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__label__wiki	0.940249	0.940249	Green light for development featuring museum and university campus Sophie Morton Artist's impression of the East Bank development in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Picture: Mayor of London's Office Mayor of London's Office A new museum and university campus are set to come to Stratford after planning permission for the scheme was approved. The Mayor of London's Office has given the nod for four key buildings and up to 600 homes to be built as part of the East Bank scheme in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. These buildings, which form the Stratford Waterfront section of the project, will include a new campus for the London College of Fashion that can accommodate 6,500 students. The site will also feature the Victoria and Albert Museum, including a partnership with the Smithsonian Institute, Sadler's Wells dance theatre and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. The East Bank scheme will be spread across three sites in the park and once complete, is predicted to attract 1.5 million visitors a year. The other sites are UCL East - a university campus in the south of the park - and the V&A collection and research centre, situated at Here East. Deputy mayor Joanne McCartney, who considered the application, said: "East Bank is central to the mayor's vision of creating a powerhouse for artistic excellence, learning, research, performance and exhibitions on the site of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. "It represents a unique prospect for London that is almost unparalleled on the international stage. "This project will touch the lives of everyone visiting, living and working in and around the park - so I am delighted to have granted planning permission." Lyn Garner, chief executive of the London Legacy Development Corporation, added: "This is a huge milestone for the project and testament to the hard work, and commitment of all those involved. "East Bank will be the glue that binds together the different elements on the park from world-class visitor attractions, high-tech business districts, thousands of new homes and wonderful parkland and open spaces. "Now, with planning permission in place for the biggest and most exciting culture and education project for a generation, we can start to deliver on the promises for jobs, skills and homes for east London." Construction work on the Stratford Waterfront buildings is expected to begin this year.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741422
__label__cc	0.544817	0.455183	Reckless Is Reckless By James Surowiecki Felix Salmon has doubled down on his assertion that the investors who put their money into the Abacus C.D.O. were not, in fact, speculators betting on the housing bubble and indeed suggests that (due to the impact of rising house prices on mortgage prepayments) “it’s entirely reasonable to assume that IKB and ACA were happy to see the housing bubble coming to an end.” So, Felix writes, “let’s not say that investors like IKB were making a speculative bet that the housing bubble was not going to burst.” Actually, I think that’s precisely what we should say. To be fair, some of the disagreement rests on the definition of the word “speculative.” But the real, if unstated, crux of the issue is that Felix believes that at the time, the investments people made in housing from 2005-2007 somehow made sense outside of the housing bubble, because these investments were buttressed by a system of credit ratings, historical models, mathematical formulas, and new ways of securitizing risk, a system that made it plausible to think that even if the housing bubble burst—not just came to an end, but burst—these investments would still be safe. But it’s more accurate to say that this entire system was itself an artifact of the housing bubble, and only made sense within a context of continually rising prices and the ability of subprime borrowers to refinance their mortgages. To say that investors weren’t speculating because they were buying “triple-A” securities is to assume that a triple-A rating for a C.D.O. made up entirely of crappy subprime loans might somehow have been a plausible rating even if the housing bubble burst. But it wasn’t. The only reason it was possible to turn dubious subprime loans into highly-rated securities was because the housing bubble artificially held down default rates, making those loans (and therefore the securities) look much better than they actually were. It’s not a coincidence that the creation of subprime C.D.O.s happened at the same time as the housing bubble. The former was only possible because of the latter (and in turn helped keep the bubble going). And the credit ratings of the individual securities that went into these C.D.O.s were themselves artificially inflated by bubble hysteria. The only reason subprime securities could be rated as investment-grade was because of the assumption that borrowers would be able to either sell their homes for higher prices or use the new equity to refinance. But given the fact that incomes in the U.S. weren’t rising, this assumption required that the housing bubble (as measured by a soaring property-value-to-income ratio) continue. To say it again: if you were investing in housing in 2007, you were betting that the bubble would not burst. It’s absolutely true, as Felix points out, that lots of people—and lots of smart people—thought either that the bubble wouldn’t burst or that if it did the damage wouldn’t be so severe. (I count myself as one of the latter.) But this isn’t evidence that housing investors weren’t gambling—it’s just evidence that the bubble mentality was very hard for even sophisticated investors to escape. James Surowiecki is the author of “The Wisdom of Crowds.” Housing Prices Sign up for our daily newsletter and get the best of The New Yorker in your in-box.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741424
__label__wiki	0.942924	0.942924	A Film Fictionalizes D.S.K. By Richard Brody Gérard Depardieu plays a fictionalized version of Dominique Strauss-Kahn in “Welcome to New York.” Abel Ferrara’s new film, “Welcome to New York,” is opening tomorrow in limited release and via video-on-demand, but Ferrara doesn’t want it to be seen in the form in which it’s being released. The drama is based loosely on the case of the French politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who, while serving as the head of the International Monetary Fund, was arrested in New York, in 2011, on charges of sexual assault resulting from a complaint by a chambermaid at a hotel. It stars Gérard Depardieu, as a politician named Devereaux, and Jacqueline Bisset as his wife, Simone. Ferrara's own two-hour-and-five-minute cut of "Welcome to New York" premièred last May at the Cannes Film Festival and was immediately released in France on video-on-demand, without a theatrical release, which is an unusual approach there, but one that proved profitable. (It also came out in France on Blu-ray.) For the American release, Ferrara was contractually obligated to deliver an R-rated cut, but he was unwilling to reëdit the film; its worldwide distributor, Wild Bunch, made an R-rated cut on its own, which is the version being released tomorrow. It’s worth saying from the start that “Welcome to New York” is a fierce, deeply moving film, and that even the R-rated version by Wild Bunch—the one that I saw first—is an intensely personal and profound movie. Ferrara achieves something remarkable: he turns the pain and the tormented inner life of a brilliantly manipulative predator into a frozen cinematic inferno. The film is a darkly insightful set of scenes from a marriage with a Bergmanesque tinge, a surprisingly philosophical reflection on the vanity of power, and even a quasi-documentary view into the penal system, a daily nightmare that’s kept out of view of the city’s suave façades. Nonetheless, Ferrara is justifiably angry about the R-rated version: Wild Bunch’s cut goes far beyond the simple removal of a few sexually explicit moments. The distributor excised seventeen minutes from a film that runs two hours and five minutes. Most significantly, it altered the presentation of the scene on which the entire plot is based, that of the alleged sexual assault on the chambermaid in Devereaux’s hotel room. (She is played by the actress Pamela Afesi; the character is unnamed in the movie.) There’s no way to discuss the differences in the two cuts without spoilers—but anyone who has followed even the starkest contours of the Strauss-Kahn case knows the course of the action, and Ferrara’s plot (with a script that he co-wrote with Christ Zois) generally follows it. In Ferrara’s cut, Devereaux’s assault on the chambermaid runs for about a minute and a half, and it explicitly shows Devereaux emerging from the bathroom clad only in a towel. The chambermaid, unaware that he was there, appears flustered and is about to leave, but he drops his towel, grabs her, and, overcoming her refusal and her resistance, forces her head down toward his crotch. Then, several scenes later, when the chambermaid answers questions from police officers about the incident, Ferrara shows her simply sitting in their presence and describing the incident. The cut that Wild Bunch has delivered handles the scene entirely differently. Devereaux approaches her, uttering the same line. (“Don’t be scared. Do you know who I am?”) She backs away fearfully and then, after the image cuts to the dark hallway, is heard saying, “Please, no.” Then she’s seen emerging from his room, shaken and in tears. Several scenes later, when she speaks to the police, she begins to describe the assault; it’s shown in flashback, and then she continues her description. According to Ferrara, the recut suggests that the events in the hotel room may not have happened as the maid says they did—that it presents the assault not as fact (within the context of the story) but as her version of the incident. I think that Ferrara is right—and that he’s also wrong. I saw the Wild Bunch version first, and it had me persuaded for several reasons. First, the chambermaid’s denial of consent in the initial scene, though brief, is clear and unambiguous. Second, during the scene of her talk with the police, her description matches up exactly with the flashback of the assault. Third, there are other flashbacks in the film, which come off as unimpeachable depictions of actual events (again, within the context of the story), not as fantasies or distortions. Fourth, and most important, even after the case against Devereaux is dropped (as, in real life, was the case against Strauss-Kahn), Devereaux admits to his wife what happened, and he does so in a way that’s shockingly oblivious and callous. The dialogue, delivered by Depardieu in fractured English, is “I didn’t do what they say. ... I didn’t fuck, I jerk on that lady. ... I just jerk on her mouth. That’s all. That is my sickness.” (That dialogue is identical in Ferrara’s longer cut.) At no point, while watching the Wild Bunch version, did I think that the depiction of the encounter exonerated Devereaux or that the maid’s accusations against him were fabricated or unjust. On the other hand, Ferrara is right that his approach has an absolute directness and simplicity, a narrative authority that should certainly have been respected by Wild Bunch, which went far beyond the need to deliver an R-rated cut. The distributor cut many scenes, especially from the early part of the film, that show the extent of Devereaux’s sexual obsession. One of the first scenes in the film shows him receiving his chief of staff in his office. During the course of their security-related discussion, Devereaux is having his shoulders massaged by a young woman. In the Wild Bunch cut, the scene is short; in Ferrara’s cut, it’s made clear that she’s a prostitute, and she and Devereaux offer her services to the official. Another difference: arriving in his New York hotel room, Devereaux is greeted by a pair of young male handlers who have a trio of prostitutes with them for Devereaux’s delectation, and, after Devereaux finishes with them in the middle of the night, the handlers show the women out and bring in two more to service the politician. In Ferrara’s cut, the scenes with the prostitutes are much longer. While having sex, Devereaux growls and snorts and grunts and wheezes like a barnyard animal and plays with the prostitutes’ bodies casually, recklessly, and aggressively. (The R-rated cut of these bedroom scenes is an improvement, because Ferrara's more extended, more explicit sequences don't add much.) The strangest omission in the Wild Bunch cut, though, is a flashback. Devereaux, remanded on bail, is under house arrest in a Tribeca townhouse that Simone has rented, and where she’s staying with him. There, the short version features a flashback (as if Devereaux is remembering it) of his affair in Paris with a young woman. (In the director’s cut, the affair is preceded by the scene of their meeting, at an art exhibit.) Ferrara’s cut, however, also features a second such flashback, to another of Devereaux’s Paris relationships with a young woman: an American woman who comes to Devereaux’s pied-à-terre to interview him, whom he attempts to seduce, and, when he fails to attract her, whom he attempts to rape. (She gets away and runs out of his apartment without her shirt, which he has torn off.) It’s a significant omission, though it’s not a total omission—during one of Devereaux’s court hearings, a prosecutor says that Devereaux has a history of sexual assault, based on an incident in which he was involved in France. The protagonist’s past isn’t whitewashed in the Wild Bunch cut, but Ferrara’s blunt depiction is finessed into an allusion. Ferrara argues that, with the Wild Bunch cut, “you’re basically condoning rape. It’s open season on abusing women.” This is not so; Devereaux’s sexual violence is apparent throughout. There’s another very brief cut made by Wild Bunch, however, that makes no difference to the plot but that matters greatly to the movie’s tone. Allowed to make one phone call after his arrest, Devereaux calls Simone in Paris. The scene in the police station is more ample—and better—in the Wild Bunch cut. But, in Ferrara’s cut, the fabulously wealthy Simone is hosting a dinner party where a guest toasts her by praising her for “all she’s done for Israel.” It shouldn’t matter one way or the other—but, later in the film (in both cuts), Devereaux insults Simone with accusations about the dirty Second World War source of her family money and, throughout, Simone admits to preparing Devereaux (who says he is “not Christian”) to run for President of France (which, of course, the case in New York definitively thwarts). The implication of Ferrara’s cut is that a Jewish woman who has profitted from the Nazi occupation of France is both helping Israel and propelling her Jewish husband toward her country’s Presidency. (In real life, Strauss-Kahn is Jewish, as is Anne Sinclair, his wife at the time of this case, whose parents escaped the Nazi occupation of France and fled to New York, where she was born.) This line of dialogue proved controversial when the movie premièred at the Cannes Film Festival. For instance, in Le Monde, Isabelle Regnier wrote: “This scene, which seems to serve only to equate Jews, power, and money, slips into anti-Semitic fantasy.” I can’t say I miss it—not because it’s repugnant but because Ferrara doesn’t develop it, doesn’t make clear, in the scenes with Simone and Devereaux, what difference Judaism or Israel makes to their life and work. (There’s a hint of the theme, in an extraordinary soliloquy, in which Devereaux says, “I’m lucky I’m not a Christian,” in the midst of general, cynical speculation about guilt without fear of the afterlife; it’s a strong idea, but one that’s detached from practical politics.) There are three main strands to the film: the sexual, the penal, and the marital. What Ferrara has to say about sex isn’t especially original. What’s remarkable about these scenes is Depardieu’s flamboyant carnal energy and self-sacrificing physicality. He exposes his massive body and flaunts his size as a mode of domination, but also bears his size as a burden. Through Depardieu’s tormented power, Ferrara conveys the harrowing paradox of pleasure without joy, a forced theatrical show of regal exuberance in which all the power and all the energy are focussed solely on the payoff. The penal aspect of the story has a rare verité. American prisons are full of addicts, of people whose lives have been hollowed out, as Devereaux’s has been, by a physical craving and who, rather than being treated, are punished. Because he can rent a townhouse and pay for armed guards, Devereaux is allowed to live under house arrest while awaiting trial. But Ferrara, following Devereaux into the cold heart of the penal system, reveals the city behind the city, the carceral world and its monstrous indignities. But there’s a fourth strand, hidden within the story, that Ferrara neglects: the judicial. The underlying question of the film is: How in the world was Devereaux exonerated? Devereaux himself suspects Simone of having paid people off, but she denies this. In real life, prosecutors dropped the charges against Strauss-Kahn when inconsistencies arose in his accuser’s account of the incident. This part of the story remains resolutely off-screen, out of view, and even out of mind—but it raises crucial questions about the difficulty of prosecuting sexual-assault cases, and Ferrara doesn't pursue them. He has chosen not to make a courtroom or legal drama from the story, and this choice is the core of his art. Ferrara's sympathy for Devereaux's victims is apparent—yet the focus of his movie is Devereaux, not his victims. The film is the story of an addict who sinks ever deeper into the grips of his pathology. Devereaux’s obsessive focus on sex seems to cost him not just his dignity but his reason, as in a peculiar scene at lunch with his daughter and her boyfriend, during which he refers to bouillabaisse as “a sex party of the fish” and then, at length, presses her and the young man to talk about the couple’s sexual relationship. (“How’s the fucking?”) In the great, climactic scene of Devereaux and Simone, a bloody post-mortem of a dead love, he admits to his addiction. In this extraordinary scene, he comes off as a burned-out, inhuman hulk whose sense of inescapable dependence—of being clay in Simone’s hands and a plaything of his life’s outer influences—results mainly from his actual existence being a sort of waking dream, a vague and vaporous cloud that serves solely to conceal the core of pathology, from himself and from others. These scenes seem to arise from a deep well of understanding and empathy. Ferrara has poured himself into these harrowing scenes with a rare force of insight—and he films them with a still, wide-eyed clarity that appears to express his own astonishment at their revelations. The seemingly deadened Devereaux endures those indignities with a stolid despair, reacting vigorously only when he’s denied his one phone call. He emerges seemingly unmarked; it’s the viewer who is anguished and even scarred. The depiction of Devereaux as a sort of sacrificial victim, an avatar of the viewer’s sensibilities, is among Ferrara’s grandest inspirations. He has no sympathy for Devereaux’s deeds, but enormous sympathy for Devereaux’s wreckage, inner as well as outer. Depardieu is the exemplary actor of pain in the modern cinema. He is the most furiously feral performer of the time, whose mighty force is matched by his power of endurance. Bisset’s laser-sharp, emotionally exact performance as Simone is the perfect and necessary foil to Depardieu’s stifled howl. Her practical maturity and his raw force, her worldly intelligence and his fragmented mind, her emotional openness and his black hole of need, make for one of the strongest and most agonized cinematic couples since the heyday of John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands. Ferrara’s directorial achievement in “Welcome to New York” is mighty and terrifying. The filmmaker has every right to be upset—but should also, nonetheless, remain proud. It seems likely that his own R-rated cut of the movie would have remained much closer to his own original version. At the same time, for all the indignities inflicted on the film by Wild Bunch, the movie is still Ferrara’s own. Richard Brody began writing for The New Yorker in 1999. He writes about movies in his blog, The Front Row. He is the author of “Everything Is Cinema: The Working Life of Jean-Luc Godard.” Who is Dominique Strauss-Kahn? By Amy Davidson Sorkin Why Reënactments Never Work Dramatic recreations such as those in “The Jinx” are betrayals and debasements of the very stories their directors are trying to tell.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741425
__label__cc	0.724224	0.275776	Gastroschisis: A Rare Disease with No Roadmaps "Gastroschisis is an easy fix” “If you had to pick a birth defect, gastroschisis would be the one.” “Once we close the baby up and you go home, you have nothing else to worry about.” These were the responses from practitioners seven years ago when at 12 weeks we found out our son, Avery would be born with gastroschisis. Now, seven years later, our foundation gets 1-2 families a week getting this same input from their physician. And it does not end up being true. Gastroschisis is one of the more visceral birth defects in the world. The defect is a hole in the abdominal wall that can range in size that causes the intestines, and sometimes other organs to protrude out of the body. The medical community does not know what causes the abdominal wall to not close down completely around the umbilical cord as it should in normal development. The survival rate is 80-90%, with about 40% experiencing long-term complications across a spectrum. The trends are on the upswing too- state side 1990 it was 1 in 10,000. Then in 2011 it was 1 in 2229. Earlier this year the CDC reported that in 14 states, there was a 30% increase in the disease across all demographics. However, gastroschisis is a rare disease. A rare disease is defined as a disease that affects less than 200,000 people at one time. The CDC reports that 1,871 babies are affected by gastroschisis a year. Which frustrates research- trends are up, but the sample sizes to study are very small. This might sound like a lot of numbers to you, but they really mean everything to our population. When you are one of 7,000 rare diseases it means that the knowledge (much less correct pronunciation) on gastroschisis is not going to be pervasive. Initially, it means our expecting parents will have to travel cities away, some even states away for their child’s initial treatment at birth. That stay could be 3 weeks (on average about 6-8) or 740+ days. Being a rare disease also means our parents cannot walk into their local Urgent Care with a child who has a compacted bowel, fever or vomiting, and find a practitioner that has had experience treating a gastroschisis affected gut (and believe me, that does matter.) For any other child, vomiting and fever would normally mean a bug, for our children it could mean intussusception, volvulus, or obstruction. Things most doctors rarely see. Simply put, gastroschisis means there are no road maps. To test this "easy fix" idea, Avery’s Angels recently asked some of it’s 12,000 social media followers to submit a simple sample: 1) Baby’s Name 2) Date of birth 3) Date until first hold 3) Days in the NICU 4) Number of Surgeries 5) Any long term complications. We have had over 200 responses and no 2 are alike. Some families went 2-3 weeks before first holding their child, while others were in the unit and discharged in that time. Some babies had little complications after discharge, some have spent upwards of 15 years in and out of the hospital. Out of the 200 submissions, no 2 were the same. And, as one parent put it, none of the experiences were “easy.” With this in mind, that I could not speak about one experience for all, I asked our families to weigh into this piece. What would you want the world to know? What would you want an expecting family to know? The overwhelming consensus was this: Expect anything. Outcomes cannot be promised. This defect is not an "easy fix" no matter what you get handed. You never get to “leave it behind,” you’ll watch every poop, fever and vomit with caution, and with good reason. Don’t consult Dr. Facebook, know where your knowledgeable physician is, find that person and build that relationship. Ask questions. If you have to, ask the same question over and over. You’ll be terrified at some points, and that is OK. You find out that you have a strength in you that you never knew you were capable of, and sometimes your child will lead you through that as they endure their trial. When you need to, seek support from the gastroschisis community. Even though every journey is different, there is commonality in the journey still, and it helps to know you’re not alone. The “easy” part of gastroschisis is the love that comes, unconditionally, for a tiny baby born inside out, that teaches you how to love from the inside out. There is an amazing and fiercely loyal tribe of gastroschisis families and survivors that have come together over the years, to support one another, to help others get to the right people who can help. These are the parts where good starts to shine through. When you cannot have a road map as to where you are going, it helps to have a tribe to walk with you along the way. We have a lot to accomplish, and an uphill climb. Gastroschisis is a rare disease, meaning the science behind understanding the disease is going to take a lot of time and effort. It means that the skill set to treat this is going to be rare too. I am not worried about it though, because the families I get to serve, the patients I get to work with- survivors and angels, are relentless. The push to make up the gaps in understanding comes with a tenacity that cannot be paralleled. Some of our moms and dads even start up a new career in medicine as nurses, CNA’s, doctors and paramedics. Even more of them take up the charge to promote awareness and research. Nearly all of them turn around to give a helping hand to others struggling through. No, no one would chose this defect. But anyone would chose this tribe. Meghan Hall CEO/Founder Avery's Angels ® Gastroschisis Foundation www.averysangels.org I was exactly 23 weeks pregnant when I was at work and went into active labor. As an ER nurse, I knew that the outcome of babies born this early more likely than not was not a good one. The two days I was on bed rest were filled with terrifying discussions about "viability" and the low percentage that my child would even survive outside of the delivery room. At the hospital I was admitted to, babies born at 23 weeks and 4 days had at least a sliver of a chance. Any babies born before that were too small and too premature. After two scary days on bed rest, I was rushed into an emergency c-section. My labor had progressed past the point of no return. I don't remember much from my time in the delivery room, but I do remember hearing a nurse shout, "the baby's moving!," being told it was a boy, then giving him a quick kiss before he was rushed to the NICU and placed on a ventilator. Ryan was born at 23 weeks and 3 days, technically not a viable baby. He weighed 1 pound, 5 ounces. Ryan spent weeks after that fighting for his life. Because he was so early, his lungs were so underdeveloped and kept shutting down. The first few weeks he was so sick and fragile he couldn't be repositioned in his isolette. His airway was so tiny any movement could dislodge his breathing tube and he wouldn't be able to get oxygen. We sat by his isolette day and night, holding our breaths every time his heart rate dropped or his oxygen plummeted. At one point a few weeks in, Ryan's lungs continued to shut down. The doctors threw everything they could at him and he wasn't improving. The neonatologist gave us the possibility of the grim outcome, and promised to do everything they could. We prepared for the worst scenario, but the whole time Ryan kept kicking away in his isolette and fighting harder than anyone could imagine. Miraculously, Ryan turned the corner and pulled through. His lungs were still precarious, but every day began to look better and better. After 3 weeks, he was finally stable enough that I could hold him. Holding his tiny, less than two pound body against my chest was the best moment I could have imagined. Ryan spent 9 weeks on a ventilator before he was able to be weaned off and onto oxygen. Multiple times, he pulled out his own breathing tube. I watched him turn blue and lifeless as they struggled to get him breathing and reinsert his tube more times than I can count. Finally, one day Ryan decided enough was enough, pulled out his tube, and never looked back. He then spent weeks on Bipap, then CPAP, then high flow oxygen, then a nasal cannula. He had to be transported to another NICU for laser eye surgery for retinopathy of prematurity. Every day he fought, and grew, and exceeded the expectations of all of the medical staff. Finally, after 146 days in the NICU, exactly one month after his due date, Ryan came home for good. No oxygen, no monitor, and no long term issues to be had. As I sit and type this, the miracle baby that was not supposed to make it out of the delivery room is smiling and laughing away. We are forever indebted to the NICU doctors, PAs, APRNs, nurses, and staff for everything they did for Ryan and fighting as hard as he did for the best possible outcome. I'm currently in graduate school to become an APRN myself, with the hopes of working in the NICU upon graduation and pay it forward to more tiny, incredible miracles like Ryan. Written by: Katie Vigil, mother of Ryan Patience and Aria Jennifer Labriola used to envy those whose life was a neat little package. Effortlessly their life was textbook, fairytale normal. How it’s supposed to be or what they thought it should be. Jennifer’s journey through life has been overcoming hurdles – she is a reporter at heart and research has always been in her wheelhouse. When she couldn’t get pregnant, she researched infertility. When she found her insurance wouldn’t pay for it, she researched and questioned nurses about how she could save. Finally, after eight years, they put in two embryos in May of 2014, with the cautious, “Two? Maybe they should only do one” questioning of her husband, Carlo. After years of negative pregnancy tests, she finally was pregnant, and not with one baby, but an overachieving two babies (both girls). Finally, she thought, she could start up the normal part of life, with a normal pregnancy, right? At 24 weeks during an ultrasound the doctor told her they had a problem. She chuckled, thinking he was joking, but no, her “baby b” had intermittent absent blood flow. She was growing very slow, while baby A was doing fine. She struggled for weeks, praying to get to at least 28 weeks. The doctor kept a close eye on the babies and each time she arrived to her appointments he would joke if she’d “packed her bags” for the hospital. “No, not yet,” she’d say with a smile. Positivity was what she clung to during these stressful times. Jennifer and the girls finally arrived at 28 weeks and during one appointment, the baby’s brain, which was being affected by the cord issue, was beginning to show normal readings. This sounded great, but the doctor looked concerned and said, “we’re having some babies today.” Normal brain function, means the baby was giving up. We had 48 hours to remove them, or else we’d lose baby b. Patience Lucia (baby a) and Aria LaSalle (baby b) were born on Oct. 26, 2015 at 6:03 and 6:08pm via c-section. Patience, the bigger of the two, came out crying at 2lb 8oz. Aria came out with a soft cry, and weighed 1lb 10oz. She got a quick peek of the babies, but all she could remember was seeing Patience in a plastic bag and thinking how odd it was. Their journey was just beginning, with hesitant congratulations, and an uneasy feeling from family and friends. She never once felt that the girls wouldn’t survive, she was 100% positive that they would be just fine – they were strong babies even if so tiny. The day she got to see them she thought it would be a life changing moment, but it was more of a numbing, overloaded moment. She was overloaded with the NICU nurses crash course in the norms of their new NICU life. Wash your hands before you touch them, don’t rub their skin – it’s too sensitive right now, and be sure to talk low. It was a lot to process at one time and as she looked at the other babies and compared their weights to to the others, she realized they had the smallest babies in the NICU. They got lucky. Their girls only had minor issues such as jaundice and both were on low-flow cannulas. A perk of having babies in the NICU is learning medical terms, in a constant state of being overwhelmed they constantly learned about the babies. They got to know the nurses, got to learn which ones they liked and spoke with doctors about care. She never asked when the girls could come home. After a while, their weeks and days were the same – they would spend weekends at the hospital. Eat in the cafeteria, day dream about when the babies would come home. Celebrate their milestones, they soon had feeder/growers – and just like what the NICU nurses told them, it would happen fast for the girls to come home. Patience came home first – the day they picked her up, was a stressful bittersweet day. She was happy and yet sad to have to leave her sister Aria there for another week. Patience came home on January 2 while Aria came home on the twin’s due date on January 13. Now with both girls are home, it’s been a rollercoaster of doctor’s appointments for their development. They are good babies, with personalities and smiles and giggles that is music to their ears. Being NICU parents, she knows they have a long road ahead of us with making sure the development of the girls is on track. She always wanted a normal type of life, but now, she couldn’t imagine her life any other way. Her babies are different, they are special and she is blessed with each milestone they reach. Stories of Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) Necrotizing Enterocolitis is common among ill or premature infants that occurs when bacteria invades the intestine. This bacteria causes an infection and inflammation which ultimately destroys the bowel or intestine. “NEC affects one in 2,000 to 4,000 births” which ends up being “between 1 and 5% of neonatal intensive care unit admissions” [1]. Lucelena and Cecilia Rebecca Casillas’s twin girls, Lucelena and Cecilia, were born at 28 weeks and 5 days. Lucy at 2lbs 8ozs and Ceci at 2lbs 2ozs. The girls had varying degrees of respiratory therapy and were making good progress on temperature stabilization, weight gain and oxygen levels. About 6 weeks into their NICU stay, both girls started losing ground and backtracking on many of the gains they had made. They moved back into incubators from an open bed, off of room air back to O2 all within 2-3 days of each other. They both were diagnosed with medical necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and began a 7-10 day treatment of antibiotics. It was so hard for Rebecca and her family to see the girls go back to the IV fluids (total parenteral nutrition) after they were getting the hang of bottle and breast feeding. It was equally hard for them to know the taste of milk and feeling of a full belly and then everything be taken away. There were many scares with x-rays of their bowels that got worse before they got better and once they were cleared for feedings again, we had to start slowly and build everything back up from what seemed like Day 1. But as most things go in the NICU, we took it one day at a time and miraculously, on their original due date, the girls were able to come home with very few issues. They are now both thriving at 16mo olds and enjoying each day as they learn and grow, progressively acting more and more like their actual age vs the age adjusted for their prematurity. The Casillas family is so thankful to the medical team at Magee Women's Hospital that caught this issue before it became surgical. It is truly amazing how strong the fight is in these children and how inspiring they can be. Rebecca hopes that their story gives those going through a similar situation comfort. They are sending good vibes out to all those still fighting. Easton and Isabella Easton and Isabella were born on April 2, 2016 at 23 weeks 1 day. They each weighed 1lb 7oz and 11 inches in length. Isabella was Rachael Erickson’s lung girl, she had a patent ductus arteriosus (pda) that closed, a chest tube inserted within the first 2 weeks, pneumonia and a run in with NEC. It took 3 rounds of steroids at different times to get Isabella on low flow O2. They thought she would end up with a tracheotomy but fortunately her symptoms did not worsen. They eventually found that she was aspirating with her feedings. After this discovery was made the hospital team got her bottling on thickened feedings and she did great. Easton had a grade 1 Bleed which resolved on its own, PDA which resolved on its own, Avastin injections for ROP, Ecoli from the breathing tube, and got NEC twice. Easton got NEC within the first 10 days but did not develop any perforations. He was started on feedings again however the NEC developed again. He had surgery at 2 months old and received 2 stomas. After surgery he was considered “failure to thrive” as he wasn't gaining weight and was not absorbing his feedings. His intestine protruded greatly which caused him to have another surgery 7 weeks later to reconnect. Surgery was a success and very little intestine had to be removed. Easton is now on feedings but is struggling with his breathing. The hospital staff didn't think Easton would make it after his second run in with NEC. Now all they say is he is a miracle. Isabella came home at 9lbs at 137 days old, she is on low flow O2 but doing great. [1] http://www.chla.org/necrotizing-enterocolitis Joshua's Story: Pregnancy Complications – Preeclampsia and HELLP Syndrome When Kelly Guzman discovered she was pregnant she was overjoyed, and since it was her first, she was blissfully unaware that anything could go wrong. According to her, it was a difficult pregnancy; she lost weight and barely had an appetite. But she continued to visit her physician who assured her everything was going smoothly. At her 20 week exam she discovered they were expecting a boy, who her and her partner named Joshua. The doctors also thought they noticed some abnormalities, and became insistent that the baby had a genetic deformity. If she didn’t miscarry, the doctors strongly recommended aborting the baby. To this, Kelly firmly resisted. At 27 weeks, Kelly started experiencing sharp pains and debilitating nausea. As it turns out, she was suffering through the early symptoms of HELLP syndrome, and could have bled out or potentially lost the baby at any moment. A week later she underwent an emergency C- section which required 3 blood transfusions to bring her platelet count up to a survival level. Joshua was still-born, but miraculously revived, weighing just 1 pound, 11 ounces and severely jaundiced from oxygen deprivation. Joshua was so small because he was restricted to growing only on the left side of Kelly’s uterus, as she also had an undiagnosed uterine abnormality, a bicornuate uterus. Because this was her first baby, there was no way she could have ever known she had this irregularity. After being in the St. Mary’s NICU in West Palm Beach, FL for 7 seven days, Joshua was transferred to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami, as he had suffered a grade 3 brain bleed with enlarged ventricles. Joshua’s limited oxygen also lead to an excessive amount of folding on the brain, called polymicrogyria, which can cause seizures. For the ensuing 140 days, Kelly and her partner drove the 2-3 hour drive every weekend to watch over Joshua and comfort him as best they could. Finally, at 8 weeks old and on her birthday, Kelly was able to hold her son. They weren’t clear of all troubles yet, as Joshua still needed surgery to close a flap near his heart which had not fully healed. He had also developed chronic lung disease and bronchopulmonary dysplasia, because he was required to be on ventilator support throughout his stay in the NICU. Not being able to see Joshua daily, coupled with the fact he was kept sedated, were the hardest parts for the parents. In order to keep him calm and to help accept the life support, Joshua was on a constant drip of either morphine or fentanyl for his entire stay. The withdrawal effects of these drugs were especially painful, and the reason he needed to stay so long in the Nicklaus NICU. After 147 days in two NICUs, Joshua was finally released, weighing just over 6 pounds. Kelly is happy to report that a year after his discharge, Joshua is doing perfectly fine, with no genetic abnormalities or residual complications. He is crawling, taking his first steps and saying his first words. After going through a pregnancy complicated by HELLP syndrome and an extensive stay in a NICU, Kelly hopes that her story can be an example of not only what can go drastically wrong, but what can go unexpectedly right. Pregnancy Complications – Preeclampsia and HELLP Syndrome A variety of complications can arise unexpectedly during pregnancy, causing many women to have a very difficult experience. This sometimes can be due to the personal health factors of mother, which when left unnoticed, lead to problems as the pregnancy progresses. The severity and type of challenges can truly run the gauntlet for women, from the onset of gestational diabetes, to premature labor and miscarriage, to severe and persistent nausea and vomiting (hyperemesis gravidarum).[i] One of the most critical and life-threatening problems that can occur is preeclampsia, and its severe variant HELLP syndrome, which are characterized by the sudden onset of high blood pressure and protein in the urine. Historically, preeclampsia has always affected a certain portion of pregnant women. From the time of Hippocrates up until the 20th century, physicians were not only baffled by how these symptoms developed, but in how to treat them successfully. The most common methods were bloodletting, elimination of toxins, rest and purging. These treatments were prescribed for millennia, and did not change all that much until doctors started to understand the pathophysiological changes that are the symptoms of this condition; notably the increase in blood pressure and presence of protein in the urine. Due to their research from the second half of the 20th century up until today, physicians have learned how to better treat the symptoms, but still cannot prevent the disorder’s occurrence.[ii] Unfortunately it is still mostly unknown how and why preeclampsia develops in pregnant women, however, doctors believe it is related to the poor development of blood vessels in the placenta. This condition affects between 5-8% of all pregnancies in the United States, and only through proper prenatal care and by watching for warning signs can it be caught early and managed.[iii] A more acute form of preeclampsia is HELLP syndrome, (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, low platelet count). The symptoms of HELLP are similar to that of preeclampsia, high blood pressure and protein in the urine, but can also involve chest pain, pain when breathing, edema and uncomfortable indigestion. This particular disorder is very hard to diagnose, as its symptoms can sometimes be mistaken for the flu. If is not caught in time, it can lead to liver rupture or stroke, and put the life of the mother and child at risk. Of the 5-8% of U.S. women who will develop preeclampsia, roughly 15% of those women will develop indications of HELLP syndrome.[iv] Since it is still unknown how these symptoms arise, it is important for physicians to consistently run blood tests and urine samples for any woman experiencing any signs of HELLP during her third trimester. Treatment options for HELLP are weighed against the gestation of the pregnancy, as the best solution for mom and baby is a delivery. Since physicians do not know precisely how and why these symptoms progess during pregnancy, there can be no way to completely prevent it. They recommend monitoring diet and exercise, and regular prenatal visits to observe blood pressure.[v] By ensuring that women are informed and aware of any changes however slight to their blood pressure, they can seek help when severe warning signs develop such as violent pains and severe nausea. By staying attentive to their bodies, women who may be experiencing the first signs of preeclampsia or HELLP will greatly increase their chances of survival and safe delivery of their baby. [1] https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/pregnancy/conditioninfo/pages/complications.aspx [1] http://www.preeclampsia.org/history-of-preeclampsia [1] http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/preeclampsia/basics/definition/con-2003164 [1] http://www.preeclampsia.org/health-information/53-health-information/57-hellp-syndrome v http://americanpregnancy.org/pregnancy-complications/hellp-syndrome/ HIE Awareness: wires, tubes and beeping machines In the span of a few hours, we went from giving birth to wires, tubes and beeping machines. Our baby girl suffered hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, or HIE, at birth, meaning her brain was damaged from a lack of oxygen and blood flow. Two to three out of every 1,000 births suffer from HIE. This was not what we had expected, and we were terrified. She needed oxygen. Her organs were shutting down. That first day, doctors and nurses didn’t know what would happen. She may need to be on oxygen permanently. She may not ever go home. Our baby girl was the biggest in the NICU, but she was also one of the sickest. For 21 days, we sat at her bedside. We fell asleep in chairs. We read books. We held her every chance we got. We met doctor after doctor, and specialist after specialist. When we went home to sleep, we checked with her nurses on how she was doing. Slowly, she improved. She had gone through a treatment that cooled her core body temperature to try to save her body from further damage from her brain injury. As the days passed, she was able to come off oxygen. Her organs began functioning again. She started to cry, a glorious sound we thought we would never tire of. We learned how to give her medications, how to bathe her and care for the G-tube surgeons put in place. And then, one Sunday morning, we got to go home. We watched our daughter like a hawk, wishing to go back to the beeping machines that told us when everything was alright, and when it wasn’t. Our journey didn’t end there. We had lot of appointments with doctors, specialists and therapists that continue now, years later. But from that day forward, we have always been a family. We go through our ups and downs together. We celebrate together. We grieve together. And everyday, we are grateful that our little girl is here with us. Annie Goeller is the vice president of marketing for Hope for HIE, a nonprofit organization created to provide support to families of children with HIE. A Brief History of Advances in Neonatal Care By: Elizabeth Payne It is hard to believe that only a century ago, most sickly and premature infants were sent home from the hospital without any special interventions; many of these children did not survive past their first birthday. The first neonatal intensive care units did not even appear in American hospitals until 1922; however, special care methods for infants began to be developed in the late nineteenth century. The Pre-NICU Era (up to the 1950's) Pierre-Constant Budin (November 9, 1846 – January 22, 1907) Pierre-Constant Budin, a French obstetrician, was a pioneer in the care of at risk babies and devoted his career to reducing infant mortality. He encouraged educating new mothers about proper nutrition and hygiene for their babies, and knowing the risks contaminated cow’s milk could pose to newborns, urged the use of breast milk instead of cow’s milk, and believed that sterilized cow’s milk should be used if breast milk was insufficient. He also brought gavage- the process of feeding through a tube that went directly to the stomach- into the spotlight, helping premature infants who were unable to feed normally receive the nutrition they needed. Budin started his career as an assistant to Etienne Stephane Tarnier, another French obstetrician instrumental in the development for neonatal care. Infants that are born too early are often incapable of producing their own heat, and incubators help keep these babies warm and allow them to use their energy to grow and gain weight. Tarnier recognized this, and developed a crude isolette- a wooden box with a glass lid and a hot water bottle inside- to put premature infants inside of. Tarnier’s work contributed to a 28% decrease in infant mortality over three years at the French maternity hospital he worked in. Tarnier’s technology was picked up by a student of Budin’s, Martin Couney, who used considerably less conventional methods to help popularize special care for premature infants outside of France. At the turn of the century, many hospitals in both America and Europe did not allow technology such as incubators to be used within their walls. Couney, however, recognized the potential of incubators for helping premature babies. Dr. Couney offered this type of treatment for premature infants free of charge; it was paid for through admissions. Dr. Couney displayed the babies in a sideshow at Coney Island starting in 1903, and charged onlookers twenty-five cents apiece to come in and view the babies and the technology keeping them alive. Similar sideshows were set up in Europe as parts of fairs and expositions, including the 1933 New York World’s Fair and the 1939 Chicago World’s Fair. Although the practice of displaying premature infants for money is certainly morally questionable, it helped pave the way for modern neonatal intensive care. Dr. Couney died in 1950, shortly after American hospitals began to use incubators to care for premature babies. Formation of the Modern NICU (1950s-1970s) Doctors and scientists began writing on the care of premature and sickly newborns as early as the seventeenth century; however, it was not until 300 years later that these babies began to receive special care in hospitals. Until the mid-twentieth century, most of these children were sent home without medical intervention; occasionally, they would have a nurse come home with them. It was not until after World War II that hospitals began to create Special Care Baby Units, the precursors to modern NICUs. The creation of special care units for infants was sparked by the realization that heat, humidity and a steady supply of oxygen could increase the survival rates of sickly babies, meaning that hospitals could intervene to help babies live as opposed to just sending them home. Hospitals were initially reluctant to adopt incubators because of their cost, the fact that they limited access to the infants, and the lack of evidence of their effectiveness. Dr. Couney’s exhibitions brought awareness to the effectiveness of the incubator, which encouraged hospitals to adopt the technology. This was further encouraged by the invention of the Hess Incubator by Dr. Julian Hess at the Reese Hospital in Chicago; in addition to providing heat and humidity for babies, the Hess Incubator delivered oxygen to the infants. The following decade, incubators with clear plastic walls were introduced, allowing doctors and nurses to easily see and access the babies. At this time, doctors were beginning to fully realize the danger that infection posed to newborns, especially premature babies. However, the way infection spread was severely misunderstood; it was thought that the biggest risk to a baby was another baby in the nursery. No one thought that a baby could get sick from a healthy adult. Dr. Louis Gluck was instrumental in proving this line of thought wrong. Along with Sumner Yaffe, Norman Kretchmer and Harold Simon, Gluck performed a series of experiments that involved two sets of babies; one washed daily, the other ones not. They would take cultures from both sets and compare them, and it became evident very quickly that the washed babies had fewer pathogens. To show that the children had a low risk of catching diseases from each other, Gluck began keeping the washed and unwashed children in the same nursery- at the time, keeping more than one premature infant in one room was considered a risky idea. This study included about 25,000 babies, and was never completed- the difference in the health between the two groups became so apparent that nurses began washing all of the babies regularly. It was shown that regardless of nursery mates, a baby who was washed regularly was much less likely to become ill than one who wasn’t; according to Gluck, there was “an 8 to 1 difference in acquisition of staph anyplace”. Gluck observed that the biggest issues was getting visitors and staff to wash their hands; to this day, this remains one of the biggest threats in the NICU. After his research convinced him that infections were more likely to be caused by poor hand hygiene than by other infants, Gluck redesigned the special care nursery, and encouraged the use of isolettes and incubators all in one room as opposed to keeping babies sectioned off in isolated cubicles. This allowed doctors, nurses and other caretakers to easily access and tend to the babies. Gluck additionally designed the L/S ratio test, which determined the maturity of infant’s lungs and therefore their chances of developing certain respiratory diseases. Because of these accomplishments, Gluck is often hailed as the father of neonatology. The Contemporary NICU and Family Involvement Up until the 1970s, there was a very heavy emphasis on using machines to help at-risk neonates and very little on the involvement of the family. However, this began to change in the 70s. The Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program was developed by Heidelise Als, which encouraged family involvement and individualized plans for each baby. The program reduced the number of ventilator days required for children and improved the outcomes of graduates. In this same decade, fathers obtained “nonvisitor” status in the NICU, allowing them to stay with their children outside of normal visiting hours and increasing a father’s role in caring for his baby. The importance of the bond between mothers and babies was understood and maternal-infant bonding was also encouraged at this point. This became even more heavily emphasized in the next decade with the advent of kangaroo care- skin to skin contact between mother and child to promote bonding, stabilize the baby’s breathing, heart rate and body temperature, and help the baby gain weight and grow. Kangaroo care is now encouraged for all parents, regardless of sex. Parental rooming-in- allowing parents to spend the night in the same room as their child- also was established in the 1980s, and older siblings became more involved in the care of babies; at this point, many hospitals established visiting policies for siblings. This allowed the whole family to help care for the baby and reduced the need for parents to look for childcare for their older children. Other family-centered resources were also established, such as support groups and antepartum consultations, helping families connect with other families who understand their struggles and helping prepare families for the difficulty of having a child in the NICU in the case of an at-risk pregnancy. In the 1990s, the increase of technology to care for premature infants as well as an increase in professional knowledge about premature infants gave hope to babies who in previous decades may have been considered lost causes. Babies as young as twenty three weeks gestational age and as small as 500 grams- were successfully treated. Improvements in nutrition management and new technology allowing for precise fluid delivery, the maintenance of temperature and proper ventilation management all contributed to helping these very small infants survive. Care has continued to improve, and the survival rate for babies born at twenty-three weeks gestational age is now at 33%; babies born at twenty-four weeks have a survival rate of about 65%. Survival without any major health complications has also increased. These increases show hope for premature babies and their parents, and trends indicate that survival rates will rise even more in coming years. With increasing technology and awareness, survival for premature and sick infants is slowly turning from an exception into the standard. "Babies On Display: When A Hospital Couldn't Save Them, A Sideshow Did." NPR. Accessed August 13, 2015. Gluck, Louis. Interview by Gartner, Lawrence. February 21, 1997 http://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/15/us/louis-gluck-73-pediatrician-who-advanced-neonatal-care.html Horn, Lucille. Interview by StoryCorps. Fountain, Henry. "Louis Gluck, 73, Pediatrician Who Advanced Neonatal Care." The New York Times, December 15, 1997, Obituary sec. Accessed August 12, 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/15/us/louis-gluck-73-pediatrician-who-advanced-neonatal-care.html. Jorgensen, Anne M. "Born in the USA- the History of Neonatology in the United States: A Century of Caring." Accessed August 13, 2015. http://static.abbottnutrition.com/cms-prod/anhi.org/img/Nurse Currents NICU History June 2010.pdf. Pearson, C. (2015, September 8). Survival Rates For Micro Preemies Continue To Improve. Accessed September 9, 2015. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/survival-rates-for-micro-premies-continue-to-improve_55eed4fce4b093be51bbf26c Yaffe, Sumner, Lawrence Adams, Duane Alexander, L. Joeseph Butterfield, Louis Gluck, George Little, Mildred Stahlman, Mitzi Duxbury, Carol Gartner, Lawrence Gartner, and Philip Sunshine. "Neonatal Intensive Care: A History of Excellence." Www.neonatology.org. October 7, 1985. Accessed September 3, 2015. The 9 reasons why preemies are more often tube dependent than infants born at term If you’re reading this blog, chances are your child was born prematurely. This article specifically deals with preemies that were not only born prematurely, but also continue to receive their nutrition by means of a feeding tube. As a first message I would like to say that it is neither your fault that your child has a feeding tube nor has anything gone wrong in the treatment and taking care of your baby. However, the focus and attention of all the care offered has not been specifically directed at transitioning to oral feeds. We will be talking about why this would be an important step if the medical necessity for the tube has ceased to exist, how this can and should be organized, how you can help your infant catch up with it’s delayed or suppressed eating development and also how it can catch up to its current general developmental level without any medical risk. When preterm babies should learn to eat without a feeding tube Any infant born prematurely between the 23rd and 32nd gestational weeks should be discharged home from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) or the aftercare unit as an orally eating baby unless major ongoing medical complications require the feeding tube to stay in place for the time being. For preemies whose tube is no longer necessary to be able to successfully transition from tube to oral feeding, parents (under the guidance of their medical team) and the medical team themself will need to encourage oral function already on a non-nutritive level long before the infant is ready to accept any substantial oral feeding. If all goes well the whole transitioning process to full oral feeding should be completed at around the 34th gestational week. At this point the baby will probably weigh around 4.5-5.5 lbs. Latest, the preemie should be eating by the time of the formerly calculated term birthday. Medical studies have clearly shown that there are significant benefits to oral stimulation by finger or pacifier in preterm babies and that it is desirable to achieve oral feeding as soon as possible. Which doctors are capable of releasing preterm babies without a feeding tube As for instance in all institutions focused around the issues of self-regulation and sensitive individualized care, as is the case in most clinical centers following the guidelines and the recommendations of the NIDCAP® (neonatal individual developmental care assessment program), the ambition is explicitly to not discharge any infants - including preemies - on tube feeds. This goal is realistic and can be met by helping all preemies learn to suck and swallow in a self-regulated and coordinated manner so that they learn how the entire process works. Then, step by step and these children are guided towards being fully self sustaining by mouth and only then will the tube be removed. Why releasing children without a feeding tube matters - The negative side effects of tube feeding The work it takes by parents/doctors to help their child/little patient make this transition is well worth it, as oral fed infants suffer much less from the well known troubling negative side effects of feeding tubes. In a recent study observing the largest population of tube-fed infants ever documented, the parents of 425 tube-fed infants (with both nasogastric (NG) and Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tubes) were asked to document their children’s reactions to their feeding tube. Nearly all of these children had been tube-fed since birth. The study showed that over 56% of these tube-fed children fight with gagging and retching episodes daily and 50% vomit frequently. As expected, depending on which tube the children had, their side effects varied. What’s astonishing though is that both tubes (nasogastric (NG) and percutaneous gastrostomy (PEG) tube) come with significant negative side effects and that no significant correlations could be found between age, sex, underlying medical diagnoses, type of feeding tube, feeding schedules (bolus or continuous), and parental and child’s behavior regarding the feeding situation and duration of tube feeding. This means that these side effects are endemic to the tube and unless the tube is removed, they will remain! This is a serious problem, especially since f.e. frequent vomiting can lead to malnutrition. Recent statistics in this field show that more than 33% of all tube fed children aged 0-12 months are malnourished as defined by the criteria of the World Health Organization (WHO). The fact of avoiding these typical tube related symptoms by early tube weaning in itself also sets lots of developmental energy free which the infant will then be able to invest into its general and motor development. Now, what are some of the reasons why transitioning to oral feeds can be difficult or seem nearly impossible for your baby? As a medical doctor, I’ve spent more than 30 years of my professional career working in and with NICU’s around the world. Examining and observing thousands of pre-term babies and their first attempts at eating, these are some of the most common challenges I’ve seen them struggle with: The development of the intrauterine sucking-swallowing coordination process is interrupted by the premature birth The lungs are immature and not yet equipped to breathe without mechanical and/or medical support The ability to thermoregulate needs to be taken care of first, so there’s no space to take care of feeding The dominance of stabilizing safe breathing patterns and other airway problems interfere with the emerging swallow coordination The premature born infant might be too sick and fragile to manage breathing and eating challenges at the same time Repeated aversive intraoral actions (intubation, repeated suctions etc.) can be traumatic for the baby Increased physiological reflux due to very low muscular tone can lead to an oral aversion Additional medical complications like sepsis or surgeries make tube weaning impossible Lacking aftercare structures in the hospital, no tube management-maintenance team, no exit strategy Guidelines for what to do with a tube-fed preemie Given that all of these challenges exist and are present in one child or another, it is very hard to give general recommendations. However, there are some guidelines which make sense for almost any situation where a preemie baby has been born and is fed with a feeding tube. Elements to follow: If your baby could not be discharged from the NICU as an orally drinking infant, please ask your team for the reasons and ask for clearly defined nutritional goals to be met before embarking on a tube weaning trial at home together with the medical team of your choice. As shown above, enteral nutrition support does not guarantee sufficient growth, so inquire with your medical team whether malnourishment is present and if the tube has been present for some months, how they plan on leading your child to a healthy state If your child is not malnourished, ask your medical team why the feeding tube is still in and what elements are needed for it to be removed. It is the medical teams’ responsibility to provide you with a clear exit strategy unless underlying medical conditions make the feeding tube absolutely necessary (f.e. if the child has no swallow reflex). If you want to tube wean your child, a developmentally adjusted and highly individualized approach is necessary for each child, please ask your nurse and medical staff how they feel about the issue of discontinuation of tube feeds and look for the most specialized place you can find. Tube weaning is not an easy operation that any hospital can do and you really want to make sure you’re getting the best support you can. Please don’t ever try to force feed your child before, during or after tube weaning (even when someone tells you to), the literature has clearly found that it is harmful at all times. Find out if your medical team specifically wishes the tube feeding to be continued or gives your baby permission to transition to oral feeding. If you receive permission, start thinking about which medical organization you want to do the tube weaning with. Please, from the bottom of my heart, don’t try this alone on your own, it is potentially life-threatening for your child if you don’t know what you’re doing. Since you’re not the first to go through this, I’ve asked a mother of a formerly tube-fed preemie to share with me how she went about choosing a medical partner for tube weaning her preemie. You can find her guide here. Having helped wean hundreds of preemies from their feeding tube with my multi-disciplinary team at NoTube.com, these are some of the lessons I’ve learnt. Preemies are fighters and extremely tough. They’ve gone through so much to get to where they are and they will continue fighting! When challenged to learn how to eat orally by an experienced medical team advising parents what to do, preemies are well able to transit to oral feeding from and be fully orally sustaining by the 34th week or, in some cases, slightly earlier. During the tube weaning phase, a period of 2-4 weeks of slowed down weight development is normal and must be accepted. But it’s important to know that the task of tube weaning in prematurely born infants can only be achieved by intensive cooperation and trust between the nurses, doctors and parents! I truly hope this article was helpful to you and would be glad to answer any comments here or to get in touch with me directly, just send me a message here! Written by Marguerite Dunitz-Scheer, MD of notube. A Home for Hope: 5 Reasons Why Hope Lives in the NICU When you hear someone mention the acronym NICU, what words come to mind? Miracles? Sorrow? Triumph? Struggle? Heartbreak? Hope? Six years ago I heard the torturous sound of an EKG flatline, as my son died surrounded by his family. As is with my love, an ache in my heart still endures. And there are moments when I think of that NICU - the isolette, the tubes, the wires, and my tiny 5 pound baby and I still hear that sound. The sound that many...too many...parents hear every year. But because, his heart stopped beating in the NICU, it is a place I will always hold sacred. His lifetime. Our lifetime together. Every memory, every dream, every hope I ever had, is housed in the NICU. Here are five reasons why I still believe hope lives in the NICU: 1. Big things happen in the NICU Dreams, both new and old, are achieved in the NICU. Every day, babies defy the odds, grow, and learn to thrive. 2. Your home away from home The saying "home is where your heart is" truly applies. In the NICU, the word "family" is redefined. A community thrives here. Parents and medical professionals alike find new love, passions, and friendship. 3. Some of life's most treasured memories will be made in the NICU Ask any parent of a baby that has spent time in the NICU, the NICU is a place where memories that last a lifetime are made. 4. Heroes don't wear capes Heroism comes in many forms in the NICU- in the persistence and dedication of it's staff; in the spirit of the tiniest of patients; and in the unwavering love parents have for their children. 5. A place with a vital purpose The NICU provides thousands of babies every year with the best chance at life, when those first moments in the world are the hardest. The NICU will forever remain my son's only home. The place of his first's and last's. The space where every memory lives, including every kiss and every sweet embrace. Our brief time in the NICU profoundly changed the course of my life - my career, my relationships, my philanthropic interests. More importantly, it showed me how love and hope endure, even in our darkest of hours. Because he lived, the NICU will forever be a home for my hopes. Written by Sarah King, President for Project Sweet Peas	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741428
__label__wiki	0.785216	0.785216	BACK TO OUR STORIES “FREE TO FLY” - FAREWELL BRENDAN TRESCKITTA The family and friends of the late Brendan Tresckitta have paid heartfelt tribute to a much-loved 19 year-old, now at peace after bravely battling an extremely rare neurodegenerative condition. Brendan died on November 1, with news of his passing conveyed by his father Joe, on behalf of his wife Irene and twin sons Daniel and Matthew. “It is with broken and heavy hearts that we say goodbye to our much loved, beautiful son and brother Brendan,” Joe wrote in a facebook post. “He fought his condition with strength and courage to the very end. Against all odds his determination shone through and will remain an inspiration to us all. His infectious character and cheeky smile touched all that came in contact with him and will remain in our hearts always and forever.” By rights, Brendan would now be completing his Year 12 examinations, having followed in his older brothers’ footsteps to Parade College, and joined the Bundoora Campus as a Year 7 student in 2013. It was at about this time that Brendan’s battle with what was later identified as SMA-PME began. As Joe explained in an earlier interview, his son first experienced an issue with his hearing ("which we now know was caused by the same condition".). “That problem was manageable for a time, and when Brendan pursued his studies as a Year 7 student in 2013 his teachers backed him all the way. But then other issues began to manifest themselves and Brendan was diagnosed with epilepsy,” Joe said. “Usually epilepsy can be kept under control with medications, but in Brendan’s case it was caused by the underlying condition (SMA-PME). At the time the doctors completed a lot of tests – blood tests, skin biopsies and the like - and Brendan was off for a month. But the results all came back negative and the doctors were left baffled." By mid-2013, Brendan’s hearing was on the decline, prompting Joe and Irene to withdraw their son from Parade and find a placement for him at St. Mary’s College for the Deaf within Marymede Catholic College at nearby South Morang. The College’s special school for the hearing impaired was good for Brendan. He enjoyed the school environment and specialized assistance he received and continues to receive. “Brendan was an active child too, He was a good cross-country runner, a basketballer and a soccer player, but then he started falling and dropping things and finally had to resort to using a wheelchair,” Joe said. “From there Brendan’s condition deteriorated and he started experiencing full Tonic Clonic seizures. He was finally diagnosed with SMA-PME in mid-2016 and is the only person in Australia known to be afflicted with this condition.” As the Tresckitta family desperately sought a medical breakthrough for their boy, a fundraising event was organised at Tullamarine’s Melrose Receptions back in April, proceeds of which were put aside for Brendan’s on-going treatment. That fundraiser, at which Brendan himself somehow found the strength to attend, attracted hundreds of people all of whom gave what they could for his cause – amongst them the singer/songwriter and Old Paradian David Cosma (1992) and members of his five-piece band Sun Rising who belted out the songs that made Memphis. That Brendan is now gone at just 19 years of age is truly tragic . . . but maybe, just maybe he’s found his own rising sun. As Joe wrote: “You have now earned your wings and are free to fly and soar to wherever your heart desires”. Funeral Mass for Brendan James Tresckitta will be offered at St Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, 290 Childs Road, Mill Park on Friday November 9, 2018, commencing at 11.00am. The funeral will leave at the conclusion of Mass for burial at Yan Yean Cemetery, 2265 Plenty Road, Whittlesea. Rosary will be recited in the Abbey Funerals Orlando s Chapel, 238 Settlement Road, Thomastown on Thursday, November 8, 2018 at 7.30pm. In honour of Brendan in celebrating his life the family has requested you wear a splash of colour on the day.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741431
__label__cc	0.518062	0.481938	How a $600M jolt could get OHSU’s promising AIDS vaccine to market Elizabeth Hayes, Portland Business Journal ANDREW TOWNSEND OHSU VACCINE & GENE THERAPY INSTITUTE When TomegaVax Inc. spun out from Oregon Health & Science University in 2011, it had the makings of a future bio-star. The startup would commercialize the research from the OHSU Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute, where Dr. Louis Picker and his colleagues were developing a vaccine to combat some of the greatest global health crises in the world — HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. The basis of the preventative vaccine is the common herpes virus, or cytomegalovirus, a novel approach. TomegaVax not only had the intellectual firepower, but it had also secured the necessary intellectual property protections. Then in 2013, Picker became a global sensation, with a scientific paper revealing that his vaccine candidate had cleared the simian form of HIV from the bodies of monkeys. Yet for a variety of reasons not tied to the science, TomegaVax struggled to gain traction with investors, a crucial step in the process of taking promising research to the next level. Clinical trials cost tens of millions of dollars and are best sponsored by an industry partner outside the university setting. But the company lacked a credible CEO with prior experience and couldn’t hire one without the capital in hand. “What we needed from the get-go was a VC who would come in and be willing to take the technology and build the company,” said Klaus Frueh, a TomegaVax co-founder. “It was very difficult to find.” Klaus Frueh’s main goal upon co-founding TomegaVax was to secure the intellectual property. He is pictured here at the OTRADI Bioscience Incubator, where TomegaVax has 10 employees. The company’s fate changed in January 2017, when Vir Biotechnology seemingly burst onto the scene with a who’s who of backers — the Gates Foundation, Japan’s Softbank and ARCH Venture Partners, whose co-founder Robert Nelsen committed $150 million. Nelsen formed Vir to take on challenging infectious diseases, of the sort pharmaceutical giants largely ignore. Vir simultaneously announced it had acquired TomegaVax and its pioneering vaccine platform. TomagaVax had raised $10 million in grants over the first six years of its existence. Vir’s pockets are considerably deeper, with $600 million at its disposal. As an investor, the Gates Foundation is funding clinical development of the Picker team’s vaccine vectors, which could protect millions of people against HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, hepatitis B and more. The first human clinical trial, for the HIV vaccine, is expected to kick off in one year. Read the rest of the story at Portland Business Journal (subscription required). $10.7 billion: More biotech firms, more life research, more jobs and higher industry wages in Oregon make an increasingly larger economic impact in Oregon Oregon bioscience sector jobs and economic impact pack a punch Curadite, Inc. Named TiE50 Award Winner at TiEcon Archives Select Month June 2019 (2) May 2019 (4) April 2019 (2) March 2019 (2) January 2019 (1) November 2018 (2) June 2018 (5) April 2018 (1) March 2018 (1) February 2018 (3) January 2018 (5) December 2017 (1) November 2017 (1) October 2017 (3) September 2017 (1) June 2017 (2) May 2017 (1) April 2017 (8) March 2017 (1) February 2017 (4) January 2017 (2) December 2016 (3) November 2016 (4) September 2016 (2) August 2016 (5) July 2016 (8) June 2016 (10) May 2016 (10) April 2016 (8) March 2016 (2) February 2016 (9) January 2016 (2) December 2015 (3) November 2015 (4) October 2015 (8) July 2015 (6) June 2015 (7) May 2015 (6) April 2015 (5) March 2015 (6) February 2015 (7) January 2015 (12) December 2014 (3) November 2014 (7) October 2014 (9) September 2014 (7) August 2014 (5) July 2014 (6) June 2014 (3) May 2014 (2) April 2014 (3) March 2014 (2) February 2014 (4) January 2014 (4) December 2013 (1) November 2013 (1) October 2013 (5) September 2013 (3) August 2013 (4) July 2013 (3) June 2013 (3) May 2013 (3) April 2013 (4) March 2013 (5) February 2013 (4) January 2013 (4) December 2012 (2) October 2012 (2) September 2012 (1) August 2012 (7) July 2012 (17) June 2012 (1) February 2012 (2)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741437
__label__cc	0.653688	0.346312	RAINY DAY PLANS Compiled by Joe Kilsheimer andynn PhillipsTHE ORLANDO SENTINEL Homeowners ought to prepare for the hurricane season by checking their insurance policies, according to the Florida Insurance Department. "The Insurance Department was deluged with inquiries and complaints after last fall's hurricanes," said Insurance Commissioner Bill Gunter. Some consumers found out belatedly they weren't covered for water or windstorm damage, and others were taken in by fly-by-night repairmen who falsely claimed to be sent by an insurance company, he said. The best way to avoid problems is to examine coverage before the storm hits, the department said. The department has just released a brochure, "When Disaster Strikes . . . Insurance Answers," that describes what to look for. It also includes tips on reporting property damage and making repairs after a hurricane hits. To get a free copy, call the Insurance Consumer Hotline at (800) 342-2762.