pred_label
stringclasses 2
values | pred_label_prob
float64 0.5
1
| wiki_prob
float64 0.25
1
| text
stringlengths 87
991k
| source
stringlengths 37
43
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
__label__cc
| 0.584801
| 0.415199
|
Patients get a surprise visit from pint-sized ponies at hospital
These are the miniature Shetland ponies that brought a smile to the faces of patients at Sandwell Hospital.
Lilly and Fern were brought along as part of a pet therapy programme at the West Bromwich hospital which is run by Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust.
The tiny horses, from the Phoenix Children’s Foundation, based in Leicestershire, were petted and fed by stroke patients, as well as youngsters being treated by the paediatric team.
The visit was funded by Your Trust Charity, which is run by the hospital Trust. Amanda Winwood, Fundraising Manager, said: “The patients have absolutely loved meeting Fern and Lilly today. For some of them, it’s the first time that they have got close to a horse and been able to feed or walk it.
“Others used to keep horses as pets and so for them it brings back memories for them.
“It’s very important for our patients to experience something like this as it really enhances their care journey with us.”
The horses were led through the main entrance of the hospital and into an outdoor play area attached to one of the paediatric wards. Patients were brought out to them so they could meet the ponies and spend time with them.
Claire Mcquoid, 38, was with her son Freddie, aged two, who is being treated at the hospital. She said: “We’ve learned with Freddie that he’s very delayed with his speech due to being born prematurely and suffering meningitis at a young age.
Freddie Smith, aged two, who loved meeting the ponies.
“However, he shows animals a lot of emotion and affection. Seeing the horses today has put a big smile on his face and he is really excited. He loves to interact with animals all the time and it helps with his progression.”
Arron Chohan, aged 11, from Tividale, had been at the hospital for a physiotherapy appointment and was left overwhelmed by his close encounter with Lilly and Fern.
He said: “They are really beautiful and their fur is soft. We heard there were ponies here, but I thought someone one joking. It’s really cool and I’ve enjoyed meeting them today. It’s a great idea.”
His mum Gurvinder added: “It’s a nice distraction for children and for them to experience something like this when they are coming into hospital. It puts them at ease. Arron isn’t afraid of animals and he is happy to interact with them.”
Dr Balraj Mavi, who works in one of the Paediatric wards, said: “Having these animals here has really made a difference to the patient experience today. It has helped them to enjoy their visit.”
The hospital’s Volunteers Service currently works with Pets as Therapy, an organisation which brings dogs in on a weekly basis to meet stroke patients. The sessions are proving a huge hit with the patients, encouraging them to use their hands to stroke the dogs, and also improve speech as they talk to the animals.
Watch our video below to find out more:
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line524
|
__label__wiki
| 0.697936
| 0.697936
|
How Arby’s CEO Is Pulling Off An Unlikely Turnaround
An Arby’s venison sandwich might strike you as disgusting, but it’s also a stroke of genius. Arby’s CEO Paul Brown has come up with menu innovations like that to drive growth at the once-downtrodden fast food chain.
When the financial crisis hit, Arby’s suffered badly. Sales and margins shrank for three straight years, from 2008 through 2010. The company began offering more promotional deals to dig itself out of a deep hole, but the recovery was slow. In 2010 a JPMorgan analyst said, “Arby's performance is amongst the worst in modern restaurant history."
In 2013, two years after Wendy’s had sold Arby’s to a private equity firm, Paul Brown, former president of Hilton Worldwide, was brought in to attempt a turnaround. Since he became CEO, the chain has grown same-store sales for 14 straight quarters. Top-line sales have jumped by 16% to $3.6 billion, and Arby’s restaurants now have average revenue of $1.1 million, 25% higher than before Brown arrived.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line525
|
__label__cc
| 0.685843
| 0.314157
|
Home > Merger and Acquisition Agreements/Reorganization Agreements > Agreement Preview
Agreement And Plan Or Reorganization Among
This is an actual contract by Bergen Brunswig.
Reorganization Agreements
PLAN OF REORGANIZATION
BERGEN BRUNSWIG CORPORATION
DMC ACQUISITION CORP.
SOUTHEASTERN HOSPITAL SUPPLY
ELEANOR B. MANNING
RAY MANNING, JR.
BETTY ROUSE
THE O.R. MANNING TRUST
CAROL SHORT
---- AGREEMENT AND PLAN OF REORGANIZATION ............................... 1-1
ARTICLE I DEFINITIONS.......................... 1-2
ARTICLE II ACQUISITION PROVISIONS.............. 2-1
2.01 Transfer and Assignment of Assets..... 2-1
2.02 Assets Not Being Acquired............. 2-3
2.03 Assumption And Payment Of Specific
Liabilities......................... 2-4
2.04 Consideration......................... 2-6
2.05 Post Closing Adjustments.............. 2-8
2.06 Adjustment Upon Recapitalization...... 2-9
2.07 Securities Law Matters................ 2-9
ARTICLE III REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES..... 3-1
ARTICLE IV ADDITIONAL COVENANTS AND AGREEMENTS
OF THE PARTIES...................... 4-1
4.01 Corporate Approval.................... 4-1
4.02 Stockholders' Agreement to Vote....... 4-1
4.03 Conduct Of Business................... 4-1
4.04 Negative Covenants.................... 4-2
4.05 Change of Name........................ 4-4
4.06 Recent Certified Financial Statements. 4-5
4.07 Access................................ 4-5
4.08 Security.............................. 4-6
4.09 Hart-Scott-Rodino Filings............. 4-6
4.10 Bulk Sales Compliance................. 4-7
4.11 Best Efforts.......................... 4-7
4.12 Brokers or Finders.................... 4-8
4.13 Notice to Customers................... 4-8
4.14 Covenants Not to Compete.............. 4-9
4.15 Employment Agreements................. 4-9
4.16 Reserved.............................. 4-9
4.17 Environmental Matters................. 4-9
4.18 Real Estate Matters................... 4-10
4.19 Indebtedness of Employees
and Stockholders.................... 4-10
4.20 Trade Accounts Receivable Aging....... 4-11
4.21 Debit Memos........................... 4-11
4.22 Assets Which May Be Purchased......... 4-11
4.23 Transitional Provisions............... 4-12
4.24 Press Release......................... 4-12
4.25 Exclusive Dealing..................... 4-12
4.26 Insurance Policies.................... 4-13
ARTICLE V AUDIT................................ 5-1
5.01 Accountant's Reports.................. 5-1
5.02 Asset Value........................... 5-3
5.03 Liability Value....................... 5-4
ARTICLE VI THE CLOSING......................... 6-1
6.01 The Closing........................... 6-1
6.02 Transfer of Title..................... 6-1
6.03 Risk of Loss.......................... 6-2
6.04 Other Aspects of Closing.............. 6-2
6.05 Termination........................... 6-3
6.06 Liability on Termination.............. 6-4
ARTICLE VII CONDITIONS TO THE OBLIGATIONS OF
EACH PARTY......................... 7-1
7.01 No Prohibition of Transaction......... 7-1
7.02 Compliance with Law................... 7-2
7.03 Proceedings, Documentation
and Consents......................... 7-2
ARTICLE VIII CONDITIONS TO THE OBLIGATION OF
PARENT AND SUBSIDIARY............. 8-1
8.01 Representations and Warranties True
at the Closing Date................. 8-1
8.02 No Material Adverse Change:
Officers' Certificates.............. 8-1
8.03 Corporation's Performance............. 8-2
8.04 Necessary Corporate Approvals......... 8-3
8.05 Resolutions Authorizing The
Execution Of This Agreement......... 8-3
8.06 Opinion Of Counsel.................... 8-3
8.07 Investment Letters.................... 8-3
8.08 Satisfactory Searches................. 8-4
8.11 Environmental Review.................. 8-4
8.12 Listing On New York Stock Exchange.... 8-4
8.13 Consents To Transaction............... 8-4
8.14 Prepayment Of Indebtedness............ 8-5
8.15 Greenville Option and Non-
disturbance Agreement............ 8-5
8.17 Tax Waivers........................... 8-6
8.18 Results of Investigation.............. 8-6
8.19 Consents to Assignments............... 8-6
-ii-
ARTICLE IX CONDITIONS TO THE CORPORATION'S
OBLIGATION TO CLOSE............... 9-1
9.01 Representations and Warranties
True at the Closing................. 9-1
9.02 Parent's Performance.................. 9-1
9.03 No Material Adverse Change............ 9-2
9.04 Authority............................. 9-2
9.05 Opinion of Parent's Counsel........... 9-2
ARTICLE X SURVIVAL OF REPRESENTATIONS AND
INDEMNIFICATION...................... 10-1
10.01 Survival Of Representations
And Warranties..................... 10-1
10.02 Indemnification By The Corporation
and Stockholders................... 10-1
10.03 Indemnification by Parent............ 10-4
10.04 Enforcement of Indemnification
Rights............................. 10-5
10.05 Remedies Cumulative.................. 10-7
10.06 Liability for Deficiency............. 10-7
10.07 Access to Books and Records.......... 10-8
10.08 Taxes................................ 10-8
10.09 Insurance............................ 10-9
10.10 Termination of Employment............ 10-10
10.11 Environmental Cleanup................ 10-10
10.12 Trade Accounts Receivable Guarantee.. 10-10
10.13 Debit Memos.......................... 10-12
10.14 Notes Receivable..................... 10-12
10.15 Linen Business....................... 10-12
10.16 Power of Attorney.................... 10-14
10.17 Further Assurances................... 10-16
10.18 Directions to Escrow Agent........... 10-16
ARTICLE XI MISCELLANEOUS....................... 11-1
11.02 Notices.............................. 11-1
11.02 Assignability and Parties in
Interest............................ 11-1
11.03 Expenses............................. 11-2
11.04 Collections.......................... 11-2
11.05 Governing Law........................ 11-2
11.06 Counterparts......................... 11-2
11.07 Headings............................. 11-3
11.08 Pronouns, etc........................ 11-3
11.09 Complete Agreement................... 11-3
11.10 Modifications, Amendments
and Waivers......................... 11-3
11.11 Severability......................... 11-4
11.12 Consent to Option.................... 11-4
-iii-
DESCRIPTION REFERENCE
------------- --------- Appendix A Escrow Agreement 2.04(d) Appendix B Private Placement Questionnaire 2.07(b) Appendix C Covenant Not to Compete 4.14 Appendix D Employment Agreement 4.15 Appendix E Option to Buy Greenville, N.C.
Property from Certain
Stockholders 4.18(c) Appendix F Opinion of Corporation's Counsel 8.06 Appendix G Opinion of Parent's Counsel 9.05
-iv-
THIS AGREEMENT AND PLAN OF REORGANIZATION ("Agreement") has been made and
entered into as of this 30th day of March, 1994, among BERGEN BRUNSWIG
CORPORATION, a New Jersey corporation ("Parent"), its wholly owned subsidiary
DMC ACQUISITION CORP., a North Carolina Corporation ("Subsidiary"), SOUTHEASTERN
HOSPITAL SUPPLY CORPORATION, a North Carolina corporation ("Corporation"), and
ELEANOR B. MANNING, RAY MANNING, JR., BETTY ROUSE, THE O.R. MANNING TRUST AND
CAROL SHORT ("Stockholders"),
R E C I T A L S:
1. The Parent desires that Subsidiary acquire substantially all of the
business, assets, and property of the Corporation, subject to certain of its
liabilities, in exchange solely for the Parent's Class A Common Stock, $1.50 par
value (the "Stock"), all on the terms and conditions hereinafter set forth,
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants herein contained,
the parties adopt this Agreement as and for a Plan of Reorganization ("Plan")
under Section 368(a)(1)(C) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the
"Code"), and in order to implement such Plan, the parties represent, warrant,
covenant, and agree as follows:
The terms defined in this Article (except as otherwise expressly provided
in this Agreement) for all purposes of this Agreement shall have the respective
meanings specified in this Article.
1.01 Affiliate shall mean any entity controlling or controlled by the
Corporation or controlled by any entity which controls the Corporation.
1.02 Agreement shall mean this Agreement, the Supplemental Agreement and
all the exhibits and other documents attached to or referred to in either of
them, and all amendments and supplements, if any, to either of them.
1.03 Closing shall mean the meeting of the parties at which all Closing
Documents shall be exchanged by the parties, except for those documents, or
other items specifically required to be exchanged at a later time.
1.04 Closing Date shall mean April 29, 1994, or such other date as agreed
to by the parties on which the Closing, occurs.
1.05 Closing Documents shall mean the papers, instruments and documents
required to be executed and delivered at the Closing pursuant to this Agreement.
1.06 CPA shall mean Deloitte & Touche.
1.07 Debit Memos shall mean memoranda issued by the corporation to its
vendors asserting its claim to a credit from such vendors with respect to
merchandise returned to the vendor, promotional allowances earned, chargebacks,
or rebates, whether such items are classified by the Corporation as receivables
from vendors or reductions of payables to vendors.
1.08 ERISA shall mean Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
1.09 Escrow Agent shall mean Wachovia Bank of North Carolina, N.A.
1.10 GAAP shall mean generally accepted accounting principles applied by
the Corporation in a manner consistent with prior periods.
1.11 Reserved.
1.12 Knowledge. Any limitation or qualification of a representation or
warranty made by the Corporation or the Stockholders in this Agreement or in the
Supplemental Agreement which is based on "knowledge" shall include facts known
to any of the Stockholders.
1.13 Market Value shall mean the average of the last sale prices of the
Stock on the New York Stock Exchange during the 30 trading days ending 10 days
prior to the Closing Date, but such Market Value shall be not greater than
$19-3/8 nor less than $16-3/8.
1.14 Net Asset Value shall mean the Corporation's assets to be transferred
to Subsidiary pursuant to Section 2.01, as valued pursuant to Section 5.02, less
the Corporation's liabilities to be assumed by Subsidiary pursuant to Section
2.03, as valued pursuant to Section 5.03.
1.15 Notes Receivable shall mean the promissory notes which the Corporation
has received from its customers in connection either with the sale of opening
orders or to evidence past due open accounts.
1.16 Parent Representative shall mean any one of the following persons:
Robert E. Martini, Dwight A. Steffensen, Neil F. Dimick or Milan A. Sawdei.
1.17 Premises shall mean all locations at which the Corporation or its
Subsidiaries do business and, which are listed in Exhibit 2.7.1 to the
Supplemental Agreement.
1.18 Regulated Substances shall have the meaning ascribed to that term in
section 2.24 of the Supplemental Agreement.
1.19 Representative shall mean any of the following persons: Ray Manning,
Jr. or Sammy Short if Ray Manning, Jr. should be unable to act on any matter or
matters.
1.20 SEC shall mean the Securities and Exchange Commission.
1.21 Supplemental Agreement shall mean an agreement executed concurrently
with this Agreement by the parties to this Agreement containing a series of
representations and warranties.
1.22 Trade Accounts Receivable shall mean all accounts receivable arising
from the sale or lease of goods or services to customers in the ordinary course
of the Corporation's business and to manufacturers for goods delivered to
manufacturers' salesmen.
1.23 Transaction shall mean the transaction contemplated by this Agreement.
1.24 Terms Defined in Other Sections. The following terms are defined
elsewhere in this Agreement in the following Sections:
Act 2.07(a)
Code Recital 2
Corporation Heading
Escrow Agreement 2.04(d)
Estimated Net Asset Value 2.04(b)
Final Accountant's Report 5.01(b)
HSR Act 4.09
Initial Accountant's Report 5.01(a)
Inventory 2.01(b)
Linen Business 10.15
Linen Cost 10.15
Linen Loss 10.15
Linen Receivables 10.15
Loss or Losses 10.02
Obsolete Inventory 5.02(a)
Outside Date 6.01
Parent Heading
Permitted Encumbrances 8.08
Plan Recital 2
Preliminary Balance Sheet 2.04(b)
Proposed Statement 5.01(a)
Reassigned Receivables 10.12
Registration Statement 2.07(c)
Saleable Inventory 5.02(a)
Stockholders Heading
Stock Recital 1
Subsidiary Heading
ACQUISITION PROVISIONS
2.01 Transfer and Assignment of Assets. On the Closing Date, subject to
the terms and conditions set forth in the Agreement, the Corporation shall
convey, transfer, assign and deliver to Subsidiary all the Corporation's assets,
properties, and business of every kind, character, and description, whether
tangible or intangible, whether real, personal, or mixed, and wherever located
on the Closing Date (except for those excluded by Section 2.02 hereof), and
Subsidiary shall accept those assets, including, but not limited to, the
(a) cash. All cash in Corporation's banks or in its possession.
(b) inventory. All inventory located at or in route to the Premises which
shall be referred to herein as the "Inventory". The Corporation shall use its
best efforts prior to Closing to induce its customers to return promptly any
merchandise purchased from the Corporation which those customers intend to
return for credit.
(c) receivables. All Trade Accounts Receivable and Notes Receivable owned
by the Corporation.
(d) real estate. All real estate leases described on Exhibit 2.7 to the
(e) tangibles. All tangible personal property owned by the Corporation.
(f) equipment leases. Rights of the Corporation under all equipment leases described in Exhibit 2.8 to the Supplemental Agreement.
(g) intangibles. All intangible personal property owned or used by the
Corporation, including but not limited to all distribution, franchise, license
agreements, trademarks, tradenames and other intangible assets listed on Exhibit
2.10.1 to the Supplemental Agreement, all computer programs listed on Exhibit
2.10.2 to the Supplemental Agreement, and all material contracts listed in
Exhibit 2.14.1 to the Supplemental Agreement.
(h) books and records. All books, papers, records and files pertaining in
any way to the business of the Corporation, including without limitation, sales
correspondence, customer lists, credit and sales records, purchasing records,
data processing records, and all documents and records pertaining to the
properties and assets to be transferred hereunder.
(i) purchase orders. All outstanding purchase orders received in the
ordinary course of business from the Corporation's customers.
(j) proposals. All outstanding proposals, quotations, or bids to
customers and all contracts entered into with customers in the ordinary course
of business.
(k) telephone numbers. The Corporation's telephone numbers.
(1) claims. All claims for money due and owing, claims and rights to tax
loss carryforwards, rights, if any, under any condemnation proceedings, and all
other claims and rights of every kind existing and owned by the Corporation on
the Closing Date.
2.02 Assets Not Being Acquired. Excluded from the assets to be conveyed,
transferred, assigned by the Corporation and accepted by Subsidiary under
Section 2.01 are:
(a) cash for taxes. Cash in the amount sufficient to pay any federal,
state or local income, franchise, sales or other taxes or business license fees
measured by the business done by the Corporation through the Closing Date. The
cash retained by the Corporation pursuant to this section shall be used by the
Corporation to pay those taxes. The Corporation hereby agrees to pay the same
and to hold Subsidiary free and harmless from any claim with respect to those
taxes. In the event that the cash retained pursuant to this section would
exceed the amount required to discharge those taxes, the Corporation shall
promptly remit the excess cash to Subsidiary.
(b) certain assets of linen business. All raw materials and
work-in-progress of the Corporation's Linen Business.
(c) home care business. All assets, consisting principally of accounts
receivable, inventory and equipment, of the Corporation's Home Care business.
(d) corporate records. All of the Corporation's stock transfer records
and all other records of the Corporation relating solely to its corporate
organization and structure, accounting books of original entry or original
supporting vouchers or general ledgers or any records which the Corporation is
required by law or government regulations to keep in its possession.
(e) malpractice claim. The pending malpractice claim which the
Corporation has asserted against its former law firm.
2.03 Assumption And Payment Of Specific Liabilities.
(a) debts assumed. As part consideration for the assignment, conveyance,
and transfer of substantially all of the assets, properties, and business of the
Corporation contemplated hereby, Subsidiary shall, subject to the limitations
contained herein, assume and discharge only the debts, liabilities, and
obligations of the Corporation hereinafter specified in this Section 2.03(a),
and no others:
(i) Debts, liabilities and obligations of the Corporation which are
expressly set forth as liabilities on the Corporation's most recent balance
sheet annexed to the Supplemental Agreement as Exhibit 2.25, in the amounts and
only in the amounts of such debts, liabilities, and obligations stated in such
balance sheet; provided, however, that Subsidiary shall not assume and discharge
any debts, liabilities, and obligations set forth on such balance sheet which
have been discharged prior to Closing.
(ii) Debts, liabilities and obligations of the Corporation which arise in
the ordinary course and conduct of business by the Corporation subsequent to the
date of said balance sheet and prior to Closing, including liability for payment
for merchandise ordered by the Corporation and not yet received (if such
merchandise shall have been ordered in the ordinary course of the Corporation's
business) but excluding tax liability for taxes arising out of the business done
by the Corporation subsequent to June 30, 1993.
(iii) Debts, liabilities, and obligations of the Corporation which arise
after the Closing with respect to purchase orders to suppliers and from
customers entered into in the ordinary course of the Corporation's business and
contracts listed on Exhibit 2.14.1 to the Supplemental Agreement, providing
there has been no breach of warranty by the Corporation with respect thereto.
(iv) Indebtedness to United Carolina Bank in the amount of $500,000
incurred by the Corporation during February, 1994 to make leasehold improvements
in the Premises located at Greenville, North Carolina.
(b) limitation. Except for the debts, liabilities, and obligations of the
Corporation which Subsidiary has hereinabove expressly agreed to assume or
discharge, neither Parent nor Subsidiary shall be responsible for and neither of
them is assuming or agreeing to discharge any debts, liabilities, or obligations
of the Corporation or the Stockholders, whether accrued now or hereafter and
whether known, unknown, contingent, or otherwise.
2.04 Consideration.
(a) shares of stock at closing. In part consideration for the assignment,
conveyance and transfer by the Corporation contemplated by this Agreement,
Parent shall issue shares of Stock on the Closing Date having a Market Value (as
defined) equal to Estimated Net Asset Value plus $5,000,000, subject to later
adjustment as provided herein. The maximum number of shares of Stock to be
issued by the Parent pursuant to this Agreement shall be 870,000, subject to
adjustment pursuant to Section 2.06.
(b) estimated net asset value. Estimated Net Asset Value shall be the Net
Asset Value of the Corporation as of the end of the month immediately preceding
the Closing Date, and shall be based upon unaudited statements prepared by the
Corporation in accordance with GAAP as reflected on the most recent balance
sheet of the Corporation which is annexed as Exhibit 2.
View other agreements from Bergen Brunswig Agreements
Pharmerica / Bergen Brunswig - EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT
IVAX / Bergen Brunswig - Stock Option - Ivax
IVAX / Bergen Brunswig - Stock Option - Bergen
Bergen Brunswig - Amended And Restated 1989 Stock Incentive Plan
Bergen Brunswig - Agreement And Plan Of Merger Among
View other Reorganization Agreements
Fair Isaac - EXCHANGE Agreement & PLAN OF REORGANIZATION
Dana Holding - Plan of Reorganization
AOL Latin America - Joint Plan of Reorganization
Duke Energy - Reorganization Agreement
Synnex - Master Agreement And Plan of Reorganization
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line527
|
__label__wiki
| 0.863789
| 0.863789
|
Australian Government releases consultation paper for $5 billion Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility
AUSTRALIAN Minister for Resources, Energy and Northern Australia, Josh Frydenberg, last week announced the release of a consultation paper to seek feedback on the proposed design and operation of the $5 billion Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF).
"Northern Australia contributes over 11 per cent of Australia's GDP. With 40 per cent of Australia's land mass, but only around five per cent of our population, it has enormous economic growth potential," Mr Frydenberg said in a statement.
Above: Power lines / by Matti Frisk.
The NAIF is a key component of the White Paper on Developing Northern Australia, which was released in June this year and sets out the government's development plan for the north.
Commencing in 2016-17, the NAIF will offer up to $5 billion in concessional loans over five years to encourage and complement investment in northern Australian infrastructure. The loans will be used to finance major economic projects such as airports, ports, roads, rail, energy, water and communications infrastructure.
"Importantly, the NAIF will not crowd out private investment, but will work in partnership with the private sector and the Northern Territory, Queensland, and Western Australia governments," Mr Frydenberg said.
The consultation paper outlines the proposed NAIF administration structure, noting that the government intends to appoint an independent statutory board to make investment decisions.
The paper also outlines draft NAIF eligibility criteria, including that:
Projects involve construction or enhancement of economic infrastructure;
Projects are of public benefit;
A project is unlikely to proceed or will proceed at a much later date without NAIF assistance;
NAIF finance will be able to be repaid;
NAIF loans should be for at least $50 million; and
NAIF finance must not exceed 50 per cent of total project debt, which in practice means projects will have a capital cost of more than $100 million.
"The NAIF has the potential to be a game changer for northern Australia, so it is important that it works as effectively as possible. With this in mind, I encourage all interested stakeholders to participate in the consultation process," Mr Frydenberg said.
More information is available from the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science website at <http://www.industry.gov.au/naif>. Submissions on the consultation paper close on 30 November 2015.
Photo: 'Power lines' / Matti Frisk / Licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.0.
Discussion paper released on private sector involvement in $600m Northern Australia Roads Programme - 15 December 2015
Expressions of Interest to be called for $600 million Northern Australia Roads Programme - 16 November 2015
Tender awarded for Mount Isa to Tennant Creek railway scoping study - 21 September 2015
Australian Government releases its White Paper on Developing Northern Australia - 23 June 2015
Audit assesses northern Australia's infrastructure - 12 May 2015
Infrastructure identified as key to the future of Northern Australia - 9 September 2014
Latest Australian Articles
Dwelling approvals decrease by 5.0 per cent in April
Creating Great Australian Cities research project released by Property Council of Australia
'Incentives not the be-all and end-all of affordable housing': Planning Institute of Australia
Dwelling approvals decrease by 6.2 per cent in February
State and Territory News
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line533
|
__label__cc
| 0.679572
| 0.320428
|
Maybe God is money
If he is I don’t think that’s very funny
That makes life a game
Where the price is right
Llyn Foulkes is an American artist. Born 1934 in Yakima, Washington. Foulkes began exhibiting with the Ferus Gallery, Los Angeles in 1959. By age 30, Foulkes had been given one person exhibitions at the Pasadena Art Museum (1962), the Oakland Art Museum (1964) and further gallery exhibitions with the Rolf Nelson Gallery, Los Angeles (1963, 64). Through the late sixties into the seventies, Foulkes would create trademark landscape paintings that utilized the iconography of postcards, vintage landscape photography, and Route 66 inspired hazard signs. By 1979, Foulkes returned to a childhood interest in one-man bands. Today he still performs with The Machine regularly on the West Coast.
www.kentgallery.com
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line537
|
__label__wiki
| 0.828771
| 0.828771
|
Verdi Chorus Home
Audition For The Verdi Chorus
Music Staff
Walter Fox Singers
The Sahm Foundation Apprentices
Board of Directors and Advisory Council
OPERA TALK
The Eternal Verdi – an essay by Aurelio de la Vega
Leaders & Lemmings – by Richard Hutman
Verdi & Wagner – an essay by Aurelio de la Vega
Recent Concert
IDOMENEO (1781)
Wolfgang A. Mozart (1756-1791)
Godiam la pace
Laura Liebreich-Johnsen, Anne-Marie Reyes, Stephen Anastasia, Christopher Hunter, and the Chorus
Placido è il mar, andiamo
Shana Blake Hill and the Chorus
O voto tremendo
Mathew Edwardsen and the Chorus
Scenda Amor
LAKMÉ (1883)
Léo Delibes (1836-1891)
A l’heure accoutumée
Gregorio González, Ms. Hill, and the Chorus
Viens, Mallika—Sous le dome épais
Ms. Hill and Judy Tran Gallego
LES PÊCHEURS DE PERLES
Georges Bizet (1838-1875)
Sur la grève en feu
Au fond du temple saint
Mr. Edwardsen and Mr. González
Sois la bienvenue
O Dieu Brahma
Ms. Hill, Mr. Edwardsen, and the Chorus
Act II Finale
Ms. Hill, Mr. Edwardsen, Mr González, Mauricio A. Palma II, and the Chorus
PRINCE IGOR (1890)
Alexander Borodin (1833-1887)
Polovtsian Dances
Featuring Laraine Ann Madden, pianist, with the Chorus
PIQUE DAME (1890)
Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Ja vas lyublyu (Prince Yeletsky’s Aria)
Mr. González
RUSALKA (1901)
Antonín Dvorák (1841-1904)
Kvetiny bílé
Babatunde Akinboboye and the Chorus
Song to the Moon
Ms. Hill
Vidino divná
Mr. Edwardsen
THE MERRY WIDOW (1905)
Franz Lehár (1870-1948)
Down in Dear Marsovia
Ms. Hill and the Chorus
You’ll Find Me at Maxim’s
Oh, Come Away, Away! and I Love You So
Ms. Hill, Mr. Edwardsen, Mr. González, and the Chorus
Shana Blake Hill
Mathew Edwardsen
Gregorio González
DISTANT LANDS
The attraction of distant lands (and eras) has been a staple of the operatic form since its inception. Given the birth of what we now call “opera” during the Renaissance as epitomized by such early masterpieces as Monteverdi’s Orfeo and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, it is unsurprising that these works drew inspiration from classical subjects based in Greek and Roman antiquity. The same can be said of Renaissance drama and poetry, not to mention art and architecture. However, the fascination with remote places and times seems to have retained its power for operatic purposes long after the other arts had moved on, at least temporarily, to other ways of representing the world. This is due in part to the frequent demands upon the operatic form for visual, dramatic, and musical size and spectacle, for which exotic locales provided a satisfying solution. In addition, the rise of opera occurred in tandem with ever-expanding exploration and colonization by the European powers that have been the main producers and consumers of Western opera. As European dominance grew, so did the development of opera that moved from classical subjects such as Mozart’s Idomeneo to stories and settings that reflected European values such as bringing civilization to societies viewed as primitive or inferior. Even in works in which the foreign subjects are portrayed equitably, the clash of cultures provided a source of vital dramatic conflict. In addition, increasing Western exposure to these distant cultures offered a welcome influx of inspiration based on their very different cultural beliefs and forms. It is likely that in opera, as in the other arts that drew on far-flung societies, the results more accurately reflected the Western culture that produced the art than the mileus it purported to show. However, there is no doubt that the artists attempted to adopt some of the musical and artistic styles of the locales they were portraying. This is especially noticeable in two of the key sections of this concert, Delibes’ Lakmé and Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de Perles, which dovetail with the craze in European painting and literature for “Orientalism” that was such a strong force in late 19th century Europe. Likewise, it may be that to Russians of Borodin’s time, the 12th century battles of the mythologized Prince Igor against the Khan of the nomadic Polovtsian tribes must have seemed as distant as the idea of landing on the moon.
Only 25 at the time of Idomeneo’s premiere during the Munich carnival season of 1781, Mozart was approaching the height of his operatic powers, just a year before The Abduction from the Seraglio and five years before Le Nozze di Figaro. Mozart was to tell his wife Constanze that the happiest time of his life was while composing Idomeneo. (Einstein described the opera as “one of those works that even a genius of the highest rank, like Mozart, could write only once in his life.”) Set to a libretto by the Abbé Giovanni Veresco and the first of his operas in which Mozart was able to influence the structure of the libretto, Idomeneo may be said to be the first mature Mozart opera, reflecting his superb talent for theater and character development. Aside from the individual complexities of the four main characters, Mozart assigned the chorus an important role in the story, a rarity for opera seria.
Idomeneo, the King of Crete, returns with his fleet from the Trojan War, where he was allied with the victorious Greeks. In return for their rescue from a violent storm, he vows to sacrifice to Neptune the first person he meets on his return home. It is unfortunately his son Idamante whom the King first sees, and in a vain attempt to save his son, Idomeneo tries to send him away to Greece to escort home Agamemnon’s daughter Elettra, who is passionately in love with Idamante (who in turn loves Ilia, a captured daughter of the Trojan King Priam). However, Neptune is furious at Idomeneo’s attempt to escape his vow and sends a sea beast and tempests to ravage the country. Idamante kills the monster and, learning of his father’s vow, offers his life to the gods in order to spare his country. Neptune himself intercedes, and spares Idamante’s life on the condition that Idomeneo abdicate his throne in favor of his son. Everyone rejoices – except the spurned Elettra.
Rejoicing that his father’s ships have been saved from the storm which engulfed them on their journey home, Idamante frees the Trojan prisoners as a gesture of celebration and of his love for Ilia. The Cretans and newly freed Trojans salute peace and the triumph of love (“Godiam la pace”) and declare that every heart will rejoice. Two Cretan maidens give thanks that war is extinguished and the world will have peace, and two Trojan soldiers praise the gods for their liberation.
The retinue that will accompany Elettra and Idamante to Greece is cheered that the sea that will carry them is calm (“Placido è il mar, andiamo.”) They are eager to leave quickly, assured that they will have good fortune. Happy in her belief that Idamante will come to love her during their journey, Elettra asks that only the sweet zephyrs blow, calming the anger of the cold north wind and spreading love everywhere.
The storms and sea monster which Neptune has sent to prevent Idomeneo from evading his vow have terrified the Cretans, who wonder who is responsible for Neptune’s wrath. Idomeneo has offered himself to Neptune as a substitute for the sacrifice of his son, to no avail. At last Idomeneo confesses to his subjects the nature of his vow, which requires that he sacrifice his own son. They are horrified at his dreadful vow (“O voto tremendo!”) and envision the horrible sight. Death now reigns and throws open the doors of its cruel abyss. The High Priest begs the gods for mercy for the innocent son. The oath is brutal and the gods should stay the hand of the faithful father from carrying it out. The sorrowful people bemoan the terrible vow as they leave for Neptune’s temple to witness the fateful act.
Idamante has willingly accepted that he must be sacrificed, but as Idomeneo raises the fatal ax, the voice of Neptune is heard. He will allow Idamante to live if Idomeneo surrenders his throne to him and allows him to marry the Trojan princess Ilia. As the joyous Cretans prepare for the wedding, they ask that Love and Hymen (the god of marriage) descend to bless the royal couple (“Scenda amor”), and that Juno, the matchmaker goddess, instill peace in the royal couple’s hearts.
Léo Delibes entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1847 at the age of eleven and studied composition under Adolphe Adam. He began his career as an accompanist at the Théâtre-Lyrique and as a chorus master at the Paris Opéra. Having written his first operetta at the age of nineteen, he went on to become professor of composition at the Conservatoire and a member of the French Institute. His early experience gave him a sophisticated insight into the demands of the stage and he became a prolific and popular composer of operetta (frequently at Offenbach’s Bouffes-Parisiens) and ballet, notably Coppélia and Sylvia. Delibes was perhaps the first notable composer to write music for the ballet, influencing such composers as Tchaikovsky and Debussy.
Based on a French short story and a novel and set to a libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Phillippe Gille, Lakmé is the last of Delibes’ operas to be completed by the composer and remains his most popular. It was first performed in 1883 at the Opéra Comique in Paris and achieved great success. The title role was written for the American singer Marie Van Zandt, for whom Massenet wrote the title role of Manon.
Set in India under British colonial rule in the 19th century, the opera focuses on the story of Lakmé, the daughter of the Brahmin high priest Nilakantha and a priestess herself, who falls in love with an English officer and sacrifices her life in order to save his. Remarkable for its prescience a full forty years before Gandhi’s movement to free India of colonial rule, Lakmé is unlike many of the other “exotic” operas of the period in that the clash between two very different cultures is almost as much a part of the opera as its love story, and the non-Western culture of the Hindus is neither incidental nor presented as inferior, but simply at odds with the beliefs and practices of the British rulers.
In the opening scene, dawn is breaking in a garden sacred to the Hindu men and women who come to worship at a hidden temple. They arrive at the usual hour (“A l’heure accoutumée”) when the fragrant plain, enflamed by the dawn, welcomes the newborn day. They pray that their prayers will unite to calm Brahma’s menacing wrath. The firebrand priest Nilakantha praises their devotion and promises that they will exhaust their hated conquerors, who have chased their gods from the temples. He promises his followers that Brahma will revenge their shame and free them. In his house today he saw the power of Brahma shining, and his soul soared to the god as he heard his daughter praying. His daughter Lakmé approaches and the people join her in prayer. She invokes the gods, fair Dourga, pale Shiva, and mighty Ganesh (“Blanche, Dourga”), as the faithful join her in praising them and ask them to calm Brahma and protect them.
Nilakantha leaves Lakmé and her slave Mallika to guard the sacred garden. Lakmé bids Mallika to join her (“Viens, Mallika”) as she prepares to bathe in a nearby stream. The flowering vines are throwing their shadow over the sacred brook, awakened by the rowdy song of the birds. Mallika is happy to see her mistress smiling because at these times, she may read Lakmé’s normally hidden heart. They sing of the dome of white jasmine (“Sous le dome épais”) overhead and the roses which cover the river banks in the fresh morning. Ah! They want to glide along the flying current on the trembling waves, reaching out to the bank where the birds sing with them, calling them all together. But Lakmé is seized by sudden dread – whenever her father travels alone to the cursed town, she trembles in fear. Mallika says that Ganesha protects him, and suggests they go to the pond where swans with white wings frolic so they may gather some blue lotus. As they depart, they sing again of the lovely dome of white jasmine.
Georges Bizet was born into a world of music in 1838 in Paris and remained immersed in it throughout his brief life. Bizet’s father was a sometime singing teacher and composer, and his mother was herself a talented pianist and the sister of a famous singing teacher. Both parents noted Bizet’s talent as early as age four, and he was groomed to become a composer. In spite of being too young to be officially admitted (at the age of nine) to the Paris Conservatory of Music, his talent so impressed the faculty that he was granted admittance in short order just before he turned ten. Among the faculty under whom he studied, he became particularly close with Charles Gounod and Jacques Halévy (best known today for his opera La Juive), whose daughter he would later marry and whose nephew was one of the librettists for Carmen. Following three years of study and composition in Italy after winning the prestigious Prix de Rome at age 19, Bizet returned to Paris where he remained for the rest of his life.
Bizet was also noted for his superb skills as a pianist, once astonishing Franz Liszt by playing at sight a piece Liszt thought no other pianist but himself capable of performing. Bizet feared that his instrumental skills would interfere with his composing, however, and he usually refused to play in public except for charity concerts. The young composer was as drawn to literature and theater as he was absorbed in music (his parents hid his books so that precious practice time would not be wasted in reading), and he always had a keen eye, as well as an ear, for theatrical possibilities. He was said to have told his friend Saint-Saëns that he required the theater rather than the concert hall to fulfill his talents. Since, at the time, composing for the opera was far better paid than other forms of music, he had an extra incentive to follow his natural inclination. However, the world of Parisian opera was rife with mismanagement, greed, and a fear of the unconventional, all of which caused Bizet no end of professional problems, up to and including his final masterpiece, Carmen.
Les Pêcheurs de Perles (The Pearl Fishers), produced at the Théâtre-Lyrique in 1863, when Bizet was merely 24, was his first major opera and proved no exception as far as the difficulties of dealing with opera impresarios and librettists with which he always had to contend. Originally set in Mexico, the setting was changed to Ceylon, and the libretto by Michel Carré and Eugène Cormon fluctuated wildly well into the rehearsal period. Even one of the librettists later admitted that had they recognized Bizet’s genius, they would have been embarrassed to have submitted their work to him. The opera suffered other production problems as well, and its reception by the audience on the first night was only moderate. As would happen repeatedly, the mainstream music critics sniffed at Bizet’s musical experimentation, and alternately assailed Bizet for attempting to imitate Wagner and for not following in Wagner’s footsteps. One notable exception, however, was the composer and critic Hector Berlioz (who endured the same critical resistance to his innovations as did Bizet). In his last article as a paid critic, Berlioz praised the opera warmly, calling it replete with rich, colorful scenes and beautiful, expressive music.
The opera is set in Ceylon (present day Sri Lanka) and revolves around a love triangle among Leila, a virgin priestess of Brahma, Zurga, the head of the pearl fishers, and his old friend Nadir. The first scene opens on the shore as a group of fishermen prepares for a pearl diving voyage. The entire village gathers on the burning sand (“Sur la grève en feu”) by the sleeping blue sea, pitching their tents. They tell the young women with dark eyes and flowing tresses to drive away evil spirits with their songs, and they will all dance until night falls. The departing pearl fishers survey their domain, to which fate returns them every year to confront death. Under the deep waves the bold divers will find the honey-colored pearl hidden from other eyes.
In return for the pearl fishers’ promise that they will obey him in all things, Zurga has acceded to their plea to serve as leader of their expedition. His old friend Nadir has returned to the village after a long absence. Zurga asks if Nadir has kept their mutual promise of long ago, and Nadir says he has. Zurga says they should forget the past and celebrate this sweet hour as brothers and friends for life, but Nadir says that peace will never come to them. Even when they have reached the age when their past dreams have vanished, they will remember their journey to the temple at Candi. The two men recall their love for an unknown priestess years ago. In the cool evening air, she had entered a holy temple (“Au fond du temple saint”). As the worshippers in the temple knelt before her, imagining they were seeing an actual goddess, her veil had parted briefly. Zurga and Nadir can remember her face as if it were yesterday. The crowd had murmured that the goddess herself had come among them, and Nadir and Zurga agreed. Yes, it is she! It is the goddess, even more charming and beautiful, who has come down among them. Each had recognized that love had taken their hearts by force, and would turn them into enemies. Vowing that nothing would part them and neither would pursue her in order to preserve their friendship, they had sworn to remain friends until death, united by their love of the goddess.
A veiled priestess of Brahma arrives at the village, appointed by the villagers to pray at the temple for the safe voyage of the pearl fishers. The villagers welcome the unknown friend (“Sois la bienvenue, Amie inconnue”), offering her gifts and urging her to sing so that storms and tempests will be appeased by her sweet tones. Let the foul spirits of the waves fly away at the sound of her voice. Let her chase away with her songs the spirits of the water and the nearby woods. They beseech her to watch over and protect them.
Zurga demands that the priestess swear to always retain her veil, remain pure, and pray day and night by the cliffs to ward away the evil spirits. If she observes her vow, she will be well rewarded, but if she breaks it, she will lose her life. As she makes her vow, she suddenly recognizes Nadir in the crowd and is shocked to see him. Recovering her composure and repeating her vow to follow Zurga’s commands, she ascends to the cliff to begin her prayers. Nadir imagines he recognizes her voice from the past but can’t believe it is true. He lies down underneath the cliff to try to sleep.
Reaching the promontory where she will stand guard, the priestess entreats the god Brahma (“O Dieu Brahma”), the master of the world, and the blonde goddess Siva, as well as the spirits of the air, the waves, the rocks, and the forest, for protection. The villagers echo her, and ask her to continue her song so that her beautiful voice will chase away all danger. She sings of the cloudless sky where the stars sparkle in the pure, transparent night. Leaning toward the shore where Nadir lies, she murmurs that her eyes follow him across the night, her voice implores him, and her heart adores him. Her song flutters in the air like a bird. The pearl fishers listening in the distance again beg her to keep singing. The priestess briefly lifts her veil to Nadir and he recognizes her as Leila, the priestess whom he and Zurga had loved long ago. He vows to give his life to defend her. Leila is thrilled that he is below and can hear her. For him, for her adored one, she will keep singing.
In the Finale to Act II, Nadir tries to persuade Leila to abandon her vow of chastity and run away with him. Discovering them, the high priest Nourabad curses them and summons the villagers to denounce the illicit lovers. The villagers wonder why they are summoned and what deathly omen awaits them. As a sudden storm breaks over them, the villagers cry out in fear of the appalling night. The frothing ocean is raising its furious waves as they wonder why the priestess stands pale and trembling, shivering and speechless. Nourabad reveals that Leila and Nadir have desecrated the sacred temple. The people are shocked to realize that Nadir is a traitor and agree that for the guilty pair there will be neither pity nor mercy. Only death! As the terrified Leila cries out in fear, Nadir says he would rather die than ask for mercy. The crowd calls on the punishing spirits of darkness to open the deadly abyss for them as Nadir tries to shield Leila.
Zurga appears and commands the crowd to stop (“Arretez!”), saying that he will judge Leila and Nadir’s guilt. Reminding the pearl fishers that they have sworn allegiance to him as their leader, he decides to free his friend Nadir and the unknown priestess. The crowd grudgingly agrees to release the traitors, but Nourabad tears Leila’s veil from her face, revealing her identity. Zurga is infuriated at his friend’s betrayal of their vows to give up Leila and curses them both. As the crowd again demands death for them, Zurga joins them. Suddenly the storm redoubles in fury, and Nourabad shouts that the thunder and lightning will strike them all. He calls out to Brahma as the terrified villagers fall to their knees and call on the god to raise his hand to protect them. They swear to punish the sacrilegious lovers as they are led away by the priests and fishermen.
Alexander Borodin was born in Saint Petersburg, the illegitimate son of a Tartar Prince. After earning a doctorate in medicine, his primary interests were his noteworthy career in chemistry and social issues such as the emancipation of women. Borodin was a member of a group of composers that included Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, variously known as the “Russian Five” or the “Mighty Five,” who hoped to break away from European tradition to achieve a style of purely Russian music. However, composing remained a secondary pursuit for Borodin, and he described himself as a “Sunday composer.” Prince Igor is the best known of Borodin’s works, both in opera form and for its overture and the Polovtsian Dances, which are often performed as stand-alone ballet or concert works. Having worked sporadically on Prince Igor since 1869, Borodin left the opera incomplete at his death in 1887 (of heart failure while dancing at a ball). Its composition and orchestration were completed posthumously by Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov. The opera was first performed in St. Petersburg in 1890. Audience members may recognize several Broadway melodies from the 1953 musical Kismet, for which Robert Wright and George Forrest adapted Borodin’s music as the major part of the score.
Set in four acts with a prologue, the libretto was adapted by Borodin himself from a 12th or 13th century East Slavic epic “The Lay of Igor’s Host,” about a 12th-century Russian prince and his campaigns against the invading Polovtsian tribes — fierce, nomadic warriors from the steppes of northeastern Russia. Act II of Prince Igor is set in the camp of the Polovtsian army, which has captured Igor and his son, who falls in love with the daughter of the Polovtsian leader Khan Konchak. The Khan has been impressed with Prince Igor and even suggests that they should work together as allies instead of enemies, but Igor admits to him that if he were freed, he would only fight again to free his country of the enemy. Hoping to cheer his prisoner and win him over, the Khan orders a lavish entertainment, featuring dancing by his most beautiful slaves and feats of military expertise by his soldiers. Borodin uses the famous Polovtsian Dances to striking musical effect to emphasize the vast differences between Russian culture and that of the nomads, but he is notably even-handed in his portrayal of the supposedly “barbarian” Polovtsians, presenting them as equals in honor in spite of their differences in customs and ambitions.
In the first section, “The Flowing Dance of Young Maidens,” the slave women tell their dear songs to fly on gentle breezes to the land where they once lived freely with no sorrow. There beneath the hot sun, the breezes would cool them, where the lapping waves of the sea dream with the silver clouds above. There it is sunny by the dear sea of their homeland. In the meadow the roses and bushes bloom and many nightingales sing in the green forest. The grapes of the vineyard give sweet wine, and they send their songs of freedom there. The second section is a rousing “Dance of the Savage Men.” The slaves and soldiers next join to sing songs of praise to the Khan, extolling his courage, generosity, and mercy. He is their glorious Khan, with a blaze of glory equal to the sun’s. There is no one equal in glory to the Khan! Konchak and his soldiers point out to Igor the slave girls from a distant sea, especially a pretty one from beyond the Caspian. Igor has only to say a word and Konchak will give Igor whichever favorite he chooses. Young boys perform their own dance for the Khan and Igor as the soldiers proclaim that the Khan is the equal of their glorious forefathers.
Based on a dark and cynical 1834 short story by Alexander Pushkin, Pique Dame (The Queen of Spades) was adapted into a libretto by Tchaikovsky’s brother Modest for another composer, who refused it. Tchaikovsky took over the script and rewrote it to his own satisfaction, transforming Pushkin’s ironic pessimism into romantic tragedy. Its 1890 premiere at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg achieved almost as great a success as that of Eugene Onegin in 1879. In spite of its 1910 American premiere having a starry cast led by no less a conductor than Gustav Mahler, Pique Dame did not achieve the success in the United State that it continues to enjoy in Russia and Europe.
Pique Dame is set in St. Petersburg during the reign of Catherine the Great at the end of the 18th century. The reticent young army officer Hermann is secretly in love with Lisa, the granddaughter of a Countess who is known as the Queen of Spades, renowned for her luck at cards and her mysterious past. Hermann is convinced by fellow soldiers that the Countess possesses a special trick for winning at cards. Hoping the secret will enable him to win a fortune and the love of Lisa, Herman hides in the Countess’ room in hopes of persuading her to give him the secret – but he only succeeds in frightening her to death. Haunted by a vision of the Countess, he proceeds to gamble against Lisa’s fiancé Prince Yeletsky and stakes everything on cards shown to him by the Countess’ ghost. The final card turns out to be the queen of spades instead of the ace. Having lost everything, Hermann stabs himself.
Act II opens on a glittering masked ball. Although she is promised to Prince Yeletsky, Lisa has secretly fallen in love with Hermann, to whom her fiancé has introduced her. At the ball, Yeletsky is perplexed by Lisa’s silence and apparent sadness, unaware that she is in love with someone else. Asking her to confide in him, she resists and tries to leave, but he says he must speak to her. He loves her beyond all measure (“Ja vas lyublyu”) and can’t live without her. He is ready to accomplish any heroic deed for her. However, he swears that he doesn’t wish to restrict the freedom of her heart. He will hide his feelings in order to please her, and control his jealousy. He wants to be not simply her husband or a useful servant, but her friend, and always her consoler. Yet he sees clearly now how he has allowed himself to be misled by dreams. She has little trust in him, and he must seem alien and remote to her. He is tormented by this – her sadness is his, and he also weeps her tears. He reiterates that he loves her beyond all measure and would do anything to win her, and asks that she trust him.
Antonín Dvorák was born in 1841 in Prague in Bohemia, at the time a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Displaying musical prowess at an early age, first playing the violin when he was six, he soon was sent away to live with an uncle while studying German and music theory. After studying violin, piano, and organ, he earned his early professional experience as a violist in an orchestra that first played at restaurants and balls but was soon employed at a Bohemian theater, where he was exposed to symphonic and operatic repertoire. He began composing in the early 1860’s, although his early works were not publicly performed and he toiled in obscurity until the 1870’s when he began to have his works presented in Prague. After entering his work in several competitions, beginning in 1874 he attracted the attention of some prominent jurors for awards, notably Brahms, who became a lifelong advocate of his work. His reputation grew with the support of Brahms and other important conductors and performers following orchestral successes in Germany, England, the United States, and Russia, although he was later to discover that members of German orchestras objected to having to play the music of a Czech composer. Fame and acceptance grew much more rapidly in more distant countries than in Germany and Austria. Following several years at the Prague Conservatory as professor of composition and instrumentation, in 1892 Dvorák became the director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York City, where he remained until 1895. Like so many composers of his era who promoted nationalistic themes independent of the various monarchies and protectorates that ruled their countries, he had used the native idioms of Bohemian and Moravian folk music as important components of his work. Dvorák set out to involve himself in the discovery of “American Music” in much the same way, writing articles about its progress and the importance of African-American and Native American music to its development. The African-American composer Harry Burleigh, one of his pupils, introduced him to traditional American spirituals. In 1893, the New York Philharmonic commissioned what became the New World Symphony, probably his most famous work, and his American sojourn also produced his Cello Concerto in B Minor as well as other notable orchestral works. He returned with his family to his homeland in 1895, where he resumed his professorship at Prague University. For the remainder of his life, most of his attention was devoted to composing chamber music and operas, including his most famous opera, Rusalka, which achieved enormous success at its premiere in Prague in 1901. Aside from leaving a number of unfinished works at his death in 1904, Dvorák’s prolific output includes a wide range of repertory including orchestral, choral, spiritual, and operatic works.
The legends of water creatures such as mermaids, sirens, undines, loreleis, and nixies have been part of the lore of faraway places as old as ancient Assyria, and include “sightings” by Columbus in the Caribbean and onward into the 21st century on nearly every continent. Such legends provided abundant inspiration for stories, songs, plays, operas, and visual arts, the most famous being Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid. In Slavic mythology, a rusalka is a water nymph, usually living in lakes and rivers. Although early legends portrayed them as benevolent fertility figures, by the 19th century they were often portrayed as dangerous creatures who lured men to their deaths. They were distinctive in being highly social creatures who liked to travel and play in groups. Dvorák composed the opera to a libretto written by the Czech poet and playwright Jaroslav Kvapil in 1899. The composer created the work at a rapid pace between April and November of 1900. Kvapil’s libretto reflected the popularity in central Europe at the time for native legends and mystic fairy tales. It was based on works by the Czech authors Karel Jaromír Erben and Božena N?mcová who drew on native folk tales for their work, but it drew as well from Andersen’s story, Fouqué’s French fairy tale Undine, and the German play The Sunken Bell by Gerhart Hauptmann.
The story tells of the young water nymph Rusalka, who has fallen in love with a handsome prince she has seen swimming in the lake. She yearns to have a human body and human soul so she can win the prince’s love. Her father, the Water Sprite who rules their lake, tries to warn his daughter that such a choice will doom her, but sadly says that since she insists, she should see the witch Jezibaba to fulfill her desire. Jezibaba agrees to grant her wish but warns her that the transformation will leave her mute. Worse, if her love betrays her, she will be an outcast. Rusalka agrees, and the prince, soon fascinated by her silence and attracted by her beauty, takes her away to his castle. However, he soon tires of her reserve and becomes attracted to a foreign princess who has been invited to their wedding. Rusalka returns to the lake and her father threatens the faithless prince. Devastated by the loss of his bride and the sudden rejection of the princess he had dallied with, the prince loses his senses. The witch tells Rusalka she can only return to her natural state if she will kill her untrue lover, but Rusalka cannot bring herself to do so. However, the maddened prince searches for her by the shores of the lake and begs her for just a kiss. She warns that her kiss can only bring him death, but he willingly agrees in order to find forgiveness and peace. He dies in her arms and Rusalka returns to her home in the lake.
In Act II, the prince has taken Rusalka back to his castle and has invited guests to their marriage. However, he is bewildered and somewhat alarmed that she does not speak and trembles in fear when he tries to embrace her. Among the wedding guests is a foreign princess who sets her sights on the prince. When Rusalka attempts to come between them, the prince brusquely tells her to go back to the castle and prepare for the ceremony. She woefully does so as dusk falls and the moon appears, lighting the arrival of the wedding guests. They sing of the white blossoms (“Kvetiny bílé”), all along the road. They were all over the road as a young man rode to his maid and the day smiled brightly on him. They tell the young man not to wait but to hasten, for soon he will attain manhood. When he returns, red roses will be blooming. All of the white blossoms were the first to yield to the rays of the sun, but the blazing red roses will embellish the marriage chamber. However, the Water Sprite has witnessed Rusalka’s humiliation and he sadly notes that she is pale and pitiful, caught in the human’s worldly web. Alas for her – the only white blossoms will be those of the waterlilies who will be her sad companions. No red roses will decorate her bridal bed.
In Act I, having told Rusalka of the witch’s ability to grant her wish, Water Sprite has sorrowfully disappeared beneath the water. Looking at the bright moon as it emerges from the clouds, Rusalka appeals to it (Song to the Moon.) O moon, high in the deep, deep sky, your light sees far away places as you travel around the wide world, gazing into human homes. She asks the moon to tell her where her beloved is. Tell him, silvery moon, that her arms reach out to him, hoping that for a brief moment he might dream of her. She asks the moon to shed her light on him, far away, and tell him that she waits for him. If he is dreaming about her, let him remember her when he awakes. O, moon, don’t disappear behind the cloud!
Rusalka takes the potion which Jezibaba gives her and is transformed into a human, albeit one who cannot speak. The prince enters the clearing by the lake in pursuit of a white doe he has been hunting in the forest. Seeing Rusalka and struck by her beauty, he appeals to her. “Divine one (“Vidino divná”), are you real? Are you here to protect that doe I’ve been chasing? Are you here to beg for her life, perhaps the sister of the white doe? Or are you offering yourself as my trophy?” He asks if a secret seals her lips, or is she mute? If her lips are mute, he swears that his kiss will make them speak. She must explain the mystery that lured him here, over thorns and rocks, so that on this blissful day he can bask in the enchantment of her eyes. But until she does, she must stay with him – the hunt is over and she is his prize! Golden star shining in the night, dreamlike vision, she must come with him!
For our final foray into a distant land, what could be farther away than the imaginary country of Marsovia? Although the operetta is set in Paris, its true soul lies in Marsovia, located somewhere between the newly erected Eiffel Tower and the glittering waltz capital of Vienna. Franz Lehár was born in Hungary but found lasting success as a composer in Austria. He wrote dozens of operettas, a few operas (mostly unfinished), several film scores, and innumerable orchestra works, especially marches and waltzes. Initially not an overwhelming success either with the public or the critics at its 1905 premiere in Vienna, The Merry Widow survived partly thanks to the tenacity of its producers (who had no other productions ready to take its place). After a run of several months, it went on to sell out every night for years and remains Lehár’s most famous and popular work. The Merry Widow was rapidly presented all over Austria and Germany, then the world; at one point there were five separate productions running in Buenos Aires – in five different languages. It ran for years in both London and New York, although the latter required the discreet excision of some of its more risqué lines, and it was still sniffed at for its looseness by the New York Times. It has spawned three glossy film versions (one of them a silent, which bears witness to the appeal of the plot as well as the music), a ballet, and even an ice show, not to mention hats, dresses, and corsets. The Merry Widow was a loose adaptation by Victor Léon and Leon Stein of a French play by Henri Meilhac, co-author of the libretti for Carmen, Manon, and many of Offenbach’s most popular operettas.
Sonia, the widow of the richest man of an impoverished country, Marsovia, has inherited her husband’s fortune. Baron Popov, the Marsovian ambassador to France, is fearful that Sonia will be swept off her feet by a non-Marsovian while she is visiting Paris. He tries to enlist Prince Danilo, one of the attachés in his embassy, to marry Sonia so that Marsovia will not be left bankrupt. As it happens, Danilo and Sonia were once in love, but his uncle forbade his marriage to a poor commoner. Although they clearly still love each other, Danilo refuses to woo Sonia, fearing it will look as if he is only a fortune hunter like all the others who pursue her. Stung by his seeming indifference, Sonia announces that she will marry a Frenchman, although as it turns out, this is a ruse to protect the honor of the ambassador’s wife. Danilo is devastated that he will lose Sonia again, and she vows to herself that she won’t marry him until he says “I love you.”When Sonia announces that she will lose her fortune if she remarries, her other suitors quickly fade away, but Danilo is delighted and asks her to marry him. Upon learning that she meant that she would lose her fortune only because it would pass to the control of her new husband, he good-naturedly surrenders, ensuring the continued solvency of Marsovia as well as securing his true love.
To prove that her heart is still with her country, Sonia has invited her compatriots to a real Marsovian party. Her guests sing and dance to a Marsovian folk song, “Down in Dear Marsovia.” Sonia recalls their native land by singing another Marsovian song – the story of “Vilia,” a forest nymph who falls in love with a mortal.
Ambassador Popov has sent his aides all over Paris to try to find Danilo in order to persuade him to woo and marry Sonia. When the debonair man about town finally arrives at the embassy from the famous restaurant Maxim’s – accompanied by six cabaret dancers – he explains that after a hard day’s work on behalf of his fatherland, he likes nothing better than a night on the town, advising “You’ll Find Me at Maxim’s.”
In the midst of the romantic obstacles that Danilo faces with Sonia, he’s not the only man having trouble with the ladies. It seems Popov and the other Marsovians, not to mention some amorous Parisians entangled with certain wives who aren’t their own, are fed up with the whims and foibles of their women. If only they could live without them! “Oh, the Ladies!”
The Merry Widow is famous for its dances. During “Ladies’ Choice” at the Marsovian ball, the dancers pair off as they sing, “Oh, come away,” and at the end of the play Danilo finally capitulates to Sonia and is able to say the words she has been waiting for in the famous Merry Widow Waltz – “I Love You So.”
NOTES BY TONY ARN
The Verdi Chorus is a 501(c)(3) organization and all donations are fully tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Copyright © 2012-2014 Verdi Chorus • All rights reserved • Website Developed by ManheimLLC & Brotsky Designs
Design & Graphics by Angel Marrero
Tickets Available At The Door
Click HERE For Concert Venue Info
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line538
|
__label__wiki
| 0.908384
| 0.908384
|
VinceAzure
On New Year’s Day, 2019, VINCE AZURE (azh-er) released three long-awaited songs that are easily the best yet from the up & coming NYC recording artist. They are: “Homewrecker,” “We Said Forever,” and “I Don’t Wanna Be Your Friend.” Azure explores the complex themes of authenticity, altruism and love embodied in each of his evocative, sonic creations of infectious pop / rock music.
“I was born to perform music on a stage,” says Vince Azure. This is something he discovered the first time he picked up the guitar as a child. It all started for Azure when he first heard The Beatles at age ten and was instantly captivated. That was the moment that changed everything. “The decision to devote my life to making music was like none other I’ve ever made,” explains Azure. “There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that this was what I wanted to do.” More than ten years later, his passion for music is stronger than ever, as is evident in his actions and ambitions.
Azure came onto the NYC music scene five years ago with the independent release of his Debut EP ‘Ad Astra.’ After working his way up from playing at grittier clubs, Azure opened for Grammy-nominated recording artist James Bay at Rockwood Music Hall. Soon thereafter, he became a mainstay there, performing to a packed house at every show. In the summer of 2016, Azure independently organized his first U.S. and European tours, sharing his music with audiences from Los Angeles to Paris.
Azure has spent countless hours sharpening his performance abilities to ensure that his passion and talents burn brightly every time he takes the stage. Azure’s dynamism, sheer energy, powerful voice and enthralling guitar-playing abilities make it easy for him to entrance and enrapture an audience.
Azure’s power to perform is matched only by his capacity in the studio to write and record genuine and evocative songs, rich in both their musical and lyrical content. Azure draws on many musical influences, constantly shaping his sound to create a unique style of Pop and Rock music. “I just want to make honest music that really resonates...” Azure explains. “All of my songs are utterly sincere. I just want to connect with people by expressing my truth in the hope that maybe they’ve felt the same way at some point,” says Azure. “When people listen to my music, all I want them to say is: ‘He understands how I feel!’”
For Azure, being genuine is the most important thing in his music career. He recalls passing on an opportunity to work with a multi-Grammy award-winning producer several years ago. “I had the utmost respect for him and his endeavor, but he wanted me to be something that I wasn’t and I couldn’t roll with that. It was just phony,” explains Azure. “There’s nothing about me or my music that’s affected. It’s all real. It’s not just an image. I don’t have an angle; I just want to influence and inspire you,” Azure says. With his three new powerful songs, Azure asserts that you can remain honest and genuine as a recording artist, while still creating catchy and appealing music. Azure is currently in the studio writing and recording material for release in 2019 and will be touring the U.S. throughout the spring and summer.
ALBUM DEMOS 2019 PT. 1 - OUT NOW!
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line540
|
__label__wiki
| 0.537863
| 0.537863
|
Submarine Wharf - XXXL
Submarine Wharf - XXXL: Klaas Kloosterboer, Chris Martin and Jim Shaw - 8 June - 29 September 2013
This summer Klaas Kloosterboer, Chris Martin and Jim Shaw will transform the Submarine Wharf into a gigantic art studio. This is the fourth consecutive summer that Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen is organising an exhibition of contemporary art in Rotterdam’s docklands.
Klaas Kloosterboer (1959), Chris Martin (1954) and Jim Shaw (1952) think on a monumental scale and will fill the 5000m2 Submarine Wharf with paintings, installations and objects. The exhibition ‘XXXL’ brings together new and existing works. This summer the Submarine Wharf will take on the appearance of a vast artist’s studio. In the months leading up to the opening, the artists will be busy at work in the wharf, creating the exhibition on site. Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen wishes to demonstrate the resilience and energy of the art of painting with a true ‘battle of the Titans’ between the three artists.
Inventor, savage painter and storyteller
The Amsterdam-based artist Klaas Kloosterboer can be seen as an ‘inventor’. He experiments
constantly, altering the form and appearance of his paintings. The exhibition will include works from the collection of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, augmented with loans and new works. Chris Martin lives and works in New York and is the ‘savage painter’: he uses his energy to make each painting an explosion of colour and power. In ‘XXXL’ he will exhibit thirty existing paintings, and in the weeks leading up to the opening he will work on a new painting measuring 13 x 10 metres. Jim Shaw, the ‘storyteller’ from Los Angeles completes the trio. He paints and draws in a figurative, sometimes cartoon-like style on old film sets. In the Submarine Wharf he will present these ‘backdrop’ paintings, some measuring 4 x 15 metres.
Earlier exhibitions
The three earlier exhibitions that Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen organised in partnership with the Port of Rotterdam were devoted to Atelier Van Lieshout in 2010, the art duo Elmgreen & Dragset in 2011, and Sarkis in 2012. The public and press were extremely enthusiastic about all three shows. De Volkskrant praised the 2010 exhibition as: ‘This summer’s undisputed art hit’. In 2011 Trouw reported: “As a visitor you are sucked in to this surreal world in which you no longer know what is real and what is staged.” In 2012 Het Parool wrote: “The exhibition Ballads is a lively meeting place. (…) absolutely fascinating the more you read and learn about it.”
AVL-Mundo
There is also art to be seen on the north bank of the River Maas. Concurrently with Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen’s exhibition at the Submarine Wharf, AVL-Mundo (founded by artist Joep van Lieshout) is exhibiting work by internationally renowned artists in a monumental silo and the surrounding site. Also on display is work-in progress by Atelier Van Lieshout, including a blast furnace and a working metal foundry.
RDM Campus
The Submarine Wharf from 1937 is of comparable size to the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern in London. It is one of the Port of Rotterdam’s initiatives to bring a broader public into contact with the harbour and to enhance the quality of people’s experience of the harbour area. The Submarine Wharf is part of the former RDM Campus. This piece of early twentieth-century industrial heritage is currently being redeveloped with a focus on education, innovative industries and culture.
http://www.boijmans.nl/en/
http://en.rotterdam.info/visitors/events/18749/submarine-wharf-xxxl/
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line541
|
__label__cc
| 0.606926
| 0.393074
|
Category: Ting Mobile
T-Mobile US and Sprint finally get some support for merger
Budget MVNO Ting Mobile has come out in support of the proposed T-Mobile US and Sprint merger, standing pretty lonely opposite the waves of opposition.
In a letter to the FCC, Elliott Noss, CEO of parent company Tucows, has penned his support for the merger. While there certainly will be support for the transaction outside of the T-Mobile US and Sprint offices, Noss is creating a pretty lonely silhouette at the moment.
“In a general sense, we think the T-Mobile/Sprint merger makes strong business sense and will generally benefit most stakeholders,” Noss states. “For greater clarity, we view the group of stakeholders as customers, employees and investors, in that order.
“We believe customers will benefit from a more efficient, profitable company which will allow greater investment in building the current Sprint spectrum in particular. We are uncertain whether customers will benefit from lower prices as we have seen in Canada (with the most expensive mobile phone service in the world) that three competitors and no MVNO presence in the market leads to clear oligopolistic pricing and a minimum of competitive pricing pressures.”
While the queue opposing the merger has been growing over the last few days, T-Mobile US has apparently been lobbying MVNOs and customers to build its own legion of support. There there have been few public statements so far, this might well be the first, and although Tucows is not a massive player, having an established business will count for something.
For those who are not aware of Tucows and its Ting Mobile brand, the organization operates out of Ontario in Canada and Mississippi in the US, using both Sprint and T-Mobile US’ networks. The firm generated revenues of $81 million for the quarter ending August 8, with a net income of $3.6 million. This quarter demonstrated a 4% decline in revenues, though the firm is up 15% year-on-year for the first six months.
The general message here seems to be one which contradicts that of the bigger telco boys; light-touch regulation is the way forward and this merger will benefit US consumers and businesses.
Looking at the opposition, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union, satellite operator Dish and MVNO Altice USA were the latest to join. Dish and Altice USA have both stated the merger would make them reconsider entering the mobile race in the US, though Tucows clearly believes this is a lot of hot air. The merger would not prevent it from succeeding in the future.
“We had chosen Sprint and T-Mobile as our service providers originally for a variety of reasons, including price, device compatibility, territorial coverage, protocol coverage (CDMA and GSM), and MVNO-friendly policies and practices,” Noss states. “These factors were not the same for both companies. In some cases, Sprint is stronger than T-Mobile. In other cases, T-Mobile has advantages. Mostly, we chose to add T-Mobile as a second network in 2014 in order to have diversity of supply and to have some leverage with our suppliers in hopes of balancing an unequal bargaining position.
“In combination, a new Sprint/T-Mobile entity should continue to provide diverse support for geography, protocols, and device support. Sprint and T-Mobile, however, have different approaches to pricing and MVNO policies and support generally, and they have not announced which practices will prevail in a post-merger company.”
Noss believes a healthy MVNO sector can compensate for reduced competition as a result of the merger, and this ecosystem should be given more attention by the FCC. Neglecting the MVNO market would create the same sticky situation Canadians are facing in terms of competition, which would have more of a negative impact that the combination of Sprint and T-Mobile.
This is an opportunity for Noss to have a moan at regulators for neglecting the MVNO market to date, most notably the adoption of eSIMs, however it is fundamentally in support of the merger. Tucows might be a minnow on the US telco scene, but should the T-Mobile US lobbying efforts work, enough support from the MVNOs will have to be taken into consideration. Could this be the first of many…
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line542
|
__label__cc
| 0.612757
| 0.387243
|
Beer boom – from commodity to craft
by Elona Hesseling | 1 Apr, 2014 | Business and Marketing, News
Until recently, craft beer was considered the tipple of choice for hipsters and hopheads only. However, with the growing number of local craft breweries, it seems that even South Africa has caught up with the international craft beer boom. Beer is often considered a cheaper, mass-produced threat to wine, but there seems to be many who believe that craft beer can actually work with wine, not against it.
The craft beer boom can be seen all around the world, with reports suggesting an “explosion” of this trend from Sweden and the USA, to Canada and China. While the US experienced an overall drop in their beer market, an article by Decanter suggests that craft beer continues to rise, having grown by 9.6% in 2013. By June last year, around 2 530 craft breweries were operating in the US, with the overall volume and spending on craft beer continuously rising. Although still small by comparison, growth on the local front is undeniable. It is estimated that within the past four years, the country went from having one micro-brewery (Mitchell’s) to more than 40 and counting!
An article on CNN.com, Forget the wine, South Africans thirsty for craft beers, explains that while South Africa has always had a strong beer culture, consumers have traditionally opted for massproduced products by South African Breweries (SAB). As a subsidiary of SABMiller, SAB is the world’s second-largest brewer, accounting for approximately more than 90% of the local beer market.
According to Liquor consumption patterns in South Africa, an article by Elias Holtzkampf, beer made up 54.1% of the market share in South Africa in 2012/2013 in terms of value, a slight increase since 2006/2007. This increased value share, although small, was mostly ascribed to growth in the premium beer sector.
So, what is craft beer
With the growing economic importance and impact of craft beer, it is no wonder that the wine industry has also become involved, with an increasing number of wineries expanding their offering to include a micro-beer or three, some even completely trading grapes for grains!
When it comes to craft or micro-brewing, it seems that anything goes and there are no rules! However, this makes defining the concept of a ‘craft beer’ a rather complicated matter.
Wikipedia explains craft beer as “a beer not brewed by a mega brewery or alcoholic beverage corporation”. In an article by Martin Tucker, called What is craft beer, he explains that a craft beer should meet the following criteria: “Good ingredients, good brewing standards, good packaging and pricing, made in small
batches and not always freely available.”
According to Lynnae Endersby, founder of BeerLab in Ndabeni, Cape Town is a supplier of brewing equipment and ingredients for craft beers are brewed by passionate individuals, who often started out as home brewers. “These brewers make much smaller batches of beer and are usually very creative,” she says.
Winemaker, brewmaster or both
Considering the many similarities between wine and beer, as well as the interest shown by winemakers, does it follow that winemakers will be good brewmasters
A German winemaking intern at Steenberg Vineyards, Maximilian Grimm, studied Bachelor of Science in beverage technology at Geisenheim usually better known as a winemaking tertiary institute. He explains that a brewery is not comparable to a winery and a winery is not comparable to a brewery. “You need different machines and knowledge you need to be a professional in eacharea,” he says.
On the other hand, Lynnae believes that anyone can make beer, as long as you follow certain basic guidelines “you should work clean and be aware of temperature control”.
Mark Goldsworthy is a new kid on the local brewing block, a winemaker turned brewer, who was until last year, the assitant winemaker at Edgebaston. Mark and his wife, Kelly, launched their own beer brand, Red Sky Brew, at the end of 2013, ironically under the company name Winemaker’s Club. “It all comes down to the actual crafting and experimenting using quality ingredients, it’s an art form!” he says.
The craft beer boom can be seen all around the world, with reports suggesting an “explosion” of this trend from Sweden and the USA, to Canada and China.
Jacques Conradie, winemaker at Karusa in Oudtshoorn, also entered the craft beer scene two years ago. He initially started experimenting with brewing as a side-line, to keep busy during the quiet times of the year, but also due to the hot climate and the many European visitors that know and enjoy craft beer. Brothers Rob and Chris Boustred of Remhoogte started brewing on a very small scale with friends, but recently launched the Wild Beast label. They explain that while Remhoogte is more traditional, Wild Beast affords them an opportunity to get wacky and really let off some creative steam. “We wanted to diversify by offering beer and wine, hoping to bring more feet into the tasting room,” says Rob
While anyone can surely try their hand at brewing, consistently making great beer is a whole different story; this is where the craft comes into play. And although it certainly helps to have the technical winemaking background, there are also some workshop-like courses available locally. BeerLab, Beerguevara and the Winemaker’s Club offer brewing classes, while they also stock home-brewing kits and various ingredients. There are, however, no ‘scientific’ degrees or diplomas
in South Africa yet. A newly launched two-year Science of Brewing programme at a university in British Columbia in Canada is believed to be one of only a handful of beer brewing courses in the world.
Beer versus wine
When it comes to offering more than wine, most will agree that Charles Back is the pioneer, especially with the new Spice Route destination, which offers everything from glass and chocolates, to biltong and beer. Charles initially got involved with brewing by supplying beer for the Jack Black brand. This eventually
led to the establishment of the Cape Brewing Company (CBC).
With CBC, their intention was to be a small micro-brewery, but Charles explains that they reached their three-year target within the first six months. “There are a lot of new craft beer brands in South Africa, but not enough brewing capacity to supply the market,” he says. “We combine the quality of craft beer, with more technology on a larger scale, creating a product that is more consistent than those of the small-scale brewsters.”
Although there is the perception that beer holds a threat to wine, Charles believes that craft beer leads the way to wine. Beer was always considered their “enemy” and no beer was sold at the Goatshed restaurant until 2010. Charles explains that with the soccer world cup hosted in South Africa, they went with the flow and started stocking beer for the first time.
“You can’t force wine down people’s throats and you also can’t always substitute other products with wine,” he says “We gave the visitors what they wanted and surprisingly, the wine sales also increased!”
“Beer is always going to be around and we decided that we might as well have a slice of the action. Although there is a relatively limited selection of craft beers at the moment, this will continue to grow. I think these products will rather take from SAB’s market share and not threaten wine.”
Group sommelier of Belthazar restaurant in the V&A Waterfront, James Pietersen, also believes that while there is competition, craft beer does not pose a real threat to wine, especially when compared to medium and higher quality wines. “The more people start to think about what they drink, the easier it is for them to understand wine, especially as they trade up,” he says. “The craft movement is changing the perception of beer to an artisanal angle, these are ultimately the beers for winemakers, wine drinkers and wine tasters.”
Abundance of beer styles
Although the mass-produced local lagers have been synonymous with the South African lifestyle for many years, there is more to beer than that! With origins from all around the world, other styles include pilsners, porters, stouts, bitters, lambics and amber ales. Most local craft brewers, however, take their influence from Belgium and the USA, with pale ales and IPAs (India pale ale) notable favourites.
In general, any beer can be classified into one of two categories, namely lagers and ales. Lagers are normally fermented with bottom-fermenting yeast at lower temperatures for longer, making it a difficult beer to brew on small-scale. Ales are generally brewed using top-fermenting yeast at a higher temperature, for shorter periods of time, these are more popular for micro-brewing.
Mark produces amber and red ale, the amber is a lighter, American-style beer, while the red is a darker, Irish-style beer. These are both produced within four weeks from grain to glass. Aside from these ‘normal’, popular styles, Mark also produces a gluten-free beer, the first and only in South Africa. It is made from
sorghum and maize and while it has less body and mouthfeel, it is very aromatic.
Red Sky Brew is furthermore also involved in the production of a Pinotage-beer, made for Mr Pinotage himself, Beyers Truter. Beyers explains that this was the combined result of his interest in craft beer and the desire to further expand their Pinotage portfolio. A small portion of Pinotage wine is added during the production process. This Pinot-ale is sold at the tasting room and restaurant and according to Beyers, it should be enjoyed ice cold and with food.
Adding wine to beer isn’t that far-fetched, though according to The Drinks Business, a trend is developing in the US for craft beers to be made using grapes and spent lees. Locally, Triggerfish brewery in Somerset-West also offers a beer-wine hybrid.
Compared to Germany’s brewers, who have to adhere to the strict Reinheitsgebot von 1516, or purity law, which only allows the use of malt, water and hops, the rest of the world seems to know no end to creating new styles and using interesting ingredients.
A tough sell
With this expansion of styles and brands worldwide, competition is getting tougher and in an attempt to stand out, brewers are increasingly using imaginative, striking and even humorous names and labels. This can also be seen in South Africa, with brands such as Wild Beast, Red Sky Brew, Triggerfish, Jack Black and the Inconsistent Brewery.
While certain restaurants, liquor stores and festivals; such as Beerhouse on Long, Roeland Liquors and the Constantia Craft Beer Project festival focus specifically on craft beer, the overall involvement by restaurants is believed to be rather slow.
Chris explains that craft beer is a hand-sell and while the demand is there, a lot of restaurants are not familiar with these ‘new’ products. Mark emphasises that particularly wine farm restaurants need to buy in: “they need to be more openminded; like wine, these craft beers can also be paired with food.”
One problem is consumer ignorance and with craft beer, it is important to educate the end-users. A bottle-conditioned beer is generally unfiltered and according to Mark, it should be stored upright in the fridge before drinking, not lying down, and should be poured slowly, without stirring up the yeast.
Craft beer should never be drunk out of the bottle, but rather poured into a beer glass. Austrian stemware specialist Spiegelau recently launched a range of glasses tailored specifically for beer to their conventional range of predominantly wine glasses, aiming to get the most out of a particular beer’s characteristics. Craft beer can be bottle-aged, but it should be kept in mind that although these beers have a longer shelf-life, the character will change in time.
There are many opinions on the future of craft beer. Jacques explains that it is the trend at the moment, “but, the question is, when will micro-beer become just another drinks commodity, sold at discounted prices” he says.
James agrees, saying that he gets the feeling that the trend will quickly reach a saturation point, with breweries competing in a tough market, creating an even more cut-throat environment than is experienced now.
However, others are more confident and Lynnae believes that this trend is going to keep growing. “Consumers’ palates are developing; they want a product that is unique and different, made locally, on small-scale and with lots of personality.”
Charles also considers craft beer to be the next big thing. “Whatever happened with wine in South Africa since the seventies, beer is going to surpass that. Wine is ‘reserved’ for a small part of the population, while beer has a broader appeal,” he says. While some may still have their doubts about the effect that craft beer will have and is having on the wine industry, others have hopped on the bus to enjoy the ride. It seems that the last decade saw wine slip into the commodity market, while beer did the opposite by becoming more premium. Similarly, the brewers have applied conventional wine industry “tactics” like tastings, routes, pairings and festivals, while the winos are seemingly lagging behind in the marketing and branding game.
The saying goes, ‘it takes a lot of beer to make good wine’. Perhaps these two unique and exciting products can work together to cultivate a culture of craft. But the wine industry better keep up, learn from the brewers and stay aloof, otherwise the creative beer-brains might just steal from their portion of the pie.
Interesting beer facts
* Water is considered a beer’s sense of place and water quality is extremely important.
* The traditional bottle-conditioning process, or secondary fermentation, of craft beer creates the CO2 for carbonation.
* Hops are part of the same family as dagga (marijuana) and are used for bittering, flavouring and aroma in beer brewing. Some beers can be ‘over-hopped’ and fans of these styles are called ‘hopheads’.
* Westvleteren Trappist is considered the world’s best beer, this Belgium beer is extremely rare and sold exclusively through telephonic reservations.
* The world’s strongest beer was created by Brewmeister in Scotland; Snake Venom has 67% alcohol and costs €50 per bottle.
* RateBeer.com is an international site where beers from around the world are discussed and rated. On the local front and in support of the craft beer movement. SAB have launched a MyBeer application, aimed at assisting the beer-loving community to rate, review, discover and share the best local brews.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line544
|
__label__cc
| 0.527434
| 0.472566
|
Judge Neil Gorsuch: Nominee for the Supreme Court by Pete Wright
Posted on 02/01/2017 by Pete Wright — 6 Comments ↓
(Posted on Pete Wright’s Facebook page, January 29, 2017).
I think it’s likely that Judge Neil Gorsuch of the Tenth Circuit will be nominated as the next Justice on the Supreme Court.
Judge Gorsuch has been on the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit since 2006.
Judge Gorsuch’s Record in Special Education Cases
I was curious about his record in special education cases so I did a “Google Scholar” caselaw search to find all special ed cases from the Tenth Circuit since 1996.
I used this search term, word for word:
“Individuals with Disabilities Education Act” Gorsuch
I found eleven cases in which Judge Gorsuch participated on the three judge panel. Most of these were pro-school decisions. Of the eleven cases, he was the author of three.
Garcia v. ABQ Pub Sch, 520 F.3d 1116 (2008). Compensatory education case; ruled in favor of school district.
Thompson Sch Dist v. Luke P., 540 F.3d 1143 (2008). Reversed the hearing officer, review officer and US District Court to rule in favor of school district. He used the “some educational benefit” standard, i.e., an Endrew F. type of case.
A.F. v. Espanola Pub Sch., 801 F.3d 1245 (2015). Judge Gorsuch held that parents failed to exhaust their 504 claim, i.e., a Fry type of case, and ruled in favor of the school district.
Of the remaining cases in which Judge Gorsuch participated, most were pro-school decisions. There are two notable recent decisions:
Jefferson County Sch Dist v. Elizabeth E., 702 F.3d 1227 (2012) is a strong, pro-child decision in which he wrote an impressive concurring opinion.
MS v. Utah Sch, 822 F.3d 1128 (2016), a strong, pro-child decision.
If Judge Gorsuch does end up on the Supreme Court, attorneys should be familiar with and quote his concurring opinion in their briefs. (Regarding quotes from earlier rulings by the Justices, Justice Sonja Sotomayor’s decisions as a federal District Court judge, and later on the 2nd Circuit, include useful quotes.)
2017 may be one of the most dynamic years in the history of spec ed law.
The last Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruling in a special ed case was Forest Grove School District v. T.A. in 2009.
Decisions in the Fry v. Napoleon case and and the Endrew F. cases are pending. When these cases are decided, we will have new additions to the body of special ed case law.
In what may confound and confuse the outcomes, we have only eight Justices on the Court. A 4-4 decision could muddy the waters re the legal issues in these two cases. If this happens, we hope the eight Justices will clarify the confusing standards in the Fry case re: issue of exhaustion and in the Endrew F. case re educational benefit.
We hope these issues will be settled in ways that benefit of our children.
On another note, I understand that some legislative staffers are working on possible revisions to IDEA. During the past few years, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have taken a more proactive stance on public school disability issues. We will have to wait and see what happens with the new administration including a new head of the US Department of Education who has little experience with public education and less experience with special education law.
Special Education Legal Developments and Cases
This time last year, Pam and I were working on a new book, Wrightslaw: Special Education Legal Developments and Cases 2015. That “Year in Review” book includes all U.S. Court of Appeals decisions, all guidance from the US Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, and Department of Justice (USDOJ), and successful jury trials for damages in 2015.
We are now working on Wrightslaw: Special Education Legal Developments and Cases 2016. We expect the Year in Review 2016 book to be available as an e-book and a printed bound book soon.
This entry was posted in Attorneys, Cases, Damages, Discrimination / Section 504 / ADAA, FAPE, IDEA 2004, Legal Decisions, Legal News, Section 504, Special Ed Law by Pete Wright. Bookmark the permalink.
Thank you for sharing this crucial information. I am looking forward to reading the Year in Review 2016 book.
Bonnie C.
This administration makes me feel so uneasy that I withdrew my complaint that was taken up by the OCR and DOJ after the OCR gave us it’s findings and remedy. The DOJ hadn’t gotten there yet and I was worried about how they would use it with this new administration. At least we changed things at the local level.
Thank you for this Pete. I’ve been looking for some specific case law to get a better understanding of where Neil Gorsuch stands in terms of IDEA. Much appreciated.
I think its important to identify the percentage of pro-child vs pro school findings Gursuch was involved with against the national averages. Courts do not tend to find in favor or the child so I take this man’s decisions to be a good sign.
Kimberly, In our last book, Special Education Legal Developments and Cases 2015, we reviewed all decisions by the Courts of Appeals in 2015, and identified whether the parent/child or the school prevailed.
I believe about 50 cases were decided by the appeals courts in 2015. Hundreds of cases are decided at the district court level every year. We wrote the book last spring so I don’t remember how many cases went in each direction.
We are working on the 2016 edition now, hope to have it available soon.
Kimberly, I’m confused by your summary of Judge Gorsuch’s rulings. Of the 5 cases cited specifically above, it says he ruled in favor of the school district in 3 of the 5 cases, and in the summary statement at the top of this post, it is stated that in the 11 cases that Judge Gorsuch’s served on 3 judge panels, that “most” of those were pro-school decisions. I don’t see where it delineates his rulings specifically on those 11 cases, but it seems to imply that he is within the prevailing trend of ruling as pro-school.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line547
|
__label__wiki
| 0.559559
| 0.559559
|
Vancouver Women’s Musical Society (formerly the Vancouver Woman’s Musical Club) was founded in 1905 and incorporated in 1916 under the guidance of Esther Beecher Weld and Mrs. Walter Coulthard (mother of celebrated BC composer Jean Coulthard). The VWMS stated objective has been the advancement of music in the cultural, social, and educational life of Vancouver and British Columbia. The VWMS was involved in the campaign in 1919 to introduce music into Vancouver schools' curriculum and assisted in the formation in 1919 and revival in 1930 of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
In the absence of professional impresarios in Vancouver, the VWMS presented many famous performers in its early years, beginning in 1908 with Paderewski and continuing with such artists as Clara Butt, Mischa Elman, Amelita Galli-Curci, Josef Hofmann, Liza Lehmann, Benno Moiseiwitsch, William Primrose, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Luisa Tetrazzini, and Eugène Ysaÿe. In 1910, it sponsored three concerts by the New York Symphony Orchestra under Walter Damrosch. From the earliest years, the VWMS also presented Canadian artists such as Barbara Custance, Judith Forst, Kathleen Parlow, Ross Pratt, the Hart House String Quartet, and Robert Silverman. As local impresarios emerged, the Society concentrated increasingly on one of its most important roles, the encouragement of young musicians.
One very significant step in the life of the VWMS was the creation of the Scholarship Fund in 1923. The Scholarship Fund has helped the careers of Mary Anne Barcellona, Aline Kutan, Donald Bell, Jean Coulthard, Barbara Custance, Lea Foli, Ben Heppner, Desmond Hoebig, Gwen Hoebig, Pearl Kerr, Don McManus, Arthur Polson, Robert Rogers, and Bernard Turgeon. In 1976, a memorial trust fund was established to provide bursaries for Canadian music students. Since inception, the VWMS has awarded $265,000 in scholarships and bursaries. Further to receiving money awards, scholarship and bursary winners are presented in recital by the VWMS in their annual concert series.
Born in the early years of Vancouver, the Vancouver Women’s Musical Society claims a special and continuing place in the city’s musical development and support of young talented musicians.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line549
|
__label__wiki
| 0.739497
| 0.739497
|
Home » Listee Features » Education » DIANA “DIANE” L. DUNBAR
DIANA “DIANE” L. DUNBAR
Passionate and hardworking, Diana “Diane” L. Dunbar has worn many hats over the course of her career. She started her teaching career when she taught elementary education for half a year with her father in 1964 after the Troy, Alabama, public schools were closed when Kennedy died in the fall of 1963. In 1979, she was a student teacher and then a substitute teacher in English for a school in Charleston, South Carolina. For more than a decade after that, she served New York City Public Schools—P.S. 106 first, then P.S. 94, and then P.S. 401 Hospital Schools. Ms. Dunbar’s other academic engagements included videoconferencing consultant with Eric Miller between the University of Pennsylvania and India, teacher and video consultant for Youth Can, and volunteer dance teacher assistant with Indrani Rahman at New York University from 1990 to 1991. She also taught ESL to South Korean students from 1990 to 1991.
Although Ms. Dunbar stepped down from teaching in 2009, she remains professionally active in other ways. She has been a dancer with Classical East Indian Dances for many years, as well as an independent dancer and choreographer specializing in a wide variety of styles. Some of these include modern dance, world folk dance, ballroom dance, jazz, hip-hop, tap, Caribbean dance, Afro-Haitian dance, creative dance, and contemporary dance. Over the years, Ms. Dunbar has showcased her talents in shows like the musicals “Shakespeare and Mr. Porter” and “Bound to Rise” at the Medicine Show Theatre, and the Classical East Indian dances exhibition at La Mama Art Galleria. She was also the author, storyteller, and dancer of “Lavinia Williams: The Dancer,” an actress in “Hernando DeSoto Conquistador of Spain,” and an actress in Stephen Sondheim’s “Company” at the College of Charleston. Ms. Dunbar immortalized these performances and many others through Eric and Company Video, of which she was the co-President from 1983 to 2006. Many Eric and Company Video recordings are now part of the collections at the New York City Library for the Performing Arts and the Schomberg Library.
To prepare for her endeavors, Ms. Dunbar earned a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts from the College of Charleston and a Master of Arts in Creative Arts from New York University. She also took teacher certification courses in Charleston, South Carolina, and New York, New York. Ms. Dunbar gained permanent certification in special education for K-12 for the New York City Board of Education and New York State. She studied Classical East Indian dance with Indrani Rahman, Vija Rahman, Vija Vetra, Arundhati, and Uttara Coorlawal in New York, modern dance, choreography, and pre-classic dance with Mary Anthony, Anna Sokolow, and Daniel Maloney, and dance and dance history with Lavinia Williams at New York University. Furthermore, she garnered hands-on professional experience as a legislative intern on Capitol Hill in the summer of 1974.
Ms. Dunbar’s success has not gone unnoticed. She was notably named to the Wall of Tolerance by the Southern Poverty Law Center in Alabama in 2003 and was the recipient of the Teacher Award from the Children’s Creative Writing Fund in 1997. She was awarded the Sangam Award from Classical East Indian Dance in 1990. That same year, she was named an outstanding dancer/performer in the Yancey Dance Theatre by The New York Times.
When Ms. Dunbar isn’t working, she enjoys writing and volunteering for environmental activist groups, animal rescues, and other important causes. She was one of the founding sponsors of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in 2006, a member of the leadership council of the Southern Poverty Law Center since 2003, and a volunteer for Save and Preserve Community Gardens and Parks for many years.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line552
|
__label__cc
| 0.66653
| 0.33347
|
FLASHBACK FRIDAY: The Small Hand and Dolly- Two Novellas by Susan Hill- Feature and Review
Two chilling ghost stories from the author of The Woman in Black, both set in crumbling English houses that are haunted by the spirits of thwarted children. A VINTAGE TRADE PAPER ORIGINAL.
In The Small Hand, antiquarian bookseller Adam Snow is returning from a client visit when he takes a wrong turn and stumbles across a derelict Edwardian house with a lush, overgrown garden. Approaching the door, he is startled to feel the unmistakable sensation of a small cold hand creeping into his own, almost as though a child had taken hold of it. Plagued by nightmares, he returns with the intention of figuring out its mysteries, only to be troubled by further, increasingly sinister visits. In Dolly, orphan Edward Cayley is sent to spend the summer with his forbidding Aunt Kestrel at Iyot House, her decaying home in the damp, lonely fens. With him is his spoiled, spiteful cousin, Leonora. And when Leonora's birthday wish for a beautiful doll is denied, she unleashes a furious rage which will haunt Edward for years afterward.
The Small Hand and Dolly by Susan Hill
Small Hand and Dolly by Susan Hill is a 2013 Random House publication.
This book has two novella length ghost stories by Susan Hill-
The first story is 'The Small Hand', and is about a rare and antique book dealer that takes a wrong turn. Our dealer sees a white house, with gardens, once beautiful, but now unkempt. He knows it's unlikely anyone lives there, but he approached the house, hoping someone could give him directions. It is at this time he feels a small hand in his.
The sensation of feeling this child's hand in his begins to occur from time to time and starts to impact the man's life. He is obsessed with relocating the house and putting to rest the reason he is being haunted.
The second story is 'Dolly', and deals with a pair of cousins who are forced, as children, for one reason or another, to live with their aunt. Now, the cousins are adults and have been informed their elderly aunt has passed away. So they return to the house of their childhood. Memories surface regarding the wish for a certain type of doll and receiving another one instead. It seems that the aunt and the doll are not too happy about being mistreated.
The queen of ghost stories, Susan Hill, gives us two spine tingling stories, both set in Britain. "The Small Hand' was my favorite of the two, but "Dolly has a few really good twists- although it really isn't technically a GHOST story- perhaps 'haunting' is a better word.
Either way, these stories are short and just right for anytime one is in the mood for a good ghost story!!
https://www.amazon.com/Small-Hand-Dolly-Two-Novellas-ebook/dp/B00C4BA3WI/
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-small-hand-and-dolly-susan-hill/1115251472
Susan Hill was born in Scarborough, North Yorkshire in 1942. Her hometown was later referred to in her novel A Change for the Better (1969) and some short stories especially "Cockles and Mussels".
She attended Scarborough Convent School, where she became interested in theatre and literature. Her family left Scarborough in 1958 and moved to Coventry where her father worked in car and aircraft factories. Hill states that she attended a girls’ grammar school, Barr's Hill. Her fellow pupils included Jennifer Page, the first Chief Executive of the Millennium Dome. At Barrs Hill she took A levels in English, French, History and Latin, proceeding to an English degree at King's College London. By this time she had already written her first novel, The Enclosure which was published by Hutchinson in her first year at university. The novel was criticised by The Daily Mail for its sexual content, with the suggestion that writing in this style was unsuitable for a "schoolgirl".
Her next novel Gentleman and Ladies was published in 1968. This was followed in quick succession by A Change for the Better, I'm the King of the Castle, The Albatross and other stories, Strange Meeting, The Bird of Night, A Bit of Singing and Dancing and In the Springtime of Year, all written and published between 1968 and 1974.
In 1975 she married Shakespeare scholar Stanley Wells and they moved to Stratford upon Avon. Their first daughter, Jessica, was born in 1977 and their second daughter, Clemency, was born in 1985. Hill has recently founded her own publishing company, Long Barn Books, which has published one work of fiction per year.
Posted by gpangel at 1:00 AM
Labels: feature and review, Flashback Friday, ghost stories, Hauntings, novella, Random House, Susan Hill
FLASHBACK FRIDAY: A Share in Death by Deborah Crom...
The Golden Hour ( Lady Evelyn Mystery #4) by Mali...
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik- Feature and Review...
The Impossible Girl by Lydia Kang- Feature and Rev...
My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing- Feature and Re...
The Man Who Came Uptown- by George Pelecanos- Feat...
MANGA MONDAY- Lover's Touch by by Juri Nakao (Illu...
FLASHBACK FRIDAY- A Portrait of Jennie by Robert N...
The Nanny Clause- by Karen Rose Smith- Feature and...
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley St...
Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield - Feature a...
A Place For Us- by Fatima Farheen Mirza - Feature ...
FLASHBACK FRIDAY: Shiver by Lisa Jackson- Feature ...
The Wolf and the Watchman by Niklas Natt och Dag -...
The One by John Marrs- Feature and Review
The Dead Ex by Jane Corry- Feature and Review
The Idea of You by Amanda Prowse- Feature and Revi...
FLASHBACK FRIDAY: The Small Hand and Dolly- Two No...
Before We Were Strangers by Brenda Novak- Feature ...
The Earl's Inconvenient Wife- by Julia Justiss- Fe...
What Doesn't Kill Her by Christina Dodd- Feature a...
Spring at Taigh Fallon by Kirsty Ferry- Feature an...
Turnip Greens & Tortillas: A Mexican Chef Spices u...
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line553
|
__label__wiki
| 0.718986
| 0.718986
|
Lesson Plan - Lincoln's First Inaugural Address
We Must Not Be Enemies: Lincoln's First Inaugural Address
The President-Elect's life was in danger. An assassination attempt against him would be made as he passed through Baltimore, Maryland. Spirited at midnight onto a train, the former congressman arrived in the nation's capital, his movements carefully guarded. When news leaked out about the secret journey, many citizens feared their new President was a coward.
Coward or not, Abraham Lincoln, now safe in Washington, ignored the advice of his advisors and rode in an open carriage to the Capitol for his inauguration as the sixteenth President of the United States.
The threat to Lincoln and the precautions taken reflect the severity of the crisis occurring at the time of his first inauguration. Lincoln's address on that occasion reflected contemporary events and set the tone for his presidency. The oath of office he took spelled out the nature of his powers and responsibilities.
Help your students understand the historical context and significance of Lincoln's inaugural address through archival documents such as campaign posters, sheet music, vintage photographs and documents. Learn how the resources in EDSITEment-reviewed sites can help you do the same for any President.
After completing the lessons in this unit, students will be able to:
Preparing to Teach this Lesson
Note: This lesson is intended for students who have been introduced previously to President Abraham Lincoln.
Prepare headings for a timeline with the years from 1860 to 1865 and an additional category: Before 1860. Throughout the lesson, as an archival document is used, place it on the timeline.
Review the lesson plan. Download materials as necessary. For Lessons 3-5, select from the list of archival materials those appropriate to your class. The amount of reading required can vary depending on your choices. Many of the archival materials listed are photographs or drawings; most others are authentic documents, some written in Lincoln's handwriting. The teacher explains such documents as necessary; students simply are given the opportunity to see a copy of an authentic original. Students do not read the documents though some may enjoy the task.
Suggested Activities
Lesson 1: "Let Your Whiskers Grow" Lincoln Photographs
Lesson 2: We Must Not Be Enemies
Lesson 3: To Hold, Occupy and Possess the Property
Lesson 4: The Institution of Slavery
Lesson 5: To 'Preserve, Protect, and Defend'
Lesson 6: "The Most Solemn" Oath
Extending the Lesson
Lesson 1 "...let your whiskers grow"
Lincoln Photographs
Post one or more of the Lincoln photos listed below along the timeline. Why is this man, who lived so long ago, so recognizable today?
Lesson 2 We must not be enemies:
Lincoln's Inauguration (March 4, 1861)
In Lesson 1, the students listed issues they thought might be connected to documents from Lincoln's time. Now they get to look for the issues they mentioned.
Show students the last page of Lincoln's first inaugural address from American Memory.
(NOTE: Background information is available through the Library of Congress.)
Read and discuss with the class the following brief excerpts from the address and write the bold-faced key words from the address on the chalkboard. Background information for the teacher is provided below, which you may wish to share with students to strengthen their understanding and analysis of Lincoln's inaugural address.
Were any of these issues mentioned by class members when they made their list in Lesson 1?
(Background information for the teacher: In March of 1861, the eyes of the nation were focused on Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. It was under threat from the new Confederacy, which claimed it. While still in Springfield, Lincoln had secretly asked the chief of the United States army "to either hold, or retake, the forts, as the case may require, at, and after the inauguration.")
Without mentioning Sumter directly, Lincoln reiterated in his inaugural address that:
"The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the Government."
To avoid further alienating the South, Lincoln declared:
"I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so...."
(Background information for the teacher: Lincoln declared the North would take no action against the South except in the case of aggression; however, he swore to preserve the Union should such aggression occur.)
In this excerpt, Lincoln directly addresses dissident Southerners:
"In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war.... You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to 'preserve, protect, and defend it.'
"I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies..."
Students may want to see if they can find the third excerpt in the document. (It's in the typed portion.) They should also notice the handwritten insertions and the typing. Why both? Because Lincoln revised his speech on the advice of William Seward, the future Secretary of State. (Can the students read Lincoln's handwriting? Let volunteers try the first few sentences in the handwritten paragraph at the bottom of the page.)
The complete text of Lincoln's inaugural (and every inaugural address) is available at the EDSITEment resource Presidential Speeches.
Lesson 3 To Hold, Occupy and Possess the Property
(Background information for the teacher: The Confederate states had already declared they were no longer part of the United States before Lincoln became President. But some of the property in the South was owned by the government. What should President Lincoln do? He hoped the Southern states could be brought back into the Union and that war could be avoided.)
Let students decide what they would have done. Should the government:
Lesson 4 The Institution of Slavery
Lincoln was against slavery. Though its abolishment was not a requirement of the Constitution, preserving the Union was. Choose a selection of documents from the following list to present to the class. Students should begin by describing each document. Then, students should determine the point of view any particular document (or the event it describes) expresses about slavery. Then, the document should be posted to the timeline.
Events Preceding Lincoln's Inauguration
Opposition to slavery
Congressman Abraham Lincoln's 1849 bill to abolish slavery in Washington, D.C., shows his longstanding opposition.
Many Northerners considered John Brown a hero, while many Southerners believed his attack was part of an organized rebellion to end slavery. More information on John Brown's raid is available through the Library of Congress. Read Robert E. Lee's demand for the surrender of John Brown and his party, (October 18, 1859)
Support of slavery: The economy of the South was still dependent on slavery, but an important principle involved in the outbreak of war was whether the federal government had the right to make decisions for states. Remember that Lincoln's address promised not to end slavery in the South because there was no Constitutional authority to do so.
From this wanted poster for the return of an escaped slave, available through American Memory, we see the high value (as much as $300, a considerable sum) that was placed on a slave. The reward was greater if the slave had to be removed from the free state of Ohio..
An editorial defending slavery used Northern prejudice - as decried in a speech by Henry Ward Beecher, the brother of the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin -- as an argument for slavery.
(Note: If desired, read only the first two sentences.) It is accessible through the EDSITEment resource Valley of Shadow.
Events After the Inauguration
No slaves were actually freed by the Emancipation Proclamation. Complete background information (and an image of the original document) is available through the EDSITEment resource The Digital Classroom at The Emancipation Proclamation (issued Jan. 1, 1863, composed around Sept. 22, 1862).
Perhaps a greater degree of equality would have been forthcoming had Lincoln completed his presidency. "Letter, Abraham Lincoln to Charles Sumner" outlines the president's belief that the dependents of black and white soldiers should be treated equally (May 19, 1864). A digitized version of the original (and background information) is accessible through American Memory by searching for the title.
Lesson 5 To 'Preserve, Protect and Defend'
What did Lincoln do to preserve the Union?
Lincoln believed that the preservation of the Union was his primary Constitutional duty. Not everyone agreed that preserving the Union was paramount. Choose a selection of documents from the following list to present to the class. Students should begin by describing the document. Students should determine the point of view any particular document (or the event it describes) expresses about preserving the Union. Then, the document should be posted to the timeline.
Events Before the Inauguration
Pro-Secession
The title page of the song sheet The Secession Quick Step (1860) (accessible through the EDSITEment resource American Memory)shows the sub-title: "The South, the whole South, and nothing but the South."
In this account of the opening session of the Confederate Congress, secession begins exactly one month before Lincoln is to be sworn in. See the Journals of the Confederate Congress, available from American Memory. Look at the block quoted sentence beginning, "An ordinance to dissolve..."
Anti-Secession
The song "The Lincoln Quick Step" (1860), accessible through American Memory by searching for the title, shows the confidence some had that Lincoln could preserve the Union:
"HONEST OLD ABE" has split many a rail
He is up to his work, and he'll surely not fail,
He has guided his FLAT-BOAT thro' many a strait,
And watchful he'll prove at the HELM of the State.
Share the lyrics (page two) and the cover (page three) with the class.
On this Lincoln campaign poster: Lincoln For President! (1860) as a link from the EDSITEment resource American Memory, students should note the word "Union." Even in his campaign, Lincoln clearly stood for preserving the Union.
An editorial from the Indianapolis Daily Journal (January 17, 1861) from the EDSITEment resource The Valley of Shadow shows the willingness in some quarters to risk war. Here is an excerpt:
"We are therefore for the most determined measures of resistance to the rebellion in the Gulf States. We insist that the Union shall be preserved till those who made it shall consent to change it. No refractory State or combination of traitors must be permitted to peril it in the pursuit of insane vengeance or impracticable theories. And if their madness leads them to open war let them suffer the doom of traitors."
A song about Lincoln, "Our Country's Flag" (1861), features the lyrics: "The Union must and shall be saved." Look at the cover and lyrics accessible through the EDSITEment resource American Memory.
Early in the war, the senate requested information from Lincoln on the seizure of two Confederates from an English ship as recorded in the Journal of the United States Senate, Thursday, December 26, 1861 at the end of page 73, accessible through American Memory by searching for the title. We sometimes forget that Lincoln had to continue conducting foreign policy during the war.
The war did not always go well for the militarily superior North. Here, in an American Memory document, Lincoln fires General McClellan, the military leader of the Northern armies (November 5, 1862).
Later, Lincoln appointed Grant to lead the army. A digitized version of Ulysses S. Grant's commission as lieutenant general (March 10, 1864) and background information is accessible through American Memory by searching for the title.
A first draft of The Gettysburg Address (1863) is available in a digitized version from the Library of Congress. Additional materials relating to the Gettysburg Address are also available, including a transcript and a photo of Lincoln at Gettysburg.
Show your students the police blotter of Lincoln's assassination (1865) from the EDSITEment resource Digital Classroom. Did Lincoln's death result from his desire to preserve the Union?
Show your students the wanted poster for Lincoln's assassins (1865) from American Memory.
Now that the class has looked at the issues of property, slavery and union, discuss Lincoln's inaugural address in relation to what actually happened. How well did the speech reflect what transpired?
Lincoln decided to re-supply Fort Sumter. What happened as a result? Was that unexpected?
Lincoln opposed slavery but said he would not end the practice. What did happen?
Lincoln believed preserving the Union was his most important responsibility. The Civil War was fought largely over that issue. Could the war have been avoided? Would the Union have been restored without it?
(NOTE: The Gettysburg Address is one place to look to see Lincoln's later reflections on the matter.)
Lesson 6 "The Most Solemn" Oath
Washington's copy of a working draft of the Constitution from the EDSITEment-reviewed Digital Classroom, you can see an early version of those responsibilities in Section X, with Washington's notes of changes proposed by Madison and Mason. (Note also, at the beginning of Section X, the draft proposal to refer to the President as "His Excellency.')
The class might be interested in comparing that early draft to the final draft of Article II (Sections 2-4), which spells out the responsibilities of the executive branch.This lesson offers a means of assessing and extending the previous lessons. When Lincoln said in his inaugural address, "You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to 'preserve, protect, and defend it,'" he was referring to the oath of office that he had just taken. For this lesson, students will determine which presidential responsibility Lincoln was attempting to undertake with particular actions.
There was a good deal of discussion among the Founding Fathers as to what the responsibilities of the President should be. In this image of
Here are the President's responsibilities as specified in the Constitution:
"The President shall be Commander-in-Chief" of the armed forces and can "require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments," make treaties (conduct foreign policy), nominate "certain officers" such as ambassadors and judges, and fill vacancies.
The President "may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment."
The President is required to give a state of the Union address "from time to time" to Congress and "may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper." The President can receive ambassadors (conduct foreign policy), execute the law, and "commission all the officers of the United States" military.
The President is removed from office if impeached for, and convicted of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
The complete text of the Constitution is available through the EDSITEment-reviewed The Avalon Project at the Yale Law School.
Present the class with a list of the President's responsibilities. Give background information on the Constitution as appropriate to your class.
Students should now be able to match actions President Lincoln took with specific responsibilities of his office. Depending on the documents you used, write headings such as these on the chalkboard, reminding the students they are among the President's responsibilities:
Dealing with Other Countries (Foreign Policy)
Commanding the Army
Requiring Opinions (from those who work for him)
Making Sure Laws are Obeyed
Commissioning Officers of the Military
Volunteers could take a document from the timeline and place it in an appropriate category of Presidential responsibility so that there are representative examples in each. If desired, as an alternative, every student (or pairs of students), given a chart with headings for the chosen responsibilities, could be asked to indicate Lincoln's matching presidential actions.
Selected EDSITEment Websites
The American President
The Avalon Project at the Yale Law School
Crisis at Fort Sumter
Digital Classroom
Document Analysis Worksheets
Internet Public Library
Internet Public Library's Presidents of the United States
Lincoln page
Presidential Speeches
The Valley of Shadow
Kid-Friendly Sites Accessible Through EDSITEment
American Memory's Learning Page, especially:
American Memory Timeline
Elections in American Memory
Presidents in American Memory
Historic American Sheet Music from 1850 to 1920 (available as a link from the EDSITEment reviewed The American President)
Abraham Lincoln's Beard: The Idea Of An 11-Year-Old Girl! (a link from the EDSITEment resource Internet Public Library)
After completing the lessons in this unit, student groups can conduct activities on any President based on the Lincoln model above.
When it is relevant to your course of study, students can be assigned a particular Presidency to research in a small group. Before a group begins its research, work with the students to select (or select for them) one to three relevant excerpts from the assigned President's inaugural address available online at the EDSITEment reviewed website, Presidential Speeches. Students should post the President's name and inaugural excerpts to an appropriate timeline.
If there is sufficient access to technology, students can use the EDSITEment websites to identify historical events and download materials (similar to, but not limited to, the sorts displayed for Lincoln) that relate to the inaugural speech excerpt(s). Where there is insufficient access to technology, you may wish to download relevant materials for students' use.
Students assigned to collect documents about a President will post the materials to a timeline. Students must be prepared to explain why a particular document is relevant to the inaugural address. Groups are also responsible for planning the sharing of an assigned inaugural excerpt and some of its related archival materials.
In addition to using the search functions of the EDSITEment websites, students should look through the kid-friendly EDSITEment sites listed in the resource links section provided at the end of this unit.
The lesson can culminate with a classroom display of every group's materials posted along an expanded timeline. Guests could be invited. Students should be prepared to make connections for the audience between the archival materials, the inaugural address and pertinent historical events. Students can enhance their presentations with additional information and display items or activities such as recitations of inaugural speech excerpts.
After the students have explored a few inaugural ceremonies and the events that preceded and followed them, they can make some comparisons. Discuss the following: Which Presidents were inaugurated under similar circumstances? completely different circumstances? had the most success in fulfilling the promise of their inaugural address? the least? faced the most difficult situation? the least?
For classes interested in learning more about presidential inaugurations, consult the EDSITEment lesson I Do Solemnly Swear: Presidential Inaugurations.
In an inaugural year, track news related to the current election campaign and inaugural. What contemporary events resonate with events from the past? The American President, an EDSITEment-reviewed site, has a feature called Election 2000 designed to help teachers and students follow the 2000 presidential election.
Abandon the forts and let the South have them?
Reclaim the forts taken by Southern states?
Hold only those forts still in federal hands?
Or choose some other course of action?
Select a few representative documents from the list below. Students should begin by describing the document. Then they should reflect on which option any particular document reflects.
Background Information for the Teacher
Extensive information for the teacher on Fort Sumter is available from the EDSITEment resource Crisis at Fort Sumter. Following is a summary from the site relating to Lincoln's inaugural address:
Lincoln pondered the momentous questions posed by secession and the situation of the Southern forts for his inaugural statement. He never doubted that peaceable disunion was wrong and that the Union was permanent.
But disclaiming the right of secession did not necessarily dictate a particular policy regarding federal property. Different policies might be defended as most likely to uphold and restore the Union. He had to weigh the consequences of any decision on the upper South, the Confederacy, northern public opinion, and his own political supporters. He had to consider, too, the nature of his responsibility as the chief executive, sworn to uphold the Constitution and the law.
As he formulated his initial policy towards Forts Sumter and Pickens for his inaugural address, Lincoln received advice suggesting three different courses of action. Some counseled that he abandon Sumter and Pickens along with the other property now under Confederate control. Others urged him not only to continue holding Sumter and Pickens, but also to retake forts seized by the South. Still others recommended that he hold Sumter and Pickens, but leave for the time being the forts already in Confederate hands.
(Source: Crisis at Fort Sumter website,
http://www.tulane.edu/~latner/LincolnInaug/Prob2.html)
Before the Inauguration
Fort Sumter (Government Property)
Journal of the United States Senate from Wednesday, January 9, 1861, Volume 52, p.83. Find the document by using its title to conduct a search in American Memory.
Read the first complete sentence on the page, from a letter by President Buchanan, about Fort Sumter and its commander Major Anderson: "I was assured by distinguished and upright gentlemen of South Carolina that no attack upon Major Anderson was intended, but that, on the contrary, it was the desire of the State authorities, as much as it was my own, to avoid the fatal consequences which must eventually follow a military collision."
After the Inauguration
These two letters from cabinet members (accessible through Crisis at Fort Sumter), show the conflicting advice Lincoln was receiving. They are both brief.
Seward's Advice to the President, March 29, 1861. Seward, the Secretary of State, was against re-supplying Fort Sumter.
Welles Advice to the President, March 29, 1861. Welles, the Secretary of the Navy, was for re-supplying Fort Sumter.
Lincoln decided on April 4 to re-supply the fort on April 15. Read more about his decision by searching American Memory for "Draft of Abraham Lincoln's instructions to Maj. Robert Anderson." Anderson was commander of Fort Sumter at the time.
Songs, played in parlors from widely circulated music sheets, were a way of arousing sentiment. "Fort Sumter. A Southern Song" (c.1861) tells the story of the opening battle of the Civil War from the Southern point of view. (A digitized version of the original and a transcript are accessible through American Memory by searching for the song's title.) Southern defiance regarding Fort Sumter is expressed in the song's last verse:
Then Anderson surrendered,
And marched his men away:
And sailed with them to New York,
Where they had better stay.
"Reply to the Bonnie Blue Flag" takes a Northern perspective. A digitized version of the original is accessible through American Memory by searching for the song's title and then going to page 2 of the document. The song is presented side by side with a Southern song to which it is a response. One version says: "Hurrah, hurrah for Southern rights." The other says: "Hurrah, hurrah for Freeman's rights."
Lincoln without a beard (c. 1860).
The first photo of Lincoln with a beard (1860).
President Lincoln the last week of his life (1865).
Internet Public Library at Abraham Lincoln's Beard: The Idea Of An 11 Year Old Girl!
In this unit, students will look at photos and copies of actual documents from the years before and during Lincoln's Presidency. What events/issues do they think might be in the documents? Make a list.
This study of Lincoln will center around his inauguration. If desired, share a photo of the inaugural scene. What do the students notice?
