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Centro chief axed as crisis deepens
The crisis at Centro Properties deepened yesterday when the heavily indebted Australian investment group abruptly replaced its chief executive and admitted to disagreements with its bankers over the status of its liabilities. Financial Times
The Melbourne-based group, which is struggling to refinance some A$3.9bn (US$3.5bn) in short-term debt, said it disputed suggestions from one set of creditors that it had defaulted on a $450m private placement.
It also revealed that it might have misclassified some of its debt and that its current liabilities could be higher than previously disclosed, although its total debt was unchanged.
The group gave no explanation for the resignation, with immediate effect, of Andrew Scott, its chief executive since 1997. Mr Scott, who will act as a consultant to the company until March, will be replaced by Glenn Rufrano, previously head of Centro’s US business.
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Indy Eleven launches ‘Stadium for Indiana’ website
You are here: Home / Latest news / Indy Eleven launches ‘Stadium for Indiana’ website
Tags: new stadium plans
State lawmakers and soccer fans in Indiana have a new website available where they can get information about the new 18,500-seat multipurpose stadium proposed for downtown Indianapolis. Indy Eleven Professional Soccer recently announced stadiumforindiana.com which will provide Hoosiers with the latest information on what the club hopes will be a permanent home for Indy Eleven games and more than 30 other sports and entertainment events to be held every year.
Visitors can use the website to learn more about the proposal, what benefits the new outdoor venue provides the State, view renderings of the stadium’s potential design – which has been created by world-renowned stadium architecture firm Populous – and find suggestions for how supporters can get involved.
Peter Wilt, President and General Manager of Indy Eleven, which is part of the North American Soccer League (NASL), said:
By leading the league in attendance last year, our growing fan base built Indy Eleven into a team that all Hoosiers can root for.
These same fans will be the ones who build this stadium because it’s paid for completely by those who attend stadium events. If you don’t go, you won’t pay. It’s that simple.
As well as Indy Eleven games, the stadium is expected to host at least 50 events annually, starting with the venue’s anticipated opening in 2017 at one of multiple locations being considered in downtown Indianapolis.
The projected US$82m cost to construct the facility is considerably less than similarly sized venues geared towards soccer that have been built throughout North America in the last 10 years. Indy Eleven sold out all 14 of its home games in 2014, with an NASL-leading average attendance of 10,465 fans, proving that the people of Indiana will support soccer at the professional level.
Ersal Ozdemir, owner of Indy Eleven and president and CEO of Keystone Group, said:
We are excited about building a home for Indy Eleven fans, and for all fans of soccer from around the state. But, our stadium is about more than just soccer. We encourage state lawmakers to consider the potential for such a facility for all sports at the professional, collegiate, high school and youth levels, as well as other community events, festivals and concerts.
While Ozdemir’s Keystone Group is involved in the stadium’s proposal, and would serve in an advisory capacity on construction, the company is not eligible for the contract to build the stadium.
On January 9, Indiana State Representative Todd Huston (Fishers – District 37) filed House Bill 1273 to facilitate the stadium’s construction. While the current bill seeks to change the Marion County professional sports development area (PSDA) to include the future stadium site, the bill is likely to see revisions as it makes its way through the legislative process.
A public entity would own the facility with Indy Eleven as a primary tenant.
If approved by the Indiana General Assembly, the proposed funding mechanism will not result in any increase in city or state taxes, nor will it divert taxpayer dollars earmarked for services or programs funded by the City or State.
Indy Eleven and other users of the facility will pay for the venue’s construction through revenue generated by stadium events, including sales and income taxes generated from sales within the facility and income taxes of players and employees. As part of the plan, Indy Eleven will also pay 10% of ticket revenues from events towards construction costs.
Ozdemir says he and the Indy Eleven leadership team look forward to meeting with state lawmakers in the coming months to answer their questions and discuss how the multipurpose stadium will be a win for Indiana.
ABOUT INDY ELEVEN
After selling out all 14 home games of its 2014 Inaugural Season in the North American Soccer League (NASL), a professional soccer league based in the United States and Canada, Indy Eleven is now preparing for its second season beginning in April 2015. The squad contests its home games at Michael A. Carroll Stadium on the campus of IUPUI in downtown Indianapolis, where an average of nearly 10,500 fans helped Indy Eleven lead the growing league in attendance during its first season.
Born Indy Pro Soccer after launching as the 11th member of the North American Soccer League on January 16, 2013, Indy Eleven established its identity 99 days later on the 152nd anniversary of the establishment of the 11th Indiana Regiment during the Civil War on April 25, 1861. The mission of Indy Eleven – “To win championships with and for the community” – stays true to its aim of fielding a team that will represent Indiana proudly on and off the field.
New substitutes‘ benches for SC Paderborn’s Benteler Arena
London Mayor announces VINCI appointed as operator for former Olympic Stadium
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online ticketing by PREKINDLE
The Kessler Theater
Tab Benoit
Wednesday, July 24 2019 @ 10:00 AM -05:00
7:00pm Theater Doors Open
Ridglea Theater
6025 Camp Bowie
Tab Benoit is a Grammy nominated singer, songwriter and guitarist who has built a remarkable 30+ year career on the foundation of his gritty and soulful Delta swamp blues and acquiring a devoted legion of fans along the way, as well as 5 Blues Music Awards, including BB King Entertainer of the Year (twice) and an induction into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. He has recorded and/or performed with Junior Wells, George Porter Jr, Dr. John, Willie Nelson, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Billy Joe Shaver, Maria Muldaur, James Cotton, Cyril Neville, Kenny Aronoff, Allen Toussaint, Kim Wilson, Jimmy Thackery, Charlie Musslewhite, Kenny Neal, Chris Layton, Ivan Neville, Jimmy Hall, Jim Lauderdale, Anders Osborne, and Alvin Youngblood Hart to name a few. Tab's accomplishments as a musician are matched only by his devotion to the environmental health of his native Louisiana wetlands. Benoit is the founder and driving force behind Voice of the Wetlands, an organization working to preserve the coastal waters of his home state. In 2010, he received the Governor's Award for Conservationist of the Year from the Louisiana Wildlife Federation. Benoit also starred in the iMax motion picture Hurricane on the Bayou, a documentary of Hurricane Katrina's effects and a call to protect and restore the wetlands.
Prekindle © 2019
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Short of breath? Chest pains? Smoke-related…
Short of breath? Chest pains? Smoke-related health impacts from Holy fire felt across Southern California
Smoke from the Holy fire is creating unhealthy air throughout parts of Southern California. (Photo by Shannon Pinck)
By Laylan Connelly | lconnelly@scng.com and Martin Wisckol | mwisckol@scng.com | Orange County Register
PUBLISHED: August 10, 2018 at 5:12 pm | UPDATED: November 21, 2018 at 12:53 pm
Feeling lightheaded or have a nagging headache? Are you short of breath or wheezing?
Maybe your chest is hurting or your eyes are stinging?
Those symptoms could all be from the smoke lingering in the air from the Holy fire, which has burned more than 18,000 acres with effects felt across Southern California. The air was rated “unhealthy” throughout much of Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
However, the EPA air quality rankings as of 3 p.m. Friday were showing no areas with the worst scores – “very unhealthy” and “hazardous.”
Tim Sullivan, who lives in Anaheim Hills about 40 miles away from the Holy fire, was surprised when his wife, Bonnie, complained of being short of breath after their regular workout. But then his daughter-in-law in Costa Mesa complained of a sore throat and their 1-year-old son was coughing.
“It probably had something to do with the air,” he said Friday. “You don’t have to have it right above you to feel the effects.”
The Orange County Health Care Agency sent out an advisory warning on health dangers to residents, “especially those in certain high-risk groups.”
“Everyone should take precautions to stay cool and drink plenty of water to reduce health risks related to the heat and wildfire smoke,” said Orange County Health Officer Eric Handler. “Additional precautions are especially needed for older adults, those with preexisting medical conditions like heart or lung disease, those with disabilities, children, and those who may be working outdoors.”
Wildfire smoke is laden with particulate matter, which triggers asthma, worsens lung and heart disease, according to Dr. Linda Rudolph, director of the Center for Climate Change and Health at the Public Health Institute in Oakland.
“The health impacts of wildfire travel long distances: smoke from last year’s Northern California wildfires was detected more than 500 miles away in Mexico,” Rudolph wrote in a July 10 op-ed for the Riverside Press-Enterprise and the Southern California News Group.
Limit the outdoor air
A few ways to reduce the health effects of wildfire smoke include keeping windows and exterior doors closed, and using the air conditioner on the re-circulate mode to limit the intake of outdoor air.
Health agencies also encourage keep your body’s airways moist by drinking extra water, which helps the body filter out potentially harmful particles in the smoke, and avoiding strenuous activity.
“Paper ‘dust masks’ can block large particles, such as sawdust, but do not protect your lungs from the small particles or gases in wildfire smoke,” according to the SCAQMD. “Disposable respirators such as N-95 or P-100 respirators can offer some protection, if they are worn properly and have a tight fit.”
People should seek medical attention if they experience chest pain, chest tightness, shortness of breath or severe fatigue, according to the advisory.
The smoke advisory will be in effect at least through Saturday morning.
Pat Lien, a surfer from Huntington Beach, felt the effects of the smoke after catching waves. He described a winded feeling, a shortness of breath he normally doesn’t feel after his surf sessions.
Joni Elias could feel the impacts of the smoke – in her chest, throat and head – as far away as Hermosa Beach.
Dealing with ash
Sullivan also thought of the environmental impacts the ash in his yard may have. As a surfer, he knew that if he washed it down the storm drain, it would end up in the ocean.
He swept it up — enough to fill half an ice bucket — and then hosed it down lightly with a mist.
“I’m glad I swept it up before I washed it down the drain,” he said. “That’s exactly where it goes, to my front curt and to the gutter, to the drain. You can imagine it going straight to the beach.”
Cleanup of larger quantities of ash should never be done by people who have lung or heart conditions, according to Dr. Cameron Kaiser, Riverside County’s public health officer.
To clean up a larger quantity of ash, wear a tight-fitting respirator mask, gloves, long-sleeved shirts and long pants, Kaiser said. The mask should cover your mouth and nose and seal properly.
Riverside County officials said residents should not begin the cleanup while ash is still falling and the situation is unpredictable, but to wait until conditions improve.
Heat problems
Besides the smoke, some are feeling heat-related symptoms, which can include heavy sweating, muscle cramps, weakness, headache, nausea, vomiting and dizziness, according to the SCAQMD advisory.
Warning signs of heat stroke can include extremely high body temperature, unconsciousness, confusion, hot and dry skin with no sweating, a rapid pulse and a throbbing headache.
If symptoms of heat stroke occur, medical attention should be sought immediately. Anyone suspected of suffering heat stroke should be moved to a shady area and have their body cooled with water.
To help preventing heat-related illness, drink plenty of water, even if you aren’t thirsty. And never leave children, elderly people or pets unattended in vehicles, according to the advisory.
It’s also best to stay indoors.
“If your home is not air conditioned, visit public facilities such as shopping malls and libraries to stay cool,” according to the advisory.
Staff writer Brian Rokos contributed reporting to this story.
Laylan Connelly
Laylan Connelly started as a journalist in 2002 after earning a degree in journalism from the University of Southern California. Through the years, she has covered several cities for The Orange County Register, starting as a beat reporter in Irvine before focusing on coastal cities such as Newport Beach, Dana Point and Laguna Beach. In 2007, she was selected for a prestigious Knight New Media fellowship focusing on digital media at UC Berkeley, where she learned skills to adapt to the ever-changing online landscape. Using a web-based approach, she turned her love for the ocean into a full-time gig as the paper’s beaches reporter. The unique beat allows her to delve into coastal culture by covering everything from the countless events dotting the 42 miles of coastline, to the business climate of the surf industry, to the fascinating wildlife that shows up on the shores. Most importantly, she takes pride in telling stories of the people who make the beaches so special, whether they are surfers using the ocean to heal, or the founders of major surf brands who helped spawn an entire culture, or people who tirelessly fight to keep the coast pristine and open for all to enjoy. She’s a world traveler who loves to explore the slopes during winter months or exotic surf spots around the globe. When she’s not working, or maybe while she's researching a story, you can find her longboarding at her favorite surf spots at San Onofre or Doheny.
Follow Laylan Connelly @ocbeaches
Martin Wisckol
Martin Wisckol covers coastal environment and development. Previously, he spent two decades as politics reporter and columnist for the Orange County Register. He’s also held reporting positions in Miami, Jacksonville, Detroit and his hometown of San Diego, with an emphasis on land use and urban planning. He is a lifelong surfer and has spent most of his life on the coast. His work has been honored by the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Headliner Awards, the California Newspaper Publishers Association, the Florida Press Club and the American Planning Association Florida Chapter.
Follow Martin Wisckol @MartinWisckol
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You are at:Home»News»Airport»Auckland Airport takes top FAB honors
Auckland Airport takes top FAB honors
By Tara Craig on July 9, 2019 Airport, Food & Beverage
The new-look international terminal restaurant precinct at Auckland Airport in New Zealand was voted the Airport Food & Beverage Offer of the Year at the 2019 Airport Food & Beverage (FAB) Awards in Dallas, Texas.
“As Auckland Airport continues to develop New Zealand’s flight connections to the world, we are striving to deliver a world-class experience for every customer that passes through our doors”, said Richard Barker, general manager retail and commercial at the airport.
“The FAB Awards are the global food and beverage Olympics in our industry. Auckland Airport was competing with very high-profile global airports and we are absolutely delighted to have been recognized for our approach to creating an airport dining offer that Kiwis can be proud of.”
“The last 18 months have seen the airport change and update more than 27 food and beverage offerings across the airport, and the international terminal offers recognized by this award represent the lion’s share of these.”
Completed in phases during 2018-2019 as part of an expanded international terminal departures area, the 14 brand-new food and beverage outlets post-security offer everything from award-winning Italian and Vietnamese food, to popular high street brands.
Much of the transformation reflects customer requests for more variety – from restaurant-style meals to modern grab-and-go food. Dining options have more than doubled, as have seating areas, with an overall design that embraces the unique views onto the runway and harbor, enabling travelers to relax and enjoy the final stages of their pre-departure journey.
“As the major gateway to, and face of, NZ we take our responsibility of hosting our guests seriously. At the heart of everything we do is the guiding principle of manaakitanga – hospitality, kindness, generosity and respect for others,” said Barker.
This year’s FAB Awards were the most hotly contested in the event’s eight-year history, according to Martin Moodie, founder and chairman of The Moodie Davitt Report, organizer of the annual FAB Awards.
“Auckland Airport’s overall success – and that of its individual operators – was particularly notable in the face of white-hot international competition, including some of the world’s most renowned airports, ones known for their outstanding food and beverage offers, such as Dubai International, Singapore Changi and Hong Kong International,” said Moodie.
“Besides the eclectic mix of outlets and the consistent high quality shown across the board, it was the transformation of offer that ultimately won the day,” he continued. “It appeared to the judges to be a transformation borne out of a philosophy. One involving, to quote the airport operator: ‘A refusal to accept standard [old, out-dated] mass airport F&B where the customer is believed to be a captive.’ We applaud both that thinking and the compelling end result.”
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Two Russian monks from
Mount Athos who influenced
thinking on prayer and love
Saint Panteleimon Monastery on the south-west coast of Mount Athos (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)
Saint Panteleimon Monastery (Μονή Αγίου Παντελεήμονος) is perhaps the most eye-catching monastery along the west coast of Mount Athos and is the largest of the 20 monasteries on the peninsula.
As it came into sight yesterday on my visit to Mount Athos, I recalled two monks of the monastery – Saint Silouan the Athonite and Archimandrite Sophrony – who were foremost among the teachers of the Jesus Prayer. They have strongly influenced the traditions at Saint John’s Monastery at Tolleshunt Knights in Essex and many of the people I have come to know through courses at the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies (IOCS) in Cambridge.
This monastery on the south-west side of Mount Athos is often known as Rossikon or the Russian monastery and has historical and liturgical links with the Russian Orthodox Church. However, like all the other monasteries and houses on Mount Athos, Saint Panteleimon answers directly to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and all its monks are naturalised Greek citizens
The monastery was founded by several monks from Kievan Rus in the eleventh century, and was recognised as a separate monastery in 1169. Since then, it has been inhabited mainly by Russian monks, although there have often been large numbers of Greeks and Serbs too among the monks.
The Monastery of Saint Panteleimon was seriously damaged by many fires over the course of its history, and in 1307 Catalan mercenaries set it on fire.
The monastery prospered in the 16th and 17th centuries and benefitted from the lavish patronage of the Tsars. However, a decline set in in the 18th century, and by 1730 only two Russian and two Bulgarian monks were left living in Panteleimon.
A new monastery was built on a new site, closer to the shore, in the first two decades of the 19th century, with financial assistance from Prince Skarlatos Kallimachos, the ruler of Moldova and Wallachia (present-day Romania). The katholikon or main church was built in 1812-1821 and is dedicated to Saint Panteleimon. There are many smaller chapels, and the 19th-century monastery bells are said to be the largest in Greece.
The number of Russian monks in the monastery doubled from 1,000 in 1895 to more than 2,000 in 1913. The monastery was the site of a major theological dispute among the monks in 1913. The Russian Tsar intervened and about 800 monks on the losing side of the debate were deported.
With the outbreak of World War I, the number of pilgrims and monks from Russia went into decline and following the rise of the Soviet Union these numbers were strictly controlled by the Greek government. As a result, the number of Russian monks in the monastery and on Mount Athos generally fell from several thousand in the 1900s to 13 in the early 1970s. In addition, the Monastery was damaged by another major fire 50 years ago in 1968.
With the collapse of the USSR in 1990s, Greece relaxed its restrictions on the number of Russian monks on Mount Athos, and the monastery has since experienced a revival. In 2005, President Vladimir Putin became the first Russian leader to visit the monastery.
Today, there are about 70 Russian and Ukrainian monks at Saint Panteleimon. The monastery ranks nineteenth rank in the hierarchical order of the 20 monasteries on Mount Athos, and it also includes four sketes.
The monastery looks like a small town, with its many and varied buildings and its high domes. The library holds 1,320 Greek and 600 Slavonic manuscripts, 25,000 printed books, and many relics, including the head of Saint Panteleimon, one of the most popular saints in Russia.
Two of the best known former monks of the monastery are Saint Silouan the Athonite and Archimandrite Sophrony.
Saint Silouan the Athonite (1866-1938) was born Simeon Ivanovich Antonov in the village of Sovsk. At the age of 27, he left Russia for Mount Athos and became a monk at Saint Panteleimon, where he was given the name Silouan (Silvanus).
After many years of spiritual trial, he acquired great humility and inner stillness. He prayed and wept for the whole world as for himself, and he put the highest value on love for enemies.
Although he was barely literate, he was sought out by pilgrims for his wise counsel. His writings were edited by his disciple and pupil, Archimandrite Sophrony. Father Sophrony has written the life of the saint along with a record of St. Silouan's teachings in the book Saint Silouan the Athonite.
He died 80 years ago on 24 September 1938, and was canonised by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1987.
Archimandrite Sophrony (1896-1993), also known as Elder Sophrony, was the disciple and biographer of Saint Silouan the Athonite edited his works. He was born Sergei Symeonovich Sakharov in Russia in 1896, and it is said that even as a child he experienced the Uncreated Light.
He studied at the Academy of Arts (1915-1917) and the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1920-1921). He saw art as a ‘quasi-mystical’ means ‘to discover eternal beauty,’ ‘breaking through present reality ... into new horizons of being.’ Later, this would help him to differentiate between human intellectual light and God's Uncreated Light. As a student in Moscow, he came to see the focus in Christianity on personal love as being necessarily finite.
He left Russia in 1921 to pursue an artistic career in Western Europe, and settled in Paris in 1922.
In 1924, due to his realisation that Christ’s precept to love God totally was not psychological but ontological, and the only way to relate to God, and the necessity of love being personal, he returned to Christianity on Great Saturday, the day before Easter Day or Pascha.
Bread for the Easter Eucharist prepared on Great Saturday (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)
His experiences of the Uncreated Light of God distanced him from his art, and he became one of the first students at the Saint Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute, where his lecturers included by Sergius Bulgakov and Nicholas Berdyaev.
He left Paris for Mount Athos in 1925. A year later, Father Sophrony arrived on Mount Athos in 1926, entering the Monastery of Saint Panteleimon, desiring to learn how to pray and have the right attitude toward God.
Father Sophrony was ordained a deacon in 1930, and he became a disciple of Saint Silouan, who became his greatest influence.
With the death of Saint Silouan in 1938, Father Sophrony left the monastery at Saint Panteleimon and went to live in the wilderness on Mount Athos, first at Karoulia and then at a cave near Saint Paul’s Monastery. He was ordained priest in 1941 and became the spiritual father of many monks on Mount Athos.
After World War II, Father Sophrony returned to Paris in 1947 to complete his theological education, and he became a chaplain in an old people’s home in St Genevieve-des-Bois. In Paris, he began editing the writings of Saint Silouan, with their emphasis on prayer for the whole world, God-forsakenness and the idea that all humanity is connected. There too he worked closely with Vladimir Lossky.
Father Sophrony and his friends were involved in buying a property at Tolleshunt Knights, near Maldon in Essex, in 1958, and the Community of Saint John the Baptist was formed at Tolleshunt Knights in 1959. He died at the monastery on 11 July 1993.
Among his sayings of Saint Silouan are:
Those who dislike and reject their fellow-man are impoverished in their being. They do not know the true God, who is all-embracing love.
Keep your mind in hell and do not despair.
The soul that is in all things devoted to the will of God rests quiet in Him, for she knows of experience and from the Holy Scriptures that the Lord loves us much and watches over our souls, quickening all things by His grace in peace and love.
The condition of peace among men is that each should keep a consciousness of his own wrong-doing.
Icons and religious goods made on Mount Athos is a shop in Ouranoupolis, the ferry port for Mount Athos (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)
Labels: Easter 2018, Greece 2018, Love, Monasticism, Mount Athos, Orthodoxy, Prayer, Russia, Saints, The Jesus Prayer, Thessaloniki, Tolleshunt Knights
in the only surviving pre-war
synagogue in Thessaloniki
Inside the Monasterioton Synagogue, the only surviving pre-war synagogue in Thessaloniki (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018; click on image for full-screen view)
Seventy years ago today, on 8 April 1948, a large service was held in the Monasterioton Synagogue in Thessaloniki to commemorate the annihilation of 96 per cent of the Jewish population of this city.
Between World War I and World War II, the Jewish population of this city had fallen from 93,000 people to 53,000 on the eve of the war.
On 11 July 1942, known as the ‘Black Shabbat,’ all the Jewish men in Thessaloniki aged from 18 to 45 were rounded up in Plateia Eleftherias (Liberty Square) in the city centre. Throughout the afternoon, they were forced at gunpoint into humiliating physical exercises.
The Holocaust Memorial in Plateia Eleftherias (Liberty Square) (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)
About 4,000 men were ordered to build a road for the Germans, linking Thessaloniki to Kateríni and Larissa, a region rife with malaria. Within 10 weeks, 12% of them had died of exhaustion and disease. The Germans also forcibly confiscated the Jewish cemetery in Thessaloniki, with 300,000 to 500,000 graves. Today this site is the home of the Aristotle University.
About 3,000 to 5,000 Jews escaped from Thessaloniki, some proving Italian citizenship and others joining the resistance. In all, 54,000 Jews from Thessaloniki were shipped to the Nazi extermination camps. More than 90% of the total Jewish population of the city were murdered during the war. Only the Polish Jews experienced a greater level of destruction.
At Birkenau, about 37,000 Jews from Thessaloniki were gassed immediately, especially women, children and the elderly. Nearly a quarter of all 400 experiments perpetrated on the Jews were on Greek Jews, especially those from Thessaloniki.
In the 1943-1944, the Jews from Thessaloniki were a significant proportion of the workforce of Birkenau, making up to 11,000 of the labourers.
Many Jews from Thessaloniki were also integrated into the Sonderkommandos. On 7 October 1944, they attacked German forces with other Greek Jews, in an uprising planned in advance, storming the crematoria and killing about twenty guards. A bomb was thrown into the furnace of the crematorium III, destroying the building. As they were massacred by the Germans, the insurgents went to their deaths singing a Greek partisan song and the Greek National Anthem.
The return to Thessaloniki was a shock. Many of those who returned were often the sole survivors from their families. They returned to find their homes occupied by Christian families who had bought them from the Germans. The 1951 census listed 1,783 survivors.
The memorial in the former Jewish cemetery at the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)
The Monasterioton Synagogue at the top of Syngrou Street is the only surviving, pre-war working synagogue in Thessaloniki. It was designed by the architect Eli Levi and built in 1927 by Jews from Monastir in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
The synagogue was saved during World War II because it had been requisitioned by the Red Cross as a warehouse. The building was structurally damaged by the earthquake in June 1978, but it was restored by the Greek government and is in use today.
As I look out my hotel room this morning, 70 years after that service on 8 April 1948, I can see Syngrou Street rise before me. The synagogue at the top of the street is one of the three functioning synagogues in Thessaloniki, and it is here that the Holocaust is remembered each year.
Looking up Syngrou Street from the balcony of my hotel room towards the Monasterioton Synagogue (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)
Labels: Auschwitz, Greece 2018, Holocaust, Judaism, Local History, Racism, Synagogues, Thessaloniki, War and peace
Two Russian monks from Mount Athos who influenced ...
Remembering the Holocaust in the only surviving pr...
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Following the pilgrims’
way on the Camino
from Porto to Saniago
The west façade of the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, facing onto the Praza do Obradoiro, features on three Spanish coins (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)
A generous gift recently allowed me to have a late celebration of my birthday in Porto in Portugal, and to enjoy a few days in the Douro Valley and in northern Portugal.
As I strolled around the heart of old Porto and visited the Cathedral, I noticed a number of signs with pilgrim shells and small yellow arrows pointing to the pilgrim way or Camino to Santiago de Compostela. The Camino has become a popular spiritual quest in recent decades, and many of the pilgrims along the way have few if any church connections.
Until now, I had imagined there was only one pilgrim route along the Camino to Santiago. The most popular route, which is crowded in mid-summer, is the Camino Francés, a 780 km way that stretches from St Jean-Pied-du-Port near Biarritz in France to Santiago. But this route is fed by three major French routes and is joined along the way by routes that cross the Pyrenees or begin in Spain at Montserrat near Barcelona, and in Irun, Bilbao, Oviedo, Valencia, Toledo, Ferrol, A Coruña, Seville and Salamanca.
A pilgrim marker, with a pilgrim shell and a bright arrow, on the streets near the cathedral in Porto (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)
Few people in Ireland seem to travel along the Camino Portugues, which begins in Porto and works its way through northern Portugal before crossing the border into Spain. Yet the Portuguese Way is the second most popular Camino in terms of numbers of pilgrims.
While the whole Camino Portugues has its starting point in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, most pilgrims from Portugal start their journey in Porto or from the Portuguese-Spanish border town of Tui. The route from Lisbon to Porto has fewer facilities and the waymarks are not that good, but the stretch from Porto to Santiago has frequent pilgrim hostels and bars on the road and is quite busy with pilgrims.
Pilgrims on the Camino arriving at the Silversmiths’ Doorway of the cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)
The entire Camino Portugues from Lisbon to Santiago is 616 km long, but the part that starts in Porto is only 240 km long.
The pilgrimage from Portugal to Santiago de Compostela dates from the Middle Ages and was used by Queen Isabel of Portugal in the early 14th century. The route follows closely the ancient Roman roads of Lusitania.
Summer is the most popular time to walk the Camino Portugues, but it is still less crowded than the Camino Francés and other routes. The busiest months are July and August, when it can get crowded, especially in the latest stages of the Camino, and the albergues – the hostels that have provided accommodation for pilgrims for centuries – can be full.
The richly sculpted Baroque Obradoiro façade of the cathedral was completed in the 18th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)
The Camino network is similar to a river system – small brooks join together to make streams, and the streams join together to make rivers. Walking the Camino is not difficult as most stages are fairly flat on good paths. Many people walk different sections in successive years. Some set out on the Camino for spiritual reasons, others find spiritual reasons along the Way as they meet other pilgrims, attend pilgrim masses in churches, monasteries and cathedrals.
Pilgrims who complete the Way receive a certificate known as the Compostela. To earn the Compostela at the Pilgrims’ Office in Santiago, a pilgrim must walk at least 100 km or cycle at least 200 km and state that the motivation was at least partially religious.
Finding a saint’s tomb
The Praza das Praterias with its stone fountain below the Silversmiths’ Doorway at the cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)
The history of the Camino de Santiago dates back to the early ninth century and the discovery of the tomb of Saint James in the year 814. Since then, Santiago de Compostela has been a destination for pilgrims from throughout Europe.
Legend says that the body of Saint James was carried by boat from Jerusalem to northern Spain, where he was buried in what is now the city of Santiago de Compostela – the name Santiago is a local Galician form of the late Latin name Sancti Iacobi, Saint James.
The Way of Saint James became one of the most important pilgrimages in the Middle Ages, alongside those to Rome and Jerusalem. With the Muslim occupation of Jerusalem and later during the Crusades, the Camino became a safe and popular alternative to pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and one of the pilgrim routes on which a plenary indulgence could be earned.
Bas relief sculptures on the 12th century Porta das Praterias or Silversmiths’ Doorway of the cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)
The flow of people along the Camino brought about a growth in the number of hostels and hospitals, churches, monasteries and abbeys along the pilgrim route.
The scallop shell has long been the symbol of the Camino de Santiago. Two legends seek to explain the origin of scallop as the symbol of Saint James, who was martyred in Jerusalem in 44 AD.
According to Spanish legends, he had spent time preaching the gospel in Spain, but returned to Jerusalem after seeing a vision of the Virgin Mary on the bank of the Ebro River. One version of the legends says that after his death, his disciples shipped his body to the Iberian Peninsula to be buried in what is now Santiago. Off the coast of Spain, a heavy storm hit the ship, and the body was lost to the ocean. After some time, however, it washed ashore undamaged, covered in scallops.
The silver reliquary in the crypt is said to hold the relics of Saint James and two of his disciples (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)
A second version of the legend says that after Saint James died his body was transported by a ship piloted by an angel, back to the Iberian Peninsula to be buried in Santiago. As the ship approached land, a wedding was taking place on the shore. The young groom was on horseback, and on seeing the ship approaching, his horse took fright and horse and rider plunged into the sea. Through miraculous intervention, both horse and rider emerged from the water alive, covered in seashells.
Along the Camino, the shell is seen frequently on posts and signs to guide pilgrims, and the shell is commonly worn by pilgrims too. Most pilgrims receive a shell at the beginning of the journey and either sew it onto their clothes, wear it around their necks or keep it in their backpacks.
Baroque cathedral
The High Altar in the cathedral … visitors and pilgrims climb behind the altar to embrace the silver mantle of the 13th century statue of Saint James (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)
The first place to visit when I arrived in Santiago was the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, the reputed burial place of Saint James the Great. This is one of the only three churches in the world said to be built over the tomb of one of the 12 Apostles, alongside Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome and the Cathedral of Saint Thomas in Chennai, India.
The cathedral is a Romanesque structure, with later Gothic and Baroque additions. The early church was reduced to ashes in 997 by Al-Mansur ibn Abi Aamir (938-1002), commander of the army of the Caliph of Córdoba.
The ‘Botafumeiro’, the large thurible above the crossing, is the largest censer in the world (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)
Work on building the present cathedral began in 1075 during the reign of Alfonso VI of Castile. The new cathedral was modelled on the Church of Saint Sernin in Toulouse, one the great Romanesque buildings in France. Work was interrupted several times and the cathedral was not consecrated until 1211.
The pilgrimage to Santiago began to decline in popularity in the 14th century because of wars, the Black Death and natural catastrophes. The decline continued with the Reformation and the political wars in 16th and 17th century Europe. Meanwhile, however, the cathedral was expanded and embellished in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.
The north transept of the cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)
Each of the façades along with their adjoining squares constitute a magnificent urban square. The Pratarías or Silversmiths’ façade was built by the Master Esteban in 1103. The Pórtico da Gloria or Doorway of Glory, an early work of Romanesque sculpture, was completed by Master Mateo in 1188.The Baroque façade of the Praza do Obradoiro was completed by Fernando de Casas Novoa in 1740. The Acibecharía façade, also in the baroque style, is by Ferro Caaveiro and Fernández Sarela and was later modified by Ventura Rodríguez.
Parts of the substructure of the ninth-century church can be seen inside the cathedral in the crypt below the High Altar. This became the final destination of pilgrims and is said to hold the relics of Saint James and two of his companions, Saint Theodorus and Saint Athanasius.
Reviving a pilgrimage
A true pilgrim must walk at least 100 km on the Camino or cycle at least 200 km … a shopfront display in Santiago (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)
Over time, the burial place of Saint James was almost forgotten. Because of regular Dutch and English incursions, his relics were transferred in 1589 from their place under the High Altar to a safer place, and they were only rediscovered in January 1879.
The relics were authenticated by Pope Leo XIII in 1884. The silver reliquary, made by José Losada in 1886, was placed in the crypt at the end of the 19th century.
A dome above the crossing contains the pulley mechanism to swing the Botafumeiro, the large thurible also made by José Losada in 1851. This is the largest censer in the world, 80 kg in weight and 1.6 metres in height. On important days it is filled with 40 kg of charcoal and incense. Eight red-robed tiraboleiros pull the ropes and bring it into a swinging motion almost to the roof of the transept, reaching speeds of 80 kmh and sending out thick clouds of incense.
The Camino began to recover its popularity at the end of the 19th century, but the real resurgence of interest in the Camino came in the late 20th century. In 1985, there were 690 recorded pilgrims. Last year, the number had grown to 327,378. Today, many people follow the routes of the Camino as a spiritual path or as a retreat for their spiritual growth. But it is also popular with hiking and cycling enthusiasts and organised tour groups.
A university city
The Fonseca College is the cradle of the University of Santiago de Compostela, one of the world’s oldest universities (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)
Santiago is also a university city, and the University of Santiago de Compostela is one of the world’s oldest universities in continuous operation.
The university traces its roots back to 1495, when López Gómez de Mazoa, a solicitor, founded a school for the poor known as the ‘Grammatic Academy.’ Pope Julius II recognised the institution in a Papal Bull issued in 1504, and the university was consolidated by Alonso III de Fonseca, who became Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela in 1507.
The Fonseca College remained at the centre of university life until the late 18th century. The Irish writer and military adventurer Philip O’Sullivan Beare was educated at Santiago de Compostela.
A statue of Archbishop Alonso III de Fonseca in the front court of the Fonseca College (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)
Other colleges in the university included the San Patricio College, or the Irish College (1605-1767), where the early rectors included Eugene MacCarthy, Thomas White, a Jesuit from Clonmel, Co Tipperary, and Richard Conway, a Jesuit from New Ross, Co Wexford.
The mediaeval façade of the College of Saint Jerome, founded as a college for poor students and artists (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)
Patrick Sinnot from Waterford, who was professor of rhetoric in Santiago, was arrested in 1611, charged before the Inquisition with being a warlock, and put on trial for necromancy. He was convicted and exiled from Santiago for two years.
Today Santiago has a population of 96,000. The old town retains its character, with many narrow winding streets lined with historic buildings, and since 1985 it has been listed as a Unesco World Heritage site.
The pilgrims shell and staff on a sign in an old street in the mediaeval city (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)
This feature is published in April 2019 in the ‘Diocesan Magazine’ (Cashel, Ferns and Ossory) and the ‘Church Review’ (Dublin and Glendalough)
Santiago is a Unesco World Heritage site, and the old town retains its historic character (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)
Labels: Architecture, Cathedrals, Church History, Church Review, Pilgrimage, Porto, Portugal, Saint James, Santiago, Spain 2019, Travel
Looking forward in
Lent to the joys and
hopes of the Easter life
‘There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him’ … dinner in Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Sunday 7 April (Lent 5):
11.30 a.m., Morning Prayer, Saint Brendan’s Church, Kilnaughtin (Tarbert).
Readings: Isaiah 43: 16-21; Psalm 126; Philippians 3: 4b-14; John 12: 1-8.
‘… forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize’ (Philippians 3: 13-14) … Greek athletes in a frieze (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
May I speak to you in the name of God, + Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.
We are coming close to the end of Lent. At one time, this Sunday was known as Passion Sunday. Next Sunday [14 April 2019], the Sixth Sunday in Lent, is Palm Sunday, and so our readings this morning prepare us to move closer to Palm Sunday and the Passion stories of Holy Week.
In our epistle reading (Philippians 3: 4b-14), Saint Paul is writing to the church in Philippi, a church in Macedonia, near Thessaloniki. In this letter, he tells his readers how he wants to know Christ in his suffering and in his resurrection. He is making progress not on his own, but through God’s grace. He has left his past behind him, and eagerly seeks what lies ahead. Like the winner in a race of Greek athletes was called up to receive his prize, Saint Paul now seeks God’s call to share in the life of the Resurrection.
The timing for our Gospel reading (John 12: 1-8) is the day before Palm Sunday, and the setting is in Bethany, on the Mount of Olives, 3 km east of Jerusalem. It was there, in the previous chapter, Christ raised Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, from the dead (see John 11: 1-44).
The name Lazarus is a form of the name Eleazar. As the freed slaves moved through the wilderness in the Exodus story, the priest Eleazar was responsible for carrying the oil for the Temple menorah or lampstand, the sweet incense, the daily grain offering and the anointing oil (see Numbers 4: 16).
So, as Saint John’s Gospel carefully sets the location and the timing of this story, we can expect a story this morning with a connection to death and resurrection, and with some association with anointing.
The plotting against Jesus has intensified. Meanwhile, many people are making the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. The religious authorities, aware that Jesus is ‘performing many signs’ (11: 47), now want to arrest him.
Jesus now returns to Bethany, where the family of Lazarus invite him to dinner. In this account, Martha serves the meal, and Lazarus is at the table with them. In Saint Luke’s account, Martha serves while Mary sits at the feet of Jesus (see Luke 10: 38-42).
After dinner, Mary takes ‘a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard’ to anoint the feet of Jesus. Nard came from the roots of the spike or nard plant grown in the Himalayas. If the guests were reclining on couches, Jesus’ feet would be accessible for anointing, but a respectable Jewish woman would hardly appear in public with her hair unbound.
The reaction of Judas points forward to the impending arrest of Jesus (see John 18:1-11). The cost of this nard, 300 denarii, was almost a year’s wages for a labourer. I wonder whether there is a link between 300 denarii and the 30 pieces of silver Judas receives in Saint Matthew’s Gospel (see Matthew 26: 15)?
Anointing was the last step before burial, but it was not for executed criminals.
Has Mary bought the perfume to have it ready for Christ’s burial?
Does she realise that using it now is not a waste of the perfume?
Martha and Mary have offered their home in Bethany as a place of welcome, peace and refuge for Jesus. His life is under threat, but still he has time, and they have time, for a meal together.
They had a hint of the Easter story already in this home when Jesus raised their brother Lazarus from the dead. Now we have a sign of Jesus’ impending death, when Mary anoints his feet with costly perfume.
But Judas fails to see the full picture, to understand the full scenario that is beginning to unfold. Judas has a point, I suppose, from our point of view. There is so much need in the world, so much need around us, there is so much that is demanding the best of our intentions.
But, so often, the best of my intentions remains just that, and I never do anything about them. How often do we hear people say, ‘Charity begins at home,’ as a way of putting down people who genuinely want to do something about the injustices around us, even the injustices in the wider world?
Yet, so often, we suspect, that in their case charity does not even begin at home … it never even gets to the starting blocks.
For Mary, in this morning’s Gospel reading, charity begins in her own home. But we get a hint that it is not going to end there. It has only started.
Judas is told the poor are always going to be with him … perhaps because charity does not even begin in his own home, never mind reaching out beyond that.
Mary’s action is loving and uninhibited, Mary’s gift is costly and beyond measure.
Love like that begins at home, and it goes on giving beyond the home, beyond horizons we never imagine.
Later that week, the disciples must have been reminded of Mary’s actions when Jesus insisted on washing their feet in a similar act of love and humility, once again at dinner.
How would I feel if Jesus knelt in front of me and washed my feet?
Would I worry whether I have smelly socks, whether he notices my bunions, chilblains and in-grown toenails? Would I be so self-obsessed and concerned about what he thinks of me that I would never stop to think of what I think of him and what he thinks of others?
Or would I, like Mary, smell the sweet fragrance that fills a house that is filled with love?
Someone recently described prayer as ‘a time of living in the fragrance and the scent of God. It is gentle, light and lasts long. It comes off us; if we live in love, we spread love, and others know that something deep in us gives a fragrance to all of our life.’
Mary of Bethany is extravagant and generous and is not inhibited by the attitude of others around her. How much did she understand about Jesus’ impending death when none of the disciples saw it coming?
Mary does not sell the perfume, as Judas wants her to. Instead, she keeps it and she brings it to the grave early on Easter morning with the intention of anointing the body of the dead Jesus.
Can people smell the fragrance of Christ from us?
Are we prepared to let charity begin at home, but not end there?
And then, in the joy of the Easter Resurrection, are we ready to allow that generous charity, that generous love, to be shared with the whole world?
Like Saint Paul, who has left his past behind him and eagerly seeks what lies ahead, like the winner waiting to be called up to receive his prize, we can answer God’s call to share in the life of the Resurrection.
And so, may all we think, say, and do be to the praise, honour and glory of God, + Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.
‘There they gave a dinner for him’ (John 12: 2) … a table ready for dinner in the evening sunset by the sea at Platanias, near Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
John 12: 1-8 (NRSVA):
1 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2 There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. 3 Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5 ‘Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?’ 6 (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) 7 Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 8 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.’
‘There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him’ … at dinner in Corfu (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Penitential Kyries:
you sent your Son to reconcile us to yourself and to one another.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord Jesus,
you heal the wounds of sin and division.
Christ, have mercy.
Holy Spirit,
through you we put to death the sins of the body – and live.
The Collect:
Most merciful God,
who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ
delivered and saved the world:
Grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross,
we may triumph in the power of his victory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The Lenten Collect:
Almighty and everlasting God,
you hate nothing that you have made
and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent:
Create and make in us new and contrite hearts
that we, worthily lamenting our sins
and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may receive from you, the God of all mercy,
perfect remission and forgiveness;
Introduction to the Peace:
Now in union with Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near through the shedding of Christ’s blood; for he is our peace. (Ephesians 2: 17)
Blessing:
Christ draw you to himself
and grant that you find in his cross a sure ground for faith,
a firm support for hope,
and the assurance of sins forgiven:
Saint Paul is writing to the church in Philippi, then a major town in Macedonia in northern Greece (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)
Hymns:
517, Brother, sister, let me serve you (CD 30)
218, And can it be that I should gain (CD 14)
587, Just as I am, without one plea (CD 33)
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
The Risen Christ with Mary of Bethany (left) and Mary Magdalene (right) … a stained glass window in Saint Nicholas’s Church, Adare, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Labels: Adare, Cambridge, Corfu, Kilnaughtin, Lent 2019, Philippians, Platanias, Rethymnon, Saint John's Gospel, Sermons 2019, Tarbert
Generous love begins
begins at home, but
it does not end there
9.30 a.m., Parish Eucharist (Holy Communion 2), Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton.
Through Jesus Christ our Saviour,
who, for the redemption of the world,
humbled himself to death on the cross;
that, being lifted up from the earth,
he might draw all people to himself:
The Post-Communion Prayer:
God of hope,
in this Eucharist we have tasted
the promise of your heavenly banquet
and the richness of eternal life.
May we who bear witness to the death of your Son,
also proclaim the glory of his resurrection,
for he is Lord for ever and ever.
The Risen Christ with Mary of Bethany (left) and Mary Magdalene (right) … a stained glass window in Saint Nicholas’s Church, Adare, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)
Labels: Adare, Askeaton, Cambridge, Corfu, Lent 2019, Philippians, Platanias, Rethymnon, Saint John's Gospel, Sermons 2019
Praying through Lent with
USPG (33): 7 April 2019
‘Jesus is Condemned to Death’ … Station I in the Stations of the Cross in the Chapel of Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, Co Kildare (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)
Today is the Fifth Sunday in Lent [7 April 2019], known in the past as Passion Sunday. Later this morning, I am presiding and preaching at the Parish Eucharist in Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton (9.30 a.m.) and Morning Prayer in Castletown Church, Co Limerick (11.30 a.m.).
During Lent this year, I am using the USPG Prayer Diary, Pray with the World Church, for my morning prayers and reflections.
USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is the Anglican mission agency that partners churches and communities worldwide in God’s mission to enliven faith, strengthen relationships, unlock potential, and champion justice. It was founded in 1701.
This week [7-13 April], the USPG prayer diary focusses on the theme of ‘Hope.’ This theme is introduced this morning with an article based upon a report from the ‘Let My People Go’ programme, which is run by the Church of North India Synodical Board of Social Services (CNISBSS) to support marginalised Dalit and tribal people:
Tagori’s story: For a long time, Tagori and her husband Sumit struggled to make ends meet and look after their ten-year-old son. With no land of their own, Sumit struggled to find work as a day labourer, so some days there would be no income. They couldn’t afford decent food and clothing – and there seemed little prospect of being able to support their son’s education.
Unable to borrow from relatives or neighbours, Tagori met Nayami Pramanik, a Community Enabler with the Diocesan Board of Social Services (DBSS) for Barrackpore Diocese, who guided and encouraged her.
Tagori joined a DBSS self-help group and with their help, Tagori took out a small loan to start a fishing business.
Tagori hired a pond, some fish, fishing nets and fish food. Six months later Tagori was able to harvest fish and sell them at market. She repaid her loan and bought a bicycle and a television set for her family. Tagori’s fishing business is doing well. She told us: ‘I am now more confident and have decided to hire more ponds locally to continue growing my business.’
Sunday 7 April: The Fifth Sunday of Lent:
Marginalised God, despised and rejected by men,
you know the cries of the poor and the hurt of the weak.
In your mercy, save us from pity.
Rather, galvanise us to action that we may walk in
solidarity with those for whom we pray.
Yesterday’s reflection
Continued tomorrow
Labels: India, Lent 2019, Maynooth, Mission, Stations of the Cross, USPG
Following the pilgrims’ way on the Camino from Por...
Looking forward in Lent to the joys and hopes of t...
Generous love begins begins at home, but it does n...
Praying through Lent with USPG (33): 7 April 2019
► May 28
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Editorial: Afghanistan up to Petraeus - and Obama - now
Well, that was quick. On Wednesday, President Barack Obama accepted Gen. Stanley McChrystal's resignation as top commander in Afghanistan after indiscreet, disrespectful and arguably mission-compromising public remarks from him and staff about the nation's war decision-makers and our allies.
Well, that was quick.
On Wednesday, President Barack Obama accepted Gen. Stanley McChrystal's resignation as top commander in Afghanistan after indiscreet, disrespectful and arguably mission-compromising public remarks from him and staff about the nation's war decision-makers and our allies. Obama immediately nominated McChrystal's boss, Gen. David Petraeus, chief of United States Central Command, to take over those reins.
McChrystal's apologists - who seem to align with those Obama critics for whom nothing he can do is satisfactory - can now have their field day, arguing ad nauseam that this represents another failure of a chronically weak president, that he's out of his league, that he couldn't handle challenge from a general who wasn't actually guilty of insubordination: didn't ignore any orders, faithfully carried out the counter-insurgency strategy, was primarily the victim of loose-lipped aides (seriously, Vice President "Bite Me"?). Moreover, McChrystal has had a storied career - with the exception of his role in the Pat Tillman incident - earning his stripes the hard way, on the battlefield. By all accounts, he did wonders as commander of the Joint Special Operations Command in Iraq. For that he deserves the nation's gratitude. His defenders can have at it.
Nonetheless, the guy at the top sets the tone. Effective generals don't always have to be diplomatic, but they can't be stupid about flaunting their disregard for those they work for - invested with that authority by the American people and the U.S. Constitution - and with whom they may disagree. Political and public relations go with the territory in the modern military, and it's pretty clear McChrystal is to PR what British Petroleum is - a disaster, with all the wrong instincts. This was a breakdown of discipline, which you can't have in the ranks.
In short, McChrystal made his own bed, and even he seems to know that. As Obama said, it's nothing personal, but such conduct "undermines the civilian control of the military that is at the core of our democratic system," simple as that. Hence McChrystal's letter of resignation, accepted.
Now we move on.
Certainly our armed forces in Afghanistan are in capable hands with Petraeus. Yet despite his considerable credentials, he has his work cut out for him.
First, reportedly McChrystal enjoyed no small amount of loyalty among the troops, and Petraeus should do his best to reassure them. Going in here everyone knew - or should have known - that Afghanistan/Pakistan was going to be difficult under the best of circumstances, and these aren't with the enemy buried inside a civilian population, our soldiers often handcuffed by rules of engagement not followed by the Taliban that put them in greater danger. There was grumbling about that under McChrystal, and Petraeus must confront it.
In some ways Petraeus will have to temper expectations. Afghanistan is not Iraq, there's even less to build a nation around, there's a not-always-cooperative and corrupt national government - McChrystal had a relationship with President Hamid Karzai that no one else seems to, which could pose a problem with his departure- and the enemy won't stay in one place. We are somewhat encouraged that Petraeus has done it before, but again, how many rabbits can he pull out of his hat?
Obama emphasized that this "is a change in personnel ... not a change in policy," which is fine to a point, but it doesn't quite recognize the reality that the battle for Marja has been more difficult than foreseen - a "bleeding ulcer," as described by McChrystal - and we're about to engage in a major operation in Kandahar promising to be even rougher. Petraeus will need the tools, and he has far fewer troops than he had in Iraq - less than 100,000 compared to some 170,000 - plus a deadline for beginning withdrawal at this time next year. The latter may have been ill-conceived, falsely inflating the hopes of an impatient American public already spilling blood and treasure there for nine years and arguably encouraging the enemy to just wait us out, but it is what it is.
We need a win in Afghanistan and we need one soon. And the onus for that is not just on Petraeus but on this president.
His Afghanistan A-Team - formerly McChrystal, Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, etc. - so far has given multiple indications that it does not function well as a team. "I welcome debate ... but I won't tolerate division," Obama said. Well, he has division, it's being expressed for all to hear and you can't have that in wartime. As such McChrystal may have to be just the beginning of the president's personnel changes.
Moreover, the White House may need to concentrate on this to the exclusion of some other items on its agenda, not easy with the oil spill, among other matters. Obama portrayed himself as a more-than-able multi-tasker in his campaign; now he must deliver. We've seen wars eat up presidents before, and if this one thought health care reform was an ordeal, it's possible he ain't seen nothin' yet. A "long, hard slog" in Afghanistan will get in the way of everything.
Ultimately the president may be a reluctant participant in this conflict, but he needs to take personal ownership of this war, right now, with clearly established and enforced expectations of all involved, or we should just get out and attend to our national security concerns regarding al-Qaida in another way. Otherwise it's just not fair to the U.S. soldiers putting their lives on the line in the middle of all this, to whom the commander in chief owes his first responsibility, as Obama acknowledged.
He has not a minute to waste, with a clock of his own creation ticking. McChrystal blew it here, but Obama, too, must step up, do better.
The Journal Star of Peoria, Ill.
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Father's Attempt at Parental Control Resulted in Hacked German Police System
By Lucian Constantin
The course of events that led to the July 2011 compromise of a computer server used by German authorities for GPS surveillance might have started with a police official monitoring his daughter's online activities, according to reports in German media.
The man, who is a senior official within the German Federal Police in Frankfurt, installed some type of spyware on his daughter's computer in order to see what she does online, German weekly magazine Der Spiegel reported on Sunday.
Later, a friend of the girl, who had ties to the German hacker scene, stumbled over the Trojan installed on her computer. To get back at the curious father, the hacker friend decided to break into the man's personal computer.
Apparently, the police officer had diverted official work-related emails to his private computer, which is most likely a serious violation of data handling policies. "I expect that this is against the rules and is almost always a bad idea," said Chester Wisniewski, a senior security advisor at security company Sophos.
The emails contained information that helped hackers obtain unauthorized access to the PATRAS system used by police and customs authorities for GPS surveillance. The police official is now being investigated by authorities in Cologne.
A group of hackers calling themselves "n0-N4m3 Cr3w" (No Name Crew) announced in July 2011 that they had obtained access to a PATRAS server, prompting German authorities to temporarily shut down the entire system and launch an investigation.
The group leaked documentation, usernames, passwords, phone numbers, license plates and geographic coordinates related to police investigations that were copied from the compromised server.
The German Federal Police arrested two individuals suspected of being responsible for the security breach. One of them, a 23-year-old man from the North Rhine-Westphalia region, was believed to be the leader of "n0-N4m3 Cr3w."
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Peace Corps Week Promotes Worldwide Friendship, Understanding
187,000 Former Volunteers Celebrate the 46th Anniversary of the Peace Corps
WASHINGTON, D.C., February 22, 2007 - From February 26 to March 4, 2007, thousands of former Peace Corps Volunteers representing service in more than 139 countries will share their overseas experiences in communities around the United States. Through these presentations during Peace Corps Week, former Volunteers help raise awareness of the Peace Corps as a resource for U.S. educators who want to incorporate Volunteers stories in the classroom. They also highlight the opportunity to serve as a Volunteer and the many benefits of Peace Corps service.
Among the Peace Corps week celebrations and activities, Volunteer Match, an international phone linkage activity, will connect over 30 U.S. classrooms directly with Peace Corps Volunteers in the field. In some cases, the U.S. classroom correspondents will be able to speak with host country nationals invited by the Volunteer to discuss cultural differences and similarities. These phone calls will perpetuate Peace Corps goal of advancing peace and friendship worldwide by promoting cross-cultural understanding between schools across America and Peace Corps Volunteers host communities.
Other events to be held throughout the country in honor of Peace Corps Week include Peace Corps fairs at universities, Peace Corps anniversary celebrations, community service projects, and presentations that promote volunteerism and global service. Additionally, members of the U.S. Congress, 22 State Governors and many municipal leaders will be recognizing the service of Volunteers from their communities in proclamations and official statements.
Im proud to be honoring the service of the 187,000 Americans who have served as Peace Corps Volunteers, said Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter. When Volunteers speak about their Peace Corps experiences, they share their deep understanding of the people and cultures around the world. Their unique Volunteer service demonstrates whats at the heart of the Peace Corpsthe promotion of peace and friendship worldwide.
Today, more than 7,749 volunteers live and work in more than 73 countries around the globe. Peace Corps volunteers work in such diverse fields as education, health, HIV/AIDS education and awareness, information technology, business development, the environment, and agriculture.
For information about joining the Peace Corps, call 1-800-424-8580 (press 1) to speak to a local recruiter. To learn more about Peace Corps Week, call 1-800-424-8580 (press 2, then ext. 1961) or e-mail [email protected] Or, visit the Peace Corps Web site at www.peacecorps.gov.
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/content/global/en/destinations/flights-to-houston/from-singapore https://www.qatarairways.com/en/search-results
Houston Houston Passing clouds
Book flights from Singapore to Houston with Qatar Airways
Enjoy the very finest in luxury air travel and experience one of the USA’s great cities with flights from Singapore to Houston with Qatar Airways. This award-winning service provides you with a relaxed and spacious setting in which to enjoy delicious cuisine, thousands of entertainment options and attentive cabin crew fulfilling all your travel needs.
Houston is a thriving, ultra-modern city, and is Texas’ economic powerhouse and a centre for the arts. The downtown district, housing most of the city’s theatres, has a fabulous choice of restaurants, and Houston’s vast shopping malls sell everything from handicrafts to top labels. There’s a greater diversity of independent shops in the uptown Galleria district, and attractions include Space Center Houston and the futuristic Menil Collection art gallery.
Arriving in Houston, Texas
America’s fourth largest city and the heart of the ‘Lone Star State’ of Texas, Houston is one of the most popular destinations in the U.S. A flight to Houston with Qatar Airways takes you to a Southern city that is also thriving in the arts and culture scene.
Museums and galleries line its boulevards, while attractions are designed to give you the full Texan experience throughout your stay. Warm, welcoming and friendly, Houston will encompass you in true Southern hospitality.
The best way to see the attractions (and for a discounted price) is to pick up a Houston CityPASS . The pass will give you entry into the Houston Museum of Natural Science, Downtown Aquarium, the Children’s Museum of Houston, and the Houston Space Center.
Don’t forget to make time for a visit to the Museum of Fine Arts and Houston Zoo.
If you are up for a stroll in an incredibly tranquil and peaceful environment, then visit the Rice University campus, which is set in woodland and is famous for its public artworks and architectural features.
If you fancy taking part in some outdoor pursuits, such as jogging or mountain biking, then head to Memorial Park.
Flights to Houston, Texas with Qatar Airways land at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport. Visa restrictions for entry into the country will depend on your country of origin, length of stay and whether your trip is for business or pleasure.
Before you fly to Houston please check the visa and passport requirements.
Essential facts about Houston
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Ayahuasca: The South American shamanic brew which creates out-of-body experiences
Posted by Big Rat on Campus on Jan 25, 2016 in Rat News | Subscribe
Ayahuasca, known by various names by different indigenous groups in South America, is a generic term commonly associated with preparations of the mildly psychoactive vine Banisteriopsis caapi. Ayahuasca literally translates from the Quechua language of the North Andes as “soul vine” or “vine of the dead” and has traditionally been consumed by indigenous communities such as the Aruák, Chocó, Jívaro, Pano, and Tukano across the upper reaches of the Amazon River system in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
Ayahuasca is most commonly consumed by indigenous communities in liquid form as part of shamanic rituals designed to communicate with celestial supernatural forces or the spirits of the forest. The psychotropic effects of the drink are caused by three beta-carboline alkaloids: harmine, harmoline and tetrahydroharmine. Owing to their ability to intensify and prolong this psychotropic effect, other natural substances such as tree barks and coca or tobacco leaves can also be combined with the vine.
People outside of indigenous groups may come across ayahuasca through a variety of more or less formal contexts such as new religious movements, enlightenment retreats, neo-shamanic workshops, self-discovery weekends and eco-lodges specialising in spiritual tourism. As with the recent death of Unais Gomes, who was killed while taking part in a shamanic ceremony in the Iquitos region of Peru, most of the fatalities linked with consuming ayahuasca occur in the unregulated and frequently ad hoc rituals of these latter scenarios.
