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Jylian Gustlin
Deborah Gustlin (author)|Zoe Gustlin (author)|Joan Baez (Foreword by)|Jylian Gustlin (By (artist))
224 pages - 270mm x 225mmmm
Jylian Gustlin’s work can be considered multi-dimensional and spatially multifaceted in color and boundaries, overlaid in complex fearlessness and combined with multimedia applications. Inspiration comes in many ways, however, Gustlin trail runs in the coastal mountains surrounding her home. The colors in her work come from the pallet of nature and is inspired by wildflowers, hillsides, green moss in the deep forest, tumbling waterfalls from recent rains, redwood trees reaching to the sky, including the deep blues of the shadows. This book covers the body of work by Jylian Gustlin from the last 20 years. “Nature is the greatest artist” –Jylian Gustlin ‘I know [Jylian] as exuberant, open, fun, funny, teasing, stubborn to the point of bullheadedness, and as a splendidly free spirit…and the viewer is the beneciary of the whole package.’ – Joan Baez
Jylian Gustlin is a native Californian and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has been shaped by the technology explosion of Silicon Valley and her art reflects her in-depth knowledge of technology. She studied mathematics and computer science at San Jose State University and received a BFA from the Academy of Art in San Francisco where technology was emerging as an art medium. Merging her understanding of computers and her love for fine art, she became a graphics programmer and art director for Apple Inc. Jylian has been a fulltime visualartist for over 20 years and is represented around the world in galleries and museum.
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urban bohemian
Dilettante, gadabout, ne'er do well, etc...
Lesson learned, ok?
by urb · June 23, 2007
Some nights, I wonder why I fucking bother to go out at all.
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DC Shorts Laughs Comedy Night
Chocolate Chip Cookies, Live on Twitch!
Modern Problems
Reel Affirmations XTRA moves to Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Pleasure Consuming Games, April 26, 2019, at Concordia University
Chocolate Chip Cookies, Live on Twitch! | urban bohemian on Pleasure Consuming Games, April 26, 2019, at Concordia University
urb on Dry Rubbed Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
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Lindsay Harris-Friel on Soup Dumpling Quest: Reren Lamen & Bar
urban bohemian © 2019. All Rights Reserved.
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ABC Sets 'Drew Carey,' 'Cabo' Dates
By Brian Ford Sullivan (TFC)
CHICAGO (thefutoncritic.com) -- ABC's "The Drew Carey Show," which has been absent from the network's schedule since August of last year, will return for its ninth and final season in June, the network revealed today.
Back-to-back episodes of the series are scheduled for Wednesdays at 9:00/8:00c beginning June 2. The defunct series will serve as a lead-in to the Alphabet's new reality series "What Happens In Cabo...," which launches that same night at 10:00/9:00c.
"Cabo," which was originally developed under the titles "Love for Sale" and "The Love Test," offers an established couple a substantial sum of cash if one of them agrees to spend several weeks with a member of the opposite sex. There's no requirement however that the relationship be consummated (a la the 1993 film "Indecent Proposal").
Executive producers David Farfinkle and Jay Renfroe ("Blind Date") of Renegade 83 are behind the project, which has a six-episode order.
· BLIND DATE (SYNDICATION)
· DREW CAREY SHOW, THE (ABC)
· ULTIMATE LOVE TEST, THE (ABC)
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[thursday, march 19, 2009]
Development Update: Thursday, March 19
Updates include: Eric McCormack and Reno Wilson to topline ABC's "The New Twenty"; Lindsay Sloane and Mary Elizabeth Ellis are "Pulling" for ABC; and Holly Robinson Peete joins "The Bridget Show," also at ABC.
Animal Planet Advances to the Starting Gate for Season Two of Docu-Drama Jockeys
Seven new episodes - featuring two new jockeys - will roll out this summer.
IFC Greenlights Season Two of the IFC Media Project
Production on five new episodes began in New York City in early January, with season two slated to premiere Sunday, May 3.
Interview: "Head Case" Co-Star Steve Landesberg
The Futon's First Look: "NCIS: Legend" (CBS, Script)
Top Model Lifts the CW to #1 at 8pm with Young Women
The CW spins the numbers for Wednesday, March 18.
ABC Is Up Over the Year-Ago Wednesday on 6 of the Past 7 Weeks in Adults 18-49
ABC spins the numbers for Wednesday, March 18.
58th Annual Miss Universe(R) Competition to Air Live from the Bahamas on NBC and Telemundo Sunday, August 23
Venezuelan native Dayana Mendoza, Miss Universe 2008, will crown her successor at the conclusion of the telecast.
Bravo Kicks Off "Top Chef: The Tour 2" Beginning Friday, March 27 Sponsored by Quaker
The tour will feature a brand new state-of-the-art customized traveling 18-wheeler semi-truck, with an expansive space to accommodate more fans for each on-site demonstration.
TV Land Snags Eliot Goldberg for West Coast Senior Vice President, Development and Original Programming for TV Land Prime
Prior to joining TV Land, Goldberg served as executive vice president of programming and development at Ryan Seacrest Productions.
Alexis Grace Is Eliminated from the "American Idol" Competition
FOX details the latest "American Idol" elimination.
Networks Firm Up Obama Plans for March 24
Among the changes: FOX will shift "American Idol" to Wednesday and Thursday that week, pre-empting "Lie to Me" and "Bones."
Development Update: Wednesday, March 18
Updates include: NBC orders "The Sing Off"; Kyle Bornheimer gets a "Threesome" at ABC; and Alfre Woodard joins FOX's "Maggie Hill."
Jeff Wachtel Named President USA Network Original Programming
He will also continue his role as co-head, original content, Universal Cable Productions.
CBS and Warner BroS. Television Announce Multi-Year Broadcast Agreement for "Two and a Half Men" and "The Big Bang Theory"
The agreement renews TWO AND A HALF MEN through the 2011-2012 season and THE BIG BANG THEORY through 2010-2011.
'Atom TV' Returns to Comedy Central with a New Season!
Among this season's offerings: "Blake Lewis Is Sh*tting In My Bathroom" and ""My Best Friend Is My Penis."
On an Ultra-Competitive Night, ABC Draws Biggest Tuesday in 2 Months
ABC spins the numbers for Tuesday, March 17.
'The Colbert Report' Will Tape a Week of Episodes in the Persian Gulf on Uso Tour and Become the First Television Series in Uso History to Film Multiple Shows in the Combat Zone
"I'm going to the Persian Gulf," Colbert said. "I can't tell you where I'm going, but the fact that I can't tell you where I'm going should tell you where I'm going."
CBS News Will Broadcast President Obama's News Conference on Tuesday, March 24 at 8:00 Pm, Et
Said coverage will bump "NCIS" and "The Mentalist" back an hour, pre-empting "Without a Trace."
On Bravo's "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" the Hair Is Big, But the Drama Is Bigger!
Plus: get a sneak peak at the New Jersey ladies during a preview special on Tuesday, April 7 at 11:00/10:00c.
Actor/Comedian Lance Krall Is Back as Everyone's Favorite Moronic Dj in the Second Season of VH1's 'Free Radio' Premiering Thursday, April 2 at 11pm*
This season's guests include Ed Helms, Emily Procter, Dominic Monaghan, Kathy Griffin, Akon, David Cook, Hank Azaria, Cheech & Chong and John Stamos.
The Music of Pearl Jam Will Rock Throughout the Two-Part Sixth Season Finale of "Cold Case," May 3 and 10
A total of 16 to-be-determined Pearl Jam hits will be woven throughout the two consecutive COLD CASE finale episodes.
CBS and Eqal Present Harper's Globe
The online experience for the new drama "Harper's Island" begins today.
Kanye West's Flow Is Comedy Gold on "The Cleveland Show"
West will appear as KENNY WEST, an all-around cool kid and the archenemy of CLEVELAND JR. (Kevin Michael Richardson).
Animal Planet's Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom Spotlights the Wonders of the Natural World
Season seven of the iconic wildlife series launches on Sunday, April 5 at 7:00/6:00c.
Development Update: Tuesday, March 17
Updates include: Sam Neill moves to ABC's "Happy Town"; quartet set for ABC's "Limelight"; and Alex O'Loughlin in talks to join "Three Rivers" at CBS.
Interview: "Better Off Ted" Creator Victor Fresco
FOX Plugs "Hole in the Wall," Trims "Osbournes"
Repeats of "American Dad" and "King of the Hill" will assume "Wall's" Sunday, 7:00/6:00c slot effective immediately.
Obama to Make Third Primetime TV Address
President Obama is set to address the nation yet again - this time on Tuesday, March 24.
History(Tm) Unveils the Discovery of One of the Largest Ocean Predators Ever Found - Predator X
The two-hour special premieres Sunday, March 29 at 8:00/7:00c.
The Futon's First Look: "Vampire Diaries, The" (The Cw, Script)
ABC Claims 3 of the Week's Top 5 TV Shows in Adults 18-49
ABC spins the numbers for the week of March 9-15.
ABC's Lineup of "Dwts" and "Castle" Takes the Net to the No. 1 Position in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 on Monday for the 3rd Straight Week
ABC spins the numbers for Monday, March 16.
CBS Places First in Viewers for the 19th Week This Season
CBS spins the numbers for the week of March 9-15.
'The Office,' 'Er,' 'Biggest Loser' and 'Svu' Pace NBC's Primetime Week of March 9-15
NBC spins the numbers for the week of March 9-15.
Science Channel Debuts All-New Episodes of the Hit Engineering Series Build It Bigger
The series returns Monday, April 20 at 10:00/9:00c.
Emmy(R) Award Nominee Tracy Pollan Stars in the Highly Anticipated Lifetime Movie Network Original Film Natalee Holloway
Grant Show, Catherine Dent and newcomer Amy Gumenick also star in the film, airing Sunday, April 19 at 8:00/7:00c.
All-New Discovery Channel Series Brings Leonardo Da Vinci's Infamous Drawings to Life for the First Time
DOING DA VINCI, a six-episode original series, premieres Mondays at 10:00/9:00c beginning April 13.
Development Update: Monday, March 16
Updates include: Richard Dreyfuss to do "Everything" for CBS; Chevy Chase reports to NBC's "Community"; and Paul Campbell to topline ABC's "No Heroics."
'Mythbusters' Launches Seventh Season Wednesdays at 9pm Beginning April 8 with Two-Hour Demolition Special
10 all-new high-definition episodes will air in a row, beginning with a two-hour "Demolition Derby Special."
Teens Voice Top Choices in Annual "Teen Choice 2009" Monday, August 10, on Fox
The first round of nominees, hosts, performers and presenters will be announced soon.
Turner Classic Movies to Embark on 10-Part Journey Through Moguls and Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood
Set to premiere in 2010, MOGULS AND MOVIE STARS: A HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD will consist of 10 one-hour documentaries, each focusing on a different era of American movie history.
CBS Wins Sunday for the Third Consecutive Week
CBS spins the numbers for Sunday, March 15.
The Third Season of the Award-Winning Ghost Whisperer Webisodes, "Ghost Whisperer: The Other Side Iii," Will Begin Streaming Friday, March 13 on CBS.com
From March 13 through April 27, fans can watch eight new webisodes and interact with a special on-line game.
Country Music Fans Everywhere Have the Power to Vote for Entertainer of the Year at the "44th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards" to Be Broadcast Live from Las Vegas Sunday, April 5 on the CBS Television Network
Each nominee is also scheduled to perform, in addition to previously announced performers Toby Keith, Miranda Lambert, Tim McGraw, Heidi Newfield, Rascal Flatts, Sugarland and Taylor Swift.
ABC Is No. 1 on Sunday for the 5th Week in a Row in Adults 18-49
ABC spins the numbers for Sunday, March 15.
BET Promises Another Explosive Season of Its Top-Rated Reality Series 'College Hill: South Beach' Kicking Off Tuesday, March 24 at 10:00 P.M.*
The sixth season promises "17 episodes filled with non-stop entertainment, revelations and drama for COLLEGE HILL fans."
ABC Announces Season Finale Dates and the Return of "Ugly Betty" and "The Bachelorette"
Said dates extend from April 29 ("Better Off Ted") to May 21 ("Ugly Betty").
David Chase to Develop Miniseries About the Creation of Hollywood for Hbo
Chase will write and executive produce the miniseries, as well as direct the initial episodes.
Henry Rollins to Guest Star on FX Drama Sons of Anarchy
He'll play a new antagonist "who poses a deadly threat to the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club" during a six-episode arc.
next page of results >>
[march 2009]
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UFC 2009 Undisputed
Rickster31086 Says: After the release of UFC 2009 Undisputed for XBOX 360 and Playstation 3 on May 19th (sorry Wii owners), fans finally have a game that eliminates the sour taste from the previously released UFC games.
I was shocked at the amazing realism while playing the game. Over 80 real MMA fighters are featured in the game, including Forrest Griffin, Anderson Silva, Quentin “Rampage” Jackson, and Georges St. Pierre.
The game offers several different modes, among them the requisite career mode found in many other fighting games like the Fight Night series. The career mode requires you to create a fighter in one of five weight classes: Lightweight, Welterweight, Middleweight, Light Heavyweight, and Heavyweight. The robust features of the create-a-fighter are endless. You are even given the opportunity to choose the width of the fighter’s nose.
First, you are thrust into a tryout against another no-name fighter, who Is attempting to gain a spot in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. If you win this match, you are then granted the chance to compete against other top fighters in the UFC. The career screen lists the activities that you can participate in; such as training, customizing your fighter, view rankings, etc.
One of coolest features in the game is the ability to place logos from sponsors on the shorts your fighter is wearing. If you’ve ever seen an MMA fight before, you know that each fighter has colorful logos from various sponsors, which adds to the visual stimulation the player is experiencing.
To be successful while playing the game, your fighter needs to be well-versed in one of six fighting disciplines, which includes boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, judo, Brazilian ju-jitsu, and muay-thai. Any combination of the aforementioned styles could be deadly, but experimenting with several different ones may prove to be wise as you progress through the game.
The only downside I found while playing the game is the ridiculous loading screens. The game uses an auto save feature, but unnecessary reminders are flashed on the screen after every save.
Several articles I read stated that THQ may make the UFC Undisputed game a yearly series; like Madden is to football. I think that is a bad idea. This game was the product of years of research and development, as is evident in the final product. If it were to become a yearly release, minor upgrades and tweaks would be made, but essentially the same game would be released year after year, much like the Madden franchise.
If I had to give the game an overall grade, it likely would fall in the 8.8-9.5 range. The graphics are beyond description, as if you are witnessing a live UFC fight. The complicated controls will undoubtedly prove frustrating, as you try to input the correct half-circle motion on the right thumbstick, but after you learn the proper button presses, you might find yourself on top of the rankings.
Labels: UFC
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The Little Scroll
Accounts of misplaced sandals on holy ground. By Philip E. Jenks
In Lin-Manuel Miranda’s autobiographical musical, “In the Heights,” there is a poignant scene in the second act. The characters have just survived a night of looting in the midst of a Fourth of July blackout. Usnavi, the main character, has lost his bodega because of vandalism, but his main concern in the sweltering heat is the health and safety Abuela Claudia.
USNAVI:
ABUELA CLAUDIA:
ABUELA CLAUDIA/USNAVI:
Paciencia y fe!
So we survived the night, what happens today?
What happens today? The question crosses all our minds, but there is no answer. We can’t predict the future. It would be futile to try.
“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money,’” writes the Apostle James. “Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.” (James 4:13-16)
In the musical, so much happens after Usnavi asks the question, “What happens today?” The musical is no longer on Broadway, but it is on tour, so skip the rest of this paragraph if you don’t like spoilers. Before the day is over, Abuela will split her lottery winnings of $96,000 with Usnavi and his cousin, Sonny. Before the day is over, Abuela will die of heart failure in her bedroom. Before the day is over, Usnavi will make plans return to the Dominican Republic, the home of his parents. But before the day is over Sonny will arrange a special tribute to Abuela Claudia that convinces Usnavi to stay in the Heights. None of these events were likely when Usnavi began the day with the question, “So we survived the night. What happens today?”
Our lives unroll uncertainly before us. Maybe today will be much like yesterday, and perhaps yesterday was much like the day before. On the other hand, no one can suppose there will not be catastrophic changes in the soothing routine. When a family in Connecticut went to bed for a long winter’s nap late last month, they had no inkling that the smoldering embers left in a bag by the fireplace would burst to life and, before the night was over, claim the lives of three children and two grandparents.
We tell ourselves that tomorrow is promised to no one but, in fact, nothing is promised to us. My Sociology Professor Tony Campolo – who, when I had him in class, did not know that in a few tomorrows he would become an evangelical superstar – used to say how scared he was by evangelists who sought to frighten you into salvation with familiar taunts: “You don’t have to come forward to be saved now, you can put it off until tomorrow or the next day. You can walk away tonight with hell fires crackling around your ankles and wait until some other time to be saved. But – But! – what if you walk out that door tonight and get hit by a bus?” We’d ask Tony, the existential sociologist, if the sermon made him afraid of hell fires, and he’d reply, “No! It made me afraid of buses!”
As we look around us today, at those we love, at familiar surroundings, common items we hold in our hands every day, are we missing invisible signs that might shed light on what happens next?
Some historians have said that one of the eeriest images of the television age took place on the morning of November 22, 1963, as cameras captured the crisp, full-color images of President and Mrs. Kennedy descending the mobile stairway from Air Force One. Mrs. Kennedy beams as brightly as the Dallas sun as she models her pink suit and trademark pillbox hat, and a Dallas newsman who has never seen JFK in person marvels at the charismatic young chief. “He’s taller than I thought,” he reports, “he’s tanned and lean in a well tailored suit and a light green shirt. He’s the prince of America.” In this glistening moment, the future seems secure, God appears to dote on the United States, and the unwary President bares his teeth in a grin of grace and domestic tranquility.
But as we know so well a half century later, these happy moments are fleeting. Within minutes of the grinning descent from Air Force One, as the motorcade heads into downtown Dallas, the President will be gone.
JFK.
Blown away.
What else do I have to say?
I’m inclined to think it would be terrible if we knew how our lives will evolve, if OuiJa boards and botanicas provided spoilers of what lies ahead.
Who needs it? My maternal grandmother got it into her head that she would die on February 6, and all her life she would greet each new year with dread anticipation that this would be the fatal year. She passed so many years safely – more than 80 of them – that the rest of the family lost patience with her morbid annual observance. Then she died, on February 6. Perhaps Grandma had some divination of the day, if not the year, of her death. But what good did it do besides making her miserable every January and February?
As I write this, I’m flashing back to an old Mutt and Jeff cartoon I saw decades ago in the Syracuse Herald-Journal:
Jeff: I Wish I knew where I was going to die.
Mutt: Why? What good would that do you?
Jeff: I’d never go near the durn place.
All of this prognostication gives power, perhaps, to the story of the ancient woman and man encountered in the temple by Mary, Joseph and Jesus when they went there to designate their first born male as “holy to the Lord,” and for Mary’s purification as a woman who had recently given birth. (Luke 2:18-40)
Simeon and Anna had gifts of divine discernment, and when the young couple and new baby boy came to the temple, the old ones knew exactly who they were. They also knew what the future held for them, and it was not all good news.
Before she met Simeon and Anna, Mary’s knowledge of her prospects was that they were spectacular. The angel said she was with child by the Holy Spirit, and the shepherds tramped down from the fields to tell her what the angels said about the birth of the messiah, the Christ child. And “Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19)
But while Mary was treasuring the future in her heart, a harsher reality awaited her and her family, and the old folks knew it. Because the messianic franchise is not all bliss and glory.
Both Simeon and Anna had taken up residence in the Temple, and both of them knew for whom they were waiting. When she saw the baby, Anna “began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.”
Simeon discerned God’s promise that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah, and he, too, recognized the baby immediately. He held the child tenderly in his arms, and praised God:
“Master, now you are
dismissing your
servant in peace,
according to your word,
for my eyes have seen your
salvation,
which you have prepared in
the presence of all
peoples,
a light for revelation to the
and for glory to your
people Israel.”
But it was to Mary that Simeon turned on a more somber note.
“This child,” he said, “is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed.”
And then: “And a sword will pierce your own soul, too.”
This is a spoiler about events to come that had yet to be revealed to Mary, the teen-age mother who was still pondering the glory of being the mother of God’s son. God, who had kept this information from her until now, called upon a kindly old man in the temple to tell the whole truth: blessed are you among women; but an anguish of spirit akin to a sword in your soul is your fate as well.
The agony that ameliorates the ecstasy follows shortly afterwards, when Joseph, Mary and the boy Jesus are forced to leave behind everything they know in order to escape the death sentence imposed on all newborn boys by the murderous King Herod. There are few hints, in canonical scripture, what it may have been like to raise an adolescent Messiah, but the attitude of the 12-year-old Jesus in the Temple is suggestive. Jesus had gone missing amid the Passover crowds in Jerusalem, and Mary and Joseph searched frantically for him. “Child, why have you treated us like this?” Mary demanded. “Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.”
Clearly an apology is in order, but the boy’s response is slightly arrogant, or would have been if he had been your kid: “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must have been in my father’s house?” (Luke 2:48-49).
A few verses later, Luke reports that Jesus “was obedient to them,” but perhaps this only meant he was turning over a new messianic leaf. Disappearing from one’s parents is not an act of obedience.
At this point, the future still held many incidents of soul-piercing intensity, including the adult Jesus’ departure from Mary’s home, the sermons that convinced Jesus’ own siblings and friends that he was nuts, the angry crowd that followed him with the intent of throwing him off a cliff, the hostility of the religious authorities who felt threatened by his authority, and, ultimately, the arrest, flagellation, and crucifixion. Mary, who had once pondered God’s goodness and her son’s glory in her heart, ultimately sat at the foot of a Roman cross and watched her son die a slow, excruciating death by asphyxiation. The only pain that could have equaled that was the figurative sword thrust so cruelly in her soul.
On that day so long ago, when Mary took her infant son into the temple for his dedication to God, would she have been better off if there had been no Simeon to warn her about the future?
Perhaps not. She would have discovered the truths about life soon enough. She was still a teenager when she gave birth to Jesus, but as a young girl in a family oppressed by a malicious foreign rule, she must already have known life has equal portions of joy and pain. As she grew older and experienced more of life, this reality would have become more certain.
But Mary was also witness to the fact that there is more to life than joy and pain and the finality of death. She also played a major role in the decision of the Creator of the Universe to experience the misery and agony of human life in such a way that pain might be forever expunged from the soul’s eternal essence. Because Jesus suffered on the cross, the sword that pierced Mary’s soul – the swords that pierce all our souls – are forever removed.
It is always tempting, as we live out our lives, to want to know when the inevitable pains of living will come, or when death’s sting will come to us, or where. Some of us would welcome the spoilers, the mystical predictions, which will lay it all out before us. And others will be just as glad to go through life never knowing when that belligerent bus will put a quick end to all we know.
But none of that really matters. It’s enough to know that pain and death will come, whether we know how or when.
But just as certain, as made clear to Mary by Simeon and Anna, the ancients of the temple, is that God has a plan to take away our pain, and the day will surely come when we can praise God for a long-promised blessed release,
Posted by Philip E. Jenks at 11:37 AM
Philip E. Jenks
Port Chester, NY, United States
The Little Scroll was originally a monthly editorial in The American Baptist magazine from 1974 until the magazine's closure in 1992. The author has been a newspaper reporter and a writer for national and ecumenical church organizations. He is also the author of the blog, cakesandale.org. He is married to the Rev. Dr. Martha M. Cruz, a Spiritual Director and also an occasional blogger at http://martha-antojitosyalabanzas.blogspot.com/
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District rolls out academic and career advising model in fall
By The Ranger on April 15, 2013 News
Dr. Mike Flores, president of Palo Alto College, says faculty advisers work closely with students when they use the academic and career advising model. Flores presented the model at the Academic Accountability and Student Success Committee meeting Tuesday in Killen. Rebecca Salinas
By Rebecca Salinas
rsalinas191@student.alamo.edu
The academic and career advising model will keep students engaged with the college because the pathway to success will be personalized, Dr. Mike Flores, president of Palo Alto College, said.
The model was discussed during the Academic Accountability and Student Success Committee meeting Tuesday in Room 101 of Killen Center, 201 W. Sheridan.
According to the model’s mission statement, academic and career advising will help students explore their “academic and career pathways.”
“This involves all of us collectively as faculty and staff working together. This involves different units working together,” Flores said. “We’re leaving that silo approach; we’re moving to an integrative approach.”
He said the faculty adviser and the student will “establish a pathway” for the student to transition from college to career. He said faculty advising was introduced in December 2011 and employees started working on college specific plans in June. He said employee attendees at the Academic and Career Advising Institute in December developed the academic advising vision, mission and definition, as well as student learning outcomes for students with 0-30 hours.
Flores said the model will be deployed in May with training and is planned to be implemented for the fall semester.
He said there will be a syllabus, such as a course syllabus, required when advising.
“Why not have an academic advising syllabus for the students, that really talks about the relationship, the responsibilities of the advisee and the relationship of the specific adviser, or in some cases a counselor, and, in most cases, a faculty member,” he said. “What are we going to do? What is this all about? What is this arrangement all about?”
Flores said the process starts with connection between the student and adviser by having awareness of career institutes and what they offer. The next step is actual entry into college with orientation and student development. The third step is progress where the introduction and research on the transfer institute begin. The last step is completion with internships, graduation or placement.
“All of our goal is to get the student on the right path, to ensure that they have an internship, they have some sense of what they’d like to do, where’d they like to go,” he said.
The first level, or connection level, would provide the academic advising syllabus, assign an adviser, help with applications and registration, orient students with degree plans and identify major. The entry level would help students validate their chosen major by finding a degree plan and will offer help on advising and registering for the following semester.
The progress level would make faculty advise through a degree or certificate completion.
Flores said Dr. Adelina Silva, vice chancellor for student success, and Dr. Federico Zaragoza, vice chancellor of economic and workforce development, worked on the model.
“It really has been a collaborative effort with the intent that we would enhance our practice,” Flores said.
Chancellor Bruce Leslie said the model is not a traditional advising model, but it is a learning opportunity for students. “They’re going to be gaining part of their educational outcomes as a result of experiencing this model,” he said.
District 7 trustee Yvonne Katz said, “It’s that dimension that we’re not going to let you fail; we are going to have you succeed.”
She said this model would “flip” the traditional model because the traditional model rushes students to graduate. “It’s kind of like, over my dead body; you are going to succeed,” she said.
District 1 trustee Joe Alderete wanted to know if it is possible to track students after they leave the Alamo Colleges. He said if students leave the district without graduating and do find a better job, then the district should know about it.
“How can we capture that information so that we can utilize it, not only tracking the student through their success rate at the community college but tracking the benefit we provided them as a community college,” he said.
District 9 trustee James Rindfuss said students leaving college could have an “exit interview.”
Leslie said it is difficult because the district does not know when students will leave if they do not graduate. He said another problem is that students do not always know where they are going after graduation.
Leslie said when the district does find out the student left, such as a semester later, then they might not hear from them.
Rindfuss said a possibility could be that students fill out a questionnaire at the end of the semester and the student not get a grade unless they fill it out. He said the questionnaire could have professor and course evaluations as well as what the student is going to do in the future.
District 6 trustee Gene Sprague said the board could not invent a system that would catch every student’s plan, but the advising model is the closest system that could do that because the advisers are in constant contact with the student.
In other news, the committee unanimously approved the oil and gas technology associate of applied science degree at Palo Alto.
The degree has specializations in process technology and production technician at 60 credit hours, the Level 1 certificate at 18 credit hours and the career foundation core certificate at 30 credit hours.
According to the minute order, “The Oil and Gas Technology program will prepare students for technical careers in the support of the Eagle Ford Shale oil and gas industry.” The program will provide training for students interested in petroleum and natural gas processing operations and production maintenance. Potential jobs include petroleum pump systems operators, refinery operators, gaugers, geological technicians and petroleum technicians. There are 51 projected jobs in the oil and gas market per year.
No other college in the district offers training for oil and gas occupations and the closest colleges that do offer training in the state are Brazosport College in Lake Jackson and College of the Mainland in Texas City.
The five-year projected net income is $75,312.
The minute order is expected to go to the full board at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Room 101 of Killen. For more information, visit alamo.edu/district/board.
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Our Rentals
1-Bed-1st Fl-R
1-Bed-1st Fl-L
1-Bed-2nd Fl-L
Villa Namouna and James Gorden Bennett, Jr.
James Gordon Bennett, Jr. (May 10 1841 – May 14 1918) was publisher of the New York Herald, founded by his father, James Gordon Bennett, Sr and founder of the International Herald Tribue. He built Villa Namouna and has been linked to the British expletive "Gordon Bennett!"
Bennett was educated primarily in France. In 1866, the elder Bennett turned control of the Herald over to him. Bennett raised the paper's profile on the world stage when he provided the financial backing for the 1869 expedition by Henry Morton Stanley into Africa to find David Livingstone in exchange for the Herald having the exclusive account of Stanley's progress.
Bennett, like many of his social class, indulged in the "good life": yachts, opulent private railroad cars, and lavish mansions. He was the youngest Commodore ever of the New York Yacht Club. In 1861, Bennett volunteered his newly-built schooner yacht, Henrietta, for the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service during the Civil War. He was commissioned "third lieutenant" (viz., brevet second lieutenant) of the U.S. Marine Revenue schooner Henrietta beginning in June 1861. She patrolled Long Island until February 1862 when she was sent to Port Royal, South Carolina. On March 3, 1862, Bennett commanding Henrietta was part of the fleet which captured Fernandina, Florida. Bennett and the Henrietta returned to civilian life in New York in May 1862.
In 1866, he won the first trans-oceanic yacht race. The race was between three American yachts, the Vesta, the Fleetwing and the Henrietta. They started off of Sandy Hook, New Jersey, on 11 December 1866 amid high westerly winds and raced to The Needles, the furthest westerly point on the Isle of Wight, famous for its lighthouse. Bennett's Henrietta won with a time of 13 days, 21 hours, 55 minutes.
However, he often scandalized society with his flamboyant and sometimes erratic behavior. In 1877, he left New York for Europe after an incident that ended his engagement to socialite Caroline May. According to various accounts, he arrived late and drunk to a party at the May family mansion, then urinated into a fireplace (some say grand piano) in full view of his hosts.
Bennett's controversial reputation has been thought to have inspired, in the United Kingdom, the phrase "Gordon Bennett" as an expression of incredulity.
Settling in Paris, he launched the Paris edition of the New York Herald, titled The Paris Herald, the forerunner of the International Herald Tribune. He backed George W. DeLong's voyage to the North Pole via the Bering Strait. The ill-fated expedition led to the deaths from starvation of DeLong and 19 of his crew, a tragedy that only increased the paper's circulation.
In 1883, Gordon Bennett built the most magnificent steam yacht of its day, the beautiful Namouna. At 616 tons and 226 feet she was far larger than the next largest, the first Corsair at 185 feet.
Gordon Bennett used Namouna to travel up the Nile, to India and Ceylon, across the Atlantic regularly, and he did the navigation himself. He was always in touch with the Herald by telegraph and dispatches, and he entertained a regular stream of famous guests.
On a cruise down the east coast of Africa, he visited the Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia, who presented him with a monkey which Bennett then lodged in an elaborate cage in the garden at Villa Namouna, where he kept his Pekinese dogs. The elaborate cage and the graves of the dogs remain today!
He was a co-founder of the Commercial Cable Company, a venture to break the Transatlantic cable monopoly held by Jay Gould.
Bennett returned to the United States and organized the first polo match in the United States at Dickel's Riding Academy at 39th Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City. He would help found the Westchester Polo Club in 1876, the first polo club in America. He established the Gordon Bennett Cup for international yachting and the Gordon Bennett Cup for automobile races.[8] In 1906, he funded the Gordon Bennett Cup in ballooning (Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett), which continues to this day. In 1909, Bennett offered a trophy for the fastest speed on a closed circuit for airplanes. The 1909 race in Rheims, France was won by Glenn Curtiss for two circuits of a 10 km rectangular course at an average speed of 46.5 miles per hour (74.8 km/h). From 1896 to 1914, the champion of Paris, USFSA football (soccer), received a trophy offered by Gordon Bennett. In 1880, Bennett commissioned McKim, Mead, and White to design the Newport Casino in Newport, RI.
He did not finally marry until he was 73. His wife was Maud Potter, widow of George de Reuter, son of Julius Paul Reuter, founder of Reuters news agency. He died on May 14, 1918 in Villa Namouna in Beaulieu-sur-Mer.
Bennett is buried at the Cimetière de Passy. The nearby Stade de Roland Garros, site of the French Open, is on the Avenue Gordon Bennett. After his death, the Herald was merged with its bitter rival, the New York Tribune.
Asteroid 305 Gordonia is named after him.
Gorden Bennett Jr. was very active in life in Beaulieu-sur-Mer and was behind the creation of La Reserve Hotel in town. He is commorated there in several large paintings and two of his yachts are on display with other memorabilia.
Notes: Title from unverified data provided by the Bain News Service on the negatives or caption cards. Forms part of: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress).
For more information about Gordon Bennett Jr. read the lovely piece written by one of the visitors to Villa Namouna to learn more about his presence in Beaulieu-sur-Mer and our Villa. Go here.
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Substantiation Requirements for Charitable Contributions, Part III
The Internal Revenue Service requires donors who claim charitable income tax deductions to substantiate the value of their charitable contributions. Donors may not understand the specific substantiation requirements when making charitable donations. The Service's substantiation rules are strict, and if these rules are not closely followed, a donor may lose his or her entire charitable deduction. Advisors should be prepared to explain these requirements, guide their clients through the process of substantiating charitable gifts and work with charities to meet the Service's requirements.
This article series will explore the substantiation rules for charitable contributions. The first article in this series reviewed the final regulations regarding substantiation for charitable donations for cash gifts. The second article examined the basic rules for substantiating charitable contributions of noncash property. This third part of the series will explore the substantiation requirements for specific gift types, including donations of real estate and tangible personal property. By understanding the substantiation rules under the final regulations, advisors can help ensure that their clients receive full benefits from their charitable donations.
The previous article in this series covered the substantiation requirements for noncash gifts in general. However, several types of noncash gifts have specific substantiation rules. Donors who make gifts of real estate, for example, are required to follow the general substantiation rules for noncash gifts and also meet additional requirements. If the real property is valued at more than $5,000, the donor will be required to obtain a contemporaneous written acknowledgment, file Form 8283 and obtain a qualified appraisal. Reg. 1.170A-16(d)(1)(ii). If the charitable contribution is valued in excess of $500,000, the donor will be required to attach the qualified appraisal to the tax return for the year of the gift. Reg. 1.170A-16(e)(1)(iv).
Qualified Conservation Contributions
When a donor makes a qualified conservation contribution, he or she must substantiate the deduction by maintaining written records of the fair market value of the underlying property before and after the donation and by including the conservation purpose. The IRS requires this information to "be stated in the taxpayer's income tax return if required by the return or its instructions." Reg. 1.170A-14(i). A qualified conservation contribution occurs when the donor gives a qualified real property interest to a qualified organization exclusively for conservation purposes. Reg. 1.170A-14(a). A qualified real property interest includes either the entire interest of the donor, excluding a qualified mineral interest, or a perpetual conservation restriction. Reg. 1.170A-14(b). A perpetual conservation restriction is a perpetual restriction on the use of real property, usually an easement. Reg. 1.170A-14(b)(2).
In order to qualify as an eligible donee of a qualified conservation contribution, an organization must be a governmental entity described in Sec. 170(b)(1)(A)(v), an organization described in Sec. 170(b)(1)(A)(vi), a charitable organization described in Sec. 501(c)(3) that meets the public support test of Sec. 509(a)(2) or an organization that meets the requirements of Sec. 509(a)(3) and is controlled by one of the aforementioned types of organizations. Reg. 1.170A-14(c)(1). Additionally, the organization must "have a commitment to protect the conservation purposes of the donation, and have the resources to enforce the restrictions." Reg. 1.170A-14(c)(1). Conservation purposes include the preservation of land for recreation or education for the general public, protection of a wildlife habitat, the preservation of open space or preservation of historically important land or a structure. Reg. 1.170A-14(d)(1).
Richard owns 1,200 acres of land that has been in his family for over 100 years. The land is heavily wooded, contains a large pond and is adjacent to both a river and a creek. Richard decides to donate a conservation easement in the land to the local conservation society to protect the wildlife habitat. In addition to making sure that his conservation contribution qualifies, Richard must also substantiate his charitable deduction.
Richard prepares a file of the documents he will need in order to substantiate the conservation contribution. First, he hires an appraiser to document the fair market value of the property prior to the donation. The appraisal values the land as of the gift date, but may be completed as early as 60 days prior to the gift or as late as the date on which the donor's tax return is due, including any extensions. He also created a document that detailed the conservation purpose that the donation furthered, including preservation of a wildlife habitat.
Conservation easements have often been the subject of contention with the IRS. The substantiation regulations regarding conservation contributions were developed in an attempt to curb abuses of the conservation contribution deduction. In recent years, courts have addressed the perpetuity requirement for conservation easements.
In Pine Mountain Preserve LLLP et al. v. Commissioner (2018), the Tax Court addressed donors' ability to make changes to the conservation easement. Pine Mountain Preserve, LLLP (PMPL) deeded conservation easements of approximately 1,300 acres to the North American Land Trust (NALT) over a period of three years. In two of the three conservation easement deeds, PMPL retained several one-acre "building areas," where single-family residences could be built. PMPL reserved the right to move the building areas from one location to another within the conservation area. While PMPL argued that the area conserved would be the same size regardless of where the building areas were placed within the conservation area, the Tax Court disagreed. Because PMPL had the right to substitute property under the deeds, the Tax Court ruled that those easements were not granted in perpetuity and denied PMPL's deductions.
In BC Ranch II, L.P. v. Commissioner (2017), the Fifth Circuit addressed a similar substitution issue and reached a different holding. BC Ranch I, L.P. purchased land in Texas in 2003 and conveyed 1,866 acres to BC Ranch II, L.P. the following year. In 2005, BC Ranch I donated a conservation easement to NALT. BC Ranch II donated a conservation easement to NALT in 2007. BC Ranch I reserved 24 parcels at five acres each, available for owners of limited partnership interests. The five-acre parcels were allowed to make boundary adjustments contingent upon each parcel remaining at exactly five acres.
The conservation easement for BC Ranch I was appraised at $8.4 million while the easement for BC Ranch II was appraised at $7.5 million. The IRS denied these deductions. The Tax Court held that the easements were not in perpetuity because the five-acre parcels were allowed to make boundary adjustments. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, however, overturned the Tax Court decision, holding that the movement of the boundaries of the parcels was a "de minimis" change.
The prevalence of litigation relating to conservation easements should lead to caution for donors and advisors involved in closing these types of charitable gifts. Donors and their attorneys must carefully design conservation easements in such a manner that all requirements are met. In order to substantiate the deduction, proper documentation must be secured at each step of the process.
Tangible Personal Property
Charitable gifts of tangible personal property (TPP) must meet the substantiation rules for noncash assets at each value threshold ($250, $500, $5,000 and $500,000). In addition, the condition of the property must be described. Reg 1.170A-16(c)(3)(iv)(B). Form 8283 must indicate whether the tangible personal property will be used for a purpose related to the charity's exempt purpose. Reg 1.170A-16(c)(3)(G).
Certain categories of tangible personal property are subject to additional substantiation requirements. Contributions of qualified vehicles valued in excess of $500 must be substantiated by a contemporaneous written acknowledgment by the donee. The term "qualified vehicle" includes any motor vehicle intended to be used on public roads, a boat or any airplane. Sec. 170(f)(12)(E).
The contemporaneous written acknowledgment must include the donor's name and tax identification number and the vehicle identification number (VIN). If the charity plans to keep the vehicle and use it or make improvements to it, the acknowledgment must also include a certification of the charity's intended use or material improvements, including how long the charity intends to make such use of the vehicle and also a certification that the vehicle will not be sold prior to the end of that period of use or improvement. Sec. 170(f)(12)(B). The donor of a qualified vehicle must attach a copy of the contemporaneous written acknowledgment to Form 8283.
Courtney owns a three-year-old pickup truck with 30,000 miles on it. With a growing family, she decided it was time to upgrade from a pickup truck to a sport utility vehicle. At first, she was preparing to sell the truck, but, while she was talking with the gift planner at her favorite charity, the gift planner mentioned that the charity was in the market for a pickup truck. After doing some research and talking with her tax advisor, Courtney determined that she wanted to donate the truck to the charity. The advisor explained to Courtney the way the process would work and gave her a list of things that she should expect to see in the charity's written acknowledgment.
Soon after Courtney delivered the truck to the charity, she received a note thanking her for her contribution. The note contained Courtney's name and Social Security number, as well as the truck's VIN. However, Courtney did not see any indication of the charity's intended use of the vehicle. She contacted the charity and requested an updated acknowledgment certifying that the charity intends to keep the truck for a number of years and that it will not sell the truck until that time period has passed.
Gifts of artwork are also subject to unique substantiation requirements. If a donor who is not the creator of the art wishes to claim a deduction for a gift of art, and the value is greater than $20,000, the donor must submit a complete signed appraisal with Form 8283. In addition, the donor must provide either an 8" by 10" color photo or a 4" by 5" color transparency of the art. Instructions for Form 8283. As is the general rule with noncash gifts valued at more than $5,000, a qualified appraisal is required. The qualified appraisal rules will be explored in more detail in an upcoming article.
It is imperative for professional advisors to understand the substantiation requirements for specific noncash gifts to charity. Donors rely on their counsel to provide guidance and help safeguard their charitable deductions. Advisors and charities may be called upon to complete Form 8283. It is essential that the form is completed accurately and timely in order to allow donors to claim charitable deductions in the appropriate year.
It is crucial for advisors to understand the updated requirements for substantiation and follow the regulations with strict compliance. Donors' charitable income tax deductions are at stake. It is of the utmost importance for charities to understand their obligations in providing adequate receipts for charitable gifts. Charities and professional advisors should work together to ensure that donors obtain the appropriate substantiation in a timely manner. This will more readily protect donors from a disallowance of their charitable deductions.
Substantiation Requirements for Charitable Contributions, Part II
Substantiation Requirements for Charitable Contributions, Part I
The Impact of TCJA UBTI Rules on Nonprofits' Employee Parking
Part II - Investor or Dealer? Gifts of Real Estate and Donor Classification
Investor or Dealer? - Gifts of Real Estate and Donor Classification
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Cultural Destinations
Before the Civil War, cotton cultivation brought tremendous wealth to Black Belt plantation owners. Antebellum mansions dot the Black Belt, reminders of that era. Black Belt antebellum homes offer impressive examples of Greek Revival, Classical Revival, and Federal architectural styles. Many of these homes are now open to the public, such as Magnolia Grove Historic House Museum in Greensboro and Kirkwood Mansion in Eutaw. The graceful Southern architecture is also captured in the 53 Historic Districts in the Black Belt, and reflected in the abundance of historical churches throughout the Black Belt towns.
The year is filled with annual festivals throughout the region that actively celebrate the food, music, arts and spirit of the Black Belt. Click on the following link to view upcoming events: View calendar
Throughout the Black Belt, family and churches have long been centers of rural life. Since settlement days, churches have brought community members together for weekly prayer and fellowship, baptisms, funerals, weddings, and revivals. Music infuses these gatherings, from gospel hymns and spirituals to sacred harp singing. Black Belt churches have also served as meeting places for political and social organizing, a role they still play today. During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950-60s, community leaders galvanized support and action through church meetings. The Black Belt has 26 churches and 3 cemeteries on the National Register. This is only a sample of the many churches organized in the nineteenth century that form the central block of towns throughout the Black Belt. Today, these churches are repositories of deep cultural traditions and the cemeteries, from Selma’s Live Oak Cemetery to Rumpt Slave Cemetery are genealogical references for residents and visitors seeking biographies of the past.
Folk Arts and Crafts
From the intricate pottery of indigenous Mississippian artisans to the exquisitely wrought quilts, baskets, and hooked rugs of today, thousands of years of artistry and craftsmanship enrich Black Belt life. Today, arts is viewed by the Black Belt region as way to blend aspects of the past together, improve the local economy, and increase pride in the region. The following lists provides a sample of the Black Belt sites that recognize and promote local artists, and seek to preserve their skills for future generations of Black Belt artisans.
ArtsRevive, Dallas County
A non-profit community development organization established to create economic development through the promotion of the arts, architecture, and history of Selma. ArtsRevive hosts workshops, performances, and art shows, which engage artists, arts audiences, and visitors in and around Selma.
Black Belt Treasures, Wilcox County
A non-profit community craft center that features work from over 250 local artists, including quilts, carved decoys, white oak baskets, jewelry, and more than a hundred other high-quality handcrafts from the Black Belt region.
Coleman Center for Arts and Culture, Sumter County
The Coleman Center for Arts and Culture has brought the arts to the Black Belt region since the mid-1980s, holding exhibitions, conducting workshops, and sponsoring local festivals and events. The Center’s goal is to improve the quality of life in the Black Belt region by nurturing creativity and by revitalizing traditional arts, culture, and community.
Gee’s Bend and Ferry Terminal, Wilcox County
Generations of women in this small African-American settlement between Selma and Camden have created quilts from any materials available, using patterns of their own design. They gather at the Quilters Collective to piece together and sell the quilts, which cover abstract to traditional pattern styles. Many quilts have toured America’s greatest art museums and are featured in a 2006 U.S. postage stamp series.
StoryTree Company, Greene County
Founded in New York in 1992 by award-winning writers/performers/activists Malik Browne and Vassie Welbeck-Browne, StoryTree develops original works for children and adults that simultaneously build self-esteem and explore the multicultural world perspective.
The Rural Heritage Center, Marengo County
The foundation was formed in 1987, and incorporated in 1990, with a mission to preserve and protect Alabama’s rural heritage. Completed in 2006, the center boasts a folk art gallery, gift shop featuring all Alabama hand-made items, a state of the art commercial kitchen, vegetable cleaning room, restaurant area, outdoor space as well as meeting and office space.
Influenced by the convergence of cultures from Native Americans, African slaves, and European planters, the American South has produced a distinctive food culture that is represented in the Black Belt region of Alabama. Based on a diet of vegetables harvested from the fertile black soil, farm-raised catfish from local ponds, fried chicken, and barbecue, the Black Belt is home to a multitude of local restaurants, such as Priesters Pecans and Ezell’s Fish House where visitors and residents can experience authentic representation of Southern cuisine.
"The blues was sent down for oppressed people to ease their mind…The blues have worked miracles for me and many people." – Willie King, Pickens County bluesman Blues, work changes, shaped-note singing, gospel quartets, union songs, mining camp fiddle tunes, jug blowing, and hambone slapping – the irrepressible human spirit emerges in song and dance in the Black Belt. Music infuses the Black Belt at backyard barbeques, bluegrass festivals, fiddlers' conventions, and church gatherings. Below are a few of the sites that celebrate the musical history of the Black Belt.
Hank Williams Museum, Montgomery County
The Hank Williams Museum is located in downtown Montgomery where Hank lived from 1937 – 1953, and documents the life of the country musician.
Sucarnochee Revue, Sumter County
The Sucarnochee Revue is a radio program featuring musical and literary artists from the Black Belt. Its primary purpose is to introduce radio listeners in Alabama, Mississippi, and other parts of the nation and world to the artistic community of performers from the Black Belt area. The show not only preserves original music and the works by original artists but also captures the evolution of that music and its current generation of performers.
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Amazon’s Patriot to premiere on 24th February following Berlin debut
Staff Reporter | On 28, Jan 2017
Amazon’s Patriot will premiere this February following its debut at the Berlin Film Festival.
The original series, written and directed by Steven Conrad (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty), follows intelligence officer John Tavner (Michael Dorman). His latest assignment? Prevent Iran from going nuclear with a perilous non-official cover – a mid-level employee at a Midwestern industrial piping firm.
The show was part of Amazon’s pilot season at the end of 2015, before the streaming service ordered a full series.
“Familial drama and perilous plotting make this a show that demands your attention, yet also wriggles around so much that it’s sometimes hard to sustain it,” we wrote of the first episode. “But when it finds its groove, Patriot soars: every time John picks up a guitar, his witty but straight-faced ditties – full of guffaws and knowing tragedy – make you want to hear more.”
Dorman is joined by Terry O’Quinn (Lost), Kurtwood Smith (That 70’s Show) and Michael Chernus (Manhattan Project).
“As smart, compelling and contradictory as the world it portrays, Steve Conrad’s Patriot is an incredible comedic drama about the world of modern intelligence,” says Joe Lewis, Head of Comedy and Drama, Amazon Studios. “Told skilfully and artfully, Steve and the incredible cast have made something truly unique and we can’t wait to bring it to customers soon.”
Executive produced by Conrad, James Parriott (Grey’s Anatomy), Glenn Ficarra (This Is Us), John Requa (Crazy Stupid Love, Focus), Charles Gogolak (Focus), and Gil Bellows (Temple Grandin), the series will have its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival – joining Netflix’s Chef’s Table, which will also debut at the event.
All episodes of Patriot will then be released on Friday 24th February on Amazon Prime Video.
Chastity Dotson signs on to Amazon’s Patriot
Chastity Dotson has signed on to star in Amazon’s Patriot.
The show, which was one of Amazon Studios’ pilots from last year, was ordered to a full series by Amazon at the end of 2015.
Written and directed by Steven Conrad (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, The Weather Man), the political thriller follows intelligence officer John Tavner (Australian newcomer Michael Dorman). His latest assignment? Prevent Iran from going nuclear with a perilous non-official cover – a mid-level employee at a Midwestern industrial piping firm.
“Familial drama and perilous plotting make this a show that demands your attention, yet also wriggles around so much that it’s sometimes hard to sustain it. But when it finds its groove, Patriot soars,” we wrote in our review of the pilot. “Every time John picks up a guitar, his witty but straight-faced ditties – full of guffaws and knowing tragedy – make you want to hear more.”
Doston is no stranger to Amazon: she appeared in two episodes of Season 2 of Amazon’s Bosch as Keisha Russell, a role that she will reprise in Season 3. In Patriot, Dotson will play Carol, a veterinarian, who is described by Deadline as “smart, charismatic, and attractive in a real way”, whatever that last part means.
Carol will have an on-off relationship with Edward, which produced them both a son, whom she raises as a single mother.
The Amazon original drama is expected to premiere on Amazon Prime Video in 2017. In the meantime, Amazon has a packed slate of originals for 2016, from Transparent Season 3 to Woody Allen’s first TV series. For a guide to what’s coming soon to Amazon Prime Video, click here.
Amazon Bosch Chastity Dotson Patriot
Netflix to release Oprah and Ava DuVernay interview about 13th
RIP John Hurt: A man with the face of a Time Lord and the voice of a dragon
Amazon orders Just for Laughs docuseries June 15, 2018 | Staff Reporter
Trailer: StartUp Season 3 set for November premiere... October 1, 2018 | Staff Reporter
Amazon doubles down on original content – but is it enough?... June 24, 2015 | Staff Reporter
Interview: Titus Welliver talks Bosch Season 2... March 9, 2016 | Ivan Radford
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Waldemar Januszczak
“Within this thicket there lurks a name…” Ian Hamilton Finlay
Cast Courts, V&A, London
From Trajan’s Column to Michelangelo’s David, the V&A’s reopened Cast Courts house thrilling full-size replicas of the world’s artistic wonders
Karl Marx got it right. “All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned,” he lamented in The Communist Manifesto. Marx wasn’t actually thinking of this year’s Turner prize — 4½ hours of dimly flickering video, in front of which we can slump like a society of armchair dads dissolving into twilight. He was thinking of the capitalist future. But he got the Turner prize right as well. Soon there will be no need for art galleries at all. We can just pipe the videos straight into our brains and lie there in our hospital beds, conceptualising the meanings while all that is solid melts into air.
Excuse the glumness. It isn’t just that this year’s Turner is so wrist-slittingly weak and bleak that there’s no point celebrating a winner. It’s also that I have just returned from experiencing the new Cast Courts at the V&A, and they were so big, so thrilling, so actively tangible and physical, so transparently full of skill and ambition, so much about what art should be about when it deals in solids not in voids.
The Cast Courts have been closed for years. Exactly how many I cannot say, because the seemingly endless reconstruction of the V&A has blurred the clock face. But they were actually part of the original building when it opened in 1873: a set of spectacular rooms created specially to house the museum’s enormous collection of plaster casts of famous sculptures and architectural highlights from around the world. Oh look, Michelangelo’s David. Oh look, Trajan’s Column. Oh look, the entire front of the cathedral at Santiago de Compostela. Wandering into the newly reopened Cast Courts is like blundering onto the set of an Indiana Jones movie — all these celebrated ancient wonders looming up around you, in a suite of spaces engineered on the soaring scale of Paddington station.
Originally, their task was to share the delights of international art with a wider audience. Where a real trip to Rome or Madrid or Augsburg was available only to the privileged few, the wonders of the Cast Courts were available to all. And because the V&A saw itself as a teaching foundation, a collection that would inspire better design in Britain, the range of things gathered here was conspicuously wide: from early Christian crosses to the doorways of Islamic palaces; from Viking churches to medieval porticos; from the mosaic decorations of Ravenna to Nicola Pisano’s remarkable pulpit from Pisa. What a goodie bag!
Plaster casts actually have a chequered history in the culture wars. They used to be highly valued: an extreme test of skill, ingenuity and engineering. I simply cannot imagine how anyone ever managed to produce a full-size replica of Trajan’s Column, in Rome. It’s 120ft tall and contains more writhing warriors than Waterloo station at rush hour. How did they get up there to record all those Romans fighting all those Dacians in AD113?
Or what about the fabulously twisty Apprentice Pillar from the Rosslyn Chapel, near Edinburgh, to which Tom Hanks followed his “symbologist” nose in The Da Vinci Code? We find it here embedded in half a church, so busy with details it throbs and sways like a coral reef. What kind of process can record all that? The Cast Courts may originally have wanted to democratise access to the world’s artistic wonders, but today they inject big doses of undiluted wow factor into the bloodstream of the V&A.
Unfortunately, later generations came to identify these exciting Victorian replicas with the old ways of teaching art: with the dutiful copying of the past. As the 20th century progressed, plaster casts fell out of favour. Most important museums used to have wide selections of them; most important museums decided at some point in the 1960s and 1970s to get rid of them. The V&A’s superior collection, in its original location, is a rare survival.
In fact, the full-size replica of Trajan’s Column was so big that it needed to be cut in half to fit into the building, and it is displayed here as two towering uprights, both of which feel unfeasibly huge. Back in the 1990s, when I was at Channel 4, long before the rise of internet dating, we made a film about how art galleries had become favourite locations for chat-ups. It turned out that Trajan’s monster had a secret room hidden in the base, and that this inner sanctum was a popular location for the climax of these gallery flirtations. A shocking number of volunteers confessed to joining the artistic equivalent of the Mile High Club beneath the madly thrusting Dacians!
So plaster casts are multi-purposeful and can do many jobs. These days, the days of fake news and dial-your-own realities, they offer a handy test of truth and its confusions. I defy anyone who stares up at the V&A’s plaster David to feel substantially less impressed than they were by the original. It’s the same size, the same texture, with the same veiny details. Only its new context — a room packed relentlessly with marvels of the Italian Renaissance — seems actively different from the real David in the Accademia in Florence. (Oh, and the giant plaster fig leaf on show at the back that was attached to Michelangelo’s hero whenever royalty came to visit. No one wanted to scare the queen with a perky Renaissance penis.)
Michelangelo does well here. The Victorian taste for him ensured that a beefy army of his best-known sculptures climbed onto the pedestals. The famous Moses from the tomb of Julius II is here, making us feel guilty with his withering biblical stare. A couple of the unfinished Slaves from the same tomb are here, twisting sexily and looking more complete in plaster than they do emerging fuzzily from their original blocks of marble.
While the exhibition halls of the Cast Courts are filled with a busy mix of great art from the great epochs, a smaller gallery running between them contains a helpful guide to the techniques used to achieve all this devilish authenticity. The ingenuity of the Victorians was unleashed in full on the task of making copies. For statues and architectural slabs, they used plaster casts. For bronze doors, like Ghiberti’s great Gates of Paradise from the Baptistery in Florence, they preferred cutting-edge electrotypes.
So exact were these copies that they supply valuable information today on the deteriorating originals. The crispness of the warring Dacians on Trajan’s Column may have disappeared from the polluted surfaces of the real thing rising above the Forum in Rome, but it is still preserved in the replica. It’s the same with the Irish crosses of crumbly stone that loom up next to a German imperial lion. Or the Viking doorways from ancient Norway, carved into impossibly intricate patterns on perilously flaking wood.
Another role for the Cast Courts, in the world of fake news and unfixed identities, is to remind us of the unreliability of appearances. As ruminations upon issues of authenticity and reproduction, they could hardly be more timely.
But that isn’t the best thing about them. The best thing is how happily your senses are duped by them, and how enthusiastically they respond to the deceit. Walking in here and seeing half a cathedral rising above me to sequoia height prompted floods of unbeckoned awe in me. This is size doing its thing. No photograph, no film, no computer graphic can act on you as viscerally as a good plaster cast. As Wordsworth noticed in his great poem The Prelude, when he measured himself against the looming bulk of the black mountain, we are but tiny microbes in the larger scheme of things. Sixty feet of indoor cathedral make that instantaneously clear.
Thus the exciting contents of the Cast Courts manage even to act as a handy antidote to social media. If the true evil of social media is that it enlarges our sense of self so grotesquely that we imagine the world turns around us, the glory of the Cast Courts is that they dwarf us with the achievements of the past, remind us of our historic unimportance and put us properly in our place.
Also, they are great fun to wander through. As for the Turner prize, poor Charlotte Prodger must now spend the rest of her sunken career branded as the “winner” of the most tedious Turner there has been. Art can be so cruel.
« Thomas Gainsborough, National Portrait Gallery
Landseer’s The Monarch of the Glen and Rachel Maclean: The Lion and the Unicorn, National Gallery »
Waldemar Januszczak poses for Ai-Da, the world’s first humanoid robot artist
Lee Krasner, Living Colour review, at the Barbican Art Gallery — a rousing and persuasive tribute
Manga at the British Museum review — much in common with Michelangelo
Emma Kunz, Serpentine Gallery; Grace Pailthorpe and Reuben Mednikoff, Camden Arts Centre
© 2019 / articles feed
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NEKO CASE'S FOX CONFESSOR BRINGS THE FLOOD GETS THE BONUS TREATMENT FROM ANTI- NOVEMBER 6TH
CASE CATALOG ITEMS FURNACE ROOM LULLABY AND BLACKLISTED WILL BE SIMULTANEOUSLY REISSUED
Respected and beloved singer/songwriter Neko Case will see the re-release of her acclaimed 2006 album Fox Confessor Brings The Flood with the addition of a five-song bonus disc from Anti- on November 6th, 2007. The label will also serve-up straight reissues of 2000's Furnace Room Lullaby - - which was recorded as Neko Case and Her Boyfriends - - and 2002's Blacklisted on the same date.
Bonus material for the updated version of Fox Confessor will boast a previously unreleased demo version of the song "Behind The House," plus a four-song sampler that includes full-length versions of Blacklisted excerpts "Deep Red Bells" and "I Wish I Was The Moon," plus the title track from Furnace Room Lullaby and the album's first cut "Set Out Running."