Discuss with the class the "rest of the story" of Lincoln's inauguration, using the following information from the EDSITEment resource Presidential Speeches:
The national upheaval of secession was a grim reality at Abraham Lincoln's inauguration. Jefferson Davis had been inaugurated as the President of the Confederacy two weeks earlier. Lincoln had arrived in Washington by a secret route to avoid danger, and his movements were guarded by General Winfield Scott's soldiers. Ignoring advice to the contrary, the President-elect rode with President Buchanan in an open carriage to the Capitol, where he took the oath of office on the East Portico. Chief Justice Roger Taney administered the executive oath for the seventh time. The Capitol itself was sheathed in scaffolding because the copper and wood "Bulfinch" dome was being replaced with a cast iron dome designed by Thomas U. Walter.
Download and print the archival documents you select and duplicate copies as necessary for viewing by students.
The Digital Classroom offers a series of worksheets for analyzing primary source documents, including written documents and photographs, that you may wish to use or adapt to help students in reviewing the materials presented in this unit.
Following is a brief summary of the historical context of Lincoln's inauguration:
Abraham Lincoln became President of the United States during one of the most tumultuous times in our nation's history. At the time, the United States consisted of 19 free states, in which slavery was prohibited, and 15 slave states, in which it was allowed. The question of whether to allow or abolish slavery divided the country prior to Lincoln's election, and Lincoln had called the nation "a house divided." Lincoln opposed the expansion of slavery, but said he did not intend to interfere with slavery if elected President. Nevertheless, many Southern leaders threatened to withdraw their states from the Union if Lincoln were to win the election. In the time between his election in November 1860 and his inauguration in March 1861, seven southern states seceded from the Union; four other states soon followed. These states formed the Confederate States of America.
The lessons in this unit focus on the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. Similar materials relevant to any Presidency can be located online using the resource links provided at the end of this unit.
State the Constitutional requirements for inaugurations and the oath of office.
Identify important historical events related to Lincoln's first inaugural address.
Interpret selected archival materials in the light of the inaugural address and presidential responsibilities.
Guiding Question:
How did Lincoln's first inaugural address reflect the events that preceded it? How well did it presage events to follow? How did subsequent actions by Lincoln reflect the responsibilities enumerated in the Presidential Oath of Office?
Tips for Using These Lessons:
Lesson 1: "Let Your Whiskers Grow" Lincoln Photographs can be used in tandem with I've Just Seen a Face, a unit on portraiture available on EDSITEment, to discuss the important role that image plays in our society, and particularly in politics. How have technologies developed throughout the 20th century placed further emphasis on appearance and perspective?
Lesson 2: We Must Not Be Enemies can be paired with the EDSITEment lesson plan I Do Solemnly Swear to teach a class unit on presidential inaugurations. Encourage students to explore the historical context in which selected inaugural addresses were delivered and the impact of the addresses on the circumstances that influenced them.
Lesson 3: To Hold, Occupy and Possess the Property can be used to launch a debate about property rights. When a piece of property is claimed by two different parties that both feel they have legitimate ownership, how can this conflict be resolved?
Lesson 4: The Institution of Slavery and Declare the Causes, another EDSITEment lesson plan, can form the basis of a class unit on freedom and how groups of people have declared and fought for their freedom throughout history. Students can draw comparisons between the Declaration of Independence and the Emancipation Proclamation and their effects, both short-term and long-term, philosophical and practical, on the people whose freedom these documents proclaimed.
Lesson 5: To 'Preserve, Protect and Defend' and the EDSITEment lesson Before Brother Fought Brother can be used together to spark a dialogue about what drives groups and individuals to go to war. Attempt to establish the primary motivating factors for a variety of different people - from leaders to soldiers to civilians - to fight (or support the fight) in various wars throughout history.
Use Lesson 6: "The Most Solemn" Oath to launch an in-class debate on the responsibilities of the president, according to the Constitution and in the minds of citizens. Discuss which, if any, of the executive duties put forth in the Constitution are left open to interpretation, and what role such ambiguities and resulting differences in point of view have played in historical events. Has the job of president changed at all in response to people's abstract expectations of the position?
How to Cite CivilWar.com
Yale University Open Course on The Civil War and Reconstruction Era
John Brown - Saint or Devil?
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line564
|
__label__wiki
| 0.95529
| 0.95529
|
AP Photo/Nate Billings
Kansas' Streak Of 14 Straight Big 12 Titles Ends With Thud
Devonte Graham called up his former teammates at Kansas a couple weeks ago, offering them encouragement in the midst of a rough season and gently reminding them about "the streak."
The one Graham helped keep alive for four seasons. The one that stretched back 14 years.
The one that is now history.
The Jayhawks' unparalleled run atop the Big 12 ended with a thud Tuesday night when a team that has been gutted by injury and absence was dominated by Oklahoma. The defeat left the Jayhawks two games behind Texas Tech and Kansas State with one game to go.
"It don't even sound right saying we're not Big 12 champs," said Graham, now a point guard for the Charlotte Hornets. "What is the world coming to?"
The run of 14 consecutive conference championships began in 2004, the second year Bill Self was on the sideline. It survived years in which he had to replace an entire starting lineup, and years when injuries and inexperience conspired against him. It survived against some of the best players in Big 12 history — Kevin Durant, Buddy Hield, Trae Young — and plenty of off-the-court strife.
"There'll be a lot of players from the past 14 years that will look at this team that broke what they started, and I don't think that's fair," Self said. "A coach more than anybody knows the potential and ceiling for every team. For us to be 22-8 right now, even though we've had some pretty bad losses on the road, I don't think is anything for this team to hang their hat on."
Indeed, plenty of things worked against the Jayhawks this season.
— There was the FBI investigation into apparel supplier Adidas and college basketball corruption in general, which has yet to implicate Kansas but nonetheless was a distraction.
— There was the NCAA probe into sophomore forward Silvio de Sousa, whose name surfaced in the pay-for-play probe that rendered him ineligible for this season and next.
— There was the season-ending injury to Udoka Azubuike, their 7-foot center and arguably the most game-changing back-to-the-basket big man in college basketball.
— There was the mercurial season of senior Lagerald Vick, who had a few big games early but fell out of favor and has now taken a leave of absence for personal reasons.
— And there were two gritty, defensive-minded and experienced teams in Texas Tech and Kansas State that were ready to take advantage of an opening.
The Red Raiders and Wildcats are tied heading into their finales Saturday. They will either share the title or one will win it outright, but nobody will be sharing it with Kansas.
"We're putting so much emphasis on winning the league. What we need to be putting our emphasis on is what is the ceiling of this team and what does this team need to do to play better?" Self said. "We can still do special things, but what's special for some teams is different than other teams."
To put it into perspective, the Jayhawks went 196-43 in one of the toughest conferences in college basketball. They shared the title only four times, twice with Texas and once apiece with Kansas State and Oklahoma. And they parlayed their league success into national success, reaching three Final Fours, two title games and beating Memphis to win the 2008 championship.
The streak goes back so far, the Big 12 was actually 12 teams when it began. Nebraska, Colorado, Texas A&M and Missouri have since defected, and TCU and West Virginia have jumped aboard.
Dozens of coaching changes have taken place at rival schools since the streak began. Arenas have been renovated, the game itself has evolved, and current freshmen Ochai Agbaji and Quentin Grimes were 4 when Oklahoma State became the last team other than Kansas to hoist the league trophy.
"We've taken most people's best shots most every night," Self said. "And we've had teams that were tough enough to be able to combat that. And talented enough. You can't do it without talent, and we've sure had our fair share of talent. And we have talent now, it's just young talent. It's great. But I don't like the fact that this team will feel like they're the ones that let it down."
Asked about the streak ending, leading scorer Dedric Lawson said, "I don't even think about it." Freshman forward David McCormack said, "In the back of my mind, not really paying any attention to it."
The streak certainly meant something to those that came before them, whether they were one-and-dones like Andrew Wiggins and Josh Jackson or four-year standouts like Frank Mason III.
They felt an obligation to keep it going, a duty they were reminded of daily by the giant poster blanketing the wall just outside the Kansas locker room depicting 14 championship rings.
There won't be a 15th next season.
"Bottom line is we just haven't got it done," Self said. "We've shown that we can play at a pretty high level, we just haven't done it consistently enough."
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line567
|
__label__wiki
| 0.679007
| 0.679007
|
The Case Of Alan Lundy
21Jul 2012 11 Oct 2012
By Irish Law and Democracy Committee
The recent arrest and detention of Alan Lundy on the 14th July 2012 in relation to events in Ardoyne has raised serious concerns in the ILDC over the actions and intentions of the PSNI and the PPS. Alan Lundy was formally charged the following day in relation to allegations of disorder occurring on the 12th July 2012 and more concerningly in relation to a charge that dates back to the 12th July 2005.
In respect of the 2012 charge, there appears no other substantive evidence submitted other than the word of a police officer that Mr Lundy, whilst stewarding at the GARC march and wearing an illuminous steward’s bib, threw an item at the PSNI lines at Brompton Park/Crumlin road in the aftermath of the GARC march on the afternoon of the 12th July. This unnamed officer states that they were in possession of a camera for evidence gathering purposes but failed, for whatever reason, to take a picture of Mr Lundy throwing the object. Moreover, there were also a number of ‘evidence gathering’ units from the PSNI in the local vicinity. One PSNI armoured landrover was parked at the top of Brompton Park with its outboard camera focused on Brompton Park at the Crumlin Road junction with a clear view of the area in question. The PSNI have not submitted evidence from this evidential source. Likewise footage from the PSNI helicopter/s which were present throughout the entire day, has not been presented in respect of this charge.
It is also a matter of record that the ILDC observers were on the ground at that precise time and place on that day, and have subsequently reported that they did not see such an occurrance. Rather the ILDC observers have stated unreservedly that the did not see any GARC steward throw any item towards PSNI lines on that day, on the contrary the stewards were seen in a number of instances reprimanding and stopping those throwing objects at both the PSNI and the Woodvale/Twaddell protest, and assisting the participants in the GARC march to safety from objects being thrown from the Twaddell/Woodvale area.
Mr Lundy has subsequently been refused both Magistrates Court bail and High Court bail in respect of these charges. Magistrates Court Bail was refused on the grounds that Mr Lundy was likely to reoffend, and would fail to adhere to any bail conditions. Meanwhile the PSNI objected strenuously to High Court bail again stating they believed he would reoffend. However, it was disclosed that the information regarding the 2005 allegations was alleged to have come to light after an audit by the PSNI on the 10th July this year in respect of the events in 2005 which highlighted Mr Lundy’s alleged attack on British army lines at a similar parade.
Nonetheless, the raising of charges which date back some considerable time raise a number of serious questions, in regard to Alan Lundy’s case. Were the matters ‘sat on’ from 2005 by the PSNI and put in storage to be used in the future if necessary? Why were the allegations not put to Mr Lundy in the aftermath of the 2005 incident when others were charged in relation to the same/similar incidents occuring at that parade? Were such charges used to bolster a weak evidential case against Mr Lundy and keep him in custody?
The disclosure of a number of relevant documents by the PSNI in this case is essential in ensuring that Mr Lundy gets a fair trial, such documents ascertaining when the photos alleging the offence were taken, by whom, why they were not acted on at the time, and disclosure of the various paper trails tracing the origin, storage and production of such photographs, thus ensuring an open and transparent process which would determine that an abuse of process has not occurred.
However, the PSNI has shown to be suspect in its evidential substance and somewhat disingenuous in the dissemination of the information that forms the basis of the case, and must be tested to the fullest extent. Pressure must be laid on the authorities to produce this material in a reasonable timeframe.
Tags: Ardoyne, Belfast, Bigotry, Marches, Policing
Previous Michael Moore’s Bowling For Columbine
Next Blair, Olympic Deals And The Glimpse Of Another Britain
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line568
|
__label__cc
| 0.648342
| 0.351658
|
Did Encana Pay Too Much for Newfield Exploration?
By Paul Ausick November 1, 2018 1:45 pm EDT
Calgary-based Encana Corp. (NYSE: ECA) announced Thursday morning that it has agreed to acquire Newfield Exploration Co. (NYSE: NFX) in an all-stock deal valued at $5.5 billion, not including the assumption of $2.2 billion in Newfield debt. Newfield shareholders will receive 2.6719 Encana shares for every Newfield share they own. Encana will issue new shares to pay for the acquisition.
Encana holds acreage in the Montney shale play in northern Alberta and in the Permian Basin of Texas. Newfield brings approximately 360,000 acres in prime acreage in Oklahoma’s Anadarko basin to the combined company. According to the announcement, Newfield’s Anadarko acreage includes more than 6,000 gross well locations and about 3 billion barrels of oil equivalent in net unrisked resource. The math indicates Encana is paying around $2.50 a barrel, a reasonable price these days.
Once the transaction is complete, Encana expects that more than half the company’s total output will be in higher-margin liquids. The company is currently a major natural gas producer.
In a separate announcement of third-quarter results, Encana reported daily production of 378,200 barrels of oil equivalent, of which 178,700 barrels are liquids, or about 47% of total production. High-value oil and condensates comprised more than 75% of liquids volumes.
Newfield, which announced third-quarter results on Wednesday, reported consolidated production of more than 202,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, of which 62% was liquids. In addition to the Anadarko basin, Newfield has operations in the Williston Basin of North Dakota, the Uintah Basin of Utah and Oklahoma’s Arkoma natural gas play, along with assets offshore of China.
Even though Encana promised to boost its dividend by 25% (it’s now just 1.5 cents per share per quarter) and enlarge its share buyback plan, investors have not been impressed. One complaint seems to be the time it will take for Encana to absorb the acquisition and get everyone singing from the same hymn book. That’s pretty short-sighted it seems to us.
Picking up 3 billion barrels of resource for $2.50 a barrel is an awfully good deal. Even if only half those barrels are economically producible, that’s still a bargain. But shareholders are a notoriously fickle bunch, and with no significant dividend, share price growth is why they’re holding on to the stock. Buybacks won’t make a ton of difference there either. For those willing to hold on for a year or two, the Newfield acquisition looks like a reasonable payday.
The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2019, and current Encana shareholders will own about 63.5% of the equity in the combined company.
Newfield’s stock traded up more than 10% in the noon hour Thursday, at $22.25 in a 52-week range of $18.67 to $35.20.
Encana stock dropped nearly 16% to trade at $8.63, in a 52-week range of $8.44 to $14.31. The low was posted this morning. The 12-month price target on the stock is $17.33.
ALSO READ: Stifel Likes 5 Top Energy Stocks as Solid Q3 Earnings Start to Roll In
By Paul Ausick
« Trump Comes Down on Counterfeit Goods
Encana, Hanesbrands Sink into Thursday’s 52-Week Low Club »
Read more: Energy Business, Mergers and Acquisitions, oil and gas, EnCana Corp (USA) (NYSE:ECA), Newfield Exploration Co. (NYSE:NFX)
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line573
|
__label__cc
| 0.602389
| 0.397611
|
What’s going on at the New England Journal of Medicine?
March 7, 2016 July 13, 2018 Sam Watson
Editorial policies between the top medical journals differ. Some take a ‘crusading’ view and campaign on contemporary health issues. The BMJ falls into this camp, although this has sometimes led them to take political positions that might be contrary to the evidence. Nevertheless, the editorial agenda of the BMJ is clear, readers know what they are backing. The NEJM on the other hand seems to have adopted a more opaque position.
On the face of it the NEJM seems to support a position of ‘if a randomised controlled trial (RCT) has been conducted and it’s published then that’s the last word on the matter’. Some recent examples illustrate this. Ben Goldacre and colleagues in the COMPARE project received a dismissal of their letters penned to the NEJM that expressed concerns over trials that had not reported on the primary outcomes specified in their protocols or reported different outcomes. The New York Times reports on potential flaws or even misconduct in a mega trial of Xarelto, an anticlotting drug, for which the manufacturers are currently being sued. The NEJM, which published the trial, dismissed the relevance of the claims and defended the trial. And, in a recent, controversial editorial, the NEJM appears to endorse the view that researchers who re-analyse trial data from other studies are ‘research parasites’.
This view is not unique to the NEJM. It reflects a broader view that RCTs are definitive and research in top impact factor journals more so. But, scientists are fallible, and RCTs can be flawed and present biased results. For example, in a study of the top four medical journals 95% of RCTs had some missing data, with a median percentage of 9% dropout, and in many cases adequate missing data methods were not used. Publication should not be the final stage of a piece of research but part of an ongoing process.
Part of the problem may lie with the false dichotomy imposed by hypothesis testing and statistical significance. A treatment either works or does not work or it is safe or it is not safe. But, for the most part, these tests are based solely on asking whether the data are compatible with the hypothesis or whether it’s unlikely. All the other forms of uncertainty are not taken into account such as missing data, a lack of adequate allocation concealment, or a lack of double blinding. The researchers could have chosen any number of different tests or comparisons and the choice could be contingent on the data, potentially rendering the p-value meaningless.
Results from RCTs are used to make important clinical and policy decisions. Scrutiny and debate are essential to ensure that the best decisions are made. This includes allowing for an appropriate representation of the uncertainty surrounding a decision. The trust endowed by a high impact factor should bring a responsibility to ensure that well founded critical or dissenting views on published research are appropriately represented. RCTs should be subject to as much scrutiny as any other form of research. Vioxx should serve as an important reminded of this.
Sam Watson
Health economics, statistics, and health services research at the University of Warwick. Also like rock climbing and making noise on the guitar.
Categories: News Tags: editorial bias, journals, Medical journals, NEJM, publication bias
← Rugby, Rugby, Rugby
Chris Sampson’s journal round-up for 14th March 2016 →
2 thoughts on “What’s going on at the New England Journal of Medicine?”
Chris Sampson says:
They also seem to have taken a different path when it comes to female first authorship: http://www.bmj.com/content/352/bmj.i847
Pingback: Data sharing and the cost of error | The Academic Health Economists' Blog
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line577
|
__label__wiki
| 0.590893
| 0.590893
|
Adrian vs. the World
film reviews | essays | musings | reporting
In Praise of David Fincher’s ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’
“She’s different,” Armansky says, words that mark the worldwide iconographic appeal of the title-heroine. “In what way?” Dirch Frode asks. “In every way.” I can’t think of a more unique blockbuster in recent memory. No, not the R-rated drama aspect of David Fincher’s lurid and underrated gem. The hard-R studio adult franchise, or the promising start of one. Considering Fincher never got to see through to a trilogy, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo remains as a defiant standalone movie that’s wholly unique and of a blockbuster caliber that’s rarely been attempted since.
David Fincher could’ve done many things after The Social Network. Take a sabbatical. Flip it to Hollywood. Invest in Facebook’s market shares. While Social Network was racking up awards buzz, Fincher was already off shooting Dragon Tattoo. (Being that his last feature was 2014’s Gone Girl, him doing Social Network and Dragon Tattoo back-to-back feels fucking PROLIFIC.)
In 2009, Sony nabbed the adaptation rights to Stieg Larsson’s “Millennium” series, now a lucrative property after the success of the Swedish film trilogy. Amy Pascal lured Fincher mid-Social Network with the promise of jumpstarting an entire R-rated franchise and an eyebrow-raising budget to back said franchise. How many adult blockbusters can you name off the top of your head? (Fifty Shades and horror movies like It and The Conjuring-spinoffs might be their own phenomenon, but they’re low-middle budget movies.)
Sony marketed Dragon Tattoo as a blockbuster, bearing the delicious tag: The Feel Bad Christmas Movie of the Year. Its most excellent teaser played ahead of X-Men: First Class IN THE SUMMER. (Also, Thor: Ragnarok might’ve ushered in a resurgence of Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song,” but let’s be clear: Dragon Tattoo walked so Ragnarok could run.)
Studios love the PG-13 rating because it offers the possibility of more asses in seats. Deadpool and last year’s Logan are among the few recent films to have generated substantial profit despite an R-rating, or perhaps because of it. (The record-breaking sensation of The Matrix sequels seems like a lifetime ago.) This year’s The Predator, made for $90 million and grossed $160 million total, isn’t exactly a hot prospect for future R-rated blockbuster fare outside of the superhero banner.
That Sony was willing to throw $100 million at a drama-mystery-thriller still feels monumental in what it allowed David Fincher to do. Shoot on location, for one. Many balked at the notion of an American remake still set in the story’s native Sweden. In the Blu-ray special features, Fincher recalls conversations with executives about potentially relocating the story in Seattle or, wait for it, Montreal. The funny thing is I can totally see a version of Dragon Tattoo set in the U.S. Not only does our misogyny run deep in the wake of the Me Too movement, turns out we have quite a bit of Nazis here too. Both have had quite the comeuppance in recent years.
Nonetheless, the story is Swedish in nature. Sweden is remarked as one of the most gender-equal societies in the world. But this veritable utopia is marred by its own rotting core: rising domestic abuse rates, systemic abuse cases in social service programs that inform Salander’s tortured upbringing (along with a prejudice towards immigrants that suggests Sweden’s open borders aren’t welcomed by all). It’s the thin veneer barely masking a harsh truth. That no matter where you are or the progress a society makes, there is still a deep-seated hatred towards women. There will always be an entitled masculine worldview.
Nils Bjurman encompasses the scorned man’s fantasy. His targeting of Lisbeth is more than circumstance. He selects her because he knows society won’t care. Her status is in his hands; she is in his “care.” He exerts his power before the handcuffs come out, before he makes his way around the desk.
Bjurman is detestable, but I respect Yorick van Wageningen’s performance. (Not exactly a choice part.) Yorick doesn’t render Bjurman as “evil,” but as human and terrifyingly real. Yorick adopts a manner and formality that feels particularly upsetting. He intimidates Lisbeth, then elicits her into oral sex as a mode of social “transaction.” And when he rapes her, he tries to offer her a ride home as if him being cordial cancels out his treatment of her and thus gives himself justification to escalate. These are passive attempts at normalizing abusive behavior, which give a frightening sense of how abuse scandals have pervaded in institutions that are supposed to provide care.
The film’s rape scene is unforgiving as ever, as it should be. It also feels a tad excessive given how a guy like Taylor Sheridan has shown remarkably less in Wind River and still conveys the cruelty of rape. Jean-Marc Valee clips the act in both Big Little Lies and Sharp Objects and instead internalizes it within the POV of the characters – less about the rape, more about the lingering trauma. Yet I commend Fincher, Yorick, and Rooney Mara for going there. (Lisbeth’s wail is disconcerting and heartbreaking.) It’s a scene constructed for viewers to turn away, to be repulsed, offended by and reel under. Rape, after all, is an offensive idea about power and control. The scene is not about uprooting your moral compass so much as making sure you have one.
Movies present viewers with the fantasy of inhabiting a world. With Dragon Tattoo, you don’t want to be in Stockholm any longer than you have to. (Even though our very real society doesn’t offer much comfort.) This is a place full of cold cases and cold shoulders. If I can make a complaint, it’s that I have some issues with the film’s glacial pacing.
Dragon Tattoo bears a five-act structure that necessitates its plot, but not everything in the narrative is necessary. I don’t need the Wennerstrom subplot or watch him go down because Mikael and Lisbeth’s takedown of Martin has already provided all the narrative satisfaction. (Wennerstrom only needs to serve the purpose of Blomkvist’s shot-credibility.) The Irene Nesser episode might be a display of Lisbeth’s steadfast determination, but it’s a thing we already see when, after the rape, she goes to the hardware store and purchases her revenge-kit. Though I love where the film ends, I feel like the movie could just as well end with Henrik and Harriet’s reunion.
Dragon Tattoo is in many ways bound and gagged by its fidelity to the source material. Fight Club and Gone Girl, by comparison, feel like transformations. The film might be longer than it needs to be, but I wouldn’t go so far as to call it boring. At the very least, you get to settle in.
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross won an Oscar for their work on Social Network, but Dragon Tattoo is their magnum opus – a 3-hour score seething with melancholy and rage. It’s Sweden in sonic-form. Blomkvist’s arrival in Hedestead is painstakingly rendered through Jeff Cronenweth’s pristine cinematography, brutally capturing the harsh snow-capped landscape. Before you even get to Hedestad, you want to leave. The effect is sold moreover by the accompanying score, which paints the Vanger estate like The Shining’s Overlook Hotel. Shivering sirens, bells rippling and crystallizing; up until Dragon Tattoo I didn’t know what ice sounded like. It sounds like this.
Dragon Tattoo may be all about its heroine, but the film does allow Daniel Craig to play noir detective. He makes for a compelling Jake Gittes from Chinatown. Blomkvist’s disgraced reputation is key. Craig’s annoyance and exasperation is a nuanced thing to behold, as is his quiet astonishment in scenes with Herr Vanger and especially this moment above with his daughter. This was just after his macho-turn in Cowboys & Aliens and a year before Skyfall. Here, Craig is the Bond girl, the damsel, the one caught in a love triangle.
Fincher cares about Salander and Blomkvist, but I know Fincher is fascinated by Martin Vanger. As he’s gotten older, Fincher cares less about gruesome crime scenes and seems more interested in the psychology behind gruesome crime scenes. Fincher keys in on digitized black-and-white photos and on minute scene and character details. The way Stellan Skarsgard is lit tells you all you need to know about him. You could mute his scenes and still register that Martin is the killer based on shadows and the deep crevices beneath his eyes. Dragon Tattoo marks a fascinating evolution in Fincher’s career where he is less engrossed with violence and more in violent behavior. It’s no wonder he’d go on to direct Mindhunter.
The biggest casualty in Sony’s rebooting of the franchise is the loss of Rooney Mara as the title-character. Lisbeth Salander is to Rooney Mara what The Joker is to Heath Ledger’s filmography. She’s iconic from the moment she pulls up to the building. What I love about Mara’s performance isn’t the accent (which is perfect by the way) or the physical transformation (also perfect). It’s how Mara captures Lisbeth in a single glance.
It’s this moment below, a brief but poignant moment of vulnerability. Without words, Mara communicates how much Lisbeth cares and truly cares about Palmgren, her guardian who unbeknownst to her has just suffered a stroke. It’s a soft spot she’s allowed herself to have and it ruins her the same way her attachment to Blomkvist will ruin her. We understand her fortitude and the walls she puts up. We don’t doubt how resilient Lisbeth is, but we feel her heartbreak in the tiny moments she allows herself to feel.
She may be beaten and battered around, but she’s never beat or battered internally. She’s determined as hell, and that never stops giving me goosebumps. Mara’s interpretation of Lisbeth Salander is one of my favorite performances of all time because it’s about the person she’s playing, not the fact that she, the actress, is playing the person. I might see Daniel Craig, Stellan Skarsgard, Robin Wright, Joel Kinnaman and Christopher “Clutch” Plummer. When it comes to Lisbeth, you just see the girl.
It’s a shame Fincher never got to see through to The Girl Who Played with Fire and subsequent Hornets’ Nest. Both are more about Lisbeth, her twin sister, her father and the rest of her fucked up family history, which would’ve enabled Fincher to go full Chinatown with the story. Dragon Tattoo, instead, allowed him to play within the framework of past films like Se7en and Zodiac, and that’s not a bad in-between. Sony has moved on to The Girl in the Spider’s Web and it’ll no doubt appeal to fans of the revamped Millennium series (and especially to Claire Foy-stans). Fincher didn’t get to helm his R-rated blockbuster franchise after all, but it was pretty damn great while it lasted.
Posted in: Entertainment, Film, Movies | Tagged: Adult, Blockbusters, David Fincher, Lisbeth Salander, Rooney Mara, Sony, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
A 2018 Look at ‘Spider-Man 3’
All the Conversations I’m Dreading This Thanksgiving
5 thoughts on “In Praise of David Fincher’s ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’”
Kimee D. says:
I’ve seen Spider’s Web and while I’m a fan of Claire Foy, Rooney’s interpretation is vastly superior. She felt like her own character, whereas the reboot feels akin to Jason Bourne or Jack Reacher. Which isn’t terrible per se, but it sacrifices what made Lisbeth so interior and compelling. David Fincher has done better movies, but I keep coming back to Dragon Tattoo every now and then. It’s so sleek and moody, perfect for this time of year!
Glad you’re back btw 😉
adrianvstheworld says:
Much appreciated. The swell of support from everyone was so shocking. Heather URGED me to get back on and I thought she was kidding. I literally spent last month replying to everybody. It was incredibly supportive. You especially.
Fincher’s films are usually more narratively efficient, but even for a painstakingly faithful adaptation, Dragon Tattoo is still a fascinating watch. Haven’t seen Spider’s Web and I don’t think I will, but I’ll take your word for it. Even when Lisbeth is making ramen, she’s fucking captivating. This is a long shot, but here’s hoping Hollywood will pull one of those hey-let’s-forget-we-rebooted-this-franchise-and-go-back-to-the-original with Dragon Tattoo. A guy can dream.
Now that Christmas is on the horizon, I can add this movie to my holiday movie marathon. Not even joking.
Oh I’m so glad you and Heather hit it off! When you mentioned hiring a social media manager, I immediately thought of her. She’s a guru. (Is this heather I’m talking to now? jk)
I don’t know about this being a Christmas movie, but that would be so on brand for you to do. Gosh, the film’s ending too. You’d have to do a back to back with It’s a Wonderful life just to cheer up!
This would be the topic of your return post. Nice to see that you’re back at it. I steered clear of this film in account of its rape scene, but from the few clips I’ve seen it looked much more polished than the Swedish version. US budgets, man.
Spider’s Web didn’t do so well here in Australia and I hear it didn’t in the US either. Kind of a bummer because I rather like Fede Alvarez as a filmmaker. Suddenly, Don’t Breathe 2 doesn’t seem like such a bad idea
Indeed it would be! It’s astonishing you remembered. I wrote my first review of this film so long ago.
I LOVE Fede as a filmmaker too. His Evil Dead remake is fucking 👌 and Don’t Breathe is easily one of the best modern horror films. It’s not that I was rooting for Spider’s Web to fail. I just…had zero-interest in it. Not sure what’ll become of the “Dragon Tattoo” franchise, but I am looking forward to Don’t Breathe 2 even more so. Crossing fingers that Fede will direct 🤞
Abandon Hope Ye Who Subscribe
📘 Stephen King’s IT
📺 FLEABAG
🎧 Wayside – The Material
Archives Select Month June 2019 (2) May 2019 (4) April 2019 (8) March 2019 (3) February 2019 (1) January 2019 (3) December 2018 (3) November 2018 (2) October 2018 (1) September 2018 (1) July 2018 (4) June 2018 (4) May 2018 (4) April 2018 (3) March 2018 (2) February 2018 (3) January 2018 (2) December 2017 (2) November 2017 (1) October 2017 (2) September 2017 (3) August 2017 (3) July 2017 (2) June 2017 (1) May 2017 (4) April 2017 (3) March 2017 (3) February 2017 (2) January 2017 (2) November 2016 (1) August 2016 (3) June 2016 (1) May 2016 (1) March 2016 (1) February 2016 (2) January 2016 (1) December 2015 (1) November 2015 (1) August 2015 (1) July 2015 (2) June 2015 (11) May 2015 (2) April 2015 (4) February 2015 (2) January 2015 (2) November 2014 (4) October 2014 (3) August 2014 (1) July 2014 (2) May 2014 (1) February 2014 (1) December 2013 (1) August 2013 (1) July 2013 (1) June 2013 (1) May 2013 (1) April 2013 (1) February 2013 (1) November 2012 (1) September 2012 (1) August 2012 (2) July 2012 (1) June 2012 (1) May 2012 (1) March 2012 (1) February 2012 (1) July 2011 (1)
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line582
|
__label__cc
| 0.643814
| 0.356186
|
How to stop sexual harassment at work - don't deal with HR
By Jenna Price
September 12, 2018 — 4.48pm
There are messages we must give our children before they go to their first jobs. And these are not the messages we imagine.
It’s no longer enough to tell our kids to brush their teeth and to wear clean clothes to work. It’s not enough to tell them to work hard, to put their best foot forward.
Now we must also tell them that they need to be wary of their colleagues and to be wary of their bosses. Sexual harassment is now endemic at work and we must arm our young people. I could not imagine having to say that to my own children in their first jobs – but they are older now. They tell me that their employers were brisk and perhaps just a touch brusque.
Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins is conducting an inquiry into workplace sexual harassment.
Now, one in five young people aged between 15 and 17 report having been sexually harassed at work at least once in the last five years. This new research from the Australian Human Rights Commission and launched on Wednesday by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins at the National Press Club is based on a survey of 10,000 participants who are representative of the Australian workplace. Some of the stories Jenkins told are harrowing, particularly because of the role of human resources departments who enable harassers instead of defending staff. Yes, Jenkins revealed the story of one young woman who complained about sexual harassment and HR asked her what she had been wearing.
War paint. We need to wear war paint.
Our workplaces are a mess. One in three workers report being sexually harassed in the last five years, women and men. What’s worse is that one in five workers complained about harassment and half of those say nothing changed after their complaint. And the witnesses to that sexual harassment? Two in three did nothing. They stood by and stood on their hands. They allowed the mistreatment of the vulnerable to proceed without intervening, protecting or defending. They did not report. And some said they did not report it because they thought it would make it worse for the victim. Yup. As if keeping quiet about abuse ever helped anyone.
Most of us do not even report when it happens to us.
I can – kind of – understand why some people don’t bother to report lurid jokes. Just recently, a fool of a man introduced me to a group of people and described our meeting as a one-night stand. Everyone was embarrassed except the fool. He thought he was absolutely hilarious. And even though I’m a grown woman and it made me furious, I didn’t complain. I spent a few days wondering if I’d overreacted. That’s the problem with jokes. They usually fall into two categories – the not-funny or the deeply-inappropriate so you wonder whether you are being too sensitive. And ah, should you report, maybe you are too sensitive, maybe you feminists have no sense of humour. And if I feel like that, I can’t imagine how a vulnerable kid would feel. Turns out that feeling that you might be overreacting was the exact reason not to report for about half of the victims – others thought it might just be easier to keep quiet.
But here's another – creepy - thing. Of the respondents, over half of the women said they had experienced inappropriate physical contact; and just under one quarter of the men. Yep, someone thinks it’s ok to touch a colleague. Maybe if you are godparent to their kid or you are giving them mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. The rest of the time, keep your hands to yourself, you weirdo. It makes the majority of workers – especially those who can’t speak up – feel shocking. Afraid. Insecure. And maybe that's the whole point.
We are already frightened. Just under one in six of us report sexual harassment when it’s happened to us – and of those, one in five ends up labelled a troublemaker, victimised or ignored by colleagues. And in the end, some will resign, be forced out of their jobs because of someone else’s behavior.
That’s not good enough.
So what advice do we give to young people in the workforce. A few things. Stay away from working in the media, in telecommunications or in information industries, where the prevalence of workplace sexual harassment runs at 80 per cent across men and women. It looks as if those workplaces, where work boundaries have blurred because of digital disruption, have let those same disruptive processes distort decent workplace behavior. No other industry comes close although mining, for women, is catastrophic.
I hear that one young man in television has 12 allegations from women against him in his workplace yet no action has been taken. What do you reckon? 12 young women would gang up together to make stuff up? How long does it take to sort this out? And who will be the boss who takes responsibility for the fallout?
Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins is conducting an inquiry into workplace sexual harassment and I urge you to participate. We must name and shame and detail what has happened to us. It’s a great goal to work on changing the system but that’s a long way off and we will need structural change before that’s achieved so in the meantime, keep notes. Keep receipts. Senator Lucy Gichuhi confesses she was the victim of workplace bullying but I fear she has succumbed to pressure from Crabbe and Goyle* not to reveal the names of those who bullied her.
But we’ve got to act. Join your union or professional association. Go with friends to complain. Never go in to a meeting with human resources on your own. HR people are not there to help you, they are there to protect the company. Hire lawyers or take friends who are lawyers. Record everything. Report everything. Keep receipts.
Report everything. Nothing else will make change.
*Crabbe and Goyle are fictional thugs from the Harry Potter books. Somehow they've appeared in our parliament.
Jenna Price is a Canberra Times columnist and an academic at the University of Technology Sydney.
Paul Pisasale pleads not guilty on first day of trial
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line584
|
__label__wiki
| 0.915257
| 0.915257
|
Lauren Greenfield’s materialism chronicles
“Generation Wealth”, the artist and film-maker’s latest project, is a portrait of narcissism, greed and excess
Books, arts and culture
by Y.F. | NEW YORK
LAUREN GREENFIELD is a documentarian of American aspiration and excess. Over three decades she has taken hundreds of thousands of photographs of wealthy housewives, plastic-surgery addicts, porn stars, nightclubs, strip clubs, young girls with eating disorders, children who grew up rich and children who strive to look rich. Her work is a portrait of the spread of an “image-obsessed culture” and a trove of flamboyant consumption. “Generation Wealth”, a recent documentary film, is the last part of a multimedia project of the same title that includes a coffee-table book (Phaidon, $75) and last year’s exhibition at the International Centre of Photography. This work has made Ms Greenfield’s name as the “foremost visual chronicler of the plutocracy”.
The project is wide-ranging, the artist argues, because materialism has become more crass, more common and more global over the course of her career. It is “getting worse and worse and more extreme almost in an exponential way,” she says in a telephone interview. “The way media has exploded, the way globalism has exploded, the way tech has exploded—and kind of put everything I was looking at on steroids.” Through social media and reality television, images of luxury and wealth have become more ubiquitous. “This idea of keeping up with the Joneses became keeping up with the Kardashians,” Ms Greenfield says. “[And] the more you see those images the more you want those things.” While her work may seem to feed into that desire, it also casts a surrealist shadow over its subjects. The viewer understands that there is something uncanny about them even as they go about their everyday lives.
Because her work is most interested in those who “desire to be wealthy, at any cost”, it brings disparate characters into conversation. In the film the viewer hears the testimony of a bus driver from Georgia whose addiction to cosmetic surgery bankrupted her and alienated her family. They observe Kacey Jordan, a former porn actress and sex worker, and her efforts to create a different life for herself (she made headlines for receiving $30,000 to “party” with Charlie Sheen). Ms Greenfield profiles a businessman living in exile in Germany after being indicted in America for his illegal financial transactions, and meets other individuals whose extravagant lifestyles were upended by the financial crash in 2008. All of these figures are reckoning with their past, either openly regretful or just painfully lost.
Ms Greenfield sees the financial crisis as a watershed moment, exposing the economic forces that allowed such unchecked indulgence and rampant consumerism. “We saw…that if you lent people money they can achieve that lifestyle even if they can’t pay that money back,” she says. She wonders how much has changed. “I really saw how devastating the consequences were. I think with ‘Generation Wealth’ it seems that we haven’t learned.”
Yet she is keenly aware that she is not impervious to those urges and yearnings; success is a moving target for her as much as her cast. She grew up in a high achieving, upper-middle-class family in Venice Beach—when it was still an edgy bohemian enclave—with parents who created communes and subscribed to the progressive ethos of 1970s California. Many of her peers at the private Crossroads High School in Santa Monica were significantly wealthier and more materialistic, and it is easy to see how her work has been informed by negotiating these different worlds. “Sometimes when I’m looking at something I have trouble stopping too, I want more.” she says. “In a way it drives my work to be in depth and complete and expansive; on the other hand it also leads me to overproduce.”
“Generation Wealth”, on the whole, prioritises volume rather than depth; it aims for poignancy but ultimately beguiles with its perversity. It also revisits issues that Ms Greenfield has already succeeded in probing. “Queen of Versailles”, her documentary film from 2011, achieved the vision the artist claims for the rest of her work, tying together wealth, beauty, ageing, sexuality, fame and class. Ostensibly about a couple in Orlando seeking to build the biggest home in America, the film is one of the most insightful takes on the financial crisis and the American dream. “Generation Wealth” portrays shallow desires across an enormous spectrum. But “Queen of Versailles” more successfully delivered the kind of complexity and poignancy for which Ms Greenfield seems to strive.
More from Prospero
Berlin’s Museum Island gets a much-needed revamp
Without a song or a dance what are we?
The power and the passion of folk singing in Estonia
Steeped in tradition
The ambivalent history of the Camellia sinensis leaf
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line585
|
__label__cc
| 0.600927
| 0.399073
|
The Place Promised in Our Early Days (Dub)
Type: Movies
Plot Summary: In an alternate timeline, Japan was divided after losing World War II: Hokkaido was annexed by "Union" while Honshu and other southern islands were under US sovereignty. A gigantic yet mysterious tower was constructed at Hokkaido and could be seen clearly from Aomori (the northernmost prefecture of Honshu) across Tsugaru Strait. In the summer of 1996, three 9th-graders had made a promise that one day they'll build an aircraft and unravel the tower's mystery, but their project was abandoned after the girl, Sayuri Sawatari, began experiencing sleeping sickness and transferred to Tokyo for better treatment. Three years later, Hiroki Fujisawa accidentally found out that Sayuri had been in a coma since then, and he asked Takuya Shirakawa to help him finding a way to revive her. What they don't know yet is that Sayuri's unconsciousness is somehow linked with secrets of the tower and the world.
Genre: Drama, Military, Romance, Sci-Fi
Other name: Kumo no Mukou, Yakusoku no Basho; 雲のむこう、約束の場所; Beyond the Clouds, The Promised Place
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line586
|
__label__cc
| 0.727262
| 0.272738
|
Carleton Alumni Network
Modify searchNew search
Class Year(s)
Class Year(s):
You can enter multiple class years, e.g. 1988-1993
State: -- Alabama Alaska (1) Arizona Arkansas Armed Services - Americas Armed Services - Europe Armed Services - Pacific California (2) Colorado (1) Connecticut (1) DC Delaware Florida (1) Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois (3) Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland (1) Massachusetts (1) Michigan Minnesota (4) Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York (2) North Carolina (1) North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island (1) South Carolina South Dakota State (Generic) Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virgin Islands Virginia (1) Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Country: -- Albania (1) Argentina (3) Aruba (3) Australia (32) Austria (6) Bahrain (3) Bangladesh (5) Belgium (7) Bermuda (1) Bolivia (1) Bonaire (1) Bosnia-Herzegovina (2) Botswana (1) Brazil (4) Bulgaria (1) Cambodia (1) Canada (183) Chile (2) Colombia (4) Congo (2) Costa Rica (5) Cuba (1) Cyprus (3) Czechia (3) Democratic Republic of Korea (4) Denmark (11) Dominican Republic (1) Ecuador (2) El Salvador (1) England (66) Estonia (1) Eswatini (2) Ethiopia (5) Federated States of Micronesia (1) Finland (2) France (65) Germany (39) Ghana (2) Greece (2) Guatemala (5) Honduras (3) Hong Kong (41) Hungary (1) Iceland (3) India (25) Indonesia (4) Iraq (1) Ireland (13) Israel (11) Italy (8) Ivory Coast (1) Japan (97) Jordan (1) Kenya (3) Lebanon (6) Malaysia (4) Marshall Islands (1) Mexico (26) Morocco (1) Myanmar (7) Namibia (2) Nepal (8) Netherlands (20) New Zealand (14) Nicaragua (2) Nigeria (2) Norway (18) Pakistan (5) Panama (3) People's Republic of China (125) Peru (4) Philippines (3) Poland (1) Portugal (2) Republic of Korea (53) Romania (1) Russia (5) Rwanda (2) Saudi Arabia (3) Scotland (8) Senegal (4) Serbia (1) Singapore (35) South Africa (5) Spain (12) Sri Lanka (5) Sweden (25) Switzerland (21) Taiwan (Republic of China) (7) Tanzania (1) Thailand (11) The Bahamas (2) Tunisia (1) Turkey (6) United Arab Emirates (6) United Kingdom (56) United States of America (27,017) Vietnam (4) West Africa (1)
Within: 0 miles 10 miles 25 miles 50 miles 100 miles 200 miles 300 miles
Enter city/state/country to search by distance.
Area: Pick a club... Bay Area Club (1) Boston Club (1) Chicago Club (3) Connecticut Club (1) Duluth Club (1) France Club (48) London Club (50) Los Angeles Club (1) New York Club (1) Twin Cities Club (3) Washington, D.C. Club (2)
Job Field: -- Banking/Finance/Investing (4) Business/Commerce (5) Communications/Media (4) Computers/IT (1) Counseling (2) Education (6) Environment/Recreation (4) Homemaking (1) Legal Professions (1) Libraries/Archives/Museums (1) Marketing (1) Other Careers (1) Planning (1) Public Service (1) Real Estate (1) Research & Development (1) Sciences (1) Service/Hospitality (1) Social Service (2) Student (1)
Place of Work: -- Agriculture (1) Banking/Financial Services (2) Computers/Information Systems (3) Consulting (3) Education - Elementary Schools (1) Education - Four-Year Colleges (3) Education - Middle Schools (1) Education - Other (3) Education - Secondary Schools (3) Education - Universities (4) Education - Vocational Technical (1) Environmental Services (1) Government - International Agencies (1) Hospitals/Hlth Care Orgs/Clinics (1) Law/Legal Services (1) Media/Entertainment (2) Mining/Oil and Gas Extraction (1) Other Business Services (1) Other For-Profit Organization (2) Other Non-Profit Organization (5) Public Libraries (1) Real Estate (1) Research Laboratory (2) Retail/Wholesale Trade (2) Securities/Investments (1) Social Services (1) Technology (1)
At Carleton
Majors/Minors/Concentrations: -- Art History (1) Biology (2) Chemistry (2) Cinema and Media Studies (2) Classical Languages (1) Economics (8) Educational Studies (1) English (6) Environment and Technology Studies (1) French and Francophone Studies (14) Geology (1) History (3) Linguistics (1) Mathematics (3) Modern Languages (1) Philosophy (3) Political Science (9) Psychology (1) Religion (2) Romance Languages & Literature (1) Sociology/Anthropology (2) Special Major (1) Studio Art (1) Women's and Gender Studies (1)
After Carleton
Degree: -- B.A. Bachelor of Arts (3) B.Ed. Bachelor of Education (1) B.S. Bachelor of Science (1) C.M.T.L. Certificate MN Teaching License (2) J.D. Doctor of Jurisprudence (1) M.A. Master of Arts (14) M.B.A. Master of Business Administr (8) M.D. Doctor of Medicine (1) M.Ed. Master of Education (1) M.F.A. Master of Fine Arts (1) M.L.S. Master of Library Science (1) M.P.H. Master of Public Health (1) M.S. Master of Science (6) M.S.W. Master of Social Work (1) Ph.D. Doctor of Philosophy (9)
Subject Area: -- Anthropology (1) Archives (1) Art History (1) Business (3) Business Administration (1) Clinical Psychology (1) Comparative Literature (1) Counseling (1) Economics (2) Education (2) English (2) English Literature (1) Environmental Science (1) Film Production (1) Finance (2) French (3) History (1) Information Sciences (1) Internat'l Relations (1) International Finance (1) International Human Rights Law (1) Law (1) Linguistics (1) Marine Geology and Geophysics (1) Medicine (1) Philosophy (2) Physics (1) Political Science (1) Psychology (3) Public Health (1) Social Work (1) Urban Planning (1)
Alumni Directory Terms of Use
Link/Bookmark
Sign in to see your search results.
Alumni Directory pages maintained by Matt Ryan
This page was last updated on 30 March 2015
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line588
|
__label__cc
| 0.624674
| 0.375326
|
NYS News
Filter Search Home
For Immediate Release: 05/19/16
Audrey Zibelman, Chair
James Denn | James.Denn@dps.ny.gov | (518) 474-7080
http://www.dps.ny.gov
http://twitter.com/NYSDPS
New York Electricity Consumers May See Lower Summer Prices
ALBANY — The New York State Public Service Commission (Commission) today received a staff report on the State’s electric system preparedness to address the traditional upswing in demand for electricity this summer. The report indicates that there is adequate generation capacity and that transmission and distribution utility owners are prepared to meet expected customer demands this summer. In addition, wholesale electricity prices are expected to be lower or stable this summer, welcome news for millions of energy consumers in New York.
“The summer outlook in terms of adequate supply and potentially lower electricity prices is very good news for residential and business customers,” said Commission Chair Audrey Zibelman. “There are many factors that are helping drive prices down, including Commission-ordered programs to lower demand, requiring utilities to use policies to mitigate volatility in prices, all of which are helping to ensure price stability for consumers.”
Based on current projections from the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) data, summer wholesale electric prices — June through September — are expected to be lower or stable this summer when compared to last summer. This summer’s forecasted price for electricity is actually lower than prices predicted for last summer a year ago at this time. However, actual prices can vary from forecasts due to a number of unpredictable factors, such as weather and economic conditions.
Due in large part to the historic decline in natural gas prices, wholesale electricity prices have fallen significantly. In fact, statewide wholesale electricity spot prices have fallen about $7 billion from their peak in 2008 — fantastic news for residential and commercial customers. In addition, the relative low cost of electricity and natural gas makes it a perfect time to invest to promote and strengthen clean energy initiatives.
Peak summer loads have been generally in the 33,300 MW range, compared to a winter peak of about 24,000 MW. However, in the summer of 2013, New York set a record peak load of 33,955 MW, surpassing the previous record of 33,939 MW set on August 2, 2006. One megawatt is enough electricity to power between 800 to 1,000 average-sized homes.
Peak load is expected to be 33,600 MW this summer. Over the next 10 years, peak load is expected to drop by 1,200 MWs, compared to the forecast from a year ago, equal to the production of two large power plants, or enough electricity to power more than 1 million average-sized homes. The decline is partly due to energy efficiency and demand reduction efforts included in Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) strategy.
In addition to having adequate electricity supplies, electric and gas utilities have taken steps to strengthen the infrastructure prior to the start of the summer hurricane season, which begins June 1. Staff said they were satisfied with the preparations taken to meet expected system needs in the event of a hurricane or other abnormally severe weather. Staff will continue to track and monitor the utilities’ efforts in preparation for the upcoming summer period, as well as any utility contingency plans, if necessary.
Staff noted that given the dense population and unique characteristics of Con Edison’s service territory, the company has the highest loads during the summer months. To address this situation, the utility offers its electric load-relief programs during high-load system conditions. The Commission has approved a number of demand-reduction program changes at Con Edison, and as a result, enrollment is expected to be higher this year than in 2015.
Today’s report, when issued, may be obtained by going to the Commission Documents section of the Commission’s Web site at www.dps.ny.gov and entering Case Number 16-E-0183 in the input box labeled "Search for Case/Matter Number". Many libraries offer free Internet access. Commission documents may also be obtained from the Commission’s Files Office, 14th floor, Three Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12223 (518-474-2500). If you have difficulty understanding English, please call us at 1-800-342-3377 for free language assistance services regarding this press release.
About Reforming the Energy Vision
Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) is Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s strategy to lead on climate change and grow New York's economy. REV is building a cleaner, more resilient and affordable energy system for all New Yorkers by stimulating investment in clean technologies like solar, wind, and energy efficiency and generating 50% of the state's electricity needs from renewable energy by 2030. Already, REV has driven 600% growth in the statewide solar market, enabled over 105,000 low-income households to permanently cut their energy bills with energy efficiency, and created thousands of jobs in manufacturing, engineering, and other clean tech sectors. REV is ensuring New York State reduces statewide greenhouse gas emissions 40% by 2030 and achieves the internationally-recognized target of reducing emissions 80% by 2050. To learn more about REV, including the Governor's $5 billion investment in clean energy technology and innovation, please visit www.ny.gov/REV4NY and follow us at @Rev4NY.
Copyright © 2019 New York State. All rights reserved. | Our Privacy Policy
Twitter @NYSNews
Facebook NYSNews
NYSNews | mediaContact
Copyright © 2019 - New York State Office of Information Technology Services
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line589
|
__label__wiki
| 0.936499
| 0.936499
|
Please select...Home Tribute Shows The Beatles Tribute The Rolling Stones Tribute The Blues Brothers Tribute Abba Tribute Robbie Williams Tribute David Bowie Tribute New Wave Tribute Band All Star SuperGroup All Star Rock Show Cliff Richard + Shadows Tribute Aussie Anthems – Oz Rock Frank Sinatra & Crooners Tribute Theming Sports Events In Asia Testimonials Contact & Quote
The Beatles Tribute
The Rolling Stones Tribute
The Blues Brothers Tribute
Abba Tribute
Robbie Williams Tribute
David Bowie Tribute
New Wave Tribute Band
All Star SuperGroup
All Star Rock Show
Cliff Richard + Shadows Tribute
Aussie Anthems – Oz Rock
Frank Sinatra & Crooners Tribute
Contact & Quote
More about The Beatles
All Star Showstoppers » More about The Beatles
With thanks to and taken from: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1397313/bioThe Beatles are the greatest popular group of all-time. Arguably the most successful entertainers of the 20th century, they contributed to music, film, literature, art, and fashion, made a continuous impact on popular culture and the lifestyle of several generations. Their songs and images carrying powerful ideas of love, peace, help, and imagination evoked creativity and liberation that outperformed the rusty Soviet propaganda and contributed to breaking walls in the minds of millions, thus making impact on human history.
In July of 1957, in Liverpool, Paul McCartney met John Lennon and joined his group, The Quarrymen. George Harrison joined them in February of 1958. In 1959 they played regular gigs at a club called The Casbah. They were joined by vocalist Stuart Sutcliffe, and by drummer Peter Best, whose mother owned The Casbah club. Early incarnations of the band included The Quarrymen, Johnny & the Moon Dogs, and The Silver Beetles. John Lennon dreamed up the band’s final name, The Beatles, a mix of beat with beetle. In 1960 The Beatles toured in Hamburg, Germany. There they were hired by singer Tony Sheridan as a backing band for his recordings for the German Polydor label. During the year of 1961 they played regular gigs at the Cavern club and were looking for a new manager. By the mutual decision of the Beatles’ members, their first manager, named Allan Williams, was replaced.
Brian Epstein was invited to be the manager of the Beatles in November 1961. His diplomatic way of dealing with the Beatles and with their previous manager resulted in a December 10, 1961, meeting, where it was decided that Epstein would manage the band. A 5-year management contract was signed by four members at then-drummer Pete Best’s home on January 24, 1962. Epstein did not put his signature on it, giving the musicians the freedom of choice. At that time McCartney and Harrison were under 21, so the paper wasn’t technically legal. None of them realized this and it did not matter to them. What mattered was their genuine trust in Epstein. He changed their early image for the good. Brian Epstein made them wear suits and ties, classic shoes, and newer haircuts. They were advised to update their manners on stage and quit eating and drinking in public. Brian Epstein worked hard on both the Beatles’ image and public relations. He improved their image enough to make them accepted by the conservative media of their time. Most if not all of their communication off-stage was managed by Brian Epstein.
In May of 1962 Epstein canceled the group’s contract with Tony Sheridan and the German label. During the year of 1962 Brian Epstein was persistent in trying to sign a record deal for the Beatles, even after being rejected by every major record label in UK, like Columbia, Philips, Oriole, Decca, and Pye. Epstein transferred a demo tape to disc with HMV technician Jim Foy, who liked their song and referred it to Parlophone’s George Martin. On June 6, 1962, at the Abbey Road studios, they passed Martin’s audition with the exception of Pete Best. George Martin liked them, but recommended the change of a drummer. Being asked by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison; Epstein fired Pete Best. After a mutual decision the band was completed with the session drummer, named Ringo Starr, who duly became the fourth Beatle. In September of 1962 The Beatles recorded their first hit Love Me Do, which charted in UK, and reached the top of the US singles chart in 1964.
In early performances the Beatles included popular songs from the 40s and 50s. They played rock-n-roll and R&B-based pop songs while they gradually worked on developing a style of their own. Their mixture of rock-n-roll, skiffle, blues, country, soul, and a simplified version of 1930s jazz resulted in several multi-genre and cross-style sounding songs. They admitted their interest in the music of Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Little Richard and other entertainers of the 40s, 50s and early 60s. Beatles’ distinctive vocals were sometimes reminiscent of the Everly Brothers’ tight harmonies. By 1965 their style absorbed ethnic music influences from India and other Oriental cultures, and later expanded into psychedelic experiments and classical-sounding compositions. Their creative search covered a range of styles from jazz and rock to a cosmopolitan cross-cultural and cross-genre compositions.
They played a wide variety of musical instruments. Initially the Beatles were a guitars and drums band. In the course of their career every member became a multi-instrumentalist. George Harrison played the lead guitar and also introduced such exotic instruments as ukulele, Indian sitars, flutes, tabla, darbouka, and tampur drums. John Lennon played a variety of guitars, keyboards, harmonicas and horns. Paul McCartney played bass guitar, acoustic and electric guitars, piano and keyboards, as well as over 40 other musical instruments. The Beatles were the first popular band that used a classical touch of strings and keyboard instruments; their producer†George Martin scored Baroque orchestrations in several songs, such as Yesterday, Eleanor Rigby, In My Life, and a full orchestra in Sgt. Pepper. John Lennon and Paul McCartney played piano in many of their songs. Their jamming on a piano together led to creation of their best-selling hit I Want to Hold Your Hand in 1963.
Their 1963 performance at the London Palladium made them famous in Great Britain and initiated the Beatlemania in the UK. At first the Beatles were rejected by†Dick Clark after testing a recording of their song on his show. Then Brian Epstein approached Ed Sullivan, who discussed them with Walter Cronkite after seeing them on his CBS Evening News in 1963. Brian Epstein also managed to get their music played by influential radio stations in Washington and New York. The US consumer reaction was peaking, a single ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ was released in December 1963 by the Capitol Records. Their sensational tour in the USA began with three TV shows at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York, in February of 1964. After that The Beatles endured several years of extremely intensive recording, filming, and touring. They stopped public performances after 1966, but continued their recording contracts. By 1985 The Beatles had sold over one billion records. Music became their ticket to ride around the world. Beatlemania never really ended since its initiation. It still lives as a movable feast in many hearts and minds, as a sweet memory of youth, when all you need is love and a little help from a friend to be happy.
The Beatles’ first two feature films, A Hard Day’s Night (1964) and Help (1965), were made in collaboration with an American director,†Richard Lester. Their humorous, ironic, and farcical film performances are reminiscent of the Marx Brothers’ comedies. Later The Beatles moved into the area of psychedelic innovations with the animated film Yellow Submarine (1966). Their surrealistic TV movie The Magical Mystery Tour (1967) became the cause for the first major criticism of their work in the British press. Their film music was also released as studio albums. Original music by The Beatles as well as re-makes of their songs has been also used, often uncredited, in music scores of feature films and documentaries. Some of The Beatles concert and studio performances were filmed on several occasions and were later edited and released after the band’s dissolution. In 1999 the remastered and remixed film The Beatles Yellow Submarine Adventure†(2000) delighted a younger audience with incredible animation and songs.
All four members were charismatic and individually talented artists, they sparked each other from the beginning. Eventually they made a much better group effort under the thorough management by Brian Epstein. His coaching helped consolidate their talents and mutual stimulation into beautiful teamwork. Paul McCartney had the privilege of a better musical education, having studied classical piano and guitar in his childhood. He progressed as a lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, as well as a singer-songwriter. McCartney wrote more songs for the Beatles than other members of the band. His songs Yesterday, Eleanor Rigby, Blackbird, When I’m 64, Let It Be are among the Beatles’ best hits. Yesterday is considered the most-covered song in history with over three thousand versions of it recorded by various artists. McCartney accepted the agreement that was offered by John Lennon in 1957, about the 50/50 authorship of every song written by either one of them. Most of The Beatles’ songs are formally credited to both names, regardless of the fact that many of the songs were written individually.
On June 25, 1967, The Beatles made history becoming the first band globally transmitted on TV to an estimated 400 million people worldwide. The Beatles were a segment in the first-ever worldwide satellite hook-up and their new song All You Need Is Love was broadcast live during the show. Two months later The Beatles lost their creative manager Brian Epstein, whose talent for problem-solving was unmatched. That was it, the beginning of the end, said Lennon. Evolution of each member’s creativity and musicianship also led to individual career ambitions.
John Lennon was experimenting with psychedelic poetry and art. His creativity was very unique and innovative. Lennon wrote Come Together, Girl, Revolution, Strawberry Fields and many other Beatles’ hits. An out-of-context reprinting of Lennon’s remarks on the Beatlemania phenomenon caused problems in the media. His comparison of Beatles’ popularity to that of Jesus Christ was used to attack them publicly, causing cancellations of their performances and even burning of their records. Lennon had to apologize several times in press and on TV, including at a Chicago press conference. In 1967 John Lennon met Japanese artist†Yoko Ono, whom he later married. George Harrison was the lead guitar player and also took sitar lessons from Ravi Shankar. Harrison had his own inner light of creativity and spirituality, he wrote Something, Taxman, I me mine, and other hits. Ringo Starr sang ‘Yellow Submarine’ and a few other songs. He has made a film career and also toured with his All Stars Band and released several solo albums. His 1973 release “Ringo” was the last album to feature all four living Beatles, although not on the same song.
Beatles created over 240 songs, they recorded many singles and albums, made films and TV shows. Thousands of memorable pictures popularized their image. In their evolution from beginners to the leaders of entertainment, they learned from many world cultures, absorbed from various styles, and created their own. Their cross-style compositions covered a range of influences from English folk ballads to Indian raga; absorbing from†Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Elvis Presley, Everly Brothers, Little Richard, and others. The songwriting and performing talents of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, fused in the Beatles’ music. Lennon and McCartney initiated changes in music publishing industry by breaking the Tin Pan Alley monopoly of songwriting. Their legacy became possible due to highly professional work by Brian Epstein and George Martin. In 1994 three surviving members reunited and produced Lennon’s previously unknown song ‘Free as a Bird’. It was preserved by Yoko Ono on a tape recording made by Lennon in 1977. The song was re-arranged and re-mixed with the voices of three surviving members. The Beatles Anthology TV documentary was watched by 420 million people in 1995.
The Beatles represent the collective consciousness of several generations. Millions of viewers and listeners across the universe became conditioned to the sounds and images of The Beatles. Their influence on the modern world never stopped. Numbers may only show the tip of the iceberg (record sales, shows admissions, top hits, etc.). As image-makers and role models they pushed boundaries in lifestyle and business, affecting customers behavior and consumption beyond the entertainment industry by turning all life into entertainment. A brilliant blend of music and lyrics in their songs made influence on many minds by carrying messages like: give peace a chance and people working it out. A message more powerful than political control, it broke through second and third world censorship and regulations and set many millions free.
The Beatles made impact on human history, because their influence has been liberating for generations of nowhere men living in misery beyond the Iron Curtain. Something in their songs and images appealed to everybody who wanted to become free as a bird. Their songs carrying powerful ideas of real love, peace, help, and imagination evoked creativity that outperformed the rusty Soviet propaganda and contributed to breaking chains and walls in the minds of millions. The Beatles expressed themselves in beautiful and liberating words of love, happiness, freedom, and revolution, and carried those messages to people across the universe. Their songs and images helped many freedom-loving people to come together for revolutions in Prague and Warsaw, Beijing and Bucharest, Berlin and Moscow. The Beatles has been an inspiration for those who take the long and winding road to freedom.
Even after the Beatles had gone, the individual members continued to spread their message; from the concert for Bangladesh by George Harrison and Ringo Starr in 1971, to 2003 “Back in USSR” concert by Paul McCartney on the Red Square in Moscow, and his 2004 show near the Tsar’s Winter Palace in St. Petersburg where the Communist Revolution took place, just imagine.
In 2005 the Entertainment magazine poll named the Beatles the most iconic entertainers of the 20th Century. In July of 2006, the guitar on which Paul McCartney played his first chords and impressed John Lennon, was sold at an auction for over $600,000.
Rolling Stones Tribute
Blues Brothers Tribute
Aussie Anthems
Cliff Richard Tribute
New Wave Tribute
Event Theming
>Our tribute shows work hand-in-hand with themed events, click here to check out some suggestions.
The Australian Beatles
Click here to view the dedicated website for Australian Beatles
Copyright 2008 - 2018 All Star Showstoppers.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line591
|
__label__wiki
| 0.977368
| 0.977368
|
Tag: alone for the first time
Ryan Hemsworth in Vancouver (photos)
Ryan Hemsworth played Vancouver’s Fortune Sound Club last weekend (November 29) in support of his new album Alone for the First Time, which came out on November 4. His career-spanning set featured many of the tracks from Alone for the First Time as well as 2013’s Guilt Trips and remixes from his various other projects.
Watch his set from the Boiler Room Pitchfork Festival after-party below:
By owenhannin Shows December 7, 2014 January 21, 2015 75 WordsLeave a comment
Ryan Hemsworth shares inspiration for his latest album
Alone for the First Time is out now
Ryan Hemsworth released his critically acclaimed new album Alone for the First Time in Canada on November 4th ahead of a series of live dates across North America in November.
The follow-up to 2013’s Guilt Trips, which won the 2014 Juno Award for Electronic Album of the Year finds the young Canadian producer taking a risk that must feel like striking out on his own for the first time, as one of the most exciting electronic artists in the world right now.
Hemsworth describes the new album as an amalgamation of his experiences over the past year of travelling and playing shows. “[It’s] the feeling of moving from one place to another and missing people,” he said in a phone interview from his hotel room in Chicago last week.
His “Sucker for Punishment” tour kicked off on November 5th in Charleston, SC, and includes a stop at Vancouver’s Fortune Sound Club on November 29th.
“I’m used to playing clubs, and people coming out on a Friday night are expecting to dance,” he said about the relatively quieter new material. “It’s scary to play a show in those kinds of venues and not have people dancing.”
It seems to be working, though, and Hemsworth said he’s had a lot of good reactions from people who have been coming up and talking to him after the shows.
“I’ve had a lot of emails from people saying it meant a lot to them and even people who are going through breakups that email me saying it’s good music to get over that stuff to,” he said.
If the new record feels more personal, it’s because that’s what comes naturally to Hemsworth. “I grew up on Eliot Smith and Bright Eyes,” he said about his influences. “They wear their hearts on their sleeve.”
He describes the project as a smaller LP or a bigger EP. “I wanted to make something that people can put on and not have to devote an hour to,” he said. “It’s just kind of getting lost in it for a half-hour.”
Hemsworth is well known for his love of Japan, and is one of a few Canadian artists at the forefront of the recent crossover of Japanese music into Western culture in North America.
“I’ve been following music all around the world for a long time but Japan for some reason has been a huge interest of mine,” he said. “[There are] a huge number of amazing producers coming from there who I think because they’ve grown up on different music are this kind of melting pot of what they’re hearing coming from America and what they’re used to.”
He would argue that this fusion only makes it all the more interesting for North American listeners, and tries to replicate some of these ideas in his own work. “”Blemish” is filled to the brim with sounds and weird little things that I’ve picked up,” he said. “Musical artifacts.”
Hemsworth’s recent travels to Asia inspired the music video for “Snow in Newark,” the lead single from the new album, which was shot in Nepal.
“For my last album, the track “One for Me” we shot a video in Montreal and at the time we had sort of the plan to make a two-parter video, the second half I think what “Snow in Newark” ended up being,” he said.
If “One for Me” shows how Hemsworth used to function as a travelling musician, “Snow in Newark” imagines him “retiring from music and searching for something else in the world.”
“I’ve been going back and listening to a lot of Saddle Creek records,” he said. “The band Cursive is definitely one of the main ones I listened to in the past half-year while working on this.”
What’s next for the 24-year old producer?
“I’m hoping to make a side-project type thing with a producer, a buddy of mine named Lucas who I’ve put out on my Secret Songs label,” he said.
“I’m definitely going to keep collaborating a lot more, that was probably the most fun part of working on this album, was just reaching out to people with really different kinds of voices and production styles, so that’s what I’m really enjoying creating nowadays.”
Ryan Hemsworth plays Fortune Sound Club in Vancouver on November 29th
By owenhannin Featured Post, Interviews November 21, 2014 January 7, 2016 773 WordsLeave a comment
Ryan Hemsworth Shares Digital Box Set ‘Hemsworth Country’ Via BitTorrent
Following suit from Thom Yorke, Canadian producer Ryan Hemsworth has shared a digital box set of his entire discography called Hemsworth Country as a BitTorrent Bundle. The compilation includes 2011’s Distorted with rapper Shady Blaze and 2013’s Still Awake EP, available as a free download here. That’s the album art above.
The release comes a week before Hemsworth’s Alone for the First Time, out November 4. Watch the video for the Dawn Golden-featuring “Snow in Newark” below:
By owenhannin News October 26, 2014 November 21, 2014 88 WordsLeave a comment
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line592
|
__label__wiki
| 0.583454
| 0.583454
|
Gil Scott-Heron’s ‘Last Holiday’
Posted on April 10, 2012 by Angelika Beener
“One of the things that was evident to me way back when I’d gotten into John Coltrane’s music was that you had to keep reaching. I think when you stop reaching, you die.” Gil Scott-Heron’s words are powerful when you think about the impact of the poet, author, musician and activist, (who would have been 63 years old this month), which produces a list as extensive in range as the profound gifts he shared with the world. His social anthems “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”, “The Bottle” and “Home Is Where the Hatred Is” not only elucidated the plights and resilience of Black Americans, but were progenitorial inspiration for hip-hop’s modern messengers like Public Enemy, Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) and fellow Chicago native, Common. That his impact is perhaps even greater than we may have understood during his lifetime is what is most resounding in his posthumous memoir, The Last Holiday (Grove Press). The book’s title refers to Scott-Heron’s experiences as the opening act of Stevie Wonder’s 1980 tour which primarily served as a vehicle to create awareness and garner support of a national holiday for Dr. Martin Luther King. The first and only federal holiday honoring an African American, Scott-Heron gives a touching and vulnerable account of the experience, as well a reminder of the integrality of Wonder’s work. “Somehow it seems that Stevie’s efforts as the leader of this campaign has been forgotten,” he says. “But it is something that we should all remember.”
Scott-Heron devotes much of the text to his 20s and the women who greatly impelled him. Raised by his fiercely confident grandmother in the Jim Crow South, Scott-Heron was one of three Black students to integrate his junior high school, and broke similar barriers in high school when he and his mother moved from Jackson, Tennessee to New York in the mid 60s. His views of America undoubtedly shaped by these experiences, they also gave young Scott-Heron tremendous insight to what was possible, evidenced by his becoming a critically acclaimed novelist and recording artist before his college graduation.
Throughout the book, he seems to purposely clarify that his first and greatest love is writing. The words on each page make a perfect argument for his passion as a mix of prose, poems, alliterations and vibrant analogies make for total assimilation. His words glide right off the page as he describes highly inspiring accounts of time spent at Lincoln University, turning down his first book publishing offer, and his ingenious method of gaining a writing fellowship at John Hopkins. We see his earliest signs of activism his freshman year at Lincoln, when a bandmate of his future longtime collaborator, Brian Jackson, died an avoidable death when the ill-equipped and poorly run campus medical facility failed to aid the student who was suffering from an asthma attack. Scott-Heron led a school standoff which subsequently shut the school down until a list of personally crafted administrative requests had been met.
Fans of Scott-Heron’s music will appreciate details shared about his relationship with Jackson, whom he credits throughout the book, describing him as both friend, and essential and talented partner. Recalling the studio session to record “John Coltrane and Lady Day” he writes, “All I’d had for that song at first was a bass line and a chord thing with it. I never would have been able to really hook up that progression properly if Brian wasn’t there…I didn’t know anything about suspended fourths and all that.”
Although appropriately credited for his influence on hip-hop, Scott-Heron seems most purely connected to jazz. “I had an affinity for jazz and syncopation, and the poetry came from the music.” His mentions of Miles Davis are noteworthy, and there is a definite sense of adoration for him as a cultural figure. His words are boyishly charming as he tells stories about first hearing a Fender rhodes on Miles in the Sky, or how meeting Michael Jackson some years before he would make a surprise appearance on the MLK tour was “not as electric” as meeting the trumpeter icon. Scott-Heron also must have admired Davis’ band. Asked who he wanted to work with on what would become the seminal Pieces of a Man, by veteran producer Bob Thiele, Scott-Heron’s wish list of Ron Carter, (along with Hubert Laws and Bernard Purdie) was materialized.
There are a few frustrating points in the book in terms of resolution. Readers may be left wondering what happened to his relationship with Brian Jackson, or why he grazes over the last 20 some-odd years of his life, making little to no mention about his personal, yet public struggles. It’s hard to tell if this is a matter of editing, or Scott-Heron exercising his right to let the reader in on as much as he is willing to divulge. Either way, the areas that he chooses to delve deep are well worth the read, and diminish any gaping. Though Gil Scott-Heron died last May, he will be remembered as one who never stopped reaching, and through this memoir, for the man who “didn’t want to get stuck doing just one thing”, that reach may become longer than ever. ♦
Posted in Arts, Books, Culture, Jazz, Music, News, Politics | Tagged Brian Jackson, Gil Scott_Heron, Michael Jackson, Miles Davis, MLK Holiday, Stevie Wonder, The Last Holiday | 3 Comments
Jazz Community Responds to Trayvon Martin Tragedy
Posted on March 27, 2012 by Angelika Beener
Sean Bell. Amadou Diallo. Danroy Henry. Ramarley Graham. Orlando Barlow. Aaron Campbell. Timothy Stansbury. Oscar Grant. In the land of freedom and opportunity, the possibilities for these names to become household ones should be endless, and are what fundamentally define for what America stands, at its core. Instead, these names represent a reality which has been carved out specifically for Black males of this country. Sadly, we add 17-year-old Trayvon Martin to this list of people who will never reach the potential on which America thrives in theory, but fails in practice.
The story of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed, Black teenage boy who was stalked and subsequently murdered last month by a crime watch volunteer who deemed him “suspicious” as he walked home from a convenience store, has been elevated to an international one, largely in part by social and Black media outlets. President Obama has called for Americans to do some “soul searching”, personalizing the tragedy in a statement last week. Nationwide rallies and public statements from influential figures in politics, entertainment and elsewhere have taken over mainstream media, which initially all but bypassed this story. As a mother of a young son, as a journalist, and as a part of the jazz community, it remains a priority for me to do my part in keeping this story in the forefront of the American conscious. It was also important that sentiments within the jazz community be well represented alongside those of the rest of the world.
Trayvon’s killer, George Zimmerman, (who was not part of a registered watch group, and who has a record for previously assaulting a police officer), has yet to be arrested; protected by one of the scariest laws in the nation. “It’s this backward, unjust, NRA- driven law that has let Zimmerman go free,” says pianist Vijay Iyer of the “Stand Your Ground” self-defense law which is currently in place in 24 states. “[President Obama’s] choice to step into this firestorm was courageous, and also strategic. All the focus has been on the 3-second-long ‘If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon’ quote, but he said some other very important things, too.” Iyer points out that as President, Barack Obama cannot override the law, which was passed in Florida in 2005, but says his statement that ‘we examine the laws and context for what happened’ is a ‘clear reference’ to “Stand Your Ground”.
The following is courtesy of Al Jezeera:
Here is a full explanation of the “Stand Your Ground” bill, as explained by Josh Horwitz, Executive Director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (“Arming Zimmerman”). The first prong of the law explicitly removes an individual’s duty to retreat from a conflict when he/she can safely do so . The second prong explicitly protects killers acting under the first prong:
“A person who uses force as permitted in s. 776.012, s. 776.013, or s. 776.031 is justified in using such force and is immune from criminal prosecution and civil action for the use of such force … A law enforcement agency … may not arrest the person for using force unless it determines that there is probable cause that the force that was used was unlawful.” [emphasis added.]
Despite the racial divide which this story has illuminated, President Obama’s imploring of the nation and its parents to have basic empathy in this case is something drummer Otis Brown III is relating to and coping with. “I explained the whole case and we talked about it,” says Brown who has two sons under ten years old. “It’s like, do I really have to have a talk with them now about how some people are not going to like them or immediately treat them a certain way because of the way they look? We did, and they understood it, but as a parent, it’s kind of disheartening when you see a look come over their face… you see their mind working and I saw it when I was talking to them. It was definitely a teaching moment. It’s the reality of how we live that you have to talk to your kids, especially Black males and for me, it was a crazy juxtaposition because we were just featured in [Esperanza Spalding’s] “Black Gold” video, and I’m explaining that concept to them… understanding and knowing your worth, and no more than a year later I have to, on the other hand, explain that some people think you’re worthless.”
Like so many others, Brown used his social media platform to denounce the notion that Trayvon’s hoodie sweatshirt somehow led him to a death sentence. “The stats of how violent Black youth may be or how they dress is an ad hominem argument to the Trayvon Martin case,” says trumpeter Nicholas Payton. “Zimmerman killed that boy in cold blood. He pursued a young man who was clearly more scared than he. You mean to tell me I need to modify my behavior or style of dress to thwart the danger of being shot by a pathological killer?”
Saxophonist and educator Wade Fulton Dean adds, “Let me be clear, a hoodie or any article of clothing for that matter, is not a catalyst for suspicion or a prediction of criminal activity. Let’s be real, brothers Malcolm and Martin were struck down in suits.”
Saxophonist Marcus Strickland recounts “one of many” reminders that no matter how Black males may try to appear less “threatening”, (which is a poisonous ideology to begin with) they are not exempt from racial profiling. “At 19 years old I had the great honor to play with Wynton Marsalis at a very exclusive event. People of all races were very generous to us with their kind words after the performance. I felt great! Then as I walked home from the train that night, still dressed in a tuxedo, with an instrument that was appraised to be $5,000 at that time, strapped to my back, an elderly lady looked back at me and proceeded to walk much faster and get her keys out so she could quickly enter the safety of her apartment building (she also yanked at the door to close it faster). I thought to myself, ‘No matter what I do, where I go, or how I dress my skin color will always conjure up the same image in the mind of people like this woman.’ Trayvon could have easily been me or anybody else of color, and as you see, a hoodie has nothing at all to do with it.”
“There is nothing we as Black people need to do to stop people from committing hate crimes against us,” says Payton. “What needs to stop is the idea that the killing of another person based on prejudice is ever justifiable, no matter the race. The notion that we as Blacks have somehow brought this on ourselves is the same red herring they’ve been trying to sell us for centuries. I ain’t buying.”
“A hoodie is worn by people of all colors, not exclusively by dangerous Black males,” adds Strickland. “Furthermore, not all Black males are dangerous. The hoodie is not the issue, bigotry is the issue. Although I deeply appreciate the many pros of the The Post Civil Rights era it is not an era of Post Racism, it is merely the spawn of more excuses and more subtle ways to carry out racism. The Sanford Police Department is full of it, Geraldo is full of it, and Zimmerman should have been arrested by now. Given George Zimmerman’s history of violence, his racial slur in the 911 call, Zimmerman’s agressive pursuit of Trayvon, and the eye-witnesses’ accounts of no reason for the shooting there is already enough reason to make an arrest. The tragedy has garnered a response from the President of the United States and the FBI – shouldn’t that, in addition to the evidence, be enough warning that it’s time for an arrest and trial? Furthermore, if Trayvon were not Black with a hoodie on would he be shot by Zimmerman? If Trayvon were were not Black would it take this long for the Sanford Police to realize there is not enough evidence to prove Zimmerman’s innocence? Has Trayvon’s skin color influenced the Sanford Police departments benefit of the doubt for Zimmerman? Should the benefit of doubt rule over due process and evidence against Zimmerman?”
The questions posed are deserving of answers, especially to Trayvon’s parents. Iyer is optimistic, but also calls out the silence and ignorance of right-wing media. “The nationwide grassroots protest movement formed around [this case] has been inspiring. The national conversation about this incident has been characterized by typical racism and hotheaded ignorance that has become commonplace in the FOX News era, as television commentators continually weigh in without any factual knowledge or expertise. This has created an ongoing atmosphere of hostility that validates prejudice over justice, righteous indignation over compassion, and divisiveness over community.”
Community has been a big part of this story, and it seems the Black community’s reaction is being put to the test, with a sort of call to action for how Blacks should respond to Black on Black crime. Spiritual advisor and life coach Iyanla Vanzant spoke this past Sunday on Washington Watch With Roland Martin about the pathology of Black on Black crime, and that by devaluing life, it leaves the community vulnerable to these types of horrific crimes.
Brown points out the nation’s overall blind eye to Trayvon and how devaluing of African American lives is well beyond a Black issue. “Just a couple of weeks ago, there were millions of people trying to get Joseph Kony… White, Black, whatever. Retweeting stuff, posting stuff, and now that it’s an American kid that gets killed… it’s real lopsided that we have mostly people of color protesting. You don’t really see other races galvanizing in the same way, but Joseph Kony, it’s like, ‘Oh he’s a war criminal.’ So are African kids more valuable than African America kids? It shouldn’t be the case the either way, but there should be the same amount of uproar for this case.”
“It angers me that America still is hell-bent on painting blackness with this wide, uninformed, mono-chromatic brush,” says Dean. “Blackness is not a stereotype; blackness is not a mystery. Blackness is a narrative of complexity and triumph. Professor Henry Louis Gates said, ‘If there are forty million black Americans, then there are forty million ways to be black.’ We are indeed a nuanced people. We are equal participants in this brilliant enterprise called America. The suspicions and misconceptions do harm and tarry from participating in celebration which is Black culture. And so I say to all of America, do not label your brown skinned brother and sister. For the label that you attempt to place on them can easily be placed on yourself.”
I cannot say that Trayvon Martin was a “typical kid”. Black males in America do not have the luxury of such a general, fair and balanced terminology. Personally, I don’t know a Black male who has not been profiled in some way or another. “To be honest, I feel like I’m profiled very often,” says saxophonist Jaleel Shaw. “There have been many times that I’ve been pulled over by the police, double checked at an airport, or watched in stores. Although I can say there are many times that I haven’t, the times that I have definitely stick out. Today, when a cop car is behind me, or before I even walk into some places, I sometimes feel uncomfortable.”
Cards as stacked against us as they are, I cannot help but look at Trayvon Martin as a regular kid; a kid who loved the outdoors, had aspirations of a career in aviation, and had a girlfriend he was crazy about. He doesn’t just look like President Obama’s potential son, but my own actual one. Which leaves me breathless. I have come to grips with the fact that my son’s life lessons, and those of his non-Black friends will be very different. Teaching my son how to deal with overwhelming racism within law enforcement, and raising him to be a kid who stays out of trouble in the first place, is something I am ready for. To explain how something like this can happen to a kid who did all of the right things is what I’m not.
**A special thank you to all of the musicians who took time out of their busy schedules to let their voices be heard on this matter.
Posted in Culture, Jazz, Music, News, Politics | Tagged Aaron Campbell, Amadou Diallo, Danroy Henry, jaleel shaw, Joseph Kony, marcus strickland, Nicholas Payton, Orlando Barlow, Oscar Grant, otis brown III, President Obama, Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Ramarley Graham, Sean Bell, Timothy Stansbury, Trayvon Martin, Vijay Iyer, Wade Fulton Dean | 18 Comments
Growing Up Jazz: To The Roots
Photo by Angelika Beener
March is Women’s History Month, and personally, there isn’t a more fitting honor than talking to my mother for Alternate Takes’ Growing Up Jazz series. As many of you now know, jazz has been my lifelong soundtrack. There aren’t many things (if any) that have influenced me more than the artists and recorded music I grew up listening to. For this series, I wanted to dig deeper — beyond my own experiences — to the source of my influence. Through this candid interview with my mom, I’m able to have a greater appreciation for the gifts that have shaped my world, and hers. From her culturally rich neighborhood, to the musicians who would have everlasting effects on her life, to her close relationship with her uncle, Thelonious Monk, my mother sat down for a rare interview to discuss the roots that are still impacting us, generation after generation.
Lyman Place…
Courtesy of Robert Gumbs
“Lyman Place was a very unique block,” Mom says of the one street long block, which she grew up on, in the Bronx, New York. “There was so much talent. You had people like Elmo Hope and Leo Mitchell. You had rock ‘n roll writers like Genie Kemp, who wrote ‘Church Bells May Ring’. You had Larry Locke, who wrote a tune for Little Anthony and the Imperials, and producer Phil Spector was in my sixth grade class. And we had lots of music venues in the neighborhood. The two neighboring streets were Freeman Street and 169th Street. On 169th Street there was Goodson’s Town and Thelonious played there. Shirley Scott, Jimmy Smith… they all used to play there. A few blocks away, there was The Blue Morocco, where Nancy Wilson and Gloria Lynn and a lot of folks used to perform. Then there was the 845 Club on Prospect Avenue, which was about four blocks up. Everything was within walking distance. Miles Davis played at the 845. Thelonious would come by, but I think it was kind of a joke that he would never sit down and play, but he would participate as far as his presence, and it was a hang. My friend Robert Gumbs, who was about the age of 17 at the time, and a couple of his friends were actually responsible for having regular jazz performances there. They convinced the manager to bring in this type of music. So the neighborhood was pretty rich. And then Maxine Sullivan…” Pausing, as though not to go on and on, mom seemed to be having her own revelation about just how much history ran through this four or five block radius. “Tina Brooks grew up not far from me, on Boston Road, a few blocks up the street,” she continued. “Then there was my junior high school, Junior High 40. A lot of musicians went there like Jimmy Owens and Larry Gales. [General] Colin Powell went there, too.”
Growing Up Jazz (With Monk)
“That was my normal with Nellie and Thelonious,” she says of growing up under the love and direction of a jazz icon. “I didn’t spend a lot of time in other children’s houses, either. That wasn’t really allowed, so I didn’t start seeing any differences until the rare occasion when I would, and their houses just seemed… strange…. boring. They didn’t seem very lively. There was no house that I preferred to be in besides my own. Most children want to go here or there, but everybody wanted to come to our house. I can still remember seeing Nina Simone coming down the hall and sitting on the couch and my father making some of his smothered onions. He could take the simplest food and make it so tasty. I remember the laughter. It was very normal, until people would speak to me in the street, and people would say, “How’s Monk?!” Then we would see him in the newspaper. But even going to the clubs, it was just Uncle Thelonious playing. I can still remember my sisters and brothers and I, all seated there, and I can still see Coltrane in the kitchen area eating a peanut butter sandwich, and not really having very much to say. But being the niece of Thelonious, it was always like it was their pleasure to meet us. We always felt like we were somebody. We were on equal par in that way. Family was everything, and he made sure that everyone knew that.”
Monk’s Music
“One of my fondest memories is of “Played Twice”. There are some [songs of Monk’s] that make me feel a bit melancholy. When I would play that song, I would ‘play it twice’ and many more times. And I used to like to dance to it, and one day — we very rarely asked him to play anything, he would just sit to the piano and we would enjoy — I asked him to play that for me, and then I started dancing to it. After he saw that I was enjoying the dance, he just took it out! He just kept playing it, and he just started laughing and I started laughing… that was a real fun moment.
“I had cooked some fried chicken livers, rice and gravy, and it must have been one o’clock in the morning. There was no real schedule for anything… we didn’t do clocks [laughs]. But I’ll never forget it was the very next morning, which was really just about five or six hours later, and the food was still on the stove, and I threw it out. And Thelonious came out of the room looking for the food, and I said, ‘I threw it out; it was out all night.’ And he said, ‘What do you mean?’ I said, ‘Well I figured it went bad.’ So he said, ‘So you make a turkey on Thanksgiving and you make all that food early in the morning…you eat that all day long, don’t you?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ So he said, ‘Well, because it was nightfall you thought it needed to go in the garbage???’ And by the time he finished with that I felt silly [laughs]. Because we were actually talking about a few hours, and I had never thought about that. I thought once you go to sleep and wake up… but when you think about time. He said, “Because timing is everything.” And timing is everything.
At a time where misogyny in jazz was so rampant, Monk was a great admirer of women in jazz. He also had a great reverence for the women in his personal life. Musically, he paid endearing homage to his wife (“Crepuscule With Nellie”), his sister-in-law (“Skippy”) and his niece (“Jackie-ing”). As part of the village who raised my mother, he also took great pride in this role. “He respected women musically, as mothers, teachers, guidance counselors, if you will, and he also respected their musical ear, which a lot of musicians for some reason, didn’t do,” Mom explains. “I guess just like in sports. This was before my time, but it carried on to where I would witness it: Whenever he would write a tune, he always took it to my mother for her thoughts. That’s what he thought of her musical ear. And so he respected women on every level. He was also a great protector, and you always felt the security, which is very important in a woman’s upbringing. It gave me a great sense of security and I always felt that I was somebody. Even in public, the way we would be addressed when we were with him, and without him. And he carried himself in such a way that he could demand that kind of respect for us in his absence. So I was always very proud. He and Nellie would also explain his life to us as children and over and over again as we got older, so even though you didn’t totally understand what they were saying on some levels, when you heard it again… he was constantly feeding. Because I guess he knew that we would hear a lot of conflicting stories, so no matter what came at us, we were bulletproof… I wouldn’t care what it was. And even if it had validity to it, it didn’t affect us at all. The negativity never affected us. Thinking about it now, that was really something. But… we were one. We were strong, and it was like an unconditional love relationship to protect him as he protected us, and it’s just amazing to accomplish that. They did a hell of a job in our grooming in that way. And we stood very strong, and we still do to this day. Through his teaching, we had an understanding of what money was, and what you should and shouldn’t do for it. He would always say, ‘In life, be careful what you compromise.’ Always know in all directions. Always, meaning forever and in all ways. And had he not lived by those rules, he, of course, would not be who he is. And so he could have made money many, many years before he started making money, but by not compromising, you really win in the end. So, money comes when it’s right and for the right reasons. And so in that kind of teaching, people have come to us — not just me, but my other brothers and sisters — with all kinds of ideas to write about him, [or ask about] “family secrets” and all the things they don’t know, which is a lot. And it’s never been appealing, it’s never been a question or a waver. It’s almost offensive for you to ask. To this day, if someone asks a question about him, we’re reluctant to what we give up. And so that’s in stone.”♦
Posted in Arts, Culture, Interviews, Jazz, Marriage, Music, News, Politics | Tagged Bronx, Goodson's Town, Jimmy Owens, Jimmy Smith, Larry Gales, Miles Davis, Robert Gumbs, Shirley Scott, Thelonious Monk | 3 Comments
Growing Up Jazz: An Inside Look at Family & Music
Posted on February 14, 2012 by Angelika Beener
It’s Black History Month!
Though television programming which celebrates Blacks throughout the month of February has gotten leaner and leaner each year, and an increased amount of savvy and investigative skills are required to find ways to observe the 29 day spotlight, I hope to be doing my due diligence here at Alternate Takes via a couple of very special series. I’m really excited to share this one with all of you.
Black history is both perpetual and personal, and we can look at the history of Blacks in America from the broadest or most intimate of lenses. In this next series, we are going deep into the heart of the music, with Growing Up Jazz, a unique look at the family dynamic of a jazz musician, through the eyes of his children.
We learn the most about jazz musicians through their art, as it should be. The music, after all, says it best. However, the music industry, critical analysis and brand marketing tend to dehumanize and disconnect him or her from the element that likely inspired the very art we hold so sacred — the family. The edification of family is not often the first thing to come to mind when most think about a jazz musician; drug abuse and other ramifications of societal dysfunction are more accessible concepts, founded or not. Yet, the family is and always has been a great source of inspiration and strength to jazz artists. We’ll explore just how.
It’s coming soon! In the meantime, Part 2 of A Message In Our Music continues this week, with the unparalleled Christian McBride!
Posted in Arts, Culture, Interviews, Jazz, Music, News, Politics | Tagged Black History Month, Christian McBride, Dara Roach, Growing Up Jazz, max roach | 3 Comments
A Message In Our Music Part 1: Jason Moran
Posted on February 7, 2012 by Angelika Beener
Courtesy of Jason Moran
After digesting the phenomenon which is Jason Moran, his eminence in music is even more mind-blowing once you consider the fact that he is just 37 years old. In addition to receiving just about every award, acknowledgement and accolade within the jazz spectrum, he is also recipient of the 2010 MacArthur fellowship, and has just recently filled the imperial shoes of the late Dr. Billy Taylor as the Kennedy Center’s Artistic Advisor for Jazz. Leading one of the most relevant and longstanding piano trios of our time, Moran has also performed and recorded with contemporary and legendary artists like Greg Osby, Cassandra Wilson, Steve Coleman, Sam Rivers, and Charles Lloyd. He’s a special guest on drummer Jack DeJohnette’s new release, Sound Travels; a stellar album with an array of artistic powerhouses like Bobby McFerrin, Esperanza Spalding, Lionel Loueke, and fellow Manhattan School alum, Ambrose Akinmusire. (Moran also produced Akinmusire’s critically-acclaimed Blue Note debut, When The Heart Emerges Glistening.)
His impressive resume aside, Moran’s influence as a pianist and composer is tremendous. The Houston native’s love for the visual arts has led to endeavors well beyond the mere “unexpected”. It was a no-brainer for me to implore Mr. Moran’s participation for this project; a special opportunity to explore the mind of the man who is, as Rolling Stone magazine puts it, “shaping up to be the most provocative thinker in current jazz.”
Check it out, as Moran and I share some of our thoughts based around three pivotal social albums.
Charles Mingus Ah Um
“Mingus is…I think he’s related to me [laughs],” says Moran when asked about his decision to pick this album as part of our discussion. “Only because I studied with Jaki Byard. That’s how I think of my family. Jaki Byard makes a lot of other people my relatives because I was really under him. So, considering that Jaki was playing with Mingus was when they were playing much of this political music, I always think about what Mingus represented as sort of a much more hard-edged Duke Ellington, you know?”
An artist who has brilliantly utilized multi-media platforms to express himself as a musician, it’s no surprise that Moran would rely on more than the music to impact his students when teaching a Master class at Manhattan School. “I showed 45 minutes of [an episode of the PBS series] Eyes on the Prize. It was the episode when they discuss the Little Rock Nine in Arkansas and Governor Faubus and…how crazy he was. So I showed them the film for about 45 minutes, then at a certain point I just turned on a live version of “Fables of Faubus”. It was around 12 minutes long…and then I watched the students react. Because [for] most of them, “Fables Of Faubus” is just words or something that maybe Mingus made up. There was a student from Finland in the class, and he said after watching it and listening to Mingus’ song, ‘Well, now it makes a lot more sense. Because being in Finland, my friends and I used to always wonder where that energy came from.’ I said, ‘Yeah, exactly.’ This is an entire segment of the population whose life is dealing with stuff like this. And we’re just watching an edited excerpt of people’s everyday lives. You can’t imagine what that does to a population mentally and physically. And we’re still trying to cope with all of that…even now. So it broke down a lot of people’s understanding of society and the affects it has on music. That everything is not just about a chord, or a melody or the greatest groove…it wasn’t about that. It was therapy. People were using the music as therapy.”
“You know, sometimes I go to these museums all around the world and they have portraits from the 1600s and 1700s, during the Victorian era [etc.]. Bunches of portraits…so we kind of get accustomed to seeing portraits of people other than us. And in music, it doesn’t exist in the same way, but it’s part of the reason [my wife] Alicia and I are embarking on writing a series of portraits for artists we know, most of whom are African Americans, because for me, as a composer, I mean, I’ve written a song for my parents, and my family in Texas, but wow, maybe I should continue trying to explore that even further because what if you started to document your community? Photographers document their community, writers document their community, or you’re doing it right now through an interview. And musicians, what do we document? How do we document our lives and the people who are around us? That’s how you kind of put a date stamp on where the population is. You take that moment to snapshot everything that’s around. So Mingus does that. He snapshots how crazy America is in the 1950s and 60s. People won’t know that history so frequently, but here we are still talking about it.”
John Coltrane Live at Birdland
Personally, I will never forget the first time I heard John Coltrane’s “Alabama”. It was haunting and spiritual on impact, way before I would learn of the gruesome events from which the song is inspired. Spike Lee transports us to the height of tension in the Civil Rights movement in Malcolm X, when the song is a backdrop to footage of the brutal Jim Crow South, where four black girls Addie Mae Collins (aged 14), Denise McNair (aged 11), Carole Robertson (aged 14), and Cynthia Wesley (aged 14), were killed in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Written and performed by Coltrane just weeks after the tragedy, I have often wondered about how he dealt with something so devastating, so I was very excited when Moran suggested we talk about this album.
“I was at an event at Princeton and there was a panel discussion of SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) members,” says Moran. “They were talking about how crazy it was to be down there in the South. Some of them were from up north and someone asked if there was a difference between how racism feels up north, versus how it feels down south. The panelist said the first day he got down south he was driving from the airport, and a cop pulled him over and told him, ‘I know why you’re down here, you need to get out of here. You’re down here to make trouble.’ And that cop is not only the cop, he’s the sheriff, he’s the mayor, he has the biggest businesses in town. It was that massive and overwhelming sense of danger. Also, Nasheet [Waits] gave me some interviews of Kenny Clarke, and he’s talking about being down south with Louis Armstrong. When he got fired by Armstrong’s manager, they just kind of left him down in Georgia with his drums. A black cab driver was like, ‘What are you doing down here, you better get in this car’ and he took him someplace where Kenny was able to find his way back north. I mean, you can’t actually imagine this kind of trauma that people were feeling personally, and as a community. Then put it in the context of hearing about this bombing when Trane plays that song up North in New York…it’s like a hymn or a low moan. It’s impacting, it’s mourning, it’s most dark, you know? This is something real. It’s something prominent and it sounds like this. And it’s a collective moan of African America at that point.”
Nina Simone Live in Concert
Nina Simone is someone I was late to discover. Growing up, I was enthralled with the “singer’s singers” of jazz, and had not really given much thought to the magnitude of Nina Simone until I had, as my elders would say, “done some livin”. Now that I have done just that, and more specifically, become a mother of a son who will become a Black man in America, the significance of Nina Simone in my life has increased exponentially. Moran suggested we talk about this album in particular because of “Young, Gifted and Black”, which for me, feels more like the Black National Anthem than the actual one. It is the anthem which spoke to the time, and I think this makes it personal to me.
More from Moran…
“Sometimes I think the stylist — and there are lots of stylists within this canon — they change the context of the songs that they’re playing. So Art Tatum adds all this dazzle and this sparkle and just feels like…I don’t know, like these really intricate chains from West Africa, you know? Like these amulets of gold that kings and queens would wear, and now he’s paying a song like “When Sonny Gets Blue”, and he’s adding all of this to it, which is not there when the composer wrote it. Same with someone like Earl Hines, where he’s adding these chords. So Nina is the same way. She sings these songs, and she’s totally changing the context. Certain songs never sounded so real and pertinent to African Americans until they came out of Nina Simone’s mouth. You feel like it’s talking about your experience, so I think in a way, those kinds of artists also curate the kinds of songs that they think may have an abstract relationship to something political, but then she also does this boldly by writing these other songs. So here are these songs that honor these great people like Lorraine Hansberry with “Young, Gifted and Black”. It’s a statement that marks the time in which it was written and Black Pride is kind of at its peak in the movement. So even the use of the word “Black” puts a date stamp on where we are. I remember my grandmother being in quoted in an article where she says she was colored, negro, black, and African American, all in one lifespan. So it date stamps it, which I think is just so important for the form. That you can look at the lexicon of African American songs that way. And also Nina as a pianist and how she accompanies herself, the kinds of chords that she uses, and how those sounds mix with the timbre of her voice…she was just unique all the way around.”♦
Watch a clip of IN MY MIND, the feature length documentary of Jason Moran & The Big Bandwagon’s take on Thelonious Monk’s Town Hall recording.
Posted in Arts, Books, Culture, Jazz, Music, News, Politics | Tagged Black History, Charles Mingus, Jaki Byard, Jason Moran, John Coltrane, Lorraine Hansberry, Nina Simone | 16 Comments
#BAM at Birdland
Posted on January 6, 2012 by Angelika Beener
L-R Ben Wolfe, Marcus Strickland, Orrin Evans, Gary Bartz, Nicholas Payton and Touré
After what has been acknowledged wholly as one of the most enthralling arts and culture debates of 2011, the Nicholas Payton-inspired firestorm over a post on the trumpeter’s own blog, which challenged the use of the word “jazz” has begun to marinate in its concept and mellow in terms of its seemingly incendiary intention; evidenced by last night’s first BAM (Black American Music) conference held at Birdland jazz club in midtown. Defenses were down and ears were wide open, as Payton led a panel discussion which included pianist Orrin Evans, saxophonist Marcus Strickland, bassist Ben Wolfe and veteran altoist Gary Bartz, who has been a long-time advocate of dumping the “j-word”, as jazz was relentlessly referred throughout the evening. Befittingly moderated by Touré, music journalist, cultural critic, and author of the provocative Who’s Afraid of Post Blackness: What It Means To Be Black Now, the conversation took a hiatus from the social network cosmos, challenging cynics who may have thought this argument would be fleeing at best and fall on its face at worst. “Just the fact that we’re all here about a word speaks of the issue that has been lurking underneath the surface for a long time,” said Payton. “This is not a new argument; this is an argument that has been had for many, many, many years. It’s just that now I feel we’re in a position to actually do something about it.”
Indeed the likes of Charles Mingus, Max Roach, and Miles Davis precede Payton and panel, when it comes to the aversion to the demeaning racial connotations the term “jazz” holds. Vince Wilburn Jr., nephew to Miles Davis, echoed his uncle’s sentiments from the audience, which also included pianist Geri Allen, author and professor Farah Jasmine Griffin, and journalist Stanley Crouch, to name a few illustrious figures who came to hear from Payton face to face.
Understanding the concept of disowning this term has been challenging on many fronts, even among fellow musicians, and many are wondering what relabeling the genre to one so broad-sounding as Black American Music can do in terms of marketing and selling product, as well as revivifying the music and its potential audience. Others are concerned that labeling the music by race will have exclusionary consequences. “When you study the music it becomes quite clear that it is Black American music,” Wolfe contends. “And my question is, why is that an issue? That’s a beautiful thing…for everybody.” Payton underscored, questioning why no one challenges such undeniable cultural ties between Mexican people and Mariachi, or Polka and eastern Europeans, for example.
“No one is here on this panel because we’re talking about our career; this is about something I believe in,” says Evans addressing the a fore mentioned concern. He argues instead that as artists taking such an anti-establishment stance, they have the most at stake. “I thought my house was going to be firebombed,” he joked, referring to his allegiance to the ever-controversial Payton. “So I don’t think anybody is out here to advance their career.”
The musicians on this panel may not be thinking career advancement per se, but there are many who are concerned with protecting theirs. Yet as jazz struggles through an incredible identity crisis, and very low overall marketshare (some 3% of all music sales, last I checked), one has to wonder what’s to lose. Outside of the term jazz having such deep racial connotations, it sets no clear musical indication, anyways. Jazz can be anything from Louis Armstrong to Kenny G…from Branford Marsalis to Mary J. Blige, depending on your location (the club or the cruise ship). So, while we don’t know what will come of the BAM movement, and there are definitely some kinks to be worked out, it certainly has everyone’s attention (Payton’s recent posts have garnered upwards of 70,000 views and counting). That’s something we haven’t been able to say for “jazz” in quite some time. “We’re trying to find a more suitable label for this great music that is, for the most part, identified by a very, very arbitrary and disdainful word,” said Strickland. “That’s what we’re here for.” ♦
Nicholas Payton plays Birdland through Sunday, January 8.
Posted in Arts, Culture, Jazz, Music, News, Politics | Tagged #BAM, Ben Wolfe, Birdland, Farah Jasmine Griffin, Gary Bartz, Geri Allen, marcus strickland, Nicholas Payton, Orrin Evans, Stanley Crouch, Touré, Vince Wilburn Jr. | 17 Comments
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line594
|
__label__wiki
| 0.91557
| 0.91557
|
News Briefs for January 26, 2018
News reports from the Philippines, Roseville (California), Battle Creek (Michigan), Loma Linda University Health, Australia, Ukiah (California), Kenya and Jamaica.
This month the communication department of the Southern Asia Pacific Division (SSD) of the Adventist Church announced a landmark Sabbath rights ruling of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. The ruling, originally made in July 2017, had recently been made public and allows an Adventist student to continue his studies while keeping the Sabbath. Denmark Valores, an Adventist student at Mindanao State University- College of Medicine had petitioned against the institution for penalizing him due to his non-attendance of class on Saturdays. His petitions had not been successful until the Supreme Court decision which now allows him to continue his education without having to attend classes on Saturday.
Bond ratings agency Fitch Ratings has upgraded its outlook for Roseville, California-based Adventist Health from stable to positive. According to a January 25 article in Modern Healthcare, the agency predicts additional growth and an improved financial profile for the system. Fitch has given an ‘A’ grade to the approximately $930 million of Adventist Health outstanding rated debt. Adventist Health has 19 hospitals in California, the Northwest and Hawaii. However, Fitchsaid that its real credit strength comes from its network which has over 280 clinics.
New details have emerged about two Kelloggs Co. former employees, Richard Tabura and Guadalupe Diaz who had been fired from the company for not working on Saturday and had subsequently sued the company for religious discrimination. The U.S. Court of Appeals 10th Circuit, ruled that Kellogg should not have won the lawsuit as it initially did before the U.S. District Court for the state of Utah. However, the appellate court also ruled that there was insufficient evidence to rule in favor of Tabura and Diaz, which is why the case is being returned to the district court.
Will you give a tax-deductible donation to Adventist Today?
On January 15, Loma Linda University Health implemented new visitor requirements due to the severity of the current flu season. The limitations, which are still in place, forbid visitors under the age of 18. In addition, visitors will not be admitted if showing signs of influenza symptoms. The announcement on the Loma Linda University website states: “These visitor restrictions will remain in place as long as necessary while influenza is widespread in our area.”
Loma Linda University Health physicians have earned the first-ever board certification in lifestyle medicine. With seven physicians gaining certification, this makes LLUH the organization with the largest number of newly-certified practitioners in the United States. The American Board of Lifestyle Medicine (ABLM) introduced the Lifestyle Medicine certification last fall.
A writer at Australian entertainment site Pedestrian.TV has referred to his own Adventist roots while revealing that English-born Australian celebrity singer and media personality Peter Andre left his Jehovah’s Witness faith so that he could have sex. In a commentary piece on January 25, David Adams said of himself that he was raised as an Adventist but that as he now writes for a “sweary and irreverent outlet focussed on pop culture, I think I came out of the situation quite alright.” He goes on to elaborate that “Harry Potter and Pokémon were banned at my school. We had a pastor unironically tell us Lady Gaga and Jay-Z were card-carrying members of the Illuminati, and every Friday night was either spent at home or at some preposterously hormonal youth service.” Adams said that he has become “very, very good at papering over the gaping holes in my pop culture knowledge” and that he has “managed to extricate myself from the church, its theology, and its overarching culture…” He said that he delighted in discovering when prominent media figures like Andre also came from sheltered religious backgrounds. As for Andre, David notes that according to the podcast Guilty Feminist (hosted by a former Jehovah’s Witness,) Andre gave as his reason for leaving the church “I just really needed to have sex.”
The Ukiah Daily Journal profiled the Adventist Health Ukiah Valley’s Street Medicine Program on January 25. The grant-funded program started two years ago and will, according to the hospital, be continued in 2018 and beyond. “There is an economic, societal and a business argument for street medicine. There are societal costs for people being on the street. It’s far more expensive to go into intensive care rather than primary care. Our hospital is sponsoring this program for moral and spiritual reasons, and also because there is rational math behind it. We’re bringing health care to people when and where they need it, instead of waiting for them to end up in the ER when they’re dying. This is prevention,” said Dr. Noemi “Mimi” Doohan, the program’s medical director.
The oldest prisoner at Kodiaga Prison in the Kenyan port town of Kisumu has been released at the age of 87. According Kenya’s Standard Media news site, Alfayo Gombe, an Adventist, had served a 15-year sentence for “defilement, which he claims arose out of trumped-up charges.” The legal definition of defilement in Kenya is sexual intercourse with someone under 18 with or without consent. Gombe had always denied the charge against him. An appeal of his sentence won the reduction of prison time from 20 to 15 years. Gombe joined the Adventist Church mere days into his prison sentence and spent the years in prison as a lay preacher.
Seventy-seven Justice of the Peace initiates were installed on January 17th in a ceremony at the conference office of the Adventist Church in West Jamaica. According to the Jamaica Observer, the JPs will serve the Jamaican parish of St James in Jamaica’s Montego Bay. At the ceremony it was stressed that serious crimes like murder would receive priority attention. This month a state of emergency was declared in the Montego Bay area due to dramatically escalating crime rates.
Former Loma Linda University president Lyn Behrens, archaelogist Douglas Clark, theologian Richard Rice, and General Conference Vice President Ella Simmons will be honored by the Charles Elliott Weniger Society for Excellence at its annual awards ceremony February 17, 2018. One student from each of the North American Adventist colleges and universities will also be honored. The awards for excellence are given in honor of the memory of Dr. Weniger, the former dean of the Seventh-day Adventist Seminary at Andrews University. The February 17 ceremony will take place at Loma Linda University Church. It starts at 4 pm.
To comment, click here
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line597
|
__label__wiki
| 0.61085
| 0.61085
|
Article Mayor Highlights Role Hosbec Projects Have Placed Benidorm Elite Innovative Cities
The mayor highlights the role of Hosbec "in the projects that have placed Benidorm in the elite of innovative cities"
Pérez participates in the closing ceremony of the General Assembly of hoteliers
The mayor highlights the role of Hosbec "in the projects that have placed Benidorm in the elite of innovative cities".
Toni Pérez
The mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez, today has congratulated the hotel sector of Benidorm for the effort and determination with which it is facing the new challenges posed by the tourism market and "the constant commitment to excellence and quality in their services" . The mayor has accompanied hoteliers this morning at the closing ceremony of the annual meeting of Hosbec together with the regional secretary of Tourism, Francesc Colomer, the president of Hosbec, Antonio Mayor, and the director of Banca de Empresas of CaixaBank in the Valencian Community, Bernardino Gosp.
In his speech, Toni Pérez, has transferred to hoteliers the latest distinction that Benidorm has received for the commitment it has been making for innovation in governance and smart tourism management, and has revealed that the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, has awarded Benidorm the distinction of "City of Science and Innovation". The resolution, dated April 12, has just been published in the BOE and notified to the City Council through the Secretary of State for Universities, Research, Development and Innovation.
The Mayor underlined the active and "fundamental" role that Hosbec has been playing "in the execution of the projects that are now a reality and that have ended up placing Benidorm in the elite of the cities that are on the road to excellence. Cities, -he added-, that permanently provide a service to two very different communities that live perfectly integrated, the one that resides here and the one that visits us ". Toni Pérez stressed that Hosbec "is the best example of a city that I think is doing things reasonably well".
The mayor also highlighted the fundamental role that Hosbec has been providing within VisitBenidorm Foundation, which he has referred to as an example of public-private collaboration in tourism. "The tourism leadership of Benidorm," he said, "is everyone's responsibility because everyone benefits the brand, the destination and the city."
Toni Pérez recalled that the tourism sector is constantly facing challenges "that we should not complicate," he said, "with proposals regarding taxation or the imposition of new tax rates or anything that may worsen the competitiveness of the sector" . Faced with this, the mayor understands that it must "improve that competitiveness with investment, with renewal, repositioning the tourist destination and being more and more demanding in search of excellence".
To illustrate the dynamism of Benidorm hotel sector, the mayor recalled that since 2016, the hotel sector has processed 51 major works licenses, which means, an average of 12.75 major works each year, and 168 licenses of minor work, an average of 42 a year, in addition to 2 PRI, interior reform projects, along with another 8 that are in process. "These are hard facts," he said, "that in the end reflect the dynamism and activity of a sector that knows how to manage resources and generate wealth."
The president of Hosbec, Antonio Mayor, emphasized that this investment effort and of constant modernization of the hotel plant and the private initiative, has been accompanied this time on the part of the municipal administration, accepting challenges as important as the one of the digital transformation, a series of actions that, as is known, culminated with the designation of Benidorm as the world's first certified smart tourist destination.