A shaman performs a ritual treatment after drinking a beverage containing ayahuasca in Lima, Peru. Enrique Castro-Mendivil/Reuters
Use of ayahuasca began to spread beyond traditional indigenous groups in the latter part of the 19th century due to inter-marriage and contact with non-indigenous people working in the region.
The most common form in which ayahuasca passed from indigenous to non-indigenous use was the combination of the vine Banisteriopsis caapi with the leaves of the shrub Psychotria viridis. The foliage of the P. viridis shrub contains the psychoactive agent N,N-Dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, which intensifies and prolongs the psychotropic effects of ayahuasca consumption. The chemical structure of DMT resembles that of psilocybin, the compound found in psychedelic mushrooms.
Beyond the indigenous communities of the Upper Amazon Basin, ayahuasca is most popularly consumed in two kinds of ritual practices. The first is within the Brazilian “ayahuasca religions” of Barquinha, Santo Daime and A União do Vegetal. These religions have many of the formal attributes associated with mainstream traditional religions such as Christianity, Islam and Judaism – for example the inclusion of prayers, songs and ritual disciplines.
Ayahuasca is also consumed within a variety of more or less formal contexts such as new religious movements, enlightenment retreats, neo-shamanic workshops, self-discovery weekends and eco-lodges specialising in spiritual tourism. As with the recent death of Unais Gomes in the Iquitos region of Peru, most of the fatalities linked with ayahuasca consumption occur in the unregulated and frequently ad hoc rituals of these latter contexts.
The effects of the brew
In its most common form, ayahuasca is a strong smelling brown liquid with a bitter taste. In addition to the age, quality, and type of plants used, the psychoactive potency of ayahuasca differs relative to the environmental conditions in which they are grown, the ratio of their combination and the amount of processing they undergo. The size of dose and frequency of consumption varies from one ritual context to another. Depending upon individual physiology, ayahuasca begins to make itself felt 20 or 30 minutes after first being consumed, with subsequent doses increasing its psychotropic effects.
Aya cooking. Xichael, CC BY-SA
Most renowned for the visual imagery it produces, ayahuasca may also generate auditory and olfactory sensations. The earliest effects of the liquid tend to be a warming of the stomach followed by a spreading feeling of physical relaxation and mental calm. There is, though, no loss of vigour or alertness.
Weaker doses of ayahuasca produce a mild detachment from one’s body and surroundings which allows a mental objectification and critical examination of the smallest of details, feelings and thoughts. Stronger forms of the liquid promote the visual apprehension of irregular shapes, recurring and colourful geometric patterns, distorted and fleeting images, and out-of-body experiences or dream-like visions populated by the familiar and the fanciful.
Health news in pictures
Multiple Sclerosis stem cell treatment ‘helps patients walk again’
A new treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) has enabled some patients to walk again by “rebooting” their immune systems. As part of a clinical trial at Sheffield’s Royal Hallamshire Hospital involving around 20 patients, scientists used stem cells to carry out a bone marrow transplant. The method known as an autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) works by using chemotherapy to destroy the area of the immune system which causes MS
Dementia patients left without painkillers and handcuffed to bed
Dementia patients experience a ‘shocking’ variation in the quality of hospital care they receive across England, a charity has warned. Staff using excessive force and not giving dementia patients the correct pain medication were among the findings outlined in a new report by The Alzheimer’s Society, to coincide with the launch of Fix Dementia Care campaign
Cancer risk ‘increased’ by drinking more than one glass of wine or pint of beer per day
Drinking more than one glass of wine or pint of beer a day increases the risk of developing cancer, according to medical experts. New guidelines for alcohol consumption by the UK published by chief medical officers warn that drinking any level of alcohol has been linked to a range of different cancers. The evidence from the Committee on Carcinogenicity (COC) overturns the oft-held view that a glass of red wine can have significant medical benefits for both men and women
Vaping ‘no better’ than smoking regular cigarettes
Vaping could be “no better” than smoking regular cigarettes and may be linked to cancer, scientists have found. The study which showed that vapour from e-cigarettes can damage or kill human cells was publsihed as the devices are to be rolled out by UK public health officials as an aid to quit smoking from 2016. An estimated 2.6 million people in the UK currently use e-cigarettes
A teenager was hospitalised and left unable to move after she developed the rare rat-bite fever disease from her pet rodents which lived in her bedroom. The teenager, who has not been named, was taken to hospital after she complained of a pain in her right hip and lower back which later made her immobile, according to the online medical journal BMJ Case Reports. She suffered for two weeks with an intermittent fever, nausea and vomiting and had a pink rash on her hands and feet. The teenager, who had numerous pets including a dog, cat, horse and three pet rats, has since made a full recovery after undergoing a course of antibiotics. Blood tests showed that she was infected with for streptobacillus moniliformis – the most common cause of rat-bite fever. One of her three pet rats lay dead in her room for three weeks before her symptoms showed
Taking antidepressants in pregnancy ‘could double the risk of autism in toddlers’
Taking antidepressants during pregnancy could almost double the risk of a child being diagnosed with autism in the first years of life, a major study of nearly 150,000 pregnancies has suggested. Researchers have found a link between women in the later stages of pregnancy who were prescribed one of the most common types of antidepressant drugs, and autism diagnosed in children under seven years of age
Warning over Calpol
Parents have been warned that giving children paracetamol-based medicines such as Calpol and Disprol too often could lead to serious health issues later in life. Leading paediatrician and professor of general paediatrics at University College London, Alastair Sutcliffe, said parents were overusing paracetamol to treat mild fevers. As a result, the risk of developing asthma, as well as kidney, heart and liver damage is heightened
Fat loss from pancreas ‘can reverse’ effects of type-2 diabetes
Less than half a teaspoon of fat is all that it takes to turn someone into a type-2 diabetic according to a study that could overturn conventional wisdom on a disease affecting nearly 3 million people in Britain. Researchers have found it is not so much the overall body fat that is important in determining the onset of type-2 diabetes but the small amount of fat deposited in the pancreas, the endocrine organ responsible for insulin production
Potatoes reduce risk of stomach cancer
Scientists have found people who eat large amounts of white vegetables were a third less likely to contract stomach cancer. The study, undertaken by Chinese scientists at Zhejiang University, found eating cauliflower, potatoes and onions reduces the chance of contracting stomach cancer but that beer, spirits, salt and preserved foods increased a person’s risk of the cancer
Connections between brain cells destroyed in early stages of Alzheimer’s disease
Scientists have pinpointed how connections in the brain are destroyed in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, in a study which it is hoped will help in the development of treatments for the debilitating condition. At the early stages of the development of Alzheimer’s disease the synapses – which connect the neurons in the brain – are destroyed, according to researchers at the University of New South Wales, Australia. The synapses are vital for brain function, particularly learning and forming memories
Sugar tax
The Government should introduce a sugar tax to prevent an “obesity crisis” from crippling the NHS, a senior Conservative MP and former health minister has said. Dr Dan Poulter believes that the case for increased taxes on unhealthy sugary products was “increasingly compelling”
Cancer breakthrough offers new hope for survivors rendered infertile by chemotherapy
A potentially “phenomenal” scientific breakthrough has offered fresh hope to cancer patients rendered infertile by chemotherapy. For the first time, researchers managed to restore ovaries in mice affected by chemotherapy so that they were able to have offspring. The scientists now plan to begin clinical trials to see if the technique, which involves the use of stem cells, will also work in humans by using umbilical cord material and possibly stem cells taken from human embryos, if regulators agree
Take this NHS test to find out if you have a cancerous mole
An interactive test could help flag up whether you should seek advice from a health professional for one of the most common types of cancer. The test is available on the NHS Choices website and reveals whether you are at risk from the disease and recommends if you should seek help. The mole self-assessment factors in elements such as complexion, the number of times you have been severely sunburnt and whether skin cancer runs in your family. It also quizzes you on the number of moles you have and whether there have been any changes in appearance regarding size, shape and colour
Health apps approved by NHS ‘may put users at risk of identity theft’
Experts have warned that some apps do not adequately protect personal information
A watchdog has said that care visits must last longer
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) said home help visits of less than 30 minutes were not acceptable unless part of a wider package of support
Pendle in Lancashire tops list of five most anxious places to live in the UK
Pendle in Lancashire has been named the most anxious place to live in the UK, while people living in Fermanagh and Omagh in Northern Ireland have been found to be the happiest
Ketamine could be used as anti-depressant
Researchers at the University of Auckland said monitoring the effects of the drug on the brain has revealed neural pathways that could aid the development of fast-acting medications.
Ketamine is a synthetic compound used as an off anaesthetic and analgesic drug, but is commonly used illegally as a hallucinogenic party drug.
Dr Suresh Muthukumaraswamy, a senior researcher at the university and a member of the institution’s Centre for Brain Research, used the latest technology in brain imaging to investigate what mechanisms ketamine uses to be active in the human brain
A prosthetic hand that lets people actually feel through
The technology lets paralysed people feel actual sensations when touching objects — including light taps on the mechanical finger — and could be a huge breakthrough for prosthetics, according to its makers. The tool was used to let a 28-year-old man who has been paralysed for more than a decade. While prosthetics have previously been able to be controlled directly from the brain, it is the first time that signals have been successfully sent the other way
The biggest cause of early death in the world is what you eat
Unhealthy eating has been named as the most common cause of premature death around the globe, new data has revealed. A poor diet – which involves eating too few vegetables, fruits, nuts and grains and too much red meat, salt and sugar – was shown to be a bigger killer than smoking and alcohol
Scientists develop blood test that estimates how quickly people age
Scientists believe it could be used to predict a person’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease as well as the “youthfulness” of donated organs for transplant operations. The test measures the vitality of certain genes which the researchers believe is an accurate indication of a person’s “biological age”, which may be younger or older than their actual chronological age
Aspirin could help boost therapies that fight cancer
The latest therapies that fight cancer could work better when combined with aspirin, research has suggested. Scientists from the Francis Crick Institute in London say the anti-inflammatory pain killer suppresses a cancer molecule that allows tumours to evade the body’s immune defences.
Laboratory tests have shown that skin, breast and bowel cancer cells often generate large amounts of this molecule, called prostaglandin E2 (PGE2).
But Aspirin is one of a family of drugs that sends messages to the brain to block production of PGE2 and this means cancer cells can be attacked by the body’s natural defences
Sounds may also be heard as distortions of external stimuli or self-contained auditory experiences. Likewise, smell and taste may be affected to a more or less pleasant degree. Given its emetic qualities, ayahuasca consumption often induces vomiting and may also result in the involuntary evacuation of the bowels. While these effects may be moderated by practice and dietary restrictions, their purgative nature is positively construed as an external physical manifestation of inner spiritual cleansing.
DMT is a proscribed substance in various parts of the world; for example it is categorised as a “Class A” drug in the UK and a Schedule I drug under UN conventions. Ayahuasca is frequently subject to many of the same restrictions and sanctions as narcotics such as heroin and cocaine. Nevertheless, the powerful forces of globalisation are spreading ayahuasca consumption beyond its traditional geographical heartlands and this, in turn, is resulting in the legalisation or decriminalisation of ritual use (but not production) in a growing number of countries (incuding Holland, Italy, Spain, and the United States).
Ayahuasca is a psychoactive substance to be used with care and, like other psychotropics, should not be consumed by individuals with certain physical or psychological conditions.
Andrew Dawson, Professor of Modern Religion, Lancaster University
Problem drinkers account for almost 70 per cent of alcohol sales
Diabetes: Conversion of skin cells to produce insulin could lead to new treatments
Blind woman sees for first time in five years after being fitted with ‘bionic eye’
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Saskatchewan Roughriders post $1.467-million profit for 2018 CFL season
REGINA — The Saskatchewan Roughriders registered a profit of nearly $1.5 million last season, the CFL club announced Thursday.
The Riders held their annual general meeting Wednesday at Mosaic Stadium. According to chief financial officer Kent Paul’s report, the franchise’s profit was $1,467,062, up from $781,930 last year.
Saskatchewan posted a 12-6 record in 2018 to finish second in the West Division standings. The club hosted the conference semifinal, losing 23-18 to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
But that playoff game netted the Riders an additional $1.8 million in revenue, resulting in an $800,000 profit.
Paul’s report also stated total gross revenues were $40.4 million, compared to $37.3 million last year. The Riders also led the CFL in tickets sold — 30,357 per game — and scanned attendance (27,547 per game).
The Roughriders also earned $17.2 million in ticket sales compared to $16.7 million in 2017-18. And merchandise sale revenues were up slightly, ending at a CFL-best $6.8 million.
The Riders’ board of directors elected Eric Dillion and Greg Yuel as new members. Dillon is the CEO of Conexus Credit Union while Yuel is the president/CEO at PIC Investment Group Inc.
Randy Beattie was elected as the new board chairman while Barry Clarke remains vice-chairman.
Steinauer isn’t concerned about Ticats becoming complacent after big win
Local Sports: Darren Graham back at RDC as Kings coach
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James O'Brien Show on LBC - Leave Voter Admits He's "Bamboozled"
A Leave voter admitted to being “bamboozled” after James O’Brien repeatedly asked him which laws he wanted to be in control of after Brexit.
Glenn told James he voted to leave the EU in the 2016 referendum on the "basis of being in control of our laws".
But, he admitted if he was now made to choose between Theresa May’s deal and staying in the bloc, he’d pick Remain.
Speaking about why he voted to Leave, James asked Glenn: "What did you think was going to happen?"
The caller replied: "That we would go on to World Trade Organization rules".
"You never thought that," James responded. "Come off it Glenn".
After being repeatedly pressed, Glenn clarified: "I voted on the basis of being in control of our laws, being in control of everything we do," before eventually conceding: "I’m bamboozled by the whole situation".
"Bless you mate," James said. "The effort they’ve put in to bamboozling you is immense, it’s criminal, it’s costly.
"Next time, just trust me."
Credit: LBC
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Malaika Rose Stanley 1954-2019
Malaika Rose Stanley was a children’s writer whose work ranged from picture books to pre-teen fiction, including Baby Ruby Bawled (2010), Miss Bubble’s Troubles (2010), Spike and Ali Enson (2010) and Skin Deep (2011), all published by Tamarind/Random House. She also wrote a monthly gardening column for a community magazine.
Malaika was a qualified and experienced teacher who worked in Zambia, Uganda, Germany and Switzerland as well as the UK – and at all levels of education including supporting autistic children in primary schools, teaching adult EFL, ESOL, literacy and basic education, private tutoring and conflict resolution and teacher training.
She was a workshop leader at the Imagine and StarLit Children’s Literature Festivals, a mentor for the British Council Crossing Borders scheme, a visiting author at Black History Month, Book Week and other events and a writing workshop facilitator in a wide range of schools, libraries and community venues.
Website:http://www.malaikarosestanley.com
London College of Fashion 2011/12
University of North London (now London Metropolitan University) 2002/03
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What If We Could Give A Valentine To Every Person In Rome?
What if we could give a Valentine to every person in Rome? There once was a church who was known for compassion, empathy, and concentrated efforts at making their city a place that was welcoming and inviting to all. A church that sought to turn its focus outward into the community and to “pour themselves” into the people who lived in the city and surrounding area. The members of this church gathered to worship and study together on Sundays and for the other six days of the week volunteered, served and gave of themselves and their resources throughout the whole week to live out their understanding of what it means to be the church.
The church enjoyed a long and illustrious history of finding creative solutions to issues and problems that arose in their community. There was not a single helping ministry or community service endeavor in the city or surrounding community where a member of the church was not involved in helping to make the city a better place for all its citizens.
This church had long been at the forefront of making a difference in the city, community, state and beyond. So, the members of the church looked at the facilities they owned and used and asked the question - What if there was a place that could offer non-profits space for their use during the week and help the non-profits’ donated dollars stretch even further to help the people they seek to help? What if instead of paying rent, utilities, and office overhead individually – a group of cooperative, like minded, non-profits could gather together and share their resources to expand and extend the reach and scope of their shared work? What if through the synergy of the collaborative, cooperative efforts all the needs of the citizens of their town were addressed and met? Wouldn’t you want to live in that city? Wouldn’t you want to be a part of that church?
What if Rome First is that church? A Church with a Heart in the Heart of the City …What would it be like to be known in a city as the church with a Heart for all people? A Heart for Loving God, Loving People and Serving the World? A church known for “giving itself away?” For more than 15 years it has been a topic of conversation among leaders of non-profits and supporters of non-profits in Rome to find the ways and means to consolidate, collaborate, communicate, coordinate and concentrate the “good works” of helping one another. What if it were possible to use space that was already paid for and underutilized to invite ministry partners to share in collaborative and creative ways to further the individual missions of the respective ministries/missions and to make the non-profits’ contributed resources go “further” to help others?
SERVE ROME – The Time is NOW! – A Confluence of Community Ministries. Your governing board – ONE BOARD, met on Saturday, January 6 for a time of annual planning. (SEE MINUTES in this Herald or on the Rome First Website www.romefirst.org.) During the One Board meeting your leaders prayed together seeking to discern God’s Will and asking for divine direction as we consider how to be faithful disciples and good stewards.
You may remember, we held a church conference on December 3, 2017 to consider the option of purchasing the First Christian Building. The decision at that time was not to move forward with the purchase of that building. However, significant interest was generated around the idea of providing a shared space that would benefit the area non-profits and the residents of Rome.
Going back even further, in early 2015 the vision/pathway team worked for over six months to conceive the concept of SERVE ROME, a non-profit collaborative to assist non-profits in Rome by offering the opportunity to consolidate overhead costs, collaborate on “big picture” issues, conserve the time, energy and resources of volunteers by connecting and combining the collective physical plant and human resource needs while extending the fiscal resources of the several individual entities connected through the collaborative. The individual ministries/non-profits would retain their identities, logos, brand recognition, staff, etc... – However, rather than being spread all over the city they could be “housed” in a central location that is easily accessible by all and convenient for all, with good parking, adequate space to hold “special events”, and truly be in the heart of the city.
Rome First is positioned both ideologically and geographically in the heart of the city, and the time has come for Rome First to fulfill her destiny. Many of the city’s oldest and most respected non-profits were “birthed” from Rome First, so now is the time to make a “Legacy Decision” – a decision to “give ourselves away, completely” Matthew 16:25
New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof reports that every day, the number of people in the world living in extreme poverty goes down by 217,000. Every day, 325,000 more people gain access to electricity, and 300,000 more gain access to clean drinking water. In another fifteen years illiteracy and extreme poverty will mostly be gone. Since 1990, the lives of more than 100 million children have been saved by vaccinations, breastfeeding promotion, diarrhea treatment, and other simple steps. These remarkable advances were facilitated by people who did not personally have the problem they set out to solve. University of Texas Basketball player, Andrew Jones has been diagnosed with leukemia and has begun treatment. His jersey now occupies a spot on the Texas bench. A halftime video offered tributes from nearly every UT team. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and West Virginia coach Bob Huggins have voiced their encouragement. None of them has Andrew Jones' disease, but he has their support. The old truism is true: People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.
Mainline Protestantism and Institutional/Organized “religion” is on the decline among individuals under 40 in most developed countries. Has the Church become so obsessed with internal arguments over dogma and doctrine that we have neglected the Sacred Trust of being the Church?
The Church faces many challenges today. One of many challenges that faces the Church today is that of Trust. “Who Can You Trust?” is the title of a new book by Oxford scholar Rachel Botsman. Her research documents the breakdown of institutional trust in our culture. Some of the issues examined in the book - If you can't trust those in charge, who can you trust? From government to business, banks to media, trust in institutions is at an all-time low. But this isn't the age of distrust--far from it.
Botsman reveals that we are at the tipping point of one of the biggest social transformations in human history--with fundamental consequences for everyone. A new world order is emerging: We might have lost faith in institutions and leaders, but millions of people rent their homes to total strangers, exchange digital currencies, or find themselves trusting a bot. This is the age of "distributed trust," a paradigm shift driven by innovative technologies that are rewriting the rules of an all-too-human relationship.
If we are to exist in this emerging “new normal”, we must understand the mechanics of how trust is built, managed, lost, and repaired in the digital age. In the 1970s, according to Gallup surveys, 70 percent of Americans believed they could trust key institutions to do the right thing most of the time. In 2016, such confidence had fallen to 32 percent. Trust in Congress fell from 49 to 9 percent. Trust in the church fell from 65 to 41 percent!
Millennials are the most dubious. According to a 2015 Harvard study, 86 percent of millennials distrust financial institutions. Three in four "sometimes or never" trust the federal government to do the right thing, and 88 percent "sometimes or never" trust the media.
Yet, at the same time, we are learning to trust strangers in entirely new ways. We rent homes on Airbnb, we arrange transportation on Uber and Lyft, we buy products on Amazon, e-bay and Craig’s List. But before engaging in digital transactions, we check the reviews. Airbnb properties and guests are rated, as are Uber and Lyft drivers and passengers. Products on Amazon, e-bay and other social commerce sites get "stars" and voluminous consumer reports. According to Botsman, the key trust indicators are competence, reliability, and honesty. So, what does this "trust revolution" mean for those of us who seek to change our culture for Christ? What are the implications for Rome First as we seek to offer radical hospitality by welcoming and inviting all as partners in transformation?
Because tomorrow is promised to no one, we should find a need to meet today. Anne Frank: "How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." “People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
If we make the problems of society our problems, we earn the right to share our solutions. We know the needs! We possess the resources to address the needs in our city. We are already connected to virtually every serving, helping ministry, and service in our community. The time is ripe to establish a community collaborative, not merely as a concept or in a virtual reality, but to offer the use of space at Rome First to “house” the SERVE ROME CONFLUENCE CENTER. I invite you to give prayerful consideration of the efforts now underway to draft a proposal that will enable the congregation of Rome First to offer this unique and timely opportunity to our city. What a great Valentine for ALL!
I am excited to be a part of something so big and AUDACIOUS that only God can make it happen. I am humbled to serve alongside talented, dedicated, loving people who make Rome First their Spiritual Home.
Robert ><>
Newer PostWe March Together in Faith
Older PostCelebrations and Challenges
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D-Tools Teams with Thea Integrated
D-Tools has signed an agreement with New Jersey-based Thea Integrated to become D-Tools’ new distribution partner for its System Integrator software in the Metro New York area. Under the terms of the agreement, Thea Integrated will be responsible for the sale and distribution of D-Tools System Integrator softwar
RS Staff ⋅ Apr 5, 2011
D-Tools has signed an agreement with New Jersey-based Thea Integrated to become D-Tools’ new distribution partner for its System Integrator software in the Metro New York area.
Under the terms of the agreement, Thea Integrated will be responsible for the sale and distribution of D-Tools System Integrator software throughout New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut and will provide detailed product line information.
“Today’s business environment demands a system to help integrators better track their bottom line,” said Dave Humphries, principal of Thea Integrated Systems. “We’re pleased to partner with D-Tools to help extend the reach of their comprehensive solution to residential and professional integrators in the Tri-State market. The software is a perfect complement to the product lines we represent and we believe that it will help our dealers increase their efficiency and enable them to realize more profit per project.”
D-Tools’ flagship product, System Integrator 5.5 (SI5), dynamically links product information from D-Tools’ extensive manufacturer database to documentation and drawings, creating a single, coordinated, dynamically-linked, instantly updatable electronic project file. SI5.5 utilizes industry standards such as AutoCAD and Microsoft Visio to create detailed designs that are dynamically linked to equipment lists for fast, accurate documentation of system integration projects. SI5.5 streamlines the often manual, labor-intensive process of estimating, designing, and project management, allowing customers to realize substantial cost savings and return on investment.
“This agreement is a win-win for both companies as it will help to improve the productivity of our mutual customers,” said Adam Stone, president of D-Tools. “We’re looking forward to working with Thea Integrated Systems to serve our customers in the metropolitan New York area, and get a better understanding of how to better meet the needs of integrators in this challenging market.”
MantelMount To Be Distributed by Stampede
Research: Over 233 Million 4K TVs to Ship in 2024, with 8K on the Horizon
RTI Now Shipping Flagship T4x Handheld Remote Control
Legrand View
Women in Consumer Technology Returns to CEDIA Expo
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3 Chords & the Truth: 'Round and around
You want to know where 3 Chords & the Truth started?
Right here . . . or there, in that old snapshot. In Baton Rouge, La., deep in the troubled, segregated South, during a time we called the Space Age.
On the picture, it says "Christmas 1963." And that's me, doing at age 2½ pretty much what I'm doing now. Now, I do it on the Internet.
Then, it was an adventure, watching the records spin while the music boomed out. "The music goes 'round and around, whoa-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho . . . and it comes out here."
3 Chords & the Truth. It comes out here, the latest link in an unbroken chain from 1963 and my parents 45 r.p.m. records, and LP albums, and old 78s.
ALMOST 48 years later, I'm still playing those same records. Wonderful 45s from the 1950s -- Jerry Lee Lewis . . . Ivory Joe Hunter . . . Elvis Presley . . . the Everly Brothers . . . Ferlin Husky . . . the Kingston Trio . . . you name it. Now, you get to listen along with me.
This week on the Big Show, I've dug through the old 45s from a lifetime ago, and you get to hear a couple more of them. You get to hear lots more stuff this (and every) week, but the old 45s are what's nearest and dearest to my heart -- they helped to make me who I am. Maybe some similar old records, nearly lost to time and fading memories, helped to make you who you are, too.
Perhaps you can listen to this and think of that, and we'll both enjoy the journey.
You know, it's not like I haven't written about this stuff before . . . or dug into the vaults of old vinyl and old memories for a weekly episode of 3 Chords & the Truth. Then again, who goes to a favorite restaurant only once? Listens to a favorite song only once? Revisits what made you you only once?
IF I QUIT doing that, going there, I die. And a whole world dies.
No longer would the music go 'round and around. Or come out here.
It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.
Posted by The Mighty Favog at 11:39 PM No comments: Links to this post
Labels: 1960s, 3 Chords and the Truth, alternative, Americana, Baton Rouge, Big Show, culture, home, indie, jazz, Louisiana, media, music, Nebraska, Omaha, podcast, radio, Revolution 21, rock
A long, long time ago. . . .
Did you write the book of love,
And do you have faith in God above,
If the Bible tells you so?
Do you believe in rock ’n roll,
Can music save your mortal soul,
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?
-- Don McLean,
'American Pie'
Posted by The Mighty Favog at 3:55 PM No comments: Links to this post
Labels: 1950s, 1958, culture, Jerry Lee Lewis, media, music, records, rock, the South, turntables, Webcor
Death comes for the archbishop
Sooner or later, death comes for us all. We all must meet our Maker.
Probably, no one knew this better than New Orleans' retired Archbishop Phillip Hannan, who died early Thursday at 98. In World War II, he was a paratrooper chaplain on the front lines in bloody Europe, administering last rites of the Catholic Church to American GIs and German soldiers alike amid the chaos of the battlefield.
Think about that one for a moment. If you dare.
In 1963, as an auxiliary bishop in Washington, he delivered the eulogy for his slain friend John F. Kennedy. In 1968, as archbishop of New Orleans, he did the same for Bobby Kennedy.
Hannan came to New Orleans in the devastating wake of Hurricane Betsy in 1965 and, at 92, rode out the fury of Katrina in 2005. The archbishop knew death better than most.
THIS, as recounted in The Times-Picayune, is how the old archbishop, his body finally spent, began his journey home a few days ago:
On Saturday, with the end apparently near, the few people around the archbishop's bed included his brother, Jerry Hannan, 89, who had flown in from Bethesda, Md.; the archbishop’s nephew, Tom; his oldest and closest New Orleans friend, Alden “Doc” Laborde, the oil-field entrepreneur; Saints owner Tom Benson and his wife, Gayle; restaurateur Klara Cvitanovich, who for years sent Hannan a daily take-out lunch from Drago’s; and a few others.
“It was an emotional time for all of us there,” Aymond said Thursday. “It was clear he knew some of what was going on.
“I gave no homily,” Aymond said. “I simply pointed at him and said he IS the living homily.
“He taught us in many ways how to live, but I think he taught us how to grow old gracefully.
“For a man who was independent, he became totally dependent on others, and never, ever complained about it.”
'Sounds good to me.'
Aymond said Hannan had already been anointed several times with the Sacrament of the Sick. This final Mass, the last of uncounted thousands in Hannan’s life, would be his last reception of the Eucharist.
In the early part of the ritual, Aymond and the others jointly confessed their sins in prayer, and as part of the rite, Aymond said he granted Hannan absolution from his sins in the name of Jesus.
Though weak and perhaps not entirely alert, Aymond said Hannan whispered a response.
They are what so far are his last recorded words:
He said: “Sounds good to me.”
“He was reassured, and knew God was forgiving him,” Aymond said.
Posted by The Mighty Favog at 11:53 PM 1 comment: Links to this post
Labels: Archbishop Hannan, Catholic, Christianity, church, culture, death, faith, God, history, Louisiana, New Orleans
American unexceptionalism
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
-- Declaration of Independence,
Throughout its 235 years as a nation-state, the United States of America has done many remarkable things.
Amid that exceptionality stands the glaring absence of something that would be exceptional, indeed. Living up to our foundational principles . . . and our advertising.
From the scourge of slavery to the near-genocide of the American Indian, from Jim Crow to the Japanese internment, from the excesses of the Gilded Age of the late 19th century to the excesses of the Jazz Age of the 1920s . . . and now the massive societal inequality and Wall Street thievery of today, one thing we Americans have been remarkably consistent about is our rank hypocrisy. And that's not exceptional at all -- that's remarkably ordinary.
IN FACT, those who govern the affairs of the United States -- unelected capitalists and the elected officials they rent -- have come to resemble more a "Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant" than they do the rebellious colonials of 1776.
Today's tea partiers have considered this and decided, in the name of "liberty," that somebody "is unfit to be the ruler of a free people." Unfortunately, their ill-willed and often grammatically challenged rebellion takes dead aim at the "life" and "the pursuit of happiness" of a supermajority of Americans.
I hold these truths to be self-evident. If you do not, you might yet if you look at the data and past the self-delusion of American exceptionalism, a Hypocrite's Gospel preached by some for all they're worth and believed by others because it's less challenging than the one preached long ago by some pinko Nazarean hippie freak.
Posted by The Mighty Favog at 3:13 PM 2 comments: Links to this post
Labels: Corporate America, Declaration of Independence, economy, police brutality, protest, recession, social darwinism, social justice, tea party, United States, Wall Street
Simply '70s: All I want for Christmas
Santa: Click on ad for better resolution!
I know I'm jumping the gun a little bit, this being just the end of September, but I figured you'll need a little lead time to get this for me.
I don't know how many Spotmaster 5300 Multi-Deck broadcast cart machines there are out there anymore. I enclosed a 1976 ad for one from Broadcasting magazine so you can see what it looks like. If you find a Spotmaster 5300 Multi-Deck broadcast cart machine, you probably will have to have your elves fix it up some so I can play with it.
It's like a great big 8-track tape deck, only with six fewer tracks and more better sound quality!
I used to use a deck just like this a lifetime ago at WBRH, 90.1 FM, the booming 10-watt radio voice of Baton Rouge High School. Since it's probably too much of a job even for Santa to transport me back 35 years (and many more than 35 pounds), this, I suppose, will have to do.
I hope you can find me one of these, Santa . . . that would be really swell!
Oh, the fun I could have!
Please give the reindeer some apples for me.
Favog
Posted by The Mighty Favog at 2:38 AM No comments: Links to this post
Labels: 1970s, 1976, Baton Rouge Magnet High, Broadcasting magazine, cart machines, FM, home, media, radio, Santa, WBRH
Of pipelines, poseurs and posturing putzes
On a continent 100-percent wrested from native Americans by the white man, and in a state where the United States Army rounded up the Ponca and forcibly delivered them into starvation in the Indian Territory, you have to have a lot of damned nerve to start whining about "not from here" and "carpetbaggers."
Of course, that doesn't stop some Nebraskans if there are political points to be scored.
Enter Jane Fleming Kleeb, who had the unmitigated nerve to have been born in Florida. But it gets worse. She also had the gall to have married a "Nebraskan" raised overseas . . . who has a Ph.D. from Yale. Yale!
But it gets worse than that. The Kleebs are Democrats, and they run for office -- he for the U.S. House and Senate, she for the Hastings school board.
But it gets worse than even that. Jane started something called BOLD Nebraska. We hear that it's full of lib'ruls and "radical enviro cronies" and stuff.
Furthermore, BOLD Nebraska is against the Keystone XL pipeline, through which TransCanada wants to pump Canadian "tar sands" oil trans-Nebraska on the way to Gulf Coast refineries. Kleeb had the gall to suggest it might really screw up the Nebraska Sandhills -- and the massive aquifer below them -- if this new project started belching the corrosive gunk across one of America's most environmentally sensitive regions.
Tuesday in Lincoln, Kleeb and her "radical enviro cronies" were brazen enough to pack a U.S. State Department hearing on the pipeline.
But -- Dare I say it? Can you stand it? -- it gets even worse than that. Take a nitroglycerine pill. Please.
OK, I'm just going to come out with it. In the course of her carpetbagging opposition to controversial Canadian toxic-sludge pipelines traversing much of Nebraska's water supply, Jane Kleeb. . . .
Jane Kleeb . . . .
The outsider, the carpetbagger Jane Kleeb. . . .
I CAN'T even say it, it's so horrible. The Leavenworth St. blog, as loyal and authentic a Nebraska institution as there is -- it's Republican! -- is made of sturdier stuff than I, so I'll just let it break the awful news:
Jane Kleeb likes to stick out like whenever she is out protesting or marching or generally putting on the pouty face with hands on hips.
Well she was making herself “be seen” at Pershing Auditorium in Lincoln yesterday during the State Department hearings on the Keystone XL Pipeline.
But what was she wearing? Take a look.
Yes folks, that is a “Future Farmers of America” jacket.
(snip)
We are sure Jane will say she was “urged” to wear it, or she didn’t know the rules, or she was trying to represent or some other breathless retort.
But we get it Jane. We get it with the jeans tucked into your boots and the giant belt buckle and now the FFA jacket:
You’re a poser. You are pretending to be something you are not.
You know, like pretending to care about the Sandhills or aquifer, when you’re really just trying to stop the the Canadian oil at the behest of your radical enviro cronies and sugar daddies.
NO, THOSE engaging in the fine art of American politics never pretend to be something they're not. Absolutely unheard of.
Can you imagine Mitt Romney in blue jeans? George H.W. Bush in a supermarket checkout line? Michael Dukakis in a tank? Hillary Clinton speaking with a Southern drawl in a black Baptist church?
Michele Bachmann pretending like she's not six kinds of crazy?
Deal we must, though, with Jane Kleeb in cowboy boots . . . and a Future Farmers of America jacket.
Apparently, you're not supposed to wear cowboy boots unless your day job involves trudging through cow patties. And you're not supposed to wear an FFA jacket if you're not actually a member. It's kind of like present-day tea partiers -- who live in suburban comfort and only make vague threats about revolting against "tyrants" -- dressing up like it's 1775 and waving Gadsden flags.
Only worser.
In a comment, the state Republican Party Chairman Mark Fahleson explains how much worse:
Wow–that’s not really Jane Kleeb wearing an FFA jacket, is it? As the former president of the Waverly FFA Chapter who remains proud of and thankful for his FFA experience, I can assure you that the hallowed blue corduroy is sacrosanct. A non-member (even a former member like me) wearing the jacket is like a non-Catholic taking communion at Mass. Whether it’s non-physicians wearing white coats at pressers or faux cowboys posing as Nebraska ranchers, apparently what matters to Nebraska’s leftists is the visual, not the truth.
MIGHTY BIG TALK for someone from Kansas City, Mo., doing his level best to tar an "outsider" who stands against Canadian carpetbaggers (ones with a long history of leaky pipelines) cutting through the Nebraska Sandhills with a toxic-sludge superhighway.
Of course, I am not surprised that the head of the Nebraska GOP hails from Missouri. I'm from Louisiana, myself, and we Southerners know a thing or two about Republican carpetbaggers.
What really concerns me, though, is that someone can be so warped by politics and partisanship that he can compare an FFA jacket to the Holy Eucharist.
Catholics believe that the consecrated bread and wine has become the actual body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ. If you don't believe that, you have no business partaking of it, and you have real problems in calling yourself Catholic.
We call it "communion" for a reason -- it is both sign and cause of our unity as Catholics and of God within us. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says this about Holy Communion:
The Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life."136 "The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch."137
"The Eucharist is the efficacious sign and sublime cause of that communion in the divine life and that unity of the People of God by which the Church is kept in being. It is the culmination both of God's action sanctifying the world in Christ and of the worship men offer to Christ and through him to the Father in the Holy Spirit."138
Finally, by the Eucharistic celebration we already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal life, when God will be all in all.139
In brief, the Eucharist is the sum and summary of our faith: "Our way of thinking is attuned to the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn confirms our way of thinking."140
AND THE Nebraska Republicans' secular sacrament of the day, the Holy FFA Jacket? It's just a jacket.
Granted, it means a lot to a lot of FFA members who earned one, but when you unstick yourself from stupid and gain a little perspective, you realize that blue corduroy jacket is a lot like the faux outrage of political hacks -- you can get along just fine without it. And them.
Posted by The Mighty Favog at 12:44 PM 2 comments: Links to this post
Labels: Catholic, demagogues, Democrats, Eucharist, false gods, FFA, God, home, Jane Kleeb, Keystone XL, morons, Nebraska, pipeline, politics, Republican, Sandhills, Scott Kleeb, TransCanada
One of these things is not like the other
I write to you from a time near the end of our world.
I write to you from a time close to the tortured end of our ability to play both the Id and the superego against the middle -- and by "we," I mean Western civilization, for whatever that label is worth anymore. The hour is late, our world is crumbling, and the time has come for us to choose.
I suppose I could go on world without end about this, but I doubt I could shed much more light on the subject than I'm fixing to do very simply. You see, I am not a sophisticated man. Then again, our choice is not a sophisticated one.
BASICALLY, we can choose to submit -- to God, to grace, to love and to each other. We can choose to live in truth and the light. We can choose to die to ourselves and to live for something -- Someone -- much greater.
This story (above) from the NBC Nightly News is kind of what that looks like.
ALTERNATIVELY, we can choose the way of non servium -- I will not serve . . . you. Or God. Or truth. Or the light.
We can choose to serve only ourselves. And when my serving myself conflicts with you serving yourself, the law of the jungle must prevail. In a "top of the food chain" kind of world, he who belches last, belches best.
This interview from the BBC is kind of what that looks like.
When morality is fluid, God is Self and love has conditions, our fate is left to lawyers, guns and money. For the s*** has hit the fan.
Choose wisely.
Labels: culture, culture of death, false gods, God, greed, love, money, social darwinism, social justice, Wall Street, Western Civilization
With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps
The above video contains not-so-adult language. NSFW.
Apparently, this video was the big thing on the Internets last week.
Today, the big thing on the Internets is a debate on whether last week's big thing on the Internets was all a big set-up for the benefit of Bristol Palin's reality-TV show. That's TMZ's and the Today show website's story, and Bristol's co-star is sticking to it.
Today's blog, The Clicker, posts the above video and warns "The following video contains adult language." Trust me, there's nothing adult about any of it.
There's nothing adult about Bristol Palin cashing in on being an unwed-mother daughter of a flaky Alaska politician with national pretensions. There's nothing adult about doing the above clad in an "Empowered" sweatshirt (Phil. 4:13) with a "lightning" cross.
There's nothing adult about a half-drunk guy yelling whether Bristol rode baby-daddy Levi Johnson like the mechanical bull she was on. Or adding that "Your mother's a f***ing whore! She's the devil!"
THERE'S NOT a thing adult about Bristol -- wrapped in the cross Jesus Christ hung and died on -- getting in the guy's face and asking "Is it because you're a homosexual?" (Oddly enough, she apparently jumped to the correct conclusion.)
And there's nothing adult about this confrontation going on and on, with a camera crew to record the whole thing and put it on the Internet . . . and later, television.
NOPE. Nothing adult to be found in TMZ tracking down the profane heckler to get the "scoop" on whether it was all a put-up deal, and nothing adult in Stephen Hanks justifying his bad behavior with his passion for politics. There, however, was plenty ironic about his saying he was originally from Louisiana and, therefore, knew white trash when he saw it.
Probably in the mirror every day. Just a wild guess on my part.
Finally, I wonder whether there's anything adult about my giving all these people an extension on their 15 minutes of fame. I wonder whether there's anything adult about adding to our nation's cultural and media dysfunction by highlighting all this bad behavior going on in the name of ratings and revenue.
I tell myself it's because it's all so metaphorical. That it somehow sums up who and what we've become as Americans today.
I fancy myself as being the "adult" here. The adult pointing and yelling "Look at the freaks! Look at the freaks!"
Lord have mercy, I think we all may be "the freaks" here. May someday we be "Empowered" (ZAP!) to just stop.
After all, "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."
Labels: Christianity, culture, decline and fall, homosexual, media, morons, Palin, reality TV, television, TMZ, Today Show
Simply '70s: Avant le Food Network
I am so old, I remember when cooking shows were fun.
You see, you little whippersnappers, back in the prehistory of the 1970s -- when we had no Internets and had to push AMC Pacers uphill both ways to get to and from school -- cooking programs were on regular television and actually were about cooking, more or less, as opposed to whatever the hell the Food Network is about. Gastronomic pornography?
Me, I don't know.
BACK THEN, Justin Wilson ruled the public-TV airwaves in Louisiana -- and across the country -- teaching folks how to cook like a good Cajun, with a funny story or three thrown in as lagniappe. And the best part was that I actually knew (or knew of) some of the people in his tall tales.
Which made them just plausible enough to be hilarious.
I remember that ol' Zhoo-STAHN would measure salt or whatever into his hand and then throw it in the pot. Then, just to show off, he'd measure some more into his hand, grab a measuring spoon, and fill it exactly with what lay in his palm.
To this day, more than three decades later, I do the same thing. And when my Yankee wife yells at me, I take a measuring spoon. . . .
Labels: 1970s, Cajun, cooking, culture, food, Gret Stet, home, Louisiana, public TV, television
Never mind the bollocks
Because we Americans seem to be, at heart, a most unserious people, we have outraged national campaigns over this.
A naughtily named new flavor of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, "Schweddy Balls," has inspired a national boycott call and hungry curiosity in Omaha, as elsewhere.
Members of OneMillionMoms.com want the ice cream company to stop making the flavor.
The limited-edition flavor, launched this month, is a tribute to "Saturday Night Live." The name refers to a 1998 sketch in which Alec Baldwin played holiday goodie baker Pete Schweddy.
Monica Cole, director of the online activist campaign, said she's seen the skit, but she's not laughing at it or its namesake dairy treat.
"We find it vulgar, not what we would like our children to be seeing or asking for at the supermarket or a Ben & Jerry's outlet," Cole said from the group's headquarters in Tupelo, Miss.
-- Omaha World-Herald,
But not this.
Black babies are dying in Omaha.
That's the simple, straightforward message the group of about 40 people — most of them black women — had to work with. Their assignment was to take 10 minutes to come up with a way of spreading that message to the people who need to hear it.
The fact that the infant mortality rate is high among blacks in Omaha was no surprise to many of those at a community forum earlier this week at the Turning Point campus in north Omaha. That for every 1,000 black babies born in Douglas County, more than 14 will die in their first 12 months.
Or that the rate is three times higher than the county's white infant mortality rate: 4.7 deaths per 1,000 babies.
But a Douglas County Health Department map showing that the highest concentration of baby deaths was near 33rd and Lake Streets, in the area around Salem Baptist Church, surprised Thelma Sims, director of the Salem Children's Center.
Sims first saw the map about a month and a half ago.
"I was really devastated and sad," she said.
She lives and works in the area but hadn't known that from 2005 through 2009 the neighborhood's infant mortality rate was 27 to 33 deaths per 1,000 births — in the range of the rates seen in Indonesia, Zimbabwe and Kyrgyzstan.
Rates are harder to grasp than actual numbers, so when looking at the state's vital statistics for 2005-2010, for example, you find that 113 black infants died in Douglas County during that period.
Of those, the leading causes of death were listed as sudden infant death syndrome, 21; maternal complications of pregnancy, 20; prematurity, 16; and birth defect, 14.
Really, America?
On this ship of fools, steerage is a dangerous place to book passage. Obviously.
Labels: babies, campaign, culture, death, food, health care, morons, poverty, social justice
3 Chords & the Truth: Warm . . . and cool
Fall. Finally and fully.
That sums up the weather here in Omaha, by God, Nebraska, and that kind of sums up the vibe on this week's edition of 3 Chords & the Truth. Not too hot . . . stretches where it's pretty cool.
Then again, if cool music is the criteria, maybe every edition of the Big Show is fall-like, then.
This week, we start off with the extremely cool jazz stylings of Mr. Tony Bennett, and we go from there, making regular stops at rhythm and blues, doo-wop, rock, alternative, avant-garde jazz and country.
AND WE TAKE a look back at the fathers of alt, R.E.M., upon the occasion of their hanging up the guitars and drum sticks after a 31-year run across the modern-rock charts. It's a tribute; it's cool . . . and it's going to blow you away when you least expect it.
Did I mention this week's edition of the Big Show is cool, just like a sublime fall night on the Plains? I may have.
Labels: 3 Chords and the Truth, alternative, Americana, Big Show, country music, culture, folk music, indie, jazz, music, Nebraska, Omaha, podcast, pop music, progressive rock, radio, Revolution 21, rock
. . . and I don't feel fine
"To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band. We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished. To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening." R.E.M.
Labels: alternative, culture, media, music, music industry, R.E.M., records
Who needs killin'?
When you get right down to it, the United States is really just a great big Texas. We're pretty sure that some people just need killin'.
Cop killers need killin'. They're at the top of the killin' list. They need killin' even if we're only pretty sure they actually killed a cop.
Troy Davis, down in Georgia, needs killin' bad. The convicted cop killer needs killin' so bad that the state parole board looked past seven of nine original witnesses recanting all or a portion of their testimony, as well as a dearth of physical evidence, to make it so come Wednesday night.
HERE IS the latest from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
A landmark Georgia case brought about the abolition of capital punishment in the United States, and another landmark Georgia case reinstated it. But even with those monumental precedents on the books, no Georgia death sentence has drawn as much international attention and controversy as the one scheduled Wednesday night for Troy Anthony Davis.
If Davis is put to death as scheduled, the legacy of this bitterly fought case could be the persistence of unyielding prosecutors -- and the victim's family -- who stared down worldwide criticism and innocence claims to see his execution carried out. It will also leave many wondering if the state executed an innocent man.
"Justice will be done and that's what we were fighting for," said Anneliese MacPhail, whose son was a 27-year-old Savannah police officer when he was gunned down 22 years ago. When asked if she thinks Davis killed her son, she answered, "There is no doubt in my mind."
Davis sits on death row for the 1989 killing of Savannah Police Officer Mark Allen MacPhail, a former Army Ranger who was moonlighting on a security detail when he was shot three times before he could draw his handgun. Today marks the fourth execution date for Davis; on the three prior occasions, he was granted a stay.
A decision early Tuesday by the state Board of Pardons and Paroles rejecting pleas to halt Davis' execution appears to have all but sealed his fate. The board has the sole authority in Georgia to grant clemency to a condemned inmate.
Still, Davis' lawyers said they plan to file last-ditch appeals today claiming there remains new evidence that shows Davis was convicted and sentenced to death based on misleading evidence and testimony. "I am utterly shocked and disappointed at the failure of our justice system at all levels to correct a miscarriage of justice," Brian Kammer, one of Davis' attorneys, said.
Davis' supporters said they would ask Chatham County prosecutors to void the execution warrant. "This is a civil rights violation, a human rights violation in the worst way," the Rev. Raphael Warnock, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, said at a Tuesday press conference.
The five-member parole board did not disclose the breakdown of its vote. It also did not address questions involving Davis' innocence claims or say it was convinced beyond any doubt he is guilty.
Instead, in a statement, the board said its members "have not taken their responsibility lightly and certainly understand the emotions attached to a death-penalty case." The board said it considered all the information and "deliberated thoroughly" before reaching its decision.
I DON'T KNOW that anything will change how in love with death -- and the death penalty -- we Americans are. Some people just need killin'. That's it. Period. End of discussion.
We kill crooks because they done killed somebody. We kill fetuses because they done inconvenienced somebody -- or their presence done scared somebody to death . . . or they might be born deformed . . . or Mama and Daddy are dead broke . . . or something.
In foreign lands, we kill foreigners -- with bombs and tanks and assault rifles. We get pissed off, and they get in the way.
That's just the way we are. There is no problem so daunting that we can't fix it with somebody's premature demise.
What part of "end of discussion" do you not understand?
Then again, since we're stuck with our penchant for "the final solution," it seems to me that we can at least be sporting about it. Take executions, for example. The Georgia parole board is dead-set (pun intended) on executing Troy Davis no matter the doubts, no matter the protests . . . and no matter getting seriously on the wrong side of the pope.
Fine. Obviously the members are sure enough to stake a man's life on their findings.
But are they sure enough to stake their own lives on it? It would only be sporting if they weren't as sure as they ought to have been -- screw up and kill an innocent man, give up your own lives as retribution. It's the American Way, and we Americans are about nothing if not retribution.
If we are to have the death penalty, that is the only fair way to implement it . . . and to make sure we're not killing innocent people for others' sins. If a parole board orders an unjust execution, and it's carried out, and the error is uncovered, the members should be given just enough time to get their affairs in order before their case is forwarded to the Court of Heavenly Appeals.
The same should apply to sentencing judges, condemning jurors and clemency-denying governors. After all, fair is fair.
And we Americans are about nothing if not fairness, right?
Labels: civil rights, courts, crime, culture, culture of death, death penalty, decline and fall, Georgia, social justice
Pick a peck o' decked tech
Welcome to the Museum of Obsolete Objects.
Welcome to the online mausoleum where lies an ever-increasing collection of the stuff of my life. Well, maybe not the quill pen.
But I do possess a fountain pen!
Add the fountain pen to several turntables, a couple of 1950s record changers, typewriters of both the electric and manual varieties, tape decks (cassette and reel-to-reel) and various ancient drip coffee pots you won't find in the store anymore . . . and you've pretty much summed up my life. I am an obsolete object.
Right down to my journalism degree and mad radio-production skillz.
Guess what else made the museum.
Figures.
HAT TIP: The Creators Project.
Labels: antiques, home, obsolescence, radio, technology
The 'Party of Life'
Pro-lifers associate themselves with this bunch -- pols like Mitch McConnell and his ilk --at their own cultural, political and spiritual peril.
There is a big difference between anti-abortion and pro-life. Anti-abortionites have no problem with cheering for executions and demanding that society let people die for lack of health insurance; pro-lifers, on the other hand, are deeply troubled by the former and absolutely horrified by the latter.
The Republican Party is nominally anti-abortion, and the "pro-life" establishment is just fine with making that particular deal with the devil.
Even more distressing is how many Catholics have bought into such a limited vision of defending human life.
The church teaches that the sanctity of human life begins at conception and continues until natural death. It's therefore unacceptable to accept a vision of "pro-life" that ends the moment an infant emerges from the birth canal and gets a sharp slap on the buttocks. In a "pro-life" world, there is no room for "Let 'em die!" or wild applause for the death penalty.
THERE IS plenty of room for that under the banner of "anti-abortion," and plenty of lemmings to march beneath it.
Anti-abortion is what Republican presidential candidates like Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the nation's fastest and loosest executioner, really mean when they talk about the GOP being "the party of life." Pro-life is a bridge too far, as evidenced by the indifference toward "the least of these" who make it out of the womb.
For America's highly politicized "pro-life" operatives, letting vulnerable humanity shift for itself after the first nine months is "good enough for government work." Unfortunately for them, I suspect the Almighty doesn't grade on a curve.
HAT TIP: Think Progress.
Posted by The Mighty Favog at 2:21 AM 1 comment: Links to this post
Labels: abortion, culture of death, death penalty, GOP, health care, pro-life, Republican, social darwinism, social justice
So, you say you want a revolution?
Two years ago, the tea-party meme was "Barack Hussein Obama is a socialist." And a "Muslin."
Protesters walked around with handguns on their hips and assault rifles slung over their shoulders. Amid the "Don't Tread on Me" flags was an occasional "It is time to water the tree of liberty" sign. Right-thinking Americans were to "water the tree," as it were, "with the blood of patriots and tyrants," according to the original Thomas Jefferson quote.
A year and a half ago, the tea-party meme was "Barack Hussein Obama is a socialist, Marxist Nazi who, with his liberal henchmen, wants to fundamentally subvert constitutional rule."
And "ObamaCare" was as Marxist as it got. Or as Nazi as it gets, what with all the "death panels." Even though it was modeled on a Massachusetts plan championed by a Republican governor.
SINCE, we've had Republicans in the U.S. House hold the government hostage with the threat of default. We've had Republican presidential candidates hyperventilating about "government injections." We've had another GOP presidential candidate speculatively accusing the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of "almost treason" and suggesting Ben Bernanke's reception in Texas, were he so unwise as to venture there, would get "ugly."
The United States has lived through other eras as divided, rancorous and nasty as the present one. A century and a half ago, one such era ended with the deaths of between 600,000 and 700,000 Americans. A third of the country lay in ruins.
Having been to the abyss once and fallen in, Americans since have been gun shy when it comes to civil war. No more, not in this present Era of Bat-S*** Crazy.
Today, it's a death match between right-thinking, right-wing Americans of the tea-party persuasion and the evil liberals, whose communist plot has succeeded in subverting our culture. That's what conservative Internet mogul Andrew Breitbart told a Boston-area tea-party gathering Friday, adding that in his less-clear moments he thinks "Fire the first shot. Bring it on."
"We outnumber them, and we have the guns."
JUST IN CASE you think you heard him wrong, Breitbart makes it perfectly clear.
"I'm talking about if they want to take it to the point of a civil war and it goes to the streets, we're the guys that have the guns," he said. "The people in the military, who are not supposed to be political -- when push comes to shove, they're going to be on our side. That's what I'm talking about."
What was just a nasty political undercurrent (and ill-tempered words on misspelled protest signs) now has come out into the open. A conservative media entrepreneur and provocateur now has named That Which Must Not Be Named, and he did so in the context of:
* "Bring it on."
* "We outnumber them, and we have the guns."
* "The people in the military who are not supposed to be political -- when push comes to shove, they're going to be on our side."
CONSIDER, TOO, what is obvious but unsaid by Breitbart. Who is the present-day leader of the "liberal subversion" of all that was right and good about America? Who is at the top of the "subversive" food chain?
It can be none other than Barack Hussein Obama -- President Obama.
What Breitbart rhapsodizes about is a civil war that, given who now sits as its chief executive, would result in the violent overthrow of the U.S. government. And he suggests that it would occur with the backing of the military -- a coup. (See Title 18, United States Code, Section 2385.)
Tea-party "patriots" and those who egg them on, like Breitbart, think it's cute to wink and nod at the violent end of the United States as we've known it since the last attempt at bringing about the violent end of the United States. They think they're being conservative and culturally responsible by seeing the evil of the "subversives" (and in some specific cases, they're correct about cultural trends) . . . and then raising it.
Likewise, they think they're being "constitutional" -- law-abiding -- by walking to the edge of what could earn them up to 20 years in federal prison, toeing at that legal line in the sand and then running off to hide behind the First Amendment.
They do all this so cavalierly, so glibly. So enthusiastically.
THIS IS HOW most people condemn themselves to hell, thinking the whole time that God is on their side. This is how a small cadre of nuts, louts and fools can cast entire peoples into hell on earth. Gavrilo Princip, after all, was just trying to free Bosnia from the shackles of Austro-Hungarian tyranny, right?
He was a patriot. And as a result of his patriotic -- and successful -- double-assassination attempt, "trees of liberty" all over the world got watered with the blood of some 17 million dead and 20 million wounded.
Self-styled "patriots" usually cast us all into an earthly "lake of fire" with years of murderous rhetoric that culminate with a single stupid individual doing a single stupid -- and deadly -- thing. Then comes a harsh reaction. And an even more violent counterreaction.
Then a yet harsher counter-counterreaction . . . a whole self-perpetuating vortex of hate and violence sucking whole societies down into the netherworld.
WE LIVE, in our tenderbox society, during what the Chinese curse would refer to as "interesting times." It is here that tea-party "patriots" strike their matches and wantonly discard lit cigarettes. And it is here that "conservative" radicals such as Andrew Breitbart throw bombs at "the enemy within."
If sanity does not reassert itself -- and soon -- the bombs Americans throw won't be rhetorical ones. And the "tree of liberty" just might drown amid a crimson tide.
Posted by The Mighty Favog at 12:27 AM No comments: Links to this post
Labels: Andrew Breitbart, Barack Obama, Civil War, conservative, conspiracy nuts, decline and fall, GOP, government, guns, media, politics, Republican, revolution, socialism, tea party, United States
Old man, get off of that stage
People try to put us d-down
(Talkin' 'bout my generation)
Just because we get around
Things they do look awful c-c-cold
I hope I die before I get old
-- The Who,
When you're 20, a song can be profound because it captures -- perfectly -- your fear and loathing of the Establishment.
When you're somewhere on the far side of 50, that same song can be profound because it captures -- perfectly -- your fear and loathing of the Establishment. Which now is you.
I'm talkin' 'bout my generation. Or, in this case, the one immediately before mine -- not that my Baby Boom generation is any better.
Above, from 2009, we see Gary Puckett singing his 1968 hit "Young Girl" at The Villages, a massive central Florida retirement community. Now it's creepy enough when you have a 26-year-old warbling an ode to age-inappropriate relationships which, back in high school, we used to call "15 will get you 20."
TODAY, the same dynamic will get you nabbed in a police Internet sting. You know, like when the pretty young thing posing as a 14-year-old asks you if you brought the "protection," goes to the back of the house to "freshen up" and then Chris Hansen walks in and says "Why don't you have a seat right over there?"
When the guy who can't get that young girl out of his mind -- or his set list -- is 67 years old, we suddenly have reached the second act in the profundity of "Hope I die before I get old."
Failing that, perhaps I just can claw my eyes out before watching this again.
It's almost as if Pete Townshend, when he wrote "My Generation," subconsciously saw what was coming in a mere four decades. Like old men singing young men's songs about jail bait to an audience of aging hipsters in a Florida retirement village. Needless to say, I don't think we'll see The Who performing "Young Girl."
Sometimes, I wonder why don't we all f-fade away.
Talkin' 'bout my generation.
Labels: aging, culture, decline and fall, media, middle age, music industry, pop music, rock, sex, sex offenders, Top-40
3 Chords & the Truth: You better run, girl. . . .
Young girl, get out of my mind.