Originally issued on March 7th, 2006, Fox Confessor Brings The Flood topped a myriad of the year's "Best of" lists and has been unanimously praised. Entertainment Weekly called it "Her finest album" while Spin raved, "Her majestically outsize voice is one of pop music's best." Newsweek wrote, "With a big soaring voice belting out songs full of eerie, enigmatic poetry, Case sounds like the brooding sister of Patsy Cline or Loretta Lynn" and The Washington Post added, "Her out of this world voice brings instant chills."
In a four-and-a-half star review of 2002's Blacklisted was listed as "highly recommended" by All Music Guide, and described as "a personal exploration of the heart and soul that proves sad and beautiful can often walk hand in hand."
As for Furnace Room Lullaby, Interview dubbed it a "deceptively effortless shot at high art, each tune alternately smoky and barbed-wire taut with more than a taste of rainforest melancholy."
2007 has been a tremendously busy year for Neko. Currently on tour with the indie rock band The New Pornographers in support of their new album Challengers, Case recently wrapped a successful tour with Rufus Wainwright.
Michael Franti and Spearhead Top One Of Their Biggest Years Ever With Yell Fire! Live » « Nick Cave and Warren Ellis' score The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford Back to News
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o Justification for War Crimes Probe of US Forces in Afghanistan, US Says
16th November, 2016 · admin
WASHINGTON — An International Criminal Court investigation of possible war crimes by U.S. forces in Afghanistan is not “warranted or appropriate,” the U.S. State Department said Tuesday after prosecutors in The Hague found initial grounds for such a probe.
State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said the United States was not a party to the Rome Statute that created the International Criminal Court in The Hague and had not consented to ICC jurisdiction. She also said Washington had a robust justice system able to deal with such complaints.
“The United States is deeply committed to complying with the law of war,” Trudeau told reporters at a news briefing. “We do not believe that an ICC examination or investigation with respect to actions of U.S. personnel in relation to the situation in Afghanistan is warranted or appropriate.”
Her comments came a day after prosecutors at the International Criminal Court said in a report that there was a “reasonable basis to believe” that U.S. forces had tortured at least 61 prisoners in Afghanistan and another 27 at CIA detention facilities elsewhere in 2003 and 2004.
The prosecutors’ office, headed by Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, said it would decide soon whether to pursue a full investigation. The results could lead to charges being brought against individuals and the issuing of arrest warrants.
The United States occupied Afghanistan in 2001 as it went after al-Qaida leaders behind the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington. Crimes also may have been committed at U.S. Central Intelligence Agency facilities in Poland, Lithuania and Romania, where some people captured in Afghanistan were taken, prosecutors said.
The U.S. Justice Department between 2009 and 2012 investigated CIA mistreatment of detainees, including a full criminal investigation into two deaths in U.S. custody, but ultimately decided against prosecuting anyone.
Some U.S. military personnel have been prosecuted for murder and other crimes in Afghanistan.
The ICC was established in 1998 to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity. Trudeau noted the United States has “engaged with the ICC and we’ve supported ICC investigations and prosecution of cases that we believe advance our values in accordance with U.S. law.”
But she said the U.S. military was held to “the highest possible standards” and the United States had systems of accountability capable of dealing with war crimes allegations.
“We do an extraordinary job of investigating … credible allegations, holding ourselves accountable, holding our personnel accountable and closing investigations in a manner that serves justice,” she said.
Posted in Human Rights, US-Afghanistan Relations | Tags: prisoners, Torture, War Crime |
« Migrants Clash With Serbian Police As They Try To Cross Into Croatia
Suicide Bomber Blows Up Afghan Defense Vehicle in Kabul, Killing Four »
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RFID applications
>3D Vision for inspecting food jars
................................................. >Press tending robot
.................................................. >Automatic packer for plastic caps
.................................................. >Robot for assembling water heaters
.................................................. >New automatic bagger for plastic bottles
.................................................. >Robotic palletiser for cartons
.................................................. >Automatic palletiser for plastic bottles
.................................................. >Robot for packing plastic bottles
.................................................. >Largest robot in Australia supplied by Apex
.................................................. >Low level depalletiser
.................................................. >Robotic system in Steel Injection Station
.................................................. >Automatic machining center for polymer sheets
.................................................. >Automatic palletiser
.................................................. >Robotic cell for strapping and palletising
.................................................. >New automatic depalletiser
Automatic machining centre for polymer sheets from APEX Automation and Robotics
In a project for a leading multinational company, Apex Automation and Robotics was faced with the challenge of designing and building a special purpose machining system for polymer foam sheets.
Polymer foam products are used as sandwich core materials in industries where lightweight rigidity is required such as propellers for wind turbines, light aircraft fuselages and yachts. In order to help the resin infusion process and maximise adhesion, the sheets must have holes drilled through and groove cut in their surface.
The automatic machining system that was developed and built by Apex Automation and Robotics uses 7 servo-drives machining grooves in the sheets and drilling holes at a rate of up to 400,000 holes/hr.
Before running a batch, the operator enters the product specifications on the HMI (Human-Machine Interface). Depending on the density and dimensions of the product, the system follows a recipe that sets the parameters for machining
including drilling and grooving speeds.
Each sheet is pushed against a reference and clamped in position. The grooving head moves on a 2-axis servo driven system to machine the grooves. It is then followed by the drilling module mounted on its 2-axis servo driven system. The custom-designed drilling module consists of an array of 394 drill bits driven by numerous gear chains staged down to one servo motor, and can drill square or diamond hole patterns of 20x20, 40x40 or 80x80mm.
These servo-driven machining modules result in accurate high speed operation, achieving tolerances of less than 0.2mm and producing more than100 sheets/hr.
This Automatic Machining Centre is another system supplied by Apex Automation and Robotics using the latest technologies to deliver world-class equipment to this industry. Two of these systems have been recently exported to China.
© 2013 Apex Automation and Robotics Pty Ltd
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Stories from Thursday, August 7, 2003
Highland band students get fine tuning at summer camps (Community News ~ 08/07/03)
Highland band students were busy improving their skills this summer at camps across the state. Five students attended the senior high session of Dixie Band Camp. Twenty-seven students attended Dixie Band Camp held at University of Central Arkansas in Conway. ...
Long-term forest study shows birds' response to logging more complex than expected (High School Sports ~ 08/07/03)
EMINENCE -- Ground skinks and fence lizards don't seem to suffer from timber harvests. Wood thrushes like clearcuts. Ovenbirds don't. And Kentucky warblers thrive in timber harvest areas, regardless of whether all or some of the trees are removed...
New Izard County jail opens (Local News ~ 08/07/03)
Nine inmates have been transported from the Izard County jail to the new detention center which opened Aug. 4 on Highway 9 spur in Melbourne across from Century Flooring. Construction started April 25, 2002, on the new jail, which can hold 32 inmates, including a cellblock for six women, said Izard County Judge Eddie Cooper...
Panel discusses education reform at Ozarka College (Local News ~ 08/07/03)
Citizens from Fulton, Stone, Sharp, Izard, Cleburne and Independence counties came to voice their opinions on education and school consolidation at a forum July 29 in the John E. Miller Auditorium at Ozarka College in Melbourne. The meeting was one of many around the state organized by Arkansans for Excellence in Education...
Asbestos removed from Salem High (Local News ~ 08/07/03)
Salem Superintendent Bob Foster told the Salem School Board July 21 the asbestos removal from the high school building was complete. Other summer campus improvements included installing ceiling tile and new insulation at the high school, constructing the new storage building, painting football bleachers, erecting a new standing seam metal roof over the old high school roof and installing floor tile...
Salem classes to begin Aug. 18 (Local News ~ 08/07/03)
The Salem School District will begin the 2003-04 school year Aug. 18. Classes will begin at 8 a.m. and will be dismissed at 3 p.m. Buses will run their regular routes. Breakfast and lunch will be served in the cafeteria. Lunch prices for grades K-6th are 90 cents, reduced 40 cents; lunch prices for grades 7-12 are $1, reduced 40 cents. Breakfast prices for K-12: 60 cents, reduced 30 cents. Adult lunch prices are $1.50, adult breakfast prices are 80 cents...
Bank of Salem to open branch in MS (Local News ~ 08/07/03)
Mark Montgomery, president and CEO of the Bank of Salem, has announced the Bank of Salem will open a full service branch bank in Mammoth Spring. Montgomery explained that with the growth the Bank of Salem has experienced in the past few years, it was time to put in a branch in the northeast part of Fulton County for the convenience of the customers in the Spring River area...
Teen dies after ATV crash (Local News ~ 08/07/03)
A Mount Pleasant teen died from head injuries he sustained during a four-wheeler accident July 29. Jonathan Putensen, 18, was riding his Yamaha Warrior all-terrain vehicle when he lost control of the vehicle on County Road 75 in Izard County. He crossed the road, striking a tree head-on, said Charlie Melton, investigating officer of the Izard County Sheriff's Office...
Ash Flat mayor recovering from snake bite (Local News ~ 08/07/03)
Ash Flat Mayor Brien Nix Hall was released from St. Bernard's Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro Aug. 1 after 10 days there as a result of a rattlesnake bite he received July 22. Hall said he is resting at home and will get back to his work responsibilities slowly this week...
Thayer man arrested for drug possession (Local News ~ 08/07/03)
A Thayer man was arrested July 30 in Mammoth Spring when authorities seized over a half pound of marijuana in his vehicle. Mammoth Spring Police Chief Mike Davis was on patrol when he observed Jeremy Thompson, 26, had crossed the center line on Main Street in Mammoth Spring several times. Davis said a tail light lens was broken in the 2001 Ford Mustang that Thompson was traveling in...
FarmService seeks nominees (Local News ~ 08/07/03)
OREGON COUNTY -- Dennis Johnson, executive director of Oregon County Farm Service Agency (FSA), announced last week that his office will begin accepting nominations for candidates to run in the upcoming county committee election. The annual election for the local county committee will take place in November by mail-in ballot. Johnson said this year's election is for the committee member representing local Administration Area 2 which includes Thayer, Big Apple and Highland townships...
Highland grads earn Kiwanis scholarships (Community News ~ 08/07/03)
Four Highland School graduates were selected as this year's Kiwanis scholarship winners. At a recent Cherokee Village Kiwanis Club meeting Lindsay Poulsen and Jennifer Wilkinson were selected as this year's Georgia Morton Medical Scholarship Winners. Poulsen received her check for $1,000. She is enrolled in medical technology at the University of Central Arkansas. Wilkinson also received a check of $1,000 and is enrolled in radiology at Arkansas State University...
Soldier injured in explosion (Local News ~ 08/07/03)
Jared Rhine, 26, a member of the 1139th Missouri Army National Guard of Harrisonville, was injured following an explosion June 30 during night patrol in Baghdad, said his aunt, Vicky Bassham of Salem. His mother, Phyllis Rhine of Caulfield, Mo., said her son's unit was on patrol when a grenade or bomb exploded, knocking him unconscious. He is a gunner who rides on the back of military vehicles...
Bank of Salem to open branch bank in Mammoth Spring (Local News ~ 08/07/03)
B&Bs offer variety in Oregon County (Local News ~ 08/07/03)
OREGON COUNTY -- Vacationers, business people and weary travelers have several options for overnight lodging in Oregon County. There are motels, bed and breakfast inns and in recent years cottages and lodges. This is the first in a series of articles about the growing industry of overnight lodging in the area...
Music, encampment to end Reunion week (Local News ~ 08/07/03)
MAMMOTH SPRING -- In conjunction with the 110th Old Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Air Force Reunion, a country music concert will be held at the Frisco Depot Aug. 9. The concert will feature Old Country from Paragould, Ark. Everyone is invited to bring lawn chairs and instruments and join in a jam session following the concert...
Thayer VFD gets funds (Local News ~ 08/07/03)
THAYER -- Matching funds for rural fire departments are being distributed by the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) Forestry Division staff. Thayer Volunteer Fire Department is among 136 fire departments to receive checks of up to $3,000 to help them with the purchase of personal protective gear and fire fighting equipment for natural cover fires as well as structure fires...
Myrtle teen charged with felony assault at Thayer (Local News ~ 08/07/03)
OREGON COUNTY -- A Myrtle teen-ager has been charged with felony assault. Oregon County Sheriff Tim Ward said David A. Dujardin, 19, was arrested last week after an incident at Flash Market in Thayer where Dujardin is alleged to have pulled a knife on store clerk Daniel Carroll and threatened to cut his throat...
Harrison Rebels finish Nationals in 12th place (High School Sports ~ 08/07/03)
The Harrison Rebels 1-year-old baseball team finished 12th in the National USSASA 14-and-Under Baseball Tourn-ament held last week in Kansas City, Kan. The team finished the four-day tournament with a 4-3 record, losing its three games by a combined total of only four runs...
Politics and the inadequacies of Arkansas sports fans (High School Sports ~ 08/07/03)
First off, I must say that I really don't care much for politics, and I try to keep my political opinions to myself because I realize I have not the time nor the patience required to keep up with, and accurately discuss, such matters as government affairs...
Sorahan waits for turn to leave mark in Fayetteville (High School Sports ~ 08/07/03)
FAYETTEVILLE -- That California quarterback changing schools like freeway drivers change lanes has become old school at his new school. Starting year three at Arkansas, Ryan Sorahan of Los Gatos, Calif., is the Razorbacks' senior quarterback. He's outlasted departed quarterbacking teammates Zak Clark and Tarvaris Jackson to be placed in tandem with junior Matt Jones, last year's starter...
Conservation exhibits a big part of state fair (High School Sports ~ 08/07/03)
Outdoor adventures aplenty await Missouri State Fairgoers, with programs ranging from living history to practical crafts. The fair runs Aug. 7 through 17 in Sedalia. The Missouri Department of Conservation's pavilion at the south end of the fair grounds will host the Lewis and Clark Dugout Canoe Crew this year. ...
Players swap places; Drew stays with Cardinals (High School Sports ~ 08/07/03)
Now that the baseball deadline is history for 2003, let's look at some of the trades that were made, and one that was not. Let's start by taking a look at a very interesting trade that was made between the San Francisco Giants and the Baltimore Orioles, with the Giants receiving starting pitcher Sidney Ponson for pitchers Damian Moss, Kurt Ainsworth and a minor league pitcher. This deal was not done to win the division; rather it was done with intentions to win the championship...
Fulton slates talent contest at fair (Column ~ 08/07/03)
The Fulton County Fair Talent Contest will be Aug. 23. The contest will be held in conjunction with the Young Miss and Miss Fulton County Beauty Revue and will start at 7 p.m. in the Salem Civic Center Theater Building. The contest will have seven categories: vocal solo, vocal group, dance solo, dance group, instrumental solo, instrumental group and variety. ...
From my Front Porch (Column ~ 08/07/03)
A tale of two cities To borrow from Charles Dickens, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. And so begins my tale of two cities, both named O'Fallon. I was to pick up my daughter who for a second summer was spending a week working in East St. ...
Ozarka College is a public institution committed to excellence in education, training and service. Its motto is "A Short Drive to Great Distances." That's probably a fancy way of saying, "If you want to get someplace in life, you need to learn a few things first to get the ball rolling."...
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Home > Auto Reviews > The most spectacular electric cars in the world
The most spectacular electric cars in the world
by Jhonny - December 25, 2018 December 25, 2018 0
The electric cars are no longer restricted to a single segment: there are supercars, pickups, huge SUVs, and even industrial heavy vehicles. We bring you here the most spectacular electric cars in the world.
Most spectacular electric cars in the world
Rivian R1T
Its aesthetic has nothing to envy to a Ford F-150. According to the manufacturers, it goes from 0 to 60 miles (96.5 km / h) in just three seconds and has a range of 644 kilometers. It has a maximum power of 811 HP and a torque of, attention, 1,119 Nm. It is themost spectacular electric cars in the world.
Komatsu e-Dumper
It is the largest electric vehicle in the world and comes from a Swiss consortium. Weight 45 tons and its battery pack have 700 kWh capacity. The power of eight Tesla Model S! Only the batteries, weigh 4.5 tons. Continue reading-The electric car maintenance tips.
Its appearance is a mixture of Land Rover Defender and American pick up. It can travel, according to the chosen batteries, of 60 or 100 kWh, between 190 and 320 kilometers. The sheet is made of aluminum, and prices will start at around 85,000 kilometers.
Panoz MTU-6
It can cover 370 kilometers and is intended for the transport of people by road. They have planned a variant with eight doors.
Engiro 911
Engiro is specialized in high-performance electric motors. And it offers kits for models such as the Mercedes G-Class and, in this case, a classic Porsche 911, which replaces the traditional boxer.It is one of themost spectacular electric cars in the world.
It can travel around 250 kilometers without refueling and reaches 200 km / h. They have not told us how much it accelerates from 0 to 100, but they say that much earlier than the original model.
Kreisel Hummer
The actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, known for his environmental activism when he was governor of California, has been made with the electric version of a Hummer that offers this signature.
Batteries with 100 kWh capacity, 490 HP engine and a top speed of 120 km / h for this mass of 3.2 tons. They announce an autonomy of 300 kilometers.
Electric Jaguar E-Type
Conceived by the Jaguar itself as ‘show car’, it is a classic E-Type with an electric motor and new cockpit. The lights are LED, the engine yields 299 hp and is capable of accelerating from 0 to 100 km / h in just 5.5 seconds.It is one of themost spectacular electric cars in the world.
The battery pack is the same size as the original six-cylinder XK, and the electric motor replaces the transmission. It weighs 46 kilos less than the classic model.
Havelaar Bison
It is the work of a Canadian startup, and this pick up is capable of traveling more than 300 kilometers without refueling, according to those responsible.
It has a dual engine that distributes its strength to all four wheels, and this gives it, on paper, excellent qualities of the asphalt. The serial production date has not yet been confirmed.
1,088 CV, 1,600 Nm of torque, from 0 to 100 km / h in 2,6 seconds. And 200, in 6,2, In 14,2 seconds it reaches 300 km / h. Some bestial figures of this supercar presented in 2016 that, according to the brand, reaches 355 km / h.
Nio EP9
It has a tip of 250 km / h and has the record of electric cars in Nordschleife: only 7: 05.12 minutes.
Evex 910e
An electric car based on the legendary Porsche 910 competition of the sixties. It is the latest Kreisel project: 490 HP, 770 Nm, more than 300 km / h and 2.5 seconds to go from 0 to 100
It transmits its power through a two-speed transmission with its own self-locking differential. And an oil pump to lubricate and cool the system.
Tagged best cars best electric car electric car maintenance electric cars in the world most spectacular electric cars in the world
The electric car maintenance tips
Tricks to clean your car upholstery
Lets meet some of the future Cars in the Consumer Electronics Show Las Vegas
March 8, 2017 March 8, 2017 0
Four factors that have contributed to the rising cost of HGV insurance
Tips for Safer Driving
10 things you do wrong when you drive
Tips about Buying Utilized Ford Vehicles
The Future of the Automotive Industry at the Seoul Salon
How does riding larger tires in a car affect it
March 28, 2018 May 4, 2018 0
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Irina Dunn, Program Director, 2016 Bellingen Readers & Writers Festival, literary agent, manuscript assessor and City Hub fan.
CITY HUB: 20 YEARS OF RAISING HELL
Posted August 20, 2015 by Alannah Maher & filed under City News.
Twenty years on from it’s humble beginnings, City Hub is still printing the news and raising hell.
In celebration of this milestone anniversary, in spite of the numerous challenges not only to independent and traditional media over the past two decades, we are taking a look back with some of the editors and contributors who have participated in the growth of the Hub.
“I am just so thrilled that the City Hub is still going,” said Irina Dunn. Nowadays a highly regarded literary agent, manuscript assessor and Program Director for the 2016 Bellingen Readers & Writers Festival, Dunn was an avid and long-term arts contributor at the very beginning. She was drawn to the paper for it’s “progressive, critical attitude” and the way it was serving the needs of the local community.
The Hub’s first editor was Hall Greenland, who went on to win two Walkeys for his outstanding work in journalism. These days he does occasional journalism and is currently convenor of the Greens NSW – and is still president of Friends of Callan Park, which he cofounded to lead the fight to save the iconic heritage parklands on Iron Cove from the developers.
Uproarious support for the Hub’s fresh and independent news coverage at one stage saw publisher AltMedia running four separate titles (including City News, The Bondi View and The Inner West Independent). While global challenges to print media forced the publisher to scale back down to one title, the same initial spirit has maintained City Hub’s circulation and reputation for offering Sydney residents an independent alternative to Australia’s media conglomerates.
Many active media professionals have been drawn to the freedom and challenge of working with Sydney’s prominent independent publisher over the years, yet the platform has also served as a launching point for many more who cut their journalistic teeth with AltMedia and honed their editorial craft on it’s pages.
Gareth Narunsky is currently a senior editor at the Australian Jewish News, but his first printed byline was in the Hub’s sister paper the City News, where he continued to get published and eventually held the position of News Editor (2009-10). “It allowed me to improve my research, interview and writing skills, and introduced me to contacts that I’m still in touch with today,” explained Narunsky.
Former group News Editor Pam Walker already had valuable and notable media experience at the time she joined the team (2005-10), having worked as Press Secretary to Lord Mayor Clover Moore and in previous editorial capacities with commercial publications. “I liked the fact that the focus of the papers was the inner city, which was the area that I had come to do most of my work in,” reflected Walker. Presently she teaches journalism at USyd and UNSW, and writes for the South China Morning Post.
An activist in various social movements including ‘Reclaim the Streets’ and ‘Critical Mass’, Tracy Sorensen was drawn to the advertised position of News Editor when reading and issue of City Hub she picked up in a Newtown café in the late 90s. Moving to Sydney’s Inner West after growing up in a remote town in WA, Sorensen says she felt a sense of ‘homecoming’ when she reached Newtown. The Hub was an important source of information for her activist contemporaries. “We were ‘Hub readers’,” explained Tracy. “[City Hub] was always sitting in the cafes we frequented.”
Sorensen also witnessed first-hand the impact of the “massive opening up of the internet” in the early 2000s and its effect on independent media. “I think the Internet has changed the landscape forever, but I think the thing that hasn’t changed at all is the incredible need for alternative voices in a media landscape that is completely dominated by very few private interests,” she explained. Sorensen currently teaches journalism, video production and digital media at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst and is also still involved in freelance journalism and documentary making.
The Hub has not only built a reputation for its measured coverage of news and local affairs, but also the burgeoning arts scene. Angela Bennetts was an arts editor for about three years (2009-13). “As an indie paper we were able to shine a light on those events or projects that might not make it to the mainstream papers,” she recalled. “Of course established art practice was a focus too, but the most interesting pieces were always those with the ‘next big things’, seen first in AltMedia!” Bennetts currently lives and works overseas as a Marketing Manager for Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, Southeast Asia’s largest and most exciting cultural event.
As an Arts Editor early on in her career in the 90s, Barbara Karpinski was taken by the respect for the integrity of the work produced for City Hub. “I was able to write what I believed to be fair comment,” she reflected. She attributes this high standard to Hub founder and continuing publisher Lawrence Gibbons. “I think its vital to have free and independent press… it allows [alternative] viewpoints and marginalised groups that may often be represented in a facetious or non-serious way to be able to be [fairly] represented,” said Karpinski. She is currently a candidate for a doctorate in Creative Arts, and is working on a documentary film, The Flipside of Flamboyance, looking at mental health and the queer community.
“I think when there’s such a rush to occupy the conservative positions in politics, its really important to have an independent newspaper which isn’t beholden to huge donations from businesses, or indeed from unions,” explained Irina Dunn. “To have an independent voice is absolutely critical, and it has become more critical in the current environment.”
While the media landscape and reader habits have irrevocably changed over the course of time, the value of an independent publication like City Hub is more poignant than ever. We hope to continue serving and informing the public for another 20 years and beyond.
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Maureen Connolly
Maureen Connolly, EdD, teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in secondary education for the School of Education at The College of New Jersey and is a consultant for CBK Associates. Before that, she was an English teacher at Mineola High School on Long Island, New York, for 15 years.
Connolly is the coauthor of the Corwin best-seller Getting to the Core of English Language Arts, Grades 6–12: How to Meet the Common Core State Standards with Lessons from the Classroom, and Getting to the Core of Literacy for History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects, Grades 6–12.
She has overseen service learning grants for the New York metropolitan area and collaborated on several publications related to service learning. In these roles, she has developed many standards-based initiatives that link community outreach, character education, and literacy.
Connolly was awarded the title of Honoree for the ASCD Outstanding Young Educator of the Year and received the LEAD Award from St. John’s University. She was selected by Teachers for the Global Classroom for an international fellowship in Morocco, and her international education experience also includes volunteering to teach in India, Ghana, Peru, and Spain.
She believes that at the core of her profession is the need to develop purposeful learning that opens students’ eyes to the potential for positive change in themselves and in their local, national, and global communities.
Achieving Next Generation Literacy: Using the Tests (You Think) You Hate to Help the Students You Love
This not a test-prep book. It is not about "drill and kill" practices that narrow learning so that students will pass an exam. Instead, authors Maureen Connolly and Vicky Giouroukakis present a lesson planning approach for the secondary classroom that generates test success as a byproduct of comprehensive literacy learning.
Browse the book | Buy the book | Watch the webinar
More works from Maureen Connolly
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Interview: Nathan Fillion rocks CASTLE
©2010 ABC/Bob D'Amico
Nathan Fillion in CASTLE - Season 3
The actor talks his current series, plus DRIVE, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, ONE LIFE TO LIVE, Captain Mal and his theory of his personal appeal
By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Contributing Writer
Posted: May 9th, 2011 / 01:13 PM
Stana Katic and Nathan Fillion in CASTLE - Season 3 - "To Love and Die in L.A." | ©2010 ABC/Adam Larkey
ABC’s hit show CASTLE, wrapping up its third season Mondays at 10 PM and coming back for a fourth season, is named for its hero. Nathan Fillion’s Richard Castle is a hugely successful NY-based mystery novelist who lives with his mother Martha (Susan Sullivan) and teenaged daughter Alexis (Molly Quinn). He has become unofficial partner to NYPD homicide detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic), who treats Castle with a combination of affection, annoyance and attraction as he trails her, ostensibly as inspiration for his writing, but clearly more because he just enjoys her company.
For anyone who doesn’t know Fillion’s pre-CASTLE background, the actor from Alberta, Canada is perhaps best known and loved for his portrayal of Mal Reynolds, antihero spaceship captain on the short-lived science-fiction Western series FIREFLY and its theatrical sequel SERENITY.
Fillion also been a regular on ONE LIFE TO LIVE, TWO GUYS, A GIRL AND A PIZZA PLACE, DRIVE and DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, had a notable character on LOST, and starred in Joss Whedon’s hit Internet musical mini-series DR. HORRIBLE’S SING-ALONG BLOG, as well as appearing in the feature films WAITRESS, SLITHER, TRUCKER and SUPER.
ASSIGNMENT X: When ABC approached you about CASTLE, had they been looking for something to do with you after you were on LOST and DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES?
NATHAN FILLION: I sure hope so. You always hope that you’re somewhere in their hearts, don’t you?
AX: FIREFLY is obviously an enduring hit with its ardent fan base. CASTLE is a hit, but a different type of hit. Do you have an enjoyment of one sort of success over the other?
FILLION: Good question. Success – hard to shake a stick at success. The CASTLE success – obviously more apparent, more mainstream, just simply more people watching the show. There are far fewer episodes of FIREFLY. I’ve never done anything that has had legs like that show. People talk about it like it was yesterday. It was almost a decade ago. [At 2010] Comic-Con, there was a three-year-old boy dressed up like Malcolm Reynolds. Man, it lights my fire. Kids are into it. People are still coming to it, people are still enjoying it. That show and that experience especially has a very special place in my heart and in my life. That shaped everything. [FIREFLY creator Joss Whedon] gave me my very first opportunity to step up and take a leap [as a dramatic leading man]. No one wants to give you the opportunity. No one wants to give you the chance. No one wants to gamble. “Yes, he’s good, but we don’t know if he can handle a lead.” I’ve heard that so much. If you want a job, they look at your resume and say, “Well, but you haven’t worked.” Everywhere you look.
Nathan Fillion in CASTLE - Season 3 - "One Life to Lose" | ©2010 ABC/Randy Holmes
AX: Do you still miss playing Mal, or would missing him too much interfere with playing Castle?
FILLION: Oh, no, I miss him terribly. That doesn’t interfere with anything. I love that character, I loved how much he would lose. I loved that he was a loser. He kept losing, and I loved that it never stopped him. He would fight knowing he would lose [laughs]. I loved that about him.
AX: Where is Castle’s stop-fighting point?
FILLION: I don’t know that Castle knows he’s in a fight. What I love about Castle is, Castle gets knocked down and he doesn’t know that he’s been knocked down. He thinks he’s pretty cool and when things happen and shows everybody how cool he isn’t, he’s unfazed. It doesn’t bother him. I think that’s one of his strengths. First of all, he lacks a filter in what he does and says on his actions going out, but on the rest of the world coming in, he has a filter that he doesn’t understand when he’s losing.
AX: Sometimes it seems like he’s making progress in his relationship with Beckett, sometimes it seems like he’s losing – sometimes it seems like he’s got control and she’s losing …
FILLION: On CHEERS, remember Sam and Diane were going to get married and right at the last minute, she said, “No,” and blew it. And now he doesn’t want her any more and now she goes, “I’ll convince him.” I think it’s a dance that people want to see. I think it’s a tennis game that people want to see. I think in the same way that people don’t want to see a perfect hero, a perfect character with no flaws, in the same way, people don’t want to see a perfect relationship. They want to see, “Why won’t they? Oh, my God, you’re blowing it! I can’t believe what you just did!”
AX: Castle seems to have a much more stable relationship with his daughter Alexis, one that a lot of parents of teenaged daughters would envy and it’s something a lot of viewers really love about the show.
FILLION: Me, too.
AX: When did you first feel there was good father/daughter chemistry between you and Molly Quinn, who plays Alexis?
FILLION: As soon as she walked in the room. I sat in on so many auditions for Becketts, for Marthas, for Alexises. I’ve sat in auditions before. All you want is for someone to walk in the door and be in the moment, accessible, real and then just do an amazing job and knock it out of the park and make you feel, “Oh, my God, that’s who it is.” And that was Molly. She walked in, in the moment, completely relaxed, looked you in the eye, communicated, knocked it out of the park, took adjustments, knocked it out of the park again. By the time she left, they picked up the phone – “She’s got the job.” And that’s how she is every day. She knows what she’s doing, she handles it incredibly well, she handles herself incredibly well.
Nathan Fillion in CASTLE - Season 3 - "Knockout" | ©2010 ABC/Peter "Hopper" Stone
AX: You also seem to be a great fan of fellow actor Dana Delany. You worked together initially on PASADENA in 2002, then played her husband on DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES in 2007 and then you had her guest star as an FBI agent on CASTLE in a two-parter last season …
FILLION: Dana is fantastic. I know exactly what to expect. She’s a tremendous actress.
AX: How did you wind up on DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES with her? Did she suggest you going in, or was that ABC, or HOUSEWIVES creator Marc Cherry? And was your character originally written as a gynecologist, or was that an homage to your role in WAITRESS?
FILLION: Marc Cherry had seen me in SERENITY and he knows Joss Whedon and he’s a fan of Joss Whedon’s work and worked with Joss Whedon’s father. He never even saw WAITRESS. He heard it was good, he heard good things, but it was already a gynecologist before I got there.
AX: You didn’t have to audition for HOUSEWIVES?
FILLION: That’s correct. That was one of those wonderful things. I was cast over a salad, instead of an audition.
AX: So you weren’t worried about being typecast as a gynecologist …
FILLION: You know, two gynecology parts does not a gynecology typecast make, that’s what I always say. I [was] only too happy to lock onto another brainiac.
Stana Katic and Nathan Fillion in CASTLE - Season 3 - "Countdown" (Part 2) | ©2010 ABC/Karen Neal
AX: Any funny memories of playing a doctor on DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES?
FILLION: [First day of shooting], “So Nathan, welcome to the show, here’s a read-through, meet everybody, that’s great, now put on this doctor outfit, this is Teri [Hatcher], Teri, take off your clothes and go [laughs].” And that’s another one of those things where I came in to [be married to] Dana Delany and the first day, we were going to shoot [giving Teri Hatcher’s character an examination]. That’s another one where it can be awkward, but there’s a wonderful woman, she’s very professional, and she’s there to have fun and just there to make it the best it can be. Any time you’re doing something like that, it always has the potential for being awkward. Thank God for Teri Hatcher, [that] fourteen-hour day, she and I doing a scene and she has that awkward moment of finding out that her new gynecologist is her new next-door neighbor. So that could be weird, that could be awkward at the best of times, but I’ve got to say, number one, she’s an extremely talented actress, number two, with no effort at all, she makes me feel very welcome and she’s there to make that show and that scene and that job the best it can be. And that’s all you can hope for. She’s great. My favorite line was “skooch down.”
AX: On CASTLE, there’s a full set for Castle’s home, but on DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, the show has its very own street of houses on the Universal lot in North Hollywood …
FILLION: [The street] is so tranquil. I thought it would be smaller for some reason, but it’s huge. It’s all real grass, it’s all real trees. They staple in fake flowers so that everything’s always blooming. You can also hear in the distance people screaming from the JAWS lake.
AX: Right before you did DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, you had just come off of being the lead in DRIVE, which only aired four episodes before it was canceled …
FILLION: Oh, I thought that [quick cancellation] was really cool. No, no, wait, the other thing. I didn’t like that so much. I’ve heard terms knocked around like “mishandled.” I think I read about [the cancellation] on the Internet. You hope you get a call from somebody who knew first, and you hear it last.
It took me a long, long time, right before I moved to Los Angeles, not to take it personally. And in the beginning, I found that really tough, really, really difficult. Now, though, I see if you keep working hard and enjoy what you’re doing, there will always be another job.
AX: Do you know what the conclusion to the first season of DRIVE would have been?
FILLION: From what I hear, I get three of the racers pregnant and I win. I make up a new answer to that story every time. Last time, it was not only do I win, but I take over the race and then I start operating the race.
AX: In 2007, you went back to where you got your start in American television on ONE LIFE TO LIVE and did a guest appearance on the soap when they wrote a funeral scene for the late Phil Carey’s character Asa Buchanan [the actor passed away in 2009]. How was that?
FILLION: Quite frankly, I’ll say that I think the toughest gig in show business is soap operas. They put out a one-hour show every day and sometimes more than that. Not every episode is cool, but the actors are out there, putting their face on it, and they have to make it as good as they possibly can. And the pace is breakneck compared to films, compared to television, compared to what else we do. There’s not much time to rehearse, to fine-tune it and to get it right. On a soap, it’s now.
I’ll never forget ONE LIFE TO LIVE, I’ll never forget what those people did for me, both professionally and personally. That was my first big gig, it sure was. My personal wish is [regarding returning under those circumstances], I wish there had been another way, but I wanted to go back. I felt it was important to go back, number one, because that’s where I got my start, number two, to honor Phil Carey. Phil Carey was very kind to me. I don’t know of many soap departures that are super-happy. Even mine was bittersweet. You’ve got to imagine how many years they spent there, doing those things. I was there for three years and it’s every show, every day, every week. So you just think about the amount of years he’s invested in it.
[On nighttime series like CASTLE], certainly they take a lot more time to film. So your filming process is also kind of a rehearsal process, and you get to go back and redo it a lot. On soaps, you don’t get to do that. It’s very important that we get it done and get it out. [On CASTLE], certainly there are challenges, certainly, there are threats. Long hours. The fact is, I chose this career because I really enjoy it. My worst day is still a really good day. Do I complain? Oh, yeah [laughs]. Oh, my God, I complain, but I have to try to catch myself. If I catch myself complaining, I count my blessings. I’m truly blessed. There are challenges, yes. Stress, yes. But it’s not rocket science. Some people are built for it, some people find it less challenging or more challenging than others, but it’s a great job. I love my job.
AX: You’ve done some voice work for animation and videogames, including some of the HALO titles and GREEN LANTERN: EMERALD NIGHTS, but on screen, most of your work lately has been naturalistic, excepting of course the Holy Avenger in SUPER. Do you miss doing live-action science-fiction in general?
FILLION: There’s a lot more to do with the action stuff, certainly there’s a lot more to just be physically involved. There’s a lot of fun in that. And certainly the family I had while I was doing [FIREFLY and SERENITY]. So not so much the science-fiction genre, but I miss the people – I hang out with all of them anyway. Not all of them – some of them are so damn hard to get ahold of. Sean Maher, I’m talking to you. So print that.
AX: Do you have a theory as to the secret of your personal appeal?
FILLION: They’re totally into that Canadian thing. I think underneath all this, I’ve got a little maple syrup wafting off me. They smell that.
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Article Source: Assignment X
Article: Interview with CASTLE star Nathan Fillion
DANCING WITH THE STARS Season 14 Recap: William Levy leads, Driver dis...
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Tags: ABC, Castle, Dana Delany, Desperate Housewives, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Drive, Emerald Knights, Firefly, Green Lantern, Halo, Joss Whedon, Mal Reynolds, Malcolm Reynolds, Marc Cherry, Molly Quinn, Nathan Fillion, One Life to Live, Phil Carey, Sean Maher, Serenity, Slither, Stana Katic, Super, Susan Sullivan, Teri Hatcher, the Holy Avenger, Waitress
Nathan Fillion is so funny and charming in this interview! Just like he is in every interview. Each time I have the pleasure of meeting him, he is just as wonderful in real life as he is on-screen! I admire and respect and adore him. He is a real-life superhero to me!
Kcat10
True that sister!
WJO
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Pingback: TV Review: CASTLE – Season 4 – “Headhunters” | Stana Katic Fans Site
Pingback: Geek Media Round-Up: May 12, 2011 – Grasping for the Wind
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Submitted by Mythman on Sat, 08/11/2018 - 15:11
As many of you will now be aware the Bandits Promotion have launched its STARS (Stadium Track and Rent Support) campaign and this could well be the very thing to keep the club alive in what proves to be a testing time for the sport once again.
We see it year on year, clubs facing an uncertain future due to one reason and another, and it would seem that the Bandits are luckily in a better position than many at the moment, but by no means does that mean we are completely out the woods.
Even though the 2018 season is far from over, we must look ahead to 2019, at the time of writing we have no idea what the league format will be or indeed who will be coming to the tapes. With Rye House having already closed and Lakeside seemingly facing an uncertain future the sport future surely must focus on keeping alive what's left and radical changes are perhaps required.
However, the idea of STARS is to at least secure the future of the sport in Berwick, which has to be our number one priority as fans of the club first and foremost. However as fans of speedway in general, we must also realise that without speedway at a club level, there is no speedway at an international level.
I believe that Speedway in Britain does have a future and on a World level, I believe Britain can have a say. I have long since said that there is a reason why many World Champions over the last decade plus have mainly been riders who have had significant experience of riding in this country. I see no reason why that has to change.
However, without things like STARS running in conjunction with the club here, it will change, and there will be more and more clubs closing the doors, which is the last thing anyone wants to see. So often speedway only looks as far ahead as the end of its nose, but in my opinion it needs to be looking further ahead wherever possible.
Campaigns similar to STARS are already in place at clubs like Edinburgh and Glasgow and those have proved fruitful, so there is no reason why the same thing can't work here at Berwick. One thing I have learned over the years of following the Bandits is that the fans of the club are amongst the most generous and hardcore out there, exactly what every club needs.
I have recently finished reading the book “The Golden Age Of Speedway” by Phillip Dalling which focuses on speedways boom period after the Second World War and its subsequent decline by the late 1950s. Now even during this time it seems that those running speedway only ran it on a year on year basis and basically hoped that it survived.
Which begs the question, was speedway truly any better off back then?
The book likens he sport of speedway to a cat, with the ability to fight on despite setbacks and turmoil, but as we all know a cat only has nine lives, and speedway has to be be getting through a few of those by now.
My point is that perhaps the time has come to look further ahead than just a year wherever possible, perhaps the time has come to somehow fully secure speedway at a club level in Britain.
Well as always, the Bandits and STARS are a step ahead of the game and the time has come to get behind it as only the Bandits fans can.
I don't know what the future holds for speedway in Britain, but with things like STARS we surely know that the Bandits are hell bent on being a part of it.
Of course if you wish to agree, or disagree with the Mythman, have an idea for a feature, or you simply want to chew the fat over all things speedway, you can email me Mythman666@hotmail.com. If your compliments, or indeed gripes can be contained to limited characters. You can send me a tweet @Mythman666.
Until next time...and there will be a next time.
Right I’ll hae’tae gan
Mythman
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by Jane Austen
Jane Austen's moving depiction of wild emotions and bitterly suppressed feelings tells the tale of two sisters
Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor’s warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile, Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment, even from those closest to her. Through their parallel experience of love – and its threatened loss – the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love.
About Jane Austen
Jane Austen was born on 16 December 1775 at Steventon, near Basingstoke, the seventh child of the rector of the parish. She lived with her family at Steventon until they moved to Bath when her father retired in 1801. After his death in 1805, she moved around with her mother; in 1809, they settled in Chawton, near Alton, Hampshire. Here she remained, except for a few visits to London, until in May 1817 she moved to Winchester to be near her doctor. There she died on 18 July 1817. Jane Austen was extremely modest about her own genius, describing her work to her nephew, Edward, as 'the little bit (two Inches wide) of Ivory, on which I work with so fine a Brush, as produces little effect after much labour'. As a girl she wrote stories, including burlesques of popular romances. Her works were published only after much revision, four novels being published in her lifetime. These are Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1815). Two other novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, were published posthumously in 1817 with a biographical notice by her brother, Henry Austen, the first formal announcement of her authorship. Persuasion was written in a race against failing health in 1815-16. She also left two earlier compositions, a short epistolary novel, Lady Susan, and an unfinished novel, The Watsons. At the time of her death, she was working on a new novel, Sanditon, a fragmentary draft of which survives.
Other books by Jane Austen
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25 May 2016 | By Tom Ravenscroft
Lead Contractor: Carillion
BIM Tools: Revit
To open up Leeds station to the recently redeveloped areas to the south of city centre, and relieve passenger congestion at the existing ticket barrier, an additional southern entrance to the station was needed.
Due to limited space, and the need to access the existing high-level concourse, it was determined that this new entrance would be built above the River Aire.
Due to the complex nature of the project the client requested that it be delivered using BIM, something that Matt Beaumont, the project architect from the station’s designer AHR, says was definitely a wise decision.
“The use of BIM was a necessity,” says Beaumont. “The building was highly complex in its shape. The interface with existing buildings took place at several levels and the site was extremely constrained. This provided the design team with very little margin for error and very tight tolerances.”
The new entrance was built above the River Aire
Due to the complex relationship with the existing building, AHR’s in-house consultants began the project by carrying out a point cloud survey. From this survey a highly accurate BIM model of the scheme was built, which the team had full confidence in.
“The use of scan-to-BIM to create an accurate site model from a cloud point survey allowed the designers a level of confidence that when they designed the building they knew that it would fit,” says Beaumont.
AHR carried out surface curvature analysis of the building’s geometrically complex design to identify the most efficient shape of the external skin. Along with the rest of the design team, they were then able to rationalise the structure and design a profile that could be repeated, reducing the fabrication time and cost. All this was tested using state-of-the-art parametric modelling.
The model was also utilised in design team meetings, where tricky interfaces could be viewed and discussed during the design stage rather than being left to workers on site. According to Beaumont, this allowed the team to anticipate problems before they were discovered on site, and develop a more efficient, and ultimately cheaper, building.
AHR carried out surface curvature analysis of the building’s geometrically complex design
“BIM allowed greater understanding of this complex build,” he says. “Structurally a more elegant and efficient scheme was produced which ultimately must have been a cost saving.”
Although BIM was requested by the client, and used by the majority of the team (with the notable exception of the lift and escalator specialist subcontractors, which only provided information in 2D DWG format) this was not a Level 2 project. A BIM model was handed over to the client at the completion of the project, but it is not intended that it be used for for asset management.
Beaumont explains: “At the beginning of the design process, when the design team drafted the BIM Execution Plan (BEP) we consulted with the end users – Network Rail route asset managers. They did not have the knowledge or understanding of BIM Level 2.
“It was not their ambition or desire for BIM to be used for asset management nor was it a government requirement.”
BIM allowed greater understanding of this complex build. Structurally a more elegant and efficient scheme was produced which ultimately must have been a cost saving. – Matt Beaumont, AHR
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VELVET REVOLVER's MATT SORUM: AXL ROSE Is 'So Jealous Of Our Band'
VELVET REVOLVER guitarist Slash told Rolling Stone magazine (web site) that before he entered rehab last year, he was plagued by a certain rumor that some of his bandmates chose to believe: "They thought I had quit the band and joined GUNS N' ROSES," Slash said. "I would do my best to convince them that I've never even entertained that idea, and they'd be looking at me like, 'Maybe you're full of shit.'"
Slash acknowledges that he turned up at the gates of Axl Rose's Malibu house one day in October 2005, but he says it was to try to quash a messy lawsuit over GUNS publishing royalties. In a statement GUNS N' ROSES' management released to the press, Rose claimed that during that visit, Slash insulted several members of VELVET REVOLVER, calling singer Scott Weiland "a fraud." Slash denies it all, and Weiland ended up responding on Slash's behalf, calling Rose a "fat, Botox-faced, wig-wearin' fuck" in a web site post — and when Rose ran into Sorum a few months later, he informed him that Weiland had "hurt his feelings." ("Then I felt really bad," says Weiland in turn.)
"Axl is so jealous of our band," Sorum told Rolling Stone, adding that his encounter with the singer at a New York party ended up being friendly. "Even though he's going out with his GUNS N' ROSES fucking bullshit, he's just fucking jealous and he's trying to tear us down. Fuckin' Slash is out playing rock 'n' roll and he [Axl] don't like it. It's sad."
BOB DAISLEY Responds To SHARON OSBOURNE's 'Sad Old F**k' Slam: Fans 'Are Aware Of The Actual Truth'
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Dufil Prima Foods, Maker of Indomie Swallows Dangote Noodles
Dufil Prima Foods, maker of Indomie have confirmed the acquisition of Dangote noodles business from Dangote Flour Mills Plc. This acquisition further attest to the dominance of Indomie in the noodles market in Nigeria.
The Chief Executive Officer of Dufil Prima Foods, Deepak Singhal described the deal as strategic to the company’s objective to gain prominence in the Nigerian noodles market.
Dangote Flour Mills Plc in a statement released on Tuesday, the subsidiary of Dangote Group said it no longer considered Dangote Noodles strategic to the company’s business growth.
Thabo Mabo, Group Managing Director of Dangote Flour Mills, described the deal, which became effective last week, as part of the company’s strategy to focus on key areas of flour and pasta production where it possesses substantial market shares. With the divestment from the noodles business, Mabo said Dangote Flour Mills can now focus on improving the quality, distribution, marketing and profitability of its flour and pasta products.
Dufil will continue to produce noodles under the Dangote Noodles brand name for a two-year period and also use the Dangote Flour Mills production line. The FMCG company will subsequently commence the use of its own brand name.
Dangote Group reacquired its flour business from Tiger Brand, South Africa’s largest food producer, in December 2015 following the divestment by the Johannesburg-based company due to the unprofitability of the business. Tiger Brands had paid $200 million for a 65 percent stake in Dangote Flour Mills in 2012, but it twice wrote down the value of the business by a total of $66.31 million. Tiger Brands attributed the losses to the devaluation of the naira, stiff competition, and slowing economic growth in Nigeria.
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700,000 flags and a few less birthdays!
Not far from downtown Washington DC is the Arlington National Cemetery consisting of some 624 plus acres of prime real estate. This land was part of the holdings of US General Robert E Lee, who vacated the land... and the Union... to join the Confederacy back just before the start of the Civil War. The cemetery of today is one of the largest national cemeteries in the US. Many dignitaries from numerous walks of life now rest there. And as regular readers to this blog know, a handful of Canadian heroes (and as many other Canadians) join with over 400 others who have been awarded the Medal of Honor and now call Arlington their home.
It has now been 150 years since the first soldier was buried at Arlington. A fitting ceremony was recently held at the grave of that soldier... Private William Christman. Much can be read about him on the net, but it is interesting to note that he joined the war effort quite later in the war and actually only served less then two months. But he, like so many others caught a disease and it killed him. (During the war more died from disease than bullets. Christman's regiment alone loosing 79 in battle and 153 to disease.) A fellow played TAPS for him at his service and since then it too celebrates the same birthday.
The story that I discovered on the net a few days back about these and other celebrations at the cemetery indicates many have already happened but many are yet to come. One of these is on this Friday... 6 June... a date fixed in the minds of most military as D Day. (When 150,000 Allied troops and 30,000 vehicles made the dangerous crossing of the English Channel to be joined by 13,000 by parachute to do their business with the Axis powers.)
Of the many tours scheduled, the one on Friday is dedicated to the several hundred Medal of Honor men buried at Arlington. Hopefully in that tour there will be some note that it was not just the Americans that earned the MOH. One in five medals went to a non American born, though many probably became naturalized, before, during and after the war. And many of these men, naturalized or not, now rest at this cemetery.
On Flag Day and Memorial Day, and perhaps others, troops spend days and days walking just about every square inch of this massive cemetery and plant US flags in front of former service member's graves. Not just in front... exactly 1 foot forward and properly centered. The above images were taken at Arlington. The one of the right shows a fellow either exhausted or perhaps overwhelmed by emotion about his surroundings.
The men and women participating in the "Flag In" detail are incredible proud members of the 3rd US Army Infantry, also known as the "Old Guard." These soldiers have active duty assignments, and special duties at Arlington including the placing, for example, some 260,000 flags at grave markers most recently and another 7,300 at columbariums and another 13,500 at yet another cemetery near-bye.
It is these same troops that spend some 6 hours every day cleaning up their uniforms for the next day's duty as one of the guards that protects the graves of the several unknown soldiers at Arlington.
These patrols have been going on 24 hours a day seven days a week, hurricanes snow, rain, 100 plus degree weather, terrorist attacks... no matter... the guard forges on. Each member works in a team that are on 24 hrs a day for several days then off for as many and then back to work again. And these men and woman need far more than physical stamina to do this highest of military ceremonies.
They have to have a pretty sharp mind as well. Knowledge on almost instant recall is needed about the whereabouts of some 300 graves. Same too for about 16 pages of typed Arlington history to be recalled verbatim for the curious tourist asking the same question heard a zillion times by the guard already. And so too, they must be ready to deal with anyone foolish enough to challenge them or try to do anything silly around the graves of these "Unknown Heroes."
While this image does not show it, a careful examination of the ground under this soldier's feet is in fact impacted by the very steps he takes. There are imprinted in the ground. But I guess that is what happens when you take the same 21 steps in each direction along the same route these soldiers and those before them took in their guard duties every single day and hour back to July of 1937.
President Obama and other dignitaries held their annual Memorial Day services at the tomb of the unknown soldiers last month The above image was taken from a similar service a few years back. The WW l tomb is shown at the right.
During the 1921 very formal ceremony unveiling the WW1 tomb, dignitaries from many parts of the world attended and presented wreaths and in many case their own country's highest awards, Britain being one of these. An Admiral attended and presented the Victoria Cross to the soldier, posthumously of course.
History documents that there were five American VC recipients plus the unknown soldier of WW l. But days ago I came across yet another, who fought for the Confederates under a fake name after already being awarded the VC from previous British service, but more on this in another blog.
History also records that Canada's Prime Minister Borden also attended and placed a wreath. He had no medal to present because, as a British colony of the day, the British VC represented all of Britain's colonies as well. He placed a wreath and was assisted by two of Canada's VC holders of the day. Private George Richardson, who at age 89 that year, was the oldest living VC recipient in the world, and a somewhat younger Sgt John Young. He was only 28 and had just earned his VC about 3 years earlier.
See you on Friday.
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Manhattan Beach Summer Concerts in the Park celebrates 40 years!
The summer of 2018 marks the 40th anniversary of one of our community's favorite summer past times, the Concerts in the Park series hosted by the City of Manhattan Beach at Polliwog Park. Starting Sunday, July 1 and every Sunday thereafter through September 2nd, residents can spread out in the local park and enjoy dinner picnics (with wine) while enjoying free entertainment from Beatles, Journey and Tom Petty cover bands to Blues and Jazz acts. This year, the series will be featuring opening acts that start at 3:45 pm, spotlighting local youth talent such as songs from our personal family friend, Jamisen Jarvis (July 15th)!
Click here for a full list of bands and the summer schedule.
A historical fact about the early days of the Manhattan Beach summer concert series: It ended up playing a role in punk rock history in 1979, when Hermosa Beach punk rock legends Black Flag talked their way to the top of the bill on July 22, with The Tourists, an early version of Hermosa’s Redd Kross, also on the bill.
Over the years residents have enjoyed numerous musical acts, some that have gone on to become very successful in their own right. July 1 will kick off the 2018 series with the annual Salute to the Troops which honors the military service and sacrifice of South Bay men and women in uniform; Navy Band Southwest, a 45-piece ensemble, is the headliner. It's a perfect patriotic way to kick off 4th of July festivies in our beach community!
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Where Jesus Walked
PilgrimageTravel
Visiting the places of the Bible
By Daria Sockey On May 28, 2014
I’ll never forget the day my husband called me from the Catholic organization where he worked. “Honey, the boss said that the Pontifical Council for the Family prefers to meet couples rather than just individuals. He thinks that when I go to Rome next month, you should come along, too. Can you find someone to watch the kids?”
Oh, yeah! Childcare? No problem! Rome, here I come!
Much of the five-day trip was used up in travel, and more for the Vatican meetings, but I was determined to see as many sites as we could pack into the time left over. I had my guidebook, my checklist of sites, and my walking shoes. On our first free day, we power-walked from our lodgings to St. Peter’s Square. Then I entered the Basilica. Time stood still; my packed schedule was forgotten. I was struck first by the immensity of the place, but second by a sense that I’d come home. A sense that this place was mine: a piece of my Catholic birthright and a foretaste of the “many mansions” that are in our Father’s house. In that moment, I was transformed from tourist to pilgrim.
A pilgrimage is a journey to a holy place, undertaken with the intention of becoming closer to God. (In other words, you’re not just there for the architecture and scenery.) There are many shrines available to the Catholic pilgrim, but the ultimate sacred place is the Holy Land. Millions journey there every year in order to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, worship in the places where our redemption was accomplished, and gaze upon the countryside that he once called home.
Author and filmmaker Steve Ray has directed over 50 pilgrimages to the Holy Land in the last decade. He knows that, for the thousands of pilgrims he has led, these are no mere vacations. “Vacations are where you lounge in the sun and drink daiquiris. These journeys are not about us. They’re about going out of our comfort zones and into a place where we discover God.” Ray notes that several Holy Land churches are appropriately decorated with a symbol of two deer drinking from a spring. This references Psalm 42: “Like the deer that thirsts for flowing streams, so my soul is thirsting for you, my God.” This verse captures a pilgrim’s desire for a deeper relationship with the Lord. And in Ray’s experience, the Holy Land pilgrim has that desire met in unexpected ways.
“The comments I get all the time are, ‘Now the Bible has come alive for me!’ or ‘Christmas and the Easter Triduum have such meaning now! During the readings at Mass, I want to jab the person next to me and tell them I was there!’” Ray says. “There have been dramatic conversions or reversions to the Catholic faith. And I’ll never forget the quiet woman who came to me afterward and said that her family had paid for her to come because she’d been contemplating suicide. She was healed from those thoughts as a result of visiting the Holy Land.”
You don’t have to be in need of a conversion to be deeply impacted by a visit to the Holy Land. Those who told Catholic Digest about their pilgrimages didn’t go with a sense of need, but they returned from their journeys finding themselves moved in ways they hadn’t expected.
For Sue and Terry Moore of Lucinda, Pennsylvania, a trip to the Holy Land in 2011 was a long-planned treat to celebrate Sue’s recent retirement. Each of them responded in a different way to what they experienced. “From the moment I stepped off the plane, I had a keen sense of being on holy ground. It’s an indescribable sensation. But if I had to name a highlight, it was at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.” (This large church encloses not only the tomb of Jesus but also the hill of Golgotha.) “There’s a place where you kneel and reach under an altar and down through a hole in the floor to touch the top of the rock where Jesus was crucified. I wasn’t prepared for the shock of ‘spiritual electricity’ that came when I touched it…. It was an extremely emotional moment.”
Sue described other experiences, including a Palm Sunday Mass with a small group held within the actual tomb of Christ. When asked whether the trip changed her, she didn’t hesitate: “The whole time I had a sense of Jesus providing everything that happened there, and I truly felt in his hands. The sense that God is always in control came home with me and remains to this day.”
Although Terry shared his wife’s enthusiasm for the sites they saw together, he was particularly moved when he could be “out walking by myself around the Sea of Galilee, watching the fishermen getting ready to work. You feel the presence of Jesus. You see which spots had good natural acoustics for him to preach. You look at a little valley and wonder, Did he take a shortcut here or go some different way?”
Terry came away with a different grace than his devout wife. “I wasn’t too pious before the trip. I just didn’t get it, but now, I really know! I wear a cross all the time. I think twice before doing things I used to do, like losing my temper or telling an off-color joke.”
Teacher and author Allan Wright has been to the Holy Land several times, and he knows the importance of having educated guides. In 1995 he attended an institute where local Middle-Eastern scholars brought their perspective to Gospel stories and accompanied the pilgrims to different sites. “They made those stones come to life! For example, just two words from the parable of the prodigal son: ‘He ran.’ Our teacher explained that a Middle-Eastern man is known by his walk—a great man uses a slow, even gait to show that he has his affairs in order—unlike Americans who show their importance by hurrying. So the phrase ‘he ran’ in that context revealed a costly demonstration of the father’s unexpected love.” After visiting the Holy Land, Wright says, “You’ll never read the Gospels the same way again.”
Catholic Digest hosted its own Holy Land pilgrimage last year. Managing editor Robyn Lee has her own story to tell. “I wanted to get beyond the Hollywood images of biblical lands and see with my own eyes the places where Jesus walked. With all the excitement it took a while for it to sink in that I was really in the Holy Land. But as I boarded the boat that sailed across the calm waters of the Sea of Galilee, it hit me—the water Jesus had walked on, the sea that obeyed his command in a violent storm, the shore where he preached—this was it!” A lifelong practicing Catholic, Robyn now believes more firmly than ever. “The sight of these places solidifies in my mind and heart that Jesus was a real person—the living God who came to earth to show us how to love. If God died for me, my life has to change. I must be ready to follow wherever he leads me.”
Daria Sockey
Daria Sockey is the author of "The Everyday Catholic’s Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours" (Servant). Visit her blog, Coffee and Canticles, at DariaSockey.blogspot.com.
Reading 1 Ex 1:8-14, 22 A new king, who knew nothing of Joseph, came to power in Egypt.He said to his subjects, "Look how numerous and powerfulthe people of the children of Israel are growing, more so than we ourselves!Come, let us deal shrewdly with them to stop their increase;otherwise, in time of war they […]
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Home Screen Reviews Telling An Infinite Tale
Telling An Infinite Tale
by John DeVore
Marvel Studios ties it all together in Avengers: Infinity War
It’s hard to believe that Marvel Studios has been building their cinematic universe for ten years now. The year Iron Man debuted Barack Obama was elected president. It was the year the housing market collapsed. The year some banks were labeled too big to fail. A lot can happen in ten years.
