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Next:STRATEGIC WEAPONS: China Stumbles Forward
Submarines: It's Quiet Out There, Too Quiet
December 19, 2012: The U.S. Navy continues to debate the issue of just how effective non-nuclear submarines would be in wartime and whether the U.S. should buy some of these non-nuclear boats itself. This radical proposal is based on two compelling factors. First, the U.S. Navy may not get enough money to maintain a force of 40-50 SSNs (attack subs). Second, the quietness of modern diesel-electric boats puts nuclear subs at a serious disadvantage, especially in coastal waters. With modern passive sensors, a submerged diesel-electric sub is often the best weapon for finding and destroying other diesel-electric boats. While the nuclear sub is the most effective high seas vessel, especially if you have worldwide responsibilities and these nukes would have to quickly move long distances to get to the troubled waters, the diesel electric boat, operating on batteries in coastal waters, is quieter and harder to find.
There are 39 nations operating a total of 400 diesel electric subs. Only three of these nations (China, Iran, North Korea) are likely to use their subs against the U.S. or its allies. China has fifty of these boats, Iran has three (plus 25 much smaller mini-subs) and North Korea has 20 (plus 50 much smaller mini-subs). So the U.S. has to worry about 73 diesel electric subs and 75 mini-subs. But about half the full size subs are elderly, obsolete, and noisy. The same can be said for at least half the mini-subs. That leaves about 36 full size subs and 40 mini-subs that are a clear threat (though the older stuff can be a threat if you get sloppy). That’s a lot of subs, and they make the East Asian coast and the Persian Gulf dangerous places for American warships.
For much of the past decade the U.S. Navy has been trying to get an idea of just how bad the threat is. Thus from 2005 to 2007 the United States leased a Swedish sub (Sweden only has five subs in service) and its crew, to help American anti-submarine forces get a better idea of what they were up against. This Swedish boat was a "worst case" scenario, an approach that is preferred for training. The Gotland class Swedish subs involved are small (1,500 tons, 64.5 meters/200 feet long) and have a crew of only 25. The Gotland was based in San Diego, along with three dozen civilian technicians to help with maintenance.
For many years before the Gotland arrived, the U.S. Navy had trained against Australian diesel-electric subs and often came out second. The Gotland has one advantage over the Australian boats because of its AIP system (which allows it to stay under water, silently, for several weeks at a time). Thus the Gotland is something of a worst case in terms of what American surface ships and submarines might have to face in a future naval war. None of America's most likely naval opponents (China, North Korea, or Iran) have AIP boats yet, but they do have plenty of diesel-electric subs which, in the hands of skilled crews, can be pretty deadly.
Based on the experience with Australian and Swedish subs, the U.S. Navy has been developing new anti-submarine tactics and equipment. All this is done in secret, obviously. But apparently the modern, quiet diesel electric boats continue to be a major threat to U.S. surface warships and subs. Meanwhile, potential enemies build more of their cheaper and higher quality diesel-electric boats and train their crews by having them stalk actual warships (including U.S. ones). The subs are getting more numerous, while U.S. defenses are limping along because of the sheer technical problems of finding quiet diesel-electric boats in coastal waters.
One reason China wants to keep American naval forces out of their economic zone (which does not bar foreign warships) is so that Chinese diesel electric subs can train without being stalked by American subs, surface ships, and aircraft looking for realistic practice tracking Chinese boats. At the same time the U.S. Navy has lost the full use of its most effective underwater anti-submarine training area (a well mapped and instrumented area off southern California) because environmentalist activists have convinced judges that the use of active sonar in this training area is harmful to some species of aquatic animals.
Moreover, the North Korean and Iranian fleets (and governments) are in decline, while China is pouring more cash into their armed forces. If there’s any diesel-electric boats the U.S. Navy has to be extremely concerned about, it’s the Chinese. While China continues to try and develop world class nuclear subs, they are also moving ahead in creating world class diesel electric boats.
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THAILAND: It's The Gangsters Stupid
STRATEGIC WEAPONS: China Stumbles Forward
Submarines: Current 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999
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Next:NAVAL AIR: China Desperately Scrambles
Counter-Terrorism: Iran Renews The License To Kill
July 29, 2018: In Iran the radical faction of the religious dictatorship (in power since the 1980s) is again seeking to regain power they lost in the 1990s. Back then an Israeli assassination campaign against Iranian agents in South America and exposure of Iranian illegal activities in South America, Europe and elsewhere was becoming a diplomatic liability for Iran. The Iranian radicals, largely from the IRGC (Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps) were forced out of many high government jobs in order to make peace with European nations and achieve a ceasefire in the clandestine war the IRGC had been waging against Israel (and Jews worldwide) for nearly a decade. The more moderate members of the religious dictatorship also feared that the IRGC radicals would trigger another ruinous war which, given the decade long war with Iraq (that Iran, by Iranian standards, lost) in the 1980s the country could not afford.
The IRGC had been created to protect the religious dictatorship, not put it in more danger. No IRGC were punished for 1990s “wet work” (assassinations) since the religious dictatorship still needed its own separate army to protect the 1980s religious revolution that mobilized the country to halt the Iraqi invasion. The war effort, especially when Iraq was on the defensive, was financed by the Gulf Arab oil states (led by Saudi Arabia). This Arab coalition had also played a major role in ending the 15 year Lebanese civil war in 1990, which halted Iranian efforts to expand the power of the Shia minority in Lebanon. Iran saw itself at war with the Sunni Arabs but could not publicize, or turn the IRGC loose on, that yet.
In the 1990s the Iranian leaders sensed a more dangerous enemy closer to home, the growing number or radicalized Sunni Arabs. The 1980s also saw the Russian occupation of Afghanistan ended by an army of Sunni “holy warriors” who made no secret that they considered the Shia heretics and as much an enemy as the Russian infidels (non-Moslems). The Iranians were seen as heretics by this new wave of Sunni Moslem religious extremism but were considered too dangerous to mess with, yet. These Sunni radicals were on the offensive and Shia Moslems (which Iran considered itself the protector of) were ultimately a prime target.
By 2018 the Iranian religious dictatorship still saw itself as on a Mission From God and any opposition was seen as un-Islamic and thus punishable by death. Once again, as in the 1990s, a growing number of senior Shia clerics were reluctant to sanction mass murder of fellow Iranians on religious grounds. In this case the IRGC was urging the use of lethal force against the growing number of anti-government demonstrators in Iran. But the opposition the IRGC hard liners was facing, as it did in the 1990s, proved to be useful in other ways. That meant obtaining permission to resume the overseas wet work. This was not a sudden development but one that has been developing for nearly a decade. One could see what was happening after Israel confirmed some of the clandestine actions undertaken in the 1990s. In 2013 a retired Israeli diplomat revealed that Israel had quietly tracked down and killed most of the Iranians or Iranian operatives involved in two terrorist attacks against Jews in Argentina in 1992 and 1994. The Israeli overseas intel and special operations organization (Mossad) had handled assignments like this for decades and making this public was a way of warning the Iranians that Israel still had the edge over the IRGC in this department. Back in the 1990s the two Argentine bombings killed 114 and wounded over 200. Most of the victims were not Jews but nearly all were Argentinians. Israel often quietly goes after those behind attacks like this and kills them. There is rarely any official admission of this activity or the results. But the terrorists do take notice. After the 1990s, as Iran moved forward with its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs the Israelis pushed back by killing key Iranian nuclear scientists inside Iran as well as successfully sabotaging Iran efforts to produce weapons grade uranium. The IRGC still wants some revenge.
After the 1990s Iran continued to reward the survivors of the Israeli 1990s assassination program. In 2009 Iranian president Ahmadinejad nominated a wanted (by Interpol) terrorist, Ahmad Vahidi, to be Defense Minister. Vahidi was wanted in Argentina for involvement in a 1994 attack on a Jewish community center. Vahidi is believed to have helped carry out other terror attacks as well. This brought him much recognition and many rewards in Iran. Vahidi served as Defense Minister until mid-2013. Vahidi has long known that the Israelis are gunning for him and takes precautions.
Iran and its professional terrorists are still active in South America. For a decade now Iran has been close with leftist Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez (recently deceased) and his successor (under pressure to flee). This led to hundreds of Iranian intelligence and special warfare (terrorism) operatives being dispatched to South America. The Argentine truck bomb attack in 1994 killed 85 Argentineans and this horrified people throughout the region but memories fade. The backlash caused Iranian diplomats and terrorism operatives to run for cover. But with Venezuela as a safe, and hospitable, base, Iranian death squads are again up and running in South America. Apparently Iran is not encouraging attacks, in order to maintain its espionage networks but wants to be ready just in case. The Venezuelan effort has been crippled by the economic collapse in Venezuela and popular opposition to the pro-Iran government.
Most of the Iranian foreign terrorist operations are handled by the Quds Force, which is an intelligence and commando operation that supports Islamic terrorism overseas and is part of the IRGC. Quds has always attracted very bright and able people, but also recruited personnel possessing a wide range of views on just what constituted an "Islamic Republic" or the proper role for the Quds Force itself. For over two decades, one of the few things Quds officers could agree on was the need to remove Saddam Hussein from power. Many Quds officers actually warmed to the United States in 2003 for doing the deed for them. But most Quds operatives are still dedicated to Shia Islam becoming the dominant religion on the planet. Thus Al Quds can be found operating nearly everywhere, from South America (because of the new base in Venezuela) to wherever Iran has a diplomatic presence. But the big Quds operations are in southern Iraq, western Afghanistan and Gaza.
Because of the success of wet work in neighboring countries Quds Force operatives have been turned loose to carry out assassinations in the West. Quds is at it again, accused of killing “enemies of Iran” in the Netherlands and attempting to do the same in France and Germany. Israel is believed to be the key source of information on these aborted attacks. The most recent targets have been outspoken members of Iranian minorities (Arabs and Kurds) living outside Iran and accused of responsibility for minority violence in Iran. Iran has used Hezbollah operatives more frequently, but as professional as those often are they cannot pass as Iranian diplomats and get diplomatic immunity.
This has also been the case in other parts of the world. Quds Force has long worked with the Lebanese Shia Hezbollah in its South American operations. Iran helped create Hezbollah in the 1980s and has sustained it ever since. Hezbollah has long been involved in the drug business in South America. That gives these Iran backed Islamic terrorists access to the smuggling routes that Mexican gangs use to smuggle drugs and people into the United States. Hezbollah has also been active in narcotics and people smuggling in South America's tri-border (Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil) region. For over a century this area has been a hotbed of illicit activity, and too many politicians and police commanders are on the take from gangsters there to change this.
Thus South America, in theory, makes an excellent refuge and base for Islamic terrorists. Particularly worrisome was the cooperation between leftist rebel movements there, and Islamic terrorist groups. But the leftist rebels in South America have been on the skids for over a decade and in no position to help terrorists. Islamic radicals are known to be working in the Arab-descended communities in many Latin American countries, aided by the porous frontiers. The Islamic radicals have been able to raise some money from Latin American Arabs, often through bogus "charities." But the extent to which they have been able to recruit active supporters is harder to gauge and has apparently been unsuccessful. In some countries, such as Bolivia and Paraguay, recruiting efforts have been reported to the police, who took action. One factor hampering the Islamic radicals down there was that many of the Arab immigrants to Latin America were Christians, and those who were Moslems often became secularized, in an environment where they found very few co-religionists. In addition to this resistance the Americans and Israelis have their own intelligence networks in South America and are believed, by Iran, as the “unnamed source” of so many tips to South American governments about Hezbollah and Quds operations especially which Iranian diplomats (with diplomatic immunity) are actually IRGC members.
Africa was seen as a promising area for Quds to make some progress but that has backfired just about everywhere. For example Quds has long backed Polasario, a heavily armed separatist group in southern Morocco (a rare pro-Israel Arab country) that has long had sanctuaries next door in Algeria (an old friend of Iran and enemy of Morocco). Algeria was recently accused of ignoring Quds and Hezbollah efforts to ship weapons to Polasario. This is was generally seen as a hostile act as Polasario has evolved into a criminal gang that does business with local al Qaeda groups that controls most of the drug smuggling routes north and into Europe. Al Qaeda hates Shia and has a hard time doing business with Hezbollah under any circumstances (even of both groups can make a lot of money).
Further south IRGC support for the Shia minority in Nigeria went badly. By 2018 Nigerian police managed to eliminate most armed members of the Shia IMN (Islamic Movement in Nigeria). There has not been much violent activity from the Shia since 2016 when the security forces cracked down hard. There are about seven million Shia in Nigeria and since the 1980s a growing number of them have joined IMN, a group founded and quietly supported by IRGC. While relations between Shia and Sunni Moslems have generally been good in Nigeria, local Sunni radical groups like Boko Haram practice the anti-Shia attitudes so common in Sunni terror groups like al Qaeda and the Taliban. IMN always proclaimed itself a peaceful group that welcomed all Moslems but over the years it has become all Shia and a lot more militant.
Africa was provided more examples of how setting up religious schools to train fanatical Shia was no more popular than the Sunni version (long financed by Saudi Arabia). Iran made a major effort in Senegal (and Gaza) and in both cases it backfired. Afghanistan and Pakistan, both with Shia minorities under constant attacks by Sunni radicals, are handled many via diplomatic threats. Both nations share borders with Iran making it too easy for cross border operations, going in either direction, to take place.
Iraq has a Shia majority, one of the two Arab nations (in addition to Bahrain) to have that advantage. But in Iraq most of the Arab Shia are anti-Iran because of ethnic differences and a long history of not getting along. The Iranians are Indo-European and have more in common culturally with India and Europe than with Arabs. This is reflected in the generally good relations between Hindu majority India and Iran. The same would be true of Europe except for the fact that is where Iranian political exiles (including the ones who returned to overthrow the Iranian monarchy in the late 1970s) prefer to seek asylum and operate from. In 2018 most of the Iranian exiles in Europe are opponents of the Iranian religious dictatorship and targets for Quds assassins.
Israel has always been most dangerous to Iran for acts that got no publicity. Currently this consists of quietly providing evidence of which local Iranian diplomats were IRGC. These Iranian “diplomats” prefer to keep their IRGC affiliation secret and often succeed until the Israelis provide local governments with verifiable evidence that some Iranian diplomats have a decidedly undiplomatic job. While Israeli assassins or sabotage is greatly feared by Iran, it’s the damn intelligence leaks that hurt the most. The recent Israeli revelation of how Mossad stole huge quantities of Iranian documents in January 2018 and got them out of the country (literally overnight) was a rare event. Mossad could have kept quiet because Iran still insists the documents caper never took place. Iran would have preferred that Mossad had kept quiet about it, as Israel tends to do. But sometimes show and tell is the best approach and the best revenge. Nevertheless IRGC and Quds operatives worldwide have got their license to kill back and people are dying.
FORCES: Emirates Get Imaginative
NAVAL AIR: China Desperately Scrambles
Counter-Terrorism: Current 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004
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導覽列開關
中文 | Sitemap
POLITICS / DIPLOMACY
EDUCATION / CULTURE
::: Home
EDUCATION AND CULTURE
The number of foreign students learning Mandarin in Taiwan has doubled over the past decade.
The government’s Huayu Enrichment Scholarship offers financial support to foreign students who wish to study Mandarin in Taiwan.
Traditional Chinese characters are a treasured cultural legacy and product of thousands of years of linguistic evolution. In modern Taiwan, traditional Chinese characters are utilized as the written form of Mandarin, one of the nation’s official languages.
International students outside the Mandarin Training Center at National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei City (Chuang Kung-ju)
Taiwan is home to numerous high-level institutions that offer Mandarin language classes to non-native speakers. Since the establishment of the Mandarin Training Center at National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei City in 1956, 52 university language institutes have been set up across the country. The number of foreign students attending these centers increased from 9,135 in the 2005-06 school year to 19,977 in the 2015-16 school year, according to statistics from the Ministry of Education (MOE).
The MOE offers short-term study programs for groups of overseas Mandarin teachers as well as foreign students of the language. Under these initiatives, the MOE provides subsidies to groups of teachers from abroad who wish to visit the nation to enhance their professional development and/or observe Mandarin teaching in Taiwan. The MOE also offers subsidies to groups of students to study Mandarin in the country during the summer and winter academic breaks. Students find that in addition to being able to enjoy the benefits of modern teaching facilities, they gain a great deal of knowledge about Chinese culture by experiencing Taiwan’s unique blend of tradition and modernity. Students attending classes in Taiwan can also learn traditional and simplified Chinese characters while enjoying the advantages of living in a free and democratic society.
To encourage international students to learn Mandarin in Taiwan, the MOE established the Huayu Enrichment Scholarship. This program enables foreign students to undertake Mandarin courses at affiliated language training centers around the nation, while also boosting international awareness and understanding of Taiwan culture and society. The scholarships are awarded by ROC representative offices or embassies based on the merits of the applicants. A monthly stipend of NT$25,000 (US$825) is provided to scholarship recipients. Applicants may select the duration of the scholarship, which can last for two months (summer course), three months, six months, nine months, or a maximum of one year.
A list of university Mandarin training centers and information on learning Mandarin in Taiwan can be found on the websites of the MOE (www.edu.tw), Study in Taiwan (www.studyintaiwan.org) and the Office of Global Mandarin Education (gmeo.org/gcle).
In addition, the Overseas Community Affairs Council has created the website www.huayuworld.org to offer a friendly, convenient digital learning platform for overseas Chinese/Taiwan communities and those interested in traditional Chinese characters. Teacher training programs are also held annually to promote the use of traditional Chinese characters so that their beauty can be appreciated worldwide.
Translation powered by Google Translator. MOFA is not responsible for inaccurate translation.
::: 中文
Copyright © 2018 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan)
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Sport in Latin American Society
Edited ByLamartine DaCosta, J A Mangan
eBook Published 8 April 2014
SubjectsArea Studies, Sports and Leisure
DaCosta, L. (Ed.), Mangan, J. (Ed.). (2002). Sport in Latin American Society. London: Routledge, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315039947
This work deals with the infancy, adolescence and maturity of sport in Latin American society. It explores ways in which sport illuminates cultural migration and emigration and indigenous assimilation and adaptation.
Prologue: Emulation, Adaptation and Serendipity
The Early Evolution of Modern Sport in Latin America: A Mainly English Middle-Class Inspiration?
The Later Evolution of Modern Sport in Latin America: The North American Influence
Tribulations and Achievements: The Early History of Olympism in Argentina
Fútbol, Politicians and the People: Populism and Politics in Argentina
Baseball Arguments: Aficionismo and Masculinity at the Core of Cubanidad
The Crisis of Brazilian Football: Perspectives for the Twenty-First Century
Sport in Latin America from Past to Present: A European Perspective
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January 1, 2019 | Medical | RF & Microwave Electronics | Sensors/Data Acquisition | Test & Measurement
Microchip Tracks Smart Pills
The low-power microscale devices can relay their location in the body.
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California
Researchers have developed a prototype miniature medical device that could ultimately be used in smart pills to diagnose and treat diseases. A key to the new technology is that its location can be precisely identified within the body — something that previously proved challenging.
The addressable transmitters operated as magnetic spins (ATOMS) are silicon-chip devices that borrow from the principles of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in which the location of atoms in a patient's body is determined using magnetic fields. The microdevices would also be located in the body using magnetic fields, but rather than relying on the body's atoms, the chips contain a set of integrated sensors, resonators, and wireless transmission technology that allows them to mimic the magnetic resonance properties of atoms.
Illustration of an ATOMS microchip localized within the gastrointestinal tract. The chip, which works on principles similar to those used in MRI machines, is embodied with the properties of nuclear spin. (Ella Marushchenko/ Caltech)
With MRI, a magnetic field gradient causes atoms at two different locations to resonate at two different frequencies, making it easy to determine their location. This principle is used in a compact integrated circuit in the ATOMS devices, which also resonate at different frequencies, depending on where they are in a magnetic field.
The devices could be used to monitor a patient's gastrointestinal tract, blood, or brain. They also could measure factors that indicate the health of a patient — such as pH, temperature, pressure, and sugar concentrations — and relay that information to doctors. The devices could even be instructed to release drugs.
Dozens of the microscale devices could travel through the body taking measurements or intervening in disease. The devices can all be identical, but the ATOMS devices would signal where they are and enable them to be controlled simultaneously.
The final prototype chip has a surface area of 1.4 square millimeters — 250 times smaller than a penny. It contains a magnetic field sensor, integrated antennas, a wireless powering device, and a circuit that adjusts its radio frequency signal based on the magnetic field strength to wirelessly relay the chip's location.
For more information, contact Whitney Clavin at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; 626-395-1856.
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India, China to boost cultural exchanges
India and China have identified ten areas for boosting cooperation under a new high level mechanism for cultural and people-to-people exchanges. India’s External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi chaired the first meeting of the mechanism that was proposed at the summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping at Wuhan in April this year.
The mechanism will club together more than 40 existing programmes for cooperation in culture and people-to-people exchanges and also include some new schemes, according to reports.
“Today, we identified 10 areas of people-to-people cooperation – cultural exchanges, cooperation in films and television, museum management, sports exchanges, youth exchanges, tourism cooperation, exchanges between states and cities, traditional medicine, yoga, and education,” Swaraj said.
Wang said the number of tourists travelling between India and China was small compared to their combined population of 2.7 billion.
“We both agree that as China-India cooperation embraces a strong momentum of full growth, people-to-people exchanges must also step up and this will be helpful to increase our mutual understanding and friendship,” he said.
India, according to a recent report, is making a pitch for tourists as only 300,000 of over 144 million Chinese tourists who travelled abroad visited India last year whereas over 1.4 million Indians travelled to China.
The two countries are regarded as regional heavyweights and bulwarks of new international economic policy. Military exchanges have also increased between them recently.
India, China military exchanges grow
Modi compliments Iranian leadership on JCPOA
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“In Texas, there’s such a great oral tradition of storytelling – that’s really where I became a writer.”
By Emily DonahueSeptember 21, 2015 9:15 amArts & Culture
Image via Flickr/Ellen Macdonald (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Author Mary Karr found critical success in her memoirs "The Liar's Club" and "Lit."
Mary Karr is famous for writing memoirs.
Her first, “The Liar’s Club” was a simultaneously hilarious, tragic, passionate and precise recounting of her chaotic childhood in East Texas. Her second, “Lit,” chronicled her struggles with addiction and her ultimate redemption. Both were huge critical and commercial successes.
Now, Karr’s written a primer on how to write a memoir called “The Art of Memoir.”
“From the time I was ten, I wrote in my little journal ‘When I grow up, I will write one half poetry and one half autobiography.’ There was something for me about a single voice – crying out from the middle of a single life, trying to figure out what’s going on – that I always found very moving.” she says.
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“Texas could be the biggest winner.”
By Hady MawajdehSeptember 20, 2015 6:45 pmEnergy & Environment
Image via Flickr/Geof Wilson (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
U.S. crude oil could soon be available for export.
The United States has not been allowed to export oil – with just a few exceptions – since 1973.
When the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) set an oil embargo that drove up gas prices – the “Arab oil embargo,” as many called it – it led to an energy panic with Americans waiting in line for hours, just for a gallon of gasoline.
Fast-forward to today: The U.S. is experiencing an energy boom, thanks in part to fracking. The industry, facing falling oil and gas prices, is now pushing to have that policy lifted. Legislation has been filed in Congress and a House vote is scheduled for the last week of September.
Rayola Dougher is a senior economic advisor at the American Petroleum Institute. She came to Bastrop to brief the Texas House Republican Caucus on the current energy climate.
“Texas would be the biggest winner,” she says. “If you were allowed to export your crude oil, you get a better price on the world’s crude oil market.”
Dougher says that the economic impact could mean as much as 41,000 jobs by 2020 and about $5 billion to the state of Texas.
To critics of the proposed change, she says this: “Every single study that looks at this says it’s going to lower the price of crude oil and it would depend on how much we could get to the market and how fast,” Dougher says. She’s citing studies from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the Congressional Budget Office, the General Accountability Office, Harvard University, and Columbia University.
“It’s absolutely obscene that we’re working to make sure that Iran has the sanctions against their exports lifted while not having sanctions against Texas or United States exports lifted,” Dougher says.
But couldn’t OPEC cut production to offset the effects of lifting the ban – tightening the spigot strategically – as they’ve done in the past?
“Whether or not OPEC will respond, they always have that card,” Dougher says. “They can always play it anytime they want, but we’ve got to do what’s right for us.”
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Large quantities of meth, marijuana seized
Jul 11, 2019 at 11:00 AM Jul 11, 2019 at 11:08 AM
39-year-old Robert W. Conklin, of Millsboro, and 33-year-old Jonathan W. Bostick, of Bridgeville, arrested
The Delaware State Police Sussex County Drug Unit arrested two men in connection with the distribution of illegal drugs.
The investigation was concluded on July 10, when a search warrant was obtained for the vehicle of 39-year-old Robert W. Conklin, of Millsboro. Police determined the black Cadillac Escalade to be Conklin’s primary vehicle for drug distribution.
According to police, Conklin and his co-conspirator, 33-year-old Jonathan W. Bostick, of Bridgeville, had conducted drug transactions in the Red Lion area of New Castle County. With the assistance of the New Castle County Drug Unit, Kent County Drug Unit, Kent County Governor’s Task Force and the Special Operations Response Team, Conklin and Bostick were apprehended while traveling on Route 1, just south of the Dover Toll Plaza, without incident.
A search of the vehicle found about 59.15 grams of crystal methamphetamine, about 2,318.41 grams of marijuana, 11 30-milligram oxycodone pills and over $2,900 in suspected drug proceeds.
Conklin and Bostick were both charged with possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance in a tier two quantity, possession of a controlled substance in a tier five quantity, possession of a controlled substance in a tier four quantity, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and second-degree conspiracy.
Conklin was committed to Sussex Correctional Institution on $162,500 cash-only bond. Bostick was committed to Sussex Correctional Institution on $33,000 secured bond.
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As a community of learners, St. Anne's School of Annapolis values the uniqueness and diversity of every individual. Our vision is to achieve a school community that represents the multifaceted diversity of Annapolis, where our core values of respect, responsibility, honesty and kindness are reinforced every day, and where students and adults develop the will, courage, spirit and knowledge to work for the common good. We respect and celebrate the varied dimensions of diversity including age, ethnicity, family structure, gender, learning styles, race, religion, sexual orientation and socio-economic status.
Promoting civility, respect, and its philosophy of "accepting with pleasure," St. Anne's School of Annapolis values the contributions of each individual and recognizes the strength that can be gained from varied perspectives, backgrounds and life experiences. Throughout, the school embraces diversity and seeks to maintain an inclusive and supportive learning environment that promotes growth, maximizes potential, and inspires all within its community to flourish in their respective pursuits of personal, academic, social and professional excellence.
Diversity Mission Statement
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Angels help children who are victims of crime
Angels in the Outfield helps children impacted by crime or child abuse.
Angels help children who are victims of crime Angels in the Outfield helps children impacted by crime or child abuse. Check out this story on statesmanjournal.com: http://stjr.nl/2fPZqoa
Natalie Pate, Statesman Journal Published 8:37 p.m. PT Nov. 22, 2016
Local girl scouts wear backpacks funding by The Angels in the Outfield, a nonprofit that helps children who have been impacted by crime or child abuse.(Photo: Courtesy Photo)
After years of working as a prosecutor, Shannon Kmetic was faced with handling perhaps the worst child sexual abuse case in her career.
Kmetic's case against a man who had repeatedly raped his daughter throughout her childhood was successful. He was convicted and incarcerated.
The girl was no longer in immediate danger, but Kmetic knew she needed more help. She needed support and additional care, things the legal process wasn't able to provide.
This was Kmetic's breaking point — the last straw.
"The 'system' does a lot to get through the process, but the resources are limited," Kmetic said. "I felt like I needed to do more."
So she founded Angels in the Outfield, a nonprofit organization that helps children impacted by crime or child abuse.
The organization's mission is to "promote healing, happiness, and safety of children through the generosity of our contributors."
Services are determined on a case-by-case basis dependent upon each child's specific needs and wants, but can include counseling and tutoring, backpacks, clothes and Christmas presents, horseback riding lessons and summer camp tuition.
"Sometimes it's the run-of-the-mill stuff that my kids would take for granted," Kmetic said. This includes things like bus tickets for a student to go on a college visit, and tickets to a sibling's graduation ceremony, she said.
Since its inception in 2009, Angels in the Outfield has helped thousands of children across Oregon and parts of Washington, including more than 1,200 this year.
The organization is run by volunteers, with all money raised via grants, donations and fundraising efforts used to fulfill requests from the children.
Angels in the Outfield receives referrals from various sources, including teachers, doctors, law enforcement, counselors, Department of Human Services, and other organizations, serving children up to the age of 18.
The children helped usually reside in single parent homes, foster homes or with grandparents. Some are homeless; they are victims of crime or abuse; and are predominantly from "modest means."
Michelle Roos, a counselor at Crossler Middle School in Salem, sang high praises for the nonprofit.
"(Angels in the Outfield is) absolutely phenomenal," she said. "I can't say enough about what they can do."
Roos referred one student when she worked for another school in the Salem-Keizer School District.
When she asked the student what he wanted if he could have anything in the world, he said he wanted to go to the Kroc Center in Salem.
"That (was) his reality of wonder," Roos said. "It humbled me."
Angels in the Outfield paid for the student and his family to have a year-long membership to the center for its health benefits and the art classes available.
"To fulfill that was amazing," she said.
Nationwide, more than three million reports of child abuse are made every year, with a report of abuse made every 10 seconds.
Almost five children die every day as a result of child abuse; more than three out of four are under the age of 4 years old.
"(We hear) one horrendous story after another ... (this) helps us feel good about what's going on out there," Kmetic said. "It is making a difference."
She said that on some level, even with best efforts in play, these problems won't all be solved proactively, so she saw an opportunity to help the cases that still happen.
"Kids in these situations are usually abused by people they know," Kmetic said. "They have to believe there's hope, that someone cares about them.
"The fact that there's someone out there somewhere ... that gives hope to not go down a path of re-victimization or despair ... it gives them an outlet ... and (can channel) all they are going through into a positive environment."
As for the girl whose case started it all, Angels in the Outfield was able to send her and her foster family to Disneyland as part of her emotional recovery.
Contact Natalie at npate@StatesmanJournal.com, 503-399-6745, or follow her on Twitter @Nataliempate, on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/nataliepatejournalist or on the Web at nataliepate.com
Anyone can go through the process online to seek help and the organization will get back to them within 48-72 hours typically. If an individual contacts them who isn't part of an institution like a school district or Department of Human Services, a volunteer with Angels in the Outfield might reach out to schools or counselors to verify.
For more information, go to theangelsintheoutfield.org or call 503-313-8122.
