth prison in Kansas after being convicted in 2013 for leaking sensitive government documents on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, attempted to commit suicide. She was subsequently charged with three counts of misconduct. According to The Guardian, two of those three counts could have resulted in indefinite solitary confinement.
Manning released a statement on the sentencing through Fight for the Future, a group that, according to its website, is "dedicated to protecting and expanding the Internet’s transformative power in our lives by creating civic campaigns that are engaging for millions of people" and currently serving as an advocacy source for Manning:
The term for this status is 'disciplinary segregation.' There is no set date set for this to start. After I receive the formal board results in writing, I have 15 days to appeal. I expect to get them in the next few days.
I am feeling hurt. I am feeling lonely. I am embarrassed by the decision. I don’t know how to explain it.
Following her suicide attempt, Manning began a hunger strike in September. It ended after a week when her request for the "medically prescribed treatment for her gender dysphoria," as the ACLU noted in its press release, was granted. At the time, Manning released a statement, “I am unendingly relieved that the military is finally doing the right thing. I applaud them for that. This is all that I wanted — for them to let me be me."
However, Manning also added in her statement:
But it is hard not to wonder why it has taken so long. Also, why were such drastic measures needed? The surgery was recommended in April 2016. The recommendations for my hair length were back in 2014. In any case, I hope this sets a precedent for the thousands of trans people behind me hoping they will be given the treatment they need.
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Mark is a Pennsylvania native. He and his wife, Jenn, are Grove City grads (BS, 2002), and were married in 2003. Mark studied for ministry at Westminster Theological Seminary (MDiv, 2006), and has served as Calvary’s associate pastor (2006-2008) and senior pastor (2008-). He also serves as vice president of the OPC’s Committee on Home Missions and as a lecturer in preaching at Westminster Theological Seminary. Mark and Jenn have two daughters: Anna Kate and Rachel.
MARK SALLADE, Senior Pastor
Caleb is a native Texan and his wife, Erika, hails from California. Caleb and Erika met while they were college students in San Antonio and were married in 2008. Caleb studied for ministry at Mid-America Reformed Seminary (MDiv, 2013) and is completing a ThM at Fuller Seminary. He’s been our associate pastor since 2016. Caleb and Erika have a son, Joel.
CALEB SMITH, Associate Pastor
Jeremy grew up in Fort Washington, PA, not far from Calvary. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2007. Jeremy’s lovely wife, Kourtney, is a graduate of Marymount Manhattan College. They have four young and very active children. After graduating from Westminster Theological Seminary, Jeremy became the pastoral intern in June 2019.
JEREMY BRANDENBURG, Pastoral Intern
What We Believe ➝
Elders are elected by our members to oversee our pastors and ministries and to care for our members, making sure we are growing in the grace of Jesus Christ. Paul outlines their qualifications in 1 Timothy 3:1-7.
Mark has served Calvary as an elder since 1993. He serves the OPC as the General Secretary of the Committee on Foreign Missions. He is married to Kathy.
MARK BUBE
David has served Calvary as an elder since 1985. He works in the chemical industry at Emerson Resources. He is married to Darlene, with whom he has three grown children and eight grandchildren.
DAVID BURKETT
Bob has served Calvary as an elder since 1999. He works as a sales manager for Toshiba Industrial Systems. He is married to Linda, and they have two grown children and five grandchildren.
John has served Calvary as an elder since 2007. He works as Wine Director for Grand Cru Selections Wine Imports. He is married to Erin, and they have four children.
JOHN LIVINGSTON
David has served Calvary as an elder since 2015. He serves the OPC as Coordinator of Short-Term Missions and Disaster Response. He is married to Faith, and they have five children.
DAVID NAKHLA
Ed has served Calvary as an elder since 2004. He worked for 35 years as an accountant for Glaxo-Smith-Kline. He is married to Diane, with whom he has three grown children.
ED TRESS
Al has served Calvary as a teaching elder since 2018. Formerly a missionary to Uganda, Al is now Assoc. Gen. Secretary of Home Missions in the OPC. He is married to Laurie, and they have five grown children and two grandchildren.
AL TRICARICO
Phil has served Calvary as an elder since 2010. He is Director of Admissions and Marketing at Phil-Mont Christian Academy. He is married to Bethany, and they have two children.
PHIL VAN VELDHUIZEN
Deacons are elected by members to lead us in the ministry of mercy to our members and community. The Apostle Paul outlines their qualifications in 1 Timothy 3.8-13. If you would like to speak to a deacon about a need, you may do so after any worship service.
Charles has served Calvary as a deacon since 1985. He is a retired time recorder technician, and is married to Alayne.
CHARLES MARTEL
Joe has served Calvary as a deacon since 1990. He owns and operates a Laundromat in Wildwood, NJ. He is married to Linda and they have two grown sons.
JOE ROTHSCHILD
Ed has served Calvary as a deacon since 2011. Ed works as a Data Center Manager for Colorcon. He is married to Rebecca and they have three grown children.
ED SCHNITZEL
David has served Calvary as a deacon since 2011. He works as store manager for Larman Photo in Willow Grove. He has two grown children with his previous wife, Barbara, who is now with the Lord. David married Louise in 2014.
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Beyond the grid
The top Russian Youtubers you need to know
The internet has changed celebrity culture. Regular people can now become rich and famous with the help of a webcam, a YouTube channel and some charisma. Some aspiring digital stars make tutorials on make-up and DIY, showing off their skills in making headphones from 40-calibre bullets or using cosmetics to transform into a blue and completely convincing alien from Avatar. Some review films, TV and computer games; others go further, responding to funny internet videos by making their own, often made up of existing funny videos. YouTube is full of such meta-jokes. A large part of its community, however, use YouTube as a personal diary, sharing their daily thoughts with the world wide web, like blogs and social media, but updated to video format.
Kate Clapp
Kate Clapp (real name Katya Trofimova) is a classic entertainment YouTuber from Moscow. Her short, funny videos range from her talking about Justin Bieber and the Twilight Saga, to rapping and giving advice to school kids about the importance of staying true to yourself. Even though she’s 21, she follows Tumblr trends typical of a teenager: she says she’s sociophobic, addicted to the internet and obsessed with cats and dogs. She’s also a part of the current online “snackwave” phenomenon, which features young women and teenage girls sharing their obsession with snack foods, with Clapp regularly singing her praises to pies and her grandmother’s dill pickles.
Ruslan Usachev
St Petersburg-based Usachev has vlogged since 2010, specialising in gadgets, gaming and films. Usachev also happens to be one of the most politically oppositional vloggers in Russia, frequently expressing his own opinion, commenting on various news stories, and not avoiding political affairs. In addition, he has created and hosted a four-part documentary style film, Insulting Religious Feelings, named after a recently approved criminal offence clause of the same name. The documentary, which addresses the issues of the relationship between the state and church in Russia, was crowdfunded through Boomstarter and is already available on YouTube.
Elena Krygina
Dubbed the Make-up Artist of Moscow and All Russia, a title that mimics the grandeur of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Krygina, from St Petersburg, may have fewer subscribers than the rest of the vloggers on this list, but her fame is undoubted. As stereotypes of Russian women go, Krygina is a perfect illustration: charming, beautiful, thin, blonde and a pro at make-up, which forms a large part of her content. She is also trying to solve a long-running internet mystery, with her video about why Russians finish their sentences with closed parentheses online. She is sarcastic and funny, and her make-up tutorials are clear and to the point, with none of the “you know nothing and you’ve been doing it wrong” shaming that sometimes comes from beauty professionals.
Advocat Egorov
Advocat Egorov (real name Maxim Egorov) is a lawyer and pretty much the only adult with a serious, full-time job in the Russian YouTube scene. He makes post-apocalyptic survivalist videos about DIY, building, fishing and gardening. Most of them are shot amid nature, with the author explaining how to catch lamprey with your bare hands, make cords and ribbons from plastic bottles and knives and axes from everyday objects. Unlike other YouTubers, Egorov’s videos feature no jokes or funny cutaways. He usually stays out of shot as he explains why a Karelian axe is his favourite homemade tool. And if anyone has any doubts about his abilities in the case of a zombie apocalypse, he explains how to make an impressive camouflage bow from PVC tubes, an axe sharpener and a camp heater that can be used inside a tent.
CrazyRussianHacker
Taras Kulakov is one of the few Russian YouTubers to make videos in English. In fact, many of his viewers aren’t even sure if he is in fact Russian. RT has suggested that he’s faking his (very strong) eastern European accent to give his channel an exotic aura.
Kulakov’s videos range from life hacks with typical viral names like “You’ve Been Eating Shrimp Wrong” and “10 New Life Hacks That Will Change Your Life” to curious science experiments like “How to Cut Wood With Water” and “Self-Freezing Coca-Cola”. He also has a series of Zombie Apocalypse Survival Tips on making a stove from a tin can and striking matches on any surface. Some say that Kulikov’s tools/advice for getting views is too obvious: he has lots of videos about cooking bacon, the internet’s favourite food bar pizza, and pranking your friends using air horns and expanding styrofoam cups.
Roma Acorn
Roma Acorn (real name Ignat Kerimov) is an 18-year-old YouTuber-turned-pop singer from Moscow. He might also be Russia’s most hated vlogger, with a reputation as a local Justin Bieber, ever since other YouTubers and fans made fun of him for trying to be like the singer whose career also started on YouTube. In fact, Acorn even participated in Bieber’s Russian tour as one of the support acts, taking a share of the star’s teenage fandom, the “Beliebers”, and coming up with a name for his own fans — the “squirrels”. Acorn’s own debut album was released in June 2014 and went straight to the top of the Russian iTunes in the pop category. While his YouTube channel mostly consists of vlogs, there also are more controversial videos, for example ones where he makes fun of fat people and simultaneously shares a milkshake recipe. Another of his videos, which features clips of children and teenagers licking Chupa Chups lollipops taken from the brand’s online campaign, was criticised for its lewd commentary.
Max +100500
Maxim Golopolosov is one of the first Russian internet celebrities. From the very beginning in 2010 his videos have been compilations of funny and viral internet videos with his humorous and explicit comments. Golopolosov is often criticised and blamed for being unoriginal and copying American vlogger Ray William Johnson, who has had a YouTube channel of a similar format since 2008.
Following the internet fame, Golopolosov has recently started appearing on TV and collaborating with celebrities, including the infamous Ivan Okhlobistin (an actor and TV presenter known for his nationalist and homophobic views) and Nikita Dzhigurda, a flamboyant actor and media personality.
This Is Khorosho
Max +100500’s main competitor is This Is Khorosho (This is Good), a Latvian channel in Russian, run by the host Stas Davidov and his partners Vitaly Golovanov and Sergey Fedorenko. Similar in style to +100500, their videos usually consist of an overview of the latest viral videos with Davidov hosting and commenting. Curiously, and unlike +100500, This Is Khorosho is one of the very few Russian-speaking channels that doesn’t have any swearing. The channel has several RuNet awards and was featured on major Russian TV channels, including Ivan Okhlobistin’s show.
Text: Sasha Raspopina
A day in the online life of the new east
State of independents
The websites redefining media in the new east
vloggers rutube
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Back to previous page | Home Tommy’s
“Asking for help is not a sign of failure”
Kate Pinney explains how Tommy’s supports women’s mental health during and after pregnancy
“People are often reluctant to open up about the problems they are facing so it’s important to look out for the signs”
“Babies who are born to parents who suffer from anxiety and depression are more likely to have a mental health condition themselves further down the line”
Recent statistics suggest that mental illness affects one in five women during pregnancy and for Kate Pinney, a practising midwife and the manager of the midwifery team for the charity Tommy’s, looking out for signs of mental distress is a regular part of her job. “Pregnancy can be an amazing time, but it can also be quite daunting,” she explains.
“Becoming a parent is a time of massive change, and women often don’t know what to expect or how to feel. There are many hormonal changes during this time, and a variety of situations can affect mental health too, such as stresses over housing and finances or isolation, so it is really common for there to be changes in emotional well-being.
“There could also be difficult circumstances surrounding the pregnancy, such as if someone has been abused, is dealing with an unplanned pregnancy, or has formerly had a miscarriage or stillbirth. Those who have had a negative relationship with their own parents may also experience challenging thoughts and feelings, and those with a pre-existing mental health condition could find this is exacerbated during pregnancy.
“However, people are often reluctant to open up about the problems they are facing so it’s important to look out for the signs.”
Mental health problems are also common after pregnancy. “Mental illness is actually more common post-natally and can occur any time during the first year of motherhood,” says Kate.
“I’m currently seeing a mother of a four-month-old who felt fine for the first few weeks after the baby was born, but very gradually, she found herself deteriorating. Her temper became quite short and she was snappy, irritable and tearful. She also found it distressing when her baby was crying. It was her partner who really noticed the changes in her as it was starting to impact on their relationship, but it took a long time until she was able to ask for any support as she placed a lot of pressure on herself to be this perfect parent. She saw asking for help as a sign she wasn’t coping and a reflection of her parenting ability, which is unfortunately quite common.”
Kate, who has worked with Tommy’s for four years, heads up a team of midwives who run a support line to help in situations such as this. “The main function of the charity is to support and fund research into reducing stillbirth, premature birth and miscarriage, but we’re also here to support people emotionally. Often, women experience anxieties they don’t feel they can talk to their regular midwife or GP about – or really discuss with anyone face to face – so we help to answer any questions and also give them the confidence to go off and get the support they need.”
To support further women’s mental health during and after pregnancy, Tommy’s is using the money raised in The Candis Big Give to develop and promote a digital version of its NICE-approved Pregnancy and Post-birth Wellbeing Plan, which is a tool to improve self-management of mental health and is supported through its team of midwives. “The paper-based version of this plan was created around five years ago through a collaboration of many organisations, women and midwives and has been really successful, but we realised a digital tool that anyone could download would mean more people could get hold of it and use it.
“The plan includes information about signs and symptoms to look out for –including changes in appetite, feeling tearful, having racing thoughts, a lack of interest in engaging with people, irritability and – at the extreme end of the scale – obtrusive or suicidal thoughts.”
The digital version also includes tips for self-management of symptoms. “Whenever we talk to someone who is possibly experiencing anxiety or depression, as well as making sure they’re getting the professional help and support they need we also go back to basics and check they are eating healthily and exercising – which we know for mild depression is just as effective as antidepressants. It’s empowering people with the tools to be able to help their own emotional well-being while they’re waiting for professional support.”
Kate hopes this plan will help to normalise discussions surrounding mental health. “It is so important people are able to talk about their emotional well-being, as mental health affects so many people and can be extremely serious. We know that antenatal anxiety and depression can affect the baby as well as the mum, as cortisol is passed through the placenta and can affect the baby’s growth, and babies who are born to parents who suffer from anxiety and depression are also more likely to have a mental health condition themselves further down the line. Although less common, women can also suffer from conditions such as perinatal OCD and even psychosis, which can be fatal.
“Given the huge impact of mental health on everyone affected, it’s important we get conversations going, and I believe our digital tool will help with this. It gives a space for people to write down the feelings they are bottling up and gives them something to show to others to help to break the ice and facilitate conversation. Just having someone to talk to is so important, and for a lot of people can make all the difference.”
Tommy’s is the largest charity funding research into the causes of miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth
Tommy’s is aiming to halve the number of babies who die during pregnancy or birth by 2030
It offers a pregnancy information website and midwife-led Facebook page and an app for parents of premature babies
The Candis Big Give project: Improving mental health during pregnancy
FUNDRAISING TARGET: £90,000
Developed over five years, Tommy’s Pregnancy and Post-birth Wellbeing Plan was created through a collaboration of many organisations and supported by the charity’s team of midwives. Now approved by NICE, the paper plan includes information about signs and symptoms of common mental health conditions for women to look out for, space to write about their feelings, and tips for self-management of symptoms.
Tommy’s will use the money raised in The Candis Big Give Christmas Challenge to develop and promote a digital version of this plan, so it can reach more women at risk of mental illness, which currently affects one in five women during pregnancy. Visit tommys.org for more information.
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Hell's Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men (Paperback)
By Harold Schechter
Not Available In-Store - Usually Ships from Warehouse in 1-5 Days
"A deeply researched and morbidly fascinating chronicle of one of America's most notorious female killers." --The New York Times Book Review
An Amazon Charts bestseller.
In the pantheon of serial killers, Belle Gunness stands alone. She was the rarest of female psychopaths, a woman who engaged in wholesale slaughter, partly out of greed but mostly for the sheer joy of it. Between 1902 and 1908, she lured a succession of unsuspecting victims to her Indiana "murder farm." Some were hired hands. Others were well-to-do bachelors. All of them vanished without a trace. When their bodies were dug up, they hadn't merely been poisoned, like victims of other female killers. They'd been butchered.
Hell's Princess is a riveting account of one of the most sensational killing sprees in the annals of American crime: the shocking series of murders committed by the woman who came to be known as Lady Bluebeard. The only definitive book on this notorious case and the first to reveal previously unknown information about its subject, Harold Schechter's gripping, suspenseful narrative has all the elements of a classic mystery--and all the gruesome twists of a nightmare.
Publisher: Little a
Murder - Serial Killers
Hardcover (April 2018): $24.95
Compact Disc (April 2018): $34.99
MP3 CD (April 2018): $14.99
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November/December 2018 > A Table for all time
A Table for all time
In the pantheon of scientific accomplishments, the Periodic Table of the Elements occupies a unique place. Easily accessible and almost deceptively simple in appearance, it qualifies as both a reference tool and a research tool. Its significance cuts across almost any discipline you would care to name, and researchers from all walks of science find themselves continuing to mine the intricate relationships that it organizes. Like a welcome lighthouse as you try to navigate challenging waters, the Periodic Table is a beacon of order that enables us to make some sense of the chaos we frequently confront in the physical world. In an age of inspired animation, it has become the focus for some remarkable on-line versions that make this powerful database user friendly to all comers. It has even been set to music.
This coming year, 2019, represents the 150th anniversary of Russian scientist Dmitri Mendeleev’s discovery of the relationships underlying the Periodic Table. The year is also the centennial of the founding of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), the body that oversees a wide array of scientific nomenclature and serves as the de facto keeper of the Periodic Table, ensuring that it is as up-to-date and accurate as the latest science will allow. For these reasons the United Nations has declared 2019 to be the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements (IYPT 2019), a celebration of one of the most familiar and powerful scientific accomplishments in human history.
The occasion will be formally launched at an opening ceremony to take place at the Paris offices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), an event that will feature presentations on the past, present, and future of this remarkable system, including a lecture by Dutch chemist Ben Feringa, winner of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
In February UNESCO is collaborating with IUPAC, the International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science, the European Chemical Society, Real Sociedad Española de Química, and the University of Murcia to hold a two-day symposium on just how much female researchers have contributed to the content of the contemporary Periodic Table. Continuing the month’s celebrations of diversity, a single-day Global Women’s Breakfast will be held globally on February 12 by local organizers, including Canadian events across the country. In another take on diversity, July’s World Chemistry Congress and IUPAC General Assembly will see the completion of the Periodic Table of Younger Chemists, for which there are still many opportunities to increase Canadian nominations to add to University of Saskatchewan’s Kelly Summers (copper) and Memorial University’s Ernest Awoonor-Williams (zinc).
Meanwhile, the British-based educational organization 1001 Inventions is mounting a multimedia initiative, “1001 Inventions: Journeys from Alchemy to Chemistry”, which considers the broad span of inquiry going back more than 1200 years and culminated in the well-organized table we know today.
On home soil, the 102ndCanadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition (CCCE 2019) will celebrate the elements, and the rich variety of Canadian chemistry, by grouping conference abstracts according to their most prominently featured element. The Chemical Institute of Canada is indeed a big fan of the Periodic Table, so much so that we would like to offer our members a chance to obtain their own copy of one of its more remarkable physical representations. Known as the ElemenTree, it was developed by the late Fernando Dufour, who was a professor at Collège Ahuntsic in Montreal. We are fortunate to have been offered a number of these keepsakes; watch in 2019 for your chance to obtain one for yourself, along with more announcements for how we’re celebrating IYPT 2019!
Fernando Dufour with several versions of his ElemenTree. Photo credit: Paul Dufour
The ElemenTree model the CIC will be making available to some of its lucky members. Photo credit: Canada Science and Technology Museum
Margaret-Ann Armour (1939 – 2019)
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Seven Children’s Hospitals Collaborate Using Genomic Medicine to Change Pediatric Care
Seven children’s hospitals across the United States are collaborating to rapidly integrate genetics and genomics into primary and specialty pediatric care.
The mission of the Sanford Children’s Genomic Medicine Consortium is to work together on innovative clinical program development, advocacy for children, cutting-edge research and educational programs for the future of genomic medicine.
Participating hospitals are spread across the country
The seven member-hospitals include: Sanford Children’s (Sioux Falls and Fargo), Children’s Minnesota (Minneapolis and St. Paul), Children’s Hospital Colorado (Aurora), Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine and Rady Children’s Hospital - San Diego, Banner Children’s at Diamond Children’s Medical Center (Tucson) and Nicklaus Children’s Hospital (Miami).
Sanford Health has provided $500,000 in seed funding for consortium projects over the next year.
The initial projects funded by the consortium include a study of rapid whole genomic sequencing in critically ill newborn infants, and a study evaluating the routine use of an extensive, pediatric-focused, next-generation sequencing panel in the diagnosis of childhood cancers.
Significant progress in the diagnosis of genetic diseases
Genetic diseases are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in infants in Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care Units (NICU, PICU). These children often undergo an extensive and expensive diagnostic process that may not lead to a final diagnosis. Stephen Kingsmore, M.D., D.Sc., president and CEO of Rady Children’s Institute of Genomic Medicine (RCIGM) is leading rapid whole genomic sequencing in critically ill newborn infants to determine the complete DNA sequence of a child’s genome at one time to identify the risk of genetic diseases. Currently, the average turn-around time for sequencing to diagnosis by the RCIGM team is under a week. That is significantly faster than the common timetable for this type of work, which can take weeks to complete.
Rapid diagnosis could lead to targeted treatment
“The future of pediatric medicine is being transformed by the ability to rapidly decode the genomes of the most fragile newborns to deliver exact diagnoses and targeted treatment,” said Kingsmore.
Pediatric cancers have different genetic origins compared with adult cancers. Current panels for detecting the genetic origins of a tumor primarily focus on adult cancers. OncoKidsSM developed at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, is specifically formulated to detect the genomic alterations of pediatric cancers including leukemias, lymphomas, bone, soft tissue and brain tumors.
Extending precision medicine to pediatric cancer treatment
“The ability to identify the precise underlying genomic alterations in individual tumors with OncoKidsSM allows us to personalize care and innovate how we treat children with cancer,” said Alexander R. Judkins, M.D., Pathologist-in-Chief and Executive Director of the Center for Personalized Medicine (CPM) at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
Extending precision medicine to children’s health through this consortium is inspired by the vision of Denny Sanford. In 2014, the health care philanthropist gave $125 million to Sanford Health to create Sanford Imagenetics, the first program in the nation to embed the latest in genomic medicine with primary care.
“I am thankful to each member for their participation in the Sanford Children’s Genomic Medicine Consortium,” said Gene Hoyme, M.D., Medical Director, Sanford Children’s Genomic Medicine Consortium. “So much can be gained for the care of children through the collaboration of these hospitals.”
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Subscribe To What Is The Craziest Stunt Need For Speed Pulled Off? The Director And Stunt Coordinator Explain Updates
What Is The Craziest Stunt Need For Speed Pulled Off? The Director And Stunt Coordinator Explain
By Eric Eisenberg
While Need For Speed was initially conceived as an adaptation of the long-running popular video game series, when director Scott Waugh took control of it he also changed the project into something else: an ode to the classic car movies of the 1960s and '70s. The film is filled will all kinds of roaring muscle and sports cars, and are featured doing absolutely insane stunts that were all done practically and with minimal aid from CGI. The stars and stuntpeople behind the production performed some really amazing feats for the camera, but of all of them which one was the hardest to pull off?
That was one of the many questions on my mind while talking with Waugh (right) and Stunt Coordinator Lance Gilbert (left) at a recent press event for Need For Speed held in Los Angeles. Sitting down with them on a set that featured some of the actual cars used from the film, I asked the filmmakers not only about the various complex stunts pulled off on set, but also how the stunts influenced the story and vice versa, and whether or not you actually ever get more than one shot to get it right.
Based on a screenplay by George Gatins, Need For Speed tells the story of Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul), the owner of a small-time auto shop and part time street racer. After getting pulled into a competition against one of his rivals (Dominic Cooper), things go horribly wrong and Tobey ends up getting framed for vehicular manslaughter – but upon being released from prison he has a plan to get revenge. Along with a female companion (Imogen Poots) who is responsible for the multi-million dollar car he is driving, Tobey sets off on a cross country tour so that he may get the opportunity to enter an exclusive race run by a mysterious millionaire known as the Monarch (Michael Keaton).
As a bonus to the interview above, the trailers below will give you a preview of just some of the classic movies that inspired Need For Speed’s crazy practical stunts and style:
Need For Speed is in theaters now.
The Need For Speed: Payback Gameplay Trailer Reminds Us More Than A Little Of Burnout
The Next Need For Speed Game Is Called Payback, Here's What We Know
New Need For Speed Will Leave Always-Online In The Dust
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EDC seeks developers for Jamaica rezoning district
Economic Development Corporation • Request for Proposals • Jamaica, Queens
Site will be one of first parcels developed after major rezoning. The New York City Economic Development Corporation issued a request for proposals seeking a developer to purchase a 45,000-square-foot City-owned site in downtown Jamaica and develop it into a mixed-use building with retail space, housing, and parking. A two-story parking garage partially used by the NYPD currently occupies the site, which is part of the Special Downtown Jamaica District from Jamaica Avenue to 93rd Avenue, between 169th and 168th Streets.
The City approved the site for sale and rezoned it to accommodate retail, service and residential uses under the Jamaica Plan, one of the largest rezonings in the City’s history. 4 CityLand 117 (Sept. 15, 2007).
Under the RFP, the winning developer would construct a 324,000-square-foot mixed-use building, taking advantage of the inclusionary housing bonus. EDC requires that at least 35,000 sq.ft. of the new building be reserved for retail space and lists a sitdown restaurant as a priority. Permanently- affordable rental units must comprise at least 20 percent of the building’s housing. Lastly, the developer must provide the required off-street accessory parking and be prepared to set aside 87 parking spaces for the NYPD.
EDC set a November 29, 2007 deadline for responses and expects to close the sale of the site by summer 2008.
New York City Economic Development Corporation Request for Proposals, 168th Street Development, Jamaica, Queens (Sept. 19, 2007).
Tags : 168th Street Development
Category : Economic Development Corporation
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Facebook tries to figure out what a fact is in an era of politicized truth
By Mathew Ingram
Facebook’s third-party fact-checking project, which was launched with much fanfare in December of 2016, has been criticized a number of times over the past year or so. And it came under fire again this week after the social network announced a list of partners that included a fact-checking site called Check Your Fact. The site is owned by The Daily Caller, a right-wing news outlet co-founded by Fox News host Tucker Carlson that has been criticized for a number of journalistic transgressions, including running articles by a white supremacist who helped organize the Charlottesville alt-right march.
Sleeping Giants, a group that has been organizing advertising boycotts aimed at Breitbart News, The Daily Caller, and other prominent right-wing media outlets, responded to the news of Check Your Fact’s participation with an angry tweet. “Poynter, as the people who run fact-checking for Facebook, can you please help me understand how you chose Daily Caller as a reliable source for this? This site is directly responsible for death threats to me and my family.”
Hello, @Poynter & @barbara_allen_. As the people who run fact-checking for @Facebook, can you please help me understand how you chose Daily Caller as a reliable source for this? This site is directly responsible for death threats to me and my family. https://t.co/Be09bpCkao
— Sleeping Giants (@slpng_giants) April 18, 2019
ICYMI: Mueller report props up reporting, Sanders’s ‘slip of the tongue,’ and more
Baybars Orsek, director of the Poynter Institute’s International Fact-Checking Network, responded. He pointed out the IFCN and Poynter don’t run Facebook’s fact-checking program, they merely apply certain principles to fact-checking sites that want to be accredited by the network. If a site passes the assessment test, then it can be part of the network, Orsek said, and Facebook’s third-party partners have all passed that assessment. The criteria applied only to Check Your Fact, which The Daily Caller said is editorially independent from the news site.
“I’d be happy to put our track record up against anyone else’s,” David Sivak, who runs Check Your Fact, told CJR. “If you comb through the articles we’ve published over the last two years, you’ll quickly see that our fact checks are fair, in-depth and hold figures on both sides of the political aisle accountable, including Trump.” The site’s fact-check database includes more than 20 checks of Trump facts, including his recent statement that windmills cause cancer (which was declared to be false).
But the history of how Check Your Fact came to be part of the Facebook project is a little more complicated, and shows the site has some powerful friends. In December, the Wall Street Journal reported that Joel Kaplan, the former Bush administration official who is now the VP of public policy at Facebook, had blocked an effort aimed at bursting news filter bubbles, arguing that this would inevitably be perceived as anti-conservative. He also reportedly pressed the company to include Breitbart News as part of its quality news plans, and suggested that The Daily Caller should be included in the fact-checking program.
This effort was sidelined after The Daily Caller’s fact-checking site initially failed the accreditation process set up by the IFCN. According to Alexios Mantzarlis, who was the director of the IFCN at the time, the site didn’t meet the standards for transparency about funding. It later reapplied with an updated disclosure, which mentioned that the majority of its funding comes from The Daily Caller, with some from The Daily Caller News Foundation, a separate entity that is funded by donations from a number of groups, including the Charles Koch Foundation. After these disclosures, it was accredited by the IFCN.
The furor over Check Your Fact is similar to a previous battle over a fact-check published by The Weekly Standard, another conservative news site. Holmes Lybrand, who was running the Standard’s fact-checking unit at the time (and is now at CNN) flagged as false a claim by the left-leaning site ThinkProgress that Brett Kavanaugh, then a candidate for the Supreme Court, “said he would repeal Roe vs. Wade if elected.” Lybrand noted that Kavanaugh had not said anything of the sort, which was accurate (although it could be argued that he suggested it strongly).
ThinkProgress founder Judd Legum said the incident called into question the validity of the entire Facebook fact-checking program, but Mantzarlis pointed out that The Weekly Standard’s fact-checking unit had passed the accreditation process, and that their fact-checking approach was as fair as anyone else’s.
A spokesperson for Facebook said the company “believes in having a diverse set of fact-checking partners,” but the reality is that it has gone out of its way to try to prove that it is not biased against conservatives who, after all, make money for the company just as liberal users do, and whose complaints perhaps carry more weight while Trump is in the White House.
This is not the only issue that has troubled the Facebook fact-checking effort. Snopes, one of the leading online fact-checking organizations and also one of the oldest, quit the project earlier this year, after two years as a partner, saying it wasn’t worth the cost and effort. Former Snopes managing editor Brooke Binkowski, who now runs her own fact-checking site called Truth or Fiction (which is not affiliated with Facebook), has said the program was essentially “just used for crisis PR,” to make it look as though the company was doing something. The social network “was more interested in making themselves look good and passing the buck,” she told The Guardian in an interview last year.
ICYMI: The most prestigious awards ceremony in photojournalism disinvited a photographer
Mathew Ingram is CJR's chief digital writer. Previously, he was a senior writer with Fortune magazine. He has written about the intersection between media and technology since the earliest days of the commercial internet. His writing has been published in The Washington Post and the Financial Times as well as Reuters and Bloomberg.
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Emerson String Quartet’s new Journeys, Sony Masterworks
Musical Ensembles
Formed in 1976, the Emerson String Quartet is a New York–based string quartet in residence at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. They have released more than thirty albums and won nine Grammy Awards. The Emerson String Quartet took its name from the great American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. Violinists Drucker and Setzer alternate as first and second violinists. For their new album, Journeys, Emerson String Quartet performs two string sextets from the 1890’s, Souvenir de Florence by Tchaikovsky and Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night) by Arnold Schoenberg. This is the quartet’s first recording of anything by Tchaikovsky since the 1980’s and its first ever recording of a piece by Schoenberg. They are joined on both of these sextets by two frequent collaborators, American violinist, Paul Neubauer and British cellist, Colin Carr. “Our new album embodies the idea of “journeys” on several levels,” says Eugene Drucker. “The wide spectrum of colors, moods and compositional techniques in Tchaikovsky’s passionate Souvenir de Florence could be a journey from Russia to Italy and back again. Schoenberg’s Verklarte Nacht depicts more of an internal journey from anguish and psychological torment to acceptance and love.”
Tokyo String Quartet new releases Dvorak and Smetana’s String Quartet on SACD
The Requiem of String Quartet, Jerusalem Quartet’s Shostakovich
The new recording of Haydn’s String Quartets Op.33, London Haydn Quartet on Hyperion
Anton Reicha’s Complete String Quartets on Toccata Classics
Emerson String Quartet Journeys Sony Masterworks
The Winners’ list of International Opera Awards 2013, London → ← EMI Martha Argerich Lugano Festival- up to 35% off on Presto Classical
3 thoughts on “Emerson String Quartet’s new Journeys, Sony Masterworks”
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Apostolicae Sedis Moderationi
A Bull of Pius IX (1846-78) which regulates anew the system of censures and reservations in the Catholic church. It was issued 12 October, 1869, and is practically the present penal code of the Catholic Church. Although its Founder is divine, the Church is composed of members who are human, with human passions and weaknesses. Hence the need of laws for their direction, and of legal penalties for their correction. In the course of centuries these penal statutes accumulated to an enormous extent, some confirming, some modifying, some abrogating others which had been already made. They were simplified by the Council of Trent (1545-63). But afterwards new laws had to be enacted, some had to be altered, and some abrogated as before. Thus these penal statutes became again numerous and complicated, and a cause of confusion to canonists, of perplexity to moralists, and often a source of hesitation to the faithful. Pius IX , therefore, simplified them again for the three hundred years of accumulation, by the Bull "Apostolicae Sedis Moderationi". In quoting the more solemn papal decrees, the practice is to entitle them from their initial words. (See BULLS AND BRIEFS.) The words of this title are the first words of the document. The best general description that can be given of this legislation is an extract from itself. The following translation of the introductory passages of the bull is not quite literal, but it is faithful to the sense of the document:
"It is according to the spirit of the Apostolic See to so regulate whatever has been decreed by the ancient canons fo the salutory discipline of the faithful, as to make provision by its supreme authority for their needs according to altered times and circumstances. We have for a long time considered the Ecclesiastical Censures, which, per modum latae sententiae ipsoque facto incurrendae , for the security and discipline of the Church, and for the restraint and correction of license in the wicked, were wiselydecreed and promulgated, have from age to age gradually and greatly multiplied, so that some, owing to altered times and customs, have even ceased to serve the end or answer the occasion for which they were imposed; while doubts, anxieties and scruples, have for that reason not infrequently troubled the consciences of those who have the cure of souls and of the faithful generally. In Our desire to meet those difficulties, We ordered a thorough revision of those censures to be made and laced before Us, in order that, on mature consideration, We might determine those of them which ought to be retained and observed, and those which it would be well to altere or abrogate. Such revision having been made, having taken counsel with Our Venerable Brothers the Cardinals General Inquisitors in matters of faith for the Universal Church, and after a long and careful consideration, We, of Our own accord, with full knowledge, materue deliberation, and in the fullness of Our Apostolic power, decree by this permanent Constitution that of all Censures, either of Excommunication, suspension ?-->Supervision, or Interdict, of any kind soever, which per modum latae sententiae ipsoque facto incurrendae have been hitherto imposed, those only which We insert in this Constitution and in that manner in which We insert, them are to be in force in the future; and We also declare that these have their force, not merely from the authority of the ancient canons coinciding with this Our Constitution, but also derive their force altogether from this Our Constitution, just as if they had been for the first time published in it."
According to those introductory passages, the Bull "Apostolicae Sedis" left all canonical penalties and impediments (deposition, degradation, deprivation of benefice, irregularity, etc.) as they were before, except those with which it expressly deals. And it deals expressly with those penalties only, the direct purpose of which is the reformation rather than the punishment of the person on whom they are inflicted, namely, censures ( excommunication, suspension, and interdict ). Moreover, it deals only with a certain class of censures. For clearness it is well to observe that a censure may be so attached to the violation of a law that the law-breaker incurs the censure in the very act of breaking the law, and a censure, as decreed binds at once the conscience of the law-breaker without the process of a trial, or the formality of a judicial sentence. In other words, the law has already pronounced sentence the moment the person who breaks the law has completed the facto of consciously breaking it; for which reason, censures thus decreed are said to be decreed per modum latae sententiae ipsoque facto incurrendae , i.e. censures of sentence pronounced and incurred by the act of breaking the law. But, on the other hand, a censure may be so attached to the breaking of a law that the law-breaker does not incur the censure until, after a legal process, it is formally imposed by a judicial sentence, for which reason censures thus decreed are called ferendae sententiae , i.e. censures of sentence to be pronounced. Censures of this latter kind were left out by this Bull, and remain just as they were before, together with those penalties above referred to, the direct purpose of which is punishment. The Bull "Apostolicae Sedis Moderationi" deals, therefore, exclusively with censures latae sententiae . Now, how has it altered or abrogated them? It abrogated all except those expressly inserted in it. Those which are inserted in it, whether old ones revived or retained, or new ones enacted, bind throughout the Catholic Church, all customs of any kind to the contrary notwithstanding, because this Bull became the source of the binding power of all and each of them, even of such as might have gone into disuse anywhere or everywhere. The censures retained are inserted in the Bull in two ways: First it makes of list of a certain number of them; Second, it inserts in a general way all those which the Council of Trent either newly enacted, or adopted from older canons as to make them its own; not those, therefore, which the Council of Trent merely confirmed, or simply adopted from older canons.
We have so far determined those censures which are in force throughout the Bull "Apostolicae Sedis", and which may be taken as the common law of the Church in that sphere of its legislation. But one who has incurred a censure can be freed from it only through absolution by competent jurisdiction. Although a censure is merely a medicinal penalty, the chief purpose of which is the reformation of the person who has incurred it, het it does not cease of itself merely by one's reformation. It has to be taken away by the power that inflicts it. It remains, therefore, to consider briefly those of the Bull "Apostolicae Sedis" with respect toe the power by which one may be absolved from any of them. They are classified in that respect by Pius IX in the Bull itself. Any priest who has jurisdiction to absolve from sin can also absolve from censures, unless a censure by reserved, as a sin might be reserved; and some of the censures named in the Bull "Apostolicae Sedis" are not reserved. It may be well to observe here that the absolution from sin and absolution from censure are acts of jurisdiction in different tribunals; the former belongs to jurisdiction in foro interna , i.e. in the Sacrament of Penance ; the latter belongs to jurisdiction in foro externo , i.e. without and outside the Sacrament of Penance. Some censures of the "Apostolicae Sedis" are reserved to bishops ; so that bishops, within their own jurisdiction, or one specially delegated by tm, can absolve from censures so reserved. Some are reserved to the Pope, so that not even a bishop can absolve from these without a delegation from the Pope. Finally, the Bull "Apostolicae Sedis" gives a list of twelve censures which are reserved in a special manner ( speciali modo ) to the Pope ; so that to absolve from any of these, even a bishop requires a special delegation, in which these are specifically named. These twelve censures, except the one numbered X, were taken from the Bull "In Coena Domini" (so called because from 1364 to 1770 it was annually published at Rome, and since 1567 elsewhere on Holy Thursday ceased to be, except as an historical document. Of these eleven canonical offences, five refer to attacks on the foundation of the Church ; that is, on its faith and constitution. Three refer to attacks on the power of the Church and on the free exercise of that power. The other three refer to attacks on the spiritual or temporal treasures of the Church. A few censures have been enacted since the Bull "Apostolicae Sedis" was published. These are usually mentioned and interpreted in the published commentaries on that Bull. The commentary by Avanzini and Pennacchi (Rome, 1883), the learned editors of the "Acta Sanctae Sedis", is the most complete. That issued (Prato, 1894) by the late Cardinal D'Annibale, however, if of all others to be recommended for conciseness and accuracy combined.
(See CENSURE, EXCOMMUNICATION, INTERDICT, SUSPENSION.)
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Bill Murray & Selena Gomez to Star in Jim Jarmusch's Zombie Movie
by Brian Cronin
Acclaimed independent filmmaker Jim Jarmusch is preparing to put his own particular spin on the world of zombies in the upcoming film, The Dead Don't Die, which has snared Bill Murray and Selena Gomez for starring roles.
The film, which is described as a "zombie comedy," will also star Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Steve Buscemi, and Chloe Sevigny. Driver, Murray and Sevigny are all playing police officers dealing with the zombie crisis. The movie is currently filming in Upstate New York. It will be Jarmusch's third film for Focus Pictures.
RELATED: Zombieland’s Bill Murray Cameo Was Offered to 12 Other Actors First
Murray, of course, was a standout in the 2009 hit film, Zombieland (which has a sequel coming out), playing a fictional version of himself masquerading as a zombie so that the real zombies would leave him alone. It was Murray who revealed the existence of the film in an interview a few months back with Philly.com, noting, “I’ve got a good job coming up. Brace yourself: It’s a zombie movie. Jim Jarmusch has written a zombie script that’s so hilarious and it has a cast of great actors … it shoots over the summer. But no, I will not play a zombie.”
The rumors about the film were confirmed recently when the Daily Mail posted photographs of Selena Gomez on the set of the film wearing a bloody T-shirt.
Jarmusch is most famous for two things: his slow, character-driven independent films and his so-called "stable" of actors. Once you have made a Jim Jarmusch film, there is a very good chance that you will appear in another Jarmusch movie. For instance, this is the fourth Jarmusch movie that Bill Murray has done, following 2003's Coffee and Cigarettes, 2005's Broken Flowers and 2009's The Limits of Control.
RELATED: Fassbender, Swinton, Wasikowska Join Jim Jarmusch Vampire Flick
Jarmusch is also well known for his willingness to mix up his standard type of film by then trying his hand at different genres, while still giving the genre films his own particular style. In 1999, he did Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, a samurai film starring Forest Whitaker and in 2013, he did a vampire film, Only Lovers Live, which also starred Swinton, who returns in this movie for her fourth Jarmusch project (she also appeared in Broken Flowers and The Limits of Control). Amusingly enough, Only Lovers Live had a notable plot point in the film where the main vampire characters refer to all humans disdainfully as "zombies."
(via Variety)
Tags: The Dead Don't Die
Crazy Rich Asians Star Has a Suggestion for Marvel's Shang-Chi Movie
John Ridlehoover
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Polyclonal Antibody Glycolysis
Polyclonal Antibody - Phospho-AMPKα (Thr172) Antibody - Western Blotting, UniProt ID P54646, Entrez ID 5562 #2531
100 µl
Application Methods: Western Blotting
Background: AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is highly conserved from yeast to plants and animals and plays a key role in the regulation of energy homeostasis (1). AMPK is a heterotrimeric complex composed of a catalytic α subunit and regulatory β and γ subunits, each of which is encoded by two or three distinct genes (α1, 2; β1, 2; γ1, 2, 3) (2). The kinase is activated by an elevated AMP/ATP ratio due to cellular and environmental stress, such as heat shock, hypoxia, and ischemia (1). The tumor suppressor LKB1, in association with accessory proteins STRAD and MO25, phosphorylates AMPKα at Thr172 in the activation loop, and this phosphorylation is required for AMPK activation (3-5). AMPKα is also phosphorylated at Thr258 and Ser485 (for α1; Ser491 for α2). The upstream kinase and the biological significance of these phosphorylation events have yet to be elucidated (6). The β1 subunit is post-translationally modified by myristoylation and multi-site phosphorylation including Ser24/25, Ser96, Ser101, Ser108, and Ser182 (6,7). Phosphorylation at Ser108 of the β1 subunit seems to be required for the activation of AMPK enzyme, while phosphorylation at Ser24/25 and Ser182 affects AMPK localization (7). Several mutations in AMPKγ subunits have been identified, most of which are located in the putative AMP/ATP binding sites (CBS or Bateman domains). Mutations at these sites lead to reduction of AMPK activity and cause glycogen accumulation in heart or skeletal muscle (1,2). Accumulating evidence indicates that AMPK not only regulates the metabolism of fatty acids and glycogen, but also modulates protein synthesis and cell growth through EF2 and TSC2/mTOR pathways, as well as blood flow via eNOS/nNOS (1).
Polyclonal Antibody - Phospho-AMPKα1 (Ser485)/AMPKα2 (Ser491) Antibody, UniProt ID P54646, Entrez ID 5562 #4185
Polyclonal Antibody - AMPKα Antibody - Immunoprecipitation, Western Blotting, UniProt ID P54646, Entrez ID 5562 #2532
Hamster, Human, Monkey, Mouse, Rat
Application Methods: Immunoprecipitation, Western Blotting
Polyclonal Antibody - LDHA Antibody - Western Blotting, UniProt ID P00338, Entrez ID 3939 #2012
Background: Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) catalyzes the interconversion of pyruvate and NADH to lactate and NAD+. When the oxygen supply is too low for mitochondrial ATP production, this reaction recycles NADH generated in glycolysis to NAD+, which reenters glycolysis. The major form of LDH found in muscle cells is the A (LDHA) isozyme. The LDHA promoter contains HIF-1α binding sites (1). LDHA expression is induced under hypoxic conditions (2). During intensive and prolonged muscle exercise, lactate accumulates in muscle cells when the supply of oxygen does not meet demand. When oxygen levels return to normal, LDH converts lactate to pyruvate to generate ATP in the mitochondrial electron transport chain.
Polyclonal Antibody - Acetyl-Stat3 (Lys685) Antibody - Western Blotting, UniProt ID P40763, Entrez ID 6774 #2523
Background: The Stat3 transcription factor is an important signaling molecule for many cytokines and growth factor receptors (1) and is required for murine fetal development (2). Research studies have shown that Stat3 is constitutively activated in a number of human tumors (3,4) and possesses oncogenic potential (5) and anti-apoptotic activities (3). Stat3 is activated by phosphorylation at Tyr705, which induces dimerization, nuclear translocation, and DNA binding (6,7). Transcriptional activation seems to be regulated by phosphorylation at Ser727 through the MAPK or mTOR pathways (8,9). Stat3 isoform expression appears to reflect biological function as the relative expression levels of Stat3α (86 kDa) and Stat3β (79 kDa) depend on cell type, ligand exposure, or cell maturation stage (10). It is notable that Stat3β lacks the serine phosphorylation site within the carboxy-terminal transcriptional activation domain (8).
Polyclonal Antibody - Insulin Antibody, UniProt ID P01308, Entrez ID 3630 #4590
Application Methods: Flow Cytometry, Immunofluorescence (Frozen), Immunofluorescence (Immunocytochemistry), Immunohistochemistry (Paraffin)
Background: The maintenance of glucose homeostasis is an essential physiological process that is regulated by hormones. An elevation in blood glucose levels during feeding stimulates insulin release from pancreatic β cells through a glucose sensing pathway (1). Insulin is synthesized as a precursor molecule, proinsulin, which is processed prior to secretion. A- and B-peptides are joined together by a disulfide bond to form insulin, while the central portion of the precursor molecule is cleaved and released as the C-peptide. Insulin stimulates glucose uptake from blood into skeletal muscle and adipose tissue. Insulin deficiency leads to type 1 diabetes mellitus (2).
Polyclonal Antibody - Phospho-LDHA (Tyr10) Antibody - Western Blotting, UniProt ID P00338, Entrez ID 3939 #8176
Polyclonal Antibody - Phospho-Stat3 (Tyr705) Antibody, UniProt ID P40763, Entrez ID 6774 #9131
Application Methods: Chromatin IP, Immunoprecipitation, Western Blotting
Polyclonal Antibody - Histone Deacetylase 4 (HDAC4) Antibody, UniProt ID P56524, Entrez ID 9759 #2072
Background: Acetylation of the histone tail causes chromatin to adopt an "open" conformation, allowing increased accessibility of transcription factors to DNA. The identification of histone acetyltransferases (HATs) and their large multiprotein complexes has yielded important insights into how these enzymes regulate transcription (1,2). HAT complexes interact with sequence-specific activator proteins to target specific genes. In addition to histones, HATs can acetylate nonhistone proteins, suggesting multiple roles for these enzymes (3). In contrast, histone deacetylation promotes a "closed" chromatin conformation and typically leads to repression of gene activity (4). Mammalian histone deacetylases can be divided into three classes on the basis of their similarity to various yeast deacetylases (5). Class I proteins (HDACs 1, 2, 3, and 8) are related to the yeast Rpd3-like proteins, those in class II (HDACs 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, and 10) are related to yeast Hda1-like proteins, and class III proteins are related to the yeast protein Sir2. Inhibitors of HDAC activity are now being explored as potential therapeutic cancer agents (6,7).
Polyclonal Antibody - Hexokinase II Antibody - Western Blotting, UniProt ID P52789, Entrez ID 3099 #2106
Human, Monkey
Background: Hexokinase catalyzes the conversion of glucose to glucose-6-phosphate, the first step in glycolysis. Four distinct mammalian hexokinase isoforms, designated as hexokinase I, II, III, and IV (glucokinase), have been identified. Hexokinases I, II, and III are associated with the outer mitochondrial membrane and are critical for maintaining an elevated rate of aerobic glycolysis in cancer cells (Warburg Effect) (1) in order to compensate for the increased energy demands associated with rapid cell growth and proliferation (2,3).
Polyclonal Antibody - REDD1 Antibody - Western Blotting, UniProt ID Q9NX09, Entrez ID 54541 #2516
Background: REDD1 (REgulated in Development and DNA damage responses) expression is induced by hypoxia, cell stress, apoptosis and DNA damage. REDD1 is a transcriptional target of p53 and p63 following DNA damage, and links p63 to Ros (1). REDD1 functions as a negative regulator of mTOR in response to hypoxia in a tuberin-dependent manner (2). Depending on cell context, REDD1 can either be protecting or detrimental for cells under oxidative or ischemic stresses (3).
Polyclonal Antibody - SirT6 Antibody - Immunoprecipitation, Western Blotting, UniProt ID Q8N6T7, Entrez ID 51548 #2590
Background: The Silent Information Regulator (Sir2) family of genes is a highly conserved group of genes that encode nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD)-dependent protein deacetylases, also known as class III histone deacetylases. The first discovered and best characterized of this family is Saccharomyces cerevisiae Sir2, which is involved in silencing of mating type loci, telomere maintenance, DNA damage response, and cell aging (1). SirT6, a mammalian homolog of Sir2, is a nuclear, chromatin-associated protein that promotes the normal maintenance of genome integrity mediated by the base excision repair (BER) pathway (2-4). The BER pathway repairs single-stranded DNA lesions that arise spontaneously from endogenous alkylation, oxidation, and deamination events. SirT6 deficient mice show increased sensitivity to DNA-damaging agents, including the alkylating agents MMS and H2O2 (2). In addition, these mice show genome instability with increased frequency of fragmented chromosomes, detached centromeres, and gaps (2). SirT6 may regulate the BER pathway by deacetylating DNA Polβ or other core components of the pathway (2).
Polyclonal Antibody - Aldolase A Antibody - Western Blotting, UniProt ID P04075, Entrez ID 226 #3188
Background: Aldolase (fructose bisphosphate aldolase), a glycolytic enzyme, catalyzes the conversion of fructose 1, 6-bisphosphate to 3-phosphoglyceraldehyde. This ubiquitous enzyme is present as three different isozymes: aldolase A, aldolase B, and aldolase C. Research studies suggest that aldolase A expression potentially differentiates between nonneoplastic liver diseases and hepatocarcinoma (1). Furthermore, investigators have shown that changes in aldolase B gene expression levels have been observed in certain patients with this primary tumor (2,3).
Polyclonal Antibody - Phospho-HDAC4 (Ser632)/HDAC5 (Ser661)/HDAC7 (Ser486) Antibody, UniProt ID P56524, Entrez ID 10014 #3424
Polyclonal Antibody - HIF-1α Antibody - Western Blotting, UniProt ID Q16665, Entrez ID 3091 #3716
Background: Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF1) is a heterodimeric transcription factor that plays a critical role in the cellular response to hypoxia (1). The HIF1 complex consists of two subunits, HIF-1α and HIF-1β, which are basic helix-loop-helix proteins of the PAS (Per, ARNT, Sim) family (2). HIF1 regulates the transcription of a broad range of genes that facilitate responses to the hypoxic environment, including genes regulating angiogenesis, erythropoiesis, cell cycle, metabolism, and apoptosis. The widely expressed HIF-1α is typically degraded rapidly in normoxic cells by the ubiquitin/proteasomal pathway. Under normoxic conditions, HIF-1α is proline hydroxylated leading to a conformational change that promotes binding to the von Hippel Lindau protein (VHL) E3 ligase complex; ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation follows (3,4). Both hypoxic conditions and chemical hydroxylase inhibitors (such as desferrioxamine and cobalt) inhibit HIF-1α degradation and lead to its stabilization. In addition, HIF-1α can be induced in an oxygen-independent manner by various cytokines through the PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway (5-7).HIF-1β is also known as AhR nuclear translocator (ARNT) due to its ability to partner with the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) to form a heterodimeric transcription factor complex (8). Together with AhR, HIF-1β plays an important role in xenobiotics metabolism (8). In addition, a chromosomal translocation leading to a TEL-ARNT fusion protein is associated with acute myeloblastic leukemia (9). Studies also found that ARNT/HIF-1β expression levels decrease significantly in pancreatic islets from patients with type 2 diabetes, suggesting that HIF-1β plays an important role in pancreatic β-cell function (10).
Polyclonal Antibody - C-Peptide Antibody, UniProt ID P01308, Entrez ID 3630 #4593
Application Methods: Immunofluorescence (Frozen), Immunofluorescence (Immunocytochemistry), Immunohistochemistry (Frozen), Immunohistochemistry (Paraffin)
Background: Glucose homeostasis is regulated by hormones. Elevation of blood glucose levels during feeding stimulates insulin release from pancreatic β-cells through a glucose sensing pathway (1). Proinsulin, the insulin precursor molecule, is processed prior to its secretion. Insulin is composed of A-peptide and B-peptide which are joined by a disulfide bond. The center one-third of the molecule is cleaved and released as C-peptide, which has a longer half-life than insulin (2).