Toni Pérez inaugurates Port Benidorm Hotel
Monday 25 de July de 2016, 11:48
Benidorm stars in the new global campaign launched by H & M Sport on the occasion of the Olympic Games in Rio
Benidorm, ready for a Pride with more events and more participants
Monday 5 de September de 2016, 11:19
Benidorm Pride Parade attracts thousands of people in the streets of the city
100% encontró este contenido útil
https://benidorm.org/sites/default/files/field/image/20190416-turismo-hosbec-1.jpg
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line602
|
__label__cc
| 0.566687
| 0.433313
|
3 Sep 2016 13:35:56 UTC
conservapedia.com » Talk:Australia
deletionpedia.dbatley.com » Bright Software (deleted 29 Feb 2008 at 01:01)
deletionpedia.dbatley.com » Dr. Patrick Treacy (deleted 29 Jul 2008 at 01:15)
wiki.voyeurweb.com » Australia
12j.wikia.com » Seal
1990sucked.wikia.com » Terrible things that happened in 1990 Wiki
2012thetruth.wikia.com » Borneo Campaign
2012thetruth.wikia.com » Southeast Asian War
3rdstreetsaints.wikia.com » Melbourne
3rdstreetsaints.wikia.com » Wardill Airport (Neighborhood)
3ss.wikia.com » Melbourne
3ss.wikia.com » Wardill Airport (Neighborhood)
4chanint.wikia.com » Dutch
4chanint.wikia.com » Italian
4zz.wikia.com » DON 2
abandonedthemeparks.wikia.com » Abandoned theme parks
abscbn.wikia.com » ABS-CBN
acdc.wikia.com » Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (album)
acdc.wikia.com » Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheep
acdc.wikia.com » High Voltage (album)
acdcsongs.wikia.com » 1975 - High Voltage (Aus.)
acdcsongs.wikia.com » 1975 - T.N.T (Aus.)
acecombat.wikia.com » Ulysses Disaster
acrossuniversemovie.wikia.com » Ringo Starr
actionzone.wikia.com » Class of 1984
actionzone.wikia.com » Police Story (1985 film)
actionzone.wikia.com » Smokey and the Bandit II
actionzone.wikia.com » Terminator 2: Judgment Day
adjl.wikia.com » American Dragon: Jake Long
adultswimpedia.wikia.com » Robot Chicken
airshow.wikia.com » Bob Hoover
airshow.wikia.com » Patty Wagstaff
ajayproductions.wikia.com » Mark Webber
allsaintsrow.wikia.com » Melbourne
allsaintsrow.wikia.com » Wardill Airport (Neighborhood)
alternativehistory.wikia.com » Tottenham Hotspur 2006-07
althistory.wikia.com » Australasia
althistory.wikia.com » Butterfly of Quebec
althistory.wikia.com » California (America Takes All Lands From Mexico And Ottoman Empire)
althistory.wikia.com » Commonwealth of Australia (Split)
althistory.wikia.com » Korea (Eastern Awakening)
althistory.wikia.com » South Africa (Rossiskaya Imperiya KD)
althistory.wikia.com » The United Nations (Pax Columbia)
althistory.wikia.com » US News (America Takes All Lands From Mexico And Ottoman Empire)
amazingrace.wikia.com » Amit & Raz
amazingrace.wikia.com » Australia
amazingrace.wikia.com » BJ & Tyler
amazingrace.wikia.com » Chris & Alex
amazingrace.wikia.com » Claire & Michelle
amazingrace.wikia.com » Daniel & Ryan
amazingrace.wikia.com » Dimple & Sunaina
amazingrace.wikia.com » Eric & Jeremy
amazingrace.wikia.com » Ethan & Khairie
amazingrace.wikia.com » Flight Time & Big Easy
amazingrace.wikia.com » Fran & Barry
amazingrace.wikia.com » Howard & Sahran
amazingrace.wikia.com » Hussein & Natasha
amazingrace.wikia.com » Jeff & Luke
amazingrace.wikia.com » Jess & Lani
amazingrace.wikia.com » Jet & Cord
amazingrace.wikia.com » Joseph & Monica
amazingrace.wikia.com » Josie & Alex
amazingrace.wikia.com » Kisha & Jen
amazingrace.wikia.com » Lee & Tal
amazingrace.wikia.com » Lincoln & Tiến Đạt
amazingrace.wikia.com » Margie & Luke
amazingrace.wikia.com » Matt & Tom
amazingrace.wikia.com » Ray & Yolanda
amazingrace.wikia.com » Richard & Richard
amazingrace.wikia.com » Sahil & Prashant
amazingrace.wikia.com » Tzion & Aviv
amazingrace.wikia.com » Yang Qianhua & Ding Zigao
amazingrace.wikia.com » Zabrina & Joe Jer
andrew.wikia.com » Heath Ledger
animal.wikia.com » Greater Flamingo
animalcrossing.wikia.com » User:CaikCat
animaldictionary.wikia.com » Dingos
animalofindonesia.wikia.com » Animal of Indonesia Wiki
animorphs.wikia.com » The Unexpected
annex.wikia.com » CNN
annex.wikia.com » HLN (TV channel)
annex.wikia.com » KARE
annex.wikia.com » KTTV
annex.wikia.com » List of Network Ten slogans
annex.wikia.com » WABC-TV
aoin.wikia.com » Calaré
aoin.wikia.com » Lycanthia
aoin.wikia.com » Northern Islands
aoin.wikia.com » Redding
aoin.wikia.com » Republic of Arcacia
aoin.wikia.com » Rhodes
aplostapes.wikia.com » Devil Dragon (episode)
aplostapes.wikia.com » Shrike
aquamarine.wikia.com » Aquamarine (character)
aquamarine.wikia.com » Beth
aquamarine.wikia.com » Beth-Ann
aquamarine.wikia.com » Bob Brown
aquamarine.wikia.com » Bonnie
aquamarine.wikia.com » Cecilia
aquamarine.wikia.com » Claire
aquamarine.wikia.com » Ginny Rogers
aquamarine.wikia.com » Hailey
aquamarine.wikia.com » Hailey Rogers
aquamarine.wikia.com » Jessica
aquamarine.wikia.com » Leonard
aquamarine.wikia.com » Maggie Brown
aquamarine.wikia.com » Patty
aquamarine.wikia.com » Raymond
arachnid.wikia.com » Solifugaes
archive.wikia.com » Australia
archiverdict.wikia.com » Australia
arcticmonkeys.wikia.com » Humbug
articlerescuesquad.wikia.com » Dyesol
atfanfic.wikia.com » Glock Gun
austinandally.wikia.com » Disney Channel
australia.wikia.com » Australia
australia.wikia.com » Blacktown
australia.wikia.com » Parramatta
australia.wikia.com » Yamba
barbie.wikia.com » Biography
battlefield2strategy.wikia.com » Overview
beano.wikia.com » Hi, Dennis the Menace and Gnasher - Pink Glove Transcript
bendigo.wikia.com » Bendigo
beyblademetalfusion2010.wikia.com » Beyblade metal fusion Wiki
beyonce.wikia.com » I Am... World Tour
beyoncek.wikia.com » I Am... World Tour
beyonceknowles.wikia.com » I Am... World Tour
bigbangtheory.wikia.com » The Champagne Reflection
bikinirangersozone.wikia.com » Bikiniwikipedia
blackshot.wikia.com » AUG
blissneso.wikia.com » Bliss n eso
blissneso.wikia.com » Day Of The Dog
blissneso.wikia.com » Flying Colours
blissneso.wikia.com » Full Summary
box.wikia.com » Luxury box
boxing.wikia.com » Australia
bradywwe.wikia.com » Bushwacker Butch
bradywwe.wikia.com » Haystacks Calhoun
bratz.wikia.com » Bratz: Motion Picture Soundtrack
bratzfan.wikia.com » Bratz: The Movie
britisharmedforces.wikia.com » Royal Marines
britneyspears.wikia.com » Circus (Album)
britneyspears.wikia.com » The Circus Starring Britney Spears
broadcasting.wikia.com » Miscellaneous unorganized material/KARE-TV
broadcasting.wikia.com » Miscellaneous unorganized material/WABC-TV
brunomars.wikia.com » Bruno Mars Live: The Doo-Wops & Hooligans Tour
brunomars.wikia.com » Moonshine Jungle Tour
bryan.wikia.com » Ilokano
bumhole.wikia.com » Sly 3
bye.wikia.com » Borderlands
bye.wikia.com » Command and Conquer Series
bye.wikia.com » Crysis Trilogy
bye.wikia.com » Max Payne Series
bye.wikia.com » Prototype Series
bye.wikia.com » Sherlock Holmes Series
bye.wikia.com » Team Fortress Series
bye.wikia.com » Turok
caelestor.wikia.com » ARC Edition 1
callofdutyfanfiction.wikia.com » List of COD:DWF Characters
callofdutyfanon.wikia.com » Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Black Ops
camelid.wikia.com » Dromedary Camel (Camelus dromedarius)
candy.wikia.com » Smarties (Non USA)
candyeat.wikia.com » Smarties (Non USA)
carmensandiego.wikia.com » Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? (1996 computer game)
carzz.wikia.com » Audi R8
carzz.wikia.com » Toyota Camry
castlevaniamovie.wikia.com » Castlevania 2 simon's quest
cbbcrules.wikia.com » The New CBBC Channel
characters.wikia.com » Miles "Tails" Prower
characters.wikia.com » Reef
characters.wikia.com » Saw V
charlton.wikia.com » Australia
charmed.wikia.com » Paige Matthews
cheese.wikia.com » Cow
cities.wikia.com » Seoul
classicnickelodeon.wikia.com » The World of David the Gnome
clinteastwood.wikia.com » (500) Days of Summer
clinteastwood.wikia.com » Baraka
clinteastwood.wikia.com » Basic Instinct
clinteastwood.wikia.com » Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie
computersecurity.wikia.com » Rising AntiVirus
conworld.wikia.com » 4chanistan
conworld.wikia.com » Diplomacy Chart of Cascadia
conworld.wikia.com » Diplomacy Chart of Everett
conworld.wikia.com » Halurean People
conworld.wikia.com » Jamestown
conworld.wikia.com » List of urban areas by population
conworld.wikia.com » Republic of the Kruz Islands
conworld.wikia.com » Snowdonia
conworld.wikia.com » User:Tempered Empire
country.wikia.com » Oceania
creature.wikia.com » Walking Stick
crossgencomicsdatabase.wikia.com » Australia
cybernations.wikia.com » Ampersand
cybernations.wikia.com » Arrnea
cybernations.wikia.com » J Andres (2025–)
cybernations.wikia.com » Jerna
cybernations.wikia.com » Maiden's Isle
cybernations.wikia.com » Max Pikachurin
cybernations.wikia.com » Quisqueya
daredevil.wikia.com » Australia
darksouls.wikia.com » Demon's Souls
darrenross.wikia.com » Insane Tour
darrenross.wikia.com » The Stupid Boy
deathbydegrees.wikia.com » Street Fighter X Tekken
deathbydegrees.wikia.com » Tekken 3D: Prime Edition
deathbydegrees.wikia.com » Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion
deathbydegrees.wikia.com » Tekken Tag Tournament
deathbydegrees.wikia.com » Tekken Tag Tournament 2
disney.wikia.com » Swiss Family Robinson
disneychannel.wikia.com » A.N.T. Farm
disneychannel.wikia.com » American Dragon Jake Long
disneychannel.wikia.com » Avalon High (film)
disneychannel.wikia.com » Code 9
disneychannel.wikia.com » Geek Charming
disneychannel.wikia.com » Girl vs. Monster
disneychannel.wikia.com » High School Musical 3: Senior Year
disneychannel.wikia.com » Kim Possible
disneychannel.wikia.com » Let It Shine
disneychannel.wikia.com » Lizzie McGuire
disneychannel.wikia.com » PrankStars
disneychannel.wikia.com » Radio Rebel
disneychannel.wikia.com » Shake It Up
disneychannel.wikia.com » Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure
disneyfanon.wikia.com » Kim Possible Season 5
disneypiratesofthecarribeanonline.wikia.com » Top 10 Most powerful Countries
disneyxd.wikia.com » American Dragon: Jake Long
disneyxd.wikia.com » Crash and Bernstein
disneyxd.wikia.com » Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil
disneyxd.wikia.com » Lab Rats
disneyxd.wikia.com » Mr. Young
disneyxd.wikia.com » Zeke and Luther
dogs.wikia.com » Bichon Frise
dogs2.wikia.com » Australian Shepherd
dogs2.wikia.com » Collie
dogs2.wikia.com » Labradoodle
dogs2.wikia.com » Working dog
dubstep.wikia.com » Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites (EP)
earthbox.wikia.com » Continents
earthbox.wikia.com » Gondwana
ec.wikia.com » Australia
eclipsecomics.wikia.com » Australia
engineering.wikia.com » Automobile
engineering.wikia.com » KEDIKEBBA
engineering.wikia.com » Locomotive
ewrestling.wikia.com » Bruce Barret
ewrestling.wikia.com » Eddie Garcia
ewrestling.wikia.com » Kai Cooper
ewrestling.wikia.com » Matt Harrison
ewrestling.wikia.com » Richard Garcia
fanon.wikia.com » Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Black Ops
fanon.wikia.com » Spider-Man: Armageddon
fanon.wikia.com » Superman: Fortress
fantendo.wikia.com » Retro Story (レトロな話)
fastandfurious.wikia.com » Eva Mendes
filmguide.wikia.com » (500) Days of Summer
filmguide.wikia.com » Baraka
filmguide.wikia.com » Basic Instinct
filmguide.wikia.com » Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie
fineart.wikia.com » Piss Christ
first.wikia.com » Australia
forever.wikia.com » Farbs
fossil.wikia.com » List of pterosaurs
foxtrot.wikia.com » Sex
future.wikia.com » China World Map (Map Game)
future.wikia.com » FutureTimeline.NET
future.wikia.com » Iran War (A New Middle East)
futurisma.wikia.com » Antipodean Opaleye
futurisma.wikia.com » Lily Thomas
galnet.wikia.com » Antarctica
galnet.wikia.com » Australia
galnet.wikia.com » CSIRO
galnet.wikia.com » Cosa Nostra
galnet.wikia.com » Fitzroy Sea turtles
gamemasterx.wikia.com » Melbourne
gamemasterx.wikia.com » Wardill Airport (Neighborhood)
genealogy.wikia.com » Ann Watkin (1827-1916)
glitchmasters.wikia.com » Halo 2
godfather.wikia.com » The Godfather: The Game
godzilla.wikia.com » Godzilla: The Series
gonagai.wikia.com » Violence Jack
gundam.wikia.com » White Dingo Team
guns.wikia.com » M2 flamethrower
guns.wikia.com » M50 Reising
guns.wikia.com » Reising submachine gun
guns.wikia.com » Winchester Model 1887
h2o.wikia.com » Australia
habbo.wikia.com » User:ItsTorin
habbo.wikia.com » User:KaiHampton11
handymanny.wikia.com » Primetime Specials
happytreefanon.wikia.com » Colin
harrypotterfanon.wikia.com » Wuriupranili
headhuntersholosuite.wikia.com » Inspector Gadget
headhuntersholosuite.wikia.com » Jem (TV series)
headhuntersholosuite.wikia.com » Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation
headhuntersholosuite.wikia.com » Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation (TV series)
headhuntersholosuite.wikia.com » Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (TV series)
history.wikia.com » Otto Finsch
homeandaway.wikia.com » Geoff Campbell
horrormovies.wikia.com » I Spit On Your Grave (2010)
horrormovies.wikia.com » I Spit On Your Grave 1978
horrormovies.wikia.com » Saw II
howrse.wikia.com » Akhal-Teke
icehockey.wikia.com » Australia
ideas.wikia.com » The Universe of Disney
ideas.wikia.com » Vietnam (2013)
ikariam.wikia.com » Australia
ikariam.wikia.com » Commonwealth of Australia
jamesbond.wikia.com » Australia
jazz.wikia.com » Love Me or Leave Me (Donaldson and Kahn song)
jazz.wikia.com » Stevie Wonder
jazz.wikia.com » The Manhattan Transfer
jessie.wikia.com » Disney Channel
justin123456789.wikia.com » My World 2.0
justin123456789.wikia.com » My World Tour
justin1234745.wikia.com » My World 2.0
justin1234745.wikia.com » My World Tour
justin2000.wikia.com » My World 2.0
justin2000.wikia.com » My World Tour
justin36.wikia.com » My World 2.0
justin36.wikia.com » My World Tour
justin667.wikia.com » My World 2.0
justin667.wikia.com » My World Tour
justinbaby.wikia.com » My World 2.0
justinbaby.wikia.com » My World Tour
justinbeiberbusters.wikia.com » My World 2.0
justinbeiberbusters.wikia.com » My World Tour
justinbeiberissupid.wikia.com » My World 2.0
justinbeiberissupid.wikia.com » My World Tour
justinbieber.wikia.com » My World 2.0
justinbieber.wikia.com » My World Tour
justinbieber17.wikia.com » My World 2.0
justinbieber17.wikia.com » My World Tour
justinbieber2.wikia.com » My World 2.0
justinbieber2.wikia.com » My World Tour
justinbieberbaby.wikia.com » My World 2.0
justinbieberbaby.wikia.com » My World Tour
katyperry.wikia.com » Prismatic World Tour
kingdomheartsfanfiction.wikia.com » Bethlehem
kingdomheartsfanfiction.wikia.com » Kingdom Hearts:Kingdom of hearts
kristenstewart.wikia.com » About her
lug.wikia.com » Main Page
macgyver.wikia.com » Bird
mandalorians.wikia.com » Galactic Basic
maroon5.wikia.com » Behati Prinsloo
maroon5.wikia.com » Kelly Preston
maroon5.wikia.com » Overexposed
maroon5.wikia.com » She Will Be Loved
maroon5.wikia.com » Songs About Jane
maroon5.wikia.com » Sunday Morning
martinscorsese.wikia.com » (500) Days of Summer
martinscorsese.wikia.com » Baraka
martinscorsese.wikia.com » Basic Instinct
martinscorsese.wikia.com » Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie
mattyb.wikia.com » User:Mattyb
megaliths.wikia.com » Megalithic Website Directory
melbourne.wikia.com » Old Melbourne Gaol
men.wikia.com » American football
men.wikia.com » Close to Me
men.wikia.com » David Bowie
men.wikia.com » Dirty Harry
men.wikia.com » Dominik Hrbatý
men.wikia.com » George Bazeley
men.wikia.com » Hari Kant
men.wikia.com » Liverpool F.C.
men.wikia.com » Nathan Burgers
men.wikia.com » Richie Hearn
men.wikia.com » Ricky Hatton
men.wikia.com » Sergio García (golfer)
men.wikia.com » Stephen Lambert (field hockey)
men.wikia.com » The Sweeney
mickeyclub.wikia.com » Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
micronation.wikia.com » Micronation
micronations.wikia.com » Bungaria
micronations.wikia.com » Federated Republics of A1
micronations.wikia.com » Frisjadem of Nya Sverige
micronations.wikia.com » Micronation
micronations.wikia.com » Most Glorious People's Republic of A1
mk.wikia.com » Asian Conical Hat
modeltrains.wikia.com » The Flying Scotsman
motorsport.wikia.com » 2012 Formula One Season
movie.wikia.com » (500) Days of Summer
movie.wikia.com » Baraka
movie.wikia.com » Basic Instinct
movie.wikia.com » Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie
movies.wikia.com » (500) Days of Summer
movies.wikia.com » Baraka
movies.wikia.com » Basic Instinct
movies.wikia.com » Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie
music.wikia.com » 10cc
music.wikia.com » A Date With Elvis:Elvis Presley
music.wikia.com » ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits
music.wikia.com » Ain't No Sunshine
music.wikia.com » Albatross
music.wikia.com » All That You Can't Leave Behind
music.wikia.com » Amii Stewart
music.wikia.com » Animal (single):Pearl Jam
music.wikia.com » Anita Ward
music.wikia.com » Babooshka
music.wikia.com » Bad Manners
music.wikia.com » Bananarama discography
music.wikia.com » Billy Ocean
music.wikia.com » Black Is Black
music.wikia.com » Bridge over Troubled Water
music.wikia.com » Bridge over Troubled Water (song)
music.wikia.com » Bucks Fizz
music.wikia.com » Cabaret Voltaire
music.wikia.com » Calling All Girls
music.wikia.com » Cambodia
music.wikia.com » Captain & Tennille
music.wikia.com » Celtic rock
music.wikia.com » Champagne Supernova
music.wikia.com » Chas & Dave
music.wikia.com » Child Come Away
music.wikia.com » Chris Norman
music.wikia.com » Concerto in F (Gershwin)
music.wikia.com » Daughter (single):Pearl Jam
music.wikia.com » Dionne Warwick
music.wikia.com » Disturbia
music.wikia.com » Dobie Gray
music.wikia.com » Easy (Commodores song)
music.wikia.com » Faith:The Cure
music.wikia.com » Favourite Worst Nightmare
music.wikia.com » Foreigner
music.wikia.com » Funeral For A Friend
music.wikia.com » Further Down the Spiral:Nine Inch Nails
music.wikia.com » Gillan
music.wikia.com » Give Peace a Chance:John Lennon & Yoko Ono
music.wikia.com » Given To Fly (single):Pearl Jam
music.wikia.com » Go (single):Pearl Jam
music.wikia.com » Greatest Hits (ABBA album)
music.wikia.com » Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (ABBA album)
music.wikia.com » HIStory
music.wikia.com » Hail, Hail (single):Pearl Jam
music.wikia.com » He's the Greatest Dancer
music.wikia.com » Honey, Honey
music.wikia.com » I Am Mine (single):Pearl Jam
music.wikia.com » I Can't Help It
music.wikia.com » I Ran (So Far Away)
music.wikia.com » I Stand Alone (Agnetha Fältskog album)
music.wikia.com » I'll Never Break Your Heart
music.wikia.com » Immortality:Pearl Jam
music.wikia.com » It Won't Be Soon Before Long
music.wikia.com » Jeremy (single):Pearl Jam
music.wikia.com » Judy Collins
music.wikia.com » Judy Garland
music.wikia.com » Kim Carnes
music.wikia.com » Last Kiss
music.wikia.com » Lemar
music.wikia.com » Light Years (single):Pearl Jam
music.wikia.com » Live At The Garden:Pearl Jam
music.wikia.com » Live From Under The Brooklyn Bridge
music.wikia.com » Love Blonde
music.wikia.com » Love to Love You Baby (song)
music.wikia.com » Mad World
music.wikia.com » Magic (Olivia Newton-John)
music.wikia.com » Massachusetts
music.wikia.com » Moonlight Shadow
music.wikia.com » More ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits
music.wikia.com » Mrs Vandebilt
music.wikia.com » Nimrod (album)
music.wikia.com » Not For You:Pearl Jam
music.wikia.com » Nothing As It Seems (single):Pearl Jam
music.wikia.com » Oceans (single):Pearl Jam
music.wikia.com » Off He Goes (single):Pearl Jam
music.wikia.com » Once In A Lifetime (Album):Talking Heads
music.wikia.com » One Night in Bangkok
music.wikia.com » Our House (Madness song)
music.wikia.com » Our House:Madness
music.wikia.com » Pale Shelter
music.wikia.com » Paul Is Live
music.wikia.com » Pearl Jam:Pearl Jam
music.wikia.com » Procol Harum
music.wikia.com » Punk rock
music.wikia.com » Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)
music.wikia.com » Rage to Love
music.wikia.com » Rainbow (band)
music.wikia.com » Ring Ring (album)
music.wikia.com » Ring Ring (song)
music.wikia.com » Riot Act:Pearl Jam
music.wikia.com » Roger Daltrey
music.wikia.com » Santo & Johnny
music.wikia.com » Sherbet (band)
music.wikia.com » Sky
music.wikia.com » Small Change:Tom Waits
music.wikia.com » Something's Going On
music.wikia.com » Spicks and Specks (song)
music.wikia.com » Spin the Black Circle:Pearl Jam
music.wikia.com » Stray Cats
music.wikia.com » Street-Legal:Bob Dylan
music.wikia.com » Suicide Is Painless
music.wikia.com » T.N.T. (album)
music.wikia.com » Talk Talk
music.wikia.com » Ten:Pearl Jam
music.wikia.com » Thank You for the Music
music.wikia.com » The Andrews Sisters
music.wikia.com » The Best Of R.E.M.:R.E.M.
music.wikia.com » The Flirtations
music.wikia.com » The Game:Queen
music.wikia.com » The Manhattan Transfer
music.wikia.com » The Perfect Drug:Nine Inch Nails
music.wikia.com » The Pretty Things
music.wikia.com » The Very Best Of Elton John:Elton John
music.wikia.com » The Wall:Pink Floyd
music.wikia.com » The Wild Life
music.wikia.com » Thelma Houston
music.wikia.com » Turning Japanese
music.wikia.com » Unbreakable (Backstreet Boys album)
music.wikia.com » View From a Bridge
music.wikia.com » Vs.:Pearl Jam
music.wikia.com » Warning (Green Day album)
music.wikia.com » Weezer (Red)
music.wikia.com » Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
music.wikia.com » Who You Are (single):Pearl Jam
music.wikia.com » Whole Lotta Rosie
music.wikia.com » Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)
music.wikia.com » Wishlist (single):Pearl Jam
music.wikia.com » Wonderful Life
music.wikia.com » Word Up! (song)
music.wikia.com » Yield:Pearl Jam
music.wikia.com » You Don't Miss Your Water:William Bell
music.wikia.com » You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
music.wikia.com » Zoo TV: Live From Sydney
mwal.wikia.com » Camberwell Magpies Cricket Club
mwal.wikia.com » Carlton Cricket Club
mwal.wikia.com » Frankston Park
mwal.wikia.com » King Island Football Association
mwal.wikia.com » New Zealand Māori rugby union team
mwal.wikia.com » North East Australian Football League
mwal.wikia.com » North Melbourne Cricket Club
mwal.wikia.com » Tasmanian Football League
nation.wikia.com » Wine in Lovia
nationstates.wikia.com » Lingang
neighbours.wikia.com » David Hoflin
nokia.wikia.com » Nokia Lumia 920
olympic.wikia.com » Spyridon Louis
pacific.wikia.com » Australia
paranormalfact.wikia.com » Ufology
parksandrecreation.wikia.com » Rob Lowe
permaculture.wikia.com » Nut (fruit)
permaculture.wikia.com » Permaculture 101
piratesofthecaribbeanonlineplayers.wikia.com » Top 10 Most powerful Countries
piratesonlineguilds.wikia.com » Top 10 Most powerful Countries
piratesonlineplayers.wikia.com » Top 10 Most powerful Countries
playstation.wikia.com » PlayStation 2
playstationanswers.wikia.com » PlayStation 1 Games
playstationanswers.wikia.com » PlayStation 2
playstationanswers.wikia.com » PlayStation Home
playstationanswers.wikia.com » VidZone
playstationanswers.wikia.com » Xbox 360
polinapedia.wikia.com » John Ferguson Jr.
polinapedia.wikia.com » Wendel Clark
poniesandhorses.wikia.com » Clydesdale
poniesandhorses.wikia.com » Przewalski
potcopirates.wikia.com » Top 10 Most powerful Countries
potcoplayers.wikia.com » Top 10 Most powerful Countries
potcoplayersinformation.wikia.com » Top 10 Most powerful Countries
potcoroleplaying.wikia.com » Top 10 Most powerful Countries
powerrangersfanfiction.wikia.com » Jay Ryan
powerrangersfanfiction.wikia.com » Meryl Cassie
powerrangersfanfiction.wikia.com » Ryan Corr
powerrangersfanon.wikia.com » Jay Ryan
powerrangersfanon.wikia.com » Meryl Cassie
powerrangersfanon.wikia.com » Ryan Corr
powerrangersfanseasons.wikia.com » Jay Ryan
powerrangersfanseasons.wikia.com » Meryl Cassie
powerrangersfanseasons.wikia.com » Ryan Corr
powerrangersfiction.wikia.com » Jay Ryan
powerrangersfiction.wikia.com » Meryl Cassie
powerrangersfiction.wikia.com » Ryan Corr
proevolutionsoccer.wikia.com » Pro Evolution Soccer 2015
ps3.wikia.com » Playstation Home
qpawn.wikia.com » 2009 Australia
quentintarantino.wikia.com » (500) Days of Summer
quentintarantino.wikia.com » Baraka
quentintarantino.wikia.com » Basic Instinct
quentintarantino.wikia.com » Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie
rafters.wikia.com » Actors
randomstuff.wikia.com » 5D DVD
rangerfanon.wikia.com » Jay Ryan
rangerfanon.wikia.com » Meryl Cassie
rangerfanon.wikia.com » Ryan Corr
religionwiki.wikia.com » Australia
rock.wikia.com » A Date with Elvis
rock.wikia.com » A Promise (song)
rock.wikia.com » A-ha
rock.wikia.com » AC/DC: Let There Be Rock
rock.wikia.com » Adorable
rock.wikia.com » All Out of Love
rock.wikia.com » Australian Crawl
rock.wikia.com » Aztec Camera
rock.wikia.com » Back in the U.S.A.
rock.wikia.com » Bill Haley
rock.wikia.com » Black Dog
rock.wikia.com » Black Is Black
rock.wikia.com » Bobby Rydell
rock.wikia.com » Bobby Vee
rock.wikia.com » Brody Dalle
rock.wikia.com » Cabaret Voltaire
rock.wikia.com » Can't Help Falling In Love
rock.wikia.com » Celtic Rock
rock.wikia.com » Change (Tears for Fears song)
rock.wikia.com » Chas & Dave
rock.wikia.com » Cheap Wine (song)
rock.wikia.com » Close to Me
rock.wikia.com » Close to the Edge (Yes album)
rock.wikia.com » Daft Punk
rock.wikia.com » Dancing in the Dark
rock.wikia.com » Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich
rock.wikia.com » Dead or Alive
rock.wikia.com » Downhearted
rock.wikia.com » Dreams (The Cranberries song)
rock.wikia.com » Fade Into You
rock.wikia.com » Faith (The Cure album)
rock.wikia.com » Faith No More
rock.wikia.com » Foreigner
rock.wikia.com » Fortune Teller
rock.wikia.com » Fox on the Run (Sweet song)
rock.wikia.com » Getting Away With It
rock.wikia.com » Gillan (band)
rock.wikia.com » God (Australian band)
rock.wikia.com » Golden Brown
rock.wikia.com » Golden Earring
rock.wikia.com » Hazel O'Connor
rock.wikia.com » Hunger Strike
rock.wikia.com » I Die: You Die
rock.wikia.com » I Ran (So Far Away)
rock.wikia.com » I Want You Back (Hoodoo Gurus song)
rock.wikia.com » I Was Made for Lovin' You
rock.wikia.com » I Will Follow
rock.wikia.com » I've Done Everything for You
rock.wikia.com » Ike & Tina Turner
rock.wikia.com » Jangle pop
rock.wikia.com » Jeff Buckley
rock.wikia.com » Jeremy
rock.wikia.com » Jesus Walks
rock.wikia.com » Joe Walsh
rock.wikia.com » Johnny Burnette
rock.wikia.com » Kitchens of Distinction
rock.wikia.com » Lime Spiders
rock.wikia.com » Living Eyes (Radio Birdman album)
rock.wikia.com » Mabel Scott
rock.wikia.com » Mad World
rock.wikia.com » Mike Oldfield's Single
rock.wikia.com » Ministry
rock.wikia.com » Moonlight Shadow
rock.wikia.com » My Baby
rock.wikia.com » My Girl
rock.wikia.com » Neat Neat Neat
rock.wikia.com » Neil Sedaka
rock.wikia.com » Nik Kershaw
rock.wikia.com » Our Lips Are Sealed
rock.wikia.com » Pale Shelter
rock.wikia.com » Planet Earth (song)
rock.wikia.com » Power pop
rock.wikia.com » Pretenders
rock.wikia.com » Primitive Calculators
rock.wikia.com » Procol Harum
rock.wikia.com » Radio Birdman
rock.wikia.com » Rainbow
rock.wikia.com » Riptides
rock.wikia.com » Roger Daltrey
rock.wikia.com » Santo and Johnny
rock.wikia.com » See See Rider
rock.wikia.com » Seventeen Seconds
rock.wikia.com » Shake, Rattle and Roll
rock.wikia.com » Shandi
rock.wikia.com » Shout (Tears for Fears song)
rock.wikia.com » Sigur Rós
rock.wikia.com » Simon & Garfunkel
rock.wikia.com » Sky
rock.wikia.com » Sorry (Easybeats song)
rock.wikia.com » Sound City
rock.wikia.com » Split Enz
rock.wikia.com » Squeeze
rock.wikia.com » Status Quo
rock.wikia.com » Stray Cats
rock.wikia.com » Streets of Your Town
rock.wikia.com » Subterranean Homesick Blues
rock.wikia.com » Sunday Girl
rock.wikia.com » Talk Talk
rock.wikia.com » Talk to Me (Kiss song)
rock.wikia.com » The Babys
rock.wikia.com » The Beat (British band)
rock.wikia.com » The Beat (band)
rock.wikia.com » The Boys Light Up (song)
rock.wikia.com » The Letter
rock.wikia.com » The Members
rock.wikia.com » The Monitors
rock.wikia.com » The Pretenders
rock.wikia.com » The Pretty Things
rock.wikia.com » The Reels
rock.wikia.com » The Romantics
rock.wikia.com » The Spotnicks
rock.wikia.com » The Strokes
rock.wikia.com » The Twilights
rock.wikia.com » The Unguarded Moment
rock.wikia.com » The Vapors
rock.wikia.com » The Wall
rock.wikia.com » There Goes the Fear
rock.wikia.com » Tobacco Road
rock.wikia.com » Tommy Roe
rock.wikia.com » Trouble (Lindsey Buckingham song)
rock.wikia.com » Turning Japanese
rock.wikia.com » Video Killed the Radio Star
rock.wikia.com » We Are Glass
rock.wikia.com » When I Was Young
rock.wikia.com » Whole Lotta Love
rock.wikia.com » Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)
rock.wikia.com » World Party
rock.wikia.com » You Keep Me Hangin' On
rock.wikia.com » You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
rugbyleague.wikia.com » Canberra Raiders
rugbyleague.wikia.com » St George Illawarra Dragons
runescape.wikia.com » User:Cflm001/Sandbox a1
runescape101help.wikia.com » User:Cflm001/Sandbox a1
saintrow.wikia.com » Melbourne
saintrow.wikia.com » Wardill Airport (Neighborhood)
saints.wikia.com » Melbourne
saints.wikia.com » Wardill Airport (Neighborhood)
saintsrow.wikia.com » Melbourne
saintsrow.wikia.com » Wardill Airport (Neighborhood)
saintsrow2.wikia.com » Melbourne
saintsrow2.wikia.com » Wardill Airport (Neighborhood)
saintsrow23.wikia.com » Melbourne
saintsrow23.wikia.com » Wardill Airport (Neighborhood)
saintsrowgaming.wikia.com » Melbourne
saintsrowgaming.wikia.com » Wardill Airport (Neighborhood)
saintsrowhints.wikia.com » Melbourne
saintsrowhints.wikia.com » Wardill Airport (Neighborhood)
saintsrowiv.wikia.com » Melbourne
saintsrowiv.wikia.com » Wardill Airport (Neighborhood)
saintsrowmods.wikia.com » Melbourne
saintsrowmods.wikia.com » Wardill Airport (Neighborhood)
saintsrows2.wikia.com » Melbourne
saintsrows2.wikia.com » Wardill Airport (Neighborhood)
saintsrowsa.wikia.com » Melbourne
saintsrowsa.wikia.com » Wardill Airport (Neighborhood)
saintsrowseries.wikia.com » Melbourne
saintsrowseries.wikia.com » Wardill Airport (Neighborhood)
saintsrowthethird.wikia.com » Melbourne
saintsrowthethird.wikia.com » Wardill Airport (Neighborhood)
saintsrowthethirdsecrets.wikia.com » Melbourne
saintsrowthethirdsecrets.wikia.com » Wardill Airport (Neighborhood)
saintsrowtwo.wikia.com » Melbourne
saintsrowtwo.wikia.com » Wardill Airport (Neighborhood)
saladfingers.wikia.com » Salad Fingers Wiki
sashafierce.wikia.com » I Am... World Tour
sentaifanon.wikia.com » Jay Ryan
sentaifanon.wikia.com » Meryl Cassie
sentaifanon.wikia.com » Ryan Corr
sentaifiction.wikia.com » Jay Ryan
sentaifiction.wikia.com » Meryl Cassie
sentaifiction.wikia.com » Ryan Corr
shadowofcolossus.wikia.com » Ico
shadowofcolossus.wikia.com » Shadow of the Colossus
shakira.wikia.com » Loca
shamanking.wikia.com » Krysler
sharks.wikia.com » Bull Shark
sharks.wikia.com » Great White Shark
snake.wikia.com » Tiger snake
song.wikia.com » PopMart Tour
songs.wikia.com » 10cc
songs.wikia.com » A Date With Elvis:Elvis Presley
songs.wikia.com » ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits
songs.wikia.com » Ain't No Sunshine
songs.wikia.com » Albatross
songs.wikia.com » All That You Can't Leave Behind
songs.wikia.com » Amii Stewart
songs.wikia.com » Animal (single):Pearl Jam
songs.wikia.com » Anita Ward
songs.wikia.com » Babooshka
songs.wikia.com » Bad Manners
songs.wikia.com » Bananarama discography
songs.wikia.com » Billy Ocean
songs.wikia.com » Black Is Black
songs.wikia.com » Bridge over Troubled Water
songs.wikia.com » Bridge over Troubled Water (song)
songs.wikia.com » Bucks Fizz
songs.wikia.com » Cabaret Voltaire
songs.wikia.com » Calling All Girls
songs.wikia.com » Cambodia
songs.wikia.com » Captain & Tennille
songs.wikia.com » Celtic rock
songs.wikia.com » Champagne Supernova
songs.wikia.com » Chas & Dave
songs.wikia.com » Child Come Away
songs.wikia.com » Chris Norman
songs.wikia.com » Concerto in F (Gershwin)
songs.wikia.com » Daughter (single):Pearl Jam
songs.wikia.com » Dionne Warwick
songs.wikia.com » Disturbia
songs.wikia.com » Dobie Gray
songs.wikia.com » Easy (Commodores song)
songs.wikia.com » Faith:The Cure
songs.wikia.com » Favourite Worst Nightmare
songs.wikia.com » Foreigner
songs.wikia.com » Funeral For A Friend
songs.wikia.com » Further Down the Spiral:Nine Inch Nails
songs.wikia.com » Gillan
songs.wikia.com » Give Peace a Chance:John Lennon & Yoko Ono
songs.wikia.com » Given To Fly (single):Pearl Jam
songs.wikia.com » Go (single):Pearl Jam
songs.wikia.com » Greatest Hits (ABBA album)
songs.wikia.com » Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (ABBA album)
songs.wikia.com » HIStory
songs.wikia.com » Hail, Hail (single):Pearl Jam
songs.wikia.com » He's the Greatest Dancer
songs.wikia.com » Honey, Honey
songs.wikia.com » I Am Mine (single):Pearl Jam
songs.wikia.com » I Can't Help It
songs.wikia.com » I Ran (So Far Away)
songs.wikia.com » I Stand Alone (Agnetha Fältskog album)
songs.wikia.com » I'll Never Break Your Heart
songs.wikia.com » Immortality:Pearl Jam
songs.wikia.com » It Won't Be Soon Before Long
songs.wikia.com » Jeremy (single):Pearl Jam
songs.wikia.com » Judy Collins
songs.wikia.com » Judy Garland
songs.wikia.com » Kim Carnes
songs.wikia.com » Last Kiss
songs.wikia.com » Lemar
songs.wikia.com » Light Years (single):Pearl Jam
songs.wikia.com » Live At The Garden:Pearl Jam
songs.wikia.com » Live From Under The Brooklyn Bridge
songs.wikia.com » Love Blonde
songs.wikia.com » Love to Love You Baby (song)
songs.wikia.com » Mad World
songs.wikia.com » Magic (Olivia Newton-John)
songs.wikia.com » Massachusetts
songs.wikia.com » Moonlight Shadow
songs.wikia.com » More ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits
songs.wikia.com » Mrs Vandebilt
songs.wikia.com » Nimrod (album)
songs.wikia.com » Not For You:Pearl Jam
songs.wikia.com » Nothing As It Seems (single):Pearl Jam
songs.wikia.com » Oceans (single):Pearl Jam
songs.wikia.com » Off He Goes (single):Pearl Jam
songs.wikia.com » Once In A Lifetime (Album):Talking Heads
songs.wikia.com » One Night in Bangkok
songs.wikia.com » Our House (Madness song)
songs.wikia.com » Our House:Madness
songs.wikia.com » Pale Shelter
songs.wikia.com » Paul Is Live
songs.wikia.com » Pearl Jam:Pearl Jam
songs.wikia.com » Procol Harum
songs.wikia.com » Punk rock
songs.wikia.com » Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)
songs.wikia.com » Rage to Love
songs.wikia.com » Rainbow (band)
songs.wikia.com » Ring Ring (album)
songs.wikia.com » Ring Ring (song)
songs.wikia.com » Riot Act:Pearl Jam
songs.wikia.com » Roger Daltrey
songs.wikia.com » Santo & Johnny
songs.wikia.com » Sherbet (band)
songs.wikia.com » Sky
songs.wikia.com » Small Change:Tom Waits
songs.wikia.com » Something's Going On
songs.wikia.com » Spicks and Specks (song)
songs.wikia.com » Spin the Black Circle:Pearl Jam
songs.wikia.com » Stray Cats
songs.wikia.com » Street-Legal:Bob Dylan
songs.wikia.com » Suicide Is Painless
songs.wikia.com » T.N.T. (album)
songs.wikia.com » Talk Talk
songs.wikia.com » Ten:Pearl Jam
songs.wikia.com » Thank You for the Music
songs.wikia.com » The Andrews Sisters
songs.wikia.com » The Best Of R.E.M.:R.E.M.
songs.wikia.com » The Flirtations
songs.wikia.com » The Game:Queen
songs.wikia.com » The Manhattan Transfer
songs.wikia.com » The Perfect Drug:Nine Inch Nails
songs.wikia.com » The Pretty Things
songs.wikia.com » The Very Best Of Elton John:Elton John
songs.wikia.com » The Wall:Pink Floyd
songs.wikia.com » The Wild Life
songs.wikia.com » Thelma Houston
songs.wikia.com » Turning Japanese
songs.wikia.com » Unbreakable (Backstreet Boys album)
songs.wikia.com » View From a Bridge
songs.wikia.com » Vs.:Pearl Jam
songs.wikia.com » Warning (Green Day album)
songs.wikia.com » Weezer (Red)
songs.wikia.com » Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
songs.wikia.com » Who You Are (single):Pearl Jam
songs.wikia.com » Whole Lotta Rosie
songs.wikia.com » Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)
songs.wikia.com » Wishlist (single):Pearl Jam
songs.wikia.com » Wonderful Life
songs.wikia.com » Word Up! (song)
songs.wikia.com » Yield:Pearl Jam
songs.wikia.com » You Don't Miss Your Water:William Bell
songs.wikia.com » You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
songs.wikia.com » Zoo TV: Live From Sydney
sonic.wikia.com » Argyle the Crocodile
soranowoto.wikia.com » Karabiner 98K
sovietussrunion.wikia.com » Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17
speedydeletion.wikia.com » A.T.M JEFF
speedydeletion.wikia.com » Akiraw w
speedydeletion.wikia.com » Andrew kubala
speedydeletion.wikia.com » Australia
speedydeletion.wikia.com » Bright Software (deleted 29 Feb 2008 at 01:01)
speedydeletion.wikia.com » Call prevention registry
speedydeletion.wikia.com » Dr. Patrick Treacy (deleted 29 Jul 2008 at 01:15)
speedydeletion.wikia.com » K.sravan
speedydeletion.wikia.com » Kangaby
speedydeletion.wikia.com » Michael Sherlock Author
speedydeletion.wikia.com » NetSpot Pty
speedydeletion.wikia.com » Patrick Treacy (deleted 29 Jul 2008 at 01:14)
speedydeletion.wikia.com » Teknowledge software
sportscasting.wikia.com » Digital on-screen graphic
sr3.wikia.com » Melbourne
sr3.wikia.com » Wardill Airport (Neighborhood)
starlancer.wikia.com » StarLancer Wiki
stevenspielberg.wikia.com » (500) Days of Summer
stevenspielberg.wikia.com » Baraka
stevenspielberg.wikia.com » Basic Instinct
stevenspielberg.wikia.com » Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie
studioghibli.wikia.com » Panda! Go,Panda!
superheroes.wikia.com » X-men
supersentaifanfiction.wikia.com » Jay Ryan
supersentaifanfiction.wikia.com » Meryl Cassie
supersentaifanfiction.wikia.com » Ryan Corr
supersentaifanon.wikia.com » Jay Ryan
supersentaifanon.wikia.com » Meryl Cassie
supersentaifanon.wikia.com » Ryan Corr
supersentaifanseasons.wikia.com » Jay Ryan
supersentaifanseasons.wikia.com » Meryl Cassie
tar.wikia.com » Amit & Raz
tar.wikia.com » BJ & Tyler
tar.wikia.com » Chris & Alex
tar.wikia.com » Claire & Michelle
tar.wikia.com » Daniel & Ryan
tar.wikia.com » Dimple & Sunaina
tar.wikia.com » Eric & Jeremy
tar.wikia.com » Ethan & Khairie
tar.wikia.com » Flight Time & Big Easy
tar.wikia.com » Fran & Barry
tar.wikia.com » Howard & Sahran
tar.wikia.com » Hussein & Natasha
tar.wikia.com » Jeff & Luke
tar.wikia.com » Jess & Lani
tar.wikia.com » Jet & Cord
tar.wikia.com » Joseph & Monica
tar.wikia.com » Josie & Alex
tar.wikia.com » Kisha & Jen
tar.wikia.com » Lee & Tal
tar.wikia.com » Lincoln & Tiến Đạt
tar.wikia.com » Margie & Luke
tar.wikia.com » Matt & Tom
tar.wikia.com » Ray & Yolanda
tar.wikia.com » Richard & Richard
tar.wikia.com » Sahil & Prashant
tar.wikia.com » Tzion & Aviv
tar.wikia.com » Yang Qianhua & Ding Zigao
tar.wikia.com » Zabrina & Joe Jer
tengagedgroups.wikia.com » Tengaged's Next Top Model, Cycle 9
women.wikia.com » Diana, Princess of Wales
wikispooks.com » Australia
mediawiki.org » User:Ronaldbradford
en.wikinews.org » Researchers fear that an aggressive fish is on its way to mainland Australia
ar.wikipedia.org » New Zealand and Australia 2026 FIFA world Cup bid
fr.wikipedia.org » Utilisatrice:Nattes à chat/Brouillon40
gom.wikipedia.org » Australia
gom.wikipedia.org » ऑस्ट्रेलिया
gom.wikipedia.org » वापरपी:Preetham Dcunha/sandbox/2
gom.wikipedia.org » ಹರ್ಮನ್ಪ್ರೀತ್ ಕೌರ್
ja.wikipedia.org » MATSUMOTO ZOKU
kn.wikipedia.org » ಮರಿಯನ್ ಆಲೆನ್
kn.wikipedia.org » ಸದಸ್ಯ:Nelson. D
kn.wikipedia.org » ಸದಸ್ಯ:Nelson. D/WEP 2018-19
kn.wikipedia.org » ಸದಸ್ಯ:Nihar.d.fernandes/ನನ್ನ ಪ್ರಯೋಗಪುಟ/1
pt.wikipedia.org » Grupo Cinco Olhos
ru.wikipedia.org » Grigorii Kazantcev
en.wikiversity.org » Digital Media Concepts/Lilly Singh
<a href="http://archive.today/pdanf"> <img style="width:300px;height:200px;background-color:white" src="https://archive.fo/pdanf/f5b59b8f794c37a5f7eaa7b78059dc94e4c718be/scr.png"><br> Australia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia<br> archived 3 Sep 2016 13:35:56 UTC </a>
{{cite web | title = Australia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia | url = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia | date = 2016-09-03 | archiveurl = http://archive.today/pdanf | archivedate = 2016-09-03 }}
This article is about the country. For the continent, see Australia (continent). For other uses, see Australia (disambiguation).
Coordinates: 27°S 133°E / 27°S 133°E / -27; 133
Anthem: "Advance Australia Fair"[N 1]
Capital Canberra
35°18.48′S 149°7.47′E / 35.30800°S 149.12450°E / -35.30800; 149.12450
None[N 2]
English[N 2]
Aussie (colloquial)[3][4] ·
Federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy
• Monarch Elizabeth II
• Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove
• Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull
• Chief Justice Robert French
• Upper house Senate
• Lower house House of Representatives
• Federation, Constitution 1 January 1901
• Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 9 October 1942 (with effect
from 3 September 1939)
• Australia Act 3 March 1986
• Total 7,692,024 km2 (6th)
2,969,907 sq mi
• 2016 estimate 24,177,300[5] (51st)
• 2011 census 21,507,717[6]
• Density 2.8/km2 (236th)
7.3/sq mi
• Total $1.137 trillion[7] (19th)
• Per capita $47,318[7] (17th)
• Per capita $51,642[7] (9th)
medium · 19th
very high · 2nd
various[N 3] (UTC+8 to +10.5)
• Summer (DST) various[N 3] (UTC+8 to +11.5)
Australia ( i/əˈstreɪliə/, /ɒ-/, /-ljə/),[10][11] officially the Commonwealth of Australia,[12] is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area. Neighbouring countries include Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north; the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east.
For about 50,000 years[13] before the first British settlement in the late 18th century,[14][15] Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians,[16] who spoke languages grouped into roughly 250 language groups.[17][18] After the European discovery of the continent by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770 and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades; the continent was explored and an additional five self-governing crown colonies were established. On 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Since federation, Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy comprising six states and several territories. The population of 24 million[5] is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated in the eastern states and on the coast.[19]
Australia is a developed country and one of the wealthiest in the world, with the world's 12th-largest economy. In 2014 Australia had the world's fifth-highest per capita income.[20] Australia's military expenditure is the world's 13th-largest. With the second-highest human development index globally, Australia ranks highly in many international comparisons of national performance, such as quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, and the protection of civil liberties and political rights.[21] Australia is a member of the United Nations, G20, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), World Trade Organization, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, and the Pacific Islands Forum.
1 Name
2.2 European arrival
2.3 Colonial expansion
2.4 Nationhood
4 States and territories
5 Foreign relations and military
6 Geography and climate
7.1 Environmental issues
10 Culture
10.1 Arts
10.2 Media
10.3 Cuisine
10.4 Sport and recreation
14 Bibliography
Main article: Name of Australia
The name Australia (pronounced [əˈstɹæɪljə, -liə] in Australian English[22]) is derived from the Latin Terra Australis ("southern land") a name used for putative lands in the southern hemisphere since ancient times.[23] The earliest recorded use of the word Australia in English was in 1625 in "A note of Australia del Espíritu Santo, written by Sir Richard Hakluyt", published by Samuel Purchas in Hakluytus Posthumus, a corruption of the original Spanish name "Austrialia del Espíritu Santo" (Southern Land of the Holy Spirit)[24][25][26] for an island in Vanuatu.[27] The Dutch adjectival form Australische was used in a Dutch book in Batavia (Jakarta) in 1638, to refer to the newly discovered lands to the south.[28] The first time that the name Australia appears to have been officially used was in a despatch to Lord Bathurst of 4 April 1817 in which Governor Lachlan Macquarie acknowledges the receipt of Matthew Flinders' charts of Australia.[29] On 12 December 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted.[30] In 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia.[31]
Main article: History of Australia
Aboriginal rock art in the Kimberley region of Western Australia
Human habitation of the Australian continent is estimated to have begun between 42,000 and 48,000 years ago,[32][33] possibly with the migration of people by land bridges and short sea-crossings from what is now Southeast Asia. These first inhabitants may have been ancestors of modern Indigenous Australians.[34] At the time of European settlement in the late 18th century, most Indigenous Australians were hunter-gatherers, with a complex oral culture and spiritual values based on reverence for the land and a belief in the Dreamtime. The Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, were originally horticulturists and hunter-gatherers.[35] The northern coasts and waters of Australia were visited sporadically by fishermen from Maritime Southeast Asia.[36]
European arrival
See also: European exploration of Australia
Portrait of Captain James Cook, the first European to map the eastern coastline of Australia in 1770
The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland, and the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent, are attributed to the Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon. He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, and made landfall on 26 February at the Pennefather River near the modern town of Weipa on Cape York.[37] The Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent "New Holland" during the 17th century, but made no attempt at settlement.[37] William Dampier, an English explorer and privateer, landed on the north-west coast of New Holland in 1688 and again in 1699 on a return trip.[38] In 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain.[39] With the loss of its American colonies in 1783, the British Government sent a fleet of ships, the "First Fleet", under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, to establish a new penal colony in New South Wales. A camp was set up and the flag raised at Sydney Cove, Port Jackson, on 26 January 1788,[15] a date which became Australia's national day, Australia Day, although the British Crown Colony of New South Wales was not formally promulgated until 7 February 1788. The first settlement led to the foundation of Sydney, and the exploration and settlement of other regions.
Tasmania's Port Arthur penal settlement is one of eleven UNESCO World Heritage-listed Australian Convict Sites.
A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land, now known as Tasmania, in 1803, and it became a separate colony in 1825.[40] The United Kingdom formally claimed the western part of Western Australia (the Swan River Colony) in 1828.[41] Separate colonies were carved from parts of New South Wales: South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, and Queensland in 1859.[42] The Northern Territory was founded in 1911 when it was excised from South Australia.[43] South Australia was founded as a "free province"—it was never a penal colony.[44] Victoria and Western Australia were also founded "free", but later accepted transported convicts.[45][46] A campaign by the settlers of New South Wales led to the end of convict transportation to that colony; the last convict ship arrived in 1848.[47]
The indigenous population, estimated to have been between 750,000 and 1,000,000 in 1788,[48] declined for 150 years following settlement, mainly due to infectious disease.[49] Thousands more died as a result of frontier conflict with settlers.[50] A government policy of "assimilation" beginning with the Aboriginal Protection Act 1869 resulted in the removal of many Aboriginal children from their families and communities—often referred to as the Stolen Generations—a practice which may also have contributed to the decline in the indigenous population.[51] The Federal government gained the power to make laws with respect to Aborigines following the 1967 referendum.[52] Traditional ownership of land—aboriginal title—was not recognised until 1992, when the High Court case Mabo v Queensland (No 2) overturned the legal doctrine that Australia had been terra nullius ("land belonging to no one") before the European occupation.[53]
Colonial expansion
A gold rush began in Australia in the early 1850s[54] and the Eureka Rebellion against mining licence fees in 1854 was an early expression of civil disobedience.[55] Between 1855 and 1890, the six colonies individually gained responsible government, managing most of their own affairs while remaining part of the British Empire.[56] The Colonial Office in London retained control of some matters, notably foreign affairs,[57] defence,[58] and international shipping.
Nationhood
The Last Post is played at an Anzac Day ceremony in Port Melbourne, Victoria. Similar ceremonies are held in many suburbs and towns.
On 1 January 1901, federation of the colonies was achieved after a decade of planning, consultation and voting.[59] This established the Commonwealth of Australia as a dominion of the British Empire.[60] The Federal Capital Territory (later renamed the Australian Capital Territory) was formed in 1911 as the location for the future federal capital of Canberra. Melbourne was the temporary seat of government from 1901 to 1927 while Canberra was being constructed.[61] The Northern Territory was transferred from the control of the South Australian government to the federal parliament in 1911.[62] In 1914, Australia joined Britain in fighting World War I, with support from both the outgoing Commonwealth Liberal Party and the incoming Australian Labor Party.[63][64] Australians took part in many of the major battles fought on the Western Front.[65] Of about 416,000 who served, about 60,000 were killed and another 152,000 were wounded.[66] Many Australians regard the defeat of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACs) at Gallipoli as the birth of the nation—its first major military action.[67][68] The Kokoda Track campaign is regarded by many as an analogous nation-defining event during World War II.[69]
Britain's Statute of Westminster 1931 formally ended most of the constitutional links between Australia and the UK. Australia adopted it in 1942,[70] but it was backdated to 1939 to confirm the validity of legislation passed by the Australian Parliament during World War II.[71][72] The shock of the United Kingdom's defeat in Asia in 1942 and the threat of Japanese invasion caused Australia to turn to the United States as a new ally and protector.[73] Since 1951, Australia has been a formal military ally of the US, under the ANZUS treaty.[74] After World War II Australia encouraged immigration from Europe. Since the 1970s and following the abolition of the White Australia policy, immigration from Asia and elsewhere was also promoted.[75] As a result, Australia's demography, culture, and self-image were transformed.[76] The final constitutional ties between Australia and the UK were severed with the passing of the Australia Act 1986, ending any British role in the government of the Australian States, and closing the option of judicial appeals to the Privy Council in London.[77] In a 1999 referendum, 55% of voters and a majority in every state rejected a proposal to become a republic with a president appointed by a two-thirds vote in both Houses of the Australian Parliament. Since the election of the Whitlam Government in 1972,[78] there has been an increasing focus in foreign policy on ties with other Pacific Rim nations, while maintaining close ties with Australia's traditional allies and trading partners.[79]
Main articles: Government of Australia, Politics of Australia, and Monarchy of Australia
Parliament House, Canberra
Australia is a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy[80] with Elizabeth II at its apex as the Queen of Australia, a role that is distinct from her position as monarch of the other Commonwealth realms. The Queen is represented in Australia by the Governor-General at the federal level and by the Governors at the state level, who by convention act on the advice of her ministers.[81][82] The most notable exercise to date of the Governor-General's reserve powers outside the Prime Minister's request was the dismissal of the Whitlam Government in the constitutional crisis of 1975.[83]
The federal government is separated into three branches:
The legislature: the bicameral Parliament, defined in section 1 of the constitution as comprising the Queen (represented by the Governor-General), the Senate, and the House of Representatives;
The executive: the Federal Executive Council, which in practice gives legal effect to the decisions of the cabinet, comprising the prime minister and ministers of state who advise the Governor-General;[84]
The judiciary: the High Court of Australia and other federal courts, whose judges are appointed by the Governor-General on advice of the Federal Executive Council.
Malcolm Turnbull, Prime Minister
Peter Cosgrove, Governor-General
In the Senate (the upper house), there are 76 senators: twelve each from the states and two each from the mainland territories (the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory).[85] The House of Representatives (the lower house) has 150 members elected from single-member electoral divisions, commonly known as "electorates" or "seats", allocated to states on the basis of population,[86] with each original state guaranteed a minimum of five seats.[87] Elections for both chambers are normally held every three years simultaneously; senators have overlapping six-year terms except for those from the territories, whose terms are not fixed but are tied to the electoral cycle for the lower house; thus only 40 of the 76 places in the Senate are put to each election unless the cycle is interrupted by a double dissolution.[85]
Australia's electoral system uses preferential voting for all lower house elections with the exception of Tasmania and the ACT which, along with the Senate and most state upper houses, combine it with proportional representation in a system known as the single transferable vote. Voting is compulsory for all enrolled citizens 18 years and over in every jurisdiction,[88] as is enrolment (with the exception of South Australia).[89] The party with majority support in the House of Representatives forms the government and its leader becomes Prime Minister. In cases where no party has majority support, the Governor-General has the constitutional power to appoint the Prime Minister and, if necessary, dismiss one that has lost the confidence of Parliament.[90]
There are two major political groups that usually form government, federally and in the states: the Australian Labor Party and the Coalition which is a formal grouping of the Liberal Party and its minor partner, the National Party.[91][92] Within Australian political culture, the Coalition is considered centre-right and the Labor Party is considered centre-left.[93] Independent members and several minor parties have achieved representation in Australian parliaments, mostly in upper houses.
The most recent federal election was held on 7 September 2013 and resulted in a majority government for the Coalition. Liberal Party leader Tony Abbott was sworn into office as Prime Minister by the Governor-General of Australia on 18 September. In September 2015, Malcolm Turnbull successfully challenged Abbott for leadership of the Coalition, and was sworn in as the 29th Prime Minister of Australia.[94]
Main article: States and territories of Australia
A clickable map of Australia's states, mainland territories and their capitals
Australia has six states—New South Wales (NSW), Queensland (QLD), South Australia (SA), Tasmania (TAS), Victoria (VIC) and Western Australia (WA)—and two major mainland territories—the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and the Northern Territory (NT). In most respects these two territories function as states, but the Commonwealth Parliament can override any legislation of their parliaments. By contrast, federal legislation overrides state legislation only in areas that are set out in Section 51 of the Australian Constitution; state parliaments retain all residual legislative powers, including those over schools, state police, the state judiciary, roads, public transport and local government, since these do not fall under the provisions listed in Section 51.[95]
Each state and major mainland territory has its own parliament—unicameral in the Northern Territory, the ACT and Queensland, and bicameral in the other states. The states are sovereign entities, although subject to certain powers of the Commonwealth as defined by the Constitution. The lower houses are known as the Legislative Assembly (the House of Assembly in South Australia and Tasmania); the upper houses are known as the Legislative Council. The head of the government in each state is the Premier and in each territory the Chief Minister. The Queen is represented in each state by a Governor; and in the Northern Territory, the Administrator.[96] In the Commonwealth, the Queen's representative is the Governor-General.[97]
The federal parliament directly administers the following territories:[84]
Jervis Bay Territory, a naval base and sea port for the national capital in land that was formerly part of New South Wales
The external territory of Norfolk Island previously exercised considerable autonomy under the Norfolk Island Act 1979 through its own legislative assembly and an Administrator to represent the Queen.[98] In 2015, the Commonwealth Parliament abolished self-government, integrating Norfolk Island into the Australian tax and welfare systems and replacing its legislative assembly with a council.[99]
Macquarie Island is administered by Tasmania, and Lord Howe Island by New South Wales.
Foreign relations and military
Main articles: Foreign relations of Australia and Australian Defence Force
Australian Army soldiers conducting a foot patrol during a joint training exercise with US forces in Shoalwater Bay (2007).
Over recent decades, Australia's foreign relations have been driven by a close association with the United States through the ANZUS pact, and by a desire to develop relationships with Asia and the Pacific, particularly through ASEAN and the Pacific Islands Forum. In 2005 Australia secured an inaugural seat at the East Asia Summit following its accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, and in 2011 attended the Sixth East Asia Summit in Indonesia. Australia is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, in which the Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings provide the main forum for co-operation.[100]
Australia has pursued the cause of international trade liberalisation.[101] It led the formation of the Cairns Group and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.[102][103] Australia is a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Trade Organization,[104][105] and has pursued several major bilateral free trade agreements, most recently the Australia–United States Free Trade Agreement[106] and Closer Economic Relations with New Zealand,[107] with another free trade agreement being negotiated with China—the Australia–China Free Trade Agreement—and Japan,[108] South Korea in 2011,[109][110] Australia–Chile Free Trade Agreement, and as of November 2015 has put the Trans-Pacific Partnership before parliament for ratification.[111]
Along with New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Malaysia and Singapore, Australia is party to the Five Power Defence Arrangements, a regional defence agreement. A founding member country of the United Nations, Australia is strongly committed to multilateralism[112] and maintains an international aid program under which some 60 countries receive assistance. The 2005–06 budget provides A$2.5 billion for development assistance.[113] Australia ranks fifteenth overall in the Center for Global Development's 2012 Commitment to Development Index.[114]
Australia's armed forces—the Australian Defence Force (ADF)—comprise the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), the Australian Army and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), in total numbering 81,214 personnel (including 57,982 regulars and 23,232 reservists) as of November 2015. The titular role of Commander-in-Chief is vested in the Governor-General, who appoints a Chief of the Defence Force from one of the armed services on the advice of the government.[115] Day-to-day force operations are under the command of the Chief, while broader administration and the formulation of defence policy is undertaken by the Minister and Department of Defence.
In the 2015–16 budget, defence spending was A$31.9 billion or 1.92% of GDP,[116] representing the 13th largest defence budget.[117] Australia has been involved in UN and regional peacekeeping, disaster relief and armed conflict, including the 2003 invasion of Iraq; it currently has deployed about 2,241 personnel in varying capacities to 12 international operations in areas including Iraq and Afghanistan.[118]
Geography and climate
Main articles: Geography of Australia, Climate of Australia, and Geology of Australia
Climatic zones in Australia.[N 4]
Subtropical
Australia's landmass of 7,617,930 square kilometres (2,941,300 sq mi)[119] is on the Indo-Australian Plate. Surrounded by the Indian and Pacific oceans,[N 5] it is separated from Asia by the Arafura and Timor seas, with the Coral Sea lying off the Queensland coast, and the Tasman Sea lying between Australia and New Zealand. The world's smallest continent[121] and sixth largest country by total area,[122] Australia—owing to its size and isolation—is often dubbed the "island continent",[123] and is sometimes considered the world's largest island.[124] Australia has 34,218 kilometres (21,262 mi) of coastline (excluding all offshore islands),[125] and claims an extensive Exclusive Economic Zone of 8,148,250 square kilometres (3,146,060 sq mi). This exclusive economic zone does not include the Australian Antarctic Territory.[126] Apart from Macquarie Island, Australia lies between latitudes 9° and 44°S, and longitudes 112° and 154°E.
The Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral reef,[127] lies a short distance off the north-east coast and extends for over 2,000 kilometres (1,240 mi). Mount Augustus, claimed to be the world's largest monolith,[128] is located in Western Australia. At 2,228 metres (7,310 ft), Mount Kosciuszko on the Great Dividing Range is the highest mountain on the Australian mainland. Even taller are Mawson Peak (at 2,745 metres or 9,006 feet), on the remote Australian territory of Heard Island, and, in the Australian Antarctic Territory, Mount McClintock and Mount Menzies, at 3,492 metres (11,457 ft) and 3,355 metres (11,007 ft) respectively.[129]
Coral of the Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral reef system.
Australia's size gives it a wide variety of landscapes, with tropical rainforests in the north-east, mountain ranges in the south-east, south-west and east, and dry desert in the centre.[130] It is the flattest continent,[131] with the oldest and least fertile soils;[132][133] desert or semi-arid land commonly known as the outback makes up by far the largest portion of land.[134] The driest inhabited continent, its annual rainfall averaged over continental area is less than 500 mm.[135] The population density, 2.8 inhabitants per square kilometre, is among the lowest in the world,[136] although a large proportion of the population lives along the temperate south-eastern coastline.[137]
Eastern Australia is marked by the Great Dividing Range, which runs parallel to the coast of Queensland, New South Wales and much of Victoria. The name is not strictly accurate, because parts of the range consist of low hills, and the highlands are typically no more than 1,600 metres (5,249 ft) in height.[138] The coastal uplands and a belt of Brigalow grasslands lie between the coast and the mountains, while inland of the dividing range are large areas of grassland.[138][139] These include the western plains of New South Wales, and the Einasleigh Uplands, Barkly Tableland, and Mulga Lands of inland Queensland. The northernmost point of the east coast is the tropical-rainforested Cape York Peninsula.[140][141][142][143]
Topographic map of Australia. Dark green represents the lowest elevation and dark brown the highest
The landscapes of the Top End and the Gulf Country—with their tropical climate—include forest, woodland, wetland, grassland, rainforest and desert.[144][145][146] At the north-west corner of the continent are the sandstone cliffs and gorges of The Kimberley, and below that the Pilbara. To the south of these and inland, lie more areas of grassland: the Ord Victoria Plain and the Western Australian Mulga shrublands.[147][148][149] At the heart of the country are the uplands of central Australia. Prominent features of the centre and south include Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock), the famous sandstone monolith, and the inland Simpson, Tirari and Sturt Stony, Gibson, Great Sandy, Tanami, and Great Victoria deserts, with the famous Nullarbor Plain on the southern coast.[150][151][152][153]
The climate of Australia is significantly influenced by ocean currents, including the Indian Ocean Dipole and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, which is correlated with periodic drought, and the seasonal tropical low-pressure system that produces cyclones in northern Australia.[154][155] These factors cause rainfall to vary markedly from year to year. Much of the northern part of the country has a tropical, predominantly summer-rainfall (monsoon) climate.[135] The south-west corner of the country has a Mediterranean climate.[156] Much of the south-east (including Tasmania) is temperate.[135]
Main article: Environment of Australia
See also: Fauna of Australia, Flora of Australia, and Fungi of Australia
The koala and the Eucalyptus form an iconic Australian pair.
Although most of Australia is semi-arid or desert, it includes a diverse range of habitats from alpine heaths to tropical rainforests, and is recognised as a megadiverse country. Fungi typify that diversity; an estimated 250,000 species—of which only 5% have been described—occur in Australia.[157] Because of the continent's great age, extremely variable weather patterns, and long-term geographic isolation, much of Australia's biota is unique. About 85% of flowering plants, 84% of mammals, more than 45% of birds, and 89% of in-shore, temperate-zone fish are endemic.[158] Australia has the greatest number of reptiles of any country, with 755 species.[159]
Australian forests are mostly made up of evergreen species, particularly eucalyptus trees in the less arid regions; wattles replace them as the dominant species in drier regions and deserts.[160] Among well-known Australian animals are the monotremes (the platypus and echidna); a host of marsupials, including the kangaroo, koala, and wombat, and birds such as the emu and the kookaburra.[160] Australia is home to many dangerous animals including some of the most venomous snakes in the world.[161] The dingo was introduced by Austronesian people who traded with Indigenous Australians around 3000 BCE.[162] Many animal and plant species became extinct soon after first human settlement,[163] including the Australian megafauna; others have disappeared since European settlement, among them the thylacine.[164][165]
Many of Australia's ecoregions, and the species within those regions, are threatened by human activities and introduced animal, chromistan, fungal and plant species.[166] All these factors have led to Australia having the highest mammal extinction rate of any country in the world.[167] The federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 is the legal framework for the protection of threatened species.[168] Numerous protected areas have been created under the National Strategy for the Conservation of Australia's Biological Diversity to protect and preserve unique ecosystems;[169][170] 65 wetlands are listed under the Ramsar Convention,[171] and 16 natural World Heritage Sites have been established.[172] Australia was ranked 3rd out of 178 countries in the world on the 2014 Environmental Performance Index.[173]
Main article: Environmental issues in Australia
See also: Climate change in Australia
Drought affecting Lake Hume on the Upper Murray River
Protection of the environment is a major political issue in Australia.[174][175] In 2007, the First Rudd Government signed the instrument of ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. Nevertheless, Australia's carbon dioxide emissions per capita are among the highest in the world, lower than those of only a few other industrialised nations.[176] Rainfall in southwestern Australia has decreased by 10–20% since the 1970s, while southeastern Australia has also experienced a moderate decline since the 1990s.[177]
According to the Bureau of Meteorology's 2011 Australian Climate Statement, Australia had lower than average temperatures in 2011 as a consequence of a La Niña weather pattern; however, "the country's 10-year average continues to demonstrate the rising trend in temperatures, with 2002–2011 likely to rank in the top two warmest 10-year periods on record for Australia, at 0.52 °C (0.94 °F) above the long-term average".[178] Furthermore, 2014 was Australia's third warmest year since national temperature observations commenced in 1910.[179][180] Water restrictions are frequently in place in many regions and cities of Australia in response to chronic shortages due to urban population increases and localised drought.[181][182] Throughout much of the continent, major flooding regularly follows extended periods of drought, flushing out inland river systems, overflowing dams and inundating large inland flood plains, as occurred throughout Eastern Australia in 2010, 2011 and 2012 after the 2000s Australian drought.
A carbon tax was introduced in 2012 and helped to reduce Australia's emissions but was scrapped in 2014 under the Liberal Government.[183] Since the carbon tax was repealed, emissions have again continued to rise.[184]
Australian biota has been severely impacted by changes occurring since European settlement began in 1788,[185] with more than 10% of mammal species lost in the past 225 years.[186] There have also been 23 bird species or subspecies,[187] 4 amphibians and more than 60 plant species known to be lost during this period.[185] The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act of 1999 was designed to minimise further impacts on ecological communities in Australia and its territories.[188]
Main article: Economy of Australia
See also: Economic history of Australia, Median household income in Australia and New Zealand, and Transport in Australia
The Super Pit gold mine in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, is the nation's largest open cut mine.[189]
Australia is a wealthy country; it generates its income from various sources including mining-related exports, telecommunications, banking and manufacturing.[190][191][192] It has a market economy, a relatively high GDP per capita, and a relatively low rate of poverty. In terms of average wealth, Australia ranked second in the world after Switzerland in 2013, although the nation's poverty rate increased from 10.2% to 11.8%, from 2000/01 to 2013.[193][194] It was identified by the Credit Suisse Research Institute as the nation with the highest median wealth in the world and the second-highest average wealth per adult in 2013.[193]
The Australian dollar is the currency for the nation, including Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru, and Tuvalu. With the 2006 merger of the Australian Stock Exchange and the Sydney Futures Exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange became the ninth largest in the world.[195]
Ranked third in the Index of Economic Freedom (2010),[196] Australia is the world's twelfth largest economy and has the fifth highest per capita GDP (nominal) at $66,984. The country was ranked second in the United Nations 2011 Human Development Index and first in Legatum's 2008 Prosperity Index.[197] All of Australia's major cities fare well in global comparative livability surveys;[198] Melbourne reached top spot for the fourth year in a row on The Economist's 2014 list of the world's most liveable cities, followed by Adelaide, Sydney, and Perth in the fifth, seventh, and ninth places respectively.[199] Total government debt in Australia is about $190 billion[200] – 20% of GDP in 2010.[201] Australia has among the highest house prices and some of the highest household debt levels in the world.[202]
Destination and value of Australian exports in 2006[203]
An emphasis on exporting commodities rather than manufactured goods has underpinned a significant increase in Australia's terms of trade since the start of the 21st century, due to rising commodity prices. Australia has a balance of payments that is more than 7% of GDP negative, and has had persistently large current account deficits for more than 50 years.[204] Australia has grown at an average annual rate of 3.6% for over 15 years, in comparison to the OECD annual average of 2.5%.[204] Australia was the only advanced economy not to experience a recession due to the global financial downturn in 2008–2009.[205] However, the economies of six of Australia's major trading partners have been in recession, which in turn has affected Australia, significantly hampering its economic growth in recent years.[206][207] From 2012 to early 2013, Australia's national economy grew, but some non-mining states and Australia's non-mining economy experienced a recession.[208][209][210]
The Hawke Government floated the Australian dollar in 1983 and partially deregulated the financial system.[211] The Howard Government followed with a partial deregulation of the labour market and the further privatisation of state-owned businesses, most notably in the telecommunications industry.[212] The indirect tax system was substantially changed in July 2000 with the introduction of a 10% Goods and Services Tax (GST).[213] In Australia's tax system, personal and company income tax are the main sources of government revenue.[214]
In May 2012, there were 11,537,900 people employed (either full- or part-time), with an unemployment rate of 5.1%.[215] Youth unemployment (15–24) stood at 11.2%.[215] Data released in mid-November 2013 showed that the number of welfare recipients had grown by 55%. In 2007 228,621 Newstart unemployment allowance recipients were registered, a total that increased to 646,414 in March 2013.[216] According to the Graduate Careers Survey, full-time employment for newly qualified professionals from various occupations has declined since 2011 but it increases for graduates three years after graduation.[217][218]
Since 2008, inflation has typically been 2–3% and the base interest rate 5–6%. The service sector of the economy, including tourism, education, and financial services, accounts for about 70% of GDP.[219] Rich in natural resources, Australia is a major exporter of agricultural products, particularly wheat and wool, minerals such as iron-ore and gold, and energy in the forms of liquified natural gas and coal. Although agriculture and natural resources account for only 3% and 5% of GDP respectively, they contribute substantially to export performance. Australia's largest export markets are Japan, China, the US, South Korea, and New Zealand.[220] Australia is the world's fourth largest exporter of wine, and the wine industry contributes $5.5 billion per year to the nation's economy.[221]
Main articles: Demographics of Australia, Immigration to Australia, and List of cities in Australia by population
Australia has one of the world's most highly urbanised populations with the majority living in metropolitan cities on the coast. (Pictured: Gold Coast beach and skyline, Queensland).
Until the Second World War, the vast majority of settlers and immigrants came from the British Isles, and a majority of Australians have some British or Irish ancestry. In the 2011 Australian census, the most commonly nominated ancestries were English (36.1%), Australian (35.4%),[222] Irish (10.4%), Scottish (8.9%), Italian (4.6%), German (4.5%), Chinese (4.3%), Indian (2.0%), Greek (1.9%), and Dutch (1.7%).[223]
Australia's population has quadrupled since the end of World War I,[224] much of this increase from immigration. Following World War II and through to 2000, almost 5.9 million of the total population settled in the country as new immigrants, meaning that nearly two out of every seven Australians were born in another country.[225] Most immigrants are skilled,[226] but the immigration quota includes categories for family members and refugees.[226] By 2050, Australia's population is currently projected to reach around 42 million.[227] Nevertheless, its population density, 2.8 inhabitants per square kilometre, remains among the lowest in the world.[136] As such, Australians have more living space per person than the inhabitants of any other nation.[228]
In 2011, 24.6% of Australians were born elsewhere and 43.1% of people had at least one overseas-born parent;[229] the five largest immigrant groups were those from the United Kingdom, New Zealand, China, India, and Vietnam.[230] Following the abolition of the White Australia policy in 1973, numerous government initiatives have been established to encourage and promote racial harmony based on a policy of multiculturalism.[231] In 2005–06, more than 131,000 people emigrated to Australia, mainly from Asia and Oceania.[232] The migration target for 2012–13 is 190,000,[233] compared to 67,900 in 1998–99.[234]
The Indigenous population—Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders—was counted at 548,370 (2.5% of the total population) in 2011,[235] a significant increase from 115,953 in the 1976 census.[236] The increase is partly due to many people with Indigenous heritage previously having been overlooked by the census due to undercount and cases where their Indigenous status had not been recorded on the form. Indigenous Australians experience higher than average rates of imprisonment and unemployment, lower levels of education, and life expectancies for males and females that are, respectively, 11 and 17 years lower than those of non-indigenous Australians.[220][237][238] Some remote Indigenous communities have been described as having "failed state"-like conditions.[239]
In common with many other developed countries, Australia is experiencing a demographic shift towards an older population, with more retirees and fewer people of working age. In 2004, the average age of the civilian population was 38.8 years.[240] A large number of Australians (759,849 for the period 2002–03;[241] 1 million or 5% of the total population in 2005[242]) live outside their home country.
Largest cities or towns in Australia
June 2014 Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates[243]
Melbourne 1 Sydney NSW 4,840,628 11 Hobart TAS 219,243
2 Melbourne VIC 4,440,328 12 Geelong VIC 184,182
3 Brisbane QLD 2,274,560 13 Townsville QLD 178,649
4 Perth WA 2,021,203 14 Cairns QLD 146,778
5 Adelaide SA 1,304,631 15 Darwin NT 140,386
6 Gold Coast–Tweed Heads QLD/NSW 614,379 16 Toowoomba QLD 113,625
7 Newcastle–Maitland NSW 430,755 17 Ballarat VIC 98,543
8 Canberra–Queanbeyan ACT/NSW 422,510 18 Bendigo VIC 91,692
9 Sunshine Coast QLD 297,380 19 Albury–Wodonga NSW/VIC 87,890
10 Wollongong NSW 289,236 20 Launceston TAS 86,393
Main article: Languages of Australia
Although Australia has no official language, English has always been entrenched as the de facto national language.[2] Australian English is a major variety of the language with a distinctive accent and lexicon,[244] and differs slightly from other varieties of English in grammar and spelling.[245] General Australian serves as the standard dialect. According to the 2011 census, English is the only language spoken in the home for close to 81% of the population. The next most common languages spoken at home are Mandarin (1.7%), Italian (1.5%), Arabic (1.4%), Cantonese (1.3%), Greek (1.3%), and Vietnamese (1.2%);[230] a considerable proportion of first- and second-generation migrants are bilingual. A 2010–2011 study by the Australia Early Development Index found the most common language spoken by children after English was Arabic, followed by Vietnamese, Greek, Chinese, and Hindi.[246][247]
Over 250 Indigenous Australian languages are thought to have existed at the time of first European contact, of which less than 20 are still in daily use by all age groups.[248][249] About 110 others are spoken exclusively by older people.[249] At the time of the 2006 census, 52,000 Indigenous Australians, representing 12% of the Indigenous population, reported that they spoke an Indigenous language at home.[250] Australia has a sign language known as Auslan, which is the main language of about 5,500 deaf people.[251]
Main article: Religion in Australia
Religion in Australia[230]
Religion Percent
Undefined or not stated
Australia has no state religion; Section 116 of the Australian Constitution prohibits the federal government from making any law to establish any religion, impose any religious observance, or prohibit the free exercise of any religion.[252] In the 2011 census, 61.1% of Australians were counted as Christian, including 25.3% as Roman Catholic and 17.1% as Anglican; 22.3% of the population reported having "no religion"; 7.2% identify with non-Christian religions, the largest of these being Buddhism (2.5%), followed by Islam (2.2%), Hinduism (1.3%) and Judaism (0.5%). The remaining 9.4% of the population did not provide an adequate answer.[230]
Before European settlement, the animist beliefs of Australia's indigenous people had been practised for many thousands of years. Mainland Aboriginal Australians' spirituality is known as the Dreamtime and it places a heavy emphasis on belonging to the land. The collection of stories that it contains shaped Aboriginal law and customs. Aboriginal art, story and dance continue to draw on these spiritual traditions. The spirituality and customs of Torres Strait Islanders, who inhabit the islands between Australia and New Guinea, reflected their Melanesian origins and dependence on the sea. The 1996 Australian census counted more than 7000 respondents as followers of a traditional Aboriginal religion.[253]
Since the arrival of the First Fleet of British ships in 1788, Christianity has grown to be the major religion practised in Australia. Christian churches have played an integral role in the development of education, health and welfare services in Australia. For much of Australian history the Church of England (now known as the Anglican Church of Australia) was the largest religious denomination. However, multicultural immigration has contributed to a decline in its relative position, and the Roman Catholic Church has benefitted from recent immigration to become the largest group. Similarly, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism have all grown in Australia over the past half-century.[254]
Australia has one of the lowest levels of religious adherence in the world.[255] In 2001, only 8.8% of Australians attended church on a weekly basis.[256]
Main article: Education in Australia
Five Australian universities rank in the top 50 of the QS World University Rankings, including the Australian National University (19th).[257]
School attendance, or registration for home schooling,[258] is compulsory throughout Australia. Education is the responsibility of the individual states and territories[259] so the rules vary between states, but in general children are required to attend school from the age of about 5 until about 16.[260][261] In some states (e.g., Western Australia,[262] the Northern Territory[263] and New South Wales[264][265]), children aged 16–17 are required to either attend school or participate in vocational training, such as an apprenticeship.
Australia has an adult literacy rate that was estimated to be 99% in 2003.[266] However, a 2011–12 report for the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that Tasmania has a literacy and numeracy rate of only 50%.[267] In the Programme for International Student Assessment, Australia regularly scores among the top five of thirty major developed countries (member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). Catholic education accounts for the largest non-government sector.
Australia has 37 government-funded universities and two private universities, as well as a number of other specialist institutions that provide approved courses at the higher education level.[268] The OECD places Australia among the most expensive nations to attend university.[269] There is a state-based system of vocational training, known as TAFE, and many trades conduct apprenticeships for training new tradespeople.[270] About 58% of Australians aged from 25 to 64 have vocational or tertiary qualifications,[220] and the tertiary graduation rate of 49% is the highest among OECD countries. The ratio of international to local students in tertiary education in Australia is the highest in the OECD countries.[271] In addition, 38 percent of Australia's population has a university or college degree, which is among the highest percentages in the world.[272][273]
See also: Health care in Australia
Australia has the third and seventh highest life expectancy of males and females respectively in the world.[274] Life expectancy in Australia in 2010 was 79.5 years for males and 84.0 years for females.[275] Australia has the highest rates of skin cancer in the world,[276] while cigarette smoking is the largest preventable cause of death and disease, responsible for 7.8% of the total mortality and disease. Ranked second in preventable causes is hypertension at 7.6%, with obesity third at 7.5%.[277][278] Australia ranks 35th in the world[279] and near the top of developed nations for its proportion of obese adults [280] and nearly two thirds (63%) of its adult population is either overweight or obese.[281]
Total expenditure on health (including private sector spending) is around 9.8% of GDP.[282] Australia introduced universal health care in 1975.[283] Known as Medicare, it is now nominally funded by an income tax surcharge known as the Medicare levy, currently set at 1.5%.[284] The states manage hospitals and attached outpatient services, while the Commonwealth funds the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (subsidising the costs of medicines) and general practice.[283]
Main article: Culture of Australia
The Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne was the first building in Australia to be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004.[285]
Since 1788, the primary influence behind Australian culture has been Anglo-Celtic Western culture, with some Indigenous influences.[286][287] The divergence and evolution that has occurred in the ensuing centuries has resulted in a distinctive Australian culture.[288][289] Since the mid-20th century, American popular culture has strongly influenced Australia, particularly through television and cinema.[290] Other cultural influences come from neighbouring Asian countries, and through large-scale immigration from non-English-speaking nations.[290][291]
Main articles: Australian art, Australian literature, Theatre of Australia, and Dance in Australia
The rock art of Australia's Indigenous peoples is the oldest and richest in the world, dating as far back as 60,000 years and spread across hundreds of thousands of sites.[292] Traditional designs, patterns and stories infuse contemporary Indigenous Australian art, "the last great art movement of the 20th century";[293] its exponents include Emily Kame Kngwarreye.[294] During the first century of European settlement, colonial artists, trained in Europe, showed a fascination with the unfamiliar land.[295] The naturalistic, sun-filled works of Arthur Streeton, Tom Roberts and others associated with the 19th-century Heidelberg School—the first "distinctively Australian" movement in Western art—gave expression to a burgeoning Australian nationalism in the lead-up to Federation.[295] While the school remained influential into the new century, modernists such as Margaret Preston, and, later, Sidney Nolan and Arthur Boyd, explored new artistic trends.[295] The landscape remained a central subject matter for Fred Williams, Brett Whiteley and other post-World War II artists whose works, eclectic in style yet uniquely Australian, moved between the figurative and the abstract.[295][296] The National Gallery of Australia and state galleries maintain collections of Australian and international art.[297] Australia has one of the world's highest attendances of art galleries and museums per head of population.[298]
Sidney Nolan's Snake mural (1970), held at the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart, Tasmania, is inspired by the Aboriginal creation myth of the Rainbow Serpent, as well as desert flowers in bloom after a drought.[299]
Australian literature grew slowly in the decades following European settlement though Indigenous oral traditions, many of which have since been recorded in writing, are much older.[300] 19th-century writers such as Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson captured the experience of the bush using a distinctive Australian vocabulary. Their works are still very popular; Paterson's bush poem "Waltzing Matilda" (1895) is regarded as Australia's unofficial national anthem.[301] Miles Franklin is the namesake of Australia's most prestigious literary prize, awarded annually to the best novel about Australian life.[302] Its first recipient, Patrick White, went on to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1973.[303] Australian winners of the Booker Prize include Peter Carey, Thomas Keneally and Richard Flanagan.[304] Author David Malouf, playwright David Williamson and poet Les Murray are also renowned literary figures.[305][306]
Many of Australia's performing arts companies receive funding through the federal government's Australia Council.[307] There is a symphony orchestra in each state,[308] and a national opera company, Opera Australia,[309] well known for its famous soprano Joan Sutherland.[310] At the beginning of the 20th century, Nellie Melba was one of the world's leading opera singers.[311] Ballet and dance are represented by The Australian Ballet and various state companies. Each state has a publicly funded theatre company.[312]
Main articles: Cinema of Australia, Television in Australia, Media of Australia, and Music of Australia
Actor playing the bushranger Ned Kelly in The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906), the world's first feature film
The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906), the world's first feature length film, spurred a boom in Australian cinema during the silent film era.[313] After World War I, Hollywood monopolised the industry,[314] and by the 1960s Australian film production had effectively ceased.[315] With the benefit of government support, the Australian New Wave of the 1970s brought provocative and successful films, many exploring themes of national identity, such as Wake in Fright and Gallipoli,[316] while "Crocodile" Dundee and the Ozploitation movement's Mad Max series became international blockbusters.[317] In a film market flooded with foreign content, Australian films delivered a 7.7% share of the local box office in 2015.[318] The AACTAs are Australia's premier film and television awards, and notable Academy Award winners from Australia include Geoffrey Rush, Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett and Heath Ledger.[319]
Australia has two public broadcasters (the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the multicultural Special Broadcasting Service), three commercial television networks, several pay-TV services,[320] and numerous public, non-profit television and radio stations. Each major city has at least one daily newspaper,[320] and there are two national daily newspapers, The Australian and The Australian Financial Review.[320] In 2010, Reporters Without Borders placed Australia 18th on a list of 178 countries ranked by press freedom, behind New Zealand (8th) but ahead of the United Kingdom (19th) and United States (20th).[321] This relatively low ranking is primarily because of the limited diversity of commercial media ownership in Australia;[322] most print media are under the control of News Corporation and Fairfax Media.[323]
Main article: Australian cuisine
Most Indigenous Australian tribal groups subsisted on a simple hunter-gatherer diet of native fauna and flora, otherwise called bush tucker.[324][325] The first settlers introduced British food to the continent, much of which is now considered typical Australian food, such as the Sunday roast.[326][327] Multicultural immigration transformed Australian cuisine; post-World War II European migrants, particularly from the Mediterranean, helped to build a thriving Australian coffee culture, and the influence of Asian cultures has led to Australian variants of their staple foods, such as the Chinese-inspired dim sim and Chiko Roll.[328] Vegemite, pavlova, lamingtons and meat pies are regarded as iconic Australian foods.[329] Australian wine is produced mainly in the southern, cooler parts of the country.
Main article: Sport in Australia
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is strongly associated with the history and development of cricket and Australian rules football, Australia's two most popular spectator sports.[330]
About 24% of Australians over the age of 15 regularly participate in organised sporting activities.[220] At an international level, Australia has excelled at cricket, field hockey, netball, rugby league, swimming and rugby union.[331] The majority of Australians live within the coastal zone, making the beach a popular recreation spot and an integral part of the nation's identity.[332] Australia is a powerhouse in water-based sports, such as swimming and surfing.[333] The surf lifesaving movement originated in Australia, and the volunteer lifesaver is one of the country's icons.[334] Nationally, other popular sports include Australian rules football, horse racing, basketball, surfing, soccer, and motor racing. The annual Melbourne Cup horse race and the Sydney to Hobart yacht race attract intense interest.[335]
Australia is one of five nations to have participated in every Summer Olympics of the modern era,[336] and has hosted the Games twice: 1956 in Melbourne and 2000 in Sydney.[337] Australia has also participated in every Commonwealth Games,[338] hosting the event in 1938, 1962, 1982, 2006 and will host the 2018 Commonwealth Games.[339] Australia made its inaugural appearance at the Pacific Games in 2015. As well as being a regular FIFA World Cup participant, Australia has won the OFC Nations Cup four times and the AFC Asian Cup once – the only country to have won championships in two different FIFA confederations.[340] The country regularly competes among the world elite basketball teams as it is among the global top three teams in terms of qualifications to the Basketball Tournament at the Summer Olympics. Other major international events held in Australia include the Australian Open tennis grand slam tournament, international cricket matches, and the Australian Formula One Grand Prix. The highest-rating television programs include sports telecasts such as the Summer Olympics, FIFA World Cup, The Ashes, Rugby League State of Origin, and the grand finals of the National Rugby League and Australian Football League.[341] Skiing in Australia began in the 1860s and snow sports take place in the Australian Alps and parts of Tasmania.
Australia portal
Oceania portal
Australia at Wikibooks
Outline of Australia
Tourism in Australia
Transport in Australia
Visa policy of Australia
Jump up ^ Australia's royal anthem is "God Save the Queen", played in the presence of a member of the Royal family when they are in Australia. In all other appropriate contexts, the national anthem of Australia, "Advance Australia Fair", is played.[1]
^ Jump up to: a b English does not have de jure status.[2]
^ Jump up to: a b There are minor variations from three basic time zones; see Time in Australia.
Jump up ^ Based on the Köppen climate classification.
Jump up ^ Australia describes the body of water south of its mainland as the Southern Ocean, rather than the Indian Ocean as defined by the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO). In 2000, a vote of IHO member nations defined the term "Southern Ocean" as applying only to the waters between Antarctica and 60 degrees south latitude.[120]
Jump up ^ It's an Honour – Symbols – Australian National Anthem and DFAT – "Australian National Anthem"; "National Symbols" (PDF). Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia (29th ed.). 2005 [2002]. Retrieved 7 June 2007.
^ Jump up to: a b "Pluralist Nations: Pluralist Language Policies?". 1995 Global Cultural Diversity Conference Proceedings, Sydney. Department of Immigration and Citizenship. Archived from the original on 20 December 2008. Retrieved 11 January 2009. "English has no de jure status but it is so entrenched as the common language that it is de facto the official language as well as the national language."
Jump up ^ See entry in the Macquarie Dictionary.
Jump up ^ Collins English Dictionary. Bishopbriggs, Glasgow: HarperCollins. 2009. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-00-786171-2.
^ Jump up to: a b "Population clock". Australian Bureau of Statistics website. Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 9 August 2016. The population estimate shown is automatically calculated daily at 00:00 UTC and is based on data obtained from the population clock on the date shown in the citation.
Jump up ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Australia". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
^ Jump up to: a b c d "Australia". International Monetary Fund. October 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
Jump up ^ "OECD Economic Surveys: Norway 2012".
Jump up ^ "2015 Human Development Report" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
Jump up ^ Macquarie ABC Dictionary. The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd. 2003. p. 56. ISBN 1-876429-37-2.
Jump up ^ "Australia". Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press. April 2010. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
Jump up ^ "Constitution of Australia". ComLaw. 9 July 1900. Retrieved 5 August 2011. 3. It shall be lawful for the Queen, with the advice of the Privy Council, to declare by proclamation that, on and after a day therein appointed, not being later than one year after the passing of this Act, the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania, and also, if Her Majesty is satisfied that the people of Western Australia have agreed thereto, of Western Australia, shall be united in a Federal Commonwealth under the name of the Commonwealth of Australia.
Jump up ^ Wade, Nicholas (22 September 2011). "Australian Aborigine Hair Tells a Story of Human Migration". The New York Times.
Jump up ^ "European discovery and the colonisation of Australia". Australian Government: Culture Portal. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Commonwealth of Australia. 11 January 2008. Retrieved 7 May 2010. [The British] moved north to Port Jackson on 26 January 1788, landing at Camp Cove, known as 'cadi' to the Cadigal people. Governor Phillip carried instructions to establish the first British Colony in Australia. The First Fleet was under prepared for the task, and the soil around Sydney Cove was poor.
^ Jump up to: a b Davison, Hirst and Macintyre, pp. 157, 254.
Jump up ^ "Both Australian Aborigines and Europeans Rooted in Africa – 50,000 years ago". News.softpedia.com. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
Jump up ^ "Australian Social Trends". Australian Bureau of Statistics website. Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
Jump up ^ Walsh, Michael (1991) "Overview of indigenous languages of Australia" in Suzanne Romaine (1991). Language in Australia. Cambridge University Press. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-521-33983-4.
Jump up ^ "Geographic Distribution of the Population". Retrieved 1 December 2012.
Jump up ^ Data refer mostly to the year 2014. World Economic Outlook Database-April 2015, International Monetary Fund. Accessed on 25 April 2015.
Jump up ^ "Australia: World Audit Democracy Profile". WorldAudit.org. Archived from the original on 13 December 2007. Retrieved 5 January 2008.
Jump up ^ Australian pronunciations: Macquarie Dictionary, Fourth Edition (2005). Melbourne, The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd. ISBN 1-876429-14-3
Jump up ^ "Australia" – Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
Jump up ^ "He named it Austrialia del Espiritu Santo and claimed it for Spain" The Spanish quest for Terra Australis | State Library of New South Wales Page 1.
Jump up ^ "A note on 'Austrialia' or 'Australia' Rupert Gerritsen – Journal of The Australian and New Zealand Map Society Inc.- The Globe, Number 72, 2013 " Posesion en nombre de Su Magestad (Archivo del Museo Naval, Madrid, MS 951) Page 3.
Jump up ^ "THE ILLUSTRATED SYDNEY NEWS". Illustrated Sydney News. National Library of Australia. 26 January 1888. p. 2. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
Jump up ^ Purchas, vol. iv, pp. 1422–32, 1625. This appears to be variation of the original Spanish "Austrialia" [sic].[1] A copy at the Library of Congress can be read online [2].
Jump up ^ Scott, Ernest (2004) [1914]. The Life of Captain Matthew Flinders. Kessinger Publishing. p. 299. ISBN 978-1-4191-6948-9.
Jump up ^ "WHO NAMED AUSTRALIA?". The Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 – 1954). Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 11 February 1928. p. 16. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
Jump up ^ Weekend Australian, 30–31 December 2000, p. 16
Jump up ^ Department of Immigration and Citizenship (2007). Life in Australia (PDF). Commonwealth of Australia. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-921446-30-6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 October 2009. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
Jump up ^ Gillespie, Richard (2002). "Dating the First Australians (full text)" (PDF). Radiocarbon. 44 (2): 455–472. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
Jump up ^ Roberts, Richard G.; Jones, Rhys; Spooner, Nigel A.; Head, M.J.; Murray, Andrew S.; Smith, M.A. (1994). "The human colonisation of Australia: optical dates of 53,000 and 60,000 years bracket human arrival at Deaf Adder Gorge, Northern Territory". Quaternary Science Reviews. 13 (5–7): 575–583. doi:10.1016/0277-3791(94)90080-9.
Jump up ^ "The spread of people to Australia". Australian Museum.
Jump up ^ Viegas, Jennifer (3 July 2008). "Early Aussie Tattoos Match Rock Art". Discovery News. Archived from the original on 10 July 2008. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
Jump up ^ MacKnight, CC (1976). The Voyage to Marege: Macassan Trepangers in Northern Australia. Melbourne University Press.
^ Jump up to: a b Davison, Hirst and Macintyre, p. 233.
Jump up ^ Marsh, Lindsay (2010). History of Australia : understanding what makes Australia the place it is today. Greenwood, W.A.: Ready-Ed Publications. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-86397-798-2.
Jump up ^ "European discovery and the colonisation of Australia". Australian Government: Culture Portal. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Commonwealth of Australia. 11 January 2008. Archived from the original on 16 February 2011.
Jump up ^ Davison, Hirst and Macintyre, pp. 464–65, 628–29.
Jump up ^ Davison, Hirst and Macintyre, p. 678.
Jump up ^ Convict Records Public Record office of Victoria; State Records Office of Western Australia.
Jump up ^ "1998 Special Article – The State of New South Wales – Timeline of History". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 1988.
Jump up ^ Briscoe, Gordon; Smith, Len (2002). The Aboriginal Population Revisited: 70,000 years to the present. Canberra, Australia: Aboriginal History Inc. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-9585637-6-5.
Jump up ^ "Smallpox Through History". Encarta. Archived from the original on 31 October 2009.
Jump up ^ Attwood, Bain; Foster, Stephen Glynn. Frontier Conflict: The Australian Experience. National Museum of Australia, 2003. ISBN 9781876944117, p. 89.
Jump up ^ Attwood, Bain (2005). Telling the truth about Aboriginal history. Crows Nest, New South Wales: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-74114-577-5.
Jump up ^ Dawkins, Kezia (1 February 2004). "1967 Referendum". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 20 April 2010. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
Jump up ^ Davison, Hirst and Macintyre, pp. 5–7, 402.
Jump up ^ Davison, Hirst and Macintyre, pp. 283–85.
Jump up ^ Davison, Hirst and Macintyre, pp.227–29.
Jump up ^ "Colonial Defence and Imperial Repudiation". Daily Southern Cross (vol XVII, issue 1349). 13 November 1860. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
Jump up ^ "History of the Commonwealth". Commonwealth Network. Commonwealth of Nations. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
Jump up ^ Otto, Kristin (25 June – 9 July 2007). "When Melbourne was Australia's capital city". Melbourne, Victoria: University of Melbourne. Archived from the original on 2 April 2010. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
Jump up ^ Official year book of the Commonwealth of Australia. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 1957.
Jump up ^ Macintyre, Stuart (1986) The Oxford History of Australia, vol. 4, p. 142
Jump up ^ C. Bean Ed. (1941). Volume I – The Story of Anzac: the first phase, First World War Official Histories, Eleventh Edition.
Jump up ^ "First World War 1914–1918". Australian War Memorial. Archived from the original on 7 December 2006. Retrieved 5 December 2006.
Jump up ^ Tucker, Spencer (2005). Encyclopedia of World War I. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 273. ISBN 1-85109-420-2.
Jump up ^ Macintyre, Stuart (2000). A Concise History of Australia. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, pp. 151–153, ISBN 0-521-62359-6.
Jump up ^ Reed, Liz (2004). Bigger than Gallipoli: war, history, and memory in Australia. Crawley, WA: University of Western Australia. p. 5. ISBN 1-920694-19-6.
Jump up ^ Nelson, Hank (1997). "Gallipoli, Kokoda and the Making of National Identity" (PDF). Journal of Australian Studies. 53 (1): 148–60. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 July 2013.
Jump up ^ "Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942 (Cth)". National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
Jump up ^ "Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942" (PDF). ComLaw. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
Jump up ^ Davison, Hirst and Macintyre, pp. 22–23.
Jump up ^ Davison, Hirst and Macintyre, p. 30.
Jump up ^ "Australia Act 1986". Australasian Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
Jump up ^ Woodard, Garry (11 November 2005). "Whitlam turned focus on to Asia". Melbourne: The Age. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
Jump up ^ Thompson, Roger C. (1994). The Pacific Basin since 1945: A history of the foreign relations of the Asian, Australasian, and American rim states and the Pacific islands. Longman. ISBN 0-582-02127-8.
Jump up ^ "How Australia's Parliament works". Australian Geographic. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
Jump up ^ "Governor-General's Role". Governor-General of Australia. Archived from the original on 4 August 2008. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
Jump up ^ Downing, Susan (23 January 1998). "The Reserve Powers of the Governor-General". Parliament of Australia. Archived from the original on 26 July 2010. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
^ Jump up to: a b "The World Factbook 2009". Washington, D.C.: Central Intelligence Agency. 2009. Archived from the original on 24 March 2010. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
^ Jump up to: a b "Senate Summary". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 6 May 2010. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
Jump up ^ "Voting HOR". Australian Electoral Commission. 31 July 2007. Archived from the original on 25 May 2010. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
Jump up ^ "Election Summary: Tasmania". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 3 May 2010. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
Jump up ^ Evans, Tim (2006). "Compulsory Voting in Australia" (PDF). Australian Electoral Commission. p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 June 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
Jump up ^ "What happens if I do not vote?". Voting Australia – Frequently Asked Questions. Australian Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 18 December 2007. Retrieved 8 January 2008.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line603
|
__label__cc
| 0.620106
| 0.379894
|
Witness To Britain’s Biggest UFO Incident Breaks Silence After 36 Years
The witness to one of the most baffling and unexplained UFO cases in history has finally broken his silence and opened up about what happened on those mysterious nights.
The incident, known as the ‘British Roswell,’ occurred around Christmas time in 1980, between December 26th-28th at Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk. The retired US Airforce police officer, Steve Longero was there, more than three decades ago, when the whole weird scenario played out, saying ‘I think it was something not from this world.’
Military personnel including Steve claimed that they saw ‘strange lights in the forest,’ which were hovering between the NATO airbases which were on ‘high alert’ during the Cold War at the time.
Steve was guarding the weapons storage area when the alarms went off.
He described what happened:
While on duty that night, we had a very sophisticated alarm system and everything just went off.
And then I could see these lights over the treetops, and I was thinking, what’s going on? Then they started sending people out there and at first it was hard to believe, all these bright lights. It was hard to take in.
Well from what I remember the lights, fluorescent lights, kind of a glow, like a reddish glow. I remember going out there.
He rushed out to where the other military staff had already assembled.
They looked like fluorescent coloured lights, like red and green, glowing lights and that’s what they looked like.I could see them hovering over the treetops like an eye that was almost following everybody.
It was real kind of quiet and this thing hovering over the trees, and you were like kind of tracking it and like ‘what is this?’ And it was like following, it was like watching us, that’s what it looked like to us. It seemed like something watching us.
From what I remember it was like aglow, it was really glowing like a reddish, greenish light. It was really glowing, like something was really hot and it was just glowing.
Whilst he was there, he saw his colleague, Colonel Charles Halt, who made a recording about the weird lights they were experiencing that night, according to The Sun.
Col Halt came afterwards, after all that was called in. I remember him turning up, that’s when they kind of gathered everyone around and said this is what we are going to do, and everybody kind of dispersed and did what they were told to do.
I remember we had a little briefing right there and everybody was just like, we just could not believe what we were seeing. Your adrenalin was flowing and I remember people saying like ‘what is that?’
Some theories were bizarrely put across that the lights were caused by ‘lighthouses,’ to which he responded with ‘I don’t think so. Not unless the lighthouse could move. Unless they could float that thing in the air.’
And then, as people were getting close to this thing it kind of came nearer to us and then it would go forward and then go back and all of a sudden it just disappeared, like something out of Star Trek, it was like warp speed and we were all ‘what was that?’ it was gone and then that’s when they started doing all their investigations. After we secured the area they said okay, you’re gone, get out of here.
Steve recalled that he was briefed not to speak of or tell anyone about what he had seen because of the ‘nuclear weapons’ at the site. The whole unearthly case remains shrouded in mystery and is still yet to be fully explained.
RendleshamComment on Witness To Britain’s Biggest UFO Incident Breaks Silence After 36 Years
NASA, Experts Say We May Have Missed Alien Signals From UFO Sightings
NASA and Harvard physicists claimed that the hunt for other forms of life outside Earth may require entertaining extreme possibilities because we may have missed alien signals from UFO sightings.
According to Avi Loeb from Harvard, “Aliens are not science fiction.” He added that not discussing aliens is a crime as it is not just speculation much like extra dimensions and dark matter. Silvano P. Colombano of NASA’s Ames Research Center, on the other hand, suggested that there is a chance that the world may have missed alien signals in its hunt for UFOs. He claimed that intelligence and form of life on Earth might just be the first step in continuous evolution. This means that there could be superior forms of intelligence, considerably more advanced than that of Earth, and that they may not be based on the same carbon “machinery.”
Although it is within reason to think that life most likely came from the same conditions as it did on Earth, Colombano explained that we might have to consider that intelligence that might find us and vice versa may not be the same “carbon-based organisms like us.” This also reduces the chances of matching technologies since there are vast time differences in the evolution continuum.
Dr. Edward Schwieterman, the lead author of a new study and a fellow at NASA, echoed the same thought when his team suggested that search for life forms may require looking for carbon monoxide in other worlds. The Earth previously barely had no oxygen, but there is already microbial life in its oceans. Presently, the Earth’s atmosphere is oxygen-rich, and the planet is filled with life, which is not the case billions of years ago. Simulations of the Earth’s atmosphere revealed that it might have contained 100 parts per million (ppm) of CO in the past, which is significantly higher compared to today.
Caleb Scharf, director of Columbia University’s Astrobiology Center, also said that it is possible that alien life may be so advanced that it may be hard to differentiate it from physics. Colombano added that there were some unexplained aspects in some UFO sightings.
According to him, it might be worthy of studying the UFO phenomenon in a different context such as “a system with very low signal to noise ratio.” Studies on such phenomenon should be more open to different discovery and communication possibilities. Scharf’s proposal suggested that provided other life forms may have evolved beyond our technology and knowledge of complexity, then we should be open to “some very extreme possibilities.”
Hunt for alien life may require considering out of this world possibilities.
Alien Proof - Does it exist?Comment on NASA, Experts Say We May Have Missed Alien Signals From UFO Sightings
abduction alien alien abduction birmingham lecture philosophy rem sleep strange encounter talk ufo university
A Strange Encounter: Explaining Alien Abduction Belief
Thank you to everybody for coming. So this is an overview of what I’m going to do. First of all I’m just going to set forward some preliminaries, a couple of things I’m going to assume without argument, then I’m going to give a brief overview of the kind of things that alien abductees say about their night time experiences, then I’ll give a bit more information about the kind of beliefs that they have. Then the serious stuff starts. I’ll ask how we’re going to explain why people have these strange beliefs.
I’ll suggest that we can explain it by appeal to some strange experiences they have and then I’ll ask whether that’s going to be enough. Actually it turns out it’s not going to be enough because some people have these experiences and don’t go on to develop the belief, so we need some other stuff involved in our explanation, and right at the end I’ll just gesture towards some other contributory factors which might be helping us explain why people have these beliefs.
OK, so just preliminaries to start. One note and two assumptions. The first is just a terminological note: so I’ll refer to subjects who believe they’ve been abducted by aliens as ‘abductees’. You’re an abductee if you believe you’ve been abducted, not if you’ve actually been abducted. So what ‘abductee’ is doing there is picking out what beliefs somebody has, not what has actually happened to them. So if you’ve actually been abducted you’re an abductee, but also if you believe you’ve been abducted, you’re an abductee. Related to that I’m going to assume that all beliefs in alien abduction are false. That’s to say that I’m going to assume that no human being has ever been abducted by aliens. I think that’s a safe assumption but I can go slightly weaker for people who don’t think that’s a safe assumption. So let’s say there are abductees proper, people who have really been abducted by aliens. Take that set of people, put them aside – I’m not interested in those people in this talk – I’m interested in those people who believe they’ve been abducted but they haven’t actually been abducted.
So if you want to leave open the possibility that some of these people have true beliefs, put those over there, I’m not interested in those people. I’m interested in this set of people who believe they’ve been abducted but they haven’t. OK, so focusing in on that set, my second assumption is that these guys aren’t lying. So they really believe their claims, they’re not trying to seek media attention or anything like that.
These people have not been abducted by aliens but they sincerely believe that they have. As I say, I’m not going to argue for those assumptions but you can ask me about them afterwards. OK, so a strange encounter. So in this section I just have a couple of abductee reports from a study by McNally and Clancy in 2005. So here’s the first one: ‘a female abductee was lying on her back. When she woke up from a sound sleep her body was completely paralysed and she experienced a sensation of levitating above her bed. Her heart was pounding, her breathing was shallow, she felt tense all over, she was terrified. She was able to open her eyes and when she did so, she saw three beings standing at the foot of her bed in the glowing light’. In the second report, ‘a male abductee awoke in the middle of the night seized with panic. He was entirely paralysed and felt electricity shooting throughout his body.
He felt his energy draining away from him. He could see several alien beings standing around his bed’. So now I want to talk about what these people come to believe when these experiences happen to them. So here are some common features of the alien abduction narrative. So typically what happens is that someone will have a night time experience like this, then they might seek out memory recovery sessions by hypnosis and then they get all these extra details about what happened to them. So common features, (this is from 1987), include being captured and examined by aliens, communicating with them often telepathically, seeing the spaceship, visiting other worlds, being communicated important information, and being returned to the point of abduction.
More recently, roughly the same kind of thing. These guys are doing the same thing to us. Common themes include being a participant in a hybrid breeding programme which can involve extraction of semen, sex with aliens, meeting hybrid offspring, and being subject to medical procedures on spaceships. So these are the typical things that are reported by abductees. So now I want to talk about two cases which are documented in John Mack’s book, Abduction. So he does the memory recovery sessions and he endorses the abduction explanation and these are from his point of view talking about these subjects who have had these experiences. So this is Scott’s story. So Scott’s room had no door, ‘and unexplained light was coming in from the direction of the adjacent clothes/washer dryer room. Scott’s breath was now coming in loud, short gasps as he spoke of “six” of “them” with “boxy” and “angular” heads that were “after me”.
Then he saw a “round-tipped rod” pushing towards him which Scott related to how he was anaesthetised. “They know I’m aware”, Scott said and “they put me under” so that “I couldn’t move”. At this point a “buzzing” in his right ear changed to a ringing sound and “I lost control of my body”. Then all Scott saw was a screen like a TV monitor that was “fritzing”. Memories of his life flashed before him as he felt himself struggling to protect his mind “So they couldn’t touch it”. After this he quite literally lost consciousness although he had been saying “as fast I could ‘I’ve got to remember, I’ve got to remember’.”’ And this is the case of Catherine which I’ve laid out as a transcript. So this happened to her she says when she was a young girl and she was kidnapped from a friend’s garden and when she was up on the spaceship, one of the ‘little men’ brought out a metal implement and this is what happened next, where ‘C’ is Catherine and ‘A’ is alien. So ‘what are you going to do with that?’, ‘I’m just going to make a little cut’, ‘why?’, ‘because we need a sample’. ‘No, no, you can’t cut me’, ‘we have to’, ‘no you don’t have to, that’s mean, you don’t have to do it to me’, ‘it’s for scientific research’.
‘Well why can’t you cut something else?’ and this is after the cut, ‘because we need to blood. We had to get the sample’, ‘but you didn’t tell me why’. So this is on the way back down to earth ‘I’m researching your planet’, ‘what’s wrong with my planet?’, ‘we’re trying to stop the damage’, ‘what damage?’, ‘the damage from pollution’. ‘I don’t know about that’ says this 8 year old girl, ‘you’ll learn’. And then we’re going down again ‘I’m getting closer to the ground, getting closer, getting closer’ and I’m on the ground and I want to run away but I can’t move and he says ‘we’ll be back for you’. OK, so that was the easy bit.
That was just describing what these people report on. What on earth is going on? How do we explain this, given my assumption at the beginning that all of these beliefs are false? OK, so it’s not really illuminating to just say ‘oh, these people are obviously crazy’, that’s not a very good explanation of what’s going on here. We can do better than that. So people who are interested in alien abduction belief, they like to talk about awareness during sleep paralysis, so I’ll say what that is now.
So this is described by Richard McNally as a hiccup in the architecture of rapid eye movement sleep which lasts anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes. So during rapid eye movement sleep the sleeper is immobilised so motoric output is blocked. This is usually a really helpful mechanism because it stops us acting out our dreams and hurting sleeping partners. But sometimes things go really wrong and we can wake up before the paralysis has disappeared and we can become aware that we’re unable to move. And this can be accompanied, not surprisingly, by an increase in heart rate, difficulty breathing, and feelings of dread. But it’s actually quite common in the general population. Estimates vary on this but McNally and Clancy put it at 30% of the general population who have had an experience of sleep paralysis and three quarters of these people will hallucinate during the paralysis in one modality, which is just to say either visually or auditorally, whilst they’re paralysed. You can imagine how terrifying this is. Katherine Holden and Christopher French give a slightly different range, so they say it’s ‘somewhere between 25 and 40% of the population’ have had some experience of awareness during sleep paralysis. It’s not a disease or any other kind of medical condition, it’s terrifying but actually it’s harmless, it does not indicate ill-health or pathology.
OK, so that’s the first step. Then we can start talking about the hallucinations which can accompany this paralysis and these may be visual including ‘lights, animals, strange figures and demons, or auditory including heavy footsteps, humming or buzzing noises and sounds of heavy objects being moved’. So McNally and Clancy ask you to do this imaginative exercise. So ‘Imagine opening your eyes shortly before dawn, attempting to roll over in your bed and suddenly realising that you’re entirely paralysed. While lying helplessly on your back and unable to cry out for help you become aware of sinister figures lurking in your bedroom. As they move closer to your bed your heart begins to pound violently and you feel as if you’re suffocating. You hear buzzing sounds and feel electrical sensations shooting throughout your body. Within moments the visions vanish and you can move again. Terrified’—obviously—‘you wonder what has just happened’.
OK, so some people have this experience and they want to know what just happened to them. Now of course some people can just shrug it off as inexplicable or they might say ‘well, clearly I had too much to drink last night’ or maybe they actually know the explanation, maybe they spend their days thinking about hypnopompic hallucination and sleep paralysis. But for those people who don’t, they might be kind of freaked out and want an explanation of what just happened to them. So although ASP and hallucination is relatively common among the general population, knowledge of these states isn’t really. This doesn’t pop up on interview panels or on TV. So given that most people don’t know about this kind of stuff, it’s unlikely that they’re going to be able to explain their experience by appeal to these kind of explanations. So I’m willing to bet that before you guys came in here, at least some of you didn’t know about awareness during sleep paralysis and hypnopompic hallucination. If you don’t know about it, you’re not going to be able to explain your experience by appeal to it.
And though the experiences are common, they don’t indicate pathology. The general public just don’t know about this so they don’t go and say something like this, ‘oh, this is a dyssynchrony in the architecture of REM, it’ll pass’. They don’t do that. They freak out and they want to know what happened to them. OK, so this is McNally’s typical case of what happens to an abductee. They have this kind of night time experience, they wonder what happened to them, then they start reading about these experiences either online or in books. They see therapists who endorse the abduction explanation, therapists like John Mack, then they enter into memory recovery sessions via hypnosis and under hypnosis they start generating more details about the experience and what happened thereafter, including them being ‘whisked through walls up into the sky and into spaceships’, being ‘sexually probed by aliens’ and ‘involved in hybrid breeding experimentation’ before being ‘brought back down to the bedroom before the break of dawn’.
So now I want to ask whether experience is enough. So what I’ve said so far is that people have these beliefs that they’ve been abducted and all these terrible things have happened to them and we know that these kinds of experiences can be caused by awareness during sleep paralysis and accompanying hypnopompic hallucinations. So do we have a full explanation? Is that all we need to say in order to explain this? Obviously my answer’s going to be ‘no’ because I have two more sections. So does experience explain everything? It doesn’t. So in McNally and Clancy’s 2005 study, one of their twelve control subjects – so their subjects who were not abductees – reported having experienced sleep paralysis and just forgot about it. She wasn’t really worried about it, she just wrote it off as inexplicable. So they say of this, ‘not all individuals experiencing sleep paralysis will seek an explanation.
Some will simply shrug it off as weird and inexplicable occurrence’, some people will know the true cause. So having the experience isn’t going to be enough to get you all the way to alien abduction belief. And in a large scale study by J. Allan Cheyne and colleagues, they surveyed 870 university students and 22.5% of them had had this kind of experience, this sleep paralysis with hallucinations. Max Coltheart who’s a cognitive scientist working on delusion, he comments on this and he says look, I don’t know how many people think that they’ve been abducted by aliens, but I’m willing to bet that ‘it’s going to be lower than 22.5%’ and if we can take that 22.5% as representative of the general population, then it looks like we’ve got people who have the experience but don’t go on to have the weird belief. So there will ‘be many people who’ve experienced sleep paralysis with hallucinations yet do not have the alien abduction belief’.
So the experience can’t be doing all of the work. So it’s not enough. So this is Max Coltheart, if we accept that ‘the experience of sleep paralysis with hallucination is what prompts the idea of alien abduction in abductees, we still need to explain what it was that turned this idea into a permanent belief in these particular people when most people who have the experience do not adopt the belief’. This is from Susan Clancy, she’s my favourite person to read on this subject. She has a book called Abduction: Why People Believe they’ve been Abducted by Aliens, which I heartily recommend. This is a quote from her. She says look, ‘when there are so many available explanations for this kind of experience, from excess carbohydrates to parental neglect, from insufficient bikram yoga to too much Prozac, why pick alien abduction? What makes abductees unusual is not the strangeness of their experiences’, we’ve already seen that’s fairly common, ‘or their desire for an explanation, but the specific explanation they choose.