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741439
__label__wiki	0.983875	0.983875	Sony PlayStation Tablet Faces Rough Road Ahead By Brennon Slattery Sony CEO Howard Stringer and Bloomberg have confirmed that the Android-powered PlayStation gaming tablet is real, and coming sometime before the end of 2011. However, with the company's wobbly financial record, product delays, and the incredibly tough competition it faces from the Nintendo 3DS and Apple's iPad, Sony is going to have a hard time selling these tablets. Sony is getting ready to release its PSP successor, the "Next Generation Portable." Not to say that the hardware itself doesn't sound promising. If Stringer is referencing the "S1" that was rumored in February, the tablet may pack an Android 3.0 Honeycomb punch; have a 9.4-inch screen with a 1280-by-800 pixel display; an NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor; front and rear cameras; USB and infrared ports; built-in support for Sony's music service, Qriocity; preloaded Sony PS One games; and a price tag of $600. The PS tablet will also use the PlayStation Suite, an online service selling original PlayStation games. Rumors of support for PSP and PlayStation 2 games have been dismissed as unsubstantiated -- which doesn't sound so neat. How long will Sony milk its 16-year-old console? Speaking of old consoles, Sony didn't start making a profit off PlayStation 3 sales until June 2010 -- almost four years after the console's November 2006 launch. "[2010] is the first time that we are able to cover the cost of the PlayStation 3," Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony's Worldwide Studios, told IGN. "We aren't making huge money from hardware, but we aren't bleeding like we used to." Sony is also having a tough time juggling its many projects. First there's the impending release of its PSP successor, the "Next Generation Portable," which sounds great on paper. And then there's Sony's other pet project, The Xperia Play (or the PlayStation phone), which was released earlier this month -- but not in the United States. The Android-powered phone video game gizmo is now expected sometime in mid-April. Meanwhile, its competitors are doing just fine. The newly released Nintendo 3DS has reportedly broken records with its launch sales. Nintendo told Forbes that though the NPD group won't have a tally of system sales until April 14, day-one sales in the United States "were the highest of any Nintendo hand-held system in our history." During the handheld's Japanese release in February 2011, the 3DS sold 400,000 units in 24 hours and suffered shortages for weeks afterward. And then there's this thing called the iPad. Don't know if you've heard about it, but apparently it's selling alright. So does Sony stand a chance in the tablet market? Are have they bitten off more than they can chew? Sound off in the comments below.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741442
__label__cc	0.679554	0.320446	Kingsport Raises More Than $2,500 for a Team Family Member, Kyah! On July 11, 2015, McAlister’s Deli in Kingsport, TN hosted a ‘50s-themed fundraiser with food, $0.25 root beer floats, a car show, games, and lots of prizes! The fundraiser, organized by the staff at the Kingsport restaurant, helped raise more than $2,550 one of their own, Layne Jones and her daughter Kyah Jones. The restaurant donated 10% of all purchases from 3 p.m. – 9 p.m. to Jones Family. Jars were also placed in the store for donations and they had $0.25 root beer Floats, with all proceeds going to the family. Layne has worked for McAlister’s Deli in Kingsport on and off since it opened in 2005. Layne is a single mother of two, Kyah, 12 and Brealyn, 7. On July 16, 2014, Kyah was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, also known as ALL. This devastating news turned their family’s lives upside down. Layne and Kyah were flown to St. Jude’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN, so Kyah could receive the best treatment possible. The timing was hard. Layne had just graduated from dental assistant school and had landed a new job. She was forced to quit this job when she received the news about Kyah, so she could be with Kyah at all times during her treatment. Kyah’s cancer treatment will last for 2.5 years. Although St. Jude’s is wonderful and provides free treatment to their patients, the cost of living and being able to take care of her family is really starting to take a toll on Layne. Due to her traveling back and forth from Kingsport to Memphis, she has not been able to keep a steady job. It was also costly to update her home so Kyah could come home and live safely with her very weak immune system. Although she has not been able to work much, she still tries to pick up shifts whenever she can at the Kingsport restaurant. We hope you can attend the event to raise money for Layne, Kyah, and Brealyn. The fundraising event at McAlister’s Deli included: All Day – Root Beer floats for only a $0.25 donation, all proceeds benefited Layne, Kyah, and Brealyn Jones. 3:00 p.m. – Kids’ games on the hour: hula hoop and bubble gum blowing contests 5:00 p.m. – Kingsport Antique and Rod Club Car Show 6:00 p.m. – The Best Dressed Kid Award 9:00 p.m. – Photos shared on Facebook awarded Staff dressed for the occasion with ‘50s attire donated by Celebrate Costume Rentals. We thank them for their generous donation to the event!	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741443
__label__wiki	0.58708	0.58708	Fausto Appetente Die On St. Dominic Pope Benedict XV - 1921 To the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops, and other Ordinaries in Peace and Communion with the Apostolic See. Venerable Brethren, Health and Apostolic Benediction. 1. The seventh centenary approaches of the day when that light of holiness, Dominic, passed from these miseries to the seat of the Blessed. We for long have been most interested in his clients, especially since We assumed the government of the Church of Bologna, which with the greater devotion preserves his remains. We, therefore, are pleased to be able from this Apostolic See to exhort the Christian people to celebrate the memory of such a great man. In this We not only consult Our own piety but fulfil a duty of gratitude towards the father and lawgiver and towards the distinguished Order he founded. 2. This man of God and true Dominicus was fully given up to Holy Church, which had in him an invincible champion of the Faith. The Order of Preachers, too, founded by him, has ever been the stout defense of the Roman Church. And so not only did he strengthen the temple in his time, but he provided for the continuance of the defense. The words of Honorius III in approving the Order seem prophetical: “. . . looking to the brethren of thy Order as the future champions of the Faith and the true lights of the world.” 3. Indeed, as all know, for the spread of God’s kingdom Jesus Christ used no other weapon than the preaching of the Gospel, that is, the living voice of His heralds, who diffused everywhere the celestial doctrine. “Teach,” he said, “all nations.” “Preach the Gospel to every creature.” Accordingly, from the preaching of the Apostles, and especially of St. Paul, it came to pass, that preaching being followed up with the doctrine and discipline of the Fathers and afterwards of the Doctors, men’s minds were enlightened with the light of truth and conceived a love for all the virtues. Following the same lines in his work for the salvation of souls. Dominic proposed to himself and to all his followers “to hand to others what they had contemplated.” For this reason, in addition to the duty of cultivating poverty, innocence of life, and religious discipline, he commanded his Order in a strict and solemn manner to be zealous in the study of Christian doctrine and the preaching of the truth. 4. In the Dominican preaching three qualities shine forth: great solidity of doctrine, the fulness of fidelity towards the Apostolic See, piety towards the Virgin Mother. For although Dominic felt himself mature for preaching, yet he did not undertake that office until he had worked hard in the Palentine Athenaeum of philosophy and theology. Long familiar with the Fathers, under their guidance and teaching, he first, as it were, received into his blood and marrow the riches of Sacred Scripture, and especially of Paul. 5. The value of this knowledge of Divine things not long after was to be seen in his disputations against the heretics. They were armed with all arts and fallacies to attack the dogmas of Faith; yet with wonderful success he confounded and refuted them. This appeared especially at Toulouse, the head and center of the heresies, where the most learned of the adversaries had come together. It is recorded that he, with his first companions, powerful in word and work, invincibly withstood the insolence of the heretics. Indeed, not only did he withstand their strength, but he so softened their spirits by his eloquence and charity that he recalled an immense number to the bosom of the Church. God Himself was ever at hand to aid him in his battle for the Faith. Thus, having accepted the challenge of the heretics that each should consign his book to the flames, his book alone remained untouched by the fire. Thus by the valor of Dominic Europe was freed from the danger of the Albigensian heresy. 6. With this quality of solid doctrine he ordered his children to be adorned. For, soon after the approbation of his Order by the Apostolic See and the confirmation of the noble title of Preachers, he arranged for houses to be founded as near as possible to the celebrated universities that his brethren might the more easily exercise themselves in every branch of culture, and get followers from the ranks of university students. Accordingly, the Dominican institute from the beginning was famed for its learning. Its special mission was always to care for the various wounds of error and to diffuse the light of the Christian Faith, seeing that nothing is such a hindrance to eternal salvation as the ignorance of the truth and perversity of doctrine. It was not strange, then, that the eyes and hearts of all should be turned towards this new apostolate which was based upon the Gospel and the teachings of the Fathers and commended by the abundance of all branches of knowledge. 7. The very wisdom of God seemed to speak through the Dominicans when there rose up among them such heralds and defenders of Christian wisdom as Hyacinth Polonus, Peter the Martyr, Vincent Ferrer, and such miracles of genius and erudition as Albert the Great, Raymond de Penafort, Thomas Aquinas, in whom especially, a follower of Dominic, God “deigned to enlighten his Church.” This Order, therefore, always in honor as the teacher of truth, acquired new luster when the Church declared the teaching of Thomas to be her own and that Doctor, honored with the special praises of the Pontiffs, the master and patron of Catholic schools. 8. Joined to this zeal in retaining and defending the Faith there was in Dominic a supreme reverence for the Apostolic See. It is recorded that, prostrate at the feet of Innocent III, he vowed himself to the defense of the Roman Pontificate, and that the same predecessor of ours the following night saw him in vision sustain on his courageous shoulder the tottering pile of the Lateran Basilica. History tells, too, how when he was training his first followers to Christian perfection, Dominic thought of gathering from pious and devout lay people a certain sacred militia which would defend the rights of the Church and resist heresy with vigor. Hence arose the Third Order of the Dominicans which, spreading among lay people the institute of a more perfect life, was to be a truly great ornament and defense to the Church. 9. Handed down by their Father and Lawgiver, the heritage of such devotion to this See passed to the children. As often, therefore, as, through the infatuated minds of men, the Church had to suffer from popular movements or the tyranny of princes, this Apostolic See had in the Dominicans, the defenders of truth and justice, a most opportune help in the preservation and honor of its authority. Who does not know the glorious deeds in that connection of the Dominican Virgin, Catherine of Sienna? Urged by the charity of Jesus Christ she persuaded the Roman Pontiff, what no one else had been able to do, to return to his Roman See after an interval of seventy years. Afterwards, while the Western Church was torn by a dire schism, she kept a great number of Christians in loyal obedience to the legitimate Pontiff. 10. And, to pass over other things, We cannot but recall that four great Roman Pontiffs came from the Dominican ranks. Of these, the last, St. Pius V, won undying gratitude from Christianity and civil society. He joined together, after unceasing efforts, the arms of the Catholic princes, and under the patronage of the Virgin Mother of God, whom, therefore, he ordered to be saluted in future as Help to Christians, destroyed forever at Lepanto the power of the Turks. 11. In this is amply shown the third quality We have noted in Dominican preaching: a most zealous piety towards the Mother of God. It is said that the Pontiff knew by Divine revelation of the victory of Lepanto achieved at that very moment when through the Catholic world the pious sodalities of the Holy Rosary implored the aid of Mary in that formula initiated by the Founder of the Friar Preachers and diffused far and wide by his followers. Loving the Blessed Virgin as a Mother, confiding chiefly in her patronage, Dominic started his battle for the Faith. The Albigenses, among other dogmas, attacked both the Divine maternity and the virginity of Mary. He, attacked by them with every insult, defending to the utmost of his strength the sanctity of these dogmas, he invoked the help of the Virgin Mother herself, frequently using these words: “Make me worthy to praise thee, Sacred Virgin; give me strength against thine enemies.” How pleased was the Heavenly Queen with her pious servant may be easily gathered from this, that she used his ministry to teach the Most Holy Rosary to the Church, the Spouse of her Son; that prayer which, being both vocal and mental, in the contemplation especially of the mysteries of religion, while the Lord’s Prayer is fifteen times repeated together with as many decades of the Hail Mary, is most adapted to fostering widely piety and every virtue. Rightly, then, did Dominic order his followers, in preaching to the people, to inculcate frequently this manner of prayer, the utility of which he had experienced. He knew, on the one hand, Mary’s authority with her Son to be such that whatever graces he confers on men she has their distribution and apportionment. On the other hand, he knew that she is of a nature so kind and merciful that, seeing that it is her custom to succor the miserable of her own accord, it is impossible she should refuse the petitions of those who pray to her. Accordingly the Church, which is wont to salute her “the Mother of Grace and the Mother of Mercy,” has so found her always, but especially in answer to the Rosary. Wherefore the Roman Pontiffs have let pass no occasion of commending the Rosary and have enriched it with Apostolic Indulgences. 12. Now the Dominican institutes, as you yourself understand, Venerable Brethren, are not less opportune at present than in the time of their Founder. How many today, destitute of the bread of life, that is, celestial doctrine, are, as it were, in a state of starvation. How many, deceived by the appearance of truth, are turned away from the Faith by a variety of errors. That priests may minister fittingly to the necessities of all these by the Word of God, how zealous must they be for the salvation of others and how grounded in solid knowledge. How many, too, ungrateful and forgetful children of the Church, are turned away from the Vicar of Jesus Christ by ignorance of facts or by a perverse will whom it is necessary to lead to the common bosom. For the healing of these and every other ill how much do we need the maternal patronage! 13. The Dominicans have, therefore, an almost boundless field in which to labor for the common welfare. Wherefore to all of them We wish that in these centenary celebrations they renew their devotion to the holy example of their founder, and make themselves daily more worthy of such a father. In this let a fitting lead be taken by his children of the First Order, and let them be ever more zealous in preaching the Divine Word, such as may give men a reverence for the successor of St. Peter and a devotion to the Virgin Mother, and may spread and defend the truth. But from the Dominican Tertiaries, too, the Church looks for much, if they study to conform themselves to the spirit of their patriarch, in the instruction of the rude and unskilled in Christian doctrine and morality. In this We hope they will be assiduous, as it is a matter of great consequence for the good of souls. Finally, We wish this to be a special care of the Dominicans-the spread and frequent use of the Rosary among Christian people. We make this exhortation in these troublous times, following our predecessor, Leo XIII, and should it bear fruit this centenary celebration will not have been in vain. Meanwhile, as an augury of the Divine gifts and a proof of Our benevolence, We impart the Apostolic Blessing, Venerable Brethren, to you, your clergy, and your people. Given at Rome, at St. Peter’s, June 29, Feast of the Prince of the Apostles, 1921, the seventh year of Our Pontificate. This entry was posted in Pope Benedict XV (September 3, 1914 - January 22, 1922) by Pope Benedict XV. Bookmark the permalink.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741448
__label__cc	0.574806	0.425194	Divinum Illud Munus On the Holy Spirit Divinum To Our Venerable Brethren, The Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops, and other Local Ordinaries having Peace and Communion with the Holy See. Venerable Brethren, Health and the Apostolic Benediction. 1. That divine office which Jesus Christ received from His Father for the welfare of mankind, and most perfectly fulfilled, had for its final object to put men in possession of the eternal life of glory, and proximately during the course of ages to secure to them the life of divine grace, which is destined eventually to blossom into the life of heaven. Wherefore, our Saviour never ceases to invite, with infinite affection, all men, of every race and tongue, into the bosom of His Church: “Come ye all to Me,” “I am the Life,” “I am the Good Shepherd.” Nevertheless, according to His inscrutable counsels, He did not will to entirely complete and finish this office Himself on earth, but as He had received it from the Father, so He transmitted it for its completion to the Holy Ghost. It is consoling to recall those assurances which Christ gave to the body of His disciples a little before He left the earth: “It is expedient to you that I go: for if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you: but if I go, I will send Him to you” (1 John xvi., 7). In these words He gave as the chief reason of His departure and His return to the Father, the advantage which would most certainly accrue to His followers from the coming of the Holy Ghost, and, at the same time, He made it clear that the Holy Ghost is equally sent by-and therefore proceeds from – Himself and the Father; that He would complete, in His office of Intercessor, Consoler, and Teacher, the work which Christ Himself had begun in His mortal life. For, in the redemption of the world, the completion of the work was by Divine Providence reserved to the manifold power of that Spirit, who, in the creation, “adorned the heavens” (Job xxvi., 13), and “filled the whole world” (Wisdom i., 7). 2. Now We have earnestly striven, by the help of His grace, to follow the example of Christ, Our Saviour, the Prince of Pastors, and the Bishop of our Souls, by diligently carrying on His office, entrusted by Him to the Apostles and chiefly to Peter, “whose dignity faileth not, even in his unworthy successor” (St. Leo the Great, Sermon ii., On the Anniversary of his Election). In pursuance of this object We have endeavoured to direct all that We have attempted and persistently carried out during a long pontificate towards two chief ends: in the first place, towards the restoration, both in rulers and peoples, of the principles of the Christian life in civil and domestic society, since there is no true life for men except from Christ; and, secondly, to promote the reunion of those who have fallen away from the Catholic Church either by heresy or by schism, since it is most undoubtedly the will of Christ that all should be united in one flock under one Shepherd. But now that We are looking forward to the approach of the closing days of Our life, Our soul is deeply moved to dedicate to the Holy Ghost, who is the life-giving Love, all the work We have done during Our pontificate, that He may bring it to maturity and fruitfulness. In order the better and more fully to carry out this Our intention, We have resolved to address you at the approaching sacred season of Pentecost concerning the indwelling and miraculous power of the Holy Ghost; and the extent and efficiency of His action, both in the whole body of the Church and in the individual souls of its members, through the glorious abundance of His divine graces. We earnestly desire that, as a result, faith may be aroused in your minds concerning the mystery of the adorable Trinity, and especially that piety may increase and be inflamed towards the Holy Ghost, to whom especially all of us owe the grace of following the paths of truth and virtue; for, as St. Basil said, “Who denieth that the dispensations concerning man, which have been made by the great God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ, according to the goodness of God, have been fulfilled through the grace of the Spirit?” (Of the Holy Ghost, c. xvi., v. 39). 3. Before We enter upon this subject, it will be both desirable and useful to say a few words about the Mystery of the Blessed Trinity. This dogma is called by the doctors of the Church “the substance of the New Testament,” that is to say, the greatest of all mysteries, since it is the fountain and origin of them all. In order to know and contemplate this mystery, the angels were created in Heaven and men upon earth. In order to teach more fully this mystery, which was but foreshadowed in the Old Testament, God Himself came down from the angels unto men: “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him” (John i., 18). Whosoever then writes or speaks of the Trinity must keep before His eyes the prudent warning of the Angelic Doctor: “When we speak of the Trinity, we must do so with caution and modesty, for, as St. Augustine saith, nowhere else are more dangerous errors made, or is research more difficult, or discovery more fruitful” (Summ. Th. la., q. xxxi. De Trin. 1 1., c. 3). The danger that arises is lest the Divine Persons be confounded one with the other in faith or worship, or lest the one Nature in them be separated: for “This is the Catholic Faith, that we should adore one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity.” Therefore Our predecessor Innocent XII, absolutely refused the petition of those who desired a special festival in honour of God the Father. For, although the separate mysteries connected with the Incarnate Word are celebrated on certain fixed days, yet there is no special feast on which the Word is honoured according to His Divine Nature alone. And even the Feast of Pentecost was instituted in the earliest times, not simply to honour the Holy Ghost in Himself, but to commemorate His coming, or His external mission. And all this has been wisely ordained, lest from distinguishing the Persons men should be led to distinguish the Divine Essence. Moreover the Church, in order to preserve in her children the purity of faith, instituted the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, which John XXII. afterwards extended to the Universal Church. He also permitted altars and churches to be dedicated to the Blessed Trinity, and, with the divine approval, sanctioned the Order for the Ransom of Captives, which is specially devoted to the Blessed Trinity and bears Its name. Many facts confirm its truths. The worship paid to the saints and angels, to the Mother of God, and to Christ Himself, finally redounds to the honour of the Blessed Trinity. In prayers addressed to one Per son, there is also mention of the others; in the litanies after the individual Persons have been separately invoked, a common invocation of all is added: all psalms and hymns conclude with the doxology to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; blessings, sacred rites, and sacraments are either accompanied or concluded by the invocation of the Blessed Trinity. This was already foreshadowed by the Apostle in those words: “For of Him, and by Him, and in Him, are all things: to Him be glory for ever” (Rom. xi., 36), thereby signifying both the Trinity of Persons and the Unity of Nature: for as this is one and the same in each of the Persons, so to each is equally owing supreme glory, as to one and the same God. St. Augustine commenting upon this testimony writes: “The words of the Apostle, of Him, and by Him, and in Him are not to be taken indiscriminately; of Him refers to the Father, by Him to the Son, in Him to the Holy Ghost” (De Trin. 1. vi., c. 10; 1. i., c. 6). The Church is accustomed most fittingly to attribute to the Father those works of the Divinity in which power excels, to the Son those in which wisdom excels, and those in which love excels to the Holy Ghost. Not that all perfections and external operations are not common to the Divine Persons; for “the operations of the Trinity are indivisible, even as the essence of the Trinity is indivisible” (St. Aug., De Trin., 1. 1, cc. 4-5); because as the three Divine Persons “are inseparable, so do they act inseparably” (St. Aug., ib.). But by a certain comparison, and a kind of affinity between the operations and the properties of the Persons, these operations are attributed or, as it is said, “appropriated” to One Person rather than to the others. “Just as we make use of the traces of similarity or likeness which we find in creatures for the manifestation of the Divine Persons, so do we use Their essential attributes; and this manifestation of the Persons by Their essential attributes is called appropriation” (St. Th. la., q. 39, xxxix., a. 7). In this manner the Father, who is “the principle of the whole God-head” (St. Aug. De Trin. 1 iv., c. 20) is also the efficient cause of all things, of the Incarnation of the Word, and the sanctification of souls; “of Him are all things”: of Him, referring to the Father. But the Son, the Word, the Image of God is also the exemplar cause, whence all creatures borrow their form and beauty, their order and harmony. He is for us the Way, the Truth, and the Life; the Reconciler of man with God. “By Him are all things”: by Him, referring to the Son. The Holy Ghost is the ultimate cause of all things, since, as the will and all other things finally rest in their end, so He, who is the Divine Goodness and the Mutual Love of the Father and Son, completes and perfects, by His strong yet gentle power, the secret work of man’s eternal salvation. “In Him are all things”: in Him, referring to the Holy Ghost. 4. Having thus paid the due tribute of faith and worship owing to the Blessed Trinity, and which ought to be more and more inculcated upon the Christian people, we now turn to the exposition of the power of the Holy Ghost. And, first of all, we must look to Christ, the Founder of the Church and the Redeemer of our race. Among the external operations of God, the highest of all is the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word, in which the splendour of the divine perfections shines forth so brightly that nothing more sublime can even be imagined, nothing else could have been more salutary to the human race. Now this work, although belonging to the whole Trinity, is still appropriated especially to the Holy Ghost, so that the Gospels thus speak of the Blessed Virgin: “She was found with child of the Holy Ghost,” and “that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost” (Matt. i., 18, 20). And this is rightly attributed to Him who is the love of the Father and the Son, since this “great mystery of piety” (1 Tim. iii., 16) proceeds from the infinite love of God towards man, as St. John tells us: “God so loved the world as to give His only begotten Son” John iii., 16). Moreover, human nature was thereby elevated to a personal union with the Word; and this dignity is given, not on account of any merits, but entirely and absolutely through grace, and therefore, as it were, through the special gift of the Holy Ghost. On this point St. Augustine writes: “This manner in which Christ was born of the Holy Ghost, indicates to us the grace of God, by which humanity, with no antecedent merits, at the first moment of its existence, was united with the Word of God, by so intimate a personal union, that He, who was the Son of Man, was also the Son of God, and He who was the Son of God was also the Son of Man” (Enchir., c. xl. St. Th., 3a., q. xxxii., a. 1). By the operation of the Holy Spirit, not only was the conception of Christ accomplished, but also the sanctification of His soul, which, in Holy Scripture, is called His “anointing” (Acts x., 38). Wherefore all His actions were “performed in the Holy Ghost” (St. Basil de Sp. S., c. xvi.), and especially the sacrifice of Himself: “Christ, through the Holy Ghost, offered Himself without spot to God” (Heb. ix., 14). Considering this, no one can be surprised that all the gifts of the Holy Ghost inundated the soul of Christ. In Him resided the absolute fullness of grace, in the greatest and most efficacious manner possible; in Him were all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, graces gratis datae, virtues, and all other gifts foretold in the prophecies of Isaias (Is. iv., I; xi., 23), and also signified in that miraculous dove which appeared at the Jordan, when Christ, by His baptism, consecrated its waters for a new sacrament. On this the words of St. Augustine may appropriately be quoted: “It would be absurd to say that Christ received the Holy Ghost when He was already thirty years of age, for He came to His baptism without sin, and therefore not without the Holy Ghost. At this time, then (that is, at His baptism), He was pleased to prefigure His Church, in which those especially who are baptized receive the Holy Ghost” (De. Trin. 1., xv., c. 26). Therefore, by the conspicuous apparition of the Holy Ghost over Christ and by His invisible power in His soul, the twofold mission of the Spirit is foreshadowed, namely, His outward and visible mission in the Church, and His secret indwelling in the souls of the just. 5. The Church which, already conceived, came forth from the side of the second Adam in His sleep on the Cross, first showed herself before the eyes of men on the great day of Pentecost. On that day the Holy Ghost began to manifest His gifts in the mystic body of Christ, by that miraculous outpouring already foreseen by the prophet Joel (ii., 28-29), for the Paraclete “sat upon the apostles as though new spiritual crowns were placed upon their heads in tongues of fire” (S. Cyril Hier. Catech. 17). Then the apostles “descended from the mountain,” as St. John Chrysostom writes, “not bearing in their hands tables of stone like Moses, but carrying the Spirit in their mind, and pouring forth the treasure and the fountain of doctrines and graces” (In Matt. Hom. 1., 2 Cor. iii., 3). Thus was fully accomplished that last promise of Christ to His apostles of sending the Holy Ghost, who was to complete and, as it were, to seal the deposit of doctrine committed to them under His inspiration. “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now; but when He, the Spirit of Truth, shall come, He will teach you all truth” (John xvi., 1213). For He who is the Spirit of Truth, inasmuch as He proceedeth both from the Father, who is the eternally True, and from the Son, who is the substantial Truth, receiveth from each both His essence and the fullness of all truth. This truth He communicates to His Church, guarding her by His all powerful help from ever falling into error, and aiding her to foster daily more and more the germs of divine doctrine and to make them fruitful for the welfare of the peoples. And since the welfare of the peoples, for which the Church was established, absolutely requires that this office should be continued for all time, the Holy Ghost perpetually supplies life and strength to preserve and increase the Church. “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Paraclete, that He may abide with you for ever, the Spirit of Truth” John xiv., 16, 17). 6. By Him the bishops are constituted, and by their ministry are multiplied not only the children, but also the fathers – that is to say, the priests – to rule and feed the Church by that Blood wherewith Christ has redeemed Her. “The Holy Ghost hath placed you bishops to rule the Church of God, which He hath purchased with His own Blood” (Acts xx., 28). And both bishops and priests, by the miraculous gift of the Spirit, have the power of absolving sins, according to those words of Christ to the Apostles: “Receive ye the Holy Ghost; whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven them, and whose you shall retain they are retained” John xx., 22, 23). That the Church is a divine institution is most clearly proved by the splendour and glory of those gifts and graces with which she is adorned, and whose author and giver is the Holy Ghost. Let it suffice to state that, as Christ is the Head of the Church, so is the Holy Ghost her soul. “What the soul is in our body, that is the Holy Ghost in Christ’s body, the Church” (St. Aug., Serm. 187, de Temp.). This being so, no further and fuller “manifestation and revelation of the Divine Spirit” may be imagined or expected; for that which now takes place in the Church is the most perfect possible, and will last until that day when the Church herself, having passed through her militant career, shall be taken up into the joy of the saints triumphing in heaven. 7. The manner and extent of the action of the Holy Ghost in individual souls is no less wonderful, although somewhat more difficult to understand, inasmuch as it is entirely invisible. This outpouring of the Spirit is so abundant, that Christ Himself, from whose gift it proceeds, compares it to an overflowing river, according to those words of St. John: “He that believeth in Me, as the Scripture saith, out of his midst shall flow rivers of living water”; to which testimony the Evangelist adds the explanation: “Now this He said of the Spirit which they should receive who believed in Him” John vii., 38, 39). It is indeed true that in those of the just who lived before Christ, the Holy Ghost resided by grace, as we read in the Scriptures concerning the prophets, Zachary, John the Baptist, Simeon, and Anna; so that on Pentecost the Holy Ghost did not communicate Himself in such a way “as then for the first time to begin to dwell in the saints, but by pouring Himself forth more abundantly; crowning, not beginning His gifts; not commencing a new work, but giving more abundantly” (St. Leo the Great, Hom. iii., de Pentec.). But if they also were numbered among the children of God, they were in a state like that of servants, for “as long as the heir is a child he differeth nothing from a servant, but is under tutors and governors” (Gal. iv., 1, 2). Moreover, not only was their justice derived from the merits of Christ who was to come, but the communication of the Holy Ghost after Christ was much more abundant, just as the price surpasses in value the earnest and the reality excels the image. Wherefore St. John declares: “As yet the Spirit was not given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” John vii., 39). So soon, therefore, as Christ, “ascending on high,” entered into possession of the glory of His Kingdom which He had won with so much la our, He munificently opened out the treasures of the Holy Ghost: “He gave gifts to men” (Eph. iv., 8). For “that giving or sending forth of the Holy Ghost after Christ’s glorification was to be such as had never been before; not that there had been none before, but it had not been of the same kind” (St. Aug., De Trin., 1. iv. c. 20). 8. Human nature is by necessity the servant of God: “The creature is a servant; we are the servants of God by nature” (St. Cyr. Alex., Thesaur. 1. v., c. 5). On account, however, of original sin, our whole nature had fallen into such guilt and dishonour that we had become enemies to God. “We were by nature the children of wrath” (Eph. ii., 3). There was no power which could raise us and deliver us from this ruin and eternal destruction. But God, the Creator of mankind and infinitely merciful, did this through His only begotten Son, by whose benefit it was brought about that man was restored so that rank and dignity whence he had fallen, and was adorned with still more abundant graces. No one can express the greatness of this work of divine grace in the souls of men. Wherefore, both in Holy Scripture and in the writings of the fathers, men are styled regenerated, new creatures, partakers of the Divine Nature, children of God, god-like, and similar epithets. Now these great blessings are justly attributed as especially belonging to the Holy Ghost. He is “the Spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry: Abba, Father.” He fills our hearts with the sweetness of paternal love: “The Spirit Himself giveth testimony to our spirit that we are the sons of God” (Rom. viii., 15-16). This truth accords with the similitude observed by the Angelic Doctor between both operations of the Holy Ghost; for through Him “Christ was conceived in holiness to be by nature the Son of God,” and “others are sanctified to be the sons of God by adoption” (St. Th. 3a, q. xx ii., a. 1). This spiritual generation proceeds from love in a much more noble manner than the natural: namely, from the uncreated Love. 9. The beginnings of this regeneration and renovation of man are by Baptism. In this sacrament, when the unclean spirit has been expelled from the soul, the Holy Ghost enters in and makes it like to Himself. “That which is born of the Spirit, is spirit” john iii., 6). The same Spirit gives Himself more abundantly in Confirmation, strengthening and confirming Christian life; from which proceeded the victory of the martyrs and the triumph of the virgins over temptations and corruptions. We have said that the Holy Ghost gives Himself: “the charity of God is poured out into our hearts by the Holy Ghost who is given to us” (Rom. v., 5). For He not only brings to us His divine gifts, but is the Author of them and is Himself the supreme Gift, who, proceeding from the mutual love of the Father and the Son, is justly believed to be and is called “Gift of God most High.” To show the nature and efficacy of this gift it is well to recall the explanation given by the doctors of the Church of the words of Holy Scripture. They say that God is present and exists in all things, “by His power, in so far as all things are subject to His power; by His presence, inasmuch as all things are naked and open to His eyes; by His essence, inasmuch as he is present to all as the cause of their being.” (St. Th. Ia, q. viii., a. 3). But God is in man, not only as in inanimate things, but because he is more fully known and loved by him, since even by nature we spontaneously love, desire, and seek after the good. Moreover, God by grace resides in the just soul as in a temple, in a most intimate and peculiar manner. From this proceeds that union of affection by which the soul adheres most closely to God, more so than the friend is united to his most loving and beloved friend, and enjoys God in all fullness and sweetness. Now this wonderful union, which is properly called “indwelling,” differing only in degree or state from that with which God beatifies the saints in heaven, although it is most certainly produced by the presence of the whole Blessed Trinity – “We will come to Him and make our abode with Him,” John xiv. 23.) – nevertheless is attributed in a peculiar manner to the Holy Ghost. For, whilst traces of divine power and wisdom appear even in the wicked man, charity, which, as it were, is the special mark of the Holy Ghost, is shared in only by the just. In harmony with this, the same Spirit is called Holy, for He, the first and supreme Love, moves souls and leads them to sanctity, which ultimately consists in the love of God. Wherefore the apostle when calling us to the temple of God, does not expressly mention the Father or the Son, or the Holy Ghost: “Know ye not that your members are the temple of the Holy Ghost, who is in you, whom you have from God?” (1 Cor. vi. 19). The fullness of divine gifts is in many ways a consequence of the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the souls of the just. For, as St. Thomas teaches, “when the Holy Ghost proceedeth as love, He proceedeth in the character of the first gift; whence Augustine saith that, through the gift which is the Holy Ghost, many other special gifts are distributed among the members of Christ.” (Summ. Th., la. q. xxxviii., a. 2. St. Aug. De Trin., xv., c. 19). Among these gifts are those secret warnings and invitations, which from time to time are excited in our minds and hearts by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Without these there is no beginning of a good life, no progress, no arriving at eternal salvation. And since these words and admonitions are uttered in the soul in an exceedingly secret manner, they are sometimes aptly compared in Holy Writ to the breathing of a coming breeze, and the Angelic Doctor likens them to the movements of the heart which are wholly hidden in the living body. “Thy heart has a certain hidden power, and therefore the Holy Ghost, who invisibly vivifies and unites the Church, is compared to the heart.”(Summ. Th. 3a, q. vii., a. 1, ad 3). More than this, the just man, that is to say he who lives the life of divine grace, and acts by the fitting virtues as by means of faculties, has need of those seven gifts which are properly attributed to the Holy Ghost. By means of them the soul is furnished and strengthened so as to obey more easily and promptly His voice and impulse. Wherefore these gifts are of such efficacy that they lead the just man to the highest degree of sanctity; and of such excellence that they continue to exist even in heaven, though in a more perfect way. By means of these gifts the soul is excited and encouraged to seek after and attain the evangelical beatitudes, which, like the flowers that come forth in the spring time, are the signs and harbingers of eternal beatitude. Lastly there are those blessed fruits, enumerated by the Apostle (Gal. v., 22), which the Spirit, even in this mortal life, produces and shows forth in the just; fruits filled with all sweetness and joy, inasmuch as they proceed from the Spirit, “who is in the Trinity the sweetness of both Father and Son, filling all creatures with infinite fullness and profusion.” (St. Aug. De Trin. 1. vi., c. 9). The Divine Spirit, proceeding from the Father and the Word in the eternal light of sanctity, Himself both Love and Gift, after having manifested Himself through the veils of figures in the Old Testament, poured forth all his fullness upon Christ and upon His mystic Body, the Church; and called back by his presence and grace men who were going away in wickedness and corruption with such salutary effect that, being no longer of the earth earthy, they relished and desired quite other things, becoming of heaven heavenly. 10. These sublime truths, which so clearly show forth the infinite goodness of the Holy Ghost towards us, certainly demand that we should direct towards Him the highest homage of our love and devotion. Christians may do this most effectually if they will daily strive to know Him, to love Him, and to implore Him more earnestly; for which reason may this Our exhortation, flowing spontaneously from a paternal heart, reach their ears. Perchance there are still to be found among them, even nowadays, some, who if asked, as were those of old by St. Paul the Apostle, whether they have received the Holy Ghost, might answer in like manner: “We have not so much as heard whether there be a Holy Ghost” (Acts xix., 2). At least there are certainly many who are very deficient in their religious practices, but their faith is involved in much darkness. Wherefore all preachers and those having care of souls should remember that it is their duty to instruct their people more diligently and more fully about the Holy Ghost – avoiding, however, difficult and subtle controversies, and eschewing the dangerous folly of those who rashly endeavour to pry into divine mysteries. What should be chiefly dwelt upon and clearly explained is the multitude and greatness of the benefits which have been bestowed, and are constantly bestowed, upon us by this Divine Giver, so that errors and ignorance concerning matters of such moment may be entirely dispelled, as unworthy of “the children of light.” We urge this, not only because it affects a mystery by which we are directly guided to eternal life, and which must therefore be firmly believed; but also because the more clearly and fully the good is known the more earnestly it is loved. Now we owe to the Holy Ghost, as we mentioned in the second place, love, because He is God: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength” (Deut. vi., 5). He is also to be loved because He is the substantial, eternal, primal Love, and nothing is more lovable than love. And this all the more because He has overwhelmed us with the greatest benefits, which both testify to the benevolence of the Giver and claim the gratitude of the receiver. This love has a twofold and most conspicuous utility. In the first place it will excite us to acquire daily a clearer knowledge about the Holy Ghost; for, as the Angelic Doctor says, “the lover is not content with the superficial knowledge of the beloved, but striveth to inquire intimately into all that appertains to the beloved, and thus to penetrate into the interior; as is said of the Holy Ghost, Who is the Love of God, that He searcheth even the profound things of God” (1 Cor. ii., 10; Summ. Theol., la. 2ae., q. 28, a. 2). In the second place it will obtain for us a still more abundant supply of heavenly gifts; for whilst a narrow heart contracteth the hand of the giver, a grateful and mindful heart causeth it to expand. Yet we must strive that this love should be of such a nature as not to consist merely in dry speculations or external observances, but rather to run forward towards action, and especially to fly from sin, which is in a more special manner offensive to the Holy Spirit. For whatever we are, that we are by the divine goodness; and this goodness is specially attributed to the Holy Ghost. The sinner offends this his Benefactor, abusing His gifts; and taking advantage of His goodness becomes more hardened in sin day by day. Again, since He is the Spirit of Truth, whosoever faileth by weakness or ignorance may perhaps have some excuse before Almighty God; but he who resists the truth through malice and turns away from it, sins most grievously against the Holy Ghost. In our days this sin has become so frequent that those dark times seem to have come which were foretold by St. Paul, in which men, blinded by the just judgment of God, should take falsehood for truth, and should believe in “the prince of this world,” who is a liar and the father thereof, as a teacher of truth: “God shall send them the operation of error, to believe Iying (2 Thess. ii., 10). In the last times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to spirits of error and the doctrines of devils” (1 Tim. iv., 1). But since the Holy Ghost, as We have said, dwells in us as in His temple, We must repeat the warning of the Apostle: “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed” (Eph. iv., 30). Nor is it enough to fly from sin; every Christian ought to shine with the splendour of virtue so as to be pleasing to so great and so beneficent a guest; and first of all with chastity and holiness, for chaste and holy things befit the temple. Hence the words of the Apostle: “Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? But if any man violate the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which you are” (1 Cor. iii., 16-17): a terrible, in deed, but a just warning. 11. Lastly, we ought to pray to and invoke the Holy Spirit, for each one of us greatly needs His protection and His help. The more a man is deficient in wisdom, weak in strength, borne down with trouble, prone to sin, so ought he the more to fly to Him who is the never-ceasing fount of light, strength, consolation, and holiness. And chiefly that first requisite of man, the forgiveness of sins, must be sought for from Him: “It is the special character of the Holy Ghost that He is the Gift of the Father and the Son. Now the remission of all sins is given by the Holy Ghost as by the Gift of God” (Summ. Th. 3a, q. iii., a. 8, ad 3m). Concerning this Spirit the words of the Liturgy are very explicit: “For He is the remission of all sins” (Roman Missal, Tuesday after Pentecost). How He should be invoked is clearly taught by the Church, who addresses Him in humble supplication, calling upon Him by the sweetest of names: “Come, Father of the poor! Come, Giver of gifts! Come, Light of our hearts! O. best of Consolers, sweet Guest of the soul, our refreshment!” (Hymn, Veni Sancte Spiritus). She earnestly implores Him to wash, heal, water our minds and hearts, and to give to us who trust in Him “the merit of virtue, the acquirement of salvation, and joy everlasting.” Nor can it be in any way doubted that He will listen to such prayer, since we read the words written by His own inspiration: “The Spirit Himself asketh for us with unspeakable groanings” (Rom. viii., 26). Lastly, we ought confidently and continually to beg of Him to illuminate us daily more and more with His light and inflame us with His charity: for, thus inspired with faith and love, we may press onward earnestly towards our eternal reward, since He “is the pledge of our inheritance” (Eph. i. 14). 12. Such, Venerable Brethren, are the teachings and exhortations which We have seen good to utter, in order to stimulate devotion to the Holy Ghost. We have no doubt that, chiefly by means of your zeal and earnestness, they will bear abundant fruit among Christian peoples. We Ourselves shall never in the future fail to labour towards so important an end; and it is even Our intention, in whatever ways may appear suitable, to further cultivate and extend this admirable work of piety. Meanwhile, as two years ago, in Our Letter Provida Matris, We recommended to Catholics special prayers at the Feast of Pentecost, for the Re-union of Christendom, so now We desire to make certain further decrees on the same subject. 13. Wherefore, We decree and command that throughout the whole Catholic Church, this year and in every subsequent year, a Novena shall take place before Whit-Sunday, in all parish churches, and also, if the local Ordinaries think fit, in other churches and oratories. To all who take part in this Novena and duly pray for Our intention, We grant for each day an Indulgence of seven years and seven quarantines; moreover, a Plenary Indulgence on any one of the days of the Novena, or on Whit-Sunday itself, or on any day during the Octave; provided they shall have received the Sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist, and devoutly prayed for Our intention. We will that those who are legitimately prevented from attending the Novena, or who are in places where the devotions cannot, in the judgment of the Ordinary, be conveniently carried out in church, shall equally enjoy the same benefits, provided they make the Novena privately and observe the other conditions. Moreover We are pleased to grant, in perpetuity, from the Treasury of the Church, that whosoever, daily during the Octave of Pentecost up to Trinity Sunday inclusive, offer again publicly or privately any prayers, according to their devotion, to the Holy Ghost, and satisfy the above conditions, shall a second time gain each of the same Indulgences. All these Indulgences We also permit to be applied to the suffrage of the souls in Purgatory. 14. And now Our mind and heart turn back to those hopes with which We began, and for the accomplishment of which We earnestly pray, and will continue to pray, to the Holy Ghost. Unite, then, Venerable Brethren, your prayers with Ours, and at your exhortation let all Christian peoples add their prayers also, invoking the powerful and ever-acceptable intercession of the Blessed Virgin. You know well the intimate and wonderful relations existing between her and the Holy Ghost, so that she is justly called His Spouse. The intercession of the Blessed Virgin was of great avail both in the mystery of the Incarnation and in the coming of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles. May she continue to strengthen our prayers with her suffrages, that, in the midst of all the stress and trouble of the nations, those divine prodigies may be happily revived by the Holy Ghost, which were foretold in the words of David: “Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created, and Thou shalt renew the face of the earth” (Ps. ciii., 30). 15. As a pledge of Divine favour and a testimony of Our affection, Venerable Brethren, to you, to your Clergy, and people, We gladly impart in the Lord the Apostolic Benediction. Given at St. Peter’s in Rome, on the 9th day of May, 1897, in the 20th year of Our Pontificate.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741449
__label__cc	0.651504	0.348496	#FeelGoodBlogging Day 2: The Why Photographing the Petrified Forest National Park way back in 1994 My father passed along his love of photography to me at an early age. He was definitely our family historian, documenting every important event throughout the years. I began taking photography seriously in middle school when I signed up for a class where we got to use classic manual cameras, develop our own film in the dark room and also process our own prints. I absolutely LOVED every minute of my time in that lab and watching the magic appear as my prints developed. Although I pursued other interests in college, including dance and archaeology, and dabbled in many different jobs post-college, my love of photography stood the test of time. When planning my wedding seven years ago, I knew I wanted to hire a solid photographer who would give me full digital rights to use the photos as I wished post-wedding. Don Mears and his wife, Lindsay, did a stellar job to say the least! While a traditional wedding album was included in the package, I wanted to make digital wedding albums to give our parents as a gift. I did a bit of research and learned of My Publisher and I've been using them for various photo book projects ever since. I cherish my traditional album from Don & Lindsay, (it is absolutely gorgeous!) but it remains safely tucked away in its storage box most of the time, while my digital album is out and about for anyone to flip through any time. And let's get back to the gifts... it's an understatement to say that both sets of parents LOVE their books. It's a stunning documentation of our special day and we all still flip through and cherish the memories of that sunny September day seven years ago. Seeing the joy this gift brought to our families made me want to give more. Photo gifts are unique, personal and truly priceless; they share our memories and tell our stories. Fast forward to 2012, after I'd been a stay-at-home mom for three years and was looking to return to the workforce. I had so many business ideas during my time at home, but one kept coming back to me. Photo books. And yet, I couldn't see how making photo books could be a profitable business. So I signed up to attend Tory Johnson's Spark & Hustle conference that summer, hoping to get some inspiration for starting my own business. It was there I ran into Coach Jenn Lee, who I'd exchanged e-mails with earlier in the year. I was excited to introduce myself and to thank her for offering business advice to me (that I failed to follow up on!) The first business I told her I was considering was a career as a Virtual Assistant, after all, much of my corporate experience was in executive assistance. But then I mentioned photo books. And her face lit up. And apparently so did mine. She immediately pounced and could see that making photo books was my passion. And ironically enough, she'd been hired by the recently formed Association of Personal Photo Organizers (APPO) to provide some coaching support. So she asked if I'd ever heard of them. "No," was my simple answer. Within a week, an employee of APPO called me to follow up on the interest I'd shown Coach Jenn. Two weeks later, I joined APPO. Three months after that, I'd completed their certification program and had officially launched Picture This Photo Solutions, LLC. It's been a whirlwind ever since! Many are confused by my varied background in dance, then archaeology and now photo organizing, but I find a connection between all three. For one, I was never a "cubicle" person, even though I toiled away in one for many, many years. That's the dancer in me. Wanting to be up and moving around. And two, I've always had a deep love for history beginning with day trips to Colonial Williamsburg as a young girl and being absolutely fascinated by the "living" history represented there. It truly was like stepping into the past. So pursuing archaeology made a lot of sense to me. And it's also quite a physical activity when working in the field. But what does photo organizing have to do with any of this? Every person has a story to tell. And those stories are often buried in their boxes of photos. And as mentioned in yesterday's post, there are many treasures to be found at the bottom of those boxes. So photo organizing gives me the opportunity to be up and moving around, helping my clients sort through their photos, while also hearing fascinating stories about their lives and, like icing on the cake, I get to HELP people, which is another lifelong passion of mine. To sum it up, photo organizing takes everything I love and wraps it up into a nice, neat career that fulfills every passion of mine while making a difference in my clients' lives.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741450
__label__cc	0.743705	0.256295	The Lion’s Roar By Susan Stenersen Gerle A three year old child questions everything. My granddaughter, EmmyLou, was no different as she looked up at me. I was perched on one of the lions guarding the doors of the the old Vancouver Court House, now housing the Vancouver Art Gallery. “Grandma, why are you sitting on that lion?” I grinned down at her. “Your Great, Great, Great Grandpa Johnston carved this lion. He told his grandson, my Dad, it was the best job he ever had!” I was prepared for her comment and immediately answered. “He only had to make a cut on the granite when the sculptor came out and gave him directions. Otherwise he got to sit and wait on the steps of the courthouse and watch the world go by.” I climbed off the lion and sat down on the steps, pulling her down beside me. “Just like we are doing right now.” “Why?’ I remember when her uncle and mother were little. Sometimes I’d count the number of whys they said each day but usually I gave up Their little minds were huge sponges, absorbing all the answers I could throw at them and the questions were endless. It was important for me to tell them stories of their heritage. Now I could also share the stories with my granddaughter. “Your family is part of the history of Vancouver. Great Uncle Robert Johnston traveled from New Brunswick in 1888 during the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway to BC. His younger brother, John Alexander, joined him in 1896. John was my Great Grandpa and he was a stone cutter. John and Robert’s mother and other brothers and sister came in 1899 after their father died. My Great Grandma, Ida Craig, came out in 1900 to marry Great Grandpa John.” EmmyLou looked confused with all the information I was giving her but a moment later she suddenly smiled. “Mommy and Daddy are married.” “Yes they are sweetie.” “Did Great Grandma and Grandpa have a big wedding on the beach too?” EmmyLou’s memory brought up the vision of her parent’s wedding pictures. “I think they had a little wedding in the house at 887 Richards Street.” “Can we go see their house and visit them?” How does one explain the concept of time to a three year old? A hundred years had passed by. “ Great Grandpa and Grandma moved away and eventually died. The house was torn down.” “The house and Great Grandma and Grandpa were very old.” I quickly changed the subject before ten more whys followed. “I used to go to the Bay with my Grandma and Grandpa.” There was no sense telling her about my trips to Woodwards and Eaton’s and the White Lunch, long gone from the neighbourhood. “Mommy and I walk to the Bay sometimes. We go shopping and look at things.” “Maybe you and I should go shopping there too, just like I used to do with my Grandma.” “Before we go shopping, Grandma, I want to sit on the lion too.” I took her small hand and we made our way up the stairs. I helped her climb up and settle on to the back of the lion, just as my Grandmother had done with me sixty years before. The stone was cold and smooth but EmmyLou reached out and patted the lion’s mane anyway. “Nice kitty cat.” I wasn’t surprised to hear the sound of a lion roaring coming from her shortly after. I helped her down a few minutes later and we continued on our journey through downtown. I realized how lucky I was to be able to share parts of my childhood stories with my granddaughter. Great Uncle Robert Johnston, the first one to come west to Vancouver, was a proud Vancouverite. His picture hangs in the BC Sports Hall of Fame as an unbeatable Sculler in the Pacific Northwest. My Grandma, Catherine, was the first child born while Great Grandma and Grandpa Johnston still lived at the house on Richards Street. Shortly after, her parents built their own home on the south side of False Creek at 761 8th Ave. W. By then, Great Grandpa was well established as a stone cutter with Monument Works. He worked on the Heather Pavilion at Vancouver General Hospital and Vancouver Normal School as well as the Empress Hotel. In 1910 he worked with John Bruce, the sculptor who designed the lions. They were carved from granite quarried from Nelson Island. In 1912, Great Grandma and Grandpa decided that the city was no place to raise children properly. The population of Vancouver was already over 100,000 people. They moved out to the Fraser Valley to farm but Great Grandpa Johnston also continued to work as a stone cutter in Vancouver. There are so many memories for me each time I come to visit my granddaughter and now she is old enough to understand them. Luckily, my Grandma Catherine took an interest in the family history and gathered letters and pictures for 30 years before she passed away in 1983. Her nephew, Craig Johnston, took over and is still gathering information. We finally got back to her family condo on Barclay Street in Vancouver’s west end. She was excited to see her mother, Paula, who immediately asked her daughter, “So, what did you and Grandma do?” EmmyLou thought for a moment and then explained, “Mommy, I made Great Grandpa’s lion roar!”	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741456
__label__cc	0.693444	0.306556	Home › Publications › Commentary › Fast Facts: Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges Fast Facts: Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges Shauna MacKinnon The 2012 State of the Inner City Report is titled Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges. We called it this because we believe it captures the essence of the two distinct projects included this year. The first chapter, Who’s Accountable to the Community?, speaks to concerns raised by our community partners that the current approach taken by governments and other funders often disregards what is most important—whether or not those in receipt of services feel that they are getting the supports that they need. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a forum for the Executive Directors of community-based organizations (CBOs) who believe that governments and other funding agencies should be more accountable to the community being served just as CBOs must be accountable to funders. This ‘two way street’ is not always easy to achieve, but is necessary if we are to move forward in a manner that best benefits those we aim to serve. Breaking barriers and building bridges is also the dominant theme in our second chapter, Fixing our Divided City. Like most cities, Winnipeg is divided in many different ways. The racialized, spatialized poverty that is a growing reality in Winnipeg’s inner-city has led to a divide that is particularly worrisome. In one form or other CCPA Manitoba has examined the social and economic divide in our city through eight annual State of the Inner City Reports. We have learned much about the damaging effects of colonization, racism, concentrated poverty, low educational attainment, street gang involvement and the causes and complexity of the glaring and persistent concentrated disadvantage in our city. These problems won’t be easily solved, and less so as long as we are divided and blaming individuals for their troubles. We also know that the divide is not always intentional. It is sometimes simply the result of our not knowing and understanding each other very well. This is something that we can change through dialogue across neighbourhoods and between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. It also occurs to us that more can be done to increase dialogue across generations. There are a growing number of young people showing concern about social and economic injustice and in many ways we have neglected to fully tap into their optimism and hope. We also have a breadth and depth of knowledge and wisdom available to us through our Elders. We believe there is much to be gained from bringing these groups together, so we developed a plan, which we then put into action and report on in this year’s State of the Inner City Report. In a series of workshops and interviews we spoke to Aboriginal youth from the CEDA Pathways to Education program, Collège Béliveau and Grant Park High School. We talked with them about their perceptions of the inner city, poverty and racism in our city. We talked about their hopes for the future and how to make the world a better place. We also filmed interviews with five Aboriginal Elders who shared their experiences growing up as Aboriginal youth and the lessons they wished to share with young people. We then brought these thirty youth, their teachers and mentors, and four Elders together to give them an opportunity to learn more about each other. We spent a Saturday together at Circle of Life Thunderbird House. The Elders shared teachings with the youth and the group was invited to share their thoughts and ideas with each other in a traditional sharing circle format. It was a powerful day. One Elder later described the event as “very much needed for us to learn about each other…I can’t believe we didn’t think to do this before”. One non-Aboriginal youth expressed concern with “the amount of racism, the oppression, the discrimination that Aboriginals and other people of different cultures deal with in our society.” One non-Aboriginal youth said the day was important because “if we don’t share our stories we won’t be able to learn from others mistakes or our own mistakes.” Another youth said “it was an amazing experience”. One Elder said “the youth have a voice and they’re using it positively…they are being very proactive in their approach against racism.” Another said that she was very impressed with the youth participants and “I go home hopeful”. It was indeed a hopeful day and we believe it should be the first of many to follow. Circle of Life Thunderbird House is a perfect venue to bring Elders, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people together from across the city to dispel some of the myths about the inner city and to learn about Aboriginal culture and history. This can help us begin a much-needed process of healing in our divided city. This eighth State of the Inner City Report adds to the mounting knowledge we now have about what works in the inner city and what doesn’t. This year’s report also reminds us that we have a lot more to learn from each other, and more work to do as a community to break down the barriers that remain and build bridges that lead to a better city for everyone. Our city may be divided, but it doesn’t have to be. State of the Inner City 2012 Breaking Barriers Building Bridges by CCPA-MB December 12, 2012 \| Manitoba Office Find Publications <Any>CommentaryFact Sheets & InfographicsMultimedia & InteractiveOur Schools Our SelvesReports & StudiesThe Monitor <Any>National OfficeBC OfficeSaskatchewan OfficeManitoba OfficeOntario OfficeNova Scotia Office <Any>AgricultureAlternative budgetsBiotechnologyChildren and youthCorporations and corporate powerEconomy and economic indicatorsEducationEmployment and labourEnergy policyEnvironment and sustainabilityFederal electionGender equalityGovernment financeHealth, health care system, pharmacareHousing and homelessnessHuman rightsIndigenous issuesInequality and povertyInternational relations, peace and conflictInternational trade and investment, deep integrationLaw and legal issuesMedia, media analysisMunicipalities and urban developmentOtherPublic services and privatizationRace and anti-racismSeniors issues and pensionsTaxes and tax cuts	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741457
__label__wiki	0.751566	0.751566	The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (Blu-ray, DVD) The animated musical masterpiece comes home in brilliant high-definition, packed with special features and with an enhanced 3D presentation. Written by: Chris Mitchell \| September 19, 2011 Tim Burton and Henry Selick’s musical masterpiece The Nightmare Before Christmas makes its way onto Blu-ray for a second time in this 3D release. Those who have been waiting for the ultimate package for the 1993 animated classic are finally in luck, as this set will please fans of the movie while showing those new to it why it’s such a beloved musical classic. The story follows Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town. Though he has scared plenty of folks and lived up to his reputation as the pumpkin king, he feels there’s still something missing from his afterlife. As he grows tired of the same tricking and treating year after year, he accidently discovers the portal to the neighboring Christmas Town. Jack then becomes obsessed with taking over the Christmas celebration, all while messing things up for poor old Santa as he tries to mix Halloween and Christmas with disastrous results. With the help of some songs and friends, it’s up to Jack to grasp the concept of Christmas and set things right. Disney has done a splendid job with the transfer of the film to Blu-ray, as I doubt the movie has ever looked better. Viewers get to see all of the awesome details and colors of the characters and backgrounds that show up really well in 1080p, leading one to think the film was just recently released instead of in 1993. The Dolby TrueHD 7.1 sound fits the film perfectly, as every song and bit of dialogue comes out loud and clear. While I wasn’t able to view the Blu-ray’s 3D feature, I’m sure that it looks and sounds just as well, with the added bonus of the film literally jumping off the screen. Fans will be happy to know that this collection is jam packed with special features, with far too many for me to list. I’ll point out some of the ones that really stand out, such as audio Commentary by Tim Burton, director Henry Selick, and music producer Danny Elfman that gives a lot of insight into how the film came together. Most of the features are in standard definition sadly, but are still pretty interesting. There’s the extended director’s cut of Tim Burton’s 1984 short film “Frankenweenie” that stars Shelley Duvall and Daniel Stern as the parents of a science whiz kid who brings his dead dog back to life using electricity (and may act as a subtle advertisement for the upcoming remake). I thought it was a nice little tribute to 1930s classic horror films while also giving a look into Burton’s eccentric style of filming. He also has a newly filmed introduction in which he talks about his upcoming animated remake that’s set for a 2012 release. “Tim Burton’s Original Poem” that served as the inspiration for the film, is a nice little HD feature narrated by Christopher Lee that features brand new animation based on Burton’s original concept art. I liked seeing another side of Jack here, as he is more of a Grinch-like character. There’s also deleted storyboards and animated sequences, “The Making of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas” which talks about the stop-motion animation process and gives an overview of Burton’s designs, the music, storyboards, and how the puppets came to be. Still galleries are also included that are filled with character designs and concept art, as well as some short animation test videos of some of the characters. “What’s This? Jack’s Haunted Mansion Holiday Tour” is a high-def treat that features interviews from some of the Disneyland “Imagineers”, and how they convert the traditional Haunted Mansion ride to a ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ theme each year. The Nightmare Before Christmas is a fun, yet odd treat for the family to enjoy again in high-definition and, if you have the equipment, 3D in the comfort of your own home. Tim Burton and Henry Selick have crafted a visual masterpiece that stands the test of time and imagination, and Danny Elfman’s illustrious songs seem to sound better than ever, too. The set is packed with special features and bonuses that fans will devour, even if most are presented in standard-definition. While the stop-motion animation combined with Tim Burton’s freaky looking characters may turn some away, fans and those willing to give this haunted holiday classic a chance are sure to enjoy this frightfully awesome release they’ll want to see again and again. About the Author: Chris Mitchell Since the late 90's Chris has always enjoyed talking about and reviewing video games, movies and TV series from here and around the world. Feel free to follow, like, and chat with him on any of the social media links. He won't bite. by Annette Palmer Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2016) by Chris Pandolfi Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016) When Marnie Was There (Blu-ray) The Right Kind of Wrong (2014)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741458
__label__wiki	0.845482	0.845482	Thor: The Dark World (2013) Despite the conflict between fun Asgard scenes and uninspired Earth scenes, its nevertheless more entertaining than its predecessor. Written by: Chris Pandolfi \| November 8, 2013 My biggest issue with Kenneth Branagh’s Thor, 2011’s addition to the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe, was that the scenes on the title character’s home world of Asgard were far better than the scenes on Earth. Because the split between these scenes was more or less fifty-fifty, the whole thing came off as two entirely different movies fighting for the same space. The makers of Thor: The Dark World, most notably director Alan Taylor, do indeed make the same mistake as Branagh. Fortunately, it isn’t to the same degree; apart from the fact that Asgard is the primary setting, the Earth scenes, especially near the end, have greater significance and show that more of an effort was made. Granted, it wasn’t much more of an effort, but I’ll take whatever I can get. Although the end result is not perfect, it’s nevertheless a better film than its predecessor. Setting aside the Earth scenes for a moment, the film was clearly made with the sensibilities of a space opera. I don’t mean that as a criticism. Quite the opposite; the decision to cross a fantasy novel with a Saturday matinee serial, which would put the film in the same category as the Star Wars saga, was the right one, for it plays off of the audience’s sense of nostalgia and gives us license to have pure, unadulterated fun. It helps that the Asgard scenes, much like those in the