In that time, you’d think fatigue would set in. People would reject superhero movies in favor of the next fad. Maybe they did in some respect—the DC cinematic universe continues to flounder, although it could be argued that those films are simply not very good.
There have been other studios that attempted a cinematic universe—Sony, Universal, etc. They didn’t work very well either.
Marvel has done the impossible. They have made ten years of good films, telling individual stories that are interconnected in an overarching way.
With Avengers: Infinity War, that grand arch finally comes to fruition. This final story, which was told through various McGuffins and end-credit sequences over eighteen films, had absolutely no reason to work. In the hands of a different company, it would have fallen on its face.
Instead, Marvel has done something remarkable. Its slow and steady universe building has paid off, not just financially, but in narrative and audience satisfaction. Marvel told a ten-year story. If you’ve kept up with it, there is quite a reward waiting.
The capstone of 2012’s The Avengers revealed a new villain in the far reaches of space. It was the first glimpse movie audiences got of Thanos (Josh Brolin), the Mad Titan, master of the Infinity Stones. Comic book fans, of course, know the story of the Infinity Gauntlet from the comic book event in the 1990s. The ending of Avengers: Infinity War was spoiled almost thirty years ago, although the details are quite different.
As far as the MCU is concerned, however, Thanos and his quest to eliminate half of all life in the universe is brand new. Avengers: Infinity War is likely mistitled—this is a Thanos movie. While audiences know and love the heroes after having spent a decade with them, they have never really been worried about their well-being.
Marvel has created a bubble of safety surrounding their top stars. Avengers: Infinity War pops that bubble. For once, they are faced with a villain with an agenda, with clear goals and motivations, who genuinely believes in the correctness of his mission, and who is vastly more powerful than anyone else.
And because Marvel Studios did the work of establishing their heroes over the course of a decade, they can devote Avengers: Infinity War to developing the villain.
Villains have long been the problem with Marvel films. Loki aside, most fans of the series would have a hard time naming the bad guys from the eighteen films. They were there to attempt to seize power and be thwarted by our heroes. Thanos doesn’t have this problem. He doesn’t want power. He wants balance for what he sees to be the greater good.
Avengers: Infinity War is almost all set pieces populated by Marvel tent pole characters trying to come to terms with how outmatched they are. It’s perfect for creating tension. The film moves methodically from place to place, never wasting a moment, putting the final pieces into play.
From a narrative and screenwriting standpoint, this film is a masterpiece. The only negatives I could find were occasional issues with the CGI. But so much is happening and the stakes are so high that small visual problems are forgotten quickly.
What does this mean for future Marvel movies? Audiences will have to wait a year to find out. Avengers: Infinity War was filmed at the same time as its yet-to-be-named sequel. And the films will continue afterwards. There’s money to be made, after all.
But I’m not sure Marvel will be able to top this story after it is all said and done. The new phase might lose the audience once the old guard is finally changed out. But then, I never expected it to last this long. We’re truly in new filmmaking territory. I can say this definitively though: Avengers: Infinity War is worth the price of admission, as long as you’ve paid that price eighteen previous times.
Don’t miss it in the theaters.
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How 3 San Antonio Organizations Made a Huge Community Impact in Just 3 Hours
The San Antonio based nonprofit, CHR Partners, received a special call the first week of December. It was from the San Antonio Food Bank, offering to bring an 18-wheeler full of food and necessities to the CHR’s residents at the San Juan I & II properties. But it wasn’t any ordinary food drive. The San Antonio Food Bank would be accompanied by their friends at the Black Jack Speed Shop, owned by the former San Antonio Spurs player, Tim Duncan.
On the morning of December 2, Black Jack Speed Shop arrived to the food drive location with 20 enthusiastic volunteers. Combined with CHR’s volunteers, the group of 40 individuals were eager to begin serving the residents of the San Juan communities. Over the next few hours, the team worked diligently to break down pallets containing over 30,000 pounds of food and supplies, which would then be further distributed into smaller boxes for families to take to their homes. By 11:30 am, hundreds of boxes filled with fresh produce, proteins, healthy snacks, water, and baby products lined the street leading into the San Juan Apartments, ready for families to begin picking up their goods.
In only three hours, the volunteers helped pass out food and supplies to 450 families. By 2:30pm that afternoon, the families in the community were on their way home with goods to nourish their families for over a week.
It’s amazing what can be accomplished in just three hours. What these organizations did in that time wasn’t magic; it didn’t take a special skill-set. It just took time, dedication and passion.
What impact can you make in your community in just three hours?
Reach out to us today to learn about the ways you can give back.
Click here to learn how you can make an impact
Meghan Oswald January 2, 2018 food drive, volunteer, San Antonio Food Bank, Black Jack Speed Shop, Give Back, CHR Partners, Community
Greehey Family Foundation Gifts CHR Partners with Holiday Donation
Meghan Oswald December 14, 2017 Greehey Family Foundation, Donations, Councilwoman Shirley Gonzalez
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Offensive gay joke removed from The Dilemma traile...
Jim Davidson and political correctness in comedy
Tao Wells, Creative NZ, and art as a welfare scam
Artist Gil Vicente and his list of enemies
The 10:10 mini-movie, satirical comedy and Monty P...
One criticism often made about artists is that they are glorified welfare recipients; that their claims of being sensitive, creative souls enriching society with their heartfelt contributions are merely part of a ruse to get some easy money from long suffering taxpayers.
Much of the time I don't think this is true. Many artists may be wrongheaded and not very talented. But a lot of them do work hard, and sincerely believe that they are contributing something of value (even if most of the people footing the bill don't see it that way).
However, there's a case in which the welfare scam accusation seems justified. An "artist" in New Zealand called Tao Wells (who was on benefits, not surprisingly) received more government funding in the form of a grant from Creative NZ. As part of their Letting Space public art series, Wells set up the Beneficiaries Office. This "office" claims that work is slavery, and urges people to give up their jobs.
The obvious point to make about this is that without people working to create an income, which is then taxed, Wells simply wouldn't have the money to fund his "public art project" in the first place.
Also, notice how nothing has actually been created specifically for the project. Wells hasn't bothered to paint, draw or perform anything. That's not surprising, since he seems to have little talent in this regard. The "art" that he's received the grant for is merely the daffy, pretentious concept that he's "created".
(To be fair, the official site does mention that there will be a performance of a theatre show which has "actors and a script but no rehearsals". However this show - almost guaranteed to be excruciatingly bad - is separate from the main project, and has been performed before.)
That such lazy, pointless and parasitic projects are being given money says much about the culture of Creative NZ - none of it good. You'd think they'd want to deconstruct the image of artists as dole bludgers by refusing to give grants to people like Wells. But they've gone and done the opposite. Really, it would be hard to make up anything quite so ridiculous.
(Which begs the question: Maybe that's the intention? If it is, they've managed to turn the whole department into a satirical, self-parodic masterwork - which would of course be brilliant! Hmmm ... Maybe I should suspend my criticism?)
Labels: art, creativity, culture, dole, grants, New Zealand, tax, unemployment, welfare
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C R A I G L E G G O
Training & Development Case Study - The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Group
What Is It That They Get So Right?
The Ritz-Carlton training and development system amply demonstrates what researchers in behavioural and cognitive science have shown for years, which is that adult learners engage or disengage as a direct result of how they feel – about their manager, their environment or the organisation (Callahan, 2004; Dirkx, 2006; Goleman, 2002; Lutz, 1988; Opengart, 2005).
Their culture and values centre on the philosophy that, to paraphrase Aristotle, pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.
Very few organisations have been as effective in realising such tangible business success from their training and development endeavours as the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. In just the last two years, the organisation has been the recipient of over 16 international training and service awards.
Every large organisation offers training, but the Ritz-Carlton treat their people as “the most important resource”, as evidenced through their dedication and care at each touch point – from the initial job fair, the immersive experience that is the Seven Day Countdown, the first 21 day review to their ongoing 384 hour annual training commitment (Aveling, 2009).
Getting companies to prioritise leadership and management training is not easy. One recent survey revealed that managers are America’s most neglected employees, with an alarming 62% of leaders claiming they are unhappy with their manager training programs (Root Manager Training Survey, 2014). The Ritz-Carlton training system begins encouraging leadership from the moment of appointment.
Their Gold Standards promote and encourage every employee to own and take action on issues and situations usually reserved for management. Their service values are overflowing with sentiments such as empowerment, ownership, involvement, responsibility and responsiveness. Moreover, each and every employee is at liberty to spend up to $2000, without approval, on each individual guest should they see an opportunity to do so (Reiss, 2009).
New recruits learn the culture, standards and values of the organisation not by reading a brochure, watching a video or completing an e-learning program, but through direct experience. They themselves are treated as guests. They are met with a warm welcome, escorted past beautiful music to partake of snacks and beverages, and fondly farewelled.
Before they have even joined, they are immersed in the culture of service – treated as ladies and gentlemen.
How Do You Balance Quality Standards Against The Need To Empower The Individual?
The Ritz-Carlton Gold Standards, which consist of The Credo, Motto, Three Steps of Service, The 6th Diamond, Service Values and The Employee Promise are rigidly upheld throughout 88 hotels in 29 countries. For over a century the name has been synonymous with quality and service. Without doubt, the adherence and commitment to quality standards, alongside the Ritz-Carlton “Mystique” – an enigmatic description of what amounts to a sophisticated customer database and wish fulfilment system – deliver a superior and aspirational level of service.
From top employee engagement rankings to line, supervisor and management turnover rates of 18% as against a luxury hotel industry average rate of up to 158% (Robison, 2008), the Ritz-Carlton’s training system is by any measure a success. Research has also demonstrated that higher employee engagement leads to lower turnover, fewer safety incidents and higher profitability and productivity (Gallup, 2016).
In recent years, criticism has been levelled at the hotel chain for its ‘old-fashioned’, robotic use of phraseology among staff and its rigid adherence to tradition (Solomon, 2015). It could be argued that such a clinical adherence to such standards robs individual employees of their creativity, freedom of expression and individuality. Research suggests that organisations open to individuality and self-expression benefit from increased retention and customer satisfaction (Cable et al, 2013).
In this area, however, the Ritz-Carlton training methodology strikes a uniquely effective balance between quality standards and creative expression. Although their Gold Standards are prescriptive in nature, the manner in which they are delivered rely on the creativity, innovation and individual judgment of employees. For example, the fact that employees are given the freedom to spend $2000 to either enhance an experience or problem solve for guests boosts confidence, empowerment and intrinsic motivation (Gagne et al, 1997).
Moreover, their use of First-Class Service cards, “Wow” stories and 5 Star Employee Rewards program are specifically targeted at the creative application of Service Values.
Employees are rewarded and praised for anticipating guest needs and acting on them in their chosen style. They receive this feedback daily in their pre-shift ‘lineup’, where teams gather to talk over incidents, messages and indicators. In this way, the Quality Standards support and endorse the thoughtful use of creativity and empowered action. “Individual aspirations are fulfilled” has been written into the Employee Promise for decades, and it appears to be working, with a 90th percentile ranking for customer engagement (Robison, 2008).
Additional direct evidence is to be found in post-departure employee reviews, 837 of which now appear on Indeed.com. The average rating sits at 4.5 stars.
Would This Work For Other Industries?
The Ritz-Carlton have for decades now been refining and perfecting a training and development system that works. Much contemporary research points to the fact that engaged employees deliver 70% higher financial results than their competition. (Fleming and Asplund, 2007).
They have proven without question the correlation between what others dismiss as ‘touchy-feely’, and tangible business benefits (Roehl & Swerdlow, 1999). This approach demonstrably works for employees, customers and the wider organisation and, as a result, the Ritz-Carlton has much to teach the service industry.
Service industries such as banking, finance, healthcare, IT and consulting services all operate under the same conditions as the luxury hotel industry. They have employees, staff and customers. There is not one of the twelve Service Values that could not be applied to another industry. When companies under-train their employees, three potential scenarios take place: the employee will not be able to appropriately help a customer, the customer will be left dissatisfied, and/or the employee will be left frustrated and become disengaged (Ryan, 2008). For this reason, the service industry would be wise to engage in a serious study of the Ritz-Carlton methodology.
To date, over 3000 organisations have been trained in the Ritz-Carlton way, benefiting from attending the Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center, launched in 2000 after the parent organisation was awarded the Malcolm Baldridge Quality Award – twice.
The Ritz-Carlton approach aligns with the three characteristics of training today. First, it is increasingly technology based. Second, it is aligned to organisational performance. Third, it deals with broader issues than technical prowess (Dessler, 2009). Ritz-Carlton employees are provided with Palm Pilots, and they view video content and attend online courses. Management communicates all company priorities to all levels of staff, and offers them the opportunity to contribute to a SWOT analysis and suggest innovations and improvements to systems – all of which is loaded into a database for immediate actioning. All staff, whether guest facing or not, are required to be trained in a broad array of communication, teamwork, responsibility and business subjects (Robison, 2008).
There is substantial evidence in favour of the Ritz-Carlton training and development system. We know this because the results of their programs are measured and tangibly linked to quantitative and qualitative outcomes. We know this also because other successful organisations such as Apple, Inc model their training and service standards on the Ritz-Carlton way (Furness, 2012). We know this because the company engaged the Gallup organisation to survey both guests and employees, such was their commitment to ensuring they live up to their Gold Standards. The results vindicated their commitment. Gallup proved companies that score above the 50th percentile in both employee and customer engagement outperform those below by 240% (Robison, 2008).
Despite the obvious and proven benefits, organisations continue to pull funding from learning and development in times of economic hardship (Butcher, Sparks & McColl-Kennedy, 2009). Companies that do so find themselves at a severe disadvantage in rebuilding internal expertise and capability (Kristick, 2009). Successfully adopting a ‘training-led’ philosophy does not necessarily need to cost more. With the advent of leveraged technological advancements, the service industry could easily adopt some of the more effective initiatives used by the Ritz-Carlton. Southwest Airlines replaced the traditional classroom with more interactive shared experiences similar to the Ritz-Carlton’s ‘lineups’ (Taylor, 2003). Viacom developed the Manager’s Toolkit, a video series with executives from across the business sharing stories, akin to the “Wow” moments (Taylor, 2003), and NetApp taped all their seminars to allow their teams to listen online, reducing the duration of training by a third (Laff, 2008).
The Ritz-Carlton, like any organisation, are not beyond criticism and must continue to evolve their training and development program to meet ever-increasing demands and a changing business landscape. They have, however, become the most awarded and respected brand in luxury hotels in the world, with most internal and external experts agreeing this is largely due to the way in which they train their people.
Therefore, applying similar principles would seem a logical and sensible strategy for others in the service industry. In the words of Diana Oreck, Vice-President of the Ritz-Carlton Leadership Centre, “I can assure you we would not be spending the kinds of money we do on training … if we didn’t think it was going to show us the money” (Furness, 2012).
Aveling, G. (2009, July) The Ritz-Carlton Experience: It's All in the Implementation. Retrieved from http://www.brandingasia.com/columns/017.htm
Butcher, K., Sparks, B., & McColl-Kennedy, J. (2009). Predictors of customer service training in hospitality firms. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 28(3), 389-396.
Cable, D., Gino, F. and Staats, B. (2010) Breaking Them in or Revealing Their Best?
Reframing Socialization Around Newcomer Self-expression. Administrative Science Quarterly, 2013 March Vol 58:1 p1-36
Callahan, J. L. (2004). Breaking the cult of rationality: Mindful awareness of emotion in the critical theory classroom. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 102, 75-83
Dessler, G. (2009). Fundamentals of Human Resource Management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Dirkx, J. (2006). Engaging emotions in adult learning: A Jungian perspective on emotion and transformative learning. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 109, 15-26. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Fleming, J.H., & Asplund, J. (2007). HumanSigma: Managing the employee–customer encounter. New York, NY: Gallup Press.
Furness, A. (2012) An Interview with Diana Oreck of Ritz-Carlton. Business2Community.com, retrieved from http://www.business2community.com/expert-interviews/an-interview-with-diana-oreck-of-ritz-carlton-0322451#jjhUFJtyT6ssIA1X.97
Gagne, M., Senecal, C. B., & Koestner, R. (1997). Proximal Job Characteristics, Feelings of Empowerment, and Intrinsic Motivation: A Multidimensional Model. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 1222-1240.
Gallup Business Journal (2016, Jan 19) Engaging Employees: Big Companies Need the Most Improvement Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/188675/engaging-employees-big-companies-needimprovement.aspx
Goleman, D. (2002). Primal leadership: Realizing the power of emotional intelligence. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Kristick, J. (2009). Filling the leadership pipeline. Training and Development, 63(6), 48-52.
Laff, M. (2008). Steady under pressure: Training during a recession. Training and Development, 62(8), 46-49.
Lutz, C. (1988). Unnatural emotions: Everyday sentiments on a micronesian atoll and their challenges to western theory. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Opengart, R. (2005) Emotional intelligence and emotion work: Examining constructs from an interdisciplinary framework. Human Resource Development Review, 4, 49-62.
Reiss, R. (2009, October 30). How Ritz-Carlton Stays At The Top. Forbes Magazine.
Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/2009/10/30/simon-cooper-ritz-leadership ceonetwork-hotels.html
Robison, J. (2008). How The Ritz-Carlton Manages the Mystique. Gallup Business Journal.
Roehl, W. S., & Swerdlow, S. (1999). Training and its impact on organizational commitment among lodging employees. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 23(2), 176-194.
Root, Inc (2014, Dec) America’s Workforce: A Revealing Study of Corporate America’s Most Neglected Employee. Retrieved from http://www.rootinc.com/pdfs/campaign/Americas-Workforce-Report-2015.pdf
Ryan, L. (2008, Jun 12). The high cost of cutting training budgets. BusinessWeek. Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2008-06-12/the-high-cost-of-cutting-training-budgetsbusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice
Solomon, M. (2015, Sept 30) Your Customer Service Is Your Branding: The Ritz-Carlton Case Study. Forbes Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/micahsolomon/2015/09/24/your-customer-service-style-is-your-brand-the-ritz-carlton-case-study/#38983201b8a8
Taylor, C. (2003). Recession survivors: Training to the rescue. Training and Development, 57(10), 28-35.
Craig Leggo
Entrepreneur, Educator, Speaker.
Founder of Possiblio.com
and Loving Learning Ltd.
Archives
Copyright © Craig Leggo
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World | Red Sea | Diving Jordan:
Jordan overview
Al Shorouk
Cedar Pride
M42 Duster
Taiyong
First Bay
Dive Aqaba
print page | show all dive site labels | contribute site info / photo
Scuba Diving in the Gulf of Aqaba, Jordan, the Red Sea
19°C (66°F) in February - 27°C (81°F) from July to October
3mm or 5mm wetsuit (November - April), shortie for rest of the year, thick wetsuit or drysuit for tec dives in the winter!
15 - 40 metres (50 - 130 feet), 25 - 35 metres (85 - 115 feet) on average
Reefs, wrecks, walls
Turtles, blue spotted rays, jacks, snappers, barracudas, lionfish, reef fish, colourful coral
Any time of year, although if you are after really warm water it is best to visit the Red Sea between June and September. Air temperatures reach 40°C (104°F) in August and fall to 20°C (68°F) in the winter, which may also dictate when you travel
From the UK - Direct five hour flights from Gatwick on Tuesdays from October until April. Transfers to hotels in Aqaba take 15 minutes. If flying to Amman there are direct daily five hour flights from Heathrow . Transfer to Aqaba takes 4 hours by road or a shuttle flight of 45 mins when available. Entry visas are not required when visiting Aqaba, Jordan. A full Jordan visa can be purchased at the airport itself at a cost of about $18 USD / £10 GBP.
Diving in the Red Sea off the coast of Jordan is first class and to date has none of the associated crowds of the better known parts! The eastern shore of the Northern Red Sea is the deeper side and all the dive sites in Jordan are close to shore, with soft corals and filter feeders proliferating due to stronger currents than those found along the western shore. Aqaba Marine Park was established in Jordan in 2002 to protect the coral reefs for future generations of divers and has since installed mooring buoys at all the popular dive sites. Despite the relatively short distance from shore at most of the sites in the area, boat diving is becoming a necessity as shore access is being restricted by coastal tourism development.
Nitrox and technical diving (including trimix and rebreathers) are a more recent introduction and have opened up whole new areas of exploration. As well as coral reefs in good condition, Aqaba boasts five wrecks and an artificial reef project. The wreck of the Cedar Pride (10-25m) is a must for all and fantastic for photography, while the wrecks of the Taiyong (scuttled in 1999) and the Al Shorouk (scuttled in 2008) are both in the 35-55m range and ideal for technical divers breathing air. There is also the famous M42 Tank scuttled by the Jordan Royal Ecological Diving Society in 1999 which has since become a symbol of diving in Jordan.
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has a rich history and there are many topside attractions for visiting divers. Aqaba can be used as a base to visit the famous Nabatean stone-hewn city of Petra, as well as the desert valley of Wadi Rum, a favourite of rock climbers and scramblers.
Jordan has traditionally had close relations with the United States and the United Kingdom and has a reputation for following a pragmatic and non-confrontational foreign policy, leading to fair relations with its neighbouring countries too. Visitors will find that many Jordanians speak very good English and that its tourist infrastucture is well developed and easy to navigate.
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Arlett kicks off County Council campaign at the Clayton
Thursday, July 24, 2014 - 11:11am
Coastal Point • Laura Walter : Rob Arlett, candidate for the District 5 Sussex County Council seat, speaks to constituents at his campaign launch on Tuesday, July 22, at the Clayton Theatre.
Frankford resident Rob Arlett jumped on the road to the Republican primary election as he launched his campaign for the District 5 Sussex County Council seat on July 22 at the Clayton Theatre in Dagsboro.
Just coming from another kickoff event in Laurel, Arlett introduced his wife, one of his two sons and his father to a crowd of supporters. Emphasizing his love of family and faith, the owner of Beach Bound Realty became an ordained minister in order to marry his niece to her fiancé.
“We love Sussex County. It’s a great place to raise a family, worship and have a business.”
Going up against 16-year incumbent Vance Phillips, whom Arlett never mentioned by name, the challenger said, “It’s not about the opponent, but about the people.”
“Public politics is a dirty word. My job, my responsibility, is to make it a positive thing. We need better people involved,” he said. “We need more good people involved in the process. The campaign is not about ‘Rob,’ it’s about you.”
“We know the rest of the state is all fouled up. I gotta make sure that doesn’t happen to Sussex County,” he said, emphasizing small government and keeping “government as far away from the people as possible.”
He said he hopes to “preserve the past and plan for the future,” describing the disheartening lack of opportunity for young people.
Not only, Arlett said, do many young people move away for college and careers, including his older son, but the entirety of west Sussex County is still suffering from “deteriorating property values,” especially since the DuPont company closed years ago. He aims, he said, for an “economic re-birth.”
Part of that future means using the expertise currently retiring on Delmarva. Although he doesn’t see that as a job for the government, he proposes a county-wide mentoring program. He turned to a man in the audience who worked on Wall Street for years before moving to Delaware.
“I guarantee there are a lot of youth that want to know what he knows,” Arlett said, and plenty of retirees who want to use their expertise to improve their new homes.
He also said western Sussex schools are suffering, in part because of Sussex Technical High School. Although he believes in competition, he said, he also believes the playing field needs to be leveled by making that school go to public referendum for additional funding, rather than just getting the state legislature’s approval.
As for the code of ethics discussion that has followed this local election cycle, he called for a Sussex County code — not just following in the default footsteps of the State.
He thanked his family and volunteers, encouraging people to get involved, whether they live in the 5th District or not.
Current District 4 Councilman George Cole was present to support Arlett’s candidacy.
“We do zoning. We make decisions that can ruin your neighborhood,” Cole said, adding that that’s why he felt it important to get someone like Arlett on the council.
Those who are interested in learning more about Arlett can visit www.robarlett.com. Arlett may be reached at (302) 462-5746 or at rob@robarlett.com.
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With: Eddie Constantine, Anna Karinam, Akim Tamiroff
Written by: Jean-Luc Godard
Directed by: Jean-Luc Godard
Language: French, with English subtitles
Alphaville (1965)
Inspirations of Conscience
Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville ostensibly combines the detective genre with the sci-fi genre, but the result is all Godard. It stars American actor Eddie Constantine as private eye Lemmy Caution, a role that Constantine had already played in several cheap "B" movies. (Did Godard actually watch some of them?) Caution is called to the outlands, to Alphaville, a sinister city run by an evil computer; it's supposed to be the future, but it's really just Paris in 1965. No effort was made to disguise it or dress it up, although it certainly does look uninviting.
Searching for Professor von Braun, Caution finds his daughter, the lovely Natacha (Godard's muse Anna Karina). Plot is even less important here than in many other Godards, and the point is to simply follow the interconnected, unconnected stream of ideas. The film is so slippery that it's often difficult to remember just what you saw, or if you saw it. It's rather impressive to watch Constantine's pickled, reptilian mug, grimly recording everything that goes on around him, as if there were some mystery to be solved. But, regardless, it really does feel like Godard has transported us to some other world, even if it's all a colossal put-on.
Impressively, Godard made Pierrot le Fou the same year. The Criterion Collection released an old laserdisc and DVD, and both are out of print now. In 2019, Kino Lorber released an essential Blu-ray edition, which looks and sounds great with its grimy black-and-white and shocking, shrieking soundtrack. It includes a commentary track by Tim Lucas, an interview with Karina, an introduction by Colin McCabe, and trailers.
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AT&T chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson speaks during an Economic Club of Washington event in the US capital on Wednesday. Photo: Bloomberg
Huawei accused of hindering firms from shifting suppliers for 5G
China’s Huawei Technologies is making it very difficult for European carriers to drop the company from its supply chain for next-generation 5G wireless service, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said on Wednesday.
“If you have deployed Huawei as your 4G network, Huawei is not allowing interoperability to 5G — meaning if you are 4G, you are stuck with Huawei for 5G,” Reuters quoted Stephenson as saying in a speech in Washington.
“When the Europeans say we got a problem — that’s their problem. They really don’t have an option to go to somebody else.”
The United States has been pressuring other countries to drop Huawei from their networks. Stephenson said the US government can do a better job explaining the security risks of Huawei.
The biggest risk is not that the Chinese government might listen in on our conversations or mine our data if we use their equipment,” the AT&T chief said.
Within a decade, 5G will drive all US factories, utilities, refineries, traffic management and help underpin autonomous vehicles.
“If that much of infrastructure will be attached to this kind of technology do we want to be cautious about who is the underlying company behind that technology. We damn well better be,” Stephenson said.
The US warns that next-generation 5G equipment, which some telecoms experts see as more vulnerable to attack than previous technology, could be exploited by the Chinese government for spying if supplied by Huawei.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday that her country is not planning to exclude any one company from its 5G auction per se, but wants bidders in the mobile spectrum auction to meet certain requirements.
As the US-China trade war drags on, Apple is tweaking its iPhone manufacturing strategy, aiming to reduce the firm’s over-reliance on production at Chinese factories. To cut the potential risks, the firm has begun...
Cybersecurity firm Symantec Corp has walked away from negotiations to sell itself to chipmaker Broadcom over price disagreements, Reuters reports, citing people familiar with the matter. Broadcom was last week willing to offer as...
Facebook Inc. said it will not proceed with the launch of its Libra cryptocurrency until regulatory concerns are addressed, as the US Treasury secretary said he has serious concerns it could be used for...
Google accused of ripping off digital ad technology in lawsuit
Google was hit on Monday with a US lawsuit alleging that it copied a smaller firm’s patented digital advertising technology, Reuters reports. A firm called Impact Engine filed a complaint in a San Diego...
PayPal launches money transfer service Xoom across Europe
US payments company PayPal is expanding further in Europe by launching its international money transfers service Xoom in Britain and 31 other countries across the continent, Reuters reports. Xoom allows customers to transfer money...
Gold prices have been on a wild ride. Between 2000 and 2011, they rose from US$280 to around US$1,900 per ounce before falling back to US$1,050 in 2015. Currently, they are trading at around...
Miss Hong Kong is a ticket to fame and fortune. Winners of the annual beauty pageant, which was established in 1973, usually end up marrying some rich guy and living in luxury. They certainly...
Diverging fortunes of Beetle and Mini Cooper
The last Volkswagen Beetle car rolled off the assembly line last week, marking the end of an era of the iconic car whose history goes back to the 1930s. Meanwhile BMW revealed on the...
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Dr Richard Halvorsen
offering vaccine choice
The 5-in-1 vaccine
Mercury in vaccines
More vaccines
The Mad Hatter
Many will remember the Mad Hatter from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. The Mad Hatter was based on a real character, or rather many real characters. There is debate over whether Lewis Carroll’s Mad Hatter suffered from mercury poisoning; he was portrayed as an eccentric extrovert who was obsessed with time - not typical features of mercury poisoning. Nevertheless, hatters of the 19th century most certainly were regularly poisoned by this harmful metal. Unsurprisingly, hatters made hats, and during the 19th century felt hats were especially popular.
The haters had to brush a mercury-containing solution onto animal fur as part of the hat-making process. The hatters inevitably breathed in the mercury, a problem made worse by the poorly ventilated workshops in which they worked. They developed tremors and twitching (“hatter’s shakes”) as well as slurred speech, irritability, shyness depression, confusion, memory loss and other personality changes - all symptoms of mercury poisoning.
These symptoms became known as ‘Mad Hatter Syndrome’ which was, in effect, one of the early industrial occupational diseases - mercury poisoning.
© 2009 Richard Halvorsen Contact Me
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Home Car News California’s Wildfires Are Now The Deadliest And Most Destructive In Its History
California’s Wildfires Are Now The Deadliest And Most Destructive In Its History
Camp Fire has just become the deadliest wildfire in Calfornia’s history, after 13 more human remains were recovered in Northern California, bringing the death toll to at least 42. Hundreds of people remaining missing and 150,000 more are displaced from their homes.
“My sincere hope is that I don’t have to come here each night and report a higher and higher number,” Kory L Honea, Butte County Sheriff and Coroner, said at a news conference on Monday night.
Engulfing over 125,000 acres (and counting) of land and incinerating at least 7,177 buildings, most of which are homes, Camp Fire is also the most destructive wildfire in the state’s history as well.
Three main wildfires – Woolsey Fire, The Hill Fire outside Los Angeles, and the Camp Fire in northern California – continue wreak havoc across the state of California. Firefighters are hoping the worst of the destruction is behind them, however, considerable portions of the fires remain uncontrolled. As of Monday night, just 30 percent of Camp Fire was contained.
The spread of the fires has been relentless. Camp Fire, the largest of the wildfires by some margin, began to tear through California on Thursday, November 8, 2018. Fuelled by the sea breeze and strong winds blowing down the mountains, the flames managed to spread almost 10,000 acres in the space of its first day.
“We talk about how offshore flow (N-NE Wind) can bring warmer and drier conditions – here is a classic example of that,” the National Weather Service San Francisco Bay Area explained on Twitter in regards to the Calfornia wildfires.
“SantaRosa airport had a low temp of 31 degs and once the offshore flow kicked in temps soared 30 degs. The humidity plummeted over 60%.”
Parched vegetation from unseasonably hot and dry weather has also allowed the fires to push throughout the state faster than expected. As a testament to the uncompromising spread of the flames, many of the dead were found inside the charred remains of their car, according to the Associated Press.
Much of the death and devastation has occurred in Paradise, a town of 26,000-odd residents in Butte County, California. Very little remains in the largest parts of the town, aside from blocks of burned out structures and two military-type morgue tents used by the search-and-recovery teams, as reported by the San Fransisco Chronicle.
“I had to drive through the fire – it was awful. It was probably the most awful experience I will have in my life,” Sorrell Bobrink, a Paradise resident, told BBC World Service.
Read more: https://www.iflscience.com/environment/californias-wildfires-are-now-the-deadliest-and-most-destructive-in-its-history/
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About that cocaine video
I haven’t commented about the guy who’s been shopping around the video that supposedly shows Joe Biden’s daughter doing cocaine, because I just wasn’t interested.
Eric Sterling has it right.
This person is a disgusting sleazebag. […]
None of us would ever want a videotape of our child’s indiscretions made public. Persons who seek to profit from such indiscretions are contemptible.
All of us should empathize with Ashley Biden. Whether this video accurately depicts her or not, she has been victimized. We know that about twenty million Americans use illegal drugs, and that half of all American adults have used an illegal drug at least once. She is being held up to ridicule for something that does not deserve ridicule. Even if she had snorted cocaine at a party, her privacy has been terribly invaded. (It is worth noting that there will be people who will feel completely justified in attacking Ashley Biden because she is suspected of using cocaine. There will be people who will feel justified attacking Vice President Biden for the policy positions he has taken because his daughter is rumored to have used cocaine. He is not responsible for his adult daughter’s use of drugs.)
Well, it turns out that it’s even sleazier than we originally heard. The attorney that was shopping around the video has bailed, and now it appears that the guy with the video not only supplied the cocaine, but used a hidden camera to make the videotape.
Legal expert Stan Goldman told RadarOnline.com: �Look, this is very serious business — even the government cannot conduct this kind of activity (although federal agents can possess drugs without violating the law). He could be charged with possession of illegal drugs, distributing them and also trying to profit from their sale. I�m not surprised that that the lawyer ‘brokering the deal� ditched the guy because he could not be seen to be benefiting from the ‘fruits of the crime.’�
I have plenty of disagreements with Joe Biden and his views on drug policy, but there’s no way that I would trade his daughter’s privacy for the mere opportunity of a cheap hypocrisy accusation. It is my hope that his daughter is left alone, that the videographer disappears (for his own good), and this “story” ends.
I also desire that every other person in the world who uses drugs without harming anyone else is left alone, and I will continue to fight for that.
One good bit of news. It appears that none of the newspapers approached was willing to bid on the video. Perhaps they have some ethics? (Or maybe they’re going bankrupt and just couldn’t afford it.)
Note: The Onion also has a funny take in their “person in the street” interviews…
George Furlong, Humane Officer: �I don’t get it. What’s the hook here? Does she do cocaine really well? Is it an impressive amount of cocaine?�
Peggy Bryan, Watch Assembly Inspector: �If she was snorting it through one of those pocket Constitutions that Kucinich hands out, I�ll go get my checkbook.�
March 31st, 2009 by Pete Guither | Permalink | Comments are closed
I’m starting to wonder if it’s intentional
President Obama’s no dummy. He’s intelligent and he’s educated. He’s from Chicago.
Is he purposely throwing softballs?
President Obama: Well, what�s happened is that President Calderon I think has been very bold and rightly has decided that it�s gotten carried away. The drug cartels have too much power, are undermining and corrupting huge segments of Mexican society. And so he has taken them on in the same way that when, you know, Elliot Ness took on Al Capone back during Prohibition, oftentimes that causes even more violence. And we�re seeing that flare up.
Obama talking to CBS’s Bob Schieffer [Via Scott Morgan]
He’s got to be smart enough to know that talking about prohibition and Capone is just going to lead to talking about ending prohibition. Drug policy reformers have set that up for the past few years by heavily promoting the word “prohibition” in conjunction with the drug war. I even did some promotion of the Capone connection. A lot of people are going to make that connection.
Is he stupid? Is he brilliantly devious? What’s going on, here?
Coming out of the closet
Andrew Sullivan gets readers talking about the marijuana closet — the awkward place so many users reside that prevents them from talking openly. This convinces more to come out of the closet. Jason Kuznicki Positive Liberty comments on this development and hopes for more. I agree.
No more free rides?
Could it be that the mindless anything-goes-as-long-as-you’re-tough-on-drugs philosophy is showing cracks? “bullet” Editorial: Incarceration Lobby Deserves Tough Questions
Here’s a question to those who gathered in Sparta last week to criticize Gov. Jim Doyle’s public safety budget: Why does the United States, with just 5 percent of the world’s population, house 25 percent of the […]
Obama’s joke – the gift that keeps on giving
I can’t even keep up with all the press and attention that has been given to marijuana legalization in the past few days.
It’s resulted in a huge boost for this site with over 70,000 visits in the past two days (compared to the daily average of around 2,000). The Marijuana is illegal because, uh, uh… post was picked up on Digg, Raw Story and other sites. Interestingly, Digg also gave the Irv Rosenfeld piece I wrote several years ago a huge boost as more of the population are learning things we’ve known for some time.
“bullet” Kathleen Parker explains what Obama should have said:
�Look, I�m not ready to legalize marijuana tomorrow, but I do think it�s time to take a fresh look at the effectiveness of some of our criminal justice policies. And I support Sen. James Webb�s current efforts to do just that.
�I also don�t mean to make light of this issue because I know that a lot of kids wind up in jail who shouldn�t. And I know from personal experience that smoking marijuana is not a career-ender. But I do want to study this issue carefully before I suggest any broad changes in policy. Thank you for your question.�
Everyone would have gone home reasonably satisfied, if not quite ready to celebrate. Instead, Obama enjoyed a brief flashback and insulted his merrier minions.
As pot smokers blanket the White House with letters of protest, Obama may want to rethink his position. He not only has ticked off a portion of his grass-roots, so to speak, but, when the Chinese come to collect interest on those trillions, he may find it preferable that more, rather than fewer, Americans be mellow.
“bullet” Glenn Greenwald explores the Mysteries of logical reasoning
(1) Anyone who favors marijuana legalization just wants to get high without being hassled, and anyone who favors drug decriminalization generally is or wants to be a drug user.
Why is most everyone capable of understanding the egregious, illogical stupidity of propositions (2)-(8) — based on the bleedingly obvious premise that one can advocate the freedom to do X for reasons other than a desire to do X — while so many people embrace the equally illogical and stupid reasoning of proposition (1) as though it is so self-evidently true that it requires no discussion?
Update: See also…
“bullet” Mark Milian at the L.A. Times: Web lights up with protests over Obama’s dismissal of marijuana legalization
And on the social news website Digg, a story about marijuana benefits, decriminalization or reactions to Obama’s weedy treatment of the pot question has been voted to the home page every day since the town hall — and in many cases, multiple times a day.
So what does that say about the online audience? Considering that many political analysts attribute a major part of Obama’s election to his popularity on social networks, maybe he shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss something they clearly feel strongly about.
“bullet” This may not be at all connected to Obama’s statement, but it certainly adds to the sense that it’s becoming more possible to have the discussions…
Jack Cafferty, of CNN’s Situation Room: Commentary: War on drugs is insane
So how’s this war on drugs going?
Someone described insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result each time. That’s a perfect description of the war on drugs. […]
What do you suppose the total price tag is for this failed war on drugs? One senior Harvard economist estimates we spend $44 billion a year fighting the war on drugs. He says if they were legal, governments would realize about $33 billion a year in tax revenue. Net swing of $77 billion. Could we use that money today for something else? You bet your ass we could. Plus the cartels would be out of business. Instantly. Goodbye crime and violence.
If drugs were legalized, we could empty out a lot of our prison cells. People will use this stuff whether it’s legal or not. Just like they do booze. And you could make the argument that in some cases alcohol is just as dangerous as some drugs. I know.
Like I said … something to think about. It’s time.
March 30th, 2009 by Pete Guither | Permalink | Comments are closed
How many joints in a year?
In the discussion about legalizing medical marijuana in Illinois,
Illinois State Police Capt. Mark Henry specifically cited a provision that would allow patients to grow as many as seven marijuana plants at a time. Henry said seven plants would produce more than 3,500 joints per year � meaning a patient would have to smoke about nine joints a day to use all the marijuana grown. He said police worry that the surplus would end up on the street.
Regardless of what you may think about the notion of getting 500 joints per plant (seems to me he’s expecting sick people to have amazing green thumbs), what should be the standard of how many joints per year is appropriate?
Let’s turn to the experts – the only completely legal distributor of medical marijuana in the United States: the Federal Government.
For their medical marijuana patients that they’ve been supplying for over 25 years, the Federal Government provides a tin of 300 joints to last 25 days. That’s 4,380 joints a year.
Sounds like proposed Illinois levels are considerably low by federal standards, even given Illinois State Police Capt. Mark Henry’s optimistic yield projections.
Drugs and Guns
The New York Times has an article about the drug war activities in Mexico: In Drug War, Mexico Fights Cartel and Itself
They mention Hillary Clinton’s well-publicized statements:
At the same time, American drug users are fueling demand for the drugs, and American guns are supplying the firepower wielded with such ferocity by Mexico�s cartels � a reality acknowledged by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on her trip to Mexico last week.
Calderon has also complained about the American guns, and a lot of people (including politicians) have been talking about the need to stop the smuggling of guns across the Mexican border – guns easily bought at gun shows and retail stores in the United States.
This has led to more calls to militarize the border and stop smuggling both ways (people who say we can just stop smuggling by doing a better job of border control don’t quite understand the amount of legal traffic and trade across that border. Truly effective interdiction efforts would hurt the economy of both countries.)
And yet, let’s take a closer look at those guns…
On night patrol in Reynosa in November, soldiers came upon some suspicious men, who led them to a house that was packed with armaments for the drug cartels � 540 rifles, 165 grenades, 500,000 rounds of ammunition and 14 sticks of dynamite. […]
The war analogy is not a stretch for parts of Mexico. Soldiers, more than 40,000 of them, are confronting heavily armed paramilitary groups on city streets. The military-grade weapons being used, antitank rockets and armor-piercing munitions, for example, are the same ones found on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Are these being bought at gun shows in the U.S.? Unlikely.
Anybody who has followed the drug war in Mexico knows that there is another factor that is heavily involved here…
The cartels bring in billions of dollars more than the Mexican government spends to defeat them, and they spend their wealth to bolster their ranks with an untold number of politicians, judges, prison guards and police officers � so many police officers, in fact, that entire forces in cities across Mexico have been disbanded and rebuilt from scratch.
If you can own politicians and police forces, do you really need to smuggle individual handguns in from another country?
Bill Conroy at NarcoNews has done excellent reporting on the drug war and gets to the bottom of this in Legal U.S. Arms Exports May Be Source of Narco Syndicates’ Rising Firepower
The Obama administration is now sending hundreds of additional federal agents to the border in an effort to interdict this illegal arms smuggling to reassure an agitated middle-America that Uncle Sam will get these bad guys. The cascade of headlines from mainstream media outlets printing drug-war pornography assures us in paragraphs inserted between the titillation that the ATF�s Operation Gunrunner and other similar get-tough on gun-seller programs will save America from the banditos of Mexico.
But in reality, while the main weapons are getting to the cartels from the U.S., they’re not being smuggled into Mexico, and so no interdiction efforts will help.
The deadliest of the weapons now in the hands of criminal groups in Mexico, particularly along the U.S. border, by any reasonable standard of an analysis of the facts, appear to be getting into that nation through perfectly legal private-sector arms exports, measured in the billions of dollars, and sanctioned by our own State Department. These deadly trade commodities � grenade launchers, explosives and �assault� weapons �are then, in quantities that can fill warehouses, being corruptly transferred to drug trafficking organizations via their reach into the Mexican military and law enforcement agencies, the evidence indicates.
That’s right, the ultimate source of the guns used by the cartels in Mexico? The U.S. government.
Hey, why should we be surprised? After all, one of the most dangerous groups in Mexico — the mercenary army for Mexico’s Gulf Cartel — is Los Zetas, which we helped train at Fort Benning in rapid deployment, aerial assaults, marksmanship, ambushes, small-group tactics, intelligence collection, and counter-surveillance techniques. So why shouldn’t we be supplying them the weapons as well?
Conroy follows the trail of the shipments of legal guns to Mexico, noting that while these weapons could be traced…
But that assumes the Mexican government, and our own government, really want to trace those weapons. A November 2008 report in the San Antonio Express News, which includes details of the major weapons seizure in Reynosa, Mexico, that same month involving the Zetas, reveals the following:
Another example of coordination problems occurred this month. Mexican authorities in Reynosa across the border from McAllen, seized the country�s single largest stash of cartel weapons � nearly 300 assault rifles, shoulder-fired grenade launchers and a half million rounds of ammunition.
But weeks later, Mexican authorities still have not allowed the ATF access to serial numbers that would help them track down the buyers and traffickers on the U.S. side.
A former DEA agent, who also asked not to be named, says the shipment of military-grade weapons to the Mexican government under the DCS program, given the extent of corruption within that government, is essentially like �shipping weapons to a crime syndicate.�
Conroy also notes that the State Department’s Blue Lantern program, which monitors the end-use of commercially exported defense articles had 634 cases in FY’ 2007, of which 143 were deemed “unfavorable.”
So we’re fighting an escalating drug war where both sides are funded and supplied by… us.
Over and over again in the drug war, we find the same kind of thing. The more we fight the drug war, the more damage we cause — more corruption, more violence, more criminal activity.
A strange game.
The only winning move is not to play.
How about a nice game of chess?
I get quoted
The student newspaper at Illinois State University did an article about legalization, and may do a series. Marijuana legalization to help economy Some of the quotes were accurate. The regulars could probably tell what I did say and what I didn’t. There’s some things I just wouldn’t say, but the overall sense was OK. Here’s […]
Marijuana is illegal because, uh, uh…
White House Spokesperson responds to follow-up questions by the press… Robert Gibbs spent several minutes further ridiculing the marijuana questions, sometimes with the press laughing as well, while trying to indicate that Obama was just trying to give a nod to the fact that the question had been voted very high, even though it was […]
March 29th, 2009 by Pete Guither | Permalink | One comment - (Comments are closed)
Glenn Greenwald is a must-read
Jim Webb’s courage v. the “pragmatism” excuse for politicians Seriously. Just go over there and read the whole thing. But here’s a couple of paragraphs for you anyway.
What’s most notable about Webb’s decision to champion this cause is how honest his advocacy is. He isn’t just attempting to chip away at the safe edges […]
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Drum Tracks
.......About Todd
Todd is a dynamic figure in the world of drumming today! Whether Todd is performing, recording, writing or teaching and performing clinics/workshops, his musical abilities are that of a true professional. Todd continues to make a name for himself in today’s drumming community. From live performances and studio sessions, his resume is very impressive. Originally from New Jersey, Todd began to play drums at age eleven. By age fifteen, Todd was playing professionally in a variety of live performances throughout the New Jersey/New York area. Todd spent extensive years of private studies with renown instructor Russ Moy and further studies with world famous drummer Ed Shaughnessy (former drummer for the Johnny Carson Show). Todd’s versatility as a musician soon had him in demand and performing in Atlantic City and the New Jersey/New York area. Todd’s styles of drumming can range from jazz, pop/rock, funk, fusion, country, progressive/odd-time, alternative, second line, rudimental/marching, and all situations and genres in between, which gives him a solid foundation to be called for any musical performance or recording-session in today’s most demanding times. During the annual Music West International Conference held in Vancouver, BC Canada in May of 1994. Todd was the first place winner in the PearlPlayers Drum Challenge” featured in the open category. Todd then went on to perform with Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) for the grand finale of the show, with the likes of, Zildjian, Paiste, Pearl, Sabian and various company representatives on hand to celebrate the conference. Throughbred Music’s Annual Drum Expo. in Tampa, Florida gave Todd the opportunity to perform as a finalist in both the1993 and 1994 drum competitions. The judging panel included such greats as: Dave Weckl, Dennis Chambers, Marvin “Smitty” Smith and Dom Famularo. Todd has also performed in clinic for the “Russ Moy Drum Studio” in New Jersey with a presentation of the “1999 Lifetime Achievement Award” to respected Performers, Authors and Teachers, Jim Chapin and Sam Ulano. Modern Drummer Magazinze has also featured Todd in the July 1995 issue, “On The Move” section.
Todd can be found in performances and studio/sessions throughout the state including, Gloria and Emilio Estafan’s (Costa De Esta) (Sunfest Music Festival,PGA National Jazz Concert Series, Jazz Showcase and the Breakers), as well as recording with a variety of top local musicians. Todd has performed with various artists including, Clarence Clemons (Bruce Springsteen), Chad Smith(Red Hot Chili Peppers), Vinnie Burke (World Renown Jazz Bassist), Grayson Hugh(Movie Soundtracks, Solo Artist), Patti Wicks (Jazz pianist), Michael Tirsch(Percussionist, Discovery Channel), Michael Schudin (Keyboards/Jimmy Buffet),Gabriel Vivas (Bass/Nestor Torres), David Siegel (Piano/Nestor Torres),AdrienRe(Saxophone/Performer/Instructor FAU & University of Miami/University of (Indiana Ball State), Pete Levine (Keyboards/LA and FL Sessions), and has shared the stage with Victor Wooten (Bassist for Bela Fleck) and Phil McArthur (Bassist/David Lee Roth/NestorTorres/Solo Artist).
Todd is also very active with numerous studio recording sessions at some of south Florida’s premier recording studios such as, New River Studios (Fort Lauderdale, FL), Echo Beach Studio (Jupiter, FL)and Southern Music Arts (West Palm Beach, FL), to name a few. Todd has also performed for the CNN Network and has had a video release on BET Network. Back in 1999, Todd also released his first solo CD entitled “Time Release”.
Todd has also been active for the past 26 years with private drum instruction in his studio, “Todd Walker Drum Studio”. Due to his dedication and professionalism,Todd has established his name as the area’s most top drum instructor/clinician and, performer.
Currently, Todd can be found performing with some Florida’s most premier groups such as "Sierra" and, “Bobby and the Blister’s” which has been active for the past 15 years. This group features stellar musicianship including, Bobby Gangloff (Keyboards/Vocals), Ron McCode (Saxophone) and Nelson Colon (Percussion). Todd is also very active with his home studio and recording drum tracks for a variety of clients. Todd has also been featured in the advertisement for “Power Wrist Builders” (practice metal sticks) in the April, 2009 addition of DRUM Magazine.
These continued accomplishments, along with his playing ability, and professional attitude has also earned Todd endorsements with some of today’s leading companies in the industry including, Vic Firth Sticks, Paiste Cymbals, Kickport and, Power Wrist Builders.
You can find all of Todd’s popular Instructional/Performance videos on Youtube and the Vic Firth Exchange/Vic Firth main site.
Youtube keywords: Drummer Todd Walker……….and his website: www.drummertoddwalker.com
Todd Walker © 2013
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In many developing countries, the ketogenic diet is expensive because dairy fats and meat are more expensive than grain, fruit and vegetables. The modified Atkins diet has been proposed as a lower-cost alternative for those countries; the slightly more expensive food bill can be offset by a reduction in pharmaceutical costs if the diet is successful. The modified Atkins diet is less complex to explain and prepare and requires less support from a dietitian.[55]
If you’ve decided to move forward in trying the keto diet, you will want to stick to the parameters of the eating plan. Roughly 60 to 80 percent of your calories will come from fats. That means you’ll eat meats, fats, and oils, and a very limited amount of nonstarchy vegetables, she says. (This is different from a traditional low-carb diet, as even fewer carbs are allowed on the keto diet.)
Although many hypotheses have been put forward to explain how the ketogenic diet works, it remains a mystery. Disproven hypotheses include systemic acidosis (high levels of acid in the blood), electrolyte changes and hypoglycaemia (low blood glucose).[19] Although many biochemical changes are known to occur in the brain of a patient on the ketogenic diet, it is not known which of these has an anticonvulsant effect. The lack of understanding in this area is similar to the situation with many anticonvulsant drugs.[56]
This principle involves eating low-energy-dense foods and can help you lose weight by feeling full on fewer calories. Healthy choices in each of the other food groups in moderate amounts make up the rest of the pyramid — including whole-grain carbohydrates, lean sources of protein such as legumes, fish and low-fat dairy, and heart-healthy unsaturated fats.
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One downside to a ketogenic diet for weight loss is the difficulty maintaining it. “Studies show that weight loss results from being on a low-carb diet for more than 12 months tend to be the same as being on a normal, healthy diet,” says Mattinson. While you may be eating more satiating fats (like peanut butter, regular butter, or avocado), you’re also way more limited in what’s allowed on the diet, which can make everyday situations, like eating dinner with family or going out with friends, far more difficult. Because people often find it tough to sustain, it’s easy to rely on it as a short-term diet rather than a long-term lifestyle.
Carbohydrates have been linked to this skin condition, so cutting down on them may help. And the drop in insulin that a ketogenic diet can trigger may also help stop acne breakouts. (Insulin can cause your body to make other hormones that bring on outbreaks.) Still, more research is needed to determine exactly how much effect, if any, the diet actually has on acne.
The first modern study of fasting as a treatment for epilepsy was in France in 1911.[12] Twenty epilepsy patients of all ages were "detoxified" by consuming a low-calorie vegetarian diet, combined with periods of fasting and purging. Two benefited enormously, but most failed to maintain compliance with the imposed restrictions. The diet improved the patients' mental capabilities, in contrast to their medication, potassium bromide, which dulled the mind.[13]
So here’s the deal. There is some good scientific evidence suggesting that circadian rhythm fasting, when combined with a healthy diet and lifestyle, can be a particularly effective approach to weight loss, especially for people at risk for diabetes. (However, people with advanced diabetes or who are on medications for diabetes, people with a history of eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia, and pregnant or breastfeeding women should not attempt intermittent fasting unless under the close supervision of a physician who can monitor them.)
While the 16:8 diet seems like a great way to drop weight fast, it does have some cons. Sarah Mirkin, RD, author of Fill Your Plate, Lose the Weight, a 21-day meal plan designed to help women over 40 lose weight, says, "I think that it limits food intake to such a small window of time that it's difficult for someone to meet their nutritional needs."
Just remember: While you don’t have to track your calories during your eating window, you shouldn’t let things turn into a free for all. “It’s smarter to still eat moderately,” Peterson says. Stick with mostly healthy, minimally processed foods like lean proteins, complex carbs, and plenty of fruits and vegetables. As for portions? Eat until you’re satisfied, not stuffed.
The Johns Hopkins Hospital protocol for initiating the ketogenic diet has been widely adopted.[43] It involves a consultation with the patient and their caregivers and, later, a short hospital admission.[19] Because of the risk of complications during ketogenic diet initiation, most centres begin the diet under close medical supervision in the hospital.[9]
“I drink low-fat, organic chocolate milk every day—usually after my morning workout,” says Elisa Zied, RDN. ” Not only do I love the taste, but I also know it delivers a valuable mix of calcium and vitamin D that I might not otherwise get enough of. The drink also provides high-quality protein that’s filling and helps preserve lean muscle mass, which is something that tends to decline as we get older. Even though it has some added sugars, research suggests that low-fat chocolate milk is a great beverage to aid muscle recovery after a workout.” Discover our own Eat This, Not That! Chocolate Milk Diet!
Jeremiah, I don’t think the author is suggesting that TRF in the later hours of the day is bad, but rather that it is DIFFICULT. The key finding in this study is that the 07:00-15:00 eaters had a reduced appetite (in other words, didn’t find it very hard to follow this regimen), whereas other approaches have been found to be kind of difficult for some.
Reduced hunger. Many people experience a marked reduction in hunger on a keto diet. This may be caused by an increased ability of the body to be fueled by its fat stores. Many people feel great when they eat just once or twice a day, and may automatically end up doing a form of intermittent fasting. This saves time and money, while also speeding up weight loss.
If you’re looking to get a jump start on your health and fitness goals this year, you may be thinking about trying the ketogenic diet. Maybe you’ve heard the phrase before — it’s a huge diet buzzword — but aren’t sure what it means. Here’s a primer: The ketogenic diet is an eating plan that drives your body into ketosis, a state where the body uses fat as a primary fuel source (instead of carbohydrates), says Stacey Mattinson, RDN, who is based in Austin, Texas.
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His theory, known today as Occum’s Razor, basically says that the simplest path forward is usually the best. And while we’ll never know if William actually had ye olde abs, his view on philosophy is the same as our view on quick weight loss: If you just do the little things—take advantage of tiny overlooked tweaks to your daily routine—you could toss the rice cakes and running shoes once and for all. (Or at least not feel like you were a slave to them.) In fact, a swing of just 10 calories a day—about as many calories as you burn in 3 minutes of standing still—will make you a pound slimmer by this time next year.
That said, I have heard that women may find a wider window of eating to be more favorable when doing daily intermittent fasting. While men will typically fast for 16 hours and then eat for 8 hours, women may find better results by eating for 10 hours and fasting for 14 hours. The best advice I can give anyone, not just women, is to experiment and see what works best for you. Your body will give you signals. Follow what your body responds favorably to.
Wearing jeans to work wears away your belly. University of Wisconsin researchers found that people who wore denim to work took almost 500 more steps (about a quarter mile) throughout the day than they did on days when they wore more formal attire. Sure, you may feel more dapper in your suit, but losing extra belly fat is sure to make you see jeans in a different light and feel more confident—no matter what you’re wearing.
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IF makes intuitive sense. The food we eat is broken down by enzymes in our gut and eventually ends up as molecules in our bloodstream. Carbohydrates, particularly sugars and refined grains (think white flours and rice), are quickly broken down into sugar, which our cells use for energy. If our cells don’t use it all, we store it in our fat cells as, well, fat. But sugar can only enter our cells with insulin, a hormone made in the pancreas. Insulin brings sugar into the fat cells and keeps it there.
There are a lot of food myths I used to eat up, but it turns out breakfast isn't the most important meal of the day (no data actually proves that it makes you healthier or thinner), eating frequently doesn't necessarily boost your metabolism (with a constant supply of carbs circulating through your system, your body can't burn fat) and, contrary to popular opinion, hunger pangs don't automatically lead to overeating. I used to answer the call of cravings like I spring to the ding of a text—often and with urgency—but fasting taught me how to be comfortable with the discomfort of hunger. Now I think of pangs like I think of my mother: Sometimes overbearing, always opinionated, but their alarm bell advice isn't always right or even warranted. What helped? Coffee, tea, keeping a schedule (see above) and knowing that hunger is just a sensation that comes and goes. Just make sure you don't take it too far, because intermittent fasting doesn't mean you should be starving yourself.
It has totally regulated my appetite and normalised my relationship with food. My obsessive thoughts have completely subsided, my black and white thinking around food has gone, and I no longer binge! This is amazing. For the first time in my adult life I feel like I know what it is like to have a normal relatinoship with food. I eat when I eat, a range of healthy whole foods and occasional less healthy foods. In normal amounts. In manageable amounts. And when my meal is over, I stop! Normal for others, a seeming impossibility for me (and, I’m guessing, others with eating disorders).
Conklin's fasting therapy was adopted by neurologists in mainstream practice. In 1916, a Dr McMurray wrote to the New York Medical Journal claiming to have successfully treated epilepsy patients with a fast, followed by a starch- and sugar-free diet, since 1912. In 1921, prominent endocrinologist Henry Rawle Geyelin reported his experiences to the American Medical Association convention. He had seen Conklin's success first-hand and had attempted to reproduce the results in 36 of his own patients. He achieved similar results despite only having studied the patients for a short time. Further studies in the 1920s indicated that seizures generally returned after the fast. Charles P. Howland, the parent of one of Conklin's successful patients and a wealthy New York corporate lawyer, gave his brother John Elias Howland a gift of $5,000 to study "the ketosis of starvation". As professor of paediatrics at Johns Hopkins Hospital, John E. Howland used the money to fund research undertaken by neurologist Stanley Cobb and his assistant William G. Lennox.[10]
People use a ketogenic diet most often to lose weight, but it can help manage certain medical conditions, like epilepsy, too. It also may help people with heart disease, certain brain diseases, and even acne, but there needs to be more research in those areas. Talk with your doctor first to find out if it’s safe for you to try a ketogenic diet, especially if you have type 1 diabetes.