Why do some people come to believe that their sleep paralysis experiences are caused by extra-terrestrials?’ and then as a funny aside she says ‘it’s not actually a very good explanation for this reason: ‘Wouldn’t you think that these mentally and technologically superior beings would have something more interesting to do, something quite possibly beyond the imagining of the human brain than to hang around North America’ – where most abductees live – ‘kidnapping its more creative and intuitive inhabitants in order to do the same experiments over and over again?’ We always hear from people that they took their genetic material to produce hybrid babies. ‘Why are these genius aliens so dim? After 50 years of abducting us, why are they still taking the same bits and pieces? Don’t they have freezers?’. So here’s a reason for thinking actually it’s not a very good explanation of their experiences. OK, so just in the last part I’m just going to gesture to what other stuff might be going on which will get us from the experience to the alien abduction belief.
So, what you might be inclined to say is that OK, the experience isn’t enough in people who are kind of mentally well but if you get someone who’s a little bit mentally unstable, plug in the experience, that will do all the work. That’s going to be a really bad explanation because actually alien abductees are mentally well people. So there’s been no convincing evidence for higher rates of ‘serious psycho-pathology among abductees compared to the general population’.
And the typical abductee though, and this is what seems to be doing some of the work, there is a little bit of oddness about them. So they have a ‘long-standing interest in New Age practices and beliefs such as reincarnation, astral projection, mental telepathy, alternative healing practices, energy therapies and astrology’ and you might think that these beliefs make abductees ‘especially prone to endorse an alien encounter interpretation of their sleep paralysis episodes’. So if you’ve got someone who already believes in this kind of stuff, then you plug in the experience, that might be enough. And this is Clancy again.
She says look, it’s kind of consistent with what we already believe. We’ve already seen the alien abduction movies, we know the kind of thing that these guys get up to when they come to earth, so when we’re looking for an explanation of an experience, assuming we’re not well read in psychology so we don’t know the true explanation, we can only choose from those explanations which we’ve actually heard of. Most of us who don’t study this stuff, a ‘set of possible explanations is far from complete’. Most of us are ‘unaware of the prevalence of sleep paralysis, sexual dysfunction, anxiety disorders, perceptual aborations, chemical imbalances, memory lapses, and psychosomatic pain.
But, our set of possible explanations does include alien abduction’… ‘everyone knows about aliens and their modus operandi’, right? We all know that ‘they come at night, fill you with terror, kidnap you and erase your memories’. We’ve all seen the films, right? This kind of explanation is available to us. So it’s also consistent with the kind of thing that we believe already – some of us. So maybe we’ve got closer to a full explanation now. So we had this experience that I outlined at the beginning but I said that’s not going to get you all the way because some people have the experience without the belief.
OK, plug in this other stuff, so New Age beliefs and familiarity with the alien abduction narrative, which people in North America – which coincidentally is where most of the abductees live – have. These other contributory factors are present in the normal population, so they’re not sort of clinically significant, they don’t make you mentally unwell if you have these New Age beliefs and this familiarity with the abduction narrative. So maybe we can get closer to a full explanation of alien abduction belief by looking at the weird experiences people have, plus some oddities found in the non-abductee population. So I’ll just leave you with this final thought from Clancy. So she says ‘at other times and other places in the world, such night terrors have been interpreted as Satan, demons, witches, dragons, vampires, large dogs and angels and erect Gorgon’.
(I don’t know what that is.) ‘Today it’s extra-terrestrials, yet although it’s true that sleep paralysis and alien abduction experiences have a lot in common’, right, ‘there’s one important difference. Sleep paralysis is a fact; alien abduction isn’t. So, if you wake up in the middle of the night, levitating above your bed and sleeping like a chicken on a rotisserie, you should understand that the experience is roughly a billion times more likely to have been caused by something normal than by something paranormal’.
‘But be careful about telling this to an actual abductee. You’ll encounter only denial, anger, blank stares or condescending smiles’. Thanks. .
UFO Hunter Asks Elon Musk To Investigate NASA’s Hidden Alien Findings
Known UFO hunter Scott C. Waring has reached out several times to Elon Musk, asking the latter to investigate his alien findings, which he claims are hidden in NASA’s videos or photos.
Waring’s latest tweet to the Tesla founder was about a 10-mile long alien ship spotted in the Waterman crater on Earth’s natural satellite.
Waring reached out to Musk several times, asking the SpaceX CEO and Founder to look at the “discoveries” he made as he searched for truth about aliens his entire life.
In his alien ship tweet to Musk, he also asked the executive to imagine all the advanced technologies that could be onboard the alien ship. He even compared the appearance of the “ship” to the Voyager.
“Get this ship and it will take humans across the universe. Oh…and I found others,” he claimed in the last part of his tweet. His website UFO Sightings Daily also features images which Waring said shows “space crabs” on Mars. He added that “tiny midget mini-Martians” ruled it.
Throughout the years, Waring has been inviting the billionaire for a meeting about a potential business idea and also to have a look at the super-sized “alien spaceships” that he spotted in NASA images. According to Metro, Waring seems to have a soft spot for Musk although he has not received a reply yet from the Tesla founder. Previously, Waring expressed support for Musk when he volunteered to develop a submarine to help rescue the group of Thai kids stuck inside the cave.
Musk’s work on spaceflight has made him a popular figure in discussions about space. With his SpaceX team, Musk launched the Crew Dragon space capsule successfully which many view as the “ship of the future” and a mark that will start the new era of spaceflight.
Musk recently revealed more details on how he plans to launch flights to Mars. The visionary claimed that he wants something that travels beyond Earth that works as efficiently as catching a flight at the airport. In other words, the business magnate wants a rocket that can land on the Moon, Mars, the Earth and anywhere else and also take off just as fast as planes at the airport on our planet.
“Transpiration cooling will be added wherever we see erosion of the shield. Starship needs to be ready to fly again immediately after landing. Zero refurbishment,” Musk said in a tweet.
Aliens Among Us?Comment on UFO Hunter Asks Elon Musk To Investigate NASA’s Hidden Alien Findings
alien 2014 alien attack Alien autopsy alien die Alien videos Area 51 nevada Area 51 secrets hot ufo latest ufo sightings list Real alien titan top top 10 top 10 archive top 10 list top 100 top 5 top girl top ten top world top10archive toptenz ufo 2007 ufo 2013 ufo attack ufo pictures ufo sightings ufo videos ufo1993 virus virus attack
Strange ‘Inter-dimensional’ Visitor At Rendlesham? – Sighting Report
Strange ‘Inter-dimensional’ Visitor At Rendlesham? – Sighting Report Yet again, more strange sightings are being reported from the now famous Rendlesham forest – this time from a couple of our followers, who captured something rather odd when taking a photograph?!. Sam Sawyer reported to our FB site exactly what they had captured on their decent Cannon camera. It was only after they reviewed the images they could see the strange looking figure stood there in front of their night lights. Sam suggested that it looked like some kind of “Red shaped figure/entity”. Sam was with friends investigating the area and felt the need to report this intriguing sighting to us after reading one of our recent articles about ‘Inter-dimensional Beings’ being witnessed by some local investigators in the Rendlesham area (please see article below). Luckily for us, Sam sent in the sighting report to us guys at U.I.P – Please see his report below, with images.Rendlesham Sighting Report – May 13th 2017. Date of Sighting: May 13th 2017. Location of Sighting: Rendlesham forest. Brief Description: Possible entity of some sort caught on camera. Full Description: Recently me and 3 friends went camping in Rendlesham forest to do the famous UFO trail and do a bit of star gazing, hoping to perhaps see a UFO ourselves.
We are all interested in the field and wanted to visit this famous site and get out of London where the light pollution obstructs our view of the night sky. Anyways, on the second night we decided to do the UFO trail in pitch black and in reverse. So we began walking along the trail from the end towards the middle of the forest. Shortly after starting however our resident photographer if you will, stopped to adjust some settings on his camera (Cannon 1300d) myself and the others walked ahead a bit. After maybe 200 yards. Sanj, our photographer asked us to stop and face him as we were wearing torches strapped to our heads and he thought it would make a good photo. So we did and he took a long exposure shot.
I think it was about 10 seconds. And we then continued on our adventure. It wasnt until we got back to camp that Sanj pointed out to us that it looked like there was a huge red figure behind us in the photo. At the time we all thought it looked pretty cool but kind of dismissed it as a lighting effect created by our headlights.
Fast forward 2 months and i read the article posted on facebook by U. P about people having photographed potential interdementional beings in the same area. So I sent a message to the admin team for them to analyse. To give context, the photo was taken in the dead of night so no natural light or any other lights are in the photo other then our headlights and moonlight. We are standing approximately 200 yards from the camera and it was taken on a tripod. Appearance: Red shaped figure/entity. Day/Night: Nighttime. Time: 11. 30pm-12am. Surroundings: Forested area. It was on the UFO trail.
Duration: Was not seen with the naked eye. Witnesses: No one witnessed it at the time but there were 4 of us present. Explanations: I am not sure what this is in the picture. It only became relevant to me after reading an article on this site about possible inter-dimentional beings being caught on camera in the area. It could be lens flare of some sort but the guy who took the photo does not think that this is the case.
Reported Previously: No. Views: I am a beliver in UFOs and that we have been and are still being visited by other beings for a long time. We specifically went to rendlesham forest to do the UFO trail and camp out looking for possible UFOs. We did see a couple of things in the sky like a blinking light that seemed to stay in the same place and a few stars moving that we just put down to being satellites. But this particular image was nothing more then a keepsake that we thought looked kinda cool. We only realised there could be something more after having read the article and seeing some of the photos taken of potential inter-dimensional beings in the Rendlesham forest area. Location of Submitter: London. Submitter Age: 31. Please see the original and zoomed in image below:. P SUMMARY. We are hearing more and more about strange sightings being reported at Rendlesham, hence we are now arranging our own field trip with our followers to so some investigating ourselves. We will be bringing along with us our friend Derek, who has been investigating the area for some time now with his colleagues.
This particular sighting is very interesting/a little creepy! You can see the shape if the head, neck and body – this appears very similar to some of the inter-dimensional sightings that have been witnessed previously at Rendlesham! Perhaps these beings are what was witnessed near the US military base back in 1980!? Maybe there is some kind of cross dimensional path in this region to other worlds!?. Please let us know if YOU have ever witnessed anything similar to this before?. .
aliens conspiracy government government alien government alien conspiracy government alien cover ups government alien disclosure government alien secrets government alien secrets UFO cover up government aliens government ufo government ufo cover up government ufo disclosure government ufo secrets lionsground ufo government conspiracy ufos yt:cc=on
Does the government have alien secrets and do they cover up UFOs?
The fact is, as our government has no secrets about UFOs there are no secrets to be revealed on Wikileaks. The fact is if UFOs do not exist then our government does not show any interest in something that does not exist. But what if I tell you the fact that all those things they’ve denied are slowly been confirmed. In the next minutes, I come up with examples of governments, go through som Wikileaks documents, followed with a wealth of UFO documents released by the Spanish government and my thoughts on why governments are so interested. Stay tuned, because this has become interesting. Hi, I’m Heathcliff and this is Lions Ground. I hope you have a fantastic day. When it comes to UFOs, I’m very skeptical. But where there’s smoke, there’s fire, especially as the government is doing spastic about it. Here are some examples of experiences from the government: In October 1969, former US president Jimmy Carter had seen a UFO when he left a fundraiser, at Leary, Georgia. Jimmy Carter formally threw a UFO sighting report with the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena 4 years later, in September 1973. This one. But Jimmy Carter made a U-turn to the promise of declassifying UFO documents.
The reason for national security is the reason for backing down. President Jimmy Carter never mentioned UFO again. UFO Rendlesham Forest incident ‘witness’ talks after 36-year silence, The witness, Steve Longero, a retired US Air Force police officer. Here’s the document: The CIA and FBI released ‘zillion’ UFO Files combined. On January 26, 2016, the CIA tweeted a tip how to investigate a UFO using the hashtag Project Blue Book, a series of studies of UFOs by the United States. The governments have in fact UFO secrets. Such as Germany, After years of legal proceedings, the Supreme Court ordered the German Bundestag to release information about UFOs, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence and a special UN resolution the research on UFOs. This information is collected by the scientific service of the German parliament. Until today, the Bundestag kept this information not only secret, they also tried to prevent that the people could gain access to the courts. The verdict is a big step for the German UFO research. When you talk about UFOs in the early days until recently you were ridiculed by the media and the government.
The fact is, based on what I have shown you: documents, experiences, and other publications, the government indirectly says there is more, they know more, and they keep it a secret for you. Thanks to Wikileaks, I can tell you that even United Nations is very interested in UFOs. WikiLeaks posted more than half a million U.S. State Department diplomatic documents from 1978 detailing America’s interactions with countries all around the world ― including Grenada Prime Minister Eric Gairy’s efforts to organize a United Nations-based committee to research and investigate global UFO reports on May 18, 2015. Many of the documents, written by American UN officials, indicated how closely they were monitoring Grenada’s UFO-related activities. One document, from Nov. 18, 1978, revealed the involvement in helping Grenada to produce a credible UFO presentation. This 1978 letter from Grenada to Lee Speigel confirmed that country’s commitment to sponsoring Speigel’s UFO presentation at the United Nations.
Another cable posted on WikiLeaks, from Nov. 24, 1978, refers to Ambassador Richard Petree’s meeting with Grenada representatives “to discuss their UFO resolution. Ambassador Petree acknowledged the high level of interest in UFOs among some elements of the private sector and scientific community … and pointed to the budgetary impact as a major concern of the U.S. and other countries.” On Nov. 28, 1978, the day after our presentation at the UN, this document was sent through official channels, detailing the actual UFO event, describing what each of the invited scientific and military speakers had to say to the member nations. A few days after that, on Dec. 2, 1978, a follow-up cable was transmitted, including the following: Subsequent to the introduction of the Grenadian UFO resolution, Misoff has engaged in two separate informal negotiating sessions, which included representation from Austria, USSR, and Grenada, in an attempt to arrive at a mutually acceptable compromise solution to the problem. A draft decision to be taken by the Special Political Committee (SPC) has been agreed upon by the participants in the informal negotiations, subject to the concurrence of their respective capitals.
We think referral of the matter to the Outer Space Committee (OSC) without a preordained mandate as to what action is to be taken, provides the flexibility the OSC needs to take whatever action it deems appropriate. It will also obviate the need to vote on a resolution (and gamble on the results). d. The following week brought forth another document, on Dec. 8, 1978, which stated: “The General Assembly invites interested member states to take appropriate steps to coordinate on a national level scientific research and investigation into extraterrestrial life, including unidentified flying objects, and to inform the secretary-general of the observations, research, and evaluation of such activities.” It was further suggested that Grenada’s views on UFOs could be discussed in 1979. Unfortunately, that didn’t come to pass, as Grenada Prime Minister Gairy was overthrown in a 1979 coup. Needless to say, without the Gairy-based initiative on UFOs, it was quietly relegated to Grenada’s back burner. This is the tip of the UFO-UN iceberg. It shows how the subject of UFOs wasn’t merely officially ridiculed or slapped aside. There was, and perhaps still is, some interest there, just waiting to emerge.
If there are no UFO secrets, there are no leaks. The contrary is confirmed. I released last year the news story “Treasure of UFO Files: Spanish Ministry of Defence Released X-Files”. “The Spanish Ministry of Defence has released a huge amount of information about UFOs in Spanish airspace. It’s about a report of nearly 2,000 pages covering the period between 1962 and 1995.” c. There are also relatively large UFOs spotted in Madrid and Barcelona. People have also reported unknown objects in Extremadura, Andalusia, the Balearic Islands (Mallorca and Menorca especially) and Castellón. In 1968, the most UFOs were reported. The first sighting took place over San Javier in Murcia. My conclusion If no UFOs have been seen as the government always claimed, why does the governments keep track on UFOs secretly behind our backs. If you have nothing to hide why are there so many secrets about UFOs. Only now, old documents are released.
You’re not going to deny first years and later releasing the documents. What does that say about our government? That they are stupid or arrogant? Both. You can not trust their words. What you’ve seen in this video is just a tip of the mountain. What I think, the country which gets the technique first will be the ruler world. What do you think? Click the videos next to me to watch more of my videos.
I sincerely want to thank you for your time watching this video, it’s really appreciated. I’ll see in the next video. I’m Heathcliff, your host, lionsgroundnews.com .
articles BuzzFeed BuzzFeed Unsolved BuzzFeedBlue BuzzFeedVideo cold case creepy evidence gas investigation lights mini doc murder mystery news phoenix phoenix lights phenomenon ryan bergara shane madej stars theories theory Unsolved unsolved mysteries
The Unexplained Phoenix Lights Phenomenon
– Tonight, something strange happened in the skies over Arizona that still hasn’t been fully explained. – An event now known as the Phoenix lights. – It is extraordinary. – No one knows for sure what happened that night in the skies over Arizona in March, but thousands of people saw something. – This week on Buzzfeed Unsolved, we investigate the Phoenix lights, a possible UFO sighting in Phoenix, Arizona. This case is regarded by many to be ^one of the bigger UFO cases of all time, ^mainly because of the amount of witnesses. ^You already look like you’re stoked. – I love it, I love it. (laughs) A lot of times, it’s like ooh, this person saw a lady get abducted by minions, but nobody had a camera.
– Well, not today, friend, not today, because spoiler alert, just take a little peek in there. It’s hot. – You didn’t even look. Ooh, there you go. – There’s so much heat in here. Let’s get into it. – Okay. – (laughs) Okay. ^On March 13th, 1997, around 7 PM, ^a string of about five lights in a V formation ^appeared in the sky above Phoenix, Arizona. The National UFO Reporting Center reported that the first call regarding the lights came in at PM from a retired police officer in Paulden, Arizona, which is about two hours north of Phoenix. The retired police officer reported he saw, quote, ^a cluster of red-orange lights ^arranged in a V formation, end quote. The National UFO Reporting Center reportedly began to get a flood of calls from south of Paulden suggesting the lights were moving in a south-eastern direction. Allegedly, there were over 700 witnesses, including pilots, police officers, and military officials that were lighting up the National UFO Reporting Center’s switchboards looking for an explanation. Some describe the lights as orbs, ^others said triangles. ^A large amount of witnesses describe the lights ^as part of a singular massive craft, ^a craft that made no noise.
– So some people saw a craft, I got a bubble, I got an air bubble in my throat right now, you hear that? You ever get that? This is scary, I don’t sound like myself. – Oh, you sound– – I sound like an alien. – You sound alien. – Yeah, I’m like a pod person. (grunts) Okay. Yeah, you know, that’s that thing, you look in the darkness long enough, you’re gonna see something. – Yeah, 700 people are gonna all hallucinate at the same time. – Yeah. – Okay. – I mean, some of them did, some of them didn’t. I mean, it’s not hallucinating, I’m saying some of the people looked up and said– – Misidentified. – Oh, I see something, I’m staring at the darkness, are those all connected, what’s my mind doing? – Here’s a crazy dot– – In March? – Though this may be, I may be going off the deep end here, but if 700 people say they saw something, what if they actually saw something? – No doubt they saw something, but what is that thing? – Don’t, what? – That’s the question.
– One man named Terry Proctor captured ^one of the only videos of this event. ^The grainy, low-quality video, which we can’t show you ^due to copyright, seemingly displays five lights in a V-like pattern in the sky. ^Around 10 PM, a second set of as many as nine lights ^appeared in the sky, seemingly hovering in the same spot. ^Whether these lights are related to or are in fact the same ^lights from the seven PM sighting, is unclear. However, it’s this set of lights that comprises most of eyewitness testimony, as it was later in the night after the buzz of the first sighting had people on alert.
– It seems like not the usual M.O. for aliens, right, to sort of do a little appetizer? – This is a weird case because there’s a possibility that one was legit and one actually was something normal, but was misidentified, so it confuses things. – Curious. – Or they were the same thing. I think either is just as likely. I think it’s possible that aliens knew they were gonna be seen, or didn’t know that they were gonna be seen, one of them fucked up, was asleep at the wheel, forgot to turn on the cloaking device or some crazy shit like that. – It’s just a button. – And now he’s fired and he’s looking for work. His wife divorced him, his little alien kids don’t have income to live off of, it’s a really bad situation for that alien father. – I don’t think aliens have money. – A laser printer technician named Dana Valentine witnessed the craft from his yard in Phoenix. ^Quote, we could see the outline of a mass ^behind the lights, but you couldn’t actually see the mass. ^It was more like a gray distortion of the night sky, wavy. ^I don’t know exactly what it was, ^but I know it’s not a technology the public ^has heard of before, end quote.
^Tim Ley, a management consultant, described the event ^saying, quote, it was astonishing and a little frightening. ^It was so big and so strange. ^You couldn’t actually see the object, all you could see was the outline, ^as though something was blotting out the stars. ^The lights looked like gas. ^There was a distortion on the surface. ^Also, the light didn’t spill out or shine. ^I’ve never seen a light like that, end quote. According to a USA Today article from the time, air traffic controllers could not see the lights on radar, despite seeing them with their own eyes in the sky. That’s pretty significant. – Yeah. – If there are planes, you would see them on the radar. – Yeah. – So it’s not a plane. – Unless it was stealth. – We’ll get into that later. Based off of reports, it appears that the mysterious spacecraft was enormous, made no sound, moved slowly, and on occasion, would hover over an area. Phoenix physician Dr. Lynne Kitei was a witness of these lights and states, quote, ^it was a mile-wide formation of these orbs ^and I caught them head-on turning into a V, end quote.
^Witness Sue Watson described the craft as, quote, ^a shopping mall flying over my home. ^It had these lights in front and then it was ^totally illuminated underneath, like a yellowish amber. ^It was a totally rounded boomerang shape, end quote. Videos of this second event showed the string of nine lights hovering in the sky. The lights illuminate off and on randomly over the course of a couple minutes while floating in what could be described as a loose, V-like formation. Other videos captured the events of March 13th, 1997 and according to a USA Today article, quote, ^computer analysis of the tapes puts the object ^at 6,000 feet long, or more than a mile, end quote. – With these things, I tend to, you know, I tend to put it first on spooky military activity more so than extraterrestrials.
It just seems like a big gamble for extraterrestrials to just, I mean, if they’re coming down at night in the first place, you know, clearly, and they’re trying to cloak themselves, well great. Maybe hang outside a few miles outside of town. – I mean, really it’s not that much of a gamble. What’s the gamble? They’re clearly more advanced than us, what’s gonna happen? Okay, we see them, we did see them. We’re not gonna attack them. – So pop on by around the afternoon. – Because maybe they– – Let’s get some peepers on that ship. – Maybe they saw us and they were like, hm, not interested. Swipe right, or left, or whatever the fuck Twitter is. Not Twitter, Tinder, just sounded like an 80-year-old man right there.
(laughs) – Whatever Twinder. – Whatever Twinder is. – Twinder. – Uh, yeah. I think maybe they saw, they came to check out resources. They didn’t like what they saw so they just left. While there are people who say the lights were part of one giant craft, there are others who believe the lights themselves were the crafts. ^A truck driver named Bill Greiner’s recollection ^of the event seems to suggest the latter. ^Greiner said that his truck route took him ^within a mile of Luke Air Force Base. ^He states that he witnessed two orbs, one of which was floating over the air force base. At that moment, three F-16s took off, after which the orb pursued one, but then shot up into the sky and disappeared. ^Quote, before this, if anybody had told me ^they saw a UFO, I would have said “yeah, ^”and I believe in the tooth fairy.” Now I’ve got a whole new view.
I may be just a dumb truck driver, but I’ve seen something that don’t belong here. I wish the government would just admit it. You know what it’s like in this city right now? It’s like having 50,000 people in a stadium watch a football game and then having someone tell us we weren’t there, end quote. – Love this guy. – Yeah, I love it. He’s like he realizes the first thing a skeptic is gonna say is “oh, it’s a fuckin’ truck driver.” Check that box. – Yeah. I was gonna say, oh, it’s a fuckin’ truck driver. He got me dead to rights.
– And then he gave a solid analogy of people watching a sporting event and then having people go “hey, you didn’t watch that.” – And he also gave the I was a skeptic until I saw this defense, which is great. Oh yeah, and I believe in the tooth fairy, go fuck yourself. – It was a three-pronged attack. – That’s pretty good. – This guy’s, uh, he’s a savant when it comes to rhetoric.
– Yeah. ^- On May sixth during a council meeting, ^city councilwoman Frances Barwood asks city manager ^Frank Fairbanks if there was going to be an investigation. ^Quote, I asked if anybody knew what this object was ^and could we check into it. ^I was met by a whole bunch of stares, end quote. ^She claims that following the meeting, a city manager approached her and said, quote, you shouldn’t have asked that question, end quote. Then the Arizona Republic published a cartoon of city councilwoman Barwood with a light switch on her forehead and a button on her jacket ^saying, quote, I love UFOs, end quote. Barwood continues, the mayor’s office put signs on my picture in the hallway and I found out afterwards they handed out business cards with my name on it that said speak into the tin foil. I will hear you, end quote.
Despite being ridiculed, Barwood began receiving phone calls from other witnesses all describing the same thing. Nonetheless, for a while, the case went unacknowledged until a USA Today article released three months later, on June 18th, 1997 described the event, effectively bringing the story into the national spotlight. From the article, quote, on March 13th, hundreds of people reported an enormous object or objects in the night sky. It’s the most confounding UFO report in 50 years.
So far, there is no explanation, but the government is not investigating. Local and federal agencies disagree over who should purse the report, end quote. – Yeah, I guess it didn’t, so there’s been almost no coverage of it up until here. – No, and this is three months after the sighting. – ‘Cause this is, this is before YouTube or– – Yeah, no one’s on Twitter going “holy shit.” – Yeah. – ‘Cause, you know, I mean for example, remember, what was it, a couple months ago when the SpaceX launch happened and it looked like the sky was breaking? If that happened in 1997 and we didn’t have Twitter. – Everyone would think it was an alien. – Everyone would think it’s an alien, they would lose their mind. – Yeah. – Of course, the government was, to their credit, able to give an explanation. They even announced it was gonna happen. They said this ship’s, it wasn’t a covert operation, so in that case, I don’t know if it’s too similar, but the internet is a tool of knowledge, I suppose.
– In some ways. – Yeah, or it could be a means of destruction, the end of us. – Just hang in there, everybody. – With the country hungry for answers, then-governor Fife Symington held a press conference ^where he claimed he knew who was responsible ^and brought out the accused. – And now I’ll ask Officer Stein and his colleagues to escort the accused into the room so that we may all look upon the guilty party. Don’t get him too close to me please. (audience laughs) – And it’s here that this story gets interesting, because despite making a joke of the event, Governor Symington would later publicly admit ^that he too had seen the craft.
Quote, I saw a huge craft come right over Squall Peak. It was just breathtaking. As a pilot and a former Air Force officer, I can definitively say that this craft did not resemble any man-made object that I’d ever seen. ^It was certainly not high altitude flares, ^because I’ve never seen flares fly in formation. ^Unquestionably, it was a UFO, end quote. Another interesting fact from Governor Symington ^was the fact that his office did inquire about the object, ^but they never received an answer, ^and if a governor can’t receive an explanation from the powers that be, what could they be hiding? – There’s probably a lot of things they don’t tell governors. – Sure, but not when the governor in question has a state full of people that are pressing him for answers. You would think that they would be like, “hey, I know a lot of people are on you right now. “You’re under a lot of heat. “This is what you do,” but instead they ostracize him, they keep him on the outside to think oh, I wonder what he’s gonna do? Maybe he’ll run his mouth. – I would be more concerned if he did know something.
– I’m just saying that if they had talked to him, he wouldn’t have said anything ever, I think. Because he would have had the fear of god in him. – But then he’s still, he’s still like a loose cannon. – Not necessarily. – They can’t know for sure that if they tell him something, he’s going to, he could go nuts, they don’t know. – Yeah you can, because it’s your job. I’m just saying that by keeping someone in the dark, you’re giving them the liberty to say whatever they really want. – With no basis for it, though. So if anyone hears it, they’re not gonna– – It has a little bit of basis. He’s a governor saying something, so that already inherently has a little bit of basis.
– But he doesn’t know more than anyone else in town. – I know. – Is the thing. – But it just makes it look more suspicious. – I don’t think it does. – I think it does. – Well, agree to disagree here. – All right. With that, let’s get into the theories, of which there are only two. The first theory is the official explanation ^from the Air Force that the lights witnessed in the sky ^were merely flares dropped in a training exercise ^from high altitude that night. ^The military states that the flares were dropped ^over the Barry M. Goldwater range near Gila Bend, Arizona, ^though it’s worth noting that Tuscon’s Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, the base that allegedly carried out the training exercise originally stated that it had no planes in the air at the time.
Former F-16 pilot Ty Groh believes that the lights ^may well have been military flares. He says that flares go where the wind takes them. A breeze may have been able to carry all of them at an equal distance. In June of that year, a local news anchor taped another flare drop by the military, and skeptics suggest it bared a striking resemblance to the Phoenix lights. One important detail is what time the military reportedly dropped flares on the night of the Phoenix lights. The flare drop apparently occurred around 10 PM, ^aka the same time sightings of the second ^set of lights were reported, ^but while that possibly explains those lights, ^that still offers no explanation for the first set ^of lights that were seen nearly three hours earlier.
^One man named Mitch Stanley claims that during the time ^of the first sighting, he happened to be using ^a high-powered telescope capable of seeing ^1,500 times more light than the human eye. When he looked at the first set of lights, he claims they were planes. While compelling, this story seems odd ^when you consider the fact that no planes were reported ^in the air during the time of the first sighting, ^and since it wasn’t just one light, but rather five lights, ^it seems odd that there would be five unaccounted-for ^planes flying in tight formation. – My gut tells me it’s just some shady military activity. Could have been flares, could have been stealths. You know, who knows? – They’ve only given one explanation for the second set of lights, and even that explanation to me is shit, I would say. (laughs) I think it’s a shit explanation.
– This one’s shit. – I just think the flares, even if you do buy the flares, sure, the first set of lights still unexplained, except for one dude with a telescope who’s competing against 700 witnesses. And why the fuck is this guy with a telescope, he just happens to be using a telescope at the exact time of one of the craziest events of all time? – You gotta be honest, telescope people are weird. – (laughs) Yeah, I know, ’cause he’s actually– – We don’t wanna be one of those. – He’s a favorite among skeptics, they’re like “see, this guy’s using a high power telescope with his mama” which he was, he was using, he was in the back– – No, I don’t doubt that he was, that him and his mama were out with their telescope.
I’m just saying telescope people, I mean, how much are they spending on these telescopes? They’re gonna be out there every single night with like a margarita like let’s see what I find. – Yeah that’s true. – Oh, empty sky again, wow what a night. Well, that’s been eight hours, guess I’ll go to sleep ’cause the sun’s coming up. They’re basically vampires. – Then he says to his mom “good scoping.” She goes “good scoping, son” and then they go back to bed. – When are you gonna move out? (laughs) – Which brings us to our next theory, that the lights were not flares, but actual UFOs, ^and perhaps proof of extraterrestrial life.
^On the third year anniversary of the lights, ^another flare demonstration was performed ^to attempt to mimic the lights, ^this time by the National Guard, ^but people remained unconvinced ^that this was what they witnessed three years earlier. ^The flares, quote, flickered and moved erratically, ^end quote, and not in the bizarre grouped fashion ^of the Phoenix lights. Jim Dilettosa, a special effects expert, analyzed videos ^of the lights and said, quote, I have no idea ^what they were, end quote. ^Him and his team detail the orbs as, quote, ^a perfectly uniform light with no variation ^from one edge to the other and no glow.
^They have ruled out lasers, flares, holograms, ^and aircraft lights as sources, end quote. To gain further insight on this case, ^we sat down with ancient alien expert Giorgio A. Tsoukalos. What do you think the plausibility of this event actually happening is? – Well, we know it happened. (laughing) – We do know what happened. Ryan and I agree, we don’t know what it was exactly. – What it was, yes, correct, and what I think is fascinating is that something similar happened seven years earlier in Belgium, which was also seen by thousands upon thousands of people.
Same triangle formation and then also the individual lights. So I think it’s fascinating. – Have you seen anything that could maybe be an early version of what we saw in the Phoenix lights? – Sure, what’s interesting is that Alexander the Great and also in some accounts of ancient Constantinople, there are references of giant flying shields. Giant shields that are glowing in the sky and just crossed, you know, over the lands. So when you have these accounts of ancient flying shields up in the sky that are witnessed by armies, you have to wonder, well, were they all drunk? (laughing) Were they all smoking, or did they actually see something? – Even if the lights were misidentified flares ^or planes, this still doesn’t explain numerous witnesses ^describing a massive craft that the lights were attached to.
^Piggybacking off that, on March 14th, 1997, ^the morning after the Phoenix lights, ^an airman from Luke Air Force Base ^detailed a disturbing story from the day prior. ^He claimed that the base got a call from Prescott Valley ^Airport, quote, reporting an object that had a near-miss with a small Cessna, end quote. He claimed this call came at, quote, ^approximately PM, that they encountered something ^over Phoenix, Arizona, end quote.
^As a result, the airman claims that Luke Air Force Base ^sent two F-15s to investigate. Upon their return to base, here’s how the airman described the pilot of one of the F-15s. Quote, the command pilot of this particular flight, I’ve never seen this man scared, and he was scared to death. He’s not sure what it was. His statement was that they followed this aircraft, it went on a straight-line course. He saw five distinct lights in a triangular pattern. How often would this happen where the military has stealth planes out that they don’t tell Air Force bases about? – It’s possible. – That seems wildly counterproductive to me. You don’t wanna be sending out a bunch of planes to investigate things when you could easily be like “oh yeah, that’s one of ours.” – Yeah, I just feel like the military, you know, it’s hard to pin down. Hard to pin down what they might do. – I think I just made a good point.
– I mean, certainly, certainly a good point for you. – After this revelation, the airman claimed ^the Air Force base, quote, had a complete lockdown. ^All hell broke loose basically ^and the facility was closed, end quote. Noteworthy is that this encounter occurred around PM at the time of the first sighting, about an hour and a half before the military claims they dropped flares.
In response, the Air Force has denied this encounter ever took place. Classic. – I love that, yeah. – Classic, do you think they just have a dartboard that they throw whether or not they’re gonna, they’re gonna deny? – Just spin a wheel. – What should we tell them this time? – Yeah. – I think it would be a fun job to be the person who makes up fake stories that the military leaks. – Spin doctor. – Ooh, a spin doctor. – Yeah. – And then he spins his wheel– – Oh, he spins a wheel! – That has topics on it– – It’s all very literal. – And it has topics on it. – We’re going with flares, unfortunately. – And everyone in the office who had flares in their pool is like “yeah!” – They choke Alf a little bit more. (Ryan laughs) – It makes sense that the Air Force would deny this story, since denying interest in UFOs is something that the government has already done. ^In December 2017, it was found that the nation’s defense department had used $22 million of their annual $600 billion budget for an advanced aerospace threat identification program. ^Defense department officials admitted that for years, ^the program had been investigating ^unidentified flying objects.
^Here’s a quote from a New York Times article on a 60-minute documentary on this topic detailing documents provided in the documentary. Quote, documents that describe sightings of aircraft that seem to move at very high velocities with no visible signs of propulsion, or that hovered with no apparent means of lift, end quote. Why do you think the government approaches the topic of UFOs with such trepidation? Why do you think they’re so against it? – That’s a great question because as we now know, ever since the ’50s and the ’60s, you know, open-minded people like the three of us and our great audience, we’ve always been laughed at and oh, you know, those are the kooks, those are the crazies. And then there’s reports coming out, well, we’ve been studying this, you know, files and files with hundreds of thousands of documents, world-wide, not just by the US government, but by governments from Brazil, England, all over the place, that ultimately, this stuff has been investigated and the fact that the Pentagon in December of 2017 released a statement saying “hey, we’re investigating UFOs,” that to me indicates that we’ve passed, or we are experiencing a paradigm shift, which is great.
– In the end, neither skeptics nor believers can concretely prove what happened that night. Despite hundreds of witnesses across an entire state, the world seems content to leave what transpired that night as a mystery. Perhaps one day we’ll have an answer, but for now, the case remains unsolved. (mysterious music) .
accessible adbuctions alien abduction stories alien invasion ancient aliens are aliens among us are aliens coming are aliens coming to earth are aliens here are aliens real betty and barney hill captions Do Aliens Exist government cover-up have aliens already made contact have aliens visited kecksburg luis elizondo nasa paul hellyer proof aliens exist roswell roswell ufo sci-5s science fiction ufo ufo sightings what is roswell
Have Aliens Already Made Contact with Humans?
The prospect of being alone in the universe is, at least in my opinion, an extremely underwhelming answer to the question of “what else is out there”. Which is why I and so many others may cling to the smallest sign of proof that aliens do in fact exist. And to go even further, that they are already in contact with us on Earth. After all, it would be one of the most incredible truths that could ever come out of human history.
So is it possible? Well, no one can say for sure, but to give you some more signs of proof to cling to, on this Sci-5, I present you with 5 Signs aliens may already be in contact with humans. 5. Technology jump after Roswell Reverse engineering is a very real thing that happens in the science field. There is no argument that scientists and engineers take foreign or ancient technology apart to determine how it works, and use that information to apply to new technologies. This is supposedly what happened to the alien technology that allegedly landed in New Mexico in 1947. Jack Shulman was the head of the American Computer Company. He also worked at many major technology companies such as Bell Labs, and IBM. During his time at ACC, he says he was approached by someone whom he refers to as “the consultant”. The consultant gave him some documents, which included a laboratory notebook from the late 40s, placing them after Roswell. They were from a special projects group called the “Z Division”, which worked with the US government to complete technical assessments of foreign nuclear programs and weapons capabilities.
The “Z Division” coincidently, originated in Roswell. Between 1947 and 1948, Harry Truman contracted AT&T with the overseeing and management of US nuclear arsenal and the commercialization of derived product technologies from the nuclear bomb. In 1949 the contract became official, and AT&T became increasingly important in the project, eventually taking near control of the Z-Division. Also at this time in 1947, the transistor was miraculously invented by three AT&T researchers. One of which went on to win a Nobel Prize for the invention. What puzzles so many, is that in 1946 AT&T did not possess the technology needed to create the transistor, but somehow one year later they solidified ties with top-secret government projects and invented the incredibly important piece of technology.
Shulman, who claims he was skeptical of the information that came his way at first, says he was always somewhat mystified as to where the technology was actually created, but eventually, when the information came his way, it all seemed to make sense. In the late 90s, he published the documents to the American Computer Company website, which generated loads of feedback from people all over the world. He was invited to join many news outlets, including ABC, and not surprisingly, Coast to Coast with Art Bell. Jack’s claims were taken very seriously by many due to his closeness with people who worked on the project. When he was attending school, he lived with Jack Morton and was good friends with his son.
Morton was the administrative head of the transistor project. Shulman believes he is the one who originally leaked the documents. Morton had not been given any of the credit for the project and was quite angry about that. Especially when the Nobel Prize became involved. As the years went on, his relationship with AT&T became worse and worse. The fraying relationship came to an end in 1972 when Dr. Morton was found knocked unconscious and set on fire in his car. Jack believes this is because the company was afraid of him releasing information, information that years later ended up on his desk.
There is a lot more to this story, and I encourage you all to read the Jack Shulman lecture linked below if you are interested in finding out more. 4. Reputable people’s testimonies If Jack Shulman’s account of Roswell doesn’t convince you, then perhaps even more reputable figures may. Many political figures, celebrities, and people of power have openly discussed their experiences and belief in aliens and alien contact.
Some of the more famous claims can be attributed to former US presidents Ronald Reagan, and Jimmy Carter. Both, who on separate occasions say they have witnessed UFOs. There are countless more notable people who have reported witnessing UFOs, but these claims start to get really interesting once we move past simple sightings. There are an incredible number of former and current government workers who have come forward to say their government is hiding information about extraterrestrial initiatives, but in this video, we are going to focus on two that caught my eye due to their positions, and rational approach to the topic.
The first will come from the United States. Most of you may be aware of the stories that broke in many major news outlets in late 2017 about a former Pentagon UFO Investigator who came forward with claims that UFOs were in fact real. After years of working for the Pentagon, Luis Elizondo decided to come forward about his experience in the search for aliens. In October of 2017, he resigned from the Department of Defense in protest of what he claimed was excessive secrecy surrounding the program, also citing he was frustrated with internal opposition to it following funding cuts in 2012.
Not long after this, in an interview to CNN, he stated, “”my personal belief is that there is very compelling evidence that we may not be alone.” While he danced around the words a little bit, he did also strongly hint that there was evidence that caused him to believe UFOs not only existed but have already visited Earth. Despite no longer working with the government, Luis has continued his work searching for extraterrestrials, and bringing the information to the public by joining former Blink 182 frontman and notable alien enthusiast and researcher Tom DeLonge in the To The Stars Academy.
He now holds the role as Director of Global Security & Special Programs. Moving a bit north, Paul Hellyer was the Minister of Defence for Canada from 1963, to 1967. Paul has also served various terms in other political positions for the Canadian government, and is the longest serving member of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada, just above Prince Philip.
Hellyer has been very outspoken of his belief in extraterrestrials and says they have been in contact with humans for many years. He is known as the highest-ranked alien believer on earth, and his claims are taken seriously enough to make national headlines in major news sources in Canada, including the National Post, and The Toronto Star.
It wasn’t until 2005, at 81 years old that Paul decided to go public with his information. He says that at least four different types of aliens have visited our planet, and many more exist. He also states that there is a “federation” of sorts that has a rule not to interfere with human affairs. Therefore, they simply observe us. He states that at least two of the types of aliens that have visited us are completely benign. He also says that they are not very impressed with our actions on Earth, citing clear-cutting, dumping sewage, and other rather distasteful habits we have. He makes many more claims about extraterrestrials and on an immense amount of other topics. If this interest you, I highly recommend checking out more of his claims. 3. There are some physical pieces of evidence that have the opportunity to be interpreted as possible documented proof of alien encounters dating back even as far as ancient times. To begin, there are many religions that have stories of flying machines descending from the sky.
In religious texts, these are most often referred to as deities coming from heaven, but when looking at the stories with a modern eye, some details may point toward the possibility of alien encounters. There are many examples to choose from, but to focus on a few, in the bible Elijah is taken into the sky by what is described as a chariot of fire. At the time, a chariot was really the only type of vehicle, which makes it somewhat safe to assume that even if it was a flying vehicle, like a spaceship, it may still have been described as a chariot.
Also in biblical times, electricity had yet to be discovered so lights would simply be described as fire. So could this chariot of fire actually had been a bright ufo? In Indian Sanskrit writings, there are many other references to Vimanas, or flying machines. The Bhagavata Purana describes a metal aircraft that appeared to be in two places at once. The king Ravana was said to have his own called the Pushpaka Vimana. This account was actually made into a 1987 movie, and was then rebooted in 2016. It’s possible these stories could be metaphors, or even just stories, but is it also possible they could be describing UFO encounters or in the case of Elijah, alien abductions? Aside from religious stories, it is also possible to reason that the Ancient Egyptians may have had encounters with extraterrestrials. Scribes of the pharaoh Thutmose III from 1440 BC describe fiery disks passing over the sky. Also, as many of you may be familiar with, there is the case of the mysterious hieroglyphics from the Temple of Seti that appear to depict futuristic vehicles including a helicopter, tank, and even what looks like a spaceship. While no rational explanation can be proved, it is heavily believed these have been altered over the years, or are even just pure coincidence.
But is it possible our minds jump to these conclusions simply because we cannot believe what we don’t know? This specific idea can be quite the rabbit hole to fall down, but if you’re up to challenge your thoughts, and the status quo, I suggest you take a dive. 2. Although some may seem, and probably are incredibly ridiculous and unlikely, the abundance of UFO sightings from around the world are impossible to ignore. For every few reports with clear rational explanations, comes a real stumper that is hard to brush off, especially those with multiple witnesses. For example, the 1965 Kecksburg UFO incident where thousands of people across six different American states and one Canadian province saw a metal object catch on fire and fall into a small village just outside of Pittsburg.
Many witnesses reported that they saw what they assumed to be a meteor falling to the ground, however as it came closer to the Earth people started to notice the object appeared to be of a metallic formation. The object also supposedly dropped hot metal debris of Michigan and northern Ohio. The authorities had many explanations including space debris falling from orbit, a missile test gone wrong, and even a plane crash. In the town of Kecksburg where the object supposedly landed, a young boy and his mother claimed to have seen blue smoke coming from the landing spot, and called the local authorities. Many responded including local police and volunteer firefighters. The object was described as and acorn shape roughly the size of a Volkswagen Beetle, featuring images that looked like ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics on the sides. Soon after initial response, the military arrived, secured the area, and ordered civilians to leave.
After their investigation they reported that they found “absolutely nothing”. Thousands of reports about UFOs are made every year around the world. There’s a good chance even you may have witnessed something you really aren’t able to explain. So is it safe to say this is enough proof that we are in fact being visited by aliens? What do you think? 1. There is also the possibility that aliens really are in contact with humans, and not only are they observing us, but they may also be studying us, and its possible we don’t know, because we never remember. Abductions are much less reported than UFO sightings, but there are still an abundance of claims that have eerily similar details. One of the most common occurrences in the case of an abduction is lost time, and many people do not remember anything that happened until much later, if at all. So in theory, it could be possible that you or someone you know has been abducted in the past, but has no memory of it. Fortunately, some people are able to recall bits and pieces of their experience.
Perhaps one of the most interesting things about abduction reports is how similar most of them are. Researchers have even created a rough timeline of events that coincide with most cases. The timeline is as follows, capture, examination and procedures, conference, where the aliens communicate, usually telepathically with the abductee, then the tour of the vessel, the return, which is followed by a euphoric sense of love and metaphysical change, and then the aftermath. A prime example of this is the famous Betty and Barney Hill case. The couple was driving home late at night in September of 1961 when they stopped their car to observe strange lights overhead. The next thing they knew hours had passed and they were 35 miles closer to home than they had been, and they had no idea what had happened. Betty called a close friend who worked at an air base to report a UFO sighting.
She was told that two other reports were made in that area based on radar data. Weeks later Betty began having nightmares about being aboard a spacecraft and having medical procedures done on her. Eventually the two of them decided to undergo hypnosis where they both told a story about being abducted, experimented on, and were told by aliens that the beings were from a planet Zeta Reticuli. Many other cases following this chain of events have been reported.There have even been UFO sightings where the witness reports lost time, but not an abduction. So is it possible aliens are researching us right now, and we simply just can’t remember? Is it possible that you or I have already been abducted? It’s hard to say, but it sure doesn’t seem as impossible as some may believe. Thanks for checking out this Sci-5. If you liked this video, don’t forget to like and subscribe. Also check out my last video, 5 Weird And Unusual Locations From Around The World, and be sure to stay tuned for future Sci-5s on all things science, and science fiction.
alien Alien Life aliens Andrew Park Chris Anderson Cognitive Media Do Aliens Exist Electromagnetic Signals Extraterrestrial Life Intelligent Life Philosophy and Religion Questions space TED TED Education TED-Ed ufo
Why Can’t We See Evidence of Alien Life?
Somewhere out there in that vast universe, there must surely be countless other planets teeming with life, but why don’t we see any evidence of it? Well, this is the famous question asked by Enrico Fermi in 1950: “Where is everybody?” Conspiracy theorists claim that UFOs are visiting all the time and the reports are just being covered up, but honestly, they aren’t very convincing. But that leaves a real riddle. In the past year, the Kepler space observatory has found hundreds of planets just around nearby stars, and if you extrapolate that data, it looks like there could be half a trillion planets just in our own galaxy.
If only one in 10,000 has conditions that might support a form of life, that’s still 50 million possible life-harboring planets right here in the Milky Way. So here’s the riddle. Our Earth didn’t form until about 9 billion years after the Big Bang. Countless other planets in our galaxy should have formed earlier and given life a chance to get underway billions or certainly many millions of years earlier than happened on Earth.
If just a few of them had spawned intelligent life and started creating technologies, those technologies would have had millions of years to grow in complexity and power. On Earth, we’ve seen how dramatically technology can accelerate in just 100 years. In millions of years, an intelligent alien civilization could easily have spread out across the galaxy, perhaps creating giant energy-harvesting artifacts, or fleets of colonizing spaceships, or glorious works of art that fill the night sky. At the very least, you’d think they’d be revealing their presence, deliberately or otherwise, through electromagnetic signals of one kind or another. And yet we see no convincing evidence of any of it. Why? Well, there are numerous possible answers, some of them quite dark. Maybe a single, superintelligent civilization has indeed taken over the galaxy, and has imposed strict radio silence because it’s paranoid of any potential competitors. It’s just sitting there ready to obliterate anything that becomes a threat. Or maybe they’re not that intelligent. Or perhaps, the evolution of an intelligence capable of creating sophisticated technology is far rarer than we’ve assumed.
After all, it’s only happened once on Earth in 4 billion years. Maybe even that was incredibly lucky. Maybe we are the first such civilization in our galaxy. Or, perhaps, civilization carries with it the seeds of its own destruction through the inability to control the technologies it creates. But there are numerous more hopeful answers. For a start, we’re not looking that hard, and we’re spending a pitiful amount of money on it. Only a tiny fraction of the stars in our galaxy have really been looked at closely for signs of interesting signals. And perhaps, we’re not looking the right way. Maybe as civilizations develop, they quickly discover communication technologies far more sophisticated and useful than electromagnetic waves. Maybe all the action takes place inside the mysterious recently discovered dark matter, or dark energy, that appear to account for most of the universe’s mass. Or maybe we’re looking at the wrong scale. Perhaps intelligent civilizations come to realize that life is ultimately just complex patterns of information interacting with each other in a beautiful way, and that can happen more efficiently at a small scale.
So just as on Earth, clunky stereo systems have shrunk to beautiful, tiny iPods, maybe intelligent life itself, in order to reduce its footprint on the environment, has turned itself microscopic, so the Solar System might be teeming with aliens, and we’re just not noticing them. Maybe the very ideas in our heads are a form of alien life. Well, okay, that’s a crazy thought. The aliens made me say it. But it is cool that ideas do seem to have a life all of their own, and that they outlive their creators. Maybe biological life is just a passing phase. Well, within the next 15 years, we could start seeing real spectroscopic information from promising nearby planets that will reveal just how life-friendly they might be.
And meanwhile SETI, the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, is now releasing its data to the public so that millions of citizen scientists, maybe including you, can bring the power of the crowd to join the search. And here on Earth, amazing experiments are being done to try to create life from scratch, life that might be very different from the DNA forms we know. All of this will help us understand whether the universe is teeming with life or, whether indeed, it’s just us. Either answer, in its own way, is awe-inspiring, because even if we are alone, the fact that we think and dream, and ask these questions might yet turn out to be one of the most important facts about the universe. And I have one more piece of good news for you. The quest for knowledge and understanding never gets dull. It doesn’t. It’s actually the opposite. The more you know, the more amazing the world seems. And it’s the crazy possibilities, the unanswered questions, that pull us forward. So, stay curious. .
Alien Proof - Does it exist?
alien aliens astronaut caught on tape colorado cosmos diy documentary earth flying saucer iraq space monkey moon motherboard nasa nosey planet real aliens real ufo richard dawkins san luis valley shuttle snippy the horse solar system space spaced out spce jump stars ufo ufo sightings ufo watchtower ufos universe vbs vbs.tv vice vice mag vice magazine vice news vice videos vice.com videos wilde x2
UFO Sightings in Colorado
JUDY MESSOLINE: We have pretty bizarre things happen here. Most of the people I know down here have seen something bizarre at one time or another. No, we don’t discuss it a whole bunch, but they believe. They think there’s something going on, too. My partner and I moved to the San Luis Valley to raise cattle, did not move here for UFOs, and didn’t even realize that this was a hot spot of the nation for sightings. And I knew nothing about them anyway. Well, then I started meeting some of the locals down here. And they all had UFO stories– I mean, one after another after another, even to the point where there was a real estate company years ago that would make people who bought land from them sign a disclaimer saying that they were aware that there was UFO activity in this valley.
So anyway, it got to the point I’d giggle and say, we need a UFO watchtower, never ever thinking I’d ever do it. Well, after four and a half years of struggling with cows, because they don’t eat sand really well, they about broke me. So I was talking to one of the farmers one day and I said, I’ve had to sell the cows. I don’t want to sell my land. And he said, you need to put up that UFO watchtower you giggled about. You’d have fun. It was just going to be a little old mom and pop business. We’d be open in the summer, closed in the winter, catch that tourist traffic off the highway, never thinking we would ever see anything from here. I mean, that was not even a vision. Well, from the time we opened, we started seeing things. And as of now, and this is November, we have had 67 sightings from just here since we opened.
One night we had about 60 people over here. And there was a couple sitting up from on the bench. And the woman jumps up just screaming. Do you see them? Do you see them? They were so high up that if she hadn’t pointed them out, I would have never seen them. And there was one here and one here, and they were moving remarkably fast towards the north. The one in the front stopped, and it waited for the one behind to catch up. And when that one caught up, the two of them took off, and there was a streak of light across the sky.
Another night it looked like a shooting star, and it was over here on the other side of the sand dunes. And it’s coming down. I’m watching this shooting star, OK? And it gets below the peaks of the mountains, and it lost its momentum, and it started to float like this. Well see, that makes sense to my weird mind. But anyway, what didn’t make sense is it went straight back up. So it wasn’t a shooting star. So many bizarre things have happened here in the last 12 years.
And I tell folks, maybe you don’t quite get all of this, OK? But you better have an open mind, because something’s going on up there in that cosmos, so we just don’t know about. And do I believe now? You betcha. JAY YOUNG: I’ve seen some pretty strange things. I’ve seen things that I’ve never even heard of before. I think there’s a lot of things in this universe that we don’t understand, and maybe we’re not meant to. Elvis. Here, buddy, buddy. Oh, there he is. How you doing big dog? Hey. JAY YOUNG: How’s my big boy? Yes. How’s my big boy? I was born in Texas, but I had the good sense to move to Colorado when I was six months old and been in the valley almost ever since.
My name is Jay Young, and I’m the manager of Colorado Gators Reptile Park. I’ve known Judy for quite a while, I guess. I went to the UFO watchtower probably the first year she opened it. It was a novel idea. She knew there was all these sightings in the San Luis Valley. And as she’s told you, I’m sure, she’s seen things since then. Do you know about Snippy the horse, right? First documented animal mutilation, possible UFO mutilation, happened here in the San Luis Valley back in the late ’60s. And it was a horse named Snippy the horse. It was just totally stripped bare.
But where the meat ended on the neck, the flesh was cauterized. There was no blood in the horse’s body, and there were no signs of any predators or anything strange around it. We just found this horse with the flesh missing off of its head. And we had an ostrich disappear. It’s missing to this day. It’s been four years now. Nobody ever saw this ostrich. So we decided to name him Snippy, if he ever does show up. I think the San Luis Valley probably draws a lot of supernatural or extraterrestrial activity possibly because of the geothermal water.
And there’s a lot of crazy people here who probably see things that they didn’t actually see, too. And then, the San Luis Valley draws strange people, so it might as well draw strange aircraft as well. JUDY MESSOLINE: Some say that its the vastness of the valley, because it’s so huge and not highly populated. Others say it’s a spiritually of the valley. Others say that there’s an E.T. base in Mount Blanca over here. Well, all of this sounds really good. But it didn’t make sense to my mind. Then I got a magazine from Great Britain. And in that magazine it said that the majority of their sightings was where there were hot water wells. That makes sense. From one end to this valley to the other, we have geothermal water. JAY YOUNG: We have very little atmosphere here at our elevation.
We have very little pollution. We have very clear skies. We do a lot of watching just from our front yard. Judy built a nice place for people to go and hang out that didn’t have a front yard here. JUDY MESSOLINE: The folks who come here to visit, first thing I ask is have you ever had any UFO experiences? Some will come right out and say, oh yeah. But folks have made fun of them for relating their stories. And I said, how can people do that? People have these experiences, don’t make fun of them. DAN: Everyone, whether they’re skeptical or not, everybody wants to think we’re not alone. Yeah, I’ve seen lights in the sky and objects that seem to hover and then take off quickly. AMANDA: I was up in the mountains with my friend near Denver. And it was the middle of the day, and we saw something that was just hovering for a long time.
It was just like an orb that was brightening and dimming. But it was still for a really long time, and then it moved. JOE: I just left my house. I was on my way into town and had some lights coming over towards us from where Blanca is. And as it was coming towards us, it seemed to come down, get brighter and brighter as it was coming down. It was a pretty good ways up there, though. And all of a sudden, it went from going straight at us and took an immediate right and went off and just disappeared off into the sky. KENNY: We have what we call the mystery lights. It’s lights we see over top of the mountains, not moving, not blinking.
So it’s not really an airplane or nothing, doesn’t look quite like a star. So we don’t really know what it is, so we just called it mystery lights. JAY YOUNG: I’m driving up Highway 17 one night. I saw three lights off to the left. And then they went over the mountains in less than 10 seconds. I calculated it out that there was no sonic boom from them taking off, breaking the sound barrier.
So that was strange. And then I calculated it out. They were going upwards of 21,000 miles per hour. JOSH: I’ve actually never experienced anything. And I’ve never seen anything myself in the area. But I believe it. In the cities and valley, there’s a lot of stuff going on, a lot of buildings. But out here in the open, you can really see everything in the sky. I’m sure there has been plenty of sightings out here. There’s plenty of room for it. JUDY MESSOLINE: If extraterrestrials were mean, we wouldn’t be here, kids.
Because their technology is so much greater than ours. We wouldn’t be here. There’s a painting over there. And the woman who did the painting is an abductee. She has been abducted for, oh gosh, since she was just a child. And she’s 50 now. And now she tries to make it a positive experience. And yeah, she was scared. But that’s human nature. We’re going to be scared about the unknown. I used to watch Mulder on TV and stuff. But as far as really being into it, I was a horse person. I was not somebody that was out here staring at the sky all the time. Now, I wish I would have taken the time to stare at the sky, because there’s some amazing stuff that goes on up there.
You look at all the turmoil that we go through here on Earth and the changes, and there has to be something better. .
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line605
|
__label__wiki
| 0.824586
| 0.824586
|
Fans Launch Petition To Have ‘Game of Thrones’ Ending Remade With New Writers
You might have bee disappointed by last Sunday’s Game of Thrones — and perhaps by the entire final season so far — but some fans are really upset. Believing the show has betrayed its characters, they launched a petition on Change.org asking HBO to remake the entire final season.
Uh... yeah. That’s not happening. Nonetheless, the petition already has over 22,000 signatures as of this writing, and it’s rising very quickly. [UPDATE: The petition now has over 550,000 signatures.] Here’s what it says:
David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have proven themselves to be woefully incompetent writers when they have no source material (i.e. the books) to fall back on. This series deserves a final season that makes sense. Subvert my expectations and make it happen, HBO!
Despite fan outcry, Game of Thrones is doing better than ever, at least in the ratings; last Sunday’s penultimate episode, “The Bells,” was the most-watched in the series’ history. A staggering 18.4 million viewers watched the first airing on Sunday, more than half a million better than the previous record for a first-run Game of Thrones. Angry people are still people watching your show.
The series finale of Game of Thrones airs next Sunday on HBO. I expect many more signatures on this thing by then. And while there’s no mulligan coming, you can expect plenty of Game of Thrones prequels and spin offs in the years to come thanks to these ratings.
Gallery — The Best-Dressed Characters in the History of Game of Thrones:
Source: Fans Launch Petition To Have ‘Game of Thrones’ Ending Remade With New Writers
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line608
|
__label__cc
| 0.501365
| 0.498635
|
Claimed ‘iPhone 6C’ rear shell leaks, lends further credence to rumors of new 4-inch model
Mike Beasley
- Mar. 30th 2015 8:16 am PT
@MikeBeas
Some new photos posted by Future Supplier claim to show the leaked rear casing to the rumored “iPhone 6C.” Recent reports have said that the device will sport a 4-inch screen like that of the iPhone 5, 5C, and 5S, allowing it to appeal to those who prefer smaller displays over the larger iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
While the veracity of these shots has not been confirmed, there are some interesting details to note that could give us some more clues about the design of the rumored device.
In the image above, there are a few notable differences between the purported iPhone 6C and the iPhone 5C provided for comparison. The cutout for the camera flash on the 6C is elongated, unlike the round one found on the iPhone 5C and current iPhone models. The elongated shape goes back to the introduction of the True Tone flash in the iPhone 5S.
There are also changes to the cutout for the camera itself. Unlike the iPhone 6, the supposed 6c does not feature a “camera bump.” The opening for the lens seems to be flush with the rest of the shell. Additional changes can be noted by looking at the device from another angle.
Image via Future Supplier
On the bottom of the handset, there are changes to how the mic and speaker grilles are designed. On the current iPhone 6, there are six speaker holes on the left side of the Lightning connector (when the phone is face down), and one microphone opening next to the headphone jack.
On the 5C, there were only four speaker holes, but the design is otherwise the same.
The new photos of the supposed 6C, however, show eight speaker holes arranged in two rows on what looks to be a noticeably thicker body that is found on the iPhone 6. The microphone has also gained a few extra openings, with six cutouts now situated next to the headphone jack rather than just one. Like the speaker grilled, those circular cutouts are stacked in two rows.
It’s hard to say whether these images are real or fake just yet. While some of the changes seem to be a step backwards for Apple, like the seemingly thicker design and elongated camera flash, the redesigned audio grilles and the removal of the “camera bump” could indicate that it’s actually a step forward. It’s also entirely possible that this is simply one design Apple is considering, or an entirely fake shell.
Rumors of multiple next-gen iPhone models in varying sizes have been swirling for a while now, with some indicating that the 6S will receive Apple’s new Force Touch technology and be available in the color pink—though it doesn’t seem likely that the above photos are any indication of what that might look like on the higher-grade device.
iPhone 6 Apple Pay iPhone 6 Plus iPhone 5s iPhone 5c
Mike Beasley's favorite gear
Tweetbot for iPhone
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line609
|
__label__cc
| 0.607563
| 0.392437
|
Browse: Home / Choosing Godly Leaders
Choosing Godly Leaders
What we boast about offers clues to our character.
Jonathon Hicks / July 2, 2015 / Featured Articles, Front Page
This summer brings change in leadership for many congregations and for our whole denomination. We are the ones selecting most of this change, for better or for worse.
The church always resides at the crossroads between heaven and earth, between God’s ways and man’s ways, between life and death. The distinction between them is not always obvious, and often times the church must back up and make the decision again. This is what happened in Corinth when they accepted leadership that was appealing but not godly. It will serve us to ponder this as we consider leadership change.
Paul’s humility
Paul and his fellow laborers were the first to this city in the Roman Empire and raised up many righteous men and women in the heart of pagan culture. Soon immorality, divisions, and pride infiltrated Corinth’s young congregation. Around them were many philosophers, rhetoricians, and leaders. As the congregation’s memory of Paul and his love faded into an unflattering portrait, the appeal of these ungodly leaders grew in the Corinthians’ hearts.
The philosophers of that era would go to the public market, gather a crowd, and expound upon their doctrine. If they were good, they would get coins from their audience. But if they were uninteresting or unpersuasive, they would leave, unpaid. When Paul first came to Corinth, he would’ve struck those in the market place as just another philosopher or rhetorician.
But something was different about him. Paul would not accept money from the people. He would not talk about himself or his qualifications but about Jesus, His salvation, and His foolish cross. Paul’s lowly, less than eloquent speech was not easy on the ears (1 Corinthians 1:17). All of this was on purpose in order that he might decrease in his hearers’ eyes and that Christ might increase.
Paul’s boasting
The Corinthian church slowly began to view Paul as sub-par when compared to other church leaders who were more like their surrounding cultural leaders. They wanted a more impressive apostle, or at least for Paul to come with letters of recommendation and commend himself to Corinth by telling of his powerful exploits.
Paul plays the fool and boasts (2 Corinthians 11:18), but not in what the Corinthians want. He tells of his sufferings. He says he’s a better servant of Christ than they because of how many times he labored like a slave, was imprisoned like a slave, was beaten like a slave, and was in constant danger like a slave (v. 23). He “boasts” that God did not protect him from being shipwrecked three times, nor did He keep him from sleepless nights, hunger, and thirst. His relationship with God was not worry free but constantly plagued by anxiety, especially for all the churches that Paul loved.
Next, Paul mimics the highest military honor for the Romans, the corona moralis. It was a golden crown made to resemble city walls, and was awarded to the brave soldier who first made it over the enemy’s fortress. Here is how Paul applies for this reward.
In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas guarded the city of Damascus in order to seize me, but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped from his hands (2 Corinthians 11:32, 33).
Far from being the first up-and-over the wall into harm’s way, Paul was the first to be let down to escape from danger. In an ironic twist on Roman courage, Paul applies for godly cowardice.
Paul goes on to tell the Corinthians that he has had visions (12:1-6). “Finally,” they might say. “Something he can impress us with.” But Paul remains silent. He says, “I know a man” who had a vision, thus distancing himself from his own experience. He tells us that he doesn’t know whether he was in his body or not. Furthermore, he can’t even tell us what he heard there. What looked like a promising aspect of Paul’s ministry is done away with by Paul’s humility.
This humility didn’t happen by accident, but Paul says that in order to keep him “from being too elated” (v. 7) over his visions, he received a thorn in the flesh that prayer could not remove. He cried out on three separate occasions for God to get rid of the thorn. The answer came, and the answer was “no.” God told him that His power is made perfect in weakness and that the thorn would remain in order to glorify Him.
Paul has played the fool. He has boasted like the Corinthians wanted him to do, but in all the wrong things. Paul is not protected but in constant danger. He is not one who can tell about visions but must remain distant from them and silent about them. He is not one God always responds positively to but is told “no” regarding his heart’s desire. If anyone is weak, it is Paul. But “for the sake of Christ, then,” he says, “I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong” (v. 10).
By saying that he is not an apostle because it gets him power, amenities, and status, Paul proves his apostleship. No, he is an apostle by Jesus’ calling. And just as Jesus went to the cross, Paul took to the mission.
Criteria for leaders
The Corinthians had chosen to follow leaders who reflected the world’s ideals: strong, wise, and articulate. But Paul says that God’s plan for leaders is different. God intends His leaders to demonstrate “cross strength” and “cross wisdom.” “Cross strength” flies in the face of worldly strength and is not used to overpower but to serve and withstand persecution. “Cross wisdom” looks like foolishness from the lens of worldly wisdom, because it is the wisdom by which Jesus took on frailty, was beaten, and was killed.
The Corinthians had to back up and reevaluate what God’s leadership was all about. We should heed their example as we pick our leaders.
Do they have a love for the Church and the world that persists through suffering, or do they speak well? Do their weaknesses exalt God, or did their own strength elevate them to where they are? Are they here only by God’s grace, or are they “super leaders”?
As we go about selecting leaders this summer, let’s choose the “weak” ones — those the world would not want but whom God works so powerfully through.BA
With an MA in theology from Whitworth University, Jonathon Hicks is a hopeful pastor from Spokane Valley, WA, who also studies with LifeSpring. Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Bible.
← May-June 2015
Gen2Gen Ministry →
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line610
|
__label__cc
| 0.521877
| 0.478123
|
Research Louis MacNeice, Radio Writer and Producer
Louis MacNeice, Radio Writer and Producer
By Paul Long on May 26th, 2016
A series of listening events at the British Library, June 2016
I’ve long been interested in the work of Louis MacNeice and am speaking at one of these events and this post comes from Dr. Amanda Wrigley of The University of Westminster:
Please join us for the following three listening events at the British Library in June. Each of these radio programmes from the archives will be introduced briefly by Amanda Wrigley, the curator of the season, and will be followed by discussion with an expert in MacNeice and the programme under discussion, exploring how each piece works as a piece of radio and how it fits into the cultural landscape of the time and MacNeice’s wider radio oeuvre. The discussion will be followed by a Q&A. Entry is free. Booking will open via the British Library’s Box Office, but it is also acceptable to arrive on the day, at 6pm in the Foyle Suite, Centre for Conservation, British Library. This is a public event and everyone is welcome.
Please feel free to circulate this widely. Queries: amandawrigley@gmail.com.
6pm Thursday 2 June 2016
Louis MacNeice’s Persons from Porlock (1963): A Poet Interrupted…?
Followed by panel discussion and Q&A with Paul Long (Professor of Media and Cultural History, Birmingham City University).
Louis MacNeice, America and the War: Christopher Columbus (1942)
Followed by panel discussion and Q&A with Dr Peter Golphin (The Open University).
6pm Thursday 16 June 2016
Louis MacNeice’s radio features on India and Pakistan in 1948
Followed by panel discussion and Q&A with Aasiya Lodhi (Lecturer in Radio and Journalism, University of Westminster).
John Wyver (Principal Research Fellow, University of Westminster / Illuminations) has written a review of the first event in this series, Modernity and the Past in Louis MacNeice’s Portrait of Athens (1951), which was part of last week’s University of Westminster / British Library conference Radio Modernism: Features, Cultures and the BBC last week:
More from Paul Long
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line611
|
__label__wiki
| 0.538107
| 0.538107
|
Permitting Risk Remains Key Barrier to Infrastructure Investment
By Andy Winkler
Delays in the environmental review and permitting process—which can increase costs and uncertainty—are a fundamental barrier to private investment in and speedy delivery of needed infrastructure projects. Over the years, various efforts have focused on speeding up project delivery, including the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act passed in December, and have garnered support across the political spectrum. Speaking at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a panel of experts shared their thoughts on these efforts and future opportunities to modernize, streamline, and accelerate environmental review and permitting. From their perspectives, here’s what we can do to facilitate the investments in infrastructure crucial to keeping the American economy competitive and growing:
Promote consensus-building processes and transparency
In the discussion, Christopher Hodgkins, CEO of the Miami Access Tunnel, provided a ground-level view of what this process means and what it takes to move an important project through it. His conclusion: “When everyone’s on board, things can happen.” His remarks emphasized the importance of outreach meetings with the public and consensus-building among contractors, the public, and all relevant agencies from all levels of government to getting the tunnel project built. Susan Binder, senior associate at Cambridge Systematics and a long-time government official, similarly pointed to the importance of figuring out what is needed to move a project along, defining the terms and timetable for the permitting and review process early in project development, and doing so in a collaborative way on either a project-by-project or, even better, a programmatic basis.
Recognize the opportunity cost of lengthy approvals
Common Good’s Founder and Chair Philip Howard emphasized how tackling this issue would have a transformative effect on the U.S. economy, particularly the need to address two conceptual flaws in the current process. The first of these flaws is failing to recognize the opportunity cost of lengthy project approvals.
In the report, Two Years Not Ten Years, Common Good showed that a six-year delay in starting construction on public projects costs the U.S. over $3.7 trillion, taking into account the inefficiencies and pollution from aging structures. Environmental impact statements are now much longer, more thorough, and more complex than they were in the early years of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). While project sponsors know that it costs more and takes more time to prepare these extensive documents, the other associated costs that Howard highlighted go unrecognized. If there were a better understanding of the costs of delay, perhaps there also would exist a greater sense of urgency about the need to get projects done more quickly.
Prioritize benchmarking and performance measures
Along with the overlooked opportunity costs of a delayed or lengthy permitting and review process, there is also a lack of data on when and how projects are delayed and other fundamental benchmarking and performance measures, according to Deron Lovaas, senior policy advisor at the National Resource Defense Council. Was it completed on time? Was it on budget? Did the project produce the expected benefits? These simple questions are often impossible to answer. While environmental review and permitting may be part of the problem, the clear dearth of data on the issue and failure to incorporate results-based accountability into infrastructure investments make it difficult to know what solutions will work. The Government Accountability Office similarly noted in 2014 that agency practices on tracking the number, type, and cost of NEPA-required analyses vary widely.
Empower key decision-makers
A second conceptual flaw that Philip Howard pointed to in the U.S. is not a lack of understanding, but a failure to delineate clear decision-making authority. He explained, “We have to come to grips with the fact that doing anything requires someone to make a decision.”
“The FAST Act blinks when it gets there,” Howard said, adding that recent changes create more processes instead of empowering key decision-makers to move projects forward. Susan Binder pointed out that having a lead agency only works when it takes its role seriously and facilitates the necessary collaboration. She too found fault with congressional efforts to address environmental review and permitting, citing a tendency to choose low-hanging fruit and pass reform efforts in piecemeal fashion. For Howard, there are two simple solutions.
Solution #1: Empower the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to really make decisions.
Solution #2: Empower the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to actually resolve disputes.
Learn from high-profile, accelerated projects
Panelists noted several past and current efforts to reduce permitting holdups for high-priority projects, including a task force and executive order during the Bush administration focused on identifying and overcoming bottlenecks for a group of important infrastructure projects. Title XLI of the FAST Act builds on recent Obama administration efforts that emphasize “covered projects,” more expensive or high priority infrastructure projects that are tracked by the online Permitting Dashboard and are now subject to provisions that may accelerate their permitting and review processes. The panelists generally agreed that there is an opportunity to learn from these efforts—where are the sticking points, what moves the needle—before a more fundamental overhaul, while also making sure projects with the biggest economic impacts are treated with greater urgency.
Explore opportunities outside of Congress
While some of these opportunities are ripe for congressional action, many of the panelists’ suggestions to improve environmental review and permitting fall outside the purview of Congress:
Christopher Hodgkins emphasized the importance of transparency with the public, assessment of a community’s needs and wants, and consensus-building all on the project level.
Susan Binder suggested a need to move away from “bulletproof” environmental impact statements and toward greater practical or experiential understanding among senior level officials about NEPA.
Deron Lovaas detailed how Congress has made several attempts in just the past few years to improve this process without giving reforms time to work or thoroughly assess what needs further improvement.
And while Philip Howard expressed a real need for pressure points from Congress, he also spoke favorably of independent task forces or commissions—third parties that can take a closer look not only at environmental review and permitting but the merits of specific projects in general to reduce waste.
Ultimately America’s growing infrastructure funding gap must be addressed. One way to help meet the need is to encourage private capital to enter the space. Permitting risk is a key barrier, but addressing the issue has a history of bipartisan support and no shortage of policy opportunities.
Opportunities for Accelerating Permitting and Environmental Review
Improving Infrastructure Investments: Prioritizing Public Value
Let's Make a Deal: Matching Private Investors to Infrastructure Projects
10 Things You Need To Know About the FAST Act
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line618
|
__label__cc
| 0.535496
| 0.464504
|
ASRM Ethics Committee embryo donation
Defining Embryo Donation: ASRM Ethics Committee Report 2009
By pvedadmin on December 4, 2009
“Embryos are deserving of special respect, but they are not afforded the same status as persons.” – ASRM Ethics Committee 2009
ASRM ETHICS COMMITTEE REPORT
American Society for Reproductive Medicine: defining
embryo donationThe Ethics Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine American Society for Reproductive Medicine, Birmingham, Alabama
Building families through adoption of children has been supported by human society throughout history. Buildingfamilies through reproductive donation of surplus embryos, in contrast, has become an option only since the dawn of assisted reproductive technologies. The ethical appropriateness of patients donating embryos to other patients for family building, or for research, including stem cell research, is well established and has been affirmed by this body and many others. (Fertil Steril_ 2009;92:1818–9. _2009 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.)
Two family-building options that provide children who are typically genetically unrelated to the individuals raising them involve: 1) the use of donated embryos; and 2) the adoption of living children. Donation of embryos to support the family-building efforts of others is an important option for patients considering the disposition of cryopreserved embryos in excess of those needed to meet the patients’ own fertility goals.
Embryos are deserving of special respect, but they are not afforded the same status as persons.
Adoption refers to a specific legal procedure that establishes or transfers parentage of existing children.
Application of the term ‘‘adoption’’ to embryos is inaccurate, misleading, and could place burdens that are not appropriate for embryos that have been donated upon infertile recipients.
Building families through adoption of children has been supported by human society throughout history. Building families through reproductive donation of surplus embryos, in contrast, has become an option only since the dawn of assisted reproductive technologies. The ethical appropriateness of patients donating embryos to other patients for family building, or for research, including stem cell research, is well established and has been affirmed by this body and many others (1, 2). Some groups have used the term ‘‘adoption’’
to describe the process by which infertile patients acquire embryos from others for their own family-building needs. Such groups are now seeking to establish the legitimacy of embryo ‘‘adoption’’ as a process. We find that this language is deceptive, because it reinforces a conceptualization of the embryo as a fully entitled legal being and thus leads to a series of procedures that are not appropriate, based on the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) Ethics Committee’s consideration of the embryo’s status.
In previous reports, this Committee has made clear its view that embryos should be accorded an elevated moral status compared with other human tissues, but that they should not be viewed as persons (3–5). Indeed, many of the publications of this Committee refer as a starting point to this description of the embryo first published in 1986: ‘‘The (pre)embryo is due greater respect than other human tissue because of its potential to become a person and because of its symbolic meaning for many people. Yet, it should not be treated as a person, because it has not yet developed the features of personhood, it is not yet established as developmentally individual, and it may never realize its biologic potential’’ (6).
The use of donated embryos for family building is an established successful therapeutic option for the infertile. Like gamete donation, it has resulted in the birth of many children in the more than 25 years the procedure has been in use. The use of donated embryos can provide patients in need a way to conceive that can be less complex and less expensive than gamete donation. It can also provide the donating patients with a sense of fulfillment as their donation helps other patients build a family.
Embryo donation for family building is recognized and regulated by government agencies in the United States and other countries (7, 8). In the United Kingdom, the process falls under the comprehensive system of regulation of all aspects of assisted reproductive procedures. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration oversees the process through comprehensive regulations that apply to all donated human tissues, reproductive and nonreproductive alike.
Adoption of existing children is another important option available to help infertile men and women build their families, also providing loving homes to children who need them.
Government plays a considerably more extensive role in the adoption of existing children than in embryo donation for family building. In 21st-century America, adoption is a specific legal procedure, and the term has a very specific legal meaning: ‘‘adoption, n. 1. The creation of a parent-child relationship by judicial order between two parties who usually are unrelated; the relation of parent and child created by law between persons who are not in fact parent and child. This relationship is brought about only after a determination that the child is an orphan or has been abandoned, or that the parents’ parental rights have been terminated
by court order’’ (9).
Every state in the United States has an adoption statute, and they all deal with changing or establishing parentage of an existing child. The legal term ‘‘adoption’’ can not and does not apply to embryos, which hold the potential for life but are not persons.
In fact, Black’s Law Dictionary explicitly defines ‘‘embryo adoption’’
as slang: ‘‘embryo adoption. Slang. The receipt of a frozen embryo that is implanted into a recipient’s womb. Donors must waive all parental rights before the recipients of the embryo assume legal ownership or custody. The process is not consideredto be a legal adoption, because American law does not treat embryos as children’’ (9).
The use of slang can sometimes be harmless; in this instance it is not. Equating an embryo with an existing child and applying the procedural requirements of adoption designed to protect existing children to embryos is not ethically justifiable and has the potential for harm. First, the ethical directive to protect an existing child is not applicable to human embryos, which are not persons. Second, the procedures would place unwarranted burdens on the recipient patient. Home visits, legal fees, and judicial review are all important
components of adoption. There is no justification for applying these components to infertility patients who already face burdensome medical procedures in the pursuit of their fertility goals.
‘‘Embryo adoption’’ agencies seek to recast the experience of embryo donation in terms of an ‘‘adoption’’ and impose requirements simulating those of legal adoption. In many cases, these requirements entail payment of substantial fees to the agencies by patients who need donated embryos to build their families.
Requiring infertile patients who need donor gametes or patients who need donor embryos to suffer the imposition of unnecessary administrative and legal trappings of adoption and the costs that accompany them is not ethically justifiable. Indeed, writing in 1994, this Committee argued that the experience of embryo donation ‘‘more closely approximates normal human reproduction than it does traditional legal adoption’’ (3). Fifteen years later, that statement remains correct. The donation of embryos for reproductive
purposes is fundamentally a medical procedure intended to result in pregnancy and should be treated as such.
The Practice Committee of the ASRM has developed guidelines for embryo donation that address medical screening, psychological counseling, informed consent, and the transfer of rights over the embryos
from donor to recipient. These guidelines, like corresponding guidelines for the donation of eggs and sperm, provide a framework for safe and ethical treatment of donors and patients requiring
donated embryos for their treatment.
1. National Institutes of Health. Report of the Human
Embryo Research Panel. Bethesda, MD: National
Institutes of Health, 1994.
2. New York State Task Force on Life and the Law. Assisted
reproductive technologies, analysis and recommendations
for public policy. New York: New York State,
3. Ethics Committee of theAmerican Fertility Society. The
donation of preembryos. Fertil Steril 1986;46:29S–31S.
4. Practice Committee of the American Society for
Reproductive Medicine. 2006 Guidelines for
gamete and embryo donation. Fertil Steril
2006;86:S46–8.
5. Ethics Committee of the American Society for Reproductive
Medicine. Disposition of abandoned embryos.
Fertil Steril 2004;81:S253.
Medicine. The moral and legal status of the
preembryo. Fertil Steril 1994;62:32S–4S.
7. Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. Code
of practice. London: Human Fertilisation and Embryology
Authority. Available at, http://cop.hfea.gov.uk/
cop/pdf/CodeOfPracticeVR_4.pdf; 2007. Accessed
8. United States Food and Drug Administration. 21 CFR
parts 210, 211, 820, 1271. Eligibility determination
for donors of human cells, tissues, and cellular and
tissue-based products; final rule and notice. Available
at: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?
dbname¼2004_register&docid¼fr25my04–11.pdf.
Last accessed September 8, 2009.
9. Black’s Law Dictionary. 9th ed. Westlaw, Eagen, MN,
Acknowledgments: This report was developed by the Ethics Committee of the
American Society for Reproductive Medicine as a service to its members and
other practicing clinicians. Although this document reflects the views of
members of that Committee, it is not intended to be the only approved standard
of practice or to dictate an exclusive course of treatment in all cases.
This report was approved by the Ethics Committee of the American Society
for Reproductive Medicine and the Board of Directors of the AmericanSociety for Reproductive Medicine
Being Catholic, The Church, IVF, and thoughts from a Padre
Understanding the Research about Parent-Infant Relationship Quality in Families Created by Egg Donation
The intentional creation of orphans is morally and ethically wrong.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line621
|
__label__wiki
| 0.81147
| 0.81147
|
Tafelmusik in 2018/19, Program Notes November 1, 2018 November 5, 2018 1,224 Words
Behind the Musik: Steffani: Drama & Devotion
Download the Program Notes and Program Listing
By Charlotte Nediger
The intriguing biography of Agostino Steffani is unique amongst musicians: he was a gifted singer and keyboardist, composer, diplomat, courtier, politician, priest, and had a distinguished ecclesiastical career. He was clearly an intelligent man, well spoken in several languages, well read, and widely respected in all the various fields in which he worked. Letters suggest that he was an ambitious and somewhat arrogant youth, but he quickly learned the manners and politesse of courtly life, and the discretion and tact essential in his diplomatic work. He was an industrious and principled worker and advocate. His employers placed great trust in his abilities and in his character, and he enjoyed many close and long friendships.
Portrait of Steffani by
Gerhard Kappers, c.1714
Born in Castelfranco, near Venice, Agostino Steffani left for school in Padua and there received his first musical training. He was employed as a treble in the choir of the Basilica del Santo from age ten to thirteen. His talent was evidently exceptional, and at age eleven and twelve he appeared in operas in Venice during Carnival. When he was just thirteen, his abilities were noticed by the Elector Ferdinand Maria of Bavaria during a visit to Padua; the Elector took Steffani with him to the court in Munich, where he was to remain for 21 years. He was given harpsichord and organ lessons, and before long seems to have largely given up singing. In 1672, at age eighteen, he was sent to Rome to study composition, and a few years later was sent to Paris to learn the French style which was increasingly popular at the Munich court. Throughout Steffani’s travels, he was praised for the deftness and delicacy of his harpsichord playing.
With the accession of Maximilian II Emanuel in 1680, Steffani’s career in Munich blossomed. He was named Director of Chamber Music, a new post created just for him, and his first operas were produced. He also undertook his first diplomatic mission: to negotiate the marriage of the elector to Princess Sophie Charlotte of Hanover. The marriage did not come to pass, but Steffani’s diplomatic skills were noted, and the Hanoverian court held him in high regard.
It was in Hanover in 1668 that Steffani took his next post, as Kapellmeister and director of the court opera. Shortly after his arrival a striking new opera house was completed, and the gala opening featured the premiere of Henrico Leone, one of several Steffani operas based on German history (in this case, the twelfth-century duke Henry the Lion). Steffani remained in Hanover for fifteen years, though increasing demands on him as a diplomat led to a significant decrease in his involvement in music at the court. He spent time in Vienna and Brussels negotiating the elevation of Hanover to an electorate, and was involved in the machinations that led to the War of the Spanish Succession. He turned to music on occasion, seemingly often as solace when politics proved frustrating or disappointing.
In 1703 Steffani moved to Düsseldorf, entering the service of the Elector Palatine, Johann Wilhelm, for a period of six years. Here his duties were mostly political: positions included privy councilor and president of the Spiritual Council for the Palatinate, general president of the Palatine Government, and curator of Heidelberg University. It was here too that his activities with the church increased. He had been ordained a priest in 1680, at age 26. In 1706 he was elected Bishop of Spiga, and in 1709 was appointed Apostolic Vicar in northern Germany, returning to Hannover. This prestigious post carried the responsibility of establishing and maintaining missions and building churches, and generally of gaining acceptance and tolerance of Catholicism in the Protestant north, encompassing Brunswick, the Palatinate, Prussia, and Saxony. Steffani retired to Padua in 1722, at age 68, but was pressured by the church in Rome to return to work in Hanover in 1726.
It was at the end of his life that Steffani turned once again to music, perhaps in part returning to his first love, and in part because of growing interest in his works in England. His former employer in Hanover had assumed the British throne as George I, and took several Steffani scores with him. The Academy of Vocal Music (later known as the Academy of Ancient Music) named him honorary president, and in return, he sent them a number of old and new compositions: among the latter, a setting of the Stabat mater. Steffani himself described the Stabat mater as his last and greatest work; it can be seen as a musical representation of his faith and devotion.
Steffani died in 1728, but his renown as a composer lived on, as evidenced in the publication of a biography in England in 1750, written by John Hawkins. Hawkins cites Handel and Pepusch as his primary sources in recounting memories of this “great genius.” Handel met Steffani in both Hanover and Rome, and freely “borrowed” from his operas and chamber duets.
Steffani’s musical style is marked by a natural vocality and a compelling expression of the text, in both his sacred and secular works. The German writer and composer Johann Mattheson noted that Steffani carried around the librettos of his operas for some time, carefully considering the words before conceiving the music. The influence of France is strong in the instrumental movements in his operas, which owe much to Lully.
We have greatly enjoyed getting to know the music of this fascinating man, and hope that our concerts will encourage you to explore more of his music, or to read his remarkable life story.
In finding the Steffani manuscripts from which we made the editions used this week, we had assistance from several people. We would like to thank Fra Carlo Bottero, Director of the Biblioteca e Centro di documentazione francescana del Sacro Convento di San Francesco in Assisi, for generously providing images of the manuscript of the Beatus vir. We are grateful to Emma Darbyshire of the Fitzwilliam Museum and Prof. Colin Timms of the University of Birmingham for providing scans of several manuscripts. Prof. Timms is a renowned expert on the life and music of Steffani: his book Polymath of the Baroque: Agostino Steffani and His Music was invaluable in researching this program, and he has been very generous in answering questions and providing material.
Directed by Ivars Taurins
Krisztina Szabó, mezzo-soprano
November 8–11, 2018
Jeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre
Beatus vir a 8 (Assisi or Munich, 1676)
Stabat Mater (Hannover, 1728)
Aria “Non prendo consiglio” from La superbia d’Alessandro (Hanover, 1690)
Overture to La lotte d’Hercole con Acheloo (Hanover, 1689)
Aria “Morirò fra strazi e scempi” from Henrico Leone (Hanover, 1689)
Entrée des ombres [The shadows] from La libertà contenta (Hanover, 1693)
Sinfonia to Niobe (Munich, 1688)
Aria & Chorus “Tra la guerre e le vittorie” from La superbia d’Alessandro
Chaconne from Henrico Leone
Duet “T’abbraccio” from Niobe
Sarabande from I trionfi del fato (Hanover, 1695)
Recitative & Aria “Deh non far colle tue lagrime” from Tassilone (Düsseldorf, 1709)
Air tendre from La superbia d’Alessandro
Accompagnato & Aria “Sfere amiche” from Niobe
Chorus “Non si parli” from Marco Aurelio (Munich, 1681)
Aria “Ogni core può sperar” from Servio Tullio (Munich, 1686)
Duet & Chorus “Timore, ruine” from Le rivale concordi (Hanover, 1692)
My Instrument with David Blackadder, trumpet
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line630
|
__label__cc
| 0.586785
| 0.413215
|
Posted on November 2, 2012 by carlosdev
Colin Farrell wants the Shih Tzu but Sam Rockwell just won’t share.
(2012) Black Comedy (CBS) Colin Farrell, Christopher Walken, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, Abbie Cornish, Tom Waits, Olga Kurylenko, Zeljko Ivanek, Gabourey Sidibe, Harry Dean Stanton, Michael Stuhlbarg, Michael Pitt, Linda Bright Clay, Long Nguyen, Amanda Warren. Directed by Martin McDonagh
Being a writer is tough, and yes, even for the movies. It’s not easy to articulate something from concept to finished screenplay. Sometimes you don’t even begin there – you just have a title and taking it into fruition sometimes can lead to unexpected destinations.
Marty (Farrell) is a screenwriter who is stuck. He’s got a title for his screenplay, “Seven Psychopaths.” He’s got a loose concept – that it’s about seven psychopaths. He’s even got a psychopath to begin with. That just leaves him with six more to go. And a plot. Piece of cake, right?
Yeah right. It’s doubly hard when his girlfriend Kaya (Cornish) is extra-bitchy to him and his best friend Billy Bickle (Rockwell) is getting more loony tunes by the day. Billy and his good friend Hans (Walken) supplement their income by kidnapping dogs from their well-heeled owners and then returning them for the reward money. Hans mostly gives his money to his wife Myra (Clay) who’s in the hospital recovering from cancer surgery.
Things turn even weirder as the psychopaths begin making appearances in Marty’s life. From a serial killer of mob killers known in the press as the Jack of Diamonds to a rabbit-carrying nebbish named Zachariah (Waits) who was after rescuing Maggie (Warren) from a sadistic serial-killing judge went on a killing spree of serial killers before getting tired of the violence and leaving her. He regrets that now, and makes Marty promise to put a message to her during the credits, apologizing and begging her to call.
Billy and Hans kidnap Bonny, an adorable Shih Tzu who happens to be owned by psychotic mobster Charlie (Harrelson) who isn’t too pleased at the kidnapping. He loves that little dog more than anything on Earth and will rain a path of destruction from here to perdition to get her back. He sends his right hand Paulo (Ivanek) out looking for her.
More I will not tell you because you’ll miss some of the nuances of the film that you would lose if you had too much foreknowledge of what is coming. McDonagh, who is a veteran Irish playwright, crafts a movie that is quirky without being snarky about it. Too often in independent movies the quirkiness can come off as smug superiority that we’re so much hipper and smarter than everybody else. That’s the arrogance of youth talking.
Here, the quirkiness is true quirkiness – people who are off-center and okay with marching to their own drummer. These are characters that populate most of McDonagh’s work. Farrell, who was so good in McDonagh’s first film In Bruges is just as terrific here – the two are obviously simpatico as both of Farrell’s performances in McDonagh’s films are among his best.
Marty is a bit neurotic and definitely alcoholic although deeply in denial about the latter. It has led directly to his writer’s block and even though he’s a basically nice guy, he’s a bit of a jerk when he’s been drinking. Farrell gives Marty a bit of Irish blarney and charm, with a whole lot of L.A. jadedness. It’s one of those kinds of characters that is Farrell’s bread and butter and he nails it.
Walken though is the main reason to see this. If I were an Academy voter, I’d be nominating him for Best Supporting Actor. This is one of the best – if not the best – performances of his storied career. Hans has a troubled past and has found God but more importantly, serenity. He has changed profoundly and that shows in the patience he shows Marty and particularly Billy.
Rockwell’s Billy is the catalyst who has secrets of his own. Rockwell is one of the most reliable actors out there, almost always delivering an amazing performance be it comedy, drama or something else. Harrelson is also trustworthy; like Rockwell has amazing versatility but seems to do best in roles that have a black humor to them as his does, a mean black-hearted mobster who’s fallen in love with a tiny little dog.
But then again I can’t blame him there. I have a Shih Tzu of my own whom Bonny resembles uncannily and my feelings toward her are not unlike Charlie’s for Bonny, sometimes to the chagrin of my wife. Shih Tzu’s are a particularly loving an adorable breed and I’m very thankful for mine; if she got dog-napped I’d probably go a little crazy.
But then this is a film about crazy. What is crazy really when life itself is completely whacked out? That’s a good question without an easy answer. For my money, crazy is as crazy does and Seven Psychopaths is not crazy funny (it lags in places) but funny enough to be crazy.
REASONS TO GO: Bonny the Shih Tzu is adorable. Walken and Farrell deliver outstanding performances., backed nicely by Harrelson and Rockwell.
REASONS TO STAY: Some of the film drags. Stretches believability occasionally.
FAMILY VALUES: There’s a good deal of violence (some of it bloody and graphic), a whole lot of bad language, a bit of sex and nudity as well as a little bit of drug use.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: Mickey Rourke was originally cast as Charlie before disagreements with the filmmakers led him to being replaced with Woody Harrelson. During the graveyard scenes the Jack of Diamonds hides behind a grave marked “Rourke.”
CRITICAL MASS: As of 11/2/12: Rotten Tomatoes: 85% positive reviews. Metacritic: 66/100. The reviews are mixed but on the strong side.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: In Bruges
NEXT: Mickey Blue Eyes
This entry was posted in New Releases and tagged Abbie Cornish, black comedy, cancer, CBS Films, Christopher Walken, cinema, Colin Farrell, crime, dognapping, Films, Gabourey Sidibe, Harry Dean Stanton, Joshua Trees National Monument, Los Angeles, Michael Stuhlbarg, movies, Olga Kurylenko, psychosis, reviews, Sam Rockwell, screenplay, screenwriter, serial killers, Seven Psychopaths, Shih Tzu, Tom Waits, Woody Harrelson, writers block, Zeljko Ivanek by carlosdev. Bookmark the permalink.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line647
|
__label__cc
| 0.728645
| 0.271355
|
on on Biomedical Biomedical
by unknown authors , 2009
"... ncor research national center for ontological PREFACE Ontologies are being used in a variety of ways by researchers in almost every life science discipline, and their use in annotation of both clinical and experimental data is now a common technique in integrative translational research. When data f ..."
ncor research national center for ontological PREFACE Ontologies are being used in a variety of ways by researchers in almost every life science discipline, and their use in annotation of both clinical and experimental data is now a common technique in integrative translational research. When data
in current computer technology. Ontologies provide a shared and common understanding of a domain that can be communicated between people and application systems. Therefore, they may play a major role in supporting information exchange processes in various areas. This book discusses the role ontologies
A Tutorial on Visual Servo Control
by Seth Hutchinson, Greg Hager, Peter Corke - IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation , 1996
"... This paper provides a tutorial introduction to visual servo control of robotic manipulators. Since the topic spans many disciplines our goal is limited to providing a basic conceptual framework. We begin by reviewing the prerequisite topics from robotics and computer vision, including a brief review ..."
review of coordinate transformations, velocity representation, and a description of the geometric aspects of the image formation process. We then present a taxonomy of visual servo control systems. The two major classes of systems, position-based and image-based systems, are then discussed. Since any
Content-based image retrieval at the end of the early years
by Arnold W. M. Smeulders, Marcel Worring, Simone Santini, Amarnath Gupta, Ramesh Jain - IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PATTERN ANALYSIS AND MACHINE INTELLIGENCE , 2000
"... The paper presents a review of 200 references in content-based image retrieval. The paper starts with discussing the working conditions of content-based retrieval: patterns of use, types of pictures, the role of semantics, and the sensory gap. Subsequent sections discuss computational steps for imag ..."
The paper presents a review of 200 references in content-based image retrieval. The paper starts with discussing the working conditions of content-based retrieval: patterns of use, types of pictures, the role of semantics, and the sensory gap. Subsequent sections discuss computational steps
Detecting faces in images: A survey
by Ming-hsuan Yang, David J. Kriegman, Narendra Ahuja - IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PATTERN ANALYSIS AND MACHINE INTELLIGENCE , 2002
"... Images containing faces are essential to intelligent vision-based human computer interaction, and research efforts in face processing include face recognition, face tracking, pose estimation, and expression recognition. However, many reported methods assume that the faces in an image or an image se ..."
sequence have been identified and localized. To build fully automated systems that analyze the information contained in face images, robust and efficient face detection algorithms are required. Given a single image, the goal of face detection is to identify all image regions which contain a face regardless
A standardized set of 260 pictures: Norms for name agreement, image agreement, familiarity, and visual complexity
by Joan Gay Snodgrass, Mary Vanderwart - JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY: HUMAN LEARNING AND MEMORY , 1980
"... In this article we present a standardized set of 260 pictures for use in experiments investigating differences and similarities in the processing of pictures and words. The pictures are black-and-white line drawings executed according to a set of rules that provide consistency of pictorial represent ..."
In this article we present a standardized set of 260 pictures for use in experiments investigating differences and similarities in the processing of pictures and words. The pictures are black-and-white line drawings executed according to a set of rules that provide consistency of pictorial
Modern Information Retrieval
by Ricardo Baeza-Yates, Berthier Ribeiro-Neto , 1999
"... Information retrieval (IR) has changed considerably in the last years with the expansion of the Web (World Wide Web) and the advent of modern and inexpensive graphical user interfaces and mass storage devices. As a result, traditional IR textbooks have become quite out-of-date which has led to the i ..."
Information retrieval (IR) has changed considerably in the last years with the expansion of the Web (World Wide Web) and the advent of modern and inexpensive graphical user interfaces and mass storage devices. As a result, traditional IR textbooks have become quite out-of-date which has led
Image retrieval: Current techniques, promising directions and open issues
by Yong Rui, Thomas S. Huang - Journal of Visual Communication and Image Representation , 1999
"... This paper provides a comprehensive survey of the technical achievements in the research area of image retrieval, especially content-based image retrieval, an area that has been so active and prosperous in the past few years. The survey includes 100+ papers covering the research aspects of image fea ..."
This paper provides a comprehensive survey of the technical achievements in the research area of image retrieval, especially content-based image retrieval, an area that has been so active and prosperous in the past few years. The survey includes 100+ papers covering the research aspects of image
SIMPLIcity: Semantics-Sensitive Integrated Matching for Picture LIbraries
by James Z. Wang, Jia Li, Gio Wiederhold - IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence , 2001
"... The need for efficient content-based image retrieval has increased tremendously in many application areas such as biomedicine, military, commerce, education, and Web image classification and searching. We present here SIMPLIcity (Semanticssensitive Integrated Matching for Picture LIbraries), an imag ..."
), an image retrieval system, which uses semantics classification methods, a wavelet-based approach for feature extraction, and integrated region matching based upon image segmentation. As in other regionbased retrieval systems, an image is represented by a set of regions, roughly corresponding to objects
Visual interpretation of hand gestures for human-computer interaction: A review
by Vladimir I. Pavlovic, Rajeev Sharma, Thomas S. Huang - IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PATTERN ANALYSIS AND MACHINE INTELLIGENCE , 1997
"... The use of hand gestures provides an attractive alternative to cumbersome interface devices for human-computer interaction (HCI). In particular, visual interpretation of hand gestures can help in achieving the ease and naturalness desired for HCI. This has motivated a very active research area conc ..."
The use of hand gestures provides an attractive alternative to cumbersome interface devices for human-computer interaction (HCI). In particular, visual interpretation of hand gestures can help in achieving the ease and naturalness desired for HCI. This has motivated a very active research area
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line652
|
__label__wiki
| 0.76268
| 0.76268
|
HomePosts tagged 'Tony Robinson'
Tony Robinson
Quick Audiobook Reviews: Bryan Cranston, John le Carré, Mitchell & Webb and Tony Robinson
November 24, 2016 November 24, 2016 Civilian Reader Review Audible, Autobiography, BBC, Bryan Cranston, David Mitchell, John le Carre, Memoir, Mitchell & Webb Sound, Non-Fiction, Robert Webb, Simon & Schuster, Tony Robinson
Bryan Cranston, A LIFE IN PARTS (Simon & Schuster)
Bryan Cranston landed his first role at seven, when his father, a struggling actor and director, cast him in a commercial. Soon Bryan was haunting the local movie theater, reenacting scenes with his older brother. Acting was clearly his destiny – until one day his father disappeared.
As a young man on a classic cross-country motorcycle trip, he found himself stranded at a rest area in the Blue Ridge Mountains. To pass the time, he read a tattered copy of Hedda Gabler, and in a flash he found himself face-to-face with his original calling. Suddenly he thought this was what he would do with the rest of his life. Act.
In his riveting memoir, A Life in Parts, Cranston traces his journey from chaotic childhood to his dramatic epiphany to megastardom and a cultlike following by revisiting the many parts he’s played on camera (astronaut, dentist, candy bar spokesperson, president of the United States, etc.) and off (paperboy, farmhand, dating consultant, murder suspect, son, brother, lover, husband, father).
With great humour and humility, Cranston chronicles his unlikely rise from a soap opera regular to a recurring spot on Seinfeld. He recalls his run as the well-meaning goofball, Hal, on Malcolm in the Middle, and he gives a bracing account of his challenging run on Broadway as President Lyndon Johnson, pushing himself to the limit as he prepared for a tour de force that would win him a Tony to accompany his four Emmys. And, of course, Cranston dives deep into the grittiest, most fascinating details of his greatest role, explaining how he searched inward for the personal darkness that would help him create one of the most riveting performances ever captured on screen: Walter White, chemistry teacher turned drug kingpin in Breaking Bad.
Discussing his failures as few men do, describing his work as few actors can, Cranston has much to say about innate talent and its benefits, challenges and proper maintenance, but ultimately A Life in Parts is about the necessity and transformative power of hard work.
This was a fantastic memoir. Brilliantly narrated by the author, of course. He’s had a pretty interesting life, coming to acting relatively late, and working his way up from small parts, to recurring parts, to the epic smash that was Breaking Bad. Not as much of the book was dedicated to the latter show, and was better for it — Cranston is a great storyteller, and his life has been pretty interesting. Readers will learn of his process, his dedication to his work (though also lack of pretension), his confidence in his colleagues, and also plenty of the vagaries of the entertainment industry. A Life in Parts is a really good, engaging biography. Highly recommended (even if you’re not that familiar with his work).
Published in print by Scribner (US)/Orion (UK)
On Audible
John le Carré, THE PIGEON TUNNEL (Penguin)
‘Out of the secret world I once knew, I have tried to make a theatre for the larger worlds we inhabit. First comes the imagining, then the search for reality. Then back to the imagining, and to the desk where I’m sitting now.’
The Pigeon Tunnel, John le Carré’s memoir and his first work of nonfiction, is a thrilling journey into the worlds of his ‘secret sharers’ — the men and women who inspired some of his most enthralling novels — and a testament to the author’s extraordinary engagement with the last half century. The listener is swept along not just by the chilling winds of the Cold War or by the author’s frightening journeys into places of terrible violence but, most importantly, by the author’s inimitable voice.
In this astonishing work, we see our world, both public and private, through the eyes of one of this country’s greatest writers.
This was (perhaps predictably) really interesting. It took me a little while to get into the book, though: to get used to his accent, which is a rather interesting mixture of RP and peculiar versions of words, and also because he didn’t seem to keen on the exercise of narrating in the introduction. However, as he warmed to the task, The Pigeon Tunnel fast became a very engaging, entertaining memoir. The book is filled with interesting insights into the times that inspired his novels, and also his experiences that resulted from his success — not least the strained relationship he ended up having with the secret services (who he never claimed to speak for). He writes/speaks of his abiding love for writing and travel. It is a welcoming audiobook, and feels like you’re having a chat with the great author, perhaps sat in a living room, in front of a fire and drinking brandy or red wine. Definitely recommended for all fans of le Carré’s work.
Published in print by Penguin (UK)/Viking (US)
That Mitchell & Webb Sounds, Series 5 (BBC)
Comedy from the lopsided world of David Mitchell and Robert Webb, with Olivia Colman and James Bachman.
The radio sketch series which spawned BBC TV’s That Mitchell and Webb Look returns with five brand-new episodes. Among the topics given the unique Mitchell and Webb treatment are the future of farming (battery penguins); Thomas Hardy’s exciting idea to make his books even sadder; the very confusing goings on in a cash-register shop; a horror story for slugs; the Escalator brothers inventing the world’s first horseless staircase; and the very last programme the BBC ever does….
I’m a big fan of That Mitchell & Webb Sound, and before I listened to this, I binge-listened to the first four series again. While Series 5 did make me laugh and chuckle on occasion, I’m afraid it wasn’t as good as the first four. It’s perhaps unfair to compare it to their classic sketches (“Are we the baddies?”, the original recording of Tennyson, etc.), but some of Series 5 dragged. I couldn’t help but think that maybe the writing was a little rushed, or unenthusiastic. I did enjoy the Old Lady Interview with Mitchell & Webb, and there were a few other chuckles, but previous series have had me in stitches. If you’re a fan of the series, I would still certainly recommend it, but newcomers should start at the beginning for bigger and more laughs.
Tony Robinson, NO CUNNING PLAN (Macmillan)
Sir Tony Robinson is a much-loved actor, presenter and author with a stellar career lasting over 50 years. Now, in his long-awaited autobiography, he reveals how the boy from South Woodford went from child stardom in the first stage production of Oliver!, a pint-size pickpocket desperately bleaching his incipient moustache, to comedy icon Baldrick, the loyal servant and turnip aficionado in Blackadder.
It wasn’t all plain sailing, though. Along the way he was bullied by Steve Marriott, failed to impress Liza Minnelli and was pushed into a stinking London dock by John Wayne. He also entertained us with Maid Marion and Her Merry Men (which he wrote and starred in) and coped manfully when locked naked outside a theatre in Lincoln during the live tour of comedy series Who Dares Wins. He presented Time Team for 20 years, watching countless gardens ruthlessly dug up in the name of archaeology, and risked life and limb filming The Worst Jobs in History.
Packed full of incident and insight, No Cunning Plan is a funny, self-deprecating and always entertaining listen.
I’d had high hopes for this memoir, but it sadly didn’t quite live up to my expectations. Naturally, I was very interested in hearing about the Blackadder years, but they made up a surprisingly small portion of the book. It felt, at times, like Robinson was trying very hard to not write about the Blackadder years. True, that is far from the only thing he has done — and we hear/read about pretty much everything — but it nevertheless felt like it got short shrift. He’s an interesting man, who has done some interesting and often entertaining work. He writes about his upbringing, his early career in entertainment, the struggles in his personal life, and his progressive politics. He is perhaps most enthusiastic about his Time Team work, and his passion for archaeology comes through very clearly. But, ultimately, I was left with a feeling that I still didn’t really know much about Robinson. It was a little strange, perhaps distantly told. Sure, his narration was excellent (he has also done the audiobooks for Terry Pratchett’s series). I can’t quite put my finger on it. I’d thought I would have liked this more.
Published in print by Macmillan
New Books (September-October)
October 1, 2016 August 23, 2018 Civilian Reader New Books Adam Baker, André Alexis, Anne Rice, Brian Jay Jones, Bruce Springsteen, Bryan Cranston, Chris Sharp, Dave Duncan, David Mark, Douglas Preston, Ellen Klages, Federico Axat, Greg Cox, Hayley Campbell, Helen Keen, J.P. Smythe, James Benmore, Jason Rekulak, Jess Walter, Joe M. McDermott, Jonathan Safran Foer, Kate Moretti, Lidia Yuknavitch, Lincoln Child, Marc Turner, Mark Lawrence, Mike Myers, Peter Ames Carlin, Peter Heller, Peter McLean, Richard Kadrey, Ruthanna Emrys, Sady Doyle, Sam Wilson, Simon Kurt Unsworth, Simon Reynolds, Stephen King, Tom Lloyd, Tony Robinson, Trevor Noah, Valentina Giambanco
Featuring: André Alexis, Federico Axat, Adam Baker, James Benmore, Hayley Campbell, Peter Ames Carlin, Lincoln Child, Greg Cox, Bryan Cranston, Sady Doyle, Dave Duncan, Ruthanna Emrys, Valentina Giambanco, Peter Heller, Brian Jay Jones, Richard Kadrey, Helen Keen, Stephen King, Ellen Klages, Mark Lawrence, Tom Lloyd, David Mark, Joe M. McDermott, Peter McLean, Kate Moretti, Mike Myers, Trevor Noah, Joyce Carol Oates, Douglas Preston, Jason Rekulak, Simon Reynolds, Anne Rice, Tony Robinson, Jonathan Safran Foer, Chris Sharp, J.P. Smythe, Bruce Springsteen, Marc Turner, Simon Kurt Unsworth, Jess Walter, Sam Wilson, Lidia Yuknavitch
Above image: The Hunt #3 by Joana Lafuente & Colin Lorimer (Image)
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line654
|
__label__wiki
| 0.883683
| 0.883683
|
How will Clemson replace Logan Davidson and other key pieces?
More from Sanders
The MLB Draft went about as expected for Clemson head baseball coach Monte Lee and his staff.
The Tigers are losing significant leaders like Logan Davidson, who was drafted in the first round to the Oakland Athletics, Grayson Byrd, Kyle Wilkie, and Owen Griffith, to name a few.
Byrd led the team in home runs, batting average, and RBIs as a senior. Davidson and Wilkie were the two next best hitters on the roster. On paper, Lee is losing a lot, but he’s confident in the returning group as well as the incoming class of players he has.
“Those are big pieces to try to replace but we do have a good group of incoming guys,” Lee said Tuesday.
Four of Lee’s incoming recruits were drafted out of high school. Nasim Nunez went to the Miami Marlins with the 46th overall pick and officially signed over a week ago. Gavin Collyer, Dylan Brewer, and Jonathan French were also drafted in later rounds.
So how will Clemson replace the pieces they are losing in the infield, especially Logan Davidson who was so vital on both offense and defense? That’s the highest priority Lee has entering the fall.
“We feel very good about the class we’ve got coming in and feel good about the group we’ve got coming back and just ready to obviously, now move forward in recruiting for the 2020 and 2021 classes. It never ends.”
- Monte Lee
“(We) had two guys drafted that are coming in that turned down the opportunity to play professional baseball,” Lee said. “Had another young man in Mack Anglin that could’ve received significant draft interest, but I think the signability was very high. He really valued the opportunity to come to school first and could potentially become a high draft pick out of here when his time comes to look at it again.
Dylan Brewer and Jonathan French are the two players who turned down professional contracts to play college baseball, something that is never easy to do this day in age. Lee said Brewer, who is from Latta, SC and was an all-state outfielder, can play either outfield or infield.
French, who is from Atlanta, Ga., was drafted in the 30th round to the Cleveland Indians, but Lee thinks French will be “special” in a Tiger uniform. Adam Hackenberg, who is in the Cape Cod league this summer, and French will battle it out to see who will be the man behind home plate.
Incoming freshman, Mack Anglin, a RHP/first baseman from Marengo, OH, was another player Lee eluded to. Anglin throws a 93 MPH fastball and has good command on his breaking ball, according to Perfect Game.
The infield could be a carousel for the players returning as there are plenty of options and combinations of who could play in which spot. It’ll be like figuring out a jigsaw puzzle and molding the pieces to fill the gaps that were left behind.
© David Grooms/Clemson Sports Talk
Clemson’s pitching staff should take steps forward with the return of a health Spencer Strider.
Sophomore Bryar Hawkins will be put at third base to start the year. Hawkins was a high school shortstop and second baseman, so Lee wants to try him over at third base.
As for replacing Davidson at shortstop, there are plenty of candidates. Sam Hall, James Parker, and Pierce Gallow were the first names that Lee mentioned.
“James Parker played a lot for us last year. Got 50-plus at-bats, is playing all summer long in Wilmington at shortstop, is a really good defender, needs the at-bats just to develop more as a hitter but had some big at-bats for us as a true freshman,” Lee said. “We have a young man in Pierce Gallo who is fairly highly-touted, long, lean projectable in-fielder shortstop out of the Atlanta area that’s going to be coming in and battling for some opportunities there.”
Parker started 15 games as a freshman and batted .232. He had 13 hits, three doubles, and a home run in 56 at-bats. Gallo, the incoming freshman, is projected to get stronger and “can manipulate his arm slot and maintain arm strength and accuracy, has some one-step quickness and range,” according to Perfect Game.
“Sam Hall is going to move into the infield. We’ll put Sam Hall at shortstop and second base in the fall.”
Hall started all 61 games played in the 2019 season and he was a utility player who was positioned all around the field. He batted .257 and hit seven home runs and drove in 32 runs on the year.
Lee said Chad Fairey could play some first base or third base because of the athleticism he possesses.
Clemson returns a ton of depth and innings on the pitcher’s mound. The real concern there is getting Spencer Strider at full strength by the time the season starts and finding some consistency in a rotation.
Clemson’s 2019 team was young in some spots, but had veterans in place at critical areas. The 2020 team could look a whole lot younger as far as the infield is concerned. It’ll be up to Lee to crack the code and see who fits best where.
“I think position player wise, I think you have to be more patient if you have young position players and you’re playing young position players,” Lee said. “Offensively, to me, is where going into the fall, we’ve got some work to do as far as trying to figure out who’s going to play where and what kind of team are we going to be on the offensive side of things.”
More Baseball
Clemson Baseball Announces Signing Class
by CU Athletic Communications
USA Moves to 2-0 in Pool Play with 58-57 Win Over Ukraine
Monte Lee on Florida State's Mike Martin: "They don't make them like No. 11 anymore."
Davidson Named ACC Baseball Scholar-Athlete-of-the-Year
These Tigers' biggest priority is getting healthy this summer
Tags: Monte Lee, Sam Hall, Logan Davidson , Spencer Strider, Chad Fairey, Bryar Hawkins, Baseball, Clemson, 2019
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line657
|
__label__wiki
| 0.528282
| 0.528282
|
COURSE LOCATION ANNOUNCED FOR '16 SUMMER OLYMPICS
The R&A announced yesterday the location of the golf course that will be built for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
“Within the last three weeks or so the Rio organising committee and the city of Rio confirmed that Riserva Uno … will be the site,” R&A chief executive Peter Dawson told reporters on the eve of the 140th British Open at Sandwich.
“It is a site close to the Olympic village and quite close to the sea in the Barra area of Rio. A course will be designed by an architect yet to be determined.
The architects in the running to design the course include Jack Nicklaus, Annika Sorenstam, Greg Norman and Lorena Ochoa. Dawson said the course designer will need to be selected quickly so they can stay on schedule to have a test run on the course by 2015.