film’s predecessor, are a triumph of art direction and special effects; simply looking at the fantastical sets was an experience unto itself. Surprisingly, the bold color scheme wasn’t much dimmed by the film’s 3D presentation. I’d recommend you see it that way, expect I recently vowed to never again do that unless the 3D is coupled with an IMAX projector. The plot is silly in the best possible sense of the word. It opens with a prologue sequence narrated by Odin (Anthony Hopkins), who explains that his father once defeated a race of warriors hellbent on transforming the entire universe into a realm of darkness. The darkness is a computer-generated goo called Aether, which I think is supposed to be what our scientists call Dark Matter. In the story proper, Odin’s son, the hammer-wielding Thor (Chris Hemsworth), tries to rekindle his romance with Earth astrophysicist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) after two years of attempting to restore universal balance. At the same time, he must stop the Aether, which has possessed Jane’s body, from falling into the hands of an evil space elf named Malekith (Christopher Eccleston). This coincides with a rare alignment of nine universal realms and the wormholes that form at points of contact. Not surprisingly, all these wormholes can be found on Earth, specifically in London, where Jane now lives and continues her research. In attempting to vanquish Malekith, Thor must form a shaky truce with his evil stepbrother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), imprisoned by Odin for the wicked deeds seen in both Thor and Marvel’s The Avengers. A master of trickery and illusion, we’re always left wondering if Loki will be redeemed or if he’s merely executing a convoluted plot to take Odin’s throne. It’s tempting to believe the final shot before the end credits gives us the answers we’re looking for, but in fact, all it does is raise an entirely new series of questions. For those unfamiliar with the original Marvel comic books (like myself), so too does the first of two post-credit sequences, in which both a new character and a new MacGuffin are introduced for the purposes of a yet-to-be-released film. Whether it will be a direct sequel to The Dark World, a sequel to one of the other Marvel films, or the start of a new superhero franchise remains to be seen. It’s really a shame that the Earth scenes are equally as unimpressive as they were in the first Thor film. In large part, this is because the Earth characters are either extraneous, badly developed, or both. Consider Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård), Jane’s former mentor; he’s now a comedic figure, first seen on a news report in which he runs around Stonehenge naked. Jane’s assistant, Darcy (Kat Dennings), remains the same goofy sidekick she started out as and yet again contributes nothing of value to the story. Neither do new characters played by Jonathan Howard and Chris O’Dowd, the latter appearing in exactly two scenes as a possible new boyfriend for Portman’s character. Care to speculate on the likelihood of Jane dumping a muscle-bound thunder god for an Irish funnyman? I find it very surprising that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has held up as long as it has, given the fact that it forces us to keep track of several superhero characters and multiple storylines. This is exactly why I have deepening concerns over it. How long before the formula becomes stale? Will the films eventually become so hopelessly intertwined that watching a new chapter will depend on intimate knowledge of all the chapters that came before it? Thor: The Dark World, its predecessor, and the other films connected to it are beginning to seem less like self-contained entities and more like puzzle pieces. If you’ve ever put a real puzzle together, you know that losing just one piece can ruin the entire picture. Here’s hoping that no pieces go missing. The more they’re added on, the greater the chance of such a thing happening. About the Author: Chris Pandolfi Chris Pandolfi is Los Angeles-based freelance film critic trying to make sense of this crazy, topsy-turvy world. by Travis Seppala by Christian Stirling Assembling the End with Marvel's Avengers: Endgame by Popzara Podcast Disney's Captain Marvel: Ginger Cats and Mostly Marvelous Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) Westworld: The Complete Second Season	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741459
__label__wiki	0.779848	0.779848	Torche release Admission, the band’s fifth album, and first new music since 2015’s Restarter, on July 12 via Relapse Records. “This album is more revealing of who we are. I think the core of the band is happier and more inspired than we have been in some time, and we’ve got somebody new who’s excited to be a part of it. It’s just refreshing. It feels right. It feels real,” says guitar player Jon Nuñez, referencing the band’s new line-up which includes a shift from bass to guitar for Nuñez and the addition of bass player Eric Hernandez (Wrong). Steve Brooks (guitar/vocals) and Rick Smith (drummer) round-out the band. Times Missing Extremes of Consciousness Changes Come Ride - This Is Not A Safe Place Mean Jeans - Gigantic Sike Have Mercy - The Love Life	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741464
__label__wiki	0.99443	0.99443	ARL Indigenous Council announced NRL Media Release Mon 31 Oct 2016, 05:58 PM The newly appointed Australian Rugby League (ARL) Indigenous Council was announced earlier this week, with five new Council members joining three returning members. The ARL Indigenous Council was appointed by the Australian Rugby League Commission in 2012 and has since played a pivotal role in providing strategic advice to the game and achieving greater recognition, involvement and support for Indigenous communities throughout Australia. The Hon Linda Burney MP, who became the first Aboriginal woman elected to the House of Representatives earlier this year, will lead the ARL Indigenous Council, supported by independent Council members from a variety of backgrounds, along with representatives from State Leagues. Council members include: Joshua Creamer, Katrina Fanning, Mal Cochrane, Karla Grant, Nathan Towney, Edward Monaei and Rick Walford. Ms Burney said it was an honour to lead the Council for a second term and was proud of the success of the Council, particularly in guiding the game’s third Reconciliation Action Plan and ensuring that Indigenous youth in particular were provided with greater education and playing pathways. “For many years, Rugby League has been a leader in embracing and including Indigenous peoples and the resolve to unite as one has never been stronger,” Ms Burney said. “The new Council will continue the charter set to ensure that our game is a place for all, respects all and recognises all.” The Councils’ announcement comes on the back of news last week that the NRL had been recognised on the global stage for its Indigenous School to Work program. The Beyond Sport Awards were held in London last week, with the NRL awarded the Sport Governing Body of the Year for its School to Work program. The award was in recognition of the NRL providing increased opportunities, through Rugby League, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians to access quality programs aimed at closing the gap between Indigenous and other Australians across key social indicators including education, employment and health. Incoming Australian Rugby League Indigenous Council Linda Burney MP (Chairwoman) Linda became the first female Aboriginal woman to be elected to the Australian House of Representatives, winning the seat of Barton in the 2016 Federal election. Linda is a dedicated supporter of the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and in June 2013, was appointed as Chairwoman of the Australian Rugby League Indigenous Council. Joshua Creamer (Deputy Chairman) Joshua is a practising barrister who is recognised as one of Australia’s leading native title barristers. Joshua has contributed to Rugby League as an ARL Indigenous Council member since 2014 and is the current Chairman for the ‘Titans of Tomorrow’ program. Edward Monaei Edward is a recognised leader and respected advocate for Torres Strait Islander inclusion and progression throughout all levels of government. Edward works with Indigenous Councils to improve the health and well-being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and is the current Chairman of the Queensland Rugby League Indigenous Advisory Committee, as well as the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the south-east Queensland Mabo Steering Committee. Edward has played a significant role in the development and progression of Indigenous Rugby League throughout Queensland and works in collaboration with key stakeholders, like the Arthur Beetson Foundation, to build positive pathways for junior, women’s and men’s Indigenous rugby league. Katrina Fanning Katrina played 24 Tests for the Australian Jillaroo’s, including the inaugural women’s Test Match against New Zealand in 1995, as well as appearing at the Rugby League World Cups in 2000 and 2003. Katrina has held executive positions with the Australian Women’s Rugby League and Canberra Women’s Rugby League and played a pivotal role in preparations for the first ever Australian Indigenous women’s representative team who played the New Zealand Maori representative team. Along with representing her country, Katrina has played for New South Wales, both country and State teams, and has served on the ARL Indigenous Council since 2012. Mal Cochrane Mal is a Rugby League Indigenous Team of the Century member, who played for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles throughout the 80s. Mal continues to be involved in Rugby League through his role as an NRL Judiciary panel member and as Manager of the Harvey Norman Indigenous All Stars team. Karla Grant Karla has over 25 years of media experience, working as a journalist, producer, director and presenter – with this year marking 21 years at SBS. For 14 years, Karla has been the Host and Executive Producer of Australia’s award-winning and longest running Indigenous current affairs show, ‘Living Black’, on SBS and NITV. Karla has dedicated a huge part of her career to working in Indigenous news and current affairs, witnessing and reporting on the shifts in policy and attitudes towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Karla is committed to giving her people a platform for highlighting their issues and educating and informing all Australians on the plight of our First Peoples’. Nathan Towney Nathan is the current Principal of Newcastle High School, where he strives to create a culture of high expectations and a community of engaged learners. Nathan promotes positive relationships across all stakeholders, effective systems and processes and distributed leadership as the foundations for success at Newcastle High School. Previously, Nathan managed the Aboriginal Education team in south-west Sydney, creating positive partnerships with communities and external agencies and providing leadership to improve student learning outcomes across 276 schools with the support of the NSW Department of Education. Rick Walford Rick is a former professional rugby league player, having played for the Sydney Roosters, North Sydney Bears, the St George Dragons and New South Wales. Upon retiring from playing rugby league, Rick became the Indigenous Program Manager for the Australian Rugby League’s development team and has also worked as the New South Wales Rugby League Indigenous Program Manager. Rick is currently the Indigenous Program Manager for Country Rugby League. reappointed ARL Indigenous Council members	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741465
__label__wiki	0.709352	0.709352	5 years bringing the changing post-communist world to the web Eric P. Martin During a month of anniversaries for post-communist Europe, Prague's Transitions Online has also been celebrating an anniversary - that of its own transition. The non-profit English-language web magazine covers news from the developing democracies in Europe and Asia that emerged from behind the Iron Curtain. Five years ago, it rose out of the ashes of Transitions magazine and established a network of correspondents stretching from Prague to the Ulan Bator. Eric Martin spoke to the magazine's director and editor-in-chief, Jeremy Druker, at a recent birthday celebration. Download: RealAudio "The goal is essentially to cover Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the former Soviet Union in a way that is different from the mainstream media or the newspaper that you'd pick up every day or in your hometown. "It was our feeling - and I think it's still the case - that this region is only in the news when there's a war or a crisis or an assassination or something big. But usually people don't know what's going on. There are also a lot of confusing small countries and a lot of confusing names for people. "And we wanted to try to make some sense out of all that, to give it context so that people know the history of why this war had happened and why this person had become president, and just to cover issues that ``weren't coved by the mainstream media - things like human rights, minorities and gender rights, along with all the politics and the daily grind." Five years ago what had been a print magazine became a website. Why did you take it to the Internet? "We had no choice. The magazine had been published for a number of years ... but was incredibly expensive to produce. ... The magazine essentially collapsed, and all the management left. A couple of us - I was a staff writer then, the copyeditor, the tech guy and an intern - decided to found a new organization and take everything over to the Internet as a solution to the high cost of printing and distribution. Were there any benefits to that change? "Obviously, there were huge benefits in terms of marketing and just people finding about us, because with a print magazine you have to do a lot of advertising in other print magazines. You'd have to spend a lot of money so people would hear about it at all. With Internet, even in those earlier years, it was much easier to do marketing and get the word out with targeted emails to people we thought would be interested." As far as within the countries that you cover, what difference do you think Transitions could make? "A large part is that hopefully we're transferring high standards of journalism - international standards of journalism - along to the people who work for us, who because their countries were closed off by communism for so long and because the transition since then in those countries, really haven't had a taste for writing for a professional publication that tries to live up to international standards. "And there's this trickle down effect. They learn, hopefully, good standards from us, and then they eventually move up the ladder and assume leadership positions in their own countries and in their own media. "The second thing is, I think there's still a great value to doing regional comparisons, which we try to do a lot. And some of the countries that are farther behind on their transition can really learn about what went right and what went wrong in this part of the world. We really value those types of articles and hope that people farther east will take something away from reading our magazine and just try to implement things that went well in their own countries." TOL's Jeremy Druker - Czech Republic still lacks real "paper of record" My guest on this week's One on One is Jeremy Druker, executive director of the media development organisation Transitions Online (TOL).…	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741466
__label__wiki	0.801782	0.801782	1MATCH URL: https://assets.rappler.com/612F469A6EA84F6BAE882D2B94A4B421/img/73780ADE650F4922B8D71E7D75BABA9B/g7-nk-missile-tests-2.jpg G7 warns on North Korea 'North Korea must immediately and fully comply with all relevant UN Security Council Resolutions and abandon all nuclear and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner' Published 11:33 PM, May 27, 2017 Updated 11:33 PM, May 27, 2017 TAORMINA, Italy – G7 leaders on Saturday, May 27, described North Korea's recent nuclear and missile tests as a grave threat and said they were ready to take new measures to contain it. "North Korea, a top priority in the international agenda, increasingly poses new levels of threat of a grave nature to international peace and stability and the non-proliferation regime through its repeated and ongoing breaches of international law," the club of industrialized democracies said in a statement at the end of a two-day summit here. "North Korea must immediately and fully comply with all relevant UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) and abandon all nuclear and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner. "Condemning in the strongest terms North Korea’s nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches, we stand ready to strengthen measures aimed at achieving these objectives and strongly call on the international community to redouble its efforts to ensure the sustained, comprehensive and thorough implementation of relevant UNSCRs." The section of the statement dealing with Pyongyang concluded with a reference to the plight of mainly Japanese citizens kidnapped by the North Korean regime and held, in some cases, for decades. "We urge North Korea to address humanitarian and human rights concerns, including the immediate resolution of the abductions issue." Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US President Donald Trump spent most of an hour-long meeting on Friday, May 26 discussing tensions on the Korean peninsula. Trump, who has called North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un "a madman with nuclear weapons" vowed that the problem posed by the dictator "will be solved." – Rappler.com Filed under:G7•G7 summit•North Korea missile tests•North Korea nuclear tests•North Korea	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741468
__label__wiki	0.871248	0.871248	Mon Jan 4th 2016 / Rebecca Wilson CV-Library opens office in London CV-Library has today opened its first office in London. Created in 2000, the job board has grown at a rapid pace. Last month it was crowned ‘Best Generalist Job Board’ at the National Online Recruitment Awards 2015. The jobsite currently boasts over 125,000 jobs from over 10,500 clients, as well as a candidate database of over 9.5 million CVs. In addition to 2016’s planned growth, Q1 of 2015 saw the Hampshire-based business expand into a second office, as its employee count grew by 44% in 2015 alone, with 38 new recruits joining the team. "After such a strong year, we have real ambitions to take the business to the next level," commented Lee Biggins, founder and managing director of CV-Library. "The company is growing beyond all expectations, and an office in London is the first step in our plan for expansion across the country; this new regional office will be the first of many over the coming years. “This will help us to secure a long-term expansion for the business, enabling us to really rival the competition. It will also allow us to continue to provide clients with our high-quality service from our head offices, whilst further strengthening our relationships with new clients. In pushing the CV-Library brand even further, we’ll strive to ensure our clients continue to receive the best talent.” Tags: CV-Library expansion featured Articles similar to CV-Library Articles similar to expansion Frank Recruitment Group opens office in Irvine, California Stanton House appoints two MDs and a chief people officer UK “heading for a recession” says REED chairman	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741472
__label__wiki	0.912202	0.912202	Man shot dead by suspects who were looking for his son Two alleged murder and attempted murder suspects are expected in court on Monday after they were arrested at a house in Booysens Park over the weekend for incidents, which took place on Friday, in Greenfields, Bethelsdorp. According to police information, the duo was arrested by members of Bethesldorp Crime Prevention Unit, who were following up on information received relating to the suspects. "It is alleged that on Friday, the three suspects went to a house in Greenfields looking for a person. When they did not find the person at the house, two gunshots were fired and they left," described police spokesperson, Col Priscilla Naidu. "The suspects then went to the house of the wanted person and when told by the father that his son is not at home, they allegedly shot the father, Christopher Jacobs (41) in his neck. He died on the scene." Col Naidu added that the suspects ran away. "Suspects are affiliated to the Gavy Boys while the victim has no gang affiliation." The two suspects, aged 23 and 32 years old, will appear in the Port Elizabeth Magistrates’ Court on Monday on charges of murder and attempted murder. "In a separate incident , during the early hours of Sunday morning, a 23-year-old man was fatally shot in Moeggesukkel in Ext 34 in Bethelsdorp," said Col Naidu. "It is alleged that two cousins were sitting in a shack and one left to buy cigarettes. "At about 02:00 as he was returning to the shack, he heard the sound of a gunshot. As he neared the shack, he found his cousin Atshwaxola Maliza lying outside the shack." She said that he sustained a gunshot wound under his armpit. "Suspect and motive is unknown. The incident is not gang related however at about 02:25, Bethelsdorp Crime Prevention members arrested a 20-year-old suspect in Cherry Avenue not far from the crime scene with a .38 revolver and ammunition," Col Naidu. "The suspect is detained for illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition and will appear in court on Monday." She said that police are investigating whether the suspect may be linked to the murder of Maliza. The Cluster Commander for Mount Road, Maj General Thembisile Patekile, commended members of Bethelsdorp Crime Prevention Unit for their vigilance and speedy response. "The correct deployment of members in hotspot areas will definitely enhance response times to crime scenes. The quick response of these members ensured successful arrests and confiscation of a firearm in these serious cases," added Maj Gen Patekile.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741474
__label__cc	0.549097	0.450903	Supreme Court to Clarify Standard for Dismissal of... Supreme Court to Clarify Standard for Dismissal of Qui Tam Complaints for Violations of the False Claims Act’s Seal Requirement Time to Read: 2 minutes Practices: False Claims Act On May 31, 2016, the Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari in State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. v. United States ex rel. Rigsby (No. 15-513) to clarify the standard for sanctioning intentional violations of the False Claims Act’s (“FCA”) requirement that qui tam complaints be filed under seal. The Court declined, however, to take up the issue of whether the FCA’s intent requirement could be met by aggregating the knowledge of multiple individuals at a company. Under the FCA, private individuals are allowed to bring fraud claims on behalf of the United States government as relators. The FCA requires that relators file complaints in camera and under seal for a minimum of 60 days. 31 U.S.C. 3730(b)(2). During this period, the relators are not allowed to disclose the allegations publicly, allowing the government to investigate and decide whether to intervene in and lead the lawsuit. In Rigsby, relators violated this requirement by launching a publicity campaign while the case was still under seal, hiring a public relations firm and disclosing their allegations to multiple national media outlets and at least one member of Congress. Relators ultimately obtained a jury award, which the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed, concluding that the seal violation did not warrant dismissal of the relator’s action. In reaching its decision, the Fifth Circuit relied on the fact that the government had not been harmed by the disclosure. The Fifth Circuit’s ruling exacerbated a circuit split. The defendant argued that, depending on the circuit, intentional violations of the FCA’s seal requirement could result in mandatory dismissal of the claims, dismissal if the seal violation frustrates the congressional goals behind the seal requirement, or dismissal if the violation caused actual harm to the government. By accepting the case for review, the Supreme Court is positioned to resolve this split in authority and clarify whether a violation of the seal requirement—on its own—is sufficient to warrant dismissal of a relator complaint. The Supreme Court declined to review a second and potentially more consequential issue raised by the Rigsby case—whether relators can establish that a defendant knowingly violated the FCA by relying on the aggregated knowledge of multiple employees at a company. Other appellate courts have ruled that at least one employee must have knowledge of the facts that make a claim false, and some further require that the same employee know that the claim is being submitted to the government. In Rigsby, the defendant argued that the Fifth Circuit applied a different standard altogether by finding a knowing violation based on generalized and collective knowledge that no single individual possessed. If you have any questions or would like to discuss the foregoing or any related matter, please contact the Ropes & Gray attorney with whom you regularly work, or an attorney in our False Claims Act practice. Kirsten Mayer	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741482
__label__wiki	0.901111	0.901111	Ropes & Gray Files Supreme Court Brief in Key Case... Ropes & Gray Attorneys Submit Amicus Curiae Brief on Behalf of Retired Federal Judges in Key Case Regarding Vagueness in the Federal Criminal Code December 22, 2016 Practices: Appellate & Supreme Court Ropes & Gray filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Dimaya v. Lynch on behalf of seven retired federal judges of diverse ideologies and backgrounds in support of the Ninth Circuit’s ruling that the “residual clause” of the “crime of violence” definition found in 18 U.S.C. § 16(b) is unconstitutionally vague. Drawing on the accumulated, on-the-ground experiences of the former judges, the brief argues that the task of classifying state crimes according to the text of the statute’s residual clause has proven to be too arbitrary, unpredictable and difficult to comport with the Constitution’s Due Process Clause. Courts have held that Section 16(b) requires a court to assess whether a state crime, “by its nature,” is characterized by a “substantial risk that physical force” may be used. The Ninth Circuit determined that the statute is unconstitutionally vague because it requires a wide-ranging and indeterminate inquiry that “both denies fair notice to defendants and invites arbitrary enforcement by judges.” The court reached this conclusion by extending the logic of the Supreme Court’s earlier decision in Johnson v. United States, which held that a substantially similar provision in a different statute was constitutionally deficient for analogous reasons. By emphasizing the practical challenges facing judges who are forced to shoehorn a wide variety of state offenses into the “shapeless” text of the statute’s residual clause, the former judges’ brief contributes the valuable perspective of individuals who have actually worked with the problematic statutory text at issue. The former judges argue that without a workable, coherent standard rooted in the statute’s text, application of the clause is intolerably unpredictable and unmoored from the rule of law. At the heart of this difficulty, the brief explains, is the statute’s requirement that courts focus on the “nature” of an individual’s crime of conviction, an inquiry that requires a judge to hypothesize the “ordinary case” of a given crime and imagine what conduct it entails. The Ropes & Gray team included government enforcement partner Aaron Katz, business & securities litigation associate Jonathan Ference-Burke, and litigation associates Elizabeth Bierut, Patrick Roath and Raishay Lin. Aaron Katz Jonathan R. Ference-Burke Elizabeth Bierut Patrick T. Roath Raishay Lin	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741483
__label__wiki	0.649718	0.649718	Doctors group plans national ‘day of action’ to combat gun violence Canadian Doctors for Protection from Guns considers gun control a public health issue Participants are calling on the federal government to pass its gun control legislation, Bill C-71, which is currently before the Senate. (PxHere) A group representing doctors and other health-care workers in favour of stronger gun laws is planning a series of rallies in cities across the country today. Canadian Doctors for Protection from Guns is planning events in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa and St. John’s, as well as discussion forums and information sessions in other cities as part of a national day of action. READ MORE: B.C. gets $5.3 million to work against gangs and guns The group has said it considers gun control a public health issue, and that physicians have a duty to speak out on issues that affect people’s safety. Participants are calling on the federal government to pass its gun control legislation, Bill C-71, which is currently before the Senate. The group also wants to see a national ban on private ownership of handguns and assault rifles — something Bill C-71 does not include. The Senate committee on national security and defence is holding its final day of testimony on the legislation today. One year after Trail acid spill, claims still trickling in	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741484
__label__wiki	0.617759	0.617759	Sister Sheila Geaney Born: 22nd February 1947 Entered Religious Life: 17th October 1966 Died: 18th July 2016 Sheila, daughter of John Geaney and Mary Daly, the first of four daughters, was born in Castlemaine, Co. Kerry on 22nd February 1947. She entered the Novitiate of the Sisters of Charity on the 17th October 1966 and received the habit and the names Marie Perpetua on the 25th April 1967. She made her Religious Profession of vows on 22nd May 1969. Sheila’s area of ministry throughout her religious life, apart from a year in Basildon, was in the Irish Province. She ministered in Milltown, Basin Lane, St. Joseph’s Kilkenny, Benada, Cappagh, St. Vincent’s Cork, St. Vincent’s Elm Park, Dublin. She was involved in the catering ministry and in childcare. Sheila successfully completed a one year full time Diploma Course in Pastoral Ministry in 1993/94 which was held at the Dublin Institute of Adult Education in Mountjoy Square, Dublin. Here she was commended for her essays, group project and particularly for the quality of her work in her personal project which dealt with Basic Christian Communities. Sheila’s placement was based in an active middle income parish where she had the opportunity of familiarising herself with the work of the locally based parish sister. She visited quite a number of elderly in their homes which led her supervisor to make the following comment about her: “Sheila’s easy manner endeared her to anyone she visited and I could see her journeying with many a lonely person if she takes up parish work”. Following a year of practical experience in parish ministry in Basildon she was missioned to Sandymount, first in Lakelands (1995-2008) and then in Park Avenue, (2008-2016). It was in her years in Sandymount that she blossomed in her true element. Sheila loved people and enjoyed her visits to the elderly and the housebound. She was also involved in the Ladies Sodality and in the ministry of Neighbourhood Retreats. She had a great interest in prisoners. One gentleman who spoke to her before she died said ‘Sr. Sheila you were my prayer warrior’ and went on to thank her for the important role she played in his life. He spoke about his own faith now and the seeds she had helped to plant that had nourished the growth of that faith. Sheila was very interested in Charismatic Renewal as she saw the effect it had on people’s lives. She attended many of the prayer meetings and always had a great love for the Holy Spirit. She often prayed to be surprised by the Spirit and she loved the feast of Pentecost. About a year before her death Sheila was stricken by Motor Neuron disease, which began by depriving her of her power of speech. This meant that she had to write down whatever she wanted to say, which must have been very tiring, but she never complained. Eventually she lost the power of her leg muscles and was confined to bed. It is no exaggeration to say that Sheila smiled her way through her illness. Sheila had great devotion to the Eucharist. As this is her Golden Jubilee year, a priest friend celebrated Mass for her and a number of her ‘coes’ in the convent chapel. Sheila was present in a wheelchair and was genuinely happy. She also enjoyed the little celebration that followed. Sheila died very peacefully, surrounded by her family and the Lakelands community on the 18th July. Her remains were received in the Convent Chapel on July 20th and she was removed to Star of the Sea Church in Sandymount for her funeral Mass on July 21st. The large attendance at her funeral bore testimony to the love and appreciation of those whose lives she touched. She was laid to rest in the community cemetery in Donnybrook.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741485
__label__wiki	0.754731	0.754731	Fox Forces Climate Crap on “24” RUSH: I urged all of you to watch ’24’ yesterday when we ended the show. I said, ‘Watch ’24.’ It’s great tonight,’ and so you watched it, and I’ve gotten a lot of e-mails ’cause when the show was over, they had that dunce Chloe read some PSA about how she wants everybody to join Jack Bauer to save the world from global warming. I had all these people writing me, ‘I’m not watching that show again. How dare you tell us to watch that show again? First they had that president do it, and now they’re telling everybody to join them.’ Let me explain to you why this happens. This is not the people at ’24’ deciding to do this on their own. That ran after the show. It was not part of the show. What I want you people to understand is that television networks, including Fox — for a host of reasons, like a lot of American business, like all of General Electric — they’re all caught up in this whole notion of global warming. They think they are gaining customers. They think they are doing good citizenship. So what happens is all of the Fox shows have been ordered by the Fox studio to engage in a more green experience when producing the show, a smaller carbon footprint when producing the show to put these messages on from members of the cast at the end of the show. And of course it’s not hard to find cast members that actually believe the stuff. Believe me, there are plenty of cast members at ’24’ who don’t believe this garbage, but there are a few of them that do and they’re eager to go out and do this, but this is not the producers of ’24”s idea. This is the Fox network. It’s like all the networks and a lot of businesses do it. How many business do you see advertising their product on the basis of ‘green’ this, ‘green’ that? They think you’ve all bought into it. They’re all populist. They’re just trying to relate to you on what you think and get you to buy their product, watch their show, because they’re saving the world, and you can, too. ‘Buy their product, watch their show, because you’ll reduce your carbon footprint.’ I must defend my buddies on the production side of ’24.’ This is not their idea. I mean, the boss says, ‘Do it,’ and they have to do it, and then they cast around for members of the cast who are dimwits who bought into this, and it’s not hard to find out in Hollywood. So you put ’em out there, and bam, bam, bam, you get one of these PSAs, but I’m telling you, ’24’ this year is fabulous. Did you watch it last night, Snerdley? (interruption) Ah, you gotta watch it! It’s just awesome, and wait ’til you see next week. Oh, yeah! They’re outdoing themselves this year. It’s fabulous. BREAK TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Here’s what got everybody watching ’24’ so upset last night. This is Mary Lynn Rajskub, who plays Chloe, and this happened after the show. RAJSKUB: Jack Bauer gets a lot of credit for saving the world one day at a time. But what’s that about? Come on, it’s a team effort. It takes all of us working together, some of us working harder than others if you know what I mean. That’s why we at ’24’ are asking you to join us in helping to fight global warming. For tips in how you can reduce your own carbon footprint, go to Fox.com. Don’t leave the climate change problem for Jack to solve, because he can’t do it. He’s got enough on his plate. Do your part. Join us today. RUSH: I’m being deluged with e-mails, ‘I’m never watching this show again.’ Again, this happened after the show. Fox orders this kind of stuff to be done. It’s not hard to find nitwit actors and actresses in Hollywood that believe this crap to do this. But remember, it ran after the show, had nothing to do with the show. It’s not in the show. Global warming is not part of the show. In fact, they say their carbon footprint is much less than it’s ever been producing the show, don’t know how it’s possible, all the damn explosions going on out there, and I don’t care. It’s demagoguery. It’s like Obama, they may not be doing anything; they just want you to think they are. I’m talking about Fox, not the people at ’24.’ The people at ’24’, employees. It’s no different than your business, if somebody made you run around, type up a memo to everybody to reduce their carbon footprint and you had to do it.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741487
__label__wiki	0.826654	0.826654	» Keep our anti-racism march anti-racist! Keep our anti-racism march anti-racist! 28 February 2018 - SACC zionism_crime_duty.jpg UPDATE - Saturday 10 March: Our motion calling for COFIS to told be it isn't welcome at the anti-racism demo in Glasgow on 17 March was rejected at the Stand Up to Racism Steering Committee meeting this afternoon. The anti-racism demo in Glasgow in March 2017 was marred by the participation of a small number of supporters of The Confederation of Friends of Israel in Scotland (COFIS). COFIS works to close down public discussion of Israeli crimes. SACC is asking the organisers of the demo to tell COFIS that it isn't welcome this year. A highlight of the anti-racism demo in Glasgow last March was the speech by Richard Falk, former UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Palestine. He had just co-authored a report (download here: pdf) for the UN (which UN Secretary-General António Guterres subsequently suppressed) concluding that Israel is an apartheid state. "United Nations bodies, national Governments and civil society actors,including religious organizations, should formally endorse the principal finding of this report that the treatment by Israel of the Palestinians is consistent with the crime of apartheid." - Recommendation of the report "Israeli Practices towards the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid" by Richard Falk and Virginia Tilley, commissioned by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) The preface to the report states: "The authors reject the accusation of anti-Semitism in the strongest terms. First, the question of whether the State of Israel is constituted as an apartheid regime springs from the same body of international human rights law and principles that rejects anti-Semitism: that is, the prohibition of racial discrimination. No State is immune from the norms and rules enshrined in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which must be applied impartially. The prohibition of apartheid, which, as a crime against humanity, can admit no exceptions, flows from the Convention. Strengthening that body of international law can only benefit all groups that have historically endured discrimination, domination and persecution, including Jews." But the Glasgow demo that Richard Falk addressed in 2017 was marred by the participation of a small number of supporters of The Confederation of Friends of Israel in Scotland (COFIS). COFIS works closely with the Israeli Embassy to close down public discussion of Israeli crimes and to impede organising for the Palestinian-led BDS movement. The participation by COFIS in the march was an attempt to position it as an anti-racist organisation and legitimise Israeli claims that criticism of Israel is anti-semitic. This view is influential in government, but it should have no place in a mass anti-racism movement. The demo is an annual event organised in cities around the UK by Stand Up to Racism in celebration of the UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (21 March). Similar events are held elsewhere in Europe. This year the demo will be held on Saturday 17 March. Stand Up to Racism Scotland has not so far set out an explicit position on any COFIS involvement in this year's demo. As an affiliate of Stand Up to Racism Scotland, we think it should tell COFIS unequivocally that it isn't welcome on the demo. SACC supports the following emergency motion, which will be discussed at the Stand Up to Racism Scotland committee meeting scheduled for Saturday 3 March [postponed until Saturday 10 March due to the weather]: "That this meeting of the SUTR (Scotland) Steering Committee notes the serious concerns raised by affiliates and supporters, particularly by campaigners for Palestinian equality, justice and freedom including the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, that the Confederation of Friends of Israel Scotland (CoFIS) joined and raised their banner and Israeli flags at the SUTR demonstration in 2017. The Committee understands that the aims of CoFIS, an organisation that works in partnership with the Israeli government and international pro-Israel organisations such as Christians United for Israel (led by John Hagee who is known for his antisemitic and racist outbursts), are incompatible with the principles and aims of SUTR. The Committee notes that CoFIS was founded in order to counter the work of Palestine solidarity campaigners in Scotland, and that their tactics include intimidation by smears of racism and lobbying local authorities to use and abuse hate crime legislation in order to protect the state of Israel. The Committee resolves to inform CoFIS that they are not welcome to join the SUTR demonstration on 17 March 2018. The Committee resolves to write to affiliates and supporters, and those organisations that have contacted SUTR with their concerns on this matter, to confirm that this action has been taken and to invite them to build and join the 17 March 2018 demonstration in Glasgow" Details of this year's Glasgow anti-racism demo (facebook) Statement by Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign on the involvement of COFIS in the demo. The statement concludes: "We call upon SUTR and its affiliates to bar any group that exists to defend state-enforced racism in Israel/Palestine as having no place among anti-racist campaigns." Statement by Scottish Friends of Palestine on the involvement of COFIS in the demo, saying: "The Confederation of Friends of Israel stands doubly condemned for its racist credentials." It says: "Zionism may have no theory of race, but practical Zionism and racism go hand in hand." The statement concludes: "This year’s demonstration on March 17th in Glasgow gives the opportunity for the SUTR steering committee to address racism in all of its forms." "Serious solidarity must resist the Israel lobby and its front campaigns": article by John Hilley. Some important perspective that concludes: "It's inevitable that open rejection of organisations like CoFIS will be met with the same backlash unleashed by the wider pro-Israel lobby. Yet, this should make the response of leftists and others of good progressive mind even clearer. Much better to take a principled position and defend your case with confident argument than capitulate to such forces for fear of being falsely labelled and smeared. There's no placating or appeasing this network. It will come after solidarity groups whatever its 'inclusion' or rejection. Lobby groups and campaigns which help defend and hide Israel's mass violations and crimes against humanity have to be resisted with moral resolve and tactical intent. You can't fully stand up to racism while lying down to apartheid." Joint Statement on Stand Up To Racism March in Glasgow We won't march with an organisation that works to supress anti-racism Who are Friends of Israel? GMB Shop Steward faces expulsion over comments about Israel The Use and Abuse of Unity	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741488
__label__wiki	0.812545	0.812545	Home » Community and Society » Sports » Kent “Bob” Gabourel to be featured on BBC World News « Older: San Pedro Lions Club to host 36th Annual National Convention Newer: » When will the Water Taxi Terminal be operational? Kent “Bob” Gabourel to be featured on BBC World News Belize's first ever triathlete to the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Kent “Bob” Gabourel will be featured on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) World News on Wednesday April 30th. The islander was interviewed by a BBC television crew who was in Belize as part of the Queen’s Baton Tour, which made a stop in the country ahead of the 20th Commonwealth Games. Belize is amongst 71 Commonwealth countries and British territories that will participate in the competitions which will run from July 23rd to August 3rd in Glasgow, Scotland. One of the Belizean athletes participating in the 2014 Commonwealth Games is Gabourel, who will be competing in the Olympics Distance One-Man Triathlon. According to BBC Sports reporter and television presenter Mark Beaumont, BBC has been featuring an athlete in each of the Commonwealth countries and British Territories where the Queen’s Baton makes a stop. “Besides filming the Queen’s Baton Relay, we are featuring athlete stories. There are 17 sports competed at the Commonwealth games and so we have a different focus and different athlete in each country we go to. The interesting part about filming Bob is not only that he is the first Belizean going to compete in triathlon, but the fact that he is doing a lot for the community, working with youngsters, getting them off the streets and into various sports. The program we are putting out on BBC World News has a sports interest but there is also a real culture interest. It is meeting people like Bob and meeting the next generation he is helping to inspire, that makes for real interesting television, and we want to share those stories with the bigger audience,” explained Beaumont. Gabourel is Belize’s rising triathlete who has won the National Triathlon competition (September of 2013) amongst other national competitions. “I have come a long way growing up in San Pedro, and I think it is finally paying off for me. I am finally able to show the country what I am capable of doing. Everyone knows that I love working with young people. I want to be able to show the young and upcoming athletes that playing sports by itself is an achievement because it makes you a different and better person,” commented Gabourel. In the triathlon competition in Glasgow, Gabourel will perform in three disciplines – swimming, cycling and running– testing his overall fitness, skill and endurance against some of the world’s most talented athletes. The challenge consists of a 1,500-metre open-water swim before switching to a 40-kilometre road cycle and finishes with a challenging 10-kilometre run. Beaumont said that just the fact that Gabourel is going to the Commonwealth Games is huge; however, he explained that the Belizean athlete is in a very unique position. “I think he has a very unique situation with the way he trains. There are no big paved roads, so the fact that he is training to race some of the world’s best triathletes on customized beach cruisers and the fact that he is training out in the Caribbean Sea is unique. He will be competing in Glasgow in the summer in road race conditions and very cold water. When it comes to the running, again he doesn’t have the facilities that a lot of the world’s best athletes have. However he has a huge amount of experience and determination, so his story is fascinating. I don’t think there will be anyone else going to the 2014 Commonwealth Games facing the conditions Bob does, in terms of how he is training on the island, so he has a very interesting story to tell,” added Beaumont, a former athlete himself. Gabourel has been instrumental in starting triathlon competitions on Ambergris Caye with young teenagers. In addition, he has also initiated cycling activities on the island and has been actively involved in football for many years, having played with the local semi-pro football club. While filming Gabourel, the BBC television crew also spoke to a number of other young athletes who Gabourel has inspired. The BBC World News weekly program called the Queen’s Baton Relay featuring Belizean Kent Gabourel will be aired on Wednesday April 30th and can be watched on streaming video at http://www.bbc.co.uk/tv. Photo Credit Info - Presenter, BBC coverage of the Queen's Baton Relay bbc.co.uk/queensbatonrelay @BBCMarkBeaumont Island boy in Scotland: Following triathlete Kent Gabourel 12 athletes to represent Belize in Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Community support can help Kent succeed in the Commonwealth Games Kent Gabourel wins Pre-September Celebrations cycling race Kent ‘Bob’ Gabourel wins annual Lionman triathlon in Belize City Kent “Bob” Gabourel wins Easter Monday cycling race Kent Gabourel wins DJ’s Independence Day Cycling race More on Community and Society Ministry of Tourism launches brand for Artisan products BA-1 Project participants beginning their business plans New film documents John McAfee’s troubled time in Belize Anke Doehm case adjourned to October The Government of Belize reaches an important cornerstone in Border Management	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741492
__label__cc	0.597519	0.402481	Home News Brad J. Lamb launches podcast series Brad J. Lamb launches podcast series Brad J. Lamb Well-known Toronto broker and developer Brad J. Lamb recently launched Live Talk with Lamb, a new podcast co-hosted by Lamb and SiriusXM’s Todd Shapiro. “Uncensored, frank and to-the-point, Lamb serves up his expert insight, unabashed opinions, and practical advice for the everyday Canadian navigating the evolving real estate and development landscape,” says a news release from Lamb Development Corp. The podcast is now available for download and streaming on his website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and SoundCloud. There are 10 episodes available. In the podcasts, Lamb breaks down his tricks of the trade for brokers, buyers and investors, along with tips for succeeding in business and life with personal advice that everyone can relate to, the company says. “Everyday I get up and say to myself, ‘Okay, what you’re going to do today is work harder than anyone else. You’re going to make mistakes, but you’re going to work harder than anyone else. Just keep working hard and don’t get down on yourself,’” says Lamb. Lamb has 30 years of industry experience. He has been responsible for the marketing and sales campaigns of more than 30 condominium projects across six major Canadian cities. sabine nassar Jul 2, 2019 at 8:21 pm When I read “tricks of the trade”, I am already turned off. Connie MacEachern Jun 28, 2019 at 10:06 am Todd Shapiro please, it’s pronounced realtor, not realator!	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741493
__label__wiki	0.943893	0.943893	September 9, 2014 / 7:20 AM / 5 years ago Has London's Victorian serial killer Jack the Ripper finally been identified? LONDON (Reuters) - (This story has been refiled to correct name in paragraph two from Adam to Aaron) Jack the Ripper, a serial killer who terrorized London in the 1880s, has finally been identified from DNA evidence from the blood-soaked shawl of one of his victims, according to a new book. Author Russell Edwards identifies 23-year-old Polish immigrant and hairdresser Aaron Kosminski as the notorious killer, suspected of the gruesome murders of at least five women in 1888. In his book “Naming Jack the Ripper” which is released on Tuesday, Edwards, a businessman from North London, linked Kosminski to the crimes via DNA found on a shawl taken by a policeman from the murder scene of the Ripper’s fourth victim, Catherine Eddowes. The shawl, which had never been washed and was kept safe by descendants of the policeman, was bought by Edwards at an auction in 2007. With the help of genealogists who traced descendants of both Eddowes and Kosminski and helped by modern DNA technology, Edwards said he was able to confirm the authenticity of the shawl and attribute the murders to Kosminski. The Ripper gained infamy with a killing spree in London’s East End in the late 19th century, targeting female prostitutes around the then-impoverished Whitechapel district. According to the new book, Kosminski, who emigrated with his family from Poland to the End of London before the murders, was known to the police as a credible suspect. He was committed to an asylum in 1891 and later died from gangrene. Edwards’ theory is the latest attempt to track down the killer whose story has spawned numerous books and films and who continues to fascinate to this day. In 2002, best-selling crime novelist Patricia Cornwell thought she might have uncovered Jack the Ripper’s DNA and that it could be a match for British artist Walter Sickert who liked to paint morbid scenes of violence against women. Reporting by Hannah Murphy; Editing by Janet Lawrence	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741495
__label__cc	0.570169	0.429831	Analysis – Stellenbosch Farmers’ Winery v CSARS (511/2011 and 504/2011) [2012] ZASCA 72 The taxpayer is a wholesaler that imported and distributed Bells whiskey in South Africa. It concluded a 10 year agreement relating to this distribution which was prematurely cancelled more than three years before the earliest date on which the distribution agreement could be terminated. As a result, the tax payer received the sum of R67 million from United Distillers, a United Kingdom (UK) based company with which the tax payer had concluded the distribution agreement. The Commissioner of SARS included the receipt of this payment as part of the taxpayer’s gross income in the assessment for tax. This was upheld by the tax court. On appeal, the issue before the SCA was the taxpayer’s contention that the payment was of a capital nature which attracted no tax liability. The Commissioner’s cross appeal related to the tax court’s decision not to allow interest on the unpaid provisional tax while the appeal in the second case related to whether VAT was payable on the payment received because the payment allegedly related to services supplied by the taxpayer to a non-resident of South Africa but directly connected to movable property situate in South Africa. The SCA held that the tax court misinterpreted the evidence where it reasoned that the payment received arose out of a calculation by the taxpayer of its future loss of profits, and therefore the payment was part of gross income. Evaluating the evidence in the case, the SCA found that the taxpayer did not carry on the business of the purchase and sale of rights to purchase and sell liquor products, did not embark on a scheme of profit making, and discharged the onus of establishing the payment was of a capital nature. The cross-appeal was dismissed since the issue became moot once the SCA found that the provisional tax was not payable. The appeal with regard to VAT was dismissed on the bases that the services in question, compositely the surrender of rights, were not connected to any movable property, and on the basis that in any event the exclusive distribution right held by the taxpayer was an incorporeal right not situated in South Africa since United Distillers was registered in the UK, which meant VAT was to be charged at zero per cent in terms of s 11 (2) (I) (ii) of the Valued Added Tax Act.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741498
__label__wiki	0.5947	0.5947	Conversion of a public company to a private company March 30, 2012 Nyasha Musviba The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has released a number of binding class and private rulings of late. One of the interesting rulings is Binding Class Ruling 033 (BCR 33) which deals with the capital gains tax consequences for a public company upon conversion, in terms of the Companies Act, No 71 of 2008, to a private company. The issue is that a ‘disposal’ for purposes of paragraph 11 of the Eighth Schedule to the Income Tax Act, No 58 of 1962 (Act) includes the ‘conversion’ of an asset. The SARS Comprehensive Guide to Capital Gains Tax (Issue 4) states that a ‘conversion’ involves a substantive change in the rights attaching to an asset and gives the example of the conversion of a company into a share block company as amounting to a substantive change in rights. In BCR 33 it was noted that the conversion from a public company to a private company entailed limited amendments to the company’s memorandum of incorporation (MOI), restricted to the following: Inserting provisions prohibiting the offering of the company’s securities to the public and restricting the transferability of its securities. Deleting the provisions dealing with share warrants. Removing the power of the directors of the company to apply for a stock exchange listing of the company’s securities. Removing provisions anticipating the securities of the company being listed on a stock exchange. Despite these minor amendments to the company’s MOI, it was held that the conversion would constitute a part-disposal of the shares held by the shareholders. That is, the ‘conversion’ will entail a change in rights in that the shareholders of the public company will now be bound by the new restrictions in the amended MOI. Despite there being a ‘disposal’, BCR 33 confirmed that the part-disposal of the shares held by the shareholders in the company will not result in any capital gain or capital loss as a result of paragraph 33(1), read with paragraph 31(3) of the Eighth Schedule to the Act. Despite there being a ‘disposal’, BCR 33 confirmed that the part-disposal of the shares held by the shareholders in the company will not result in any capital gain or capital loss as a result of paragraph 33(1), read with paragraph 31(3) of the Eighth Schedule to the Act. It is interesting to compare BCR 33 with Binding Private Ruling 83 (25 May 2010) (BPR 83), which considered whether steps taken by a company to convert to a protected cell company (PCC) under legislation governing its commercial activities, entailing amendments to its incorporation documentation and other related administrative actions, will give rise to a ‘disposal’ by the shareholders of that company. BPR 83 held that the steps taken by the company to be recognised as a PCC did not constitute a ‘disposal’ in terms of paragraph 11 of the Eighth Schedule to the Act. Importantly, the ruling notes that the conversion did not change the company into a different legal entity, nor did it replace existing shares with new shares. A number of other related rulings have also been issued by SARS. These two rulings illustrate the fine line between there being a ‘disposal’ and no ‘disposal’ for purposes of the Eighth Schedule to the Act (even though no adverse tax consequences were triggered upon the conversion from a public company to a private company). Taxpayers entering into transactions involving some form of conversion must therefore carefully analyse their particular circumstances to establish whether there has been a substantive (or not so substantive) change in rights of the parties to determine whether there has been a ‘disposal’ for purposes of the Eighth Schedule to the Act. Capital Gains Taxcapital gains tax, CGT Dividends tax and trusts Loans to shareholders and deemed dividends	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741499
__label__cc	0.56323	0.43677	Logistics Market Snapshot debuts this month Mary Carr Mayle If you have anything to do with logistics, you know what a complex and dynamic industry it has become. Page Siplon certainly does. And he has an early Christmas present for all those who struggle to keep up with everything that's happening in this important and ever-changing field. As executive director of the Georgia Center of Innovation for Logistics, located on the Georgia Tech Savannah campus, Siplon is always looking for new ways to help the logistics industry in Georgia thrive and compete. His latest tool promises to be a time-saving hit - a result of filtering, consolidating and analyzing 47 different sources and the more than 300 pieces of news, data and information that comes into the center daily. The online Logistics Market Snapshot offers a free and concise look at that information, boiled down into manageable bites - or snapshots - and broken into seven areas of logistics. It's easy to read and makes finding your particular area of interest easy. The first snapshot, which came out Dec. 15, contains some 50 bits of logistics information in the areas of multimodal, trucking, rail, air cargo, sea cargo, warehousing and distribution and the U.S. market. Following is a sampling of what you'll find in the inaugural snapshot: -- Multimodal - The U.S. Postal Service reported a net loss of $8.5 billion for fiscal year 2010 (which ended Sept. 30). First-class mail volume was down 6.6 percent during the year, preceded by drops of 8.6 percent and 4.8 percent in fiscal 2009 and 2008, respectively. -- Trucking - Intermodal traffic was up 20.3 percent in the third quarter 2010 compared with the same quarter in the previous year, according to the Intermodal Association of North America. -- Rail - As of Dec. 1, the number of freight cars in storage had decreased to 317,810 (or 20.8 percent of the fleet), down 465 cars from a month earlier, according to the American Association of Railroads. -- Air Cargo - According to the Journal of Commerce, international air cargo prices jumped 6.2 percent in October, up 2.4 percent over October 2009. Delta Air Lines Inc. posted earnings of $363 million in the third quarter, after posting a loss of $161 million just one year earlier. -- Sea Cargo - According to Zepol Inc. for the week ending Nov. 27, total traffic for all imports entering U.S. ports was up 16 percent over 2009 import traffic. -- Warehousing and Distribution - According to Colliers Inc. the warehouse vacancy rate for the third quarter of 2010 was 14.2 percent in Atlanta and 21.4 percent in Savannah, both well above the U.S. average of 11 percent. -- U.S. Market - The U.S. trade deficit shrank 13.2 percent in October to $38.7 billion when American exports reached their highest level in more than two years. U.S. exports in October totaled $158.7 billion, while October imports reached $197.4 billion. Senior business reporter Mary Carr Mayle covers the ports for the Savannah Morning News. She can be reached at 912-652-0324 or at mary.mayle@savannahnow.com.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741500
__label__wiki	0.759821	0.759821	Jesse Palmer Throws a "Season Pass" at Influenza Awareness to College Students Nationwide ESPN Sportscaster and Former Pro Football Player Urges Students to Get Seasonal Flu Shot King of Prussia, PA — 11/14/2008 Click to play video 0:31 To increase flu vaccination rates among college students, CSL Biotherapies is partnering on Season Pass© with Jesse Palmer, ESPN co-host of "College Football Live" and former pro football player. Season Pass is a novel program designed to immunize as many college students as possible during the 2008-2009 influenza (flu) season. College students are at risk for contracting the flu due to their close living quarters and frequent contact with other students. Season Pass aims to educate college students about influenza prevention and motivate them to visit their on-campus health center to get vaccinated. "We want college students around the country to avoid getting sidelined by the flu," said Palmer. "Classrooms and dorms are the perfect environments for spreading the flu. So, we are getting the word out that receiving a flu shot is the best defensive strategy to tackle the virus before it blocks you from your game." Palmer is a former NFL quarterback for the NY Giants and San Francisco 49ers. The Season Pass campaign began at Arizona State University (ASU) as a pilot initiative organized by the ASU Campus Health Center during the 2007-08 flu season. It consisted of two week-long flu vaccine clinics on-campus and giveaway items. The program successfully increased by 70 percent the number of vaccinations that were administered on the ASU campus during the 2007-2008 flu season. This season, the program is being expanded to select universities across the U.S. "College life is extremely busy and stressful for students," said Allan L. Markus, MD, Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Arizona College of Medicine in Phoenix in partnership with Arizona State University and Director of the Campus Health Service at Arizona State University. "Although they are at high risk for the flu, many college students don't get a flu shot because they may not be aware of the important health benefit it offers. Season Pass is geared toward educating students on the impact influenza can have on themselves and those around them and highlight the need for yearly immunization." About the Season Pass Program Season Pass is an easy-to-implement comprehensive program developed by CSL Biotherapies to promote a Flu-Free campus. The program features a free kit that includes fun-filled educational materials, which colleges and universities can use to implement and publicize on-campus flu immunization clinics. These flu immunization events can feature a series of flu vaccination days held at a college’s Student Union or in residential halls. The program can also be used to increase students’ flu vaccine demand at a Campus Health center, allowing better tracking of immunization records on campus. Season Pass provides ‘thank you’ giveaways to students and a postage-paid postcard that students can send home to inform parents they received a flu shot. An educational Public Service Announcement (PSA) featuring Jesse Palmer is also available online at: www.cslbiotherapies-us.com. This year, CSL Biotherapies has distributed more than 1,000 Season Pass kits to 600 colleges and universities nationwide. Information about access to this unique free program can be requested by sending an email to seasonpass@cslbiotherapies.com or by calling toll free 1-888-435-8633. "Our goal with Season Pass is to decrease the burden of influenza on U.S. college campuses, where influenza illness is clearly identified as an impediment to academic performance," said Paul Perreault, Executive Vice President of CSL Biotherapies Worldwide Commercial Operations. "At CSL we remain committed to help improve influenza prevention among priority audiences. We believe that unique educational programs like Season Pass will help address some of these unmet needs." About CSL Biotherapies CSL Biotherapies is the leading manufacturer and global supplier of thimerosal-free (mercury-free), inactivated, trivalent influenza vaccine for adults. The U.S. headquarters of CSL Biotherapies is located in King of Prussia, Pa. Its parent company, CSL Limited, in Melbourne, Australia, operates one of the world's largest influenza vaccine facilities for global markets. CSL Biotherapies, which shares its U.S. headquarters with its sister company, CSL Behring, is commercializing influenza vaccine products globally. At CSL Biotherapies, delivering vaccines is our mission, protecting lives our passion. The CSL Group, which also includes CSL Research & Development, CSL Bioplasma, and CSL Behring, has more than 8,500 employees and operates in 21 countries worldwide. For more information, visit us at www.cslbiotherapies-us.com, or call 1-888-435-8633. Sheila A. Burke Director, Public Relations & Communications Worldwide Commercial Operations CSL Biotherapies Sheila.Burke@cslbiotherapies.com Abenaa (Abby) Hayes ahayes@webershandwick.com	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741506
__label__cc	0.704795	0.295205	MacKenzie Bezos Will Soon Be The World’s Fourth Richest Woman She is soon to receive a whopping $38 billion in the world’s biggest divorce settlement. With this settlement, MacKenzie Bezos, 49, an author, will become the world’s fourth-richest woman. Indra Nooyi Receives Honorary Degree From Yale University by Kavya Shah Indra Nooyi has received an honorary degree from the prestigious Yale University. This was in recognition of her many achievements… How A Divorce Could Make MacKenzie Bezos World’s Richest Woman Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos and his wife MacKenzie have filed for divorce. They met at a New York hedge fund… Amazon Studios Head Harassed Me, Show Producer Alleges by Tara Khandelwal Isa Hackett, executive producer of Amazon’s show, “The Man in the High Castle”, has spoken about the sexual harassment she… Amazon’s Policy Allows Employees To Share Parental Leave With Spouse Amazon is leading the way when it comes to Silicon Valley’s parental leave policy. Its Leave Share program allows employees… Karthika VK Will Launch Amazon Owned Westland’s New Division Ex-Publisher and Chief Editor at HarperCollins India is to start a new publishing division for Amazon owned Westland Publishers. She…	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741509
__label__cc	0.519118	0.480882	Northumbrian Water boss makes 'eye-watering' salary as public water prices rise, say union Campaigners who want to see the water industry re-nationalised have revealed the amount the boss of Northumbrian Water makes. Wednesday, 12 June, 2019, 10:30 The GMB Union has revealed the CEO of Northumbrian Water, Heidi Mottram, made £953,000 in 2018 alone – an increase of 83% since 2013. While over the past six years, the she has received more than £5.5million in salary, bonuses, pensions and other benefits. The joint investigation, which was carried out by GMB and Corporate Watch, has been published after it was revealed GMB’s Congress in Brighton this week. The figures have been released as part of GMB’s ‘Take Back The Tap’ campaign to bring England’s privatised water industry back into public ownership. Tim Roache, GMB general secretary, said: “Thirty years on from Margaret Thatcher’s privatisation of water it’s clear this ideological experiment is a complete flop. “Customers are forking out millions to private water's top brass through their ever increasing bills, while billions of gallons are wasted every year and we get whacked by hosepipe bans in the summer. I'm not sure how much more evidence is needed to show that this is just not working. “It's time to Take Back the Tap - water is a natural monopoly, that every home, family and individual needs, it should be in public hands not used for shareholder profit." The union says that while water bosses pocketed these eye-watering sums, consumer water bills in England and Wales have increased by 40% above inflation since privatisation in 1989, according to a National Audit Office report. Responding to GMB’s investigation, a spokesman for Water UK said: “The GMB paints a very misleading picture of the water industry. The truth is that bills have fallen in real terms for the last five years and will continue to fall over the next five. “Leakage has been cut by a third since the mid-90s, and the water industry is just about to put another £50 billion of investment into the system. “We’re delivering for customers and the environment, whereas plans for nationalisation would risk funding cuts and hit the pensions of more than 4 million public sector workers invested in the industry.”	