Polyclonal Antibody - Phospho-Stat3 (Ser727) Antibody, UniProt ID P40763, Entrez ID 6774 #9134
20 µl
Polyclonal Antibody - Phospho-Stat3 (Ser754) Antibody - Immunoprecipitation, Western Blotting, UniProt ID P40763, Entrez ID 6774 #98543
Polyclonal Antibody - ChREBP Antibody - Western Blotting, UniProt ID Q9NP71, Entrez ID 51085 #58069
Background: Carbohydrate-responsive element-binding protein (ChREBP) is a glucose-responsive transcription factor that regulates glycolytic and lipogenic gene expression (1). High levels of glucose induce the transcriptional activity of ChREBP. ChREBP is most abundant in tissues of de novo lipogenesis and forms a heterotetramer with its binding partner MLX to bind to the promoter regions of its target genes (2). ChREBP regulates fatty acid synthesis, glucose homeostasis and insulin sensitivity in white adipose tissue. In white adipose tissue, ChREBP isoform α (ChREBP-α) activates the expression of the potent ChREBP isoform β (ChREBP-β) in a glucose-dependent manner. ChREBP-β expression levels predict insulin sensitivity in human white adipose tissue (1). In addition, research studies have shown that Akt2 induces the transcriptional activity of ChREBP-β to stimulate de novo lipogenesis in brown adipose tissue for fuel storage (3). Furthermore, ChREBP-β is a potent activator of lipogenesis in the liver (4).
Polyclonal Antibody - AMPKα2 Antibody - Immunoprecipitation, Western Blotting, UniProt ID P54646, Entrez ID 5563 #2757
Monoclonal Antibody Western Blotting LKB1
Monoclonal Antibody Western Blotting Lyn
Monoclonal Antibody Western Blotting mTOR
Monoclonal Antibody Western Blotting Sister Chromatid Segregation
Monoclonal Antibody Western Blotting Alix
Monoclonal Antibody Western Blotting cd4-positive
Monoclonal Antibody Western Blotting CDK6
Monoclonal Antibody Western Blotting dicer1
Monoclonal Antibody Western Blotting Hindgut Morphogenesis
Monoclonal Antibody Western Blotting hsp90b
Monoclonal Antibody Western Blotting Negative Regulation of Pinocytosis
Monoclonal Antibody Western Blotting Peptidyl-Arginine N-Methylation
Previous Mouse Activation of MAPK Activity
Next Monoclonal Antibody Metal Ion Binding
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We are a community of artists, art lovers, music makers, and creators. The Center for the Arts is well known for hosting national music concerts, but we also feature film screenings, a community theater program (Center Players) and showcase artwork by regional, national, and international visual artists in the art gallery. The Center also hosts classes, workshops and programs throughout the year, and adds to the economic vitality of Central New York.
Our facilities are available to other community organizations and individuals for a variety of educational purposes, events and private functions.
200 years after an early group of baptists began the planning that would eventually lead to our building, a small group came together in 2001. The First Baptist Church of Homer had outgrown its space and planned to leave the building. What would become of it? A core group of founders — neighbors and community members — met with church leaders and held meetings to devise a plan to save the old church and create something new for the community.
A founder’s group was formally established by volunteers who brought considerable expertise and energy to the challenge. Their mission was to preserve the building as an important part of Homer’s history – and the gateway to the downtown Homer business district, NYS Scenic Route 90, and the Homer Route 281 business district. They recognized that preserving the building was integral to Homer’s significant National and State Historic Register District. They also focused on giving it new community life as an economic, social and cultural anchor on the Village’s Main Street and the historic Village Green. The Center was formally established as a non-profit organization with 501 (c) 3 status in 2003. Many of the original Founders group, supplemented by community members, created a Board of Directors to serve as policy makers and catalyze the grass roots support that was evident since the Center’s first public event in November, 2001. Board members and volunteers contribute services to support functions such as marketing, programming, operations, facilities management and development. Together, Center for the Arts’ volunteers are the true heart, soul, spirit – and hands-on-deck – of the organization, and the reason that the Center is a vibrant, dynamic, efficient and effective community arts center and venue.
Volunteers are at the very “center” of the Center for Arts of Homer’s success story over its first decade. The next decade builds on that success story as the Center for the Arts continues to innovate under its new Executive Director, Ty Marshal – who has had extensive experience working with various arts and cultural organizations. Under Ty’s leadership, the Center is focusing on building a sustainable growth strategy focused on programming excellence, expanded offerings and outreach, new audience development, organizational capacity-building and resource development.
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Central Bank of Malta public lecture on the EU Economy – Today and tomorrow
On Tuesday 7 August 2018, the Central Bank of Malta hosted a public lecture with the theme The EU Economy - Today and tomorrow.
The lecture was introduced by Dr Aaron Grech, the Bank's Chief Economist, and delivered by Mr Reuben Borg. Mr Borg works as an economist at the European Commission's DG ECFIN and helps coordinate the Commission's economic forecasts. He also worked at the European Central Bank, the UK's Government Economic Service, and the Central Bank of Malta. During his career, Mr Borg has worked extensively in the areas of economic modelling and forecasting, monetary policy and financial market analysis. Recently he also served as a senior policy officer and negotiator for the Maltese government during its Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2017.
The lecture gave an overview of the current state of the EU economy, delving into how the situation has evolved since the financial and sovereign debt crises. This narrative provided the background underpinning the economic bloc's prospects for the near term. Mr Borg, in fact, outlined the Commission's latest set of macroeconomic projections and the challenges ahead.
This event was the second in a series of public lectures in economics and finance being hosted by the Bank to commemorate its 50th Anniversary.
Presentation delivered by Mr Reuben Borg
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Clair Z. Mulvihill
Posted: Jan. 10, 2006, 9 p.m.
A funeral service was held Monday morning at the Ceres Chapel of Franklin & Downs for Clair Z. Mulvihill, 91, of Ceres. He died Jan. 4, 2006 at Valley Comfort.
Born Jan. 7, 1914, Mr. Mulvihill was a native of Rembrandt, Iowa, and lived in Ceres for 45 years. He was a foreman for J.S. West, and formerly Brown and Vilas.
He leaves behind his wife, Eileen Mulvihill of Modesto; three children, Patrick Mulvihill of Hughson, Phyllis McFaddin of Visalia and Rachel Teeter of Prescott, Ariz.; two brothers, Luverne Mulvihill of Taylorville, Ind., and Richard Mulvihill of Sun City West, Ariz.; and eight grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his son, Gary Mulvihill.
-Ceres (Calif.) Courier
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Ohio school safety law is repealed as of Friday
Updated Oct 14, 2009 ; Posted Oct 14, 2009
Lisa DeJong, The Plain DealerFirst-graders in Kim Kelly’s class eat their lunch on new cafeteria tables at Goldwood Primary School in Rocky River. The district replaced tables at two schools, at a cost of about $30,000, to comply with the state’s school safety law — one of the most comprehensive inspection programs in the country. Its repeal takes effect on Friday.
December 23, 2003: First-grader dies after table falls on him
December 19, 2005: Ohio school-safety law that takes effect today is legacy of 6-year-old For family, it is first step in nationwide effort
July 10, 2007: Child's death leads to safer school policy State to enforce Jarod's Law to improve health standards
Christmas break was going to start as soon as Jarod Bennett's mother picked him up from his after-school program on Dec. 19, 2003. But just minutes before she got there, a folded-up cafeteria table fell on him.
The 6-year-old from Lebanon, Ohio, died from head injuries.
Two years later to the day, at an emotional candlelight vigil attended by Jarod's parents, Gov. Bob Taft signed Jarod's Law, an act sponsored by 52 legislators. Every public and private school would have to undergo an annual inspection and fix whatever was unsafe.
Over the next 18 months, the Ohio Department of Health drew up an exhaustive set of rules covering everything from labeling and storing chemicals to which animal species are allowed in classrooms (no non-human primates).
After inspections started in 2008, schools scrambled to make fixes.
Then this summer, as Gov. Ted Strickland and legislative leaders hashed out a budget, Jarod's Law disappeared, repealed as of Friday.
Many who had dealt with the law on a daily basis were shocked to find its repeal buried in a 3,120-page budget bill -- less than four years after it took effect.
"It's kind of frustrating," said Jill Petitti. She's the high school principal at Lorain County Joint Vocational School, where more than $50,000 has been spent to comply with the law.
"Schools spent so much and so many people got involved with this, and then it just stopped. We thought it was strange."
Locally, the West Geauga district shelled out over $300,000, the bulk of it to replace old bleachers.
Cleveland Heights-University Heights made sure the kilns for art class had adequate exhaust systems. Parma took care of carpets with seams that could trip someone.
And the Rocky River and South Euclid-Lyndhurst districts bought new cafeteria tables, at a cost of $31,000 and $44,000, respectively.
Courtesy of Bennett Family/APJarod Bennett
The repeal of Jarod's Law, a school safety bill passed by the Ohio General Assembly in 2005, becomes official on Friday.
The law called for comprehensive annual inspections by local health departments and provided them with a long list of potential hazards to check and report on, from the boiler room to the athletic field bleachers.
Here are a few examples of how specific the rules could get:
The stream from a drinking fountain should crest at least one inch above the mouth guard but not be so high that water spills on the floor.
Emergency showers and eyewash stations should be located within 10 seconds of work stations in science classrooms and inspected monthly. The eyewash stations must be capable of flushing both eyes simultaneously and have at least 15 minutes of continuous water flow.
All entries to the building should have a "five-step or 15-foot" mat, or one as long as the area will accommodate.
Playground swings should be surrounded by an unobstructed zone twice the height of the swing in front and back and a six-foot radius from the sides of the structure.
They replaced models that could more easily tip over when folded up, like the 290-pound table that killed Jarod.
Manufacturers had started affixing warning labels in 1989. But even though the tables were on a recall list, they didn't have to be removed from schools. When folded, they were supposed to be kept away from children or secured to the floor or a wall.
However, without an effective system for schools to be notified of recalls, not all would get word of the risk.
Matt Johnson, a program manager with the Cuyahoga County health department, said his inspectors found "thousands and thousands" of the tables in school cafeterias. "They last forever."
Under Jarod's Law, the state health director was charged with providing schools with an electronic list of recalled products four times a year.
But the law also said:
Inspections by local health departments would change from twice a year to once a year.
The director would coordinate the inspections and come up with the standards and procedures to be followed.
And if something needed to be fixed, school officials had to say what they were going to do about it and when -- in a public document.
The state health department, working with a committee of health and school representatives, came up with a rule book that was far more detailed and far-reaching than anything the local inspectors had been doing.
Their twice-yearly visits had been focused on sanitary issues, to stop the spread of disease. Now, they would widen their scope to all sorts of potential hazards.
For guidance, the inspectors got a 142-page training manual, incorporating revisions and updates that health professionals had been working on since at least 2002.
Carolyn Jurkowitz, from the Catholic Conference of Ohio, was on the rule-writing committee and saw trouble ahead.
"I quickly became aware that this set of rules would be large and prescriptive," she said. "As expected, schools saw the Jarod's Law rules as too many, too demanding and too specific."
School officials weren't the only ones complaining. Students went online to gripe about not being able to bring food or drinks into some of their classrooms. Teachers grumbled about having to lock up bottles of hand sanitizer whenever they left a classroom because it fell under the rules governing chemicals.
But many of the people in charge of school buildings locally will tell you the law had its benefits.
Rich Thomas, the supervisor of facilities and operations for Rocky River schools, said he appreciated having an inspector's "trained eye" to spot things like tripping hazards on sidewalks.
"We learn from him, he learns from us," Thomas said, adding that the inspector was also reasonable about prioritizing what needed to be done.
Rick Kolar, the building services supervisor in Mentor, said everyone in his district became more aware of safety issues. When students saw him in their schools, they'd sometimes ask "Is that the Jarod guy?"
In contrast, some teachers in other districts didn't even know what Jarod's Law was, he said. And while he would spend two days going over a building with an inspector, the walk-through might take only two hours in another district.
"Different counties were not held to the same standard," Kolar said. "Maybe that was part of the problem."
State legislators were getting an earful about the problem by February, when 24 of them sent a letter to Alvin Jackson, the state health director, asking him to reopen the rule-making process.
While the law was well-intentioned, the rules had "gone too far and created large and often unnecessary financial burdens on our local school districts," the letter said.
"It is our strong feeling that further review is desperately needed."
Jackson responded that he was acting within the scope of the law but added that the department was considering some revisions.
State Sen. Tim Grendell, of Geauga County, wasn't among those who signed the letter to Jackson, though he had gotten complaints from superintendents in his area.
"I thought we could look at tweaking the law, but apparently some of my brethren had an even more vocal response from their schools," he said.
That wasn't forgotten during the midsummer wrangling over the budget bill. Tom Ash, director of governmental relations for the Buckeye Association of School Administrators, said his group was contacted by both political parties for suggestions about unfunded mandates that could be eliminated.
"There was a recognition that money would be extremely tight, so if we can't increase your revenues, maybe we can cut your expenses," he said.
Lisa DeJong, The Plain DealerThe new cafeteria tables at Goldwood Primary School in Rocky River are billed as tip-proof when they’re folded up so they can be moved out of the way. In 2003, an older model tipped and fell on Jarod Bennett, a 6-year-old boy from Lebanon, Ohio. His death led to the passage of the state’s Jarod’s Law.
The repeal language was inserted in the Senate's version of the budget bill, according to Amanda Wurst, spokeswoman for the governor.
Strickland supported it because "many districts had expressed concerns that the guidelines for schools under Jarod's Law had become too restrictive and more costly than initially intended," she said.
Mary Clifton, a program administrator with the state health department, said, "We were as surprised as anybody else" by the repeal.
"We were really making some strides," said Johnson, from the Cuyahoga County health department.
But as president of the Ohio Environmental Health Association, which had a hand in writing the rules, Johnson also admits there's "plenty of blame to go around" for the loss of Jarod's Law.
He ticks off a few of the trouble spots: lack of strong oversight, no funding mechanism for work that had to be done, some overzealous health inspectors, rules that went beyond minimum standards.
"I thought we'd have a shot at taking out some of the things that were causing headaches," he said. "Seven years of hard work went into that whole process, and all of a sudden, it's gone with no public discussion."
So, what happens now?
Many school officials say the good relationship they've established with local health departments will continue. And they say they'll still follow up on problems that were discovered. But they don't have to.
A Sept. 17 memo from the state director to health commissioners makes that clear, giving no indication that parts of Jarod's Law will be revived, as some believe will happen.
As of Friday, there will be no statewide rules for school inspections, Jackson wrote. Inspections by local health departments will go back to twice a year with a focus on sanitary conditions.
And the department will no longer be required to post recall information.
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Clifford Law Offices Obtains $8.5 Million Settlement on Behalf of Newborn’s Mother Who Dies at Childbirth
Keith A. Hebeisen and Sarah F. King, attorneys at Clifford Law Offices, obtained an $8.5 million settlement on behalf of a mother who died after childbirth at Stroger Hospital following the medical team’s failure to recognize and treat signs and symptoms of ongoing bleeding from a placental abruption. Leticia Lara, 38, died Nov. 28, 2013, following the delivery of her child. On the day of...
Keith Hebeisen Testifies Before the Illinois Supreme Court Rules Committee
Keith A. Hebeisen, partner at Clifford Law Offices, testified Wednesday (June 19, 2019) before the Illinois Supreme Court Rules Committee at a public hearing on proposed changes to various court rules. In particular, Hebeisen, former president in 2005-06 of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA), testified on behalf of ITLA regarding Proposed Rule 18-01 that would require statewide use of a standard HIPPA order, which...
Parents of Samya Stumo Attend Second Congressional Hearing on Boeing 737 Max8
Nadia Milleron and Michael Stumo, parents of Samya Stumo who was killed in the tragic crash of a Boeing 737 Max8 in Ethiopia on March 10, attended a second hearing held by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Aviation Subcommittee today. Representatives from the aviation industry including the pilots association, the flight attendants association and Captain Chelsey “Sully” Sullenberger who safely landed a plane on...
Keith Hebeisen to Testify Wednesday Before the Illinois Supreme Court Rules Committee
Keith A. Hebeisen, partner at Clifford Law Offices, is scheduled to testify Wednesday (June 19, 2019) before the Illinois Supreme Court Rules Committee at a public hearing on proposed changes to a court rule. Hebeisen, past president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA) in 2005-2006, is scheduled to testify on behalf of ITLA regarding Proposed Rule 18-01 which would require statewide use of the...
Bob Clifford Speaks to WGN Radio on 25-Year Anniversary of the Deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman
Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner of Clifford Law Offices, called the deaths of O.J. Simpson’s ex-wife and her friend and the ensuing media coverage “unprecedented” in America. Clifford, who spoke on the Pete MacMurray Show, discussed the “dream team” of lawyers who Clifford called “formidable.” He also talked of the many police mistakes that led to O.J. Simpson being found not guilty beyond...
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Koch Targets Publicly Funded Elections in South Dakota
August 24, 2016 LACEY LOUWAGIE
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (CN) — Billionaire Charles Koch has targeted for defeat a voter initiative in South Dakota that would allow public funding of elections and provide more information about big political donors.
Koch’s group, Americans for Prosperity, seeks to defeat Initiated Measure 22, the South Dakota Government Accountability and Anti-Corruption Act, which will be on the ballot in November.
One feature of the initiative is the allocation of two “democracy credits,” each worth $50, which voters can apply to the political campaign of their choice.
The initiative also limits donations from single donors, including political committees, requires a name and address with each donation, and forbids certain expenses, such as vacations and event admissions, to be recorded as “campaign expenditures.”
The Defeat 22 coalition, which includes conservative family values groups, South Dakota retailers and some Republicans, and the South Dakota branch of Americans for Prosperity, decries the initiative as an attempt to “force” taxpayers to fund political campaigns.
“Measure 22 will allow big spending politicians to take millions of our taxpayer dollars and send it to political campaigns,” the group warns on its website. It says the initiative will force voters to “fund political TV ads and intrusive automated calls,” divert tax dollars “from funding roads, bridges, and schools,” and subject donors to “harassment for making voluntary donations to charitable causes.”
Proponents of the initiative say it will curtail government corruption in South Dakota, which the Center for Public Integrity in 2011 called the most corrupt state in the nation except for Georgia.
Since then, South Dakota has come under fire for scandals in its now-defunct EB-5 immigrant investor program, in 2015, and its mismanagement of federal education funds in its GEAR-UP program, this year.
“With the EB-5 scandal, and GEAR-UP, I think people are just embarrassed,” Jeff Hanson, who is campaigning for the measure’s adoption, said in an interview. “And you know, they’ve seen what not having oversight does, so I think as more about those stories comes to light over the next couple months, it will bring this issue to the forefront.”
While the initiative would provide taxpayer funding of political campaigns, voters would decide where the money goes.
“We are not asking the state of South Dakota to directly support a campaign or to match funds, but rather we’re asking the state to empower voters by giving them these certificates,” Don Frankenfeld, a sponsor of the proposal, said in an interview last fall. “If it does what we hope it will do, it will lead to much broader political participation and limit the influence of special interest political action committees.”
Frankenfeld, a Republican, is an economist and a former state senator. Rick Weiland, a Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, co-sponsored the proposal and hopes to introduce a similar bill in Washington if he is elected.
“Special-interest lobbyists oppose IM-22 because they benefit from a rigged political system and don’t want it changed,” the Yes 22 webpage says. “IM-22 puts voters in control. You control $100 of your own tax money: Use it to support candidates who best represent your beliefs and values or tell government not to spend it. It’s that simple, and it’s your choice.”
Hanson said: “I think the whole thing [the measure’s opponents] are after is, ‘Wait a minute, you’re upsetting our apple cart.’ But when you have a third of your races throughout the state that don’t have an opponent running, you have to take a look at that. We’re obviously not surprised that the people who have been funding and managing and running the campaigns in the state are really nervous about IM-22, and I don’t blame them. South Dakota deserves better.”
The fund would have a limit of $12 million of taxpayer money that can be spent on political campaigns. Chairman of the Defeat22.com Ballot Committee Ben Lee said that in South Dakota politics, that’s “big money.”
“Twelve million is a lot of money, more than is typically spent in South Dakota election campaigns,” Lee said in an interview. “This isn’t going to help the little guy whose tax dollars used to come back to helping him and his community. Instead, there’s going to be a lot of money in politics, and it’s just going to be coming from tax dollars.”
Lee said $12 million is more than the state can afford.
“Everyone is talking about how to pay teachers more,” he said.
Until recently, South Dakota teachers were the lowest-paid in the nation.
“There is no extra money in the budget,” Lee said. “It’s as lean as it’s going to get. So now we’re talking about carving out $12 million for political campaigns, and we can’t find money for something as noble as teacher pay. Someone is going to lose $12 million so that Measure 22 can take that money and funnel it to politicians’ campaigns.”
Last year, Americans for Prosperity blocked a bill in Georgia that would require advocacy groups to disclose the identities of their donors. Koch also supported a bill in the U.S. Senate that would bar the IRS from collecting the names of donors to most tax-exempt groups. Congress approved that bill in June.
Americans for Prosperity also won a legal battle in a California Federal Court this year to keep its own donors secret.
A similar “democracy voucher” program is already in place in Seattle, and is on the November ballot for statewide implementation in Washington.
Americans for Prosperity has not geared up to defeat Washington’s Initiative 1464, which also includes transparency and anti-corruption measures.
Lee speculated that the increased attention on South Dakota is because it is being used as a “testing ground” for national groups, such as Represent Us out of Massachusetts, who want to push publicly funded elections.
“It is easy to get something on the ballot in South Dakota because of the smaller population and the lower number of signatures needed,” Lee said. “They want to test it here, and if it wins they’ll take their show on the road and try it in other states. They see S.D. as a low barrier to entry.
“They think ethics and low corruption is going to play really well,” Lee added. “We think this is a smokescreen to get at taxpayer funded elections.”
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Biodiesel Company Pleads to Felony for Releasing Wastewater into Storm Water Pit
Fuel Bio One, a biodiesel company, had tanks for its wastewater and a storm water pit. Its water discharge permit allowed the company to pump from the storm water pit into Arthur Kill, a waterbody separating New Jersey from Staten Island. The permit did not allow the company to put its wastewater into the storm water pit.
Wastewater Illegally Released into Storm Water Pit
The government alleged that on two occasions the company’s employees released a total of 45,000 gallons of wastewater into the storm water pit. On both occasions, these wastewater releases caused the pump to activate and discharge wastewater into Arthur Kill.
Criminal Conviction, Fine, and Probation
The company pleaded guilty to a felony in federal court for the alleged illegal wastewater discharges. As a result of the plea and conviction, the company was fined $100,000 and placed on probation for five years. The terms of the probation included:
No further violations of environmental laws or regulations;
Bi-annual reporting to the court identifying the nature and quantity of all waste generated and the procedures for proper handling and disposal of any waste;
Implementing employee training based on a plan submitted to the government, with bi-annual reporting to the court on the status of the training and the company paying for any oversight by the court of the training; and
EPA access to company facilities and records.
The conviction requires the company to pay for any necessary restitution. (This can include costs incurred by the government for laboratories and costs to restore lost natural resources.) Also, some of the company’s contracts may have clauses allowing the customer to cease doing business with the company if the company is ever convicted of a felony.
Employees Must Understand and Comply with Permits
The case is a reminder of the importance of training and communication to ensure employees understand and comply with environmental permits. The company pleaded guilty to knowingly discharging pollution because its employees released wastewater into a pit that was only permitted for storm water.
For a copy of the Department of Justice press release on the case https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/biodiesel-fuel-company-sentenced-releasing-over-45000-gallons-wastewater-arthur-kill-waterway
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Peckforton Castle reopens rooms damaged in fire
A HOTEL which suffered severe fire damage in an alleged arson attack is bouncing back after restoring and reopening some of the damaged rooms.
Peckforton Castle was victim of the attack in June when a fire ripped through the east wing of the castle, damaging a number of bedrooms and one of the main function rooms.
Liverpool property developer Max Kay is charged with arson, and is due to appear at Chester Crown Court on October 10 to enter a plea.
Now eight of the 14 bedrooms damaged, known internally as the 500s and 600s, are open for public use again.
The rooms had suffered water and smoke damage and their reopening marks the completion of the first stage of rebuilding work.
The main stage of restoration work was due to start on Monday.
Each bedroom has been refurbished and revamped with new bathrooms fitted throughout.
Managing director Chris Naylor has been impressed with the speed and quality with which the work has been completed.
He said: “The rooms look great. They are better versions of what they used to be with the new bathroom fittings.
“We are now looking forward to seeing the rest of the work get going and get finished.”
The addition of the finished bedrooms means the hotel can host more leisure guests as well as their weddings and events – although it will still be several months before the hotel is back to full capacity.
Mr Naylor added: “We are rebuilding our business step by step. Support from our guests and community is vital and we encourage everyone to visit the castle for lunch, dinner, a spa treatment and take advantage of all that we have to offer.
“The building work is not visible and will not affect our guests’ stays.”
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Carrier Catch-Up: A Look At The Latest Buzz From The Telecom Industry In February
Government intervention bogged down the telecom industry last month. From legal and regulatory battles to the latest in 5G, here are five attention-grabbing headlines that made the news in February from the industry's leading service providers.
By Gina Narcisi March 12, 2019, 11:20 AM EDT
Order In the Court
The telecom industry found itself in the courtroom often in February as the Department of Justice evaluated the potential Sprint/T-Mobile deal; a judge ruled in favor of AT&T's mega-merger with Time Warner once again, overturning an appeal attempt from the Justice Department; and net Neutrality was brought back into the spotlight by a federal appeals court.
From courtrooms to the latest in 5G, here's CRN's roundup from the industry-leading service providers and other attention-grabbing headlines in February.
Net Neutrality Back In The Spotlight
February came in with a bang as a federal appeals court listened to arguments on the first of the month over whether the Trump administration acted legally when it repealed landmark Net Neutrality rules governing internet providers in December 2017.
House Republican lawmakers in February followed up by introducing three new legislative proposals aimed at addressing concerns such as consumer privacy, content censorship, and slowing or “throttling” of internet speeds. But the proposed bills won't bring back the Obama-era Title II classification, which subjects providers to "common carrier" rules. Net Neutrality advocates still oppose these bills that leave out the Title II classification.
DoJ Still Evaluating Sprint/T-Mobile Deal
The DoJ is still taking a look at the proposed $26 billion tie-up attempt by the third and fourth largest carriers in the U.S.—Sprint and T-Mobile, respectively. The reason? Antitrust concerns.
DoJ staff hasn't yet made a formal recommendation to Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division Makan Delrahim about the deal. The two carriers need the DoJ and the Federal Communications Commission to sign off on the deal before it can close. The two carriers have said that one of the reasons they need to combine is to compete with Chinese telecom company Huawei in building out the U.S.’ 5G network.
AT&T Expands 5G Rollout Plans
AT&T has already launched 5G in 12 cities, and the carrier giant added two more to its 2019 5G road map: Minneapolis and Chicago. AT&T also said that it expects to have a nationwide 5G network by early 2020 with speeds that will "eventually" reach multiple Gigabits per second.
In other AT&T news, the Dallas-based carrier won the ultimate prize last month. AT&T's highly publicized Time Warner mega-merger is allowed to stand after a federal appeals judge ruled in favor of AT&T once again in its battle with the Justice Department over the $85.4 billion deal it closed last June.
Verizon Details Mobile 5G Service Plans, Devices
Like its Dallas-based competition, Verizon last month unveiled a series of updates to its 5G strategy. The carrier said that its mobile 5G service will be powered by its 5G Ultra-Wideband (UWB) network on the 3GPP 5G New Radio standard. Verizon also unveiled plans to launch its mobile 5G UWB Network in more than 30 U.S. cities in 2019.
The Basking Ridge, N.J.-based provider has revealed three devices so far that will run on its mobile 5G UWB network in the first half of 2019, including the Moto Z with 5G mod, the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, and the Inseego MiFi 5G NR mobile hot spot.
Cambium Networks, Facebook Team Up To Bring Connectivity To Challenging Geographies
At Mobile World Congress 2019 in Barcelona, wireless and networking service provider Cambium Networks said it has teamed with Facebook to deliver high-capacity connectivity to dense urban areas, the companies said.
Together, Cambium will embed Facebook’s Terragraph connectivity technology into Cambium's soon-to-come 60GHz multi-mode wireless technology. Terragraph technology can bypass the need for fiber broadband cables, which can be challenging in extreme geographies, the two companies said.
Cambium also works with Facebook within the social network provider's Express Wi-Fi program, which offers low-cost data in South Africa, India, Kenya, Ghana, Indonesia, Tanzania and Nigeria.
News Networking
Huawei Executive: ‘We Seem To Be Caught In The Middle’ Of U.S.-China Trade War
9 States, D.C. File Lawsuit Aiming To Block T-Mobile-Sprint Merger
Avant Unveils Research Arm, Revamped Sales Tools For Partners
T-Mobile-Sprint Deal Could Happen If Amazon Takes Boost Mobile: Report
Frontier Communications Selling Western Wireline Operations For $1.35 Billion
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Eliana Taylor Interns at Legislature for Rep. Esgar
Cora Zaletel
Executive Director, External Affairs
Colorado State University-Pueblo
Colorado State University–Pueblo student interns at Colorado Legislature this Spring
PUEBLO – Colorado State University-Pueblo senior Eliana Taylor, a political science major from Monument, is spending two days a week this semester at the State Capitol in Denver observing the legislative process, while earning credit for the experience as part of the Legislative Internship Program.
Begun nearly 25 years ago, the legislative program provides students from all majors the opportunity to learn about state government and the legislative process. Because Colorado has a citizen’s legislature, the students provide an invaluable professional service to the legislature with their research and personal skills. The students travel to Denver twice a week in their capacity as interns and often spend additional days working in their legislator’s district. Students receive academic credit for their work at the Capitol.
Taylor is serving as an intern with Pueblo Representative Daneya Esgar, who has been a strong a community leader and political activist for those who need a strong voice since earning a mass communications degree from CSU-Pueblo in 2001. Among Taylor’s responsibilities are office work (filing, answering phones, etc.), responding to constituent inquiries, attending committee, and legislator meetings, organizing meetings in the legislator’s district, and compiling newsletters and other correspondence. Representative Esgar is the chair of the Capital Development Committee and vice-chair of the House Health, Insurance, and Environment Committee. She also sits on the House Agriculture, Livestock, and Natural Resource Committee as well as the House Transportation and Energy Committee.
Taylor, who also is minoring in Honors, English, and Communications and Rhetoric, said she has been honored to be able to represent Rep. Esgar and to be asked to speak to various community groups on her behalf.
“If I was able, I would be up in Denver every day to help out in the office,” Taylor said. “Rep. Esgar is a busy and dedicated woman who genuinely cares for her community, and I have enjoyed every interaction with her.”
"As a CSU Pueblo alum, it means the world to have the relationship come full circle with CSU- Pueblo students serving as such integral parts of my office,” Esgar said. “My goal as Representative is to do everything I can to best serve the people of Pueblo, and all those who work within this office are absolutely essential in ensuring we can make that happen. I am impressed every year by the drive, enthusiasm, and aptitude of the CSU Pueblo interns, and Eliana Taylor absolutely lives up to the role. She is incredibly prepared and also eager to learn and it is a pleasure for my office, and my constituents, to have her on board."
According to Legislative Internship Program Coordinator and Political Science Faculty Member Gayle Berardi, many interns use their experience to pursue employment or additional experiences in the U.S. Senate and Congress after graduation. Berardi said more than 200 CSU-Pueblo students have taken advantage of this tremendous experiential learning opportunity since the program began in 1992.
For more information on the program, contact Berardi at gayle.berardi@csupueblo.edu or 719-549-2679.
Colorado State University-Pueblo is committed to excellence, setting the standard for regional comprehensive universities in teaching, research, and service by providing leadership and access for its region, while maintaining its commitment to diversity.
--CSU-Pueblo--
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Culturadata Notebooks
Romanian Journal of Museums
National Institute for cultural research and training
National Institute for Cultural Research and Training (INCFC), subordinated to the Ministry of Culture and National Identity, is the only national institute that has such goals as studying, researching and providing statistical data for the field of culture, as well as the ongoing training of those who choose a career in the occupational sector of culture.
Through all our activities, we support and legitimise the development of the cultural field in Romania. This is the reason why we address all types of cultural organisations, regardless of the level of subordination, with the purpose to collect and disseminate statistical data for the substantiation of the projects, as well as to support professional evolution within these organisations.
The institute aims at helping the authorities responsible for the draw-up of cultural policies and strategies, in order to support and elaborate coherent regulations of the system, as well as to study the impact of these measures at local and national level.
In the last years, the experts of the institute have conducted more than 70 studies and statistical analyses, have participated in 31 national and international conferences, have trained over 6000 beneficiaries coming from approximately 700 cultural institutions and have evaluated more than 4000 candidates within the evaluation sessions for various skills.
Among the beneficiaries there were: public cultural institutions subordinated to local or central authorities (museums, exhibition centres and organisations, cultural establishments, libraries, performing arts and concert institutions, non-governmental organisations), the World Intellectual Property Organization, the European Commission – Education, Audiovisual & Culture Executive Agency, the National Authority for Scientific Research, UNITER (Theatre Union of Romania), the Commission for the Programme „Sibiu European Capital of Culture 2007”, ArCub (the Cultural Projects Centre of Bucharest).
Both the research and the training activities are validated by a specialised Scientific Council made of academics.
In 2015, INCFC was assigned to set the bases of the Satellite Account for Culture, a statistical method that aims at measuring the field and its economic impact, according to a pattern set by Eurostat. This important project, developed under the methodological supervision of the National Institute of Statistics, also aims at collecting, analysing and interpreting data in the cultural field.
In 2016, INCFC became the first Romanian member of ENCATC (European Network on Cultural Management and Policy) and active member in COMPENDIUM of Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe – a European platform of applied research supported by CE/EricArts.
In September 2018, INCFC is organising the 26th ENCATC Congress of Cultural Management and Policies, in Bucharest, under the aegis of the European Year of Cultural Heritage and the High Patronage of the President of Romania.
In 2018, National Institute for Cultural Research and Training (INCFC), together with the Ministry of Culture and National Identity have started the project UNESCO CDIS (Culture for Development Indicators). The UNESCO CDIS project is an innovative set of instruments that allows the building and analysis of 22 indicators revealing the multidimensional contribution of culture in the development processes. These indicators are grouped around seven activity sectors/ sustainable development dimensions. For the first time in Romania, CDIS will allow the measuring of culture’s contribution to the sustainable development processes, from various perspectives: economy, education, governance, social participation, gender equality, communication and heritage.
Culturadata — Sharpening minds!
The National Institute for Cultural Research and Training (INCFC), subordinated to the Ministry of Culture, is the only national institute that aims to study, research and provide statistical data in the field of culture as well as training professionals who choose a career in this field.
Culturadata online data collection platform
Culturadata Interactive platform
Heritage for the Next Century
Address: Bd. Unirii, nr. 22, etaj 2, Sector 3, 030833 Bucharest
Email: office@culturadata.ro
Business hours: Monday-Friday, 9:00 – 17:00
© 2019 National Institute for cultural research and training. All rights reserved. Terms and conditions
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Home • Latest Med-Mal Insurance News & Research • Cg Ins • Healthcare Industry • Cooperative of American Physicians Membership Tops 10,000
Cooperative of American Physicians Membership Tops 10,000
http://www.marketwatch.com
LOS ANGELES, July 14, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — The Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc. (CAP) today announced that its active membership officially exceeded 10,000 physicians.
“Surpassing the 10,000 member level truly represents a milestone for our corporation,” says CEO James L. Weidner. “The physicians who founded CAP more than 30 years ago were true visionaries. They believed that physicians working together could find a way to manage the escalating costs of medical professional liability protection — and they were right.”
Throughout its history, CAP has worked to provide its member physicians with the best tools to meet the business challenges of running a medical practice. Through rigorous underwriting, assertive claims management, and customized risk management programs, CAP has become recognized as one of the most successful physician-owned medical liability companies in the U.S. CAP’s core product, the Mutual Protection Trust (MPT), is a leader in promoting medical professional liability protection in California.
The financial stability of MPT is so solid that A.M. Best Company recently assigned it a rare A+ (Superior) Rating for the third year in a row. MPT is the only physician-owned and directed medical professional liability provider ever to earn such a rating.
“The legacy of our founders is the CAP history of stability, reliability, longevity, and the professional attention which is the foundation that has enabled MPT to earn its A.M. Best A+ Rating,” adds CEO Weidner. “And now, more than 10,000 doctors share in the benefits that such a legacy provides.”
About the Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc. (CAP)
The Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc. was established in 1975 by a group of California physicians to find a way to manage the escalating cost of medical professional liability coverage. Two years later, CAP launched the Mutual Protection Trust which today provides protection for the finest physicians practicing in California. CAP is recognized as the leading medical professional liability provider in California. Based in Los Angeles, CAP also has offices in San Diego, Orange, Sacramento, and Mountain View, California.
SOURCE Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc.
Copyright (C) 2008 PR Newswire. All rights reserved
This entry was posted in Healthcare Industry, Insurance Companies, Medical Malpractice Insurance, New Developments, Physician Leadership, Physician Practice, Risk Management on July 16, 2008 by john.
< Board agrees to post some malpractice details Medicare puts docs in limbo >
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Sterling Steady around $1.284 after General Election News
Lisa Remick 19 April 2017 19 Apr 2017
Sterling rallied yesterday after Prime Minister Theresa May’s unexpected announcement of an 8 June general election. Her surprise political U-turn is expected to give Conservatives a landslide victory. The pound has continued rising in Asian markets today, as investors expect Brexit’s outcome will be more market-friendly.
The US dollar is still weighed down by concerns that President Trump’s tax reform policies will be delayed as last-minute US taxpayers queue to pay their taxes today. Tension over the US reacting to North Korea with a military strike has eased a little since Trump dismissed his ‘armada’ from the region.
The pound rose to a 6-month high of $1.29 late yesterday after news of the 8 June snap general election. Yesterday, Ladbrokes gave the Conservatives a 1 in 5 odds of winning a majority, so it appears that the Prime Minister’s political gamble will pay off. When her party does win, it increases the Prime Minister’s power and increases the likelihood she’ll push for a ‘hard Brexit’. It will also strengthen the government’s hand at the negotiating table with Brussels since it has been pointed out by opponents that Theresa May wasn’t elected into office. Scotland’s Nicola Sturgeon said that the general election results will determine Scotland’s future and also that the 2nd referendum vote will be scheduled at a time that suits Scotland best.
The market clearly favours a stronger government, so the decision to hold the elections is seen as a ‘game changer’ for the pound. The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) report yesterday also increased economic optimism because it upgraded its projections for the UK’s GDP to 2%. This was the second time in 3 months that the IMF recalculated the UK’s economy and found it to be resilient post-Brexit. The IMF’s upgrade now puts the UK economy in second place for the fastest growing advanced economy, behind the US.
The US dollar remains weak against most major peers after getting a brief boost by comments from US trade secretary Steven Mnuchin’s saying he’s in favour of a strong dollar. Vice President Mike Pence is heading a 10-day economic tour of Asia, on a mission to reassure trade partners that the US wants to increase its trade agreements in the region, even though it’s not participating in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. The American Chamber of Commerce in China warned that 2017 could be the toughest year for US businesses in China. It suggested the US ‘use every arrow’ in their quiver to counter balance Chinese policies that support domestic companies to the detriment of foreign ones. US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed to a 100-day plan to reduce the US trade deficit with China. The $347 billion trade deficit last year is by far the largest one the US has with any other country.
President Trump’s border tax relies on a flawed, ‘laughable’ theory that contends that the foreign exchange (FX) market is easy to predict, say US currency traders. Wall Street’s currency experts transact $5.1 trillion in currency daily, and the US FX experts are unanimous in their opinion that the Republicans’ border tax plan won’t increase the US dollar by 25%. The tax plan can’t increase the dollar by that amount because the plan underestimates the global market influence on the dollar that the US can’t control. The US trades $14 billion a day. This is a mere 0.3% of the $4.4 trillion traded globally. This currency value rise that politicians have been so confident about is crucial to the border plans’ success. If the dollar doesn’t appreciate, American’s won’t be able to afford the imports which would have once been cheap, but will be more expensive after tariffs.
The euro has slumped ahead of the first round of French elections this Sunday. It will be difficult for the single market currency to make any real recovery until after the 7 May vote is counted. Marine Le Pen, who is neck and neck with Emmanuel Macron for the Presidency, said yesterday that she’d suspend all legal immigration to France. If France’s election is won by either Le Pen or Jean-Luc Melenchon, some analysts expect the euro would drop to parity with the US dollar.
In other election news, after protests over election irregularities, the European commission has said Turkey should launch a transparent investigation into the results of the referendum. Turkey won’t cooperate with efforts to investigate, and President Erdogan has dismissed the notion of an election fraud investigation, saying foreign observers should ‘know their place’. A member of the Council of Europe observer mission said up to 2.5 million votes might have been manipulated during last Sunday’s vote. Analysts at Fitch ratings agency have said that because the referendum gives President Erdogan more power it will have a positive effect on Turkey’s economy by facilitating necessary reforms.
With rising tensions worldwide, nervous investors are turning to safe haven assets-especially gold-and safe haven currencies like the Japanese yen. The yen has surged in the past 2 weeks since the US bombed a Syrian airbase and it’s risen again after the first round of economic discussions with the US trade representatives in Tokyo. Although each trade team expressed optimism, they failed to put to rest the expectation that President Trump will be critical of Japan’s policy of keeping the yen weak in order to aid exports. The talks are being seen as a significant indicator of how the Trump administration intends to apply the protectionist policies he’s expected to deliver in Japan and across Asia.
The US is combatting what it sees as unfair trade practices in the economic discussions with Japan. The US Treasury Department expressed concern over the persistent trade imbalance when they released the report last year that Japan had a $69 billion trade surplus with the US. President Trump promised to shrink the trade deficit with countries like Japan by negotiating bilateral trade deals with each of the 12 nations that have agreed to the TPP. US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is also on the visit, and he’s taken a hard line on the US’s trading stance. He’s also said he wants to increase trade ties with Japan, which indicates the US intends to export more, particularly American cars, which aren’t as popular in Japan as Japanese cars are in the US. The Vice-President expressed impatience in striking a trade deal with Japan, saying that he wants the current preliminary dialogues to move quickly to the negotiation stage.
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Posted on February 21, 2019 by Belinda Paschal
Leonard Pitts Jr. - Miami Herald
“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”
— John F. Kennedy, 1962
This is a requiem for American vision.
That that quality has been lost is the unavoidable takeaway from three weeks of debate over the Green New Deal introduced in Congress by New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Massachusetts Sen. Edward J. Markey. The GND is not a proposed law, but a non-binding resolution calling for a top-to-bottom restructuring of U.S. social, economic and environmental policy. It is, in other words, a list of goals.
Granted, they are very big goals, including: supplying all of America’s power needs through clean, renewable and zero-emission energy sources and retrofitting every building in the country for maximum energy efficiency within 10 years; providing universal access to higher education and health care; ending the oppression of people of color, the poor and other marginalized populations; guaranteeing a job with paid vacation and a livable wage to every American.
While many on the right have responded with predictable hysteria — calling it communism, fascism and the end of air travel — there’s one criticism, coming from both left and right, that speaks volumes about what America is in this moment. It says the GND is simply too big an idea. As in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi dubbing it, “the green dream;” columnist Jonah Goldberg ripping it as a “fantasy;” the Washington Times calling GND supporters “the unicorn caucus.”
You will read no analysis of the resolution here. That’s not the point. Yes, it is admittedly vague on how to achieve its goals. But the idea that those goals are too big to be achieved is what rankles. That was, you may recall, the same sentiment that pervaded the fight over the Affordable Care Act a decade ago.
Then, as now, the argument suggested that something vital has seeped out of us. Three generations ago, when President Kennedy committed America to reaching another planet within eight years, did Americans think we couldn’t do it? Indeed, was anyone surprised when we got there with five months to spare?
No. Because big things were what America did. From carving highways out of corn fields and cyberspace, to airlifting hope to a starving city, to rebuilding a ravaged continent, to helping save the world from tyranny, to digging a 40-mile trench that united two oceans, to binding East and West with railroad tracks, to defeating the most powerful military on Earth with an army of farmers, when did “big” ever scare America? When did “impossible” ever stop us?
To the contrary, it has always been in the country’s DNA to believe it had the power to transform destiny. Given the frightening state of our affairs and the planet’s imminent meltdown, we could do a lot worse than to reclaim that conviction. Instead, we get dour pragmatism and lectures on limitations. Goldberg even chided Ocasio-Cortez and Markey’s plan as “wildly ambitious.” Like that’s a bad thing.
You think the Green New Deal won’t work? Fine. Then what’s your idea? Whatever it is, make sure it takes into account the urgency of the moment, the fracturing of our social covenant, the peril of the planet.
Meantime, credit Ocasio-Cortez and Markey for at least having the audacity and faith to believe America can be America again. This, after all, was a country that never feared “big,” never ran from “impossible.”
This would be a really bad time to start.
https://www.dailycall.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2019/02/web1_Pitts-Leonard-1.jpg
Leonard Pitts Jr.
Leonard Pitts is a columnist for The Miami Herald, 1 Herald Plaza, Miami, Fla., 33132. Readers may contact him via e-mail at lpitts@miamiherald.com.
Hi! A visitor to our site felt the following article might be of interest to you: . Here is a link to that story: https://www.dailycall.com/opinion/columns/54293/54293
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MIKE NADEL: Bulls collapse leaves fans with little patience
Mike Nadel
Fans start to throw in the towel on the Bulls season
Just moments after the Bulls finished a classic Chicago sports collapse that would have made the Cubs proud, a frustrated fan fired his "rally towel" into the press box. The small piece of cloth, white except for a red image of an Afro-coiffed Ben Wallace, landed on my laptop computer as I was writing this award-winning piece of journalism.
Yes, the fan was throwing in the towel after Thursday night's 81-74 loss to the Pistons, and I don't blame him. Down 3-0 in the Eastern Conference semifinals to a Detroit team that is superior in every way, the Bulls have as much chance of winning four straight games as I have of starring in a shampoo commercial.
And yes, Wallace should have been red-faced. He showed up 76 minutes before tip-off; team rules require players to be 90 minutes early. It seems nitpicky, and it certainly didn't appear to matter when the Bulls were zipping to a 49-30 third-quarter lead. But it was disrespectful to coach Scott Skiles and the organization, especially given that Wallace is a "leader" with a $60 million contract. And it speaks to the lack of discipline
that undid the Bulls.
By discipline, I'm not talking about behavioral problems. I'm talking about lack of focus and poise. This wasn't a case of the Bulls simply being overwhelmed by the Pistons, as happened in Games 1 and 2. This truly was a choke job of Cubbian proportions.
When the Pistons started coming back, you could sense the Bulls getting tight. When the game got close, you could feel the panic. When the Pistons went ahead, well, enjoy those rally towels and drive home safely, everybody.
"When they got it (close), we started shot-faking again and had some fumbles and lost some handles," Skiles said. "We got tentative. We couldn't find our rhythm.
"What has become a trend, when (the Pistons) want to do something, they do it. When they want to penetrate, they penetrate. When they want to shoot 3s, they shoot 3s. We haven't had a lot of answers.
"Once it got tight, they turned it up and we weren't able to go with them."
Luol Deng, the closest the Bulls have to an All-Star, went 4-for-13 from the floor and 2-for-5 from the line in the second half. Meanwhile, whether he was trying to defend Tayshaun Prince or Rasheed Wallace, the Pistons found that player, fed that player and were rewarded when that player burned Deng time and again.
I don't mean to pick on Luol, a good kid who won the NBA's Sportsmanship Award. I'm just recounting what happened to one of the Bulls' top guns. What chance did the Bulls really have in this series?
"We knew they were gonna make a run; we just didn't answer," Deng said. "We played better today, but we're saying that it's still a loss. It's hard losing a game like that. It really hurts."
There was plenty of hurt to go around. Ben Gordon, who fancies himself a big-game performer, came up empty for a third consecutive playoff game and got to watch a true big-game performer - Chauncey Billups - carve the Bulls to bits.
Kirk Hinrich was a second-team NBA All-Defense selection, but he was thrashed soundly by Rip Hamilton. And Rasheed Wallace took good buddy Ben Wallace behind the woodshed.
Big Ben supposedly was late because he got caught in particularly bad traffic. Well, after a round of golf and a work meeting in the afternoon, I was driving in from the distant suburbs, too. I managed to make it to the United Center in plenty of time.
And while I consider my job important - after all, whose picture would you put on your dartboard if I didn't offer my smiling mug to your newspaper? I think it's fair to say Wallace had a little more at stake.
And so the questions remain. Can Skiles be The Coach to lead the Bulls to greatness? Do the Bulls have a championship-caliber nucleus? What must general manager John Paxson do to make his team a legitimate contender? (Didn't I just read in the Los Angeles Times that Kevin Garnett wants out of Minnesota?)
Skiles was asked why he didn't use Chris Duhon, who had been a pretty valuable role player the last three years.
"Coach's decision," Skiles said. "I hadn't been able to stick to our top seven players. We had to find out if we stick to our top seven, are we good enough to beat them?"
Well, at least the Bulls had a definitive answer for one question.
Mike Nadel is the Chicago sports columnist for GateHouse News Service. Write him c/o the Journal Star, I News Plaza, Peoria, IL 61643 or e-mail mikenadel@sbcglobal.net
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Time for copyright laws in Africa to change
A regional seminar for heads of African copyright offices resulted in a clear consensus that copyright laws in Africa must change to allow digital, online and cross-border uses
Home > News > Time for copyright laws in Africa to change
Representatives of library, archive and education groups shared local experiences and assisted with practical questions from government delegates, such as the use of technology by libraries, and the cost of online resources from the global north.
On 12-13 June 2019, heads of copyright offices from more than 40 African states met in Nairobi, Kenya, to discuss copyright limitations and exceptions for libraries, archives, and education in the African region.
The African regional seminar was jointly organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO). The objective of the seminar was to analyze the situation of libraries, archives and educational institutions, and copyright limitations and exceptions in WIPO member states in Africa, and to identify areas for action.
The clear consensus that emerged from the two-day seminar was a recognition that copyright exceptions in Africa are wholly inadequate, especially for online uses, and that there is a real need for reform.
An unrealistic copyright system harms access to knowledge
The opening address by Dr Amina Mohamed, Cabinet Secretary at the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Heritage in Kenya, captured the context for the seminar in three key points: statutory limitations and exceptions are critical for a balanced copyright system; while new technologies challenge the boundaries of traditional exceptions, maintaining an unrealistic copyright system has far-reaching adverse implications for access to knowledge; putting in place an appropriate copyright environment is an essential precondition for a well-functioning education (and knowledge) ecosystem.
Copyright exceptions in Africa - a continent falling behind
The address was followed by presentations from the authors of the WIPO studies on libraries, archives, museums and education, who set the scene by focussing on the situation of copyright laws in Africa.
The presentation on the library sector by Professor Kenneth Crews showed a continent falling behind the rest of the world in terms of library provisions in copyright laws, especially for uses of digital material. Out of 53 African countries surveyed, 13 have no exception for libraries, while libraries in 10 countries have to make do with a general exception, that is an exception that does not specifically set out specialized library activities. The most common specialized exceptions are for preservation (26 countries) and research and study (25 countries). Numbers of countries that have exceptions for other types of uses drop off dramatically – for example, inter-library loan (one country) and document delivery (one country). No countries permit cross-border exchange. [See also our infographic, Copyright exceptions and limitations affecting libraries in 53 countries in Africa.]
Priority areas for action
After digesting the data, member states formed three working groups (one French and two English-speaking) that analyzed the situation for each of the sectors in detail, with support from the WIPO experts and observers (including libraries).
In the report-back session to plenary, common themes quickly emerged from the working groups. Member states agreed that legislation in Africa is lagging behind, and that exceptions need to be strengthened to achieve a proper balance in the copyright system, especially for digital technologies.
In the library sector, topics highlighted for priority attention included preservation (to safeguard against fire and other disasters that can happen at any time), digitization (to encourage use of certain indigenous material much sought after by local researchers), online access and uses (to meet expectations of the digital native generation), cross-border uses (to facilitate transfer of knowledge, as well as regional and international unity).
To address the issues, member states suggested a number of options including the need for a new legal framework, supranational measures to facilitate cross-border exchange, and extension of provisions in the Marrakesh Treaty for persons with print disabilities to other sectors, such as education. They also called for well-framed exceptions that promote access while protecting authors, and guidance and direction from WIPO in achieving them.
The issues and options discussed in Nairobi will be taken forward to an international WIPO conference on exceptions and limitations in October 2019 in Geneva, together with the outcomes of seminars from two other regions (Asia-Pacific and Latin America and the Carribbean).
Participation by libraries
EIFL, and representatives from other library and archive groups, participated in the working groups as observers, with brief opportunities to share local experience and to assist with practical questions such as the use of technology by libraries in Africa, the cost of online resources from the global north, and experiences with licensing. In contrast to the first seminar in Asia-Pacific, however, discussion of international solutions was not encouraged (and in one working group, it was expressly not allowed by the chair).
In addition, a two-day meeting of heads of African copyright offices that took place immediately before the WIPO Africa regional seminar on limitations and exceptions included topics of great importance to libraries, such as copyright in the digital age and current topics at SCCR. But libraries were not invited to participate in panel discussions, although we could have made valuable contributions to the debates.
We hope that similar opportunities at the upcoming regional seminar for Latin America and the Caribbean, in Santo Domingo in July, won’t be missed, and that libraries will be allowed to play a full and equal part in all relevant meetings and discussions.