There’s another reason why 16:8 dieters might end up eating less. “I think participants found it difficult to eat all of their regular meals and snacks within the 8-hour timeframe,” says Kristina Varady, PhD, associate professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois Chicago and a co-author of the Nutrition and Healthy Aging study. If trying to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. seems like a squeeze, you’ll likely end up cutting out a meal or shrinking your portions.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Kossoff EH, Zupec-Kania BA, Amark PE, Ballaban-Gil KR, Bergqvist AG, Blackford R, et al. Optimal clinical management of children receiving the ketogenic diet: recommendations of the International Ketogenic Diet Study Group. Epilepsia. 2009 Feb;50(2):304–17. doi:10.1111/j.1528-1167.2008.01765.x. PMID 18823325
But people who started following the keto diet noticed weight loss for a few reasons: When you eat carbs, your body retains fluid in order to store carbs for energy (you know, in case it needs it). But when you’re not having much in the carb department, you lose this water weight, says Warren. Also, it's easy to go overboard on carbohydrates—but if you're loading up on fat, it may help curb cravings since it keeps you satisfied.
Intermittent fasting is hard in the contemplation, of that there is no doubt. “You go without food for 24 hours?” people would ask, incredulously when we explained what we were doing. “I could never do that.” But once started, it’s a snap. No worries about what and where to eat for one or two out of the three meals per day. It’s a great liberation. Your food expenditures plummet. And you’re not particularly hungry. … Although it’s tough to overcome the idea of going without food, once you begin the regimen, nothing could be easier.”
The ketogenic diet has been studied in at least 14 rodent animal models of seizures. It is protective in many of these models and has a different protection profile than any known anticonvulsant. Conversely, fenofibrate, not used clinically as an antiepileptic, exhibits experimental anticonvulsant properties in adult rats comparable to the ketogenic diet.[58] This, together with studies showing its efficacy in patients who have failed to achieve seizure control on half a dozen drugs, suggests a unique mechanism of action.[56]
Understanding the potential adverse effects of intermittent fasting is limited by an inadequate number of rigorous clinical trials. One 2015 review of preliminary clinical studies found that short-term intermittent fasting may produce minor adverse effects, such as continuous feelings of weakness and hunger, headaches, fainting, or dehydration.[33] Long-term, periodic fasting may cause eating disorders or malnutrition, with increased susceptibility to infectious diseases.[33]
Indeed, fasting for a long period of time probably means you're not able to enjoy three full meals with snacks each day. Whether you're skipping breakfast or dinner, missing a meal always results in not receiving adequate nutrients. And since the 16:8 diet gives you license to eat whatever you want, you might be tempted to fill up only on fatty, processed foods, especially if you're feeling ravenous. Hunger can also clout your better judgment and lead you to binge eat as well. "Studies show that the majority of people are not able to sustain it for very long and oftentimes end up binging on unhealthy foods, causing weight gain," Mirkin says. Other drawbacks of 16: 8 fasting include poor sleep, muscle mass loss (since it doesn't allow enough time during the day to meet protein needs), disordered/binge eating, weakness, nausea, and fatigue, Mirkin says.
When you’re eating the foods that get you there (more on that in a minute), your body can enter a state of ketosis in one to three days, she adds. During the diet, the majority of calories you consume come from fat, with a little protein and very little carbohydrates. Ketosis also happens if you eat a very low-calorie diet — think doctor-supervised, only when medically recommended diets of 600 to 800 total calories.
The 5:2 diet is another intermittent fasting method, which allows you to eat normally five days a week and restricts your calories to just 500 to 600 for the other two days. The advantage of following the 5:2 diet versus the 16:8 diet is that you can eat normally on any days you want, depending on your schedule. However, research shows that the 5:2 diet isn't more effective than continuous calorie restriction.
Where diets can complicate life, intermittent fasting may simplify it. Where diets can be expensive, intermittent fasting can be free. Where diets can take time, fasting saves time. Where diets may be limited in their availability, fasting is available anywhere. And as discussed earlier, fasting is a potentially powerful method for lowering insulin and decreasing body weight.
Initial human studies that compared fasting every other day to eating less every day showed that both worked about equally for weight loss, though people struggled with the fasting days. So I had written off IF as no better or worse than simply eating less, only far more uncomfortable. My advice was to just stick with the sensible, plant-based, Mediterranean-style diet.
Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders after stroke,[7] and affects around 50 million people worldwide.[8] It is diagnosed in a person having recurrent, unprovoked seizures. These occur when cortical neurons fire excessively, hypersynchronously, or both, leading to temporary disruption of normal brain function. This might affect, for example, the muscles, the senses, consciousness, or a combination. A seizure can be focal (confined to one part of the brain) or generalised (spread widely throughout the brain and leading to a loss of consciousness). Epilepsy can occur for a variety of reasons; some forms have been classified into epileptic syndromes, most of which begin in childhood. Epilepsy is considered refractory (not yielding to treatment) when two or three anticonvulsant drugs have failed to control it. About 60% of patients achieve control of their epilepsy with the first drug they use, whereas around 30% do not achieve control with drugs. When drugs fail, other options include epilepsy surgery, vagus nerve stimulation, and the ketogenic diet.[7]
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Health ministry investigates “silent running” ambulances
Wednesday June 26, 2019 - Prescott-Russell s ambulance service is now the target of a Ministry of Health investigation...
Première superstation de recharge rapide de l’autoroute 50 à Lachute
Le mercredi 26 juin 2019 - La toute première superstation de recharge rapide pour véhicules électriques de l autoroute 50 a été inaugurée le 25 juin, au Transit 50 à Lachute...
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Posted on Thursday June 27, 2019 at 10:19 a.m.
Age is just a number: Manoir McGill resident celebrates 100th birhtday
Lisez la version française à la page 2 du Carillon du 27 juin 2019.
“Mind your own business”.
Alexia Marsillo, EAP
This is what Agnes Olson said, with a laugh, when asked what her biggest takeaway in life has been throughout her 100 years. “Mind your own business, and do as you’re told,” she said. “That’s how we were brought up; to learn to do your own thing.”
Olson, a Manoir McGill resident in Hawkesbury, celebrated her 100th birthday on June 15 and received 100 red roses from the residence. “I had a very nice party here and they gave me 100 roses. We had a piano player and we all got a nice meal,” she added. This is a very nice place, I recommend it.”
Olson was born in Montreal and grew up in Dollard-des-Ormeaux, a suburb of the city in southwestern Quebec. She then lived in another suburb of Montreal, called Saint-Lazare, with her husband, until they moved to Hawkesbury. “We decided to get closer to here (Hawkesbury) because we were playing golf often at the golf course here,” she explained.
Olson and her late-husband met in 1968, while they were both working at Air Canada, her as a secretary and him as a manager. Golf is the reason they met and initially got to know each other. Eventually, they created some of their most fond memories. “We enjoyed golfing very much, we played a lot together,” said Olson.
The couple met during a work-related golf tournament. “I didn’t start golfing ‘till I met my man,” she explained. “When he saw me playing (at the tournament) he asked me if I wanted to join him for a 9-hole game. I wasn’t very good, but I went anyway and it just grew from there.” Olson’s husband was previously widowed and had three kids – two sons and a daughter. “We had no more kids after that, we were too busy with golf,” joked Olson.
Although Olson only began to avidly play golf once she met her husband, she did however grow up surrounded by sports. She played softball as a young girl and continued well into her teens. She grew up with six brothers and two sisters, most of which were all interested in sports themselves. “We were brought up with sports, which is nice,” she admitted. “We had a lot of fun. My daddy used to skate a lot and he would bring us all skating. Back in those days, they didn’t plow the streets, so we would go skating right on the street.”
Olson attributes making it to her 100th birthday partly due to genetics and partly due to luck. “My mother made it to 96 years old and her mother, my granny, made it to 106 years old,” she emphasized. “It came from that side of the family, because my daddy died young.”
“I had a good life, I can’t complain,” she continued. “It feels good that I reached it (100 years old) but it is just a number in the end.” Her only complaint in life is that she can no longer golf. “I golfed until I was 86 years old and the only reason I can’t know is because of my knees, they’re swollen,” she admitted. I’d love to get out there and golf again. I feel like I would be able to if it weren’t for my legs. Other than that, I can’t complain.”
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Nicolai Schulz
by Clare Degenhardt
political settlement typologies
Nicolai is a Research Associate at the Global Development Institute, The University of Manchester, and a PhD candidate at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Together with Tim Kelsall, he leads the ESID ‘Political Settlement Typologies’ project.
Nicolai’s research interests primarily concern the political economy of development, with a focus on industrial and trade policy in sub-Saharan Africa. As part of ESID’s ‘Political Settlement Typologies’ project, he leads the effort in quantifying political settlements through a large-scale expert survey. In his dissertation, he explores how policy attribution and group size affect when governments in sub-Saharan Africa employ export bans on raw commodities to promote processing. To test rivalling explanations, he relies on the quantitative analysis of his original ‘African Export Restrictions Database’ and in-depth comparative case studies across seven commodity sectors in Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania, for which eight months of fieldwork was conducted in 2017. In addition to his thesis and ESID work, he has published and worked on topics related to the determinants of civil wars, anti-corruption agencies, exchange rate valuation, and the political economy of green energy transitions.
Isoaho, K. , Goritz, A. and Schulz, A. (2017). ‘Governing clean energy transitions in China and India’, Ch.12, in D. Arent, C. Arndt, M. Miller, F. Tarp and O. Zinaman (eds.), The Political Economy of Clean Energy Transitions. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Schulz, A. (2015). ‘Dangerous demographics? The effect of urbanisation and metropolisation on African civil wars, 1961–2010’, Civil Wars, 17(3): 291-317.
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Category Archives: Constitutional Comparison
Sujit Choudhry Draws Comparisons Between America and Other Countries
June 29, 2018 Carrie Jansen Leave a comment
Sujit Choudhry is a renowned teacher and expert on constitutional laws. He has worked at nearly as many educational facilities as he was educated at. He attended McGill University, Oxford, Harvard, and the University of Toronto; he has worked at the New York University School of Law and at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law. He has also worked as a professor at Berkeley, see post on Instagram.com.
Teaching students directly is not the only method of education used by Sujit Choudhry. He also contributes to the publishing world. In a recent book, Sujit Choudhry was given an entire chapter to discuss American politics. Specifically, Sujit Choudhry talked about Robert Mueller and Donald Trump. He wrote about a particular tweet pertaining the subject. The tweet was published in December of 2017 by Eric Holder, the former Attorney General of the United States, read this (Crunchbase.com).
Holder took to Twitter to call the potential firing of Robert Mueller a red line, see (Twitter.com). He said that if the situation should occur, citizens who support either side of the isle must stand up in defense of their side. Surprisingly, the former Attorney General didn’t speak of the law. Instead, he said the American people will be the deciding factor in the Russia/Trump controversy. If Trump fires Mueller, it will be the vocalization of the masses that decide whether Trump will remain in office or not.
Sujit Choudhry also discussed parallels between other countries and the United States. Poland was one of the other countries that came up in the chapter. Since 2015, when Poland’s version of Congress was taken over by the Law and Justice Party, they began to undermine Poland’s constitution. This is similar to what is happening now with Donald Trump and the Republican Party, according to Choundhry, you can check http://releasefact.com/2018/04/sujit-choudhry-disintegrating-democracy/.
Other countries are mentioned in the chapter. Some of these countries are South Africa and Germany, who are also going through constitutional challenges.
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Crude: Trade game on!
Phil Flynn
Daily Energy Market Analysis
The deadline has passed. President Donald Trump fired the trade war shot heard around the world as he suggests the United States is mad as heck and isn’t going to take the record $375 billion trade deficit with China in 2017 anymore. Around $34 billion in tariffs went into effect at midnight with China calling it the start of the largest trade war in history and retaliating by adding $34 billion dollars of its own tariffs. Trump says trade wars are easy to win and that we hold all the cards. Many business and supply chain number crunchers are hoping he is right.
As for crude oil, there is talk that China will put a 25% tariff on U.S. oil, which according to Reuters amounted to roughly 400,000 barrels of oil a day or about a billion dollars of oil a month. Chinese refiners are already canceling shipments of U.S. crude even though the U.S. oil will be bought as global supply is still very tight. The American Petroleum Institute (API) has rallied hard against tariffs. API CEO Jack Gerard told the Fox Business Network last month that the tariffs would hurt the U.S. energy market and that the tariffs would be problematic for domestic oil and gas producers.
"We understand what the president is trying to do in terms of the broader discussions. But fundamentally, from an energy perspective, under NAFTA [the North American Free Trade Agreement] we've had open border trade policy for many years. We're significantly net exporters to Mexico. Many Americans don't know that the United States imports a fair amount of Mexican crude to refineries along the Gulf Coast. Refined products and gasoline are then exported back to Mexico. We're very concerned that what we've now entered into could disrupt the equilibrium, the balance we've achieved in energy trade. We would hope they would think clearly and specifically about energy and what this means for energy as the president is trying to accomplish his broader purposes."
Oil is weaker, but it isn’t only the trade war that has got it down, there is also concerns about a surprise increase in U.S. supply as reported by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) as well as reports that the much-anticipated Saudi Aramco IPO may be kaput.
Despite expectations of a major crude draw, the EIA reports that U.S. crude supply increased by 1.245 million barrels. While supply in Cushing, Okla., did fall as expected by 2.113 million barrels because of the Syncrude Canadian oil sands outage. Supply down in the Gulf Coast increased by 2.953 million barrels with bad weather in the Houston Shipping Channel. The increase in crude supply is a one-off and we should see a big drop in supply next week.
Rumors that the Syncrude outage may be fixed sooner than expected was discounted as the company had no updated timeline. In fact, there were later reports that despite the early stages of a restart process, it may be August before the oil starts to flow again.
Refinery demand dipped from record highs as refiners ran a still impressive 17.65 million barrels of oil a day at 97.1% of capacity. Gas demand did not disappoint rising by 12,000 barrels to 9.860 million barrels a day. That caused U.S. gas stocks to fall by 1.505 million barrels. U.S. consumers filled up big time ahead of the Fourth of July holiday and took to the open road. Distillates rose 134,000 barrels. Just as crude production was pretty much steady is a sign that we have seen a short-term peak in U.S. output as bottlenecks are boxing in U.S producers.
Oil also sold off after The Wall Street Journal reported that Saudi Aramco IPO, the biggest IPO ever, may not happen. The Journal quoted a senior executive at Aramco as saying that “Everyone is almost certain it is not going to happen.” That report adding to pressure on the oil trade as many thought that the only reason why Saudi Arabia led the effort to reduce global oil supply was so they could secure a high price for that IPO. Now it’s every producer for himself.
The torms are coming. Reuters reported that tropical depression has strengthened into Tropical Storm Beryl east-southeast of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest advisory on Thursday. Beryl is located about 1,330 miles (2,140 km) east-southeast of the Lesser Antilles and is packing maximum sustained winds of 40 miles per hour (65 km/h), NHC said.
Senior energy analyst at The PRICE Futures Group and a Fox Business Network contributor.
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Good science, bad science, and the battle for biotech crops
In the near future, food made from genetically engineered (GE) crops will be labeled, not because it will allow worried consumers to avoid it, but because it will be the ethical choice at the grocery store. Although the first generation of GE crops mainly focused on improving production, with such enhanced traits as resistance to insects and herbicide tolerance, the next generation of genetically engineered crops will be even better for the environment and farm workers, requiring fewer harmful and expensive chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and will have nutritional enhancements that will directly benefit consumers and particularly the poorest of the poor in food insecure countries.
Voluntary labeling: this soy sauce is clearly labeled as being made from soybeans that include genetically engineered varieties.
The GE crop varieties of the near future will be adapted to local climate and soil conditions, as well as local tastes and cultural idiosyncrasies. As such, the new generation won’t solely be developed by large multinational corporations like Monsanto, but also by local universities and small family-run businesses, and a significant proportion of these biotech crops will be cultivated using organic farming practices. With public mistrust of biotechnology at an all-time high, these predictions seem far-fetched. Fortunately, scientists and government agencies worldwide are very aware of an urgent need for public education, which can ameliorate the spread of misinformation and fearmongering threatening one of the greatest tools for achieving the UN Millennium Development Goal of sustainably feeding a growing global population.
Improving the nutritional quality of crops is a Millennium Development Goal. These conventionally bred orange-fleshed sweet potatoes are higher in vitamin A than non-orange fleshed varieties. (Picture credit: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.)
The public perception is that there is raging controversy in scientific circles on the safety and utility of GE crops, with researchers arguing at the lab bench and in the field, and scientists locked in furious debate with one another at scientific conferences. However, this is simply not true. There is overwhelming scientific consensus on this issue (as there is on climate change, evolution, and the benefits of vaccination). Those who claim there is insufficient research on this topic are simply wrong. Many hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific papers have been published on many aspects relating to the safety of transgenic crops. The nonprofit GENERA (Genetic Engineering Risk Atlas) project curates the most extensive and complete database of these. The vast majority of these studies (and I mean 99.9% of these, not just 51%) all come to the same conclusion: the risks to human health from consuming food made from GE crops are no different than those from consuming their conventional, non-GE equivalents.
This seems like an odd way of saying GE crops are safe, but the fact is that the very act of eating anything carries a small amount of risk anyway. Apart from the risk of food-borne bacterial infection (which can happen even with organic produce), we forget that plants don’t really want to be eaten: potatoes naturally produce a toxic alkaloid called solanine to protect themselves; celery naturally produces psoralens, a type of chemical that can cause severe skin burns; unless cassava, a staple crop for much of Africa, is properly prepared, it can lead to cyanide poisoning; and even seemingly innocuous red kidney beans are always served cooked, to deactivate a naturally produced protein called phytohaemagglutinin which causes severe vomiting and diarrhea. Saying something is good for you simply because it’s natural is a fallacy: arsenic is natural and that’s clearly not something anyone wishes to put in their body. Using biotechnology is just one way we can ensure our crops produce more of the nutritional molecules we need, and less of the harmful ones we don’t.
One way that cassava can be improved for human consumption is by reducing the amount of linamarin, a naturally occurring sugar that releases hydrogen cyanide when broken down by the digestive system. (Picture credit: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.)
The leading scientific agencies, including the AAAS, the National Academies of the United States, the European Food Safety Authority, and the WHO have issued very clear statements emphasizing the scientific consensus on genetically engineered crops: the process of genetic engineering poses no threat to human health, and farming of biotech crops can lead to great economic and environmental benefits. Despite this comprehensive body of knowledge (and through manipulation by the anti-GMO movement), the media has focused undue attention on a very small number of studies that claim the opposite of the scientific consensus on the risks GE crops pose to human health and the environment. This is likely in an effort to ensure journalistic balance; however, there really aren’t two sides to the science here. Almost invariably, these contrary studies are exercises in bad science published in low-ranking journals by a few dissident scientists, often with conflicts of interest. Giving this much exposure to bad science can be downright dangerous: in the case of AIDS denialism, the South African government’s adoption of the fringe cost many human lives.
Thankfully, the South African government has since changed its stance on antiretroviral therapy, but the German government has still not approved the planting of MON810 corn (engineered with a bacterial protein that prevents caterpillars from feeding on the plants, diminishing the need for harmful chemical pesticides) despite the fact that the vast majority of evidence suggests it poses no danger to non-target organisms. These regulatory decisions were based on a very small number of poorly conceived or inconclusive studies that could not subsequently be duplicated by other laboratories, ignoring the vast number of scientifically rigorous studies that indicate that these crops are harmless to other insects.
A large body of scientific evidence indicates that corn engineered to be resistant to insects is safe for human consumption.
Again, a few insubstantial bits of data cannot sufficiently contradict a very large body of scientific knowledge and do not constitute “scientific controversy”. Nevertheless, and quite understandably, laypeople react emotionally to this perceived controversy, because it is presented to them as whistleblowing by the news sources and environmental and health blogs they trust. This makes otherwise rational people don honeybee costumes and pretend to die in public spaces in protest of GE crops (even though the use of engineered crops instead of pesticides increases biodiversity, and there is mounting evidence that a combination of pathogens and conventional pesticides may be what’s truly decimating bee populations). People are protesting GE crops because they feel they have been informed and need to be upset about something, when what they should be upset about is how scientific ignorance is being employed as leverage by special interest groups to divert attention and energy away from what we really need to be doing to fix the world’s food and agriculture systems.
At the March Against Monsanto held on the 25th of May 2013 in various cities across the world, anti-GMO protesters held up images of rats covered in large cancerous tumors, ostensibly caused by feeding on GE corn. The images came from a 2012 paper by Gilles-Eric Séralini of CRIIGEN, an anti-GMO group, and published in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology. It purported to provide evidence that consuming corn engineered with a bacterial protein conferring tolerance to the herbicide glyphosate (sold by Monsanto under the trade name Roundup) causes cancer. There were several serious problems with the study, from bizarre statistical manipulation of the data, to insufficient numbers of control rats. But the most glaring shortcoming was the fact that none of those gruesome images of rats were accompanied by images of healthy control rats. This is because the control rats (fed a non-genetically engineered diet) also developed tumors: the strain of rat used in the study is used to study chemotherapy drugs, and were bred to naturally develop tumors at a very high incidence. They were entirely inappropriate for this kind of study, and none of the data could be used to make the claims they tried to make. The Séralini paper has now been thoroughly discredited by several scientists, science journalists and scientific agencies. The whole fiasco is such a classic example of bad science that it now even has its own Wikipedia entry. However, a 2013 paper by Anthony Samsel and Stephanie Seneff, published curiously enough in the small physics journal Entropy (note, not a journal focusing on biology), again spurred alarming news reports. This pseudoscientific paper claimed that Roundup is the cause of a mindboggling array of diseases, including Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, and autism. However, the Entropy paper was written by authors who aren’t even biologists at all, documented no actual experiments, and in fact cited Séralini’s discredited study as a reference for a number of arguments they made. Again, this paper was adequately debunked by scientists and journalists. Dr Ariel Poliandri of the Cancer Division at Imperial College London promptly compiled a useful guide to detecting bogus research: in short, important research is published in important journals. If it’s not, be wary. It’s interesting to note that both these papers were published in low-tier pay-to-play journals with inadequate peer review. If this was really the solid, groundbreaking work it claimed to be, it would have been published in one of the big science journals, whether open-access or not. This stuff all looks and sounds very “sciencey”, but is not real science, and not only damages the good reputation of science in the public eye, but is now having a dangerous influence on governmental policy on GE crops all across the globe, with the governments of countries like Russia and Kenya basing much of their biotech policy on the little trickle of bad science, instead of the large volume of good science.
Even though it has been thoroughly discredited, anti-GMO protesters still use images from the infamous Séralini study. (Picture credit: Bill Baker.)
In an idealized world uncoloured by political agenda, the endeavours of science are neutral. Most scientists you’ll talk to about genetic engineering are in fact neither opponents nor proponents of GE crops: they only care about what the scientific evidence says. If the sum total of the scientific evidence said otherwise, the scientific consensus would change. (Disclosure: I am a plant scientist who studies the genes of cereals. I’m neither involved in the production of transgenic crops, nor am I funded by any companies that are.) It is not the job of scientists to increase public acceptance of genetic engineering, it is the job of scientists to increase public trust in and understanding of the scientific data: in this case the data overwhelmingly says that GE crops are safe. But perhaps where science needs most help is in explaining itself. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences are impenetrable to the public, but Dr. Oz gets beamed into every home with a friendly smile and a whole dose of hokum. Everyone should have a basic level of scientific literacy, so that we can stop expending so much energy on fighting misconceptions about science. Recently British environmentalist Mark Lynas, who helped start the anti-GMO movement in the 1990s, apologized for demonizing agricultural biotechnology and feeding into anti-GMO conspiracy theories, and some influential bloggers are also starting to let go of old, misinformed points of view. My hope is that sometime soon everyone will agree that biotech crops, like organic farming practices, are part of a larger set of really useful tools for sustainable agriculture.
Sown by Unknown at 4:46 am
Julie Kay said...
Great piece... I liked it even before I found the reference to my "Science Is Laughing" post, which surprised me. Thanks for the mention! With your permission, I'd love to post this as a guest post on Sleuth4Health.
The entire scientific community appears to be oversimplifying the issues about GMOs.
For example, how many who support the "scientific consensus" are aware that of the 26 strains of MON810 submitted to the EU for approval, 2 (nearly 8%) were rejected because tests showed that they didn't work as advertised?
At some point, the strains had mutated so that the desired gene had either become undetectable, or the desired protein was no longer being expressed? Monsanto was still selling the seeds for those two strains in the USA because they had never bothered to check to see if their product was still "working as advertised."
5 years ago, researchers found the presence of a kknown allergen in an MON810 cultivar that wasn't present in the near-isogenic strain, despite both crops being raised in an identical controlled environment. The test used is NOT a test normally used for the testing of GMOs before they receive approval from the FDA, but I know of no action taken to determine if the present of the presence of the unexpected allergen in the GMO variety should trigger the official FDA response to GMOs found to contain allergens.
GMO rodent toxicity testing in the EU is done using a protocol designed to detect differences between the GMO strain and the near-isogenic strain of 1 standard deviation of effect size, about 80% of the time. However, a clause inserted in the EU protocols allows Monsanto to perform a further test against an "auxiliary control group" (6 of them in fact) and neglect to report differences between experimental and control groups as long as the differences are within 2 standard deviations of the mean of the pooled "auxiliary groups,"
This flies in the face of standard toxicological testing practices, which say that any detected differences, no matter how large or small, must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis with respect to their toxicological significance, and that just as a large effect might be meaningless, so a small effect might be very important.
None of these facts may mean anything significant about the actual safety of any existing GMO, but they show a clear pattern of trying to make sure that all possible GMOs make it to market, which flies in the face of scientific philosophy, which concerns itself with facts, not politically or economically expedient strategies.
Anthony Sebastian said...
Do some GM foods have new chemical compounds in them, compounds that our hominim lineage has never been exposed to?
Disha Singh said...
excellent post thank for Biotechnology Courses in Delhi delivering such and informative blog
Ed Rybicki said...
Excellent, Leon! Very detailed, very rational - and evidence-based.
As for Anthony Sebastian's comment: not chemical compounds, so much as proteins - and probably not, given that Bt toxin used to be sprayed around freely; the bacteria that make things like the glyphosate resistance gene are in the environment; many other newer recombinant proteins are derived from viruses or other plants that are also common.
And I will point out that, until 100 000 years ago, our "hominim lineage" had been exposed to NOTHING outside of Africa - and in fact has only been exposed to things like maize, potatoes, cassava and tomatoes for the last 13 000 years or so. SO the catalogue of "things our lineage has not been exposed to" would include...well, pretty much everything??
@Anonymous: "of the 26 strains of MON810 submitted to the EU for approval, 2 (nearly 8%) were rejected because tests showed that they didn't work as advertised"...so the system works, you're saying?
And: "researchers found the presence of a kknown allergen in an MON810 cultivar that wasn't present in the near-isogenic strain": known allergen, or predicted allergen - as in, a protein or substance PREDICTED to POSSIBLY be allergenic by bioinformatic tools? There is a substantial difference....
Rum Tan said...
This is very useful information given by the author. Biotechnology is a field which grows very fast. People are aware of this topic. Science knowledge is must for the Students. At least basic knowledge is must for everyone. People should know about some interesting facts about science. Bringing the science subject to life for the students is one challenge that is shared by teachers who publish insightful and amazing science education blogs. From all over the world.
Good science, bad science, and the battle for biot...
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Aw Sept. 17, 2015
The New York Public Library Lions Are Getting Their Own Cookie
Aw!
Amy’s Bread — the 23-year-old bakery with shops in Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea Market, and Greenwich Village — is expanding by opening cafés at two locations of the New York Public Library: the landmark Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street (on September 21) and at the Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center (on September 28). They’ll offer some of the usual Amy’s treats — cherry-cream scones, cinnamon challah knots, kitchen-sink cookies, and coconut-cream cake — but there’s one new item: a special glazed sugar cookie, in collaboration with Eleni’s, that pays tribute to the library’s icons, who are immortalized in marble outside Schwarzman.
amy's bread
the future 7/9/2019 at 11:35 a.m.
Inside the Race to Redefine ‘Meat’ and Change Burgers Forever How long will it be before cows are obsolete?
By Marissa Conrad
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By Jonathan Smith
Man City are 'teenagers' in Champions League - Pep
Manchester City's Sergio Aguero believes on a good day his side can beat anyone but insists they must focus on beating Schalke to avoid another shock result in the Champions League.
Pep Guardiola has described Manchester City as "teenagers in Europe" as he tries to deliver the club's first ever Champions League success.
City have the opportunity to reach the quarterfinals of the competition for just the third time in their history when they face Schalke on Tuesday, leading 3-2 from the first leg in Germany.
Guardiola believes the club is some way from being perceived as one of the big clubs in Europe but lifting th e trophy would help change people's minds.
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"I think to compare [us] with those teams -- one [trophy] doesn't change it -- we are teenagers in this competition," Guardiola told a news conference.
"That's what I feel. We could win, we could make another step [but] you need 20 or 30 years. Of course we cannot deny that arriving in the last stages is being able to make another step forward. This is not excuses. We want to win it. We push ourselves. The best way is to feel this kind of pressure.
"If we don't make the latter stages, to think 'nothing happened' just because of our history is not the way. You have to dream and point as high as possible. But we have to accept there are other teams thinking the same with a lot of talent. We want to compete against the best. We spoke many times with the players about the desire to compete with the best in Europe."
Tuesday's second leg will be the first European game at the Etihad Stadium since UEFA opened an investigation into a potential breach of financial fair play rules.
City fans have booed the UEFA anthem for several years over previous sanctions, although Guardiola is hoping the supporters have started to embrace the competition.
"I think the last time there were less boos. Now people are starting to enjoy this competition," the Catalan coach added.
"They are feeling like we can do it together, we cannot go through every time, [like against] Liverpool last season, but that is what we want."
Meanwhile, midfielder Ilkay Gundogan has reiterated that he has not yet made a decision over his future at the club.
The Germany international is in the final 18 months of his contract but says talks are ongoing over a new deal with Guardiola hoping he will remain with the Premier League leaders.
"There is no decision yet otherwise I would have signed or rejected a contract," Gundogan said.
"We are still in talks but I don't feel there is much pressure, maybe also because we are still competing in all the competitions and we still want to go as far as possible in everything we are competing in.
"So obviously one day there has to be a decision but I am very happy at the moment here especially about the way we play and how we play under Pep, and that is the main thing. One day of course there will be a decision."
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EU Referendum: do not disturb
I had a discussion recently with a long-time friend. He had some interesting observations on the people who so volubly complain about the way we are fighting this campaign. His view was that they are not focused on winning, and don't understand that we're fighting a war.
They see the referendum as an opportunity to "campaign", which is as much a social event as anything, undertaken in much the same spirit that one plays a round of golf at the club - all jolly nice chaps together, with the ladies making the cucumber sandwiches at half-time (if you have a half time in golf).
These people don't want to get struck in and get their hands dirty - being "good civilised chaps" is far more important than winning. In fact, the idea that you play to win is considered slightly distasteful. The game's for playing, old boy!
Dimly, in the deep recesses of their minds, resides the conviction that "truth will always out", that "good will triumph over evil" and the good guys (in the white hats) always win in the end. All we have to do is convince the public of the righteousness of our cause, and demonstrate that we are "jolly good chaps". That will win the day.
What these people don't want is what my friend the late Peter Troy called a "disturb". They can't deal with being shocked out of their comfortable, if shallow little assumptions, and made to face reality of what this campaign is really about.
In their world, people are nice and they argue politely. So these nice people really can't handle anyone who tells them like it is, or who disturbs their comfortable version of society, and challenges their world view.
In that world, harmony is everything. Thus, if we get a collection of "nice" people, all of whom have perfectly genuine views on how we should leave the EU, then it simply doesn't "do" to be unpleasant about it, and tell them they are wrong.
In this cosy little world, the absolutely unbreakable rule is that we must all get on together. If some of us have different views, than we must all learn to accept that everybody's views are as valid as anybody else's. We must respect their right to express them.
This is why, of course, in polite society, we don't discuss politics or religion – or anything else where opinions are strong and polarised. This is why, in Conservative Associations – remarkably - no-one but no-one talks about politics. That's what the MPs are for. They come down from Westminster, with messages from The Leader, and tell the faithful what to think.
And now the leaver collective is going to have nice civilised meetings, where it is permissible to tell each other how awful the "EUSSR" is, to inflate the amount the UK pays in contributions and to magnify the amount of law by a factor of three.
But is not acceptable to suggest that our Prime Minister is a liar. Even less should we brand that nice Mr Johnson an idiot or his actions "moronic", And it is totally out of order to call MPs "bovine". All this is considered "abuse" by polite people and regarded as "counter-productive.
That is why, as Booker points out today in his column that we don't have an agreed exit plan. And that's why in my view - short of a miracle - we're going to lose this referendum.
"Who would have thought that David Cameron's greatest ally in bidding to keep Britain in the EU would be Boris Johnson?", Booker writes. "Four times now, following Johnson's original bumbling suggestion that we could safely 'Brexit' by negotiating a Canada-type trade deal, Cameron has gleefully shown how ludicrously impractical this would be, taking far too long and not even giving us full access to the Single Market anyway".
One cannot be quite sure whether the next passage from Booker is "abuse" or merely an insult, but no doubt there will be some clucking of disapproval in the ranks when he writes: "But Johnson's empty-headed amateurishness only typifies the fatal failure of any of his allies in the 'leave' campaign to agree on a plausible, properly worked-out exit plan".
"One after another they come up with their own equally half-baked suggestions, which only demonstrate how little any of them have done their homework. This is giving Cameron's 'Project Fear' an open goal, by failing to show how we could practically leave the EU while continuing to enjoy full access to the Single Market".
Perhaps this "abuse" will be acceptable because it is coming from Booker. Perhaps there are different grades of abuse. But, no doubt, his next intervention is more welcome, as he tells us that the only group which has actually produced a proper exit plan is the Leave Alliance, launched last week.
We are indeed too small to bid for lead role in the campaign – and neither would we want this role. Nevertheless, Booker reports having been told on good authority that our "expert and exhaustive analysis of all the options" has been found "very useful by the civil service". We can only wonder, he concludes, whether - when Cameron wins the day - he will be able to show "magnanimity in victory" by rewarding his favourite ally Mr Johnson with a plum job in his new Cabinet.
This hints at a dark conspiracy, which is at least plausible. Johnson's intervention successfully took Mr Cameron's failure to bring home a treaty from Brussels off the front pages. It turned the contest into the vacuous "Boris and Dave show" that we have now.
If there was a structured attempt to sabotage the "leave" campaign, this is what it might look like. But that doesn't stop people demanding that we refrain from criticising Johnson and back him as fully as a fellow campaigner. Never mind that he's dumped all over our work, and wrecking our camapaign. We're supposed to grin and bear it, all for the greater good.
Any amount of "abuse", though, is far more than that. It's a "disturb". It brings home the reality that the world isn't a very nice place, and that our opponents are not very pleasant people. They lie with consummate ease and break every rule in the book.
Nice people don't want to confront that reality. They want to occupy their time in genteel campaigning. They are never so happy than when they are stuffing hundreds of thousands of leaflets in letter boxes, or manning street stalls where they meet lots of lovely, like-minded people. They're equally happy with any one of the many displacement activities which serve to give the impression of useful campaigning.
In this, they have the media as a willing partner. It doesn't want any "disturbs" either, having placed the campaign firmly in its comfort zone as a biff-bam personality contest between Boris and Dave. Anything more complicates their existence. It requires journalists to do their jobs, and explain issues which are beyond their comprehension.
Basically, if our campaign was a hotel room, it would have a "do not disturb" sign hanging from the doorknob. The outside world must not be allowed to intrude. And if that means we lose, so be it. We will have lost in style, and none of the chaps will be able to say we rocked the boat.
Then we can go back to genteel grumbling for the next four decades, about how these Europhile Johnnies have robbed us of our referendum. By that time we should be ready to lose all over again. But that's OK, as long as we don't actually "abuse" anybody.
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MRDs
International Forensic Strategic Alliance
Creating opportunities for
strategic collaboration across the
global forensic science community
The International Forensic Strategic Alliance (IFSA) is a multilateral partnership between regional networks of operational forensic laboratories across the globe.
To create opportunities for strategic collaboration across the global forensic science community.
Represent the operational forensic science community
Develop and execute a rolling agenda for strategic issues related to forensic science
Be a strategic partner to other relevant international organisations and partnerships
Encourage the exchange of information related to experience, knowledge and skills between the member networks and other operational forensic experts as appropriate.
ASCLD
ENFSI
NIFS ANZ
AICEF
AFSN
SARFS
American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors
Usually pronounced “azz-clad” by those in the forensic sciences, The American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors (ASCLD) is a nonprofit professional society of crime laboratory directors and forensic science managers dedicated to providing excellence in forensic science through leadership and innovation. The purpose of the organization is to foster professional interests, assist the development of laboratory management principles and techniques; acquire, preserve and disseminate forensic based information; maintain and improve communications among crime laboratory directors; and to promote, encourage and maintain the highest standards of practice in the field.
European Network of Forensic Science Institutes
The purpose of ENFSI is to share knowledge, exchange experiences and come to mutual agreements in the field of forensic science. ENFSI is recognized as an expert group in the field of forensic sciences.
ENFSI is recognized as a pre-eminent voice in forensic science worldwide by ensuring the quality of development and delivery of forensic science throughout Europe. It will therefore:
strengthen and consolidate ENFSI
expand the membership throughout Europe while maintaining the development and credibility of ENFSI
establish and maintain a working relationships with other similar organizations
encourage all ENFSI laboratories to comply with best practice and international standards for quality and competence assurance
National Institute of Forensic Science Australia New Zealand
NIFS ANZ are the peak body for forensic representation from Australia and New Zealand. NIFS ANZ is governed by the Australia New Zealand Forensic Executive Committee (ANZFEC), made up of the Directors of all government forensic service providers in Australia and New Zealand.
NIFS ANZ strategic intent is to promote and facilitate excellence in forensic science. Their work programs are designed to address priority needs and issues in forensic science and they actively engage with the forensic science community on cross-jurisdictional and cross-discipline issues.
NIFS ANZ role are:
Promote, sponsor and support research in forensic science in areas of identified strategic importance
Advise and assist with the development and co-ordination of forensic science services
Gather and exchange forensic information
Support, co-ordinate and conduct training programs in forensic science for practitioners
Conduct relevant quality assurance programs
Academia Iberoamericana de Criminalística y Estudios Forenses
The Latin American Academy of Criminalistics and Forensic Studies, AICEF, established in 2004 is composed of 27 research institutions representing 18 Latin American countries and Spain and Portugal. The primary purpose of its creation was to achieve cooperation between institutions and engaged in criminal investigation experts. All in aid of the bodies responsible for administering justice. The study of the evidence, however insignificant they may be, are the main objective of criminalistics, and finally identifying the author of an alleged malfeasance. AICEF constitutes a scientific meeting in which the problems of modern Latin American criminal justice research, in order to make available to the distributors of justice objective tests that allow them to fulfill their social function are discussed.
Asian Forensic Sciences Network
The purpose of the AFSN is:
To provide a forum for forensic science institutes in Asia for discussion on issues relating to forensic services.
To enhance the quality of forensic services in Asia through expert working groups, training, collaborative studies, proficiency tests and accreditation.
To establish links with other similar networks for the promotion and advancement of forensic science.
To formulate strategies relating to forensic science issues in Asia.
Southern Africa Regional Forensic Science Network
The basis for a South Africa Regional Forensic Science Network (SARFS), representing 12 countries in Southern Africa, was established with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) guidance and support in December 2008. The Africa region, through its SARFS Network, will strengthen its presence in the international forensic community alongside the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors (ASCLD), the Senior Managers of Australian and New Zealand Forensic Laboratories (SMANZFL ), the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI), the Iberoamerican Academy of Forensic Sciences (Academia Iberoamericana De Criminalistica Y Estudios Forenses, or AICEF) and the Asian Forensic Sciences Network (AFSN).
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes
UNODC is a global leader in the fight against illicit drugs and international crime. Established in 1997 through a merger between the United Nations Drug Control Programme and the Centre for International Crime Prevention, UNODC operates in all regions of the world through an extensive network of field offices. UNODC relies on voluntary contributions, mainly from Governments, for 90 per cent of its budget.
UNODC is mandated to assist Member States in their struggle against illicit drugs, crime and terrorism. In the Millennium Declaration, Member States also resolved to intensify efforts to fight transnational crime in all its dimensions, to redouble the efforts to implement the commitment to counter the world drug problem and to take concerted action against international terrorism.
ISO TC 272 meets in Tokyo
ISO TC 272 begins work as a Technical Committee.
IFSA meets at IAFS 2017 in Toronto
ASCLD President Ray Wickenheiser and Board member Brooke Arnone provide an update on IFSA meetings in Toronto.
IFSA MRDs at Interpol
Today, the IFSA is proud to announce that Jody Wolf, IFSA President, presented the current status of the IFSA MRDs at the 18th International Forensic Science Managers Symposium in Lyon, France.
Represent the global operational forensic science community dedicated to the improvement of forensic science in all jurisdictions.
The IFSA presidency rotates among its members. The current presidency is held by the Southern Africa Regional Forensic Science Network (SARFS).
© 2018 International Forensic Strategic Alliance. All Rights Reserved.
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9 tips for dealing with social media enemies
Sean Egen
9 tips for dealing with social media enemies Sean Egen
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Ah, the upside of social media. And there is plenty of upside -- especially for brands -- which explains why so many have embraced this digital space, venue, vehicle, what have you, to get in on the conversation. And this is a conversation that brands hope will help strengthen the relationship between their customers and them and boost their bottom lines.
But, as with any relationship, the dynamic between brands and consumers is not all handholding and doling out compliments. The same voice social media provides to consumer advocates is also there for any person or persons with a bone to pick or a grudge against your product or brand. How you deal with a social media "enemy" could mean the difference between creating a loyal customer for life and a public relations nightmare that can quickly snowball.
We asked five industry experts for a few rules on dealing with a social media "relationship" that is, or already has, headed south. They put on their best Dr. Phil moustaches and came up with the following guidelines (not rules -- see tip No. 1).
"Each situation is as individual as individuals themselves," says Denise Zimmerman, president and CSO of NetPlus Marketing, a full-service digital agency. She emphasizes that there's no set formula to deal with social media foes. Rather, it's more a matter of marrying basic PR and marketing tenets with an understanding of how the digital forum can change things, such as the increased rate at which things can escalate online. "That's where it differs from historical PR practices," Zimmerman stresses, "is the speed of potential escalation."
Senior VP and Director of Insights for Edelman Digital, Steve Rubel, believes that how a brand reacts depends "upon the situation, the topic, the client, the venue, and the client's readiness." By "readiness," he's referring to a brand's plan (or lack of one), its comprehension of the severity of the situation at hand, and its presence on the web, which leads perfectly into our next guideline…
All of our experts agree that it's imperative for brands to know what's being said about them before it's too late, which means not only monitoring social media sites but also having a strong presence on them and participating in the conversations taking place.
"By the time you're having a problem with social media, if you're responding to a specific incident that's growing within social media, it's already too late," says Ty Braswell, a creative digital strategist who runs the appropriately named consulting firm Creative Digital Strategies. Braswell believes that merely responding to social media enemies is "incredibly myopic" because it means brands have lost sight of the bigger issue: They haven't made the necessary long-term investment to integrate an ongoing conversation with their customers.
"We advise people to have 'embassies' in all the different communities that are relevant to you," says Rubel, who believes this provides brands with two big advantages. "One: You'll obviously get wind of these things sooner. Two: You'll be heard because you're there already and you have an audience."
"You've got to have the pipes laid before there's a problem," advises Red Door Interactive's President Reid Carr. "If there's a problem, and then you try to jump into social media, it comes off as very inauthentic." Carr adds that having an established presence may also help keep the conversation at a one-on-one level and prevent escalation. "If you create this vehicle for people to have a dialogue with you and are responsive to it, those people, rather than go out and tell everyone they know, may actually just go directly to you."
Kevin Barenblat, CEO/cofounder of Context Optional, a firm that helps brands build an engaging presence on social networking sites, believes it's also a good idea for a company's social media presence to include more than just a single department. "Brands tend to view these channels for marketing, sales, customer support, or product development -- but not all of the above." He argues that the conversations taking place hold value for virtually every division of an organization, therefore, they should all be involved at some level.
When it comes to dealing with a potential social media crisis, all of our experts are big believers in the axiom: Those who fail to prepare, prepare to fail.
"It's really important to have some sort of plan before anything even happens," says Zimmerman. She believes an effective plan should be a well-conceived, coordinated effort between multiple departments -- not just a public relations effort. "You cannot operate in a silo; the PR department really can't do this on its own."
"My advice is to have a crisis communications plan and look at the different kinds of things that are likely to happen," states Carr. He warns brands against putting off developing a plan and adopting a complacent attitude. "So many people sit back and say, 'That's not going to happen to me; I'm not going to have a problem.' They don't see the urgency of it. But everyone has problems at some level or magnitude, and, when the big ones occur, that's when they get into some serious trouble."
So, assuming somebody's out there on various social media channels, lashing out against your beloved brand, your first instinct might be to fire right back -- but that's not necessarily the best approach, advise our experts.
"We haven't found too many circumstances where it's appropriate to respond directly," says Red Door's Carr. He suggests that, by not responding at all, a problem can frequently disappear on its own, citing the example of a homebuilder client who was being trashed by angry customers via hate sites. By doing nothing -- other than ensuring that the builder ranked higher than the hate sites in search engine rankings -- the disgruntled homeowners eventually ran out of resources and gave up, inflicting only minor damage to the builder's reputation.
"You've got to quickly identify whether it's a legitimate, organic groundswell within the community or whether what you're seeing is a deviation and merely someone who has personal problems and is taking them out against the brand," advises Braswell. He adds, half jokingly, "When these things happen, you wonder if this is when we should invest a little bit more of our tax money in the mental health system."
"If it's just somebody putting up spam, it's probably safe to ignore it," says Barenblat. He cautions against ignoring legitimate complaints, however. "I think ignoring those comments is a risk. And being able to engage users who do have legitimate complaints is a real opportunity to build the brand online."
Zimmerman recommends doing your best to determine intent and, if it looks like a case of a person or persons simply "releasing their inner demons," monitoring the situation before responding. "You might want to do some searches on that person to see if they've posted elsewhere or if they have a history of this sort of thing," she elaborates. "Then, monitor it for escalation to see how aggressively the community responds. In many cases, when you have an individual like that, the community will self police."
Sometimes, though, you simply have to respond -- ideally, according to Rubel, right before things get to the tipping point. He likens determining this point to leaning back in a chair. "There's a moment in time when you're like, shoot, the chair's falling. You want to respond just before that."
That segues right into…
If a brand waits too long to respond to a potential social media crisis, it risks things snowballing quickly and getting out of control. But if it jumps in too soon, it may create much ado about nothing.
"Timing is important, but it's more important to be smart," emphasizes Zimmerman. "I'd rather be 12 hours later and have all my facts straight than just kneejerk." She references Dominos Pizza's reaction to a video of two employees doing unsavory things to pizza ingredients, which spread like wildfire on YouTube, as an example of a swift but smart response. "They got dinged a bit for their delay in response," she points out, "but I think their delay was 24 hours, which is almost a joke. I mean, give them a break."
Carr cites an example of where jumping in too soon would actually have been detrimental for one of his clients. The client had tweeted about its "green" policy on Twitter, which resulted in some people tweeting that the client would be even greener if it didn't print so much literature about how green it was. While Carr and the client debated how to best respond, loyal customers within the Twitter community cracked down on those cracking down on the brand, quickly eliminating the problem, with no action required by the brand. "If it's not going anywhere, then you just let it die," Carr adds.
But, if letting the problem die out on its own isn't an option, how you respond, say our experts, can defuse or detonate the situation, which is why the next three guidelines are all about how your response should be crafted.
Barenblat believes that a brand's response should be completely transparent and not tippy-toe around the issue at hand. "It may not be a lengthy response, but it should at least acknowledge the person's comment and then provide some sort of helpful resolution," he elaborates.
"Honesty is the best policy," adds Carr, stating that it's imperative a response communicate three basic points: (1) you've identified the problem, (2) you're sorting out how to best solve the problem, and (3) you're in the process of implementing the best solution.
Zimmerman concurs that your response should be transparent -- especially if what's being said about your brand is true -- but it should also be responsible. A "responsible" response, according to her, would likely provide factual information about the issue at hand, as well as direct consumers to other helpful resources -- preferably through multiple channels. "You might tweet about it, directing them to a microsite," she elaborates. "You might have a search program; you might have somebody in-house in the company who's considered a credible expert, or in a senior management position, blog about it, directing them to further information."
"To make it work, you can't hide the bad stuff," stresses Carr on being transparent. "You've got to put it all out there, because otherwise people are not going to trust you, and they're not going to rely on that resource." He gives the example of a client with a pending lawsuit in which details of the case, many less than flattering, were leaking out over the internet through various social media channels. "What we did there was make the company the source for all information that was coming out," he explains. This allowed the client to exercise more control over the information and helped add to its credibility, since it was the party releasing the information -- both favorable and unfavorable.
Along with transparency, the messaging and tone of a brand's response needs to be sincere, appropriate for the situation, and consistent with the overall voice of the brand. Also, argues Barenblat, because social media is about people interacting with people, a response should sound like it's coming from a real person -- not like boilerplate verbiage from the PR department.
"People expect a certain level of humanity, even if you are speaking on behalf of the brand," he elaborates.
"Tone is everything," insists Braswell. "It's not a response -- it's yet another installment in the conversation." He adds that a brand's tone should be "organic" and that crafting any response with the assumption that it's going to be a one-way conversation is the first misstep down the path to failure.
Rubel suggests observing any good sales clerk to get an idea of what an appropriate tone might sound like. "It's much like the best people in retail," he says. "If people are ranting and raving, the first step is to make it clear that you've listened and you take it seriously. No matter what it is, you have to say you take it seriously. And by simply responding, you are. Then you try to work toward a win-win solution that's going to please everybody."
Carr makes the point that tone is only part of the equation. "At the root of it all is being consistent." Being overly jovial one day and then extremely formal the next can come off as inconsistent and inauthentic, he explains. Carr recommends adopting the same level of consistency you'd have with a friend, where one day you might joke around; the next, you might be a bit more somber or serious -- but your overall tone remains consistent over the course of the friendship.
"I think there is a risk of overreacting," says Zimmerman, who cites Motrin's pulling of an ad a group of mommy bloggers found objectionable as an example of an overreaction. She believes that Motrin, based on the reaction of a relatively small group of unhappy mothers, probably pulled the ad too soon.
Of course, there's also the risk of overreacting by taking things personally.
"I would not engage in flame wars," cautions Barenblat, using this combustible term for tit-for-tat exchanges that can quickly erupt into out-of-control fires.
Carr recommends that brands, even if the person or group going after them is in the wrong, weigh the pros and cons of playing hardball. He gives the example of an executive client who gave an interview to a blogger and was subsequently misquoted. Upset, the executive sent the blogger a string of less-than-appropriate emails, some threatening legal action, all of which were promptly posted on the blog. This triggered a chain reaction from the readers, most of whom felt the executive's response implied that he and his company might have something to hide.
"That was a bad reaction," Carr says, pointing out how much better the situation could've been handled had the executive come to him first. "It's like classic negotiation. You have to think about what does that person have to lose? What's their real motivation? Are they just trying to get a rise out of you, or do they really want to accomplish something? If they want to accomplish something, think about how you can help them accomplish it and keep yourself out of the mud."
Not only keep yourself clean, but perhaps even smelling like a rose -- which brings us to our final suggestion.
"It's kind of cliché, and it seems sort of corny, but there is always an opportunity with every problem," says the optimistic Braswell, who draws inspiration from brands that recognize, and focus on, the opportunities hidden within crises. "It's an opportunity to show what the brand is really made of and what you really care about."
To turn social-media lemons into lemonade, however, brands first need to participate. Even if it means making a mistake now and again, which Zimmerman believes is inevitable. "We are going to make mistakes; there are no ifs ands or buts about it," she insists. "Not to be overly dramatic, but it really is a new frontier."
That's why her parting advice is for brands not to use this new frontier to berate the social-media missteps of other brands. Because, sooner or later, everyone stumbles.
Sean Egan is a freelance writer.
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Commenter: David Brant
2009, May 29
Great and very helpful article.
@DavidIanBrant
Commenter: Carin Galletta
HI Seth,
Great article. While I don't agree with everything from some of those quoted, it is a great easy read that I believe will ease some of the fears company's have with social media.
I'm going to post and forward this article to all of my clients.
Carin Galletta
@InkFoundry
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ILO to adopt a new code of practice on safety in opencast mines
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30 October, 2017IndustriALL Global Union is celebrating a significant boost for miners’ safety as the International Labour Organization (ILO) is set to adopt a new code of practice on occupational health and safety in opencast mines.
In a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, from 16 to 20 October, experts in opencast mining from the workers’ group, the governments’ group and the employers’ group at the ILO were able to reach consensus on the new code of practice which will be put forward for adoption by the Governing Body in March 2018.
IndustriALL, under the auspices of the International Trade Union Confederation, coordinated the trade union experts’ participation, drawn from the following six countries; Canada, Colombia, India, Indonesia, South Africa and Zambia.
The approach of the worker’s group was based on a fundamental principle that the draft code should raise the minimum occupational health and safety floor for all mineworkers in opencast mines, even in mining jurisdictions or countries with poor health and safety legislation or countries that had not ratified ILO Convention 176.
According to Canadian affiliate, Steve Hunt, USW District 3 Director: “The draft code, which provides general principles and specific guidelines to prevent accidents and protect mineworkers’ occupational health and safety in opencast mines, will lift that minimum floor when it will support the fundamental rights and responsibilities of workers.”
These principle rights of workers include (1) the right to KNOW about the hazards of their work – fully and completely – and to receive the necessary training and education to do the work safely; (2) the right to REFUSE OR SHUT DOWN unsafe work without fear of repercussions; and (3) the right to PARTICIPATE fully in the development and implementation of health and safety policies, programmes, procedures and including risk assessments.
The task of reviewing the draft code, meant to revive the existing code of practice adopted in 1991, was daunting, given the opposing interest of the parties, who had to find each other and reach consensus. No one group was certain of the support of either of the two groups and agreement was often elusive on issues important to the parties. The fundamental principle of negotiations was that the text or language agreed or proposed could not undermine principles of the ILO Convention 176 and its recommendation.
The workers' group is indebted to the great leadership of its nominated spokesperson, Steve Hunt, USW District 3 Director for his invaluable insight and knowledge and for his passion for mineworkers.
The meeting of experts was held following a decision of the Governing Body of the ILO at its 329th Session in March 2017 in order to review and adopt a revised code of practice on Safety and health in opencast mines. The ILO’s sectoral policies department prepared the draft code for review and adoption.
Union Win
ILO watch
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Hollisterclothingstore.us
Make Revenue Without With Our Increased Software Increase
AP: Billionaire prince among dozens arrested in Saudi sweep
Saudi billionaire Prince AlWaleed bin Talal looks on during a news briefing in Manama, May 8, 2012. HAMAD I MOHAMMED / REUTERS
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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia has arrested dozens of princes, senior military officers, businessmen and top officials, including a well-known royal billionaire with extensive holdings in Western companies, as part of a sweeping purported anti-corruption probe that further cements control in the hands of its young crown prince.
A high-level employee at Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding Co. told The Associated Press that the royal, who is one of the world’s richest men, was among those detained overnight Saturday. The company’s stock was down nearly 9 percent in trading on the Saudi stock exchange.
Reports recommended those detained were held at the Ritz Carlton in Riyadh, which are the major investment conferences of U.S., Japan and other countries. A Saudi official told The Associated Press that other five-star hotels across the capital were also used to hold some of those arrested.
The surprise arrests, which also reportedly include two of the late King Abdullah’s sons, were hailed by pro-government media outlets as the greatest sign yet that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is keeping his promise to reform the country, long been plagued by allegations of corruption at the highest levels of government.
Analysts have suggested the arrest of the royalty or critics. The prince’s swift rise to power has unnerved more experienced, elder members of the ruling Al Saud family, which has long ruled by consensus, though ultimate decision-making remains with the monarch.
The king named his son, the crown prince, as head of an anti-corruption committee established late Saturday, just hours before his arrest of top officials.
A Saudi government official with close ties to security says 11 princes and 38 others are being held. The official spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
Marriott International said in a statement that it is currently evaluating the situation at the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh. “As a matter of guest privacy, we do not discuss the guests or groups of hotels,” the statement added.
The scale of the arrests is considered in Saudi Arabia, where senior royals and their business associates are seen as operating above the law. Saudi nationals have long complaint of rampant corruption in government and of public funds being squandered or misused by people in power.
Shortly before the arrests, King Salman had ousted Prince Miteb bin Abdullah from his post as head of the National Guard. The prince is reportedly among those detained in the sweep, as is his brother, Prince Turki bin Abdullah, who was once the governor of Riyadh. Both are sons of the late King Abdullah, who ruled before his half-brother King Salman.
Prince Miteb was once considered a contender for the throne.
Saudi Aladyid al-Ibrahim, a Saudi businessman with ties to the royal family who runs the Arabic satellite group MBC; Amr al-Dabbagh, the former head of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority; Ibrahim Assaf, the former finance minister; and Bakr Binladin, head of the Saudi Binladin Group, a major business conglomerate.
An earlier crackdown on perceived critics of the crown prince included clerics, writers, lesser-known princes and Saudi figures popular on social media.
“The dismissals and detentions suggest that Prince Mohammed rather than forging alliances is extending his iron grip to the ruling family, the military, and the national guard to counter what it seems to be more widespread opposition within the family as well as the military to his reforms and the Yemen war, “James M. Dorsey, a Gulf specialist and senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said an analysis of the shake-up.
Saudi Arabia said late Yemen at Riyadh International Airport, on the outskirts of the capital. The crown prince, as defense minister, oversees the stalemated war against Yemen’s Iranian-allied rebels.
The Finance Ministry said the anti-corruption probe “opens a new era of transparency and accountability,” enhances confidence in the rule of law and improves the kingdom’s investment climate.
It is not clear what Prince Alwaleed or others are being investigated for.
The Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya news channel said the anti-corruption probe was looking into the response to flooding in Jiddah that killed around 120 people in 2009 and devastated the city
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Universal Phenomena - Sometimes We Mock And Ridicule What We Don't Understand
Sometimes we mock what we don't understand because it's scary or because it's so contrary to what we've grown to believe our whole lives. It's called cognitive dissonance. ~ Joe Simmons
The meme is taken out of context and the idea/belief is mis-stated. Sometimes we mock what we don't understand because it's scary or because it's so contrary to what we've grown to believe our whole lives. It's called cognitive dissonance.