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741510
__label__wiki	0.89676	0.89676	On the surface, Michael D. Antonovich's (Cal State Los Angeles) Glendale, California residence resembles that of many retired politicians: a hillside home that overlooks the city; picture-lined walls capturing photo ops with presidents, foreign dignitaries and celebrities; and a dusty, out-of-use office long past its glory days. More impressive than the photos with Senator Dianne Feinstein, President Ronald Reagan, Ray Charles and Kurt Douglas—all signs of a very public life—is the realization that Michael Antonovich is truly a public servant. He served his country, his state, his county. But never, Michael is quick to tell me, at the expense of his family. “I try to see all my kids’ activities,” Michael begins. “When I can’t, they know that’s the exception, not the rule.” His home is a reflection of the life he led for more than four decades, as a full-time politician and an equally full-time devoted dad and husband. The only pictures that outnumber those of public figures are those of his family, son Michael Jr., 18, daughter Mary Christine, 17, and wife Christine. In 1972 Michael Antonovich joined the California State Assembly, where he served part of Los Angeles County for three terms. After garnering experience at the state level, Michael joined the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in 1980. He served on the board for 36 years, including eight as chairman, until his retirement in the fall of 2016. Honoring campaign promises was important to Michael from the inception of his political career. “What I found frustrating is you would have people [...] picking one position at election time and voting the other way once they were in office,” Michael divulges. “And I said if I was ever elected in office, I would work to implement those ideas. I was elected, and I’m pleased that I did not deviate from the issues I campaigned on.” Greatest Achievements When asked about the crowning achievements of his near-four decade career, he immediately spoke about bringing attention to the issues facing foster and emancipated youth. I was struck not only by the macro-level change he implemented through a state-wide bill that extended services to foster youth past the age of 18—but also by the micro-level change he participated in, illustrated by the story he shared: “Judeana Burke was a foster child at MacLaren Hall. I gave her an opportunity as an intern in my office and she ended up receiving her bachelor’s degree, and I had the privilege of being the commencement speaker at Cal State L.A. [California State University, Los Angeles] when she received her master’s degree two years ago. Today, she’s the executive assistant to the CEO for the county of Los Angeles. A few years ago she married a boy who was also from the MacLaren home.” Michael is proud that he played a part in her journey, however small. As county supervisor, Michael continuously searched for ways to effect change, even on an incremental level. For example, as chairman of the L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, (the third-largest public transportation system in the US), in 2012 he implemented the Youth on the Move program to give free bus and rail passes to youth who had recently exited the foster care system. Anyone familiar with Los Angeles’ sprawling metropolis knows that reliable transportation is a necessity, almost as much as food and shelter. A “small thing” like a bus pass can yield huge returns in terms of access to work and financial stability. Michael lauds the program’s success: “Now the kids—they could go to school, they could have a job, they could go to the beach or whatever they wanted to do.” The Youth on the Move program was established under the Los Angeles County Youth Self-Sufficiency initiative, an initiative that Michael’s office designed to help kids transition from foster care to independent living. Michael’s passion for serving foster kids and newly emancipated youth extends past his official role as county supervisor. It also compelled him to start the Michael D. Antonovich Charitable Foundation in 2004, a public benefit corporation created to prevent cruelty to children and animals. Michael’s resolve to improve the lives of young people originated in his pre-political career. He discovered his first career as a fifth grade student in Mrs. Sara Schaefer’s class at Russell Elementary School. “I wanted to be a teacher,” Michael explains, “because she was a great role model.” Mrs. Schaefer kept in touch with him throughout the years—as he served in the United States Army active reserves and inactive reserves, founded the Cal State Los Angeles Sigma Nu colony (he was pin number one), and served as Commander. Once Michael graduated from Cal State L.A. in 1966 with his teaching credential and secured a few years of teaching experience at the high school level, Mrs. Schaefer encouraged him to run for the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees, the local board that oversees community college education. Surprisingly, Michael nabbed a spot on the board in 1969. He finished second, right behind Jerry Brown, California’s future governor. Michael’s aforementioned work in the California State Assembly and County Board of Supervisors followed. The Role of the County Supervisor “The county supervisor has legislative, executive and judicial powers,” he explains. “It’s like being a governor of a state.” He’s right. Los Angeles “is just one of our 88 cities,” and Los Angeles County is larger than 42 states. As county supervisor, Michael was one of five elected board members; he represented the 2.1 million residents of the 5th District, a massive territory that includes Burbank, Glendale and parts of northern Los Angeles. A walking encyclopedia, the 78-year-old easily rattles off L.A. County stats: its 10.2 million person population,1.5 million residents living in unincorporated areas and 30 billion dollar budget. Los Angeles County isn’t just a place where Michael worked, and the pictures that adorn the walls of his home aren’t merely for show; this residential “museum” documents a life of service. “That’s the Pope John Paul,” Michael notes, while giving me a tour. “There’s Margaret Thatcher and my wife,” he adds, pointing to another photo. His home gallery is a who’s who in American politics: Presidents Clinton, Reagan, Ford, Carter, Nixon. Michael’s ardent belief in the power of strong family guided much of his work. After he received a particularly moving letter from a constituent about her daughter’s kidnapping, Michael authored new state legislation, California Assembly Bill 3296. He shares the harrowing story: “Her ex had taken her child to another state. Well because it was a misdemeanor, the federal government was not involved and district attorneys don’t really pursue misdemeanors…” Michael explains that a kidnapper could easily transport a child to a foreign country and escape authorities because unfortunately neither the state nor the federal government considered the crime worthy of international pursuit. “So we made it a felony and as a result of that, now the federal government gets involved.” If charity begins at home, then so does caring for families. Pre-retirement, Michael used every opportunity to include his children in his work, whether it was attending a rhythm and blues concert sponsored by the county, touring the county jail, or paying their respects to President Reagan at the Reagan Presidential Library after his passing. When Mary and Michael Jr., both avid fans of the hit TV show, NCIS, showed interest in forensic medicine as a career, Michael Sr. used his connections to secure them a visit to a coroner’s office. Post-retirement, Michael is a self-proclaimed “Mr. Mom.” Additional titles include “Driver-in-Chief” and “Full-time Soccer Dad.” Unprompted, he reports his son’s latest stats to me: “They won three to one, and he scored three goals.” He tells me this two times—one at the beginning of our interview, and the other at the end. He whips out his phone to show me a picture of his namesake, unaware or unconcerned that the photographer is waiting to take his photo. “This is last Sunday’s soccer game. There’s Michael.” Michael Sr. discloses that a month prior, Mary suffered a concussion during a game and has just been cleared to play again. “Yesterday was her first day playing,” he points out, “and she played the whole game.” He is a beaming papa, proud of his children and the opportunities his work has afforded them: “They’ve been exposed [to] and learned from a lot of experiences, and that’s why I support these programs where children have opportunities to go to the capital, to be involved with some of these programs…so when they grow up they have goals that they’ll be able to achieve.” His impact on the communities he’s served is evidenced by the public locales that bear his name: the Antonovich Nature Trail, Michael D. Antonovich Regional Park at Joughin Ranch and Michael Antonovich Antelope Valley Superior Court. Yet, this is not how Michael defines his legacy. “Glory is always fleeting,” he declares, quoting the movie Patton. “What is not temporary is helping to provide the leadership of helping a youth become a productive citizen. So the saying that you can have all the certificates and trophies and accolades and money, which means very very little in 100 years, but if you reach one person, that will have a greater benefit than all of the other awards that you may receive. I believe that.” Michael Antonovich, The Delta Fall 2017, LA County Board of Supervisors, Features, Current & Past Issues > 2018 College of Chapters Don't Call it a Comeback! Family Man. Family Advocate. Aloha for People Why We Serve History of The Delta Sigma Nu on Social Media Updates from Lexington SNEF Scholarships Recipients Sigma Nu Launches New Mental Health Education Program Chapter & Alumni News Riding with the Cajun Navy Iota Pi Brother Graduates Top of Class at USMC Officer Candidate School The History of 3819 Walnut Lost History Perspectives on Our Past Brothers and Shipmates Forever The War Memorial & Remembrance Album Hodgkin Lymphoma Survivor Steve Sears (Kansas)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741513
__label__cc	0.556938	0.443062	Kim Dobbs Luxury Homes and Real Estate // Memorial Brokerage // Agents Kim was born in Saigon, Vietnam, living there for the first 8 years of her life. Her family then made their way to the United States, settling in the Seattle area, where Kim spent the rest of her childhood and early adult life. Eventually Kim moved to San Francisco and worked as a paralegal for a top law firm for 10 years. In 2011, Kim moved to Houston to marry her now-husband (whom she first met in 7th grade) and to become a bonus mom to two wonderful children. Working for very demanding top attorneys as a paralegal for 10 years, Kim honed her natural organizational skills and attention to detail (not to mention her understanding of the legal system, research, contract law, and due diligence). Her experience with the exacting standards of the legal world means that her clients can always expect a very high level of service. Kim comes from a family of many entrepreneurs and business owners, and eventually a desire to be more independent drew her to the real estate business. To gain more hands-on experience before venturing out on her own, Kim elected to work under an agent who has consistently been a Top 10 producer within our company and a Top 25 producer in the Houston area. She takes pride in providing an incomparable level of service by making her client’s priorities, her priorities ensuring they are provided with precise results. She runs her real estate business just like she tries to raise her children: with dedication, determination and above all with passion to do her best. Her joy is helping people, understanding the client’s needs, navigating through their wants and providing them with options that best suits their expectations. Her tenacious spirit and creativity are the driving force behind the long hours she spends studying the housing market, attending seminars, following trends and staying current with anything related to real estate. Kim is a passionate member of her local community. She currently serves as Vice President of her home owners’ association (HOA), and previously served as its President. She has also served on the PTA Board, and has been an active volunteer at her children’s schools. When her busy schedule allows, she spends as much time as possible with her husband and their two children, an older daughter and younger son. “I love the flexibility of real estate,” she says. “It allows me the luxury of participating more in their school activities.” Kim and her husband enjoy riding their Ducati motorcycles, golf, culinary experiences and watching their children race their motorcycles. Kim is a self-confessed “foodie” who enjoys cooking and exploring new restaurants. Memorial Brokerage 12506 Memorial Dr	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741514
__label__cc	0.726777	0.273223	Liberal Democrats call for local residents’ voices to be heard on Thornbury and Frenchay Posted by Daniel Kelly \| Updated 2017-12-15 South Gloucestershire Council has passed a Liberal Democrat amendment calling upon the local NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to involve the local community in shaping the future of health services in Thornbury and Frenchay. Cllr Maggie Tyrell, who proposed the amendment, said: “We believe that it is critical that the NHS listen to representatives of the local community when it comes to new health provision at Thornbury and Frenchay. I’m very pleased that Council supported my amendment, which calls on the CCG to set up stakeholder groups for both locations. Listening to residents, making use of their local knowledge, and understanding their priorities and health needs is vital if the CCG want to make a success of both Thornbury and Frenchay.” Cllr Shirley Holloway, who chairs the Friends of Thornbury Hospital, said: “It is extremely frustrating that progress towards securing a new Hospital and Health Centre has recently been delayed yet again! The Conservatives have given us warm words and visits by ministers, but no real progress. In many ways it feels like we are back to Square 1. However, these stakeholder groups would be a step in the right direction in ensuring that we get the right health facilities at Thornbury at long last.”	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741515
__label__cc	0.566944	0.433056	SMG announces deals for Hawaii, Colorado convention centers Wes Westley, president of Philadelphia-based SMG, announced today that the company has been awarded a contract to continue managing the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. The agreement represents a 14-year partnership with the hospitality community in Denver, he said. Also, the company has been awarded the contract to manage and market the Hawaii Convention Center. SMG was selected as the center's management company and opened the 200,000-square-foot facility in July 1998. "SMG is truly honored with this continuing opportunity to manage and now market this world-class facility," Westley said. "Our team will continue to work diligently to support the facility and the objectives of our client."	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741516
__label__wiki	0.555988	0.555988	?800 25 YES! Ladies SHOOK the Auto- History August 21, 2016 /in General /by SimplyCarBuyer.com Automotive World, between women and men! It is well known and very common in most societies and countries, that women are so irrelevant to Automotive industry, as it contradicts with women’s softness and elegance. Women created history in the Automotive world This article is brought to you to tell you SORRY ! you have been so wrong for so long! Women had a great impact and a deep print in the Autos industry, How? Meet the 10 women who SHOOK the Automotive world in the History. 1- Florence Lawrence Have you ever wondered about who created or even invented the idea of the signal arms in the car? A Woman did After Florence witnessed too many traffic accidents, and becoming very anxious and phobic of cars due to not knowing the directions the drivers were going to take, she came up with the “auto-signaling arms”that use two flags on both sides of the car. In the meantime, no one uses the flags anymore, but it became a safety feature for the auto makers, all around the world, those flashing lights you can control remotely and tell the other drivers where are you going next. YES! they are the Turn Signals we use now, and we cannot not use them! Florence also came up with what we call now the Brake light, she invented a flipped up sign in the back of the car to warn people behind , that the car is slowing down or going to stop. the STOP sign was painted on and was triggered by pressing on the brake pedals. 2- Denise McCluggage Denise was an auto racing driver, and was a knee-deep in auto racing! in 1954 she ditched her MG for a Jaguar XK140, and began racing professionally. Denise also won the grand touring category ar Sebring in a Ferrari250 GT in 1961. Later in 1964 Denise won the Monte Carlo Rally in a Ford Falcon. in the late 1960s Denise decided to focus her efforts on Journalism, and worked as a full time journalist, founded a little motive magazine and called it “Auto Week”. She was the Senior Contributed Editor at the publication. As fellow automotive talented and professional journalist, she stood as an inspiration to everyone, and shall always be a shining example for women in the world who think that a woman cannot make it in men’s world! No, THEY CAN! 3- Charlotte Bridgwood Florence Lawrence’s Mother, who is also an inventor and a key player in the development of a very important component of the Automotive industry, that we still use until now. Charlotte invented a windshield wiper in 1971, after considering the manual windshield that Mary Anderson invented ,”exhaustive”. Sadly, Bridgewood neglected to pursue the invention’s commercial production, and after the expiration of her patent in 1920, auto makers started to think of installing these revolutionary wipers on various vehicles to keep rain from impeding a driver’s sight. After few years, Cadillac made a huge move and became the World’s first company to include an automatic Windshield wipers in all manufactured vehicles. 4- Danica Patrick The most widely recognized woman in the Auto- market. Why? she is not only a successful auto racing driver, but she is also a model and an advertising spokeswoman. She still remains the most successful woman in the history of the American Open- Wheel racing, as she competes NASCAR Nationwide Series and and in its Sprint Club Series. Denica later earned a second place finish in Britain’s Formula Ford Festival, proved to be the highest finish by an American lady in the event. 5- Bertha Benz Bertha completed the world’s first long distance road trip in 1888, and helped gain marketing momentum for an invention we commonly refer to as the automobile. Bertha’s husband, invented something and called it ” the motorwagen”, the vehicle worked well, but he neglected to market the vehicle properly, and they were facing financial issues by that time. Bertha felt sick of this hesitation and fear or risk her husband has, so she took her kids and drove 66 miles away. Bertha wanted to leave the house due to her madness, but she also intended to test how far can the “motorwagen” go and how would it perform on long distances. While on the way she noticed that the brakes were not working as well as they are expected to do, so she invented something called “Brake Linings” which are the greate grandma of modern brake pads and shoes. 6- Michelle Christensen a Modern Aged woman, who developed and designed the NSX , the latest reincarnation from Honda – Acura, which will offer guaranteed respite from the absense of the badge. This model gives a taste of what is it to come if Honda will keep its promise and then release a Type- R edition. Michelle, designed, dreamed and was passionate about her ideas. She understood the importance of cars and she knew what a consumer really wants! Few months ago, she joined the team for the production car after a short period of time after Unveiling Acura’s NSX concept 2012. Michelle signed with Honda, and placed herself in History as the first woman to lead a Super Car Design Team! 7- Leilani Münter Leilani is not widely known or highly reognized, but she still pushes against gender stereotype in the ARCA racing series while advocating environmental stewardhsip. Leilani set-up solar panels on the roof top of her home to be able to charge her electric Tesla Motors Model S. Sports Illustrated, listed Muner on top of female race drivers in the world, and one of the magazines gave her the “Eco Hero” nickname, and another magazine awarded her a Genius Award in 2012 for being a great leader. 8- Mary Barra Chief Executive Officer of General Motors, has placed herself in the history, as the first female CEO of a major global automaker. she is one of the most 100 influential people in the world. 9- Juliane Blasi and Nadya Arnaout Juliane and Nadya, were tasked to re-design the interior and exterior sides of the BMW Z4. The 2 ladies had to pass a test, BMW asked the designers to submit sketches and then full-size the clay models of what they thought the car should look like, BMW kept the voting process as unbiased as possible and all the designers were anonymously listed. Juliane and Nadya were chosen to be winners, they headed directly to designing the BMW Z4 and turn it into a Sport Car that was called by reporters as : More Aggressive and More Masculine! 10- Jean Jennings The best known as the Former President and Editor of Automobile Magazine, and as Good Morning america’s automotive correspondent 1994-2000. She has been writing about Autos and cars business for the past 30 years. when Jean was 18 she designed and built her own custom taxi and was an operator of the Ann Arbor & Mich Yellow Cab Company. Jean worked after that on Chrysler’s test track as a welder, machine and a test driver. Then she became the editor for the automotive news. Jean also helped establish Automobile Magazine, and became the publication’s first Exec. Editor. in 2006 she was Crowned to be president of the publication. https://www.simplycarbuyers.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/tumblr_ljovdr1HJG1qcvjnv.jpg 340 500 SimplyCarBuyer.com https://www.simplycarbuyers.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo@2x.png SimplyCarBuyer.com2016-08-21 16:05:122019-01-24 17:33:49YES! Ladies SHOOK the Auto- History A revolutionized Company in the UAEJuly 15, 2019 - 9:03 am One of the most well-known cars manufacturers in the UAE is Volkswagen. This company was founded by German government to produce low-priced cars. The previous aim is the main purpose that the company started with. However, rapid growth and popularity among people makes the company keep achieving the former aim, in addition to others. The […] Prohibited Habits in Driving in the UAEJuly 13, 2019 - 3:45 pm There are a lot of negative habits that motorists have to avoid. These habits seem to be common with so many motorists, but they are so risky. Time is precious. But if making use of time comes at the expense of safety then the former is to be ignored. Some of the negative habits that […] A pioneering Company in the UAEJuly 10, 2019 - 5:10 pm Toyota is a car manufacturing company well known worldwide. It started as a small family-business owned by Sakichi Toyoda who is a Japanese national. This glamorous novice idea revolutionizes the way of car manufacturing in Japan. The company found its feet between cars companies and became famous quickly. These giant steps forward grantees luxurious autos […] get Important News, Amazing Offers & Inside Scoops. Open facebook page now SimplyCarBuyers.com was created to simplify the car selling process and enables the easiest solution for customers. We exist for one reason: To ensure you get an honest and worry-free deal for the car you want to sell, every time. We go beyond buying cars. We're experts. We're confidence, care and consistency. And we deliver on our promise. Al-Zomorrud Street - Al-Quoz 3 Phone: 800 25 Fax: +971 4 33 862 92 Email: info@simplycarbuyers.com Al Barsha Branch RTA - Tasjeel - Albarsha © Copyright - SimplyCarBuyers Blog - Enfold Theme by Kriesi Cars’Interesting Facts:I bit you’ve heard about number 6!! Are these Cars or Animals?	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741517
__label__wiki	0.860571	0.860571	Once homeless, Clearfield boxer Jon Bryant plans to win the Golden Gloves and then turn pro Clearfield boxer Jon Bryant will represent Utah this week in the Golden Gloves National Tournament of Champions in Chattanooga, Tenn. \| Photo courtesy of Lights Out Boxing Gym · Published: May 6 Fourteen male and female boxers will represent the Utah-based Rocky Mountain franchise at the Golden Gloves National Tournament of Champions this week in Tennessee. All 14 have compelling stories to share, but few can say they overcame what Clearfield’s 24-year-old Jon “Bumptime” Bryant did throughout his teenage years to make it to one of the biggest stages in national amateur boxing. On his own since the age of 13, Bryant used boxing to stay on track and avoid trouble. “I feel like I beat the odds,” Bryant said last week before making his third trip to nationals. The four-time Utah state champion and three-time regional champ takes a 34-7 amateur record and a whole lot of confidence into the tournament at the Chattanooga Convention Center. He will fight in the 152-pound weight class. “My first time at nationals [in Louisiana] I felt like I wasn’t really that prepared, because I only went there with 10 fights, and I was fighting guys with 200 fights under their belts,” Bryant said. “The second time [in Nebraska] I felt like I got robbed by a decision out there. This time, I am very confident. I am going to win it this time, for sure.” Bryant fights out of the Lights Out Boxing Club in Clearfield, where owner Julian Stevens has been his coach the past three years. Stevens also overcame a troubled childhood and several stints in prison to become a success in the local boxing scene. “He’s a big reason why I’m here,” said Bryant, who took up boxing to stay out of trouble when he moved from Washington to Utah about five years ago. Bryant now has two children — 3-year-old Nova and 2-year-old Jon Jr. — and is determined to give them the kind of upbringing he never had. He was raised by his great grandmother, Harriet Wilken, in Bremerton, Wash., until she died in 2007 when he was just 13. “I have been on my own ever since,” Bryant said, noting how he would jump from one friend’s house to another or simply live in parks, shelters or whatever else he could find. “Growing up, I kinda had a rough patch,” he said. “I had to figure out some way to stay out of trouble.” Idaho woman who took up boxing two years ago to lose weight wins another Golden Gloves regional title, will defend national championship next month in Tennessee For the first time, Utah is sending a full women’s team to the national Golden Gloves boxing tournament Boxing: South Ogden’s Diego Alvarez wins Golden Gloves National Championship Golden Gloves: Ogden’s Alvarez advances to national championship bout Golden Gloves: Boxing has provided a stable home for Indiana teenager Bryant said his father was in and out of jail and his mother never had custody, so he lived with his great grandmother, who “enjoyed retirement as it gave her more time for raising her great grandson, Jon Jon,” according to her obituary in the Kitsap Sun. Bryant now develops his boxing skills in between a full-time job, parenthood and training. His days often begin at 6 a.m. and end at midnight, with three hours set aside for training. “I was planning on turning pro after the Olympic qualifier [last December], but I came up short two nights before the finals,” he said. “So I am going to do the Olympic qualifier again later this year, then turn pro in 2020.” Bryant is part of a very strong Rocky Mountain team that also features Ogden’s Diego Alvarez, the 2016 national champion in the 114-pound weight division when the championships were held at the Salt Palace Convention Center. Alvarez, 20, is one of the favorites in the 132-pound class in Tennessee. Highland High graduate Danny Galloway (165) and Herriman’s Toa Piutau (178) could also make deep runs. The tournament will feature men’s and women’s bouts at the same venue for the second straight year, and five women are part of Utah’s 14-member team. Park City’s Marquenn Vellinga, a 37-year-old mother of two, and defending national champion Kendra Reeves of Twin Falls, Idaho, are seen as the region’s best bets for medals on the women’s side. Reeves, 25, lost more than 70 pounds after taking up boxing two years ago as a way to get in shape and was ranked No. 9 in the country last May when she upset the No. 1-ranked contender, Stephanie Malone, to win the title at 152 pounds. Local entrants in national Golden Gloves boxing championships: Female fighters 112 lbs. • Maryguenn Vellinga, Park City 125 lbs. • Stephanie Mendoza, Salt Lake City 132 lbs. • Jackie Barco, Salt Lake City 152 lbs. • Kendra Reeves, Twin Falls, Idaho 178 lbs. • Madeline Waltman, Salt Lake City Male fighters 114 lbs. • Matt Searle, South Jordan 123 lbs. • Jay Wright, Salt Lake City 132 lbs. • Diego Alvarez, Ogden 141 lbs. • Felipe Nino, Salt Lake City 152 lbs. • Jon Bryant, Clearfield 165 lbs. • Danny Galloway, Salt Lake City 178 lbs. • Toa Piutau, Herriman 201 lbs. • Juan Higurera, Provo 201+ lbs. • Robert Martinez, Salt Lake City	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741519
__label__wiki	0.735484	0.735484	Thai junta finds funding easy to come by as banks lend again Police officers stand guard at a shopping mall in Bangkok on June 8, 2014. -- PHOTO: REUTERS Jun 12, 2014, 6:32 am SGT http://str.sg/yjE BANGKOK (REUTERS) - As Thailand's junta tries to pull the economy back from the verge of recession, the generals have a significant advantage over the government they ousted - the country's banks are prepared to lend them money, and cheaply too. When the military government tendered for a 50 billion baht (S$1.9 billion) loan this month to help pay money owed to rice farmers, 12 banks offered a total of 145 billion baht. The state-run Government Savings Bank (GSB) won the tender, lending for three years at a rate of 2.1792 per cent, much lower than a yield of 2.45 per cent on three-year government bonds. In contrast, commercial banks and even state banks had been reluctant to lend to the government of Yingluck Shinawatra after it was put in caretaker mode in December. "Previously, there was a problem of legality, whether the Finance Ministry would be able to guarantee loans under a caretaker government," said Amnuay Preemonwong, a board member of the GSB. "But that's not an issue now as the current government has full powers. It's not only the GSB, other banks are more confident about bidding. Everybody will dare lend now." Indeed, in February a rush of withdrawals by customers saw the GSB scrap a 5 billion baht loan that could have been used to prop up the then-government's controversial rice-buying scheme, and the bank's president resigned. Also in February, state-owned Krung Thai Bank Pcl said it would not offer loans for the government's rice-buying scheme, mainly due to legal risks. On Thursday the Finance Ministry will put a 40 billion baht loan up for tender, and the Amnuay said the GSB board had approved bidding for the whole amount. When the government was in caretaker mode, it had limited powers to raise and spend money. Efforts to raise cash to pay rice farmers under a state subsidy scheme had little success, even after the administration tried to persuade local government bodies to deposit money with the fund. AMPLE DOMESTIC FUNDING The May 22 overthrow of Yingluck's government followed seven months of political paralysis that had disrupted budget spending, undermined confidence and caused the economy to contract 2.1 per cent in the first quarter. Since suspending democracy indefinitely, the army has moved to push ahead with public spending and drafting a budget for the tax year beginning October, restoring confidence for business. "In general, it seems to me that the local business community just wants to have some certainty and the coup might have provided some hopes that there will be, at least in the near term," said Gundy Cahyadi, an economist with DBS Bank in Singapore. "But it is important to watch when fresh elections will be held." The coup has drawn international criticism, but low national debt and flush domestic savings mean the military can easily fund its spending plans without having to go offshore. "The costs of domestic and foreign borrowings are not much different, so we can do it here as liquidity is ample. We are just waiting for projects to be implemented before proceeding,"said Suwit Rojanawanich, an adviser to the Finance Ministry's public debt management office. The banking sector had about 2.3 trillion baht of liquidity available at the end of March, with deposits at banks standing at 10.5 trillion baht. Moody's Investors Service affirmed its Baa1 rating for Thai government debt on June 2, having been initially bearish on the impact of the coup on the country's debt rating. "Fiscal rules are still standing, even though the constitution is suspended. We expect there will be fiscal discipline," Steffen Dyck, Moody's sovereign analyst for Thailand, told Reuters. The military government has approved a budget deficit of 250 billion baht for 2014/15 - unchanged from the current year and including 450 billion baht for investment. That deficit is equivalent to about 2 per cent of gross domestic product, small by international standards, and consistent with pledges from the junta of fiscal restraint. Public debt was equivalent to 46.6 per cent of GDP at the end of April, comfortably below a legislated ceiling of 60 per cent. That compares with 49.2 per cent in the Philippines at the end of 2013 and Malaysia's 53.8 per cent. "The domestic capital market is quite deep. The savings rate is good, bank liquidity position is adequate, so the government should not have a problem funding the deficit," Dyck said. Some big-ticket infrastructure projects planned by the ousted government should go ahead, such as railways aimed at shifting more freight and mass rapid transit networks around Bangkok, but others are likely to be shelved. "There won't be a problem with fiscal discipline as our public debt is still low and those projects will not require big spending," said Somchai Sajjapong, head of the Finance Ministry's fiscal policy office. NO NEED FOR OVERSEAS More than two years ago, the government began looking at issuing dollar bonds to create a benchmark for global investors, and was planning an issue of up to US$1.5 billion (S$1.9 billion) to help fund its infrastructure plans. Thailand last issued dollar bonds in 2006, a small US$200 million floating-rate private placement. Suwit, the adviser to the public debt management office, said Thailand's credit profile meant attracting investors would not have been a problem, but said there were now no plans to go offshore. Win Udomracthavanich, chief executive officer of One Asset Management in Bangkok, said demand for Thai debt remained strong from domestic investors and long-term funds, as interest rates would remain low in a depressed economy. "If the political situation is clear, foreign investors may return," he added.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741524
__label__cc	0.628275	0.371725	Great Britain – West End Show of The Month – January BLOG / Arts & Culture 2nd January 2015 No trip to central London would be complete without taking in a show at the most successful theatre district in the world: the West End. Last year, nearly 15 million people enjoyed its classic entertainment, and as a hotel right in the thick of it, Strand Palace is the perfect place to base yourself for a theatre getaway in the city. Each month, we pick one of our favourite shows currently playing and give you some insider tips for an unforgettable night in the West End. Following its howling success at the National Theatre, this anarchic satire is now playing in the West End. Great Britain takes a look at the tangled relationship between the press, the police and the political establishment and is making its debut West End appearance at the beautiful Theatre Royal Haymarket. The play follows an ambitious news editor who hears of phone hacking from an innocent informant and ends up blackmailing Metropolitan Police and members of the Conservative Party. Insider show tips Strand Palace Hotel is just a 10-minute walk from the Theatre Royal Haymarket and here are some of our expert tips about booking to see Great Britain at this beautiful Grade I-listed theatre. BEFORE YOU BOOK: Firstly, be aware that Great Britain features VERY strong language, right from the beginning of the show, so it is recommended for audiences of 15 years and over. BEST SEATS IN THE HOUSE: If your budget allows you to choose the best seats in the house, aim for the premium seats in the Royal Circle or the Stalls. Seats G1 and G21 have extra leg room. CHEAPEST TICKETS: Our concierge service at Strand Palace Hotel can get you great offers and last-minute deals. Call us before your stay or visit the concierge desk when you arrive and we’ll see what we can do. TIPS AND TRICKS: There is no dress code at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, so it is entirely up to you whether you dress up for fun or down for comfort! We suggest arriving about half-an-hour before curtain rise to ensure you’re not rushing. That will give you a chance to relax with a drink before the show starts. No matter what you fancy at the time, you will be able to find it in or near the West End and Strand Palace Hotel. You could opt for a culinary feast at our Indian restaurant Daawat before the show, or if you’re just looking for a light snack you could visit our Gin Palace for pre-show drinks and nibbles. Afterwards, you could stop off at one of the many West End bars that you’ll pass on your walk home, or return to our bar for post-show cocktails. If you’re looking for hotels near the Theatre Royal Haymarket for Great Britain, then choose Strand Palace Hotel — just a 10-minute walk away. Our dedicated concierge can take care of your booking for any West End show, as well as offer you even more insider advice.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741525
__label__cc	0.662662	0.337338	© 2006 - 2019 straponsexdating.com, All Rights Reserved Sorry, you need to be a member to view photos. Your username may only contain letters (A-Z, a-z) and numbers (0-9). Your username must also begin with a letter. 6 to 16 characters in length (no spaces) 5 to 20 characters in length - Pick one - January February March April May June July August September October November December - Pick one - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 - Pick one - 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1965 1964 1963 1962 1961 1960 1959 1958 1957 1956 1955 1954 1953 1952 1951 1950 1949 1948 1947 1946 1945 1944 1943 1942 1941 1940 1939 1938 1937 1936 1935 1934 1933 1932 1931 1930 1929 1928 1927 1926 1925 1924 1923 1922 1921 1920 I am / We are a Man Woman Couple Switch Dom Sub Inexperienced/Undecided Couple Man Woman You did not enter city. search by city name or zip code By joining you agree to our terms and conditions & privacy policy. You also agree to receive flirts, messages, account updates & special offers via email. straponsexdating.com does not screen members for criminal background. Click HERE to learn how to use this and other dating sites safely.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741526
__label__cc	0.660924	0.339076	October 29, 2014 November 5, 2016 Matt Pope Francis Against Creationism: Recollection not Revolution The present Pope does a very good job at seeming to say something new, whilst actually saying something very old. I’ve been attempting to write something on this regarding to the Extraordinary Synod on the Family, but that post is taking me longer than usual. In the meantime, someone has pointed me in the direction simpler example of this aspect of his papacy. Today, over-compensatory-closet-Tory newspaper, The Guardian, reported some comments the Bishop of Rome made about creationism. In a nutshell, he says there is no incompatibility in believing God created the universe and believing the big bang theory and theory of evolution. The Guardian are correct to point out that Popes have been saying this for a while. Although Francis was packaging the ideas with his trademark eye for a soundbite, the content of what he was saying does not mark a break with Catholic teaching, which has modified considerably since Charles Darwin published On The Origin of Species in 1859. On the one hand, I’m glad they have not taken the sensationalist reading that usually happens when Church figures saying this sort of thing, but on the other they have grossly underestimated how far back the criticism of Biblical literalism, especially with regard to the creation myths, actually goes. Even Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), practically the Alpha and Omega of Church Doctrine, argued that the Bible cannot and should not be taken as literally true, citing the story of Adam and Eve as an example of an absurdity; Genesis claims God walked in the Garden of Eden, something Aquinas argued was outright impossible because God doesn’t have legs. In fact, believing the creation myths to be literally true is an exclusively protestant affair, theologically speaking. The battles the Church had with scientists, such as the persecution of Galileo, had nothing to do with doctrine and everything to do with power. While science has never been a theoretical threat to Christianity, it was a huge political threat because it opened up a domain of technology and knowledge that was not under Imperial Church control. The few hundred years since the development of modern science have seen a radical and just transfer of power from religious to secular institutions. Once upon a time, the most important and sophisticated piece of technology in a village would have been the clock on the church tower, and the most educated person the parish priest. Today, in the UK anyway, everyone has a super computer in their pocket that, if they didn’t bother to pay attention in their considerably comprehensive state funded education, can relay almost any piece of knowledge in a few seconds. The corrupt Church saw this coming and wanted to keep its power over people so it started oppressing science. Thus, it was Christianity’s compatibility with science and lack of a religious barrier to scientific development that lead to the attempt to suppress it, not the opposite. What The Guardian have missed, however, is that there actually is a development here. Three Popes (Francis included) have made a major proclamation on this issue. The first is Pope Pius XII. In Humani Generis (1950), he effectively argues that there is no incompatibility between evolution and Catholicism. However, he does not go beyond formal incompatibility. In 1996, John Paul II goes further and actually almost reaches the point of saying that Christians should actively believe in evolution, not merely stand back and say it is not incompatible1. Although we are talking about a couple of soundbites and not a theological treatise, Francis does seem to have gone even further than JPII; he is actively attacking creationism. “When we read the creation story in Genesis we run the risk of imagining that God was a magician, with a magic wand which is able to do everything,” he said. “But it is not so. He created beings and let them develop according to internal laws which He gave every one, so they would develop, so they would reach maturity.” This, to my mind anyway, is a thinly veiled dig at the literalists who deny evolution on biblical grounds. You know who I mean: the people who think that fossils are there to faithful. The people who think that “intelligent design” should be taught in science classes. The people who think that there simply isn’t enough evidence for evolution. The people who think that God popped the world into existence. For Francis, these people treat God as a magician with a magic wand—”But it is not so.” For Francis, these people are reducing the second most important event in Christian history, the moment of creation, to a parlour trick. In other words, a pope of the Catholic Church has just called creationists a bunch of heretics. To speak more broadly about the types of things that Francis has been saying and doing, he is clearly no revolutionary. He’s a conservative. And yet, out of that conservatism, he is able to attack the “right” of Christianity. This is because his conservatism isn’t an ideology to justify the bigotry of the elite, nor is it an attempt to maintain the status quo. It is about the recollection of what the church was supposed to be like, before it became an empire, lost that empire, and fell into a historically deaf, nihilistic and capitalistic age of pseudo-equality, reinterpreting its task as talking about how great the 1950s were. The Church is old, very old. So old that even its teachings that are usually associated with political conservatism are relatively new (it is over ten times older than capitalism, for example). To me, Francis’ tactic for Church reform is not to introduce something new, but to remind the Church of its ancient past: to bring it back to an older, more inclusive and doctrinally ambiguous version of itself prior to its contamination by the Ancient Greek tradition, Roman imperialism, and global capitalism. He probably does not go far enough, and I’m not sure it will work. But, if Christianity were to return to its original essence, it would open another beginning for the Church and its followers. I mean, imagine if Christians started helping people instead of judging people? Oh wait, they voted against that. Nevermind. 1 The best thing I’ve read on this is in Steven Jay Gould’s the section ‘Non-Overlapping Magisteria’ in Leonardo’s Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms. This used section used to be available free online, but the website seems to have gone down. science vs religion Previous Book Review – Atheism Reclaimed Next Film Review – Hannah Arendt – Philosophy and Harm Review - The Young Pope - Small Reason says: […] the 20th let alone 21st Century and reunite Catholicism with its merciful Christian roots. I wrote a year or so ago about such a dream, still being a bit liberal […]	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741528
__label__wiki	0.985418	0.985418	Texas church shooting leaves 26 dead Updated November 6, 2017 — 1.29pm first published at 6.39am A gunman massacred at least 26 worshippers and wounded 20 others at a white-steepled church in south-east Texas on Sunday, carrying out the latest in a series of mass shootings that have plagued the United States, authorities said. The lone suspect, wearing black tactical gear and a ballistic vest and carrying an assault rifle, opened fire after entering the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs in Wilson County, about 65 kilometres south-east of San Antonio. The gunman opened fire outside the church and continued to fire as he entered. The victims ranged in age from five to 72, law enforcement officials said at a news conference. Carrie Matula embraces a woman after a fatal shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Sunday. Credit:AP After the shooting, the gunman, described as a white man in his 20s, was fired on by a local resident. He fled in his vehicle and was later found dead in neighbouring Guadalupe County. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said the mass shooting was the worst in modern Texas history. He posted on Twitter: "Our prayers are with all who were harmed by this evil act. Our thanks to law enforcement for their response." Police have not released a motive for the shooting. Law enforcement officers work in front of the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs after a fatal shooting on Sunday. Credit:AP Earlier, Wilson County Commissioner Albert Gamez, jnr, said that at least 27 were killed and more than 20 were injured. Police told him the gunman was chased into the next county and was killed, but it was not clear whether the police shot him or he killed himself. Mona Rodriguez holds her 12-year-old son, J Anthony Hernandez, during a candlelight vigil held for the victims of a fatal shooting at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs. Credit:AP He added: "You never expect something like this. My heart is broken." Gunman identified The suspect in the Texas church mass shooting was a former member of the US military. Law enforcement officials at the scene of a fatal shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Sunday. Credit:AP Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek says records confirm Devin P. Kelley served in Logistics Readiness at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico from 2010 until his discharge. The date of his discharge and the circumstances under which he left the service were not immediately available. Emergency personnel respond to a fatal shooting at a Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Credit:AP The Pentagon has also confirmed Kelley was an airman "at one point", but didn't provide additional details. Authorities in charge of the investigation into the shooting did not formally identify him at a press conference earlier on Sunday, except to say he was a white male in his 20s. However, two officials - one a US official and the other in law enforcement - told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity the shooter was Devin Kelley. The US official said Kelly lived in a suburb of San Antonio and did not appear to be linked to organised terrorist groups. Investigators are looking at social media posts Kelley may have made in the days before the attack, including one that appeared to show an AR-15 semi-automatic weapon. Texas Democratic congressman Henry Cuellar said law enforcement authorities told him the gunman came from Comal County, which is north-east of San Antonio. "He went there [to the church], he walked in, started shooting people and then took off [to Guadalupe County, just outside Wilson County]," Cuellar said. Wilson County Commissioner Larry Wiley said that, after the shooting, the gunman sped away in a car and was soon cornered by sheriff's deputies in Guadalupe County. He did not know if the gunman died of a self-inflicted gunshot or was killed by deputies. First responders converged on the town and helicopters were taking victims to hospitals. Ernest "Skip" Hajek, another Wilson County Commissioner, told The Washington Post that the gunman began firing from outside the church and continued to shoot as he entered. Hajek said the gunman eventually drove away and was followed by a local resident who called 911 to report which way the gunman was fleeing. "About four or five miles away, he pulled his car over," Hajek said of the gunman. "That's where the police found him dead." Hajek said police were looking into whether the gunman's wounds were self-inflicted. Federal authorities, including from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI, were on the scene. The Texas Ranger Division of the state's Department of Public Safety is also involved in the investigation. Pastor's daughter killed The teenage daughter of the pastor of the church was reportedly among the dead. Sherri Pomeroy, wife of Pastor Frank Pomeroy, said in a text message to the Associated Press that she lost her daughter, Annabelle, 14, "and many friends" in the shooting. Ms Pomeroy said both she and her husband were out of town when the church was attacked and were trying to return. The First Baptist Church is a fixture in Sutherland Springs, an area home to fewer than 900 residents, according the 2010 census. The white-painted, one-storey structure features a small steeple and a single front door. On Sunday, the Lone Star flag of Texas was flying alongside the US flag and a third, unidentified banner. Inside there is a small raised platform on which members sang worship songs to guitar music and the pastor delivered a weekly sermon, according to videos posted on YouTube. In one of the clips, a few dozen people, including young children, can be seen sitting in the wooden pews. The service began with a rendition of a song called Happiness Is the Lord. It was reported earlier that the pastor was in church and told his parishioners to walk around the room and "shake somebody's hand". "Tell them it's good to see them in God's house this morning," he was reported to have said. The church's website, which was down shortly after the shooting, says the church schedule was for a fellowship breakfast on Sunday mornings, followed by Sunday School. A morning worship service was scheduled for 11am. The first news reports of the shooting were between noon and 12.30pm. Community devastated David Keen, a constable in Wilson County, confirmed there were casualties and said, "there were kids involved". He said that the gunman was dead and that he did not know how many people had died. Megan Posey, a spokeswoman for Connally Memorial Medical Centre in Floresville, Texas, said that she did not know how many patients the hospital had received, but that it was continuing to receive more. The hospital had activated its emergency response team, she said. Information about the conditions of patients was not available. "We're sending more officers on the streets to help secure Connally Memorial while they're bringing the casualties to the hospital," Keen said. Officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are on the scene. Photos taken by local media showed several police and emergency vehicles, as well as helicopters, outside the church. A video shared on Twitter by a KSAT reporter showed people crying and holding hands as they waited to find out whether their loved ones were safe. A parishioner, Sandy Ward, said in an interview on Sunday that a daughter-in-law and three of her grandchildren were shot. Her grandson, who is five, was shot four times and remained in surgeryon Sunday night. She said she was awaiting word on her other family members. Ward said she did not attend services on Sunday because of her troubled knees and a bad hip. "I just started praying for everybody who was there," she said. Diana Segura, 69, was in the shower on Sunday morning about 11am when she was startled by a series of thundering bangs so loud she thought a truck's engine had exploded on the highway behind her home. Minutes later, sirens burst onto her quiet street and Segura walked outside and saw the unthinkable: multiple bodies on the ground outside the First Baptist Church, where she occasionally attends weeknight services. Standing outside her home down the street from the church, Segura stared at the throng of police cars and emergency vehicles, her head shaking in disbelief. "This is a small town and nothing never happens here," Segura said. "We are family here, and that church is always filled with friends." Joseph Silva, 49, who lives about seven kilometres north-east of Sutherland Springs, said the police had instructed his family and neighbours to stay indoors. In a phone interview on Sunday afternoon, he described Sutherland Springs as "a one-blinking-light town". "There is a gas station and a post office," he said. "That's about all there really is." Silva said he had been approached by a woman who said she had two loved ones at the church who were shot. "There are a number of individuals just weeping and just wanting to know what's happened to their loved ones," he said. "Everybody is pretty grief-stricken. Everyone's worried." US President Donald Trump, on a visit to Japan, tweeted his concern, saying he was "monitoring the situation". Rash of massacres The massacre is the latest in a rash of mass shootings that have plagued the United States in recent years, stirring a national debate over whether easy access to firearms was contributing to the trend. It comes just weeks after a sniper killed 58 people at an outdoor concert in Las Vegas, the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history. The shooting occurred on the eighth anniversary of the massacre of 13 people at the Fort Hood army base in central Texas on November 5, 2009. A US Army Medical Corps psychiatrist convicted of the killings is now awaiting execution. In 2015, a white gunman killed nine black parishioners at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The gunman was sentenced to death for the racially motivated attack. AP, New York Times, Washington Post, Reuters	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741530
__label__wiki	0.756528	0.756528	Do Photos Show Children at Detention Center Under Trump’s Watch? Conditions at immigration detention facilities have been poor, to say the least, for years. Photographs show children at an immigrant detention center sleeping with aluminum blankets during U.S. President Donald Trump's administration. Miscaptioned What's True A physician compared the conditions at a detention center on the southern border of United States in June 2019 to a "torture facility," writing that children were sleeping on concrete floors with the lights on 24 hours and had no access to basic hygiene supplies, such as soap. What's False A set of viral photographs was taken in 2015 during U.S. President Barack Obama's administration. In June 2019, a variety of news outlets published reports detailing the horrid conditions at immigrant detention centers along the United States’ southern border. The Associated Press, for instance, quoted a lawyer named Warren Binford, who visited a facility in Texas and spoke to some of the immigrant children detained within, saying that the kids were living in “inhumane conditions.” ABC News obtained a medical declaration that likened these detention centers to “torture facilities.” As outrage from these reports grew online, actress Nancy Lee Grahn posted a set of photographs that supposedly documented these conditions and accused the Trump administration of forcing children to “sleep on cement floor with an aluminum blanket & lights on all night”: While the text of Grahn’s tweet accurately reflects recent news reports, the photographs she used to illustrate her point were not taken during U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration. These photographs are actually still images from a surveillance camera at a Border Patrol holding facility in Tucson, Ariz., in August 2015. The images were released as part of a lawsuit brought by the American Immigration Council and the American Civil Liberties Union against U.S. Customs and Border Protection concerning the conditions at the agency’s temporary holding facilities. Here’s an excerpt from an NPR report: The holding cells were designed to be used for temporary holding — a period of hours. The American Immigration Council analyzed Border Patrol data and concluded that from September 2014 to August 2015, two-thirds of immigrants detained in Border Patrol facilities in the Southwest were held for more than 24 hours, and tens of thousands of people were held for more than three days. Photos of the cells show people crowded together in concrete cells. Several images show prisoners sitting or sleeping on bare floors with no mats available to them — even when there are unused mats in empty cells. While these photographs were taken during the Obama administration, the conditions described in Grahn’s tweet still apply to the detention facilities operating under Trump. Physician Dolly Lucio Sevier was granted access to a detention center after a flu outbreak sent five infants to the neonatal intensive care unit. In a medical declaration obtained by ABC News, Sevier compared the conditions to a “torture facility” and wrote that minors were dealing with “extreme cold temperatures, lights on 24 hours a day, no adequate access to medical care, basic sanitation, water, or adequate food.” Binford, a law professor, told NPR: “They are worse than actual prison conditions. It is inhumane. It’s nothing that I ever imagined seeing in the United States of America.” The second part of Grahn’s tweet mentions “Sarah Fabian” and claims that companies are making $750 day to detain immigrant children. Fabian is a Department of Justice lawyer who attempted to defend the conditions at detention centers during a June 2019 Court of Appeals hearing. According to the Washington Post: The government went to federal court this week to argue that it shouldn’t be required to give detained migrant children toothbrushes, soap, towels, showers or even half a night’s sleep inside Border Patrol detention facilities. The position bewildered a panel of three judges in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit on Tuesday, who questioned whether government lawyers sincerely believed they could describe the temporary detention facilities as “safe and sanitary” if children weren’t provided adequate toiletries and sleeping conditions. One circuit judge said it struck him as “inconceivable.” The government was in court to appeal a 2017 ruling finding that child migrants and their parents were detained in dirty, crowded, bitingly cold conditions inside U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities along the southern border. Migrants are first taken to those facilities after they are apprehended at the border. U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee had found that migrants in Rio Grande Valley facilities were hungry, with some eating only “sandwiches of two pieces of dry bread and one slice of ham.” They were thirsty, with up to 20 migrants sharing the same cup to drink from the water cooler. They were embarrassed to use a toilet in front of 50 other people and they couldn’t take a shower or brush their teeth or even wash their hands with soap and dry them with a towel, the judge found. At night, they couldn’t sleep. The lights were left on, as they shivered beneath an aluminum blanket on the concrete floor, the judge found. Gee ruled in June 2017 that these Obama-era conditions violated a 1997 settlement agreement requiring that immigrant children in the government’s custody be housed in “safe and sanitary” conditions, and that the government maintain “concern for the particular vulnerability of minors.” But the Trump administration protested. The 1997 consent decree, known as the Flores Settlement Agreement, didn’t say anything about providing a “toothbrush,” “towels,” “dry clothing,” “soap,” or even “sleep,” the administration has argued. Grahn’s claim that companies make $750 “a kid a day to torture them” relates to the fact that some immigration detention centers are owned and operated by private for-profit companies. Reuters reported in February 2019 that while it costs about $250 per day to hold a child at a permanent detention center, the cost can triple at temporary, privately owned, for-profit facilities such as the “Homestead Temporary Shelter for Unaccompanied Children”: As the government seeks to rapidly expand the site’s capacity, it has waived a federal requirement at Homestead meant to ensure children receive sufficient health care. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which cares for the children, previously required Homestead to maintain a clinician-to-child ratio of 1 to 12 to provide mental health services, according to a November 2018 report. But that requirement has been relaxed to 1 to 20, a Homestead program director said on Wednesday. The facility sits on federal property, and unlike established children’s shelters, such as smaller group or foster homes that hold migrant children across the country, is not governed by state child welfare regulations designed to protect youngsters from harm. About 35 miles south of Miami, the facility is run by Comprehensive Health Services, Inc., a private, for-profit company with a growing line of business in housing immigrant children. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last year, the firm’s parent company, Caliburn International Corp., noted President Donald Trump’s immigration policies were driving “significant growth.” It costs approximately $250 per day to house a migrant child at a standard, permanent shelter, said Mark Weber, an HHS spokesman. But at an influx facility like Homestead, the cost is triple that – around $750 per day. It is covered by American taxpayers. To sum up: Viral photographs supposedly documenting the conditions at immigration detention facilities under the Trump administration were actually taken in 2015 during Obama’s tenure. The poor conditions at these Obama-era centers have continued or worsened under Trump. Flynn, Meagan. “Detained Migrant Children Got No Toothbrush, No Soap, No Sleep. It’s No Problem, Government Argues.” Washington Post. 21 June 2019. Torbati, Yeganeh; Cooke, Kristina. “First Stop for Migrant Kids: For-Profit Detention Center.” Reuters. 14 February 2019. Domonoske, Camila. “Surveillance Stills From Border Patrol Facilities Show Crowded, Trash-Filled Cells.” NPR. 19 August 2016. Gonzales, Richard. “Obama Immigrant Detention Policies Under Fire.” NPR. 12 June 2015. Marhsall, Serena; Zak, Lana; Metz, Jennifer. “Doctor Compares Conditions for Unaccompanied Children at Immigrant Holding Centers to ‘Torture Facilities.'” ABC News. 23 June 2019. PBS News Hour. “A Firsthand Report of ‘Inhumane Conditions’ at a Migrant Children’s Detention Facility.”	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741531
__label__wiki	0.538123	0.538123	Short film examines aging The film was created to promote the Prairie Valley Lodge in Summerland Nov. 17, 2017 4:00 p.m. Okanagan actor Jamie Eberle and television actor Roark Critchlow are in a new short film about Prairie Valley Lodge in Summerland. The film was created to promote the care facility. It follows the efforts of a man (Frank) trying to find a new home for his somewhat cantankerous dad (Francis Sr.) While the story does not minimize the strain aging can have on a parent/child relationship, it tracks the journey with a deft touch. There is clearly love between the two and a genuine desire on the part of Frank to get Francis the best care possible, despite dad’s reluctance to change. Frank Jr. finds Prairie Valley Lodge and is captured by it’s charm, personal touch and non-institutional approach. When he does manage to bring his dad to the facility, Francis is also beguiled, though still a bit crusty. Eberle has worked with Many Hats Theatre Co. in Penticton. Critchlow’s acting appearances include Dr. Mike Horton on Days of our Lives, Tom Marin on Pretty Little Liars and Starbuck’s dad on Battlestar Galactica. Video and editing of the film is by Stephanie Seaton of Storyboard Video Productions. Small grass fire sparks in West Kelowna Missing woman smart, courageous, lovable	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741532
__label__wiki	0.657506	0.657506	Home › The Wire PMC Helps Canterbury University Determine The True Value Of Music The reference IB1S-AIII monitors resolved the nuances between live & recorded sound in a ground breaking experiment. ssillitoe ⋅ Apr 21, 2017 Peter Self, a senior lecturer in Music Business and Management at Canterbury Christ Church University, recently used PMC IB1S-AIII Active monitors in an experiment to determine whether people can tell the difference between live and recorded music. To reduce acoustic variables to zero, the experiment took place in one of the country’s largest anechoic chamber at the Building Research Establishment centre in Watford, Hertfordshire. An invited audience was positioned in front of an acoustically transparent curtain and asked to say if they could tell the difference between music played live and the same piece recorded and played through loudspeakers. They couldn’t see what was happening behind the curtain so only had their ears as a reference. “We started out by running a series of Live Versus Recorded days where participants were played various quality ‘versions’ of the same recorded music track and then asked to decide on the ranking in terms of perceived audio quality,” Peter Self explains. “As the tests progressed, we decided to provide our own high quality music source material recorded at 24bit/192kHz using extended frequency range Schoeps microphones. Initially we were comparing various encoded versions with the original recorded master, but we then developed the concept to include live performance, which constitutes the recorded source material as part of the comparative process.” Peter Self says the choice of loudspeaker for playback was crucial, especially when the experiments moved into an anechoic chamber. “They had to be of the highest quality and capable of delivering an accurate yet transparent sound,” Self explains. “The PMC system we used was ideal because the monitors had sufficient power to deliver volume in an anechoic environment. The fact that they were internally amplified and had minimal cone effect was also important because we wanted the recorded music to be as faithfully reproduced as possible. The high-end capabilities of the PMCs meant they performed perfectly and we were very pleased with the results.” Self’s Live Versus Recording experiments are part of an ongoing five year project funded by Canterbury University’s School of Music and Performing Arts. Colloquially entitled ‘whatprice music’, it is looking at how consumers value recorded music, both in terms of entertainment and inspiration as well as in the monetary sense. Self is interested to know if varying demographics can differentiate between – or are even interested in – the notion of different audio qualities. “The experiment we ran in the anechoic chamber was fascinating,” he says. “The audience found it challenging to tell the difference between the live and our high res recorded material in the anechoic environment and the results led to lots more questions. We’d like to expand the research in the future.” For more information about this project and to sign up for future LVR days, please visit www.whatpricemusic.org About PMC PMC is a UK-based, world-leading manufacturer of loudspeaker systems, the tools of choice in all ultra-critical professional monitoring applications, and also for the discerning audiophile at home, where they provide a transparent window into the recording artist’s original intentions. PMC products use the best available materials and design principles, including the company’s proprietary Advanced Transmission Line (ATL™) bass-loading technology, cutting-edge amplification and advanced DSP techniques to create loudspeakers that present sound and music exactly as it was when first created, with the highest possible resolution, and without coloration or distortion. For more information on our clients and products, see www.pmc-speakers.com Tags ⋅ Anechoic Chamber ⋅ Canterbury University ⋅ Experiment with Sound ⋅ IBiS-AIII Active Monitors ⋅ Peter Self ⋅ PMC Soeakers ⋅ Value of Music Eugenio Menichella Joins Riedel Italy as System Consultant WUPPERTAL, Germany — July 10, 2019 — Riedel Communications today announced the appointment of Eugenio Menichella as system consultant for the company’s Italian operation. Menichella brings more than 20... 64 Audio Spotlights In-Ear Monitor Technologies During 2019 Summer NAMM Show VANCOUVER, Wash., July 15, 2019 – 64 Audio, the leader in custom and universal fit in-ear monitors, is proud to announce it will have personnel on-hand to discuss the... Claypaky Fixtures Light the Stage for Two-Day “Flowers for the Soul” Celebration of the Late Romanian Visionary Florian Pittiş For the seventh consecutive year, “Flowers for the Soul: Remember Florian Pittiş,” an event honoring the Romanian actor, folk singer and radio producer who died in 2007, was held... L-Acoustics Puts the Punch in Punchline for Adam Sandler’s 100% Fresher Tour Las Vegas-based RRS Audio carries its K2 system out on The Sandman’s summer tour, plus keeps the rig constantly busy in the City of Lights when not out on...	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741535
__label__wiki	0.987745	0.987745	“Fort Worth’s country music reputation was cemented by its enthusiastic support of live music,” said Casey Monahan, former director of the Texas Music Office in Austin. “The success of artists such as Bob Wills, Milton Brown and the Light Crust Doughboys made Cowtown a hub on the country music touring circuit. The long and illustrious reign of Panther Hall, World’s Largest Honky Tonk from 1963 to 1978, and its hosting of Cowtown Jamboree, further made country king.” It all began with the music makers — fiddlers, singers and guitarists who established a pipeline of talent that continues today. “There was a study made in Nashville some time back of backup musicians on up to Grand Ole Opry stars, and an estimated 70 to 75 percent of those musicians got their start in Texas,” said Bill Mack, a legendary radio personality best known as the “Midnight Cowboy” on WBAP/820 AM. Mack, 82, lives in east Fort Worth with his wife, Cindy. “Most of those Texas musicians worked here in the Fort Worth-Dallas area,” Mack said. “So we’ve got the musicians who know what they’re doing, and you can’t beat this area for live music.” Barn-dancin’ and hay-ridin’ First things first: Country music’s earliest audience innovation, and Nashville’s most cherished tradition, really came from Cowtown. “[Nashville radio station] WSM and the Grand Ole Opry, they claimed they were the first (in 1925), but it was WBAP and the barn dance in 1923,” said Mack. “The historical record will always go back to this area and Fort Worth.” Mack said the “barn dance” format, a live radio variety program with in-studio entertainment and an audience, was actually one of Amon Carter’s ideas. That first Barn Dance program was the first of a wave of similar and successful shows that brought new breakout artists directly to the fans and established a touring tradition and booking circuit. Much later, the Big D Jamboree at Dallas’ 6,000-seat Sportatorium was broadcast by KRLD beginning in 1948. It lasted until 1966 and reflected changing tastes in postwar country music. At one time, the show aired four hours every Saturday night, says The Handbook of Texas Online, and was broadcast nationwide by the CBS Radio network on a rotating basis with the Louisiana Hayride from Shreveport and the Grand Ole Opry. When Western swing was king More importantly, Fort Worth is widely credited as the birthplace of a fusion style of music that is indisputably Texas’ own: Western swing. It is dance music, an uptempo meld of cowboy, string band, blues and jazz. Born in the 1920s, it endures today. Bob Wills, who grew up playing fiddle with his father’s band, moved to Fort Worth in 1929 from his Panhandle home. He ended up in a band with vocalist Milton Brown, forming the basis of the Light Crust Doughboys. The Doughboys were the promotional flour children of W. Lee “Pappy” O’Daniel, the general manager of Fort Worth’s Burrus Mill, who would go on to become governor of Texas. Their daily radio show on KFJZ in Fort Worth made the Doughboys very popular with listeners, but it was not enough for Wills and Brown. Both departed the Doughboys to form their own bands. Wills formed the Texas Playboys and moved to Tulsa, going on to have a spectacular career in Oklahoma and Texas. Brown stayed in Fort Worth and formed Milton Brown and His Musical Brownies. The band played often at the Crystal Springs Dance Pavilion on White Settlement Road. Brown died in 1936 after a car wreck on Jacksboro Highway. The Light Crust Doughboys are still in existence, playing the Western swing classics at venues all over the Metroplex. Though most people think of Wills as the father of Western swing, others believe Brown was really the first practitioner and, had he lived, might have eclipsed Wills’ accomplishments. While Wills was providing irresistibly upbeat music for families weathering the Great Depression and, later, World War II G.I.s, future country stars were taking note. In his 1988 memoir with Bud Shrake, Willie: An Autobiography, Willie Nelson explained how the Western swing icon became his own role model for the influential Outlaw Movement to come decades later. “Bob Wills taught me how to be a bandleader and how to be a star,” Nelson said. “ He would hit the bandstand at 8 p.m. and stay for four hours without a break. One song would end, he’d count four and hit another one. “There was no time wasted between songs,” Nelson said. “I learned from him to keep the people moving and dancing. The more you keep the music going, the smoother the evening will be.” Never one to drag his feet, Wills would cut five radio shows at a time, 15 minutes each, Mack recalled. “I had the honor of being Bob Wills’ announcer,” Mack said. “I was in Nashville when they put Bob Wills in the Country Music Hall of Fame. ‘I don’t believe I should be in the Hall of Fame,’ he said to me, ‘because I do Western swing.’” At one point late in his career, back in Fort Worth, Wills played a date that Mack thought was a bit light as far as audience appreciation. It didn’t bother Wills at all. “Bill, my applause is the sound of dancing feet,” the bandleader said. Wills died in Fort Worth in 1975, following a stroke two years before. He had remained active in performing and recording up until that time. Legendary venues Before Billy Bob’s Texas opened in 1981, there was Panther Hall, at 600 S. Collard St. in the Polytechnic area, during the 1960s and ’70s. And there was the Crystal Springs Dance Pavilion at 5653 White Settlement Road, accommodating 800 on the dance floor. Not to mention The Stagecoach Ballroom, opened in 1967 at 2516 Belknap St., its third location since 1961. The old hall is family-operated, and generations of Fort Worth families have navigated its 3,500-square-foot dance floor. Dallas had the Longhorn Ballroom on Corinth near downtown — originally built for Bob Wills but lovingly owned by Dewey Groom for decades — and the nearby Big D Jamboree. But Panther was the one. “Panther Hall opened in June of ’63,” Mack said. “It was operated by Bill and Corky Kuykendall, and it was originally built as a championship bowling stadium, but there was no real demand for championship bowling.” Panther Hall became the place to hear live music, with acts like Loretta Lynn, Buck Owens, George Jones, Ray Price, Porter Wagoner, Johnny Cash and Lefty Frizzell performing for 2,000 people a night in a 32,000-square-foot facility with a distinctive coliseum shape. It was a must-play stop for touring artists of the ’60s and ’70s. “I don’t know of one star that didn’t play Panther Hall,” Mack said. “When Panther Hall was in action, country music was just becoming a big, big item.” Panther Hall closed in 1978, but its exciting legacy continued when the even bigger Billy Bob’s Texas opened on the north side in 1981. “What Billy Bob’s Texas and Panther Hall established is the fact that country music fans would come out in big numbers to hear their touring favorites,” Mack said. “After the Grand Ole Opry, I’d say Panther Hall was just as important.” Willie Nelson and Jerry Lee Lewis both recorded live albums there in 1966, and Charley Pride did the same in 1969. “Jerry Lee Lewis had the most appearances and attendance record there,” Mack said. “Channel 11 did a remote TV broadcast from there on Saturday nights, the Cowtown Jamboree, with no rehearsals — we just did it raw. “We got higher ratings than Flipper for a while there.” Shirley Jinkins, 817-390-7657 Twitter: @shirljinkins Country Music Week! Monday: Movies for fans of C&W tunes Tuesday: Country power couples’ lasting love Wednesday: Recipes from Trisha Yearwood’s latest cookbook Thursday: DFW’s place in country music Friday: Your guide to the ACMs in Arlington Saturday: Deciphering the “denim and diamonds” dress code Sunday: Celebrating the Stetson’s 150th anniversary Country radio legend Bill Mack says Fort Worth’s country music roots predate the Grand Ole Opry. Joyce Marshall Star-Telegram Bob Wills “King of Western Swing” Star-Telegram Archives Bill Mack, known to WBAP/820 AM listeners as the Midnight Cowboy, works at the station in 1969. HO Handout The Cowtown Jamboree was held at Panther Hall, a Fort Worth venue open 1963-78. HO Handout Watch as Irving police rescue three children and an adult from an overturned car Mother and daughter lose everything in fire suspected to be arson Fort Worth anti-discrimination board votes that peer accused of racist posts be fired A DFW member of the Human Relations commission accused of making racist and offensive posts on Facebook was recommended to be fired by City Council after Mayor Betsy Price and others called for him to resign. This North Texas city might soon be known as a ‘sanctuary city for the unborn.’	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741542
__label__cc	0.606309	0.393691	Finnegan’s Woke – Art Exhibition Visit Sveva Ciofani (Form IV) describes her recent visit to KennardPhillipps exhibition ‘Finnegans Woke’ at Rua Red Arts Centre, Tallaght; this was an Arts Week event. Unique, fun and interesting are the words that I would use to describe our Art trip. It was a sunny Wednesday and my art classmates and I took the bus with Ms Cullen to the Finnegans Woke exhibition in Tallaght. We arrived around 3pm we entered a small building I wasn’t expecting to see a lot of interesting pieces of art in such a small building! A really pleasant man explained in detail some of the pieces and all of them had a really deep meaning. My favourite piece was the first one that we saw: a skyscraper with a background of polluted soil that represented pollution spreading nowadays. The reason why I highly appreciated this piece is that lately, we heard a lot about global warming, pollution and strikes around the globe. Another reason why I like the piece is because it wasn’t actually a painting but a photoshop, a type of art that I find really interesting because it’s related to technology and not to the typical use of markers, paint and pencils. We also saw other pieces, for example, we saw a piece that played with the shadows and represented multiple things; in all pieces, there were various meanings. In general, I thought that all pieces were really controversial and unique, they all dealt with very important themes: racism, war, pollution. These are all issues of which we need to be aware. In fact, I strongly believe that this exhibition is made for opening people’s eyes, to make people aware and most importantly to actually do something about it, so I invite everyone to go visit it. The exhibition does not just teach us, but also involves the viewer. In the middle of the room, there was an enormous raft made up of all the posters that were made by the visitors. I think that the raft brings to the world some hope. The posters represented a good vision and awareness of the issues, and all of us made some posters. The poster that Ana and I made was about the gap between rich and poor and how this expands every year. It was about over consuming items and about bad lifestyles. We decided the divide the paper into two different parts, a colourful one and a dark one, because we thought that gave a strong visual impact. My other classmates made posters about other important issues: for example body shame, inequality, racism and the acceptance of the LGBT community. All of the pieces expressed creativity and a sense of awareness, that is a positive thing in my opinion, because our generation is going to be next one, and if all of us are tolerant, educated and aware it is going to be positive for our society. We had a good time and I think it was worth the trip. Apart from learning a lot of things, it was also a way of changing our normal routine and try something new. We also had the opportunity of spending some time together, to work in pairs and to think about how privileged we are to have access to some things. Below is a gallery of photos taken all the events during Arts Week, including the visit to Finnegan’s Woke. Arts Week 2019 April 3, 2019 /by sccdublin https://www.stcolumbas.