Donations can be sent to Angels in the Outfield, PO Box 2347, Oregon City, Oregon 97045.
STATESMAN JOURNAL
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Share of adults who have a MLB.tv subscription in the U.S. 2017, by age group
Do you currently subscribe to, or have access to, MLB.tv?
by Amy Watson, last edited Sep 1, 2017
The statistic shows the share of adults who have a MLB.tv subscription in the United States in 2017, sorted by age group. During the survey, three percent of respondents aged 18 to 29 stated that they had a MLB.tv subscription.
August 10 to 14, 2017
NHL - number of Stanley Cups won by team 1915-2018
Super Bowl TV viewership in the U.S. 1990-2019
NBA Finals TV viewership in the U.S. 2000-2019
Statistics on "Sports on TV in the U.S."
Viewers and their habits
NFL - Super Bowl
Sports TV advertising
Length of sports TV broadcast hours in the United States from 2002 to 2017 (in thousand hours)Length of sports TV programming in the U.S. 2002-2017
League broadcasting fees of selected sports in the United States in 2016/17 season (in million U.S. dollars)Sports leagues broadcasting fees in the U.S. 2017
Average per game attendance of the five major sports leagues in North America 2017/18Average per game attendance of major US sports leagues 2017/18
Leading single telecast TV programs in the United States in 2018, based on total viewers (in millions)Top 10 single telecast TV programs in the U.S. 2018
Leading TV shows on broadcast TV in the United States during the 2018/19 TV season, by cost of a 30-second spot (in U.S. dollars)Priciest shows for advertisers on broadcast TV in the U.S. 2018/19
Highest paid sports commentators on TV and radio worldwide in 2017 (in million U.S. dollars)Wealthiest sports commentators worldwide 2017
Most popular sports radio stations in the United States as of May 2017, by average listeners (in thousands)Most popular sports radio stations in the U.S. 2017, by average listeners
Which of these sports events/tournaments have you watched at least once during the last 5 years?*Major sports events/tournaments watched on TV in the U.S. 2017
Number of TV viewers of most watched sporting events in the United States in 2018 (in millions)Number of TV viewers of most watched sporting events in the U.S. 2018
Number of viewers of sports video in the United States in 2021, by league (in millions)Viewership of sports video in the U.S. 2021, by league
Number of sports watched by sports viewers on TV in the United States in 2017Number of sports watched by sports viewers in the U.S. 2017
Average age of TV audience for selected sports in the United States in 2017 (in years)Age of television audience for sports in the U.S. 2017
Share of TV viewers who are under 18 for selected sports in the United States in 2017 Share of youth watching selected sports in the U.S. 2017
Share of sports viewed on selected devices by viewers in the United States in 2017, by ageSports viewed on selected devices in the U.S. 2017, by age
Share of sports viewers watching sports on non-TV platforms* in the United States in 2017, by ageSports viewed on non-TV platforms in the U.S. 2017, by age
National Football League (NFL) television ratings and viewership for selected games in the United States in the 2018 seasonNFL TV ratings and viewership 2018, selected games
Annual value of NFL TV broadcasting rights from 1983 to 2021* (in million U.S. dollars)NFL TV broadcasting rights annual value 1983-2021
Approximately how much time do you spend watching football and football-related shows on TV during the NFL season?Amount of time U.S. consumers spend watching NFL football on TV 2017
How interested, or not, are you in the NFL (for example - watch on TV, listen on the radio, attend in-person, follow on internet or social media)?Share of U.S. consumers interested in National Football League 2017, by gender
NFL regular season TV advertising spending on selected networks in the United States from 2010 to 2016 (in billion U.S. dollars)NFL regular season TV ad spend in the U.S. 2010-2016
Share of Americans who watched the NFL Draft on TV in the last 12 months in 2018, by ageNFL Draft TV viewers in the U.S. 2018, by age
Most common second-screen activities while watching TV among NFL fans worldwide as of 2nd quarter 2017Second-screen behavior among global NFL fans 2017
TV viewership of the Super Bowl in the United States from 1990 to 2019 (in millions)Super Bowl TV viewership in the U.S. 1990-2019
TV ratings of the Super Bowl in the United States from 1990 to 2019Super Bowl TV ratings in the U.S. 1990-2019
Number of Super Bowls won by NFL team from 1967 to 2019*National Football League: Super Bowl wins by team 2019
What are your opinions about Super Bowl TV commercials?Super Bowl ads: public opinion 2008-2018
Super Bowl advertising revenue from 2003 to 2018 (in million U.S. dollars)Super Bowl advertising revenue 2003-2018
Advertising spending of largest Super Bowl advertisers in 2018 (in million U.S. dollars)Largest Super Bowl advertisers 2018
Super Bowl average costs of a 30-second TV advertisement from 2002 to 2019 (in million U.S. dollars)*Average cost 30-second advertisement Super Bowl US broadcast 2002-2019
Average TV viewership of NBA Finals games in the United States from 2002 to 2019 (in millions)NBA Finals TV viewership in the U.S. 2000-2019
Average TV ratings of NBA Finals games in the United States from 2002 to 2019NBA Finals TV ratings in the U.S. 2002-2019
National Basketball Association average U.S. TV ratings - selected games in 2018 Average U.S. TV ratings selected NBA games 2018
National TV ad spend during the 2014 to 2017 NBA post-season (in million U.S. dollars)National TV ad spend during NBA post-season 2014-2017
Average cost of an upfront TV ad unit during NBA finals from 2014 to 2018 (in 1,000 U.S. dollars)NBA finals: upfront cost of a TV commercial 2014-2018
Average TV viewership of NHL season opener games in the U.S. from 2009 to 2018 (in thousand viewers)TV viewership National Hockey League opener in the U.S. 2018
National Hockey League Stanley Cup games average TV viewership from 2008 to 2018 (in millions)Average TV viewership NHL Stanley Cup games 2008-2018
National Hockey League Stanley Cup games average TV ratings in the U.S. from 2006 to 2018Average U.S. TV ratings NHL Stanley Cup games 2006-2018
National Hockey League - number of Stanley Cups won by team from 1915 to 2018NHL - number of Stanley Cups won by team 1915-2018
Major League Baseball primetime TV viewership on regional sports networks in 2018, by city (in 1,000s)Primetime local TV viewership of Major League Baseball games 2018
Average TV viewership of World Series games in the United States from 2000 to 2018 (in millions)Baseball World Series TV viewership in the U.S. 2000-2018
Average TV ratings of World Series games in the United States from 2000 to 2018Baseball World Series TV ratings in the U.S. 2000-2018
U.S. average TV viewership of major golf tournaments* in 2018 (in million viewers)Average number of U.S. TV viewers major golf tournaments 2018
TV ratings for final round of The Masters Golf Tournament on CBS in the United States from 1997 to 2018TV ratings for final round of The Masters in U.S. 1997-2018
Share of Americans who watched the tennis U.S. Open Men's Final in the last 12 months in 2018, by ageShare of TV viewers of the U.S. Open Men's Final in the U.S. 2018, by age
TV viewers and ratings of the tennis U.S. Open Women's Final in the United States from 2010 to 2018 (in millions)U.S. Open Women's Final - TV viewership and ratings in the United States.2010-2018
NCAA March Madness basketball tournament average TV viewership from 2013 to 2018 (in million viewers)NCAA basketball March Madness average TV viewership 2018
U.S. household television ratings of the Summer Olympics opening ceremony from 1972 to 2016U.S. TV ratings of the Summer Olympics opening ceremony 1972-2016
Average number of viewers of the Summer Olympics opening ceremony in the United States from 1988 to 2016 (in millions)Viewers of the Summer Olympics opening ceremony in the U.S. 1988-2016
Average number of viewers of primetime TV viewers of the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Summer Olympics in the United States (in millions)Rio 2016: number of primetime TV viewers in the U.S.
Daily viewership of Rio 2016 Olympics in the United States from August 5 to 21, 2016Rio 2016: daily viewership figures
Daily viewership of Rio 2016 Paralympics in the United States from September 7 to 18, 2016Rio Paralympics 2016: daily viewership figures
Most common second-screen activities while watching the Winter Olympics worldwide as of 2nd quarter 2017Second-screen behavior among Winter Olympics fans 2017
Summer Olympics national TV advertising spending in the United States in 2004 and 2016 (in billion U.S. dollars)Summer Olympics national TV ad spend in the U.S. 2004-2016
Cumulative length of advertising per hour during the broadcast of the first week of the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games in primetime (in seconds)Rio 2016: commercial load time in the U.S.
TV advertising spending during selected post-season sports in the United States in 2018 (in million U.S. dollars)TV advertising spending during post-season sports 2018
Advertising revenue generated by sports programming on national TV in the United States in 2011 and 2016 (in billion U.S. dollars)Sports ad revenue - U.S. national TV 2011-2016
Leading categories advertising during TV sports programming in the United States in 2016, by advertising spending (in million U.S. dollars)U.S. top ad categories on TV sports programming in 2016, by ad spend
Do you think that there is too much or too little advertising in professional sport?Opinion on ads in sports in the U.S. 2016
Share of adults who have a MLB.tv subscription in the U.S. 2017
Share of adults who have a Hulu subscription in the U.S. 2019, by age group
Share of adults who have a Hulu subscription in the U.S. 2019
Share of adults who have a PlayStation Vue subscription in the U.S. 2019
Share of adults who have a Netflix subscription in the U.S. 2018, by age group
Share of adults who have a Cinemax subscription in the U.S. 2019, by age group
Share of adults who have a FXNow subscription in the U.S. 2017
Share of adults who have a NFL Game Pass subscription in the U.S. 2017, by age group
Share of adults who have a Showtime subscription in the U.S. 2019
Share of adults who have a NFL Game Pass subscription in the U.S. 2017
Share of adults who have a Sling TV subscription in the U.S. 2018
Share of adults who have a Starz subscription in the U.S. 2019, by age group
Share of adults who have a CBS All Access subscription in the U.S. 2017, by age group
Share of adults who have a CBS All Access subscription in the U.S. 2017
Share of adults who have a FXNow subscription in the U.S. 2017, by age group
Share of adults who have a Cinemax subscription in the U.S. 2019
Share of adults who have a Starz subscription in the U.S. 2019
Share of adults who have a Sling TV subscription in the U.S. 2018, by age group
Share of adults who have a PlayStation Vue subscription in the U.S. 2019, by age
Streaming in Canada
Media in Canada
Cord-cutting in the U.S.
Subscription video on demand market in the U.S.
Video on demand in Norway
Home video in the Netherlands
Subscription video on demand in Sweden
Pay TV in Europe
Digital video market in Germany
Netflix in Sweden
Video on demand in Italy
Digital video in the U.S. (DMO)
Video on demand in the Netherlands
Length of sports TV broadcast hours in the United States from 2002 to 2017 (in thousand hours)
League broadcasting fees of selected sports in the United States in 2016/17 season (in million U.S. dollars)
Average per game attendance of the five major sports leagues in North America 2017/18
Leading single telecast TV programs in the United States in 2018, based on total viewers (in millions)
Leading TV shows on broadcast TV in the United States during the 2018/19 TV season, by cost of a 30-second spot (in U.S. dollars)
Highest paid sports commentators on TV and radio worldwide in 2017 (in million U.S. dollars)
Most popular sports radio stations in the United States as of May 2017, by average listeners (in thousands)
Which of these sports events/tournaments have you watched at least once during the last 5 years?*
Number of TV viewers of most watched sporting events in the United States in 2018 (in millions)
Number of viewers of sports video in the United States in 2021, by league (in millions)
Number of sports watched by sports viewers on TV in the United States in 2017
Average age of TV audience for selected sports in the United States in 2017 (in years)
Share of TV viewers who are under 18 for selected sports in the United States in 2017
Share of sports viewed on selected devices by viewers in the United States in 2017, by age
Share of sports viewers watching sports on non-TV platforms* in the United States in 2017, by age
Average number of sports watched on TV and online worldwide as of 4th quarter 2017, by age
National Football League (NFL) television ratings and viewership for selected games in the United States in the 2018 season
Annual value of NFL TV broadcasting rights from 1983 to 2021* (in million U.S. dollars)
Approximately how much time do you spend watching football and football-related shows on TV during the NFL season?
How interested, or not, are you in the NFL (for example - watch on TV, listen on the radio, attend in-person, follow on internet or social media)?
NFL regular season TV advertising spending on selected networks in the United States from 2010 to 2016 (in billion U.S. dollars)
Share of Americans who watched the NFL Draft on TV in the last 12 months in 2018, by age
Most common second-screen activities while watching TV among NFL fans worldwide as of 2nd quarter 2017
TV viewership of the Super Bowl in the United States from 1990 to 2019 (in millions)
TV ratings of the Super Bowl in the United States from 1990 to 2019
Number of Super Bowls won by NFL team from 1967 to 2019*
What are your opinions about Super Bowl TV commercials?
Super Bowl advertising revenue from 2003 to 2018 (in million U.S. dollars)
Advertising spending of largest Super Bowl advertisers in 2018 (in million U.S. dollars)
Super Bowl average costs of a 30-second TV advertisement from 2002 to 2019 (in million U.S. dollars)*
Average TV viewership of NBA Finals games in the United States from 2002 to 2019 (in millions)
Average TV ratings of NBA Finals games in the United States from 2002 to 2019
National Basketball Association average U.S. TV ratings - selected games in 2018
National TV ad spend during the 2014 to 2017 NBA post-season (in million U.S. dollars)
Average cost of an upfront TV ad unit during NBA finals from 2014 to 2018 (in 1,000 U.S. dollars)
Average TV viewership of NHL season opener games in the U.S. from 2009 to 2018 (in thousand viewers)
National Hockey League Stanley Cup games average TV viewership from 2008 to 2018 (in millions)
National Hockey League Stanley Cup games average TV ratings in the U.S. from 2006 to 2018
National Hockey League - number of Stanley Cups won by team from 1915 to 2018
Major League Baseball primetime TV viewership on regional sports networks in 2018, by city (in 1,000s)
Average TV viewership of World Series games in the United States from 2000 to 2018 (in millions)
Average TV ratings of World Series games in the United States from 2000 to 2018
U.S. average TV viewership of major golf tournaments* in 2018 (in million viewers)
TV ratings for final round of The Masters Golf Tournament on CBS in the United States from 1997 to 2018
Share of Americans who watched the tennis U.S. Open Men's Final in the last 12 months in 2018, by age
TV viewers and ratings of the tennis U.S. Open Women's Final in the United States from 2010 to 2018 (in millions)
NCAA March Madness basketball tournament average TV viewership from 2013 to 2018 (in million viewers)
NCAA college football television ratings and viewership figures in the United States in the 2018/2019 season (in thousands)
Preferred method of watching the World Cup in the United States in 2018, by platform
Most streamed FIFA World Cup games on FOX Sports in the United States in 2018 (in thousands)
U.S. household television ratings of the Summer Olympics opening ceremony from 1972 to 2016
Average number of viewers of the Summer Olympics opening ceremony in the United States from 1988 to 2016 (in millions)
Average number of viewers of primetime TV viewers of the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Summer Olympics in the United States (in millions)
Daily viewership of Rio 2016 Olympics in the United States from August 5 to 21, 2016
Daily viewership of Rio 2016 Paralympics in the United States from September 7 to 18, 2016
Most common second-screen activities while watching the Winter Olympics worldwide as of 2nd quarter 2017
Summer Olympics national TV advertising spending in the United States in 2004 and 2016 (in billion U.S. dollars)
Cumulative length of advertising per hour during the broadcast of the first week of the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games in primetime (in seconds)
Share of national TV ad spend of selected categories devoted to advertising during Rio 2016 Olympics coverage
Most shared Olympic Games ads of all time as of August 2016 (in thousands)
TV advertising spending during selected post-season sports in the United States in 2018 (in million U.S. dollars)
Advertising revenue generated by sports programming on national TV in the United States in 2011 and 2016 (in billion U.S. dollars)
Leading categories advertising during TV sports programming in the United States in 2016, by advertising spending (in million U.S. dollars)
Do you think that there is too much or too little advertising in professional sport?
Share of adults with a Hulu subscription in the United States as of January 2019, by age group
Share of adults with a Hulu subscription in the United States as of January 2019
Share of adults with a PlayStation Vue subscription in the United States as of January 2019
Share of adults with a Netflix subscription in the United States as of December 2018, by age group
Share of adults with a Cinemax subscription in the United States as of March 2019, by age group
Do you currently subscribe to, or have access to, FXNow?
Do you currently subscribe to, or have access to, NFL Game Pass?
Share of adults with a Showtime subscription in the United States as of March 2019
Do you currently subscribe to, or have access to, Sling TV?
Share of adults with a Starz subscription in the United States as of March 2019, by age group
Do you currently subscribe to, or have access to, CBS All Access?
Do you currently subscribe to, or have access to, Hulu without live TV?
Share of adults with a Cinemax subscription in the United States as of March 2019
Share of adults with a Starz subscription in the United States as of March 2019
Share of adults with a PlayStation Vue subscription in the United States as of January 2019, by age group
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Smartphones should fuel the next generation of tuberculosis care
By Peter M. Small
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
For people like me who have devoted their entire medical careers to the fight against tuberculosis, there are finally some reasons to be optimistic about the fight against this scourge. This week, tuberculosis experts from 125 countries are gathering in Amsterdam, surrounded by a buzz of optimism that political leaders will finally come through on their commitments to fight the world’s most deadly infectious disease.
Making progress against tuberculosis hasn’t been easy. Over the 35 years of my professional career, I have seen brilliant people dedicate their lives to reducing the spread of the disease. Yet progress has been slow and incremental: Tuberculosis kills someone every 18 seconds — more than any other infectious disease, including HIV. For more than two decades, tuberculosis infections around the world have decreased by less than 2 percent a year. And each of the 18 million people living with tuberculosis today will infect about a dozen friends or family members.
Most people suffering from tuberculosis live in places where access to health information is limited, disease data are sparse and rarely acted upon, and incentives that drive providers’ behaviors are often at odds with the delivery of quality care. So it’s not surprising that progress against tuberculosis has been slow and linear.
What makes this year’s tuberculosis meeting different than the one 10 years ago? Virtually everyone at this week’s meeting will have a powerful weapon against tuberculosis lurking in their purses or pockets: the smartphone.
Tuberculosis is a disease the world could control. But will it?
Mobile technology is changing the world at an exponential pace. WhatsApp creates massive global communities, Yelp gives every customer a voice, shopping apps manipulate consumer incentives and collect actionable data in real time, Uber uses digital behavioral economics to improve service delivery, and blockchains empower individuals to control their own data and transactions.
Nearly 2 out of 3 people alive today are mobile phone subscribers, and more than half of them use smartphones. Although the numbers are smaller in developing countries where tuberculosis is most problematic, most of the 1.75 billion mobile users who will come online by 2025 will live in countries or regions with the highest tuberculosis burden: China, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, and sub-Saharan Africa.
Investments by governments, international organizations, and the private sector over the past few decades have improved health systems in even the poorest countries. But individuals do not experience health care as functional systems. Instead, they experience it as complicated and fragmented health markets in which they struggle to gain access to useful information, services, and products.
In the same manner that phone-based mobile banking has increased access to useful and affordable financial products and services, phones can help tuberculosis patients find their way to the care they deserve, in both the public and private sectors. While we await game-changing new diagnostics, drugs, and vaccines, we can make far better use of smartphones today to connect people with tuberculosis with the care they need.
Smartphones are already being used for other medical conditions. In South Africa, MomConnect has partnered with WhatsApp to connect nearly 2 million pregnant women and new mothers to vital services and information. In India, Together For Her has established a Yelp-like system that empowers new mothers to provide feedback on the quality of the hospitals in which they gave birth, giving expecting mothers information to choose the best maternity hospitals. In 11 developing countries, Triggerise is using phones to reward people for doing the right thing while simultaneously collecting and analyzing data to increase their impact. Proof of Impact is using blockchain-based smart contracts to verify events that make an impact and pay for them with cryptocurrencies or funds from impact investors.
And now there are sparks of smartphone innovation for tuberculosis. Most promising are apps made by SureAdhere, Emocha Mobile Health, AiCure, 99Dots, and others that have been shown to help patients take the required six months of antibiotics. Others are being developed to address other challenges of tuberculosis care and control, such as disseminating information about the disease and improving its diagnosis. But the burning question is how to stitch together such efforts and make them widely available so that poor people are empowered to improve their own health and that of their communities.
How smartphones are becoming a weapon in the global fight against tuberculosis
None of these advances will be easy or happen in isolation — and no intervention is without risk. Patient’s rights, safety, and confidentiality must be ensured from the get-go. In contrast to the pace of change in Silicon Valley, the digital “revolution” in tuberculosis will be incremental and follow different paths in different settings. And like prior technology-driven revolutions, its impact is likely to be oversold in the short term and underappreciated in the long term.
At this week’s tuberculosis meeting, participants will be able to see or hear approximately 1,000 scientific presentations. Sadly, only nine of them are focused on using mobile phones to improve tuberculosis care. It is past time for TB researchers and care providers to work with tech innovators, business entrepreneurs, digital companies, and mobile phone operators to adapt the smartphone technology to improve care.
At next year’s meeting, I hope to hear presentations describing tuberculosis experts partnering with WhatsApp to raise awareness, with Vodafone to disseminate apps that help patients diagnose themselves, with Yelp to share the quality of their experiences with specific clinics, with Uber to transport clinical samples, and with Amazon to deliver medications directly to patient’s homes.
Mobile technology is poised to transform tuberculosis care in the hardest hit countries. Let’s not miss this opportunity.
Peter M. Small, M.D., is a Rockefeller Foundation Fellow and visiting scholar at Stony Brook University. He previously established and directed the tuberculosis program for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The views expressed here are the author’s alone.
Peter M. Small
psmall@rockfellows.org
Joe Kabel says:
We see the future: http://www.tbwarrior.com
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Congo confirms first Ebola case in city of Goma
Newborn screening saves lives. Congress needs to reauthorize the program
By R. Rodney Howell
We love primary care. Why are our trainees so discouraged by it?
By Barbara Ogur, Katherine Miller, and Russell Phillips
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Andy Secore
Born: April 28, 1984
Andy Secore scored 95 goals and recorded 150 assists in his 75-game career with the Arizona Sting, Minnesota Swarm and Edmonton Rush. He began playing during the 2006 season and last took the field during the 2011 campaign.
Arizona Sting
Minnesota Swarm
Edmonton Rush
Shts
SG%
2006 NLL Arizona Sting 3 0 0 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 0.0 0.0 6 0 0 0 0
2007 NLL Arizona Sting 14 10 0 12 22 8 0 0 2 1 0 63 63 15.9 15.9 47 0 0 0 0
2008 NLL Minnesota Swarm 14 28 0 48 76 4 6 18 0 2 0 101 101 27.7 27.7 59 0 0 0 0
2009 NLL Edmonton Rush 16 23 0 40 63 9 9 13 0 2 0 117 117 19.7 19.7 52 0 0 0 0
2010 NLL Edmonton Rush 16 22 0 34 56 14 7 13 1 0 0 147 103 15.0 21.4 50 0 0 0 0
2011 NLL Edmonton Rush 12 12 0 13 25 2 2 1 0 0 0 74 46 16.2 26.1 41 12 3 0 0
Totals 75 95 0 150 245 37 24 45 3 5 0 506 434 18.8 21.9 255 12 3 0 0
Postseason - Scoring:
2007 NLL Arizona Sting 3 3 0 3 6 2 0 0 0 0 1 11 11 27.3 27.3 6 0 0 0 0
2008 NLL Minnesota Swarm 1 3 0 3 6 0 1 2 0 0 0 9 9 33.3 33.3 5 0 0 0 0
2010 NLL Edmonton Rush 2 3 0 6 9 0 1 3 0 0 13 12 23.1 25.0 3 0 0 0 0
Totals 6 9 0 12 21 2 2 5 0 0 1 33 32 27.3 28.1 14 0 0 0 0
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Moqtada al-Sadr’s Return
The Shia cleric and his supporters are likely to say he never went anywhere in the first place.
Krishnadev Calamur
Does he have a point?Anmar Khalil / AP
The man who went from being described as a “pest” to “the most dangerous man in Iraq” is back—though Moqtada al-Sadr and his supporters are likely to say he never went anywhere in the first place. The Shia cleric’s supporters stormed Baghdad’s supposedly secure Green Zone on Saturday and took over Parliament, demanding improved public services and an end to corruption. They left Sunday, on Sadr’s orders, after ISIS attacked an Iraqi city. Their departure avoided further destabilizing the predominantly Shia government of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, but the protests not only raised questions about whether the government can stand, it also showed that Iraq’s turmoil has sources beyond Sunni-Shia sectarian divisions.
The roots of Iraq’s current parliamentary crisis lie in the quota system set up in 2003, after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, which guarantees some minimal level of representation to each major ethno-sectarian faction. The idea was such a system would prevent any one of Iraq’s various ethnic factions from dominating the others. Iraq is majority Shia, but has a significant Sunni minority, as well as a large number of Kurds and others. Under Saddam, the Sunnis dominated government and many Shiites and others complained of discrimination. The new system was designed to curb such divisions, but, as Ibrahim al-Marashi, an assistant professor at California State University, San Marcos, wrote on Al Jazeera, “the quota system … empowers politicians based solely on their ethno-sectarian background.”
What that system fostered is chronic corruption. Indeed, the country is ranked 161 out of 168 in Transparency International’s admittedly flawed corruption index even as it wrestles with ethnic and sectarian divisions, as well as a challenge from the Islamic State. Low oil prices have not helped. Revenues from the sector were supposed to rebuild Iraq after years of war that followed international sanctions imposed during Saddam’s rule, but now, with oil prices near multiyear lows, salaries have gone unpaid and Iraq’s problems seem magnified. Emma Sky, a former civilian adviser to the U.S. military in Iraq, wrote in Politico: “The greatest threat to Iraq thus comes not from the Islamic State but from broken politics, catastrophic corruption, and mismanagement.” It is these circumstances that have resulted in massive anti-government protests and calls from Sadr for more, and presumably more honest, technocrats in Iraq’s government.
The role of anti-corruption campaigner is a relatively new one for Sadr, the son of a revered Shia cleric. The younger Sadr built his reputation in the years following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq as an anti-American firebrand. His powerful Mahdi Army, which fought the Americans and the Sunnis, disbanded in 2008, has given way to the Peace Companies, militias that are engaged in the fight against ISIS. Sadr’s Al-Ahrar political bloc won 34 parliamentary seats out of 328 in the most recent elections, and is part of the ruling coalition. The cleric has positioned himself as less of a sectarian leader than as an anti-corruption campaigner. It is in this role that he demanded that Adabi, the U.S.-backed prime minister, name a Cabinet of technocrats, a move that, in effect, would have imperiled the quota system upon which the Iraqi political establishment is built.
In theory, the technocrats could lead to better governance and less corruption, but in practice what they will most certainly do is diminish the influence of the various parties, especially the Shia ones. Still, Abadi, who like Sadr is Shia, agreed with the demands. He named several well-respected Iraqis to his Cabinet, only to see the Shia-dominated Parliament reject the names. In response, Sadr’s supporters first began protests and then stormed the Green Zone, once impregnable, to take control of Parliament. There, they shouted anti-government slogans—“you are all thieves”—as well as chants against Iran. They left Sunday, but vowed to return if their demands were not met. Although it’s tempting to be sympathetic to Sadr’s demands—after all, who doesn’t want clean government?—the issue is made more complicated by the role of Iran, Iraq’s neighbor that is keen on maintaining Shia dominance in Iraq.
Iran supports the idea of Shia unity in Iraq, so long as it enhances Iran’s own influence in the country. Sadr, however, portrays himself as an independent Iraqi Shia nationalist. “Ultimately the deadlock has benefited Sadr’s political standing,” Marashi wrote on Al Jazeera. “By fomenting a protest movement and delivering an ultimatum to Abadi, Sadr has successfully pitted his two Shia political rivals, the Dawa Party of the prime minister, and the politicians of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI) in parliament, against each other, undermining Iran’s overarching goal of maintaining a unified Shia alliance in Iraq.”
Abadi’s political future appears secure for now, a fact that is possibly a relief for the U.S., which orchestrated his ascent to the premiership. His predecessor, Nouri al-Maliki, had lost Washington’s support due to policies that were seen to discriminate against Iraq’s minorities. Indeed, Joe Biden, the American vice president, made a surprise visit to Baghdad last Thursday in an attempt to bolster Abadi’s government. But The Guardian points out: “Sadr’s re-emergence as a powerful national leader may have some advantages for Washington. Despite three years spent in voluntary exile in Iran, his newly minted nationalist stance makes him a potential bulwark against Tehran’s influence, which has become all-pervasive since the US left. There are sharp tensions between Sadr and rival Shia factions, and Sadrist militia have clashed with the Iranian-backed Hashd.”
But Sadr’s ultimate aims are anyone’s guess: The Wall Street Journal reported that the Shia cleric made an unannounced stop Monday in Iran. No other details of the trip were released.
Krishnadev Calamur is a senior editor at The Atlantic, where he covers global affairs. He is the author of Murder in Mumbai.
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Costa Rica 2019 | ECONOMY | VOICES FROM THE SECTOR
LAURA BONILLA
Chamber of Exporters of Costa Rica (CADEXCO)
What can be done to increase the competitiveness of Costa Rican products globally?
Unfortunately, Costa Rica has become an expensive producer. In 2017, CADEXCO presented the Competitiveness plan for the Export Sector 2018-2022 to President Carlos Alvarado, aimed at doubling exports. We proposed 18 points, stressing that if the government works with the Chamber of Foreign Trade, Costa Rica can boost growth rate from 7% to up to 14%. One of those points is infrastructure, the lack of which makes logistics extremely expensive. We need better infrastructure, such as the expansion of highways 27 and 32 and the Limón-Moín Port.
What support mechanisms does CADEXCO provide to exporters?
We discuss different issues relating to various ministries; for example, we met with Central Bank President Rodrigo Cubero to discuss the exchange rate policy. The free zones affect the export sector, and CADEXCO takes the lead in explaining and promoting its permanence for the legal security of investors and the country. We are aware of all the variables that affect the sector and we seek solutions through open dialogue with the government.
What are the three main markets for Costa Rican exports?
Our key markets are the US, Central America, and Europe. At present, CADEXCO is looking at Asia, especially China, and is planning to get more out of its FTA with Korea and its relationship with Japan.
JOHNNY ARAYA MONGE
Municipality of San José
What initiatives can the municipality of San José take to attract foreign investment?