Golf has been left out of the Summer Olympics since the 1904 Games in St. Louis, Missouri but will return in 2016. If golf is going to make it as a sport in the Summer Olympics, they are going to have to change the format to include team competitions. The current proposed format is a 72-hole stroke play with fields of 60 men and 60 women.
I think they should adopt a format similar to the Ryder Cup to add some excitement to engage sports fans who don't normally watch golf. It would get a little tricky because there would be more than two teams, but the last thing golf needs is to appear to be "boring". But, Dawson said they won't consider any changes until after the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line658
|
__label__cc
| 0.715087
| 0.284913
|
Stephen Hawking Hoax
First unread post • 55 posts • Page 4 of 4 • 1, 2, 3, 4
Re: Stephen Hawking Hoax
by Critical Mass on Mon Feb 15, 2016 4:47 pm
Kham wrote: Then I said to myself, what the heck was that? Then I explored it and found that there were three distinct backgrounds.
Technically there appears to be two distinct "background environments" which, as you say, have been made superficially similar... however I'll bear partial responsibility for the use of the "three" as I did mention a "third view".
I won't respond to your psychology "lesson" or whether or not an interview means or implies a single sitting as they seem to invite likely fruitless discussion.
I just hope from now on you'll be more careful with your analyses (and you presumably took some time to make your first jpeg image... and then the second).
As it happens I agree the video is "off" in some manner & I have no idea how the maltreated Hawkings dumb-y is communicating with the interviewer (heck I get the vague impression that Hawkings responses are dubbed onto a separate soundtrack... although it's obviously difficult to confirm).
by Fake Eater on Wed Feb 17, 2016 4:22 am
full link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxEtofitkuE
At 2m and 10m10s, looks like full control of mouth function doesn't it? Where is his mouth joystick that most humans who are paralyzed from neck down seems to have? That joystick represents their connection to the world, it is their voice, movement and independence. Is it not odd that someone would give up their ability to move around and manipulate things in uncountable ways in favour of a multiple choice system? Are any of the options on that multiple choice system of his "help"? Regardless, his computer could interface with the chair or anything else in the world you could connect a programmable logic controller to (endless limits, automation tech). The "genius" using inefficient technology doesn't ring any alarm bells? If your science god is real, there are signs of abuse. If that's real and you aren't genuinely concerned for his well being, your judgment may be impaired.
However, I should warn you, it's just a bad scam with a shit cover, classic "untouchable" Keyser Soze technique. Except they are also playing with the same emotions that make you protect babies. Power is an illusion created by the believer. Do your homework before you mentally bow down, you may be embarrassed when you find out your lord is latex. Make no bones about it, the jokes on you. (51m27s punchline)
*For tips on how you can build your own "science god", research topic via youtube: "Kuato open your mind"
Fake Eater
by CluedIn on Wed Apr 13, 2016 3:25 am
Stephen Hawking is backing a project to send tiny spacecraft to another star system within a generation. They would travel trillions of miles; far further than any previous craft. A $100m (£70m) research programme to develop the computer chip-sized "starships" was launched by the billionaire Yuri Milner, supported by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
The concept is to reduce the size of the spacecraft to about the size of a chip used in electronic devices. (I wonder if they will reduce the size of the astronots like in the movie Fantastic Voyage where they shrank the scientists and injected them into the human body?) The idea is to launch a thousand of these mini-spacecraft into the Earth's orbit. Each would have a solar sail. This is like a sail on a boat - but it is pushed along by light rather than the wind. A giant laser on Earth would give each one a powerful push, sending them on their way to reaching 20% of the speed of light.
Pure comedy. The sails/kite-like things with their laser push are illustrated at about the 1:40 mark in the video in the link.
CluedIn
by ICfreely on Wed Apr 13, 2016 6:41 am
CluedIn wrote: The concept is to reduce the size of the spacecraft to about the size of a chip used in electronic devices. (I wonder if they will reduce the size of the astronots like in the movie Fantastic Voyage where they shrank the scientists and injected them into the human body?)
CluedIn wrote: The idea is to launch a thousand of these mini-spacecraft into the Earth's orbit. Each would have a solar sail. This is like a sail on a boat - but it is pushed along by light rather than the wind.
Bill Nye's also in on the 'mini-spacecraft sailing light waves (particles?)' racket.
Bill Nye celebrates solar sail deployment by LightSail spacecraft
You may be able to spot the spacecraft from the ground [ ]
The group, co-founded by astronomer Carl Sagan, has been working for more than a decade to launch a spacecraft powered by solar sails – ultra-thin sheets of mirrored surfaces designed to capture the momentum from solar energy photons. The small, continuous acceleration allows a spacecraft propelled by solar sails to reach high speeds over time without any fuel.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/bill-nye-celebrates-solar-sail-deployment-by-lightsail-spacecraft-1.3104534
No wind. No fuel. Just a post-modern CGI light/mirror show.
CluedIn wrote: A giant laser on Earth would give each one a powerful push, sending them on their way to reaching 20% of the speed of light.
Why not? If a giant laser on Earth can 'prove' we went to the Moon, anything's possible. Maybe someday ULTRA-MEGA-GIANT lasers aimed at the 'lunar reflectors' will keep the Moon from crashing into Earth.
ICfreely
by pov603 on Wed Apr 13, 2016 4:25 pm
Searching the Cosmos with nothing more than a micro-processor...Fish'n'chips in other words...
by fbenario on Wed Apr 13, 2016 11:56 pm
pov603 wrote: Fish'n'chips
Oh, how nicely droll of you. Awesome.
fbenario
by elmoastro on Sat Apr 16, 2016 4:52 am
Hawking is a litmus test. War of the Worlds-esque. Belief is a motherfucker to reason & observation. Belief is reality to those who believe. That's the crux. It's ultimately a matter of human behavior and programming. The firewall of programming is a default to labels & name-calling.
The drooling sad man who can't feed himself as astro-physicist who writes books one eye-blink at a time and best-sells them, yet can't take a shit without a nurse maid to clean him up defies all reason. Hawking could "say" anything but the same 9/11 hijack is in place in that the PC programming won't allow the questioning of a wheelchaired retard, no offense to those who are slowed down by their biological limits. And no offense to the victim Hawking. It's a psycho's game.
elmoastro
by elmoastro on Wed Mar 14, 2018 5:10 am
Goddamn they got some mileage out of this one. Finally dead at 76, or so the Germans would have us believe.
full link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdjY_UnNtQ4
by nonhocapito on Wed Mar 14, 2018 11:31 am
The word "illuminati" thrown into this video as usual makes no sense whatsoever and follows no logic or proof. Still, I particularly liked the part where the caregiver is heard saying: "he's been an important part of my... lie".
full link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIs-XFhY-2Q
In any case it's obvious that Hawking was impersonated by actors or literal puppets.
As for the reason for such a pathetic contrivance, it seems clear to me: Someone who speaks from a computer is like an oracle to the general public, he will never engage in real conversation, which means that his words must be taken as truth without a chance to argue against them. This gives such a person a special added aura, a "sacrificial" (hence the caricature handicap) and persuasive power. This aura is especially useful when wanting to enforce broad ideas like the non-existence of God on the general public.
I wonder why they decided to kill the character now, if it was just about time or is there some other reason? Is the atheist meme being faded out or reinvented, perhaps?
What the heck are those 4 fake little teeth?
How do they match these?
I also wonder what serious scientists and doctors who have been studying ALS and ALS patients all their life think of this unique case. I mean, many of them must know on some level, from their day to day experience, that a case like Hawking (50 years with ALS) simply isn't possible.
What do they tell, I wonder, to their patients when they have to give them the terrible news of a very short life span coupled with unbelievable suffering, and invariably the patients interject: "b-but... Stephen Hawking!"
by Flabbergasted on Thu Mar 15, 2018 12:34 am
Hawking (or whoever has been writing under that pseudonym) famously stated that "philosophy is dead" in the scientistic book "The Great Design", co-authored with Leonard Mlodinow. The central claim of the book is that "because there is a law of gravity, the universe can and will create itself out of nothing".
John Lennox, an Oxford mathematician and Christian apologist, points out three levels of self-contradiction in that claim:
i) The universe is created out of nothing and something at the same time.
ii) If one says "x creates y", one presupposes the existence of "x". Claiming that "x creates x" is utterly nonsensical.
iii) A law of nature, by definition, depends for its own existence on the prior existence of the nature it purports to describe. Moreover, laws and mathematics don´t create things or set things in motion. As C. S. Lewis once said, "one plus one equals two, but when did that ever put two pounds in your pocket?"
Lennox´s purpose in this lecture is not to question Hawking´s official CV, but to show the illogicality of the claims set forth in the book, so hang on through the introduction. It is well worth a listen.
https://youtu.be/6eHfhbP1K_4?t=238 (@ 4:00)
edit: typo.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line659
|
__label__cc
| 0.741225
| 0.258775
|
January 3, 2017 By Scott Brinker 1 Comment
Start 2017 with the world’s most famous chief marketing technologist
Happy New Year, dear readers!
What better way to launch into 2017 than revisiting our good friend Mayur Gupta, truly one of the icons of the marketing technology world.
Over the history of this blog, some of the most fascinating stories to me have been observing how things change over time. One is the growth of the marketing technology landscape, as it’s blossomed from 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2016 (and, yes, 2017 is on the way).
Mayur’s career is another one of those ongoing stories. I first met him in 2012, when he was a marketing technology & strategy director at SapientNitro — a technologist building software for marketers. I published my first Q&A with him in January 2013 as he took on the role of global head of marketing technology at Kimberly-Clark — essentially one of the world’s first chief marketing technologists. I then profiled him in the summer of 2014 for the Harvard Business Review article, Rise of the Chief Marketing Technologist. We then did another Q&A together in September 2015 after he became the SVP and head of digital at Healthgrades.
And now, he’s the global vice president for growth & marketing at Spotify. (Congratulations!)
To me, Mayur is the archetype of the hybrid marketing and technology executive for this decade. He’s blended those two discipline masterfully, and watching his career take shape over the past 5 years has been a personified narrative of how “marketing” as a profession is being elevated and transformed. (I had his story in mind as I was writing my article last month on digital transformation as the #1 disruption to “marketing” underway.)
Without further ado, here’s Mayur’s perspective on marketing technology here in 2017…
1. We’ve been excitedly following your career arc as a kind of bellwether example for hybrid marketing technology executives. When we last checked in, you were the head of digital for Healthgrades. What prompted you to make this new move to Spotify?
It has indeed been a journey — satisfying and surprising at the same time. Having started off as an engineer and technologist many years back, it’s been a steady and gradual shift, first towards the intersection of marketing and technology, to now being right at the center of modern marketing.
Data, technology, and marketing are intertwined in this digital world, and my career, I believe, is a by-product of that evolution.
That is a reflection of the fundamental shift from the analog world I grew up in to the intrinsically digital world we all live in now. Technology has empowered the consumer with seamless discoverability and accessibility, redefining customer experience, which means marketing now has a very different role to play within organizations. Data, technology, and marketing are intertwined in this digital world, and my career, I believe, is a by-product of that evolution.
Somewhere during this journey, I realized that the hallmark of a great technologist or a marketer is their understanding and empathy towards the customer. Once you have that, you can deliver experiences that simplify and change lives.
Music in general is central to both, a reflection of human behavior and desire while having the power to change the same. This is how people connect with each other. Spotify provides that marketplace both for the fans and creators of music and creativity. At a time when there is so much disruption happening within the category, I have the opportunity to converge the science of data and technology with the art of marketing and storytelling.
2. Can you tell us more about your role at Spotify? Where does marketing technology fit into this?
The role is fairly straight forward: apply data-driven marketing to grow the business. For me, that simply means inspiring more fans to listen to more music more often and provide a frictionless ecosystem that enables more artists to create more music more often for more fans.
As the category gets more mature and fragmented, fans get more choice, forcing the brands to become more precise, relevant, and progressive about every single interaction, agnostic of channel or type of media.
The strategy to make that real will include all the ingredients of a data-driven marketing organization that works in partnership with product, content, and business teams. It requires the ability to listen and understand the human behavior and the unmet need at any given point in the journey and being able to meet it just in time. My role is to make that a reality.
I think of the entire ecosystem as a running engine, then marketing technology represents the pipes connecting the different pieces together.
Marketing technology is central to the engine. If I think of the entire ecosystem as a running engine, then marketing technology represents the pipes connecting the different pieces together, while data is the oil that flows through these pipes.
Without marketing technology or the pipes — I’m sure we will discuss microservices and APIs at some point — we lose the ability to listen, analyze and relevantly engage with the customer. What needs to be a connected ecosystem will only be a dispersed set of individual tools. We will have data and we will have content but no way to apply them to deliver a value proposition for the customer.
3. Now that you’ve worked with a variety of different companies, including board positions with more traditional firms, are there common patterns around the technological evolution of marketing that you’ve discerned?
It’s been really fascinating and eye opening revelation for me personally. I have had the benefit of working across the Fortune 100’s to Fortune 5000’s as well as growth companies in various capacities. Some of these companies are multi-billion-dollar CPG/retail firms and others span across health/dental care, digital, technology, and entertainment.
Regardless of the industry or their size and scale, every single one of them is on a very similar journey towards digital transformation and disruption — of course, at perhaps different stage of the journey.
The opportunities and challenges in this digital economy that center around the customer are extremely consistent and agnostic of the industry itself. If you have an underlying framework for digital transformation that may include becoming a data-driven agile organization or evolving the role of marketing to drive growth with art and science, you can shut your eyes and apply it across these industry verticals with minor tweaks.
The same applies to marketing and the growing role of data and technology within marketing. There is a very simple reason for all of this — the “customer.” We are operating in a customer-led era, and the moment organizations start to put the customer at the center of their ecosystem, these strategies become consistent.
Every brand and CMO now acknowledges that marketing and technology are intertwined. Technology is the interface of marketing.
For instance, very specifically around marketing technologies:
Every brand and CMO now acknowledges that marketing and technology are intertwined. Technology is the interface of marketing. In many cases, technology is the experience. Enters “marketing technology” as a core function in 7 out of 10 companies now (my rough estimate).
At the same time though, the challenges of a chaotic, fast-paced, and fragmented marketing technology landscape are equally obvious.
Marketing departments now have the budget to purchase marketing technologies, but are struggling to maximize adoption and activation.
However, there are organizations that have an advanced vision of a connected marketing technology ecosystem. They are able to drive tangible growth and lifetime value with data-driven engagement and always-on algorithmic experiences. They are already talking about a marketing operating system enabled through APIs, services, and data integration across internal and external systems.
4. You’ve brought a high level of technical sophistication to the marketing teams that you’ve worked with. Is that effectively a requirement for modern marketing success? What steps should companies that don’t yet have that in their DNA take to develop it?
Marketing, technology and data are inseparable – that’s no longer a question but a proven fact.
We are trying to serve an extremely modern customer who is technology dependent, not just technology savvy, living and operating in a connected digital world. Her expectations are soaring high. She has control, choice, and speed at her finger tips. She demands the highest value with the most immersive and personalized experience, along with a story that makes her the protagonist, not the brand.
Modern marketers need to converge data and technology with impeccable storytelling to drive customer engagement.
That’s a very high bar. Traditional models of mass marketing, where you talk at the customer to tell the brand story, perhaps saying you are unique, just like the other brand, can no longer meet the customer expectations. Modern marketers need to converge data and technology with impeccable storytelling to drive customer engagement — and do it every single time — to earn, not buy, loyalty.
There are many frameworks out there, from the 5Cs of Modern Marketing to MIT’s latest study to help organizations drive digital transformation.
However, I am not sure if there is a defined set of steps to drive the cultural shift other than to build a belief that the change and disruption has already happened. Organizations must either drive this fundamental digital transformation and change the business or eventually run out of business.
5. What about the evolution of marketing technology this year? For instance, what do you think of some of the recent discussion of microservices as an architecture for a company’s digital “operating system?”
It continues to amaze all of us — the exponential growth, the mergers, the acquisitions. Just when you think it will slow down, it goes faster.
We will not have the mother of all marketing technology companies under a single umbrella that will come out with a “marketing operating system.”
I think there are a few patterns I have noticed in the last 12-18 months:
A realization that we will not have the mother of all marketing technology companies under a single umbrella that will come out with a “marketing operating system,” an mOS like iOS. We all had hoped for an Adobe, IBM, Oracle, Salesforce to make that a reality, but the pace of diversification is much higher than consolidation. The bar for innovation is so low today — there is a new technology idea every single day.
This brings back a service-oriented architecture and an open framework right at the center of an ever-expanding ecosystem.
Data becomes the linchpin that allows these technologies to align themselves in context to the customer journey, and data integration has become the most critical focal point.
The latest acquisition of Apigee by Google is a reflection of that realization and industry maturity around the need to build scale through services and APIs.
As modern marketing becomes more and more algorithmic and programmatic across channels, the need for a marketing operating system that is connected through data and services will be inevitable.
6. We hear a lot about “design thinking” in marketing today. That’s important, but you’ve also argued that marketers need to bring “systems thinking” into their organizations. What does that mean?
In the last few years, I have become an ardent student and adopter of “systems thinking” across every aspect of the business let alone marketing.
Most leading organizations are focusing on becoming “ecosystem organizations” that truly have the customer at the center. Everyone wants to be the next Amazon that has built concentric circles of value for the customer. They have redefined competition and collaboration in a digital economy, dropping the traditional barriers of industrial verticals.
Now, imagine the evolution in the business model, the number of channels and touchpoints through which brands are engaging with the customers, the path to purchase, customer support, content and media types. It’s mind boggling. There is a fundamental fragmentation that exists within the entire ecosystem, from organizational models to operating structures.
Most brands take a tactical bottom up approach to handle this fragmented landscape in parts and silos. Unless we apply “systems thinking” that, at least on paper, shows all the subcomponents of the organization humming together, we are still far away from delivering the level of customer experience that customers demand today.
A systems mindset is the only way to truly bring the customer at the center of a connected ecosystem.
This applies centrally to modern marketing because of the same explosion of channels, touchpoints, media and content types, and the role marketing needs to play with sales, product, engineering, finance. A systems mindset is the only way to truly bring the customer at the center of a connected ecosystem that goes longitudinally alongside the customer journey.
Even just putting that on paper is the beginning of eventually making it real.
Thank you, Mayur!
Want to hear Mayur speak in person? Join us at the next MarTech conference in San Francisco, May 9-11, where leading practitioners and experts like Mayur will share their experiences and insights at the evolving intersection of marketing, technology, and management.
Previous Post 5 Disruptions to Marketing, Part 5: Artificial Intelligence
Next Post Digital Asset Management in the Martech Cocktail
Duane Schulz says:
Great point-of-view and lots of wisdom here. I do think that design thinking is vital. Mayur’s consumer-centricity means our job is to ensure that people who come to our brands can accomplish what they came for with a smile on their face and a desire to share with others. That said, there’s no way that great UX/IA/Design will be delivered as it should unless Systems Thinking is sitting across the entire lifecycle. IT/computing, supply chain, banking, healthcare all rely at their heart on systems thinking. Great to see more attention to it in this interview.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line665
|
__label__wiki
| 0.879504
| 0.879504
|
Posted on November 8, 2005 by wade
New Orleans We left LSU’s Cook Center with 2 filled tour buses for the trip to New Orleans. Planners, architects, sociologists, developers, and a number of New Orleans evacuees all plopped into the seats filled with expectations. But even before we crossed into the parish after listening to everyone’s story on the bus, we knew this was going to be a different day for all of us. And, it was.
We drove from our office on Elysian Fields to the Lake and then over to Franklin and through the neighborhoods of Gentilly. From there we went to New Orleans East across Chef Menteur. We squeezed the giant buses down small streets and drove slowly. Now and then one of the members would shout in the bus that we were passing their own home. We even went by the bus driver’s house in the East and heard his story. From there we drove to the Lower 9th Ward.
Everything was the same even 9 weeks after the storm. The watermarks were still on the houses. The streets were all quiet except for the odd FEMA contractor or garbage truck. Quiet and dust. Everywhere! In many of these areas there was still mud caked under the sun like a river bed, where water had finally dried and left its marks.
Everywhere!
We all got off the bus in the Lower 9th Ward on the block where so many ACORN members used to live that it seemed brightened by all of the “No Bulldozing” signs that ACORN had placed on members’ houses at their insistence. This was the block where Mrs. Annie Falls, an ACORN leader and stalwart lived. She had given the tour permission to enter her house and see the full extend of the devastation. From the outside it sill looked like the house she would have remembered. Walking into the living room was heartbreak, knowing Mrs. Falls. Darkened mold everywhere amidst furniture pushed and pulled in every direction. A picture album was open, drying on the porch.
The conference will have a lot of work to do. The power of this trip lay in the pure scale of the damage. It did not look impossible to rebuild. Quite the contrary! But it looked like a mammoth job that no one has quite been able to measure and where most have not stepped up to the task.
Miles and miles and miles of damage over hundreds and thousands of acres of home, where after a while the most surprising things were how much it all looked the same, and how little seemed to be happening.
Articles today on the tour ran in both the Times Picayune and the Baton Rouge Advocate.
ACORN group plans N.O. rebuilding alliance
Planners view ruins in N.O.
By Bruce Hamilton
A group of urban planners, professors, architects and housing specialists from around the country who toured New Orleans on Monday knew what to expect. They had seen images and read stories of devastation, and they were fully prepared to see it.
But they didn’t expect so much of it.
“It’s unbelievable,” said David Conrath, dean of Louisiana State University’s College of Art and Design. “It’s hard to put in any frame you can understand.” Conrath, who was visiting the city for the first time since Hurricane Katrina, said the closest comparison he could think of was the ruination of cities after World War II.
“I was just blown away by miles and miles of this,” said Chester Hartman, stretching his arms toward the desolation on the 9th Ward street where he stood.
Hartman, research director of the Poverty and Race Research Action Council in Washington, was one of several planners who toured the city as part of a two-day conference to develop rebuilding plans for New Orleans.
The community forum organized by Louisiana ACORN, or Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, began Monday night after the tour and continues today in Baton Rouge. It was created to address the needs of the city’s low- and moderate-income residents.
Displaced residents joined the group on two buses that passed through Gentilly, eastern New Orleans, the 9th Ward and Carrollton. ACORN community activist Beth Butler narrated the scene in the various neighborhoods and identified landmarks.
“Most places you look at a pile of rubble like that and you say, ‘Darn.’ Here we say, ‘Yeah. Somebody’s doing something,’ ” she told the group. She also tried to counter misconceptions about the city, explaining that eastern New Orleans is not “all poor neighborhoods” but contains a mix of incomes.
Passing along Chef Menteur Highway, she told the group, “If you don’t let people back, and if you don’t give them electricity, and you don’t give them water — you can kill a whole city.”
One of the drivers, Eddie Epps, drove his bus past his house on Branch Drive in eastern New Orleans and told the group that when he first returned, a real estate speculator offered him $65,000 for his flood-damaged home.
Epps had bought the three-bedroom house — his first — 26 years ago for $65,500, he said. When it was last appraised, it could fetch $185,000. Epps took the businessman’s card and threw it on the ground.
Epps, who is staying with his family in Baton Rouge, said he intends to gut the house and rebuild once his insurance claims are settled. “I’ve got to get back to New Orleans,” he said. “I was born and raised there.”
Tour participants said they heard similar stories from several displaced residents and they were shocked by how much of the city is uninhabited.
“It seems like we were driving forever, and there was no one there,” said Majora Carter, executive director of Sustainable South Bronx, a community organization dedicated to sustainable developments in the New York borough.
“If you’re talking about rebuilding, the first thing you’ve got to have is people and they’re just not there. It’s mind-boggling,” Carter said, noting that entire communities had been dispersed and were unable to return.
Some residents, such as ACORN member Tanya Harris, are still prevented from returning. As the bus passed the restricted-access section of the Lower 9th Ward that Harris called home, she told the group, “We have no idea, no concrete reason why we’re not allowed back there.”
Noting that Britain’s Prince Charles had been allowed to visit the area last week, Butler said, “I guess if you’re royalty from England, you can go somewhere where there’s imminent danger of collapse, but if you’re a homeowner, you can’t.”
The tour group stopped to visit a damaged house on Pauline Street that belongs to an ACORN member. Despite what he called “overwhelming” devastation, Cornell University professor Kenneth Reardon said he believes “a substantial portion of existing housing is salvageable” in the city.
Reardon, chairman of Cornell’s department of city and regional planning, said he hopes ACORN can help create a process that lets displaced residents play a role in deciding the future of their community.
As a result of today’s conference, ACORN will form a rebuilding alliance that will seek to: “frame a vision for rebuilding that serves the interests of all residents; develop specific plans and proposals that are technically informed and resident-led; send a message that resident voices must be consistently heard by city, state, and federal officials as key decisions are made in the months and years ahead.”
The two-day event will be broadcast on the Internet. For information about the Webcast, contact Jeff Karlson at acorn@acorn.org or (225) 925-5558. Or visit www.acorn.org for details.
ACORN focuses on endangered N.O. areas
By NED RANDOLPH
nrandolph@theadvocate.com
Advocate business writer
With an eye on forcing city leaders to include low- to moderate-income residents in the rebuilding of New Orleans, the housing advocacy group, ACORN, opened a two-day forum to sketch out a plan for some of the endangered predominantly black neighborhoods.
“We’ve seen the governor’s commission and the mayor’s commission, and we’ve seen the omission of low-to-moderate income groups,” ACORN organizer Stephen Bradberry said Monday evening.
The ACORN forum, held Monday night and today at LSU’s Lod Cook Alumni Center in Baton Rouge, was preceded by a bus tour of some of New Orleans’ hardest hit neighborhoods.
“So we decided to bring together experts to sit down with residents of New Orleans and speak with people about, ‘How do we envision New Orleans for ourselves?’ “
ACORN is a national organization with about 9,000 members in its New Orleans chapter.
It primarily represents the Lower 9th Ward neighborhood, which has also been locked in a decades-long struggle with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The corps wants to widen the Industrial Canal that separates the neighborhood from the rest of the city.
During Hurricane Katrina, a breach in the canal reduced nearby houses to matchsticks and lifted others from their foundations. A barge ended up in the neighborhood.
The levee has been patched, but residents have not been allowed back into their homes to start cleaning up and drying out their properties. Police barricades block every roadway.
“Our sense is that the Army Corps of Engineers wants that part of the 9th Ward, and that’s why they’re not letting us back (in),” said Beth Butler, a member of ACORN. “That’s also where the barge went through and damaged two houses.”
Part of the barge was visible as the bus approached the St. Claude Avenue Bridge.
“They’ve been trying to move those levees back for years,” said Beverly Collins, a 9th Ward resident who worked for the Corps of Engineers for 13 years.
Why Orleans Parish suffered three separate levee breaches is under debate. Some residents and public officials, including Mayor C. Ray Nagin, have suggested a hole or two may have been caused by forces more nefarious than Mother Nature.
The brackish flood that swallowed 75 percent of the city rendered vast stretches of urban landscape virtually still.
Residents could not return for weeks to pull out dry wall, open windows and start drying out their homes.
“Three weeks ago we cleaned out our freezer of meat. Water reached the attic and then stayed at about 5 feet for three weeks,” said Eddie Epps, who is living in a Baton Rouge apartment. “I’ve got to get back to New Orleans. I’m coming back as soon as my homeowners’ (insurance) comes through.”
Epps added, “No offense to people who live in Baton Rouge, ya’ll have been good to me for the past three months.”
When Epps was cleaning out his house, he said he was approached by a land developer who offered him $70,000 as is. “To me they were like vultures,” he said.
Meanwhile, those who are living in Federal Emergency Management Agency trailer parks or other cities, say they feel like overstaying guests.
“Some of the hospitality is wearing down in Houston,” Dorothy Stukes said. “People are scattered all over. In New Orleans, we’re sharing people. If you’re making red beans and rice, you could always borrow some sugar from your neighbor.”
“In Texas, they’re complaining that Louisiana is taking all the jobs away from people,” said Trina Daniels, who is living in an apartment in north Dallas.
“We all worked. You know, some of us applied for food stamps for the first time in our lives,” she said.
Many residents on the bus stayed in the Superdome and the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.
Daniels, for instance, drove to the Superdome before the storm.
Things were OK until the waters started to rise, she said. Conditions quickly deteriorated. Eventually, the water in the restrooms shut off and the lights died. People relieved themselves in the hallways.
Daniels said she spent 16 hours outside on the ramp waiting for a bus to take them through the flooded city. Her daughter and grandparents became separated in line. All the buses were going to Houston, she was told.
“But when we got on the bus, it was a different story,” Daniels said.
A week passed before she spoke to her daughter.
Daniels wants to return home and Beulah LaBostrie is ready to help her.
“We’ve got to figure out how to get it back again and who will occupy it,” said LaBostrie, 84, who traces her family back 200 years in the Lower 9th Ward. “It’s hard to separate fact from fiction but we do need a voice. We’ve got to figure out how to get people home.”
ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, is pushing a non-bulldoze policy for these areas — some of which will likely require demolition based on the outward deterioration of some structures.
“They need to go,” said Pat Robinson as the bus pulled into a particularly bad spot in the 9th Ward. “I’m sorry. What kind of water were they in?”
“If you were ever going to live in the 9th Ward, now is the time,” said Francis Collins, who is living in the FEMA trailer park in Baker. “I wouldn’t sell. If it’s caved in, bulldoze it. If not, I wouldn’t bulldoze.”
This entry was posted in ACORN, Community Organizing, Financial Justice by wade. Bookmark the permalink.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line666
|
__label__wiki
| 0.754448
| 0.754448
|
Posts tagged ‘Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons’
China’s Fosun to sign agreement for $1.4 billion Gland Pharma buy – paper | Reuters
Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co (2196.HK) will sign a definitive agreement on Wednesday to buy a controlling stake in India’s Gland Pharma in a $1.4 billion deal, the Economic Times newspaper reported, citing a source with direct knowledge.
In May, Shanghai Fosun had made a non-binding proposal to buy Gland Pharma, which is backed by KKR & Co (KKR.N), to boost its drug manufacturing and research and development capacity.
Fosun did not immediately comment, when contacted by Reuters. Gland Pharma made no immediate comment on the report.
The paper said KKR declined to comment.
Source: China’s Fosun to sign agreement for $1.4 billion Gland Pharma buy – paper | Reuters
Posted in China alert, Economics, Pharma | Leave a Comment »
Tags: China, Commonwealth of Independent States, communist party of china, India, Narendra Modi, Nuclear Suppliers Group, Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, United States
China rejects bending rule for India to join nuclear club | Reuters
China maintains its opposition to India joining a group of nations seeking to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons by controlling access to sensitive technology, said the head of the arms control department in China’s Foreign Ministry.
The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) met this week in Seoul, but China said it would not bend the rules and allow India membership as it had not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the main global arms control pact.
“Applicant countries must be signatories of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of nuclear weapons (NPT),” Wang Qun, the head of arms control department in China’s Foreign Ministry, was quoted as saying in Seoul on Thursday night.
“This is a pillar, not something that China set. It is universally recognized by the international community,” Wang said according to a statement released by the Chinese foreign ministry on Friday.China is leading opposition to a push by the United States to bring India into the NSG which aims to prevent nuclear weapons proliferation by stopping the sale of items that can be used to make nuclear arms.
The issue of India’s membership was not formally discussed at the NSG meeting this week, Wang said on Friday.
The United States, which has a nuclear cooperation deal with India, considers it a nuclear power that plays by the rules and is not a proliferator, and wants to bring Asia’s third largest economy into the 48-member group.
India already enjoys most of the benefits of membership under a 2008 exemption to NSG rules granted to support its nuclear cooperation deal with Washington.
On Friday, on the sidelines of the plenary meeting of the NSG, Wang stressed China considered it important to handle new memberships under a consensus and that there was no move yet to allow a non-NPT state to join.
“International rules will have to be respected, big or small,” Wang told Reuters. “Big like NPT. Small like the rules and procedures of this group.” “The important question of which we are concerned, is how to deal with the question of participation of countries within the group of non-NPT states. It’s a formidable task.”Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue on Thursday at a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at a regional summit in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, but there was no breakthrough.
One diplomat at the NSG plenary in Seoul said the group’s outgoing chairman, Argentinian diplomat Rafael Grossi, would act as a “facilitator” to continue to search for an accession deal.
Opponents argue that granting India membership would further undermine efforts to prevent proliferation. It would also infuriate India’s rival Pakistan, an ally of China’s, which has responded to India’s membership bid with one of its own.Pakistan joining would be unacceptable to many, given its track record. The father of its nuclear weapons program ran an illicit network for years that sold nuclear secrets to countries including North Korea and Iran.
Source: China rejects bending rule for India to join nuclear club | Reuters
Posted in China alert, Chindia Alert, GeoPolitics, India alert, nuclear energy, Politics | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Abdul Qadeer Khan, China, India, Missile Technology Control Regime, Narendra Modi, Nuclear Suppliers Group, Pakistan, politics, Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, United States, Xi JinPing
China leads resistance to India joining nuclear export club | Reuters
China is leading opposition to a push by the United States and other major powers for India to join the main club of countries controlling access to sensitive nuclear technology, diplomats said on Thursday as the group discussed India’s membership bid.
Other countries opposing Indian membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) include New Zealand, Ireland, Turkey, South Africa and Austria, diplomats said.
The 48-nation NSG aims to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons by restricting the sale of items that can be used to make those arms.
India already enjoys most of the benefits of membership under a 2008 exemption to NSG rules granted to support its nuclear cooperation deal with Washington, even though India has developed atomic weapons and never signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the main global arms control pact.
Opponents argue that granting it membership would further undermine efforts to prevent proliferation. It would also infuriate India’s rival Pakistan, which responded to India’s membership bid with one of its own and has the backing of its close ally China.
“By bringing India on board, it’s a slap in the face of the entire non-proliferation regime,” a diplomatic source from one of a handful of countries resisting India’s push said on condition of anonymity.
A decision on Indian membership is not expected before an NSG plenary meeting in Seoul on June 20, but diplomats said Washington had been pressuring hold-outs, and Thursday’s closed-door meeting was a chance to see how strong opposition is.U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry wrote to members asking them “not to block consensus on Indian admission to the NSG” in a letter seen by Reuters and dated Friday.
China, however, showed no sign of backing down from its opposition to India joining unless Pakistan becomes a member. That would be unacceptable to many, given Pakistan’s track record — the father of its nuclear weapons program sold nuclear secrets to countries including North Korea and Iran.
“China, if anything, is hardening (its position),” another diplomat said.
Most of the hold-outs oppose the idea of admitting a non-NPT state such as India and argue that if it is to be admitted, it should be under criteria that apply equally to all states rather than under a “tailor-made” solution for a U.S. ally.
Mexico’s president said on Wednesday his country supports India’s membership bid, but one Vienna-based diplomat said it still opposed the idea of it joining under conditions that did not apply equally to all.
Source: China leads resistance to India joining nuclear export club | Reuters
Posted in China alert, Chindia Alert, Economics, India alert, nuclear technology | Leave a Comment »
Tags: China, France, Guangzhou, India, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, Nuclear Suppliers Group, Pakistan, Pranab Mukherjee, Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, United States
Japan, India agree on rail, nuclear deal | The Japan Times
Tokyo and New Delhi agreed to major deals Saturday, including the introduction of Japan’s bullet train technology to India and an agreement on nuclear cooperation.
The bilateral accord was reached during talks in New Delhi between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi. “This enterprise will launch a revolution in Indian railways and speed up India’s journey into the future. It will become an engine of economic transformation in India,” Modi said after the talks, referring to the introduction of Japanese shinkansen technology in building a high-speed railway in India. “This project befits the start of a new era for (ties between) Japan and India,” Abe said.
The two countries also agreed on a civil nuclear cooperation pact. Sensitive negotiations had continued for five years on exporting Japan’s nuclear power plant technology to India, with one of the sticking points being whether Japan could ensure that its nuclear technology would not be diverted for military use. India, despite being a de facto nuclear weapons state, has not joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. “Japan is promoting (nuclear) nonproliferation, given the history of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, while India is outside the NPT framework but wants to cooperate on nuclear power generation,” one Japanese official said while noting Japan is the only country to have suffered atomic bombings.
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Hagiuda, who accompanied Abe on the visit, told reporters after the talks that Japan’s cooperation under the bilateral civil nuclear pact will stop if India conducts a nuclear test. The two projects were the main points of focus of Abe’s three-day visit to India, which began Friday. Japan is keen to tap into India, with its 1.2 billion population, and forge closer ties in light of China’s growing political and economic clout in the region. Under a policy to elevate bilateral ties to what they now call a “Special Strategic and Global Partnership,”
Abe and Modi plan to boost security cooperation between the two nations and exchange views on regional issues such as the situation in the South China Sea, Japanese officials said. While Japan and India are not directly involved in the tensions in the South China sea, a key shipping route for oil and other imports, they are both concerned over the freedom of navigation in international waters. China claims almost the entire South China Sea and has competing territorial claims with Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan. Beijing’s fast-paced and massive land reclamation work has made the smaller Asian claimants uneasy. Seeing India’s potential value to Japan, both on the economic and political fronts, Abe has touted the importance of strengthening bilateral ties to help maintain peace and stability in Asia. Abe’s latest trip to India is his third visit as prime minister. The shinkansen technology will be applied to a planned 500-km-long high-speed railway that will link Mumbai and Ahmedabad in western India and take roughly two hours.
Japan, which is seeking to spur its economy through infrastructure exports to Asia, is looking to play catch-up after losing out to China in its bid to secure a key high-speed railway contract in Indonesia in October. Construction of the Indian railway project, which is estimated to cost 980 billion rupees ($14.6 billion), will begin in 2017, with the aim of starting operations in 2023. Japan has sounded out India about a plan for Tokyo to provide yen loans on the premise that the railway contract will be given to a consortium of Japanese firms, a Japanese government source said.
The two leaders also signed others pacts, including one that allows the transfer of defense equipment to India and another on data protection, which allows the exchange of defense-related information. The moves reflect Tokyo’s desire to forge closer ties with New Delhi due to China’s muscle-flexing.
When Modi visited Japan last year, Abe vowed to extend ¥3.5 trillion in public and private investment and financing to India over five years for development. Japan also pledged a ¥50 billion loan to India for a public-private partnership infrastructure project.
Source: Japan, India agree on rail, nuclear deal | The Japan Times
Posted in Economics, GeoPolitics, India alert, nuclear energy, Politics | 3 Comments »
Tags: 2010 NPT Review Conference, Arms Control Association, Article Six of the United States Constitution, International Atomic Energy Agency, iran, middle-east, Nuclear program of Iran, Nuclear weapon, Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, United States
Australia to sign uranium export deal with India – Businessweek
Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott met with his Indian counterpart Friday on a two-day state visit during which they are expected to sign a deal to allow the export of Australian uranium to India for use in power generation.
The agreement is expected to be signed Friday evening. Australia, which has almost a third of the world’s known uranium reserves, imposes strict conditions on uranium exports and India’s failure to sign the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty had long been a barrier to a trade deal.
Australia and India have been negotiating a nuclear safeguards agreement with verification mechanisms since 2012, when a former Australian government agreed on civil nuclear energy cooperation with India that would eventually allow the export of Australian uranium to the energy-starved South Asian nation.
India faces chronic shortages of electricity and about 65 percent of its installed power generation capacity comes from burning fossil fuels including oil, coal and natural gas. India is eager to expand its nuclear power capacity.
Australia’s decision to sell uranium to India follows a civil nuclear agreement with the United States. The deal with the U.S. was signed in 2008 and allowed Washington to sell nuclear fuel and technology to India without it giving up its military nuclear program.
India is seeking a similar agreement with Japan. The two sides have claimed “significant progress” but failed to reach a last-minute agreement on safeguards sought by Tokyo when the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Japan earlier this month.
via Australia to sign uranium export deal with India – Businessweek.
Posted in Economics, Electricity, India alert, nuclear energy, Trade | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Australia, India, Japan, Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of Australia, Tony Abbott, Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, United States
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line667
|
__label__wiki
| 0.801918
| 0.801918
|
The New York Times as a Fake News Site: Again cites false information from the Violence Policy Center
Once again the New York Times is citing bogus data from the Violence Policy Center (VPC).
But since 2007, concealed-carry permit holders have been responsible for at least 898 deaths not involving self-defense, according to the Violence Policy Center, a gun safety group. This includes 29 mass shootings by permit holders who killed 139 people. Separate research has found that despite the overwhelming number of guns in America, they are very rarely used in self-defense or to stop crimes. The self-defense myth of concealed carry nevertheless carries on, at the expense of public safety.
Letter to the Editor that the CPRC sent to the New York Times:
The Times erroneously asserts that over nine-and-a-half years there were 898 non-self-defense gun deaths nationwide by concealed handgun permit holders (“The Threat to Public Safety if ‘Concealed Carry’ Goes National,” 12/1).
Suppose for the sake of argument that Violence Policy Center has accurately identified the cases you refer to, with over 14.5 million permit holders at the beginning of this year, the 19 pending homicide charges so far this year implies an annual rate of 0.14 homicides per 100,000 permit holders. And the vast majority of these will be found to be in self-defense.
Yet, these numbers are a mess. Take Michigan, which is identified as the worst state for permit holders with supposedly 72 homicides. Many non-cases are tripled or quadrupled counted. “Pending” and “conviction” numbers from the Michigan State Police reports are both counted, though cases might be listed as pending for years before they go to court and most never result in a conviction. News stories of these same events are also counted as separate cases.
John R. Lott, Jr., Ph.D.
Of these 898 deaths as of November 16, 2016, 286 of them are suicides just from Michigan. The points that we made in 2014 about the errors in using this data for Michigan still hold true now. As to the Violence Policy Center claim based on FBI UCR information on justifiable homicides to show that guns are rarely used for defensively, please see this previous post that we put up. As another point, note that the vast majority of the pending cases are from 3, 4 or more years ago. These cases should clearly not be included in the total. What happened was that while the initial arrest received news coverage and a conviction would also have received news coverage, instances where the charges are drop virtually never receive media coverage.
Even in the extremely rare instances where police have been shot by permit holders, it is a mistake to automatically assume that the permit holder is at fault. Take this very recent case from Corpus Christi, Texas (December 2016):
A Nueces County jury has delivered a not guilty verdict in a case where a man accused of shooting three CCPD SWAT officers.
Ray Rosas was found to be not guilty in a shooting that happened February 19th, 2015. Police were serving a warrant at his home on Churchill Drive when they say he opened fire and shot three officers.
When the trial began last Wednesday, Rosas faced seven charges. However, the prosecution dropped three counts of attempted capital murder Monday afternoon, and the jury deliberated three counts of aggravated assault. . . .
The defense argued Rosas did not know he was firing at police, after SWAT actions were not carried out simultaneously and he was disoriented by a flash-bang grenade going off in his bedroom.
“The case is so easy,” defense attorney Lisa Greenberg said. “This is a self defense case.” . . .
Unfortunately, as usual, the NY Times did not see fit to alert their readers to problems with their claims. Other letters can be seen here.
How law-abiding are concealed handgun permit holders, Letters that we submitted, New York Times, Violence Policy Center
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line670
|
__label__cc
| 0.717104
| 0.282896
|
Methods Used to Catch Speeding Offenders in Virginia Beach
Law enforcement officers in Virginia routinely monitor traffic and use a variety or methods to tell if you are speeding including the use of RADAR and LIDAR equipment, by setting up speed traps using these equipment, by using traffic cameras, and also by pacing vehicles if they suspect they are speeding. Read below to learn more about these and more tools used by law enforcement to catch speeding offenders, and then call a Virginia Beach speeding ticket lawyer to discuss your case.
Use of RADAR Tools to Detect Speeding in Virginia
One common method used to detect speeders in Virginia is RADAR and LIDAR equipment.
Both are similar except LIDAR uses Laser and it is little more modern and more accurate. However, both of these are considered to be very, very accurate in Virginia and as long as the officer can show that his equipment has been properly calibrated by presenting proper calibration certificates in court the court is going to accept these readings as reliable and accurate.
If for some reason the officer didn’t get a certificate, the certificate itself has some improper information or is done incorrectly then this is a prime opportunity for the defense to examine the police officer about it. A lot of times it results in the dismissal of the conviction of the charges.
While the RADAR and LIDAR instruments are definitely considered by the court to be extremely accurate there still are issues with these in court. It is difficult to prove in court, but many times attorneys can get the officer to admit during cross-examination that there may have been the slight possibility that the RADAR or LIDAR locked on to the wrong object. This kind of reasonable doubt is further evidence that the case can be reduced or dismissed by.
What is Pacing and How is it Used in Virginia Speeding Cases?
In Virginia speeding cases pacing is a method that law enforcement officers use to track somebody’s speed. If an officer is pacing a vehicle he will first target a vehicle, get behind the vehicle, try to match the speed for a significant amount of time so that he can be sure about the correct speed and then the officer looks at his own speedometer and that is the speed that he says that the driver was going.
There are a lot of issues with this because it is so prone to human error and it is very hard to prove that the error wasn’t there. The officer could have been gaining speed and then accidentally believed that the speed he was going was what the driver was going while in fact the officer’s speed was faster or the officer’s own equipment like the speedometer could be completely wrong and then he is using an incorrect device to clock somebody’s speed.
It is really important in court to take apart the officer’s testimony and ask as many questions as possible to make sure that it is completely clear and accurate as to how exactly the officer is able to determine the speed.
4445 Corporation Ln
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line671
|
__label__wiki
| 0.739945
| 0.739945
|
Thursday, July 18 • 1:10pm - 2:20pm
At the movies, it seems there's so much science fiction, but so little science. Sebastian Cordero's Europa Report seeks to change that. The film depicts a near-future crewed mission to Jupiter's moon Europa, seeking evidence for life in an ocean beneath the moon's icy surface. The movie uses current science to tell a story of discovery and danger. This panel features the film's crew and cast, alongside scientists involved with a NASA concept for a real robotic spacecraft, the Europa Clipper, designed to investigate the mysteries of Europa, including whether it has the elements to support life. Participants include Sebastian Cordero (director, Rage and Chronicles), Bear McCreary (composer, Battlestar Galactica, The Walking Dead), producer Ben Browning, and actress Karolina Wydra, alongside JPL scientists Steve Vance and Kevin Hand. The panel will be moderated by astronomer Dr. Phil Plait (Slate magazine, Phil Plait's Bad Universe). Space.com called the film "One of the most thrilling and realistic depictions of deep-space exploration since Moon and 2001: A Space Odyssey."
Thursday July 18, 2013 1:10pm - 2:20pm
1: Programs, Movies, Science Fiction & Fantasy
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line676
|
__label__cc
| 0.743847
| 0.256153
|
“Maria by Callas” at Cinéstudio and in Today’s World
Posted in ARTS on January 22, 2019 • 0 Comments
Gillian Reinhard ’20
Ask anyone who studies abroad for a semester, especially one who travels as far away as China- there is a lot a student misses while spending time away from the United States. My first week home was filled with visits to Chipotle, my favorite hometown coffee shop, and New York’s Metropolitan Opera, the largest classical music organization in the country. My trip to the Met (not to be confused with the art museum) was, as always, deeply moving, in part because I saw one of my all-time favorites, Verdi’s tragic opera La Traviata.
“Maria by Callas” plays at Cinéstudio next week, and this, in addition to my recent trip to one of the world’s most important opera houses, inspired me to ruminate on the impact of the art form in today’s society.
Maria Callas, the title heroine of the upcoming documentary film, is a lauded figure in the world of classical music.
However, Maria Callas is not my favorite opera singer. Her voice is completely distinct from her contemporaries. The sound she produces is not conventionally beautiful and is, for better or worse, a clear standout. This unique sound is part of what rocketed her towards stardom beyond the confines of the world of classical music.
Throughout her short career, Callas established herself as an icon of pop culture in the mid-twentieth century. In the 1950s, she dominated headlines for her legendary (but mostly fabricated) rivalry with Italian singer Renata Tebaldi. The 1960s saw an affair with and divorce from Aristotle Onassis, who left her in favor of Jackie Kennedy. By the 1970s, Callas was isolated from bo
The Metropolitan Opera, a venue for Maria Callas.
th her opera career and those around her, and she died from a heart attack in Paris at age 53.
During her time, Maria Callas, a glamorous, larger-than-life, yet ultimately tragic figure, became synonymous with the world of opera, in a way that has not been seen since. Luciano Pavarotti, the other most famous face of opera, became popular at the end of the twentieth century for his cross-genre collaborations with well-known names of the time, such as Elton John, Eric Clapton, and even the Spice Girls. However, Maria Callas’ art was entirely attached to the world of opera. She mostly stuck to her genre of music.
While today there is no equivalent to Callas or even Pavarotti, opera still seeps into modern pop culture. Anna Netrebko, a fixture at the Met in New York, is most recognizable to many for her cameo appearance in “The Princess Diaries.” Renée Fleming, another famous soprano, is known for lending her voice to the film soundtracks of “The Shape of Water,” “There Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” and “The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.”
Despite this, a brief look at the Arts section of
on any given day will undoubtedly feature an organization, the Met, and opera as an art form, in peril. Articles constantly highlight dropping ticket sales and decreased public interest, as this is a major time of change for the Metropolitan Opera. After serving as Music Director for forty years, opera’s biggest name, James Levine, was accused of decades-long sexual abuse during the height of the #MeToo Movement.
Far removed from the time of Maria Callas, the modern day Metropolitan Opera has appointed the young conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin as Levine’s replacement. Nézet-Séguin has guided a steady first season at the Met, his La Traviata proving to be one of the year’s highlights. He is an exciting, dynamic musician, however, it is hard to tell yet whether he will be a force in the industry like Maria Callas was.
If opera, especially at the Met, aims to succeed, it needs another Callas-like figure. Currently, however, she is peerless, so I’ll be headed to Cinéstudio to see “Maria by Callas” in the meantime.
← Album Review: Baltra’s Recent Release “Can’t Explain It”
Who Will Dominate the Music Industry in 2019? →
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line678
|
__label__wiki
| 0.996045
| 0.996045
|
Belle and Sebastian Tour Dates & Concert Tickets
This performer has been marked mature level 10 due to the following, "mick".
Belle and Sebastian Tour Dates and Concert Tickets
Belle & Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in January 1996
Belle and Sebastian are an indie pop band formed in Glasgow, Scotland in January 1996. Belle & Sebastian are often compared to influential indie bands such as The Smiths, as well as classic rock acts such as Love, Bob Dylan and Nick Drake. The name Belle & Sebastian is inspired by Belle et Sébast... read more
Belle and Sebastian Tickets
Jul 16 Belle and Sebastian The Danforth Music Hall Toronto, CAN
Jul 18 Belle & Sebastian Carnegie Music Hall Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Jul 19 Belle & Sebastian House of Blues - Cleveland Cleveland, Ohio
Jul 20 2019 Pitchfork Music Festival - Saturday Union Park Chicago, Illinois
Jul 21 Belle and Sebastian Royal Oak Music Theatre Royal Oak, Michigan
Jul 23 Belle and Sebastian Weesner Family Amphitheater at the Minnesota Zoo Saint Paul, Minnesota
More About Belle and Sebastian
Recommendations Similar to Belle and Sebastian
Belle and Sebastian VIDEOS
MORE INFO ABOUT Belle and Sebastian
Belle and Sebastian are an indie pop band formed in Glasgow, Scotland in January 1996. Belle & Sebastian are often compared to influential indie bands such as The Smiths, as well as classic rock acts such as Love, Bob Dylan and Nick Drake. The name Belle & Sebastian is inspired by Belle et Sébastien, a children's book by French writer Cécile Aubry. Lauded by critics, Belle & Sebastian's "wistful pop" has nevertheless enjoyed only limited commercial success. (from Wikipedia)
After releasing a number of albums and EPs on Jeepster Records, they are now signed to Rough Trade Records in the United Kingdom and Matador Records in the United States.
Belle & Sebastian were formed in Glasgow in 1996 by Stuart Murdoch and Stuart David.[6]Together they recorded some demos with Stow College music professor Pilar Duplack, which were picked up by the college's Music Business course that produces and releases one single each year on the college's label, Electric Honey. As the band had a number of songs already and the label were extremely impressed with the demos, Belle & Sebastian were allowed to record a full-length album, which was named Tigermilk. Murdoch once described the band as a "product of botched capitalism".[6]
Tigermilk was recorded in three days and originally only one thousand copies were pressed on vinyl.[7] These original copies now sell for up to £400.[3][12][13] The warm reception the album received inspired Murdoch and David to turn the band into a full-time project, recruiting Stevie Jackson (guitar and vocals), Isobel Campbell (cello/vocals), Chris Geddes (keys) and Richard Colburn (drums) to fill out the group.
After the success of the debut album, Belle & Sebastian were signed to Jeepster Records in August 1996 and If You're Feeling Sinister, their second album, was released on 18 November.[13] The album was named by Spin as one of the 100 greatest albums between 1985 and 2005,[14] and is widely considered the band's masterpiece.[15] Just before the recording of Sinister, Sarah Martin (violin/vocals) joined the band. Following this a series of EPs were released in 1997.[16] The first of these was Dog on Wheels, which contained four demo tracks recorded before the real formation of the band. In fact, the only long-term band members to play on the songs were Murdoch, David, and Mick Cooke, who played trumpet on the EP but would not officially join the band until a few years later. It charted at #59 in the UK singles chart.[13]
The Lazy Line Painter Jane EP followed in July. The track was recorded in the church where Murdoch lived[17] and features vocals from Monica Queen. The EP narrowly missed out of the UK top 40, peaking at #41.[13] The last of the 1997 EPs was October's 3.. 6.. 9 Seconds of Light. The EP was made Single of the Week in both the NME and Melody Maker and reached #32 in the charts, thus becoming the band's first top 40 single.[
The band left Jeepster in 2002, signing a four album deal with Rough Trade Records.[32] Their first album for Rough Trade, Dear Catastrophe Waitress, was released in 2003, and was produced by Trevor Horn.[33] The album showed a markedly more 'produced' sound compared to their first four LPs,[34] as the band was making a concerted effort to produce more "radio-friendly" music.[33] In spite of this, the album was warmly received, and is credited with returning the band's "indie cred".[7] The album also marked the return of Murdoch as the group's primary songwriter following the poorly-received Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant and Storytelling, both of which were more collaborative than the band's early work.[35] A documentary DVD, Fans Only, was released by Jeepster in October 2003, featuring promotional videos, live clips and unreleased footage.[15] A single from the album, "Step into My Office, Baby" followed in November 2003 — it would be their first single taken from an album.[32]
Stevie Jackson
The Thin Lizzy-inspired "I'm a Cuckoo" was the second single from the album.[34][36] It achieved their highest chart position yet, reaching #14 in the UK.[31] The Books EP followed, a double A-side single lead by "Wrapped Up in Books" from Dear Catastrophe Waitress and the new Your Cover's Blown. This EP became the band's third top 20 UK release and the band went on to be nominated for both the Mercury Music Prize and an Ivor Novello Award. In January 2005, B&S was voted Scotland's greatest band in a poll by The List, beating Simple Minds, Idlewild, Travis, Franz Ferdinand, and The Proclaimers, among others.[2]
In April 2005, members of the band visited Israel and the Palestinian territories with the UK charity War on Want;[37] the group subsequently recorded a song inspired by the trip titled "The Eighth Station of the Cross Kebab House", which would later be released as a B-side on 2006's "Funny Little Frog" single. Push Barman to Open Old Wounds, a compilation of the Jeepster singles and EPs, was released in May 2005 while the band were recording their seventh album in California. The result of the sessions was The Life Pursuit, produced by Tony Hoffer.[38][37] The album, originally intended to be a double album,[39] became their band's highest charting release to date upon its release in February 2006, peaking at #8 in the UK and #65 on the US Billboard 200.[40][41] "Funny Little Frog", which preceded it, also proved to be their highest charting single, debuting at #13.
On 6 July 2006, the band played a historic show with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl.[42] The opening act at the 18,000 seat sell-out concert was The Shins.[43] The members of the band see this as a landmark event, with Stevie Jackson saying, "This is the biggest thrill of my entire life".[44] In October 2006, members of the band helped put together a CD collection of new songs for children titled Colours Are Brighter, with the involvement of major bands such as Franz Ferdinand and The Flaming Lips.[45]
On 18 November 2008 the band released The BBC Sessions, which features songs from the period of 1996-2001 (including the last recordings featuring Isobel Campbell before she left the band), along with a second disc featuring a recording of a live performance from Christmas 2001.[46]
The next album including new material from the band will be God Help the Girl, the soundtrack for a film of the same name (which was written by Murdoch). The soundtrack will differ from that of Storytelling in that it will include other artists in addition to Belle & Sebastian.[47] The single "Come Monday Night" featuring Catherine Ireton on lead vocals was released on May 11, 2009.
(From Wikipedia)
http://www.myspace.com/beileandsebastian11
Categories: Music | Alternative | Folk | Rock | Pop
Belle and Sebastian on MySpace
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line680
|
__label__cc
| 0.712872
| 0.287128
|
Robert C. Ross
Robert C. Ross, Connors State College graduate 1948, has made agriculture a great part of life. He began his career with Agriculture Adjustment Act (now Farm Service Agency) while still in high school. After graduation from Oklahoma A&M College, he worked as Veterans Agriculture Training Program Instructor and Vocational Agriculture Instructor at Webber Falls High School.
Robert has operated a family farm near Webber Falls since 1950. His farm has grown from 40 acres to present day 2500 acres. He has also operated SRS, Inc. a farm supply store since 1961.
Robert has served on numerous Boards and Foundations related to agriculture. These include American Soybean Development Foundation Board, National Federation of Independent Business, Senator Don Nickels Agricultural Advisory Board, Oklahoma FFA’s Honorary State Farmer Degree, Master Agronomist Award (OSU), Conservationist of the Year (OK Chapter Soil & Water Conservation Society), Outstanding Conservation District Director (Tulsa State Fair), and Distinguished Service to Oklahoma Agricultural (State Farm Bureau).
Robert is a member and longtime music director, trustee, deacon, and Sunday school teacher at First Baptist Church, Webber Falls. He has been a strong supporter of education. Robert encouraged his wife, Modean, and five children to attain college degrees. He assist countless others with education. Robert’s belief in the importance of family, church, and community will live on for generations to come.
Robert was inducted on April 26, 2002.
Alumni & FriendsConnors State April 27, 2002
Clarence Lynch
Jack C. Herron, Sr.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line681
|
__label__wiki
| 0.534598
| 0.534598
|
New Europol regulation due to enter into force from May 2017 – oversight is likely to remain superficial
On 1 May 2017, the new regulation on Europol will enter into force. The compromise agreed on in the framework of the trilogue procedure lays down new more detailed provisions on oversight of the activities of Europol by the European Parliament. Article 88 (2), sentence 3 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union provides for the national Parliaments to be more closely involved with this scrutiny. Article 51 of the regulation mentions the establishment of a Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group (JPSG). The European Parliament had lobbied hard during the trilogue procedure to achieve this. The Group is to consist of Members of the European Parliament and the national Parliaments. Yet it is unclear how this will work in practice.
The JPSG will be set up by the national Parliaments together with the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) Committee of the European Parliament. A working group is to be established made up of the conference of speakers of the future council presidencies (Luxembourg, Slovakia and the UK). The group is to formulate a proposal which will be deliberated on in the LIBE committee by this autumn if possible. The responsible committees from the national Parliaments (in Germany, the Committee on Internal Affairs as the lead committee, together with the Committee on Legal Affairs and Consumer Protection) will then have an opportunity to comment on the draft. A final version is planned for mid-December. This final draft is then to be deliberated on further and subsequently adopted by the Conference of Speakers.
Yet the new opportunities for parliamentary oversight and access to information provided for by the regulation are likely to remain superficial. The explicit intention is not to scrutinise Europol’s day-to-day work. The idea is merely to “politically monitor Europol’s activities”. This includes examining their impacts on “the fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons”. If the members of parliament do indeed identify problems, they may draw up “summary conclusions” and submit them to the Parliaments.
Europol will also not be faced with any significant interference in the administration and organisation of its work. The JPSG will be able to participate in meetings of the Management Board, but only at the invitation of the latter. The Members of Parliament from the EU Member States and the European Parliament then have to take a back seat as non-voting observers. The degree of influence in selecting the Executive Director is equally insignificant. Before appointment, the candidate selected by the Council may be invited to appear before the LIBE committee. Yet the decision on this invitation lies with the Council and the Members of Parliament are also only entitled to give a non-binding opinion.
In practice, these new opportunities to exercise scrutiny are thus a blunt sword. Neither does the JPSG have any wider rights to gain information. Europol is supposed to transmit “relevant documents” including “threat assessments, strategic analyses and general situation reports”, as well as the results of studies and evaluations commissioned by Europol. However, this only applies to non-classified documents and thus continues a previous practice denying MEPs access to important information. The European Parliament does not have access to Council documents classified as LIMITE or RESTREINT, which contain important information on Europol’s activities. The parliamentarians in Brussels are thus reduced to downloading these papers from the website of the civil rights organisation Statewatch.
It would have been much more important to ensure more intense scrutiny of Europol’s operative work (which is increasingly becoming a law unto itself). This would apply, for example, to computer-assisted investigative techniques, which cannot be monitored by the national Parliaments. One example of this the fact that, although the German Federal Criminal Police Office helps Europol in procuring software for big data analysis, the Federal Ministry of the Interior refuses to provide any information on the functions of this software, since the national governments have no obligation to scrutinise the work of Europol. When MEPs ask the European Commission – which is responsible in this context – for details, these enquiries are often answered after expiry of the three-month deadline and even then they are answered extremely succinctly. The right of MEPs to information has now been reduced to three questions per topic (and four questions per month).
It was thus not possible, for instance, to oversee the work of the new Internet Referral Unit at Europol, which was decided on in April 2015 and set up last July. By the time the Commission finally reacted to an enquiry about the Internet Referral Unit, it had already turned to other tasks, meaning that the answer was out of date.
The text first appeared here.
Image: Europol
Autor Matthias MonroyVeröffentlicht am 29/06/2016 29/06/2016 Schlagwörter EU IRU, Europol, Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group, JPSG, LIBE
Zurück Vorheriger Beitrag: New FRONTEX agency: satellite reconnaissance and drones over the Mediterranean
Weiter Nächster Beitrag: International investigative bureau in Vienna to combat “migrant smuggling”
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line685
|
__label__cc
| 0.729508
| 0.270492
|
Lakes: Antelope Valley
La Laguna Del Diablo, as it was known to the Spanish, was created by seismic activity. Without the intervention of man, the lake would ultimately become a grassy meadow, then fill-in with trees. A portion of the lake is owned by the U.S. Forest Service with the remainder being privately owned. A cave near the Rancho once encompassing the lake, was one of several hideouts used by bandito Tiburcio Vasquez.
Ecological Sections: Southern California Mountains and Valleys
Southern California Mountains and Valleys
This section includes mountains, hills and valleys of the Transverse Ranges and the Peninsular Ranges that are near the Pacific Ocean, but not bordering it. ...
Subsection M262Bd
San Gabriel Mountains
This subsection comprises the lower and warmer parts of the San Gabriel Mountains, ... It is bounded by the Soledad River valley on the northwest and the San Fernando Valley on the southwest and extend eastward ...
WATER DRAGONS IN LOS ANGELES
They Are Killing All Large Fish in the Reservoirs
A few weeks ago a water dragon was seen by several parties in Elizabeth Lake, and from the fact some fabulous stories were started, but they were too utterly wild to be published in the Herald. That there was a monster in Elizabeth Lake is well attested. Such amphibious creatures, from time to time appear, but they are very scarce. A few years ago one of them appeared in tha rivers of Southern Indiana. Nothing has recently been seen of tha monster at Elizabeth Lake, but far the past three days a creature has taken up its abode in Reservoir No. 5, in East Los Angles, and has scared the courage out of tha fishermen at that place and destroyed all the large fish. Yesterday morning, while a gentleman was fishing at the dam near the discharge gate, a monster appeared on the scene beneath the surface of the water and the fish fled in wild affright, and there was no more fish to be caught on that day. There was a monstrous commotion and splashing In the water, which seethed and boiled and rolled in a chop sea violently. In a short time a copious amount of blood arose to the surface and covered a large area with a bright vermilion. There was evidently a submarine battle and some creature got hurt, bat the animals did not come to tha surface. The man in charge of the reservoir has observed frequent and violent commotions in tha water, but cannot describe the monsters. If there are monsters there it is evident that they are saurians that are sometimes called water dragons. The story of the flying saurian of Elizabeth Lake is believed by nobody. The flying saurian, if it ever existed, has been extinct for a milleninm of years. If there are sauriana in tha city they must have come from far and have been a long time on the road, as they travel rather slowly. The last seen, near Vincennee, Ind., was about five feet long, with a shockingly ugly head, a stump of a tail, and a body about the size of a child twelve years old. It was a very heavy animal, and made a hissing sound when discovered.
The matter will be investigated and life made a burden to the unexpected visitors unless they travel to other fields of food.
Daily Alta California, Volume 41, Number 13526, 10 September 1886
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line686
|
__label__cc
| 0.546244
| 0.453756
|
Growing from Strength to Strength
Symbiosis’ journey with education spans over four decades. With an ambition of spreading its name internationally, the Symbiosis International University is now working towards strengthening innovation and research. Dr Vidya Yeravdekar, the Principal Director of Symbiosis Society, in conversation with Chhavi Bakaria. Excerpts:
Please share with us the vision behind Symbiosis International University.
The organisation called Symbiosis,which is a not-for-profit organisation,was established by Dr Shantaram Balwant Majumdar in 1971 with the objective of helping foreign students who came to study in India. We have come a long way since then and now we are a group of about 43 institutions that were initially affiliated to Pune University.In 2002, we got the deemed university status and became the Symbiosis International University. It was like getting wings to fly. We cater to over 30,000 students from 81 different countries and also from all over India.We have a strategy towards internationalisation,capacity building and offering programmes that are innovative with a thrust to improve employability, which is a major issue in India.
On India-US Higher Education Dialogue 2013
The India-US Higher Education Dialogue was excellent. We have learnt a lot from it especially on community colleges.We do have a couple of community colleges, but the policy makers will instituionalise this whole community colleges concept in India. Use of ICT in education through the MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course) and similar platforms, this is something new to us
Employability Challenges
Our alumni are on the board of management because we think it is important to get their inputs about the way curriculum should beshaped
How important are private universities in the Indian context and how have they contributed to education?
The private players have played an important role in the expansion of higher education in India. I think quality and excellence have to be the focus rather than the debate about public or private institutions. The Indianvgovernment should look at making accreditation compulsory for almost all institutions. Also, there are foreign institutions and universities that are looking to collaborate with Indian Universities,and I think barring the IITs and IIMs, they find it very easy collaborating with private universities. Thus,private universities are in the forefront of joint programmes and foreign university collaborations, bringing foreign students to India and in the whole process of internationalisation, which has still not happened at the public university set up. In addition, the competition between public and private can actually bring about quality and excellence.
How do you address the challenge of increasing employability of your students?
We work very closely with industry partners and we have them on our board of studies and on our academic council as well. Our alumni are also on the board of management because we think it is important to get their inputs about the way curriculum should be shaped. Being a deemed university there is an advantage of flexibility. The University alumni that are now well placed in the companies do come back and recruit students in their companies. We also work very closely with industry bodies like CII, FICCI, and ASSOCHAM.
Why Indian Universities, both private and public, lag behind in international rankings?
I think the major lacuna here obviously is the huge population that you are trying to cater to. Indian policy makers really are looking at expansion and quality at the same time. It should be left to the institutions to actually look at quality and excellence. Also, finding quality faculty is a big hurdle.Earlier, the faculty scales were pretty low and teaching was the last career option. Now faculty salaries have risen up and we are seeing a lot of industry people wanting to come and teach, so faculty quality will definitely improve over time.
Another important thing is research.Even though we are known for our IT expanse and contribution to IT,but we have always been service providers,we have never been innovators. So I think innovation and research together is lacking. One of the main reasons behind that is the dearth of government’s funding for research. Also, private institutions are not treated as equal players when we come up with a research proposal.
Moreover, a lot of research organisations should be located on university campuses. Take the example of Pune, if the National Chemical Laboratory was part of the Pune University’s chemistry department, probably innovations would have occurred. Even ideally the R&D centres of companies should be on university campuses. This is where it differs from American Universities. At Standford University there is a technology park dedicated to research and innovation.
Please share with us various foreign collaborations and future plans of your University.
We are a part of the Erasmus Mundus Consortium of the European Universities and thus we have collaborations with a lot of French and German Universities.We have also partnered with some of the top universities in Asia like the Nanyang Technological University,
Singapore. We have a lot of tie ups with American Universities, but now we are also looking at developing new programmes
like Scholar Residence where foreign faculty can come and stay at our campus, be part of our faculty group and help develop joint research.
We have earmarked about 80 acres where we will have our engineering school. We are also planning to set-up a medical school, a hospital and some paramedical and nursing programmes in the area, which we are going to designate as the technology park. We have set up an IPR (Intellectual Property Right) cell along with an incubation centre. If our alumni have a good idea and they want to come out with a new product,we will give them the space and resources.For this we are developing small incubation centres, and hopefully we will develop a technology park in years to come.
University academicians voice opinions and share their vision for private higher education in India, in conversation with Chhavi Bakaria
Prof P P Mathur,
Vice Chancellor, KIIT
Upping Employability
Increasing employability of our students,especially the engineering graduates is top on our agenda. This year we have introduced skill-based learning courses so that the students become much more skilled. We provide a lot of flexibility to the companies to take up company-oriented training.These courses help our students as well as the faculty, for instance we have ‘Train the Trainers’ programme with Accenture in which they coach our teachers on how to train students in different programming languages that they would like to learn. Thus,we train our students to be day-one ready for employment.
Dr Upinder Dhar,
Founding Vice Chancellor, JK Lakshmipat University
Higher Education should be Genuinely Priced
Two years back we started with only two streams of technical education: management and engineering. We don’t want to become a mass or me-too kind of university. We want to concentrate on a niche area that will enable people to get employed and also focus on research so that new knowledge can be generated. Ours is a corporate backed university with a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) motive in mind and that helps us in increasing industry interactions. I think,genuine pricing should be allowed in higher education as quality comes at a cost. For example, even in IIMs students pay hefty fees for quality education. However, profiteering should not be permitted in education.Prof P P Mathur,Vice Chancellor, KIIT University Dr Upinder Dhar, Founding Vice Chancellor, JK Lakshmipat University private university special University academicians voice opinions and share their vision for private higher education in India, in conversation with Chhavi Bakaria
Nikhil Sinha,
Vice Chancellor, Shiv Nadar university
Focus on Knowledge Creation rather than Dissemination
The University’s mission is to develop students with the breadth of vision, knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to shoulder the globally responsible and ethical leadership burdens of the 21st Century and beyond. With our academic partnerships with Babson, USA, we aim to create India’s first entrepreneurship focused centre and business programme. There is also a tie-up with Duke TIP for establishing a Center for Gifted Children and promoting research in the field of education. Also, behind the strong emphasis on inter-disciplinary research at SNU, the idea is to seamlessly connect all the schools to enable interaction across disciplines and actively engage faculty and students to constantly create knowledge rather than just disseminate it.
Prashant Bhalla
Senior Vice President, Manav Rachna International University
Autonomy is the Need of the Hour
Though we have come a long way in terms of privatisation of the education sector, but we need to improve upon areas like giving autonomy to higher education, liberal support for research and development, progressive and forward looking laws based upon self-regulation for private universities to prosper. We need to ensure that brilliant minds stay in the country rather than looking for opportunities abroad. At Manav Rachna, we have a highly qualified teaching faculty, state-of-the-art infrastructure, industry-oriented courses, foreign collaboration, to boost academic tie-ups and research. We also want to promote extra-curricular activities like sports, as there is a pool of talent available, but remains underutilised due to lack of proper coaching and infrastructure.
HP, Liqvid to provide IT based education solutions across rural India
IGNOU invites applications for course on food, vegetable processing
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line687
|
__label__wiki
| 0.546202
| 0.546202
|
Duke Dissertations
Monumentalizing Infrastructure: Claudius and the City and People of Rome
Access is limited until:
Huber, Melissa Anne
Boatwright, Mary T
“Monumentalizing Infrastructure: Claudius and the City and People of Rome” is a comprehensive study of public infrastructure in Rome under the emperor Claudius (41-54 CE). Recent scholarship has targeted Claudius’ reign as an important moment in the development of the Roman Principate. Overshadowed in the scholarship by Augustus’ transformation of Rome from a city of brick to marble, Claudius’ projects centered on providing protection from floods, fires, and diseases, and assuring the availability of enough clean water, food, and means of transportation. Building a large marble temple certainly made a symbolic and aesthetic impact, but nearly doubling Rome’s water supply must have meant more to the common person living day-to-day in the city. By focusing on Claudian infrastructure initiatives and using GIS to map and contextualize this work, this dissertation interrogates traditional scholarly approaches to Roman imperial building and ancient urban planning.
Following a survey of the ancient sources for Claudian building in Rome in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 examines the practical measures put in place to secure and advertise the steady supply of affordable grain to the city. Many have explored the convoluted history of the grain supply in Rome. I do not replicate such studies, whose findings have not been changed by any significant new discoveries, but instead I focus on how the labors put in to improve and advertise such improvements to the food supply of Rome under Claudius changed and shaped the urban landscape.
Chapter 3 centers on water and its distribution in the city. I use archaeological, epigraphic, and literary evidence to assess Claudius’ effects on Rome’s water supply. Visualizing these changes lets us consider building as a process, and see what disruption, repair, and construction of aqueduct lines did to water distribution to particular regions of the city. The maps suggest that Claudius improved the potable water supply in areas where the poorer population of Rome lived.
Chapter 4 addresses boundary marking and road building—the visual and practical changes made to the organization of and movement in the city. Organizing the boundaries into and out of the city facilitated the urban development of areas along the banks of the Tiber river. The visualization in this and other chapters allow us to see much more clearly than before, and emperor’s impact upon the general populace and obtain a clearer picture of the city’s urban history.
My compilation and analysis of the evidence reveals a thorough revision of Rome’s infrastructure under Claudius, despite his common denigration as an ineffectual buffoon or a puppet of his wives and freedmen. This dissertation provides a new framework for examining imperial building in Rome. The infrastructure projects that made all other construction possible are at the forefront. The negative aspects of Claudius’ character portrayed in the literary sources are counterbalanced or at least nuanced when a focus on infrastructure and care for the people provides a different viewpoint. An emperor’s popularity and legacy among the people would not be measured by jealous quarrels among the aristocracy. The imperial government was not merely reacting to crises, rather it was proactively seeking long-term solutions.
Huber, Melissa Anne (2019). Monumentalizing Infrastructure: Claudius and the City and People of Rome. Dissertation, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/18718.
Rights for Collection: Duke Dissertations
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line688
|
__label__cc
| 0.693983
| 0.306017
|
Money In Motion September 2016
Click icon to read as PDF
Protecting Your Parents From Elder Financial Abuse
We are becoming more familiar with the notion of financial abuse targeting elders – scams and other exploitation targeting the savings of people aged 60 and older – but many may think, “it won’t happen to my family” or “my relative is too smart to be taken in by this.”
These assumptions are only wishful thinking; this sort of fraud is on the rise, so it’s important to talk to your loved ones about what to look for, and how they can protect their finances.
More common than you think, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Elder Justice Initiative offers a sobering statistic: in the United States alone, multiple studies have found that, every year, 3-5% of seniors endures financial abuse by family members. This form of exploitation is, typically, one of the top two most frequently reported means of elder abuse.1
It can be uncomfortable to talk with family about financial issues, but this is often the best first step toward guarding against financial abuse. Find out the information you would already need to know in the event of a sudden calamity. Questions to ask include: where is the important paperwork kept – i.e. bills, deeds and wills? Who are the professionals they work with – accountants, lawyers, and those who assist with financial matters?2
It’s also important for you to have a clear idea in what sorts of accounts and investments your parents or loved ones keep their money. You will also want to have a conversation about when and under what circumstances they would like for you to step in and handle their finances for them.2
Trouble takes on many forms. Not all financial trouble that elders experience is necessarily a sign of abuse, but having open and clear communication can be a great help. Look for unpaid bills piling up, creditor notices, and suspicious activity on their bank accounts.2
There are a number of scams out there that target the elderly, in particular, and many of them come via telephone calls. There are scammers who pose as officials from a sweepstakes, lottery, or some other contest claiming that your parent or loved one is in line to receive a prize. Others will pretend to be from the Internal Revenue Service and threaten legal action over some long-forgotten overdue balance. The real IRS only sends notices via regular mail, of course, but that can be easily forgotten when dealing with a wily and confrontational con artist.2
Talk about these scams with your parents or loved ones. Make sure that they understand that they shouldn’t give out Medicare or Social Security numbers, and always be absolutely certain before signing anything, particularly legal documents, contracts, and anything to do with making an investment. For the latter, if you don’t already know the people who handle financial matters for your parents or loved ones, suggest that a meeting be arranged and, if necessary, that they be instructed to work with you under certain circumstances.2
Stay informed, there are a number of resources to keep you and your parents or loved ones aware of fraud, both in terms of new scams and even instances of elder financial abuse in your area. StopFraud.gov offers a number of resources and tips for identifying and reporting the financial exploitation of elders. The AARP website features a Fraud Watch program and offers and interactive national fraud map that can look at specific reports and alerts from law enforcement.2,3,4
With careful planning and communication, you can make a real effort to protect your parents and other elders in your family from an embarrassing and costly set of circumstances.
1 – justice.gov/elderjustice/research/prevalence-and-diversity.html [7/14/16]
2 – nbcnews.com/business/retirement/worried-about-elder-financial-abuse-how-protect-your-parents-n559151 [4/20/16]
3 – stopfraud.gov/protect.html [7/14/16]
4 – action.aarp.org/site/SPageNavigator/FraudMap.html [7/14/16]
Characteristics of the Millionaires Next Door
Just how many millionaires does America have? By the latest estimation of Spectrem Group, a research firm studying affluent and high net worth investors, it has more than ever before. In 2015, the U.S. had 10.4 million households with assets of $1 million or greater, aside from their homes. That represents a 3% increase from 2014. Impressively, 1.2 million of those households were worth between $5 million and $25 million.1
How did these people become rich? Did they come from money? In most cases, the answer is no. The 2016 edition of U.S. Trust’s Insights on Wealth and Worth survey shares characteristics of nearly 700 Americans with $3 million or more in investable assets. Seventy-seven percent of the survey respondents reported growing up in middle class or working class households. A slight majority (52%) said that the bulk of their wealth came from earned income; 32% credited investing.2
It appears most of these individuals benefited not from silver spoons in their mouths, but from taking a particular outlook on life and following sound financial principles. U.S. Trust asked these multi-millionaires to state the three values that were most emphasized to them by their parents. The top answers? Educational achievement, financial discipline, and the importance of working.2
Is education the first step toward wealth? There may be a strong correlation. Ninety percent of those polled in a recent BMO Private Bank millionaire survey said that they had earned college degrees. (The National Center for Education Statistics notes that in 2015, only 36% of Americans aged 25-29 were college graduates.)3
Interestingly, a lasting marriage may also help. Studies from Ohio State University and the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) both conclude that married people end up economically better off by the time they retire than singles who have never married. In fact, NBER finds that, on average,married people will have ten times the assets of single people by the start of retirement. Divorce, on the other hand, often wrecks finances. The OSU study found that the average divorced person loses 77% of the wealth he or she had while married.3
Most of the multi-millionaires in the U.S. Trust study got off to an early start. On average, they began saving money at 14; held their first job at 15; and invested in equities by the time they were 25.2
Most of them have invested conventionally. Eighty-three percent of those polled by U.S. Trust credited buy-and-hold investment strategies for part of their wealth. Eighty-nine percent reported that equities and debt instruments had generated most of their portfolio gains.2
Many of these millionaires keep a close eye on taxes and risk. Fifty-five percent agreed with the statement that it is “more important to minimize the impact of taxes when making investment decisions than it is to pursue the highest possible returns regardless of the tax consequences.” In a similar vein, 60% said that lessening their risk exposure is important, even if they end up with less yield as a consequence.2
Are these people mostly entrepreneurs? No, the aforementioned Spectrem Group survey found that millionaires and multi-millionaires come from all kinds of career fields. The most commonly cited occupations are, manager (16%), professional (15%), and educator (13%).4
Here is one last detail that is certainly worth noting. According to Spectrem Group, 78% of millionaires turn to financial professionals for help managing their investments.4
1 – cnbc.com/2016/03/07/record-number-of-millionaires-living-in-the-us.html [3/7/16]
2 – forbes.com/sites/maggiemcgrath/2016/05/23/the-6-most-important-wealth-building-lessons-from-multi-millionaires/ [5/23/16]
3 – businessinsider.com/ap-liz-weston-secrets-of-next-door-millionaires-2016-8 [8/22/16]
4 – cnbc.com/2016/05/05/are-you-a-millionaire-in-the-making.html [5/5/16]
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line690
|
__label__wiki
| 0.735503
| 0.735503
|
November 25, 2018 / andrewmisk / 1 Comment
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Dir. Quentin Tarantino
Written by: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Brad Pitt, Mélanie Laurent, Christoph Waltz
Despite him being my favorite filmmaker when I was in high school, and despite the fact that engaging with Tarantino’s cinema was one of the most important and influential developments in my early introduction to the movies, I really fell off of Quentin Tarantino almost immediately after high school. The Kill Bill movies were released at the beginning and the end of my senior year of high school, and I remember spending much of the ensuing summer under the thrall of their pastiche of cinematic influences, continuing my love affair with Hong Kong action cinema and getting more seriously interested in Sergio Leone. When I came to Pittsburgh for college, however, I found myself with access to a wealth of movies to explore, and I was eager to explore the texts that had informed the post-modern cinema of my favorite director. Somewhere along the way, revisiting Tarantino’s actual films seemed less and less important. Death Proof, released the summer before my senior year of college, didn’t move the needle for me, and I don’t think I saw Inglourious Basterds until as much as a year after its initial release. Missing it on the big screen is a big regret of mine, since I’ve seen every other Tarantino since Kill Bill: Vol 1 in the theater, and because after nearly a decade of returning to Inglourious Basterds, I’ve found it to be my favorite 21st century Tarantino movie. It might be the quintessential Tarantino film, perhaps more so than even Pulp Fiction, and the more I watch it, the closer, and more comfortable, I get to declaring it my favorite Tarantino movie ever.
Inglourious Basterds is Tarantino’s revisionist history of World War II, framed through the lens of Italian B- action movies, American Westerns, both classic and revisionist, and the European New Wave cinemas of the 1960s. It finds Tarantino at his most appropriative, and at his most original, weaving a tapestry of these disparate styles to create a pattern that’s distinctively unique, while fabricating from whole cloth a compelling narrative worthy of a 1940s dime store pulp serial. Set in and around occupied Paris, Inglourious Basterds introduces the audience to a cast of misfits – American soldiers, defected former-Nazis, English spies, and one vengeful French Jewish cinema owner – who are brought together by their fervor for killing Nazis. The titular Basterds are a renegade squad made up primarily of American Jews and led by Lieutenant Aldo Raines (Pitt), feared throughout Europe for their penchant for ambushing and murdering entire Nazi units. Shoshanna Dreyfus (Laurent), is a French Jew hiding out in Paris and posing as a cinema owner, whose whole family was killed by an infamous Nazi interrogator, Hans Landa, nicknamed The Jew Hunter (Waltz), who also happens to be on the trail of the Basterds. Through a chance meeting with an over-eager Nazi war hero, Frederick Zoller (Daniel Brühl), Shoshanna’s cinema is chosen to host the propaganda film that Goebbels (Sylvester Groth) has made about Zoller’s military exploits. This screening is to be attended by much of the high brass of the Third Reich, including Hitler (Martin Wuttke) himself, which prompts Shoshanna to launch a plan to burn down the theater with the Nazis inside. All of the involved parties are put on a collision course culminating in the film’s literally explosive climax during the film’s premiere.
I’ll be writing about two of the movies that Tarantino directed in between Pulp Fiction and Inglourious Basterds within the next couple of months, so I won’t delve into either Jackie Brown or Kill Bill, but after watching Inglourious Basterds for the sixth or seventh time, I feel more assured than I ever have that this is Tarantino’s best work post-Pulp Fiction. It’s tough for me to take any of the credit away from the latter film, as it has rightly gained a classic status for its role in shaping post-modernism in cinema, its announcement of Tarantino as a major influencer and voice in independent film, and its radical reinvention of visual and narrative cinematic language. That being said, I am really starting to think that Inglourious Basterds does everything that Tarantino’s earlier film does while also improving upon some of Pulp Fiction’s rougher edges. Simply put, Inglourious Basterds is the work of a more mature filmmaker. By 2009, Tarantino had already fully established his signature style of cinematic collage, wearing his wide set of influences on his sleeve, and often straddling the line between homage and plagiarism, but Inglourious Basterds is the movie that sees him mastering his style and seamlessly meshing his own visual aesthetic with the visual and storytelling styles of his influences in service of a tight narrative, creating a sharp film in which form and content are perfectly complementary. It’s a blend of the artistic modernism embodied by the French New Wave and the exciting, slapdash postmodernism of the New Wave of American independent film that established itself in the 1990s.
Inglourious Basterds also features the single best performance in a Tarantino film in Waltz’s truly terrifying turn as The Jew Hunter. The film’s masterfully suspenseful opening scene is the perfect introduction to Waltz’s truly villainous SS Col. Hans Landa. He plays the Nazi interrogator with equal parts sophisticated charm, savage brutality, and ruthless cunning, creating a layered villain who is as fearsome for his silver tongue as he is for his abject viciousness. In the scene, Landa is interrogating a French farmer, M. LaPadite (Denis Ménochet), who is suspected of hiding a Jewish family in his home. The Jew Hunter begins his investigation by complementing and cajoling with the farmer, but of course this is a pretense, as both parties are well aware of the deadly consequences that will befall LaPadite and his family should his wards be discovered, or if he resists the line of questioning in any way. The two actors circle around one another verbally as Tarantino allows the scene to play out languorously, tension building by the second. There’s no doubt as to the outcome of the scene, but this doesn’t make the moment when Landa calls in his goons to machine gun the poor family hiding beneath the floor boards any less shocking or viscerally horrible. The violence isn’t what makes the scene so particularly horrifying, but rather the fact that Landa has been building to this particular climax with a smile pasted to his face, relishing the discomfort he is causing in LaPadite. The character’s erudition and charm are insufficient to mask his inner monstrosity, and Waltz is perfectly cast as an actor who at once can embody the exterior of societal niceties, as well as the flinty interior of a cold-hearted, remorseless killer.
Inglourious Basterds also finds Tarantino drawing from a broader set of influences than in many of his earlier films. While Jackie Brown drew its inspiration solely from the world of Blacksploitation films and Kill Bill operates in a Western milieu, with dashes of Hong Kong action and Wuxia thrown in for good measure, Inglorious Basterds is a beautiful pastiche, borrowing liberally from the works of John Ford, Sergio Leone, Leni Riefenstahl, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and Howard Hawks, as well as featuring homages to famous films such as The Wizard of Oz, The Dirty Dozen, and Unforgiven, among others. The film is a love letter to classic cinema, and it’s the Tarantino film which most explicitly highlights his cinephilia, placing films and their exhibition at the core of its narrative. I’ve heard a criticism of Tarantino and of post-modernist filmmaking in general that it offers up great style with little substance, essentially functioning as a checklist of “in” references to be discovered by fellow movie nerds, but I’ve always felt that that criticism is hollow and really doesn’t stand up to the actual experience of watching a Tarantino film. The director might bear his influences proudly and obviously, but his frequent liberal borrowing from film texts always serves as a complement to original and engaging narratives, and this is truer than ever in Inglourious Basterds. Certainly Tarantino has lifted some settings and motifs from earlier films, but they serve as the window dressing for a revisionist history fable that is thoroughly modern and original and that, at the same time, couldn’t exist without being informed and influenced by its predecessors. In this way Inglourious Basterds forms a feedback loop, or an Ouroboros, a B-movie that achieves actual prestige, propped up by a host of earlier texts while also informing those texts and imbuing them with new meaning and life. It’s the perfect Quentin Tarantino movie.
I reserve the right to reevaluate this judgment when I soon write about Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction, but I don’t expect that I will. While those are both movies that I love and that I relish the opportunity to engage with in a more critical manner, I think that I am familiar enough with them all that at this point my mind is made up. Inglourious Basterds achieves levels of meaning and critical engagement with its influences that those movies fail to, and it’s a better movie for that reason. It lacks the shock factor that must have accompanied Pulp Fiction’s initial release in 1994, but only because it takes a similar, and already accepted, template and perfects it. Tarantino followed up Inglourious Basterds with two films that I enjoyed, but that I felt were more style than substance and which I haven’t had a lot of interest in going back to in the way that I have with all of his other films. As a fan for life, I’ll turn up with interest for any new Tarantino project, but it will difficult to top the high water mark that Inglourious Basterds holds in my mind.
May 6, 2018 May 1, 2018 / andrewmisk / 4 Comments
Dir. David Fincher
Written by: Jim Uhls (from the novel by Chuck Palahniuk)
Starring: Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham-Carter
Over the years, media collections have always served as markers of an individual’s personal tastes. An album collection, a bookshelf, or a list of favorite movies can be a representation of one’s personality and interests that they can cultivate and put on display for the world to see, a Rosetta stone to unlock the mystery of someone’s cultural affinities. The media that we choose to collect and value can make an important statement about our personal identities. While much of my collection is probably a testament to my overall movie snobbery, there are certain movies in it that are so culturally universal and so definitive of a time and a place in American cinematic cultural history that they fail to reveal much about my actual personal tastes. Just like “Rubber Soul” or “Four Way Street” in my mother’s album collection, there are simply certain movies that it seems like everyone who was alive and consuming mass culture during a certain time can agree upon, and seems to have a copy of floating around in their collection somewhere. Fight Club is one of these universal movies for people, such as myself, who came of age in the late 1990s.
Despite being only a modest box office success, Fight Club is the movie that helped put both David Fincher and Chuck Palahniuk on the cultural map in a big way. Fincher already had a few features under his belt, including his helming of a major misstep in the Alien franchise, and his redemptive efforts in directing the cult hits The Game and Se7en. Palahniuk became a household name after the film adaptation of his first novel became a cult hit and a cultural touchstone. Fight Club’s story of disaffected, displaced masculinity, embodied by the Narrator (Norton), came to resonate with a generation of young men who identified with the film’s anti-corporate message and with its ultraviolent content. The film sees the Narrator leave a comfortable white collar job after a chance meeting with Tyler Durden (Pitt), a misanthrope and social provocateur who comes up with the idea for a secret club that can help men struggling with a perceived loss of agency in the face of societal change. Tyler and the narrator found Fight Club, a secret underground fighting league in which men can vent the frustrations of existing in a post-Industrialist, post-Feminist world through brutal fist fights. The fights help these aimless men feel alive and vital, giving them a sense of belonging and purpose, and Fight Club begins to spread across the country, with its adherents praising Tyler like a cult leader. Eventually, Fight Club begins to change into a more organized and militant force, Project Mayhem, as Tyler’s devotees begin to engage in more bombastic, socially motivated acts of vandalism and anti-corporate mischief. The Narrator starts to worry that Project Mayhem has gotten out of control, but there doesn’t seem to be much he can do to stop the momentum that Tyler has built in creating an army.
I can remember watching Fight Club for the first time with one of my best friends when we were sophomores in high school, a year or two after it had been out in theaters. We watched the movie on VHS and I was taken in by its highly stylized visuals and its hip, sardonic take on modern workplace culture. I clung to Tyler Durden’s sloganeering in the film, taking phrases like “How can you know anything about yourself if you’ve never been in a fight,” and “You are not your fucking khakis,” to heart and starting to turn them into the building blocks of my nascent teenaged personality. I found Fight Club’s anti-corporate, anarchic sensibilities to be mature and enlightened viewpoints, and the film’s overall theme of rejecting societal expectations in favor of a return to a primal sort of self-exploration truly resonated with my developing worldview. Eventually, I bought the movie on DVD, and I became totally obsessed with it. I watched it over and over again, listening to various commentary tracks, watching deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes vignettes. Even though I already knew the outcome of Fight Club’s famous twist ending, I didn’t care, and I reaped just as much enjoyment from my tenth viewing of the film as I had from that first time watching it. Fight Club was exactly the sort of smart, stylish, edgy movie that boosted my credentials as a fan of ”important” movies, and when I moved to Pittsburgh for college, I chose to display my tastes for the world to see by purchasing a Fight Club poster and tacking it to the wall of my first dorm room.
It’s easy to see why Fight Club became such a hit with a generation of movie watchers. The movie is perfect for the DVD era, with its dense and twisting narrative rewarding repeat views. Its cutting edge visuals, for the time, were eye-popping in the relative high fidelity that DVD offered, and lent themselves well to the types of supplemental material that were popular on the prestige DVD releases of the early 21st century. These qualities, and the increasing affordability of collecting DVDs, led to Fight Club’s ubiquity in millennials’ movie collections and helped turn a box office disappointment into a run-away cult success that has garnered praise as one of the best films of its period. Though it tells the story of disaffected members of Generation X, who came of age in a rapidly changing world where the workplace success and stable domestic life that seemed to be enjoyed by their predecessors was rapidly eroding, Fight Club’s sloganeering and paint-by-numbers approach to societal discord and extreme civil disobedience made it a perfect movie to be adopted by the next generation of young people who were actually coming of age upon the film’s release. These teens and preteens took the movie’s simplistic politics to heart and many started to form an identity based around the primal, uber-macho points of view that are embraced in Fight Club. Just like the members of Project Mayhem who mindlessly parrot Tyler’s screeds and credos back to him and to each other, Fight Club’s fans were having the film’s messages drilled into their heads through repetitious viewing at home.
Of course, Fight Club is a work of satire and its politics and social commentary should be taken with a grain of salt. I recognized the film as such, and while I never espoused the macho posturing in the film, I was taken in by many of its more pointed social critiques, particularly its examination of the inability of the modern American worker to exist as anything other than an undifferentiated cog in a heartless, brutal corporate machine. I took to heart Tyler Durden’s warning that “the things we own end up owning us,” and tried to eschew materialist or corporatist urges, but I didn’t need a movie to tell me that big businesses and corporations were bad for individuals, and that working people are endlessly exploited by a profit-hungry system of Capitalism that values them only for their productive capacity and not for their creative or humanistic qualities. Watching a movie like Fight Club helped to crystallize some of my beliefs, but as I got older, I started to see the fallacy in living your life by movie quotes or by letting a piece of pop culture become a guiding or defining part of your life and personality. I still enjoyed Fight Club as a movie, but eventually the poster came off of my wall, and my viewings of the film became fewer and more far between. Changing tastes and a broadening world view shifted my interests towards more intellectually rigorous and nuanced films, but Fight Club still existed in the background of my cinematic excursions, an old favorite waiting to be rediscovered in a new light, or simply to be returned to as a form of filmic comfort food.
While I have watched Fight Club a handful of times since it ceased to be a very important movie to me in my late teens and early twenties, I think that watching it for this project must have been my first time really sitting down and engaging with the movie in a deep and relevant way in close to a decade. The experience didn’t disappoint, and, if anything, I found Fight Club to perhaps be more relevant today than it was when I first saw it almost twenty years ago. Watching a movie that attempts to explore the fragility of modern, white-collar, White American masculinity in the age of the Me Too movement and the resultant backlash from so-called “Men’s Rights” advocates was an interesting experience, to say the least. It was difficult for me to watch Fight Club without coming to the realization that perhaps this ubiquitous movie could be, at least partially, to blame for a subset of the male population in my age group who seem bent on creating grievances and blaming the world, and particularly women, for their own shortcomings or disappointments in life. I wouldn’t be surprised if many of these Men’s Rights types held Fight Club in high esteem, while certainly missing the movie’s satirical critique of the macho culture that it depicts. Tyler Durden, and the club that he creates, are responses to the perceived marginalization of the White American male, in the face of increased visibilities and opportunities for women, people of color, and other traditionally marginalized groups. In the film, the formation of a heterosocial group, in which physical assault is the only outlet for these men to feel alive or to come into contact with their own conflicted, and conflicting, emotional centers, is celebrated as a return to some sort of male primacy. However, as the film shows, embracing that vicious, violent form of machismo has deadly consequences for many of the characters, and leads to a series of counterproductive and empty revolutionary gestures. Fight Club should be read as a cautionary tale for men against letting too much of the Id control our behaviors, but instead I think that there is a large portion of the movie’s fandom that sees it as a primer and a call to arms against societal strictures that are “emasculating” a generation of men.
I guess the question that I was left with after rewatching Fight Club and thinking about the movie in the context of its potential role in creating, or at the very least reaffirming the beliefs of, a group of vile, hateful men, was whether or not the film’s positive qualities outweigh the connection that I’ve now made between the movie and a real world ethos that I find incompatible with my own point of view. In the end, I think that I still enjoy Fight Club. Although I’ve found Palahniuk to be something of a provocateur in his own right, I find it hard to believe that either he or Fincher would support the reading of this text that I’m imagining some fans clinging to. Perhaps because the film isn’t ostensibly branded as a comedy, its satirical point of view is easier to lose, but I think that most viewers will very easily realize that Tyler is the film’s antagonist, rather than an idol to be worshipped. As a movie, Fight Club still holds up visually in spite of two decades of technical progression since its release. The film’s gritty, grimy visual aesthetic is perfect, and finds Fincher expanding on the visual aesthetic of his earlier films to incorporate limited CGI, and employing some flashier camera work and editing than he had previously in his feature films. Its twisting, non-linear narrative is still a joy to unpack, and the film’s pacing is spot on, with its lengthy runtime seeming to fly by. Fight Club is a movie that is indelibly of its time, both in terms of its larger context and its role in my own personal development as a film viewer, but like other great movies it remains culturally and cinematically relevant. Great art should be a mirror for the society that produces it, and Fight Club uses its violent, satirical narrative to great critical effect, but there’s often no accounting for the ways that an audience will warp and distort that reflection based on their own prejudices and predilections.
January 9, 2017 / andrewmisk / Leave a comment
Dir. Terry Gilliam
Written by: Chris Marker (inspired by La Jetee), David Peoples, Janet Peoples
Starring: Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt
This particular movie is a great one to start off with, because it is likely to be fairly emblematic of the nature of this project. Many of the films that I’ll be writing about in this series are ones that I haven’t viewed in years, however they always remain on the periphery of my film viewing consciousness. The physical presence of the cases on the shelf a reminder of half a life of serious film viewership and a latent urge towards criticism. Many of the films that will come are not essential or classic, but they helped to shape my journey into the world of cinema. In the age of streaming where there are countless films available at the press of a button, and it’s possible to spend as much time surfing through titles trying to choose a film to watch as you actually spend watching the film, it’s easy to get swept up in searching for new, unfamiliar titles. That access has been wonderful, if sometimes daunting, but it has also led me to ignore some of the formative films that I had regarded as important or valuable earlier in my life.
12 Monkeys is a time travel thriller alternating between a dystopian future where the last remaining humans on Earth have been forced underground and a present on the brink of an extinction level event. James Cole (Willis), a prisoner who has been volunteered to go back in time on a fact finding mission, is our entry point into this world. Initially sent to the year 1990, Cole is admitted to a mental hospital, where he meets psychiatrist Dr. Kathryn Railly (Stowe), as well as fellow patient Jeffrey Goines (Pitt), who is later revealed to be the leader of radical environmental activist group the Army of the 12 Monkeys. Cole eventually escapes the mental hospital and is returned to his present before being sent back through time to track Goines and the Army of the 12 Monkeys, who are believed to be behind the virus that will eventually nearly wipe out humanity. Back in 1996, Cole finds and kidnaps Dr. Railly, enlists her help in locating Goines and preventing the release of the virus, and eventually convinces her of the truth of his story. All the while, Cole is plagued by vivid, recurring dreams of a boy witnessing a foot chase and a shooting in an airport.
I picked up this movie sometime around 2003 I would imagine, when I was a junior in high school. I had seen the movie on cable, and I would imagine I probably picked it up because I liked Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt as the leads, and maybe to a lesser extent because of Terry Gilliam. At that point I was probably most familiar with Gilliam as a member of Monty Python, and for directing Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which is still a favorite but not in my collection anymore, apparently. I still like Willis’s performance in this and most of his movies, Brad Pitt less so. I feel like his performances from the 90s haven’t always aged well. Although I haven’t gone back to it in probably seven or eight years, 12 Monkeys is still a very enjoyable sci-fi movie. The steam/cyber-punk aesthetic seems a bit dated, but Gilliam’s trademark imagery and directorial style are on full display, and he steers the complex narrative through its temporal slips with relative ease. The film’s twist ending is still poignant, even if it is a bit predictable.
The biggest difference in watching 12 Monkeys for me now, is that I can now watch it with the experience of having seen Chris Marker’s 1962 experimental short La Jetee, which inspired the film. 12 Monkeys borrows liberally from the earlier film, lifting its concept of a prisoner who is enlisted to return to the past in order to prevent a future apocalypse. Cole’s dreams of the shooting in the airport are also directly inspired by La Jetee. Marker’s film is great in its simplicity, as it is presented as a series of still photos with voice over narration explaining the story of the time traveler. Gilliam’s film is to be commended for taking as its source material something that is decidedly anti-cinematic and ballooning it into a richly visual cinematic world. While the world of La Jetee is purposefully obscure, allowing the story to exist outside of both time and place, 12 Monkeys is very clearly rooted in both a time and a place. Gilliam takes the philosophical core of La Jetee and fleshes out the narrative, providing a context and specificity not present in the original. Because of these adaptations, 12 Monkeys stands on its own as an engaging thriller. Familiarity with the film’s source material helps to add a bit of symbolic weight that Gilliam doesn’t fully explore when depicting Cole’s dreams of the airport, but 12 Monkeys is a wholly original film built on Gilliam’s memorable visual style and a strong lead performance by Willis. I feel that La Jetee is certainly an interesting film, but 12 Monkeys is ultimately the more entertaining and satisfying movie experience.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line692
|
__label__cc
| 0.518639
| 0.481361
|
Date7 years and 2 months ago Views 59By Denim Freaks
Denim designer Scott Morrison was born and raised in Palm Springs, California, and attended the University of Washington, Seattle, on an athletic scholarship for golf. A professional in the sport by age 23, he developed an interest in the clothing industry while in college, and soon accepted a position with local clothing designer, Derek Andrew.
Two years later, in 1998, Scott was hired to oversee the sales and marketing of a new denim division of Mudd Jeans, based in New York City. Jack Jeans, as it would be known, had been developed to compete with the likes of Diesel and Replay but closed the following year. Scott chose to remain in the city he still calls home and subsequently founded ‘Paper Denim & Cloth’ in 1999.
Scott’s reputation in the industry grew over the next four years at Paper Denim. As both President and Designer, he began incorporating other areas of personal and cultural interest into the lifestyle concept, collaborating with artists such as Faile and Bast and offering limited edition pieces built upon the aesthetic. The worldwide exposure that followed prompted Morrison to publish a retrospective on emerging underground artists, Boredom, in 2003.
After almost five years of developing, designing, and managing one of the first American success stories in the ‘Premium Denim’ market, Morrison left Paper Denim to launch a new denim brand called ‘Earnest Sewn’ and clothing line known as ‘An Earnest Cut & Sew’ in 2004. Both reflected his passion for quality, the Japanese aesthetic principle of wabi-sabi (i.e. beauty in imperfection), and his love of American heritage.
Earnest Sewn became a modern day testament to quality, tradition, and the ever-present influence of denim in a continually evolving world culture. Scott continued to develop his love of architecture and interior design during those years, designing all three of the Earnest Sewn stores, and the Milk Bar at Milk Studios in New York City. Morrison chose to move on from the brand in 2009, and briefly helped with the rebranding and repositioning of Japanese cult denim label, ‘Evisu’ from 2009 to 2010.
In February 2011, however, Morrison took what may be his most personal vision, and launched ‘3×1’. The name “3×1” is derived from denim’s standard weaving construction, the ‘3×1 Right Hand Twill’, and also references Morrison’s third venture, following Paper Denim and Earnest Sewn. As a label, 3×1 is defined by its transparency, quality, and uniqueness with the one and only location at 15 Mercer Street housing a 4,000 sq.ft. retail and gallery space, an entire manufacturing facility as well as their 3,200 sq.ft. design studio.
Each pair of 3×1 jeans is created on site and tailored for each specific customer. Offered as either Limited Edition, Custom Made or Bespoke jeans, 3×1 is truly the world’s first denim atelier. Limited Edition are kept in-stock, and made in limited quantities of only 8, 12, 16 or 24 pieces – each to be hemmed and finished, with a button and rivets of the customer’s choosing. 3×1’s Custom Made products are made to order, and include time with a consultant to determine the customer’s preference of back pockets, thread theory, and most importantly, fabric.
The Bespoke service allows patrons to work individually with Morrison and his pattern-maker to create their own pair of jeans from start to finish. The fabric selection offered to 3×1 customers consists of more than 80 unique selvedge denims from around the world, and as many as more than 65 varieties of non-selvedge denims, stretch denims and twills.
WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON?
3×1 is my denim atelier in New York City where we use the best fabrics, components and sewing, and allow customers to participate in the design process on every level. The name is derived from denim standard weaving construction, 3×1 Right Hand Twill, and references my third venture following Paper Denim, Cloth and Earnest Sewn. As a label, 3×1 is defined by transparency, value and uniqueness with the one and only location at 15 Mercer Street housing a 4,000 sq.ft. retail and gallery space, an entire manufacturing facility as well as our 3,200 sq.ft. design studio. Each pair of 3×1 jeans is created on site and tailored for the customer as Limited Edition, Custom Made or Bespoke. Limited Edition refers to the styles available for ready to wear, they are typically produced in limited runs of 8, 12 ,16 or 24 pieces and can be hemmed and finished with a button and rivets of the customers choosing while they wait (typically 5 minutes). The Custom Made option includes time with our denim experts to determine all the details of your jean, including back pockets, fabric and thread theory.
Bespoke denim service is also offered, allowing patrons to work with myself or our head pattern-maker to create their own pair of jeans from scratch from start to finish. The fabric selection offered to customers consists of more than 80 unique selvedge denims from around the world (primarily for men), and as many as 65 varieties of denims and twills specific to women.
WHERE DO YOU SEE DENIM GOING NEXT?
In the future, I think personalization (customization) will play an increasingly important role. Consumers are always looking to discover new things and make them their own. It is getting harder and harder to do that, to find something truly unique with most brands selling globally and the easy access to brands via e-commerce.
WHAT CAN BE TAKEN FROM THE PAST?
My experiences from the past 15 years are with me in every decision we make, from fabric selection to fit recommendations for a bespoke customer. I think jeans are, and continue to be, more relevant than ever and have a place in everyone’s wardrobe as they are acceptable in almost any situation from the office to restaurants to nightclubs. Over the years, significant improvements have been made in washing techniques giving designers the tools to create more interest on the product itself. I personally have an affinity for selvedge denim created on a traditional shuttle loom and its subtle imperfections as I feel it gives the fabric a personality.
Social Freaks
Tagged With#3x1 #bespoke #denim #denimfreaks #newyork #scottmorrison
5 “IF”: Donwan Harrell
5 “IF”: Jason Denham
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line694
|
__label__cc
| 0.6805
| 0.3195
|
30 Days With Car2Go
by Mark Wellborn
I have never owned a car, something that is likely seen as a triumph by certain people and an embarrassment by others. And, I have never been interested in any car-sharing service. That is, until I signed up for car2go in August.
Chances are you have seen the little guys of DC’s car2go fleet tooling around the city. The blue and white, two-seater smart cars are usually squeezed in a small space on a downtown block between two normal-sized cars or looking diminutive next to a pick-up truck at a stoplight. There are 300 “cars 2 go” roaming the DC streets, but given that more than 8,000 people in DC have signed up for the service, that is bound to increase in the coming months. This article will look at my first month using the service, from usage to cost to the pros/cons that were revealed.
In short, here is how car2go works. Users pay a one-time $35 fee and then are sent a card in the mail that allows them to unlock cars around the city via an electronic panel on the windshield. A mobile app on smartphones allows users to locate cars within their vicinity. The cost for using the cars is 37 cents a minute plus tax, and car2go covers gas and insurance.
In the first month, I used the service 19 times for trips ranging in distance from 0.6 miles to 4.1 miles. My shortest trip lasted six minutes and my longest was 34. I used the car to run errands, visit friends, for business purposes, to go to the doctor and regularly for nights out on the town. During that time, I realized that there are two stand-out features that will result in car2go being in every major U.S. city within the next 2-3 years.
The first is the parking arrangement. You can park these little guys almost anywhere. Thanks to the company paying the DC government a hefty $793,000, users can park at meters (and not have to pay) and in any zoned parking area in DC. In a city where parking is increasingly difficult to find, the cars open up a world of options for drivers. In addition to being immune from the aforementioned restrictions, the size of the cars means that spaces that you would regularly pass up in a normal-sized car become prime spots. In my first 30 days, I never had to drive around the block looking for a spot. I regularly squeeze in spots that areq about half the size of a regular car; one night, I snuck into a five-foot space right in front of the bar I was going to on 14th Street.
The second reason that car2go will soon be everywhere is that the cars don’t have a round-trip requirement. If you like, you can pick up a car, drive it for three minutes, and then park it and be done with your trip. (Warning: All your friends will admonish you for being extremely lazy if you do this.) In all seriousness, trips with car2go are virtually all one-way, which means that you can drive it to a Friday evening destination, enjoy yourself and then catch a cab home later on. You can also use it to commute to work, without having to pay for parking or deal with it if you end up having plans later on.
Now, the service does have its downsides. For one, the car size means that trips are limited to two people. Also, the reliability of finding a car2go nearby is very hit or miss. Sometimes, there are three options within 200 meters of your address; other times there isn’t a car within half a mile. And, the farther you get from downtown DC, the less prevalent the cars.
Lastly, this service is very easy to abuse. I sometimes found myself hopping in for an 8-minute trip that I easily could’ve done on foot. While part of this has to do with the novelty of the service, which is wearing off, it is very easy to rack up miles in the blue and white cars, which consequently means racking up credit card charges. The 19 trips in August cost me $115.
Still, at an average of $6 a trip, the service is cheaper than taking a taxi or Uber. This, along with the ease of parking and use, will mean that you will soon be seeing cars2go all over the place.
See other articles related to: car2go, car sharing
This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/30_days_with_car2go/6095
Circle Thomas said at 2:29 pm on Tuesday October 2, 2012:
I've used the service exactly once. That trip was such a disaster, it was both my first AND my last trip. Let's start with the car itself. Smart fortwos are absolute garbage, absolutely atrocious little things to drive. They're painfully loud, they bounce over potholes, they have absolutely no power and the brakes barely work. There's a reason its Consumer Reports lowest-scoring new vehicle today (29 out of a possible 100 points, for those keeping score at home). But since Mercedes-Benz owns not only smart, but also Car2Go, with the smarts you're stuck. Benz needs to sell these hideous things here to meet certain EPA regulations (the S-Class is a guzzler), and since no in their right mind buys one, dumping them into Car2Go is what the company is left with. Once we found our smart (or, as I like to call it, our dumb), checking-in to actually get the car started turned out to be a fairly arduous process. Unlike ZipCar, which apparently has a 3G-based connection to the Internet via Verizon (plus redundant tech inside the system in case you're in a garage with no signal), Car2Go uses an Edge-based, non-redundant connection which means it can take up to five minutes to get the car unlocked (as we--and plenty of others on Yelp, as I found out later, experienced). This REALLY became a problem when we got to our destination (the wilds of Capitol Hill near Eastern Market), and tried to end our use. The problem? No signal. So, we called Car2Go...and got put on hold. After 10 minutes of waiting, we went looking for another parking spot. After another failed attempt (still on hold), we finally found a spot where we could get rid the damn thing (still on hold). 25 minutes in with no one picking up, we gave up. THIS is customer service? To add insult to injury, we both tweeted (nothing) and Facebook-posted about how horrible our experience was. A FULL FOUR DAYS later, we got a half-assed apology left on my voicemail. That's it. I'm still waiting for the 15 minutes of wasted time to be credited back to my account. Overall, the service can be summed up with one word: SHIT. I highly recommend everyone stick to car-sharing done right, AKA "ZipCar".
SL said at 3:23 pm on Tuesday October 2, 2012:
I've used Car2Go since they first launched and have never had problems. I've taken 20+ trips and it's never taken longer than about a minute to get going. You just hold your card up to the reader, the car unlocks, you punch in your pin number and you're done. It's a great taxi alternative - about $8 for me to get home from work vs. about $12 for a taxi, and the best part: no taxi driver! The cars are pretty basic, but I love how tiny they are. I find it means you can find a (free) parking space almost anywhere you go. I've called customer service a couple times - once when I picked up a car that already had a parking ticket on it and I wanted to report it, and another time when the stereo wasn't working in the car. Both times I was given 15 minutes of free driving time for my trouble - about $20. Not bad! Regarding Car2Go vs. ZipCar - I have no interest in ZipCar since I already own a car. The advantage of Car2Go for me is the short rentals and ability to leave the car anywhere. I also love that with Car2Go if I'm not renting a car, I'm not paying anything - I joined for free when the service was new, and there are no monthly or annual membership fees.
AP said at 3:44 pm on Tuesday October 2, 2012:
ZipCar has probably seen their revenues take a nose dive as more and more people are using Car2Go. I've been using Car2Go regularly for about six months now and have not had any problems. How many times have I used ZipCar in the past six months? Probably once. Car2Go is incredibly convenient. The one-way trips really make it worth it. Not having to pay for the car when you're not using it or having to return it to the same place you got it from is HUGE. True, the cars don't drive all that great, but who needs a premium sedan when you're only going to be in it for 10 minutes? I had one issue with the card reader not connecting. I simply moved the car like 10 feet forward and tried it again...it worked. So the signal must have been blocked by something. Also, once the key fob didn't work properly. I called Car2Go to report it and they credited my account 30 minutes by the next business day. Done and done! I was very skeptical about Car2Go at first, because I was a die hard ZipCar user. Now I find myself using Car2Go ALL THE TIME. Sorry ZipCar...
erin said at 5:21 pm on Tuesday October 2, 2012:
On the downside that finding a Car2Go can be hit-or-miss: I was extremely skeptical of the service at first because of exactly this. I've since learned that these cars are actually pretty ideal for neighborhoods that are more residential farther from downtown. I have family that lives in Takoma, DC, a metro accessible residential neighborhood that borders Maryland. Many of the residents (of condos and houses alike) have taken to Car2Go. There's almost always 2-4 cars parked in the neighborhood. It seems like while some people take them downtown or whereever they're headed, just as many drive them home. They're rarely parked on the same street, which is why I believe a number of neighbors are actually sharing the same few cars. It's turned out to be a great way to get wheels if you live in a neighborhood where you don't NEED a car, but can't ever get a taxi.