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/20190327_163352.jpg 3096 4128 sccdublin https://enterprise55.fastsecurehost.com/~stcolumb/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/weblogo.png sccdublin2019-04-03 21:47:032019-04-04 12:07:21Finnegan's Woke - Art Exhibition Visit Parents’ Trip to Seville – Report & Photo Album Trish Dunlop (parent to pupils in Forms V & III) reports on last weekend’s parents’ trip to Seville. A group of parents and family emerged from the winter drear last weekend, ably led by the Warden, Cathy and Michael O’Shaughnessy, and burst into Summer. It seems we had all been checking the forecast anxiously, and the sun shone brightly for the Columban cohort. We stayed at a wonderfully located hotel, always only a walk away from the best that Seville has to offer a visitor. Just as well, since most parents seemed to be brandishing state of the art step-counters and activity tracking devices which we would then compare and contrast at suitable junctures. How many flights was it up to the top of the bell tower? It was a pleasure to meet members of the St. Columba’s wider community as we all gathered that evening, spirits were high and we embarked on a weekend of chat, laughter and learning about the joys that Andalusia had to offer. In stunning sunshine, we walked through the winding streets of Seville as we visited the Moorish Palace and Gardens, the stunning Cathedral, up thirty-five ramps to the bell tower giving a wonderful view of the city. The sensual discovery continued relentlessly – the orange dotted trees and brightly coloured produce as we walked the streets, the wafting scents of lavender, orange blossom and jasmine, the mosaic decoration on sandy golden stone and all punctuated by delicious food and drinks (often with a distant strain of flamenco-style music). All the while the chat and laughter continued. The day was a lovely combination of guided and “free” exploration, at times coming together as a group and at other times opting to “do our own thing” which seemed to be just the right approach. Sunday started with a robust breakfast before taking a bus ride to Cordoba. Cordoba was a true revelation – its grand history announced by the iconic “Roman Bridge” that greeted us as we disembarked. Set up to explore museums of art and history, we were again “free-ranging” on the hilly streets that sloped up away from the River Guadalquivir. Most remarkable – in its mixed traditional styles – is the “Mosque” or “Cordoba Cathedral”. We found the visit very moving and had the benefit of a very passionate and dedicated guide. We learned about the layers and layers of Cordoba’s history which are carved into the fabric of the “mosque”, together with its continued dedication to its true purpose of sacred worship. We returned to Seville on the bus, which gave us a much-needed opportunity to count our steps again. A quick turnaround and off out again to a lively last supper together. The Warden kept us on our toes with the tour quiz, with all teams securing excellent marks on our self-corrected answer sheets. Last late drinks at the hotel, before the reality set in: an early return to less sunny climes via Ryanair. The beauty of Seville and Cordoba extended beyond the architecture, the sensual pleasures, and the history. Their beauty can also be found in how the cities are lived, everywhere its residents can be seen enjoying eating, shopping, strolling and spending time with each other. For a brief interlude, and thanks to the super efforts of Cathy Boobbyer, the Warden and Michael O’Shaughnessy, we parents and family members of the St. Columba’s community were part of the beating heart of Andalusia, and we are all the better for it. Below is an album of photographs from the trip. Parents' Trip to Seville 2019 March 12, 2019 /by sccdublin https://www.stcolumbas.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/6b0d514e-9850-443b-a9de-50b4013b7389.jpg 1200 1599 sccdublin https://enterprise55.fastsecurehost.com/~stcolumb/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/weblogo.png sccdublin2019-03-12 18:42:482019-03-12 18:42:48Parents' Trip to Seville - Report & Photo Album Amy Cosgrove, Form V, reports on her experience of the recent trip to South Africa. On October 26th, eighteen Form IV and V pupils started on a 28 hour journey from the door of St Columba’s College, Dublin to the door of Tiger Kloof, in the north of South Africa. And while, after 28 hours, it seemed like it wasn’t going to be worth it, little did we know the extraordinary trip that lay ahead of us. We had been travelling in a combie (minibus) with no air conditioning for nearly 6 hours and had not yet reached Tiger Kloof when our first ‘experience’ of South Africa took place. Windows down, wind in our hair, Katherine watching Riverdale, living the dream really. When all of a sudden a man reached in through the window, grabbed the phone out of Katherine’s hand and made a run for it. And that was when we realised we were in South Africa. On Sunday we had a tour of the school and attended a church service which was definitely nothing like Sunday Morning chapel. It was lively and their hymns were much better than our Jubilate. We got to see the hostels (dorms) and the girls danced and sang spontaneously all in perfect rhythm and harmony. It’s safe to say, we are not as musical as we thought. We quickly learned how kind and energetic the Tigers are. On Monday we got the privilege to work alongside an inspiring woman named Maggie, who has been running a soup kitchen for 40 years now. While preparing the food and playing with the kids was all fun and games, going into the township itself to serve the food was something else entirely. It was striking to see how they lived in what were basically tin cans. This was the first of the striking moments that were to come. The drive back from Maggie’s was what shocked me the most. On the left of the road was a township and on the right of the road were houses. Houses just the same as you would see in Dublin. That was the talk of the combie for the drive back, nobody could get their head around why there was such a contrast with only a road separating it. On Tuesday we visited Thusanang Disabled Centre in the township of Huhudi, which was definitely what pushed everybody out of their comfort zones. The ages ranged from 5-50 years and you could immediately see how underfunded it was. When you did the math on the grants they receive, it equated to less than €1 a day. It was truly heartbreaking to see these mentally / physically disabled people not get the treatments they need, some of whom didn’t need to be there. It was just the best option in a bad situation. Working in The Hem soup kitchen, which is ran by Tiger Kloof, really opened our eyes and mind to the world that we don’t experience. Watching these children smiling and running to get their food not only warmed our hearts but showed us how we take things for granted and that we are so fortunate to have 3 meals on our table every day. Later on we visited a lion farm and it was truly mesmerizing to be able to get so close to these beautiful animals with just a fence between us. Having lions in a farm was in fact safer for them, to keep them from poachers, but unfortunately this fence that was between us meant they had been bred in captivity. We also visited another farm in Vryburg where we got to gallop around at sunset in South Africa, living the dream once again. But where the sun shines, there’s always a shadow. The family who owned the farm were lovely, welcoming people but after asking a few questions we got answers that we wouldn’t usually hear. They had different views and mindsets to all of us and it helped us understand why there is such a contrast on either side of the road sometimes. The aftermath of apartheid is still very much visible in the South Africa today. Our trip to Tiger Kloof was an extraordinary, mind blowing and a once in a lifetime experience. To be able to work in the soup kitchens and go into the townships had a massive impact on our views and education. It was a privilege to meet such inspiring people and the Tigers and Maggie are only naming a few. It was a trip that won’t be forgotten by any of us. Tiger Kloof expedition November 13, 2018 /by sccdublin https://www.stcolumbas.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/31788272188_54e0c89db4_h.jpg 1200 1600 sccdublin https://enterprise55.fastsecurehost.com/~stcolumb/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/weblogo.png sccdublin2018-11-13 09:19:282018-11-13 09:21:28Pupil Report: Tiger Kloof Adventure On Tuesday twenty Transition Year pupils visited Microsoft Ireland’s newest building, One Microsoft Place, to explore their ‘Dreamspace’ – a wonderful space for young people to learn more about technology. On arrival, the pupils were given a tour of the amazing award winning building, where some of the highlights include the yoga cube, the wellness centre, the amazing “mountain” stairs, the roof garden and the LED waterfall. After the tour they settled into the amazing Dreamspace – a vibrant learning environment – discussing Microsoft’s contribution to technology in their lives before exploring their latest innovations in assisted technology for those with disabilities. The learned about the skills needed to thrive in STEM careers, with a focus on development of soft skills. Then their first challenge – a team building / problem solving task – the Marble Track. With a few assorted household items, each team had to create a track for a marble to travel before settling within a small square of graph paper. There were no rules except that is couldn’t be pushed and had to stop on the graph paper. Each team took a different approach (there was some astounding creativity on show) but all ended successfully completing the task (one team broke the record). But then it was on to the main task – a brief introduction to coding via the Mirco:bit software and hardware. The pupils learned about the basics of coding before programming their own devices, using Microsoft surface tablets, to play a game of rock, paper, scissors. Later they learned how to send messages from one device to another. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed their experience and, no doubt, stoked their interest in STEM and coding (incidentally this week is European Code Week). We would like to thank Microsoft and their Dreamspace team for a most enjoyable, wonderful learning experience. Microsoft Dreamspace 2018 October 9, 2018 /by sccdublin https://www.stcolumbas.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/IMG_2351.jpg 3024 4032 sccdublin https://enterprise55.fastsecurehost.com/~stcolumb/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/weblogo.png sccdublin2018-10-09 22:56:142018-10-09 22:56:14Transition Year Visit Microsoft Dreamspace The Form I pupils enjoyed a jam-packed science trip to Northern Ireland last week. Over three days they took part in a range of themed activities, most with a focus on science or team building, and arrive back in the College exhausted but enriched by the experience. The trip began early Wednesday morning, with Storm Abi blowing wildly, when the pupils boarded the bus. The fabulous Armagh Planetarium was their first stop – an amazing centre for astronomy – with the pupils learning about the origins of the universe, life as an astronaut and how we are all made from stars. Unfortunately the wind prevented them from participating in the annual rocket building challenge but there was plenty of opportunity to explore the exhibits. Later the group travelled to Belfast and the wonderful W5 science museum. They had great fun exploring the various floors of the complex and traversing their climbing frame. That evening the group went for a long walk (they had lots of energy still, amazingly) and did a little star gazing. Under clear skies they learned about constellations and spotted planets Jupiter, Saturn and Mars – all visible with the naked eye. The second day was all about team building and getting to know each other a little better. The group travelled to Castlewellan and Life Adventure Centre. The pupils took part in some fun teach building games before building their own rafts. After lunch the launched the rafts and raced them on the lake, later doing some fun activities in the water. Finally, they worked as a team to escape the ‘Peace Maze’. That evening, on their return to our host town of Portaferry, the pupils competed in a quiz. The final day was all about ecology – the study of living things and their interactions with one another. After packing their bag, the group walked the short distance to Exploris aquarium & seal sanctuary – another brilliant kid friendly attraction. There they learned about food chains and the impact humans are having on the ocean environments. Later that afternoon they travelled to the Lough Neagh Discovery Centre where they continued the ecology theme. The carried out pond and woodland fieldwork, collecting and identifying the various wildlife in those ecosystems. It was a wonderful trip. Everyone was rather exhausted by the time they return on Friday evening (including the teachers) but stronger friendships were forged and the pupils scientific interest piqued. Many thanks to Ms Hennessy for the organisation of the trip. Here is a collection of photos from the trip: Form I Trip 2018 September 27, 2018 /by sccdublin https://www.stcolumbas.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/y5emsJk9RgOqmbzpxIQ3dQ.jpg 3024 4032 sccdublin https://enterprise55.fastsecurehost.com/~stcolumb/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/weblogo.png sccdublin2018-09-27 14:38:502018-09-27 14:39:40Form I Science Trip to Northern Ireland, 2018 Warden's Blog Donegal to Iona 2018 – The 175 Pilgrimage Somewhere way back, when we were first putting together the plans to celebrate 175 years since the foundation of St. Columba’s College, I had the idea that after all the balls and receptions and drinking and partying we should finish it all off with something that reminded us of our very beginnings back in 1843 and take a pilgrimage to Iona, the place most closely associated with Columba himself, after whom the College is named. It all seemed like a good idea at the time! Some people will know all about Columba, one of the three patron saints of Ireland, along with St. Patrick and St. Brigid. Many will not. Born into a royal family in 6thcentury Ireland, he gave up his royal position in order to become a monk at a time when Ireland was, for the only time in its history, the centre of scholarship, learning and spirituality in Europe, following the collapse of the Roman Empire. However, in 563 AD, a battle was fought following a copyright dispute over the ownership of a Bible, and Columba, ashamed that he had not prevented the bloodshed, imposed on himself a penance, to go into exile from his beloved Ireland and take the gospel to Scotland, then inhabited by the pagan Picts. The story goes that he set off in a leather coracle from the north coast, probably from somewhere near Derry, where he had established a monastery, accompanied by a band of fellow-monks. He landed initially either on Islay or the Mull of Kintyre but as he could still see Ireland he decided to carry on and reached Iona, a tiny island off the shore of Mull. Here he was granted land to establish a new monastery, which became the epicentre of outreach into Scotland, where the monks travelled to convert the Picts and ultimately brought their faith right down into the north of England, where they founded settlements such as that on Lindisfarne, off the coast of Northumberland. As they say, the rest is history. The plan therefore is to retrace the exile of Columba and sail from Ireland to Iona, where we will celebrate our heritage with a service in the Abbey, tour the island and experience a tiny slice of what inspired Columba and his early followers. As it happens, before anyone tells me that our voyage is not following the original route, we are sailing directly to Iona from Tory Island, on the northernmost tip of Donegal, a distance of about 100 miles and 24 hours, weather dependant…it could be shorter or a lot longer! When we arrive we will be met by a group of 25 fellow pilgrims, a mixture of staff, Fellows, Old Columbans and parents, who will be travelling by the land route, leaving on the following morning: fly to Glasgow, bus to Oban, ferry to Mull, bus to Fionnphort, ferry to Iona. I am grateful to a few people as mad as myself for making this trip possible. My wife Cathy for planning the overland trip and the stay on Iona; Ted Sherwood, who has been just as enthusiastic about this caper as I am; and Dr. Michael Brogan, a wild-eyed doctor from Donegal, whose boat, the MacDuagh (named after Saint Colman MacDuagh – a contemporary and apparent friend of Columba), a 40 foot Galway hooker, is our own leather coracle for our exile. Luckily he is skippering the boat and bringing his own crew to guide us across the Atlantic. Let me introduce my merry band of monks, 2018 style: Ted Sherwood (Former Head of Geography at SCC) Jenny Bulbulia (Old Columban and Current Fellow) Trish Dunlop (Current Parent) Ian Dunlop (Current Parent) Jane Caldwell (Wife of the Chairman of the Fellows) We meet tomorrow morning, Wednesday 4thJuly, at 9.30 a.m. to drive up to Donegal to meet the MacDuagh. In my luggage I will have three items: a bottle of whiskey to present to the King of Tory Island, who will then bless our voyage, a leg of lamb, to be roasted on the journey (don’t ask me how…), and the Mioseach. This last one needs an explanation. In 1843, when the College was founded, one of the founding Fellows presented the College with the Mioseach, a very early Celtic Christian artefact, a book shrine, for holding a Bible or psalter. This box was so valuable that it was loaned to the National Archaeological Museum, where it still sits, while a perfect copy was made, which sits in the Warden’s study at the College. The original was sold to the Museum in 2004 for 1.5 million euros! The copy will be on board, not the original! So there we are. I will send updates whenever possible and a few photos. We meet at 9.30 a.m. by the sports hall for the off. Wonderful to be presented with a pennant by Terry and Rosie Johnson, with SCC 1843 on it, to be attached to the mast of the Mac Duagh. The drive through Donegal is glorious and we arrived at the Tory Island ferry in good time. We are met on Tory not only by the Mac Duagh and its crew but by the King of Tory himself. He does not disappoint. He has been King for 50 years and regales us with endless tales. He is delighted with his bottle of whiskey but disappointed that we are not staying for the craic in the evening, which is due to start at 10.00 p.m. The Mac Duagh is a fantastic boat. Originally built about 140 years ago it was fully restored in the 1970’s by Dr. Michael Brogan and is one of the small remaining class of Galway hookers. He and the older two of his companions have negotiated the north west and the north east passages together so we are not in the hands of amateurs! As it turns out that is a good thing. We set off at 7.00 p.m. and are soon joined a school of porpoises, who have come to check us out. At that point I begin to feel distinctly nauseous and continued to do so for the next 15 hours! My visions of sipping a cool drink on deck, while watching the sun set were dashed! It was not a happy night. Those early Irish monks must have been made of stern stuff and I am delighted that I did not follow through on my early plan to row a leather coracle across the Atlantic. In the morning I am told that the crossing has been surprisingly rough and I am not the only one to have been struggling. Perhaps everyone is trying to make me feel better! By the time I am feeling vaguely human again we are approaching Iona and for the last two hours it is a sheer joy to sit on deck watching the islands slide by and cruising gently into Iona. We arrive at about 1.00 p.m. but stay on board for a further three hours cooking the lamb and snacking on crabs claws and lobster. Thankfully they stay down. Meanwhile the larger party meet at Dublin Airport in the wee hours and everything goes like clockwork. They arrive at about 4.45 p.m. on Iona and we are there to welcome them. We are staying in the St. Columba Hotel just by the Abbey, a hotel with a fantastic view of the sound. What a place this is! A lovely dinner, then an introduction to Columba himself from our very own Adomnan (Columba’s biographer), Richard Brett, who has set the scene for the two days ahead. Then impromptu music for a couple of hours in the lounge, with Michael Brogan on the fiddle, another of the crew on the squeeze box and one of the waiters joining in with his fiddle! A few contributions from the floor are also added. A great night and much to look forward to in the days ahead. We meet mid-morning for a tour of the island, strolling off to the other side of the island. Some then choose to carry on to the far south to St. Columba’s Bay, where the saint is said to have first landed back in 563. Small green stones on the beach are said to be the tears of Columba, weeping for his beloved Ireland. Others return to the pier to have a ride out in the MacDuagh. A great day with lots of leisure time too. One of the dinghies coming in from the boat is accompanied by dolphins at touching distance. Another good dinner and then a singing competition between the tables. We rope in a couple of visitors to act as judges, much to their own astonishment and good humour. My table was definitely the best but some misses out on the big prize. The evening then turns quite lively and noisy and goes on and on…I am not sure when or if everyone gets to bed. Happily with a group of adults that is not my problem. The next morning we meet early and get the boat to Staffa, a small island about 30 minutes up the coast, the home of the extraordinary Fingal’s Cave, immortalised by Mendelssohn. Again we are investigated by dolphins. The island has the most amazing basalt columns and massive caves, with nesting puffins as well. I hate to say it but it is much more spectacular than the Giants’ Causeway! A truly memorable visit in the most serene conditions. Wow, this place is beautiful! We can see north to Skye and south to Islay, west to Tiree and Coll, while everything to the east is Mull. But we could return a hundred times and never get the same benign conditions. We are truly blessed. In case one gets the impression that being a monk in the 6thcentury was a piece of cake in an idyllic paradise, it is worth remembering that for much of the year this place is bleak in the extreme and not for the faint-hearted. For now we are not complaining. After lunch we all traipse off to the Abbey for a service of thanksgiving. The Abbey dominates the community, watching over the sound, while on the way one passes the graveyard which supposedly contains the graves of many of the kings of Scotland as well as some of the Norse kings. Macbeth is said to be buried there although it is impossible to know. A simple service, magical, simple, profound, a really special time, led by Daniel Owen, a short talk by Ninian Falkiner, lovely hymns. It has been good to remind ourselves of our spiritual heritage and our spirits have been uplifted and fed. A few of us slope off to watch England beat Sweden in the World Cup quarter final…another spiritual experience. Iona trip, July 2018 July 4, 2018 /by sccdublin https://www.stcolumbas.ie/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/flat1000x1000075f.jpg 667 1000 sccdublin https://enterprise55.fastsecurehost.com/~stcolumb/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/weblogo.png sccdublin2018-07-04 08:33:462018-11-08 09:27:25Donegal to Iona 2018 - The 175 Pilgrimage Trips Week 2018 Last week, while our Leaving & Junior Certificate candidates settled into this intense exam period, the pupils in the other Forms took part in a variety of trips across Ireland. Form V spent four days in the Burren, their traditional ‘Trips Week’ expedition, doing a variety of Biology & Geography fieldwork but with plenty of opportunity for fun in the sun too (we got a lot of sun). The trip began with a walk ‘n talk up Blackhead followed by surfing / rock climbing at Lahinch before experiencing a stunning sunset at the iconic Cliffs of Moher. The vast majority of the fieldwork was carried out on Thursday – the Geographers exploring Liscannor Bay while the Biologists studied both sandy and rocky seashores near Fanore – while Friday began with a hike up Mulloughmore Mountain before the Geographers went caving and the Biologists hunted for orchids (and saints) at Slieve Carran. Finally, on Saturday, they all visited Ailwee Caves & Birds of Prey Centre before heading home. Our Transition Year pupils spent the week in the Achill Outdoor Education Centre doing a variety of activities, again in glorious early summer sun. The activities included kayaking, surfing, coasteering, hiking, swimming and, on the final evening, camping out in the Achill countryside. Pupils from Forms I, II and Primary took part in a variety of day trips over the week, usually within an hours drive of Dublin. Trim Castle, Mellifont Abbey, Glasnevin Cemetery, Croke Park (Skyline Tour & GAA Museum), National Aquatic Centre, National Aquarium (in Bray), Bray Head (hike), Kilruddery House & Gardens, the National Gallery (Nolde Exhibition), St. Michan’s Church, Museum of Modern Art (Frank Bowling’s exhibition ‘Mappamundi’), Dublin Zoo, the Kippure Estate, the Botanical Gardens, St. Enda’s Park, Marlay Park and, the less leafy, Tayto Park were all visited over the four days – luckily all in glorious sunshine. Evie Pringle in Form II describes her favourite moment of the week – Frank Bowling’s exhibition ‘Mappamundi’ at the IMMA. I loved his use of vibrant colors splashed in an array of patterns across the canvas. He managed to stick everyday objects onto a canvas, slap a bit of paint on it and make it into a beautiful piece of thought-provoking art. His paintings were massive, much larger than your average painting, covered with layers and layers of acrylic paint, prints, marbling techniques and materials such as styrofoam. He often painted maps, usually of Africa, into his pictures. He sometimes started with a print on the canvas and then painted over it, or hid drawings or paintings under layers of paint, giving the impression that he paints for himself rather than for other people. This I like as it means he paints what he likes and it really brings out his personality. It turned out to be a really great day although my feet were a bit sore by the end. Below is a large selection of photos from all the trips over the week. June 14, 2018 /by sccdublin https://www.stcolumbas.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/5ff27009-9549-466c-8d3d-e5507d131539.jpg 900 1600 sccdublin https://enterprise55.fastsecurehost.com/~stcolumb/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/weblogo.png sccdublin2018-06-14 17:24:482018-06-14 17:24:48Trips Week 2018 China Trip Report Georg Müller-Methling, Form V reports on the recent school trip to China. A group of 17 pupils and 3 teachers left St.Columba’s College on March 22nd very excited about the upcoming trip, less about the fact that they missed out on the house singing event the same evening and that they had to leave at 04:45 in the morning. The group took two 8 hour flights, first to Abu Dhabi and then on to Hong Kong. The first day in Asia was very tough, for most of us the warm and humid climate was very unusual and we arrived in the morning, which meant that we had to stay up for another whole day, but everybody quickly forgot the exhaustion. We were welcomed by our first tour guide Ball-Ball (“because my body looks like a ball”), who was very interesting and funny, and spent the afternoon in a shopping mall to get some food and then we drove to our hotel to relax, before we had our first dinner in Asia. Later, we went for a walk to the fascinating harbour. The next day we visited the 10,000 Buddhas, which led us to a nice spot on top of the city, then the Hong Kong Museum of History and the Hong Kong Science Museum, before we went to a have the first proper Chinese dinner. Most of us had to get used to the Chinese food, but it actually got better from day to day. The highlight of the day was yet to come: in the evening we went to Victoria Peak, from where you could have a magnificent view of Hong Kong and its enlightened skyscrapers. After that, some of us went to the Ladies’ market to buy some souvenirs. The next day, Ball-Ball took us to Lantau Island, where we used a cable car to get to the Giant Buddha in the middle of the forests. We walked the way up to the Buddha and also visited the close by monasteries. In the evening we took the metro to the harbour to see the light show. On our last day in Hong Kong, we visited the NanLian Gardens, some of us had lunch in the cheapest Michelin star restaurant in the world, while others preferred McDonald’s, before we went to a food market and then on a bus ride to cross the border and get to Shenzhen Airport. As we found out later, saying hi to China meant saying bye to proper toilets, social media and English speaking people. It was a very long day, in the end we nearly missed our flight, but finally we arrived in Zhangjiajie. Our new tour guide Becky who taught us Chinese songs (at least she tried) took us to the Tianzi Mountains in the Yuanjiajie National Forest Park, the place where the movie ‘Avatar’ was filmed, which was enormously impressive. In the afternoon we walked the longest and highest glass bottomed bridge in the world with a height of 260 Meters. The same night we flew to Shanghai, where our most interesting tour guide Qi waited for us. In the morning we made our way outside the city in order to get to Zhujiajiao town, an ancient water town, before we went on to see the Chinese Maritime Museum & Urban Planning Exhibition Hall. That night we had dinner in the Xiantandi Area, a small area in the middle of China’s biggest city. Yu Garden and Shanghai’s old Town, where we had a delicious tea tasting, were on our list the next day before we flew to China’s former Capital Xian. In Xian we were accompanied by the probably funniest guide called Richard who had the very interesting habit of ending every sentence with the words “oh yeah”. One of the most exciting and interesting events of the trip awaited for us the next day. We got to visit the Terracotta Replication Factory and the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum. Later that day we cycled the ancient city wall, which goes around the whole city and is 14 kilometers long. The following day we had to travel again, but this time we did not take the plane: the high-speed train (350 km/h) brought us to Beijing, our last destination. It took the train five hours for the 910 kilometers, it was an impressing experience. In Beijing tour guide Jing introduced us to the Peking duck before we headed to the hotel. We spent Easter visiting the Tiananmen Square, only two days after Kim-Jong Un did, the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven. It was a very exhausting day with a lot of very interesting experiences, a lot of Smog and warm temperatures, a very special Easter. Our last full day in China commenced with the visit of the Summer Palace from the Qing dynasty. The last site we visited was probably one of the highlights of the trip at the same time: The Great Wall. We climbed the 1,000 not always even steps and reached the top with an awesome view, however there was a lot of Smog unfortunately. After that we had our last dinner in China before we went to the airport to get home, again via Abu Dhabi. For me personally, and I think for the whole group, this trip was an unforgettable experience. China is an extraordinarily interesting and exciting country with lots of beautiful sites to visit. It was also worth going for the experience we gained. At times it was a bit difficult for some of us, but when you accept the cultural differences like being the main object for a photo by many strangers, it is a highly enjoyable country. Thank you to the teachers, especially Ms McEneaney, Ms Lynch and Mr Clarke as well as all the parents for making this awesome trip possible! I would highly recommend going on trips like this one in the future, because it is a really good opportunity to travel the world and broaden your mind. China Trip April 24, 2018 /by sccdublin https://www.stcolumbas.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/26224850657_190f0ed106_h.jpg 1200 1600 sccdublin https://enterprise55.fastsecurehost.com/~stcolumb/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/weblogo.png sccdublin2018-04-24 11:50:262018-05-24 12:00:50China Trip Report Junior Cultural Trip to Barcelona – Pupil Report Last weekend thirty junior pupils travelled to Barcelona to experience and culture (and do some geography fieldwork) in one of Europe’s most wonderful cities. Form I pupil Marco Trolese reports on what was a most enjoyable and interesting trip for everyone. The touring party outside the famous Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. Very very early on the morning of Thursday 25th January, thirty excited pupils left St Columba’s for the cultural trip to Barcelona. We had a full itinerary organised for four days from Geographical sites to Architecture, History and experiencing Catalan culture. On the walking tour of the city we learnt a lot about the history of Barcelona. We walked through the streets of this fantastic city each day. One day we clocked up close to 17KMs! The Sagrada Familia by Gaudi was so overwhelming and the building is expected to be completed 2026. All the tiny intricate details are very impressive, as was the stained glass windows and skylights. This was definitely my highlight of the trip. Park Guell has some beautiful sites and the architecture is so colourful with the mosaic tiles. This was where the richest people in the city lived, and you could see why. Barcelona’s aquarium was good and it was impressive to walk through the glass tunnel with the all the fish swimming around us. The tour of Barcelona’s home stadium, Camp Nou, was interesting because we got to see the history of the team and achievements in the past. The football team clearly means a lot to the city. We were fortunate to have tickets to watch Barcelona play at home against local city rivals Espanyol in the Quarter Final of the Copa del Rey. What a great atmosphere – it was fantastic to see Barcelona’s 2-0 win. We also paid a visit to Montjuic where the Olympics were held in 1992. This gave us a fantastic view over the city in a nice area. The Olympic stadium was based here. For the geographical study we went on a field trip to Sitges which is 30 km from Barcelona. Here, we learnt about coastal landforms and erosion. The weather was bad with rain pouring down on top of our makeshift ponchos (bin liners!). We completed a pebble study which linked to our coastal geography work in school. We got to discuss longshore drift, erosion and deposition. This helped to understand these processes. Barcelona is a sustainable city and was the first city in the world to be awarded Biosphere certification. You could see why it’s considered sustainable with many solar panels, excellent public transport and city bikes calling ‘bicing’. After long busy days we were able to enjoy local cuisine and evening activities. We had an evening of competitive ten-pin bowling. The Lazer Tag game was an adrenalin filled competition with each team winning a game. I would like to thank Mr Duffy, Mr Stevenson and Ms Harrahill for a very organised trip, which was so enjoyable and memorable. Overall this was a fantastic experience. Marco Trolese, Form I Barcelona trip 2018 February 2, 2018 /by sccdublin https://www.stcolumbas.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/28125170249_88c00fa7af_z.jpg 480 640 sccdublin https://enterprise55.fastsecurehost.com/~stcolumb/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/weblogo.png sccdublin2018-02-02 11:59:332018-02-06 15:57:50Junior Cultural Trip to Barcelona - Pupil Report	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741544
__label__wiki	0.983768	0.983768	Tiffany Haddish studies Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson on Youtube to learn about success If Tiffany Haddish’s life were a hashtag, it would be #SheReady, she tells Vogue. And while her career has had a meteoric rise in the past year, the actress and comedian is setting her sights even higher. Haddish, 38, became a household name after the July 2017 release of the hit movie “Girls Trip” put her infectious comedic chops on display. The Universal Studios film, which also starred Queen Latifah and Jada Pinkett Smith, was a hit at the box office, pulling in more than $140 million in global ticket sales — making it last year’s highest-grossing live-action comedy. Haddish’s star has been rising ever since. She earned critical acclaim for the breakout role (including a New York Film Critics Circle award) and then went on to earn an Emmy nomination in 2018 for hosting an episode of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” Haddish also released a best-selling memoir in December and she was named to Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world. But Haddish wants her career to get even bigger, and she’s looking one Hollywood superstar in particular for inspiration: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. “I’ve been studying [Johnson] a lot on YouTube and stuff. I’m like, If he can make $65 million, I can make $65 million too,” Haddish told Glamour in an interview for the cover story of the magazine’s September issue. Haddish is referencing the fact that Johnson reportedly earned a whopping $65 million in 2017, making him the second highest-paid actor in the world last year, behind only Mark Wahlberg ($68 million), according to Forbes’ annual ranking. Johnson’s big earnings year came as he starred in two of the highest-grossing films of 2017: action movie sequel “The Fate of the Furious” and the action-comedy reboot “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.” Though Haddish didn’t say which videos she watched in particular, numerous Youtube clips show Johnson talking about success and his journey to it. In a Genius Talks video, for example, Johnson explains that at some point you have to “be tired of not being No. 1.” When it comes to Hollywood, Johnson says he realized that if he wanted to be great at entertainment and moving-making, he had to commit to the goal, so he retired from wrestling, where he was at the top of his game. Johnson says people thought he was crazy, especially when his first few movies went nowhere. But he stayed focused and put in the work, he says. “And that’s what it comes down to,” Johnson says in the clip. And on Facebook, Johnson posts advice like, “In 1995 I had $7 bucks in my pocket and knew two things: I was broke as hell and one day I won’t be. You can achieve anything.” Telemarketer, security guard and other jobs the stars of ‘Sorry To Bother You’ worked before making it Haddish already has a few things in common with Johnson. For starters, she stars alongside comedian Kevin Hart in her next movie, September’s “Night School,” while Hart previously starred with Johnson in last year’s “Jumanji” reboot as well as 2016’s “Central Intelligence.” Meanwhile, both Haddish and Johnson are listed among USA Today’s “10 most in-demand actors in Hollywood,” as they are each starring in roughly eight movies apiece through 2019. Meanwhile, Haddish also recently hosted the MTV Movie & TV Awards in June — a gig that Johnson previously had in 2016. Haddish even asked Johnson for some advice on Twitter before the award show aired. Haddish says she aspires to someday see herself on Forbes’ ranking of the highest-paid Hollywood stars, though she hopes the honor would help her inspire children who are growing up in foster care, as she did between the ages of 12 and 15. “I want to get on that Forbes magazine, not for the money, but to be an example to other foster youths that it don’t matter how low from the bottom you are, you can always rise to the top if you believe in yourself,” she told Glamour. And, as Haddish’s career continues to pick up steam, the actress also says she plans on earning money to pass on to her family members, including her schizophrenic mother, who suffered brain damage in an accident during Haddish’s youth and lived in a mental facility until recently. “I’m just glad I got some money now, because now I can do a better job at taking care of them,” she says of her family in the interview with Glamour. “I got my mom out of the mental institution, like I said I would, in December, and I got her an apartment with my sister and a nurse that comes to her.” Haddish also hopes to one day give each of her four siblings “a million dollars to create whatever they want to do… That’s four million dollars that I don’t need,” she says. Previous Balancing the Benefit and the Burden of Wealth Next Over $600,000 has been raised on Kickstarter for a Ruth Bader Ginsburg action figure This is Mark Zuckerberg’s No. 1 rule for hiring great employees Over $600,000 has been raised on Kickstarter for a Ruth Bader Ginsburg action figure Balancing the Benefit and the Burden of Wealth This 29-year-old digital nomad is making millions while traveling the US in his van Who Wants to Do Business in North Korea? Why it makes sense to start your career with start ups	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741549
__label__wiki	0.971366	0.971366	Terror police to focus on older suspects in wake of attack on Westminster London attack perpetrator Khalid Masood, at 52, was 30 years older than the previous average age of terrorists and suspects Gordon Rayner Steven Swinford 24 March 2017 • 10:43pm London Bridge attack Britain's counter-terrorism strategy should be reviewed to take account of the threat from older extremists after the Westminster attack, according to senior experts. Terrorist profiling currently regards those in their teenage years and their twenties as posing the greatest risk and anti-radicalisation efforts focus on schools, universities and social media. However, Adrian Ajao, at 52, became the oldest Islamic terrorist to launch an attack in Britain when he murdered three pedestrians and a police officer on Wednesday. The average age of previous terrorists and suspects was 22. MI5 is understood to have launched a review into how it handled its intelligence on Ajao – who also went by the alias Khalid Masood – after it investigated him over “violent extremism” but decided he was not a significant risk. He came to the attention of intelligence services as a “peripheral” figure to a terror plot and not a priority target. The attack will lead to a global discussion among intelligence services on whether to re-evaluate suspect profiles, given claims that Ajao was “re-radicalised” in later life. However, senior Whitehall sources said last night that MI5 had made the correct assessment of Ajao, based on the intelligence available, and that he was not discounted as a threat because of his age. Ajao's text messages on the encrypted smartphone service WhatsApp are now being examined by police. Investigators believe he may have been in contact with possible accomplices in the minutes before the attack. Key articles \| London attack New details emerged of Ajao’s violent and unpredictable past on Friday. A former friend in the East Sussex village of Northiam said Masood, known then as Adrian Elms or Adrian Ajao, was a cocaine-snorting thug with a “blood lust” who had sought professional help for his urges to kill people. It also emerged that the daughter of Ajao, who used a car to kill pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, was almost killed herself once when she was struck by a lorry on her way to school. Andie Ajao, now 24, was seriously injured. Saudi Arabia also announced that Ajao had travelled there three times since 2005, including briefly in 2015. Emergency services at the scene outside the Palace of Westminster after policeman Keith Palmer was stabbed and his attacker shot Credit: PA David Videcette, a senior counter terrorism officer who investigated the 7/7 bombings in 2005, said the way threats were assessed needed to be revisited. “There is a tendency to try to profile what a typical terrorist is,” he said. “But this can be very problematic because, of course, not every terrorist fits the profile. Just because he [Ajao] had reached his fifties does not mean that he was no longer a danger. “MI5 have a grid system with the most dangerous figures at the top. If you are a long way down the list, because you have only been on the periphery of something, then the reality is there will not be a lot of resources being put into keeping tabs on you.” 2005 - 2017 \| Terror attacks in the UK Lord Carlile, a former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said: “I doubt Masood’s age was the only reason he was taken off the list, but it might well have been a factor ... it looks like the judgment made was there was very little material to justify expending valuable resources.” A senior insider with knowledge of counter-terrorism said: “Masood’s age is really unusual. It makes a huge difference to how the threat is assessed.” The Home Office is due to unveil the latest version of its counter-terrorism strategy – called Contest – in the coming weeks. How the Westminster attack unfolded	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741551
__label__cc	0.596881	0.403119	Review: Luxe Associate Travel’s Culinary Walk through Rome Roman style: effortless, Eternal City chic (I’m talking about the building) Borders are funny things, aren’t they? By defining territories, which piece of land some ancient King or Emperor annexed, they try to delineate populations, even impose a limit on where a certain tongue is spoken. But people, like languages, are fluid. Look at Rome right now: full of lost souls and adventurous souls and new souls pouring in over the borders in search of a better life. Many fleeing for different reasons, most running towards the same ideal: a brighter future. A job, a home, a life of sorts. If you squint (not so much actually) the expats and the immigrants and the refugees don’t look so different from one another. And according to Amy Doherty, not much has changed in the great city of Rome in some 2000 years. We’re standing in front of the Pantheon, in this most iconic of Roman squares. Amy, my guide for the day is a scholar of Ancient Rome and the founder of tour company Luxe Associates Travel. What lies before us is almost a given; the water fizzing with sunlight in the great marble fountain supporting an obelisk before the impossible, perfect geometries of the church better known as the Pantheon. We’re talking about Augustus and Hadrian’s day and what the people of Rome might have looked like then. “They came in from all over the Empire,” says Amy, “from Syria, and the Ukraine, from Greece and the Germanic tribes to the north. They were part of the Empire and they were coming to Rome in search of a better life. Here —” We look round at the wintery piazza, the shadows and the dancing light — “this piazza is a crucible of that evolving, changing culture. The obelisk – the second oldest in Rome and one of 13 in the city – was brought here by the Romans, who were fascinated by cultures older than themselves. In 30 BC, Rome annexed Egypt, and the obelisks in the city are a part of that plunder.” It’s hard to see the obelisk as something exotic and esoteric in this square, already so full of symbols; but to citizens of that time it would have been a potent sign of Rome’s foreign policy. The Pantheon, too, is the third to have stood on this spot: the other two burnt down in the fires that raged frequently through the city. Hadrian, sponsor of the monument which stands today, copied the lettering from a previous version, which is why Agrippa is credited with the building work on the ancient signage above the pillars. Once pan–theic, dedicated to all the gods, today it is the burial place of Raphael and a Marian church which hosts a famous Pentecostal rite. Times change, but if you squint, the rose petals that now tumble through the oculus 50 days after Easter, representing tongues of flame, probably didn’t look so different from the cinders flitting away from offerings burnt in the name of the old gods. We stop for a coffee in the square’s famous La Casa del Caffè Tazza D’Oro, which has stood here since just after the war. I’m actually participating in Luxe Associate Travel’s Culinary Stroll, but Rome’s epic history keeps getting in the way. It’s hard to look at the fountain and the piazza and not see the merchants of the city’s ancient past. The Tazza D’Oro café has been run by the same family since 1946 and is a must for coffee enthusiasts: they even have a 24 hour vending machine outside for real addicts containing sacks of beans and wonderfully smoky, freshly ground coffee. Soon we make our way to meet the family behind one of Rome’s most iconic fruit and vegetable markets, another family trade. A coffee bean vending machine for raging caffeine-aholics As we sample some seasonal produce, Amy introduces us to the mother, son and daughter who have been maintaining the market, rain and shine, for nearly 60 years. As their story unfolds, I can’t help thinking about the millions of small traders over the centuries feeding the citizens of Rome and carving out a living. It’s as if we’re back to the beginnings of the tour in the shadow of the Pantheon. We go on to sample cheese, cold-cuts and wine in an iconic enoteca, this time enjoying artisan products from all over the country. It’s a reminder why the North of the country is such a potent producer of quality food as we taste ham from Friuli and Emilia Romagna and cheese from Piedmont. The tour moves on to a secret location, as we have lunch in a tiny trattoria that I didn’t know existed. Under a canopy of ivy, we try some of the city’s boldest pasta dishes and drink local wine. Coffee and gelato follow, wending our way through the buzzing streets to visit other traders, workmen yelling and families rushing by, flanked by the fragments and monuments of the ancient world, coming full circle to the Pantheon. Bangladeshis with colourful toys and Africans selling handbags scatter as the white caps of the vigili weave through the crowd before the great pagan temple, and the red thread of the Eternal City tightens a little, drawing up present and past. Testaccina was a guest of Luxe Associates Travel, tasting her way through their Culinary Walk through Rome Tour. For more information: www.luxeassociatestravel.com Tags:architecture, art, artisans, arts, eating, food, history, Luxe Associates Travel, market, Roman history, rome, shopping, street food, Testaccina, The Pantheon Social eating is home from home with BonAppetour Signs of the times: Florence 31st January 2017 at 6:21 am This is a topic which is close to my heart… Thank you! Where are your contact details though?	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741555
__label__wiki	0.831965	0.831965	Boutique hotel fits with South Yarra surrounds Commercial property finance By Stephen Crafti July 28, 2018 — 12.00am The Domain precinct in South Yarra, bordering the Royal Botanic Gardens, has a number of significant buildings. There’s architect Robin Boyd’s Domain Park apartments on the corner of Park Street and Domain Road. Carr architects' boutique South Yarra hotel. Credit:Carr At the other end of Park Street (abutting Toorak Road), is St Anne’s, a modernist pile designed by a lesser known, but equally respected architect, Esmond Dorney, who later made his mark in Hobart. So when Carr was commissioned to design a new boutique-style hotel for developer United Places, it was conscious of not impeding on some of Melbourne’s most important landmarks, including the Shrine of Remembrance and the gardens directly opposite. The four-level hotel is adjacent to chef Scott Pickett’s restaurant, Matilda, designed by Projects of Imagination. Although both form part of the new building, each one has its own entrance. For United Places, guests staying at one of the 12 suites walk down a sombre passage, reminiscent of one of Melbourne’s laneways. Bluestone floors and concrete walls with timber relief (cast in the in situ concrete) also pick up on the textures of the tree trunks directly opposite. A simple concierge station, midway through the journey, is more akin to arriving at home. “Our brief was to create a sense of home, appealing to those staying either a short or medium term, or longer, something that felt cosy,” says architect Chris McCue, director of architecture at Carr. Unlike many hotel rooms that generally vary from 26 to 28 square metres, these start at 48 sq m and go up to 76 sq m for the larger two-bedroom rooms. Given there are only two suites per floor, one is orientated to the south, overlooking the Millswyn warehouse-style apartments (the first development of its kind in the mid-1970s) and the rooftops of the Domain precinct, and the other over the gardens. While northern light is often seen as the preferred orientation, Carr considered the southern light and aspect to be calm and tranquil. “There’s a certain stillness with the southern elevation,” says McCue, who also included a lightwell at the core of the building to bring in northern light. Each suite is more akin to a sleek and minimal apartment than a hotel room. A central pod used for ensuites, separates bedrooms from living areas. Smoked glass that clad each pod, as well as the built-in wardrobes create a soft inner glow in the spaces. Dark oak-stained timber floors and cement-rendered walls and ceilings create a cocoon-like environment for guests. Velvet curtains wrap around the bedroom: pink in the southern suites that respond to the rooftops and bricks, and olive drapes to the north, evoking the gardens. “We’ve treated the spaces as though they were luxury apartments,” says McCue, pointing at the continuous line of joinery from the bedhead to the vanity and through to the pared back kitchens. Those fortunate to stay in the two-bedroom suites, which overlook the Royal Botanic Gardens, can soak in the black porcelain bathtubs (forming part of the main bedroom) after having run around the Tan Track. Afterwards, they can enjoy sitting in one of the Featherston Scape armchairs from the early 1960s, many of which would have originally appeared in the Domain Park apartments built at the same time. Carr took their cue for the balcony balustrades of the hotel from Boyd’s apartments. There’s also other furniture and products to admire, predominantly produced by local designers, whether it’s a bowl or a timber bedside table. "The feedback we’ve had so far is that people appreciate the independence this hotel offers. They can come and go, eat in one of the nearby restaurants or cafes, or have Scott Pickett’s team deliver food to their door,” says McCue. Boutique-style hotels have been slowly disappearing. In this precinct, there was The Hatton Hotel (Park Street), now being converted into apartments, together with the Albany Hotel (on the corner of Millswyn Street and Toorak Road), also going the same way. So it’s refreshing to see this style of development making a return to this nook of town, which already hosts its fair share of interstate and overseas travellers.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741557
__label__wiki	0.503367	0.503367	Up for Polyamory? Creating Alternatives to Marriage How one lawyer helps those, like her, in non-traditional relationships Roc Morin "Le déjeuner sur l'herbe" by Édouard Manet “When I was a child,” Diana Adams began, “I had a doll house and a rich fantasy life. I imagined that I was a cancer-curing surgeon, a world-class ballerina, and a TV show host all at the same time. I was also an amazing mom to all my dolls, but it was always a little mysterious about where they had come from and whether they all had the same father. A little neighbor boy once said to me, ‘I’ll be the daddy.’ I thought about that for a moment. I said, ‘No, you can be my gay lounge singer friend. That’s much more fun.’ I’ve always liked boys. I just like them better in groups.” Over the years, the aspiring ballerina/surgeon/TV host shifted her focus to law. As a lawyer, Adams now runs a Brooklyn-based legal firm oriented toward providing traditional marriage rights to non-traditional families like the one she imagined as a kid. As an openly polyamorous woman, Diana lives inside a version of that doll house today. Along with her primary partner Ed, she is currently romantically involved with several other men and women. I sat down recently with the 35-year-old to discuss her life and career. Why does polyamory work for you? I remember from a very young age realizing that I was bisexual, and that I tended to be attracted to many different people at the same time. I really think that polyamory for me is an orientation, like being heterosexual or homosexual. Humans in general have a hard time with monogamy. That’s always been the case. We used to have a sense that it was acceptable for husbands to go out and have other lovers, but with the shift to egalitarianism, rather than to say that woman could do that too, we’ve gone in the other direction. What are the consequences of that, do you think? I think it's interesting to see the way that when people get into a monogamous couple dynamic, they often have to neuter their sexual desires. As the initial intensity of a relationship shifts to feelings of long-term love, you can end up in a sexless marriage, and I think that’s a huge contributor to infidelity and the breakup of a lot of families. We put so much emphasis on a partner being everything—that this person completes you—and when that doesn’t happen it creates a lot of pressure. I don't think that open relationships are for everyone but it's something that you should no longer feel ashamed to talk about at a time when so many marriages are failing. What do your other lovers give you that your primary partner can’t? Well, for example, with my female partners, I feel a different kind of power dynamic. I feel a protective impulse toward women I’m involved with. It's a different kind of love feeling. My partner Ed is a wonderful feminist man, though sometimes I’d really like to be out on a date with the kind of man who wants to open car doors for me and treat me like a princess. I don't want that all the time, but I might want that once a month. How do your different lovers get along with one another? They’re really good friends. The men even have a name for themselves. They call themselves “The Man Harem.” Sometimes they’ll play with that. They’ll all show up in matching clothes – wearing all pinstripes, or all red shirts, for example. They’re friends and they help each other. For instance, I just had my birthday and my partner Ed is off doing amazing work as a scientist. As a consolation, my long-term boyfriend is staying in the house for the week. So, rather than my boyfriend saying, “Wow why's your partner going out of town when it's your birthday?” he’s asking if my partner is okay having to be away for so long, if he needs support. And my partner is saying, “Thanks for taking care of Diana since I can’t be there.” There’s a real feeling of compersion. Compersion is the opposite of jealousy. That word compersion is a really new word whereas jealousy is such an ancient concept. What role does jealousy play in your relationships? Jealousy is an emotion that we treat in a really blunt way. We often say somebody’s jealous and then that's an excuse for all sorts of bad behavior: throwing a drink in someone's face, or storming out, or manslaughter. In manslaughter, it's basically a defense: “I walked in on my wife having sex with another man and I killed them.” We treat jealousy almost with this reverence, but we don’t unpack what’s behind it. Let’s get more specific. There are different versions of jealousy. One version might be a feeling of scarcity. Another can be insecurity. The way that I discover what version I’m dealing with is that I ask myself, “How old do I feel right now?” And when I'm insecure, I'm feeling like I'm 13. How do you deal with those emotions? We talk a lot. We check in with each other, “Is this okay with you?” and the answer can be, “I don't know.” For instance maybe Ed and I are going to a party together and this guy that I've been dating is at the party too. “Will it feel okay with you if I go over and kiss him?” Polyamory will find your buttons and it will push them. If you don't want to have that kind of challenge, it's not the right lifestyle for you. But, if you're up for it, polyamory can be the catalyst for powerful personal growth. How does your family view your lifestyle? Well, I come from a very religious household. I mean my dad is a fundamentalist deacon, so it was hard at first. But, basically my parents have been incredibly supportive. I think that's because they get to see me having wonderful love in my life and getting a lot of support. Can you give an example? Well, a while ago my dad had a massive heart attack and two of the men in my life came together to be with my family at the hospital. They’re both scientists, so they understood what was going on with his body and were able to explain everything that was happening. Both of them had busy jobs, so they actually coordinated with each other so that one of them was there at all times. My family was just completely awestruck, “Wow, not just one smart, compassionate, great boyfriend, but two.” I think that if they learned about it in another way, they might've thought I was being sexually exploited, but obviously I wasn’t. It was clearly something that was really nurturing. How are you using the law to empower non-traditional relationships like yours? Our laws are about 20 years behind what families actually look like. I'm working to create alternatives to marriage, because I think that if we could choose marriage affirmatively instead of it being a default, it would make relationships stronger. Marriage is an incredibly intense contract. It's a legal-financial contract that you're making, declaring that you're going to be the other person's social welfare state and safety net if they screw up. I mean, you’re signing the most important document you’ll sign in your life and people read it less carefully than a cell phone contract. People have no idea what they’re actually committing to and are horrified a lot of times when they find out. What kinds of alternatives to marriage are available? There are different options. Domestic partnership, for example, has tremendous possibility to create a more expansive version of what a relationship can look like. Domestic partnership was originally created as an alternative for gay couples who couldn’t legally get married. But then, all these surprising things started happening where these other kinds of people started using it for their own purposes. For instance, many elderly widow friends have entered into platonic domestic partnerships. It’s a situation like the Golden Girls. These are friends saying, “I live with her, and we watch out for each other, and I want her to be the person I can share my health insurance with.” How about in relationships with multiple partners like your own? Of the 1,200 or so rights and privileges provided by a traditional marriage contract, how many can you replicate? I can't approximate all of them, however there are a lot of rights that we don't necessarily need. For example, if you’re buried in a government cemetery, you have the right to have your spouse buried next to you. Okay, how many people does that actually apply to? There’s the right not to testify against your spouse, but [for most people], that will probably never come up. But, th ere are a lot of basic things like ensuring tax benefits, or making sure that your partner is not financially vulnerable, or if you want to be sure that you can visit your partner at the hospital, we can do a healthcare proxy. The girlfriend can get the healthcare proxy because the wife can come in automatically. We can create agreements in terms of school or the doctor's office for a third parent to a child. And, I actually think that these arrangements can be better, because people can be really clear about what they want to create. They’re not signing on to things they maybe don’t actually want. What else can you do for polyamorous unions? I’m helping one polyamorous triad right now set up an LLC so they can share their finances. We’re making them employees of their own three person corporation so that they can be covered under an employee health plan. Can you secure parental rights for a third parent to a child? There are a lot of things we can do with co-parenting. With the busy lives that we lead, I think that three adults per child is actually a great ratio. So many parents are overburdened. I work a lot with lesbian couples and sperm donors in a three-parent model. They’re basing their relationship around a child. That’s a model that many courts and policymakers can wrap their heads around better than a polyamorous triad. If one woman contributes an egg, the man contributes sperm, and the other woman acts as a gestational surrogate, then all three of them are biologically a parent. We can do a three-parent adoption. It takes a village right? Right! You know Ed and I joke sometimes that we need a wife, because I get home from work at 10 and he gets home from work at 12, and it would be really awesome if there was somebody else helping with some of the household chores and child-rearing type things. I say “wife” in a joking way. I think the gender of the person doesn't matter. But, it would be nice to have another person in the home. You know, we pay other people for help like that in America when there are other possible models that actually create an even more stable and interconnected society. Roc Morin is a journalist based in San Francisco and the curator of the World Dream Atlas.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741558
__label__wiki	0.585373	0.585373	The Rest Of The Stories, 10/15 Linc Chafee might endorse Barack Obama. Walter Shapiro is spot on in his "letter" to New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner: there is a tradeoff between the rules and the legitimacy of the primary. Kathy Sullivan, former New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair, endorses Hillary Clinton. Sullivan is the best surrogate there is in the state and has reams of influence with political elites there. Fred Thompson's absence in New Hampshire is noted, the AP's Phil Eliott reports. But that's not a surprise: Thompson's bridge to South Carolina begins in Iowa and largely skips New Hampshire. Giuliani and McCain are both whumping Mitt Romney. Slate's Lee Bandy sees a McCain renaissance in South Carolina. Marc Ambinder is a contributing editor at The Atlantic. He is also a senior contributor at Defense One, a contributing editor at GQ, and a regular contributor at The Week.