The municipality has been promoting a clear project defined toward urban renovation, featuring a series of efforts to enhance public space and infrastructure. Such efforts to modernize the city boost its business environment. We work to reduce the number of days required to register a commercial patent, open a business, or obtain a construction permit. Another project concerns the electric tramway, which will be a boost to the city. A third scheme is the technological city T24, a megaproject that proposes to create a corridor of high-tech companies located on a street called Transversal 24. The driver of that project is TEC City, set to house national and foreign companies, a university, and a research hub. Notably, Microsoft has shifted its principal Latin American address to Transversal 24, Cisco is keen to locate there, and many other enterprises are watching the project with keen interest.
What are the plans to create a friendlier space for companies and people?
The municipality has completed two decades of work on public spaces, revitalizing San José's public spaces and business economy. We recently added a 13-km cycle path. We are also developing a master plan for the urban renovation of San José's four central districts.
GERMAN MORALES
Grant Thorton
What has helped you to continue growing your market share?
We have to reach out to both national clients who require professional and trained services with a firm that complies with global standards, as well as regional and global companies. To reach global companies, we must have a global network, which Grant Thorton has. We are able to appeal to the global market while providing a customized service to local clients.
Why should a client choose Grant Thornton?
We always send someone with experience to clients; we prefer to have people who cost more but provide a higher-quality service. Another reason is that we have achieved a broad knowledge of the market, which is extremely important for us as we can provide a better service in each region. Grant Thornton has been focused on having a trained staff for its clients and a thorough knowledge of where the company stands in order to provide excellent advice.
What are your CSR programs?
We have three public and two private universities from which we receive interns who we put to work with our experienced people. We also receive university groups that come to experience the day-to-day activities so that they can see their academic knowledge being implemented in real life.
By outsourcing services, companies can focus on their core operations and leave other aspects to the experts.
More than just its focus on sustainability and green ethos, Costa Rica's people are the key reason why multinationals are here to stay.
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Matt Braunger
Sat, Aug 24, 2019
ABC’s Agent Carter, NBC’s Up All Night, Netflix’s Disjointed, go90’s My Dead Ex, and the Starz series Take My Wife. Matt was a series regular on Fox’s MADtv, a cast member of the TruTV series How to Be a Grown Up, as well as appearances on BoJack Horseman, Garfunkel and Oates, Maron, HBO’s Family Tree, the Chelsea Lately roundtable, The Michael J Fox Show, Happy Endings, CONAN, The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Pete Holmes Show, United States of Tara, Pushing Daisies, Carpoolers, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Acceptable TV, and Live At Gotham.
Matt was also a regular guest on @midnight and appeared in Showtime’s SXSW Comedy with W. Kamau Bell and Comedy Central’s The Meltdown. He won the 2008 “Best Of The Fest” at the inaugural Rooftop Comedy Festival in Aspen. In 2009, he was named to Variety’s Top 10 Comics to Watch, and Comedy Central’s Hot 9 in ’09 list, his debut album Soak Up The Night was released by Comedy Central Records and he was named to the iTunes REWIND Top 20 Albums of 2009. In 2010, he recorded his half hour Comedy Central Presents special and in 2012 released his debut hour-long special entitled Shovel Fighter, also released as an album. Matt’s hour-long comedy special, Big, Dumb Animal is now available on Netflix, and he recently recorded a new hour special coming soon. He also has a hilarious podcast “Advice from a Dipshit”.
Along with touring comedy clubs across the country, Matt is also a regular at the Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles, and he headlined the Old Milwaukee Comedy Tour for Funny Or Die in 2013. Matt has also performed at a variety of prestigious comedy festivals including the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal and Chicago, The TBS Comedy Festival Las Vegas, and South By Southwest. Matt also co-founded the popular Bridgetown Comedy Festival that takes place annually in Portland.
Full Service Dining is available
Showroom Doors Open one hour prior to show for dinner and drinks.
Stage Side Seats Available
Parking is available at the Wattsmill Shopping Center
Matt Braunger is a comedian, actor, writer who has been seen on Netflix’ Big Dumb Animal, Marvel’s Agent Carter, Mad TV and has a podcast “Advice from a Dipshit with Matt Braunger.”
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BACK FROM THE ASHES?
Where ISIS In Iraq Will Make Its Last Stand—or Its Comeback
The so-called Islamic State remains in control of three strategic towns while other fighters have retreated to the mountains, and sleeper cells operate at the gates of Baghdad.
Niqash
Updated 09.12.17 12:52PM ET / Published 07.28.17 1:00AM ET
Muhammad Hamed/Reuters
BAGHDAD—The Iraqi government declared victory against the extremist Islamic State group in Mosul this month, and that was cause for major celebration.
But the extremists are far from eradicated in Iraq. Several strongholds remain. And the battle to push the so-called Islamic State, or ISIS, out of these places will be more complicated than the previous, straightforward fights have been in places like Fallujah and Tikrit.
Notably, the stalemate between Turkey and Iran in this area poses a serious political challenge for the Iraqi government in the remaining cities controlled by ISIS.
At the same time, many extremists have taken to the hills and begun to wage a classic rural guerrilla war, while some sleeper cells have been activated at the very gates of Baghdad, the Iraqi capital.
Today the extremists control three towns: Tal Afar, west of Mosul; Hawija, south of Kirkuk; and Al Qaim, west of Anbar. Each fight has its own complicated set of considerations, from political questions to military ones, as well as, in some cases, dangerous foreign policy ramifications.
Tal Afar
When the Iraqi military began the fight to push ISIS out of Mosul in October last year, there was a deliberate plan to exclude the Shiite Muslim militias from the campaign. This is because the city of Mosul had a Sunni majority population and there were fears that involving the Shiite Muslim militias, who began as a volunteer force fighting the ISIS, would eventually cause problems with Mosul locals, possibly even to the extent that the local population would not support the military.
The Shiite Muslim militias in the area then began to move toward the town of Tal Afar, another ISIS stronghold. The militias fought in the suburbs around Tal Afar but were warned off entering the town by one of Iraq’s neighbors, Turkey.
The Turks said they were worried that the militias would take revenge on ethnic Turkmen living in the town—there were both Sunni Muslim and Shiite Muslim Turkmen living in Tal Afar before the security crisis, and the Sunni Muslim Turkmen who remained, and who would have been at the militias’ mercy, were considered by many to be supporters of ISIS.
There are still Turkish troops in Camp Zilkan east of Bashiqua. Despite protestations from both local and Iraqi federal officials, the Turkish military have remained there, which means that the threat of them acting against the Shiite Muslim militias also remains. And there are ongoing concerns that the Turks might try to join in the fighting for Tal Afar.
On July 19, some of the most senior leaders of several of the Shiite Muslim militias—Hadi al-Amiri, head of the Badr organization; Qais al-Khazali, head of the League of the Righteous militia; and Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes of Hezbollah in Iraq—met to discuss the matter. The three groups, known for having closer ties to Iran than to the Iraqi government, decided that they did wish to participate in this fight.
The apparent stalemate between Turkey and Iran in this area poses a serious political challenge for the Iraqi government. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi will need to find a diplomatic solution to resolve an international conflict that could throw the fight against ISIS off course.
“The battle for Tal Afar will be difficult because it is a political fight as well as a military one,” Mahmoud Othman, an independent Kurdish MP, told NIQASH. “Really all parties should be focusing on a common enemy, the [Islamic State] group.”
One of the suggested solutions would involve different Shiite Muslim militias coming to fight in Tal Afar. These more moderate militias, including the Abu Fadhl al-Abbas Brigade—often referred to simply as the Abbas Brigades—are known to be more loyal to the Iraqi government rather than Iran. The Abbas Brigades also helped support the Iraqi army’s ninth division in the fight for Mosul.
One of the fighters with the Abbas Brigades, Kathim al-Daraji, says this seems probable. More than 3,000 reservists have been called up and it is likely they will be fighting alongside the Iraqi army in the fight for Tal Afar, he suggests.
Hawija
In the south of Kirkuk province, the town of Hawija has been dominated by the ISIS for the past three years. As yet there have been no military operations launched to push the ISIS out of Hawija, due in large part to the complicated political problems in this area between the Iraqi Kurdish authorities, the Shiite Muslim militias, and the Sunni Muslim community.
Shiite Muslim factions are insisting on taking part in this battle because they wish to protect the Shiite Muslim locals living in villages around Hawija. But the Iraqi Kurdish military fear that if the Shiite Muslim fighters do take part here, they will also try and stay in the area.
Kirkuk is what is known as a disputed territory—that is, the Iraqi Kurdish believe it should be part of their nearby semi-autonomous region, but Iraqi Arabs believe it is part of Iraq proper. If the Shiite Muslim Arabs stay in the area after ISIS is expelled, this dilutes the Kurdish claim on the area.
The unhappy relationship between Baghdad and the leaders of the Iraqi Kurdish region at the moment is also an issue. This has been exacerbated by the Kurds’ intention to hold a referendum on their region’s potential independence from the rest of Iraq. Baghdad has already announced its strong opposition to the idea.
And there is another problem: The Sunni Muslim tribal leaders in this area are mostly worried that if the Iraqi Kurdish military or the Shiite Muslim militias take part in the battle, then there will unlawful acts of revenge taken on their people here.
Al Qaim
It is highly likely that the fight to expel the ISIS from Al Qaim is a long way down the list of battles to come. Tal Afar and Hawija probably will happen first. This is because Al Qaim is located on an international border, between Iraq and Syria. Given the geography, Al Qaim is by far the most secure city for the ISIS group.
Basically, both Damascus and Baghdad would have to coordinate a campaign against ISIS here.
The Syrian government is not able to do this at the moment, and the Iraqi forces are not ready for this fight either, according to Ibrahim al-Jumaili, a senior officer retired from the Iraqi army.
In February this year the Iraqi government announced that it would start aerial bombing of the area around Al Qaim, in coordination with the Syrian government. But after just a few days the raids stopped, and no explanation was given.
“The most difficult fighting is that taking place on the border and in the large desert areas,” explains al-Jumaili, who served in Iraq’s ground forces during the Iran-Iraq war. “If the Iraqi army pushes the ISIS fighters out of Al Qaim, they will just go to Abu Kamal [the Syrian town on the other side of the border]. But then they will just come back into Iraq when they want to, because there are no Syrian troops there to stop them.”
There is also the difficult political situation in Syria to consider, with various actors engaged, including the United States and Russia. “The longer it takes to settle the Syrian problem, the longer it will take to liberate Al Qaim and the Iraqi-Syrian border area,” says al-Jumaili.
But the ISIS strategy for its remaining forces in Iraq is not limited to three towns.
The Hills of Hamrin
Having been driven out of Mosul, the extremist Islamic State group is doing what Al Qaeda did before it: setting up new bases in the rugged northern Hamrin mountain area, going back to their old tactics of hit-and-run, guerrilla style fighting against pro-government forces.
According to intelligence from the Iraqi Kurdish military, there have been intensive movements of ISIS fighters observed in the Hamrin mountains over the past few weeks. It is believed that many of the organization’s leaders from Mosul have retreated into this rugged backcountry.
The ISIS fighters often roam nearby at night but then fade away, back into the mountains, in the morning. It is a psychological war.
“After the campaign against them in Mosul, ISIS is returning to the Hamrin area and into the Hawija area, either as individuals or as small groups,” Rasoul Karkui, commander of the Iraqi Kurdish military in Kirkuk, also known as Wasta Rasoul, told NIQASH. “It is clear that they intend to strengthen their presence in this area. A while ago they announced the creation of their ‘Mountain State.’ But they don’t plan to launch a war [as such] against the Iraqi army or us. They only want to attack us and use guerrilla tactics.”
The Hamrin mountains extend through the provinces of Diyala, Kirkuk, and Salahaddin, right up to the borders with Iran and even onto some parts of the Syrian border. After ISIS took control of Mosul in mid-2014, much of the Hamrin basin was also under their rule. However counter-attacks by the Iraqi army and the Iraqi Kurdish military saw them return to pro-government hands and there had been relative stability there up until recently.
The Hamrin basin contains Hamrin lake, the south and east sides of which are under the control of the Iraqi army and the Shiite Muslim militias. The north and east are under Iraqi Kurdish control. Military intelligence does expect ISIS to use the lake for travel.
The Hamrin mountains have a long history of insurgent activity. The rugged terrain and the connection to various borders—in particular, Syria’s—facilitate the transfer of fighters and weapons, as well as making it hard for local security forces to keep track.
After the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, which saw the government led by Saddam Hussein toppled, most of the anti-U.S. groups that arose afterwards found a home in the Hamrin mountains. That included Al Qaeda, Ansar al-Sunna, and the Naqshbandi Army, all of whom could be considered forerunners, or constituents of, the Islamic State.
“ISIS is now resorting to guerrilla warfare after they lost control of the larger cities,” confirms Abdulla Bor, leader of the Iraqi Kurdish forces in the Tuz Khurmatu area, which have been attacked by ISIS fighters several times over the past few weeks.
In early June, Lahur Jangi Talabani, the head of one of Iraqi Kurdistan’s intelligence services, went to Baghdad to speak to senior officials there about it. At the end of last week, Talabani told Reuters that he believes ISIS will make the Hamrin mountains a major base and that the Iraqi Kurdish military are expecting hard times in this area.
The Gates of Baghdad
Almost daily, a suicide bomber tries to blow himself up but is thwarted by a soldier at a roadblock who shoots him before he can detonate his explosives. Then another suicide bomber tries again only a few meters away, but is stopped in the same way, by a different soldier.
The local media are not covering these events in the Tarmiyah district, an area that is often described as part of “the Baghdad belt,” the ring of more rural towns and neighborhoods around the Iraqi capital. But locals on social media continuously document the events. And according to their reports, there are one or two incidents every day involving snipers, masked gunmen, explosives, or a suicide bomber.
The reports are often confirmed by local security forces. For example, on July 8, a U.S.-led team attacked what was later confirmed to be an ISIS cell in Tarmiyah; seven ISIS fighters were killed in the raid. Media associated with ISIS also are publishing reports of the group’s "successes" in Tarmiyah.
The area has been mostly clear of ISIS since late 2014, and the Iraqi military conducted a special operation here in April to try and hunt down ISIS members who might still be in the neighborhood. Afterwards the Tarmiyah area was declared safe by the Baghdad Operations Command, which is responsible for security in the capital.
People were encouraged to return, says Sabih al-Salman, one of Tarmiyah’s tribal leaders. But the security forces are still cutting off streets, raiding different areas, and searching for wanted people, he says, “Which means it is not actually as safe as we were told.”
It seems clear that there are ISIS sleeper cells hiding in abandoned houses or keeping weapons and explosives there.
Tarmiyah connects four provinces: Diyala, Salahaddin, Anbar and to the south, Baghdad. If the ISIS can infiltrate this area, it will make carrying out attacks in Baghdad easier—fighters can be funneled from those other provinces into the city through Tarmiyah.
It is also a relatively rural area, with many orchards and farms where extremists could hide, and it takes just half an hour to travel from Tarmiyah to the center of Baghdad, which is about 50 kilometers away.
The locals in Tarmiyah appear to want to protect themselves from ISIS. “It is the duty of the people to act against any of the kinds of activities that will darken this district again," al-Salman says. “If any of the sons of any of the local tribes becomes a member of ISIS, then the tribe should disown him."
On July 10, Tarmiyah residents signed an agreement with the Iraqi security forces that detailed how the community might cooperate with the military. For example, should an ISIS cell be found on a certain property, then the property owner who failed to notice it, or report it, would be held responsible. The person would be punished by both Iraqi law and by his or her own tribe.
Senior Iraqi army officer Hussein al-Maliki told locals that any tribal leader who allowed ISIS fighters to meet or live on his property, say, in an orchard, would have to face repercussions.
“All of the tribes in Tarmiyah signed the agreement and everyone will support the security forces absolutely,” says Sayid al-Jassim al-Mashhadani, another tribal leader in Tarmiyah. “Anyone who hosts a terrorist is a terrorist,” he stressed. “Anyone who carries a weapon against the security forces is a terrorist —and should be treated as such by them:”
The security forces are really hoping this plan works. They believe that most of the attacks taking place in Tarmiyah are happening because of ISIS sleeper cells and that the only way to wipe these out is with the cooperation of the locals.
“We believe the sleeper cells are only small,” al-Maliki said. “And that if the citizens and their leaders help us, then we will be able to eliminate them.”
This article is adapted from three pieces published in Niqash by Mustafa Habib, Dashty Ali, and Ibrahim Saleh.
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Avengers: Endgame Is Getting Re-Released With Some 'Surprises'
Hello, and welcome to another edition of The Monitor, WIRED's pop culture news roundup. What's been happening in the world of entertainment? For one, Avengers: Endgame is getting re-released to theaters with some new footage. For another, writer/director/producer Janet Mock is going to Netflix. And finally, Pixar has a new movie slated for 2020 and it sounds like a trip. Let's begin.
Avengers: Endgame Is Returning to Theaters With Some 'Surprises'
Did you think the Avengers: Endgame box office domination was over? Think again. In an interview with ScreenRant, Marvel honcho Kevin Feige said that the movie will be re-released on June 28 and that while the it's "not an extended cut," the movie will feature "a deleted scene, a little tribute, and a few surprises" at the end. Endgame is only a few million dollars shy of Avatar's all-time worldwide box office record. Could this final push help the movie best James Cameron? We'll find out soon.
Janet Mock Just Signed a Big Deal With Netflix
And now, some history-making news: Janet Mock, the writer/director/producer currently working on FX's Pose, just signed a massive three-year deal with Netflix. The agreement gives Netflix exclusive rights to her TV series and a first look at her feature film projects. It also makes her the first out transgender woman to make such a deal with the streaming company. While she will continue her work on Pose, the new pact also means Mock will serve as executive producer and director on Ryan Murphy’s new series Hollywood.
Pixar’s Soul, Coming in 2020, Sounds Deep
Pixar just announced its next movie and it sounds super deep. Like, headier than Inside Out deep. Directed by Pete Doctor, Pixar describes the movie, titled Soul, thusly: "Ever wonder where your passion, your dreams, and your interests come from? What is it that makes you … YOU? [Soul] takes you on a journey from the streets of New York City to the cosmic realms to discover the answers to life's most important questions." Uh, OK! Soul will arrive in theaters in June 2020.
Rosamund Pike to Star in Amazon’s The Wheel of Time
Amazon has found a lead for the streaming service’s forthcoming adaptation of The Wheel of Time. The Gone Girl star will play Moiraine, a member of the all-female organization known as the Aes Sedai, in the series based on Robert Jordan’s fantasy books. No word yet on a premiere date for the show.
← Depth of Field: The Metaphor of Trump and the MAGA Hat
Disney's New Lion King Is the VR-Fueled Future of Cinema →
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Home » Faith or Franchise?
Faith or Franchise?
Just a few weeks back, our own beloved MIA was invaded by the hottest celebrities of the moment during the infamous MTV Video Music Awards. As ritzy trendsetters lounged at the glamorous Mandarin Oriental, their list of requests was topped with an extremity that even the five star hotel wasn’t prepared for: Kabbalah water.
Welcome to the wonderment of red string bracelets, over-priced tap water, meditation DVDs, and an array of accessories embroidered with the 72 different names of God. Then again, this is Tinsel Town’s watered-down version of the Jewish mystical practice known as Kabbalah. It’s an organization whose company website has promised “banishment of all darkness from our world,” including disease, depression, and discontent, through a $99 starter-kit, a $26 bracelet, hundreds of dollars worth of instructional courses, and countless bottles of Kabbalah water, priced at $6 a piece. Well, no one said that spiritual enlightenment didn’t have a price.
Ironically, Kabbalah, a complex aspect of Jewish tradition, was once reserved for elite male rabbis, masters of both the Hebrew language and Torah. Seeing that Kabbalah was never intended for the general public, it’s no surprise that the Jewish community holds a strong discontent towards the newly sprouting Kabbalah Centers, which are endorsed by trendsetters such as Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and of course, Madonna (who recently changed her name to Esther in support of her spiritual uncovering). On the other hand, the Kabbalah franchise has been so successful spreading this latest “self-help fad” at major consumer venues like Target, that there’s a possiblity Jewish leaders are asking themselves, “Why didn’t we think of that?”
Now even though Hollywood’s latest fad may not be entirely legitimate, there’s no shame in at least considering Kabbalah to find personal fulfillment. The lessons are beneficiary, such as overcoming the delusion of material reality, discovering genuine energy, and freeing oneself from fear, misery, and doubt. Most importantly, the underlying message is simplistic and ageless: “Act nice and get over yourself! You’ll feel better!”
Kabbalah centers promote their organization to be “not a religion,” but “a source of universal wisdom.” Experts, however, argue otherwise, declaring the merchandised worship to be “shallow,” “worthless,” and “cult-like.” Nevertheless, even if one doesn’t discover all the secrets of the universe by repeating the 72 names of God, if by chance the need for spirituality is satisfied, then where’s the harm? Simply be sure to be consumer savvy, and buy your symbolic red bracelet at the local fabric store.
Nickki Zailcka can be contacted at nzailcka@umsis.miami.edu.
The Miami Hurricane
Student newspaper at the University of Miami
NO PROBLEM UM DOMINATES BULLDOGS 48-0
The New Face Of Paul Frank
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America’s First Female Mapmaker
By Ted Widmer
Weird Book Room
From Emma Willard’s Republic of America. Designed for Schools and Private Libraries, 1829.
A recent item for sale in the rare-book trade caught my eye. Boston Rare Maps had a series of twelve maps created by America’s first female mapmaker, Emma Willard. They were to accompany a textbook she had written, first issued in 1828. The maps for sale were from the second edition.
Willard is well-known to historians of the early republic as a pioneering educator, the founder of what is now called the Emma Willard School, in Troy, New York. But she was also a versatile writer, publisher and, yes, mapmaker. She used every tool available to teach young readers (and especially young women) how to see history in creative new ways. If the available textbooks were tedious (and they were), she would write better ones. If they lacked illustrations, she would provide them. If maps would help, so be it: she would fill in that gap as well. She worked with engravers and printers to get it done. She was finding her way forward in a male-dominated world, with no map to guide her. So she made one herself.
The maps for sale show North America in twelve different snapshots. I say “snapshots” because Willard was such an inventive visual thinker. On the eve of photography, she was thinking hard about how to capture a big story inside a single striking image.
The first map shows “the location and wanderings of the aboriginal tribes,” using color swatches to show how the tribes moved great distances (including, in one instance, off the actual border of the map and into the margin).
The Lenni Lenape going off the edge of the map.
Is this a veiled critique of the policies that had proved so damaging to Native Americans and were about to accelerate in the presidency of Andrew Jackson?
The other maps are highly visual as well. Willard shows ships sailing across the ocean and doesn’t hesitate to show slave traders among them.
Willard liked trees. In the upper-right of one of the maps, she uses a tree trunk to symbolize an early New England alliance of colonies:
In another textbook, she uses a large tree to show all of American history growing out of the earth:
Some of her other visual representations grow stranger and more surreal. Willard designed this “map of time” to convey to students the interdependence and totality of human history:
From Emma Willard’s Willard’s Map of Time: A Companion to the Historic Guide (New York: A. S. Barnes & Co., 1846).
From Emma Willard’s Willard’s Map of Time: A Companion to the Historic Guide (detail) (New York: A. S. Barnes & Co., 1846).
That map laid the groundwork for her various M. C. Escher-esque Temples of Time, which connect spacial and temporal history. They give readers a chance to walk into a room, moving through time and space as if entering a virtual reality:
From Emma Willard’s Guide to the Temple of Time; and Universal History for Schools (New York: A.S. Barnes & Company, 1850).
From Emma Willard’s Abridged History of the United States, or Republic of America (New York: A. S. Barnes, 1860).
Willard died in 1870 at the age of eighty-three. She was a lifelong advocate for women’s education, and she started earlier (and lasted longer) than most of the others. A key to her survival and success seems to have been her ability to imagine a better reality. Through these maps, one sees that imagination and lively intelligence at work.
An addendum: anyone seeking a more detailed explanation of Emma Willard’s achievement will find it in the work of the historian Susan Schulten or in this essay, available online, from the Journal of Historical Geography.
Ted Widmer interviewed R. Crumb for The Paris Review’s Summer 2010 issue. He is a trustee of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Talking Tate: A Fake Oral History
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James Salter, The Art of Fiction No. 133
Interviewed by Edward Hirsch
Issue 127, Summer 1993
James Salter is a consummate storyteller. His manners are precise and elegant; he has a splendid New York accent; he runs his hands through his gray hair and laughs boyishly. At sixty-seven he has the fitness of an ex-military man. He tells anecdotes easily, dramatically, but he also carries an aura of reserve about him. There is a privacy one doesn’t breach.
Salter was born in 1925 and raised in New York City. He graduated from West Point in 1945 and was commissioned in the U.S. Army Air Force as a pilot. He served for twelve years in the Pacific, the United States, Europe, and Korea, where he flew over one hundred combat missions as a fighter pilot. He resigned from the Air Force after his first novel came out in 1957, and settled in Grandview on the Hudson, just north of New York City. He has earned his living as a writer ever since. He has three grown children, a son and two daughters, by a previous marriage. He lives with the writer Kay Eldredge and their eight-year-old son, Theo. They divide their time between Aspen, Colorado and Bridgehampton, Long Island.
Salter has published five novels: The Hunters (1957), The Arm of Flesh (1961), A Sport and a Pastime (1967), Light Years (1975), and Solo Faces (1979). He received an award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1982. Five of his stories have appeared in O. Henry collections and one in the Best American Short Stories. His collection Dusk & Other Stories (1988) received the PEN/Faulkner Award.
It rained continuously during the four days I visited Bridgehampton in August of 1992, but I scarcely noticed the weather, so content was I to sit at the dining room table asking questions and listening to Salter’s carefully considered answers. Even on gray days the traditional, cedar-shingled two-floor house with its many French doors and windows seemed bathed in light. We drank ice tea by day, and one exquisitely made martini each night (Salter at one point estimated that he has had eighty-seven hundred martinis in his life). Afterward, company came for dinner; many bottles of wine were consumed; the interviewer wandered off to examine the framed menus on the wall, the etching of two bathers by André de Segonzac, the miniature painting by Sheridan Lord of the landscape near the house.
Salter writes in a study on the second floor, a small, airy room with a peaked ceiling and a half-moon window. His desk is a large wooden country-trestle table made of old pine. Everywhere there are telltale signs of the memoir he has been working on for the past years—envelopes that have been scrawled on, scraps of paper that have been entirely covered with his minute handwriting. On the morning that I was left alone in the study I found well-thumbed copies of Nabokov’s Speak, Memory and Isak Dinesen’s Out of Africa resting on a map of France with places circled and marked. I discovered an aeronautical chart, a sheaf of twelve extremely detailed pages of notes in red, blue, and black ink, a journal from 1955 with the sentence written across the front: “Every year seems the most terrible.” On the small wooden table next to the desk lay a group of cahiers, little soft-covered gray-numbered notebooks, each containing a possible chapter of the memoir. These homemade workbooks are dense with notes—the author’s instructions to himself, quotations from other writers, entries that have been color-coded for the place where they might be used. “Life passes into pages if it passes into anything,” Salter has written, and to read through these notes is to reconfirm what one knew all along: how meticulously each of his pages is written, how scrupulously each of his chapters constructed. Everything is checked and rechecked, written and revised and then revised again until the prose shimmers, radiant and indestructible.
Coming down the stairs past the photograph of Isaac Babel I grew once more wildly excited about Salter’s work-in-progress. He demurs: “Hope but not enthusiasm is the proper state for the writer.”
How do you actually write?
I write in longhand. I am accustomed to that proximity, that feel of writing. Then I sit down and type. And then I retype, correct, retype, and keep going until it’s finished. It’s been demonstrated to me many times that there is some inefficiency in this, but I find that the ease of moving a paragraph is not really what I need. I need the opportunity to write this sentence again, to say it to myself again, to look at the paragraph once more, and actually to go through the whole text, line by line, very carefully, writing it out. There may be even some kind of mimetic impulse here where I am trying to write like myself, so to speak.
So it is crucially a process of revision?
I hate the first inexact, inadequate expression of things. The whole joy of writing comes from the opportunity to go over it and make it good, one way or another.
Do you revise as you go?
It depends, but normally, no. I write big sections and then let them sit. It’s dangerous not to let things age, and if something is really good, you should put it away for a month.
Do you think of the sentence or the paragraph as an organizing unit?
Normally I just go a sentence at a time. I find the most difficult part of writing is to get it down initially because what you have written is usually so terrible that it’s disheartening, you don’t want to go on. That’s what I think is hard—the discouragement that comes from seeing what you have done. This is all you could manage?
You give a lot of attention to the weight and character of individual words.
I’m a frotteur, someone who likes to rub words in his hand, to turn them around and feel them, to wonder if that really is the best word possible. Does that word in this sentence have any electric potential? Does it do anything? Too much electricity will make your reader’s hair frizzy. There’s a question of pacing. You want short sentences and long sentences—well, every writer knows that. You have to develop a certain ease of delivery and make your writing agreeable to read.
I find your prose style wholly distinctive, beautiful and implacable. How did you hit upon it?
I like to write. I’m moved by writing. One can’t analyze it beyond that.
Do you write every day?
No, I’m incapable of that for various reasons. It’s either because of the press of affairs or I just haven’t brought myself to a position where I’m ready to write anything down.
More from Issue 127, Summer 1993
Donald Antrim
Elect Mr. Robinson for a Better World
Curtis's Charm
Ralph Lombreglia
Piltdown Man, Later Proved to Be a Hoax
Melissa Pritchard
The Good and Faithful Widow
Jim Shepard
Batting Against Castro
The Art of Fiction No. 133
A. R. Ammons
Judith Berke
Stephen A. Canada
Nicholas Christopher
Nancy Eimers
On the Phone with My Parents
Irving Feldman
Variations on a Theme by May Swenson
Caroline Finkelstein
Waiting for a Heart
Four Poems
Cynthia Kraman
Sandra McPherson
Christopher Merrill
Lynn Powell
Burton Raffel
Lloyd Schwartz
Shawn Sturgeon
May Swenson
Daffodildo
A Humorist at Work
Erwin Pfrang
Circe Drawings
Peter Campus
Roberto Juarez
Studies for Days of the Year
Blackboard Series
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Roots no longer outfitting Olympic teams, co-founder says
By Michelle McQuiggeTHE CANADIAN PRESS
Mon., April 7, 2008timer2 min. read
Despite a long and lucrative stint designing outfits for the world's Olympic athletes, Roots Canada wishes to dissociate itself from the politics connected with the games and is not troubled by the end of a working relationship with the U.S. Olympic Committee, co-founder Michael Budman said Monday.
Budman said Roots parted company with the USOC earlier this year after disagreements over the design of the uniforms U.S. athletes will wear to this summer's games in Beijing.
They will sport garb designed by Polo Ralph Lauren instead, said a statement released Monday.