Anoymouse said at 5:47 pm on Tuesday October 2, 2012:
I've had good experience with Car2Go, but a few comments/concerns: 1) The Car2Go Card seems to disable my Smartrip card from being read by Metro turnstyles when both are in the same wallet 2) the in-dash navigation system should have a little clock counting the minutes of your reservation (ideally, it would also tell you how much you're being charged). 3) the distribution of cars has not really affected me yet, but it could become an issue if you live in more far-flung residential areas of the city. As of writing this post, there are around 20 cars on and around GWU campus, and only 1 or 2 cars in all of Capitol Hill. In the future, the company may need to "re-balance" the cars as Capital Bikeshare often has to do.
AC said at 7:21 pm on Tuesday October 2, 2012:
I find absolutely ridicolous that these cars are parked everywhere around the city, taking up public parking space in blocks which are already parking scarce. This is abuse of public space, and even an 800k fee does not seem to balance the problem which is beard by residents and tax payers.
Stacy said at 7:31 pm on Tuesday October 2, 2012:
I live in Brookland and can never get a cab. We love using Car2Go as a cab replacement. And there always seem to be a few within a 3-4 block radius. Yeah, they're small and shoving my 80lb boxer in the back when we spent the night on CapHill was an experience but we all survived. And, even if I could have gotten a cab to show up at my house, I'm pretty sure the dog would have been no-go.
Um, AC - seriously? The cars aren't just occupying space, they're being used all the time, and occupying spaces that would have just been occupied by other cars, that probably would not be getting used multiple times a day like the Car2Go cars. How many parking spaces are there in DC? Probably hundreds of thousands, and there are 300 Car2Go cars...I think there are much bigger fish to fry. I like to think, however, whenever I see a taxi driver acting/driving like an idiot with some giant polluting smelly vehicle that they could be replaced by a Car2Go car one day, and that makes me really happy
Steph said at 7:52 pm on Tuesday October 2, 2012:
I'm just curious as to the frequency of "stealing" someone else's car2go. does Zip or cars2go allow for reservations? Say you take the car2go to the grocery store, you go into the store and when you come out, someone has taken it to a different location. Does this happen with car sharing? I realize that if you are truly going one way, it doesn't matter, but what if your intention is a two-way trip, can you keep a reservation without the meeter running?
Car2go is the WORST said at 7:57 pm on Tuesday October 2, 2012:
I have used car2go 4 times, and only one of those times was without incident. If you have to call customer service for any reason after you've rented the car, they don't credit THAT ride for the amount of time you have to spend on the phone. It is virtually impossible to get the cars unlocked, and sometimes, even after you've locked the car, their terrible internet connection means that your rental hasn't actually ended. Additionally, even when the car tells you that your total trip time is a certain amount, it is never accurate because it doesn't include the 5 minutes you had to spend trying to unlock the car or the several minutes you spent on the phone reporting any damage or the several minutes it took to lock the car up. So you're charged almost 40 cents a minute to do all of these things, which doubles your rental time. Oh, and sometimes even if there is a car available, if the connection is bad, you can't rent the car! And even if you spend 20 minutes on the phone with customer service, there is nothing they can do to unlock the car because their connection is terrible. Finally, if you ever get a parking ticket, don't expect to find out about it for FOUR MONTHS! Then you'll get a nice huge charge on your credit card. For all of the hassle of trying to use car2go, I would rather take a cab. Taking a cab is much less frustrating. I really wanted to love car2go, but their system is terrible. Nice idea, poor execution.
CH said at 10:22 pm on Tuesday October 2, 2012:
While I don't entirely agree with AC - I don't think it's an abuse of public space - the parking situation does have consequences for DC residents. I live in a highly populated residential area of the city that's far enough from a commercial strip that car2gos don't turn over quickly. Yet car2go members clearly live in my area and are stockpiling cars for their use on my block. I can't tell you the number of times I've had to circle my own neighborhood repeatedly trying to find a space in my permitted area (that I gave up congressional representation to get...) while these little blue and white things take up multiple viable parking spaces. So really, as a courtesy to residents in non-commerical areas, I have a plea to car2go drivers: Only park in tiny spaces. Leave the full-size parking spaces for resident car-owners. And for goodness sake, don't ever park next to another car2go and manage to take up three combined parking spaces again. Seriously. I didn't even think it was possible until I saw it. Luckily some other neighbor beat me to writing an angry note on the windshield.
AC said at 11:22 pm on Tuesday October 2, 2012:
My block has about 10 parking spaces and it has been the case in the past months that car2go takes up 2 or 3 of these spaces. This means residents need to circulate over and over, and further away to find replacement for those spaces. It is not cool.
CD said at 11:27 pm on Tuesday October 2, 2012:
I have no need for a car2gobut I do not some comments. Despite the fact that the company has paid the city $800k to cover parking tickets, etc, I find it very inconsiderate of drivers to disobey the parking time restrictions. Having car2gos parked on Connecticut or 16th Street during rush hour is a problem the city needs to deal with.
David said at 12:09 am on Wednesday October 3, 2012:
I've used Car2go with only minor incidents over the last 2 months. All of the incidents have to do with the terrible internet connections mentioned above. From time-to-time you do have to wait a while for the car to figure out what's going on. Regarding the parking spaces: they're not YOUR parking spaces, they're the community's. There are a number of uses for these spaces: handicapped parking, valet parking, taxi stands etc. Would you feel the same way about someone who leased a car?
Ms. D said at 3:02 pm on Wednesday October 3, 2012:
I have to echo the above angry posters…I ended up cancelling my membership after numerous bungles and “technical glitches.†The straw that broke the camel’s back was, in an emergency on a weekend, I called customer service, and was told that the DC office would have to handle my issue. After multiple attempts to transfer me, no one would pick up the phone in the DC office. So, I was left stranded alongside the road with no effective customer support. When I wrote them an email regarding the situation, it took me 3 tries to get a response, and then it was just *barely* an apology (do not waste your breath explaining to me your limited weekend staffing…if people who need to aren’t getting through, then you need more staffing (or more responsive staffing, period). I do not work for Zipcar, but I also love them. In the *FEW* instances where I’ve had *MINOR* problems with their service, I have always gotten through to customer service quickly, and they have always worked to make it right promptly. Given that it’s as hard as ever for me to book a Zipcar, I doubt they’re “bleeding†revenue.
Although I must say the whining about the on-street parking is priceless. Here's a little news flash for you: the people using those cars are YOUR NEIGHBORS. DC RESIDENTS. And just as "entitled" as you are to use an on-street parking spot (within the bounds of the law, such as obeying emergency parking signs, general parking signs, rush hour zones, etc.). Sure, they're paying things like registration fees, parking permit fees, and gas taxes through a third party (who, BTW, also collects sales taxes and employs people with part of the fee they charge, on top of the expenses to keep the car going), but they still pay them. Would you rather have 2 or 3 car-sharing cars that multiple people can use on your block, or 10 or 15 residents of your block, who presumably do not currently own cars, go out and buy cars? Which would really make it much harder for you to find a parking spot?
cah said at 4:05 pm on Monday March 18, 2013:
Agree with the residents in population-dense neighborhoods with limited parking. A Car2Go has been in front of my house since the weekend. My block has families with cars and this vehicle is taking up a full-car space. Irritating and insulting to residents that the city can be "bought" by a corporate entity when residents have to pay for a residential parking permit. Shame on DC Government!
KillMoto said at 11:59 pm on Sunday May 12, 2013:
Listen to the people whine about parking! What do you pay, like $15 for the year? Curbside parking costs $4000 per space to build and hundreds of dollars a year to maintain. Cars spend on average 95% of their time parked. Your neighbor can use 1/2 a spot occasionally with a car2go, or they can use a full size spot overnight/every night if they just did what everybody else does and buy a car. Petty, small people whining about losing their free parking. Waaaaaaaaaaah!
CC said at 4:17 pm on Monday February 17, 2014:
But how much does it cost? The website currently says $0.41/min; $14.99/hour. I want to use a car for 61 minutes. How much is it going to cost? What about 59 minutes. This is absolutely rock bottom fundamental information, and you cannot get an answer from the web site, the agreement, the use guide, FAQ... and still waiting for an email response. So far I am not impressed.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line698
|
__label__cc
| 0.513728
| 0.486272
|
Nokia 7.1 Price Goes As Down As ₹14,500
The Nokia 7.1 (Review) was launched last year lately with a price of ₹19,999. It was said to be as a refined version of the Nokia 6.1 Plus, with a lot of the same design elements and hardware, but with a more polished feel. It has seen a few price cuts right from its launch with the latest one bringing the price down to an all-time low of ₹14,500
To be more precise, the Nokia 7.1 is now being sold at Rs 14,420 on Amazon India, which is close to the price of the Nokia 6.1 Plus that currently costs Rs 13,999. The Nokia 7.1 on the Nokia store online can be found for Rs 15,999. The Nokia 7.1 is available in Blue and Steel colours.
Nokia 7.1 specifications
Before we talk about the pros and cons of buying the Nokia 7.1, here’s a quick look at its specifications. The Nokia 7.1 sports a 5.84-inch FHD+ PureDisplay with a 19:9 aspect ratio. The phone is machined out of a 6000 Series aluminium and you get a 2.5D curved glass on the back as well.
Like the Nokia 6.1 Plus, the Nokia 7.1 is also powered by a Snapdragon 636 chipset. This is paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage with support for storage expandability via a microSD card. The Nokia 7.1 is an Android One device and was launched with stock Android Oreo. It has since been updated to Android Pie and should be among the first to receive Android Q as well.
The Nokia 7.1 sports a 12MP + 5MP dual rear camera setup and 8MP front-facing camera. It houses a 3,060mAh battery and supports fast charging out-of-the-box over USB Type-C.
What you should know before buying the Nokia 7.1
The most obvious pointer to keep in mind is that the Nokia 7.1 is a dated device as it was launched late last year with Android Oreo. There are many newer and more relevant phones that can be found under Rs 15,000 today. It also gets a dated Snapdragon 636 chipset as well. That being said, the Nokia 7.1 still offers a clean and optimised Android interface that allows the device to work smoothly and it will get at least one more major software update.
While it was launched in late 2018, it is still technically one of the most recent Nokia phones in this segment. To put it in other words, HMD has not launched a new Nokia phone in the mid-range segment in India this year, which means the Nokia 7.1 and Nokia 8.1 are the only Nokia phones worth buying under Rs 20,000 right now.
A few notable about the Nokia 7.1 is its rich and vivid PureDisplay screen that offers HDR10 support, excellent contrast and sharpness. You also get an elegant and premium design that is not so commonly found in this segment. Of course, phones like the Realme 3 Pro and Redmi Note 7 Pro offer much faster performance and better battery life, but if you’re looking for a stock Android One phone, the Nokia 7.1 is your best bet in this segment.
Nokia7.1, Nokia7.1price, Nokiaphones
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line710
|
__label__cc
| 0.63744
| 0.36256
|
CVRP Privacy Policy
Privacy Policy and Website Security
The College of Vocational Rehabilitation Professionals (the “College”) is committed to maintaining the confidentiality and security of personal information. We are responsible for all personal information that is entrusted to us.
The College stores and maintains the personal information according to the ten principles of the Canadian Standards Association Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information (the “CSA Model Code”).
The privacy statement outlines the standards and guidelines by which the College adheres with respect to the personal information of its registrants.
This privacy policy does not apply to the personal information of employees of the College.
Personal information is information about an “identifiable” individual, which includes names, addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, credit card information, or other contact information and personally identifiable data, date of birth, social insurance number, age, marital and financial status, race, national or ethnic origin, and religion. It also includes opinions about that individual.
The ten principles of the CSA Model Code as applied by the College
Accountability:
The College is accountable for all personal information under its control, including information which it may transfer to a third party. The College collects, uses and discloses the information in accordance with its obligations under the College Procedures and the CSA Model Code. The Staff is trained about the policies and practices with respect to privacy and confidentiality.
To fulfill this purpose, the College has designated an individual as a Privacy Officer who is responsible for everyday operation and control of the personal information as well as the College’s compliance with this Statement.
The College from time to time discloses personal information to third parties for administrative and licensing purposes. Third parties are required to sign confidentiality agreements which reinforce the strict confidentiality obligations on them.
Identifying Purposes:
The College self- regulates the practice of vocational rehabilitation professionals with due regard to the public interest. The College uses personal information of its registrants to carry out this function. The purposes for which the College collects information include:
Registrants application
Certification examination
Maintain Public Registry
Credentials examination and verification
Registration Audit, Review and evaluation
Complaints and investigations (we ensure the confidentiality of the complainant and the registrants as set out in the College’s Complaints Procedure and Discipline Procedure publication policies)
Communication with Registrants
Demographics: research, analysis and planning
Correspondence information and documents with third party as required by our objectives and to interchange information with regulatory bodies worldwide
Compile statistics
Payment of annual fee
If the College wishes to use personal information for a purpose not identified, the new purpose will be identified and the College will seek consent prior to use, unless required or permitted by law.
3. Consent:
The College is dedicated to ensuring that registrants are aware of the purpose(s) for which personal information is gathered, the use of the information and reasons for disclosure. The College obtains consent from registrants for the collection, use and disclosure of personal information. In certain circumstances, the consent from the individual can be obtained after collection of the information but before use.
The College will not, as a condition of the supply of goods or services, require that an individual consent to the collection, use, or disclosure of information beyond that required for legitimate and communicated purposes. Some information related to registration, competence and professional development must be provided as a condition of obtaining and maintaining one’s professional status.
There may be circumstances where consent may be implied by the circumstances. In such cases, the purposes for the collection and use of personal information must be apparent and the College may only use the personal information for the apparent purpose. In such a case, the College will not use that information for any other purpose.
The law provides certain exceptions to the usual requirement to obtain an individual’s consent. For example, an organization may collect and use personal information in circumstances where the collection and/or use of such information is clearly in the interests of the individual and consent cannot be obtained in a timely way. Similarly, personal information may be collected and used without the consent of the individual if the information is reasonably required to investigate a breach of an agreement, a violation of the law or investigations related to professional discipline and there is reason to believe that obtaining consent may compromise the availability or accuracy of such information.
Registrants can withdraw consent anytime for the retention and use of personal information, but only to the extent that such consent withdrawal does not affect the ability of the College to carry out its regulatory functions. The College will inform the registrant of the implication of such withdrawal.
Limiting Collection:
The College collects personal information only to the extent necessary for the purposes identified. Personal information is collected in a fair and lawful manner.
Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention:
The College does not sell or trade your personal information to third parties. Personal information is only used or disclosed for the purpose for which it was collected with the consent of the registrant or as required by law.
The personal information of the registrant is retained as long as it is considered necessary according to the College’s Document Retention policy.
The College is dedicated to maintaining your personal information in a form that is accurate, complete and current as is necessary for the fulfillment of the College’s purposes. Registrants are encouraged to contact the College and update any changes in their personal information, within 30 days of any change.
Safeguards:
The College takes reasonable steps to ensure that personal information is protected against loss, unauthorized access, use, disclosure and alteration. This protection applies to both electronic and hard copy form.
The safeguards used by the College include:
Physical Measures: Locked filing cabinets, key-pads or locks to restricted areas, and alarm system in the office.
Organizational Measures: Employees’ training, confidentiality agreements, and limited access on “need to know” basis
Technological Measures: Use of security software, password, firewall and encryption
Destruction Measures: Records and documents of the registrants are destroyed in a confidential manner like shredding of the paper records, wiped clean/deleting of the disc and physical destruction of hard drives
Third party obligations: Contractual privacy agreement with third parties. To ensure the protection of your personal information, third parties enter into legal contract and confidentiality agreement before the College uses their services.
Openness:
The College is open about its policies and procedure and will provide registrants with specific information relating to the maintenance of the personal information. These policies are available by contacting the College Privacy Officer.
Individual Access:
Registrants may contact the Privacy Officer at any time to discuss access to personal information. Upon written request, access will be provided. A small fee may be applied to cover the cost of administration. In certain situations, such as legal or regulatory requirement, the College may not be able to offer you access to your personal information and will provide you with the reasons of denial. The College will correct or amend personal information that is shown to be incomplete or inaccurate.
Challenging Compliance:
The College Privacy Officer is responsible for overseeing compliance with this privacy policy. Any questions can be directed to the Privacy Officer who will respond to any concerns.
We will investigate all complaints and will take appropriate action to resolve the issue to your satisfaction. We also welcome your comments and suggestions regarding this Privacy Policy.
Website Privacy and Security
The website uses cookies. The website server automatically logs information about visits to the website such as IP address, date, time and duration. This non-personal data is used for system administrative purposes, statistical analysis, and to update the website.
The College uses encryption technology and security certificates (https) on all web pages that require registrants or applicants to submit payment online. All transactions are handled by a third-party payment processor that meets strict security requirements.
The College takes reasonable steps to protect your personal information, but we are not responsible or liable for the security of your personal information on external websites to which we may provide links (i.e. Moodle, CEU on-line program links). External links are provided for the convenience of users. The College encourages registrants to read the privacy policies of all websites visited, especially if personal information is shared.
For more information on privacy practice at the College
Ms. Janice Ray
Registrar & Privacy Officer
College of Vocational Rehabilitation Professionals
P.O. Box 77034, 6579 Highway 7
jray@cvrp.ca
www.cvrp.ca
Revision to the Privacy policy
This version of the Privacy Policy is effective as of July 31, 2015.
Due to changes in technology and legal requirements, we will revise our policy from time to time and the College reserves the right to do so. We will post any revised version of this Privacy Policy on our website.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line712
|
__label__wiki
| 0.551399
| 0.551399
|
U Scientists to Help Map the Entire Night Sky
Cara MacDonald December 3, 2017
Photo credit: Robin Dienel/Carnegie Institution for Science/SDSS
Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) is moving into its fifth generation of sky mapping, and the University of Utah will play a pivotal role in its upcoming survey.
Following a $16 million grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, SDSS will kickstart an all-sky spectroscopic survey in search of groundbreaking discoveries, primarily focusing on the Milky Way, black holes and the local volumes and compositions of galaxies. Referred to as SDSS-V, the project is expected to launch in 2020.
“The University of Utah was one of the first members to join the project, and a number of staff and students are participating,” said Gail Zasowski, an astronomy professor and spokesperson for SDSS. “Though the data collection sites aren’t located in Utah, most of it gets piped straight to the U’s Center for High Performance Computing, where it’s processed and stored.”
SDSS is one of the most thorough dark sky surveys in the history of astronomy. It has created the most detailed 3-D maps of the universe. The newest map plans to build off of previous surveys, revolutionizing astronomical knowledge by pioneering all-sky spectroscopic observations, taking the spectra of another 6 million objects and monitoring many of the objects’ changes over time.
“This survey will have a major impact on astronomy,” Zasowski said. “Beyond all of the scientific information uncovered, one of the things that makes this particular project stand out is that the SDSS releases all of its data completely publicly. Anyone in the world can download and process it. That means that the information can be used by a far larger number of astronomers than those in the program. The more scientists there are processing, the more we will learn about the universe.”
SDSS-V will involve three separate projects, each focusing on different components of the universe — the Milky Way Mapper, the Black Hole Mapper and the Local Volume Mapper. The Milky Way Mapper focuses on the formation of the Milky Way and its stars and planets. The Black Hole Mapper is set to study the formation, growth and sizes of the black holes that haunt the centers of galaxies. The Local Volume Mapper will study the first complete spectroscopic maps of the most important nearby galaxies.
“One of the biggest components of the survey is the Milky Way Mapper,” Zasowski said. “It’s not so much about taking pictures of stars and features of galaxies, it’s about figuring out what these elements are made of and how they move. Big questions we have regard how fast are they moving toward and away from us, what are they composed of, etc. … That and their age helps us better understand galaxies and their histories.”
Scientists simply don’t have enough data about stars over the whole galaxy. They want to know more about what they are made of, and how they change through time. Being able to map how light is released will help astronomers to understand how stars are formed and how they continue to exist.
The survey primarily operates out of two locations — the Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico, and the Carnegie Institute of Science’s Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. Apache Point is home to the survey’s original 2.5 telescope, which is the most cited telescope behind Hubble. It plans to make use of both optical and infrared spectroscopic data, to observe the sky not only in two hemispheres, but also in two wavelengths of light.
Joel Brownstein, a professor in the U’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, is the principal data scientist for the survey. He and his team will run a variety of data reduction and analysis systems that will examine the raw data collected by the telescopes and process it into a format that anyone from young students to professional astronomers can understand.
So far, the project has support from 18 institutions, with more set to join. The SDSS consortium hopes that this survey will answer some of the most perplexing questions in astronomy.
“The SDSS cares a lot about collaboration and outreach,” Zasowski said.
She recommends curious people to visit SDSS’ website to learn more about its work and about astronomy in general.
“There are a lot of resources available, even lesson plans for people with no scientific knowledge at all.”
Cara MacDonald
Reader comments on dailyutahchronicle.com are the opinions of the writer, not the Daily Utah Chronicle or University of Utah Student Media. We will delete comments containing obscenities, personal attacks and inappropriate or offensive remarks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line714
|
__label__wiki
| 0.543717
| 0.543717
|
Write for the Dal Gazette
Dal changing how it deals with sexual violence
Meanwhile, King’s students voice their school’s need to do the same
August 31, 2018 / Rebecca Dingwell / 4 Comments
As of September, Dalhousie University officially has a new sexual violence policy.
For students such as Masuma Khan, it’s been a long time coming.
“The Sexual Harassment Policy is a policy that was very aged,” said Khan, vice president (Academic and External) of the Dalhousie Student Union.
Khan said previous DSU executives and other students have been pushing for policy changes for years – especially in the aftermath of the 2015 Dal Dentistry Scandal.
“After a lot of pressure was placed on the provincial government,” says Khan, the province created a memorandum of understanding between itself and its post-secondary institutions.
This included the demand for each of Nova Scotia’s 10 universities to have a stand-alone sexual violence policy in place by March 31, 2019. Dal’s resulting stand-alone policy – simply called the Sexualized Violence Policy – was built by a committee comprised of university administrators, DSU executives and community groups.
The policy didn’t come to fruition overnight.
“On our side, we kept pushing for changes like ensuring that it was more survivor-centric, ensuring that it was trauma-informed,” said Khan. “Last year, I advised student senators not to pass the policy that the administration was pushing, as – in my opinion, and many students’ opinions – there was not enough meaningful consultation done with students.”
Faculty supported students in this point of view, so that draft of the policy was nixed and handed back to the committee.
“When that happened, I think it was a series of fortunate events that we received some changes in support from administrators that allowed for us to make some serious changes in our policy,” said Khan.
Dal’s Sexual Harassment Policy was established in 1999. Last fall, that policy received a dismal grade of D+ from Our Turn, a Canada-wide, student-led project against campus sexual violence. Conversely, Our Turn recently evaluated the Sexualized Violence Policy at an A+.
“Our Turn criteria is great and was helpful for ensuring our policy was better, but the A+ does not make it a good policy,” said Khan. “What makes it a good policy is when the students that are having to navigate it are giving us the feedback that ‘Yes, this policy helped me. This policy made me feel safe. This policy gave me support.’”
“We just want survivors to be believed. We just want our students to be safe.”
Melissa MacKay, advisor (Sexualized Violence) at Dal’s Human Rights & Equity Services, helps people understand support, resource and reporting options. She explained the key distinctions between the Sexual Harassment Policy and the Sexualized Violence Policy.
The new approach “really recognizes sexualized violence consists of a breadth of behaviours – including assault and harassment – but also things like stalking, sharing images non-consensually, intimate partner violence, stealthing [non-consensual condom removal],” said MacKay. “I think that’s a really important difference: moving away from that language of ‘sexual harassment’ which didn’t do that in the same way.”
MacKay said that the policy provides a more straightforward process which applies to everyone on campus, including visitors.
“Previously, if you were a student or staff or faculty, you may have options under a couple of different policies and that could be really confusing,” she explained. “In terms of providing trauma-informed service, one of the things that’s very important for survivors coming into our office is for us to be able to talk about a clear process, that they can understand, in a clear and informed way, so that they can make the decisions for them.”
The Board of Governors greenlighted Dal’s Sexualized Violence Policy on June 26. Just days after neighbouring students at the University of King’s College protested their school’s own proposed sexual violence policy.
Khan said, “We showed up for King’s and we’ll continue to show up for King’s, [and] any other union executive and students that are facing the realities of rape culture on their campus.”
Policy is just one piece of the puzzle. Khan emphasized that in order to combat rape culture, education and program funding need to be ongoing and student voices must be at the centre of these discussions.
“We just want survivors to be believed. We just want our students to be safe,” said Khan.
Dal’s Sexualized Violence Policy will be reviewed in the spring after its first six months.
Survivor support
On campus:
Human Rights & Equity Services
1246 LeMarchant Street, Suite 1200
HRES@dal.ca
Sexual Assault and Harassment Phone Line
South House Sexual and Gender Resource Centre
1443 Seymour Street
outreach@southhousehalifax.ca
Off campus:
Avalon Sexual Assault Centre
1526 Dresden Row, Suite 401, Halifax
info@avaloncentre.ca
Avalon Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner
sanecoordinator@avaloncentre.ca
Halifax Sexual Health Centre
6009 Quinpool Road, Suite 201, Halifax
Halifax Regional Police Victim Services
902-490-4300 (Voice calls)
902-497-4709 (Text for people who are deaf or hard of hearing)
← Past and present Dal students honoured at Top 15 dinner
Canadians’ understanding of consent has dropped →
We know what Halifax did this summer - Dalhousie Gazette on September 5, 2018 at 6:16 pm
[…] On June 26, Dalhousie University’s Board of Governors officially passed a new sexual violence policy. Days earlier, students at the University of King’s College protested their school’s sexual violence policy. Read more here. […]
Farewell to Florizone - Dalhousie Gazette on January 23, 2019 at 9:49 am
[…] RF: Other than our students graduating, it’s when we were able to break down those boundaries and get people working together in new ways and making things happen, whether that was a fitness center, or an ocean institute or new sexual violence policy. […]
We know what Halifax did this summer - Dalhousie Gazette on February 17, 2019 at 6:02 pm
Sharing a classroom with your harrasser | Dalhousie Gazette on March 4, 2019 at 12:49 pm
[…] current sexual violence advisor is Melissa MacKay. In September 2018, Dalhousie updated its Sexual Violence Policy as a single document addressing how the university responds to reports of sexualized violence […]
Rebecca Dingwell
Posted in Dalhousie, Halifax, News, Student Union
Tweets by @DalGazette
The Dalhousie Gazette is settled in K’jipuktuk (Halifax) of Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq people, where we work, play and live.
© 2019 Dalhousie Gazette. All Rights Reserved.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line716
|
__label__cc
| 0.711729
| 0.288271
|
← Inspiration vs. Indoctrination, Today at 12 p.m. PT (3 p.m. ET)
Are you on the NSA’s List? Today at 12 p.m. PT (3 p.m. ET) →
A Brief Response to Peter Schwartz on Edward Snowden
Let me start by saying that I respect Peter Schwartz and am very much looking forward to his new book on altruism, The Tyranny of Need.
In addition, those familiar with my podcast and writings know that I agree with Schwartz’s condemnation, in an article he posted yesterday on his blog, of the NSA’s indiscriminate surveillance programs. However, I disagree with his view, stated in that article, that “what Edward Snowden has done is worse.”
Schwartz questions Snowden’s commitment to the principle of “the individual’s right to be free from a coercive state” for a few reasons.
First, he notes that Snowden stole over one million classified documents, many of which concern legitimate NSA surveillance programs. But I doubt that Snowden, working covertly, had the luxury of sifting through the million-plus potentially relevant documents. He may have had a window of only a very few minutes to download what he needed. Moreover, Snowden has given permission for only a fraction of the total documents to be released and Glenn Greenwald has said that he and the other journalists have heeded Snowden’s wishes (more on Greenwald in a minute). Finally, it may be true that revealing information about the NSA’s methods — some of which it uses legitimately — could make a terrorist’s job easier. But if revealing those methods is necessary to alert the American people to the injustice committed by the NSA, then so be it.
Schwartz writes that, when Snowden went to Hong Kong, he “identified for Chinese officials which of their computers had been penetrated by the NSA.” I did a brief Google search on this and found this article, in which we learn that Snowden spoke to the Hong Kong press about NSA monitoring of computers in Hong Kong and mainland China, but I didn’t see anything about Snowden indicating, to Chinese officials, which specific computers had been hacked. As for “cozy[ing] up to rulers of . . . police states” (Schwartz quotes Snowden praising several of these), he unfortunately had no choice. It is only that type of state that entertained, in any serious way, Snowden’s request for asylum. Early on, Snowden said he had hoped to go to Iceland, and in later interviews he said he sent requests to numerous countries. But I am unaware of any semi-free state in the world that offered to take Snowden in, much less give him safe passage.
Finally, Schwartz criticizes Snowden’s choice of Greenwald as the journalist to whom he entrusted the stolen documents. Snowden decided, I think reasonably, that the only way to fight the NSA’s unjust surveillance programs was to publicize their existence via the press. Snowden has spoken repeatedly about his attempts to complain about the programs via the proper chain of command, as well as the fact that the whistleblower statutes that Obama keeps talking about do not protect contractors like Snowden. So Snowden needed to leave the country, and then find a sympathetic member of the press, one with journalistic integrity. I don’t know of a non-leftist journalist who would (1) agree with Snowden that what the NSA is doing is wrong and be willing to travel to Hong Kong to meet him, and (2) have the position and contacts necessary to broadly disseminate the information. Greg Gutfeld and Ambassador John Bolton, for example, are two of the better libertarian-conservative commentators on Fox News. Both Tammy Bruce and I were surprised when both of these men came out in favor of the NSA bulk metadata collection programs and, consequently, against Snowden. (You can find my interview of Ambassador Bolton, in which we discussed Bolton’s condemnation of Snowden, here.)
I believe Snowden allied himself with Greenwald for the limited purpose of publicizing the NSA’s unjust, indiscriminate surveillance programs. In fact, Greenwald said that Snowden put restrictions on the release of the data with which he, Greenwald, disagreed, but nonetheless honored as a matter of journalistic integrity.
I am no fan of Ron Paul, and I disagree with some Snowden asides that sound like they’re right out of Paul’s foreign policy. But I have not seen anything that I believe Snowden has done with the intention of undermining a proper policy of self-defense. So far as I can tell, all has been incidental to the actions one in Snowden’s context would take if he wanted to uphold “the individual’s right to be free from a coercive state,” but not martyr himself completely in the process.
For more on Snowden as hero or traitor, listen to Leonard Peikoff’s podcasts here, here and here.
Tagged as edward snowden, Glenn Greenwald, Leonard Peikoff, NSA, Peter Schwartz
14 responses to “A Brief Response to Peter Schwartz on Edward Snowden”
c andrew
Amy Peikoff wrote:
Snowden has spoken repeatedly about his attempts to complain about the programs via the proper chain of command, as well as the fact that the whistleblower statutes that Obama keeps talking about do not protect contractors like Snowden.
That is a good point, but here’s something to drive home the point of Snowden’s dilemma. Let’s look at a case where the whistleblower in question was covered by the relevant statutes. Look at what the government did to him.
“Where I see it going is toward a totalitarian state,” William Binney says of the National Security Agency (NSA), the place where he worked for 30 years before becoming a whistleblower and eventually quitting. “You’ve got the NSA doing all this collecting of material on all of its citizens-that’s what the SS, the Gestapo, the Stasi, the KGB, and the NKVD did.”
Binney resigned from his high-ranking post as technical leader for intelligence in 2001. In 2002, more than a decade before Edward Snowden’s NSA revelations rocked the world, he and several former colleagues went to Congress and the Department of Defense, requesting that the NSA be investigated. Not only was the super-secretive agency wasting taxpayer dollars on ineffective programs, they argued, it was broadly violating constitutional guarantees to privacy and due process.
The federal government didn’t just turn a blind eye to the abuses Binney and company warned against; it accused the whistleblowers of leaking state secrets. A federal investigation of Binney-including an FBI search and seizure of his home and office computers that destroyed his consulting business-exonerated him on all charges. “We are a clear example that [going through] the proper channels doesn’t work,” he says. It’s no wonder that Snowden went to the media first, Binney says, even if (in Binney’s estimation) the now-resident of Russia was wrong to leak documents not directly related to unconstitutional NSA surveillance of American citizens.
http://reason.com/archives/2014/04/17/the-original-nsa-whistleblower
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Binney_(U.S._intelligence_official)
http://reason.com/blog/2014/01/12/before-edward-snowden-there-was-william
Great example C Andrew, thanks.
Good point, thanks for adding it. It seems there’s a negative correlation between the level of injustice/corruption in the government generally, and the amount of success you can expect when following the proper whistleblowing procedures. If Snowden had followed only proper procedures, we would probably not be having this discussion today.
Cary Gossett
Well written. Agree 100%.
Thanks, Cary.
Jim Koy
You’re absolutely correct on this Snowden-issue, Ms. Peikoff; kudos to your sound principled-mind. It seems pretty simple: out-of-control Statist-Gov’t ignoring our rights–including the whistleblowers who try to follow legal protocol in defense of those rights. I, too, always respected Mr. Schwartz’s opinions but he scares me on this one! Is it unfair of me to quietly wonder if he’s on their payroll (like with the Fox-News people)?
Is it unfair of me to quietly wonder if he’s on their payroll (like with the Fox-News people)?
Yes, although I’m one to talk: On my podcast I am guilty of joking about what the NSA has on various people who have refused to criticize the bulk metadata collection program.
Couldn't B. Righter
You are right and Schwartz is wrong. Anyone who argues against Snowden rather than focussing on the facts contained in the documents he released showing the government’s violation of our rights is arguing ad hominem, and a particularly brutish form of ad hominem. I, for one, don’t care a whit about Snowden’s politics, or Glenn Greenwald’s. All such ad hominem arguments are intended to be a smokescreen to avoid confronting the real issues. Schwartz should be ashamed of himself.
I don’t see his argument as ad hominem, but rather as an evaluation of the relative harms caused by the NSA’s improper programs and Snowden’s revelations about the NSA generally. The way I see it, any safety benefit we were getting incidentally due to improper NSA programs, was a benefit we weren’t entitled to anyway. And if legitimate programs are damaged in the process of doing what is necessary to expose and eliminate the illegitimate ones, then so be it. Perhaps the debate comes down to what Schwartz and I believe about what was necessary to expose and (hopefully, someday) eliminate the improper programs.
Steve Stoddard
I have difficulty believing that Snowden’s revelations are of any use in the fight for protecting our rights. I don’t see that government surveillance make us any less safe: the government already has the power to destroy anyone for any reason.
And sure the NSA snooping is improper — but we already knew that anyhow.
Further, we shouldn’t be wasting time snooping on terrorists, in the first place. We should be cutting off their sources, i.e., killing the Islamist government(s) behind them. This is not rocket science.
I agree that Obama is far more dangerous than Putin. But isn’t attacking Obama for the NSA stuff a case of barking up the wrong tree, i.e., going after inessentials?
“But if revealing those methods is necessary to alert the American people to the injustice committed by the NSA, then so be it.”
I believe this is the correct way of evaluating the morality of Snowden’s revelations. He may well have engaged in traitorous actions, but it appears this was the only way left for anyone to expose the evil program. To decide that he shouldn’t have done it, I would first need evidence that he knowingly unleashed an immediate existential threat to US lives.
Gayle Parker (@GayleBreeze)
I think you have given an excellent, principled and irrefutable response to Peter Schwartz Amy. I couldn’t agree more. The devastating consequences to individuals lives and the culture at large from the threat of “No Place to Hide” and the loss of freedom of expression far out weigh the consequences of the alleged threat of terrorism.
Pingback: Are you on the NSA’s List? Today at 12 p.m. PT (3 p.m. ET) | Don't Let It Go
“When you leak the CIA’s secrets, you can harm people,” he said, referring to covert agents and informants. “I wasn’t willing to do that. But when you leak the NSA’s secrets, you only harm abusive systems. I was much more comfortable with that.”
-Glenn Greenwald (quoting Edward Snowden)
No Place To Hide, p. 43
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line717
|
__label__cc
| 0.520506
| 0.479494
|
The all-electric MINI Cooper SE unveiled [videos]
Jaguar Land Rover accelerates electrification, electric Jaguar XJ confirmed
Tesla sets quarterly global delivery record with over 95,000 electric cars
BMW Vision M NEXT is BMW M brand’s electrified future
Electric Car News
Electric Car Reviews
Charging Map
Audi Opens Pop-Up Store In London To Showcase A3 Sportback e-tron
Audi has opened its first ever ‘pop-up’ store at London’s Westfield Shopping Centre in Stratford. The store will showcase the A3 Sportback e-tron to shoppers in readiness for the national roll out at Audi Centres across the UK from 17 January 2015.
Utilising the latest 2D and 3D augmented reality as well as virtual reality, the full range of innovative technology that the versatile A3 Sportback e-tron has to offer is depicted through a suite of immersive digital platforms. The A3 Sportback e-tron will also be in situ ‘in the metal’.
Customers can go on a virtual test drive of the very first Audi production plug-in hybrid electric car using Oculus Rift headsets, learn about the benefits of the four different drive modes available (including an electric-only mode and a hybrid charging mode) on the A3 Sportback e-tron, as well as personally configure their own bespoke model using the Audi Explorer App and Audi Mileage Tracker App. Additionally, the Audi connect app will enable owners of the car to control a variety of functions, such as the charging system via their smartphones.
The ground-breaking store compliments the cutting-edge performance of the A3 Sportback e-tron, which promotes mobility without compromise and is the first electric car of any kind to be derived from a UK best-selling premium hatchback. It couples a 75kW electric motor with a 150 PS 1.4 TFSI petrol engine, delivering the potential for up to 176mpg with CO2 emissions of just 37g/km. During a recent test drive in Vienna, the car drove 41 miles of a 55-mile city trip with zero emissions.
Drivers who have already made the transition to an electric car and who park it at Westfield Stratford while they visit the pop-up store will be able to take advantage of six free charging bays courtesy of Audi from 12 January to 8 February.
The Audi pop-up shop will open seven days a week for four weeks until 8 February – 1000 to 2100hrs from Monday to Friday, 0900hrs to 2100hrs on Saturday and mid-day to 1800hrs on Sunday.
Audi UK partnered with SOMO, its digital agency, to deliver the five new technology installations.[wzslider height=”400″ lightbox=”true”]
Jan 13, 2015 Blagojce Krivevski
Samsung SDI Shows Of EV Batteries and High-tech Materials in Detroit2016 Volt's All-new Voltec Propulsion System - Full Details [video]
2017 Audi A3 Sportback e-tron priced from $38,900 before incentives
Volkswagen Group to Offer 14 Models with Electric Drive by 2014
Blagojce Krivevski
Blagojce Krivevski is physicist and green technology lover. Keep in touch with Blagojce through his email, web site, Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook and Google+.
January 13, 2015 Electric Car NewsA3 E-TRON, A3 Sportback e-tron, Audi A3 E-TRON, Audi A3 Sportback e-tron
Kia e-Niro wins Affordable Electric Car Of The Year at Auto Express New Car Awards 2019
Survey: More Than 1.5 Million UK Households Could Switch To An Electric Car Today Without Compromise
PHEV vans present practical, accessible solution for cleaner air in European cities, study suggests
There are More Than 68,800 EV Charging Units in the United States
ElectricCarsReport.com is a website dedicated to pure electric vehicles and the full range of consumer information and tools about electric cars, green technology energy, and the environment.
Sign up for our newsletter to receive the latest news and event postings.
Archives Select Month July 2019 (29) June 2019 (83) May 2019 (103) April 2019 (100) March 2019 (109) February 2019 (93) January 2019 (103) December 2018 (88) November 2018 (100) October 2018 (99) September 2018 (95) August 2018 (76) July 2018 (77) June 2018 (79) May 2018 (90) April 2018 (83) March 2018 (99) February 2018 (88) January 2018 (102) December 2017 (97) November 2017 (83) October 2017 (116) September 2017 (107) August 2017 (82) July 2017 (92) June 2017 (104) May 2017 (116) April 2017 (110) March 2017 (99) February 2017 (81) January 2017 (85) December 2016 (77) November 2016 (85) October 2016 (81) September 2016 (96) August 2016 (75) July 2016 (60) June 2016 (59) May 2016 (71) April 2016 (70) March 2016 (78) February 2016 (67) January 2016 (61) December 2015 (55) November 2015 (66) October 2015 (83) September 2015 (75) August 2015 (69) July 2015 (70) June 2015 (64) May 2015 (75) April 2015 (81) March 2015 (109) February 2015 (72) January 2015 (82) December 2014 (60) November 2014 (72) October 2014 (72) September 2014 (71) August 2014 (69) July 2014 (76) June 2014 (70) May 2014 (83) April 2014 (72) March 2014 (88) February 2014 (64) January 2014 (67) December 2013 (60) November 2013 (82) October 2013 (76) September 2013 (95) August 2013 (64) July 2013 (69) June 2013 (67) May 2013 (86) April 2013 (77) March 2013 (70) February 2013 (69) January 2013 (63) December 2012 (55) November 2012 (65) October 2012 (54) September 2012 (70) August 2012 (62) July 2012 (68) June 2012 (63) May 2012 (54) April 2012 (41) March 2012 (58) February 2012 (34) January 2012 (37) December 2011 (43) November 2011 (59) October 2011 (47) September 2011 (45) August 2011 (45) July 2011 (45) June 2011 (38) May 2011 (44) April 2011 (41) March 2011 (44) February 2011 (40) January 2011 (49) December 2010 (43) November 2010 (45) October 2010 (41) September 2010 (63) August 2010 (34) July 2010 (46) June 2010 (44) May 2010 (49) April 2010 (62) March 2010 (60) February 2010 (39) January 2010 (15)
2019 © ElectricCarsReport.com | All Rights Reserved.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line721
|
__label__wiki
| 0.923105
| 0.923105
|
13 Tennis Books That Weren’t Written by David Foster Wallace
A guide to U.S. Open reading that’s not the same old stuff by and about white men
Pooja Makhijani is the editor of Under Her Skin: How Girls Experience Race in America, an anthology of essays by women that explores the complex ways in which race shapes American lives and families. She is also the author of Mama’s Saris, a picture book. Her bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Village Voice, The Washington Post, NPR, and The Atlantic among others.
Every year, at the start of the U.S. Open—the final grand slam of the year, held at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens—newspapers and magazines and the internet recommend books about tennis. But year after year, the same white male writers appear on those lists: David Foster Wallace, Martin Amis, John McPhee, Vladimir Nabokov.
I adore Wallace’s seminal essay, “Roger Federer as Religious Experience,” first published in the New York Times Magazine and anthologized in String Theory. I think McPhee’s Levels of the Game, an account of the 1968 match between Arthur Ashe and Clark Graebner at Forest Hills, is a classic. But I often long for tennis writing that’s a little less dude-bro, you know? If you’re looking for more of a Serena Williams vibe than a John McEnroe, here are 13 books — narrative nonfiction, memoir, mystery, romance, picture book — to read during the tournament.
1. Days of Grace by Arthur Ashe and Arnold Rampersad
Days of Grace traces the final years of this champion’s life — Arthur Ashe was the first Black man to win singles’ titles at Wimbledon, the French Open and the U.S. Open — and reflects on sports, race, patriotism, family, and terminal illness. Co-written with Arnold Rampersad, who “defined the field of African-American literary biography” and is known for his works on Langston Hughes, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Jackie Robinson among others, Days of Grace is a courageous and honest narrative by an outstanding human being.
2. Martina & Chrissie: The Greatest Rivalry in the History of Sports by Phil Bildner, illustrated by Brett Helquist
I have a five-year-old with an interest in tennis — she watches Grand Slam tennis with me, and took her first lessons this summer — and she loves this one, with its brilliant acrylic-and-oil illustrations. Not only is this picture book detailed and informative, but it also covers both Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert’s on-court rivalry and their off-court friendship.
3. A Necessary Spectacle: Billie Jean King, Bobby Riggs, and the Tennis Match that Leveled the Game by Selena Roberts
In this journalistic account, New York Times columnist Roberts draws connections from 1973’s Battle of the Sexes, a “spectacle” between washed-up champion Bobby Riggs and tennis legend and advocate for gender equality Billie Jean King, to the rise of women’s sports since that match.
4. The Tennis Partner by Abraham Verghese
This moving memoir is about a relationship between two men who are deeply hurting: Verghese, a physician whose marriage has unraveled, and David, a student on his rotation who is a former professional tennis player from Australia and battling drug and alcohol addiction. The pair begin a tennis ritual and find true friendship and safety in a sport they love.
5. Sudden Death by Álvaro Enrigue, translated by Natasha Wimmer
The central narrative of this surreal novel by an award-winning Mexican writer is a fictional 16th-century tennis match played between the Spanish poet Francisco de Quevedo and the Italian painter Caravaggio. The ball is made from the hair of King Henry VIII’s beheaded wife, Anne Boleyn. Sudden Death not only tells the history of tennis, but also reimagines the Spanish colonization of the Americas; it is a brilliant and bold book.
6. 40 Love by Madeleine Wickham
I admit: I am a big fan of Sophie Kinsella’s Shopaholic series, having read the first two while stranded on the tarmac at Beijing Capital International Airport for nine hours during an unexpected snowstorm. In 40 Love, Kinsella—writing as Madeline Wickham—skewers the nouveau riche in a comedy of manners about a weekend “tennis party” in the English countryside.
7. The Tennis Player from Bermuda by Fiona Hodgkin
In this historical fiction novel written as memoir, “Fiona Hodgkin,” the nom de plume of an American writer, tells the story of her brief but eventful career as an amateur tennis player in the early 1960s. Bermudian teenager Hodgkin dreams of playing in the Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Cricket Club in Wimbledon, and finally gets her chance when a telegram (!) arrives inviting her to play. This light read is well-researched, and full of terms and techniques and historical references.
8. Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine
This isn’t a tennis book, per se, but chapter two of this National Book Award finalist is a brilliant and arresting poetic meditation on tennis’ GOAT (greatest of all time), Serena Williams, and Black excellence in tennis—including racist public critiques of Williams’ body, her confidence, and even expressions of her joy. A companion New York Times Magazine piece is also a must-read.
9. Sudden Death by Rita Mae Brown
The famed feminist screenwriter Rita Mae Brown was Martina Navratilova’s ex-lover, and this novel is a total roman à clef. According to Brown, speaking to the Washington Post in 1981, “She just walked out on me.” The book follows the romance of Argentinian rising tennis star, Carmen Semana, and her devoted partner, professor Harriet Rawls, from the French Open to Wimbledon, and finds its emotional center when Susan Reilly, Carmen’s arch-rival and former lover, leaks word of Carmen’s relationship with Harriet to the press.
10. The Total Zone (plus Breaking Point and Killer Instinct) by Martina Navratilova and Liz Nickles
This trio of mystery novels stars retired tennis professional Jordan Myles, who solves a bevy of unbelievable murders at Wimbledon (Total Zone), the French Open (Breaking Point) and at a host of tournaments in the United States (Killer Instinct). Admittedly, the pacing is meh and the plots are zany, but the trilogy does reveal saucy details about secrets and sleaze on the women’s tour from one of the game’s legends.
11. The Love Game: Being the Life Story of Marcelle Penrose by Suzanne Lenglen
Lenglen was the diva of her day, and won 31 titles between 1914 and 1926. Her Edith Wharton-esque novel, set on the French Riviera, tells of the machinations of matches and match-making among traditional Victorian bourgeois woman. This entertaining novel features tennis, but also spurned proposals, engineered meetings, arranged marriages, and unrequited love; in Lenglen’s words, it is all “a great game.”
12. Tennis Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
Another children’s book, Tennis Shoes, one of the “Shoes” collection of adventures (Ballet Shoes, Theater Shoes, Circus Shoes, etc.), follows the hijinks of four red-headed Heath children, whose father and grandfather were top players, on their quest to win “a championship which no one of [their] age has ever won before.” It is a charming book about family and perseverance, and very funny if didactic in parts.
13. Love Game: A History of Tennis, from Victorian Pastime to Global Phenomenon by Elizabeth Wilson.
In this cursory history of tennis’ transformation from “provocative” pastime for “dandies” and women who felt constricted by Victorian mores to corporatized global sport, fashion writer and novelist, Elizabeth Wilson, examines the wider cultural landscape of tennis, rather than its point-by-point history and includes a solid account of modern day tennis’ many injustices — elitism, sexism and racism.
Sometimes a Rash Refuses to Heal
Four poems by Erin Malone
Aug 28 - Okey-Panky Read
What it Takes to Win the World’s Loneliest Horse Race
Halimah Marcus talks to Lara Prior-Palmer, the youngest woman to win the Mongol Derby
May 14 - Halimah Marcus
9 Books About Alaska for People with Iditarod Fever
Caroline Van Hemert, author of “The Sun is a Compass,” recommends books by Alaskans about the Last Frontier
Mar 18 - Caroline Van Hemert
Elizabeth McCracken’s “Bowlaway” Is a Charming, Quirky Family Saga About Love and Bowling
The author on how women throughout history have adjusted to make space for themselves
Feb 4 - Katy Hershberger
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line722
|
__label__wiki
| 0.599104
| 0.599104
|
The Black Fox of Beckham
Set in the village of Beckham, nestled in the English countryside, where fox hunting has been a way of life for hundreds of years, a rare black fox is spotted shortly before the opening of the hunt season. The Beckhamshire County Hunt Club seizes on the opportunity to exploit a long history of sinister legends concerning black foxes in order to generate interest in the hunt and raise money for a sport that a growing segment of the population regard as cruel. The disturbing stories about black foxes quickly spread through the village and surrounding countryside, igniting rumors of an evil black fox and its witch handler. The master of foxhounds vows to track down and kill the now infamous “black fox of Beckham.” But this fox has embraced the guidance of her father before he was killed by hunters. “What makes you different also makes you powerful.” Arabella, the black fox, is befriended by kindred spirits: the autistic daughter of the secretary of the hunt, and a reclusive Gypsy widow who is regarded by many as suspicious. The three proudly brand themselves “the peculiars” and promise to end fox hunting in England.
The Black Fox of Beckham is a tale for young adult readers about winning at any cost, superstition, prejudice and being different and the magic of friendship.
A tapestry of intrigue, wit, drama and dare that enthralls the reader from start to finish.
Reviewed By Piaras O Cionnaoith for Emerald Book Reviews
We all like to read them at some stage, and many of us are so influenced by a good story that we adopt life changes to match. True stories and biographies are obviously the most inspirational, but there are also fictional stories that can be just as inspiring. And for me THE BLACK FOX OF BECKHAM is such a story.
Fox hunting is a traditional and royal hunting sport, popularized all over the world by the British. Hunting dogs or foxhounds are trained to chase and attack foxes from their hiding places, and these are followed by hunters on the horses.
The nature of fox hunting has strong associations with tradition and social class, and its practice for sport has made it a source of great controversy. There are those who have a moral objection to hunting and who are fundamentally opposed to the idea of people gaining pleasure from what they regard as the causing of unnecessary suffering.
BLACK FOX OF BECKHAM is an emotional, spiritual and poignant tale with intriguing twists and turns that will easily captivate the reader’s attention from the beginning. The author paints a dramatic and riveting tale of the fox hunt in a very vivid and convincing way. In addition, the characters are drawn with great credibility and conviction. It’s a fast-paced novel that will keep you engaged from the first page to the last. It’s a story of ‘winning at any cost, superstition, prejudice and being different and the magic of friendship.’
The story had every element a good story should have. An intriguing plot, attention to detail, but best of all fleshed out, well-written and well-rounded character development. There’s an abundance of well-illustrated scenes that make you feel like you are right there in the story, and that’s something I really look for in a good book. It’s one of those stories that come along once in a while that makes you want to read it non-stop until you get to the end. I’m giving nothing further away here. And this, I hope, will only add to the mystery and enjoyment for the reader!
This is a tapestry of intrigue, wit, drama and dare that enthralls the reader from start to finish. A highly recommended read and a well deserved five stars from me.
David L. Heaney has spent his career helping individuals and organizations discover and pursue their own special transformational paths. He received a bachelor’s degree from State University of New York at Purchase, a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy from the University of San Diego, and a master’s degree from the Divinity School at Yale University.
Heaney has served as a parish minister, psychotherapist, and instructor with the University of San Diego’s Marital and Family Therapy program. His work over the course of nearly twenty years as an Episcopal pastor and family systems therapist has given him great insight into the psychological, spiritual, and social factors that drive individuals, families, and communities. He is cofounder of the Social Assistance Partnership, an entity that assists health and human-service organizations.
Heaney lives with his wife, Lynda, and their three dogs in Durham, North Carolina.
Tags: YA Fiction
← Mylee in the Mirror (Greek Mythology Fantasy Series Book 2) Fountain of Youth →
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line723
|
__label__cc
| 0.684544
| 0.315456
|
Tag Archives: Crime
International Play-Offs
Posted on September 14, 2014 by emilykmorrison
Well, I can hardly believe it, but this is the very last book of this Placing Myself literary journey around England and, funnily enough, I really have come full circle in many ways. From the first moment I let it be known that I would be challenging myself to read one book from every ceremonial county of England, it has been from the Cornish that I received the most interest, feedback and, occasionally, criticism. Cornwall, many stipulate, is not a county of England, but a Duchy, with an unique historical and cultural identity, rights to political and social autonomy from Westminster, and, overall, a thriving Cornish nationalist movement.
Alan M. Kent’s “Proper Job! Charlie Curnow”
So because of all this interest, I’ve been dying to reach Cornwall on this fictional journey since… well, since I was all the way up in Northumberland! The author I have chosen – Alan M. Kent – was nominated by several of my Cornish commenters as someone who identifies himself as Cornish, rather than English or British, and I am so glad I followed the suggestion, for Proper Job! Charlie Curnow has been an outstanding 5/5 star read. Here’s why.
The novel is set on a dirty and dangerous estate called Trelawny, “a shite-hole right at the arse-end of Britain” (12), where live Charlie Curnow and almost all of his friends. From the outset, Cornwall is shown to be a far cry from the stereotypical “fuckers’ holiday destination” that is “always sunny, had kids playin’ in rockpools an’ makin’ sandcastles [and] every cunt walked around smilin’ an’ happy t’live in social deprivation” (122). Instead Kent’s Cornwall, and Charlie’s estate in particular, is filled with “the usual proliferation of dog shit, burnt tarmac, rubbish and broken fences” (11), and most people, young and old, are “on the dole” since all the work in Cornwall was “shite”, seasonal and unpredictable, “either selling fuckin’ ice creams t’cunts down Portreath, or else bagging groceries for second-home owners in Sainsburys” (9). In summary, Charlie and his peers sometimes “hated Cornwall”, colonised as it is by outsiders and tourists (otherwise known as “emmets” (37) from “up the line” (27)). Moreover, these tourists, just like the media and (apparently) the Westminster government, are entirely ignorant of Cornwall’s real battles against drugs and poverty, and the seeming impossibility of establishing “social cohesion” (9).
Filled with frustration at their poor state of affairs, and sick of being on the dole with no hope of a brighter future in sight, Charlie and his friends Yak, Neil and Bev decide to take their fate in their own hands and form a band. Not just a wimpy, lacklustre, cover-songs-only, teenage-years-style band, either; rather, through the combination of good musical talent and hard writing/gigging/practising, they are determined to develop a rock band that will “make the fuckin’ scene” in Cornwall, and “take the world hold by the bollocks” (20) to prove that the county can produce much more than just “clotted fuckin’ cream” (19) and so-called “Cornish butter” (27).
Cornish author of this novel, Alan. M. Kent – an expert on all things relating to Cornish literary and historical culture, apparently.
As much as Charlie and his friends might profess to ‘hating’ Cornwall, therefore, they are also incredibly proud and nationalistic about their home, aiming to prove that both it and they themselves are worthy of having a definitive place “on the map” (56). Charlie, in particular, is aware (even through all the Trelawny grime and misery) of the truth behind the stereotypical observations of “Cornwall’s ancient and romantic landscape” (7) and the “noble tradition[s]” (37) that are part and parcel of Cornwall historical, Celtic identity; he notices the beauty of the “frost in the air and the moon […] over Carn Brea (18). He knows that “Cornwall used t’be fuckin’ called West Barbary n’people from up the line reckoned we was fuckin’ savages”, and so wants the band to develop a modern identity that is just as “intense…it’s gotta’ reflect where we’re from” (65-6).
There is still a great difference between Charlie’s nationalistic feelings and those of the “fuckin’ middle-class beardie-weirdies” who “sat ‘round an’ lamented lost olde worlde Cornwall” and had “fuck-all else t’do but argue over spellings o’place-names” (128). He has no real interest in their version of Cornwall’s identity, or even of learning the Cornish language which “sounded unnatural as fuck” (133) to him. But, as the band garners more and more interest and success, Charlie is proud to feel like Cornwall is becoming “the centre o’the world” again, “not just some forgotten piece o’it” (226). Heck, “if the bus driver t’Trelawny knew” of Charlie’s band, then that’s all he needs to know that “he’s made it. He knew it had been a proper bleddy job” (246).
Cornwall (aka Kernow – Charlie’s surname!) “must have political recognition as a nation”, some argue
Kent is an absolute master of describing Cornwall’s various, conflicting and yet co-existing identities, which appear through perspectives ranging from the supremely nationalistic (as the “’Free Cornwall’ graffiti” [33] around the estate attests to) to the blissfully ignorant of any political undercurrents in the youth- and surfer-paradise. Crucially, there is no single version of Cornwall that its inhabitants and all-important seasonal visitors can agree on. Just as, I suppose, throughout this challenge there have been multiple embodiments of Englishness too. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
For now, Kent makes important political points about the subjugation, simplification and homogenisation of Cornish culture. By centring his novel around modern youth, he is also able to showcase the crisis the generation faces in growing up in a county that cannot define itself as it wishes to. Charlie’s efforts to establish himself among his peers and his compatriots reflects Cornwall’s own need, as Kent seems to see it, to redefine itself on its own terms. After all, it is the county’s outsiders (whether that be tourists, national media or Westminster) who insist on perceiving Cornwall in a single, sunny light and who ignore any pressing news that may jeopardise this idyllic vision. Neil and Yak put it plainly when they say:
“I mean it’s hard fur people in Cornwall to be proud o’who they are, ‘cause no fucker on tv has a Cornish accent. You’n be fuckin’ Irish, or Scottish, or Scouse or fuckin’ Geordie – an’ everyone thinks you’m cool, but if y’speak like we, no fucker wants t’knaw ‘ee […] Up the line they think we all have straw ‘angin’ out o’our mouths an’ spend the days makin’ clotted fuckin’ cream” (19).
Stereotypical Cornwall – beachy holiday destination. This is a far cry from the poverty-stricken perception Charlie has of his home.
I’m so glad I have managed to end this challenge on a high, with a book that I enjoyed. Now all that’s left is for me to summarise the year’s reading. With the Scottish referendum well on the way, I’d better get going! See you soon.
KENT, Alan M. Proper Job, Charlie Curnow! London: Devon, 2005.
Featured Image: Cornish Nationalists protest to be seen as a people distinct from the English and from the UK. This year, Cornish was finally recognised as an official ‘national minority’ (like Scots, Welsh and Irish) but, for many, this doesn’t go far enough.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/cornish-people-formally-declared-a-national-minority-along-with-scots-welsh-and-irish-9278725.html
Posted in 5 Stars ***** - Amazing | Tagged Alan M Kent, Band, Beach, Belonging, Bildungsroman, Britain, British Empire, Charlie Curnow, Class, Coast, Cornish, Cornwall, county cornwall, Crime, Drugs, England, Estate, Fiction, Holiday, Home, Independence, Middle Class, Music, Performance, Poverty, Seaside, Westminster, Working Class, Youth | Leave a reply
The River Flows
Posted on August 29, 2014 by emilykmorrison
Eva Ibbotson’s “The Dragonfly Pool”
When I was young – around the 8 or 9 mark – my absolute favourite book for a long time, and over very many readings, was Eva Ibbotson’s Journey to the River Sea. I remember this vividly, as I remember clinging to the book’s pages and several of its characters vividly, but the actual detail of the story I have long since forgotten. Or so I thought.
Looking up plot summaries of it recently, I am astonished to find how much of the story strikes chords in the depths of my memory: English orphan Maia is sent away to long-lost and unpleasant relatives in the Amazon region of Brazil, where she meets and adventures with several other children – both Amazonian and European – before they join together to carry out their escape from their discontented lives. I am secretly pleased to recognise even at that age my passion for books about far-flung journeys and other cultures. And perhaps the plot had a subconscious effect on me too, before I reminded myself of the content of the story: I’ve just married my very own Brazilian, after all, having fallen in love with both him and his country!
Anyway, when I was researching books for this challenge last year, and saw that another of Eva Ibbotson’s children’s books, The Dragonfly Pool, met my conditions for the county of Devon, I absolutely couldn’t resist. There are a great many similarities between the plotlines and characters.
Eva Ibbotson’s “Journey to the River Sea”, one of my childhood favourites and winner of the Smarties Prize in 2001
The Dragonfly Pool begins in London, just before the outbreak of the Second World War. Precocious, young Tally Hamilton lives happily in the city with her loving father, a respected doctor, and her aunts. However, when Mr Hamilton is offered a scholarship, by a grateful patient, for his daughter to attend a fine boarding school in Devon, his concern for her safety in the impending war overrules his desire to keep Tally near him. Although initially resistant to the idea of leaving behind all she knows and loves, Tally is sent off by train to the relaxed, fun-loving, if “strange and slightly mad” (62)
Delderton Hall. And she grows to absolutely adore it, falling in love with its unique natural surroundings, so different to what she had been used to in the city:
“There was no lovelier place in England: a West Country valley with a wide river flowing between rounded hills towards the sea. Sheltered from the north winds, everything grew at Delderton: primroses and violets in the meadows; campions and bluebells in the woods and, later in the year, foxgloves and willowherb. A pair of otters lived in the river, kingfishers skimmed the water and russet Devon cows, the same colour as the soil, grazed the fields and wandered like cows in Paradise. But it was children, not cows or kingfishers, that Delderton mainly grew.” (35)
Although the novel unfortunately does not provide much description of Devon, the county is set up as a safe and romantic backdrop where freedom reigns and children flourish. Against its green countryside, “it was easy to forget […] that Britain and France and so many of the free people of the world were in danger. Here in Devon we were unlikely to be bombed […] but we must be ready to do everything to help the war effort if the worst happened” (54). Domestic staff are being called up, radio broadcasts talk gravely about the political situation, and picture-houses show newsreels featuring Hitler’s fearsome visage and harsh foreign commands.
One view of the Devonshire countryside that Tally falls in love with
But Ibbotson does not tell a Blyton-esque story of a boarding school’s efforts to withstand the war; she instead catalogues the children’s adventures around the grounds and on an overseas school trip to a folk-dancing competition held in the central-European Kingdom of Bergania (a Kingdom also beset by but so far proudly resisting Hitler’s threats). Soon, this develops into a mission to rescue the orphaned and mortally endangered Prince of Bergania, a modest and lonely boy called Karil. It is all slightly bizarre, but lives up to themes I recognise and appreciate of Ibbotson: themes of foreign journeys, children’s decision-making and agency, and of the hills and valleys of Devon (and Bergania, for that matter) being just as part of the children’s lives as their friendships.
A still of Hitler from a Nazi newsreel, like those seen by Tally in the novel.
I enjoyed the book, but I think that even had I read it at age 9, it would not have captured my imagination quite as much as Journey to the River Sea did. In truth, I was disappointed that the plot and setting were not more original – I wonder what percentage of children’s books are based around their antics during boarding school life…80%? 90? – and even with a couple of mentions of the impending war, the folk-dancing set-up in Bergania seems too trivial and far-fetched to give credit to Tally’s determination to attend and to rescue Karil.
I simply did not connect to the characters or to the landscapes that Ibbotson creates here. Part of the problem is that Tally, for one, is entirely confident and level-headed; she is not a sympathetic character, or one in need of her friends’ or a reader’s support in overcoming the obstacles set out in front of her. What is more, the obstacles – whether German officers or cruel, stuffy Englishmen or the challenges of war itself – hardly seem to faze the children in their exploits. Everything seems a bit too easy to overcome. I really think Ibbotson is missing a trick here; unlike in Journey to the River Sea, there are no vulnerabilities in the characters or challenging moments in the plot that young readers can catch hold of, be gripped by or dwell on; there is no chance to will the protagonists onward in their struggle because, before you know it, they’ve succeeded in another aspect of it. Overall, as a child or as an adult, I rate it 2/5 stars.
Author Eva Ibbotson
This novel certainly has not put me off Ibbotson, however. I look forward to reading some of her other work – aimed variously at children, young adults and adults – whilst knowing that it is for Journey to the River Sea that she received most critical acclaim, winning the Smarties Prize in 2001 and being highly commended for the Guardian, Carnegie and Whitbread Awards. I am truly sad to learn that Ibbotson died in 2010, and feel that I should have known this at the time: it is like losing a childhood heroin.
Next time I’ll be reviewing my very last book ever for this literary challenge around England! It’s Proper Job, Charlie Curnow! By Alan M. Kent, a Cornish writer. Stay tuned for that, as well as my subsequent summary of my favourite books and lessons from the whole year of reading.
IBBOTSON, Eva. The Dragonfly Pool. Oxford: Macmillan, 2009.
Featured Image: Liechtenstein countryside – some readers believe it to be the inspiration for Ibbotson’s Kingdom of Bergania.
http://blog.011now.com/category/travel/page/4/
Posted in 2 Stars ** - Average | Tagged Aristocracy, Aristocrat, Belonging, Bergania, Bildungsroman, Britain, British Empire, City, Country, Countryside, Crime, Death, Devon, England, Estate, Europe, Eva Ibbotson, Evacuation, Family, Fantasy, Fiction, Folk, Folklore, Home, Journey to the River Sea, London, Murder, Myth, Nature, Patriotism, School, Second World War, Tally Hamilton, The Dragonfly Pool, War, World War Two | Leave a reply
Teenage Boredom Personified
Posted on July 19, 2014 by emilykmorrison
Alecia Stone’s “The Talisman of El”
You know what? Some books on this literary challenge have really made me question my own belief system. Before I started this year, I was utterly convinced that I enjoyed reading fantasy fiction, whether it be YA or adult (I really don’t care which). Mind, I haven’t ever read a whole lot of it – my experience has mainly been limited to J. K. Rowling, Anthony Horowitz and J. R. R. Tolkien (all gods in their own right) – but from what little knowledge I had garnered previously, I thought the genre was a definite goer. But my goodness, since starting this challenge I have realised that the three authors listed above are simply exceptions: for the large part, I really cannot stand fantasy fiction, whether it be Jannicke Howard’s zombie apocalypse, Peter Hamilton’s science fiction, or Alecia Stone’s The Talisman of El, set in the small town of Capeton in West Sussex, which is what I read this week.
I can only assume that it’s my loss that I don’t ‘get’ this novel: it has been ranked fairly highly by a fair number of people (admittedly, seemingly as the result of some sort of book giveaway and thanks to reviews from the author herself) on Goodreads. Well, I warn you now, if I have any influence at all, the average rating is surely going to plummet.
Charlie Blake is 14 years old and has been in care for a long, long time, since the untimely death of his parents. What details do we have of Charlie’s background, his memories of his parents or any emotions attached to his childhood development? None at all, except that Charlie somehow managed to pre-empt his father’s death in a dream. Clumsy and convenient foreshadowing? Methinks so. Anyway, suddenly, out of the blue, Jacob someone-or-other has agreed to foster Charlie and things appear to be looking up: this is a man that is caring and emotional, especially when it comes to comforting Charlie after his continuing nightmares…oh, wait, no, he’s actually a murderous villain who blackmails Charlie into burgling people’s houses for him. Why? No idea. But anyway, stereotypical bad guy checkpoint reached.
West Sussex, on the south coast of England
Next thing on the fantasy fiction checklist: Charlie needs a sidekick if he is to successfully fight evil on the side of good. This is Alex, his teenage crush from his new school with whom he has awkward and stilted conversation for the whole of the novel. I don’t think it’s meant to be stilted and awkward, but rather witty and flirtatious…the less said about this novelistic failure the better.
Gradually, through this friendship, plus the arrival of some others (a homeless boy called Richmond – completely inconsequential to the story but apparently necessary to provide irritating and down-with-the-kids banter – and Derkein, who introduces Charlie & co. to the confusing, fantastical, parallel world of Arcadia) it is revealed that Charlie can predict the future, talk to animals, has a natural aptitude for all languages and is, in fact, not of this world at all. Dur.
There are several types of fantastical creature introduced to the reader on the youths’ quest for understanding – a quest which takes them to the centre of the Earth. No, really. It’s not even hot there or anything.
There are also several mythologies introduced – including Christian mythology (hint: a Jesus-the-Messiah type hero-complex and a Garden-of-Eden type knowledge-is-evil tedium) – which are very, very weird. Nothing really makes enough sense or is interesting enough to be recounted here. To be honest, it is a load of irritating rubbish. 1 star, and let’s be done.
Author Alecia Stone with her novel
In terms of any apparent West-Sussexness associated with the book, Charlie finds that the adults around him are all too pleased to be in the countryside away from “all that city noise” (15), whereas his peers can’t stand that “there’s nothing to do here but surf the net. It’s dead boring” (24). I suppose I could say something symbolic about the parallel universes experienced by children/adults – i.e. how each generation experiences the same locality in different ways – but the novel doesn’t really inspire that much interest within me. Stone simply emphasises the countryside around Capeton, where it was “seventy percent woodland and thirty percent civilisation” (61) and where the houses “looked like something out of a fairytale” (125). Fairly non-descript, as you can see.
Next week I’ll be reading The Half-Forgotten Song by Katherine Webb. I loved her The Legacy, so I hope good things are in store once again. Join me then 🙂
STONE, Alecia. The Talisman of El. London: Centrinian, 2012
Featured Image: Tree tunnel, Halnaker, West Sussex
http://travel-fashion-sports.tumblr.com/
Posted in 1 Star * - Not My Thing | Tagged Alecia Stone, Alien, Arcadia, Belonging, Bildungsroman, Britain, Capeton, Christianity, City, Country, Countryside, Creature, Crime, Death, England, Family, Fantasy, fantasy fiction, Fiction, Folklore, Home, J. R. R. Tolkien, Murder, Mystery, Myth, Nightmare, Teenage, The Talisman, Universe, War, West Sussex, Young Adult | Leave a reply
Piering Forwards
Dorothy Koomson’s “The Ice Cream Girls”
When ITV dramatized Dorothy Koomson’s novel, The Ice Cream Girls, into a 3-part television series in 2013, I deliberately abstained from watching it in order to read the book first. I am frankly relieved that I have finally found an excuse to pick it up, thanks to this literary challenge. The novel is set mainly in Brighton, in East Sussex and deals with the complex relationship between two women, hardly more than mere strangers to one another, who were nevertheless thrown together in a series of dark events during their adolescence, the consequences of which are still wreaking havoc around them 20 years later.
Serena, brought up comfortably in a middle-class home, the daughter of a lawyer and with a bright future ahead of her, catches the attention of her history teacher Mr Marcus Halnsley at age 14. Serena’s naiveté and insecurity instantly become food for Marcus’ ego; he abuses his position to weave her into his paedophilic web of sex, fear, violence and manipulation. Moreover, he uses Serena’s teenage capacity for self-loathing to turn her into his slave – she is desperate to please him and far too scared and dependent on him to flee. At the same time, Serena truly believes she and Marcus are in love.
Much to her horror, however, Marcus soon takes another innocent under his spine-chilling wing – Poppy – who is Serena’s opposite on the social spectrum, being from a working-class, unwelcoming home, but who is similarly tricked into believing Marcus’ lies. Marcus pits Serena and Poppy against each other – the pair meet occasionally, converse rarely, compete for Marcus’ ‘affection’ always.
Brighton once state-of-the-art West Pier, opened in 1866 but closed and subsequently left to ruin in 1975.
Then a dreadful accident happens. Before they know it, both girls – now 18 and 19 – are being trialled for Marcus’ murder. Each girl blames the other. But eventually, Poppy is incarcerated for twenty years, while Serena goes free.
Twenty years later, Poppy is freed and returns to Brighton, desperate to punish Serena; Serena, meanwhile, dreads the resurrection of the past and its impacts on the lives of her husband and children. But will the truth ever come out?
Sticks of sweet Brighton rock
I think anyone would agree (despite how poorly I may have summarised it myself) that the plot is a desperately gripping and original one. In particular, the abusive relationship the girls find themselves in is constructed so chillingly as to stay with the reader long after the novel ends. It is, in fact, difficult to describe the tools Koomson uses to build Marcus’ fortress of fear: it is not so much the language of cruelty he uses, or the dreadful things he does, but rather the whole atmosphere of terror that keeps Poppy and Serena glued to him. Indeed, I suspect that this portrait of abusive relationships is incredibly realistic – Koomson has discussed the large number of harrowing real-life stories she listened to whilst researching the book – and is what leads to the fact that outsiders (in the novel’s case, the jury in the murder trial) are unable to understand why the girls did not simply walk away. In contrast, the reader cannot but understand, being wrapped up in their emotions so vividly.
I loved the character of Poppy too, as someone recently released from prison and whose struggle to belong in the modern, unfamiliar world is just as difficult as her struggle to make sense of the past, and of the fact that she has, unjustifiably, had her whole youth stolen from her. “For a very long time,” Poppy narrates, “I thought the sky was that square of patchwork quilt because it was all I could see from most of the prison cells I’ve lived in” (25). But the sky is not square and the world is not of manageable, reasonable size; coming out into the real world Poppy is stunned at the “titanic sky, gigantic world, dazzling daylight, swarming streets […] People think that prisons are overcrowded, but this is overcrowded. This is like being trapped inside a swarm of insects. Everyone so close and big and moving, moving, moving” (25-6). Koomson paints her as dark, bitter and vengeful – all the characteristics you might expect from someone who has been wronged in life – and yet Poppy is also shown to be filled with the same innocence and vulnerability as she exhibited through her teenage years. Overall, Poppy is a marvellously complex and believable character.
Soft serve ice cream, against Brighton Pier
Serena is less engaging. She has spent the last twenty years attending university, meeting her husband, having children and moving on with her life. Of course, she experiences constant fear of the past coming back to haunt her, and occasionally relives Marcus’ cruelty in uncontrollable flashbacks, but with a new name and Poppy (as well as the truth) locked up far away, she has had a much easier time of managing her recovery. Or, perhaps, she has simply delayed facing up to what happened.
Either way, I was ever so slightly disappointed with Serena as a character and the girls’ relationship. I wanted Serana’s dread of Poppy to be more apparent. I wanted to find, stifled somewhere deep within Serena, the same darkness that Poppy has grown to exhibit on the surface. I wanted their relationship to be more hateful, suspenseful, painful and yet also more closely interdependent – after all, only these two can know what Marcus did to them and what happened all those years ago. Only they have the capacity to deliver the understanding and empathy towards each other that they so desire from other loved ones in their lives. I think Koomson could definitely have further emphasised this tension, tragedy and irony. If she had done, this novel would have been a knock-out for me.
One more thing the novel does do cleverly, however, particularly in relation to its setting in Brighton, is to invert stereotypes. Upon mentioning Brighton, I’m sure a lot of people (including myself) would recall going on happy school trips or family staycations, being thrilled and goose-pimpled by paddling in the English Channel, clambering over pebbles, eating sticks of rock and having delicious soft serve ice cream cones gobbled from one’s hand by greedy seagulls. In other words, Brighton could very well be the epitome of the English seaside holiday town, couldn’t it?
For Poppy and Serena, who had grown up here, their experience of the town could not be more different. Rather than sea, sand and ice cream being associated with sunny frivolity, Marcus ensures their days out together could be recalled with no emotion except fear. Serena and Poppy are nicknamed “The Ice Cream Girls” by the media following the murder, due to a picture printed of their pair “eating ice cream and wearing […] string bikini[s]” (3): what may have been an iconic holiday image is in fact a memory teeming with hurt. As a result of their experiences, Serena has not been able to face ice cream ever since and Poppy will not let herself, even after her release, “head down to the beach, dip [her] toes in the water, feel the pebbles under [her] feet” (26) or enjoy her surroundings. Brighton holds neither a sense of comfort nor one of touristic allure for them.
Jodhi May, who plays Poppy in ITV’s television adaptation of Koomson’s novel. Having finished the novel, I’ve finally allowed myself to watch it; May is the best thing about it and captures Poppy perfectly.
In this way, Koomson repeatedly problematises the idyllic images of seaside Brighton. All the icons are there – including “Brighton pier […] adored with hundreds upon hundreds of lights” (5) – but their presence is meaningless to the girls, inspiring no sense of pride or belonging. In fact, Poppy all too readily admits “I do not belong in this world any more” (28), while Serena feels out of place in her very self, with the “dark acknowledgement” that she is a black girl “in a predominantly white area” (51-2). Ultimately, and ironically, it is Poppy who seems most likely to recover her sense of normality most quickly, for she eventually admits that in a tourist hub like Brighton she enjoys the fact that she can avoid attention and blend into real life amongst all the different people, for “you have to try really hard to stand out or look out of place” (227).
Overall, this aspect of the book is one of my favourite and one that makes it a perfect read for my challenge: you get a real sense of its Brighton setting and landscape, even though that sense is not quite of the type you might expect. The plot is fantastic, the character of Poppy exceptional – but overall I was left wanting a bit more drama. For me, the novel is 3/5 stars.
Next time I’ll be reviewing Alecia Stone’s The Talisman of El. Keep a lookout!
KOOMSON, Dorothy. The Ice Cream Girls. London: Sphere, 2010.
Featured Image: Brighton Beach with the iconic burnt-out West Pier in the background.
http://www.jurajhrk.co.uk/index.php#mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=16&p=1&a=0&at=0
Posted in 3 Stars *** - Good | Tagged Abuse, Adolescence, Beach, Belonging, Black, Brighton, Brighton Pier, Britain, Channel, Class, Coast, Crime, Death, Domestic Abuse, Dorothy Koomson, East Sussex, England, English, English Channel, Family, Fiction, Home, Ice Cream, Innocence, ITV, Love, Marcus Halnsley, Middle Class, Murder, Mystery, Obsession, Paedophile, Paedophilia, Pebbles, Pier, Poppy, Rape, Sand, Sea, Seaside, Secret, Series, Soft Serve, south, Sun, Teenage, Terrorism, Violence, War, Whippy, White | Leave a reply
Inforestation
Posted on July 3, 2014 by emilykmorrison
Edward Rutherford’s “The Forest”
I was a little bit daunted by this week’s book when it arrived in the post. At around 900 pages, Edward Rutherford’s The Forest is a bit of a tome. However, after a few pages I was excited to find that it continued many of the historical and natural themes present in last week’s The Lives She Left Behind, by James Long, despite being set across the way in Hampshire.
As you might have guessed given this information, the eponymous forest is the New Forest, on the south coast of England, a mere hop skip and a jump away from the Isle of Wight across the Solent. Rutherford tasks himself with recounting the forest’s vast history – or, rather, the history of humankind’s special interaction with it. The novel spans the forest’s initial protection as royal hunting grounds by William the Conqueror after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the year 2000 when its many more visitors are made up of the tourist-and-television-film-crew variety. He follows strands of the same families over these generations: the forest mutates, evolves and adapts to their usage, just as the families themselves develop varying opinions, loyalties, characteristics, statuses and livelihoods in its shadows.
The first Part of the book, for example, takes place in 1099 by telling the story of the Norman infiltration into southern Britain. Against the backdrop of a royal hunt, young Adela (of Norman origins) not only faces becoming embroiled in an assassination attempt on King Rufus, but also falls in love with courtly, Saxon Edgar, whose family has lived in the New Forest for centuries. In short, Adela and Edgar become the ancestors of several other characters in the later story, as do the mysterious, goblin-like, forest-dwelling Puckle and his wife (who are rumoured to be able to wield dangerous magic) and Godwin Pride, a cheeky peasant farmer who constantly tries to extend the boundaries of his smallholding – inch by careful inch, so as to go unnoticed – in order to defy the Norman forest laws.
The Bayeaux Tapestry, depicting the Norman Invasion of England
Jumping to 1204 in the next Part, the reader learns that the ‘new’ Beaulieu monastery has become of prominent importance in the Forest environs. The Pride family still features, this time in the form of Luke Pride. Luke is a trainee monk in the monastery, who accidentally hits another monk and then flees to his sister Mary’s secret protection, believing he has killed the man. Meanwhile, Mary’s other brother, John Pride, gets into a huge disagreement with Mary’s husband, Tom Furzey (watch out for that family name later too) over who has true ownership of a beloved New Forest pony. With all this drama stressing Mary out completely, when another monk Adam shows her sympathy, it ends in them beginning an affair, and therefore procreating another line of characters that feature in various ways in the rest of the novel.
New Forest Pony
It would take me a heck of a long time to summarise each of the very detailed Parts of this novel, but suffice it to say that stories of these family lines continue, through thick and thin and highs and lows, through the Spanish Armada of Elizabeth I’s reign, through the chaos of Cromwell’s uprising, through the rise of south-coast smuggling and the Industrial Revolution. The only constant is the forest; it remains “huge, magnificent, mysterious” (2), never far from people’s minds or sight. Essentially, no matter how much the characters move up or down in the world, no matter how popular or unpopular/fashionable or unfashionable Nature is within English society at certain points in history, the characters are always drawn back in the end, instinctively, to their forest allegiance and ancestral origins.
To be honest, I suppose I shouldn’t really ask for more from a novel for this challenge: Rutherford provides not only a developing picture of the politics, geography and society of the “island of Britain” (5) as a whole, but also concerns himself with the particular and peculiar spread of New Forest towns and hamlets – demonstrating how opinions and industries differ from the rest of “the island Kingdom of England” (267) due specifically to the greater proximity to European and English royal courts, as well as the significant part the region played in naval growth (shipbuilding) and farming practices. All very factual and correct.
But not very engaging.
Toing and froing from a cast of varied characters in the manner of a series of short stories is one thing I found particularly unfulfilling. Characters were not very well developed or relatable. I am inclined to believe this is an intentional styling on Rutherford’s part – he tends to pride his historical elements over the fictional – but it is simply not to my taste. The reading experience was less like diving into a brilliantly-planned Middle Earth-esque world, as I sort of hoped, and more like poring over a historical textbook on Common Law with a few made-up scenarios thrown in. Sure, I found the thing vaguely interesting and admirably researched, but I only consider it bearable since I was skimming every page…very selectively I might add. I think this is probably a love-it-or-hate-it type of thing. Sadly, I’m probably of the latter inclination. 2/5 stars for me, even when I consider the amazing amount of effort that has surely gone into it.
The beautiful New Forest
Next week I’m sort of glad to be reading the much more light-hearted Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella. More your thing? Then read along, I tell you!
RUTHERFORD, Edward. The Forest. London: Arrow Books, 2001.
Featured Image: The Spanish Armada and English ships in August 1588, by unknown painter (English School, 16th century)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Armada
Posted in 2 Stars ** - Average | Tagged Affair, Aristocracy, Aristocrat, Belonging, Britain, British Empire, Christianity, Class, Common Law, Conqueror, Country, Countryside, Crime, Cromwell, Death, Disease, Elizabeth I, England, Estate, Family, Fiction, Folklore, Hampshire, Historical Fiction, Home, Industrial Revolution, Isle of Wight, King, London, Love, Middle Class, Myth, Nature, New Forest, Norman, Peasant, Property, Queen, Rufus, Rutherford, Saxon, Smallholding, Solent, Southampton, Spanish Armada, War, William, Winchester | Leave a reply
Crumbling
Posted on June 15, 2014 by emilykmorrison
Dover, as described by Helen Oyeyemi in her Kent-based novel White is for Witching, is a place with its identity in crisis. And it’s not only the city that is struggling to define itself.
“She heard and smelt the water at the bottom of the cliffs, but it felt like a long time before she’d walked long enough to glimpse the sea crashing and breaking against the shore, foam eating into stone. England and France had been part of the same landmass, her father had told her, until prised apart by floods and erosion. She was not sure what time it was; when she looked at the sun she could understand that it had changed position but she did not dare to say how much. There were cruise ships coming in, vast white curved blocks like severed feet shuffling across the water. She waved half-hearted welcome. She felt the wind lift her hair above her head. In daylight the water was so blue that the colour seemed like a lie and she leant over, hoping for a moment of shift that would allow her to understand what was beneath the sea” (88)
Helen Oyeyemi’s “White Is For Witching”
Situated precariously on the bottom edge of England, with land that literally crumbles into the sea, Dover’s identity appears to be in a state of vulnerability. It is “a fucking mess”, one character says; the maritime gateway to southern England has too many foreign refugees (mainly Kosovans, we hear) getting into fights amongst themselves as well as “pissing off the locals” (203). These “incomers” have changed the way Britishness is thought of in Dover; they have even, some would argue, “twisted” the concept of Britishness into something that seems “bad” (116). For Dover’s inhabitants, particularly teenage twins Miranda and Eliot, it is becoming more and more difficult to anchor themselves in its shifting waters.
Aside from these political / geographical troubles, Miranda and Eliot Silver, and their father Luc Dufresne are also trying to cope with the loss of Lily, the twins’ mother.
For Miranda this is particularly difficult, as the generations of Silver women share an affinity and a connection that is “older” than all of them. Even in death, great-grandmother Anna is tied “to her daughter Jennifer, to Jennifer’s stubborn daughter Lily, to Lily’s even more stubborn daughter Miranda” (118). In the ghost-filled family home in Dover, which Luc is frantically trying to fill with life and prosperity by turning it into a successful B&B, Miranda can nevertheless hear and feel the presence of the other long-lost women: “her GrandAnna laugh[s] at something Lily said” (196) in an upstairs room while haunting music, which only Miranda can hear, plays in the halls. Without the support of her mother, Miranda sees “the world in pieces” (38), and it seems as though her own body is about to crumble too, or to “concertina, bones knocking against each other” (233).
A land unstable: erosion of the white cliffs of Dover
As it is, the reader bears witness to Miranda’s breakdown which drains her both physically and mentally before her family’s eyes. Her mind quakes from grief and depression that borders on insanity; not only does she hear voices and see strange things in mirrors and believe she can walk through walls into hidden rooms of the house, but she also forgets who she is: “she would need to know how old she was and she didn’t know” (131). At the same time, she suffers from pica, a disorder which means she hungers, not for food, but for plastic, dirt and, strangely enough, Dover’s very own chalk. The lack of real nutrition she ingests makes her body wither and shrink until she becomes so thin that she is practically two-dimensional, despite her father’s huge and varied efforts to get her to eat. All in all, through the deterioration of her mental and physical state, she slowly becomes “the girl who hardly even exists” (185).
But as well as the story of Miranda’s breakdown and the relationships she develops (the book is not all miserable), this novel tells the story of a house. The creepy family house in which Miranda, apparently, disappears into other dimensions and communicates with the spirits of her female ancestors. Is Miranda simply insane, or does the house really have a life of its own?
Spooky: Dover Castle looms over the city
The answer to that question is for the reader to decide, but the house is certainly given a voice in this novel. ‘29 Barton Road’ narrates whole passages of this book, telling how “I was nothing like that flat of [the family’s] in London” (74) and how Miranda “wandered up and down my staircases, in and out of my rooms” (117). The house even admits to leading its inhabitants astray and trapping them in another world within its walls: “I unlocked a door in her bedroom that she had not seen before […] When she was safely down the new passageway, I closed the door behind her” (84). The house is frightening, haunting, threatening. It is not only Miranda who notices strange goings on either; on one occasion the family’s housekeepers quit abruptly and flee their accommodation, leaving a note that says:
“This house is bigger than you know! There are extra floors with lots of people on them. They are looking people. They look at you, and they never move. We do not like them. We do not like this house, and we are glad to be going away.” (57)
There are ghostly, witchy and magical elements to this novel that add to the narrative confusion, ambiguity and brilliance. In reality, it’s quite frightening. If you’re reading this review and are thinking that the set-up (i.e. generations of women linked through the centuries, a big old family home) sounds a lot like that of Katherine Webb’s The Legacy, I suppose you would not be a million miles away. However, in writing style, Webb and Oyeyemi are fathoms apart. For all the beauty of Webb’s traditional narrative structure, Oyeyemi writes non-linear prose which darts across the page between narrators and between margins; at times it seems like you are reading poetry. Where I deemed Webb’s novel original, I would say Oyeyemi’s is utterly unique. Sometimes it is hard work, but that is part of the reward. Overall the novel is chilling and deeply mesmerising, no matter how much or how little you go in for the other-worldly: 5/5 stars.
Author Helen Oyeyemi
As a brief note to finish off, this short novel does what I think is an incredible job of mapping conflicting ideas of modern Britishness and Englishness, especially in its portrait of Dover, as I’ve already touched on, and in the representation of its supposedly ‘typical English family’ (hardly so, as it turns out). Even within Miranda’s family, the reader bears witness to the shift in ideas over time: her great-grandfather was the artist of patriotic World War Two cartoons, “all on the theme of plucky Brits defeating the enemy by maintaining the home front – a stout housewife planting her potatoes and taking a moment to smack one that looked just like Hitler on the head with her trowel, that sort of thing” (69). Moving down the generations, Miranda’s great-grandmother is appalled that her granddaughter Lily “didn’t know what Britannia meant” and that she said “patriotism was embarrassing and dangerous” (115). Britishness, as I said before, is in crises here. In summary, this novel has been a great one to read for this challenge.
Next week I’ll be reviewing James Long’s The Lives She Left Behind for Somerset. I’d better get cracking!
OYEYEMI, Helen. White Is For Witching. Oxford: Picador, 2009.
Featured Image: Characteristic White Cliffs of Dover
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2114912/White-Cliffs-Dover-Thousands-tons-chalk-crash-sea-large-section-collapses.html
Posted in 5 Stars ***** - Amazing | Tagged Belonging, Bildungsroman, Black, Britain, Britishness, Cambridge, Cartoon, City, Comic Strip, Crime, Death, Disappearance, Dover, England, Englishness, Estate, Family, Fantasy, Fiction, Folklore, France, Ghost, Grief, Helen Oyeyemi, Home, Horror, Immigrant, Katherine Webb, Kent, Kosovo, Love, Miranda, Mystery, Myth, Oyeyemi, Poetry, Property, Refugee, Romance, Second World War, Thriller, Twins, White, white cliffs of Dover, World War Two | Leave a reply
Wending Woodward
Katherine Webb’s “The Legacy”
Katherine Webb’s The Legacy is set in Wiltshire, in and around the large, ancestral family home where twins Beth and Erica Calcott spent their childhood summers with their grandmother, and which they are now in the process of inheriting after her death. But this idyllic country home houses many generations of family secrets. As Beth and Erica begin sifting through their grandmother Meredith’s possessions, they uncover half-forgotten truths from their own childhood as well as tragedy that spans a whole century of bitter Calcott women, stemming from irreversible choices made by their great-grandmother Caroline in her unexpected pre-war life on a cattle ranch in Woodward County, Oklahoma.
It is, as another reviewer so aptly put it, one of those multi-generational family sagas that I am such a sucker for. Webb writes beautifully, hauntingly and effortlessly. It is definitely not, as the front cover unfortunately suggests, chick-lit or a throwaway, easy beach read. It’s a fantastically written, suspenseful, tragic and deeply affecting novel which strikes chords that have continued to reverberate long after I laid the book down. My favourite chapters, and those through which I think the book’s originality really shines, are those told from Caroline’s point of view: her loving marriage to Corim and subsequent upheaval from glamorous 1900s New York to the bare, sweltering, harsh “gaping landscape” (205) of dusty Oklahoma; her struggle to become accustomed to the “unbearable” (205) life away from civilisation and alongside strangers; her transition from happy, bright-eyed city girl to broken and battle-hardened old woman who bestows suffering and resentment on her own daughter, and fails to give or inspire any tenderness in her grand- or great-grandchildren.
Main Street in Woodward, Oklahoma, c. 1911
For a reading challenge themed around characters’ relationships with place and space, this novel is perfect. Its pages are filled with “dizzying” (205) descriptions of the fear, difficulty, loneliness and thorough psychological pain of adapting to unfamiliar and unfriendly environments:
Caroline must transition from New York City to Woodward County where, “when she opened the [ranch] door she felt as though she might fall out, might tumble into the gaping emptiness of the prairie without man-made structures to anchor her” (215); where “she felt the urge to run, to throw herself back indoors before she disintegrated into the mighty sky” (205).
Similarly, twins Beth and Erica must grow accustomed to the darkness, “damp” and “austerity” (7) of the empty Calcott manor which is nevertheless full of memories that force them to feel like they are still unhappy “children” (9) within its walls. This is Wiltshire, not London, and Erica notes: “I am out of practice at living in the countryside; ill-equipped for changes in the terrain, for ground that hasn’t been carefully prepared to best convenience me” (13); “I had forgotten the quiet of the countryside, and it unnerves me” (58).
One of the famous chalk carvings in the Wiltshire hills
Aside from the house being the Calcott family seat, Webb also describes its setting in the ancient Wiltshire landscape, the “chalk downland, marked here and there by prehistory, marked here and there by tanks and target practice” (13). The house and the lonely hills surrounding it seem equally haunted, and yet separate: the house exists in its own sphere, its gates closed to the outside village and locality. Its particular history and its particular tragedies cut it off entirely from everything and everyone else. As a reader, the house’s world is mesmerising.
Overall, it may not give me much insight on Wiltshire, but this is a book I would recommend to any reader, as one that is part romance, part suspense-thriller, part western and wholly gripping. Don’t be put off by the old-family-home-filled-with-secrets cliché: this novel turns out to have so many more levels than that, and so much originality. Most refreshing and pleasing of all is Webb’s writing style: I can’t wait to read some of the other things she’s written. For now, a whole-hearted 5/5 stars.
Next time I’ll be reviewing After Phoenix by Martine McDonagh for Bristol. Get reading and join me later!
WEBB, Katherine. The Legacy. London: Orion, 2010.
Featured Image: Main Street in Woodward, Oklahoma c. 1910
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodward,_Oklahoma
Posted in 5 Stars ***** - Amazing | Tagged Ancestry, Belonging, Bildungsroman, British Empire, Cattle, City, Class, Country, Countryside, Cowboy, Crime, Death, Dewpond, Disease, England, Estate, Family, Fiction, First World War, Grandchild, Grandmother, Gypsy, Haunted, History, Home, House, Indians, Katherine Webb, Legacy, London, Manor, Mystery, Nature, Oklahoma, Past, Pond, Property, Ranch, Romance, Secret, Tinker, Twins, War, Webb, Western, Wiltshire, Women, World War One | Leave a reply
Hard-Baked and Cold-Yoked
Jasper Fforde’s “The Big Over Easy”
The subject of this, my book review for Berkshire, is Jasper Fforde‘s bizarre novel The Big Over Easy, set in Reading. It is the first in Fforde’s series of ‘Nursery Crime’ novels, featuring Reading Constabulary’s NCD (Nursery Crime Division), headed by DI Jack Spratt. Jack is responsible for solving all crimes relating to nursery rhyme characters: he was the arresting officer for “the violently dangerous psychopath, the Gingerbreadman” (12); he took the three little pigs to court over the messy murder of Mr Wolf and, now he investigates the mysterious death of Humpty Dumpty, who seems to have had a great fall from off his favourite wall…or was he pushed?
Like I said, bizarre. It is both straight-faced detective fiction, filled with all the expected twists, turns and rivalries, and comedic romp down “Grimm’s Road” (59), meeting a whole host of well-known childhood characters. You could read and re-read this novel countless times and continue to find more nursery rhyme references, some blatant and some brilliantly subtle.
Fforde’s novel is a marvellous work of imagination and extremely original but, it seems to me, a bit of a gimmick. I definitely developed allusion-fatigue by the time I was 25% of the way through, and the plot was unfortunately not strong enough to resurrect my interest at the end. I am not inspired to read the rest in the series: aren’t they all the same?! It’s another 2/5 starrer, I’m afraid.
Humpty Dumpty illustration by John Baroque
Sadly (in respect of this challenge I mean) there is not much of a portrait of Berkshire in the novel either, aside from the fact that the indistinct city of Reading becomes the centre of this strange nursery rhyme world and of modern policing, which is more interested in making headlines and generating positive public opinion than the search for truth and justice.
It is interesting to think, however, that this could be considered a particularly British novel. Or, at least, an English-speaking-world novel. After all, there can’t be many other places that understand the references to Jack the giant-killer / magic-bean finder / beanstalk-climber, can there?
Next week I’ll be reading the slightly more mainstream (in a good way I hope) The Legacy, by Katherine Webb. It’s for Wiltshire, so join me then!
FFORDE, Jasper. The Big Over Easy. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2005.
Featured Image: Illustration of “Hey Diddle Diddle”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nursery_rhyme
Posted in 2 Stars ** - Average | Tagged Berkshire, Britain, British Empire, Comic Strip, Crime, Detective Fiction, England, Fantasy, Fiction, Folklore, Giant, Gingerbreadman, Home, Humpty Dumpty, Jack and the Beanstalk, Jasper Fforde, Murder, Mystery, Myth, Nursery Rhyme, Police, Prometheus, reading, Rhyme, Scandal, Story, Suicide, Wolf | Leave a reply
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line724
|
__label__wiki
| 0.760059
| 0.760059
|
Change Location × Port Townsend, WA
Port Townsend Events /
Bobby Bridger Event Time & Tickets
Bobby Bridger in Port Townsend
Saturday 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM
Rainshadow Recording Studio
Fort Worden State Park, Bldg 315 West
Port Townsend, Washington 98368
Find Tickets brownpapertickets.com
Bobby Bridger
Bobby began his professional recording career in Nashville, 1967, with Monument and Nugget Records. In 1970, Bridger signed with RCA Records and recorded two albums of original material (Merging of Our Minds, and And I Wanted to Sing for the People) before parting ways in 1973. Bridger launched his own Golden Egg Records in 1980 and released Heal in the Wisdom (1981), the four-disc boxed set, A Ballad of the West (2000), Songs from A Ballad of the West (2003), and Bridger's seventh studio album and current release, Vagabond Heart (2015). Bridger has performed twice on PBS's Austin City Limits, on PBS's award-winning American Experience, twice on C-Span/Booknotes, CNN, ABC/Good Morning America, A&E Networks, NPR, and the Australian Broadcasting Company. Bridger's songs have been recorded by a diverse range of artists from pop (Bobby Goldboro) to country (Claude Gray), even to rock (The Lost Gonzo Band). His song, Heal in the Wisdom, has been the official anthem of the Kerrville Folk Festival since 1979. A Ballad of the West, Bridger's trilogy of historical epic ballads, has been highly-acclaimed by renowned screenwriters and playwrights, western American historians, organizations, universities and institutions since its debut in the early 1970s. Bridger was the very first artist-in-residence at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming and the John G. Neihardt Center in Nebraska, and at Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. His 1990 theatrical company was the first professional theater troupe to ever tour Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. The production was invited to return for an encore in 1991. He also remains the only ever "Balladeer-in-Residence" at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut. Bridger toured internationally from 1975-2011 performing A Ballad of the West as a one-man show and acting in Dale Wasserman's Shakespeare and the Indians and Christopher Sergel's stage adaptation of Black Elk Speaks. Full company productions of Bridger's Seekers of the Fleece ran from 1988-1994 in Cody, Wyoming. Bridger continues to perform his ballad Lakota but has retired live performances of ballads Seekers of the Fleece and Pahaska. Bridger is the author of A Ballad of the West, the award-winning Buffalo Bill and Sitting Bull: Inventing the Wild West, Bridger (autobiography), and Where the Tall Grass Grow: Becoming Indigenous and the Mythological Legacy of the American West. He resides in Houston, TX, with his wife Melissa and son Gabriel.
Buy tickets at brownpapertickets.com!
at Rainshadow Recording Studio
David Jacobs-Strain & Chris...
Melodime
Mark Stuart
Joe Jencks & Wes Weddell
Ken Stringfellow
Missy Raines Trio
Michelle McAfee
Nels Andrews
in Port Townsend, WA (98368)
The Tunnel Tavern Presents
Ed Gerhard
THING 2 Day Pass Feat. De L...
Aug 24 – 12:59 PM
THING Sunday Only Feat. De ...
Janie Cribbs and The T.Rust...
RV Camping
Thing - Saturday Only
Thing - Admirals Society VI...
Thing - Sunday Only
Claudia Nygaard
Jonathan Byrd & The Pickup ...
Port Townsend Concerts & Tour Dates
Port Townsend Festivals
Port Townsend Kids & Family Events
Port Townsend Events This Weekend
Port Townsend Events This Month
Port Townsend Events in August
Sorry, you missed Bobby Bridger at Rainshadow Recording Studio.
Demand that Rainshadow Recording Studio gets added to the next tour!
Demand that Port Townsend gets added to the next tour!
You missed Bobby Bridger at Rainshadow Recording Studio.
We're generating custom event recommendations for you based on Bobby Bridger right now!
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line728
|
__label__wiki
| 0.671622
| 0.671622
|
VA taps UL for medical device cybersecurity
By Aisha Chowdhry
The testing and safety firm Underwriters Laboratories is helping the Department of Veterans Affairs secure connected medical devices from cyberattack under a new agreement.
The agreement is being made under a technology transfer program called the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement Program. Under the deal, UL will offer its Cybersecurity Assurance Program to assist the agency's Office of Information and Technology with improving cybersecurity standards and practices for networked medical devices, medical device data systems and other IT systems and appliances.
"Vulnerabilities can arise from many different sources," Anura Fernando, the Global Principal Engineer for Medical Software and Systems Interoperability at UL, told FCW on June 16. UL is looking to work with VA on identifying those vulnerabilities in medical device software once the products are manufactured and provide a baseline cybersecurity hygiene platform.
The health care sector has been especially vulnerable to cyber attacks, in part because of applications like telemedicine and the use of connected devices. Part of the problem is that medical devices are durable by design, and can remain in use long after their underlying software goes out of support. Additionally, many were designed long before the cybersecurity threat facing institutions became so pronounced. And health records have proven to be especially attractive to identity thieves. Just this year, at least two major medical systems suffered ransomware attacks.
"We really need to look at healthcare as part of our critical infrastructure," Fernando urged, stressing the importance of having "robust defenses in place" in order to protect systems from cyberattacks.
UL looks at the malware in products to determine what steps need to be taken in order for the medical devices to be effective and efficient for an agency like VA.
Last year, VA reported that the number of infected medical devices had decreased over time. But, since the agency still uses majority of legacy systems that have outdated software updates, there is no "silver bullet to flip the switch" on cybersecurity, Fernando said.
The VA is not alone on this; DOD officials are attempting to establish security standards for buying medical devices as well. Richard Hale, DOD's deputy CIO for cybersecurity, has said that that it will take time to develop standards and it will be "painful for a while."
UL plans to wrap up the project with the VA by December of this year, and create a roadmap for the future on how to best move forward.
Aisha Chowdhry is a former staff writer for FCW.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line737
|
__label__wiki
| 0.807241
| 0.807241
|
Virginia Symphony Orchestra Concert in the Park Presents
Every Breath You Take - The Music of Sting and The Police
Presented by The Patricia & Douglas Perry Foundation
Town Point Park, Dowtown Norfolk Waterfront, Virginia
Free & open to the public!
The concert begins at 7:30 pm.
Virginia’s pre-eminent professional symphony orchestra will appear in concert Sunday, July 28, 2019, at 7:30 pm for a free evening Downtown Norfolk Waterfront performance at Town Point Park, Norfolk, Virginia. The Virginia Symphony Orchestra concert is the fourth concert, in a series of 5 annual summer concerts that feature national recording artists, all sponsored by the Patricia and Douglas Perry Foundation.
Produced by Norfolk Festevents, admission to the concert is free and open to the public. The evening will include gourmet artisan foods and beverages for purchase. Town Point Park will open at 6pm for pre-concert picnics. The show begins at 7:30 pm.
This year’s show combines the best of The Police and Sting, with our special guests, world-class touring act Jeans 'n Classics. The influences of reggae, jazz and punk made the Police one of the most exciting sounds in rock and pop music when they exploded into stardom in 1980, and whether it's the classic "Roxanne" or Sting's emotional "Fields of Gold", these songs continue to inspire and enthrall audiences worldwide.
Check out our Sponsors, or as we like to call them, our bffs! They help us make all the fun happen!
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line739
|
__label__wiki
| 0.837854
| 0.837854
|
Home / Editor's Picks / Q&A: Mapping Prejudice tracks roots of segregation
Kirsten Delegard
Q&A: Mapping Prejudice tracks roots of segregation
By: William Morris May 11, 2019 7:00 am 0
If they dug deep in the filing cabinet and read through all the fine print on their property records, a lot of Twin Cities homeowners would find clauses forbidding certain racial or ethnic groups from owning or living on their property.
Such restrictions, called racial covenants, were commonplace and even encouraged by the federal government for decades and played a major role in segregating Minneapolis and other cities in the early 20th century. Such covenants are now illegal and cannot be enforced, but their impact can still be seen in the racial and economic makeup of different neighborhoods and communities.
To better understand how racial covenants shaped the present, a team of researchers working with the University of Minnesota’s Borchert Map Library is trying to build a comprehensive database and interactive map of properties where they were used. After years of work and using new technological tools, the Mapping Prejudice project is nearing completion of its first phase, a complete map of all covenants in Hennepin County.
Finance & Commerce spoke with the project’s director, Kirsten Delegard, about what the project has uncovered and why these covenants continue to matter decades after their use was banned. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The Mapping Prejudice project has identified thousands of Hennepin County properties that at one point had restrictions banning certain racial groups from ownership, including entire neighborhoods of Minneapolis. (Submitted image: Mapping Prejudice)
Q: What did these covenants entail? When were they, where were they, and what did they say?
A: The first covenant that we found in Minneapolis was from 1910. You can really see it’s the parts of the city that were developed after 1910. The way racial covenants worked is that real estate developers put them in at the moment where they platted neighborhoods, so you can see that they really formed a donut around the outer parts of the city and then into the suburbs, so that they follow along with the development of the metropolitan area.
In terms of what they say, the first covenant said this clause prohibits this land from ever being occupied or owned by people of Chinese, Japanese Moorish, Turkish, Negro, Mongolian [descent], this long laundry list of kind of people who [the developer] found objectionable. We found, I think, 170 different variations of this language.
Q: What effect did these covenants have on the development of Minneapolis and the surrounding cities?
A: Minneapolis, when covenants were first introduced in 1910, was not particularly segregated. What covenants did is they really reordered the city. Any new lots, any new land that was coming online, any new houses, developers started using these covenants to reserve those exclusively for white people. So it meant that people of color increasingly were cordoned into just a couple of small neighborhoods, which then, of course, became subject to all kinds of other discriminatory practices over time.
Q: And what is the ongoing impact that you see when you look at the map of Minneapolis today?
A: It gets back to these racial disparities that I opened with. I think a lot of these disparities have their roots in limited and poor housing choices, and also, a lack of wealth transfer over time. In a lot of ways you can root the contemporary disparities that we have today to the fact that people of color were really prevented from buying houses for a lot of the 20th century, which has all kinds of ripple effects in terms of intergenerational transmission of wealth, specifically.
Q: Talk to me about your process. Are you going property by property, parcel by parcel looking at old documents? How do you find these?
A: The reason nobody’s ever done this before is because it’s just not a human-sized task. To find enough to make a comprehensive database of all the racial covenants for Hennepin County, you would have to you have to read through every property transaction in Hennepin County, basically between 1900 and 1960. That’s about 10 million records.
The reason we can do this is because Hennepin County just finished digitizing its property records. So we got those, and then we use OCR [optical character recognition] scripts to scan through all those digitized records and flag the images that seemed to have this racially suspect language. That winnowed it down to a data set more like 35,000 records. With those properties, what we do is we have an online crowdsourcing platform that we put them up on, and we have invited community members to read the deeds and tell us whether or not they have a racial restriction on them.
Q: How far through those 35,000 records are you?
A: We’re getting pretty close. I think our computer model is telling us that we might be 60 days out, with any luck. Then we can do the final data cleaning and publish the interactive map.
Q: Do you have a sense, anecdotally at least, how the rest of the metro would compare?
A: We’re hoping to get access to Ramsey County pretty soon. That’s going to be our next stage of research. Basically, I feel pretty confident in being able to predict the percentage of parcels that are covered by racial covenants, if I know when the community was developed. So all these first-ring suburbs, like Robbinsdale, Richfield, Edina, St. Louis Park, they’re just blanketed by covenants.
Q: The Supreme Court eventually ruled that these were not enforceable, but they didn’t say, ‘these have to be removed.’ Are there still properties that have these technically on the books?
A: They have not been removed anywhere in the country, in part because it would just be so incredibly difficult to go through all the property records and remove them. So covenants are on the books everywhere in every American community. They were made finally illegal by the Fair Housing Act of 1968, so they’re not enforced anywhere. But the question is, should the Fair Housing Act, for instance, be overturned by Congress, what would happen then?
Q: What, in your mind, is the next step? What should people do, knowing what you’re finding out from this map?
A: I will say with Mapping Prejudice, that we are making a case for Reparations. We’re really helping white people, in particular, see structural racism for the first time, for some people, and really see the magnitude of harm that these policies did. Because I feel like that’s the first step, acknowledging that harm, which we really haven’t done as a community, as a nation. We’ve sort of thought as a nation, it’s enough just to say, OK, you can’t do this anymore. But we haven’t taken that next step collectively, and said, yeah, we did this. And it was harmful. And we can’t expect that harm just to disappear, just because we said, OK, don’t do it anymore.
Q: Were there any surprises for you looking at the map in places that you either thought would be and weren’t, or wouldn’t be and were, covered by covenants?
A: Yeah, totally. I thought that this was really going to follow wealth today. Like, I figured there’s going to be covenants all over Kenwood, for instance. That’s one of the wealthiest ZIP codes in Minneapolis. We didn’t find any covenants, really, in Kenwood. That was kind of the point where we realized that it had to do with the date of when neighborhoods were developed, that that’s the most important determinant factor.
Mapping Prejudice interactive map
Minneapolis 2040 seeks racial equity, but how?
Like this article? Gain access to all of our great content with a month-to-month subscription. Start your subscription here.
Borchert Map Library Kirsten Delegard Mapping Prejudice Q&A segregation Twin Cities 7:00 am Sat, May 11, 2019 Finance & Commerce
About William Morris
Economic development reporter for Finance & Commerce.
Q&A: Chang seeks to boost MAR’s relevance
Q&A: Griffith was Life Time’s ideal
Q&A: Hastings ‘back to the transaction’ with Oppidan
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line740
|
__label__cc
| 0.554194
| 0.445806
|
Meme-Watch: Hypermiling
A Google Search
FmH Uncategorized 12 Jun 08 0 Minutes
Iraqis Condemn American Demands
“High-level negotiations over the future role of the U.S. military in Iraq have turned into an increasingly acrimonious public debate, with Iraqi politicians denouncing what they say are U.S. demands to maintain nearly 60 bases in their country indefinitely.
Top Iraqi officials are calling for a radical reduction of the U.S. military’s role here after the U.N. mandate authorizing its presence expires at the end of this year. Encouraged by recent Iraqi military successes, government officials have said that the United States should agree to confine American troops to military bases unless the Iraqis ask for their assistance, with some saying Iraq might be better off without them.” (Washington Post)
Justices Rule Terror Suspects Can Appeal in Civilian Courts
SCOTUS sides with the Constitution, for once. (New York Times) In a 5-4 ruling, with the usual suspects in dissent, the Court ruled that denial of habeas corpus rights to the detainees is unconstitutional, and that they are to be heard in civilian courts. A monumental rebuff to the criminal dysadministration, but they got five years of illegal detention in under tthe belt before the rule of law reasserted itself.
Apple’s new iPhone augurs the inevitable return of the Bell telephone monopoly
Tim Wu writes in Slate Magazine:
“The wireless industry was once and is still sometimes called a “poster child for competition.” That kind of talk needs to end. Today, the industry is more like an old divorced couple; the bickering spouses are AT&T and Verizon, the two halves of the old Bell empire. (To its credit, the Bell company, in internal memos, proposed a wireless phone in 1915 and then spent 70 or so years deciding how to deploy it without hurting its wired-phone business.) While you can’t blame this on the iPhone, nearly every non-Bell phone company is, in the long tradition of such firms, dying or being purchased. Sprint Nextel lost an astonishing $29.5 billion in a single quarter last year—a loss of nearly double the annual revenue of Google. Alltel, one of the last independents, is being bought by Verizon. The exception is T-Mobile, which, while healthy, simply doesn’t have the spectrum to play with the bigs. By the end of this year, we may find that the wireless world, in industry structure at least, will be pretty close to where it was at the beginning of the 1990s, before ‘deregulation.'”
FmH Uncategorized 12 Jun 08 1 Minute
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line742
|
__label__wiki
| 0.924382
| 0.924382
|
Fitzpatrick: Owens will attend Hall of Fame ceremony
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick drops back to throw a pass during the first quarter against the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on Nov. 19.Photo Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports (file photo)
One of Terrell Owens’ former teammates said he expects the wide receiver will show up for the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who spent the 2009 season playing with Owens in Buffalo, told Ira Kaufman of JoeBucsFan.com that he expects the mercurial wideout to be in Canton on Aug. 4.
“We had a good rapport and I consider T.O. a great teammate,” the 35-year-old Fitzpatrick said. “When he came to Buffalo, he had been in hot water a little bit. But he still had a lot of juice and I was impressed with the way he worked and grinded every rep at practice. When all is said and done, I think he’ll show up in Canton.”
Owens has come under fire after publicly declining his invitation to be part of the Class of 2018. The 44-year-old released a statement on Thursday that he planned to “celebrate what will be one of the most memorable days of my life, elsewhere.”
A finalist for the past three years, Owens was selected for enshrinement in the Class of 2018 along with linebackers Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher, wide receiver Randy Moss and safety Brian Dawkins. They will be joined by Bobby Beathard (contributor) and seniors committee nominees Jerry Kramer and Robert Brazile.
Although he gained much notoriety for on-field antics and clashes with teammates and coaches, Owens put up sparkling numbers during his 16 NFL seasons.
A six-time Pro Bowl selection, Owens resides second in career receiving yards (15,934), third in receiving touchdowns (153) and eighth in receptions with 1,078. He had a spectacular, three-year stretch (2000-02) in which he caught 290 passes for 4,163 yards and 42 touchdowns.
Although he is not expected to be in attendance in Canton, Owens will be the headliner of the Madden NFL 19: Hall of Fame edition, which will be released on Aug. 7 — three days after the ceremonies.
Owens is depicted in a Cowboys uniform on the Madden cover.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line743
|
__label__wiki
| 0.603557
| 0.603557
|
Legal person
(Redirected from Business entity)
"Business entity" redirects here. For the concept in computer science, see Business entity (computer science). For types of business entities, see Types of business entity.
A legal person in legal context typically is a person (or less ambiguously, a legal entity)[1][2]—whether human or non-human—that is recognized as having certain privileges and obligations such as the legal capacity to enter into contracts, to sue, and to be sued.[3][4][5]
However, the term "legal person" is ambiguous because it is often used as a synonym of terms that refer only to non-human legal entities, specifically in contradistinction to "natural person".[6][7]
So there are of two kinds of legal entities, human and non-human: natural persons (also called physical persons) and juridical persons—also called juridic, juristic, artificial, legal, or fictitious persons, Latin: persona ficta—which are entities such as a corporation, firm, business or non-business group, or government agency, etc., that are treated in law as if they were persons.[4][8][9]
While human beings acquire legal personhood when they are born (or even before in some jurisdictions), juridical persons do so when they are incorporated in accordance with law.