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741559
__label__cc	0.637846	0.362154	Complexity of the Modern Algae-Powered Building By Staff News & Analysis - April 16, 2013 Algae-powered apartment complex blooms in Hamburg BIQ House … A 15-unit net-zero energy apartment complex clad with an algae-filled bio-adaptive shell, is completed in Hamburg, Germany, as part of the International Building Exhibition. – Mother Nature Dominant Social Theme: Hard to build a house these days. Free-Market Analysis: It is getting more difficult to live, isn't it? We only need to look at this example in Hamburg, Germany to understand that living in a modern home is an undertaking of a "village" not an individual. Once upon a time, especially in the frontiers of the US, houses were erected in several days. True, they were log cabins but they served as warm, utile homes for those who chose to live there. Today, it takes cutting-edge architecture to build a modern home. The trend inevitably is toward more and more complexity. It is the same sort of thing that happened to the car. A car used to have an engine, mainly. Today, cars are filled with computers and warnings not to try to fix the engine yourself. Many of these electronic items may have something to do with environmental monitoring as well as driver-behavior issues. This last area is growing. Increasingly, what is being installed in the modern era seems to have more to do with taking away an individual's ability to make personal decisions regarding technology than increasing ease-of-use and utility. This article about an algae powered house in Hamburg would seem to be a good example of this trend as well. Here's more from the article: Here's a …freshly completed residential complex in Hamburg, Germany, where even Slimer would feel right at home. And while it may not contain an ounce of ectoplasm, tiny photosynthetic organisms commonly associated with pesky green slime are key to the zero-energy structure's groundbreaking renewable energy systems. As the world's first building powered by algae, the 15-unit Bio Intelligent Quotient (BIQ) House generates biomass and heat with the assistance of 129 integrated glass bioreactor panels (read: microalgae harvesters) measuring .78 inches thick and covering approximately 2,150 square feet of the four-story structure's southeast and southwest facing sides. Most conveniently, the algae-cultivating bio-façade provides the building with thermal insulation, shading from direct sunlight, and noise reduction in addition to generating a ready-to-harvest source of biomass. The project's International Building Exhibition (IBA) profile provides a comprehensive overview: The algae flourish and multiply in a regular cycle until they can be harvested. They are then separated from the rest of the algae and transferred as a thick pulp to the technical room of the BIQ. The little plants are then fermented in an external biogas plant, so that they can be used again to generate biogas. Algae are particularly well suited for this, as they produce up to five times as much biomass per hectare as terrestrial plants and contain many oils that can be used for energy. The BIQ has a holistic energy concept: it draws all of the energy needed to generate electricity and heat from renewable sources — fossil fuels remain untouched. It is able to generate energy using the algae biomass harvested from its own façade. Moreover, the façade collects energy by absorbing the light that is not used by the algae and generating heat, like in a solar thermal unit, which is then either used directly for hot water and heating, or can be cached in the ground using borehole heat exchangers — 80 metre-deep holes filled with brine. This remarkably sustainable energy concept is therefore capable of creating a cycle of solar thermal energy, geothermal energy, a condensing boiler, local heat, and the capture of biomass using the bio-reactor façade. Three years in the making, the $3.4 million euro pilot project — it was designed and built for the IBA by the joint team of Austria-based sustainable architecture firm Spitterwerks Architects, Colt International, Strategic Science Consult, and global engineering firm ARUP — will be used to test the feasibility of algae-cultivation as a source of renewable energy for citybound buildings in the future. This is no log cabin! It sounds pretty complicated to us. Plus, we are not sure we want to live in a building covered with panels filled with algae, even if it is energy efficient. And what is so wrong with oil and coal anyway? You can remove these power sources from the ground and use them yourself. But try to figure out how to power your house with algae – at a cost of US$3.4 million. Increasingly, self-sufficiency seems to be defined in ways we never imagined. Self-sufficiency itself seems to take … a village. And communality seems to be a built-in part of these "green" efforts. The article informs us toward the end that, "Two of the total of fifteen apartments to be housed in the BIQ do not have separate rooms, but rather enable the inhabitants to configure their living arrangements 'on demand.' " Now, this is a novel concept but what it means in reality is that your own apartment comes with a roommate! To its credit the article anticipates this criticism with the following explanation: "Depending on their needs, individual functions of the apartment — bathroom, kitchen, sleeping area — can be swapped about or combined to form a 'neutral zone.'" Glad to know that. Hey, here's an idea: Why not just build individual apartments? And why use algae for power? This sort of building experiment is surely representative of a dominant social theme. The consistent impulse of modern society – under the guise of green empowerment – is to make even simple tasks complex. Life is hard to master without the support of the technocratic state. Even building code enforcement is too much power for…	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741560
__label__wiki	0.856593	0.856593	Frisell reaches millions of ears with just six strings by Lindsay Barnes \| 1/15/04 6:00am He hasn't been on any magazine's Top 100 Guitarists, but for decades, his guitar has been ever-present in rock and pop music. Playing with everyone from Marianne Faithfull to Norah Jones, Frisell has added his own personal touch to many great records. He is also a bona fide solo artist. After graduating from the Berklee College of Music, he traveled to Europe, where his focus shifted to his own composition. Since then, he has explored innumerable genres of music throughout his career. Frisell will be foraying into jazz Friday night when his Bill Frisell Trio shares the bill with the Brad Mehldau Trio at the Hopkins Center. Frisell recently sat down and spoke with The Dartmouth about the many faces and places he's seen. The Dartmouth: Your initial interest in guitar came from pop music and Chicago blues. What first turned you on to jazz? Bill Frisell: One thing led to another, and to go from blues to jazz wasn't such a big leap. There was blues music I was listening to, then there was soul, and Wes Montgomery was the first jazz guitarist I listened to. But he was playing more commercial stuff, so that wasn't much of a leap. So, from there it led into all the other music. That started getting more away from the guitar; that's when I started listening to other instruments. TD: What was it about the year you spent in Belgium (1978) that made you focus for the first time on writing your own compositions? BF: It was by default really; there wasn't really anything else to do. We were there with a whole band, didn't have much music and didn't have many gigs, so we were all just sitting around. I'd just gotten out of school, and I was trying to get out of that school mode and doing assignments and that being the motivation for writing. When I got to Europe, there wasn't any assignment involved; it was for the pure sake of trying to figure out some music. I kind of think of that as the foundation for what I'm still doing now. TD: Nonesuch Records has a reputation as an "artist friendly" label. Do you find this to be the case and how is it different from other "major" labels? BF: For me, it's just an unreal dream situation, a lot of it because I've been there for something like 15 years with the same people, and that's almost unheard of these days. Nowadays, people only last maybe a year sometimes with a label. The coolest thing is that they've stuck with me. I don't sell a huge amount, but they're looking at it as a long-term thing. They're not trying to sell a bunch of records and then move on to the next thing. But, even with Nonesuch, I'm scared. It's under someone, someone bought someone, it's owned by one of the big ones. I can't follow it all, but I'm scared one day some guy with a cigar in some skyscraper will say, "That's not making enough money." So I know it can't go on forever, but I really feel lucky that I have that. TD: How is playing for someone else different than recording your own albums? BF: It takes away the whole responsibility from having to think about the whole picture, but I still do. I'd like to think that what I'm playing has an impact on the whole overall thing. But it takes away that stress of, "Oh God, this is my thing." You can just worry about playing. Not having to worry about all that other stuff, sometimes it's nice. TD: When you sat in on the sessions for Norah Jones' "Come Away With Me," did you think it was going to be as huge a hit as it was? BF: I knew there was a feeling that something was going on. They knew she was going to do something. But not like that. That was just insane. I couldn't believe it. Last summer, I was going to go see her, I hadn't seen her in a while and the concert's supposed to start at eight, and it's at this big park outside Seattle. And I get to a few miles before the park, and the traffic just stops. And I thought there must be an accident, but it was just all the people going to the concert. This from playing tiny clubs with tiny audiences. It's pretty wild. TD: You've worked with a lot of luminaries over the years, so I'd just like to do some free association with you, if you don't mind. Bono? BF: He was an amazing musician. It kind of freaked me out how he could just make up stuff on the spot, instantaneously improvise music in a really strong way, words and music. Super- creative and also really, really a sweet person, no superstar kind of crap. TD: Elvis Costello? BF: He's another one where being a huge star hasn't influenced him. He's got an incredible respect for other musicians and the musical community. He's always checking things out. He's got an encyclopedic mind and knows so much music. He has a real humility and real respect for other players. I think that's a really cool thing. And he still has a really strong voice of his own and strong opinions, but he's open to everything and always learning. TD: Marianne Faithfull? BF: That was a wild thing, because when I made the first recording with her, a lot of it was just her and me alone, starting out. Other things were added later, but it was just the two of us in there. That was an interesting thing for me because one of the first songs I learned by ear was "As Tears Go By," which we did again with her, and it was a weird dream-like state. I've grown up and she's grown up, and I'm in there with someone who had been around when I first started getting interested in music. The way she can present a song, she's got a thing about being able to turn the song into a story. She holds your attention on the story of the song. She has a talent for telling a story. TD: Allen Ginsberg? BF: That was amazing. It was just great. He's another one that's kind of larger than life. I'm was kind of in awe of him; it was great to be around him. After I met him, he would come to hear me play every once in a while. He has a quality that you felt like you knew him for a long time. He was great. Tags: arts Review: 'Stranger Things 3' is an electric revival of the series Review: ‘Ma’ fails to be a horror film, let alone a good horror film 'Humans' by Circa to shift perspective on circus arts and emotion	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741561
__label__wiki	0.865401	0.865401	Labours of love Valentine Ackland was a lesbian, a communist, and at one time a Catholic, but above all she was a poet, whose work was overshadowed by controversy, writes Frances Bingham Fri 19 May 2006 19.53 EDT First published on Fri 19 May 2006 19.53 EDT Valentine Ackland, born 100 years ago today, was haunted by the first world war, like so many others of that generation. Too young to fight, yet old enough to witness the carnage, these guilty survivors had a sense of missed opportunity. Valentine's gender, as well as her age, denied her the chance of participation, and heroism always held a complex fascination for her, as did its companion, death. There were no Ackland sons; Valentine was christened Mary Kathleen, but called Molly by her family. She soon noted social patterns of male privilege and female submission, and began early on to subvert gender expectations by usurping male prerogatives whenever she could. When her father allowed her to drive, shoot and even box, her sister Joan - older by eight years - was insanely jealous, and believed Molly was his favourite. Her revenge on the interloper was to abuse Molly, with psychological torment and physical punishment. Their father Robert was a pioneer of facial plastic surgery, a deeply troubled man who often took his daughter to visit his hideously disfigured soldier-patients. Ruth, their mother, salved her marital unhappiness with hypochondria and sentimental religion. Brought up in this dark atmosphere of religious hysteria, exaggerated patriotism and psychological violence, Molly became intensely self-conscious, with a heightened awareness of the need for role-playing, whether as crack shot or child saint. She took refuge in the world of books, especially poetry. When her father discovered that she had fallen in love with another schoolgirl, and threatened to disown her, she wrote of her refusal to submit: "He did not know I had the poets to protect me." Robert died not long after, still unreconciled with his once-favourite daughter, whose crime he recognised as an indelible part of her character. Although this first love was forcibly prevented by parental intervention, Molly embarked on another lesbian affair at 17. Bo Foster was older, and able to give Molly the cultural education she lacked. The imaginative, death-obsessed child became a sensitive young woman whose ecstatic delight in the sensual world was heightened by a continual awareness of its transience. Her intense feelings and extreme shyness were disguised by an elaborately courteous, controlled manner; as a debutante she was outwardly only interested in dancing, drinking and driving fast cars. Although Bo did care for her, she could offer Molly no escape from her unforgiving family. At 19, Molly impulsively married Richard Turpin, a handsome homosexual youth who hoped to overcome the sexuality that made him guilty and miserable. This was, predictably, a disaster; he failed to establish heterosexual credentials, she felt trapped and humiliated. Less than six months later, with the marriage still unconsummated, Molly was persuaded to undergo an operation to remove her hymen for her husband's convenience. This medicalised rape concentrated her mind wonderfully, and she never went back to him again. Instead, she reinvented herself; Molly Turpin became Valentine Ackland. The process took several years of experimentation, but she declared her independence immediately by putting on trousers. This symbolic act stated that she was more potent than her husband, the gentleman he was not, an independent person, and her father's true heir. She was "freed into reality" by this sartorial gesture, and the choice of a new name to celebrate her new identity was a similarly profound piece of self-invention. "Valentine Ackland" was euphonious, androgynous, it sounded like the name of a poet, and invoked the patron saint of love. It erased sad Molly and despairing Mrs Turpin, replacing them with a powerful new persona. Cross-dressing was a subject of contemporary fascination, and it suited Valentine; she modelled for Eric Gill, Augustus John and Fraulein Reiss (photographer of Dietrich), and had affairs with Dorothy Warren, Nancy Cunard and Anna May Wong, while retaining the long-suffering Bo. In this bohemian company, Valentine discovered the village of Chaldon in Dorset, where an artists' colony had gathered under the eccentric patronage of TF Powys. Here, she began to write poems - often about the place - which sounded with her own individual voice: English, elegiac, strongly felt but elegantly controlled. Her Chaldon poems resonate with the sound of the sea, the waves of the downs, and the rhythms of the landscape in which the poet is always present. "Space is invisible waves. In leaves of trees / Space-water rustles, and the sway of these / Is only movement of seawater under tide / In restless sway and swing from side to side - / While in the invisible air and in the sky / Spirits like deep-sea fishes are sweeping by /... And the wind is no wind but a fast-flowing current of tide, / And the spirits are blown and driven and cannot abide." It was in Chaldon that she met Sylvia Townsend Warner, who was enjoying great celebrity as the best-selling author of Lolly Willowes. Sylvia was 12 years older, immensely erudite and talented, with an entirely original cast of mind, and an enormous capacity for love. (Her lover at the time, Percy Buck, was boring her and she found herself admiring Valentine's long legs and cropped hair.) She also admired Valentine's poems, and recognised her as an equal in mind and heart. They fell in love and in 1930 began a passionate affair, which lasted, despite rough weather, until Valentine's death nearly 40 years later. Before she met Sylvia, Valentine's poetry had been published in literary magazines, and her reputation as a young poet of promise was growing. Her love for Sylvia gave her a new subject of great power, and her work matured. In 1934, they jointly published Whether a Dove or Seagull, the core of which is an exchange of love poems. The eyes of body, being blindfold Refer to the eyes of mind - at brain's command Study imagination's map, then order out a hand To journey forth as deputy for sight. For many years the fact that the poems are erotic and celebratory, and between women, ensured the book was undiscussed, despite its quality; it is still relatively little known for such a ground-breaking cycle. The poems were unattributed, so that they could be read on merit rather than by author, but this led to confusion, and to Valentine's contribution being undervalued. This unconventional egalitarianism, combined with the subject matter, did the authors' reputations more harm than good at the time. In the same year, they joined the Communist party. Valentine experimented with writing in a simpler, more muscular style, to suit the coming revolution. This honed her skills further, and she was widely published in the leftwing press. With Sylvia, Valentine volunteered for the British Red Cross in Barcelona during the Spanish civil war, and as delegates to an anti-fascist writers' conference they visited besieged Madrid, and the front lines at Guadalajara. Valentine wrote articles (from "Our Worker Correspondent") which captured the idealism and chaos of Republican Spain, but this optimistic propaganda contrasts with melancholy poems lamenting the victory of fascism, and her own powerlessness. A hundred men who came the road with me homeward to England out of fighting Spain came in mind only; few of them will see as I the autumn and the winter rain. Comrades who stayed behind will know a different rain from heaven, across the mountains weighed with snow deadly the storms are driven. Although she had originally intended to be a combatant in Spain, Valentine was deeply depressed by the reality of war. Her disappointment with the reception of their book, and an increasing intake of alcohol, led her to be unfaithful to Sylvia, who initially tolerated this with wry indulgence, but became worried when an affair with an American fellow-traveller grew serious. Elizabeth Wade White, a wealthy admirer of Sylvia's work, had every intention of supplanting Sylvia; she persuaded them to visit her in America with the hope of detaining Valentine permanently. The outbreak of war interrupted this unhappy situation and Valentine hastily returned to Britain and life with Sylvia. They moved to Frome Vauchurch, inland from Chaldon, to the house beside the river where they lived for the rest of their lives. During the war Valentine was effectively imprisoned in Dorset, conscripted for meaningless "war work" in an army office, but she continued to write poetry about her experience. "Teaching to Shoot" describes the disturbing proximity of love and death, as she teaches her beloved Sylvia how to kill, in expectation of the Nazi invasion. Valentine assuaged her wartime depression with alcohol and casual affairs, but at the same time she was exploring philosophy and alternative religions, in an attempt to discover a spiritual path. Perhaps as a result of this, in 1947 her alcoholism suddenly vanished, and never returned. Elizabeth did, however, and after the enforced interval of the war the affair was resumed, much to Sylvia's distress. Part of Valentine's self-justification was that she needed inspiration for her work, but there was no great outpouring of poetry. Instead, after an unhappy ending to the episode, she wrote, "I feel myself destroyed." Her poetry did return, and her partnership with Sylvia survived, but she found writing slower and more difficult thereafter. During the 1950s, she wrote poems about the destruction of the natural world which now seem prophetic, while still celebrating the human relationship to nature with tender lyricism. While I slept we crossed the line between May and June: The morning came, gently walking down from the hill, And by the time I stirred it was And she had brought summer with her into my room. At this period her communist affiliations (and lesbian credentials) were a deterrent to many potential publishers - even Sylvia, so much better established, thought her own career had suffered - and although Valentine's poetry continued to appear in literary magazines, she no longer enjoyed the success she'd had in the 30s. Yet she continued to write, recognising it as a necessity for her, and produced some of her best work in this relative obscurity. The spiritual dimension which sometimes appears as a metaphysical element in her nature poetry reflected Valentine's own quest. In 1956, to Sylvia's dismay, she became a Catholic, though it was a poet's romantic gesture that was not intended as a denial of her leftwing principles. Valentine loved the ritual of the Latin mass, which she perceived as a portal into the spiritual world; she also saw religion as a possible source of creative power. (Once, sexual and poetic potency had seemed synonymous; now the role of priest-poet might bring alternative power and inspiration.) But Catholicism, like other infidelities, did not bring poetic renewal, only intellectual estrangement from Sylvia. In 1968 Valentine finally quit over the modernisation of the church, in particular the use of a vernacular liturgy which she found "hopelessly unpoetic". The Quakers provided a sanctuary which Sylvia could also accept. Poetry of witness was Valentine's other lifelong theme. Speaking for the dispossessed, bearing witness to political injustice, and protesting against war and nuclear weapons, she wrote about Vietnam, Tibet, Soviet dissidents: the human rights issues of her era. Her poem about Hiroshima, "August 6th 1946", resonates as the 60th anniversary approaches: When out of a clear sky, the bright Sky over Japan, they tumbled the death of light, For a moment, it's said, there was brilliance sword-sharp, A dazzle of white, and then dark. Into the cavernous blackness, as home to hell, Agonies crowded; and high above in the swell Of the gentle tide of the sky, lucid and fair, Men floated serenely as angels disporting there. Her last poems of the 1960s were written in terminal illness; meditations on life, death and the survival of love, they powerfully voice this new inspiration. When she died of cancer in 1969, Valentine was 63, her bereaved partner 75. Sylvia survived her by almost nine years, and employed her grief editing a posthumous collection of Valentine's poetry, The Nature of the Moment, and preparing their letters for publication. Much of her writing was dedicated to commemorating their life together, and recalling the woman she called "my light and my gravity". Valentine Ackland left a remarkable lifetime's worth of poetry, covering the experience of a singular woman in the mid-20th century. Her poetic voice, lyrical, powerful, melancholy yet life-affirming, surprises by speaking of lesbian love, the socialist struggle, natural beauty, the spiritual world and the evil of war. She achieved heroism of a quiet kind by writing what she believed in, as though it mattered, and as a result her poetry is still vital 100 years after her birth. · Frances Bingham is a poet and freelance writer and biographer of Valentine Ackland. She is editing Journey from Winter: The Poetry of Valentine Ackland, to be published by Carcanet.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741564
__label__wiki	0.659	0.659	U.N. Finds Fear-Mongering by Pro-Russians in Ukraine Ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine have falsely claimed to be under attack to justify Russian involvement, a report by the U.N. human rights office said on Tuesday. "Although there were some attacks against the ethnic Russian community, these were neither systematic nor widespread," said the report, which follows two visits to the country last month by Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic. "Photographs of the Maidan protests, greatly exaggerated stories of harassment of ethnic Russians by Ukrainian nationalist extremists, and misinformed reports of them coming armed to persecute ethnic Russians in Crimea, were systematically used to create a climate of fear and insecurity that reflected on support to integration of Crimea into the Russian Federation."	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741569
__label__cc	0.539848	0.460152	Music World → Lyrics → J → James Brown James Brown Overview It's A Man's, Man's, Man's World I Got You (I Feel Good) Play That Funky Music White Boy Please, Please, Please Get Up Offa That Thing Ain't That A Groove (Part 2) The Payback Prisoner Of Love James Brown Daughter Claims 'Body Has Been Stolen' A woman who claims to be one of James Brown's daughters has said that his body has been stolen from a crypt in South Carolina. The soul singer's body was apparently being stored at daughter Deanna's home in South Carolina while plans for a public mausoleum were finalised. Read more Half Of James Brown's Estate Given To Charity A judge has gone against James Brown's last will and testament and ordered half of his estate to be given to charity. The star, who died agd 73 on Christmas Day in 2006, dictated in his will that his assets should be divided up between his six adult children. Read more James Brown's Former Publicist Sues His Estate James Brown's former publicist is suing the late singer's estate, demanding control of a charitable trust. Jacque Hollander maintains she should be in charge of the trust because she helped establish it, according to a lawsuit filed this month in federal court in Chicago, Illinois. Read more Spike Lee Wants Wesley Snipes To Play James Brown In Biopic Hollywood director Spike Lee has reiterated his desire to make a biopic about the late soul legend James Brown. Lee, who acquired the rights to the movie shortly after Brown's death on Christmas day in 2006, said he still wanted actor Wesley Snipes to play Brown. Read more James Brown Items Fetch Eight Hundred Thousand Dollars At Auction Classic and rare James Brown memorabilia has fetched $800,000 at auction in New York. The late singer's jumpsuits and some of his most famous awards were part of the collection, which went under the hammer yesterday (July 17th). Read more	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741570
__label__wiki	0.689554	0.689554	The Struggle for Voting Rights Continues In the wake of the Supreme Court's devastating decision, citizens need to litigate, vote and pass a constitutional amendment. By Melissa Harris-PerryTwitter A voting station in Arlington, Virginia, on Tuesday, November 3, 2009. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) This article originally appeared at MSNBC.com. The Supreme Court’s decision on Tuesday in Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder, is devastating, but not definitive. This court has done significant damage to the most important piece of civil rights legislation in our modern history, but there is still hope to fight back and restore protective laws that ensure all eligible Americans can access the ballot. First, the good news: This does not change who has a right to vote. I have received panicked e-mails from friends asking if the right to vote for African-Americans is in jeopardy. Strictly speaking, it is not. The right to vote for men, regardless of race, is protected by the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Ratified in 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment states that the “right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Black women were added to constitutional citizenship through a combination of the Fifteenth Amendment and the Nineteenth Amendment, which prohibits disenfranchisement based on sex. Today’s Supreme Court decision in Shelby v. Holder does not strip black men and women, or anyone else, of the right to vote. However, it does incalculable violence to the primary tool necessary to ensure that state governments honor these constitutional rights. Now, some bad news: the history of our nation demonstrates that the constitutional right to vote is not enough to ensure that citizens can exercise this right. Although the Fifteenth and Nineteenth Amendments forbade states from simply declaring African-Americans ineligible to vote, they did not protect black voters in practice. Throughout the Jim Crow era, Southern states innovated a menu of presumably race-neutral policies that effectively kept black Americans from voting. Grandfather clauses, poll taxes, literacy tests, all-white primaries, and intimidation at the polls were strategies enforced with state-sanctioned violence to effectively disenfranchise generations of black Americans. It was the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that finally put a stop to these practices. It was Section 5 of that Act that has protected those gains for decades. So here is the really bad news: Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act has been rendered moot, at least for now. Before 10 am on Tuesday, Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 provided that certain states and localities with a particularly egregious history of racial restrictions and racial violence around voting were required to “preclear” proposed changes in voting or election procedures through the Department of Justice. The provision covered many, but not all, of the states that had enacted the most vicious Jim Crow practices in the nearly 100 years leading up the the VRA’s passage. Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act determined which areas were covered by Section 5. But on Tuesday, the Supreme Court struck down Section 4, saying that the formula for determining which states had to ask permission to change their voting procedures and practices was unconstitutional. By striking down Section 4, the Court made it impossible to implement Section 5, at least in the short term. The majority opinion described the formula as “obsolete” and seems to argue that states must have a kind of assumed equality as members of our union. The Court is wrong. As Yale Law Professor Akhil Reed Amar argues, the Fourteenth Amendment provides a model, embedded in our constitution, for treating states differently when they show a history of egregious violations against humanity and democracy. Amar points out that “states with abysmal track records of rights-enforcement and democratically deficient voting rules were not allowed back into Congress to sit alongside states with minimally acceptable track records, and these same democratically deficient states were also not allowed to resume full powers of state self-governance enjoyed by their nondeficient sister states.” It is entirely consistent with our Constitution to require states with pathetic track records to meet a higher standard of self-governance than those without those histories. 1. Litigate. Section 5 pre-clearance ensured that many states had to ask permission before passing new legislation that affects voting. Now those states can—and will—pass laws without an automatic review. But citizens can still force the courts to determine if these laws are unfair by bringing suit against them. This significantly shifts the burden and makes if much harder to protect fair voting practices. But who said democracy was easy? Pre-clearance was an effective deterrent to discriminatory practices, but threat of swift litigation can also deter those who seek to create barriers to voting. We will need the commitment of an army of civil rights lawyers to begin to bring these cases. 2. Vote in 2014! As devastating as this ruling is, it is also a sign of weakness on the part of the Court. Unwilling to simply declare Section 5 unconstitutional, they struck down the formula for enforcing it. But they left the door open for Congress to write a new formula. If you want a renewed Voting Rights Act, you are going to have to vote for a new Congress. American voters cannot afford to sit out these midterms as they did in 2010, only a significant effort to turn the tide in the 114th Congress can ensure a fair formula that puts teeth back into this civil rights legislation. 3. Watch Mount Holly. But watch out, because even if Congress suddenly discovered a latent, bipartisan commitment to equal ballot access, it might have a hard time crafting an acceptable formula for pre-clearance. The Supreme Court will soon decide a case known as Mount Holly v. Mt. Holly Gardens Citizens in Action, Inc. This will allow the Court to decide if it is constitutional to determine if a policy is discriminatory based on “disparate impact.” In other words, Mt. Holly will decide if it is enough to be able to show that a policy has a strong, negative impact on communities of color, or if you must also show that the policy makers have a racist intent. Depending on how the Court decides Mt. Holly, it may be impossible to keep lawmakers from restricting access to the polls, unless you can prove they were purposefully racist in their intentions. 4. Constitutional Amendment. No American citizen has a positive right to vote ensured by the Constitution. Go back and read that language from the Fifteenth Amendment again. See? All it says is that a state can’t abridge your right to vote. The Voting Rights Act and the pre-clearance rules are necessary only because the right to vote and the rules of how you cast your ballot all reside with the states. Tuesday’s decision shows just how fragile our rights are when they are vested in this way. Now may be the time to introduce and begin to build support for a constitutional amendment ensuring the right to vote and setting out a national standard for ballot access. Most importantly, don’t give up hope. Remember, the struggle continues. Victories for fairness must always be defended with democratic vigilance. This nation’s founding declaration proclaims the self-evident nature of human equality and of the righteousness of self-government. Our job is to ceaselessly work to realize that vision. Take Action: Tell Congress to Guarantee the Right to Vote The Supreme Court may have struck down part of the Voting Rights Act, but, according to Ari Berman, there’s something the court still doesn’t understand about the VRA. Melissa Harris-PerryTwitterMelissa Harris-Perry is the Presidential Endowed Chair in Politics and International Affairs at Wake Forest University and a contributing editor of The Nation.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741571
__label__wiki	0.929663	0.929663	Here's how area members of Congress voted April 6-12 Here's a look at how area members of Congress voted April 6-12 Here's how area members of Congress voted April 6-12 Here's a look at how area members of Congress voted April 6-12 Check out this story on thenews-messenger.com: https://ohne.ws/2H08jtS Targeted News Service Published 3:40 p.m. ET April 13, 2018 U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.(Photo: File) WASHINGTON - Here's a look at how area members of Congress voted between April 6 and April 12: Along with roll call votes this week, the Senate also passed a resolution (S. Res. 85), calling on the government of Iran to fulfill repeated promises of assistance in the case of Robert Levinson; passed a resolution (S. Res. 432), congratulating the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania on the 100th anniversary of their declarations of independence; and passed the Keep America's Refuges Operational Act (H.R. 3979), to reauthorize the volunteer services, community partnership, and refuge education programs of the National Wildlife Refuge System. The House also passed a resolution (H. Res. 128), supporting respect for human rights and encouraging inclusive governance in Ethiopia. House Vote 1: FINANCE AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING: The House has passed the End Banking for Human Traffickers Act (H.R. 2219), sponsored by Rep. Edward R. Royce, R-Calif. The bill would require the State Department and other federal agencies to develop strategies to prevent money laundering related to human trafficking. Royce said that with trafficking producing an estimated $150 billion of criminal profits globally each year, the U.S. had a responsibility to cut off traffickers' access to the banking system and help end their illegal operations. The vote, on April 10, was 408 yeas to 2 nays. YEAS: Bob Latta R-OH (5th), Marcy Kaptur D-OH (9th), Jim Jordan R-OH (4th) PENALTIES FOR STALKING CHILDREN: The House has passed the Combat Online Predators Act (H.R. 4203), sponsored by Rep. Brian K. Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., to increase by 5 years the maximum allowable prison sentence for cases in which a stalker's victim is a minor under 18 years old. Fitzpatrick said tougher penalties for those who stalk minors were a needed "first step in making the internet a safer environment for all users, especially our children." The vote, on April 10, was 409 yeas to 2 nays. YEAS: Latta R-OH (5th), Kaptur D-OH (9th), Jordan R-OH (4th) REGULATING FINANCIAL FIRMS: The House has passed the Financial Stability Oversight Council Improvement Act (H.R. 4061), sponsored by Rep. Dennis A. Ross, R-Fla. The bill would require the government's Financial Stability Oversight Council to consider, when it is deliberating whether to designate a given nonbank financial company as systematically important to the U.S., the feasibility of other approaches to regulating that company. Ross said the systematically important designation was often inappropriate for insurers, asset managers, and other nonbank firms, and imposed misguided and burdensome regulations on those firms without a corresponding improvement in security for the U.S. financial system. A bill opponent, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said its move to relax regulation of some of the same firms that caused the 2007-2009 financial crisis could "jeopardize our country's strong economy." The vote, on April 11, was 297 yeas to 121 nays. YEAS: Latta R-OH (5th), Jordan R-OH (4th) NAYS: Kaptur D-OH (9th) STRESS TESTS FOR BANKS: The House has passed the Stress Test Improvement Act (H.R. 4293), sponsored by Rep. Lee M. Zeldin, R-N.Y. The bill would reduce the Dodd-Frank financial reform law's imposition of financial soundness stress tests on nonbank financial companies and bank holding companies. Zeldin said its changes to the stress testing process would improve the transparency, consistency, and fairness of regulation of financial firms, with the result of protecting the soundness of the banking system while removing negative unintended consequences of the Dodd-Frank law. A bill opponent, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said it sought to "line Wall Street's pockets by weakening a critical tool to prevent a future financial crisis." The vote, on April 11, was 245 yeas to 174 nays. BALANCED BUDGET AMENDMENT: The House has rejected a resolution (H.J. Res 2) sponsored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., that would have proposed adding a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, requiring that each year's fiscal budget does not create a deficit, unless a three-fifths majority of both the House and Senate authorize the deficit. Goodlatte said that "Congress cannot for any significant length of time rein in excessive spending" without the enforced constraint that a balanced budget amendment would provide to force the government from its current course of "saddling future generations with the burden of crushing debts to pay for current spending." A resolution opponent, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., called the amendment a move by Republicans to achieve the goal "of slashing Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and other critical elements of the social safety net." The vote, on April 12, was 233 yeas to 184 nays, with a two-thirds majority required for approval. Senate Vote 1: KENTUCKY DISTRICT JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Claria Horn Boom to serve as a judge on the U.S. district court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Kentucky. Boom, a former assistant U.S. attorney for Kentucky, has also been a private practice lawyer in Atlanta and Lexington, Ky. The vote, on April 10, was 96 yeas to 1 nay. YEAS: Brown D-OH, Portman R-OH LABOR RELATIONS BOARD: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of John Ring to serve as a member of the National Labor Relations Board for a five-year term ending in late 2022. A supporter, Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., cited Ring's 30 years of experience as a private labor and management relations lawyer, and said Ring would help return the Board to its proper role of being "a neutral umpire in labor disputes" and not the overly partisan entity it was during the Obama administration. An opponent, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., criticized Ring for expressing a belief "that the Board has been too friendly to workers and that corporations have gotten the short end of the stick." The vote, on April 11, was 50 yeas to 48 nays. NAYS: Brown D-OH YEAS: Portman R-OH DEPUTY LABOR SECRETARY: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Patrick Pizzella to serve as Deputy Labor Secretary. A supporter, Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said Pizzella had many years of experience as a Labor Department official, most recently as chairman of the Federal Labor Relations Authority, and said his leadership and experience would greatly help Labor fulfill its mission. An opponent, Sen. Benjamin Cardin, D-Md., called Pizzella "a vocal advocate of so-called right-to-work laws" that hurt workers and claimed that Pizzella has an antipathy to federal government workers and their unions. The vote, on April 12, was 50 yeas to 48 nays. DEPUTY EPA ADMINISTRATOR: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Andrew Wheeler to serve as Deputy Environmental Protection Agency Administrator. Wheeler has worked as an EPA employee, staff director for the House Environment and Public Works Committee, and most recently as an energy policy consultant. A supporter, Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., said Wheeler would help the EPA "in continuing to implement President Trump's vision of returning EPA to an agency of the people, subject to the rule of law." An opponent, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., said Wheeler's nomination "continues the Trump administration's essentially complete subservience to the fossil fuel industry in the entire environmental arena." The vote, on April 12, was 53 yeas to 45 nays. Read or Share this story: https://ohne.ws/2H08jtS Utility billing director accused of misconduct Clyde man alleged to have punched officer Police Calls: Man found passed out near bottle Tariffs continue to hurt region's farmers Trucker charged in fatal Ohio Turnpike crash Sheriff rules missing man's death a homicide	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741572
__label__wiki	0.640701	0.640701	In a year that is ahead of us is a whole bunch of designer collaborations, exciting exhibitions and new label launches that are already confirmed. There are some events that you should be aware of… We are expecting a reminding exhibition of Princess Diana’s era-defining style in February. To be precise, 24th February is the day of opening Diana: Her fashion story. The late princess is an enduring style icon and this will provide a fresh insight of her. One of the things to see will be her Victor Edelstein velvet gown in which she danced with John Travolta in the White House back in 1985. The exhibition will be held at the Princess’s London home, Kensington Palace, where she lived for 15 years. Alexa Chung will launch her own label in May. Fans of Chung’s work waited for this news for a long time. After being a fashion plate for years, Alexa will at last launch her own line in spring this year. Her new brand is expected to be a contemporary-priced, ready-to-wear line which was designed by this TV presenter and model all by herself so that we could get a slice of her style. May will be very busy month for fashion fans, because Balenciaga will take over the V&A. This was announced in October by V&A as the major fashion showcase for 2017. It will be a retrospective of Cristóbal Balenciaga’s work that was titled Balenciaga: Shaping Fashion. 80 years have passed since Mr Balenciaga opened his doors of iconic Paris salon, and the exhibition will feature over 100 of his most innovative and glamorous fashion silhouettes. In February, there will also be a couple of major designer debuts. Raf Simons has been working for Calvin Klein for some time now, and we will finally get a glimpse of his work. New York Fashion Week will be the place where this ex-Dior designer will make his debut. Another thing to be excited for is the first collection from design duo Monse. They have just taken the helm at Oscar de la Renta. Zayn Malik also has his first collection, which is, at the same time, his first attempt in fashion design that he will be presenting for Versus Versace during London Fashion Week. To see if it will be any good, we will have to wait for another two months. At the peak of the spring, in April, there will come to a collaboration between Victoria Beckham and Target. US retail giant and Victoria will team up so she could become the next designer with a high street line. This will hit our stores on 9th April. Net-A-Porter should stock the collection in the UK just like when Peter Pilotto collaborated with Target and that makes us happy because we will be able to get our hands on some VB’s designs. Selena Gomez and Coach will also team up somewhere around September or October. In 2016, Gigi Hadid and Tommy Hilfiger did exactly what Selena and Coach are hoping to achieve in 2017. As a matter of fact, it should probably be even more because next autumn, the singer and actress will collaborate with the all-American label. Their campaign should kick off in winter 2017, also launching a charity design project including a female empowerment organization Step Up. Humans Are Awesome Nature & Tech What to Expect from Fashion in 2017. [remove_text_shortcode id="attachment_15836" align="aligncenter" width="577"] wikimedia.org Tags2017 expect fashion victoria beckham TooCool2BeTrue Contact Us \| Privacy Policy \| Terms of Service \| DMCA \| About Us	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741576
__label__cc	0.516495	0.483505	You are at:Home»Video Games»The Nintendo 3DS Is Expensive, Boring, 3-D The Nintendo 3DS Is Expensive, Boring, 3-D By Rob Bricken on September 29, 2010 · 3:03 pm · Comments () Speaking of unnecessary 3-D, Nintendo revealed the Nintendo 3DS today in Japan, which features games in 3-D without forcing users to wear glasses. It will be released in Japan on February 26th, 2011, and will cost the equivalent of $300 U.S., or the price of a new, regularly-sized console. Perhaps when seen in person, the 3DS’ 3-D capability would blow my mind, but the video of upcoming games Nintendo released is boring as shit, because it’s the same damn games Nintendo always releases: Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, Nintendogs, Zelda, and third-party titles that are equally unsurprising, like a crappy Resident Evil side story, a goofy Metal Gear Solid side story, a lesser Street Fighter IV version, etc. There is absolutely nothing about the line-up that makes me the slightest bit interested in the 3DS, let alone playing them in 3-D. Hell, I honestly don’t know if I have it in me to ever buy Mario Kart again, and I actually like that game. The only video that’s slightly interesting is this one, which shows a gaggle of Japanese hipster clowns enjoying the hell out of their 3DSes without really playing games. Maybe the card thing is kind of neat, whatever the hell it is, but otherwise it looks like the 3DS’ main feature is that the handheld consoles can battle each other with the owners ever knowing. Great. That’s what I’ve been waiting for my entire nerd life; videogames I don’t have to play at all. 3-D 3DS Japan Nintendo Previous ArticleHe Is Number Four, I Am Mildly Intrigued Next Article All Hail Our New Nerd Queen Robert Bricken is one of the original co-founders of the site formerly known as Topless Robot, and its first editor-in-chief, serving from 2008-12. He brought the site to prominence with “nerd news, humor and self-loathing” as its motto, raising it from total internet obscurity to a readership in the millions, with help from his savage “FAQ” movie reviews and Fan Fiction Fridays. Under his tenure Topless Robot was covered by Gawker, Wired, Defamer, New York magazine, ABC News, and others, and his articles have been praised by Roger Ebert, Avengers actor Clark Gregg, comedian and The Daily Show correspondent John Hodgman, the stars of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Rifftrax, and others. He is currently the managing editor of io9.com. Despite decades as both an amateur and professional nerd, he continues to be completely unprepared for either the zombie apocalypse or the robot uprising.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741577
__label__wiki	0.941865	0.941865	United Way Toronto: 2014 campaign announces $117M goal By Leslie FerencFeature Writer Wed., Sept. 10, 2014timer3 min. read Time and again, those working on the front lines in their communities say that without United Way Toronto, they simply couldn’t do what they do. And it was no different at Wednesday’s launch of the 2014 United Way Toronto fundraising campaign where Danian Walker was among hundreds of supporters cheering wildly when the $117 million goal was revealed. A youth engagement worker responsible for studio programming at the youth-led S.P.O.T (Success Power Opportunity and Teamwork) in Malvern, he’s helping young people express themselves creatively and give back to their community. “When you give, you receive,” he said at the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre where the United Way target was announced. For Walker, United Way “has been right there for us,” offering support and meeting the needs of youth 13 to 25 who come there. “They get the vision,” he said of the charity. “United Way is so giving and caring and makes a difference. . . . If not for United Way and support from donors, I’m not sure where I’d be and the S.P.O.T definitely would not exist.” Dan Fortin, recently retired president of IBM Canada and chair of this year’s campaign, said he was honoured to take on the role, adding he is confident the goal “is absolutely doable.” A longtime supporter of United Way, Fortin said as leader of the 2014 campaign he will have “the unique opportunity to work with many of Toronto’s most dedicated, generous and compassionate community leaders — all rallying together to improve lives and strengthen neighbourhoods.” The launch celebrated the thousands of Torontonians — volunteers, donors, community agencies and business partners — who work together year after year to make a difference in the lives of those who need it most. “Our annual campaign is an amazing, citywide demonstration of a shared commitment to building a better Toronto, and I’m so inspired by the outpouring of generosity and support we receive from our community each year,” said United Way president and CEO Susan McIsaac. “Working together, we’re creating opportunities to help people in every corner of our city realize that change is within reach — that a better life is possible.” McIsaac thanked United Way’s 200 community agencies, the 150,000 donors, 23,000 volunteers and 700 workplaces that support the cause. But it won’t be a slam dunk, McIsaac said in an earlier interview, adding though she has great faith in Torontonians to reach out and help their less fortunate neighbours, the campaign will have its challenges. “We’re filled with optimism but it will be tough because of lots of competition from other organizations,” she said, adding charities “are getting edgy” when it comes to raising funds for their causes. The recent ALS ice bucket challenge is a prime example of out-of-the box initiatives that have taken off, raising awareness and funds globally. “We all have to be on our game,” she said. In the meantime, United Way has been knocking on doors, meeting with long-time corporate donors as well as reaching out to new ones, including small and mid-sized workplaces. Attracting younger supporters with fresh ideas to spread the word about United Way and its impact in the community is also important, said McIsaac. Building an eighth community hub in Scarborough, providing a variety of services under one roof in areas where there were few, remains on the priority list. Youth employment will also continue to be a focus as will renewal of the city’s aging highrise apartments and building strong neighbourhoods. To donate, go to unitedwaytoronto.com or call 416-777-2001.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741578
__label__wiki	0.874142	0.874142	Blue Devils pass post-holiday test Bob Sutton / Times-News Dec 30, 2012 at 12:01 AM Dec 30, 2012 at 12:21 AM DURHAM � Duke did what the Blue Devils have been prone to do this season. They pushed back. The top-ranked team in the country was challenged by visiting Santa Clara on Saturday afternoon at Cameron Indoor Stadium, overcoming a second-half deficit to remain unbeaten with a 90-77 non-conference victory. �Like (coach Mike Krzyzewski) said, we had to fight to win,� senior forward Ryan Kelly said. �(Santa Clara) is a team that�s confident.� So, too, are the Blue Devils and that showed when they made their run. Senior guard Seth Curry poured in 31 points, marking the most in his three Duke seasons, and Mason Plumlee provided 22 points and 13 rebounds. Yet the return from a holiday layoff was far from comfortable for the Blue Devils (12-0). �We needed a physical team to test us,� Plumlee said. Santa Clara fit that description and that created unsteady moments for Duke. �That was like a February ACC game,� Krzyzewski said. �Having to fight and to come through is just a really good win for us. We even grew even more as a team. �Forget about easing back. It was a very physical game. It wasn�t like a little physical, it was big-time physical.� Curry tallied 18 of his points in the second half. �We were tested and the whole team did a good job,� Curry said. Kevin Foster scored 29 points for Santa Clara (11-3), which hadn�t lost in regulation previously. The Broncos fell to 0-12 all-time against No. 1-ranked opponents. �They made their charge,� Santa Clara coach Kerry Keating said. �We knew it was going to come and we couldn�t stop it.� The Blue Devils, who didn�t have their first lead until almost 5� minutes into the game, used a 17-3 run to go ahead 25-14. Shortly after that, they went almost six minutes without a field goal, shooting 4-for-10 on free throws during that stretch. Foster had 18 first-half points on his way to the most for a Duke opponent this season. The Blue Devils clung to a 38-36 halftime edge. �I liked the fact that they had to adjust to us a little bit,� Keating said. Santa Clara held a 45-41 lead four minutes into the second half before Plumlee scored the next five points. That set the stage for Curry, who tallied 12 points in a five-minute stretch. A transfer after one season at Liberty, Curry eclipsed his previous Duke career best of 26 points with almost six minutes left. -- FREE THROWS �: Plumlee, a senior forward, went above the 1,000-point mark for his career. He�s at 1,003. �It doesn�t mean much at Duke,� he said, �because how many guys have 1,000 points?� The answer is 61. � Duke made 7 of 14 first-half free throws, then connected on 14 of 19 in the second half. � Duke won its 20th consecutive game in the month of December.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741579
__label__cc	0.585204	0.414796	Orders of the Day — Economic Situation Mr Robert Cant , Stoke-on-Trent Central 12:00 am, 25th November 1968 When I came to the House first, I was told to specialise. The problem is that my particular interest is the balance of payments. When I talk about this theme, I am reminded of the story told by Dean Acheson facing an accusation by an hon. Member from this side of the House that the Americans were completely preoccupied with Communism. He told the story about the three young ladies who were interviewed by a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist pulled out a handkerchief and threw it into the air and asked the first young lady what it made her think of. She replied, "The leaves falling from the trees". The second told him that it made her think of paratroops falling from the skies. The third young lady was more of an extrovert and she said that it made her think of sex. He asked, "Why sex?". She replied, "I never think about anything else". I have reached the point that, whenever I come through those doors, I think of a balance of payments crisis. It makes me a little morbid, or makes me want to give a lecture. I apologise, but there it is. I come now to the question of import controls. I attach great importance to what the Government propose for import control, and I begin by putting, in parenthesis, a point to my hon. and learned Friend the Minister of State at the Treasury, who is in loco parentis on the Front Bench at this moment. Over the past two years, I have put down several Questions, and I have discussed with a number of Ministers, albeit junior Ministers, the desirability of introducing tie type of import control now decided on by the Government. I mean not physical import controls such as certain of my hon. Friends advocate but the prior deposit scheme. For my last Question, I adopted the strategy of indirect approach, addressing myself to that Department which has endeared itself to us all, the Department of Economic Affairs. I thought that I might get some come-back from that quarter, if only for the reason that, in a sense, I viewed that Department as a countervailing power vis-à-vis the Treasury. I asked whether the D.E.A. would make a study of this import control scheme. I received an abrupt negative answer—"No"—not even "No, Sir". I do not take affront at that sort of thing, but it seems a little remarkable that, once again, having been told that this or that is impossible or impracticable, one reads in the newspapers almost the next morning that that very solution is to be the answer to all our hopes and prayers. I suppose that Governments cannot bring back-benchers too much into their confidence, cannot even demean themselves to discuss particular points or possible policies with members of their own party. In this case, while I welcome the prior deposit method as distinct from any other method of import control, I want to know whether the Government have thought it through. I see all the arguments against import controls of a physical quantitative nature, and I consider that some of my hon. Friends below the Gangway—they are not all Left-wingers—would have not only to decide on the actual way in which physical import controls would operate but would have to decide the question of principle. Are we as a nation to opt out of the international economy, are we prepared to use physical controls as part of the apparatus of, if not a siege economy, at least an economy which seeks to go it alone much more than this nation can afford to do? That is the basic principle involved. Let us come back to the prior deposit scheme. I do not want to give a lecture, but I point out that it has the obvious advantage that not only does it check imports but it is at the same time deflationary. All import controls must be inflationary, but this particular type of import control will impose a measure of deflation on the economy which will more than cancel that out. Take it a stage further. Let us accept that there is a quite powerful element of deflation. What will happen as the mechanism begins to operate? Can enough evasive action take place to prevent the scheme from becoming effective? We know that, immediately, a good many people, especially the small businessmen who, quite rightly, are very much in the hearts and minds of hon. Members opposite, may be faced with a fairly critical situation. We know also that private enterprise has great capacity for adaptation to difficult and changing circumstances. It may well be that businessmen will look around, will begin to raise money in the secondary money markets from friends, from here and from there. They may even withdraw some of the liquidity which they have transferred into Deutschemarks. [Hon. Members: "Oh."] I thought that that might awaken some hon. Members opposite. I was trailing my coat in that observation. In so far as this new money is available to frustrate the intentions of the Chancellor, my right hon. Friend must take it into account. Not only will it increase the supply of money but it will increase the velocity of circulation of money and, therefore, potentially, the supply of money available to get round the difficulties. But what about the situation when individuals and companies, small companies in particular, begin to liquidate their national savings? In so far as they insist on this particular procedure, they will create a state of affairs in which the Government will have to increase their net borrowing requirement, and they will increase their net borrowing requirement through the use of Treasury bills. If they do that, they will again offset the deflationary aspect of the prior deposit scheme. Let us go a stage further and ask what will happen if the banks, in order to adjust their asset position, begin to sell off their holdings of gilt-edged securities. Here, I think that the Chancellor has not told us of all the likely implications of what he is doing in this context. If that takes place, the Government will face a dilemma. They face a dilemma not because someone is talking about the theory of the matter but because they have had already to act in terms of the emerging situation. Will the Government offset the decline in the gilt-edged market by sending the broker in to buy up gilt-edged securities? Obviously, they have decided to do that. In other words, they have created a situation in which the deflationary effects which are likely to stem from what they do could be offset and will be offset by reintroducing further liquidity into the system. In part, these are all academic points. But if the Government accept the logic of the situation in the sense of being prepared to face a continuous decline in the price of gilt-edged securities, and the concomitant, a continuous rise in the rate of interest, where do we go from there? Are we to see the rate of interest rising to 8 or 9 per cent., or will the Government opt out of the situation and keep the rate of interest at what they feel to be appropriate in the circumstances? It does not even stop there. If the rate of interest rises in that way, we once again become a magnet for all that hot money which is the delight of hon. Members opposite but which is anathema to me. Like many of my hon. Friends, I like to see the reserves of this country growing, but we cannot finance our trade in this way. Not only are we crucifying ourselves by servicing this short-term external debt, but we are also increasing the sensitivity of sterling. This, too, may create a situation in which the deflationary effects which the Chancellor hopes to introduce will be offset by a situation which he is allowing—the financing of at any rate part of these prior deposits with money from across the exchanges. Of course Germany, with her enormous liquidity, will be quite willing to make this sort of financing operation possible if we have an interest rate of 8 per cent. or 9 per cent. in this country. What about the Euro-dollar market? I know that the Bank of England has been given certain instructions that its permission must be sought before there can be borrowing in the Euro-dollar market for conversion into sterling for bridging operations of one sort or another in this country. The dollars go into out reserves, but at critical moments, when there is a flow back across the Atlantic, they leave the reserves and create these problems. What will be the attitude of the Bank of England? Why did not the Chancellor say that we cannot borrow from the Euro-dollar market for these bridging purposes? I re-emphasise the importance of the problem of imports to the country. This is the Achilles heel of the balance of payments. For a long time we should have been giving much more attention to it. Whatever the Brookings Institute say, we have this secular growth in our propensity to consume. We have, superimposed on the steady growth of our imports, a cyclical import curve which creates very great problems. If this imposition, whether it works or not, has drawn to our attention more forcibly than ever before the significance of imports to our country, then it will have served its purpose.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741581
__label__wiki	0.889795	0.889795	Review: ‘Clybourne Park’ at Guthrie an… Things to DoTheater Review: ‘Clybourne Park’ at Guthrie an entertaining, challenging must-see “Clybourne” at the Guthrie Photo by Michael Brosilow. Pictured: Kathryn Meisle, (ACUTE ACCENT OVER Ã¢â‚¬Å“AÃ¢â‚¬?) Sha Cage, Peter Christian Hansen. By Chris Hewitt \| Pioneer Press PUBLISHED: June 7, 2013 at 11:01 pm \| UPDATED: November 7, 2015 at 4:07 am The neighborhood for which the Guthrie’s “Clybourne Park” is named is fictitious but this exemplary production makes you believe. Significantly different in acting style and design from the version that was a hit on Broadway last year, this “Clybourne” feels as much like an orchestra performance as a play. It’s a work of art where the “conductor,” director Lisa Peterson, and the players are so united in their efforts that we hardly notice the dozens of talents who contributed to the production. We can’t separate them out because we’re so drawn in by the one beautiful thing they’re creating. “Clybourne Park” is a play about race and class but it’s also a play about a house. In the first act, set in 1959, Bev and Russ are moving out of their Chicago home, a gorgeous Craftsman affair with honeyed woodwork and some very bad memories. Upset that they are selling to the first “Negro” family in the neighborhood, neighbors stop in to beg them to reconsider in a series of conversations that grow increasingly heated. The second act is set in 2009. In the intervening years, the main tenant was the family in the classic play, “Raisin in the Sun” (although we never see them), but Clybourne Park may be about to undergo another change as a white family threatens to gentrify a neighborhood that has become an African-American enclave. Themes (skiing, world capitals) and even bits of dialogue recur in the second act so, even though all of the actors are playing new characters, the second-act characters seem haunted by the ones in the first act, just as the house itself retains echoes of all the people who have lived in it. There is a lot of arguing in “Clybourne Park,” most of it hilarious and a good deal of it inaudible to a character who drops by in the first act: good-natured Betsy (Emily Gunyou Halaas), whose deafness allows her not to hear some very foolish comments about class and race. Hearing is a theme in “Clybourne Park,” in which the characters, who think the divisions between them are greater than they are, shout a lot but don’t listen much. The fun part of this provocative and morally complex play is that we get to hear — and see — it all. It’s a cliche that one hates to single out performers because they are all so good, but that’s very much the case here with a cast that captures both the loopy exaggerations of Bruce Norris’ play and its compassionate humanity. As a result, we can concentrate on the tiny moments that make this production soar: A door that is left open during a charged discussion in the second act, reminding us that all of this talk is about the future of the neighborhood out there. The desperate look on Bev’s (Kathryn Meisle) face when a buried tragedy finally comes to the surface and she has to grab onto her friend/maid, Francine (Sha Cage), for dear life. The break in Russ’ (Bill McCallum) voice as he passionately defends his right to sell his house, by which he means to try to figure out how to go on living after tragedy. The withering (and unnoticed) sarcasm with which an African-American resident of Clybourne Park, told of a report on the changing ethnicity of America’s neighborhoods, replies, “I should read that.” The rhythm of the conversation in the second act, which escalates from cautious to wayward and then crescendos (there’s that orchestra again) to just plain wrong. Watching the explosive second act, it’s likely many theatergoers will cast their minds back to the first act and Bev’s statement, “I don’t like ugliness.” Bev, who initially seems to be the most ridiculous person on stage, actually may be the play’s voice of reason, but it is Norris’ gift to believably make all of the characters right and all of them wrong. Norris doesn’t pretend to have the answers as his characters tentatively ask questions like “Who owns a neighborhood?” and “Do people with money get to do whatever they want?” But when a black character repeats a misguided line that a white one said in the first act, it feels like “Clybourne Park” is definitive on one point, which is that we are asking the wrong questions when we don’t recognize that people are more like each other than they are different. Subtle choices throughout the production make the artificial divisions clear: whether characters are willing to look at each other, for instance, or whether they wait to be invited into a room. Peterson’s production is full of grace notes that make the play real and relatable (Bev, for instance feels like she has a bit of “The Glass Menagerie’s” Amanda Wingfield in her, whereas she was a “Here’s Lucy” caricature on Broadway). There is plenty of ugly language and behavior — sorry, Bev — but there is beauty, too, in the tentative attempt to define what could be called the core values of America. Bev has advice for us there, too, in the play’s final line. “Don’t hurt your eyes,” she tells a reader in a dark room, a line that feels hopeful when you consider that, even with all of the ugliness the play has shown us, Bev stands strong in her belief that we must keep our eyes open. Chris Hewitt can be reached at 651-228-5552 or follow him on twitter.com/ChrisHMovie. What: “Clybourne Park” Where: Guthrie Theater, 818 S. Second St., Minneapolis When: Through Aug. 4 Capsule: Challenging and entertaining, “Clybourne Park” is a must-see. Chris Hewitt Chris Hewitt was the Pioneer Press movie critic and then an arts and entertainment reporter from 1993 to 2017. Stillwater Lumberjack Days ready to kickoff Stillwater's annual Lumberjack Days celebration will begin its 5-day run on Wednesday. From a boat cuise on Wednesday to the big parade on Sunday, each of the five days will have unique activities. The market and food vendors, as well as a number of other activities, will run Friday through Sunday on the festival grounds downtown Stillwater. Main stage music... Minnesota United-branded futsal court replaces basketball at West 7th park Minnesota United and the U.S. Soccer Foundation have unveiled the first in a series of "mini-pitches" in St. Paul -- hard-surface play areas installed over underused outdoor basketball and tennis courts or other lots. Representatives of the Major League Soccer team, the soccer foundation and MLS Works joined St. Paul Parks and Rec officials on Friday at St. Clair Park-West... Registration details announced for St. Croix Crossing Half Marathon There is still time for runners to sign up for the July 27 St. Croix Crossing Half Marathon and 5 kilometer run. It will cost you more, though, the longer you wait to register. Stopping at midsummer to read a good book: Here are 6 to consider Are you longing for a good midsummer read? Here are suggestions for everyone in the family. One of the pleasures of discovering a new series is knowing you get to read all the author's previous books. That's why I was delighted to discover "Bark of Night" (Minotaur Books, $27.99),19th in David Rosenfelt's humorous, dog-centered series featuring wise-cracking defense lawyer Andy... Highland Park water tower in St. Paul holds annual open house St. Paul Regional Water Services will hold their annual Highland Park water tower open house July 20 and 21. The tower doors will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday. Admission is free and open to the public. Visitors are invited to climb the circular staircase inside the tower up to the observation deck. The Mississippi... Two weekends, four outdoor summer concert festivals in the Twin Cities This summer's music festival calendar is pretty crowded. This weekend, there's not one, but three fests in the metro and a pricey new contender entering the fray next weekend. Festivals have plenty of competition from the arenas, the State Fair Grandstand and the two big casinos (which have both upped their summertime outdoor concert game in recent years), not to...	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741582
__label__cc	0.620802	0.379198	The Tap Room at Dubsdread Written by Scott Joseph on 02 December 2010 on 02 December 2010 . For years I've been recommending The Tap Room at Dubsdread for its Tap Room burger, one of the best burgers in town for my money. But of course the Tap Room has always offered more substantial fare (if you don't already consider a huge burger to be substantial fare). The menu just got a little more substantial with a newly added line of hand-cut steaks, as well as a few other items. But I was most interested in the steaks. We have a number of high-end steakhouses in the area, and lord knows we have plenty of low-end ones, too. But that middle ground, the steakhouse that offers good quality meat without pricing it like the steers have been hand-massaged with sake, those are harder to come by. But that’s how I’d classify the steaks at Tap Room. Based on the ribeye steak I had there recently, I’d say these are upper crust steaks for a very fair price: $19.95 for the ribeye, which also included a generous portion of sauteed spinach and a healthy mound of mashed potatoes. No, it’s not the least expensive item on the menu, but we’re definitely talking value. The steak was cooked nicely, maybe just a tad beyond the way I think a medium-rare steak should be, but still sufficiently red in the center. The meat had that good mix of tenderness with a coarser steaky texture. That’s the only way I know to describe it. The mashed potatoes were real -- with the skins blended in to prove it -- and were real creamy, too. I was impressed with spinach, too. It hadn’t been cooked until it was melting. The leaves were still a bright green and were dressed with butter and just enough garlic, including a sliver or two as garnish. I started the meal with another new menu item, a caprese salad of thickly sliced tomatoes layered with milky white slices of fresh mozzarella. They were garnished with shreds of fresh basil and plenty of cracked black pepper. Wonderful flavors all. For dessert, I had the Key lime pie, which is made on the premises. It was a substantial wedge with a proper yellow color. There was just the right amount of tartness in the taste, and I liked the little shreds of line zest sprinkled on top. I enjoy the atmosphere of the Tap Room, it’s just such a comfortable place. The dining room has a surprisingly warm feel. The walls are still rustic, but what looks to be new carpeting gives it a nicer feel. The carpet, combined with fabric panels overhead, act as noise absorbers to keep the place from becoming too loud. The bar is integrally situated in the dining room -- it’s called the Tap Room, after all -- so there’s always a good energy level. If you prefer something a bit more low-key, ask for one of the tables on the verandah, which is one of the best outdoor dining spots in town. The wrap-around porch has great views of the golf course. And for those rare days when it doesn’t feel quite like Florida -- um, like today -- there are overhead heaters. It’s just a lovely place to dine. The Tap Room at Dubsdread is at 549 W. Par St. at the Dubsdread Golf Course (open to the public), Orlando. It's open for lunch and dinner daily. This link will take you to Tap Room's Web site. The phone number is 407-650-0100. {fblike}	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741585
__label__wiki	0.502659	0.502659	University of Missouri announces second class of Presidential Engagement Fellows Engagement program continues to exemplify university’s commitment to state Columbia, Mo. — Today at the University of Missouri Board of Curators meeting, UM System President Mun Choi introduced the 2019-2020 Presidential Engagement Fellows. As a Presidential Engagement Fellow, select faculty members represent the UM System and share their research discoveries and expert knowledge with Missouri citizens in every county. “The University of Missouri System is home to outstanding faculty. Our Presidential Engagement Fellows are among our finest and most engaged scholars,” Choi said. “With expertise in education, community-based health and more, our 2019-2020 class will offer great value to our communities. I am eager to see them build on the efforts of our inaugural class and use their knowledge to help improve the lives of our citizens.” Members of the 2019-2020 Presidential Engagement Fellows class are: Jannette Berkley-Patton, biomedical and health informatics, University of Missouri-Kansas City Andrew Clarke, food science, University of Missouri-Columbia Libby Cowgill, anthropology, University of Missouri-Columbia Ty-Ron Douglas, educational leadership and policy analysis, University of Missouri-Columbia Jerritt Frank, history, University of Missouri-Columbia Manuel Leal, biological sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia Jon McGinnis, classical and medieval philosophy, University of Missouri-Saint Louis John McManus, history and political science, Missouri University of Science and Technology Audra Merfeld-Langston, arts, languages, and philosophy, Missouri University of Science and Technology Leigh Neier, learning, teaching and curriculum, University of Missouri-Columbia Barbara Pahud, pediatrics, University of Missouri-Kansas City William Schonberg, civil, architectural, and environmental engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology Rachel Winograd, Missouri Institute of Mental Health, University of Missouri-Saint Louis Gerald Wyckoff, biological sciences, University of Missouri-Kansas City Lara Zwarun, communication and media, University of Missouri-Saint Louis Faculty members were selected by each university based on their demonstrated excellence and their ability to communicate their research to the public.To request a fellow for a speaking engagement or presentation, please visit: www.umsystem.edu/forms/pef-speaking-request-form There is no cost for an organization or individual to host a speaker. For more information, please visit: www.umsystem.edu/president/presidential_engagement_fellows	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741586
__label__cc	0.610483	0.389517	Elizabeth Brice Bill - What Happened? What's Next? by Abby Hughes Whilst we all had a great day of peaceful protest, making friends and raising awareness, it was a big disappointment that Paul Flynn's #ElizabethBriceBill didn't even get a reading. However, it's not all bad news; it did get a new date, it's not far away and I've got a feeling........ So what happened? Why did this happen? What's next? Three weeks ago, the Legalisation of Cannabis (Medicinal Purposes) Bill 2017-19 was actually scheduled in 6th place which wouldn't have stood a chance of being read on the day, but just after a long conversation about it all with Paul, he said he was going to try to do something about a few of the bills that were ahead of it. The very next day 3 bills, all from the same MP, had been moved out and now there were just two left ahead of ours. Thanks Paul! I think? This was now starting to look quite hopeful, though it was feared that the first bill on the schedule for Organ Donation was so popular amongst MPs, with many wanting to speak on the subject, that it might use up all the time available in the session which closes at 14:30 sharp, but that fear was wiped away within a short time when the first bill was passed early on. It seemed by this point that we could get the 2nd bill on the schedule done and dusted and get right on to Legalising Medical Cannabis. The Overseas Electors Bill started to drag painfully on....and on....and on as each MP spoke at some length, particularly and perhaps ironically 2 Labour MPs, Sandy Martin MP and Cat Smith MP. It became increasingly clear that the bill we were all waiting for would run out of time. Paul became so frustrated, he raised a point of order, quite aggressively too: Go Paul! When Paul and Tonia Antoniazzi MP came down to speak to the huge numbers of patients and supporters who braved the journey and the cold for our #PatientsAtParliament 2 rally in support of the bill, they were both still fuming that members of their own party had effectively filibustered the bill. You can hear what they had to say about it below. UPA Patrons Paul Flynn MP and Tonia Antoniazzi MP speak out about what happened with the Bill and what's next What could possibly be gained by Labour MPs filibustering this bill? If they wanted to stop the bill from progressing, they could have allowed it to take place and had it voted down, which would have really killed it and we would have to start all over again. However, all they have actually achieved is to push the reading of the bill back a few months to July 6th. Inside the world of party politics, there is still a fear that being perceived to be "Soft on Drugs" by the public leads to a measurable drop in support. This fear was validated most recently when the Liberal Democrats announced their support for the full legalisation of cannabis which was shown to have a small but never-the-less significant negative impact on their votes. An effective way of tackling this, would be if the two main parties who both have yet to review their positions on cannabis as medicine, worked together to change their respective policies at the same time thereby de-risking and de-politicising the whole subject making it much easier to support as a government. That really is how it should be. This is about patients getting legal access to a medicine and not politics. I was told (by a source) about an internal memo that was distributed to Conservative MPs the night before the bill suggesting that it was probably not going to be read and they should not plan to attend. Knowing full well that this memo would get seen by Labour, they are now free to either allow the bill to progress and attempt to get it passed, knowing that it would not get Government support or filibuster the bill this time to set a new date giving them time to talk and come to an agreement. This sort of collaboration does happen from time to time and for me, this is the only feasible explanation that makes sense of what happened on Friday. The #ElizabethBriceBill has now been rescheduled (pun unintended) for July 6th 2018, which is only 4 months away and rather appropriately is also the late Elizabeth Brice's birthday. Good omen? Another good omen is that our Queen will be giving Royal Assent to the legalisation of cannabis in Canada a few days before then too. "Before July 1st" in the words of their Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. But perhaps the biggest clue to why things have changed is the two senior MPs, recently appointed as Co-Chairs of the APPG for Drug Policy Reform alongside Baroness Molly Meacher: Crispin Blunt MP (Conservative) and Jeff Smith (Labour (Whip)). United Patients Alliance will be meeting with both of them in early March after which I hope to be able to give even more positive and detailed news on progress. We will probably start to see this being played out in front of us over the next few months, in the media and in politics. So if you start to feel there is rather more positive news and press, somewhat more positive statements on the subject from government and shadow ministers and more stories about medical cannabis patients - then we can be pretty sure that we are on the path to real progress, real change. Legal access to cannabis therapeutics could be just a few months away. Roll on July 6th and #Patientsatparliament 3 (of 3!)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741588
__label__wiki	0.936417	0.936417	Most perpetrators in 2018 mass attacks made threats - US Secret Service US investigators dig for mail-bomb motive, warn more could be found Displaced Puerto Ricans struggle to find housing in US Turkish pilots to keep training on F-35s, Pentagon says Ex-Trump lawyer Cohen testifies Trump told him to commit a crime Who is El Chapo and why is he on trial in the US? Restrictions on religion and religious practices globally increasing Neo-Nazi gets second life sentence in murder of protester in Virginia Twenty million children miss out on lifesaving vaccines in 2018 - UN A study of 27 attacks in which three or more people were harmed, with a total of 91 victims killed and 107 wounded, says warning signs can be identified "prior to an act of violence." Mourners attend a vigil for the victims of the mass shooting, at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza in Thousand Oaks, California, US. November 8, 2018. (Reuters) Most of those responsible for mass attacks in public areas in the United States in 2018 made prior threats or sent messages that sparked concern, the Secret Service said on Tuesday, in a study highlighting advance clues to such violence. Two-thirds of the attackers also had a history of mental health issues and half were motivated by workplace or personal grievances, the agency said in a report published by its National Threat Assessment Center. "The violence described in this report is not the result of a single cause or motive," it added. "The findings emphasise, however, that we can identify warning signs prior to an act of violence." 