EIFL was represented in Nairobi with a five-strong team: Teresa Hackett, EIFL Copyright and Libraries Programme Manager, Japhet Otike (Kenya), Awa Diouf Cissé (Senegal), Kathy Matsika (Zimbabwe), and Dick Kawooya (Uganda/USA). EIFL cooperated closely with our library partners at IFLA (the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions), AfLIA (the African Library and Information Associations and Institutions), and KLISC (the Kenya Library and Information Consortium). We would like to thank the Kenya National Library for kindly hosting a joint meeting of civil society groups from libraries, archives and education.
The Regional Seminars are part of the WIPO Action Plan on Limitations and Exceptions. The first seminar for the Asia-Pacific region took place on 29-30 April 2019 (read IFLA’s report here) and the third seminar for Latin America and the Caribbean will take place on 4-5 July 2019. Results of all three regional events will be presented and discussed at an international WIPO conference on exceptions and limitations in October 2019.
The WIPO Action Plan was adopted to take forward the 2012 mandate from the WIPO General Assembly ‘to continue discussion to work towards an appropriate international legal instrument or instruments (whether model law, joint recommendation, treaty and/or other forms)’ on limitations and exceptions for libraries and archives.
Libraries rely on exceptions to allow everyday uses of copyright-protected materials, for example, to provide a researcher with a copy of a journal article, to make an accessible format copy for a blind student, or to make a preservation copy. However, too many countries have no provisions allowing libraries to carry out even basic activities, and where they do exist, they are often not adapted for the digital age and they do not permit cross-border cooperation.
That is why we are advocating for international action at WIPO so that libraries everywhere benefit from robust exceptions to properly carry out their missions, and that no country or region is left behind in the global digital age.
Find out more
Documents from the WIPO Regional Seminar for Africa.
Infographic: Copyright exceptions and limitations affecting libraries in 53 countries in Africa (prepared by EIFL and IFLA).
Why museums, libraries need exceptions in copyright law, article by Paul Kaindo, Business Daily Africa, 30 April 2019.
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The history of celebrities that stayed and played in Palm Springs
“Without Hollywood, it can be argued, there would be no Palm Springs as we know it today.”
The history of celebrities that stayed and played in Palm Springs “Without Hollywood, it can be argued, there would be no Palm Springs as we know it today.” Check out this story on desertsun.com: http://desert.sn/2wV7WrH
Roger Freeman, Special to The Desert Sun Published 3:44 p.m. PT Oct. 13, 2017 | Updated 3:42 p.m. PT Oct. 14, 2017
Mesa Neighborhood residents Palm Springs Mayor Sonny with Mary Bono and their children c. 1991.(Photo: Palm Springs Historical Society/Special to the Desert Sun)
“Without Hollywood, it can be argued, there would be no Palm Springs as we know it today,” states Howard Johns in his book “Palm Springs Confidential: Playground of the Stars.” In it, Johns documents over 500 celebrity homes in Palm Springs.
It began with the silent screen era and Hollywood’s first male heartthrob Rudolph Valentino. Since that time, movie stars have flocked to the desert and made Palm Springs one of their favorite getaways. Tourists and residents alike are fascinated with the history of celebrities that stayed and played in Palm Springs.
In 2010, longtime Palm Springs resident Kathy Leonard took a walking tour while on vacation in the charming Mexican village of San Miguel de Allende. That tour inspired her to create a walking tour as a way to raise funds for the Palm Springs Historical Society, a nonprofit organization.
Old Las Palmas residents Kirk and Anne Douglas c. 1960. (Photo: Palm Springs Historical Society/Special to the Desert Sun)
After months of research, it resulted in a walking tour called “The Heart of the City”, a tour of downtown Palm Springs. In this tour, docents lead a tour through the landmarks in the downtown area, and reflect on the influential matriarchs who created the village resort that was frequented by so many of the rich and famous.
Seven years later, under Leonard’s leadership, over 35 volunteer docents lead the tours that now include nine different neighborhoods. These tours let guests walk in the footsteps of celebrities, allow them to learn about the early pioneers and to appreciate the architecture of our town.
READ MORE: Melba Bennett and the gardens of Palm Springs
READ MORE: Meet Lucie Arnaz, the daughter of film and TV superstars Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz
READ MORE: The history of usually dry and sometimes stormy weather in Palm Springs
Residents of the Mesa Neighborhood Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood c.1958. (Photo: Palm Springs Historical Society/Special to the Desert Sun)
Palm Springs has the nation’s highest concentration of mid-century modernist architecture. Docents also tell stories—some tabloid-worthy—of the celebrities and non-celebrities who cavorted in the village of Palm Springs, which has always had a “live-and-let-live” atmosphere.
This season, the Palm Springs Historical Society is introducing two new walking tours to their lineup. The first is “Hidden Paradise of Show Biz Legends,” which showcases the secluded Mesa neighborhood where some homes date back to the 1920’s. The architecture ranges from romantic Spanish colonial revival to the dramatic contemporary modern. This secluded neighborhood contains one of the gems of residential architecture, the Ship of the Desert, designed in 1936. The Mesa neighborhood has been home to many of Hollywood’s elite throughout its long history. Barry Manilow and Suzanne Somers continue to reside in this hillside haven that locals call “a slice of paradise.”
The second tour is “Boom Town: The Story of Uptown Palm Springs.” This bustling area with its design stores, dramatic architecture and historic hotels represents the laid-back lifestyle of the desert and its glamorous past—and present.
Deepwell resident William Holden c.1960. (Photo: Palm Springs Historical Society/Special to the Desert Sun)
Each of our tours has a unique appeal. “Golden Era of Hollywood Homes in Old Las Palmas” and “Frank Sinatra’s Neighborhood, The Movie Colony” feature a high concentration of celebrity homes. “Inns, Architecture, and Glamour” and “Celebrity Haven, the Tennis Club Neighborhood” are tours with quaint and charming boutique hotels frequented by the stars of yesterday and today. “Rat Pack Playground, Modernist Homes in Vista Las Palmas” and “Stars & Starchitects in Deepwell” have mid-century modernist homes, many designed by renowned architects and inhabited by some of the motion picture industry’s biggest names.
Palm Springs Historical Society offers historical walking tours through many of Palm Springs’ prestigious and historic neighborhoods. Tickets are $20 per person and supports the Palm Springs Historical Society. To make reservations, go to pshistoricalsociety.org or call 760-323-8297.
Read or Share this story: http://desert.sn/2wV7WrH
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After Line 5 tunnel panel reshuffle, state gives public 5 days to comment on agreements
The Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority will consider an agreement with Enbridge Wednesday for the construction of a tunnel to house Line 5.
After Line 5 tunnel panel reshuffle, state gives public 5 days to comment on agreements The Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority will consider an agreement with Enbridge Wednesday for the construction of a tunnel to house Line 5. Check out this story on detroitnews.com: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2018/12/13/union-official-resigns-line-5-tunnel-panel/2304360002/
Beth LeBlanc, The Detroit News Published 4:09 p.m. ET Dec. 13, 2018 | Updated 7:44 p.m. ET Dec. 13, 2018
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder gives an exit interview to editorial board and reporters of The Detroit News in the Tony Snow conference room at the newspaper office in downtown Detroit on Friday, December 7, 2018.(Photo: John T. Greilick, Detroit News)
Lansing — Roughly a week after it was approved and days after a Democratic appointee resigned, the state's newly formed Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority will consider an agreement with Enbridge for the construction of a utility tunnel to house the Line 5 oil pipeline beneath the Straits of Mackinac.
Members of the public have just five days to comment on the proposed plans, released Thursday, before the corridor authority is expected to vote on the controversial agreements Wednesday.
The proposed agreements were announced the same day a Democratic union official appointed to the authority resigned his position, which resulted in Gov. Rick Snyder picking a Republican replacement.
Snyder announced the resignation of Geno Alessandrini in a Thursday statement regarding the appointment of James (J.R.) Richardson to the panel that will oversee construction of a utility tunnel.
Richardson, of Ontonagon, is vice president of PM Power Group and serves on the state's Natural Resources Commission. His term on the commission expires at the end of the year.
Richardson’s appointment to the panel for a six-year term will change the three-member authority from having a Democratic majority to a Republican majority.
In a statement Thursday, Alessandrini thanked the governor for the appointment, but cited personal reasons for his resignation.
“Unfortunately, due to family and business constraints, I am unable to fulfill the obligations required to be a member of the Mackinac Straits Utility Corridor Authority,” Alessandrini said.
The same day, the state of Michigan released for review and comment a draft of the state's third agreement with Enbridge and a proposed tunnel agreement that would be approved by the Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority. Both are expected to get approvals by the end of the year.
Public comment on the proposals will be accepted through Tuesday at 833-367-6713 or by email to DNR-StraitsTunnelComment@michigan.gov, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
The Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority will hold its first public meeting 1-3 p.m. Wednesday, where the panel is expected to consider the proposed tunnel agreement for approval. The meeting will include a time for public comment and will take place at Little Bear Arena in St. Ignace.
The third agreement between the state and Enbridge would cement two other agreements requiring Enbridge to pay for the construction of the tunnel, make financial assurances and comply with "more stringent inspection and safety requirements."
The tunnel agreement between the authority and Enbridge would require the Canadian energy company to construct, operate and maintain the tunnel, while complying with milestones and timelines for the process.
The Republican governor had announced his picks for the panel shortly after signing the law creating the authority. Along with Alessandrini, other appointees included Democrat Tony England, an engineering and computer science dean at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, and Republican Michael Zimmer, Snyder’s cabinet director.
The Senate approved the appointments Thursday, hours after Richardson was announced as Alessandrini's replacement.
Dempsy writes: "The agreement announced October 3 between Gov. Rick Snyder and Line 5 operator Enbridge will keep the existing pipelines running for at least another 7 to 10 years with no assurance that his dream tunnel under the Straits will ever be built." (Photo: National Wildlife Federation, National Wildlife Federation)
The business manager for the Michigan Laborers District Council, Alessandrini, of Iron Mountain, appeared to be a nod from Snyder to unions who have urged Democratic Gov.-elect Gretchen Whitmer to support the Line 5 tunnel replacement plan.
Whitmer and Democratic Attorney General-elect Dana Nessel, who both want to decommission the pipelines, take office Jan. 1.
Snyder announced the up to $500 million, 10-year construction plan for the utility corridor in October after years of environmental concerns over the possibility of a major oil spill from the 65-year-old dual pipelines. Enbridge would finance the project and then enter into a lease agreement for the tunnel with the state under the deal the Snyder administration negotiated.
Opponents have decried the proposal because of the 10-year construction time frame during which the oil pipeline will continue operating beneath the Straits. The corridor authority was approved by lawmakers after significant opposition to the original proposal to give the Mackinac Bridge Authority oversight over the project.
eleblanc@detroitnews.com
Read or Share this story: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2018/12/13/union-official-resigns-line-5-tunnel-panel/2304360002/
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You are here: Home » X-cutting Issues » Agriculture & Food » Agriculture, food & climate change
Agriculture, food & climate change
Written by Diana Thebaud Nicholson // September 13, 2017 // Agriculture & Food // 4 Comments
Lessons from the Green Revolution ; Green Revolution: Curse or Blessing? ;
Agriculture & Food ; (International Food Policy Research Institute)
Agriculture and climate change: An agenda for negotiation in Copenhagen ;
Global Treaty on Climate Change ;
Climate Change (that is, Global Warming) and Sub-Saharan Africa (2005)
“Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change” in the news
The great nutrient collapse
The atmosphere is literally changing the food we eat, for the worse. And almost nobody is paying attention
(Politico) A mathematician unearths an agricultural crisis in progress. Iraki Loladze’s first love is numbers, but in 1998, when he helped biologists at Arizona State University suss out a weird problem they couldn’t explain without his expertise, he found a new passion. In an approachable piece outlining a complex subject, Politico’s Helena Bottemiller explains how this mathematician came to posit that global warming may be slowly sapping crops of most of their nutrients—and why he’s struggling to get people to listen.
“Every leaf and every grass blade on earth makes more and more sugars as CO2 levels keep rising,” Loladze said. “We are witnessing the greatest injection of carbohydrates into the biosphere in human history―[an] injection that dilutes other nutrients in our food supply.”
He published those findings just a few years ago, adding to the concerns of a small but increasingly worried group of researchers who are raising unsettling questions about the future of our food supply. Could carbon dioxide have an effect on human health we haven’t accounted for yet? The answer appears to be yes—and along the way, it has steered Loladze and other scientists, directly into some of the thorniest questions in their profession, including just how hard it is to do research in a field that doesn’t quite exist yet.
IN VIETNAM, ALTERNATE WETTING AND DRYING IN IRRIGATED RICE IS HELPING FARMERS USE LESS WATER, AND LOWER EMISSIONS, WITHOUT COMPROMISING YIELDS
Paris climate agreement cannot be met without emissions reduction target for agriculture
New study finds current interventions only achieve 21-40 percent of goal
(EurekAlert) Scientists have calculated, for the first time, the extent to which agricultural emissions must be reduced to meet the new climate agreement’s plan to limit warming to 2°C in 2100.
Scientists from the the University of Vermont, the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), and partner institutions estimate that the agriculture sector must reduce non-CO2 emissions by 1 gigaton per year in 2030. Yet in-depth analysis also revealed a major gap between the existing mitigation options for the agriculture sector and the reductions needed: current interventions would only deliver between 21-40% of mitigation required.
The authors warn that emission reductions in other sectors such as energy and transport will be insufficient to meet the new climate agreement. They argue that agriculture must also play its part, proposing that the global institutions concerned with agriculture and food security set a sectoral target linked to the 2°C warming limit to guide more ambitious mitigation and track progress toward goals.
“This research is a reality check,” comments Lini Wollenberg, leader of the CCAFS Low Emissions Development research program, based at the University of Vermont’s Gund Institute for Ecological Economics. “Countries want to take action on agriculture, but the options currently on offer won’t make the dent in emissions needed to meet the global targets agreed to in Paris. We need a much bigger menu of technical and policy solutions, with major investment to bring them to scale.”
Climate adaptation pilot project launched for African farmers
The World Meteorological Organization launched a Climate Services Adaptation Program last month to help farmers in Tanzania and Malawi use weather information for better crop planting and harvesting, writes Kizito Makoye. The pilot project is designed to assist farmers in learning how to counteract the impact of extreme weather, such as floods and droughts. Thomson Reuters Foundation (12/13)
Climate change sends Africa’s agricultural extension officers back to school
(Thomson Reuters Foundation) Smallholder farmers, who keep Africa fed, need extension officers who are well informed about climate change, as its impacts – already being witnessed in more extreme and erratic weather – threaten the continent’s food security.
Knowledge of climate change among agricultural information providers was a key topic for discussion at the first ever Africa Extension Week, which took place in Gaborone, Botswana’s capital, earlier in August.
Researchers and extension practitioners spoke of a huge knowledge gap, not just on the links between climate change and agricultural policies but on the phenomenon of climate change itself.
Climate change could accelerate hunger in Africa, Asia
Climate change will alter farming around the world and likely result in food shortages, especially for the poor, writes John Vidal. Frank Rijsberman of CGIAR says, “We are not so worried about the total amount of food produced so much as the vulnerability of the 1 billion people who are without food already and who will be hit hardest by climate change.” The Guardian (London) (4/13)
Bioscience should underpin African agriculture, meeting hears
(SciDev.net) Bioscience projects including ones that turn tannery waste into manure can improve crop productivity and food security, and boost agricultural resilience to climate change-related impacts in East Africa, according to scientists.
Agricultural and biosciences scientists who met at the 1st Bio-Innovate Regional Scientific Research Conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, last month (25-27 February), say that using bioscience in East Africa could bring about socioeconomic transformation.
For instance, in Uganda, tannery and slaughter wastes are being turned into manure for crop production and clean water. Other innovations include the production of drought-resistant seed varieties that are suitable to specific agriecological areas.
Study: Biofuels pose small, significant risk to health, crops
Biofuels aren’t as good for air quality as we’ve thought, researchers say. A study published in the journal Nature Climate Change suggests that large-scale production of wood-based fuels would emit higher levels of a chemical that can combine with other pollutants to cause premature deaths and reduce crop yields. The Guardian (London)/Reuters (1/7)
Scientists torn over Kenya’s recent GM food ban
(SciDev,net) Scientists fear that Kenya’s recent banning of the import of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) may be a significant blow to progress on biotechnology research and development in the country.
A cabinet meeting chaired by Kenya’s president, Mwai Kibaki, this month (8 November), directed the public health minister to ban GMO imports until the country is able to certify that they have no negative impact on people’s health.
In a statement to the press, the cabinet said there was a “lack of sufficient information on the public health impact of such foods”.
Propping up cassava, Africa’s essential food
Scientists are trying to make the already hardy cassava stronger and more nutritious to combat extreme weather and hunger in Africa, where the tubers are an essential food for 500 million. “We need to make it even more hardy as the dry periods are getting longer and the soil fertility is declining,” said Robert Asiedu of the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture. The Washington Post/The Associated Press (11/1)
Testing new technologies on crops — virtually
The Global Futures project is growing virtual crops to test new technologies for small-scale farmers and rural poor in regions of the world most vulnerable to climate change. It is the first time computer modeling is being used to assess the effects of technologies on complex biological processes in plants before the crops are deployed, writes Gerald Nelson of the International Food Policy Research Institute. AlertNet/Climate Conversations blog (10/31)
Crops and climate: Cowpeas in lieu of wheat? Bananas for potatoes?
Developing-world yields of the world’s top three calorie-rich crops — corn, wheat and rice — could decline because of climate change, prompting changes to diets and a move to hardier crops including cassava, yam and barley, according to researchers from the CGIAR agricultural partnership. The potato also is likely to suffer against higher temperatures, paving the way for banana varieties as a replacement, researchers said. AlertNet (10/31), BBC (10/30)
Tree regeneration boosting farm fertility in Sahel
Africa’s Sahel is in its third drought in 10 years, but some farmers have managed to restore the sandy soils by planting and cultivating trees. The trees, traditionally seen as competing with crops, actually reduce the effects of winds, provide shade to manure-producing livestock and contribute organic matter to the soil. The Guardian (London) (6/11)
Vietnamese farmers battle climate change effects
Vietnamese farmers are getting help from development organizations to introduce new crop variations and adopt alternative farming techniques to battle the effects of climate change. Vietnamese farmers have been battling rising sea levels and saltwater intrusions into farmland that are already causing significant crop damage. IRINNews.org (12/28)
Famine alert: West Africa still has time to avoid 2012 food crisis
A Famine Early Warning System – which accurately predicted the 2011 drought in the Horn of Africa – warns that millions of West Africans may face a food crisis in 2012.
(CSM) Early reports suggest that as many as 6 million people in Niger and 2.9 million people in Mali live in vulnerable areas, where low rainfall, falling groundwater levels, poor harvests, lack of pastureland, rising food prices, and a drop in remittances from family members living abroad are starting to take their toll.
Changing weather patterns have hit the Sahel region as recently as 2010, and many people who are most vulnerable in the looming food crisis are those who had sold off their livestock and seed crops in order to survive the 2010 drought, and now have fewer assets to draw on in the future.
West African farmers ‘already adapting to climate change’
(SciDevNet) African farmers have developed new cultivation techniques and adopted short-season crop varieties using their own experience and observation to adapt to climate change a workshop in Benin has heard.
Projects back drought-resistant crops for Africa development
Development advocates are looking to promote small-scale farming of drought-resistant crops such as cassava and sorghum in Africa as a means to enhance food security. The Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund is providing farmers with interest-free loans and partnering them with the private sector to help develop markets to support the crops. The Guardian (London) (9/5)
Improved seeds are promoted to overcome Africa drought
African communities facing prolonged spells of scarce rain and drought would be more likely to survive if farmers grew improved varieties of neglected crops, according to the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics. A lack of demand for the drought-resistant seeds is complicating efforts to market affordable trial packs to farmers, who are wary that improved varieties of dryland crops — such as groundnut and pigeonpea — will sell as well as more marketable, lower yielding crops. The Guardian (London)/Poverty Matters blog (8/29)
Tracing the roots of African drought to climate change
It is impossible to directly link the drought in eastern Africa to climate change. But “events like this have a higher probability of occurring as a result of climate change” worldwide, says a U.K. scientific adviser, Sir John Beddington. The Guardian (London)/Poverty Matters blog (8/8)
Seed bank preserves endangered plant species
The Kew Millennium Seed Bank is working with 120 partners in 50 countries to collect and store plant seeds from 25% of the world’s species by 2020. Conservationists warn 25% of the world’s plant species — between 60,000 to 100,000 species — are in danger of extinction. The Christian Science Monitor (8/4)
FAO: Climate change to hit agriculture hard
Farmers will soon be feeling the effects of climate change on their ability to produce crops, endangering the livelihoods of millions and the food supply for urban areas, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization says. Governments need to improve water-management systems, and farmers should consider more water-efficient planting patterns now to help mitigate the effects. AlertNet/Reuters (6/9)
The New Geopolitics of Food
(Foreign Policy May/June 2011) … Everything from falling water tables to eroding soils and the consequences of global warming means that the world’s food supply is unlikely to keep up with our collectively growing appetites. Take climate change: The rule of thumb among crop ecologists is that for every 1 degree Celsius rise in temperature above the growing season optimum, farmers can expect a 10 percent decline in grain yields. This relationship was borne out all too dramatically during the 2010 heat wave in Russia, which reduced the country’s grain harvest by nearly 40 percent.
UN agency: Weather will affect global food supply
Extreme weather patterns associated with climate change are likely to adversely impact global food production over the next decade, the World Meteorological Organization warns. China, the U.S. and Mediterranean regions will face some of the biggest challenges with food production drops. Bloomberg (5/26)
How warming affects crop yields worldwide
A new study shows that rising temperatures are cutting into the global yields of crops such as wheat and corn. Overall, however, the impact of global warming has been less than expected, as some countries also reported increases in crop yields because of higher levels of carbon dioxide, which can act like a fertilizer to encourage plant growth. However, the authors of the study caution that warming is expected to speed up in coming years, increasing pressures on the global food production system. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (5/5)
Paul Krugman: Droughts, Floods and Food
We’re in the midst of a global food crisis — the second in three years. World food prices hit a record in January, driven by huge increases in the prices of wheat, corn, sugar and oils. These soaring prices have had only a modest effect on U.S. inflation, which is still low by historical standards, but they’re having a brutal impact on the world’s poor, who spend much if not most of their income on basic foodstuffs.
… While several factors have contributed to soaring food prices, what really stands out is the extent to which severe weather events have disrupted agricultural production. And these severe weather events are exactly the kind of thing we’d expect to see as rising concentrations of greenhouse gases change our climate — which means that the current food price surge may be just the beginning.
Genome breakthrough heralds new dawn for agriculture
Steve Connor: Decoding of genome hailed as most significant breakthrough in wheat production in 10,000 years
In a scientific tour-de-force that has been hailed as the most significant breakthrough in wheat production since the cereal crop was cultivated by the first farmers more than 10,000 years ago, scientists have decoded the genome of the wheat plant.
As a result, new breeds of disease-resistant crops could be producing higher wheat yields in as little as five years’ time, raising the prospect of lower bread prices and greater food security in a more populated world. And rather than guard their knowledge, the British scientists responsible for the research will today place a draft version of the genome online, making it available for free to wheat breeders around the world, who will be able to use it to speed up the creation of the new disease-resistant varieties that are urgently needed.
Sean O’Grady: What is good news for hungry people may not be good news for the planet
It may be that green technology will allow us to support hundreds of millions more humans with no adverse consequences, but that is far from a given. If the burgeoning populations of the emerging world want the same standard of living as Americans enjoy today we would need several more planet Earths, even on a very optimistic view of what technology can do for us. The limits to economic growth aren’t technological; they are environmental.
Wheat Shortage May Mean Higher Grocery Bills
Cost of Bread, Cereal Likely to Rise; Poorer Countries Will Feel Brunt
(ABC News) A summer of relentless heat in Russia could mean higher grocery bills for the rest of the world come autumn.
Tanzania to test new drought-resistant corn crop
Eastern and South African countries are confident that a new technology to be tested by Tanzania will greatly enhance their ability to grow corn — a primary staple — despite drought. Tanzanian officials believe that by planting biotechnologically fertilized seeds, subsistence farmers will be able to sustain crops even through the country’s terrific drought periods. The key to sustainability in this technology is its “scale-neutral applicability” — subsistence farmers may plant it as easily as large corporate farms. AllAfrica Global Media (5/2)
Paul Krugman: Running Out of Planet to Exploit
What Americans mostly remember about the 1970s are soaring oil prices and lines at gas stations. But there was also a severe global food crisis, which caused a lot of pain at the supermarket checkout line — I remember 1974 as the year of Hamburger Helper — and, much more important, helped cause devastating famines in poorer countries.
… the bad weather hitting agricultural production this time is starting to look more fundamental and permanent than El Niño and La Niña, which disrupted crops 35 years ago. Australia, in particular, is now in the 10th year of a drought that looks more and more like a long-term manifestation of climate change.
Suppose that we really are running up against global limits. What does it mean?
African farmers feel the heat from climate change
African farmers are suffering as rain patterns become increasingly erratic as a consequence of climate change. Agriculture experts say immediate investment in irrigation, infrastructure and better farming supplies will help the continent’s farmers adjust to the changes. AlertNet.org/Reuters (4/20)
No Food Security without Climate Security
The panelists spoke of the challenges facing farmers and the agricultural community around the world, particularly in developing countries, whose are the most vulnerable to the economic challenges presented by agricultural failure. Farmers, who rely on predictable weather patterns to grow and harvest their crops, are facing tremendous challenges as climate zones shift due to atmospheric warming. An increase of 2 or more degrees would mean the collapse of most agriculture, says Gilberto Camara, the General Director of Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research. Such a collapse would deprive countries around the world not only of their immediate food supply, but of the economic ability to confront the challenges at hand.
Investment in Monocultures violates Human Rights and aggravates Climate Change
On December 10, the report “Red Sugar, Green Deserts. Latin American report on monocultures and violations of the Human Rights to adequate food and housing, to water, to land and to territory” will be launched in Copenhagen by the organizations FIAN (FoodFirst Information & Action Network), HIC-AL (Habitat International Coalition Latin America Regional Office) and Solidarity Sweden-Latin America (Latinamerikagruppe ma). The report, consisting of articles from 26 different writers and cases from 10 Latin American countries, shows that the agroindustrial model based on monocultures has grave impacts on the human rights. Monocultures also cause destruction of biodiversity and the ecosystem, deforestation and increased greenhouse gases, aggravating climate change.
This should provide food for thought/debate
Kevin Libin: From sci-fi tech, food for the masses
Rethinking Green
(National Post) While Western environmentalists lionize unrefined, organic farms, one of the best ways to protect our environment is by spreading 21st century farming technology and corporate agricultural products. Food production that truly sustains the planet is the very stuff that the eco-priests decry: fish farms, genetically modified foods, and farms relying more, not less, on corporate-made chemicals.
“Intensive agricultural production is the key,” says Patrick Moore, co-founder and former Canadian president of Greenpeace, now chairman of Vancouver-based communications firm Greenspirit Strategies. “It’s simple arithmetic: The more food you grow per acre, the less natural world you have to clear to do it.”
The late Norman Borlaug, father of the Green Revolution that modernized farming, ending frequent famines, in India and Asia, illustrated it this way: in 1990, America produced 596 million tons of crops. Had it stuck with 1960 methods of farming, it would have needed 460 million more acres than in 1960, of fertile land. Only, there wasn’t 460 million more acres of good-quality land, so it would have been millions more yet, of poorer quality land.
Climate change deepens cycle of poverty in India
With climate change exacerbating the failure of crops in areas of impoverished India, poor villagers endure suffering at the hands of lenders, who take advantage of corruption, widespread illiteracy and a large bureaucratic banking system. Farmers working under the burden of excessive loans are encouraged to grow soybeans, a more water-intensive crop, forcing them to take out more loans. Los Angeles Times (12/1)
Research: Climate change makes conflict in Africa more likely
Conflict across the African continent has been 50% more likely in unusually warm years, according to researchers who have tracked the role climate plays in conflicts in Sudan and sub-Saharan Africa. According to the research, crop yields are sensitive to even small changes in temperature, leading to increased conflicts over diminished food resources. BBC (11/24)
For peat’s sake The world’s wetlands are big sources of greenhouse gases
PEATY wetlands emit about 1.3 billion tonnes of CO2 a year as a result of human activity that drains them and thus exposes them to the oxidative effect of the atmosphere … is the conclusion of a report published by Wetlands International. However, the report’s findings contrast with the conclusions of a paper on deforestation also published this week in Nature Geoscience. The conventional figure is that tree-felling causes 20% of man-made CO2 emissions, but the new paper puts that figure at closer to 12%. Together, both studies suggest a change of emphasis may be needed, and that efforts should be made to preserve not just forests, but also bogs.
No simple solution to livestock and climate change
Simply reducing livestock farming in developing countries will neither cut emissions nor benefit the poor, says livestock expert Carlos Seré.
(SciDev Net) Farming is a significant contributor to climate change, and also a victim. Agricultural activities, including forest clearing, fertilising soils and transporting produce, and indeed livestock farming, account for about a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. Meanwhile farmers, particularly in developing countries, are threatened by climatic changes such as shifting rainfall patterns and more extreme and unpredictable weather. A recent study by the International Food Policy Research Institute estimated that US$7 billion will be needed to adapt developing-country agriculture to climate change.
Switch On the Sun to Get Cooking
KAJIADO, Southern Kenya (IPS) – The women in Kajiado were sceptical – unwilling to believe that cardboard containers lined with aluminium foil on the inside could cook food when placed in the sun.
But, their minds were changed during a recent demonstration of the unassuming containers. These solar cookers, also called “panel cookers”, were loaded with several pots filled with meat, rice, eggs and other kinds of food – the pots black in colour to absorb heat, and covered in plastic bags to retain warmth. The shiny foil reflected sunlight onto the pots, creating additional heat for cooking.
Dwindling Fish Catch Could Leave a Billion Hungry
UXBRIDGE, Canada, Oct 9 (IPS) – Fish catches are expected to decline dramatically in the world’s tropical regions because of climate change, but may increase in the north, said a new study published Thursday.
This mega-shift in ocean productivity from south to north over the next three to four decades will leave those most reliant on fish for both food and income high and dry.
“The shift is already happening, we’ve been measuring it for the last 20 years,” said Daniel Pauly, a renowned fisheries expert at the University of British Columbia (UBC). In the first major study to examine the effects of climate change on ocean fisheries, a team of researchers from UBC and Princeton University discovered that catch potential will fall 40 percent in the tropics and may increase 30 to 70 percent in high latitude regions, affecting ocean food supply throughout the world by 2055.
Climate change: Impact on agriculture and costs of adaptation
The unimpeded growth of greenhouse gas emissions is raising the earth’s temperature. The consequences include melting glaciers, more precipitation, more and more extreme weather events, and shifting seasons. The accelerating pace of climate change, combined with global population and income growth, threatens food security everywhere. Agriculture is extremely vulnerable to climate change. Higher temperatures eventually reduce yields of desirable crops while encouraging weed and pest proliferation. Changes in precipitation patterns increase the likelihood of short-run crop failures and long-run production declines. Although there will be gains in some crops in some regions of the world, the overall impacts of climate change on agriculture are expected to be negative, threatening global food security. Download Report
One Wednesday Nighter with extensive interest in and knowledge of environmental matters writes:
Margaret Wente’s written on farming in Africa in today’s Globe and I can’t say she’s right. The dangers of oversimplifying … she doesn’t even refer to the Green Revolution’s success story, the pre-GMO IR8, let alone the environmental destruction caused by pesticides in the Philippines etc, just the yields and that environmentalists are stopping agricultural progress in Africa.
Don’t mention dumping of subsidised rice, corruption, lack of water, the fact that TRIPS are the biggest inhibitor to GMO take-up, and she doesn’t mention the fact that in her criticism of organic farming that organic no-tillage requires about 1/4 of the energy that conventional farming requires without killing all the microbial life in the soil essential to biodiversity.
Margaret Wente: Enviro-romanticism is hurting Africa
My friends would be horrified to learn their convictions are keeping children hungry
(Globe & Mail) There are many reasons for Africa’s desperate plight. The misguided environmental enthusiasms of the West is one of them. Powerful environmental lobbies have persuaded African governments to ban genetically engineered crops that would improve drought resistance and ward off common pests that can destroy an entire harvest. They have discouraged the international donor community from supporting science-based agricultural modernization projects. They have even campaigned against conventionally developed modern seeds and nitrogen fertilizers, even though these are the very same technologies Western farmers embraced to become more productive and escape poverty. Western interest groups have foisted their own anti-scientific fantasies on to the poorest continent on Earth, with disastrous results.
Unveiling Food Plan, Obama Presses Africa on Corruption
President Obama told African countries on Friday that the legacy of colonialism was not an excuse for failing to build prosperous, democratic societies even as he unveiled a $20 billion program financed by the United States and other countries to help developing nations grow more food to feed their people.
Millions Hungry as Warming Shifts Seasons: Oxfam
(Reuters/Planet Ark) In a new report, global aid agency Oxfam says impoverished communities are already being hit hard by the effects of global warming, including increased drought. Without international funding to help them cope and tough targets for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, the food, water, health and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of the world’s poorest people will be put at even greater risk. Oxfam says interviews it carried out with farmers in 15 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America show that seasons are shrinking in number and variety. This is destroying harvests, pushing farmers to abandon traditional crops and causing widespread hunger — which, the agency predicts, will likely be “climate change’s most savage impact on humanity in the near future.” Rainfall is reported to be more erratic, shorter and more violent. Unusual weather events — including storms, drier spells and fluctuating temperatures — are happening more often. And farmers say winds and storms have got stronger.
Suffering the Science: Climate change, people, and poverty – Oxfam International Briefing Paper
(Oxfam) ‘Suffering the Science’ combines the latest scientific observations on climate change, with evidence from the communities Oxfam works with in almost 100 countries around the world, to reveal how the changing climate is already hitting poor people hard. The report outlines evidence of how climate change is affecting every issue linked to poverty and development from access to food and water to health and security. It warns that without immediate action 50 years of development gains in poor countries will be permanently lost. One of the most worrying trends highlighted in the report is the impact of erratic weather on agriculture. Poor farmers, who can no longer rely on seasons, are losing crop after crop because of sudden heat waves or heavy rains. ‘Suffering the Science’ has been published ahead of the G8 Summit in Italy (8 – 12 July) where climate change is on the agenda.
UN Talks Seek Links In Food, Climate Crises
(Reuters/Planet Ark) BONN – A new focus on the impact of farming on climate change could both curb carbon emissions and prod efforts to boost yields and rural incomes in developing countries, delegates told a U.N. climate conference.
But curbing greenhouse gases from farms also means confronting complex tradeoffs, especially to try and feed an extra 3 billion people by 2050 while encroaching less on forests, burning of which stokes carbon emissions.
In addition, new incentives to curb greenhouse gases from farms such as carbon offsetting under discussion in the United States, in the U.N. talks and at the World Bank may be inappropriate and must favour smallholders, say campaigners.
… draft texts for a new treaty … refer to high-carbon, organic soils as a possible store of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.
Africa has lower agricultural yields than farms in Asia, Europe and America. Climate-friendly practices boost fertility, especially where farming has exhausted the land.
Globally, agriculture accounts for about 14 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. But in some countries the figure is far higher.
A key challenge, however, is that many practices which store more carbon and cut emissions of power greenhouse gases from fertiliser, such as organic agriculture, can be lower yielding than intensive alternatives. But a drive for freer trade has cut food reserves, while new technologies have increased farmer indebtedness. Some green groups oppose one possible solution — to use more genetically-modified crops (GMOs).
Climate-friendly measures can boost soil fertility and aid water retention. In Kenya farmers are planting trees among crops to boost tired soils, said Pete Smith, lead author for farming on the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “They cut off the leaves from fast-growing trees, feed them to goats, so their productivity goes up, they then take the manure and put it back into the soil which improves the soil fertility.” The trees store carbon in their trunks and soil.
Another practice is where farmers plow the soil less to keep high-carbon organic matter underground. That can also aid drought resistance, because not plowing keeps leaves on the ground which trap moisture.
Golden Wheat “Greens” Kenya’s Drylands
(IAEA Bulletin) The wheat is a new variety, one that is high yielding and resistant to drought. As a result, small farming families are realizing harvests on farmlands once considered too poor to cultivate, to the country´s social and economic benefit.
Put agriculture at heart of climate talks, says report
(SciDev Net) A campaign to drive agriculture to the forefront of climate change negotiations took a step forward yesterday with the launch of a document by food policy experts. Agriculture will be “dramatically” affected by climate change, says the paper, published by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). It could also become a potent brake on climate change if the right research and policies are implemented.
World of Waste and Imbalance
The 45th President of the U.S. Chapter IV
Global Economy & Globalization 2018-19
4 Comments on "Agriculture, food & climate change"
ASTM D6866 July 20, 2009 at 7:07 pm · Reply
Re: Millions Hungry as Warming Shifts Seasons
As anyone living in a tropical country can attest, the weather has been too erratic. It rains hard even in summer, and when the sun is out, it can be too hot. Food crops may have to be grown in greenhouses in the future, and farmers may opt to grow crops for biofuel production as crop quality isn’t as critical.
Moses Organic September 1, 2010 at 4:26 pm · Reply
Thus, very few plant species can survive under these dry conditions. Moses Organic
Environmental September 3, 2010 at 5:16 am · Reply
But as climate research has become a high priority, even puny glaciers have become important. Environmental
Organic Food September 6, 2010 at 2:37 am · Reply
Out of necessity and in the absence of other plant life, prickly pear cactus has been used as a food item by Mexican Indian tribes. Organic Food
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All the haters are wrong: The new Acura NSX is just like the original NSX
By Adam Kaslikowski — Posted on June 18, 2019 1:00AM PST 06.18.19 - 1:00AM PST
The 1991 Acura NSX (left and the 2019 Acura NSX Phil Juncker/Digital Trends
Nobody likes the new Acura NSX. Well it’s not that nobody likes it, it’s that nobody is buying one. This of course means nobody likes it enough to part with their retirement savings to get one. And what are people pilfering their 401Ks for? The old NSX, that’s what. The classic NSX’s values have doubled over the last 6 years, and images of the cars are currently adorning countless walls, garages, and phone screens everywhere.
They (and “they” here means the automotive press at large) say the new one, while great to drive, is too convoluted. That it’s V6 engine isn’t big enough. That the new car is too slow compared to the competition that it was reportedly benchmarked against. That the current NSX is not nearly pretty enough. They don’t like that it took 20 years to get to us, and that their inflated expectations weren’t met.
Those lofty expectations were set by the aforementioned original NSX. The first-generation Acura NSX rewrote the performance playbook when it debuted in 1991, making cutting edge engineering available outside the dealerships with names like Ferrari and Porsche on the building. The classic NSX’s aluminum construction, advanced suspension set up, and exotic mid-engine design shocked the world because they were attached to an Acura badge. Because of its otherworldly engineering and peerless dynamics on the road, the old NSX is now on a pedestal so high that its company includes the air-cooled 911 and Jaguar E-type. In other words, it’s now regarded as a classic all-time great driver’s car.
Phil Juncker/Digital Trends
For every positive you hear about the original NSX, there is an equal and opposite reaction for the new model. Call it Newton’s 3rd law of reboots. Everyone loves the driving dynamics of the new car, but feel it missed the mark set by the original in important ways. The complaints generally center around the looks (“bland”), the paltry engine (“just a V6”), and the complicated hybrid setup compared to the original’s purer layout. Overall, the consensus is that the new Acura NSX drives very well, but it lacks that ephemeral “character” that imbued the original NSX.
They are wrong. Everyone is wrong here. The new NSX is exactly like the old NSX.
I’m not just taking a contrarian view to get your clicks. The similarities between the cars go far beyond the badge, and I believe this new model is a future classic. I think that because I’ve actually done the research (shocker!) and compared the reviews of the original NSX to the reviews floating around for the new model. They might as well be interchangeable.
The classic NSX brought Japanese reliability and common sense to the sports car.
When the 1991 model debuted, there were a litany of complaints that sound eerily familiar to the protesting about today’s car. Once again, while very fun to drive, the car had a “mere 270 hp.” And it made “only 210 pound-feet of torque at 5300 rpm.” These are “Respectable numbers, but not extraordinary.” It was “Fast, but not a record setter.” The bodywork was “not truly distinctive.” Finally, “who wants to have to explain to the Ferrari-owning cardiologist at the country club why you bought a $70,000 Honda?”
And yet today the classic model is venerated. Why? Because neither version of the NSX were built to the world’s mundane expectations. Neither is supposed to be the numbers king in 0-60 or top speed. Nor are they designed to out-pretty a Pininfarina creation. Both have a solitary and devilishly concentrated purpose: To democratize cutting edge technology and use that tech to create a driver’s car capable of going to toe-to-toe with exotics that are double the price. That’s it.
The original car brought aluminum construction, a mid-engine layout, and driving dynamics that heretofore were only available from punishing and unwieldly sports cars that were as much a challenge to drive as they were a reward. That is what made is special in the 90’s. At them time, most exotics were very hard to drive, and near impossible to live with because they were so fragile. The classic NSX brought Japanese reliability and common sense to the sports car. That is a legacy the new car continues.
The new car has the same hybrid tech of the McLaren P1, the Porsche 918 Spyder, and the LaFerrari and brings it to the people. This is a hybrid system built not for eco-gloating, but to enable the car to be faster, quicker, and more enjoyable to drive. The new NSX showcases how an electric future can end up helping the internal combustion engine.
Because of the hybrid system and the Acura-ness of the car, the new NSX is a fantastic ride. It can carve a canyon road, and it can easily be parked or navigated through traffic. That has always been the NSX’s party piece. Classic or new, both use their Honda-ness to their best ability and make a car that is easy when you want it to be easy and rewarding when we want it to be rewarding. This is why the new NSX will be a future classic. It’s accessible, it has advanced technology, and most importantly it’s an absolute blast to drive. And that last fact is an area where all of auto journalism is in agreement. Despite the kvetching about the this or that, we all agree that this is a great car to drive and is very able to plaster a smile across your face.
When the old NSX debuted, it was shocking at $60,000. The new NSX is a steal at $155,000 for the level of performance and technology that you get. And where the first car had to deal with the fact that it was “only an Acura,” brands only pay that particular tax once. The first one paved the way for this NSX to be accepted at its price point. And when compared to what else you are getting into at $150k, it’s shocking that the NSX isn’t flying off dealership lots.
Nobody is buying the current the NSX, but the old one struggled to sell in 90’s as well. After an initial flurry of sales – dealers marking up the cars by 100% was not unheard of, and Japan even instituted a lottery to buy one – a recession hit and sales completely dried up. Today we have no recession to contend with, but Acura only sold 170 NSXs in 2018. Anyone walking past an NSX to get into an Audi R8 or Porsche 911 Turbo is making a huge mistake. The modern NSX will be just as revered in the future as the original one is now, and because it is selling far fewer, they are only going to be more valuable. If I haven’t convinced you yet, there is also a rumor of an R-type NSX coming out soon …
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Here are the best shows on Netflix right now (July 2019)
The Sony Xperia 1’s cinematic 4K screen is fantastic. The rest? Not so much
Sony’s Xperia 1 smartphone is svelte, tall, modern, and powerful. The 21:9 aspect ratio means you get a cinematic viewing experience. It’s too bad there are several other shortcomings, such as a lackluster camera.
Posted 2 days ago — By Julian Chokkattu
Looking for a new show to binge? Lucky for you, we've curated a list of the best shows on Netflix, whether you're a fan of outlandish anime, dramatic period pieces, or shows that leave you questioning what lies beyond.
Posted 2 days ago — By Will Nicol
2020 Buick Enclave three-row crossover will give you a back massage
The 2020 Buick Enclave gets a number of small updates, including massaging front seats and a new infotainment system compatible with SiriusXM's 360L streaming service. The updated Buick Enclave goes on sale later this summer.
Posted 3 days ago — By Stephen Edelstein
The Acura NSX races in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, but how similar is the race car to its road-going counterpart. Acura recruited race driver Trent Hindman to break it down.
End of an icon: The last Volkswagen Beetle rolls off the production line
The Volkswagen Beetle is finally dead. The last one rolled off the production line July 10. While the original Beetle became a cultural icon, Volkswagen has failed to recapture that success with its newer models.
Uber driver becomes unwitting getaway driver for a gas station robber
A rookie Uber driver unwittingly played the part of getaway driver recently for a man who robbed a gas station. The first he knew about it was when cops surrounded his home and demanded he come out with his hands up.
ABS brakes helped airlines make more money before they helped you stop
ABS -- a technology that prevents cars from skidding under heavy braking -- has been around since the 1950s, when it was first applied to airplanes. Chrysler and Bendix jointly get credit for developing four-wheel electronic ABS in 1971.
Posted 4 days ago — By Ronan Glon
BMW gives the M4 CS additional performance cred, but it comes with lots of tradeoffs
Splitting the difference between the standard M4 and the hardcore track setup of the limited-production M4 GTS, the CS brings with it a sharper look to match its sharper performance, but there are some caveats involved.
Posted 4 days ago — By Bradley Iger
Lexus will reinvent its design language as it electrifies its full line
Lexus plans to release an electrified version of every nameplate in its lineup by the year 2025. The term electrified is broad; it includes hybrid, plug-in hybrid, electric, and hydrogen cars.
Amazon cuts prices of ChargePoint, JuiceBox, and Siemens home EV chargers
Amazon cut the prices on ChargePoint, JuiceBox, and Siemens Level 2 electric vehicle (EV) home chargers to help plug-in vehicle drivers recharge their car batteries much faster than plugging into a regular home electrical outlet.
Posted 3 days ago — By Bruce Brown
The Rev-1 delivery robot is fast enough to hit the bike lane
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Volkswagen and Ford confirm partnership on electric cars, autonomous driving
Volkswagen and Ford have confirmed a major tech-sharing deal. It will give Ford access to VW's MEB platform, which will underpin many of the German automaker's future electric cars. The Ford MEB electric car launches in 2023.
Amazon Prime Day 2019 deal dishes 15% discount on the Garmin Dash Cam 55
Amazon Prime Day 2019 promises great discounts on lots of items. Aside from the usual gadgets and appliances, deals for the Garmin Dash Cam 55 and other automotive tech products are also popping up.
Posted 2 days ago — By Drake Hawkins
Fiat wants to transform the cheeky 500 city car into an urban Tesla
Fiat is finally preparing a new 500. Scheduled to make its debut in early 2020, the retro-chic city car will go electric in part to comply with looming emissions regulations.
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Kurt Merki Jr. | Duravit
The optimiser and problem-solver
His bi-cultural childhood and upbringing played a fundamental role in shaping his creative approach. Kurt Merki Jr. creates dreams in the form of versatile products that offer solutions for all manner of lifestyles. The Vero complete bathroom collection that he designed speaks volumes with its timeless elegance, and has been the recipient of three awards in quick succession.
Kurt Merki Jr.
Kurt Merki Jr. was born in 1978 in Accra, Ghana, as the oldest son of Kurt Merki Sr., a Swiss master joiner, and his Ghanaian wife, a fashion designer who studied in London in the 1960s. He trained as a joiner in his father's furniture factory. He moved to Switzerland in 1997, and it was here in Lucerne that he passed his examination to become a master furniture joiner in 1999. From 2001 to 2008 he worked as an interior designer for a variety of architectural firms in Zurich, after which he went to Milan in order to expand his knowledge of design at the Scuola Politecnica di Design. After receiving his master's degree in interior and product design here, in 2009 he worked at the Studio Antonio Citterio in Milan before soon returning to Zurich, where he opened his own design studio in 2010. For Duravit, he has designed the bathroom furniture range for the Vero ceramic range and the tap fittings for the C.1 range.
Kurt Merki
Iconic Awards - Vero
Reddot best of the best - Vero
iF Product Design Award - Vero
Who is Kurt Merki – the person and the designer?
I do not see myself as a designer. I see myself more as a person that creates new things and transforms dreams into reality. As a person, I am also an optimiser and a problem-solver, and I strive to think outside the box. As a result, I do not start off thinking about the end product, but rather about the creation process as a whole, and try to determine the materials and technologies that will allow me to achieve the best-possible result. My bi-national origins are a great help in this regard.
To what degree does this influence your work?
Both cultures have always been a major presence in my life. In Ghana I went to a Swiss school that was very international, and my experiences with these two cultures made it clear to me that there is no single culture in which everything can be found. The biggest challenge lies in finding solutions for all manner of lifestyles in the form of versatile products. This is why I always try to find the right balance, where the best of various worlds is brought together.
Is there a particular leitmotif that inspires you as a designer, or as an optimiser?
When I undertake a project, there are three approaches that are particularly important for me: culture, purpose and life. Depending on the type of project, each of these approaches can supply different answers. When I’m starting the process of developing answers, I work like a little boy who’s running around with his arms in the air, shouting: “I can fly.” While my feet may remain firmly on the ground, my thoughts roam free. It is in this phase, where one moves between reality and euphoria, that the most creative ideas arise, but if inspiration is to lead to concrete results, it is necessary to drive it forward. Otherwise, one will be left with nothing more than a dream or a thought.
You were born in 1978. What distinguishes the new generation of designers today?
In order to create something that is truly good, one needs a great deal of dedication, diligence and time. In my generation, a good designer is distinguished by the time they invest in the entire creative process, from the initial idea for real added value to the end result in which something great is created. Beverly Sills once said something that describes this perfectly: “There are no short cuts to creating something that is truly worthwhile.”
As a young designer, what is your experience of working with Duravit, a company that is 200 years old?
Duravit is like a homecoming for me. Communicating in my mother tongue quickly made me feel at home, and the friendly collaboration is something that inspires me each and every time. That is why I am always happy to come to the Black Forest. Even though Duravit is a 200-year-old company, we always adapt to the constantly changing requirements in the marketplace. Our latest development, the C1 tap fittings programme, is perhaps the best example. Its form and function are a perfect fit for all modern, linear and architectural ranges, making it ideal for individual bathroom design.
EOOS
sieger design
Frank Huster
Sergej Tchoban
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Cranbrook, B.C., July 4th, 2019: Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: “EPL”, the “Company”) is pleased to announce the appointment of Paul Reynolds, P.Geo. to the Board of Directors, effective immediately (subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals). Mr. Reynolds will serve as an independent director to the Company and brings a broad compliment of geological skills and public company experience related to the mineral exploration and oil and gas industries.
Paul is a professional geoscientist with over 32 years’ experience working on exploration and mining projects in Canada, USA, Bolivia, Argentina and Guyana. He specializes in the conception and management of mineral exploration ventures. He has 20 years’ experience managing public companies as both a director and/or executive officer. Paul was formerly Chairman of Athlone Energy Ltd., which was sold to Daylight Energy Ltd. in September, 2008. He is currently a director and executive officer of Triumph Gold Corp. (TSX-V) and director of Azincourt Energy Inc. (TSX-V), Cairo Resources Inc. (TSX-V), Fremont Gold Corp. (TSX-V) and TerraX Minerals Inc. (TSX-V). Paul holds a B.Sc. degree in geology from the University of British Columbia (1987) and is a member of Engineers and Geoscientists British Columbia since 1992.
Tim Termuende, P.Geo. President and CEO of Eagle Plains stated recently: “on behalf of the Board of Directors of Eagle Plains, I would like to welcome Paul to our team. I have personally known Paul for some 35 years and have been continually impressed with his skills and accomplishments in the resource industry. I am confident Paul will make a significant impact with respect to the strength and depth of our Board and look forward to working with him as we move forward”
Options Issuance, Re-pricing
Eagle Plains has granted 800,000 incentive stock options to directors, officers, employees and key consultants of the company at an exercise price of $0.15 per share, expiring July, 2024. In addition, the Company has re-priced to $0.15, 3,515,000 options from exercise prices ranging from $0.20-$0.30 and currently expiring from March 13, 2022 to February 19th, 2023 (subject to shareholder ratification and regulatory approval).
About Eagle Plains Resources
Based in Cranbrook, B.C., Eagle Plains continues to conduct research, acquire and explore mineral projects throughout western Canada. The Company is committed to steadily enhancing shareholder value by advancing our diverse portfolio of projects toward discovery through collaborative partnerships and development of a highly experienced technical team. Managements’ current focus is to preserve its treasury while advancing its most promising exploration projects. In addition, Eagle Plains continues to seek out and secure high-quality, unencumbered projects through research, staking and strategic acquisitions. Since 2012, Eagle Plains has added to its portfolio a number of new projects exceeding 130,000 ha targeting mainly gold, uranium and base-metals in Saskatchewan, a highly-prospective mining jurisdiction which was recently recognized by the Fraser Institute as the second best place in the world in terms of Investment Attractiveness. Throughout the exploration process, our mission is to help maintain prosperous communities by exploring for and discovering resource opportunities while building lasting relationships through honest and respectful business practices.
Expenditures from 2011-2018 on Eagle Plains-related projects exceed $20M, most of which was funded by third-party partners. This exploration work resulted in approximately 30,000 m of diamond-drilling and extensive ground-based exploration work facilitating the advancement of numerous projects at various stages of development.
“Tim J. Termuende”
For further information on EPL, please contact Mike Labach at 1 866 HUNT ORE (486 8673)
Email: mgl@eagleplains.com or visit our website at http://www.eagleplains.com
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore, involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.
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Naomi Levine
Norma (Naomi) Levine has published four books on Buddhist themes: The Miraculous 16th Karmapa: Incredible Encounters with the Black Crown Buddha; Blessing Power of the Buddhas; A Yearbook of Buddhist Wisdom; and Chronicles of Love and Death: My Years with the Lost Spiritual King of Bhutan. (Vajra Publications, Chronicles of Love and Death for UK readers.) Chronicles of Love and Death at Amazon.co.uk or for Kindle. For India visit Flipkart.com. She has organised pilgrimages to Mt. Kailash in Western Tibet, and to the hidden land of Pemako in Arunachal Pradesh (NE India), and written for some of the major London newspapers, including The Observer, The Times, The Telegraph, and The Guardian. She established a web based mail order business, Windhorse Imports in 1986 to provide Buddhist meditation artefacts to a growing community and sold it in 2003. She has an M. Phil in Drama and Literature from the University of Toronto and completed a PhD thesis before escaping academic life to live in the book-town of Hay-on-Wye on the Welsh borders, famous for its International Literary Festival. She divides her time between the UK and India. Visit Naomi’s website here.