Legal personhood is a prerequisite to legal capacity, the ability of any legal person to amend (enter into, transfer, etc.) rights and obligations.
In international law, consequently, legal personality is a prerequisite for an international organization to be able to sign international treaties in its own name.
Juridical personsEdit
Main article: Juridical person
Artificial personality, juridical personality, or juristic personality is the characteristic of a non-living entity regarded by law to have the status of personhood.
A juridical or artificial person (Latin: persona ficta; also juristic person) has a legal name and has certain rights, protections, privileges, responsibilities, and liabilities in law, similar to those of a natural person. The concept of a juridical person is a fundamental legal fiction. It is pertinent to the philosophy of law, as it is essential to laws affecting a corporation (corporations law).
Juridical personhood allows one or more natural persons (universitas personarum) to act as a single entity (body corporate) for legal purposes. In many jurisdictions, artificial personality allows that entity to be considered under law separately from its individual members (for example in a company limited by shares, its shareholders). They may sue and be sued, enter contracts, incur debt, and own property. Entities with legal personality may also be subjected to certain legal obligations, such as the payment of taxes. An entity with legal personality may shield its members from personal liability.
In some common law jurisdictions a distinction is drawn between corporation aggregate (such as a company, which is composed of a number of members) and a corporation sole, which is a public office of legal personality separated from the individual holding the office; (both entities have separate legal personality). Historically most corporations sole were ecclesiastical in nature (for example, the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury is a corporation sole), but a number of other public offices are now formed as corporations sole.
The concept of juridical personality is not absolute. "Piercing the corporate veil" refers to looking at the individual natural persons acting as agents involved in a company action or decision; this may result in a legal decision in which the rights or duties of a corporation or public limited company are treated as the rights or liabilities of that corporation's members or directors.
The concept of a juridical person is now central to Western law in both common-law and civil-law countries, but it is also found in virtually every legal system.[10]
Some examples of juridical persons include:
Cooperatives (co-ops), business organization owned and democratically operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit
Corporations are bodies corporate created by statute or charter. A corporation sole is a corporation constituted by a single member, in a particular capacity, and that person's successors in the same capacity, in order to give them some legal benefit or advantage, particularly that of perpetuity, which a natural person could not have had. Examples are a religious officiant in that capacity, or The Crown in the Commonwealth realms. A corporation aggregate is a corporation constituted by more than one member.
Municipal corporations (municipalities) are "creatures of statute". Other organizations may be created by statute as legal persons, including European economic interest groupings (EEIGs).
Unincorporated associations, that is aggregates of two or more persons, are treated as juridical persons in some jurisdictions but not others.
Partnerships, an aggregate of two or more persons to carry on a business in common for profit and created by agreement. Traditionally, partnerships did not have continuing legal personality, but many jurisdictions now treat them as having an independent legal personality.
Companies, a form of business association that carries on an industrial enterprise, are often corporations, although companies may take other forms, such as trade unions, unlimited companies, trusts, and funds. Limited liability companies—be they a private company limited by guarantee, private company limited by shares, or public limited company—are entities having certain characteristics of both a corporation and a partnership. Different types have a complex variety of advantages and disadvantages.[11]
Sovereign states are legal persons.[12]
In the international legal system, various organizations possess legal personality. These include intergovernmental organizations (the United Nations, the Council of Europe) and some other international organizations (including the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, a religious order).
The European Union (EU) has legal personality since the Lisbon Treaty entered into force on 1 December 2009. That the EU has legal personality is a prerequisite for the EU to join the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). However, in 2014, the EU decided not to be bound by the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights.[13]
Temples, in some legal systems, have separate legal personality.[14]
The Whanganui River was granted legal personality in March 2017 under New Zealand law because the Whanganui Māori tribe regard the river as their ancestor.[15]
Also, in March 2017, the High Court of Uttarakhand declared the Ganges River a legal "person" in a move that according to one newspaper, "could help in efforts to clean the pollution-choked rivers". As of 6 April 2017, the ruling has been commented on in Indian newspapers to be hard to enforce, with assertions that experts[who?] do not anticipate immediate benefits, that the ruling is "hardly game changing", that experts[who?] believe "any follow-up action is unlikely", and that the "judgment is deficient to the extent it acted without hearing others (in states outside Uttarakhand) who have stakes in the matter".[citation needed]
Not all organizations have legal personality. For example, the board of directors of a corporation, legislature, or governmental agency typically are not legal persons in that they have no ability to exercise legal rights independent of the corporation or political body which they are a part of.
The concept of legal personhood for organizations of people is at least as old as Ancient Rome: a variety of collegial institutions enjoyed the benefit under Roman law.
The doctrine has been attributed to Pope Innocent IV, who seems at least to have helped spread the idea of persona ficta as it is called in Latin. In canon law, the doctrine of persona ficta allowed monasteries to have a legal existence that was apart from the monks, simplifying the difficulty in balancing the need for such groups to have infrastructure though the monks took vows of personal poverty. Another effect of this was that as a fictional person, a monastery could not be held guilty of delict due to not having a soul, helping to protect the organization from non-contractual obligations to surrounding communities. This effectively moved such liability to individuals acting within the organization while protecting the structure itself, since individuals were considered to have a soul and therefore capable of being guilty of negligence and excommunicated.[16]
In the common law tradition, only a person could sue or be sued. This was not a problem in the era before the Industrial Revolution, when the typical business venture was either a sole proprietorship or partnership—the owners were simply liable for the debts of the business. A feature of the corporation, however, is that the owners/shareholders enjoyed limited liability—the owners were not liable for the debts of the company. Thus, when a corporation breached a contract or broke a law, there was no remedy, because limited liability protected the owners and the corporation wasn't a legal person subject to the law. There was no accountability for corporate wrongdoing.
To resolve the issue, the legal personality of a corporation was established to include five legal rights—the right to a common treasury or chest (including the right to own property), the right to a corporate seal (i.e., the right to make and sign contracts), the right to sue and be sued (to enforce contracts), the right to hire agents (employees) and the right to make by-laws (self-governance).[17]
Since the 19th century, legal personhood has been further construed to make it a citizen, resident, or domiciliary of a state (usually for purposes of personal jurisdiction). In Louisville, C. & C.R. Co. v. Letson, 2 How. 497, 558, 11 L.Ed. 353 (1844), the U.S. Supreme Court held that for the purposes of the case at hand, a corporation is "capable of being treated as a citizen of [the State which created it], as much as a natural person." Ten years later, they reaffirmed the result of Letson, though on the somewhat different theory that "those who use the corporate name, and exercise the faculties conferred by it," should be presumed conclusively to be citizens of the corporation's State of incorporation. Marshall v. Baltimore & Ohio R. Co., 16 How. 314, 329, 14 L.Ed. 953 (1854). These concepts have been codified by statute, as U.S. jurisdictional statutes specifically address the domicile of corporations.
Sample cases using the doctrineEdit
In U.S. v. The Cooper Corp., (1941) the court held that the United States government, as a juristic person, could sue under the Sherman Act. Section 7 of the act granted the right to sue only to persons. The corporate defendant, which was accused of illegally conspiring and colluding to raise prices on tires, argued that the U.S. government didn't have power to enforce the act because the government wasn't a person. The court held that the term "person" includes the U.S. Government, and allowed the action against the collusive corporations to continue.
In Cook County v. U.S. ex rel Chandler, (2003) the County was accused of violating a law which forbids "any person" from falsely obtaining research funds from the government. The county received a $5 million grant, but used it to conduct inappropriate tests on human subjects. The county argued that it could not be held liable because it was not a person. The court held that the county could be sued under the law as a legal person.
In Rowland v. California Men's Colony, Unit II Men's Advisory Council, (1993) the court declined to extend certain rights to legal persons. The association of prisoners sought to proceed in forma pauperis. The court held that the right to sue in forma pauperis existed only for natural persons, not legal persons.
Extension of basic rights to legal personsEdit
BrazilEdit
The term juridical person ("pessoa jurídica" in Portuguese) is used in legal science for designating an entity with rights and liabilities which also has legal personality. Its regulations are largely based on Brazil's Civil Code, where it is distinctly recognized and defined, among other normative documents.
Brazilian law recognizes any association or abstract entity as a juridical person, but a registry is required through a Constitutional Document, with specifications depending on the category of Juridical Person and local law of state and city.
Article 19(3) of the German Constitution sets forth: "Fundamental rights shall also apply to domestic artificial persons insofar as the nature of such rights shall permit."[18]
ItalyEdit
In Italy trade unions have legal personality, as stated in Article 39, Paragraph 4 of the Constitution:
Registered trade unions are legal persons. They may, through a unified representation that is proportional to their membership, enter into collective labour agreements that have a mandatory effect for all persons belonging to the categories referred to in the agreement.
— The Italian Constitution[19]
New ZealandEdit
Section 28 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 provides: "... the provisions of this Bill of Rights apply, so far as practicable, for the benefit of all legal persons as well as for the benefit of all natural persons."
People's Republic of ChinaEdit
For a typical example of the concept of legal person in a civil law jurisdiction, under the General Principles of Civil Law of the People's Republic of China, Chapter III, Article 36., "A legal person shall be an organization that has capacity for civil rights and capacity for civil conduct and independently enjoys civil rights and assumes civil obligations in accordance with the law."[20] Note however that the term civil right means something altogether different in civil law jurisdictions than in common law jurisdictions.
In part based on the principle that legal persons are simply organizations of natural persons, and in part based on the history of statutory interpretation of the word "person", the US Supreme Court has repeatedly held that certain constitutional rights protect legal persons (such as corporations and other organizations). Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad is sometimes cited for this finding because the court reporter's comments included a statement the Chief Justice made before oral arguments began, telling the attorneys during pre-trial that "the court does not wish to hear argument on the question whether the provision in the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which forbids a State to deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws, applies to these corporations. We are all of the opinion that it does."
Later opinions interpreted these pre-argument comments as part of the legal decision.[21] As a result, because of the First Amendment, Congress may not make a law restricting the free speech of a corporation or a political action group or dictating the coverage of a local newspaper,[22] and because of the Due Process Clause, a state government may not take the property of a corporation without using due process of law and providing just compensation. These protections apply to all legal entities, not just corporations.
A prominent component of relevant case law is the Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which ruled unconstitutional certain restrictions on corporate campaign spending during elections.[23]
In Act II, Scene 1 of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers, Giuseppe Palmieri (who serves, jointly with his brother Marco, as King of Barataria) requests that he and his brother be also recognized individually so that they might each receive individual portions of food as they have "two independent appetites". He is, however, turned down by the Court (made up of fellow Gondolieri) because the joint rule "... is a legal person, and legal person are solemn things."
Corporate personhood
European Convention on the Recognition of the Legal Personality of International Non-Governmental Organizations
List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 118
Natural person
Netscape Communications Corp. v. Konrad for what it means for two entities to be separate
Paul v. Virginia ("... in which the United States Supreme Court held that a corporation is not a citizen...")
Separate legal entity
FootnotesEdit
^ "What is LEGAL ENTITY? definition of LEGAL ENTITY (Black's Law Dictionary)". The Law Dictionary. 19 October 2012.
^ Anonymous (19 August 2010). "Entity". LII / Legal Information Institute.
^ Lewis A. Kornhauser and W. Bentley MacLeod (June 2010). "Contracts between Legal Persons". National Bureau of Economic Research. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
^ a b Elizabeth A. Martin (2003). Oxford Dictionary of Law (7th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198607563.
^ Smith, Bryant (January 1928). "Legal Personality". Yale Law Journal. 37 (3): 283–299. JSTOR 789740.
^ "What is JURIDICAL PERSON? definition of JURIDICAL PERSON (Black's Law Dictionary)". The Law Dictionary. 19 October 2012.
^ Ash, Elliott T. (4 May 2010). "legal person". LII / Legal Information Institute.
^ Deiser, George F. (December 1908). "The Juristic Person. I". University of Pennsylvania Law Review and American Law Register. 48 New Series (3): 131–142. JSTOR 3313312. [...] men in law and philosophy are natural persons. This might be taken to imply there are persons of another sort. And that is a fact. They are artificial persons or corporations [...]
^ Frederic William (1911). "Moral Personality and Legal Personality 1". In H.A.L. Fisher (ed.). The Collected Papers of Frederic William Maitland. Cambridge University Press. Besides men or "natural persons," law knows persons of another kind. In particular it knows the corporation, and for a multitude of purposes it treats the corporation very much as it treats the man. Like the man, the corporation is (forgive this compound adjective) a right-and-duty-bearing unit.
^ The Juristic Person. I, George F. Deiser, University of Pennsylvania Law Review and American Law Register, Vol. 57, No. 3, Volume 48 New Series. (Dec., 1908), pp. 131-142.
^ Frisch D. (2011). Commercial Law's Complexity Archived February 3, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. George Mason Law Review.
^ Thorpe, Chris P.; Bailey, John C. L. (1999). Commercial Contracts: A Practical Guide to Deals, Contracts, Agreements and Promises. Kogan Page. p. 23.
^ Opinion 2/13 [2014], nyr [1]
^ Williams v The Shipping Corporation of India (US District Court, Eastern District Virginia), 10 March 1980, 63 ILR 363
^ Roy, Eleanor Ainge (16 March 2017). "New Zealand river granted same legal rights as human being". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. Retrieved 2017-03-16.
^ John Dewey, “The Historic Background of Corporate Legal Personality,” Yale Law Journal, Vol. XXXV, April 1926, pages 655-673
^ Kanti., Saha, Tushar. Textbook on legal methods, legal systems and research. ISBN 9788175348936. OCLC 892043129.
^ "Basic Law. Art. 19 Abs. 3 GG". Retrieved 15 October 2014.
^ "The Italian Constitution" (PDF). The official website of the Presidency of the Italian Republic. Archived from the original on 2016-11-27.
^ Gary J. Dernelle. "DIRECT FOREIGN INVESTMENT AND CONTRACTUAL RELATIONS IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA." DePaul Business Law Journal, Spring/Summer 1994. (6 DePaul Bus. L.J. 331)
^ See, for example, Noble v. Union River Logging
^ First Nat. Bank of Boston v. Bellotti
^ http://origin.www.supremecourt.gov/docket/08-205.htm[dead link]
Binder, J (1907). Das Problem der juristischen Persönlichkeit. Archived from the original on 2011-07-20.
Saleilles, R (1922). De La Personalité Juridique: Histoire et Théories.
Hallis, F (1930). Corporate Personality: A Study in Jurisprudence.
Duff, P.W (1938). Personality in Roman Private Law.
Cooke, C.A (1950). Corporation, Trust and Company: A Legal History.
Watson, A (1967). The Law of Persons in the Later Roman Republic.
Guterman, S (1990). The Principle of the Personality of Law in the Germanic Kingdoms of Western Europe from the Fifth to the Eleventh Century.
ArticlesEdit
Dewey, J (1926). "The Historic Background of Corporate Legal Personality". Yale Law Journal. 35.
Machen, A.W (1910). "Corporate Personality". Harvard Law Review. 24.
Major legal factors affecting business
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Legal_person&oldid=906514030"
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line744
|
__label__wiki
| 0.92199
| 0.92199
|
Carla Bley (born Lovella May Borg) is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and bandleader. An important figure in the free jazz movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera Escalator over the Hill (released as a triple LP set), as well as a book of compositions that have been performed by many other artists, including Gary Burton, Jimmy Giuffre, George Russell, Art Farmer, John Scofield and her ex-husband Paul Bley.
Bley in 2007
Lovella May Borg
Oakland, California, U.S.
Post bop, jazz fusion, free jazz
Musician, bandleader, composer
Piano, organ
WATT, ECM, Universal
Michael Mantler, Steve Swallow, Paul Bley, Nick Mason, Johnny Griffin, Gary Burton, Jimmy Giuffre, George Russell, Art Farmer, Liberation Music Orchestra, Jack Bruce, Charlie Haden, Jazz Composer's Orchestra, Paul Haines
wattxtrawatt.com
Carla Bley at Keystone Korner, San Francisco 1979
Bley was born in Oakland, California to Emil Borg (1899–1990), a piano teacher and church choirmaster, who encouraged her to sing and to learn to play the piano, and Arline Anderson (1907–1944), who died when Bley was eight years old. After giving up the church to immerse herself in roller skating at the age of fourteen,[1] she moved to New York at seventeen and became a cigarette girl at Birdland, where she met jazz pianist Paul Bley. She toured with him under the name Karen Borg, before she changed her name in 1957 to Carla Borg and married Paul Bley the same year adopting the Bley name.[2] He encouraged her to start composing.[3] The couple later divorced but she kept his surname professionally.[4]
Later life and careerEdit
A number of musicians began to record Bley's compositions: George Russell recorded "Bent Eagle" on his 1960 release Stratusphunk in 1960; Jimmy Giuffre recorded "Ictus" on his album Thesis; and Paul Bley's Barrage consisted entirely of her compositions. Throughout her career Bley has thought of herself as a writer first, describing herself as 99 percent composer and one percent pianist.[5]
In 1964 she was involved in organising the Jazz Composers Guild which brought together the most innovative musicians in New York at the time.[3] She then had a personal and professional relationship with Michael Mantler, with whom she had a daughter, Karen, now also a musician in her own right. Bley and Mantler were married from 1965-91. With Mantler, she co-led the Jazz Composers' Orchestra and started the JCOA record label which issued a number of historic recordings by Clifford Thornton, Don Cherry and Roswell Rudd, as well as her own magnum opus Escalator Over The Hill and Mantler's The Jazz Composer's Orchestra LPs. Bley and Mantler followed with WATT Records, which has issued their recordings exclusively since the early 1970s. Bley and Mantler were pioneers in the development of independent artist-owned record labels and also started the now defunct New Music Distribution Service which specialized in small, independent labels that issued recordings of "creative improvised music".[citation needed]
Bley has collaborated with a number of other artists, including Jack Bruce, Robert Wyatt and Nick Mason, drummer for the rock group Pink Floyd. Mason's solo debut album Nick Mason's Fictitious Sports was entirely written by Bley and performed by her regular band with Mason as a guest, making it in effect a Carla Bley album in all but name.[6] She arranged and composed music for bassist Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra, and wrote A Genuine Tong Funeral for vibraphonist Gary Burton. Her arrangement of the score for Federico Fellini's 8½ appeared on Hal Willner's Nino Rota tribute record, Amarcord Nino Rota. She contributed to other Willner projects, including the song "Misterioso" for the tribute to Thelonious Monk entitled That's the Way I Feel Now, which included Johnny Griffin on tenor saxophone, and the Willner-directed tribute to Kurt Weill, entitled Lost in the Stars, where she and her band contributed an arrangement of the title track, with Phil Woods on alto saxophone. In the late 1980s, she also performed with Anton Fier's Golden Palominos and played on their 1985 album, Visions of Excess.[citation needed]
She has continued to record frequently with her own big band, which has included Blood, Sweat and Tears' notable Lew Soloff, and a number of smaller ensembles, notably the Lost Chords. Her current partner, the bassist Steve Swallow,[7] has been her closest and most consistent musical associate in recent years and the two have recorded several duet albums. In 1997, a live version of Escalator over the Hill (re-orchestrated by Jeff Friedman) was performed for the first time in Cologne, Germany; in 1998 Escalator toured Europe, and another live performance took place in May 2006 in Essen, Germany.
In 2005 she arranged the music for and performed on Charlie Haden's latest Liberation Music Orchestra tour and recording, Not in Our Name. She lives in Woodstock, New York.[8]
Bley was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1972 for music composition. In 2009, she was awarded the German Jazz Trophy "A Life for Jazz".[9][10] Bley received the NEA Jazz Masters Award in 2015.[11]
Main article: Carla Bley discography
^ Ben Sidran, Talking Jazz: An Illustrated Oral History, Pomegranate Artbooks, 1992
^ Philippe Carles, André Clergeat, and Jean-Louis Comolli, Dictionnaire du jazz, Paris, 1994
^ a b Chinen, Nate (May 11, 2016). "At 80, Still Slyly Subverting Jazz". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
^ Turner, Charles. "Bley, Carla (Lovella May Borg)". Jazz.com. Archived from the original on 2015-03-02. Retrieved 2016-06-28.
^ Review of Andando el Tiempp (2017), The Irish Times June 2, 2016
^ Carla Bley at AllMusic
^ "Bley's MySpace page cites Swallow as her partner". Myspace.com. Retrieved 2012-06-25.
^ Michel, Karen. "A Traditional Jazz Christmas, An Unlikely Source". Npr.org. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
^ "German Jazz Trophy for Carla Bley". Ecmrecords.com. Retrieved 2012-06-25.
^ "German Jazz Trophy 2012 - Monty Alexander". German-jazz-trophy.de. Retrieved 2012-06-25.
^ "Carla Bley". arts.gov. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
EJN: Carla Bley
Carla Bley in conversation with Frank J. Oteri
Watt/XtraWatt music label
Carla Bley discography at Discogs
Carla Bley at AllMusic
Carla Bley at All About Jazz
Carla Bley interview at All About Jazz
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Carla_Bley&oldid=898809375"
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line745
|
__label__wiki
| 0.935579
| 0.935579
|
Team Rensi Motorsports
Find sources: "Team Rensi Motorsports" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (July 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Team Rensi Motorsports was a NASCAR Nationwide Series team owned by Ronnie Russell, Ed Rensi, Gary Weisbaum, and formerly Sam Rensi. The team has also competed in the Winston Cup Series, Craftsman Truck Series, and ARCA racing series.
Ronnie Russell
Ed Rensi
Gary Weisbaum
Concord, North Carolina
Nationwide Series
1999 Textilease / Medique 300
Latest race
2011 O'Reilly Auto Parts 300
Races competed
Drivers' Championships
Race victories
Pole positions
Ed Rensi, who was President and CEO of McDonald's USA from 1991 to 1997, has been Team Rensi Racing’s Chairman and CEO since October 1998.[1][2][3]
Car No. 24 historyEdit
Jason Keller (2005)
The No. 24 team debuted in 2005 as the No. 35 being driven by veteran Jason Keller with sponsorship from McDonald's.[2] Despite a ninth-place finish in points, Keller struggled to run up front, and he left for Phoenix Racing at the end of the season.
Regan Smith (2006)
Regan Smith took his place in 2006, and had one top-ten finish. Smith departed from the ride for Ginn Racing. Hamilton returned to Rensi to drive the No. 35 for the 2007 season, finishing sixth in points.
The 35 car at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2007.
Bobby Hamilton Jr. (2007)
During the 2007–08 offseason, McDonald's ended its sponsorship of the No. 35 and David Gilliland took the FreeCreditReport.com sponsorship of the No. 25 car to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Team Rensi signed Smithfield Foods as prime sponsor of the No. 25 car, allowing Hamilton to move to that team. The 35 returned late in 2008 with Danny O'Quinn driving, but he failed to finish both races he ran.
Eric McClure (2009-2010)
The car made a return to full-time racing in 2009, with Eric McClure bringing both Hefty sponsorship and the No. 24 over from Front Row Motorsports.
In 2010, McClure and Hefty remained with the team. After surgery on his foot, McClure was relieved by driver Chris Cook at Road America. DJ Kennington raced the car at Montreal to an 11th-place finish, as McClure sat out of the race due to a concussion the prior week from Bristol. McClure and Hefty will leave the team for 2011, citing performance issues and a lacking budget from Team Rensi.
Kevin Lepage (2011)
For 2011, Kevin Lepage drove the car for the first several races of the season. Lepage ran full races initially, but was forced to withdraw from Bristol after a practice crash and did not arrive at Talladega.
The team, then known as Team Rensi Motorsports first joined the Busch Series in 1999, fielding the No. 25 Dura Lube Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Jeff Finley. They finished 13th at the season opening NAPA Auto Parts 300, but Finley failed to qualify for the next few races, and he and the team drifted apart. Kenny Wallace took over at Nashville, and drove 18 races that season for the team, posting nine finishes of seventh or better. Rick Fuller, David Blankenship and Scott Lagasse drove two races a piece for the team as well, and they finished eighteenth in owner's points that season. Wallace returned again in 2000 with new sponsor Lance Snacks, and posted eight top-ten finishes, his best finish was 4th twice at Bristol races. Blankenship and Andy Santerre drove in the races that Wallace did not run, with Santerre finishing 3rd at Pikes Peak.
Chad Chaffin (2001)
In 2001, the U.S. Marines signed on as sponsor. Since Wallace had moved onto Innovative Motorsports, Chad Chaffin began the year with the team, but after he couldn't finish higher than 16th at Atlanta, he was released. Rookie David Donohue took over at the Pepsi 300 Presented by Mapco/Williams, but he too, struggled in the ride, and was released after 12 starts. Randy Tolsma finished the season for the team, who finished 29th in points that year.
Bobby Hamilton Jr. (2002-2004)
After 2001, Rensi switched to Ford Tauruses and signed Bobby Hamilton Jr. to drive. After a slow start, the two began to gain momentum, and they picked up their first win at the Busch 200, and finished eighth in points. This success carried over into the next season as well, as Hamilton won four races and finished fourth in points. They would not be able to win in 2004, and after the Cabela's 250, Hamilton left to drive for PPI Motorsports at the Nextel Cup level, and Mike McLaughlin took over for the rest of the season, finishing second at the Stacker 200 Presented by YJ Stinger.
Ashton Lewis (2005-2006)
In 2005, Rensi signed Ashton Lewis to drive the 25 car. Lewis had five top-ten finishes and a fourteenth-place finish in points. After many poor performances, however, Lewis was released and the Marines left as a sponsor.
David Gilliland and Richard Johns (2007)
For 2007, credit report site FreeCreditReport.com signed on as sponsor, with Nextel Cup driver David Gilliland and head engineer Richard Johns originally slated to share the ride. During the RoadLoans.com 200 weekend, Gilliland announced his departure from the No. 25, citing that he needed to focus on his Yates Racing No. 38 Cup ride. Johns drove for the remainder of the season.
The team returned Hamilton to the ride for the 2008 season in the newly renamed Nationwide Series, as his No. 35 team had folded. Smithfield Foods served as the sponsor for 30 races, and Hamilton drove to a fifteenth-place points finish with two top-ten finishes. Boris Said drove the 25 for two road course races with No Fear sponsorship.
Part-time (2009-2011)
The No. 25 returned for one race in 2009, at ORP with Hamilton Jr. driving.
In 2010, the No. 25 raced at Richmond and Chalotte with Kelly Bires behind the wheel and Raybestos as the sponsor.
For 2011, the No. 25 team, with driver Kelly Bires, quailifed for the Daytona race, but lack of funding caused them to start and park, only completing a few laps.
Craftsman TrucksEdit
Team Rensi began fielding a Craftsman Truck team in 2000, after purchasing equipment from Dale Earnhardt, Inc.. Driver Jimmy Hensley drove the mostly unsponsored No. 16 Chevrolet Silverado to a 13th-place finish in points. In 2001, Donohue began running the No. 16, but after three races, the team shut down due to sponsorship issues. Randy Tolsma drove the No. 61 that year and was tenth in points when his team closed as well due to financial problems. He ran one final Truck race for Rensi in 2002 (driven by Butch Miller), finishing 18th in a Marine-sponsored truck at Martinsville Speedway, the last race for Rensi's truck program.
^ NASCAR (July 7, 2004). "BUSCH: Chicagoland: Ed Rensi - NASCAR spotlight". Motorsport.com. Daytona Beach, Florida. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
^ a b Macarthur, Kate (February 14, 2005). "McDonald's adjusts its sports menu". Advertising Age. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
^ https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=630964&privcapId=1598870
Ed Rensi Owner Statistics
Sam Rensi Owner Statistics
Gary Weisbaum Owner Statistics
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Team_Rensi_Motorsports&oldid=903963510"
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line746
|
__label__wiki
| 0.961966
| 0.961966
|
Vanessa Redgrave CBE (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress of stage, screen and television, and a political activist. She is a 2003 American Theatre Hall of Fame inductee,[1] and received the 2010 BAFTA Fellowship.[2]
Redgrave in 2016
(1937-01-30) 30 January 1937 (age 82)
Blackheath, London, England
Tony Richardson
Franco Nero (m. 2006)
Timothy Dalton (1971–1986)
Carlo Gabriel Nero
Parent(s)
Michael Redgrave
Rachel Kempson
Corin Redgrave (brother)
Lynn Redgrave (sister)
Daisy Bevan (granddaughter)
Jemma Redgrave (niece)
Redgrave rose to prominence in 1961 playing Rosalind in the Shakespeare comedy As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since starred in more than 35 productions in London's West End and on Broadway, winning the 1984 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Revival for The Aspern Papers, and the 2003 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for the revival of Long Day's Journey into Night. She also received Tony nominations for The Year of Magical Thinking and Driving Miss Daisy.
On screen she has starred in scores of films and is a six-time Oscar nominee, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the title role in the film Julia (1977). Her other nominations were for Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966), Isadora (1968), Mary, Queen of Scots (1971), The Bostonians (1984) and Howards End (1992). Among her other films are A Man for All Seasons (1966), Blowup (1966), Camelot (1967), The Devils (1971), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), Prick Up Your Ears (1987), Mission: Impossible (1996), Atonement (2007), Coriolanus (2011) and The Butler (2013). Redgrave was proclaimed by Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams as "the greatest living actress of our times", and has won the Oscar, Emmy, Tony, BAFTA, Olivier, Cannes, Golden Globe, and the Screen Actors Guild awards.
A member of the Redgrave family of actors, she is the daughter of Sir Michael Redgrave and Lady Redgrave (the actress Rachel Kempson), the sister of Lynn Redgrave and Corin Redgrave, the mother of actresses Joely Richardson and Natasha Richardson, the aunt of British actress Jemma Redgrave, the mother-in-law of actor Liam Neeson, and the grandmother of Micheál and Daniel Neeson.
Main article: Redgrave family
Redgrave was born on 30 January 1937 in Blackheath, London,[3] the daughter of actors Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson.[4] Laurence Olivier announced her birth to the audience at a performance of Hamlet at the Old Vic, when he said that Laertes (played by Sir Michael) had a daughter.
In her autobiography, Redgrave recalls the East End and Coventry Blitzes among her earliest memories.[5] Following the East End Blitz, Redgrave relocated with her family to Herefordshire before returning to London in 1943.[6] She was educated at the Alice Ottley School, Worcester, and Queen's Gate School, London, before "coming out" as a debutante. Her siblings, Lynn Redgrave and Corin Redgrave, were also acclaimed actors.
Early stage and film careerEdit
Vanessa Redgrave entered the Central School of Speech and Drama in 1954. She first appeared in the West End, playing opposite her brother, in 1958.
In 1959, she appeared at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre under the direction of Peter Hall as Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream opposite Charles Laughton as Bottom and Coriolanus opposite Laurence Olivier (in the title role), Albert Finney and Edith Evans.[7]
In 1960, Redgrave had her first starring role in Robert Bolt's The Tiger and the Horse, in which she co-starred with her father. In 1961, she played Rosalind in As You Like It for the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1962, she played Imogen in William Gaskill's production of Cymbeline for the RSC. In 1966, Redgrave created the role of Jean Brodie in the Donald Albery production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, adapted for the stage by Jay Presson Allen from the novel by Muriel Spark.
Redgrave had her first credited film role, in which she co-starred with her father, in Brian Desmond Hurst's Behind the Mask (1958). Redgrave's first starring film role was in Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966), co-starring David Warner and directed by Karel Reisz, for which she received an Oscar nomination, a Cannes award, a Golden Globe nomination and a BAFTA Film Award nomination. Following this, she portrayed a cool London swinger in Blowup (1966). Co-starring David Hemmings, it was the first English-language film of the Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni. Reunited with Karel Reisz for the biographical film of dancer Isadora Duncan in Isadora (1968), her portrayal of Duncan led her gaining a National Society of Film Critics' Award for Best Actress, a second Prize for the Best Female Performance at the Cannes Film Festival, along with a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination. In the same period came other portrayals of historical (or semi-mythical) figures – ranging from Andromache in The Trojan Women (1971) to the lead in Mary, Queen of Scots (1971), the latter earning her a third Oscar nomination. She also played the role of Guinevere in the film Camelot (1967) with Richard Harris and Franco Nero, and briefly as Sylvia Pankhurst in Oh! What a Lovely War (1969). She portrayed the character of Mother Superior Jeanne des Anges (Joan of the Angels) in The Devils (1971), the once controversial film directed by Ken Russell.
The 1970s and political controversyEdit
Redgrave funded and narrated a documentary film, The Palestinian (1977), about the situation of the Palestinians and the activities of the Palestine Liberation Organization. In the film Julia (also 1977), she starred in the title role as a woman murdered by the Nazi German regime in the years prior to World War II for her anti-Fascist activism. Her co-star in the film was Jane Fonda (playing writer Lillian Hellman), who, in her 2005 autobiography, noted that:
there is a quality about Vanessa that makes me feel as if she resides in a netherworld of mystery that eludes the rest of us mortals. Her voice seems to come from some deep place that knows all suffering and all secrets. Watching her work is like seeing through layers of glass, each layer painted in mythic watercolor images, layer after layer, until it becomes dark, but even then you know you haven't come to the bottom of it ... The only other time I had experienced this with an actor was with Marlon Brando ... Like Vanessa, he always seemed to be in another reality, working off some secret, magnetic, inner rhythm.[8]
When Redgrave was nominated for an Oscar in 1977 for her role in Julia, members of the Jewish Defense League (JDL), led by Rabbi Meir Kahane, burned effigies of Redgrave and picketed the Academy Awards ceremony to protest against her involvement in The Palestinian.[9][10]
Redgrave's performance in Julia received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Accepting the award, Redgrave thanked Hollywood for having "refused to be intimidated by the threats of a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums – whose behavior is an insult to the stature of Jews all over the world and to their great and heroic record of struggle against fascism and oppression."[11]
Her remarks brought an outraged on-stage response from screenwriter and Academy Award presenter Paddy Chayefsky, and sparked controversy. One Redgrave biography noted that "The scandal of her awards speech and the negative press it occasioned had a destructive effect on her acting opportunities that would last for years to come."[12]
Later careerEdit
Film and televisionEdit
Redgrave in 1994.
Later film roles include those of suffragist Olive Chancellor in The Bostonians (1984, a fourth Best Actress Academy Award nomination), transsexual tennis player Renée Richards in Second Serve (1986), Blanche Hudson in the television remake of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane (1991), Mrs. Wilcox in Howards End (1992, her sixth Academy Award nomination, this time in a supporting role); crime boss Max in Mission: Impossible (1996, when discussing the role of Max, Brian DePalma and Tom Cruise thought it would be fun to cast an actor like Redgrave; they then decided to go with the real thing); Oscar Wilde's mother in Wilde (1997); Clarissa Dalloway in Mrs. Dalloway (1997); and Dr. Sonia Wick in Girl, Interrupted (1999). Many of these roles and others garnered her widespread accolades.
Her performance as a lesbian mourning the loss of her longtime partner in the HBO series If These Walls Could Talk 2 (2000) earned her a Golden Globe for Best TV Series Supporting Actress, as well as earning an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a TV Film or Miniseries. This same performance also led to an Excellence in Media Award from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). In 2004, Redgrave joined the second-season cast of the FX series Nip/Tuck, portraying Dr. Erica Noughton, the mother of Julia McNamara, who is played by her real-life daughter Joely Richardson. She also made appearances in the third and sixth seasons. In 2006, Redgrave starred opposite Peter O'Toole in the film Venus. A year later, Redgrave starred in Evening and Atonement, in which she received a Broadcast Film Critics Association award nomination for a performance that took up only seven minutes of screen time.
In 2008, Redgrave appeared as a narrator in an Arts Alliance production, id – Identity of the Soul. In 2009, Redgrave starred in the BBC remake of The Day of the Triffids, with her daughter Joely. In the midst of losing her daughter, Natasha Richardson, Redgrave signed on to play Eleanor of Aquitaine in Ridley Scott's version of Robin Hood (2010), which began filming shortly after Natasha's death. Redgrave later withdrew from the film for personal reasons. The part was given to her Evening co-star Eileen Atkins.[13] She was next seen in Letters to Juliet opposite her husband Franco Nero.
She had small roles in Eva (2009), a Romanian drama film that premiered at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, as well as in Julian Schnabel's Palestinian drama Miral (2010), which was screened at the 67th Venice International Film Festival. She voiced the character of Winnie the Giant Tortoise in the environmental animated film Animals United (also 2010), and played a supporting role in the Bosnia-set political drama, The Whistleblower (2010), which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Redgrave also narrated Patrick Keiller's semi-fictional documentary, Robinson in Ruins (2010). Since 2012, Redgrave has narrated the BBC series Call The Midwife.[14]
She also played leading roles in two historical films: Shakespeare's Coriolanus (which marked actor Ralph Fiennes' directorial debut), in which she plays Volumnia; and Roland Emmerich's Anonymous (both 2011), as Queen Elizabeth I.
Subsequently, she starred with Terence Stamp and Gemma Arterton in the British comedy-drama Song for Marion (US: Unfinished Song, 2012) and with Forest Whitaker in The Butler (2013), directed by Lee Daniels. She also appeared with Steve Carell and Channing Tatum in the drama Foxcatcher (2014).
In 2017, at the age of 80, Redgrave made her directorial debut with the feature documentary Sea Sorrow, which covers the plight of child migrants in the Calais refugee camps and the broader European migrant crisis. It premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival.[15] Critics praised the documentary's message but criticized the structure for a "scattershot lack of focus" and the "ungainliness of its production values."[16][17]
TheatreEdit
Redgrave won four Evening Standard Awards for Best Actress in four decades. She was awarded the Laurence Olivier Award for Actress of the Year in a Revival in 1984 for The Aspern Papers.
In 2000, her theatre work included Prospero in The Tempest at Shakespeare's Globe in London. In 2003, she won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance in the Broadway revival of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night. In January 2006, Redgrave was presented the Ibsen Centennial Award for her "outstanding work in interpreting many of Henrik Ibsen's works over the last decades".[18] Previous recipients of the award include Liv Ullmann, Glenda Jackson and Claire Bloom.
In 2007, Redgrave played Joan Didion in her Broadway stage adaptation of her 2005 book, The Year of Magical Thinking, which played 144 regular performances in a 24-week limited engagement at the Booth Theatre. For this, she won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play. She reprised the role at the Lyttelton Theatre at the Royal National Theatre in London to mixed reviews. She also spent a week performing the work at the Theatre Royal in Bath in September 2008. She once again performed the role of Joan Didion for a special benefit at New York's Cathedral of Saint John the Divine on 26 October 2009. The performance was originally slated to debut on 27 April, but was pushed due to the death of Redgrave's daughter Natasha. The proceeds for the benefit were donated to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Both charities work to provide help for the children of Gaza.
In October 2010, she starred in the Broadway premiere of Driving Miss Daisy starring in the title role opposite James Earl Jones. The show premiered on 25 October 2010 at the John Golden Theatre in New York City to rave reviews.[19] The production was originally scheduled to run to 29 January 2011 but due to a successful response and high box office sales, was extended to 9 April 2011.[20] In May 2011, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for the role of Daisy in Driving Miss Daisy.[21] The play transferred to the Wyndham's Theatre in London from 26 September to 17 December 2011.[22]
In 2013, Redgrave starred alongside Jesse Eisenberg in Eisenberg's The Revisionist. The New York production ran from 15 February to 27 April. Redgrave played a Polish holocaust survivor in the play.[23][24] In September 2013, Redgrave once again starred opposite James Earl Jones in a production of Much Ado About Nothing at The Old Vic, London, directed by Mark Rylance.[25]
In 2016, Redgrave played Queen Margaret in Richard III with Ralph Fiennes in the title role, at the Almeida Theatre, London.[26]
In a poll of "industry experts" and readers conducted by The Stage in 2010, Redgrave was ranked as the ninth greatest stage actor/actress of all time.[27]
Redgrave was married to film and theatre director Tony Richardson from 1962 to 1967; the couple had two daughters, actresses Natasha Richardson (1963–2009) and Joely Richardson (b. 1965). In 1967, the year Redgrave divorced Richardson, who left her for the French actress Jeanne Moreau, she became romantically involved with Italian actor Franco Nero when they met on the set of Camelot. In 1969, they had a son, Carlo Gabriel Redgrave Sparanero (known professionally as Carlo Gabriel Nero), a screenwriter and director. From 1971 to 1986, she had a long-term relationship with actor Timothy Dalton, with whom she had appeared in the film Mary, Queen of Scots (1971).[28] Redgrave later reunited with Franco Nero, and they married on 31 December 2006. Carlo Nero directed Redgrave in The Fever (2004), a film adaptation of the Wallace Shawn play.[29]
Within 14 months in 2009 and 2010, Redgrave lost both a daughter and her two younger siblings. Her daughter Natasha Richardson died on 18 March 2009 from a traumatic brain injury caused by a skiing accident.[30] On 6 April 2010, her brother, Corin Redgrave, died, and on 2 May 2010, her sister, Lynn Redgrave, died.
Redgrave had a near-fatal heart attack in April 2015.[31] In September 2015, she revealed that her lungs are only working at 30 per cent capacity due to emphysema caused by years of smoking.[32]
Redgrave was made a Commander (CBE) of the Order of the British Empire in 1967. Reportedly, she declined a damehood in 1999.[33][34]
Redgrave describes herself as a person of faith and attends a Catholic church.[35]
Political activismEdit
In 1961, Vanessa Redgrave was an active member of the Committee of 100 and its working group. Redgrave and her brother Corin joined the Workers Revolutionary Party in the 1970s.[36] She ran for parliament several times as a party member but never received more than a few hundred votes.[37]
Redgrave made her American TV debut as concentration camp survivor Fania Fénelon in the Arthur Miller-scripted TV movie Playing for Time (1980), a part for which she won an Emmy as Outstanding Lead Actress in 1981. The decision to cast Redgrave as Fénelon was, however, a source of controversy. In light of Redgrave's support for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO),[38] Fénelon objected to her casting. Redgrave defended her stance in her 1991 autobiography, saying that "the struggle against antisemitism and for the self-determination of the Palestinians form a single whole."[39]
In 1984, Redgrave sued the Boston Symphony Orchestra, claiming that the orchestra had fired her from a performance because of her support of the PLO.[40] Lillian Hellman testified in court on Redgrave's behalf.[41] Redgrave won on a count of breach of contract, but did not win on the claim that the Boston orchestra had violated her civil rights by firing her.[41]
In 1995, Redgrave was elected to serve as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. In December 2002 Redgrave paid £50,000 bail for Chechen separatist Deputy Premier and special envoy Akhmed Zakayev, who had sought political asylum in the United Kingdom and was accused by the Russian government of aiding and abetting hostage-takings in the Moscow Hostage Crisis of 2002 and guerrilla warfare against Russia.
At a press conference, Redgrave said she feared for Zakayev's safety if he were extradited to Russia on terrorism charges. He would "die of a heart attack" or some other mysterious explanation offered by Russia, she said.[42] On 13 November 2003, a London court rejected the Russian government's request for Zakayev's extradition. Instead, the court accepted a plea by lawyers for Zakayev that he would not get a fair trial, and could even face torture, in Russia. "It would be unjust and oppressive to return Mr Zakayev to Russia," Judge Timothy Workman ruled.[43]
In 2004, Vanessa Redgrave and her brother Corin Redgrave launched the Peace and Progress Party, which campaigned against the Iraq War and for human rights. However, in June 2005 Redgrave left the party.
Redgrave has been an outspoken critic of the "war on terrorism".[44][45] During a June 2005 interview on Larry King Live, Redgrave was challenged on this criticism and on her political views. In response she questioned whether there can be true democracy if the political leadership of the United States and Britain does not "uphold the values for which my father's generation fought the Nazis, [and] millions of people gave their lives against the Soviet Union's regime. [Such sacrifice was made] because of democracy and what democracy meant: no torture, no camps, no detention forever or without trial.... [Such] techniques are not just alleged [against the governments of the U.S. and Britain], they have actually been written about by the FBI. I don't think it's being 'far left'...to uphold the rule of law."[46]
In March 2006, Redgrave remarked in an interview with US broadcast journalist Amy Goodman: "I don't know of a single government that actually abides by international human rights law, not one, including my own. In fact, [they] violate these laws in the most despicable and obscene way, I would say." Goodman's interview with Redgrave took place in the actress's West London home on the evening of 7 March, and covered a range of subjects, particularly the cancellation by the New York Theatre Workshop of the Alan Rickman production My Name is Rachel Corrie. Such a development, said Redgrave, was an "act of catastrophic cowardice" as "the essence of life and the essence of theatre is to communicate about lives, either lives that have ended or lives that are still alive, [and about] beliefs, and what is in those beliefs."[47]
In June 2006, she was awarded a lifetime achievement award from the Transilvania International Film Festival, one of whose sponsors is a mining company named Gabriel Resources. She dedicated the award to a community organisation from Roşia Montană, Romania, which is campaigning against a gold mine that Gabriel Resources is seeking to build near the village. Gabriel Resources placed an "open letter" in The Guardian on 23 June 2006, attacking Redgrave, arguing the case for the mine, and exhibiting support for it among the inhabitants: the open letter is signed by 77 villagers.[48]
In December 2007, Redgrave was named as one of the possible suretors who paid the £50,000 bail for Jamil al-Banna, one of three British residents arrested after landing back in the UK following four years' captivity at Guantanamo Bay. Redgrave has declined to be specific about her financial involvement but said she was "very happy" to be of "some small assistance for Jamil and his wife", adding, "It is a profound honour and I am glad to be alive to be able to do this. Guantanamo Bay is a concentration camp."[49]
In March 2014 Redgrave took part in a protest outside Pentonville Prison in North London after new prison regulations were introduced which forbade sending books to prisoners.[50] She and fellow actor Samuel West, playwright David Hare and Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy took turns reading poetry and making speeches. Redgrave stated that the ban was "vicious and deplorable...Literature is something that stirs us beyond our immediate problems, it can help us to learn better our own problems, our own faults or to have a goal to live for, an aspiration."[51] The ban was overturned by the Ministry of Justice the following December.[52]
In 2017, Redgrave made her directorial debut with the movie Sea Sorrow, a documentary about the European migrant crisis and the plight of migrants encamped outside Calais, France trying to reach Britain.[15] She has heavily criticized the exclusionary policy of the British government towards refugees, stating that the British Government "...has violated these principles (of the Declaration of Human Rights) and it continues to do so, which I find deeply shameful. The UN signed the Declaration of Human Rights and now we have to employ lawyers to take the government to court to force them to obey the law. Just thinking about that makes my mind go berserk."[15]
Main article: Vanessa Redgrave filmography
Awards and nominationsEdit
Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Vanessa Redgrave
^ "Theater honours put women in the spotlight". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
^ "Vanessa Redgrave to receive Academy Fellowship". BAFTA. 21 February 2010. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
^ Redgrave 1991, p. 5.
^ General Register Office. "England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837–2008". FamilySearch. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved 24 September 2015. Vanessa Redgrave, 1937, Greenwich, London, England; Mother's maiden name Kempson
^ Redgrave 1991, pp. 6–7.
^ Redgrave 1991, pp. 7, 12.
^ Micheline Steinberg (1985). Flashback, A Pictorial History 1879–1979: 100 Years of Stratford-upon-Avon and the Royal Shakespeare Company. RSC Publications. p. 73.
^ Fonda, Jane (2005). My Life So Far. New York: Random House. p. 364.
^ Emanuel, Levy. "Oscar Politics: Vanessa Redgrave". Retrieved 30 March 2012.
^ Higginbotham, Adam (17 April 2012). "Vanessa Redgrave: 'Why do I work? I'm mortgaged up to the hilt'". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
^ Sharon Waxman (21 March 1999). "The Oscar Acceptance Speech: By and Large, It's a Lost Art". The Washington Post. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
^ Callahan, Dan (2014). Vanessa: The Life of Vanessa Redgrave. Pegasus Books. p. 121. ISBN 978-1-60598-593-0. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
^ WENN. "Redgrave Withdraws From Robin Hood". Contactmusic.com.
^ "Call the Midwife Cast List – TV Guide UK TV Listings". tvguide.co.uk.
^ a b c Brooks, Xan (21 May 2017). "Vanessa Redgrave: 'Democracy is at stake. That's why I'm voting Labour'". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
^ Peter Bradshaw (17 May 2017). "Sea Sorrow review – Vanessa Redgrave's ungainly, heartfelt essay on the refugee crisis". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
^ "'Sea Sorrow': Film Review Cannes 2017". The Hollywood Reporter. 19 May 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
^ "Vanessa Redgrave honoured at UK Ibsen Year opening", Norway – the official site in the UK. accessed 17 December 2006
^ Rave reviews for Vanessa Redgrave, 'sassy' at 73 after year of family heartbreak Archived 29 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine London Evening Standard. 26 October 2010
^ Driving Miss Daisy Extends Through April 2011 with All Three Stars Archived 17 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine Playbill. 15 December 2010
^ "2011 Tony Nominations Announced! THE BOOK OF MORMON Leads With 14!". broadway world.com. 3 May 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
^ "Redgrave & Jones Drive Miss Daisy to West End – Driving Miss Daisy at Wyndham's Theatre". Whatsonstage.com. Archived from the original on 28 December 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
^ The Revisionist, Starring Jesse Eisenberg and Vanessa Redgrave, Premieres Off-Broadway Feb. 15 Archived 7 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine Playbill. 15 February 2013
^ "The Revisionist, Starring Jesse Eisenberg and Vanessa Redgrave, Extends Off-Broadway Run". Playbill. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
^ Trueman, Matt (4 December 2012). "Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones to reunite for Old Vic's Much Ado". The Guardian.
^ Billington, Michael (16 June 2016). "Richard III – Ralph Fiennes gets to grips with Shakespeare's ruthless ruler". The Guardian.
^ Alistair Smith (15 December 2010). "Judi Dench tops Greatest Stage Actor poll". The Stage. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
^ "Excerpts from Vanessa Redgrave's Autobiography:". Oocities.org. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
^ Amy Goodman (13 June 2007). "Vanessa Redgrave Combines Lifelong Devotion to Acting and Political Involvement in New HBO Film The Fever" (.MP3). Democracy Now!. Retrieved 14 May 2007.
^ "Natasha Richardson dies aged 45". BBC News. 19 March 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
^ Sarah Buchanan, "Vanessa Redgrave survives severe heart attack thanks to answer phone message", Daily Express, 26 September 2015.
^ Alison Roberts, "Vanessa Redgrave: 'Before I didn't care at all – now I find myself thinking what a miracle everything is'", London Evening Standard, 24 September 2015.
^ "Some who turned the offer down". The Guardian. London. 22 December 2003. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
^ Leppard, David; Winnett, Robert (21 December 2003). "Revealed secret list of 300 who scorned honours". The Times. London.
^ Hattenstone, Simon (13 June 2016). "Vanessa Redgrave on why she was ready to die: 'Trying to live was getting too tiring'". The Guardian. London.
^ Rourke, Mary (7 April 2010). "Corin Redgrave dies at 70; actor and activist was part of the famed British family of performers". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
^ "Vanessa Redgrave". The New York Times. 19 March 2009. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
^ Daniel Schorn (1 June 2007). "The New Direction of Vanessa Redgrave". CBS News. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
^ Redgrave 1991, p. 306.
^ "Google Scholar". google.com.
^ a b Martinson, Deborah (2005). Lillian Hellman. Counterpoint Press. p. 357. ISBN 1-58243-315-1.
^ "UK actress defends Chechen rebel". BBC News. 6 December 2002. Retrieved 17 December 2006.
^ "Court rejects Chechen extradition". BBC News. 13 November 2003. Retrieved 17 December 2006.
^ Redgrave, Vanessa (30 September 2001), "We Need Justice. Bombs Will Only Create More Martyrs." Archived 21 March 2006 at the Wayback Machine CommonDreams.org. accessed 17 December 2006
^ "Oscar-Winning Actress, Activist Vanessa Redgrave Calls For Justice, Legal and Human Rights For Guantanamo Prisoners" Archived 12 March 2006 at the Wayback Machine audio, (9 March 2004), Democracy Now!. accessed 17 December 2006
^ CNN Larry King Live interview with Vanessa Redgrave transcript, (Aired 18 June 2005), CNN.com. accessed 17 December 2006
^ "Legendary Actor Vanessa Redgrave Calls Cancellation of Rachel Corrie Play an 'Act of Catastrophic Cowardice'" Archived 15 March 2006 at the Wayback Machine audio, (8 March 2004), Democracy Now!. accessed 17 December 2006
^ Vasagar, Jeevan (23 June 2006). "Redgrave centre stage in campaign to halt Romanian gold mine that has split village". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 December 2006.
^ Moore, Matthew (20 December 2007). "Vanessa Redgrave bails Guantanamo suspect". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
^ "Vanessa Redgrave joins protest against prison book ban". express.co.uk. 30 March 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
^ Helen William (28 March 2014). "Poetry reading held outside Pentonville in protest against prison books ban". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
^ Mark Haddon (8 December 2014). "The ban on books for prisoners is over. But how did it happen in the first place?". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
Redgrave, Vanessa (1991). Vanessa Redgrave: An Autobiography. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-679-40216-9.
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Vanessa Redgrave
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vanessa Redgrave.
Vanessa Redgrave at the Internet Broadway Database
Vanessa Redgrave at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
Vanessa Redgrave on IMDb
Vanessa Redgrave at the TCM Movie Database
Vanessa Redgrave at the BFI's Screenonline
Vanessa Redgrave: Actress and Campaigner
"She's Got Issues" – The Observer, 19 March 2006
Lee Israel research files on Vanessa Redgrave, 1982–1987 Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vanessa_Redgrave&oldid=906157198"
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line747
|
__label__cc
| 0.64676
| 0.35324
|
The German Muslim community's protest against extremism
"No" to hatred and injustice
The German Muslim community's day of action against extremism and injustice was a strong appeal for tolerance. It was also a demonstration that there are many, many Muslims who are not willing to allow their religion to be hijacked as a justification for barbarism and hatred. By Bettina Marx
The terrorist militias of Islamic State in Syria and Iraq appear to be unstoppable. Its members are murdering and pillaging their way from one village to the next, torturing and humiliating the population and forcing tens of thousands to flee.
Meanwhile in Germany, Muslims are standing up to raise their voices against hatred and injustice. They're distancing themselves in as clear a manner as possible from the extremists who are propagating a regime of terror in the Middle East in the name of their religion, a regime of terror which incidentally is claiming more Muslim lives than any other.
Distancing themselves from the radicals: "It is a good thing that the Muslim associations have distanced themselves so clearly from these fanatics with this day of action. In doing so, they are helping to make the debate more rational," writes Bettina Marx. Pictured here: a Muslim man praying at the German Muslim community's day of action in Berlin
Standing up to be counted
With this day of action, German Muslims were also distancing themselves from the at least 400 members of their faith who have chosen to leave Germany to fight this civil war and take part in its horrific battles. Among them are young men and women who have become radicalised via the Internet or fallen prey to the hate preachers who espouse their views on the fringes of Germany's Muslim community.
Such preachers are normally not part of the roughly 2,000 mosque congregations that belong to one of the four major Muslim associations in Germany. The majority of German Muslims, who live ordinary, decent lives, cannot be held responsible for the deviant path chosen by those who blindly follow the preachers of hate and are prepared to risk their own lives to make the violent vision of a pure Islam a reality.
Nevertheless, it is a good thing that the Muslim associations have distanced themselves so clearly from these fanatics with this day of action. In doing so, they are helping to make the debate more rational at a time when the mainstream German population is feeling increasingly shocked and unsettled by the terrible events in the Middle East, and when those on the far right of our society are targeting Islam and Muslims.
"When a synagogue is attacked, I am a Jew; when Christians are persecuted, I am a Christian; and when mosques are torched, I am a Muslim," said Aiman Mazyek, head of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany (pictured above)
We are all one
According to reports from representatives of the Muslim associations, the number of attacks against Muslims and Muslim institutions is increasing. In August, there were five attacks on mosques in Germany, more than ever before.
During their day of action last Friday, which involved prayers for peace and solemn vigils, Muslims were also protesting against such acts as well as against anti-Semitism and hatred against Jews. "When a synagogue is attacked, I am a Jew; when Christians are persecuted, I am a Christian; and when mosques are torched, I am a Muslim," said Aiman Mazyek, head of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany (ZMD), this week. These are strong words that we should all make our own. It is only by standing together and having the courage to stand up for our beliefs that we can oppose growing intolerance, extremism and fanaticism.
But that alone is not enough: politicians and the media also have a role to play. Politicians need to make sure that underprivileged, ostracised young people are offered good prospects by granting Muslim associations the funds they need to work with young people. At international level, they have to do what they can to end the conflicts that are tearing the Middle East apart and dry up the swamp where terrorism is breeding.
For their part, the media must explain, inform and ensure that they are not contributing to the estrangement and radicalisation of Muslims through the topics they choose to cover and the words they choose to use.
Bettina Marx
© Deutsche Welle 2014
The "Muslim Associations as Community Activists" project: Open dialogue on thorny issuesThe "Sharia Police" in Wuppertal: Playing on a widespread fear of Islam in GermanyTopic: Islam in Germany
'Islamic State' | IS, Integration in Germany, Islam in Germany, Islamism | Political Islam, Muslims in the West, Salafis | Salafism
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line748
|
__label__wiki
| 0.730213
| 0.730213
|
Bheegi Palkein
The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's notability guideline for films. Please help to establish notability by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention. If notability cannot be established, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted.
Find sources: "Bheegi Palkein" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Sisir Mishra
K. K. Arya
Sisir Mishra, Kartik Rath
Smita Patil
Jugal Kishore
Tilak Raj
Sudhakar
Filmistan, Natraj Essel, Film City
24 August 1982 (1982-08-24)
Bheegi Palkein[1] (Hindi: भीगी पलकें; English: Moistened eyelids) is a 1982 Indian Bollywood film directed by Sisir Mishra and produced by K. K. Arya. It stars Raj Babbar and Smita Patil in pivotal roles.
4 Filming
5 Crew
It was based on a family drama of an Odisha Brahmin family, the caste system and the differences between husband and wife.
The film starts with Ishwar Acharya (Raj Babbar), an I.E.S. officer who goes for an inspection of a Roman Catholic Mission school of Odisha. There, he meets Shanti, his wife, (Smita Patil) working as a school teacher. He meets her and asks her to go back into their past lives as a husband and wife. Then, she says that a home was built with the understanding and feelings, which we don't have anymore. Then, Ishwar goes to his life's flashback.
Ishwar (Raj Babbar) and Shanti (Smita Patil) both were childhood friends. They live, study and travel together. But, when they become youths, both were in love with each other. They wanted to get married. But at that time, Ishwar's sister-in-law (Sulabha Deshpande) chose a girl for him, but he refused and asked to marry Shanti. Because of lower caste and her poverty, his whole family except his brother opposed him. At that time, Ishwar got a job in a private company. After this, Ishwar goes for a registry marriage with Shanti. Because of the opposition of the family, Ishwar and Shanti don't go to the house. They rent a house and live there happily.
Some days later, when Shanti gives a monthly list for the house's needs, Ishwar bought a costly pressure cooker. Here, Shanti worried about their future and gives a suggestion to him, but he gets angry and tells her that "when I am happy you aren't happy for me. So you are so jealous of me". In this way, they give birth to a child. But in any matter or suggestion, Ishwar discarded her. In the following days, she also works in a bank. But Ishwar doesn't like this. One day, Ishwar rides the bike fast and has an accident with a truck. He blamed Shanti for this and every day he was rude to her in hospital. Shanti thinks this is because of the bad time of his sunshine. So, she doesn't argue with him. On the following days, she becomes so busy in the bank with her work. So, she gets late to go home and hospital. So, Ishwar thinks that there is some new relationship with someone. At that time, her son was so ill, that she doesn't care for him properly, because of her work. So, one rainy night she discovered that her son was no more. After the discharge from hospital, Ishwar got to know that his son is dead. Then, he doesn't have any more trust in her from that time on, and goes to his family. Knowing this, Shanti also left the house and goes to a Roman Catholic Mission school. When Ishwar knows the truth behind this, he go to the meet Shanti. But, after the arrival, he hears that Shanti also left the house after him.
From that day to the present, Ishwar wanted to go looking for Shanti and wanted to say that he was sorry. After a long period, Ishwar met her working in a church as a teacher. After the flashback, he goes to her cottage and Shanti toldd him that you shouldn't make any decision as my husband anymore, today, decide like my friend. Then Ishwar says that the husband has been defeated, your friend wins. So, they decide to maintain their life as a friendship. Then, Ishwar goes back, leaving Shanti in that church.
Raj Babbar as Ishwar Acharya
Smita Patil as Shanti
Dina Pathak as Mrs. Acharya
Sulabha Deshpande as Janki Kishan Acharya
Suresh Chatwal as Prakash Acharya
Laxmi Chhaya as Ishwar's sister
Jagdeep as Hussein Bhai Madadgari
Asit Sen as Divisional Manager
Leela Mishra as Chachi
Umakant Mishra asFather at Church
Music[edit]
"Janam Janam Ka Sath Hai Tumhara Hamara" Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar
"O Mother Mary Teri Sharn Me" Sushree Sangeeta, Chorus
"Jab Tak Maine Samjha Jeevan" Kishore Kumar
"Janam Janam Ka Sath Tha" (Sad Version) Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar
"Aadmi Ki Zindagi Ka Aaurat Nasha Hai" Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle
"Naino Me Sapne Samaye" Asha Bhosle, Amit Kumar
Filming[edit]
The film locations included Jagannath Temple, Puri, Cuttack Chandi Temple (Cuttack), Udayagiri and Khandagiri Caves. The first song of this film was shot in Roman Catholic Church (Surada). Other scenes were shot in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Brahmapur. Basically the overall film was shot in Odisha and some studios in Mumbai.
Crew[edit]
Director: Sisir Mishra
Producer: K. K. Arya
Music Director: Jugal Kishore, Tilak Raj
Lyrics: M. G. Hashmat
Playback Singers: Amit Kumar, Asha Bhosle, Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi, Sangita Mahapatra
^ Plot summary at the Internet Movie Database
Bheegi Palkein on IMDb
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bheegi_Palkein&oldid=848242687"
Hindi-language films
1980s Hindi-language films
Use Indian English from December 2015
Articles with topics of unclear notability from May 2012
Film articles with topics of unclear notability
Articles containing Hindi-language text
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line749
|
__label__cc
| 0.552382
| 0.447618
|
(Redirected from Soft Drink)
sweetened non-alcoholic drink, often carbonated
"Soda pop" redirects here. For other uses, see Soda pop (disambiguation).
A glass of cola served with ice cubes
A soft drink (see § Terminology for other names) is a drink that usually contains carbonated water (although some lemonades are not carbonated), a sweetener, and a natural or artificial flavoring. The sweetener may be a sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, a sugar substitute (in the case of diet drinks), or some combination of these. Soft drinks may also contain caffeine, colorings, preservatives, and/or other ingredients.
Soft drinks are called "soft" in contrast with "hard" alcoholic drinks. Small amounts of alcohol may be present in a soft drink, but the alcohol content must be less than 0.5% of the total volume of the drink in many countries and localities[1][2] if the drink is to be considered non-alcoholic.[3] Fruit punch, tea (even kombucha), and other such non-alcoholic drinks are technically soft drinks by this definition, but are not generally referred to as such. Unsweetened sparkling water may be consumed as an alternative to soft drinks.
Soft drinks may be served chilled, over ice cubes, or at room temperature, especially soda. They are available in many container formats, including cans, glass bottles, and plastic bottles. Containers come in a variety of sizes, ranging from small bottles to large multi-litre containers. Soft drinks are widely available at fast food restaurants, movie theaters, convenience stores, casual-dining restaurants, dedicated soda stores, and bars from soda fountain machines. Soft drinks are usually served in paper or plastic disposable cups in the first three venues. In casual dining restaurants and bars, soft drinks are often served in glasses made from glass or plastic. Soft drinks may be drunk with straws or sipped directly from the cups.
Soft drinks are mixed with other ingredients in several contexts. In Western countries, in bars and other places where alcohol is served (e.g. airplanes, restaurants and nightclubs), many mixed drinks are made by blending a soft drink with hard liquor and serving the drink over ice. One well-known example is the rum and coke, which may also contain lime juice. Some homemade fruit punch recipes, which may or may not contain alcohol, contain a mixture of various fruit juices and a soft drink (e.g. ginger ale). At ice cream parlours and 1950s-themed diners, ice cream floats, and specifically root beer floats, are often sold. Examples of brands include Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Sprite, Sierra Mist, Fanta, Sunkist, Mountain Dew, Dr. Pepper, and 7 UP.
2.1 Carbonated drinks
2.2 Mass market and industrialization
3 Consumption
5 Producers
6 Health concerns
6.1 Obesity and weight-related diseases
6.2 Dental decay
6.3 Hypokalemia
6.4 Bone density and bone loss
6.5 Sugar content
6.6 Benzene
6.7 Pesticides in India
6.8 Kidney stones
7 Government regulation
7.1 Schools
7.2 Taxation
7.3 Bans
See also: Names for soft drinks in the United States
While the term "soft drink" is commonly used in product labeling and on restaurant menus, in many countries these drinks are more commonly referred to by regional names, including carbonated drink, cool drink, cold drink, fizzy drink, fizzy juice, lolly water, pop, seltzer, soda, coke, soda pop, tonic, and mineral.[4][5] Due to the high sugar content in typical soft drinks, they may also be called sugary drinks.
In the United States, the 2003 Harvard Dialect Survey tracked the usage of the nine most common names. Over half of the survey respondents preferred the term "soda", which was dominant in the Northeastern United States, California, and the areas surrounding Milwaukee and St. Louis. The term "pop", which was preferred by 25% of the respondents, was most popular in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest, while the genericized trademark "coke", used by 12% of the respondents, was most popular in the Southern United States.[4] The term "tonic" is distinctive to eastern Massachusetts, although usage is declining.[6]
In the English-speaking parts of Canada, the term "pop" is prevalent, but "soft drink" is the most common English term used in Montreal.[7]
In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the terms "fizzy drink" and the genericized trademark "coke" are common (though "coke" refers only to a cola of any brand). "Pop" and "fizzy pop" are used in Northern England, South Wales, and the Midlands, while[8] "mineral"[5] or "lemonade" (as a general term) are used in Ireland. In Scotland, "fizzy juice" or even simply "juice" is colloquially encountered. In Australia and New Zealand, "fizzy drink" or "soft drink" is typically used.[9] In South African English, "cool drink" and "cold drink" are used,[10] but in South African Indian English, "cool drink" is most prevalent. Older people often use the term "mineral".
The origins of soft drinks lie in the development of fruit-flavored drinks. In the medieval Middle East, a variety of fruit-flavoured soft drinks were widely drunk, such as sharbat, and were often sweetened with ingredients such as sugar, syrup and honey. Other common ingredients included lemon, apple, pomegranate, tamarind, jujube, sumac, musk, mint and ice. Middle Eastern drinks later became popular in medieval Europe, where the word "syrup" was derived from Arabic.[11] In Tudor England, 'water imperial' was widely drunk; it was a sweetened drink with lemon flavor and containing cream of tartar. 'Manays Cryste' was a sweetened cordial flavored with rosewater, violets or cinnamon.[12]
Another early type of soft drink was lemonade, made of water and lemon juice sweetened with honey, but without carbonated water. The Compagnie des Limonadiers of Paris was granted a monopoly for the sale of lemonade soft drinks in 1676. Vendors carried tanks of lemonade on their backs and dispensed cups of the soft drink to Parisians.[13]
Carbonated drinks[edit]
It has been suggested that Carbonated drink be merged into this section. (Discuss) Proposed since January 2019.
Main article: Carbonated drinks
Equipment used by Joseph Priestley in his experiments on gases and the carbonation of water
In the late 18th century, scientists made important progress in replicating naturally carbonated mineral waters. In 1767, Englishman Joseph Priestley first discovered a method of infusing water with carbon dioxide to make carbonated water[14] when he suspended a bowl of distilled water above a beer vat at a local brewery in Leeds, England. His invention of carbonated water (also known as soda water) is the major and defining component of most soft drinks.[15]
Priestley found that water treated in this manner had a pleasant taste, and he offered it to his friends as a refreshing drink. In 1772, Priestley published a paper entitled Impregnating Water with Fixed Air in which he describes dripping oil of vitriol (or sulfuric acid as it is now called) onto chalk to produce carbon dioxide gas, and encouraging the gas to dissolve into an agitated bowl of water.[15]
Another Englishman, John Mervin Nooth, improved Priestley's design and sold his apparatus for commercial use in pharmacies. Swedish chemist Torbern Bergman invented a generating apparatus that made carbonated water from chalk by the use of sulfuric acid. Bergman's apparatus allowed imitation mineral water to be produced in large amounts. Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius started to add flavors (spices, juices, and wine) to carbonated water in the late eighteenth century.
Thomas Henry, an apothecary from Manchester, was the first to sell artificial mineral water to the general public for medicinal purposes, beginning in the 1770s. His recipe for 'Bewley's Mephitic Julep' consisted of 3 drachms of fossil alkali to a quart of water, and the manufacture had to 'throw in streams of fixed air until all the alkaline taste is destroyed'.[12]
Johann Jacob Schweppe developed a similar process to manufacture carbonated mineral water at the same time. He founded the Schweppes Company in Geneva in 1783 to sell carbonated water,[16] and relocated his business to London in 1792. His drink soon gained in popularity; among his new found patrons was Erasmus Darwin. In 1843, Schweppes commercialised Malvern Water at the Holywell Spring in the Malvern Hills, and received a royal warrant from King William IV.[17]
It was not long before flavoring was combined with carbonated water. The earliest reference to carbonated ginger beer is in a Practical Treatise on Brewing. published in 1809. The drinking of either natural or artificial mineral water was considered at the time to be a healthy practice, and was promoted by advocates of temperance. Pharmacists selling mineral waters began to add herbs and chemicals to unflavored mineral water. They used birch bark (see birch beer), dandelion, sarsaparilla, fruit extracts, and other substances. Flavorings were also added to improve the taste.
Mass market and industrialization[edit]
An 1883 advertisement for Schweppes Mineral-Waters
Soft drinks soon outgrew their origins in the medical world and became a widely consumed product, available cheaply for the masses. By the 1840s there were more than fifty soft drink manufacturers – an increase from just ten in the previous decade. Carbonated lemonade was widely available in British refreshment stalls in 1833,[18] and in 1845 R. White's Lemonade went on sale in the UK.[19] For the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, Schweppes was designated the official drink supplier and sold over a million bottles of lemonade, ginger beer, Seltzer water and soda-water. There was a Schweppes soda water fountain, situated directly at the entrance to the exhibition.[12]
Mixer drinks became popular in the second half of the century. Tonic water was originally quinine added to water as a prophylactic against malaria and was consumed by British officials stationed in the tropical areas of South Asia and Africa. As the quinine powder was so bitter people began mixing the powder with soda and sugar, and a basic tonic water was created. The first commercial tonic water was produced in 1858.[20] The mixed drink gin and tonic also originated in British colonial India, when the British population would mix their medicinal quinine tonic with gin.[12]
The Codd-neck bottle provided an effective seal for soft drinks in the late 19th century
A persistent problem in the soft drinks industry was the lack of an effective sealing of the bottles. Carbonated drink bottles are under great pressure from the gas, so inventors tried to find the best way to prevent the carbon dioxide or bubbles from escaping. The bottles could also explode if the pressure was too great. Hiram Codd devised a patented bottling machine while working at a small mineral water works in the Caledonian Road, Islington, in London in 1870. His Codd-neck bottle was designed to enclose a marble and a rubber washer in the neck. The bottles were filled upside down, and pressure of the gas in the bottle forced the marble against the washer, sealing in the carbonation. The bottle was pinched into a special shape to provide a chamber into which the marble was pushed to open the bottle. This prevented the marble from blocking the neck as the drink was poured.[12]
By mid-1873 he had granted 20 licences and received a further 50 applications. This was boosted further by a Trade Show held in London in the same year. By 1874 the licence was free to bottle manufacturers as long as they purchased the marbles, sealing rings and used his groove tool, and the mineral water firms they traded with had already bought a licence to use his bottle.
In 1892, the "Crown Cork Bottle Seal" was patented by William Painter, a Baltimore, Maryland machine shop operator. It was the first bottle top to successfully keep the bubbles in the bottle. In 1899, the first patent was issued for a glass-blowing machine for the automatic production of glass bottles. Earlier glass bottles had all been hand-blown. Four years later, the new bottle-blowing machine was in operation. It was first operated by the inventor, Michael Owens, an employee of Libby Glass Company. Within a few years, glass bottle production increased from 1,400 bottles a day to about 58,000 bottles a day.
In America, soda fountains were initially more popular, and many Americans would frequent the soda fountain daily. Beginning in 1806, Yale University chemistry professor Benjamin Silliman sold soda waters in New Haven, Connecticut. He used a Nooth apparatus to produce his waters. Businessmen in Philadelphia and New York City also began selling soda water in the early 19th century. In the 1830s, John Matthews of New York City and John Lippincott of Philadelphia began manufacturing soda fountains. Both men were successful and built large factories for fabricating fountains. Due to problems in the U.S. glass industry, bottled drinks remained a small portion of the market throughout much of the 19th century. (However, they were known in England. In The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, published in 1848, the caddish Huntingdon, recovering from months of debauchery, wakes at noon and gulps a bottle of soda-water.[21])
In the early 20th century, sales of bottled soda increased exponentially, and in the second half of the 20th century, canned soft drinks became an important share of the market.
During the 1920s, "Home-Paks" were invented. "Home-Paks" are the familiar six-pack cartons made from cardboard. Vending machines also began to appear in the 1920s. Since then, soft drink vending machines have become increasingly popular. Both hot and cold drinks are sold in these self-service machines throughout the world.
Consumption[edit]
Per capita consumption of soda varies considerably around the world. As of 2014, the top consuming countries per capita were Argentina, the United States, Chile, and Mexico. Developed countries in Europe and elsewhere in the Americas had considerably lower consumption. Annual average consumption in the United States, at 153.5 liters, was about twice that in the United Kingdom (77.7) or Canada (85.3). From 2009 to 2014 consumption dropped over 4% per year in Greece, Romania, Portugal, and Croatia (putting these countries at between 34.7 and 51.0 liters per year). Over the same period, consumption grew over 20% per year in three countries, resulting in per-capita consumption of 19.1 liters in Cameroon, 43.9 liters in Georgia, and 10.0 liters in Vietnam.[22]
Production[edit]
A jug of bottler's flavor for 7-Up. The syrup-like concentrate lacks sugar and is sold to franchisees to refill.
Soft drink in Korea
Soft drinks are made by mixing dry or fresh ingredients with water. Production of soft drinks can be done at factories or at home. Soft drinks can be made at home by mixing a syrup or dry ingredients with carbonated water, or by lacto-fermentation. Syrups are commercially sold by companies such as Soda-Club; dry ingredients are often sold in pouches, in a style of the popular U.S. drink mix Kool-Aid. Carbonated water is made using a soda siphon or a home carbonation system or by dropping dry ice into water. Food-grade carbon dioxide, used for carbonating drinks, often comes from ammonia plants.[23]
Drinks like ginger ale and root beer are often brewed using yeast to cause carbonation.
Of most importance is that the ingredient meets the agreed specification on all major parameters. This is not only the functional parameter (in other words, the level of the major constituent), but the level of impurities, the microbiological status, and physical parameters such as color, particle size, etc.[24]
Some soft drinks contain measurable amounts of alcohol. In some older preparations, this resulted from natural fermentation used to build the carbonation. In the United States, soft drinks (as well as other products such as non-alcoholic beer) are allowed by law to contain up to 0.5% alcohol by volume. Modern drinks introduce carbon dioxide for carbonation, but there is some speculation that alcohol might result from fermentation of sugars in a non-sterile environment. A small amount of alcohol is introduced in some soft drinks where alcohol is used in the preparation of the flavoring extracts such as vanilla extract.[25]
Producers[edit]
Further information: List of soft drink producers
In every area of the world there are major soft drink producers. However, a few major North American companies are present in most of the countries of the world, such as Pepsi and Coca Cola. Major North American producers other than the two previously-named companies include Cott, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, and Jones Soda.
Health concerns[edit]
The neutrality of this section is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met. (May 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
The over-consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks is associated with obesity,[26][27][28][29] hypertension,[30] type 2 diabetes,[31] dental caries, and low nutrient levels.[28] Experimental studies tend to support a causal role for sugar-sweetened soft drinks in these ailments,[27][28] though this is challenged by other researchers.[32][33][34] "Sugar-sweetened" includes drinks that use high-fructose corn syrup, as well as those using sucrose.
Many soft drinks contain ingredients that are themselves sources of concern: caffeine is linked to anxiety and sleep disruption when consumed in excess.[35] Sodium benzoate has been investigated by researchers at University of Sheffield[36] as a possible cause of DNA damage and hyperactivity. Other substances have negative health effects, but are present in such small quantities that they are unlikely to pose any substantial health risk provided that the drinks are consumed only in moderation.
In 1998, the Center for Science in the Public Interest published a report titled Liquid Candy: How Soft Drinks are Harming Americans' Health. The report examined statistics relating to the increase in soft drink consumption and claimed that consumption is "likely contributing to health problems". It also criticized marketing efforts by soft drink companies.[37] In 2005, the CSPI called for warning labels on soft drinks, similar to those on cigarettes and alcohol.[38]
Obesity and weight-related diseases[edit]
From 1977 to 2002, Americans doubled their consumption of sweetened beverages[39]—a trend that was paralleled by doubling the prevalence of obesity.[40] The consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with weight and obesity, and changes in consumption can help predict changes in weight.[27][28]
It remains possible that the correlation is due to a third factor: people who lead unhealthy lifestyles might consume more soft drinks. If so, then the association between soft drink consumption and weight gain could reflect the consequences of an unhealthy lifestyle rather than the consequences of consuming soft drinks. Experimental evidence is needed to definitively establish the causal role of soft drink consumption. Reviews of the experimental evidence suggest that soft drink consumption does cause weight gain,[27][28] but the effect is often small except for overweight individuals.[32]
Many of these experiments examined the influence of sugar-sweetened soft drinks on weight gain in children and adolescents. In one experiment, adolescents replaced sugar-sweetened soft drinks in their diet with artificially sweetened soft drinks that were sent to their homes over 25 weeks.[41] Compared with children in a control group, children who received the artificially sweetened drinks saw a smaller increase in their BMI (by −0.14 kg/m2), but this effect was only statistically significant among the heaviest children (who saw a benefit of −0.75 kg/m2). In another study, an educational program encouraged schoolchildren to consume fewer soft drinks.[42] During the school year, the prevalence of obesity decreased among children in the program by 0.2%, compared to a 7.5% increase among children in the control group. Another study, published in Pediatrics in 2013, concluded that for children from the age of 2 to 5, their risk of obesity increased by 43% if they were regular soft drink consumers as opposed to those who rarely or never consumed them.[43]
Sugar-sweetened drinks have also been speculated[44] to cause weight gain in adults. In one study, overweight individuals consumed a daily supplement of sucrose-sweetened or artificially sweetened drinks or foods for a 10-week period.[45] Most of the supplement was in the form of soft drinks. Individuals in the sucrose group gained 1.6 kg, and individuals in the artificial-sweetener group lost 1.0 kg. A two-week study had participants supplement their diet with sugar-sweetened soft drinks, artificially sweetened soft drinks, or neither.[46] Although the participants gained the most weight when consuming the sugar-sweetened drinks, some of the differences were unreliable: the differences between men who consumed sugar-sweetened drinks or no drinks was not statistically significant.
Other research suggests that soft drinks could play a special role in weight gain. One four-week experiment compared a 450 calorie/day supplement of sugar-sweetened soft drinks to a 450 calorie/day supplement of jelly beans.[47] The jelly bean supplement did not lead to weight gain, but the soft drink supplement did. The likely reason for the difference in weight gain is that people who consumed the jelly beans lowered their caloric intake at subsequent meals, while people who consumed soft drinks did not. Thus, the low levels of satiety provided by sugar-sweetened soft drinks may explain their association with obesity. That is, people who consume calories in sugar-sweetened drinks may fail to adequately reduce their intake of calories from other sources. Indeed, people consume more total calories in meals and on days when they are given sugar-sweetened drinks than when they are given artificially sweetened drinks[46][48][49] or water.[49] However, these results are contradicted by a study by Adam Drewnowski published in 2004, in which "32 subjects consumed a 300-calorie snack of fat-free raspberry cookies or regular cola on two occasions each – either two hours ("early") or 20 minutes ("late") before lunch." It found that "...the calories eaten at lunch were not affected by whether the snack was cookies or cola."[50]
The consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks can also be associated with many weight-related diseases, including diabetes,[31] metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular risk factors,[51] and elevated blood pressure.[45]
According to research presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology and Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism 2013 Scientific Sessions by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, sugar-sweetened beverages may be responsible for 180,000 deaths every year worldwide.[52]
Dental decay[edit]
Soft drinks displayed on grocery store shelves.
Most soft drinks contain high concentrations of simple carbohydrates: glucose, fructose, sucrose and other simple sugars. If oral bacteria ferment carbohydrates and produce acids that may dissolve tooth enamel and induce dental decay, then sweetened drinks may increase the risk of dental caries. The risk would be greater if the frequency of consumption is high.[53]
A large number of soda pops are acidic as are many fruits, sauces and other foods. Drinking acidic drinks over a long period and continuous sipping may erode the tooth enamel. A 2007 study determined that some flavored sparkling waters are as erosive or more so than orange juice.[54]
Using a drinking straw is often advised by dentists as the drink does not come into as much contact with the teeth. It has also been suggested that brushing teeth right after drinking soft drinks should be avoided as this can result in additional erosion to the teeth due to the presence of acid.[55]
Hypokalemia[edit]
There have been a handful of published reports describing individuals with severe hypokalemia (low potassium levels) related to extreme consumption of colas.[56]
Bone density and bone loss[edit]
In a meta-analysis of 88 studies, drinking soda correlates with a decrease in milk consumption along with the vitamin D, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, calcium, protein and other micronutrients.[57] Phosphorus, a micronutrient, can be found in cola-type drinks, but there may be a risk in consuming too much.[57] Phosphorus and calcium are used in the body to create calcium-phosphate, which is the main component of bone. However, the combination of too much phosphorus with too little calcium in the body can lead to a degeneration of bone mass.[57] Research suggests a statistically significant inverse relationship between consumption of carbonated drinks and bone mineral density in young girls, which places them at increased risk of fractures.[58]
One hypothesis to explain this relationship is that the phosphoric acid contained in some soft drinks (colas) displaces calcium from the bones, lowering bone density of the skeleton and leading to weakened bones, or osteoporosis.[59] However, 2001 calcium metabolism studies by Dr. Robert Heaney suggested that the net effect of carbonated soft drinks, (including colas, which use phosphoric acid as the acidulant) on calcium excretion in urine was negligible. Heaney concluded that carbonated soft drinks, which do not contain the nutrients needed for bone health, may displace other foods which do, and that the real issue is that people who drink a lot of soft drinks also tend to have an overall diet that is low in calcium.[59]
A 2006 study of several thousand men and women, found that women who regularly drank cola-based sodas (three or more a day) had significantly lower bone mineral density (BMD) of ≈4 % in the hip than those who didn't, even though researchers controlled for important factors like calcium and vitamin D intake. The study also found that women who drank non-cola soft drinks didn't appear to have lower BMD and that BMD of women drinking decaffeineted cola wasn't as low as women drinking caffeinated cola sodas. The study found that the effect of regular consumption of cola sodas was not significant on men's BMD.[60]
In the 1950s and 1960s there were attempts in France and Japan to ban the sale of Coca-Cola as dangerous since phosphates can block calcium absorption. However, these were unsuccessful as the amounts of phosphate were shown to be too small to have a significant effect.[61]
Sugar content[edit]
See also: Diet drink
The USDA's recommended daily intake (RDI) of added sugars is less than 10 teaspoons per day for a 2,000-calorie diet.[62] High caloric intake contributes to obesity if not balanced with exercise, with a large amount of exercise being required to offset even small but calorie-rich food and drinks.
Until 1985, most of the calories in soft drinks came from sugar or corn syrup. As of 2010, in the United States high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is used nearly exclusively as a sweetener because of its lower cost,[63] while in Europe, sucrose dominates, because EU agricultural policies favor production of sugar beets in Europe proper and sugarcane in the former colonies over the production of corn. HFCS has been criticized[64] as having a number of detrimental effects on human health, such as promoting diabetes, hyperactivity, hypertension, and a host of other problems.[65] Although anecdotal evidence has been presented to support such claims, it is well known that the human body breaks sucrose down into glucose and fructose before it is absorbed by the intestines. Simple sugars such as fructose are converted into the same intermediates as in glucose metabolism.[66] However, metabolism of fructose is extremely rapid and is initiated by fructokinase. Fructokinase activity is not regulated by metabolism or hormones and proceeds rapidly after intake of fructose. While the intermediates of fructose metabolism are similar to those of glucose, the rates of formation are excessive. This fact promotes fatty acid and triglyceride synthesis in the liver, leading to accumulation of fat throughout the body and possibly non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Increased blood lipid levels also seem to follow fructose ingestion over time. A sugar drink or high-sugar drink may refer to any drink consisting primarily of water and sugar (often cane sugar or high-fructose corn syrup), including some soft drinks, some fruit juices, and energy drinks.
Benzene[edit]
Main article: Benzene in soft drinks
In 2006, the United Kingdom Food Standards Agency published the results of its survey of benzene levels in soft drinks,[67] which tested 150 products and found that four contained benzene levels above the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for drinking water.
The United States Food and Drug Administration released its own test results of several soft drinks containing benzoates and ascorbic or erythorbic acid. Five tested drinks contained benzene levels above the Environmental Protection Agency's recommended standard of 5 ppb. As of 2006, the FDA stated its belief that "the levels of benzene found in soft drinks and other beverages to date do not pose a safety concern for consumers".[68]
Pesticides in India[edit]
In 2003, the Delhi non-profit Centre for Science and Environment published[69][70] a disputed report finding pesticide levels in Coke and Pepsi soft drinks sold in India at levels 30 times that considered safe by the European Economic Community.[71][72] This was found in primarily 12 cold drink brands sold in and around New Delhi.[73] The Indian Health Minister said the CSE tests were inaccurate, and said that the government's tests found pesticide levels within India's standards but above EU standards.[74][75]
A similar CSE report in August 2006 prompted many state governments to have issued a ban of the sale of soft drinks in schools. Kerala issued a complete ban on the sale or manufacture of soft drinks altogether. (These were later struck down in court.) In return, the soft drink companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsi have issued ads in the media regarding the safety of consumption of the drinks.[76]
The UK-based Central Science Laboratory, commissioned by Coke, found its products met EU standards in 2006.[77] Coke and the University of Michigan commissioned an independent study of its bottling plants by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), which reported in 2008 no unsafe chemicals in the water supply used.[78]
Kidney stones[edit]
A study published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology in 2013 concluded that consumption of soft drinks was associated with a 23% higher risk of developing kidney stones.[79]
Government regulation[edit]
Schools[edit]
Since at least 2006, debate on whether high-calorie soft drink vending machines should be allowed in schools has been on the rise. Opponents of the (soft drink) vending machines believe that soft drinks are a significant contributor to childhood obesity and tooth decay, and that allowing soft drink sales in schools encourages children to believe they are safe to consume in moderate to large quantities.[80] Opponents argue that schools have a responsibility to look after the health of the children in their care, and that allowing children easy access to soft drinks violates that responsibility.[81] Vending machine proponents believe that obesity is a complex issue and soft drinks are not the only cause.[82] A 2011 bill to tax soft drinks in California failed, with some opposing lawmakers arguing that parents—not the government—should be responsible for children's drink choices.[83]
On May 3, 2006, the Alliance for a Healthier Generation,[84] Cadbury Schweppes, The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, and the American Beverage Association announced new guidelines[85] that will voluntarily remove high-calorie soft drinks from all U.S. schools.
On May 19, 2006, the British education secretary, Alan Johnson, announced new minimum nutrition standards for school food. Among a wide range of measures, from September 2006, school lunches will be free from carbonated drinks. Schools will also end the sale of junk food (including carbonated drinks) in vending machines and tuck shops.
In 2008, Samantha K Graff published an article in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science regarding the "First Amendment Implications of Restricting Food and Beverages Marketing in Schools". The article examines a school district's policy regarding limiting the sale and marketing of soda in public schools, and how certain policies can invoke a violation of the First Amendment. Due to district budget cuts and loss in state funding, many school districts allow commercial businesses to market and advertise their product (including junk food and soda) to public school students for additional revenue. Junk food and soda companies have acquired exclusive rights to vending machines throughout many public school campuses. Opponents of corporate marketing and advertising on school grounds urge school officials to restrict or limit a corporation's power to promote, market, and sell their product to school students. In the 1970s, the Supreme Court ruled that advertising was not a form of free expression, but a form of business practices which should be regulated by the government. In the 1976 case of Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council,[86] the Supreme Court ruled that advertising, or "commercial speech", to some degree is protected under the First Amendment. To avoid a First Amendment challenge by corporations, public schools could create contracts that restrict the sale of certain product and advertising. Public schools can also ban the selling of all food and drink products on campus, while not infringing on a corporation's right to free speech.[87]
On December 13, 2010, President Obama signed the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010[88] (effective in 2014) that mandates schools that receive federal funding must offer healthy snacks and drinks to students. The act bans the selling of soft drinks to students and requires schools to provide healthier options such as water, unflavored low-fat milk, 100% fruit and vegetable drinks or sugar-free carbonated drinks. The portion sizes available to students will be based on age: eight ounces for elementary schools, twelve ounces for middle and high schools. Proponents of the act predict the new mandate it will make it easier for students to make healthy drink choices while at school.[89]
In 2015, Terry-McElarth and colleagues published a study in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine on regular soda policies and their effect on school drink availability and student consumption. The purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of a program beginning in the 2014–2015 school year that requires schools participating in federally reimbursable meal programs to remove all competitive venues (a la carte cafeteria sales, vending machines, and stores/snack bars/carts), on the availability of unhealthy drinks at schools and student consumption. The study analyzed state- and school district-level policies mandating soda bans and found that state bans were associated with significantly lower school soda availability but district bans showed no significant associations. In addition, no significant correlation was observed between state policies and student consumption. Among student populations, state policy was directly associated with significantly lower school soda availability and indirectly associated with lower student consumption. The same was not observed for other student populations.[90]
Taxation[edit]
Main article: Sugary drinks tax
In the United States, legislators, health experts and consumer advocates are considering levying higher taxes on the sale of soft drinks and other sweetened products to help curb the epidemic of obesity among Americans, and its harmful impact on overall health. Some speculate that higher taxes could help reduce soda consumption.[91] Others say that taxes should help fund education to increase consumer awareness of the unhealthy effects of excessive soft drink consumption, and also help cover costs of caring for conditions resulting from overconsumption.[92] The food and drink industry holds considerable clout in Washington, DC, as it has contributed more than $50 million to legislators since 2000.[93]
In January 2013, a British lobby group called for the price of sugary fizzy drinks to be increased, with the money raised (an estimated £1 billion at 20p per litre) to be put towards a "Children's Future Fund", overseen by an independent body, which would encourage children to eat healthily in school.[94]
In 2017, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Bahrain imposed a 50% tax on soft drinks and a 100% tax on energy drinks to curb excess consumption of the commodity and for additional revenue.[95]
Bans[edit]
In March 2013, New York City's mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed to ban the sale of non-diet soft drinks larger than 16 ounces, except in convenience stores and supermarkets. A lawsuit against the ban was upheld by a state judge, who voiced concerns that the ban was "fraught with arbitrary and capricious consequences". Bloomberg announced that he would be appealing the verdict.[96] [needs update]
Fizz keeper
Hard soda
List of brand name soft drink products
List of soft drink flavors
List of soft drinks by country
List of drinks
Low-alcohol beer
Names for soft drinks in the United States
Premix and postmix
Soda fountain
Squash (drink)
^ "Electronic Code of Federal Regulations". United States Government. Archived from the original on June 13, 2011. Retrieved February 25, 2011. See §7.71, paragraphs (e) and (f).
^ "What Is Meant By Alcohol-Free? : The Alcohol-Free Shop". Alcoholfree.co.uk. January 8, 2012. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
^ Bangor Daily News, April 8, 2010. http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/126224.html[permanent dead link]
^ a b Vaux, Bert (2003). "105. What is your generic term for a sweetened carbonated beverage?". Harvard Dialect Survey. Retrieved June 3, 2011.
^ a b "Funny Irish Words and Phrases". Grammar.yourdictionary.com. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
^ "In Boston, the word 'tonic' gives way to 'soda'". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
^ "Why do some places say 'pop' and others say 'soda'? Your questions answered". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
^ "The Best of British". effingpot.com. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
^ For example, in "Coca-Cola Amatil admits cutting back on sugar as attitudes change on health and investment" – The Sydney Morning Herald, September 11, 2015. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
^ "Definition of "cool drink"". Collins English Dictionary. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
^ Meri, Josef W. (2005). Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 106. ISBN 1135455961.
^ a b c d e Colin Emmins. "SOFT DRINKS Their origins and history" (PDF).
^ "Soft Drink". Encyclopædia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/552397/soft-drink.
^ Mary Bellis (March 6, 2009). "Joseph Priestley — Soda Water — Joseph Priestley". Inventors.about.com. Retrieved June 8, 2009.
^ a b "Impregnating Water with Fixed Air" (PDF). Retrieved May 8, 2013.
^ Morgenthaler, Jeffrey (2014). Bar Book: Elements of Cocktail Technique. Chronicle Books. p. 54. ISBN 9781452130279.
^ "Heritage:Meet Jacob Schweppe". Archived from the original on October 12, 2018. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
^ Emmins, Colin (1991). SOFT DRINKS – Their origins and history (PDF). Great Britain: Shire Publications Ltd. p. 8 and 11. ISBN 0 7478 0125 8.
^ "Chester homeless charity teams up with lemonade brand". Chester Chronicle. October 8, 2017.
^ Raustiala, Kal. "The Imperial Cocktail". Slate. The Slate Group. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
^ ''Wildfell Hall'', ch. 30. Books.google.com. 1922. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
^ Silver, Marc (June 19, 2015). "Guess Which Country Has The Biggest Increase In Soda Drinking". National Public Radio.
^ "CO2 shortage: Food industry calls for government action". BBC. June 21, 2018.
^ Ashurst, P. (2009). Soft drink and fruit juice problems solved. Woodhead Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-84569-326-8.
^ "[myMasjid.com.my] Alcohol: In soft drinks". Mail-archive.com. November 8, 2004. Retrieved June 8, 2009.
^ Bes-Rastrollo, M; Sayon-Orea, C; Ruiz-Canela, M; Martinez-Gonzalez, MA (July 2016). "Impact of sugars and sugar taxation on body weight control: A comprehensive literature review". Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.). 24 (7): 1410–26. doi:10.1002/oby.21535. PMID 27273733.
^ a b c d Malik VS, Schulze MB, Hu FB (2006). "Intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain: a systematic review". The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 84 (2): 274–88. PMC 3210834. PMID 16895873.
^ a b c d e Vartanian LR, Schwartz MB, Brownell KD (2007). "Effects of soft drink consumption on nutrition and health: a systematic review and meta-analysis". American Journal of Public Health. 97 (4): 667–75. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2005.083782. PMC 1829363. PMID 17329656.
^ Woodward-Lopez G, Kao J, Ritchie L (2011). "To what extent have sweetened beverages contributed to the obesity epidemic?". Public Health Nutrition. 14 (3): 499–509. doi:10.1017/S1368980010002375. PMID 20860886.
^ Kim, Y; Je, Y (April 2016). "Prospective association of sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened beverage intake with risk of hypertension". Archives of Cardiovascular Diseases. 109 (4): 242–53. doi:10.1016/j.acvd.2015.10.005. PMID 26869455.
^ a b Imamura F, O'Connor L, Ye Z, Mursu J, Hayashino Y, Bhupathiraju SN, Forouhi NG (2015). "Consumption of sugar sweetened beverages, artificially sweetened beverages, and fruit juice and incidence of type 2 diabetes: systematic review, meta-analysis, and estimation of population attributable fraction". BMJ. 351: h3576. doi:10.1136/bmj.h3576. PMC 4510779. PMID 26199070.
^ a b Gibson S (2008). "Sugar-sweetened soft drinks and obesity: a systematic review of the evidence from observational studies and interventions". Nutrition Research Reviews. 21 (2): 134–47. doi:10.1017/S0954422408110976. PMID 19087367.
^ Wolff E, Dansinger ML (2008). "Soft drinks and weight gain: how strong is the link?". Medscape Journal of Medicine. 10 (8): 189. PMC 2562148. PMID 18924641.
^ Trumbo PR, Rivers CR (2014). "Systematic review of the evidence for an association between sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and risk of obesity". Nutrition Reviews. 72 (9): 566–74. doi:10.1111/nure.12128. PMID 25091794.
^ BBC Fizzy drinks 'affect children's sleep' January 8, 2003
^ Martin Hickman "Caution: Some soft drinks may seriously harm your health". Archived from the original on January 15, 2008. Retrieved August 15, 2007. CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link) The Independent on Sunday May 27, 2007
^ Michael F Jacobson PhD, Liquid Candy: How Soft Drinks are Harming Americans' Health, (CSPI, Washington DC 1998; 2nd Ed. 2005).
^ Morales, Tatiana (July 14, 2005). "Warning Labels On Soda?". CBSNews. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
^ Nielsen, S.; Popkin, B. (2004). "Changes in beverage intake between 1977 and 2001". American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 27 (3): 205–210. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2004.05.005. PMID 15450632.
^ Flegal, K.M.; Carroll, M.D.; Ogden, C.L.; Johnson, C.L. (2002). "Prevalence and trends in overweight among US adults, 1999–2000" (PDF). Journal of the American Medical Association. 288 (14): 1723–1727. doi:10.1001/jama.288.14.1723. PMID 12365955. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 15, 2013.
^ Ebbeling, C.B.; Feldman, H.A.; Osganian, S.K.; Chomitz, V.R.; Ellenbogen, S.J.; Ludwig, D.S. (2006). "Effects of decreasing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption on body weight in adolescents: A randomized, controlled pilot study". Pediatrics. 117 (3): 673–680. doi:10.1542/peds.2005-0983. PMID 16510646.
^ James J, Thomas P, Cavan D, Kerr D (2004). "Preventing childhood obesity by reducing consumption of carbonated drinks: cluster randomised controlled trial". BMJ. 328 (7450): 1237. doi:10.1136/bmj.38077.458438.EE. PMC 416601. PMID 15107313.
^ DeBoer MD, Scharf RJ, Demmer RT (2013). "Sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain in 2- to 5-year-old children". Pediatrics. 132 (3): 413–20. doi:10.1542/peds.2013-0570. PMC 3876761. PMID 23918897.
^ de Ruyter JC, Olthof MR, Seidell JC, Katan MB (2012). "A trial of sugar-free or sugar-sweetened beverages and body weight in children". The New England Journal of Medicine. 367 (15): 1397–406. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1203034. PMID 22998340.
^ a b Raben A, Vasilaras TH, Møller AC, Astrup A (2002). "Sucrose compared with artificial sweeteners: different effects on ad libitum food intake and body weight after 10 wk of supplementation in overweight subjects". The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 76 (4): 721–9. PMID 12324283.
^ a b Tordoff, M.G.; Alleva, AM. (1990). "Effect of drinking soda sweetened with aspartame or high-fructose corn syrup on food intake and body weight". American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 51 (6): 963–969. PMID 2349932.
^ DiMeglio, D.P.; Mattes, R.D. (2000). "Liquid versus solid carbohydrate: effects on food intake and body weight". Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 24 (6): 794–800. doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0801229. PMID 10878689.
^ Van Wymelbeke, V.; Beridot-Therond, M.E.; de La Gueronniere, V.; Fantino, M. (2004). "Influence of repeated consumption of beverages containing sucrose or intense sweeteners on food intake". Eur J Clin Nutr. 58 (1): 154–161. doi:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601762. PMID 14679381.
^ a b Rolls, B.J.; Kim, S.; Fedoroff, I.C. (1990). "Effects of drinks sweetened with sucrose or aspartame on hunger, thirst and food intake in men". Physiol. Behav. 48 (1): 19–26. doi:10.1016/0031-9384(90)90254-2. PMID 2236270.
^ Almiron-Roig; Flores; Drewnowski (2004). "No difference in satiety or in subsequent energy intakes between a beverage and a solid food". Physiol. Behav. 82 (4): 19–26. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2004.06.003. PMID 15327915.
^ Yoo S, Nicklas T, Baranowski T, Zakeri IF, Yang SJ, Srinivasan SR, Berenson GS (2004). "Comparison of dietary intakes associated with metabolic syndrome risk factors in young adults: the Bogalusa Heart Study". The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 80 (4): 841–8. doi:10.1093/ajcn/80.4.841. PMID 15447888.
^ "180,000 deaths worldwide may be associated with sugary soft drinks". heart.org. Archived from the original on July 25, 2013.
^ Marshall TA, Levy SM, Broffitt B, Warren JJ, Eichenberger-Gilmore JM, Burns TL, Stumbo PJ (2003). "Dental caries and beverage consumption in young children". Pediatrics. 112 (3 Pt 1): e184–91. PMID 12949310.
^ Brown, Catronia J.; Smith, Gay; Shaw, Linda; Parry, Jason; Smith, Anthony J. (March 2007). "The erosive potential of flavoured sparkling water drinks". International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry. British Paedodontic Society and the International Association of Dentistry for Children. 17 (2): 86–91. doi:10.1111/j.1365-263X.2006.00784.x. PMID 17263857.
^ Bassiouny MA, Yang J (2005). "Influence of drinking patterns of carbonated beverages on dental erosion". General Dentistry. 53 (3): 205–10. PMID 15960479. Lay summary – ScienceDaily (June 17, 2005).
^ Sharma R, Guber HA (2013). "Cola-induced hypokalemia-a case report and review of the literature". Endocr Pract (Review). 19 (1): e21–3. doi:10.4158/EP12241.CR. PMID 23186978.
^ a b c "Sugary Drinks or Diet Drinks: What's the Best Choice?". Harvard School of Public Health. Retrieved October 14, 2011.
^ McGartland C, Robson PJ, Murray L, Cran G, Savage MJ, Watkins D, Rooney M, Boreham C (2003). "Carbonated soft drink consumption and bone mineral density in adolescence: the Northern Ireland Young Hearts project". Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. 18 (9): 1563–9. doi:10.1359/jbmr.2003.18.9.1563. PMID 12968664.
^ a b Heaney RP, Rafferty K (2001). "Carbonated beverages and urinary calcium excretion". The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 74 (3): 343–7. doi:10.1093/ajcn/74.3.343. PMID 11522558.
^ Tucker KL, Morita K, Qiao N, Hannan MT, Cupples LA, Kiel DP (2006). "Colas, but not other carbonated beverages, are associated with low bone mineral density in older women: The Framingham Osteoporosis Study". The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 84 (4): 936–42. PMID 17023723.
^ Phosphates, in Smith, Andrew. The Oxford companion to American food and drink. Oxford University Press US, 2007, ISBN 0-19-530796-8, p.451
^ Kasper, Dr. Joe, Tasty Tuesdays #13, Stay Far, Far Away, 2012
^ "Pure Cane Sugar Vs. High Fructose Corn Syrup". livestrong.com. Retrieved April 23, 2012.
^ "The Dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup". diabeteshealth.org. Archived from the original on June 26, 2014. Retrieved April 23, 2012.
^ "The Murky World of High Fructose Corn Syrup". Westonaprice.org. Archived from the original on March 5, 2010. Retrieved June 8, 2009.
^ "Pathways for the Interconversion of Sugars, University of Illinois Chicago, Medical Biochemistry 531, Lecture 21" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 9, 2008. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
^ "of benzene levels in soft drinks". Food.gov.uk. March 31, 2006. Archived from the original on October 6, 2008. Retrieved June 8, 2009.
^ "US FDA/CFSAN – Questions and Answers on the Occurrence of Benzene in Soft Drinks and Other Beverages". Archived from the original on March 26, 2008. Retrieved March 26, 2008.
^ "Centre for Science and Environment, Pesticides in coke". Cseindia.org. Archived from the original on September 4, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
^ "Down to Earth, Magazine, Pesticides in coke". Downtoearth.org.in. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
^ Our Corporate Bureau (October 29, 2003). "Coke sales fall 11% on pesticide controversy". New Delhi: Business-standard.com. Retrieved November 9, 2009.
^ "Pepsi: Repairing a Poisoned Reputation in India". Businessweek.com. May 31, 2007. Archived from the original on January 17, 2010. Retrieved November 9, 2009.
^ "Toxic Pesticides Found in India's Soft Drinks". Ens-newswire.com. August 5, 2003. Retrieved May 8, 2013.
^ "CNN.com — India gives cola giants all-clear — Aug. 22, 2003". Edition.cnn.com. August 22, 2003. Retrieved November 9, 2009.
^ George, Nirmala (August 22, 2003). "Colas called safe, but not at EU standards". The San Diego Union. Archived from the original on September 5, 2010.
^ BBC (Sanjoy Majumder) Indian state bans Pepsi and Coke August 9, 2006
^ "South Asia | UK experts say Indian Coke 'safe'". BBC News. August 14, 2006. Retrieved November 9, 2009.
^ Sharma, Ashok (January 15, 2008). "Water in Coca-Cola in India pesticide free". Usatoday.Com. Retrieved November 9, 2009.
^ Ferraro PM, Taylor EN, Gambaro G, Curhan GC (2013). "Soda and other beverages and the risk of kidney stones". Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. 8 (8): 1389–95. doi:10.2215/CJN.11661112. PMC 3731916. PMID 23676355.
^ "Non-diet sodas to be pulled from schools". Associated Press. May 5, 2006.
^ "Issue 17: Debates from four states over selling soda in schools". Berkeley Media Studies Group. November 1, 2008. Archived from the original on October 12, 2013. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
^ "State's soda tax plan falls flat". Daily Democrat. May 29, 2013.
^ "Soda tax nixed in state assembly committee". ABC News Los Angeles. April 25, 2011.
^ Clockwork.net. "Alliance for a Healthier Generation". HealthierGeneration.org. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
^ Clockwork.net. "Schools". HealthierGeneration.org. Archived from the original on September 1, 2010. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
^ "Va. Pharmacy Bd. v. Va. Consumer Council 425 U.S. 748 (1976)". Justia.com. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
^ Graff, S. K. (2008). "First Amendment Implications of Restricting Food and Beverage Marketing in Schools". The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 615 (1): 157–77. doi:10.1177/0002716207308398. JSTOR 25097981.
^ "Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act – Food and Nutrition Service". USDA.gov. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
^ "Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act | Food and Nutrition Service". www.fns.usda.gov. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
^ Terry-McElrath YM, Chriqui JF, O'Malley PM, Chaloupka FJ, Johnston LD (2015). "Regular soda policies, school availability, and high school student consumption". American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 48 (4): 436–44. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2014.10.022. PMC 4380673. PMID 25576493.
^ Duffey KJ, Gordon-Larsen P, Shikany JM, Guilkey D, Jacobs DR, Popkin BM (2010). "Food price and diet and health outcomes: 20 years of the CARDIA Study". Archives of Internal Medicine. 170 (5): 420–6. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2009.545. PMC 3154748. PMID 20212177.
^ "USA Today, Experts: penny per ounce to fight obesity, health costs. Sept 18 2009". September 18, 2009. Retrieved April 11, 2010.
^ "Center for Responsive Politics, Food and Beverage industry profile". Opensecrets.org. February 18, 2013. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
^ "61 organisations call for a sugary drinks duty". Govtoday.co.uk. January 29, 2013. Archived from the original on February 16, 2013. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
^ Backholer, K., Blake, M., & Vandevijvere, S. (2017). "Sugar-sweetened beverage taxation: An update on the year that was 2017". Public Health Nutrition. 20 (18): 3219–3224. doi:10.1017/s1368980017003329. CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)
^ "New York Soda Ban Struck Down, Bloomberg Promises Appeal – US News and World Report". USNews.com. March 11, 2013. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
"Beverage group: Pull soda from primary schools", USAToday, August 17, 2005
"After soda ban nutritionists say more can be done", Boston Globe, May 4, 2006
"Critics Say Soda Policy for Schools Lacks Teeth The New York Times, August 22, 2006
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Soft drink.
Look up soft drink in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikibooks has more on the topic of: Soft drink
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Soft drink.
State Laws & Regulations Governing Beverage Sales in Schools at the Wayback Machine (archived February 1, 2006[Calendar]), American Beverage Association (PDF format)
"Soft Drinks in Schools", American Academy of Pediatrics
List of brand name soft drinks products
Cherry cola
Frozen carbonated drink
Grape soft drink
Ice cream float
Lemon-lime drink
Orange soft drink
Sports drink
Sugary drinks tax
Fat tax
List of soft drink producers
Cott
Dr Pepper Snapple Group
Category: Soft drinks
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soft_drink&oldid=905338410"
CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown
CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list
Use mdy dates from March 2018
Articles to be merged from January 2019
All articles to be merged
NPOV disputes from May 2016
All NPOV disputes
Wikipedia articles in need of updating from March 2019
Webarchive template warnings
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line750
|
__label__cc
| 0.56434
| 0.43566
|
Englewood's Latinos celebrate heritage, collect donations for Puerto Rico
Svetlana Shkolnikova, Staff Writer, @svetashkoPublished 8:10 p.m. ET Oct. 7, 2017
The second annual Latino Festival celebrated Latino heritage while collecting supplies for hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico. Steve Hockstein/Special to NorthJersey.com
ENGLEWOOD — On the surface, the city’s second annual Latino Festival looked like a party.
Visitors to West Palisade Avenue indulged in empanadas, chicharrones and other traditional Latino cuisine, danced to live Latino music and sampled local Latino businesses.
But several cardboard boxes placed at the festival’s western end put a more somber note on this year’s festivities as they filled with emergency supplies for hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico.
“We want Puerto Ricans to know that they do matter and they have representation here,” said Magalye Matos, a volunteer helping lead the donation drive. “We’re supporting all our Latino communities that have been affected by this. What better place to help our Latino people than at our Latino festival?”
Volunteers working with the city’s St. Cecilia's Church have shipped three tons of baby food, diapers, batteries, bug repellent, water, feminine products and toiletries since Hurricane Maria crippled the Caribbean islands last month and plunged their residents into darkness.
Less than 1 in 8 Puerto Ricans have electricity and slightly over half have access to drinking water, according to the latest metrics from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Experts believe it will take months to repair the island’s decimated electrical grid.
Matos said she will keep collecting supplies for Puerto Rico to do her part and is grateful to the Englewood Chamber of Commerce, the organizer of the Latino Festival, for helping with the effort.
The Integracion Juvenil de Mexico dance troupe performs at the Second Annual Latino Festival hosted by the Chamber of Commerce on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2017 in Englewood. (Photo: Steve Hockstein/Special to NorthJersey.com)
“It’s hard to see your people going through something like this,” Matos said. “Coming together as a community and being able to help one another is key and what we need now more than ever.”
Carol Rauscher, president of the chamber, said the festival was conceived as a way to physically bring Englewood’s Latino community together in the city’s downtown for a day. The festivities were capped off this year with a performance by salsa singer Gilberto Santa Rosa at bergenPAC.
“Englewood is changing and the Latino community is really growing and this is something that’s their own,” Rauscher said.
Almost 30 percent of the city’s population identified as Hispanic or Latino in the 2010 U.S. census.
Many of them packed into Mexican, Salvadoran and Colombian restaurants on West Palisade Avenue on Saturday to celebrate their heritage.
Noah Diaz (5) of Englewood sports a fresh face painting at the Second Annual Latino Festival hosted by the Chamber of Commerce on Saturday in Englewood on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2017. (Photo: Steve Hockstein/Special to NorthJersey.com)
At the Colombian restaurant D'Colombia, owner Paula Echeverry faced a heavy demand for her most popular dish, a meal platter called bandeja paisa, despite the competition.
Echeverry brought her business onto the sidewalk for the day, setting up tables and serving food beside vendors for Englewood’s government services, various community groups and her business neighbors.
“It's about unity,” she said.
Email: shkolnikova@northjersey.com
http://www.northjersey.com/story/news/bergen/englewood/2017/10/07/englewoods-latinos-celebrate-heritage-collect-donations-puerto-rico/732664001/
Carol Rauscher, President, Englewood Chamber of Commerce
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line752
|
__label__wiki
| 0.886452
| 0.886452
|
Entertainium
Critical opinions about the world of games.
PC PS Vita PS3 PS4 Reviews Wii U Xbox 360 XONE
LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham Review
By Felicity Chevalier June 8, 2015 September 12, 2018
Leave a Comment on LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham Review
The LEGO games have been enthralling gamers for years, with their addictive mix of collectability and puzzle based platforming, capturing some of the most successful franchises in media history, such as Lord of the Rings, Marvel Super Heroes, and Star Wars. Traveler’s Tales newest entry in the canon of buildable worlds is LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, which is as much of a follow up to the previous LEGO Batman titles as it is to their recent previous effort, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes.
In LEGO Batman 3, you’re at first tasked with saving the LEGO residents of Gotham city and later Metropolis, from an overarching plot to destroy the world. The comic moments during scenes are still funny and lighten the mood considerably during the heavier moments of drama, which are about as heavy as a stack of LEGO blocks.
All the unlockables, collectables, puzzle solving and light platforming that have been staples of the LEGO series are back, as refined and enjoyable as ever. Fans of LEGO Batman 2 will find a lot of familiar gameplay elements, such as a multitude of suits to solve even more challenging puzzles. In comparison to their recent titles, most notably LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, some of the mechanics have been refined, such as flying, using characters that have this ability. Whereas in the past games, flying was often way too fast, forcing the camera to shift to unwanted angles, things have been slowed down considerably, making flying characters almost a breeze to control this time around.
Old chum! I’m here to save the day, one brick at a time.
There are other nice touches in the game, including some well done lighting effects in some of the more exotic locales in the game. In comparison to Stan Lee in the last game who frequently needed saving, this time around it’s Adam West who plays the role of the damsel in distress, as it were. He’ll pop up in every level, with a surprisingly cheery “Hi!, I’m TV’s Adam West, and I’m in some kind of peril!” which is always good for a giggle.
Also fueling the nostalgia is a level and several unlockable villains from the classic 1966 Batman TV series. Watching Cesar Romero’s Joker run amuck in a retro 1960’s diner, and then do the “Batusi” with the rest of the classically flavored cast may not mean much to younger or newer gamers, but for older gamers who remember the campy series, it comes off as a delightful surprise.
There are also some notable voice actors reprising their roles in LEGO Batman 3. Clancy Brown is back once again as Lex Luthor (from Superman: The Animated Series), and he’ll be familiar to previous LEGO Batman players as well.
In addition, many of the voice actors from the numerous Justice League cartoons are back, and Stephen Amell, who stars in the series Arrow, reprises his role as the Green Arrow in the game, which is a nice touch. Conan O’Brien and movie director and comic book writer Kevin Smith also lend their recognizable voices to the game.