(And get into this week's episode of 3 Chords & the Truth.)
My love for you is way out of line! Better run girl . . . you're much too young, girl.
But would you mind terribly if I channeled my testosterone and visions of carnal knowledge into a Top-40 smash hit? C'mon . . . people will love it.
So hurry home to your mama. I'm sure she wonders where you are. . . .
Get out of here before I have the time to change my mind . . . 'cause I'm afraid we'll go too far.
BUT . . . then again, too far is such an antiquated relic of the semi-Victorian era of the 1960s. Maybe I can do a rap about going as far as we can before Chris Hansen shows up with a camera crew.
Girls.
Desperation.
We got it all this week on the Big Show. How big is it?
Well, 90 minutes, of course. What did you think I was going to say?
Shame on you. This is a fambly show.
Labels: 3 Chords and the Truth, alternative, Americana, Big Show, culture, indie, jazz, music, Nebraska, New Wave, Omaha, podcast, pop music, progressive rock, punk, radio, Revolution 21, rock, sex, Top-40
'I want a brave man, I want a cave man. . . .'
I predict tomorrow's Post
Michele Bachmann goes viral. No, really.
Death: Love it. Live it. Cheer it.
Simply '70s: Lady Gaga, meinen Arsch
The last refuge of scoundrels
All that heaven will allow
Whack-a-mole in the name of 9/11
3 Chords & the Truth: 10 long years
A metaphorical 'Holy s***!'
Protesting in the key of Z
Powdery with a 100% chance of death
That worked out well, don't you think?
If everybody's crooked, is wrong all right?
Realignment, as seen on Twitter
Happy Labor Day
3 Chords & the Truth: Workin' for a livin'
The rich man's burden: Poor folks voting
The frightening '50s
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A Tribute To Jack Johnson
IMT6200369.1
Release Date: February 14th 2018
Miles Davis' 1971 album A Tribute to Jack Johnson. Available here on CD and LP.
None of Miles Davis' recordings has been more shrouded in mystery than Jack Johnson, yet none has better fulfilled Davis' promise that he could form the "greatest rock band you ever heard." Containing only two tracks, the album was assembled out of no less than four recording sessions between February 18, 1970 and June 4, 1970, and was patched together by producer Teo Macero. Most of the outtake material ended up on Directions, Big Fun, and elsewhere. The first misconception is the lineup: the credits on the recording are incomplete. For the opener, "Right Off," the band is Davis, John McLaughlin, Billy Cobham, Herbie Hancock, Michael Henderson, and Steve Grossman (no piano player!), which reflects the liner notes. This was from the musicians' point of view, in a single take, recorded as McLaughlin began riffing in the studio while waiting for Davis; it was picked up on by Henderson and Cobham, Hancock was ushered in to jump on a Hammond organ (he was passing through the building), and Davis rushed in at 2:19 and proceeded to play one of the longest, funkiest, knottiest, and most complex solos of his career. Seldom has he cut loose like that and played in the high register with such a full sound. In the meantime, the interplay between Cobham, McLaughlin, and Henderson is out of the box, McLaughlin playing long, angular chords centering around E. This was funky, dirty rock & roll jazz. The groove gets nastier and nastier as the track carries on and never quits, though there are insertions by Macero of two Davis takes on Sly Stone tunes and an ambient textured section before the band comes back with the groove, fires it up again, and carries it out. On "Yesternow," the case is far more complex. There are two lineups, the one mentioned above, and one that begins at about 12:55. The second lineup was Davis, McLaughlin, Jack DeJohnette, Chick Corea, Bennie Maupin, Dave Holland, and Sonny Sharrock. The first 12 minutes of the tune revolve around a single bass riff lifted from James Brown's "Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud." The material that eases the first half of the tune into the second is taken from "Shhh/Peaceful," from In a Silent Way, overdubbed with the same trumpet solo that is in the ambient section of "Right Off." It gets more complex as the original lineup is dubbed back in with a section from Davis' tune "Willie Nelson," another part of the ambient section of "Right Off," and an orchestral bit of "The Man Nobody Saw" at 23:52, before the voice of Jack Johnson (by actor Brock Peters) takes the piece out. The highly textured, nearly pastoral ambience at the end of the album is a fitting coda to the chilling, overall high-energy rockist stance of the album. Jack Johnson is the purest electric jazz record ever made because of the feeling of spontaneity and freedom it evokes in the listener, for the stellar and inspiring solos by McLaughlin and Davis that blur all edges between the two musics, and for the tireless perfection of the studio assemblage by Miles and producer Macero.
LP - Standard LP.
CD - Standard CD.
Label Music On Vinyl
More from Miles Davis
Round About Midnight, title
Miles Davis , artist
Kind Of Blue, title
Miles Ahead, title
Sketches Of Spain 50th Anniversary Legacy Edition, title
More from Music On Vinyl
Head Hunters, title
Herbie Hancock , artist
Souvlaki, title
Slowdive , artist
The Modern Lovers, title
The Modern Lovers , artist
19 Rupert St, title
Sandy Denny , artist
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School Board's Prayer Policy Ruled Unconstitutional
The ruling, if upheld, could have broader implications for other legislative bodies that pray before meetings. Shutterstock
A federal appeals court ruled that the Chino Valley Unified School District's prayer policy violated the First Amendment.
A California school board will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review a recent federal appeals court ruling that prohibits prayer at the beginning of its public meetings.
The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in July reaffirmed a district court ruling that meetings of the Chino Valley Unified School District board could not involve prayers, scripture readings or proselytizing of any kind.
“The prayers frequently advanced religion in general and Christianity in particular,” a three-judge panel decreed in an unsigned decision. “The prayer policy’s purpose is predominantly religious in violation of the Establishment Clause,” part of the First Amendment that prohibits government actions that favor one religion over another, or favor religion over non-religion.
The school board had argued that it was protected by previous court decisions that have allowed prayer at the beginning of meetings of Congress, state legislatures and town boards. But the court said the school board’s meetings are different from those of traditional legislative bodies because they’re frequently attended by children who are required to be present for class credit, to give presentations or receive commendations.
“This is not the sort of solemnizing and unifying prayer, directed at lawmakers themselves and conducted before an audience of mature adults free from coercive pressures to participate, that the legislative-prayer tradition contemplates,” the decision says. “Instead, these prayers typically take place before groups of schoolchildren whose attendance is not truly voluntary and whose relationship to school district officials, including the board, is not one of full parity.”
The court also rejected the school board’s argument that its prayer policy was rooted partially in a desire to “demonstrate respect for religious diversity,” noting that the policy only allowed the board to invite “religious leaders with established religious communities within the district’s boundaries” to give invocations at meetings.
That clause excluded multiple religions practiced by people within the district—among them Buddhism, Judaism and Mormonism—whose faiths lack “a sufficient critical mass to sustain an established community within the district’s borders.”
“Far from highlighting the full range of religious diversity and beliefs,” the ruling says, “the invocation policy reinforces the dominance of particular religious traditions,” namely Christianity.
The Chino Valley school board voted 3-2 at its Aug. 1 meeting to petition the Supreme Court to review the case.
“The U.S. Ninth Circuit of Appeals, based in San Francisco, does not reflect the multitudes of Californian family values and laws,” board member Andrew Cruz told Champion Newspapers. “The Supreme Court, which begins its sessions with a prayer, ‘God save the United States and this honorable court,’ understands that prayer is a part of our country’s history and government establishments.”
It’s possible that the ruling, if upheld, could have broader implications for legislative bodies other than school boards, said David Pierucci, an attorney with Best Best & Krieger, a law firm with offices in California and Washington D.C.
“The Ninth Circuit’s holding that the school board’s invocation invitations and recruitment were under-inclusive and board members’ statements were effectively proselytizing could also apply to a city council, planning commission or other body,” he said.
Children’s attendance is also a factor at meetings of some of those groups, Pierucci noted.
“City council meetings will sometimes feature presentations by individual students or classes, whose attendance at the meeting may also be involuntary in nature,” he said.
The lawsuit began in 2014 when the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation sued the school district, contending that its meetings “resemble a church service more than a school board meeting.”
School board meetings open with prayer and often include Bible readings, and the board’s then-president James Na “injects Christianity into many of his official statements,” the complaint said. At one typical meeting, Na said “‘our lives begin in the hospital and end in the church,’ and urged everyone who does not know Jesus Christ to go and find Him.” After that, another board member “closed by reading Psalm 143.”
The complaint noted that courts—including two federal appellate courts, the Third and Sixth Circuits—have previously held that organized prayer in public schools is unconstitutional.
Best Best & Krieger advised that other public agencies whose meetings include invocations ensure that their policies are consistent with case law. Specific recommendations include crafting a policy that includes “outreach to smaller, less established religious communities and individuals” and that boards “consider the sequence of your agenda, especially if the invocation precedes matters involving children.”
Educational institutions, the firm added, should “accept that courts generally require a great distance between prayers and schools.”
Kate Elizabeth Queram is a Staff Correspondent for Government Executive’s Route Fifty and is based in Washington, D.C.
NEXT STORY: Caught in a Disaster? Your Rescuer Might Be an Amateur
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J&J Issues ‘Worldwide Market Withdrawal’ of Power Morcellator Products
Published on July 31, 2014 by Sandy Liebhard
Johnson & Johnson has started taking all its power morcellator products off the market, and is asking doctors to promptly return devices they bought before the company’s sale suspension in April, according to the Washington Post.
Johnson & Johnson announced on July 30th that it would be reaching out to consumers the following day to alert them that power morcellators marketed by Ethicon were being pulled from the market, and to return them to the company as soon as possible. This action follows Johnson & Johnson’s suspension of device sales and distribution in April, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advised doctors to stop using them until further safety review had been conducted. The FDA alert, which was issued on April 17, 2014, estimated that 1 in every 350 women undergoing fibroid removal surgeries had uterine sarcoma and other cancers prior to power morcellator surgery, that may only be diagnosed after fibroids are removed and biopsied.
These devices are designed for use in laparoscopic hysterectomy and fibroid removal surgeries as a means of more easily extracting uterine tissue. According to a growing number of power morcellator lawsuit filings from women who underwent the procedure, the devices can inadvertently promote the spread of uterine cancer into other parts of the abdominal cavity, which may ultimately diminish a woman’s chances of long-term survival.
J&J Pulls Morcellator Products as FDA Committees Fail to Agree on Surgery Costs, Benefits
Earlier this month, the FDA’s Obstetrics and Gynecology Devices Panel met to discuss whether power morcellator surgery should be banned in the U.S., or if it poses benefit to women. The meeting took place on July 10th and 11th, where women and their families candidly relayed the negative experiences they allegedly had because of the devices, according to a Boston Globe report.
The meeting ended with a lack of agreement on the issue, but panelists did all stress that morcellator patients should be required to sign documents that show they were adequately warned about the potential for the devices to spread uterine cancer prior to surgery.
Following the FDA advisory committee meeting, a study included in the Journal of the American Medical Association lent further evidence to morcellator fears. Results published on July 22nd indicate that 1 in every 368 women undergoing fibroid removal surgeries may have undiagnosed cancer. What’s more, an estimated 32 percent of morcellator patients involved in the study were younger than 50.
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Daniel Mery's New Live (from a bedroom) EP Is Our Favorite San Antonio Release This Year
Posted By Chris Conde on Thu, Apr 18, 2019 at 10:44 AM
courtesy Daniel Mery
Daniel Mery
San Antonio native Daniel Mery has released a new solo EP that's quite possibly is the best collection of music to come out of San Antonio this year.
Besides contributing lead guitar to electronic pop group BLXNCO and Jed Craddock’s band, Mery has performed as a solo artist around town while working toward his law degree.
After completing his degree last year, Mery began work on an album of his solo work when he struck on the idea of recording live versions of the songs to see how they’d turn out.
That led to the five tracks that appear on LIVE! (from a bedroom).
Opening the EP is “Bleed, the Beast,” a song that Mery wrote when he was experiencing feelings of helplessness and hopelessness.
“It’s kind of like a death by a thousand cuts,” Mery said. “When you have self-destructive feelings creeping up on you, and you lose control and you fall back into negative patterns that are comfortable.”
“Bleed, the Beast” opens with the looped sound of a guitar pick hitting muted strings. That provides a percussive element as finger-picked chords balance out Mery’s floating, tenor vocals.
The song sounds like what might happen if Thom Yorke from Radiohead and the late Elliott Smith had a sad, sad baby. It’s poppy in the most haunting way, offering a sense of hope that you can't quite believe.
“I was dealing with failing health and a lot of other factors in my life that were high-pressure and high-stress,” Mery said of the EP's subject matter. “Music was a way for me to create my own therapy in that regard and allow it to be a release, and a lot of inspiration from this EP came from that.”
Mery was diagnosed with pancolitis a few years ago, which resulted in kidney failure last summer and a subsequent cancer scare. Today, his symptoms include pain, lethargy and sometimes intestinal bleeding, which can result in Mery not being able to eat for days at a time. The second track on the album, "Ad Infinitum” was inspired by his diagnosis.
The essentially acapella piece features Mery singing through a looping effects pedal to create harmonies that become chord progressions.
My failure, could it be real?
All my life I never thought that I was good enough
In my life I never thought that I’d be here
My patience is holding my tongue
It taught me more about myself than I could learn from us
It tore me down, and built me up, and now I’m here
The song draws the listener in without instruments, using Mery's voice to form rich textures.
The rest of the EP holds true to form as a melancholy piece of work. And even though the last song sounds upbeat and is in a major key, its lyrics convey a sense of longing. The piece was inspired when Mery meet a local girl while studying international law in Austria. He began falling for her but didn't pursue a deeper relationship because living on different continents while pursuing a relationship seemed pointless.
Although the EP is a somber affair, there’s a rawness and quality to the music that listeners can relate to.
Mery hasn’t planned a local release party — he’s playing a show in Brooklyn on Friday and will have hard copies there — but after some encouragement from friends, he’s thinking about organizing one closer to home.
Whether or not there San Antonio gets that opportunity, LIVE! (from a bedroom) is a phenomenally well-crafted collection of songs that absolutely should be heard by anyone willing to listen.
&lt;a href="http://danielmery.bandcamp.com/album/live-from-a-bedroom"&gt;LIVE! (from a bedroom) by Daniel Mery&lt;/a&gt; Stay on top of San Antonio news and views. Sign up for our Weekly Headlines Newsletter.
Tags: daniel mery, blxnco, san antonio, live music, indie rock, indie, album review, Image
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In this photo taken during a government-organised visit for foreign media, a pro-Gadhafi fighter makes his evening prayers in the desert as a plume of smoke rises from the burning oil refinery in Ras Lanouf, 380 miles (615 kilometers) southeast of the capital Tripoli, in Libya Saturday, March 12, 2011. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) (AP)
Gadhafi forces overwhelm rebel city in march east
The Libyan dictator's forces continue their advance toward rebel stronghold, Benghazi
Check out this article! https://www.salon.com/2011/03/15/libya_gadhafi_forces_advance/
Ryan Lucas • Diaa Hadid
March 15, 2011 11:47PM (UTC)
Moammar Gadhafi's forces overwhelmed rebels in a strategic eastern city, hammering them with airstrikes, missiles, tanks and artillery Tuesday in an assault that sent residents fleeing and threatened to open the way for an all-out government offensive on the opposition's main stronghold in the east, Benghazi.
In desperation, rebels sent up two antiquated warplanes that struck a government ship bombarding Ajdabiya from the Mediterranean. But as tanks rolled into the city from two directions and rockets relentlessly pounded houses and shops, the ragtag opposition fighters' defenses appeared to break down. Some lashed out at the West for failing to come to their aid with a no-fly zone.
"This is a mad man, a butcher," one rebel fighter said of Gadhafi, speaking to The Associated Press by telephone as explosions were heard in the background. "It's indiscriminate fire."
"The world is sleeping," he said. "They (the West) drunk of Gadhafi's oil and now they won't stand against him. They didn't give us a no-fly zone."
Residents of the city of 140,000 streamed out, fleeing toward Benghazi, 140 miles (200 kilometers) to the northeast. But warplanes and artillery were striking roads in and out of Ajdabiya, several witnesses and fighters said. Some reported private cars had been hit, but the reports could not be independently confirmed. They spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation from Gadhafi' regime.
The collapse of Ajdabiya, 480 miles (800 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli, would open the gateway for Gadhafi's forces to the long stretch of eastern Libya that has been in the control of the opposition since early on in the month-long uprising. Only 10 days ago, the rebellion had appeared capable of sweeping Gadhafi out after 41 years in power: It had a seemingly unshakable hold on the eastern half of the country and control of several cities in the west close to the capital and was poised to send fighters on a march on Tripoli.
But Gadhafi's regime has reversed the tide by relying on a military that -- while apparently not much larger than rebel forces -- is far better armed and organized, able to unleash fearsome bombardments from sea, air and land. With the fall of Ajdabiya, the regime forces would be able to bring that power to bear on Benghazi, Libya's second largest city and the de facto capital of the opposition.
Gadhafi warned rebels: "There are only two possibilities: Surrender or run away."
He said he was not like the Tunisian or Egyptian leaders, who fell after anti-government protests. "I'm very different from them," he said in an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Giornale. "People are on my side and give me strength."
Libyan state television aired calls for the opposition to stop fighting, apparently hoping to sway populations in the east away from support of the rebels. "Those who are asking your to put down your arms want peace for you, so please help them and stop shedding blood," the broadcaster said. "Libya is for everyone and by everyone. So let God's word be the highest and the word of evil be the lowest."
Europe and the United States, meanwhile, were tossing back and forth the question of whether to impose a no-fly zone that the opposition has pleaded for to make the fight more even.
On Tuesday, top diplomats from some of the world's biggest powers deferred to the U.N. Security Council to take action against Libya, as France and Britain failed to win support for a no-fly zone in the face of German opposition and U.S. reluctance. France said the Group of Eight agreed that a new U.N. resolution should be adopted by week's end with measures to help Libyan rebels.
The measures could include increased enforcement of an arms embargo and expanding the freezing of Libyan assets. A resolution for a no-fly zone could be put forward as well, diplomats said -- but they added that much depended on whether the Arab League, which is pressing for a zone, was ready to seriously participate in its establishment and operation.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe suggested in a radio interview Tuesday that events on the ground in Libya have already outpaced diplomatic efforts.
"If we had used military force last week to neutralize some airstrips and the several dozen planes that they have, perhaps the reversal taking place to the detriment of the opposition wouldn't have happened," Juppe told Europe-1 radio.
Earlier Monday, Gadhafi's forces recaptured the last rebel-held city west of Tripoli. With the victory in Zwara, a seaside town about 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the Tunisian border, the only other significant opposition-held city the western half of the country was Misrata -- which for days has been under a punished blockade, its population running out of supplies.
"We are short on antibiotics and surgery supplies and disposable equipment," said a doctor in Misrata, Libya's third largest city located to the east of Tripoli. "We feel so, so, isolated here. We are pleading with the international community to help us in this very difficult time."
The doctor said naval ships in the Mediterranean port were blocking aid. Another resident said that in many parts of town, the water network was cut, and trucks that traditionally supply rooftop tanks weren't able to enter the city. Townspeople were relying on poor quality home-dug wells normally used to irrigate gardens, he said.
The assault on Ajdabiya began in the morning with a heavy bombardment from warplanes and ships off shore and what rebels said were constant volleys of long-range Grad rockets. Opposition fighters had heavily fortified the western entrance to the city, expecting an attack from that direction, but when it came, they were surprised to find they had been flanked, with Gadhafi forces striking the southern entrance at the same time.
"Just now they hit a group of fighters. They are dead, wounded," said rebel spokesman Ahmed al-Zwei, who was among a group of fighters at the western gate.
Mosques in the city blared calls from their minarets for residents to join the defense. Hundreds rushed in, but there weren't enough weapons for all of them. "They don't have the arms, but they have the will to fight," said Lt. Col. Mohammed Saber, an army officer who defected to the uprising and spoke from the front.
At one point, two antiquated warplanes held by the rebels bombed warships off shore to try to stop their bombardment, Saber and another opposition activist said. The activist, who asked not to be named, said rebels procured a handful of "very old" warplanes weeks ago but did not want to use them, believing that Western powers, with Arab diplomatic support, would impose a no-fly zone over Libya.
Now, he said, the opposition would use the planes to bomb "oil wells and oil sites."
Throughout the day, rockets and shelling rained down on residential neighborhoods, several rebels said. Before nightfall, tanks and armored personnel carriers punched into the city from the west and south, facing hit and run attacks by rebel fighters using assault rifles and anti-aircraft guns.
"Everybody is defending himself. I am a resident of this city. I am not going anywhere," one fighter told AP. "We have been prisoners of war for 40 years. ... We are civilians -- we didn't know how to fight before this war. We are learning how to fight now. Sooner or later we will kick out this madman."
Libyan state television claimed the battle was already won. The report said Gadhafi's troops were "completely in control of Ajdabiya and are cleansing it from armed gangs."
In Tripoli, hundreds of Gadhafi supporters celebrated in central Green Sqaure, blaring revolutionary songs, waving green flags and shooting in the air.
Ajdabiya has been a key supply point for the rebellion, with ammunition and weapons depots. Until now, the Gadhafi forces' offensive toward the east has battled over two oil ports on the Mediterranean Sea, and Ajdabiya is the first heavily populated city in the area they have tried to retake.
Its fall would set the stage for a regime march on Benghazi. It is a rebel bastion, but with opposition forces in disarray after Ajdabiya, it is unclear how strong the city's defenses would be.
A Tuareg lieutenant from Mali who has fought for the Libyan government since 1993 said the government wants to retake Benghazi, but doesn't want to attack the city itself. He says the government will try to convince residents to force militants out into the open desert.
"The idea is to surround Benghazi but to leave one exit open for the rebels," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid reprisal.
Hadid reported from Cairo. Hadeel al-Shalchi in Tripoli and Martin Vogl in Bamako, Mali contributed to this report.
Ryan Lucas
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Diaa Hadid
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Africa Libya
Don’t expect justice from the ICC
“What does war have to do with me?”
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My formerly adventurous life
Once a seasoned traveler, I'm now stuck in cubicle tedium. I set out to recapture the thrill, or something like it
Check out this article! https://www.salon.com/2012/07/13/my_formerly_adventurous_life/
Jonathan Kime
July 14, 2012 3:00AM (UTC)
Compared to the IT guys who work down the hall or to the mother of two who sits in the cubicle next to mine, I’ve led an adventurous life. Lest we split hairs about the notion that being a mother is an adventure of an entirely different kind, for the purpose of this writing, I’m going with a more traditional definition of the term.
I’ve been surfing in Indonesia and Barbados, scuba diving off the southeast coast of Africa, trekking in Malaysia and Thailand, and motorcycling in East Timor. I’ve been in a screaming match with an army colonel, caught in the middle of a riot and interrogated by a government official who was convinced I was a spy. I’ve been on the Zambezi River in a johnboat. I’ve been to Swaziland.
But that’s all gone now, a distant memory of a different life. Now I have the life I never believed I would have, the one I resisted for so long: a cubicle with a window view that looks out at the manicured shrubs of a mixed-use development that’s supposed to look like a small town – a “Truman Show” backdrop to the soul-crushing tedium of office life.
When I worked in Mozambique, the security guard in my office had a Kalashnikov next to his desk. The receptionist where I now work reprimands us when we leave food in the office fridge and gets my name wrong once a week. In East Timor, I drove a Toyota Land Cruiser Troop Carrier equipped with brush guard, carburetor snorkel and two spare tires on the roof. Now I drive a 1999 Volkswagen with Yakima racks. I used to eat water buffalo and fruit bat. Now I keep vitamins in my desk drawer. I used to be on the District Security Committee. Now I’m on the Retreat Planning Committee.
I never used the word "adventure" back when I was blissfully in the middle of it. Only now, as I face the sugarcoated mediocrity that is starting to look like the rest of my life, am I free to lament this term. If only I’d known then what I would be facing later in life, I would have been shouting from the rooftops, "I’m an adventurer, damn it!"
While packing for a recent overnight trip on a makeshift watercraft, my lovely wife, with that ever-present twinkle in her eye, said, “Have fun on your little adventure!” The former me would have been incensed, but the present me couldn’t even muster the ignobility to shake my fist in the air while shouting, “I’ll show you!” And even though she’d said it with thinly veiled sarcasm, I started to reconsider my definition. Maybe what I was doing had the makings of adventure. It was ill advised. I was unprepared. And my spouse thought I was nuts.
You may not call it adventure, either. Because, if you’re like me, your idea of adventure does not include throwing an ancient, behemoth windsurfer on top of a 12-year-old station wagon, driving to a manmade lake that sits within farting distance of a semi-major metro area, repurposing said windsurfer as a stand-up paddleboard using an old canoe paddle, and setting off on this manmade lake with no plan or purpose other than finding a decent place to camp for the night.
The windsurfer was a “wedding gift” from an old friend of mine, delivered to me nearly two years after my wedding. The parts were so mismatched that the rig barely worked; I could never get the sail reasonably taut, and there was never any wind on my local lake. The sail got retired to the shed, which is where I found the canoe paddle and had my eureka moment. Stand-up paddleboard. That just might work.
Any adventure should start with careful planning, and my planning included casually perusing several nonspecific maps of the lake online while sampling a few microbrews on a Thursday night. On Friday morning, I packed my gear into a dry bag while shaking off a mild hangover, strapped the board to the top of the car and bravely set off into the unknown suburban wilds.
The lake in question sits on the edge of North Carolina’s Raleigh-Durham area, a tame, boring sprawl of suburbs that’s home to around two million people, so it’s not as though I was in any danger of getting lost. You could blindfold me, slip me three hits of acid and drop me off at any point on the shoreline and I still wouldn’t be able to get lost. Were I to wander through the woods in any direction, I’d stumble onto a cul-de-sac in a couple of hours. But with 14,000 acres of water and 180 miles of shoreline, I thought I might at least be able to fake it.
By the time I’d found a place to park that was out of the way and reasonably close to the water’s edge, dragged the 60-pound board to the water, and attached my gear, it was nearly two o’clock and approaching 90 degrees, and I’d gotten a rusty fishing lure stuck in my shoe after stumbling over a sun-faded Miller High Life can. Champagne of beers, indeed.
When I finally struck out on the lake, I soon discovered that either my lack of practice or the unwieldy weight of the gear made my rig considerably wobblier than I’d imagined. It was also torturously slow. Still, I managed to get it to track straight enough, and after a few minutes, I fell into what could be looked back on nostalgically as a meditative rhythm. At least until the spiders came out.
It took me a few seconds to understand how dozens of spiders could have spontaneously appeared on my foot while I was paddling in the middle of a lake, but then it occurred to me that the board had been stored behind my shed for several years and that the hole where the sail mast attached would be as good a place as any to set up residence if I were a spider. This discovery led me to 1) squeal embarrassingly, 2) quickly vacate the board with a maneuver that probably resembled a Jesus Lizard doing a belly flop, and 3) slap frantically on top of the board like someone in a patchouli-clouded drum circle. As I scrambled back on, I noticed two guys in a bass boat trolling about 50 yards away, and I wondered how it was that my finest moments have always included an audience.
When I was finally moving again, a ski boat loaded with 20-year-old girls passed about 25 yards away. When the skier fell, they slowed to a near standstill, so it was a little surprising when, dumbly staring at them and grinning, I was thrown off balance by their slow-moving and seemingly innocent wake. Again I fell into the drink, and I enjoyed another brief but frantic moment of spastic flailing when I discovered, to my surprise, that the lake had a significant current, my board was getting away from me, and not only would it be a long swim to shore without it, but that it also had all my stuff attached.
Failure leads to progress – or something like that – and once I had these two lessons out of the way, I managed to explore the shoreline for several hours without further incident. Stumbling around in the woods just beyond the beach, I happened on a clearing in the trees, broad and flat, with an area big enough to pitch my tent. Out along the beach were driftwood sculptures, a fallen tree that made a good bench, an infinite supply of perfectly formed skipping stones and a deep, burning sunset that was slowly bleeding out across the lake. In the distance, I could hear someone playing Kid Rock on a boat’s stereo system, but that was soon swallowed up by a manic symphony of tree frogs.
As the light faded and the edges of the trees went soft, I wanted to congratulate myself on some sort of accomplishment. I wanted to be able to come back with a quirky story about the Real Meaning of Adventure, a new understanding of the ways in which I am destined to meld my former self with a new, more normal, more formal life. I wanted to be able to say that adventure is what we make of it, that opportunities are all around us. But the truth is that my new life feels nothing like my old one. This life I’ve chosen seems entirely incongruent with my instinctive urge to strike out into the wild, reckless heart of the world. I am anchored by family and circumstance, including a wife whom I love and who has a stable, growing career where we live and my mother, who lives by herself nearby and increasingly needs my support.
When I started this writing, I wanted it to be one of those profoundly optimistic screeds, and maybe you thought this was leading to that telegraphed payoff, that shallow, contrived epiphany. You thought, and maybe I did, too, that what I would say is that the journey is the adventure, and that each of us — we modern family types with our Netflix streaming and our growlers of craft beer — still have it in us. That we can strike out on scrappy, blundering little journeys that will inspire us to come back to our regular lives and find peace with that cubicle warrior we’ve become.
And this is not to say that my smaller moments aren’t valuable, but for me to call them "adventure," to look back on what I’ve done and to give anything in this new life the same name, would be nothing short of wishful thinking. And no ill-advised trip on a broken-down windsurfer can change that.
Jonathan Kime lives in North Carolina and works for an international health organization. His writing has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and has appeared in The Sun, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency and Men, Ink., where he is currently Editor at Large.
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Sarah Sample is an award-winning songwriter with a “raw, graceful voice” (Salt Lake City Weekly) and beautiful songs that weave a trail of stories through folk, Americana, and country and have garnered comparisons to Sheryl Crow, The Weepies, and Bonnie Raitt.
Redwing is—among other things and in the grand tradition of albums—a breakup album. But this was no run-of-the-mill romantic heartbreak; Sample’s breakup was spiritual. She left the committed religion of her upbringing (and its by-the-book lifestyle) to chart her own spiritual course, with all the starting over, unmapped question marks, and personal reconstruction that come with it. In the process, she landed in Wyoming where, in her words, “the wide open spaces felt like open arms to me—the endless skies and horizons leave room for anyone to belong.” Redwing tells that story. And more.
Sample’s last album, ‘Til The Morning, paired her with songwriter Edie Carey as the two sang their favorite lullabies and songs of comfort, both wanting to bronze a bookmark for their years as mothers of young children. And that instinct proved to be inspired, as the collection won Best Children’s Album in the 2014 Independent Music Awards, the 2014 Parents’ Choice Gold Award (highest honor), and 2014 NAPPA Gold Award (also highest honor).
Sample has played several prominent festivals—Merlefest, Cayamo, Folks Fest, Sisters, Telluride, Kerrville (not to mention winning songwriting contests at most of them). She has also warmed up stages for artists like Darrell Scott, Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers, Marketa Irglova, and Over The Rhine.
As a kid she bounced across the country, from Santa Barbara to Austin to Salt Lake City, and that experience and wanderlust has seeped into all six of her albums. She’s also a founding member of the folk-gospel collective The Lower Lights, who take on gospel classics from old hymnals as well as Hank Williams, Dolly Parton, and even Stevie Wonder. She lives in the welcoming, wild wide open of Wyoming with her husband and two daughters.
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Discover all Chapters Chicago
05 September 2018 - Chicago
Friendship, Collaboration, and Service: How Shelley Evenson and Birgit Mager designed a movement
The friendship of Shelley Evenson and Birgit Mager represents a collaboration that has sustained the field since its early days. Their work has been especially instrumental in the United States.
What does it mean if we are no longer designing for people to people, or people to machine interactions, but maybe we are designing for machine to machine interactions, but still bring value to people? —Birgit Mager
The friendship of Shelley Evenson and Birgit Mager represents a collaboration that has sustained the field since its early days. Their work has been especially instrumental in the United States. Service design’s origins are in Europe, but early interest in the field across the Atlantic played a part in the development of the global Service Design Network. Though it only went on for only two years, the Emergence Conference in 2006 and 2007 marked the first service design conference in America, and was an important tipping point in the history of the field.
This year, the SDN hosts the first U.S. National Conference on service design. In an interview this summer, Evenson and Mager reflected on their work with the SDN, the Emergence conference, and the way the field of service design in general has grown since its early days in 2003.
“At that point I did not really grasp the significance of what was happening,” said Mager, reflecting on the first Emergence conference. “The fact that the students picked the topic of service design was basically amazing. The field was so young and there were so few little seeds out there. The students at Carnegie Mellon really put their finger on something—they were far ahead of their time.
“I think it was really a starting point for a bigger movement, and gave me the confidence that [the field of service design] is not just the few of us, but that there is a huge interest. I cannot underestimate the confidence and awareness level [that the conference created].”
Though the Service Design Network was founded in 2004, the community was initially quite small outside of Europe. Mager, the founder of the SDN and a professor at Köln International School of Design, wasn’t acquainted with Evenson, who was then teaching at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Design.
“I had been asked to teach a week-long course at the Interaction Design Institute at Ivrea,” said Evenson. “They wanted to learn about service design, which I really did not know anything about. We had been doing design strategy for a long time, and we would write product-slash-service, but we never really explored the service side. After this week it became clear I had to learn about service design. It was suggested to me that I contact Birgit.”
“I received an email from Shelley from Carnegie Mellon. I was not so sure what she wanted,” said Mager. “At the time, we were building the Service Design Network; we decided to go to Chicago to meet with a group of people. I thought, since Shelley is in the United States, she could come to Chicago. I was thrilled and amazed when she said yes.”
Said Evenson, “It’s funny, I do remember, I asked you for articles you had written, and you said they were in German. I said, send them anyway, and I put them into Google translate and made sense of it, which was remarkable!”
In Chicago, said Mager, “we had a good talk, good beer, and good jazz, and we made friends!”
A couple years later, while Mager and Evenson were speaking at an event in Florida, they found they had become frustrated with not making as much progress in furthering the field of service design as they had hoped. Walking along the beach in Sarasota in 2006, “we decided that we needed to do something,” said Evenson. “I said, I have able grad students. Other grad schools have their students put up conferences, why shouldn’t we?”
That same year, Evenson, Birgit, and the Carnegie Mellon School of Design hosted the Emergence Conference. “We ended up with a very remarkable service design global conference,” said Evenson. “People came from all over and they were so excited they were going to have an international service design conference.”
The decision on that beach walk to host a conference was a tipping point for the SDN. At the time, Mager was already conducting service design projects with large German companies, “but on a scale that was not really remarkable at all,” she said. “The SDN was a pioneer group that collaborated, and we really enjoyed the type of work we were doing, but we were a bit isolated.
“We felt that we were the pioneers, but we realized around 2006 that there was a movement starting. More and more people were getting interested in service design, and starting to work with it on an academic and practitioner level.” There on the beach, Mager and Evenson had reflected on the need for a platform where those interested in service design could connect. “That was where we made the decision to build the Service Design Network as a community for practitioners, academics, and business, to share and to develop the field,” Mager said.
“The [Emergence] conference itself felt very much like a community of learning, co-creating a profession, together,” said Evenson. “We brought together those thinkers and visionary people who were already testing those big topics. The collaborations between Carnegie Mellon and Köln International School of Design, and Linköpings Universitet in Sweden, and the Politecnico de Milano—they built the ground for many things that would happen about three or four years later,” said Mager.
As leaders in the field of service design, Mager and Evenson have had to manage the challenges of being seen as authority figures in a field that prizes co-creation. “Being ambassadors of the field always demands courage to take the lead and at the same time requires you to leave a lot of openness to the community,” said Mager. “Some people call me the ‘mother of service design.’ I always knew that wasn’t true, but at the same time, people need leadership and openness. It is something that was and is still challenging to me in being one of the ambassadors of service design.”
“I totally agree with Birgit,” said Evenson. “It’s all about co-creation. Being persuasive enough—with your clients, with your colleagues, and others—in order to take the time to do that co-creation, and do it effectively, is one of the biggest challenges. Especially now, with Agile, for instance—some of these things take time. Service design is fundamentally about serving people, and so if you don’t have a good understanding of that then you are not going to be able to deliver on that promise. Having enough time, and taking time, are always the biggest challenges.”
Defining service design for those clients, colleagues, and others has been a challenge for service designers since those early days. “Sometimes it’s a bit tiring—that again and again and again, you have to explain,” said Mager. She continued, “Of course that is not the fault of the people who ask, but is maybe the fault of strategic communication and marketing. When you compare what service design as a field has achieved to what design thinking as a field has achieved, I think [design thinking] has done much better in terms of the promotion and marketing of the terms.
“Business leaders spend two days at Stanford and then come back and say ‘OK, design thinking, it is the new knowing.’ But service design is not easy to grasp or easy to promote within an organization. I sometimes wish that, in earlier times, we could have focused more on a marketing and PR strategy in parallel to our content strategy and our development of the field,” Mager said.
As many service designers can attest, talking about service design with other designers has gotten easier in the past couple years. Universities are increasingly offering courses in service design, and more and more companies are building internal teams. Said Evenson, “We hit the tipping point about three or four years ago. I think many large organizations are realizing that they have to serve their employees, and so traditional approaches to HR, recruiting, and etcetera are actually service design challenges.”
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Former District Court Judge Joins Sheehy, Ware & Pappas
HOUSTON (March 29, 2017) — Grant Dorfman, a former District Court judge in Harris County and an experienced litigator, has joined Sheehy, Ware & Pappas, P.C. as Of Counsel.
Prior to joining Sheehy, Ware & Pappas, P.C., Judge Dorfman served three years as the judge of the 334th District Court in Harris County, Texas. He is also the former judge of the 129th District Court, presiding there from 2002 to 2008.
Between judgeships, Judge Dorfman was Senior Counsel at Nabors Industries for nearly five years, where he supervised worldwide litigation for the company. Nabors owns and operates the world’s largest land-based drilling rig fleet and provides offshore drilling rigs in the U.S. and international markets. Previously, he practiced commercial litigation as a partner with Ogden, Gibson, White & Broocks (now Ogden, Broocks & Hall), and as an associate with Susman Godfrey.
“Judge Dorfman is an exceptional and accomplished lawyer,” said firm shareholder George P. Pappas. “He has a breadth of experience that will be valuable across multiple practice areas. We expect his time on the bench, combined with his work as a trial lawyer and in-house counsel, to be a tremendous asset to our trial and appellate practice group.”
Judge Dorfman is looking forward to litigating cases again. “In nearly 10 years on the bench, I gained a deeper insight into issues facing both lawyers and litigants. I look forward to drawing on this insight in my new position with Sheehy, Ware & Pappas.”
After earning an A.B. in Honors History from Brown University, Judge Dorfman received a Master of Studies in History and Political Philosophy from Oxford University and a J.D. from Yale Law School. He clerked for the Hon. Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals after law school. Judge Dorfman, a native Texan, has taught pretrial litigation and trial advocacy as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Houston Law Center.
Judge Dorfman and his wife, Angie, are kept busy raising their five children, between the ages of 10 and 19. When he does find spare time, Judge Dorfman enjoys playing tennis, golf and traveling.
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The appalling mathematics of offshore detention
By Peter Martin
Updated August 31, 2017 — 7.07am first published August 30, 2017 — 11.45pm
What kind of person cuts people off income support and gives them weeks to leave their homes?
What kind of person locks them up indefinitely without even processing their papers?
It isn't Trump. Here's the US President, trying to get sense out of Malcolm Turnbull: "Why haven't you let them out? Why have you not let them into your society?"
Here he is again, in the same 24-minute phone call earlier this year: "Maybe you should let them out of prison."
Save the Children Fund and UNICEF put the total financial cost of our current suite of policies at $9.6 billion over the past four years. Credit:AP
Australia's prime minister had to attempt to explain a policy that looks crazy from the outside and not much better from the inside.
More asylum seekers have arrived by plane than by boat over the past 20 years, and yet it's the ones that arrive by boat who are almost always genuine. Ninety per cent of boat arrivals are found to be real refugees when their claims are processed, compared to less than half of those who arrive by air.
Yet we only make life impossible for the ones who arrive by boats.
Here's Turnbull trying to explain it to a disbelieving US President: "The only people that we do not take are people who come by boat. So we would rather take a not very attractive guy ... than to take a Nobel Peace Prize winner that comes by boat."
Is Peter Dutton getting value for money? Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Trump: "What is the thing with boats? Why do you discriminate against boats? No, I know, they come from certain regions. I get it."
Turnbull: "No, let me explain why."
Turnbull's explanation was that asylum seekers who come by boats are likely to pay people smugglers, and people smugglers let asylum seekers die at sea.
Stopping boats saves lives, in ways that stopping planes do not.
The extra billions spent spent on offshore detention didn’t buy us less damaged people, they wrought greater damage.
Because lives are very valuable, whatever we spend to stop the boats ought to be worthwhile, as ought whatever damage we inflict on people to do it.
It's a cost-benefit calculation of the kind made all the time by governments planning new roads or railways or anything else that will cost or save lives. Yet the calculation has never been made explicit for offshore detention and the renewed onshore cruelty that accompanies it.
Nor has a calculation compared it to alternative policies that might be able to achieve the same thing with fewer financial and human costs.
The Opposition isn't much use. It has broadly supported what the government is doing up until this week, when it has begun to make tiny noises about the plans to end support for the Australian-based asylum seekers who've come from Nauru and Manus Island for medical treatment.
So Melbourne University economist Tony Ward has stepped into the breach.
His new book, Bridging Troubled Waters, sets out the costs and the benefits of what we are doing and what we could be doing instead.
Calculations from Save the Children Fund and UNICEF put the total financial cost of our current suite of policies at $9.6 billion over the past four years and up to $5.6 billion over the next four. Offshore detention accounts for 95 per cent of the cost.
The Coalition's Commission of Audit found it costs $440,000 per person per year, around $1200 per day. It costs only half that, $658 per day, to detain someone in Australia, and only about $300 to keep an Australian prisoner in an Australian prison, which is about what it costs to put someone up in a luxury hotel.
Processing someone's papers in the community is cheaper still, at around $250 per day. Handing out a bridging visa with support is even cheaper, at around $90 per day.
And offshore detention has other, harder to quantify, costs. You can't easily put a price on mental health, but you can work out which kind of detention damages people the most. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees found 88 per cent of the residents in offshore detention suffered from a depressive or anxiety disorder or post-traumatic stress. Among asylum seekers living in Australia while their claims are processed the figure is as low as 52 per cent.
Ward concludes that the extra billions spent on offshore detention didn't buy us less damaged people, they wrought greater damage.
But what about the benefits? As far as we know, in recent years we've had not a single death at sea. Under Labor there were 1100. But the saving of lives mightn't have been due to offshore detention, it might have been due to the (much cheaper) program of boat turn-backs that accompanied it. Few boats try to come to Australia now, even after offshore detention has been softened by the prime minister's announcement that some of those detained will be taken by America.
Ward reckons a much cheaper way of saving lives would be to ditch offshore detention (saving $1.7 billion over four years) move locally-detained asylum seekers into the community more quickly (saving $1 billion), to spend more on turn-backs ($11 million) and more on regional co-operation ($150 million).
It's a human and financial saving worth having. If it fails, and deaths at sea resume, we can always reconsider.
Peter Martin was economics editor of The Age between 2014 and 2018. He is a former Commonwealth Treasury official and a visiting fellow at the Australian National University.
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South Australian rooftop solar pushes state-wide electricity demand to record low
by Giles Parkinson on 13 September, 2017
in Solar Choice News,SA
South Australia’s high rooftop solar penetration has helped to deliver record low demand for the state over the weekend, hitting 786MW at around 2pm on Sunday.At the time, rooftop solar accounted for 36 per cent (445MW) of electricity demand in the state, generated by the 761MW of small-scale rooftop solar on homes and businesses in the state.
South Australia is the nation’s first region where rooftop solar PV has caused a shift in minimum demand from night time to the middle of the day.
But the new record – cited on Tuesday by Australian Energy Market Operator chief executive Audrey Zibelman as an example of how the grid is changing – is notable, not just for the time of day it occurred, but for the time of year: not in summer, as had been forecast by AEMO, but in early spring.
According to an AEMO analysis released in July, the previous record low of grid demand in South Australia occurred on November 6, 2016, with 800MW.
AEMO has predicted that by 2019, record low demand may fall to just 354MW, and within 10 years the grid demand may fall to zero because of the increasing amount of rooftop solar, particularly as South Australia has high grid prices, due to its historic legacy of an elongated network and the lack of competition in wholesale market.
“Minimum demand generally happens in summer,” it suggested. Not this time, though, because it occurred just 11 days after the end of winter.
Zibelman told a Melbourne public forum on “2017 energy sector strategic priorities” on Tuesday that she had “spent the weekend” watching the load curve in South Australia, “the lowest curve we’ve ever seen, because of all the solar.”
She used this to explain how the grid was changing because of these new technologies. “This is not a bad thing,” she said, but it required a different approach to the grid and improved management.
“It’s about managing demand more efficiently, using our resources better, to create a more efficient system.”
Previous post: Let’s follow Turnbull’s lead on solar & storage to keep the lights on
Next post: Australia now has over 6 gigawatts (!) of small-scale solar after record August
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Historical Shot Tower
Dubuque's Historic Shot Tower
A true survivor of frontier days, Dubuque's Shot Tower stands starkly against the river front as a unique memorial to the early munitions industry.
During the Civil War, the tower produced three tons of musket shot per day, under conditions that would amuse modern industry.
The first story contained a steam engine used to hoist the lead by windlass to the tower top. The center of the chamber contained a large tub of water to catch and cool the shot. By climbing ladders, the munitions markers reached a furnace on the ninth floor. Here, the lead was melted, 120 feet above the ground.
To make the shot, the hot lead was poured through a succession of screens arranged at various heights in the tower. Taken from the tub of water, it was polished, sorted and graded for size. The imperfect shot would be carried to the top and re-melted.
However, after being built in 1856, the tower was only used briefly before being bought up by a competitor shot maker from St. Louis. After the war, the adjacent Standard Lumber company used it as a fire lookout for its lumber mills. In 1911, a series of fires destroyed the local lumber industry and the tower's wooden interior was set ablaze by an arsonist. (No arrests were ever made.)
In 1976, the shot tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Renovations soon followed. In 1992, a CHicago, Central and Pacific Railroad car jumped the tracks and hit the tower, causing between $5,000 and $10,000 in damage. The city considered relocating the tower to a safer location, but ultimately decided against it. A half million dollar major renovation project was undertaken starting in 2003 and 2004, paid for by a combination of city funds and state and federal grants. The renovations included correcting structural problems, constructing a new, non-combustible stairway, replacing windows, and other improvements to the structure. The renovations were completed by 2013.
The historical landmark can now be admired in its original location, where Star Brewery Drive meets East Commercial St, just north east of the historic Star Brewery Building.
Sources : EncyclopediaDubuque.com, Wikipedia.org, Photo Credit: Kate Lydon
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Zipp Health - Anti-Ageing, Botox Treatments
It has been said that wrinkles tell the story of your life...how much you have laughed, how much you have cried and the many things you have endured or achieved. For most people in this modern day and age, the mission to keep them at bay is foremost, perhaps even causing wrinkles of its own.
Apart from life, there are some other factors that contribute towards lines and folds in the skin on the face. Sun damage, smoking, dehydration, as well as a number of other factors may cause wrinkles to develop. Wrinkles are an inevitable part of the ageing process and as we become older our skin becomes thinner and less elastic.
There is a way to keep the wrinkles under control...
The injection of botulinum toxin, more commonly known as Botox, has become a very popular choice for reducing wrinkles and rejuvenating the ageing face. The effects are only temporary, but the injections can be done quickly, require no recovery time, and are not as complicated as many other cosmetic procedures for the face.
Botulinum toxin is produced by Clostridium botulinum bacteria. When a small amount of Botox is injected into a muscle, it blocks nerve signals that tell your muscles to contract. The effect is that it temporarily weakens or paralyzes the facial muscles and smooths or eliminates wrinkles in the skin for a few months.
Getting a Botox injection takes just a few minutes and is relatively painless when administered by a professional such as Dr Gavin Zipp at Zipp Health.
* The area is cleaned and an anaesthetic cream is administered to numb the area. The patient can relax while the cream takes effect.
* Dr Zipp will mark out the areas you choose to treat by asking you to frown and smile to see which wrinkles need attention.
* The desired amount is then administered, relatively pain free and in no time at all.
For the first 2 to 3 hours after treatment, don't overdo it, no gym for 24 hours and do not rub the treated area. After that, you can get back to your normal everyday routine.
It can take 3 to 4 days before you notice an effect from the Botox and the full effect may take up to 1 week. The results may last from 3 to 4 months on average but sometimes up to 6 months, everyone is different. After that, you will begin to see the wrinkles return.
Within 72 hours of the treatment, the injection of Botox partly and sometimes completely smooths wrinkles for most people. But, the results are temporary, and typically last only 3 to 4 months. You will need to return for injections every 3 to 4 months to keep the effect. The dose of Botox is usually the same each time you get it done. Dr Zipp will however advise you on each of your subsequent visits based on your needs.
To book your consultation with Dr Zipp, call Zipp Health now on (011)792 1616 or check out the website.
Sansui Summer Cup 2015
It's not long until Johannesburg’s premier horse racing event will once again be taking place when the Gauteng SANSUI Summer Cup comes to Turffontein Racecourse on Saturday, 28 November. Bigger and better than ever before, the official Sound Experience after party line-up has been confirmed and this year will feature Cassper Nyovest, Mi Casa, Goldfish and Muzart. This is the More Jozi horse race!
Providing even more glamour on the day will be South African actress, singer, dancer and television presenter Dineo Moeketsi, who is the official face of the Gauteng SANSUI Summer Cup for a second year in a row. “I am beyond elated to be the face of the Gauteng SANSUI Summer Cup again. It’s wonderful to be a part of an event that stands head and shoulders above the rest and exceeds every expectation year in and year out. The 2015 Gauteng SANSUI Summer Cup will be the talk of the entire Gauteng province. This year promises even more excitement and entertainment with an impressive Sound Experience line-up. It really is a fantastic day at the races,” she says.
“There is an electric energy in Johannesburg towards the end of November. The Gauteng SANSUI Summer Cup is the perfect year end function for corporates as well as a day out with friends! This is Jozi’s horse race!” says Taryn Rautenbach from Megapro Holdings (Pty) Ltd, event organisers of this prestigious annual horse racing event.
"Our sponsorship with the Summer Cup is an appropriate fit not only due to our motto of ‘Live Entertained’, but because the event and our brand stand for the same values; quality, aspiration and credibility. The premium occasion is a unique union of the entertainment, sport and fashion industries in one powerful and exuberant Jozi event,” explains Chris Dirks, Group Executive: Merchandise and Marketing of JD Group, license holders of the SANSUI brand in South Africa.
A general access R75 ticket will give you access to Turffontein Racecourse, as well as the official Sound Experience after party (No U18’s allowed).
A host of hospitality options are also available:
A R275 Jozi Circle option is the golden ticket to Gauteng’s not to be missed summer event of the year. For those who really want an all-out VIP experience, R1 995 per person for the Summer Sound Experience package will get you racecourse admission, fully staffed hospitality in a luxury Bedouin facility with a view of the Sound Experience entertainment and horse racing rush, delicious meals, complimentary local bar, car park access, betting facilities and access to the all-important Sound Experience after party and private bar area.
The Summer Cup boasts an esteemed legacy of thoroughbred horse racing in Johannesburg which began in 1887 making the event 127 years old. Last year saw thousands of people attend race day, and with so much more on offer this year, this number is expected to grow substantially.
Get dressed up and come and feel the rush of a day at the races and what promises to be an exceptional after party at the Sound Experience in the city that never sleeps. The theme of this year’s race day is “More Jozi.” Think the Sport of Kings, glam and bling. Interpret this as you like and see you at the races!
Nothing is big unless it’s Jozi big!
Tickets are limited so get to Computicket today!
Johannesburg International Comedy Festival
South Africa’s stature in the world of comedy continues its phenomenal rise with the launch of the Johannesburg International Comedy Festival, which takes place over three days from 6-8 November 2015.
The festival is a multi venue, multi show comedy showcase featuring local, continental and international talent performing at the Alexander Theatre, Orbit Jazz Café, Thirteen and the Bannister Hotel in Braamfontein as well as The Market Theatre and Bassline in the Newtown precinct.
With 42 comedians scheduled to take part, this will undoubtedly be one of the biggest gatherings of comedy talent ever assembled on the continent!
Over and above that, there will be fringe shows staged at popular Braamfontein venues namely Kitcheners, Great Dane and Anti Establishment that will feature emerging talent in the build up to the festival from 2-4 November.
The Johannesburg International Comedy Festival is built around key concept shows each featuring a great mix of local favourites and specifically chosen international talent as follows:
Stand Up Africa (Alexander Theatre) – Comedy with Africa’s finest comedians. League of Nations (Alexander Theatre) – Comedy without borders featuring talent from around the world.
Fire In The Hole (Bannister Hotel Basement) – Comedy with no limits or boundaries, humor that is risky, edgy and politically incorrect.
Bantu Hour Live (Orbit Jazz Café) – Comedy inspired by the late night talk show format of host, live band, interactive engagement with the comedians and special music guests.
Live From The 13th Floor (Thirteen) – Comedy that celebrates trailblazing female talent live from Braamfontein’s newest and sexiest venue atop the Neighbourgoods Market.
Vernac Attack (Bassline Theatre) – Comedy in any of South Africa’s indigenous languages, a previously underground category that is now taking the country by storm.
Jokenation (Market Theatre) – Jokenation is a global talent search that seeks to find tomorrow’s comedy stars in the US, UK, Continental Europe, Middle East / Asia as well as South Africa. The best comedian to win this SA final will be flown to Switzerland to go and perform at the Montreux Comedy Festival in December.
The shows will be hosted by an unbelievable spread of comedians that reads like a nominees list at the Comics Choice Awards. Loyiso Gola, Ndumiso Lindi, John Vlismas, Kagiso Lediga, Tats Nkonzo and Mashabela are included whilst an amazing array of comedians lies in wait to entertain on the various stages.
The local contingent of acts includes the likes of Jason Goliath, Donovan Goliath, Trevor Gumbi, Deep Fried Man, Celeste Nthuli, Stuart Taylor, Loyiso Madinga, Carvin Goldstone, Siya B, Nina Hastie, Smowkey Nyembe, Tracey Lee Oliver – the list of must-see talent is endless!
World class continental talent will be represented by the likes of Salvado [Uganda], Daliso Chaponda [Malawi], Carl Joshua Ncube [Zimbabwe] amongst others. There will also be a diverse array of international talent that’s been carefully curated in the likes of Maureen Langan, Orlando Baxter, Mike Leibowitz from the USA, Francesco de Carlo from Italy, Yacine Belhousse from France and others. The Johannesburg International Comedy Festival will be a true representation of the globalization of the stand up comedy art form.
In a major vote of confidence for comedy in the country, the largest comedy festival in mainland Europe - the Montreux Comedy Festival in Switzerland - has partnered with prominent South African comedy producers Podium Comedy to form Bimha Productions, which will produce The Johannesburg International Comedy Festival.
Tickets to the Johannesburg International Comedy Festival go on sale from Friday the 11th of September on www.webtickets.co.za, www.jicf.co.za or the Festival Facebook page with prices ranging from R150 to R250.
The Johannesburg International Comedy Festival is produced by Bimha Productions in partnership with the City of Joburg, DISCOP Africa and the Four Seasons Westcliff.
Keep up with all the happenings here->
Twitter: @JICF_SA
Facebook: Johannesburg International Comedy Festival - JICF https://www.facebook.com/JICF.SA
Instagram: JICF_SA
Hashtag: #JICF
H&M Fashion Stores for South Africa
H & M, Hennes & Mauritz Pty Ltd, the international retailer known for fashion and quality at the best price in a sustainable way, will open its first South African flagship store on October 17th, 2015 at 10:00am in the V&A Waterfront. Located in the original V&A Waterfront center-court and extending over 2 floors, the 4 700 square meter store is a dedication of inspiration to the fashion fans of South Africa.
Set in the heart of Cape Town’s most desirable shopping environment, the store boasts a full assortment of fashion, accessories and home wear for the savvy and the stylish. The interior is modern and truly luxurious, with an exciting combination of digital and design elements that lead shoppers on an inviting and exciting journey through the H&M world of fun and fashion.
“Opening in time for the festive season, we couldn’t be more excited to debut the first H&M South African flagship store in the iconic V&A Waterfront. The store is a highlight of global retail and interior standards and customers can look forward to a wide variety of spring and summer collection offerings,” says Pär Darj, Country Manager for H&M South Africa.
The first H&M South Africa store will showcase apparel, underwear and accessories for men, women, teens and kids allowing every customer to dress their personal style no matter what that is. The store will also have H&M’s Home concept, which delivers a unique element of style for every room in the house.
To launch H&M into South Africa, an exclusive VIP event will be held in store on October 15th 2015, where invited guests will be treated to an incredible shopping experience, whilst being entertained by top South African musicians and DJs.
To celebrate the opening day on October 17th 2015, the store will be open to shoppers from 10:00am – 00:00am with a host of exciting exclusive opening offers. H&M will host a pre-launch countdown rewarding those eager customers in the queue with entertainment and fashionable surprises.
The store will be open on Sunday 18th from 9:00am – 11:00pm and thereafter from 9:00am – 9:00pm every day.
The opening of H&M at the V&A Waterfront is the first of many in South Africa. H&M store openings to look forward to include Sandton City (November 2015), Mall of the South (Autumn 2016), Clearwater (Autumn 2016) and Mall of Africa (Autumn 2016).
For more info and a glimpse into the fashions click HERE
Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition
Authentic artifacts recovered from the famous shipwreck of the Titanic will be displayed for the first time in South Africa when Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition opens in Johannesburg at TheZone@Rosebank from 18 September to 8 November 2015.
Educational, emotional and appropriate for all ages, Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition will take visitors on a journey through the life of Titanic. The Exhibition has been designed with a focus on the legendary ship’s compelling human stories.
Those attending will find out about the lives of South Africans that were on board Titanic, learn about passengers and crew members, admire a recreated iceberg installed at the exhibition and relive the events of that fatal night.
Says Marius Basson, director of Manic Global and organiser of the event: “Visitors will be drawn back in time to April 1912 when the ship embarked on its maiden voyage. They will receive a replica boarding pass, assume the role of passengers and follow the chronological journey of life on Titanic – from the ship’s construction, to life on board, the famous sinking, and the modern day efforts to recover and conserve the wreckage for future generations.”
