pred_label
stringclasses 2
values | pred_label_prob
float64 0.5
1
| wiki_prob
float64 0.25
1
| text
stringlengths 163
1.01M
| source
stringlengths 37
43
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
__label__wiki
| 0.695792
| 0.695792
|
"ACA's journal, Arms Control Today, remains the best in the market. Well focused. Solidly researched. Prudent."
– Hans Blix
Former IAEA Director-General
A Comprehensive Transparency Regime For Warheads and Fissile Materials
NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg's INF Response Is Inadequate
(July 9, 2019)
START II
U.S.-Russian Nuclear Arms Control Agreements at a Glance
(February 1, 2019)
Brief Chronology of START II
Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties (START)
Assessing Progress on Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament: 2016-2019 Report Card
The INF Treaty and New START Crisis and the Future of the NPT
Steve Fetter
U.S.-Russian efforts to limit nuclear forces largely have ignored their most fearsome components—the nuclear warheads. Arms control agreements have instead focused on limiting the number of deployed delivery vehicles and their launchers: ballistic missiles and their associated silos, mobile launchers or submarines; and long range bombers. START II limits the number of warheads that can be mounted on delivery vehicles, but is silent on non-deployed warheads. Presidents George Bush and Boris Yeltsin announced in 1991 that certain tactical warheads would be withdrawn and dismantled, but these initiatives were not legally binding and neither side could confirm that the promised reductions actually took place.
Nor have arms control agreements included restrictions on stockpiles of fissile materials—plutonium and highly enriched uranium (HEU)—the essential ingredients of all nuclear weapons. Control and accounting for these materials is the foundation for verifying compliance with the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Fissile materials are the most difficult part of a nuclear weapon to produce, and the size of stockpiles held by the nuclear-weapon states places an upper limit on the number of warheads they could manufacture.
The focus on delivery vehicles is understandable. They are much easier to count and far more difficult to hide than warheads or fissile materials. Delivery vehicles are also expensive, typically costing 10 times more to produce and maintain than the nuclear warheads they carry. In addition, the number and characteristics of a nation's delivery vehicles are more accurate measures of the operational potency of its nuclear arsenal than are the size of its warhead or fissile material stockpiles.
In the future, however, it will become increasingly important to complement limits on delivery vehicles with restrictions on warhead and fissile material stockpiles, for several reasons. First, limits on warheads and fissile materials would make arms reductions far more difficult and time-consuming to reverse. Large stockpiles of non-deployed warheads or fissile materials create the potential for rapid and large-scale "breakout" from treaty obligations. The United States plans to maintain over 5,000 strategic warheads (and nuclear components to build another 5,000 warheads) in storage after START II is fully implemented, in addition to the 3,500 deployed warheads permitted by the treaty.<1> This has generated concern in Russia that the United States could increase the size of its strategic force very rapidly by simply replacing warheads that had been removed from missiles and bombers under START II. Although the breakout potential of Russia would be considerably smaller than that of the United States after START II is fully implemented, the United States is concerned about the durability of Russian democracy and the possibility of a return to hostile relations. Both countries would benefit if agreed reductions in nuclear arsenals were made as irreversible as possible.
Verified limits on warheads and fissile materials would also lay an essential foundation for much deeper reductions in nuclear arsenals. At the high force levels permitted by START I and START II, the stability of the nuclear balance is relatively insensitive to the total number of warheads each side possesses, and the breakout problem is not acute. But as the number of deployed warheads moves from 3,500 to 1,000 or less, uncertainties about the total number of warheads—and the amount of fissile material available to make new warheads—would loom much larger. At that point, it will be essential to have in place a system for limiting warhead and fissile material stockpiles. The time to begin building that system is now.
Second, unlike strategic weapons, most tactical warheads lack unique nuclear delivery vehicles or launchers. Verified limits on warheads are the only way to build confidence that existing commitments to reduce tactical nuclear weapons have been implemented. Additional restrictions on tactical warheads will become more important as the number of strategic warheads is reduced, because the distinction between "strategic" and "tactical" warheads is hazy. For example, U.S. B61 tactical bombs are nearly identical to the B61 strategic bomb, and the W80 warhead on the tactical sea launched cruise missile is nearly identical to the W80 warhead on the strategic air launched cruise missile. If strategic warheads are limited, their tactical counterparts should be limited as well.
Agreed limits on the number and deployment of tactical nuclear warheads would also be a useful confidence building measure in the wake of NATO expansion. The United States is concerned about the fate of Russia's huge stockpile of tactical warheads and about Russia's increased reliance on tactical nuclear weapons to offset the conventional forces of NATO and China. Russia is worried about the deployment of U.S. tactical warheads in an expanded NATO. Both sides would gain from greater transparency regarding tactical nuclear weapons.
Third, limits on warhead and fissile material stockpiles and associated transparency measures could help reduce risks of theft or unauthorized use. Transparency measures would build confidence that warheads and fissile materials are secure. If security is lacking, transparency measures would help identify shortcomings and facilitate U.S. Russian cooperation toward improving safeguards. Merely compiling the necessary data and preparing for inspections could deter or detect threats to the security of warheads and fissile materials. In the longer term, reductions and centralized, monitored storage would make stockpiles easier to safeguard.
The need to begin to build a transparency regime for warheads and fissile materials is recognized in the March 1997 joint statement of Presidents Bill Clinton and Yeltsin issued in Helsinki, which calls for a START III agreement that includes "measures relating to the transparency of strategic nuclear warhead inventories and the destruction of strategic nuclear warheads… to promote the irreversibility of deep reductions including prevention of a rapid increase in the number of warheads." The presidents also agreed to "explore, as separate issues, possible measures relating to…tactical nuclear systems, to include appropriate confidence building and transparency measures," and to "consider the issues related to transparency in nuclear materials."
The Helsinki statement is, in some respects, a step backward from joint statements issued in 1994 and 1995, which directed experts on both sides to immediately begin negotiating cooperative measures to ensure the transparency and irreversibility of nuclear arms reductions, including exchanges of data on warhead and fissile material stockpiles. Russia effectively ended these negotiations in 1995 when it refused to complete an agreement for cooperation that would allow the parties to exchange sensitive information. The Russian government has never explained publicly why it broke off the talks. Perhaps the Helsinki agreement will breathe new life into this process.
The Helsinki statement could be interpreted in a very circumscribed way. For example, transparency measures might be restricted to certain strategic warheads, or to only those strategic warheads that are to be removed under a START III agreement. The significance of such half way measures would be limited, except as first steps toward a more comprehensive regime. Little would be gained by verifying the elimination of a few selected warheads if other warheads in the stockpile could take their place or if new warheads could be produced to replace them. The security benefits of transparency measures would be far greater if they applied to all warheads—tactical as well as strategic, reserve as well as deployed.
A comprehensive set of transparency measures for warheads and fissile materials will raise difficult technical and political challenges that could take years of hard work and negotiation to resolve. For this reason, it probably is best to divide the Helsinki agenda into two parallel tracks: one dealing with warhead and fissile material transparency, and a START III track that establishes a lower limit on deployed strategic warheads. By having START III operate within the technical framework of the existing START agreements, it should be possible to sign a START III accord while Clinton and Yeltsin are still in office.
At Helsinki, the presidents agreed to begin negotiations on START III immediately after START II enters into force. (This commitment was subsequently modified and will become effective when the Duma ratifies START II.) It appeared that this would happen in December 1998, but the U.S. attack against Iraq prompted the Russian Duma to postpone ratification yet again. The announcement in January 1999 by Secretary of Defense William Cohen that the United States would seek to re-negotiate the ABM Treaty to allow the deployment of a national missile defense (NMD) casts further uncertainty over the future of START II. The Clinton administration understands the importance of preserving the U.S. Russian arms control process, however, and there is a good chance that the parties will begin negotiations on START III sometime this year. If and when this happens, the United States should be ready to describe and promote a vision for a comprehensive transparency regime.
Building a Transparency Regime
A comprehensive transparency regime would have several components, including initial and ongoing declarations; inspections to gain confidence in the accuracy and completeness of the declarations; and measures to confirm the dismantling of warheads and the disposition of warhead components.
Declarations.
The first element in a transparency regime would be an initial declaration of nuclear warhead and fissile material inventories, updated at agreed intervals. This is especially important because estimates by national intelligence agencies are highly inaccurate. For example, a CIA official testified in 1992 that Russia had 30,000 nuclear warheads, "plus or minus 5,000."<2> Subsequent statements by Russian Minister of Atomic Energy Viktor Mikhailov that the Russian stockpile peaked at 45,000 warheads in 1986 cast doubt on the CIA estimate and emphasized further the difficulty of estimating warhead stockpiles by national intelligence alone.<3> The value of agreed limits on stockpiles or agreements to dismantle a certain number of warheads would be diminished considerably if the initial inventory could not be established with greater accuracy.
In June 1995, the United States proposed a modest stockpile data exchange agreement, as called for by the U.S.-Russian joint statement just one month earlier. The proposed agreement called for exchanging data, on a confidential basis, on total current inventories of nuclear weapons and fissile materials, as well as the total number of nuclear weapons dismantled each year since 1980, and the type and amount of fissile material produced each year since 1970. Unfortunately, then Russian Assistant Minister of Atomic Energy Vladislav Balamutov reportedly rejected the proposal as "too comprehensive."
Although the June 1995 proposal represents a useful starting point, declarations ultimately would have to be considerably more comprehensive to achieve the goals set out above. The information to be exchanged should include the location, type and serial number of every nuclear device; the location and serial number of each fissile component recovered from a dismantled warhead; total inventories of plutonium and HEU; and a detailed inventory for each facility for bulk fissile materials. For stored warheads or warhead components, the location would be a particular storage facility; for deployed warheads, it would be the corresponding launcher. The serial number could serve as a unique identifier for each item, or special "tags" could be used for this purpose.
Unique identifiers or tags would have three key advantages. First, tags make it easier to certify the completeness of a declaration, because the discovery of an untagged warhead or canister would constitute an unambiguous violation. Second, it would not be necessary to inspect or count each and every controlled item to gain confidence in the accuracy of the declaration. Inspectors could authenticate the tags in a randomly selected sample of items, thereby reducing the inspection effort and its degree of intrusiveness. Third, tags would allow a chain of custody in which individual warheads could be tracked from deployment sites to storage bunkers to dismantlement facilities. Similarly, canisters containing warhead components could be tracked from dismantlement facilities to storage sites to facilities for the civil use or disposal of the material.
A tagging scheme could make use of existing surface features (at sufficiently high magnifications all surfaces have a unique "fingerprint") or several different kinds of applied tags, such as bar coded labels or plastic holographic images overlaid by a tamper proof tape. Tags are used by the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) in Iraq to log and track items which could be used both for civilian and military purposes, by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to safeguard civilian nuclear materials, and by the U.S. military to track weapons.<4> These tags require that inspectors have physical access to the tag, but it is possible to imagine tags that could be authenticated outside of a container or at a distance.<5> The use of tags for verification, while not yet applied to warheads, is provided for in START I.<6>
Although certain technical issues would have to be worked out, there should be no problem in instituting an effective tagging system for canisters containing warheads, warhead components or fissile materials.
To provide confidence that the declaration is accurate and complete, it also would be helpful to have information on the history of warhead and fissile material stockpiles and the facilities used to produce them. For warheads, one could begin by exchanging data on the aggregate number of warheads produced and dismantled each year, or, better still, the date of assembly or disassembly of each device. For fissile materials, the annual production and consumption of plutonium and HEU by facility would be useful. A detailed description of the warhead production complex would be valuable in this context, and would help in designing transparency measures to validate the declaration.
The Department of Energy (DOE) has taken an important step toward increased transparency by publishing a report that summarizes U.S. plutonium production and use from 1944 through 1994.<7> The report provides a comprehensive accounting of plutonium inventories at each DOE facility, including the sum of the quantities of plutonium in the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile and in pits at the Pantex warhead assembly/disassembly facility in Texas. It also provides a summary of the production of plutonium at DOE sites, small acquisitions of foreign plutonium and removals of plutonium from the stockpile. A similar report on the production and use of U.S. HEU is in preparation. As a first step toward a formal data exchange, the United States could fund, through the Cooperative Threat Reduction program or U.S.-Russian lab-to-lab programs, the generation of comparable reports by Russia.
It is important to begin exchanging such data as soon as possible. There is no need to wait until transparency measures are worked out completely. Early declarations would build confidence and would stimulate both governments to ensure that their accountancy systems are accurate and understandable. In the case of historical information, such as the rates of production of nuclear weapons or fissile materials many decades in the past, it is important to assemble this data today, while the personnel who were involved in these operations are still available to resolve any discrepancies or uncertainties that might arise.
Inspections.
The second element of a transparency regime would be inspections to confirm the accuracy and completeness of the declarations. There would be no need to count warheads deployed on strategic missiles, since these would be covered by the START agreements. Nearly all other warheads are in storage, so inspections would mostly involve visiting a particular storage facility and checking that the declared number of warheads is present—no more, no less. Alternatively, inspectors could randomly select a small number of warheads for inspection and verify that their serial numbers matched those listed in the declaration. If a random sample of 20 or 30 warheads turned up no undeclared or bogus warheads, then one could be highly confident that the declaration was accurate.<8>
There are, however, two key problems in confirming the declarations. The first is knowing that an object which is declared to be a warhead of a certain type really is a warhead of that type. This could be dealt with by developing "fingerprints" or templates of warhead types, and using random sampling to confirm that a particular warhead is an authentic warhead of the declared type. For example, Russia could present one or more SS 18 ICBM warheads for fingerprinting, or warheads could be selected from a deployed missile by U.S. inspectors. A set of agreed characteristics could be measured: length and diameter; mass and center of gravity; the relative strength of neutron emissions or gamma-ray emissions at certain points; or heat output. A fingerprint of this type would be extremely difficult to spoof. To protect sensitive weapon design information, an automated system could be devised to give a simple "yes" or "no" answer to the question: "Is this an SS 18 warhead?"<9> A similar system is being developed by U.S. and Russian laboratories to confirm the authenticity of plutonium pits placed in a U.S. funded storage facility now under construction near Chelyabinsk.
A second problem is demonstrating that the declaration is complete—in other words, that there are no hidden or undeclared stockpiles of warheads or fissile material. Challenge, or anytime anywhere, inspections are often mentioned as one way to detect undeclared stockpiles if they exist, but a well designed plan to hide warheads or materials would give few clues about where to look. A better approach is to exchange detailed historical information on the nuclear stockpiles as part of the initial declaration. These records could be examined for internal consistency and for consistency with the current stockpile declaration, and they could be compared to archived intelligence information.
In some cases, inspections might be able to confirm the completeness of the declaration. For example, measurements of isotope ratios in the permanent structural components of plutonium production reactors can verify, at least approximately, declarations of the total production of plutonium at that reactor. Knowing the amount of plutonium produced would, in turn, validate declarations about the production of warheads.
Dismantling.
Once a baseline warhead inventory is established, agreed reductions can be achieved by confirming that a certain number of warheads have been dismantled. This could be accomplished rather easily by demonstrating that the warhead had been removed from the stockpile and that the corresponding fissile components—in particular, the plutonium pit—had been placed in a monitored storage facility.<10> For example, Russia could verify that a U.S. warhead had been removed from the storage area and delivered to the dismantling area at Pantex, and that some days later a pit had been placed in the storage area. The fingerprinting procedures described above could be used to show that the object to be dismantled was an authentic warhead of a given type. Intrinsic gamma-ray signatures might also be used to verify that the pit which is subsequently placed in storage was taken from a warhead of that type. It may even be possible to determine whether the pit was taken from a particular warhead (for example, by irradiating the warhead with a burst of neutrons and measuring the fission-product gamma-ray signature of the pit some days later). Again, sampling could be used to minimize the number of warheads or pits that are subjected to detailed examination. Components containing plutonium or uranium would be stored pending their ultimate disposition under mutual monitoring; other components could be destroyed or recycled, as agreed by the parties.
Another method would use perimeter-portal monitoring at the dismantling facility. The portal would be equipped with a system to verify the authenticity of warheads entering the facility and to detect fissile materials exiting the facility. A third method would track the warhead and its components through the dismantling process. Although this is often considered excessively intrusive, it may be possible to protect sensitive information. The monitoring party could, for example, track the warhead up to the disassembly cell, track the fissile components from the disassembly cell to the storage area, and verify that the disassembly cell contained no warheads or warhead components either before or after the disassembly procedure. Monitoring could be done by on site inspectors, or remotely using secure video links or radio beacons.
Disposition.
If reductions are to be truly irreversible, a comprehensive transparency regime must also provide confidence that components from dismantled warheads and other excess fissile materials would not be available to rebuild nuclear arsenals. The goal should be to render these materials at least as unattractive for use in nuclear weapons as is fresh or spent civilian reactor fuel.<11>
In the case of HEU weapons components, transparency measures have already been negotiated to provide confidence that the low enriched uranium that the United States is purchasing from Russia for civilian reactor fuel is derived from dismantled warheads. Disposing of plutonium pits will be more difficult. The plutonium could be used to fabricate mixed oxide fuel elements for civilian reactors, but the resulting fuel would be more expensive than uranium fuel, and neither country has facilities to fabricate plutonium fuels. Alternatively, the plutonium could be mixed with vitrified high level radioactive wastes. In either case, IAEA type safeguards could provide assurance that no plutonium had been diverted.
Finally, in addition to monitoring the elimination of warheads and the disposition of fissile materials, it would be important to have confidence that new warheads or fissile materials are not being produced. In the case of fissile materials, this could be done by applying IAEA type safeguards to plutonium-production reactors, reprocessing facilities and uranium-enrichment plants. Indeed, the United States favors such measures as part of a multilateral agreement to end the production of fissile material for weapons or outside of safeguards—the so called fissile material cutoff treaty proposal now before the UN Conference on Disarmament.
Gaining confidence that additional warheads are not being manufactured will be more difficult, since warhead maintenance and remanufacture will continue as long as nuclear weapons exist. Transparency measures on fissile materials provide assurance that a large number of additional warheads could not be produced without detection. Additional confidence could be obtained by requiring a strict balance between the number of warheads and pits entering and exiting a warhead maintenance or remanufacturing facility.
Some worry that the monitoring party would learn of vulnerabilities in the force by observing maintenance and remanufacturing activities. If, for example, Russia observed that all the U.S. Trident warheads were being rebuilt, it might conclude that that system had a major reliability problem. Even so, it is difficult to see how that knowledge would confer a significant and usable military advantage, since Russia would not know the actual potency of the warheads. The United States plans to maintain a mix of warheads in the stockpile, so that the failure of any one system would not cripple the deterrent capability of the overall force.
A comprehensive transparency regime for nuclear warheads and fissile materials would have a number of important advantages. A transparency regime would build confidence that agreed reductions in strategic and tactical nuclear forces are irreversible, lay the foundation for much deeper reductions in nuclear forces, and facilitate efforts to reduce the risks of theft or unauthorized use of nuclear warheads and fissile materials.
Although a comprehensive transparency regime will present numerous challenges, the task is manageable if both sides do the necessary technical work and negotiate in good faith. This work should begin immediately. We cannot afford to wait until negotiations begin, or until political agreement has been achieved, to work out the details of verifying declarations or the dismantling of warheads. Unlike past arms control agreements, which were discrete events, we should think of increased transparency as a continuous process, in which we constantly increase the exchange of more detailed information and find ways to corroborate that information. This process is an essential component of a long term program to reduce the size and salience of nuclear arsenals, as well as a vital element of the effort to improve U.S. Russian relations.
1. The warheads held in reserve for possible redeployment include approximately 550 B61 and B81 strategic bombs; 1,450 W80 cruise missile warheads; 1,500 W62 and W78 Minuteman warheads; and 1,900 W78 Trident warheads. In addition, the United States plans to hold over 5,000 plutonium "pits" in reserve. Thomas B. Cochran, personal communication based on unclassified and declassified Department of Energy documents, 4 March 1999.
[Back to text]
2. "Testimony of Lawrence Gershwin before the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee," May 6, 1992.
3. William J. Broad, "Russian Says Soviet Atom Arsenal Was Larger Than West Estimated," The New York Times, September 26, 1993, p. A1.
4. A specific tamper tape system used in Iraq and in the United States is the so called "CONFIRM" seal. This is a tape placed over a unique identifier. The tape is an adhesive, imbedded with microscopic beads of colored glass in several strata forming a specific design (such as the UN logo). The tape is see through and is read through reflected light.
5. Tags that can be read remotely are available commercially. See, for example, the Argus tag produced by Aquila Technologies, described at http://www.aquilagroup.com.
6. Annex 6 to the Inspection Protocol of START I, which describes procedures for associating unique identifiers with mobile missiles or their launch canisters, defines a unique identifier as "a non repeating alpha numeric production number, or a copy thereof, that has been applied by the inspected Party, using its own technology."
7. U.S. Department of Energy, "Plutonium: The First 50 Years," DOE/DP 0137, February 1996.
8. Assume that 10 percent of the warheads at a particular site have invalid tags. If the total number of warheads at the site is large (greater than 400), the probability that a random sample of 20 warheads would include at least one invalid warhead is 88 percent; for a sample of 30 warheads, the probability is 96 percent. The general formula is P = 1 - (1 - F)n, where F is the invalid fraction, n is the number sampled, and P is that probability that the sample contains at least one invalid warhead. The probability is greater if the total number of warheads is small; for example, if the site contains only 50 warheads, the probability that at least one of 20 would be invalid is 93 percent. The general formula in this case is P = 1 - [(N - M)!(N - n)!]/[(N - M - n)!N!], where N is the total number of warheads and M = FN = the number of invalid warheads.
9. The Controlled Intrusiveness Verification Technology (CIVET) system developed at Brookhaven National Laboratory accomplishes this task with a high resolution gamma ray detector and a special purpose computer without permanent memory.
10. These options are reviewed in Department of Energy, Office of Arms Control and Nonproliferation, Transparency and Verification Options: An Initial Analysis of Approaches for Monitoring Warhead Dismantlement, Washington, DC: Department of Energy, May 19, 1997.
11. National Academy of Sciences, Committee on International Security and Arms Control, Management and Disposition of Excess Weapons Plutonium, Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1994.
Steve Fetter is an associate professor in the School of Public Affairs at the University of Maryland in College Park and a member of the Arms Control Association Board of Directors.
Bolton’s Attempt to Sabotage New START
Seeing Red in Trump’s Iran Strategy
No Rush to Enrich: Alternatives for Providing Uranium for U.S. National Security Needs
Translating Goals Into Agreements: An Interview with Pavel Palazhchenko
Regime Protection Fuels Nuclear Proliferation
The Wohlstetter-Warnke Debate in Foreign Policy
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1135
|
__label__wiki
| 0.980976
| 0.980976
|
Multiculturalism: What does it mean?
Image caption The multiculturalism debate is guaranteed to whip up a storm
Pundits have been reacting to a speech by David Cameron in which the prime minister argued multiculturalism had "failed". But what do commentators actually mean by the term?
It is one of the most emotive and sensitive subjects in British politics.
But at times it seems there are as many definitions of multiculturalism as there are columnists, experts and intellectuals prepared to weigh into the debate.
The subject has become the focus of renewed scrutiny in the wake of a speech by prime minister David Cameron, in which he told a security conference in Germany that the UK needed a stronger national identity to prevent extremism.
In his speech, which has provoked a political storm, Mr Cameron defines "the doctrine of state multiculturalism" as a strategy which has "encouraged different cultures to live separate lives, apart from each other and apart from the mainstream".
This characterisation is not new. In 2004 Trevor Phillips, chairman of the the Commission for Racial Equality - now the Equality and Human Rights Commission - told the Times that multiculturalism was out of date because it "suggests separateness" and should be replaced with policies which promote integration and "assert a core of Britishness".
But is everyone who uses the term referring to the same phenomenon?
Academics' definitions of multiculturalism refer to anything from people of different communities living alongside each other to ethnic or religious groups leading completely separate lives.
Likewise, columnists who write about multiculturalism don't often define what they mean by the term, looking instead at what it is not.
The Oxford English Dictionary offers a broad definition of multiculturalism as the "characteristics of a multicultural society" and "the policy or process whereby the distinctive identities of the cultural groups within such a society are maintained or supported".
Media captionDavid Cameron said Britain had encouraged different cultures to live separate lives
Lord Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth says in the Times that multiculturalism was intended to create a more tolerant society, one in which everyone, regardless of colour, creed or culture, felt at home. But, he says, multiculturalism's message is "there is no need to integrate".
He distinguishes between tolerance and multiculturalism - using the Netherlands as an example of a tolerant, rather than multicultural, society.
Additionally, he says the current meaning of multiculturalism is part of the wider European phenomenon of moral relativism and talks of multiculturalism as dissolving national identity, shared values and collective identity which "makes it impossible for groups to integrate because there is nothing to integrate into".
Others, however, see the term as offering a range of meanings. In the Observer, the editor of Prospect magazine, David Goodhart, insists the strategy has taken on different forms within the UK over the years.
He distinguishes between the "live and let live" multiculturalism of the 1950s, which "assumed that if people could keep significant aspects of their culture they would choose to integrate in their own way"; the 1980s "'soft' multiculturalism of tolerance and equal rights"; and the more recent "hard" multiculturalism "of positive promotion of religious and ethnic identities".
Rod Liddle says in the Spectator that multiculturalism is a notion that cultures, no matter how antithetical to the norm, or anti-social, should be allowed to develop unhindered, without criticism.
Melanie Phillips takes this argument further in the Daily Mail, arguing that multiculturalism is a form of reverse-racism and "sickeningly hypocritical".
However, Madeleine Bunting of the Guardian says Mr Cameron has offered "a straw man version of multiculturalism". Instead of promoting segregation, she says, it is "a matter of pragmatism" - reaching out to organisations within ethnic communities who can help the government achieve its goals of maintaining good community relations.
In the same newspaper in March 2010, Antony Lerman, a former director of the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, pointed to some of the academic work on multiculturalism to show it is the opposite of a philosophy of separateness. He cited Professor Bhikhu Parekh's definition which says, far from "putting people into ethnic boxes", multiculturalism is a "fusion in which a culture borrows bits of others and creatively transforms both itself and them".
Professor Tariq Modood is director of the Centre for Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship at the University of Bristol and wrote Still Not Easy Being British: Struggles for a Multicultural Citizenship. He says in a Runnymede Trust web chat that multiculturalism has many meanings, but the minimum is the need to politically identify groups, typically by ethnicity, and to work to remove stigmatisation, exclusion and domination in relation to such groups.
The debate around multiculturalism may be an important one. But while public discussion of the subject may have become more familiar, there remains little consensus about what the word actually means.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1138
|
__label__wiki
| 0.995014
| 0.995014
|
Times distorted Muslim foster case, regulator finds
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43887481
The press regulator has ruled the Times "distorted" its coverage of a five-year-old Christian girl who was placed with Muslim foster carers.
The newspaper ran three front-page stories in August 2017 after the girl was removed from her mother's care by Tower Hamlets council in east London.
It said foster carers stopped her eating bacon, confused her by speaking Arabic, and removed a crucifix.
A Times executive acknowledged the story caused "enormous offence".
The complaint was made by Tower Hamlets, which had taken the child into care.
The council said a front-page headline, "Judge rules child must leave Muslim foster home", was misleading because it had sought to move the child to live with her grandmother - who herself had a Muslim background.
The judge had already ruled that the girl had been given "warm and appropriate" care by two foster families.
A council investigation - whose findings were agreed by all the parties in the case - found the allegations raised in the Times had been unsubstantiated.
The Times mentions the Independent Press Standards Organisation ruling on the front page of Wednesday's paper and publishes the full adjudication on page two and online.
The Independent Press Standards Organisation ruled the paper should publish the adjudication on page six or more prominently, as well as on its website.
'Distorted information'
On Tuesday, Ian Brunskill, the paper's assistant editor, addressed the Commons Home Affairs Committee investigation of the reporting of minorities.
He said the paper's reporting had caused "an enormous amount of trouble for us, for other people."
He added: "It's caused enormous offence, it's caused enormous upset."
But he denied the paper had set out to cause offence.
"The suggestion that we might have set out to do that is frankly absurd," he said.
Image copyright The Times
Image caption The Times published three front-page stories on the case - this one is dated 30 August 2017.
The chief executive of Tower Hamlets council, Will Tuckley, said it had complained because it wanted to defend its own foster carers.
He said: "From the start we had concerns about the validity of the allegations about the foster carers.
"For example one allegation was that they did not speak English, even though that is a prerequisite for any foster carer.
"The allegation that the foster placement was a bad choice by the council was also found by Ipso to be distorted information."
The Muslim Council of Britain said it was the first time a story relating to Islam had been corrected on the front page of a newspaper.
Harun Khan, the organisation's secretary general, said: "It is about time the Times was forced to apologise for promoting what was widely known to be an inaccurate, misleading and bigoted narrative about Muslims.
"We hope that this will mark a turning point in the tolerance the Times has shown for anti-Muslim bigotry in its coverage and commentary."
UK press regulation
Tower Hamlets London Borough Council
Five-year-old girl 'misses' Muslim fosterers, court hears
Ruling over 'Muslim foster case' girl
'My Muslim family and our foster kids'
UK Sections
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1139
|
__label__cc
| 0.514962
| 0.485038
|
William A. Breskin
Senior Vice President, Government Programs
William A. Breskin is senior vice president, Government Programs, for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), a national federation of 36 independent, community-based and locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield Companies. The Blue System is the nation’s largest health insurer covering one-in-three of all Americans. It is the largest single processor of Medicare claims in the nation, and holds the world's largest privately underwritten health insurance contract – the 5.4 million-member Federal Employee Program (FEP).
Breskin directs the activities of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield FEP for BCBSA. Under his leadership, FEP serves 64 percent of the federal market and has achieved the highest aggregate service profile score in its 56-year history. Breskin also oversees the federally run multistate exchange program.
Prior to becoming senior vice president of government programs, Breskin served in many roles within the legal and governance area of BCBSA, including vice president, deputy general counsel and assistant corporate secretary. He worked for many years as BCBSA’s chief Washington counsel, exhibiting a broad range of expertise advising clients on contracting with the federal government in the health insurance arena (including both FEP and Medicare), as well as advising BCBSA’s Office of Policy and Representation. He has worked for BCBSA since 1995.
Before joining BCBSA, Breskin was in private practice as a lawyer for eight years, specializing in issues related to doing business with the federal government, as well as labor and employment law.
He graduated from Georgetown University in 1979, earning a bachelor’s degree in history and art history, cum laude. He received his law degree in 1987, cum laude, from the National Law Center of the George Washington University.
View another BCBS Leader:
Select a BCBS Leader View all Leadership Team Members Mark Talluto Melissa Rotunno Patrick Pope Pete Naumovski Ngan MacDonald Nisha Lulla Brad Lubrant Julie Koewler J. Michael Joyce Kris Haltmeyer Paul Gerrard Kathy Didawick Terrence J. (Terry) Cooney John Cerisano Jennifer Atkins Maureen E. Sullivan Scott Nehs Kari Hedges Trent Haywood, M.D., J.D. Justine Handelman William A. Breskin Jennifer Vachon Robert Kolodgy Scott P. Serota Kelly Williams Reed Melton Vincent Nelson, M.D. David Yoder
View Leader >
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1140
|
__label__wiki
| 0.672151
| 0.672151
|
Delamere Corrects Newspaper's Errors
John Delamare
Customs Minister Hon Tuariki Delamere today corrected a Sunday Star Times report which claimed that the Australian Federal Police were unhappy with the New Zealand Customs Service's handling of a $50 million heroin bust in Auckland recently.
The paper claimed the Australian authorities would have preferred the 10 kilos of high quality heroin from Thailand to have been allowed to be sent on to Sydney so that the bigtime drug barons could have been caught.
"The Australian officer who is the alleged source of these remarks has informed the New Zealand Service that he is perplexed by this report, as the Australian authorities have absolutely no problem with the actions taken by New Zealand Customs or Police.