Latest from Naomi Levine
The Miraculous 16th Karmapa.
Journey to the Hidden Land of Pemako
Winds of Change.
Journey to the Centre of the Earth: Mount Kailash 2000, 2001.
Memories, Dreams and Reflections of the 16th Karmapa
Never Give Up. ~ Karmapa 17.
HH Karmapa at Deer Park.
The Saga Continues: HH the 17th Karmapa.
Idiot Wind.
Blog,Non New-Agey Spirituality
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Basketball Preview: No. 8 Ohio State at Penn State
By James Grega on February 15, 2018 at 8:35 am @jgrega11
OSU Basketball
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The final stretch of games for Ohio State's surprising regular season is arguably its toughest stretch of games for Chris Holtmann's first Buckeye team.
Ohio State is set to play three of its last four regular season games away from home, starting with a trip to State College, Pa. to take on Penn State, the only team to hand the Buckeyes a conference loss this season.
Penn State (18-9, 8-6) Bryce Jordan Center 8 p.m. BTN
The Nittany Lion fan base is planning a white-out of the Bryce Jordan Center in an effort to create a raucous atmosphere as the No. 8-ranked Buckeyes invade Happy Valley.
Holtmann said Wednesday that while having played in an intense environment at Purdue on Feb. 7 was beneficial, it doesn't necessarily mean the Buckeyes will play well again in front of a hostile crowd.
"I think it helps. I think in many ways, we have more matchup issues with Penn State than anybody in the league. Every team is kind of different. The Purdue game was great to play in that environment, and to be able to win that," Holtmann said. "To sneak that one out when it didn't look good, was encouraging, but I don't think you can say, 'We responded well to adversity this game, so it's guaranteed we are going to do it the next time,' because that is not the case. We are going to have to go out and prove it again."
Opponent Breakdown
Since defeating Ohio State on Tony Carr's buzzer-beating heave from just inside of half court on Jan. 25, the Nittany Lions have won four of their last five games, with the lone loss coming to Michigan State in East Lansing, Mich.
Carr is pushing Ohio State's Keita Bates-Diop for the Big Ten scoring title, and a second win against the Buckeyes could very well get Penn State into the NCAA Tournament, as the Nittany Lions sit firmly on the bubble and in sixth place in the conference.
The Nittany Lions, much like the Buckeyes, get the majority of their scoring from their starting five, as all five starters average 10 or more points per game. One of those starters is Josh Reaves, who missed a portion of the season for academic reasons. He returned for Penn State's victory over Ohio State, in which he scored 10 points off the bench, before returning to the starting lineup against the Spartans.
Holtmann said he believes the Nittany Lions are a team that could be even higher in the Big Ten standings if Reaves would have been available for the entire season.
Penn State's Projected Starting Five
TONY CARR G 6-5 204 34.2 19.3 4.5 4.9 0.9 0.1
LAMAR STEVENS F 6-8 226 32.1 15.7 6.2 1.8 0.7 1.0
MIKE WATKINS F 6-9 254 28.0 13.0 9.7 0.7 1.0 2.6
JOSH REAVES G 6-4 210 29.7 10.9 4.7 3.3 2.3 0.7
SHEP GARNER G 6-2 196 31.4 10.0 1.9 1.3 0.7 0.1
"I really think if Josh Reaves had been available for their other Big Ten games, we would be looking at a team right now that would be one, two or three in the league with as good as they are and the pieces they have around them," Holtmann said. "I think they are really talented and play well together. I think (Reaves) adds a whole different element to them because he plays his role at such a high level."
Reaves has proven his versatility all season, as a long, athletic guard that can rebound the basketball as well as provide immediate scoring. He averages nearly five rebounds per game while also shooting the ball at a 52.5 percent clip from the floor, and leads the Big Ten in steals per game, swiping 2.3 per contest.
Penn State, of course, would not be where it is at this point in the season without Carr, who Holtmann described as a potential first-round NBA draft pick. Carr ranks in the top five of the Big Ten in both scoring (19.3 ppg) and assists (4.9 apg) while shooting 46.2 percent from behind the three-point arc.
His backcourt mate, Shep Garner, is also one of the league's premier three-point shooters. The senior has connected on 41 percent of his long balls this season and has buried 73 shots from behind the arc this season. The Nittany Lions connected on a school-record 78.6 percent of their three-point shots against Ohio State in the first meeting between the two schools, as both Garner and Carr hit on 4-of-5 attempts from deep.
Inside, Penn State features one of the leagues best shot-blockers in Mike Watkins, who swats 2.5 shots per game. Fellow frontcourt player Lamar Stevens gave Ohio State problems inside in the first matchup, getting to the free throw line nine times, finishing with 15 points in the win over the Buckeyes.
Buckeye Breakdown
Ohio State received a piece of good news Wednesday when Holtmann announced that veteran guard Kam Williams would return from suspension and be available to play against the Nittany Lions. However, what his role will be moving forward is unknown.
Holtmann said Wednesday that Williams will have to earn back his role with the Buckeyes, whatever that might be, as the regular season winds down.
"We had conversations and meetings that I will leave private. He has fulfilled those. I don't know that I can be certain on what it will look like in terms of his role, because obviously we have played well in this last stretch," Holtmann said Wednesday. "He will have to earn his way back to whatever role gives our team the best chance of winning."
RELATED Keita Bates-Diop Finally Getting The National Attention He Deserves
In Williams' absence, sophomore forward Andre Wesson has stepped into the starting role and has performed admirably. Wesson scored just two points in his first career start against Illinois, but then exploded for a career-high 13 points – including a crucial banked-in three-pointer – in a 64-63 upset victory over Purdue on Feb. 7.
Holtmann said he doesn't anticipate making a change to his starting lineup ahead of the Penn State matchup, but wouldn't rule out a last-minute change either, stating he was curious to see how Ohio State's final practice before the game went.
"Both guys have strengths that they bring. The reality is, it's hard to play 10 or 11 guys right now. Most teams are playing eight or nine guys, so minutes get trimmed a little bit," Holtmann said. "Kam returning will affect some guys' minutes potentially, but it could also affect his minutes. He is going to have to understand that."
While Williams' minutes could be impacted, the likelihood is that C.J. Jackson will continue to play an integral role for Ohio State down the stretch. Jackson, who left Ohio State's win over Iowa early with cramping issues, is expected to be full-go for the Buckeyes against the Nittany Lions on Thursday night.
RELATED Joey Lane, Ohio State Walk-Ons Earning Late Game Minutes With Hard Work in Practice
Jackson said he has confidence in Wesson to continue to produce in his starting role, adding Wesson's presence gives Ohio State added help defensively.
"I think it balances us more on the defensive end. Andre is good at making shots which helps us a lot," Jackson said. "Defensively, we guard a little bit better with him, Keita, Jae'Sean Tate being able to switch a lot of screens that we have to go through. Defensively, it stabilizes us a little bit more."
That added defensive boost could prove critical for Ohio State, as Penn State's 82 points scored on the Buckeyes in the first meeting were the most points Holtmann's squad has allowed all season to a conference opponent.
How It All Plays Out
While Penn State is playing at home and beat Ohio State once already this season, it is probably unrealistic to think that the Nittany Lions are going to shoot 11-for-14 from behind the arc again, even at home.
On the other side, Ohio State is coming off a four-day break. Prior to playing the Nittany Lions the first time, the Buckeyes had played five games in a 12-day stretch, and appeared to be playing with tired legs.
The Nittany Lions have tremendous talent and are one more signature win away from becoming an NCAA Tournament team this season. A win over Ohio State could put them into the Big Dance. But the Buckeyes are playing their best basketball of the season, and have fresh legs.
Prediction: Ohio State 81, Penn State 77
Recapping the Recruitment of Four-Star Safety Lathan Ransom and Previewing Tuesday's Commitment
Kyle Snyder Snags Another World Title at Yasar Dogu
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Tom Cruise Is Reportedly Moving Into The Church Of Scientology's UK Headquarters
The actor wants to make L. Ron Hubbard's estate a landmark.
By Devin Alessio
Tom Cruise is making moves to be as close to the Church of Scientology as possible.
According to The Daily Mail, the actor is set to move into Saint Hill Manor – the former home of Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard – in order to turn the 100-acre estate into a landmark. He's also said to be eyeing the Sussex property because it's close to his daughter, Isabella, who lives in London.
As The Daily Mail points out, moving into the church's headquarters is, presumably a religious honor, and Cruise is in the process of selling his own 5-bedroom, 5-bath country house not far from the property.
Hubbard acquired the estate in 1959, and the space served as his home and the worldwide headquarters for the Church of Scientology until 1967, according to L. Ron Hubbard's website. The property was renovated and restored in 2011 to commemorate what would have been Hubbard's 100th birthday.
Referred to as "The Castle," the building is home to executive offices, dining rooms, auditing rooms, and spaces for religious studies. The Daily Mail also reports the church has filed for an extension to build a spa, gymnasium, and high-end restaurant on-site.
Check out some images of the place from when Hubbard lived there below.
Getty Images/Airbnb
[h/t: llnyc.com]
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UPDATE: Tom Cruise Is Selling Yet Another Home
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Category: Whistleblower
Employees Stealing Employer Confidential Information Not Immune From Criminal Charges
by Gibbons P.C.
Posted in Whistleblower
Five years ago, in Quinlan v. Curtiss-Wright, 204 N.J. 239 (2010), the New Jersey Supreme Court adopted a balancing test for trial courts to use to determine if the unauthorized taking of confidential company documents by an employee constituted protected activity in support of the employee’s claim under the Law against Discrimination. Now, the Supreme Court has ruled that the Quinlan decision does not preclude criminal charges from being brought against an employee who steals confidential documents from her employer in support of a whistleblower lawsuit. On June 23, 2015, in a 6-1 ruling, the New Jersey Supreme Court decided State v. Saavedra, and upheld the denial of defendant Ivonne Saavedra’s motion to dismiss the indictment against her for official misconduct and theft by unlawful taking of movable property. The high court found that the State presented a prima facie showing to the grand jury with regard to the two charges, that the State did not withhold exculpatory information from the grand jury regarding defendant’s intent to use the stolen documents in her civil lawsuit, and – most importantly for employers – that the indictment does not violate due process standards or public policy by conflicting with Quinlan.
New Jersey Supreme Court Clarifies Whistleblower Law
by Richard S. Zackin
In June 2014, the New Jersey Supreme Court, in Hitesman v. Bridgeway, Inc., affirmed the decision of a lower appellate court dismissing a claim brought by a healthcare worker under the New Jersey whistleblower law, the Conscientious Employee Protection Act, N.J.S.A. § 34:19-1 et seq. (CEPA). The decision is significant because the Supreme Court clarified the role of a trial court on the issue of whether a plaintiff has sufficiently identified a rule of law or a public policy that provides the necessary foundation for a CEPA claim.
NY Court of Appeals Gives Guidance on What Whistleblowers Need to Allege Under New York’s Whistleblower Law to Maintain Claim
On May 13, 2014, in Webb-Weber v. Community Action for Human Services, Inc., the New York Court of Appeals unanimously held that an employee need not identify the specific “law, rule or regulation” allegedly violated by his or her employer in a complaint for whistleblower retaliation under New York Labor Law Section 740 (2) in order to maintain a viable cause of action.
Is This Thing On? NJ Appellate Division Bars Employees’ Attempt to Use Secret Audio Recording In Support of CEPA and LAD Claims
Employees sometimes engage in questionable conduct to gather evidence to strengthen their claims of employment discrimination and retaliation. In Quinlan v. Curtiss-Wright Corporation and State of New Jersey v. Saavedra, employees misappropriated confidential employer documents to support their claims. More recently, in Stark v. South Jersey Transportation Authority, two employees surreptitiously voice-recorded a workplace conversation to support their claims under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (“LAD”). The Appellate Division, however, pressed the “STOP” button on the Stark plaintiffs’ efforts to utilize that recording as evidence, noting that recording violated the New Jersey Wiretap Act and failed to satisfy the seven-part balancing test established by the New Jersey Supreme Court in Quinlan for determining whether that violation nevertheless constituted “protected activity” under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (“LAD”).
NJ Supreme Court to Address “Watchdog” Exception to CEPA
The New Jersey Supreme Court recently decided to review a recent decision by the Appellate Division which threatens to expand the protections of the Conscientious Employee Protection Act (“CEPA”) to those employees whose job duties and responsibilities expressly require them to report to their employer potential or actual violations of law or public policy. The issue to be decided by the Supreme Court in Lippman v. Ethicon will be whether employees who are responsible for monitoring and reporting on employer compliance with relevant laws and regulations — so-called “watchdog” employees — seek whistleblower protection under CEPA, and, if so, under what circumstances?
Supreme Court Rules that Employees of Private Contractors Can Qualify as Whistleblowers Under Sarbanes-Oxley
On March 4, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its much anticipated decision in Lawson v. FMR LLC, resolving a dispute over the scope of the whistleblower provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, 15 U.S.C. § 7201, et seq. (“SOX”). Private contractors and subcontractors of public companies should give their attention to this decision. Although SOX is generally thought of as a statute that regulates public companies and their employees, the Lawson decision extends SOX’s whistleblower provisions to cover private companies and their employees as well.
New Jersey Supreme Court Provides Clarification on the Standards of Proof for LAD and CEPA Claims
Posted in Discrimination / Whistleblower
In a decision clarifying the standards of proof for retaliation claims arising under the Law Against Discrimination (“LAD”) and the Conscientious Employee Protection Act (“CEPA”), the New Jersey Supreme Court held in Battaglia v. UPS that, for purposes of an LAD retaliation claim, a plaintiff need only demonstrate a good faith belief that the complained-of conduct violates the LAD, and need not identify any actual victim of discrimination. As to the fraud-based CEPA claim, the Court held that the plaintiff must have “reasonably believed” that the complained-of activity was fraudulent. Finally, addressing the plaintiff’s emotional distress damages, the Court ruled that claims for future emotional distress must be supported by an expert opinion regarding permanency.
Appeal Sought on Scope of New Jersey’s “Whistle-Blower” Statute
Introduction – In a case of particular interest to New Jersey employers, the New Jersey Supreme Court has been asked to review an appellate ruling that an employee who reported violations of law to her superiors was not a “whistle-blower” because her reporting was required as part of her job duties. A decision by the Supreme Court will have a substantial impact on the scope of New Jersey’s whistle-blower statute, the Conscientious Employee Protection Act (“CEPA”) . Factual Background – In White v. Starbucks, plaintiff Kari White was employed as a district manager in Starbucks’ Upper Mid-Atlantic Region, where she was responsible for the overall management of six Starbucks locations including some in New Jersey. According to the job description for plaintiff’s position, she was responsible for, among other things, “ensuring that employees adhere to legal and operational compliance requirements.” Prior to formally assuming her management role, plaintiff participated in a six-week training period, where she received instruction in retail management and compliance with public health laws. She also received and reviewed a manual titled “Starbucks Food Safety, Store Cleanliness and Store Condition Standards.”
Donelson Update — Employer Liable for Punitive Damages and Attorneys’ Fees Under CEPA
In our June 15, 2011 post, we reported on Donelson v. DuPont Chambers Works, a case in which two employees alleged they were retaliated against after they raised safety concerns about the employer’s manufacture of a dangerous chemical. The jury rendered a verdict in favor of one employee (Seddon) and against the other (Donelson). On appeal, the New Jersey Supreme Court held that the employer was liable under New Jersey’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act (“CEPA”) for the economic losses of Seddon, who was unable to continue working because of his mental injuries caused by the employer’s retaliatory actions. The Court reversed the decision of the Appellate Division that Seddon could not recover his economic losses because he had not been discharged or constructively discharged from his job. The Supreme Court remanded the case to the Appellate Division to decide the issues of punitive damages and attorneys’ fees.
Bill Would Amend Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Program
“The Whistleblower Improvement Act of 2011,” a new bill which would amend the whistleblower program under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”), was introduced by Representative Michael Grimm (R-NY) on July 11, 2011. The new bill addresses the concern that the whistleblower program of the Dodd-Frank Act, as it currently stands, will undermine internal compliance programs as there is no requirement in the statute that employees first report potential securities violations to the employer before going to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”). With limited exceptions, the proposed legislation would require employees to first report any misconduct through the employer’s internal reporting system before going to the Commission. As we previously reported, the Final Rules implementing the Dodd-Frank Act whistleblower program became effective on August 12, 2011.
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Home » Authors » Gautam Pingle
Gautam Pingle
Electoral Exclusion?
Read more about Electoral Exclusion?
Paddy Yields in Pre-industrial South India
Vol. 52, Issue No. 16, 22 Apr, 2017
This paper assembles data on per hectare paddy yields in South India from the 10th to 19th century and notes the existence of very high paddy yields during this period. The methodology used to arrive at the estimates is specified step-by-step and in detail, and the difficulties in making these estimates are indicated as well. This allows other scholars to rework the data and arrive at alternate estimates using different assumptions to those used here. It may also serve to stimulate further interest and initiate more work on this subject.
Read more about Paddy Yields in Pre-industrial South India
Gujarat Riots
In "Communal Riots in Gujarat: Examining State Power and Production of Marginality in the Attempt to Constitute the Past" (EPW, 19 December 2015) Pooja Bakshi seems to have had access to the raw data and has reclassified the responses to draw some conclusions about perceptions of Hindu versus Muslim respondents as a proxy for general Gujarati Hindu and Muslim views. Her treatment of the data raises serious analytical issues. Keeping the methodological infirmities in view, this response examines the strong conclusions derived by Bakshi and suggests that the same data can have alternate explanations, albeit of a more modest and tentative nature as befits the data itself.
Read more about Gujarat Riots
Not Hindu Views
Vol. 49, Issue No. 19, 10 May, 2014
Ajay Gudavarthy (“Muslims of Telangana: A Ground Report”, EPW Web Exclusives, 26 April 2014) says that the “purposive sampling method was used” in his survey of Muslims in three of the 10 districts of Telangana. He adds: “Though the survey essentially focused on Muslims, a few Hindus were also...
Read more about Not Hindu Views
Hyderabad's Revenues
Vol. 48, Issue No. 48, 30 Nov, 2013
One of the most contentious issues in the formation of Telangana has been the question of Hyderabad's revenues and how much of Andhra Pradesh's total they represent. Some reports claim that Hyderabad contributes a mind-boggling 74% of the state's total revenues. This has been central to the demand for a special status to Hyderabad and allowing a share of its revenues to the residual state. This article sets the record straight and identifi es the source of the confusion.
Read more about Hyderabad's Revenues
Untangling Telangana
Reports From the States
Fears in Andhra Pradesh over the sharing of Krishna and Godavari waters, government jobs, personal safety, state assets and liabilities, and Article 371 (D) are for the most part not based on an awareness of the steps that can be taken to allay them. The ‘real’ conflict is over the way the division of the state and the position of Hyderabad will affect the power bases of the state’s two ruling castes, the Reddys and Kammas. The people, who only need peace and development, could do without this.
Read more about Untangling Telangana
Hyderabad Revenues and Costs
G Gangadhara Rao’s “Hyderabad and the Bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh” (EPW, 19 October 2013) presents interesting data on the implications of the creation of Telangana for the revenues of the new Andhra Pradesh (AP). The problem is that the data is published district-wise. The author has compounded...
Read more about Hyderabad Revenues and Costs
Reddys, Kammas and Telangana
Vol. 46, Issue No. 36, 03 Sep, 2011
Reddy-Kamma rivalry has defined politics in Andhra Pradesh in both the Congress Party and the Telugu Desam Party. The two communities used a pliant Telangana vote bank in their battles, but this option is now no longer available to them. Should that come in the way of the formation of a state of Telangana?
Read more about Reddys, Kammas and Telangana
Irrigation in Telangana: The Rise and Fall of Tanks
Vol. 46, Issue No. 26-27, 25 Jun, 2011
Review Of Agriculture
Agriculture currently produces only 30% of total income in the Telangana region, but it remains the basis for survival of nearly 78% of the population. During the 53-year period, 1956-2009, Telangana lost 2.92 lakh hectares of tank irrigation. Meanwhile, despite the high cost of irrigation - both in capital and operating costs - over the same period the area irrigated by tube wells has grown up. The latter is entirely dependent on the recharge of groundwater and the availability and cost of power. Whatever the future irrigation policy and its implementation, it will need a close ground level, local district and regional governmental efforts in Telangana.
Read more about Irrigation in Telangana: The Rise and Fall of Tanks
The Historical Context of Andhra and Telangana, 1949-56
Vol. 45, Issue No. 08, 20 Feb, 2010
This paper sets out the historical context that led to the formation of Andhra Pradesh through a merger of Andhra state with the Telangana region of Hyderabad State. It may be that some reasonably dispassionate history based on recorded texts and academic research will help understand the reasons for past policy decisions that affect current political sentiment in Andhra Pradesh. In many ways the sentiments of the people of Telangana are no different than those of the former Andhra state who fought so long and hard to separate their region from the Tamil-dominated Madras Province. Yet the same political elite which fought for an Andhra state and, then for Andhra Pradesh, seemed not to have learnt that it is not fair or sensible to "do unto others what you do not wish done unto you". It may be too late to learn that lesson now.
Read more about The Historical Context of Andhra and Telangana, 1949-56
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Waiting for the Mayweather Fight to Begin
By Gary Andrew Poole
LAS VEGAS — We want the kid from Grand Rapids to get knocked the hell out. But it never happens, and the prize fighter keeps winning, seventeen years and 43 fights later. And our crazy-ass Floyd Mayweather Jr. addiction makes him the highest-paid athlete in the world. And on Saturday night our stupidity — and his growing riches — will begin another infinite loop when Mayweather sucks us in yet again. A million or so people will pay $69.95 for the privilege of watching the pay-per-view welterweight championship fight. This is what the Floyd Mayweather Jr. era of boxing is, a cynical one. But he'll surely win. "Money" is a splendid boxer, one of the best ever, and he is fighting Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero, an OK capable guy, who is rising two weight classes and stretching way above his skill level.
There is always the chance that the man-boy from Grand Rapids will lose. Manny Pacquiao, his greatest rival — the guy he never fought, and probably never will — has lost his last two fights, suffering a brutal knockout in December, which seems to have knocked him out of the sport, or at least to a tentatively scheduled fight in frigging Macau later this year. Mayweather — God help us — stands as the best fighter of the era. How long can it go on?
Watching, from ringside, Mayweather's last three fights, it is obvious he is getting slower afoot. He is thirty-six now and he doesn't move backwards and laterally as he once did. But he is cunning. Man, is he cunning. Each round is a story in itself, and Mayweather is narrating it beautifully. Look into Guerrero's eyes on Saturday — he will look confused, trying to figure out what just happened, how Floyd slipped that punch or came off the ropes at a weird angle, or gave that crazily quick counter-right. He is one of the best — if not the best — ever at seeing punches coming and avoiding them, but lately he has looked a little, just a little, less sure of himself. (Not unlike the slow demise of Pacquiao.) So, yeah, there is a chance he will go down, or lose a decision. Maybe. In his last fight, a year ago, against Miguel Cotto, who is a very good fighter but can be plodding, Mayweather couldn't always escape. That was another sign of slippage, of a master's skills eroding. Guerrero, 30, (31-1-1), comes in at angles, and is a solid body puncher. There is also the jail time question: After the Cotto fight, Mayweather spent two months in the Clark County Detention Center ("When you're locked up is just do push-ups and read and write-write your fans and write to your loved ones. That's all I really did") for the 2010 assault of Josie Harris, the mother of two of his children.
And, so, it is this kind of over-thinking, of convincing oneself that an opponent has a chance at victory, that feeds the beast of Floyd Mayweather Jr.: 43-0.
It's hard to care — really care — about the kid from Grand Rapids. We wish we could. His handlers want us to love him. They are promoting him for the next 30 months, and need to build a story that people care about. Mayweather signed a six-fight deal with Showtime (CBS is the parent company) that could be worth $200 million. And so, in the run-up to the first fight, we have been treated to two documentaries (one of them listed Mayweather as an executive producer), four episodes of All-Access: Mayweather vs. Guerrero, a reality show to hype the fight, and getting a healthy dose of Mayweather on various Showtime/CBS platforms. But it's never easy to sell a guy who tosses around $100 bills and who was convicted of beating up a woman. Boxing gives us a look into things we don't want to examine. Could a loss on Saturday humanize him, change the way we perceive him? Could a loss make him interesting to people who gave up on boxing back in the Tyson era?
And so, on Saturday night, we will watch — just one more time, right? — the kid from Grand Rapids, who lives in Vegas now, try to win his 44th fight. Yes, we will watch and learn.
More From The Mayweather vs. Pacquiao Fight
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Who You Need to Know Behind the Mayweather-Pacquiao Fight
50 Cent Explains Why Mayweather Will Beat Pacquiao
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The Mayweather-Pacquiao Fight Will Cost $99 on Pay-Per-View
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Watch the Mayweather-Pacquiao Press Conference Here
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The Mayweather vs. Pacquiao Fight
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Mayweather vs. Canelo: The Boxing Event of the Year
Floyd Mayweather , Again
Everyone, Chrissy. Chrissy, Everyone. Have Fun.
The Floyd Mayweather of Cam Girls
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Religious or Radical: How the Guardia de Honor Shaped the Birth of a Nation
Were they simply religious brigands or something else?
By Justin Umali | Apr 17, 2019
IMAGE Wikimedia Commons
In the Jerrold Tarog film Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral, there is a sub-plot about General Gregorio del Pilar trying to stop the “brigands” who were attempting to disrupt activities in Pangasinan. These brigands were members of the Guardia de Honor, but perhaps only those who know their history recognize the group.
Who were the Guardia de Honor? Far from being a footnote in history, the Guardias and what they represented paint an interesting picture of the birth of the nation.
Religion and Revolution
The waning years of the 19th century were probably some of the most interesting periods in Philippine history. The 1890s and early 1900s were pivotal to the birth and future of the nascent Republic and were the stage for a series of contradictions among all facets of society.
One interesting and often overlooked portion of the Revolution was the great disconnect between the Katipunan’s struggle and the wider provincial unrest all over the Philippines. In this time of chaos and control, elite ilustrados and noted principalia vied for positions in the Revolution to fill power vacuums and secure their own wealth.
The country’s response was widely different. Politically aware citizens easily picked up the revolutionary situation and either took up the cause of the Katipunan or stubbornly clung to the old order. Most of the countryside, however, heeded the call of local charismatic leaders who promised something else: paradise.
The Religious Guardias
It’s hard to really state how important religion was to the Filipino during the Colonial Era. Life was centered on religion. Communities were built around churches and the colony was split into areas where religious orders operated. The church was the center of any town and the priest was one of the most important people, oftentimes more than the mayor, in the community.
Feast days punctuated important events of the year. Basic education was found within the walls of the church. The story of the Bible was told over and over again to the common man. Various religious forces in colonial Philippines made sure to weave and incorporate religion and God into the colony’s very fabric.
The use of religion was meant to silence the native Filipino and teach him that suffering in silence was Christ-like and what God intended. Instead, it taught people something else: that there is hope in struggle, that the evil empire cannot triumph over the oppressed poor, and that, in the same way the suffering Jesus received salvation, so, too, will the suffering Filipino receive salvation of cataclysmic proportion.
Which brings us to the Guardia de Honor. What was once a religious organization suddenly found itself radicalized by the Revolution, and incensed by its religious beliefs. A mix of religion and anarchism motivated the Guardias to take up arms and take land that they believed was rightfully theirs, going as far as to fight both the Katipunan and any foreign encroachment at the same time.
Bandits or Something More
So who were the Guardia de Honor? Both the Katipunan leadership and the American occupying forces saw them as nothing more than brigands or pests that needed to be dealt with. They were certainly annoying: The Guardias held unquestioned command of Pangasinan and their numbers were easily in the thousands. They had people in towns all over the province, occupying the entire town of Cabaruan, turning it into a stronghold. They were even large enough to found the town of Natividad in 1901, which stands until today.
The Guardias were strong enough at the time that Aguinaldo seriously considered them a factor during his retreat north. He feared that camping in territory controlled by the Guardias posed problems.
At the same time, the U.S. forces were reluctant to enter territory controlled by the Guardias, thinking that it was overrun by bandits and highwaymen, and thus were another layer of criminality that needed to be dealt with.
That so many thousands of people were galvanized under a common cause was something that was more or less overlooked by both Aguinaldo and the occupying U.S. forces, who instead relied on the convenience of calling the movement mere brigandage. The Guardias were, in reality, spurred on by a mix of folk Catholicism and a desire for land.
Land and Taxes
Almost all members of the Guardias were peasants and farmers who tilled land owned by hacienderos and other principalia. During the Philippine Revolution, and especially during the Philippine-American War, these hacienderos and principalia disappeared or were driven out of their land by the war, leaving them empty.
The chaos and the promise that the Revolution would create true change in society created the idea, among thousands of farmers, that the time had come for them to rise. No longer should they be maltreated and stripped of dignity. No longer should they till land that wasn't theirs and pay unfair taxes. Farmers from all over rose up and stormed towns, often raiding town halls to destroy tax certificates, and began taking over land left behind by its owners.
The Guardias were no exception: Thousands of members readily rose up in order to free themselves from exploitation under an oppressive rule. They didn’t see the Revolution in terms of freedom from the Spanish, but instead wanted something more fundamental in being able to till their own land and gaining freedom from taxes; two points that they failed to see as achievable under Aguinaldo. Faced with no option, they decided to take their freedom into their own hands.
Ultimately, the story of the Guardias was short and bitter. The Americans were quick to crush them after they took Pangasinan. Their leaders were executed and the members scattered like the wind, never to be seen again. Today, the Guardias are merely subjects of academic study, or small plot points in historical drama.
But we mustn’t forget the significance of the Guardia de Honor. Their fundamental struggle, unfair distribution of land between landowners and farmers, is one that exists until now. Today, 75 percent of all Filipinos are farmers or peasants, while nine out of every 10 farmers do not own their own land.
The Guardias were certainly one of the first to rise up for land, and for that they were called fanatics and brigands before being executed by a state that refused to address their concerns. This is a story that still holds true. The characters may have changed, and the names may be different now, but the desire for land stays the same.
Sturtevant, D. Guardia de Honor: Revitalization Within the Revolution. Asian Studies
Ileto, R. (1979) Pasyon and Revolution: Popular Movements in the Philippines, 1840-1910.
Guerrero, M. (2015) Luzon at War: Contradictions in Philippine Society; 1898-1902. Anvil Publishing.
Joaquin, N. (2005) A Question of Heroes. Anvil Publishing.
Alvarez Guerra, J. (1887) Viajes por Filipinas: De Manila a Tayabas.
Justin Umali
Justin is left-handed, left-leaning, and best left in a cool, damp place. He listens to Vampire Weekend when he's down and Car Seat Headrest when he's not. He usually writes about Philippine history and politics, and believes that you cannot change the world without understanding it first.
View Other Articles From Justin
Inviting a Marcos Isn’t As Simple As Inviting One’s Tita to a Party
Why the Spaniards Feared Marcelo H. Del Pilar More Than They Did Jose Rizal
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U.S. needs the ‘resolve’ to take on Russia, says GOP Sen. Johnson
Johnson specifically cited Russia’s involvement in Iran and Syria, invasion of Crimea and threats to eastern Europe, and the need to enforce sanctions on North Korea as points of tension between the two countries.
“We need to work with Russia,” he added. “They have 7,000 nuclear weapons. So I understand the president’s desire to try and improve relations with Russia. But you have to look at the reality of the situation and react accordingly, as well.”
Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, said Friday on “Today” that he can’t remember a period of worse relations between the two countries.
The United States announced a decision last week to expel 60 diplomats from Russia and close the Russian consulate in Seattle following the poisoning of a former Russian spy in the U.K. Russia responded by announcing the move to expel 60 U.S. diplomats and close the U.S. consulate in St. Petersburg.
Johnson added that he has “no idea” whether the way President Donald Trump talks about Putin is influenced by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian attempts to meddle in the 2016 election.
But he did say that he “absolutely” believes Mueller’s investigation has hampered the ability of concurrent investigations in Congress to get information.
“I would’ve much rather had the Senate and House Intelligence Committees complete their report,” he said. “Because I know what happens. When you have a criminal investigation, it’s that much more difficult for Congress to get the information, to allow the American public to understand what’s happening.”
Johnson said he felt the Justice Department appointed a special counsel “too soon.”
“I would’ve rather had the process play out,” he said. “Because I think public disclosure, the public’s right to know, trumps everything else.”
But not all Republicans speaking out this weekend made the point that the congressional investigations should have come first.
Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., the current chairman of the House Oversight Committee, who is not running for re-election, told CBS News that he was glad to have Mueller appointed because “Congress has proven itself incapable of conducting a serious investigation.”
“Congressional investigations leak like gossip girls,” he said. “They’re terrible. I mean, they’re terrible, and I would be telling you that if I were staying in Congress. They are just not serious.”
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Glossary – S
Sabbath (N.348, 2168-2188)
From the Hebrew word shabbat meaning to “stop” or “rest”. The Sabbath is the seventh day of the Jewish week. Following the Law of Moses (Ex 23:12, 34:21, Lev 23:2-3) Jews observe the Sabbath by refraining from work and devoting the time to special prayers and observances. The early Christians eventually transferred the day from Saturday to Sunday – the day of the Lord’s Resurrection.
Sacrament (N.774-76)
In its broad sense the term sacrament refers to ways in which the invisible saving power of God is made visible through created things. But properly speaking a sacrament is ‘a visible sign of invisible grace’. Thus the Second Vatican Council spoke of Christ as the sacrament of God, and the Church as the sacrament of Christ. In particular it refers to the seven sacraments of the Church which are signs and instruments of Christ’s grace.
Sacramentary
A liturgical book which contains the prayers needed by the presider for Mass.
Sacraments of Initiation (N.1212ff)
These are the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. They are so-called because they lay the foundations of every Christian life and initiate members into the Church.
Sacristy
A preparation and vesting room, often located to one side of the sanctuary. Vestments, altar linens, eucharistic vessels, and other liturgical wares are stored there. It is a place where the presider and other liturgical ministers prepare for liturgical ceremonies.
One of the ruling groups in Judaism at the time of Jesus. They were descended from Zadok, a high priest at the time of King David, and were associated with Temple worship. They held conservative views and did not, like the Pharisees, believe in life after death.
Samaritans were inhabitants of a city and its surrounding district, Samaria, in North-Central Palestine. Samaria was capital of the Northern Kingdom, Israel, before it was conquered by the Assyrians in 721 BC. After the Exile, the Jews who settled around Jerusalem did not regard the Samaritans as true Israelites. The Samaritans were of mixed descent and differed in their beliefs. They recognised only the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) and built their own temple on Mount Gerizim. Given the enmity between the two groups and the degree to which Samaritans were despised by Jews, Jesus’ dealings with the Samaritan woman (Jn 4:1-42) and his famous parable (Lk 10:29-37) are all the more remarkable.
The part of a Church immediately around the altar. The English comes from a Latin word meaning holy place. You can take a virtual tour of a Catholic Church and see where the sanctuary is in relation to the rest of the Church.
Sanctuary or Tabernacle Light
The sanctuary or tabernacle light or lamp is normally surrounded by red glass. It is kept lit in Catholic churches and chapels whenever the Blessed Sacrament is reserved in the tabernacle. It is a reminder of the presence of Christ.
At the time of Jesus the Sanhedrin, the supreme religious council of the Jews, had 71 members. It was composed of three classes; the elders, the high priests, and the scribes (see entry). This council tried Jesus before taking him to Pontius Pilate (see entry). The Sanhedrin had power to arrest people and bring them to trial, but could not carry out capital punishment.
One of the prominent “matriarchs” of the Old Testament. She produced her son Isaac at a time when she was thought to be past child-bearing thus proving that “nothing is impossible with God”. Thus, with her husband Abraham, she became the grandparent of Jacob, or Israel, from whom God’s people took their name.
The first king of Israel, anointed by the prophet Samuel. He ruled from about 1020 – 1000 BC.
Saviour (N.430, 594)
A saviour is one who rescues another from danger or harm. Christians call Jesus their Saviour because by his life, death and resurrection, Jesus saves them from the harm or evil of sin and enables them to share in the very life of God. This salvation in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit is offered to all people. In the Gospels Jesus is called ‘Saviour’ in the good news brought to the shepherds of his birth (Luke 2:11). The angel tells Joseph to name Mary’s child ‘Jesus’ because he was to save his people from their sins (Matt 1:21).
What the school aims to achieve for and by its community of students, parents and staff, and how it hopes to achieve these aims.
In ancient times scribes were simply a class of professional people who could read and write. In New Testament times the scribes are the professional lawyers i.e. experts in the Law of Moses. Many scribes appear to have been Pharisees (see entry). The Gospels portray the scribes as hostile to Jesus perhaps because he was a threat to their influence (eg Mt 5:20).
In the ancient world books were written in a rolled-up form rather than with pages. These scrolls consisted of pieces of papyrus, leather or parchment sewn together and rolled smoothly round a stick. A reader would unroll the manuscript off the stick onto another. Much of the Old and New Testaments were written on Scrolls (see Luke 4:16-21).
See Lake of Galilee.
Season of Advent (N.524, 1093-95)
From the Latin adventus meaning “coming”. This is a four week season immediately preceding Christmas. It is a period of joyful preparation for the coming of Christ at Christmas (the Incarnation) and for his Second Coming at the end of time.
Season of Christmas
This season of the Liturgical Year extends from midnight on Christmas Eve to the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
Season of Easter
The Easter Season in the Liturgical Year Calendar extends from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday.
Second Coming (N.668 –682)
This is the awaited return of Jesus ‘from the right hand of the Father’ to ‘judge the living and the dead’. This Last Judgement will announce the fulfilment of the Kingdom or Reign of God inaugurated by the first appearance of Jesus.
This was the 21st ecumenical (world-wide) council of the Catholic Church. It was opened by Pope John 23rd in October 1962. The Council had several sessions and ended in December 1965. Vatican II, as it is usually called, was attended by over 2,800 Bishops. It made significant decisions for the life of the Church which are contained in the sixteen documents issued by the Council. The most important of these are those on Divine Revelation, the Liturgy, the Church and the Church in the Modern World.
Seeds of the Word
This phrase is from the writings of the early Christian philosopher and ‘apologist’ St Justin Martyr who was beheaded around 165. Pope Paul VI used it in his well-known work ‘Evangelisation in the Modern World’ (1976). Pope Paul VI writes that non-Christian religions are “impregnated with innumerable ‘seeds of the word’ and can constitute a true ‘preparation for the Gospel’”. This understanding that the Holy Spirit, working in the hearts of peoples of other religions and cultures, has planted a rich store of spirituality and seeds of the ‘Good News’ is an important part of the concept of inculturation (see entry) promoted by recent popes.
Self-Concept
The image we have of ourselves in terms of physical, mental and emotional make-up. This may or may not be an accurate picture/reflection of who we really are.
An understanding we have of our own worth and an attitude of valuing ourselves, even when others may put us down. Our self-esteem will depend to a large extent on how much we see ourselves as being able to contribute to the well-being of others.
From the Latin seminarium meaning “seedbed”. The name for the training programme and place where candidates are trained for the priesthood.
Signs and symbols are an important part of the way people communicate. This is particularly so in the spiritual or religious dimension of life. A sign is anything that points to something beyond itself, e.g. smoke is a sign of fire and a red traffic light is a sign meaning Stop. A symbol is usually regarded as a type of sign that has a meaning beyond what is pictured or represented, i.e. a symbol carries a deeper meaning than a sign, e.g. for New Zealanders the Kiwi means more than a bird. It has become a symbol of Aotearoa New Zealand and all that the land and people stand for. However, in practice the term sign is often used to include symbol as well. Thus the Sign of the Cross is full of deep symbolic meaning for Christians about the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus and all that stands for in terms of salvation.
Sign of the Cross
A religious gesture of blessing which was already in use by the time of Tertullian (d. ca. 225). It takes several forms. The large form is made by touching the fingers of the right hand to the forehead, the breast, the left shoulder and the right shoulder. Usually an expression of faith in the Trinity is said at the same time – “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen”. Another form is to trace a small Sign of the Cross on the forehead, mouth and breast. This is normally done by the priest and congregation as the Gospel reading is announced. A Sign of the Cross is also traced on the foreheads of candidates for baptism and confirmation.
Sin (N.385-421, 1440-1460, 1846-76)
Sin is a ‘failure in genuine love for God and neighbour…’. As such sin is something that harms, or even breaks, our relationship with God and with other people.
Solomon (1 Kings 3-11)
Son of David and Bathsheba and third king of Israel, he ruled from about 962 to 922 BC. He built the temple in Jerusalem and is credited with great wisdom. After his death, he was succeeded by his son, Rehoboam, but the northern tribes rebelled and established the northern kingdom of Israel under the rule of Jeroboam I.
For Catholic schools in New Zealand this Special or Catholic Character is defined in the Integration Agreement as follows: “The school is a Roman Catholic school in which the whole school community, through the general school programme and in its Religious Instructions and observances exercises the right to live and teach the values of Jesus Christ. These values are as expressed in the Scriptures and in the practices, worship and doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, as determined from time to time by the Roman Catholic Bishop of the diocese.
Refers to spiritual matters and may be defined as ‘our way of being religious’. So we may speak of Hindu spirituality or Buddhist spirituality. In the same way we may speak of Christian spirituality as ‘our way of being Christian’. Spirituality involves the total way we live our life in relation to God and others. This includes our everyday behaviour as well as more obviously ‘spiritual’ activities such as worship or prayer. There are varieties of Christian spirituality. Thus we may speak of Quaker spirituality or charismatic spirituality or monastic spirituality.
Within the Catholic Church there are also various way of relating to God and others so that we may speak of Jesuit or Franciscan spirituality. Cultures also exert an influence in this area so we speak of Celtic or Polish or Maori spirituality. This simply means the way in which people shaped by those cultures express themselves as Christians.
A Catholic devotion commemorating Christ’s Passion. The ‘stations’ are traditionally fourteen crosses each with a representation of a scene from Jesus’ Way of the Cross (see entry). These are commonly found in churches and chapels. In recent times a fifteenth station, for the Resurrection, has often been added.
St Clare of Assisi
Founder of the Poor Clares, a religious community of women. Clare was born in Assisi, Italy around 1193. When she learned of the activities of Francis and his group of Friars, she refused an arranged marriage and in 1212 committed herself to follow the Gospel in the same spirit as Francis. Throughout her life Clare fought to maintain the ideal of rigorous poverty for the Poor Clares. She died in 1253 and was canonised in 1255. Her feast day is 11 August.
One of the greatest and best-loved saints, Francis di Bernadone was born in Assisi in central Italy in 1181. Founder of the Friars Minor, usually called ‘Franciscans’, Francis was noted for his compassion, his devotion to prayer and to ‘Lady Poverty’ and for his love for all creation. He died in 1226 and was canonised in 1228. He is the patron Saint of Italy and of the environment. His feast day is 4 October.
The responsibility given by God to humankind to care for the rest of creation. The origins of stewardship are found in God’s command that humankind exercise dominion over every living thing (Genesis 1:28) and in the directive that the first man name all the animals (Genesis 2:19). This responsibility does not legitimise human exploitation of the earth for human ends. Humans must be mindful that they are acting on God’s behalf and in the interests of the whole of creation.
A long, narrow piece of fabric, somewhat like a scarf, worn over both shoulders outside the alb by priests and bishops when they preside at the celebration of the Eucharist or any other sacrament. A deacon also wears a stole but diagonally over one shoulder.
Stoup
A container for holding holy water. Fonts were located at the entrances to ancient churches and monasteries so that individuals could wash their hands prior to entering church. This act of washing evolved into blessing oneself with Holy Water.
A term used to indicate that God is greater than all other beings, spiritual as well as material.
A synagogue is a Jewish place of prayer, study and instruction. The name comes from a Greek word meaning assembly. Synagogues arose after the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem in 587 BC and the dispersion of Jews during the Exile. By New Testament times synagogues were found throughout Palestine and beyond in towns of any size where there was a sizeable Jewish community. Services were held on the Sabbath and feast days.
The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. They are called ‘synoptic’ because they can be ‘viewed together’ or compared in a parallel fashion. Scholars believe that Matthew and Luke are based on Mark and on another source called “Q” – from the German Quelle “source”. This common basis would account for their similarity.
Maori Glossary A-N
Maori Glossary P-W
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Leigh Griffiths three goals closer to Celtic’s new centurion
Leigh Griffiths’ second-half goal against Partick Thistle gave the Bhoys all three points in the Glasgow derby clash at Firhill, while the goal also add to his scoring record for Celtic to 96.
Griffiths unlike any other, his primary focus is on ensuring the team are successful, the Scotland international’s aware of how close he is to reaching this impressive milestone of 100 goals.
Speaking in an interview following Celtic v Partick game, he said was delighted to have his side side nail a win in what was a tough game and was now eyeing a consistent run in the team.
“Firhill is a difficult place to come,” he said. “In the first-half we were creating a lot and getting into good areas, but I think that final pass wasn’t good enough. In the second-half, we upped the tempo a bit and showed what a good team we are.
“It’s frustrating not playing but I can understand the gaffer’s tactics to go with the same team as Saturday because we played really well. I’ve no complaints about that. I was just biding my time on the sidelines, and when the call came to come on at half-time and try and change the game I did that.
“We have three strikers here who are battling for that one place and ultimately two are going to be frustrated. In the second-half, Odsonne and myself linked up well. We tried to make a difference and ultimately we got the win.
“That’s the most important thing. You can’t take the huff when you’re not playing. You just need to bide your time and you’ve seen it time and time again, when I get my chances I taken them.”
The striker’s 70th-minute winner was his 96th goal for Celtic and he reflected on what it would mean to him to reach the 100 mark, joining that Celtic elite group of 28 players who have also done so.
“I don’t want to be anywhere else,”
“This is a massive club and I love playing for Celtic. I’m focused on trying to reach the 100-goal mark. I love playing for this club and I never want to leave. The quicker I hit the 100-goal mark and move forward the better.
“I’ve never scored more than 50 goals for a club at any one time so to get 100 goals at a club like this would be massive. The last person to do it here was John Hartson, so when I do hit that, it’ll be a great feat.”
Tags: Leigh Griffiths
◀ Celtic to accept “£20m offer for Dembele”, deal could be done in the next six days – report
Brendan Rodgers rejected winter move for Moussa Dembele – report ▶
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You are browsing: All The Trials of Margaret Clitherow: Persecution, Martyrdom and the Politics of Sanctity in Elizabethan England
The Trials of Margaret Clitherow: Persecution, Martyrdom and the Politics of Sanctity in Elizabethan England (Paperback)
Peter Lake
Michael Questier
Thoroughly updated with newly discovered archival material, this second edition of The Trials of Margaret Clitherow demonstrates that the complicated and controversial life story of Margaret Clitherow is not as unique as it was once thought. In fact, Peter Lake and Michael Questier argue that her case was comparable to those of other separatist females who were in trouble with the law at the same time, in particular Anne Foster, also of York. In doing so, they shed new light on the fascinating stories of these unruly women whose fates have been excluded from Catholic and women narratives of the period.
The result is a work which considers the questions of religious sainthood and martyrdom through a gender lens, providing important insights into the relationship between society, the state and the church in Britain during the 16th century. This is a major contribution to our understanding of both English Catholicism and the Protestant regime of the Elizabethan period.
History & Politics History: Chronological Early history: c 500 to c 1450-1500History & Politics History: Chronological Early modern history: c 1450-1500 to c 1700History & Politics Regional & national history European history British & Irish historyLGBT & Gender Studies Gender studies Gender studies: womenPhilosophy, Psychology & Social Sciences Social groupsReligion & Beliefs Religion: general History of religion Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Publication Date: 11/07/2019 ISBN-13: 9781350049260 Details: Type: Paperback Format: Books
Peter Lake is University Distinguished Professor of History, Professor of the History of Christianity and Martha Rivers Ingram Chair of History at Vanderbilt University, USA. He is the author of many books, including Bad Queen Bess?: Libels, Secret Histories, and the Politics of Publicity in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth I (2015), Scandal and Religious Identity in Early Stuart England: A Northamptonshire Maid's Tragedy (2015; with Isaac Stephens) and The Anti-Christ's Lewd Hat: Protestants, Papists and Players in Post-Reformation England (2002; with Michael Questier). Michael Questier is Professor of Early Modern History at Queen Mary, University of London, UK. He is the editor of Recusancy and Conformity in Early Modern England: Manuscript and Printed Sources in Translation (2010; with G. Crosignani and T. McCoog), and the author of Stuart Dynastic Policy and Religious Politics, 1621-1625 (2009) and Catholicism and Community in Early Modern England: Politics, Aristocratic Patronage and Religion, c. 1550-1640 (2006).
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Imago BioSciences Announces $26.5 Million Financing Led by Clarus Ventures
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 31, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Imago BioSciences, Inc., a biotech company developing innovative therapeutics, today announced a $26.5 million Series A financing led by Clarus Ventures LLC, a global investment firm founded by a team of accomplished investment and operating professionals dedicated to life sciences. Other investors participating in the round include Frazier Healthcare, Amgen Ventures, and Merck Research Labs Venture Fund. Representatives from Clarus Ventures and Frazier Healthcare will join the company's board of directors.
"Imago BioSciences is extremely gratified with the makeup of this investment syndicate," said Hugh Young Rienhoff, M.D., CEO at Imago BioSciences. "They comprise a group of experienced financial and strategic investors who provide financial support to progress our clinical development program in a direction important to patients and their physicians."
Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance the research and clinical development program of therapeutics that alter gene expression patterns. The company's clinical focus is on orphan diseases that involve genetic alterations disturbing normal patterns of gene expression, or diseases in which modifying gene expression patterns can have a therapeutic effect.
About Imago BioSciences
Imago BioSciences is a San Francisco-based clinical development company dedicated to translating state-of-the art science into novel medicines for treating diseases that currently pose great challenges to patients, their families and their physicians. The company leverages the skills and extensive experience of its team and the financial commitment of its investors to focus on a small family of orphan diseases. Imago BioSciences translates unique insights into high impact transformative therapies that alter the natural history of disease allowing patients to live longer, disease-free lives. More information is available at www.imagobio.com.
SOURCE Imago BioSciences
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DGCA directs Air India to take strict action against pilot who failed pre-flight alcohol test twice
Chinese firms face competition to maintain role in developing Iranian oilfields | Reuters
Fwire Reuters Dec 24, 2016 22:00:07 IST
DUBAI Iran plans to ask international oil companies to bid for the second phase of development of its Yadavaran and North Azadegan oilfields, a senior official said on Saturday.That means Chinese firms China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and Sinopec, which have played a leading role in developing the fields until now, will have to compete with other firms if they want to maintain that position."CNPC would like to extend its North Azadegan contract, but we have announced that ...they should take part in the bidding for a new contract," Gholamreza Manouchehri, deputy head of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA."The Chinese have finally accepted this proposal," Manouchehri said.He gave no details on the timing of the tender.President Hassan Rouhani officially launched the first phases of the Yadavaran and North Azadegan fields as well as the the North Yaran field in November, as the country ramps up its production after the lifting of sanctions.Yadavaran will have a production of up to 115,000 bpd in its first phase and North Azadegan's output is 75,000 bpd, the Iranian oil ministry's news agency SHANA said.
The Chinese firms helped Iran develop the fields after Japanese and European companies pulled out of the country due to sanctions over Iran's nuclear programme.Iran said in December 2007 that Sinopec would invest around $2 billion to develop the huge Yadavaran oil field.CNPC signed a deal with Iran in January 2009 to develop the North Azadegan oilfield, a project also worth $2 billion in its first phase.
In April 2014, however, Iranian news agency SHANA reported that Iran had terminated CNPC's contract to develop the Azadegan field after the Chinese energy giant ignored repeated appeals to work on it.While the Chinese companies took part in the first phase of development of the fields, there had been "some criticism of their performance," IRNA said on Saturday, without elaborating."There have also been talks with Sinopec regarding the Yadavaran field for which an international tender is set to be held," Manouchehri said, according to the IRNA report.
Yadavaran has reserves of 31 billion barrels of light and heavy crude oil while North Azadegan has 5.7 billion barrels of crude reserves.Separately, the head of a regional state oil firm in central Iran said 20 tenders would be held to develop new gas and oil fields and boost production at existing ones, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.Salbali Karimi, chief executive of the Iranian Central Oil Fields Company, said the projects would require $2 billion in investment to boost crude output by 100,000 barrels per day. (Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Adrian Croft)
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History and theory of garden design and landscape architecture > Garden and Landscape Books > History of Garden Art, by Marie-Luise Gothein > Late Baroque Garden Design in Italy
EUROPE: contents
BOOKSHOP The FRENCH GARDEN in FRANCE in ENGLAND in GERMANY in AUSTRIA in HUNGARY in MIDDLE GERMANY in SWEDEN in DENMARK in RUSSIA in ITALY in SPAIN in HOLLAND Next
Copyright ã
Late Baroque Garden Design in Italy
Villa Castellazzo
Caserta Royal Palace and Garden (Caserta Palazzo Reale La Reggia)
We do not find the southern countries of Europe, especially Italy, so much inclined as Russia to adopt a deep change. Italy had no doubt given up the leadership to France in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and was fully conscious of that country’s superiority. So the art of Le Nôtre was supposed to have done the impossible, and villas like Ludovisi and Albani were quoted as works of his, whereas one was much before his time and the other was made after his death. But this want of precise knowledge at Rome was the best possible proof that the spirit of Le Nôtre and his northern feeling for style had not vanished from Roman minds. Only thus could it have been possible for such a really Roman villa to be created as the Villa Albani so late as the year 1740. Certain concessions made by the cardinal to the taste that was then the fashion penetrated (somewhat timidly and, so to speak, unintelligently) into nooks and corners.