Roots had designed uniforms for U.S. athletes since 2002 and outfitted Canadian athletes for seven years but Budman said the company is now shifting focus.
"We're not interested in being a licensee of the Olympics anymore in any way, shape or form," Budman said in an interview.
"We've had the most success commercially of any company in the history of the Olympics and we feel that that's behind us."
Budman acknowledged Roots and the U.S. committee clashed over the desired look of the uniforms with the USOC favouring a more formal style but he described the termination of the contract as a "mutually beneficial" move that won't harm Roots' bottom line.
"We got a very nice payout for all our time and energy and effort and we were able to move on from commitments that would have cost the company millions of dollars," Budman said.
Officials from USOC were not immediately available for comment but in a statement released by Polo Ralph Lauren, USOC chief operating officer Norman Bellingham praised the company's new designs.
"Polo Ralph Lauren is a quintessential American brand that represents a timeless and classic look which we believe our athletes will be excited to wear," the statement read.
Roots first gained prominence on the Olympic fashion scene in 1998 with the red "poor boy" berets Canadian athletes wore to the winter games in Nagano, Japan.
By 2002, it had inked a deal to design berets for the U.S. Olympic team.
The hats became wildly popular, at one time enabling Roots to sell 100,000 of the caps a day at US$19.95 a piece.
But fortunes began to change in 2005 when Roots lost the contract to outfit Canadian athletes and watched as the team donned Hudson's Bay Company apparel for the 2006 games in Turin, Italy.
Budman said the end of the USOC contract comes in the midst of ``strange times for the Olympic movement," referring to worldwide protests over the host country's overall human rights record and rule of Tibet.
Citing a recent protest that nearly saw the Olympic flame extinguished en route to China, Budman said Roots is not interested in dealing with the political facet of the games.
He said the company will be focusing its attention on grass-roots athletic activity, working to support yoga and fitness instructors while strengthening its ties to Canada.
Budman said he looks forward to spending the day of the opening ceremonies camping with fellow Roots co-founder Don Green.
"Maybe we'll listen to the opening ceremonies on radio," he said.
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Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques announces winners of science contest from space
By Kevin BissettThe Canadian Press
Wed., May 15, 2019timer3 min. read
FREDERICTON—Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques took time from his busy schedule on the International Space Station Wednesday to encourage young students to pursue science — telling them they are the future.
Hundreds of students from across Canada are gathered in Fredericton this week for the 2019 Canada-Wide Science Fair at the University of New Brunswick.
Saint-Jacques spoke to the students via a live video link from the space station orbiting 400 kilometres above earth.
“Remember, our future is in the hands of young people like you, everybody in the audience, people who want to make a difference. You can make a difference. You are the future,” he said.
Saint-Jacques announced the winners of the Little Inventors — Inventions for space contest.
More than 3,000 students entered the contest, but Connor Brown from Acton, Ont., and Amy Claerhout of Beaumont, Alta., both Grade 7 students, were selected the winners.
Brown designed different imprints for the bottom of space boots to identify the footprints of different astronauts on the moon or other planets.
“Most boots have the same zigzag pattern on the bottom of the sole. But with my idea, astronauts can see their designed boot imprint marks on the moon. With my invention we can also tell which imprint belongs to who,” Brown told the audience.
Saint-Jacques said he thought it was a very creative idea.
“And you know Canada has joined a group of nations to go back to the moon and we’ll need boots for that. So maybe your invention will have a future. Keep thinking and keep inventing,” he said.
Amy Claerhout designed a mini Canadarm for the washroom on the space station to keep personal hygiene items such as brushes, tweezers and tooth brushes from floating away.
Saint-Jacques said it was an item that would be very useful because the astronauts on the space station have things float away all the time.
Claerhout said she was amazed that Saint-Jacques spoke directly to her and knew who she was.
Both students said they would like to see their inventions put to use, and will follow their interest in science.
About a dozen students from across the country got the opportunity to ask Saint-Jacques questions ranging from “What happens to fizzy liquids like soda pop in space?” to questions about growing food in space, and how to encourage the next generation of thinkers in Canada.
Reni Barlow, executive director of Youth Science Canada said a lot has changed at student science fairs over the years and the ideas from students are more complex than volcanoes made with vinegar and baking soda.
“Primarily it’s because they want to help people. They are passionate about a particular question. They want to make the world a better place. They are not afraid to tackle challenging problems and bigger questions and to go out and find the answers and the resources to come up with some pretty amazing projects,” he said.
Barlow said many of the students are interested in topics like politics and climate change.
“Students are very tuned in to the global problems and local problems and they want to make a difference,” he said.
At the start of the brief event with the students, the International Space Station was over the northern Pacific Ocean and was south of Africa by the time it was complete.
Saint-Jacques arrived on the space station last December for a six-and-a-half month mission, which has included a space walk.
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This Dogs Life
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Using Art, Program Teaches Middle Schoolers About Animal Cruelty — And What They Can Do to Make a Change
||||||Image Credit: An Act of Dog|Image Credit: An Act of Dog|Image Credit: An Act of Dog|Image Credit: An Act of Dog|Image Credit: An Act of Dog||Image Credit: An Act of Dog|Image Credit: An Act of Dog|
by Krissy Howard August 14, 2017
Mark Barone has been a working artist for over 35 years. Drawn to the struggles of the human condition, the passing of his beloved dog, Santina, resulted in a shift in attention toward a different group of the underserved: the four-legged and forgotten shelter dogs of America.
Having begun the organization An Act of Dog in 2011, the mission was to educate the world about the plight of homeless dogs through art. Each painting in the project focused on a specific unknown dog in a shelter who had been euthanized due to circumstances beyond his control – overcrowding, lack of funds, you name it. He had painted 5,500 portraits to represent the approximate number of dogs put down every day in U.S. shelters.
Image Credit: An Act of Dog
“I decided to paint the approximate number of dogs destroyed every day to illustrate and reflect the condition of our consciousness and help wake society up to the silent atrocities that are occurring in our very own neighborhoods,” Barone told This Dog’s Life at the time.
Related: Stunning Art Project Shines Light on the 5,500 Dogs Euthanized a Day
Since then, in a combined effort with his wife, Marina, An Act of Dog has been raising awareness around issues pertaining to the welfare of animals through a long and unpredictable journey.
In the early days of the project, a storm hit, destroying 1,000 of the 5,500 original artworks he had created, forcing him to start again. Once the 5,500 pieces were finally completed, he and Marina, sought to lock down a space to exhibit the works. It was to be called Museum of Compassion and house the 5,500 paintings, along with 11 larger installations, each raising awareness about an animal welfare issue – puppy mills, dog fighting and animal abuse, to name a few. It was to be an epicenter for conferences and a platform for “Ted-like” talks regarding animal welfare, as well as a space for other artists to create new works in the names of the charities of their choice.
Related: New York City to Get a Dog Museum Next Year
But the couple have received little support so far, forcing them to delay its opening.
Rather than throw in the towel, they decided to carrying on, adapting as needed and not giving up.
Now, An Act of Dog is awaiting the release of a documentary, working with filmmakers who have partnered with PBS to follow the journey, showcasing the work the Barone’s have been doing in the arena of animal advocacy, education and community outreach.
An Act of Dog from Sagacity on Vimeo.
“Our hope is the film will touch people and stir them to get engaged in saving lives,” says Barone. “Hopefully, we will get support to carry out our mission in a more powerful way, get the exhibit up and the interactive museum of compassion.”
A release date is expected to be scheduled in the coming months, and for now, the filmmaking team is entering the project in various film festivals around the country.
Until then, An Act of Dog is remaining focused by relying on the power of art, or more specifically, the power of art as a vehicle for change. It has recently taken up working with several schools in New Mexico, along with some across the nation, to harness the creative power of middle school-aged children, educating them on the truths of animal cruelty, adoption and how their art can serve as a catalyst for movement in their communities.
“Our purpose is to work with them to develop and create an art program that focuses specifically on art for social change,” Barone says.
While each school comes with its own set of resources and needs, the implementation of an art program that will, hopefully, remain long after their time working together is over is the main goal of An Act of Dog.
Related: Artist Transforms Recovering Shelter Dogs Into Viral Superstars
“The students learn about the sad conditions and reality for shelter animals,” says Barone. “After they research and discuss their own findings, we work with them to create art and woodcuts that can speak to the issue and show them how to turn it into a product that can be used to save lives.”
Designed to both educate the students and raise funds through the selling of works created, the collaboration splits any funds raised 50/50, with half going toward the funding of the art program, and half toward animal welfare groups in need of support. Sometimes selling their art themselves, though most opt to sell via the An Act of Dog website, where potential supporters can find prints featuring woodcut etchings created by students of the program.
“Additionally, our program is designed to create a foundation for them to address any social issues that need art to be a voice for them,” Barone adds. “Before working with An Act of Dog, the majority of these students only saw their art being used to decorate homes or art for art’s sake,” Barone says. “Now they believe that their art can be used to change the world and contribute to collective happiness.”
Working with local schools at his studio and in their classrooms, and communicating with schools a bit farther away via Skype, the learning process has been eye opening for everyone — Barone, teachers, and students alike. So far, engagement and willingness to learn and create on behalf of the students is a power to behold, with each age group of kids bringing their own special set of skills and capabilities to the table.
While the sixth graders Barone has worked with have generally been very outspoken and excited to confront the current truths of the situation, the older students have allowed the heaviness of such a large issue to resonate with them on a deep level, and in turn, have created exceptionally powerful art.
“Kids are so much more open than adults and are not afraid to look and stand up for change. They are powerful activists and have been extremely influential in changing their family member’s ways of thinking and behaving as they relate to animals,” Barone says. “When a kid stands up and tells us that we are not doing a good job of protecting the innocent and that we must do better, people listen.”
Several students have expressed their gratitude and adoration for the opportunity to create thought-provoking art that yields an impactful outcome, including Stone Hill Middle School sixth grader, Naomi Badiola.
“My art teacher, Ms. Welty, is teaching us about animal cruelty,” she says. “I hate thinking or seeing how animals everyday die, and it just breaks my heart, so I decided to do a project of my own. I am selling bracelets to raise money to donate to animal shelters so that they can have enough money to keep the pet instead of killing them.”
For now, the minds behind An Act of Dog are staying busy with their artistic and educational endeavors, but are always looking toward the future, as the work of an activist is never quite through. They will continue development of more products in an effort to raise funds for animal welfare organizations, as well as arts programs in schools, and Barone is currently working on a couple of projects of his own, including the exhibit for the museum.
Related: After Being Ditched By Breeder Because of Size, Dog Is Now Mascot at Art Gallery
“I am working on 11 paintings that speak to other issues, such as, animal testing, dog fighting puppy mills, and many more,” he says. “And, I am doing a series of 12 paintings that tell the stories of veterans with PTSD and the lifesaving relationships they have with their service dogs.”
To keep up with An Act of Dog, and to stay posted on the release of their upcoming documentary, you can visit them online at anactofdog.org.
Krissy Howard covers New York City-based dog news, along with writing in-depth features, with a love for pit bull stories. She creates humorous content for her blog thankyourodserling and her work has appeared on The Hairpin, xoJane, and a few other places on the Internet. KrissyHoward@thisdogslife.co
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Welcome to The Loud House: Season 1, Volume 1
Now that my kids are getting a little older there is a lot more of The Loud House on! Trust me, we still get our fair share of Bubble Guppies and Paw Patrol with my princess, but my two boys are completely digging The Loud House, and I have to admit it is super cute! Their chaotic life with MANY children really hits home for me. Our home is so chaotic and crazy, so I definitely identify with the parents on this show. The show just released a DVD at the end of May, and my kids have had a trip watching it. We definitely plan on watching this on our eight hour drive for vacation this summer.
Meet the Loud family - a family full of love, chaos, and craziness, and with all of that under one roof, one thing is always for sure: there is never a dull moment in the Loud house! The brand new DVD, Welcome to The Loud House: Season 1, Volume 1, introduces Lincoln Loud, an 11-year old boy who is the middle child of 10 sisters. The Loud House follows Lincoln and his sisters for an inside look at what it takes to survive growing up in a huge family. Lincoln remains the man with the plan to stay one step ahead of the chaos, but whether or not it works is where the adventures begin.
This 2-disc release of Welcome to The Loud House: Season 1, Volume 1 contains the first 13 episodes of the first season and is full of family fun and laughter. Produced by Nickelodeon Home Entertainment and distributed by Paramount Home Media Distribution, Welcome to The Loud House: Season 1, Volume 1will be available on DVD May 23, for the suggested retail price of $16.99.
Inspired by creator and executive producer Chris Savino's (Rocko's Modern Life, The Powerpuff Girls) life growing up in a family of 10 kids, The Loud House is the first series to be greenlit out of Nickelodeon's annual Animated Shorts Program. Season two is currently premiering on Nickelodeon, home to TV's top two animated kids' shows with Kids 2-11 and Kids 6-11, SpongeBob SquarePantsand The Loud House.
Labels: dvd, for kids, paige, review, reviews
Anonymous Wednesday, June 07, 2017
My girls are 7 and 9 and really love The LoudHouse, and they got me hooked on it too.
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Alfred State College president says wind a win-win’
Rob Montana
Mar 28, 2008 at 12:01 AM Mar 28, 2008 at 12:45 PM
When John Anderson was a candidate for Alfred State College president, he spent a great deal of time thinking about what the college had to offer, in terms of generating more revenue. One such asset was its property. Marrying the land with a way to be more environmentally friendly, Anderson thought there may be potential to generate revenue by harnessing wind power.
When John Anderson was a candidate for Alfred State College president, he spent a great deal of time thinking about what the college had to offer, in terms of generating more revenue.
One such asset was its property, both at the college’s farm off Route 244 and at the Lake Lodge. Marrying the land with a way to be more environmentally friendly, Anderson thought there may be potential to generate revenue by harnessing wind power.
“I researched it a little bit, and there’s been a lot of local interest and, understandably, controversy surrounding wind power,” Anderson said. “I went to one of our alums, Mr. (Tom) Golisano (who co-founded Empire State Wind Energy), I had dinner with him in January and asked him how it might work.
“I thought it was nothing but a win-win situation for the community and the college — if the community was willing to discuss it,” he said.
The first step, Anderson said, was to determine if such a venture was feasible for the college to undertake and if the property would capture any wind energy.
Keith Pitman, Empire State Wind’s co-founder and chief engineer, came to the college and did an initial assessment of the property and access.
“He said it was worth further investigation,” Anderson said. “At that point I called (village) Mayor Craig Clark and town Supervisor Jeanne Cartwright and gave them a what-if scenario.
“What we did at that meeting was agree to have an open discussion with the two boards,” he said, “and that’s where we’re at.”
A discussion of the project is expected to take place at the next village board meeting, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. April 8 at the village hall.
Anderson was quick to say the matter is very much in a discussion stage, and no deals have been made.
“My whole position on this is, it’s certainly a worthwhile project to look into,” he said, “but, by no means, if the community is opposed to this, and the town and village don’t want to pursue it, then end of discussion.”
There is still more research to be done on the feasibility of the project, Anderson said, and no financial arrangements have been determined yet.
Beyond the financial incentives of doing such a project, he said the college would be able to further its increasing environmental mission.
“It’s a symbol of the college’s growing commitment to looking at alternative energy sources and sustainability, and serving as a role model for the students,” Anderson said.
Among those types of initiatives already in place are the use of the farm’s organic crops by dining services, creating a center for sustainable agriculture and the construction of a biodiesel reactor to allow the college to utilize used vegetable oil from its cafeterias to help power the buses that run between the Alfred and Wellsville campuses.
“This is just one more initiative to look at to see how we can reduce our fossil fuel use and our carbon footprint as a College of Technology,” Anderson said. “I view it as rather exciting.”
The decision to approach Empire State Wind was helped by Golisano’s connection, but Anderson said the philosophy of the company attracted him to it. He said many wind companies are from out of state, which then come into local areas — such as the Southern Tier — negotiate deals with local landowners, and then apply for permits to construct the turbines.
Anderson said the permitting process is often when local government officials first find out about these projects, and Empire State Wind officials say they want to work with the communities throughout the process, not just at the end.
“They look at working upfront with communities and making sure the communities have a say in the situation,” he said. “I think that’s the absolute correct approach, plus there’s a minimal financial risk if any of these communities take on a project and many rewards.
“There’s no question many people have feelings about how these turbines affect the landscape and the environment,” Anderson said, “and those are all the things we’d like to have an open discussion about.”
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Back to Home Back to News & Tour Back to General news Back to 2018 Back to May Back to New figures show rise in popularity for shorter formats of golf
New figures show rise in popularity for shorter formats of golf
The popularity of shorter formats of the game of golf are on the rise, according to new findings released by the R&A.
The figures demonstrate that nine hole golf has experienced a significant rise in popularity, with substantial increases across Great Britain and Ireland that include a 200% increase of competitive nine hole club rounds by men and boys in Ireland from 2016 to 2017.
Meanwhile GolfSixes, the game pioneered by the European Tour, has been embraced with a junior GolfSixes league that is set to expand through new partnerships across Europe.
And it's not just club golfers and national organisations welcoming shorter forms of the sport. Stars of the sport, including Padraig Harrington, So Yeon Ryu, Jon Rahm, Charley Hull, Mel Reid and Richie Ramsay feature in a new series of videos produced by The R&A with the support of various national bodies about their memories of playing nine hole golf and their enjoyment of the shortened format.
“Nine hole golf is a shorter form of the game that people of all ages and abilities can enjoy together and can be played after work, after school and at the weekend,” said Ramsay, a three-time European Tour winner.
“It’s encouraging that golf clubs are now offering their members opportunities to play alternative, shorter formats of the game in order to meet the demands of busy, modern lifestyles. I think this is important for safeguarding the future of the sport, while providing a fun and enjoyable means to exercise and socialise with family and friends.”
The work being achieved by golf’s governing bodies in Great Britain and Ireland to promote nine hole golf and shorter formats as a way of enjoying the sport in less time, either recreationally or for handicap purposes, is illustrated by new figures which demonstrate the rising popularity of competitive nine hole golf.
Key findings on nine hole golf have revealed the following:
➤ England Golf has reported a 50% increase in nine hole competitive scores returned between 2014 and 2017 (70,127 to 105,254). Between 2016 and 2017, competitive nine hole club rounds by males increased by 17% (50,667 to 59,336) and 6% by females (43,314 to 45,918).
➤ In Ireland, from 2016 to 2017, competitive nine hole club rounds by women and girls increased by 64% (18,753 to 30,803) and by over 200% by men and boys (2,370 to 7,250).
➤ Wales Golf has reported a 28% increase in nine hole competitive scores returned between 2016 and 2017 (12,201 to 15,671).
➤ Scottish Golf has reported a 30% increase in nine hole competitive scores returned between 2016 and 2017 (30,021 to 39,107).
The popularity of nine hole golf is also evident in other countries; in Portugal, there has been a 269% increase in the number of nine hole qualifying scores recorded from 2007-2017 (1,688 to 6,225), while in Spain the number of nine hole rounds played from 2014-2017 has increased by 36% (35,777 to 48,806).
In Australia, last year’s Play 9 initiative, which gave players the challenge of tackling the back nine holes at the Emirates Australian Open, attracted 163 clubs and 2,442 competitors. Organisers are aiming for 350 clubs and over 10,000 players to enter Play 9 this year. Elsewhere, in Canada, nine hole scores submitted between 2007-2017 rose from 277,722 to 732,072, an increase of 164%.
Golf’s professional circuits are also embracing shorter formats of the game with the exciting GolfSixes event recently played on the European Tour and the popular junior GolfSixes League expanding through new partnerships across Europe. Meantime, England Golf and the European Tour have just announced a partnership which will start by engaging members at over 1,900 clubs through GolfSixes.
Duncan Weir, Executive Director - Golf Development at The R&A, said, “The figures reported by the national associations in Great Britain and Ireland, and those in other countries, demonstrate that nine hole golf is rising in popularity. We are encouraged to see that shorter forms of the sport are being embraced by clubs and golfers as a perfectly valid means to play golf in less time, either recreationally or competitively.”
This year’s R&A 9 Hole Championship Final will be played on Saturday 14 July ahead of The 147th Open at Carnoustie and thousands of golfers are competing to try and qualify through events being held by clubs throughout Great Britain and Ireland.
In Scotland, the first ever national nine hole final at Milnathort in June will now be played over two days after over 170 clubs registered for the chance to go forward to play at the famous Angus links. Over 300 courses in Scotland now also have a designated nine hole Standard Scratch Score (SSS) to stage nine hole medals, with more than 50 new ratings so far this year.
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More Than 1 Million People Sign Petition For Spongebob Squarepants Song To ...
More Than 1 Million People Sign Petition For Spongebob Squarepants Song To Be Performed At Super Bowl
By : Charlie Cocksedge On : 10 Jan 2019 19:50
More than one million people have signed a petition asking to get a SpongeBob SquarePants song played at the Super Bowl in honour of the show’s creator, Stephen Hillenburg.
The song the petition is requesting is called Sweet Victory, and was performed at the ‘Bubble Bowl’ in a now-iconic episode called Band Geeks.
The episode saw SpongeBob take lead vocal duty, while a marching band – including Mr Krabs, Patrick, Squidward and Plankton – performed what can only be described as a SquarePants 80s power ballad.
A Change.org petition was started by Isreal Colunga, who is asking the NFL and Nickelodeon to consider the matter. At the time of writing, 1,100,600 people have signed.
As some of you may or may not know, Stephen Hillenburg—the creator of Spongebob Sqaurepants [sic]—has passed away recently. As a tribute to his legacy, his contributions to a generation of children, and to truly showcase the greatness of this song, we call for Sweet Victory to be performed at the Halftime Show.
One person who signed the petition commented:
It’s a hugely inspirational song that I listen to when working out and boosting confidence, but besides that I want it played at the Super Bowl to honor the man who gave us one of the greatest and most quotable cartoons of all time.
His legacy should be honored for all the laughs and smiles his precious creation gave us both as children and as adults.
As Stephen Hillenburg takes his rightful place in God’s Kingdom, I believe this song being preformed [sic] in the Super Bowl just like in the episode it came from would be the most appropriate way to do it.
You can check out the song here:
Stephen Hillenburg passed away in November 2018 following a battle with ALS, which he was diagnosed with in March 2017.
Hillenburg began his animation career in 1987, studying Experimental Animation at the California Institute of Arts in Valencia before he earned his Master of Fine Arts in 1992.
From there, he began winning awards and became a director and writer on Nickelodeon’s Rocko’s Modern Life, before he began working full-time on writing, producing and directing the animated series that would eventually become SpongeBob SquarePants.
The first episode aired on Nickelodeon in 1999, on May 1, and the series has aired nearly 250 episodes to date since then.
Congratulations to Stephen Hillenburg, creator of @spongebob, for winning the Winsor McCay award for lifetime achievement at the Annie Awards! 🎉🍍🧡
A post shared by Nickelodeon Animation (@nickanimation) on Feb 5, 2018 at 2:19pm PST
The series has won Emmy Awards, Annie Awards, and ASACP Awards; it has also been dubbed or sub-titled in more than 60 languages, proving its success and appeal to a wide range of audiences.
Hillenburg also wrote, produced, and directed The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, which was released in 2004 and went on to gross over $140 million worldwide.
At the moment, Maroon 5 are tipped to perform the half time show at this year’s Super Bowl, which takes place on February 3. However, the band have faced criticism for not standing in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick, who kneeled during the US national anthem in protest of police brutality, Evening Standard reports.
Charlie Cocksedge
Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.
Change.org and 1 other
Have “Sweet Victory” Performed at the Super Bowl
More than ONE MILLION fans sign petition calling for SpongeBob Squarepants song to be performed at Super Bowl
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Lawmakers concerned over U.S. surveillance programs
By Kimberly Dozier and Connie CassThe Associated Press
WASHINGTON | The former spy agency contractor who fled to Hong Kong to leak U.S. secrets said he’s not there to hide from justice and has faith in “the courts and people of Hong Kong to decide my fate.”
“I am neither traitor nor hero. I’m an American,” Edward Snowden declared to the South China Morning Post about his disclosures of top secret surveillance programs that have rocked Washington.
Snowden said in the interview published Wednesday that he hasn’t dared contact his family or his girlfriend since coming forward as the leaker of NSA documents. “I am worried about the pressure they are feeling from the FBI,” he said.
The FBI visited his father’s house in Pennsylvania on Monday.
Snowden resurfaced in the Chinese newspaper after dropping out of sight since Sunday. Snowden said he wanted to fight the U.S. government in Hong Kong’s courts and would stay unless “asked to leave.” Hong Kong is a Chinese autonomous region that maintains a Western-style legal system and freedom of speech.
U.S. law enforcement officials have said they are building a case against Snowden but have yet to bring charges. Hong Kong has an extradition treaty with the United States; there are exceptions in cases of political persecution or where there are concerns over cruel or humiliating treatment.
Snowden told the paper from a location the paper didn’t disclose that he has no plans to leave.
“I have had many opportunities to flee (Hong Kong), but I would rather stay and fight the US government in the courts, because I have faith in (Hong Kong’s) rule of law,”
A phalanx of FBI, legal and intelligence officials briefed the entire House on Tuesday in the latest attempt to explain National Security Agency programs that collect millions of Americans’ phone and Internet records. Since they were revealed last week, the programs have provoked distrust in the Obama administration from around the world.
House members were told not to disclose information they heard in the briefing because it is classified. Several said they left with unanswered questions.
“People aren’t satisfied,” Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., said as he left the briefing Tuesday. “More detail needs to come out.”
While many rank-and-file members of Congress have expressed anger and bewilderment, there is apparently very little appetite among key leaders and intelligence committee chiefs to pursue any action. Most have expressed support for the programs as invaluable counterterror tools and some have labeled Snowden a “traitor.”
Congressional leaders and intelligence committee members have been routinely briefed about the spy programs, officials said, and Congress has at least twice renewed laws approving them. But the disclosure of their sheer scope stunned some lawmakers, shocked foreign allies from nations with strict privacy protections and emboldened civil liberties advocates who long have accused the government of being too invasive in the name of national security.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has complained that Director of National Intelligence James Clapper misled a Senate committee in March by denying that the NSA collects data on millions of Americans. On Wednesday, Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., called for Clapper to resign.
“Congress can’t make informed decisions on intelligence issues when the head of the intelligence community willfully makes false statements,” Amash posted on Facebook.
Some Congress members acknowledged they’d been caught unawares by the scope of the programs, having skipped previous briefings by the intelligence committees.
“I think Congress has really found itself a little bit asleep at the wheel,” Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., said.
Many leaving the forum declared themselves disturbed by what they’d heard — and in need of more answers.
“Congress needs to debate this issue and determine what tools we give to our intelligence community to protect us from a terrorist attack,” said Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland, top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, and a backer of the surveillance. “Really it’s a debate between public safety, how far we go with public safety and protecting us from terrorist attacks versus how far we go on the other side.”
He said his panel and the House Judiciary Committee will examine what has happened and see whether there are recommendations to be made for the future.
The Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee will get to question the head of the NSA, Gen. Keith Alexander, on Wednesday, and the Senate and House intelligence committees will be briefed on the programs again Thursday.
The country’s main civil liberties organization wasn’t buying the administration’s explanations, filing the most significant lawsuit against the massive phone record collection program so far. The American Civil Liberties Union and its New York chapter sued the federal government Tuesday in New York, asking a court to demand that the Obama administration end the program and purge the records it has collected.
The ACLU is claiming standing as a customer of Verizon, which was identified last week as the phone company the government had ordered to turn over daily records of calls made by all its customers.
Polls of U.S. public opinion show a mixed response to the controversy. A poll by The Washington Post and the Pew Research Center conducted over the weekend found Americans generally prioritize the government’s need to investigate terrorist threats over the need to protect personal privacy.
But a CBS News poll conducted June 9-10 showed that while most approve of government collection of phone records of Americans suspected of terrorist activity and Internet activities of foreigners, a majority disapproved of federal agencies collecting the phone records of ordinary Americans. Thirty percent agreed with the government’s assessment that the revelation of the programs would hurt the U.S.’ ability to prevent future terrorist attacks, while 57 percent said it would have no impact.
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Tag Archives: Floyd Kane
Diggstown, Featured
CBC’s Diggstown tackles the legal world in a new, and compelling, way
Vinessa Antoine describes lawyer Marcie Diggs as “very vulnerable and flawed and messy.” And the actress wouldn’t have it any other way. Debuting Wednesday at 8 p.m. on CBC, Diggstown—created by Floyd Kane—takes the well-worn legal drama genre and presents it in an interesting new way.
When we catch up with Marcie Diggs (Antoine), she’s struggling with the death of her aunt (Karen LeBlanc). But legal cases are waiting, people need her help. Marcie’s co-workers—including boss Colleen MacDonnell (Natasha Henstridge), Pam Mclean (Stacey Farber), Reggie Thompson (C. David Johnson) and Doug Paul (Brandon Oakes)—work with the community finding justice in cases that explore racism, gender bias and poverty.
We spoke to Vinessa Antoine and Natasha Henstridge late last year about Diggstown and what makes it different from other lawyer series.
Can you break down how this first season of Diggstown will roll out? How is it structured?
Vinessa Antoine: We follow two cases [per episode]. There’s always the case that Marcie is working on and then the case that one of the other lawyers or all the other lawyers is working on. In the first episode, we also learn a little bit about Marcie’s past in terms of her family and the tragedy that happened. And a little bit of her guilt in connection to what happened to her aunt and feeling the struggle of, ‘Where is my place in this world and am I doing the right thing? Does the justice system actually work? Am I the problem or am I the solution?’
As you were reading the scripts and you just mentioned about where’s my place in the world and is the justice system fair? What conclusion did you come to yourself? Do you know your place in the world as Vinessa?
VA: I do. Absolutely. I know that I came to this planet for a certain reason and bring certain gifts that are, I think, to be helpful. I try to use that the best way I can. I think we all think about those things. What is the path that we pick and is it actually helping anyone at the end of the day? I think that’s also Marcie as well. Is she doing this for the money or is she actually trying to help people? I know she really wants to help people, but the justice system is so flawed.
It’s so complicated. It can literally mean the difference between using the wrong word in a sentence and now you’ve completely changed someone’s life.
I assume, Natasha, you did some research into the legal system too and saw how really flawed it can be.
Natasha Henstridge: I’m reading a book right now that’s so about that. Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult. It’s about a lawyer and it’s about an underprivileged woman. It’s about a black woman who was a nurse who something goes wrong with the baby in the hospital and sort of where the justice system takes her. I have friends that are lawyers and I have not, luckily, been involved too much in the justice system in my real life. Although I meant to get arrested once. One time. I think there’s a lot of nuances, obviously, and whether it works or not, it’s not perfect by a long shot. These characters are doing the best that they know how within the confines of the system.