It took us over 200 years to believe the Earth was round. We mocked, ridiculed, imprisoned, black listed and committed to psychiatric hospitals those who believed and professed that the Earth was round -- all that over the opinion of the shape of a thing... "Opinion" emphasized. The point is that it was a change in belief that we humans eventually adopted in our rapportuer or arsenal of acquired common sense.
Up next... all "things" are compositions and conglomerates of energy vibration. Anything that we "see" or experience in any way is merely a way we perceive the energy vibrations and their movement. Therefore, the experiences are illusions, merely ways we perceive. Then we add meaning to it all.
Imagine, we are that energy vibration.
Whatever energy vibration is present and entertained will expand, e.g. this is how like energy "attracts" like energy. It's an expansion. The contexts and meanings are human-centrically derived/conjured, a.k.a. made up, "just because".
Additionally, there's no separation in the energy flow, only changes or reformations in the flow's movement, like moving from one climate to another, which leads to the most fun part...
The separations are illusions while we are all organically One dynamic ongoing expanding and transforming being, including all the parts of us, even the trees and the rocks.
Click here for a more in-depth perspective on the nature of the physical planes.
Metaphysical Visionary
Go To War To Fight For Peace. Really? LMAO
Why is this the case? Because republicans believe in war. War = Money. The goal therefore is money, not peace....
Then else would they place the needs of these soldiers as a high priority? Helping these beautiful souls would take away from their profit.
Yes, that is the truth, sadly. Let this be a wake up call to humanity.... Be aware of what you're voting for... ~Jean S., Florida USA
Nothing's changed since the first war. It's always been about the money. What does that tell us, in general? Moreover, what does that tell us about choosing to participate? Today, we're more able to see that our sentimentality has been hijacked to believe the hype, propaganda, etc. about protecting the American way of life and peace and all that. Eventually, we'll look back and say, "Damn, we actually believed that bullshit even when the words within the statements were obviously contradictory," e.g. go to war to have peace, fight for peace, etc. My father always said, "When emotion is present, logical thinking is absent." Hello, true statement. Thank you.
Today, we're beginning to see that justifications for war and violence are insane. Some might say, "Yeah, but sometimes you have to fight to keep the threats at bay." We're beginning to realize that the idea of keeping the threats at bay is the same as saying the peace is fake and temporary. We're beginning to get that what goes around eventually comes around one way or another. We're beginning to realize that this is an unavoidable metaphysical law of the Universe.
Would it make sense to operate consistently with this little Universal Law that we've discovered is unavoidable?
The opportunity is to ask ourselves, "What is true peace?" and "How do we attain it?" We've heard the answer a million times and we declare it, share it, proclaim it, and make memes about it and all that stuff... "Be the change you want to see in the world."
Eventually, the following parlance will be the common sense of the people, basic as chocolate and vanilla... "It starts with me, and 'all the me's of us', in my chair, and in all the 'my chairs'."
We are experiencing some cognitive dissonance; however, today we're choosing to "be" what we want in the world more often. Until we get that it's the only way, we'll still participate in the insanity. That's true insanity, not figurative... Until we get that, we will be operating insanely, like dummies, true stupids, unconsciously... not that there's anything wrong with that. Just thinking aloud.
What do Republicans find so offensive about taking care of our wounded warriors?Thanks to Freethinkers United For Change.Read more here: http://bit.ly/1PeBuVP
Posted by Occupy Democrats on Sunday, November 1, 2015
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John Seed: Supporting Visual Artists Through Writing and Curation
Art World Satire
Early Blogs
Essays/Commentaries
Poets and Artists
Want to Boost Museum Attendance? Tell the Public What the Art Is Worth
Real Time Museum Collection Value Clock (Digital Collage by John Seed)
For all kinds of reasons, including many very good ones, art museums tend to be secretive about the value of the art and objects they have on display. Concerns about theft, insurance and terrorism make the disclosure of art values undesirable, and when museums collect purchase prices are rarely reported or confirmed. Art museums want visitors to enjoy their exhibitions for the right reasons--aesthetic and cultural ones--and information about the cash value of art is naturally seen as more than just a security issue: it is also a potential distraction that detracts from the real considerations of artistic merit and historical significance.
Still, dollar amounts make the news from time to time, as in the recent reporting of accidental damage done by a visitor to SFMOMA to a Warhol painting valued at $80 million dollars. If the damage had been done to a painting worth less than a million, the incident might not have been so widely reported, a fact that highlights the public's voyeuristic interest in pure cash value. The staggering prices of individual works of art are a source of fascination. Standing in front of a single painting and thinking "It would take me 40 lifetimes to make enough money to buy that..." is a mental exercise that is hard for most of us to resist. The total value of major museum collections is also rarely discussed and the result is broad speculation.
For example, if you want to know the total value of the holdings of New York's Metropolitan Museum of art, all you will find are very, very rough estimates, like this one of $100 to $400 billion dollars. Somewhere, deep in the database of an insurance company, the real figure lurks...
News about the art market is full of dollar amounts especially when spectacular auction results are achieved. In fact, stories about high prices for works of art often dominate the art and culture section of newspapers, crowding out reviews and profiles of artists. Although the barrage of headlines about stratospheric art prices might appear, on the surface, to be a bad thing, at least one prominent museum leader recently pointed out a possible silver lining.
Novelist Isabella Rothschild, a member of the famed banking family and the first woman to serve as the chair of Britain's National Gallery, recently told The Telegraph that although she was conflicted by the high prices that paintings are bringing at auction, she has also noticed a benefit: "...There's been huge growth in visitors to our national museums...In some ways these big prices and all the stuff written about art is driving people in to look at it."
It makes sense, doesn't it? In idealistic terms, museums want people to visit to improve themselves through the experience of art, but it remains uncomfortably true that part of the reason that museums draw crowds is because they are treasure houses. Part of the experience of works of art is undeniably the chance to be in the presence of things that, for most of us, are unattainable in material terms. In particular, the recent appearance of many new and expanded museums of contemporary art has certainly co-incided with an explosion in values for key works, a more than co-incidental dynamism.
Perhaps it is time for museum directors and curators, especially those with lagging attendance, to reconsider their traditional views on disclosing and discussing value. Using the tools provided by recent information technology, there are now some new and striking ways that the values of works of art might be transmitted and integrated into the museum experience.
- The total cash value of an institution's collection could be displayed over it's entrance electronically. Connected to a database, and updated--via an algorithm--by auction results and other pertinent economic indicators, this figure would be a tremendous source of fascination and discussion.
- Label each work with its current value and any available information about past value.
- Select works of art could have scan codes on their information tags that could link, via smartphone, to prices histories and databases for the artist. Wouldn't it be interesting, for example, for museum visitors to have access to recent auction values for works by Rembrandt?
- Shows could be curated with themes that open up comparisons of dollar value versus aesthetic value. Some examples might include "The Billion Dollar Warhol Show," or "Eight Canalettos Equals One Gerhard Richter."
- Traditional museum panels could be supplanted by "The Price is Right" art value guessing programs, broadcast as reality shows. They would have real educational value as they would bring up aesthetic, social and economic issues.
The possibilities are limitless, aren't they?
If some of these ideas seem irreverent, impractical or vulgar, there is something else that should be considered. Perhaps putting the prices of works of art into the spotlight, rather than trying to keep them secret, would cause museums, curators and collectors to deal more publicly with the economic forces swirling around their institutions. Making prices public would certainly boost museum attendance, and it might also force a new kind of healthy self-consciousness for everyone involved.
"My Art World" is on Amazon.com
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No Israel-type action: Pranab
Pak officials debate dossier
New Delhi, January 10
India on Saturday virtually ruled out any Israel-type action against Pakistan in the wake of Mumbai terror attacks, saying the situation is not comparable. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, however, maintained that “future course” will decide how India will deal with Pakistan if the latter does not comply with its demands about ending terrorism.
(A report from Islamabad said top Pakistani officials held a meeting today to review and frame a response to the information dossier provided by India on the Mumbai terror attack, TV channels said.)
“I do not agree to that. Because this is totally wrong. The situation is not at all comparable,” he said when asked whether an Israeli-type offensive against Hamas in Gaza Strip could be an option for the Government against Pakistan.
“I have not gone and occupied any (of) Pakistan’s land which Israel has done (in Palestine). So, how the situation can be comparable,” Mukherjee asked during an interview to CNN-IBN.
Maintaining that all options are still “open”, he said India expects Pakistan to act on the evidence linking elements in the neighbouring country to Mumbai attacks.
“When I say all options are open, all options are open. There is no need of picking up option a, option b, option c, option d. No need of that. I am not responding to that. What I am responding to is options are open,” he said. “We have not reached the end of the road. Pakistan, what they have asked for, we have given them. We expect them to act on it,” Mukherjee said. — PTI
Kasab & Durrani
Meanwhile, Dawn has a few things to say
Making a mountain out of every molehill appears to be the federal government’s speciality. The confirmation that Ajmal Kasab is Pakistani should not have created a controversy; Kasab’s nationality was an open secret and as early as December 12 this paper published a detailed account of a meeting with an elderly man in Faridkot who claimed to be Kasab’s father. But the bungled announcement, subsequent denials and then confirmations, and the sacking of National Security Adviser Mehmud Durrani shone a spotlight on the disarray at the apex of decision-making...
n The incident has raised fresh questions about the government’s ability to keep its top officials on the same page at the same time.
n Mr Gilani has sent an unfortunate signal that the messenger is more important than the message... Instead, the big story became petty score-settling at the expense of the national interest...
Pak yet to reply on dossier: India
Ashok Tuteja
With the fledgling civilian government not in control of the situation in Pakistan, it is becoming increasingly frustrating for India to deal with the neighbouring country in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks.
Contradictory statements emanating from Islamabad, both from the government and the media, are being seen by New Delhi as yet another attempt by Pakistan to deflect the attention from the issue of terrorism after already having acknowledged that Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist captured in the Mumbai strikes, was a Pakistan national.
India is surprised over Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s statement yesterday that ISI had given its feedback to India on some information about the Mumbai attacks that New Delhi had shared with the US intelligence agency CIA.
Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma told the media today that India had not received any reply to the dossier it had given to Islamabad. “We will react to the reply when we receive it. It’s still awaited.”
Sharma said India’s position was clear that Pakistan must fulfill the promise it had made to New Delhi and the international community that it would not allow the misuse of its territory for terrorist activities. “Pakistan has to walk the talk…it should dismantle the (terrorist) organisations and infrastructure that exist there.’’
Regretting that Islamabad was still in the denial mode, Sharma said India had also not received any request from Pakistan for consular access to Kasab.
Sources said US has been questioning ISI on some of the issues mentioned by India in the dossier, like training of terrorists and links to Pakistan’s official agencies.
Sharma’s senior and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, meanwhile, virtually ruled out any Israeli-type action against Pakistan, saying the situation was not at all comparable. “I have not gone and occupied any of Pakistan’s land, which Israel has done (in Palestine). So, how the situation can be comparable,” he replied during an interview to a television news channel.
Emphasising that India was keeping all its options open, Mukherjee said New Delhi wanted Pakistan to act on the evidence establishing the links between the perpetrators of the attacks and elements in Pakistan.
“We have not reached the end of the road with Pakistan. What they had asked for, we have already provided them, and now we expect them to act. And in case they don’t, then what follow up steps we will take and in what space of time these will happen, future course will decide,’’ Mukherjee said.
Meanwhile, US ambassador to India David C Mulford, who has been asked by the incoming Obama administration to stay put in New Delhi for some more time, has contended that the dossier given by India to Pakistan on the Mumbai attacks was credible, but suggested that New Delhi should give time to Islamabad to act on it.
‘’From what I have seen, it is a very credible material. The FBI is cooperating in Mumbai…it is information which tells and gives a very accurate account of what has happened,’’ Mulford said during a talk show, ‘Devil’s Advocate’, on CNN-IBN.
All Options Open if Pakistan Does not Act: Pranab
India is keeping all options open if Pakistan does not act against perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks but it will not resort to Israel-type military strikes, according to External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
In an interview on CNN-IBN channel Saturday, Mukherjee stressed that India was keeping options open if Pakistan did not act upon the evidence linking Pakistani nationals to the Mumbai carnage.
"All options are open. We have not reached the end of the road," he said.
"Pakistan, what they have asked for, we have given them. We expect them to act on it. If they don't act on it, what follow up steps we take at what space of time will take place, future course will decide," he said.
Pakistan has said it has responded to the 26/11 dossier Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon gave to Pakistan's High Commissioner Shahid Malik Monday. India says it is yet to receive the response.
Mukherjee, however, ruled out Israel-type military strikes against Pakistan.
"I don't agree to that because this is totally wrong and the situation is not at all comparable. I have not gone and occupied any of Pakistan's land which Israel has done. So how can the situation be compared."
Mukherjee described the sacking of Pakistan's National Security Adviser Mahmud Ali Durrani as "an unfortunate situation".
"This is really an unfortunate situation. But we have no option. We shall have to deal with only the government of the day," Mukherjee said, according to excerpts released by the news channel.
"Whether the government of the day holds real power or not, it is not for me to judge. It is for the people of Pakistan to judge. It is for the authorities in Pakistan to judge," he said.
Durrani was sacked Wednesday after he told a TV channel that Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone Mumbai attacker in Indian custody, was indeed a Pakistani.
This was reiterated by Pakistan's foreign office.
Durrani's sacking sparked speculation about a possible rift between conflicting centers of power in Pakistan with some analysts suspecting the hand of the military in the decision.
Toll in Israel's Gaza Offensive Crosses 800
Tel Aviv/Gaza
Israel continued its offensive in the Gaza Strip Saturday, pounding over 40 targets overnight, a military spokesman said.
The airstrikes, which came after 70 such attacks Friday, largely targeted smuggling tunnels and weapon manufacturing shops.
Israeli soldiers on the ground said they killed 15 armed men, the spokesman added.
Palestinian medical sources in the Gaza Strip have said the toll has surpassed 800, with over 3,300 people injured. This was the 15th day of fighting.
Five Israeli soldiers were lightly injured in overnight fighting. Troops remain in the Gaza Strip, but for the most part have not entered the most crowded urban areas.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said that Israel was not planning to reoccupy the Gaza Strip, Israel Radio reported.
Palestinian militants fired one mortar and three homemade rockets at southern Israel since midnight.
Nine Israeli soldiers and three civilians were killed since Israel launched Operation Cast Lead Dec 27, in what was said to be a campaign to curtail Palestinian rocket fire.
The Israeli offensive continued after the security cabinet decided Friday to carry on, despite a United Nations' Security Council resolution which called for an immediate ceasefire.
Meanwhile, several senior Hamas members were in Cairo to discuss a possible ceasefire proposal. At least two of them left the Gaza Strip through the Rafah Crossing.
Israel, for its part, was sending Amos Gilad, a senior defence figure, to Cairo next week to also discuss the proposal. He had been in Egypt earlier this week, but returned without any concrete results.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had criticized Israel for not accepting the council's resolution and going towards a ceasefire, but officials in Jerusalem responded that as the UN could not stop Palestinian rocket fire, the offensive would go on.
"Israel has a right to protect its citizens," a statement from the cabinet said Friday, announcing a continuation of the Israeli military action, adding that it would "continue to change the security situation in the south", parlance for attacking militant targets and sources of rocket fire and conducting activities to curtail arms smuggling.
Caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel "has never agreed that any outside body would determine its right to defend the security of its citizens".
Israel also maintains an option, analysts said, to go to "phase three", which would mean sending more ground troops deeper into populated areas.
The military said there would be a three-hour "humanitarian lull" Saturday, to allow Palestinians to stock up on food and let medics and patients move freely, though the crossings to the enclave would remain closed.
Three such lulls have taken place so far since Wednesday, though Friday's lull was marred with violence.
The UN aid agencies are also expected to resume activities "as soon as possible" after they reached an understanding with the Israeli security forces. Four staff of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the agency for Palestinian refugees, have been killed in the fighting.
The UN said it had received security assurances from the Israelis and they would closely monitor their commitment to the safety of the aid workers.
India Should Not Talk of Surgical Strikes: Musharraf
By Muhammad Najeeb
India should not talk of "surgical strikes" on Pakistan in the wake of the Mumbai terrorist attack, as forces were ready to "retaliate to any aggression", former president Pervez Musharraf said Saturday.
"India should not talk rubbish like surgical strikes. Our forces are not sitting idle and have full capacity to retaliate to any level of aggression," the former military dictator told reporters before leaving for the US where he is scheduled to deliver lectures at various institutes.
"Why they (Indians) are again and again talking of surgical strikes? Why can't Pakistan say the same," asked Musharraf, considered the architect of the Kargil conflict with India in 1999.
Musharraf said his government had tried its best to develop friendly relations with the eastern neighbor. "I believe relations were going fine with India until the Mumbai attacks," he said.
"The only way to resolve the mystery of the Nov 26 attacks is to hold joint investigations," he added.
He avoided questions on the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government's handling of the crisis after the Mumbai attacks that India has blamed on Pakistani elements.
He said he would not comment on the performance of the government and neither would he compare it with his government.
Musharraf ruled Pakistan for nine and a half years after dismissing the elected government of Nawaz Sharif in October 1999, when Musharraf was the chief of army staff.
The former president said his government had never authorized any drone strikes inside Pakistan by the US-led forces. "It was agreed that the US or the NATO forces can strike upto the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and would not enter the Pakistan territory," he said.
Musharraf said the West asking Pakistan to "do more" on the terrorism front was "beyond understanding".
"Pakistan has done its best against terrorism and we are the worst victim of terrorism and still we are being targeted," said the former ruler who was forced to resign in August last year under national and international pressure.
This is his second foreign visit since his resignation. "I'll continue to visit foreign countries as I have invitations from friends, family and some international institutions," he said.
Rising militancy in Pak cause of worry: McConnell
Press Trust of India / Washington January 10, 2009, 11:37 IST
Maintaining that the Mumbai attacks were carried out by terrorists trained in and departed from Pakistan, the US has said the increasing militancy in the nuclear-armed country is one of the main causes of worry for it.
There are militants in Pakistan whose purpose is to overthrow the government of that country, Director of US National Intelligence, Michael McConnell, said.
"Osama bin Laden issued a fatwa in the fall of 2007 to say that the mission was to destroy the government of Pakistan," he said in an interview to the popular Charlie Rose Show on PBS.
"Pakistan has nuclear weapons. Would you want militants who are sworn to kill Americans in possession of nuclear weapons? That's what I worry about," McConnell said.
Referring to the Mumbai terrorist attacks, he said the horrendous terrorist act was carried by a group that was "trained and departed" from Pakistan.
"And there's significant tension between those two countries (India and Pakistan) now about how they're going to resolve that. Military forces have been put on an increased state of readiness," he said.
McConnell said his worries related to Pakistan was on top because of the increasing militancy in a country, which is nuclear weapon powered. Also, he said his "biggest worry" is the fact that Pakistan as a nation "is teetering on bankruptcy."
Salary Issue
SC: Seniors can’t be paid less than juniors
R. Sedhuraman
Legal Correspondent
Senior employees can’t get lower salaries than their juniors, be it due to pay anomaly or any other reason, the Supreme Court has ruled while disposing of a petition against Punjab State Electricity Board and its authorities.
“We are unable to accept the reasoning of the (Punjab and Haryana) High Court or the submissions made in support thereof ” by the PSEB’s counsel, the apex court Bench, comprising Justices Altamas Kabir and Karkendey Katju, said in their verdict yesterday.
Two PSEB employees, Gurcharan Singh Grewal and Satinder Singh, had approached the HC, complaining that they were getting less pay than their junior Ram Prakash Shori. Upon getting the court’s notice, the PSEB hiked the pay of Satinder Singh and informed the HC accordingly in its response
When the case came up for hearing on September 23, 2005, the HC dismissed the complainants’ petition as it had become infructuous after Satinder was given the hike. The court accepted the PSEB’s plea that Grewal had not sought such a relief specifically.
The HC also dismissed two petitions filed subsequently, a review petition and a miscellaneous application, on the same ground.
The Supreme Court, however, said: “We are clearly of the opinion that the reasoning of the high court was erroneous and the appellant No. 1 was also entitled to the same benefits of pay parity with Shri Shori as has been granted to the appellant No. 2”.
The court rejected the PSEB counsel’s argument that Shori was getting more because he had got the promotional scale with effect from September 1, 2001 when the increments and the pay-scales were higher and when Grewal got the higher scale from January 1, 1996, such benefits were lower.
This contention “is still contrary to the settled principle of law that a senior cannot be paid lesser salary than his junior,” the Bench observed in their judgment, written by Justice Kabir.
The apex court accepted the argument of the petitioners’ counsel Nidesh Gupta that the prayer for higher pay was applicable to both petitioners and leaving out one of them for the benefit had defeated the very purpose of making Grewal petitioner No. 1.
Comparison of military power, Pak-India
Air Marshal Ayaz A Khan (R)
Unfortunately India and Pakistan had adversarial relations since sixty years. After the Mumbai carnage Pakistan is under threat of pre-emptive strikes. Fourth Indo-Pakistan war could be triggered by another terrorist attack anywhere in India. This is a dangerous scenario. India and Pakistan have fought three wars, and war drums for the fourth war are getting louder. It is in order therefore to comprehend Indian military capabilities, and Pakistan’s ability to defend itself. Defense capability is an interplay of economic and military potential. Indian economy is booming, and its GDP growth is in double digits. The global recession has impacted Indian economy, but its defense capability remains intact. Military power and capabilities are sustained by economic and industrial potential. Geography, demography, population, oil resources and reserves, industrial capability including defense production, dollar reserves, self reliance, education, quality of manpower and leadership have a bearing on military power. Seven lakh Indian troops are tied down in Jammu and Kashmir. India has over one hundred billion dollar reserves. The West, Israel and Russia are India’s weapon suppliers.
Indian Army has eighteen Corps with 34 Divisions including four Rapid Action Divisions, which would spear head ground offensives. Pakistan Army has ten Corps and twenty five divisions. Indian Army has eighteen Infantry, ten Mountain, three Armored, and two Artillery Divisions. Besides it has five Infantry, one parachute, thirteen Air Defense, and four Engineering Brigades, designated as independent formations. In addition there are two Air Defense Groups, and fourteen Army Aviation Helicopter units. This is a sizeable force, capable of launching major offensives from several fronts. The decentralized command structure will be an advantage, as compared to Pakistan’s centralized Army command organization. Pakistan Army has an active force of 620,000 well trained personnel, with 528000 reservists, and 150000 para-military troops. Pakistan armed forces are seventh largest in the world. Pakistan Army’s doctrine of “Offensive Defense”, evolved by General Mirza Aslam Beg was put to test in 1989 in Exercise Zarb-e Momin. The doctrine is to launch a sizeable offensive into enemy territory, rather than wait for enemy strikes or attacks. In case of Indian land offensive Pakistan Army and Air Force will respond with land and air offensives to gain and hold enemy territory. Before embarking on further offensive, gains shall be consolidated. In 1990 the Central Corps of Reserves was created to fight in the desert sectors , where enemy land offensives are expected. These dual capable formations trained for offensive and holding actions are fully mechanized.
Pakistan Army has ten Corps including the newly formed Strategic Corps. The Army has twenty six divisions (eight less than India). Two more divisions were raised as Corps reserves for V and XXXI Corps. Pakistan Army has two armored divisions, and ten independent armored brigades. Presently one hundred thousand troops are stationed on the Pak Afghan border to fight terror. Special Service Group-SSG comprises two airborne Brigades i.e. six battalions. Pakistan Army has 360 helicopters, over two thousand heavy guns, and 3000 APC’s. Its main anti-tank weapons are Tow, Tow Mk II, Bakter Shiken and FGM 148 ATGM. The Army Air Defence Command has S.A- 7 Grail, General Dynamics FIM-92 Stinger, GD FIM Red Eye, and ANZA Mk-I, Mk-II, Mk-III and HQ 2 B surface ti air missiles. Radar controlled Oerlikon is the standard Ack Ack weapon system. The ballistic missile inventory of the Army is substantial. It comprises Ghauri III and Shaheen III IRB’S; medium range Ghauri I and II and Shaheen II, and short range Hatf I- B, Abdali, Ghaznavi, Shaheen I and M -11 missiles. All the ballistic missiles can carry nuclear war heads. Nuclear and conventional weapon capable Babur Cruise missile is the new addition to Pakistan’s strategic weapon inventory. Number of ballistic missiles and war heads are almost the same as India has. So there is a parity in nuclear weapons, which is a deterrent.
Indian armor is of Russian origin. Out of 2295 Indian Army’s Main Battle tanks, 2235 are of Russian origin. The main battle tanks are; 310 T-90-S Bishsma’s (300 are on order), 1925 T-72M Ajeya’s.. The T-90 and the T-72 have 125 mm smooth barrel guns. T-72 though old is the backbone of Indian Armor Corp’s. 268 Ajeya’s have been upgraded with Israeli Elbit thermal imaging systems. 1000 T-72 MBT’s are awaiting up-gradation. There have been several instances of T-72’s gun barrel bursting. 124 Indian made Arjun (heavy 56 ton) MBT are on order. Sixty Arjun’s are in operational service. Arjun’s engine overheating problem has not been solved. Arjun has a 120 mm gun, but is unfit or desert operations.
Pakistan Army is equally strong in armor, capable of giving a fitting response to any Indian military adventure. Main Battle tanks Al-Khalid and Al-Zarrar are the backbone of Pakistan’s armor Corp’s. Both are Pakistan made. Pakistan’s tank armory comprises :five hundred Al-Khalid MBT’s; 320 Al-Zarrar type 85 II MBT’s, 500 Al-Zarrar MBT’s; 450 79II AP (Chinese type 81 upgrade, and 570 T-80 UD MBT of Ukranian make. In addition Pakistan has 880 Type 59, which were procured from China in 1970.This makes a total of three thousand six hundred and twenty tanks. All Pakistani MBT’s except T-59’s have 125 mm smooth barrel guns. Indian armor offensives in Kashmir, Punjab, and Sind would be effectively challenged by Pakistani armor and mechanized formations, depending on PAF’s ability to keep the skies over the battle areas clear of Indian Air Force. India’s modern air defense system has Israeli Arrow anti-missile missiles, and 90,000 surface to air missiles-SAM’s. India has one hundred nuclear armed ballistic missiles (Agni-1 and Agni II), and Brahmos the new supersonic cruise missile. Indian Army is well trained, equipped and highly professional, and so is Pakistan Army.
Air power is likely to play a key, if not a decisive role in any future major or minor India-Pakistan armed conflict. The aim of Indian pre-emptive strikes will be maximum destruction by surprise air attacks, combined with shock commando action. A possibe scenario is; intensive bombing of the target to be followed by attacks by armed helicopters and ground assault by heliborne Commandoes. An overview of Indian Air Force and Pakistan Air Force will help comprehension of IAF’s offensive capabilities, and defensive capabilities of Pakistan Air Force. Indian Air Force has 3000 aircraft including training, transport, helicopters and 800-1000 combat air craft, which operate from sixty air bases, including Farkhor airbase in Tajikistan.. Six hundred IAF’s strike and air defense fighters are expected to be operational. Pakistan Air Force has 630 aircraft, which include 530 combat aircraft, with 400 operational at any time. In 1996 India signed an agreement with Russia for the purchase of 90 Su 30 Mk-1 multi-role fighter-bombers. In 2004 a multi-billion licence was signed for building additional 140. 240 Su30-Mk-1’s were ordered, 120 are already in service. With a maximum speed of Mach 2.3 and range of 8000 Km with refueling and ability to carry tons of conventional munitions and nuclear weapons, it is a lethal and menacing weapon system for the strike and interception role. Other IAF’s advanced strike and combat aircraft are: 51 Mirage-2000 (of Kargil fame), 60 Mig-29’s (for air defense), 250 old Mig-21’s (110 have been refurbished with Israeli help), 47 Jaguars and 70 Mig-27’s for ground attack. 220 LCA Teja’s under manufacture at HAL Bangalore will start entering service in 2010... IAF’s fighter pilots are well trained and have out shone American pilots during joint exercises.
Pakistan Air Force has 200 rebuilt Mirage- 3’s ( for night air defense) and Mirage-5’s for the strike role. They can carry nuclear weapons. They have been upgraded with new weapon systems, radars, and avionics. Additionally the PAF has 42 F-16’s, 150 F-7’s including 55 latest F-7 PG’s. Manufacture of 150 JF 17 Thunder fighters (jointly designed) is underway at Pakistan Aeronautical Complex Kamra. The JF -17 Thunder is a 4th generation fly by wire multi-role fighter aircraft. Eight are already in PAF service. An order has been placed with China for the purchase of 36 JF-10, a Mach 2.3 -5th generation multi-role fighter, comparable in performance to the Su-30 Mk-1 with the Indian Air Force. PAF is on Red Alert, and is maintaining full vigil to intercept and destroy IAF intruders. During the recent air space violation, the IAF intruders were in the sights of PAF’s F-16’s, but were allowed to escape unscathed to avoid a major diplomatic crisis. PAF pilots and technicians are well trained, high professionals, who will be able to prove their mettle in the future battle with India. A comparison of Indian Navy and Pakistan Navy reveals that Pakistan Navy could inflict substantial damage to the Indian Navy. Indian Navy has 16 submarines; Pakistan Navy has ten, some are brand new. Indian Navy has 27 war ships, Pakistan Navy has ten. Indian Aircraft Carrier Veerat, will be a menace, and must be sunk by submarine or air attacks, if it attempts to block Pakistan’s sea lanes or ports. It is hoped that better sense prevails and India desists from invading and attacking Pakistan. If it does, the consequences will be horrible for both the countries.
Army Air Defence Day celebrated at Western Command
Punjab Newsline Network
CHANDIGARH: The Army Air Defence (AAD)Day was celebrated with enthusiasm by Army Air Defence troops at Chandimandir Military Station today. The celebration also included a 'Barakhana' organized at Chandimandir for all ranks. MG AAD, Maj Gen JP Singh, SC paid tributes to all those AD gunners who laid down their life for the country.
The first light Anti Air Craft unit was raised in Oct 1941 with L/60 Guns on the Territorial Army (TA) concept. At the time of Partition, only two Air Defence Artillery units came to India. The L/60 guns were gradually replaced by radar controlled L/70 guns in the seventies. By 1975 all exiting TA Air Defence units were converted into regular Air Defence units. However, Air Defence units continued to be an integral part of Regiment of Artillery. Corps of Air Defence Artillery now re-christened as Army Air Defence came into existence on 10 Jan 1994 after bifurcation from the Regiment of Artillery.
Army Air Defence today is equipped with sophisticated weapon system and supporting infrastructure in consonance with its motto "AKASHE SHATRUN JAHI" which means "DESTRUCTION OF THE ENEMY IN THE AIR". Exponential advancement in the air power has brought the Army Air Defence to the centre stage of dominating the battle field.
The Air Defence Gunners gave a very good account of themselves during 1965 Indo Pak War. Four Vir Chakras were awarded besides other gallantry medals and citations. Army Air Defence reached a new high during Indo-Pak War in 1971 wherein our gunners were awarded a total of 13 Veer Chakras, one Shourya Chakra and other gallantry awards.
Besides the above operations, Air Defence Units have actively participated in Operation Meghdoot, Operation Trident and Falcon, Operation Pawan, Operation Vijay and Operation Parakram. Besides, several Air Defence units have been engaged in various Counter Insurgency tasks in J&K wherein many gallant Air Defence gunners have made the supreme sacrifice and won laurels for the nation.
Indian soldier feared drowned in Franklin River
An Indian Army soldier is feared dead after falling into the Franklin River on the State's West Coast.
The man was white water rafting with Australian soldiers and five other members of the Indian Army when he fell into the water about 2pm on Friday.
A Tasmania Police spokesman said the man had entered the water at a rapid known as the Cauldron, and had not been seen since.
He said it was believed the man had drowned.
A large search intensified yesterday, with the involvement of an experienced kayak team from Hobart's Derwent Canoe Club.
Inspector Brian Edmonds said additional police were also in the area as well as members of the Australian Defence Force.
Insp. Edmonds asked anyone preparing a trip on the Franklin River to report anything of interest to police at Rafters Basin or by calling Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Indian and US armies plan future joint operations
Written on January 10, 2009 – 9:44 am | by Frontier India Strategic and Defence |
On 5th January 2009, Senior officials from the U.S. Army, Pacific, joined by the Marine Forces Pacific and Special Operations Command, Pacific, met with members of the Indian army for the 13th annual Indian Executive Steering Group to coordinate training engagements between the ground forces of the two countries.
“Since 1995, we have met annually to enhance our relationship and we have made significant progress over the last many years,” said Lt. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon, commander, U.S. Army, Pacific, who gave opening remarks with his counterpart Lt. Gen. A.S. Sekhon, Indian army director of general military operations. “Our relationship with India has been and will continue to be a centerpiece of our strategy with the United States Army in the Pacific.”
Mixon addressed plans to build a strategic partnership through eight initiatives established by U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey and Indian army Chief of Staff Gen Deepak Kapoor to enhance cooperation.
“It started from a lower level of cooperation, with subject matter engagements to tactical level exercises with boots on the ground, and I think the doctrinal exchange such as this ESG has really paved the way to take this cooperation further towards higher cooperations” Sekhon emphasized.
The week’s events include review and assessment of 2008’s joint and combined training events and coordination of future actions between both militaries.
Op-ed: India honors its veterans; we should too
BY VARINDER K. BHALLA | Varinder K. Bhalla lives in Albertson.
In 1965, as a teenager growing up in India, I watched a long caravan of military trucks carrying Indian soldiers to the Pakistan border during the height of the Indo-Pakistan War. On both sides of the Grand Truck Road, the national highway of India, stretching several hundred miles, there were tens of thousands of civilian people cheering up the soldiers, offering fruits, sweets and drinks, but more important, expressing their love and gratitude to the men and women in uniform for the risks they were taking in the defense of their country.
Even after retirement, the military personnel are highly respected in the Indian society and offered special privileges. With that mindset, ever since I moved to the United States in 1969, I have been most troubled by the plight of the American war veterans, many of whom are homeless, unemployed and simply neglected by the society in general.
I believe that all of us - including those opposed to the Vietnam and Iraq wars - owe a great sense of gratitude to our veterans and need to express it in tangible terms. So I salute County Executive Thomas Suozzi for his Warriors to Work initiative to help military veterans in their quest to be gainfully employed.
Equally commendable is the gesture of Gov. David A. Paterson, in his State of the State address this week, saluting "those who volunteered to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan so that the rest of us could remain safe in New York," and making a commitment to implement a comprehensive strategy to support returning veterans, "the brave men and women of our armed forces who have earned our respect and admiration for their heroism far from home."
Paterson's gesture reminds me of the slogan "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan" ("Hail the Soldier, Hail the Farmer") that the then-Prime Minister of India, Lal Bahadur Shastri, gave to the nation in 1965.
This slogan had unprecedented mass appeal. Street banners with "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan" were raised all over the country. Most trucks across the country had it written on their bumpers. Even posters to publicize any product or service had this slogan, reminding us to cheer the soldiers defending India and cheer the farmers engaged in increasing the production of food grains.
In the United States, on the contrary, veterans are found homeless, sleeping in doorways, alleys or boxes on any given night on Long Island and in New York City, and across the nation.
The plight of homeless veterans is a national tragedy. Homelessness among veterans does not bode well for us as a society. Leaving them homeless is hardly a way to treat anyone willing to die for us. These veterans have put on a uniform and served our country. These are ordinary people whose lives have been touched in extraordinary ways in times of war and beyond.
They risked their lives for us and deserve a second chance. A lot is already being done to address the problem. A lot more needs to be done. We need to form a collective will and forge partnerships between the public and private sector and continuously take action to rehabilitate them until the last homeless veteran finds his home in the greatest nation on Earth.
Let us honor them for their sacrifice and gallantry. Let us cheer them up. Jai New Yorker Jawan; Jai American Jawan!
EADS Defence & Security, DCNS and Rohde & Schwarz team wins 240 million euro RIFAN stage 2 contract for the French Navy
Written on January 9, 2009 – 10:03 am | by Frontier India Strategic and Defence |
EADS Defence & Security, the Agent, and its co-contractors DCNS and Rohde & Schwarz, have been notified on december 22 2008, from the DGA procurement branch of the French Ministry of Defence for stage 2 of the RIFAN programme to equip the French naval air arm on exercises or on missions with a true intranet for surface ships, submarines and aircraft within the force.
The framework contract, worth 240 million euros, covers the design and deployment of an IP communication system to equip 116 ships and 64 aircraft over a period of five years, and the provision of operational support for an additional five years.
RIFAN stage 2, the IP backbone for the naval air arm, is designed to be incorporated into the master plan of the Navy Information and Combat System. It will ensure broadband information exchange between onboard business applications, will be open to onboard staff information systems and will cover all levels of information sensitivity, from unclassified to NATO classified. This second stage follows on from the RIFAN Operation stage 1 to equip French Navy level one ships.
RIFAN stage 2 will also implement a Network Management Capacity to supervise and manage the complete network of ships and aircraft from sites based on land. This site will also have a global view of security-related incidents and will control the confidentiality, integrity and availability of operational data.
New V/UHF radios supplied by Rohde & Schwarz, already a renowned partner to the French Navy, will offer broadband IP transmission capability between ships, in addition to the renewal of the fixed-frequency and frequency-hopping voice function. “The historical presence of Rohde & Schwarz in many naval forces around the world has culminated in today’s selection for the RIFAN2 programme. We are proud that the excellence of our radio technologies, associated with the acknowledged expertise of our teams, will now be involved in this major French Navy project,” said Jean-Christophe Prunet, Chairman of Rohde & Schwarz France.
Within the framework of this grouping, EADS DS has subcontracted the development of the administration and supervision centre for this critical and highly secured information and communication system to CS Communication et Systèmes, a company with many years of experience with major accounts.
DCNS, a major partner of the French Navy, will provide engineering services, including installation studies for RIFAN2 on surface ships and submarines, and equipment deployment. “This success illustrates the quality of services supplied by DCNS. It reinforces the major role of the company in the field of onboard system integration by demonstrating the expertise of DCNS in this field,” observes Christian Foissey, Director of DCNS Services Division.
India approves BAE Systems and Mahindra & Mahindra joint venture
Written on January 7, 2009 – 4:55 pm | by Frontier India Strategic and Defence |
Following approval from the Government of India’s Foreign Investment Promotions Board, Mahindra & Mahindra and BAE Systems will set up a Joint Venture (JV) in India focused on land systems for the Indian market. This is a key step in setting up the JV, and in accordance with current Foreign Direct Investment regulations, the equity split will be 74% with Mahindra & Mahindra and 26% BAE Systems. Mahindra & Mahindra and BAE Systems will now finalise detailed planning and structural arrangements with a view to commencing JV operations as early as Q2 2009.
Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra, said “Our JV with BAE Systems is a strategic initiative by the Mahindra Group to achieve a leadership position in the land systems defence domain. These solutions will provide greatly enhanced capability for our Indian land forces and open up export markets not previously within our reach.”
Ian King, Chief Executive, BAE Systems, said “This is an exciting opportunity and is the first step in BAE Systems’ plans to grow long term businesses in India in multiple sectors across the breadth and depth of the company’s global capabilities in land, sea, air and security.”
Headquartered in Delhi, with manufacturing in Faridabad, the JV will initially employ 50-60 people. Initial work is likely to include the up-armouring of Rakshack vehicles, Axe vehicle production, and starting the process of developing a mine resistant ambush protected vehicle suitable for India.
We didn’t let Poonch militants escape: Indian Army
Jan 10th, 2009 | By Sindh Today | Category: India
Jammu, Jan 10 (IANS) The Indian Army Saturday denied reports it had provided safe passage to militants hiding in the Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir in exchange for the release of some abducted security personnel during the eight-day operation against them.
‘It is just fiction, a total lie with no truth whatsoever in it,’ a senior officer at the 16 Corps headquarters at Nagrota, told IANS.
‘Spreading such reports is not only detrimental to the army’s cause but goes against national interest,’ he added
The officer was reacting to reports from Mendhar, where the operation took place, that the ‘militants had been given safe passage in exchange for the release of some security personnel abducted by militants holed up in the forest’.
The army Saturday said they were still on the trail of the militants though they had called off the operation in the dense forest near Mendhar in Poonch Thursday night.
The army maintained the militants escaped the three-tier security cordon ‘taking advantage of terrain and bad weather’.
An army official said, ‘The militants might have escaped this area (Pati Tar) but we have gathered tell-tale signs and are very much on their trail.’
‘Hardcore militants’ of the Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba were reported to be hiding in the Mendhar forest. The army began its operation to flush out the terrorists Jan 1.
The army had said that seven people, including four militants and three security personnel, were killed during fighting in the first three days. But the army has not recovered the bodies of the killed militants till now.
The area in Mendhar is on the map of traditional infiltration routes of militants sneaking into the Indian side from Pakistan across the Line of Control. It has accessibility to the Kashmir Valley through mountain passes.
Indian Air Force Sukhoi jets being retrofitted with cruise missile pods
New Delhi, Jan 10 (Inditop) Two Indian Air Force (IAF) Sukhoi-30MKI combat jets have been sent to Russia for a retrofit that would enable them launch the aerial version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile that India and Russia have jointly developed, an official said.
“The aerial version of the BrahMos missiles will be delivered from the Su-30MKI platform. We were in talks with Sukhoi and the IAF for it. Finally two Su-30MKIs of the IAF have been sent to Russia for retrofitting,” a senior official of BrahMos Aerospace that manufactures the missile, told IANS, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“The aerial version of BrahMos is coming along very well. After being programmed, the missile will be released from the aircraft and will auto-launch towards its target when it reaches an altitude of 50 metres,” the official explained.
“The aerial version is nearly nine metres long and this requires modifications of the aircraft’s fuselage. Since the Sukhoi company is busy with designing a fifth generation fighter, (India’s) DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) scientists, along with Russian experts, will carry out the necessary modifications,” the official said.
The modifications will be completed by early 2010.
Once this happens, BrahMos will become a “universal cruise missile” due to its ability to be launched from land, sea - from both ships and submarines - and the air.
The land and naval versions have already been inducted into service with the Indian Army and the Indian Navy.
The navy has integrated anti-ship versions of the BrahMos on its warships, including INS Rajput, and is integrating it on to two other ships of the same class. The missiles will also be mounted on the three 7,000-tonne Kolkata class destroyers currently being constructed at Mumbai’s Mazagon Docks.
The navy had Dec 18 last year test-fired the missile from a vertical launcher on a ship in the Bay of Bengal. All earlier launches had been carried out from inclined launchers.
The missile, which takes its name from the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers, has a range of nearly 300 km and carries a 300 kg conventional warhead. It can achieve speeds of up to 2.8 Mach or nearly three times the speed of sound.
BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited was established in India as a joint venture through an inter-governmental agreement signed between India and Russia in February 1998.
Labels: airforce, armed forces, Army, naval chief, terrorism, US
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Jean Sulpice’s Restaurant
Chef Jean Sulpice
At the age of 39, Jean Sulpice, a child of mountain pastures and summits, finds Annecy Lake in his first years as a cook. It was at this time that he also met Magali, then a sommelier at L’Auberge de l’Eridan, who will become his wife and mother of their two children. Jean Sulpice, a member of a family of restaurateurs for three generations, lives two simultaneous passions: open spaces and gastronomy. His cuisine make the synthesis.
A spontaneous, precise and balanced cuisine, which reveals the authentic flavor of noble products, aromatic herbs, to offer its original expression of a territory. For 15 years, it will be at 2300 meters of altitude, in the highest station of Europe, that Jean Sulpice will succeed the bet to propose a gourmet kitchen in high mountain. He is rewarded with a first star in the Michelin guide in 2006 and a second in 2010. He is also Relais & Chateaux’s Grand Chef.
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ICA’s opening statement on the NSW Workers Compensation Scheme
Please see the Insurance Council of Australia’s (ICA) opening statement to the committee hearing, from Vicki Mullen, General Manager, Consumer Relations and Market Development:
Thank you for the opportunity to give evidence to the Committee. I will give a brief opening statement, including an overview of the Insurance Council of Australia and the general insurance industry.
The Insurance Council is the representative body of the general insurance industry in Australia. Our members represent more than 95 per cent of total premium income written by private sector insurers.
Insurance Council members, both insurers and reinsurers, are a significant part of the financial services system. June 2011 statistics from the Australian Prudential Regulation.
Authority show the private sector insurance industry generates gross written premium of $34.3 billion per annum and has total assets of $114.9 billion.
In the area of state and territory-based compulsory compensation schemes in Australia, our members are variously involved in motor accident and workers compensation schemes as insurers or as scheme agents.
Insurance Council members underwrite the motor accident schemes in New South Wales, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory.
A member of the Insurance Council is the claims agent for the South Australian motor accidents scheme.
Insurance Council members underwrite the workers compensation schemes in Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Tasmania and the ACT.
Insurance Council members are scheme agents for the workers compensation schemes in NSW, Victoria and South Australia.
In NSW, Insurance Council members that act as scheme agents for workers compensation are Allianz, CGU, Employers Mutual, GIO and QBE.
As Committee members may be aware, there are also two claims managers that are not licensed insurers that are also agents for the NSW Workers compensation scheme.
These claims managers are not members of the Insurance Council.
As noted in the submission of the Insurance Council, we believe it is important to clarify the specific role of Insurance Council members in the NSW Workers Compensation Scheme.
Our members do not insure or underwrite the NSW Workers Compensation Scheme.
Our members do not manage the funds of the scheme.
Our members are appointed by WorkCover to:
• Issue workers compensation insurance policies
• determine and collect insurance premiums
• manage workers compensation claims
• provide support for injured workers, including rehabilitation
• pay workers compensation benefits to injured workers
• manage any third-party service providers such as medical and rehabilitation services
The provision of these services by our members to the scheme is governed by separate contracts between each scheme agent and WorkCover.
The Insurance Council acknowledges the need for comprehensive reforms to address the deteriorating performance of the NSW Workers Compensation Scheme.
We support in principle reform options set out in the NSW Government’s Issues Paper.
However, we submit that a proper financial analysis should be conducted of any reform proposals to allow the NSW Government, and stakeholders, to make informed decisions about the proposed reforms that are most likely to effectively address the deteriorating performance, and to ensure an affordable and fair scheme for all.
As noted in our submission, the Insurance Council has specifically addressed those reform options which involve the particular expertise of our members as scheme agents.
We are happy to take questions from Committee members.
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Home » » UPFA constituents decide against voting for 19A
UPFA constituents decide against voting for 19A
By Ajith Alahakoon and Akitha Perera
Constituents of the UPFA yesterday decided not to vote for the 19th Amendment to the Constitution Bill of the government.
DNA Parliamentarian Vijitha Herath, who attended the party leaders’ meeting held at the Parliament complex told journalists that the SLFP-led UPFA had informed of its decision at the meeting.
The final decision whether the debate on the 19th amendment Bill previously scheduled for today (21) and tomorrow (22) would be taken at a party leaders’ meeting to be held this morning, Herath said.
The MP said Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva insisted that the 20th Amendment to the constitution envisaging reforms to the electoral system be presented together with the 19th Amendment.
"Media reports say the UPFA leaders have pledged their support for the 19th Amendment during their meeting with President Maithripala Sirisena on Sunday. Now a day after they have changed their mind," MP Herath said, adding that the group of MPs supporting the comeback of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa had resolved not to
support any Bill moved by the incumbent government. "Their aim is to scuttle the 19th Amendment. That is why they commenced a protest in Parliament," Herath said.
"Now the passage of the 19th Amendment to the constitution is doubtful," he added.
Meanwhile, Media Minister Gayantha Karunathilake said the Bill would be taken for debate as scheduled whether the Opposition liked it or not.
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memory of my brother
making headlines
shop lush life
allison@itsalushlife.com
The ability to remain sober and gracious is, indeed, a form of mild insanity.
This is my brother Will. He was born on June 10, 1982 and died on April 22, 2012. He was 29 years old. He was a son, a brother, an uncle, a husband and a friend.
Will was a happy kid growing up. In fact, he was happy most of his life. He didn't start drinking until he was in college. His story, unfortunately, is a common one. Will's substance abuse history from beginning to end was 10 years. In that time he started drinking like most of us in college. He became dependent on alcohol. He was prescribed medications to deal with anxiety, sleeping problems, and ADD. He started abusing those medications, which lead to abusing other prescription opiate medications.
On April 22, 2012, Will made a fatal error in what he thought was just a short vacation from reality, without much knowledge of the powerful drug, fentanlyl, that he had been introduced to, and overdosed.
To know Will was to love him. He was popular with his friends and close with his family. He was a smart kid. In fact, he would quickly tell you that he had "papers" to show his genius IQ...which he did. Will and I both went to The College of Charleston. He was a freshman when I was a senior. He was good student. He was a perfectionist in everything he did from grades to detailing his car.
Will was more of an observer for the most part. He had a gentle presence about him with a kind soul. One of his college friends spoke at his funeral and said it perfectly...
"To say, “he would give you the shirt off his back” would be cliché and a little inaccurate, because Will would give you his shirt, jacket, hat, and all the money he had in his wallet if you needed it. He didn't look for thanks or recognition for his kindness, he didn't need it -- all he needed to know was that he just helped a friend in need. That was enough."
My brother knew he had a problem with alcohol. He had asked God for help in a prayer he wrote a couple years back and kept with him in his wallet, which we found the night he passed away. There is nothing that breaks my heart more than a person who knows they have a problem, wants to change and doesn't know how. I was that person too. A life without alcohol seems impossible to an alcoholic who is suffering. It seemed impossible to me. Will was one of the unfortunates and maybe his only chance of recovery was going to Heaven, sacrificing his life so that so many of us affected by his tragedy can find freedom from the use of alcohol and drugs.
© Copyright 2014 It's a Lush Life, LLC. All rights reserved.
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KILLER DANA HISTORY
Killer Dana Surf Shop opened for business on June 10, 1991, in a tiny store along old Highway 1 in Dana Point. We are about a quarter mile from the beach and have an ocean view from our rooftop. Most days, there are two or three wetsuits hanging from our front door, as we are minutes away from good surf to both the North and South. Over the years, we have moved to a corner intersection, doubled the size of our original shop, and opened “The Board Room”. The owners and many of the employees at Killer Dana Surf Shop are second and third generation surfers from Dana Point, very aware of their surfing heritage. Even though Dana Point has changed and been developed like most places in Southern California, it is still a beach town where surfing and surfers are a big part of the community. Many days at the shop, Pat O’Connell, Kasey Curtis, and others come in for a bar of wax or to hang and talk about the surf. When you come into Killer Dana Surf Shop, you experience the aloha and stoke of an old-fashioned, sand on the floor, California beach surf shop. It’s an experience that every customer receives, whether you are a world-class surfing professional or still getting ready for your first lesson.
DANA POINT, CALIFORNIA
Dana Point, California is named after author Richard Henry Dana, who, in the late 1800’s wrote the classic American novel, “Two Years Before the Mast,” a book which is still required reading in many American schools. Dana called the high bluffs and sheltered coves of this area the most beautiful spot on the California coast. Pioneering surfers thought so too, as they surfed the many breaks along this rich coast. Dana Point has a surfing history to rival anywhere outside Hawaii. Hobie Alter opened the very first retail surf shop here in 1954. You could fill a book with stories from the days of Hobie Surfboard’s nearby factory. Surfer Magazine began here and, to this day, calls Dana Point home. The Surfer’s Journal, Steve Pezman’s outstanding magazine, is based here. Bruce Brown produced the classic “Endless Summer”right here in town. On any given day, you can spot Phil Edwards riding his bike, Mickey Munoz at the market, and many other classic surfers whose roots go deep into Dana Point’s rich surfing heritage. Dana Point was also once home to a very special wave. That wave broke at the Dana Point Cove and was known as Killer Dana.The break got this name because it came out of deep water and broke close to the rocks which lined the beach. In the days before leashes, wipe outs were sure to bring at least a few dings – if not worse. The crew at Killer Dana included many of Southern California’s earliest surfers – men like Peanuts Larsen and Whitey Harrison. Later on, legendary surfers such as Phil Edwards, The Patterson Brothers, Flippy Hoffman, Del Cannon, and Billy Hamilton came to call the break home. When not surfing, these watermen spent their time lobstering, fishing, abalone diving – all the while unknowingly setting the stage for decades of surfers yet to come. Tragically, Killer Dana was destroyed when the Dana Point Harbor was built. A giant breakwater now cuts through the heart of the once epic right point. Few can imagine the silence that must have embraced the line-up on the locals’ final evening at Killer Dana. Many who had surfed the break for decades knew they would be powerless to do anything but watch as their break was filled with stones in 1966.
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Civil Rights Legend and former UN Ambassador, Congressman, and Mayor of Atlanta
In the decades since Andrew Young helped change the course of history as a leader in the Civil Rights Movement, he has built a remarkable legacy as a civic activist, elected official, groundbreaking ambassador, social entrepreneur, and adviser to presidents. Today, he leads the Andrew J. Young Foundation's efforts to develop and support new generations of visionary leaders who will create sustainable global approaches to economic development, poverty alleviation, and the challenge of hunger.
Young attended segregated schools in New Orleans and graduated early from Howard University before attending Hartford Theological Seminary. It was during his time as a pastor in southern Georgia that he became active in the Civil Rights Movement, organizing voter registration drives in 1954 in the face of death threats. After a few years with the National Council of Churches in New York, he returned to Georgia in 1961 to lead the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's “citizenship schools,” working closely with Dr. King to teach non-violent organizing strategies. He was a key strategist and negotiator during campaigns that led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
In 1972, Young was elected to Congress, becoming the first African-American representative from the Deep South since Reconstruction. He sponsored legislation that established a U.S. Institute for Peace, The African Development Bank and the Chattahoochee River National Park, while negotiating federal funds for MARTA (Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority), the Atlanta highway system, and a new international airport for Atlanta.
In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed Young to serve as the nation's first African-American Ambassador to the United Nations. Young was an architect of the first U.S. Africa policy grounded in human rights rather than simply cold war calculus, and he helped negotiate an end to white-minority rule in Namibia and Zimbabwe.
Young was instrumental in the building of modern-day Atlanta. He was elected Mayor in 1981 and re-elected in 1985 with nearly 85 percent of the vote. Hartsfield International Airport, whose development he championed, made it possible for Atlanta to attract 1,100 new businesses, $70 billion in foreign direct investment, and 1 million new jobs to the region during his tenure. It is now the busiest airport in the world. The city hosted the Democratic National Convention in 1988. Young also led the successful effort to bring the 1996 Olympic Games to Atlanta. Young's involvement with Africa has continued in the years since his term as ambassador. President Bill Clinton appointed him founding chair of the Southern African Enterprise Development Fund, and in 1996 he co-founded Good Works International, where for more than 15 years he promoted an approach to sustainable economic development in Africa and the Caribbean grounded in profitability and social responsibility. Through the Andrew J. Young Foundation and its partnerships with international agencies and the private sector, he continues to focus on expanding educational opportunity as well as innovative approaches to alleviating hunger and poverty in the U.S. and abroad. Young is the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the French Legion d'honneur and has received honorary degrees from more than 100 colleges and universities. Young was born in 1932 in New Orleans, and he currently lives in Atlanta with his wife, Carolyn McClain Young. He is also a father of three daughters and one son, and a grandfather of eight.
#LBJSummitonRace
events@lbjfoundation.org
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Mediation, Family Law, Personal Injury, Civil Litigation
Joseph J.M. Lombino
Joseph J.M Lombino. Mr. Lombino is co-founder and managing partner of the law firm LOMBINO ∙ MARTINO, P.S. In addition to his admittance to several Federal Courts, Mr. Lombino is admitted to the Bar in Washington, California, Oregon and Alaska where his practice consists of Civil Litigation, Family Law, Personal Injury and Mediation. Mr. Lombino is also a member of the Tacoma-Pierce County Bar Association where he twice served as Trustee. Mr. Lombino received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Nevada and his Juris Doctor degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. Mr. Lombino has served as Superior Court Commissioner and Judge Pro Tempore since 1987 and is a former Adjunct Instructor at Pierce College. Mr. Lombino and has been a guest speaker at various seminars on Domestic Relations practice in the State of Washington and has served as a volunteer Judge for Mock Trial Competitions for the YMCA and the Seattle University School of Law. Mr. Lombino has diligently served the needs of his clients for over 30 years and is recognized as “AV" rated by Martindale-Hubbell, signifying excellence at the highest level of his profession. Mr. Lombino is a Fellow with the Litigation Counsel of America and was distinguished as a Washington Super Lawyer by Super Lawyer's Magazine for 2018 and 2019.
It was with great pride that Mr. Lombino, together with Mr. Martino, established the law firm of LOMBINO · MARTINO, P.S. in October, 2005 and became the Washington State Provider Law Firm for LegalShield (formerly Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc.)
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Ryan Frisinger
due 24 November: IMS-Paris Annual Symposium Call for Papers: "Truth and Fiction" // IMS-Paris Graduate Student Prize
The International Medieval Society (IMS-Paris) invites interested scholars to submit proposals by November 24th 2017 for our annual symposium, which will be held in Paris on June 28th to June 30th 2018. This year's topic is "Truth and Fiction," and we are looking forward to what is sure to be a challenging and stimulating conference.
Please find the call for papers below, with information about the IMS-Paris Graduate Student Prize.
www.ims-paris.org
Truth and Fiction
28-30 June 2018
In the wake of the US presidential election and the Brexit referendum, the Oxford English Dictionary chose the expression “post-truth” as its word of the year. This expression underlines the growing tendency to dismiss objective facts in favor of impulsive—and often prejudicial—feelings, frequently supported by “alternative facts.” The contentious relationship between the truth and lies, or truth and fiction, which is currently playing out in the public arena has, in fact, a long-standing legacy—one which can be traced back to the Middle Ages. For this reason, this year’s IMS conference seeks to investigate the variety of different approaches to truth and fiction that existed in the Middle Ages.
One possible avenue of inquiry concerns new ideas of Truth introduced by the Gregorian reforms. On a philosophical and doctrinal level, the idea of the infallibility of the Pope, the “Doctor of Truth,” was introduced by Gregory VII who, taking up the words of Christ, contended that he was the Truth (via, veritas, et vita). From a liturgical and sacramental point of view, on the other hand, we can study contemporary tenets of Eucharistic doctrine as a challenge to common sense as a mystery of human understanding—albeit articulated in rationalist terms. Papers thus might address the manner by which the Gregorian reforms placed the question of truth at the center of the demands of society: by constructing this “ideology of truth,” but also—and above all—by implementing mechanisms like preaching, which spread Truth to Christians, and confession, which introduced the obligation to speak the truth. We are particularly interested in the place and the role of Fictions in these devices (sermons, exempla, vita, etc.).
A second approach to this theme is through language, discourse and narrative forms that aimed to produce a supposed truth. We could examine the relationships between literature and history and their ambiguity with respect to the truth. For example, fictionalized historical narratives throughout the medieval period were frequently thought to be true because they provided a means of decrypting the social order. As John of Salisbury wrote, “even the lies of poets served the Truth.” Papers might explore relationships between truth and fiction through the lens of historical and literary genres (novels, epics, etc.) and the ‘truths’ they produced, placing special emphasis on the way that it was possible to believe the facts related in these works. The importance of these historico-literary fictions—what Paul Veyne called “doctrine in the face of facts”—might also be taken into account.