"The subsequent inquiries by the Australian Federal Police and the arrest of a third man in Sydney allegedly involved in the heroin smuggling are a clear indication of the excellent trans-Tasman co-operation that was apparent in New Zealand's highest-value drug seizure.
"It is regrettable that the Sunday Star-Times chose to manufacture conflict where none existed and completely missed the more relevant point highlighted by the Bangkok Post which commented on July 17 that "the operation showed a high degree of the type of international trust and communications that is essential if the drug threat to our countries is to be beaten back.
"The Post went on to comment "Those involved considered it a landmark test of international co-operation and I concur," said the Minister.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1141
|
__label__wiki
| 0.571426
| 0.571426
|
Launch Statistics NZ’s Tourism Satellite Account
Lockwood Smith
I am delighted to join you today for the launch of the Tourism Satellite Account.
The completion of this Account is a notable occasion for New Zealand as it places us on the leading edge of countries that have developed such accounts.
I understand that Australia, for example, is still twelve months away from completing its own Tourism Satellite Account, or TSA for short.
Later in today's presentation, you'll learn more about the detail of the TSA, and how it has been implemented.
But what I want to talk about today is why the TSA is so valuable, both to myself as Tourism Minister and more broadly, to the industry.
The TSA is significant because it meets a long-standing need of industry and Government for an official, credible measure of the contribution tourism makes to the national economy.
Let's face it - it's difficult to measure the contribution of the tourism industry to the national economy.
There are no products crossing national borders, and we can't follow tourists around the country and monitor every cent they spend.
The TSA allows us to extract meaningful information about the tourism industry, and aggregates total tourism activity.
It will enable us to better understand the dynamic of tourism in our economy and allow us to better plan for its continued development.
It will ensure that public and private-sector decision making, particularly in the key areas of research and investment, are better informed.
And the analysis of the 1995 year, presented here today, has produced exciting statistics about the tourism industry. It shows that:
Tourism directly and indirectly supports 118,000 jobs;
The industry generated 15.8% of New Zealand's export earnings, making tourism New Zealand's largest earning industry;
Total tourism expenditure in New Zealand was $9.1 billion, comprising $4.3 billion of international tourism demand, and $4.8 billion of domestic tourism demand;
The industry generated $850 million in GST revenue for the Government and a further $104 million in indirect taxes;
Tourism expenditure comprised 10.5% of New Zealand's GDP;
These are impressive figures, but the significance of the TSA is that it allows us to compare New Zealand's record against other countries that have developed TSAs. For example:
At 10.5% as a percentage of GDP, tourism expenditure is high for New Zealand compared with Canada at 5.1% or Norway at 6.1%.
International tourism is particularly important for New Zealand with 47% of total tourism expenditure coming from international tourism compared to 15% for Canada, 19-22% for USA and 33% for Norway;
These comparisons reinforce what we already know, and that's the importance of tourism to New Zealand.
It is important bear in mind that the TSA95 is based on data that is four years old.
But it's worth noting that if tourism earnings have grown at the same rate as New Zealand's GDP growth, then total tourism expenditure in 1998 could be in excess of $10.3 billion.
It's also worth noting that while the TSA is a significant development, it forms part of a much broader programme to improve the information base of the tourism sector.
Other key initiatives include a Domestic Travel Survey and the preparation of Tourism Forecasts.
The completion of these initiatives together with existing tourism sector surveys will provide the tourism sector with a robust set of data to inform its development.
The challenge now is to secure ongoing commitment for these surveys and to ensure that the information is made available to users in a coherent and efficient way.
Many of you will know that the Office of Tourism and Sport has been allocated $800,000 in 1999/00 to support a number of programmes, including a further Tourism Satellite Account.
This will be a "real-time" TSA based on the latest tourism sector and industry data. It will also incorporate the latest developments of the TSA methodologies that are constantly being fine-tuned by the OECD and the World Tourism Organisation.
As Minister of Tourism, I am reliant upon quality information to do my job.
To have this official measure of the tourism industry will greatly assist me in my task of advocating the interests of the sector within Government.
But I should also stress that Government isn't the sole beneficiary.
The tourism industry will benefit from this data, and if it has faith in its own development (and I know that it does), then it must take steps to invest in its own future.
Finally, and on the basis on TSA95, it's official - tourism is New Zealand's largest foreign exchange earner and it makes a significant, quantifiable contribution to our economy.
This reinforces to me the tremendous future ahead for this industry in New Zealand.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1142
|
__label__wiki
| 0.672843
| 0.672843
|
STATE BANQUET IN HONOUR OF PRIME MINISTER WIM KOK OF THE NETHERLANDS
Jim Bolger
BANQUET HALL, THE BEEHIVE
Mr Prime Minister, Mrs Kok and members of your delegation, ladies and gentlemen.
Prime Minister, I have great pleasure in formally welcoming you to New Zealand.
You are the first Prime Minister of the Netherlands to officially visit this country.
But given the misunderstanding which surrounded the visit of your advance party, led by Abel Tasman some 355 years ago, I can understand your delay!
Despite that difficult first encounter, relations between the Netherlands and New Zealand have developed a particular warmth and understanding.
To be politically correct I should welcome you as the leader of what's been described as a 'purple' three party coalition - and a word of advice - have you checked on how things are at home at the moment?
Last night I announced my intention to step down as Prime Minister after the APEC meeting and a short visit to China - China is a very big country and a short visit could take a little time - but I do plan to be home for the millennium celebrations.
Mr Prime Minister, our people have grown close to each other - almost in inverse proportion to the distance that separates us.
Although it was a Dutch cartographer who gave these islands the name New Zealand, it was the arrival here of migrants from your country which deepened the bonds between us.
With the generous assistance of the Dutch Government, the post-war years saw some 28,000 people from the Netherlands gather their possessions and sail to New Zealand, to establish new lives for themselves and their families.
In doing that they showed great courage and great confidence in themselves, and in offering them a home New Zealand has been repaid many times over.
The Netherlands' loss was our gain.
Dutch migrants to New Zealand, then and now, brought with them skills, energy and determination.
I recall the arrival of many of them into the farming community I grew up in.
Your countrymen and women quickly earned a reputation for hard work and community-mindedness.
There were some difficulties.
Eyes lit up when these strapping young men arrived - the difficulty was in teaching them how to play rugby.
There are now, Mr Prime Minister, an estimated 70,000 New Zealanders who claim Dutch ancestry.
There is no facet of New Zealand society to which they have not contributed - be it in manufacturing, science, culture or exports.
I have no doubt that New Zealand and its development is very much the better for this strong Dutch connection.
Next week New Zealanders will be considering the role of immigration as we convene our first ever National Population Conference.
Your visit then is a timely opportunity to mark the importance of the Netherlands' contribution to New Zealand, through immigration.
As the son of migrant parents myself I have a soft spot for the contribution migrants and their families have made to New Zealand.
One such Dutch New Zealander will surely end up as Prime Minister one day.
A past Prime Minister of New Zealand, Sir Keith Holyoake, remarked to the UN General Assembly 21 years ago "we are a multiracial society. We are British, we are Maori. We are Polynesian. We are also Chinese, Danish, Yugoslav, Indian, Dutch and others." "Some", Sir Keith continued, "might see this cultural diversity as a liability or as a source of friction. We do not. It is a strength."
Yet the Netherlands' contribution to New Zealand extends beyond the gift of its migrants here, remarkable though that may be.
Dutch corporate investment is also an enduring feature of New Zealand's economy.
Two Dutch companies stand out as household names in New Zealand.
Philips have manufactured and distributed a wide range of electronic goods.
I hope I will not be accused of commercial favouritism in saying the name Philips has come to assume a reputation for reliability and safety in the New Zealand market.
Another Dutch company, Shell Oil, has been active in New Zealand's transport-fuels sector since the 1920s.
Shell has also contributed actively to the exploration and development of our indigenous fuels industry.
These Dutch companies - and others which arrived more recently - underline the success of the Netherlands as a nation of traders and investors.
We too have learnt that to prosper we have to trade.
Mr Prime Minister, I welcome you also as the leader of a nation at the heart of Europe.
The Netherlands is at the forefront of both the single market in Europe and Europe's outreach to the Asia-Pacific.
Prime Minister, we watch events in Europe closely - for several reasons.
First, there are the family and cultural connections, particularly with the British Isles and with the Netherlands.
And, despite the diversification of our commerce, the European Union remains a crucially important market, as well as a source of investment and technology.
We also watch Europe closely as much of our history is written on its battlefields.
Beyond the two World Wars we remain in Europe, this time in Croatia - alongside the Netherlands - making our contribution to international peace and security.
Because of our experience of war in Europe we regard with hope and expectation the cause of European unity.
The end of conflict and the creation of an outward-looking European Union committed to peaceful interdependence is very much in the world's interest.
The Netherlands has been in the forefront of this development.
Prime Minister, your country has shown the world that a small country can be a good regional and global citizen and still retain the essence of a distinctive national identity.
This is a legacy which we also like to see as our own.
In many ways we reflect similar views. Our common membership of international forums is a case in point.
We approach many of the world's problems in a similar way: working for progress in a practical but enlightened fashion.
Some observers have claimed this is simply an alphabetical accident.
That because the Netherlands and New Zealand sit alongside each other in the UN, and elsewhere, we either swap notes or use the same text!
What is true is that the fundamental values we hold in common, make it likely that our countries will adopt similar views on such diverse issues as disarmament, human rights, international development and multilateral trade.
In recent years, our respective regions have undergone significant change.
For us, the relationship with Australia and with the wider Asia-Pacific region has assumed a new significance, politically as well as economically.
These are natural developments but not ones that are, or need be, exclusive in nature. In fact the opposite is the case.
The opening up of the New Zealand economy and its essential global orientations - which of course finds its mirror in the Netherlands - makes it more likely than ever that we will meet and compete - but always as friends - not just in our respective countries but also in the market places of Europe, Asia and elsewhere in this rapidly shrinking world.
But for the time being, Mr Prime Minister and Mrs Kok, we are very happy that you are here among us as good friends, indeed as family from overseas.
You are almost a New Zealander now, as we together watched a New Zealand-bred horse win today's Melbourne Cup.
I wish you a very productive visit here and in Australia, and a safe journey home and a safe arrival.
In today's politics arriving home can be the dangerous part.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1143
|
__label__cc
| 0.541196
| 0.458804
|
HHS girls win Reindeer Games-Polar Bear meet
From PolkSports.com
At times late Monday afternoon, when the wind silenced, it felt like an early spring day in G.M. Tennant Stadium.
Of course, the holiday decorations and Santa Claus walking around the infield also belied the fact that it was a late January day.
The third time proved the charm for Polk County’s track program as it finally held its 10th annual Reindeer Games, combining that event with the WNC Polar Bear Championship for a full afternoon and evening of indoor track competition.
Hendersonville’s girls topped the 19-team field, finishing five points ahead of T.C. Roberson, with Polk County placing fifth. The Wolverine boys earned a second-place finish, 14 points behind T.C. Roberson, in a field of 17 teams.
Leading the way for the HHS girls was Micaiah Darity, who was first in the long jump (15-9), first in the triple jump (34-0) and first in the 55-meter dash in a time of 7.64 seconds. Other first-place finishes for the Bearcats were by Maya Gash in the in the 300 dash (45.11), and�the 800 relay team (1:51.81).
Inclement weather twice forced the Reindeer Games to be rescheduled, so Wolverine officials decided to combine that meet with its season-ending Polar Bear. This year’s weather has made holding meets a challenge, so almost 20 schools showed up Monday to try to post qualifying times for the upcoming state indoor championships.
Izzy Jackson won the 500 meters and helped Polk County’s girls win the 4�400-meter relay with a time of 4:28.72. The Wolverine boys received wins from Jake Justice in the pole vault and the 4�400-meters plus second-place efforts from Luke Sellers in the shot, Caleb Potter in the 1600 meters and Jack Derkach in the 500 meters.
All three runner-up efforts surpassed the standard for qualifying for the 2-A/1-A state championship meet on Feb. 9 in Winston-Salem.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1146
|
__label__wiki
| 0.548444
| 0.548444
|
Jacob Kishter Takes Command at MPD 3rd District
by Borderstan.com December 23, 2009 at 7:46 am 1,540 0
Click map for enlarged PDF image. The MPD 3rd District includes Logan Circle, Shaw, U Street, Adams Morgan, Mount Pleasant, Columbia Heights and Howard University. Headquarters are at 1620 V Street NW with a substation at 750 Park Road NW. (Image: MPD Web site.)
The news that MPD’s 3rd District was getting a new commander might have received more coverage had it not been for the weekend snowstorm and the ensuing Great Snowball Fight of 14th and U. (New Columbia Heights had a good posting on the 3D changes last week.)
On Sunday, 3D Inspector Jacob Kishter took over as commander of the 3rd District, replacing George Kucik, who was moved to a “future assignment” at the Forensic Sciences Services Division.
As Inspector, Kishter essentially held the number two spot at 3D and was in charge of the Substation in Columbia Heights. Inspector Angel Medina is now commander of the 3D Substation.
Kishter came to 3D in June (replacing Inspector Edward Delgado), after having served as the number two officer in MPD’s internal affairs bureau. He has 19 years with MPD.
Diverse, Small in Area
The 3D is the smallest of the city’s seven police districts in area, but the most densely populated. It has seven Police Service Areas (PSAs) and includes a big chunk of Borderstan with 307 (Logan Circle) and 305 (U Street and Howard University). Other PSAs are 303 (Adams Morgan), 301 (Mount Pleasant), 304 (Columbia Heights), 302 (Columbia Heights-Park View) and 308 (Shaw). In addition, PSA 208 (Dupont Circle) used to be called 306 and was part of 3D.
The 3D includes all of Ward 1 (Jim Graham) and a chunk of Ward 2 (Jack Evans) with PSAs 307 and 308. It includes many of the city’s wealthy and hipster-gentrified areas, with expensive new condo buildings and a huge amount of new commercial development. It also has public housing projects and pockets of poverty. The district is racially diverse and has new residents interspersed with long-time Washingtonians.
In addition, the Logan Circle, U Street, 14th Street and Adams Morgan areas are home to numerous clubs and restaurants that attract people from other neighborhoods and the suburbs.
Crime Stats for 3D
For the year to date (Jan. 1-Dec. 21), the crime stats for 3D show that total crime (violent and property crime) is down 3.5% from last year and the year before. Violent crime is down 13% in two years, while property crime is down less than 1% in two years.
Following a pattern we have seen all year, certain types of crimes are actually up when compared to 2008 or 2007. For example, the number of gun crimes is down 8% from two years ago, but is actually up 12% from last year.
While the number of robberies has decreased due to fewer robberies without a gun this year, the number of robberies with a gun has increased 16% from last year–from 233 to 271.
When it comes to property crimes, the number of burglaries and stolen autos has declined substantially in two years. However, the number of thefts has risen dramatically as has the number of thefts from autos since 2007.
Detailed crime stats and a message from Kishter are below.
3rd District Total Crime, Jan. 1-Dec. 21
2009: 6,018; down 3.5% from 2008.
2008: 6,236; unchanged from 2007.
2007: 6,240
3rd District Violent Crime, Jan. 1-Dec. 21
Total Violent Crime (all categories) – 1,298 in 2009, 1,428 in 2008 and 1,496 in 2007. Down 13% in 2 years.
Homicides – 17 in 2009, 22 in 2008 and 18 in 2007. Down 6% in 2 years.
Sex Abuse – 43 in 2009, 67 in 2008 and 60 in 2007. Down 28% in 2 years.
Robberies (with and without gun) – 884 in 2009, 946 in 2008 and 934 in 2007. Down 5% in 2 years. But,the number of robberies with a gun has increased 16% since last year, from 233 in 2008 to 271 in 2009, exactly at the 2007 number.
Assaults (with gun or other deadly weapon) – 354 in 2009, 393 in 2008 and 484 in 2007. Down 27% in 2 years.
Gun crimes (robberies and assaults with a gun) – 348 in 2009, 312 in 2008 and 378 in 2007. Down 8% in 2 years, but up 12% from last year.
3rd District Property Crime, Jan. 1-Dec. 21
Total Property Crime (all categories) – 4,720 in 2009, 4,808 in 2008 and 4,744 in 2007. Down less than 1% in 2 years.
Burglary – 455 in 2009, 559 in 2008 and 776 in 2007. Down 28% in 2 years.
Theft – 1,558 in 2009, 1,359 in 2008 and 1,328 in 2007. Up 17% in 2 years.
Theft from Auto – 2,141 in 2009, 2,167 in 2008 and 1,850 in 2007. Down 1% since last year, but up 16% in 2 years.
Stolen Auto – 561 in 2009, 719 in 2008 and 787 in 2007. Down 29% in 2 years.
Arson – 5 in 2009, 4 in 2008 and 3 in 2007. Up 67% in 2 years.
Kishter posted the following message on local listservs late last week:
Beginning Sunday, December 20, 2009, I will assume command of the Third Patrol District. Inspector Angel Medina will assume command of the Third District Substation.
Inspector Medina has nearly 25 years of police experience and has held numerous key positions within the police department. I am excited very excited about the opportunity to work with to him.
I also want recognize Commander George Kucik’s service to the Third District and the citizens of the District of Columbia. During my tenure under his leadership, he has helped me grow as a person and as a leader and he will be sorely missed. I wish him all the best in his future assignment at the Forensic Sciences Services Division.
Over the past eight months as the substation inspector, I have worked very closely with many of you as we have made good progress in many areas. There is still a lot of work to do and I look forward to our continued partnerships and successes!
Borderstan, Dupont Circle, Jacob Kishter, Logan Circle, MPD 3rd District
More About Those Icy Sidewalks and YOUR Responsibilities
TONIGHT: “ Real World DC ” Premieres with Two Local Events
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1152
|
__label__wiki
| 0.978504
| 0.978504
|
Sun-Thurs 11/10c
WWHL Podcast
Does Christina Applegate Regret Turning Down ‘Legally Blonde’?
Christina Applegate tells Andy Cohen and Linda Cardellini whether she regrets not going after the lead role in “Legally Blonde,” and explains her thinking behind the move.
More Season 16 / Episode 75
Show Highlight Does Christina Applegate Regret Turning Down ‘Legally Blonde’?
After Show After Show: ‘Anchorman 3’? Christina Applegate Weighs In
Show Highlight Christina Applegate on Her RuPaul Podcast Comment
Show Highlight How Linda Cardellini Heard ‘Freaks and Geeks’ Was Cancelled
Show Highlight Christina Applegate & Linda Cardellini Dish in the Dark
Andy Cohen is an Emmy Award-winning host, producer, and author best known as the host and executive producer of “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen,” Bravo’s Late Night, interactive talk show. The series is the only live show in Late Night television and consistently makes headlines with bold interviews viewers don’t see anywhere else. Because of this, “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen” has become a nightly destination for some of the biggest names in pop culture including Meryl Streep, Cher, Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Lawrence, Ryan Reynolds, Mariah Carey and Lady Gaga. He also serves as executive producer of “The Real Housewives” franchise and hosts the network’s highly rated reunion specials.
In Fall of 2015, Cohen launched “Radio Andy,” a personally curated channel on SiriusXM focused on pop culture, celebrities, lifestyle, relationships and the dish on all topics deep and shallow. The channel is a fun, uncensored entertainment and talk destination with celebrity hosts including Cohen, who has daily and weekly shows on air.
In 2016, Cohen also launched his own book imprint Andy Cohen Books and in November became a New York Times best-selling author for a fourth time with the release of his latest book, “Superficial: More Adventures from the Andy Cohen Diaries” and achieved similar success with “The Andy Cohen Diaries: A Deep Look At a Shallow Year” as well as with the hardcover (May 2012) and the paperback (May 2013) versions of his first book, titled, “Most Talkative: Stories from the Frontlines of Pop Culture.”
Cohen is the host and executive producer of “Andy Cohen’s Then & Now,” a Bravo series that explores the nostalgic moments of some of the most significant years in history. “Andy Cohen’s Then & Now” is produced by World of Wonder and Cohen’s Most Talkative Productions. Cohen also hosts the hour-long revival of the iconic relationship show “Love Connection” on Fox. Much like the original version, each episode will feature single men and women in search of romance. When he isn’t in the host seat, Cohen tours the country with Anderson Cooper for “AC2: An Intimate Evening with Anderson Cooper & Andy Cohen” where the dynamic duo discuss all topics deep and shallow in front of sold out audiences across the country.
In his ten years as an executive at Bravo he was responsible for an aggressive slate of unscripted series and specials including hits such as "Project Runway,” “Top Chef,” “Queer Eye For the Straight Guy,” "The Millionaire Matchmaker,” the “Million Dollar Listing” franchise, “Being Bobby Brown,” “Shahs of Sunset,” “Flipping Out,” “Top Design,” “Work Out,” “Make Me a Supermodel,” “Blow Out,” “Kathy Griffin My Life On the D List,” “The A List Awards” “The Rachel Zoe Project,” “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist,” “Bethenny Ever After,” “Tabatha’s Salon Takeover,” and “The Real Housewives” franchises. Cohen started at Bravo in 2004 as Vice President, Original Programming and most recently, Cohen served as Bravo’s Executive Vice President of Development and Talent from November 2011 to January 2014.
Cohen received an Emmy award when season six of “Top Chef” won Outstanding Reality Competition Program at the 2010 primetime Emmy Awards and has been nominated for 17 additional Emmy Awards as Executive Producer of “Project Greenlight,” “Project Runway,” “Top Chef” and “Queer Eye For The Straight Guy.” In 2005, Cohen was awarded a Peabody Award for his role as Executive Producer of the TRIO documentary “The N Word” and another in 2008 as an Executive Producer of “Project Runway.”
Cohen ran Original Programming and Development for the pop culture and arts cable channel TRIO, beginning in July 2000. He was responsible for developing and supervising all of TRIO's original productions including the critically acclaimed original documentaries “Gay Republicans,” “Easy Riders/Raging Bulls,” and “Brilliant, But Cancelled.” He spent ten years (1990-2000) as a producer at CBS News, working on “CBS This Morning” and “48 Hours”.
Born in St. Louis, Cohen is a graduate of Boston University where he received a Bachelor of Sciences in broadcast journalism. Cohen is currently on the board of directors for charity Friends In Deed and resides in New York City. Andy has over three million followers on social media; follow him on Facebook, Twitter (@andy), Instagram (@bravoandy) and Tumblr (therealandycohen.tumblr.com).
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1156
|
__label__cc
| 0.523811
| 0.476189
|
Breast Thermography.Org
News Breast Thermography
Medical Thermal Images
Biography and CV
Doctor reports
Statistics of Breast Thermography treatments
Patient reports
Development of the Breast Thermography technique in History
How is Breast Thermography Performed and What Are The Pre-Examination Instructions?
Weiterführende Links zum Thema Brustvergrößerung und Plastische Chirurgie
Sport und Sauna helfen bei Hyperhidrose
Plastische Chirurgie Giessler
Cancer is a disease with the highest number of patients treated and currently, there are an estimated 2.6 million breast cancer survivors, but the National Cancer Institute estimated there would be as many as 226,870 women diagnosed. This makes it essential to have a screening strategy that can provide early detection. The FDA approves of mammograms for breast cancer detection but there are other tests that can help the early detection of cancer including breast cancer.
Approved Cancer Testing
The FDA approved other screening tools for early detection of cancer with MRI and ultrasounds and later approved in combination with mammograms ultrasound, thermography, and CT scans. Prior to the approval of MRI or ultrasounds for detection of cancer thermography for breast cancer showed validly in being able to provide accurate results in breast imaging testing. The FDA approved thermography referred to as infrared digital imaging as a tool for the breast that is able to provide an image showing differences in breast tissue based on temperature.
Pre-2000 Thermography History
One of the first papers submitted about thermography was written by Dr. Ray Lawson in 1956. This paper was entitled Implications of Surface Temperatures in the Diagnosis of Breast Cancer. The paper involved 26 women with breast cancer that showed the temperature in the area of the tumor of the ipsilateral areola was higher than surrounding breast tissue. During this time period, there was no other screening procedure other than clinical examination. Mammography was being researched at the same time Dr. Lawson was researching thermography.
In 1972 Dr. Harold Lsard published a paper about the accuracy of mammograms and thermograms both used together and separately. This was a 4-year study conducted between 1967 and 1970 with the screening of 10,055 women. This study showed in women with symptoms using clinical breast examinations, mammograms and thermograms the groups were correctly diagnosed 82 %, 85 %, and 72 %. Then when mammography and thermography were used together the accuracy of diagnosis increased from 85 % to 92 %. Now in 1972, mammogram used alone was 83 % accurate and thermography alone was 61 % accurate. Though used in combination it rated the highest percentage of accuracy.
Studies from the 1990’s into the 2000’s
The studies continued with thermography and with technology the testing advanced to become more accurate in capturing heat related images of breast skin and tissue. It is now believed that thermal image can detect carcinogenic changes and the increased blood flow may be able to be seen 5 to 10 years before the development of a lesion that is detectable. One study conducted by Jonathan F. Head of Medical Thermal Diagnostics, Baton Rouge in 2000 researched three groups from a study that began in 1973 of patients who used thermography.
This study conducted in 1973 was conducted at the Elliott Mastology Center and the patients had thermography testing at least one year prior to diagnosis of breast cancer. There were three groups in this study with group 1 having abnormal thermograms at 88 %, of 126 women who later died. Group 2 involved 100 women diagnosed with breast cancer at 65 %. Group 3 showed 28 % of women with benign mastopathies.
Thermography continues to advance in technology and techniques with developments and combined with mammograms, ultrasounds and MRI testing the accuracy of early breast cancer detection has increased. Thermography is not ready for use as a singular tool for detecting breast cancer, but with technology advances, it is a valuable tool that may reach a point where it can be used as the main tool to detect cancer.
This is a test that does not involve radiation and is noninvasive making it a test reliable enough to be used in between mammograms where possible breast cancer has been diagnosed.
Get to know how breast thermography works here.
(No tags)
by breastthermography.org
Breast Cancer Technology Overview
Cancer is the leading cause of deaths all over the world. Breast cancer is the number two killer of women in the United States followed by Lung Cancer. In the United States in 2009 there were an estimated 40,610 people, both men, and women that were believed would die from breast cancer. The data shows that patients that survive cancer have an early diagnosis at stage 0 or stage 1 at 98 % over 10 years. This is where technology for early cancer detection is improving testing.
Breast Cancer Technology
There are new technologies in development for the early detection of breast cancer and out of 23 new technologies; only ten have been approved so far by the FDA. Three of these approved are film mammography, digital mammography, and computer aided detection. There are other tools approved but not recommended for singular use but in combination with other testing tools. Positron emission tomography (PET) is one of the approved tools to monitor patient response to treatment for breast cancer. Though this is not a tool to be used for diagnosis or screening for breast cancer.
Approval by the FDA does not mean the tool used for testing is infallible or produces accurate and early testing results in every case. The agency also does not back claims made by manufacturers of these testing devices.
These are the top five approved by the FDA
Screen-film mammography was approved by the FDA in 1969, which is an x-ray through the breast tissue that shows denser tissue that is associated with cancer. This dense tissue will appear on the screen-film as white areas.
Sonography was approved by the FDA in 1977 as a noninvasive handheld device that reflects sound waves that construct an image that can show abnormalities. This known more commonly by the name ultrasound and can be used in combination with mammograms.
Thermography was approved by the FDA in 1982 and uses an infrared digital camera to measure the heat from breast tissue and surface temperature. Higher tissue temperatures are associated with increased vascularities that may be a blood supply to tumors. This testing is used in combination with mammograms.
Computer aided detection was FDA approved in 1998 for clinical screening. This tool uses computer algorithms that can show areas on mammograms that should be reviewed by a radiologist.
Digital mammography is a digital format for mammograms instead of using film and was approved by the FDA in 2000 to screen for breast cancer.
More Types of Testing Technology
The MRI is used in testing for diagnosing cancer and can create 2 and 3D images. This is a technology that uses magnetic quality imaging by a magnetic field and radio waves to create the image. This testing is close to 100 % in cases of invasive cancer and has a higher sensitivity rate than mammograms. This is a tool used most often for diagnosis of familial and genetic breast cancers.
Electronic palpation is a tool used that applies sensors to record resistance of tissues if pressure is applied to develop density maps used in detecting lumps in the breast. This is used in place of a manual clinical breast examination and can measure the size of lesions.
Elastography is a tool that maps the breast tissue for mechanical properties and can recognize abnormal tissue. This is a mechanical vibration with imaging similar to an ultrasound in its technology.
Diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI) is a modification of mammography but is in the early stages of development. This tool has an increased radiographic contrast that uses a silicon crystal between the patient and film or digital detector so the crystal diffracts certain wavelengths of an x-ray to produce two images. This can show different density and possibly provide more detail to detect tumors in the breast tissue.
Ultrasound Types
There are different types of ultrasounds that can be useful in early detection of breast cancer and they include:
Ultrasonography can be referred to as sonommography that can be used to test for abnormal breast tissue results after a mammogram is conducted. This test is done using a handheld device called a transducer. Because of the use of the handheld device to move around the breast, it is possible to miss parts of the breast. The transducer sends an image to a screen and must be retained by the technologist to be read.
Mode B ultrasounds is an ultrasound that uses waves that bounce off of the breast tissue creating an image of the breast and abnormalities are identified by the brightness in the image. This type of ultrasound can detect palpable masses that mammograms cannot detect. The Mode B ultrasound is often used to guide biopsies since it is a real time imaging tool. This kind of ultrasound is safe for use on women that are pregnant or nursing that requires breast cancer testing because it does not produce radiation.
Early Detection Guidelines for Breast Cancer
All women should have regular self-breast health checks and this should be taken to the next step for some women that are at a high risk. This step will include clinical examinations and testing for early detection of breast cancer. Women should have annual clinical exams and tests like thermography screening.
Who May Be at a Risk?
There are women who may be at an average risk for breast cancer who doesn’t have a history of this kind of cancer personally but has a family history of breast cancer. Then there are women with a genetic mutation like BRCA1 or BRAC2 that increases the risk of breast cancer. Having a family history of breast cancer includes the woman’s mother or sister diagnosed at a younger age. A woman with a personal history of ductal carcinoma in situ, which is a non-invasive breast cancer starting in the milk ducts.
This type of cancer may be referred to as stage 0 or pre-invasive breast carcinoma. Women that have had lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) which are abnormal cells that grow in the lobules of the breast. BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 are breast cancer genes 1 and 2 that are a gene mutation that is inherited, which can increase the risk of breast cancer. Women that have a history of invasive breast cancer or atypical hyperplasia, which are rapidly growing cells that appear abnormal under microscopic conditions. Women who between ages 10 and 30 have undergone radiation treatment.
Guidelines for Women at Risk of Breast Cancer
The women that have a risk of the disease there are medical guidelines to catch the possible progression of breast cancer at the earliest point. This will include clinical physical examination, a mammogram, thermal imaging testing and possible ultrasound. Medical guidelines include:
BRCA 1 and BRCA 2: Women at risk for this gene mutation because of a family history should be tested between ages 25 and 29. This includes mammograms annually and MIR, other testing including infrared imaging and ultrasounds every six to twelve months.
LCIS: Women diagnosed with LCIS should have a clinical breast exam, mammogram, MRI and can include thermal imaging starting at age 30 every six to twelve months.
Atypical Hyperplasia: Women with this diagnosis at age 30 should discuss testing with their physician every six to twelve months.
Personal history of Breast Cancer: Women with a personal history of breast cancer should have annual mammograms and up to four times a year they should have other testing like infrared imaging and ultrasounds for the first 5 years after treatment ends.
DCIS: Women diagnosed with DCIS should have annual mammograms and other kinds of testing up to four times a year for the first 5 years after treatment ends.
Women with Average to Low Risk
Ages 40 – 44: Start screening annually with a mammogram.
55 and older: At these ages, women should have an annual mammogram.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1157
|
__label__cc
| 0.652131
| 0.347869
|
Contrary to Trump: Overall Crime Rate Stable in 2016
New York, NY – Chicago accounted for more than 55 percent of the murder increase last year, according to a new analysis of crime data by the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. The overall national crime rate remained stable. On average, numbers show that Americans remain safer today than they have been at almost any time in the past quarter-century.