The small Albani garden, sunk below the so-called coffee-house, tries to be a sort of bosket in the park. At the side of the coffee-house there are steps leading down to an artificial ruin, such as was talked about so much, and this one was built as a bird-house. The part at the back of the coffee-house had a country-like appearance, and it looked out on a cascade, which plunged down into an elongated basin like a canal. But the canal passed between walls to the back entrance of the garden. This part, which was quite small, would have found its proper place in a northern park; but here, shut in by walls on every side, it looks most odd when one walks down to it from the thoroughly Roman parts on the upper terraces.
All the classical alterations made in the larger villas had been at least hinted at before; and there was seldom any progress made in this direction, even though there was nothing at present so fatal as the English landscape style, whose approach was imminent.
In Northern Italy the French style was more important, because the level ground of the plains of Lombardy was suited to it. The nobility of Milan and Turin always had French sympathies, and, like the towns on the other side of the Alps, these looked to France for the patterns of their own villas. Moreover, country houses sprang up on what there was of terra firma in Venice, and these were clothed with French gardens and parks. A collection of Da Costa’s engravings, called Delizie del Fiume di Brenta (The Beauties of the River Brenta) show the villas and palaces (Fig. 525), as they were when Goethe saw them, when leaving behind “ many a lordly garden, many a lordly palace,” he proceeded by the beautiful Brenta to Venice, his longed-for goal, on 28 September, 1786.
FIG. 525. PALAZZO VENIER ON THE BRENTA
Nowadays the gardens of these villas of the Venetian terra firma have either completely vanished or have been badly kept. The largest and most important of them is Palazzo Pisani, built in grand style for the noble family of the Pisani about 1740. The garden is on large lines, but has no importance for the history of art. In the same way the neighbourhood of Milan felt the influence of France; and of the gardens there, we have engravings on copper in Ville e Delizie di Milano by Dal Res, published in 1773. Almost all are of much the same design: parterres and groves in the French style, and a small summer-house here and there in the park.
The Villa Castellazzo has in some measure preserved its old state. The great parterre, with boskets all round and mostly on the north, lies in front of a side wing in which is the principal room of the house. The park begins behind at a closed door, near a semicircular plot with a Hercules on it. By the side of the boskets, which enclose fountains, labyrinths, and statues, a wide avenue leads past a green theatre to the Diana fountain, a very charming but quite Italian spot, which is the more important through having to the north of it a thicket with bird-decoy and aviary, forming the end of the garden.
Wherever the Bourbons came with their changing fortunes we perceive French influence. When the son of Philip V. of Spain, Charles III. (who was sole heir through his mother of the Farnese family), came to Parma in 1731, he laid out the great public garden that is still there by the side of the little Palazzo del Giardino, built in the sixteenth century. In its present condition this garden suggests something foreign that has pushed in from the North, especially as the high box hedges bordering the paths that run through the boskets are stripped of their statuary, and the parterres are not kept up with their old patterns. Charles proceeded to Naples as king in 1734, and after he had at length se- cured recognition from the Powers, he desired to give proper expression to his might and dignity by building a gigantic castle in the fashion of his northern ancestors. In 1752 the architect Vanvitelli began to make a castle at the little town of Caserta, and this was to be the greatest palace in the world (Fig. 527).
FIG. 527. CASERTA, ITALY—PRINCIPAL VIEW OF THE CASTLE AND GARDENS
There was no doubt in the mind of the founder that this place would rival Versailles, garden and all. The building, with its four great courts, was entered through a gigantic fore-court, oval in shape. By the side were parterres of flowers, and an orangery was on lower ground on the east, as at Versailles. On the other side there was a riding-course bordered by avenues in the Roman fashion. A series of steps leads from the castle terrace to the great parterre, which was embedded in boskets with basins and fountains (Figs. 526, 527).
FIG. 526. CASERTA, ITALY—GROUND-PLAN OF THE PARTERRE
Neither the parterre nor the surrounding groves show any original features. The effect of the whole must have depended on the cascade, which fell from the hill opposite into the main axis of the castle. Above, it is cut off by a terrace which gives a fine view. The water falls sheer fifty feet down into a pond, which is decked out with groups in Carrara marble, representing the story of Diana and Actæon (Fig. 528).
FIG. 528. CASERTA, ITALY—THE POOL OF THE GREAT CASCADE (Photograph by Mrs. Aubrey Le Blond.)
Thence it falls from step to step, so superabundantly beset with statues that their white curving bodies are mingled with the foaming, plunging waters, looking now like a solid stream, now like a moving shape, till they end at last in a great basin with statues representing Neptune’s seat, close to the great parterre. There were tall hedges the whole length of the canal, and at the different stages there were marble steps on the bank. It made a majestic view, most astonishing for anyone who saw it suddenly from the frame of the gate as he emerged from the great corridor of the castle. But like the house with all its vastness, the cascade is wanting in good proportions, and one is struck by the absence of a great connected coherent scheme. We have only to compare with Caserta places of the good period, such as Villa Aldobrandini at Frascati, which show intelligent consideration of every detail, and therefore are never wearisome, but keep the whole picture uniform and noble.
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Let's Discuss Those "Say Yes to the Candidate" Ads, Shall We?
On Wednesday, the College Republican National Committee launched a series of Say Yes to the Candidate campaign advertisements, inspired by TLC's show Say Yes to the Dress, targeted at young voters leading up to the midterm elections. The first ad rolled out, in support of Governor Rick Scott (R) who is running for re-election in the Florida governor's race, and it goes like this: Brittany, who's an undecided voter, is trying on gowns at a bridal boutique. "Budget is a big deal for me now that I just graduated from college," she says. "The Rick Scott is perfect... He has new ideas that don't break your budget." But, her mother, Gloria, begs to differ. "I like the Charlie Crist," she proclaims of a gown, named after Scott's democratic gubernatorial opponent. "It's expensive and a little outdated, but I know best." Then a gown consultant enters. "The Charlie Crist comes with additional costs. There's over $2 billion in taxes. $3.6 billion in debt. And 15 percent tuition increases," she says, while Gloria, bounces up and down, squealing: "That's the one!" Alas, Brittany is not having it: "Mom, this is my decision, and I see a better future with Rick Scott." The
Emily Mahaney
On Wednesday, the College Republican National Committee launched a series of Say Yes to the Candidate campaign advertisements, inspired by TLC's show Say Yes to the Dress, targeted at young voters leading up to the midterm elections. The first ad rolled out, in support of Governor Rick Scott (R) who is running for re-election in the Florida governor's race, and it goes like this:
Brittany, who's an undecided voter, is trying on gowns at a bridal boutique. "Budget is a big deal for me now that I just graduated from college," she says. "The Rick Scott is perfect... He has new ideas that don't break your budget." But, her mother, Gloria, begs to differ. "I like the Charlie Crist," she proclaims of a gown, named after Scott's democratic gubernatorial opponent. "It's expensive and a little outdated, but I know best." Then a gown consultant enters. "The Charlie Crist comes with additional costs. There's over $2 billion in taxes. $3.6 billion in debt. And 15 percent tuition increases," she says, while Gloria, bounces up and down, squealing: "That's the one!" Alas, Brittany is not having it: "Mom, this is my decision, and I see a better future with Rick Scott."
The CRNC released nearly identical advertisements for Bob Beauprez and Asa Hutchinson, Republicans running for Governor in Colorado and Arkansas, respectively. Alex Smith, the CRNC national chairman, told *The Wall Street Journal *that they'd designed the series to appeal to young people who have "their minds turned off to traditional advertising," but some political analysts were quick to call the ads condescending and sexist for insinuating the only way women can understand a political race is by comparing candidates to dresses. Jessica Roy at New Yorkmagazine called the ad "just a teensy bit tone-deaf," while Irin Carmon at MSNBC declared it "the GOP's most condescending ad yet."
Tone aside, what I found peculiar about the advertisement is the dynamic between the two female voters—the mother and the daughter. The creators pit the two generations against each other and insinuate that there's a deep divide in what millennial women and older women are looking for in leadership. Dramatization, or does a gap really exist?
Dianne Bystrom, who's the director of the Carrie Chapman Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State University, says that's not the case. In 2012, women generally skewed toward President Obama. Bystrom analyzed two studies from 2012—the National Exit poll conducted by Edison Research and a poll conducted by The Washington Post and ABC News—and found that young women voters, and women voters overall, felt similarly about certain social policy issues. For instance, 49 percent of young white females, ages 19 to 29, wanted government to be doing more, which jives with the 44 percent of women overall, who said the same. And, both the majority of young female voters and women voters, overall, believed immigrants should be offered a chance to apply for legal status. "These stats," she says, "show that young women, and their mothers, have similar positions on these social policy issues."
Margie Omero, a Democratic pollster, agrees that the divide is substantially overplayed in the commercials. "You hear a lot about younger folks of both parties being more moderate on social issues," she says, "But when I talk to younger women and I talk to older women, I don't hear this kind of divide about how they think about candidates overall. Now I believe there may be a conflict when young women and their moms go pick out wedding dresses, but I don't think that has anything to do with differences between younger women and older women and what kind of candidates they're looking for for elected office."
Do you and your mom generally differ on how you vote?
Do you and your mother differ on the issues that matter to you most in an election?
__What do you think of the Say Yes advertisement? Share in the comments below. __
Topicselectionsgovernmentpoliticianspolitics
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It is more a case that writers, like Captain Beefheart and many other musicians, complained that they have “Too Much Time”. They either complain that they have a writer’s block, that they lack inspiration or that they can’t get anybody interested in their pitches or getting to write copy or turn themselves into ‘the dreaded’ ghostwriters.
But what about a situation when they have all the opportunities in the world, the inspiration is there and the writer’s block is busted
to pieces? What happens when they find themselves in a situation they have an abundance of work, inspiration, ideas, possibilities? It is a situation they have craved for and “Too Much Time”, the Beefheart song or any other of the numerous ones with that name can be buried
deep into their record collection?
Well, then it is just a question of
balancing your time. No excuses there, you cannot resort to that easy way out called ‘I’m not an expert in that subject’, or ‘
there’s too much research to be done
Ok, so there are things you know less about, and yes, there are situations when as a writer you have to learn something about rocket science. And, of course,
even if you are writing your memoir you have to do extensive research unless you have a more extensive memory than the hard disc on the computer you’re working on (or iPad/tablet, makes no difference).
But then, there is one thing you are (
or are supposed
to be) an expert in — and that is an expert with words, which also includes understanding numbers.
So when the list of excuses runs out, there is one thing to do — keep on writing, tackling those tasks one by one, and with enjoyment. Then “Too Much Time” will be a song that gets yet another meaning for you.
Merriam-Webster says inanimate stands for “a thing that is not alive, such as a rock, a chair, a book, etc
.”. Dictionary.com goes further with its definition in linguistics: “belonging to a syntactic category or having a semantic feature characteristic of words denoting objects, concepts, and beings regarded as lacking perception and volition”
Sure, but with writers, things rarely stick strictly do dictionary or general definitions. And they shouldn’t. Not always, anyway. Writers often use inanimate objects, concepts and beings as a starting point to transpose them and give them a ‘live’ human meaning, defining us, them, anybody, or some form of human relations.
There is always a human element, anyway when we write about inanimate objects. When he came up with “Famous Blue Raincoat”, one of his best and most celebrated songs/poems, Leonard Cohen through that coat gave all he felt about a failed relationship, treachery, love, and at least a dozen sense of other human feelings:
“Oh, the last time we saw you you looked so much older
Your famous blue raincoat was torn
at the shoulder
You’d been to the station to meet every train
But then you came home without Lili Marlene…”
Nothing inanimate there. The raincoat has taken all the shapes and forms of a person wearing it and how Cohen perceived that person and their relations and relations with others involved.
That is why a writer can (and often should) see all things inanimate as something that can give them inspiration for their writing. Past, present, future, it can all be ‘seen
’ and viewed from that object, whether it is just a starting point or something that permeates the writing throughout. Basically, a writer could give life to things that are seemingly not alive.
Comes a time… so goes a song from the album of the same name Neil Young came up with a few decades ago. Still a great song, but its context for quite a number of writers could be that the harsh writing times demand some serious compromises, and that could be joining one of the ever-growing numbers of writer farms.
Actually, they used to call them content farms and more often these days content mills. Allena Tapia wrote on www.thebalancesmb.com, that “A content mill or writers mill is a slang term used by freelance writers and given to a company, website, or organization designed to provide cheap website content, usually at a significant profit to themselves, and usually by paying very low rates to writers.”
The farm connotation was changed I guess, since it reminded of peaceful cows grazing some (relatively cheap) grass as a reward for their writing, while the mill connotation has probably more to do with those heavy stones that grind the flower, or every ounce of writing strength. The rewards are still the same as on the farm.
So, if you can swallow Allena’s definition, you’re in need, you may want to dip your writing (hands and feet) into content mill waters. It may sound like a simple proposition — you check out the organizations and find the ones that pay better, you apply, sign in, start writing, get paid for your writing. Well, not so fast.
Most of this writing is business -oriented, and in this day and age, it means it has to abide by the rules of being as visible as possible online, which means you have to be quite a bit informing with ever-present or search engine optimization, better known as SEO. Often you have to pass a test, sometimes more than one, and most often that science fiction trilogy you got rave reviews a few years back won’t do you much good here.
If you do get through, you have to get acquainted with usually a strict set of rules that look like a cross-country hurdle race, since everything has to be more or less uniform. But then, wasn’t the hurdles and uniformity the reason you got into writing in the first place?
Of course, that’s not all. When you get done with your article(s) you get to encounter the editors — the mill’s or the customer’s, it could depend, but possible surprises will at least keep you on your toes if by chance you encounter an editor that is not exactly keen on what you have done.
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At some point, you get financially rewarded (more or less, depends), you get a byline or (more often) you don’t, but then Neil Young is always there to remind you that … comes a time…
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Date of publication September 2019
Press Download
Ed. carlier / gebauer, Kunsthalle Rostock, Nevada Museum of Art, text(s) by Martin Herbert, Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Ornela Vorpsi, graphic design by Santiago da Silva
2019. 112 pp., 70 ills.
Drawings of everyday political life
The oeuvre of the Albanian artist and prime minister Edi Rama is inseparable from his political career. During telephone conferences and meetings, he does drawings and watercolors on the copies of his schedule, his work notes, on minutes, faxes, and other pieces of correspondence. The art he produces in the environs of national power forms an abstract journal, a vivid recording of political life and the everyday tensions between power and art. Work is the first publication to present the drawings, ceramic sculptures, and tapestry, which was inspired by a similar tapestry in Rama’s office in Tirana. Made up of more than seven hundred of Rama’s drawings, the tapestry runs throughout the entire book, creating an immanent connection between his works. Besides essays on Rama’s work, the book also features a conversation with the artist.
Edi Rama’s (*1964, Tirana) work has been shown at the 2017 Venice Biennial and the 1994 São Paulo Biennale, the Haus der Kunst in Munich, the Centre Pompidou, Paris, and other renowned institutions. He began his political career as Albania’s cultural minister in 1998 and was elected Albania’s prime minister for the second time in 2017.
Downloads for the press
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What Can Germany Teach Us About Solar Energy?
Image: aircon.com
ERIC WOLFERT, ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT DIRECTOR
Germany is hardly anyone’s idea of a sunny paradise--its capital city of Berlin sits at a higher latitude than Detroit and Pittsburgh. Yet Europe’s greatest economic power has become a world leader in the development of solar energy, with solar providing nearly 75% of the nation’s energy over periods of several hours and 17% of its total consumption during the first six months of 2014. (By comparison, solar made up a paltry 0.23% of American energy consumption in 2013.) In doing so, Germany has demonstrated that transitioning away from fossil fuels, far from being a painful and expensive process, can actually have a number of positive effects. Its energy grid, far from being unreliable and blackout-prone as many postulated, has been ranked the most reliable in the world since at least 2008, and there is ample evidence that the increased production of renewable technologies is leading to reduced energy prices in Germany and neighboring countries.
Given the European Union’s seemingly endless economic stagnation and the poor performance of austere economic policies since the global recession hit in 2008, cheaper energy prices provide a glimmer of hope for recovery. Furthermore, a September 2011 study from the German Institute for Economic Research found the deployment of renewable energy to positively impact GDP growth in Germany, citing a net increase in private investment, as well as a decline in energy imports, improving Germany’s trade balance. If there is one sincere drawback to the program, it is that increased use of renewable energy technologies has not decreased the use of coal as quickly as many advocates had hoped--though coal use is unquestionably on the decline.
One simple, prominent reason for Germany’s success with renewables comes from more sustained public support for the industries, especially when compared to the United States. German renewable energy producers have taken advantage of a program known as feed-in tariffs, in which the government pays the renewable energy companies a fixed amount per kilowatt of energy produced, thereby incentivizing the companies to expand and produce more.
Similar programs do exist in the United States, but are decidedly more fickle--programs such as the Production Tax Credit are structured in a similar way to Germany’s feed-in tariffs. Unfortunately, they have become a case of political football, with conservative lawmakers often seeking to see the program halted, though some conservatives have rightfully lauded the tax credit for supporting jobs.
The program in Germany may also provide a geopolitical advantage. As Russia continues its rise as a global aggressor under President Putin, many of the nations in the region are dependent upon Russian natural gas imports as a crucial part of their energy supply. The less Germany is required to depend on Russia for energy, the better for German security; it is no wonder that Ukraine has begun to take steps to this effect.
Herein lies a lesson for policymakers in the United States: Consistent investment is key if we are to achieve the economic, environmental, and public health imperative of increasing renewable energy use. German renewable energy providers are virtually guaranteed that the feed-in tariff will provide a consistent source of revenue, even though the amount paid out by the German government has decreased recently as production and cost of the energies has bettered the projections. In the United States, the partisan wrangling over relatively modest programs like the Production Tax Credit has caused inconsistent deployment of renewable energy and often sacrifices jobs at the altar of ideology. Five times Congress has allowed the program to expire, and a corresponding loss in energy output and jobs has followed each time.
Image: AWEA
According to the Energy Research Center of the Netherlands, German solar energy “over its lifetime uses 86 to 89 percent less water, occupies or transforms over 80 percent less land, presents approximately 95 percent lower toxicity to humans, contributes 92 to 97 percent less to acid rain, and 97 to 98 percent less to marine eutrophication” when compared to coal. Perhaps it is unsurprising then that even in the United States, which leads the world in CO2 emissions per capita and has yet to significantly develop renewable energy, a decrease in the use of traditional energy saves more money on health impacts than it loses on slightly increased energy costs.
Solar energy has, on net, positively impacted Germany’s economy, environment, public health, and national security, and much can be attributed to the feed-in tariffs described above- a relatively simple, straightforward policy. The United States is perfectly capable of following their path, but consistent investment in renewable technologies, as has been seen in Germany for several years now, will be key. Political posturing over a policy that is vital to the economy, public health, the environment, and national security is simply unnecessary and counterproductive.
Solar Energy Las Vegas link
This is an extremely well written and informative article. thanks for sharing I enjoying reading them.
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Posted on June 25, 2019 by JOSHUA KEERAN
Caretaker home makes list
Preservation Ohio lists Oak Grove Cemetery site as ‘endangered’
Gazette Staff - delnews@aimmediamidwest.com
Pictured is the old caretaker’s house at Oak Grove Cemetery, 334 S. Sandusky St., Delaware. The home is listed on Preservation Ohio’s List of Ohio’s Most Endangered Historic Sites for 2019.
The city of Delaware is once again home to one of Ohio’s most endangered historic sites, according to Preservation Ohio, the state’s oldest statewide historic preservation organization.
Included in its recently released official List of Ohio’s Most Endangered Historic Sites for 2019 is the old caretaker’s house at Oak Grove Cemetery, 334 S. Sandusky St. The 2018 list included the old brick train station built during the early 1900s on Lake Street in Delaware.
“This year, Preservation Ohio received more nominations for this important list than ever before,” said Thomas Palmer, executive director of Preservation Ohio, “which confirms both that much of our state’s historic properties remain at risk and that interest in preservation is growing across Ohio. Ohio’s Most Endangered Historic Sites is unique in that it highlights historic buildings and sites submitted from local citizens and advocates, each hoping to bring attention and to identify ways to give important historic properties a future. Thirteen properties in all areas of Ohio are included in this year’s edition.”
A Preservation Ohio press release states the original plans for Delaware’s historic Oak Grove Cemetery called for the former caretaker’s house to be built, with the oldest portion dating back to the 1850s.
“The City of Delaware is considering demolition to build a location for cremation remains despite ample space existing elsewhere in the cemetery,” the press release states. “Many suggestions for creative reuse of this house have been offered. Local interests are seeking to save this sole remaining element of the original cemetery plan.”
Lee Yoakum, the city’s community affairs coordinator, told The Gazette that when the local board overseeing Oak Grove Cemetery was no longer able to keep up with the care and services at the cemetery, the city was “forced by deed to take over ownership” in 2012.
“Oak Grove Cemetery has been a central part of the fabric of our city and community for more than a century,” Yoakum said. “We take very seriously our responsibility to operate Oak Grove in a way that is respectful and responsible to all. As part of that, we are currently studying cemetery development, operations, and permanent care, including options for the former Oak Grove office (old caretaker’s house) that has sat vacant for seven years.”
In addition to the old caretaker’s house at Oak Grove Cemetery, the 2019 List of Ohio’s Most Endangered Historic Sites includes:
• Defiance Junior High School, Defiance (Defiance County): This 1918 Collegiate Gothic style architecture school building is situated at the end of the designated Main Street in Defiance, making it the focal point at the end of the business district. The school district continues in conversation with a dedicated citizens group and the City of Defiance about possible preservation, although the building’s fate remains uncertain.
• Hayden Mausoleum, Columbus (Franklin County): The Green Lawn Cemetery Association nominated this large family burial structure designed by noted architect Frank Packard. A monumental, classical building with stone walls, carved wood doors, stained glass windows, and a domed ceiling, this mausoleum built about 1920 is suffering from long-deferred maintenance. The Association is seeking ideas and resources to apply toward restoration.
• 1872 German Furniture Company, Middleport (Meigs County): Built in 1872, this brick Italianate commercial building in a small Ohio River town once housed a furniture manufacturer that marketed its products nationwide. At present, moisture penetration is placing the structure at risk. The local historical society owns the property, has a two-phase renovation plan, and is seeking funding. The society is joined by county commissioners and other officials in supporting preservation.
• Former Akron Beacon Journal Building, Akron (Summit County): The landmark former home of the Akron Beacon Journal, constructed in 1929, is constructed of sandstone and occupies a full city block in the heart of the city with an iconic corner tower. While operating in this building, the paper was awarded four Pulitzer Prizes for its work. Now that it is vacant, the future for its 230,000 square feet of space is anything but certain.
• Libbey House, Toledo (Lucas County): Glass built this beautiful Old West End mansion, home to industrialist Edward Drummond Libbey who founded multiple companies as well as the Toledo Museum of Art. Time and weather is taking its toll on the house, Toledo’s only National Historic Landmark, with deteriorating columns and other features. The Libbey House Foundation seeks to draw attention to the building’s history and plight and to transform it into a showcase for the glass industry.
• Gebhart Tavern, Miamisburg (Montgomery County): The oldest site on this year’s list, the tavern dates to 1811 and was a focal point of social life in this portion of the Miami Valley. Portions of original logs are missing or rotting, and while the community supports preservation of the tavern, resources are limited. The Miamisburg Historical Society nominated the property and joins the city and downtown organization in seeking attention and preservation for this piece of Montgomery County history.
• Unionville District School/Unionville Community Center, Madison Township (Lake County): This brick school building dating to 1855 is now used as a community center, and is located near the Unionville Tavern, a previous Most Endangered listing. In addition to the need for a new roof, the building also requires long-term planning and secure funding. The Unionville Boosters lease the Community Center and need to fund needed repairs or vacate with demolition likely to follow.
• Macon Hotel and Lounge, Columbus (Franklin County): An important Green Book-listed hotel, the Macon housed African American jazz musicians visiting Columbus in the first decades of the 20th century. The building was constructed in 1888 and remains a tangible link to an important part of Columbus’ past and a potentially inspiring adaptive reuse opportunity if secured and renovated. The Macon Hotel and Lounge has twice been listed on the Columbus Landmark’s most endangered list.
• Dayton Daily News Building, Dayton (Montgomery County): Another newspaper home, this 1908 building designed by Albert Pretzinger is modeled after the Knickerbocker Trust building in New York City and sits partially open to the elements. It was the flagship of Ohio Governor and presidential candidate James M. Cox’s newspaper empire. City officials and local preservation advocates are working to save this majestic building after a local developer walked away from development of the larger site. Financing the redevelopment of the site remains a major challenge.
• Traxler Mansion, Dayton (Montgomery County): The 1910-era Trazler Mansion is a grand, 10,000 square foot French Chateauesque residence designed for a downtown Dayton dry goods merchant. It joins others built by Jewish Daytonians who were not welcomed in traditional neighborhoods. Unfortunately, it is also vacant and a sizable arrears on property taxes has accumulated. The nominators hope to draw attention to the Traxler Mansion and to see a preservation-minded purchaser with resources.
• Lincoln Elementary School, Middletown (Butler County): Yet another of Ohio’s historic school buildings is threatened, this time the last pre-World War II school to survive in the city of Middletown. The 1922 building has been vacant for approximately ten years and is facing demolition by the City despite being a prime candidate for adaptive reuse. Local preservation-minded citizens are attempting to build awareness of the building and to promote its future.
• Kern Tavern, Chillicothe (Ross County): This second tavern on the list dates from the 1840s and sits on a highly visible arterial state highway. The building has local significance through its relationship to a German neighborhood of Chillicothe and reflects the era of canal-related architecture. Suffering demolition by neglect, it is available for sale although its commercial location suggests that keeping the tavern intact might not be a priority for a new owner.
Preservation Ohio is Ohio’s oldest statewide historic preservation organization, an independent, nonprofit organization recognized under Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Preservation Ohio was established in 1982 to enhance the understanding of and appreciation for Ohio’s historic resources and to serve as a focal point for Ohio organizations, municipalities, corporations and individuals who care about these resources and are concerned about preservation for future generations. For more information and updates, visit www.preserveohio.com.
https://www.delgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2019/06/web1__DSC0013.jpgPictured is the old caretaker’s house at Oak Grove Cemetery, 334 S. Sandusky St., Delaware. The home is listed on Preservation Ohio’s List of Ohio’s Most Endangered Historic Sites for 2019.
Gazette Staff
delnews@aimmediamidwest.com
Contact The Delaware Gazette newsroom at 740-413-0900. Like The Gazette on Facebook.
Hi! A visitor to our site felt the following article might be of interest to you: Caretaker home makes list. Here is a link to that story: https://www.delgazette.com/news/77093/caretaker-home-makes-list
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Haney: Spieth Best of Big 3, Rory Lacks Motivation, Rickie ‘Isn’t Anywhere Near’
By Brendan Mohler
Hank Haney dishes on the big three, and doesn't hold back when asked about what's holding two of them back.
Sports Illustrated/Robert Beck
Perhaps more than any golf instructor, Hank Haney knows exactly what is required to become the best, having coached Tiger Woods for six of his 14 major championships. And perhaps more than any golf instructor, Haney isn’t afraid to speak frankly about which players have it, and which don’t.
In an interview with John Huggan of the Scotsman, Haney is asked which member of golf’s big three will have the best career. Haney, who worked with Woods for six years, talked about what it takes to be the best through the prism of his experience with the 14-time major champion — and spoke most highly of Jordan Spieth.
“[Spieth] has that internal motivation that is second to none right now,” said Haney. “He has had no issues with his body. And he is best in putting, the part of the game that is hardest to improve. When you get to your 30s, you don’t normally become a great putter. So I have to go with him.
“His only downside is that he isn’t all of a sudden going to get long off the tee. He is running as fast as he can run in that department.”
We all know that Rory McIlroy has the kind of length that Spieth lacks, but what’s holding the 26-year-old Northern Irishman back?
“I do wonder about Rory’s motivation,” Haney said. “He’s made a lot of money. It’s human nature to ease off, but I don’t see the same dedication in him that I see in Jordan. There was the playing soccer thing. And the comments he made at the end of the season worried me. He said that the years Jordan and Jason just had motivated him, which is fine. But when did Tiger ever need that sort of motivation?”
Haney didn’t mince words when asked about Jason Day, either.
“With Jason you have to keep in mind that it has taken him a long time to figure out how to win at the highest level,” Haney said of the 27-year-old. “That time has been wasted. If he had figured it out quicker, I would have said he would turn out to be the best historically. If you look at his game compared to the other two, he should be the one.
“He is third in driving distance, sixth in greens in regulation, 14th in sand saves, fifth in strokes gained putting, fifth in three-putt avoidance and second in scrambling. He is by far the best player. Rory, in comparison, is 56th in scrambling. That’s a big difference.”
Haney would further point to putting as what sets Spieth apart from McIlroy and Day, saying that Woods and Jack Nicklaus were the “best pressure putters” in their primes.
Sign up for more golf news, exclusive stories and insider analysis
But all this talk about the Big 3 comes at the expense of Rickie Fowler, who despite wins at the Players Championship, Scottish Open and Deutsche Bank Championship in 2015, is on the outside looking in.
“Rickie isn’t anywhere near the class of the other three,” Haney said. “He has to win a major to be up there with them. Actually, he just has to improve. Statistically, the top three are on a whole different level from anyone else.
Rickie Fowler Poised to Join Big Three, Say Top 100 Teachers
“But Rickie is on a trajectory to get close to the top. He has shown that he can handle the moment. That’s a great trait. His problem is getting to the moment. If he gets there though, he can handle it. But so can the big three. So even that doesn’t give him an egde. It just puts him on their level.”
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African countries 'paying too much for medicine'
BY: graphic.com.gh
Ghana could be paying up to 30 times more than the recommended price for medicines, a new report says.
According to the report by the Center for Global Development (CEG), lower to middle-income countries such as Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria, are losing out when purchasing what it calls branded generic drugs.
It said the kinds of medicines affected range from basic pain killers, to statins to treat blood pressure and herceptin for breast cancer treatment.
“Purchasers in low- and middle-income countries pay as much as 20 to 30 times a minimum international reference price for basic generic medicines like omeprazole, used to treat heartburn, or paracetamol, a common pain reliever,” the report said.
Author of the report, Amanda Glassman told the BBC that one of the problems is that many countries are buying these branded drugs when it would be cheaper to acquire what she described as "unbranded quality-assured drugs" - guaranteed medicines which do not have a internationally recognised drug company name associated with them.
“In the poorest countries, branded generics—which command a price premium—make up about two-thirds of the market by volume and value. Unbranded generics, usually the least expensive option, are a tiny sliver, only 5 percent of the market by volume and 3 percent by value. In contrast, in the United States and the United Kingdom, unbranded quality-assured generics account for 85 percent of the pharmaceutical market by volume, but only about a third by cost,” the report said.
The report added that many countries do not have a coordinated drugs purchasing policy meaning that they are unable to negotiate a lower price.
“…in lower-middle-income countries, 80 percent of health products are procured through the private sector, where individuals pay directly for medicines out-of-pocket. Lower-middle-income country governments do not yet account for a large share of total purchasing in their countries for medicines and other health products,” it added.
The CDG says affordable drugs are necessary and in their absence, "lasting health gains will remain elusive".
Business Development Minister wants breweries source raw materials locally
Association of Aviation Training Institutions launched
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Home BOUGHT POLITICIANS & PHONIES The Bilderbergers in Switzerland
The Bilderbergers in Switzerland
by Patrice de Bergeracpas May 29, 2019
Another important dispatch from The Greanville Post. Be sure to share it widely.
A criminal conspiracy of plutocrats from the very beginning, and thereby a secret conclave of all those who hate and fear true democracy.
The 67th Bilderberg Meeting will take place in Montreux, Switzerland from 30 May – 2 June 2019, where the about 130 invitees – so far confirmed – from 23 countries, will stay at one of Switzerland’s most luxurious venues, the Montreux Palace hotel. About a quarter of the attendees are women.
The Bilderberg meetings started at the onset of the Cold War, as a discussion club of American and European leaders, a fortification against communism, in clear text, against the Soviet Union. The first event took place in 1954 at the Bilderberg hotel in the Dutch town of Oosterbeek. Ever since, meetings of the Bilderberg Group were held annually, in different locations in the western world, most of them, though, in North America.
It’s not a coincidence that the Bilderbergers meet in Switzerland. Switzerland is one of the Group’s favored host countries outside the US. Switzerland hosted their gatherings at least five times before this upcoming Montreux event (1960 – Palace Hotel, Bürgenstock; 1970 – Grand Hotel Quellenhof, Bad Ragaz, St. Gallen; 1981 – Palace Hotel, Bürgenstock; 1995 – Palace Hotel, Bürgenstock; 2011 – Suvretta House, St. Moritz).
The conferences of the Bilderbergers are the most secretive events, managed by those who pull the strings behind world leaders – politicians, corporate CEOs, big finance, and other business execs – artists, and the who-are-whos of the world elite. And we are talking of the western world. Other than about ten attendees from Turkey, Poland, Bulgaria and Estonia, participants are North Americans or [Western] Europeans. The rest of the world doesn’t count.
The Bilderbergers are strictly a western dominion. The farthest east they go is Turkey. It’s like the carrot to Erdogan, hoping to draw NATO Turkey back into the camp of the west. But how much longer? – Turkey, forever wavering between east and west, has more than one leg already in the east – eyeing entry into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) – not exactly the eastern version of the Bilderbergers, because the SCO is an open forum for economic development policies and defense strategies, no secrets, no manipulation western style.
This year’s Bilderberg meeting will be chaired by Henri Castries, France, Chairman of the Paris-based Institut Montaigne, a non-profit thinktank working on public policy and social cohesion. Other prominent attendees include Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State, and the driving force of these events and protégé of Rockefeller’s, former US Secretary of State (and war criminal), Henry Kissinger; France’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire; Mark Rutte, Dutch Prime Minister, from the far-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy; Ursula von der Leyen, Germany’s Defense Minister from the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU); – and, perhaps most noteworthy, Jared Kushner, personal advisor and son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, and intimate friend of Israel’s Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu.
This means that Israel will be represented at the highest level. From Switzerland attending will be – among others – the current President, Ueli Maurer, who, it is rumored, will hold behind closed-doors talks with Mike Pompeo about Iran whom Switzerland is representing vis-à-vis Washington. The Presence of Kushner, Pompeo, secretive Iran talks – smells a rat.
The Bilderbergers are associated and its members are overlapping with those of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), the Trilateral Commission and the London-based Chatham House which makes the rules for the meetings. The meetings – so they say – are informal talks, allowing the participants to freely use the information they receive. But they are not allowed to reveal the identity or the affiliation of the speakers, nor of any participant in the particular talks.
Switzerland, one of the most secretive countries in the world – the world of banking, the world of big finance, safe haven for international corporations which not only get away with low taxes, but also escape standards of ethics they otherwise may have to apply doing business, exploiting natural resources, in developing countries. They are privileged, just by being domiciled in Switzerland. The Helvetic Confederacy is a country run by the fiefs of western money, of the western FED-directed and debt-based pyramid monetary system, a Ponzi scheme that has survived for the last hundred years – led by the Rothschild banking clan an Co. They are closely associated and control the western banking system’s gold bunker, the Bank for International Settlement (BIS) in Basle, also called the central bank of central banks. The BIS is intimately linked to Swiss finance. The BIS, located conveniently close to the German border, has also served as intermediary for the FED to finance Hitler’s war against the Soviet Union.
What better place for the Bilderbergers to concoct – not to say conspire – their vision of the world’s future?
It is no coincidence that Switzerland was spared from the destruction of both WWs. It’s the only OECD country, where laws are made directly by big-finance and big-business, i.e. where parliamentarians are sitting on the Boards of Directors of corporations and financial institutions, while making the laws for the people, a country where basic business and corporate ethics get short-shrifted and are overruled by flagrant conflicts of interest, a country where a white collar interest group makes the laws that suit big capital. Again, what better place for the Bilderbergers to meet?
Switzerland has become the epicenter of neoliberalism over the past 30 years or so – and is ideal for the behind the scene discussions and agreements, visions of New World Order strategies. The first item in this year’s Bilderberg meeting’s agenda is “A Stable Strategic Order”, a euphemism for One World Order or New World Order.
Other official agenda items include “The Future of Capitalism”, “Russia”, “China”, “Weaponizing Social Media”, “BREXIT”, “What’s Next for Europe”; “Ethics of Artificial Intelligence” – and of course, not to be missed in conferences of such importance, “Climate Change”. – Imagine, with such a benign agenda, what will take place behind closed doors?
A photoshopped image imagining how the rich laugh behind our innocent backs. Obama, one of the plutocrats’ most effective shills, surrounded himself (as have other presidents) with Bilderbergers. THis is not about to change as long as capitalism rules the world.
One of the permanent agenda items which is close to Rockefeller’s heart, the current thriving force behind the Bilderbergers, and is being propagated, by his disciple, Henry Kissinger, is the reduction of world population – so that the few on top may live better and longer with the world’s rapidly diminishing resources.
So – what are not agenda items, but might certainly enter the realm of population reduction, are, permanent “wars on terror” – that justify mass killings and the related horrendous, never-spoken about quantities CO2 and other greenhouse gases they emit; 5G (the 5th Generation of deadly radiation) to facilitate our communication, meaning more effective surveillance, imposed artificial intelligence (AI), more efficient digitalization of money – and likely though delayed, but exponentially increasing cancer rates; Bayer-Monsanto’s poisonous GMOs and glyphosate products; artificially planted deadly epidemics, like Ebola; the US Air Force’s High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) for weaponizing climate change, bringing about famine and misery by droughts, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and other climatic calamities – and probably much more.
This is of course, only speculation, being deducted from the Master Goal of the Bilderbergers, i.e. population reduction. But perhaps I’m totally wrong. As everything is secret and most likely nothing of the behind the scene talks and decisions will penetrate into the media, only hear-say and, of course, conspiracy theories, it is well possible that the Bilderbergers are what they propagate to be – a peaceful, dialogue seeking group of people, who is committed to the values of democracy and freedom – and entrepreneurship. And – hear-hear! – “Talking about the future of capitalism does not mean that we consider it to be the only possible system,” as organizer André Kudelski told the Swiss newspaper 24 Heures.
In that he is right. Capitalism is not the only viable system. In fact, it is THE system that is NOT viable, as it spreads injustice, inequality, crime and misery around the globe and, therefore, is certainly not sustainable. Yes, Bilderbergers, start thinking of an alternative, one that brings social justice, inclusion, equal opportunities and spreads wealth more evenly around the globe – one that brings PEACE, so that we all may live well, not wealthy, but well.
This is an article by contributing editor Peter Koenig
Peter Koenig is an economist and geopolitical analyst. He is also a former World Bank staff and worked extensively around the world in the fields of environment and water resources. He lectures at universities in the US, Europe and South America. He writes regularly for Global Research, ICH, RT, Sputnik, PressTV, The 4th Media (China), TeleSUR, The Vineyard of The Saker Blog, and other internet sites. He is the author of Implosion – An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed – fiction based on facts and on 30 years of World Bank experience around the globe. He is also a co-author of The World Order and Revolution! – Essays from the Resistance.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.[/su_box]
U.S. Government Seeks NGO Help For Removing Iran From Syria
US hawks pushing Venezuela to ‘another Vietnam’ ahead of Guaido-Maduro talks
How to Serve Man?
TRADE WAR: AMERICA’S POLICY DILEMMA
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Why men love sex, women love food
A new study has found it's wrong to believe that men think about sex every seven seconds but, of course, they do think of it more than women do, as the latter think more about food than sex.
entertainment Updated: Dec 02, 2011 13:35 IST
A new study has found it's wrong to believe that men think about sex every seven seconds but, of course, they do think of it more than women do, as the latter think more about food than sex, says a new study.
According to psychologists from Ohio University, the oft-repeated seven seconds statistic about men is just a myth, as it would mean men thinking about sex 8,000 times during a waking day, the Daily Express reported.
The study of young adult men and women revealed that men thought about sex on an average 19 times a day. Some of the men, however, recorded 388 sexual thoughts a day.
Men were also found thinking about food 18 times a day and thinking of sleep around 11 times a day.
Whereas women thought about sex 10 times a day, less than the 15 times a day they thought about food. The most any woman thought about sex in the research was 140 times a day.
Researchers said the study revealed how men were more concerned, in general, about their biological needs which included sex, food and sleep.
According to the study, thoughts of food and drink come up a lot more than previously realised and are often a direct result of being hungry or tired.
For the study, 163 women and 120 men students were observed by putting them through a series of written tests followed by a "clicker" to tally their thoughts on food, sex or sleep.
Those who, as per the tests' results, were deemed as most comfortable about their sexuality were the ones who thought about sex the most.
Psychology professor Terri Fisher, leader of the study, said: "Frequency of thinking about sex is related to variables beyond one's biological sex.
The study's results will appear in a future issue of the Journal of Sex Research.
First Published: Dec 02, 2011 13:32 IST
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Move to rename New York’s Harlem sparks outrage over erasing black history
Harlem was home and inspiration to generations of leading African Americans — Malcolm X dubbed it “Seventh Heaven”, while artists such as poet Langston Hughes and singers Harry Belafonte and Ella Fitzgerald lived there.
world Updated: Jun 27, 2017 21:04 IST
Historian Billy Mitchell posing outside the Apollo Theater in the Harlem section of New York in June 2014. (Reuters File)
New York City real estate companies’ attempts to rename New York’s Harlem neighbourhood as SoHa have enraged long-time residents of the historically black enclave, who say the move erases the community’s rich cultural history.
The neighbourhood served as home and inspiration to generations of leading African Americans, including activists WEB Du Bois and Malcolm X, who dubbed it “Seventh Heaven.” Artists such as poet Langston Hughes and singers Harry Belafonte and Ella Fitzgerald also lived there.
The “SoHa” name, echoing the high-priced, largely white Manhattan neighbourhood of SoHo in lower Manhattan, has begun appearing in real estate listings for apartments located between 110th Street and 125th Street, and Realtor Keller Williams boasts a “SoHa Team” of agents on its website.
Keller Williams did not respond to a request for comment.
Harlem’s US Congressman Adriano Espaillat vowed to introduce a House resolution to protect Harlem from being renamed.
“#WeRHarlem! And we refuse to be called by any other name! #NY13 #HarlemStrong,” Espaillat tweeted on Monday. The post accompanied a photograph of the famed Apollo Theater, where Fitzgerald made her singing debut at age 17 on Amateur Night in 1934.
Espaillat said the congressional resolution he plans to introduce this week “supports imposing limitations on the ability to change the name of a neighbourhood based on economic gain.”
“I along with leaders and constituents of this community stand united to vigorously oppose the renaming Harlem in yet another sanctioned gentrification,” he said in an email. “This is an incredibly insulting attempt to disown Harlem’s longtime residents, legacy, and culture.”
Jamie McShane, a spokesman for the Real Estate Board of New York, an industry association, said the group supports existing state regulations, which prohibit real estate brokers from using “a name to describe an area that would be misleading to the public.”
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Christopher Abbott Is a Chilling Hitman in 'Sweet Virginia' Clip (Exclusive Video)
9:18 AM PDT 4/6/2017 by Jackie Strause
The gritty neo-Western thriller premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Christopher Abbott is a drifter who wreaks havoc on a small Alaskan town in The Hollywood Reporter's exclusive clip of Sweet Virginia.
The Girls alum, who made an impression in Josh Mond's drama James White, goes up against Jon Bernthal (The Punisher, The Walking Dead) in this gritty neo-Western, which premieres this month at New York's Tribeca Film Festival.
In the first clip of the film, Abbott's loner Elwood wanders into a closed diner much to the dismay of one of the locals on staff, Mitchell (Jonathan Tucker). When he is told to leave, Elwood threatens, "Do you have a wife that you have to get home to, Mitchell?" and repeatedly asks for the early bird special before storming out.
Written by brothers Ben and Paul China and directed by Jamie M. Dagg (River), the indie thriller is a haunting drama about former rodeo star Sam Rossi (Bernthal), who starts a friendship with the young hitman (Abbott) responsible for a local massacre, unbeknown to Rossi. Every character, from his loved ones to his business patrons, plays a part in the unraveling of this rattled community, forcing the aged hero to face his past and present relationships to come up against the unpredictable predator.
Imogen Poots, Rosemarie DeWitt and Odessa Young also star in the film.
The drama was originally set in Virginia in the late 1970s in the China brothers' Black List script, but Dagg changed the setting to a fictional town in southeast Alaska to better tell the story of a group of morally ambiguous people as they confront life, love and death in a place famous for attracting drifters and misfits.
"It's about resilience, about people who are struggling to escape their past," said Dagg, who grew up in a small town in Canada and was drawn to the script because many of the characters mirrored those from his hometown. "I've witnessed firsthand the frustration that people endure when they feel like they've been left behind. I'm fascinated with how the lack of anonymity in small communities changes the dynamics in how people relate to one another, where everyone is incestuously interwoven into the very fabric of the community, and keeping secrets is difficult."
Sweet Virginia is produced by Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Chris Ferguson, Fernando Loureiro, Roberto Vasconcellos and Rian Cahill.
Jackie Strause
jackie.strause@thr.com jackiedstrause
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Eric Bledsoe (knee) cleared for five-on-five scrimmages
By Vince Miracle
Suns guard Eric Bledsoe has been cleared to participate in five-on-five scrimmages, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
Coro reported that Bledsoe participated in this past Thursday five-on-five scrimmage with the Suns. Bledsoe has been rehabbing his knee after undergoing surgery back in December of 2015 and is looking to enter the 2016-17 season with a clean bill of health. He’s a risky-player to own due to his injury concerns, but when healthy, can be a top 30 asset. In 31 contests last year, Bledsoe averaged 20.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game.
Eric BledsoePhoenix SunsTop Posts
September 17, 2016, 2:09 pm
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Democracy, Delegation, And Distrust
by Adam J. White
Last month, President Trump declared a “national emergency,” attempting to trigger federal statutes that allow him to reallocate funds appropriated by Congress for other military purposes, to fund construction of the Mexican border wall. The president’s effort to expand his power at the expense of Congress’s power is easily explained—after all our constitutional system presumes presidential ambition. But Congress’s relative passivity, when faced with the president’s encroachment upon Congress’s constitutional power of the purse, raises some difficult questions.
After all, the Framers not only expected each of our federal government’s three branches to jealously guard its prerogatives against the others’ encroachments, but they also expected Congress to be the strongest of the three. James Madison’s contributions to The Federalist exemplify these expectations. “In republican government,” Madison wrote, “the legislative authority necessarily predominates.” At its worst, Congress would be “everywhere extending the sphere of its activity, and drawing all power into its impetuous vortex.” At its best, it would resist the “overgrown prerogatives of the other branches of the government.” And in all of this, Congress’s most potent tool would be its exclusive power to appropriate funds—a “power over the purse” that, history suggested to him, would be “the most complete and effectual weapon with which any constitution can arm the immediate representatives of the people.”
At least that was the theory. Two centuries later, Congress’s prestige and effectual power pales in comparison to the President’s, and the President’s fellow partisans in Congress seem more attached to their party than to their institution.
Seeing this, it is not unreasonable to conclude that the decline of our constitutional institutions reflects the rise of political parties. But it would be a mistake to focus exclusively on that explanation—the story of party supremacy—and thus ignore other reasons for Congress’s institutional breakdown. And, as it happens, the recent budget battle highlights another key reason for Congress’s modern breakdown: namely, the deforming effect that previous Congresses’ delegations of power to the executive branch can have on subsequent Congresses.
Congress’s broad delegations of power defy The Federalist’s premises. Our constitutional design was premised upon an understanding that (to quote Madison once again) “ambition must be made to counteract ambition,” and thus that the ambition of congressmen would be a counterweight to the President’s ambition, and vice versa. Yet Congress’s broad delegations of power to the executive branch suggest the reverse: that modern congressmen prefer to facilitate an ambitious President of their own party, not check him. Whether individual congressmen vote to delegate broad powers to the executive due to partisan loyalty, or because congressmen expect to obtain greater political benefit from overseeing the executive than from legislating in detail, the result is a Congress that is everywhere extending the sphere of the executive branch’s activity, rather than its own.
The Supreme Court has long recognized in principle the threat that overbroad delegations of power to the executive power may pose to our constitutional system, to the extent that they effectively transfer “legislative” power to the executive branch. “That Congress cannot delegate legislative power to the President,” the Court observed in 1892, “is a principle universally recognized as vital to the integrity and maintenance of the system of government ordained by the Constitution.”
But in actual practice, this is a principle that the Court has been loath to enforce in practice: only twice has the Court struck down federal statutes for unconstitutionally “delegating” legislative power to the executive branch—and both of those cases occurred in a single year, 1935. Even conservative judges dedicated to preserving the structural Constitution hesitate to enforce the “nondelegation doctrine” in court. The doctrine does not lend itself easily to principled line-drawing by judges because the Constitution itself does not identify the point at which a broad delegation of regulatory power becomes an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power. “Once it is conceded, as it must be, that no statute can be entirely precise,” Justice Scalia observed in 1989, “and that some judgments, even some judgments involving policy considerations, must be left to the officers executing the law and to the judges applying it, the debate over unconstitutional delegation becomes a debate not over a point of principle but over a question of degree.” In other words, Scalia’s generation of conservative originalist judges was wary of overbroad delegations of regulatory power, but it was still warier of judges imposing rules not clearly spelled out in the Constitution itself; and so, as Scalia further explained, judges have “almost never felt qualified to second-guess Congress regarding the permissible degree of policy judgment that can be left to those executing or applying the law.” (His judicial opinion echoed points he had raised years earlier, as a law professor.)
That trend may be turning, if at a glacial pace. Nearly twenty years ago, Justice Thomas called for greater judicial creativity in fashioning a standard that would limit Congress’s delegations of power. He returned to that theme a few years ago, elaborating his view that the Court should strike down more statutes for delegating overbroad powers to the executive branch. Justice Gorsuch has raised similar themes in his own opinions. Scholars such as Philip Hamburger, David Schoenbrod, and Peter Wallison have written books highlighting the delegation problem. George Will recently took it up in his syndicated column. And the program I direct at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, recently convened a day-long academic conference on the subject where several legal scholars’ new academic papers on the Nondelegation Doctrine were discussed/presented.
Many of these critics have characterized Congress’s overbroad delegations of power as being at odds with democratic values. As John Hart Ely, one of the 20th century’s most prominent liberal legal scholars, observed in Democracy and Distrust, Congress’s delegations of power reflect “a propensity not to make politically controversial decisions—to leave them instead to others[.]” In a later book, Ely added that the growth of executive power was less a story of presidential usurpation and more a story of legislative surrender: “Congress (and the courts) ceded the ground without a fight,” and its surrender “was a self-interested one: Accountability is pretty frightening stuff.”
But even these critics of Congress have largely failed to recognize the deeper ramifications of Congress’s last century of delegating power to the executive: namely, that such delegations further undermine future Congresses’ ability to function as a legislative body. And the most recent congressional debates over the border wall exemplify this problem.
From at least early January, when the government shutdown’s political ramifications became painfully evident, members of Congress recognized that President Trump could unilaterally break the legislative stalemate by simply declaring a “national emergency” and unilaterally redirecting funds to the border wall’s construction. Senator Lindsey Graham was among the earliest and strongest advocates for the President’s assertion of emergency powers to build the wall, though other Republican Senators joined him in supporting a presidential declaration of emergency. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was initially more ambivalent, warning President Trump of the political problems that might result from an emergency declaration before eventually pledging to support the President’s action and blaming Democrats for forcing the President’s hand.
Other Republican Senators staked out more skeptical positions, ranging from outright opposition to more nebulous criticisms. But the chain of events from January to February, from the initial suggestions of an emergency declaration to the President’s actual execution of such a strategy, made clear how strong a gravitational pull the federal emergency statutes exerted over the legislative debate: because the President could invoke statutes granting him emergency powers, members of Congress had less incentive to negotiate toward a legislative solution. Thus, the President’s proponents could walk away from negotiations and let President Trump singlehandedly move the wall project forward. And, knowing that the President’s proponents had that tool at their disposal, the President’s opponents had less reason to commit themselves to a negotiated outcome. Neither side in Congress could trust the other to negotiate in good faith so long as the executive-power escape hatch—the legislative process’s “emergency” exit—was available.
The situation was perhaps best captured by Senator Thom Tillis, a critic of the President’s emergency declaration. In early January, upon the first reports of the proposal to declare an emergency, he urged that the better solution would be put “pressure on Congress to come up with a long-term solution.” That is the right metaphor: “pressure.” The availability of unilateral presidential action mitigated the hydraulic forces that might otherwise press members of Congress to compromise on a legislative solution. Regardless of how Senators ultimately vote on the emergency declaration (and how the President responds to that vote), the most important thing to keep in mind is how the very existence of those emergency powers affected Senators’ incentives in the first instance, long before the President actually declared an emergency.
While it is now commonplace for a President to say that if Congress won’t act then he will, this may actually get the causal relationship backwards: unilateral presidential action is not just the result of congressional gridlock. It is also a cause of that gridlock. President Obama liked to say, “if Congress won’t act, I will.” President Trump echoed those statements in January, discussing the possibility of unilateral action with talk show host Sean Hannity: “If we don’t make a deal with Congress, most likely I will do that . . . I can’t imagine why not.” These threats—backed with the power of open-ended statutes, passed by previous Congresses, invoked by modern Presidents—become self-fulfilling prophecies.