Basson adds that delicate perfume vials, porcelain dinnerware (with the White Star Line logo), personal belongings, postcards, pieces of the ship and numerous other items recreating the lost era will be available to view. Certain areas have also been created to mimic the rooms of Titanic.
Children of all ages can look forward to a downloadable educational curriculum, kiddies artifact map (weekly prizes to be won), a live iceberg and the Kiddies Activation Zone with a Titanic jumping castle, Titanic PlayStation Zone, Titanic Lego building tables, Titanic sand pits and Titanic ocean tanks.
Adults in turn can shop at the extensive merchandise shop, sample specially made “White Star” ranges of beer and wines, order a Titanic tea or coffee package and experience an authentic dining experience that recreates what life was like on board the ship in 1912.
Visit Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition from Friday, 18 September to Sunday, 8 November 2015 at TheZone@Rosebank in Johannesburg. The expo will be open from 09h00 to 19h00 daily, Monday through to Sunday. Following the event in Johannesburg, Cape Town will play host from 27 November 2015 to 14 February 2016 at the V&A Waterfront.
Tickets for Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition are available at the expo or through Webtickets and range from R76 for children to R135 for adults (family packages include even further discounts). Special school packages are also available for groups of 20 or more.
For more information, click HERE and also join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest news.
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Egypt's Ex-Leader is now buried after courtroom death
Ari Moran
CAIRO, Egypt - The former Egyptian President, Mohammed Morsi, is now buried after he died in court after suffering a heart attack on Monday.
The former president has been buried in eastern Cairo in Al-Wafaa wa al-Amal cemetery.
He was buried at dawn together with other senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Morsi was 67 years old and had been in custody since 2013 after his removal from office.
After his death, many human rights activists called for an investigation, and criticizing his living conditions while in custody.
His family also raised their concerns pertaining to Morsi's health while in confinement and mentioned how his solitary confinement disallowed visits from family members, lawyers, and doctors.
His son expressed his disappointment after the Egyptian authorities denied their family's request for a public funeral in their hometown.
His family and the Brotherhood also considered it a 'hasty burial,' calling it abrupt and restricted. This has intensified their call for an independent medical inquiry.
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/ Headlines / World News / Investors Look To Protect Themselves As The Disease Ravaging The US Economy Spreads
Investors Look To Protect Themselves As The Disease Ravaging The US Economy Spreads
Economic cancer is rapidly spreading, and the U.S. economy is deteriorating at the fastest pace that we’ve seen since the last recession. Here’s how…
by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse Blog
2019 sure has been a weird year so far. On Wall Street, everything has been coming up roses for investors up to this point. Stock prices have risen more than 10 percent year-to-date, and the horrible crashes of late last year are quickly fading from memory. Meanwhile, the real economy is literally falling to pieces right in front of our eyes. Debt delinquencies are at unprecedented levels, bankruptcies are soaring, retail stores are closing at a record pace, this is the worst economy for farmers since the early 1980s, exports are plummeting and a brand new real estate crisis has now begun. Economic cancer is rapidly spreading throughout our country, and the U.S. economy is deteriorating at the fastest pace that we have seen since the last recession. So how long will it be before Wall Street catches up with economic reality?
The retail industry is being hit particularly hard. At the end of last week, major retailers announced 465 store closings in a single 48 hour period…
The ‘retail apocalypse’ is alive and well this week with major chains such as Gap, JCPenney, Victoria’s Secret and Foot Locker all announcing massive closures, totalling the death of more than 465 stores over the last 48 hours.
And those closings already bring the grand total for 2019 to “a whopping 4,309 store closures”…
That builds on recent store closure announcements by Gymboree, Payless ShoeSource, Charlotte Russe and Ann Taylor parent company Ascena Retail, to name a few. A whopping 4,309 store closures were announced by retailers just in the first two months of this year, Coresight Research said in a research note on Friday. That’s well ahead of the number of announcements the market research firm was tracking this same time a year ago, it said.
The term “retail apocalypse” is being thrown around so frequently these days that it has almost lost its meaning, but the worst is yet to come.
Meanwhile, layoffs are starting to come fast and furious now. For example, I was recently made aware of major job cuts that just happened in North Carolina…
Duke Energy Corp. eliminated 1,900 positions in its latest round of job reductions, largely through voluntary buyouts but with some involuntary layoffs included.
For the first time since the last recession, I think that it is time to start visiting sites like Daily Job Cuts on a regular basis once again. Millions of Americans lost their jobs in 2008 and 2009, and a lot of you can still remember how painful that was.
In the middle of the country, the big news is “the farm apocalypse”. Last week, we learned that farm debt has now jumped 30 percent since 2013…
“Farm debt has been rising more rapidly over the last five years, increasing by 30% since 2013 – up from $315 billion to $409 billion, according to USDA data, and up from $385 billion in just the last year – to levels seen in the 1980s,” Perdue said in his testimony to the House Agriculture Committee.
As a result of this giant mountain of debt, a ton of small and mid-size farms are going under. As I noted the other day, farm debt delinquencies have now reached the highest level that we have witnessed in 9 years.
I really, really don’t understand the people that are telling us that everything is going to be okay.
Everything is not okay, and things are getting worse with each passing day. ISM’s manufacturing survey just hit the lowest level in 26 months, and for a whole bunch more extremely ominous economic numbers please see my previous article entitled “18 Really Big Numbers That Show That The U.S. Economy Is Starting To Fall Apart Very Rapidly”.
Of course it isn’t just the U.S. that is hurting. Up north, Canada is literally teetering on the brink of recession…
The Canadian government shocked the professional financial and economic media with their latest fourth quarter GDP releaseshowing the economy has essentially come to a grinding halt at 0.1% growth.
And over in Europe, things are arguably even worse. Germany is supposed to have the strongest economy in the entire region, but they are also right on the brink of recession…
The country’s economy just escaped entering recession territory last month, with GDP growing at just zero percent following a 0.4 percent contraction in the previous three-month period. But Germany could be just weeks away from a recession-threatening double whammy as a potential no-deal Brexit and Donald Trump’s warning to hike car tariffs by up to 25 percent could send the economy tumbling. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ministers have entered into a frantic plan to avert an economic catastrophe which could end Europe’s biggest economy’s golden growth for a decade.
This is a global economic slowdown, and many believe that it will be even worse than what we experienced in 2008.
But as I have previously warned, we aren’t just heading toward an economic storm. Everything that can be shaken will be shaken, and that includes our governmental institutions.
On Sunday, we learned that the House Judiciary Committee is opening an investigation into obstruction of justice by President Trump. The following comes from Reuters…
The House Judiciary Committee will seek documents from more than 60 people and organizations as it begins investigations into possible obstruction of justice and abuse of power by President Donald Trump, the panel’s chairman said on Sunday.
Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler told ABC’s “This Week” the panel wanted documents from the Department of Justice, the president’s son Donald Trump Jr. and Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, among others.
This is going to be a year of great governmental shaking. And no matter which side emerges victorious from the legal struggles and from the election of 2020, the truth is that our governmental institutions will never be the same again.
From 2016 through 2018, America experienced a time of relative peace and prosperity, and a lot of people out there were convinced that this bubble of unsustainable false prosperity could continue indefinitely.
Now it is becoming very clear what is ahead of us, and a lot of people are starting to freak out.
About the author: Michael Snyder is a nationally-syndicated writer, media personality and political activist. He is the author of four books including Get Prepared Now, The Beginning Of The Endand Living A Life That Really Matters. His articles are originally published on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News. From there, his articles are republished on dozens of other prominent websites. If you would like to republish his articles, please feel free to do so. The more people that see this information the better, and we need to wake more people up while there is still time.
Tags: economic collapse, everything bubble, farmer bankruptcies, Fundamental Analysis, global synchronized slowdown, Michael Snyder, retail apocalypse, store closures
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A third contender
Home / History / The History of Sittingbourne / A third contender
There is one other contender, known as Sittingbourne Parva which stood by the stream on the corner of West Street and Ufton Lane where there was once a chapel and hermitage known as Schamel. The chapel was dedicated to St Thomas Becket so it’s fair to assume the chapel and its hospital were both built expressly for the benefit of passing pilgrims and other travellers. The earliest known reference to Sittingbourne Parva is contained in a document drawn up by Eleanor of Provence, the queen of Henry III, in c.1287 but Alan Abbey suggests the ‘Parva’ suffix makes this site later than Sittingbourne, post-1000 at best. Like the other two settlements it too stood on the banks of a stream or river, one that flowed down Ufton Lane, into Cockleshell Walk, now the beginning of St Michael’s Road, and on to the Creek. When pits were being dug for the underground petrol tanks for the filling station on the corner of Dover Street in 1927, a large number of disarticulated human bones, including two complete skeletons were discovered, one of which showed signs of having suffered a violent death. It was conjectured at the time they were the remains of passing pilgrims who had been attacked. Perhaps this was once part of a graveyard attached to the Schamel chapel or possibly just a roadside ditch into which the corpses were thrown; without documentary evidence it cannot be said for certain. If the skeletons had been articulated it would suggest it was a burial ground.
If a settlement did once exist here, there are no remains of it now. None of the buildings in this part of West Street are of any significant age, unlike some in the High Street so it can only be assumed Sittingbourne Parva did not develop beyond the time of Schamel’s demise. Any archaeological traces of Schamel would have been destroyed when Mr Cremer opened his brickfield on the corner of Ufton Lane and West Street in the late nineteenth century, and further by the construction in 1894 of a private residence called Schamel, the home of solicitor, Mr Gibson. The house later became a convent and boarding school for young ladies, called the Nativity School of the Convent. After its demolition the site became a small housing estate whose road names reflect its earlier usage.
Schamel has long been said to be a corruption of the name of one of its earliest priests, Samuel, but despite this, Alan Abbey has an interesting alternative hypothesis. He is more and more convinced that this was a Templars site that reverted to the Crown when that institution was outlawed. The site was most probably a hospital for Templars and their officials when travelling. Once they were gone the land was then bolted on to Sittingbourne and he thinks that the very odd boundaries go a long way to proving this. It was a large site that was almost a self-contained village. St Michaels was very powerful and had it brought under its wing where it became known as little Sittingbourne. It has to be later for that to have happened.
Watling Street
The meaning of the town’s name
The town’s original location
A religious site?
An alternative to Watling Street
Sittingbourne today, its origins
Early urban growth
Sittingbourne in the twenty-first century
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British Airways owner enters low-cost long-haul fray with new airline Level
IAG chief Willie Walsh said Level would launch in Barcelona but add other European destinations soon
Bradley Gerrard
17 March 2017 • 11:00am
Retail and Consumer industry
Willie Walsh
The launch by British Airways’ owner of a low-cost long-haul airline could be a key staging post in the development of the growing trend for cheaper and longer flights.
'Level' has been unveiled by International Airlines Group as a low-cost, long-haul carrier operating out of Barcelona from June with flights to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Buenos Aires and Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.
The move will put the company in direct competition with companies such as Norwegian, which has tried to carve a niche for itself in the nascent cheap long-haul flights market.
Level will be run by IAG’s Spanish carrier Iberia’s flight and cabin crew and fares with start from €99 one-way or $149 compared...
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À propos de la Plateforme
HomeNews and viewsNewsSport and development in 2018: The year in review
Sport and development in 2018: The year in review
Copyrights: Flickr: Gustave Deghilage (Fans in Lausanne watching the 2018 FIFA World Cup)
From surges of xenophobia to historic achievements in sport equality, 2018 was an interesting year for sport and development.
The Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang kicked off 2018, and featured an important moment in sport diplomacy. Among much controversy, North Korea and South Korea unified the women’s ice hockey team and entered the opening ceremony under a Korean unification flag. Another major sport event, the FIFA World Cup, took place last summer in Russia. However, concerns about discrimination and potential human rights violations persisted. During the World Cup, the Institute for Human Rights and Business announced the Centre for Sport and Human Rights, created by a diverse coalition of sports federations, governments, civil society representatives, and national human rights institutions.
As in recent years, 2018 marked an upsurge in racist violence and extreme right politics, signalling a dangerous trend in many countries. Elite sport often overlaps with politics, as we saw at beginning of the year, with controversy surrounding American football players silently protesting racial injustice during the national anthem. Racist and antisemitic incidents in sport have also been increasing. Kick It Out noted that the number of reports of racism in English football increased 22 per cent from the previous year. The group aims to educate fans, and urges people to report such incidents, online or in the stadium. Other campaigns to target discrimination in sport include the Fare network’s Football People Action Weeks and UEFA’s #EqualGame campaign.
Sexism has also been a noteworthy topic this year, with the #MeToo movement continuing to grow, and cases of abuse in sport coming to light. While female athletes celebrated a number of victories, including Ada Hegerberg becoming the first woman to win the Ballon d’Or, there is still a long way to go to create an equal playing field for women and girls. This was an important theme at the IWG Conference on Women and Sport which took place in Botswana last May. The conference legacy, called the Botswana Big Five, lays out five strategic actions for gender mainstreaming within the next four years.
An important component of achieving gender equality is ensuring safe environments for children in sport. One group working to make sport safe for all is the International Safeguarding Children in Sport Initiative. Their #BeAChampionForChildren campaign launched in November, and encourages coaches, parents, teachers and sports organisations to implement the International Safeguards for Children in Sport into their programmes.
The International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP) garnered much support this year, with its theme focusing on the Sustainable Development Goals and sport’s role in achieving them. sportanddev expanded on this theme by launching a new section dedicated to sport and the SDGs.
A number of publications in sport and development stood out this year. That includes two by Laureus: “The State of Sport for Good Report” and “Empowering Young Girls and Women through Sport for Development”. A further research report, a collaboration between the Commonwealth and the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, called “Sport for Development: The Road to Evidence”, looked at multiple interventions in sport and development and evaluated best practices.
By the end of 2017, the UNHCR reported around 68.5 million people worldwide were displaced, a record high. The highest number of refugees come from Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar and Somalia. This remains a pressing issue going into 2019, and there is a need for more programmes supporting refugees. This year’s RESPONSIBALL Forum focused on this topic. The forum launched a Call to Action on sport and refugees which all members of the sport community are invited to sign.
2018 saw the sport and development sector move forward. In the post-United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace landscape, the International Olympic Committee and United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs are playing a more central role, alongside many other stakeholders. Questions still remain as to how sport can be mainstreamed globally and who is leading the charge, given all the changes. A positive development was the latest UN resolution, recognising sport’s importance in development. It is vital that such policy translates into practice - sportanddev will continue to lead and coordinate efforts to advocate for the role of sport in development at the global, national and local levels.
What achievements do you hope to see in sport and development in 2019? Let us know on sportanddev’s Twitter and Facebook pages or write to us at info@sportanddev.org.
Carrie Oillaux
Related article: Call to Action on sport and refugees launched at the RESPONSIBALL Forum
Learn more about sport and the SDGs
Related article: United Nations Resolution recognises the importance of sport for sustainable development
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Trending Topics 2018 MLB Season 2018 NFL Season NFL NHL MLB 2017-18 NBA Season NBA UFC
The Darkest Moments in the History of the NBA
By: Kale Havervold
The NBA has been a place where amazing and unforgettable moments occur every year. Thrilling plays and outstanding feats of athleticism are common place and wow millions of fans, making for a neverending stream of SportsCenter replays. However, the NBA isn’t immune from dark and troublesome times, either. For every jaw-dropping play or heartwarming story, there are just as many controversial, sad, or scandalous moments. This article will look at 12 of the darkest moments in NBA history, many of which changed the league forever.
12. Latrell Sprewell Attacks His Coach
The bond between a coach and his player is supposed to be sacred. A great basketball mind trying to shape players into better people and athletes. However, Latrell Sprewell must have missed the memo. While he was a talented player during his time with the Golden State Warriors, he also had a bit of a temper. This was clearly evident at practice in 1997 when, after getting criticized for his passing, Sprewell attacked his own coach P.J Carlesimo. He choked him for 10 seconds before teammates dragged him off, and then returned 20 minutes later to punch his coach in the face. As expected, Sprewell was soon removed from the team and faced a lengthy suspension before resurfacing in 1999 with the New York Knicks.
Via Yahoo!
11. The 2002 Western Conference Finals
While this one is really only speculation (and basically impossible to prove), there are millions of people who believe that the 2002 Western Conference Finals was rigged. Not only did the NBA want the series go seven games, but they also wanted the Los Angeles Lakers — with superstars Kobe Bryant and Shaw — came out on top. While there were many questionable moments in the series, it was Game 6 that is the most (in)famous. There were dozens of bad calls throughout the game (and just as many bad non-calls), and the Lakers shot an astonishing 27 free throws in the 4th quarter alone, which led many to believe the game was fixed.
(Mark J. Terrill / AP Photo)
10. Reggie Lewis Collapses During Practice
As the “Big 3” in Boston of Larry Bird, Robert Parish, and Kevin McHale were getting older, the Celtics wanted to add some youth. They got it in the form of first round pick Reggie Lewis, who they took in the 1987 draft. While he started his career slow, by the early 1990s he was one of the best players in the league and was primed to help the Celtics rebound. However, Lewis suddenly collapsed during an off-season practice in 1993 and was pronounced dead at the scene. He had a history of heart problems in the past, as he had collapsed during a playoff game only a few months earlier. Later it was speculated that hard drug use may have contributed to his sudden death, but those accusations remain unfounded. The Celtics retired his number out of respect.
Via CelticsBlog.com
9. Kobe Bryant is Accused of Sexual Assault
There is no doubting that Kobe Bryant is one of the best players in NBA history, but even he wasn’t immune from controversial scandals. Up until 2003, he was a legend, a fierce competitor, a champion, and everyone seemed to love him. However, that all changed when Bryant was accused sexual assault by a hotel employee in Colorado. While Bryant admitted to having sexual relations with his accuser (while being married, we should add), he claimed it was completely consensual. Even though the charges would eventually be dropped, his reputation was tarnished in the eyes of many. He lost some major sponsorship deals and also settled a separate civil lawsuit with the alleged victim out of court.
Via MSNBC
8. The Passing of Drazen Petrovic
Beginning his career in Europe, Drazen Petrovic was seen as one of the best basketball players in the world to not be in the NBA. However, in 1990, he experienced a breakout season with the New Jersey Nets and over the next few seasons, became one of the best guards in the league. In fact, he is considered a major catalyst for the large influx of European players we see in the NBA today. Unfortunately, his career and life were cut short when he passed away in a car accident in 1993 at the age of 28. His number has been retired by the Nets and many feel he is the best European NBA player ever.
Via basketballsocietyonline.com
7. Jayson Williams and his Fatal Mistake
Jayson Williams was a solid NBA player, but is known more for something that happened off the court. During a tour of his home (showing it off to those on his charity team), he was messing around with a shotgun and it went off, accidently killing a 55-year old limousine driver. He was charged and eventually sentenced to five years for the crime (and for attempting to cover it up). Even though it was an accident and happened after he has officially retired from a 1o-year playing career, this tragedy put a black mark on the league in the eyes of many.
Via NJ.com
6. Magic Johnson Retiring
When all is said and done, Magic Johnson will forever be seen as one of the best point guards in NBA history, He revolutionized the position and his impact on the league will be felt forever. However, the way in which his career ended is still one of the biggest shocks and saddest moments in league history. In a now-famous press conference in 1991, Johnson revealed he has contracted HIV and retired from the NBA immediately. After that, he helped raise awareness for HIV/AIDS and been responsible for helping fuel a ton of research looking for a cure. Despite the announcement, Johnson would play in the All-Star game that year (even though some players were vocally opposed to it) and was part of the 1992 Dream Team. He would unretire and play for the Lakers again briefly in 1996.
Via L.A. Times
5. The Marv Albert Scandal
For many people, Marv Albert is the voice of the NBA. He is a household name when it comes to commentating basketball and is seen as one of the best in the business. However, in 1997, we got a glimpse into his personal life, and it was shocking to say the least. A woman came forward saying that her and Albert had a decade-long affair, and that he had forced her into doing many different types of lewd acts. He eventually pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and battery charges. He was fired by NBC, where he had worked for over 20 years, but would eventually find his way back into commentating within a couple of years, much to the chagrin of many people.
4. The Death of Len Bias
Coming out of Maryland, Len Bias was supposed to be the next big thing in the NBA. He had the size, the athletic abilities, and the skills needed to be a great player. He was taken with the second overall pick in the 1986 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics and they were sure they had their next star. Unfortunately, after attending a party just two days after the draft, Bias and some friends used cocaine. He collapsed and died due to his use of the drug. This was incredibly tragic, as he was only 22-years-old and had his entire life to live. It was a shocking wake up call to many NBA players about the dangers of instant riches and excessive lifestyles.
(AP Photo/files)
3. Kermit Washington Punches Rudy Tomjanovich
Back in the 1970s, full on fights in the NBA were common. We hardly see them anymore, and it is largely due to this incident. In 1977, a scuffle had started between the Lakers and the Rockets. Tomjanovich, a known peacemaker in the league, went to break up the fight. But before he could get there, Kermit Washington hit him with a roundhouse punch square in the face. The punch fractured his jaw and cheek, and even caused life-threatening head injuries, and left him unconscious in a pool of his own blood. As you could imagine, it was horrific in every sense of the word and led to the NBA imposing incredibly strict penalties for fights.
2. The Tim Donaghy Scandal
During his decade-plus career as a referee in the NBA, Tim Donaghy officiated almost 800 games in the regular season and 20 more in the playoffs. He was very respected as an official — up until 2007, that is. A New York Post investigation alleged that he had bet on NBA games that he was a referee for, including involvement from the mob. He would resign and plead guilty to gambling charges. This was a massive no-no and tarnished his reputation forever, and also the reputation of the league to some extent. He would make calls during games to benefit the bets he made, and made thousands of dollars as a result.
Via sportingnews.com
1. The Malice at the Palace
You knew this would be at the number one spot, and it is absolutely the darkest day in NBA history — by a long shot. After an on-court squabble between the Pistons and Pacers back in 2004, Ron Artest went to go cool off by laying on the scorer’s table. A fan then threw a beverage at him and all hell broke loose. In retaliation, Artest stormed into the crowd and punched the wrong fan. Numerous Pacers players also began to fight with Pistons fans, which turned an already ugly scene into one of the worst things to happen in pro sports. Huge suspensions were handed down and a ton of new security guidelines were put in place league-wide.
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The Most Underrated NBA Free Agent Acquisitions Ever
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Professor Barry Ninham AO (1953) Awarded the Matthew Flinders Medal
Congratulations to Professor Barry Ninham AO (1953), who has been awarded the Matthew Flinders Medal by the Australian Academy of Science for his work in the physical sciences, including technological innovations for the developing world.
The Matthew Flinders Medal, named after one of Australia’s early scientific researchers, is presented every two years to Australia’s most influential and inspiring scientists working in the physical sciences.
Professor Ninham is the world’s leading researcher in colloid and surface science, an interdisciplinary science where the physical, chemical and biological sciences meet. Among pioneering contributions to the natural sciences, his best known work is that in the self-assembly of biological molecules and in the theory of molecular forces.
Professor Ninham and his team have developed world first technologies for desalination and to clean recycled water of bacteria, viruses, drugs, and other impurities such as arsenic and nuclear waste. Compared to current technologies the new methods are much simpler and substantially cheaper.
More information can be found here and here.
Newer Post2017 Western Australia Award Finalist
Older Post2016 UWA Summer Music Academy
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Identifying Air Algerie air crash victims 'could take years', says Algeria's police chief
Algeria's Chief of Police and head of national security Abdelkader Kara Bouhadba speaks during a press conference in the capital Algiers on July 31, 2014, in which he announced that none of the bodies have been identified from the Air Algerie plane that disintegrated over the northern Mali desert last week. Identifying the victims from last week's Air Algerie crash in Mali "could take weeks, months and maybe years", Algeria's chief of police said on Thursday, July 31, 2014. -- PHOTO: AFP
Jul 31, 2014, 10:42 pm SGT
http://str.sg/ZUzk
ALGIERS (AFP) - Identifying the victims from last week's Air Algerie crash in Mali "could take weeks, months and maybe years", Algeria's chief of police said on Thursday.
An Air Algerie McDonnell Douglas 83 flying from Burkina Faso to Algiers crashed in northern Mali last Thursday, killing all 118 people on board.
"It is too early to talk about identification, it is an operation that could take weeks, months and maybe years. The important thing is to find the truth," Mr Abdelkader Kara Bouhadba told reporters. He added that identifying the victims' bodies was a "human priority".
Thirteen Algerian forensic police specialists have travelled to the site of the crash in the Gossi region, around 150km from Gao in north-eastern Mali, along with counterparts from France, Mali and Spain.
Among the 118 dead were 54 French nationals, eight Lebanese, 23 Burkinabe, six Algerians and six Spaniards.
Mr Bouhadba said it had not been possible to analyse several samples collected at the crash site because conditions there were "inhospitable" to forensic work and conservation of the bodies.
But Mr Ali Feragui, deputy head of the forensic police, said "all the passengers on board the aircraft will be identified (thanks to) the techniques and experience of the different experts".
Forensic experts have resorted to using DNA samples to identify the dead, mostly because of the state the bodies were found in. The extreme heat at the crash site has further complicated their work.
President Francois Hollande has said the remains of all passengers on the plane - not just the French - would be flown to France.
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Strategy and consultancy
International PR
A media perspective from the U.S.
Print, the Phone Call and Pressing the Flesh – They Aren’t Dead Yet.
The Blogosphere has fallen too much in love with itself, and that’s a problem. Overhyped and over-promoted on blogrolls and among bloggers, Weblogs can’t live up to their reputation. Everyone has a blog these days, or so it seems, and keeping track of what is relevant and worth reading is hard work. Feeds help, but not by much.
Granted, print media is having a tough time these days. The New York Times has begun selling ad space on its hallowed front page — a practice of other newspapers but not, until now, of the paper of record.
But print is not dead.
Neither is the telephone. For all the ease of communication that e-mail brings, nothing makes a connection with a journalist quite like a phone call.
Neither is pressing the flesh. One of the largest conventions held in the United States just ended. The Consumer Electronics Show drew 110,000 attendees to Las Vegas this year. According to an article in PC World, attendance was down 22% from last year. Still, over 100,000 people went to conduct business face to face.
PR and publicity thrive on the personal connection. Our profession thrives on news and points of view and providing journalists and producers with story ideas. This is an oversimplified analysis of our jobs, but you already know that.
The general wisdom says that as print pulls back, printing fewer pages per issue, there will be more competition for print space. But from what I’m seeing, companies are also trimming their PR budgets.
My theory is that we will see a resurgence of print. Less space means more competition for it, which means that what does end up in print becomes even more valuable.
Weblogs offer little to no actual newsgathering capacity. Blogs compile information and news from elsewhere, from real news organizations.
As Steven Waldman wrote in “Why the Huffington Post Can’t Replace the New York Times”, “The idea that the Huffington Post, or the explosion of interesting internet news or blogging sites, can replace journalistic institutions like the New York Times or other newspapers or dinosaurs of the mainstream media truly misunderstands the web, newspapers, journalism and the serious threat posed to democracy if the news gathering institutions fail.”
What wins out in these perilous economic times are old-fashioned PR strategies. The phone calls and face-to-face meetings to pitch stories to journalists and editors.
The companies that maintain and even increase their PR budgets have an edge in this competitive atmosphere. They have a much better chance of claiming a piece of that valuable print real estate.
While we don’t control the media, a successful pitch results in a newspaper or magazine article. And when clients have something to hold in their hands, to cut out and frame, then we realize all the more the value of a print story.
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The Gospel According to Luke (Innbundet)
Steve Lukather og Paul Rees
Forfatter: Steve Lukather og Paul Rees
Forlag: Little, Brown Book Group
Kategori: Musikk
Omtale The Gospel According to Luke
No one explodes one of the longest-held misconceptions of music history better than Steve Lukather and his band Toto. The dominant pop-culture sound of the late-1970s and '80s was not in fact the smash and sneer of punk, but a slick, polished amalgam of rock and R&B that was first staked out on Boz Scaggs' Silk Degrees. That album was shaped in large part by the founding members of Toto, who were emerging as the most in-demand elite session muso-crew in LA, and further developed on the band's self-titled three-million-selling debut smash of 1978. A string of hits followed for the band going into the '80s and beyond. Running parallel to this, as stellar session players, Lukather and band-mates David Paich, Jeff Porcaro and Steve Porcaro were also the creative linchpins on some of the most successful, influential and enduring records of the era.
In The Gospel According to Luke, Lukather tells the Toto story: how a group of high school friends formed the band in 1977 and went on to sell more than 40 million records worldwide. He also lifts the lid on what really went on behind the closed studio doors and shows the unique creative processes of some of the most legendary names in music: from Quincy Jones, Paul McCartney, Stevie Nicks and Elton John to Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, Don Henley, Roger Waters and Aretha Franklin. And yet, Lukather's extraordinary tale encompasses the dark side of the American Dream.
Engaging, incisive and often hilarious, The Gospel According to Luke is no ordinary rock memoir. It is the real thing . . .
Flere bøker av Steve Lukather og Paul Rees:
The Gospel According to Luke
A Fast Ride Out of Here
Confessions of Rock's Most Dangerous Man
Pete Way og Paul Rees
When We Were Lions
Euro 96 and the Last Great British Summer
Paul Rees
Marius Lien
Like a melody
Hanne Sørvaag
Cordially Invited: A seasonal guide to celebrations and hosting, perfect for festive planning, crafting and baking in the run up to Christmas!
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TENNECO EXPANDS EMISSION CONTROL BUSINESS WITH TOYOTA
Company supplying 2008 Sequoia
Lake Forest, Illinois, April 29, 2008 – Tenneco Inc. (NYSE: TEN) announced that it is expanding its business in North America with Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc. with the launch of emission control business on the 2008 Toyota Sequoia.
"Our goal is to continue to build on our long-term supplier relationship with Toyota, and being selected to supply emission control systems on this program reflects our progress in achieving this strategic objective," said Gregg Sherrill, Tenneco chairman and CEO. "We continue to develop business with Toyota through strong operational performance, by providing advanced technologies, and through our ability to serve them on a global basis."
For the Sequoia, which is already in production, Tenneco is supplying the full exhaust system. Manufacturing for the Sequoia is taking place at Tenneco’s U.S. facilities in Smithville, Tenn., and Evansville, Ind.
"This platform exemplifies Tenneco’s global engineering capabilities with development work being done at the company’s engineering centers in Grass Lake, Michigan, Yokohama, Japan, and with our alliance partner, Futaba " Sherrill said. "This business also showcases Tenneco’s effective use of advanced process technology by utilizing laser welding to reduce product mass and increase manufacturing flexibility."
Tenneco recently announced that, in 2007, the company won $200 million in new business with five Japanese vehicle manufacturers. The $200 million in new business includes the Sequoia business announced today. The Sequoia platform is also included in Tenneco’s projection earlier this year that it will achieve an average compounded annual OE revenue growth rate of 11% to 13% between 2008 and 2012.
About Tenneco
Tenneco is a $6.2 billion manufacturing company with headquarters in Lake Forest, Illinois and approximately 21,000 employees worldwide. Tenneco is one of the world’s largest designers, manufacturers and marketers of emission control and ride control products and systems for the automotive original equipment market and the aftermarket. Tenneco markets its products principally under the Monroe®, Walker®, Gillet™ and Clevite®Elastomer brand names.
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Words such as "anticipate," "expects," "will", "continue" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on the current expectations of the company (including its subsidiaries). Because these forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, the company's plans, actions and actual results could differ materially. Among the factors that could cause these plans, actions and results to differ materially from current expectations are: (i) changes in automotive manufacturers' production rates and their actual and forecasted requirements for the company's products, including the company's resultant inability to realize the sales represented by its awarded book of business; (ii) changes in consumer demand and prices, including decreases in demand for automobiles which include the company's products, and the potential negative impact on the company's revenues and margins from such products; (iii) the general political, economic and competitive conditions in markets where the company and its subsidiaries operate; (iv) workforce factors such as strikes or labor interruptions; (v) material substitutions and increases in the costs of raw materials; (vi) the company's ability to develop and profitably commercialize new products and technologies, and the acceptance of such new products and technologies by the company's customers; and (vii) the timing and occurrence (or non-occurrence) of transactions and events which may be subject to circumstances beyond the control of the company and its subsidiaries. The company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release.
Tenneco Media Relations
Tenneco Investor Relations
Leslie Hunziker
lhunziker@tenneco.com
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St. Landry Parish approves support for recreation trails
It took a bit of effort, but the St. Landry Parish Council has voted to support two grants that would expand bicycle and canoe trails in the parish.
St. Landry Parish approves support for recreation trails It took a bit of effort, but the St. Landry Parish Council has voted to support two grants that would expand bicycle and canoe trails in the parish. Check out this story on theadvertiser.com: https://www.theadvertiser.com/story/news/local/acadiana/2014/05/01/st-landry-parish-approves-support-recreation-trails/8576669/
William Johnson, Louisiana Published 4:12 p.m. CT May 1, 2014 | Updated 8:07 p.m. CT May 1, 2014
St. Landry Parish Government council members Pam Gautreau and Wayne Ardoin discuss the issues prior to voting yes at a special meeting Wednesday to adopt a resolution of support for the Teche Project Recreational Trails Grant.(Photo: Freddie Herpin;ODW)
The state and federal government are in the process of seeking to improve recreational activities along Bayou Teche, and the parish is in line to receive $200,000 in grants to improve access in the Arnaudville area.
First, though, the parish council had to issue resolutions of support. That was the reason for this week's special meeting.
Only Councilman Alvin Stelly, who represents the Arnaudville area, voted against the resolutions of support, although he and Councilwoman Pam Gautreaux, whose district will also be affected by the bicycle trails, repeatedly attempted to amend the resolutions.
Their main concern was not with the trails but with the fact they would be under the authority of the parish president's office.
"No one person should have all the authority. This needs to come before the council," Stelly said. "I want the council to have some input on this. I want a say-so."
Gautreaux was also concerned with the line in the resolution that reads "acquire, develop and/or maintain motorized and non-motorized trails."
"What are you planning to acquire?" she asked.
"Permission to be on church property, which we already have," replied Parish President Bill Fontenot.
Stelly expressed doubt the church would support such a plan. After the meeting, Fontenot shared a letter from Rev. Keenan Brown, pastor of Arnaudville's St. John Francis Regis Catholic Church, supporting the project and its location on church grounds.
The proposal addresses two related projects: the development of bicycle trails in the parish radiating out from Arnaudville and a "trail head" rest area that would be located near the Bayou Teche boat ramp that is already on church property.
That trail head, with four to six restrooms, a picnic area, water fountain, a floating kayak dock and facilities to lock up canoes and bicycles, would serve bicyclists and paddlers along the bayou.
"It would be designed and built with an Acadian-Creole architectural emphasis," Fontenot said.
The trail head would also include a number of information kiosks.
"The kiosks will explain our culture and the history of the region. As it will be located on church property, the kiosks will also explain the important influence of the Catholic Church on our culture," Fontenot said.
Bayou Teche has already been declared a national canoe trail and the new bicycle trails will extend the state's existing Atakapa-Ishak Bike Trail that enters the town from St. Martin Parish on La. 31.
That bicycle trail would continue from Arnaudville for 14 miles along La. 31 through Leonville and into Opelousas.
It would also include a second, seven-mile trail from Arnaudville to Grand Coteau. That route would follow La. 31 to the west along Bayou Fuselier and then join La. 93 to Interstate 49 in Grand Coteau.
Fontenot explained those trails will consists of little more than pavement markings and posting of "share the road" signs every two miles along both routes.
Once the attempts to amend the resolutions of support failed, all except Stelly voted to approve them as written.
Fontenot said both projects could become a reality within a year or less.
"The money is readily available. We should know within 30 to 60 days if we are approved and then we can begin the design and engineering," Fontenot said.
He said the grants would cover those costs and all the costs of construction.
The parish would be required to provide in-kind services such as site preparation and utility connections.
Read or Share this story: https://www.theadvertiser.com/story/news/local/acadiana/2014/05/01/st-landry-parish-approves-support-recreation-trails/8576669/
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Victoria’s human rights commissioner vigorously defends national watchdog's independence
By Shane Green
Updated February 14, 2015 — 1.31am first published February 13, 2015 — 3.37pm
Victoria's human rights commissioner has mounted a strong defence of the national human rights watchdog, saying it has been subjected to unfair and inappropriate criticism.
Kate Jenkins said the criticism from politicians and the media was based on a misunderstanding of the role of the Australian Human Rights Commission, and that of its state and territory counterparts.
Human Rights and Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins. Credit:arsineh@arsineh.com
There were basic principles that human rights commissions needed to be independent, autonomous and have the power and resources to do the work they were required by law to undertake.
Ms Jenkins said the AHRC had an explicit mandate that included inquiring into any acts or practices "that may be inconsistent with or contrary to any human right".
"So when a human rights commission carries out its mandate, it should not be subjected to personal attacks or unfair and ill-considered criticism," Ms Jenkins told Fairfax Media.
"On occasions, human rights commissions will bring to light abuses of human rights that cause governments of any persuasion embarrassment and discomfort. They wouldn't be doing their job if this didn't sometimes happen."
Ms Jenkins, head of Victoria's Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, said that governments and oppositions could legitimately find fault with the work of a human rights commission, and can dispute its findings.
"But we would have a more well-informed and more respectful discussion if governments of all persuasions gave reasoned and considered responses to commission findings and reports," she said.
Ms Jenkins was a signatory to a recent statement in support of the work of the AHRC by the Australian Council of Human Rights Authorities, made up of state and territory statutory authorities. The statement was signed by six state and territory human and equal opportunity commissioners.
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Sunday's US win most-watched Women's World Cup group match
United States' Carli Lloyd, center, celebrates with teammates after scoring their side's third goal during the Women's World Cup Group F soccer match between United States and Chile at Parc des Princes in Paris, France, Sunday, June 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
LOS ANGELES — The Americans' 3-0 win over Chile set a record for the most-watched group-stage Women's World Cup match on U.S. English-language television.
Fox drew 5,324,000 viewers for Sunday's game, topping 4,492,000 for the Americans' 0-0 group-stage draw against Sweden in 2015. The game was the most-watched English-language soccer telecast in the country since last year's men's World Cup final.
In addition, Sunday's match averaged 84,000 viewers online, the second-most streamed Women's World Cup match.
The first two U.S. matches averaged 3,975,000, up 2% from 3,902,000 from four years ago.
The U.S. has advanced to the knockout stage and will finish group play on Thursday against Sweden.
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TUC - Risks 901 - 15 June 2019
Risks is the TUC's weekly online bulletin for safety reps and others sponsored by Thompsons Solicitors. Sign up to receive this bulletin every week. Past issues are available. Disclaimer and Privacy Editor: Rory O'Neill of Hazards magazine. Comments to the TUC at healthandsafety@tuc.org.uk.
GMB to campaign on work-related bladder cancer
Minister accused of putting ambition first in asbestos scandal
‘Toxic’ organisation pays off leaders, then slashes staff
Sellafield Mitie workers contending with stress ‘epidemic’
Workforce ‘stress crisis’ in Scotland’s colleges
Call to bar blacklisting firms from Commons refurb work
College staff link weapons threat to lack of resources
Emergency services battling knife crime epidemic
Carers suffer thousands of serious work violence injuries
POA presses for action on prison violence
Unite ‘fury’ at Dundee charter breaches
Valero fined £5 million after explosion kills four
Firm fined after worker killed by gantry crane
Korea: Samsung victim wins 10-year fight for recognition
Japan: Call for safety probe at Tokyo Olympics sites
USA: Workers will die unless deadly solvent is banned
TUC COURSES FOR SAFETY REPS
Courses for 2019
The union GMB is to launch an awareness campaign on the link between work in certain industries and bladder cancer. The decision at the union’s annual Congress commits it to target a problem it says particularly affects workers in the chemical dye and rubber industries. However, the union said the chemicals linked to bladder cancer also occur “in hair dyes, paints, fungicides, cigarette smoke, plastics, pollutant emissions from industrial installations, and metal and motor vehicle exhausts, which can affect both male and females.” GMB says there are an estimated 100,000 men and women living with bladder cancer in the UK and approximately 15,000 new cases are diagnosed annually, making it the fifth most common cancer overall. GMB London’s regional secretary, Warren Kenny, said: “Occupational bladder claims thousands of lives per year, and it is likely that official statistics are underestimated as there are many causes of the cancer, meaning the link to work is often not made. Due to the long latency before symptoms manifest, it is often perceived to be an older person’s condition. As such there has been little campaigning for preventative approaches and such an approach is long overdue.” He said the union would work with both the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Fight Bladder Cancer campaign to “provide a much needed focus on this overlooked cancer and help to provide access to decision-makers in industry and government who can help address the shortage of research funding and poor prioritisation of bladder cancer.”
Ÿ GMB news release. Fight Bladder Cancer.
Resources: TUC occupational cancer guide. Work cancer hazards blog. Cancers and their work causes: An ITUC/Hazards at-a-glance guide to cancer hazards.
Unite has accused defence secretary Penny Mordaunt of ‘putting her political ambitions’ ahead of thousands of Sea King helicopter maintenance workers exposed to asbestos. The union wrote to the Portsmouth North MP on 2 May, expressing its ‘severe’ concerns that the MoD had failed to act to ensure the safety and wellbeing of thousands of MoD personnel, contractors and visitors who were potentially exposed to asbestos, during the 50-year operating lifetime of the helicopter (Risks 900). Over a month later, Unite has not received any response from Ms Mordaunt or anyone else at the MoD. Unite national officer for defence workers Jim Kennedy said: “It appears that Penny Mordaunt is focused more on developing her own political career, than dealing with the Sea King asbestos scandal. Tens of thousands of workers, many from her own constituency, may have been given a potential death sentence after unknowingly being exposed to asbestos and the MoD does not even have the good grace to warn them about their exposure.” The Unite officer, who has now written again to the minister, added: “If Penny Mordaunt is interested in the health of her constituents and MoD workers, not only does she need to respond to Unite’s concerns but she needs to take action to ensure those affected understand the risks they now face. The current approach of trying to wash their hands of this catastrophic failure shames the defence secretary, the MoD and the government.”
Ÿ Unite news release.
Members of Unite employed by Amnesty International have pledged to consider ‘all options’ after the human rights charity announced that 93 workers face losing their jobs. In total Amnesty is proposing cutting 146 posts, although this includes a number that are vacant. Amnesty ‘dissolved’ its senior leadership team last month, with five top bosses leaving with substantial payoffs, after a report concluded they had created a ‘toxic workplace’ (Risks 900). Amnesty commissioned the independent review following two staff suicides last year (Risks 877). The round of job cuts was announced following a review conducted by Deloitte UK. Since the Deloitte report was published Unite has raised serious concerns around the process, mandate and accuracy of the report. Unite regional co-ordinating officer Alan Scott said: “Unite members will meet this week to decide how to respond to the devastating announcement of redundancies. All options are firmly on the table.” He added: “The organisation’s senior management has a made a dangerous habit of irresponsible overspending and over-scoping, leaving staff to suffer the costs, first with their wellbeing and now with their jobs. The problems of wellbeing and the financial crisis are symptoms of a leadership that continuously made decisions that it could not afford, in terms of budget, workload and responsibility of care.”
Resources: Work and suicide: A TUC guide to prevention for trade union activists, updated February 2019. Work and suicide prevention checklist. More on work-related suicide.
A confidential survey of Unite members employed by Mitie at the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing site has revealed ‘shocking high levels’ of stress, mental ill-health, financial problems and bullying among workers. The survey found that 91 per cent of members said in the past year they had experienced stress at work. The principal causes of stress were low pay (66 per cent), too much work per shift (52 per cent) and bullying at work (28 per cent). Over a quarter of the affected workers (28 per cent) had to visit their GP due to stress, with 18 per cent having to take time off work due to the condition. Just under half of respondents (49 per cent) report they have suffered from bullying or harassment at work. And workers also report suffering from mental health issues, with nearly a third (31 per cent) indicating they had a mental health problem, and nearly two-thirds (62 per cent) being forced to take time off work because of the condition. Two-thirds (66 per cent) of the Mitie workforce believed that Mitie did not take workers’ physical or mental health seriously. Unite regional organiser Ryan Armstrong said: “The findings of the survey are horrific. Levels of stress, bullying, mental and physical ill-health are off the scale.” The union last week recommenced strike action at the company. “If Mitie and Sellafield are serious about resolving this dispute, then they need to return to the negotiating table and make a sensible offer and then tackle the working practices which are making our members ill,” the Unite official said.
A stress crisis is blighting the workforce in Scotland’s colleges, the education union UNISON has said. ‘SOS Stressed Out Staff, Scotland’s Colleges Stress Report 2019’, based the union’s survey, found over 50,000 working days have been lost due to stress in Scotland’s colleges over the last three years. The report shows that work-related stress is having a severe impact on staff. If found 60 per cent of college staff felt that workloads are high or extremely high and 56 per cent suffer stress directly due to workloads. Action was rare, the union found, with 97 per cent saying managers hadn’t discussed Group Stress Risk Assessments and 73 per cent stating that managers had never discussed work levels and stress with them. Only 55 per cent of colleges in Scotland have a specific avoidance of stress policy, the union said. Chris Greenshields, chair of UNISON Scotland’s further education committee, said: “This report shows that workplace stress has reached critical levels in Scotland’s colleges and is still on the rise. Our members are struggling with workloads while continued cuts to staff numbers are being sustained as a means of finding ‘savings’.” UNISON was particularly concerned that almost threequarters of colleges had never had discussions with staff about stress and workloads. John Gallacher, UNISON Scottish organiser, said: “Too many staff are struggling under the stress of the job and it is affecting the service provided to students. The constant pressure to do more work for more students is proving too much for too many staff. We must properly invest in our colleges, to ensure staff can provide the world class education to their students.”
Ÿ UNISON news release.
Unions representing all staff working in parliament have called on the House of Commons Commission to not employ construction firms who were involved in illegal blacklisting of union members on the forthcoming refurbishment contract of the estate. Contracts for the work are estimated to be worth as much as £4 billion. A letter sent this week from the joint House of Commons trade union side to speaker of the House John Bercow, said it is “crucial that parliament should not be seen to employ companies and individuals who have engaged in the blacklisting of workers for, among other reasons, simply being trade union members.” Commons trade union side president Ken Gall said the restoration and renewal project for parliament will be a “very public and very welcome modernisation of the seat of our democracy, and as such will receive a great deal of scrutiny in terms of public money, design and the kind of parliament we want to see in the 21st century.” He noted the “reputational impact of awarding prestigious and hugely lucrative contracts to companies that previously engaged in illegal and outrageous treatment of the people they employed can hardly be exaggerated,” adding: “We trust that parliament - which has a laudable aspiration to be an exemplary 21st century employer - would not wish to be seen to reward that behaviour.” Health and safety activity was a major reason trade union reps were targeted by the blacklisters. Union lay officer and safety activist Brian Higgins, who died last week, struggled to find work as a bricklayer for decades, even during severe shortages of skilled labour. It later emerged a blacklisting file held on him by the industry-financed covert blacklister The Consulting Association ran to 49 pages, the largest held on any individual.
Ÿ PCS news release. Northampton Chronicle.
Young people are bringing weapons – such as machetes, hammers, metal bars and in one case a gun – into colleges across the country and making staff feel unsafe at work, according to a new report from the education union UNISON. Nearly a quarter of college support staff say weapon-related crime is a problem where they work – and the majority of this group say the issue has got worse, the union’s survey found. Budget cuts, rising knife crime and the closure of youth centres have put support staff – such as canteen workers, learning support assistants and librarians – in harm’s way, the union said. A survey of 800 support staff in colleges across the UK has revealed a number of serious incidents involving weapons – including pupil-on-pupil assaults, gang attacks and violence against staff. One in five support staff members admitted that they did not feel safe at work and some admitted that they had considered quitting the profession as they felt in danger. The vast majority (90 per cent) of respondents said they had received no training on dealing with teenagers who bring weapons into college. College staff need to be given training in handling weapon-related incidents after both students and staff have been left injured by a weapon brought into college, UNISON said. UNISON head of education Jon Richards said: “Budget cuts, rising knife crime and the closure of youth centres means college support staff are having to put themselves in harm’s way to ensure the safety of other students. It’s no accident that as spending on youth services has dropped, teenage crime levels have rocketed. A joined-up response from police, youth support services and colleges is the only way to turn youngsters away from crime – it shouldn’t fall to college support staff to pick up the pieces.”
Ÿ FE News. TES News. The Independent.
The union GMB is to campaign for greater resources to be available to emergency services to help tackle the knife crime epidemic across the country. A motion passed at the union’s annual Congress calls for the police service and justice system to be given a significant increase in support, tools and education to tackle this violence. The union cites Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Cressida Dick, who is “sure” that the current wave of knife crime is linked directly to the police budget cuts instigated by the Conservative government. Warren Kenny, GMB regional secretary, said: “This is the start of a battle, of a campaign to see our own heroic police service and justice system be given the support, tools and education to fight back against this wave of uncertainty and fear. It is a chance to tackle an epidemic which has made us all fear late nights and be suspicious of those who in the majority are innocent.” He added: “GMB fully support all frontline emergency workers, and importantly all the services which support communities, being properly funded in order to tackle this tragic epidemic.”
Ÿ GMB news release.
Care workers suffered more than 6,000 reported violent attacks resulting in serious injuries during the last five years, a GMB analysis of official figures has revealed. The union said the “horrifying” statistics, which were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, show that between the financial years 2013/14 to 2017/18, 6,034 violent attacks on care workers resulting in serious injury were reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Of these, 5,008 workers were so seriously injured they had to take at least seven days off work. A further 1,026 carers suffered a ‘specified’ injury, an inclusive list of legally reportable injuries that includes fractures, loss of sight, brain damage, loss of consciousness, asphyxia, or amputation. GMB says the true rates are likely to be much higher, as the HSE warns that ‘non-fatal injuries are substantially under-reported.’ Violent attacks account for a third of reports for residential care workers – compared to just 7 per cent of reports for all workers. GMB national officer Rachel Harrison commented: “These statistics are the tip of the iceberg – they only include the most serious injuries, and our members have to deal with violence on a daily basis.” She added: “Unfortunately, our members are sometimes put under unacceptable pressure to keep working after an attack when they should be receiving care themselves. Care is crucial. For each of us individually, our parents, grandparents, kids, friends and neighbours, but too often the sector is overlooked and the people working in care treated less than the frontline professionals that they are.”
Ÿ GMB news release. The Guardian.
The prison officers’ union POA is to ballot its membership on “any lawful means necessary” to address what it sees as inaction by ministers on the prison violence crisis. The union is concerned that the failure of the service to press ahead with a roll out of PAVA incapacitant spray (Risks 871). The union says to date, PAVA is available only in four pilot sites. This is despite the union warning that assaults on prison officers remain at “record levels”. POA says it is prevented by a High Court injunction from taking industrial action but it maintains its they still “have a right to take lawful action in order to protect their members’ health and safety.” POA national chair Mark Fairhurst, commenting on the union national executive’s decision to ballot its membership in England and Wales, said “during the last six months over 6,500 staff have been assaulted. How many assaults may have been prevented if PAVA had been operational in our prisons? The employer has stalled for too long and our members are rightly concerned and annoyed.” He added: “This ballot gives our members the opportunity to display to the employer their discontent whilst supporting the national executive in protecting their health and safety. There should be no criteria placed on staff safety and we must insist that PAVA is given to staff in our most violent prisons as a priority whilst ensuring the roll out does not take the planned two years our employer is insisting upon. Our members deserve to be protected, as do those who inhabit our prisons.”
Ÿ POA news release.
Unite has reacted furiously to allegations it says point towards a contractor breaching the Unite Construction Charter signed in December last year by Dundee City Council. Charter signatories pledge to use procurement and delivery of council-backed building projects to ensure high standards on employment status, health and safety, training and adherence to nationally agreed terms and conditions. However, only months after the deal was signed, Unite says it has received multiple reports of an agency called O’Neil and Brennon using an ‘umbrella practice’ to employ construction workers on a council housing project. The union said agencies attempt to force workers into these ‘umbrella companies’ to evade responsibility for national insurance contributions and other benefits. The main contractor identified on the Dundee job is the Robertson Group. George Ramsay, Unite regional industrial officer, said: “The allegations of umbrella practices by an agency working on the construction of homes in Dundee is outrageous. It's only a few months ago the 'construction charter' was hailed as a major step forward in rooting out illegal and bad practices by companies and agencies in the construction sector. Unite has raised these breaches both with the Robertson Group who are the main contractor for this project and Dundee City Council to ensure that if these allegations are correct then the agency involved should be withdrawn immediately.”
Valero Energy UK Ltd and B&A Contracts Ltd have been fined on charges stemming from a 2011 explosion that killed four workers and seriously injured another at an oil refinery in Pembrokeshire. Dennis Riley, 52, Robert Broome, 48, Andrew Jenkins, 33, and Julie Jones, 54, died after a storage tank exploded at the site. Andrew Philips also sustained major injuries. Swansea Crown Court heard how, on 2 June 2011, the five workers were emptying a tank in the Amine Recovery Unit using a vacuum tanker when the explosion and subsequent fire took place shortly after 6pm. B&A Contracts Ltd, which was a long-term contractor at the refinery, was carrying out the work, with support from another contractor, Hertel. The explosion resulted in a fireball which severed the 5-tonne tank roof, and this was projected 55 metres to impact against a butane storage sphere. The roof narrowly missed a pipe track where a range of flammable materials were carried. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the explosion was most likely to have been initiated by the ignition of a highly flammable atmosphere within the tank, during what should have been a routine emptying operation in preparation for further cleaning and maintenance. The investigation also found there had been longstanding failures within the refinery safety management systems and as a result the risks posed by flammable atmospheres within the Amine Recovery Unit were not understood or controlled. At the time of the incident the refinery was operated by Chevron Limited, but ownership changed in August 2011 when the sale to Valero was completed. Valero Energy UK Ltd pleaded guilty to two criminal safety offences and was fined £5 million and ordered to pay costs of £1 million. B&A Contracts Ltd pleaded guilty to the same charges and was fined £120,000 plus costs of £40,000. HSE inspector Andrew Knowles commented: “This incident, which had devastating consequences for all of those involved, was entirely preventable. Many opportunities to take action to control risk were missed, that would have prevented the incident from occurring.”
Ÿ HSE news release. WalesOnline. BBC News Online.
Superconducting electromagnet company Tesla Engineering Ltd has been sentenced after a worker was fatally hit and crushed by an overhead gantry crane. Brighton Magistrates’ Court heard how on 23 March 2018 Dr Craig McEwan, 34, a unit manager of Tesla Engineering Ltd, died while making of a superconducting magnet coil at the firm’s Storrington premises. Dr McEwan was working on top of a tank when he became caught between a moving gantry crane and a metal chimney on the top of the tank. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Tesla Engineering Ltd had failed to implement measures to prevent a person from being hit by the overhead gantry crane. A chimney extension had recently been fitted to the tank and increased the height workers had to access, putting workers at a height where they could come into contact with the overhead gantry crane. However, no measures had been put in place to ensure that the gantry crane could not be operated while workers were at risk of being hit. Tesla Engineering Limited pleaded guilty to a criminal health and safety offence and was fined £400,000 and ordered to pay £7,546.72 in costs. HSE inspector Russell Beckett commented: “Tesla Engineering adapted the work process it carried out but failed to review its planning or to take measures to ensure that workers could not be hit by the moving overhead gantry crane. Simple measures to either lock out the crane or to prevent workers accessing dangerous areas could have been implemented but were not, which ultimately led to Dr McEwan losing his life.”
Ÿ HSE news release. Midhurst and Petworth Observer.
A victim of occupational cancer caused by toxic exposures while working at Samsung has won a decade long fight for compensation. On 5 June, Han Hye-kyung was notified her workers’ compensation claim had been approved by the compensation authority KCOMWEL. Han, 41, was diagnosed with a brain tumour at the age of 27 in 2005. Four years earlier, in 2001, she had resigned from Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, where she had handled hazardous chemicals while soldering together LCD parts for six years. Han was only 17-years-old and still in high school when she began to work at Samsung. In 2009, Han, together with her single mother, Kim Si-nyeo, petitioned unsuccessfully for workers’ compensation. However, in 2017 South Korea’s supreme court ordered KCOMWEL to posthumously pay workers’ compensation to a Samsung worker who died of a brain tumour. This decision paved the way for Han to request the re-evaluation of her workers’ compensation case. Two years later KCOMWEL finally decided in Han’s favour. Both Han and her mother Kim are active members of grassroots campaign group SHARPS, which has spearheaded the campaign for justice for Samsung’s occupational disease victims. Both have attended “countless” SHARPS pickets, protests and rallies. Despite the family facing terrible hardship, they turned down a surreptitious 2013 offer from Samsung executives of KRW 1 billion (U$1m/£665,000) and full medical coverage, because the settlement was conditional on the family severing its ties with SHARPS.
Ÿ SHARPS news report.
A former Olympian and head of a human rights group is asking the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Tokyo Olympics organisers to investigate worker safety at venues being built for next year’s games. Mary Harvey, the CEO of the Geneva-based Centre for Sport and Human Rights, raised her concerns in the wake of the publication last month of ‘The dark side of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics’ by the global construction union federation BWI. The report describes “dangerous” patterns of overwork, some workers without employment contracts, and a “culture of fear” that discourages workers from reporting poor employment conditions. Many of those identified as facing the worst exploitation were foreign workers. “To think this is going away is burying your head in the sand, and I'm concerned it's going to get worse,” said Mary Harvey. “The heat of the summer months is upon us while construction deadlines are trying to be met. Someone dying or committing suicide shouldn't be acceptable to anyone.” Harvey, a goalkeeper on the 1996 United States women's Olympic soccer team, said: “Everyone should be taking a serious look at the risks identified in BWI's report and, by everyone, I mean everyone who is a stakeholder, including the IOC, the Japanese government and construction companies.” BWI has called for outside inspections and said that its efforts “have been largely ignored, and workers and their trade unions have been met with hostility.” Ambet Yuson, the general secretary of BWI, said the case needs “to be elevated to the IOC. We need to see what they will do about Tokyo and the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.”
Ÿ Japan Today. The Olympians.
Ÿ BWI news release and report, The dark side of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, May 2019. Centre for Sports and Human Rights.