These findings undercut rhetoric from President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions that crime is “out of control.” Crime in 2016: Final Year-End Data presents numbers from police departments in the nation’s 30 largest cities. It updates the Center’s report, Crime in 2016: A Preliminary Analysis.
Several key findings:
The overall national crime rate remained essentially stable last year, rising by 0.9 percent, in the 30 major cities studied here.
Violent crime rates rose slightly, by 4.2 percent. The increase was driven by Chicago (16.5 percent) and Baltimore (18.6 percent). Violent crime still remains near the bottom of the nation’s 30-year downward trend.
The murder rate in this group of cities increased last year by 13.1 percent. Chicago caused more of the increase in murders (55.1 percent) than preliminary data suggested.
“Concerns about a national crime wave are premature, but we are seeing flash floods in some individual cities,” said Ames Grawert, a counsel in the Brennan Center’s Justice Program. “What’s happening in Chicago is startling, and it’s imperative we figure out how and why murder has gone up so drastically.”
“Once again, facts fail to back claims from Trump and Sessions,” said Inimai Chettiar, the director of the Brennan Center’s Justice Program. “Overall the country is near all-time lows in crime rates.”
Researchers believe, as outlined in the 2016 preliminary analysis, that possible causes of increased violence in Chicago could include higher concentrations of poverty, lower homicide clearance rates, and fewer police officers. There was also a similar phenomenon in the 2015 murder rate, when three cities — Baltimore, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. — accounted for more than half (53.5 percent) of the increase in murders among cities studied.
For more information on crime rates in America, visit the Brennan Center’s resource page here. And to learn more about crime trends in the last 25 years, read Crime Trends: 1990-2016.
To schedule an interview with a Brennan Center expert, please contact Rebecca Autrey at rebecca.autrey@nyu.edu or 646-292-8316.
Reducing Mass Incarceration
Crime Rates in America
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1158
|
__label__wiki
| 0.602997
| 0.602997
|
Binary form
Alternative Title: two-part form
Binary form, in music, the structural pattern of many songs and instrumental pieces, primarily from the 17th to the 19th century, characterized by two complementary, related sections of more or less equal duration that may be represented schematically as ab. In 18th-century compositions, including dance-inspired movements by J.S. Bach and keyboard sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti, the two sections are separated by double bars with repeat signs, so that a proper performance actually yields an aabb structure.
The first section of a binary composition in a major key typically modulates to the dominant, thus displacing the centre of harmonic gravity to the fifth degree above the tonic: compositions in minor keys similarly modulate to the relative major (i.e., the major key centred on the third degree above the tonic). The second section begins in the new key and, after thriving for a period on the harmonic thus generated, returns to the home key. Binary structures, though not necessarily monothematic, tend to rely on closely linked melodic-rhythmic materials.
In the “rounded” binary form, as exemplified by many of Scarlatti’s sonatas, the second section returns rather quickly to both the original key and the melodic-rhythmic features of substantial portions of the first section. By the same token, binary organization of this sort begins to approximate the ternary outline of a number of later 18th- and 19th-century pieces.
concerto: Theme and structure
In binary form, the music of the first half moves from the tonic key to a closely related key. The second half begins in the new key and progresses back to the original key. Dances abound in concerti grossi, not only in those that are primarily…
Modulation, in music, the change from one key to another; also, the process by which this change is brought about. Modulation is a fundamental resource for variety in tonal music, particularly in larger forms. A short piece such as a song, hymn, or dance may remain in a single key.…
ternary form
Ternary form, in music, a form consisting of three sections, the third section normally either a literal or a varied repeat of the first. The symmetrical construction of this scheme (aba) provides one of the familiar shapes in Western music; ternary form can be found in music from the Middle…
Musical form, the structure of a musical composition. The term is regularly used in two senses: to denote a standard type, or genre, and to denote the procedures in a specific work. The nomenclature for the various musical formal types may be determined by the medium of performance, the technique…
Fugue, in music, a compositional procedure characterized by the systematic imitation of a principal theme (called the subject) in simultaneously sounding melodic lines (counterpoint). The term fugue may also be used to describe a work or part of a work. In its mathematical intricacy, formality,…
More About Binary form
part of dance movements in concerti
In concerto: Theme and structure
type of harmonic modulation
In harmony: Harmony and modulation in the 18th century
variety of melodic formula
In musical form: Iterative and reverting types
Animation, the art of making inanimate objects appear to move. Animation is an artistic impulse that…
Motion picture, series of still photographs on film, projected in rapid succession onto a screen by means…
Rock, form of popular music that emerged in the 1950s. It is certainly arguable that by the end of the…
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1160
|
__label__cc
| 0.695067
| 0.304933
|
Nylon was first introduced back in 1938. Before that, man had to make due with natural fibers, which of course have their limitations. Nylon, a synthetic fiber, is preferred over natural fibers like hemp, cotton, and manila because it is twice as strong as a natural fiber like manila.
Synthetic chains
A common phrase in the rigging industry when referring to nylon goes: “It’s all about the chains.” Indeed. Textile fibers are formed by what are known as molecular chains. These are the minute links that bond together, also known as polymers. The number of chains, combined with their bond strengths, is what gives the natural fiber its strength.
As in the case of natural fibers, they are limited in their ability to form these bonds. Synthetic fibers, on the other hand, like nylon, can be chemically manufactured to form much stronger bonds, meaning that these molecular chains are stronger.
Natural fibers v. nylon
If you were basing your decision on whether to use rope made from synthetic or natural fibers solely on feel or appearance, chances are you’d choose the natural fiber. But strength of rope oftentimes superceded aesthetics and that’s where nylon has a distinct advantage.
Nylon possesses and elasticity that natural fibers do not. Nylon is also much more resistant to resistance and abrasion. If you were talking about the manufacture of clothing items, then natural fibers are the preferred method. But when we’re talking about using natural fibers v. nylon in the rigging industry, we’re talking about the ability to haul heavy loads, safely. Nylon holds up under increased temperatures, as well.
Nylon and other synthetic fibers
It’s a safe bet to say that all synthetic sling materials are strong. They are also lightweight and extremely flexible. When we compare nylon to other synthetic materials, like polyester, we see that that while nylon can stretch up to as much as 10 percent, polyester does so only to 3 percent. When it comes to shock load, add the fact that nylon also has better absorption and it’s easy to see which is the better choice.
Nylon is also more resistant to regularly encountered chemicals like acids and bleaches, giving it a longer lifespan. Nylon is also highly resistant insects and fungi, as well as molds, mildew, and rot, things it often comes into contact with in the outdoors. Prolonged sunlight has been known to diminish and degrade the quality of the nylon, although there are chemicals that can be used to coat against this.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1163
|
__label__wiki
| 0.952626
| 0.952626
|
Traffic delays after lorry overturns on A1307
Police received the reports at 2pm on the A1307 Cambridge Road in Babraham
Samar Maguire
Lorry overturned on the A1307 Cambridge Road
Traffic has been delayed after a lorry overturned on a Cambridgeshire road.
Police received reports of the incident on the A1307 Cambridge Road, Babraham, near the Babraham Institute, shortly after 2pm this afternoon (September 13).
Ambulance arrives at the accident on the A1307 where a lorry overturned
The ambulance services were called at 2.15pm and are still on the scene.
It is not clear whether there are any casualties.
90-year-old woman hit by a car in Saffron Walden
A Cambridgeshire police spokeswoman said: "We were called at 2.02pm to reports of a road traffic collision on the A1307 in Babraham. A lorry has been tipped over. Officers are at the scene."
An East of England Ambulance service spokeswoman added: "We were called at 2.15pm to reports of a road traffic collision and sent an ambulance. We're still on the scene."
You can keep up to date with all the latest news in and around Cambridge by downloading our free app. It is available for the iPhone and iPad from Apple's App Store, or the Android version can be downloaded from Google Play.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1166
|
__label__wiki
| 0.904964
| 0.904964
|
Park Street Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School
Find out how Park Street Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School rates compared to other primary schools in Hertfordshire with our school ratings
Cambridgeshire Live
Overall 46.3/100
Rank 7,706/14,749
Attainment for All
We've analysed all the government data to bring you the rundown on your local primary schools.
Here Park Street Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, Branch Road, Park Street, St Albans, AL2 2LX, is put into focus to show its scores in relation to other schools in the area.
You can also see how the primary school compares against other schools across England.
Data is available on pupils' attainment, progress, absence levels and when the school was last inspected.
The teacher to pupil ratio is also a good indication of the focus your child will get. Plus we can show how many full-time teachers there are at the school.
See how other schools in your area rated
School ratings: How we rated the schools
Branch Road, Park Street, St Albans, AL2 2LX
The open date and status above indicate when Park Street Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School opened or when it changed to its most recent incarnation, with a number of schools converting to academies in recent years. Where schools have changed type recently, data for previous years covering their previous incarnation is included below as well - so a school may have a status of New due to converting to an academy but have data for previous years prior to conversion.
What type of school is Park Street Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School?
How many children have been on the school roll in recent years?
This chart needs javascript to load
Pupil characteristics - what percentage of pupils are in different groups and how does this compare to the national average?
Pupils - School
Pupils - National
% English as additional language (EAL)
% Free School Meals
% SEN
% SEN Statement
How do we rate this school?
2018 Rating
Overall Stars
England Rank
7,706 (out of 14,749) 5,842 (out of 14,624) 1,023 (out of 14,459)
Local Rank
Missing Data?
Data missing (out of 41)
Our unique rating system takes into account a range of different indicators to evaluate a school's performance. The system tracks achievement, pupil progress, teaching, pupil attendance and whether the school is improving.
The 2018 KS2 tests were assessing a new curriculum that was introduced in 2014. Ratings for years before 2016 were based on how the school performed on the previous curriculum so performance is not directly comparable to 2018.
Data may be missing for some indicators because it has not been published. This may be because the school is new or because it is very small so data has been suppressed to avoid identifying individual pupils. Schools do not lose points for missing data, so will still fare better in the ranking than schools that underperform on that indicator, but they cannot score as highly as schools that perform well on the indicator.
How Park Street Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School scores on each indicator.
Stars - 2018
What Ofsted says about this school
Park Street Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School has been rated as Good at its most recent Ofsted inspection.
If table is blank, it means there are no recent inspections for this school. Prior to September 2012, where a school received a rating of 3 this indicated a Satisfactory grade. From after that date, it now indicates Requires Improvement.
Overall Effectiveness
Category of Concern
How does Park Street Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School perform on each of the areas inspected by Ofsted? As of September 2012, a score of 3 changed from indicating Satisfactory to Requires Improvement.
Outcomes for pupils
Quality of teaching, learning and assessment
Effectiveness of leadership and management
Personal development, behaviour and welfare
In 2018, 73% of pupils at Park Street Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.
How have pupils at Park Street Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School done in assessments at the end of Key Stage 2 and how does it compare to local authority and national averages?
While pupils are generally aiming to be working at the expected level in reading, writing and maths, what proportion of children at Park Street Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School had a high score in reading and maths and were working at greater depth in writing, and how does this compare to performance at local and national level?
How do children at Park Street Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School with different levels of attainment at Key Stage 1 and pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds perform in terms of reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths?
How does the % of boys and girls at Park Street Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and maths compare to the national average?
What is the pupil:teacher ratio at Park Street Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School and how does it compare to the national average?
How many teachers are there and what is the average wage?
Teacher Details
No. of Teachers (FTE)
No. of Teaching Assistants (FTE)
Mean Gross Salary of All Teachers 2017/18 (GBP)
Mean Gross Salary of All Teachers 2017/18 (GBP) - National
Pupils are assessed on how much progress they make between assessments in Key Stage 1 (infants) and Key Stage 2 (juniors), with the progress of all pupils contributing to an overall 'value added' measure for the school.
At Park Street Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, pupils had an average progress score in maths in 2018 that was -1.5 compared to the national average of 0.
How do children with different levels of attainment at infant level and pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds perform in terms of the progress made in maths and how does this compare to local averages?
At Park Street Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, pupils had an average progress score in reading in 2018 that was -1.5 compared to the national average of 0.
How do children with different levels of attainment at infant level and pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds perform in terms of making progress in reading and how does this compare to local averages?
At Park Street Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, pupils had an average progress score in writing in 2018 that was 0.2 compared to the national average of 0.
How do children with different levels of attainment at infant level and pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds perform in terms of making progress in writing and how does this compare to local averages?
Figures below show what proportion of half-day sessions were missed by pupils and how this compares to local and national averages.
In 2016/17, the most recent full school year, 3.7% of half-day sessions were missed by pupils at Park Street Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School. Nationally, primary school pupils missed 4% of half-day sessions.
Figures below show what proportion of half day sessions were missed by pupils and counted as an unauthorised absence and how this compares to local and national averages.
What proportion of pupils are classed as persistent absentees (missing 10% or more of all sessions)?
While finances are not included in our calculation of how good schools are, many schools publish information about how much they are spending on pupils' education.
What is the total school spend per pupil at Park Street Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School compared to the local average? (school is in blue)
How much does Park Street Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School spend per pupil on teachers and educational support staff and how does this compare to the average spending across Hertfordshire?
What percentage of the budget at Park Street Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School is spent on supply staff?
Primary School Ratings
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1167
|
__label__wiki
| 0.626676
| 0.626676
|
Deutsche Welle Arabic Anchorwoman on Palestinian ICC Move: A Step “We Have Been Waiting For”
By: CAMERA Arabic September 17, 2018
In a gross violation of journalistic ethics and the network’s own published guidelines which require that “commentaries shall be clearly separated from news,” a Deutsche Welle Arabic television anchorwoman editorialized that the Palestinian Authority’s claim against Israel at the International Criminal Court is “a step we have been waiting for a long time.”
In the Sept. 10 broadcast of “Massaiya on DW,” the Arabic-language evening news magazine of Germany’s public international broadcaster, moderator Dima Tarhini was discussing the American closure of the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington, D.C., when she failed to filter out her personal views. Speaking with her two guests, a diplomat from Ramallah and a George Mason University professor residing in Washington, D.C., Tarhini breached the journalistic imperative to refrain from editorializing, stating (just over 14 minutes into the broadcast):
However the Palestinian side, Dr. [Mohammed] Cherkaoui, has turned to the International Criminal Court, and this was previously, I mean, a step we have been waiting for a long time, and now they have done this and it seems that there are several issues [that can be tackled through such ICC lawsuits], like raising the case of Khan Al-Ahmar in front of the court… Shouldn’t that at least be credited to the Palestinian side, since this is what has [indeed] invoked anger in the American side because it might incriminate Israel, according to what the analysts say? [What is] your take [on the matter], being the expert of international affairs?
All Deutsche Welle news programs, regardless of the language in which they were broadcast, are subject to the standards set by the Bundestag’s Deutsche Welle Act of 2004, which mandate (chapter 1.2, section 5, article 2&3):
2. The programmes must enable the public to form independent opinions, and must not one-sidedly support a party or other political association, a religious community, a profession or community of interest. The moral, religious and ideological convictions of radio and television consumers shall be respected.
3. Reporting shall be comprehensive, truthful and factual and shall be done in the awareness that Deutsche Welle programmes affect the relationship of the Federal Republic of Germany with other countries. Origin and contents of news items intended for publication shall be checked with due care. Commentaries shall be clearly separated from news and made recognisable as such, indicating the author’s name.
Tarhini’s expression of her personal support for the anti-Israeli Palestinian bid at the ICC is a clear breach of the guidelines laid down by the German parliament.
For Jewish New Year, NY Times Attacks an Opponent of Anti-Semitism
Dima Tarhini
Anti-Israel Activism
Arab/Muslim Organizations & Campaigns
Organizations and Campaigns Against Israel
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1168
|
__label__wiki
| 0.667607
| 0.667607
|
Zionist Misquote: Moshe Dayan on Dispossessing Arabs in the Land of Israel
By: Ricki Hollander March 1, 2001
The following is an example of statements misquoted, taken out of context or otherwise manipulated to present a distorted view of Zionist intentions and actions. The misquotes are found in op-eds in campus newpapers and mainstream press as well as on anti-Israel websites.
MISQUOTE:
Example 1 (as quoted in Riverdale Press, January 4, 2001):
We came to this country, which was already populated by Arabs, and we are establishing a Jewish state. Jewish villages were built in the place of the Arab villages. You don’t even know the names of the Arab villages, because those geography books no longer exist. Not only the books do not exist, the Arab villages are not there either — there is not one place built in this country that did not have a former Arab population. ( Moshe Dayan, as quoted in Ha’aretz 1978)
Example 2 (as quoted by Ralph Schoenman)
We came here to a country that was populated by Arabs, and we are building here a Hebrew, Jewish state. Instead of Arab villages, Jewish villages were established. You do not even know the names of these villages and I do not blame you, because these geography books no longer exist. Not only the books, but also the villages do not exist. Nahalal was established in place of Mahalul, Gevat in place of Jibta, Sarid in the place of Hanifas and Kafr Yehoushua in the place of Tel Shamam. There is not a single settlement that was not established in the place of a former Arab village. (The Hidden History of Zionism, Veritas Press 1988, p. 41. Also available online here.)
ACTUAL QUOTE AND CONTEXT:
The quote is taken from an address Dayan gave to Technion University students on March 19, 1969. A transcript of the speech appeared in Ha’aretz on April 4, 1969.
In answer to a student’s question suggesting that Israel adopt a policy of punishing Arabs who commit crimes in the West Bank by deportation to Jordan, Dayan answers that he is vehemently opposed to this idea, insisting that the answer to the longstanding Arab-Israeli problem is to learn to live together with Arab neighbors. He goes on to say:
We came to a region of land that was inhabited by Arabs, and we set up a Jewish state. In a considerable number of places, we purchased the land from Arabs and set up Jewish villages where there had once been Arab villages. You don’t even know the names [of the previous Arab villages] and I don’t blame you, because those geography books aren’t around anymore. Not only the books, the villages aren’t around. Nahalal was established in the place of Mahalul, and Gvat was established in the place of Jibta, Sarid in the place of Huneifis and Kfar Yehoshua in the place of Tel Shaman. There isn’t any place that was established in an area where there had not at one time been an Arab settlement.
Dayan’s conclusion was that the solution to the Arab-Israeli problem is to learn to coexist with them.
In the misquote, the key phrase “we purchased the land from Arabs” is omitted, and thus Dayan’s meaning is reversed. Dayan was not saying that Arabs were dispossessed. On the contrary, he was indicating that though Arabs sold the land of their own free will, given their presence in the region, the Israeli goal is to live peacefully together with them.
Peter Jennings Skips Coverage of Terror Attack
CAMERA Op-Ed: The BBC Goes to War
Ricki Hollander Ricki Hollander is a senior media analyst at CAMERA. Her analyses, commentary and letters about the Arab-Israeli conflict and its media coverage have appeared in such publications as the National Review, Middle East Quarterly, Newsweek, Spectator, Chicago Sun Times, Algemeiner and Times of Israel. She has lectured across North America and in Israel about the topic. Hollander is co-author of the monograph "Indicting Israel: New York Times Coverage of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict."
False Quotes
Moshe Dayan
Ralph Schoenman
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1169
|
__label__wiki
| 0.974877
| 0.974877
|
Winner: Schalke's Adam Szalai has been voted by readers of
Szalai tipped to shine
Munich - Adam Szalai has always been a player with natural talent, but it seems his potential could finally be unlocked as he embarks on his first season at new club FC Schalke 04.
Close competition
The 25-year-old has been voted by readers of bundesliga.com to be the top-scoring newly-signed striker in the 2013/14 Bundesliga season, a fine endorsement indeed considering he could be competing with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar for a place in the Royal Blues’ starting XI.
With 27 per cent of the vote, Szalai emerged as the winner by the slimmest of margins ahead of Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Max Kruse (26 per cent) and Bayer 04 Leverkusen’s Heung Min Son (25 per cent). The Hungarian international scored 13 times for previous club 1. FSV Mainz 05 last term, his best ever single-season tally and a higher number than both Son and Kruse. Huntelaar may remain Schalke's recognised senior striker, but having netted just ten goals, Szalai outscored even him in 2012/13.
Kruse arrives with high expectations after starring for SC Freiburg last season, notching eleven times, while Son is also a player tipped to step up a gear. The 21-year-old, who was presented to the media at the BayArena on Wednesday, has been signed to lighten the goalscoring burden on last season’s top marksman Stefan Kießling, but he will also hope to better his record of 12 from the last campaign.
Surprise packages
Werder Bremen’s Nils Petersen came fourth with ten per cent of the vote. The 23-year-old spent last season, in which he scored eight goals, on loan at the Weserstadion from FC Bayern Munich, but having joined the club permanently, will be looking to cement his reputation as one of Germany’s most promising forwards.
Mohammed Abdellaoue, a recent new arrival at VfB Stuttgart, claimed eight per cent of the vote to take fifth spot, while Hamburger SV’s Jacques Zoua, signed from Swiss side FC Basel 1893 came in last with four per cent.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1172
|
__label__wiki
| 0.64567
| 0.64567
|
Charles Frederick Burness1
#12311, b. 12 March 1873, d. 21 May 1873
Charles Frederick Burness was born on 12 March 1873 in 2 Wellington Place, Strood, Kent, England.1 He was the son of Charles Burness and Annie Stride.1 He died on 21 May 1873 in 9 Queen Stret, Camberwell, Surrey, England.2
Birth Registration, General Register Office, transcribed by: Lawrence Ruxton Burness.
Mary Ann Elizabeth Burness1
#12312, b. 17 March 1853, d. 18 September 1856
Mary Ann Elizabeth Burness was born on 17 March 1853 in 29 Evans Street, Poplar, Middlesex, England.1 She was the daughter of Henry Burness and Hannah Wright.1,2,3 She was baptized on 10 April 1853 in All Saints, Poplar, Middlesex, England.2 She died on 18 September 1856 in Manorfield Cottage, Bromley, Middlesex, England, at age 3.3
Descendants of Jacob Burness
Ancestry.com, London Births and Baptisms 1813-1906.
Henry Godfrey Burness1
#12313, b. 30 August 1854, d. 6 August 1918
Henry Godfrey Burness was born on 30 August 1854 in 19 Randall Street, Poplar, Middlesex, England.1 He was the son of Henry Burness and Hannah Wright.1,2,3,4,5,6 He was baptized on 24 September 1854 in All Saints, Poplar, Middlesex, England.2 He married Mary Ann Bilbrough, daughter of Benjamin Robert Bilbrough, on 10 June 1885 in St James the Great Parish Church, Bethnal Green, Middlesex, England.3,4 He died on 6 August 1918 in Sick Asylum, Bromley, London, England, at age 63.7
Children of Henry Godfrey Burness and Mary Ann Bilbrough
Henry Benjamin Burness+1,2,3,4,8,9 b. 19 Feb 1886, d. 13 Oct 1914
John Burness10,7 b. 1 Dec 1886, d. 1 Dec 1886
Mary Ann Elizabeth Burness+1,11,8,9,12 b. 16 May 1888, d. 1962
John Frederick Burness1,2,8,9 b. 7 Nov 1889, d. 10 Jul 1922
William George Burness10,2,7 b. 30 Mar 1891, d. 25 Jul 1892
Henrietta Burness10,2,7 b. 18 Jan 1893, d. 3 Jul 1893
Martha Burness10,2,7 b. 17 Jan 1894, d. 13 Feb 1896
Mabel Burness10,7 b. 3 May 1895, d. 17 Sep 1895
William Burness1,2,9,12 b. 4 May 1896, d. 28 Sep 1915
Maud Violet Burness1,2 b. 10 Nov 1897, d. 5 Mar 1898
Albert Godfrey Burness10,2,7 b. 23 Oct 1898, d. 23 Feb 1899
Lilian Ethel Burness+1,2,9,12 b. 18 Dec 1899
Maud Rose Burness10,2,7,9 b. 27 Mar 1901, d. 5 Aug 1901
Amy May Burness2,7 b. 3 Oct 1902, d. 30 Oct 1902
Ancestry.com, London Marriages 1754-1921.
1861 English Census, Middlesex.
1891 English Census, London.
Birth Registration, General Register Office.
William James Burness1,2
#12314, b. 11 December 1856, d. 15 September 1893
William James Burness was born on 11 December 1856 in 1 Susannah Row, Curtain Road, Shoreditch, Middlesex, England.1 He was the son of Richard Burness and Ann Porter.1,3,2,4,5 He was baptized on 11 January 1857 in St James, Shoreditch, Middlesex, England.3 He married Sarah Jane Letter, daughter of Henry Letter, on 10 October 1878 in St Thomas Parish Church, Bethnal Green, Middlesex, England.2,4 He died on 15 September 1893 in 8 Wharf Road, London, England, at age 36.6
Children of William James Burness and Sarah Jane Letter
William James Burness+1,3,7,8 b. 9 Feb 1879, d. 27 Jul 1916
Minnie Ann Burness+1,3,4,8 b. 5 Apr 1881, d. 1908
Louisa Burness+1,3,4,8 b. 26 Jul 1883, d. 1915
Richard Burness+1,3,9,8 b. 30 Nov 1885, d. 26 Oct 1952
Charles Henry Burness10,3,6 b. 19 Jun 1888, d. 23 May 1889
Charles Burness10,3,6 b. 27 Nov 1892, d. 8 Aug 1893
Henry Benjamin Burness1
#12315, b. 19 February 1886, d. 13 October 1914
Henry Benjamin Burness was born on 19 February 1886 in 96 Barchester Street, Bromley, Middlesex, England.1 He was the son of Henry Godfrey Burness and Mary Ann Bilbrough.1,2,3,4,5,6 He was baptized on 10 March 1886 in St Gabriel, Chrisp Street, Bromley, Middlesex, England.2 He married Maud Elizabeth Brackin, daughter of James Brackin and Jane Chambers, on 14 September 1912 in All Hallows, Bromley, London, England.3,4 He died on 13 October 1914 in France at age 28.7,8
Children of Henry Benjamin Burness and Maud Elizabeth Brackin
Alice Maud Burness+9 b. 6 Sep 1913, d. 1980
Alison Margaret Burness+9 b. 27 Sep 1914
Lawrence Ruxton Burness, Burness BMD Database.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
John Burness1
#12316, b. 1 December 1886, d. 1 December 1886
John Burness was born on 1 December 1886 in 96 Barchester Street, Bromley, Middlesex, England.1 He was the son of Henry Godfrey Burness and Mary Ann Bilbrough.1,2 He died on 1 December 1886 in 96 Barchester Street, Bromley, Middlesex, England.2
Mary Ann Elizabeth Burness was born on 16 May 1888 in 84 Barchester Street, Bromley, Middlesex, England.1 She was the daughter of Henry Godfrey Burness and Mary Ann Bilbrough.1,2,3,4,5 She married Henry Newdegate Huggins, son of Henry Newdegate Huggins, on 2 February 1914 in Register Office, Hackney, London, England.2 She died in 1962 in Stepney, London, England.6
Child of Mary Ann Elizabeth Burness
Frederick Burness1 b. 6 May 1908, d. 6 May 1908
Children of Mary Ann Elizabeth Burness and Henry Newdegate Huggins
Mary Alice Burness7 b. 28 Mar 1910
Henry G. Huggins8 b. 1915
Ernest V. Huggins9
General Register Office, England Death Index 1916-2007.
General Register Office, England Birth Index 1837-1915.
John Frederick Burness1
#12318, b. 7 November 1889, d. 10 July 1922
John Frederick Burness was born on 7 November 1889 in 96 Barchester Street, Bromley, London, England.1 He was the son of Henry Godfrey Burness and Mary Ann Bilbrough.1,2,3,4 He was baptized on 4 December 1889 in St Gabriel, Chrisp Street, Bromley, London, England.2 He died on 10 July 1922 in 35 Sabbarton Street, Poplar, London, England, at age 32.5
William George Burness1
#12319, b. 30 March 1891, d. 25 July 1892
William George Burness was born on 30 March 1891 in 96 Barchester Street, Bromley, London, England.1 He was the son of Henry Godfrey Burness and Mary Ann Bilbrough.1,2,3 He was baptized on 28 April 1891 in St Gabriel, Chrisp Street, Bromley, London, England.2 He died on 25 July 1892 in 94 Barchester Street, Bromley, London, England, at age 1.3
Henrietta Burness1
#12320, b. 18 January 1893, d. 3 July 1893
Henrietta Burness was born on 18 January 1893 in 94 Barchester Street, Bromley, London, England.1 She was the daughter of Henry Godfrey Burness and Mary Ann Bilbrough.1,2,3 She was baptized on 8 February 1893 in St Gabriel, Chrisp Street, Bromley, London, England.2 She died on 3 July 1893 in 94 Barchester Street, Bromley, London, England.3
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1173
|
__label__wiki
| 0.507863
| 0.507863
|
Issue 98 (Week ending 04/09/2011)
August was the second worst month for company insolvencies in 2011 with 10 Irish Companies closing, per working day, as they were unable to pay debts as they fell due.
Our figures for August this year show that over 200 Irish Companies failed as a result of being insolvent. In total,
205 Companies went out of business.
This was the second highest number of company insolvencies in 2011 (behind April which had 216) and was up 68% on August 2010's figure of 122 Company insolvencies.
Further research in to these companies highlighted that 69 of them (34%) had an "unsatisfied mortgage" registered against them. This indicates a loan that the company had previously taken out from a bank and, as of the date of their insolvency, had not repaid.
In this case, the most the banks will expect to receive is partial payment on the mortgage amount that they originally approved.
As we predicted in mid-August, Company Liquidations reached record levels for the year. Liquidators were appointed to 234 Irish Companies. This is the highest monthly total we've seen for liquidator appointments since December 2009.
In fact, if we review liquidator appointment figures over the past five years (Jan 2007 - present) we'll see that August '11 is third highest in terms of Liquidator appointments. It was behind December '09 (276 liquidator appointments)
and April '09 (241 liquidator appointments).
In order to help avoid being adversely affected by Company Insolvencies why not login to Vision-net.ie and try our Credit Reports. This year they're predicting over 80% of Business Failures 6 months in advance of them taking place. They're the ideal tool to help you avoid Slow Payers and Bad Debts.
Blue Box Holdings Limited
Coyles Garage Limited
Millgate Limited
Oval Printing Company Limited
Atlantic Waste Recycling Limited
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1175
|
__label__wiki
| 0.733167
| 0.733167
|
AT&T just got the green light to buy DirecTV in $48.5 billion deal
Alina Selyukh,
Jul. 24, 2015, 12:09 AM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - AT&T's proposed $48.5 billion purchase of DirecTV has cleared its final regulatory hurdle as the U.S. Federal Communications Commission voted on Thursday to approve the merger, according to people familiar with the votes.
At least three of the five FCC commissioners have voted in favor of the deal with conditions, according to the sources, who spoke anonymously because the votes have not yet been made public.
The FCC's vote, likely to be completed and announced on Friday, was the last regulatory step toward the completion of the merger between the second-largest U.S. wireless carrier and the largest satellite-TV provider.
The Justice Department gave the merger its green light on Tuesday, when FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler released the details of his proposal to approve the deal with conditions.
The conditions cover various aspects of the business, including Internet services for middle-class and low-income Americans and AT&T's treatment of Internet video providers. In a first for the FCC, the agency also seeks to establish an independent monitor to ensure AT&T complies with conditions.
The mega merger, announced in May 2014, will give DirecTV a broadband product and AT&T new avenues of growth beyond the maturing wireless service.
(Editing by Peter Cooney and Lisa Shumaker)
NOW WATCH: How to use Google Maps when you have no phone service
More: AT&T DirecTV Mergers And Acquisitions
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1176
|
__label__cc
| 0.52982
| 0.47018
|
London no longer one of the most expensive business travel locations in the world
Leisure & Tourism | Reports | Surveys | Transport & Distribution
Geneva is once again the most expensive location in Europe for business travellers, according to research by global mobility experts, ECA International (ECA).