A similar dynamic seemed to affect Congress’s deliberations on climate-change policy a decade earlier. In 2009, President Obama called upon the Democratic-controlled House and Senate to enact climate legislation, but he and his energy advisers made clear that the Administration was prepared to pursue a climate agenda unilaterally through regulation if Congress did not enact satisfactory legislation. While the Administration averred that President Obama preferred a legislative solution, the President invested little political capital in any legislative negotiations capable of producing bipartisan consensus, focusing instead on health care legislation while his EPA formulated unilateral restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions. His Administration and its supporters may have hoped that the possibility of unilateral EPA action would spur the House and Senate to reach a legislative compromise, but the opposite inference is just as plausible: namely, that the inevitability of unilateral EPA action actually reduced the incentive for House and Senate Democrats to offer compromise legislation capable of winning Republican support. And congressional Republicans, knowing the Democrats’ incentives, had correspondingly less incentive to go out on a limb, fruitlessly offering compromises for which voters might punish them in the next Republican primary. They had no reason to trust that the legislative process could bear the fruit of legislative compromises on controversial national issues.
If this alternative view of the relationship between regulation and legislation is accurate, then it has major ramifications for the way that we think of the Nondelegation Doctrine. As Justice Scalia observed in Mistretta, conservative judges shy from invoking the Nondelegation Doctrine to strike down statutes broadly delegating regulatory power because they believe that it is better to concede the issue to the legislative process than to assert judicial power on such an indeterminate question. But if Congress’s own gridlock is itself exacerbated by the courts’ hands-off approach, then prudence may counsel in favor of judges asserting the nondelegation doctrine more energetically—at least for long enough to help bring Congress out of its cul-de-sac.
Even Scalia, ever wary of judicial enforcement of the Nondelegation Doctrine, mused once that it might not be such a bad thing if the Court struck down a statute on nondelegation grounds, if only to send a new signal to Congress: “even those who do not relish the prospect of regular judicial enforcement of the unconstitutional delegation doctrine might well support the Court’s making an example of one—just one—of the many enactments that appear to violate the principle. The educational effect on Congress might well be substantial.” By the same token, if a recalibrated Nondelegation Doctrine could spur Congress to become a better, more functional version of itself, then perhaps it could point the way to a future in which a president’s credible threat to act amid congressional inaction no longer is an everyday self-fulfilling prophecy.
Adam J. White is a Hoover Institution research fellow, and an assistant professor of law at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, where he directs the C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State.
Adam J. White
More from Defining Ideas
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by Richard A. Epstein
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John Yoo: Discussing Citizenship Question Alternatives: Yoo On Fox News’ ‘The Ingraham Angle’
interview with John Yoo
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SBE signs agreement to acquire Morgans Hotel
Umesh 9th May 2016
SBE has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Morgans Hotel Group in an all-cash transaction, in a move that will bolster SBE’s position in lifestyle hospitality management, entertainment, food & beverage, and development.
Following the acquisition, SBE will add Morgans’ collection of brands and 13 domestic and international hotel management agreements to its own portfolio, which include SLS, Hyde, and The Redbury hotels, as well as such venues as Katsuya, Cleo, The Bazaar by José Andrés, Hyde Lounge and Umami Burger.
Besides SBE expects to add more five hotel properties by the end of 2016 with the planned opening of SLS Brickell in Miami, Townhouse Hotel in Miami Beach, SLS Park Avenue in New York City, Hyde Hallandale in Florida and a planned hotel in the pipeline for the Mondrian Doha, for 25 hotels by the end of this year.
SBE will also acquire direct ownership of the 194-room Delano Hotel in South Beach, the 878-room Hudson Hotel in New York Cityand the 372-room Clift Hotel in San Francisco.
As part of this deal, SBE is receiving a significant investment from Cain Hoy Enterprises, a global real estate investment company headed by Jonathan Goldstein.
Besides, the Yucaipa Companies will convert its existing stake in Morgans into an ownership interest in SBE.
SBE founder, chairman and CEO Sam Nazarian will retain majority ownership interest in SBE as well as all day-to-day management responsibilities.
Nazarian said: "We have long admired Morgans, its impressive history and culture of service and innovation, so we’re delighted to reach an agreement on this transaction.
"Our strategic vision is to operate these amazing and unique lifestyle properties in key international gateway markets, and Morgans’ hotels, along with their talented team, fit perfectly within that vision."
With the closure of the Morgans acquisition, SBE will have a portfolio of 20 lifestyle hotel properties with more than 6,000 keys in nine attractive markets and more than 90 world-renowned entertainment and food & beverage offerings.
SBE, founded by Nazarian in 2002, is a player in hospitality and real estate industries.
Morgans Hotel Group was founded in 1984 and is operates Delanoin South Beach; Mondrian in Los Angeles, New York, South Beach and London; Hudson in New York; Morgans and Royalton in New York; Clift in San Francisco; Shore Club in South Beach, and Sanderson and St. Martins Lane in London, and has licensed a Delano in Las Vegas and a franchised hotel, 10 Karaköy, in Istanbul, Turkey.
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The Latest: Thousands of North Carolina inmates evacuated
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) - The Latest on Hurricane Florence (all times local):
The North Carolina Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice has evacuated several thousand adult and juvenile offenders and staff from facilities threatened by the effects of Hurricane Florence.
More than 3,000 offenders have been relocated from facilities in the path of Hurricane Florence. Four county jails have also been evacuated with more than 300 offenders housed temporarily in state facilities.
A news release from the division Wednesday said all adult offenders affected by the move will be allowed to make a free phone call to a family member over the weekend.
The division said leaders made the decision earlier in the week to evacuate three juvenile detention centers and relocate inmates to inland facilities within the system. Officials said 26 youth were moved and their families notified.
The news release said all offenders will be moved back to the affected facilities once the storm subsides and it's deemed safe for operations to continue.
Power outages in North Carolina have increased as a weakened and slower Hurricane Florence moves closer to the coast.
The two major electric utilities covering the state -Duke Energy and Dominion- and a consortium of electric cooperatives reported more than 80,000 customers without power as of early Thursday evening. That do
The two major electric utilities covering the state -Duke Energy and Dominion- and a consortium of electric cooperatives reported more than 80,000 customers without power as of early Thursday evening. That doesn't include numbers from dozens of city-operated electricity providers.
Almost two-thirds of the reported outages originated in Carteret County, along the coast about 100 miles (161 kilometers) northeast of Wilmington, North Carolina. There were also several thousand outages each in Craven, Pamlico and Onslow counties.
The numbers are expected to soar as the storm's winds and torrential rains sweep over more land. Duke anticipates 1 million to 3 million of their 4 million customers in the Carolinas will lose power from Florence.
Nort
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper says there are over 12,000 people in 126 shelters as the first effects of Hurricane Florence begin to batter the state.
Cooper spoke at a news conference Thursday afternoon with state emergency management officials. The governor said tens of thousands are without power and roads are beginning to flood along the coast.
The governor said those were "early warnings of the days to come."
Cooper says officials are also in the process of opening more shelters because demand is expected to continue to increase.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam says residents should shelter in place and stay off the roads as Hurricane Florence starts to come ashore in the Carolinas and its effects make their way north.
Northam spoke at a news conference Thursday with emergency management officials. He says parts of Virginia will likely see tropical storm-force winds, flooding and several inches (centimeters) of rain.
Although the forecast for Virginia is less severe than earlier in the week, Northam says "now is not the time to let down our guard."
He notes that forecasts for the weekend show a continued threat to southwest Virginia as the storm is expected to make a gradual northerly turn.
Jeff Stern is the state's coordinator of emergency management. He says there are nearly 400 people in shelters across the state.
A flight-tracking service says airlines have canceled more than 1,500 flights through Saturday.
FlightAware says that was the number as of Thursday evening.
At least 140 flights were canceled Thursday in both Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, although that amounted to only around 8 percent of flights at the sprawling Charlotte airport. Several airports along the coast were virtually shut down.
South Carolina's most popular tourist destination is like a ghost town.
North Myrtle Beach was nearly empty Thursday as the first bands of heavy rain from Hurricane Florence approached.
A few locals briefly walked into the sand but were quickly sandblasted back by stiff winds.
One man tried to skimboard, but gave up after a few minutes as winds from the land cut down the waves. He called the ocean "Lake Myrtle" as he walked back to his car.
There was several hundred feet (meters) of sand between the dunes and ocean as a low tide approached around 5 p.m. Thursday. The sky occasionally spit a drop or two of rain, but the steady rain bands remained to the north.
A police officer sat nearby to talk to anyone who ventured too close to the surf.
The area called the Grand Strand attracts 18 million visitors a year. On Thursday, every restaurant, beachwear shop and mini golf course was closed.
Hurricane Florence is gradually slowing and weakening as its eye nears land.
As of 5 p.m. Thursday, the Category 2 storm was centered about 100 miles (160 kilometers) east-southeast of Wilmington, North Carolina, and about 155 miles (250 kilometers) east of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Its forward movement was 5 mph (7 kph) and top sustained winds stayed at 100 mph (155 kph).
Florence's outer bands of wind and rain began lashing North Carolina on Thursday. Its center will approach the coast later Thursday and make landfall around the North Carolina-South Carolina line.
Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center say the storm will weaken after landfall but also linger, dumping heavy rains for days.
Florence's hurricane-force winds were blowing 80 miles (130 kilometers) from its center, and tropical-storm-force winds reached up to 195 miles (315 kilometers) from the eye.
Ryan Maue of weather-tracking site weathermodels.com says the European climate model is predicting that Florence will dump more than 2 feet (60 centimeters) of rain in parts of North and South Carolina.
Measured another way, the same model predicts 2 trillion to 11 trillion gallons (7.5 trillion to 41 trillion liters) of rain will fall in the Carolinas over the next week.
The National Hurricane Center says Florence could dump 20 to 30 inches (50 to 75 centimeters) of rain, with some places getting as much as 40 inches (1 meter).
Forecasters from the center are predicting a storm surge of 7 to 11 feet (2 to 3 meters) in the area from Cape Fear to Cape Lookout, North Carolina, with some higher amounts possible in the Neuse, Pamlico, Pungo and Bay rivers.
They're estimating a storm surge of 2 to 4 feet (60 centimeters to 1 meter) from Edisto Beach to the South Santee River in South Carolina, and 6 to 9 feet (2 to 3 meters) from Cape Lookout to the Ocracoke Inlet in North Carolina.
Hurricane Florence has become an issue in a North Carolina congressional race.
As 9th District Democratic candidate Dan McCready announced he was suspending his campaign during the storm, The Charlotte Observer reports Republican rival Mark Harris has bought more local cable television ad time on The Weather Channel to run in the coming days.
Harris consultant Jordan Shaw on Thursday called McCready's campaign suspension a "transparent gimmick designed to score political points by taking advantage of a dangerous situation." But Andrew Bates with the liberal-leaning super PAC American Bridge said Harris' decision to buy ads as Florence approached reflected the campaign's "rotten values."
Harris, McCready and Libertarian Jeff Scott are running for the seat currently held by Robert Pittenger, who lost in the GOP primary to Harris.
Airbnb says its hosts will offer free lodging to Hurricane Florence evacuees and emergency relief workers through Oct. 1.
The home-sharing company said in a news release Thursday that more than 400 hosts are participating so far in the cities of Atlanta and Augusta, Georgia; Charlotte and Greensboro, North Carolina; Columbia, Greenville and Spartanburg, South Carolina; and Charlottesville, Virginia.
Airbnb says evacuees or emergency workers can sign into its app and will see a tab directing them to free shelter. They are asked to click a box confirming they have been affected by the storm.
Airbnb says it will also waive its booking fees for those guests.
Airbnb hosts have offered free stays before, starting with Hurricane Sandy in 2012. More than 700 people also hosted evacuees and rescue workers during Hurricane Harvey last year.
As Hurricane Florence begins to batter North Carolina, the state's governor has asked President Donald Trump for another federal disaster declaration beyond what the president declared earlier this week.
Gov. Roy Cooper requested the added disaster declaration Thursday because he anticipates what his office calls "historic major damage" across the state from the hurricane.
Cooper's office says the current emergency declaration is helping state officials prepare for the storm. It says the additional declaration would bring more federal help with debris removal, search and rescue teams, meals and generators, among other items.
Cooper is seeking the new declaration so that federal funds and other assistance can be received as soon as possible.
The approach of Hurricane Florence has given one South Carolina beach community a sort of split personality - businesses closed and boarded up while surfers flock to the beach to take advantage of storm-churned waves.
Molly Reagan strolled in the sand Thursday on Sullivan's Island after leaving her office job early. She said she was one of the only people who showed up for work. Many had heeded evacuation orders that included the island just east of Charleston.
The sky was cloudy and waves crashed along the beach. But Reagan said the weather remained calm and "the only thing crazy here is the amount of people out surfing."
A hurricane watch was in effect for the Charleston area. Reagan said she's not worried: "It's looking like we may get tropical storm conditions. Maybe."
South Carolina officials say more than 400,000 people have evacuated the state's coast and more than 4,000 people have taken refuge in shelters as Hurricane Florence approaches.
State Transportation Department Secretary Christy Hall said Thursday that an estimated 421,000 residents had left the coast.
Acting Department of Social Services Director Joan Meacham says shelters are about 12 percent full with the 4,000 residents. Meacham says the state can house more than 35,000 people if needed. She says 61 shelters have opened thus far, including 12 that are specially outfitted to help people with special medical needs.
Gov. Henry McMaster has ordered the evacuation of most of the state's coastline as the storm approaches.
Officials say Hurricane Florence could bring not only flooding but also landslides to South Carolina.
The National Weather Service is forecasting "significant" river flooding, especially in the northeastern portion of the state. That same area experienced dangerous flooding after Hurricane Matthew in 2016.
Gov. Henry McMaster told reporters Thursday that up to 7 inches (18 centimeters) of rain in the state's northwestern mountains could mean landslides and dangerous conditions.
McMaster has ordered evacuations along much of the state's coast. He warned residents to be prepared to be without electricity "for a long time" in the storm's aftermath.
The outer bands of Hurricane Florence have begun to impact the coast of North Carolina.
Two amphibious Navy ships are on standby to respond and provide disaster relief after Hurricane Florence moves through.
Navy Lt. Jamie Seibel said Thursday that the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge and the amphibious transport ship USS Arlington are the two ships that have been tapped to respond.
Seibel says about 800 Marines from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit are aboard the two ships, which will move directly to where they are needed once the storm passes.
Seibel said the ships already have the resources and supplies they need, including a fleet surgical team, engineers and damage assessment personnel, as well as heavy- and medium-lift helicopters, search-and-rescue aircraft and smaller ship-to-shore landing craft.
National Hurricane Center Director Ken Graham says hurricane-force winds are starting to get really close to shore as Florence slowly nears the Carolinas.
Graham says it may not be until Monday or Tuesday before the system moves away from North Carolina and South Carolina. He says that in the storm's wake will be a lot of rainfall, a lot of river flooding and "a lot of issues."
Television footage Thursday afternoon showed water in a street at knee level due to storm surge in New Bern, North Carolina.
Graham says that because so much water is being pushed ashore by Florence, rivers and inlets that normally flow out to sea will be forced to flow in the opposite direction. Storm surge also could push several miles (kilometers) inland.
Power outages already are creeping up along the North Carolina coast as tropical storm-force winds started sweeping over land.
Electric utilities and cooperatives reported about 12,000 outages statewide as of early Thursday afternoon, with nearly all of them at the coast. Most of the homes and businesses without electricity are in Carteret and Craven counties. Both are north of the eye's projected path and expected to get massive amounts of rain- potentially 20 inches (50 centimeters) or more.
Duke Energy is the largest of the utilities in the Carolinas. The company predicts Carolinas power outages caused by Florence will range from 1 million to 3 million customers. It's got more than 20,000 workers from the Carolinas and other states in place to restore power.
Duke reported few South Carolina outages Thursday afternoon.
The only route off North Carolina's Hatteras Island has closed as Hurricane Florence approaches.
Officials with the state Transportation Department said Thursday afternoon that N.C. Highway 12 was closed in both directions on Hatteras Island, part of the Outer Banks.
The closure means that people who chose to ride out the storm now officially have no way off the island. The two-lane highway is the only route to the mainland other than ferries.
Forecasters say Hurricane Florence won't change much before its eye makes landfall.
As of 2 p.m. Thursday, the Category 2 storm was centered about 110 miles (180 kilometers) east-southeast of Wilmington, North Carolina, and about 165 miles (270 kilometers) east of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Its forward movement was 10 mph (17 kph) and top sustained winds stayed at 105 mph (165 kph).
An emergency management official in one of the most populated areas of coastal North Carolina says winds from the storm have already arrived and other impacts won't be far behind.
New Hanover County Emergency Management Director Steven Still said Thursday that residents who didn't evacuate should expect 60 mph (97 kph) winds by 7 p.m. that would eventually increase to 100 mph (161 kph) or more.
Still says residents "can expect to have that wind to the tune of 100 mph-plus stay on us for considerable period of time."
Still says landfall is expected around 8 a.m. Friday in the Wrightsville Beach area, and he said the area could see 20 to 30 inches (50 to 75 cms) of rain and beaches could get 9 to 10 to feet (about 3m) of storm surge.
Wrightsville Beach Mayor William Blair says evacuations are complete.
The head of Duke Energy Corp.'s North Carolina operations says it could take weeks to restore electricity if the company's prediction that 1 million to 3 million of its 4 million customers lose power due to Hurricane Florence.
Duke Energy executive David Fountain said Thursday that flooding from the slow-moving Florence must recede before crews can start sizing up needed repairs. He says based on the experience with Hurricane Matthew two years ago, it could be days before assessments start and the major electricity provider in the Carolinas can estimate when power can be restored.
Fountain says outages in the worst-hit areas could last for weeks.
He says repair crews will go where they can do the most good and won't prioritize Duke Energy customers over the electric cooperatives and municipal utilities that buy and resell power.
A flight-tracking service says about 1,200 U.S. airline flights scheduled for Thursday or Friday have been canceled, with some airports in the Carolinas essentially shut down.
FlightAware said in its midday report Thursday that the number of canceled flights is relatively small and could increase.
However, the hurricane's effect on the nationwide air-travel system will be less than feared if, as now forecast, Florence veers away from the American Airlines hub airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, and doesn't score a direct hit on Delta Air Lines' massive hub in Atlanta.
Meteorologists are saying Hurricane Florence is going to cause damage that exceeds $10 billion and could reach as much as $50 billion.
Weather Underground meteorology director Jeff Masters said Thursday that rainfall flooding will cause at least $6 billion, storm surge another $3 billion, and wind damage about $1 billion. He says the $10 billion mark is based on Hurricane Matthew a couple years ago, and is just a starting point.
Accuweather founder Joel Myers is estimating $50 billion to $60 billion in damage.
One of South Carolina's major power companies is warning customers to be wary of fallen power lines and other hazards that could come after Hurricane Florence's arrival.
South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. CEO Keller Kissam gave updates to reporters Thursday in a news conference at the company's headquarters in Cayce (KAY-cee).
Kissam says the storm, which is expected to bring torrential rains and sustained winds, could mean that it takes linemen longer to repair any power problems, in part due to concerns for their own safety.
Kissam says SCE&G has been in touch with other power companies in the Southeast that are willing to help with any problems after the storm. Kissam says crews are already in South Carolina from other states, including Mississippi.
SCE&G has more than 700,000 power customers in South Carolina.
The Virginia National Guard says 1,200 personnel are staged and ready to respond as Hurricane Florence approaches.
Guard officials said in a statement Thursday that soldiers, airmen and members of the Virginia Defense Force are staged around the state to support local and state emergency management officials. Potential missions include high water transportation, debris reduction, commodity distribution, shelter management assistance and search and rescue.
Gov. Ralph Northam authorized up to 6,000 personnel for response operations and officials say they have been alerted and are on standby. Additional personnel will be on duty in Richmond and Fort Pickett to provide mission command, logistics, administrative and public information support.
All commercial flights have been canceled at the Myrtle Beach International Airport as Hurricane Florence approaches the South Carolina coast.
Airport spokesman Kirk Lovell said in an email that one flight left early Thursday morning and all other flights have been canceled for Thursday and Friday.
He said 84 flights with 12,248 seats were on the schedule for Thursday, with 80 flights with 11,416 seats scheduled for Friday.
Lovell said the airlines will decide when to resume service after Florence makes landfall. Myrtle Beach is served by 10 airlines.
Hurricane Florence is still the most dangerous of the four tropical storms in the Atlantic.
Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center say Tropical Storm Isaac was speeding into the eastern Caribbean Sea on Thursday after passing between Dominica and Martinique. The poorly organized storm with 45 mph (75 kph) winds was not expected to strengthen.
Helene weakened to a tropical storm while moving north over the open Atlantic. Also over open waters, Subtropical Storm Joyce could transition into a tropical storm over the next couple days.
Forecasters also were watching a tropical disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico.
Gov. Roy Cooper is urging North Carolina residents not to ease up in their preparations for Hurricane Florence, despite southward changes in the storm's forecast and a decrease in its top sustained wind speeds.
Cooper said at a news conference Thursday morning that he's concerned because he's heard some people say North Carolina is "getting a break."
The governor says the state "cannot underestimate this storm." Forecasters are warning that Florence will bring surging ocean water, high winds and days of torrential rain.
Cooper says there are currently about 108 shelters open in North Carolina with more than 7,000 people in them. He says emergency management officials plan to open even more.
Emergency Management Director Mike Sprayberry says an estimated 750 people have packed a megashelter set up at a coliseum in Winston-Salem. Sprayberry says a team is conducting surveys to find other locations for potential megashelters.
Hurricane Florence is slowing down as its outer bands of wind and rain lash North Carolina's barrier islands.
As of 11 a.m., the Category 2 storm was centered about 145 miles (230 kilometers) east-southeast of Wilmington, North Carolina, and about 195 miles (315 kilometers) east of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Its forward movement slowed to 10 mph (17 kph) and top sustained winds dropped slightly to 105 mph (165 kph).
Still, National Hurricane Center Director Ken Graham says there is nothing "minor" about this hurricane. Water causes the most deaths during tropical storms and hurricanes, and Florence is expected to cause dangerous flooding.
Graham said areas that repeatedly get hit even with weaker winds at Florence's edges could see heavy rainfall for hours. Storm surge flooding also could push 2 miles (3 kilometers) or more inland if Florence lingers for days along the coast.
Duke Energy Corp. is shutting down a coastal North Carolina nuclear power plant ahead of Hurricane Florence.
The electricity provider says it began powering down one reactor early Thursday and would start shutting the second reactor later in the day. Florence was projected to reach land Friday near the plant located about five miles from the Atlantic Ocean near Southport.
The Brunswick plant's two reactors share the same design as those in Fukushima, Japan, that exploded and leaked radiation following a 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Federal regulators later required all U.S. nuclear plants be reinforced against earthquakes and flooding.
Duke Energy did not provide information about specific changes made at Brunswick, other than to say emergency generators and pumps will remove stormwater if the plant floods.
The long big slosh has begun.
Meteorologists say the leading edge of Florence has arrived in North Carolina, with tropical storm-force winds carrying drenching bands of rainfall onto some beach communities.
Florence will likely bring days of rain totaling three feet or more, and a storm surge of ocean water that rises to more than 12 feet near the center of the storm.
Gov. Roy Cooper says he knows many people are watching the changing storm predictions and categories, and he's concerned because some are even saying that "North Carolina is getting a break." It's not.
"Please hear my message," he says. "We cannot underestimate this storm."
Cooper is saying: "Don't relax; don't get complacent. Stay on guard. This is a powerful storm that can kill."
Federal emergency officials at a Washington briefing are urging people to treat Hurricane Florence seriously even though its top sustained winds are down to 110 mph (177 kph), which makes it a Category 2 storm.
They say it remains very large and very dangerous, bringing more than 30 inches of rain to the coast and heavy winds that will impact a giant swath of land.
Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long says storm surge warnings have not changed despite the weakening intensity on the wind scale.
He urged people in the coastal Carolinas and living near inland rivers to evacuate now.
"Please heed the warnings," Brock says: "Your time is running out."
The police chief of a barrier island in the bull's-eye of Hurricane Florence is warning any stragglers who refused to evacuate that they are making a dangerous choice.
At a news conference just across the bridge in Wilmington, Wrightsville Beach Police Chief Dan House said a handful of residents on the island have refused evacuation orders. He's telling them they "better go ahead and give me your next of kin" information, because no one will rescue them at the height of the storm.
The police chief says he's not going to put his people in harm's way, especially for people they've already told to evacuate. The latest forecast shows the eye of Florence could pass directly over the barrier island, pushing a huge surge of ocean water.
Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center warn that Florence remains deadly because of its size and slow forward speed, even if its top sustained winds have dropped it to Category 2 status as a hurricane.
Director Ken Graham says there is nothing "minor" about this hurricane. Water causes the most deaths during tropical storms and hurricanes, and Florence expected to cause dangerous flooding.
Graham said areas that repeatedly get hit even with weaker winds at Florence's edges could see heavy rainfall for hours. Storm surge flooding also could push 2 miles or more inland if Florence lingers for days along the coast.
Tornadoes also remain a threat, particularly in areas northeast of the hurricane's eye.
Senior hurricane specialist Stacy Stewart warns that Florence being a slow hurricane could mean three to four hours of battering, beach-eroding winds for some areas.
The outer bands of wind and rain from Hurricane Florence are moving onshore along North Carolina's barrier islands as the massive storm bears down on the Southeastern coastline.
As of 8 a.m., the Category 2 storm was centered about 170 miles (275 kilometers) east-southeast of Wilmington, North Carolina, and about 220 miles (355 kilometers) east-southeast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Its forward movement slowed to 12 mph (19 kph) and top sustained winds stayed at 110 mph (175 kph).
Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami don't expect it to strengthen from a Category 2 hurricane before it moves ashore, but they say the real problem will be water as Florence lingers along the coast through Saturday.
The mayor of Myrtle Beach says her city has done as much as it can to prepare for Hurricane Florence.
Brenda Bethune told NBC's "Today" show Thursday morning that public safety crews have been checking to make sure businesses are secure, and looking for anything that could become a projectile as the winds come ashore.
But the mayor says she knows many people are ignoring evacuation orders. She hopes they'll stay inside once the winds, rain and floods arrive.
She says people often want to get outside and take pictures. Bad idea, she says because emergency crews won't be able to reach them in the storm.
The Coast Guard says port operations in Charleston, South Carolina, have been stopped as Hurricane Florence approaches the coast.
The Coast Guard said in a news release that the decision to stop port operations at 8 p.m. Wednesday comes because gale force winds of up to 54 mph (87 kph) were possible within 24 hours.
The Coast Guard said ocean-going vessels were told to prepare to leave. Those heading to Charleston were told to find another destination.
The Coast Guard warned pleasure boaters to find safe harbors and noted that drawbridges might not operate once winds reach 25 mph (40 kph).
The National Hurricane Center says the outer rain bands of Hurricane Florence are approaching the coast of North Carolina.
Early Thursday the Category 2 was about 205 miles (325 kilometers) east southeast of Wilmington, North Carolina, and about 250 miles (405 kilometers) east southeast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The gradually slowing but still life-threatening storm is moving northwest at 15 mph (24 kph). Little change in strength is expected before the center reaches the coast. Weakening is expected after the center moves inland.
The Miami-based center says the center of Florence will approach the coasts of North and South Carolina later today. It then will move near or over the coast of southern North Carolina and eastern South Carolina in the hurricane warning area later Thursday and Friday.
Follow AP's complete hurricane coverage at https://apnews.com/tag/Hurricanes
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June 20, 2017 4:31AM EDT
UN Rights Council Should Create Independent Investigation into Kasai Violence
Interactive Dialogue on the Democratic Republic of Congo
June 28, 2017 Video
HRC35: Interactive Dialogue on the Democratic Republic of the Congo - Ida Sawyer
Ida Sawyer's statement on behalf of Human Rights Watch at the 35th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, on June 20, 2017.
Thank you Mr. President,
I wish to tell you a story about a 5-year-old girl who we’ll call “Marie” who lives in Kasai Central province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. On March 29, Marie was playing outside with her sister when they heard gunshots. Marie’s mother quickly told them to go inside and hide under the bed. After the gunshots stopped, they came out from under the bed.
Still from a video posted on the internet on February 17, 2017 showing men in Congolese army uniforms fatally shooting at least 13 alleged militia members.
Marie described what happened next: “Mama was sitting on her chair, feeding the baby, when we heard people knock down the door. [Soldiers] entered the house and [...] shot Mama. She cried out, and one of the soldiers insulted her, saying she was ‘trash.’ The bullet hit Mama in the chest, and the same bullet hit the baby she was holding in her arms. I started to shout and cry. My older sister tried to hide under the table, but they shot her too. Then I ran out of the house. But while I was fleeing, they shot me in the stomach.” Marie survived, but her mother and two siblings all died that day.
This is one of the many tragic stories our colleagues and Congolese partners have documented in the Kasais. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of people have been killed since last August. Human rights teams have uncovered at least 42 mass graves, most of which are believed to be the work of the Congolese military. Some 1.3 million people have been displaced - more than anywhere else in the world during the same period. More than 600 schools have been attacked or destroyed, and more than 1.5 million children affected.
Members of the Congolese security forces have been directly responsible for numerous rights abuses. The Congolese government has a long record of meddling in politically sensitive court cases, and the justice system has so far failed to conduct credible investigations into alleged crimes.
How much longer will the Human Rights Council remain indifferent to this worsening situation?
The Congolese government has failed to meet its obligations to investigate the alleged abuses in the Kasais. The Council should urgently create and deploy an independent international investigation – a commission of inquiry or similar mechanism – to help ensure justice. If the Congolese government has nothing to hide, it shouldn’t object to such an investigation.
Marie and the other victims of violence in the Kasais depend on it.
UN Climate Resolution Emphasizes Protection of Disability Rights
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Charles A. Birnbaum, Contributor
President & CEO, The Cultural Landscape Foundation
Is Chicago about to ruin Jackson Park?
Courtesy The Cultural Landscape Foundation, photo © Steven Vance.
Jackson Park, Chicago, IL, 2017.
If you’re looking for a good example of poorly integrated site planning, look at what Chicago is and isn’t doing at historic Jackson Park. The city has already lopped off more than 20 acres of the park for the Obama Presidential Center (OPC), there’s a proposal to consolidate (and privatize) two golf courses, and road closures and re-alignments are also being planned, along with other changes.
This isn’t just any public open space; this is historic parkland originally designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., and Calvert Vaux (of New York’s Central Park fame). In fact, Jackson Park, the Midway Plaisance, and Washington Park – the South Park System – together comprise the only Olmsted & Vaux-designed park system outside of New York State. Moreover, all three parks are listed in the National Register of Historic Places – Jackson and the Midway in 1972, and Washington in 2004.
Chicago Park District.
Olmsted & Vaux 1871 South Park Plan. Washington Park (L), the Midway Plaisance (C) Jackson Park (R).
The OPC, originally sold to the public as a presidential library to be administered by the National Archives, a federal entity, will instead be a private facility occupying confiscated public parkland. And now the OPC’s proponents want more public parkland, up to five acres of the neighboring Midway Plaisance, for an above-ground parking garage.
Obama Foundation.
Proposed Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park (R) and parking garage in the Midway Plaisance (top, L)
So how could this happen? [a] There’s no overarching comprehensive plan or vision for Jackson Park (not to mention the South Park System as a whole); and [b], the public review processes involved are complicated, which gives cover to the City of Chicago, OPC proponents, golf course consolidation proponents, and others. Consequently, all of the proposed projects are being looked at in isolation rather than as interdependent. To understand why that’s a problem, a quick historic overview is necessary.
Olmsted and Vaux designed the park system in 1871 on flat land Olmsted deemed “extremely bleak.” The site’s characteristic level topography was ultimately leveraged in the park’s design to provide sweeping views to what Olmsted considered the park’s most important attribute, Lake Michigan. Some two decades later, Jackson Park was chosen for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Olmsted, working with his associate Henry Codman and architects Daniel Burnham and John Welborn Root, designed the setting of the vaunted White City, a showcase of Beaux-Arts classicism whose formality was artfully juxtaposed with the rugged shorelines of naturalistic lagoons and islands. It was a massive success; nearly four-dozen nations were represented at the exposition and it attracted more than 25 million people (for context, the U.S. population was then approximately 63 million).
TCLF Files.
World’s Columbian Exposition site post-fire, Jackson Park, Chicago, IL, January 1894.
After the exposition closed, a series of fires ravaged the site, beginning in January 1894, leaving a landscape strewn with charred remains. After the remaining crippled structures were demolished, only five exhibition buildings were left standing. In 1895, Olmsted turned his attention to the site for a third time, resulting in a comprehensive plan that would heal Jackson Park. He and his firm, Olmsted, Olmsted & Eliot, proposed that “many of the features characteristic of the landscape design of the World's Fair” would be retained while providing “all of the recreative facilities which the modern park should include for refined and enlightened recreation and exercise." The 1895 plan occupies a special place in the history of landscape architecture as perhaps the nation’s earliest large-scale brownfield-remediation project.
During the twentieth century, particularly from the post-War years to the 1980s, deferred maintenance and a lack of comprehensive planning led to the park’s decline. Instead there were piecemeal projects, such as the widening of Cornell Drive and other intriguing chapters, notably the installation of a NIKE missile site in the park’s lawn tennis area, 1956-71.
Importantly, in 1972, just six years after the creation of the National Register of Historic Places, Jackson Park and the Midway Plaisance were listed in the Register. However, the National Register’s 1972 statement of significance, a single typewritten page, needs to be updated to more completely reflect the totality of the park’s unique and unrivaled history (for context, the 2004 National Register designation for Washington Park is 61 pages in length). In 1995 the Chicago Park District (CPD) began the process for such an update, but it is unclear why the resulting 21-page historical assessment, found buried in the appendix to a 2013 study, was never advanced.
Similar such research also underpins other important planning efforts over the past two decades and all of it should be daylit to inform the current reviews of the OPC. For example, during the city’s park renaissance under Mayor Richard M. Daley (who served five terms, 1989-2011), the CPD authorized the South Lakefront Framework Plan, which covered Jackson and Washington Parks and the South Shore Cultural Center. Undertaken in 1999, this comprehensive and holistic plan to renew the park was the first in more than a century. According to CPD’s website: “The framework plan’s purpose was to define the changing needs of these parks, to provide a plan to enhance each of the park’s commitments to serving the neighboring communities and to preserve the intended historic character.”
The 1999 Plan has laudatory “overall objectives” and “guiding principles,” but most importantly, it identifies historic context as the key to managing change at Jackson Park:
Historic Context is an important consideration as one looks at upgrading present conditions and weighing future improvements. The original Olmsted design has served the park well over time and should not be compromised by future plans (emphasis added).
The 1999 Plan was never completed, though its website was amended to reflect the city’s position that the OPC is an inevitable addition.
Project 120 website homepage.
Separately, after commissioning a study by the Army Corps of Engineers, the CPD entered into an ambitious and innovative partnership with the not-for-profit Project 120, which embarked on a “historically based and integrated project of preservation and habitat restoration” in Jackson Park. After Jackson Park was selected as the site for the OPC, the multi-million-dollar federal-and-state-funded Project 120 suddenly went dormant in October 2016.
The OPC is currently the subject of reviews under the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) and the National Historic Preservation Act, specifically Section 106 of the latter. The Section 106 compliance review will identify and assess the adverse effects posed by the OPC, and it will rely on The Secretary of the Interior’s Guidelines for the Treatment of Cultural Landscapes in that assessment. The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) is an official consulting party to the Section 106 process and has submitted a detailed examination of the proposals for Jackson Park (which can be downloaded here), including the 21-page updated history for the park, as previously noted.
Model of the Obama Presidential Center showing the proposed 220-foot-tall tower.
Finally, the OPC’s proponents claim the project respects Olmsted’s original vision. That’s not true, and we know that because Olmsted said so. The 1895 plan to heal the park included treatment of the landscape surrounding the Museum of Science and Industry to highlight that building’s architecture. Here, Olmsted was unmistakably explicit, stating that the Museum was meant to be the only “dominating object of interest” in the park:
All other buildings and structures to be within the park boundaries are to be placed and planned exclusively with a view to advancing the ruling purpose of the park. They are to be auxiliary to and subordinate to the scenery of the park (emphasis added).
–Olmsted letter to South Park Board president Joseph Donnersberger, May 7, 1894
Courtesy The Cultural Landscape Foundation, photo © Abbie Lydon.
The Midway Plaisance, Chicago, IL, 2015.
Less than a decade after Olmsted’s death, Chicago began to take shape around another plan that eventually achieved a kind of legendary status. Daniel Burnham’s famous 1909 Plan of Chicago has been called “one of the most noted documents in the history of city planning.” That makes it all the more remarkable—and truly sad—that so much of what Frederick Law Olmsted achieved in Chicago might now be lost because of a lack of value for historic context and comprehensive planning—and all while invoking his name.
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Sponsored by: Culture Foundry
By Joanne Lu 30 June 2017
Ahead of the G20 summit of world leaders next week in Hamburg, Germany, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) announced that only one country deserves to be on its tax haven blacklist: Trinidad and Tobago. Tax reform advocates have condemned this as a farce
By Tom Murphy 30 June 2017
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley declared victory after member nations agreed to a $600 million cut from the annual peacekeeping budget. Neglected in her Twitter declaration is that the cuts had already been planned, prior to Trump’s election. The UN peacekeeping budget declined from $7.87 billion to $7.3 billion with the U.S. contributing a smaller percentage as compared to last year.
The World Bank has launched a global insurance fund aimed aimed at speeding up the international community’s response to pandemic disease outbreaks. The impetus for the innovative financial scheme was the 2013-2016 West Ebola outbreak that, due in part to the global community’s slow response, killed more than 11,000 people and ended up costing more than $10 billion to put down.
By Reuters 29 June 2017
South Sudan government won’t allow aid workers into rebel-held areas
South Sudan’s government says it may withhold permission for aid workers to go to some rebel-held areas on security grounds, the president’s spokesman said on Thursday, after the U.N. complained aid convoys were being blocked.
Highest inequality in decades underpins Hong Kong protests
Hong Kong will soon mark 20 years since Britain returned the former colony to China and Chinese state media is touting the milestone by promoting the city’s greater prosperity under its “one country, two systems” strategy. But few Hong Kongers are feeling very prosperous or celebratory given that recent data has revealed the wealth gap is now the widest it’s been since the city began tracking income equality 46 years ago.
Corporations secretly lobbying UN to allow tax avoidance in its anti-poverty agenda
Multinational corporations are lobbying the U.N. behind closed doors to keep tax avoidance off the list of targets in the Sustainable Development Goals, say advocates of global tax reform. Many experts cite tax avoidance by corporations and wealthy individuals as a major driver of inequality and poverty worldwide. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), established by international consensus as a series of goals for reducing poverty and inequity, included reducing tax avoidance and evasion.
GOP probe of Hillary Clinton fuels attack on Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus
Republican attempts to indict Hillary Clinton did not end with the election and ongoing inquiries now put a Bangladeshi Nobel Peace Prize winner squarely in the crosshairs. Muhammad Yunus, and anti-poverty advocate of microfinance, is under political attack at home that is now fueled by the GOP.
Funding fails to keep pace with record number of people in need of aid
Humanitarian needs are growing worldwide and international donors are not keeping up. So far, only one-quarter of the money requested for 2017 is available to respond to crises ranging from Syrian refugees to the more than 20 million people at risk of famine. More money is needed due to deteriorating conditions in conflict regions and the recent rapid growth of violence in the Kasai province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
By Lisa Nikolau 19 June 2017
UN urges Caribbean nations to see benefits from surge in refugees
The United Nations is urging countries around the Caribbean to view the recent surge in refugees, from near and far, as a long-term benefit and not just a short-term challenge. More than 5,000 people came to various Caribbean nations last year seeking asylum, representing a 257 percent increase in the number of asylum seekers between mid-2015 and mid-2016 for the region.
Philippine civilians caught in crossfire between ISIS-backed rebels and government
As the battle continues between Islamic State-affiliated militants and the Philippine military in the southern city of Marawi, humanitarian agencies are scrambling to care for the hundreds of thousands of evacuees who have fled the devastation. An estimated 300 to 500 civilians remain trapped in the city, held hostage as ‘human shields’ for the rebels.
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History admin 2019-05-15T14:59:08+00:00
Theodore (Ted) Margellos began his career at the age of 21 as a wheat trader with Continental Grain in Paris. Seven years later, after having traded wheat and oilseeds in the various offices of Continental Grain in Rome, Saint-Louis, New York and Geneva, he decided to start his own company, Hellenic Grain Co., which became the largest single Greek exporter of all agricultural and industrial products in less than four years.
One of the most successful investments of the multilateral development bank
Ted, who had developed a thorough knowledge of grain trading with the former Soviet Union, foresaw as early as 1988, that the Soviet republics were aiming at economic independence from Moscow. By the end of 1989, he had established an office in Kiev (Ukraine was the largest grain producer in the Soviet Union), anticipating that it would, once again, become a grain exporter (at that time and since 1973, the Soviet Union had been a net grain importer). ILTA Trade Finance and ILTA Holding were created to incorporate all investments and businesses.
In 1994, Ted re-focused his company from pure commodity trading to a fully integrated agribusiness operation under the name “Oleina”. The financing was provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (“EBRD”), making it one of the most successful investments of the multilateral development bank. Oleina, a US$ 5 million investment, was sold at a valuation of US$ 220 million. The sale of Oleina was finalized in 2005.
ILTA Grain Inc was established in British Columbia, Canada, to develop the origination and export of pulses.
ILTA Grain Inc was sold to a US private equity fund at a value of over three times the initial investment and ILTA Agribusiness DMCC was incorporated in Dubai and operations began in Ukraine and Russia.
ILTA Origination LLC was incorporated in Kiev, Ukraine and ILTA Alimentare SpA was incorporated in Milano, Italy.
A new processing and packaging plant started production in Venice and the brand AMÍO was launched.
OLEINA
The success story of “Oleina” is based on the exemplary implementation of a carefully crafted plan to exploit a unique opportunity. By these means “Oleina” turned a US$ 5 million investment in 1995 into exit proceeds of US$ 220 million ten years later.
ILTA established an office in Kiev, Ukraine, in 1989 on the basis of a belief in both the impending implosion of the Soviet Union and the increase in grain production that would make Ukraine a major world exporter again. Once the trading operation in Ukraine was established, it was Ted’s strategy to develop it into an integrated agribusiness company.
DOEP, a sunflower crushing plant in Dnipropetrovsk, was identified as the best crushing plant in the former Soviet Union. In 1995, Ted acquired 67% of the plant, competing against major multinational companies . A refining and bottling plant was added with financing from the EBRD, and the “Oleina” brand was created. A thorough marketing plan was observed in order to develop its market penetration in the whole of the former Soviet Union from Odessa to St-Petersburg and from Moscow to Vladivostok. By 2000, Oleina was a market leader in the vegetable oil market in Russia and Ukraine and only second to the world’s most famous soft drink in terms of brand awareness.
By 2000, Oleina was a market leader in the vegetable oil market in Russia and Ukraine…
The achievement of the “Oleina” project was remarkable as it was implemented in a very hostile environment, in the absence of existing financing or distribution channels, and against the backdrop of 70 years of communist mentality. The company was successfully sold to Eridania Beghin-Say, a major multinational agribusiness group, which later sold its entire oilseeds division to Bunge, one of the few globally integrated agribusiness trading companies.
ILTA GRAIN INC
Ilta Grain Inc was established in British Columbia, Canada, in the spring of 2011.
The company specializes in buying pulses from farmers, processing them through four processing plants in the Saskatchewan region, and exporting them around the world.
ILTA Grain Inc developed organically: at first an experienced team, who also became shareholders; the acquisition of hard assets (processing plants); and the necessary investments in order to achieve first class quality standards.
In February 2014, the company was sold to a US private equity fund, realizing a return of over three times on the initial investment.
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Mr. Nelson I. ObineAdministrator
Strategy Integration
New Business Development
M Sc, Sustainable Development Practices, specializing in Economic Sustainability at the Centre for Sustainable Development, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
B Sc, Accountancy, Adekunle Ajasin University, Nigeria
Nelson Obine, has held managerial positions for about two decades in the private sector interacting with government agencies and leading businesses. He pioneered the accounting and administrative unit of Friends of the Global Fund Africa, a Pan African NGO that advocates for The Global Fund to fight TB, HIV/AIDS and Malaria based in Geneva, Switzerland. And played leading roles while at UAC Restaurants (Mr. Biggs Franchise), Business and Economy Watch Magazine and the Glo People Police Marathon, Abuja 2009 Edition
Mr. Obine pilots the popular CSR/Sustainability Column of Business/Economy Watch Magazines with several articles to his credit. He earned the ‘Excellence Award 2015’ in management consulting category honoured by the Nigerian Top Executives Group.
He is an alumni of the Metropolitan School of Business & management, United Kingdom and holds an M Sc in Sustainable Development Practices, specializing in Economic Sustainability at the Centre for Sustainable Development, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accountancy from Adekunle Ajasin University, Diploma Certificates in Sustainability, Human Resources Management, Workplace Safety & Policy both from studies at ALISON Arena. He is a member of the America Communication Association and the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators.
He is currently serving as a Consultant with the International Network for Corporate Social Responsibility (IN-CSR)
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Home Entertainment Barbados names pop star Rihanna as Ambassador
Barbados names pop star Rihanna as Ambassador
(E!News image)
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) — The Barbados government has appointed international pop icon, Robyn Rihanna Fenty, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, with specific responsibility for promoting education, tourism and investment for the island.
Prime Minister Mia Mottley said the government was honoured to be able to confer the title on the outstanding Barbadian singer who has contributed significantly to raising the island’s profile across the world.
“Rihanna has a deep love for this country and this is reflected in her philanthropy, especially in the areas of health and education. She also shows her patriotism in the way she gives back to this country and continues to treasure the island as her home.
“She has also demonstrated, beyond her success as a pop icon, significant creative acumen and shrewdness in business. It is therefore fitting that we engage and empower her to play a more definitive role as we work to transform Barbados,” Mottley said, noting that her charitable contributions, both locally and internationally, have also been significant.
Rihanna was appointed as one of Barbados’ Cultural Ambassadors in 2008, undertaking promotional work on behalf of the ministry with responsibility for tourism. However, this expanded role takes into consideration her multidimensional achievements and global influence across a much broader range of areas.
In accepting her new duties, Rihanna said that she was ready to play her part in creating a new Barbados.
“I couldn’t be more proud to take on such a prestigious title in my home country. Every Barbadian is going to have to play their role in this current effort, and I’m ready and excited to take on the responsibility. I look forward to working with Prime Minister Mottley and her team to re-imagine Barbados,” she stated.
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De Vlaamse vrijheidslievende politieke metablog. The Flemish freedom-loving political metablog.
En u dacht dat een vlak taks van 25% een revolutie was?
Laurence M. Vance bespreekt op de blog van het von Mises Instituut het boek Flat Tax Revolution geschreven door Steve Forbes. Alhoewel Vance wellicht nog radikaler is dan Forbes, moeten we in Europa wel beseffen dat indien de USA deze vlaktaks van 17% met genereuse vrijstellingen adopteert, dit t.o.v. Europa een geweldig competitief voordeel zal uitmaken terwijl (Oude) Europa juist het tegenovergstelde probeert te doen. De vlaktaks is infeite geen vlaktaks maar een zeer progressieve (inkomsten) taks met een maximum van 17%. Wij zitten hier aan 50% en dan is men verwonderd dat er niet meer gewerkt wordt.
Lees verder de originele bespreking (in het Engels)...
In his new book, Flat Tax Revolution (Regnery, 2005), which is subtitled Using a Postcard to Abolish the IRS, Steve Forbes pulls no punches when describing the federal income tax code:
- A monster of a system.
- Abominably, appallingly confusing.
- A multi-headed hydra of countless brackets, deductions, and exemptions.
- Our horrifically heavy, appallingly complex, corruption-inducing tax code.
Forbes, of course, is the overseer of the Forbes publishing empire. He also sits on the board of the National Taxpayers Union. As a Republican presidential candidate in 1996 and 2000, he campaigned on a platform of medical savings accounts, a new Social Security system, school choice, term limits, a strong national defense, and a flat tax — the subject of his new book.
In addition to his accurate description of the horrific US tax code, Forbes also correctly points out the huge costs of complying with the tax code. Compliance costs in terms of time have skyrocketed from an average of 17 hours and 7 minutes fifteen years ago to 28 hours and 30 minutes today. Lost productivity is in the billions of hours. The cost in dollars is now about $200 billion.
The US tax code — with its "nine million word mountain of verbiage" — is so complex and "littered with impenetrable passages" that a fictional tax return given by Money magazine to forty-five tax preparers resulted in forty-five different calculations of the correct amount of tax due. This is not surprising since IRS employees (Forbes says that there are 97,440 of them) don't even give the same answers to tax questions. Forbes mentions a 2003 Treasury Department study which found that callers to the IRS toll-free help lines "gave the wrong answers to tax-related questions more than 25 percent of the time."
[Nota: België met 25 keer minder inwoners heeft hiervoor 30 000 ambtenaren die er stilaan ook niet meer in slagen de aanslag correct te berekenen. In dit opzicht is de USA nog efficiënt bezig !]
Forbes also reminds us that our tax code kills jobs by penalizing people for "productive activities," "punishes savings by taxing dividends," and breeds corruption by "encouraging the crassest, crudest political conduct." The estate tax "destroys capital." Tax increases exacerbated the Great Depression. High tax rates discourage investment, hamper economic growth, and "make it extremely difficult for most Americans to amass vital savings for college, retirement, or the starting of a business." Forbes also shows that the distortion of the health care system is due to the tax code creating "a disconnect between health care providers and consumers."
Forbes did not become the overseer of a publishing empire by just pointing out problems and not recommending solutions. In exchange for the current system, he calls for "a new tax system that is simple, honest, and fair" — a flat tax of 17 percent "with generous exemptions for adults and children" that can be filed on a twelve-line, postcard-sized form. Corporations too would have a similar plan, and have their profits taxed at the same rate.
The flat tax idea is not new to Steve Forbes. He mentions how the first proposal for a flat tax was made in Milton Friedman's Capitalism and Freedom in 1962. This should come as no surprise to those familiar with Friedman's statist proposals as outlined by Murray Rothbard in his classic 1971 essay, "Milton Friedman Unraveled." The "prime movers" behind the flat tax are acknowledged by Forbes to have been Hoover Institution economists Robert Hall and Alvin Rabushka, who authored The Flat Tax back in 1985 (2nd ed. 1995).
Flax Tax Revolution, with a foreword by that great champion of limited government, Newt Gingrich, contains glowing endorsements from a diverse lot: Donald Trump, Sean Hannity, Neil Cavuto, Lawrence Kudlow, and former congressmen Joe Scarborough and Jack Kemp. But is the Forbes plan a solution to the horrendous, convoluted, wealth-destroying federal income tax code?
There is no question that many people will have a lower tax bill and a shorter and simpler tax form to fill out under the Forbes flat tax plan. In this respect we can say that the Forbes plan is a solution if the problem is how we can shorten and simplify the tax code and at the same time allow people to keep more of their money so they will feel better about paying their taxes.
But as we shall presently see, there is another winner under the flat tax: the US federal government — a bloated, corrupt, monstrosity that now spends almost $3 trillion a year while redistributing the wealth of its citizens, enriching federal contractors and other special interests, and maintaining an empire around the globe. Is shortening and simplifying the federal tax code the solution or does it mask the problem? Will it perpetuate the federal leviathan or result in more liberty and less government?
Unlike other recent books that recommend a replacement for our current federal income tax system, like The FairTax Book, by Neil Boortz and John Linder, Flat Tax Revolution is well-written, and is not condescending to the reader. After a brief introduction, Forbes begins with the "nightmare on main street" that is the federal income tax code. Chapter two chronicles the "birth of the tax beast" — the attempts by the US government to establish an income tax, which finally came to pass permanently in 1913, and a brief account of how it has increased since then.
The next chapter shows how the "complexity and confusion of the current code corrupts our behavior and values and is ruining the quality of life for us as individuals and as a society." Chapter four presents the details of the Forbes flat tax plan. Because he believes that "the flat tax is the only way to bring back sanity and put an end to the clutter, confusion, and distortions of the current system,"
Forbes then spends a whole chapter on why he believes a flat tax is better than a national retail sales tax. He grasps what advocates of a national sales tax have never been able to understand: "Before a sales tax is put in place, we must first repeal the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which allows Washington to impose the income tax. Otherwise we will end up with the situation that exists in most states — and indeed in most other countries — and that is both an income tax and a sales tax."
Chapter six examines the "success" that other nations are having with a flat tax. The seventh chapter is an attempt to answer objections to a flat tax. Here Forbes discusses the effects of the flat tax on charitable giving, job creation, the poor, tax-free bonds, employee benefits, and deductions for interest and taxes. The last chapter and the six appendixes contain some useful information. So much for the book, what about the plan?
Under our current income tax system, there are six tax brackets ranging from 10 to 35 percent and, as Forbes rightly says, "an avalanche of different personal exemptions and deductions." Under Forbes's proposed flat tax scheme, there would be "a single-rate federal income tax and corporate tax of 17 percent." There would no longer be any taxes on capital gains, Social Security benefits, interest earned, or dividends received.
Additionally, the estate tax and the Alternative Minimum tax would be done away with. Individuals would have "generous exemptions for adults and children" such as deductions of $13,200 for adults and $4,000 for dependents. Single mothers fare even better. They receive an exemption of $17,160 instead of the normal $13,200. Corporations could expense all investments — no more depreciation schedules (at least for tax purposes, accounting is another matter) — and would only be taxed on what they made in the United States.
As expected, Forbes believes that the adoption of his flat tax will
- Make us more prosperous.
- Invigorate the economy.
- Make us more competitive overseas.
- Give rise to a strong, innovative, and dynamic economy.
"The flat tax will free America," he says, "It will liberate us, as individuals and as a society, from the tyranny of the federal tax code." That may be true, but it should be noted that because it is only a replacement for the federal income tax, the flat tax will not eliminate Social Security taxes, Medicare taxes, or federal excise taxes. And neither will it have any effect on state and local taxes. But to his credit, Forbes does not make any grandiose claims for the flat tax like we read about a national sales tax in publications like The FairTax Book.