More labourers working with a toxic solvent will die while the US authorities reconsider the strategy to protect them, occupational physicians, advocates, and researchers have predicted. At least three US workers exposed to the paint stripping solvent, methylene chloride, have died since 2017 when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a rule to ban consumer and most commercial uses, said Jonathan Kalmuss-Katz, a staff attorney working on labour issues at Earthjustice. “Now, tragically we’ll see how many die” while the agency revisits its previous conclusion that workers faced unreasonable risks, and decides how it may reduce those risks, Kalmuss-Katz said. He referred to a change to the proposal the EPA made in March, when it issued a final rule that banned consumer - but not workplace - uses of paint strippers made with the solvent. The new approach, modelled on a UK derogation from the EU ban on use of methylene chloride as a paint stripper, would instead allow professional use subject to the user meeting training and certification requirements. Most comments to EPA on the training strategy proposal were opposed and instead supported the agency’s originally proposed commercial ban. “No-one should be poisoned at work - EPA needs to follow the science and move forward with a commercial ban,” said Veena Singla, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco. In January this year, Nicholas Corbett, a director of UK company Abel Ltd, was sentenced to 10 months in prison for selling methylene chloride paint strippers online without ensuring the purchasers were certified (Risks 880).
Ÿ Bloomberg News.
Course dates now appearing at www.tuceducation.org.uk/findacourse/
This newsletter is sponsored by Thompsons Solicitors
The person responsible for the Risks e-bulletin is:
Hugh Robertson
E: healthandsafety@tuc.org.uk
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Holyoke Public Schools announces the opening of two new middle schools as part of reimagining middle school for all students
On March 6th, Holyoke Public Schools announced plans to move forward with redesigning the middle school experience by opening two new middle schools for the 2018-19 school year. One is Veritas Prep Holyoke, which will open in September 2018 with 130-150 students in grade 5, growing to serve 515-600 students in grades 5-8 when operating at full capacity.
READ THE RELEASE
Veritas Prep Charter School 2017 MCAS Scores Press Release
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Watch: Skrillex Shocks Fans At Above & Beyond Concert With Surprise Acoustic Set
October 14, 2013 - 2:36 pm by Jessica Wunsch
Last night (October 13), UK electro trio Above & Beyond encountered a surprise guest onstage at LA’s Greek Theatre (and luckily it wasn’t a crazy stan.) Instead, dubstep demigod Skrillex had joined in on their acoustic set, picking up a guitar and playing to a sold-out crowd that included Azealia Banks. The impromptu collaboration was such a success that former From First To Last frontman had agreed to join A&B on stage for a second performance at the trio’s “Black Room Boy” show.
Catch the action with the rare footage of last night's performance below:
Above & Beyond,
featured,
Skrillex,
The music group The Commodores and actress Donna Summer on the set of the Columbia Pictures movie " Thank God It's Friday" in 1978.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Music Sermon: Disco's Revenge - How Disco Demolition Night Sparked Evolution In Black Music
For years, disco was the black sheep of music genres. Characterized as schmaltzy and over the top, the sound of polyester suits, platform shoes and strobe lights. With this iteration of the dance genre in our minds, it was easy to understand how and why the genre met a swift end 40 years ago.
On July 12, 1969, the Chicago White Sox hosted “Disco Demolition Night,” now often referred to as the night disco died. Disco was the victim of a smear campaign, the effectiveness of which has only been seen again in music when 50 Cent destroyed Ja Rule’s career and Jay-Z’s “Death of Autotune” killed T-Pain’s. But those were artists. This was an entire genre - a culture, ended by 50,000-plus mostly young, straight white men who were tired (and afraid) of something that wasn’t for or about them.
Music fans and historians have had a collective realization over the last couple of decades that the anti-disco sentiment was all spin. Not really about the music, but who the music represented: Black, Hispanic, Latinx and LGBTQ+ people and women – basically everybody except the bros holding onto classic rock for dear life. By the late ‘70s disco had, in fact, become overly formulaic and cheesy, but in the early days the sounds were lush and rich, the “four on the floor” 120 bpm tempo was infectious and irresistible. Disco created new lanes for DJs and producers, pioneered the modern nightclub/lounge scene (for better or worse), and gave fans license to just dance and be free on the floor. Most importantly, disco provided a sonic backdrop for a changing America, and that’s why Chicago DJ Steve Dahl and his fans were determined to kill it.
In the early ‘70s, marginalized communities were gaining voice and visibility. The “end” of the civil rights movement with the 1968 sigining of the Civil Rights Act, the Stonewall Rebellion and subsequent repeal of a NY law forbidding men to dance with each other, and the rise of the women’s liberation movement changed the social conscience first in major cities, and soon the country. The rock and roll and protest music of ‘60s counterculture gave way to something new, especially in major urban metros: dance music.
On Valentine’s Day 1970, DJ David Mancuso threw an invite-only party at his downtown loft which turned into a weekly event, and eventually one of NYC’s hottest nightspots, The Loft. Mancuso’s parties were primarily meant as a safe space gay men, but attendance grew to anyone else who wanted to commune through dance. The Loft was the beginning of NYC disco club culture, and of the guest list-only nightspot. Studio 54 cranked that exclusivity up to create the velvet rope and table service scene we know today. Underground dance clubs like the Paradise Garage followed, niche community havens that served as an escape from the political and fiscal turmoil of the decade. Gay, Black, Hispanic, Latinx and some straight folks partied together all night, literally. The drugs and free love of hippy culture carried over to the scene, but there was usually no alcohol, until 54 opened. These first parties also broke some of the earliest disco hits, before they were called “disco.”
What we overlooked for years in disparaging convos about disco is that it was our music. Disco evolved from black and latin sounds; funk and soul with driving rhythm and layered instrumentation and production. James Brown’s band leader Fred Wesley once called disco “funk with a bow-tie.” It was smoother and more polished than funk, but more complex than straight soul. The proto-disco sounds that bridged the gap from soul to disco are largely attributed to two sources. The OG Barry White’s "Love's Theme" (which Barry composed and arranged; please put some respect on his name), is considered one of the first “disco” hits. That big sweeping sound he created with the 40-piece Love Unlimited Orchestra was a trademark of early disco songs. By the time “Love’s Theme” hit radio, it had already been in the clubs for about six months.
Philly Soul architects Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff are also credited as laying the foundation for the early disco sound. Philly soul was soul with a kick - a little extra percussion. A few more layers on the instrumentation. A little uptick on the rhythm. A bit more bass. It was danceable. You had to move!
MFSB’s “Love is the Message” (on Gamble & Huff’s Philadelphia International) became a favorite of the early disco set. It was the unofficial theme song of The Loft, a favorite of The Paradise Garage’s famous DJ Larry Levan, and fans of FX’s POSE will remember Pray Tell insisting the song be played nonstop at the balls for weeks, because it reminded him of the simpler, carefree years before the AIDS epidemic hit the community.
In 1972, Manusco found a super obscure import in a Brooklyn record store and started playing it at his parties, then other DJs started bootlegging it to play at their parties. Frankie Crocker, one of the most influential black radio DJs of the 70s, heard Manu Dibango’s “Soul Makossa” and put it on rotation on NY’s WBLS. Atlantic Records - the one label that never missed a black music moment - licensed the song from Dibango’s original label and released a reissue. In the Summer of ’73, the song became the first official disco song to crack the Billboard Hot 100.
Disco wasn’t just Saturday Night Fever moves, especially pre-commercial peak. It was also pop-locking, the bump, roller skating jams - a lot of music we never stopped listening to, but just consider dance music, soul classics, cookout music, Soul Train line joints… We always just called it something else.
Disco also brought back hand-dancing (or couple’s dancing), which had disappeared in popular music after “The Twist” took over dancefloors in 1960. We’ve all seen old heads (or, if you’re my age, tried to get in with the old heads) getting their dance on and just watched in awe of how graceful, effortless and fun it looks. This ain’t nothin’ but the hustle.
Now that we’ve established that disco started as soul and funk with a little extra on it, let’s talk about how disco’s impact endures. Disco is short for “discotheque” - literally translated to "music library." Named as such because records were the focus at discotheques instead of live music. DJs controlled the room, and quickly became crucial to breaking a record. Songs started in the club, not at radio. DJ pools - which later became essential to hip-hop - were created during the disco era to get new songs and mixes out to the clubs as soon as possible.
In NY, DJs started remixing for the first time, extending the best parts (break beats, etc) of the hottest songs to keep the crowd in the moment (I still think NY DJs put together the most cohesive music sets because it’s in their DNA, but that’s another sermon), and eventually the 12” version was born. Or in the case of Donna Summer’s “Love to Love You,” the 16:50 opus.
Disco also elevated the music producer. Rather than pairing one or two people/teams with an artist for the majority of a project, or automatically using label-affiliated producers, producers became sought after talent for their sounds. They were tapped for a song or two, or some had songs ready and just and needed to find the right vocalist. Producers were beginning to break artists, and the vocal stars were overwhelmingly black women. Church-bred black vocalists, to be exact.
Sounds were about agency, freedom, sexuality, belonging, surviving on their own terms, and they became anthems for the gay rights movement.
Disco allowed for a freedom of identity not seen before in popular culture. Androgyny, fluid and open sexuality, excess and camp. The more outrageous, the better, if that was your thing. Only in disco could an openly gay, COGIC-raised black man like Sylvester transcend from drag shows to superstardom.
As big as disco was growing in cities like NY, Philly and Chicago, it was still a somewhat niche culture. With disco came a level of glamour and opulence that the average American joe wasn’t ready to lean into yet… plus many still saw it exclusively as gay culture. Then, in 1977, “Staying Alive” and Saturday Night Fever changed everything.
Saturday Night Fever marked that tipping point all good things hit once the masses come on board. The movie framed disco around a straight, white (Italian) blue collar worker and white artists (the Bee Gees). Now it was palatable. The movie and soundtrack were both massively successful, and by 1979 disco had evolved from a cosmopolitan culture to a national scene. Discos started opening in small town USA, and labels rushed to have any artists who hadn’t dipped their toes into disco yet to record a dance track. Even hard core rock and pop stars - likeDolly Parton, Sinatra, the Rolling Stones - some with less success than others - all tried their hand. Rod Stewart hates disco hit “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy,” but it’s one of his biggest songs, so no matter how often he’s tried to take it out of his tours in latter years, fans want it.
Disney and The Muppets even got in on the disco craze, probably encouraged by Rick Dees’ 1978 utterly ridiculous, completely novelty No. 1 hit “Disco Duck.”
If we’re keeping it a buck, though, I had the Sesame Street Fever album, and it was a jam. Larry Levan ain’t just hop on any ol’ thing.
Ironically, the Bee Gees never set out specifically to create a disco sound, but they became synonymous with the genre. All of their songs for Saturday Fever had been recorded before the movie was made. But the affiliation defined them for the rest of their careers, and they hated it. "The media made it as if people were afflicted with {disco}," Maurice Gibb told The Washington Post when the group finally reunited to tour a decade later. "And then there were the Village People, 'Disco Duck' and 'Kung Fu Fighting,' all these stupid, silly records that were based on what we were doing but nowhere near it...Unfortunately, it cheapened what we did."
The phase of “stupid, silly records” is what comes to mind when most think of disco, but this was also when disco was at its peak. It was supplanting rock n’ roll as the sound of America, and straight white men started developing that anxiety that straight white men get whenever something isn’t centered around straight white men (see: everything happening in US politics right this moment). The anti-disco movement found an unlikely leader in a Chicago DJ named Steve Dahl. Dahl was a chubby, awkward guy with a baby on the way, when his station manager called him into his office on Christmas Eve 1978 to tell him the station was converting to an all disco format at the top of the year. It was like the moment in comic books when the otherwise normal person becomes a villain.
Dahl got another gig at Chicago classic rock station The Loop, but fed his animosity towards disco with daily segments where he’d “blow up” a disco record on air. He built a following, the Coho Lips: a group of young white men who, according to Dahl, “want(ed) to wear our t-shirts and our jeans. And we (didn’t) want to have to wear white three-piece suits to get laid.” (It’s like “economic anxiety”, but with clothes.)
He started hosting anti-disco events, first clad in Hawaiian shirts and then in full military uniform and helmet, where he’d lead enthusiastic chants of “Disco sucks!” as he broke albums over his head. The Chicago White Sox’s owner’s son was a fan, and suggested a co-promotion for a game: fans would bring a disco record to destroy in between double headers, for a discounted admission price of $0.98 cents. The event at first seemed a huge success - over 50,000 fans showed up with reports of 10,000 more outside trying to get in. But after Dahl appeared in an army jeep to set off the dumpster full of vinyl, things went left.
The firepower was stronger than anticipated and destroyed the field, pieces of vinyl started flying all over the place like missiles. The crowd descended from the stands, first in revelry, but then it became more like a riot. People set seats on fire, lit a bonfire in the middle of the field, threw bottles and albums. Players were barricaded in the locker rooms, staff was ordered to evacuate, and the police came to shut it all down.
People were rightfully horrified at the scene, recalling book-burning and dystopian warnings from Bradbury. But Dahl has consistently maintained that Disco Demolition Night wasn’t homophobic or racial, instead calling it a “joyous heat-and-beer-infused celebration” and “one of the greatest radio promotions in history.”
Chicago house pioneer Vincent Lawrence was a 15-year old usher at Comenski field that night, and remembers it differently. He first noticed that people weren’t just bringing disco records to destroy, but black music period. “There’s Marvin Gaye records. And Stevie Wonder, Songs in the Key of Life. Records that were black records,” he recounted on Gimlet Media’s Undone podcast. He tried to enforce a strict disco rule for the discount, but his boss overrode him. Later, as the melee grew on the field, Lawrence found himself confronted by anti-disco folks. “There were just angry people running up to me, getting in my face saying disco ducks, disco sucks,” he shared. “A kid came up to me and took a 12-inch disk and broke it right in my face. It was like a Marvin Gaye 12-inch or something like that. And I didn’t understand it, until much later, that that was just hate, and that they were directing it at me because I was black and the record was black.”
Disco Demolition Night became a national news story, and by 1980, disco was passe. The anti-disco militia had accomplished their goal; the genre practically disappeared from the airwaves, and punk, new wave and pop took over radio. But disco didn’t really die. It morphed. The underground house music scene immediately started bubbling in Chicago with a sound that was basically strippped down disco. In fact, house pioneer Frankie Knuckles called it “disco’s revenge,” but also thought, as he told music writer Jon Savage, a rebirth was necessary. “Those guys declaring disco being dead actually was kind of like a blessing in disguise, because (the culture) had to turn itself, because it‘d just gotten too much.”
Vince Lawrence, who was working at Disco Demolition Night to save money for a synthesizer, co-wrote and produced what’s considered the first house record, “On and On,” with DJ Jesse Saunders.
Some acts made the seamless transition to boogie music; the mellow, groovier side of disco.
Disco and house are the roots for so much of hip-hop, latin freestyle, techno and electronica, and now EDM. The name may have been tarnished, but the culture simply evolved, even as straight white men continue to fight the advance of anything “other” with all their might. At the core, great disco songs are just great songs. They inspire, they encourage, they speak to you, and they make you dance with abandon. How can anybody hate on that? Disco legend Gloria Gaynor summarized disco’s legacy for Vanity Fair: “Disco music is alive and well and living in the hearts of music-lovers around the world. It simply changed its name to protect the innocent: Dance music.”
#MusicSermon is a weekly series by Naima Cochrane that highlights the under-acknowledged and under-appreciated urban artists and sub-genres from the '90s and earlier. The series seeks to tell unknown and/or forgotten stories that connect the dots between current music, culture and the foundations of the past.
Jonathan Exley
Michael Jackson's June/July 1995 Cover Story: 'ACTION JACKSON'
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the June/July 1995 issue of VIBE Magazine.
Michael & Me
Reporting By: Omoronke Idowu, Shani Saxon, Joseph V. Tirella, Josh Tyrangiel, and Mimi Valdés
JIMMY JAM, producer/songwriter (worked on HIStory album) Michael's the most intense person I've worked with. For him, everything is about the music and how to make it better. He also makes work a lot of fun. He's a kid at heart—his office is not like a normal office. He has all the kids' toys. A lot of times we'd be in session, in the middle of playing a video game, and he'd be, like, "Well, we got to do this. But go ahead and finish your game, though—I don't want to mess your game up."
The thing about Michael is his talent. If you put Michael onstage without the explosions and the other dancers, he'll still command the stage.
There's a song called "Childhood" on the new album, and I think for the first time, Michael has put a lot of his feelings on record. That song, for right now, defines where's he's at—the way he feels about himself and the way people feel about him.
HEAVY D, MC/label executive (rapped on "Jam," 1991) I was in California the first time I heard Michael Jackson wanted to record with me. I was, like, Nah, no way, he's too big, it can't be true. Then I got a call from Michael's people at my hotel telling me he was interested. But I still wasn't believing it—I thought they were setting me up for a TV practical jokes show.
So me and my partner go to the place, and while we were waiting we were talking and cursing up a storm—I was thinking that if it was a blooper show, they wouldn't be able to use it. Then Michael called and said he was on his way. When he got there he was just, like, 'Hey, how ya doin?'"
Michael's just as regular as everyone else. We talked about all the normal stuff guys talk about. He's real smart. People forget that he's the most incredible entertainer we've seen in our lifetime. His name is Michael Jackson, not Super Michael Jackson. He makes mistakes just like all of us.
My favorite Michael Jackson song is "Music and Me." It's an old one, about him and his music, his love for music, and the time they've had together. It's like a song that would be sung to a girl, but it's all about music.
R. KELLY, singer/songwriter/producer (worked on HIStory album) I thought it was funny when I told Michael Jackson I didn't want to fly, and he was giving me reasons why I should. I kept looking him in the eye, and I kept saying "uh-huh, uh-huh" and "oh, I see," knowing all the time that I would not be getting on a plane.
Working with Michael was definitely not just another day at the office.
KENNY GAMBLE AND LEON HUFF, producers (the Jacksons' Destiny album, 1978) Gamble: When we took Michael in the studio to overdub his voice, he had so many different ideas about songs, writing, and producing, I told him he could really record himself. He was very curious about a lot of things. He's a creative, spiritual, caring person.
Nineteen eighty-one's "Rock With You" is the most what Michael's about. I really believe he and Quincy have a magic together. Michael is a miracle.
Huff: When Michael and his brothers first came to Philadelphia, Gamble decided to walk them from the hotel to the studio. As they were walking, they were rushed by a group of girls. The brothers escaped by going into a movie theater. Once they made it to the studio, these girls camped outside the studio—and this was for a six-month period. To see 100 girls laying outside a studio at 3 and 4 in the morning for Michael and his brothers was something else.
My favorite Michael song? Nineteen eighty-seven's "Show You the Way to Go."
NAOMI CAMPBELL, supermodel/actress/singer (appeared in "In the Closet" video, 1992) Michael is very involved and on top of everything he puts his name on. He's shy and sweet, considering all he's accomplished, but he's a prankster. When I was doing the video, we had water pistol fights. He's a perfectionist.
TEDDY RILEY, producer (worked on Dangerous and HIStory albums) He's the greatest. Innovative. Black.
SLASH, Guns N' Roses guitarist (played on Dangerous and HIStory albums) He's a fucking brilliant entertainer, a complete natural. He's the only guy I've ever met that's real—for that kind of music. I grew up listening to the Jackson 5. I used to love "Dancing Machine."
We've been friends for a while, so he just lets me do what I want to do. I get a basic framework, and I just make up my part and they edit it. I wonder sometimes what it's gonna sound like, [Laughs] but every time, they do a great job. He's very shrewd. He's got a great, sarcastic sense of humor. People always ask me, "Is he weird?" Well, he's different. But I know what it's like to be weird, growing up in the music business.
I have to admit working with Michael Jackson is different than working with your basic, gritty rock 'n' roll band. One time when I went to play for Michael, he walked in with Brooke Shields, and there I am with a cigarette in one hand, a bottle of Jack Daniel's in the other, and my guitar hanging low around my neck. And he doesn't care. That's not the way he is, but I don't have to change for him. He accepts me for what I am.
TATUM O'NEAL, actress/friend I never worked with Michael, but he and I had a really wonderful friendship when I was 12 and he was 17. He used to dance with me, we'd talk on the phone all the time, and he'd say how funny it was that I was 12 and I could drive and he was older and couldn't. Michael used to come to my house when I was living with my dad, and I remember him being so shy. Once he came into my bedroom, and he wouldn't even sit on my bed. But another time when he was over, he played the drums, my brother played guitar, and someone else played another instrument, and we had a jam session. I had the tape of it, but I lost it somewhere.
When I was 12, he asked me to go to the premiere of The Wiz with him, and my agent at the time said it wasn't a good idea, maybe because they felt he wasn't a big enough star yet. He never talked to me after that. I think he thought I just canceled, but it wasn't me at all. I was a child doing what I was told. I want you to print that, because I don't think he ever knew that. I lost touch with him because of it, so I don't really know him anymore. But I love him; he's one of the nicest, most innocent people I've ever met. I love "She's out of My Life" because I think it describes our friendship at that time.
DALLAS AUSTIN, songwriter/producer (worked on HIStory album) Working with Michael is a different type of work. You're pressured timewise, but not by creativity or money. So you're left with mad freedom. You'd think he'd be very controlling, but if he likes you enough to work with you, he wants your expertise, not just another Michael Jackson record.
"Heal the World" and "Stranger in Moscow" from the HIStory record are, like, the makeup of Michael. I think he's taken on the responsibility to make changes in the world. He's the only real superhero. Think about it.
LISA MARIE PRESLEY-JACKSON, former wife Michael is a true artist in every facet of its nature—extremely aesthetic and very, very romantic. This is who he truly is despite degrading comments made in the past by certain larva.
Michael, as well as myself, have been severely underestimated and misunderstood as human beings. I can't wait for the day when all the snakes who have tried to take him out get to eat their own lunch and crawl back in the holes from which they came.
We know who they are and their bluff is about to be called.
QUINCY JONES, longtime collaborator/legendary producer Michael can go out and perform before 90,000 people, but if I ask him to sing a song for me, I have to sit on the couch with my hands over my eyes and he goes behind the couch. He is amazingly shy.
What people forget about him is that for the first time, probably in the history of music, a black artist is embraced on a global level by everyone from eight to 80 years old. People all over the world, especially young people, have a black man as an idol.
Reporting by Omoronke Idowu, Shani Saxon, Joseph V. Tirella, Josh Tyrangiel, and Mimi Valdés
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Aboriginal people
There are various community and government organisations that can provide information, support and legal advice to Aboriginals who are victims of crime.
For a summary of the contact details of the various support services, please refer to Help and Support section.
Support when contacting the police
If you are Aboriginal and a victim of crime and are worried about going to the police you can talk to an Aboriginal Community Liaison Officer. Aboriginal Community Liaison Officers are civilian employees located in Police Local Area Commands across NSW.
Aboriginal Community Liaison Officers work closely with the Aboriginal community, and their duties include encouraging Aboriginal people to discuss with police crime and violence in their community. These liaison officers work to develop open communication and mutual understanding between Aboriginal people and police.
Support at court
There are a number of specialist court support services that can assist victims of Aboriginal background.
For matters where the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) is prosecuting, the ODPP's Witness Assistance Service has Aboriginal Witness Assistance Officers that can assist indigenous victims and witnesses. The Witness Assistance Service provides a service to both adults and children.
Aboriginal Client Service Specialists are located at a number of court houses across the state. These specialists assist and inform Aboriginal people, including witnesses and victims of crime, about court services. The Department of Justice can supply more information.
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HomeThe HypeThe Thrill of Sam Smith
The Thrill of Sam Smith
Payu Tiwari
November 15, 2017 The Hype
After an 18-month hiatus following a string of emotional Billboard hits, Sam Smith is back in the spotlight. The lead single, ‘Too Good at Goodbyes’, has already dominated night-time radios and multiple playlists titled “Future Hits.” Smith’s commanding falsettos coupled with a simple tune and a choir backed chorus makes for a formidable song that you’re bound to hear everywhere.
For this album, Smith has called in the big guns to take up the producer’s job. James Ho a.k.a Maylay, who has worked on Say It First and Midnight Train, is also credited with producing the majority of Frank Ocean’s debut Channel Orange. Emily Haynie, another producer, has previously successfully worked with Kanye West and Lana Del Rey.
Simple ballads like ‘Say It First’, ‘The Thrill of it All’, ‘Scars’, ‘Palace’ and ‘One Day at a Time’ are spread out evenly across the entire album. The lightweight piano pieces, strummy guitar sounds and the sad lyrics all melt into the background as Sam Smith’s vocals take center stage.
But outshining them all is the track titled ‘Burning’, in which the instruments offer a light support as Smith leads the way with his beautiful falsettos. This bunch of songs risk sounding repetitive if you’re not paying close attention.
‘One Last Song’ and ‘Baby, You Make Me Crazy’ are the chirpier ones of the lot, with steady drums and an upbeat rhythm. It’s a weird feeling when you’re cheerfully bobbing along to lyrics that go, “You made me sad till I loved the shade of blue.”
Basically, Sam Smith decided that we’re all just going to happily sing about how sad we are, and that’s what happens in these tracks.
‘Pray’ and ‘Nothing Left for You’ are the designated rebels- they distinctly depart from the rest of the album in sound. Produced by Timbaland, Pray has a recognisable hip-hop base beat, which occasionally shows up in ‘Nothing Left For You’ as well. With songs like ‘Pray’, if you’re not loyal to the lyrics and listening to them, they might not capture you the way they should.
‘Midnight Train’ and ‘Him’, however, are devoid of any such risks. A self-confident track with plenty of sparkle, catchy drum beats and steady pace, ‘Midnight Train’ is the track most likely to worm its way into your playlist.
However, ‘Him’ is the song that should be on your playlist. Charged lyrics, imposing vocals paired with a rousing chorus depicting loud proclamations of love, this song is a beauty from start to finish. With this album, Sam Smith only strengthens his reputation as a talented singer who knows the keys to your heart.
Some tracks sound like you’ve heard them before, while some can totally blow you away. As Smith himself said, this is the album you drink with at the end of a long day. It drips of loneliness, longing and heartache, reassuring the universal nature of these problems. All the while, it sounds pretty damn good too.
The College View
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talking to Oct. 3, 2018
7 Women on Muslim Representation in Fashion
By Anaka Kaundinya
Photo: Kate Dyomina, June Canedo, Feda Eid, Lani Trock.
Until now, no major museum in the world has dedicated space to exploring the full scope of Muslim women’s fashion. “Contemporary Muslim Fashions,” on view at the de Young Museum in San Francisco until January 6, is the first exhibit to do so, aiming to challenge stereotypes about Muslim culture while showcasing a richly diverse, global range of styles. While some of the mannequins wear hijabs, others don’t, and each hijab is styled differently to reflect the many ways a woman might choose to wear one depending on her culture and religious principles: covering her face entirely, for example, or wearing a hijab with jeans.
Also on display are burkas and abayas (both loose-fitting garments that cover a woman from head-to-toe), Nike’s first-ever professional sports hijab, streetwear by Sarah Elenany, and couture gowns by Karl Lagerfeld and Jean Paul Gaultier. To ensure the museum fully represented Muslim fashion, co-curators Jill D’Alessandro and Laura Camerlengo worked with a modest-fashion expert, professor Reina Lewis — as well as an international advisory committee and 75 representatives from San Francisco’s Islamic community centers, mosques, and local universities. Together they selected emerging and established designers, bloggers, activists, and photographers who explore how style functions as part of a Muslim woman’s identity.
The Cut interviewed seven women whose work is featured in the exhibit, asking what the show means to them and their thoughts on Muslim representation in fashion and media.
Leah Vernon, Body-Positive Activist/Model
Photo: Kate Dyomina
When people look at me, they see a fat, black woman with a hijab on or a turban on. They don’t see a Muslim woman, which definitely bothers me, because I’m just as Muslim as my Arabic or white-passing counterparts. When Muslim women are usually shown in the media and in art, it’s always that stereotypical, white-passing, thin or Arabic-looking woman, right? They’ll never show African, or dark-skinned Indian or Latino women as the face of Islam.
So it feels amazing that such a great, large institution is showing the other side, the other face of what Islam is, what being a hijabi is, what being a Muslim is. The conversation is being started that there are so many other types of Muslims that need to see their narratives — so all the little black girls will be like: Oh wow, I’m being represented in this community as well. It feels amazing that recognition is happening, that it’s opening the narrative about what it is to be an American Muslim.
Mona Haydar, Rapper
Photo: Feda Eid
Muslim women’s bodies in the media often “belong” to someone else. I am grateful for what this exhibit is attempting to do: to show that Muslim women, along with their powerful fashions, are beings of great agency, intellect, and of course style. It means a lot for me as a Muslim woman to have my music video Hijabi (Wrap My Hijab) in the exhibit, especially because in the video I am 8.5 months pregnant, and that is definitely a non-standard body according to the aesthetics of the conventional mainstream music industry.
I really hope for more opportunities where Muslim women can turn up and enjoy life without the input of the male gaze, and I feel like this [exhibit] is a really great step toward that — especially since it was all curated by women at the de Young. I hope also for the opportunity to go beyond talking about just what we wear too, of course. There is already so much emphasis in the world on what we, as women, wear or don’t wear. I’m really interested in pushing the envelope beyond that so we can start talking about the ways in which we are busy being beings of inner beauty, and how we are crafting and growing that inner beauty too.
Faiza Bougessa, Designer
Photo: Tristan Fewings/”Getty Images”
I took my mother with me [to see the exhibit], because she also wanted to be a fashion designer when she was young. For me it’s quite a milestone, I have to say. When I started my line five years ago, I really wanted to make sure that it’s not just to do fashion, but also to help women feel more confident, to help them express themselves and their style just like anyone else. Going to the exhibition and noticing that is something celebrated today is really amazing.
It’s important that you don’t just see the modest aspect of what I do. It’s more inclusive, trying to think of all women and not just women who dress modestly.
Nzinga Knight, Designer
Photo: Courtesy of Nzinga Knight
One of my goals and intentions as a designer is to have this clothing add beauty to women’s lives. Design is about problem solving. My designs check a lot of boxes for people. It’s beautiful, it feels good, and it covers a woman in a variety of ways that she would like to be covered. Even the Twareg dress is a modular dress. It has this front drape that can flow to the back or it can be converted into a hijab.
I’m always happy for my work to be seen at museums — not just in stores but also where it can be appreciated for being a work of art. That feels great. As a Muslim woman, it’s hard to say how I feel about being featured in the exhibit. I can say it as myself, as a designer. Being Muslim helps to create design parameters within my work in adherence to modest principles in Islam. But it always comes back to the design. All of my identity is tied to what I do, but I am in fashion because I’m a creative person, and because I’m a professional. I really do create gowns that are inspired by what I’m interested in: clean lines, architecture, beauty, and flow. And a kind of minimalism that’s inspiring and feminine.
Celine Semaan Vernon, Designer
Photo: June Canedo for Slow Factory
Just walking around the exhibition on opening night, being surrounded by women from the Middle East and Southeast Asia was such a beautiful experience, I can’t even tell you. There were some princesses there from Saudi Arabia, from Jordan. They were draped in their beautiful traditional wear, wearing their long gowns, intricate embroidery — smelling like embers, smelling like the Middle East. I recognized it and I was feeling very overwhelmed. I’ve been traveling my whole life and I have always been struggling with the notion of home or feeling at home, feeling like I belong somewhere, and this rare moment I felt like: Wow, I am with my people.
I am always mistaken for being Muslim because I’m Lebanese — only in America, actually. In my personal experience, being a Christian Arab, you are always not enough. You don’t belong anywhere. You don’t belong with the Europeans, you don’t belong with the Americans, and you don’t belong with your own kind because you’re different. We’ve been persecuted and isolated throughout history, and colonized and abused and so on. The fact that right now this exhibition has included people like me is important because we are not separating one another anymore. In any case, I’m going through the same prejudice as my Muslim peers, you know?
It was a bit awkward — the fact that I’m not Muslim, but that I do come from that part of the world. I was confused. [I thought,] Should I let [the museum] know? Did they overlook this point? Did they not know or did they know? I didn’t want put any words in their mouth or presume anything. But then later when I went to the exhibition, I saw that there were other Lebanese Christians exhibited. Other groups who are not necessarily Muslim were also showing their work there. I felt that the curators were purposefully including voices from the regions that they wanted to shine a light on, and including us not simply because of our religious background but for our message. It’s a rare feeling, to feel included.
Rania Matar, Photographer
Photo: Geoffrey Berliner
I’m not Muslim but I photograph in the Middle East, and it was an honor to have my work there. I was born and raised in Lebanon, which is different from many other countries in that it’s multi-confessional.
You see women wearing the hijab with very tight jeans there, and I love that some of the layers of this were expressed in the exhibit. Often people tend to think of the burka like the kind you see in Afghanistan [fully covered] but there’s so much more than that. This is something that is lacking in [American] understanding. Some women wear it because they want to and wear it as an accessory, not because they have to. Even the average person who [doesn’t work in] fashion or design will wear a pink veil and layer it, or wear it to match their clothes.
You can wear the veil and still care about what you look like and be pretty, and express your sense of identity. I think the exhibition brought that kind of awareness.
Alaa Balkhy, Designer
Photo: Lani Trock
I didn’t know it was going to be this big. My work has always been in boutiques and commercial spaces — because it’s commercial — but seeing it with other amazing designers, it’s surreal. I’m from Saudi Arabia and it’s a small circle of artists and designers. But people take you more seriously when you’ve done something in the States, just because it’s the center of the world.
I don’t know about the labeling. My being Muslim makes absolutely no difference. It feels normal. Part of it is because I grew up [in Saudi Arabia] around people who are exactly like me, so I never faced the feeling that I was different in terms of religion. But now I’ve been in the States for six years and that’s when I realized: Oh. Everyone is different here. I understand that Muslim Americans feel like it’s about time [that they’re getting representation]. It’s amazing. But for me, I don’t think I felt the same way they felt. For me it’s just like: This should happen. This should be normal. This shouldn’t be like: Oh, I can’t believe this is happening. This should be like: Well, you know, it’s about time.
These interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity.
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Soccer Toronto FC’s Nick DeLeon looking forward to ‘grudge’ match with former D.C. United team
Toronto FC’s Nick DeLeon looking forward to ‘grudge’ match with former D.C. United team
Neil Davidson
Published May 14, 2019 Updated May 14, 2019
DeLeon is still part of the D.C. United record book. He leads the all-time series against Toronto for D.C. in shots (22) and fouls suffered (14).
John E. Sokolowski/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters
Nick DeLeon will see a lot of familiar faces Wednesday when D.C. United visits BMO Field. He wants to beat them all.
“I would be lying if I said this game wasn’t a little more important for me,” said the Toronto FC winger, who played 190 regular-season and playoff games over seven seasons for D.C. United before coming north last December.
“It’s just a little bittersweet. But I definitely want to take it to them. I think grudge is a good word to use. I can’t lose this game [Wednesday], put it that way.”
DeLeon joined Toronto via the re-entry draft after United, which took him seventh over all in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft, elected not to exercise his contract option after last season.
The move to Toronto has worked out well. The 28-year-old from Phoenix has played in all 10 of Toronto’s games this season, starting nine of them, and was rewarded with a new contract in April.
DeLeon said he expected to hear from some of his former teammates in advance of the match. “A little bit of trash-talk, he said with a smile. ”Just to spice things up a little more.“
Still, DeLeon acknowledged there is more to the game than his reunion.
Toronto (5-4-1) has lost its past two matches, against Atlanta and Philadelphia, and won just two of its past seven (2-4-1) as it struggles between the balance of attacking and defending.
“Honestly [the mood] is pretty good,” DeLeon said. “I think the guys have rallied together, which is good to see. Because it can easily go the other way, where it’s a lot of complaining and a lot of guys kind of doing their own thing.”
“I know guys are going to come out hungry [Wednesday] because we need that win and [to] put this ship on the right path.”
In contrast, D.C. United (7-3-2) has won its past two matches and three of its past four (3-1-0), posting two shutouts in the process.
The two teams are near opposites when it comes to goals.
Toronto ranks second in the league in scoring, averaging 2.20 goals a game, and 18th in conceding, at 1.70 a game. D.C. is 13th on offence (1.42 goals a game) and third on defence (0.92 goals).
United finished 15 points ahead of Toronto last season despite a miserable 1-9-7 road record, attributable in part to a front-end-loaded schedule while Audi Field was finishing construction. The team arrives with a league-leading 3-1-1 road mark this year.
Toronto will be without defender Laurent Ciman, who came off with an ankle injury on the weekend against Philadelphia. TFC coach Greg Vanney says the Belgian international will likely be out “a week or so.”
Veteran Drew Moor, who was on the bench Saturday after missing five games because of injury, would seem a natural replacement. Star striker Jozy Altidore saw action off the bench on the weekend and is expected to return to the starting lineup.
Brazilian fullback Auro, whose back locked up on him during the weekend game, has been deemed good to go.
Vanney has called for more aggression in attack, while staying connected at the back and making good decisions in transition.
“We’re having a couple of mental lapses in times where you can’t have them,” Altidore said.
Part of the issue is the need to look to more than just Spanish playmaker Alejandro Pozuelo, according to Vanney.
“At times, things are available for us and we choose to play the player instead of play the space … the ball needs to go to the best possible space, not necessarily to the best player in that moment,” he said.
Toronto will have plenty to keep its eye on.
Former England captain Wayne Rooney has six goals for D.C. United, four of which are game-winners. Midfielder Luciano Acosta has been linked to top clubs overseas, while midfielder-forward Paul Arriola is another sparkplug.
Keeper Maxime Crépeau helping lead Whitecaps turnaround
Philadelphia Union keep rolling with 2-1 victory over Toronto FC
Villalba, Gressel lead Atlanta to 2-0 victory over Toronto
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May says MPs must 'hold their nerve' to approve final Brexit deal
PM tells Commons of four steps that must be taken before final 5% of EU deal is done
Dan Sabbagh and Peter Walker
Mon 22 Oct 2018 13.03 EDT Last modified on Mon 22 Oct 2018 17.06 EDT
Theresa May: MPs must 'hold their nerve' through Brexit negotiations - video
Theresa May faced down Conservative critics of her Brexit negotiating strategy in a critical Commons debate in which she pleaded to be given time to “deliver the Brexit that the British people voted for”.
The prime minister told her jittery MPs it was time “we hold our nerve” as the Brexit talks approach their endgame during nearly two hours of exchanges, which were not attended by leadership rivals Boris Johnson and David Davis.
May's four tests before she will sign off on Irish border backstop deal
May told MPs if sticking to her position in the Brexit negotiations “means I get difficult days in Brussels, then so be it. The Brexit talks are not about my interests. They are about the national interest – and the interests of the whole of our United Kingdom.”
She walked into a packed Commons a day after anonymous critics from her own party told Sunday newspapers she had entered “the killing zone” and would need to “bring her own noose” if she went to the party’s backbench 1992 committee.
MPs from all sides condemned the briefings, with one of the most active backbench critics of her Brexit policy, Steve Baker, saying: “I very much hope that they are discovered and I hope that she will withdraw the whip from them.”
Speculation intensified over the weekend that May could face a vote of no confidence this week, which would be triggered if 48 letters were sent to the 1922 Committee by unhappy MPs.
But only familiar critics such as John Redwood were hostile to May’s negotiating approach in the debate, while some MPs, such as former transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin, spoke in support.
The prime minister set out four goals in her attempt “to break the impasse” in the Brexit negotiations and reach an agreement in principle with the EU by the end of November, which would then have to be ratified by MPs.
The first, she said, would be to make the UK-wide backstop legally binding, meaning a Northern Ireland-only second stage of the policy would no longer be needed.
She described agreement on this insurance policy – which would only come into force if a free trade deal cannot be negotiated – as “critical”, although the EU has so far refused to concede.
The second was to extend the transition period during which the UK would remain in the single market and customs union as an alternative to the backstop, which May said “might be preferable”.
However, May risked upsetting Brexiters by saying the extended transition period might only end “well before the end of this parliament” – early summer 2022. During this period the UK could be liable to pay billions more into the EU budget.
Extending the transition period had emerged as an idea at last week’s European summit in Brussels. At that point, May had said it would only last a “few months” into 2021, while a comprehensive future trade deal was being negotiated.
John Whittingdale, a former cabinet minister, warned the prime minister that voters had already waited too long to leave the EU. He asked if May would “appreciate the frustration felt by many of my constituents and others that it is two years since the referendum and we have agreed that we will not regain control of our laws, borders and money for over four years.”
Jeremy Corbyn, responding for Labour, said May had been forced to consider extending the transition period as a result of her party’s own incompetence: “The Conservative party has spent the last two years arguing with itself,” he said.
“Their Brexit negotiations have been a litany of missed deadlines, shambolic failure and now they’re begging for extra time.”
The third element laid out by the prime minister would be a guarantee that neither a backstop nor the transition period could be indefinite; and the fourth would be a further commitment “on full continued access for Northern Ireland’s businesses to the whole of the UK internal market”.
British officials are locked in negotiations with their EU counterparts as they seek to conclude a deal in principle by the end of next month to allow enough time for parliament to approve it in time for March 2019.
Cabinet colleagues are particularly keen to ensure that the UK can persuade the EU to agree on a mechanism to time limit the backstop, although there is considerable anxiety about the prospect in Ireland.
Adrian O’Neill, Ireland’s ambassador to the UK, told a meeting of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly that the prospect of a hard Brexit, which would lead to the reinstatement of a hard border, was causing “genuine anxiety” in his country.
The diplomat argued that time-limiting the backstop would make it redundant: “Since the backstop is designed to operate in all circumstances, the proscribed time limit would rather defeat the stated purpose.”
There was relief for May when Baker withdrew an amendment to the Northern Ireland bill, to be debated later this week, which could have ended up making it illegal for the UK to sign up to a Northern Ireland-only backstop, even as a last resort.
The amendment proposed that any such plan be endorsed by the Stormont assembly, which has not sat since 2017, but the Brexiter MP said he had withdrawn the amendments as it “would not be in the public interest” to push ahead.
Pro-remain Conservative and Labour MPs also voiced concern that the government was trying to prevent the Commons from seeking to amend the motion that would approve whatever final deal May is able to bring back from Brussels. Second referendum campaigners are considering using this point to ask MPs to vote on whether to have a second national poll before signing off May’s deal.
Dominic Raab, the Brexit secretary, came to the Commons immediately before May to answer a question from Tory rebel Dominic Grieve. Raab said that, while it would be theoretically possible to amend the approval motion in the so-called “meaningful final vote”, the deal could only be signed off in a “clean motion”.
Raab said: “If I understand correctly, he [Grieve] may wish to change the terms of the agreement that has been struck. I think that would come up against the very real and practical and diplomatic obstacles that, so late in the day, there wouldn’t be time to revisit the negotiation.”
Grieve, a former attorney general, said he found Raab’s conclusion entirely unsatisfactory. “It departs from the plain assurances given repeatedly to the House that we would be enabled to express a desire for alternatives when voting to reject or accept a deal.”
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Faith healer Anatoly Kashpirovsky: Russia's new Rasputin
Psychic healer Anatoly Kashpirovsky once held the entire USSR under his televised spell. But after 15 years in self-imposed exile, following claims that his shows had caused a wave of suicides, he is back – and as controversial as ever
Marc Bennetts
Sat 5 Jun 2010 19.04 EDT First published on Sat 5 Jun 2010 19.04 EDT
Ra-ra-Kashpirovsky: Russia’s favourite faith healer at the height of his fame in 1989. Photograph: Igor Kostin/RIA Novosti
Let's get one thing straight. Your level of understanding is this big," Anatoly Kashpirovsky announces, after striding on stage at north Moscow's Cosmos concert hall, indicating the space between his thumb and forefinger. "But mine is 1,000 times greater."
The 2,000-strong crowd looks suitably impressed. But then, having just shelled out the rouble equivalent of up to £60 a ticket and another £20 for one of Kashpirovsky's "remote healing" DVDs, they are clearly expecting to witness something out of the ordinary.
They will not go home disappointed. (Although, it must be said, some will go not home at all, but rather to hospital, suffering from nausea and intense headaches.)
His terse introduction over, Kashpirovsky, who at 70 boasts the appearance and energy of a man two decades younger, launches into an almost hour-long monologue, taking in subjects as diverse as self-programming, Genghis Khan and unsightly vaginal moles.
As fascinating as all of this may be, I can't help feeling that most of the audience would rather he just cut to the chase and laid on the healing touch that once made him the most talked-about man in the Soviet Union.
As the Soviet system began to collapse under its own weight in the late 1980s, a widespread underground belief in magic and the paranormal flooded into the mainstream, turning society on its head. The pinnacle of this scramble for new ideas to replace the certainties that Marxism-Leninism had once provided saw the incredible spectacle of extrasensory experiments carried out on state TV, prime-time viewing spots devoted to psychic healing sessions.
Where once there were screenings of Communist Party congresses and rhythmic gymnastics, now there were men with hypnotic eyes and soothing voices promising to cure the entire country of its ailments. The nation was entranced.
Kashpirovsky, who first came to public attention during a televised broadcast of a Kiev healing session in October 1989, was the most famous of these Kremlin-approved psychics. At the height of his celebrity, the former weightlifter and qualified psychiatrist regularly topped polls to find the most popular public figure, easily beating the still sober Boris Yeltsin into second place. His live appearances at venues from Moscow to Vladivostok saw crowds sobbing and writhing to his command, a mass casting-out of demons, Soviet-style.
"They idolise me,'' Kashpirovsky said of his countrymen at a 1989 joint news conference with a foreign ministry spokesperson. "I can reverse what was once thought irreversible. I tap the inner resources of the body."
Such high-level patronage led to immediate and widespread comparisons with the mad monk Grigory Rasputin, the mystic healer whose malign influence over the royal family played a large part in the collapse of the Russian monarchy and the rise of the Bolsheviks.
This, then, was no Uri Geller-type spoon-bending novelty. If the Israeli psychic's shows were something of a joke for most people in the west – a few moments of entertainment before the big match – Kashpirovsky's appearances were a genuine cultural and social landmark, his name a byword for all that was bizarre and unfathomable during the final years of the Soviet Union. Indeed, by pointing to another reality beyond the party line, the Ukrainian-born healer may well have even contributed to the downfall of the "Evil Empire".
Clad entirely in black, his piercing eyes staring into apartments across the vast territory of the USSR, Kashpirovsky "treated" millions, his voice both reassuring and oddly threatening.
"For those of you with high blood pressure, your blood pressure will lower… whoever has hip injuries, they will heal…" he droned, his litany of the suffering and the saved a potent lullaby that plunged the nation into a communal trance.
Who cared if the country was collapsing around them, if the shops were almost empty, and the threat of separatist violence in the Caucasus was moving ever closer? The USSR turned on, tuned in and switched off.
"The streets would empty whenever Kashpirovsky came on," journalist Katya Murzina tells me. "I was just a kid, but I remember we all talked about his shows at school. Everyone was convinced he really could heal the nation.
"We had never seen anything like this on TV before," she goes on. "You have to remember, there were basically no adverts on Soviet TV. Everything was taken at face value. So if state TV presented him as possessing these incredible powers, most people believed it."
Kashpirovsky's great rival was Alan Chumak, a white-haired figure for whom the word eccentric could have been invented. During his show, after a brief matter-of-fact introduction, Chumak would silently and slowly, like some Soviet Zen master, move his hands for half-an-hour or so, "charging" with healing energy the jars and saucepans full of water that his millions of viewers had placed around their flats.
"On Fridays Chumak will help viewers to overcome their allergies," a helpful announcement for one of his shows stated. "People with stomach problems should tune in later."
The post-Soviet period saw Kashpirovsky's star fade quickly, as claims that his mass hypnosis sessions had driven hundreds if not thousands of people out of their minds grew stronger. In 1995, after a brief flirtation with politics during which he was elected to the state Duma, Kashpirovsky left Russia for the US, where he reportedly found work treating immigrants from the former USSR.
In his absence the Russians' centuries-long passion for the occult and the paranormal mushroomed, with all manner of psychics and sorcerers popping up to offer so-called "magical services".
Behind the facade of today's Russia is a bizarre place unknown to most westerners, a world where businesspeople turn to urban witches for solutions to their problems and lawyers consult psychics to predict the results of upcoming cases. Although it's hard to get exact figures, there are an estimated 100,000 professional occultists and psychics in Russia, with the business worth at least $15m in Moscow alone.
But Kashpirovsky's hold over Soviet society remains, for many people here, something they would rather forget. His manhandling of their psyches has left some uncomfortable memories. Indeed, a recent opinion poll showed that while almost 90% of the Soviet Union watched Kashpirovsky's healing sessions, only 13% of Russians old enough to have done so will admit to having tuned in.
Nevertheless, despite warnings by health officials over Kashpirovsky's "record of causing serious harm to the nation", the man-in-black returned to Russia's TV screens in late 2009 as the host of a show dedicated to "paranormal investigations".
And then, this spring, he announced the restart of his mass healing sessions, including his first public appearance in the Russian capital for some two decades. With Russia struggling to emerge from a period of economic downturn and public discontent with the ruling Putin-Medvedev tandem at unprecedented levels, there was something undeniably symbolic about the return of the man whose rise to fame coincided with the collapse of the USSR.
Or was there more than mere coincidence to the timing of Kashpirovsky's second coming? There are those, among them Kashpirovsky's one-time professional colleagues in the field of human psychology, who believe that the psychic healer's comeback is an attempt by the authorities to placate Russian society, to divert attention from falling living standards and rising state brutality. But, if so, this plan may well turn out to be a double-edged sword.
"Kashpirovsky's reappearance at a critical moment for society is no coincidence," Boris Yegorov, head of the ethics committee of the all-Russian league of professional psychotherapists, tells me. "But his mass healing sessions are being permitted by people who know nothing about the psychology of the masses. They are counting on being able to calm people down, to remove some of the tension in society. But the authorities have lost touch with reality and are simply encouraging aggression," he adds. "When the public's hopes for Kashpirovsky are not justified, they will turn on those in power."
Kashpirovsky is reluctant to give face-to-face interviews, preferring to communicate via emails. Ahead of his return to Moscow, with the psychic in the middle of an Israeli tour catering to the vast number of immigrants from the former USSR, I fire off a letter giving him a chance to answer his critics.
"These are the ravings of crazy people," he replies, his fury losing none of its edge over the internet. "There will always be unrighteous critics. Their weapons are lies and slander. Their overwhelming motive is envy and their own inadequacy."
He never was one for pulling either his figurative or literal punches. I once saw a Russian talk show where he had attacked a fellow guest who was giving him a hard time, scrapping on the floor like an ageing street fighter. For the man who had kicked open the doors to a new, stranger reality for the Soviets, somehow it just didn't seem becoming.
While modern Russia has changed beyond recognition since Kashpirovsky's glory days, the country's passion for the esoteric is stronger than ever. But was the man who started off the whole craze impressed with his successors?
"This was all given a kick-start by my televised operations and programmes. After this, the public split into two parts – one half wanted to treat and the other half to be treated."
I liked that image: 50% of the nation seeking someone to psychically heal, the other 50% desperate to submit their cancers, growths and warts to extrasensory probing.
"This is coming to its inevitable end though," he continues. "This is down to the new saviours' inability to come up with the goods."
Was this a touch of jealousy? Or envy? Did he miss the days of glory, the years of Soviet-wide fame when his shows could empty streets?
Bizarrely, Kashpirovsky is not the only Russian psychic to have been the subject of political conspiracy theories. In 2005, prospective presidential candidate Grigori Grabovoi ("My first act will be to ban death") achieved immediate nationwide notoriety when he offered to use his otherworldly powers to resurrect, at a cost of $1,500 a corpse, the children killed in the Beslan terrorist act. An article in the Mikhail Gorbachev-funded opposition Novaya Gazeta paper claimed Grabovoi had been used by the Kremlin to discredit the Mothers of Beslan pressure group and their attempts to uncover the truth behind the attack. If so, the authorities were guilty of abandoning their man – Grabovoi was jailed for 11 years on fraud charges in 2008.
"I doubt if he was as much a danger to Russia as the people who so cruelly punished him," Kashpirovsky says. "I don't believe the allegations against him."
Kashpirovsky declines to comment further. Still, I couldn't fail but be impressed by this touching show of unity among psychics.
"It is not for nothing Anatoly Kashpirovsky calls his DVDs and photographs his heavy artillery," an authoritative female voice announces over the concert hall's sound system as the clock ticks down to the big comeback show.
"They possess a universal and remote healing effect. Even when his stay in your town or city is over, by using his material, it is as if Anatoly is really with you, gazing into your eyes," she goes on. "Some people place the DVDs under their pillows at night and others, mainly those suffering from heart problems, wear his photo under their shirts.
"At least 16 people were healed of total blindness last year by staring at Kashpirovsky's photograph," she concludes, before the pre-recorded message starts over again.
Actually, I'm not sure I got that last part right. Surely I must have misheard? Or does Kashpirovsky have such a low opinion of his followers that he has taken to outright mockery?
In any case, the punters don't need much persuading to part with their cash. Sales are frantic, with grannies jostling each other for a place in the ever-expanding queue.
"Give me the latest show, the freshest, the best," a red-faced, overweight pensioner says, thrusting forward a 1,000-rouble (£22) note along with her superlatives.
"That will be the Vladivostok show," the woman at the stall replies. "We've got a good one from Donetsk [eastern Ukraine] as well."
Next to part with their cash is a middle-aged couple from one of the former Soviet Central Asian republics. They are with their teenage son, who is in a wheelchair, and are clearly counting on him walking home after Kashpirovsky is through. They buy all the discs on offer, plus a large selection of photos.
When the last person has been served, the show finally gets under way, some 30 minutes behind schedule. Straightaway there is a surprise as a pre-recorded up-tempo acoustic rock number featuring vocals by Kashpirovsky himself kicks things off.
"I'm no sorcerer… but I can replace a million doctors," the psychic growls in an unexpectedly competent, Johnny Cash-style performance –albeit sung in Russian with a strong Ukrainian accent. As the last note fades away, Kashpirovsky makes his entry. The crowd stands up and applauds as if greeting royalty. Our host for the evening, clad in a black jacket and a crisp white shirt, grimaces and gestures impatiently for silence.
"How should I address you?" he ponders, gazing into the crowd. "Spectators, friends… citizens? None of these seem quite right."
"The sick?" someone suggests, the voice coming from just behind me.
"Computers," he says, giving no sign that he has heard. "You are computers ripe for programming."
Around me, people close their eyes and start to trance out – the lecture itself is apparently part of the healing process. It's not the words that are so important, but rather, as Kashpirovsky puts it, "the movement at a molecular level" that is going on while he litters his talk with enigmatic yet essentially meaningless phrases such as: "Man is far from the stars, yet the stars are even further from man."
"The most powerful medicine can only be obtained through non-medical means," he announces. "For example, if we hear the sound of shattering glass, we're frightened. Is that medicine? No. And when the sun warms your body – is this medicine? No, this is biochemistry… We must awaken the medicine within.
"I don't need your belief," Kashpirovsky states, spitting out the words as his monologue finally comes to an end. "Why would I? Does the violinist need the violin to trust in him? Does the sculptor the sculpture? Do I need this piece of paper to believe in me before I crumple it up and throw it away?"
Satisfied he has made his point, Kashpirovsky then invites members of the audience to join him on stage, to submit to his magic touch. The security guards are nearly trampled in the rush. I think about becoming part of the throng, to experience whatever powers Kashpirovsky claims to possess at first hand, but something holds me back. To be honest, I'm still not sure what.
Given the prevalence of pensioners in the audience, there is a remarkably sexually charged atmosphere in the hall, and the trance techno that suddenly starts blasting out of the speakers only adds to the air of abandon. The pounding drums and bass hammer through me and I can only imagine what the music is doing to the rest of the crowd, most of whom will never have experienced such rhythms before. "Hardcore, funky bass," declares a robotic voice and the keyboards kick in. This is a long way from the Soviet ballads and stirring proletariat anthems the majority of people here grew up on.
The "computers" approach Kashpirovsky one at a time. Some are hesitant, taking tiny steps, while others stride joyously across the stage. Kashpirovsky touches them, stares into their eyes for a second and they slump to the floor.
"But they do not sleep!" he declares, and indeed they do not, one of the woman on stage taking care to adjust her skirt to make sure she doesn't inadvertently flash her knickers.
I glance over to the boy in the wheelchair. His parents are arguing furiously with a security guard who will not allow them on stage. On the other side of the hall, a woman attempts to lead her blind husband up the steps to Kashpirovsky.
"No, no, no!" the psychic shouts. "He could hurt himself when he falls. Take him away. I will deal with him remotely."
The woman, distraught, her hopes for the evening dashed, whimpers something in reply, but the music drowns her out. There will be no healing tonight for the lame and the blind.
Before long, the stage is almost covered in fallen bodies. The scene reminds me of nothing so much as a processing line at a slaughterhouse. A few members of the crowd rise from their seats and begin to dance waltzes with unseen partners, ignoring the techno that continues to shake the building.
What must it do to a man's ego, this ability to stir up hysteria at the flick of a hand? With Kashpirovsky, it appears to have hardened his contempt for the great unwashed masses. It strikes me that his popularity might have something to do with the Russians' well-known longing for an iron fist, for authoritarian leaders. Just as I start to scribble the thought down in my notebook, the techno subsides, and Kashpirovsky begins to walk among those members of the crowd still in their seats. Instinctively, with the speed of a schoolboy concealing notes passed in class from the teacher, I hide my pen and paper.
Two rows over, a pensioner is sobbing, tears streaming down her face as Kashpirovsky stops in front of her to offer some life advice. Curiously, this consists mainly of: "Go home and eat vegetables for supper tonight," but we are beyond language, the woman's face crumpling immediately in a mixture of joy and sorrow, passion and regret.
The next day, the newspapers will round on Kashpirovsky, publishing reports stating that his "odious" performance had led to a number of people seeking medical assistance for psychosomatic illnesses ranging from intense headaches to ulcer pains.
The madness continues. A woman in her twenties, the one who concealed her knickers from the crowd, rises from the stage and glides towards Kashpirovsky. The look on her face reminds me of footage I have seen of the Manson family girls at Charles's trial. Devoted, blissed out, confused. She stands next to him, waiting for the object of her undivided attention to turn away from the pensioner. Kashpirovsky brushes her aside, barely glancing in her direction as he passes. "That's not how we do things," he says.
And then, as if he has had enough of the insanity all around him, as if he has tired of being worshipped, he gives the signal for the fallen to rise. Which they do, a little shaky at first, but with massive smiles on their faces.
"We've had a good evening," Kashpirovsky says. "And we've got plenty of DVDs in stock. If you do buy them, don't forget, never lend them to anyone."