What attracted both of you to the project? I’m going to ask specifically about Floyd Kane in a second, but what attracted you to this?
VA: Well, for me, being able to be the lead of a show, to drive the narrative. That was obviously important, but when I start to read more into the character and talk more with Floyd, I realized how important this character is for Canada and for other countries as well. Just to see, not necessarily, a black woman in a leading role because we’ve seen that before for sure in the States with Kerry Washington and Viola Davis. Marcie isn’t necessarily a tough ball buster kind of lawyer that we usually see with main characters.
Especially with black women. Now, there’s an angry sense sometimes with some of these characters which are usually very valid and plausible, but I think this is a different way of looking at a black woman who is very vulnerable and flawed and messy and doesn’t always go for the ball busting to get her point across. She’s not necessarily cracking the whip and everybody falls into line. She’s the one breaking down crying and doesn’t understand why the system isn’t working.
NH: Such a great point. Such a great point. Very true.
What about you Natasha? What attracted you to the project?
NH: I have to say I read the script and I literally was like, ‘I need to get this role.’ They had me in mind. I went and auditioned. I loved the audition scenes, but then when I went and read the script. It was just the best thing that I’ve read and that was the bottom line for me and had nothing to do with anything else. I wasn’t thinking about the bigger picture at all, to be honest with you. Which now is super meaningful having done the six episodes. I just thought, ‘Wow this is really well written and well put together.’
Then I met Floyd and [executive producer] Amos [Adetuyi] at the audition. To see someone’s attention to detail and to care so much about these characters. To collaborate and be in a situation where it’s very collaborative. Where you felt like someone wanted you to understand and where he’s coming from. I just thought, ‘Wow this man really cares. It makes you care that much more.’ I’m playing an openly gay character. I thought that was super meaningful. I have a lot of gay friends that were closeted as kids and I feel so much for their plight that they’ve been through. Although it’s only touched on so far in the beginning in the show thus far. That to me was super meaningful as well.
I’m getting the sense that it’s somewhat rare to find a showrunner that is willing to be that collaborative. Sometimes they’ve just written in stone what I’ve got is my idea for the characters the way it’s going to be. It sounds as though Floyd isn’t necessarily like that.
VA: Not at all. He’s so … even before I tested for the role he and I had a conversation with the director, Kelly Makin, on the phone. It was a really weird conversation because it was like a three-way. I dialled this special number. I think there was like, maybe a half-second delay and Floyd already is a pretty quiet gentle soul himself. There were questions that I was asking and there would be a long pause. And then he would talk and we spoke, I feel like, for a good 20 to 30 minutes. Which is unheard of I think for me, as an actor, to sit down and actually conversate with the person that created this role. I had a billion questions to ask and he answered every single one of them. Even to the degree where he said, ‘You’ve actually made me go back and question some things that I wrote about the character and try to develop that even more.’
It was such a nice collaborative experience with him and then he was there so much on set. Was able to be in my ear a little bit to keep me on the right path with the character because you shoot out of sequence sometimes and you’re all over the place and the rewrites come in. I want to keep on the journey so that the viewer can follow Marcie and the story from the beginning to the end. He was so available for that.
NH: But he’s very very clear on who the people are and what they want. Which is amazing because you need the captain of the ship who actually keeps things in line and keeps you clear because it’s easy to get lost. He knows the show. It’s his show. It’s his life.
Diggstown airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on CBC and streams on CBC Gem.
Images courtesy of CBC.
DiggstownFloyd KaneNatasha HenstridgeVinessa Antoine
Diggstown, Wynonna Earp
Additional casting confirmed for new CBC original legal aid drama Diggstown as production begins
August 21, 2018 Greg David 1 Comment
With production now underway in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Circle Blue Entertainment, Freddie Films Inc., and DHX Media today announced additional casting for new CBC original drama Diggstown (6×60). Created by Halifax’s Floyd Kane (Across The Line), the series is set for a winter 2019 broadcast and streaming premiere on CBC, the CBC TV app and cbc.ca/watch.
The series follows Marcie Diggs (Vinessa Antoine, Being Erica, Heartland), a star corporate lawyer who reconsiders her priorities after her beloved aunt commits suicide following a malicious prosecution. The team of lawyers that Marcie works with are a curious band of do-gooders, cynics and scrappers – messy souls struggling to keep personal disappointment and demons out of their practice. They work directly in the community to find justice for their diverse clients, exploring issues of racism, poverty and gender bias. Joining Antoine is a star-studded cast including Natasha Henstridge (Species), C. David Johnson (Street Legal), Stacey Farber (Grace and Frankie), Brandon Oakes (Arctic Air), Shailene Garnett (Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments), Tim Rozon (Wynonna Earp), and Dwain Murphy (Titans).
A CBC original drama, Diggstown is co-produced by Circle Blue Entertainment, Freddie Films Inc., and DHX Media. Kane is creator, executive producer and showrunner, and Amos Adetuyi (Jean of the Jones), Brenda Greenberg (Being Erica) and Todd Berger (Wynonna Earp) are executive producers. Kelly Makin (Saving Hope) is the pilot director and executive producer. For CBC, Sally Catto is General Manager, Programming; Helen Asimakis is Senior Director, Scripted Content; and Deborah Nathan is Executive in Charge of Production.
CBCCircle Blue EntertainmentDHX MediaDiggstownFloyd KaneFreddie Films Inc.Tim RozonVinessa AntoineWynonna Earp
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⟵ Back to the experts
Managing Director and Co-Founder Open Streets
Marcela Guerrero Casas
Born and raised in Bogota, Colombia, Marcela Casas lived in the US for most of her adult life before moving to South Africa in 2006. Her academic background includes a Master’s in public administration and international affairs from Syracuse University. She has worked in policy and advocacy for almost ten years in organisations including The Carter Center, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation and Fairtrade Africa. Marcela Casas believes streets can bring people together. “In a city with a history of division and segregation, an Open Streets programme could profoundly change how we relate to each other,” she says. She is passionate about cities, public space and most importantly, people. Open Streets is a concept that resonates strongly with her because of her upbringing and the potential it has shown in Cape Town. Casas is also a cofounder of SUR Collective, a platform for cultural exchange between Latin American and Sub-Saharan African countries and was a contributor to the African Centre for Cities’ Serious Fun project in 2014.
Together we are TUMI
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Hana OR Table Means Faster Recovery
New Operating Table speeds Total Hip Replacement recovery
Thanks to The Hana® Orthopedic Table, hip replacement surgery isn't what it used to be. In fact, the experience of acquiring a new hip is minimally invasive, less painful, and faster to heal than ever before for many patients at Trinitas Regional Medical Center.
Dr. Mark Ghobrial, who recently joined the staff at Trinitas as a surgeon, talks about the benefits of the Hana table designed for Anterior Approach to Total Hip Arthroplasty (AATHA), as opposed to traditional methods of surgery without the table.
"The Hana table allows me to approach the hip through the front of the thigh with a single incision," he says. "Now, there is no need for detachment of the muscle from the pelvis or femur, which is less invasive as in traditional hip replacement surgeries. I do not cut any of the muscles or tendons as in traditional hip replacements. It's a muscle-sparing approach."
The Hana Orthopedic table also offers fluoroscopic X-ray guidance during surgery, which allows for more accurate positioning of the components, and therefore, a more accurate match of the patient's anatomy.
"By going between the muscles, there is less muscle damage for the patient, who will recover quicker, spend less time in the hospital, won't experience the same degree of pain as he or she might have in the past, and is unlikely to experience dislocation,” he says. "And formal physical therapy isn’t necessarily required after surgery. All of these amazing benefits lead to less interruption of life and a faster return to a patient’s everyday life."
During residency at Rowan University-SOM/Jefferson Health (formerly UMDNJ) in South Jersey, Dr. Ghobrial received specialized training in all subspecialties of orthopedics including orthopedic trauma surgery at Cooper Hospital in Camden. He was appointed Chief resident and earned the Resident Research Award for his research in hip and knee replacement/revision.
Under the direction of distinguished surgeon Dr. Marc Hungerford at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, MD, Dr. Ghobrial completed advanced training in Minimally-Invasive Direct Anterior Hip Replacement.
"My goal is always to collectively work with each patient to diagnose their issue, provide multiple treatment options and help guide them to make the best decision to feeling better and becoming more active in their daily life," says Dr. Ghobrial.
Gary S. Horan, FACHE, President and Chief Executive Officer, says, "Dr. Ghobrial and the Hana table are a vital addition to our quality of care in the department of Total Joint Replacement. We are thrilled to be able to offer patients the most advanced technologies and physicians who come with a wealth of knowledge and experience. Dr. Ghobrial certainly fits that description and is an invaluable asset to our medical community. Perhaps those who once avoided the surgery because they couldn't manage the recovery time will opt to have their joints restored and regain a bit of their youth."
About Trinitas Regional Medical Center
Trinitas Regional Medical Center was established in 2000 following the consolidation of Elizabeth General Medical Center and St. Elizabeth Hospital. Trinitas, a major center for comprehensive health services for those who live and work in Central New Jersey, is a Catholic teaching medical center sponsored by the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth in partnership with Elizabethtown Healthcare Foundation. With 11 Centers of Excellence across the continuum of care, Trinitas has distinguished itself in cardiology, cancer care, behavioral health, renal care, nursing education, diabetes management, wound healing, breast health, seniors healthcare, women's healthcare and sleep medicine.
< Back to All Press Releases
Doug Harris
dharris@trinitas.org
Yolanda Fleming
Yfleming@trinitas.org
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News & Stories ›
Reform of the forest industry through innovation
Article | 12/21/2015 09:21:00
Developed and produced at the Lappeenranta mill site, UPM's renewable diesel is a good example of the transformation of the forest industry. Finnish innovation helps the industry expand into new fields. Jaakko Nousiainen tells the story of BioVerno, UPM's renewable diesel.
You need to have the right attitude to work
The story began nearly a decade ago when the management of UPM was looking into expanding the company's operations from traditional wood and paper industries into new fields. One of the ideas discussed was biofuels.
Soon enough, UPM started research on converting wood mass to biofuel by gasification. Another approach to biofuel production was to utilise the side streams from pulp and paper production, but initially this option did not get as much attention.
"In a way, tall oil was a spin-off from the original research", says Jaakko Nousiainen, who joined the research team in 2008. The spin-off had its advantages: As tall oil is already in a liquid state, the research team could move straight onto the final stage of the refinement process.
Tall oil proved to be a productive line of research and UPM's tall oil-based renewable diesel has been available in service stations all around Finland since May.
"The product fits well in a company like UPM. As with wood, pulp or paper, we have a major advantage in renewable diesel production as we have easy access to the raw material. We are also used to managing large processes and have been learning about sustainability for decades. For UPM, responsibility is a prerequisite for our licence to operate", says Nousiainen.
Nousiainen himself has switched position from product development to production: He is currently Production Manager at the UPM Lappeenranta biorefinery.
Innovation is driving forestry in new directions
The renewable diesel developed in Lappeenranta is a good example of the forest industry transformation. Ali Harlin, Research Professor at Technical Research Centre VTT, says: "During the last 10 to 15 years, we have learned more about wood as a raw material than in the last 100 years combined. The number of researchers working in the field is also quite significant".
For example, UPM's product portfolio now consists not only of the traditional paper, pulp and timber products, but also of specialty labels, fuel, energy, biochemicals, plywood and composite materials. In addition to the new products already in production, UPM has ongoing product development projects in many fields.
The development of UPM BioVerno diesel lasted from 2007 to 2012, when UPM made the invest decision to the production facility. The biorefinery for wood-based renewable diesel was constructed at the traditional mill site in Kaukas, Lappeenranta. The total investment was approximately EUR 179 million.
Both the innovation and the investment came as great news to professionals in Lappeenranta. Biofuel production employs approximately 200 people locally.
"Some of our employees have experience in forestry, some have worked at the power plant and, of course, some have experience in the chemical and oil-refining industries. We also have several people with backgrounds in the mining industry", says Nousiainen, as he describes employees of the new production line.
Nousiainen himself followed a rather unique career path. "I'm a somewhat unusual case as I'm not actually an engineer. I have a master's degree in chemistry", reveals Nousiainen, who started his career as an analytical chemist in UPM's research centre.
Nousiainen states that the industry offers "good career opportunities for good people".
"The production process demands specialised knowledge and a great deal of training and on-the-job-learning. Therefore, you need to have an open mind and a keen desire to learn", he says. "You need to have the right attitude to work. It's not enough to know what you're doing. You need to really understand it".
The transforming forest industry is also an interesting career choice for those who want to find a deeper meaning in their work. "I see the forest industry as a constant, stable operator. By contributing to it, we are helping to shape the future of Finland", says Nousiainen.
Jaakko Nousiainen tells the story of the innovation of renewable diesel in his blog post:
The inspiration and innovations behind UPM BioVerno
Ville Blåfield
Strong patent portfolio secures future value creation
Aiming for improved air quality
Biochemicals can replace oil in plastic – new value from wood
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Trump tamps down expectations for North Korea summit
President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are scheduled to meet for their second summit on Wednesday and Thursday in Hanoi, Vietnam. | Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images
“I’m not in a rush, I don’t want to rush anybody,“ the president said.
President Donald Trump on Sunday acknowledged he is “not in a rush” to denuclearize North Korea, and said he would be satisfied with Kim Jong Un simply ceasing tests of his nuclear arsenal.
“What’s going to happen, I can’t tell you,” Trump told attendees of the annual Governors’ Ball in the State Dining Room of the White House — appearing to ratchet down expectations for his second summit with Kim, scheduled to take place on Wednesday and Thursday in Hanoi, Vietnam.Story Continued Below
“I’m not in a rush, I don’t want to rush anybody, I just don’t want testing. As long as there’s no testing, we’re happy,” the president said.
During his remarks to the nation’s governors, Trump exhibited the type of diplomatic uncertainty he has been known to display in the days leading up to high-stakes negotiations with other world leaders, vacillating between aspirations for Kim’s regime and cynicism toward the dictator’s willingness to change course.
“He has a chance to have a country that is so vibrant economically — maybe one of the most in the world,” Trump said.
“I say, you have one of the greatest locations, they have incredible people, hard-working people, smart, energetic. And I think it could be really one of the great financial and economic countries anywhere in the world,” he continued. North Korea is now one of the poorest nations on the planet.
Trump added: “I said you can’t do that if you’re going to keep nuclear. If you do nuclear, that can’t ever happen.”
But the president also said he and Kim “have a chance” to achieve total denuclearization, and teased “a very interesting two and half days in Vietnam.”
Senior Senate Democrats demanded in a letter Sunday that Trump’s upcoming round of talks with Kim “demonstrate tangible, verifiable progress on denuclearization and reducing tensions” with the rogue state, and urged the president to “execute a serious diplomatic plan” in Hanoi.
Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats’ told Congress last month that North Korea is unlikely to surrender its nuclear weapons — breaking with Trump’s assessment that the U.S. is making progress in its efforts to persuade Kim to yield.
“Chairman Kim realizes, perhaps better than anyone else, that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World,” Trump tweeted Sunday morning. “Because of its location and people (and him), it has more potential for rapid growth than any other nation!”
In another message posted Sunday afternoon, the president wrote: “So funny to watch people who have failed for years, they got NOTHING, telling me how to negotiate with North Korea. But thanks anyway!”
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Emergency Safety Intervention Parent Information
Suicide Prevention - Jason Flatt Act
NOTICE TO PARENTS AND STUDENTS OF RIGHTS UNDER THE FAMILY EDUCATIONAL
RIGHTS AND PRIVACY ACT (FERPA) OF 1974
The USD 306 policy shall conform to the "Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974".
Any parent, guardian or student of legal age may inspect the personnel records of the student at any reasonable time. The school district reserves the right to interpret these records to students, parents or guardians at the time of inspection.
Building principals shall be responsible for development of cumulative records of all students enrolled in their buildings. Such records are to be treated as confidential and primarily for local school use. Anecdotal statements shall be written so as to reflect only the necessary facts of a given incident or situation. Professional opinion rendered by counselors or other professional persons may be included in such records. Cumulative records may be destroyed three years after the student leaves the school system.
Permanent records shall be maintained by building principals for each student that enrolls in the schools of the district. These records shall show the student's full name, birth date, parent's name, date entered and left, reason for leaving, attendance record, grade record, standardized test scores, honors, activities, and other factual information which may be necessary to identify the student.
Upon request, the District discloses education records, without consent, to officials of another school district in which a student seeks or intends to enroll.
Students, parents or guardians shall have an opportunity for a hearing to challenge the content of the student's school record, to insure that the records are not inaccurate, misleading or otherwise in violation of the privacy or other rights of students, and to provide an opportunity for the correction or deletion of any such inaccurate, misleading or otherwise inappropriate data contained therein. Any hearing will first be held before the building principal and/or the Superintendent of Schools before a hearing by the Board of Education whose decision shall be final and binding on all parties.
A "Release of Information" request must be received by the school officials duly signed by a parent or legal guardian of the student or by a student of legal age before student information will be released to any outside agency or individual.
When your child becomes eighteen years of age, all rights formerly accorded to you as a parent of said student become the sole rights of the student, and you will no longer have the right of access to said student's records.
FERPA: Notice of Directory Information
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a Federal law, requires that USD 306, with certain exceptions, obtain your written consent prior to the disclosure of personally identifiable information from your child’s education records. However, USD 306 may disclose appropriately designated “directory information” without written consent, unless you have advised the District to the contrary in accordance with District procedures. The primary purpose of directory information is to allow the USD 306 to include this type of information from your child’s education records in certain school publications. Examples include:
A playbill, showing your student’s role in a drama production;
The annual yearbook;
Honor roll or other recognition lists;
Graduation programs; and
Sports activity sheets, such as for football, showing weight and/or height of team members.
Directory information, which is information that is generally not considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if released, can also be disclosed to outside organizations without a parent’s prior written consent. Outside organizations include, but are not limited to, companies that manufacture class rings or publish yearbooks. In addition, two federal laws require local educational agencies (LEAs) receiving assistance under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to provide military recruiters, upon request, with three directory information categories--names, addresses and telephone listings--unless parents have advised the LEA that they do not want their student’s information disclosed without their prior written consent.
If you do not want USD 306 to disclose directory information from your child’s education records without your prior written consent, you must notify the District in writing by September 1 or if received after September 1, within ten days of receiving this information.
USD 306 has designated the following information as directory information:
-Student’s name
-Participation in officially recognized activities and sports
-Name(s) of Parent/guardian
-Grade level placement and dates of attendance
-Weight and height
-The most recent educational agency or institution attended
-Honors or awards received
-Photograph
-Date and place of birth
*These laws are: Section 9528 of the ESEA (20 U.S.C. 7908), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (P.L. 107-110), the education bill, and 10 U.S.C. 503, as amended by section 544, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002 (P.L. 107-107), the legislation that provides funding for the Nation’s armed forces.
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Major US Media Merger Faces Questions From Investors, Regulators
By Jim Randle
2446332_1551226966 video player.
WASHINGTON - A massive merger proposed this week in the U.S. cable television, movie and internet business is a symptom of large and rapid changes in that industry.
The prospect of combining AT&T with Time Warner boosted stock markets, but a social media expert says making large companies even bigger could hurt the innovation that is key to survival. Other experts say the combined company might have problems getting government approval.
The merger proposal comes as cable television companies expect less revenue because customers are turning to internet alternatives.
Time Warner is the parent company of Home Box Office, a cable television channel that shows Game of Thrones and many other popular programs. The big company is the target of an $84 billion merger bid by AT&T, which is one of the biggest providers of internet and wireless communications and a conduit for television programming through its DirectTV service.
An expert at the Silverback Social media agency says accelerating change in the media landscape makes innovation crucial to success and survival. Large, lumbering companies are slow to innovate, according to Silverback's Chris Dessi. He says innovation is much more likely to come from "two or three guys in a basement somewhere - they are in Silicon Valley - they are going to do something so compelling, it is going to change everything we are talking about in the entire media landscape."
On the stock market, skeptical investors pushed down the two companies' stock prices, on worries that it will be difficult to get regulators to approve the merger. But investors often see mergers as a sign of economic confidence, and the news sent overall stock markets up, according to the head of CFRA Research, Sam Stoval.
"Why would AT&T be doing this unless it feels as if there is some growth potential, at least expecting that the economy could be improving over the next several quarters?"
FILE - The Time Warner Cable corporate logo is dis
FILE - The Time Warner Cable corporate logo is displayed at a company store, in New York, May 26, 2015. U.S. lawmakers are skeptical about the entertainments giant's proposed merger with telecommunications powerhouse AT&T.
CNN is another Time Warner company that would be affected by the merger. CNN produces news programs seen in the United States and around the world. Critics say allowing the huge combined company to control so much news and entertainment programming puts too much power in too few hands.
Professor Victor Pickard, who researches the media industry at the University of Pennsylvania, also says mergers may mean customers pay more and get less. "One way or another consumers get hit in their pocketbooks and end up paying more on a regular basis. And many of the purported benefits that industry representatives claim will come out of this often do not ever materialize, at least not to the extent they promise."
Experts argue about the chances the huge merger will win approval from regulators concerned about competition and other issues. Some say the odds of success are 50-50.
US Senate to Examine Proposed $85B AT&T-Time Warner Merger
The U.S. Senate plans to hold hearings next month on telecommunications giant AT&T's plans to buy Time Warner for $85.4 billion in cash and stock.Republican Mike Lee and Democrat Amy Klobuchar of the antitrust subcommittee say the merger of the two communication behemoths would potentially raise significant antitrust issues.Both senators say they "have carefully examined consolidation in the cable and video content industries to ensure that it does not harm consumers…
By Ken Schwartz
AT&T to Acquire Time Warner for $85.4B
Grab some popcorn — AT&T wants to take you to the movies.The company is buying Time Warner, owner of the Warner Bros. movie studio as well as HBO and CNN, for $85.4 billion in a deal that could shake up the media landscape.The acquisition would combine a telecom giant with a leading cellphone business, DirecTV and internet service with the company behind some of the world's most popular entertainment, including "Game of Thrones," "The Big Bang Theory" and…
Jim Randle
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Prescription of drugs to foster youth under scrutiny in Sonoma County and statewide
by Lauren McNerney
When she was 9 years old, Angelica De La Torre saw her mother fall from her pedestal of strength and virtue into a place torn apart by methamphetamine addiction. Unable to deal with the loss of the single most important person in her life, De La Torre herself fell into depression and helplessness.
At 13, De La Torre was taken from a broken home by the Sonoma County welfare system. Soon after that she was prescribed Zoloft and Prozac to help her deal with her depression, anger and sorrow. Instead, she said she used those psychotropic pills to try to kill herself.
“That was my preferred way of trying to commit suicide,” said De La Torre, now 21. “I took the whole bottle because I didn’t want to deal with something being wrong with me, like I was not capable of living a normal life. ... I didn’t want to feel like I couldn’t be happy without having to take something.”
De La Torre, now a student at Santa Rosa Junior College with an eye on a career in naturopathic medicine, continued to take psychotropic medications after entering the local foster care system. She said she laments never being given an alternative to the drugs, which she said did nothing to make her feel better.
“If anything, it made me feel like suicide was a better option,” she said.
De La Torre said she believes she was inappropriately prescribed psychotropic medications as a means of controlling behavioral and emotional issues that should have been dealt with in other ways.
That belief is at the core of a major controversy facing the state’s foster care system, where more than 26 percent of all foster children between the ages of 11 and 17 were prescribed psychotropic medications last year. About half of those kids were on antipsychotic drugs, according to the latest state figures.
Such alarming rates have drawn the attention of investigators for the California Medical Board, who are trying to determine if physicians may be inappropriately prescribing the medications. The board’s review comes as county social welfare departments across the state are also trying to grapple with any potential problems.
Sonoma County is at the top of the list of counties with the highest rates of psychotropic prescriptions among foster youth. Nearly 23 percent of all local foster kids were on the drugs during the 12-month period that ended last June, nearly double the 11.8 percent rate for all 79,166 children who were in the state’s foster care system.
“You have to ask: What are doctors in Sonoma County learning about how to prescribe?” said Carmen Balber, executive director for Consumer Watchdog, a consumer advocacy group that in recent years has called for tougher monitoring of medication practices in the foster care system.
Some children in the foster system warrant a psychotropic prescription, Balber said. But the current levels are “disturbing,” she said, particularly since the young people involved have fewer advocates than most other kids.
“The big concern is that these medications are being used to control behavior instead of legitimate mental illness,” Balber said. “It is impossible that one quarter of kids in the foster system have such severe mental illness to justify these medications.”
Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a set of bills aimed at curbing the overuse of psychotropic medications in the state’s foster care system. The bills increased the responsibility of the juvenile court system, the state Department of Social Services, public health nurses and others to monitor the use of psychotropic medications on an individual and statewide level. But foster youth advocates say the bills omitted one key player: doctors who prescribe the medications.
This year, state Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, has sponsored a bill that would authorize the California Medical Board to collect confidential information about psychotropic medications prescribed to foster youth. The legislation, SB 1174, which is scheduled to be considered by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday, would allow the medical board to investigate possible cases where a physician is overprescribing or inappropriately prescribing psychotropic drugs.
McGuire said the California foster care system is overusing psychotropic medications, which may prove harmful over time to the children placed under system care.
The drugs are necessary for some youths who have experienced “incredible trauma,” he said, but are in many cases being used to control their behavior and substituted for the therapy they need.
“We’re talking about people’s lives,” McGuire said. “California has known for a decade that psychotropic medications and antipsychotics have been overprescribed and we haven’t done a damn thing about it.”
Medical researchers have shown that prolonged use of antipsychotics can cause lifelong harm, contributing to obesity, diabetes, brain damage, organ failure or even death, McGuire noted.
Most of the physicians who care for foster children are doing an appropriate job, he said. His bill is aimed at “a small percentage of prescribers” who are engaging in potential violations of state law, he said.
Anna Johnson, policy analyst for the National Center for Youth Law, which helped craft both McGuire’s legislation and last year’s bills, said SB 1174 helps bridge the gap between county welfare and mental health departments. Too often, she said, county welfare systems contract with mental health department psychiatrists to do little more than prescribe psychotropic drugs.
“That’s problematic because these medications are not supposed to be the first and only treatment that a child receives,” Johnson said.
Johnson said psychotropic drugs, when prescribed inappropriately, such as in the wrong dose, can often blunt a child’s development. Some of the drugs block dopamine receptors that would allow a child to feel joy or form attachments.
“Some of the more positive sensations are dulled by the drug, or they might be inhibited in some way,” she said. “Some studies show that kids become like zombies. ... They’re not able to react in the moment or be themselves.”
She said some young people, when prescribed doses that are too high, will lose trust in their caregivers or providers because of the extreme negative side effects, which include heart disease, diabetes, weight gain, ticks and tremors, an increase in suicidal thoughts and even sudden death in some youth, especially when these medications are mixed with other recreational drugs like alcohol or marijuana.
McGuire’s bill would provide additional information that the state medical board says it needs to complete its review of prescribing patterns statewide and identify the physicians who may warrant additional investigation. It includes the diagnosis associated with the medication, dosage and weight of the youth, said Cassandra Hockenson, a medical board spokeswoman.
“Keep in mind, this is necessary for us to determine who potentially is prescribing inappropriately,” she said.
Anthony Northern was about 14 years old when a conflict with his brother landed him in Juvenile Hall.
He was removed from his home and sent to a local group home, where he was put on several medications, including Seroquel, which is often used to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression. Northern, now 21, said nearly every other youth in the home on medication for mental health issues was required to take Seroquel.
“I floated around like a zombie, half dazed,” he said. “I was really happy to get off the medication, but you have to wean off of it; otherwise, it can have really adverse side effects.”
Northern said he now only takes medications he’s requested himself, including trazodone to help him sleep and Concerta for his attention deficit hyperactivity, or ADHD. He has been attending Lytle’s Redwood Empire Beauty College in Santa Rosa and has plans to one day live and work in San Francisco or Los Angeles.
“I’m no longer taking an antipsychotic or mood stabilizer. I’m no longer on depression medication, because I don’t need it,” he said. “Maybe at that time, I may have actually needed those meds, but there’s honestly a lot of better ways of dealing with the problems I was facing than handing me meds.”
Northern said that when he was in “a zombie-like state” he wasn’t actually dealing with the emotions that were the source of his behavior.
“It was almost like I was mood-stabilizing and sedating them, so I didn’t have to feel any of those things,” he said. “One of the ways that you ever really get over anything — any sort of emotion, anger, sadness — is to process it, hold on to the feelings, understand what they’re doing to you and let it go.”
The state medical board received 8,267 complaints of over-prescribed medications for people of all ages in the fiscal year 2014-15 and opened 1,381 cases for investigation, according to McGuire. As a result, 471 cases were referred to the Attorney General’s office for formal proceedings and 47 medical professionals were disciplined for inappropriate prescribing practices.
Not one complaint was filed on behalf of a foster child, McGuire said, because the children lack advocates.
“No one is standing up for these youth,” McGuire said, noting that the state is the legal guardian for foster children. “We aren’t doing our job.”
Representatives from the medical field have acknowledged a need for reforming foster care.
In April 11 testimony on McGuire’s bill before the state Senate committee overseeing business, professions and economic development, an official with the influential California Medical Association said “real structural problems (exist) within the foster youth system.”
But the association, which represents 41,000 physicians, doesn’t think the bill aimed at disciplining some doctors will improve the health outcomes for foster youth, said Stuart Thompson, an attorney for the group.
Medical board investigations typically go on for one to three years, which means that any corrective action would come “years after a child had received medication they shouldn’t have gotten,” Thompson said.
The physicians group agrees with the idea of providing foster youth with “therapeutic treatments that aren’t based on drugs,” he said. Rather than seeking penalties against some professionals, Thompson said there should be “some sort of educational outreach” to ensure that proper prescribing standards are followed.
Nick Honey, Sonoma County’s director of Family, Youth and Children’ Services, said the county’s high rates of prescribing drugs “need to be addressed.” However, he said they are not an indictment of the local foster care system and its community partners, most of whom, he said, are deeply concerned about children.
“These patterns are not an indicator that people don’t care about the children that they’re serving,” he said. “We do care about children in foster care and we want to make sure that they get the best care possible.”
Honey said some children in the foster system have serious mental health issues that need to be treated, including with drugs. But if the rate of medication is too high or not appropriate, he pledged that county would seek to correct it.
Honey said his department has been analyzing the county’s high rates of medication among foster youth since 2013, when the department became aware of the rates while working on a “system improvement plan.”
At that time, the county determined that 24.4 percent of foster youth in Sonoma County were authorized for psychotropic medications, compared to the state average of 13.4 percent. The analysis covered the period between 2010 and 2012.