Law and rhetoric also construct notions of truth. Rhetoric permits the control of the relationship between the author and the audiences of a text and the establishment of the status of a text as veridic, among other things. It can even create direct links between music and words, using metaphor as a means of approaching the truth. Papers could consider, for instance, the virtuosity of the effects of Truth produced by the dictamen or even the quaestio scholastique as a method for establishing Truth with certitude, as well as the place of fiction within these new political languages.
Images throughout the medieval period play a fundamental role in the construction or undermining of truth(s). According to Augustine, the image is not truth, but rather a means of understanding Truth. For him, the work of art renders abstractions concrete using representations hat are both specific and individualized. What is the art object’s role in dispelling truth or decrying falsehoods? Through what formal and material means does it achieve either? Papers might consider the use and forms of medieval diagrams, the role of the art object in spiritual form, etc.
Finally, the conference aims to examine the origins and development of interrogative procedures in the medieval period, in that they illustrate relationships with the truth maintained by medieval societies. We are especially interested in the uses and status of fictive facts in inquisitorial trials, the manner that fictions were revealed during trials, or even how the participation of individuals in inquisitorial trials was viewed as an instrument of legitimization of power and as a way of acknowledging those individuals’ own truths and interpretations of facts.
This great diversity of themes opens participation to researchers working in a variety of different fields and coming from a variety of backgrounds: historians, art historians, musicologists, philosophers, literary scholars, specialists in auxiliary sciences (paleographers, epigraphists, codicologists, numismatists)… While we focus on medieval France, compelling submissions focused on other geographical areas that also fit the conference theme are welcomed. In bringing together such diverse proposals, the IMS conference seeks to take a new look at the notion of Truth, its articulations, and its relationship with Fiction in the medieval world.
Abstracts of no more than 300 words (in French or English) for a 20-minute paper should be sent to communications.ims.paris@gmail.com. Each proposal should be accompanied by full contact information, a CV, and a list of the audio-visual equipment required for the presentation.
The deadline for abstracts is 24 November 2017.
Paper selections will be made by a scientific committee composed of Catherine Croizy-Naquet (Univ. Paris 3/CERAM), Marie Dejoux (Univ. Paris 1/LAMOP), Lindsey Hansen (IMS), Fanny Madeline (LAMOP/IMS), and Valerie Wilhite (Univ. of the Virgin Islands/IMS), as well as the members of the Board of Directors of the IMS. Please be aware that the IMS-Paris submissions review process is highly competitive and is carried out on a strictly anonymous basis.The selection committee will email applicants in mid-December to notify them of its decisions. Titles of accepted papers will be made available on the IMS-Paris website thereafter.
Authors of accepted papers will be responsible for their own travel costs and conference registration fees (35€ per person, 20€ for students, free for members of LAMOP and CERAM; 10€ membership dues for all participants).The IMS-Paris is an interdisciplinary, bilingual (French/English) organization that fosters exchanges between French and foreign scholars. For more than a decade, the IMS has served as a center for medievalists who travel to France to conduct research, work or study. For more information about the IMS-Paris and for past symposium programs, please visit our websites: www.ims-paris.org and https://imsparis.hypotheses.org.
IMS-Paris Graduate Student Prize:
The IMS-Paris is pleased to offer one prize for the best paper proposal by a graduate student. Applications should consist of:
1) a symposium paper abstract
2) an outline of a current research project (PhD dissertation research)
3) the names and contact information of two academic referees
The prize-winner will be selected by the board and a committee of honorary members, and will be notified upon acceptance to the Symposium. An award of 350€ to support international travel/accommodation (within France, 150€) will be paid at the symposium
Newer Postdue 31 December: CFP: Sixth Annual Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Older PostNew medieval art titles from our colleagues in France
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This page is devoted to Tourmaline that comes from San Diego county. Most notably the Himalaya Mine, also the Stewart Mine. Both mines are in the northern part of San Diego co.
#T26 Elbaite Tourmaline**
Stewart Mine, Pala District, San Diego County, California. 5/8" tall. This piece has been partially tumble polished.**
#T9 Elbaite Tourmaline**
From the Stewart Mine, Pala, California. Notice the different shade of pink in this mines material. It also has small Lepidolite over the surface of the cap. Very nice crystal.*-
#T7 Tourmaline w/Lepidolite Mica**
A little over 1" tall. A tremendous combo piece.Himalaya Mine, Mesa Grande District, San Diego County, CA.*-
#T4 Elbaite Tourmaline (earthquake alteration)**
It measures 1 1/2" tall.This crystal has been altered by plate tectonics, otherwise known as an earthquake. Unusual to have such a fine colored crystal with the alteration. It comes from the Himalaya Mine, Mesa Grande District, San Diego County, CA.
Tourmaline King Mine, Pala, San Diego County, California. 1/2" tall.**
#T19 San Diego Tourmaline**
5/8" tall. From the Himalaya Mine, San Diego county, Ca.**
#T25 Bi-Color Tourmaline**
From the Himalaya Mine, San Diego, CA. 10 mm tall.**
#T17 Tourmaline**
Himalaya Mine, 1 5/8" long. Great green color and termination, from a classic locality.*-
#T1 Tourmaline**
Tourmaline from (Himalaya Mine), Mesa Grande District, San Diego County, Elbaite. This crystal comes from the 89 pocket, opened up in 1989 by Bill Larson. It weighs 149 grams, and is 2 3/4" tall and 1 1/4" across at its base, it is also a floater and double terminated. The Himalaya mine was first discovered in 1898, and produced gem and specimen grade tourmaline . During the early 1900s, Maine and California were the world's largest producers of gem tourmalines. The Empress Dowager Cixi of China loved pink tourmaline and bought large quantities for gemstones and carvings from the then new Himalaya Mine, located
in San Diego County, California.*
#T13 Tourmaline**
Tourmaline from (Himalaya Mine), Mesa Grande District, San Diego County, Pink and Green. It weighs 54 grams, and is 2 1/4" tall and 3/4" across at its base.This piece was mined in 2013 and has been repaired, a very good repair. The Himalaya mine was first discovered in 1898, and produced gem and
specimen grade tourmaline . During the early 1900s, Maine and California were the world's largest producers of gem tourmalines. The Empress Dowager Cixi of China loved pink tourmaline and bought large quantities for gemstones and carvings from the then new Himalaya Mine, located in San Diego County, California.*-
This is 1" tall and 5/8" across top. There is slight damage on the cap.Himalaya Mine, Mesa Grande District, San Diego County, CA.
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Semana de los Muertos - la segunda parte
It's Mid-May 2016 and filming was scheduled to begin within a week. We were nowhere close to ready for that to happen. The house was a disaster and we were exhausted, stressed, and running out of time. The constant attacks from whatever was here had caused our house to have fallen in disarray. It's tough to do even the basic things when you're in pain, sick, scared and just exhausted on a daily basis. I wasn't feeling well at all. My head was spinning and pounding almost on a daily basis. I was having trouble concentrating, sleeping, and my joints were beginning to lock up from pain.
I was having a very difficult time tuning out the voices. They were speaking to me nearly non-stop; talking over each other but not at each other. It was like they were just talking to hear themselves talk. No matter how hard I tried I could not always disconnect myself from them.
New voices were starting to arrive on a daily basis. Some speaking languages I didn't know as well as in accents which made it very difficult for me to understand them. One of the voices really stuck out to me even though it wasn't English I felt connected to it. I couldn't understand it but it felt comforting and soothing; like it was teaching me something. The language seemed Native American and even though I had no formal education on the ins and outs of it, I felt in someway I understood it.
Over the next few days, the Native American voice started to drown out the others. It didn't completely silence them but it certainly did soften them a bit. At night I could hear a soft low chant as I laid in bed. It was calming, like a lullaby. The chant soothed my nerves and allowed me to drift off to sleep. The chant became a nightly thing. I was starting to learn it and found myself humming it as I laid in bed. For the first time, I started to feel somewhat decent and, on a small scale, I was starting to be productive again.
While I contended with the voices, the activity inside and outside of the house continued. The screams of the crazy woman had turned into a panicking scream of desperation. It was like she knew that she was failing at stopping Amy Allan from coming. The spoon was starting to disappear and reappear with a vengeance and figures started to appear.
One night as I was taking out the trash, I stepped outside and noticed something out of the corner of my eye. As I looked up, I saw him. A young man, maybe a teenager, wearing a Civil War era uniform. He was walking slowly from the fence line to the backside of the garage. I froze, I couldn't move. I just looked at him as he slowly walked. His head was hanging down and he was dragging a rifle by the barrel. I just watched and didn't speak. He looked up at me and the look on his face was one of overwhelming sorrow and pain. I was overcome with sadness. He walked behind the garage and I went around to see if I could still see him but he was gone. I have never felt so much sorrow and pain in my life. He was so young and yet his life must had been so hard and tragic. A life filled with horror, pain, and death. It was like I could feel all his emotions overtaking me all at once. His sorrow and pain were more than I could handle. I became emotional and broke down.
I went inside and told Jennifer about what I had seen as tears filled my eyes. It was heartbreaking and really took an emotional toll on me. Of all the things I had seen up to this point, this was the one that shook me up the most. It wasn't that it scared me, it was that it was such an emotional experience.
I could feel others too. More had come and I could sense them walking around the property. I just couldn't see them. It was like they were lining up to get their shot at us. The worse of the week was to come.
By Lance Eberhardt at January 16, 2018
Labels: Amy Allan, crazy woman, Native American, scream, voices
Semana de los Muertos - Primera parte
Question From A Reader "When Did You Start Believ...
Question From A Reader "what were your experience...
Question From A Reader: "Why did you choose to sub...
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Election Procedures for President and members of the MAV Management Board (Rules 11 & 12)
DIVISION 1 — GENERAL REQUIREMENTS APPLYING TO ELECTIONS
1. Nomination
1.1. Any representative wanting to nominate as a candidate for election either to the position of President or as a regional representative of the Board must submit to the Returning Officer a nomination in the form specified in Schedule 4.
1.2. A nomination must be received by the Returning Officer no later than 4.00pm on the twenty first day before Election Day and may be posted, hand delivered or sent by facsimile.
1.3. A representative nominating for election may nominate himself or herself or be nominated by another representative but must be the council’s representative appointed by the council under rule 6.1. and notified to the Association in the form of Schedule 1.
1.4. The Returning Officer must reject the nomination if:
1.4.1. the person nominating is not the representative appointed by a participating member council; or
1.4.2. the person nominating has been nominated by a person who is not the representative of a participating member council; or
1.4.3. the nomination has not been received by the specified closing time.
2. Candidate’s entitlements
2.1. Each candidate for election may provide to the Returning Officer a statement containing no more than 150 words and a photograph of himself or herself a copy of which must be lodged with the nomination form so that it is circulated under clause 12 of this Schedule.
2.2. Each candidate may appoint a scrutineer in writing to the Returning Officer to be present at the ballot to determine the order of candidates on the ballot paper and at the count of the votes.
2.3. A scrutineer appointed in accordance with sub-clause 2.2. has the right to attend either or both of a ballot or count of votes for which he or she is appointed.
3. Withdrawal or death of a candidate
3.1. If the withdrawal or death of a candidate before the conduct of an election means that only one candidate remains in the election, the Returning Officer must declare the remaining candidate to be elected.
3.2. If the withdrawal or death of a candidate before the conduct of an election means that there are no candidates for an election, the election fails and the Returning Officer must:
3.2.1. if the failure relates to the election of President, advise all the representatives;
3.2.2. in any other case, advise the representatives within the relevant region–
that the election has failed and that a new election will be conducted.
3.3. The Returning Officer must proceed to conduct an election in accordance with these Rules to fill an extraordinary vacancy as soon as practicable.
4. Returning Officer’s duties
If an election is to be conducted for the office of President and for any of the regional member positions on the Board, the Returning Officer must:
4.1. as soon as practicable after 4.00pm on the closure of nominations hold a ballot by lot to determine the order in which the name of each candidate is to appear on the ballot paper;
4.2. within 7 days of the close of nominations send to each representative eligible to vote a statement setting out the names of the representatives who have nominated, the positions for which they have nominated and the order in which candidates names will appear on the ballot paper; and
4.3. prepare separate ballot papers for each of the elections setting out the names of the candidates who have nominated.
5. Election of President
5.1. If only one representative nominates for the office of President, he or she will be declared elected by the Returning Officer.
5.2. If two or more representatives nominate for the office of President, an election must be conducted by the Returning Officer.
6. Marking of ballot papers for election of President
6.1. Where there are more than two candidates for the office of President, the representative must mark his or her vote on the ballot paper delivered to him or her by placing –
6.1.1. the figure 1 opposite the name of the candidate for whom he or she votes as his or her first preference; and
6.1.2. the figures 2, 3, 4 (and so on as the case requires) opposite the respective names of all remaining candidates so as to indicate by numerical sequence the order of his or her preference for each candidate.
6.2. Where there are only two candidates a ballot paper will be deemed to be sufficiently marked if marked with the figure 1 so as to indicate the representative’s first preference.
6.3. At any election where there are more than two candidates the requirements of this sub-clause will be deemed to be sufficiently complied with if the ballot paper is marked with the figures 1, 2, 3, 4, (and so on as the case requires) opposite the names of all the candidates on the ballot paper except one, and in any such case the representative will be deemed and taken to have given his or her last preference vote for the candidate opposite whose name no figure is placed.
6.4. A ballot paper must be rejected if it is not marked in the manner required.
6.5. If the election is conducted by attendance voting, each representative must within 30 minutes after the delivery of the ballot papers, place his or her ballot paper in the appropriate box provided by the Returning Officer.
7. Election Results for the office of President
7.1. If an election for the office of President has been conducted, the candidate who has received the greatest number of first preference votes, if that number constitutes an absolute majority of votes, is to be declared elected by the Returning Officer.
7.2. ‘Absolute majority of votes’ means a number of votes greater than one-half of the total number of ballot papers (excluding ballot papers which are rejected) and if necessary, includes a vote by lot.
7.3. If no candidate has received an absolute majority of votes, the Returning Officer must –
7.3.1. arrange the ballot papers by placing in a separate parcel all those on which a first preference is indicated for the same candidate and preference votes are duly given for all (or all but one) of the remaining candidates, omitting ballot papers which are rejected; and
7.3.2. declare the candidate who received the fewest first preference votes a defeated candidate; and
7.3.3. distribute the ballot papers counted to the defeated candidate amongst the defeated candidates next in order of the voters’ preference; and
7.3.4. after the distribution, again ascertain the total number of votes given to each non defeated candidate.
7.4. The candidate who has then received the greatest number of votes, if that number constitutes an absolute majority of votes, is declared elected by the Returning Officer.
7.5. If no candidate then has an absolute majority of votes, the process of declaring the candidate who has the fewest votes a defeated candidate and distributing the ballot papers counted to the defeated candidate amongst the non defeated candidates next in order of the voters’ preference is to be repeated until 1 candidate has received an absolute majority of votes and is declared elected by the Returning Officer.
7.6. If on any count 2 or more candidates have an equal number of votes and 1 of them has to be declared a defeated candidate, the result is to be determined by lot by the Returning Officer.
7.7. If on a final count 2 candidates have an equal number of votes, the result is to be determined by lot by the Returning Officer.
8. Election of 12 regional members of the Board
8.1. If only one representative from a regional grouping of councils nominates for the position of Board member for that region he or she will be declared elected as the Board member for that region.
8.2. If two or more representatives from a regional grouping of councils nominate for the position of regional member of the Board, an election must be conducted by the Returning Officer.
9. Marking of ballot papers for election of regional member of the Board
9.1. Where an election is conducted for a position as a regional Board member, , the representative must mark his or her vote on the ballot paper delivered to him or her by placing –
9.1.2. the figures 2,3,4 (and so on as the case requires) opposite the respective names of all remaining candidates so as to indicate by numerical sequence the order of his or her preference for each candidate.
9.3. At any election where there are more than two candidates the requirements of this sub-clause will be deemed to be sufficiently complied with if the ballot paper is marked with the figures 1,2,3,4, (and so on as the case requires) opposite the names of all the candidates on the ballot paper except one, and in any such case the representative will be deemed and taken to have given his or her last preference vote for the candidate opposite whose name no figure is placed.
10. Election results for regional members of the Board
10.1. If an election for any of the regional members of the Board has been conducted, the candidate who has received the greatest number of first preference votes, if that number constitutes an absolute majority of votes, is to be declared elected by the Returning Officer.
10.2. ‘Absolute majority of votes’ means a number of votes greater than one-half of the total number of ballot papers (excluding ballot papers which are rejected) and if necessary, includes a vote by lot.
10.3. If no candidate has received an absolute majority of votes, the Returning Officer must –
10.3.1. arrange the ballot papers by placing in a separate parcel all those on which a first preference is indicated for the same candidate and preference votes are duly given for all (or all but one) of the remaining candidates, omitting ballot papers which are rejected; and
10.3.2. declare the candidate who received the fewest first preference votes a defeated candidate; and
10.3.3. distribute the ballot papers counted to the defeated candidate amongst the non defeated candidates next in order of the voters’ preference; and
10.3.4. after the distribution, again ascertain the total number of votes given to each non-defeated candidate.
10.4. The candidate who has then received the greatest number of votes, if that number constitutes an absolute majority of votes, is declared elected by the Returning Officer.
10.5. If no candidate then has an absolute majority of votes, the process of declaring the candidate who has the fewest votes a defeated candidate and distributing the ballot papers counted to the defeated candidate amongst the non-defeated candidates next in order of the voters’ preference is to be repeated until one candidate has received an absolute majority of votes and is declared elected by the Returning Officer.
10.6. If on any count two or more candidates have an equal number of votes and one of them has to be declared a defeated candidate, the result is to be determined by lot by the Returning Officer.
10.7. If on a final count two candidates have an equal number of votes, the result is to be determined by lot by the Returning Officer.
11. Where representative has nominated for President and Board member
11.1. If any candidate declared elected as President has also nominated for a position as a regional member of the Board that nomination must be declared to be invalid and any vote expressed for him or her for that other position will be dealt with as if his or her name had not been on the ballot paper and the numbers indicating subsequent preferences had been altered accordingly.
11.2. In the event that such a procedure results in no candidate for a regional member of the Board, an election must be held for the vacancy.
DIVISION 2 – OPTIONAL POSTAL VOTING
12. Application of postal voting
12.1. If the Chief Executive Officer has determined that postal voting will apply to an election, then in addition to the notification required to be given a representative under clause 4, the Returning Officer must at least 10 days before the last day of voting, deliver or send to each representative who is entitled to vote at the election –
12.1.1. a postal vote certificate or declaration;
12.1.2. a ballot paper for postal voting;
12.1.3. a prepaid envelope for the return of the certificate and the ballot paper;
12.1.4. instructions on how to vote;
12.1.5. notice of how and when the ballot paper must be returned by; and
12.1.6. any other material that the Returning Officer thinks is appropriate.
12.2. If an election is conducted by postal voting, a reference in the Rules to ‘Election Day’ is to be taken as a day fixed by the Chief Executive Officer as the last day on which postal ballots may be validly received by the Returning Officer.
13. Ballot papers and declaration envelopes
13.1. Subject to sub-clause 13.2, the Returning Officer must ensure that-
13.1.1. ballot papers are made of marked security paper; and
13.1.2. declaration envelopes are opaque.
13.2. Each replacement declaration envelope issued under clause 14 must be identified as a replacement declaration envelope.
13.3. The Returning Officer must keep a record of all persons who have been issued with a postal voting envelope and must keep a record of all those who have returned a declaration envelope.
14. Issuing duplicate voting materials
14.1. If on or before the last day of voting a representative-
14.1.1. claims that he or she has lost or destroyed the declaration envelope or ballot paper or both; or
14.1.2. claims that he or she has not received a postal ballot envelope; or
14.1.3. satisfies the Returning Officer that he or she has spoilt the declaration envelope or ballot paper or both and returns the spoilt declaration envelope or spoilt ballot paper or both,
14.1.4. the Returning Officer must issue the voter with the appropriate replacement material.
14.2. If a spoilt declaration envelope or ballot paper has been returned under sub-clause 14.1.3. the Returning Officer must cancel the spoilt declaration envelope or ballot paper.
14.3. The Returning Officer may use any means of identifying declaration envelopes, ballot papers and postal ballot envelopes issued under this provision which he or she considers appropriate to comply with clause 16.
15. Requirements applying to representatives
15.1. A representative voting must -
15.1.1. mark his or her preference on the ballot paper in the manner required in this Schedule;
15.1.2. sign his or her name on the declaration envelope in the place provided and complete any details where indicated;
15.1.3. insert the completed ballot paper in the declaration envelope provided and seal the envelope; and
15.1.4. place the declaration envelope in the prepaid envelope provided.
15.2. The representative must post or deliver the prepaid envelope containing the declaration envelope and ballot paper to the Returning Officer at the address on the envelope so as to reach the Returning Officer not later than 6.00pm on the last day of voting or to deliver it to the address designated by the Returning Officer for that purpose not later than 6.00pm on the last day of voting or by any other time specified by the Returning Officer.
16. Receipt of declaration envelopes
16.1. The Returning Officer may before the close of voting –
16.1.1. remove the declaration envelopes from the prepaid envelopes;
16.1.2. separate the signed declaration envelopes from the unsigned declaration envelopes;
16.1.3. disallow the unsigned declaration envelopes;
16.1.4. arrange all signed declaration envelopes according to the appropriate regional grouping of councils.
16.2. The Returning Officer must –
16.2.1. identify the declaration envelopes issued under clause 14;
16.2.2. satisfy himself or herself that –
16.2.2.1. the person voting was entitled to vote; or
16.2.2.2. the person has not voted or attempted to vote more than once at the election; or
16.2.2.3. the replacement declaration envelope was signed by the same person whose name appears on the list of representatives entitled to vote.
16.3. If the Returning Officer is satisfied he or she must accept the ballot paper within the declaration envelope for further scrutiny without opening the declaration envelope in which it is contained, but if the Returning Officer is not satisfied the ballot paper within the declaration envelope must be disallowed without opening the declaration envelope within which it is contained.
16.4. The Returning Officer must arrange all the declaration envelopes containing accepted ballot papers in accordance with sub-clause 16.1.4.
17. Security of declaration envelopes
17.1. The Returning Officer must ensure that all declaration envelopes received are placed in a properly secured postal ballot container until after the close of voting.
17.2. The Returning Officer must ensure that all declaration envelopes remain unopened until the close of voting.
18. Handling of election materials
18.1. The Returning Officer must as soon as practicable after the close of voting do the following in the presence of any scrutineers and any other person who is authorised -
18.1.1. open the postal voting container and remove its contents;
18.1.2. make up into separate parcels-
18.1.2.1. the records kept of persons who have returned a declaration envelope;
18.1.2.2. the spoilt ballot papers and the declaration envelopes;
18.1.2.3. the unsigned declaration envelopes;
18.1.2.4. the declaration envelopes disallowed under sub-clause 16.1.3. and 16.3;
18.1.2.5. the unused declaration envelopes;
18.1.3. open the signed declaration envelopes and take out the ballot papers;
18.1.4. make up the signed declaration envelopes into separate parcels and ascertain the number of votes received by each candidate and the number of informal votes;
18.1.5. set aside the informal ballot papers;
18.1.6. make up into separate parcels –
18.1.6.1. the used ballot papers;
18.1.6.2. the informal ballot papers;
18.1.6.3. the unused ballot papers;
18.1.7. prepare and sign a certificate which may be signed by any of the scrutineers specifying the number of –
18.1.7.1. votes received by each candidate;
18.1.7.2. ballot papers set aside as informal;
18.1.8. make a statement on the outside of each parcel containing –
18.1.8.1. a description of its contents;
18.1.8.2. the name of the council and the regional grouping of councils;
18.1.8.3. the date of the count;
18.1.8.4. enclose and properly fasten each parcel and sign the statement made under paragraph (h) and permit any scrutineer to sign the statement.
18.2. As far as practicable, the Returning Officer must ensure that the ballot paper is removed from a signed declaration envelope in a way that prevents any person from seeing how a representative voted.
18.3. The Returning Officer must as soon as practicable ascertain from the certificate prepared under sub-clause 18.1.7 the number of first preference votes given to each candidate.
19. Safe custody of ballot materials
19.1. The Returning Officer is responsible for the safe custody of postal ballot envelopes and all documents and materials, including during the adjournment of any count of the vote, and must –
19.1.1. keep a record of the ballot papers that have been printed; and
19.1.2. reconcile that number with the number of ballot papers which have been issued, spoilt or unused
19.2.1. certify the record kept under sub-clause 19.1. as being true and correct; and
19.2.2. submit the record to the Association as soon as practicable after election day.
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Running Marathons, and Shooting for the Moon...
When Max was just one year old, and we were faced with the choice of giving him a tracheotomy, or letting him try on his own to live after 3 failed attempts to breathe on his own, we had a care conference. This is when all of the team working with a child gets together to figure out the best next steps.
When the Attending of the ICU asked what we wanted for our son, his question was simple. Did we want to do life-saving measures to save him, or let him try on his own, with the possibility that he wouldn't make it.
Steve's answer wasn't the one they were expecting. Steve's answer for what we wanted for our son was, "We want him to run marathons." . We knew what they were asking, and we weren't willing to settle for the only option...even as our son was fighting for his life to breathe on his own. We wanted to dream big dreams for Max, to set lofty goals, because if he had that to work towards, we would be thrilled with whatever he accomplished. We wouldn't be holding him back if his goal was the biggest thing we could think of.
Today in England, our friend Tim is running a marathon, for Max. After swimming 2.4 miles, and biking 112 miles, he is on the marathon portion of his Triathlon. He's tired, he's hurting, but he's pushing through. For himself, for his family, and for his buddy Max.
It's an incredible thing as a parent to know that someone is doing the hardest tasks they've ever attempted in their lives for your child. Max still hasn't run his marathon...but he's got his friend Tim showing him it can be done.
Tim's efforts are to raise funds for Max's Trust. The trust that pays for Max's music therapy, repairs on the wheelchair van that gets Max around town, that paid for George and his special training, that pays for medicines and supplies that insurance doesn't pay for. We've had a lot of expenses for Max this summer that were unexpected, and the trust is now down to a very small amount.
If you would like to show your support, as Tim is doing, would you consider donating a small amount to the trust? We have 244 fans, if everyone gave $5, we could pay for Music Therapy for 6 months! That's huge for us! It is a security to know the money for Max's care is there when we need it. Thank you always for you support for Max, and us.
Contribute to Max and Tim's Race here.
And thank you Tim, for running a Marathon...a TRIATHLON for Max...Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.”
Max finishes his portion of his mini Triatlon this evening once it cools...12 miles on his bike! We're doing this to show Tim we're with him on his monumental effort!
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James H Meanix, CFP®, CLU®, ChFC®, AEP®, CASL®
Meanix Robustelli Wealth Management Group
1000 Continental Drive Suite 695
King of Prussia, PA 19406-2848
About Meanix Robustelli Wealth Management
About Jim and Michael
Jim and Michael's Professional Story
About the Meanix Robustelli Team
Risk Management Solutions
We are committed to helping our clients whether they are concerned for their financial needs or those of their family or business. Below are the members of our team that help with those needs.
With over 40 years of industry experience, together, we stand committed to providing the best customer service possible. If you have a problem or need assistance at any time, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Michael S. Robustelli, ChFC®, CASL®, CLU®
michael.robustelli@nm.com
Michael has been with Jim's team since February, 2008 and has been working in the financial services industry since 2004. Michael is a 2004 graduate of Loyola College in Maryland with a degree in Finance and a 2000 graduate of Malvern Preparatory School. Prior to working at Northwestern Mutual, Michael was an advisor with Merrill Lynch, Responsible for investment services, Michael's main focus is assisting clients with their investment portfolios.
Carol J Welsh
Associate Financial Representative
carol.welsh@nm.com
Carol assists with fee-based planning, presentations, operations, and administrative aspects of the group. She is licensed for Life, Health, Disability, and Long-Term Care insurance and holds Series 6 and 63 securities licenses. She is a graduate of Immaculata University with a B.A. in English and an A.S. in Business Administration.
Mary E Mitsch
mary.mitsch@nm.com
Mary’s primary role is to assist clients with their insurance needs. She brings to the practice over 11 years of Northwestern Mutual experience and 10 years of portfolio accounting operations experience in the financial services industry. Mary is licensed for Life, Health, Disability, and Long-Term Care insurance. She also holds Series 6 and 63 securities licenses.
Sean P Dobson
Associate Wealth Management Advisor
sean.dobson@nm.com
Sean’s role is to service and provide ongoing support for insurance and investment operations. He is a 2016 graduate of Pennsylvania State University with a BS in Economics. Sean is licensed for Life and Health and holds a Series 7 and Series 66 license.
Stephen W Blumenthal, CLF®, M.Ed.
Steve Blumenthal is the Director of Marketing. Steve oversees marketing efforts including brand stewardship, digital outreach, client insights, public relations, social media, training, mentorship, internal communications, community relations and event management.
Prior to joining Northwestern Mutual in the marketing capacity, Steve held positions with Northwestern Mutual in Talent Acquisition joining the firm in 2011 and obtaining Recruiter of the Year for the Eastern Region in 2016. Throughout his career he has honed relationship management skills to build and retain the trust and loyalty of key players and clients. Steve is also a former public school educator and head colligieate coach for over a decade before transitioning into the private sector.
Steve earned his Bachelor of Arts from West Chester University, his Masters of Education at Immaculata University, is a graduate of the American College and has obtained a CLF® designation and is Life, Accident, Health Licensed in the state of PA.
James H Meanix uses Meanix Robustelli Wealth Management Group as a marketing name for doing business as representatives of Northwestern Mutual. Meanix Robustelli Wealth Management Group is not a registered investment adviser, broker-dealer, insurance agency or federal savings bank. Northwestern Mutual is the marketing name for The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Milwaukee, WI (NM) (life and disability insurance, annuities, and life insurance with long-term care benefits) and its subsidiaries. James H Meanix is a Representative of Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company® (NMWMC), Milwaukee, WI (fiduciary and fee-based financial planning services), a subsidiary of NM and federal savings bank. All NMWMC products and services are offered only by properly credentialed Representatives who operate from agency offices of NMWMC. Representative is an Insurance Agent of NM, and Northwestern Long Term Care Insurance Company, Milwaukee, WI (long-term care insurance) a subsidiary of NM, and a Registered Representative of Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC (NMIS) (securities), a subsidiary of NM, broker-dealer, registered investment adviser and member FINRA (www.finra.org) and SIPC (www.sipc.org).
James H Meanix is primarily licensed in Pennsylvania and may be licensed in other states.
The Chartered Advisor for Senior Living (CASL®) designation is conferred by The American College of Financial Services.
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Snoop Dogg And Faith Evans Toast To Biggie In ‘When We Party’ Video
‘Ain’t no party like a West Coast party’
Madeline Roth madfitzroth 05/19/2017
See Tupac and Biggie Bond In The New All Eyez On Me Trailer
The biopic promises 'the untold story' of Tupac's life
Hip-Hop Greats Pay Tribute To Biggie On The 20th Anniversary Of His Death
See how Diddy, Missy Elliott, Faith Evans, and more honored the late legend
Heartthrob Never: On The Beauty Of Biggie Smalls
Twenty years after his death, remembering what the late rapper meant to the kids who looked like him
Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib 03/09/2017
What Do Zayn Malik, Prince, Michelle Obama, And Tupac All Have In Common?
Versace Versace Versace
David Turner _davidturner_ 10/25/2016
Johnny Depp Will Attempt To Solve Tupac And Biggie’s Deaths In A New Movie
Johnny Depp is set to star in "Labyrinth", a movie about the deaths of Tupac and Notorious B.I.G.
Prepare Yourself For A Comedy Series Based On Notorious B.I.G.’s Lyrics
TBS is developing a scripted comedy series inspired by Notorious B.I.G.'s lyrics.
Rich Homie Quan Was Not The Best Person To Rap A Biggie Verse, It Turns Out
Rich Homie Quan forgets the lyrics to The Notorious B.I.G.'s verse on "Get Money" at VH1 Hip Hop Honors.
Adam Fleischer adamfleischer 07/12/2016
Puffy's Grand Sacrifice
On the scene in Brooklyn at the Bad Boy Family Reunion
A New Notorious B.I.G. Album Is 'In The Finishing Stages'
Faith Evans says that her duet album with The Notorious B.I.G. is almost done.
Hear The Notorious B.I.G. Over Some Of Today's Most Popular Songs
On the 19th anniversary of The Notorious B.I.G.'s death, here are a few new mixes of his rhymes with 2016's hits.
Wiz Khalifa, Eminem And 7 Other Rappers Who Have Featured Their Kids On Songs
A look at songs from Wiz Khalifa, Eminem, Jay Z, and more rappers who have brought their kids in the booth.
Listen To David Bowie And Notorious B.I.G. Mash-Up 'Biggie Stardust'
Someone mashed up David Bowie and Notorious B.I.G. to make "Biggie Stardust."
Andres Tardio 01/13/2016
Notorious B.I.G. With A 'Star Wars' Backdrop Is Outta This World
"Life After Death Star" combines Notorious B.I.G.'s excellent album with the sounds of "Star Wars."
Biggie’s Studio Sessions Were Giant Parties
Jadakiss explains what it was like to record songs with Biggie.
You Might Not Want To Wear Sneakers With These Biggie Socks
Stance releases new socks that feature The Notorious B.I.G. and Muhammad Ali.
This Is What The VMA Red Carpet Looked Like In 1995
So much satin.
Chrissy Mahlmeister 08/20/2015
This Is What Your Favorite Superheroes Would Look Like If They Were Rappers
Marvel gave their biggest heroes hip-hop makeovers with these eight variant comic book covers.
Rob Markman 07/15/2015
13 Rappers Who Sound Just Like Other Rappers
Jay Z, the Notorious B.I.G. and 2Pac have all spawned rap clones, here are 13 rappers who sound like other rappers.
You Can Buy The Notorious B.I.G. And Bad Boy Record’s Original Contracts - For Real
The Notorious B.I.G's Bad Boy Records contract is being auctioned off, along with other items from the record label.
Nadeska Alexis 06/12/2015
Watch This Suburban Family Turn Biggie's Songs Into Hilarious Spoofs
"The Smalls Family" is a spoof of the Notorious B.I.G.'s most vivid story rhymes.
You Have To Hear Usher's Epic Notorious B.I.G. Story
Usher recalls a cool moment with Biggie that you have to hear.
Meet The Man Behind The 'Sesame Street' Rap Mash-ups
Meet Benjamin Roberts, the guy behind some of your favorite viral rap mash-up videos.
Watch Biggie Record One Of His Most Epic Tracks In Never Before Seen Footage
Watch the Notorious B.I.G. recording one of his greatest hits ever in never-before-seen footage.
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Israeli Shot Dead while Working on Egyptian Border
by Naharnet Newsdesk 25 October 2016, 18:24
An Israeli working along the border with Egypt was shot and killed on Tuesday, the Israeli army said, while also noting the incident did not appear related to "terror activities."
The defence ministry said earlier an employee for a contractor carrying out work on a border fence was wounded by gunfire.
A military spokeswoman confirmed the man had died while being airlifted and said the gunfire came from the Egyptian side of the border, but could provide no further details.
"Initial indications suggest the shooting does not appear to be connected to terror activities," a military statement said.
"The incident will be reviewed. The (Israeli military) is coordinating with the Egyptian Armed Forces."
The shooting occurred in the Har Harif area midway along the 240-kilometer (150-mile) border between Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and Israel.
Jihadists loyal to the Islamic State group are waging a deadly insurgency in Egypt's Sinai.
In the same area in 2012, an Israeli soldier and three militants who infiltrated from Sinai were killed in a clash along the border.
Banditry and drug trafficking also occur in the area.
In 2014, two Israeli soldiers were wounded when suspected drug smugglers fired shots and an anti-tank missile from the Sinai at their vehicle patrolling the frontier.
Egypt and Jordan are the only two Arab countries to have peace treaties with Israel.
In 2013, Israel erected an electronic fence along its southern border with Egypt.
Source: Agence France Presse
Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/219124
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[blog] The Endless Pursuit of Immortality and Rejuvenation
“Death is very likely the single best invention of life”
In an eloquent commencement speech by Steve Jobs to the 2005 graduates of Stanford University, Jobs said the following, ‘No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.’
Dramatic indeed, but Mr. Jobs is not the first to fascinated by death; since ancient times, humans have sought eternal youth. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that with our growing elderly population, there is great interest in the development of technologies and medicines to combat the symptoms of aging.
Is it Possible to Slow the Decline in Cognitive Function Due to Aging?
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease today with devastating consequences for patients and families alike. Developing treatments for patients with AD and other forms of dementia is a pressing concern for the medical field. The prevailing theory in the field of AD research is that the disease develops as a result of the accumulation of a protein called β-amyloid (Aβ) inside the brain; therefore, most treatments are focused on preventing and clearing the built-up β-amyloid protein.
For example, a recent study examined the usefulness of the drug taxifolin in relieving the Aβ protein load in a disease mouse model. Taxifolin is a drug with anti-oxidative properties, which has been shown to disassemble Aβ aggregates in vitro. Taxifolin’s effectiveness in an animal model prone to cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) was tested and it was found that Taxifolin decreased the amount of smaller Aβ structures, referred to as oligomers, to ¼ the levels seen in animals treated with the vehicle control. Notably, decreases in accumulated Aβ were observed in the area of the brain related to memory, called the hippocampus. When the researchers assessed for clinical improvements they found the CAA mice treated with Taxifolin showed improved cerebral blood flow compared to untreated mice and in fact, their cerebral blood flow had normalized to levels seen in wild-type mice. Spatial learning and memory were tested using the Morris water maze and the researchers showed CAA-mice treated with Taxifolin showed similar competency to wild-type mice while the vehicle-treated controls maintained their poor performance. These results suggest Taxifolin has the ability to decrease the accumulation of toxic misfolded proteins which may lead to a recovery of function. Potentially, with further investigation and validation, this could lead to novel therapeutics for this debilitating disease.
（Image: Taxifolin inhibits amyloid-β oligomer formation and fully restores vascular integrity as well as memory function in a cerebral amyloid angiopathy mouse model）
In an alternate approach, researchers targeted the β-secretase enzyme (BACE) which cleaves the amyloid precursor protein to produce β-amyloid. After 8 weeks of treatment with a BACE inhibitor, transgenic mice showed improved memory function in the water maze test and reduced levels of β-amyloid in the brain.
While these studies look at mouse models aiming to mimic AD pathology, perhaps the best way to delay the progression of the disease is through early intervention prior to neurodegeneration. Currently, researchers and doctors are investigating whether drugs targeting β-amyloid accumulation can be applied when patients exhibit symptoms of the early stage disease, referred to as mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
Companies That are Working to Delay the Degradation of Cognitive Functions
While the research described above took place in academic institutions, companies, including startups, have also shown interest in the development of medicines and treatment methods for age-related neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and Friedreich’s ataxia.
Prana Biotechnology is working to develop medicines for age-related degenerative disorders. Currently, Prana Biotechnology has a product in phase 2b clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease, and another in phase 2b for Parkinson’s disease.
Chronos therapeutics has focused its attention on repurposing existing FDA and EMA-approved drugs as therapies for neurodegenerative disorders. ALS, the neurodegenerative disease which recently got attention from the ice bucket challenge, is one of their targets.
Biotie Therapies is developing medicines for Parkinson’s disease and is doing phase 3 and phase 2 clinical trials.
Alkahest is developing a treatment method that uses blood components and plasma to combat neurodegeneration
Signum Biosciences is taking a different approach to treating neurodegenerative diseases by focusing on the protein network. They have developed a small molecule therapeutic to prevent the formation of toxic protein species
Longevity Biotech Inc. seeks to develop solutions for diseases like Parkinson’s disease by enhancing cellular neuroprotection against toxic insults.
Is it possible to delay aging itself in the first place?
Heterocephalus glaber, more commonly known as the naked mole rat, is a unique rodent species. These animals do not develop cancer, and live for nearly 30 years compared to typical mice which live for approximately 1-3 years; as such, they have been a subject of great interest for the research community investigating the processes of aging and longevity.
Scientists now understand these rodents are highly resistant to cancer due to their early expression of p16Ink4a, a protein which inhibits cell proliferation. Humans also carry these cell cycle inhibitors as well as others such as p27Kip, but they are not expressed as early as in the rodent model. Interestingly, research has shown that the removal of stagnant, aged cells expressing p16Ink4a can also be beneficial and extend a mouse’s life.
(Image: Naturally occurring p16Ink4a-positive cells shorten healthy lifespan)
But Can We Turn Back the Clock?
In addition to the work studying aging and anti-aging, researchers have also asked the question, is rejuvenation possible?
An interesting new avenue of research suggests young blood may have rejuvenation properties when inserted in an older animal. Aged mice were injected with blood plasma from younger mice and exhibited improvements in memory. Exposure to young mouse blood was also associated with increases in the density of dendritic spines. Conversely, young mice exposed to older blood deteriorated dramatically and within days showed poorer physical performance and reduced neurogenesis.
（Image: Ageing, neurodegeneration and brain rejuvenation）
It has been suggested that aging throughout the whole body is controlled by the hypothalamus. The number of neural stem cells in the hypothalamus decreases naturally, and this decrease likely accelerates aging. Researchers have shown that by adding supplemental stem cells to the hypothalamus or simply introducing the molecules released from these neural stem cells can delay aging. Therefore, modulation of the stem cell population in the hypothalamus may be another unique method to stave off the aging process.
(Image: Hypothalamic stem cells control aging speed partly through exosomal miRNAs)
When Immortality is Realized, Will the Definition of Life Change?
While there are many definitions to describe life, perhaps a good summary would be to think of it as an individual or collective molecular machine that is controlled by DNA, which it can then pass on to it’s future descendants. If DNA is information, the brain is can be thought of as the information processing equipment; although, one must consider the fact that the brain also produces information in that it creates memories, and establishes processes for inputs and outputs.
If we think of life as this flowing of information as a result of our brains and DNA, then perhaps as we improve technology this information will become permanent. For instance, the science fiction world has proposed a future where our brains are uploaded into computers. This is a far-off possibility, but it still begs the question: what will be the significance of death if our information or “essence” is permanently preserved. But before our brains can ever be uploaded into computers, there is still much to learn regarding brain function. Thankfully, in Europe there is The Human Brain Project and in the USA the BRAIN Initiative, both of which seek to understand patterns in brain activity and to decode how the brain works. Addressing these questions would be important milestones on the road to achieving “virtual immortality.”
Keskin et al., 2017. BACE inhibition-dependent repair of Alzheimer’s pathophysiology. PNAS. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28739891.
Jeon et al., 2017. Local clearance of senescent cells attenuates the development of post-traumatic osteoarthritis and creates a pro-regenerative environment. Nature Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28436958.
Bilkei-Gorzo et al., 2017. A chronic low dose of ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) restores cognitive function in old mice. Nature Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28481360.
Saito et al., 2017. Taxifolin inhibits amyloid-β oligomer formation and fully restores vascular integrity and memory in cerebral amyloid angiopathy. Acta Neuropathol. Commun. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28376923.
Villeda et al., 2014 Young blood reverses age-related impairments in cognitive function and synaptic plasticity. Nature Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24793238.
Rebo et al., 2016. A single heterochronic blood exchange reveals rapid inhibition of multiple tissues by old blood. Nature Communications. https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms13363.
Zhang et al., 2017. Hypothalamic stem cells control ageing speed partly through exosomal miRNAs. Nature. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28746310.
Seluanov et al., 2009. Hypersensitivity to contact inhibition provides a clue to cancer resistance of naked mole-rat. PNAS. http://www.pnas.org/content/106/46/19352.
Baker et al., 2016. Naturally occurring p16Ink4a-positive cells shorten healthy lifespan. Nature. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26840489.
Tony Wyss-Coray, Ageing, neurodegeneration and brain rejuvenation. Nature 539, 180–186 (10 . November 2016)
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Stories from Saturday, July 25, 2015
Alice Marie Gilkey (Obituary ~ 07/25/15)
Alice Marie Gilkey, 82, of Nevada, Mo., died Thursday, July 23, 2015, at Barone Alzheimer's Care Center, in Nevada. She was born Nov. 4, 1932, in Richards, the daughter of George Christian and Myrtle Elizabeth (Schnedler) Larsen. A memorial service for Alice Marie Gilkey is scheduled 11 a.m., Wednesday, July 29, at Christ Lutheran Church, 6700 NW 72nd St., Platte Woods, MO 64151. Following the service her cremains will be scattered in the "Memorial Garden" at the church...
What you ought to be, can be, and will be (Column ~ 07/25/15)
I often find myself reading about World War II more often than any other period in history. I also find the documentaries on the History Channel very interesting and think there is a great deal that can be learned from that time period. Whenever you talk to someone who has served in the military and been overseas fighting for our freedoms, there is something about them that stands out from everyone else. ...
Odds and ends and things I'm at odds with (Column ~ 07/25/15)
Hi neighbors. I hope a few of you caught the three-night mini-series "Tut" this week. If not, tonight they are to show all six hours back-to-back if you want to tape it. As television shows depicting actual historic figures, they brought a better than most effort to the screen for authenticity and accuracy...
Homeschool group prepares for new year, fair (Local News ~ 07/25/15)
Nevada Daily Mail With the school starting in a month, preparations for the new school year have begun for some families and teachers, as well as parents in the area who have chosen to homeschool their children. For nine years, the Area Christian Parent Educators group has provided an organization for homeschool families with the goal of encouraging and supporting families as they educate their children outside the normal public or private school systems...
Preschool rules added to NEVC elementary handbook (Local News ~ 07/25/15)
Nevada Daily Mail The Northeastern Vernon County R-1 school board changed their elementary handbook for the upcoming school year, Thursday night. Elementary Principal Kendall Ogburn proposed the new changes in the elementary handbook. The rules are not new, but they are written down for the first time, Ogburn said...
Hot dry weather good for hot work (Local News ~ 07/25/15)
Ken White column to appear in July 28th edition of Daily Mail (Outdoors ~ 07/25/15)
Check Tuesday's paper for Ken White's Outdoor Living column
Griffons undone by errors in MINK League title game (College Sports ~ 07/25/15)
Nevada Daily Mail A valiant comeback came up short as the Nevada Griffons season concluded with a 10-7 loss to the St. Joseph Mustangs in the MINK League championship game. The Griffons end their season at 27-16 overall and 24-16 in MINK League play...
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Omega-3 may help depression caused by certain types of inflammation
Woodruff Health Sciences Center | April 28, 2015
Kathi Baker
kobaker@emory.edu
Robin Reese
robin.j.reese@emory.edu
Targeting depression with deep brain stimulation April 27, 2015
Health, Research, School of Medicine, Woodruff Health Sciences Center, Clinical Trials, Depression, Health Sciences Research, Psychiatry
In a study published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, researchers found that the omega-3 fatty acid EPA (eicosapentataenoic acid) appears to boost mood in a subgroup of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) who have high inflammation levels.
"The diversity of both symptoms and underlying variations of the progression of major depressive disorder confounds the development of targeted treatments for the disease," says study author Mark Hyman Rapaport, MD, principal investigator, and Reunette W. Harris professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory University School of Medicine. "The discovery of biomarkers that characterize subgroups of patients with MDD is critical to the understanding of its pathogenesis, and to the development of personalized therapies."
In a randomized trial, 155 participants were given either two capsules containing EPA-enriched mix or a placebo, or four capsules of a DHA (docosahexaenoic acid)-enriched mix or four placebo capsules for eight weeks. All participants were previously diagnosed with major depressive disorder.
EPA was found to be effective for a group of patients who had high levels of at least one of four markers of inflammation in their blood. DHA was not effective for this group of patients.
The authors call the finding a proof-of-concept for the idea that anti-inflammatory treatments can be effective in subgroups of patients with depression.
This goes along with earlier studies showing that an anti-inflammatory drug infliximab can be effective in some patients with treatment-resistant depression, specifically those with high levels of inflammation.
According to the authors, these results support the proposition that anti-inflammatory therapy is only beneficial as a treatment of inflammation-driven major depressive disorder, and is ineffective and potentially harmful for individuals whose depression is due to a different physiological disturbance.
The authors go on to say they have preliminary data suggesting that obese patients with depression are more likely to have high markers of inflammation, and might benefit from anti-inflammatory drugs. In future studies, they are going to replicate their preliminary findings and extend them by investigating the influence of other important biological measures and clinical characteristics.
Some of the research was conducted at the Depression Clinical and Research Programs, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School.
The National Institutes of Health funded the study.
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Home BREAKING NEWS Dr. Bharti Khurana working to eliminate intimate partner violence
Dr. Bharti Khurana working to eliminate intimate partner violence
Ruchi Vaishnav
Indian American Dr. Bharti Khurana of Boston, Massachusetts wants to eliminate intimate partner violence (IPV).
Dr. Bharti Khurana is an Indian American radiologist working in the Emergency Room at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and is also an assistant professor in the Department of Radiology at Harvard Medical School.
With more than 20 years of experience, she is currently one of the three finalists at the hospital’s competition called BRIght Futures, which welcomes project ideas geared toward solving difficult medical problems.
Through machine-learning, Dr. Khurana is focusing on eliminating intimate partner violence (IPV), a form of domestic violence that includes physical, verbal, emotional, economic and sexual abuse from a current or former intimate partner to another.
“One in four women and one in seven men in the U.S., fall victim to IPV every year but a majority of these cases go unknown. Therefore, we want to create tools to empower physicians to identify and help patients who are experiencing IPV. To do so, we plan to use clinical and radiological data from known IPV cases and teach a computer program to learn the signs of IPV,” Dr. Khurana states in her video proposal.
In her project titled “Making the Invisible Visible: Bringing Intimate Partner Violence into Focus,” Dr. Khurana said that her “goal is to develop a system that automatically alerts clinicians if a patient’s injuries match a pattern of IPV. In addition, our multidisciplinary team will design guides to train social workers and clinicians on how to approach IPV patients.”
The idea came to Dr. Khurana while she was giving a presentation in 2016, during which one nurse practitioner asked her a question about domestic violence.
“That is when I realized that I had been seeing the signs of domestic violence in the X-Rays that were taken, but always ignored them. Though we have been recording the data for many years now, we have to be careful in reporting it. By law, we are required to report abuse in children but for adults, it is different,” Dr. Khurana said in a phone interview, to Desi Talk.
Dr. Khurana also mentioned that when patients come in, they are asked to answer questions about domestic violence on the form given, but most choose not to.
“Some are scared to accept it because their partner may be with them or they think it is a once in a while occurrence,” she said, noting that other women say that it is a part of their customs and norms even though it is a human rights violation.
Dr. Khurana is hoping that her project “will have a big impact on all of the patients who are uncomfortable with reporting” their experience with IPV as many children also observe it and become silent victims.
So far, she has gathered information from 800 patients and is looking for more.
With need for funding, Dr. Khurana is eager to win this competition so she can get the $100,000 prize to further her project and help break the silence on IPV.
To vote for Dr. Khurana visit: https://briihub.polldaddy.com/s/brightfutures2018
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2010 Cadillac SRX Pictures & Specifications
Home » Cadillac
Model: SRX
Engine: 2.8 litre V6
Aspiration: Turbocharged
Maximum Power: 300 hp (224 kW) @ 5500 rpm
Maximum Torque: 295 lb-ft (400 Nm) @ 1850 rpm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
The 2010 Cadillac SRX Luxury Crossover
GM Media Release
Cadillac unveiled the next-generation 2010 SRX Crossover today, featuring a completely new design and more-efficient, high-technology engine choices. The new SRX is a mid-size luxury crossover coming to the North American International Auto Show next week.
“The all-new SRX is a fresh and compelling crossover aimed squarely at the priorities of luxury buyers,” said Mark McNabb, North America vice president, Cadillac/Premium Channel. “With new technologies for increased efficiency and safety, the redesigned 2010 SRX Crossover focuses on both the emotional and pragmatic sides of the luxury consumer.”
The 2010 SRX is designed for efficient performance, including the choice of two high-tech six-cylinder engines that are new to Cadillac – the smallest-displacement engines it offers in North America. A new, 3.0L direct injected V6 engine is standard and a new, 2.8L turbocharged V6 is optional. Both engines employ technology that helps produce strong performance that is typical of larger-displacement engines. Direct injection enables a 25-percent reduction in hydrocarbon emissions. Fuel economy in the mid-20s on the highway is expected, but testing isn’t complete.
Performance and safety are enhanced by an available all-wheel-drive (AWD) system that is designed to optimise vehicle handling and stability in all driving conditions. The AWD system includes an advanced electronic limited-slip differential (eLSD) that distributes torque as needed from side to side along the rear axle, as well as from the front to rear axle. The pre-emptive, active-on-demand system provides an extra measure of capability in wet or icy conditions.
The 2010 SRX rides on a wide track that was designed to deliver a nimble, responsive driving experience. It seats five, with generous occupant and cargo room, and can tow up to 3,500 pounds (1,587 kg).
Distinctive design and craftsmanship
“Cadillac is known for bold design. The 2010 SRX Crossover builds on that reputation,” said Clay Dean, Cadillac global design director. “As with the 2008 CTS, we advanced our Art and Science design to create a crossover for style-conscious customers. The exterior features a dramatic diving gesture on the body side to impart the feeling of movement, even at rest.”
A multi-piece shield grille and Cadillac’s iconic vertical headlamps – with light pipe technology and available adaptive forward lighting – are the face of the SRX. They blend into a tightly wrapped, sweeping body that tapers downward at the rear, giving the vehicle a sporty profile, Dean said.
The SRX features a wide stance, minimal overhang and wheels pushed to corners. Eighteen-inch wheels are standard and 20-inch wheels are offered. A bold accent line dives across the body side and culminates at a chrome front fender vent that incorporates a side marker lamp. An integrated spoiler on the rearward edge of the roof extends the sleek lines and improves aerodynamics.
“Inside the new SRX, technical precision blends with old-world craftsmanship,” Dean said. “Hand-cut-and-sewn coverings on the instrument panel and ambient lighting details convey a finely tailored cabin.”
An integrated center stack houses controls for climate and audio systems, while the navigation system rises from the center of the instrument panel. A signature example of the SRX’s attention to detail is the Cadillac script logos in the front door sill plates that illuminate when the doors are opened.
Advanced technology and entertainment systems
The 2010 SRX features numerous advanced electronic systems. Highlights include a “pop-up” navigation screen with three-dimensional imaging; adaptive forward lighting that swivels the headlamps in synch with vehicle steering; power liftgate with adjustable height setting; integrated hard disc drive for audio storage and a dual-screen system for rear entertainment.
Bluetooth compatibility is standard, as is OnStar’s turn-by-turn navigation service for buyers who do not select the car’s navigation system option.
Efficient performance
The SRX is powered by a new, fuel-efficient direct injected 3.0L V6 that delivers an estimated 260 horsepower (193 kW) and is paired with a six-speed automatic transmission. Direct injection results in more power, better fuel economy and lower emissions, all with a smaller-displacement package. As a result, the new V6 engine is expected to raise the SRX’s standard power rating by 5 horsepower, while achieving an estimated 10-15-percent fuel economy improvement.
The 3.0L direct injection V6 is a smaller-displacement version of the 3.6L, direct injection engine featured in the CTS sport sedan and named one of the world’s 10 Best Engines for 2009 by Ward’s Automotive. Along with direct injection technology, the 3.0L engine employs variable valve timing to optimise power and fuel efficiency and reduce emissions.
The Hydra-Matic 6T70 six-speed automatic transmission helps save fuel by lowering the engine’s rpm at constant highway speeds, while manual shift control enables greater driver interaction when desired. The new SRX includes a driver-selectable “eco mode” that alters transmission shift points to maximise fuel economy.
“The 2010 SRX will deliver excellent, balanced driving dynamics in all types of weather,” said Bob Reuter, global vehicle chief engineer. “The all-wheel-drive system with electronic limited slip effectively transfers torque not only from front to rear, but also along the rear axle. This system sets a new benchmark for all all-wheel-drive systems, giving the driver control and confidence on any road surface.”
Traction control is taken a step further on AWD models with the rear eLSD. In icy or wet conditions, the system can transfer up to 100 percent of torque to the wheel that has more grip. The eLSD also gives the driver enhanced control when cornering hard or completing a high-speed manoeuvre, such as a lane change, by momentarily applying more or less torque to either of the wheels to help the rear of the vehicle more closely follow the direction of the front wheels.
The suspension includes a real-time damping system in conjunction with AWD that adjusts shock damping rates in response to road conditions for a smooth ride quality.
Enhanced safety
SRX’s safety features are designed to protect occupants before, during and after a crash. A strong body structure and chassis that absorbs crash energy is complemented by the use of martensitic steel in the fully enclosed rocker sections. Martensitic steel is one of the strongest available and its use in the rockers helps protect against intrusion during a side-impact crash, while also maintaining the structure during front and rear crashes.
Additional safety features include standard head curtain side air bags, standard front seat-mounted pelvic/thorax side air bags, front safety belts with dual pretensioners and load limiters, rollover mitigation sensors, a pedal release system, trailer stability assist and OnStar.
The SRX was also designed to meet European pedestrian protection standards; and the front bumper is positioned for greater compatibility with car bumpers.
Production begins in the second quarter of 2009, with dealer availability shortly thereafter.
2010 Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon
2009 Cadillac STS
2009 Cadillac DTS Platinum
Share your thoughts about this Cadillac
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NZ Women's Fistball team take home the win
The women's national fistball team has brought home the winners cup from their international debut over Waitangi weekend.
Both the men's and women's New Zealand fistball teams travelled to Geelong, Australia, each playing a three-match series against the Australians for the Trans-Tasman Fistball Championship.
The women's team took home a victory, winning their series 3-0 while the men's team fought well but unfortunately lost to their Aussie counterparts 2-1.
The men's game concluded on the Sunday, sneaking in just before the weather turned and a downpour started.
The winning teams shared a pavlova to celebrate their victories followed by the traditional fistball 'exchanging of the game jerseys'.
Following their debut games on the international stage, there are plans to continue to grow fistball in New Zealand, hopefully expanding out of the Canterbury region - where the entire New Zealand team were based.
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After 20 years, Yellowstone fires recalled
Posted May 6, 2008 By BENJAMIN CANDEA
Twenty years have passed since Yellowstone National Park experienced the largest wildfire in its 136-year history.
The wildfires of 1988 burned more than 793,000 acres, equivalent to roughly 36 percent of the park’s 2,221,800 acres. Another 800,000 more acres burned in the Greater Yellowstone Area. The fires began in June after the park suffered the driest summer in its history.
“I guess we were due,” said Robert Barbee, Yellowstone’s superintendent from 1983 through 1995.
Wildfire near the northeast entrance on Sept. 4, 1988 (Photo courtesy of Nancy Clemens, National Park Service).
Barbee explained that fires started by lightning strikes were the norm throughout that region of the country.
“Fire’s part of the system as sunshine, rain or frost,” he said.
The first few fires in the park were allowed to burn because of the park’s “natural burn” policy. The controversial policy was enacted in 1972 after research showed that fire was beneficial to the park’s ecosystem. Since 1972, naturally started fires are allowed to burn unless they threaten establishments, endangered species or people.