And with that, he is gone.
The post-show atmosphere reminds me of the scene after the raves I attended in the early 1990s. Saucer-shaped eyes, streams of consciousness, strangers embracing one another. I half expect the loved-up pensioners to head off to a chill-out club.
I take the opportunity of all this comradeship to ask some questions. What I really want to know is as simple as this: were these people sick and, if so, do they now feel better?
"We were in a car crash six months ago," the overweight woman who wanted the "best" Kashpirovsky DVDs tells me, gesturing at her husband, a skinny fellow dressed all in black. "We suffered internal injuries," she goes on, an odd hint of pride in her voice.
"I felt my liver move in there," she says. "I'm going to get better, I'm sure."
I refrain from suggesting that the earth-shaking bass might have had something to do with that.
"It's bad that you are sceptical," her husband says, reading my expression. "Kashpirovsky is a wonderful man."
The girl whose undergarments just escaped public scrutiny is holding court a few feet away. "I just felt like I had to get up and go to him," she says. "He was like a magnet."
The grannies around her are hanging on her every word.
"Did he make me do that?" she wonders.
"Of course, love," one of the women whispers. "Everything he makes us do is for our own good."
I get in my questions.
"No, I'm not suffering from any illness," she says, not at all put out by my query. "My brother's schizophrenic though, so I thought I'd go and check out the show. To see if it could help him. I'm so glad I came."
The next people I talk to, a pair of middle-aged women who have the habit of finishing each other's sentences, are less enthusiastic.
"We have both been suffering from nasal problems for many years," the first says, sniffing as she speaks. "I can't say there has been a distinct improvement," the other adds. "But we will certainly watch the DVDs," her friend goes on, "and I'm sure that will do the trick."
I don't begrudge Kashpirovsky's followers their conviction that everything will turn out for the better, that their illnesses and pains will somehow miraculously disappear. This ability to believe passionately, for a short time at least, in the promises of charismatic figures is a very Russian trait.
From the Stalinist shockworkers who laboured in mines to hasten the dawn of communism to the Perestroika-era crowds who supported Yeltsin in his struggle against Kremlin hardliners, the Russians have always been ready to invest everything in the quest for a brighter day. But invariably their hopes have never lasted long, and the line between love and hate is so small here as to be barely discernible.
As I make my way to the exit, I pass the Central Asian couple and their disabled son. The mother is weeping openly, the father's face red with anger. The boy, a pile of Kashpirovsky products balanced in his hands, looks uncomfortable, bemused by all the commotion, as if he alone doubted all along that he would rise miraculously from his wheelchair.
A couple of pensioners comfort the mother, telling her that she must have faith, that the discs and the photos will eventually work their magic. She looks unconvinced, and her sorrow shows signs of turning to rage. Perhaps the warning that the public's inevitable disillusionment with Kashpirovsky.
I wonder where the conversation will go next and, simultaneously, where Russia's eternal passion for the paranormal and the occult will take it. But for now I have had enough and walk out into the Moscow night.
Marc Bennetts lives in Moscow and is a journalist and translator. He is the author of Football Dynamo (Random House, £8.99)
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No regrets over Ukraine split, but Crimeans want more love from Russia
Nearly two years on, many are pleased to be free of Kiev, but relations with Moscow are not as rosy as they would like
Guardian reporter in Simferopol and Shaun Walker in Moscow
Tue 19 Jan 2016 06.08 EST Last modified on Tue 28 Nov 2017 23.00 EST
Crimeans wave a Russian flag as they celebrate an Orthodox Christmas in the Black Sea resort of Yevpatoria. Photograph: Alexander Polegenko/AP
Oleg Zubkov was such a big supporter of the Russian seizure of Crimea that he promised to set his lions on any Ukrainian nationalists who attempted to enter the peninsula.
An eccentric businessman who built and runs the two biggest zoos in Crimea, Zubkov even named one of his Siberian tigers Referendum. It was born on 16 March 2014, the day Crimea voted to return to Russia in a hastily organised poll branded illegitimate by the international community.
Less than two years later Referendum has grown into a majestic beast, but Zubkov is in conflict with Crimea’s new Russian government and has second thoughts about Moscow’s takeover.
“Under Ukraine things here were bad, but now Russia is here things are even worse,” he said, as he drove a golf buggy around Taigan zoo, about an hour’s drive from Crimea’s capital Simferopol. The zoo is home to 70 lions, 25 tigers and a host of other exotic creatures that live in conditions which appear unusually humane and well kept by regional standards.
Oleg Zubkov in his office at Taigan zoo. Photograph: the Guardian
Taigan had 500,000 visitors in 2013, but since the new year, Zubkov has closed both it and his other zoo near Yalta. “The red tape, the corruption, the incompetence - it’s impossible to do anything here now,” he said. He has written to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, asking him to intervene with the local Crimean authorities.
The businessman’s story reflects a broader mood in Crimea. Few of those who initially supported the annexation have any desire to reverse the move, but there is a widespread admittance that Russian rule has not been quite the panacea for the country’s ills that had been expected.
Crimea children’s theatre forced to shut for ‘promoting western propaganda’
“Crimea deserves more than it has got over the past two years,” said Leonid Grach, the last communist leader of the territory before the Soviet Union collapsed. “It should have been an example region of what can be done ... instead it feels like we are Russia’s unloved stepdaughter.”
Grach said he spoke to the Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, by telephone in the early days of Crimea’s annexation and was offered the role of prime minister, but that Moscow eventually settled on the Russian nationalists Sergei Aksyonov and Vladimir Konstantinov.
“The money has not gone to solve problems but has lined the pockets of the Crimean nouveaux riches,” he said.
Crimea map
Many express irritation with Aksyonov, who is rumoured to have past links to criminal groups – which he has denied – and who apparently went by the nickname “the goblin” in the 1990s. Formerly a marginal Russian nationalist, Moscow chose him to lead the popular uprising that gave Russia the pretext for seizing the region, and he was rewarded with the position of regional governor.
“It’s a government of goblins. In the time they’ve been in power I could have taught one of my chimpanzees to be a better politician,” said Zubkov.
Aksyonov has been through a tough time. The territory has been under severe western sanctions since its annexation, and in recent months a Ukrainian trade blockade has also been enforced. After Ukrainian activists blew up energy pipelines to Crimea in late November, it was plunged into darkness. People ate dinner by candlelight, factories shut down and even traffic lights stopped working for the first few days.
The situation is returning to normal, said Svetlana Borodulina, Crimea’s minister of energy, but the region is still about 20% under capacity and will not be fully self-sufficient until two major power plants come online in 2018. Crimea is still officially in a state of emergency, and many residents are without power for a number of hours each day. Factories have switched from all-day working to shift hours in an effort to ensure they operate outside peak times.
People play cards in Simferopol after Crimea’s main electricity lines from Ukraine were blown up. Photograph: Max Vetrov/AFP/Getty Images
Borodulina said the government response was impressive, with officials sometimes working until 3am to ensure the most important facilities were supplied with generators. Others, however, have criticised the response, and Aksyonov himself railed against his subordinates in a government meeting, furious at those who had taken holidays during the state of emergency. “Achieving a result is an impossible task. I’m starting to understand Grandpa Stalin,” Aksyonov said in televised remarks.
For Zubkov, the blackout ended in tragedy, because three of his tiger cubs died of an infection after he was unable to keep them warm, and local authorities removed the generators his zoos had been given. The local prosecutor then accused Zubkov of allowing the animals to die to gain publicity and threatened a criminal case.
The businessman said the allegations were ridiculous, and accused the government of stealing money earmarked for generators to prevent a situation that many had predicted, given Crimea’s reliance on Ukrainian electricity.
Bengal tiger cubs are covered with blankets to keep them warm at Zubkov’s zoo near Yalta. Photograph: Alexander Polegenko/AP
Zubkov knows each of his lions by name, bounding into their cages and frolicking with them as if they were mischievous kittens. Caesar, who weighs 330kg, gets his belly tickled and his mane ruffled. A tigress is given a pat on the back and a playful tug of the tail. Zubkov can apparently find a common language with his felines, but he has a harder time doing so with Crimean officials.
“They are so in love with their image as heroes, but they did nothing. They are just bandits who were in the right place at the right time,” he said.
A new survey released earlier this month by a Russian institute claims Aksyonov still has a high approval rating and that Crimeans feel overwhelmingly optimistic about the future, but even the most pro-Russian among them admit things have not quite gone to plan.
“There is a credit of trust for three to five years, and this has been reinforced by the energy blockade. But some people are still celebrating the return of Crimea. It’s time to stop celebrating and get to work,” said Evgeny Kopatko, who worked on the survey. “If you don’t work on the problems and difficulties as well as talk about the positive things, this goodwill will quickly evaporate.”
Sergei Aksyonov with Natalia Poklonskaya, Crimea’s prosecutor general. Photograph: Darya Samsonova/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis
In Sevastopol, which is home to Russia’s Black Sea fleet and has its own administrative structures that report directly to Moscow, there has been a public falling-out in the administration. Alexei Chaly, a local pro-Russian businessman who emerged as the “hero” of the annexation process, has criticised the current government led by the Kremlin-appointed Sergei Menyailo.
Aides to Chaly say he turned down Putin’s request to lead Sevastopol after annexation because he wanted to leave the job to professional politicians, but when he saw what a hash of it they were making, he soon changed his mind and stood for speaker of the local parliament. Since he took up the post in autumn 2014, he has been at loggerheads with Menyailo.
Those close to Chaly say he had worked tirelessly for decades to bring Sevastopol into Russia’s fold, but found himself disappointed by the current authorities and frustrated that his plans for innovative projects and strategic development were being ignored. Chaly is currently in Moscow for talks with Kremlin officials, trying to persuade them to relieve Menyailo of his duties.
“He went there to say ‘I’m ready to work if you get rid of this idiot’,” said a pro-Chaly member of Sevastopol’s legislative assembly, who asked not to be identified. “We don’t know what the result will be. Putin doesn’t like to make decisions under pressure, and while they admire his honesty and his genuine nature, they won’t forgive him for publicly criticising the system.”
The former Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, with Vladimir Putin and Sevastopol’s governor, Sergei Menyailo (right) in September 2015. Photograph: TASS / Barcroft Media
Many of those who held pro-Ukrainian views in Crimea left after the annexation, and most of those who have stayed prefer to keep quiet, because the space for dissent has shrunk.
Leonid Kuzmin, a pro-Ukraine activist, was put on trial last year for organising a small rally to celebrate the birthday of the Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko. He subsequently lost his job as a history teacher and now works as a dental assistant and has stopped organising public events after repeated threats from Russian security services. When he last travelled to Kiev, Ukrainian border guards stopped him for six hours at the border and accused him of being a separatist, underlining the difficulties faced by those who support Ukraine and decide to stay in Crimea.
For many, the trade blockade and electricity blackout has only reinforced their dislike of Ukraine. Even if they are hugely disappointed by events since Crimea was taken over, they still do not regret the move.
Zubkov was born in Russia but studied in Kiev and is married to a Ukrainian. He said he previously had the warmest feelings towards Ukraine, but that nationalist slogans during the Maidan revolution and the sight of Lenin statues being pulled down across Ukraine led him to throw his weight behind the Russian annexation.
“I remember walking through Maidan, and it scared me, frankly. Of course more and more people are disappointed here these days but I still think the historical process of becoming part of Russia was right,” he said. He still hopes Moscow will sort out the mess on the ground. If not, he will have no choice but to sell up and leave his animals behind, he said.
The member of the legislative assembly in Sevastopol said: “There are people here who are sober about the current Russian political system. This regime in the Kremlin is temporary, but what’s important is that we’re in Russia now, and that is forever.”
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The Living Daylights Gadgets
Cello & Case Sled
One of the most spectacular scenes of any James Bond movie - a leisurely trip down a mountain on, or rather in, a cello case with a friend.
Not just that, but the Stradivarius Cello is used to steer the improvised snow vehicle.
Although this is highly unlikely to be possible - the hinges would rip apart in seconds; but there is no use being picky at this juncture, the great spies of World War II were forced to create devices to aid escape and evade capture from anything they had at hand.
This was a device worthy of any comparison.
Kara Milovy: I owe everything to Georgi - My place at the Conservatoire, my Strad..."
007: "Your cello's a Stradivarius?"
Kara Milovy: "A famous one! The Lady Rose."
007: "Quite a present."
The fact that for something to likened to a Stradivari is seen as a mark of excellence, is perhaps testament to the regard in which instruments made by the Stradivari family in the 17th and 18th century are held.
Modern craftsmen have attempted to make stringed instruments of a similar quality, using equally similar materials, but experts have never found a comparison. What is known is that spruce, maple and willow were used for different sections of the instruments, and that potassium borate, sodium and potassium silicate were likely to have been used, as was vernice bianca for the varnish, but although the treatments are not fully known, it is likely to be the conditions and quality of materials that were available at that time that have gone to create the remarkable instruments that have not been replicated.
The period of 1700 to 1725 is considered to be the best period for the instrument making and if you stumble across such an instrument in a dusty old box in the attic, it is likely to be worth millions.
A violin made in 1721 was sold in 2011 in aid of the Japanese Tsunami Appeal for £9.8m. It is known as the Lady Blunt, after Lord Byron's grand-daughter, Lady Anne Blunt, who owned the instrument for 30 years.
Of the 1,000 or so instruments made by Stradivarius, it is believed that around 650 survive.
Of those, 63 are cellos. All have sobriquets, none are called The Lady Rose.
The nickname of one cello is Amaryllis Fleming. It is named for a previous owner. A half sister of Ian Fleming.
< < < Previous
Photo: The Living Daylights 1987 Danjaq, LLC, & United Artists Corporation. All rights reserved
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Home Entertainment Bollywood Lok Sabha Elections – Sunny Deol Joins BJP
Lok Sabha Elections – Sunny Deol Joins BJP
Smruti Kishore
In the midst of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, Bollywood actor Sunny Deol joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the 23rd of April.
Sunny Deol joined the party in the presence of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitaraman and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal.
“The way my father (film star Dharmendra) was attached with Atalji, today I have come to join Modiji. Whatever I can do for this family (BJP), I will do it….I won’t talk, I will show you through my work,” said Deol while joining the BJP.
Sunny Deol’s father and veteran actor Dharmendra contested the 2004 Lok Sabha elections from Bikaner, Rajasthan.
While welcoming Sunny Deol to the BJP, Nirmala Sitharaman referred to his superhit film Border and said Deol was always a nationalist. “Sunny Deol made the film Border which showed how the feeling of nationalism and patriotism when portrayed beautifully on film can touch a cord with the people,” Ms. Sitharaman said.
Agreeing with her statement, Piyush Goyal added by saying, “It cannot be acting when it comes from the heart.”
Sunny Deol is the third member of the Deol family not only to join active politics, but to become a part of the BJP as well. Previously, his father Dharmendra and stepmother Hema Malini both contested the Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket.
While Dharmendra only had a brief appearance in politics in 2004, his wife, Hema Malini, is currently contesting for reelections from Mathura, Uttar Pradesh. It is likely the BJP will nominate Sunny Deol to stand for the elections from Gurdaspur in Punjab.
At the moment, the BJP has three out of the 13 seats in Punjab, Gurdaspur, Amritsar and Hoshiarpur. No official announcement about Sunny Deol’s seat was made so far.
Polling for the Punjab seats will take place in a single phase, on the 19th of May, the last day of the elections.
Previous articleLok Sabha Elections – Udit Raj Quits BJP
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Everything We Know So Far About 'Feud: Charles and Diana'
Ryan Murphy's new project proves The Crown doesn't have a monopoly on royal drama.
By Caroline Hallemann | FEB 16, 2018
IMAGE GETTY IMAGES
Ryan Murphy loves an anthology series, and with the second season of Feud, he's taking on Prince Charles and Princess Diana's divorce. Details and few and far between for the series so far, but here's what we do know about the royal drama of Feud: Charles and Diana.
IT REPORTEDLY STARTED FILMING IN THE FALL OF 2017.
Back in April of 2017, when Murphy revealed the theme of season two of Feud, he said: “We are shooting I think in the late fall and I’m casting Charles and Diana," according to Deadline. At this point, it's unclear if the ongoing legal battle over season one—Olivia de Havilland has filed a lawsuit over her portrayal in the series—will impact the timing of "Charles and Diana," or if Murphy's many other projects will push it back, but Harpers Bazaar previously reported it would premiere sometime in 2018.
THE TIMELINE OF THE SHOW WILL GO FROM THE ROYAL DIVORCE TO DIANA'S DEATH IN 1997.
"Charles and Diana’s story literally begins with filing the divorce papers," Murphy revealed. "It’s about that pain of the dissolving of a fairy tale, particularly for Diana. It starts with the filing of divorce papers and takes you up until her death."
Murphy elaborated in an interview with EW, "It’s going to be super juicy. It’s a very different kind of feud than the feud we told with Bette and Joan. It’s a love affair feud."
SUSAN SARANDON AND JESSICA LANGE WILL RETURN FOR SEASON TWO.
Sarandon and Lange, who played Bette Davis and Joan Crawford in season one, Feud: Bette and Joan, will be back. When asked if these two actresses would have roles in Charles and Diana, Murphy replied, "Always, always." At this point, it's unclear what roles they will play. Other casting details have yet to be announced.
SEASON TWO WILL HAVE TEN EPISODES.
Jon Robin Baitz (perhaps best-known for Brothers & Sisters) is co-writing the script with Murphy. Sarandon and Lange will reportedly return as executive producers.
6 Rumored Prince Charles Affairs and Flings
A Timeline of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles's Royal Romance
Prince Charles Apparently Didn't Tell Diana the Full Story About Camilla Parker Bowles
The Story Behind Princess Diana's Iconic 'Revenge Dress'
Here's How to Properly Welcome the Chinese New Year
11 of the World's Most Mind-Blowing Conspiracy Theories
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The Complete Mercenary [Terrorist?]: How Erik Prince Used the Rise of Trump to Make an Improbable Comeback
ANGLO AMERICA, MILITARISM, 6 May 2019
Matthew Cole – The Intercept
Photo illustration: Soohee Cho/The Intercept, Getty Images
3 May 2019 – When Erik Prince arrived at the Four Seasons resort in the Seychelles in January 2017 for his now-famous meetings with a Russian banker and UAE ruler Mohammed bin Zayed, he was in the middle of an unexpected comeback. The election of Donald Trump had given the disgraced Blackwater founder a new opportunity to prove himself. After years of trying and failing to peddle a sweeping vision of mercenary warfare around the world, Erik Prince was back in the game.
Bin Zayed had convened a group of close family members and advisers at the luxurious Indian Ocean resort for a grand strategy session in anticipation of the new American administration. On the agenda were discussions of new approaches for dealing with the civil wars in Yemen, Syria, and Libya, the threat of the Islamic State, and the United Arab Emirates’ longstanding rivalry with Iran. Under bin Zayed’s leadership, the UAE had used its oil wealth to become one of the world’s largest arms purchasers and the third largest importer of U.S. weapons. A new American president meant new opportunities for the tiny Gulf nation to exert its outsized military and economic influence in the Gulf region and beyond.
Prince was no stranger to the Emiratis. He had known bin Zayed, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and de facto ruler of the UAE, since 2009, when he sold the sheikh on creating an elite counterterrorism unit. That deal ended badly for Prince, but Trump’s election had recalibrated his usefulness. As a prominent Trump supporter and close associate of Steve Bannon, not to mention the brother of incoming cabinet member Betsy DeVos, Prince was invited to the meeting as an unofficial adviser to the incoming administration.
Prince’s meeting with a Putin intimate shortly before Trump’s inauguration has drawn intense interest from Congress, the Mueller investigation, and the press.
When Prince joined the Emirati royals and other government officials on a deck overlooking the Indian Ocean, bin Zayed made it clear to everyone there that “Erik was his guy,” said a source close to the Emirati rulers, who was briefed by some of those in attendance. Prince, in bin Zayed’s view, had built and established an elite ground force that bin Zayed had deployed to wars in Syria and Yemen, the first foreign conflicts in his young country’s history. It was because of Prince, bin Zayed said, that the Emiratis had no terrorists in their country. Prince had solved their problem with Somali pirates. “He let his court know that they owed Erik a favor,” the source said.
Part of that favor apparently involved facilitating an introduction to Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of an $8 billion Russian sovereign wealth fund and a close associate of President Vladimir Putin. Prince repeatedly and under oath in testimony to Congress denied that his meeting with Dmitriev had anything to do with the Trump administration, describing it as no more than a chance encounter over a beer.
“We were talking about the endless war and carnage in Iraq and Syria,” Prince told the House Intelligence Committee. “If Franklin Roosevelt can work with Joseph Stalin after the Ukraine terror famine, after killing tens of millions of his own citizens, we can certainly at least cooperate with the Russians in a productive way to defeat the Islamic State.”
Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO Kirill Dmitriev, center, attends the Russian-Saudi Investment Forum at the Ritz-Carlton Moscow Hotel on Oct. 5, 2017.
Photo: Sergei Bobylev/TASS via Getty Images
Although the UAE has been a very good customer of U.S. arms dealers, bin Zayed had grown frustrated with the Obama administration’s refusal to work with Russia to end the war in Syria. Russia was actively courting the UAE, and from bin Zayed’s perspective Russia was a key player that couldn’t be ignored, according to a current and a former U.S. intelligence official. Trump’s public infatuation with Putin and his apparent eagerness to improve relations with Russia gave the UAE a chance to play dealmaker and diminish Iran’s position in the Middle East, starting with the war in Syria.
Prince’s 30-minute meeting with a Putin intimate shortly before Trump’s inauguration has drawn intense interest from Congress, the Mueller investigation, and the press. The Mueller report established that the meeting was a pre-arranged attempt to establish a backchannel between Russia and the incoming Trump administration and has led House Intelligence Committee chair Adam Schiff to make a criminal referral to the Justice Department for perjury. Yet the focus on Russian interference with the 2016 presidential election has deflected scrutiny from what the meeting reveals about Prince’s unique role in the world of covert services.
Blackwater made Prince an infamous symbol of U.S. foreign policy hubris, but America’s most famous mercenary has moved on. Although he continues to dream of deploying his military services in the world’s failed states, and persists in hawking a crackpot scheme of privatizing the U.S. war in Afghanistan, Prince has diversified his portfolio. No longer satisfied with contracting out former special forces operators to the State Department and Pentagon, Prince is now attempting to offer an entire supply chain of warfare and conflict. He wants to be able to skim a profitable cut from each stage of a hostile operation, whether it be overt or covert, foreign or domestic. His offerings range from the traditional mercenary toolkit, military hardware and manpower, to cellphone surveillance technology and malware, to psychological operations and social media manipulation in partnership with shadowy operations like James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas.
This account is based on interviews with more than a dozen of Prince’s former colleagues and peers, as well as court records, emails, and internal documents provided to The Intercept. An examination of Prince’s time working with the UAE in particular reveals suspicious financial transactions at a moment when his personal finances were under stress and his mercenary ventures were failing. The picture that emerges is one of a man desperately trying to avoid U.S. tax and weapons trafficking laws even as he offers military services, without a license, in no fewer than 15 countries around the world.
Prince’s former and current associates describe him as a visionary, a brilliant salesman with remarkable insight into the future of warfare, who is nonetheless so shady and incompetent that he fails at almost every enterprise he attempts. And yet he endures. Prince is thus, in many ways, an emblematic figure for the Trump era.
Suitcases Full of Cash
Prince’s partnership with bin Zayed got underway, fittingly, with a slapstick moment in early 2010, when two of Prince’s men, a veteran of the Canadian special forces and a Lebanese fixer, were ordered by Emirati security officials to meet at an Abu Dhabi intersection. There, a few government employees helped Prince’s men load the trunk of a Chevy Impala with more than half a dozen carry-on suitcases, most worn and with busted wheels. The two drove back to their hotel, Le Méridian, where they unloaded the bags, returned to their room, and summoned their immediate supervisor, a former Navy SEAL who had known Prince in the military, telling the American that they had a problem. Their new company, Reflex Responses, often called R2 for short, was so new it didn’t yet have a bank account or even an office with a safe.
When the former SEAL entered their hotel room, the contents of the suitcases had been largely removed, much of it dumped onto a bed: bricks of new, sequential $100 bills, in $10,000 stacks, each bound by a green and white band. The three men counted each stack, measuring the height to be sure that they all had 100 $100 bills, until they tallied it all: roughly $13 million. For the first two weeks of the program, the hotel room, always occupied by a security guard or a company employee, served as the Reflex Responses vault. Hotel staff were not allowed to clean the room, and by the time R2 opened a bank account and deposited the money, the room was covered in empty whiskey bottles and ashtrays overflowing with cigarette butts.
Prince had arrived in the UAE at a low moment. The Obama administration had made clear in its first months that it would not welcome new Blackwater contracts. The company had become infamous after Blackwater security contractors shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians and wounded dozens more in Baghdad’s Nisour Square in 2007. By 2010, Prince had changed Blackwater’s name and sold the company, ceasing to work on any U.S. government contracts. As Prince negotiated a settlement with the Justice Department for a series of Blackwater arms trafficking violations, then-CIA Director Leon Panetta discovered a secret assassination program involving Blackwater operatives that former Vice President Dick Cheney had hidden from Congress. Prince was bitter, blaming the Obama administration for leaking his CIA role and comparing himself to exposed CIA operative Valerie Plame. Prince couldn’t understand why the American public viewed him as a villain. “He was genuinely upset,” said a former colleague who discussed the public scrutiny of Blackwater. “He kept asking, ‘Why do they hate me?’”
A converted Catholic raised by Christian fundamentalists and the scion of a Midwestern auto-parts fortune would seem to be an unlikely ally to the Muslim crown prince of a tiny, oil-rich Arab kingdom, but from their first meeting in 2009, Prince and bin Zayed hit it off. Almost immediately it was clear they shared common enemies: Islamic militants and, especially, Iran. Prince was introduced to bin Zayed after pitching a two-page schematic of a light attack airplane — an agricultural crop duster modified with surveillance and laser-guided munitions — to the Emirati government as the Blackwater sale to a private equity group was being negotiated. When the Emirati ambassador to the U.S., Yousef Al Otaiba, learned that Prince’s legal problems with the Justice Department would mean that he wouldn’t be able to be involved in building, selling, or brokering armed aircraft, the Emirati government approached another aviation manufacturer to help establish an entire air wing of armored and weaponized crop dusters. In exchange for Prince bowing out of the deal quietly, Otaiba introduced him to bin Zayed explicitly in order to find another role in which he could assist the UAE government.
Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Jeddah on June 6, 2018.
Photo: Balkis Press/Abaca/Sipa via AP
Bin Zayed was determined to bolster the UAE’s sphere of influence and project power in the Middle East. Despite Prince’s tarnished reputation, bin Zayed saw in him a glimpse of the future. It didn’t hurt that “Erik could sell you your own hat,” according to one former associate. The former SEAL and self-described CIA “asset” saw in bin Zayed a willing buyer who shared his desire to play soldier. Prince sold bin Zayed on the idea of creating a half-billion-dollar program in which he would train, equip, and lead an elite cadre of foreign soldiers called the Security Support Group that would serve as a presidential guard for the Emirati monarchies and help quell any internal unrest. Bin Zayed insisted that Prince use non-Muslim ex-soldiers, according to two senior advisers who helped build the unit, telling him that he did not believe Muslim soldiers could be trusted to kill other Muslims. Eventually, Prince also sold bin Zayed on the creation of an armed aviation wing, a team to protect the Emirates from a weapons of mass destruction attack, and a separate force to combat Somali piracy.
One indication of both Prince and R2’s growing value to bin Zayed was that Prince became a favored foreign policy and military adviser, joining bin Zayed’s inner sanctum. Prince told his colleagues at R2 that bin Zayed, whom Prince often referred to as “the boss,” gave him ownership of two side-by-side villas in Abu Dhabi, which were originally worth $10 million each. The wealthy enclave was built as a luxury community, each villa with a private beach, and quickly housed several foreign embassies. Prince’s neighboring houses sat at the end of a residential peninsula and had expansive views of central Abu Dhabi across a sea channel, a pool, and beachfront in the Persian Gulf. Prince built a dock for his sailboat, which has a Blackwater logo across the port side.
Despite Prince’s tarnished reputation, bin Zayed saw in him a glimpse of the future. The former SEAL and self-described CIA “asset” saw in bin Zayed a willing buyer who shared his desire to play soldier.
The $13 million in the suitcases was an advance on $110 million the UAE gave Prince to get Reflex Responses off the ground. The deal gave Prince and his team a guaranteed 15 percent profit margin on whatever the company spent in addition to salaries. Prince had long tried to own a piece of each part of the foreign conflict supply chain: planes, ships, vehicles, weapons, intelligence, men, and logistics. Reflex Responses gave him a blank check to do just that.
Structurally, Reflex Responses became a model for how Prince masks his involvement in selling or providing military services, which was a necessity given that he’s unlikely to obtain an arms trafficking license under the U.S. State Department’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Officially, Prince was never an R2 employee. He officially worked for a company called Assurance Management Consultants, which shared a floor in an Abu Dhabi office tower with Reflex, where he oversaw the entire military program. It was Prince who hired and installed Reflex’s senior management, according to people directly involved in the effort. And it was Prince who recruited and hired the subcontractors who fulfilled Reflex’s contractual requirements. Prince flew to South America, where he helped oversee the recruitment of former Colombian soldiers who served as both hired guns and a training cadre for the fledgling Emirati security force.
Erik Prince’s residency visa for the UAE, showing that he was, at the time, employed by Assurance Management Consultancy. Some personal information has been redacted for privacy. Photo: Provided to The Intercept
Prince’s approach to management created problems almost immediately, issues that would arise again and again in his various projects. In what would become a pattern, Prince’s American colleagues at Reflex were troubled by his directives about ITAR regulations. Prince argued to his lawyers that because Reflex was an Emirati company, working on an Emirati government contract, he was not required to have an ITAR license from the State Department to sell military services. “We’d tell him, ‘No, that’s not how it works. You’re an American,’” said one of Prince’s former colleagues involved in Reflex Responses. “It was stupid, honestly. There was a way to do it legally and make lots of money, but Erik didn’t care. When Erik wakes up in the morning, Erik does whatever he feels like doing. I always assumed that’s how it is when your father is a billionaire.”
In response to a request for comment, a Prince spokesperson stated: “Mr. Prince at all times relied upon the advice of counsel, including both in-house compliance counsel and outside experts, to ensure compliance with ITAR and other laws.”
Prince also hid his financial interest in subcontractors working with R2. Six months into the project, senior executives discovered that Prince had an arrangement with Thor Global, the company that he’d insisted Reflex use to hire the Colombian soldiers. On paper, Thor Global was wholly owned by Robert Owens, a former aide to Oliver North during the Iran-Contra affair, but Prince received a substantial amount of the money R2 paid Thor Global, according to court documents and two former Prince colleagues familiar with the arrangement. “I asked Erik if the crown prince knew he was self-dealing,” said one of the former colleagues. “Erik wouldn’t answer.”
Prince had long tried to own a piece of each part of the foreign conflict supply chain: planes, ships, vehicles, weapons, intelligence, men, and logistics. Reflex Responses gave him a blank check to do just that.
Owens’s involvement and connection to North is not incidental. Prince and North are friends, and Prince has told others over the years that he greatly admires the former Marine officer and Reagan National Security Council staffer, who was convicted on three felony counts during the Iran-Contra scandal. (The convictions were reversed in 1991.)
A former colleague said it took him some time to recognize that Prince generally works to control the entire supply chain of any mercenary or security contract. “Everything he does, he skims,” said the former colleague, who has known Prince for two decades and described how Prince generally operates as a military services provider. “He will run a contract through two companies and then dictate that those two companies have to subcontract out to another eight companies. What he doesn’t disclose is that he owns all or part of those eight companies and will take 25 percent from each company. Then, he can use those same eight entities to make the money disappear.”
After Prince’s first team of U.S. executives quit, he brought in another former SEAL and a former CIA officer. That team conducted audits and quickly discovered financial problems. “There was massive embezzlement going on inside R2,” said a third former employee with direct knowledge of the company’s finances. “Overbilling, false billing, missing cash — millions were gone.”
According to four former Reflex employees and consultants, the alleged graft and embezzlement ran through two of Prince’s lieutenants, who handled logistics and administration for R2. The first was a former Blackwater employee who told colleagues at Reflex that he’d done intelligence work in the Middle East for the Pentagon’s intelligence agency. Internal R2 documents list him as the first employee of the company. Several of Prince’s colleagues confronted him about the missing money and his lieutenants’ conduct, but Prince rebuffed any effort to remove them. Contacted by The Intercept for comment, Prince’s lieutenant denied that he had ever embezzled or stolen money and denied ever working for R2. He said that he had worked for Assurance Management and occasionally “consulted” for R2.
Prince did not respond on the record to questions about the financial improprieties.
While money was disappearing from Reflex Responses’s accounts as a result of these financial shenanigans, Somali pirates were engaging in a more traditional form of robbery off the Horn of Africa, harming UAE shipping interests. Prince had a solution: a sea, air, and land battalion to eradicate the pirates. He established a group for this purpose within Reflex Responses known as Special Projects and hired a former South African special forces officer named Lafras Luitingh, who also worked for Executive Outcomes, a private military company comprised mainly of apartheid-era South African soldiers.
Members of the Puntland Maritime Police Force on patrol for pirates near the village of Elayo, Somalia, on Sept. 18, 2011.
Photo: Jason Florio/Corbis via Getty Images
Together, Prince and Luitingh created the Puntland Maritime Police Force in northeastern Somalia, in a semiautonomous region home to the most active Somali pirates. A United Nations monitoring team subsequently documented extensive violations of the U.N. arms embargo of Somalia, including falsifying export paperwork for small arms and attacks that left civilian casualties by Luitingh’s company, Saracen, a subcontractor on the project. The two-year program resulted in “an elite force outside any legal framework … answerable only to the Puntland presidency,” according to a U.N. investigation into the PMPF. Both Prince and the UAE denied involvement, but one source with knowledge of the operation witnessed Emirati intelligence officers providing a suitcase with millions of dollars in $100 bills to Luitingh for his payroll. Citing Prince’s involvement in the police force, the U.N. report said, “This externally financed assistance programme has remained the most brazen violation of the arms embargo by a private security company.”
Although Prince and the UAE’s involvement was meant to be largely clandestine, Prince sought publicity for the program, according to a person with direct knowledge. Prince arranged for a February 2012 Fox News segment from North, then a military analyst for Fox News, who embedded with the PMPF in Puntland and explicitly reported that the UAE was behind the fledgling military unit. The media attention enraged the Emirati government, according to one of Prince’s former colleagues who worked with him at the time, and blamed him for the unwanted publicity.
The program’s lack of legal legitimacy was perhaps the least troubling legacy of Prince’s vision, however. The program shut down shortly after a South African mercenary was murdered by one of the local soldiers hired to fight the pirates during one of the first operations the Puntland force conducted. According to a contemporaneously filmed documentary of the anti-piracy effort, the killer was a relative of a pirate targeted by the unit. The unit had been infiltrated from the beginning, a failure of basic counterintelligence, which a former CIA officer, who was also involved, readily admitted in on-camera interviews. The U.N. would later report “credible” allegations of human rights violations stemming from corporal punishment, which led to severe injuries and a death at the South African-run PMPF camp.
Robert Young Pelton, an author who worked for Prince on the Somalia project and helped write Prince’s autobiography (and recently lost a civil suit against Prince over a contract dispute), said Prince’s efforts were “delusional. He operates with a 12-year-old’s mindset of war. He’s romanticized the South African mercenaries who fought those ugly wars.” Pelton said when Prince first showed him a map with plans for the security force, he realized that Prince had never been to Somalia. Pelton said Prince told him that the idea for an anti-piracy force came from reading “The Pirate Coast,” a book detailing a secret American operation in 1805 to end piracy off the coast of Libya.
As with the Security Support Group, the anti-piracy force suffered from mismanagement. According to two individuals who worked on the program, at least $50 million meant for the anti-piracy force had gone missing by the time the Emirates decided to stop funding the effort. Among the items that were never returned or accounted for were several aircraft, including at least one cargo plane and two helicopters, as well as several ships. Before he was asked by the Emirates to end his involvement in the program, Prince brought in a former intelligence operative to conduct an audit of the PMPF program. The American identified $38 million in cash that the UAE had delivered to Luitingh, for which the former South African mercenaries refused to provide accounting or receipts. “I told Erik, ‘[Luitingh] and the South Africans couldn’t account for $38 million,’” said a former Prince employee. “Erik wasn’t upset at all. He just said, ‘I’m sure they are just saving it for a rainy day.’” Luitingh did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
“When Erik wakes up in the morning, Erik does whatever he feels like doing. I always assumed that’s how it is when your father is a billionaire.”
Over a six month period beginning in late 2011, after the New York Times exposed Prince’s involvement with the UAE’s Security Support Group and the deployment of the anti-piracy force, bin Zayed gradually removed Prince from his multiple projects for the government. The parting of ways came as a result of the unwanted media exposure, U.N. pressure, and ongoing financial audits. The UAE shut down Reflex Responses and rolled what they wanted to keep into new companies with new management.
As his private military ventures with the UAE stumbled, Prince shifted to private equity, establishing an investment fund focused on African natural resources called Frontier Resource Group. But Prince’s income dried up after the UAE stopped funding him and he began having cash-flow problems. One of his personal bankers grew alarmed as Prince cashed out Treasury bonds to fund Frontier Resource. According to tax, banking, and internal business documents obtained by The Intercept, Prince at the time was worth less than $100 million, and much of his wealth was tied up in real estate and fixed-income investments. One of Prince’s creditors, Michigan’s Huntington Bank, refused a request for a $6 million increase on a $17.5 million line of credit, according to emails and other documents obtained by The Intercept. In turning Prince down, the bank reduced his line of credit by $2.5 million.
In late 2011, the Emirati government asked one of Prince’s former colleagues, Reno Alberto, if he would take over Prince’s aviation contract. Alberto was a former Navy SEAL who Prince originally hired to help save the Reflex Responses project. An Emirati general offered Alberto the job on two conditions: Reflex Responses needed to be shuttered so that a new corporate entity could take its place, and Prince could not be involved. Alberto agreed and created a new, temporary holding company called Vulcan Management. Vulcan would take the roughly $100 million resulting from the liquidation of R2 and hold it until a new entity could be established to create a wing of armed helicopters for the UAE air force.
Prince soon came calling on Alberto, however, claiming that a portion of the roughly $100 million left over from Reflex Responses was his and that any future contract for Alberto was a consequence of Prince’s efforts and therefore should result in him receiving a percentage. Prince claimed repeatedly to Alberto that bin Zayed had directed that some of the leftover R2 funding be paid to him. Prince and his business adviser Dorian Barak arranged to structure the payout as a loan from Alberto’s Vulcan Management to one of Prince’s holding companies in Bermuda. Barak, on behalf of Prince, requested that the loan be divided into 10 transactions, which Prince could then call on Vulcan to pay out as needed. Prince told several other colleagues that he felt he was owed upwards of $40 million for his effort in getting bin Zayed to create the SSG and establish R2. Alberto, who stood to make millions in his new venture, reluctantly agreed to pay his former boss through a loan.
On July 26, 2012, Barak emailed Prince, informing him that a wire transfer of approximately $5.9 million was sent by Vulcan, according to an email obtained by The Intercept. The money was wired to Prince’s Frontier Resource bank account in Abu Dhabi.
“That was fast. Well done,” Prince responded.
An email exchange between Dorian Barak and Erik Prince in July 2012. Some personal information has been redacted for privacy. Screenshot: The Intercept
Prince pitched Frontier Resource to potential investors as a $500 million private equity fund. Fund documents state that Prince would provide 10 percent of the funding. In late 2011 and early 2012, as FRG tried to get off the ground, Prince had soft commitments from investors in the UAE, including bin Zayed’s brother Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, the Emirati national security adviser. But by the time he’d taken his first draw of the Vulcan loan, Prince was toxic, and the outside financial commitments had withered and disappeared. Sheikh Tahnoon, however, appears to have invested at least $5 million, according to internal Frontier Resource documents provided to The Intercept.
Then, in October 2012, Prince directed Alberto and Vulcan to make a second wire transfer. This one, however, was not sent to Prince or his companies. According to documents reviewed by The Intercept, and confirmed by a person with direct knowledge of the transaction, more than $9 million was wired to Zafra Group, the company Sheikh Tahnoon had originally created to invest in Prince’s Frontier Resource. It is unclear why Prince wanted the Vulcan money routed to Zafra Group, but he told Vulcan that the payment had been ordered by “the boss,” according to the person with direct knowledge of the transaction. In effect, Prince had steered UAE government money meant for an armed helicopter wing to one his fund’s investors, a senior member of the Emirati royal family.
When Prince asked for $10 million in the third installment, Alberto refused and subsequently told Prince that no more installments would be paid. According to a person with knowledge of the dispute, Alberto learned that no one in the Emirati royal family had ordered the payments to Prince.
The loan to Prince, which has not been previously reported, was not repaid to Vulcan, and the entire $15 million was written off as a loss by the company in subsequent years, according to a person with direct knowledge of the transaction. Prince did report the $5.9 million payment as a loan on his personal tax returns that year.
The Intercept sent Prince a detailed list of questions for this article. In response, a Prince spokesperson stated that “Vulcan Management’s loan, which was made in connection with FRG’s investment activity, was at all times fully disclosed to both FRG’s auditors and the IRS.” Prince would not comment for the record about the circumstances of the loan, or why he directed the $9 million payment to Zafra.
Erik Prince, center, in one of his first meetings in China with Chinese investors for Frontier Services Group in 2013. At the far right is Johnson Ko, a Hong Kong tycoon. Photo: Obtained by The Intercept
A New Frontier
Over the next several years, as his speculations in African natural resources turned into losers time and again, Prince looked to China for new funds, creating Frontier Services Group with an investment banker and former Marine named Gregg Smith. For Smith, the business model seemed simple enough: Frontier Resource would find undervalued, distressed assets, and Frontier Services would transport the materials out of Africa. Smith says he saw the potential of a logistics company to move freight and natural resources across Africa, where the Chinese were increasingly active. “We wanted to start a straightforward logistics company,” Smith said recently. “Trucks and planes and that’s it.”
Prince had other ideas, as did some Chinese investors, who made it clear that they wanted a “Blackwater China.” Although Frontier Services attracted a $110 million investment from a Hong Kong tycoon named Johnson Ko and the China International Trust Investment Corporation, a state-owned investment company, Prince’s investment fund lost money, and several projects ended in a total loss, according to three people with knowledge of Prince’s investment portfolio. Instead, Prince would end up directing FSG to purchase companies that Prince had a financial interest in — as well as services from such companies — in an effort to salvage his private-equity fund’s investment. In total, according to documents, FSG spent $8.5 million on Prince-connected businesses. And as he had with Thor Global and Reflex Responses, Prince failed to disclose his financial interest to the FSG board prior to most of the transactions. The board eventually passed a resolution prohibiting undisclosed self-dealing.
For two years, beginning in 2013, while Frontier Services executives ran a legitimate logistics and aviation company, Prince was traveling around Africa pitching paramilitary services under the Frontier Services banner. As reported by The Intercept, Prince proposed creating counterterrorism forces, a private air force, and a “black ops” program for Nigeria to defeat Boko Haram. He made a similar pitch to President Salva Kiir Mayardit of South Sudan to help him defeat rebels there. There were meetings and proposals for Libya, Cameroon, and Kurdish Iraq, none of which found a buyer. Although Prince failed to sell an entire paramilitary force, he did make money across the continent and the Middle East “advising” countries on how to fight wars. According to one of his closest colleagues, over a roughly five-year period, including his time as chair of the board of FSG, Prince earned as much as $10 million from his meetings. Prince’s efforts were nothing if not ambitious. “Erik was trying to create a private JSOC,” said a former senior military officer who discussed many of Prince’s ideas with him. Since he left Blackwater, Prince has sold or pitched his war supply chain in no fewer than 15 countries, nearly all of them with majority Muslim populations.
Since he left Blackwater, Prince has sold or pitched his war supply chain in no fewer than 15 countries, nearly all of them in countries with majority Muslim populations.
Prince tried to hawk surveillance products and services as well. In 2014, he demonstrated for some of his Frontier Services colleagues cellphone geolocation software that he said he had licensed from an Israeli company. At a strip mall diner in Washington, D.C., Prince pulled out a laptop and punched in a cellphone number. The program identified the most recent cell tower the phone had connected with, allowing the user to locate the target within 300 meters and revealing the last 10 calls the targeted user made. Prince, according to one person who discussed the software with him, believed his time at Frontier Services had “cleaned” his image up with the U.S. government enough that he approached both the CIA and the Pentagon, offering to run the software in counterterrorism operations. He was rebuffed. Later, he and one of his deputies claimed that they sold the program to the Saudi and Emirati air forces to locate bombing targets in Yemen.
In 2015, Prince became involved in the ongoing conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed area of Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan spent hundreds of millions of dollars equipping and training their small military. Prince was brought in by a former Russian weapons supplier to help create a training force. Prince would ultimately be kicked off the contract after his business partners accused him of wildly padding the proposed contract by adding a series of unnecessary expenditures that would have been provided by companies to which Prince had financial ties. In an effort to smooth over Prince’s anger at being fired, the Russian weapons supplier offered him $5 million, according to three people with direct knowledge of the offer. Prince agreed to take the money but insisted the payment be made through a complex series of loans between companies that Barak would set up. When his Russian colleague refused the terms and offered a simple check made out to Prince for the total amount, Prince walked away from the deal, according to a person with direct knowledge of the incident.
In response to questions from The Intercept, a Prince spokesperson stated: “FSG contemplated a logistics, construction, and aviation support project in Azerbaijan, but neither FSG nor Erik Prince ever moved forward with it, and neither FSG nor Mr. Prince was ever offered money to abandon the project.”
As The Intercept has reported previously, when Frontier Services Group discovered that Prince had secretly modified two crop dusters to be used as light attack aircraft, and had used an Austrian company he’d secretly purchased a stake in, FSG hired the law firm King & Spalding to conduct an investigation to determine whether Prince had violated arms trafficking laws. (Prince attempted to sell the two weaponized aircraft to Azerbaijan as part of their buildup — another potential violation of ITAR). The attorneys, supervised by current FBI Director Christopher Wray, concluded that Prince had likely violated U.S. law in his effort to sell the crop dusters. In 2016, FSG disclosed the ITAR violations to the Justice Department, which opened an investigation.
Then-White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting on cybersecurity at the White House on Jan. 31, 2017.
Photo: Evan Vucci/AP
The Rise of Trump
Although Prince’s turn in Africa as a mercenary was a bust, he was somewhat successful at recasting himself as a globetrotting businessman through Frontier Services Group. The 2016 presidential election and the rise of Donald Trump now promised a full-scale rehabilitation. The potential for a Republican administration would be an opportunity for new U.S. government contracts and, possibly, something even more lucrative. After Trump had clinched the Republican nomination, Prince told his Chinese business and government contacts that if Trump won, he would be the next secretary of defense.
Prince’s family has a history of supporting right-wing and conservative causes. Edgar Prince, Erik’s father, was a major financial contributor to former President Gerald Ford, and in recent years, the family has supported Mike Pence, first as a member of Congress and later as Indiana governor. While in Congress, Pence helped Prince navigate Capitol Hill in the aftermath of the killing of four Blackwater contractors in Fallujah in 2004. Prince became an enthusiastic Trump supporter. By Election Day, Prince had donated $250,000 to Trump’s 2016 election effort.
During the campaign, Prince solidified his relationship with Steve Bannon, appearing on his Breitbart radio show on SiriusXM less than a month before Bannon formally joined the Trump campaign. Four days before the 2016 election, Prince went on Bannon’s show and smeared Hillary Clinton, claiming without evidence that a New York City police investigation into former Rep. Anthony Weiner had uncovered extensive criminal activity by the Democratic presidential candidate. Prince claimed that the Obama administration had suppressed the investigation implicating Clinton using “Stalinist tactics.”
In apparent coordination with Trump’s advisers, Prince had also begun exploring the world of domestic information warfare. In August 2016, according to the New York Times, Prince brokered a meeting at Trump Tower between George Nader, an aide to bin Zayed, Donald Trump Jr., and Joel Zamel, the owner of Psy-Group, an Israeli private intelligence company that specialized in manipulating elections using social media accounts and untraceable websites. The Trump campaign apparently passed on the offer. Prince already had familiarity with private Israeli intelligence companies through Dorian Barak. Several years earlier, Prince had been offered a financial stake in what was then a fledgling company called Black Cube, run by former Mossad officers. The company gained notoriety during the #MeToo movement when a firm representing Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein hired Black Cube to help stop publication of an account of his abuses. Black Cube hired an operative who used false identities to approach actress Rose McGowan, as well as a reporter looking into the multitude of sexual misconduct and assault allegations against Weinstein.
Prince declined to invest in Black Cube, but appears to have liked the idea of selling a service that provided undercover operatives. During the 2016 election, he became involved with James O’Keefe and Project Veritas, a group of conservative provocateurs who specialize is using hidden-camera footage and secret recordings. O’Keefe, a protégé of the conservative firebrand Andrew Breitbart, describes himself as a “guerrilla journalist” and has used undercover cameras in an effort to expose purported liberal bias in political groups and the media. Trump often promoted O’Keefe’s videos and met with O’Keefe just days after he declared his candidacy. (A few weeks before that, Trump had donated $10,000 to Project Veritas through his foundation.) It is unclear if Trump’s support of Project Veritas spurred Prince’s interest in the group, but in late 2015 or early 2016, Prince arranged for O’Keefe and Project Veritas to receive training in intelligence and elicitation techniques from a retired military intelligence operative named Euripides Rubio Jr. According to a former Trump White House official who discussed the Veritas training with Rubio, the former special operative quit after several weeks of training, complaining that the Veritas group wasn’t capable of learning. Rubio did not respond to requests for comment.
“Erik was weaponizing a group that had close ties to the Trump White House.”
In the winter of 2017, Prince arranged for a former British MI6 officer to provide more surveillance and elicitation training for Veritas at his family’s Wyoming ranch, according to a person with direct knowledge of the effort. Prince was trying to turn O’Keefe and his group into domestic spies. For his part, O’Keefe posted photos on Instagram and Twitter from the Prince family ranch of himself holding a handgun with a silencer attached and wearing pseudo-military clothing. He described the ranch as a “classified location” where he was learning “spying and self-defense,” in an effort to make Project Veritas “the next great intelligence agency.”
“Erik was weaponizing a group that had close ties to the Trump White House,” said the former White House official familiar with Prince’s relationship with O’Keefe and Project Veritas.
In February 2017, O’Keefe and another Project Veritas associate, Seijah Drake, posted photos on their individual Twitter accounts of them training at Prince’s family ranch in Wyoming. Screenshots: The Intercept
It is unclear how much involvement Prince has with the selection of targets for O’Keefe’s stings and undercover operations, but several months after the organization received training in Wyoming, a Project Veritas operative was exposed by the Washington Post after she posed as a sexual assault victim of Roy Moore, who was then a Senate candidate in Alabama.
After Trump won the election, Prince began sending defense and intelligence policy proposals to the Trump team via Bannon, including his plan for privatizing the war in Afghanistan. The plan called for removing all U.S. troops and replacing them with a small cadre of security trainers, a small fleet of light attack aircraft, and a surge of covert CIA operations. In an attempt to appeal to Trump, Prince tweaked his proposal with a plan to secure mining concessions for Afghanistan’s vast untapped mineral resources, an idea with obvious parallels to his failed efforts in Africa. But the national security establishment was uniformly opposed and it failed to gain traction.
Armed with his beliefs about reshaping the Middle East and Afghanistan, and enjoying his new status as an unofficial adviser to the next U.S. president, Prince was invited back to Mohammed bin Zayed’s royal court.
Prince later testified before the House Intelligence Committee that his invitation was linked directly to Trump’s victory. “I think the Obama administration went out of their way to tarnish my ability to do business in the Middle East, and, with a different administration in town, [the Emiratis] probably figured that that downdraft wasn’t present anymore … so it was not a surprise that the meeting happened. And those are the kind of things we talked about, whether it’s Somalia and terrorism there or Libya, Nigeria, and of course all the places that are even closer to the UAE.”
Meanwhile, Prince’s relationship with Bannon has gone from fellow ideological traveler to business partner. According to a former Trump White House official and the former U.S. official close to the UAE royal family, Prince has teamed up with Bannon to offer a newer version of the armed crop duster to the Emirati air force. The pitch includes Israeli-made avionics and surveillance software for geolocating targets on the ground. Prince and Bannon are also offering a different package to the Emirate’s despised rival, Qatar. According to a former senior U.S. official who reviewed the proposal, Prince is currently hawking proposals for preventing social and political unrest from Qatar’s foreign laborers before and during the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The proposal specifically names Project Veritas as a partner and offers the Qatari government an ability to infiltrate the community of foreign laborers, who make up almost 90 percent of the country’s population of roughly 2.3 million. The pitch is designed to appeal to Qatari fears of a popular uprising and to fend off and neuter political dissent leading up to the soccer tournament. The proposal also offers social media monitoring and messaging — something Bannon would be familiar with from his past work for Cambridge Analytica.
In response to questions from The Intercept, Prince’s spokesperson said, “Mr. Prince supports Project Veritas’s mission of uncovering government largesse and corruption, and has allowed Project Veritas to use his family’s ranch in Wyoming. Mr. Prince has no business relationship with Steve Bannon, James O’Keefe, or Project Veritas, and has never pitched a project with Mr. Bannon to the Qatari or any other government.” Bannon would not comment.
To those who know him best, Prince’s latest proposals suggest that he sees business opportunities in services that are closer to political skullduggery than outright conflict. By marrying the two capabilities — social media manipulation and undercover surveillance by trained operatives — Prince has moved further along the spectrum of contemporary warfare. If a government won’t pay him for a heavily armed paramilitary force in a hot conflict, he appears prepared to offer services that utilize a less obvious, but perhaps more insidious, kind of weaponry.
Given his wealth and political ties, it may be that the Department of Justice will never have the political fortitude to thoroughly investigate Prince for defense brokering and trafficking violations, or to challenge his questionable ties to China’s intelligence service. But he does face legal scrutiny. The FBI is currently probing Prince’s work at Frontier Services Group, with a team assigned from the Washington field office. It is unclear whether the investigation is a continuation of the 2016 probe or stems from the Mueller investigation. Three different congressional committees are also investigating Prince, including his relationship with the Chinese government. The FBI declined to comment and would not confirm the existence of an investigation. Prince’s spokesperson stated that “other than his well-documented cooperation with the Special Counsel’s Office, Mr. Prince has had no interaction, directly or through counsel, with the FBI in years.”
Erik Prince walks to a closed-door House Intelligence Committee meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 30, 2017.
Photo: Aaron P. Bernstein/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Prince’s role in the Trump-Russia affair perfectly encapsulates his latest effort to refashion himself, this time as a self-appointed warrior diplomat. According to the Mueller report, Prince flew to the Seychelles a week before the inauguration, at least in part to meet with Kirill Dmitriev, who was acting as Putin’s emissary and sought a backchannel to the incoming Trump administration. But Prince repeatedly denied in his testimony that he flew to the Seychelles to meet Dmitriev. Prince also failed to disclose that he met with Dmitriev twice during his stay at the Four Seasons.
The Mueller investigation relied on the cooperation and testimony of George Nader, who arranged the meeting at bin Zayed’s behest. Nader testified that Dmitriev was “not enthusiastic” about meeting Prince. To help sell the meeting, Nader described Prince to Dmitriev as Bannon’s chosen representative for the Kremlin-directed meeting: “this guy [Prince] is designated by Steve [Bannon] to meet you!” Which suggests that Prince presented himself to Nader as an influential member of Trump’s circle. Testimony from both Bannon and Prince cast doubt on whether Prince flew to the Seychelles with Bannon’s knowledge or approval. If Bannon’s testimony is accurate, it’s quite possible that Prince oversold his influence with Trump and Trump’s inner circle to get the meeting with Dmitriev.
Although in his congressional testimony Prince described only a single interaction with Dmitriev at the resort bar, there was an earlier, longer private meeting in Nader’s villa. After the first meeting, Prince learned that an Russian aircraft carrier was moving off the coast of Libya, according to the Mueller report. Prince, who has spent years offering his paramilitary services in Libya, was incensed at the news, calling Nader to demand a second meeting with Dmitriev. Prince told Nader that he’d just checked with his “associates” and needed to convey an important message to Putin’s emissary. Prince told Mueller that he was speaking only for himself, based on his three years as a Navy SEAL. In the second meeting, Prince went off-script and warned Dmitriev that the U.S. could not accept Russian involvement in Libya.
As the report describes Dmitriev’s complaints to Nader after meeting Prince, he expected to meet a member of the Trump team who had more authority and substance: “Dmitriev told Nader that [redacted] Prince’s comments [redacted] were insulting [redacted].” As in so many other episodes involving Prince over the last decade, his involvement in the Trump-Russia political scandal is a result of his relentless ambition, combined with his snake-oil salesmanship and his ability to gain entry to rooms with genuine power, even if it quickly becomes apparent that he doesn’t belong there.
Trump White House Weighing Plans for Private Spies to Counter “Deep State” Enemies
Did Blackwater’s Erik Prince Lie to Congress About a Trump Tower Meeting? I Asked Him.
Notorious Mercenary Erik Prince Is Advising Trump From the Shadows
Jan Schakowsky Calls for Investigation Into Trump’s Ties to Blackwater Founder Erik Prince
Matthew Cole – matthew.cole@theintercept.com
Go to Original – theintercept.com
Tags: Blackwater, Conflict, Erik Prince, Geopolitics, History, International Relations, Military, Politics, State Terrorism, Terrorism, Trump, USA, Violence, War on Terror, mercenaries, power
ANGLO AMERICA:
Soros and Koch Funding New ‘Anti-War’ Think Tank— and We Should Probably Be a Little Bit Suspicious
Most Veterans Say America’s Wars Are a Waste. No One’s Listening to Them.
Trump Is Forcing Iran to Follow North Korea’s Dangerous Example
MILITARISM:
Provoking Iran Over and Over: US “Throwing Kitchen Sink” at Islamic Republic
Why We Still Need a Movement to Keep Youth from Joining the Military
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The Most Expensive 529 Billion Dollars
TRANSCEND MEMBERS, 13 May 2019
Baher Kamal | Human Wrongs Watch – TRANSCEND Media Service
The immense human cost over 260 million migrant workers do pay to rescue their families.