The majority of local foster children who are prescribed psychotropic medications live in group homes. A county-provided breakdown dating to 2012 showed 77 foster children — comprising 59 percent of those who were prescribed psychotropic drugs — were placed in group homes. Fifteen percent were in foster family agency homes and 4 percent were at the Valley of the Moon Children’s Home. The remainder were in other types of homes.
Honey said his department has been trying to reduce the number of placements in group homes, a trend occurring across the state. Last August, there were 53 foster children in group homes, down from 114 in August 2010. A similar effort is underway at the county probation department, which currently oversees 30 foster children, all of whom live in a group home setting. The county is trying to determine if its rates of psychotropic drug prescriptions are accurate or representative of a more troubled youth population, Honey said.
“We’re trying to determine whether it’s overprescribing or whether it’s a data entry issue,” he said.
Honey said that Sonoma County often gets foster youth from surrounding counties who have experienced greater degrees of abuse and neglect, some of whom have just been released from an inpatient psychiatric hospital.
“It’s not necessarily a representative sample,” he said.
One of the measures the county put in place last year is the use of a “second opinion psychiatrist” who reviews the court document that must be signed by a judge to approve the use of psychotropic medications for foster youth. That form, known as a JV 220, and its attachments list information which a small team of pediatric psychiatrists use to determine if the prescription is appropriate.
The information includes details about the child, including name, age, residence, prescribed medications, the name and specialty of the prescribing physician, the child’s symptoms, mental health diagnoses and alternative therapeutic services.
Dr. Michael Kozart, medical director for the county’s behavioral health division, said the “second opinion” psychiatry team began reviewing the forms last May. The impact of that oversight has yet to appear in state data describing county prescribing patterns.
“It’s a bit early. In a sense we haven’t actually got data from this year to compare,” he said. “Our hope is that we’re providing greater oversight and a second opinion to guard against excessive prescribing of psychotropic medication.”
Kozart said he believes McGuire’s bill is motivated by a strong desire to protect children from inappropriate prescribing of these medications. He also believes that most behavioral health professionals are constantly reviewing their practices to ensure that they adhere to the most recent guidelines and evidence-based practices.
“Again, my only hope is that we find a way to implement these laws, but not at a price of instilling a culture of fear that could negatively impact our overall care system,” he said.
Amber Twitchell, program director of VOICES, a local center for young people who are transitioning out of the foster system, said greater access to mental health services is needed for all youth, but especially for neglected foster youth.
“When we try to get a young person mental health treatment, it’s not easy,” she said. “They’ll get sent to a community clinic ... medication becomes an easy crutch to lean on.”
Twitchell said more alternatives to medication, such as physical exercise, social and recreational activities and permanent connection to supportive adults, could alleviate some of the behavioral and emotional issues that are too often masked by medication.
“Children’s mental health in general and the mental health of foster youth has not traditionally been something the community has focused on,” she said.
NAPA COUNTY: 780 LINCOLN AVE • NAPA • CA • 94558 • PH: 707-251-9432 • FX: 707-251-9509 • SONOMA COUNTY: 714 MENDOCINO AVE • SANTA ROSA • CA • 95401 • PH: 707-579-4327 • FX: 707-579-4323
VOICES is a program of On The Move, a 501(c)(3) that partners with communities and mobilizes emerging leaders to take action in pursuit of social equity. Visit www.onthemovebayarea.org to learn more.
© 2019 ON THE MOVE
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Florida Supreme Court rules in Citizens bad faith case p3
Wed Jun 3rd, 2015 on Bad Faith Insurance, VPM Legal
We are finishing up our discussion of the recent Florida Supreme Court decision regarding bad faith claims against state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. Again, an insurance company that puts its own interests first — ahead of a policyholder’s interest — is acting in bad faith. The rule only holds for private insurers, though, and Citizens is a government entity. Under the doctrine of sovereign immunity, as well as state law, Citizens cannot be sued.
Every rule has an exception, of course, and Florida, like other states, has exempted certain types of actions from the protection of sovereign immunity. So, if Citizens does act in a way that disadvantages a policyholder, there may be other legal grounds for a lawsuit.
The statutory exceptions do include liability for a willful tort. The court noted that bad faith, however, is not considered a willful tort — or any kind of tort, for that matter — under Florida law. A willful tort, the court explained, would be fraud. In truth, the only action left to an insured is a claim for breach of contract.
The policyholder in this suit did prevail on the breach of contract claim, and Citizens was ordered to pay what it should have paid in the first place. Had the policyholder prevailed in the bad faith claim, however, the insurance company would have been liable for punitive damages — and punitive damages could add up to four times the damage award.
The threat of punitive damages is meant to keep insurance companies honest when it comes to the timely processing of claims. Without that protection, as one brief put it, Citizens has nothing to lose by taking its time, ignoring claims or denying claims indefinitely.
The next step for the lawsuit would be an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The next step for consumer protection advocates could be pushing the Legislature to add bad faith to the list of exceptions. We’ll have to wait and see.
Source: Citizens Property Insurance Corp. v. Perdido Sun Condominium Association, Inc., No. SC14-185, 2015 WL 2236719 (Fla. May 14, 2015), via WestlawNext
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Rossini in Bushwick: Classical Music Gets Casual (and Sweaty) in Kitchens and Warehouses | Village Voice
Rossini in Bushwick: Classical Music Gets Casual (and Sweaty) in Kitchens and Warehouses
by Atossa Araxia Abrahamian
Thorsteinn Árbjörnsson and Sharin Apostolou, stars of LoftOpera’s new production of Le Comte Ory Dina Litovsky
Classical music struck me as a chore when I was a kid. It’s not that I didn’t like the way it sounded; I was just too restless to sit through the concerts my mother would drag me to, or even to make it through a piano lesson without breaking for cartwheels. As soon as I had any say in the matter, I learned three chords on the electric guitar, spent the greater part of the next decade in moshpits, and never looked back.
Fast-forward to the summer of 2015: I’m living in Brooklyn, and my roommate’s invited me to attend a performance by a string quartet at a friend’s house up the street. I’m skeptical, the way I’d be about a night out at Carnegie Hall — I would feel uncomfortable, trapped, bored, and a little stupid — but I go anyway.
The show was on the parlor floor of a shabby brownstone. After a quick introduction from the host, four young musicians, surrounded by cushions, couches, and red Solo cups, dived into Dvorák’s “American” String Quartet and Shostakovich’s String Quartet no. 3. I sat cross-legged on a tattered sofa, stretched as I pleased, and drank about six different kinds of BYO rosé. Nobody seemed snobby about the music; no one seemed to care that I’d shown up in cutoffs and a T-shirt. It was chamber music at its most basic: music, in someone’s chambers.
Dina Litovsky
Thanks to an organization called Groupmuse, shows like this one take place on any given evening, in any number of New York City neighborhoods. Traditionalists might balk at the lack of formality, but Groupmuses, as they’re known, are part of a new breed of performance transforming the way a younger crowd engages with classical music. The motivation behind it is simple: Scores of potential listeners don’t experience the beauty of live classical music because they are too intimidated, broke, or impatient to frequent established venues, where tickets can tax the wallet and your seatmate might be a coughing octogenarian.
It makes sense, then, that Sam Bodkin, 26, the CEO and co-founder of Groupmuse, doesn’t look much like a man who’s out to save classical music, either. With his Teva sandals, loose-fitting shirts, and curly hair, he looks like he could be big into Phish. It’s only when he starts describing his work that the picture starts to make more sense. “Couch-surfing, but for classical music” is how Bodkin pegs it.
“We need more opportunities to connect in the real world, in real time, in real space, to touch warm bodies,” he tells me, sitting with his legs hoisted into a loose lotus pose before a performance in Williamsburg, his eyebrows unruly accelerandos prodding him to talk faster and louder. “And classical music can save us.”
Groupmuse functions through an online platform that matches musicians with hosts, who pay nothing, and hosts with an audience, who pay $10 to the musicians. Its larger concerts, or “massivemuses” — anything from a Stravinsky-inspired “rave” to Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique performed in a Bushwick warehouse — are more elaborate and cost around $20 in advance.
Bodkin himself is a classical music civilian, with no formal training — nor, by his account, much talent. He hadn’t even listened to it much until an unplanned encounter with Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge op. 133 in his early twenties at a neighbor’s house in 2008. After he heard the piece, “a switch was flipped in my brain. And within about six months of that first experience with Beethoven I knew that I was going to devote my life to classical music.”
Árbjörnsson and Apostolou with co-star Elizabeth Pojanowski in Washington Square Park Dina Litovsky
If Bodkin — a suburban kid from Newton, Massachusetts, who majored in political science at Columbia and used to write “bad Beatles songs” — could have such a transcendent experience with Beethoven, couldn’t everyone? That was the assumption on which he founded Groupmuse with Ezra Weller, a New England Conservatory of Music grad, and Kyle Nichols-Schmolze, a Web developer. And it struck a chord: Groupmuse has organized more than a thousand concerts to date and raised $140,000 in a successful Kickstarter campaign (full disclosure, I donated $25). That’s not a lot, but enough to keep running on a shoestring budget.
“People would come to us and say things like, ‘You know, I had no idea that I wanted something like this in my life,’ ” Bodkin says. “It shows that there’s this raw appetite for the intensity of these musical and artistic experiences.”
This way of thinking about classical music is catching on. A start-up opera company called LoftOpera is currently staging a riotous run of Rossini’s Le Comte Ory at the Muse, an industrial warehouse off the Wilson Avenue L, through June 11. Aesthetically and spiritually, the production has more in common with a low-budget pantomime than what you’d normally register as high art, but musically, they pulled off the lighthearted comedy without a hitch.
On opening night, aerialists in nun’s habits performed acrobatics while hanging from the ceiling while music director Sean Kelly conducted some thirty musicians under a wreath of sparkly Hula-Hoops, a tangle of electrical cables, and a crusty NO SMOKING sign. The male chorus, dressed in pink habits, supported a delightfully pervy Ory (Thorsteinn Árbjörnsson), who channeled the Holy Spirit of Terry Richardson in knockoff Ray-Bans and a pink mustache. As the count handed out bananas as blessings, the female chorus, dressed in shabby beige uniforms, peeled and sensuously devoured them.
And there were some decidedly modern twists: Comtesse Adele (Sharin Apostolou) and her sidekick, Ragonde (Shirin Eskandani), received good news via iPhone about a war their husbands were fighting, and promptly mimed selfies to celebrate. The opera ends with a risqué ménage à trois, with Ory (wearing nothing but hot-pink Calvins), his page, Isolier (Elizabeth Pojanowski), and Adele, whom they both lust after, thrusting their hips at one another in a four-poster bed without missing a note.
“This one was exciting to us because there’s a lot of queering going on,” says co-founder Daniel Ellis-Ferris, 27. “There was a lot of opportunity for color and craziness that fit with the farce and comedy.”
Ellis-Ferris started LoftOpera with his stepsister, Brianna Maury, and his classmate, principal conductor Dean Buck, both 26, after studying music at the New School (which sponsored the production of Comte Ory). “Coming out of college we saw an interesting movement of art and music, but no opera,” he tells me. The trio assembled a cast of mostly New School students to perform Don Giovanni in a Gowanus loft space. “This show is only something someone would do if they were very inexperienced,” Ellis-Ferris now notes, “but it went well and we never stopped.” LoftOpera plans to stage a short series of rooftop concerts over the summer and is preparing a production of Mozart’s Così Fan Tutte for September.
A big part of Ory‘s appeal is getting so up close and personal with the performers. It’s an offering that other, more traditionally established composers and directors, like the Metropolis Ensemble’s Andrew Cyr, are experimenting with too. Cyr, who was nominated for a Grammy in 2010, and a group of twenty musicians recently staged the second iteration of a show called Brownstone, a multi-room party-concert at the American Irish Historical Association. Violinists, xylophonists, and harpists performed, and vocalist Ariadne Greif sang a haunting solo while standing just inches from the audience. Combined with a light show, DJ, and food-and-cocktail pairings, it was a synesthetic experience, calibrated to toe the line between awesomeness and sensory overload.
The idea, in Cyr’s words, was for the audience to circulate freely and “take control of the experience.” The music and setting were perfectly suited to that: In each room, you heard a different version of the same song. That seems fundamental to this new crop of classical ensembles: It’s not about gimmicks, it’s about feeling allowed to break with convention and enjoy the music as you like.
Similarly, Groupmuses, whether intimate or wildly blown out, abide by just one programming rule: Performers must stick to classical pieces and not resort to, say, canned covers of “Stairway to Heaven” with strings. (“It’s really silly when you see the London Symphony Orchestra, like, playing a song written by Robert Plant basically about his dick,” Bodkin says.)
Still, “disrupting” classical music comes with its own set of criticisms and worries. “In Lucretia, we played Beyoncé during the intermission,” Maury remembers. “During one show, I got an email with the title: ‘TERRIBLE IDEA INTERMISSION MUSIC’…and it says, ‘I can’t believe this atrocious music. My friend is here and she had to cover her ears.’ And there was this old white lady covering her ears.”
There are more pedestrian concerns, too. “I have to worry if the L train is running or not,” Maury says. “Last summer there was a large cricket by the back door, so it was my job to move my feet to stop the cricket from making noises. As long as I was moving it would keep quiet. During Tosca, I had to sit by the breaker flipping it when we ran out of electricity and hope no one noticed. We’re getting used to garbage trucks. That’s Bushwick for you.”
She could just as easily have been describing the Groupmuse that followed my chat with Bodkin last month. The main attraction was a young group called the Ulysses Quartet, recent winners of the prestigious Fischoff competition, performing Bartók’s fourth quartet. The show was sold out: People sat on the floor, squeezed into corners, and piled up on a large mezzanine, their legs hanging off the ledge. It was wet and cold out, but within minutes listeners were peeling off their clothes. A volunteer tossed ragged foam squares — makeshift cushions — and cracked jokes about fire hazards. It was all pretty punk rock, for a classical music show.
As the quartet played, I noticed Bodkin sitting behind them on a spiral staircase. He played air violin and punched the air. His eyes were closed, his head thrown back. He appeared, from afar, to be having what they call an experience.
More:Classical
Journalists and other political tourists come from far away to see “el bordo.” Some say it’s the Wall, some see it as the DMZ. Others say it is a new version of the Maginot line.
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Local news blogging: CA passes water system overhaul
← return to Water Cooler
By Anthony Bowe The Washington Times - November 5, 2009, 05:07PM
A long-awaited plan to restructure California’s water system was passed by the state’s legislature on Wednesday. Pressure to pass a new water plan was highly publicized, and threats from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to veto policy makers’ bills in recent weeks led to several closed-door meetings among Assembly members. The end result is being criticized as imperfect, but praised as “historic.” It is the largest comprehensive water overhaul since the 1960s.
From the San Francisco Chronicle:
“The historic legislation, praised by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, enables the state to closely control water delivery and use statewide. It imposes strict conservation rules in urban areas and supports the restoration of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta ecosystem. It also paves the way for the construction of dams, levees and a controversial canal to bypass the delta and carry water from the Sacramento River to Central and Southern California.
“The state’s voters would decide in November 2010 whether to approve the $11 billion general obligation bond that would pay for much of the work needed to upgrade a water system that officials said was built for 16 million people but serves about 38 million statewide.”
California bloggers comment:
California Notes: SoCal gets the water, NorCal gets the bill.
“It’s the same tired story all over again. The Central Valley and Southern California plan to take water from the North by building a peripheral canal. The rub is that they want Northern California to pay for it too. All Northern Californians get from this bond is the privilege of paying the bill.”
Aguanomics: Detailed analysis of bill.
“I consider this progress, but very imperfect, and not even close to where we need to be in California.”
Calitics: VIDEO - Speaker of the California Assembly Karen Bass speaks about water bill passage.
Calitics: Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar applauds water legislation passage.
The Thin Green Line: Water, water everywhere.
“California has finally brokered a deal to revamp the state’s ailing water supply system, largely spurred by pressure from farmers. The deal promises to balance environmental constraints with economic pressures. But that all depends on how you define balance.
“…the new deal makes most cuts in water supplies to cities—that’s you and me—not to growers of these crops.”
California Progress Report: “Historic” Water Deal Draws Both Praise and Criticism.
“While the Governor and Democratic Leadership are lauding the water deal as an historic achievement, local leaders and environmental groups are lamenting it as the prelude to a peripheral canal that will end the delta as we know it by diverting water away from the delta and to the south.”
Mayor Sam’s Sister City: L.A. City Council members caught violating water restrictions.
“…while overall use among Angeleños is down 17%. Greig Smith’s watering is up more than 13%, Janice Hahn’s is up 26%, and Herb Wesson is watering 130% more than one year ago. Each has an explanation, except Richard Alarcón who won’t provide his bill and, to our dismay, is playing games.”
California Notes: Huber Water Bill Denied Consideration
“A bill which would prohibit the construction of a peripheral canal around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta without a full fiscal analysis and a vote of the state legislature won’t even get a chance.”
Fresno Bee Opinion Talk: State Sen. Dave Cogdill, Modesto Republican, displays negotiating skills.
Speak Out California!: An assembly member and a water maven/activist responds to water legislation.
Opinion L.A.: Humans are more than 50% water. Do we hate more than half of ourselves?
“For years, we’ve been shoved into accepting the false, manipulated choice of jobs versus the environment; now there’s the insidious manufactured either-or of “us versus them,”’ the `”them” being a balanced water system and the habitat and creatures that are part of it. Well, here’s some breaking news that should be old news: We ARE them.”
California City News: Assembly pulls all-nighter, water deal done
“Capitol Insiders’ Twitter fees lit up at around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, leading some of us to question who was up too late, and who was up too early. Turns out the Assembly decided to burn the midnight oil and bang out the water deal once and for all.”
“When discussing recent state budgets, the governor and others said the state could not afford to fully maintain its universities, community colleges, HIV/AIDS services, poison control centers, domestic violence shelters, state parks, health care for children, and in-home care for seniors and the disabled. Paying back this water bond will come at the expense of these services that Californians expect.”
-Noreen Evans, Chair of the CA Assembly Budget Committee
Anthony Bowe
A writer
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VUSI’S GOAL IS TO INSPIRE THE YOUTH
S inger Vusumzi Kambi wants to inspire the youth from his kasi to chase their dreams. The Afro soul singer from Nyanga East in Cape Town, whose stage name is Vusi Chase, makes music which tackles social ills in his kasi. “I’m happy God gave me a voice to help inspire people and be able to speak to them so we can bring change in society. “Kids carry weapons from a young age in Nyanga, and I hope to stop that through my music.” The singer released his first single, Chasing My Dream, in 2014 after he dropped out of university to pursue a music career. “Varsity was taking too much of my time. I wanted to focus on music. “I’ll go back some day. I just need to get my career off the ground first.”He told SunBuzz he admired Afro pop singers Ringo Madlingozi and Ntando Bangani. “I’ve always been fond of my language, and when I heard Ringo and Ntando’s songs I loved them because they embraced their culture. “Another thing that motivated me was that they came from humble homes yet made it. “That for me was confirmation that even though I came from a struggling home, I was going to make it.”He released his single Love Addiction last month and is working on album, Joy In The Dark.“The album will be about love, positivity and inspiration. It will be released next year.”
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Alternatives to a Wall
How NAFTA, CAFTA, and other corporate-friendly trade policies displace farmers and create mass migration, and how we can do better
Oscar A. ChacónAmy ShannonSarah Anderson posted May 01, 2006
Inviting Immigrants Out of the Shadows
by Oscar A. Chacon, Amy Shannon, and Sarah Anderson
Common sense immigration policies for a globalized world
NAFTA, poverty, and migration: the untold story of the immigration debate
by Sarah Van Gelder
Mother of Exiles
by Pramila Jayapal
The year 2006 may go down in the history books as the year when immigrants came out of the shadows to demand a place of respect in American society. Hundreds of thousands of immigrants, documented and undocumented, have marched in the streets of cities across the country. Thousands of students walked out of class to join them.
The direct focus of these demonstrations has been proposed legislation that would turn every man, woman, and child who is in the country without authorization into a criminal and turn people who give even humanitarian assistance to unauthorized foreigners into felons. Perhaps most extreme, it would authorize construction of a 700-mile wall along the U.S. southern border.
Whatever the outcome of this legislative battle, the protests have sparked a long-overdue debate on immigration issues. If we are to lay the foundation for more sensible policies, the debate must be broadened to recognize the links between U.S. policies and the conditions that drive migration in the first place.
Why people migrate
The massive influx of migrants in the past several decades, particularly from Mexico and Central America, cannot be traced to a single cause. However, economic globalization policies supported by the U.S. government are significant factors. NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) almost certainly contributed to the sharp increase in the number of Mexicans living in the U.S. without authorization, from 2 million in 1990 to an estimated 6.2 million in 2005.
With barriers to agricultural imports lifted, Mexican farmers have found themselves competing with an influx of cheap, heavily subsidized U.S. agricultural commodities. Facing dire poverty in the Mexican countryside, millions have made the wrenching decision to leave behind families and communities and head northward.
Despite NAFTA’s record, Congress approved a similar agreement with Central America last summer that is expected to have similarly devastating effects on small farmers in those countries. Throughout the developing world, farmers are particularly vulnerable to import competition because of World Bank- and IMF-promoted cuts to support for small-scale agriculture.
Migration has also been stimulated by natural disasters both acute—like hurricanes — and chronic — like soil erosion and aquifer depletion. Put bluntly, most people who die in hurricanes do so because poverty has forced them onto marginal lands, because they live in substandard housing, and because unfettered development has eroded the natural environmental defenses that protect vulnerable areas. Rather than addressing these problems, most developing-country governments are pressured by international financial institutions to slash spending for social and environmental protections, look the other way when foreign investors damage the environment, and devote scarce resources to pay interest on external debts.
If we fail to recognize the connections between migration and globalization, our policies will provide a temporary Band-Aid solution at best. And yet U.S. politicians have not only failed to recognize these global links, they have also scapegoated immigrants for domestic policy failures.
There is a growing segment of U.S. society that has not benefited from the country’s overall economic growth — the 45 million who lack health insurance, the hundreds of thousands who have had their retirement benefits cut, the tens of thousands who have lost wellpaying manufacturing or technology jobs in just the past few years. As in developing countries, workers in the United States have suffered from trade and globalization policies that encourage corporations to pit workers and communities against each other in a global race to the bottom in wages and benefits. The deep sense of insecurity caused by these changes leaves many people looking for someone to blame. Foreigners make an easy, albeit mistaken, target.
Building transnational alliances
Over the past several years, anti-immigrant extremists have succeeded in polarizing the public debate. What we need now is a real exercise in democratic accountability, one that acknowledges the transnational nature of the challenges we face. We need to listen to the wise and solution-oriented voices of the local elected officials, law enforcement officers, and the business, religious, and immigrant community leaders who truly care about these matters and who are often misrepresented by those who claim to speak for them.
There are common-sense alternatives to building a wall around our country (see Inviting Immigrants Out of the Shadows). The American people need to reject the fortress mentality and take back the issue of migration from those who want us to embrace fear and hate. This proud nation of immigrants needs its citizens to reclaim the best traditions of our nation and to build a better world for all.
Oscar A. Chacón is the director and Amy Shannon is the associate director of Enlaces América, a support center for Latino and Caribbean immigrant organizations based in Chicago. Sarah Anderson, of the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC, is the co-author of Field Guide to the Global Economy and “Debt Boomerang 2006.”
Reprints and reposts: YES! Magazine encourages you to make free use of this article by taking these easy steps. All Rights Reserved
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World Families Forums - Pre & Post British Dark Age Haplogroup Ratio Difference?
Pre & Post British Dark Age Haplogroup Ratio Difference? « previous next »
Author Topic: Pre & Post British Dark Age Haplogroup Ratio Difference? (Read 25609 times)
EthiopianSon
Pre & Post British Dark Age Haplogroup Ratio Difference?
It has been said that the I Haplogroup was carried in great numbers in the Dark Age "invasions" of Britain and that, as it is also thought that the newcomers heavily settled the east of Britain, but had a much smaller effect upon the west, that the ratio of I/R1b is highest in the east and lowest in the west. I believe this picture has been supported by Y-DNA testing.
Of course it is just a finger in the air estimate, but is this really the best simple indicator to use? Isn't R1b-U106 also thought to have arrived in Britain largely during the Dark Ages? If this is the case then the ratio I/R must be rather polluted by the U106s.
Wouldn't it be better to look at the ratio of R1b-U106 to R1b-P312? Has anyone done this and are there any stats/maps showing this ratio?
« Last Edit: March 28, 2013, 09:55:59 AM by EthiopianSon » Logged
Re: Pre & Post British Dark Age Haplogroup Ratio Difference?
Quote from: EthiopianSon on March 28, 2013, 09:54:14 AM
The best estimates is around 40-45% U106 and 55-55% P312 in England proper of the 70% R1b-M269. This is based on percentages provided by the Busby and Myres studies. So, if R1b-M269 represents about 70% of the male lineages in England proper and then of that 70% U106 is around 40-45% and P312 is 55-60% you would have to figure out what those percentages are in relation to 70% to figure out the exact relation of U106 to the whole, which would include the 70% R1b and 30% other, which inludes all the various haplogroups, R1a, I, G, E and so on.
William B. Webb
P312>DF27>Z220
You're talking about the overall % though not the difference in the U106/P312 ratio between different regions. As an example, what is the U106/P312 ratio in Suffolk compared to in Powys (ignoring all other HGs)?
Quote from: EthiopianSon on March 28, 2013, 12:29:12 PM
Someone posted the percentages by region on another forum. I will attempt to copy and paste them here. Don't hold your breath. You'll probably pass out from lack of oxygen before I find them, let alone figure out how to copy and paste. The only issue they are only broken down into north east, south east, north west, south west England.
Thanks Webb.
north east, south east, north west, south west is better than nothing although comparing the mid-west to east anglia would probably be the best regions to look at. If the respective I/R ratios were also posted it would be interesting to see them alongside the U106/P312 values for comparison.
You might find this interesting. Webb is an occupational surname of pre-Norman origin as far as entomology. There are 31 lineages on the Webb surname DNA project. 14 are confirmed P312, 8 confirmed U106, several are confirmed as various other haplogroups a few are just M269. The lineages are from all four corners of England proper. I have a theory that the lower classes, meaning the serfs or working class celts were left largely intact by the incoming Anglo-Saxon invaders. I think that it was like a wave, the point of impact, or the east of England had the largest impact genetically, and as you leave the point of impact, the genetic impact becomes less. I would love to have enough time to investigate English occupational names and see the ratio of P312 to U106.
Quote from: Webb on March 29, 2013, 06:21:11 AM
You might find this interesting. Webb is an occupational surname of pre-Norman origin as far as entomology. The lineages are from all four corners of England proper.
When the name was first used and when the majority of people adopted it (or were assigned it by the then tax collectors;-)) are two different things.
Studies of medieval documents generally point to the peasant majority only adopting permanent surnames in the late 1300s so the distribution of an occupational surname like Webb is more likely to be linked to where there was demand for said occupation. In the case of weavers perhaps this was near sheep producing areas, or perhaps near market towns or perhaps at ports where yarn was imported.
I have a theory that the lower classes, meaning the serfs or working class celts were left largely intact by the incoming Anglo-Saxon invaders. I think that it was like a wave, the point of impact, or the east of England had the largest impact genetically, and as you leave the point of impact, the genetic impact becomes less. I would love to have enough time to investigate English occupational names and see the ratio of P312 to U106.
My understanding is that there was quite a difference between the Angles and Saxons, i.e., the Saxons immigrated gradually from Roman times and slowly spread their influence by further immigration and taking out rival leaders and their supporters, whereas the Angles arrived en masse and slaughtered anyone in what is now East Anglia then sailed up to Scotland and moved south down the NE edge of England again slaughtering anyone in their way. Once they had secured themselves in their initial kingdoms they throttled back the slaughter and just took out the remaining elite to take control of the remaining Britains who were now concentrated in the western half of the England plus Wales.
Just as the Roman empire was built on slavery, I would hazard a guess and say that the only way the Angles could have rampaged around the remainder of England, without becoming over-extended, and at the same time been producing enough food to support their families, was by enslaving the captured Britains.
From the point of view of who was likely to have survived amongst the ancient Brits those with the least chances of survival were perhaps:-
1) anyone that lived in the east
2) tribal leaders and their families
3) strong peasants who were conscripted to fight for their leaders
i.e. if you lived in the western half of England/Wales, were of an undistinguished physical build, and kept your head down harvesting turnips, your family stood a fair chance of pulling through the dark ages intact. If you were a heroic warrior type, you could forget it!
My thoughts exactly. If you kept your head down, and were able to produce items that the incoming invaders deemed valuable, or at least better than what they were able to produce, then I would imagine you would have survived. Examples would be weaving, maybe goldsmiths, blacksmiths, and other trades people.
England Northwest -- 47 samples
L21 = 40.4%
U106 = 21.3%
U152 = 6.4%
P312 (non L21/ non U152) = 10.6%
England Southwest -- 48 samples
P312 (non L21/ non U152) = 6.3%
Central England -- 165 samples
East England -- 172 samples
England Southeast -- 52 samples
This is info from the Busby paper on "The Peopling of Europe" and was provided by a poster on another forum. The P312* category was published before the discovery of DF27, so it is assumed that the majority of this P312* is made up by the DF27 clades SRY2627 and mine, Z220. There could also be some L238 in there which is a Scandanavian oriented clade under P312.
Degredado
So in the east and southeast of England, DF27 is actually prevalent over L21 (or it can be assumed so, anyway). Interesting
Quote from: Degredado on March 29, 2013, 06:05:34 PM
You have noticed the same thing I did. U106 is very stable, it has roughly the same percentage in all four areas. U152 is the same, except in the southeast. However, L21 and P312* seem to have a relationship. Where one is higher, the other is lower and vice versa. It makes me wonder if that is a result of a pre-Anglo-Saxon interaction.
rms2
Board Moderator
I'm not sure we'll be able to say much about a paragroup like P312*. I wouldn't assume that all of it is DF27. It could be a mix of things with different affiliations and histories.
It is interesting to compare the Busby data from England with the Busby data from Ireland.
East Ireland (N = 149)
U152 = 4%
P312xL21, U152 = 7.4%
North Ireland (N = 72)
South Ireland (N = 89)
West Ireland (N = 67)
I didn't use any of the Myres data listed on Busby's spreadsheet. The sample sizes were smaller. Myres has P312xL21, U152 at 22.7% in Ireland Southwest, but with a sample size of just 22. That seems an odd result, given Busby's figures with bigger sample sizes.