There are a few flaws however that keeps the game from achieving true Man of Steel status, however. Whereas the previously released LEGO Marvel Super Heroes featured a story that dramatically builds to a satisfying conclusion, the story in LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham seems to drag on much too long, as if the developers felt that artificially extending its length would make you invest more playtime, which it does, but the results are hardly enjoyable.
You’ll go to the very end of the Earth and beyond during the game.
Another disappointment with the game is that after LEGO Marvel’s free roaming, open world hub of New York City, Beyond Gotham seems to take a step backward in its more linear design. There are a number of hubs to explore, from which you can enter various quests, but it is nowhere near as delightful as tooling around an open world city, creating chaos.
What’s also kind of interesting is that after the initial few levels, Batman becomes less of a focus as some of the other Justice League team members; especially once other planets open up. The later missions mostly involve the various Lantern Cores, and while this is ultimately a game in and around the entire DC canon, it just feels ironic that the titular hero is forced to take a backseat role for much of the game.
Flaws aside, LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham is still a delightful, family friendly romp through the DC universe. With its numerous comedic moments and nostalgia infused gameplay balancing out its often long winded narrative and limiting design elements, this is one adventure that may be worth replaying.
Tags: beyond gotham dc comics lego batman 3 pc ps vita ps3 ps4 review reviews steam traveler's tales warner bros wii u xbox 360 Xbox One
Published by Felicity Chevalier
Felicity enjoys a good role playing game...when she has time to play them! She can also be found tomb raiding, following the creed and occasionally battling giant colossi. When not doing that, she enjoys reading, writing bad poetry and visiting bookstores and museums. View all posts by Felicity Chevalier
Previous Entry Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin Review – One step forward, two steps back
Next Entry E3 2015 – A chat with Midboss about Read Only Memories
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line754
|
__label__cc
| 0.565141
| 0.434859
|
SLCA - U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc.
U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc.
http://www.ussilica.com
Industry: Industrial Metals & Minerals
Full Time Employees: 2,812
Exercised
Mr. Bryan A. Shinn Pres, CEO & Director 1.65M N/A 1962
Mr. Donald A. Merril Exec. VP & CFO 809.18k N/A 1964
Mr. Michael L. Winkler Exec. VP & COO 819.52k N/A 1965
Mr. Bradford B. Casper Exec. VP & Chief Commercial Officer 875.29k N/A 1975
Mr. Michael K. Lawson VP of Investor Relations and Corp. Communications N/A N/A 1956
Amounts are as of December 31, 2018 and compensation values are for the last fiscal year ending on that date. Pay is salary, bonuses, etc. Exercised is the value of options exercised during the fiscal year. Currency in USD.
U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc. produces and sells commercial silica in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Oil & Gas Proppants and Industrial & Specialty Products. It offers whole grain commercial silica products to be used as fracturing sand in connection with oil and natural gas recovery, as well as sells its whole grain silica products in various size distributions, grain shapes, and chemical purity levels for manufacturing glass products. The company also provides ground commercial silica products for use in plastics, rubber, polishes, cleansers, paints, glazes, textile fiberglass, and precision castings; fine ground silica for use in premium paints, specialty coatings, sealants, silicone rubber, and epoxies; and engineered performance materials made from diatomaceous earth (DE), clay, and perlite. In addition, it offers other industrial mineral products, such as aplite, a mineral used to produce container glass and insulation fiberglass; magnesium silicate, a adsorbent made from a mixture of silica and magnesium for preparative and analytical chromatography applications; and DE and clay aggregates used as an absorbent for automotive, industrial, and sports turf applications. U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc. serves oilfield services companies, and exploration and production companies that are engaged in hydraulic fracturing; and industrial and specialty products end markets. The company was formerly known as GGC USS Holdings, Inc. U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in Katy, Texas.
U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc.’s ISS Governance QualityScore as of June 25, 2019 is 2. The pillar scores are Audit: 1; Board: 2; Shareholder Rights: 4; Compensation: 1.
Corporate governance scores courtesy of Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS). Scores indicate decile rank relative to index or region. A decile score of 1 indicates lower governance risk, while a 10 indicates higher governance risk.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line756
|
__label__cc
| 0.642185
| 0.357815
|
European public want more environmental protections according to new survey
tags: Environmental Messaging, Environmental Policy, EU, European Parliament, opinion, Survey
by freshwaterblog
Water is a key element of EU environmental policy. Image: Symbolique 2006
Over half of the European public are in favour of more environmental protections across the continent, according to a new European Parliament survey.
53% of the 27,901 EU citizens interviewed by Kantar Public for the survey thought that existing environmental protections across Europe were ‘insufficient’. 75% of citizens thought that more policy and management interventions were necessary to protect European environments.
There is a broad geographical distribution to these findings. Three of the top five ‘insufficient’ ratings in the survey were made by people from southern European countries – Spain, Portugal and Greece – where climate change and development pressures are increasingly strong. The strongest ‘insufficient’ rating came from the Swedish public.
On the other hand, the four lowest ‘insufficient’ ratings – i.e. those who mostly saw current protections as ‘sufficient’ – came from people in the Baltic States – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – and in the Czech Republic. All four of these countries gained membership of the EU in 2004. Citizens from the UK and Ireland were only slightly more positive about the sufficiency of existing environmental protections.
Overall, 36% of EU citizens surveyed thought that existing environmental protections were sufficient, whilst 4% thought they were excessive.
Of the three-quarters of EU citizens who called for increased environmental protection interventions from policy makers, the three most positive respondents were again from Southern European countries – Spain, Portugal and Cyprus. All three countries have experienced water shortages in recent years (and in Spain’s case, unusual winter floods and snow) – driven by climatic trends which are projected to worsen in coming decades.
The Baltic States, Czech Republic, Poland and the UK reported the lowest enthusiasm for increased environmental protections. However, in Latvia and Estonia, the two least-positive results, over half of surveyed citizens (52% in both cases) were still in favour of increased environmental protections.
Of course, it is impossible to draw any firm conclusions on the influence of national geopolitics or environmental issues on the results of this survey – particularly when respondents were encouraged to think about the EU as a whole throughout their interviews. However, there are geographical trends in the reported results, which deserve subsequent in-depth research and analysis to properly understand.
More broadly, the survey yields a number of insights for environmental policy makers seeking to address the public appetite for environmental protections across the EU. When citizens were asked about the policy topics they would like more information on, environmental protection was the fifth most popular, after issues surrounding terrorism, unemployment, health and social security and migration.
The greatest enthusiasm for more environmental information came from citizens in Northern European countries with relatively high GDP: The Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark. The lowest was from the Estonian and Latvian public. Overall, these results suggest that there is scope for broader and more effective environmental science and policy communication and engagement in the EU.
There is a long-held idea in conservation practice that a person or community’s attachment to a place (what geographer Yi Fu Tuan calls ‘topophilia‘), means they are likely to support its conservation and protection. The survey reveals that EU citizens feel far more attached to their city/town/village, region and country (between 87-92% do) than they do to the EU as a whole (between 51-56% do).
This result points to a challenge for environmental policy makers and managers in designing large-scale, cross-national initiatives. One question might be in how continental-scale conservation and protection initiatives (for example, this recent Natura 2000 waterbird project) can best be justified and popularised at each of their local and regional ‘nodes’.
Finally, the survey suggests that over half (53%) of EU citizens don’t believe that their voice counts in EU decision-making processes, whilst 43% believe that theirs does. The most negative opinions came from citizens in Greece (perhaps predictably, given recent economic and migration issues), Estonia and the Czech Republic. The most positive came from citizens in The Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark – the same citizens who were receptive to more environmental protections information.
According to citizens across the continent, voting in European elections is the main way (57-59% of respondents) of making your voice heard in EU decision-making. In the context of an overall public desire for more EU environmental protection initiatives, the results suggest that there is the opportunity for environmental NGOs, charities and community groups to communicate how public participation in environmental debate and action can influence EU decision making.
You can read the full survey report here, and see the data here.
from → EU, MARS, Public, Survey
← OSCAR: the ecological benefits of woody riparian buffers
The NSERC Canadian Lake Pulse Network: Assessing lake health across Canada →
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line763
|
__label__cc
| 0.697914
| 0.302086
|
Warning: A non-numeric value encountered in /home/fsamusic/public_html/wp-content/themes/FSA-Custom/lib/builder-core/lib/layout-engine/modules/class-layout-module.php on line 499
Aniel Caban
Aniel Cabán
Viola teacher Classical, College Preparatory, Private Lessons, Quartet Coaching
Aniel Cabán began his Viola studies at the age of 8 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He has attended world renowned summer music festivals including Interlochen Arts Camp, Meadowmount School of Music, National Repertory Orchestra (NRO), Festival Casals de Puerto Rico, The Yehudi Menuhim Chamber Music Festival and The Sarasota Music Festival. His primary Viola instructors have included Stanley Konopka, Erika Eckert, Eugene Becker and Guillermo Figueroa. He has studied Chamber Music with Peter Salaff, James Dunham, The Takács String Quartet, The Cavani String Quartet, Anne Epperson and Robert Levin.
Mr. Cabán received a Bachelor of Music Degree in Viola Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music (2002) and a Master of Music from the University of Colorado-Boulder (2006), where he was the recipient of The Gabor Ormai Viola Award. He is currently Principal Violist of the Boulder Chamber Orchestra and a member of the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra since 2003 as well as a regular player with the Fort Collins Symphony Orchestra and the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra.
Mr. Cabán is a also an active chamber musician in the Boulder area collaborating with local and guest artists such as Opus Two, David Korevaar and Andy Stein among others. He currently holds the position of Violin and Viola Instructor at the Flatirons String Academy and Viola/Chamber Music faculty of A Mid-Summer Day’s Dream String Camp in Boulder, CO.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line764
|
__label__wiki
| 0.850482
| 0.850482
|
22 October 2015 ride for research
Professor Rob McKenzie appointed chair of Research Advisory Committee.
We are delighted that Professor Rob McKenzie has agreed to chair our Research Advisory Committee.
Professor Rob MacKenzie. Chair of Fund4Trees Research Advisory Committee
Rob McKenzie is an atmospheric scientist whose interest in the urban forest began in the late 1980s when undertook the first study on the effect of trees on ozone production. Further works on the role of trees in urban sustainability included a detailed census of the West Midlands’ urban forest and studies on the pros and cons of green walls and street trees on the removal of road traffic pollution.
Rob became the inaugural Director of the Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (BiFoR) in November 2013. BiFoR aims to be an internationally leading Institute that will address two fundamental and interrelated challenges (a) the impact of climate and environment change on woodlands and (b) the resilience of trees to invasive pests and diseases.
Jonathan Banks, who works with Barletts Tree Experts, has been appointed as Vice Chair.
Grant awarded to Heart-Rot project at Cardiff University
Why Support Arboricultural Research in the UK?
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line765
|
__label__cc
| 0.508856
| 0.491144
|
To Right the Wrongs
Erin Blake has one goal for summer vacation: leave behind her reputation as the girl whose mom was murdered, and just be a normal girl enjoying her first real romance. Unfortunately—or maybe fortunately for a mystery fanatic—her hot new boyfriend has an unsolved murder in his own past. When Journey was a baby, his father was convicted of the murder of a teenage runaway and sent to prison. Journey barely remembers him now, but he’s been researching the case and something doesn’t add up. His father has no reason to kill anyone, much less a teenager, and he’s always maintained his innocence. Journey’s convinced his father was framed. Now he just needs to prove it. But if Journey’s father didn’t do it, that means somebody else did—and after getting away with it for sixteen years, that person could be more dangerous than ever. So Erin is under strict orders not to meddle in the case…but that’s easier said than done.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line766
|
__label__cc
| 0.677271
| 0.322729
|
The Gram–Schmidt process
Mathematics for Machine Learning: Linear Algebra
Cours 1 de 3 dans Mathematics for Machine Learning Spécialisation
In this course on Linear Algebra we look at what linear algebra is and how it relates to vectors and matrices. Then we look through what vectors and matrices are and how to work with them, including the knotty problem of eigenvalues and eigenvectors, and how to use these to solve problems. Finally we look at how to use these to do fun things with datasets - like how to rotate images of faces and how to extract eigenvectors to look at how the Pagerank algorithm works. Since we're aiming at data-driven applications, we'll be implementing some of these ideas in code, not just on pencil and paper. Towards the end of the course, you'll write code blocks and encounter Jupyter notebooks in Python, but don't worry, these will be quite short, focussed on the concepts, and will guide you through if you’ve not coded before. At the end of this course you will have an intuitive understanding of vectors and matrices that will help you bridge the gap into linear algebra problems, and how to apply these concepts to machine learning.
Eigenvalues And Eigenvectors, Basis (Linear Algebra), Transformation Matrix, Linear Algebra
Great way to learn about applied Linear Algebra. Should be fairly easy if you have any background with linear algebra, but looks at concepts through the scope of geometric application, which is fresh.
The content of the course is very relevant, and the instructors are really fun and helpful.My only suggestion is to upload revisions for each assessment, so we can understand what we are doing wrong.
Matrices make linear mappings
In Module 4, we continue our discussion of matrices; first we think about how to code up matrix multiplication and matrix operations using the Einstein Summation Convention, which is a widely used notation in more advanced linear algebra courses. Then, we look at how matrices can transform a description of a vector from one basis (set of axes) to another. This will allow us to, for example, figure out how to apply a reflection to an image and manipulate images. We'll also look at how to construct a convenient basis vector set in order to do such transformations. Then, we'll write some code to do these transformations and apply this work computationally.
The Gram–Schmidt process6:07
Example: Reflecting in a plane14:10
David Dye
Professor of Metallurgy
Samuel J. Cooper
A. Freddie Page
Strategic Teaching Fellow
We've said several times now that life is much easier if
we can construct an orthonormal basis vector set,
but we haven't talked about how to do it.
So in this video we'll do that starting from the assumption that we already
have some linearly independent vectors that span the space we're interested in.
So let's say I have some vectors V,
and I've got a whole group of them v1,
v2, all the way up to vn. There's enough of them that they span the space.
So let's sort of sketch them out.
So I've got to say a v1 here,
we have a v2 over here,
another v3 down there somewhere and they're linearly independent, let's assume that.
If you want to check linear independence you can write
down their columns in a matrix and check the determinant isn't zero.
If they were linearly dependent,
that would give you a zero determinant.
But they aren't orthogonal to each other or of unit length.
My life would probably be easier if I could construct some orthonormal basis somehow.
And there's a process for doing that which is called the Gram-Schmidt process,
which is what we're going to look at now.
Let's take arbitrarily, the first vector in my set,
call him v1, so we take v1.
In this first step she,
lets call him she, she gets to survive unscathed.
So we're just going to normalize her and we're going to say that
my eventual first basis vector e,
is going to be equal to v1,
just normalized to be of unit length.
Just divided by that, its length.
So, e is just going to be some normalized version of v1.
And I can now think of v2 as being composed of two things.
One is a component,
let's do this in orange,
a component that's in the direction of e1 like that,
plus a component that's perpendicular to e1.
But the component that's in the direction of e1,
I can find by taking the vector projection v2 onto e1.
So I can say v2 is equal to the vector projection of v2 onto e1 dotted together.
And if I want to get that actually as a vector,
I'll have to take e1,
which is of unit length so I'd have to
divide by the length of e1 but the length of e1 is one.
So, forget it. And if I take that off of v2,
then I'll have this guy,
and let's call him u2.
So I can then say that u2,
so plus u2,
so I can then rearrange this and say that u2 is then
equal to v2 minus this projection v2.e1
times e1.
And if I normalize u2,
if I take u2 divided by its length,
then I'll have a unit vector which is going to be normal to v1.
So if I take a normalized version of that,
let's say it's that, that will be e2.
And that will be at 90 degrees to e1.
So it'll actually be there,
e2, once I've moved it over.
And that will be another unit length vector normal to e1.
So that's the first part of taking an orthonormal basis.
Now my third vector v3 isn't a linear combination of v1 and v2,
so v3 isn't in the plane defined by v1 and v2.
So it's not in the plane of e1 and e2 either.
So I can project v3 down,
let's say something like that,
onto the plane of e2 and e1,
and that projection will be some vector in the plane composed of e2s and e1s.
So I can then write down
that v3 minus
v3 dotted with e1, e1's.
That's going to be the component v3 that's made up of e1's,
minus v3 dotted with e2, e2's.
That's the component of v3 that's made up of e2's.
And then all that's going to be left
is going to be this perpendicular guy there,
so that's going to be a perpendicular vector which we'll call u3,
which is perpendicular to the plane.
This is some funny 3D space so the diagram gets quite messy.
And then if I normalize u3,
divide by the length of u3,
then I'll have a unit vector which is normal the plane, normal to the other two.
So now I've got an orthonormal basis for e1, e2, e3,
and I can keep on going through
all the vn's until I've got
enough orthonormal basis vectors to complete the set and span,
the space that I originally had.
But I've gone from a bunch of awkward, non-orthogonal,
non-unit vectors to a bunch of nice orthogonal unit vectors, an orthonormal basis set.
So that's how I construct an orthonormal basis set,
I make my life easy so that my transformation vectors are nice,
my transformation matrices are nice, sorry.
And so that I can do the transposes,
the inverse, and all those lovely things.
So I can use dot product projections for the transformations,
all those nice things that are going to make my life very very
much nicer whenever I'm doing any transformations,
or rotations, or whatever it is I want to do with my vectors.
So that's going to be really nice.
This is a really nice process.
And what we'll do next is we'll apply this,
we'll try this for an example and see how it
rolls and then apply that to doing a transformation.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line769
|
__label__wiki
| 0.746346
| 0.746346
|
Rebolo, Rafael
Rafael Rebolo
Director of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC).
Born in Cartagena (1961), he graduated in Physics from the University of Granada in 1984 and obtained his doctorate in astrophysics from the University of La Laguna in 1987.
Since 1984 he is researcher at the IAC, where he served as head of the Research Division between 1997 and 1999. He is CSIC Professor of Research in Physical Science since 1998. Since 2002 he is member of the Max Planck Society and External Professor at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg. Since October 2013 he has been appointed the director of Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias.
He has developed research projects in cosmology, in stellar physics and exoplanets, involving the study of the cosmic microwave background, the characterization of sub-stellar objects and black holes and, more recently, the search for Earth-like exoplanets. He is co-author of over 400 articles published in international journals of astrophysics (including ten in Nature and Science), which have accumulated more than 30,000 citations in the scientific literature. He has supervised or co-supervised 20 doctoral PhD theses.
Prof. Rebolo and his team are responsible for the discovery in 1995 of the first brown dwarfs (objects with properties intermediate between stars and giant planets of which there are tens of billions in our galaxy) and several giant extrasolar planets in 2000, as well as providing empirical evidence in 1999 of the physical connection between supernovae and black holes. He has been a pioneer in Spain in the experimental research of the cosmic microwave background and has developed at the Observatorio del Teide several experiments in collaboration with the Universities of Manchester and Cambridge.
He leads the QUIJOTE consortium for measuring the polarization of the cosmic microwave background with telescopes in Tenerife. He is co-director of a high-precision spectrograph “ESPRESSO” for detecting exo-Earths with the 8 m VLT telescopes in Chile, and the AOLI project for high spatial resolution imaging on the 4.2 m William Herschel telescope, at the ORM in La Palma, Canary Islands. He is co-investigator of the European Space Agency’s Planck and Euclid space missions, and member of the Board of the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) and the Cherenkov Telescope Array. He was also a member of the science committee of the 40 m E-ELT telescope, the steering committees of several European networks in astronomy (OPTICON; EARA) and the US (AURA) and the Scientific Committee “Science Vision for European Astronomy” and co-chair of the “Stars and Planets” panel. He is Scientific director of the “IAC: Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence” program since 2011.
He has participated in several dozen scientific committees of conferences, has directed several international schools in astrophysics and has delivered research seminars in more than 30 institutes and centers in Spain, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, USA, Greece, Switzerland, Chile, Belgium, China and Japan.
He is a corresponding member of the Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences of Spain, Academician of the Academy of Science and Engineering Lanzarote, Honorary Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Region of Murcia, Doctor Honoris Causa from the Polytechnic University of Cartagena.
He was awarded, among other, the Iberdrola Prize of Science and Technology, the Jaime I Research Prize, the Canary Islands Prize for Research and the Jules Janssen Prize of the French Astronomical Society.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line772
|
__label__cc
| 0.741813
| 0.258187
|
← The Interesting Rollercoaster Ride of Assassin’s Creed
Saturday Video Round Up: January 4 -10 →
Zombie Studios Closing Its Doors After 20 Years
Posted on January 9, 2015 by Derek "Gamer Crash"
I was going to lead with a ‘witty’ pun like “Zombie Studios shambles back into the grave” but I decided to save you from that fate and also it may come off as a little disrespectful so lets move on.
The big news on Wednesday of this week came from Zombie Studios who announced that they’re shutting their doors for good. Interestingly enough, this wasn’t a financial decision at all. Current owners decided that the time was right to retire from the industry and thus, shut down the studio for good. The studio did have a big update on their site thanking fans and employees alike, but at the time of this post, it apparently is no longer on the site. Weird.
Zombie Studios was originally founded all the way back in 1994 and gave us more than thirty games over their twenty years including the Blacklight franchise, Daylight, the Saw series of games in conjunction with Konami, and a number of Spec Ops games and expansions.
So where does that leave you if you’re a fan of their work?
The good news for fans of the studio and Blacklight Retribution is that the former developers/employees have opened a new studio called BuilderBox Games so if all goes according to plan, it should seem like nothing at all has changed. Former director of production, Andy Kipling, and technical director, Russell Nelson, lead the new studio who have received the remaining work and Blacklight IP from Zombie. It’s kind of like Zombie Studios is back from the dead. (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself there.)
This entry was posted in News and tagged news. Bookmark the permalink.
2 Responses to Zombie Studios Closing Its Doors After 20 Years
Hatm0nster says:
I haven’t played any of their games, but it’s always a shame to see a good studio close it’s doors. I wonder how long the industry is going to keep up with this kind of business climate. It’ll keep going I’m sure, but something’s going to have to change somehow if it’s going to keep growing at the pace we’d like.
Derek "Gamer Crash" says:
I have not played Blacklight at all but I know a few people who do and they seem to enjoy it.
It’s never a good thing hearing about a studio closure even considering this one is a little different than most examples. Can’t think of a time when the owners just wanted to up and retire resulting in a studio closure. Typically it’s due to financial reasons.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line773
|
__label__cc
| 0.69578
| 0.30422
|
Obsessing on White Folks
James McBride, writing in somewhat defense of Spike Lee's commentary at the Sundance Festival, wrote the following:
America is a super power not because we make the biggest guns. We’re a superpower because our culture has saturated the planet: Levis, Apple, Nike, Disney, Coke, Pepsi, McDonald’s, Jazz, Rhythm n Blues, Rock ‘n Roll, and Hip Hop. Our culture dominates the world far more than any nuclear bomb can. When you can make a person think a certain way, you don’t have to bomb them. Just give them some credit cards, a wide screen 3D TV, some potato chips, and watch what happens. This kind of cultural war, a war of propaganda and words, elements that both Hollywood and Washington know a lot about, makes America powerful beyond measure. The hard metal of this cultural weaponry, much of it, emanates from the soul of Blacks, the African American experience in music, dance, art and literature.
But this kind of cultural war puts minority storytellers – Blacks, Asians, Latinos and people of color – at a distinct disadvantage. My friend Spike Lee is a clear example. [my emphasis]
This statement reveals the deficit of independence of the African American. The problem with the highlighted comment is that Asians in fact have a movie making center, mostly in Hong Kong, but also in Japan. So Asians are good. They don't depend upon white folks to tell their stories.
Similarly we have Bollywood. So Indians are good. They can and do tell their own stories at will.
In Nigeria we have Nollywood. And while we can complain about the quality of some of the material that is produced it shows that we Africans can in fact produce their own stories if they so choose.
Latinos, in addition to have their own productions in their own countries (or countries of origin, have channels on TV that provides them with a broad array of stories. So Latinos are not exactly dependent upon white Hollywood to provide for them. Who does that leave? The African American, who after spending time under the boot of whites in America, have decided to be the pimple on their butts, in hopes that if they itch enough they will get a scratch or two.
How about we expend our energies into making our own production studios like Tyler Perry has done (and this is not an endorsement of his films) and as Wesley Snipes Amen Ra productions. Hire these hungry (as in want to make movies) African film makers, sound technicians, etc. and produce our own content, Put them into Magic Johnson theaters and tell Hollywood to kiss our collective behinds?
I suppose though that complaining about whether white folks "understand" black lives and the like is easier though. Not as much work involved. And as an extra bonus, Negroes can again ask for the approval of white folks for their work.
Posted by sondjata at 8:51 PM Links to this post
RE: Stop Telling Women How to Not Get Raped
On Jan 14th Ebony.com posted an opinion piece entitled "Stop Telling Women How to Not Get Raped: Our victim blaming tactics do little to prevent sexual assault" in which author Zerlina Maxwell presented what she thought would be best for 2012 as it related to female victims, or better put, potential victims of sexual assault:
New rule for 2012: No more ad campaigns and public service announcements targeted at women to teach them how to avoid rape.
I'm not entirely sure what ad campaigns she was speaking of and there were no examples of said media campaigns given in her piece but I'm sure they are out there. Somewhere.
Assuming that these ads are out there somewhere, has anyone actually asked what specifically is wrong with informing women on how to avoid being raped? Do we, for example, object to public service announcements that inform the public on how to avoid being robbed? or how to not be an inviting target of pick pockets? Do we object to advice given to those who have iDevices that perhaps they ought not have them out? Do we? If we do not, then why do we make a special exception for rape?
Let's continue with Ms. Maxwell's commentary so as to perhaps understand where she is coming from:
It’s not effective, it’s offensive, and it’s also a lie. Telling women that they can behave in a certain way to avoid rape creates a false sense of security and it isn’t the most effective way to lower the horrible statistics which show that 1 in 5 women will become victims of a completed or attempted rape in their lifetime. The numbers for African American women are even higher at nearly 1 in 4.
It's not effective? What's not effective? Giving advice to women on how to decrease the chances of being raped is not effective? Says who? What data actually supports this statement? None has been provided. I suppose we should just take Ms. Maxwell's word for it.
But lets take for example the young woman who is instructed by her parents to not take a drink from strangers. Doesn't this constitute "advice" on "how to avoid being raped"? And if she heeds such advice is she not now more empowered and therefore less likely to be a victim? If so, doesn't that mean that Ms. Maxwell's statement is demonstrably false?
Mind you not all advice is useful. For example people who wish to say that a woman ought not to have worn a skirt of a certain length or show a certain amount of cleavage is certainly out of order as we know that what is worn by a woman has little if any bearing on whether a woman will be victimized. However; just because some advice is downright silly and objectionable, it does not mean that all advice is useless. Therefore; it is best to discern useful advice from the weeds. But again, no such advice is listed for us to evaluate so we are left thinking that any advice given must be ineffective.
Ms. Maxwell then moves onto what she thinks will be most effective:
We need anti-rape campaigns that target young men and boys. Campaigns that teach them from a young age how to respect women, and ultimately themselves, and to never ever be rapists. In addition, we should implore our men and boys to call out their friends, relatives, and classmates for inappropriate behavior and create systems of accountability amongst them.
I see. So Ms. Maxwell's position is that young men and boys are not being taught not to rape.
I would hazard to guess that a good number of parents would object to such a characterization, but I'm not in a position to speak for them. But it certainly is curious that Ms. Maxwell would make such an assertion with no data presented to show that young men and boys are not being taught to respect girls and women. The actual interesting thing is the demographic she targeted in this discussion, Young men and boys. Statistics show that rape victims tend to fall into this category. It is not surprising because persons in this group, male and female alike, tend to make choices that are more likely to leave them vulnerable to being victimized and are very likely to succumb to peer pressure and other group dynamics in which people can do things they actually do not want to do. That includes women who have sex with males and then later have regret and claim to have been raped. Yes, it happens. Sadly.
On the point of "men and boys" calling out their friends, relatives and classmates, there is the large problem of simply not knowing. I cannot call out a friend's behavior if I do not know about it. The fact is that most rapes occur when the perpetrator and the victim are alone. They occur most by those who are trusted by the victims. In such a case, so called "good men" are nowhere to be seen. Worse yet, they can only act after the fact. I don't know about Ms. Maxwell, but I would prefer to not deal with after the fact.
In regards to inappropriate behavior. What constitutes "inappropriate behavior"? who gets to judge that. I don't drink. I may be of the opinion that getting drunk is "inappropriate" period. Someone else may not see it that way. I may be a "hands off" person in my interpersonal dealings, while someone else may be particularly physical. Who am I to determine who's behavior crosses the line? I don't have such authority. But I can act if a woman indicates without question that some man's behavior has crossed a line. But that would be giving women "advice" to speak up. Advice is apparently verboten.
Speaking of drinking, Ms.Maxwell gives us an example:
For so long all of our energy has been directed at women, teaching them to be more “ladylike” and to not be “promiscuous” to not drink too much or to not wear a skirt. Newsflash: men don’t decide to become rapists because they spot a woman dressed like a video vixen or because a girl has been sexually assertive.
I've already covered the total BS that is the "you shouldn't wear that" so I wont cover it again. However; to the "drink to much" point I would counter: what is the likelihood of a sober (or at least in control of herself) person being raped compared to one who is passed out, or falling out drunk? I'll actually answer this question later. Again, this is not to say that a drunk woman "asked for it", but as I said before, I would rather not deal with the aftermath of being vulnerable, than not advise my lady friends to not get so drunk that she is "easy pickings" for one seeking to victimize.
Speaking of drinking:
How about we teach young men when a woman says stop, they stop? How about we teach young men that when a woman has too much to drink that they should not have sex with her, if for no other reason but to protect themselves from being accused of a crime?
Did I read correctly? So we're good with advising men to not deal with a drunk woman because he might find himself on the wrong side of the law, but advising a woman not to get drunk around men she neither knows or trusts is bad? Talk about blatant double standards. Is that what's good for 2012? And who are we to tell men and women how they prepare themselves for intercourse. A lot of men and women apparently need to be liquored up in order to disinhibit themselves. Who am I to judge someone who does that?
In regards to "'no' meaning 'no'".=, I'm all for it. The actual data shows that most of us men are for it. Here's the thing though, unfortunately there are a number of women (how large a population I have no idea) that seem to think that teasing a man is "cute". Where there is "no" and "maybe" and "well a little bit". Personally I think that men who encounter such women ought to leave (or have her leave). However; some of these encounters happen and once a "no" turns out to mean "try harder" or "keep trying 'cause I wanna see how much you'll beg for it" then every other woman that man meets after her, is in danger. Why? Because the mixed signals, particularly when young men and women are still trying to figure out what is what in the mating world, lead to the next woman's certain objection to perhaps be mistook for "try harder".
Again, not that I think it excuses the behavior of a man who does not adhere to the "no" rule, but as stated before I'd rather not get that call from the woman who, unfortunately ran into that man.
Ms. Maxwell then discusses what she calls a "culture of violence towards women":
The culture that allows men to violate women will continue to flourish so long as there is no great social consequence for men who do so. And while many men punished for sexual assaults each year, countless others are able to commit rape and other crimes against women because we so often blame the victim instead of the guilty party.
Culture that allows men to violate women? Really? Here in the US where Ms.Maxwell pointed out that 3 of 4 women (75%) will never be sexually assaulted or raped in her lifetime? How do you claim there is an at large culture of violating women with statistics like that? There are, in fact, sub-cultures in which violence as a whole is acceptable and therefore women in those circles (or who share geographic areas with such persons) are more likely than average to face such violence, but the statistic as provided by Ms. Maxwell simply does not support an at large "culture of violating women".
"Many" and "countless" are used skillfully by Ms. Maxwell to hide the fact that she has provided no data. You would be under the impression that there are men all over the place who are simply waiting for a woman to pass by so they can hop up on them. So since we need actual data so that we can move from conjecture and generalizations, lets look at some actual statistics.
A Harvard paper from 2002 entitled "Repeat Rape and Multiple Offending among Undetected Rapists"
Informs us of a group of 1,882 men out of whom 120 self reported acts that met the legal definition of rape. For you math heads out there that means of the group only 6% of the men self reported legal rape.
Furthermore the report showed that the majority, 80% of these men committed rapes on women who were "incapacitated" due to drug or alcohol use
Let's pause here for a minute. If we go back to Ms. Maxwell's position that it is "offensive" and "ineffective" to advise women to not get drunk, how do we reconcile such a position with the above fact? It seems quite clear that advising women to not get drunk or otherwise incapacitated would possibly reduce the incident of rape by 80%.
Eighty. Per. Cent.
Are we really going to be "offended" by such advise?
If we continue looking at the data we find that of the 120 men who admitted to having committed a rape, 76 (63%) of them had committed multiple rapes. These 76 repeat rapists accounted for 439 individual acts of rape out of 483.
Again for the math people, this means that 4% of the men interviewed were responsible for 90% of rapes.
In the paper we also find that 10 of these 76 had committed between 9-50 rapes per individual.
What did this paper state as their conclusion?
The evidence that a relatively small proportion of men are responsible for a large number of rapes and other interpersonal crimes may provide at least a partial answer to an oft noted paradox: namely, that while victimization surveys have established that a substantial proportion of women are sexually victimized, relatively small percentages of men report committing acts of sexual violence.
So if we take this report as being an accurate representation of of society at large (which has *not* been determined by any larger scale studies) it would be the case that the vast majority of men do not commit or condone rape. This means that, contrary to the assertion made by Ms. Maxwell, there is not an at large "culture of violating women". It would also be the case that a very, very small subset of actual rapists, relative to the overall number of males in the US population are actually responsible for 90% of rapes.
Given that the report also indicates that these men also engage in other interpersonal violence, that they do not care about being "educated" about rape or what constitutes rape. They, like all criminals, simply do not care about their victims or what society thinks is proper. This means that no amount of "educating young men and boys" will stop rapists from doing what they do any more than laws against theft stops the thief.
Since Ms. Maxwell is so concerned about violence though I think she and others who think like her may want to consider a recent study on domestic violence. If this study turns out to be statistically accurate across the US Population, Ms. Maxwell may want to direct her "education" recommendation towards women. the National Institute of Justice and the Department of Defense has found that:
Among males, 92% reported experiencing physical violence from a partner, while 6% said they experienced both physical violence and stalking.
Since the majority of these males would have been in relationships with women, it means that the vast majority of men in relationships, at least in Atlanta, are targets of intimate violence by women who apparently are under the impression that it is OK. Sounds to me that we actually have an at large culture of violating men on our hands.
Posted by sondjata at 10:51 AM Links to this post
We gather tonight knowing that this generation of heroes has made the United States safer and more respected around the world. For the first time in nine years, there are no Americans fighting in Iraq. For the first time in two decades, Osama bin Laden is not a threat to this country. Most of al Qaeda’s top lieutenants have been defeated. The Taliban’s momentum has been broken, and some troops in Afghanistan have begun to come home.
There are in fact Americans in Iraq. The same Americans that made up a large percentage of the "combatants" in that country: Independent Contractors. They are American (and maybe some other nationalities). So the most accurate comment is that there are no US GIs in Iraq. They are now in Kuwait. That is those who have not been sent home or to Afghanistan.
As for the Taliban, The US is currently in negotiations with the Taliban. I'm not sure how this equals "momentum is broken". I told you in 2003 that the US was dealing with the Taliban and I told you again last week that the US is dealing with the Taliban.
Think about the America within our reach: A country that leads the world in educating its people. An America that attracts a new generation of high-tech manufacturing and high-paying jobs.
You all did read the NY Times piece on why Apple produces the iPhone in China and why Steve Jobs told Obama outright that those jobs are not coming back. Alrighty then.
We can do this. I know we can, because we’ve done it before. At the end of World War II, when another generation of heroes returned home from combat, they built the strongest economy and middle class the world has ever known. My grandfather, a veteran of Patton’s Army, got the chance to go to college on the GI Bill. My grandmother, who worked on a bomber assembly line, was part of a workforce that turned out the best products on Earth.
Very true. Of course since the countries the US now competes with were still under colonial control and therefore the international playing field was nowhere near "level" of course the US had such spectacular growth.
I won't discuss the segregation.... Speaking of which:
The two of them shared the optimism of a Nation that had triumphed over a depression and fascism. They understood they were part of something larger; that they were contributing to a story of success that every American had a chance to share – the basic American promise that if you worked hard, you could do well enough to raise a family, own a home, send your kids to college, and put a little away for retirement.
Unless you were black. In which case, well, if you made it you were VERY fortunate on top of the hard work you did. But that kind of history doesn't make for feel good State of the Union speeches.
We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by. Or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.
I'm sorry but is Obama somehow unaware that there was never a time in US history where "everyone" got a fair shot? Or where everybody played by the same rules? There is no history to back this up. Why are black people eating this up when they know this was simply not the case?
Let’s remember how we got here. Long before the recession, jobs and manufacturing began leaving our shores. Technology made businesses more efficient, but also made some jobs obsolete. Folks at the top saw their incomes rise like never before, but most hardworking Americans struggled with costs that were growing, paychecks that weren’t, and personal debt that kept piling up.
In 2008, the house of cards collapsed. We learned that mortgages had been sold to people who couldn’t afford or understand them. Banks had made huge bets and bonuses with other people’s money. Regulators had looked the other way, or didn’t have the authority to stop the bad behavior.
That offshoring was going on under both Democratic and Republican administrations and congresses. In regards to the mortgages and the subprime fraud. The regulators did in fact have authority. They looked away. We know that. So lets' not act as if the regulators could not do anything.
On the day I took office, our auto industry was on the verge of collapse. Some even said we should let it die. With a million jobs at stake, I refused to let that happen. In exchange for help, we demanded responsibility. We got workers and automakers to settle their differences. We got the industry to retool and restructure. Today, General Motors is back on top as the world’s number one automaker. Chrysler has grown faster in the U.S. than any major car company. Ford is investing billions in U.S. plants and factories. And together, the entire industry added nearly 160,000 jobs
Absolutely the best decision made by the administration. But do be clear that in terms of GM, they were also saved by the Chinese who for some reason love Buicks. GM's largest sales, as far as I know, come from China, not the US. I'm not saying that to down the statement made by Obama, but to point out the increasing irrelevance of the US consumer as the Chinese grow their economy.
We can’t bring back every job that’s left our shores.
I'm glad he said it. It was said by many that there was going to be a new normal for unemployment. Many didn't believe it. I wonder how long until this sinks in.
Now there's a long stint on teachers and education. Good talk but since education policy is largely state based, there is nothing Obama can actually do but ask and suggest the states to do. Which is underscored here:
So tonight, I call on every State to require that all students stay in high school until they graduate or turn eighteen.
Now I don't know for certain, but I was under the impression that school attendance was compulsory. But even if it isn't, how does one deal with some of the reasons that people drop out such as issues at home? Also given the high rates of drop outs in certain communities who's going to foot the bill for the necessary school space and teachers for those students? Not that I'm being down on the suggestion, but just keeping it real. For example Mayor Bloomberg of NYC is on record saying how he'd remove up to half the teachers (assuming this quote to be accurate). I don't see how overcrowded classrooms helps anyone, particularly students who have special needs (or extra attention).
As to the cost of a college education, Obama said:
this Congress needs to stop the interest rates on student loans from doubling in July. Extend the tuition tax credit we started that saves middle-class families thousands of dollars. And give more young people the chance to earn their way through college by doubling the number of work-study jobs in the next five years.
I think the reason why he is saying that interest rates would double is due to the following
The bill eliminates $9-billion that had been approved in the House version to reduce the interest rate on federally subsidized loans in 2012-13 and subsequent years. That rate is now due to drop to 4.5 percent for the 2010-11 academic year and 3.4 percent the following year, but then rise to 6.8 percent after that.
It would appear that there will need to be money spent to get that interest rate to not go up.
So let me put colleges and universities on notice: If you can’t stop tuition from going up, the funding you get from taxpayers will go down. Higher education can’t be a luxury – it’s an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford.
That's a nice line. I work in education. Tuition WILL go up. If the state cannot cover it's cost of doing business (employee raises, technology maintenance and procurement, cost of third party services, etc.) they will raise tuition. Obama knows this. His people know this. This is an empty threat. If this threat is carried out, what will happen is that faculty and staff (the people who run these schools) will be forced into furloughs. Furloughs are a quaint way of saying "pay cut". Now some faculty members at the high end of the salary range will probably be able to absorb that. But there are many people at the low end of the salary range for whom such a thing can be a disaster for their household budget.
Higher education can’t be a luxury – it’s an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford.
Let's be clear. A College education is already a luxury. Only 27% of the US population has a 4 year degree. College education has always been "for the few". The real issue is an employable education for all.
That’s why my Administration has put more boots on the border than ever before. That’s why there are fewer illegal crossings than when I took office.
Actually the fewer crossings have more to do with the depressed economy than with "boots on the ground".
Nowhere is the promise of innovation greater than in American-made energy. Over the last three years, we’ve opened millions of new acres for oil and gas exploration, and tonight, I’m directing my Administration to open more than 75 percent of our potential offshore oil and gas resources. Right now, American oil production is the highest that it’s been in eight years. That’s right – eight years. Not only that – last year, we relied less on foreign oil than in any of the past sixteen years.
But with only 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves, oil isn’t enough. This country needs an all-out, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy – a strategy that’s cleaner, cheaper, and full of new jobs.
Going by the comments I saw on Twitter, I am under the impression that folks on the left are now for drill baby drill. I think liberals need to make up their minds. Are they against drilling for environmental reasons like oil spills and global warming or are they not?
Now if we know that only 2% of the work reserves are in the US, then no matter how much oil is "opened up", there is no escaping dependency on foreign oil. So the ONLY way to get off foreign oil is to get off oil completely.
We have a supply of natural gas that can last America nearly one hundred years, and my Administration will take every possible action to safely develop this energy. Experts believe this will support more than 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade. And I’m requiring all companies that drill for gas on public lands to disclose the chemicals they use. America will develop this resource without putting the health and safety of our citizens at risk.
I will simply direct the reader to the 60 Minutes report on drilling and the consequences on certain neighborhoods in the vicinity of said operations.
In the next few weeks, I will sign an Executive Order clearing away the red tape that slows down too many construction projects. But you need to fund these projects. Take the money we’re no longer spending at war, use half of it to pay down our debt, and use the rest to do some nation-building right here at home.
Absolutely. I've been saying this.
We will also establish a Financial Crimes Unit of highly trained investigators to crack down on large-scale fraud and protect people’s investments. Some financial firms violate major anti-fraud laws because there’s no real penalty for being a repeat offender.
But he just said that there were no regulations. Which one is it sir?
Right now, our most immediate priority is stopping a tax hike on 160 million working Americans while the recovery is still fragile. People cannot afford losing $40 out of each paycheck this year. There are plenty of ways to get this done. So let’s agree right here, right now: No side issues. No drama. Pass the payroll tax cut without delay.
I thought this was already done. Anyway, yes, yes they can because that payroll tax goes to social security that they'll likely be pulling from in the future. And that payroll tax is on a sliding scale depending on how much you make. And if you make enough to get that $40 hit, you're not in financial straights; at least not one of the government's making.
’m prepared to make more reforms that rein in the long term costs of Medicare and Medicaid, and strengthen Social Security, so long as those programs remain a guarantee of security for seniors.
Which cannot be done while cutting the payroll tax that directly funds Social Security.
Moving on to taxes:
Now, you can call this class warfare all you want. But asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes? Most Americans would call that common sense.
I agree with this but I don't see it happening. Both parties are deep in hock to corporations for this to go down.
On Executive Power:
The executive branch also needs to change. Too often, it’s inefficient, outdated and remote. That’s why I’ve asked this Congress to grant me the authority to consolidate the federal bureaucracy so that our Government is leaner, quicker, and more responsive to the needs of the American people.
Really? After signing an unconstitutional law that could indefinitely detain people, we are supposed to give the executive more unchecked power? Really? Are people so un worship of Obama that they'd actually go for that?
On War:
From Pakistan to Yemen, the al Qaeda operatives who remain are scrambling, knowing that they can’t escape the reach of the United States of America.
Yes because under this president we have to most drones in operations and have killed more people with them than any other president. Ever.
Look at Iran. Through the power of our diplomacy, a world that was once divided about how to deal with Iran’s nuclear program now stands as one. The regime is more isolated than ever before; its leaders are faced with crippling sanctions, and as long as they shirk their responsibilities, this pressure will not relent. Let there be no doubt: America is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and I will take no options off the table to achieve that goal. But a peaceful resolution of this issue is still possible, and far better, and if Iran changes course and meets its obligations, it can rejoin the community of nations.
I don't expect a single liberal to even comment negatively about this. Not a single one. Not a one that rightly derided McCain's "bomb, bomb Iran". Not one. Sanctions are acts of war. Iran is a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. It has met it's obligations under that treaty. Furthermore; as a sovereign state it has the right to develop whatever nuclear devices it wishes.
Posted by sondjata at 10:12 PM Links to this post
What is the school there for?
“Oh yes it is and I will say it again, you are lazy. Poor and uneducated Africans are the most hardworking people on earth. I saw them in the Lusaka markets and on the street selling merchandise. I saw them in villages toiling away. I saw women on Kafue Road crushing stones for sell and I wept. I said to myself where are the Zambian intellectuals? Are the Zambian engineers so imperceptive they cannot invent a simple stone crusher, or a simple water filter to purify well water for those poor villagers? Are you telling me that after thirty-seven years of independence your university school of engineering has not produced a scientist or an engineer who can make simple small machines for mass use? What is the school there for?”
...“As long as you are dependent on my plane, I shall feel superior and you my friend shall remain inferior, how about that? The Chinese, Japanese, Indians, even Latinos are a notch better. You Africans are at the bottom of the totem pole.”
I don't know if the story related here is fiction or not, but the sentiments are completely Garveyite in nature. Don't get mad at the Bwana for saying it. Garvey made the same argument.
Former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor had US spy agency ties
WASHINGTON - When Charles G. Taylor tied bed sheets together to escape from a second-floor window at the Plymouth House of Correction on Sept. 15, 1985, he was more than a fugitive trying to avoid extradition. He was a sought-after source for American intelligence...
The Defense Intelligence Agency refused to reveal any details about the relationship, saying doing so would harm national security.
Taylor, 63, pleaded innocent in 2009 to multiple counts of murder, rape, attacking civilians, and deploying child soldiers during a civil war in neighboring Sierra Leone while he was president of Liberia from 1997 to 2003.
Well we've always known that US National Security interests are above those of the innocent people now either dead or limbless. Or in the case of Libya, simply wiped out.
So remember this when next you think to pooh-pooh claims by certain governments (Iran) that they have captured spies and that there are spies in their countries. Just know that a lot of innocent people are dead for US "national security" interests.
PS: This is why I believe the US had Bin Ladin killed on sight and thrown into the sea. There was NO WAY the US wanted detailed information on how in bed they were with that man. Dead negroes may not concern a lot of people, but 3000K dead Americans? That's another thing entirely.
Where Are You From
I’ve also had these questions about identity since I was nine years old. I wrote a whole chapter called ‘Where are you from?” where I describe the sensation of being in Switzerland or Sweden or Germany or London and running into an indigenous African, an African who was not a forced immigrant because of the slave trade. On countless occasions before I even opened my mouth, an African man or woman would walk up to me and ask, ‘Where are you from?” I would answer, “I’m from Houston, Texas.” They would say, “Okay great, that’s where you live but where are you from? Where are your people from?” I would stand there like, “What is this person talking about?” That happened so many different times
Just Can't Be Black
The thing with these Garifuna is that they are no more or less "mixed" than many people in Jamaica, Trinidad, etc.
That they object to using "black" when "Black" is generally a catch all for those of African Descent, which clearly these folks are (more so if you look at the culture) shows just how divided the black house is. Of course some of them, just like some Jamaicans, and African-Americans are not black and/or are more mixed than others.
My suggestion: They should check the "black" box and also the other box and put in their ethnic identity. Just like there are Gullahs in the US African-American population.
Silliness in the Name of God
When the whole Mohammed Cartoon mess flared up a few years back I was very vocal in my support of the Danish newpapers and anyone else for that matter who made a cartoon of Mohammed, Jesus, Buddah, Ogun, the local Rabbi, whom and whatever, because it is my belief that freedom of speech trumps the religious sensitivities of anyone. Self included and I often have issues with representations of my belief system and those who adhere to it. Personally I prefer to call them out on their hypocrisy or racism, or both but I do not advocate censoring them because censorship does not change minds it merely drives speech underground and breeds resentment. Nor do I support the passage of so called "hate speech" or "hate crime" legislation for the same reasons. Such legislation aims to protect folks from being insulted, which is NOT the purpose of government. I have been and will continue to point out the slippery slope it is to erect legal barriers to expression that a particular party finds objectionable. In India we have such an example:
Last month, a Delhi court had suggested that 21 companies including Yahoo, Orkut, Facebook and Google should be tried for "selling, publicly exhibiting and...(circulating) obscene, lascivious content". A petition referred the court to obscene online depictions of several gods and goddesses, as well as the Prophet Mohammed.
This no doubt inspired by the pandering speeches given by various heads of state in response to the Mohammed cartoons. One day these folks will understand that abiding by specific taboos and the like towards icons of a religion are only obligated to those who adhere to said religion. Everyone else is free to not give a damn.
Doesn't Make Sense
Paul Craig Roberts Strikes again:
Washington is getting all of us in over our heads. Washington has declared the “Asia-Pacific” and the South China Sea to be areas of “America’s national interest.” What sense does this make? It makes the same sense as if China declared the Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean Sea to be areas of China’s national interest.
I do however; disagree with his analysis that Iran is not seeking a nuclear weapon. I believe Iran wants one and that the hold ups are a combination of the assassinations as well as the need to secure the locations. I am not bothered one bit by a nuclear Iran. Iran is a sovereign country and can develop nuclear arms if it so chooses; just as the US does not take direction from Iran on what it can and cannot develop. The ranting about not allowing Iran to have a nuke reeks of ye olde White Supremacy that got the Middle East into the situation it is in now. It is not different from disarming the natives of colonized lands (so called "trouble makers") and arming those natives who are "friendly" to the new occupiers with superior weapons. Same shit new location.
Covert War Against Iran
Let's not kid ourselves. Seven Nuclear scientists are killed, one by one in Iran, often with explosives is not an accident. A computer virus that specifically targets a centrifuge made by a specific company is not an accident. From the NY Times:
The Israeli military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, writing on Facebook about the attack, said, “I don’t know who took revenge on the Iranian scientist, but I am definitely not shedding a tear,” Israeli news media reported.
While we're not going to comment on Israel's attitude towards Iran, I will note the use of the word "revenge". Why did this person use that word. Why would anyone "take revenge" on a nuclear scientist...or seven of them? One may take "revenge" against a state, but this "revenge" commentary, in my opinion, simply tipped the hand of the Israelis as being behind these events. It does not help that we know that Israel has been itching to bomb Iran.
let's not even get into the not so covert assasination caught on video of a Hezbollah agents by members of Mossad.
I will say this though, When you engage in blowing up cars in public places, you are no better than the so called "terrorists" you scream about.
Posted by sondjata at 9:57 AM Links to this post
Conspiracy Theory or Not?
Many years ago, January 2004 to precise I discussed the economic reasons for the US going into Afghanistan:
the bases more importantly, improved "American access to Kazakh and Turkmen oil and gas," and extended "US influence to a region hitherto dominated by Russia and of constant concern to China (4)." The bases in essence paved the way for America to gain a foothold in a globally strategic region thereby putting it in a better position to compete with Russia and China for the great oil treasures of the Caspian Sea.
In addition to being the world's largest lake, the Caspian sea is believed to hold vast oil reserves comparable to those of the Middle East. Yet, unlike the Middle East, transport of the extracted black gold from the landlocked lake to the open sea is a major hurdle. Therefore, the primary issue guiding the politics of the region revolve around not ownership of oil, rather control of the proposed pipelines by which the oil is transported5. It is within this context that Uzbekistan has emerged as "the key strategic state in the area (5)."
The need for this strategic ownership of oil AND the means to get it to market lead the US to deal with both the Taliban as well as form strategic alliances with Pakistan.
Turkmenistan's Foreign Minister Sheikh Muradov meets with Mullah Omar in Kandahar to discuss pipeline.
Pakistan, Turkmenistan, and Taliban sign agreement to revive pipeline project.
Now let's look at a recent report from the NY Times
The United Arab Emirates has nearly completed an oil export pipeline from Abu Dhabi, on the Gulf, to the Gulf of Oman, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz...
The project aims to “offset reliance on Arabian Gulf oil terminals...
“Iran’s potential ability to close the choke point is a key trump card that could give it the upper hand” in its face-off with the United States and its allies....
, analysts say completion of the Abu Dhabi pipeline would be a positive step toward greater supply security.
Notice the talk of "security" in many of the comments in the piece. Not really all that different from that discussed in January of 2004. And just think about it. Why even consider such a pipeline to bypass the straight unless one expected some event that could disrupt traffic through that point? How long ago was this devised? Who's been plotting and for how long?
Looking at a map of the region
Look where Iran sits in relationship to today's NYT report and my January 2004 entry.
Clearly those in charge are doing whatever that can to route as much oil around Iran which would, if it were "friendly" be the logical means to pass oil from the Caspian sea into the established ports in the Persian Gulf.
You don't think so? Then why do you think the US is admitting to discussions with the Taliban? And who's at the table?
Over the last year, Marc Grossman, a veteran but low-key diplomat, led a small team of American officials who met secretly from Doha, Qatar, to Munich with a shadowy representative of Afghanistan’s Taliban leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, in hopes of starting peace talks.
The same Mullah Omar I told you about back in 2004.
Don't mind me though.
Campaign Promise? What Campaign Promise?
From our friends at Counterpunch:
Today, President Obama has abandoned his inaugural pledge to close Guantánamo and there are more than 3,000 detainees at Bagram — five times the number of prisoners when the president took office — with a scheduled expansion of the facility by the end of 2012 to house up to 5,500 detainees.
I recall something along the lines of "McSame" during the 2008 campaign. Look, I know full well that politicians say whatever they need to to get elected but exactly at what point do we call a liar a liar regardless of what party set they claim?m Unless of course so called "progressives" are OK with this kind of thing, you know, to keep us safe.
The Mad Dictator
Reading on the increasing influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in countries that had uprisings I stumbled across the following at Counterpunch:
The new “government” has raised it to 750 dinars per month and it is not enough, given approximately 18 per cent rise in prices since this summer when the Gadhafi government enforced anti-gouging rules. Those rules are no longer being enforced and prices continue to rise.
So if I understand this correctly, the dictator who was hoarding money for himself had imposed anti-gouging rules. No doubt this was done so that more riches could flow to him.
Further:
the receipt of payments for Libya oil shipments, even though oil is being shipped today as well as the pay[sic] few months, zero payments have been received at the CB. The reason is said to be that NATO countries are being shipped oil, (also to gas and oil rich Qatar) free of charge under a payback arrangement with NATO for its regime change services.
Paying back? So was this a humanitarian mission or a NATO for hire? I never knew one had to "pay back" a UN humanitarian intervention.
On a different note there is the issue of war and manhood. I have often discussed the problems with warfare in colonial and post colonial countries. It is particularly dangerous when there are large numbers of young unemployed, marginally educated and unattached males wandering around. Due to the aggressive nature of masculinity (that testosterone thing), weapons and males do not make for a good mix. In the Congo, Liberia and other countries where there have been high unemployment and a weak state apparatus young men seeking to validate themselves (and entertain themselves) gravitate to warfare (Not really all that different than the popularity of FPS in so called "first world" countries). So we find in Libya:
A few young men I chatted with during a demonstration at Green Square yesterday actually said they miss the fighting and want to fight some more. “It was really exciting and fun most of the time and I made some great friends!” one kid from Benghazi told me. He plans to stay in Tripoli with his militia buddies.
Whoever comes to power will have to deal with this issue before cliques form up to wreak havoc on the population by being convinced by someone what whomever wins the election really ought not to and....well you know the rest.
The last mistake that the NTC is making is as follows:
It bars, with loosely all-embracing language, “former members of Gadhafi’s regime” from being candidates in the election. Among the judges I spoke with at the Ministry of Justice some expressed dismay because they said that 80 per cent of the current staff at their Ministry, and most other Ministries, worked there, lawyers and judges included, under the Gadhafi regime and were patriotic Libyans. There is going to be lots of confusion concerning the scope of the new law and its application. The new election law also bans anyone who got a degree based on academic research on the Green Book — Gadhafi’s political manifesto that laid out his theory of government and society declaring Libya a “republic of the masses.”
This reminds me of the "de-baathigication" of Iraq. We see how that's going. It would be a huge mistake for the new government to bar those most qualified to run the various arms of government from serving. It is one thing if they are seeking to be seditious, but Ghadaffi is dead and his sons are either dead or about to be imprisoned. There is no "going back" to Ghadaffi. There are only those seeking their own new legacy.
Here's to hoping that some influential people have read Fanon's Pitfalls of National Consciousness.
Trashing The Constitution
I've waited a bit to write on this indefinite detention thing for a few reasons. The first being that the language used in the legislation is questionable in some respects. For example, one of the relevant sections of the NDAA states that US citizens are exempt from the requirement of indefinite detention. I sat on this particular clause because it could be read that the "requirement" statement means that US citizens cannot be indefinitely detained. Another way of reading the statement is that US citizens cannot be required to be detained but that the option of doing so exists.
Indeed Obama's signing statement that his administration would not detain citizens makes the later reading more likely to be the intended meaning of the legislation. That should bother a lot of people.
One of the supreme ironies of this turn of events is that it was a president who was a constitutional scholar who signed this piece of legislation. One can read that in one of two ways:
1) Obama being so well versed in the Constitution knows better than the rest of us whether such a thing as indefinite detention is constitutional.
2) Obama knew full well that the indefinite detention part was unconstitutional and signed it anyway.
The later explanation is the most likely interpretation of events since firstly Obama has done clearly unconstitutional stuff before, the most recent being the war on Libya in clear violation of the Constitution as well as the War Powers Act. Secondly we have reports that Obama has indicated that he wished for future "rewording" of the NDAA to remove the kinda-sorta-maybe unconstitutional portions.
What we should be asking is why a US President who is under oath to defend the Constitution of the United States would sign a piece of legislation that he knows contains such an unconstitutional section? We know that the president does not have the authority to do a line item veto over legislation. That is not a bad thing given that such power would essentially allow the president to legislate from the White House. What the president can do is either sign the legislation or veto it. If there is so much support for a piece of legislation the Congress can overturn the presidential veto by a 2/3 vote in the House and Senate.
With that in mind, Obama had the option of vetoing the legislation on the grounds that he would uphold his oath of office and not trash the Constitution. If the Senate and House were so positive of the backing that the legislation had then they could have overridden the veto.
But Obama did not do this. Why?
Back in December of 2010 I wrote about the cave in cave in Obama had committedon the Bush tax cuts where I discussed the "ethics" of hostage taking. Indeed Obama had tipped his hand to the Republicans. The Republicans attached their wish for extended tax breaks for the rich to unemployment benefits. Once Obama blinked the Republicans and anyone with a long term interest in curbing constitutional restraints on the executive knew that all that they had to do to get the things that they wanted was to attach it to something that Obama cared for. I noted, likely on Twitter that this would be a future feature of Republican moves.
Lo and behold we have the Obamaratti who have forwarded this very concept to explain why Obama "had no choice". The "no choice" argument goes as such: Obama had to sign the military bill or the troops would not get paid. Obama can't mess around with soldier paychecks so he did the responsible thing. Ahh the old "Responsible Negro" argument. There has always been a strain of negro who have an affinity for being "responsible" in the face of racism.
Lets go back to the beginning of this post where I noted that he oath of office of the president explicitly demands the protection of the constitution. As a matter of fact members of the military are under the same requirement. There is no requirement that the president make sure the troops are paid. So Constitution trumps paycheck. The president, knowing the veto process should have done his job and protected the constitution by refusing to sign any piece of legislation that had the indefinite detention sections in it AND had the backbone to have followed through on his refusal (This under the assumption that Obama is not actually supportive of such legislation but is playing the good cop to the Republican bad cop because the public demands such a show). Those who want to give the executive the power to designate a person a terrorist (or friend of one) and on that say so have that person detained for as long as there are terrorists without judicial review, warrants or anything of the sort, knew that they could push this president of party that is regularly called out for being weak on terror by attaching it to a "support the troops" kind of legislation.
It's a pretty sad state of affairs when Obama supporters have to bend over backwards when they even bother to actually discuss the topic, to explain why their constitutional scholar and president couldn't do his job. But the people at Black Agenda Report have been consistent in their observations that the powers behind the scenes understood that having a Democrat in office doing these things would effectively silence those who would have been front and center if this was a president McCain or Romney.
The way I see it, Obama should have announced publicly that he would sign no such legislation. Should have vetoed it the minute it hit his desk and made another public announcement that the would uphold his oath of office and if the Congress wanted to trash the constitution he would not have his hand in it and they would have to override the veto. That would have put the spotlight on the members of Congress who would be vulnerable at re-election time, assuming the electorate hadn't already forgotten about this issue....or even cared all that much.
Republicans Showing ther Cracker for Votes
Hot on the heels of Newt Gingrich announcing that Palestinians don't really exist, 'cause you know white people get to determine such things; Rick Santorum is caught seeking to stake his claim as the better Great White Hope, by adding his bit to the mix
Writing in The Jewish Week on Monday, Douglas Bloomfield reminded readers that Mr. Santorum told a man in Iowa six weeks ago that “all the people that live in the West Bank are Israelis. They’re not Palestinians — there is no Palestinian — this is Israeli land.”
So says the white man from Pennsylvania. There is something so retro-white man's burden about white men thousands of miles away, running for office of an entirely different sovereign nation, declaring who's land belongs to who and who does and does not exist. It is also very interesting that Santorum would bring up New Mexico and Texas in his discussion of Israel and the West Bank:
A video of the exchange, which was recorded by CNN, shows that Mr. Santorum responded to a question about whether or not Israel “should dismantle its settlements” by suggesting that the West Bank was as much a part of Israel as Texas and New Mexico are part of the United States. The entire territory, Mr. Santorum added, “is legitimately Israeli country,” so Israelis “have a right to build things based upon their ownership of that land.”
For those unfamiliar. Texas came into the Union after English descended Europeans (generally speaking) decided to up and grab what is now Texas from Mexico a Spanish derived country inhabited largely by Native Americans. So it is clearly a white supremacist notion to say that the West Bank is as much a part of Israel as Texas is American since each are the result of conquest and dispossession of the original inhabitants who, as is usual for crackers, were determined to "not really exist" and who's land "really isn't theirs".
I suppose though that making noise about Ron Paul's old newsletters is preferable than calling a White Supremacist like Gingrich and Santorum exactly what they are.
Putting Blacks and Welfare into a Proper Context...
Brandale Randolph goes in on the recent GOP fascination of black folks on Welfare:
First, it needs to be understood that statistically speaking, blacks are not the face of welfare. Secondly, the disproportional number of blacks who receive welfare are directly related to the disproportional number of blacks whom are living in poverty and unemployed, Finally, it must also be placed within the context of American history. All three of these things are needed in any discussion of blacks and government assistance.
Mexicans confront racism with white, black doll video
The results are predictable:
The kids are seated at a table before a white doll and a black doll, and are asked to pick the "good doll" or the doll that most resembled them. The children, mostly brown-skinned, almost uniformly say the white doll was better or most resembled them.
One child in the video with mixed-race features says the white doll resembled him "in the ears."
"Which doll is the good doll?" a woman's voice asks the child.
"I am not afraid of whites," he responds, pointing to the white doll. "I have more trust."
The children who appear in it are mostly mestizos, or half-Spanish, half-Indian, and a message said they were taped with the consent of their parents and told to respond as freely as they could.
What is also predictable was the following response:
Commenters have noted that the options were "very limiting" by offering only black and white, or good and bad, when in Mexico the majority of the population is mixed-race, mostly European and indigenous, and to a lesser extent African and Asian backgrounds.
"It is a poorly formulated question, it is pretentious," one user said on the website VivirMexico (link in Spanish).
But this is really not "limiting" at all. Indeed we can propose that the minimal common contact with African people makes the implications even more damning because none of the subjects can even use actual events in their own lives to form these opinions. Thus their ideas about blackness are pure fictions they either came up with or that were passed onto them by their peers. It is also possible and probable that the local media has a lot to do with this.
It is also important given the immigration of Mexican nationals into the United States. If these attitudes are being brought into the US, how does that affect those persons of African descent in those locations?
Former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor had US spy...
Putting Blacks and Welfare into a Proper Context.....
Mexicans confront racism with white, black doll vi...
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line774
|
__label__wiki
| 0.892558
| 0.892558
|
Category Archives: Historical
Yeah, I know it’s not really the appropriate month, but this coming July 20th will mark the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing. And I thought it would be extremely appropriate to revisit one of the earliest films about astronauts. This space-centric historical docudrama was originally released in theaters on June 30th, 1995. Made for the budget of $52 million, it went on to gross over $355 million at the worldwide box office and brought in a little more when it was re-released in IMAX in 2002. It also garnered some of the best reviews from that year and was nominated for 9 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It ultimately won two in technical categories and scored numerous victories elsewhere. Directed by Ron Howard, the film is adapted from the nonfiction book Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13 by Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger, which had been optioned by several studios. After Universal Pictures got their hands on the rights, the dense script by William Broyles Jr. and Al Reinert had been overhauled as the film was entering production. Many interior sets were built from the ground up, but NASA did allow them to use certain tools for accuracy, such as a reduced-gravity aircraft. Set in 1970, the true-story drama takes place at the height of the Space Race during the Cold War. Following the incredible success of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing, astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise- played by Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and Bill Paxton, respectively -are assigned to helm the third official trip to the Moon. However, 3 days into the mission, a small technical failure causes an onboard explosion which deprives the ship of most of its electrical power and oxygen supply. Reduced to a lifeboat, the trio of astronauts and the NASA members back on Earth abort the mission and scramble to find ways to get the men back home safely. Let me get this out there so that there isn’t any confusion: I fully believe that the 1969 Moon Landing and all other lunar-based missions were 100% real. I have no interest in the idea that Stanley Kubrick filmed it or if the CIA staged the whole thing or any other conspiracy theories about it being fake. I don’t usually like to get on a soapbox for my reviews, but I just needed that to be known, especially when we’re so close to the anniversary of such a historical human achievement. In any case, I’ve always been fond of movies centered around astronauts, whether they’re laced with science-fiction like Interstellar or recounting history like last year’s First Man. Many of those films partially owe their success and existence to this Ron Howard film, and for good reason. Because Apollo 13 still holds up tremendously well all these years later and leaves me on the edge of my seat the whole time. This movie has been one I’ve seen multiple times at different ages or points in my life. As a child, I was in total awe of the tense adventure and visual effects. Now, as a fully-grown adult, I can understand the very real potential for the human cost this mission caused. Every time I watch it, I appreciate the people at NASA even more for their hard work and commitment to these missions. And while Apollo 13 may not be the most historically accurate film ever made, it does a fantastic job at illustrating that teamwork. Whether you know how the story ends or not, it’s hard not to be drawn into the drama of it all. With a laundry list of incredible roles, it’s kind of odd that his performance here is relatively underrated. He’s great as Jim Lovell, the level-headed leader of the team who’s not only concerned for his crew but also wanting to get back to his family. When the big explosion happens onboard, he utters the famous words, “Houston, we have a problem.” His crewmates Jack and Fred are played by Kevin Bacon and the late Bill Paxton, respectively. Although they have different personalities, it’s clear that their combined expertise will be the only thing that might help them get through the situation alive. The three of them bounce off of each other beautifully as the likelihood of their survival gets les and less certain and they begin pointing fingers at one another. Back on Earth, Ed Harris turns in an Oscar-nominated turn as Gene Kranz, the team’s Flight Director. Although we don’t really get to see his interior life, he absolutely refuses to give up on the Apollo crew no matter what the public or his NASA superiors may think. His dialogue is delivered with the authority of an Aaron Sorkin script, which is probably one of the highest compliments I could give to him. The rest of the cast on Earth does a great job at propelling the human drama and intensity of the task at hand. These include Kathleen Quinlan as Lovell’s optimistic yet concerned wife, Gary Sinise as the deposed original member of Apollo 13’s crew, Joe Spano as the NASA director worried about public perception, Bret Cullen as a Capsule Communicator, and Xander Berkeley as the bumbling yet well-intentioned member of the Office of Public Affairs. Each of them manages to elevate the 2-hour and 20-minute runtime with humanity, even if not all of them get full characterization. Meanwhile, the technical aspects of Apollo 13 show Ron Howard in full command behind the camera. Dean Cundey’s widescreen cinematography captures everything in the mission with exquisite detail. Considering that there are no archival shots from the actual ship in the film, that’s especially impressive. The practical sets make the film feel more authentic, particularly a couple of shots that simply drift through the spacecraft and show the crew. While most other shots throughout the film are static, they work for establishing the enormity of NASA’s hopes and dreams for the future. And the Oscar-winning editing job by Daniel P. Handley and Michael Hill is truly remarkable. Whenever something big is happening, it constantly cuts back between the three men onboard the ship and the people at Mission Control. Not only that, but it doesn’t forget to cut back to scenes with Lovell and Haise’s families, as a way to illustrate the potential cost if this mission doesn’t end well. If this weren’t edited as well as it is, the movie would lose all of its intensity and grip on viewers. The late great James Horner composes and conducts the instrumental film score, which can only be described as Aaron Copland in cinematic form. The use of snare drums is extremely present in many of the tracks as if to keep the intensity of the situation constant. Much like Copland, there’s a prevalent amount of strings and horns throughout the soundtrack, a sound of patriotic optimism in the face of great obstacles. It also makes occasional use of heavenly choruses as a way to capture the absolute God-like nature of the mission. It’s films like this that honestly make me wonder why we ever stopped going into space decades ago. For better and worse, it really is going to be the final frontier for mankind and abandoning it just seems foolish. We’re now wiser and more experienced thanks to the dedication of the people in this film and I think we ought to use it for exploration. Apollo 13 is a gripping and masterful thriller about perseverance and teamwork in the direst of circumstances. Ron Howard’s classic historical drama feels like the type of film that never gets made anymore, and I mean that in the best possible way. Without the needless emotional manipulation, we’re able to get straight to the point; a grand story about one of the greatest rescue-and-recover missions ever attempted.
This entry was posted in Adventure, Biographical, Classic, Dramas, Epic, Favorite, Historical, Movies, Music, Romance, Thriller on June 29, 2019 by cadepb.
This may be one of the few films I’ve ever seen that actually doesn’t live up to the description in its title. In context with the story and characters, it makes sense but there is not a single moment here which indicates that it earns it. This biographical crime thriller initially premiered out of competition at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. Picked up for approximately $9 million, it also played at the Tribeca Film Festival later in April to similarly mixed opinions. It later received a limited theatrical release on May 3rd, 2019, and landed on the streaming service Netflix the same day. It is believed to have made close to $2 million in specialty markets, although, like all of the distributor’s theatrical releases, there’s no telling the veracity of these reports. It’s also scheduled to make a return to theaters later this fall as a way to provide more visibility for awards season. The film marks the narrative feature debut of director Joe Berlinger, who previously helmed a number of documentaries. This is his second Netflix project focused on the main subject, after the docu-series Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes. There was some initial backlash when the film was first announced at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, particularly over its star’s seemingly problematic casting, and sparked further controversy with its first trailer. Beginning in 1969 Seattle, the true story is told from the perspective of Liz Kendall, played by Lily Collins, a single mother and secretary. Pretty soon, she becomes romantically involved with law student Theodore “Ted” Bundy, played by Zac Efron, who soon moves in and becomes a stepfather to her daughter Molly. However, Bundy quickly becomes accused of committing a number of heinous and disgusting crimes against women, eventually culminating in the first-ever televised court trial. And while all of this happens over the course of more than a decade, Liz struggles to reconcile her love for Ted with the crimes he committed. I’m not going to pretend like I didn’t expect this movie to garner controversy when it first made waves. Like many films focused on the lives and/or exploits of serial killers, it would have to walk an incredibly fine line to really work. I was somewhat worried that it would turn into a voyeuristic or fetishized depiction of what Bundy did to all of those women. Although I haven’t watched Joe Berlinger’s Confession Tapes, I have a pretty good feeling that he’s fascinated with this man. And I was curious to see if he could find a certain wavelength or angle that would serve up a fresh and respectful treatment of the subject matter. And Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile is by no means exploitative or distasteful, it’s just… not that remarkable. In fairness to the filmmakers, the story of Ted Bundy has been covered in so many different views and perspectives. The idea of looking at his decades-long crimes from the P.O.V. of his real-life girlfriend, whose book The Phantom Prince served as the source material, is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because his sickening acts of violence are only heavily implied throughout the film, which also ends with a list of his known victims. But it’s also a curse because Extremely Wicked still feels beholden to stay in Bundy’s orbit constantly. He keeps insisting that he’s an innocent man and it’s not really until the very end of the movie that he finally relents. The whole film is framed with Liz visiting him in prison one last time before his ultimate sentence and for whatever reason, that format just didn’t feel right. For whatever problems the movie has, Zac Efron is practically perfect casting as Ted Bundy. He has all of the confidence, swagger, and deceitful charm befitting of the man, able to swoon entire flocks of people with just a blink. He surprisingly maintains a level-headed composure throughout the film, internalizing his sick thoughts and deeds. And although the film is told from her perspective, I have mixed feelings about Lily Collins as his longtime girlfriend Liz. Don’t get me wrong, she’s great in the role, but her lack of agency and full characterization make her feel more like a sketch of a person than a real individual. Kaya Scodelario turns in surprisingly effective work as Carole Ann Boone, Bundy’s old friend and by far most ardent supporter. She is absolutely devoted to getting Ted acquitted by any means necessary, following him to his various trials and trying to persuade the judge or juries to let him be. Haley Joel Osment and Jim Parsons are pleasant surprises as Liz’s new boyfriend and the Florida prosecutor, respectively, while Brian Geraghty and Jeffrey Donovan excel as Bundy’s failed attorneys. John Malkovich is quite impressive as Edward Cowart, the judge presiding over Bundy’s final trial. Despite the violence and degrading, inhumane crimes described in the case, he offers a bit of empathy to the defendant. “It is an utter tragedy for this court to see such a total waste of humanity, I think, as I’ve experienced in this courtroom,” he says to a full house, deeply disappointed by what has transpired over the trial. And although it’s only his first feature, Joe Berlinger first feature, he shows some promise with the technical aspects of Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. The film is shot by regular comedy cinematographer Brandon Trost, and his usually dark aesthetic translates rather well here. Much of the film seems desaturated of color to strip away any color or glamour in Bundy’s crimes. Many scenes are done in long takes, with one unbroken monologue that Ted delivers when his final sentencing is announced in court being especially memorable. The editing by Josh Schaeffer, on the other hand, is rather bland and uninteresting in it execution. The aforementioned framing structure makes the story feel more constrained than it needs to be, as the rest of the film is cut together in chronological order. The film frequently cuts between filmed scenes and actual archival news footage, which works to an extent with bringing the historical context full circle. An example of the sum of its parts being better than the whole, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile has a fantastic lead performance that cannot save a middling-at-best film. While not nearly as gross and exploitative as I feared it would be, Joe Berlinger just doesn’t put enough oomph or engagement to really examine its subject matter. Yes, Zac Efron is undeniably great as one of the most reprehensible humans to have ever walked the Earth, but I just wish it had focused more on the intriguing angle it had promised. Unfortunately, it sometimes feels like the movie forgets that.
This entry was posted in Biographical, Coming-of-age, Crime, Dramas, Historical, Independent, Movies, Mystery, Netflix, Thriller on June 28, 2019 by cadepb.
“Casablanca” Movie Review
Oh come on, who doesn’t enjoy a good old-fashioned Hollywood romance every now and again? Even if you have the coldest, blackest heart known to man, I will be left in a legitimate state of shock if you aren’t won over by the end. This war-time romantic drama was originally released in theaters by Warner Bros. on November 26th, 1942, before going wide in theaters the following January. Made on the budget of about $1 million, it managed to gross just under $7 million at the box office, half of which came in from foreign markets. It then went onto win the Academy Award for Best Picture and Director, and has sustained a lasting influence on the film industry in the years since. Directed by Michael Curtiz, the film is adapted from the novel Everybody Comes to Rick’s by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison. While it was initially written by brothers Julius and Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch came into finish the script while producer Hal B. Wallis scrambled to put everything in motion. The film also fell to the mercy of the Hays Code, which forced the filmmakers to change several scenes, some of which were arguably for the better. And Wallis’ working relationship with Jack L. Warner became so strained that after the Academy Awards, he left the studio for good. Set in the titular Moroccan city in December 1941, Humphrey Bogart stars as Rick Blaine, an American expatriate who runs an upscale club and gambling den. Despite professing to be politically neutral, he is secretly known for running guns to Ethiopia and helping refugees stranded in the city. One day, his former lover Ilsa Lund, played by Ingrid Bergman, walks into his establishment and begs for him to help her and her husband, who’s a Czech Resistance leader, escape to America. Rick is now forced to choose between staying with the woman he once loved and doing something right for the burgeoning war effort. Much like some of the other films in my New Year’s resolution, this is one of those “classic” movies that most people have likely heard of even if they’ve never seen it. Regardless of your familiarity with the film overall, odds are that you’ve probably heard the line “Here’s lookin’ at you, kid,” at least once. I myself had never really seen it before until early last year, though I had definitely known about it for a long time before hand. Like The Shawshank Redemption or Throne of Blood or Life of Brian, this New Year’s resolution has given me the opportunity to watch some highly regarded films I had always tried to see. I was especially curious to see how well the film would be able to hold up on my third viewing. And lo and behold, Casablanca is indeed one of the few “classic” films that’s actually deserving of all of the reverence it’s received over the years. Interestingly, if I had tried to watch this movie over a decade ago, I likely would have turned it off before the halfway mark. I just didn’t like watching romantic movies back then, at least ones that didn’t have a ton action in them. But now I’m older, wiser, and have realized that I had just been looking at the wrong ones at that time. Casablanca is not as glossy as a lot of rom-coms or dramas in the years since, but it still feels unmistakably old-fashioned. There’s a rhythm to this film that so few others in the genre have, even musical romances that have actual song and dance rhythms. In all seriousness, when people talk about Humphrey Bogart, they’re really talking about Rick Blaine. The first in a slew of suave romantic lead roles, he so expertly tries to hide his good nature under a world-weary cynicism and alcoholic coolness. Reflecting on Ilsa’s untimely return into his life, he drunkenly remarks, “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.” Ingrid Bergman is his perfect onscreen partner, exuding a vulnerability and regret for some of her past actions. While she may not be quite as strong-willed as the writers may have intended, for the most part she retains her emotional poise and is genuinely wanting to die to get her husband back to the States. Paul Henreid shouldn’t be overlooked as Victor Lazlo, the Czech resistance leader who’s trying to carry on his guerilla war with Nazi Germany. His reluctance to trust people in the titular city is convincing and real, undercut by a certain tenderness for his wife. They are also flanked by a supporting cast of colorful and interesting characters. There’s Dooley Wilson as the energetic club musician Sam, Sidney Greenstreet as an underworld business figure who has a friendly rivalry with Rick, Claude Rains as the shamelessly corrupt prefect of police under Vichy rule, Peter Lorre as a petty crook able to get his hand into deep places, and Conrad Veidt as the ruthless Nazi emissary Major Strasser. Despite the film only running about 102 minutes, you really feel like you get to know these characters and the dire situations they find themselves in. Meanwhile, on the technical side of things, Casablanca is Classic Hollywood at its most lush and posh. Arthur Edeson’s black-and-white cinematography has many traits of film noir and expressionism. These include precise lighting and fantastic use of shadows, which emphasize the moral ambiguity of Rick’s position. Bergman is mostly shot from her left side, an effect which makes her eyes sparkle and her face glisten with beauty. It uses a number of steady shots to follow the carefully blocked action in every scene, while also allowing actors room to breathe with their iconic rapid fire dialogue. Owen Marks’ editing is also notable for its precise use of cuts between different shots and moments. The most memorable example is our introduction to Rick, which cuts between different parts of his hands and body before revealing his face. Not only that, but the subtle fades between the present day and his past life with Ilsa creates a certain nostalgia effect. The prolific Gone With the Wind composer Max Steiner provides the instrumental film score and boy its a doozy. One of 24 Oscar nominations Steiner would receive over his career, it masterfully mixes different melodies that are familiar but not quite patriotic. With a sweeping orchestra befitting of David Lean epics, the main suite has a wide range of classical instruments, including strings, brass, and piano. The way it’s infused into each scene makes it feel like a romantic adventure on a grand scale, as well as a more personal tale of intrigue. The soundtrack also has the famous song “As Time Goes By” by Herman Hupfeld, here performed by Dooley Wilson. Using a soft piano as the backbone of the song, the jazzy and slow-tempo tune makes for a perfect dance number between Rick and Ilsa. Although Wilson himself could never actually play the piano, Elliot Carpenter provided the playing on set, which comes together to create one hell of a memorable song. I really feel like if you wanted an intro into classic films, there’s no better place to start than here. One iconic scene moves to another, the script is as sharp and whip-smart as ever, and it all just makes filmmaking look so easy in the process. It’s also eminently quotable, with all of the characters each having at least one memorable line. When it comes down to it, Casablanca is perfectly conjured and fantastically produced bubble of escapism. Whether it’s the way Michael Curtiz and Hal B. Wallis put together the final product or the chemistry between Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart, there isn’t an inch of this film that doesn’t work. This is what we talk about when we talk about the so-called Golden Age of Hollywood.
This entry was posted in Adventure, Classic, Crime, Dramas, Favorite, Historical, Movies, Music, Romance, Spy, Thriller on April 30, 2019 by cadepb.
“Captain Marvel” Movie Review
Hands down, this film features one of the greatest fictional cats ever put to film. However the rest of the film turns out, I’m just really happy that I got to fall in love with a cat on-screen for the first time ever. This sci-fi superhero adventure was released in theaters around the world on March 8th, 2019. Despite being the 21st overall installment in the rapidly expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe, it has grossed over $990.6 million at the worldwide box office, including a massive haul from overseas markets. This makes it the fastest and highest grossing film led by a female actress and the second-highest global debut for a superhero film yet. And while it has received mostly positive responses from critics and audiences, it initially suffered an attempted pre-release review bomb on Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb from male users. This forced both websites to change their policies for the future. Co-written and co-directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, makers of Half Nelson and Mississippi Grind, Marvel Studios had been trying for many years to get a female-fronted superhero movie off the ground, with multiple characters tossed around as possibilities. Nicole Perlman and Meg LaFauve were initially hired to write the screenplay, but producer Kevin Feige eventually brought on Geneva Robertson-Dworet to overhaul it as it started to take definite form in 2017. In addition, this is the first prequel in the franchise, and two principle actors had their faces digitally de-aged by nearly two and a half decades. Set in 1995, Brie Larson stars as Vers, an extremely powerful member of an elite intergalactic team called Starforce working for the Kree Empire. In the midst of their ongoing war with shapeshifting aliens called the Skrulls, Vers accidentally gets separated and lands on Earth. There, she begins to realize that she might have had a past life as an Air Force pilot named Carol Danvers, and quickly becomes acquainted with low-level S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Nick Fury, played once again by Samuel L. Jackson. Soon, they discover that the Skrull are planning to potentially blend in with and take over the planet and try to find them before it’s too late. Watching and anticipating this film, I couldn’t help but feel reminded of last year’s Black Panther. After spending over 10 years and nearly two dozen superhero films starring a white guy named Chris, Marvel finally passed the baton to a demographic that is sorely overlooked in the genre. Also like Black Panther, this was the unfair victim of pre-release bashing by extremely fragile people (Re: men) who felt threatened by something like this. Although I haven’t yet seen Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s acclaimed indie Half Nelson, I did enjoy their Southern gambling movie Mississippi Grind. And the stellar casting and 1990’s setting made it sound even more intriguing, even if the some of the marketing material wasn’t very impressive. Overall, Captain Marvel doesn’t rank quite as highly with the other MCU films for me, but it’s still undeniably entertaining and a great step forward for inclusion. Something I appreciate about the latest slew of films in this franchise is how thematically ambitious they’ve gotten. I’ve seen this film in theaters twice now and both times, I noticed different things in the story that resonated. No, it’s not the ’90s references, (Which, thankfully, avoid nostalgia porn) but how it explores the day-to-day sexism that women have to deal with. Whether it’s some random guy asking her to smile or her own superiors saying she’s too emotional for the job, there’s a certain connection to the real world that was previously missing in the MCU. Even though the story itself is a familiar origin story we’ve seen dozens of times over, its the specificity given to the characters that counts. Following an Oscar win and numerous impressive roles in various films, Brie Larson is perfectly cast as Carol Danvers/Vers/Captain Marvel. It’s previously been stated that she is the most powerful character in the MCU, and it’s easy to see why. She’s incredibly headstrong and fierce with both her powers and mind, frequently torn between following orders and doing what’s right. The digital de-aging for Samuel L. Jackson is no joke, as he looks uncanny to his appearance in films from the same decade it’s set in. While he is more idealistic in this era, he still is able to see the bigger picture and is willing to bend rules to get the job done. On the more cosmic end of things, Jude Law knocks it out of the park as Yon-Rogg while Ben Mendelsohn is great as the Skrull general Talos. Both eschew typical elements of the tough mentor and villain archetypes, respectively, bringing something a little unexpected to the film. Other roles are taken up by Gemma Chan, Annette Bening, Lashana Lynch, Rune Temte, Algenis Pérez Soto, a de-aged Clark Gregg, and both Djimon Hounsou and Lee Pace reprising their roles from Guardians of the Galaxy. Some fair better than others, (Bening feels particularly disinterested) but Lynch particularly impresses as Maria Rambeau, Danvers’ best friend in the Air Force. I’m not sure if she’ll return for future installments but I hope she does because she was so compassionate yet badass. And even though this is their first studio blockbuster, Captain Marvel shows that Boden and Fleck are still able to retain a somewhat personal touch behind the camera. This is the 4th MCU film to be shot by Ben Davis, who’s been more into the cosmic sensibilities of the franchise. The cinematography is very clean and slick with a wide-ranging color palette that encompasses the diverse creatures and worlds that the story visits. Elliot Graham and Debbie Berman also edit the film’s action scenes rather nice. Although it gets in danger of being too choppy, for the most part it keeps everything comprehensive and easy to follow. There is a musical score that goes along with the film that’s composed by Pinar Toprak, the first woman to compose for the franchise. Like many of the recent Marvel films, this score is actually memorable and noteworthy in many different tracks. The main theme is distinctive in its fusion of classic “hero” music and more contemporary riffs with other instruments. One of the most noteworthy instruments is the synthesizer, which plays chaotic melodies over numerous tracks and creates a real sci-fi atmosphere. The soundtrack also licenses a number of female-centric songs from the 1990’s many of which are played appropriately with their respective scenes. The best one used is “Just a Girl” by the ska-punk band No Doubt, which plays at a pivotal point in the climax. The second time I watched it, I could hear a woman in my theater softly singing along to it, which made it even more of a joy. Utilizing its setting to its advantage, Captain Marvel is an enjoyable intergalactic romp with an extremely powerful lead character. They have more work to do on their handling of action scenes, but Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck have successfully transitioned over to studio blockbuster territory with this movie. While it may not be as involving or fresh as other entries in the MCU, it still manages to keep you entertained for 2 hours and has great setup for Brie Larson’s future with the series.
This entry was posted in Action, Adventure, Blockbuster, Comic Books, Dramas, Historical, Movies, Music, Sci-fi, Superhero, War on March 31, 2019 by cadepb.
*Insert some unoriginal joke about Mom’s spaghetti somewhere in here* This hip-hop focused drama was originally released in theaters worldwide on November 8th, 2002, having been pushed back from a previous summer opening. It went on to gross over $242 million at the worldwide box office against a $41million budget and set a record for the biggest R-rated opening weekend at the time. The film managed to garner some very positive reviews both from critics and the rap community, even winning an Oscar. It also made over $40 million in DVD sales the first day of its release, a record for an R-rated film at the time. Directed and produced by Curtis Hanson, the screenplay by Scott Silver is loosely based on the life of its main star. Numerous other filmmakers were in the running for the director’s chair, including Quentin Tarantino who had to turn it down to finish Kill Bill. Much of the rap battles, the centerpieces of the entire film, were auditioned for by various local artists and were given an improvised, one-take only opportunity. There was a bit of controversy when rap producer Buckwild claimed that one of the scenes used an instrumental of his song “Time’s Up” without his approval. Set in 1995 in Detroit, Marshall Mathers A.K.A. Eminem stars as Jimmy Smith Jr., an unhappy blue-collar worker struggling to provide for himself and his family. He harbors a strong passion for hip-hop music, participating in various underground rap battles under the stage name “B-Rabbit.” As he tries to win back respect after a humiliating defeat, he also attempts to look at his world beyond just his dreams. I’ve been a big fan of Eminem’s music for a long time now. Not just because it’s good music, but also because many of his songs are genuinely inspiring and motivational to me. Hell, even if his newer stuff doesn’t measure up to his first few albums, they’re still a lot better to listen to than most contemporary rap artists. Aside from his hilarious one-scene cameo in The Interview, I had always been curious what his leading role in this film would be like. I also adored Curtis Hanson’s film L.A. Confidential, and while this was a sharp departure for him, it still made me curious to see what he could do. And while 8 Mile is definitely rough around the edges, it’s still a very compelling drama with a surprising amount of insight. While yes, the rap battles themselves are gripping and fun to watch, they’re not really the point of the film. Rather, Hanson and screenwriter Scott Silver are far more interested in using them to contextualize the old and decaying city of Detroit. There are numerous empty houses lined up in entire neighborhoods where people go to party and the characters struggle to get jobs better than on the factory line. One of the areas where it falters is that 8 Mile, named after the titular highway separating demographics, can get a little didactic about these issues. There’s even one character who constantly goes on diatribes about the lack of economic opportunities for citizens there. All of this is well and good, but I feel like we didn’t necessarily need this. Eminem might not want to be a big movie star, but it’s impossible to see anyone else playing B-Rabbit. Yes, the character is based on him, but he inhabits such a hidden energy and repressed anger at his social circumstances that we can’t help but root for him. And when the battles in the final act finally come into play, he absolutely explodes in a fury of brilliance. By his side for much of the film is Mekhi Phifer as Future, B-Rabbit’s best friend and host of the rap battles. He maintains an unwavering optimism for his buddy’s talent and artistry, in spite of the problems they face on the daily. The late Brittany Murphy also makes an impression as Alex Latourno, B-Rabbit’s love interest. Although she sometimes feels more like a sketch of a person than an actual individual, she does good work as a woman who sees the potential in the protagonist’s abilities. Michael Shannon and Anthony Mackie also have effective small roles as men Jimmy has to overcome while D’Angelo Wilson, Evan Jones, and Omar Benson Miller chip in as his enthusiastic best friends. The one weak link is Kim Basinger as Jimmy’s alcoholic mother. She felt really miscast in her role, and wasn’t really convincing in her own struggles. Meanwhile, for a studio movie from the early 2000’s, 8 Mile‘s technical aspects are surprisingly down in the dirt and gritty. The cinematography by Rodrigo Prieto, who later shot Silence and Brokeback Mountain, has a dark aesthetic to it. Most of the scenes are shot in a handheld, cinéma vérité style without much flare or fancy movement. The naturalistic lighting and focus create some organically beautiful shots, such as an abandoned house burning down in the middle of the night. The added fact that all of the film was shot on location in Detroit creates a certain level of authenticity and honesty that’s rare in films. It matches up perfectly with Jay Rabinowitz, which somehow feels wise in the amount of shots shown in each scene. Although a number of scenes take place at night, it’s still easy to tell what’s going on. The rap battles near the end of the film are perfectly cut together, especially considering the fact that each one was done in just one take. As could be expected, Eminem also produced and curated the music soundtrack for the film. The vast majority of tracks are essentially instrumental backings from various songs of his, such as “8 Mile Road.” But there a re couple of more obscure songs, mostly by local artists from Detroit. The centerpiece of it all is obviously “Lose Yourself,” which became the artists first song to reach the top spot on the Billboard. With a very consistent beat of pianos, drums, and guitar, the lyrics are a fiery call to chase one’s dreams. He apparently wrote the song’s music and lyrics in between takes during filming. It ultimately went on to become the first hip-hop song to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song, which Eminem ironically slept through. 8 Mile is a familiar yet gritty drama about the trials of achieving one’s dreams. Although there’s nothing particularly revolutionary about the film, it has enough conviction to earn a spot of memorability thanks to Curtis Hanson’s direction. And not only does Eminem surprise with a great lead performance, but also gave us one of the best songs ever written for a feature film.
This entry was posted in Adventure, Biographical, Classic, Coming-of-age, Dramas, Historical, Movies, Music, Romance, Uncategorized on March 31, 2019 by cadepb.
“The Curse of La Llorona” Movie Review
How exciting! This is my first ever review for a film I saw at a festival! I wish it were a better film, but hey I won’t complain too much. This supernatural horror thriller had its world premiere at the 2019 South By Southwest Film Festival. It is currently scheduled to be widely released in theaters on April 19th, 2019, by Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema. Made for the budget $35 million, given the studio’s track record the last couple years, it should have little problem earning it all back by the end of its theatrical run. But whether its middling critical reception can improve with general audiences remains to be seen. Produced by James Wan and Gary Dauberman, this movie marks the feature-length debut of director Michael Chaves, who previously helmed a number of short films. The screenplay was written by partners Tobias Iaconis and Mikki Daughtry under the original title The Children. Wan and CO. were apparently so impressed by Chaves’ work on the film that they immediately hired him to take over the next Conjuring film, which is supposedly slated to begin production later this year. Set in Los Angeles in 1973, Linda Cardellini stars as Anna Tate-Garcia, a social worker and widow. She’s called to check in on the status of a single mother Patricia Alvarez, played by Patricia Velásquez, who claims to be protecting her two boys from La Llorona, a ghost in Latin American folklore. Also known as the Weeping Woman, the story goes that a young Mexican woman drowned her children in a river after discovering her husband’s infidelity and then drowned herself out of extreme guilt, cursed to wade through the waters for eternity. Now, Anna becomes convinced that La Llorona is coming after her family next and enlists the help of a disillusioned priest, played by Raymond Cruz, to stop the evil spirit. Let’s get this out of the way before going any further: The Curse of La Llorona is the newest film in The Conjuring Universe. While such rumors had persisted for a while, it was always marketed as its own standalone horror flick. I don’t really consider this to be a spoiler because the connection to the other films is extremely lowkey, but take it as you will. To be perfectly honest, I don’t really have that much familiarity with this franchise, other than hearing a lot of praise from horror fans. I enjoyed what Wan did with the first Saw movie, and I like how he’s giving opportunities to newer filmmakers in the genre like Chaves or David F. Sandberg. Being my first experience at a film festival, there was a unique sort of anticipation I had for this film. And while The Curse of La Llorona has its share of fun moments, it just can’t quite rise high enough to separate itself from the crowded deluge of ghost movies. I have no doubt that Michael Chaves has a great career in the genre ahead of him, and he certainly shows some great skill behind the camera. But the issue is that the script he’s working with is so rote that it often feels like he’s fighting off what begs to be a jump-scare fest and dumb character decisions. At the very least, it could have honestly used an overhaul by another writer to make it a lot better. Furthermore, similar to The Cloverfield Paradox last year, I don’t feel like this had to be connected to The Conjuring at all. It’s a very fleeting moment shown in the latter half that doesn’t bear any actual relevance to the plot itself. I understand the desire for brand recognition to increase box office potential, but this could have easily written that crossover out entirely and no one would be the wiser. Linda Cardellini’s built a pretty sweet resume over the last few years with roles in films like Green Book and the underrated A Simple Favor. For her first stab at the horror genre, she does a pretty great job as Anna and exudes a certain vulnerability and strength in a frightened mother. Jaynee-Lynne Kinchen and Roman Christou play both of Anna’s children, Samantha and Chris, respectively. While horror films are often prone to terrible child actors, these two showed a decent range with what they were given. Patricia Velásquez is also pretty good as the petrified mother in Anna’s case while Breaking Bad‘s Raymond Cruz delivers some goods as a man of faith who may be the family’s best hope of survival. While they both did well with the material, their limited screen-time and development makes it hard to become invested in them. Cruz particularly feels underutilized and only really becomes important in the second half, and at that point he feels more like an archetype than an actual character. As continues to be tradition with New Line’s horror films, The Curse of La Llorona has some pretty polished and inspired moments from behind the camera. Wan’s regular cinematographer Don Burgess captures much of the action in darkness, often switching between tight Steadicam and handheld scenes. After a somewhat uneven prologue, the opening scene sees a single shot follow Anna and her children rushing around the house to get ready for school, setting the atmosphere. There are also a number of admittedly impressive bits where a shot seems like it’s following the titular ghost in one area, only for her to come back in the same shot. But the editing by Peter Gvozdas is pretty inconsistent and at times frustrating. While not necessarily choppy, it does feel in favor of creating jump scares with different shots following another. It can be clever sometimes in how it shows imagery, such as highlighting table cloths to imply that La Llorona is there. But the film is already wrestling with a meager script and editing it in such a ham-fisted way felt detrimental. Despite what the tone this review may make you think, I had a decent time with it. This is certainly a leap ahead of other horror movies like Wish Upon and The Bye Bye Man, but it still feels weighed down because of its obligation to the Conjuring Universe. Definitely a better viewing experience with a huge crowd, The Curse of La Llorona is a fleetingly scary flick that muddles a truly terrifying legend in favor of franchise connections. If for nothing else, this film shows that Michael Chaves clearly has a lot of talent and should enjoy a healthy career in Hollywood. His and Wan’s hearts are in the right place, but it just doesn’t make enough effort to distinguish itself from the genre. You’re most likely going to leave the theater having a fun time with all of the other patrons, but won’t remember much of it come the next day. But hey, it was super fun to watch at South By Southwest, so it’s great for that memory.
This entry was posted in Action, Adventure, Blockbuster, Coming-of-age, Dramas, Fantasy, Historical, Horror, Movies, Mystery, Thriller on March 28, 2019 by cadepb.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line775
|
__label__cc
| 0.529026
| 0.470974
|
The extent to which interventions target women more generally, as opposed to just mothers, is not well documented. It requires reflecting on “Who is the woman in women's nutrition?” to identify which women are actually targeted in nutrition interventions, which are not, how they are reached, and gaps in policies and interventions to reach women who are missed. To address this, in this comprehensive narrative review, we 1) summarize existing knowledge about interventions targeting women's health and nutrition in low- and middle-income countries, 2) identify gaps in current delivery platforms that are intended to reach women and address their health and nutrition, and 3) determine strategies to reshape policies and programs to reach all women, at all stages of their lives, with a particular focus on women in low- and middle-income countries.
Good sources of iron include liver, kidneys, red meat, poultry, eggs, peas, legumes, dried fruits and dark, green leafy vegetables. Three ounces of cooked chicken liver contains 7.2 mg of iron; a cup of cooked spinach contains 6.4 mg. Your health care professional will probably recommend iron supplements during pregnancy (probably starting at 30 mg per day).
Food fortification is one of the most cost-effective strategies to improve micronutrient status through a variety of food vehicles, including staples, condiments, and processed foods (63, 64). Common fortifiable micronutrients include iron, folic acid, vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, and iodine, although B vitamins and vitamin C are also used as fortificants (33, 64). Food fortification reduced anemia and iron deficiency anemia, and improved vitamin A, folate, niacin, thiamin, vitamin B-6, vitamin B-12, zinc, and iodine status of women of reproductive age and adolescents (13, 46, 61, 63–74). Vitamin D and calcium fortification were found to reduce the risk of osteoporosis among older women, especially for those exposed to inadequate sunlight (63, 64). Biofortification efforts, including those that involved breeding or genetic modification of plants to improve micronutrient content, have also shown improvements in the vitamin A and iron status of women (64, 75). Similar to micronutrient supplementation, women and girls with low micronutrient status were most likely to benefit.
Picture your perfect self with your flat abs, firmer butt, and slim thighs every day. Seeing really is believing: “You become consciously and acutely aware of everything that can help you achieve the visualized outcome that you desire when you impress an idea into the subconscious part of you,” says celebrity yoga coach Gwen Lawrence. “It eventually becomes ‘fixed,’ and you automatically move toward that which you desire.”
The effect of education programs on nutrition outcomes is difficult to assess because programs often have poor baseline data or nutrition outcomes are not evaluated (174, 182). Studies that used longitudinal analyses and “natural” experiments (e.g., before and after a national education policy) found that education was associated with reduced fertility (183, 184), and delayed early marriages and pregnancies (184–187). The impact was more significant for higher levels of education (185). However, 1 study in Malawi identified negative associations between education and timing of first birth, although these findings were largely not statistically significant (188). Secondary education for adolescents and women of reproductive age also showed no impact on women's empowerment (184), although it did show an impact on improved literacy and leadership (174). Educational interventions that provided conditional cash transfers (CCTs) and school feeding, as well as other forms of social protection to families of enrolled girls, were associated with greater school enrollment and attendance (189–191), improved test scores (189, 190), reduced gender gaps (192), and reduced hunger (190, 191).
If motivation is your hang-up, change your exercise routine every 14 days. A University of Florida study discovered that people who modified their workouts twice a month were more likely than to stick to their plans compared to those who changed their regimens whenever they wanted to. Boredom didn’t appear to be a factor; it seems people simply enjoyed the variety more.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line778
|
__label__wiki
| 0.945689
| 0.945689
|
← Eargasm: Mac Miller Black Friday (Mixtape)
GETPlugged: Lady Gaga Bares All For Vanity Fair Magazine **NFSW** →
GETPlugged: Jackson’s Doctor Conrad Murray Sentenced to Maximum 4 Years But Will Likely Do Less Than 2 Years
Posted on November 29, 2011 by Lucky Lefty
LOS ANGELES (AP) – November 29, 2011 (WPVI) — The doctor convicted in the overdose death of Michael Jackson was sentenced to the maximum four years behind bars Tuesday by a judge who denounced him as a reckless physician whose actions were a “disgrace to the medical profession.”
Dr. Conrad Murray sat stoically with his hands crossed as Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor repeatedly chastised him for what he called a “horrific violation of trust” while caring for Jackson.
However, Pastor conceded his sentence was constrained by a recent change in California law that requires Murray to serve his sentence in county jail rather than state prison.
Read full story after the jumpSheriff’s officials later said Murray will serve a little less than two years behind bars while housed in a one-man cell and kept away from other prisoners.
“This is going to be a real test of our criminal justice system to see if it’s meaningful at all,” District Attorney Steve Cooley said.
Cooley said he was considering asking the judge to modify the sentence to classify the crime as a serious felony warranting incarceration in state prison.
The judge was relentless in his bashing of the 58-year-old Murray, saying he lied repeatedly and had not shown remorse for his actions in the treatment of Jackson. Pastor also said Murray’s heavy use of the powerful anesthetic propofol to help Jackson battle insomnia violated his sworn obligation.
“It should be made very clear that experimental medicine is not going to be tolerated, and Mr. Jackson was an experiment,” Pastor said. “Dr. Murray was intrigued by the prospect and he engaged in this money for medicine madness that is simply not going to be tolerated by me.”
Pastor also said Murray has “absolutely no sense of fault, and is and remains dangerous” to the community.
The judge said.one of the most disturbing aspects of Murray’s case was a slurred recording of Jackson recovered from the doctor’s cell phone.
“That tape recording was Dr. Murray’s insurance policy,” Pastor said. “It was designed to record his patient surreptitiously at that patient’s most vulnerable point.”
Defense attorney J. Michael Flanagan said after the sentencing that he was surprised the judge focused on the recording. The lawyer also contended that nothing said during the hearing would have changed the judge’s mind about the sentence.
Michael Jackson’s family told Pastor in a statement read earlier that they were not seeking revenge but wanted Murray to receive a stiff sentence that served as a warning to opportunistic doctors.
It included elements from Jackson’s parents, siblings and his three children.
“As his brothers and sisters, we will never be able to hold, laugh or perform again with our brother Michael,” the statement said. “And as his children, we will grow up without a father, our best friend, our playmate and our dad.”
The family told The Associated Press after the sentencing that they were pleased with the results.
“We’re going to be a family. We’re going to move forward. We’re going to tour, play the music and miss him,” brother Jermaine Jackson said.
Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter after a six-week trial that presented the most detailed account yet of Jackson’s final hours but left many questions about Murray’s treatment of the superstar with propofol.
The jury heard the recording of Jackson during the trial but defense attorneys never explained in court why he recorded the impaired singer six weeks before his death.
“We have to be phenomenal,” he was heard saying about his “This Is It” comeback concerts in London. “When people leave this show, when people leave my show, I want them to say, `I’ve never seen nothing like this in my life. Go. Go. I’ve never seen nothing like this. Go. It’s amazing. He’s the greatest entertainer in the world.”‘
Before sentencing, lead defense attorney Ed Chernoff attacked Jackson, as he and his team frequently did during the doctor’s trial. “Michael Jackson was a drug seeker,” he said.
Murray did not directly address the court. After sentencing, he mouthed the words “I love you” to his mother and girlfriend in the courtroom.
Murray’s mother, Milta Rush, sat alone on a bench in the courthouse hallway after the sentencing.
“My son is not what they charged him to be,” she said quietly. “He was a gentle child from the time he was small. ”
Of her son’s future, she said, “God is in charge.”
Jackson’s death in June 2009 stunned the world, as did the ensuing investigation that led to Murray being charged in February 2010.
Murray told detectives he had been giving the singer nightly doses of propofol to help him sleep as he prepared for the series of comeback concerts.
Propofol is supposed to be used in hospital settings and has never been approved for sleep treatments, yet Murray acknowledged giving it to Jackson then leaving the room on the day the singer died.
Murray declined to testify during his trial but did opt to participate in a documentary in which he said he didn’t consider himself guilty of any crime and blamed Jackson for entrapping him into administering the propofol doses. His attorneys contended throughout the case that Jackson must have given himself the fatal dose when Murray left the singer’s bedside.
In their sentencing memorandum, prosecutors cited Murray’s statements to advocate for the maximum term. They also want him to pay restitution to the singer’s three children – Prince, Paris and Blanket.
The exact amount Murray has to pay will be determined at a hearing in January.
“Anything over a couple of dollars, he’s not going to be able to pay anyway,” Flanagan said.
Murray was deeply in debt when he agreed to serve as Jackson’s personal physician for $150,000 a month, and the singer died before Murray received any money.
Prosecutors said the relationship of Jackson and Murray was corrupted by greed. Murray left his practices to serve as Jackson’s doctor and look out for his well-being, but instead acted as an employee catering to the singer’s desire to receive propofol to put him to sleep, prosecutors said.
Murray’s attorneys relied largely on 34 letters from relatives, friends and former patients to portray Murray in a softer light and win a lighter sentence. The letters and defense filings described Murray’s compassion as a doctor, including accepting lower payments from his mostly poor patients.
“There is no question that the death of his patient, Mr. Jackson, was unintentional and an enormous tragedy for everyone affected,” defense attorneys wrote in their sentencing memo.
This entry was posted in GETPlugged and tagged Conrad Murray Sentenced to 4 Years in The County, michael jackson, Michael Jackson's Doctor. Bookmark the permalink.
Video: Dwyane Wade & LeBron James Stay In Shape During The Lockout
Quick Pics: Flo Rida's Birthday Celebration at Mansion 360 Miami (9-17-12)
GET"TFOH": NY Jets Kellen Winslow Landed in Jail for Synthetic Weed & Masturbation in Target Parking Lot
Video: Beyonce Makes in Appearance at "Watch The Throne" Pop Up Store in NYC
Video: Fight Breaks Out At T.I. Welcome Home Party & Dude Gets Stomped And Dragged Out His Clothes!
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line779
|
__label__wiki
| 0.510492
| 0.510492
|
Why GoPlay
Five Steps to Planning your Tour
Download Coaches Handbook
Travel with GoPlay
How the World of Soccer has Gotten Smaller
September 15, 2015 January 11, 2016 Leave a comment
This guest post was contributed by Austin Reynolds.
Soccer captivates the world unlike any other sport on the planet. It’s the only sport that is played and watch in every country around the world, and can get viewership of one billion people for a match.
Nowadays, someone can watch the Barclays Premier League, Bundesliga, Champions League, or the World Cup despite being thousands of miles away. Therefore, the best teams and their styles can be broadcasted for millions at their leisure.
Yet it always wasn’t like that.
Before the days of television, live streams, and Twitter, the main way that football players and fans were exposed to new styles was by being there. Clubs would go on tours to foreign nations, not only as a means to generate revenue for the commercial department and sponsors, but to test themselves against against clubs from different environments and cultures. They would go toe to toe with their systems and tactics in two contrasting approaches.
It was the early days of the sport, and ideas about how to best play the game were starting to spring up all over the world. As the English brought the game throughout Europe and then to the rest of the world, the natives of the area each added their own spin to the ideas of the English.
More importantly, the “friendlies” weren’t glorified exhibitions aimed to earn money. They were competitive matches. The most famous of these friendlies being Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Budapest Honved in 1954, held just a year after the famous England – Hungary friendly at Wembley in which the Hungarians won 6-3. Honved were in the midst of a European tour, showcasing the fluid tactics and talent prevalent throughout Hungary at the time. The 55,000 capacity Molineux was sold out, and the English side sought revenge for the embarrassment their country had faced a year earlier.
That match was won by Wolves 3-2, and proved to be a vindication of the English style of football in the eyes of Wolverhampton manager Stan Cullis. He had his side challenged in a manner that Wolves couldn’t experience in England at the time, as English teams at the time more or less played the same way. The results of hosting a foreign club was nothing but beneficial for Cullis’ side, while the Hungarians after learned they may need to adjust some facets of their play if they wish to remain at the top. Overall, it provided an experience for both clubs that some changes have to be made to their play if they wish to be the best in Europe. It also sent a message to Europe that a continental competition would be of interest to the fans, as they wanted to see clashes between Europe’s largest clubs on a big scale, and led to the creation of the European Cup.
That opportunity for improvement and competition through a club tour has not faded away since that November night over 60 years ago. Nowadays, tours are more accessible and can be taken by more than just professional teams. Youth clubs and amateur teams can go abroad with much easier access than in years past, and get the same tangible results that professional sides get on their tours.
Being in a foreign country with a different play style, culture, and language provides an immersion and exposure that simply can’t be rivaled by watching it on television. The opportunity is there to watch some of the highest level soccer the world has to offer in incredible atmospheres. In matches, players may be required to solve problems on the field they have never encountered, and get to experience coaching from a different perspective. It challenges the way you currently see the world from a soccer and non-soccer viewpoint, broadening one’s world perspective in the process. Despite all of the technology at our fingertips, travelling remains the best way to be exposed and take in new ideas and experiences.
As time has gone on, many things about soccer have changed. One thing however has remained the same: nothing beats being there.
John Kerr explains his soccer recruiting process at Duke University
The one thing Thomas Tuchel would change in youth coaching
The roadblocks that Gareth Southgate faces to keep developing England
Grassroots England showing the pathway is the right one
Duke Men’s Soccer and their 10-day tour to South America…
Esau on Building the Game with Rugby U…
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line784
|
__label__wiki
| 0.789963
| 0.789963
|
Ocasio-Cortez: Fixing Global Warming Requires ‘Massive Government Intervention’
‘We have tried their approach for 40 years — to let the private sector take care of it’
This story is cross-posted at our consumer site, Grabien News. Watch it there – without audiomarks.
News & Politics, Science & Nature
[Update Post: AOC This Morning vs. 5 PM]
Democrats’ plans to counteract climate change will involve “massive government intervention” into Americans’ lives, one of the chief proponents admitted in an interview Thursday morning.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she has no qualms about acknowledging a so-called “Green New Deal” will mean unprecedented governmental intrusion into the private sector. Appearing on NPR, she was asked if she’s prepared to tell Americans outright that her plans involve “massive government intervention.”
“As you know, congresswoman, one reason that people are politically conservative are skeptical of efforts to combat climate change is that it sounds to them like it requires massive government intervention, which they just don’t like,” Steve Inskeep asked. “Are you prepared to put on that table that, ‘Yes actually they’re right, what this requires is massive government intervention’?”
“It does, it does, yeah, I have no problem saying that,” Ocasio-Cortez quickly replied. “Why? Because we have tried their approach for 40 years. For 40 years we have tried to let the private sector take care of this. They said, ‘We got this, we can do this, the forces of the market are going to force us to innovate.’”
“Except,” she continued, “for the fact that there’s a little thing in economics called externalities. And what that means is that a corporation can dump pollution in the river and they don’t have to pay, but taxpayers have to pay.”
Despite her Green New Deal including plans to remake “every” building in the United States, impose Medicare-for-All, as well as a universal basic income, Ocasio-Cortez said her proposals are small compared to the crisis the world faces. [Her office posted an updated outline of the plan today.]
"Even the solutions that we have considered big and bold are nowhere near the scale of the actual problem that climate change presents to us," she told NPR.
Ocasio-Cortez also suggested there are ways to pay for her plans besides taxes, although she did not specify what.
“It is just certainly a lot of money,” Inskeep said. “You don’t specify where it’s going to come from other than saying it will all pay for itself.”
“Yeah, I think the first move we need to do is kind of break the mistaken idea that taxes pay for 100 percent of government expenditure,” Ocasio-Cortez answered. “It’s just not how government expenditure works. We can recoup costs, but oftentimes you look at, for example, the GOP tax cut which I think was an irresponsible use of government expenditure, but government projects are often financed by a combination of taxes, deficit spending and other kinds of investments, you know, bonds and so on.”
“Well, I get that, but deficit spending is borrowing money that has to be paid back eventually through taxes,” Inskeep reminded the freshman lawmaker.
“Yeah, and I think — I think that is always the crux of it,” she said. “So when we decide to go into the realm of deficit spending, we have to do so responsibly. We ask is this an investment or is this actually going to pay for itself?”
In her weekly press conference today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) ducked two questions on the more radical components over Ocasio-Cortez’s plan. Asked twice about remodeling every building in the United States, as the plan calls for, Pelosi said, “I haven’t seen it,” before ending the press conference. [Video]
— Ocasio-Cortez Claim: ‘For Every $1 Spent on Infrastructure, We Get $6 Back’
— Flashback: Behar Dressed as a ‘Beautiful African Woman’ for Halloween When She Was 29
— Trevor Noah Mocks Warren’s Claim of Native American Ancestry in the State Bar: Did Anybody Want to Be White in the 80s?
Ocasio-Cortez: ‘Inevitable’ Global Warming Governance Will Create ‘Economic, Social, and Racial Justice’
Ocasio-Cortez Suggests Tesla Should Be Nationalized Following Subsidies
Ocasio-Cortez on Global Warming: ‘Our Mission Should Be to Save Our Freaking Planet’
CNN’s Jake Tapper Fact-Checks Bernie Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez Health Care Claims
Sen. Chris Murphy Tells Tapper the Ocasio-Cortez ‘Green New Deal’ Plan Is ‘Absolutely Realistic’
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0005.json.gz/line785
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.