On average, the total cost of a standard business trip to Geneva is £554 a day, compared to £448 in London.
Simon Franklin, Daily Rates Manager at ECA International said: “Swiss cities once again dominate the most expensive places for business trips in Europe, with five different locations in the top ten. Switzerland has always been an expensive nation for business travel, and this year is no different as the Swiss franc has performed very strongly.”
Updated annually, ECA’s Daily Rates report reviews the average costs for hotel accommodation – which makes up the bulk of any daily allowance – as well as meals, drinks, laundry, taxi transport and daily essentials.
This information is used by companies to determine daily expense allowances for staff undertaking international business travel.
London drops out of the top ten most expensive in the world
London meanwhile has seen a drop in the rankings, as have all the UK locations included in the list. The UK capital has dropped out of the top ten most expensive locations in the world for business travel, overtaken by Monaco, Basel and Paris this year. London is now also in sixth place in Europe, down from third the year before.
Franklin said: “Whilst the price of business travel to London has remained relatively static over the past few years, the strong performance of the euro in the past year has seen costs in other cities such as Paris and Monaco overtake the UK capital. The cost of business travel in the UK overall has continued to fall, with every surveyed UK location seeing a drop in the table.”
“Aberdeen especially illustrates the sudden drop in cost for business travel to the UK, falling from 13th to 39th in the European rankings in just two years. This has been exacerbated by the recent downturn in the oil and gas industry which has led to a reduction in demand for business travel to the area, as well as having an impact on the local economy.”
Business travel in New York City the most expensive in the world
New York is the only location in the world more expensive for business travel than Geneva. A business trip to New York costs £611 a day on average.
Franklin said: “The high demand for hotels in New York is reflected in the premium rate that rooms are currently charged at; averaging £392 per night at a 4* hotel. The high cost of hotels and transport, as well as mandatory 15-20% tipping policies during meals out, contribute to the US city being the most expensive in the world for business travel.”
Hotels in London and Paris among the most expensive in the world
The price of hotels in London and Paris is much higher than anywhere in Europe, with the exception of some Swiss locations. A room in London costs on average £334 per night in a 4* hotel, making it the 11th most expensive in the world, while Paris costs £364, making it the 5th most expensive in the world.
Swiss cities dominate list of most expensive…
World’s first hotel switching website launches…
What city is the most expensive for British ex-pats?
Best and worst UK cities for business travel
UK overtakes Japan as most expensive country to send…
Which European cities will your sterling stretch the…
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1177
|
__label__cc
| 0.644903
| 0.355097
|
How To Participate In A Day Without A Woman, No Matter Where You Are
By Megan Grant
A Day Without a Woman is set to take place on March 8 — International Women's Day — and people around the world are planning their own involvement. With jobs, kids, and other responsibilities, it's not necessarily easy to find your place in the upcoming strike; but if you're wondering how to participate in A Day Without a Woman no matter where you are or what you're doing, rest assured that they are several ways to get your voice heard on what promises to be another epic day for women (and, you know, people in general) around the world.
A Day Without a Woman can be described as a general strike, where participants essentially press pause on the economy to remind the government that they work for the people. Dictionary.com explains that general strikes typically take place at the hands of most of the workers of a country, city, or province. The concept is nothing new, either; women's strikes from history prove that they can absolutely ignite change, and we've been doing it for well over a century.
On March 8, we're all encouraged to take action. Here's how you can be a part of it, no matter where on the globe you're located.
Image: Unsplash
1. Actually Participate In The Strike
Not everyone is privileged enough to be able to do this, and that's totally fine, but if you can, do it. The idea is to skip work or school and join a local protest — which the Women's March org and International Women's Strike USA have made easy. If you can't find one, start one! Rallies, marches, and pickets are just a few ways to join in the protest.
2. Participate In #GrabYourWallet
#GrabYourWallet encourages us to use our consumer power. You can boycott companies that do not support your communities, equality, and the policies you stand for. At the same time, you can invest in the businesses that are acting in a socially responsible manner.
3. Take Part In #DivestDAPL
#DivestDAPL calls out the major sources of funding the Dakota Access Pipeline and thereby profiting off of destruction. It's about the oppression of Indigenous people, and the protection of our environment. See the full list here.
4. Wear Red
The International Women's Strike USA says that even if you can't skip out on work, gather everyone you can and wear/use the color red. Show your solidarity through your wardrobe choices.
5. Refuse Gender Roles And Stereotypes
If you don't have a job you can walk out of (or if you're unable to), don't forget that A Day Without a Woman also applies to our jobs at home — the place often deemed the "woman's" domain, while the "man" belong at the office. Cleaning, cooking, and other housework will be OK without you for a day. If you can boycott it, do so.
6. Donate To The International Women's Strike USA
Just about anyone with an internet connection can get involved in this. They've set a $10,000 goal and at the time of this article, they've hit $1,970 in three days. Donate to their GoFundMe and help cover the costs of banners, flyers, stickers, their website, and everything else needed to make this day a success.
7. Talk To Your Boss
If you're in a position where you simply can't get away from work, you can still participate in the strike from inside the office. Why not sit down across from the person who calls the shots and talk about how A Day Without a Woman and your job are related?
For example, you might explain why certain aspects of the job would be beneficial to all employees — like paid family leave, pay equity, and women in leadership. You might take this time to explain how and why certain perks and benefits you receive have helped you so tremendously. You can make a difference, regardless of where you are.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1179
|
__label__wiki
| 0.84788
| 0.84788
|
So, Uh, Donald Trump's Plane Is Not Registered To Fly
*eyes to the right emoji*
By David Mack
David Mack BuzzFeed News Reporter
Andrew Harnik / AP
Trump's Cessna jet photographed in Iowa in January.
One of the private jets Donald Trump has used to travel between states while campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination is not registered with the Federal Aviation Administration, records show.
As the New York Times first reported on Tuesday, the registration for the fixed-wing, multi-engine Cessna jet expired on Jan. 31 and has not been renewed. A FAA spokesperson also confirmed to BuzzFeed News that the plane's registration had expired.
But the plane has taken dozens of flights since then, according to records reviewed by the newspaper.
The 12-seat plane, which features the Trump family crest on its side, is registered to one of Trump's Delaware based corporations.
Under federal aviation regulations, flying with no registration can lead to a civil fine of up to $27,500, as well as criminal penalties, including fines of up to $250,000 and/or three years in prison.
As The Times reported, should the jet be involved in an accident, an insurance company could use the expired registration as a reason to deny a claim.
John Bazemore / AP
Trump in front of his Boeing 757 in Arkansas in February.
A spokesperson for the Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Cessna is one of several aircraft owned by Trump, who often travels to rallies on his Boeing 757, which features his name emblazoned on the side and boasts 24-carat gold-plated seat belts.
David Mack is a deputy director of breaking news for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York.
Contact David Mack at david.mack@buzzfeed.com.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1180
|
__label__cc
| 0.508564
| 0.491436
|
Apple Car, Dimensions, electric vehicle, Performance characteri..., Specifications, Speculation
Another micro-car: The Electra Meccanica 'Solo'
I saw this article from Electrek.co come into my Twitter feed and thought, 'Aha! This is getting close (to my imaginings of a disruptive car)'. Here is an image of the Electra Meccanica 'Solo'.
The Electrek article goes on to state:
"The automaker has some ambitious specs for the SOLO:
Top speed: 87 mph (140 km/h)
Acceleration: 0-100 km/h in 8 seconds
Range: 100 miles (160 km) on a single charge
Charging time: 3 hours at 220v, 6 hours at 110v
Price: USD$15,000 (~CAD$20,000)"
As I have stated here, I believe the price needs to be around USD$10,000 to play into the minds of consumers as a cheap car alternative.
Tagged: Electra Meccanica, Solo
Apple, Apple Car, BMW i3, carbon fibre, electric vehicle, Horace Dediu, Manufacturing, Specifications, Speculation
BMW i3 Production Process
Many are wondering whether Apple's collaboration with BMW will give clues as to the future shape of the Apple Car. Some have even gone on to speculate that Apple may use the BMW i3 as a design or basis for its own electric car. This morning, technology analyst and avid Apple-watcher, Horace Dediu (www.asymco.com) retweeted a 22 minute clip of the BMW i3 production process. His accompanying tweet cryptically read 'Watching how BMW makes the i3, it's obvious why Apple had a chat.'
From this first clip alone (it is part 1 of 4 clips) we see two very important features of the BMW i3 production:
i) High levels of automation - very few people are involved in a predominantly automated process
ii) High levels of automated carbon fibre production - This is important because carbon fibre is traditionally a cost choke point due to its difficulty of manufacture in large quantities as this quote from Wikipedia suggests (CFRP stands for Carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer):
'CFRPs can be expensive to produce but are commonly used wherever high strength-to-weight ratio and rigidity are required...'
It is clear from the video clip that BMW is able to manufacture carbon fibre at scale and that the i3 has a substantial amount of carbon fibre in it.
In an earlier article I speculated that the Apple Car will need to be extremely light, but also extremely strong. Such a material would cause a 'virtuous cycle' for an electric vehicle of being a) reduced weight since batteries weigh a lot b) better performance through better power to weight ratio c) cheaper as batteries are presently one of the most expensive components of an electric car.
evaluation, Uncategorized
Validated instruments for use in arts impact research
I was putting together a table of various validated instruments which have been or could be used in arts impact research, and thought it might be useful for others working in this area. The table is a list of instruments which can be used to measure empathy, self-esteem and self-efficacy, wellbeing and so on. I have also included links to the instruments if they are available for free or purchase online.
You can access the table in html or pdf.
Validated Arts Research Instruments Table - html
Validated Arts Research Instruments Table - pdf
Please feel free to comment - the list is not exhaustive and doubtless there are some in there which have more or less efficacy than others!
Happy measuring :-)
Jackie Bailey, Principal, BYP Group
Tagged: evaluation, instruments, validated
Can we measure the value of enduring artworks?
(This post is a continuation of my ruminations on Ann Markusen's work)
There is something else I saw in Ann Markusen's report on California's arts and cultural ecology which I found really interesting.
I saw these words:
'California’s arts and cultural nonprofits generate new and enduring artworks—they commission an estimated 41,000 theater, dance, musical compositions, and artworks annually (p.33)'
and had one of those moments of nerdy, impact evaluation realisation (you know the ones ;-).
I have never tried to capture the value of the enduring nature of works of art. Sure, we all talk about heritage value, bequest value etc (thanks to John Holden). But normally when I do impact or value assessments for arts clients, I am very focused on the intrinsic experience of the art and the social, educational and personal outcomes for the participants.
I have always included 'contribution to society and culture' as an element of Artistic Vibrancy (a framework for measuring the health and impact of an arts organisation). But I never thought of measuring the contribution to culture through the creation and continued public experience and enjoyment of enduring works.
How can you value the contribution of Shakespeare, for example? Well, it's invaluable - as you can can always say with the arts. But you can try to translate the value of enduring works into a language that funders can work with ('Invaluable' does not cut it in the Cabinet room).
For example, could you start to count the number of works likely to endure over say, 2, 3, 5 years and longer? You could probably come up with a statistical formula based on big data (PhD project anyone?!) And then how many people are likely to see it, engage with it, perform it, derive some meaning from it, and be transformed by it (a kind of pyramid effect)?
I think this would be completely awesome or terribly hard to believe ,depending on how carefully it is done. There is nothing worse for arguments about arts impact than seemingly ambit claims of creating $X in value. But when it's done well, it's - well, invaluable.
I'd love to hear other evaluators' thoughts on this. Do you think it could be done and done well? Or perhaps it has been done?
Jackie Bailey - Principal, BYP Group
Tagged: enduring works, evaluation, markusen
research, Uncategorized
Why it is a good idea to talk about 'ecologies' rather than 'economies' when we talk about the arts
I was just reading some of Dr Ann Markusen's work (Dr Markusen is the Director of the Arts Economy Initiative at the University of Minnesota), as you do. A few things cropped up which I wanted to flag here as interesting which I would love to hear others' thoughts about.
Arts and cultural ecology
In her recent work on the Californian creative economy, Markusen uses the same terminology that arts policy types in Australia have also been using for the last few years - 'ecology' rather than 'economy.' Since at least 2009 (and probably before), people working in arts policy and strategy in Australia have called the arts an 'ecology' or 'ecosystem', as a way to try to capture the the nature of the arts as a system of fluctuating relationships, and the primacy of authentic connection - between artists, organisations, audiences - the list goes on.
This is kind of like my Artistic Vibrancy Onion, so named because I think of the arts as a web of relationships across different layers of society and culture (perhaps Artistic Vibrancy Spiderweb might be more apposite?)
Here is how I tried to conceptualise the arts ecosystem for the Australia Council for the Arts when they asked me to, last year.
I drew it like this because a) I am a pretty crap drawer and b) it seemed a better way to describe the slightly miasmic soup in which artists operate, as opposed to the more traditional supply or value chain diagram of arts production.
The ecology concept allows us to think of arts happening in non-linear ways - as innovation does too. Arts happens in relationships and conversations, as does most human interaction and the fruits of human creativity. Rather than talking about it as an economy, or an industry, the arts is this space, a field (if we are going to get Bourdieuian, and why not?) in which people commune with each other and what's going on inside and outside their heads, hearts and bodies.
Naturally artists also operate as economic actors. And some parts of the arts are industrial and could be described as an industry, which implies the making of stuff and selling it and creating economic value and employment. These terms are used interchangeably, but really depend on the political goal of the conversation. For example, we talk about creative economies when we want to make the point that arts make money and contribute to GDP. We talk about the arts industry for a similar reason - to be able to talk about it in the same breath as the car manufacturing industry, or the pharmaceutical industry.
When to talk about ecologies
And so we talk about creative and cultural ecologies and ecosystems when we want to make a different point. When I use the term arts ecology, I am trying to convey quite a lot in that one word:
There are a myriad of inter-related factors that are prerequisites for the making of art. I make this point when advocating to funders to not get rid of one part of the ecology and expect the rest to continue to survive.
Artists are not at their core, doing it for the money. Yes, they get paid, and they sell things. But intrinsic motivation is critical to the making of good art. Prioritising process over outcome. Journey vs destination. This is documented in the 'flow' and creativity research (Czsikmihalyi). This could apply to a number of other jobs too. I use the 'ecology' terminology to remind funders and policy makers that they cannot solely rely on industrial or economic rationalist modes of thinking when they make policies about the arts.
Audiences are not just 'consumers,' but part of the ecosystem. In the arts, the experience of art is something that happens in a relationship between the art and the audience member. This is partly why products like the iPhone do so well - the makers of that object understood that people are not just consumers, but experiencers, and the 'product' becomes theirs - it changes and is modified by the person experiencing it. It's the same with art - art cannot exist in a vacuum - it is experienced and therefore 'created' by everyone who experiences it.
I know this sounds a bit fluffy, but it is essential to understand that the relationship between an artist and their work, the work and the audience, the artist and the audience, is a gift relationship as well as a consumer transaction. This means that audiences open themselves up and give something of themselves, more than just the money for the show. You see this understanding spreading to other sectors, like artisan foods and wines, or handmade gift products - people understanding that people don't want to be mere consumers, - they want the things they eat and buy to be extensions of their identities, a gift to themselves or a gift of themselves to others. (OK, I might be writing my dissertation on art and writing as a gift. But you get my point!)
Tagged: arts ecology, creative ecology, creative economy, cultural ecology, ecology, markusen
screen, Uncategorized
Film-makers as fluffy artists or tough-minded operators - you be the judge
This article has been summarised at Urban Cinefile. I am uploading it here, importing from our old website, because it has some still-useful insights from still-expert experts. The clue was on the flyer: a picture of the hairless Sphynx, one of the world’s jarringly un-fluffiest of cats. At the 2012 AFTRS seminar, “Not Fluffy: Reimagining the Creative Enterprise,” six of Australia’s leading researchers in screen business each tried to answer the question: are screen practitioners fluffy-minded artists? Or are they like the Sphinx – tough-minded creatures, with little more than their keen nose for a business opportunity to protect them from the ravages of a competitive industry?
David Court: The King’s Men – Five great lessons from William Shakespeare’s theatre company
David Court, the Head of the Centre for Screen Business at the AFTRS, explained to the gathering of 30 screen producers and practitioners that even the great artists like Shakespeare are not as fluffy as everyone might think.
According to David, William Shakespeare’s theatre company, 10% owned by the Bard himself, was run in a most pragmatic fashion. The Bard’s first company, “The Lord Chamberlain’s Men,” faced a steep rent increase. At that point, pragmatic Shakespeare brought in a gang of “strong men” who pulled the theatre apart, from pillar to post, then re-assembled the theatre across the river. The newly assembled theatre was renamed “The Globe.”
Shakespeare then tapped into what we would now call “market segmentation.” He established a new theatre within the exclusive, and expensive, precinct of The City of London. The Globe charged only 1 penny for admission, whilst the newly built Blackfriar’s Theatre, with its smaller capacity, charged a steeper entry price of sixpence. By setting up in a more expensive location and charging a higher entrance price, Shakespeare and his theatre company, now called “The King’s Men”, took what was then an art form for the masses into “high art”, for an elite and wealthy audience. Think Woolworths, selling apples for $2.98 a kg, and its high-end store, 50 metres away, selling them for $5.98 per shiny punnet.
David dispels the myth of the artist as “a lonely man (and then, it was typically a man), sweating away at his art in a dusty garret.” He blames this common, but misguided belief, on Romantic era thinkers such as Lord Byron, and later repeated by non-artists such as John Maynard Keynes in his acceptance speech for the position of Director of the British Arts Council.
David suggests that at least Shakespeare clearly did not conform to this stereotype. Shakespeare worked closely with his troupe of actors, borrowing liberally from other creative sources, and repurposing old material. This was a great artist, and one actively engaged with realizing his art in a practical, and responsive business-like fashion.
David draws out five business lessons for screen practitioners from Shakespeare’s story:
Build common purpose companies. David sees Matchbox Pictures, Cordell-Jigsaw and Zapudra’s Other Films (Andrew Denton’s production company) as local examples of this.
Negotiate terms of trade. Clearly, The King’s Men were not passive in accepting the terms dealt them, but David sees too many filmmakers prepared to accept less than profitable deals “just to see their films released.”
The Audience is the Asset
Build the Brand
Embrace the Business
Box Office Prophecy, presented by Dr Jordi MacKenzie
Dr Jordi MacKenzie of Sydney University is trying to bring some predictability and measurability to estimates of likely box office takings of a yet-to-be-released feature film. The boldness of this experiment flies in the face of conventional wisdom that says box office earnings of a film are too unpredictable to allow meaningful forecasts.
The study, now in its 5th year has managed to strip back the information required to make accurate predictions about box office to nothing more than the key cast and crew list. Good results have also been obtained with only a small number of screen industry participants, sometimes as few as 10 in each “game”.
The researchers have found a correlation of r = 0.95 between actual box office results and their predictions. In statistics-land, this is very, very robust. A correlation of ‘1’ is a perfect correlation, with ‘0’ being no correlation – and a correlation like what Jordi and his co-researchers obtained is virtually unheard of in natural phenomena.
The question researchers asked participants was not “What do you think [film X] will make at the box office?”, but “What do you think others will think this film makes at the box office?” This was a conscious attempt to divine the “Wisdom of the Crowd” phenomenon. In academic-speak they call it a “pari-mutuel” technique.
Another benefit of the study in using this technique is that they were able to have the predictions naturally render themselves into probability distributions, rather than a single point prediction. This enabled the researchers to then quantify the uncertainty surrounding each prediction.
Whilst his statistical figures were too small for me to scrutinize from my vantage point, Jordi is confident that the research team has found a methodology that could be extremely useful in guiding early investment and financing decisions of individual film projects.
For those who are curious, the research paper is available online for free and entitled: “Nobody knows anything? Applying pari-mutuel information aggregation mechanisms to the motion picture industry.”
Copyrighting the Future, presented by Professor Michael Fraser
Professor Michael Fraser of the University of Technology Sydney next took the lectern and argued quietly but forcefully for a copyright registration database, which he dubbed the “National Content Network” (NCN).
The professor is realistic about the environment that faces IP enforcement, acknowledging that enforcement causes alienation within society. This is because digital film piracy is practiced by 1 in 3 of the population. Consequently, in his words, “enforcement alone won’t fix this market failure.”
Michael proposes a solution, simply stated: “Creators have to offer a better service.” His National Content Network would give both consumers and creators what they want. Creators want to be paid for their IP. But what do consumers want? According to Michael, they will pay for:
- Instant access
- Freedom to repurpose the material (“mash-up”)
- All of this in one transaction
Of copyright’s importance, Michael says that a fair and enforceable copyright law was the essential ingredient to the Industrial Revolution. He noted Imperial China had copyright law well before Europeans, however, it gave all copyright to the Emperor. British law dating from the late 17th century on the other hand specifically protected a citizen’s intellectual property (IP). It was this difference, he feels, that allowed the West to surpass China in technological terms, and how it came to dominate the World.
To further support his argument, he referred to Article 27 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the effect that “If you can’t make a living from your work, you are silenced.”
Creative Futures – presented by Tony Shannon
Tony Shannon, Acting Director of the Creative Industries Innovation Centre (CIIC) described some of the work they are doing for the Creative Industries (CI’s). According to Tony, all of the creative industries seem to struggle with a basic level of business-mindedness.
Tony urges creative businesses to make use of resources on the CIIC website (www.creativeinnovation.net.au) such as the Revenue Master. As simple – and he himself admits, simplistic - as the tool is, he says it is too often that he comes across creative businesses that have not done a basic revenue forecast of this nature.
Tony mentioned an analysis which I am currently working on with CIIC. We are looking at Centre’s findings across the hundreds of creative industry business reviews which the Centre has done over the last three years. The picture which is emerging is that creative businesses’ key challenges arise because of weaknesses in business fundamentals, such as strategic planning, sales, finance and systems and processes.
Whilst the study does not yet include the screen sectors, Tony and the audience speculated as to how much these attributes of the broader creative industries might apply to the screen industry.
For Love and Money – presented by Simon Molloy
Simon Molloy spoke on the topic of “Psychic Income”. Psychic income is the difference between what a producer does earn through their films, and what they could earn in an alternative profession.
In 2007, AFTRS surveyed 4,500 Australian producers. The survey found that Australian producers work for love and not money, sacrificing professional careers and tens of thousands of dollars in incomes in other fields to become screen producers. Drawing from and building upon results from the 2007 survey, Simon is investigating and attempting to be more precise about the reasons why Australian producers forego such large amounts of money.
Whilst Simon was reluctant to testify to the rigour of this research by conventional academic economic journal standards, he takes heart from the achievements of Daniel Kahneman, who was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in 2002. A psychologist by training, Kahneman is recognized for his work in disproving the economic rationalist assumption that all people work in an economically rational self-interested manner.
For more information, see Urban Cinefile’s previous article on psychic income at http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/home/view.asp?a=18807&s=Features.
Insights into the changing roles of producers in the new Australian screen culture, presented by Professor Deb Verhoeven
To avoid what Deb, Chair of Media and Communication at Deakin University, self-deprecatingly described as “an incredibly boring talk about data”, she refocused her question to “How do you survive as a screen producer in a hostile IP environment?”
In a vein strikingly resonant with that of Professor Fraser earlier in the day, Deb argued that what matters in this new environment is the “interoperability of content with data.” This ‘interoperability’ has 3 layers:
Copyright owners must align their content with archival facilities
Copyright owners must align their content on a semantic level
Sharing of data
Deb foresees the second layer as the most difficult. She says it will involve standardizing meanings, which will require an army of what is known in academic circles as ‘ontologists.’ The layperson would probably identify them as the humble librarian or “information manager”.
The upshot of the above she says, is that we should be thinking more about production workflows (e.g. AGILE production techniques, Just-in-time (JIT) film production etc) instead of just production or distribution.
Deb’s notion of “interoperability” predicts that the difficulty in Michael’s National Content Network (NCN) will likely be setting up definitions and standards. I asked Prof Fraser if he knew Deb’s talk was going to align with his work so neatly. He confessed he didn’t, but added wryly, “We nearly embraced after her talk.”
Panel Discussion: How can Australian screen businesses become more sustainable, profitable and long-lived?
The panel consisted of Sandra Levy, CEO, AFTRS, Brian Rosen, President, Screen Producers Association Australia (SPAA), Neil Peplow, Producer and Director of Screen Content at the AFTRS, Dr Chris Burton, UTS Business School, David Court, AFTRS Centre for Screen Business.
The usual questions populated this discussion, such as “What is the correct business model for screen content creators?”, “What will happen to the independent film?” (left unanswered), and “How do we lift the Australian screen industry out of being a cottage industry and what is the role of Government in this?”
On the correct business model for screen content creators, Brian Rosen ventured that television has it pretty much right, with pay TV operators like HBO branding high quality content, and broadcast television producing “event” television.
One upshot of this for the feature film industry, is that he suspects there is a gap emerging in the film market at the $20-25 million budget level. This is because Hollywood’s response to the paradigm shift occurring in media has been to make big “event” movies, with lots of CGI. It was not mentioned in the discussion, but there was a pre-World Wide Web precedent for this gap in the Working Title films (e.g. Four Weddings and a Funeral) and Merchant Ivory films of the 80’s and 90’s (e.g. A Room with a View). The success of these films probably prompted the studios to create spin-off specialty studios such as Rogue Pictures, Miramax (created by the Weinstein brothers, but later purchased and remodeled by one of the big studios), and Fox Searchlight.
With regards to the last question, on “How do we lift the Australian screen industry out of being a cottage industry, and what role does Government play in this?”, it was Brian Rosen again that ventured an answer. He argued that to create a viable screen industry like Hollywood, you have to look to what Hollywood has that attracts the best ideas from all over the world. His answer to that is i) capital and ii) infrastructure. Consequently, he says it would be better to invest the $42 billion being invested in the National Broadband Network (NBN) instead into film production in Australia. This would attract film productions from all over the world, and the rest would follow.
The main disagreement (and there were many) between the panellists and some audience members appeared to revolve around the “business-mindedness” or otherwise of screen practitioners. Leading the “for” camp was Sandra Levy, who claims that the producers she has seen in her career, both in television networks and as CEO of the AFTRS have always “been market savvy, known their audience and are highly entrepreneurial in getting their films to market.” This was a claim supported by David Court’s own view of his AFTRS students.
On the “against” camp, i.e. screen practitioners do not appear to be business-minded, was Tony Shannon and other members of the audience. Clearly, Tony Shannon’s experience of creative industry practitioners, as well as Simon Molloy’s presentation would appear to suggest there is some evidence for this position too.
One attendee commented after the event that one of the statements by the panelist Neil Peplow was telling of a non-commercial mentality typical amongst even successful film producers such as Neil. Neil was describing the ravaging effects of piracy on his film income. He said that his film, Waking Ned Devine, had been illegally downloaded hundreds of thousands of times. “If”, he speculated, “every one of those illegal downloads were to be charged 50 cents, I would nearly have made a profit on my film!” The suggestion was made by the attendee that if Neil were truly “business-minded”, he would have been seeking to make millions rather than just breaking even. If this assertion is correct (and let’s give Neil the benefit of the doubt here – he was speaking off the cuff and his statement could equally be interpreted as a keen desire to redeem money from an irredeemable situation), then it is a mentality that runs against the lessons from David Court’s paper that a good creative business should be prepared to “negotiate its terms of trade”.
Perhaps though, the two opposing opinions can be reconciled. My own penny’s worth (or sixpence, if I was feeling especially wealthy in Shakespeare’s time): most Australian screen practitioners make films for love and not money. It’s such hard work that your heart has to be in it. However, once they have made a film, they can and do work in entrepreneurial and business-savvy ways to bring their film to a paying audience.
Yen Yang - Principal, Creative Industries, BYP Group
Tagged: AFTRS, David Court, enterprise, film, screen
Appreciative Inquiry - change and evaluation rolled into one
We are often asked about the different types of evaluation approaches. We will try to summarise them from time to time here, on our site, and hope this helps people sort through the jargon of evaluation and get to the bottom of what suits you and your needs best. We have started with an explanation of Appreciative Inquiry, because I was asked about it at a presentation in Melbourne to arts organisations.
What is an Appreciative Inquiry Evaluation?[1]
An Appreciative Inquiry evaluation is based on the principles of Appreciate Inquiry (AI), an organizational development method which is focused on building on what an organization does well. The principles of AI are summarized below.
In an AI evaluation, evaluators and participants work together to share their views of the present, and “co-create” the future. An AI evaluation does not ignore problems, but approaches them as opportunities for change.
In an AI evaluation, the evaluator and participants:
become fully engaged in the learning journey
work to “co-create” the future
acknowledge that there are multiple, equally valid interpretations of reality
share their individual interpretations of reality, with an aim to gain a shared understanding of experiences
envision possible positive futures which build on present strengths
use language and foster relationships which create that positive future
In a pure AI evaluation, traditional evaluative methods – eg qualitative and quantitative research – are used only as the need arises, and are driven by participants.
Principles of Appreciative Inquiry
“Appreciative inquiry” is an approach to evaluation based on the assumption that an organization wants to improve. Accordingly, the evaluation has a fundamentally positive focus on what the organization does well, and how it can build on this.
The core principles of Appreciative Inquiry are:
Constructionist principle: people’s realities are “constructed” through their social interactions.
Simultaneity principle: change and inquiry are simultaneous. Inquiry can itself effect change.
Poetic principle: the “story” of an organization is a product of the ongoing narrative of its members and others.
Anticipatory principle: envisioning a positive future can help to guide people towards one.
Positive principle: focusing on the positive can help create a positive energy for the future.
Wholeness principle: wholeness brings out the best in people, so supporting people to share the whole story from a position of individual wholeness can build a “collective capacity for change.”
Enactment principle: positive change occurs when people create the future through their words, images and relationships.
Free choice principle: free choice stimulates positive change and liberates personal and organizational power.
[1] This explanation of AI is drawn from Howieson, Jill, “A Constructive Inquiry approach: blending Appreciative Inquiry with traditional research and evaluation methods,” Evaluation Journal of Australasia, 11(2) 2011.
Tagged: appreciative inquiry, arts, evaluation
The Artistic Vibrancy Onion
I keep coming back to the artistic vibrancy framework in my work for arts organisations, and hearing of how it has been adopted across Australia and overseas. I thought it might be time to unleash my Onion of Artistic Vibrancy on to the unsuspecting arts world. When I was at the Australia Council for the Arts, I worked with the performing arts sector to develop an artistic vibrancy framework. For a long time, the arts organisations and funders had struggled to articulate artistic merit. We needed a shared language to talk about, and to some extent, evaluate, measure or at least record, artistic vibrancy.
We identified five core elements of artistic vibrancy:
Great Artists
Engaged Audiences
Vibrant Society and Culture
This is about how well you do your art - eg your technical proficiency as an orchestra or the production values of your play. Your peers are probably the best people to ask, eg through peer review, benchmarking against organisations you are like or which you aspire to be like, or less formal conversations.
It also refers to how well you contribute to your artform. Again, your artistic peers would be the ones to comment on this, as well as the community of the artform you are in and the artists you work with. You could do this via interviews, conversations, a peer committee, and opportunistic conversations eg with visiting experts or well-respected guest artists.
This refers to your organisation's contribution to the development of artists. Your artistic peers, sector experts and the artists themselves would be the best placed people to talk to about how well you are doing in this area - eg through conversations, a peer review panel, and artist surveys.
This is a question for the audience of your work - either for live performances, readers of your books, or online viewers or listeners to your music. We want to find out how emotionally moved, intellectually stimulated, challenged and captivated they were by your artwork, coining Alan Brown's language or artistic impact. The best people to ask about this are the audience members, via interviews or a survey.
This is about your organisation's connection to its community beyond the audience. For example, an orchestra can be relevant to its wider community through education programs, or perhaps through programming decisions to engage target groups. "Community" can be your organisation's target communities, eg disadvantaged youth or particular ethnic groups, or it could refer to your local community or your entire nation. The key question is to ask how relevant you are to these people. And the best people to ask are naturally the community members you are interested in connecting with. You can do this via open days, community surveys and community consultations, or perhaps conversations with community representatives.