« Last Edit: March 29, 2013, 10:07:37 PM by rms2 » Logged
Y-DNA: R-DF41
mtDNA: U5a2c3a
Ancient European Y-DNA (to about 1000 BC)
Quote from: Webb on March 29, 2013, 07:38:18 PM
However, L21 and P312* seem to have a relationship. Where one is higher, the other is lower and vice versa. It makes me wonder if that is a result of a pre-Anglo-Saxon interaction.
Bear in mind that there has been a stream of immigrants flowing into England in every century that you can think of. Probably a large % of these newer immigrants entered where the channel was narrowest, i.e. Kent, London, Essex & Suffolk which is exactly the area P312* appears to be elevated.
When you look at the surnames of places like Kent and Suffolk since as recently as the 1500s they still have a lot of names like "Dutch", "Spain", "German", and other non-English names that have since become anglicised. The Kentish ports were full of merchants/sailors, many of whom were of foreign origin and ended up settling in England. And then London of course was re-populated by the Normans after 1066 and has seen a steady influx of immigrants ever since.
In other words it can be argued that if any haplogroup is highest in the southeast corner, it says more about the most recent immigrants rather than the older ones.
Thanks. What exactly is the definition of Central England and were there figures for Wales?
I'm going to guess the Midlands, maybe. And why yes, I can post the results for Scotland and Wales. Please note, that if the majority of P312*, which I would suspect it is, not every drop, but the majority, then the invasion/migration pattern will be more muddled. As there are at least four varieties of DF27 found in the isles and could represent that many different waves.
GoldenHind
Quote from: rms2 on March 29, 2013, 10:03:46 PM
I agree. While recent testing indicates that somewhere around 80% of P312* (XL21,U152) is DF27+, this is undoubtedly skewed by the fact that virtually 100% of P312* in Iberia is DF27. So the percentage of P312* which is DF27 in the British Isles is somewhat lower.
Busby's P312* would also include a smaller portion of DF19, which appears to be confined to northern Europe.
As for the P312** (XL21,U152,DF27,DF19,L238), the numbers have grown considerably in the past few months from a handful to 31. A close study suggests this is a heterogenous group, and probably consists of two or three smaller subclades with different distributions, although overwhelmingly northern.
So it might be fair to assume that nearly all P312* in Iberia is DF27, but that certainly wouldn't be accurate for P312* in Britain.
« Last Edit: March 30, 2013, 02:43:41 PM by GoldenHind » Logged
Here are the Busby data for Scotland and Wales.
Northeast Scotland (N = 67)
Northwest Scotland (N = 80)
P312xL21, U152 = 8%
West Scotland (N = 21)
North Wales (N = 120)
L21 = 45%
P312xL21, U152 = 17.5%
South Wales (N = 9) *Note very small sample size.
I think when you look at the Busby data for the British Isles, you see a predominantly L21+ zone running from SW England, at about 38% L21+, through Wales, at about 50% L21+, up into northwest England, at about 40% L21+, and Scotland, at about 50-60% L21+. As one moves east into and through England (Angle Land), he begins to see L21 fade (but never below about 13% at its ebb in East England).
In England, U106 seems to run a fairly consistent rate of 20-25%. U152 and P312xL21,U152 pick up in the east, and I suspect some of the slack left by the decrease in L21 is also taken up by I1, although that doesn't show up in Busby. The pretty obvious conclusion, despite relatively recent continental input into SE England, is that these data reflect the Germanic heritage of the English, especially in the east and southeast, versus the predominantly Celtic heritage further west and north, in southwest England, Wales, northwest England, and Scotland.
I'm surprised at how stable U106 is, throughout all regions. I would expect a considerably higher presence in the east/southeast regions. Judging by that data, one could even be misled to think P312*/DF27 was the dominant subclade among the angles and saxons.
U106 is noticeably higher in the south and east of England than it is in the north and west. When one crosses the border into Wales and again into Scotland, it drops like a rock. In Ireland, it dwindles even further.
The odd U106 high point in Busby's NE Scotland sample probably reflects the settlement of Northumbrians (Angles) there by King David I in the 12th century.
« Last Edit: March 31, 2013, 07:34:43 AM by rms2 » Logged
Quote from: rms2 on March 31, 2013, 07:32:53 AM
Also note that U152 is highest in southeast England. I think Degredado brings up a good point. Either the Anglo-Saxon invasions left a much stronger linguistic and cultural impact then a genetic one, or some subclades of U152 and DF27 were brought into Britain with the Anglo-Saxons.
« Last Edit: March 31, 2013, 08:36:45 AM by Webb » Logged
Thanks rms2
Is the difference in U106/U152 ratio between north and south due to the small sample size or is this a genuine difference? Is there any other data to verify this?
2 things that might have made a difference bwteen north and south are the normans overrunning the top of Wales but striking alliances with inidigenous princes in the south and, I think, perhaps the greater effect would be an influx of english in the 17 & 1800s seeking employment in the coal mines and steel works around Cardiff/Swansea. Did Busby filter these out (is it possible even?)
Just to point out something that always gets overlooked (or perhaps people don't understand its significance?) is that the Haplogroup % breakdown by region is only one way of looking at things but can skew things if looked at just on its own.
If you look at the approx % results above we have:-
South East L21 % = 15
Wales L21 (av) % = 50
but when you take into consideration the absolute populations of the two areas which are approx:-
South East = 20 to 30,000,000
Wales = 3,000,000
the L21 population of each area can be projected to be:-
South East = 3,000,000 to 4,500,000
i.e. the % figure implies there are more L21s in Wales than in the South East, but in real life it is the complete opposite and there are twice as many L21s in the South East than in Wales.
I don't know about DF27, because we don't know how much of that P312xL21,U152 in SE England is DF27+, but I tend to think some of that U152 came with the Anglo-Saxons. Some of it may have already been there as a result of the arrival of the Belgae within living memory of Caesar's excursions into Britain 55 and 54 BC. That may account for some of the P312xL21,U152, as well.
It seems to me the Anglo-Saxons made a very significant genetic impact, if one attributes to them most if not all of the U106 in England, and probably the I1 there, as well.
While that is true, proportions tell an important story of population history, more important than shear numbers, in my view.
No doubt the USA has more L21 than anywhere else, in terms of numbers.
Out of love for trivia I wonder what the figures really are? On the one hand the US has 5 times the population of the UK, but on the other, it has much greater proportions of hispanic, african, asian and (strangely enough!) native american.
I would guess there may be more L21s in the US than the UK, but it can't be by that much can it?
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Cities Research Seminar Series: Scaling Up Inclusive and Affordable Housing in the New Urban Agenda: Land Use Regulation Challenges for Socially Inclusive and Sustainable Cities
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM EDTWashington, DC
Rapid urbanization places great pressure on land markets and housing costs, and thus exacerbates housing shortages and socio-economic spatial segregation. Providing affordable, well-located housing at a scale commensurate with soaring demands is central to achieving the inclusive and sustainable cities envisioned in the New Urban Agenda. Although the size and overall characteristics of the housing sector varies markedly within and across countries, there is a common demand for integrated approaches (planning, financial, service delivery) that incorporate the provision of adequate, safe, and well-located affordable housing.
Land is one of the fundamental inputs to housing. The supply of land and its cost have a direct impact on the cost of housing. Thus, scarcity of land and particularly serviced land has a pervasive impact on the quality of life of households, society, the environment and the sustainability of cities. Moreover, affordable housing programs of significant scale have generated spatially segregated urban regions by locating the poor in areas where land is the cheapest: the urban periphery. Ensuring decent living conditions and economic opportunity to people, especially lower income households, however depends not only on the number of housing units that can be produced, but also on our capacity to realize affordable housing in well-connected areas within the city.
With an emphasis on experiences from early-urbanizing Latin America and some countries from Asia and Europe, this event focuses on programs, policies, and strategies that have developed in response to the housing affordability challenge. Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), is the most urbanized developing region in the world - 80 per cent of the population lives in cities. The numerous ways that the governments, institutions, and populations of the region have dealt with issues of affordable housing and land in a context of increasing urbanization now offer valuable lessons on this crucial issue. In addition, this history highlights the areas for improvement in New Urban Agenda, in particular social inclusion, and spatial and socio-economic segregation.
Download Presentation PDF
Speaker: Cynthia Goytia
Cynthia Goytia is Head of the MSc. in Urban Economics at Torcuato Di Tella University in Buenos Aires, Argentina where she is also the head of the Urban Policy and Housing Research Center (CIPUV) - one of the most prestigious urban research centers in Latin America. She has a joint appointment at the Urban Economics and the Public Policy Graduate Programs.
She has developed a relevant and influential body of academic research on urban policies, housing and land markets, published in specialized publications and books, some of them recently released in Chinese. She holds a M.Sc. in Urban Economics and a PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She was a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University in 2017 and has lectured at the Institute of Housing Studies in the Netherlands, the Cambridge University and LSE. She is a senior urban consultant to Argentina´s and Latin American governments, the World Bank, United Nations Inter-American Development Bank and CAF (Banca de Desarrollo de America Latina), and fellow to the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
Topics: WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities
Project: Cities For All
10 G Street, NE (Suite 800)
Add to Calendar2018-03-19 13:00:002018-03-19 14:30:0015Cities Research Seminar Series: Scaling Up Inclusive and Affordable Housing in the New Urban Agenda: Land Use Regulation Challenges for Socially Inclusive and Sustainable CitiesEvent from WRI: http://www.wri.org/node/58971
Valeria Lvovna Gelman
Communications Specialist & Program Coordinator II, WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities
valeria.gelman@wri.org
@ValeriaGelman
Towards a More Equal City: Framing the Challenges and Opportunities
Confronting the Urban Housing Crisis in the Global South: Adequate, Secure, and Affordable Housing
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Hurricane Damage Claim Barred by Property Damage Exclusion
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida has held that an insurer did not owe a duty to defend a lawsuit by a homeowner against a condominium association because all of the claims arose out of hurricane damage and thus fell under the property damage exclusion contained in a non-profit management and organization liability policy. Commodore Plaza Condo. Ass’n, Inc. v. QBE Ins. Corp., 2013 WL 150612 (S.D. Fla. Jan. 14, 2013).
A townhome owner had sued the insured condominium association, alleging that after Hurricane Wilma damaged portions of the owner’s property, the association caused additional damages when it sent in workers and failed to keep the townhome clean and sanitary. The complaint alleged that the insured association had caused damage by dropping debris inside the house, inadequately exterminating rodents from the property, incorrectly installing roof tarps, and failing to provide adequate security. Additionally, the owner claimed that the association had violated a number of state statutes when it failed to obtain proper work permits and improperly removed asbestos-containing materials. The condominium association sought coverage for the suit under its non-profit management and organization liability policy, and the insurer denied coverage on the basis of the policy’s property damage exclusion. The association then filed a breach of contract action against the insurer.
In the coverage litigation, the court granted summary judgment in favor of the insurer on the basis of the property damage exclusion, finding that all of the actions complained of flowed from the property damage caused by Hurricane Wilma. Specifically, the policy excluded from coverage claims “for or arising out of any damage, destruction, loss of use or deterioration of any tangible property.” The association argued that only part of the complaint arose from the hurricane damage since the statutory violations depended solely on whether the violations had occurred and not the reason the work was commenced. The court rejected this argument, explaining that the broad meaning of the term “arising out of” requires only some causal connection between the conduct and the injury, not proximate causation. The court reasoned that there would have been no need to send in repair workers, follow Florida statutory requirements, or keep the townhome clean and sanitary had there been no damage from the hurricane. Because the basis of the policy exclusion—property damage—was also the basis from which all of the owner’s claims arose, the court found that the insurer properly denied coverage and was entitled to summary judgment.
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Porto - Liverpool Betting Tips
Porto - Liverpool Tips
Football - Champions League
Goals from Naby Keita and Roberto Firmino gave Liverpool a handy 2-0 lead from the first leg of their quarter-final ahead of the second leg in Porto. That loss was Porto’s only reverse in eight competitive games (W6, D1, L1), while at home they have lost just once in their last 22 competitive fixtures (W19, D2, L1). In 11 of those 22 home games, they have scored at least three goals, which should be their primary aim ahead of this leg. Thankfully for Porto, they have won all four of their Champions League home fixtures, scoring at least three goals in their last three games. Liverpool warmed up for this game with a 2-0 win over Chelsea in the Premier League, making it an unbeaten run of 16 competitive games (W11, D5) including seven straight wins. Their record in the Champions League has three losses in nine fixtures (W5, D1, L3) and all three have come away from home (W1, L3). In fact, their 3-1 win in the previous round away leg over Bayern Munich remains their only victory. Away from home in all competitions, the Reds have remained unbeaten in seven competitive games (W4, D3).
Porto have never beaten Liverpool in seven competitive games (D3, L4), scoring just two goals and conceding 14.
Porto have lost their last five two-legged ties with English clubs and have not beaten an English side since 2003/04.
Liverpool have lost five of their last ten European matches, with all those losses coming away from home.
Porto have a mountain to climb in this fixture, considering their poor record over Liverpool. The hosts will look to go all out in this leg, but that might not get them a ticket to the semis. The Reds should qualify in regular time, although there could be goals from both sides.
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Miraval Rose (3 Liter Bottle) 2018
Rosé from Cotes de Provence, Provence, France
Quantity Select 1 Ships Fri, Jul 19123
Pretty petal pink color with shiny undertones. This 2018 vintage instantly reminds of Provence with its beautiful aromas of fresh fruit and spring flowers. Airy and balanced, it delicately combines great freshness and complexity, and develops saline and mineral notes. Its long and intense finish is the signature of a rosé with incomparable elegance.
Blend: 50% Grenache, 30% Cinsault, 10% Syrah, 10% Rolle
Bottled just a few weeks before my visit, Miraval's 2018 Cotes de Provence Rose was in fine form. A blend of 50% Grenache, 30% Cinsault, 10% Syrah and 10% Rolle, it boasts floral and melon aromas, while on the palate, it's medium-bodied, plump and fleshy, with a zesty, tangerine-tinged finish.
Chateau Miraval
Tucked away in its own private valley in the ancient village of Correns – the first organic village in France – Miraval covers 500 hectares of land in the heart of Provence. The magnificent Chateau is set in a cirque surrounded by ancient woods, olive trees, vineyards and abundant water supply. Lush wildlife combines with the beautiful Provencal climate and quality Mediterranean lifestyle to reveal an enchanting oasis.Miraval's exclusive valley location embodies an exceptional terroir. Terroir is the expression of the soil, the climate and the history of the land – the essence of the wine. At an altitude of 350 meters the vines are privileged to enjoy warm, sunny days and cool nights, bringing freshness and balance to the wines.
Miraval is a joint venture between Famille Perrin and Hollywood A-listers, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
Cotes de Provence
Cotes de Provence is an extensive but valuable appellation that includes vineyards bordering the main Provence appellations and extending all the way east to the border of Italy. Its sites vary from subalpine hills, which receive the cooling effects of the mountains to the north, to the coastal St-Tropez, a warm Mediterranean wine-producing region.
Here there is a new focus on quality rosé, as it defines four fifths of the region’s wines. Following in the rosé footsteps, a lot of new effort is going into the region’s red production. A new generation has turned its focus on high quality Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault and Carignan. Cotes de Provence white wines, which represent a miniscule part of the region as far as volume, are nonetheless worthy of consideration and can include any combination of Clairette, Semillon, Ugni Blanc and Vermentino.
Whether it’s playful and fun or savory and serious, most rosé today is not your grandmother’s White Zinfandel, though that category remains strong. Pink wine has recently become quite trendy, and this time around it’s commonly quite dry. It is produced throughout the world from a vast array of grape varieties, but the most successful sources are California, southern France (particularly Provence), and parts of Spain and Italy.
Since the pigment in red wines comes from keeping fermenting juice in contact with the grape skins for an extended period, it follows that a pink wine can be made using just a brief period of skin contact—usually just a couple of days. The resulting color will depend on the grape variety and the winemaking style, ranging from pale salmon to deep magenta. These wines are typically fresh and fruity, fermented at cool temperatures in stainless steel to preserve the primary aromas and flavors. Most rosé, with a few notable exceptions, should be drunk rather young, within a few years of the vintage.
PBC9190549_2018 Item# 526436
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Sportingbet Plc, Internet Opportunity Entertainment (Sports) Limited v. Rough Media
The First Complainant is Sportingbet Plc of London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Second Complainant is Internet Opportunity Entertainment (Sports) Limited of St Johns, Antigua and Barbuda (“the Complainants”), represented by DWF LLP, United Kingdom.
The Respondent is Rough Media of Singapore, represented internally.
The disputed domain name <sportingbetcasino.com> is registered with Bizcn.com, Inc (“the Registrar”).
The Complaint was filed with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (the “Center”) on February 16, 2011. On February 17, 2011, the Center transmitted by email to the Registrar, a request for registrar verification in connection with the disputed domain name. On February 18, 2011, the Registrar transmitted by email to the Center its verification response confirming that the Respondent was listed as the registrant and providing the contact details. In response to a notification by the Center that the registrar information in the Complaint was incorrect, the Complainant filed an amended Complaint on February 25, 2011.
The Center verified that the Complaint together with the amended Complaint satisfied the formal requirements of the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the “Policy” or “UDRP”), the Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the “Rules”), and the WIPO Supplemental Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the “Supplemental Rules”).
In accordance with the Rules, paragraphs 2(a) and 4(a), the Center formally notified the Respondent of the Complaint, and the proceedings commenced on March 1, 2011. In accordance with the Rules, paragraph 5(a), the due date for Response was March 21, 2011. The Response was filed with the Center on March 21, 2011.
The Center appointed Adam Taylor as the sole panelist in this matter on March 24, 2011. The Panel finds that it was properly constituted. The Panel has submitted the Statement of Acceptance and Declaration of Impartiality and Independence, as required by the Center to ensure compliance with the Rules, paragraph 7.
In the Complaint, the Complainants have requested that English be treated as the language of the proceedings. Paragraph 11(a) of the Rules provides that, unless otherwise agreed by the parties, or specified otherwise in the registration agreement for the disputed domain name, the language of the administrative proceeding shall be the language of the registration agreement. Here, the Registrar has confirmed that the registration agreement is in English and so English is the language of the proceedings in any event.
The Complainants made an unsolicited supplemental filing on March 25, 2011. On March 27, 2011, the Respondent submitted its own supplemental filing in response.
Paragraphs 10 and 12 of the Rules in effect grant the panel sole discretion to determine the admissibility of supplemental filings. Paragraph 10(d) states: “The Panel shall determine the admissibility, relevance, materiality and weight of the evidence”. Paragraph 12 states: “In addition to the complaint and the response, the Panel may request, in its sole discretion, further statements or documents from either of the Parties”.
The principles which the panel should apply in deciding whether or not to admit supplemental filings have been considered in many cases under the Policy. See, e.g., The E.W. Scripps Company v. Sinologic Industries, WIPO Case No. D2003-0447. The principles include: that additional evidence or submissions should only be admitted in exceptional circumstances, such as where the party could not reasonably have known the existence or relevance of the further material when it made its primary submission; that if further material is admitted, it should be limited so as to minimize prejudice to the other party or the procedure; and that the reasons why the panel is invited to consider the further material should, so far as practicable, be set out separately from the material itself.
The Complainants did not attempt to establish any exceptional circumstances justifying their supplemental filing. It was simply labelled as a “Reply” and presented as a request to respond to some issues arising in the Response.
Accordingly, the Panel declines to admit either the Complainants’ supplemental filing or the Respondent’s supplemental filing in response. The Panel can say, however, that even had they been admitted none of the supplemental submissions would have affected the outcome of this case.
In the view of the Panel it is unhelpful for parties to simply fire off supplemental submissions without any attempt to justify them. This practice can result in the addition of unnecessary complication and cost to what is intended to be a relatively quick and inexpensive procedure.
The Complainants are part of the “Sportingbet” group of companies, an online betting and gaming group.
The First Complainant, which is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange, operates 30 online betting and gaming websites using a number of different brands.
The Second Complainant owns Community Trade Mark Nos. 4997573 for SPORTINGBETCASINO (figurative) and 4997656 for SPORTINGBETCASINO.COM (figurative), both filed on April 4, 2006, in classes 9, 35, 36, 38, 41, 42.
The disputed domain name was registered on October 5, 2001.
As of May 20, 2010, the disputed domain name resolved to a web page consisting of a photograph of a roast fowl together with the words: “05.02.2010: zzzzzz…”
On August 2, 2010, the Complainants’ solicitors sent a cease and desist letter to the Respondent referring, amongst other things, to what they described as the picture of a turkey and stating that their clients considered this to be disparaging and damaging to their goodwill and reputation. The Respondent replied by email on August 13, 2010, stating “Thank you for the email. There is no case to answer”. On the same date, the Complainants responded, asking for the reasons underlying the Respondent’s claim that there was no case to answer.
As of January 5, 2011, the disputed domain name resolved to a web page branded “Sporting Bet Casino A blog about random thoughts & observations”. The page comprised three articles. One, posted October 13, 2010, simply stated: “This is a blog about random thoughts & observations. If you enjoy it come back for more”. Another article criticized an Indian web developer (posted October 13, 2010). The third criticized Microsoft (posted October 25, 2010).
Identical or Confusingly Similar
The Complainants have operated a number of gaming websites, including a website at “www.sportingbet.com” since September 4, 1997. In addition the Complainants operate a “live casino” via their gaming websites. The Complainants have established considerable goodwill and reputation through the use of the SPORTINGBET mark in marketing literature and through the operation of the website and “live casino”.
The disputed domain name is identical or confusingly similar to the Complainants’ marks. Customers who search the Internet using the Complainants’ marks may be directed to the disputed domain name, creating a likelihood of confusion.
The public recognition and goodwill embodied in the Complainants’ marks is threatened and eroded by the Respondent’s use of the disputed domain name.
Rights or Legitimate Interests
The Respondent has no rights or legitimate interest in the disputed domain name because the Complainants have not licensed or otherwise permitted the Respondent to use any of the marks or to apply for or use any domain name incorporating any of those marks.
There is no evidence that the Respondent has made any demonstrable preparations to use the disputed domain name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services.
The Respondent is not commonly known by the disputed domain name.
There is no evidence that the Respondent is making a legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the disputed domain name, without intent for commercial gain to misleadingly divert consumers or to tarnish the trade mark at issue.
The disputed domain name is being used to host a blog entitled “A blog about random thoughts and observations”. The blog does not represent a legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the disputed domain name as it contains a number of defamatory and racist remarks. Further, there is a risk that customers may mistakenly consider that these remarks are being either made or endorsed by the Complainants.
Registered and Used in Bad Faith
The disputed domain name originally re-routed to a picture of a turkey. This picture is damaging to the Complainants’ goodwill and reputation.
The disputed domain name currently re-routes to the blog entitled “A blog about random thoughts and observations”. The blog makes a number of disparaging comments about third parties and is damaging to the Complainants’ goodwill and reputation.
The disputed domain name is likely to create confusion in the minds of the general public as to the ownership of the website and endorsement of the comments contained within blog.
The Complainants have a strong reputation and are widely known, as evidenced by the substantial use within the United Kingdom and 30 other countries.
The Respondent has provided no evidence whatsoever of any actual or contemplated good faith use by it of the disputed domain name. The Respondent has responded to the pre-action correspondence and stated that there is “no case to answer”. The Respondent has not expanded upon this response despite further communications. This suggests that the disputed domain name has been registered to prevent the Complainants from using their mark in a corresponding domain name.
It is not possible to conceive any plausible actual or contemplated active use of the domain name by the Respondent that would not be illegitimate, such as by passing off or an infringement of the Complainants’ marks.
The disputed domain name is not identical or confusingly similar to a trade mark in which the Complainants have rights.
The words "sporting bet casino" are generic. In English, the phrase "sporting bet" is a commonly used term meaning “sports betting”. By extension, the phrase "sporting bet casino" is also generic.
Accordingly, the Respondent has legitimate rights in the disputed domain name.
The fact that "sportingbetcasino", as used and claimed by the Complainants, is one word does not make the term fanciful or distinctive. It lacks distinctiveness in plain text.
In addition, the Complainants have failed to establish that the Respondent, in registering the disputed domain name and operating its website in the manner claimed, is attempting to divert customers of the Complainants. The Complainants use the domain name <sportingbet.com> to market their casino and online gaming activities to users.
A Google.com search for the terms "sportingbetcasino" or "sporting bet casino" shows that the first few pages of results are mainly connected with the Complainants. There are no search results for "sporting bet casino" which link to the Respondent's website.
This refutes the Complainants’ argument that the Respondent is diverting users away from the Complainants’ website, as users searching for the terms that correspond to the disputed domain name have no way of finding the Respondent's website through virtually all search engines.
The Respondent has rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name.
A blog (or Internet journal) constitutes a bona fide offering of services, namely a noncommercial and fair use of the domain name, without intent for commercial gain misleadingly to divert consumers or to tarnish the trade mark at issue.
The Respondent is writing a noncommercial blog/journal on eclectic topics, which is hosted on the disputed domain name. This is a legitimate use of a domain name. Furthermore, the writing of this blog on "random thoughts and observations" does not in any way infringe on the Complainants’ trade mark in the classes listed.
No content relating to Complainants’ main business of online gaming has ever been shown on the website. It would be apparent to any prudent observer that a blog consisting of distinct disparate topics unrelated to online gaming did not involve expression of the views of the Complainants and that such a site was not associated with the Complainants in any way.
Therefore there is no likelihood of confusion. The disputed domain name is unlikely to mislead Internet users into thinking that the website operated by the Respondent has been authorized by the Complainants or is affiliated with the Complainants.
In addition, the Respondent is using the disputed domain name for personal e-mail. This constitutes bona fide good faith use.
The disputed domain name has not been registered and is not being used in bad faith.
The picture of the chicken, not a turkey, is in no way disparaging or damaging to the Complainants’ goodwill and reputation. It was used merely as a placeholder page.
The Respondent’s blog is not illegal or defamatory of the Complainants. It is simply an assertion of free speech. It would be apparent to any prudent observer that a blog consisting of distinct disparate topics unrelated to online gaming did not involve expression of the views of the Complainants and that such a site was not associated with the Complainants in any way. There is no likelihood of confusion or damage to the reputation of the Complainants.
The disputed domain name was registered on October 5, 2001, more than five and a half years prior to registration of the Complainants’ trade mark in 2007. As the domain registration date precedes the trade mark registration dates, the Respondent did not have knowledge of the trade marks at the time of registration of the disputed domain name and therefore could not have registered the disputed domain name in bad faith.
The Complainants’ submissions are not sufficient to establish that the Respondent knew of the Complainants’ trade mark rights in 2001 and that it registered the disputed domain name in bad faith.
The Respondent did not know of the Complainants or their trade marks when the Respondent registered the disputed domain name. A simple search of the Singapore trade mark online database for "Sporting Bet" or "Sportingbet Casino" reveals that the Complainants do not have valid registered trade marks in Singapore, where the Respondent is based.
In addition, the Complainants have not demonstrated business activities in Singapore, either at the time of registration of the disputed domain name or at present.
In addition, the registrant “Rough Media” has remained the same during the registrar transfer of the domain from Godaddy.com to Bizcn.com, which does not constitute a new registration ("updated date August 25, 2010") for the purposes of the Complaint. The "updated date" in the disputed domain name WhoIs record is not significant, since it represents only the date when the disputed domain name was last renewed or updated for minor changes such as a new email address.
The Complainants have lost two other UDRP cases based on similar circumstances to the current dispute: Internet Opportunity Entertainment Limited v. Zubee.com Networks Inc., WIPO Case No. D2006-1086 (<sportingbet.net> and <sportingbets.biz>) and Sportingbet plc v. OEX Trader, ADNDRC Claim No. 0200003 (<sportingbet.net>). In this case, the Complainants have once again failed to present any evidence of trade mark rights at the time of the registration of the disputed domain name in 2001.
In addition, the Complainants have failed to file a timely UDRP complaint. There has been nearly four years of inaction following registration of their trade marks. If the equitable doctrine of laches and the facts of this case are taken into account, the lengthy period of delay before the Complainants have sought relief under the Policy further undermines the Complainants’ claim of bad faith use under the Policy. In the following cases, panels have found for respondents, having taken into account the doctrine of laches: CareFree Homes II, L.P. v.Worldwide Media, Inc. / Domain Administrator, NAF Claim No. FA1351494 and The New York Times Company v. Name Administration Inc. (BVI), NAF Claim No. FA1349045.
Reverse Domain Name Hijacking
Based on the Complainants’ flimsy evidence and argument, the action is a desperate, far-reaching attempt to acquire the disputed domain name via reverse domain name hijacking.
The Respondent’s argument is supported by the Complainants’ history of two failed actions based on similar circumstances to this case, where the Complainants failed to present any evidence of its rights in the trade mark at issue at the time of the registration of the contested domain names.
The Complainants have acted in bad faith by initiating this dispute. They should have known that they were unable to prove that the Respondent lacked legitimate rights or interests or that there had been bad faith.
A. Delay
The Respondent relies on the defence of “laches” based on the delay of some four years between registration of the Complainants’ trade marks and the filing of this case.
Paragraph 4.10 of WIPO Overview of WIPO Panel Views on Selected UDRP Questions, Second Edition (“WIPO Overview 2.0) addresses the issue of delay as follows:
“Panels have recognized that the doctrine or defense of laches as such does not generally apply under the UDRP, and that delay (by reference to the time of the relevant registration of the disputed domain name) in bringing a complaint does not of itself prevent a complainant from filing under the UDRP, or from being able to succeed under the UDRP, where a complainant can establish a case on the merits under the requisite three elements. Panels have noted that the remedies under the UDRP are injunctive rather than compensatory in nature, and that a principal concern is to avoid ongoing or future confusion as to the source of communications, goods, or services.
However: Panels have also noted that a delay in bringing a complaint under the UDRP may make it more difficult for a complainant to establish its case on the merits, particularly in relation to the second and third elements requiring the complainant to establish that the respondent lacks rights and legitimate interests and that the respondent registered and used the domain name in bad faith. A small number of panels have also begun to acknowledge the possible applicability, in appropriate and limited circumstances, of a defense of laches under the UDRP where the facts so warrant.”
The Respondent invokes CareFree Homes II, L.P. v.Worldwide Media, Inc. / Domain Administrator, supra, but in that case the panel specifically stated that its decision was not based on laches.
The Respondent refers also to The New York Times Company v. Name Administration Inc. (BVI), supra, where the panel did indeed hold that the circumstances supported a decision based on laches.
However, this Panel subscribes to the view expressed in WIPO Overview 2.0 that laches does not generally apply to the Policy. In any case, the Respondent has not put forward a compelling argument as to why laches should apply. The Respondent invokes only a four year delay from what it says is the date of registration of the Complainants’ trade marks. The Respondent does not suggest that the Complainants have been aware of the Respondent’s activities for any significant period of time or that there has been any detrimental reliance on the part of the Respondent.