If many people will have a lower tax bill and a shorter and simpler tax form to fill out under the Forbes flat tax plan then what problems could there possibly be the plan?
Problem #1: the flat tax is not a flat tax. It is a highly progressive tax that shifts the tax burden to the "rich" — the middle class and upper middle class that earn wages and salaries. Forbes obviously has no problem with a progressive tax; indeed, he proudly proclaims the progressive nature of his flat tax: "Those who complain that the flat tax isn't progressive are mistaken. Just look at the effective tax rates in the Flat Tax Rate Table."
Forbes says that under his plan "there would be one rate — 17 percent — after generous exemptions for adults and children." In another place he says that a key feature of the flat tax is "generous and refundable exemptions for adults and children." The significant words here are "after" and "refundable." The 17 percent tax is not applied until the "generous exemptions" are deducted from the taxpayers' income. This means not only that no one will actually pay 17 percent (everyone will in fact pay less than 17 percent unless he makes over about $5 million), but that people will pay different rates (just the opposite of what a flat tax is supposed to be).
Furthermore, the Forbes flat tax would enable "a family of four to pay no federal income tax on its first $46,165 of income." A family of six "would owe no income tax until its earnings exceeded $65,930." This is because not only does the Forbes plan include deductions for each adult and child in a family, it also includes a tax credit of $1,000 per child "as under the current system." This credit is refundable: "If the child tax credit exceeds federal taxes owed, the family can receive a refund." A refund of what? Why, a refund of other taxpayers' money. This is a welfare scheme, pure and simple. It is incredible that Forbes retains what he admits is a "complex relic of today's code."
In actuality, the flat tax has tax brackets just like the current system. There is the single bracket, the single mother bracket, and a series of married with children brackets. If you want an example of a real flat tax then look at the Medicare tax. The rate is 2.9 percent for everyone no matter how much or how little they make. What Forbes calls the flat tax may be a lower tax and a simpler tax than the system we have now, but it is not a flat tax.
Problem #2: the flat tax eliminates some key and longstanding tax deductions. If there is one theme that resonates throughout the book it is how unfair deductions, credits, shelters, and loopholes are. Most every one of these would be eliminated under the Forbes flat tax plan, as well as "the possibility of setting up complicated tax-avoidance schemes." Because when you mess with a man's home and his church you are asking for trouble, the mortgage interest deduction and the charitable giving deduction are two deductions that are of particular concern to some taxpayers. Both of these would be eliminated under the flat tax.
Naturally, Forbes assures us that any loss of benefit would be offset by additional benefits gained under the flat tax. And besides, the mortgage interest deduction "results in a disproportional benefit for taxpayers earning more than $100,000." On the corporate level, there will no longer be deductions for fringe benefits or interest payments.
Forbes says to "think of it this way: Washington politicians take one dollar from your pocket — and then return fifty cents in various tax deductions. Wouldn't it be better if they taxed you only that fifty cents in the first place?" No, it would be better if they taxed you only forty cents, thirty cents, twenty cents, or ten cents in the first place.
Not mentioned by Forbes is an important deduction for small business owners that would disappear under the flat tax: the deduction for one-half of self-employment tax paid. All small business owners, including those who own the smallest of home-based businesses, are currently entitled to this deduction because it helps to offset the self-employment tax paid on their profits. Currently, employers and employees each pay half of the 15.3 percent that is taken by the feds for Social Security and Medicare taxes. Self-employed individuals have to pay the full amount, hence the deduction for one-half of self-employment taxes paid.
Deductions, exemptions, credits, shelters, and loopholes all accomplish the same thing; albeit in different ways: they allow people to keep more of their money. But instead of arguing that people gain when they get to keep more of their money, Forbes maintains that the government looses: "Since 1993, the government has lost $85 billion in tax payments because of abusive tax shelters — money that could have been returned to you, the people." This statement also shows what Forbes believes should happen to the money that the government looses — it should be transferred to "the people." But what is wrong with letting the rightful owner of the money keep it in the first place?
But is Forbes really against tax deductions and credits? Well, first of all, we have already seen that his flat tax includes "generous exemptions for adults and children." Secondly, he criticizes the current system for phasing out some deductions and exemptions beyond a certain level of income. And third, the Forbes plan includes — are you ready — that fraudulent welfare tax credit scheme known as the Earned Income Tax Credit. Forbes even acknowledges that "there are people who receive the EITC but should not. An estimated $6.5 billion to $10 billion in EITC payments each year may be improper. That's about one-fourth of the dollars spent on the program." He claims that the EITC is "a back-door way of effectively refunding" the Social Security and Medicare taxes paid by "low-income families with children." Why is Forbes so concerned about "low-income families" paying half of their Social Security and Medicare taxes but not at all concerned about the self-employed small business owner who struggles with the whole amount?
Problem #3: the flat tax retains the withholding tax. Forbes modestly claims that his flat tax proposal "is a first, major step towards a total overhaul of the entire American tax system." But the Forbes plan is no "first, major step"; short of doing away with a tax on income altogether, it is the most drastic overhaul of the income tax system that has ever been devised. Yet, the flat tax contains no provision for the elimination of the withholding tax. Forbes recognizes that "most Americans don't realize how far the politicians reach into our pockets." He believes that "the politicians have anesthetized us to the scale of their tax larceny."
And he even specifically informs his readers what is wrong with the withholding tax:
The problem with withholding is that it reduces the discomfort of paying income tax by spreading payments out over the course of a year. Americans end up feeling a sting instead of a painful bite. Withholding made collection easier: But it also made Americans less acutely aware of the impact of taxes on their financial well-being — allowing the system to grow more easily and become less accountable. And, like income taxes themselves, withholding was supposed to be a temporary wartime measure!
So why is there no mention of the withholding tax in the chapter that outlines "how the Forbes flat tax will free America"? True, it doesn't state that the withholding tax will be retained. But since all the bad things in the current system that will be eliminated are mentioned in this chapter, I take Forbes's silence on the matter as consent. But what about "The Steve Forbes Flax Tax Form" found on page 73 of the book — there is no line for "income tax withheld" like we see on our current tax forms? The form in question is obviously just an example of how simple a form we would need under a flat tax plan that eliminated most credits and deductions. Since there is no space on this form for a taxpayer's name and address it obviously cannot be taken as an example of a "real-world" flat tax form. The "real-world" tax form that a smiling Steve Forbes holds in his hand in the picture on the book's cover reads differently than the form on page 73.
The withholding tax makes it possible for the government to silently steal the wealth from its citizens with little or no outrage about the loss. A flat tax that reduces the taxpayer's discomfort by masking how much tax is being paid while at the same time simplifying the filing process will eliminate both the sting and the bite of paying taxes.
Problem #4: the flat tax is still an income tax. As mentioned previously, Forbes calls for "a new tax system that is simple, honest, and fair." But what is so fair about a tax on income? And what is so fair about the government confiscating 17 percent of our income, even after "generous exemptions for adults and children." Ignoring for the sake of argument the fact that all taxation is theft, the least harmful and "fairest tax" would be a head tax (an equal tax) low enough for "low-income families" to pay. What is fair about requiring the "rich" to pay more just because they can afford?
In his chapter on the history of the income tax, Forbes criticizes the income tax the whole way through: "In 1909, President William Howard Taft's successful enactment of a corporate income tax laid the groundwork for acceptance of the idea of a personal income tax — allowing the beast to rise again." But if an income tax is so bad then why advocate one — like the flat tax? Yes, the tax rates would be lower under a flat tax than they are under the current system, but the rates were much lower back then without a flat tax.
The reason we "need" an income tax is because of the federal government's insatiable desire for money. Such was always not the case, as Forbes himself says: "Between 1817 and the start of the Civil War in 1861, the federal government operated successfully without having to levy any new internal taxes." Before the advent of the income tax, as Forbes again says, "The biggest source of tax revenue was tariffs on imported goods. There were also levies on a variety of items, including whiskey." The problem is clearly the size of the federal government.
The "best" tax system from the standpoint of liberty, and not from the standpoint of what the government says it needs, would be one that interferes the least with the free market. The ideal amount of taxes collected would then, of course, be zero. Therefore, the best type of tax reform is one that has for its goal the lowering of the amount of taxes collected. "The flat-tax movement, as explained by Murray Rothbard, "is part of a process by which the government and its allies have been able to split and deflect the tax protest movement from trying to lower the taxes of everyone, into trying to force everyone into paying some arbitrarily defined "fair share."
Problem #5: the flat tax increases government revenue. Proponents of other plans to change the US tax system usually talk about how their tax will be revenue neutral. Forbes does them one better:
The flat tax is a reform of our federal income tax system. It does not affect, for example, state and local taxes. But, contrary to what some may fear, it will generate increased government revenue.
A flat tax enacted in 2005 would, four years from now, produce $11 billion more for the government than the current system.
The flat tax will create some $6 trillion in new assets and $892 billion in additional payroll tax receipts.
From 2005 to 2015 the flat tax would generate $56 billion more in net government income tax revenue than the current tax code.
But how will cutting everyone's taxes increase government tax revenue? Although he doesn't mention it, Forbes is relying on the old Laffer Curve argument that there exists an optimum point on a curve that corresponds to a tax rate percentage that maximizes government revenue so we can in some cases lower the tax rates and still "get more tax money from the rich." Forbes has a paragraph heading on page 71 that reads: "The Numbers Show: The Flat Tax Will Create Wealth and Government Revenue." But what could possibly destroy wealth more than government revenue? Where does Forbes think government revenue comes from? Why would we want to maximize the government's tax revenue? And even if it were true that the flat tax would raise more revenue, what makes this government worthy of almost $3 trillion dollars a year for its spending orgy? Spending cuts and deficit reduction be damned — the flat tax allows members of Congress to maintain their obscene spending orgy and cut taxes at the same time. The masses get to enjoy their tax cut and their government subsidies — for a while. But after taxes inch back up and more deductions and credits are added, Congress can reform the tax system again by lowering rates and closing loopholes.
Forbes wants the government to have its revenue and spend it too. And what will the government do with all this extra revenue it receives under a flat tax? Forbes tells us that his flat tax plan will result in "more government revenue and dollars to fund programs like Social Security and Medicare" and will "give rise to a strong, innovative, and dynamic economy that will help us wage a successful war against Islamic terrorism." In other words: the flat tax will help perpetuate the welfare/warfare state.
Real tax reform
Forbes is a typical Republican. Reagan is praised as a great tax cutter, but no mention is made of the Social Security tax rate increasing from 10.16 percent when he took office to 12.12 percent when he left, or the Medicare tax rate increasing from 2.1 percent when he took office to 2.9 percent when he left. And what about Reagan's record spending and deficits?[1] Forbes also praises Reagan for "a massive military buildup" while he criticizes Carter for "gutting the military." The most laughable statements in the book are about President Bush. He is said to be "a genuine tax-cutter" who "is fully committed to a major overhaul of the tax code." The truth, however, is that Bush has presided over an increase in spending that Lyndon Johnson and his Democratic congresses only dreamed about.
Let it not be said that I am too quick to criticize a proposed solution to a problem without offering a solution of my own. For starters, why not cut federal spending in half and at the same time cut federal income tax rates by an appropriate amount? Too drastic? How about an incremental approach: Cut spending by 10 percent each year and cut tax each year to match it. It doesn't matter what kind of tax system we have, if the rates are lowered enough then it will result in economic growth, but not necessarily increased revenue for the government.
You want a flat tax? Okay, but if we are going to have a flat tax then why make it 17 percent? In discussing the results of the flat tax in Russia (which also has a VAT of 20 percent), Forbes tells us that although his "proposal has a rate of 17 percent," Russian president Putin "instituted a 13 percent rate." Then he remarks: "I never thought the day would come when a former communist and KGB agent such as Vladimir Putin would be more radical on taxes than I."
Given Forbes's free market and limited government rhetoric, I never thought so either. How about a rate of 10 percent? In his Introduction, when trying to show how the flat tax idea has been around for decades, Forbes says that some view the flat tax "as a descendant of the 'tithe' which exacted 10 percent off the fruits of men's labor in biblical times." This is nonsense, of course, since the tithe went to the Lord's work and the flat tax goes to the government's work.[2] But why not make the flat tax 10 percent? Should government get more than God?
The invectives hurled at the federal tax code and the tax collection system are misplaced. The real problem is the very existence of the federal leviathan that feeds off tax dollars. A tax plan that perpetuates the welfare state and pays for the warfare state is not the solution. I would appeal to Forbes to consider not only something he said about taxes early in the first chapter of his book — "first and foremost, we pay too much" — but also that the reason we pay too much is that the federal leviathan devours too much. As Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) so succinctly says: "The real issue is total spending by government, not tax reform."
Laurence M. Vance is a freelance writer and an adjunct instructor in accounting and economics at Pensacola Junior College in Pensacola, FL. See his Mises.org archive. Send him mail. Comment on the blog.
[1] Must reading on the Reagan record is Robert P. Murphy, "Bread, Circuses, Tax Cuts, and Debt"; and Murray N. Rothbard, "Ronald Reagan: An Autopsy."
[2] The perceptive religious reader of Forbes's book will also note that his remark that "The Holy Bible has 773,000 words" is likewise nonsense — it has 788,258 words.
posted by Eric Verhulst @ 19:52 0 comments
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Value of 2005 Euro (Ireland) today
The inflation rate in Ireland between 2005 and today has been 14.79%, which translates into a total increase of €14.79. This means that 100 euro in 2005 are equivalent to 114.79 euro in 2019. In other words, the purchasing power of €100 in 2005 equals €114.79 today. The average annual inflation rate has been 0.92%.
1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Inflation timeline in Ireland (2005-2019)
CPI 2005 87.81
CPI today* 100.8
In this case, the CPI in 2005 was 87.81 and the CPI today is 100.8. Therefore,
100.77/87.81
Ireland inflation - Conversion table
€100,000 euro in 2005 €114,789.3 euro today
All available years - euro (Ireland):
1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018
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ScienceClimate CrisisShareSubscribe
The Sea Has a 'Skin' We Can Use to Fight Climate Change
It's all about how fast carbon dioxide is moving.
By Kastalia Medrano
Filed Under Donald Trump & Oceans
The President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, has many climate watchers nervous. This is, after all, the man who proclaims the idea of global warming to be a scam perpetuated by the Chinese — the same China that might likely overtake us as a leader in climate change efforts — and may even kill the hard-fought Paris climate change deal.
But in a potential bright moment, there’s hope. Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor just concluded a month-long voyage to better understand global warming patterns via study of a little-discussed indicator: the sea-surface microlayer, which they sampled from 17 different locations off the Australian coast and around the southwestern Pacific.
You’ve never noticed this layer for the simple reason that it’s less than a tenth of a millimeter thick, about the same thickness as a single strand of human hair, protecting the ocean the way, well, skin does. This “skin” develops at the surface of the ocean (as well as on lakes and ponds) where organic compounds come into contact with the atmosphere. It affects how quickly gasses can exchange between the atmosphere and the ocean. Since calculating the speed at which carbon dioxide exchanges is a critical component of atmospheric models, the resulting data here should help scientists model the future climate with increased accuracy.
“Why would that matter?” asked William Landing, one of the project’s head scientists, to Inverse by phone. “Because carbon dioxide, which we’re dumping into the atmosphere at a huge rate, a third of that is going into the ocean. If we want to predict the future climate, we have to know really as best we can how fast carbon dioxide is moving.”
The Falkor, looking rather majestic as it does what it can to save us from ourselves.
As organic compounds accumulate in the layer, the rate of carbon dioxide exchange between air and sea slows down. So if the sea is calm, the surface will have a nice, well-developed microlayer; when the sea is rough and windy, the layer will break down. Satellites, which are used to track weather and climate in a myriad of ways, can monitor phytoplankton activity and the development of the microlayer — and maybe even changes in the rate of gas exchange.
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“Linking the phytoplankton productivity with gas exchange rates via organic compounds in the microlayer — it hasn’t been done yet, but that’s the goal,” Landing said. “It would be a huge step forward. One satellite tells us how windy and rough the surface is, another tells us where the phytoplankton are. We use satellites already to do this, but there’s a step that’s missing, and this is how the microlayer affects it — that’s a major effect here, that when the layer is well developed the gas exchange is slower.”
Falkor has been doing excellent work on a series of projects already this year. Now that the microlayer project has wrapped up, the ship will head toward the Mariana Back-Arc to facilitate a new team’s study a trio of hydrothermal vents, a mission that could help us better grasp how bacteria survive in extremely hostile environments — knowledge that can be extrapolated onto our search for alien life.
Media via Schmidt Ocean Institute
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Archive of the Month 01 Sep 18
Pamphlet Series ‘S’ – Pamphlets Concerning Catholic Relief and Related Issues Including the National Education Bill, c. 1822–1861
By Susan Hood
Among the treasured collections of the RCB Library are several bound series of 19th–century pamphlets, many categorised under broad subject headings including education, finance, legal, synodical, the Irish Church Act, revision (of liturgical matters) as well as a number of miscellaneous topics.
RCB Library Church Pamphlet Series 'S' - Cover
Additionally, thanks to the generosity of supporters to our Conservation Fund, the Library has been enabled to have repaired, conserved and bound for the first time a small collection of miscellaneous pamphlets, circulars and other notices concerning Catholic Relief and related issues including the National Education Bill, c. 1822–1861, that may be of particular interest to historians of that period as well as the general public.
RCB Library Church Pamphlet Series 'S' interior binding
Some of these are rare items, which were probably printed in relatively small quantities, and not readily available in other Irish libraries. Their provenance as a stand–alone collection would appear to have been connected with the Archbishop of Armagh, as some items are addressed simply ‘To His Grace the Lord Primate’ either at ‘The Palace, Armagh’ or in London, between 1822 and 1861. The dates match almost exactly the episcopacy of the Most Revd Lord John George de la Poer Beresford (1773–1862) who served as Archbishop of Armagh between 1822 and his death in 1862, and so we may assume that he was the principal recipient.
RCB Library Pamphlet Series 'S' - Item 3 'Correspondence addressed to 'His Grace the Lord Primate' and 'His Grace Ap of Armagh'
RCB Library Church Pamphlet Series 'S' - Item 18 'The Petition of the Archbiship and Clergy...
Indeed in one instance (being item 18: the petition of the archbishop and clergy of the diocese of Armagh concerning national education, dated 1836) the copy has been annotated with amendments in red ink – perhaps in Beresford’s hand, or at his direction. Similar copies were likely circulated to his episcopal colleagues as the Emancipation debate and related issues unfolded during this period.
The original arrangement of this formerly unbound collection is revealed by a typescript list see this link which indicates how the materials were first arranged when transferred to the RCB Library (probably in the 1950s) as ‘Pamphlet Series S’. Two of the items on this list were subsequently transferred to the Library’s manuscript collection (item 1 as Ms 351 and item 12 and Ms 206).
Of particular interest may be the handwritten laws of the Society for the Protection and Support of Roman Catholic Priests Who are Anxious to Leave the Communion of the Church of Rome, which are annexed to the printed notice containing the prospectus and laws as submitted by its committee to His Grace the Lord Primate of All Ireland’, 7 November 1836.
RCB Library Church Pamphlet Series 'S' - Item 19 'Laws of the Society'
A previous Archive of the Month presented ‘A list of Persons who renounced the errors of Romanism in St Audoen’s Church [Dublin] and who afterwards subscribed the roll of converts’, 1827–47, relative to the Reformed Romanist Priests’ Protection Society (founded in the 1840s under the auspices of the Earl of Roden) may be connected with this earlier Society and of further interest. What is significant here is that the pamphlet in question includes the laws of the Society in 1836.
Turning to the ‘Pamphlet Series S’ collection as a whole, for the purposes of re–binding the collection in 2018, a simple chronological sequence has been initiated, with four undated items appearing at the end, followed finally by the earlier RCB Library typescript list. The sequence is as follows:–
RCB Library Pamphlet Series 'S' - Item 1 'Printed Resolutions Unanimously Adopted...'
1. Printed resolutions unanimously adopted at a meeting of the Catholics of the city and parish of Armagh …held in the Catholic schoolhouse of Armagh’, chaired by Henry Campbell PP, concerning the ‘depressed condition of the Catholic people’. Printed by James Pooler, Printer, Armagh, 3 October 1824.
2. Pastoral Address of the R.C. Archbishops and Bishops to the Clergy and Laity of Their Communion Throughout Ireland. Richard Coyne, Dublin, 1826.
3. Extract of a Letter to a Roman Catholic Who Accused the Writer of Illiberality and Prejudice. Annotated ‘Letter from a Protestant who was accused of illiberality to a R. Catholic, post–marked August 1826.
4. Subscriptions For the Relief of Conformed Roman Catholic Clergymen Received by Messrs. Drummond, Bankers, Charing Cross. Includes list of the committee, 11 July 1827.
5. A Copy of the Preface to a Work on the Apocalypse, published by Rivingtons in 1828, and dedicated (by permission) to the Lord Bishop of Salisbury, by the Revd Geo. Croly. [1828].
6. A Letter to King George the Fourth [being an uncut offprint of the circulated letter against the Duke of Wellington’s policy on Catholic Relief]. Printed by J. King, College Hill, London, 1828.
RCB Library Pamphlet Series 'S' - Item 6 'Letter to King George the Fourth'
7. Another printed letter ‘To the King’s Most Excellent Majesty’ from the Brunswick Club of Ireland [1828].
8. 1828 Reprint of: An Account of the Establishment of the Commissioners For the Relief of Poor Converts From the Church of Rome, 1717–1718.
9. Report of the Speech by Mr Sergeant Lefroy at the Second General Meeting of the Brunswick Constitutional Club of Ireland Held in the Rotunda on Thursday 19th February 1829. Printed by order of the Brunswick Constitutional Club of Ireland by J.O. Bonsall, 20 Grafton Street, 1829.
10. Speech of the Right Honorable William Saurin Delivered at the Rotunda on Thursday 19th February 1829 Being the Second General Meeting of the Brunswick Constitutional Club of Ireland. Printed by order of the club by George Walker, Dublin, 1829. [Bears postmark 24 March 1829].
11. An Answer to the Rev. Dr Inman’s Speech on Roman Catholic Emancipation by the Rev. W.H. Neale. Printed by G. Moxton, Queen Street, Portsea, February 1829. [Bears postmark 21 March 1829].
RCB Library Pamphlet Series 'S' - Item 11 'An Answer to the Rev Dr Inman'
RCB Library Pamphlet Series 'S' - Item 16 'Proceedings of the Meeting of the Protestant Colonization Society of Ireland'
12. Speech of Charles Lord Tenterden, Lord Chief Justice of England Against the Second Reading of the Roman Catholic Relief Bill in the House of Lords, April 4, 1829. Printed [with handwritten annotation ‘at the desire of the Bishop of Salisbury’] by J. Hatchard and Son, London, 1829.
13. G. S. Faber on the Catholic Question, printed broadsheet with handwritten annotations, addressed to ‘His Grace The Lord Archbishop of Armagh, London, and postmarked 16 April 1829. Signed and dated in print by ‘George Stanley Faber, Long Newton Rectory, Feb. 16, 1829’.
14. Securities Without Protection or Hints to Protestants, Upon an Outline of an Intended Bill For the Removal of Roman Catholic Disabilities. By a Layman. New Edition. Printed by W. Marchant, Ingham Court, Fenchurch Street, London, 1829.
15. Reasons and Authorities, and Facts Afforded by the History of the Irish Society, Respecting the Duty of Employing the Irish Language as a More General Medium for Conveying Scriptural Instruction to the Native Peasantry of Ireland by Henry Jos. Monck Mason, Secretary to the Irish Society. Printed by M. Goodwin, 29 Denmark Street, Dublin,1829.
16. Printed proceedings of the meeting of the Protestant Colonization Society of Ireland, chaired by Colonel Conolly, held at the Society’s Apartments, 15 Dame–street [Dublin] on Friday, the 18th Day of December 1829. [Postmarked 21 December 1829 and addressed to ‘His Grace, the Lord Archbishop of Armagh, Palace, Armagh’]
17. Modern Popery Unmasked. A Letter Addressed to the Protestants of Great Britain and Ireland, More Particularly the Protestant Yeomanry … . By a Protestant. Printed by C.F. Cock, 12 Fleet Street, London, 1835.
18. Petition of the Archbishop and Undersigned Clergy of the Diocese of Armagh [concerning national education, 1836]. As this is a printed preview copy, signatories are not recorded, but the item has been annotated with amendments in red ink – perhaps in Archbishop Beresford’s hand, or at his direction).
19. Printed notice containing the prospectus and laws of the Society for the Protection and Support of Roman Catholic Priests Who are Anxious to Leave the Communion of the Church of Rome, with handwritten ‘Laws of the Society’ submitted by its committee to His Grace the Lord Primate of All Ireland’, 7 November 1836.
RCB Library Pamphlet Series 'S' - Item 19 'Printed Notice Containing the Propspectus and Laws of the Society for the Protection and Support of Roman Catholic Priests'
20. Appeal to British Christians for Raising a Special Fund for the Spiritual Exigencies of Ireland, containing list of committee members and details of subscribers. [1847].
21. ‘Church Defence Fund Against Romanism’. Printed circular with handwritten annotation ‘Private’, 1853.
22. Third Annual Statement of the Society For Protecting the Rights of Conscience in Ireland. Printed by Richard D. Webb, Great Brunswick Street, Dublin, 1854. [The President of this Society was the Archbishop of Dublin].
23. Occasional paper no. 17 of the Society For Protecting the Rights of Conscience in Ireland and its Belgravia Auxiliary Association, laying before the public extracts from the correspondence of a local clergyman at ‘Derrygimla Parsonage, Clifden, 30 September 1861.
Undated Items:
1. Broadsheet entitled ‘Please to Stop and Read! Simple Questions to Rational Men’
concerning the Mass and transubstantiation.
2. A Form For the Admission of Members of the Church of Rome into the Communion of the Church of England, composed by Archbishop Tenison, by order of Queen Anne, 1714 (19th–century reprint).
3. Respectful Petition to the House of Lords, from the Clergymen of the Diocese of Derry [Concerning endowment of the College of Maynooth].
4. Broadsheet entitled ‘A Form of Receiving Converts From the Church of Rome’.
Further information about the Library’s Conservation Fund which enabled this project is available at this link where donations are always welcome.
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What we believe APCK
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Our Faith APCK The Eucharist
APCK Leaflet 4 - The Eucharist
1. What does the word ‘Eucharist’ mean?
The word ‘Eucharist’ comes from a Greek word meaning thanksgiving. This sacrament is called the Eucharist because it is the Church’s sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. It is also called the Lord’s Supper or the Holy Communion because it is the meal of fellowship which unites us to Christ and to the whole Church. (Revised Catechism, 50)
2. What does the Church of Ireland teach about this sacrament?
In the sacrament of the Eucharist, by Christ’s command, we make continual remembrance of him: we remember his passion and death, we celebrate his resurrection and ascension, and we look for the coming of his kingdom. In doing this we give thanks for the benefits of his sacrifice conveyed to us in the sacrament. In receiving his body and blood, we are strengthened in our union with Christ and his Church, we receive the forgiveness of our sins and we are nourished for eternal life. (Revised Catechism, 54)
3. How does the Church of Ireland celebrate the Eucharist?
The Church of Ireland continues to use an order of service derived from the ancient common practice of the Christian Church. This liturgy is divided into two parts: the ministry of the word and the ministry of the sacrament. In the ministry of the word, passages from the Bible (Old Testament, Epistles and Gospels) are read, and may be followed by a sermon. The congregation affirms its faith using the words of the Nicene Creed, followed by intercession (prayers of the Church), confession of sin and absolution. The ministry of the sacrament is centred on the words and actions of Jesus at the Last Supper when he took the bread and wine, gave thanks over them, broke the bread and shared the bread and wine with all of his disciples. In the Eucharist, these same words and actions are repeated in response to the command of Jesus: ‘Do this in remembrance of me’ .
4. How does the Church of Ireland understand Christ’s presence in the sacrament?
The Church of Ireland teaches that a sacrament has two parts: an outward and visible sign and an inward and spiritual grace. The outward and visible sign in Holy Communion is bread and wine. The inward and spiritual grace is the body and blood of Christ received in faith, that is the life of the risen Christ. (Revised Catechism, 53)
The Church of Ireland teaches that there is no change in the physical properties of the bread and wine. However, there is a change in the significance they have for worshippers. Through them the life of the risen and glorified Christ is communicated and received by faith. Thus, following consecration, they are considered as Christ’s sacramental body and blood.
It is the glorified Lord himself whom the community of the faithful encounters in the eucharistic celebration through the preaching of the word, in the fellowship of the Lord’s supper, in the heart of the believer, and, in a sacramental way, through the gifts of his body and blood, already given on the cross for their salvation.
(ARCIC, The Final Report, p.21)
5. Does the Church of Ireland teach that the Eucharist is a sacrifice?
The Church of Ireland believes that the Eucharist is a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to God in which we remember and show forth the sacrifice of Christ, made once for all, on the cross, and receive the benefits of that sacrifice. In response to this we show our thanks by offering our souls and bodies to be a living sacrifice. (Romans 12: 1)
6. Does the Church of Ireland permit members of other Christian Churches to receive communion in the Church of Ireland?
Communicant members of other Christian churches may receive Holy Communion in the Church of Ireland. This reflects the spirit of the Lambeth Conference resolution, affirmed by the General Synod in 1969: ‘Christians duly baptised in the name of the Holy Trinity and qualified to receive Holy Communion in their own churches may be welcomed at the Lord’s table in the Anglican Communion.’ (The Lambeth Conference 1968, Resolutions and Reports, p.2)
The above information copyright
©2002 APCK
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Jake Alston
Contact Jake Alston
I qualified as a solicitor in 2000 and work within the specialist Ministry of Defence (MoD) team. I represent serving and ex-service personnel who have been injured in the course of their duties due to negligence of the MOD.
I deal primarily with non-freezing cold injury cases, but also represent soldiers with various orthopaedic injuries. In most cases, these injuries have led to a medical discharge and compensation can be substantial where there is a loss of service career. Unfortunately, many are discharged due to these injuries and lose their careers.
My aim is to support my clients through the stages of the litigation process and to achieve the best possible financial outcome for them.
What Inspired You To Get Into Law?
The intellectual challenges combined with the ability to make a difference for somebody injured through no fault of their own.
What Is The Most Rewarding Aspect Of Your Role?
Helping to put people’s life back on track and in as good a position as possible after a major change in their lives.
What Do You Like About Working At Irwin Mitchell?
I am proud to be part of a team who can offer an exceptional service to their clients through expertise and with wide-ranging resources where necessary.
What Do You Do Away From The Office?
I am usually chasing my daughters. They keep me young, or so I like to think.
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La salud global es un asunto de seguridad
Jainaba Catherine Kargbo , Student at ISGlobal-UB Master of Global Health
Global Health is a Security Issue
Should Global Health be Considered a Security Issue?
Is the gradual securitization of most health issues a positive or a negative development for effective global health governance? The outstanding words in this question are “securitization” and “effective”. Thus, the question in simpler English is: will the labelling of health as a security issue be a good thing? The answer to this question is both “No” and “Yes”, according to various scholars.
A consequence of declaring an issue to be a threat to security is the fact that it creates a feeling of insecurity
No, in the sense that since the interest is on the outcome of the process, securitization itself is found to have negative consequences. For instance, according to Didier Bigo, a consequence of declaring an issue to be a threat to security is the fact that it creates a feeling of insecurity. In his writings on migration, he argues that securitization creates unease and uncertainty among migrants – that is, securitizing migration gives politicians power to restrict freedom of movement. Migrants are perceived as religious fanatics in France, revolutionaries and deviants in Germany, and as rioters with no respect for decent social behaviour in the United Kingdom. He further argues that this results into a migrant not only becoming public enemy for breaking the law, but also a private enemy for mocking the politician’s will.
On the other hand, once an issue is securitized, “it takes on increased significance and importance; we will be more inclined to devote part of our limited resources to our own protection against this perceived threat. As a result, actions, albeit only declaratory, will often be taken”. This is the case in Asia since the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2003. It can be seen in Table below that, aside from Cambodia and Malaysia, government spending on health increased in Asia between 2003 and 2006.
Table: Health care spending in Asia in 2003 and 2006
GNI (PPP $)
Government health expenditure as % of total spending
Per capita Government spending on health (PPP $)
Source: Based on data from the World Health Organization.
Notes: GNI = Gross National Income, PPP = Purchasing Power Parity.
Prior to the SARS crisis, the Chinese government spent relatively little on public health; just 1% of all government spending was directed to the sector in 2003, the lowest percentage for any Asian state, which is no wonder China was overwhelmed by the SARS epidemic.
Furthermore, it is true that some health issues can be addressed within national borders but some infectious diseases can overwhelm state capacity like the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014 and the SARS epidemic in Asia in 2003. In some cases, the way that states address the public health issue creates panic among the citizens. For instance, in Liberia, during the Ebola outbreak, the state-imposed interventions included cremation of bodies and the enforcement of quarantine measures for asymptomatic individuals. While this was done to contain the outbreak, it actually elicited unintended stigma and fear because military forces were used to enforce quarantine and the call for cremation was not adequately managed by the state such that those who could afford it paid for their dead ones to be buried “while the poor were forced either to keep the body at home or to wait for the Burial Team and send the body to the Crematorium”.
Some health problems, in particular infectious disease outbreaks, are a threat to human security because they can result in too many deaths and/or inflict too much damage worldwide
Acknowledging the fact that securitization of some issues may pose negative consequences like the case of migrants, I would rather see health issues get the needed attention they deserve. Hence, in conclusion, in light of the above, I think the gradual securitization of health issues is a positive development for effective global health governance. Some health problems, in particular infectious disease outbreaks, are a threat to human security because they can result in too many deaths and/or inflict too much damage worldwide. Hence, such issues need to be securitized to give them the needed attention, especially since health is not only a human right, but a scarce resource that needs to be protected and is worth fighting for.
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What does it mean to be Catholic?
A Catholic is someone who belongs to the Catholic Church. The word “catholic” means “universal.” The Catholic Church is the Church in which Christians of every nation of the world are united in professing a single Faith, celebrating the same Sacraments, and striving to live the same moral life.
All Catholics live “in communion” (that is, in unity of faith and life) with the pope. The current pope is Pope Francis, formerly Jorge Bergoglio, elected in 2013. Union with the pope is the surest and simplest indication that someone is a Catholic.
The Church is also “universal” through time – Catholics today have the same Faith, Sacraments and moral principles as our predecessors have had since the time of the Apostles.
What does a Catholic believe?
A Catholic believes many things, but all Catholic doctrine is based on two central convictions:
First, we believe that God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into this world to be our Redeemer and Savior. This belief we have in common with all traditional Christians.
Second, we believe that Jesus Christ did not leave us with only a message when He rose from the dead and returned to the right hand of the Father. He founded a Church, in which He is present and at work until the last day when He comes again. This is the distinctive belief of Catholics.
Why would someone believe that second part?
If you believe the first point above (that God sent His Son to the world), it makes sense to believe the second (that the Son gave the world a Church). The two are very closely related!
The invisible, eternal, immortal Father made Himself available to the world through an actual Person who could be seen and heard and known: the Lord Jesus.
And Jesus Christ chose to remain available in the world through a visible Church, which can be known and seen and heard.
The Father was not content to send us only a message; He wanted to be really with us in the Person of His Son. The Son did not want to leave us with only a message; He wanted to remain with us in the Church (which we call His "Mystical Body") and in the Sacraments (in which He is truly present and at work).
Why the Catholic Church?
We believe that the Catholic Church is that visible church founded by Jesus Christ because of the historical record.
When Jesus was on earth with His Apostles, He said to Simon Peter: "You are Peter, and on this Rock I will build my Church; and the gates of hell will not prevail against it." In this and many other places in the New Testament, it is clear that Peter is chief of the Apostles.
To carry out the mission Christ gave him, Peter went to Rome -- then the capital of the world. It makes sense, the man responsible for the whole Church should be in the center of the world! After 25 years in Rome, Peter was martyred there (that is, put to death for his loyalty to Christ). The famous Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican was built above his grave.
After Peter's death, his place as head of the Church in Rome was taken by a man named Linus, also martyred; then Cletus, also martyred; then Clement, also martyred. We can trace the entire, unbroken line of successors to St. Peter. The first two dozen of them were martyrs. And the 265th successor of St. Peter is Pope Francis. Our union with him is what gives us confidence that we belong to the One Church that Christ founded.
What about the other Apostles?
As we believe that the pope is the successor of St. Peter, we believe that the bishops of the Catholic Church in union with the pope are the successors of the Apostles.
The Catholic Church is divided into geographical units called dioceses. Each diocese is governed by a bishop, who is a successor of the Apostles.
There is a diocese centered in the City of Madison. It includes 11 counties of southern Wisconsin, which encompass over 100 parishes and over 250,000 Catholics. Our current bishop is the Most Reverend Robert Morlino.
In each diocese, one church is designated as the cathedral. This is the church containing the bishop's chair ("cathedra" in Latin), from which he symbolically oversees the diocese. (In fact, he does it mostly from an office.)
Historic St. Raphael served as the cathedral of the Diocese of Madison from 1946 (when the diocese was established) until it was destroyed by fire in 2005. A new St. Raphael Cathedral is planned on the same site; once built, it will serve as the "mother church" of the Diocese of Madison.
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The Legal Tangle of Restricted Gifts: Lessons from Lincoln Center
December 15, 2014 / Frank Monti
Restricted donations usually involve large sums of money and can create legal issues for years. Here is one example.
The Lincoln Center’s home for the New York Philharmonic announced in early November that it will be renaming Avery Fisher Hall as part of a renovation of the space. Avery Fisher was an amateur violinist and a pioneer in the field of sound reproduction. He founded Fisher Electronics and many of us over the age of 50 once proudly owned a Fisher stereo system. Mr. Fisher served on the boards of the New York Philharmonic and the Chamber Music Society at Lincoln Center.
In 1973, Fisher donated $10.5 million (about $56 million in today’s dollars) to the Philharmonic and Lincoln Center renamed Philharmonic Hall after him. Fisher, who passed away in 1994, was very humble and had to be persuaded to permit the hall to be renamed after him. Today, donors do not have to be persuaded to lend their names and institutions such as Lincoln Center fully understand the value of naming rights when soliciting large donations.
However, 12 years ago, when Lincoln Center first approached the Fisher family about renaming Avery Fisher Hall after a new donor, the family threatened legal action. In a 1973 pledge agreement, Mr. Fisher set forth the conditions of his gift toward the establishment of the venue, including the stipulation that the venue name, Avery Fisher Hall, ''will appear on tickets, brochures, program announcements and advertisements and the like, and I consent in perpetuity to such use.'' Without the approval of the Fisher family, Lincoln Center proceeded with the renovation of other portions of the Center complex while leaving Avery Fisher Hall alone.
Faced with a renovation budget of over $300 million for Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center again approached the Fisher children. The Center pointed to the $100 million that David Koch donated to the renovation of The New York State Theater at Lincoln Center, in the process becoming the David H. Koch Theater in 2008. The Center noted that such a large donation was needed if Avery Fisher Hall was to be renovated. Over a three-month negotiation, the Fisher children agreed to give up the perpetual agreement that their father had established.
Lincoln Center sweetened its deal with the Fisher family in several ways. Mr. Fisher will be inducted into a new Lincoln Center Hall of Fame in the renovated building, which will celebrate artists, leaders and philanthropists who have played central roles at Lincoln Center. Their contributions will be explored in interactive installations that highlight all 11 of Lincoln Center’s constituent organizations.
A Fisher family member will serve on the Hall of Fame’s advisory board and on the selection committee for inductees into its Avery Fisher Classical Music Wing, which will contain archival materials about Mr. Fisher. The agreement also promises to give a higher profile to the Avery Fisher Artist Program, established in 1974, which awards prizes to established American instrumentalists of distinction and career grants to emerging young artists.
And, lastly, the Fisher family received $15 million in cash from Lincoln Center.
Some interesting questions arise in my mind from this transaction. Do the Fischer children have the right to terminate the provisions of their father’s gift instrument? The courts might conclude that the Fisher children comprise the only party with any legal standing regarding the name of the hall. However, what if the Fisher Electronics Company were still operating—might the company have a say in the removal of the name? If the Fisher children have the power to sell the naming rights back to Lincoln Center, did they have the ability to sell the naming rights to some other third party? Could they have sold the naming rights to Pepsi for $100 million?
I don’t know if the children have the right to terminate the restrictions in their father’s gift instrument. The $15 million appears to seal an agreement not to sue Lincoln Center over the name change. There may be no other party with a legal right to challenge the name change so the Fisher children are merely being compensated for not taking an action that the center was concerned that they had a right to pursue. In this scenario, the children have not sold the naming rights. They have merely agreed not to execute a right they may have as heirs of Avery Fisher. Fisher Electronics is no longer in business, so there is no concern that it might complain about the name change.
In matters of ongoing endowments, the state attorney general has the responsibility for assuring that the terms of the gift instrument are met by the recipient institution. Of course, this one-time donation by Avery Fisher was exhausted in the 1973 renovation of Philharmonic Hall, so there is no ongoing fund as with an endowment.
If the Fisher children had not been around, the center would probably have changed the name without giving it a second thought. Should the New York attorney general be on guard for such actions? My guess is no—unless someone complains, the AG’s office stays out of the charitable world. Would Lincoln Center have felt the need to negotiate with Fisher grandchildren or great grandchildren? What is your guess?
These are interesting questions whether you are a donor or a recipient organization.
Frank A. Monti, CPA is a not-for-profit specialist providing consulting services to donors and institutions regarding restricted gifts and endowment funds. (fam@fmonti.com)
December 15, 2014 / Frank Monti/
Frank Monti
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Can a Charity Spend Donated Money Any Way it Wants?
So You Want to Monitor Your Donation?
Beyond the Accountant: What a Philanthropy Advisor Does
A Few Things Donors Need to Know About Private Foundations
Here's a Reminder of Who Really Controls the Money in Donor-Advised Funds
Giver Beware: Yet Another Reminder to Investigate Before You Donate
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Salam, a charming 30-year-old Palestinian living in Jerusalem, works as an intern on the popular Palestinian soap opera Tel Aviv on Fire, produced in Ramallah. Every day Salam must pass through an arduous Israeli checkpoint to reach the television studios. He meets the commander of the check point, Assi, whose wife is a huge fan of the show. In order to impress her, Assi gets involved in the writing of the show. Salam soon realises that Assi’s ideas could get him a promotion as a screenwriter. His creative career catches fire, until Assi and the show’s financial backers disagree on how the soap opera should end. Squeezed between an Army officer and the Arab backers, Salam can only solve his problems with a final master stroke. (Festival information)
Title: Tel Aviv On Fire
Luxembourg, France, Israel, Belgium
INTERFILM Award for Promoting Interreligious Dialogue, Venice 2018
75th International Film Festival Venice
"Tel Aviv On Fire" by Sameh Zoabi is the winner of the 8th. INTERFILM Award for Promoting Interreligious Dialogue at the film festival in Venice 2018. The Golden Lion went to "Roma" by Alfonso Cuarón.
Visions of Living Wisely in the Midst of Turmoil
The 75th Venice International film Festival gave plenty of cause to celebrate. In 2018 it arguably outshone the other leading international film festivals...
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Not so fast: Ex-Mainichi Shimbun reporter Takichi Nishiyama blasts the government for pushing forward the controversial state secrets bill during a news conference Friday at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo | AYAKO MIE
Ex-Mainichi reporter blasts Abe's push for secrets bill
by Ayako Mie
Takichi Nishiyama, a former reporter for the Mainichi Shimbun who uncovered the secret pact on the U.S. reversion of Okinawa to Japan, criticized the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday for trying to centralize power and manipulate information with the contentious state secrets bill.
“The government believes it has to transform the Japan-U.S. alliance into a sacred cow,” Nishiyama told reporters at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan. “They will only leak the information that works for them.”
Nishiyama, 82, was found guilty of using devious tactics to obtain documents revealing Japan had secretly made a pact with the U.S. to pay $4 million of the cost of returning control of Okinawa. The documents were acquired from the foreign minister’s clerk, with whom he was having an affair.
Although the U.S. National Archives declassified this information between 1998 and 2000, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party refused to admit the pact exists.
“There are both good and bad things about the Japan-U.S. alliance, and we have to inform the public,” Nishiyama said. “It is only when the public is informed that they can make their decision by voting.”
If the secrets bill is passed, public servants as well as reporters will be punished if journalists seek state secrets using illegal methods. Masako Mori, the Cabinet member guiding the bill through the Diet, has said this is based on the 1978 Supreme Court ruling over Nishiyama’s case.
But Nishiyama criticized the clause for focusing only on methods of reporting, saying it disregards the implication of such reporting in terms of the public good.
“The information the public wants to access is the information the government wants to hide. This is an inherent paradox,” he said.
Nishiyama said a lot of information is already classified, especially in the realms of defense and diplomacy, and the government keeps the reins very tight.
Yet he also emphasized that the Japanese press should do a much better job of pursuing the public’s right to know, saying there have been only a few cases in which Japanese state secrets have come to light.
“Even though reporters proudly advocate the right to know, I would like to ask them if they have really exercised the right to know,” Nishiyama said. “Their reporting on secret pacts like this is mostly dependent on information obtained outside Japan. And we all should be ashamed of that, including myself.”
FCCJ, right to know, Takichi Nishiyama, secrecy bill, Okinawa reversion
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Government could shut down within three months, Puerto Rico bank warns
Online: Apr 23, 2015
Last Modified: Apr 23, 2015
SAN JUAN - Puerto Rico’s Government Development Bank warned Wednesday that it is very likely the U.S. territory’s government could be forced to shut down in the next three months because of a lack of funds.
The bank made the warning in a letter made public a day after it was sent to Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla and the presidents of the island’s Senate and House of Representatives.
“The island’s financial state is extremely uncertain,” the letter said. “A government shutdown would have a devastating impact on the economy, with salary and public service cuts, and a long and painful recovery.”
Bank officials said in the letter that the government’s fiscal problems will prevent it from selling more bonds in the capital market as planned, and they urged legislators to immediately implement measures to cut costs and balance the budget. The government had been preparing to issue more than $2 billion in bonds in the coming months in part to strengthen debt-ridden agencies.
Bank officials said the government needs to approve a five-year plan to help reduce a $73 billion public debt as well as approve sweeping changes to the island’s troubled tax system.
Bank spokeswoman Barbara Morgan said bank officials were not available for further comment.
The letter was issued as Garcia faces opposition from members of his party on a measure that would impose a 16 percent value-added tax that he says is needed to help generate more revenue. House of Representatives President Jaime Perello said a group of legislators had reached a tentative agreement to impose a 14 percent value-added tax, adding that he expected the House to vote on the measure soon.
If passed, the measure would then go to the Senate. A message left for Senate President Eduardo Bhatia was not immediately returned.
Puerto Rico’s government last shut down in May 2006 amid a budget shortfall resolved by an emergency loan. The two-week partial shutdown closed Puerto Rico’s public schools and idled half of the central government’s workforce. It also prompted Moody’s Investors Service to cut the rating of the territory’s general obligation bonds.
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Debt, Puerto Rico, bank, value-added tax
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Home In Israel Local
Watch: Secret wedding ceremony held on the Temple Mount
Chelsea Mosery Birnbaum
Despite the ban on non-Muslim religious displays of any kind on the Temple Mount, two right-wing Israeli activists held a secret wedding ceremony on the compound. The groom: “We hope that our marriage at the holiest place in the world will open the door for other couples.”
Can’t see video? – Click Here
A second couple has held a covert wedding ceremony on the Temple Mount compound: The couple, activists with the “Students for the Temple Mount” movement, held the ceremony on Thursday under the watchful eyes of the policemen. The ceremony was performed in secret due to the ongoing ban on Jewish religious services ceremonies on the Temple Mount.
“We are excited to be here on the Temple Mount,” said the groom Tom Nisani, chairman and coordinator of the Im Tirtzu movement, moments before he gave a ring to his new wife Sarah Lorkett, also active in the organization. “Here on the Temple Mount, this is the place we need to have the wedding ceremony. And that is what we did. We are proud and happy.”
Only Muslim ceremonies permitted at the Temple Mount Photo Credit: Reuters/ Channel 2 News
In the video footage from the secret ceremony, Nisani can be heard whispering the prayer, “Behold you are consecrated unto me with this ring in accordance with the law of Moses and the People of Israel,” as he furtively hands Lorkett a ring. “Three years ago, Sarah and I met at the entrance to the Temple Mount. Since then, we have experienced the injustices, hardships and also the beauty, depth and holiness of the Temple Mount, the holiest place in the world for the Jewish people,” Nissani said.
“It was very natural for us to hold the ceremony on the Temple Mount, and so we did…simple Zionist Israelis who are fulfilling the aspirations of generations and the entire Jewish people- secular, traditional, religious and ultra-Orthodox.” After the secret ceremony on the Temple Mount, Nissani and Lorkett intend to hold an additional ceremony in about a month.
This is the second secret wedding to be held on the Temple Mount in the last year and a half. In April 2016, a Jewish wedding ceremony was held on the compound for the first time in 11 years and caused an uproar in Israel.
Jewish Holy Sites
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The 5 Holiest Places in The Jewish Faith
Oped: Will Saudi Arabia Replace the Jordanian Waqf on The Temple Mount?
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Holocaust denier on French National Front party’s ticket
(JTA) — France’s far-right National Front party placed a Holocaust denier on its list of candidates for the municipal elections in Paris.
The candidate, Pierre Panet, wrote in 2012 that he “shares the analysis of Roger Garaudy,” a convicted Holocaust denier. The L’Express daily reported on his candidacy Wednesday.
The same year, he told the AFP news agency: “I haven’t changed. I always credit Robert Faurisson, but I refrain from elaborating these theses because it is forbidden by law.”
Faurisson was also convicted of denying the Holocaust. He claimed the gas chambers never existed.
Panet is running for election on the National Front’s ticket for the 12th arrondissement in eastern Paris. Municipal elections are scheduled to be held on March 23 and March 30.
The party leader in the arrondissement, Christian Vauge, told AFP he has instructed Panet to adhere strictly to the party’s platform.
“I told him, let’s forget all that you thought in the past. I asked him to stick to the official line,” he said.
Separately, the center-right UDI party dropped a former candidate from its list for the municipality of Schiltigheim near Strasbourg after regional prosecutors said she would stand trial for inciting racial hatred in connection with anti-Semitic statements they suspect she made online.
The candidate, Hayat Belaredj, is believed to have written on Facebook: “The Jewish danger, what a disgrace” about outgoing mayor Raphael Nisand, who is Jewish, Le Monde reported on Tuesday.
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Ryan Says No Further Plans to Push Akin from Race
6 years 10 months 3 weeks ago Wednesday, August 22 2012 Aug 22, 2012 Wednesday, August 22, 2012 6:21:00 PM CDT August 22, 2012 in Smart Decision
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Republican vice presidential contender Paul Ryan acknowledges he urged Missouri Congressman Todd Akin to abandon his Senate bid but has no further plans to speak to him about it now that Akin is staying in the race.
Ryan told reporters aboard his campaign plane Wednesday that he's proud of his anti-abortion record in the House and has no regrets about sponsoring legislation, with Akin, to permanently prohibit taxpayer funding for abortion except in cases of incest or, quote, "forcible" rape.
Leading Republicans including presidential candidate Mitt Romney have distanced themselves from Akin after the Missouri congressman suggested that women who had been subjected to "legitimate rape" would be able to physically resist becoming pregnant.
Ryan would not oppose abortion in cases where a mother's life is in danger.
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The Pennock Tapes is an EP from the infectious KRANTZ. The southern tinged tracks drip with decadent melodies and exciting melodies. “Weedeater” is an upbeat banger of a tune that slides with harmonies. “Can’t Forget” is a summer fling wrapped into a two minute tune, repping a vivacious, anthemic burst of fun music.
New Noise Magazine is happy as can be to be bringing forth the track by track, in depth look at The Pennock Tapes by KRANTZ.
Weedeater – It all started with a powerful melody and chord progression that reminded me of the raunchy swagger of “The Faces.” My old band member, good friend, and golf buddy Joel King (currently of the Wild Feathers) co-wrote this tune with me. Lyrically, I am talking to someone, but I feel more like I am talking to myself, saying that you gotta take chances in if you want to get to where you want to be.
Until We Meet Again – This song is my personal fave off the EP. I wrote it about a magical weekend I had with a special girl from another state. When she left, I couldn’t get her off my mind, so what better way to get all that emotion out of ya than write a song. It’s got a bit of a reggae vibe, but other elements such as strings add that unique ness. The ending is an orgasm of sound that makes ya feel euphoric!
All Outta Love – My friend Joel King and I co-wrote this song about a break up I was going through at the time. I was unhappy in a relationship, but hesitant to end it because we were in that “comfortable” stage. It’s sad because even though my girlfriend at the time hadn’t done anything wrong, sometimes you just fall out of love and want to be free. It’s a somber but catchy song, so it can’t bum you out toooo much!
Can’t Forget – This is my attempt to pen a 60’s pop song. It’s super catchy and has a 60’s mod vibe. I was bitter about a girl I had fallen for and wanted to try dating, but she wasn’t into it, so I made sure she knows I’ll always be somewhere in the back of her mind.
Run Away With Me – Do you ever want to drop everything you’re doing, run off to a deserted island and forget the world? I was definitely feeling it when I penned this number. I wanted to take my girl by the hand and simply escape. It’s a feel good summery song that gives off good vibes.
Comicpop Library
Krantz Drops New Music Video For “Run Away With Me”
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Police investigating after decomposing body found in 'wrecked' house
1 killed, 2 injured in high-speed stolen car crash
Teen, 15, dead after SUV with 8 inside crashes at La Cantera exit, SAPD says
AG Paxton, city attorney spar over access to Chick-fil-A concession records
By Mariah Medina - Digital Journalist, Adrian Garcia - Digital Journalist
SAN ANTONIO - Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has taken his demand for records relating to the San Antonio City Council's March vote to exclude Chick-fil-A from an airport concessions contract a step further.