The above is a quick summary. There are a bunch of resources and 2 e-books which I worked on with the Australia Council, designed to help organisations reflect on their own artistic vibrancy and engage with communities.
The onion of artistic vibrancy
AV-Onion
Now we come to the onion.
My underlying idea when developing the artistic vibrancy framework, is that arts organisations are all about relationships.
We can think about these relationships as a series of concentric circles, like an "onion."
At the core of the onion is the organisation's relationship with the artform itself. For example, 'excellence of craft' is really about a strong relationship with the artform, as is the 'development or preservation of the artform'.
At the next ring out is the organisation's relationship with itself. This includes the organisation as an idea, a brand and an institution, as well as the organisation's more tangible connection with its own staff, both artistic and non-artistic.
Then we move to the organisation's relationship with artists who may be external to the organisation, and the wider artistic community. The organisation always sits in relation to its "field," to be Bourdieu-ian about it.
At the next level is the organisation's connection with its audience - those who watch, listen and experience the art.
Then we have the 'community relevance' layer, which is the skin, the interface between the 'inner onion' and the wide world. This is about the relationship of the organisation and its work with its identified community and specific communities of interest.
Next is the general public - those who might see or hear some of the 'art' created, or might walk past the gallery or exhibition and imbibe, by osmosis, some benefit or challenge from the existence of the art (ambient participation, according to Alan Brown, or institutional value, according to John Holden).
And then there is the air, the wide wide world in which the onion sits - the relationship with society and culture.
Why the onion is a useful tool
By conceptualising it this way, arts organisations can start to map their own efforts and energy when it comes to each dimension of vibrancy. If you wanted to, you could actually draw an onion and map your resources and programs on to it, to see where you might be strongest or where you might want to concentrate more energy.
The layers don't have to represent waning connection the further out you go. Your aim is to have strong weaves between all layers.
This could be a useful way of communicating your organisation's foci to others. Importantly, it is a good way to understand yourself, keeping the art at the heart of the onion but strongly weaving its connection to all layers.
China, Maker, Manufacturing, Startup
A Good Summary of the Chinese 'Maker' Scene
Most people know that if you are an entrepreneur or businessperson who needs something made, you go to China - the manufacturing hub of the World. As one Western friend reported to me 8 years ago upon returning from his first trip to Suzhou, 'You think of anything, it can be made in three days!' However, going to China may be confusing for most Westerners. This article from TechCrunch, entitled 'The Six People you meet in Shenzhen' summarises what to expect and resonates deeply with the types of people my friend described meeting in his week in Suzhou.
The Verge article 'This tiny electric car could be the future ...'
The Verge article, entitled 'This tiny electric car could be the future of urban transportation' echoes my own articles here and here from a couple of weeks ago. (You heard it here first. ;-). )
Modelled on the Renault Twizy (also mentioned in that piece) Nissan is conducting research & trials around the very questions I raised, for example:
- Business model: subscription?
- [From the article] "Is this a real trend? What would make a better product [for Nissan], if we need a better product? Is there interest? What are the demographic breakdowns? How do younger people use it, how do older people use it? How do females use it? How do males use it? How do those that are mobility challenged use it?"( checkout this for one example of the 'Cambrian explosion' of electric vehicles that emerged in the past few years)
Note also the criticisms of the vehicle by the writer and how they echo the troubleshooting I described will need to be done to provide a comparable user experience to a car. From the article:
'One of the models comes with a rear seat, but good luck comfortably fitting a full-grown adult back there for more than a few miles. And there are no side windows, so you're probably going to want to avoid driving one in anything other than the best weather.'
As I argued in those earlier posts, these are precisely the types of issues Apple or some other prospective disruptor would need to solve. i.e. make the new personal transport vehicle as easy and comfortable to use as a car (or easier), and make it more convenient to park, drive, maintain and own.
Andy Grove, Ben Thompson, Clayton Christensen, Disruption, Innovator's Dilemma, Intel, research, technology, Uncategorized
Andy Grove's legacy - a (slightly) dissenting view
With the recent passing of former Intel CEO, Andy Grove, there have been many tributes to his remarkable abilities and achievements,[1] not least of all, his ability to admit that he was wrong.[2]
This article is not going to say anything to attempt to detract from the great man he was, and his incredible achievements. But in the harsh glare of history, there was one key mistake he made that is oft overlooked. This article will examine that mistake with the benefit of ‘20/20 hindsight’.
A Great Legacy: Avoiding Disruption Pt 1
Firstly though, we should put into context Grove’s achievements which were truly World transforming. Grove is credited with being the man to execute upon his predecessor, Gordon Moore’s, famous ‘Moore’s Law’[3] . It was under Grove’s reign that much of this was achieved.
Tributes extend even further, to Grove’s epitomizing and propagating Silicon Valley’s culture of continual, relentless improvement. Also, when faced in the 1970’s with the existential threat of Japanese competitors ‘dumping’ dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips - Intel’s core market at the time - it was Grove who suggested leaving the DRAM market to refocus upon the fledgling microprocessor business. One disruption event avoided!
The Celeron Chip
And again in 1997, Grove famously invited Clayton Christensen, the author of a now seminal book, ‘The Innovator’s Dilemma’ and the man attributed with coining the term ‘disruption’ in the sense we know it today, to speak to his employees. As this story from the New Yorker recounts:
‘Grove had sensed that something was moving around at the bottom of his industry, and he knew that this something was threatening to him, but he didn’t have the language to explain it precisely to himself, or to communicate to his people why they should worry about it. He asked Christensen to come out to Intel, and Christensen told him about the integrated mills and the mini mills, and right away Grove knew this was the story he’d been looking for.’[4]
From this meeting, it is said Grove famously decided to produce the Celeron chip – a cheaper, lower-powered chip than Intel’s core offering at the time.
The Orthodox View: Grove’s successor, Paul Otellini made the big miss for Intel
Consequently, Intel’s big ‘miss’, of not picking the mobile chip market, is seen as the fault of Grove’s successor, Paul Otellini. A typical account is that portrayed by one of my favourite analysts, Ben Thompson on his Stratechery website, in this case relating a story told by Alexis Madrigal at The Atlantic:[5]
‘There is a sense, though, that the company’s strategic position is much less secure than its financials indicate, thanks to Intel’s having missed mobile.
The critical decision came in 2005; Apple had just switched its Mac lineup to Intel x86 processors, but Steve Jobs was interested in another Intel product: the XScale ARM-based processor.
The device it would be used for would be the iPhone. Then-CEO Paul Otellini told Alexis Madrigal at The Atlantic what happened:
“We ended up not winning it or passing on it, depending on how you want to view it. And the world would have been a lot different if we’d done it,” Otellini told me in a two-hour conversation during his last month at Intel. “The thing you have to remember is that this was before the iPhone was introduced and no one knew what the iPhone would do…At the end of the day, there was a chip that they were interested in that they wanted to pay a certain price for and not a nickel more and that price was below our forecasted cost. I couldn’t see it. It wasn’t one of these things you can make up on volume. And in hindsight, the forecasted cost was wrong and the volume was 100x what anyone thought.”’
Since that time, ARM Holdings have gone on to become ‘market dominant in the field of processors for mobile phones (smartphones or otherwise) and tablet computers.’ [6]
My dissenting view: Grove made the big miss for Intel
In contrast to this mainstream view, I argue that it was actually upon Grove’s watch that the mistake was made. In my opinion, it was at that fateful meeting between Christensen and the people at Intel in 1997, that a proper understanding of disruption theory as we now come to know it[7] would have pointed to the likely disruptor of Intel’s core business.
It appears that all Grove and his people took away was that the disruption was going to ‘come from below’ i.e. a cheaper competitor. Intel responded with the cheaper Celeron offering.
However, this was not the paradigmatic shift in thinking that Disruption Theory truly requires. Disruption Theory[8] goes further to suggest that the competitor was likely to be so ‘asymmetric’ that the incumbent would not even think of the disrupting force as a threat.
Disruption: Personal Digital Assistants (PDA’s) morph into Smartphones
In 1997 the eventual disruptor was already beginning to take shape in the form of personal digital assistants (PDA) handheld computers such as the ‘PalmPilot’[9].
With their puny processing power, limited functionality and gray-scale LCD screens, they were clearly no threat to the mighty Pentium processors for which Intel is still famous.[10] But in time, these PDA’s would become the basis for the first smartphones such as the Handspring Treo 180[11] which used the PalmOS operating system.
Disruption: About the business model, not just the technology
What is more, ‘disruption’ in the Christensen sense also tends to come with a new business model. In other words, it is not just the technology that disrupts, but the business models that the technology enables that do the disrupting. Think Dell’s business model (selling personal computers online sales) to the conventional retail model adopted prior to that point.
ARM Holding’s business model is a classic case of this. Rather than investing hundreds of millions in a chip fabrication plant, instead they focused upon licensing the designs of the chips for others to fabricate.
To be fair to Grove, it is impossible to be omniscient – especially after he managed to avoid one major disruption. Instead, I look at the contribution (or failure?) by Christensen, who in his account[12] of the meeting professed to his clients at Intel that he didn’t know anything about the chip industry. But even a rudimentary understanding of the chip industry would have suggested the Achilles Heel of the chip industry was in the expense of the chip fabrication process. This barrier to market entry, or ‘moat’ would be flipped on its head by a business model such as ARM Holdings’.
These two clues – the easily dismissed processors in the meager hand-held devices, and the inversion of the business model of processors – should be apparent to anybody studying disruption theory today. However, we cannot blame Andy Grove for not being able to better articulate the ‘gut feeling’ he had in the late 90’s that disruption was about to befall Intel, when the father of Disruption Theory himself was still decades away from being disrupted on this point. Grove and Christensen, both great men, but not infallible.
[1] http://venturebeat.com/2016/03/21/silicon-valley-legend-and-former-intel-ceo-andy-grove-passes-away-at-79/
[2] http://www.linkedin.com/pulse/time-andy-grove-came-fortune-refused-meet-editors-rik-kirkland
[3] "Moore's law" is the observation that, over the history of computing hardware, the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit has doubled approximately every two years. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore%27s_law
[4] http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/05/14/when-giants-fail
[5] https://stratechery.com/2016/andy-grove-and-the-iphone-se/
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARM_Holdings
[7] Arguable one more sophisticated than even Christensen himself understands – See my earlier post citing the Techcrunch article that points this out.
[8] http://www.claytonchristensen.com/key-concepts/
[9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PalmPilot
[10] Grove is also credited with the ‘Intel Inside’ and Pentium promotion that made ordinary consumers stop and consider the CPU in their machines.
[11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handspring_(company). Nerd that I am, I owned one of these when they first came out.
[12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Innovator%27s_Dilemma
Apple, Apple Car, creative industries, Dimensions, Futurology, Horace Dediu, Performance characteri..., research, smart car, Specifications, Speculation, technology
Specifications of the Apple Car
In this piece I drill deeper into speculating what the Apple Car may be like, contemplating its likely specifications and performance characteristics, based upon existing cars. Following on from my piece that sought to describe the physical parameters of the Apple Car, in this piece I go one step further (too far?) and attempt to apply performance characteristics to the Apple Car. Using specifications from existing and upcoming micro-cars (REFERENCE LINK), I attempt to extrapolate the likely possible specifications for a future ‘disruptive’ micro-car[1], scheduled for 2019-21 release.[2] The existing micro-cars that I referred to, and their specifications can be found on the next blog post here.
For the purposes of our exercise, we anticipate that the future ‘disruptive’ vehicle will have the following characteristics:
Passengers: 1 adult (with some type of convoying technology required to link other cars of the same type, either ‘in-line’ or side-by-side.) In Australia research suggests that over 90% of trips only carry the driver.[3] But note, that percentage would count a trip to drop off the kids at school as 2 trips, with one of those trips, the return trip, likely to be only 1 passenger.]
Dimensions: Not much bigger than an electric wheelchair – perhaps slightly longer and wider for safety reasons and cargo capacity i.e. Length: Approx 1.5 to 1.6m; Width: Approx 1m: Height, Approx 1.35 to 1.6m (similar to a Mini, 1.4m, or ‘Smart Fortwo’, 1.56m)
Weight: Less than one quarter the weight of a conventional family sedan, or 300-450kg; Less is more due, to the weight of batteries. I anticipate it to use super-strong lightweight materials like carbon-fibre, perhaps custom-made for the ‘Apple Car’ similar to Gorilla Glass or the gold alloy used in the Apple Watch. Note, the Morgan EV3 is said to be less than 500kg and will be larger than this vehicle. I therefore anticipate it should be capable of reaching 2/3rds to 80% of its weight. However, it is also likely to have more ‘mod cons’ than the Morgan EV3 (e.g. a ‘hardtop’ roof; air conditioning; entertainment system; ‘smart’ technologies/sensors etc, which might take the weight from say, 400kg to 500kg.)
Engine: 30kW to 55kW (I anticipate it to be similar to the electric Smart Fortwo, or slightly less to give it similar performance but with lower weight.) Weight calculation: [Est. 400kg + 100kg (large male) = ] 500kg vs [880kg +100kg (large male)] = 980kg. Consequently, I anticipate a 30kW engine could have the same performance specifications as the electric Smart Fortwo. Elsewhere I suggest that those performance characteristics are all that are needed.
Battery capacity: Approximately the same as for the Smart Fortwo i.e. 17.6 kW·h lithium-ion battery by Deutsche ACCUmotive[44]
Range: Approximately 200-300km. This should account for more than 95% of trips.[4] 145 km (90 mi) range is available from the electric Smart Fortwo. Note, the range could be much higher considering the anticipated reduced weight of the proposed Apple Car. Consequently, it may be possible to have a smaller battery, reducing weight considerably. I think the weight/battery/performance/range equation will be a very well optimized balance.
Top Speed: Not capable of doing much more than maximum speed limit in most Western Countries’ i.e. 125 km/h (78 mph). This is the top speed of the electric Smart Fortwo. This speed was chosen because Apple has a strong tradition of not competing in ‘specification wars’, eschewing adding specifications for the sake of them, and instead aiming for qualitative benchmarks. For example, its iPod was not the smallest music player, nor the music player with necessarily the largest memory. Instead it went for ease-of-use. Likewise, the Apple Car will not be built for the purposes of drag-racing conventional motor cars. It just needs to get the passenger/driver from A to B.
Price: Comfortably below multi-passenger micro-cars, with multiple Apple Cars being about the same as a mid-luxury family sedan (e.g. Honda Accord) i.e. Sub US$13,000. Preferably under US$7-10K. Note, because it’s only a single passenger vehicle it may need to be substantially cheaper than most of the two seaters to provide a convincing ‘value proposition’. This is also why the ‘convoying’/platooning capability described in the earlier article is so important. There may also be economic pressures for this vehicle to be a subscription vehicle or some other business model of usage/ownership. (See other article on ‘Thinking behind Apple Car speculation’). Most micro-cars are sub US$15,000. It may be possible to achieve price ranges below US$10K with sufficient economies of scale e.g. Dediu’s suggested ‘1 million car’ mark for an Apple Car to be ‘meaningful’.
Smart Technologies: Pontooning/convoying’ technology will be important to allow for the Apple Car to disrupt the family car. An example of this concept is given for the EO Smart Connecting Car 2.
[1] Due to the highly speculative nature of this article, I am attempting to cover my bases here. Perhaps if Apple doesn’t make this, someone else will???
[2] According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) the Apple Car is scheduled to be released in 2019. Dediu notes this usually means the product would be available to the public one year later (2020) at the earliest. More recently, Tim Cook, when asked about the Apple Car did not deny the rumour, but instead implied it was a lot further away than people were expecting, saying: ““Do you remember when you were a kid, and Christmas Eve, it was so exciting, you weren’t sure what was going to be downstairs? Well, it’s going to be Christmas Eve for a while.” Source: http://www.businessinsider.com.au/tim-cook-on-apple-car-its-going-to-be-christmas-eve-for-a-while-2016-2?r=US&IR=T
[3] http://chartingtransport.com/tag/car-occupancy/
[4] http://spectrum.ieee.org/cars-that-think/transportation/efficiency/stop-worrying-your-electric-car-will-have-plenty-of-range and http://jalopnik.com/the-chevrolet-bolt-will-be-a-200-mile-electric-tesla-fi-1678649485
Apple, Apple Car, creative industries, Dimensions, Futurology, Horace Dediu, research, smart car, Specifications, Speculation, technology
What will the Apple Car look like?
This article provides a playful look at what the Apple Car might look like. For the (slightly) more serious reasoning on how I came to the parameters of the possible Apple Car, please click here and for the performance characteristics click here. For the specifications of existing micro-cars I used as reference points to inform the parameters, please click here.
In this piece, I seek to flesh-out and illustrate the likely ‘envelope’ and specifications of the Apple Car. In an earlier post, I described the broad characteristics of what I imagined the Apple Car to look like, drawing upon the thinking of well-known Apple observer and analyst, Horace Dediu.
Primary Parameters for the Apple Car
Together, Dediu's criteria and my own reasoning pointed towards the primary characteristics relevant to visualizing and specifying the Apple Car as being:
A small vehicle, likely a ‘microcar’ or ‘autocycle’
It would fit only one or two people – we will assume one person here
It was a given that it would use a large amount of ‘smart’ technology e.g. autopilot, collision prevention, auto-balancing/leaning technology etc., but only that likely to be available at its speculated time of release in 2019-2021.
It would likely be electric
It would be unlikely to compete with the specifications of a conventional vehicle, making performance trade-offs to more specifically focus upon the job to be done (taking a person from ‘A’ to ‘B’)
Dimensions of the Apple Car
Consequently, I arrived at the following dimensions for the future Apple Car (assuming of course, one is ever made):
Length: From 1.2 to 1.6m long or comfortably less than half the length of the average modern family sedan[1]. An important criteria is that the vehicle can park ‘nose to kerb’ and not be wider than a conventional car.
Width: Approx. 1 metre; or more than half but less than 2/3rds the width of the average modern family sedan. This is to enable the division of the regulation traffic lane into two, hence potentially doubling the carrying capacity of existing infrastructure.
Height: 1.35-1.6m or around 10-15cm less than the average modern family sedan. Note this dimension is one of the most constrained due to the assumption of a normal seating position. Going too far from a normal seated position risks alienating many people (the old, inflexible, tall, overweight, unfit, unusually proportioned etc). Historically, this is something Apple has sought to avoid.
[1] For comparison, the Honda Accord is 4.86m long. See the blog post here for the vehicles I have used for reference.
Apple, creative industries, Futurology, presentations, research, smart car, technology
Marc Tarpenning 2013 talk – A summary of thoughts from Tesla Motor’s co-founder
As I have noted elsewhere in this blog, some in the car industry remain skeptical of Apple’s ability to make a great car. Their reasoning is essentially, since Apple has no history in making cars they can’t appreciate the difficulties in making a car. They are mainly software engineers and mobile phone engineers and won’t understand the important mechanical aspects and all other important things in making a great car. This 2013 talk by Marc Tarpenning, one of the co-founders of Tesla Motors, shows how a group of archetypal ‘Silicon Valley types’ did just that. Their cars have won many major car awards.[1] Some interesting thoughts and statistics from the talk:
- Why he formed Tesla Motors: Tarpenning sought to solve a large world problem. As a firm believer in 'Peak Oil', he thought the electrification of cars would be a worthy problem to solve. Noting the failure of earlier electric cars, he reasoned that one issue was the misdiagnosis of the true market for electric cars. Rather than poor people seeking to save on petrol, the experience of the GM Volt and Toyota Prius was that the buyers were mostly wealthy people who were seeking a 'green' car as a type of status symbol. Thus, he diagnosed the 'job to be done' as being to provide wealthy people with a 'green status symbol'.
- Efficiency/Sustainability of Electric Cars: Early on he answers the question 'Why electric cars?'. Answer: They are much more efficient than petrol. Interestingly, he calculated that even electric cars recharged by coal power plants are better than petrol in terms of efficiency of resource usage.
- Batteries are getting cheaper (and better): Batteries have gotten 7% cheaper every year for many years. Near the end of his talk he also mentions this decline in price may accelerate due to the 'sheer amount of money they are putting into this thing.' By ‘thing’ he means, for example, the Tesla ‘Gigafactory’[2] and various other large manufacturing facilities that are starting around the World.
- Most car manufacturing is outsourced: In answer to the doubts about whether a newcomer can make a car, the obvious retort is that most of the car business as we know it today is outsourced. What most car manufacturers actually do is just the internal combustion engine - thus the car company's internal vested interests and politics against electric. The car manufacturers have mostly outsourced the rest. E.g. Transmission is outsourced. Styling is frequently outsourced, I already knew things like brakes, suspension, electrical, entertainment systems etc, are outsourced.
- Incumbent car industry inertia - It's 'worse than he thought possible': In response to a question asking how quickly he thinks the incumbent car industry will adapt to change, he is quite clear. He describes them being 'worse than he thought possible'. He explains the internal politics that occurs within such incumbent car companies. From the above point regarding outsourcing, we can see that all that remains of most incumbent car companies is the internal combustion engine engineers. Tarpenning argues that the internal resistance comes from car companies belated realising they sacked the wrong people. They got rid of their electrical engineers (through outsourcing), and now would have to admit they were wrong and rehire them.
- Battery companies reawakening by Tesla Motors: Battery companies such as Panasonic and Sony thought their addressable market was to sell 7 battery cells per person (e.g. one in the mobile phone, one in the tablet, etc etc). Tesla Motors advised them that their customers would need 7000 battery cells just for one Tesla car. What happened next is kind of funny.
- Tarpenning isn't always right: Tarpenning got the oil forecast wrong: He got the oil forecast wrong, saying we'd reached 'peak oil'. The oil price plummeted below the US$60-70/barrel he said it cost to drag this stuff out of the ground. He did not anticipate that about 2 years later, OPEC would slash oil prices to drive out US CSG oil production. The move by OPEC also might be seen as a prescient move against the electrification of cars, which would severely reduce demand for oil. In the US, they use 28% of their energy to move people and goods.[3] Personal vehicles use 60% of that 28%, and buses and trains use 3% of that 28%.
- Where Tarpenning is putting his money: Note also where Tarpenning and his Tesla co-founder Martin Eberhard have invested their money – to an electric motorcycle maker called Alta Motors (formerly BRD Motorcycles) which they did in 2014 (Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2014/10/01/brd-motorcycles-raises-4-5-million-to-ship-its-all-electric-racing-bikes/). Readers of this blog will already know that I believe disruption of the automotive industry will come from the ‘lower tiers’ of the personal transport vehicle, probably from a vehicle that the incumbents deride as not a threat. Of course, the more obvious play for Tarpenning and Eberhard is to simply do to the motorcycle industry what Tesla Motors did to the sports car industry. However, with the Redshift, released in October 2014,[4] carrying a 5.2kWh battery weighing 70 pounds (approx. 32kg), producing 40hp (roughly 30kW) we are talking about a power plant that is already capable of powering a ‘disruptive’ micro car at acceptable performance specifications as we have envisaged in other posts (e.g. top speed of 110km/h, range >150km etc). Their bikes sell at US$15,000 so we imagine that the greater economies of scale achieved by a consumer motorcar, when compared to a luxury sports bike, it would be possible to bring the price of a ‘future car’ below the critical US$10,000 mark.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Motors#Model_X
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigafactory_1
[3] http://needtoknow.nas.edu/energy/energy-use/transportation/
[4] http://www.autoblog.com/2014/10/17/brd-now-altha-motors-reveals-new-redshift-electric-motocross-bike/
Apple, Apple Car, creative industries, Dimensions, Futurology, Performance characteri..., research, smart car, Specifications, Speculation, technology
Reference vehicles and calculations for my 'Apple Car' model
Below are some of the cars I have used to inform my speculations on the size, shape and characteristics (performance and 'smart' technologies) of the Apple Car. I have also included the scale calculations for the models I used in my earlier piece. Together, this data informs my reasoning in the articles posted here and here. Toyota i-Road Concept Car
Toyota has not released full specifications on this vehicle, but they have allowed several test drives mainly for the automotive media since the 2013 Geneva Motor Show.
Development status: Working concept car
Length: 2,345 mm
Height: 1,455 mm
Wheel base: 1,695 mm
Tire size: (Front)80/90-16 (Rear)120/90-10
Minimum turning radius: 3.0 m
Occupancy: Japan:１ Europe:2 *1
Curb weight: 300 kg *2
Powertrain: 2 electric motors
Maximum speed: Japan: 60km/h Europe: 45km/h *1
Cruising range on a single charge: 50 km*3
Battery type: Lithium-ion
*1 In accordance with European regulations for vehicles in the i-Road's category
*2 Vehicle weight without occupants or cargo
*3 Target distance when traveling at a fixed speed of 30 km/h
Comments: The Toyota i-Road is the closest concept I have seen to what I think the Apple Car, or some other motorcar 'disruptor' will look like. It is primarily designed for solo transport (but fits 2 at a pinch - an adult passenger can tuck behind the driver with knees akimbo).
To make this product more 'accessible' and 'desirable' I imagine Apple will seek to improve the following:
- Appearance of safety: Although the i-Road already has an airbag in its steering wheel, perception matters. Perception of safety could be influenced perhaps by adding smoother curves and reinforcing around the side to bring it in line with nearly the thickness of a conventional car door - say 10cm.
- Convenience: A hidden issue with motorcycles, bicycles, electric bicycles, scooters etc is that they all require some degree of 'preparation' by the riders as well as on-going maintenance. By 'preparation' I mean, for example, putting on protective equipment such as helmet, protective riding leathers, high visibility clothing, locking (e.g. to a nearby pole, as bicycle stands are relatively few and far between), charging, turning on/off safety equipment e.g. flashing lights, helmet storage, strapping of cargo/luggage. By maintenance, motorcycles and bicycles require considerable maintenance relative to a car. Taken together, these issues form a 'sub-conscious' impediment to many prospective users of those modes of transport. A future micro-vehicle should be able to easily overcome these issues.
- Comfort (seating & ride): For a vehicle of this type to appeal to people of all ages and physical abilities, the seat would need to be softer and more 'plush' than the cheap, thin vinyl seats provided on the i-Road, though not as substantial and soft as a car seat. Some suspension would also be expected.
- Comfort (noise levels): Some effort will go into sound suppression, although making it too quiet will make this vehicle dangerous to pedestrians. Electric motors of the size used here tend to have a high-pitched whine which will be difficult to suppress in any case, although road noise could be reduced by more sound and temperature insulation.
- Comfort (protection from elements): Expect this to be high on an Apple Car's list. A major inhibitor to people using motorcycles, scooters and bicycles more often is the level of physical comfort and protection from the elements. To serve as a commuter vehicle, it must enable people to arrive at work without being sweaty, drenched, hot, cold or exhausted.
- Comfort (entertainment system, 'smart' technology): This is a given in a proposed Apple Car, considering Apple's known foray with CarPlay and Apple Maps. Ease of integration with Apple products and sophistication of smart technologies would be one of the key differentiators of an Apple Car to future competitors, such as the i-Road.
- Performance: For the vehicle to succeed in the First World markets, it would need to be more versatile than purely a 'last mile' commuter (e.g. to the shops and transport hub). Rather, the vehicle should be able to be used on the highway 'at a pinch'. Consequently, increasing top speed to 80-110km/h would be likely. It is likely these performance improvements will be possible considering the 6-10 year span between the i-Road's debut at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show and the Apple Car's earliest launch date.
- Price: No price has been provided by Toyota, but a price under $10,000 has been suggested. This would bring it in line with the critical threshold I believe it would need to achieve to provide a sufficient 'value proposition' in the mind of the consumer.
EO Smart Connecting Car 2
Size: 2.58 m x 1.57 m x 1.6 m; Or rather 1.81 m x 1.57 m x 2.25 m (The indication of the length of the vehicle depends on the type of tire / tyre section. The values have been recorded with tires of type 200/60 R 16 79V.)
Power supply: 54V – LiFePo4 battery
Speed: 65 km/h (40 mph)
Actuation/ Engine: 4 x 4kW wheelhub motors; 10 x longstroke-Lineardrive with 5000N 1 x Folding Servo
Sensors: Hall-effect as well as string potentiometer sensors for angle and length measurementStereo-Kameras at the front and at the back32-Line Lidar for 3D-scans of the environment6 ToF 3D cameras for near field overview
Communication: CAN-Bus RS232 RS485 LAN
Comment: The EO Smart Connecting Car demonstrates (or at least conjectures) the types of technologies that would be important in solving important 'jobs to be done' e.g. parking and traffic (through it's convoying/platooning idea).
General Motors EN-V
Jiao (Pride) 1,500 mm (L) x 1,425 mm (W) x 1,640 mm (H) [59” x 56” x 64.5”]
Xiao (Laugh) 1,540 mm (L) x 1,420 mm (W) x 1,770 mm (H) [60.5” x 56” x 69.5”] Miao (Magic) 1,520 mm (L) x 1,405 mm (W) x 1,635 mm (H) [60” x 55” x 64.5”]
Overall Track: 1,150 mm [45”]
Jiao (Pride) 400 kg [880 lb]
Xiao (Laugh) 410 kg [900 lb]
Miao (Magic) 415 kg [910 lb]
Chassis Platform 210 kg [460 lb]
Body Construction: Painted carbon fiber
Closures: Front access (single door, with polycarbonate glazing)
Seating: 2 passengers side by side, fixed bucket seats
Chassis Construction: Magnesium casting (lower chassis)
Aluminum box (battery and gearbox housings)
Stainless steel (guide rails)
Wheels and Tires: MC 120/70R17 on 17” x 4” wheels
Top Speed: 40 km/h [25 mph]
Range: 40 km [25 miles]
Energy Consumption: 70 Wh/km [125 Wh/mile]
Turning Radius: 1.74 m [68.5”] wall to wall diameter
Motor Type: Brushless DC motors for propulsion, braking and steering
Power: 440 Nm (max. torque) and 18 kW (max. power)
Battery Type: Lithium-ion phosphate (air cooled)
Output: 3.2 kWh and 5 kW (regenerative braking)
Sensors: Vision, ultrasonic and Doppler sensors
Wireless: 5.9 GHz dedicated short-range communication and GPS
Autonomous Functionality
- Automated retrieval, via app-linked smart phone
- Automated door opening, via app-linked smart phone
- Platooning
- Infotainment options (geo-locating other vehicles, audiovisual information)
- Web-conferencing (social networking)
- Collision avoidance between vehicles
- Object detection
- Automated parking, via handheld device
2016 Morgan EV3 specifications[1]
Development status: Mooted for production some time this year. Debuted at 2016 Geneva Motorshow (early March 2016)
Make: Morgan
Model: Three Wheeler
Horsepower @ RPM: 62 (46.2kW)
0-60 time: 9 sec.
Weight: <500kg
Passengers: 2 adults, side-by-side
Battery pack: 20kWh lithium battery
Range: 150 miles on a single charge (241km)
Price: (Estimated) US$38,375 to $42,640 (NB: Morgan is a ‘prestige’ car maker)
2013 Renault Twizy specifications[2]
Development status: Concept car
Make: Renault
Model: Twizy
Passengers: 1 adult
2013 Smart Fortwo Electric Drive Specifications
Production status: In production since 2009 (2nd generation model)
Make: Smart
Model: Fortwo
Price: € 18910
Engine: 55 kW
0-60 time: 11.5 sec.