27 attacks, 91 deaths The report studied 27 attacks in which three or more people where harmed, with a total of 91 killed and 107 wounded. The incidents included the February shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, in which 14 students and three staff were killed, and October's attack at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh that killed 11 people. "These acts have impacted the safety and security of the places where we work, learn, dine, and conduct our daily activities," Secret Service Director James Murray said in a statement accompanying the report. Nine of 10 perpetrators made threats or sent messages that aroused concern and three-fourths had a history of eliciting concern before their attacks, the agency said. The centre's analysts also found that eight of 10 attackers experienced a major stressor in their lives such as a divorce, job loss or homelessness within five years before the incident. The report titled, "Mass Attacks in Public Spaces - 2018", is the centre's second such analysis, following a 2017 report. Both are intended to help prevent future attacks, Murray told a news conference. "The faster all of us with a concern for public safety can educate ourselves and others as to the warning signs and the options that exist for taking action, the better we will be able to prevent and deter acts of targeted violence," he said. EU works to save unraveling nuclear agreement with Iran – Gulf tensions	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741590
__label__cc	0.749238	0.250762	The Millennial Project Innovators on Demand™ Sign-up for our 7 Favorites Tools & Apps from our Expert Instructional Designers Keeping the “A” in ADDIE — Why It’s a Must Generation Z Are Not the New Millennials: How to Train Them Behind the Innovation Case Studies & Project Spotlights Freelancing Tips Leadership, Intrapreneurship & Professional Development Millennials & Workforce Development Outsourcing & Content Development Training Strategy & Planning Trends & Tools The 6 Most Influential Books According to Our CHRO Dana Janssen If you peek into my office, you’ll see a mixture of books lining my bookcase and on the edge of my desk. And, undoubtedly, if you look in at the right moment, you’ll catch me with one of them in my hand. While I have a habit of reading blogs and articles daily, sitting down with a good book is an important part of my professional self-care routine. There are many books that have been influential for me through the years. Today, I want to give a nod to five of my all-time faves — plus a sneak peek of one of my newest favorite reads! 1. The Giving Tree Strength comes from the trunk. This children’s book by Shel Silverstein became vivid to me in college as we looked to the guiding principles of serving others for my sorority’s philanthropy, Service for Sight. It remained a staple in my home as a family favorite when my kids were young, but still has its place in my library as an adult. It now serves as a reminder to check the pulse of my attitude as a leader. How? The story tells a tale of how to lead by putting the needs of others in focus to accomplish the goal at hand. We should always be asking ourselves: What am I doing to make an impact? 2. StrengthsFinder 2.0 Let your strengths shine. Before getting into this impactful book, readers can identify their strengths via a “strength finder” online quiz using a code in the book jacket. Then, author Tom Rath explains that if they key in on these strengths uncovered in the quiz, not only can they find success — but happiness as well. I like the sound of that! In my role at ttcInnovations, I’ve established a strength-based structure; we strive to allocate resources into roles where their strengths (and passions) align. There is typically a lot of focus on improving areas of weakness, and I admire Rath’s approach to play on one’s strengths. While you can’t disregard blind spots, I believe focusing on strengths will propel you to find the perfect fit. 3. How to Win Friends and Influence People A smile goes a long way. This one is a classic. If you haven’t read this gem, or it’s been a long time since you have, I encourage you to open this bestseller. Admittedly, you’ll find yourself wading through some outdated language at times — but it’s so worth it! Dale Carnegie’s book has been taking communication for business and personal relationships to the next level for decades. He has a common-sense approach that makes sense, and I think it’s a must-read! 4. Conscious Business Value is created by acting with value. Fred Kofman’s book is an excellent choice for anyone who doesn’t want to go into auto-pilot during their workday. He outlines seven elements to enable a conscious business life. This is one of my favorite selections, filled with actionable (and for me) breakthrough techniques to help achieve an intentional and purposeful business life. I often found myself pausing at some of his thought-provoking questions. Let me know what you think! 5. On Emotional Intelligence Mood over matter. This collection of articles from Harvard Business Review is an easy-to-read book on an essential topic. In my opinion, Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is just as important in business and leadership as Intelligence Quotient (IQ). While I have several books on EQ and keep up with the latest information on the topic, I recommend this quick read to gain a better understanding of EQ in the workplace, as well as a guide for areas of strength and blind spots. 6. A Manager’s Guide to Unleashing the Intrapreneur Launching October 26, 2017 In a follow-up to our CEO’s first self-published book, A Manager’s Guide to Unleashing the Intrapreneur is perfect for managers who wish to establish new business growth, influence a culture of innovation, and support the needs of the Millennial generation by inspiring intrapreneurship. Get a sneak peek before the launch and download the first chapter for free here! Dana is a trusted Human Resources leader who believes in creating inclusive and engaged teams. With over 20 years of education and Human Resources experience, she lends her expertise to human resource strategies and programs that support the overall business, focusing in the areas of total rewards, talent acquisition and management, performance management, inclusion, compliance, engagement, and culture. She works to inspire a growth mindset, encouraging ongoing learning and change while fostering engagement. She is instrumental in maintaining a foundation of sophisticated talent and a comprehensive range of professional resources, ensuring ttcInnovations continues to be a place where talent aspire to work. Dana believes that people strategies empower successful business outcomes, and ttcInnovations being a service-oriented company — people are its most important asset. Dana is an active member of the local and national SHRM chapters and serves on the Forbes Human Resources Council. She lives in Kansas City with her husband and their beagle, Abby. Her favorite pastime is spending time with her family, particularly her three grandboys. Innovators on Demand® (913) 268-4400 \| info@ttcinnovations.com \| Office Hours: Mon-Fri 8:00am - 6:00pm ET Copyright © 2019 ttcInnovations. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741591
__label__wiki	0.70944	0.70944	Obamacare boasts biggest day ever Thursday on HealthCare.gov More people signed up for insurance on HealthCare.gov on Thursday than any time since the launch of the Affordable Care Act exchanges three years ago, President Obama announced Friday. Obamacare boasts biggest day ever Thursday on HealthCare.gov More people signed up for insurance on HealthCare.gov on Thursday than any time since the launch of the Affordable Care Act exchanges three years ago, President Obama announced Friday. Check out this story on USATODAY.com: http://usat.ly/2hPCUh4 Jayne O'Donnell, USA TODAY Published 2:45 p.m. ET Dec. 16, 2016 \| Updated 3:19 p.m. ET Dec. 16, 2016 President Obama delivers remarks to members of the news media with Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell on July 1, 2016.(Photo: MIchael Reynolds, European Pressphoto Agency) More than 670,000 people signed up for coverage ahead of the Dec. 15 deadline for Jan. 1 coverage. And that's despite the fact about 1 million people had to leave their contact information as they couldn't get on the site. About 600,000 people signed up last year on Dec. 15. The traffic jam prompted the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to announce late Thursday that the deadline for enrollment on the federal exchange was extended until 11:59 PM PST on Dec. 19. HealthCare.gov handles enrollment for 38 states. Deadlines for state exchanges vary, but several allow enrollment for Jan. 1 coverage for a few more days. Signups rose steadily this week. On Monday, more than 325,000 Americans selected plans on HealthCare.gov. On Tuesday, more than 380,000 Americans selected plans on HealthCare.gov, marking two of the biggest days in HealthCare.gov history. Obamacare was profitable for some insurers despite public comments Obamacare enrollment deadline looms amid questions about replacement Obama, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and comedian Bill Murray were among those doing videos to encourage enrollment. The administration has been aggressively promoting the law as Republican members of Congress and President-elect Donald Trump vow to repeal it next month. Even with a repeal, however, people who don't have insurance through their jobs will still be required to buy it at least through 2017 and likely longer. A plan to replace the ACA could take several years. Earlier this week, Burwell went on a four-city tour to Tampa, Orlando, New York and East Newark,N.J., to meet with people who benefited from the ACA and encourage Americans to get covered. In-person assistance is available at http://localhelp.healthcare.gov and operators are available in English or Spanish 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 1-800-318-2596. Tell us your health care story at healthinsurance@usatoday.com Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2hPCUh4	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741593
__label__wiki	0.875887	0.875887	Nation still divided on police training, use of force Data shows distrust of police training along racial lines. Nation still divided on police training, use of force Data shows distrust of police training along racial lines. Check out this story on USATODAY.com: http://usat.ly/1Rlzl96 USA TODAY Published 2:53 p.m. ET March 23, 2016 \| Updated 11:39 p.m. ET Dec. 14, 2016 Black Lives Matter supporters in Seattle in November.(Photo: Jason Redmond, Getty Images) It’s been nearly two years since riots in Ferguson, Mo., pushed the death of unarmed black teen Michael Brown, the acquittal of the white officer who killed him and the disproportionate use of police force toward young black men into national headlines. Since then, videotaped police encounters, protests, and demands for legislative and law enforcement overhauls by groups such as Black Lives Matter, the student-led Black Liberation Collective and Campaign Zero have forced the entire nation to more closely examine issues of police brutality, undue use of force and inadequate cop training. Police, civilian deaths across the USA: The 10 states with the highest civilian deaths at the hands of police And in some cases, those in positions of power have acted: In January, the San Francisco Police Department decided to revamp its 20-year-old use-of-force policy after a police-involved shooting was caught on camera. And more recently, the Department of Justice sued the city of Ferguson after its City Council broke an agreement that would have required the department to, among other things, ensure that its officers reflected the makeup of the local community. The department’s 53 officers in 2014 were 94% white, while the community itself was nearly 70% black. Ferguson isn’t alone. Police departments in major cities across the country have a long way to go to fairly reflect the communities they serve. Baltimore is 62.5% black, but as of 2013, less than half of its police officers were African American (see graphics below for breakdowns of other city departments throughout the country). Find the arrest rates in your state: Division over what should be done about the disconnect between the demographic makeup of police departments and their communities is also reflected in public opinion. More blacks than whites say departments should adjust to reflect community demographics, according to an AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll. Below, in the wake of action by the DOJ, a look at how police department demographics compare with those of the communities they serve; an examination of police training; and polls that reflect public opinion about it all. But the public’s views on police training and use of force remain split, with blacks feeling less confident than whites about police being adequately trained to avoid use of excessive force. Also, 84% of blacks say police are more likely to use deadly force against a black person, while 57% of whites say race is not a factor at all. See more details in the graphics below. Take a look at all the data on this page, and in the hyperlinked maps. Then leave your view on what’s happening in your community. What’s being done to improve relations between police and minority communities in your area? Send us photos and videos of positive outcomes using letters@usatoday.com. College students, show us what’s happening on your campus via video. Use #policingtheusa to leave a comment on Twitter. Or leave a voice message at 540-739-2928. Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1Rlzl96	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741594
__label__wiki	0.532487	0.532487	Younicos launches service to rent energy storage systems Berlin-based energy storage company Younicos on Tuesday announced a service that will rent storage devices. The company’s “Energy-Storage-as-a-Service” product is designed to meet immediate storage requirements and will initially focus on hybrid generation systems and microgrid applications for commercial and industrial customers. Initially, Younicos said it will offer rental contracts with a 2- to 4-year minimum duration, but will make multi-month contracts available in 2019. As the market for stationary storage grows, it is becoming more mobile. With the rental model that Younicos is introducing, a storage device can be put in place for a limited amount of time and moved when conditions change. While not the first example of such leasing, Younicos's move demonstrates another way for storage companies to differentiate themselves. “We believe that this offering extends the benefits of energy storage to a new segment of customers who, for one reason or another, value financial flexibility,” Alexander Schönfeldt, head of Europe, the Middle East and Africa sales for Younicos, said in a statement. Under the company’s “Energy-Storage-as-a-Service” model, customers pay a rental fee, as well as mobilization and de-mobilization charges, but incur no other costs. The storage systems are housed in containers and can be shipped to the site, dropped in place and operated by Younicos. “Younicos’s move makes sense,” considering that the company’s corporate parent is Aggreko, one of the largest rental providers of power generating equipment in the world, Tim Grejtak, an analyst at Lux Research, told Utility Dive. Younicos was acquired by Aggreko last year in a $52 million cash deal. The move is another sign of a wider trend under way in the energy storage industry, Grejtak said. “We are starting to see more differentiation in financial business models, which is important,” he said. At first, companies differentiated themselves by the assets or technology they offered. But the ubiquity of lithium-ion batteries obviated that, Grejtak said. Next, companies differentiated themselves with control software, but most companies now offer some form of software. “Now, companies are looking at differentiation by finance. We saw a similar differentiation in the solar industry when companies began to adopt the solar lease model,” Grejtak said. Younicos’s model may be unique, but it is not the first company to offer an alternative to the outright purchase of a storage system or even a temporary storage solution. Advanced Microgrid Solutions leases batteries to customers, while Stem provides storage-as-a-service, which allows them to also operate the batteries as grid assets that can sell services into the wholesale power market. In addition, about one year ago, Consolidated Edison teamed up with NRG Energy for a $7.6 million, 1 MW, 4 MWh “Storage on Demand” demonstration project in New York City that includes battery arrays mounted on trucks. ConEd plans to move the batteries into place to relieve distribution system constraints, most likely during the summer when peak load in New York City spikes. When ConEd is not using the batteries, they live at NRG’s Astoria generating plant. From there, NRG is able to make the batteries available to the New York ISO’s wholesale electricity market. Updates to clarify that Stem does not lease storage systems, but provides them as a service. AltEnergyMag Batteries for rent: Younicos launches Energy-Storage-as-a-Service Filed Under: Energy Storage Technology Corporate News	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741597
__label__wiki	0.51062	0.51062	Duke Energy to sell power from Texas wind farm to CPS Energy Duke Energy will sell all of the output from the wind farm and associated renewable energy credits to CPS Energy under the terms of a 25-year agreement Charlotte, N.C., August 9, 2011 — Duke Energy plans to build a large-scale wind farm in Willacy County, Texas, and sell the electricity it generates to San Antonio-based CPS Energy, a municipally owned energy utility. Duke Energy Renewables, a commercial business unit of Duke Energy, will build, own and operate the 200-MW Los Vientos I Windpower Project in Willacy County, about 120 miles south of Corpus Christi and 20 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico. Duke Energy will sell all of the output from the wind farm and associated renewable energy credits to CPS Energy under the terms of a 25-year agreement. CPS Energy already buys all of the electricity generated at Duke Energy Renewables' 14-MW (16-MW direct current) Blue Wing Solar Project in San Antonio. The Blue Wing solar farm, which consists of about 215,000 photovoltaic panels, achieved commercial operation in November 2010. Duke Energy Renewables plans to start construction of the Los Vientos I Windpower Project in the fourth quarter of 2011 and achieve commercial operation in December 2012. The wind farm, to be sited on 30,000 acres of leased land, will be capable of generating enough electricity to power about 60,000 homes. This will be Duke Energy's fourth wind farm in Texas. Duke Energy Renewables is developing a second phase of the Los Vientos wind farm in the region, but it has not announced a power purchase agreement for that phase. Distribution transformer inspections	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741598
__label__wiki	0.819922	0.819922	Nearly 500,000 still without power along East Coast As of 9:00 a.m. EST November 9, there are 492,080 customers without power in the affected states impacted by Hurricane Sandy and the nor'easter Beginning November 7, a nor'easter impacted the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast with strong winds, rain or snow and coastal flooding. At 8:00 p.m. EDT October 29, the National Hurricane Center reported Sandy made landfall near Atlantic City, N.J. as a post-tropical cyclone. As of 9:00 a.m. EST November 9, there are 492,080 customers without power in the affected states impacted by Hurricane Sandy and the nor'easter. This is a decrease of 269,338 customer outages since November 8. The combined total peak customer outages from Hurricane Sandy and the nor'easter (reported in the Situation Reports) are 8,661,527 from Hurricane Sandy and 150,276 from the nor'easter storm. The state of New Jersey released power restoration plans from Public Service Electric and Gas, Jersey Central Power and Light, Atlantic City Electric, and Orange & Rockland. The restoration plans are updated daily and can be found in the "Information Sources" section here. Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE&G) reported late November 8 they have over 4,000 out-of-state workers and 700 PSE&G technicians working on restoration. Since service restoration began, PSE&G has replaced at least 2,500 poles and 1,000 transformers, as well as cut down 41,000 trees, to repair widespread damage from the hurricane. The company continues to estimate that customers impacted by Sandy will be restored by the end of the day today. Orange and Rockland (O&R), serving New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania estimated November 9 that O&R remains on track to return power by day's end November 9 to almost all of its customers who lost electric service as a result of Hurricane Sandy. The company will continue to restore power to those scattered isolated areas remaining without power in to next week. The company stated that the vast majority of the 580 outstanding repair incidents involve fewer than 30 customers each. Repairs are also ongoing to about 640 individual service lines torn down by the storms. In New Jersey; outages are concentrated in Bergen and Passaic counties. O&R team totals over 3,500 workers, including 1,000 employees and 2,500 contract personnel and is working to restore power to those customers who were affected by Sandy and the nor'easter. Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L), a FirstEnergy unit, reported November 8 that they estimate their customers affected by Hurricane Sandy will all be restored by the end of the weekend. The utility also estimated that customers who lost power due to the nor'easter would be restored throughout next week. Monmouth and Ocean counties, which were some of the utility's areas hardest hit by Sandy, also were the hardest hit by the nor'easter. The company stated that many customers along barrier islands and coastal towns of Monmouth and Ocean counties cannot be completely restored because of severe damage to homes, business, roads and infrastructure. About 1,600 additional linemen arrived in New Jersey November 8 to join nearly 14,000 JCP&L employees, FirstEnergy professionals, outside contractors, and utility workers who are concentrated on restoring power following last week's Hurricane Sandy and the nor'easter. Con Edison reported late November 8 that thousands of Con Edison crews are continuing to work to restore the remaining three percent of customer outages this weekend that remain as a result of Sandy and the nor'easter. The majority of remaining outages are concentrated in Westchester and Queens, with smaller numbers in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island. Many of the outages still left in the company's service area involve small numbers of customers. In Westchester, there are about 3,600 restoration jobs that involve 11 or fewer customers. The company is also working with the New York City Buildings Department to expedite the restoration of an additional 35,000 customers in Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens whose electrical equipment may have been damaged by flooding and cannot be safely re-energized without repairs by an electrician. More than 3,000 outside utility workers from as far away as California are working in New York City and Westchester County to assist in restoration efforts. Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) reported November 8 that the nor'easter will delay their restoration efforts. While working to restore power, LIPA is also deploying several surveying crews to better understand the damage caused by the storms. LIPA stated that they have restored 43 of the 50 substations that were out of power. Over 14,000 restoration workers, including 8,200 linemen and tree workers from throughout the country, are working to restore power. LIPA has deployed restoration crews to build a bypass system to get transmission to the Rockaway Beach substation. The company is working together with National Grid on the restoration of the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens. A taskforce consisting of LIPA, National Grid, and the New York City Office of Emergency Management is making door-to-door inspections to determine which homes and business in Rockaway are structurally safe and fit to accept power safely. The inspections are being done with the help of local electricians and plumbers. LIPA is also working with local authorities in Nassau and Suffolk Counties to make sure it is safe to restore power where water damaged electrical panels, wires, outlets, and appliances in homes and business. In areas that were flooded along the south shore, south of Atlantic Avenue, Merrick Road, and Montauk Highway, teams of inspectors are conducting assessments of homes and business. Visual inspections are underway in towns of Merrick, Bellmore, Wantagh, Seaford, Massap and Massap Park. The assessments are at no cost to the homeowner or business and are to determine whether electric service can be safely restored or if repairs will first be required. New York State Electric and Gas (NYSEG) reported November 8 that it expected to restore power to all customers who lost power as the result of damage from Hurricane Sandy or the nor'easter by last night. Their restoration team has 3,500 front line and support personnel and includes more than 700 line and tree crews from as far away as British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Missouri, North Carolina, Texas and Minnesota are on the job. Once all service is restored, activities such as circuit checks, making additional repairs where temporary repairs were made, and general clean-up will be conducted. Orange and Rockland (O&R), serving New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania estimated November 9 that O&R remains on track to return power by day's end November 9 to almost all of its customers who lost electric service as a result of Hurricane Sandy. The company will continue to restore power to those scattered isolated areas remaining without power in to next week. The company said the vast majority of the 580 outstanding separate outage incidents involve fewer than 30 customers each. Repairs are also ongoing to about 640 individual service lines torn down by the storms. In New York, outages are concentrated in Rockland and Orange counties with smaller numbers in Sullivan County. O&R team totals over 3,500 workers, including 1,000 employees and 2,500 contract personnel and is working to restore power to those customers who were affected by Sandy and the nor'easter. Mon Power, a First Energy Corp. unit, reported November 8 that, in West Virginia, restoration activities center on repair of damage caused by high winds and deep snow in the higher elevations. More than 350 off-road distribution poles have been replaced, and work continues on replacing an additional 300 off-road poles. The majority of the remaining Mon Power customers are expected to be restored by late November 9. Restoration for customers in the most heavily damaged areas, including parts of Barbour, Braxton, Clay, Nicholas, Preston, Randolph, Tucker, Upshur and Webster counties, may continue into the weekend. 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__label__wiki	0.641864	0.641864	ForestryCollege of Natural Resources University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point > Forestry > Richard Hauer, Ph.D. Richard Hauer, Ph.D. E-mail: rhauer@uwsp.edu Office: TNR 323 Ph.D. Forestry, University of Minnesota M.S. Tree Biology/Urban Forest Health, University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign B.S. Urban Forestry/Botany, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point A.A.S. Horticulture Technology, University of Minnesota-Waseca Forestry Tools Emerald Ash Borer Planning Simulator - EAB-PLANS© EAB-PLANS© was developed to assist decision makers with managing ash trees in urban & community forests challenged by the emerald ash borer. Municipal Tree Care and Management in the United States: A 2014 Urban and Community Forestry Census of Tree Activities The Municipal Tree Care and Management in the United States: A 2014 Urban and Community Forestry Census of Tree Activities is the fifth report over 40 years that addresses the many approaches communities take to manage public trees. It has been over 20 years since the last rendition in 1993. Municipal Tree Care and Management in Wisconsin: The State of the Wisconsin Urban and Community Forest Public trees in Wisconsin communities are a recognized and significant asset to citizens. The State of the Wisconsin Local Urban & Community Forests (U&CF) depicts the current situation with tree programs in Wisconsin. The reports portray trends since 1991 with the building of local U&CF capacity and outcomes over the past quarter-century. International Society of Arboriculture (1987 to Present) Education Goods and Services Committee (2005 to present) Education Program co-chair 2006 Annual Conference (2005 to 2006) Minnesota Society of Arboriculture (1987 to Present) President (2002 and 2003) Vice-president (2001) Education and Research Committee (1999 to 2003) Electrical Hazard Awareness Program (1999 to 2003) Awards Committee (2002 to 2003) Minnesota Shade Tree Advisory Committee Executive Board Member (2001 to 2003) Forest Health Subcommittee (1998 to 2003) Research and Education Subcommittee (1998 to 2003) Student Society of Arboriculture (University of Minnesota, 1997 to 1998) Communications Director and Newsletter Editor (1997 and 1998 academic years) Chair of fundraising events (1997) Student Society of Arboriculture (University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, 1988 to 1992) Organization co-advisor President (1990 to 1991 academic year) Arbor Day Chair (1990 and 1991) Tree Nursery Chair (1990) Society of American Foresters (1999 to present) Wisconsin Arborist Association (1989 to Present) Board of Directors (2005 to present) Executive Position Ad Hoc Committee (2005 to present) FOR 232: Dendrology and Silvics (Annually) FOR 319: Land Surveying (Annually) FOR 312: Amenity Forestry – Landscape Aesthetics (Annually) FOR 333: Urban Forestry (Annually) FOR 342: Urban Trees and Shrubs (Annually) FOR 385: Applied Principles of Landscape Architecture (Annually) FOR 424: Forest Pathology (Spring 2006) FOR 435: Nursery Operations and Management (Annually) FOR 499: Independent Study in Urban Forestry Topics (On-Demand) FOR 796: Advanced Topics in Urban Forestry (Alternate Years) NR 1NR 151: Ecological Basis of Natural Resource Management (lab instructor, Spring 2004) Hilbert, D.R. Koeser A.K, Roman, L. Hamilton K, Landry S.M., Hauer R.J., Campanella H., McLean D., Andreu M., and Perez H. 2019. Development Practice and Ordinances as Predictors of Urban Canopy Coverage in Florida Cities. In review Landscape & Urban Planning. Accepted Klein R., R.J. Hauer, Koeser, A.K, and B. Bleicherd. 2019. Impacts of wire basket retention and removal on Fraxinus americana ‘Autumn Purple’ growth 9 years after transplanting. Arboriculture & Urban Forestry. 45(3):79–84. Klein, R.W., A.K. Koeser, R.J. Hauer, G. Hansen, F.J. Escobedo. 2019. Risk Assessment and Risk Perception of Trees: A Review of Literature Relating to Arboriculture & Urban Forestry. Arboriculture & Urban Forestry. 45(1):23–33 Hauer, R.J., J.M. Vogt, N. Timilsina, Z. Wirtz, B.C. Fischer, and W. Peterson. 2018. A Volunteer and Partnerships Baseline for Municipal Forestry in the United States. Civic Science in Urban Forestry: Special Issue of Arboriculture & Urban Forestry. Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 44(2): 87–100. Timilsina, N., J.L. Beck, M.S. Eames, R. Hauer, L. Werner. 2017. A comparison of Local and General Models of Leaf Area and Biomass of Urban Trees In USA. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. 24: 157–163. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2017.04.003 Koeser, A.K., R.J. Hauer, R.W. Klein, and J.W. Miesbauer. 2017. Assessment of Likelihood of Failure Using Limited Visual, Basic, and Advanced Assessment Techniques. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 24: 71–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2017.03.024 Vogt, J. and R. Hauer. 2017. Sustainability Science for Urban Foresters and Arborists. Arborist News. 26(4): 28 – 33. Intasen, M., R.J. Hauer, L.P. Werner, E. Larsen. 2017. Urban Forest Assessment in Bangkok, Thailand. Journal of Sustainable Forestry. 36(2): 148 – 163. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10549811.2016.1265455. Hauer, R.J. and W. Peterson. 2017. Effects of Emerald Ash Borer on Municipal Forestry Budgets. Landscape and Urban Planning 157: 98 – 105. DOI 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2016.05.023. Peterson, W. and R. Hauer. 2016. Getting work done in the Urban Forest: Community Staffs, Volunteers, and Contractors. Arborist News. 25(6): 34 – 38. Hauer R. and W. Peterson. 2016 Municipal Forestry Budgets and Employee Compensation. Arborist News. 25(5): 58 – 61. Koeser A.K., J.M. Vogt, R.J. Hauer, R.J. Northrop, and W. Peterson. 2016. The Cost of Not Maintaining Trees: Findings from an International Symposium and Summit. Arboriculture & Urban Forestry. 42(6): 377–388 O'Herrin, K., R.J. Hauer, W.J. Vander Weit, and R.W. Miller. 2016. Home-Builder Practices and Perceptions of Construction on the Wooded Lot: A Quarter Century Later Follow-up Assessment. Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 42(5): 285–300 Koeser, A.K., R.J. Hauer, J.W. Miesbauer, and W. Peterson. 2016. Municipal Tree Risk Assessment in the United States: Findings from a Comprehensive Survey of Urban Forest Management. Arboricultural Journal. 38(4): 218–229 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03071375.2016.1221178 Johnson, G., R. Hauer, W. Peterson, D. Karcher, and J. Gulick. 2016. Financing the Urban Forest: Volunteers as a Source of Revenue and Program Support. Arborist News. 25(4):20 – 25. Klein, R.W., A.K. Koeser, R.J. Hauer, G. Hansen, and F.J. Escobedo. 2016. Relationship between Perceived and Actual Occupancy Rates in Urban Settings. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 19: 194–201. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2016.06.030. Ries, P., R. Hauer, and W. Peterson. 2016 Systematic Management of the Urban Forest. Arborist News. 25(3):46–49. Vogt J.M., B.C. Fischer, R.J. Hauer. 2016. Urban Forestry and Arboriculture as Interdisciplinary Environmental Science: Importance and Incorporation of Other Disciplines. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. 6(2):371–386 DOI 10.1007/s13412-015-0309-x Koeser, A.K., R.J. Hauer, A. Hillman, and W. Peterson. 2016. Risk and Storm Management Operations in the United States – How Does Your City Compare?. Arborist News. 25(2):20 – 23 Hauer, R.J. and W. Peterson. 2016. Building and Growing Professionals for Trees: Arboricultural Standards and Credentials. Arborist News 25(1):42 – 46 Morgenroth, J., J. Östberg; C. Konijnendijk van den Bosch; A.B. Nielsen; R.J. Hauer; H. Sjöman; W.Y. Chen; M. Jansson. 2016. Urban Tree Diversity - Taking Stock and Looking Ahead. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. 15(1): 1–5. doi:10.1016/j.ufug.2015.11.003 Hauer R.J. Vogt, and B.C. Fischer. 2015. Growing Arboriculture & Urban Forestry: One Student at a Time. Arborist News 24(5): 68–71 Vogt J.M., Hauer R.J., Fischer B.C. 2015. The Costs of Maintaining and Not Maintaining the Urban Forest: A Review of The Urban Forestry and Arboriculture Literature. Arboriculture & Urban Forestry. 41(6): 293–323. Koeser A., R. Hauer, J. Edgar, and D. Kleinhuizen. 2015. Impacts of wire basket retention and removal on planting time, root ball condition, and early growth of Acer platanoides and Gleditsia triacanthos var. Inermis. Arboriculture & Urban Forestry. 41(1):16–23 Hauer R.J., J.M. Vogt and B.C. Fischer. 2015. What is the Cost of Not Maintaining the Urban Forest. Arborist News 24(1):12 – 17 Simons, K. and R. Hauer. 2014. Species Diversity is a Numbers Game and More. Arborist News. 23(4):34–39 Hauer, R., L. Werner, and J. Dawson. 2014. Trees and Ice Storms: Developing Storm-Resistant Urban Tree Populations. Arborist News. 23(1):32–36 Koeser, A., R. Hauer, K. Norris. and R. Krouse. 2013. Factors Influencing Long-term Street Tree Survival in Milwaukee, WI, USA. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. 12(4):562–568 VanNatta, A. and R. Hauer. 2012. Money and Ash Tree Management: Prioritizing Decisions in the Face of EAB. Arborist News. 21(4):42–44 VanNatta, A.R., R.H. Hauer, N.M. Schuettpelz. 2012. Economic Analysis of Emerald Ash Borer (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) Management Options. Journal of Economic Entomology. 105(1):196–206 Hauer, R.J. 2011. Fight of the Century. Arborist News. 20(4): 53–55 Hauer, R.J., A.J. Hauer, D.R. Hartel, and J.R. Johnson. 2011. Rapid Assessment of Tree Debris Following Urban Forest Ice Storms. Arboriculture & Urban Forestry. 37(4): 237–247 Hauer, R.J., G.R. Johnson, and M.I. Kilgore. 2011. Local Outcomes of Federal and State Urban & Community Forestry Programs. Arboriculture & Urban Forestry. 37(4): 152–159 Hauer, R.J. and G.R. Johnson. 2008. State Urban and Community Forestry Program Funding, Technical Assistance, and Financial Assistance within the 50 United States. Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 34(5):280-289 Hauer, R.J. and G.R. Johnson. 2008. Approaches Within the 50 United States to Meeting Federal Requirements for Urban and Community Forestry Assistance Programs. Arboriculture & Urban Forestry. 34(5):280-289 Hauer, R.J., C.J. Casey Widerstrand, and R.W. Miller. 2008. Advancement in State Government Involvement in Urban and Community Forestry in the 50 United States: Changes in Program Status from 1986 to 2002. Ar. Arboriculture & Urban Forestry. 34(1):5-12 Hauer, R.J. and G.R. Johnson. 2008. State Urban and Community Forestry Program Funding, Technical Assistance, and Financial Assistance within the 50 United States. Arboriculture & Urban Forestry. 34(5):280-289 Hanna-Somers, N.A., R.J. Hauer, J.S. Willett, and J.F. Langowski, Jr. 1997. Water Planning Tools for Fixed Military Installations. Federal Facilities Environmental Journal. 8:101-113. Hauer, R.J. and J.O. Dawson. 1996. Growth and Iron Sequestering of Pin Oak (Quercus palustris) Seedlings Inoculated with Soil Containing Ectomycorrhizal Fungi. Journal of Arboriculture. 22:122-130 Hauer, R.J., R.W. Miller, and D.M. Ouimet. 1994. Street Tree Decline and Construction Damage. Journal of Arboriculture. 20:94-97 Hauer, R.J., W.S. Wang, and J.O. Dawson. 1993. Ice Storm Damage to Urban Trees. Journal of Arboriculture. 19:187-194 2018, Student Selection for Outstanding Teacher, UWSP College of Natural Resources 2018, L.C. Chadwick Award for Arboricultural Research, International Society of Arboriculture 2017, UW-System Regents Excellence in Teaching Award, University of Wisconsin 2017, Richard Rideout Distinguished Service Award, Wisconsin Arborist Association 2016, Legacy Project of the Year Award, Society of Municipal Foresters 2016, University Excellence in Teaching, Scholarship, and Service Award, UWSP 2014, CNR Scholarship Award, UWSP College of Natural Resources 2012, University Excellence in Teaching Award, University of Wisconsin Stevens Point 2012, Faculty Selection for Outstanding Teacher, UWSP College of Natural Resources 2008, University Scholar Award, University of Wisconsin Stevens Point 2007, CNR Outstanding Professional Service Award, UWSP College of Natural Resources 2004, Minnesota Society of Arboriculture Toothless Saw Award 2003, Federated Garden Clubs of Minnesota Scholarship in Horticulture and Forestry 2003, University of Minnesota, Waseca Alumni Association Alumni Graduate Scholarship 2002, Minnesota Association of Professional Employees Scholarship 2002, Society of American Foresters Certified Forester, Certification # 1343 2002, Leiton E. Nelson Graduate Scholarship 2001, Association of Natural Resource Education Professionals Gold Award 2000, Minnesota Department of Agriculture Annual Employee Achievement Award 2000, USDOT Merit Award, Member of the Interagency Living Snowfence Task Force	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741600
__label__wiki	0.853262	0.853262	New York - May Day Rallies Across US Target Trump Immigration Policy May Day protestors outside the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building during the May Day rally in San Francisco, California, USA, 01 May 2017. Labor Day or May Day is observed all over the world on the first day of May to celebrate the economic and social achievements of workers and fight for laborers rights. EPA/JOHN G. MABANGLO New York - Labor unions and civil rights groups launched May Day rallies across the United States on Monday, with the largest protests expected late in the day aimed at challenging President Donald Trump’s immigration policies and vow to step up deportations. Activists said they were seeking to amass the largest crowds that have turned out for U.S. immigrant-rights demonstrations since Trump took office on Jan. 20. Early in the day, 500 protesters marched through midtown Manhattan and rallied in front of offices of Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase & Co . Twelve were arrested, according to a spokesman for Make the Road New York, an immigrant advocacy group that claims 20,000 members. The two banks were targeted because of their dealings with private companies that have built or manage some immigrant detention centers for the government, according to Jose Lopez, Make the Road New York’s co-director of organizing. “The messaging for today was to stop to financing immigrant detention facilities,” said Lopez. “This is going to be the first of many attacks against these corporations who, until they stop working with this administration, will continue to be on our target list.” People gather in Union Square Park to support a May Day rally in New York, New York, USA, 01 May 2017. Labor Day or May Day is observed all over the world on the first day of the May to celebrate the economic and social achievements of workers and fight for laborers rights. EPA/PETER FOLEY May Day, also known as International Workers’ Day, has typically been a quieter affair in the United States than in Europe, where it is a public holiday in many countries. May Day unrest flared on Monday in France and Turkey, where demonstrators clashed with police. At least three French officers were injured in Paris when protesters hurled Molotov cocktails and other projectiles at law enforcement. Meanwhile, police in Istanbul fired tear gas and rubber bullets to break up a rally there as authorities detained more than 150 people in protests around that city. New York City’s biggest rally was planned for the early evening, when organizers expected thousands to gather in downtown Manhattan’s Foley Square for musical performances and speeches by union leaders and immigrants living in the country illegally. In Los Angeles, organizers expected tens of thousands of people to converge on MacArthur Park during the morning before marching downtown to a rally in front of City Hall. Precautions were in place in Seattle, where officials were on the lookout for incendiary devices and gun-carrying protesters after a January shooting outside a political event and an incident during May Day 2016 in which a protester tossed an unlit Molotov cocktail at police. Some Trump supporters said they would also turn out on May Day. Activist Joey Gibson said he and other conservatives would travel to Seattle to defend against what he described as communist and anti-fascist groups who have in the past faced off with police in the evening, after the conclusion of the usually peaceful daytime marches. “Jerusalem - A jailed Palestinian leader who accused Israel of mistreating Palestinian prisoners “has become adept at rebranding Palestinian terrorism as legitimate...” Jerusalem - An Israeli Minister Responds To Jailed Palestinian Leader’s NY Times Op-ed “Gaza City - The new political program of Hamas, published Monday, is meant to help the Islamic militant group break out of its international isolation. The manifesto...” Gaza City - Hamas Rebrands Itself In New Manifesto, But Old Goals Remain May 01, 2017 at 09:27 PM Liepa Says: All these hypocritic choleras would be the first to scream bloody murder should any of these muslim immigrants be placed in their neighborhoods, faarshteist !!!	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741608
__label__wiki	0.841618	0.841618	Educated women prefer the car-based, midsize SUVs By - The Washington Times - Friday, January 10, 2003 Men ask in exasperation: What do women want? Finally there is an answer. They prefer a car-based, midsize sport utility vehicle over one that is truck-based. At least college-educated women do, according to a study by AutoPacific, an automotive specialist market research and product consulting company headquartered in Tustin, Calif. Their 2002 SUV crossover study showed that the latest crop of car-based midsize sport utility vehicles has attracted a high percentage of an important type of buyer: the well-educated female, which means women with at least four years of college. It is the sophistication of these vehicles that ride like cars instead of like trucks that has made them appealing to educated female buyers, who demand refinement, a carlike ride, value and functionality. "More and more of these midsize car-based SUVs are coming to market, and they represent a new type of vehicle in many ways," said Ed Kim, product analysis manager. "They offer the styling and functionality that SUVs have offered for the past decade, but in addition because they are based on passenger-car platforms they offer a lot of benefits over a traditional truck-based SUV." Based on unit-body platforms, vehicles such as Ford Escape, Mazda Tribute, Hyundai Santa Fe and Toyota Highlander the vehicles looked at in the survey offer ride, handling and refinement that are comparable to sedans. Many women who have high expectations for vehicles in these respects did not find these attributes in traditional truck-based SUVs. In many cases, those vehicles have had trucklike ride and handling, "agricultural-sounding" engines, high step-in height, making it difficult to enter and exit, and all around less refinement. Furthermore, because they don't sit on a frame, car-based SUVs have a lower floor for easier entry and exit. Yet they still have the high ground clearance and command-of-the-road seating position that people expect from an SUV. According to the AutoPacific data, 33 percent of Ford Escape buyers Ford's only car-based SUV are college-educated women. However, when it comes to Ford's truck-based SUVs, 16 percent of buyers are college-educated women. "That's more than double," Mr. Kim said. "With Escape, Ford is succeeding in diversifying the appeal of their SUVs. And that's really significant to the Ford brand, which has always relied on their 'Built Ford Tough' macho image." The story is similar, although not as dramatic, for other new car-based midsize SUV entries, such as Highlander, Tribute and Santa Fe. In the case of each of these vehicles, the companies have succeeded in earning more buyers who are female and educated. For example, 20 percent of Hyundai Santa Fe buyers are college-educated women, compared to 16 percent for the rest of the brand. Although four percentage points isn't a huge difference, it is directional, Mr. Kim said. These findings are significant because they indicate these vehicles are addressing the concerns and needs of one group of consumers who have stayed away from SUVs in the past, which means the SUV market has a lot of life left, Mr. Kim predicts. SUV sales are showing signs of maturing, and AutoPacific forecasts that sales will number about 4 million in 2002. With more car-based SUVs arriving over the coming years, total SUV sales could grow to more than 4.2 million by 2007. Although 200,000 vehicles over five years doesn't seem like a lot, Mr. Kim said it's still growing, just not at the rate it was in the 1990s, the period of major growth in the SUV market. And car-based Sport Utility Vehicles are where a lot of the growth will be, he said. "Through 2006, there are 22 new car-based SUV's coming to market, while there are 11 new truck-based entries coming. By bringing out these car-based SUVs, they are helping to maintain the momentum. A lot of people who bought Explorers and Blazers in the '90s are finding their needs a lot better met by these car-based SUVs."	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741610
__label__wiki	0.785259	0.785259	Archive for date: September 7th, 2016 You are now in California and the U.S. category. BLOG: Why California WaterFix Is a Path to Extinction September 7, 2016 /in California and the U.S. /by Adam Hebel /NRDC (New York)by Doug Obegi Last month, the website Water Deeply published an op-ed I wrote about the likely harm to salmon and other endangered species from the California WaterFix project. This op-ed followed a letter that NRDC sent to the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service regarding major flaws in the draft biological assessment. Below is a more detailed version of that op-ed, which includes page citations to the WaterFix biological assessment. https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png 0 0 Adam Hebel https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png Adam Hebel2016-09-07 11:32:592018-06-26 18:23:00BLOG: Why California WaterFix Is a Path to Extinction BLOG: Major Habitat Restoration Project Could Help Delta Fish September 7, 2016 /in California and the U.S. /by Adam Hebel /Water Deeply (New York)by Matt Weiser If you restore aquatic habitat in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, will the fish come back? That’s the basic question behind a major restoration project planned at Prospect Island, a 1,600-acre (650-hectare) tract of levee-protected farmland near Rio Vista that is now owned by the state. The California Department of Water Resources and Department of Fish and Wildlife plan to breach the levees to restore tidal flow to the island, and reshape the terrain to create the kind of shallow habitat that could attract Chinook salmon and delta smelt. The agencies recently released a draft environmental impact report on their project. https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png 0 0 Adam Hebel https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png Adam Hebel2016-09-07 11:14:252018-06-26 18:23:00BLOG: Major Habitat Restoration Project Could Help Delta Fish Official: Californians Netted Strong Water Savings in July September 7, 2016 /in California and the U.S. /by Adam Hebel /The San Diego Union-Tribune Residents of drought-stricken California kept up water conservation in July despite the long, hot days near the peak of summer, officials said. People are most inclined to water their yards when it is the hottest, so dialing back sprinklers also offers the greatest opportunity for savings, officials said. “We’re holding steady” on conservations, said Max Gomberg, a senior climate scientist for the State Water Resources Control Board. “It shows that people understand that the drought’s not over.” https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png 0 0 Adam Hebel https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png Adam Hebel2016-09-07 11:10:222018-06-26 18:23:00Official: Californians Netted Strong Water Savings in July California Water Conservation ‘Holding Steady’ Through July September 7, 2016 /in California and the U.S. /by Adam Hebel /CBS Sacramento https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png 0 0 Adam Hebel https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png Adam Hebel2016-09-07 11:04:052018-06-26 18:23:00California Water Conservation ‘Holding Steady’ Through July Project Aids Food Supply for Delta Smelt September 7, 2016 /in California and the U.S. /by Adam Hebel /AgNet West (Gainesville, Fla.) Efforts to enhance the food supply for the protected delta smelt are showing initial success, according to wildlife and water resources experts. They gathered at the Yolo Bypass to the Sacramento River last week to discuss their work to increase the number of plankton available to the fish. Cooperative efforts by state and federal agencies, Sacramento Valley farmers and water providers have resulted in the creation of a phytoplankton bloom, the experts said. Phytoplankton are microscopic creatures and the major food source for zooplankton, another minuscule creature that represents the main food source for delta smelt. https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png 0 0 Adam Hebel https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png Adam Hebel2016-09-07 11:00:442018-06-26 18:23:00Project Aids Food Supply for Delta Smelt Californians Still Saving Water in Drought, But Not as Much September 7, 2016 /in San Diego County /by Adam Hebel /The Orange County Register Californians are still saving water despite the recent lifting of mandatory statewide conservation, but not as much as they were last year at the peak of the drought, water officials said Wednesday. Monthly figures showed water conservation in cities and towns statewide dropped 1 percent in July from the previous month. July water-savings were down 11 percent from July 2015, which marked peak urban water conservation under last year’s mandatory 25-percent statewide cutbacks for cities and towns. https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png 0 0 Adam Hebel https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png Adam Hebel2016-09-07 10:55:242018-06-26 18:23:00Californians Still Saving Water in Drought, But Not as Much Water Use in California is Increasing. Should We Care? September 7, 2016 /in California and the U.S. /by Adam Hebel /89.3 KPCC (Pasadena)by Emily Guerin New data out Wednesday show Californians used 15 percent more water this July than the same time last year, continuing a trend that began in June when state officials backed away from mandatory water conservation targets. While state officials seem unfazed by the increase, others worry it means Californians aren’t taking the drought as seriously as before. In June, the State Water Resources Control Board ended nearly a year of unprecedented mandatory water conservation across the state. In spring 2015, Governor Jerry Brown asked for a statewide cut of 25 percent. https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png 0 0 Adam Hebel https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png Adam Hebel2016-09-07 10:52:392018-06-26 18:23:00Water Use in California is Increasing. Should We Care? California’s Water Conservation Dips in July — Are Eased Rules to Blame? September 7, 2016 /in San Diego County /by Adam Hebel /Los Angeles Timesby Matt Stevens Urban water conservation across California dipped slightly during the second month that less stringent conservation requirements have been in place, state regulators said Wednesday. More alarming to some, the 20% water-use reduction in July, compared with the same month in 2013, also marked a sharp decline from last summer, when residents and businesses saved more than 31% as concern about the drought reached a fever pitch. https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png 0 0 Adam Hebel https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png Adam Hebel2016-09-07 10:50:232018-06-26 18:23:00California's Water Conservation Dips in July — Are Eased Rules to Blame?	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741611
__label__cc	0.654903	0.345097	Clarke Co Sheriff honored By: Clarke Co Sheriff's Office Published: March 14 2019 5:13 AM Clarke County Sheriff Ira Edwards Jr. was the recipient of the 2019 Changing the Picture for Athens Children’s Award for his extraordinary contributions to the youth in Athens-Clarke County. This award was presented by Family Connection’s Director Tim Johnson on February 23, 2019 at the Athens Country Club. Family Connection In Schools of Athens engages community partners and family to work in neighborhoods and schools to identify the social, physical, emotional, and academic needs of children in Athens-Clarke County and ensure that they receive the support they need to overcome the challenges. Sheriff Edwards has partnered with the Clarke County School District and Athens Technical College to provide career opportunities for our local youth that are aspiring to have a career in public safety. Sheriff Edwards stated, “I am humbled to have been selected for this award as we continue to invest in our future”. Sheriff Edwards will be hosting his 19th Annual Charity Ride on October 26, 2019 where part of the proceeds will benefit Family Connection and CCSO DARE Unit. Also, a Job Readiness program is offered to groups of inmates on a continuous basis. The Sheriff Edwards Annual Charity Ride has donated over $60,000 to community organizations over the past fifteen years, including the Athens Tutorial Program, the Boys and Girls Clubs, All God’s Children, Family Connection, Girl Scouts of America, Boy Scouts of Northeast Georgia, and Gentlemen on the Move. The award was presented by Dr. Mustafa G. Sahin. Dr. Tudor Vlad also received an IDEA award for his valuable efforts towards continuously fostering democracy and stability globally and particularly in emerging democracies by promoting freedom of speech, independent media and inter-ethnic dialogue.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741616
__label__wiki	0.884345	0.884345	The Trailer Director's Statement Press Reactions Buy/Rent the Film Screening Resources About the Issues How to Host a Screening See the Film \| Upcoming screenings \| "A Small Good Thing" at Brown University! Wed 13, Apr 16 04:00PM - 07:00PM Brown University, Watson Institute Joukowsky Auditorium 111 Thayer St Contact: Arohi Kapoor Join us on April 13th for a screening of A Small Good Thing at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island! The film will be followed by a Q&A with Director Pamela Tanner Boll. "A Small Good Thing" by Pamela Tanner Boll explores what it takes to live a good life at the beginning of this new century. This film follows six people who, despite economic concerns and high levels of stress, have found a way to have more meaning in their lives, a closer bond with their families and communities, and a deeper connection to themselves and the natural world. Pamela Tanner Boll, an artist, filmmaker, writer, and activist, is the Director of Who Does She Think She Is?, a film about five artists who are mothers. She is the Co-Executive Producer of Academy Award-winning Born into Brothels, and the Executive Producer of eight documentaries: Connected, In a Dream,Our Summer in Tehran, Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields, Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors without Border, She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry, Close to the Fire, and E-Team. The Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University seeks to promote a just and peaceful world through research, teaching, and public engagement. The Watson Institute is a community of scholars and practitioners whose work aims to help us understand and address the world's great challenges, such as globalization, economic uncertainty, security threats, environmental degradation, and poverty. Remember that You Can Also: See All Screenings buy a Screening License Send us an Email \| Phone: 781 721 7324 Copyright © 2016 Mystic Artists \| All rights reserved Made with NationBuilder \| Built by Tectonica This is a Film	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741617
__label__wiki	0.623586	0.623586	» Liberal Theology The First Authorship Kierkegaards Authorship until 1846 Last Updated on Mon, 10 Sep 2018 \| Liberal Theology Kierkegaard's first full-length published work was From the Papers of One Still Living (1838), a critique of Hans Christian Andersen's novel Only a Fiddler, which Kierkegaard attacks for not having a "life-view." This concern for a life-view, to find a "truth worth living or dying for," as he puts it in an early journal entry,15 is a theme that runs through Kierkegaard's authorship. Kierkegaard's next significant work was his doctrinal dissertation The Concept of Irony with Continual Reference to Socrates. Although still showing signs of Hegelian influence, this youthful work contains nascent forms of the concepts that would dominate Kierkegaard's future authorship: irony, subjectivity, existence as the synthesis of possibility and necessity, and the contrast between the figures of Christ and Socrates. Kierkegaard, however, dated his authorship from the publication of Either/Or (1843).16 Part I of this massive work comprises a diverse collection of pieces ranging from aphoristic "diapsalmata" to "The Diary of the Seducer." Both the subject matter as well as the disparity and fragmentary nature of the themes discussed in the volume express the central features of what Johannes Climacus in Postscript terms the "aesthetic" sphere of existence. "A," the pseudonymous author of part I of Either/Or, is an individual who lives according to the aesthetic life-view, the fundamental principle of which is pleasure. What the aesthetic individual does not realize is that his life-view is one that leads ultimately to despair. It lacks a center or leading idea to hold the self together. The aesthetic self allows itself to be dissipated among the myriad possibilities life has to offer. Part II of Either/Or consists of two lengthy letters written by "B" to the aesthete of part I, to which is appended a brief sermon by a country parson. From his letters we learn that "B" is a magistrate, "Judge William," who is concerned at the hedonistic lifestyle of his young friend, A. B strives to persuade A that the aesthetic enjoyment and fulfillment the latter craves can be achieved only through grounding the aesthetic in the ethical. Thus, to take B's example of the love-relationship, love is truly realized only when the particularity of the individual love-affair is grafted onto the universal-human by being grounded in the ethical institution of marriage. The inherent despair of the aesthetic self through its dissipation in life's myriad possibilities and the aesthetic individual's consequent lack of a coherent self are overcome by the choice of the ethical. This ethical choice is initially a choice of despair. Despair is "personality's doubt," and by choosing despair17 the aesthetic individual accepts the inadequacy of his or her mode of existence and takes on "the absolute self or my self according to its absolute validity."18 In choosing, the individual freely accepts responsibility for him or herself and, instead of conceiving of possibility as the source of aesthetic pleasure, understands possibility as a task. With this choice of the despairing self, the distinction between good and evil is posited, because the choice of despair constitutes an acknowledgment of, and application to oneself of, the categories of right and wrong. Either/Or concludes with a sermon written by a country priest, entitled the "Ultimatum," which B has sent to A because it confirms the validity of the ethical life-view and will thus be of use in helping A out of his aesthetic mode of existence. B is mistaken, however. The "Ultimatum," the theme of which is "The upbuilding that lies in the thought that in relation to God we are always in the wrong," does not confirm the validity of the ethical but provides the first hints of its downfall. In his sermon the Pastor argues that before God all human beings are in the wrong, and that this is our joy, for it is by being in the wrong that we sustain a relationship with God. Far from confirming the ethical view of life espoused by B, then, the "Ultimatum" provides the first hints that the ethical sphere is not the full story. It is not getting right with God through ethical observation that determines our God-relationship, but becoming aware that we are wrong before God. The "Ultimatum," then, is alluding to sin and providing the first hints of a mode of existence that cannot be contained in ethical categories. What Either/Or offers us, then, is, as Robert L. Perkins has pointed out, an either/ or/or.19 It is this second "or," the religious life-view, which is arguably the main concern of the subsequent works. 1843 was a highly productive year for Kierkegaard. Besides Either/Or he published three collections of upbuilding discourses and two more pseudonymous works, namely, Fear and Trembling and Repetition, published under the pseudonyms Johannes de silentio and Constantin Constantius respectively. The first of these is a meditation on Abraham's near-sacrifice of his son Isaac. Theologically the book is significant for its conception of faith as a "movement by virtue of the absurd" and for the introduction of the notion of a "teleological suspension of the ethical." This latter concept has elicited considerable scholarly attention and has prompted some commentators to accuse Kierkegaard of moral nihilism. The point Johannes de silentio seems to wish to make is one already hinted at in the "Ultimatum" of Either/Or, namely, that the God-relationship cannot be confined in the deontological ethics advocated by Judge William and that the ethical consciousness of the human self must have its grounding not in social and civic norms and standards but in God. Repetition is a psychological study by Constantin Constantius of the unhappy love affair of a young man of his acquaintance, much of which mirrors Kierkegaard's experience with Regine. By "repetition," Constantin means the restitution in a qualitatively new way of something believed to have been lost irrevocably. This restitution comes about not by means of human powers, however, but as a result of the initiative of God, for whom the impossible is possible. As the young man of Repetition says of Job, "So there is repetition, after all. When does it occur? Well, that is hard to say in any human language. When did it occur for Job? When every thinkable human certainty and probability were impossible."20 1844 was another year of astonishing productivity for Kierkegaard. Besides three collections of upbuilding discourses, he published two significant and influential pseudonymous works, namely, Philosophical Fragments by Johannes Climacus and Concept of Anxiety by Vigilius Haufniensis. The first of these works is a thinly disguised exposition of Christianity. Climacus undertakes a "thought-project" in which he constructs a form of religiousness opposite to "Socratic religiousness." By "Socratic religiousness," Climacus designates the view that the human being is in innate possession of the truth, or, to put it in religious terms, sustains a natural albeit obscured relationship to God. The task then becomes that of "recollecting" this innate but obscured truth and allowing it to inform one's existence as fully as possible. This was the religiousness Kierkegaard felt was prevalent in the Hegelian-colored religion and state Christianity of his own age, albeit without Socrates' existential intensity. But how, Johannes Climacus asks in the Fragments, would religion appear if the human being did not possess a natural propensity for a God-relationship? What form would religion take if the human being were not in innate possession of the truth? Then the individual could not recollect a dimly remembered innate truth, for there is no innate truth to recollect. But if the human being is not in possession of the truth, then he or she must be in untruth. This state of being in untruth is more than an epistemological deficiency, however; it is a form of bondage in which the human being has freely chosen to flee from the truth. It is, Johannes Climacus tells us, sin. A consequence of this is that there is no role for the Socratic teacher, for there is no truth in the human being which such a teacher can bring to birth. The human being needs a different type of teacher, one who possesses the truth and is able to impart it to the untruthful, sinful human being. But this is still not enough, for the human being, in bondage to sin, does not possess the resources either for recognizing or for appropriating the truth the teacher brings. Consequently, reason cannot be the means by which the human being accepts the truth offered by the teacher. The teacher must therefore provide not only the truth but also the condition for accepting the truth. Johannes Climacus suggests that the most appropriate term for this condition is faith.21 The claim that the teacher gives not only the truth but also the condition for accepting the truth to the human being raises two problems. First, what is the role of reason in the human being's relationship to the truth? Secondly, is Johannes Climacus a determinist? In reply to the first question, it is well known that in many of his works Kierkegaard makes clear the limitations of reason. Indeed, his description of faith as a movement by virtue of the absurd in Fear and Trembling, and his description of the incarnation as a paradox in Philosophical Fragments and Concluding Unscientific Postscript, have led some commentators to accuse him of irrationalism. Reason, however, is not absent from faith. On the contrary, Johannes Climacus emphasizes the importance of reason. Reason is the means by which we distinguish between the paradox and nonsense. Furthermore, it is only by pushing reason to its limits that we arrive at the boundary at which a God-relationship -albeit always on divine initiative - can become a possibility.22 Although certain passages in both Fragments and Postscript can create the impression that Johannes Climacus is a determinist, closer examination of Climacus's argument forces us to an altogether different view. Climacus's point is that it is God who provides the condition by which the God-relationship becomes possible. It is not a human achievement but a divine gift. The condition that is faith entails release from the bondage of sin and restores human freedom. These constitute the condition of the truth, but, now that freedom has been restored, the human being must freely choose whether to accept the truth that is offered in and by the teacher. As Climacus puts it, "If I do not possess the condition ... then all my willing is of no avail, even though, once the condition is given, that which was valid for the Socratic is again valid."23 The Concept of Anxiety was published on June 14, 1844, four days after the appearance of Philosophical Fragments. With its abstract and technical style, it appears at first sight to be a very different work from Fragments. Nevertheless, the two works are connected in that the Concept of Anxiety takes up the themes of freedom and sin touched upon in Fragments. In Fragments, Climacus tells a parable to illustrate the origins of the loss of freedom and bondage to sin.24 Before a battle, a knight arrives on the scene and is asked by each of the hostile armies to join the battle on their side. He makes his choice, but chooses the losing side and is taken captive. His subsequent attempt to join the victorious side is rebuffed. The terms offered to him before the battle no longer apply now that the battle is over. The knight is bound by his earlier decision. A similar state of affairs applies to the sinner. The sinner, too, has chosen sides and is now bound by the decision he or she has made. But what leads the human being to choose sin? It is this transition from innocence to sin and the nature of original or "hereditary" sin that Vigilius Haufniensis explores in the Concept of Anxiety. Vigilius generally accepts the Augustinian doctrine of original sin, but reformulates it in psychological terms in order to leave room for human freedom and responsibility for sin. The human self, Vigilius tells us, is a "synthesis" of the psychical and the physical,25 and the temporal and the eternal.26 It is the task of the self to bring these dipolar elements into a coherent structure, and the manner in which the self goes about this task determines the nature of that self. Anxiety is the disquiet the self experiences in the face of this task. The self suffers anxiety because it has the capacity to choose. As Vigilius puts it, anxiety is "a sympathetic antipathy and an antipathetic sympathy"27 in which the self is both attracted to and repelled by its possibility. The transition from innocence to sin is a consequence of this anxiety. Vigilius describes anxiety as "the dizziness of freedom which emerges when the spirit wants to posit the synthesis and freedom looks down into its own possibility, laying hold of finiteness to support itself."28 In this free but anxious choice of finitude, sin is posited. This is the transition which Adam made and which all subsequent human beings make. For Vigilius, the Fall was not a single, unique historical act the consequences of which are passed down genetically from generation to generation. Such an understanding would place Adam in a qualitatively different position from all other human beings and would, moreover, negate human freedom, for if human beings are predestined to sin by the inheritance of original sin they cannot be held responsible for their sin. The difference between Adam and all subsequent human beings, Vigilius argues, is not qualitative but quantitative. The long history of human sin since Adam has produced an increase in the quantity of sin in the world. This creates an environment in which the anxious vertigo of the innocent human being is intensified. It does not, however, cause the innocent individual to make the transition from innocence to sin. Like Adam many generations before, every human being falls through an act of freedom in which, disorientated by freedom, he or she grasps finitude and falls into sin. Stages on Life's Way (1845) and Concluding Unscientific Postscript (1846) can both be regarded as a summing up and taking stock of the previous works. In Stages on Life's Way, many of the characters already encountered in earlier works reappear. The work falls into three unequal sections. Part 1, "In vino veritas," takes the form of a dinner party modeled after Plato's symposium, at which the five diners hold speeches on "erotic love or the relation between man and woman."29 In part 2, we renew our acquaintance with Judge William, who once again is concerned to defend the institution of marriage, although now he is more ready to acknowledge the possibility of religiously justified exceptions to the duty of marriage. Perhaps the most interesting part of the book from the theological perspective, however, is part 3, which falls into two sections, namely, "Quidam's Diary" and Frater Taciturnus's psychological study of Quidam and his failed love-relationship. In the course of this study, religious themes emerge in the consideration of guilt and its role in the God-relationship. Whereas parts 1 and 2 of Stages on Life's Way map roughly onto the aesthetic writings of Either/ Or I and onto Judge William's two letters of Either/Or II, respectively, the final section of Stages seems to be an extension and deepening of themes touched upon in the "Ultimatum" with which Either/Or closes. Concluding Unscientific Postscript to the Philosophical Fragments is, as its name indicates, a sequel to Philosophical Fragments, albeit one which far outstrips in length the work to which it is allegedly only an addendum. It is the nearest Kierkegaard comes to a "systematic" presentation of his thought. Many of the themes of the earlier works are taken up and presented in the broader context of Johannes Climacus's question: how do I become a Christian? It is in this context that Kierkegaard introduces his famous, or perhaps infamous, thesis that "truth is subjectivity." Of all aspects of Kierkegaard's thought, this is probably the most controversial and arguably the most misunderstood. Contrary to the claims of some commentators, Climacus is not claiming that we can invent the truth or that intensity of belief guarantees the validity of that belief. Climacus is concerned with ethical, religious, and existential truth. His point is that it is not sufficient to understand such truth merely intellectually; it is necessary that each of us embody it and bring it to expression in our own lives. The concept of subjectivity is developed in order to unfold the nature of being, or rather becoming, a self. As such it is closely connected with Climacus's concept of "existence," a term which he employs in a specialized sense to refer not to simple facticity such as stones and plants possess but to a qualitative type of existence distinctive to the human being. This qualitative type of existence arises from the contradictory nature of the human being as an infinite and eternal self situated within the finite and the temporal. This contradiction presents the human being with the task of becoming a self within the temporal and finite structures of history. Subjectivity plays an important role in this because it is the means by which the self appropriates, actualizes, and embodies what it conceives to be the truth or life-view according to which it is called upon to organize itself. Human existence is not static, nor does it possess a fixed essence; it is a task arising out of the eternal self being situated within finite and temporal existence. Climacus explores the task of becoming a self by means of his theory of the spheres of existence, which also provides a framework for the interpretation of the earlier pseudonymous works. In the Postscript, he lists four existence-spheres open to the human being, namely, the aesthetic and the ethical spheres, and religiousness A and B. The difference between the various existence-spheres is determined by the way in which they resolve the contradiction of human existence, namely, that of being an infinite and eternal self situated within the finite and the temporal. The aesthete externalizes the existential contradiction. As Climacus puts it, "Immediacy, the esthetic, finds no contradiction in existing; to exist is one thing, contradiction is something else that comes from without."30 The aesthetic individual thus exists in what Climacus calls "the esthetic dialectic between fortune and misfortune"31 and is undialectical in him or herself.32 For the aesthete, eternity is a never-ending succession of "nows," each one of which offers the possibility of enjoyment, before passing away to be replaced by the next pleasurable moment. Time is fragmented, for the past and the future are dissolved into the present moment, the consequence of which is that the aesthetic self is also fragmented among the myriad and disparate pleasures offered by the moment. The ethico-religious individual, on