On Monday, Paxton filed a petition in Travis County District Court to get San Antonio to hand over records for his office's investigation into the controversial 6-4 vote.
FAA enters San Antonio Airport Chick-fil-A fight, opens investigation
Texas House passes 'Save Chick-fil-A' bill
SA City Council votes against Chick-fil-A revote
Paxton said the city has declined to release the records he's requested because it claims it is exempt from disclosing them as it anticipates being sued.
READ THE PETITION HERE
"We’ve simply opened an investigation using the Public Information Act," Paxton said in a statement Monday. "If a mere investigation is enough to excuse the City of San Antonio from its obligation to be transparent with the people of Texas, then the Public Information Act is a dead letter. The city’s extreme position only highlights its fear about allowing any sunshine on the religious bigotry that animated its decision.”
A state agency typically must seek a decision from the attorney general's office if it seeks to withhold records from a requestor.
ALSO: City Council's vote to exclude Chick-Fil-A at San Antonio's airport draws applause, criticism
City Attorney Andy Segovia said the city has turned over more than 250 pages of documents for review by the Open Records Division of the attorney general's office. He said that, should Paxton's office require the city to turn the documents over, the city will comply.
“Instead of allowing the routine process (to) take its course, the AG decided to sue and not wait for a decision from his own department,” Segovia wrote in a statement to KSAT. “The Attorney General notified the press before any communication with the City, or even before the City was served with the suit.”
A joint investigation conducted by ABC 13 in Houston and the Houston Chronicle found that in 2018, the attorney general's office seldom required the full release of records to a requestor. The agency required the full release of records in only 5.4% of its decisions.
Under Paxton, record requests have been outright denied by the attorney general's office at an increasing rate compared with the previous administration, which was helmed by now-Gov. Greg Abbott.
A statement from the city read, "State law sets the parameters of the Attorney General’s Office ability to investigate and usually the procedural process for investigation, review and enforcement. The State Attorney General’s office asks for documents under the specific legislative authority.
"The State Attorney General’s office has not specified the legislative authority they are relying on to investigate the airport contract. Furthermore, it is clear from the strident comments in his press release that any 'investigation' would be a pretense to justify his own conclusions."
RELATED: FAA enters San Antonio Airport Chick-fil-A fight, opens investigation
Paxton made clear in a statement Monday that his office believes the City Council's decision to exclude the fast-food chain from the San Antonio International Airport's concession contract was rooted in discrimination.
"Members of the City Council who spearheaded the decision to exclude Chick-fil-A did not attempt to hide their discriminatory motives," Paxton said. "One branded the company out of line with 'our core values as a city.' Yet another council member denounced Chick-fil-A as a 'symbol of hate.'"
Paxton's petition comes after his office sent a letter to Mayor Ron Nirenberg and the City Council on March 28 notifying the two parties of his agency's investigation of the vote.
CONTINUING COVERAGE: Councilman regretful about decision to exclude Chick-fil-A from airport
The Federal Aviation Administration has also launched an investigation into the City Council's decision to exclude Chick-fil-A from a concession contract.
"The Department of Transportation has received complaints alleging discrimination by two airport operators against a private company due to the expression of the owner’s religious beliefs," FAA officials said in a statement, referencing both the San Antonio and Buffalo Niagara international airports.
In its statement, the FAA said it had notified the airport about the investigation, saying, "Federal requirements prohibit airport operators from excluding persons on the basis of religious creed from participating in airport activities that receive or benefit from FAA grant funding."
RELATED: Ted Cruz blasts SA City Council over Chick-fil-A vote
"We received a letter from the FAA advising us they were opening an investigation into the airport concessions contract. We will need time to review the letter and determine our course of action," Segovia wrote last week in a statement sent to KSAT.
In March, Chick-fil-A, the popular faith-influenced chicken chain restaurant, sent KSAT.com a statement about the decision of excluding them from the airport.
"This is the first we’ve heard of this. It’s disappointing. We would have liked to have had a dialogue with the city council before this decision was made. We agree with Councilmember Treviño that everyone is and should feel welcome at Chick-fil-A. We plan to reach out to the city council to gain a better understanding of this decision," the statement said.
Travelers question decision to deny Chick-fil-A airport concessions contract
District 1 Councilman Roberto Trevino, who made the motion to exclude Chick-fil-A from a food and beverage package deal at the airport, released the following statement shortly after the City Council's vote:
"With this decision, the City Council reaffirmed the work our city has done to become a champion of equality and inclusion. San Antonio is a city full of compassion, and we do not have room in our public facilities for a business with a legacy of anti-LGBTQ behavior. Everyone has a place here, and everyone should feel welcome when they walk through our airport. I look forward to the announcement of a suitable replacement by Paradies (Lagardère)."
Man accused of leaving child with special needs home alone to go to strip club
Zach Gibson/Getty Images
'This is WRONG,' Sen. Ted Cruz says of Tennessee holiday honoring KKK…
AOC responds to Trump's tweets taking aim at House members
Construction worker catches baby, toddler from burning building
Missouri woman wins Ms. Wheelchair America 2020
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Mealey's Water Rights
Multiplaintiff, Interstate Or Notable Water Rights Cases
New developments in the following multiplaintiff, interstate or notable water rights cases are marked in boldface type.
Idaho Supreme Court: State Water Department Isn’t Impeding Ranch’s Water Right
BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho Supreme Court on June 14 said the state water department’s interpretation of a 1989 final decree of water rights did not affect a ranch’s rights to water passing through a water basin (Gordon Sylte, et al. v. Idaho Department of Water Resources, et al., No. 46062, Idaho Sup., 2019 Ida. LEXIS 105).
Washington Appeals Court Says State’s Instream Flow Rule Is Arbitrary, Capricious
TACOMA, Wash. — A Washington appeals panel on June 26 reversed a state trial court and said the state Department of Ecology’s rule for minimum instream summer flows on the lower reach of the Spokane River is inconsistent with state water law, exceeds rule-making authority, is arbitrary and capricious and is thus invalid (Center for Environmental Law & Policy, et al. v. State of Washington Department of Ecology, No. 51439-7-II, Wash. App., Div. 2, 2019 Wash. App. LEXIS 1668).
California: Water Districts Weren’t Prevailing Parties In Curtailment Cases
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The state of California on July 8 told a state coordination court judge that it should deny a request by three water districts for $291,803 in costs in the water curtailment proceedings, saying the agencies are not prevailing parties entitled to reimbursement (California Water Curtailment Cases, JCCP No. 4838 [West Side Irrigation District, et al. v. California State Water Resources Control Board, et al.], Calif. Super., Santa Clara Co.).
United States Dismissed From Riverflow Lawsuit For Sovereign Immunity
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on June 26 dismissed a river flow lawsuit against the United States after finding that since the case does not involve water rights, the government has not waived its sovereign immunity under the McCarren Amendment (San Luis Obispo Coastkeeper, et al. v. United States Department of the Interior, et al., No. 19-177, N.D. Calif., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107218).
Oklahoma, Business Groups Appeal Denial Of Injunction On Clean Water Rule
DENVER — Oklahoma, three chambers of commerce and two business associations on June 12 appealed a federal judge’s denial of a preliminary injunction against the 2015 federal Clean Water Rule to the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals (Oklahoma, ex rel. Mike Hunter, et al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Administration, et al., No. 19-5055, 10th Cir.).
Colorado Supreme Court: 1940 Water Pact Doesn’t Limit Denver Water Supply
DENVER — The Colorado Supreme Court on July 1 said the city and county of Denver is not prohibited by a 1940 water agreement from importing water from a different source it acquired after the agreement was signed (City & County of Denver v. Consolidated Ditches of Water District No. 2, No. 16SA291, Colo. Sup., 2019 Colo. LEXIS 574).
Fed’s Waiver Of Environmental Review Of Pipeline Project Found ‘Contrary To Law’
LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge on June 20 said a determination by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that the proposed 43-mile Cadiz water pipeline fell within an 1875 railroad right of way and didn’t require environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act was contrary to law and violated the Administrative Procedure Act (Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Bureau of Land Management, No. 17-9587, National Parks Conservation Association v. Ryan Zinke, No. 18-6775, C.D. Calif.).
Judge: Plaintiffs Waived Right To Disqualify Opposing Counsel In Water Case
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A judge in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims on June 19 denied a motion by 17 California municipalities and water districts to disqualify opposing counsel for alleged concurrent representation of adverse parties in a Fifth Amendment water takings lawsuit against the United States (Fresno, et al. v. United States, et al., No. 16-1276L, Fed. Clms.).
California Sues Water District To Stop Work On Raising Height Of The Shasta Dam
REDDING, Calif. — The state of California and six environmental groups on May 13 separately sued the Westlands Water District to prevent it from raising the height of the Shasta Dam in violation of the state’s wild and scenic river protection law (California, et al. v. Westlands Water District, et al., No. 19-0192487, and Friends of the River, et al. v. Westlands Water District, et al., No. 19-0192490, Calif. Super., Shasta Co.).
Georgia Water Authority, Army Corps Reach Agreement On Water Storage Accounting
ATLANTA — A Georgia federal judge on June 3 stayed a water accounting lawsuit between the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers after the parties on May 28 told the court that they agreed to a stay while the Army Corps performs a water reallocation study and evaluation of its accounting method (Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, et al., No. 17-400, N.D. Ga., Atlanta Div.).
Ohio, Tennessee Appeal Clean Water Rule Injunction Denial To 6th Circuit
CINCINNATI — After a 1-1/2-year detour, the 2015 Clean Water Rule is back before the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals after Ohio and Tennessee appealed a district court judge’s denial of a preliminary injunction against the rule (Ohio, et al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, et al., No. 19-3500, 6th Cir.).
8 California Water Districts Urge Federal Claims Court To Dismiss Takings Claims
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Eight California water districts on May 15 told the U.S. Federal Claims Court that it should dismiss a breach of contract and water takings lawsuit by the city of Fresno and 17 other water districts and municipalities against the United States (Fresno, et al. v. United States, No. 16-1276, Fed. Clms.).
Oklahoma Federal Judge Denies Injunction Against 2015 Clean Water Rule
TULSA, Okla. — An Oklahoma federal judge on May 29 denied a motion by Oklahoma and five business organizations to issue a preliminary injunction against the 2015 federal Clean Water Rule, saying that after four years, the defendants were unable to show that they or any of their constituents would suffer irreparable harm from the law governing discharges into the “waters of the United States” (Oklahoma, ex rel. Mike Hunter, et al. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, et al., No. 15-381, N.D. Okla., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89677).
Nevada Supreme Court Affirms Forfeiture Of Water Right For Nonuse
CARSON CITY, Nev. — A unanimous Nevada Supreme Court on May 29 agreed that the state engineer did not act in an arbitrary and capricious way when he denied a developer’s request to extend its water right due to nonuse (Mountain Falls Acquisition Corporation v. Nevada, et al., No. 74130, Nev. Sup., 2019 Nev. Unpub. LEXIS 614).
Mississippi-Tennessee Supreme Court Water Case Hearing Concludes May 30
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A U.S. Supreme Court special master on May 30 concluded a four-day hearing on whether Mississippi’s groundwater is an intrastate resource or an interstate resource (Mississippi v. Tennessee, No. 143, Original, U.S. Sup.).
Montana High Court: Objectors Didn’t Prove Rights Holder’s Nonuse Of Water
HELENA, Mont. — The Montana Supreme Court on May 14 affirmed a Montana Water Court’s rejections of objections filed by two water users who claimed that a downstream property owner abandoned his water rights (In Re: Gene J. Klamert, et al., No. DA 18-0413, Mont. Sup., 2019 Mont. LEXIS 178).
Montana Supreme Court: Water Court Erred In Ruling On Implied Water Use
HELENA, Mont. — The Montana Supreme Court on May 21 said a state water court judge erred when he ruled that two water rights holders had not met the state’s standard for showing that their claims implied stockwater rights (Claimants: John R. Sampson, et al., No. DA 18-0689, Mont. Sup., 2019 Mont. LEXIS 188).
Judge Orders California Water Board To Set Aside Drought Water Curtailment Orders
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — A California judge on June 6 issued peremptory writs of mandate ordering the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) to set aside water curtailment orders issued during the state’s historic drought in May and June 2015 to seven water districts (California Water Curtailment Cases, JCCP No. 4838, No. 2015-1-CV-285182, Calif. Super., Santa Clara Co.).
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North Carolina State Univsersity. University Government Committee
North Carolina State University -- Administration
North Carolina State College -- History
North Carolina State College -- Administration
1 collection related to North Carolina State University -- Administration
Filter: North Carolina State Univsersity. University Government Committee
North Carolina State University, Committees, University Government Committee Records, 1945-1985 (bulk 1954-1972)
Size: 2.75 linear feet (5 archival boxes; 1 halfbox.) Collection ID: UA 022.028
North Carolina State University's University Government Committee Records include memos, reports, drafts and letters documenting the work of at the committee. The most prominent aspect of that work was the establishment of the Faculty Senate and the refinement of mechanisms for faculty representation in University academic ... More
North Carolina State University's University Government Committee Records include memos, reports, drafts and letters documenting the work of at the committee. The most prominent aspect of that work was the establishment of the Faculty Senate and the refinement of mechanisms for faculty representation in University academic administration during the years 1952-1974. There are also a single folder of materials relating to an earlier iteration of the Committee and its 1946 report, and a folder of documents from the mid-1980s regarding faculty status of librarians. Aside from this folder, the records do not document the Committee's activities after 1974, although the Committee appears to remain in existence up to the present (August 2011). A College Committee on Government and Administration was formed in 1945 to survey the governmental structure of the then North Carolina State College. It issued a report and appears to have disbanded the following year. In 1952 a Committee on College Government was formed to recommend "an instrument of faculty government." Based on its recommendations, a Faculty Senate was instituted on a three-year trial basis in 1954, and the Committee was charged with observing the faculty government and make recommendations for its improvement. The trial period was extended an additional three years in 1957, and in 1960 the Committee recommended that the Senate be established on a permanent basis. The Committee continued to observe faculty government, and made additional recommendations. Its name was changed to the University Government Committee in 1967. The committee was abolished in 2006 and its duties are now handled by the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate. Less
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Lakehead University-Orillia celebrates rewards and responsibilities in 2012 Report to Community
Lakehead University’s 2011-2012 Report to the Community (www.report.lakeheadu.ca) conveys how innovative people, impressive achievements and forward momentum have made the past year a shining success while promising even more for the future. The web-based report also outlines the many benefits resulting from the various relationships and partnerships between Lakehead and the people and communities of Orillia, Barrie and the Simcoe County region.
“This report celebrates the enormous contribution Lakehead University makes to the economic, social and cultural life of the communities around us,” says Cam Clark, chair of the Lakehead University Board of Governors. “Our Draft Strategic Plan for 2013-2018 will only strengthen our community outreach and economic development initiatives.”
Orillia’s Downtown Computers owner Mariano Tulipano highlights the reciprocal relationship between Orillia and Lakehead, as well as his duty as a member of the community and local business owner, saying, “We all buy from one another and support each other. If a large institution, like a university, becomes a successful member of our local economy, then we all benefit.”
“The cost of post-secondary education has tripled since I went to university and it will likely be even more expensive by the time my kids go,” Tulipano adds. “The opportunity for local kids to get a university degree while living right here at home could mean the difference between leaving and staying.”
The research work of faculty member, Dr. Chris Murray, is featured in the Report to the Community, and Dr. Murray presents highlights in his comments at the event.
In a presentation of the report on Nov. 9, student Debbie Balika of Barrie shared her experience at Lakehead, from enrolling as a member of the charter class, to now being one of the campus's first graduate students.
Lakehead Orillia has experienced consistent enrolment growth since it opened six years ago and the University’s overall undergraduate employment rates have remained above the provincial average since 2006.
“These benchmarks illustrate the quality education our University provides to our students, resulting in the excellent chance Lakehead graduates have of realizing their future goals,” says Kim Fedderson, Dean & Vice-Provost, Orillia Campus.
Lakehead’s important role in the local economy is also reflected in the monies injected directly into the City of Orillia from the University’s operating expenditures ($20.6 million) and by students from outside the immediate area ($13.9 million) during fiscal 2011-2012.
The Orillia campus is currently developing a plan for the next five years (2013–2018) and Fedderson invites community members to get involved. Members of the community can learn more and provide input into the planning process by visiting the Orillia Campus Plan 2013–2018 website (orillia.lakeheadu.ca/campus-plan).
“We invite your participation in shaping the future growth of the Orillia campus,” says Fedderson. “The Orillia campus has evolved dramatically, and it is now time for a renewed focus on the campus and its role in the region.”
“It’s critical for a community to understand how the importance of the relationship between Lakehead, Orillia, Barrie and the Simcoe County region stimulates the economy of our communities through education and research,” says Lakehead President and Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Brian Stevenson. “I am humbled by the level of community support for this institution and proud of the responsibility Lakehead has to our community.”
The Report to the Community consists of an innovative website and brochure that celebrate Lakehead’s accomplishments during Dr. Stevenson’s second year as President and Vice-Chancellor.
Lakehead’s Report to the Community website documents the success of its students, faculty, alumni and staff. In keeping with its accountability to its stakeholders, the online site features links to audited financial statements, in addition to information about the University’s strategic directions, honours and awards, and performance indicators such as rates of enrolment, graduation and employment.
Lakehead University
Lakehead is a comprehensive university with a reputation for a multidisciplinary teaching approach that emphasizes collaborative learning and independent critical thinking. More than 8,700 students and 1,850 faculty and staff learn and work at campuses located in Orillia, and Thunder Bay, Ontario, which is home to the west campus of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. Lakehead University promotes innovative research that supports local and regional socio-economic needs. In Orillia, development continues on building a campus that meets Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) standards. For more information about Lakehead University, visit www.lakeheadu.ca.
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Home TV A Forgotten Pasadena Rocket Scientist and Occultist Inspired a New TV Show
Jack Parsons (far right) with other rocket scientists in Pasadena in 1936
A Forgotten Pasadena Rocket Scientist and Occultist Inspired a New TV Show
Strange Angel chronicles the life of Jack Parsons, a man caught between science and the occult
Thomas Harlander
Take a tour of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena (you should; they’re free) and you won’t hear much about Jack Parsons. It’s odd since the guy literally co-founded JPL and is considered by some to be a father of rocketry. To begin to understand why he’s been mysteriously relegated to a footnote in aerospace history, you could do worse than to check out Strange Angel, the CBS All Access drama that premieres Thursday, June 14. It’s a show that paints Parsons as the archetypal L.A. dreamer, at once sustained and doomed by his unflinching belief in the possibility of the extraordinary.
Set in 1938, on the brink of World War II and a time when rocketry was limited to the adventures of Buck Rogers, the show follows the rise of Parsons (Jack Reynor) from USC dropout-turned-janitor to groundbreaking scientist. It’s a series that attempts, in the words of the show’s creator Mark Heyman, “to do justice to what Jack Parsons thought his life was, to try to make it as extraordinary and bombastic and vivid as he would have wanted it to be.” Because Jack Parsons was a man with an extraordinary, bombastic vision: that he could one day send a rocket to the moon.
He was a man who—like so many of L.A.’s great historic figures—found himself caught between grandiose fantasy and cold, hard, mathematically sound realty. According to his real-life working partner, he “was a self-trained chemist who, although he lacked the discipline of a formal higher education, had an uninhibited and fruitful imagination.” And in Strange Angel, as in life, his imagination propels him forward in the face of ever-worsening odds, caution be damned. A careless experiment fills his lab with noxious fumes. A risky rocket contraption explodes. An ill-conceived dinitrogen trioxide heist goes awry. In every episode, we’re left to wonder: How far can Parson’s unshakeable belief in his own whimsical dreams take him when disaster is constantly nipping at his heels?
That clash between imagination and reality is what ultimately lures Parsons into the occult.
A post shared by CBS All Access (@cbsallaccess) on May 23, 2018 at 10:17am PDT
See, in addition to conducting hazardous rocketry experimentation, actual Jack Parsons was in pretty deep with Thelema, the religious movement spearheaded by English occultist Aleister Crowley. His life involved a lot of sex magick and, reportedly, performing at least one ritual with his BFF L. Ron Hubbard.
So when Parsons’s sketchy neighbor leaves the house one night carrying two jars of lamb’s blood, the part of him that wants to believe in a fantastical world where anything is possible gets the better of him. He follows the neighbor to a Craftsman lodge and witnesses a ritual involving knives and chalices and creepy chanting. He’s freaked out at first, but his interest (and at this point, hopefully yours as well) is officially piqued.
It is, in large part, Parson’s fascination with the occult that leaves him at odds with his Caltech peers, resulting in his disappearance from the annals of rocketry. Never mind that his contributions to the field were exemplary. Inevitably, his penchant for the fantastical carried him further than was tenable, and he came crashing down to earth in a blaze of… well, not even glory.
Actual Jack Parsons spent the final years of his career handling pyrotechnics for Hollywood movies, and he met his end when a shipment of explosives blew up in his garage. You could view his downfall as lesson for the dreamers, I suppose: Shoot for the moon, but if you miss, you’ll crash and burn. More interesting, though, is a reading of his demise as part and parcel with the duality that characterized his entire life—a pattern of rise and fall encapsulated by his Strange Angel mantra, “ad astra, per aspera.” It means, “to the stars, through hardship.” You can’t have one without the other.
RELATED: How to Find Pasadena’s Portal to Hell and What to Do When You Get There
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Berkeley T-60-1962
In the 1950s to 1960s, three wheel cars were very popular in Great Britain. For drivers with a motorcycle license, these cars did not require a separate car license. Berkeley redesigned the rear of their 328 model to fit a single rear wheel. The result was a three wheel sports car which filled a gap in the market left open when Morgan stopped 3-wheel production. You will notice that it is hard to tell that the T-60 is a three wheel car unless you look at it from the rear. The T-60 was Berkeley’s most successful model. Most were open top cars, although a few cars were made with hard tops. Berkeley produced 1,780 of these models.
Manufacturer: Berkeley Cars Ltd.
Engine: 328cc
Drivetrain Configuration: Front-engine, front-wheel drive
Top Speed: 60mph
Years of Production: 1959-1961
Number Produced: 1780
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Drug Distribution | Fort Lauderdale Criminal Defense Attorney Kenneth Padowitz 2015-09-28T21:02:36+00:00
Drug distribution is a felony offense in Florida and describes the act of selling or giving unlawful controlled substances, such as narcotics or prescription drugs, to others. The punishment for drug distribution under Florida law depends on the following factors: the type of the drug, the amount of the drug, the location of the distribution, the defendant’s prior criminal record, and whether children were involved. Depending on the amount seized, the State may prosecute an individual who possesses the controlled substance, with the intent to sell or distribute it for personal gain. Drug trafficking is also prohibited in the State of Florida and throughout the United States.
Elements of Drug Distribution
To prove the criminal offense of drug distribution, the prosecutor must show that the defendant knowingly participated in the sale, distribution, or trafficking of the illicit substance. The prosecutor must also show that the suspect had intent to engage in these illegal activities. Chemical analysis is also generally required through a crime lab to prove the substance in question is actually illegal.
Penalties for Drug Distribution
When the prosecutor charges drug distribution rather than drug trafficking, the case generally involves illicit drugs in smaller amounts. Possession with the intent to sell may be charged as a misdemeanor, but can also result in felony charges with stiffer penalties depending on the context of the crime in question. Intent to sell charged as a third degree felony carries with it a penalty of up to five years in prison, and fine of up to $5,000. If charged with a second degree felony, conviction may result in imprisonment of up to fifteen years, and a maximum fine of up to $10,000. Florida statutes allow for increased penalties for defendants who have already been convicted of a felony. These individuals are referred to as career criminals, or habitual felony offenders.
If you have been charged with a drug crime such as drug distribution, retaining a criminal defense attorney is imperative. Accusations of drug distribution are serious, and a conviction can have life altering consequences. Fort Lauderdale criminal attorney Kenneth Padowitz provides the strategic criminal defense that is needed in these situations. Broward criminal lawyer, Kenneth Padowitz, aggressively defends criminal charges in State and Federal court. Contact our law firm, day or night, to arrange a free consultation.
Kenneth Padowitz, P.A aggressively represents clients facing drug distribution charges.
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LL.M./J.S.D. Admissions
Executive LL.M. Admissions
Columbia Law School shapes the legal profession’s future leaders. We prepare our students for professional roles in a broad range of areas, including academia, public service, advocacy, and business. Our graduate programs give students the opportunity to develop their scholarship and specialize in fields not fully covered in their previous coursework.
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Since 1858, Columbia Law School has been a world leader in legal education. Our faculty members are highly accomplished practitioners and scholars, and our vast curricular offerings provide students with unmatched opportunities to engage in the law.
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Columbia Law School draws strength from the vast interdisciplinary resources of our distinguished university—as well as our New York City location—our students complete their legal training ready to engage the world’s most challenging issues.
Kernochan Center IP Speaker Series: “Notice and Takedown” of Alleged Infringing Works on the Internet
Tuesday, April 17th, 2018 @ 12:10pm to 1:10pm
Jerome Greene Hall, Room 102B
Lunchtime discussion of Section 512 notice and takedown with Michael Elkin of Winston and Strawn and Jennifer Pariser of the Motion Picture Association of America, discussing the "notice and takedown" of alleged infringing works on the internet. Pizza lunch provided.
July 23 @ Noon: Deadline for Submitting Applications for Transfer Journal Application Process on LawNet
EIP Interviews Visible
EIP Interview Drop Begins
See what @ColumbiaLaw is all about.
© Copyright 2019, The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York. For questions or comments, please contact the web administrators
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Whether husband can be permitted to produce CD and transcript in cross examination of wife for confronting her?
This is the most necessary incident of the exercise of cross-examination. The very purpose of the cross-examination will be frustrated, if the documents with which a witness of the other side of the Plaintiff_ s witness is to be confronted is shown to or inspected by that party earlier. The Court is concerned with the determination of the truth. Truth has to emerge from the evidence on record. The skill of the cross-examiner brings forth the hitherto unknown truth on record. This takes place in a cross-examination. It would be a farce to notify the party who is being cross-examined of the questions that may be asked by the cross-examiner. Consequently, in the cross-examination of a party any document can be produced and the witness under cross-examination can be confronted therewith. Similarly any document can be produced to that end for the witness to refresh his or her memory.
The dispute between the parties is not ambiguous to either of them. The ambit of evidence has, therefore, to be set out. The Defendant is entitled to rely upon the recorded conversation on the CD by the fact of production of the CD in the cross-examination of the Plaintiff. If the Plaintiff admits the contents, it would be read in evidence. If the Plaintiff disputes the contents, the Defendant would have to prove, by direct or circumstantial evidence in his own examination-in-chief, the accuracy of the recorded conversation. For that proof, the Defendant may produce the original electronic record itself. The Defendant may seek to play it before the Court to have the voice of the Plaintiff, hitherto disputed, identified in Court. The Defendant may himself identify the voice and get it produced in evidence and apply for playing it on record for the Court to appreciate the identified document being the recorded conversation on the CD. The Defendant may produce any other circumstantial evidence to prove the authenticity of the CD as he would for any other documentary evidence. The Defendant would also be entitled, but as a last resort, to have the forensic evidence to identify the voice of the Plaintiff by having the voice of the Plaintiff recorded as an admitted document and compared by an expert in the forensic laboratory to verify that voice with the voice on the taped conversation on the C Ds.
29. It is argued on behalf of the Defendant that the Defendant has taken out the application well in advance for the forensic report to be obtained. The application is, of course, not premature. However, the application involves the requirement of recording of Plaintiff_ s voice and then comparing it with the already recorded voice on the C Ds much as the verification of the admitted and disputed signatures of the parties would be. However, the Plaintiff may choose to admit the contents of the CD or whatever is stated in paragraph of the Written Statement, the entire exercise sought by the Defendant would be avoided since admitted facts need not be proved. Since much would depend upon the Plaintiff s own evidence, the Plaintiff need not be taken through the exercise of having her voice recorded and then verified by the forensic expert at present. However, after the Plaintiff s cross-examination is completed and the Defendant considers production of CD as his own document and relies upon it in the affidavit of documents, the Defendant would be entitled to prove its accuracy through any of the aforesaid modes. For that purpose, the Defendant shall be entitled to prove the tape recorded conversation through the recording of the voice of the Plaintiff and having it verified by the forensic expert as prayed for by him in prayer (ii) of this Notice of Motion.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF BOMBAY
Notice of Motion No. 8 of 2010 IN Suit No. 16 of 2008
Havovi Kersi Sethna Vs. Kersi Gustad Sethna
R.S. Dalvi, J.
Citation: 2011(3) BOM CR 100
1. Parties are wife and husband. The Petition for divorce between the parties and other ancillary reliefs is pending trial. The wife, who is the Petitioner, is under cross-examination. The husband relies upon certain handwritten diaries of the wife as well as Compact Disk (CD) on which conversation between the wife and the husband has been recorded by the husband on certain dates. The husband has produced the transcript of the said conversation. The husband has applied for verification of the handwriting of his wife in the diaries and the voice of the wife in the taped conversation on the C Ds. The wife admits the handwriting in her diaries. That can be produced in evidence. Hence the husband does not press the relief in that behalf. Aside from the diary, there is one line written by the wife on a certain menu of her catering service which is also admitted by the wife.
2. The parties are at dispute with regard to the taped conversation on the C Ds. The husband has not yet filed his affidavit of documents. He has, therefore, not relied upon any specific document. The husband has, however, served upon the wife inter alia the C Ds as well as the transcript. These are the documents referred to by the husband in paragraph 22 of his written statement. The reference runs thus:
On several occasions thereafter the Defendant had occasion to record the Plaintiff's conversation where she has told the Defendant to leave her father_ s house, as she wanted a divorce.
It is contended on behalf of the wife that the taped conversation is not relied upon as a document. It is not referred to as a document and hence the husband cannot use it as a document in evidence. It is also contended by the wife that the affidavit of documents is not filed and the instrument on which the initial conversation was recorded is not produced. The husband could have recorded it on a tape recorder, audio cassette, MP-3 player, Dictaphone, computer or even on his mobile phone. That recording is not produced and inspection of that recording is not given and hence the wife contends that the CD and the transcript cannot be used by the husband.
3. The wife has neither admitted nor denied the conversation. The husband seeks to use it in her cross examination.
4. The elementary principle of recording evidence must be first considered. Evidence consists of examination-in-chief and cross-examination. A party is required to offer for inspection and produce the documents relied upon by him in support of his case. This is required in his examination-in-chief. This contains the oral and documentary evidence.
5. Order VII Rule 14 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) deals with the documents of the Plaintiff and Order VIII Rule 1-A of the Code of Civil Procedure with regard to the documents of the Defendant. The aforesaid orders and rules run thus:
14. Production of document on which Plaintiff sues or relies. (1) Where a Plaintiff sues upon a document or relies upon document in his possession or power in support of his claim, he shall enter such documents in a list, and shall produce it in Court when the plaint is presented by him and shall, at the same time deliver the document and a copy thereof, to be filed with the plaint.
(2) Where any such document is not in the possession or power of the Plaintiff, he shall, where possible, state in whose possession or power it is.
(3) A document which ought to be produced in Court by the Plaintiff when the plaint is presented, or to be entered in the list to be added or annexed to the plaint but is not produced or entered accordingly, shall not, without the leave of the Court, be received in evidence on his behalf at the hearing of the suit.
(4) Nothing in this rule shall apply to document produced for the cross-examination of the Plaintiff_ s witnesses, or handed over to a witness merely to refresh his memory._
1-A. Duty of Defendant to produce documents upon which relief is claimed or relied upon by him.- (1)Where the Defendant bases his defence upon a document or relies upon any document in his possession or power, in support of his defence or claim for set-off or counter-claim, he shall enter such document in a list, and shall produce it in Court when the written statement is presented by him and shall, at the same time, deliver the document and a copy thereof, to be filed with the written statement.
(2) Where any such document is not in the possession or power of the Defendant, he shall, wherever possible, state in whose possession or power it is.
(3) A document which ought to be produced in Court by the Defendant under this rule, but, is not so produced shall not, without the leave of the Court, be received in evidence on his behalf at the hearing of the suit.
(4) Nothing in this rule shall apply to documents-(a) produced for the cross-examination of the Plaintiff_ s witnesses, or (b) handed over to a witness merely to refresh his memory.
Besides this, Order XIII deals inter alia with the production of documents. This relates to production by both the parties, the Plaintiff and the Defendant.
Under Order XIII Rule 1 of the CPC, the original documents are required to be produced by the parties and received by the Court. Order XIII Rule 1 runs thus:
1. Original documents to be produced at or before the settlement of issues.-(1) The parties or their pleader shall produce on or before the settlement of issues, all the documentary evidence in original where the copies thereof have been filed alongwith plaint or written statement.
(2) The Court shall receive the documents so produced:
Provided that they are accompanied by an accurate list whereof prepared in such form as the High Court directs.
(3) Nothing in Sub-rule (1) shall apply to documents-(a) produced for the cross-examination of the witnesses of the other party; or (b) handed over to a witness merely to refresh his memory.
6. It is important to note that in Sub-rule (4) of Order VII Rule 14, Sub-rule (4) Of Order VIII Rule 1-A and Sub-rule (3) of Order XIII Rule 1 of the CPC, an exception is carved out for documents required to be produced for the cross-examination of the Plaintiff_ s witness under Order VII Rule 14 and Order VIII Rule 4 and for the cross-examination of the witnesses of the other party (that is either party) under Order XIII Rule 1.
7. This is the most necessary incident of the exercise of cross-examination. The very purpose of the cross-examination will be frustrated, if the documents with which a witness of the other side of the Plaintiff_ s witness is to be confronted is shown to or inspected by that party earlier. The Court is concerned with the determination of the truth. Truth has to emerge from the evidence on record. The skill of the cross-examiner brings forth the hitherto unknown truth on record. This takes place in a cross-examination. It would be a farce to notify the party who is being cross-examined of the questions that may be asked by the cross-examiner. Consequently, in the cross-examination of a party any document can be produced and the witness under cross-examination can be confronted therewith. Similarly any document can be produced to that end for the witness to refresh his or her memory.
8. The Defendant_ s Advocate seeks to bring out some facts in the cross-examination before the Court Commissioner. It is not known why the Defendant should have at all produced his CDs or even transcript thereof at a stage before his affidavit of examination-in-chief and his affidavit of documents is filed.
9. Of course, the Defendant would have to offer for inspection the documents which he would be relying upon to prove his case in his own evidence. Those are essentially the documents not required for the cross-examination of the Plaintiff or his or her witnesses only. The Defendant, however, has a right and an opportunity to disprove the Plaintiff_ s case. It is for the Plaintiff to prove his or her case. The Plaintiff has to prove that case by oral or documentary evidence. The Plaintiff would, therefore, have to rely upon and produce all the documents in support of such case. But the Plaintiff_ s witness, who is to be cross-examined upon the evidence of the Plaintiff to prove the case of the Plaintiff, can be shown any document produced by the Defendant for the first time in his or her cross-examination or for refreshing his or her memory. This is the specific allowance in Sub-rule (4) of Order VII Rule 14 and Order VIII Rule 1-A.
10. However, the Defendant would have to prove the specific case made out by him in his pleadings which may be other than the case of the Plaintiff. It would be for the Defendant to produce oral and documentary evidence in support of such a case. Those documents would certainly have to be offered for inspection. Those documents would certainly have to be relied upon in the affidavit of documents. The Defendant would then alone be entitled to rely upon those documents in support of his case. This would apply to those issues, onus on which lies entirely on the Defendant.
11. But the Defendant has an additional right. That is the right of cross-examination of the Plaintiff and the Plaintiff_ s witnesses to disprove the case of the Plaintiff without proving his own case. The Defendant may not lead his oral evidence. The Defendant may not have to refer to rely upon, produce and offer for inspection his own documents, if he has no specific case that he might want to prove. The case of the Defendant would come up for proof after the Plaintiff has completed his or her evidence along with the evidence of his or her witnesses in support of the Plaintiff_ s case.
12. In this case, the Defendant may or may not have to prove the conversation to obtain any relief. He may require to only prove the conversation to disentitle the Plaintiff from obtaining the reliefs claimed by the Plaintiff.
13. For that purpose, the Defendant would be required to produce the taped conversation. The Defendant would be entitled to ask such question as he deems fit to the Plaintiff. It would be dependent upon the Plaintiff_ s answers that the Defendant may consider leading evidence himself or refrain from leading any evidence. The Defendant would then have to produce his oral evidence and the documentary evidence coupled with the affidavit of documents in support of his case. At that stage the Defendant, who requires to have the voice of the Plaintiff verified, would have to produce the CD and any other document, including the instrument on which the conversation was recorded. In fact, upon the CD and the transcript offered by the Defendant as his own documents to the Plaintiff, no notice to admit or deny the taped conversation is shown to have been given. That would have cleared the issue. Though Counsel on behalf of the Plaintiff has admitted the handwriting in the handwritten diaries and the menu, she has not made any such statement of admission specifically before the Court with regard to the taped conversation made available on the CD. Under those circumstances, her cross-examination on that aspect cannot be avoided and would have to be undertaken. It would be for the Plaintiff to admit or deny partly or fully the aforesaid averment in paragraph 22 of the written statement of the Defendant to avoid, or accept the cross-examination on that point. So much for the cross-examination of the Plaintiff and the reliance of the Defendant upon the taped conversation on the C Ds.
14. So far as the CD itself is concerned as a documentary evidence, Counsel on behalf of the Defendant has relied upon the case of R.M. Malkani v. State of Maharashtra MANU/SC/0204/1972 : AIR 1973 SC 157. In paragraph 14 of the judgment, the tape is held to be primary and direct evidence of what has been said and recorded. However, the CD sought to be relied upon by the Plaintiff is a copy obtained by the mechanical/electronic process of having the original tape recorded conversation uploaded on a computer from the original electronic record and copied on the CD. Such copy is, therefore, secondary evidence under Section 63 of the Evidence Act and, therefore, can be used only upon production of the original record of such taped conversation under Section 65B of the Evidence Act.
15. Further in the case of R.M. Malkani (supra), tape recorded conversation is held admissible if it is relevant, if the voice is identified and the accuracy of the tape recorded conversation is proved by eliminating the possibility of erasing the tape recorded conversation. It is observed to be comparable to a photograph of a relevant incident and hence admissible under Section 7 of the Evidence Act. In that case, there was no dispute about the identification of voices. The matter, which was tape-recorded was relevant to the issue. There was no controversy of any portion of the conversation being erased or mutilated. Party whose voice was recorded was given full opportunity to test the genuineness of the tape-recorded conversation. It was considered as a document admissible in evidence.
16. The three provisos set out in that judgment are important. The conversation has to be relevant; this is a case for divorce in which the taped conversation is alleged to be relating to the Defendant having been told to leave the house of the Plaintiff_ s father as she wants a divorce. Upon that fact it becomes relevant to consider that document. The identification of the voice can be made initially by the Plaintiff herself by admitting that that was her voice in the conversation. If that is not done, the Defendant can identify the voice himself or through any other witness. If the Defendant or the Court requires, it may get the voice identified through an expert. That would not be required in every case. The forensic evidence, prayed for by the Plaintiff, would be required depending upon the facts of the case which would emerge in the cross-examination and depending upon the requirement of any identification or further identification. The accuracy of the tape-recorded conversation is of utmost importance since the document, which is a CD having tape-recorded conversation, is liable to eraser or mutilation. It would be for the Defendant to show that it was the original recording as mentioned by the Defendant himself. This could be done by producing the initial record or the original electronic record. This original electronic record, which is primary evidence, is the instrument on which the original conversation is recorded. The Defendant has not produced that evidence. That document would be contained in such an instrument. The Defendant has not shown the mechanical/electronic process by which the CD was obtained. The Defendant has relied upon the CD per se. That, being a copy, is secondary evidence. At the stage at which the CD is sought to be produced (that is in the cross-examination of the Plaintiff), the Defendant is permitted not to produce the original electronic record. The copy of such record, being the CD, can itself be used for confrontation in the cross-examination. Much will depend upon the answers in the cross-examination by the Plaintiff. If however, the Defendant desires to set up a specific case, for which the evidence is contained in the CD, he would be required to satisfy the aforesaid three tests, more specially the test of accuracy by producing the original electronic record.
17. It may be mentioned that the tape-recorded conversation can be heard by the Court itself by playing it over. It is observed in the case of R.M. Malkani (supra) that the Court would be acting on real evidence if it treats the intonation of the words in such tape-recording being played over to the Court bearing in mind that it could be altered while admitting it in evidence. That, of course, can be done as shall be seen in another case of Kerala High Court which shall be considered presently.
18. It may be mentioned that the Defendant could have produced the same evidence by a non-electronic mode by a manual human source. If a witness was present at the time of the conversation between the Plaintiff and the Defendant, the Defendant could have led oral evidence which could have been corroborated by the witness. In a tape-recorded conversation, the electronic mode substitutes the human evidence. This aspect has been well observed in paragraph 18 in the case of R.M. Malkani (supra) thus:
If the conversation were relayed on a microphone or an amplifier from the telephone and the police officers heard the same they would be able to give direct evidence of what they heard. Here the police officers gave direct evidence of what they saw and what they did and what they recorded as a result of voluntary permission granted by Dr. Motwani. The tape recorded conversation is contemporaneous relevant evidence and therefore it is admissible.
That judgment further held that Articles 20(3) and 21 of the Constitution or Section 162 of the Criminal Procedure Code were also not offended by a tape-recorded evidence.
19. In the case of Pootholi Damodaran Nair v. Babu, V.K. ILR 2005 (2) 145, the Kerala High Court considered the request of a party to play a magnetic tape produced in Court. The request was turned down by the District Munsiff. The order rejecting such request was set aside holding it to be an indiscretion of the Court. The tape and the transcript were marked in evidence upon the Defendant_ s son having taped the conversation containing discussion between the Plaintiff and the Defendant. The tape was sought to be played in Court for the identification of the voice of the person whose voice it was professed to be and for establishing the authenticity and correctness of the recording. The learned District Munsiff rejected the application on the ground that it came after closing the evidence of the Petitioner, it was not brought out from proper custody and was not deposited in the official record. Holding that electronic record was a document under Section 3 of the Evidence Act in line with the Information Technology Act, 2000 and considering the Supreme Court judgment in the case of Ram Singh v. Col. Ram Singh MANU/SC/0176/1985 : AIR 1986 SC 3, it was held that tape record of the conversation and the transcript, which were rightly admitted and marked in evidence, were required to be examined by the Court to see their genuineness as the tape record was admissible under Section 7 of the Indian Evidence Act. The conditions laid down in the judgment of the Supreme Court in Ram Singh (supra) were set out in that judgment. The very first condition is the identification of the voice in the tape record. It is rightly observed that where the voice is denied by the maker, it will require strict proof to determine whether it was really his voice.
20. The Defendant has not called upon the Plaintiff to admit or deny the voice. The Plaintiff has not admitted or denied the voice. Perhaps that would now be done in the cross-examination itself. That can be done even before the CD is marked in evidence because it is a document required to cross-examine the witness of the other side. If it is identified by the Plaintiff and admitted to be her voice, no further exercise need be done. If it is not identified by the Plaintiff, it can be identified by the Defendant. Upon such identification it would have to be marked in evidence. The verification of such identification would have to be done by the Court itself by playing the record, for which no application is yet made, but such an application has been allowed under that judgment. Of course, the accuracy of the statements would have to be proved by direct or circumstantial evidence. The proof is in the domain of the Defendant either in the cross-examination of the Plaintiff or in his own evidence. The recorded conversation could be used even to contradict the Plaintiff_ s case, provided its accuracy is shown.
21. It must be mentioned that evidence is to be considered from three aspects; admissibility of evidence, recording of evidence and appreciation of evidence. It is settled law that tape recorded conversation is admissible in evidence. What must be of importance is how the tape recorded conversation is to be recorded as evidence and appreciated thereafter. Recording can be in the cross-examination of the other side and/or in the evidence of the recorder himself. The appreciation of evidence would require consideration of the aforesaid three requirements; identification, relevancy and accuracy. It is left to the Defendant to pass those tests. If the tests are not passed, the tape recorded conversation would be of no use in effect ultimately.
22. That has been held in the case of Tukaram S. Dighole v. Manikrao Shivaji Kokate, in Civil Appeal No. 2928 of 2008 decided on 5th February 2010. In that case a cassette placed before the Court was discarded from evidence. This was the cassette stated to have been produced from the custody of an Election Commissioner_ s office. It was taken to be a public document. It was held that mere production of the audio cassette even certified by the Election Commissioner is not conclusive of the fact that what is contained in the cassette was true and correct. This is on par with the certified copy of any document produced from public record. Such a document would show that it was a document filed in the public office and is a true production of whatever was filed in the public office. It however cannot prove the truth of the contents of the document merely by the production of even its certified copy by the public office as held in the case of Om Prakash Berlia v. United Trust of India MANU/MH/0249/1983 : AIR 1983 Bom 1.
23. In the case of Tukaram (supra), the Petitioner produced the VHS cassette on record. The Petitioner produced no evidence to indicate that the record was a true reproduction of its contents. In fact, the Petitioner did not produce any cogent evidence regarding the source and manner of the acquisition of the cassette and the authenticity of its contents. It was, therefore, held that it could not be read in evidence despite the fact that it could be a public document. This was, therefore, in the domain of appreciation of evidence. The authenticity of an electronic record such as a CD or a cassette would be determined by the proof of the original electronic record. This proof may be given by production of that record itself which can be compared with the CD produced by the party in a civil litigation such as the Defendant in this case or any other evidence, direct or circumstantial, which the Court would then consider, examine and appreciate. The standard of proof of such authenticity and accuracy of such an electronic record has been held in paragraph 20 of the judgment to be more stringent as compared to the other documentary evidence given its propensity for misuse by alteration, interpolation or mutilation. It is, therefore, directed to be received with caution. Consequently, in that case when the party who produced the record did not lead any evidence to prove that the cassette produced on record was a true reproduction of the original speeches by the Respondent or his agent, which he was incumbent to be proved either himself or through his witness who is the maker of the record, it was held not to be considered in evidence.
24. Counsel on behalf of the Plaintiff has relied upon the case of Lalji s/o Bansanarayan Choubey v. Jiyalal Chanvan and Anr. 2009(2) MLJ 565 to contend that the actual tape recorder or the instrument on which it was recorded had to be produced and the CD had to be sealed and relied upon in the Defendant_ s affidavit of documents before any relief can be granted in this application. The Defendant has given a copy of the CD and its transcript to the Plaintiff. The exercise of giving inspection of the document, as required by the procedure established under the CPC, is completed. The Defendant is not required to file his affidavit of documents and rely upon any specific document during the Plaintiff_ s cross-examination. It would be in the discretion, sagacity and wisdom of the Defendant to prove the tape recorded conversation on the CD in the manner he deems fit, provided however that the accuracy of the conversation is proved to the satisfaction of the Court for it to be considered in evidence, the admissibility of the CD notwithstanding.
25. The requirement of sealing the recorded conversation would not be applicable in this case. That requirement is of essence in a criminal case where during investigation the conversation of a party is recorded by the investigating officer. He would certainly be required to seal the tape recorded conversation and keep it in a safe custody so as to play before the Court at the time of trial. When the Defendant himself has recorded the conversation of the Plaintiff as a party in a Civil Suit who is required to keep custody of his own documents, there is no question of the requirement of sealing. It has nevertheless to be shown to be accurate and untampered with. This is in line with the only requirement of the Court which is to ascertain the truth of the case of the parties. Once the Court is satisfied about the truth of the tape recorded conversation, it can be used in evidence to determine the case on merits. Consequently, the observation of the Court in paragraph 3 of the judgment in the case of Pootholi (supra) that the conversation of the witness on a tape recorder can be shown to the Court by producing the tape record in support of the assertion that certain statement was made in his presence rules out any further requirements and formalities except for showing the accuracy of the tape recorded conversation. In fact, the observation of the Court in paragraph 7 of the judgment concluding that the tape record was admissible as primary evidence with the aforesaid provisos of accuracy, identification and relevancy shows that it was on par with human evidence once it is replayed in the Court or proved by forensic evidence thus:
Each received it at the same time the one recording it in the human memory, the other upon a piece of tape.
Consequently, it has considered the judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of Rama Reddy v. V.V. Giri MANU/SC/0333/1970 : AIR 1971 SC 1162 in which it was held that the previous statement recorded on tape could be used not only to corroborate the evidence given by the witness but also to contradict the evidence given before the Court as well as to test the veracity of the evidence and also to impeach his impartiality upon holding that it was primary and direct evidence admissible as to what has been said and picked up by the recorder. Further it is observed that the production of the tape recorded conversation to comply with the aforesaid provisos can be made in any mode:
There can be no straightjacket formula
26. Therefore, it would be vain to suggest that because the CD was not sealed prior to its production, it cannot be admissible or used in evidence. This is a civil trial. The Defendant himself has recorded the conversation and produced the CD thereof. The Defendant could not have recorded it directly on the CD. The Plaintiff had to have an electronic process on an electronic instrument to record the conversation on the CD. It is for the Plaintiff to produce it. It is for the Court to consider and appreciate it. There is no question of sealing of a conversation recorded by a party to the civil lis himself. The sealing requirement is only in criminal trials. That is because the investigating officer records certain conversation either on a telephone to which a recorder has been appended or any other instrument to record the voice of a party under investigation. The investigating officer is required to keep such document, obtained in the course of his investigation safe from it being misused or tampered by anyone else until it is produced and used in the criminal trial. He must, therefore, seal what he has recorded and keep it safe from tampering for the examination by the Court. This would be just as he would seal any other property seized by him to be produced as an article in a criminal trial. This entire procedure is not required in a civil trial and hence the argument that because it is not sealed, it cannot be used in evidence is incorrect. The case of Lalji (supra) was of a criminal trial on a dishonoured cheque under Sections 138 and 139 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. In that case origin of the conversation recorded was left doubtful. Consequently, the most important requirement of producing such an electronic record of accuracy was not satisfied. That aspect was in the domain of appreciation of evidence and not admissibility of evidence.
27. In the interesting case of R.K. Anand v. Registrar, Delhi High Court MANU/SC/1310/2009 : 2009(10) Scale 164 , the original electronic materials upon which the sting operation by a journalist was based was held not needed to have been taken in the Court custody. In that case in a sting operation a particular conversation between two persons was recorded. Based upon the electronic tape recorded conversation played before the Court, contempt notices came to be issued for subverting and interfering with the course of justice in a criminal trial. In that case the copies of the original sting recordings were called for and seen by the Court. The original microchips and the magnetic tapes were allowed to be retained in the custody of the journalist of the TV channel. Upon the case that that was an incorrect and fatal procedure, the Supreme Court considered the rationale behind it thus:
If the recordings on the microchips were fake from the start or if the microchips were morphed before notice was issued to the TV channel, those would come to the court in that condition and in that case the question whether the microchips were genuine or fake/morphed would be another issue. But once the High Court obtained their copies there was no possibility of any tampering with the microchips from that stage. Moreover, the High Court might have felt that the TV channel with its well equipped studio/laboratory would be a much better place for the handling and conservation of such electronic articles than the High Court Registry.
The Supreme Court, therefore, concluded that on the facts of the case, there was no lapse on the part of the High Court in leaving the microchips in the safe custody of the TV channel. It is, therefore, seen not to be straightjacket formula. Consequently, holding that all tape recorded conversation must be sealed without considering its intrinsic source or its custody with a party would be an exercise devoid of application of mind.
28. The dispute between the parties is not ambiguous to either of them. The ambit of evidence has, therefore, to be set out. The Defendant is entitled to rely upon the recorded conversation on the CD by the fact of production of the CD in the cross-examination of the Plaintiff. If the Plaintiff admits the contents, it would be read in evidence. If the Plaintiff disputes the contents, the Defendant would have to prove, by direct or circumstantial evidence in his own examination-in-chief, the accuracy of the recorded conversation. For that proof, the Defendant may produce the original electronic record itself. The Defendant may seek to play it before the Court to have the voice of the Plaintiff, hitherto disputed, identified in Court. The Defendant may himself identify the voice and get it produced in evidence and apply for playing it on record for the Court to appreciate the identified document being the recorded conversation on the CD. The Defendant may produce any other circumstantial evidence to prove the authenticity of the CD as he would for any other documentary evidence. The Defendant would also be entitled, but as a last resort, to have the forensic evidence to identify the voice of the Plaintiff by having the voice of the Plaintiff recorded as an admitted document and compared by an expert in the forensic laboratory to verify that voice with the voice on the taped conversation on the C Ds.
29. It is argued on behalf of the Defendant that the Defendant has taken out the application well in advance for the forensic report to be obtained. The application is, of course, not premature. However, the application involves the requirement of recording of Plaintiff_ s voice and then comparing it with the already recorded voice on the C Ds much as the verification of the admitted and disputed signatures of the parties would be. However, the Plaintiff may choose to admit the contents of the CD or whatever is stated in paragraph of the Written Statement, the entire exercise sought by the Defendant would be avoided since admitted facts need not be proved. Since much would depend upon the Plaintiff s own evidence, the Plaintiff need not be taken through the exercise of having her voice recorded and then verified by the forensic expert at present. However, after the Plaintiff s cross-examination is completed and the Defendant considers production of CD as his own document and relies upon it in the affidavit of documents, the Defendant would be entitled to prove its accuracy through any of the aforesaid modes. For that purpose, the Defendant shall be entitled to prove the tape recorded conversation through the recording of the voice of the Plaintiff and having it verified by the forensic expert as prayed for by him in prayer (ii) of this Notice of Motion. Order accordingly.
30. The Notice of Motion is disposed of accordingly.
Labels: bombay high court, CD, confront, cross examination, husband, production of Document, transcript, wife
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