Filipinos fill out the necessary forms after arriving in Manila from Damascus, Syria. © IOM. (Photo: Ray Leyesa)
8 May 2019 – The World Bank (WB) on 8 April 2019 reported that migrants remittances to low- and middle-income countries reached a record high in 2018.
According to the WB study, officially recorded annual remittance flows to those countries reached 529 billion dollars last year, an increase of 9.6 percent over the previous record high of 483 billion dollars in 2017.
Significantly, these migrants most hardly-won savings do also benefit rich countries. In fact, the WB reports that global remittances, “which include flows to high-income countries,” reached 689 billion dollars in 2018, up from 633 billion dollars in 2017.
“Remittances on track to become the largest source of external financing in developing countries,” wrote on this Dilip Ratha, lead economist at the World Bank.
In a breakdown of this data, the WB informs that, regionally, growth in remittance inflows ranged from almost 7 percent in East Asia and the Pacific to 12 percent in South Asia.
The oil factor
And that the overall increase was driven by a stronger economy and employment situation in the United States and a rebound in outward flows from some Gulf Cooperation Council countries (United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait), as well as the Russian Federation.
Excluding China, remittances to low- and middle-income countries (462 billion dollars) were “significantly larger than foreign direct investment flows in 2018 (344 billion dollars).”
Foreign Direct Investment flows record the value of cross-border transactions related to direct investment during a given period of time, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The top remittance recipients were India with 79 billion dollars, followed by China (67 billions), Mexico (36 billions), the Philippines (34 billions), and Egypt (29 billions).
The world financial institution also estimates that, in 2019, remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries are expected to reach 550 billion dollars, to become their largest source of external financing.
Photo from ILO.
Lost in commissions
The 529 billion dollars that migrant-workers have transferred to their countries of origin in 2018 came obviously at a high costs–both economic and human.
On the one hand, the global average cost of sending 200 dollars remained high at around 7 percent in the first quarter of 2019, according to the WB’s Remittance Prices Worldwide database.
This means that each migrant is forced to sacrifice, in the concept of money transfer commissions, 7 of 100 dollars that she or he managed to save at the cost of renouncing to many basic human needs.
Meantime, remittance costs across many African corridors and small islands in the Pacific remain above 10 percent.This means that African migrants are compelled to pay as much as 1 in 10 dollars of their savings in the concept of money transfer fees to private banking and financial business.
On this, the WB says that banks were the most expensive remittance channels, charging an average fee of 11 percent in the first quarter of 2019, while post offices were the next most expensive, at over 7 percent.
On ways to lower remittance costs, Dilip Ratha, lead author of the study,says that “remittances are on track to become the largest source of external financing in developing countries. The high costs of money transfers reduce the benefits of migration.”
Source: ILO.
The immense human cost
For his part, Michal Rutkowski, senior director of the Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice at the World Bank, says that “millions of low-skilled migrant workers are vulnerable to recruitment malpractices, including exorbitant recruitment costs.”
IOM, the UN Migration Agency released a new report on migrant deaths and disappearances worldwide through its Berlin-based Global Migration Data Analysis Centre.
Since 2014, more than 23,000 migrant deaths and disappearances have been recorded globally by the IOM. The real number is likely to be much higher as many deaths are never recorded.
How many migrant workers are there?
A new study launched on 5 December 2018 by the International Labour Organization (ILO) reveals that the number of migrant workers has jumped by millions, leaving some countries without “the most productive part of their workforce.”
According to the second edition of ILO’s Global Estimates on International Migrant Workers, approximately 164 million people left home in search of work between 2013 and 2017– a nine percent increase since 2013, when that number stood at 150 millions.
Breaking down the figures, 96 milliona are men, a rise of two percent, while 68 milliona are women, a fall of 2 percent compared to 2013.
Of the 164 million migrant workers worldwide, approximately:
111.2 millions, or 67.9 percent, live in high-income countries.
30.5 millions, or 18.6 percent, in upper middle-income countries.
16.6 millions, or 10.1 percent, in lower middle-income countries,
5.6 millions, or 3.4 percent, in low-income countries.
Photo from IOM.
And where do they live?
A sample group of nearly two-thirds of migrant workers shows that 23 percent are in North America; 23.9 percent in Northern, Southern and Western Europe; and 13.9 percent in Arab countries.
Other regions that host more than five percent of migrant workers include Eastern Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, South-Eastern Asia and the Pacific, and Central and Western Asia. In contrast, North Africa hosts less than one per cent.
Why do migrants migrate?
Having said that, a harsh question arises: why all these millions and millions of human beings have been forced to abandon their homes and families to fall prey to smugglers, deadly voyages, separation of their children, detention, torture, forced repatriation, etcetera?
Let alone being victims of human traffickers who buy and sell them as just human flesh merchandise to feed the business of prostitution, child recruitment as soldiers, slave-labourers and even for trading their organs?
Photo from Wall Street International.
Three chief reasons lay behind most of the migrants need to flee:
Impoverishment: Most migrants and refugees proceed from former European colonies in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, from countries which had been practically enslaved under European military occupation and which, since their formal independence, have been easy prey to intensive exploitation by big private business. One of the dramatic consequences of that occupation and the ongoing exploitation is the deepening impoverishment of native populations, a fact that has been aggravated by the dominant neo-liberalism-led ‘globalisation.’
Conflicts: most of the around 40 ongoing armed conflicts are due to either the fictitious splitting of nations and compact ethnic communities through aribitrarian borders imposed by former European colonisers, or more recently directly or indirectly fuelled by the voracious exploitation of natural resources by huge translational private business,
Climate change: the growing wave of unusual droughts,floods, loss of harvests, of homes and lives, which is caused by climate change, which an immense number of the migrants’ countries of origin did no generate.
Just know that a whole continent like Africa, which is home to around 1,2 billion human beings, has contributed just 4 per cent to greenhouse gas emissions, while bearing the brunt of more than 80 percent of its dramatic consequences.
These three main reasons laying behind the forced migration of so many millions of human beings, should suffice to explain why the number of people fleeing exploitation, wars and climate change-driven disasters, need to search for other places where to feel safer or simply just survive, while working hard to help their families also survive.
UNICEF/UN0304104/Arcos
One billion climate migrants, refugees?
Imagine a world with as many as one billion people facing harsh climate change impacts resulting in devastating droughts and/or floods, extreme weather, destruction of natural resources, in particular lands, soils and water, and the consequence of severe livelihoods conditions, famine and starvation.
Although not yet based on definite scientific projections, the proven speed with which the process of climate change has been taking place, might lead to such a scenario by 2050. If so, 1 in 9 human beings would be on the move by then.
Currently, forecasts vary from 25 million to 1 billion environmental migrants by 2050, moving either within their countries or across borders, on a permanent or temporary basis, with 200 million being the most widely cited estimate, according to a 2015 study carried out by the Institute for Environment and Human Security of the United Nations University.
Other specialised sources estimate that “every second, one person is displaced by disaster.” On this, the Oslo-based Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) reports that in 2015 only, more than 19.2 million people fled disasters in 113 countries. “Disasters displace three to ten times more people than conflict and war worldwide.”
Exploitation, Slavery…
Among the numerous human costs of those remittances, there is the fact that millions more migrant workers mean their countries of origin lose ‘most productive part’ of workforce.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) underscored that domestic workers are one of the groups “most vulnerable to exploitation, violence, harassment and forced labour, saying that “many women end up being trapped in abusive worksituations which in some cases may amount to modern forms of slavery.”
Sixty-seven million domestic workers who care for our homes and loved ones frequently suffer “violence, harassment, exploitation and coercion – ranging from verbal abuse to sexual violence, and sometimes even death.” Those who live -in-home are especially vulnerable.
“At the root of this situation is discrimination,” explains Philippe Marcadent, Chief of the ILO Branch related to Inclusive Labour Markets, Labour Relations and Working Conditions.
“Domestic workers are often not recognised as workers, and face discrimination as women, often from poor and marginalised groups, such as migrants and indigenous peoples.”
For many, daily abuses like lack of rest and non-payment of wages can quickly turn into forced labour.
Forced labour can be imposed to adults and children, by State authorities, by private enterprises or by individuals. It is observed in all types of economic activity, such as domestic work, construction, agriculture, manufacturing, sexual exploitation, forced begging, etc. and in every country.
“Traditional practices of forced labour, such as vestiges of slavery or slave-like practices, and various forms of debt bondage, as well as new forms of forced labour that have emerged in recent decades, such as human trafficking.”
UNODC | #EndHumanTrafficking visual. According to the UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, 30% of human trafficking victims are children.
Facts and figures:
An estimated 40.3 million people are in modern slavery, including 24.9 in forced labour and 15.4 millions in forced marriage.
There are 5.4 victims of modern slavery for every 1,000 people in the world.
1 in 4 victims of modern slavery are children.
Out of the 24.9 million people trapped in forced labour, 16 million people are exploited in the private sector such as domestic work, construction or agriculture; 4.8 million people in forced sexual exploitation, and 4 million people in forced labour imposed by state authorities.
Women and girls are disproportionately affected by forced labour, accounting for 99 percent of victims in the commercial sex industry, and 58 percent in other sectors.
For its part, the Global Report On Trafficking In Persons, released on 29 January 2019 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) at UN headquarters in New York, shows a record-high number of cases detected during 2016, but also the largest recorded conviction rate of traffickers.
Anyway, women and girls remain a major target, according to UNODC. “Traffickers the world over continue to target women and girls,” wrote Executive Director Yury Fedotov, in the report’s preface. “The vast majority of detected victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation and 35 per cent of those trafficked for forced labour are female.”
The report notes “considerable regional differences in the sex and age profiles of detected trafficking victims.”
In West Africa, most of the detected victims are children, both boys and girls, while in South Asia, victims are equally reported to be men, women and children. In Central Asia, a larger share of adult men is detected compared to other regions, while in Central America and the Caribbean, more girls are recorded.
© UNICEF/UNI91025/Noorani Two girls apply make-up at Kandapara, a brothel in the city of Tangail, Bangladesh. A man offered them to find them jobs, but instead sold them to Kandapara.
Sexual exploitation, top form of trafficking
Most of the victims detected globally are trafficked for sexual exploitation, especially in the Americas, Europe, and East Asia and the Pacific. In sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, trafficking for forced labour is the most commonly detected form. In Central Asia and South Asia, trafficking for forced labour and sexual exploitation are equally prevalent,
Other forms of human trafficking include: girls forced into marriage, more commonly detected in South-East Asia; children for illegal adoption, more common in Central and South American countries; forced criminality, mainly reported in Western and Southern Europe; and organ removal, primarily detected in North Africa, and Central and Eastern Europe.
“Victims can be in restaurants, fisheries, brothels, farms, homes, and even organ trafficking and illegal adoption,” said Rani Hong, who survived child trafficking herself as she was taken from her family in India at age 7, submitted to intimidation, physical abuse and slavery, until she was sold for illegal adoption in Canada and later the United States.
UNICEF/UN052822/Romenzi A migrant sits in a patch of light entering through one of only two windows as he tries to warm himself up at a detention centre, located in Libya, 1 February 2017. At the time of UNICEF’s visit, 160 men were being detained there.
Begging, porno, forced marriage…
Many other forms, such as trafficking for exploitation in begging, or for the production of pornographic material, are reported in different parts of the world.
The report also shows that armed conflicts can increase vulnerability to trafficking in different ways as areas with weak rule of law and lack of resources to respond to crime, provide traffickers with a fertile terrain to carry out their operations, preying on those who are desperately in need.
Armed groups and other criminals may take the opportunity to traffic victims – including children – for sexual exploitation, sexual slavery, forced marriage, armed combat and various forms of forced labour. This is the case for example in sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and the Middle East, South-East Asia and elsewhere.
In some refugee camps in the Middle East, also, it has been documented that girls and young women have been ‘married off’ without their consent and subjected to sexual exploitation in neighbouring countries.
In addition, recruitment of children for use as armed combatants is widely documented.
UNODC’s report notes that within conflict zones, armed groups can use trafficking as a strategy to assert territorial dominance, spread fear among civilians in the territories where they operate to keep the local population under control.
They may also use women and girls as ‘sex slaves’ or force them into marriages to appeal to new potential male recruits.
The study shows that in all the conflicts examined for the report, forcibly displaced populations (refugees and internally displaced families) have been specifically targeted: from settlements of Syrian and Iraqi refugees, to Afghans and Rohingya fleeing conflict and persecution.
Notably, the risk faced by migrants and refugees travelling through conflict areas, such as Libya or parts of sub-Saharan Africa, is also well documented: in Libya, for example, militias control some detention centres for migrants and refugees and are coercing detained migrants and asylum seekers for different exploitative purposes.
“While we are far from ending impunity, we have made headway in the 15 years since the Protocol against Trafficking in Persons entered into force,” said UNODC’s chief, as he noted that “nearly every country now has legislation in place criminalising human trafficking”.
© UNICEF/UN0304586/Arcos
Abused, maimed, killed…
Children are being smuggled, sexually abused, maimed, killed for their vital organs, recruited as soldiers or otherwise enslaved.
Not only: 69 million children under five will die from mostly preventable causes, 167 million will live in poverty, and 263 million are out of school. And 750 million women will have been married as children by 2030.
According to the International Labour Organization, forced labour alone (one component of human trafficking) generates an estimated 150 billion dollars in profits per annum as of 2014.
All the above is just one part of the 529 billion dollars that migrant workers had to save in one year to rescue their families from imposed impoverishment, war and climate catastrophes that they did anything but cause.
Libya: Up to One Million Enslaved Migrants, Victims of ‘Europe’s Complicity’
To Be a Latin-American Migrant in Madrid
To Be an Egyptian Migrant in Rome (and by the Way Make Great Pizza)
To Be a Nigerian Migrant in Italy
Climate Migrants Might Reach One Billion by 2050
Yemen: African Migrants Beaten, Starved, Sexually Violated by Criminal Groups
African Migrants Bought and Sold Openly in ‘Slave Markets’ in Libya
Mideast: Drought to Turn People into Eternal Migrants, Prey to Extremism?
Baher Kamal, a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment, is an Egyptian-born, Spanish national, secular journalist, with over 45 years of professional experience — from reporter to special envoy to chief editor of national dailies and an international news agency. Baher is former Senior Advisor to the Director General of the international news agency IPS (Inter Press Service) and he also contributed to prestigious magazines such as TRANSCEND Media Service, GEO, Muy Interesante, and Natura, Spain. He is also publisher and editor of Human Wrongs Watch.
Go to Original – human-wrongs-watch.net
Tags: Africa, Children, Conflict, EU, Economics, Environment, Geopolitics, Human Rights, Justice, Migrants, Politics, Refugees, Slavery, UK, UN, USA, Violence, power, slave labor, west, world
TRANSCEND MEMBERS:
A Short History of the High Costs of Military Air Shows
Venezuela Building Socialism in the Midst of a War: Report from the Left Forum
Comprehension of Requisite Variety via Rotation of the Complex Plane
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67th session of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner's Programme. Closing Remarks by Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Geneva, 6 October 2016
By Filippo Grandi | 06 October 2016
Mr Chairman,
Please accept my warm appreciation for your engagement, your advice, and for your thoughtful and considered insights this week, and over the past year, for me in particular. And of course, I wish to congratulate Ambassador Rosemary McCarney on her election as the new Chairperson of the Executive Committee, the new Vice Chairperson – Ambassador Delmi of Algeria, and the new Rapporteur, Ms. Duong.
It's important to recall that as we have engaged in our discussions over the last four days, another 13,000 people have fled violence in South Sudan – crossing its borders to seek asylum in the DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, and Uganda. Another 10,000 – moving due to a complex mix of poverty, conflict, repression and despair – have been rescued off the coasts of Italy and Libya. In Aleppo, more than a quarter of a million people have been besieged, unable to leave as conflict has raged and supplies have dwindled. In Mosul, hundreds of thousands of people have continued their preparations to flee.
Against this sobering backdrop, it's not surprising that our discussions have been infused with a sense of urgency and immediacy. We all agreed that the plight of those uprooted and forced to flee is one of the defining challenges of our time, and this responsibility has weighed heavily on us throughout this week.
I have appreciated the very practical nature of our exchanges, based on solid experience and conducted in a genuine spirit of reflection. And while there has been inevitably some diversity of perspectives, interests and views, our debate has been characterized by a genuine unity of purpose, a commitment to humanitarian values, and a strong expression of support for our work. We will go away better informed, energized and inspired, and I thank you for your encouragement. For any High Commissioner, confidence is important – and all the more so, for a new one.
Here, I would like to pay tribute to the Secretary-General, thank him for his participation, and once again, to reiterate my appreciation for his support. I very much welcome the election of António Guterres, the tenth High Commissioner, as the ninth Secretary-General, and know that he will bring to his new responsibilities – fostering peace, development and human rights – the same true compassion and strong commitment to humanity that he demonstrated throughout his mandate as High Commissioner.
Distinguished delegates,
I have been greatly encouraged by your strong affirmation of the fundamental principles of refugee protection – enshrined in the 1951 Convention and its associated Protocol and regional instruments, but also embodied in customary law and resonating in many religious and cultural traditions. The experience of flight and exile and the tradition of hosting those in need of shelter and protection are part of the shared heritage of humanity. It's absolutely critical that this fundamental commitment to protection remains as the central pillar of our engagement, even as we redouble our efforts in search of more robust, systematic, and comprehensive approaches.
In this respect, I urge you to ensure that the commitment to protection principles and standards you have articulated here is translated into practice, and drives your legislation, your policies, your actions.
I have also noted your expressions of support for the strategic directions that I described on Monday, and I appreciate the additional perspectives that you have contributed. We will continue to engage with you, and with our partners, as these are further elaborated.
The concept of connections underpinned our discussions this week. At their core, displacement and statelessness are the result of a breakdown in the relationship that binds people and the state. Securing protection and solutions is essentially about fostering – and eventually restoring – relationships, by connecting people to the communities, services and opportunities around them (including through education and jobs), by cultivating an environment in which their rights are protected and they are able to flourish, and by working towards solutions that allow them to rebuild a stable and secure future in a country where they belong.
But achieving this also requires that we make other kinds of connections – for example, between addressing root causes, early warning and prevention, and finding solutions to displacement. We have to tap into and leverage the commonalities that shape our engagement with stateless people, the internally displaced, refugees and returnees; and place this work within the broader context of complex crises and human mobility today – working closely with partners engaging in these areas.
We have to connect humanitarian and development action – developing a shared analysis, vision and coherent policies and programming tools. In mixed migration situations, we need to connect what happens in countries of origin, transit and destination. And we need to forge connections between the broad range of actors with the influence, capacity and resources to contribute to protection and solutions in the complex contexts in which displacement unfolds – including government agencies, the media, civil society, businesses academia, international, national and local NGOs, municipalities, donors, host community leaders, faith-based groups, and refugees, internally displaced people and stateless people themselves.
Critically, we also need to build much better connections between – on the one hand – the host countries and communities who provide steadfast and generous support to refugees and displaced people, with huge consequences for their societies and economies – and on the other, the global community of donors, states, multilateral agencies and political and security actors – so that the contribution of host countries is adequately recognised and supported and, as many of you have noted, responsibility does not become a function of proximity alone. And we need strong and sustained support for countries of origin striving to create the conditions that will allow people to return home and to help them to reintegrate.
I believe that forging these connections is at the heart of UNHCR's – and in fact the United Nations' – work. And in the New York Declaration, we have a powerful platform for pursuing this – within a framework based on international responsibility sharing and solidarity.
We have used these words a lot this week, and it's important that they become part of our vocabulary. But we have to make sure that these don't simply become empty slogans. We must make them tangible – by applying them, in very practical ways, to concrete situations. This is what you have asked UNHCR to do in steering the application of the Comprehensive Refugee Response framework, and we will now take this forward with a sense of urgency, responsibility and resolution.
The framework has huge potential – for a more predictable, systematic, better resourced, more connected response, shaped by protection principles and standards – provided that the commitment and political will that has been articulated over the last few weeks can now be marshaled and translated into concrete action. As some of you have noted this week, the Comprehensive Refugee Response brings together a number of elements that are already part of the responses to some refugee crises, but haven't until now been brought together consistently, decisively and – above all – predictably.
These elements include robust, early engagement by both humanitarian and development actors – with a strong sense of common purpose, from the outset of crises.
They include an informed, engaged and influential private sector, bringing diverse forms of investment, creative innovative approaches, and opening up opportunities and jobs.
They include a strong involvement by the wide range of actors and partners I have already described – from the local to the global levels – as a key pillar of the response from the outset of a crisis.
And they include a mechanism for predictably defining the contributions of countries of origin, host states, and third countries, and the international support required to leverage progress towards solutions from the beginning.
As I announced on Monday, I have set up a small task team that will rapidly come back to you with some proposals on how and where we should start. Escalating the responses to emergencies such as Syria, Iraq, and South Sudan – to name a few – are clearly very urgent priorities and will be high on the list for consideration.
But the CRR framework also has the potential to leverage progress in some of the more intractable or complex regional situations – for example, Afghanistan, the Northern Triangle of Central America, Lake Chad, Somalia. And listening to your interventions over the last few days, it is clear that in several other situations, opportunities for solutions are either ongoing or emerging, and could be accelerated and consolidated with appropriate support – for example, for the Central African Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Mozambique and Myanmar.
We are already identifying experienced UNHCR colleagues to work under the leadership of Daniel Endres, and we will also be soliciting external participation in his team, to draw on a range of expertise and perspectives. I very much look forward to working closely with our current, past and future ExCom Chairs within the context of the informal advisory group that I have already mentioned, and to engaging with you – as ExCom members – and with a wide range of external partners and stakeholders as we work to apply the framework in practice, and to draw on these experiences in elaborating, eventually, the Global Compact. I am pleased to inform you that this will form the subject of the High Commissioner's Dialogue on Protection Challenges in December 2017.
In my opening statement I drew your attention to the significant disparity in the levels of funding made available for different refugee situations, with particularly acute deficits in operations in sub-Saharan Africa. It's absolutely critical that this is addressed, and I very much hope that the New York Declaration, with its emphasis on securing predictability in how we respond, will drive this change.
I'm grateful that so many of you took this up in your statements, and also that there was a strong call for a reduction in earmarking. Indeed, as one delegation noted in this morning's debate, this is a matter of trust in UNHCR's ability to identify and respond to compelling priorities, and to pursue a global response to displacement that is driven by protection needs, remaining flexible, and not by other considerations.
I've had the privilege of visiting many of our field operations this year and I will visit more in the weeks and months to come. I have had the opportunity to meet a large number of those affected by conflict, violence and displacement.
It would be wrong of me to close without passing on to you what they tell me.
They talk to me of loss – of their families, their homes, of a sense of stability and a vision of a future.
They tell me of their exhaustion, their fear, their sense of alienation.
But they call on their governments to care for their people, and to overcome the terrible conflicts and repression that drive them from their homes.
These messages are strong and clear. And only by engaging in concrete responses to that plight – and to these hopes – will we live up to our commitments and do it in the only possible manner – by truly sharing this crucial responsibility.
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Tag: seasonal changes
The Orbit of Saturn. How Long is a Year on Saturn?
Every planet in the Solar System takes a certain amount of time to complete a single orbit around the Sun. Here on Earth, this period lasts 365.25 days – a period that we refer to as a year. When it comes to the other planets, we use this measurement to characterize their orbital periods. And what we have found is that on many of these planets, depending on their distance from the Sun, a year can last a very long time!
Consider Saturn, which orbits the Sun at a distance of about 9.5 AU – i.e. nine and a half times the distance between the Earth and the Sun. Because of this, the speed with which it orbits the Sun is also considerably slower. As a result, a single year on Saturn lasts an average of about twenty-nine and a half years. And during that time, some interesting changes happen for the planet’s weather systems.
Orbital Period:
Saturn orbits the Sun at an average distance (semi-major axis) of 1.429 billion km (8.879 million mi; 9.5549 AU). Because its orbit is elliptical – with an eccentricity of 0.05555 – its distance from the Sun ranges from 1.35 billion km (8.388 million mi; 9.024 AU) at its closest (perihelion) to 1.509 billion km (mi; 10.086 AU) at its farthest (aphelion).
A diagram showing the orbits of the outer Solar planets. Saturn’s orbit is represented in yellow Credit: NASA
With an average orbital speed of 9.69 km/s, it takes Saturn 29.457 Earth years (or 10,759 Earth days) to complete a single revolution around the Sun. In other words, a year on Saturn lasts about as long as 29.5 years here on Earth. However, Saturn also takes just over 10 and a half hours (10 hours 33 minutes) to rotate once on its axis. This means that a single year on Saturn lasts about 24,491 Saturnian solar days.
It is because of this that what we can see of Saturn’s rings from Earth changes over time. For part of its orbit, Saturn’s rings are seen at their widest point. But as it continues on its orbit around the Sun, the angle of Saturn’s rings decreases until they disappear entirely from our point of view. This is because we are seeing them edge-on. After a few more years, our angle improves and we can see the beautiful ring system again.
Orbital Inclination and Axial Tilt:
Another interesting thing about Saturn is the fact that its axis is tilted off the plane of the ecliptic. Essentially, its orbit is inclined 2.48° relative to the orbital plane of the Earth. Its axis is also tilted by 26.73° relative to the ecliptic of the Sun, which is similar to Earth’s 23.5° tilt. The result of this is that, like Earth, Saturn goes through seasonal changes during the course of its orbital period.
R. G. French (Wellesley College) et al., NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Seasonal Changes:
For half of its orbit, Saturn’s northern hemisphere receives more of the Sun’s radiation than the southern hemisphere. For other half of its orbit, the situation is reversed, with the southern hemisphere receiving more sunlight than the northern hemisphere. This creates storm systems that dramatically change depending on which part of its orbit Saturn is in.
For staters, winds in the upper atmosphere can reach speeds of up to 5oo meters per second (1,600 feet per second) around the equatorial region. On occasion, Saturn’s atmosphere exhibits long-lived ovals, similar to what is commonly observed on Jupiter. Whereas Jupiter has the Great Red Spot, Saturn periodically has what’s known as the Great White Spot (aka. Great White Oval).
This unique but short-lived phenomenon occurs once every Saturnian year, around the time of the northern hemisphere’s summer solstice. These spots can be several thousands of kilometers wide, and have been observed on many occasions throughout the past – in 1876, 1903, 1933, 1960, and 1990.
Since 2010, a large band of white clouds called the Northern Electrostatic Disturbance have been observed, which was spotted by the Cassini space probe. Given the periodic nature of these storms, another one is expected to happen in 2020, coinciding with Saturn’s next summer in the northern hemisphere.
The huge storm churning through the atmosphere in Saturn’s northern hemisphere overtakes itself as it encircles the planet in this true-color view from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI
Similarly, seasonal changes affect the very large weather patterns that exist around Saturn’s northern and southern polar regions. At the north pole, Saturn experiences a hexagonal wave pattern which measures some 30,000 km (20,000 mi) in diameter, while each of it six sides measure about 13,800 km (8,600 mi). This persistent storm can reach speeds of about 322 km per hour (200 mph).
Thanks to images taken by the Cassini probe between 2012 and 2016, the storm appears to undergo changes in color (from a bluish haze to a golden-brown hue) that coincide with the approach of the summer solstice. This was attributed to an increase in the production of photochemical hazes in the atmosphere, which is due to increased exposure to sunlight.
Similarly, in the southern hemisphere, images acquired by the Hubble Space Telescope have indicated the existence of large jet stream. This storm resembles a hurricane from orbit, has a clearly defined eyewall, and can reach speeds of up to 550 km/h (~342 mph). And much like the northern hexagonal storm, the southern jet stream undergoes changes as a result of increased exposure to sunlight.
Saturn makes a beautifully striped ornament in this natural-color image, showing its north polar hexagon and central vortex (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute)
Cassini was able to captured images of the south polar region in 2007, which coincided with late fall in the southern hemisphere. At the time, the polar region was becoming increasingly “smoggy”, while the northern polar region was becoming increasingly clear. The reason for this, it was argued, was that decreases in sunlight led to the formation of methane aerosols and the creation of cloud cover.
From this, it has been surmised that the polar regions become increasingly obscured by methane clouds as their respective hemisphere approaches their winter solstice, and clearer as they approach their summer solstice. And the mid-latitudes certainly show their share of changes thanks to increases/decreases in exposure to solar radiation.
Much like the length of a single year, what we know about Saturn has a lot to do with its considerable distance from the Sun. In short, few missions have been able to study it in depth, and the length of a single year means it is difficult for a probe to witness all the seasonal changes the planet goes through. Still, what we have learned has been considerable, and also quite impressive!
We have written many articles about years on other planets here at Universe Today. Here’s The Orbit of the Planets. How Long Is A Year On The Other Planets?, The Orbit of Earth. How Long is a Year on Earth?, The Orbit of Mercury. How Long is a Year on Mercury?, The Orbit of Venus. How Long is a Year on Venus?, The Orbit of Mars. How Long is a Year on Mars?, The Orbit of Jupiter. How Long is a Year on Jupiter?, The Orbit of Uranus. How Long is a Year on Uranus?, The Orbit of Neptune. How Long is a Year on Neptune?, The Orbit of Pluto. How Long is a Year on Pluto?
If you’d like more information on Saturn, check out Hubblesite’s News Releases about Saturn. And here’s a link to the homepage of NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, which is orbiting Saturn.
We have also recorded an entire episode of Astronomy Cast that’s just about Saturn. Listen here, Episode 59: Saturn.
NASA: Solar System Exploration – Saturn
Wikipedia – Saturn
Space Facts – Saturn
If it Wasn’t Already Strange Enough, now Saturn’s Hexagon Storm is Changing Color
Ever since the Voyager 2 made its historic flyby of Saturn, astronomers have been aware of the persistent hexagonal storm around the gas giant’s north pole. This a six-sided jetstream has been a constant source of fascination, due to its sheer size and immense power. Measuring some 13,800 km (8,600 mi) across, this weather system is greater in size than planet Earth.
And thanks to the latest data to be provided by the Cassini space probe, which entered orbit around Saturn in 2009, it seems that this storm is even stranger than previously thought. Based on images snapped between 2012 and 2016, the storm appears to have undergone a change in color, from a bluish haze to a golden-brown hue.
The reasons for this change remain something of a mystery, but scientists theorize that it may be the result of seasonal changes due to the approaching summer solstice (which will take place in May of 2017). Specifically, they believe that the change is being driven by an increase in the production of photochemical hazes in the atmosphere, which is due to increased exposure to sunlight.
Natural color images taken by NASA’s Cassini wide-angle camera, showing the changing appearance of Saturn’s north polar region between 2012 and 2016.. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute/Hampton University
This reasoning is based in part on past observations of seasonal change on Saturn. Like Earth, Saturn experiences seasons because its axis is tilted relative to its orbital plane (26.73°). But since its orbital period is almost 30 years, these seasons last for seven years.
Between November 1995 and August 2009, the hexagonal storm also underwent some serious changes, which coincided with Saturn going from its Autumnal to its Spring Equinox. During this period, the north polar atmosphere became clear of aerosols produced by photochemical reactions, which was also attributed to the fact that the northern polar region was receiving less in the way of sunlight.
However, since that time, the polar atmosphere has been exposed to continuous sunlight, and this has coincided with aerosols being produced inside the hexagon, making the polar atmosphere appear hazy. As Linda J. Spilker, the Cassini mission’s project scientist, told Universe Today via email:
“We have seen dramatic changes in the color inside Saturn’s north polar hexagon in the last 4 years. That color change is probably the result of changing seasons at Saturn, as Saturn moves toward northern summer solstice in May 2017. As more sunlight shines on the hexagon, more haze particles are produced and this haze gives the hexagon a more golden color.”
Diagram showing he main events of Saturn’s year, and where in the Saturnian year the Voyager 1 and Cassini missions occurred. Credit: Ralph Lorenz
All of this has helped scientists to test theoretical models of Saturn’s atmosphere. In the past, it has been speculated that this six-sided storm acts as a barrier that prevents outside haze particles from entering. The previous differences in color – the planet’s atmosphere being golden while the polar storm was darker and bluish – certainly seemed to bear this out.
The fact that it is now changing color and starting to look more like the rest of the atmosphere could mean that the chemical composition of the polar region is now changing and becoming more like the rest of the planet. Other effects, which include changes in atmospheric circulation (which are in turn the result of seasonally shifting solar heating patterns) might also be influencing the winds in the polar regions.
Needless to say, the giant planets of the Solar System have always been a source of fascination for scientists and astronomers. And if these latest images are any indication, it is that we still have much to learn about the dynamics of their atmospheres.
“It is very exciting to see this transformation in Saturn’s hexagon color with changing seasons,” said Spilker. “With Saturn seasons over 7 years long, these new results show us that it is certainly worth the wait.”
The seasons on Saturn, visualized with images taken by the Hubble Heritage Team. Credit: R. G. French (Wellesley College) et al./NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
It also shows that Cassini, which has been in operation since 1997, is still able to provide new insights into Saturn and its system of moons. In recent weeks, this included information about seasonal variations on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. By April 22nd, 2017, the probe will commence its final 22 orbits of Saturn. Barring any mission extensions, it is scheduled enter into Saturn’s atmosphere (thus ending its mission) on Sept. 15th, 2017.
Further Reading: NASA/JPL/Caltech
What is Earth’s Axial Tilt?
In ancient times, the scholars, seers and magi of various cultures believed that the world took a number of forms – ranging from a ziggurat or a cube to the more popular flat disc surrounded by a sea. But thanks to the ongoing efforts of astronomers, we have come to understand that it is in fact a sphere, and one of many planets in a system that orbits the Sun.
Within the past few centuries, improvements in both scientific instruments and more comprehensive observations of the heavens have also helped astronomers to determine (with extreme accuracy) what the nature of Earth’s orbit is. In addition to knowing the precise distance from the Sun, we also know that our planet orbits the Sun with one pole constantly tilted towards it.
Earth’s Axis:
This is what is known axial tilt, where a planet’s vertical axis is tilted a certain degree towards the ecliptic of the object it orbits (in this case, the Sun). Such a tilt results in there being a difference in how much sunlight reaches a given point on the surface during the course of a year. In the case of Earth, the axis is tilted towards the ecliptic of the Sun at approximately 23.44° (or 23.439281° to be exact).
Earth’s axis points north to Polaris, the northern hemisphere’s North Star, and south to dim Sigma Octantis. Credit: Bob King
Seasonal Variations:
This tilt in Earth’s axis is what is responsible for seasonal changes during the course of the year. When the North Pole is pointed towards the Sun, the northern hemisphere experiences summer and the southern hemisphere experiences winter. When the South Pole is pointed towards the Sun, six months later, the situation is reversed.
In addition to variations in temperature, seasonal changes also result in changes to the diurnal cycle. Basically, in the summer, the day last longer and the Sun climbs higher in the sky. In winter, the days become shorter and the Sun is lower in the sky. In northern temperate latitudes, the Sun rises north of true east during the summer solstice, and sets north of true west, reversing in the winter. The Sun rises south of true east in the summer for the southern temperate zone, and sets south of true west.
The situation becomes extreme above the Arctic Circle, where there is no daylight at all for part of the year, and for up to six months at the North Pole itself (known as a “polar night”). In the southern hemisphere, the situation is reversed, with the South Pole oriented opposite the direction of the North Pole and experiencing what is known as a “midnight sun” (a day that lasts 24 hours).
The four seasons can be determined by the solstices (the point of maximum axial tilt toward or away from the Sun) and the equinoxes (when the direction of tilt and the Sun are perpendicular). In the northern hemisphere, winter solstice occurs around December 21st, summer solstice around June 21st, spring equinox around March 20th, and autumnal equinox on or about September 22nd or 23rd. In the southern hemisphere, the situation is reversed, with the summer and winter solstices exchanged and the spring and autumnal equinox dates swapped.
Changes Over Time:
The angle of the Earth’s tilt is relatively stable over long periods of time. However, Earth’s axis does undergo a slight irregular motion known as nutation – a rocking, swaying, or nodding motion (like a gyroscope) – that has a period of 18.6 years. Earth’s axis is also subject to a slight wobble (like a spinning top), which is causing its orientation to change over time.
Known as precession, this process is causing the date of the seasons to slowly change over a 25,800 year cycle. Precession is not only the reason for the difference between a sidereal year and a tropical year, it is also the reason why the seasons will eventually flip. When this happens, summer will occur in the northern hemisphere during December and winter during June.
Artist’s rendition of the Earth’s rotation and the precession of the Equinoxes. Credit: NASA
Precession, along with other orbital factors, is also the reason for what is known as “length-of-day variation”. Essentially, this is a phenomna where the dates of Earth’s perihelion and aphelion (which currently take place on Jan. 3rd and July 4th, respectively) change over time. Both of these motions are caused by the varying attraction of the Sun and the Moon on the Earth’s equatorial region.
Needless to say, Earth’s rotation and orbit around the Sun are not as simple we once though. During the Scientific Revolution, it was a huge revelation to learn that the Earth was not a fixed point in the Universe, and that the “celestial spheres” were planets like Earth. But even then, astronomers like Copernicus and Galileo still believed that the Earth’s orbit was a perfect circle, and could not imagine that its rotation was subject to imperfections.
It’s only been with time that the true nature of our planet’s inclination and movements have come to be understood. And what we know is that they lead to some serious variations over time – both in the short run (i.e. seasonal change), and in the long-run.
We’ve written many articles about the Earth and the seasons for Universe Today. Here’s Why is the Earth Tilted?, The Rotation of the Earth, What Causes Day and Night?, How Fast Does the Earth Rotate?, Why Does the Earth Spin?
If you’d like more information on the Earth’s axis, check out NASA’s Solar System Exploration Guide on Earth. And here’s a link to NASA’s Earth Observatory.
We’ve also recorded an episode of Astronomy Cast all about Earth. Listen here, Episode 51: Earth.
A Dark and Dusty Avalanche on Mars
Mars may be geologically inactive but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing happening there — seasonal changes on the Red Planet can have some very dramatic effects on the landscape, as this recent image from the HiRISE camera shows!
The full extent of the 1000-meter-long dusty landslide (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)
When increasing light from the springtime Sun warms up the sides of sheer cliffs made from countless layers of water and carbon dioxide ice near Mars’ north pole, some of that CO2 ice sublimes, sending cascades of loose soil and dust down to the terraced base below. This uncovered material stains the frost-covered polar surface dark, outlining the paths of avalanches for HiRISE to easily spot from orbit. (See the original HiRISE image here.)
Circling Mars since March 2006, the HiRISE camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has even captured some of these polar landslides in action.
The rust-colored avalanche shown above has fallen hundreds of meters from the middle of a layered ice deposit, spreading nearly a kilometer across the frozen ridges at the base of the cliff. The view was acquired on Sept. 13, 2013.
Check out a video explaining this view and the processes that created it below, narrated by Phil Plait (aka the Bad Astronomer).
Mars’ seasonal polar caps are composed primarily of carbon dioxide frost. This frost sublimates (changes from solid directly to gas) in the spring, boosting the pressure of Mars’ thin atmosphere. In the fall the carbon dioxide condenses, causing the polar caps to reach as far as ~55 degrees latitude by late winter. By learning about current processes on a local level we can learn more about how to interpret the geological record of climate changes on Mars. (Source)
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March For Science Salt Lake City
Salt Lake (United States) trade shows, find and compare 99 expos, trade fairs and. Sheraton Salt Lake City Hotel, Salt Lake, This year's conference features a line-up of. Salt Lake, Europe's largest trade fair for hydrogen and fuel cells, Science. 4 November 1 December – January – February 1 March 1 + open calender.
SALT LAKE CITY — The final supermoon of the year will happen on Wednesday. Flashback: The last time these two events coincided was in March 1981, according to CNN. Worms: Funny enough, March’s full.
This story was published in collaboration with the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUER in Salt Lake City and KRCC and.
Salt Lake City’s library system is pretty much what you’d expect. As NPR’s Scott Simon reported this March, Harvard has decided to stop charging a 50-cent-a-day fine for overdue books after reports.
The Salt Lake Center for Spiritual Living began as a fellowship in the mid-1950's. as the First Church of Religious Science, Salt Lake City, in March of 1964.
March for Science is an effort composed of independent, nonpartisan coordinators. Recent rhetoric has inspired us to march on Washington, D.C. and in satellite marches across the country. Our mission statement is as follows: The March for Science champions publicly funded and publicly communicate
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Gun reform activist Lauren Hogg of the national chapter of March For Our Lives, meets Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski during a gala by the local.
. hundreds of water and soil samples this week from a Salt Lake City-area watershed, the first leg of a broader Utah water study backed by a $20 million grant from the National Science Foundation.
March 19-22, 2019. Salt Palace Convention Center. Salt Lake City, UT. Register Now. Explore the future of digital transformation with us at Domopalooza 2019.
Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune Box Elder High School student Timber Bailey participated in the march. March for Science Salt Lake City and other leading scientific, academic, and educational institutions and organizations from Utah strolled up State Street to the Utah Capitol to highlight the benefit of science within society, and to encourage legislators to use evidence-based science in.
Public STEM middle school and high school in Salt Lake City, UT. The Utah Governor's Medal for Science and Technology is the highest civilian award bestowed by the State in those fields. It is awarded in. Deseret News, March 6 , 2019.
University of Utah Science & Engineering Fair for schools in the Granite, Murray, Salt Lake, Park City, Canyons, North Sanpete and Tooele School Districts and the Salt Lake Catholic Diocese. Visit University of Utah Science & Engineering Fair: Central Utah STEM Fair for schools in the Alpine, Jordan, Nebo, Provo, and Wasatch School Districts.
Apr 17, 2017 · In response to these “attacks” on science, scientists have organized a March for Science in Washington D.C. on Earth Day, with more than 425 satellite marches around the world. One of the scientists heading Salt Lake City’s March for Science is Nalini Nadkarni, a professor of biology at the University of Utah.
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Because they believed in her, she applied to and was selected for a Native American Research Internship in Salt Lake City, as.
May 03, 2017 · How Battleship Guns Work: "16 Inch Gun & Turret" 1955 US Navy Training Film MN-9321c; Iowa Class BBS – Duration: 9:52. Jeff Quitney 443,812 views
Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski sues state-created inland port. and subscribe to one of thousands of communities. × 14. 15. 16. March for Science – April 22nd (self.SaltLakeCity) submitted 1 year ago by Supermedinita Salt Lake County. I’m curious to see if any of you are going to the March for Science this Saturday. It’s starting at.
A tornado was reported near Falcon, Colorado, on Friday, which would be only the sixth time on record that Colorado had experienced two tornadoes in March. in the Salt Lake City area.
A quick trip on TRAX, SLC's light rail system, takes you from city center past The Leonardo science museum to the University of Utah campus district, home to.
ISE Salt Lake City is scheduled for March 16-19 at the South Towne Exposition Center in. RMEF also works to open and improve public access, fund and advocate for science-based resource management,
Junior Science Academy Classroom Assistant. STEM Lab Facilitator. Tidbit Tour Guide. 2 more. 2 more. 3 more. 4 more. 2 more. 2 more. 4 more.
Based on real science and engineering, “Faster Than Light” takes audiences on a. Travel across the globe to see the archeological ghost town of Pompeii,
Plus, our students are active citizens of Salt Lake City. Friday, March 8, 2:00 – 5: 00 p.m.; See student project work in action and vote for your favorites; Held in.
SALT LAKE CITY – Saturday is Earth Day, and thousands are expected to take to the streets in Washington, D.C., and more than 500 other cities across the planet. The March for Science aims to.
Calendar of Event Listings in and around Salt Lake City. Provo City Science Palooza: Out of This World. 11:00 am. 11:00 am | 320 500 N Provo, UT 37.7 mi.
a new test bed in Salt Lake City could help pave the way for a faster, and safer, wire-free future. Officials from the National Science Foundation, University of Utah, Rice University and the wireless.
Salt Lake City, UT – University of Utah, Department of Family & Preventive. non- profit 501(c)(6) trade association serving Utah's life science industry. SALT LAKE CITY–( BUSINESS WIRE)–SignPath Pharma, Inc. reported in the March.
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Apr 22, 2017 · March for Science Salt Lake City is a solidarity event inspired by the March for Science and Scientists March on Washington. If you can’t make it to Washington, D.C. then you can join us in downtown SLC (or several other sites in Utah!).
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The president of The Church of Jesus Christ of. The top 10 individual performances in Gonzaga NCAA Tournament historyMarch 26,
The Salt Lake City Mission, a non-profit inner-city church rescue mission. Donna Lee Bowen, a professor of Political Science at BYU, believes it may not be an overall solution, but the genuine.
Westminster College. 1840 South 1300 East Salt Lake City, UT 84105. Get Directions · Campus Map. Admissions Phone. 801.832.2200. General Info Phone.
2018 Spring Citizen Science Dark Sky Monitoring. Apr. Join the Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake City for a fun day of science. SLC Lighting Jane Jacobs Walk.
SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams. and another on the street in March to better understand the issues surrounding Salt Lake City’s troubled Rio Grande area. University of Utah.
Major League Soccer announced its opening week of the 2019 season Thursday, and Real Salt Lake. open March 3 against D.C. United, while newly re-signed designated player Zlatan Ibrahimovic will.
SALT LAKE CITY — While Utah’s burgeoning tech sector got a few boosts. A first-of-its-kind grant program aimed at getting more computer science classes into K-12 public schools in Utah earned about.
SALT LAKE CITY — Thousands attended a march to the Utah State Capitol building on Monday that was organized by Utah Women Unite, CBS Salt Lake City affiliate KUTV reports. It took place on the first.
A video circulating on Twitter shows a man hitting another man in Salt Lake City after asking if he was gay. and I may be surprised by what I hear" On March 31, 1917 the U.S. took possession of St.
next to the Road Home, called "The Block," in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, March 8, 2017. Preach was wearing shoes. throughout the state But this count is as much an art as a science, and, as.
This page gives detailed information on the typical March weather for Salt Lake City. You can jump directly to data and descriptions for: Temperature.
Mar 21, 2017. Winner(s) will receive complimentary registration to the LSA's 2018 Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City. Up to three prizes will be awarded.
What Does A / Mean In Math What does that 1+1=14 billboard mean? Apparently cats can’t do math The 1+1=14 billboards around Greater Cincinnati have been confusing even the least math savvy drivers. Check out this story on. Math Literacy-Sunny Valley Group of Schools What counts as text and talk in Math? “Text in math can be considered models, symbols, verbal explanations,
March for Science Salt Lake City is a solidarity event inspired by the March for Science and Scientists March on Washington. If you can’t make it to Washington, D.C. then you can join us in downtown SLC (or several other sites in Utah!).
1, May 16–17, 2019, University of Utah (Salt Lake City, UT). 2, June 5–6, 8, March 29–30, 2019, University of Wisconsin-Madison (Madison, WI). 9, December.
Salt Lake City has incredibly diverse and well rounded offerings!. You can walk the capitol grounds or better yet schedule a free tour, Monday thru Friday. The Utah Museum of Natural History aims to provide high quality science education.
On March 8, 2019, Simon Allan Furlong died. and helped with and judged many elementary science fairs. Simon worked at.
No. 15 Montana (26-8), Thursday, Des Moines, Iowa The first and second round of March Madness will take place in: Hartford, Connecticut; Salt Lake City; Des Moines, Iowa; Jacksonville, Florida; Tulsa,
He and Randall Irmis, a paleontologist at the Natural History Museum of Utah in Salt Lake City, had expected the 76-million-year-old skeleton, unearthed in 2008 in Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante.
Envision Math Common Core Grade 4 Through the development of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS. as well as the orientation to envision a bright future for themselves. They include: Advisory programs that match teachers to a. Hubbard said she’ll be focusing on the Santa Barbara Unified School District’s implementation of the common core standards and. she said. “I envision a
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Rep. Joel Briscoe, D-Salt Lake City, said the appropriation would be used over two years to update existing curriculum on addiction developed by the Genetic Science Learning Center at the University.
Salt Lake City School District’s Science Department supports teachers through providing robust, relevant professional learning opportunities and instructional resources, and by facilitating connections with community stakeholders.
On Saturday, March 9 around 9:20 a.m., a semitruck traveling westbound. according to the Wyoming Highway Patrol in a Facebook post. Brook N. Williams, 48, of Salt Lake City, was driving in a 2018.
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Seoul - Son Of Prominent South Korean Defector Moves To North Korea In Rare Case
In this image made from video taken on Saturday, July 6, 2019, by North Korean Uriminzokkiri state-run website, shows the son of the highest-profile South Korean ever to defect to North Korea, Choe In-guk giving a statement to media as he arrived in the North to permanently resettle. (Uriminzokkiri via AP)
Seoul - The son of the highest-profile South Korean to defect to North Korea has arrived in the North to permanently resettle, North Korean state media said. If confirmed, it would be an unusual case of a South Korean defecting to the impoverished, authoritarian North.
The state-run Uriminzokkiri website reported that Choe In-guk, about 72, arrived in Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, on Saturday to dedicate the rest of his life to Korean unification at the guidance of leader Kim Jong Un. The website published photos and a video showing a bespectacled Choe in a beret reading his arrival statement at Pyongyang’s airport.
Choe said he decided to live in North Korea for good because it was his parents’ “dying wishes” for him to “follow” North Korea and work for its unification with South Korea, according to a written statement published on the website.
Choe is the son of former South Korean Foreign Minister Choe Dok-shin, who defected to North Korea with his wife in 1986, years after he was reportedly embroiled in a corruption scandal and political disputes with then-South Korean President Park Chung-hee. He died in 1989.
Some analysts say North Korea accepted Choe In-guk so it could use him as a propaganda tool to tell its citizens its system is superior to South Korea’s. North Korea is struggling to revive its moribund economy and improve people’s livelihoods, since the United States has not agreed on major sanctions relief until it takes significant steps toward nuclear disarmament.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry said Choe In-guk was in North Korea without special permission from the Seoul government to visit the North. Ministry spokesman Lee Sang-min told reporters Monday that authorities were trying to determine details about Choe’s travel to North Korea.
The two Koreas, split along the world’s most heavily fortified border for about 70 years, bar their citizens from visiting each other’s territory and exchanging phone calls, letters or emails without special permission. Under a South Korean security law, people who secretly visit North Korea can face up to 10 years in prison.
Since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, more than 30,000 North Koreans have fled to South Korea to avoid political repression and economic poverty. South Koreans have occasionally defected to North Korea in the past, but it has become a rarity in recent years, especially since the North suffered a crippling famine in the mid-1990s that is estimated to have killed hundreds of thousands of people.
A small number of South Koreans suffering economic hardship at home have gone to North Korea to live in past years, but North Korea is known to have repatriated such people. The Unification Ministry said North Korea returned two South Koreans who entered North Korea last year, but it didn’t elaborate.
Before his 1986 defection to North Korea, the senior Choe had lived in the United States for about a decade and was a vocal critic of Park, who ruled South Korea with an iron fist from 1961 to 1979. He was previously Park’s foreign minister and ambassador in West Germany.
In North Korea, he was made vice chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, which deals with relations with South Korea, and chairman of the Central Committee of the Chondoist Chongu Party, a political group affiliated with a Korean native religion called “Chondo.” He once headed the Chodo church in South Korea.
His wife, Ryu Mi Yong, also took a series of high-profile jobs, including membership in the presidium of the North’s rubber-stamp parliament and chairwoman of the Central Committee of the Chondoist Chongu Party. When she died at the age of 95 in 2016, a public funeral was organized and her body was buried along with her husband’s at Pyongyang’s Patriotic Martyrs’ Cemetery.
According to South Korea’s Unification Ministry, Choe In-guk was allowed to make 12 authorized trips to North Korea since 2001 for events such as visiting his parents’ cemetery and attending a death anniversary for his mother.
It wasn’t immediately known how he went to North Korea, but South Korean media speculated he flew from Beijing with a North Korean government-issued visa.
Choe was a member of the Chondo church in South Korea and worked for a church-affiliated organization focusing on inter-Korean engagement, according to church official Na Han Yub, who said met Choe once or twice a year.
Na said Choe rarely talked about his personal life and didn’t participate much in church activities. Na said he didn’t know what motivated Choe to go to North Korea but could confirm that he is the person shown in North Korean state media photos.
“Jerusalem - Israel's military says it has shot down a drone that crossed into its territory from the Gaza Strip. The military says it recovered the downed drone and...” Jerusalem - Israel Says It Shot Down Drone That Crossed From Gaza “Rio De Janeiro - An edited picture of Israel’s ambassador eating an expensive non-kosher delicacy made headlines in Brazil. The Israeli embassy blurred with black...” Rio De Janeiro - Israel’s Ambassador Camouflages Pricey Non-kosher Meal With Brazilian President
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Melbourne - Jewish Cafe Owner In Melbourne Won’t Let Anti-Semitic Graffiti Drive Her Out
By: JTA
Melbourne - A Jewish-owned café in a suburb of Melbourne, Australia was hit with anti-Semitic graffiti twice in one week.
On Saturday, the back fence of Aliza’s Place Café was painted with “The Holocaust didn’t happen but it should have,” and a large blue swastika. It came two days after the same fence was painted with the words “The Holocaust is a lie.”
The owner, Aliza Shuvaly, told the Australian Jewish News after the first attack that many members of her family were Holocaust survivors.
“I cannot ignore this symbol,” Shuvaly told the newspaper. “All my family were Holocaust survivors – my mother’s parents, my husband’s parents – and for me it’s hurting twice. I started to shake, I didn’t know what to do.”
She said she would not allow the attack to force her to close the café.
Victoria Police is investigating the incidents.
“Washington - Tom Steyer, the billionaire investor and activist, said Tuesday he's joining the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, reversing course after...” Washington - U.S. Billionaire Steyer Launches 2020 Campaign After Saying He Wouldn't “Hong Kong - Hong Kong protest leaders opposed to the administration of Chief Executive Carrie Lam said Tuesday that they will continue their demonstrations, even after...” Hong Kong - Hong Kong Protesters To Continue After Bill Declared 'dead'
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Democratic Women of Brooklyn Re-Imagine Politics
If all politics is (or should be) local, then this is where change starts. Not with criticism, but with shared vision and values. On July 29, Democratic women of Brooklyn came out to talk about politics. Brooklyn politics. The event was co-hosted by a coalition of women’s organizations leading change and empowerment efforts across Brooklyn and the New York City metro area. These included The Broad Room, Women to the Front, WHARR (of Get Organized BK) and Women of Color for Progress. Community organizers Ny Whitaker and Emily Gallagher were also co-hosts and helped raise the visibility of the event in their communities.
More than 40 women participated in the workshop, and they were incredibly aligned in the top values they believed should guide their political leaders- integrity and transparency, with more than 50% of attendees ranking these two values the most important. The group discussed an incredibly diverse group of leaders they admired, from national figures like Kirsten Gillibrand to more local candidates and elected figures like Joanne Simon, Corey Johnson, Tish James, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes, and Genesis Aquino. Brooklyn Assemblywoman Latrice Walker, who represents the New York’s 55th Assembly District, also made the list. She and Alicka Samuels, who represents overlapping City Council District 41, both attended the workshop and made time on their Sunday afternoon to participate in the two-hour workshop.
Describing the qualities of a good leader, the group mentioned the importance of being “authentic,” and “true to your values.” They wanted leaders who were adaptable, inspiring, unapologetic, and fearless, but who were also “willing to change their mind.” A leader, they said, should be an “advocate for equity,” guided by humility and a focus on service, and be committed to dialogue and listening to foster a deeper connection with the community. With these qualities, as well as courage and grace, leaders could become champions for “innovation” and “systems thinking” that could improve lives.
Women of Brooklyn vote for Transparency at a Vision Project Workshop on July 29, 2018.
Responsibility for building a better future, of course, doesn’t lie with leaders alone. The residents of Brooklyn also have a role to play in strengthening our community. Describing the qualities of a good citizen, the group identified key qualities connected to both awareness and action. Citizens, participants said, should “do their due diligence” to be “educated” about the challenges in their community, approaching people from other cultures of cultural separation with curiosity and respect. A good citizen would get to know their neighbors, “assess their privilege” and create inclusive spaces that welcome other members of the community to take part.
Citizens, they said, must also take action: “participate!” “vote!” “use their voice” and skills. “Take initiative” to take collective ownership of their community, including “taking care of the planet.” “Teaching children civics” was another important civic responsibility, as well as self respect, and giving credit to others, where due. One woman summarized these sentiments as the need to “practice belongingness,” the intersecting responsibility of active engagement and collective care-taking.
So, what is community, anyway? One woman flagged that community was something leaders and residents should work to define, acknowledging that community isn’t always geographic, and often multiple communities exist side by side in the same area, sometimes without mutual acknowledgement. The unspoken implication: perhaps there are ways leaders can take an active role in fostering dialogue among communities currently sharing geographic space. This collaboration, they said, should “start with real communication” and a “cultural shift to anti-oppression practices.” It would begin, many said, with leaders practicing “accessibility.”
As a leader who often hears this request from her constituents, but isn’t quite sure how to address it, Assemblywoman Latrice Walker posed a clarifying question to the group: “Can you all give me some examples of how that could be done?” Without hesitating, members of the group chimed in: office hours, multilingual and inter-generational staff and resources, a hotline, open public forums, and presence in community were immediate suggestions. Leaders, they said, should be present not just for a photo op, or to be seen, but to actively listen to and learn from the experiences of their constituents. The women in the workshop imagined what such “public forums” might look like, suggesting that leaders could raise awareness of important issues or “host open discussions that foster solidarity.” They might use food or music that honored long-held community traditions (like fish fries in Harlem) to bring people together in ways that foster inclusion and connection. By looking for ways to collaborate in their shared commitment to democratic principles, leaders and citizens could together build alternative sources of power that can strengthen our communities.
A vision of the future of the Brooklyn Democratic Party?
The last question of the workshop is the most open and audacious. “Imagine you have fallen asleep for 10 years ,” it posits, “and awakened to find the Democratic Party thriving. What do you see?” Responses to this question varied widely, but coalesced along three core themes.
A few women voiced specific policy solutions that don’t necessarily fall under the traditional purview of the Democratic Party, but which would have big implications for the lives of most Brooklynites. “More community land trusts,” “clean water rights,” and “all renewable energy,” were among the ideas shared, along with “planned urbanization” and “no more guns.”
A different subset of women voiced concern for a few key issues that currently represent pain points in the lives of most Brooklynites. “Public transit that works,” was one point that brought nods and chuckles of affirmation from many present. Others mentioned: “Everyone eats and has a place to live,” “Quality schools in every district,” and “Women’s rights are equally protected.”