B. Identical or Confusingly Similar
The Complainants own registered trade marks for the terms SPORTINGBETCASINO and SPORTINGBETCASINO.COM both in stylized form on a rectangular background.
The Respondent claims that the phrase "sporting bet casino" is generic and lacks distinctiveness but it has provided no evidence showing that this is a commonly-used combination of words. In the Panel’s view, the phrase is not an obvious one. In any case this situation falls well short of the example of a figurative mark being unlikely to generate rights which is given in paragraph 1.1 of WIPO Overview 2.0 - namely where the design element in a word plus design mark is found to be the sole source of distinctiveness.
Paragraph 1.11 of WIPO Overview 2.0 explains the approach to be taken in respect of the design elements of a trade mark when assessing identity or confusing similarity:
“[A] s figurative, stylized or design elements in a trademark are generally incapable of representation in a domain name, such elements are typically disregarded for the purpose of assessing identity or confusing similarity, with such assessment generally being between the alpha-numeric components of the domain name, and the dominant textual components of the relevant mark. However, design elements in a trademark may be relevant to the decision in certain circumstances - such as where, for example, they form an especially prominent or distinctive part of the trademark overall.”
Here, the terms SPORTINGBETCASINO and SPORTINGBETCASINO.COM are the dominant feature of the Complainants’ marks and the design elements are minimal.
Accordingly, the Panel concludes that the disputed domain name is confusingly similar to the Complainants’ trade marks.
The Panel finds that the Complainants have established the first element of paragraph 4(a) of the Policy.
C. Rights or Legitimate Interests
Paragraph 2.1 of WIPO Overview 2.0 explains the consensus view concerning the burden of proof regarding lack of rights or legitimate interests:
“While the overall burden of proof rests with the complainant, panels have recognized that this could result in the often impossible task of proving a negative, requiring information that is often primarily within the knowledge of the respondent. Therefore a complainant is required to make out a prima facie case that the respondent lacks rights or legitimate interests. Once such prima facie case is made, the burden of production shifts to the respondent to come forward with appropriate allegations or evidence demonstrating rights or legitimate interests in the domain name. If the respondent fails to come forward with such appropriate allegations or evidence, a complainant is generally deemed to have satisfied paragraph 4(a)(ii) of the UDRP … If the respondent does come forward with some allegations or evidence of relevant rights or legitimate interest, the panel then weighs all the evidence, with the burden of proof always remaining on the complainant.”
Here, the Complainants have not licensed or otherwise authorized the Respondent to use their trade marks.
As to paragraph 4(c)(i) of the Policy, there is no evidence that the Respondent has ever used the disputed domain name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services.
There is no evidence that paragraph 4(c)(ii) of the Policy applies.
Nor is there any indication that the Respondent is making a legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the disputed domain name for the purposes of paragraph 4(c)(iii) of the Policy.
The Panel has been provided with evidence concerning two distinct, and apparently noncommercial, uses of the disputed domain name – first, as an alleged “placeholder” page including a picture of a roast fowl. The Panel has concluded below that, on balance, the purpose of the first use was to disparage the Complainants. Even if this were to be treated as genuine noncommercial criticism, the Panel subscribes to “View 1” expressed in paragraph 2.4 of WIPO Overview 2.0 that the right to criticize does not necessarily extend to registering and using a domain name that is identical or confusingly similar to the complainant's trade mark. Here, the disputed domain name consists simply of the name used by the Complainants “sportingbet” plus a generic term “casino”, which is closely associated with the Complainants’ service.
The Panel has found below that the second use, as a blog of “random thoughts and observations”, was designed purely to try and justify the Respondent’s registration of the disputed domain name.
Accordingly, in the Panel’s opinion, neither of these forms of use in the present case could be described as “legitimate” or “fair”.
The Respondent also asserts that it is using the disputed domain name for personal email and that this constitutes bona fide good faith use. However, it is not necessary to consider the point as the Respondent has provided no evidence demonstrating such use.
The Panel concludes that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name and that the Complainant has therefore established the second element of paragraph 4(a) of the Policy.
D. Registered and Used in Bad Faith
Issue of awareness
The Respondent denies that it was aware of the Complainants or their trade marks when it acquired the disputed domain name.
Paragraph 3.1 of WIPO Overview 2.0 says this:
“Consensus view: Generally speaking, although a trademark can form a basis for a UDRP action under the first element irrespective of its date … when a domain name is registered by the respondent before the complainant's relied-upon trademark right is shown to have been first established (whether on a registered or unregistered basis), the registration of the domain name would not have been in bad faith because the registrant could not have contemplated the complainant's then non-existent right.”
The Respondent’s awareness or otherwise of the Complainants and their rights on acquisition of the disputed domain name is therefore a critical issue in this case.
The creation date shown in the WhoIs printout for the disputed domain name is October 5, 2001. The Respondent states that it was the party who registered the disputed domain name on that date. The Complainants have produced no archive printouts or other evidence indicating that the Respondent only acquired the disputed domain name at a later point. The Panel will therefore take 2001 as the relevant acquisition date.
The Respondent observes that the Complainants’ trade marks registered in 2007 (with effect from 2006 in fact) post-date the disputed domain name. However, this would not matter if there were evidence that the Respondent nonetheless registered the disputed domain name in contemplation of prior unregistered rights of the Complainants. The Complainants do indeed say that they have operated a number of gaming websites, including “www.sportingbet.com”, since 1997.
The Panel notes that the Respondent is located in a different jurisdiction (Singapore) to the Complainants and that the Complainants have provided no evidence of any nature demonstrating use of “Sporting Bet” prior to registration of the disputed domain name in 2001. The Panel is mystified by the omission, given that the lack of similar evidence was cited as a factor in the Complainants’ failure to win a previous UDRP case. (See further below).
Is there nonetheless any other evidence indicating that the Respondent was likely to have been aware of the Complainants’ unregistered rights on acquisition of the disputed domain name?
In these circumstances, it is relevant to consider whether the Respondent has provided a plausible explanation for its selection and use of the disputed domain name which is independent of the Complainants and their rights.
Before considering the Respondent’s explanation, it is perhaps worth mentioning that the disputed domain name is readily understandable when viewed as the name of the Complainant’s gaming website (“sporting bet”) plus the gaming-related term “casino”, particularly given the “live casino” service which the Complainants say that they operate on their website (although here again the Complainants have not helped their case by failing to provide evidence showing when they started the “live casino” service). However, when one divorces the disputed domain name from the context of the Complainants’ name, one is left with a somewhat unusual assortment of gaming-related terms.
It is notable that the Respondent does not specifically state why it chose the disputed domain name. The Respondent centers its case on use of the disputed domain name for “a blog about random thoughts & observations”. The Respondent is presumably implying that it chose the disputed domain name because of the link between randomness in gaming and the randomness of the subject matter of its blog. If so, the Panel finds such a connection rather tenuous. To the Panel, it seems odd to use a disputed domain name consisting of a non-obvious combination of gaming-related terms for a blog which the Respondent admits is entirely unconnected with gaming.
In any case, the Panel doubts that the Respondent did indeed select the disputed domain name for such a purpose. It appears that the Respondent only started to use the disputed domain name for a blog following the Complainants’ cease and desist letter in 2010. If, as the Respondent claims, it registered the disputed domain name as long ago as 2001, and if, as the Respondent appears to claim, it was originally registered for the purpose of its “random” blog, then why wait some nine years before starting the blog, and only then after the approach by the Complainants?
The “turkey”
Then there is the Respondent’s previous use of the disputed domain name for a website consisting of a photograph of a roast fowl (to use a neutral term) together with the words: “05.02.2010: zzzzzz…” The Complainants claim that the picture is in fact a turkey and that it is derogatory and disparaging of the Complainants. In reply, the Respondent says only that it is a chicken, not a turkey, that the page was in no way disparaging or damaging to the Complainants’ goodwill and reputation and that it was used merely as a placeholder page.
Even if it is a chicken (and the Panel does not feel confident that it can accurately distinguish between a roast turkey and a roast chicken), and even if one accepts that the word “chicken” does not have the same pejorative association as “turkey”, it is nonetheless a somewhat unusual image to use as a placeholder page and one which requires an explanation from the Respondent. But there is none.
Nor has the Respondent even mentioned the reference to “05.02.2010: zzzzzz…” which appears directly beneath the picture. Use of the term “zzzzzz” in connection with a commercial entity also has an obvious potential negative connotation, implying slumber, inaction, lack of awareness etc.
Previous use of the disputed domain name
The Panel notes that the Respondent is also reticent as to how, if at all, it has used the disputed domain between 2001 until 2010. Has there been a “placeholder” page in place for all of this nine year period? Or has the Respondent previously used the disputed domain name in some other way and, if so, how?
Pre-action communications
The Panel considers it significant that, in response to the Complainants’ cease and desist letter, the Respondent simply stated that there was no case to answer. And it appears that the Respondent did not reply to the Complainants’ subsequent request to provide the reasons underlying that brief statement.
The Panel expects that an innocent respondent first confronted with such allegations would be at pains to provide some form of justification, whether to explain its purpose in registering the disputed domain name, or to deny awareness of the Complainants or to deal with the allegations of disparagement or otherwise – rather than simply issuing a terse denial.
Previous UDRP cases involving the Complainants
The Respondent invokes two prior UDRP cases where the Complainants were unsuccessful. The Respondent claims that the circumstances were similar to those in the present dispute.
In Sportingbet plc v.OEX Trader, supra (<sportingbet.net>), a 2002 decision, the panel found against the First Complainant under paragraph 4(a)(i) of the Policy on the grounds that it had failed to provide any evidence of goodwill in support of a claim to common law rights in the term “sportingbet”. The First Complainant thus fell at the first hurdle in that case. But here the Complainants have relied on their 2006 registered trade marks which, as the Panel has concluded above, suffice to establish trade mark rights under paragraph 4(a)(i) (notwithstanding that they post-date the disputed domain name). In connection with bad faith, the Panel must assess the likelihood that the Respondent was aware of the Complainants and any prior unregistered rights as at the date of registration of the disputed domain name. The evidence or otherwise of prior goodwill is one part in that assessment but, as explained above, there may be other factors evidencing such knowledge.
In Internet Opportunity Entertainment Limited v. Zubee.com Networks Inc., supra (<sportingbet.net> and <sportingbets.biz>), the Second Complainant (or at least one of the companies within the Complainant’s group - as the complainant name is slightly different to that of the Second Complainant) failed to make a prima facie showing of a lack of rights or legitimate interests. This was partly on the basis of lack of evidence of unregistered rights in the names “sportingbet” or “sportingbet.com” as at the time of registration of the disputed domain names and of use of the names in the respondent’s location (Canada) but also partly because the respondent, which owned several sport books and casino websites, was offering what appeared to be bona fide services through the disputed domain names. So, in that case there was evidence that the domain name had been registered for a genuine purpose whereas here the evidence suggests otherwise. In the Panel’s view there is a material distinction between the use of the term “sportingbet” for gaming purposes and use of the less obvious variation “sportingbetcasino” in the (non-gaming related) manner explained above.
As stated in paragraph 4.7 of WIPO Overview 2.0, the general standard of proof under the UDRP is "on balance" - often expressed as the "balance of probabilities" or "preponderance of the evidence" standard.
The Panel has carefully weighed up all the evidence in the case. While the facts here are far from clear, the Panel notes in particular the following:
(1) The lack of a clear explanation by the Respondent as to why it chose the disputed domain name.
(2) The implausibility of the connection between the disputed domain name and “a blog about random thoughts & observations” (if the Respondent claims that was its purpose in registering the disputed domain name). And the fact that the Respondent started using the disputed domain name for such a blog only after being confronted by the Complainants and some nine years after the date when the Respondent allegedly acquired the disputed domain name. These circumstances suggest to the Panel that the disputed domain name was not registered for the purpose of the blog but, rather, that the blog was an “after the event” attempt by the Respondent to justify its registration.
(3) The failure of the Respondent to fully explain its use of the “turkey” page on its website.
(4) The lack of information from the Respondent as to how it has used the disputed domain name since the date of alleged acquisition in 2001.
(5) The Respondent’s reluctance to provide any form of justification for its registration or use of the disputed domain name in response to the cease and desist letter from the Complainants.
Although it is difficult to draw any precise conclusion as to why the Respondent registered the disputed domain name, on balance the Panel thinks it reasonable to infer from the foregoing that the Respondent did so in contemplation of the Complainants’ rights and in order take unfair advantage or cause unfair detriment to the Complainants in some indeterminate manner.
As to use in bad faith, the Panel concludes on balance that, in the absence of a credible alternative explanation, the Respondent has indeed used the disputed domain name to disparage the Complainants by means of the “turkey” page. As stated above, while criticism is potentially a legitimate activity, that is not the case here as the Respondent has used for that purpose a domain name which is closely aligned to the Complainants’ trade marks and which was likely to make a misrepresentation to users that any associated website was connected with the Complainants. As the panel in Compagnie Generale des Matieres Nucleaires v. Greenpeace International, WIPO Case No. D2001-0376 puts it, the disputed domain name would “catch by surprise” visitors intending to reach the Complainants’ website. In those circumstances, the Respondent's actions are tainted whether or not it intended the web page as a genuine noncommercial criticism site.
Therefore, in the Panel’s opinion, although this case does not fall squarely within any of the non-exhaustive circumstances evidencing bad faith in paragraph 4(b) of the Policy, the factors outlined above nonetheless amount to registration and use of the disputed domain name in bad faith.
The Panel finds that the Complainants have established the third element of paragraph 4(a) of the Policy.
For all the foregoing reasons, in accordance with paragraphs 4(i) of the Policy and 15 of the Rules, the Panel orders that the disputed domain name, <sportingbetcasino.com>, be transferred to the Second Complainant.
Dated: April 11, 2011
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With Love For Horror Books: Fool's Apocalypse by Anderson Atlas - Book Review, Interview & Giveaway
Amazon USA Amazon UK Goodreads
Review by Anniek
Zilla is plotting the end of the world. He needs other people to help him accomplish this. It isn't long before he has a group of loyal followers. They all have their own job to do. Ian, for instance, has been going to several buildings that belong to the government and justice departments to plant listening devices. At least, that is what he thinks they are. It turns out that these devises release a deadly virus that turns humanity into the walking dead. Zilla rewards his followers with an antidote so that they won't get sick. What will the group do when they find out that Zilla made them responsible for the apocalypse?
The virus takes over the body of those who are getting sick. Death is inevitable, but their bodies keep going. The virus is using these bodies as a host and will attack the living every chance it gets. These puppets are everywhere and escaping seems impossible. The group hopes that the virus hasn't spread into other parts of the world. With a sailing boat they head out to Cuba, hoping to find refuge there. Is their destination as safe as they think it will be?
The group that Zilla has recruited consists of a colorful bunch of people. All members have their own strengths and weaknesses. I loved how they got together and learned how to function as a group of survivors. Their struggles felt so real since they all have to deal with their guilt. Neither of them wants to be a part of world destruction, but they are being dragged into this nonetheless. They believed in the wrong person and are now paying the price. I was hoping for them to find a safe place to live and to find a cure for the virus.
Fool's Apocalypse approaches what the end of the world would look like in a unique way. In most stories about zombies the apocalypse just happens without a clear reason why. In Fool's Apocalypse Anderson Atlas explains why the deceased are still stumbling around. I found it refreshing to have a background story. I love to read about conspiracy theories and because of this the story felt more real to me. Anderson Atlas has also included drawings in his story. These pictures made it easy for me to follow the story and they made it come alive in a great way. Fool's Apocalypse is different, original and creepy and it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time the 'fools' were fighting their way to safety.
If you love to read the zombie genre and like a new and unique approach Fool's Apocalypse would be a great choice.
About Anderson Atlas
Anderson Atlas is an author and illustrator that lives in the hot Sonoran Desert among scaled survivors, steely eye hawks and majestic saguaros.
He's inspired by crowded malls, streams hidden by massive boulders, patches of moss, charred forests, and distant mountain ranges. To date, he's written 4 novels and illustrated a growing collection of beautiful children’s books. He also runs a successful freelance career involving painting for other children’s book writers and novelists.
Atlas, his wife, son and daughter live in Tucson, Arizona, where he is actively involved in book groups, helping with a ninja kid class and sailing in Southern Arizona lakes. In his free time, he reads, watches movies and spends a lot of time with family and friends.
Anderson Atlas is Bradley Peterson’s pen name.
Website: http://andersonatlas.com/
Blog: http://andersonatlas.com/blog/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anderson.atlas
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndersonAtlas
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Anderson-Atlas/e/B003VS3OLA/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
1. Could you tell us a bit about yourself?
I was an illustrator first, and would draw pictures that told stories. but the stories were too simple, like a beat in a song. It was incomplete. I branched out one day and flipped my drawing over and wrote a whole story about it. It was surreal, like a day dream and it made me feel less tense and stressed about work, family etc. That was it for me. I found a way to put two hobbies of mine together, reading and drawing and now my stories only get deeper, bigger and more exciting.
2. What makes your heart beat faster?
I typically freak out about ghosts and demons. Fools’ Apocalypse has a zombie theme, and that gets my heart going also, but there’s more of a thrill there. It would seem that surviving that world might be just a tad easier than a world full of demons, so as an act of self preservation I enjoy zombie genre horror the most.
3. Which horror monster do you fear the most?
4. If the zombie apocalypse would happen today, what would you do?
I’ve a plan. But I can’t tell you my plan, lest it be taken by others. :) Just kidding. I’d actually get my friends and family together and others, too. I’d build a big group- strength in numbers right. Then we’d migrate south to the less populated areas. In Fools’ Apocalypse, it really is my fantasy of what I’d do. I’d get the biggest sailboat I could find and get to an island that would be easy to protect and live on. It was a fun part of the book to write and I’ve heard from readers that it was really fun to read.
5. What's your favorite horror movie?
I’m a fan of some old school flicks. Shining, Nightmare on Elm st, Evil Dead, Alien, Return of the Living Dear those were pretty epic. Newer ones that topped my list were WWZ, zombie land, 28 days later, Others, Cabin in the Woods
6. What's your worst nightmare?
The endless maze, the closing walls. I’ve had variations since I was young. I do have the occasional zombie dream, but that’s not a nightmare. Those are fun.
7. If your book was made into a movie, who would play the lead characters and why?
Michelle Rodriquez is Isabella, Kate Winslet for Hana, Christian Bale for Ian, (I know, bit price tags here!), Colin Ford as Tanis, Forest Whitaker for Markus- though older, Billy Gardel for Ben.
8. What inspired you to write horror stories?
Zombie gere is one of my favorites. It was really just a fun, thought process, sketch pad, I’d-do-this-if-the-zombies-came kind of project. I mostly write YA sci/fi fantasy horror. But this was my first Adult book- rife with blood and guts, political themes and cussing.
9. What do you like the most about the horror genre?
It’s like fantasy. The doors are so far open, they practically don’t exist. The horror genre bends time, space, expectation, ideology, fear, love. it’s got it all and so does Fools’ Apocalypse.
10. What can we expect from you in the future?
I’m writing book 2 now. It’s called Killing Salvation and its all about what happens when the survivors get to Cuba. It’s different and flies a bit far from the zombies that plague the rest of the globe, but gets darker and dirtier.
Four very lucky readers of With Love For Books will receive a digital copy of Fool's Apocalypse by Anderson Atlas.
Posted by With Love for Books at 11:13 PM
Labels: Anniek's Reviews, Giveaways, Interviews, With Love for
Solange May 24, 2017 at 11:19 PM
I'm a big fan of the zombie genre. Fool's Apocalypse sounds like a new and unique approach.
Stephanie LaPlante May 25, 2017 at 12:43 AM
This book sounds awesome! Really hoping to read it.
BookLady May 25, 2017 at 1:54 AM
Sounds intriguing! I love a good horror story. Thanks for sharing.
Billy Mar May 25, 2017 at 7:42 PM
It sounds very interesting! Thank you!
Edye Nicole May 28, 2017 at 4:59 AM
TRACY HANSON May 28, 2017 at 12:12 PM
This sounds a great read. Not really read anything like this before.
bluecat May 31, 2017 at 9:01 PM
You mentioned following you using Pinterest I can't find a link for it.
bluecat June 1, 2017 at 11:19 PM
and Instagram.
With Love for Books June 4, 2017 at 9:09 PM
You can find all of our links when you check out our review policy page.
Ruth Harwood June 1, 2017 at 12:34 PM
I do love something new and exciting!!
KATE SARSFIELD June 9, 2017 at 1:40 AM
Yes, Anniek, you're right! I've never thought about it before but where did all the flesh-eating zombies come from (other than Haiti)?
Carol Oddy October 16, 2017 at 5:45 PM
I love to read horror stories, it is my favorite read.
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Gen. 2 taking control of their own film futures
By Fahima Khatun
Young filmmakers in the West Midlands, fed up with waiting for opportunities to come to them, have started working together to create their own under the name Gen.2 Creatives.
The creative group was founded by Luke Furmage in August 2017 after realising a want and need to create content among the young filmmakers and creatives in the West Midlands. From workshops and masterclasses to festivals and competitions, Gen.2 Creatives main reason of existing is to be a safe environment for budding filmmakers from diverse backgrounds to practice and create film projects, while learning off each other and support one another by listing work opportunities.
Since forming, they have recruited around 40 members of young creatives and have had their work played at the Flat Pack Festival 2018.
The group was also used as a part of the pitch for the Channel 4 bid, which although not successful, meant that members were working with other creatives in Birmingham, including established professionals, to create opportunities for young people.
Three Gen.2 Creatives were at the final meeting of the C4 bid leaders, including the Mayor of Birmingham Andy Street, Peaky Blinders screenwriter Steve Knight, and the group will be part of the commitment made at the event to push forward as a sector into a new era.
Luke Furmage Founder and Director of Gen 2 said: “Development and funding is only available for creatives that are already established in the industry, and Media courses, although teach students the tools of the trade, can often stifle creativity under the need to fulfil the criteria and complete exams.
We want to develop a culture of creativity for a new generation of young creatives in the creative industry here in Birmingham. This new Online Generation has the unlimited potential for exciting new content that will shape the years to come.”
William Terry-Wright, 18-years-old who was the Director of the most recent project, said,
“It’s sounded like a great opportunity to network with young filmmakers and people with similar ambitions to mine, and it also sounded like a good opportunity to develop skills and knowledge in terms of filmmaking.”
Jordon Wolf, an 18-years-old aspiring actress who starred as the lead in the short films, said,“It’s very helpful to me because it’s something I want to go into in the future and it’s a great opportunity to get more experience.”
The self-sustaining group is starting to expand with talk of a partnership with The Producers’ Forum and possible connections with the BFI but are always looking to expand their network.
They have their first public 12 Hours Till Wrap event taking place 1st of on December. To find out more about the team, how to join, you can find them Online on their websiteand Facebook page.
There is an exclusive interview video to accompany this article at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fORzA7deL9A
MICHAEL Gubbins October 26, 2018
#WMGeneration – a Hashtag Revolution
MICHAEL Gubbins October 27, 2018 #wmgeneration, West Midlands, hashtag, Channel 4, Coventry City of Culture, birmingham, BBC3, Commonwealth Games, Peaky Blinders, Steven Knight
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On The Breakdown Of Nations
Submitted by Tim Price via Sovereign Man blog,
Several years ago we highlighted the work of Leopold Kohr. Kohr was an Austrian Jew who only narrowly escaped the Holocaust.
The village in which he was born, Oberndorf in central Austria, with a population of just 2,000 or so, would come to exert a disproportionate influence on Kohr’s thinking.
Kohr went on to study at the LSE with the likes of fellow Austrian thinker Friedrich von Hayek. In 1938 he left Europe for America, a place he would make his home for the next 25 years.
In September 1941, just as the mass murder of the Jewish inhabitants of Vilnius was beginning, Kohr wrote the first part of what would become his masterwork, ‘The Breakdown of Nations’.
In it he argued that Europe should be “cantonized” back into the sort of small, political regions that had existed in the past and that still persisted in democratic hold-outs like Switzerland.
It all comes down to scale. As Kirkpatrick Sale puts it in his foreword to ‘The Breakdown of Nations’,
“What matters in the affairs of a nation, just as in the affairs of a building, say, is the size of the unit.
“A building is too big when it can no longer provide its dwellers with the services they expect – running water, waste disposal, heat, electricity, elevators and the like – without these taking up so much room that there is not enough left over for living space, a phenomenon that actually begins to happen in a building over about ninety or a hundred floors.
“A nation becomes too big when it can no longer provide its citizens with the services they expect – defence, roads, post, health, coins, courts and the like – without amassing such complex institutions and bureaucracies that they actually end up preventing the very ends they are intending to achieve, a phenomenon that is now commonplace in the modern industrialized world.
“It is not the character of the building or the nation that matters, nor is it the virtue of the agents or leaders that matters, but rather the size of the unit: even saints asked to administer a building of 400 floors or a nation of 200 million people would find the job impossible.”
Kohr showed that there are unavoidable limits to the growth of societies:
“..social problems have the unfortunate tendency to grow at a geometric ratio with the growth of an organism of which they are a part, while the ability of man to cope with them, if it can be extended at all, grows only at an arithmetic ratio.”
In the real world, there are finite limits beyond which it does not make sense to grow.
Kohr argued that only small states can have true democracies, because only in small states can the citizen have some direct influence over the governing authorities.
When asked what had most influenced his political and social ideas, Kohr replied: “Mostly that I was born in a small village.”
The euro zone in particular is an object lesson in an unwieldy, oversized, dysfunctional political construct haphazardly cobbled together among irreconcilable cultural entities.
Wherever something is wrong, wrote Kohr, something is too big. The answer is not to grow, embracing even more disparate states within a failing currency union with make-it-up-as- you-go-along rules. The answer is to stop growing.
The answer to the ‘too big’ problem lies not in ever greater union, but in division.
And if the larger states in Europe ultimately decide that the political union is more than their electorates can bear, and that what they really want is to slaughter each other, they should not expect the United Kingdom, once again, to wade into the abattoir and sacrifice its own in the process.
“We have ridiculed the many little states,” wrote Kohr, sadly; “Now we are terrorized by their few successors.”
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Home›Reviews›Daredevil - Marvel's Hit Netflix Series is Back for a Second Season!
Daredevil - Marvel's Hit Netflix Series is Back for a Second Season!
Following a well-received first season, Marvel’s Daredevil, the first of its Netflix TV series, has returned for a second. This series, along with the recently released Jessica Jones, and the forthcoming Luke Cage and Iron Fist, are going to culminate in an eventual Defenders mini-series.
Marvel’s Netflix TV series are a part of the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe, which has spanned nearly a dozen films and remains ongoing. However, it is unlikely that there will be any direct crossovers between these shows and the movies; the films stick with PG-13 ratings while the Netflix shows are TV-MA, gritty and grounded more in reality than the cinematic presentations.
Daredevil’s second season picks up where the first left off. The villainous crime lord Wilson Fisk has been incarcerated for his previous crimes, and Matt Murdock continues his law career alongside Foggy Nelson and Karen Page, while still moonlighting as the masked vigilante Daredevil against criminals in Hell’s Kitchen. When a number of criminal factions step up to claim the ground left behind by Fisk’s absence, Murdock continues doing what he can to turn things around, but he is not alone. A mysterious man referred to only as “The Punisher” is waging a one-man war against gangsters and corrupt cops, killing anyone who stands in his way, much to Murdock’s dismay. As if things were not already hard enough with Murdock juggling life as Daredevil by night and a lawyer by day, a mysterious old flame reenters his life, with her own goals, further tearing Murdock away from his day job and other responsibilities. And behind it all could be an even deadlier villain with an unexpected scheme.
Elektra, Daredevil's old flame, makes her first appearance in this season.
In many ways, the first season of Daredevil proved itself to be the TV show that Marvel so desperately needed, and the second season expands on that, possibly surpassing the first. The plot thickens here and there is more drama and action alike on display throughout its 13 episode duration. Streamlined yet well developed and gripping from start to finish, this is another triumph for Marvel.
Many have argued that this season lacks the impact of the first due to the lack of presence of Vincent D’Onofrio as the Kingpin (at first at least). On the contrary, this season scores points for taking a radically different approach in many respects. In this season, the initial major menace comes not from a villainous crime lord, but someone on the other end of the spectrum altogether; a deadly vigilante who is in many ways the antithesis of Matt Murdock. This creates an interesting foil to Daredevil, and makes for some excellent development and interaction on all sides.
One of the ways in which the second season is more entertaining than the first is that the characters are already established and in place, aside from the few new ones that we come to learn more about over the course of the season. In particular, the strained relationship between Murdock and his law partners when his old flame leads him away from his “day duties” stands out as a major highlights. There are consequences for people on both sides here, and the characters and said relationships remain fleshed out and appealing throughout, including a few plot twists even this fan did not see coming.
One strength this season has over the first, as well as over the Jessica Jones series, is that it is more streamlined and simplified, without a good deal of subplots. We have one main plot to start that is more or less seen from different points of view. Even when other plots show themselves later in the season, for the most part it never becomes too terribly convoluted or diverted. That said, there are a few too many unexpected developments and elements of over-plotting later on in the season, and some of these elements end up collapsing on themselves (seriously, how many times do we have to see Daredevil fighting gangs of ninjas?) The good outweighs the bad, but some trimming and further editing in the latter few episodes would have helped. It would have also been nice to have some more obvious and easy ways of telling flashbacks apart from “the present;” this becomes a very noticeable problem in at least one episode.
Daredevil unites old and new faces alike in its second season.
Another strength Daredevil retains from its first season is making good use of its TV-MA rating, without milking the rating for all that one can do with it, or slathering the audience with gratuitous sex and violence just for the sake of doing so. There is just the right amount of violence, and when a sex scene appears, it is handled tastefully and not in an explicit and shocking manner. Jessica Jones was infamous for throwing every edgy element imaginable at the audience (graphic and explicit sex scenes, lesbian love triangles, and so forth) and in this fan’s mind actually lost a good deal of its depth as a result. Fortunately, Daredevil remains the superior series in its second season for these very reasons.
The ending to the show’s second season does not disappoint, and definitely sets the scene for what could be coming our way in a third. There is a little bit too much in the final third of the season and a few too many plot twists here and there, but there is more than enough good about Daredevil’s second season that this fan can give it a solid recommendation!
DISCLAIMER: All images in this review are the property of their respective copyright holders. For promotional use only. All rights reserved.
TagsDaredevilelektraFoggy NelsonKingpinMarvelMarvel Cinematic Universenobustickthe handthe punisherWilson Fisk
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