Those first fires were minor until heavy winds blew them into a huge conflagration in mid-July. On July 20, officials decided that all fires were to be actively fought throughout the park. Three of the five largest fires were man-made that weren’t stopped in time.
John Varley, chief of the Division of Research at the time, said that the decision to stop the fires was an agonizing one.
“Whether to let the fire go and do its thing was reconsidered on a daily basis,” he said.
Varley explained that, in order for re-growth to take place, decayed trees must burn to release minerals necessary for new growth. Yellowstone’s lodgepole pines, which make up nearly 80 percent of the trees in the park, are increasingly flammable after they’re 150 years old. The combination of abundant forest fuel, the particularly dry season and very heavy winds caused the park’s forest undergo a major facelift.
Science education professor Dr. Robert J. Ruhf agreed with Varley’s assessment.
Burned pines and trunks line this forest. Trees will slowly erode and new pines will begin to grow (Photo courtesy of Jim Peaco, National Park Service).
“I don’t think anything would have stopped the forest fire,” said Ruhf, currently a professor at Western Michigan University who wrote an article titled, “The 1988 Forest Fires of Yellowstone National Park.” http://www.x98ruhf.net/yellowstone/fire.htm
Ruhf explained that the “Smokey the Bear” fire policy, in which all forest fires were extinguished immediately, wasn’t healthy for the forest.
“If you put these fires out, these forests get thicker, thicker and thicker,” he said.
To help prepare for a forest fire, previous measurements and research were taken to help the park create fire maps that would predict where the fire would go next.
“You could predict what direction fire was going from measurements of fine fuels, medium fuels and heavy fuels,” said Varley. Fine fuels are categorized as grass and leaves, medium fuels as branches, and heavy fuels as large tree logs.
He added that the 1988 wildfires had the researchers “seeing behavior not been observed in 16 years.”
“I’ve never seen fire behavior like we’re seeing now,” he said at the time. Varley also explained that the ecosystem’s adaptations allowed for fires to become more beneficial.
Lodgepole pines, for example, benefit from fires because of their two types of pine cones. The first type is a regular pine cone, one that it falls to the ground and releases its seeds. The second type explodes when heated by a fire, shooting its seeds throughout the area.
A lodgepole pine cone that exploded after it was heated (Photo courtesy of Jim Peaco, National Park Service).
“Something evolved in that species to take into account that fire would sweep through the forests,” Varley said. Lodgepole pines are also very fire resistant in their first 150 years of life, but very flammable after 150 years of age.
Other plants that have adapted to frequent fires are sagebrush, a type of grass found throughout the park. Research found that fire stimulates the sagebrush’s seeds to germinate.
The ecosystem’s ability to adapt to numerous wildfires helped quicken its recovery. In certain parts of the park, nearly 50 percent of the burned areas were undergoing new growth the very next year.
“The bounce back was almost immediate,” Barbee said.
Varley agreed with Barbee.
“On a landscape scale, the park has grown back,” said Varley.
Fire prevention efforts also aided in the quick re-growth of the park.
Dan Sholly, chief ranger at Yellowstone from 1985 until 1988, headed the firefighting effort that involved over 25,000 firefighters from throughout the country. He explained that the first priority was avoiding “some of the damages that could occur from suppressing the fire.”
At the effort’s peak in early September, more than 9,000 firefighters were deployed at Yellowstone. Sholly said that the hardest part of the effort was educating the firefighters that, for example, grizzly bears, an endangered species at the time, took precedence over the fire suppression.
Firefighters work to extinguish fires throughout the brush meadow (Photo courtesy of Jim Peaco, National Park Service).
“The hardest part was educating people who came from other places trying to understand the fire behavior,” he said.
Added pressure on Yellowstone came from the news media. National media labeled the “natural burn” policy the “let it burn policy.”
Conrad Smith, an assistant professor of journalism at Ohio State University in 1988, did several studies about the media’s interpretation of the fires.
“Reporters came in thinking of it as an urban fire,” Smith, now a professor at the University of Wyoming, said.
Smith noted that, although several reports were inaccurate and misleading, the root of the problem was the knowledge of the reporters sent to Yellowstone in 1988.
“General assignment reporters didn’t have background to cover the story,” he said. He explained that the media “didn’t understand it’s not a static park.”
Smith also explained that Yellowstone’s public relations department wasn’t equipped to handle the amount of coverage given to the fires.
“The culture doesn’t encourage action between journalists and people covering land,” he said.
Barbee agreed, explaining that with little things going on in the summer of 1988, the media “went crazy” with the story.
New lodgepole pine trees grow among dead pines (Photo courtesy of Jim Peaco, National Park Service)
“They generally tried to characterize things with high drama and hyperbole,” he said.
In addition, Sholly said that, despite the heavy backlash, the decisions were made for the good of the park.
“We had a lot of pressure on us but we knew it was the right thing for Yellowstone,” he said.
But could a fire of this magnitude happen again? Although unwilling to say never, Ruhf said it was “unlikely.”
“The likelihood is less because you have so much of the forest that is burned out,” said Ruhf.
Ruhf noted that centuries have passed in-between major wildfires in the area. He explained that specific conditions contributed to the wildfires in 1988. He also said that the “patchiness” of the burned areas would condense fires to specifics parts of the forest.
“You don’t have continuous forest like you did before,” he said.
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A Trump rally-goer yells an anti-Semitic chant. Photo: CNN
NewsOpinion/Commentary
Op-Ed: The Only Decent Vote You Can Cast
CNN News November 7, 2016
By Charles Kaiser
Editor’s note: Charles Kaiser is the author of 1968 In America, The Gay Metropolis, and The Cost of Courage. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.
(CNN) — It’s not only the future of the United States that is starkly on the ballot on Tuesday — it is also all of the progress we have made in this country during the recent past.
The great Texas journalist Molly Ivins and our current First Lady Michelle Obama have each offered a perfect summary of what is at stake in this election. Several years before her death in 2007, Ivins wrote, “It is possible to read the history of this country as one long struggle to extend the liberties established in our Constitution to everyone in America.”
And in a speech to a gay rights organization in 2008, Michelle Obama declared, “We are only here because of the brave efforts of those who came before us…We are all only here because of those who marched and bled and died, from Selma to Stonewall, in a pursuit of that more perfect union that is the promise of this country.”
For sixty years, the decent people of these United States have fought against all forms of public prejudice based on race, gender and sexual orientation.
In 15 months, Donald Trump has done more to undo all of that progress than any other major party presidential candidate of modern times. His violent rhetoric against Muslims, his consistent denigration of the lives of black Americans and his choice as a running mate of one of the most virulently homophobic politicians in America have given his supporters permission to act as badly as they want to.
Because of his vicious rhetoric, many Americans have been empowered to harass Muslims and blacks in public, to engage in horrific anti-Semitic Twitter storms against Trump’s opponents and to expect him to undo all of the progress toward equal rights gay people have achieved since the Stonewall uprising of 1969.
He has brought white supremacy back into the mainstream of American life.
As the great architectural historian Vincent Scully pointed out two decades ago, ours is “a time which, with all its agonies, has… been marked most of all by liberation… I think especially of the three great movements of liberation which have marked the past generation: black liberation, women’s liberation, gay liberation.
“Each one of those movements liberated all of us, all the rest of us, from stereotypical ways of thinking which had imprisoned us and confined us for hundreds of years.”
“Those movements, though they have a deep past in American history, were almost inconceivable just before they occurred,” Scully continued. “Then, all of a sudden in the 1960s, they burst out together, changing us all.”
And as I wrote in “The Gay Metropolis,” “America’s best instincts have always been toward equality and inclusiveness. Especially in the last forty years, the idea of a steadily widening embrace has been the genius behind the success of the American experiment. The main effects of these multiple liberations have been more openness, more honesty, and more opportunity changes that have benefited everyone.”
Hillary Clinton has been at the forefront of all of these movements for most of her adult life. Because of her previous eight years in the White House, her eight years in the Senate and her four years as Secretary of State, she is also the single most prepared person ever to be nominated for president.
These are the reasons why President Obama was not exaggerating when he declared in North Carolina this week, “The fate of the republic rests on your shoulders. The fate of the world is teetering and you, North Carolina, are going to have to make sure that we push it in the right direction.”
“Fairness is on the ballot,” said the President. “Decency is on the ballot. Justice is on the ballot. Progress is on the ballot. Our democracy is on the ballot.”
If you believe in fairness, decency and justice, you will never cast a more important vote than the one that belongs to Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday.
Donald Trump election Hillary Clinton LGBT voting
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HomeArticlesGaza: Propaganda Does Nothing for Peace, Indeed
Gaza: Propaganda Does Nothing for Peace, Indeed
January 10, 2009 Articles
By Kim Bullimore
In the midst of Israel’s massacre of more than 800 people in Gaza, including more than 200 children and 100 women, as well as 3000 injured, apologists for Israel’s war crimes have sought to defend the Zionist state. Not only have many of them sort to blame the Palestinian people for Israel’s massacre in Gaza, ignoring the fact that Palestinians have suffered 60 years of non-stop aggression at the hands of the Israeli Zionist state, many of them have they have also sought to paint Israel as the beacon of democracy and pluralism in order to silence Israel’s critics.
A recent example of this can be found in the article which appeared on January 9 in Australia’s only national newspaper, The Australian. In the article, Propaganda Does Nothing for Peace, Niv Horesh – an Israeli-Australian – seeks, in part, to shut down critics of Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza by regaling us with examples of Israel’s supposed democratic credentials [1].
In the article, Horesh writes, "There are very few countries in the world that would allow demonstrators to denounce their government while hoisting enemy flags in the midst of war. Yet, this is precisely what happened last week in Tel Aviv: not a single Israeli flag was in sight amid hundreds of Palestinian, communist and anarchist banners. Such is the strength of Israeli democracy that not a single incident interrupted the demonstration".
What Horesh and other Israeli apologists conveniently leave out is the Israel’s security forces have been dragging in for questioning Palestinian citizens of Israel who have opposed the war, as well Israeli Jewish activists, who have taken a stand against the brutal massacre in Gaza. In the past two weeks, hundreds of Palestinian Israeli and Jewish Israeli activists and citizens opposed to the war have been arrested, jailed and prosecuted for speaking out and taking a stand.
According to the Haifa based, Mossawa Centre, which advocates on behalf of the Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel, more than 200 Palestinians with Israeli citizenship alone had been arrested by the Israeli state for demonstrating between December 27 and December 31 [2].
On January 6, Palestinian News Agency, Maan News, reported that the number had increased substantially and that more than 300 Palestinian Israeli youth had been arrested by Israeli police. Maan noted that "the youth had been placed for the most part in administrative detention [detention without charge or trail] or put away on minor charges for short periods of time" [3].
On January 2, this beacon of democracy arrested and jailed for almost three days more than 20 Israeli anti-war demonstrators, who demonstrated outside Sde Dov airbase. The Israel state, claiming that the anti-war demonstrators were a threat to the security of the state, sought to have the three day incarceration extended until the end of legal proceedings, which could take several weeks or months to conclude. The request for the extension, however, was over ruled by the presiding judge [4].
At Haifa University on January 6, hundreds of Israeli Border Police – the Israeli security force that regularly brutalises Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories – stormed the campus, attacked students, arresting 15 anti-war student activists [5]. According to students who were at the demonstration more than 250 Border Police attacked the anti-war protest without provocation.
Israeli anti-occupation group, Anarchists Against the Wall, who were recently jointly awarded the Carl Von Ossietzky Human Rights medal in Berlin with the Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall, have reported that many of their members and supporters, as well as other Israeli anti-occupation activists are being harassed, arrested and had their houses raided by the police as a result of being involved in anti-war activism.
On January 7, in an editorial titled "The Right to Express Protest", Israel’s Haaretz newspaper noted that "in the last few days, the Shin Bet security service questioned dozens of Arab Israelis, while others were subjected to warnings aimed at deterring them from participating in demonstrations against the Israel Defense Forces operation in the Gaza Strip" [6]. The editorial went onto note that Israeli "security services are using intimidation tactics to prevent legitimate protest against the current campaign [in Gaza].
Just one day after the editorial appeared, Haaretz ran a news article which outlined how four Palestinian citizens of Israel, aged between 19 and 26 years, had been arrested by the Israeli state for holding a demonstration outside the Egyptian Embassy in Tel Aviv. According to the January 8 report, Israeli state prosecutors sought to restrict the movement of the anti-war protesters, saying their protest during a time of war "damages national morale" [7].
Israel far from being a "beacon of democracy" has sought to harass, intimidate, threaten and brutalise its own citizens, who have spoken out against not only the ongoing occupation of the Palestinian territories but also the massacre taking place in Gaza.
Those who seek to wave Israel’s democratic credentials in the face of those who oppose the mass murder in Gaza of hundreds of civilians ignore this, just as the conveniently ignore the fact that Israel’s current war is a direct result of the refusal of Israel, the US and the international community, as well the leadership of the Fatah party in Palestine, to accept the democratic will of the Palestinian people.
In 2006, the Palestinian people elected Hamas to the leadership of the Palestinian Authority in what were the most democratic elections ever to be held in an Arab country. In these elections, Hamas won 44% of the vote to Fatah’s 41%, giving them 76 seats of the 132 seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council. Since Hamas’ democratic election, however, the Israeli Zionist state sought to put the Palestinian people, in the words of senior Israeli government advisor Dov Weisglass, "on a diet".
In the past three years, Israel has sought to strangle and starve the Palestinian people into submission for their democratic choice, deepening their occupation and initially placing all of the Occupied Palestinian Territories under siege. Israel was only to release its grip slightly on the West Bank, when Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, eagerly took on the role of Israel’s quisling in the territory. In doing so he abandoned completely his people in Gaza to the capricious dictates of the Israeli state.
For the past two years, Israel has been tightening the noose on Gaza, cutting off power, electricity, fuel supplies, medicine and food in the hope it would turn the Gazan population on their democratically elected representatives. When this didn’t work, Israel began its most recent bombing campaigning, killing indiscriminately in order to teach the Palestinian people that "real democracy" – the type that Israel, the US and the international community support – consists of bowing to the dictates of their occupier and oppressor, never defending themselves and dying silently while they are starved, beaten, abused and bombed to death.
And for those supporters of Israel, who seemed surprised at Israel’s current behaviour and lament the corrosion of Israel’s democracy as a result of its mass murder in Gaza, it is time to point out to them that Israel’s supposed democratic record during so-called "peace time" is equally appalling.
For the past 41 years, "the only democracy in the Middle East" has been engaging in a military dictatorship in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, which suspends indefinitely the right of Palestinian people to democracy and human rights [8].
For the past 41 years, the 5 million Palestinian residents of the occupied West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem have been subject to military law, which allows the Israel state and its military to do whatever it likes, including removing democratically elected officials from office, forbidding the election of trade union officials, as well as being able to control and oversee the election of trade union officials (including being able to demand a list of nominees and removing nominees from running).
The very undemocratic Israeli military dictatorship in the Occupied Palestinian Territories can also prohibit the publication of anything political in any medium, including painting, videos, films, poems and novels, whether it pertains to Palestine or not. This same military dictatorship also has the power to prohibit the display of the Palestinian flag and can arrest and detain anyone displaying it and to censor and prohibit what books are utilised by Palestinian schools (in recent years, up to 60 books have been prohibited by the Israeli military and state). In addition, the Israeli security forces can and does use "arbitrary detention" to detain Palestinians indefinitely without charge or trail. Those detained, along with their lawyers, have no right to know what they are charged with or what evidence there is against them.
Under Israel’s military dictatorship in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the Palestinian people have no input or democratic protection regarding Israeli military law, including how or why these laws are written, how or why they are implemented, how or when they come into effect. There is also very few avenues for appeal against these laws or for review of them.
Within Israel itself, where supposedly democracy for all prevails, Palestinians with Israeli citizenship are systematically discriminated against. Many people are not aware that Israel has no constitution; instead it simply has Basic Laws, which supposedly act a mini-bill of rights. However, these Basic Laws do not explicitly protect the right to equality and Palestinians with Israeli citizenship are regularly discriminated against. Instead as Adalah, the Israeli Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel notes since its creation Israel has never sought to integrate its Palestinian citizens, instead it has treated them "as second-class citizens and excluding them from public life and the public sphere" [9]. In 2001, in a report to the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, Adalah identified more than 20 Israeli laws which result in the systematic and institutionalised discrimination against Palestinian Israelis, including in the areas of education, culture, employment, land, economics and political participation.
In the broader democratic arena, over the years, Israel has also sought to introduce legislation which has restricted the political participation of anyone who does not agree with the "Jewish character" of the Israeli state. Since 1985, when Israel amended its Basic Laws, no political parties or political candidate are able run for political office if they advocate that Israel become a secular, democratic state with equal rights for all its citizens.
The apartheid nature of the Israeli state and its discriminatory and undemocratic policies, which are enacted both inside Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories are regularly and systematically ignored by Israel’s apologists. Instead, they seek to silence critics of Israel’s occupation policies, human rights abuses and war crimes by waving the "democracy" card. A democracy in the modern sense of the word, however, can be defined as a system which guarantees basic human rights for all it citizens, including equal rights in the civil, social, economic and political spheres, while also guaranteeing freedom of speech, expression and assembly and allows religious freedom for all its citizens. To argue that Israel meets these requirements, either in times of war such as now or so-called peace times is nothing short of propaganda. And the one thing that Niv Horesh does get right in his article is that "propaganda does nothing for peace".
– Kim Bullimore has recently spent 12 months living and working in the Occupied West Bank with the International Women’s Peace Service www.iwps.info . Kim writes regularly on the Palestine-Israel conflict for the Australian newspaper, Direct Action www.directaction.org.au and has a blog at www.livefromoccupiedpalestine.blogspot.com. She contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.
[1] Horesh, N., Propaganda does nothing for peace, The Australian, 9 January, 2009.
[2] Mossawa Centre.
[3] Israeli police arrested 300 Palestinian-Israelis since Gaza attacks began, Maan News, 6 January, 2009.
[4] Police arrest 21 left-wing activists protesting Gaza op at Sde Dov IAF base, Jerusalem Post, 2 January, 2009.
[5] Clashes break out between Arab students and police in the Israeli universities, Menassat, Arab Media Network, 8 January, 2009.
[6] The Right to Express Protest, Haaretz editorial, 7 January, 2009.
[7] Edelman, O., (2009) Tel Aviv judge defends right of Arab anti-war protesters, Haaretz.
[8] Kirshbaum, D.A., (2007) Israeli military oppression and exploitation of Palestinian society in Gaza and the West Bank: How it works.
[9] Adalah.
Aiding and Abetting a Holocaust
If We Were Palestinians, How Would We React?
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Laurie Metcalf Joseph Marzullo/WENN
Laurie Metcalf and Daniel Stern Joseph Marzullo/WENN
Daniel Stern Joseph Marzullo/WENN
Zoe Perry Joseph Marzullo/WENN
Zoe Perry and John Schiappa Joseph Marzullo/WENN
John Schiappa Joseph Marzullo/WENN
Sharr White Joseph Marzullo/WENN
Three-time Emmy Award winner and Tony Award nominee Metcalf ("Roseanne," November, London's Long Day's Journey Into Night), who was praised for her performance as a neurologist facing family and health issues, will be playing opposite her real-life daughter, Perry, who is making her Broadway debut. Daniel Stern is widely known for TV's "The Wonder Years," and the films "Diner," "Home Alone," "City Slickers," "Breaking Away." This marks his Broadway debut.
In the play, which is billed as a thriller, Metcalf plays Juliana Smithton, "a successful neurologist whose life seems to be coming unhinged," according to MTC. "Her husband (Daniel Stern) has filed for divorce, her daughter (Zoe Perry) has eloped with a much older man (John Schiappa) and her own health is in jeopardy. But in this brilliantly crafted work, nothing is as it seems. Piece by piece, a mystery unfolds as fact blurs with fiction, past collides with present and the elusive truth about Juliana boils to the surface." Mantello is the two-time Tony-winning director of Other Desert Cities, Wicked, Assassins, Take Me Out and Love! Valour! Compassion!
For its extended spring 2011 run by MCC Theater at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, The Other Place was nominated for two Outer Critics Circle Awards, a Drama League Award, and three Lucille Lortel Awards. Metcalf won an Obie Award and a Lucille Lortel Award for her performance.
This marks the Broadway debut of White. His plays have been developed or produced at theatres across the country, including The Magic Theatre (West Coast premiere of The Other Place; premiere of Annapurna; finalist for a Steinberg/ATCA Award); South Coast Repertory (commissions for Annapurna and Sunlight); Marin Theatre Company (premiere of Sunlight; winner of the 2009 Skye Cooper New American Play Prize); Oregon Shakespeare Festival (development of The Other Place); Actors Theatre of Louisville (premiere of Six Years at the 2006 Humana Festival); The Cape Cod Theatre Project (playwright-in-residence).
The Other Place had its European premiere at the Nationaltheater Mannheim, where it is currently in repertory, and will premiere at the Melbourne Theatre Company in 2013. The Other Place was a recipient of the 2010 Playwrights First Award; the 2011 Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation's Theatre Visions Fund Award; and was an Outer Critics Circle Award nominee for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play.
The creative team for the production includes Eugene Lee (scenic design), David Zinn (costume design), Justin Townsend (lighting design), Fitz Patton (original music, sound design), William Cusick (projection design) and David Caparelliotis (casting).
This is a limited engagement to Feb. 24, 2013. Tickets for The Other Place are available by calling Telecharge at (212) 239-6200, online by visiting Telecharge.com, or by visiting the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre Box Office at 261 W. 47th Street. Ticket prices are $67–$120.
MTC is the resident not-for-profit that produces Off-Broadway at City Center Stage I and Stage II and on Broadway at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. MTC productions have earned a total of 18 Tony Awards and six Pulitzer Prizes. This fall MTC unveils The Studio at Stage II – Harold and Mimi Steinberg New Play Series at New York City Center, giving voice to new works and rising writers at an affordable ticket price.
Lynne Meadow is MTC artistic director and Barry Grove is executive producer. For more information, visit ManhattanTheatreClub.com.
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Home / Columns / The best ROH storylines of all time
The best ROH storylines of all time
By Jose Perez on January 16, 2014@primus103
ROH Ringside – Issue #16
It’s time once again for the greatest columnist in history…no wait, it’s just me. ROH Ringside is back for 2014.
Storylines. Few fans understand them, lots of fans hate them, and most fans want them. I don’t know what the hell I just said, but one of the things I read about on the Internet, is that the reason Ring of Honor, will not reach T.N.A. or W.W.E.’s level, is because it is too wrestling orientated and does not have many storylines.
I would like to know what people consider storylines. Does it have to be about someone’s wife? Does it have to involve stuff they do outside the ring? Is it personal stories? Gimmick related? In my opinion, a storyline is any minimal addition to a match, to make it have meaning. It doesn’t have to be big, it doesn’t have to be a focus point, but it has to make a match purposeful.
At the time of writing this article I finished watching “Nowhere To Run” from May 14th, 2005. I can guarantee you, that there are many storylines that are being developed, many that are ongoing and many that have finished. So I decided to write this article for all those people, who don’t think that Ring of Honor has storylines and thinks it’s just wrestling for nothing. I want to show a list of storylines that have happened between 2002 and 2005 (from what my mind can remember) to prove my point. Hey, don’t get me wrong, sometimes Ring of Honor will have the tendency of throwing matches together out of the blue, but they know how to make a story out of that match. So here’s the list of storylines that I can remember, that helped make Ring of Honor, just a little bit better.
Hardcore Wrestling vs. Pure Wrestling. Ricky Steamboat and Mick Foley came into Ring of Honor, and out of their appearances they had a mini-feud that stretched through some shows to know if what mattered more was Hardcore Wrestling or Pure Wrestling. After a series of matches (not between them, but by wrestlers adopted by them) if I remember correctly, both agree that they can both styles can live with each other. What I did find funny was that it seemed that the crowd sided more with Mick Foley, despite Ring of Honor fans appreciate Ring of Honor, as a “pure wrestling” company.
Samoa Joe’s Title Reign. The length of the title reign was sort of converted into a storyline, similar to the way Undertaker’s Wrestlemania streak was. Who would be the man to take it off of him? How long will the reign last? Finally, Austin Aries took it from him, in a spectacular match. During this title reign, there were some mini storylines around the title as well. Samoa Joe’s hatred for the R.O.H. Pure Title, calling it secondary and not as great as the World Title. After having two or three intense matches with Homicide, the R.O.H. booking committee decided that Homicide cannot go for the World Title as long as Samoa Joe is champion.
C.M. Punk had three memorable feuds and one memorable series of matches, which I really wouldn’t consider a feud.
The first feud was with Raven. Here C.M. Punk expresses his hated for Raven for his past life of drugs and alcohol. C.M. Punk breaks one of the best promos I’ve ever seen, after a match with Raven, with blood pouring down his face, as he explains why he’s straight edge. C.M. Punk won the feud in a steel cage match. For me the feud was very intense, but the matches didn’t live up to the feud.
The second feud was with Ricky Steamboat. Basically the feud was a “you’re old and I’m young” type of feud. There were some “controversial” Steamboat referee calls, during C.M. Punk matches. I don’t remember if they had a match, or if the end result of the feud, but I do remember what didn’t make sense, is that during the Mick Foley-Ricky Steamboat feud, C.M. Punk took Ricky Steamboat’s side, and I was like, “Huh”?
The third feud is one that finished in this last show I mentioned that I saw, between C.M. Punk and Jimmy Rave. I don’t really remember how the feud started, but Jimmy Rave was a guy who got under C.M. Punk’s skin. Jimmy tried to shred C.M. Punk’s tattoo off, Prince Nana (Jimmy Rave’s manager) sprayed Bug Spray in C.M. Punk’s eyes. Jimmy Rave and the Embassy almost choked C.M. Punk out with a chain. Jimmy Rave beat C.M. Punk night in and night out, by cheating. The pay off for C.M. Punk was in a steel cage match at “Nowhere to Run”, in where despite interference from Prince Nana and others; he won with a superplex off the top of the cage.
The series of matches, in which I refer to, is against Samoa Joe. Twice C.M. Punk and Samoa Joe went to a sixty minute time limit draw, in two awesome matches that I recommend to any pro wrestling fan. They have a third match in which C.M. Punk says there will be a winner…and it was Samoa Joe. These three matches almost made C.M. Punk a superstar in Ring of Honor (I said almost because he was pretty much established at that point).
Generation Next. At the show “Generation Next” a stable with Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong and Jack Evans debuted. Their goal was to get the spot of the main eventers at that time. At each show, they asked wrestlers to step aside so they can grab their spot. It was your basic stable takes over, storyline, but it worked. Alex Shelley was away from Ring of Honor for a few shows, and after Austin Aries won the R.O.H. title, he returned, and wanted leadership back from Austin Aries, but Austin will not have any of it, and Roderick Strong and Austin Aries attacked Alex Shelley. At this time, they are in the middle of their feud.
The break-up of Special K. Jay Lethal was the first wrestler to leave the group after Samoa Joe took him under his wing (a storyline unto itself). After a year or so, the members of Special K, would be more affectionate or close to one of two lady members. This lead to jealousy between the group members and playing the blame game when losses occurred. Eventually, both sides of Special K, would have a match for the rights to the name, which was won by Dixie and Azrieal, who decided to throw the name away, while the losers (Izzy and Deranged) stayed with Lacey changing their name to Lacey’s Angels.
Austin Aries is using his current title reign to “bring back the territories”. Austin Aries is taking the title to Mexico, Canada, Europe and other American feds, to make it more prestigious than Samoa Joe ever made it. Although this doesn’t have direct influence in the matches or anything, it is something to take into account when you watch Austin Aries wrestler.
This is just a few of the examples, of storylines in Ring of Honor. There are many more, and many exciting ones to watch. So believe me, Ring of Honor can make storylines. They aren’t over the top, or done outside of the ring, but they make Ring of Honor just that much more interesting.
— Jose Perez
Related Itemsring of honorROHROH Ringside
← Previous Story OWW’s This Week in Wrestling – January 15, 2014
Next Story → GUEST COLUMN: “Daniel Bryan, Curtis Axel, and the Issue of the Failed Wrestling Star” by David M. Levin
WWE Secretly Talking About Potential ROH Buyout
Christopher Daniels Captures ROH Title
Huge Tag Team Match Set For ROH Supercard of Honor
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OpenDataCitiesConference.com
A Look Back at the First Open-data Cities Conference
On April 20 2012 the Open-data Cities Conference was held in Brighton and Hove at the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange. This was the conferences website.
Content is from the site's 2012 archived pages as well as from other outside sources.
The Open-data Cities Conference will take place in Brighton and Hove on Friday, April 20 2012, at the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange.
The high-profile conference – the first of its kind in the United Kingdom – will focus on how publicly-funded organisations can engage with citizens to build more creative, prosperous and accountable communities.
It will be attended by more than 200 people who believe the value of public data is greatest when it is freely and openly shared. They will be leaders from the public sector, arts and cultural organisations, and creative and digital industries.
The focus will be on the opportunities to improve the lives of more than 10 million citizens in the UK’s biggest cities.
Keynote speakers will inspire discussions about the potential impact of open data in four specific areas:
• improvement in democratically-accountable public services;
•enhancement of artistic and cultural experiences;
•development of new technologies, including the semantic web;
•innovation in media industries, including newspapers and television.
The one-day conference will also include workshops about issues relating to each of the areas.
A message to attendees of the Open-data Cities Conference
April 19 2012. Posted by Greg Hadfield
I just wanted to say how excited I am about tomorrow’s Open-data Cities Conference at Brighton Dome Corn Exchange.
And, of course, to thank you for your support.
We’ve got a great roster of speakers, all of whom have inspired me over recent months and years.
We’ve also got a great sponsor in Kasabi, the data marketplace – plus supporters such as GeoVation and the Open Knowledge Foundation.
But the most important ingredient of the success of the conference will be you…and more than 150 others, of course!
As you know, registration opens at 9.15am – with the conference kicking off promptly in the main auditorium at 9.55am (with something you won’t want to miss).
If you’re in Brighton tonight (Thursday), a group of enthusiastic attendees are having informal drinks in The Quadrant pub (near the Clock Tower) from 8pm.
Otherwise, I hope you enjoy tomorrow.
And, at this exciting moment, I hope it’s one of many bridges between words/conferences and actions/achievements. There’ll be others, too.
If you have any specific questions or expectations, please email me or tweet at @OpendataCities.
Thanks to the excellent Adam Tinworth (@adders) , there will be comprehensive live-blogging at One Man and His Blog.
Finally, please do tweet early and often; the hashtag is #ODCC.
Best wishes and thanks again,
Greg Hadfield
Speakers and Schedule
The Open-data Cities Conference was organised in association with Kasabi, an online marketplace that brings developers and data publishers together to enable new business models for consumers and producers of data at all scales.
Schedule for the Open-data Cities Conference:
9.15am-9.55am: Registration
9.55am-10am: This is Brighton, a video by Caleb Yule
10am-10.30am: John Barradell, chief executive of Brighton and Hove City Council (Because of the illness of John Barradell, his presentation was given by Charlie Stewart, strategic director of resources, and John Shewell, head of communications)
10.30am-11am: Leigh Dodds, chief technology officer of Kasabi
11am-11.15am: Break
11.15am-11.45am: Jonathan Carr-West, director of Local Government Information Unit
11.45am-12.15pm: Tom Steinberg, founder and director of mySociety
12.15pm-1pm: Drew Hemment, founder and chief executive of FutureEverything, and Bill Thompson, head of partnership development, archive development at the BBC
1pm-2pm: Presentations and Q&A in Founders Room, including a showcase of the Map the Museum project
2pm-2.30pm: Lean Doody, associate at Arup
2.30pm-3pm: Emer Coleman, deputy director of digital engagement at the Government Digital Service
3pm-3.15pm: Break
3.15pm-3.45pm: Ian Holt, senior developer programme manager at Ordnance Survey
3.45pm-4.15pm: Laura James, foundation coordinator at the Open Knowledge Foundation
4.15pm-4.45pm: ”Open mic”: lightning contributions from the floor
4.45pm-5.15pm: Greg Hadfield, founder of Open Brighton and Hove
Speakers at the Open-data Cities Conference:
Charlie Stewart (standing in for John Barradell)
Because of illness, John Barradell, chief executive officer of Brighton and Hove City Council, was unable to attend.
His presentation was made on his behalf by:
Charlie Stewart, strategic director of resources for Brighton and Hove City Council, with John Shewell, head of communications for Brighton and Hove City Council
John Barradell, chief executive officer of Brighton and Hove City Council
John is passionate about public services and believes that councils should be at the heart of communities. He places great emphasis on excellent customer service and on serving residents with pride and professionalism.
He came to Brighton and Hove in 2009 from Westminster City Council, where he had been deputy chief executive since 2006. He was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours in January 2008.
His service in local government follows a 22-year career in various roles in the private sector before joining Westminster City Council in 2002.
John’s commercial experience has been in the information technology sector in various marketing management roles in companies such as Unisys and Hewlett Packard.
Leigh Dodds, chief technology officer of Kasabi
Leigh is passionate about creating products that make a difference. “I love the web, working with data, code and a great team,” he says.
He has overseen product development and technical strategy for Kasabi’s core product and APIs.
In addition to data-acquisition strategy, Leigh has also contributed to business development, planning and modelling.Previously, he undertook consulting projects with the BBC and the UK government, contributing to the data.gov.uk effort with training and data conversions.
Jonathan Carr-West, director of Local Government Information Unit
Jonathan leads the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU) policy team, which seeks to strengthen local democracy by developing new thinking and practice on how local communities can have more influence over the areas they live in and the services they use and how local government can help them to do so.
Some of Jonathan’s particular interests are participative democracy, the evolving nature of communities and behaviour change.
“I’m interested in how to make change happen and in how big new ideas translate into practical policies that deliver real progress for organisations, communities and individuals,” he says.
“Professionally, that means designing and delivering research and public policy projects that find creative but practical responses to complex social or organisational problems.”
Before joining the LGiU, Jonathan was deputy programme director at the RSA (Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Commerce and Manufactures). At the RSA, he developed and managed more than a dozen major action research projects in areas including personal carbon trading, water and sanitation provision in the developing world and the economics of migration.
He has published on topics as diverse as cognitive and behavioural science, water provision and the politics of cultural memory.
Tom Steinberg, founder and director of mySociety
An international non-profit group that aims at helping people become more powerful in the civic and democratic parts of their lives through digital means, mySociety runs the popular UK transparency websites, TheyWorkForYou and WhatDoTheyKnow, and the problem-fixing sites, FixMyStreet and FixMyTransport. It also builds open source software to enable international re-use of mySociety’sprojects.
Tom’s job is to help ensure that mySociety’s UK sites are as helpful as possible to the people who need them, to enable and encourage overseas groups to deploy their own versions, and to supply products and consulting services to media companies, campaign groups and public sector clients.
Tom’s interest in technology and government comes from an unusual background in both fields. Having worked as a sysadmin and junior think-tank researcher, he became a policy analyst at the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit from 2001 to 2003.
Outside of mySociety, Tom is frequently asked by governments to help formulate policy advice relating to digital issues. Tom has also advised governments and parties across a spectrum of countries, and a range of ideological positions. He believes that good digital government services, usable community tools and powerful transparency sites are not the preserve of any one political ideology.
Bill Thompson, head of partnership development, archive development at the BBC
Bill Thompson has been working in, on and around the internet since 1984. He spends his time thinking, writing and speaking about the digital world we are in the midst of building.
He appears weekly on Click on the BBC World Service, writes a regular column for Focus magazine; he is an advisor to a range of arts and cultural organisations on their digital strategies and a member of the board of Writers’ Centre Norwich.
He is currently working in the Archive Development team at the BBC building relationships with museums, galleries and institutions.
Dr Drew Hemment, founder and chief executive officer of FutureEverything
Drew Hemment is founder and chief executive officer of FutureEverything, the UK’s award-winning digital culture festival and innovation lab; he is also associate director of ImaginationLancaster at Lancaster University.
Over 20 years, his work around the world at the leading edge of digital culture has been been covered by New York Times, Guardian, Wall Street Journal, BBC and NBC. His achievements have been recognised by awards from the arts, technology and business sectors, including the Lever Prize 2010 (winner) and Prix Ars Electronica 2008 (honorary mention).
Drew directs a Data Art programme and was commissioned to scope the potential for data-visualisation at London 2012 Olympics. He has contributed to open-data policy in Greater Manchester and DataGM (Greater Manchester Datastore). Current projects include The Creative Exchange, a £4m Knowledge Hub in the Creative Economy (AHRC) and £1.9m Catalyst tools for social change (EPSRC).
Lean Doody, Associate at Arup
Lean concentrates on the application of information and communications technology (ICT) in urban developments.
She leads Arup’s work in Smart Cities, looking at how information technology and data in cities can impact how people use cities, with an emphasis on supporting sustainable cities.
Recent project work has been in developing ICT strategies for new urban developments and cities in the United Kingdom, Finland, China and Qatar.
Emer Coleman, Deputy Director of Digital Engagement at the Government Digital Service
Emer, whose background includes communications and journalism, is former director of digital projects for the Greater London Authority.
She holds a BA in History and Sociology from University College Cork and an MPA from Warwick Business School. She was named in Wired’s Top 100 Digital Power Influencers List 2011
When appointed to her current role in December 2011, she said: “I have been fortunate to have been working in the field of open data and open governance for the past two years in my role as Director of Digital Projects in the Greater London Authority.
“In that time my focus has been on London as a city and how collaboration between technologists and the state can create conditions where innovation flourishes to the benefit of the citizen. I hope my experience in London will benefit GDS as it continues its journey to embed digital by default across the whole of Government.”
Ian Holt, senior developer programme manager at Ordnance Survey
Ian is responsible for encouraging and stimulating the use of OS OpenData and OS OpenSpace. In addition, he is a member of the GeoVation team, promoting innovation through the use of geography.
He has more than 15 years’ experience in the geospatial industry and has spent a good part of his career developing enterprise geospatial solutions for the utilities, communications, and public organisations.
More recently, at Ordnance Survey, Ian founded and managed the “Skunkworks” innovation lab and, as a senior research scientist, worked on the early ontology and linked-data implementations.
Ian volunteers for MapAction, an in-field NGO dedicated to provide mapping services to help support disaster-relief efforts.
Dr Laura James, foundation coordinator of Open Knowledge Foundation
Dr Laura James leads operations and strategic development of the Open Knowledge Foundation, which has established itself as a leading organisation working on open data and open access to knowledge both nationally and internationally.
It has more than two dozen active projects and working groups organising activities around the world, building open source tools, platforms and communities to enable data and other kinds of content to be open, shared, discovered, used and reused.
Laura is also co-founder and director of Makespace, a non-profit creating and inventing shed in the city centre of Cambridge: a workshop with a wide range of manufacturing tools from 3D printing to electronics assembly, a space where people can meet, learn, build and play.
Greg Hadfield, founder of Open-data Brighton and Hove
Greg was the first national newspaper journalist to leave Fleet Street for the internet in the mid-1990s. A former news editor of The Sunday Times, he and his son, Tom – then aged 12 – created Soccernet, the world’s most popular football website, in 1995.
Four years later, after Soccernet was sold to ESPN for $40m, Greg created Schoolsnet, an education website, which he sold to a company co-owned by Jeremy Hunt, now Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport.
Most recently, he was head of digital development and Telegraph Media Group and director of strategic projects at Cogapp, a leading digital agency.
The ODCC
April 25, 2012, by Mark Wainwright / blog.okfn.org
Brighton was buzzing with wise, whacky and innovative ideas for Open Data on Friday – even more than usual – as about 150 people converged on the city for the first Open Data Cities Conference. So passionate was the organiser, Greg Hadfield, about the potential of Open Data in cities that he gave up his job at the start of the year to work full time on the ODCC, and the fruits of his labours were apparent in the seemingly endless roster of first-rate speakers.
The conference was supported by the Open Knowledge Foundation, and Laura James, a Foundation Co-ordinator, spoke in the afternoon about the emerging need for Data Management Systems. She made the case that Open Source DMS’s like the OKF’s CKAN are a good fit for open data: by freeing data publishers from reliance on one provider, they ensure sustainable open data in the long term.
Dr Laura James speaking at the conference
With such a hectic succession of speakers there was a lot to digest, but looking back, some themes emerge from the day. One thread that emerged repeatedly was that, for both data and cities, collaboration is key. Charlie Stewart and John Shewell of Brighton and Hove City Council first struck up this theme, saying the aim of Brighton’s Open Data policy is to enable more active involvement from citizens. Lean Doody of Arup praised cities as spaces that increase the potential for collaboration and hence for innovation and productivity. Leigh Dodds, CTO of the lead sponsor Kasabi, in a historical tour-de-force covering Robert Hooke’s part in the piecemeal surveying and rebuilding London after the Great Fire of 1666, argued that the present-day tidal wave of data is a modern counterpart of the Great Fire. Now as then, grand top-down solutions are doomed to fail, and data hubs must become collaborative enterprises where anyone can bring as well as use data – like the CKAN-powered DataHub or indeed Kasabi‘s own offering.
Information is power, and another theme that emerged was that of self-determination – of giving people control. Drew Hemment founded FutureEverything, the techo-art festival in Manchester that was part of the drive behind the brilliant (and CKAN-powered) datagm.org.uk. Drew told us he’s suspicious of arguments for Open Data based on transparency. (It’s interesting that transparency was not noticeably a theme of the day.) His interest in Open Data is in giving people control. John and Charlie had hit exactly the same note earlier, noting that that millions of people want more control over decisions that affect them, and asking, ‘How do we unlock data so citizens can influence decisions before they’re made?’
The process of opening data also came under scrutiny, with speakers emphasising that it is never a once-for-all affair. The advice from Tom Steinberg, founder of MySociety, is to pay close attention to incoming requests for data so that you know what people want – even if those requests are coming to somebody else in the organisation. Emer Coleman of the Government Digital Service – and former Open Data champion at the Greater London Authority – told data publishers to ‘get ugly early’: release early and iterate, improving the data as you go. And Ian Holt of Ordnance Survey spoke about OS’s experience of releasing mapping data: they have an ongoing engagement with users such as the Geovation Challenge, though they would still like to know more about how people use their data. I’d met Ian before, on one of the excellent Open Data Masterclasses that are another part of OS’s ongoing user engagement.
Tom and Emer also both touched on the resistance to getting data out in the open. Emer pointed out that this often comes from officials fearful of the consequences – rather than from any considerations of the public weal – even though politicians, who have more to be fearful of, are often in favour. Tom gave some helpful tips on overcoming resistance to releasing data: officials are more receptive to the argument that open data will reduce their workload, for example, than that it will shine a light in dark corners, which may be just what they fear.
Tom knew whereof he spoke, having found himself unexpectedly at the head of a criminal organisation simply by trying to build useful stuff – which back then meant stealing data that now is freely available, partly thanks to his efforts. The creative power of Open Data was of course another theme that reoccurred throughout the day. As Laura James reminded us, the best use of your data will be made by someone else – when the OKF’s site wheredoesmymoneygo.org was experimental, it was often down, leading to enquiries from HM Treasury who found it the most useful way to look at their own data! Lean Doody gave examples in the area of smart cities, including a bus app in Sydney so wildly successful it had to be withdrawn after a couple of weeks because the data provider couldn’t cope with the web traffic. Bill Thompson gave a glimpse of where the ongoing work on the BBC archives might lead. (Are you visible in a pushchair in a street shot from a soap opera when you were 2? Imagine if you could search and find out.) And Jonathan Carr-West of the Local Government Information Unit, quoting the French theorist Bordieu for extra street-cred, said that data is a major new field of exchange – a role the city has traditionally filled – and that Open Data must permeate our habitus and doxa if we are to find solutions together to such existential human problems as world hunger, climate change, resource shortage, ageing and war.
The last word, fittingly, went to Greg Hadfield, who recalled the early days of the internet – 1995, in fact, when he and his teenage son launched Soccernet, to general derision (‘would why anyone get football results from a computer when they can use Ceefax?’) Four years later it was sold for £40 million – ‘We didn’t get the money’, he lamented in an aside (not that he’s done too badly since). As then with the internet, so now with Open Data, Greg sees whole new possibilities open up – and he is determined that communities and cities, and Brighton in particular, should be in the lead.
For other perspectives on the ODCC, see here, here or the amazing live blogging from the day here.
The Guardian: Data that can build a better society
What do most people think of when they hear the word “data”?
Everybody knows what it means, I guess: “Facts and statistics collected together for reference or analysis.” That’s the dictionary definition.
When people talk about data, they are likely to think about numbers and spreadsheets, a lot of “1″s and “0″s, or decimal points.
The chances are they will also feel a little uncomfortable.
Data, they sense, is cold and calculating, distant, and a little bit dangerous. At best, it’s boring; at worst, it’s Big Brother.
So what is the thinking behind the United Kingdom’s first Open-data Cities Conferencein Brighton and Hove?
Like it or not, data is everywhere.
It defines, describes and determines the world we live in. Usually, you can’t see it; you definitely can’t touch it. And yet, data is literally the “stuff” of everyday life.
Occasionally, it is openly and freely accessible; mostly, it is locked away in databases controlled by big business or big government.
Of course, we are not talking about personal data relating to identifiable individuals.
The civic data we are talking about is data about schools, catchment areas, and property prices; about bus times and bus-stops, taxi ranks, car parks, and traffic congestion; about energy use, CO2 emissions, and carbon footprints.
It is not just about transparency and accountability, important though they are; nor is it about data-visualisations and infographics, no matter how dazzlingly beautiful.
The data we are talking about is the “straw” that creates the bricks, which build the walls of the palaces and mansions of the future – the architects of which are still in our schools and universities.
It is this rising generation who will be the innovators, the creators of data-driven applications and services – as yet unimaginable – that will make communities more prosperous, more inclusive, and more democratic.
Humankind has been on the planet for about 160,000 years; cities have existed for, say, 6,000 years; the internet has existed for less than 50 years.
By 2050, 70% of the world’s population will live in cities.
As a result, our generation is at a singular juncture in human history and technological development.
Data generated in – and by, or for – cities is particularly potent.
The crucibles for global change will be “open-data” cities – cities which self-consciously and collectively decide to make available unbounded quantities of data, openly and freely.
Imagine a city where your car tells you the location of the nearest vacant parking space. Or a city where you are notified as soon as a neighbour submits a planning application. Where up-to-the-minute listings of every cultural event and venue are available – all the time, wherever you happen to be.
Imagine if you could discover the asking price of the cheapest two-bedroom home that has just gone on sale, in the catchment area that will guarantee your child a place at the best-performing school.
It’s not technology that is holding us up. Although the rate of change will be greater as we progress towards ubiquitous, free, high-speed internet access available to everybody via a myriad devices.
For open-data cities to become reality, we don’t have to wait until connectivity – and the “connectedness” it engenders – is the air we breathe.
Nor do we have to wait for the “internet of things”, of which all kinds of objects – not just computers, tablets and phones – will be a part.
Emerging technologies associated with a semantic web of data are already sufficient to power innovative applications, services, and enterprises that will compete and combine to meet the needs of communities in the 21st century.
It is lack of data at a local level that will limit our ambitions. It is a dearth of data that risks keeping our cities in the slow lane to the future.
In a post-digital era – when the differentiation between analogue and digital, between “real” and “virtual”, will finally be blurred beyond relevance – we will truly live in the age of data.
The more data that is released – without strings attached, in machine-readable and non-proprietary “open” formats – the more likely it is that businesses and developers will use it to build the applications and services that world-class cities need.
The Open-data Cities Conference addresses profound questions facing such cities and their citizens.
What do we mean by a “networked” city? And how do we ensure UK cities are at the forefront of what is a global transformation?
How do we use emerging technology to create the cities we want, rather than wait passively for “The Next Big Thing” and a take-it-or-leave-it future that continually descends on us, apparently out of thin air?
Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and their ilk are going to be a large part of the future for some time to come. Online social networks are the arteries and veins of a world that appears to be getting smaller all the time.
Crucially, though, the lifeblood that flows through our increasingly-networked world is data.
And like it or not, it is the word that will define an era.
20 cities: the open-data landscape
March 9 2012. Posted by Greg Hadfield
Much of the Open-data Cities Conference on Friday, April 20, will focus on what is happening in 20 English cities: unitary authorities or metropolitan district councils; with populations of about 250,000 or more that provide sustainable local economies; cities in line for “local TV” under government plans for digital terrestrial television.
Kasabi blog: Data is the lifeblood
February 20 2012. Posted by Greg Hadfield
Living in a city in the 21st century is a truly remarkable experience. Without exaggeration, it presents an historic opportunity.
Humankind has been on the planet for about 160,000 years; cities have existed for, say, 6,000 years; we have used the internet for barely 50 years. We do indeed live in interesting times – at a singular juncture in human history and technological development.
The Argus: Article about the conference
Living today in a city like Brighton and Hove is a remarkable experience.
Humankind has been on the planet for about 160,000 years; cities have existed for, say, 6,000 years; the internet was created barely 50 years ago.
As a result, our generation of city-dwellers has unprecedented opportunities to shape the way we live our lives.
Open-data cities: an historic opportunity
February 5 2012. Posted by Greg Hadfield
How open data has changed journalism
January 25 2012. Posted by Greg Hadfield
Data – whether open or not – has always fuelled journalism. Data that is increasingly “open” (in the fullest sense of the term) will transform journalism.
Aristotle and an open-data Brighton and Hove
Aristotle got it right.
“Man is a political animal,” the ancient Greek philosopher wrote nearly 2,500 years ago.
He believed human beings were suited to living in a “polis” [πόλις] or city-state – large enough to be self-sustaining, but small enough for lives to be lived on a human scale.
The Argus: Putting open data into action
May 14 2012. Posted by Greg Hadfield
I wrote this column for The Argus newspaper after the conference:
More than 150 people attended the Open-data Cities Conference at Brighton Dome Corn Exchange
The conference, I hope, helped put Brighton and Hove at the forefront of an historic shift – fuelled by emerging internet technologies – that will transform the lives of millions of citizens in a global network of “networked” cities.
So what is an open-data city?
In simple terms, it is a city where democratically-accountable and publicly-funded organisations take the lead in the widespread release of data – with no licensing strings attached – that can be interpreted or manipulated by computers.
As a result, such data can then be used to create innovative applications and services for the public good.
To emphasise: open data is not about personal data relating to identifiable individuals. Neither is it yet another expensive IT project to be funded by taxpayers. Nor is it just about transparency and the public’s right to know (important, though, these are).
When I gave up my job to organise the conference, I was determined that it should not only generate discussion, but also inspire action. Not least action on my part, as I prepare to raise investment for a new business venture.
For more than three years, I have evangelised the benefits of open data; frequently, I have confessed that it requires a leap of faith to see how data – such a boring word for such a powerful concept! – can deliver benefits that, quite literally, are unimaginable.
Repeatedly, I recall what was said in 1995, when I and my son – then aged 12 –created Soccernet, which became the world’s most popular football website and sold four years later for $40million. “Why on earth will anyone want to get their football scores off a computer,” incredulous friends used to say, ”when they can get them from Ceefax.”
In those days, nobody could have imagined that “geeky” talk of HTML (hypertext mark-up language) and FTP (file transfer protocol) could lead to a Google, a Facebook, an Amazon, or an Ebay
Understandably, we are impressed only when technology makes our day-to-day lives easier, better, more enjoyable, and more fulfilling. In that sense, it’s not about the technology. And it’s not about the data. It’s about the citizen, in cities such as Brighton and Hove.
What will drive change? What will be the catalyst for innovation?
Central government definitely has a key responsibility and much is being done. Much more, however, has to be done by local authorities, even in austere economic circumstances.
It was encouraging to see at the conference a significant number of senior officers of Brighton and Hove City Council. John Barradell, the council’s chief executive officer, and his leadership team recognise the advantages of an open and collaborative approach to data, as a means to a greater common good.
I am convinced the impact of making a mass of data freely available will be greatest in cities such as ours. Equally, I am certain that fundamental, sustainable progress will be made only if individual entrepreneurs and companies use open data to build profitable businesses and useful products or services.
And that is what I plan to do with the creation of a Brighton and Hove “data store”, a resource for the city out of which will be built things that are unimaginably beneficial.
Because of the conference, I am now ready to take that personal leap of faith. I hope others in Brighton and Hove will join me.
Open-data Cities Conference
The Open-data Cities Conference took place in Brighton and Hove on Friday, April 20 2012.
The high-profile conference – the first of its kind in the United Kingdom – was attended by more than 150 people and focused on how publicly-funded organisations can engage with citizens to build more creative, prosperous and accountable communities.
In a busy schedule, speakers were:
Charlie Stewart and John Shewell (standing in for John Barradell);
Leigh Dodds;
Jonathan Carr-West;
Tom Steinberg;
Drew Hemment;
Bill Thompson;
Lean Doody;
Emer Coleman;
Ian Holt;
Laura James;
Greg Hadfield.
There are pictures of all the speakers – thanks to Andrew Hasson - plus pictures in the auditorium and outside.
You can also read about their contributions, thanks to Adam Tinworth (@adders), who has written about it comprehensively on One Man and His Blog.
Catch up with the conversation on #ODCC.
Links to other coverage and my own reflections will be published over the next few days.
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Uncategories New Video: YFN Lucci "Boss Life" featuring Offset
New Video: YFN Lucci "Boss Life" featuring Offset
Think It's A Game / Warner Bros. rapper, YFN Lucci, invites you to his winter wonderland in the new music video for "Boss Life" featuring fellow Atlanta native and Migos member, Offset. The lavish Michael Garcia-directed visual features the two rappers living like the bosses they are- the pair exchange verses drippin' in diamonds, with beautiful exotic women at their side. Watch the video HERE.
Last year, Rolling Stone proclaimed YFN Lucci's smash hit "Everyday We Lit" ft. PnB Rock the "Song Of The Summer." The single hit #1 at urban radio and earned an RIAA gold certification, with the companion video racking up over 100M Youtube views. Soon after, YFN Lucci released his highly-anticipated Billboard Top 5 debut EP Long Live Nut. The world first met YFN Lucci in 2014 with his debut mixtape, Wish Me Well, and 2016's follow up, Wish Me Well 2. Since then, he has collaborated with the likes of Yo Gotti, Meek Mill, and 2 Chainz to name a few, and blazed the stage on the "Parental Advisory Tour" last summer with Lil Uzi Vert, Kodak Black, and 21 Savage. Named one of Billboard's 10 Hip Hop and R&B Artists To Watch in 2017, he's also received praises from Forbes, Rolling Stone and more. XXL called YFN Lucci "one of the hottest rappers in Atlanta right now," his debut album Ray Ray From Summer Hill is coming soon!
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Fellows and Contributors
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Two Neo-Confederate Leaders Join Republican & Democratic Parties to Run For Office
By Frederick Clarkson, on February 27, 2014
About Frederick Clarkson
Pastor David Whitney was a leader in the Constitution Party, but is now running for office as a Democrat
There was a quietly dramatic moment on February 24th in Glen Burnie, Maryland. Two former leaders of the theocratic Constitution Party (CP) declared their intention to run in the June 24th primary election—as a Democrat and a Republican. The pair are running, respectively, for seats on the Democratic and Republican Party county central committees, as well as for the Anne Arundel County Council. (The county is part of the greater Washington, DC and Baltimore metropolitan area.)
While changing political parties is not an uncommon thing in today’s political world, what makes the actions of these men extraordinary and of national significance is who they are, their obvious coordination, and their personal histories and political vision.
Michael Peroutka, the newly-minted Republican, was the 2004 presidential candidate of the Constitution Party. He is an attorney and runs a business with his minister and fellow party-switcher, Pastor David Whitney. They produce tapes and seminars on Christian Nationalist interpretations of the U.S. Constitution via the Institute on the Constitution, an “educational outreach” of the law firm of Peroutka & Peroutka. Whitney, who has now joined the Democratic Party, ran on the Constitution Party’s ticket for the Maryland State Assembly against Democratic Speaker Michael E. Busch in 2006.
The two-man team has set forth on a new religious and political mission, but it is not yet clear what it is. But while we wait for the them to declare their intentions, their theocratic and revolutionary backgrounds may indicate what they have in mind.
Proudly Theocratic
Pastor Whitney has led Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Pasadena, Maryland for more than a decade. His sermons are packed with ideas that can be best described as theocratic and revolutionary. On July 4, 2010, after addressing a Tea Party rally, he declared that we have “the God-given right to secede.” Uncoincidentally, he and Peroutka are both members of the neo-confederate League of the South. Whitney is active and serves as Chaplain of the Maryland chapter. [see audio clip below]
Peroutka, who has been a regular speaker at League of the South national conferences for years, was elected to their board of directors in 2013, and pledged “resources” to the group. The League’s website currently features photos of billboards in Florida and Georgia simply reading, “SECEDE.” The billboards are part of a new interstate campaign promoting Southern Nationalist secession. (The League has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.)
Although the League says it does not support violence, in the past year Whitney has said that church members should own but not register guns; that citizen militias are a bulwark against governmental tyranny; that secession of the states from the union is valid; that vigilante violence is justified in response to legal abortion; and that the only real law, is God’s Law. [see audio clip below]
Whitney is fiercely anti-LGBTQ, stating that he has defended “God’s Holy institution of marriage by testifying before the State Legislature.” He has also justified the murder of abortion providers, declaring in a 2013 sermon, “…we need to understand that there is such a thing as Biblically justifiable homicide.” [see audio clip below]
The first proponent of the notion that killing abortion providers constituted justifiable homicide, was Rev. Paul Hill who in 1994, acted on his belief and murdered an abortion provider and his escort. The Florida courts didn’t buy Hill’s theory justifying vigilante violence against legal abortion, and sent him to the electric chair for his crimes.
Whitney holds a view similar to Hill’s. In a sermon on May 5th 2013 Whitney declared: “When you talk to people about God’s Law being restored in America, they say, ‘Awww, you’re some ayatollah. Awww, you want a theocracy’,” he complained, explaining that, “Well yes, I want obedience to God’s Law because that is where liberty comes from. Liberty comes from God’s Law. Tyranny comes when God’s law is rejected by a society as it has been rejected in our day. Indeed, any law made that contradicts God’s Law, what is it? It’s not law at all. You could call it unlaw or you could call it, as our founders did, pretended law. But it is not law if it violates God’s Law.” [see audio clip below]
When Whitney says he favors theocracy, he also means (as he wrote in February 2014) that we should “restrict citizenship” to Christians of the right sort: Christians who, whether serving as jurors, government officials or “in the Militia” operate according to “God’s Law.”
Whitney has taken these views so far that he is now part of some national networks of like-minded individuals where such views are unexceptional. For example, Whitney is a member of a national network called the Black Regiment of pastors, which declines to register their churches with the IRS for purposes of federal tax exemption, and his church is not registered as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. (The Black Regiment is one of several groups that derive their name from Revolutionary War-era pastors who were politically engaged, supported the revolution, and wore the black robes which were the clerical fashion of the day.)
The anti-government views of some of the several dozen members of the Black Regiment go far beyond the relatively minor matter of federal tax-exemption. For example, two Southern Baptist ministers have gone so far as to threaten the life of President Obama—staying just barely on the legal side of the law. Rev. Steven L. Anderson of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona in 2009 repeatedly called on God to smite his enemy, President Obama, who Anderson believes violates God’s Law by supporting reproductive autonomy and LGBTQ civil rights. (Anderson has also been active in the Constitution Party.) Similarly, Rev. Wiley Drake of First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Vista, California, has also engaged in imprecatory prayer—a prayer in which God is asked to strike down his enemies, including Rev. Barry Lynn and other leaders of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, as well as abortion provider Dr. George Tiller (who was murdered while ushering in church), and President Obama.