the other hand, is the individual who has become conscious of and acts upon the existential contradiction of being an eternal and infinite self situated in temporal and finite existence. Time takes on a new quality. It is no longer a never-ending flux but is a time of decision. The moment is consolidated in the decision. As such, it is not past but is remembered and repeated in the present and future. With decision, then, the past and the future are posited. The individual chooses him or herself not once, but repeatedly, a choice which manifests itself in commitment, resolution, and constancy. Thus love is not dissolved in a flux of erotic moments, but is consolidated in marriage. Thereby past, present, and future are unified and the human being acquires a coherent self. The aesthetic conception of eternity as an infinity of transitory experiences is replaced with the eternity of ethical resolution. Religiousness A is the "religion of immanence"; it assumes a fundamental affinity between eternity and existence and understands the existential task as being that of the self's "recollection" of this affinity. As Climacus puts it with regard to the God-relationship, religiousness A is "an evolution within the total category of human nature."33 That is, religiousness A assumes that the human being possesses the condition for a God-relationship. The dialectic of religiousness A is thus a "dialectic of inward deepening," in which the self appropriates the truth of its affinity with the eternal and strives to restructure its existence accordingly. As Climacus puts it, religiousness A "is the relation to an eternal happiness that is not conditioned by a something but is the dialectical inward deepening of the relation, consequently conditioned only by the inward deepening, which is dialectical."34 It is this dialectic of inward deepening that accounts for both the similarities and differences between religiousness A and the ethical sphere. The similarities lie in the common assumption of a fundamental, although obscured, compatibility between eternity and existence. The difference between the two lies in their assessment of the human being's resources for resolving the existential contradiction. Climacus points out that the choice of despair recommended by Judge William cannot result in the individual "winning himself," because the individual exhausts his or her strength in choosing despair and consequently "cannot come back by [himself]."35 In religiousness A, the human being has become far more profoundly aware of the difficulties of being an eternal and infinite self situated in temporal and finite existence. He or she strives to resolve this contradiction by subordinating the self to the greatest possible degree to the "absolute telos" that is God. This entails "becoming nothing before God," "suffering," and "guilt-consciousness," all of which constitute marks of a God-centered existence. In religiousness B or "Christian religiousness," religiousness A is not annulled but intensified. The difference between religiousness A and B is that the latter is "dialectical in the second instance"36 as a result of eternity's entry into time. Eternity's irruption into time, or, to express the same point in religious language, God becoming a human being, is the absolute paradox, because in the person of the God-man mutually contradictory qualities - the eternal and the temporal, the infinite and the finite, and the divine and the human - are united. As Climacus puts it, "That God has existed in human form, has been born, grown up, and so forth, is surely the paradox sensu strictissimo, the absolute paradox."37 The paradox of God's presence in time is incomprehensible to reason, for the God-man "is compounded in a way contradictory to all thinking."38 Indeed, in the presence of the paradoxical irruption of the eternal into time, reason becomes a "clod and a dunce."39 Furthermore, the paradox makes clear to human beings that they are not in possession of the condition necessary for a relationship with God and that there can therefore be no question of recollecting the truth. God is not to be found in the depths of the self, accessible by means of the dialectic of inward deepening; on the contrary, the paradox reveals that God and the human are not united at some deeper level, but are separated from one another by an "infinite qualitative abyss." Subjectivity is consequently not the truth but the untruth, for the human self does not possess the resources for establishing a relation to the eternal. The Christian expression for this radical separation of eternity and existence, God and the human, is sin. This transforms and sharpens the religious task. Whereas in religiousness A the task was that of the self's "recollection" of its fundamental affinity with eternity and its structuring of its life accordingly, in religiousness B the task is that of relating oneself to the paradoxical presence of the eternal-in-time. The response to the absolute paradox and the crisis into which this plunges the human being is faith. The paradoxical nature of the incarnation allows Kierkegaard to address the problem Lessing raises in his On the Proof of the Spirit and of Power that "accidental truths of history can never become proof of necessary truths of reason."40 In Fragments and Postscript, as well as in the later Practice in Christianity (1850), Kierkegaard addresses this issue by developing the concept of "contemporaneity." For Lessing it was only the immediate contemporaries of Christ who were able to form a judgment on the status of Jesus of Nazareth. Later generations are dependent upon historical reports of Christ's life and ministry, which, Lessing argues, are an insufficient basis for faith. Both Climacus and Anti-Climacus, the pseudonymous author of Practice in Christianity, argue, however, that immediate contemporaneity is of no advantage with regard to the absolute paradox. Christ is the paradoxical union of the eternal and the temporal, the infinite and the finite, and the divine and the human, and this is just as much a paradox for Jesus' contemporaries as it is for later generations. For the same reason, later generations have no advantage over Christ's contemporaries, even though the historical consequences of Christ's life have now become apparent. There is, Anti-Climacus points out, no ascending scale of human greatness to the point where human greatness reaches such a high level that it becomes divinity.41 All human beings, whether they knew Christ personally or only on the basis of the historical record, are in the same position. All are confronted by the absolute paradox of the God-man and faced with the same choice: faith or offense. To this last phase of Kierkegaard's "first authorship" belongs Two Ages. This little book is a review of a novel of the same name by Thomasine Gyllembourg-Ehrensvard (1773-1856), which draws a contrast between the French Revolution and the present age. Kierkegaard uses the novel as a springboard for his own reflections on the modern age. Whereas the revolutionary age was an age of passion and action, he writes, "The present age is essentially a sensible, reflecting age, devoid of passion, flaring up in superficial, short-lived enthusiasm and prudentially relaxing in indolence."42 The consequence of this superficiality is that although bourgeois society pays lip service to such authorities as the Church, it too overthrows them, albeit not with passion and action like the French revolutionaries but by emptying them of their content, for bourgeois society "lets everything remain but subtly drains the meaning out of it."43 It allows a pall of worldliness to descend upon everything, including, most importantly, religion. The result of this is "levelling," a process which reduces human beings to the lowest common denominator and robs them of the potential for authentic selfhood. As we saw earlier, Kierkegaard understands the human being as existing in a tension between opposing categories. This tension and the task of becoming a self which it entails are eliminated by the leveling processes of bourgeois society. It is precisely the tensions, conflicts, and tragic dimension of existence that lead to authentic selfhood, and it is precisely these essential human qualities that bourgeois worldliness and comfortableness remove. This critique of the leveling tendencies of modern society prompts Kierkegaard to attack the "crowd" and the press, both of which in his view annihilate the human individuality essential for a relationship with the eternal. It would, however, be a mistake to understand this attack as due to a reactionary, undemocratic spirit on Kierkegaard's part. His critique is motivated by a concern with the herd instinct that prompts human beings to follow blindly the majority opinion instead of choosing themselves as selves before God. Similarly, Kierkegaard's attack on the press is not a rejection of freedom of speech as such but is a protest against the press's tendency to reduce human beings to spectators and thereby undermine the existential commitment and action necessary for the individual's relation to the eternal. In an age of mass media and global communications, Kierkegaard's critique has acquired a new relevance. Five Steps to Mindfulness The Second Authorship Kierkegaards Authorship from 1846 to 1855 Romanticism Spinozism and Pantheism Life and Influences - Liberal Theology The emergence of Neo Spinozism Literary influences on secular theology How to End a Love Affair, Present Moment	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741618
__label__wiki	0.826864	0.826864	filed: July 11, 2019 • Minnesota City Council discusses relocating wind turbine into Le Sueur Credit: By Carson Hughes \| July 10, 2019 \| www.southernminn.com ~~ At a meeting Monday, July 8, the Le Sueur City Council discussed potentially relocating a wind turbine off of Hwy. 112 to 950 Kingsway Drive just south of Calvary Cemetery. Unable to decide on the night, the discussion was tabled until the next council meeting on July 22. The motion came after the Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (MMPA) requested the city’s cooperation in refurbishing the wind turbine MPAA had given the city in 2009. MMPA is in the process of refurbishing wind turbines in all 12 of their member cities and would cover the cost of maintenance. The turbine south of Le Sueur has not been turning at all in recent years. However, Councilman Newell Krogmann, Public Services Director Richard Kucera and City Administrator Jasper Kruggel told the MMPA it would be a waste to spend money on the turbine in its current location. The turbine was far removed from public sight and was not producing energy for the city. Krogmann, Kucera and Kruggel instead advocated that either the MMPA not spend the money to refurbish the turbine, or to move it into town where it can supply energy and be part of the MMPA member city marketing plan. MMPA agreed to relocate the turbine and would cover all costs. Councilors Krogmann and Krucera mapped out potential spots and determined that the location on Kingsway Drive was the only viable place for it due to zoning requirements. The turbine needed to be placed in either an industrial or a public institutional zoning district, due to its height it is required to be 125 feet away from other buildings, it needs to be on property owned by the city of Le Sueur and the council wanted it in an area visible to the community. “You look at places like River Park submerged in a flood zone, Mayo Park you’re in a flood zone. The other possibility would be the wastewater facility, which we technically don’t own yet and there’s really nowhere to put it there,” said Krogmann. “We’re in that box right there, which isn’t so bad. It will still be visible and still be known.” Krogmann said that the wind turbine would function to promote and provide renewable energy to the community and could be a possible educational opportunity for the community if the Le Sueur-Henderson School District chose to integrate field trips to the turbine into the curriculum. City Attorney John Skubitz was skeptical of these benefits. “My understanding is it was a more ceremonial thing when each MMPA city received these turbines,” said Skubitz ”As far as practicality and green energy, my understanding is this is not a real energy producer. It obviously is a nuisance. If you go up to other cities, they put them far away from houses, businesses, apartments, anything that would be a nuisance, and I believe that’s why it ended up south of town. I believe the other goal of the wind turbine is there would be some education with the local schools. I don’t know if there’s been any follow through on that … Obviously, it’s not an energy producer, it’s clearly a nuisance. I would caution bringing it into the city without some sort of input from the neighborhoods and businesses around there.” “Those are all concerns the council has to consider, but I can tell you there’s really nowhere else to put it.” Krogmann replied. “It does produce energy. It’s not that it doesn’t; it’s not going to supply the whole city, but it’s a functional unit that will be hooked up to our electrical grid within the city. It’s not just some thing that spins around.“ On the issue of noise, Councilor Mark Huntington pointed out that the turbine would likely be quieter than before. “I directly call on wind turbine companies with the company I work for. The industry has changed considerably in the last 15 years,” said Huntington. “I would assume when they do this refurbishing, they’ll do it to update it and make it less noisy. What they’ve done in recent years is change the pitch angle of the propeller, which produces less noise.” However, Huntington did have reservations about the turbine’s proximity to apartment buildings across from Kingsway Drive. In addition to these worries, Councilor Shawn Kirby and Mayor Gregory Hagg both brought up concerns that the turbine could ruin the view of a crucifix added to the Calvary Cemetery. “I’m a big supporter of green energy. I think it’s a good marketing tool to have that very visible in our community,” said Kirby. “My only concern is … over the last three years, I’ve been a part of Calvary Cemetery for a while, and we put a rather large religious icon. It’s a quite striking statue we put in there, and I’m just a little concerned about having that windmill directly behind it.” “I’m not against putting the turbine there,” Kirby added. “I’m not advocating it, but I’m not boycotting it either. I just want us to be mindful of where it goes.” Kirby and Hagg requested that the turbine be moved eastward. Administrator Kruggel told the councilors that there is some room on the property for the turbine to be moved east. Councilor Marvin Sullivan also raised worries that the turbine could interfere with signals from nearby radio towers. MMPA told the council this wasn’t an issue, but Sullivan stated that he wanted to check with the radio tower owners directly to ensure this wasn’t an issue. Councilor Krogmann motioned to table the discussion, believing that the council needed answers to the concerns raised before making a decision. The council planned to contact MMPA to see if the refurbishing will reduce noise and the Le-Sueur Henderson School District to see if they were interested in using the turbine as an educational tool. Source: By Carson Hughes \| July 10, 2019 \| www.southernminn.com	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741621
__label__wiki	0.564084	0.564084	A Miraculous End to a Deadly 25-Foot Fall It had been an unusually warm, February day in Grand Rapids, Michigan, when Nate and some friends went skateboarding downtown. “Before I knew it, Seth was like hey, like, you know, I’m going to climb on top of this building. And then another one of my friends, hunter, also was like hey, I’ll go up there with you.” Seth and another friend wanted to catch the sunset. But when they got to the top, Seth decided to jump down to the adjacent building – an abandoned, empty auto shop. “Before you knew it, we heard like a bang, and then Hunter was like screaming at the top of his lungs.” “This dude literally jumped off there and is down 14 feet! Seth are you alright?” Nate and the others broke into the shop to find Seth lying on the floor, unconscious and fighting for breath. “We knew it was very serious. There was the thought that like he might not make it.” They called 911 and Seth was taken to spectrum health center in critical condition. Soon after, his parents, Christopher and Christine were met by a police officer at their home. “And the first thing she said was Seth Alfaro had a bad accident. And my first thought was that he was dead.” They rushed to the ER, where a trauma doctor told them what happened. “He told us that he had fallen about 25 feet. And that he had bleeding in the brain. They had already done a cat scan. They hadn't been able to get any response from him. I said could he die from this? And he said yes, he could.” Doctors also said if he did survive, the odds were against a full recovery. Seth was sedated, and put in a cold, dark room to try to reduce the swelling on the brain. “They said there’s nothing we can do for the damage that’s done from the fall. They said our job now is to keep the swelling down, to keep him alive. I just sat down on a chair and I just put my head down and I said lord, you got to help me. I can’t do this.” “So that’s all we did is pray. Nonstop. I mean, nonstop. If I paced the room, it was just prayers after prayers after prayers.” Over the next several days, Christine’s sister kept friends and family updated on Facebook, “I like to think of it as this wave of faith that just held us up. And it was like immediately everybody jumped on a miracle.” “It was some of those posts, some of those prayers. You didn’t feel like you were alone. You just felt like you were surrounded by prayer.” Eventually, doctors felt Seth would survive. Now the family prayed for a full recovery. “I did worry for sure about what kind of life he’ll have. How much of Seth --will we ever really see Seth again?” A week later, the swelling had gone down enough for doctors to do an MRI. The results showed extensive brain shearing. “We heard ‘shearing’, that’s all I heard. He didn’t say anything else; I knew. Okay, now we’re looking at the worst-case scenario.” “Well shearing is almost like you are sandpaper, you shear. So, like the brain tore and so on. The mental function is not going to be good. You’re affecting the speech, you’re affecting the processing. People with this type of picture generally don’t do well.” Doctors told Chris and Christine they should start looking at long-term care facilities for their son. Still, the family continued asking God for a miracle. “We’re not a people of despair. And so, it was important to us as a family to just in rest in what, you know, all things work for the good of those who love and serve him and are called to his plan. That was the mentality.” Doctors started bringing him out of sedation, looking for signs of healing. “It first began with him kind of having slits, you know, just barely, you know, he’d open his eyes. We’re like hey Seth, how are you doing? And then he’d close his eyes.” As each day passed, they brought with them new signs of hope. “He was reaching for some of us, like his nephews, he put his arm around them. He, when I was sitting on his bed, he grabbed me and hugged me. And that was like amazing.” After two weeks Seth was transferred to the Mary free bed rehab center. His progress was so rapid his doctors couldn’t keep up! “The physical therapist was like I don't even know how to plan for him. Like I’ll see him one day, make a plan for the next day. I get there the next day; he’s already past it.” “To be able to recover in such a fast pace itself is already amazing. But to the extent of how he recover, and the way that he recover, is incredible.” On March 30th, 2017, only 6 and half weeks after his accident, Seth walked up the steps to his home, on his way to a full recovery. “They expected me to be at Mary free bed, the rehabilitation center, for 10 weeks at least. And then go on to assisted care living. And I left in 4 weeks and was jogging out of the hospital. Prayer does so much more than you could like ever even imagine. I just thank God every day like oh my goodness, like thank you, you know.” Today, Seth has no residual issues from the fall, only a renewed faith in the one who saved him. “God knew when he healed Seth, he was also answering hundreds of thousands of people’s prayers because he knew then what would come of it later and how many people he could reach through it. And that’s amazing.” “That was the other part of the miracle was the body of believers surrounding a hurting family and surrounding us with prayers to get us through this time, and you know, that’s the thing I’m thankful for.” “God. Like, it was a miracle. I don't know how to keep saying like I’m so blessed. It was nothing I did, it was all God.” Mentioned in the Video It had been an unusually warm, February day in Grand Rapids, Michigan, when Nate and some friends went skateboarding downtown. “Before I knew it, Seth was like hey, like, you know, I’m going to climb on top of this building. Audio Only - MP3 Idaho Paraglider Survives 100-Foot Fall The Impact of Surviving a 180-foot Fall from a Cliff 700 Club Canada: July 11, 2019 Expect God to Heal You Torn Between Two Worlds The 700 Club - July 3, 2019 A young man receives a dire prognosis after a freak accident leaves him with a bullet in the head. Plus, a rejected daughter chooses a dark path in... A chilling dream comes true and one woman’s sister enters a fight for her life. Plus, funnyman Michael Jr. hits the streets to give the world a...	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741624
__label__wiki	0.95286	0.95286	Zeldapedia BS The Legend of Zelda BS The Legend of Zelda: Ancient Stone Tablets Color Changing Tingle's Love Balloon Trip Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland Tingle's Balloon Fight DS Ganon Darknut Octorok Wizzrobe Koholint Island Termina Great Sea Labrynna Holodrum Hylian Kokiri Goddess's Harp Red Potion Boss Key Master Sword Four Sword Goddess Sword More Swords... Hylian Shield More Shields... Ceiling Master Green Rupee Oni Dark Link Requests for adminship Userboxes Simplified ruleset Satoru Iwata Sapporo, Japan Iwata-san Becoming Nintendo's fourth president President and CEO of Nintendo, Co., Ltd. "[Iwata] has the instincts you need to survive in this business." — Hiroshi Yamauchi Satoru Iwata (岩田聡, Iwata Satoru?, born December 6, 1959 and died July 11, 2015) was the fourth president and CEO of Nintendo until his death in 2015. Satoru Iwata was responsible in great part for defining Nintendo's strategy both before and during the release of the Nintendo GameCube in 2001, a vision which helped Nintendo generate a forty-one percent increase in sales at the end of the 2002 fiscal year. Barron's Magazine named Satoru Iwata one of the world's top CEOs, due mostly to the Wii, Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! sales, as well as a soaring stock. Satoru Iwata was born in Sapporo, Japan. He expressed his interest in the creation of video games early on, and originating in an environment with a tradition of computer programming, he produced electronic games at his home during his high school years. The several simple number games Iwata produced, which made use of an electronic calculator, he shared with his schoolmates. Following high school, Iwata was admitted at the prestigious Tokyo Institute of Technology, where he majored in computer science. Such an environment allowed Iwata's technical expertise and passion for video games to be recognized and as such, he was hired as a part-time games programmer at HAL Laboratory, Inc., a subsidiary of Nintendo, while still pursuing his tertiary studies until graduation. In 1982, after succeeding at college, Iwata was recruited by HAL Laboratory, Inc. for a full-time position. He became the company's coordinator of software production in 1983. Some of the video games he helped create while he worked there were EarthBound and various games in the Kirby series. Iwata was eventually promoted to president of HAL in 1993. Nevertheless, he and his branch sometimes aided in the creation of Nintendo video games, himself on a freelance basis. In 2000, Iwata took a position at Nintendo as the head of its corporate planning division. When Hiroshi Yamauchi, the company's president since 1949, retired on May 31, 2002, Iwata succeeded as Nintendo's fourth president and the first unrelated to the Yamauchi family through blood or marriage. He continued to help out at HAL as a correspondent. It is said that Iwata still worked as an artist there, assisting in creating concept art of Kirby characters for use in the Kirby series of video games. His latest project was the Wii. He commented on the Wii in his section of Nintendo's Wii website, Iwata Asks. Iwata has also worked on the Legend of Zelda, Mario and Animal Crossing series. Iwata died due to a tumor in his bile duct on July 11, 2015. His position as president of Nintendo was succeeded by Tatsumi Kimishima. At the 2006 Game Developers Conference, Iwata provided the keynote address, where he focused on "disrupting development" and Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!. He also revealed The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, putting an end to rumours about a Zelda DS title. It was announced in late 2008 that Iwata would be providing the keynote address at the 2009 Game Developers Conference on March 25, 2009, resulting in rumors that he will finally reveal Zelda Wii or give more info on the game. However, when he gave the keynote address, he gave no details on Zelda Wii but instead announced a new Zelda game for the Nintendo DS titled The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. Retrieved from "https://zelda.fandom.com/wiki/Satoru_Iwata?oldid=535394" More Zeldapedia 1 Ganondorf 3 Monster Cake Zeldapedia is a FANDOM Games Community.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741626
__label__cc	0.604799	0.395201	6F: Genetics of intellectual disability 人类行为遗传学概论 Behavioral genetic methodologies from twin and adoption studies through DNA analysis will be described and applied to address longstanding questions about the origins of individual differences in behavioral traits. Psychology, Genetic Counseling, Genetics, Behavioral Medicine I had no idea what I was getting into... seemed an odd topic so I enrolled... pretty amazing stuff... too bad we know so little I am intrigued by this course and determined to learn more about this field in the future. Thank you Professor and your team. If there is an area of psychology that generates more heated debate than behavioral genetics it would be the field of intelligence research. While most of us acknowledge the differences among us in personality and even risk for mental illness, for some of us differences in intelligence seem more difficult to accept. I confess I am not completely sure why this is the case. Maybe it is because of the involvement of early intelligence researchers with the Eugenics Movement. Alternatively, maybe it is because the conclusions reached by some intelligence researchers seem to challenge our long-held beliefs about social equality, especially when those conclusions are biologically grounded. Regardless, intelligence, or as I prefer to call it general cognitive ability (GCA), has been a major focus of behavioral genetic research and we will use it as a prototype of behavioral genetic research on a quantitative psychological trait.As with the previous unit, we will begin with a brief discussion of what psychologists mean by intelligence or GCA. I will not try and review the vast empirical literature on the correlates of GCA; suffice to say that GCA is correlated, not always strongly, with many desirable outcomes including educational attainment, occupational achievement, health, mortality, criminal conviction, etc. Twin and adoption studies of GCA have implicated the importance of both genetic and nonshared as well as shared environmental influences. Behavioral genetic research has helped to identify features of the shared environment that appear to contribute to differences in intelligence, but, unlike with schizophrenia and other mental illnesses, it has been difficult to identify the specific genetic variants that contribute to the heritability of GCA. This unit will end with a discussion of genetic research on intellectual disability, an important application of intelligence research.Just FYI, one thing we will NOT consider in this unit but some of you will wonder about is developmental behavioral genetic research on intelligence. I promise that it will be covered in Unit 7. 6A: What Is intelligence? 14:24 6B: Twin, Adoption Studies, and The Heritability of General Cognitive Ability 12:09 6C: Heritability and The Malleability of General Cognitive Ability 7:27 6D: Gene-Environment Interplay In Studies of General Cognitive Ability 18:11 6E: Why is general cognitive ability heritable? 17:09 6F: Genetics of intellectual disability 21:45 6G: The replication crisis - Supplementary 17:49 Unit 6 Office Hours Video 28:51 Matt McGue Regents Professor 選擇語言羅馬尼亞語英語（English） Okay, welcome back. This is the final module, the final regular module, there'll be a supplemental module as well, the final regular module in Unit 6, and in this, module, I'm going to talk about a very important application of genetic research on general cognibility, and that is the Genetics of Intellectual Disability. So, I'm going to touch on three things. First of all, I'm just, I'm going to spend a few minutes talking about just what is exactly meant by intellectual disability. I assumed some of us taking the course, some of you taking the course, don't have a background in psychology, so, I'd like to characterize before we get into the genetic research, the phenotype we're talking about. And then secondly, I'm going to talk about two features about, the epidemiology of intellectual disability for which, intel, genetic research has had very important implications. The first in, and these aren't going to necessarily mean a lot at this point, the first is that actually, IQ or general cognibility is not normally distributed, it actually has significant implications for thinking about intellectual disability, and secondly, that males are at higher risk than females for having an intellectual disability. But let's begin with what is meant by intellectual disability? For those of you who maybe took a psychology course, the last time you took a psychology course is ten or 15 years ago, you maybe learned about mental retardation. And in fact, what intellectual dis, disability is today is what mental retardation, the term mental retardation was ten, 15 years ago. But as I'm sure you, you appreciate the term mental retardation has become a pejorative term, a disparaging term, and so, because of that, the field has adopted a new term, a term intellectual disability. But if again, if you've taken a psychology course a long time ago, it's not really unlike what psychologists used to call mental retardation, but no longer use that term. So, what is it? Intellectual disability has three requirements. The first is low cognitive functioning. And in fact, the criterion used is usually having an IQ less than 70. Now, that's a bit arbitrary to just pick 70 as, at as a compo, cut point, because IQ is continuously distributed. But the reason 70 was picked is, if you recall, IQ has a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. So, an IQ of 70 is two standard deviations below the mean. So, that was the arbitrary standard that's adopted. Low cognitive function is not, it's a necessary condition for having an intellectual disability. It's not sufficient. It has to, that low cognitive functioning actually has to impair the individual's ability to live independently. It has to impair their adaptive functioning. And finally, intellectual disability has an onset in childhood, which is really distinguishes it from things like dementia or traumatic brain injuries, are, which are things that have onset in adulthood. Let's look at that necessary intellectual criterion used in defining intellectual disability, which is a low IQ score. Now, I've given you this before which is kind of an isle, idealized distribution of IQ. The distribution of IQ, if you looked at it kind of looks like a normal distribution. In fact, it's not quite a normal distribution. If it were a normal distribution, it would be perfectly symmetric. Intellectual disability is associated with IQs less than 70. It turns out that in the actual IQ distribution, 2.6% of the population falls with an IQ less than, than 70. If the IQ distribution was perfectly symmetric, then people with IQs above 130, above 130 would be considered gifted. People with IQs above 130 would have the same percentage, or actually 2.3% of the population is above an IQ of 130. So, the, the, the departure from normality in the IQ distribution is that there's more individuals in the lower tail of the distribution. There are more individuals in the tail of the distribution associated with having intell, intellectual disability than we would expect, if the distribution were normal. Along with IQ is a grading of intellectual disability which is illustrated on this slide. Individuals that have a mild la, form of intellectual disability, IQs in the 50 to 70 IQ range, can acquire intellectual skills typical of, of somebody graduating from elementary school. They can in, live independently. They can hold jobs. But they usually require some assistance, even though they might live independently. As the IQs decrease, you get labels that indicate a greater severity of the intellectual disability and a great need for supervision for help. People with IQs in this range really can't live independently, they need quite a bit of assistance. What are the implications of that non-normality of the IQ distribution, that there are more individuals in the lower tail of the IQ distribution than we would expect if IQ were actually normally distributed. This is, the, the, the grading of the severity of intellectual disability and what we would expect, how many, what percentage of the population would fall in these var, various classes if IQ were normally distributed. This is actually, what we would observe if we did a large scale population study of IQ. Overall, as I gave in the previous slide, about 2.6% of people in the population have IQs less than 70. If IQ were normally distributed, it would be 2.3%. So, there's an excess. That excess might not seem that big to you, but it does have important implications that I'll get to here in a second. There's two additional points I want to emphasize here in this slide. First of all, most people, the vast majority of people that have an intellectual disability have a mild form of intellectual disability. They have the types of intellectual and academic skills that allow them to have a job, to live independently. But they just require some assistance in doing that. The second thing I want to illustrate is where this excess in the lower tail of the IQ distribution is arising. It's actually arising the further out we get in the distribution. In this part of the distribution, there's just, what I've done here is just divided this, this number by, I'm sorry, this number by that number, the observed by the expected. So, there's just a very slight excess here. If we go to the moderate, to severe forms of intellectual disability, there's a six fold increase risk in observed versus what we'd expect. And there's a 6000 fold increase in the most profound or severe forms of intellectual disability. So, IQ is not normally distributed. And an implication of that is that there are more people with very severe forms of intellectual disability than we would expect to have existed if IQ were normally distributed. The individuals, even though they're the minority of people with intellectual disability. They are, those individuals with intellectual disability that are most likely going to require the most assistance by their families and by society. This excess of cases in the lower tail of, of the IQ distribution has actually led to a conceptual model that most people working in the field of intellectual disability, not only clinically, but actually, in terms of research have adopted, and that model is what's called the Two-Group model of intellectual disability. And the notion is that there's two large classes of groups of individuals at that lower tail of the IQ distribution. The first group, I'll call Group 1, and this comprises maybe 5-10%, so, it's the minority of individuals in the lower tail, of, of the IQ distribution. But these are the individuals that are there because they're not just the, the lower tail of the normal distribution, this is the excessive cases. These are individuals that have the more severe form of intellectual disability. This first group is characterized by individuals who for some reason suffered a major trauma to their developing brain. The source of that major trauma could be genetic, it could be things like aneuploidy Down syndrome, or it could be copy number variance like we talked about Williams' syndrome, or it could be a Mendelian characteristic, like we talked about phenylketonuria if it were untreated, or it could be environmentally, induced. Prenatal alcohol exposure or some perinatal trauma like, anoxia at, at birth. It turns out that them, the vast majority of individuals with this form of intellectual disability have it for genetic reasons. The estimate is 60, 70, 75% have some sort of genetic mutation that underlies the, the intellectual disability and because of that, there's actually quite a lot of genetic research now trying to understand these more severe forms of intellectual disability. What about the genetics causes the intellectual disability and can we intervene? So, about, let's say, 70% have a known genetic etiology, maybe 10 to 50 per, 15% have a known environmental etiology, and whatever the balance is, maybe 10%, we don't know what the actual trauma was. Wa, it could be genetic, it could be environmental. At this point, we don't know. That's the first group. The second group is the vast majority of individuals with an intellectual dis, disability, 90, 95%. These are actually individuals who are at the lower end of the IQ distribution because of the cumulative impact of genetic and environmental factors that affect individual differences in IQ throughout the whole range of IQ. By luck, they've just hit on multiple ones that are associated with low cognitive performance. So, in this case, being at the lower tail of the IQ distribution isn't due to a major trauma. It's due to the impact of many, many factors. Many genetic factors. The polygenic factors. Many environmental factors. The sociocultural disadvantages that we've talked about. This form of intellectual disability is, is typically associated with the more mild forms of intellectual disability. [SOUND] The last thing I want to talk about with intellectual disability is the male excess. Males are at a higher risk for suffering intellectual disability than females. This has been known for a long time. I'll give you one epidemial large scale epidemiological study. This is a large population study from, Western Australia, where they've, assessed a, a large number of children here, for intellectual disability, the number, the rate per thousand in girls versus boys, you can see overall, there's maybe a 50%excess, 40 to 50% excess of boys, and in fact, there's an excess, most of the excess is in the mild to moderate range. But there's an excess of boys at every level. So there's, boys are 40 to 50% more likely to suffer an intellectual disability than a girl. Can genetics help us understand why that's the case? Well, yes, in part we know that genetics can help us understand. There's a term called X-linked intellectual disability. And we know that that is a major factor. It might not entirely, and it probably doesn't entirely explain the excess male risk, but it's certainly a major factor in why males are more likely to suffer from intellectual disability than females. Why was that? Well, recall males have one X chromosome and females have two. So, if you have a rare deleterious recessive condition that maps to the X chromosome, what's going to happen, if it's rare and recessive is males were going to be much more likely to have that condition than females. Well, again, males have one X chromosome, so, in order to develop that rare, recessive condition, they require one mutation, one hit. Females have two X chromosomes, so, two things have to happen, two rare things have to happen before they get that rare condition. There are rare, lots of rare medical disorders that map to the X chromosome. There's certain forms of hemophilia, the most common form of muscular dystrophy, Duchenne muscular dystrophy are mapped to the X chromosome and they're recessive. Males are much more likely to have Duchenne muscular dystrophy than females. In fact, it's extraordinarily rare to find a female with either X-linked hemophilia or X-linked Duchenne muscular dystrophy, it's almost only affects males, because it only requires one rare event for a male, but two rare events for a female. Well, those are for medical conditions. Is the same thing going on with intellectual disability? Well, geneticists now know of at least 150 different rare, X-linked, recessive conditions associated with intellectual disability. This next side summarizes their work and I understand, I can, I know that this is an extraordinary busy slide. But I'm, I'm using it to illustrate three points. First of all, each, each line here, which I know you can't read the line, but each line here is a rare X-linked recessive condition associated with intellectual disability that geneticists have identified. And there are about 150 lines on these ideograms for the X-chromosome. Those are all conditions that are going to lead males to more likely have intellectual disability than females. The second thing that I should point out is that geneticists distinguish between what are called Syndromic forms of intellectual disability for which there are a lot more lines here, right, than Non-syndromic forms. S, Syndromic intellectual disability is an intellectual disability where the phenotype, where intellectual disability is one symptom of a larger syndromic phenotype. So, there might be some physical manifestations as well as intellectual disability. Maybe some medical complications as well. So, it's not just intellectual disability. Non-syndromic means that the condition seems to be specific to intellectual disability. So, most of these are Syndromic. And the last thing I want to point out here, it's kind of an interesting speculation that geneticists have engaged in when they've seen data like that that's represented on these ideograms. And that is, why there's a lot of genes being mapped to the X-chromosome associated with intellectual disability. In fact, there are more genes on the X-chromosome for intellectual disability than on autosomes. Some have speculated that maybe genes that regulate or influence cognitive ability are preferentially put on the X-chromosome. That's a hypothesis that some geneticists are exploring right now. We don't know the answer. But it's kind of an interesting hypothesis. [SOUND] So, X-linked intellectual disability would lead us to expect that males are more likely to have intellectual disability with, than females. Is that enough to explain the 40 to 50% increased risk of intellectual disabilities that we see in males as compared to females? It probably accounts for a lot of it, maybe 50, 60%, but right now it doesn't appear to account for all the increase risk that males have for What accounts for the remainder? What accounts for the remainder is probably based on the phenomena that males are biologically more vulnerable that females. And there's overwhelming evidence of this from human biology, and I'm just going to give you a couple examples of this. We know that, for example, males have a higher mortality rate than females. That higher mortality rate actually starts from the moment of conception. Spontaneous abortus is, are more likely to be male than female abortuses. Throughout life at every age, males are more likely to die than females. We know that males are more like, are more vulnerable to the physical and the neurocognitive sequelae of birth trauma, low birth weight, perinatal traumas of various types. So there's a lot of evidence that males are biologically more vulnerable. And there's speculation that it may be hor, hormonally based. Maybe it has something to do with androgens. That's a hypothesis. That's also manifested in males being, not only at higher risk for intellectual disability, but males are at higher risk for nearly all neurodevelopmental disorders. They're at higher risk, for example, for autism, for Tourette's Syndrome. We've already talked about intellectual disabilities. They're also at higher risk for learning disabilities. That seems to be not entirely explained by X-linked recessivity. It must be some biological vulnerability that males carry. And the last thing I want to point here, is I think a real fascinating study that was, I'm just going to highlight, and some of you might become interested in it. It's a real fascinating study that was published in 2014 in a very prominent journal, American Journal of Human Genetics. And what these individuals did is they took, these are children, so they took girls and boys with an, with a neurodevelopmental disorder and then they actually carefully genotype them to determine how much genetic loading for that neurodevelopmental disorder they actually carried. And what they found is that the girls with the, the neurodevelopmental disorder had a higher genetic loading than the boys with the, with the neurodevelopmental disorder. And the interpretation of that, the conclusion they drew from that, is that for the girl to get the disorder it required that they carry more of the relevant genetic mutations than a boy. Why? Because a boy is biologically more vulnerable than a girl. Fascinating stuff. So Summary of Unit 6. What were the major topics that we tried to go through? First, just the biometric analysis of general cognitive ability. The twin and adoption studies. It appears to be approximately 50% heritable. Roughly a third of the variants or individual differences in general cognitive ability is associated with the environments we share with our siblings when we grow up in the same home with them. And finally, a small portion of the variance is associated with non-shared environmental factors, but because non-shared environmental factors includes measurement error, there's probably not a lot that's going on there. Measurement error may be 10% of that 15% for non-shared environment. Secondly, adoption studies have shown us that sociocultural advantage is also an influence on general cognitive ability. We've looked at those fascinating, that fascinating French adoption study that showed that children placed in the most advantaged socioeconomic ho, homes, experience the greatest boost in their IQ. Third, we found from twin studies that the extent to which IQ is heritable is moderated by this, the, the socioeconomic status of the home you're reared in. Children reared in disadvantaged homes show very low heritability. It appears to be the case that if you're growing up in a disadvantaged environment, you're not able to fully express your genetic potential for general cognitive ability. And then finally, we talked about the attempts to find genetic variance for It's been difficult. The candidate gene approach has not yielded much, find much reliable finding, but I think we're, there's reason to be optimistic with GCA. Thank you for your attention. There will be a supplemental lecture in this unit. But if you don't see that one, I hope to see you back in unit seven.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741627
__label__cc	0.511503	0.488497	New King James (NKJV)/ 8.) Ruth (NKJV)/ Ruth Chapter 2 1. There was a relative of Naomi's husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz. 2. So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, "Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor." And she said to her, "Go, my daughter." 3. Then she left, and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. 4. Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, "The Lord be with you!" And they answered him, "The Lord bless you!" 5. Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, "Whose young woman is this?" 6. So the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered and said, "It is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. 7. And she said, 'Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.' So she came and has continued from morning until now, though she rested a little in the house." 8. Then Boaz said to Ruth, "You will listen, my daughter, will you not? Do not go to glean in another field, nor go from here, but stay close by my young women. 9. Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Have I not commanded the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn." 10. So she fell on her face, bowed down to the ground, and said to him, "Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?" 11. And Boaz answered and said to her, "It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before. 12. The Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge." 13. Then she said, "Let me find favor in your sight, my lord; for you have comforted me, and have spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants." 14. Now Boaz said to her at mealtime, "Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar." So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed parched grain to her; and she ate and was satisfied, and kept some back. 15. And when she rose up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, "Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16. Also let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her; leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her." 17. So she gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18. Then she took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. So she brought out and gave to her what she had kept back after she had been satisfied. 19. And her mother-in-law said to her, "Where have you gleaned today? And where did you work? Blessed be the one who took notice of you." So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, "The man's name with whom I worked today is Boaz." 20. Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "Blessed be he of the Lord, who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead!" And Naomi said to her, "This man is a relation of ours, one of our close relatives." 21. Ruth the Moabitess said, "He also said to me, 'You shall stay close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.' " 22. And Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, "It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, and that people do not meet you in any other field." 23. So she stayed close by the young women of Boaz, to glean until the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest; and she dwelt with her mother-in-law.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741629
__label__cc	0.71293	0.28707	Home Sports Alvin Kamara turning heads going into year three Alvin Kamara turning heads going into year three Jeff Haeger Following the departure of Mark Ingram to Baltimore during the off-season, the New Orleans Saints backfield now belongs to Alvin Kamara and apparently so does the quarterback room. On the third and final day of mandatory minicamp, Kamara swapped out his number 41 jersey for Teddy Bridgewater’s red number five and didn’t stop there with the two even trading positions for a few snaps, adding yet another layer to Kamara’s versatility. The third year back out of Tennessee broke onto the scene in 2017, setting a new Saints franchise record with 14 total touchdowns. The NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year followed that up with 14 rushing touchdowns in 2018, also a franchise record. Not to mention, he’s second to only Todd Gurley in all-purpose yards over the past two seasons. Scary to think Kamara is still finding ways to get better no matter which jersey he’s wearing. Quarterback Drew Brees said, “He knows when to work, but he’s going to have fun doing it. And he does have a thirst for knowledge whenever something comes up and I grab him and we start talking about something it’s one of these like okay. I hear it, I’m absorbing it, I’m visualizing it and then I can go out and execute it.” Related Article: 25 Teams in 25 Days: D’Iberville Warriors Kamara said, “Anything that one of my teammates has to lend me like some advice or somebody that has some experience in a field like nutrition or strength or training, I try to take little gems from everybody. So change in diets and looking for new things to get faster, stronger, to get in better shape. I’m looking for all of it.” The New Orleans Saints will have another six weeks apart before they reconvene for training camp on the final Thursday of July. Also today, the Saints signed wide receiver Rishard Matthews following his minicamp tryout.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741631
__label__wiki	0.756093	0.756093	Hey, Baby, Meet Peanuts: How And When To Safely Introduce The Food Peanut allergies can be among a parent's biggest worries, though we've had good evidence for more than a year that when most babies are 6 months old or so, introducing foods that contain finely ground peanuts can actually reduce babies' chances of becoming allergic to the legumes. Even so, many parents are scared to do that. Lack Of Child Care Rating Systems Leaves Parents In A Bind By Patti Neighmond • Nov 1, 2016 There are rating systems for hospitals, nursing homes and doctors. So why is it so hard to compare providers of child care? Part of the reason is that there are no nationally agreed-upon standards for what determines the quality of child care. The standards that do exist are formulated in each state, and they vary widely. For example, some states require that child care workers have a teaching certificate. Others require certain college courses. Some have strict ratios of how many caregivers are required per child. Poll: Cost Of Child Care Causes Financial Stress For Many Families By Patti Neighmond • Oct 26, 2016 Most parents have experienced sticker shock when they find out just how much it will cost to care for their infant or toddler full- or even part-time. For parents who have little choice, this can be a big financial strain. In fact, the most common challenge parents face when looking for child care is the high cost. That's the finding of a recent poll from NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. How California's 'Paid Family Leave' Law Buys Time For New Parents Back in 2002, California passed a law that provides paid family leave benefits to eligible workers. In many ways, the law mimicked paid parental leave policies that are in effect in nearly every other country in the world. Bariatric Surgery Can Help People Keep Weight Off Long Term It really hit Terry White eight years ago when he was at the mall with his wife. He was out of breath every few minutes and had to sit down. "My wife told me I had to get to the gym and lose weight," he says. He had dieted most of his life. "I've probably lost 1,000 pounds over the years," says White, a realtor in North Myrtle Beach, N.C. But he put most of it back on. Wellness Programs Take Aim At Workplace Stress Stress has long been shown to increase the risk of heart disease, obesity, diabetes and a number of mental health problems. Overworked Americans Aren't Taking The Vacation They've Earned A majority of Americans say they're stressed at work. And it's clear the burden of stress has negative effects on health, including an increase in heart disease, liver disease and gastrointestinal problems. Hidden Heart Disease Is The Top Health Threat For U.S. Women Tracy Solomon Clark is outgoing and energetic — a former fundraiser for big companies and big causes. As she charged through her 40s she had "no clue," she says, that there might be a problem with her heart. It was about six years ago — when she was 44 — that she first suffered severe shortness of breath, along with dizziness. She figured she was overweight and overworked, but never considered heart disease. "That was the furthest thing from my mind," Solomon Clark says. "I was young!" What's Good For The Heart Is Good For The Brain Hoping to keep your mental edge as you get older? Look after your heart, a recent analysis suggests, and your brain will benefit, too. A research team led by Hannah Gardener, an epidemiologist at the University of Miami, analyzed a subset of data from the Northern Manhattan Study, a large, ongoing study of risk factors for stroke among whites, blacks and Hispanics living in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. Letters Telling Women About Breast Density Are Often Too Darn Dense Over the past decade, states have passed laws intended to help women understand the results of their breast cancer screening mammograms if they have dense breasts. But those notifications can be downright confusing and may, in fact, cause more misunderstanding than understanding. Kids' Grades Can Suffer When Mom Or Dad Is Depressed When parents suffer depression, there can be a ripple effect on children. Kids may become anxious, even sad. There may be behavior problems. Health may suffer. Recently, a large Swedish study showed that grades may decline, too, when a parent is depressed. Can't Get In To See Your Doctor? Many Patients Turn To Urgent Care Though the majority of Americans have a primary care doctor, a large number also seek treatment at urgent care centers, statistics show. For many people, the centers have become a bridge between the primary care doctor's office and the hospital emergency room. When Men Get Breast Cancer, They Enter A World Of Pink At 46 years old, Oliver Bogler's reaction to a suspicious lump in his chest might seem typical for a man. He ignored it for three to four months, maybe longer. "I couldn't really imagine I would have this disease," Bogler says. But when he finally "grew up" and went to the doctor, he was pretty quickly diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. Can't Focus? It Might Be Undiagnosed Adult ADHD When Cathy Fields was in her late 50s, she noticed she was having trouble following conversations with friends. "I could sense something was wrong with me," she says. "I couldn't focus. I could not follow." Fields was worried she had suffered a stroke or was showing signs of early dementia. Instead she found out she had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. Forgot Something Again? It's Probably Just Normal Aging Losing your ability to think and remember is pretty scary. We know the risk of dementia increases with age. But if you have memory lapses, you probably needn't worry. There are pretty clear differences between signs of dementia and age-related memory loss. After age 50, it's quite common to have trouble remembering the names of people, places and things quickly, says Dr. Kirk Daffner, chief of the division of cognitive and behavioral neurology at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. False Alarm Mammograms May Still Signal Higher Breast Cancer Risk Women who have an abnormal mammogram should stay vigilant for cancer for for the next decade, even when follow-up tests fail to detect cancer, a study released Wednesday finds. That's because there's a "modest" risk that cancer will develop during the next decade, says lead author Louise M. Henderson of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill. Gratitude Is Good For The Soul And Helps The Heart, Too As we launch into Thanksgiving week, consider this: Research shows that feeling grateful doesn't just make you feel good. It also helps — literally helps — the heart. For The Most Accurate Read, Where Should You Put That Thermometer? To get the most accurate measurement of the body's temperature, a rectal thermometer works best, a study finds. Less invasive methods to measure body heat on the outside of the skin such as on the forehead or under the arms just aren't as precise. More Women Opt For IUD, Contraceptive Implant For Birth Control Contraceptive implants and IUDs are very effective in preventing pregnancy — nearly 100 percent, statistics show. A new federal survey finds many more women are making this choice than did a decade ago. Hormones May Help Younger Women With Menopause Symptoms For Linnea Duvall, a marriage and family therapist who lives and works in Santa Monica, Calif., the symptoms of menopause started when she turned 50. She felt more irritable and a smidge heavier, and she started waking up two to three times a night. And then she had a hot flash. "It felt like a nuclear bomb went off right behind my belly button," she says. "The radiation went out to my fingertips, the tops of my toes, the top of my head and the ends of my hair." Surgery Helps Some Obese Teens In Battle To Get Fit Surgery to reduce the stomach's size is often seen as a last resort for severely obese teenagers, partly because there has been little information on the procedure's long-term effects on young people. But a study published online Friday in the New England Journal of Medicine tracked teens for three years and suggests that bariatric surgery as part of a weight-reduction plan was not only safe, but increased their heart health and the quality of their lives. Forget Last Year's Hiccups, Go Get Your Flu Shot RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: A Metronome Can Help Set The CPR Beat The heart beats rhythmically, and so does a metronome. So it makes sense that a metronome, typically used by musicians to help keep a steady beat, could help medical professionals restart a heart. Let Me Show You What Keeps Me From Being Healthy What do you see in your community that helps you be heart healthy, and what gets in your way? People who live in the "stroke belt," an area in the Southeast with high rates of heart disease and stroke, can show you. "The idea was to have community residents take photos of their individual take on the topic of barriers to heart health," says Sarah Kowitt, a study author and graduate student in public health at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Children In Foster Care Aren't Getting To See The Doctor By Patti Neighmond • Sep 28, 2015 On any given day, about half a million children are living in foster care. They've been removed from violent or abusive households; many suffer physical and mental health problems that have gone untreated. Their need is acute but the response is often dangerously slow, according to a policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics. The recommendations, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, are intended as a wake-up call for pediatricians who care for foster kids. Sad To Say, Most Remedies For Hot Flashes Fizzle We know who we are: women of a "certain age" trying to hold back the assault of menopausal symptoms, and we are often desperate. Some of us remain on hormone replacement therapy. But many of us are unable to use hormones for medical reasons or by choice. As a result, droves of us turn to all sorts of treatments, everything from acupuncture to yoga to antidepressants to herbs. And surveys show most women are completely befuddled as to whether any of these treatments actually work. Panel Says Aspirin Lowers Heart Attack Risk For Some Millions of Americans take baby aspirin every day to prevent a heart attack or stroke. If they are at high risk of heart disease, they're doing the right thing, according to draft recommendations issued Monday by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Good Quality Sleep May Build Healthy Hearts Are you not getting enough sleep, or are you getting too much? If your answer to either of these questions is "yes," you may be at risk of heart disease. 1 Tutor + 1 Student = Better Math Scores, Less Fear Math can be as scary as spiders and snakes, at least in the brain of an 8-year-old child. And that early anxiety about dealing with numbers can put a child at a significant disadvantage, not only in school but in negotiating life and a career. Fortunately, a study of third-graders, published this week in the Journal of Neuroscience, suggests an intervention that can help. One-on-one tutoring does more than teach kids, the researchers say. It calms the fear circuitry in the brain. Playing Youth Sports Takes A Lot More Green Than It Used To You could say 36-year-old Matt Ray works in paradise — on a barrier island off the Florida's southern coast. As athletic director of the Anna Maria Island Community Center, Ray is doing what he loves. "I grew up playing sports," he says. "I actually played two years of college basketball. So sports have pretty much been my entire life."	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741632
__label__cc	0.709909	0.290091	ERROR: type should be string, got "https://www.x-yachts.com/en/events/x-cups/holland-cup/ 90% Daily 2019-02-07 14:14\nhttps://www.x-yachts.com/it/events/x-cups/holland-cup/ 90% Daily 2019-02-07 14:14\nhttps://www.x-yachts.com/fi/events/x-cups/holland-cup/ 90% Daily 2019-02-07 14:14\nhttps://www.x-yachts.com/de/events/x-cups/holland-cup/ 90% Daily 2019-02-07 14:14\nhttps://www.x-yachts.com/nl/events/x-cups/holland-cup/ 90% Daily 2019-02-07 14:14\nhttps://www.x-yachts.com/ru/events/holland-cup/ 90% Daily 2019-02-07 14:14\nhttps://www.x-yachts.com/sl/events/x-cups/holland-cup/ 90% Daily 2019-02-07 14:14\nhttps://www.x-yachts.com/sv/events/x-cups/holland-cup/ 90% Daily 2019-02-07 14:14\nhttps://www.x-yachts.com/en/events/x-cups/holland-cup/holland-cup-2018/ 90% Daily 2018-04-30 13:04\nhttps://www.x-yachts.com/en/events/x-cups/solent-cup/solent-cup-2018/ 90% Daily 2018-05-03 10:04\nhttps://www.x-yachts.com/it/events/x-cups/med-cup/ 90% Daily 2018-03-15 11:01\nhttps://www.x-yachts.com/tr/events/x-cups/med-cup/ 90% Daily 2018-03-15 11:01\nhttps://www.x-yachts.com/fi/events/x-cups/med-cup/ 90% Daily 2018-03-15 11:01\nhttps://www.x-yachts.com/de/events/x-cups/med-cup/ 90% Daily 2018-03-15 11:01\nhttps://www.x-yachts.com/nl/events/x-cups/med-cup/ 90% Daily 2018-03-15 11:01\nhttps://www.x-yachts.com/ru/events/med-cup/ 90% Daily 2018-03-15 11:01\nhttps://www.x-yachts.com/sl/events/x-cups/med-cup/ 90% Daily 2018-03-15 11:01\nhttps://www.x-yachts.com/sv/events/x-cups/med-cup/ 90% Daily 2018-03-15 11:01\nhttps://www.x-yachts.com/en/events/med-cup/ 90% Daily 2018-03-15 11:01\nhttps://www.x-yachts.com/en/events/x-cups/med-cup/ 90% Daily 2018-03-15 11:01\nhttps://www.x-yachts.com/en/events/x-cups/med-cup/med-cup-2018/ 90% Daily 2018-05-20 15:44\nhttps://www.x-yachts.com/it/events/x-cups/med-cup/med-cup-2018/ 90% Daily 2018-05-20 15:44\nhttps://www.x-yachts.com/tr/events/x-cups/med-cup/med-cup-2018/ 90% Daily 2018-05-20 15:44\nhttps://www.x-yachts.com/fi/events/x-cups/med-cup/med-cup-2018/ 90% Daily 2018-05-20 15:44\nhttps://www.x-yachts.com/de/events/x-cups/med-cup/med-cup-2018/ 90% Daily 2018-05-20 15:44\nhttps://www.x-yachts.com/nl/events/x-cups/med-cup/med-cup-2018/ 90% Daily 2018-05-20 15:44\nhttps://www.x-yachts.com/ru/events/med-cup/med-cup-2018/ 90% Daily 2018-05-20 15:44\nhttps://www.x-yachts.com/sl/events/x-cups/med-cup/med-cup-2018/ 90% Daily 2018-05-20 15:44\nhttps://www.x-yachts.com/sv/events/x-cups/med-cup/med-cup-2018/ 90% Daily 2018-05-20 15:44\nhttps://www.x-yachts.com/en/events/med-cup/med-cup-2018/ 90% Daily 2018-04-26 12:41"	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741633
__label__cc	0.665815	0.334185	Jesuit High School Alumnus Donates Germ-Zapping Robot® to His Alma Mater New Orleans, LA, December 18 — Jesuit High School of New Orleans is the first and only prep school in the United States to deploy a high-tech Germ-Zapping Robot® to wage environmental war by destroying bacteria and potentially deadly pathogens typically found lurking inside gymnasiums, athletic locker rooms, weight training areas, shower and bathroom facilities, and even personal sports equipment. A Generous Donation from a Jesuit Alumnus The germ-busting robot represents a generous gift from Blue Jay alumnus Joseph Authement of the Class of 1997. A resident of Mandeville, Authement is senior vice president of sales for Xenex Disinfection Services. He is a member of the board of directors of the National WWII Museum and Volunteers of America (New Orleans chapter). During his senior year at Jesuit, Authement was president of the Student Council and captain of the swim team. “Jesuit taught me about being a man for others and serving my community,” said Authement. “At Xenex, we want to eradicate the pathogens that cause infections and pose a threat to patients and hospital workers. The technology is based on our desire to help others by destroying the microorganisms that might harm them, so I was honored by the opportunity to provide Jesuit with a Germ-Zapping Robot. The climate in New Orleans promotes the proliferation of germs, fungi, and bacterial spores, all of which have the potential to cause outbreaks among students, athletes, and sometimes entire teams.” Why Morty? Jesuit’s Robotics Club came up with a clever name for the germ-busting robot: “Morty,” which is a slightly twisted derivative of the Latin word mors, meaning annihilation or death — to germs, of course. The unique robot, a patented product created and manufactured by Xenex, enhances environmental cleanliness by destroying hard-to-kill pathogens, such as multi-drug resistant organisms hiding in places that are difficult to clean with chemicals, mops, and wipes. “We want to do everything to reduce the risk of students contracting infections, as well as to provide Blue Jays a clean and safe physical education and athletic environment,” said Jesuit athletic director David Moreau. “Morty will zap germs and bacteria in the gymnasium and in rooms throughout the physical education building. The robot is ideal for accessing hard to reach nooks and crannies that need to be cleaned. Morty is also capable of killing superbugs and viruses that might be on athletic equipment such as wrestling mats, football helmets and shoulder pads, shoes, and weights.” Morty’s Mission Morty’s mission will not be confined to providing a regular and thorough decontamination of Jesuit’s gym (known affectionately among Blue Jays as the Birdcage) and the adjacent, heavily-trafficked P.E. facility (Louis J. Roussel Building). Morty will also go to work in other parts of the school, including the Student Commons, cafeteria, auditorium, hallways, classrooms, stairwells, and Jesuit’s two chapels: the newly renovated Holy Name of Jesus Chapel and the Chapel of the North American Martyrs. Morty’s timely arrival to bust germs at Jesuit coincides with a marked increase in the number of high school students in the U.S. who have contracted staph infections while participating in team sports or P.E. classes. Several states, including Louisiana, have reported MRSA infections among high school wrestling and football teams. The problem also regularly challenges college campuses, professional sports teams, and cruise ships. How the Xenex Robot Works The Xenex Full-Spectrum® UV room disinfection system works by pulsing xenon, an inert gas, at a high intensity in a xenon ultraviolet flashlamp. This produces intense ultraviolet C (UVC) light which penetrates the cell walls of microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, mold, fungus and spores. Their DNA is fused, rendering them unable to reproduce or mutate, effectively killing them on surfaces without contact or chemicals. The robot is effective against even the most dangerous pathogens, including Clostridium difficile (C. diff), norovirus, influenza, Ebola, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, better known as MRSA. The robot disinfects in a five-minute cycle, so a single device is able to decontaminate 30-60 rooms per day. Xenex Germ-Zapping Robots are deployed in more than 300 hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers and skilled nursing facilities in the U.S., Canada, Africa, and Europe. Xenex robots have proven to be extremely effective and efficient, and hospitals using Xenex germ-zapping robots have reported significant decreases in their infection rates. About Xenex Disinfection Services Xenex’s patented pulsed xenon UV room disinfection system is used for the advanced disinfection of healthcare facilities. Due to its speed and ease of use, the Xenex system has proven to integrate smoothly into hospital cleaning operations. The Xenex mission is to save lives and reduce suffering by eliminating the deadly microorganisms that cause HAIs. The company is based in San Antonio and backed by well-known investors that include Malin Corporation, Battery Ventures, Targeted Technology Fund II, and RK Ventures. For more information, visit www.xenex.com. Posted in NewsTagged Donation	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741634
__label__cc	0.669454	0.330546	Stephen Shepherd: Going Against the Grain by Lee Gilchrist • Dec 31, 2001 Stephen Shepherd thinks modern furniture is okay, he’s just glad somebody else has to do it. Nineteenth Century furniture and the techniques used to make it are his passion. Not that fancy stuff made for rich people, mind you, just the simple country furniture used by average people. That passion has made him one of the country’s best know furniture restorers and a master at building what he calls “old timey furniture”. It all started back in 1972 when Stephen began a traditional four-year apprenticeship at a local cabinet shop in Salt Lake City. His teachers were German immigrant craftsmen who only begrudgingly revealed their trade secrets. Helping a friend restore some antiques and stints at various western museums pushed him further down the path. Other early influences were the books of Charles Hayward and the late Eric Sloan. Then a couple of years working at a living history museum in Indiana culminated with the publication of his first book, “Shepherds’ Compleat Early Nineteenth Century Woodworker” in 1981. Several other books have followed. Though he’s been involved with a high-end cabinet shop for many years, this staunch traditionalist is inspired in his own work by what he calls “western, Mormon, painted, and grained furniture”. “There wasn’t any hardwood out here in pioneer days,” he explained, “so all the furniture was made with pine and then painted and grained to look like other woods”. His commitment to this style and level of his skill are perfectly showcased in his renowned Quebec chair. Seeking out green wood — a rare commodity in bone-dry Utah — he visited a local mill that cuts everything green. The spruce wood he selected started out with a 20% moisture level. As it dried out, the legs tightened around the rungs and created an incredibly strong joint on a beautiful peace of woodwork. In his other role as a master of furniture restoration, Stephen has perfected a technique for stripping down to the original finish. And it came in real handy during one of his favorite projects. Leaders of the Church of the Latter Day Saints asked him to restore a desk once used by Mormon patriarch and territorial governor Brigham Young. He used his system to strip off nine layers of paint and leave 96% of the original paint (four different colors of marble and rosewood). It’s a prize museum piece today. Don’t get him wrong; he loves old tools and techniques, but Stephen’s no Luddite. He’s combined his love of teaching with the Internet to become a frequent participant on WoodCentral’s message board. “I wish the Internet was available when I first took up woodworking,” he noted. “The information and what you can learn from people just blows me away.” What’s ahead? His original book will soon be back in print, and he’s getting out of the commercial furniture business. Restoration, writing, and teaching will be his focus. Oh, and he’ll probably still find time to make a few pieces of good 19th Century, country furniture with a nice painted grain.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741639
__label__cc	0.614597	0.385403	Elizabeth White by: Cody Nickel Posted: May 4, 2017 / 07:26 PM EDT / Updated: May 4, 2017 / 07:26 PM EDT Elizabeth White is an energetic, award winning reporter with nearly 20 years of experience covering East Alabama and West Georgia breaking news and events. She’s a passionate storyteller with deep community and law enforcement connections. She is dedicated to earning and keeping the trust of viewers by delivering accurate, timely information in a compassionate way on a variety of on air and digital platforms. She graduated from Auburn University. She and her family call Auburn home. Her husband runs a family construction business in East Alabama. They adore their two young children and spoil their dogs, Cole and Bingo. Elizabeth has won three Georgia Association of Broadcasting Awards. In 2012 she took home “Best News Story” for her coverage of Operation Iron Snare, an effort by The Lee County Sheriff’s Office to arrest parents who had not paid thousands of dollars in child support. She won a second award in 2012 for her role in The St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway, an event she co-anchored for 12 years. Elizabeth also won an award for “Best Sports Special” for covering Auburn in the Sugar Bowl. Elizabeth recently won a Radio & Television News Director’s Association (RTNDA) Edward R. Murrow Award for “Best Spot News.” That high honor was awarded for her live coverage of Kia coming to West Point, Georgia. Elizabeth is best known for covering breaking news via Facebook Live, where she brings her viewers into an event as it is happening. by Bob Jeswald, Chief Meteorologist / Jul 15, 2019	cc/2019-30/en_head_0001.json.gz/line1741642

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