Ultimately, the desire for a culture of greater equity and prevailing civic engagement, in which political “leadership reflects the diversity of the community,” and “everyone votes” was the predominant focus of the vision for the future ideas discussed. A need for “self-determination for communities of color” was voiced, and it was discussed that honoring community-led cultural traditions could powerfully subvert legacies of racism and the conflicts related to gentrification. “Respectful open discourse” connects neighbors so they are mutually understood. “Independent local news” would ensure that everyone had access to quality reporting and information, and “civics in the classroom” would engage children, early and often, in understanding their political power within a democratic system.
This workshop was just one of many workshops taking place across Brooklyn as part of the Vision Project, a collaborative effort by a coalition of partners to create a shared vision for the Democratic Party in Brooklyn.
Want to share your vision for the future? Sign up to attend a future workshop, or write to us and we’ll help you host one in your community!
Vision Project July 29, 2018 First Unitarian Congregational Society
ReImagining Politics in Assembly District 57
Vision Project October 14, 2018
A Few Words from our Marine Park Community Partner, Gina Napolitano
Vision Project June 26, 2018
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It takes a lot to run a senior care business, but for many Visiting Angels owners, it’s more than a business. It’s a personal vocation. Take Nate Stokes, who owns and operates the Visiting Angels office serving Joplin, Missouri. Before starting his business, Nate worked in asphalt construction. But despite being new to the home care industry, he was confident that he could bring quality senior care to the Joplin community.
“The business lined up with my family values and personal morals,” Nate told us recently. “I knew I could [provide senior care] the way southwest Missourians would like.”
A Family Connection to Senior Care
As with many Visiting Angels owners, Nate’s first experience with senior care was a personal one. Years before he opened his own business, Nate’s paternal grandparents began to struggle with living independently. To help them, Nate’s family hired professional senior care. Seeing his grandparent’s caregivers at work left a lasting impact on Nate.
“I had a really pleasant experience with the people who took care of my grandparents,” he says. “They became like another member of the family.”
That experience inspired Nate when he decided to open his own senior care business. These days, Nate couldn’t be happier with the work. “There’s no feeling like going into a situation where a family feels like their backs are up against a wall and being able to put their minds at ease,” he says.
Caregivers Who Truly Care
Nate’s experience is one we hear time and time again from Visiting Angels owners and caregivers. Many of our owners and caregivers have seen other care providers make an impact in the lives of their loved ones. Others have personally provided care for family members before turning to senior care as a professional vocation.
There’s no way to overstate how powerful this kind of passion and personal connection to senior care can be. At Visiting Angels, we work hard to find owners who truly care about caring. In turn, our owners seek out professional caregivers who reflect those values.
Take Rick Warden, one of Nate’s caregivers in Joplin. Recently, Nate and the rest of his office took the time to celebrate Rick’s service as a caregiver. At 68, Rick has been providing care through Visiting Angels for more than seven years. Like so many other caregivers, Rick’s compassion, selflessness, and passion has made him an invaluable part of the Visiting Angels family.
In Nate’s words: “You have to be doing it for the right reasons. That’s the only way it will work.”
For a free senior care consultation for you and your loved one, call your local Visiting Angels office today.
Janice is one of the kindest and most patient caregivers. She always goes the extra mile to make things easy and accessible for me. I look forward to her visits and the positive times we share when she is here. Janice is a true 'Angel'.
B.K., Alpharetta, GA
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9 Netflix Series To Binge Watch This Summer
By Radhika Seth
For those still searching for a new summer TV obsession, Netflix has the answer. There’s a final season with the ladies of Litchfield Penitentiary in Orange is the New Black, a reunion with Queer Eye’s Fab Five and a third instalment of Glow, which sees Alison Brie and the gang head to Las Vegas to put on a live wrestling show. Plus, there's plenty of recent hits worth catching up on, from Ava DuVernay’s groundbreaking account of the Central Park Five case in When They See Us to the latest series of Black Mirror featuring Miley Cyrus. Here, Vogue shortlists nine shows to consider as essential viewing.
Set during the summer of 1985, the third outing of the Duffer brothers’ sci-fi blockbuster marks a return to form. The previous season's cast is joined by rising star Maya Hawke as a Scoops Ahoy employee. At the heart of the new season is Starcourt Mall, a love letter to 1980s consumerism that provides the perfect backdrop for action-packed set pieces and shopping montages set to Madonna’s "Material Girl". After a 20-month hiatus, the residents of Hawkins never looked better.
The First Stills From Greta Gerwig's Little Women Are Full Of Sisterly Vibes And Romantic Tension
By Hayley Maitland
On April 19, 1989, a woman jogging through New York’s Central Park was assaulted and left for dead. That night, five teenagers (four African-American and one Hispanic) were accused of the crime, and following two trials, wrongfully convicted. Ava DuVernay’s unflinching dramatisation of events examines racial injustice and provides a companion piece to 13th, her Oscar-nominated 2016 documentary on mass incarceration. A month on from its release, the series has sparked real change: after a renewed backlash, former prosecutors Linda Fairstein and Elizabeth Lederer have both resigned from high-profile positions at Vassar College and Columbia Law School, respectively.
Naomi Campbell Is 1 Of 4 Major Fashion Names Joining Heidi Klum On “Making The Cut”
How do you follow the success of Bandersnatch? With a stellar fifth season starring Miley Cyrus, Topher Grace and Fleabag’s Andrew Scott. Its three standalone episodes, expertly crafted by co-creators Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones, explore gender fluidity, celebrity culture and the threat posed by new technology. Despite the abundance of dystopian dramas currently on TV – from The Handmaid’s Tale to Years and Years – Black Mirror remains one of the best.
An icy venture capitalist turns femme fatale in Mike Kelley’s campy thriller centred on a delicious performance by Renée Zellweger. In a role that couldn’t be further from Bridget Jones, the Oscar winner propositions a young couple, offering scientist Lisa an $80 million investment in return for a night with her husband. What ensues is a 10-part morality tale that is as absurd as it is addictive.
Why It's Always Bittersweet To See Black Female Contestants On Love Island
By Yomi Adegoke
Armistead Maupin’s San Francisco-based Tales of the City became a cult classic when it first aired in 1993, providing a rare platform for LGBTQIA+ characters on mainstream cable TV. Two decades on, Lauren Morelli’s sensitive reboot reunites original cast members Laura Linney and Olympia Dukakis, retains Maupin as an executive producer and is the product of an all-queer writers’ room. There are new additions (including Ellen Page as Linney’s adopted daughter Shawna), but above all it’s a nostalgia-fuelled homecoming for fans of the first series.
Queer Eye
Jonathan Van Ness, Bobby Berk, Tan France, Karamo Brown and Antoni Porowski are back in Kansas City for a fourth instalment of the feel-good makeover show. The 2018 revival of Bravo’s Queer Eye for the Straight Guy has grown into a global phenomenon and turned the Fab Five into cultural mainstays – in recent months, they’ve appeared in Taylor Swift’s music video for You Need to Calm Down and met with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Capitol Hill to advocate for the passage of the Equality Act. Expect tears, personal revelations and plenty of surprises.
Ariana Grande And Meryl Streep Will Co-Star In Ryan Murphy's Netflix Series The Prom
Available July 19
It’s been a long road for the ladies of Litchfield. When Jenji Kohan’s quirky dramedy debuted in 2013, it was one of the streaming service’s first original programmes. An instant hit with critics and audiences, it made stars out of Uzo Aduba, Natasha Lyonne, Samira Wiley and Laverne Cox, and tackled important subjects head-on, from domestic violence and drug abuse to the Black Lives Matter movement. The seventh and final season follows Piper (Taylor Schilling) as she adjusts to life after her release and reflects on the past six years.
Justin Simien’s searing satire about race relations on American college campuses has been renewed for another season, and luckily it’s lost none of its bite. Dissecting identity politics, online trolls and cultural appropriation, season three sees the return of series regulars Logan Browning and Brandon P Bell, as well as a razor-sharp script that doesn’t shy away from controversy.
Available August 2
Geena Davis hops into the ring for the latest instalment of Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch’s comedy about the women’s professional wrestling circuit. This time around, Alison Brie, Betty Gilpin and the team are headed to Las Vegas to host a new wrestling show. Marc Maron is back as show director Sam Sylvia, while Davis plays Sandy Devereaux St Clair, the entertainment director of the hotel where they are set to perform. It’s worth watching for the outlandish 1980s costumes alone, which encompass high-cut swimsuits, acid brights, big ruffles and even bigger hair.
The Vogue Edit: What We're Loving This Week
Laura Loves: Laura Bailey's Weekly Edit
By Laura Bailey
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Alexander McQueen signs fragrance deal
By Lisa Niven 25 February 2016
The first in 10 years for the designer
Alexander Mcqueen is launching its first fragrance in almost 10 years, having signed a deal with Procter & Gamble. The fashion house's first scent—Kingdom—launched in 2003, followed by My Queen in 2005, but by 2008 both had been discontinued.
"Creating a fragrance feels like a natural progression as it enhances the world of Alexander McQueen. I'm very excited by this opportunity to collaborate with P&G Prestige, to work together to create a scent that captures the unique sensibility of the house," said Sarah Burton, creative director of Alexander McQueen.
P&G Prestige is responsible for Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana and Hugo Boss fragrances, but will be working with Alexander McQueen for the first time—the previous fragrances were launched with YSL Beauté, then a division of the Gucci Group.
"The contrasting elements of [McQueen's] design approach: fragility and strength, tradition and modernity, fluidity and severity is incredibly rich territory for fragrance development," said Joanne Crewes, president of P&G Prestige. "This creative approach combined with our expertise in fragrance and brand building creates a wonderful opportunity for global growth and expansion. It is a tremendous privilege to partner with Alexander McQueen and to bring this incredible brand into beauty."
ALEXANDER MCQUEENDOLCE & GABBANAGUCCIQUEEN
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The history of Volcano Lodge, Hotel & Thermal Experience
In the late eighties, the area of La Fortuna, San Carlos began to grow as a major tourist destination, allowing for numerous tour services companies. Among these early entrepreneurs Miranda Castro brothers, who, years later, in May 1999, inaugurated the Hotel Volcano Lodge, with a total of 20 rooms.
Such was the success of the small hotel that Castro family eventually left behind the operation of tours to devote themself entirely to the Volcano Lodge, doubling by 2003 the number of rooms.
The Volcano Lodge continued to grow, reaching 70 rooms in 2005 and adding a restaurant, a swimming pool, and Jacuzzi to its facilities, but also building an environment that reflects the beauty of the Arenal Volcano, and the nature of the Northern Zone, inspiring amazing grounds and gardens. Thus, in 2008, the name of the hotel was changed to Volcano Lodge Gardens.
In 2013, after years of work and effort the hotel integrated the Hot Springs. A new era was born, where the Hot Springs would be the beginning of a new accommodation experience: an experience called Volcano Lodge & Springs.
Since 2018, Volcano Lodge evolves to Volcano Lodge, Hotel & Thermal Experience.
We continue being the property that was born in 1999 to offer our partners and guests the best service: a service that becomes a life experience, in their holidays in La Fortuna de San Carlos.
We want those who visit us, not only enjoy a pleasant stay, but our heat, is an unforgettable memory of relaxation in our thermomineral waters, with quality service at the height of the best properties.
Giving our customers the opportunity to live an experience in harmony with nature, in an area of forest conservation process; be a source of work and chaining to the community, under optimum customer service.
Achieving excellence in service exceeding the expectations of our customers with a highly diversified product and sustainable management, driven by the formation and integration of the members of the organization.
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Jack Bogle
News>People
Jack Bogle: The Model Public Servant in the Private Sector
What better way to honor Jack than for fiduciary advocates to, as he says, “Press on, regardless.”
Knut Rostad | Jan 18, 2019
Wednesday was a roller coaster.
That afternoon a group of 22 fiduciary and investor advocates met in Washington, D.C., to discuss the best ways to advance fiduciary ideas, practices and policies in 2019. Participants walked away feeling we made solid progress.
Then, shortly thereafter, the music stopped. As I sat with friends talking about the day, the news hit: Jack Bogle had passed away.
Jack richly deserved the huge accolades he received after his passing at 89. He was a model public servant operating in the private sector. Founding Vanguard and making the index fund accessible to the individual investor changed the capital markets to benefit tens of millions of ordinary people. Warren Buffett had already previously suggested that a statue be erected in his honor.
Jack’s passing is personal, too. I knew him for 10 years. He actively served on the Institute’s Board of Advisors and he joined our meeting with SEC Chairman Jay Clayton last June.
I compiled the book, The Man in the Arena, which tells the story of his legacy and highlights his books. His writings draw widely from finance and politics to American history and biblical teachings.
The best parts of Jack’s legacy are the personal stories of others. The correspondence and tales of Vanguard shareholders, crew members, as well as national leaders in finance, academia and public life—they tell Jack’s story. His vision and integrity, his darn persistence in reforming finance. His respect for everyone. People from all walks of life speak, often in intense and emotional terms, of their appreciation for what he did. They speak in terms that seem more adulation for a rock star than appreciation for a public servant. Being witness to this outpouring, through letters and firsthand experiences, has been an experience of a lifetime.
A visit to Jack’s office was special. Emily, his longtime assistant was there with a cheery greeting and discussions about anything fiduciary. On one visit last year, it was the new SEC proposals. Comments on the news then flowed freely; his sense of humor was always intact, especially when at my own expense, and as an advisor he was constant. Throughout, his overarching optimism for the future of fiduciary and the work of the institute showed through.
Wednesday was personal—and a roller coaster. What better way to honor Jack, though, than for the 22 of us to, as he says, “Press on, regardless.”
Knut A. Rostad, co-founded and chaired the Committee for the Fiduciary Standard and co-founded and is president of the Institute for the Fiduciary Standard, a nonprofit formed in 2011 to advance the fiduciary standard through research, education and advocacy.
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Nearly 250 arrested in relation to last week assassination
By Dawit Endeshaw
A task force established following the assassination of officials in Addis Ababa and Bahir Dar said that nearly 250 individuals have been arrested for an alleged connection to the killings, which was ruled as a failed coup d'etat pending the full investigation of the incident, The Reporter has learnt.
The individuals were arrested in Bahir Dar and Addis Ababa, according to a statement issued by the taskforce.
“We are still investigating the link between the two incidents in Addis Ababa and Bahir Dar,” said the taskforce in a statement.
The taskforce has also revealed the identity of the alleged killer of General Seare Mekonnen. It said that Mesafint Tegabu, a bodyguard of the army chief, was the one who has shoot and killed Gen. Seare and his friend Maj. Gen Gezai Abera.
Furthermore, the taskforce has disclosed the seizure of different kinds of firearms in Addis Ababa in the wake of the General’s assassination at his residence in the capital.
In related news, the National Movement of Amhara (NAMA), a relatively newer party which is growing in popularity in the region, has disclosed that its members are being arrested in different parts of the country including Addis Ababa.
Established a year ago, NAMA is said to be among the few parties in Amhara Region which rival the ruling party, Amhara Democratic Party, in popularity.
Earlier this week, the party has condemned the killings in the two cities. Moreover, it has announced its refrainment from labeling the incident as a coup; and called for an independent investigation of the incident.
Bahir Dar
Maarif Foundation takes over Turkish school
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Unofficial Israeli Defense Force T-Shirts Show Civilian Targets
Haaretz.com reports that Israeli Defense Force (IDF) soldiers are wearing T-shirts that do little to win the hearts and minds of Palestinians, and much to sour and twist them. To wit:
Dead babies, mothers weeping on their children’s graves, a gun aimed at a child and bombed-out mosques – these are a few examples of the images Israel Defense Forces soldiers design these days to print on shirts they order to mark the end of training, or of field duty. The slogans accompanying the drawings are not exactly anemic either: A T-shirt for infantry snipers bears the inscription “Better use Durex,” next to a picture of a dead Palestinian baby, with his weeping mother and a teddy bear beside him. A sharpshooter’s T-shirt from the Givati Brigade’s Shaked battalion shows a pregnant Palestinian woman with a bull’s-eye superimposed on her belly, with the slogan, in English, “1 shot, 2 kills.” A “graduation” shirt for those who have completed another snipers course depicts a Palestinian baby, who grows into a combative boy and then an armed adult, with the inscription, “No matter how it begins, we’ll put an end to it.”
It gets worse . . .
There are also plenty of shirts with blatant sexual messages. For example, the Lavi battalion produced a shirt featuring a drawing of a soldier next to a young woman with bruises, and the slogan, “Bet you got raped!” A few of the images underscore actions whose existence the army officially denies – such as “confirming the kill” (shooting a bullet into an enemy victim’s head from close range, to ensure he is dead), or harming religious sites, or female or child non-combatants. In many cases, the content is submitted for approval to one of the unit’s commanders.
The article has plenty of examples of way way out there T-shirt designs, whose anti-Arab image and text make “Kill them all and let God sort them out” seem like a politically correct pronouncement. Interviewed on the sartorial sacrilege for the article, the Israeli Defense Force condemned the unofficial practice.
The IDF Spokesman’s Office comments on the phenomenon: “Military regulations do not apply to civilian clothing, including shirts produced at the end of basic training and various courses. The designs are printed at the soldiers’ private initiative, and on civilian shirts. The examples raised by Haaretz are not in keeping with the values of the IDF spirit, not representative of IDF life, and are in poor taste. Humor of this kind deserves every condemnation and excoriation. The IDF intends to take action for the immediate eradication of this phenomenon. To this end, it is emphasizing to commanding officers that it is appropriate, among other things, to take discretionary and disciplinary measures against those involved in acts of this sort.”
Those are some pretty sick shirts. Then again, trying to find humor, even sick humor, in the dark side of a war against terrorsits is almost healthy. I have to agree with the reaction to one of the shirts:
"There's a Golani or Givati shirt of a soldier raping a girl, and underneath it says, 'No virgins, no terror attacks.' I laughed, but it was … See Morepretty awful."
Yep it is a sick. But so is the notion that a terrorist goes to heaven and gets 72 virgins for killing and maiming innocent civilians. Printing offensive t-shirts, and yes they too know they are offensive as evidenced by noting that they wouldn't wear them in public, is almost an impressive response.
I have a nephew who is a US Army Ranger. He had a shirt with a logo with crosshairs on the pocket called the "72 Virgins Dating Club, We'll hook you up." A little more sophisticated than the Israeli ones, but still reflective of a mindset a bit foreign to most of us who don't have to kill people to protect others.
Jim Sutherland says:
Hi Robert; I can see this website heading in some interesting directions. This story was a little unsettling for obvious reasons. I can also see that your new subject matter will have many more issues that will surprise or shock me.
We please to aim.
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Summer Reading List for Teen Boys
Jutta Klee / Getty Images
by Jennifer Kendall
Looking for a summer reading list suitable for teen boys? This summer reading list offers a wide range of great books for teen boys from mysteries to zombies to spy thrillers and more. (Note that most of the titles here are recommended for ages 12 to 18, but there are a few specifically targeted for the 12 to 14 and 14 to 18 age group range.)
Set in a dystopian society, three kids are on the run from a society who “unwinds” or harvests body parts of unwanted adolescents. Told from the viewpoint of three teens on the run for their lives, this story brings to light the issues of rights to life. In "Unwind", author Neal Shusterman skillfully crafts a thrilling story that asks readers to think about social issues. Intense, fast-paced, and methodical, this book is a perfect read for reluctant readers and teens interested in futuristic societies. Recommended for ages 14 to 18, the book is the first of four books in the "Unwind Dystology".
Best friends Chris and Win celebrate senior graduation by taking a cross-country bicycle trek from West Virginia to Washington, but Win never makes it. The FBI investigates Chris to piece together the mystery of his friend’s disappearance. Alternating chapters from present day to the friends’ road trip slowly reveals clues about the nature of the boys’ friendship and the story's central mystery. The author of "Shift" is Jennifer Bradbury. Recommended for ages 14 to 18.
Rot and Ruin
Fifteen-year-old Benny is angry. His parents are dead, his brother is a zombie hunter, and now Benny must find a job in order to keep his food rations. Patrolling the borders of “Rot and Ruin” is not what Benny wants to do, but it will keep food in his belly and help him understand the decisions his brother made the night zombies invaded their home. Although this novel by Jonathan Maberry is full of gruesome zombie violence, the underlying coming of age story is what readers will remember. Recommended for ages 14 to 18.
Alex Rider is about to discover that all is not what it seems when he learns that his guardian uncle was not a bank president, but a spy for the British government. Determined to find his uncle’s murderer and forced by British Intelligence to take over his uncle’s mission, the teen begins to search for clues to find the killer. With all the gadgetry and ammunition of a James Bond novel, this first book in the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz is a sure hit for teens looking for high tech spy adventure. Recommended for ages 12 to 14.
Revenge of the Witch
Thomas Ward, the seventh son of a seventh son, is apprenticed to Old Gregory the local spook whose job is to rid local villages of their ghosts, ghouls, and witches. While learning the trade, Thom makes friends with Alice, a witch, who aides him in his many encounters with haunting creatures. Basing his books on the legendary stories surrounding his English home, author Joseph Delaney has created a long-running and popular series for teens who are fans of ghost stories. Recommended for ages 12 to 18.
The House of the Scorpion
This multiple award-winning book by Nancy Farmer takes a futuristic look at a society who believes in cloning. Matt, a clone of the powerful 140-year-old drug lord El Patron, is kept isolated from other members of his household and is both despised and feared by those around him. When Matt learns that his sole purpose is to provide El Patron with organs to help him live longer, he seeks the help of a good friend to help his escape. Written for mature teen readers, this book will raise questions about the value of life, individual freedom, and the ethics of cloning. Recommended for ages 12 to 18.
Heroes of the Valley
For all his life 15-year-old Hallie Sveinsson has heard the legendary stories of heroes. But Hallie is short, round and an unlikely candidate for the stuff of legends. Instead, Hallie is a prankster, and one day a harmless prank sets into motion a chain of events that leads to his uncle’s murder. Setting out on a quest to avenge the murder, Hallie and learns what it means to be a true hero. This epic stand-alone fantasy set in medieval times is a rich tale about separating truth from fiction. Jonathan Stroud is the author of "Heroes of the Valley". Recommended for ages 12 to 18.
For fans of the Artemis Fowl series, comes another well written historical fantasy book by beloved Irish author Eoin Colfer. Set in 19th-century Ireland at the dawn of aviation is the story of Conor Broekhart, the boy born in a hot air balloon. One day, while wandering the halls of the castle, Conor overhears a plot to murder the king, but he is discovered and then and framed for the murder. Sent to prison in a high tower, Conor uses his knowledge of flying to create a machine that will help him escape. Plot driven and full of high-flying adventure, this smartly written book will entertain any teen looking to read a swashbuckling tale. Recommended for ages 12 to 18.
The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel
When siblings Josh and Sophie walk into the bookstore they witness a spectacular display of magic between bookseller Nick and his nemesis John Dee. The mysterious bookseller is none other than the immortal alchemist Nicholas Flamel. After Dee steals the Codex, Josh and Sophie are forced to help the Flamels retrieve the Codex before it is used for evil means. Little do the brother and sister know that they are part of an important magical prophecy. Centered on magic and myth this book is a great follow-up series for fans of Harry Potter. "The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel" is by Michael Scott. Recommended for ages 12 to 18.
Death Cloud
Even Sherlock Holmes was once a teenager. Based on the classic Sherlock Holmes mysteries, author Andrew Lane introduces teens to a younger version of the clever sleuth who takes on his first case in "Death Cloud". Fourteen-year-old Holmes and his American tutor, Amyus Crowe, work together to discover if the mysterious deaths of two neighbors were caused by a vicious plague or if indeed it was…murder. Recommended for ages 12 to 14.
Edited by Elizabeth Kennedy
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Figures & Events
Asian Wars and Battles
Ancient History and Culture
Medieval & Renaissance History
Humanities › History & Culture
Kublai Khan's Quests for Domination in 1274 and 1281
Print Collector / Contributor / Getty Images
by Kallie Szczepanski
Kallie Szczepanski has a Ph.D. in history and has taught at the college and high school level in both the U.S. and Korea.
The Mongol Invasions of Japan in 1274 and 1281 devastated Japanese resources and power in the region, nearly destroying the samurai culture and Empire of Japan entirely before a typhoon miraculously spared their last stronghold.
Although Japan started the war between the two rival empires with hefty troops of honorable samurai, the sheer force and brute strength of their Mongol invaders pushed the noble warriors to their limits, making them question their very code of honor in facing these fierce combatants.
The impact of nearly two decades of struggle between their rulers would echo on throughout Japanese history, even through the Second World War and the very culture of modern-day Japan.
Precursor to Invasion
In 1266, the Mongol ruler Kublai Khan paused in his campaign to subdue all of China, and sent a message to the Emperor of Japan, whom he addressed as "the ruler of a small country," and advised the Japanese sovereign to pay him tribute at once—or else.
The Khan's emissaries returned from Japan without an answer. Five times over the next six years, Kublai Khan sent his messengers; the Japanese shogun would not allow them even to land on Honshu, the main island.
In 1271, Kublai Khan defeated the Song Dynasty and declared himself the first emperor of China's Yuan Dynasty. A grandson of Genghis Khan, he ruled over much of China plus Mongolia and Korea; meanwhile, his uncles and cousins controlled an empire that stretched from Hungary in the west to the Pacific coast of Siberia in the east.
The great khans of the Mongol Empire did not tolerate impudence from their neighbors, and Kublai was quick to demand a strike against Japan as early as 1272. However, his counselors advised him to bide his time until a proper armada of warships could be built—300 to 600, vessels which would be commissioned from the shipyards of southern China and Korea, and an army of some 40,000 men. Against this mighty force, Japan could muster only about 10,000 fighting men from the ranks of the often-squabbling samurai clans. Japan's warriors were seriously outmatched.
The First Invasion, 1274
From the port of Masan in southern Korea, the Mongols and their subjects launched a step-wise attack on Japan in the autumn of 1274. Hundreds of large ships and an even larger number of small boats—estimated between 500 and 900 in number—set out into the Sea of Japan.
First, the invaders seized the islands of Tsushima and Iki about halfway between the tip of the Korean peninsula and the main islands of Japan. Quickly overcoming desperate resistance from the islands' approximately 300 Japanese residents, the Mongol troops slaughtered them all and sailed on to the east.
On November 18, the Mongol armada reached Hakata Bay, near the present-day city of Fukuoka on the island of Kyushu. Much of our knowledge about the details of this invasion comes from a scroll which was commissioned by the samurai Takezaki Suenaga, who fought against the Mongols in both campaigns.
Japan's Military Weaknesses
Suenaga relates that the samurai army set out to fight according to their code of bushido; a warrior would step out, announce his name and lineage, and prepare for one-on-one combat with a foe. Unfortunately for the Japanese, the Mongols were not familiar with the code. When a lone samurai stepped forward to challenge them, the Mongols would simply attack him en masse, much like ants swarming a beetle.
To make matters worse for the Japanese, the Yuan forces also used poison-tipped arrows, catapult-launched explosive shells, and a shorter bow that was accurate at twice the range of the samurai's longbows. In addition, the Mongols fought in units, rather than each man for himself. Drumbeats relayed the orders guiding their precisely coordinated attacks. All of this was new to the samurai—often fatally so.
Takezaki Suenaga and the three other warriors from his household were all unhorsed in the fighting, and each sustained serious wounds that day. A late charge by over 100 Japanese reinforcements was all that saved Suenaga and his men. The injured samurai drew back a few miles from the bay for the night, determined to renew their nearly hopeless defense in the morning. As night fell, a driving wind and heavy rain began to lash the coast.
Close Call with Domination
Unbeknownst to the Japanese defenders, the Chinese and Korean sailors on board Kublai Khan's ships were busy persuading the Mongolian generals to let them weigh anchor and head further out to sea. They worried that the strong wind and high surf would drive their ships aground in Hakata Bay.
The Mongols relented, and the great Armada sailed out into open waters—straight into the arms of an approaching typhoon. Two days later, a third of the Yuan ships lay on the bottom of the Pacific, and perhaps 13,000 of Kublai Khan's soldiers and sailors had drowned.
The battered survivors limped home, and Japan was spared the Great Khan's dominion—for the time being. While Kublai Khan sat at his capital in Dadu (modern-day Beijing) and brooded over his fleet's misfortunes, the samurai waited for the bakufu in Kamakura to reward them for their valor, but that reward never came.
Uneasy Peace: The Seven-year Interlude
Traditionally, the bakufu gave a land grant to noble warriors at the end of battle so they could relax in times of peace. However, in the case of the invasion, there were no spoils to dole out—the invaders came from outside of Japan, and left no booty behind so the bakufu had no way to pay the thousands of samurai who had fought to fend off the Mongols.
Takezaki Suenaga took the unusual step of traveling for two months to the Kamakura shogun's court to plead his case in person. Suenaga was rewarded with a prize horse and stewardship of a Kyushu island estate for his pains. Of the estimated 10,000 samurai warriors who fought, only 120 received any reward at all.
This did not endear the Kamakura government to the vast majority of the samurai, to say the least. Even as Suenaga was making his case, Kublai Khan sent a six-man delegation to demand that the Japanese emperor travel to Dadu and kowtow to him. The Japanese responded by beheading the Chinese diplomats, a terrible infringement of the Mongol law against abusing emissaries.
Then Japan prepared for a second attack. The leaders of Kyushu took a census of all available warriors and weaponry. In addition, Kyushu's landowning class was given the task of building a defensive wall around Hakata Bay, five to fifteen feet high and 25 miles long. Construction took five years with each landholder responsible for a section of the wall proportional to the size of his estate.
Meanwhile, Kublai Khan established a new government division called the Ministry for Conquering Japan. In 1980, the ministry devised plans for a two-pronged attack the following spring, to crush the recalcitrant Japanese once and for all.
The Second Invasion, 1281
In the spring of 1281, the Japanese got word that a second Yuan invasion force was coming their way. The waiting samurai sharpened their swords and prayed to Hachiman, the Shinto god of war, but Kublai Khan was determined to smash Japan this time and he knew that his defeat seven years earlier had simply been bad luck, due more to the weather than to any extraordinary fighting prowess of the samurai.
With more forewarning of this second attack, Japan was able to muster 40,000 samurai and other fighting men. They assembled behind the defensive wall at Hakata Bay, their eyes trained to the west.
The Mongols sent two separate forces this time—an impressive force of 900 ships containing 40,000 Korean, Chinese, and Mongol troops set out from Masan, while an even larger force of 100,000 sailed from southern China in 3,500 ships. The Ministry for Conquering Japan's plan called for an overwhelming coordinated attack from the combined imperial Yuan fleets.
The Korean fleet reached Hakata Bay on June 23, 1281, but the ships from China were nowhere to be seen. The smaller division of the Yuan army was unable to breach the Japanese defensive wall, so a stationary battle evolved. Samurai weakened their opponents by rowing out to the Mongol ships in small boats under cover of darkness, setting fire to the ships and attacking their troops, and then rowing back to land.
These night-time raids demoralized the Mongols' conscripts, some of whom had only recently been conquered and had no love for the emperor. A stalemate between the evenly-matched foes lasted for 50 days, as the Korean fleet waited for the expected Chinese reinforcements.
On August 12, the Mongols' main fleet landed to the west of Hakata Bay. Now faced with a force more than three times as large as their own, the samurai were in serious danger of being overrun and slaughtered. With little hope of survival—and little thought of reward if they triumphed—the Japanese samurai fought on with desperate bravery.
Japan's Miracle
They say that truth is stranger than fiction, and in this case, it's certainly true. Just when it appeared that the samurai would be exterminated and Japan crushed under the Mongol yoke, an incredible, miraculous event took place.
On August 15, 1281, a second typhoon roared ashore at Kyushu. Of the khan's 4,400 ships, only a few hundred rode out the towering waves and vicious winds. Nearly all of the invaders drowned in the storm, and those few thousand who made it to shore were hunted and killed without mercy by the samurai with very few returning to tell the tale at Dadu.
The Japanese believed that their gods had sent the storms to preserve Japan from the Mongols. They called the two storms kamikaze, or "divine winds." Kublai Khan seemed to agree that Japan was protected by supernatural forces, thus abandoning the idea of conquering the island nation.
For the Kamakura bakufu, however, the outcome was disastrous. Once again the samurai demanded payment for the three months they'd spent warding off the Mongols. In addition, this time the priests who had prayed for divine protection added their own payment demands, citing the typhoons as evidence of the effectiveness of their prayers.
The bakufu still had little to dispense, and what disposable riches they had were given to the priests, who held more influence in the capital than the samurai. Suenaga did not even try to seek payment, instead commissioning the scroll where most modern understandings of this period come from as a record of his own accomplishments during both invasions.
Dissatisfaction with the Kamakura bakufu festered among the ranks of the samurai over the following decades. When a strong emperor, Go-Daigo, rose in 1318 and challenged the authority of the bakufu, the samurai refused to rally to the military leaders' defense.
After a complex civil war lasting 15 years, the Kamakura bakufu was defeated and the Ashikaga Shogunate assumed power over Japan. The Ashikaga family and all the other samurai passed down the story of the kamikaze, and Japan's warriors drew strength and inspiration from the legend for centuries.
As late as World War II from 1939 to 1945, Japanese imperial troops invoked the kamikaze in their battles against the Allied forces in the Pacific and its story still influences the nature's culture to this day.
Images of the Samurai, Japan's Warriors
History's Largest Empire: Genghis Khan and the Mongol Khanate
Origins of Samurai Rule in Japan's Kamakura Period
Key Facts to Know About Japan
Japan's Medieval Ashikaga Shogunate
What Does Bakufu Mean?
Biography of Kublai Khan, Ruler of Mongolia and Yuan China
Biography of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, 16th Century Unifier of Japan
The Real Last Samurai, Saigo Takamori
How the Tokugawa Shoguns Ruled Japan
The History of Japan's Samurai Warriors
Historical Images of China's Forbidden City
The First Sino-Japanese War of 1894 to 1895
What to Know about the Genpei War in Japan, 1180 -1185
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Learn about the Growth of Nationalism in China and Japan
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Kingstone Companies Inc (KINS) Given Consensus Rating of “Strong Buy” by Brokerages
Posted by Stephan Byrd on Apr 20th, 2019
Shares of Kingstone Companies Inc (NASDAQ:KINS) have been assigned an average broker rating score of 1.00 (Strong Buy) from the one analysts that provide coverage for the company, Zacks Investment Research reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a strong buy rating.
Zacks has also given Kingstone Companies an industry rank of 88 out of 255 based on the ratings given to related companies.
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A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on KINS shares. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Kingstone Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 15th. ValuEngine cut Kingstone Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 5th. Boenning Scattergood started coverage on Kingstone Companies in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $17.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TheStreet cut Kingstone Companies from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th.
In related news, insider Barry Goldstein sold 28,030 shares of Kingstone Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.33, for a total value of $457,729.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 611,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,992,751.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 10.30% of the company’s stock.
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kingstone Companies by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,637 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,550,000 after buying an additional 5,381 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Kingstone Companies by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 344,389 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,093,000 after buying an additional 18,770 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Kingstone Companies by 37.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,215 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $199,000 after buying an additional 3,031 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew its holdings in shares of Kingstone Companies by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 386,018 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,829,000 after buying an additional 5,861 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Kingstone Companies by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 46,465 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $822,000 after buying an additional 4,085 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.87% of the company’s stock.
Shares of KINS traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $13.68. The stock had a trading volume of 15,967 shares, compared to its average volume of 40,492. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $147.20 million, a PE ratio of 29.11 and a beta of 0.58. Kingstone Companies has a 52 week low of $13.25 and a 52 week high of $20.60.
Kingstone Companies (NASDAQ:KINS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The insurance provider reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.20). The company had revenue of $28.94 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.28 million. Kingstone Companies had a return on equity of 5.68% and a net margin of 2.72%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Kingstone Companies will post 1.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Kingstone Companies Company Profile
Kingstone Companies, Inc, through its subsidiary, Kingstone Insurance Company, underwrites property and casualty insurance products to small businesses and individuals in New York. The company offers personal lines insurance products, including homeowners and dwelling fire multi-peril, cooperative/condominiums, renters, and personal umbrella policies.
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Following the disposal of PacifiCorp by ScottishPower in 2006, ScottishPower announced a return of £2.25 billion of the proceeds from the sale of PacifiCorp to ScottishPower shareholders.
The method of the return of cash was made by way of a B Share scheme accompanied by a share consolidation designed to maintain comparability of share price, earnings per share and dividends.
A number of alternatives were available under the B share scheme and at the time of the transaction with Iberdrola a number of B shares remained outstanding. The B shares were not acquired by Iberdrola.
Following the delisting of the B shares from the London Stock Exchange in 2007, ScottishPower implemented a rolling B share repurchase programme.
In May 2011, ScottishPower exercised its authority to repurchase and cancel all B Shares remaining in issue. The repurchase price was £3.60 per B share.
If you require any further information on the ScottishPower B Share scheme, please contact Equiniti, our UK Registrar.
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20 years later, Matthew Shepard's parents find a safe resting place for their son
Posted: 5:01 PM, Oct 11, 2018
Courtesy Matthew Shepard Foundat
<p>Matthew Shepard, in an undated family photo.</p>
Twenty years ago this week, Matthew Shepard died after being beaten, burned and left tied to a fence in Wyoming by two men who targeted him because he was gay.
Since then, Shepard's parents have spread his legacy by going around the world advocating for civic and LGBTQ rights.
But they hadn't found a place that felt safe enough to lay their son's ashes to rest.
On October 26, Shepard will be interred at the Washington National Cathedral, the Matthew Shepard Foundation said.
"When Matt was taken from us, we hadn't had any death or plots plans," his parents, Judy and Dennis Shepard, said in an email. "We were living overseas at the time, and from a practical standpoint, we did not want our son to be put to rest on the other side of the world."
But burying him near home didn't feel like an option either.
"We didn't want to leave him in Wyoming to be a point of pilgrimage that may be a nuisance to other families in a cemetery. We didn't want to open up the option for vandalism. So we had him cremated and held onto the urn until we figured out the proper thing to do."
Now, the Shepards say they have found the right time and the perfect place.
The choice of venue
The National Cathedral in Northwest Washington, D.C., has been a longtime supporter of the full inclusion of LGBT people in church and "considers LGBT equality the great civil rights issue of church in the 21st century," its website says. It hosted its first same-sex wedding in 2010.
The service will celebrate and recall Shepard's life and will be presided over by Right Rev. V. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay priest to be consecrated a bishop in the Episcopal Church.
"In the years since Matthew's death, the Shepard family has shown extraordinary courage and grace in keeping his spirit and memory alive, and the Cathedral is honored and humbled to serve as his final resting place," Very Rev. Randolph Marshall, dean of the Cathedral, said.
The attack and aftermath
Shepard, 21, a political science student at the University of Wyoming, died October 12, 1998, five days after he was severely beaten and tied to a fence near Laramie. Two 21-year-old men were charged with murder in the attack, which police say was motivated mainly by robbery. However, they say Shepard was singled out because of his sexual orientation.
His death drew nationwide condemnation and resulted in a law that made it a federal crime to assault an individual because of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity.
Shepard will be one of about 200 people that have been interred in the Cathedral in the past century, including President Woodrow Wilson, Helen Keller and her teacher Anne Sullivan, and the US Navy Admiral George Dewey.
"We're comforted to know he will be among other Americans who have done so much for our country," his parents said. "This is incredibly meaningful for our family and for everyone who has known him."
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Three Ways to Fight Fake News
Joseph Stiglitz, Steven Brill, and others discuss solutions to online disinformation.
Marco Verch / Flickr
With less than 100 days until the US midterm elections, Facebook announced that it had discovered dozens of fake accounts designed with intent to disseminate disinformation to sway voters. Meanwhile, businesses from Starbucks to Pepsi have reeled from false news stories that have spread on social media and threatened bottom lines.
Fighting false news can seem like a game of whack-a-mole as authorities rush to detect fake accounts, correct the story, and control the fallout. But bigger-picture solutions are being proposed by a mix of academics, entrepreneurs, and public officials who gathered this week at a conference co-organized by the Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Center for Leadership and Ethics at the Business School, along with the Brown Institute at the School of Journalism and the School of International and Public Affairs.
“We’re in a new world where it is going to be increasingly difficult for us — for anybody — to make sure that the information being conveyed is accurate,” Professor of Economics Joseph Stiglitz said on the sidelines of the event. Stiglitz, whose insights into information asymmetry in the marketplace earned him a Nobel Prize, noted that the standard idea that market competition is good for consumers is not necessarily true when it comes to the marketplace of disinformation online.
“If the information that young people are getting about the world is disinformation deliberately distorted, then so is their view of the world, and that has all kinds of consequences for the decisions they make,” he said.
Here are three ideas for fighting fake news proposed during the conference, from a startup to rank news sites on their reliability, to nudging people toward sharing accurate news, to a proposal for greater government oversight.
1. NewsGuard
Media entrepreneur Steven Brill announced during the conference that his latest startup, a watchdog called NewsGuard, will launch within the next two weeks. Led by Brill and former Wall Street Journal publisher Gordon Crovitz, NewsGuard’s team of some 50 journalists will assess thousands of sources of online news for their reliability and rate them green for being generally reliable or red for being generally unreliable, with a “Nutrition Label” write-up detailing the nature of each site to give readers more information about the news sources they see online.
“Our SWAT team will be constantly looking to update news sites where ownership may have changed or standards may have changed for better or worse,” said Brill, who founded the American Lawyer magazine and Court TV. “It’s common sense, it’s human intelligence, it’s transparent, it’s accountable — it’s so the opposite of what we have today.”
A web browser plug-in will show users these ratings and reviews, which NewsGuard is also licensing to social media and search companies to include in their products. NewsGuard says it will also help advertisers avoid fake news websites.
NewsGuard’s certification scheme resembles the traditional solutions economics would suggest using against fake news, according to Charles Angelucci, assistant professor of finance and economics, who also presented at the conference. Drawing a parallel to how fake drugs of the 19th century were reined in through the 1906 creation of the US Food and Drug Administration, Angelucci suggested that a similar kind of certification system for the news could grow consumer trust and create a higher barrier to entry, making it harder for fake news sites to pop up overnight.
2. Behavioral Nudges
Despite the prevalence of disinformation and fake news, people do care about the truth and can be nudged toward sharing more accurate information, according to David Rand, an associate professor of management science and brain and cognitive sciences at MIT Sloan School of Management who also spoke at the conference.
Rand co-authored a new paper in the journal Cognition that found a correlation between media truth discernment and analytical thinking — the greater a person’s analytical reasoning ability, the more likely they are to spot fake news, according to a survey of about 15,000 news consumers. But for another study in a forthcoming paper, Rand has found that all people are less likely to share misinformation after they are reminded of the importance of accuracy — suggesting that social media platforms such as Facebook can help tackle fake news through subtle appeals for accuracy in news sharing.
“By asking people to rate the accuracy of a headline,” Rand said, “they became more discerning in subsequent sharing decisions.”
Fake news is, though, an arms race, and the bad guys are not sitting still. Pinar Yildirim, an assistant professor of marketing at the Wharton School, explained that fake news focuses on topics that are highly mentioned, tweeted, and tagged; it succeeds because it arouses emotions such as rage, anger, and social outrage.
3. FEC Oversight
Fake political news is also a campaign finance problem, according to Ann Ravel, a former chair of the Federal Election Commission. She suggested that social media platforms be required to turn over all information to the FEC so it can monitor when something like a tweet is actually a political advertisement requiring financial disclosure.
“We are less than 100 days from the midterms,” Ravel said. “And yet still in the United States there are no laws or regulations relating to social media platforms… Congress has been very slow to respond to what is clearly an issue of electoral integrity and fairness of our electoral processes.”
Ravel is pushing for a government solution through her role with the Maplight Digital Deception Project, a nonprofit that aims to bring transparency to government data and spotlight the influence of money in politics. Already, several congressional Democrats have crafted legislation that would criminalize the intentional publication of false information about elections, while Sen. Mark Warner has laid out potential paths to addressing misinformation online, including by making media platforms legally liable for fake news.
But the efficacy of such laws is debatable. Ulf Buermeyer, president of the Society for Civil Rights in Germany, spoke about how his country has begun holding social media platforms responsible for deleting illegal, racist, or slanderous content that runs afoul of the country’s laws against hate speech. Platforms face fines of up to $60 million for failing to take down such content within 24 hours, which Buermeyer said is forever in the online world.
While congressional action against fake news may be unlikely to happen anytime soon in the US, it will likely take some kind of legal or legislative move to spur social media platforms to address the problem, said Bruce Kogut, the Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Professor of Leadership and Ethics. Kogut co-led a university wide working group on fake news with Mark Hansen of the Brown Institute and Anya Schiffrin of SIPA, which paved the way for the conference.
“We can’t rely on the platforms to self-police until they’re forced to self-police,” Kogut said.
About the researcher
Bruce Kogut
Bruce Kogut is the Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Professor of Leadership and Ethics at Columbia Business School. He teaches courses on Governance and...
Charles Angelucci
Charles Angelucci is an Assistant Professor at Columbia Business School. He received his Ph.D. from the Toulouse School of Economics and focuses on...
Professor Stiglitz accepted a joint appointment to a chaired professorship at Columbia Business School, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (in the Department...
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Opt-out period for My Health Record officially extended until November 15
Individuals will have an extra month to opt out of the digital health record in a move that buys the government more time to fix the related legislation.
By Asha Barbaschow | August 10, 2018 -- 01:52 GMT (18:52 PDT) | Topic: Security
(Image: Screenshot by Asha McLean/ZDNet)
Individuals wishing to opt out of the federal government's My Health Record will have an extra month to do so, with the period for cancelling the digital medical file extended until November 15, 2018.
Originally, the opt-out period was from July 16 through October 15, 2018.
On the first day of the opt-out window, 20,000 people chose not have a digital health record.
According to a statement from Minister for Health Greg Hunt, extending the opt-out period follows a request from the Australian Medical Association (AMA) and the Royal College of General Practitioners.
He also said delaying the opt-out period gives Australians "more time to consider their options as we strengthen the 2012 My Health Record legislation".
"The government will amend the 2012 legislation to ensure if someone wishes to cancel their record they will be able to do so permanently, with their record deleted from the system forever," Hunt explained.
Although the federal government is automatically signing people up to a My Health Record, and individuals were given the ability to opt out of the service, the information contained within was not going to be destroyed; rather, it was to be kept in somewhat of a limbo until 30 years after an individual's death. In the case of an unknown death, the cancelled record would be kept for a period of 130 years after the date of the person's birth.
According to Hunt, any Australian will be able to opt out of the system permanently at any time in the future, with their record deleted for good.
Despite saying for weeks that policy will trump the legislation backing My Health Record, Hunt announced in late July that the legislation will be brought into line with the policy of the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA).
He reaffirmed on Friday that the legislation will be strengthened to match ADHA policy, which requires a court order to release any My Health Record information without consent.
"The amendment will ensure no record can be released to police or government agencies, for any purpose, without a court order," the minister continued on Friday.
"The Australian Digital Health Agency's policy is clear and categorical -- no documents have been released in more than six years, and no documents will be released without a court order. This will be enshrined in legislation.
"As the Australian Digital Health Agency has already stated, contrary to incorrect claims made by unions this week, under the Healthcare Identifiers Act 2010, specifically subsection 14(2), healthcare providers cannot be authorised to collect, use, or disclose a healthcare identifier, and as a consequence access a patient's My Health Record, for employment and insurance purposes."
Also see: Private health providers called out in quarterly Australian data breach report
The federal government has been in damage control since the opt-out window opened.
The opposition took the opportunity to call on the Coalition to extend the opt-out timeframe, citing of all things a lack of education of the public on the opt-out digital health system.
Hunt's statement continues by explaining that under the Act, it is "expressly prohibited", and that using or disclosing a healthcare identifier without authority is an offence and subject to severe penalties, including two years' jail time and a fine of AU$126,000.
Despite promises from both Hunt and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, there is still serious concern over the security and integrity of My Health Record, in particular who has access to the medical information of Australians.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE
My Health Record: Canberra is still missing the point
No, Minister. It's not just about law enforcement access to digital health records. The Australian government needs to address all the concerns. A media circus in a playground won't help.
My Health Record legislation to match ADHA policy in government backdown
Medical records to be released only with a court order, and a promise of permanent deletion upon record cancellation, were announced on Tuesday night.
Tens of thousands opt out of My Health Record, but can Immigration and local councils view the rest?
The ADHA says it'll refuse access to medical records without a court order or warrant. But the law allows that policy to change at any time.
Cancelled My Health Record data to be kept in limbo
Those choosing to opt-out of the My Health Record service will still have their data visible if they reactivate their account.
Australia Security TV Data Management CXO Data Centers
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Shelton, The Fed, & The Realization Of A Liquidity Trap
Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,
Last week, President Trump nominated Judy Shelton to a board seat on the Federal Reserve. Shelton has been garnering a lot of “buzz” because of her outspoken and alternative stances, including “zero interest rates” and a “gold standard” for the U.S. dollar.
But, Shelton is full of inconsistent and incongruous views on monetary policy. For instance, in 2017 she stated:
“When governments manipulate exchange rates (by changing interest rates) to affect currency markets, they undermine the honest efforts of countries that wish to compete fairly in the global marketplace. Supply and demand are distorted by artificial prices conveyed through contrived exchange rates. Businesses fail as legitimately earned profits become currency losses,”
In short, when the Fed, or any central bank/government, lowers or raises interest rates it directly affects the currency exchange rates between countries and, ultimately, trade.
However, when recently asked on her views about whether the Fed should cut rates to boost economic growth, she said:
“The answer is yes.”
So, the U.S. should lower rates as long as it is beneficial for the U.S., but no one else should be allowed to do so because it is “unfair” to U.S. businesses.
Hypocritical?
This is also the same woman who supports a return to the “gold standard” for the U.S. dollar. With a limited supply of gold and a massive level of global trade based on the U.S. dollar reserve system, the value of the dollar would skyrocket effectively collapsing the entire global trade system. Zero interest rates and “gold back dollar” can not co-exist.
Shelton’s nomination by Trump is not surprising as he has been lobbying the Fed to cut rates in the misguided belief it will support economic growth. Shelton, who has been supportive of Trump’s views, recently stated her support to the WSJ which again shows her ignorance as to the actual workings of the economy.
“Today we are seeing impressive gains in productivity, which more than justify the meaningful wage gains we are likewise seeing—a testimonial to the pro-growth agenda. The Fed’s practice of paying banks to keep money parked at the Fed in deposit accounts instead of going into the economy is unhealthy and distorting; the rate should come down quickly as the practice is phased out.”
Well, this is the point, as we say in Texas, “We call Bulls**t.”
As shown, the U.S. is currently running at lower levels of GDP, productivity, and wage growth than before the last recession. While this certainly doesn’t confirm Shelton’s analysis, it also doesn’t confirm the conventional wisdom that $33 Trillion in bailouts and liquidity, zero interest rates, and surging stock markets, are conducive to stronger economic growth for all.
However, what the data does confirm is the Fed is caught in a “liquidity trap.”
The Liquidity Trap
Here is the definition:
“A liquidity trap is a situation described in Keynesian economics in which injections of cash into the private banking system by a central bank fail to lower interest rates and hence fail to stimulate economic growth. A liquidity trap is caused when people hoard cash because they expect an adverse event such as deflation, insufficient aggregate demand, or war. Signature characteristics of a liquidity trap are short-term interest rates that are near zero and fluctuations in the monetary base that fail to translate into fluctuations in general price levels.”
Let’s take a moment to analyze that definition by breaking it down into its overriding assumptions.
There is little argument that Central Banks globally are injecting liquidity into the financial system.
However, has the increase in liquidity into the private banking system lowered interest rates? That answer is also “yes.” The chart below shows the increase in the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet, since they are the “buyer” of bonds, which in turn increases the excess reserve accounts of the major banks, as compared to the 10-year Treasury rate.
Of course, that money didn’t flow into the U.S. economy, it went into financial assets. With the markets having absorbed the current levels of accommodation, it is not surprising to see the markets demanding more, (The chart below compares the deviation between the S&P 500 and the Fed’s balance sheet. That deviation is the highest on record.)
While, in the Fed’s defense, it may be clear the Fed’s monetary interventions have suppressed interest rates, I would argue their liquidity-driven inducements have done much to support durable economic growth. Interest rates have not been falling just since the monetary interventions began – it began four decades ago as the economy began a shift to consumer credit leveraged service society. The chart below shows the correlation between the decline of GDP, Interest Rates, Savings, and Inflation.
In reality, the ongoing decline in economic activity has been the result of declining productivity, stagnant wage growth, demographic trends, and massive surges in consumer, corporate and, government debt.
For these reasons, it is difficult to attribute much of the decline in interest rates and inflation to monetary policies when the long term trend was clearly intact long before these programs began.
There is also no real evidence excess liquidity and artificially low interest rates have spurred economic activity judging by some of the most common measures – Real GDP, Industrial Production, Employment, and Consumption.
While an argument can be made that the early initial rounds of QE contributed to the bounce in economic activity it is important to also remember several other supports during the latest economic cycle.
Economic growth ALWAYS surges after recessionary weakness. This is due to the pent up demand that was built up during the recession and is unleashed back into the economy when confidence improves.
There were multiple bailouts in 2009 from “cash for houses”, “cash for clunkers”, to direct bailouts of the banking system and the economy, etc., which greatly supported the post-recessionary boost.
Several natural disasters from the “Japanese Trifecta” which shut down manufacturing temporarily, to massive hurricanes and wildfires, provided a series of one-time boosts to economic growth just as weakness was appearing.
A massive surge in government spending which directly feeds the economy
The Fed’s interventions from 2010 forward, as the Fed became “the only game in town,” seems to have had little effect other than a massive inflation in asset prices. The evidence suggests the Federal Reserve has been experiencing a diminishing rate of return from their monetary policies.
Lack Of Velocity
Once again, we find Judy Shelton completely clueless as to how monetary policy actually translates into the economy. She recently stated:
“When you have an economy primed to grow because of reduced taxes, less regulation, dynamic energy, and trade reforms, you want to ensure maximum access to capital. The Fed’s practice of paying banks to keep money parked at the Fed in deposit accounts instead of going into the economy is unhealthy and distorting; the rate should come down quickly as the practice is phased out.”
Poor Judy.
There is absolutely no evidence that the Fed’s “zero interest rate policy” spurred a dramatic increased in lending over the last decade. Monetary velocity has been clear on this point.
The definition of a “liquidity trap” states that people begin hoarding cash in expectation of deflation, lack of aggregate demand or war. As the “tech bubble” eroded confidence in the financial system, followed by a bust in the credit/housing market, and wages have failed to keep up with the pace of living standards, monetary velocity has collapsed to the lowest levels on record.
The issue of monetary velocity is the key to the definition of a “liquidity trap.” As stated above:
“The signature characteristic of a liquidity trap are short-term interest rates that are near zero and fluctuations in the monetary base that fail to translate into fluctuations in general price levels.”
The chart below shows that, in fact, the Fed has actually been trapped for a very long time. The “economic composite” indicator is comprised of 10-year rates, inflation (CPI), wages, and the dollar index.While the BEA measure of GDP ticked up (due to consistent adjustments to calculation) the economic composite has not. More importantly, downturns in the composite lead the BEA measure.
The problem for the Fed has been that for the last three decades every time they have tightened monetary policy it has led to an economic slowdown or worse. More importantly, each rate hike cycle has continued to start at a lower rate level than the previous low, and has stopped at a level lower than the previous low as economic weakness set in.
While, in the short term, it appeared such accommodative policies aided in economic stabilization, it was actually lower interest rates increasing the use of leverage. However, the dark side of the increase in leverage was the erosion of economic growth, and increased deflationary pressures, as dollars were diverted from productive investment into debt service.
No Escape From The Trap
The Federal Reserve is now caught in the same “liquidity trap” that has been the history of Japan for the last three decades. With an aging demographic, which will continue to strain the financial system, increasing levels of indebtedness, and unproductive fiscal policy to combat the issues restraining economic growth, it is unlikely continued monetary interventions will do anything other than simply continuing the boom/bust cycles in financial assets.
The chart below shows the 10-year Japanese Government Bond yield as compared to their quarterly economic growth rates and the BOJ’s balance sheet. Low interest rates, and massive QE programs, have failed to spur sustainable economic activity over the last 20 years. Currently, 2, 5, and 10 year Japanese Government Bonds all have negative real yields.
The reason you know the Fed is caught in a “liquidity trap” is because they are being forced to lower rates due to economic weakness.
It is the only “trick” they know.
Unfortunately, such action will likely have little, or no effect, this time due to the current stage of the economic cycle.
While Judy Shelton may certainly have the President’s ear, her recent statements clearly show inconsistencies and a lack of understanding about how the economy and monetary policies function in the real world.
Of course, as we learned from Jerome Powell, what officials say before they are appointed, and do afterward, tend to be two very different things particularly when they have become “political animals.”
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Home › Current News › Zippo Celebrates 25 Years of Partnership With Watkins Glen International
Zippo Celebrates 25 Years of Partnership With Watkins Glen International
August 3, 2017 – Zippo Manufacturing Company and Watkins Glen International are proudly celebrating their 25th anniversary of partnership and delighting racing fans in 2017. This year’s NASCAR XFINITY Series Zippo 200 is set to take place at Watkins Glen International on Saturday, August 5 at 2 p.m.
Fans visiting “The Glen,” the premier road racing facility in North America, for this weekend’s tripleheader can stop by the Zippo Hot Spot to spin the wheel and win Zippo swag, have their Zippo windproof lighters tuned-up, and purchase Zippo merchandise, including new Zippo outdoor products. The famous Zippo Car and Zippo Jeep will also be on site for fun photo ops.
Zippo signed on as a track sponsor in 1992, and the following year, as the title sponsor of the inaugural Zippo U.S. Vintage Grand Prix. The event featured classic cars with international appeal – a great fit for the classic Zippo lighter, which also has international appeal.
In its first 10 years, the event grew to surpass all other similar races in the United States, becoming the largest and most well attended vintage event in the nation. Zippo continued sponsoring the event for 15 years.
In 2005, Zippo also became title sponsor of an annual, nationally televised NASCAR stock car race at Watkins Glen. The inaugural Zippo 200 NASCAR Nationwide Series Race was run on August 13, 2005, and won by Ryan Newman in the number 39 Alltel car.
The Zippo 200 will kick off at 2 p.m. on Saturday, August 5 and will be broadcast on NBCSN.
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