Top Speed: 78 mph (125.5km/h)
Specifications for the Smart Fortwo in non-electric configurations:
Production 2014–present
Body style 3-door hatchback2-door cabriolet
Related Smart Forfour (C453)Renault Twingo
Engine 0.9 L turbo I31.0 L petrol I3
Transmission 5-speed manualtwin clutch automated manual
Length 2,695 mm (106.1 in)
Width 1,663 mm (65.5 in)
Height 1,555 mm (61.2 in)
Kerb weight 880 kg (1,940 lb)
Specifications from Wikipedia for 3rd generation Smart Fortwo electric engine:[3]
Power: peak power output of 55 kW (74 hp)[5][28]
Torque: 130 newton metres (96 lbf·ft)
Top speed of 125 km/h (78 mph)
0 to 100 km/h (0 to 60 mph) in 11.5[43] seconds and 0 to 60 km/h (0 to 37 mph) in 5 seconds
Battery capacity: 17.6 kW·h lithium-ion battery by Deutsche ACCUmotive[44]
Range: 145 km (90 mi)
Miles per gallon equivalent: 122 MPGe city, 93 MPGe highway, 107 MPGe combined[45]
Artificial warning sounds for pedestrians automatically activated in the U.S. and Japan, and manually activated in Europe.[46]
Kyburz eRod
Specifications (translated from the Kyburz website using Google Translate)
Weight: 570 kg (incl. Bat.) Battery: 18 kWh, 100 V / 180 Ah Power: 40 kW / 140 Nm Range: 100 - 130 km Drive: brushless AC motor on the rear axle Braking recuperation: switchable Helmet compulsory: No
Price: US$28,000 unassembled. US$38,000 assembled.
Comment: The eRod is almost twice the width and 25% longer than what I expect a future disruptive vehicle would look like. However, it does have the tubular frame I anticipate will be key and helps illustrate the sparseness of the underlying chassis that the 'future car' might have as its underpinning. Recall, Gordon Murray's 'iStream' car manufacturing methodology that seeks to scale the types of methods used in the manufacture of Formula 1 race cars. Note, the weight would need to be significantly reduced (to about 2/3rds or 400kg) - probably through super-strong composites. An enclosure for passengers is a given.
Specifications for Mini Cooper S
I used a Mini Cooper remote control car as a model for illustration purposes. The Mini Cooper S has very similar dimensions, and they are provided here for reference.
Production 2006–November 2013 (Hatch)2009–present (Convertible)
Assembly Plant Oxford, Cowley, England
Class Supermini
Body style 3-door hatchback2-door convertible
Layout FF layout
Related Mini Coupé, Mini Countryman, Mini Clubman
Engine 1.4 L Prince I4 (One)1.6 L Prince/BMW N16 I4 (Cooper)1.6 L Prince turbo I4 (Cooper S)1.6 L Peugeot DV6 diesel I4 (Cooper D and One D)2.0 L BMW N47 diesel I4 (Cooper SD)
Transmission 6-speed, automatic or manual
Length 2007–2010: 3,698 mm (145.6 in)2007–2010 S: 3,713 mm (146.2 in)2011–2014: 3,729 mm (146.8 in)
Kerb weight 1,150 kg (2,535 lb) (Cooper)1,210 kg (2,668 lb) (Cooper S)
Predecessor Mini (R50/53)
Successor Mini (F56)
Honda Accord dimensions: The Honda Accord is used as an example of a typical 'family sedan'.
Wheelbase Sedan: 2,776 mm (109.3 in)Coupe: 2,725 mm (107.3 in)
Length Sedan: 4,862 mm (191.4 in)Coupe: 4,806 mm (189.2 in)
Width Sedan: 1,849 mm (72.8 in)
Height Sedan: 1,466 mm (57.7 in)Coupe: 1,435 mm (56.5 in)
Curb weight 3,193 lb (1,448 kg) sedan[51]
Calculations from Mini Cooper remote controlled car model
Actual Mini Cooper S dimensions: 3.7m long, 1.68m wide, 1.4m high.
Mini Cooper remote control car model dimensions: 200mm long.
Calculation of scale ratio:
(Actual length) 3700mm to (Model length) 200mm = 37:2 = 18.6:1 ratio.
Therefore width converts to: 90mm
Therefore height converts to: 76mm
Hence, the speculated dimensions of ‘future car’ converted to 18.6:1 ratio are:
Unscaled dimensions of the Apple Car:
Length: Approx 1.5 to 1.6m
Width: Approx 1m
Height: Approx 1.5 to 1.6m.
Scaled dimensions of the Apple Car:
Approximate Length: 81-86mm
Approximate Width: 54mm
Approximate Height: 81-86mm (can be lower, but it means for a very reclined seating position, possibly requiring seat adjustment technology)
Apple Car Model Dimensions used in photographs:
Length: 96mm (1.79m)
Width: 58mm (1.08m)
Height: 72mm (1.34m)
[1] http://www.topspeed.com/cars/morgan/2016-morgan-ev3-ar172651.html#main
[2] http://www.topspeed.com/cars/renault/2013-renault-twizy-f1-concept-ar153883.html
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_electric_drive#Third_generation
The Inventor of 'Disruption', disrupted?
In my post detailing my thinking on the Apple Car I touched upon how Clayton Christensen - the person who is attributed as having coined the term 'disruption' in the post-Internet age - himself does not believe Apple is 'disruptive' according to his own definition. The following article from TechCrunch details issues with Christensen's definition, suggesting the definition itself, has been 'disrupted'.
Tagged: Clayton Christensen, disruption, techcrunch
How Government Investment in the Culture Economy Led to a Billion Dollar Industry
What burgeoning team sport phenomenon awarded over AU$20 million in prize money[1] this past August to a team of 5 players where the youngest broke onto the international competitive scene last year at the tender age of 15, and the oldest is nicknamed ‘Old Man’[2] at a mere 27 years of age? Here are some clues: Its players, bear nicknames like ‘Piglet’, ‘Faker’ and ‘Amazing’, its 119 pound (54kg) stars can mysteriously burn-out[3] at the age of 21[4], and its audience is already measured at 137 million people around the World. [5] Team names include ‘Evil Geniuses’, Cloud9 and fNatic.
I’ll give you just one more clue: The team is made up of what would typically be considered the least athletic people alive – geeks.
By now, most male readers under 30 will know what I’m talking about. The rest of you are probably scratching your head at this perversely inverted world where pimply nerds are sports heroes and worshipped by legions of female fans. [6]
The phenomenon in question is eSports in which computer gamers play against each other, frequently online, and at the elite level, in the flesh at stadiums including the Wembley Arena.[7] The game that awarded over $20 million in prize money is DOTA 2[8], a computer game that allows multiple players to compete online in a virtual battle arena, or a MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) for short. DOTA itself is an acronym for ‘Defence of the Ancients’, which is in turn, a spin-off of the extraordinarily popular ‘real-time strategy’ game[9], World of Warcraft 3 published by Blizzard Entertainment. The ‘2’ in Dota 2 refers to the fact that it is the second official version by Valve Corporation which produces and distributes games.[10]
But DOTA 2 is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to ‘eSports’. Other games commanding multi-million dollar prize pools include League of Legends, Call of Duty and Smite.[11] These are just a few of the video games played competitively, described as ‘massively online battle arena’s’ or MOBA for short.
People from all corners of the ‘connected’ Earth play eSports against each other making it, in some ways, even more international than soccer/football where players are restrained by travel and passports to play against each other. Of course, in the interest of fairness, and to make their competitions a compelling live event, most competitions at the elite level require players to compete at the same venue on the same equipment live before an audience of screaming fans. Nevertheless, the purely online competitive component has its sophisticated leader boards, through which some child star players have emerged like ‘overnight’ sensations.[12]
Its nerdy star players look so much like you would expect a professional video gamer to look, it makes any parent wonder about the future health of their boy– or their girl.[13] Hailing from all the ‘nerd’ classes; pimply, deathly pale, skinny or overweight (but never physically well-developed), bespectacled, greasy-haired, Asian (even 2 of the Canadian DOTA 2 world champions ‘Evil Geniuses’ are of Asian descent) it is perhaps not surprising considering professional teams have coaches and rigorous training regimes,[14] big brand name sponsors,[15] as well as billionaire owners and backers,[16] just like ‘real’ sports teams.
What has this all got to do with the title of this article?
Here’s a hint. The ‘Super Nation’ of eSports is South Korea[17] where the micro-momentary expression of a pro-gamer losing to the upstart wunderkind, Faker, has its own meme page.[18]
In an impressive display of government intervention triumphing over the free market, the Korean government made a conscious decision nearly 20 years ago to promote its ‘soft power’.[19] Frequently the historical whipping boy of its near-Asian neighbours, China and Japan, and with a mere fraction of the people of those populous giants, Korea’s government felt it needed to somehow compete with its historical ‘big brothers’. During this time, not only did it provide universal superfast broadband, but it sponsored the development of its key cultural industries, including film, television, popular music, and of course, gaming. The rest, as they say, is history.
[1]Source: http://www.esportsearnings.com/tournaments/12894-the-international-2015
[2] http://evilgeniuses.gg/Profile/13,Fear/
[3] http://www.kotaku.com.au/2015/02/one-of-league-of-legends-best-players-gets-benched/
[4] http://lol.gamepedia.com/Piglet
[5] https://www.superdataresearch.com/blog/esports-brief/
[6] http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/13035450/league-legends-prodigy-faker-carries-country-shoulders
[7] https://www.google.com.au/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=sse+arena+wembley+wikipedia&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&gfe_rd=cr&ei=GBgnVozSJdDu8wfqg7gQ
[8] http://www.playdota.com
[9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-time_strategy
[10] The history of how DOTA 2 came to be it itself an interesting illustration of the power of the crowd-sourcing phenomenon, where a fan of the game, known only under the ‘handle’ (alias) of Eul, kicked off a chain of successive iterations by even more fans adept at programming. Ultimately, Valve commissioned the last in this line of fans, ‘Ice Frog’ to help build their official version of DOTA 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_of_the_Ancients#Development ; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_of_the_Ancients#Sequel
[11] http://www.esportsearnings.com/tournaments
[12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_%22Faker%22_Sang-hyeok
[13] All-female eSports teams exist e.g. Girls HK, Team Siren, and presently, a select few, earn respectable prize money: http://www.kotaku.com.au/2015/08/hong-kong-gets-its-first-all-female-league-of-legends-team/ ; http://team-dignitas.net/articles/blogs/No%20Category/3465/Call-Your-Shot-What-Do-You-Think-Introducing-Team-Siren ; http://www.esportsearnings.com/players/female_players . However, they are still a minority in eSports: http://www.polygon.com/2014/5/27/5723446/women-in-esports-professional-gaming-riot-games-blizzard-starcraft-lol
[14] http://www.liquiddota.com/forum/dota-2-general/462152-coaching-in-esports-a-comprehensive-look
[15] http://fortune.com/2014/07/24/esports-sponsors/
[16] http://dota2.gamepedia.com/Invictus_Gaming
[17]http://www.pcworld.com/article/2036844/why-gamers-in-asia-are-the-worlds-best-esport-athletes.html ;
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/20/technology/league-of-legends-south-korea-epicenter-esports.html?_r=0
[18] https://www.facebook.com/H2K-Ryus-face-memes-480179422135007/ . The original expression can be seen at around 13 seconds in at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPCfoCVCx3U
[19] http://www.creativetransformations.asia/2014/05/the-k-pop-factory-phenomenon/
Tagged: Cultural Economy, DOTA, e-sport, games, gaming, League of Legends, South Korea
Futurology, research, smart car, technology
The Apple Car - a contrary view
For a dissenting view on whether: A) The Apple Car rumour is true and; B) Apple is capable of making a good car
Checkout this link: http://www.mondaynote.com/tag/asymcar/
Apple, creative industries, Futurology, research, smart car, technology
The thinking behind my speculations on the Apple Car
This article gives you the details of my reasoning behind my predicted Apple Car.
The Thinking of Horace Dediu
The main analyst I refer to in this article is leading technology analyst, Horace Dediu. We cite materials predominantly from his two blogs and podcasts at Asymco (asymco.com) and Asymcar (asymcar.com). Dediu, a former student of ‘disruption theory’ pioneer Clayton Christensen[13], and now a director at the eponymous Christensen Institute, focuses his analysis upon disruption using Apple as a lens for study and comparison.
Although Dediu has made no firm statement upon the actual shape or functionality of the Apple Car itself, Dediu is on record as believing it will be influenced by certain key criteria. He looks particularly at Apple's past history and its key strategies that brought it success, as well as examining the history of the broader automotive industry itself to try to understand what these key criteria will be.
I go one step further and 'fill in the gaps' left by Dediu's criteria to give the reader a more tangible sense of the type of vehicle that Apple, or some other innovative companies, may seek to build if they were to start a car project from 'scratch' with a view to disrupting the incumbent automotive industry.
Apple’s track record in innovation – a late bloomer
From Apple, Dediu notes that what brings it success is not strictly 'disruption' in the sense defined by Clayton Christensen. Disruption theory predicts the disrupting company generally starts with a 'lower-end' product that initially appears so insignificant to the incumbents that it is ignored. Instead, Apple is rather distinctive in that it tends to make 'high-end' products. Nevertheless, it has been seen since its inception, making what was a previously 'low-end' product category, better designed and more usable, charging a premium for superior execution.
Apple even goes so far as to enter a product category somewhat after a segment has gained traction, but nevertheless succeeds way beyond these pioneers despite their ‘first-mover’ advantage, through superior execution.
These differences in approach are important in understanding how Apple may execute on a future product. Below are examples of ‘the Apple way’.
The iPod and iPhone
The iPod and iPhone are excellent cases in point. The iPod was a late entrant into the digital music player business. Regardless, they became the number one selling digital music player through superior execution. Their big innovation for that device was to develop the digital ‘scroll wheel’ to allow easier use. Additionally they changed the way music was sold through the introduction of the iTunes Store a few months after the iPod’s launch.
Similarly with the iPhone, smartphones had achieved some market success by the early 2000’s with comparably sized smartphones being produced by Palm and Blackberry. It wasn’t until 2007 that Apple entered the smartphone race against the firmly entrenched Blackberry.[14] Apple famously did away with the tiny physical keyboards on these devices that many people struggled to use, and improved the touch screen experience compared to what was used on the Palm devices. Once again, Apple took an already established segment, improved the interface and opened up the market for smartphones to even more people.
Apple’s DNA: A tradition since inception
So much is apparent from Apple’s recent history, but many may not have been around for its early history. However a brief examination of this early history shows the ‘DNA’ of the company emerged very quickly even during its start-up years. For example, the first Apple computer delivered a superior package to the numerous other start-up personal computer makers around at the time in the 1970’s, offering as it did, the first personal computer with an easy to read output (a 'monitor' or TV screen rather than punch cards in binary), and an easy-to-use input device - a QWERTY keyboard, making it immediately recognisable to a population familiar with mechanical typewriters.[15] At the time, these additions were considered revolutionary in a personal computer.Image 5. The first personal computer, the Altair 8800. Note its difficult to understand output ‘display’ and lack of easy data input.
A few years later, Apple went a step further with the Macintosh making the user interface even more user-friendly by introducing the graphical user interface and mouse which were developed at Xerox PARC and essentially given to them by an executive at the then dominant Xerox corporation.[16] Clearly, that Xerox executive did not understand the value of his company's own research, but Jobs did, appreciating the ability of the technology to allow anyone to use a computer which had hitherto been amenable only through an inscrutable computer command line interface.[17]
In this way, we see Apple, time and again, introduce a new product, which despite its lack of primacy into its segment, still competes with non-consumption.[18] i.e. People who had never purchased these product categories before, would buy one when the Apple version came out.
In the case of the iPhone, it created a market so strong that Apple could weather the 2008-9 GFC, recording stunning growth during that period. By comparison, despite the far more benign conditions relative to the GFC, Apple CEO Tim Cook described the late 2015 quarter as 'the toughest he's seen for Apple' with their primary profit driver, the iPhone’s sales figures, receding in a year-on-year comparison. This reveals how much difference it is to compete in a rapidly saturating market, compared to the green fields of non-consumption.
Significant Contribution
The second factor Dediu refers to frequently is that Apple's track record and statements by its senior leadership strongly suggest that Apple would only enter into a new market, in this case, the car market, if it felt it could make a 'significant contribution'. Tim Cook’s statement, taken from before he became CEO, and in response to the inevitable analyst question regarding ‘What will Apple become without Steve Jobs?’ is worth quoting in full (My emphasis added):
“We believe that we are on the face of the earth to make great products and that’s not changing. We are constantly focusing on innovating. We believe in the simple not the complex. We believe that we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products that we make, and participate only in markets where we can make a significant contribution. We believe in saying no to thousands of projects, so that we can really focus on the few that are truly important and meaningful to us. We believe in deep collaboration and cross-pollination of our groups, which allow us to innovate in a way that others cannot. And frankly, we don’t settle for anything less than excellence in every group in the company, and we have the self- honesty to admit when we’re wrong and the courage to change. And I think regardless of who is in what job those values are so embedded in this company that Apple will do extremely well.”
- Tim Cook fielding analyst questions during 2009 Q1 earnings call
In his podcast entitled 'Meaningful', Dediu is on record as saying he feels this would mean that Apple is intent upon making an 'iconic car', in the vein of the Volkswagen Beetle, the Ford Model T, the Fiat 500, the Citroen 2CV, and the (original) Mini. Considering the sales volumes of these cars, Dediu asserts that Apple intends to make a car that can sell in the millions, with a minimum goal of 1,000,000, although perhaps achieved over some years.
External criteria – Changing the Means of Production
The third important criteria in understanding what the Apple Car would need to be, comes from an external factor – the history of the car industry itself.
Dediu argues that in automotive history, great changes have always come with the advent of a new means of production. He points out the three big changes of production in automotive history each brought their respective proponents to primacy. For Ford, it was famously the assembly line for the Model T. Ford was later overshadowed by General Motors, through a production method that allowed different plants to focus upon different components e.g. Engine, chassis, body, so that greater specialisation, efficiencies and variety of products could be accommodated.[21] He believes this led to GM's ascendancy in the post-war period.[22] More recently, Toyota employed its now famous Just-in-time (JIT) methodology that reduced supply chain logistics costs and improved quality through reduced inventory, reduced error and improved response time from factory to the consumer and back again. Toyota became the number one carmaker in the World in 2012. Consequently, Dediu feels that for Apple to become a significant carmaker, it must look to challenge or change the existing means of production.
The high cost of traditional sheet metal car assembly
For Dediu, this is more than just a historical coincidence. He points to the present high cost of car manufacturing plants, which he argues, cost in the billions to create. Much of the tooling is expensive due to the stamped sheet metal process used by most mass-manufacturing carmakers today. Tesla Motors – a carmaker Dediu frequently argues is not truly ‘disruptive’ in the Christensen sense - was fortunate to be able to buy a disused Toyota plant in Fremont, California for a bargain price of $42 million, but it has spent millions in re-tooling it. [23] As an alternative, Dediu points to the 'iStream'[24] production method developed by F1 McLaren designer, Gordon Murray. Using the steel tubing and rapid turnaround methodologies of the race car industry, Murray claims he can cheaply make cars in smaller batches than present car manufacturing plants which are only viable after they make a few hundred thousand cars (assuming the cars sell!). Murray says iStream makes short production runs of 15-65000 vehicles feasible, and improves the customisability of these vehicles too. Through using a methodology like iStream, Dediu speculates this could save a new market entrant billions.
iStream – a good fit with disruption theory
It goes without saying that these vehicles can be structurally very strong and necessarily light,[25] fitting in with Dediu’s speculation on a small Apple Car. The weight reduction becomes important in later calculations required to make the Apple Car’s speed and dynamics viable for the ‘job-to-be-done’.[26] It also fits in with the overall disruption theory of developing a cheaper product segment that many in the incumbent industry would deride.
Potential ‘disruptors’
Classic disruption theory suggests an incumbent will tend to be disrupted from ‘below’, in a cheaper product category that the incumbents dismiss until it is too late. Below is a quick summary of these ‘lower’ product segments and their issues. Note their compatibility with the iStream production methodology and its inherent strengths:
The bicycle – relatively hard to use (balance), unsafe relative to a car, uncomfortable, especially if the distance is far, the weather hot/inclement or the terrain difficult e.g. steep roads.
The motorcycle – even harder to use (balance, operate, maneuver at low speeds), unsafe relative to a car (there are innumerable morbid jokes about motorcycles) and uncomfortable especially in inclement or hot weather. Safety gear is extremely uncomfortable in hot weather and riding is unsafe/uncomfortable in the rain.[27]
The scooter – a slightly easier-to-use variant of the motorcycle but still requires balance and skill to use at low speed. It is frequently too slow for freeways unless you get an expensive scooter – which begins to cost as much as a second-hand car, defeating one of the prime objectives of scooter ownership - reducing expense.
Electric bicycles – similar issues as with the bicycle, although they do increase comfort enough to make longer road trips viable to even people of low fitness levels. Nevertheless the other issues it shares with bikes prevent most people from trying these (lack of safety/comfort relative to a car). In time, I nevertheless predict we will see a lot more of these, and electrified ‘balance’ scooters/skateboards/hoverboards (etc.) being adopted.
‘Autocycles’[28] and other experimental motorized vehicles[29]. Segways – Though Autocycles are slightly more comfortable and (supposedly) safer due to many adopting an enclosed ‘car-like’ shell, the Cambrian explosion of variants all share in common a tendency to suffer from being more expensive than a small, economical conventional car, obviating one of their main objectives – reducing expense. Examples include the numerous examples we see on such ‘vlogs’ as Translogic (on autoblog.com), most of which are priced above US$15,000 due to the maker lacking economies of scale. In particular, the GM EN-V[30] and the EO smart connecting car 2[31] look close to the idea I am arriving at.
Handicapped/Seniors electric cart – Every now and again, one sees a bold senior citizen driving their electric cart on a road, outside the confines of their retirement village, usually with a fluorescently coloured pennant to bring their vehicle in line with the higher eye-line of car and SUV drivers. Their lack of power means the speed differential between them and cars is vast, and increases the danger such that this type of usage is understandably not widespread as a transport solution beyond a few hundred metres from the driver’s residence, along a footpath. Also, their association with the elderly probably makes them ‘uncool’ in the eyes of many.
Presently, many in the car industry would not consider the above product categories as threats to the conventional 4-5 seater ‘cabin on four wheels’. However, when these lighter, smaller vehicles are considered in the context of the strong frames and advanced materials used in Formula 1 racing car design that are possible in the iStream production methodology, they can begin to overcome many of the issues these personal transport solutions have in becoming more mainstream. When combined with ‘smart’ technology e.g. to auto-balance, park and avoid collisions, they become a much more viable solution to a broader range of people. i.e. they become product categories that compete with non-consumption.
To add fuel to this speculation is the fact that Apple have been seen to add ‘vehicles’ to their list of company activities in Switzerland.
The paragraph added is reported by Swiss site ApfelBlog:[32]
“Vehicles; Apparatus for locomotion by land, air or water; electronic hardware components for motor vehicles, rail cars and locomotives, ships and aircraft; Anti-theft devices; Theft alarms for vehicles; Bicycles; Golf carts; Wheelchairs; Air pumps; Motorcycles; Aftermarket parts (after-market parts) and accessories for the aforesaid goods.”
Rail cars? Bicycles? Golf carts? Wheelchairs? Motorcycles? Perhaps these are just necessary inclusions in the ‘vehicle’ category in Switzerland, but it serves as a warning to not close off options. For my part, I suspect Apple will adopt a four wheel format but in a ‘micro’ size, slightly larger than the electric cart seen here.
A product that addresses the emerging markets
Another factor mentioned specifically by Dediu in the context of the Apple Car is the importance of the emerging markets to Apple’s revenues.[33] Tim Cook clearly sees the importance of Apple continuing its initial success in China, and achieving similar success in India.[34] Consequently, it stands to reason that whatever future products Apple comes up with, whether a car, or some other device, it must provide a solution to problems that are relevant in not only the established first world markets that Apple dominates, but also in these populous new emerging economies, especially the large cities of China, India, Brazil and Indonesia.
'Jobs to be done' Framework
Interestingly, Dediu does touch upon the above issue when he refers to Christensen’s ‘jobs-to-be-done’ framework.[35] We quote the principle from the Christensen Institute’s website: [36]
“Customers rarely make buying decisions around what the “average” customer in their category may do—but they often buy things because they find themselves with a problem they would like to solve. With an understanding of the “job” for which customers find themselves “hiring” a product or service, companies can more accurately develop and market products well-tailored to what customers are already trying to do.”
Taken in the context of cars, the fundamental job that many cars are trying to solve is to get the person from A to B, safely, comfortably, affordably and quickly. Many cars also try to address stylistic and ego issues as a job-to-be-done.[37] Dediu frequently uses the example of Tesla cars, which he feels people buy to look both cool and wealthy (without being ostentatiously wealthy), but also environmentally conscious – something that no other sports cars could do as well as Tesla Motors.
When we take the ‘jobs to be done’ framework in the context of the emerging markets, we see that they share the problem of many in the First World, only worse. They too have traffic jams – much worse than ours in fact in the big cities of China, India, Brazil and Indonesia - and they too will find it difficult to get parking at their destination. Consequently, if we can envisage an automotive solution that helps alleviate or solve these issues in both the First World and Emerging Markets contexts, then this is likely to be a space that Apple is trying to address as well.[38]
New Business Models – The real disruptors
Another point that Dediu raises frequently, though not so much in the car context, is that people frequently (mistakenly) believe the technology itself is the disruption. However, there are many instances when the technology has been around for years, but the disruption does not occur until the business models the technology(ies) enables begin to operate.
An interesting example in the transportation industry is that of Uber. Using a variant of social media software to solve an information problem (i.e. People wish to find a lift to their destination; Drivers wish to find passengers), Uber is taking over a large portion of the taxi industry’s traditional business.
We also saw with Apple that the iPod in and of itself was not what revolutionized the industry. It was the iPod in conjunction with the Apple iTunes Store. Where previously the recording industry sold most of its content on physical media such as CD’s, in retail stores, the iTunes allowed for easy and legitimate purchase of just a single track at a much lower price point.
Other factors e.g. Aggregation Theory & Modularity Theory
Of course, the above-mentioned factors are not the only factors that may impact upon the success or failure of an Apple Car. Other theories that are frequently described in the context of disruption Aggregation Theory[39] and Modularity Theory. I am not fully abreast of these theories and can only speculate upon how they might impact the automotive industry.
Dediu has described his 'Law of conservation of modularity'[40], my loose understanding of which is that he postulates disruption may occur when some significant change has occurred to make a system modular. Modularity, he argues will push some facets of development and slow others depending upon which is the ‘inferior’ component. In the context of the automotive industry it appears he identifies high degrees of modularity, with specialist suppliers supplying most components of the car, such as suspension, transmission, tyre technology, entertainment systems, etc. With an electric drive train, even more can be outsourced and commoditised, as electric drive trains are far simpler than internal combustion engines.
In fact, we see a similar phenomenon in the bicycle industry with gears (Shimano), seats, brakes and electric motors coming from suppliers, with the big brands assembling these products and repackaging them under their own brand name. Consequently, it is easy to envisage a modular industry quickly developing around a small form-factor vehicle, perhaps using ‘off-the-shelf’ components that are slightly upscaled or specifically designed for the Apple Car (BTW: Another Apple hallmark as we saw in the case of Corning developing ‘Gorilla Glass’ for Apple’s iPhone).
Aggregation Theory
With ‘Aggregation Theory’, Thompson states:
“Looking forward, I believe that Aggregation Theory will be the proper framework to both understand opportunities for startups as well as threats for incumbents:
What is the critical differentiator for incumbents, and can some aspect of that differentiator be digitized?
If that differentiator is digitized, competition shifts to the user experience, which gives a significant advantage to new entrants built around the proper incentives
Companies that win the user experience can generate a virtuous cycle where their ownership of consumers/users attracts suppliers which improves the user experience
The Uber and Airbnb examples are especially important: vacant rooms and taxis have not been digitized, but they have been disrupted. I suspect that nearly every industry will belatedly discover it has a critical function that can be digitized and commodified, precipitating this shift. The profound changes caused by the Internet are only just beginning; aggregation theory is the means.”
We have already seen Tesla Motors performing software upgrades automatically that boost performance and identify any issues with their vehicles in a much more efficient manner than is possible with earlier cars. It will be up to the Apple Car’s designers and others operating in this space to conceive of what these might be, or alternatively develop a car ecosystem that allows developers the opportunity to address them at some later date.
When one considers all of these points together, we arrive at:
A small car, possibly a very small car that may even be in a product segment that many may presently deride (i.e. asymmetrical) e.g. Micro cars, autocycle, 'smart car', or even electric cart or golf cart.
A product that can sell in the millions ('significant contribution'), and competes with non-consumption (innovative or makes the user interface so simple and the product so comfortable and desirable, many more people can use it than its predecessor.)
As a consequence, it will probably seek to solve the problem of getting person X from A to B by focusing on the big issues at hand not solved well by the existing dominant paradigm of car formats or other modes of private transport e.g. Traffic (jams) for cars, safety (of motorcycles/scooters and bicycles), convenience (e.g closed in cabin again, though this time to shelter from rain, or eg. Easy to use/steer, even a child could drive one safely, so no balancing required, no instability at low speed, no complicated manual gearbox etc), parking (e.g. Through self-parking smarts) etc.
In addition to this, there will be another vector, in technology, that should also be present that will allow further revolutionary changes to essentially the same form factor, e.g. The gradual improvement of driverless technology e.g. Automated pilot software, e.g. 'Linking' of compatible cars to form small convoys, more accurate mapping etc etc.
Another important factor around the question of the 'job to be done' that it solves in a superior way to existing car form factors, is that it be as much a 'job to be done' in the more populous cities of the developing world and emerging economies of China and India as it is in the developed world cities of London, New York and San Francisco etc. We can easily see that traffic jams are generally worse in these poorer countries, and can get much bigger as they experience major net migration to the cities and increased car ownership despite little improvement in infrastructure. This again helps identify the 'job to be done' as that which we described above, as the problems of traffic and parking are only worse in the big cities of less developed emerging economies due to their generally having poorer infrastructure. We speculate that a car that can somehow more efficiently use road space will help in solving this job to be done, be it a smaller form factor (perhaps narrow enough to use two abreast in one conventional road lane width), or a method of 'linking' or convoying with other cars in some meaningful way that improves traffic flow safely.
We must also consider the possibility that the Apple Car may not be owned like most traditional cars through a purchase, but through licensing, subscription or some other business model. We have already seen Apple’s buyback model deployed.[41] Perhaps they will take it one step further offering a yearly subscription model, displacing the phone retailers and telephony companies that presently bundle phones with phone and Internet contracts. How then might these new business models apply in the context of an Apple Car? What would an Apple Car subscription or its equivalent buy you? Use of an Apple Car for one year, after which the subscription must be renewed or the car returned? Membership of a convoying service that allows one to use transit lanes, or relieves the member from driving for some part of his/her journey? Parking in a highly compressed row of Apple Cars that can auto-park and auto-unpark?
Some rough physical parameters for the Apple Car
To help paint a picture of the specifications and performance of such a vehicle, I refer to the existing performance characteristics and specifications of existing electric vehicles and extrapolate and interpolate from there.
Curb Weight: Around 50-80 pounds (23-36kg)[42] with the lower spectrum being a more expensive ‘lightweight’ bicycle and the higher end being designed with a more powerful (500W) motor and steel frame.
A typical budget electric bicycle would tend to have a 200-250W motor and should push an average adult male (80kg, giving a combined weight including the bike of about 110kg) at around 25kph on level terrain with a standard steel frame.
EO smart connecting car 2 (a small ‘concept’ car)
Tesla Model S[43] (a conventionally sized, luxury sports car with a powerful electric motor)
Curb Weight: 4647.3lb (2107.8kg or just a little over 2 tonnes)
Powertrain: 70kWh or 85kWh variant microprocessor controlled, lithium-ion batteries
Length: 196.0” (16.3 feet or almost 5m long)
Width: 86.2” (7.2 feet or around 2.2m wide)
We speculate that Apple would wish to have some more conventional performance specifications, that could propel the vehicle up to a speed of around 110km/h to cater to Western markets, but not much more as few roads allow speeds beyond this. Even those that do allow greater speeds generally allow traffic to go at 110km/h. Keeping the Apple Car’s top speed lower than most internal combustion engines are capable of would be in keeping with Apple’s tradition of not engaging in ‘spec wars’. From the outset, Apple has always eschewed striving to be the ‘most powerful’ or the ‘fastest’, but instead chose to reach only those performance benchmarks necessary to do the job.