The organizer of the above mentioned Black Regiment faction is Rev. Chuck Baldwin, the 2008 Constitution Party presidential candidate. (Baldwin was also Peroutka’s 2004 vice presidential running mate.) Baldwin leads a second, overlapping group called Second Amendment Pastors (of which Whitney is also member) that opposes registering firearms. Baldwin believes revolution is preferable to gun control. “Firearms–especially semi-automatic rifles–in the hands of millions of American citizens,” he wrote, “is truly the only thing that stands between freedom and tyranny for the people of the United States.”
That’s the Ticket
Peroutka’s 2004 failed presidential campaign was well-known for touting conspiratorial claims. Many of which can still be seen on The American View website. One of their campaign pledges was as follows:
“It is clear that both major parties are committed to the agenda of the new world order and seek to enforce economic, military and social policies that are antithetical to the interests of the people of America. Michael Peroutka and the Constitution party will fight to defend America against its foreign and domestic enemies in order to return to a Republic of Sovereign States based on Biblical principles.”
Peroutka has not indicated whether his views of the GOP changed when he switched his registration to run for office as a Republican.
Likewise, Whitney has apparently not displayed any public transformation of his beliefs that suggest they are now more in keeping with those of the Democratic Party. In fact, as recently as October 13, 2013, Whitney gave a sermon where he said, “God’s word is wise in how to structure a human civil government. Because if a human civil government allows a tyrant to control an army, you are going to lose your freedom. It’s only when you, the people, are armed in a militia structure that you can prevent that kind of tyranny from overwhelming the country.”
This is more than mere patriotic vigilance against real (or imagined) excesses of government, Whitney is suggesting something more revolutionary. In his Independence Day 2010 sermon, for example, he declared that when government does not conform to God’s Law, “the people have a right to secede.” He said that many people, “are recognizing that the wicked regime in Washington, DC [apparently referring to the Obama Administration], is not likely to lay aside its despicable and evil tyranny…”. He concluded that we may eventually come to the “same difficult decision which our forebears reached on that hot July day in Philadelphia.” He has not indicated whether he believes a citizen militia should be raised against the leader of his newly-adopted Democratic Party.
It would be tempting to dismiss the electoral prospects of Peroutka and Whitney as dim in light of their controversial views, and history of denunciation of the alleged complicity in “great evil” by the Democratic and Republican parties. But in a (likely) low-turnout primary for local offices in a non-presidential election year, anything is possible. Indeed, Peroutka’s personal wealth as a successful debt collection attorney, and both candidates’ experience in running campaigns, could make for a surprising 2014 primary season in Maryland.
Frederick Clarkson, a Senior Research Analyst at Political Research Associates, has written about politics and religion for more than three decades. He is the author of Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy and editor of Dispatches from the Religious Left: The Future of Faith and Politics in America. Follow him on Twitter at @FredClarkson.
Read more by Frederick Clarkson →
This entry was posted in Eyes Right Blog and tagged civil liberties, constitution party, religious right by Frederick Clarkson. Bookmark the permalink.
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Cher Lloyd’s Sexy Tattoos on Display in Inked Magazine Cover
By Meghan Mabey | On July 15, 2013
Cher Lloyd graces the cover of Inked magazine’s August issue in a skimpy pink outfit, and the singer’s numerous tattoos have never looked hotter! The former X Factor contestant poses on the beach and on the hoods of classic cars in the magazine’s auto issue, putting her 20+ tattoos on display, and, in the interview, talking about the inspiration behind her first tattoo – which she got when she was just 16! Like fellow X Factor contestants One Direction and Little Mix, Cher Lloyd has chosen to express herself through tattoos. Much like One Direction member Harry Styles’ bird cage tattoo, Cher Lloyd’s sports an empty birdcage on the inside of her left arm. Her tattoo collection also includes a Mexican sugar skull tat (kinda like Miley Cyrus’ sugar tattoo on her ankle), the lyrics to “You Are My Sunshine,” butterflies and a bow on one of her fingers.
Cher Lloyd Got First Tattoo at 16!
“I was actually at school and had a lunch break so my mom took me to get a tattoo at a local artist’s house and then I went straight back,” Cher Lloyd says about getting her first-ever tattoo – a music note on her hand at the age of 16. “At the time I still hadn’t been on [X Factor] and the tattoo artist said to me that people wouldn’t employ me because I had a tattoo on my hand,” Cher reveals in the interview. It looks like Cher won’t have to worry about being employed though, since the pop star seems quite busy already, releasing albums and posing for magazine covers. And she also doesn’t plan on slowing down with the tattoos either. “I just want to be covered,” the pop star has said about her tattoo addiction, which began long before she was legally allowed to get inked. “It just carried on from there,” she says. “I got a bit addicted with it, and just kept going and going. But they all mean something to me, I don’t just get them for the sake of it.”
Cher Warns Against Getting Inked
One of Cher Lloyd’s most meaningful tattoos is the large birdcage she has inked on the inside of her left forearm. This particular piece was inked in memory of the singer’s uncle, who passed away following a methadone overdose in September 2010, while Cher was competing on the X Factor. “I remember growing up my uncle always had birds, and I thought that it would be interesting to do something different other than getting his name tattooed on me,” Cher explained. “I thought there was something special about leaving the cage door open and having the bird fly out the other side.” Although Cher Lloyd already has more than a dozen tattoos at the age of 19, she cautions young fans in the Inked interview not to rush into following in her footsteps. “It’s up to an individual to choose when they want to get a tattoo – and if you’re under the age – you should discuss it with your parents like I did.”
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Steinhardt, Chen, et al. v. Occam Networks, Inc., C.A. No. 5878 (Del. Ch. Jan. 6, 2012) (Laster, VC)
Michael Steinhardt (“Steinhardt”) and Herbert Chen (“Chen” and collectively with Steinhardt, the “Plaintiffs”) traded shares of Occam Networks, Inc. (“Occam”) while serving as representative plaintiffs in a class action challenging the merger of Occam with and into Calix, Inc. (“Calix”). Vice Chancellor Laster granted defendants’ motion for sanctions with respect to Steinhardt, who actively traded on confidential information obtained from Chen, but denied the motion with respect to Chen, who inadvertently traded a small amount of Occam stock but had otherwise proven himself to be an effective class representative. The Vice Chancellor dismissed Steinhardt and his funds as class representatives, barred them from recovery in this litigation, required self-reporting to the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), directed disclosure of their improper trading upon any future application to act as lead plaintiff, and ordered disgorgement of related illicit profits.
On September 16, 2010, Occam and Calix announced that the parties had entered into a merger agreement pursuant to which each share of Occam common stock would be converted into the right to receive $3.8337 in cash and 0.2925 shares of Calix common stock. The Plaintiffs wrote to the Occam board of directors setting forth their objections to the merger, and, in particular, the merger consideration. On October 6, 2010, the Plaintiffs commenced this action in the Court of Chancery, alleging that the Occam directors breached their fiduciary duties by approving the merger at an unfair price. Between October 29 and November 2, 2010, Chen sold 31,000 Occam shares at less than the announced merger price in an effort to generate liquidity in anticipation of entering into a confidentiality order that would limit his ability to trade. On November 12, 2010, the Vice Chancellor approved a stipulation and order requiring that confidential discovery material be used only for purposes of this litigation, and restricting the purchase, sale, or trades in the securities of any company, including but not limited to Occam and Calix, on the basis of confidential information contained in the confidential discovery material. Shortly thereafter, the Plaintiffs amended their complaint to include disclosure claims and moved to preliminarily enjoin the consummation of the merger. Thereafter, document production and depositions commenced. On December 28, 2010, when the defendants had nearly completed their document productions, Steinhardt began short selling his Calix common stock to both exit his position in Occam stock, and take advantage of the arbitrage spread that existed between Calix and Occam at the time. In total, he sold 589,097 shares of Calix common stock, which equated to selling 2,014,007 shares of Occam common stock based on the exchange ratio set forth in the merger agreement.
Steinhardt testified that he based his decision to short sell his shares of Calix common stock on his view that the hype surrounding Calix common stock from its IPO had inflated its share price and was unsustainable. However, at the time he decided to sell, Steinhardt was also receiving non-public information regarding the litigation from Chen. Because of his extensive knowledge and investment in Occam, Chen became actively involved in the document production, from which he learned information about the status of the litigation that he communicated to Steinhardt both orally and through written summaries. Chen was aware that Steinhardt was selling Calix shares short and disagreed with his decision to do so, but Chen did not inform Plaintiffs’ counsel about the short sales. On January 24, 2011, the Vice Chancellor held a hearing in open court and granted Plaintiffs’ motion to enjoin the merger pending the issuance of supplemental disclosures and the deposition of one of the lead bankers.
On January 25, 2010, Chen sold 2,500 shares of Occam stock to satisfy a margin call on his brokerage account. Chen testified that he accidentally sold Occam shares, which amounted to less than 0.5% of his holdings in Occam, because he was multi-tasking while executing the trade. He further testified that when he discovered that he had sold Occam shares by mistake, in violation of the confidentiality order, he chose not to violate it a second time by buying shares back. However, he failed to inform Plaintiffs’ counsel of the sale. Occam convened and adjourned its stockholder meeting, disclosed additional information, and, on February 22, 2011, obtained stockholder approval of the merger at the reconvened meeting. Thereafter, defendants requested discovery regarding the Plaintiffs’ trading activities. Steinhardt sought to avoid the requests by offering to step down as class representative, but defendants declined the offer and Chen moved for class certification without Steinhardt.
Vice Chancellor Laster first analyzed the motion for sanctions against Steinhardt by noting that when a stockholder of a Delaware corporation files suit as a representative plaintiff he voluntarily assumes the role of fiduciary for the class, thereby making it unacceptable for the plaintiff-fiduciary to trade on the basis of non-public information obtained through litigation. The Court found that Steinhardt sold Calix shares short with the benefit of information he received from Chen, whose insights were based on the discovery record and discussions with counsel, which allowed Steinhardt to conclude that the merger would be consummated without a change in the merger consideration. Thus, the Court concluded that Steinhardt used non-public information for his personal benefit, actions which constituted a breach of this fiduciary obligations as a representative plaintiff and in violation of the terms of the confidentiality order. The Court further determined that Steinhardt’s offer to step down as class representative did not moot the breaches. Consistent with prior rulings, the Vice Chancellor dismissed Steinhardt and his funds, barred them from receiving any recovery in the litigation, required them to self-report to the SEC, directed their disclosure of improper trading in any future application to serve as lead plaintiff, and ordered them to disgorge trading profits. The Vice Chancellor noted that while he could order disgorgement of all profits from trading on Occam and Calix shares, based on the facts of this case, that would constitute a disproportionate and punitive sanction. Thus, he limited the sanction to any advantage gained by Steinhardt’s position as representative plaintiff and trading before the injunction hearing, and calculated the amount to be disgorged by subtracting the merger cash consideration from the profits on trading on Occam and Calix shares and ordered Steinhardt to disgorge $534,071.45 as a sanction for the improper trades.
The Court found Chen’s trades to be materially different than Steinhardt’s trades. Chen first traded Occam shares before execution of the confidentiality order and before the defendants produced any non-public information. He later accidentally traded a small fraction of Occam shares by “fat finger error” soon after the preliminary injunction hearing which eliminated the principal benefit Chen obtained from accessing confidential discovery information. The Vice Chancellor further stated that he was troubled by Chen’s decision to continue providing Steinhardt with confidential information despite knowing that Steinhardt was shorting the Calix stock, but found that Chen had become very knowledgeable about Occam and the merger and had proven himself to be a motivated and effective representative plaintiff, and thus removing him from the litigation would significantly harm the class.
The full opinion is available here
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MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES 2017
Jimmie Johnson’s target remains almost the same as it did last year - the only difference is that he’s now thinking about an eighth title instead of a seventh. This year is the third time that the rules have been shaken up immediately after he won a championship, but history suggests that he doesn’t need much time to adapt to a new format. If anything, the challenge of adding No. 8 under new regs might serve as additional motivation. Bad news for his rivals...
“Should we lead the points early, or charge at the end?” Johnson and Chad Knaus have a deep playbook to draw from.
EIGHT TIMES...?
Joe Gibbs Racing
SEVEN TO STOP JIMMIE?
They’re lining up to take Jimmie Johnson’s crown. Here are seven leading contenders...
It goes without saying that the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup championship battle will be close – under the current playoff format, it’s literally impossible for it not to be. But the question of who will still be in the hunt for the four-way, winner-takes-all finale at Homestead is far more open.
For strength in numbers, it’s hard to look past the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas. The team’s hand has been weakened somewhat by Carl Edwards’ unexpected retirement – quick as he is, rookie replacement Daniel Suarez will need time to grow – but Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin are still more than capable of leading the team to glory.
Busch was denied back-to-back titles
by a poorly-handling car at Homestead
last year, but still chalked up four wins
during the season and a field-high
average finishing position of 9. 3. Hamlin,
meanwhile, fell out of the reckoning
before the final race, but still strung
together three wins in a consistent
campaign that should serve as a solid
foundation for 2017.
JGR is strong enough not to need an ace up its sleeve, but it has one anyway:
Penske’s Joey Logano fired the opening salvo of the 2017 season by winning the non-points Clash at Daytona. Expect him to be a strong contender through the regular season.
Stewart-Haas Racing
ilton
/Ge
/L
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Yes are an English rock band who achieved success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music.
They are distinguished by their use of mystical and cosmic lyrics, live stage sets and lengthy compositions, often with complex instrumental and vocal arrangements.
The band's current line-up since February 2012 consists of singer Jon Davison, guitarist Steve Howe, bass guitarist Chris Squire, keyboardist Geoff Downes, and drummer Alan White.Squire formed Yes in 1968 with singer Jon Anderson.
Squire and guitarist Peter Banks had played together in The Syn and then Mabel Greer's Toyshop.
Anderson and later drummer Bill Bruford joined a line-up of Mabel Greer's Toyshop, which evolved into Yes.
Keyboardist Tony Kaye completed the first Yes line-up.
Their early sets were a mix of original material and cover versions.
In the 1970s, Yes reached their creative peak in the progressive genre when most notably Anderson, Squire, Howe, Kaye, Bruford, drummer Alan White, and keyboardists Rick Wakeman and Patrick Moraz were part of the band's line-ups, and produced what many critics consider their finest works: The Yes Album, Fragile (both in 1971), Close to the Edge (1972), Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973), Relayer (1974) and Going for the One (1977).
The rise of punk rock at the end of the decade led to a decline in creativity and sales; in 1980, Anderson and Wakeman left the band and the album Drama featuring Downes and new vocalist Trevor Horn was released.
The band disbanded at the beginning of 1981, with Howe and Downes subsequently creating Asia.Yes reformed in 1982 with Anderson, Squire, White, original keyboardist Kaye and guitarist Trevor Rabin and adopted a more pop rock sound.
Their sales peaked across the decade with 90125 (1983), which spawned the US number one single "Owner of a Lonely Heart", and Big Generator (1987).
The tour in support of Union (1991), which amalgamated members of Yes and Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, was a commercial success that featured an eight-man line-up (instead of a quintet).
Subsequent albums and singles have sold less well.
The band toured worldwide between 1997 and 2004 that included their 30th and 35th anniversary shows.
After a four-year hiatus due to health issues for Anderson and Wakeman, Yes resumed touring after replacing them with Benoît David and Oliver Wakeman respectively.
In 2011 they released Fly from Here featuring Downes, who returned on keyboards after 30 years, and the following year David left the band due to illness and was replaced by Jon Davison from band Glass Hammer.Yes are one of the most popular, influential and critically acclaimed acts in the history of the progressive genre, and have influenced bands such as Dream Theater and Rush.
Nine of their twenty studio albums have reached the top ten in either the UK or the US charts, with two reaching the number one spot in the UK.
They have sold 13.5 million certified units in the US.
Despite always being considered as an English band, Yes also included Swiss, South African, American, Russian, and Canadian members in its history.
Facebook Youtube Channel
Relayer
Big Generator
Going For The One
The Yes Album
Time And A Word
Fly From Here
Hot tracks
And You And I
Che, Ciruja
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by Eric Melin on October 20, 2010
Here is a link to the song’s official music video, for which embedding has been disabled.
It was 1971. Just one year before he became the glam king/queen known as Ziggy Stardust, David Bowie was on to something.
His sound had changed dramatically from folky pop singer to hard rock maestro in a short time, and on the album “Hunky Dory,” he fully embraced the theatricality and sexual ambiguity that he would continue to mine in 1972 as a Spider from Mars.
In one sense, the album is schizophrenic, but that’s only because Bowie tried his hand at mashing up so many styles. Lyrically, he’s singing about “Changes,” “Pretty Things,” and “Kooks.” What could be more in line with that than a “Life on Mars?”
“Life On Mars?” has everything: a sweeping production with strings, high melodrama, obtuse lyrics, and a hell of a great melodic guitar line from Mick Ronson. Apparently, BBC Radio 2 called the song “a cross between a Broadway musical and a Salvador Dalí painting.”
I couldn’t have said it better.
In fact, one of the best uses in cinema of a pop song occurs in Lars Von Trier’s “Breaking the Waves” where the entire song is played as the film’s epilogue over one stagnant shot.
According to The Complete David Bowie, at the time of “Hunky Dory”‘s release in 1971, Bowie summed up the song as “A sensitive young girl’s reaction to the media”. In 1997 he added, “I think she finds herself disappointed with reality … that although she’s living in the doldrums of reality, she’s being told that there’s a far greater life somewhere, and she’s bitterly disappointed that she doesn’t have access to it.”
Well that’s more specific than I ever got with it. The beauty is that the tune does have this eloquent grandiose kind of sadness to it, and maybe that’s what I’ve always responded to.
Tagged as: 1971, classic song, David Bowie, hunky dory, life on mars, The Great Songs
1 Ohara November 16, 2010 at 5:36 pm
Most of Bowie’s great work was done in 70s. Hunky Dory remains by all time second favorite. Second only to Diamond Dogs.
2 Eric Melin November 17, 2010 at 9:04 am
Interesting–Diamond Dogs is a good one, but Ziggy and Hunky have always been my Top 2 from his early 70s stuff. I also like the late 70s Berlin/Eno stuff a lot too. Totally different, but it sounds like nothing else that’s ever been created–even today!
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Places of Worship ( Page 1 of 3 )
800-Year-Old Ramappa Temple in Warangal Nominated for UNESCO World Heritage Tag March 07, 2019 05:18
Telangana state is an abode to diverse heritage sites and since ages, it is winning hearts of scores of tourists from across the world. Meanwhile, in a significant achievement, the Ramappa Temple in Warangal, a…
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The festival of Maha Shivratri is imminent and temples across India are gearing up for the day Hindus celebrate in honor of Lord Shiva. This year, Maha Shivratri will be celebrated on March 4. People…
Top 10 Famous Hindu Temples in the United States January 30, 2019 06:13
Hinduism is a minority religion in the United States. The Hindu population of the U.S. is the world's eighth-largest while 10 percent of Asian Americans are followers of the Hindu faith. Currently, Hindu-Americans hold the…
TTD To Soon Build Balaji Temple In Banjara Hills, Hyderabad October 28, 2015 10:58
The Tirumala Tirupati Devastanams (TTD) has decided to build Lord Sri Venkateswara temple in Hyderabad across 3.5 acres of TTD land in Banjara Hills. Also, the TTD trust board had decided unanimously to build Sri…
SC Allows Repair At Ram Janmabhumi August 10, 2015 08:37
The Supreme Court has allowed the repairing of covers and providing other facilities at the makeshift Ram Lalla Temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya. The apex court said the exercise has to be undertaken…
Temple where rats are protected March 26, 2015 12:53
Inside this temple you will see around 20,000 rats scurrying between the feet of pilgrims, still they are not scared but are protected. Karni Mata temple is known for its devotion to the furry animals,…
Al-Masjid an-Nabawi September 19, 2013 11:28
Al-Masjid al-Nabawi often called the Prophet's Mosque, is a mosque built by the Islamic Prophet Muhammad situated in the city of Medina. It is the second holiest site in Islam (the first being the Masjid…
Great Mosque of Mecca September 19, 2013 11:21
Great Mosque of Mecca, Arabic al-Masjid al-Ḥarām, also called Holy Mosque or Haram Mosque, a mosque in Mecca built to enclose the Kaʿbah, the holiest shrine in Islam. As one of the destinations of the…
Las Lajas Cathedral September 19, 2013 11:14
Las Lajas Cathedral – This temple built on the bridge as if hanging over the abyss between the steep slopes of the picturesque canyon Guaitara. Structure, similar to a fairytale castle – known to the…
Church of Hallgrimur September 19, 2013 11:05
Church of Hallgrimur The Church of Hallgrimur, also known as Hallgrimskirkja, is a Lutheran church located at Reykjavik, Iceland. It sits high on top of a hill located within the center of the city. It…
Amarnath Temple April 21, 2012 07:09
Amarnath is situated 145 km from Srinagar, the capital of the North Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir. Located at an altitude of 3888 m above sea level, the Amarnath Cave is considered holy by…
Vedic Dharma Samaj Fremont Hindu Temple April 06, 2012 05:11
Vedic Dharma Samaj is a non-profit, tax exempt religious organization. It is dedicated to serve the religious and cultural needs of the Hindu community. Vedic Dharma Samaj also known as the Fremont Hindu Temple has…
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Earlier puberty now showing up in boys
Robert Beatty— October 24, 2012
CHICAGO (AP) — When it comes to the birds and the bees, some parents may want to have that talk with their boys a little sooner than they expected.
Researchers have found signs of puberty in American boys up to two years earlier than previously reported — age 9 on average for blacks, 10 for whites and Hispanics.
Other studies have suggested that girls, too, are entering puberty younger.
Why is this happening? Theories range from higher levels of obesity and inactivity to chemicals in food and water, all of which might interfere with normal hormone production.
But those are just theories, and they remain unproven.
Doctors say earlier puberty is not necessarily cause for concern. And some experts question whether the trend is even real.
Dr. William Adelman, an adolescent medicine specialist in the Baltimore area, says the new research is the first to find early, strong physical evidence that boys are maturing earlier. But he added that the study still isn’t proof and said it raises a lot of questions.
SUBTLE TREND
Earlier research based on 20-year-old national data also suggested a trend toward early puberty in boys, but it was based on less rigorous information. The new study involved testes measurements in more than 4,000 boys. Enlargement of testes is generally the earliest sign of puberty in boys.
The study was published online in Pediatrics to coincide with the American Academy of Pediatrics' national conference in New Orleans.
Dr. Neerav Desai, an adolescent medicine specialist at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, said he's seen a subtle trend toward slightly earlier puberty in boys. He said it’s important for parents and doctors to be aware so they can help children emotionally prepare for the changes that come with puberty.
Doctors generally consider puberty early if it begins before age 8 in girls and before age 9 in boys.
Boys are more likely than girls to have an underlying physical cause for early puberty.
But it’s likely that most, if not all, of the boys in the study were free of any conditions that might explain the results, said lead author Marcia Herman-Giddens, a researcher at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
HEALTH RISK?
Problems such as thyroid abnormalities and brain tumors have been linked to early puberty. But boys with chronic medical conditions or who were using medicines that could affect puberty were excluded from the research.
In girls, early puberty has been linked with increased chances for developing breast cancer, but whether it poses health risks for boys is uncertain. Some scientists think early testes development may increase the risk for testicular cancer, but a recent research analysis found no such link.
“If it’s true that boys are starting puberty younger, it’s not clear that means anything negative or has any implications for long-term,” said Adelman, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics' committee on adolescence.
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Head Coach Lynn Farquhar
Give to Field Hockey
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Courtesy: SJU Athletics
Keri Daly Joins Field Hockey for 2019 Season
Courtesy: SJU Athletic Communications
The Saint Joseph's field hockey program will welcome a new class of student-athletes for the 2019 season. Over the coming weeks, we’ll introduce Hawk fans to the new additions, one by one. Today: Keri Daly.
Local product Keri Daly is set to join the Saint Joseph’s field hockey program in advance of the 2019 season.
Daly, a midfielder from Archbishop Carroll High School, helped the Patriots to the Philadelphia Catholic League title in 2018 after an appearance in the final a year earlier. Daly was named the PCL’s Most Valuable Player as ACHS also won the district championship en route to an appearance in the state quarterfinals. She also earned First Team All-Catholic honors as well as First Team All-Main Line accolades as a senior.
“I am excited to be a part of the team and become a better player,” Daly said.
A member of the Mystx club program, Daly has taken part in the Disney Showcase as well as the National Indoor Tournament, where Mystx won pool titles in the U16 and U19 divisions in 2018.
She also played lacrosse at Archbishop Carroll, helping lead the Patriots to a state title in 2017.
“I chose Saint Joseph’s for the atmosphere and the number of alumni in my family, as well as the coaching staff and the team,” Daly said. Her grandfather, Jim Boyle, is a former Hawk men’s basketball head coach, while her father Brian played for Boyle at Saint Joseph’s. Her older brother, Ryan, is a member of the current Hawk basketball squad.
“Keri was meant to be a Hawk,” head coach Lynn Farquhar said. “Another multi-sport athlete who excels in multiple arenas, Keri is willing to carry her team on the field. Her athleticism will transition well into our style of play.”
Daly and the rest of the new Hawks will join the squad in time for the 2019 fall season.
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American football running backs •
Players of American football by position
American football halfbacks
American football halfbacks - Wikipedia
J. R. Boone
J. R. Boone (July 29, 1925 – January 21, 2012) was a professional American football player who played halfback for six seasons for the Chicago Bears, the San Francisco 49ers, and the Green Bay P...
Charles Widman
Charles Henry Widman (June 17, 1879 – December 19, 1944) was an American football player. He was born in Rochester, New York in either 1878 or 1879. He was the son of John C. Widman and Lena (W...
Charles Widman - Wikipedia
Bob Forte
Robert Dominic "Bob" Forte (July 15, 1922 – March 12, 1996) was an American football halfback/defensive back/linebacker in the National Football League. He played for the Green Bay Pac...
Bert Coan
Elroy Bert Coan III (born July 2, 1940 in Timpson, Texas) is a former American football player. He is most notable because of his extraordinary speed (9.4 in the 100-yard dash) and size (6'4", 215...
Ed Smith (American football halfback)
Oscar Edwin Smith Jr. is a former fullback in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the third round of the 1948 NFL Draft and played that season with the team before...
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Hank Garrity (coach)
Martin Henry "Hank" Garrity, Jr. (January 30, 1900 – August 30, 1972) was an American football and baseball player, coach of football, basketball, and baseball, and college athletics administrator. H...
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Bob Fenimore
Robert Dale Fenimore (October 6, 1925, Woodward, Oklahoma – July 28, 2010) known as the Blonde Bomber or Blonde Blizard was a halfback for the Oklahoma A&M football team from 1943 to 1946. He was...
Andy Pilney
Antone James "Andy" Pilney (January 19, 1913 – September 15, 1996) was an American football coach and player of football and baseball. He played football and baseball at the University of Notre Dame ...
Andy Pilney - Wikipedia
Buddy Allen
Elihu "Buddy" Allen, Jr. (born July 11, 1937 in St. Louis, Missouri) is a former professional American football halfback in the American Football League. He played college football at Utah State Unive...
Clyde Crabtree
Clyde Crabtree (November 3, 1905 – April 21, 1994), nicknamed "Cannonball Crabtree," was an American college and professional football player who was a halfback and quarterback in the National F...
Clyde Crabtree - Wikipedia
Bill Dando
A. W. Ristine
Albert Welles Ristine (May 1, 1878 – December 13, 1935) was the seventh head football coach for the Iowa State University Cyclones located in Ames, Iowa and he held that position for five seasons, fro...
Wayne Brenkert
Wayne Dewey Brenkert (March 5, 1898 - August 1, 1979) was a professional American football player-coach for the Akron Pros. Prior to his professional career, he attended Washington & Jefferson Col...
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John Doehring
John Doehring (November 6, 1909 – November 18, 1972) was an American football halfback/fullback in the National Football League. He played for the Chicago Bears (1932–1934, 1936–1937) a...
Vic Fusia
Victor "Vic" M. Fusia (November 21, 1916 – January 18, 1991) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Massachusetts Amherst from 1961 to 1970....
Dave Morey
David Beale Morey (February 25, 1889 – January 4, 1986) was an American football and baseball player, coach of a number of sports, and college athletics administrator. He was an All-American fo...
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John Mohardt
John Henry Mohardt (January 21, 1898 – November 24, 1961) was an American football and baseball player and medical doctor.Mohardt attended the University of Notre Dame from 1918 through 1921 where he ...
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John Atwood (American football)
John Horton Atwood (January 27, 1923 – July 13, 2008) was a professional American football player and company executive.
Fred Trosko
Fred Trosko (September 5, 1917 – February 6, 1999) was an American football player and coach. He played at the halfback position for the University of Michigan football team from 1937 to 1939. H...
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Don Miller (American football, b. 1932)
Donald Allen "Don" Miller, Jr. (born Don Jack Miller) is a former halfback in the National Football League. He was a member of the Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles.
Bobby Mitchell
Robert Cornelius Mitchell (born June 6, 1935 in Hot Springs, Arkansas) is a former American football halfback and flanker in the National Football League for the Cleveland Browns and the Washington Re...
Hameen Ali
Don McIlhenny
Jack Chevigny
John Edward "Jack" Chevigny (August 14, 1906 – February 19, 1945) was an American football player, coach, lawyer, soldier, and United States Marine Corps officer who was killed in action on the first ...
Don Greenwood (American football)
Donald Adams Greenwood (February 18, 1921 – March 21, 1983) was a former professional American football fullback and halfback who played three seasons for the Cleveland Rams and Cleveland Browns...
Don Greenwood (American football) - Wikipedia
Eugene Mayer
Eugene Noble "Buck" Mayer (February 14, 1892 - October 21, 1918) was a college football player for the University of Virginia. He was the first football player from a Southern school to be recognized...
Ray Norton
Otis Ray Norton (born September 22, 1937 in Tulsa, Oklahoma) is a former American sprinter who competed in the 1960 Olympics in Rome.
After graduating high school in 1955, Norton initially went to...
Al Mitchell
Albert Edwin Mitchell (August 30, 1897 – May 12, 1967) was a professional American football player for the Buffalo Bisons, playing six games in 1924. He went to Thiel College. He was born in Greenvill...
Billy Stone
William, Billy or Bill Stone may refer to:
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Hospitals by country •
Hospitals in Asia •
Buildings and structures in Afghanistan •
Health in Afghanistan
Hospitals in Afghanistan
Hospitals in Afghanistan - Wikipedia
Indira Gandhi Childrens Hospital
Indira Gandhi Children's hospital located in Kabul is a Children's hospital of Afghanistan. It has 150 beds and in 2004 started the first cerebral palsy center in Afghanistan. It also has an artific...
Mirwais Hospital
The Mirwais Hospital is a hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan. It is named after Mirwais Hotak, who is known in the area as Mirwais Neeka (Mirwais the Grandfather). It along with a hospital in Quetta ar...
Farah City Hospital
Farah City Hospital is a hospital in Farah, western Afghanistan. The hospital has major significance as the regional hospital of Farah Province. The hospital has treated many people who have been affe...
Farah City Hospital - Wikipedia
Egyptian Field Hospital at Bagram
Egypt opened an Egyptian Field Hospital at Bagram in 2003.The hospital treats more than 7,000 Afghans per month.Treatment is provided free of charge.31 percent of the hospitals patients are children.L...
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Jamhuriat Hospital
The Jamhuriat Hospital (Republic Hospital) is state-owned hospital located in Kabul, Afghanistan. A new 10-story building with the capacity of housing 350 patients was constructed in 2004 by engineers...
French Medical Institute for Children
The French Medical Institute for Children (FMIC) is a children's hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, established in 2005. It is a joint project of the governments of France, Afghanistan, The Aga Khan Deve...
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Ben Portsmouth, Taking Care of Elvis
Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea
Ben Portsmouth, a multi talented musician, singer and songwriter had Elvis's DNA in his blood from an early age. His father was an avid Elvis fan and Ben grew up on a diet of Elvis songs. Having honed his musical talent Ben started his journey as an Elvis Tribute Artist in 2005 when he formed the "Taking Care of Elvis" band.
Audiences and promoters quickly realised that this was someone with a special talent. He looked like Elvis, sang like Elvis and had an on stage charisma that had audiences believing at times they were watching the King himself. This talent saw Ben rapidly rise through the ranks of Elvis Tribute Artists in the UK - he was sexy, didn't need a wig and was wearing the most authentic outfits flown in from America.
In August 2012, Ben made history when he won the Elvis Presley Enterprises “Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest’which took place in Memphis, crowning Ben as the “Worldwide Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist”, the only artist from outside the USA to ever win this prestigious title.
The humble and down to earth Ben very kindly took some time out of his busy schedule to answer some of my questions about his tribute act and I began by asking him how his friends reacted to him being into Elvis when he was a young lad. “They were generally quite surprised, I think, but they just got used to it as it became a part of my life” he explains.
As a child, Ben was a member of the church choir and would always perform at Christmas concerts, although he admits that he initially tried to hide his love of Elvis’s music from his Elvis mad dad. So what does his dad think about his success now? “He is happy and proud, I hope. He comes to my shows when he can.”
The name of Ben’s band is a rather fitting tribute to the King of Rock and Roll as Elvis’s band was called ‘Taking Care of Business’ and so Ben just switched the last word to create ‘Taking Care of Elvis’. “I always try my best to imitate Elvis in the most respectful way possible.” he assures me.
I ask Ben if visiting Graceland had any impact on his life at all and he tells me, “To see all the gold records and the pieces of someone’s life [at Graceland] was very touching and emotional.” He even got to meet Elvis’s bodyguards and some of his co-stars while he was in the States.
I wonder how it must have felt for Ben to have not only won the “Worldwide Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist”, in Memphis, but to also be the only artist from outside the USA to ever win this prestigious title, to which he admits, “I never believed they would give the title to a non American, so I feel extremely lucky and honoured.”
So what makes Ben Portsmouth stand out from all the rest of the Elvis tributes? “I really don’t know,” comes his honest reply, “that’s a question for the fans. I can never thank them enough for their support.” I ask him if his fans ever do anything racy while he’s on stage, “Every performance there is always something, but yes, someone did throw their knickers on stage once!” One fan, Harriet Keith, says of Ben, "He is such a sweet and funny person off stage, and WOW what talent on stage! I think Elvis himself would approve of him. I am usually not one for tribute artists, especially of Elvis because no one can replace him. But, Ben- well, he is in a class by himself. And, I have heard him sing one of his own songs- very good! I think he is here to stay!"
Looking at videos and photographs of Ben, it really is uncanny how he looks and sounds so much like Elvis. He even seems to have taken on so many of Elvis’s characteristics, along with his facial expressions and smile. This is something that Ben says has been a natural process but he confesses that he has watched a lot of films and documentaries along the way.
Ben says that his performance on the David Letterman Show in the USA has been the highlight of his career so far. “It was an amazing opportunity and from that appearance came a lot of exposure for which I am extremely grateful.”
He has also been fortunate enough to be able to perform some of his own material in America recently and hopes to be able to finish recording an album of his own original music soon.
Finally, I ask Ben what he would say to Elvis, if he could turn back time and meet the man himself. “I would talk to him about music and maybe give him a few song suggestions that he could cover.”
I wonder what Elvis would say to Ben. I have a feeling he would give him a big old pat on the back and say, “I thank you very much.”
A fitting tribute to the King of Rock and Roll.
There are a few remaining seats left at the Cliffs Pavilion on Friday 22nd January 2015 - but you need to grab them quickly.
Call the Box office on 01702 351135 or go online www.southendtheatres.org.uk
Watch Ben in action as The King, Elvis Presley here....
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标准图书馆 > 资源分类 > Internation > ISO > BS EN ISO 14122-3-2016
BS EN ISO 14122-3-2016
BS EN ISO 14122-3:2016 Safety of machinery — Permanent means of access to machinery Part 3: Stairs, stepladders and guard-rails (ISO 14122-3:2016) BSI Standards Publication WB11885_BSI_StandardCovs_2013_AW.indd 1 15/05/2013 15:06BS EN ISO 14122-3:2016 BRITISH STANDARD National foreword This British Standard is the UK implementation of EN ISO 14122-3:2016. It supersedes BS EN ISO 14122-3:2001+A1:2010 which is withdrawn. The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee B/208/1, Stairs and walkways - Industrial stairs. A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its secretary. This publication does not purport to include all the necessary provisions of a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application. © The British Standards Institution 2016. Published by BSI Standards Limited 2016 ISBN 978 0 580 84645 8 ICS 13.110 Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations. This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 30 June 2016. Amendments/corrigenda issued since publication Date T e x t a f f e c t e d EUROPEAN STANDARD NORME EUROPÉENNE EUROPÄISCHE NORM EN ISO 14122-3 June 2016 ICS 13.110 Supersedes EN ISO 14122-3:2001 English Version Safety of machinery - Permanent means of access to machinery - Part 3: Stairs, stepladders and guard-rails (ISO 14122-3:2016) Sécurité des machines - Moyens d accès permanents aux machines - Partie 3: Escaliers, échelles à marches et garde-corps (ISO 14122-3:2016) Sicherheit von Maschinen - Ortsfeste Zugänge zu maschinellen Anlagen - Teil 3: Treppen, Treppenleitern und Geländer (ISO 14122-3:2016) This European Standard was approved by CEN on 29 April 2016. CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN member. This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre has the same status as the official versions. CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and United Kingdom. EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Avenue Marnix 17, B-1000 Brussels © 2016 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved worldwide for CEN national Members. Ref. No. EN ISO 14122-3:2016 EBS EN ISO 14122-3:2016 EN ISO 14122-3:2016 (E) 3 European foreword This document (EN ISO 14122-3:2016) has been prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 199 “Safety of machinery” in collaboration with Technical Committee CEN/TC 114 “Safety of machinery” the secretariat of which is held by DIN. This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by December 2016, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by December 2016. Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. CEN [and/or CENELEC] shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. This document supersedes EN ISO 14122-3:2001. This document has been prepared under a mandate given to CEN by the European Commission and the European Free Trade Association, and supports essential requirements of EU Directive(s). For relationship with EU Directive(s), see informative Annex ZA, which is an integral part of this document. According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom. Endorsement notice The text of ISO 14122-3:2016 has been approved by CEN as EN ISO 14122-3:2016 without any modification. BS EN ISO 14122-3:2016 EN ISO 14122-3:2016 (E) 4 Annex ZA (informative) Relationship between this European Standard and the essential requirements of Directive 2006/42/EC machinery, and amending Directive 95/16/EC (recast) [2006 L157] aimed to be covered This European Standard has been prepared under a Commission’s standardization request M/396 to provide one voluntary means of conforming to essential requirements of Directive 2006/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006 on machinery, and amending Directive 95/16/EC (recast) [2006 L157]. Once this standard is cited in the Official Journal of the European Union under that Directive, compliance with the normative clauses of this standard given in Table ZA.1 confers, within the limits of the scope of this standard, a presumption of conformity with the corresponding essential requirements of that Directive, and associated EFTA regulations. Table ZA.1 — Correspondence between this European Standard and Directive 2006/42/EC [2006 L157] Essential Requirements of Directive 2006/42/EC Clause(s) / subclause(s) of this EN Remarks / Notes 1.5.15 “Risks of slipping, tripping or falling” All 1.6.2 “Access to operating position and service points” All WARNING 1 — Presumption of conformity stays valid only as long as a reference to this European Standard is maintained in the list published in the Official Journal of the European Union. Users of this standard should consult frequently the latest list published in the Official Journal of the European Union. WARNING 2 — Other Union legislation may be applicable to the product(s) falling within the scope of this standard. IMPORTANT: Compliance with the requirements of EN ISO 14122-1 and a relevant access-specific part of EN ISO 14122 is necessary to achieve presumption of conformity. BS EN ISO 14122-3:2016ISO 14122-3:2016(E)Foreword iv Introduction v 1 Scope . 1 2 Normative references 1 3 T erms and definitions . 1 4 General requirements . 6 4.1 Construction and materials 6 4.2 Design and construction for the structure and the steps . 6 5 Specific r equir ements applicable t o stairs 6 6 Specific r equir ements applicable t o st ep ladders 7 7 Specific r equir ements applicable t o guar d-r ails . 9 7.1 Guard-rails for platforms, walkways and stair landings . 9 7.2 Guard-rails and handrails for stairs and handrails for step ladders 11 7.3 Additional fall-protection when steps, stairs or ladders are near guard-rails of working platforms 13 7.4 Gates 13 8 V erification of safety r equir ements .14 8.1 General 14 8.2 Testing of guard-rails 14 8.2.2 Testing procedure 16 8.3 Testing of steps of a stair .17 8.4 Testing of stepladders 19 Annex A (informative) Significant t echnical changes betw een this part of ISO 14122 and the previous edition .20 Bibliogr aph y .22 © ISO 2016 – All rights reserved iii Contents PageBS EN ISO 14122-3:2016ISO 14122-3:2016(E) Foreword ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization. The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular the different approval criteria needed for the different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives). Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents). Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not constitute an endorsement. For an explanation on the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO’s adherence to the WTO principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see the following URL: Foreword — Supplementary information. The committee responsible for this document is ISO/TC 199, Safety of machinery. This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO 14122-3:2001) which has been technically revised. It also incorporates the Amendment ISO 14122-3:2001/Amd 1:2010. ISO 14122 consists of the following parts, under the general title Safety of machinery — Permanent means of access to machinery: — Part 1: Choice of fixed means and general requirements of access — Part 2: Working platforms and walkways — Part 3: Stairs, stepladders and guard-rails — Part 4: Fixed ladders An additional part, dealing with mobile machinery, is under preparation.iv © ISO 2016 – All rights reservedBS EN ISO 14122-3:2016ISO 14122-3:2016(E) Introduction This International Standard is a type-B standard as stated in ISO 12100. It is relevant, in particular, for the following stakeholder groups representing the market players with regard to machinery safety: — machine manufacturers (small, medium and large enterprises); — health and safety bodies (regulators, accident prevention organizations, market surveillance, etc.). Others can be affected by the level of machinery safety achieved with the means of this International Standard by the above-mentioned stakeholder groups: — machine users/employers (small, medium and large enterprises); — machine users/employees (e.g. trade unions, organizations for peoples with special needs); — service providers, e.g. for maintenance (small, medium and large enterprises); — consumers (in case of machinery intended for use by consumers). The above-mentioned stakeholder groups have been given the possibility to participate at the drafting process of this International Standard. In addition, this International Standard is intended for standardization bodies elaborating type-C standards. The requirements of this International Standard can be supplemented or modified by a type-C standard. For machines which are covered by the scope of a type-C standard and which have been designed and built according to the requirements of that standard, the requirements of that type-C standard take precedence. The purpose of this International Standard is to define the general requirements for safe access to machines. ISO 14122-1 gives guidance about the correct choice of access means when the necessary access to the machine is not possible directly from the ground level or from a floor or platform. The dimensions specified are consistent with established ergonomic data given in ISO 15534-3.© ISO 2016 – All rights reserved vBS EN ISO 14122-3:2016BS EN ISO 14122-3:2016Safety of machinery — Permanent means of access to machinery — Part 3: Stairs, stepladders and guard-rails 1 Scope This part of ISO 14122 gives requirements for non-powered stairs, stepladders and guard-rails which are a part of a stationary machine, and to the non-powered adjustable parts (e.g. foldable, slidable) and movable parts of those fixed means of access. NOTE 1 “Fixed” means of access are those mounted in such a manner (for example, by screws, nuts, welding) that they can only be removed by the use of tools. This part of ISO 14122 specifies minimum requirements that also apply when the same means of access is required as the part of the building or civil construction (e.g. stairs, stepladders, guard-rails) where the machine is installed, on condition that the main function of that part of the construction is to provide a means of access to the machine. NOTE 2 Where no local regulation or standards exists, this part of ISO 14122 may be used also for means of access which are outside the scope of the standard. It is intended that this part of ISO 14122 be used with ISO 14122-1 to give the requirements for steps, stepladders and guard-rails. The ISO 14122 series as a whole is applicable to both stationary and mobile machinery where fixed means of access are necessary. It is not applicable to powered means of access such as lifts, escalators, or other devices specially designed to lift persons between two levels. This part of ISO 14122 is not applicable to machinery manufactured before the date of its publication. 2 Normative references The following documents, in whole or in part, are normatively referenced in this document and are indispensable for its application. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies. ISO 12100, Safety of machinery — General principles for design — Risk assessment and risk reduction ISO 14122-1:2016, Safety of machinery — Permanent means of access to machinery — Part 1: Choice of fixed means and general requirements of access 3 T erms a nd definiti ons For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO 12100, ISO 14122-1 and the following apply. INTERNATIONAL ST ANDARD ISO 14122-3:2016(E) © ISO 2016 – All rights reserved 1BS EN ISO 14122-3:2016ISO 14122-3:2016(E) 3.1 stairs step ladders succession of horizontal levels — steps (3.1.11) and landings (3.1.5) — allowing passage on foot from one level to another Note 1 to entry: Stairs/step ladders are composed of the elements shown in Figure 1 and defined in 3.1.1 to 3.1.16. Note 2 to entry: For details on the angle of pitch (3.1.9) for stairs/step ladders, see ISO 14122-1:2016, 3.2 and 3.3. Key H climbing height α angle of pitch g going
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本文标题：BS EN ISO 14122-3-2016
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My Life as a Fairy Tale: Part I
In spring of this year I took a class, that I found very enjoyable, in "personal mythology", based on the book Personal Mythology: Using Ritual, Dreams, and Imagination to Discover Your Inner Story by David Feinstein and Stanley Krippner. They write:
Your personal mythology is the the loom on which you weave the raw materials of daily experience into a coherent story. You live your life from within this mythology, drawing to yourself the characters and creating the scenes that correspond with its guiding theme. A great deal of this activity occurs outside your awareness. To discover and begin to transform your mythology is one of the most empowering choices open to you. A renewed mythology calls up fresh perceptions, values, and a revitalized sense of purpose.
One of the tasks in the book is to create a parable about the early development of your guiding mythology. So I wrote this fairy tale about my super sensitive humanness, never fitting in, and how all my experiences up until the last few years served to convince me I was just me I was just born extra fucked up. Changing that mythology to the belief that I am extra special and learning to embrace what makes me different has been the purpose of this blog.
Once upon a time there was a little girl named Lily who lived in a far off land. She was born to two regular, middle-class folks. Her father designed and built houses and her mother worked selling produce at the local farmer's market. It so happened that Lily was a very bright, loving, kind, and gentle girl. The fairies had chosen her specifically out of thousands of babies, and sent her to this town to bring her light to all the surrounding kingdom. However, the fairies could not or did not follow her to this world to protect her and guide her. Perhaps it was all part of a greater plan...
So as soon as Lily was born she began to attract demons like moths to a flame. The demons fed on her light. Her parents knew nothing of who she was, or what was going on. They didn't even particularly believe in things like fairies, angels, ghosts, and demons. The hungry demons sucked out so much of Lily's light that not only was she no longer her extra bright self, big enough to light up the whole kingdom, but it appeared she was actually less light than those around her. She was frequently sick with flus and fevers, mysterious rashes, sullen, depressive, and introverted. Her parents tried to help her by sending her to doctors: physical doctors, child specialists, psychological doctors. No one could help her because the demons were invisible to all of them. They were invisible to her as well. Like a fish in water she had never known anything different. She thought this was just the life she was resigned to live. Suffice to say Lily did not have a particularly carefree childhood or glowing social life.
However, one thing Lily liked, one small piece of life she took pleasure in, was the forest. Her parents both liked to go on walks in the forest and have picnics, and as Lily grew up she began to go into the forest alone and spend more time with the plants and animals. When she became an adult she decided to move into a cave in the forest full-time. She lived there in her cave for awhile and got to know the surrounding area very well. She met some other men and women who lived in the forest, and whom shared some of her distaste for life, especially life in the big town. They would talk about their troubles together. It was nice to share this understanding. Eventually some of her new friends introduced her to a whole village of people living in the forest, and Lily moved into this village. She thought maybe her life was looking up. Finally, a whole group of people who shared her values and beliefs. She might not be resigned to a life of loneliness after all!
The other interesting thing about the village is an abundance of people lived there who believed in and/or saw fairies, demons, ghosts etc. There were all kinds of healers of various types, people who had also had bad luck with psychologists and medical doctors. Sometimes the whole community even threw elaborate healing rituals. Lily heard lots of stories from her new friends in the village about how amazing this or that herbalist or witch doctor was. She had a hard time earning money because the demons made her tired and lethargic and confused, but she saved up what she earned picking the best berries and herbs and went to these supposedly great healers. Sometimes she learned things about herself from them that made sense. They would tell her things like she had the ability to be one of them, and they told her about her demons for the first time, and they could accurately describe her feelings and incidents from her past, things which they could not possibly know other than through the spirits talking to them, but none of them were able to help her actually remove the demons.
This left Lily isolated and disillusioned, even among her new friends. There were also a lot of problems with this new village. For one thing people wanted to live self-sufficiently, on an alternative barter system, growing or gathering all their own food, but when people came into the village they were always poor, and often had no skills yet for growing and gathering. Frequently they would end up leaving and going back to the main village, and new people with no money or skills would show up and have to be trained all over again. People would also go back to the main village, even though they trash talked it so often, and buy things which could not be had in the forest: civilized food delicacies, drugs, technological gadgets, and sometimes they even let go of their values and would see real doctors and dentists when the potions and salves didn't work. All these things meant they had to use money, and not barter, so their system never achieved the self-sufficiency they desired.
Also because many of the people living in the forest were outcasts, sick and unhappy like Lily, and also were not popular or did not have any friends growing up, they were not very good at getting along socially. They bickered and gossiped and overreacted and everyone had their own ideas about how they should live. The village was more like a collection of little factions. There were the herders who raised goats and liked to smoke mind-numbing plants all day that made them mellow and patient and happy to just sit in the field watching their goats, and then there were the pale, elfish, wispy people who only ate fruits and berries and protested every time a spider was killed by a broom, and there were the very spiritual people who did not work at all, and only ate rice and lentils they were able to get donated from the main town, who sat on cushions and prayed and chanted all day. Lily tried all these things. She liked the very wild tribal types the best, the hunters and huntresses, who would not be unhappy to see the main village burned to the ground. Sometimes they even talked about doing it themselves, in order to save the forest, which was constantly being encroached upon by people from the main town seeking resources.
Lily lived in this village for many years. She was well-liked, a very beautiful girl, and people often sensed there was something special about her, even with all her demons. She tried not to judge all the crazy characters in the village. Who was she to share her opinions? Her life was not exactly a great shining example of someone who knew all the right answers, so she kept mute. She dated many of the men, but ironically even though their mutual struggle with the demons was often what drew them together, in the end it was always what pushed them apart. She grew more and more detached from the world. It felt good not to care. Eventually people's dramas and problems were funny to her. She felt like she was above all that. She didn't even really care what happened to herself.
In what was to become her last year in the village, Lily fell in deeply in love with a man who lived there named Cirrus. Cirrus was hard-edged, capable man, a woodworker. He and Lily liked to laugh and poke fun at the rest of the villagers and their ideologies together, and they shared a number of similar goals and outlooks. Cirrus had demons too, but he dealt with them differently. Whereas Lily was reclusive and depressive and prone to keeping her hurts to herself, Cirrus was socially boisterous, loud-mouthed, arrogant, domineering, defensive, bad-tempered and liked to spend a lot of time at the local pub. Lily put up with all this the best she could, after all, she wasn't one to judge, and liked to view her life from a detached perspective as if it were just an interesting story, but they argued often. Though he wasn't very good at apologizing, Cirrus often promised to change his ways. No one could say they weren't in love. That much was obvious. Lily tried to convince herself that she preferred their passionate drama to some of the more companionable but boring relationships she had with other men in the village, but the fights began to take a toll on her already poor health.
There were many times when Lily threatened to leave Cirrus, but he would always beg her to stay, telling her that he needed her strength, her wisdom, her compassion. Lily knew that if she did leave him, she would have to leave the village for good. Not only was she worried about what he would do, what lengths he would go to both convey his anger with her, and to get her back, but because she not only feared him but also loved him, she knew if she saw him she would be wracked with sadness and have a hard time keeping herself away. Lily hoped to save up some money to get away from Cirrus, even secreting away some of his money that he made from woodworking, which he entrusted to her each week to buy them food. She tried to secretly gather information about other villages in other forests, but the fights started happening so frequently that she was too exhausted to go out at all.
One night they had an argument, which was not particularly epic, just another argument about the same things as before, and Cirrus went off to the pub to drown his sorrows, as usual, not particularly suspecting anything. But for Lily it was the last straw, and she knew that is when she had to leave. She packed a basket full of her meager belongings and ran the entire night all the way back to her parent's house, arriving the following morning. For their part her parents were never so unkind to Lily as to turn her away, but they were always skeptical of her unorthodox choices, and worried about her lifestyle. She suspected, because they still didn't believe in demons, that they thought she was not sick but just being lazy and idealistic. They also resented how she appeared out of nowhere once in awhile, like this, broke, or in trouble, but showed no interest in having a relationship the rest of the time. Lily couldn't argue with that. She didn't like the arrangement either, but it was what it was, and she had few other options. Her mother told her there was a position open keeping track of the accounting at the produce stand, and she started working there the next day.
Lily missed Cirrus everyday, but she hated him too. Hated the way he had treated her, dominated her, taken advantage of her forgiveness and empathy. She was sometimes afraid that he would come and find her, but he never did, although he did have a letter delivered to her, full of crazy, twisted, half-truths, blaming her for cruelly abandoning him. These months were some of the worst times of Lily's life. So bad that she took to praying every day and every night for some kind of relief from the pain and suffering, not just from the memories of Cirrus, but from the things that had plagued her her whole entire life. She re-tried all the various practices she'd learned in the forest village: meditations, herbal medications, voodoo. She even went back to the doctors and psychiatrists she hated so much in her youth, of course they still hadn't learned anything about how to help her, but it was worth a shot. She was desperate. She even wrote letters to healers in other towns she had never been to, to ask for help. She had been confused by the healers before, but decided this time she would try three people at once. If there was any overlap, if she asked them all the same questions and they all told her the same thing, maybe then she would know that was really the true path to healing.
The first person refused to see her. They said they only gave advice about dead people, love and money, not health. The second person accepted her money, told her she had a lot of emotional traumas to release (no shit, Lily thought), prescribed some dust essences, and told her she wasn't well because she hadn't been trying hard enough, which was frankly insulting. A girl like Lily, while physically impaired, was no slacker intellectually, and had been trying all her life. She was pretty sure that when she lived there she had sought more help and tried more remedies than anyone else in the whole village. If only her work resume were so impressive.
The third person was someone she had heard about from a friend, a guy she had seen once or twice in forest village, who just happened to come by the produce stand raving to another fellow about a healer he had been to. Lily filed the name away in her memory and when she received her unsatisfying replies from the first two healers she decided to finally write to this third person, whose name was Walter. She came home from work one day to find a reply from Walter and when she opened it she was surprised to read that he believed he could help her, that he believed he knew what was wrong with her and why no one else she had been to had been able to cure her ailments. He told her the whole story, about the fairies and her great light, and the demons. He told her the healers who said she was meant to be one of them were right. He told her the reason none of the healers could help her remove her demons was because her demons were powerful in direct proportion to her light. And none of the healers held so great a light, a knowledge and power greater than her own inherent knowledge and power. Therefore they were not smart enough to see all of her demons and not strong enough to remove them even in the remote chance that they did. They also held many truths alongside many wacky and even blatantly harmful ideas. It was hard for her to believe, but she had to admit it was the only explanation that she had ever heard that made sense. These people had seemed to hurt her and make her feel bad as often as they had helped.
Walter also explained why she felt so isolated in both the main village and the forest village: because she really wasn't like those others, and a lot of their ideas really were kind of stupid. The people who made up forest village were only broken refugees from the main village. Though some of their intentions were pure-hearted, and some of their ideas brilliant and valid, their desire to create a better alternative society was both driven and doomed by their own demons, and progress must be driven by light. Also their demons were average demons, and nothing like the humongous monsters that Lily carried. That is how they could give such rave reviews for the healers they had been to. That is why Lily initially felt like she belonged with these people, but with more experience came to scoff at them. She was in some senses of the word, better than them. Though obviously there was a large price to pay for her giftedness.
Walter was even able to explain why her relationship with Cirrus was so addictive and heartbreaking to her: because Cirrus was the only one in the village who actually had a light and demons anywhere near as big as Lily's. He also told her her parents would never understand who she really was, that is not why they were chosen, and that she should save up her money from the produce stand to move away from them ASAP, because they would always cramp her style and keep her light down, inadvertently, by not acknowledging the truth of the invisible. This made sense to Lily. Honestly she spent all her time at home hiding in her room anyway, eating family meals as fast as possible and she cringed every time she heard her mother's voice across the market square. Walter promised that if she were to get herself somewhere safe, he could teach her to defeat her demons, get her light back, remember who she was really supposed to be and what she really was sent her to do. That eventually she could have the friends, money, love, and stability that she had never had. She took his advice and moved to a southern kingdom where she didn't know anybody. So once again in her life, Lily was all alone.
Walter and Lily worked for many months to get her stable. He helped her figure out what house to rent, what to eat, and helped her get in enrolled in a school that would give her money for living expenses and allow her the freedom to study topics that truly reflected who she was, topics like light and demons. Occasionally he just worked on her to remove her demons directly, though much of the time they spent studying her choices and ways to improve her life so that she would gain strength and the demons would naturally lose their grip and never be able to return. The very most important thing Lily learned was that most of her demons came from other people, from her family, her friends, her lovers. When the demons in proximity saw how especially tasty Lily was they glommed onto her instead of their previous host. Thus the whole time she was living in the village thinking what a relief it was to be around other people with demons who could understand her, she was actually growing even MORE burdened.
So a main part of the work with Lily and Walter was to keep her away from these types of people from her past, people who may have believed in demons but did not take responsibility for them. She was also required to remain isolated from regular people who did not acknowledge the invisible world of demons, fairies, angels and ghosts, so that their lack of true sight and memory did not wear off on her. Lily still couldn't remember her light as a baby. She just took Walter's word for it because it made sense. Lily had never been one for close friends. She'd always felt alone even in a crowd, so this wasn't particularly hard for her cutting off everyone she knew, but she had grown accustomed to sex and dating. While living in the village she had rarely been without a lover of some kind. Thus it came to the point where Walter agreed she was strong enough to start dating again. He warned her there were two kinds of men she might find fulfilling: Others like her with more light but who might not be that open-minded, and those with less light but the capacity to learn and grow from her.
Click here to read Part II.
My Life as A Fairy Tale: Part II
My Guru Kevin: Why I Keep a Psychic on Retainer and Why He Hates Being Called That
What Does it Mean to be Sensitive?
Tagged: healing, chronic fatigue, storytelling
Newer PostMy Life as A Fairy Tale: Part II
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