Extrapolating and interpolating from the above, I conjecture that a vehicle weighing around 400-700kg (made possible by the use of light, strong materials, with lower bounds limited by the considerable weight of batteries, presumably placed in the ‘floor’ of the car)[44] would need motors totaling from 10-30kW (smaller motors could be placed at each wheel and co-ordinated using software) to propel it to speeds between 80-110km/h with a range in excess of 300km – more than adequate for most purposes, especially ‘short runs’ to the shop/public transport hub or keeping up with commuter traffic in emerging markets.
If Apple were to build a car about the size of the EO smart connecting car 2, then it may attempt to reduce weight by using lighter, but stronger materials as that employed in the iStream methodology. However, because it would have more powerful batteries, which are the components that weigh the most in these types of cars – c.f. the 2 tonne Tesla S) that give greater speed and range (250 miles+), the weight may stay the same at around 500-800kg.
As stated before, Apple tend to adopt premium pricing within the product segment they operate in. If they were making a conventional car, we anticipate they would be selling cars priced in the range of the Tesla Model ‘S’, or US$70,000/AU$100,000. However, we do not believe Apple will produce a conventional car for the numerous reasons mentioned above. Instead, we are looking at something more like a highly specced electric cart or autocycle. As mentioned, autocycles frequently are priced at US$15,000+ due to their lack of economies of scale. With a production technique like iStream, we anticipate these prices could be reduced below US$10,000, even with deluxe materials such as a carbon fibre body due to economies of scale. One price range the Apple Car may be trying to gun for is the US$35,000 mark for enough Apple Cars to move 4-5 people. This price mark is what many in Western markets would call the higher end of the family sedan car prices (think the Honda Accord Euro, and Mazda 6) and is also the stated price of the highly anticipated Tesla Model III.[46] So should the Apple Car come in a single seat configuration only, then we would expect four of them to cost below US$40,000.
In the context of personal transportation, we can all foresee that one day people may not even own cars, and instead hail the all pervasive driverless Uber car or its equivalent. But in the meantime – most experts predict that eventuality is at least 10 years away - can Apple come up with a solution that will be needed or wanted by billions?
Perhaps from the above criteria, Apple can craft a high quality, personal transportation vehicle that is more economical than the traditional car, safer, more comfortable and quicker than car alternatives (e.g. motorcyles, electric carts), but above all solves the jobs to be done around transportation much better than the traditional motorcar.
Doubt has been expressed by some as to this ever occurring. In February 2015 Daimler CEO, Dieter Zetsche stated:
“If there were a rumour that Mercedes or Daimler planned to start building smartphones then they (Apple) would not be sleepless at night. And the same applies to me".[47]
Then in late January, 2016, back from a recent tour to Silicon Valley, Zetsche acknowledged his surprise at the progress in Silicon Valley:[48]
“Our impression was that these companies can do more and know more than we had previously assumed. At the same time they have more respect for our achievements than we thought,”
Clearly, with Apple’s track record, no one should be dismissing the possibility of a successful Apple Car anymore.
Yen Yang is the Principal, Creative Industries for BYP Group.
To contact Yen, email yen at bypgroup dot com
References (cont'd from my short article about the smart car)
[13] Christensen is the pioneer of the seminal ‘The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail in which the author first popularized the term ‘disruption’ to describe the phenomenon of small start-ups displacing large, well-resourced incumbents: http://www.claytonchristensen.com/books/the-innovators-dilemma/
[14] Blackberry phones were seen as so pervasive and addictive at that stage they were nicknamed ‘Crackberries’.
[15] A wonderful account of these start-up years and the context of the making of the Apple 1 (as it is now known) is provided in Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak’s autobiography, ‘Woz’: Computer Geek to Cult Icon. http://www.amazon.com/iWoz-Computer-Invented-Personal-Co-Founded/dp/0393330435.
[16] http://www.mac-history.net/computer-history/2012-03-22/apple-and-xerox-parc/2
[17] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command-line_interface
[18] Here ‘non-consumption’ is used in the business sense. i.e. People did not buy computers prior to the Macintosh because they were too hard to use. When the Macintosh introduced a mouse and graphical interface more people began to buy computers: http://www.businessinnovationfactory.com/blog/2009/5/competing-against-non-consumption#.VsuWs87ZjAM
[19] He also speculates it might be an autonomous ‘Winnebago’ in Asymcar 26: The iPod: http://www.asymcar.com/?p=509
[20] Asymcar 27: Titanic: http://www.asymcar.com/?p=521
[21] This was in contrast to Ford’s monotonous design made famous by a quote attributed to him: “You can have it (the Model T) in any color you want, so long as it’s black.”
[22] Asymcar 24: Get rid of the Model T men: http://www.asymcar.com/?p=491
[23] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Factory
[24] http://www.istreamtechnology.co.uk/1/what_is_istream.html
[25] http://www.istreamtechnology.co.uk/1/F1_for_you.html ; http://www.istreamtechnology.co.uk/1/Lightweight_is_good.html
[26] I have only done rough calculations extrapolated and interpolated from existing vehicles, both on the market and in experimental form. These calculations are included below in the section entitled: ‘Some rough parameters’.
[27] For those who have never worn full leathers and a helmet on a hot, humid Summer’s day, just take my word for it.
[28] http://www.cheatsheet.com/automobiles/the-legacy-of-elio-and-why-defining-the-autocycle-is-important.html/?a=viewall
[29] For an interesting selection of experimental vehicles, check out the Translogic vodcast on www.autoblog.com and https://drivingtothefuture.wordpress.com/ . Of particular interest to this author are the General Motors EN V (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25J48arp3D4 ) and the EO smart connecting car 2.
[30] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tiHwzGsotA
[31] http://robotik.dfki-bremen.de/en/research/robot-systems/eo-smart-connecting-3.html
[32] http://apfelblog.ch/apple-marke-fahrzeuge/
[33] Asymcar 25: The Selfie Experience: http://www.asymcar.com/?p=498
[34] http://9to5mac.com/2016/02/04/tim-cook-india-iphone-apple-watch-android/
[35] Asymcar 18: Cars of the People: http://www.asymcar.com/?paged=2
[36] http://www.christenseninstitute.org/key-concepts/jobs-to-be-done/
[37] This is also argued by Dediu to be a sign of the existing car format’s maturity and stagnation.
[38] We can see an excerpt of Dediu’s thinking on one of his blog pages: http://www.asymcar.com/?p=21
[39] A theory put forward by technology analyst, Ben Thompson on his Stratechery website: https://stratechery.com/2015/aggregation-theory/
[40] http://www.asymco.com/2010/11/15/law-of-conservation-of-modularity/
[41] http://www.apple.com/au/shop/browse/reuse_and_recycle
[42] http://www.nycewheels.com/electric-bike-weight.html
[43] https://www.teslamotors.com/support/model-s-specifications
[44] Batteries in the floor of the car help provide a lower centre of gravity. They have been pioneered in cars like the Faraday Future and the Tesla Motors: http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-shows/news/a27797/faraday-future-concept-electric-car-ces-2016/ ; https://www.teslamotors.com/en_AU/modelx
[45] http://blog.ted.com/test-driving-the-toyota-i-road-concept-car/
[46] https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/697678962588188672
[47] Source: http://www.motoring.com.au/mercedes-benz-dont-build-an-icar-49356/ )
[48] http://9to5mac.com/2016/01/25/daimler-ceo-apple-car-effort/
creative industries, Futurology, research
Speculations on the Apple Car: A super-smart micro-car for the masses?
(This is a short article about the Apple Car. For more reading on this topic, please see my detailed blog post on the future of the smart car.)
In February 2015 the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published an article claiming Apple would enter the automobile market.[1 and 2] It seemed like the final confirmation of a rumour that had circulated for months, if not years, around what was then the World’s largest company and is still the most admired.[3] Since that point in time, no one has seriously disputed the existence of the project,[4] apparently codenamed ‘Titan’, which the WSJ claims is scheduled for 2019 release.[5]
Instead, speculation has turned to the car itself: What will it look like? What will it do that is different to cars today? Will it be electric? Will it be driverless? Since they appear to have entered into an agreement with BMW, will it look anything like the BMW i3 electric car? Or will it look like a minivan as speculated in the WSJ article? How will it be manufactured? What could Apple possibly do to make a profit or improve upon the 5-seated cabin on four wheels format that has dominated the ultra-competitive car industry for over a century?
Using parameters identified by leading analysts and taking the best of experimental car designs visible in the public domain, it may be possible to begin to visualise the rough envelope, and significant features of the upcoming Apple Car or other future vehicles[6] that may eventually supplant the motorcar that we know today.
I conjecture that the Apple Car, or another potential ‘disruptor’ to the established automotive industry, will have the following criteria. It will be:
Small – perhaps shaped to fit only one or two passengers, possibly ‘in-line’, rather than abreast to make the car suitable for bicycle lane access or ‘split lane’ access (where the traditional lane width is split in two to accommodate double the traffic, but only for narrower vehicles).
Electric – this is actually as much due to the need for ‘modularity’[7] in production and simplicity as it is for green credentials (which would be another big selling point). Electric motors are very simple, cheap, and powerful (high torque). Reliable variants are already available for electric bicycles ‘off-the-shelf’.[8] Batteries – a substantial part of the cost of electric vehicles - are likely to get significantly cheaper by 2019[9] in part due to production increase initiatives by the likes of Tesla and Panasonic.[10]
Light (<750kg) – This is likely to be a necessity due to the types of performance characteristics Apple would need to make the car appealing to the mass markets. i.e. Capable of speeds of up to 110km/h (but no faster) using an electric motor. Note, Apple may decide to limit the speed to below 80km/h for safety reasons or because it decides travelling faster than 80km/h is ‘just unsafe’.[11]
Manufactured using revolutionary production techniques (relative to the conventional car assembly plant ‘pressed sheet metal’ process)
Manufactured using specially developed lighter, stronger materials enabled by the revolutionary production technique. This is an important consideration to allow people to overcome safety concerns for smaller vehicles and modes of transport. Apple has a history of commissioning bespoke materials for its products with superior aesthetic/performance characteristics e.g. ‘Gorilla Glass’ for the original iPhone, and later ‘Sapphire Glass’ presently used for smaller glass components, as well as the gold ‘alloy’ used in its ‘Edition’ Apple Watches.
‘Smart’ – It will of course have not only the latest entertainment capabilities a la CarPlay, but it will have the best driver/safety technologies software can provide, as seen in recent models of the Tesla cars. These will only get better with time, for example, it may later employ other technologies glimpsed in experimental/concept cars such as ‘convoying’ and ‘platooning’[12] and of course, in time become potentially self-driving or ‘driverless’.
It may be accompanied by a different business model, e.g. a subscription service or ‘upgrade’ service.
In ‘First World’ markets the main ‘job-to-be-done’ is likely to be a ‘short trip’ specialist (e.g. to the shops/transport hub and back) that parks easily, in more limited space, and is narrow enough to bypass some types of traffic jams. So for many it would act as an ‘economical second vehicle’ for families in more affluent societies and as a ‘sole vehicle’ for the Y-Generation and younger. In emerging markets, it may be the ‘sole commuter vehicle with the ability to expand’. The ‘ability to expand’ may come through an ability to convoy with other Apple Cars, so a family of 5 might stick 2 or 3 together for family trips.
200km+ range/endurance – This is to accommodate the emerging markets who would want this vehicle to act in the first instance as a commuter work-horse in the traffic jams of the large cities e.g. Beijing, Jakarta, Mumbai etc.
If you are interested in understanding how I got to this point, you can read more here.
[1] Original source: http://yalibnan.com/2015/02/15/apple-designing-new-electric-car-codenamed-titan-report/
[2] http://www.wsj.com/articles/apples-tiTtan-car-project-to-challenge-tesla-1423868072
[3] http://fortune.com/worlds-most-admired-companies/
[4] Although, to date, Apple has never confirmed the project’s existence.
[5] http://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-speeds-up-electric-car-work-1442857105
[6] I put in this disclaimer due to my potted history of predicting Apple products. In 2009 I predicted the shape and functionality of the rumoured Apple iPad to my fellow geek friends. I was wrong. I had inadvertently predicted something like the Microsoft Surface Tablet that came out 3 years later and not unlike the iPad Pro: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Surface ; http://www.apple.com/au/ipad/?afid=p238%7Cs4k61cIsS-dc_mtid_18707vxu38484_pcrid_86931463222_&cid=aos-au-kwg-ipad-slid-
[7] http://www.asymco.com/2010/11/15/law-of-conservation-of-modularity/
[8] Bafang is one of the leading electric motor OEM’s. Costing only AU$200-400 in ‘kit form’ you will frequently see their motors repackaged under the well-known Western bicycle brands: http://www.szbaf.com
[9] http://theconversation.com/affordable-batteries-for-green-energy-are-closer-than-we-think-28772
[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigafactory_1
[11] Apple has a long history of making design decisions such as this, e.g. no ability to add additional slot-in memory for their idevices, incompatibility with Flash, few ports for the laptops, only one mouse button etc etc.
Tagged: Apple, Apple Car
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1181
|
__label__cc
| 0.649649
| 0.350351
|
@repkenmarchant Official Bio Official Website
Kenny Marchant
Kenny Ewell Marchant, a Republican from Texas, is the member of the United States House of Representatives from Texas-24 , a post he has held since 2005. The district includes several wealthy areas around Dallas and Fort Worth. Wikipedia*
Kenny Marchant has 162 videos in the C-SPAN Video Library; the first appearance was a 2005 House Proceeding. The year with the most videos was 2014 with 21 videos. The year with the highest average number of views per program was 2011 with an average of 7,725 views per program.
Appearances by Title:January 3, 2005 - Present U.S. Representative, R-TX 24th View Map116th Congress112th Congress Videos: 162
Hearing on Trade Policy
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer testified before the House Ways and Means Committee regarding the Trump…
Surprise Medical Bills
Medical experts and health care trade association leaders testified at a hearing on efforts to protect patients from…
Paid Family and Medical Leave
The House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing to examine paid family and medical leave. While members from both parties…
Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Request
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on President Trump’s fiscal 2020 budget…
National Infrastructure Needs
The House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing to consider the nation’s infrastructure needs. In panel one, the committee…
U.S.-China Trade Relations
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer updated members of the House Ways and Means Committee on ongoing U.S.-China trade…
Filter By All Event Types House Proceeding - 86 House Committee - 73 Joint Committee - 2 Congressional News Conference - 1
116th Congress (2019 - 2020) 115th Congress (2017 - 2018) 114th Congress (2015 - 2016) 113th Congress (2013 - 2014) 112th Congress (2011 - 2012) 111th Congress (2009 - 2010) 110th Congress (2007 - 2008) 109th Congress (2005 - 2006)
114th Congress 113th Congress 112th Congress 111th Congress 110th Congress 109th Congress
* The first paragraph of this page uses material from the Wikipedia article 'Kenny Marchant', which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. Footnotes and parentheticals have been removed.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1182
|
__label__wiki
| 0.69708
| 0.69708
|
Official Bio
Roscoe Bartlett
Roscoe Gardner Bartlett is a former U.S. Representative for MD-6, serving from 1993 to 2013. He is a member of the Republican Party and was a member of the Tea Party Caucus. Wikipedia*
Roscoe Bartlett has 571 videos in the C-SPAN Video Library; the first appearance was a 1992 Roundtable. The year with the most videos was 1995 with 52 videos. The year with the highest average number of views per program was 2010 with an average of 2,825 views per program. Most appearances with Chris Smith (12), Nellie Gray (10), Todd Tiahrt (10). Most common tags: Abortion, Energy Policy, Roe v. Wade.
Appearances by Title:
U.S. Representative, R-MD 6th View Map112th Congress107th Congress January 3, 1993 - January 3, 2013 Videos: 571
At about 12:30 p.m., the House began debate on the rule for the defense authorization conference report. At about 1:30 p.m,…
The U.S. House of Representatives convened for a legislative session.
Maryland 6th Congressional District Debate
Candidates for Maryland’s 6th Congressional District Representative Roscoe Bartlett (R), and challengers John Delaney (D)…
Defense Plans for Sequestration
Officials testified about automatic budget cuts scheduled for January 2013, known as sequestration. They focused on planning…
F-22 Raptor Oxygen Problems
Witnesses testified on the problem of pilots becoming dizzy from oxygen deprivation while flying the Air Force supersonic F-22…
Possible Defense Spending Cuts
Jeffrey Zients and Ashton Carter testified on the effects of automatic budget cuts on Defense Department and other…
Filter By All Event Types House Proceeding - 432 House Committee - 86 Congressional News Conference - 14 Rally - 10 Forum - 7 House Highlight - 6 Call-In - 4 Senate Committee - 3 Ceremony - 2 Speech - 2 Roundtable - 1 Joint Committee - 1 Debate - 1 Meeting - 1 Public Hearing - 1
Historical Member of Congress Record
112th Congress (2011 - 2012) 111th Congress (2009 - 2010) 110th Congress (2007 - 2008) 109th Congress (2005 - 2006) 108th Congress (2003 - 2004) 107th Congress (2001 - 2002) 106th Congress (1999 - 2000) 105th Congress (1997 - 1998) 104th Congress (1995 - 1996) 103rd Congress (1993 - 1994)
Former District Map Former Ideology Rankings
112th Congress 111th Congress 110th Congress 109th Congress 108th Congress 107th Congress 106th Congress 105th Congress 104th Congress 103rd Congress
* The first paragraph of this page uses material from the Wikipedia article 'Roscoe Bartlett', which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. Footnotes and parentheticals have been removed.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1184
|
__label__wiki
| 0.789368
| 0.789368
|
In-car wi-fi should be regulated to prevent...
In-car wi-fi should be regulated to prevent accidents - campaigners
Monday, December 1st 2014 by Ellen Branagh
Road safety campaigners have called for careful monitoring and regulation of in-car wi-fi technology to make sure it doesn’t cause accidents.
The comments come after EE launched its latest in-car wi-fi device, the Buzzard 2, which aims to bring connectivity without needing a built-in solution.
The device, available to businesses and consumers on a range of pay-as-you-go and monthly plans, can plug directly into the dashboard’s 12v connection without needing an adapter, while an extra USB socket allows other devices to be connected to it and charged.
But safety groups Brake and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) urged the government to carefully monitor technology that could compromise safety.
James McLoughlin, spokesperson for Brake, the road safety charity, said: “Last year, somebody was killed or seriously injured on average every three days by a driver distracted by their mobile phone.
“Driving is one of the most complicated and risky tasks many of us do on a regular basis, and it requires our full concentration to drive safely.
“At a time when people are still needlessly killed and injured because of selfish multi-tasking drivers, the government would need to think seriously about how in-car wifi technology could be regulated to ensure it doesn’t create further distractions for drivers.”
Nick Lloyd, road safety manager for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), said: “RoSPA is concerned that technology in cars must be carefully used to improve road safety rather than as an aid to comfort or quicker communication.
“For example, research by TRL (Transport Research Laboratory) has shown that using a hands-free mobile phone is a driver distraction which affects a driver’s reaction time and observation skills.
“Technological advancement needs to be carefully monitored so that safety is not compromised.”
Last month the groups voiced concerns that new technology, which is helping people do more with their phones while driving, could be contributing to a hike in accidents involving people using their phones at the wheel.
Figures from the Department for Transport showed that the number of accidents where a mobile phone was recorded as a contributory factor have risen by a total of 38% since 2005, with a 12% rise between 2012 and 2013 last year.
An EE spokesperson said: “As set out in the accompanying literature, and in our marketing, in-car WiFi is designed for use by passengers and should only be used in ways that comply with road safety law.”
Cable.co.uk approached the Department for Transport for comment but it was unable to provide one before publication.
Police punish 40% fewer drivers for using mobile phones at the wheel
Prohibitive mobile network operators need more regulation - Phone Co-Op
Parenting - not parental controls - will ensure smartphone safety
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1185
|
__label__cc
| 0.747131
| 0.252869
|
OPINION: New administration should end BLM’s stalling of Cadiz water project San Bernardino Sun
10 Jan OPINION: New administration should end BLM’s stalling of Cadiz water project San Bernardino Sun
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/assertions-740465-taking-free.html
By ROCCO DAVIS / Contributing writer
There’s a new threat to California’s water supply and it’s not drought — it’s the phenomena of fake news and fact-free assertions taking aim at the Cadiz water project.
In communications throughout the state, those fighting this project have painted it as being on federal land, harmful to national parks, and being approved by pressure, circumventing routine review processes. Shame on them. Facts matter and misleading state residents, the news media and regulators is indefensible.
The project is not on federal land; it is located entirely on private land. It will have no impact on national parks. The project was approved through the rigorous, multi-level process used for every similar project in recent history. And while opponents attempt to portray the Cadiz Water Project as only in corporate interests, it is in fact a public-private partnership that could create 3,000 family-supporting jobs, and has been applauded by unions, workers, consumers and groundwater experts. These facts are indisputable and no amount of obfuscation can change them.
Here are more facts about the project. It will serve 400,000 people a year by capturing and conserving water currently lost to evaporation. The project was conceived and designed in coordination with public agencies whose mission is conservation and protecting the environment. The project was approved by these agencies and validated by the court system. Among those who had a role is San Bernardino County, recently saluted as the most knowledgeable desert groundwater authority, and which will enforce an extensive Cadiz management plan. And the California Court of Appeals has denied all challenges of the project’s environmental review, upholding permits.
Opponents know these facts and are distorting what is currently delaying approval. It is not the approval process, which was followed to the letter of the law, but rather their own high-pressure attack on one government agency — the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
BLM has a say because Cadiz will be built largely on railroad right-of-ways. This is smart and conservation-minded use of land that will also benefit rail transportation by providing superior firefighting capabilities in the event of a fire emergency.
BLM has authority to consider railroad right-of-way uses and under high pressure, the agency reversed its policy, saying the project’s benefits to the railroad are not good enough — blocking the project, despite its extensive review and approval. In doing so, the BLM denied more than 100 years of precedent, putting Cadiz at risk as well as more than 3,500 instances of rail rights-of-way being used across the West.
With their BLM smokescreen, opponents found a way, at least temporarily, to block this major water resources project. They would be more honest if they argued what may be their true position: that only conservation, not additional water resources are needed; that perhaps we should all dig our own wells; or that millions of Californians should be forced closer to sources of fresh water rather than bringing water to them.
We hope the incoming federal administration quickly reverses the BLM so this important project can move forward this year. And until those opposing it ditch their fake news and fact-free assertions, they should not be granted any credibility in water resources policy or debate.
Rocco Davis is vice president and Pacific Southwest regional manager for LIUNA, the Laborers’ International Union of North America, representing 70,000 workers predominantly in the construction industry.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1186
|
__label__wiki
| 0.604404
| 0.604404
|
Larry and Rosa Anzhel -- Married twice in a lifetime
БългарскиБългарски / DeutschБългарски / English
Download Video (Size: 41.1 MB) Direct Link
Download Video (Size: 82.07 MB) Direct Link
After Larry Anzhel's father died in 1932, the family moved from Yambol to the Bulgarian capital, Sofia. There Larry met Rosa Varsano. In 1939 he asked her "do you want to be my commrade?" Thus began a lifelong relationship. Shortly thereafter Larry and Rosa were sent to Vratsa for forced labor. It was during their internment that they were married.
Together they lived through a changing Bulgaria, witnessing the end of the war, the Communist regime, and the Fall of the Soviet Union. Having gone through so much together, they decided for their 60th anniversary to get married again!
HISTORY OF BULGARIA
JEWISH LIFE IN BULGARIA
Until 1878, Bulgaria was part of the Ottoman Empire. Through its long history, the Empire controlled Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Egypt, Hungary, Macedonia, Romania, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, as well as parts of Arabia and large amounts of the North African coast. Find a brief summary of Ottoman history here, or explore this site from the University of Michigan's Turkish Studies Department for more information.
As part of the Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria fought with Germany and Italy in the First World War. Learn more about Bulgaria's involvement in the war here.
Between the wars, Bulgaria's political scene was turbulent, marked by coups, strikes, and takeovers. On the eve of the Second World War, Bulgaria was operating under a royal-military dictatorship led by Tsar Boris III.
Larry and Rosa live in Sofia. There have been Jewish communities in Sofia since Roman times, augmented over the centuries by Jews from Hungary, Bavaria, Spain, Germany, Russia, Romania, and Galicia. Find here a history of Jewish life in Sofia, or read this account from the Foundation for the Advancement of Sephardic Studies and Culture.
The Jewish community of Bulgaria can trace its history back to the first century CE, and today the Jewish population of Bulgaria is approximately 2,000 people. The Jewish Virtual Library provides more information on the Jewish history in Bulgaria.
Larry and Rosa met at a youth group organised by Beit Am. Explore Centropa's collection of photographs depicting youth group activities in Bulgaria.
Much of Bulgaria's Jewish population are Sephardic, and before the 1940s Ladino was spoken widely.
Compared to other countries, there was less anti-Semitic sentiment felt in Bulgaria before the Second World War, as Jews were an integral part of Bulgarian society. This excerpt from Manus Midlarsky´s book: "The Killing Trap. Genocide in the 20th Century," touches upon the exceptional fate of Bulgarian Jewry.
Bulgaria is often said to have a unique lack of normalised anti-Semitism in its culture. However after the Second World War, Bulgaria's communist leaders often tried to deny the existence of minority groups by manipulating or suppressing census data or by forcibly assimilating groups they labelled "undesirable". After the fall of the communist regime in 1989, minoritiy communities could enjoy greater freedom of expression. Flip through the PDF of this book to learn abour the suppression of minorities under Bulgarian communism (available in chapter titled "Ethnographic Characteristics").
The Joint Distribution Committee operated in Bulgaria today, assisting Jews living in poverty. Read more about their work in Bulgaria here.
Bulgaria was part of the Axis Alliance during the Second World War, during which time it occupied areas of Greek Thrace, Macedonia, and Serbia. Learn more about Bulgaria's involvement in the war here. This page contains a summary of the Axis Alliance powers, detailing their participation in the war and overviews of their surrenders.
After 1940, Jews in Bulgaria were made to wear yellow-star badges, part of the descriminatory measures imposed in countries with anti-Semitic legislation during the war. These restrictions also excluded Jews from public service, limited the places that Jews could live, and restricted the occupations that Jews could have. The Law for the Protection of the Nation is one of the most notable examples.
Larry was in a Bulgarian forced labor brigade, and recalls witnessing a train passing through Bulgaria filled with Jews from Thracian Greece. Unlike other Axis countries, Bulgaria's Jewish population was persecuted, but not deported to killing centres. Dimitar Peshev, the Vice President of Sbranie (Bulgaria's parliment) ensured this. However, the Bulgarian government did deport Jews from the two countries they occupied during the Second World War: Macedonia (which had been one of the Yugoslav republics) and the Greek province of Thrace. Anti-Semitic activity in Bulgarian-occupied territories was brutal. Most of Macedonia's Jewish population was deported and killed. View footage of Macedonian Jews boarding trains that would take them to Treblinka concentration camp in Poland here.
Explore Centropa's collection of photographs of Bulgarian forced labour.
After the war, the People's Republic of Bulgaria was established. Over forty years of communism, Bulgaria had three presidents. Georgi Dimitrov is known for eluding Nazi persecution for the 1933 Reichstag fire. He led between 1945 and 1950. He was followed by Vâlko Chervenkov, who eagerly consolidated Stalinist-style communism between 1950 and 1956. Todor Zhivkov, the longest-serving leder of any of the Soviet countries, was in control between 1956 and 1989. He was known for agricultural collectivisation and suprressing internal dissent.
In 1989, a series of revolutions took place throughout the Soviet Union, overthrowing communist states. Find a broad overview of the 1989 revolutions here, and learn about the end of communism in Bulgaria on this page.
Learn about the current Jewish community in Bulgaria here.
Film Script
for teachers and students who would like to read the script.
Leon Yako Anzhel (English)
Roza Anzhel (English)
El Otro Camino: 1492
The History of Bulgarian Jewry during the Holocaust
Leontina Arditi -- An Actress Looks Back
Matilda Albuhaire -- A Sephardic Family Story
Nissim Kohen
Lora Melamed
Matilda Levi
Lilia Levi
Bitoush Behar
"20th Century Europe, as seen from Palestine-Israel"
Zweimal im Leben verheiratet - Interaktives Filmskript
Married twice in a lifetime - Interactive Film Script
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1187
|
__label__wiki
| 0.712583
| 0.712583
|
Is Hearthstone Really “More Random” than Magic?By Frank Lepore // 2 Oct, 2017
About a month ago, I recorded a YouTube video about the RNG (random number generator) in games Magic vs. Hearthstone. Digital card games get a lot of heat for depending on RNG elements that take away from the strategy of the game. I’m not going to argue that this isn’t the case—digital card games do have some cards that depend on RNG, which can leave you at the mercy of their interactions. But that’s not the end of the story.
I played a string of such games on Magic Online following the release of Ixalan. They were all streamed, and with chat as my witness, they were some of the most consecutively horrendous Limited games I’ve experienced. That isn’t to say I lost because of things like my opponent topdecking a good card when they needed it, or not drafting enough removal—these were back-to-back-to-back games where I would never draw more than 2 or 3 lands, or I would consistently draw 9 to 13 lands with less than half as many spells.
RNG is an inherent part of any game where you’re drawing cards from a randomized deck, and typically the cards themselves add to that randomness. My issue with the “digital card game vs. Magic RNG” discussion it that people tend to dismiss the fact that individual games like this do exist in Magic—that getting mana-screwed or mana-flooded, leaving you unable to actually play the game in any meaningful way, is common.
I would go on to assert that the explore mechanic in Ixalan is as hot an RNG mess as we will likely see from Magic. That isn’t a bad thing. Sometimes you need a 3/3 to block their 3-toughness creature. Sometimes you desperately need to hit a land drop. Sometimes you get neither of the things you need. This is similar to the exact thing people complain about when it comes to Hearthstone, when you have to deal with a spell that deals random damage or destroys random minions, and you don’t get the desired result. The biggest problem with this is that it leaves you unable to sufficiently plan your next move when you don’t know what the outcome will be. But we’re strategy players. We like to plan ahead. We like to attribute our wins to our own skill and not a roll of the die. But every time we sit down to play a game of Magic, we hope to draw an adequate mix of lands and spells.
One of the reasons Magic can get away with this is due to its best-of-three system, whereas most other competitors in the conversation are utilizing a single game. This leaves us all a little more forgiving about the times we lose a game to mana screw or flood, but ultimately win the match.
Magic Online recently implemented single-game match Leagues. I’m not sure how popular these have been, but judging from a few Twitter reactions, not terribly. Whether that’s because Magic players are purists and aren’t willing to sacrifice their sideboards, or because single-game matches are legitimately bad, I don’t know. It has also been mentioned that MTG Arena will have single-game functionality. Some people will enjoy this, and some people will not. Take this tweet from my friend Franky Richards, for example.
It seems like Arena will certainly have it hearing them talk about it. Dumbed down mode for hearthstone crowd.
— Franky Does Magic (@FrankyMTG) September 27, 2017
The comment about Hearthstone is interesting. There’s a superiority Magic players seem to feel over competing games. While Magic is more complex than Hearthstone, I don’t believe that Hearthstone is lacking nearly the amount of strategy that Magic players like to claim. The two games just happen to have their complexity (and their RNG for that matter) in different areas.
I don’t think moving matches to single games in certain formats is the end of a sophistication that players may fear. I also don’t think it’s a great idea for all iterations of Magic. Having the opportunity to sideboard, and the ability to construct a sideboard, is a strategic outlet. Of course, when you compare sideboarded games of Magic to a single static game of the digital counterpart, the former is going to end up feeling miles deeper in strategy. This is why Hearthstone tournaments also utilize a best-of-three system.
But there’s another side to that coin. One of the best aspects of games like Hearthstone and Elder Scrolls: Legends is that they’re fast, portable, and competitive. I could play an entire, strategic, 10-minute game on a short train ride to work if I wanted to. Or in between classes. That convenience is worth something, and all of these factors lead to an even larger conclusion.
I’m prone to saltiness after losses. This is not only a trait I’ve tried to work on, but also something I’ve tried to dissect. Why do I get so upset at losses in Magic, but not so much in other games? I think the answer is two-fold. I’ve mentioned both of these theories in one place or another, but for the sake of this article, they bear repeating.
1) Games of Magic are long. I could likely play four games of Hearthstone in the time it takes to play one match of Magic. That’s four separate outcomes. You have game 1, then some sideboarding, then game 2, then some more sideboarding, then finally game 3. Sometimes we’re talking over 50 minutes for a single match with one verdict. You’re investing an hour of your time for a single result: a W or an L. When it ends up being a loss after sinking that amount of time into a single round, it’s frustrating. Especially if you were up a game at some point, especially if you had to mulligan multiple times, especially if you had a great first and second game, only to miss multiple lands drops in an anticlimactic game 3, etc. Investing more time means a more powerful emotional reaction.
2) Mana screw and mana flood. These are some of the biggest representations of RNG possible, but we overlook them because they’re part of a resource system that is the cornerstone of Magic. But we have to be real. Sometimes we sit down across the table from an opponent to play Magic, and we simply don’t get to play Magic. That’s rough, and not really an issue you find in more modern game systems. In other titles, while I may draw my cards in the wrong order (something that’s also possible in Magic), I will never lack a steady stream of resources to cast those cards. That’s a huge perk.
I think one of the saving graces of this issue is that both players have to deal with it equally. When one player draws 52% lands and 48% spells and the other draws 43% lands and 57% spells, that’s likely close enough that the result of the game won’t be based on these percentages. So we have a sizable “Goldilocks zone,” and the equality of the issue working for us here in every game.
Sure, we can call mana screw and mana flood features rather than bugs, as Mark Rosewater has done over time, remarking that it’s one appealing way new players can win against even the most grizzled pros. But I don’t know if that’s true. I also don’t think mana issues can be brushed off by proclaiming that they’re a consequence of poor deckbuilding, or that mulliganing better is the solution. While better players may be affected by it less frequently, not drawing enough lands or drawing too many lands and leaving you unable to interact has arguably been the largest problem in the history of Magic and no amount of deck building prowess will eliminate it. This is why cycling is one of the most popular mechanics in the game. This is why the new scry rule was implemented. These help you remain in games you would otherwise fall behind in.
Don’t get me wrong, Magic is one of the best games ever created and one that I’ve been involved with professionally for nearly eight years now. In fact, we deal with things like mana issues because we love the game that much. It’s that good, and the positives far outweigh the negatives. But in the end, Magic may have as much RNG as the next game, and the instances of it are more extreme than simply targeting the wrong creature. Still, perhaps your experience differs. I’m super interested to hear what you guys think, so be sure and let me know in the comments!
Tags:RNG
My Core Set 2020 Limited Bucket List
Wrenn and Six is Revolutionizing Legacy
Five Modern Decks to Watch Heading Into Mythic Championship IV
Frank Lepore
Frank Lepore has played Magic for over 20 years, in which time he has made a name for himself as a proponent of unconventional decks. He has created popular columns such as The Leporatory, The Lepore Report, and Modern Monday. In addition to a Grand Prix Top 8 and being a member of the 2014 Magic Community Cup, he added a Pro Tour Top 8 to his resume at his very first Pro Tour, Oath of the Gatewatch.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1189
|
__label__wiki
| 0.860594
| 0.860594
|
New Residents’ Network to serve HDB, private estate dwellers
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at an event held to celebrate the anniversaries of RCs and NCs.
By Jalelah Abu Baker @JalelahCNA
20 Jul 2018 09:22PM (Updated: 21 Jul 2018 11:02AM )
SINGAPORE: New Housing Board flats and private developments will be served by one Residents' Network (RN), instead of having separate Residents' Committees (RCs) and Neighbourhood Committees (NCs) for HDB and private estate dwellers, respectively.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced this on Friday (Jul 20) at an event held at the Singapore Expo to celebrate the 40th anniversary of RCs and 20th anniversary of NCs. Both committees are part of the grassroots network of the People’s Association (PA).
“This way, new flats and private developments can come under one RN, rather than one RC and a separate NC,” he said.
Explaining the idea behind having one combined entity, Mr Lee, who is also the PA chairman, said that “quite a few” RC and NC leaders suggested removing the distinction between the committees. RCs and NCs are no longer as separate or distinct as they used to be, he said.
“This will encourage residents from public and private estates to mix more freely," he said.
Mr Lee said that eight in 10 NCs have a neighbouring RC, because of private and public housing developments that were deliberately planned near each other.
EXISTING RCs AND NCs CAN DECIDE WHAT TO DO
Existing RCs and NCs can decide whether they want to rename themselves as RNs, or re-organise and merge into a single entity, said Mr Lee.
He acknowledged that many RCs and NCs have a long history, heritage and identity which they might want to preserve, and existing networks and bonds within their communities that are precious, which he said should be maintained.
"Nonetheless, I encourage you to look for new ways to work more closely and collaborate with neighbouring RCs and NCs. Perhaps one day, you will feel less of a need to have separate groups, and be more comfortable and confident with one another to decide to merge," he said.
During engagement sessions organised by the PA Headquarters with RC and NC leaders, one idea that was “intensively discussed” was how these committees can work more closely with one another, he said.
He added that working closer together can also help the committees pool resources and reach out to people more effectively.
FEWER YOUNG FAMILIES AND CHILDREN IN RC AND NC EVENTS
RCs and NCs have to understand their residents well, and organise themselves and their activities to meet their needs and interests, in order to continue being successful, Mr Lee said, drawing particular attention to young residents.
“Today, fewer young families and children participate in RC and NC events. They have more options for entertainment,” he said.
He noted that some traditional RC and NC activities may no longer be as attractive to this group, as younger people tend to spend more time at home, playing computer games or surfing social media, instead of being out with neighbours.
“We have to make a special effort to reach out to them, to get young people to join RCs and NCs, to organise activities that they find interesting, and also by using social media ourselves,” he said.
He suggested that RCs and NCs can also look out for opportunities to work with other groups that are not part of the grassroots network, such as other interest groups, clans, youth organisations, and religious bodies.
He also reminded grassroots leaders who are volunteers that they must always conduct themselves properly, “never pushing your weight around, or taking improper advantage of your position”, not just during official functions, but also in everyday situations.
“As grassroots leaders, people see you not only as private persons, but also as representing government and authority. So it is only natural that very high standards are expected, and these high standards must be adhered to,” he said.
Source: CNA/ja
Lee Hsien Loong
People's Association
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1190
|
__label__cc
| 0.572144
| 0.427856
|
Home › Knowledge Hub › Thought pieces › To change behaviour, you need to look beyond the obvious
To change behaviour, you need to look beyond the obvious
Imagine that an academic from Mars has decided to visit the UK on a field trip. The Martians, having grappled with issues partially caused by alien behaviour, are keen to learn about how human governments and charities go about influencing humans.
The Martian scholar walks the streets and scours the press to find recent examples of behaviour change campaigns in action. ‘Obesity is the second biggest preventable cause of cancer’. ‘We are all consuming too many calories’. ‘Chinese takeaways are too salty’.
‘Ah’ thinks the Martian. ‘Humans must make poor decisions solely based on inaccurate information. If they are correctly informed, they will change!’
The sheer volume of comms that attempt to spark behaviour change with facts alone suggests that there are plenty of humans who believe this too. After all, ignorance is the obvious explanation for why people might behave in ways that are unhealthy or unsafe. They must not know better, right?
Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. We may feel like we are rational agents in control of our own destinies, but we’re not. Humans are complicated, messy beings who react to social, environmental and biological influences. Believe me: I’ve been spending the last few years balancing my career in marketing & communications with studying for an MSc in Psychology.
If we want to make an impact, we need to go beyond just informing and start engaging with the complications of human behaviour. The good news is that you’re in the right place: the comms department is in a powerful position to tackle the barriers and promote the drivers that influence how we behave.
But given that these behaviours are so complicated, where should we start? Here are some suggestions:
Don’t target your audience; target your audience’s influencers
Staff working on Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign identified that Florida’s older voters were a key demographic. Instead of trying to convince them outright, they targeted young Obama supporters and asked them to have a conversation with their grandparents. This is a brilliant strategic move on two fronts: firstly, it’s much easier to get someone to do something that’s consistent with their own beliefs than it is to get someone to change their opinion outright. Secondly, who do you think is more likely to get an audience: an unknown politician or a loved one?
Who are the people who are most influential to your target audience?
Use the power of personal identity
Remember Sideways? It was a hit 2004 film about two friends on a wine-tasting holiday. A single line from this film, denouncing Merlot and the people who drink it, caused sales to temporarily plummet. Why? Because it was delivered by a character who claimed to know about wine, sending the clear message that no-one in the know drinks Merlot. Our choices reflect not just who we are, but how we want to be seen by others.
What are the social norms your organisation would benefit from forming? How can you appeal to people’s need to fit in and look good?
Bust a barrier
One of the campaigns I’m most proud to have worked on was Hands-only CPR by the BHF. It’s saved dozens, if not hundreds of lives. The idea first originated in the States, based on the insight that although people know that doing CPR saves lives, many are unwilling or feel unable to do it because of the mouth-to-mouth element.
If this had been handled like a typical obesity ad, the message would be ‘mouth-to-mouth saves lives, just do it’. Thankfully for all the people whose lives have been saved, it took a different approach. Instead, it promoted an alternative– hands-only CPR – and made it simple and memorable by pairing it with the tune of Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees. Plus, it was executed brilliantly by ad agency Grey, who recruited Vinnie Jones and directed the ad with perfect comic timing.
What’s stopping your target audience from doing what you want them to do?
These examples show that with a bit of well-applied insight, we can create smarter behaviour change campaigns. Let’s stop educating people about things they pretty much already know and start engaging with the realities of how we really think, feel and behave.
Kate delved further into this topic at our 2018 psychology of communications conference. To see the slides and access more resources from the day click here.
Image: The Great Schlep.
Category: Campaigning & public affairs
Tags: behaviour change communications, behavioural sciences, campaigning, charity communications
Kate Brennan-Rhodes, advertising and comms strategist,
Kate is a strategic planner who specialises in psychology and behaviour change. She's currently working towards her MSc in Psychology part-time while working agency-side in a senior role. Previously, she has worked at the BHF & JustGiving, and for agencies working with Public Health England and GSK.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1191
|
__label__wiki
| 0.601856
| 0.601856
|
Clements Theory
Share this tip:
Cadence Points
How to use different types of cadences
Cadences in music are broadly equivalent to the ends of lines of poetry, and different types of cadence provide different senses of "this is the end", or "but wait, there's more" to phrases of music.
More specifically, a cadence is just the final two chords in a phrase of music, and the different types of cadence ("perfect", "imperfect" and "plagal") are distinguished by which chords these are (tonic, dominant, etc).
To identify a cadence, therefore, you first need to be able to identify the two chords by reducing them to triads. In addition, it's essential to know the key of the music before being able to correctly name triads, and then the cadence.
We have looked at identifying chords and triads in a previous tip, so here's some advice on identifying cadences from triads. First of all, you must learn the three basic types of cadence:
Imperfect cadence: x- V
(anything-to-dominant, e.g. IV-V, ii-V, I-V; sounds like: "but wait, there's more!")
Plagal cadence: IV - I
(subdominant to tonic)
Perfect cadence: V - I
(dominant to tonic, sounds like: "this is the end.")
The Roman numerals in the list above refer to the degrees of the scale on which each triad is formed: for example, IV means a triad formed on the IVth (or 4th) degree of the scale, the subdominant. We can therefore see immediately why we need to know the key, otherwise we don't know to which scale we are referring!
Look at this cadence in four-part harmony:
You should be able to quickly reduce these two chords to two triads: F-A-C and C-E-G. These are major chords and they are both in root position. But what's the cadence?
If you don't know the key, you are in trouble: the triad C-E-G could be the tonic (I) in C major, in which case this is a plagal cadence (IV-I). But if the key is F major, then the triad F-A-C is the tonic, and this is an imperfect cadence (I-V).
If you have not been told the key, the surrounding music and the key signature should give you a clue. In this example, the key signature is that of C major (no sharps or flats, unlike F major which has one flat), and we can accurately describe the cadence as a plagal cadence in C major.
This example shows why the plagal cadence does not always provide a very strong sense of "this is the end" to a phrase: if the key is not obvious, the listener might not know whether this is a plagal cadence ending on the tonic (meaning: "this is the end") or an imperfect cadence ending on the dominant (which says, "but wait, there's more!").
A perfect cadence, on the other hand, clearly says "this is the end", because it cannot be interpreted as a cadence ending on V. Think of the ending to a big symphony: Beethoven, for example, usually finishes on a lengthy succession of perfect cadences. He's trying to tell you, very emphatically, "I've finished! It's the end! Really, it's the end! Time to go home! It's over! End of story! Finished!"
Look at this cadence:
You should be able to reduce these two chords to the triads D-F#-A and G-B-D. If the second chord were V, then the key would be C major and the F sharp in the first chord would be a very "wrong" note.
So can you answer this:
Q. What kind of cadence do you think this is? Perfect, imperfect, or plagal, and in which key?
Click to reveal the answer...
Answer: Perfect cadence, G major
The key signature has one sharp, so the key could be G major (or E minor). The chords match triads of V and I in G major, so it is a perfect cadence in the key of G major.
The next Clements Tip will be with you soon — keep an eye on your inbox!
Not a subscriber? Get your FREE 40-part email course here
Did you like this tip?
You'll find lots more on the Clements Theory website:
80 step-by-step study guides from the basics to Grade 5 and beyond
Revision questions to test your comprehension of each guide
Over 7000 practice questions organised by difficulty and topic
The Clements Q&A — rapid assistance from a music theory expert!
Track your progress with the clever Clements Theory tools: see instantly where you are improving and where you need to practice more
Clements Theory is perfect for anyone studying for Associated Board or Trinity College Theory of Music Exams (Grades 1 to 5), and for GCSE or A Level Music.
For a limited time only, we're offering all this with a 10% discount!
Simply use the discount code at the checkout:
TIPSOFFER
This offer is available for a limited period only — don't delay!
“I've finished my theory exam and passed with Distinction,
thanks so much for your help!! ”
— Carmen Guthrie
Clements Theory user and successful Grade 5 Theory candidate
“Thank You, I have passed my theory exam,
I found Clements Theory very helpful!”
— Stephanie Hunter
FREE reference guides:
Definitions of musical terms
email us: info@clementstheory.com
"Clements Theory" is a trading name of The Well-Tempered Listener Ltd, registered in England no. 06661749.
Terms of Service | Privacy and cookies policy
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1194
|
__label__cc
| 0.509211
| 0.490789
|
Rectory
Revision as of 22:07, 27 February 2014 by Avrilsalmon (talk | contribs) (→Campaign to save The Rectory)
Parish Magazine April 1930
The Rectory tenanted by 3 families
The Old Rectory, originally of course called The Rectory, was, for many years just cottages. The Annesleys, Rectors for many years, lived at The Manor, and the Rev Pippet had a house built for himself and his family at Red Hill, so, for all that time, the black timbered house with white wattle and daub near the Church, was occupied by villagers.
Mr. and Mrs. Betteridge lived in two rooms. Their front door faced the Churchyard and opened straight into their living room. To get to their bedroom and storage room upstairs, they used the main staircase; the rest of the house being bolted off. The delightful sloping back-bedroom was used by them for storing apples, and below this was the room where Mrs. Betteridge salted the pig.
Mr. Betteridge had great difficulty in walking towards the end of his life, and for many years beforehand had trouble with his legs, so all the work was left to his wife. She was a marvellous lady, always ready to sell the best of her eggs to anyone who came to the door, Eggs were bought from The Rectory and milk bought from The Hollies across the road, so it was a very busy part of the village at one time.
Mrs. Betteridge wore clogs (and she was one of the last to wear the white bonnet so common years earlier), and the echo of her clogs on the stone-flagged floor could be heard the moment you knocked at her front door. She kept poultry (which she killed and dressed herself), ducks and pigs. The ducks filled the orchard and would always drift down to the river. Regularly at sundown, Mrs. Betteridge would clip clop down to the river calling, “Come on! Dil! Dil! Dil!”, and would be answered by several hundred “quacks” from all directions, and most of the ducks answering didn’t even belong to her! They just liked the sound of her voice coming to them across the water.
Mr. Betteridge, when his legs would permit him, was a bellringer and regularly every New Year’s Eve after ringing the New Year in, would invite the other four bellringers back to his home for a good supper of rabbit pie, cooked specially for the bellringers by Mrs. Betteridge. The rabbits were supplied by Nipper Livey (real name Enoch) from Cold Comfort Farm, and what a delicious spread it was! The only time he could not join his fellow ringers and friends, was on Boxing Day. This was the day the ringers sang more than rang. Unfortunately for Mr. Betteridge, they walked too – round to all the farms, singing. However, Mrs. Betteridge would invite them all in when darkness came and the walk finished. Then, with stomachs full of rabbit pie (again!) he would join them ringing a peal. Mrs. Betteridge would also give them warm cider with a little ginger heated on her stove in her enamel saucepan.
Very sadly Mrs. Betteridge did not have a pleasant ending to her life. She had moved to No 13 to make way for the new Rector, and fell down the stairs one morning. Harold Mole found her late afternoon. He opened her back door to get her milk jug (he was delivering milk at the time), and found her lying at the foot of the stairs unconscious. She had been there many hours, and never recovered.
Mr. and Mrs. Franklin lived in the middle section of The Rectory. The only thing that can be remembered of Mrs. Franklin was her taking the baby out for an airing in his pram.
Puffy Wheeler (baptised Charles) and his wife lived in the kitchen end of The Rectory. He would come to the door puffing and blowing through his whiskers. I think it is he I have to thank for my son’s expression on referring to the death of anyone as “kick the bucket”! Evidently, Puffy Wheeler shouted this to my father-in-law, Len Salmon, every time he saw him with his rabbits when Puffy was out delivering the dough cakes and flour. “That rabbit will kick the bucket before long”, he would shout. My father-in-law used the expression in front of James – hence the consequences. Puffy worked as delivery boy for the other Mill on the main road.
Mrs. Rees-Mogg was the Patron of the Church and it was she and not Gloucester who decided that Canon Brookes would be an ideal Rector. The Rev Pippet having died, his widow and daughter stayed on in the house he had built. Therefore Canon Brooks had nowhere to live except The Rectory, and the tenants had to leave, Mrs. Rees-Mogg finding cottages for them. She then paid for new wooden and tiled floors to be put over the stone flags. Eventually, in 1927, Canon Brookes moved in with his wife and 10 year old twin sons.
Aerial view of the village, 1938
As well as looking after the spiritual needs of Clifford, he also looked after Atherstone, and I should think he was the only Vicar to work under two Bishops – Coventry and Gloucester! Services at Atherstone I think were on a Sunday afternoon and in the fine weather he cycled across the fields to take the services. As well as that afternoon service, he had the usual services at Clifford, plus visiting the village school regularly every week to take services there. Canon Brookes was a small man with a nasal tone to his voice, but he was a brilliant speaker.
Canon Brookes
He had been Canon of a large Church and congregation, but on developing heart trouble, was advised to seek a smaller parish. Talk of his sermons spread, and soon a Stratford Blue double-decker bus arranged by the Manager of the Company, was booked every Sunday evening to bring people from Stratford to the service. To get a good seat, people needed to arrive half-an-hour before the service! Twice, morning service on the BBC was broadcast from our Church with Canon Brooks as preacher.
He retired in 1954 and Rectors after that had a lot to live up to. Rev Brown who came after him, died very suddenly – almost at his post. He had attended a meeting at Atherstone, I was told, to discuss its future association with Clifford, and died on returning home. However, when the Rev Lake arrived on the scene, he made it quite obvious he did not like the idea of serving two Bishops. The Bishop of Coventry tried to persuade him to stay with Atherstone but it seems he wasn’t successful.
The Rev. Lake was a jolly man with a great sense of humour. He had been prisoner of war and in one of his sermons, gave a demonstration of one of his activities while in prison. He mimed opening a prison window, then roared out in a melodious but extremely loud singing voice, the chorus “Let the blessed sunshine in; let the blessed sunshine in; open wide the windows, open wide the door. Let the blessed sunshine in” He called on Betty Harris one day while she was having a bath. Not knowing who the caller was, Betty shouted out where she was, knowing that with the bathroom next to the front door, she would be heard clearly. The Rev. Lake’s reply was, “Would you like me to come and scrub your back?”!
Canon. Patterson came next, and found himself serving Clifford and Marston Sicca. (Incidentally, from old Parish Records, I have found out that Clifford applied to Marston Sicca District Council for anything to do with roads, hedges, ditches.).
Canon Patterson was a bachelor needing a housekeeper. The elderly housekeeper he brought with him, became so elderly she could no longer do the work required. As no other housekeeper turned up to take her place, Rev. Patterson had to leave.
The Rev David Leonard-Williams was the next Rector to live at The Rectory with his energetic wife and two young lads, plus - living along the village street - his delightful and prayerful mother-in-law.
Up until they arrived, the Sunday School was always held in the Church vestry on a Sunday afternoon, though when Rev Pippet had been the Priest in Charge, the children met at Red Hill House.. Now, with a young family, the Leonard-Williams encouraged the children to meet on a Sunday morning in one of the big rooms at the Rectory.
Rev. Leonard-Williams had a very dry wit. “Rector”, whispered one of the choir boys to him in the choir vestry. “Look! This wooden cupboard has woodworm in it.” Rev Leonard-Williams (who had been an architect before taking up Holy Orders) looked over his glasses at the offending cupboard. “Then,” he said, “you had better keep your head away from it!”
The villagers were delighted when, after Rev Leonard-Williams left, they found out that Canon Hawkins was coming as Rector. They had never met him, or heard his preaching, and as most of his preaching had taken place in Nigeria, this wasn’t surprising. The person they did know well, was his wife. They had known her and her twin sister since the girls were 10, when they came to play with their twin cousins in The Rectory – for Mrs. Hawkins and Miss Talbot, her sister, were the nieces of Canon Brooks!
Canon Hawkins was a very shy and gentle man who had witnessed great suffering during the civil war in Nigeria, both those in grief over the loss of loved ones, and those who were going through the trauma of killing a fellow human-being. His shyness made him put a great effort into his work. He visited everyone who was ill – even those who were suffering from nothing more than a common cold! He took the childrens’ services, teaching them new songs by singing them unaccompanied. One time he surprised the choir when our organist became ill one Sunday and there was no time to find a replacement. After announcing each hymn, he came into the choir pews and with an, “Excuse me” to the choir, climbed over the back of the choir pew onto the organ seat, switched the organ on and played the hymn,. Once the hymn finished, he switched off the organ, climbed back over the seat and back to his seat to take the next part of the service, until he announced the next hymn. Mrs. Hawkins and Miss Talbot conducted the Sunday School with Miss Baker the village headmistress. They organized a yearly bonfire night with hot soup and jacket potatoes. The Rectory was constantly open to everyone and anyone – every room in fact – to such an extent we all felt The Rectory was our home too. The Sunday School was held there, one class being in their dining room, another in their living room, another in the Rectory’s study and teenagers in their kitchen where delicious smells would be coming from their Rayburn. The garden was a joy to be seen, for both Mrs Hawkins and Miss Talbot were very keen gardeners. The Mothers Union held their meetings in their living room.
Mothers Union 1981
May dancing took place on their front lawn and every Monday evening, the children came for “Rectory Games” in the paddock and orchard, accompanied by much shouting from the boys and a few odd screams of excitement from the girls. During winter and spring, the children met in the Rector’s study for drama, mostly on Mission Work. We missed the Hawkins when they left for retirement
Children's goodbye to the Hawkins
– and we missed The Rectory too, for Gloucester Diocese had decided the up-keep of The Rectory was too high. Also, we had lost our connection with Marston Sicca and were now joined with Welford. Welford was the larger village; therefore the Rector from now onwards would live at Welford. Gloucester Diocese sold The Rectory to its present owner.
Campaign to save The Rectory
From Coventry Evening Telegraph Saturday 6th October 1979
Villagers Petition Bishop to save Rectory
Residents in a tiny South Warwickshire village are calling on a Bishop to reconsider the closing of their 16th Century Rectory.
The Gloucester Diocesan Pastoral Committee plan to close the picturesque Elizabethan Rectory next to St. Helen's Church at Clifford Chambers, and to move the Rector to Welford-on-Avon where he would serve Welford, Weston and Clifford. Chambers
“We have lost our shop, our post office and our village school – this was just the final straw”, said mother of three Mrs. Avril Salmon, who organized a 250-name petition protesting at the move.
The Committee say that the Rector, the Rev. David Hawkins – or his successor when Mr. Hawkins retires in two years' time – should be based in Welford because it is the most densely populated of the three villages.
But Mrs. Salmon says that the Rectory is used as a social gathering point for numerous local organisations and they fear that if it is closed, the village's Sunday School for one might be unable to meet.
The petition signed by nearly every member of the Parish, has been presented to the Bishop of Tewkesbury, the Rt. Rev Robert Deakin, who is chairman of the Pastoral Committee.
The petition describes the Rectory as the focal point of village life and says that it “contributes to a feeling of unity and concern for others which makes Clifford Chambers such a pleasant place to live in.”
Villagers are also worried that the Rectory could be sold to some-one with no interest in the village, or even turned into a hotel or tea shop.
Mrs. Salmon said, “We didn't put up a fight when the shop,school or the post office closed, but this time I was determined not to sit on my backside.”
Retrieved from "https://www.clifford-chambers.co.uk/index.php?title=Rectory&oldid=431"
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1195
|
__label__cc
| 0.648261
| 0.351739
|
Picodon is a goats-milk cheese made in the region around the Rhône river in southern France. The name means "spicy" in occitan language.
The cheese itself comes in a number of varieties, each small, flat and circular in shape varying from speckled white to golden in colour. Between 5 and 8 centimetres in diameter and between 1.8 and 2.5 centimetres in height, they range from around 40 to 100 grams. The pâte of the cheese is spicy and unusually dry, whilst retaining a smooth, fine texture.
Whilst young the cheese has a soft white rind and has a gentle, fresh taste. If aged for longer, the cheese can lose half of its weight resulting in a golden rind with a much harder centre and a more concentrated flavour.
Picodon is manufactured in a number of varieties, each conforming to the AOC regulations. These include:
Picodon de l'Ardèche - (40-60g) the most common variety, with noticeable acidity.
Picodon de Crest - (60g) made with the highest quality milk giving a stronger flavour.
Picodon du Dauphiné - generally sold well matured.
Picodon de Dieulefit - (40-90g) sold in both young and mature varieties.
Picodon de la Drôme - (45g) low acidity, with both salty and sweet flavours.
Picodon à l'huile d'olive - marinated in bay and olive oil.
The lower valley of the Rhône is mostly too dry for the production of wine, but ideal for goats to feast on the sparse grass and hardy bushes that are scattered along the hillsides.
Picodon is made from milk with only a small quantity of rennet added before being poured into small moulds dotted with tiny holes. Lactic protein, frozen curd, and concentrated or powdered milk are all prohibited by regulation. The cheese is twice salted using fine, dry salt. The cheese is left to dry for at least fourteen days, although four weeks is more common.
Cheeses labelled with affinage méthode Dieulefit (after the commune of Dieulefit) indicates that the affinage included hand-washing the surface of the cheese with water, following which the cheese is left to mature in covered earthenware jars for at least a month.
Production is fermier, artisanal, and industriel, and the final product is a minimum of 45% fat. Picodon is manufactured throughout the year, although fermier production only occurs between spring and autumn. In total 584 tons were produced in 2005.
Manufacture primarily takes place in the departments of Ardèche and Drôme, though regulations also permit the canton of Barjac in Gard and Valréas in Vaucluse.
AOC status was granted in 1983.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1196
|
__label__wiki
| 0.930821
| 0.930821
|
Paul Merrion
Boeing Co. CEO W. James McNerney Jr. is mulling whether his 787 Dreamliner needs more time for testing after yet another delay in the plane's first flight sent investors bailing out of the company's stock.
Coming on the eve of the first flight, and just days after he and other top execs touted the plane's airworthiness at the Paris Air Show, the delay destroyed what was left of Mr. McNerney's credibility on Wall Street.
Boeing lost more than $4 billion in market value after announcing that it found 36 weak spots in the plane's carbon-fiber composite structure where the wings join the plane. The stock dropped 11.9% in two days before recovering slightly later in the week to close at $41.88, far below a peak of $107.83 in 2007.
Now Boeing appears to be backing away from an aggressive plan to complete flight testing within 8½ months of the first flight. "We don't know if it would be the same," a company spokesman says of the timetable. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
Many investors and analysts already believe it's unrealistic to plan only 8½ months for certification instead of the usual year or more, especially with a plane as complex as the 787.
"I don't think (the flight-test schedule) had a great deal of credibility," says Richard Aboulafia, an aviation analyst at Teal Group Inc., a Virginia-based aerospace market research firm. "It's probably symptomatic of a company that's been scheduling with zero margin for change or anything unexpected."
Stretching out the time allowed for flight testing would help Chicago-based Boeing avoid yet another embarrassing delay if unexpected problems crop up. But it would hurt near-term profits, frustrate investors and further disappoint airline customers, which are facing at least a two-year delay in the original schedule for deliveries, which were to start in May 2008. It also erodes the remaining advantage Boeing has over Airbus in developing a lighter, more fuel-efficient plane.
"They used up all their free passes with the investment community with all their delays so far," says Peter Jacobs, senior vice-president in Seattle for Ragen MacKenzie, a Wells Fargo Investments LLC unit. "This announcement and any additional announcements (of delays) that come out of the flight test schedule will be punishing on shares and management's credibility."
Adding more time for flight testing would push back when deliveries start and production ramps up. Overhead would be spread over fewer deliveries and late penalties would rise, hurting Boeing's projected earnings in 2010 and 2011.
Boeing needs a near-term boost from its huge 787 backlog, but last week's move by Australia's Qantas Airways Ltd. to cancel or postpone 30 deliveries underscores Boeing's vulnerability to the economic slump that has airlines struggling.
"This will be a great airplane for several decades," Mr. Jacobs says. "Unfortunately, it might be a decade before Boeing realizes a profit on that."
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1198
|
__label__cc
| 0.733207
| 0.266793
|
Streeterville is named after George Wellington “Cap” Streeter, a squatter who arrived in Chicago in 1886. He encouraged contractors to dump their rubble and backfill where he had run his steamboat onto a sandbar near East Superior Street. Eventually, the landfill grew and connected his steamboat to the shore. He named the landmass an independent “United States District of Lake Michigan” and declared it not subject to the laws of Illinois or Chicago. It became a red light district, and the fight for control of the land continued until his death in 1921. Some of Chicago’s most expensive real estate can be found in Streeterville and is now an exclusive district that includes some of the city’s tallest skyscrapers on the blocks between Lake Michigan and Michigan Avenue. It is a family-oriented neighborhood as well as a major tourist destination.
Streeterville is also home to many of the city’s most visited destinations including shopping along The Magnificent Mile, Navy Pier, Water Tower Place and the Drake Hotel.
Culture and Attractions
Other landmarks such as the Chicago Tribune Tower, John Hancock Center, Museum of Contemporary Art and the Palmolive Building are situated in Streeterville. In addition there are shops, boat cruises, two performance stages, the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows. Streeterville is one of Chicago’s gems; this tiny neighborhood is full of people with a lot of heart, and is a constant draw for those who want to have a lot of fun.
Higher Education Northwestern University Medical Center
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1199
|
__label__wiki
| 0.934029
| 0.934029
|
https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Houston-U-S-Attorney-DeGabrielle-steps-down-1604989.php
Houston U.S. Attorney DeGabrielle steps down
U.S. Attorney DeGabrielle announces resignation
MARY FLOOD, Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Published 5:30 am CDT, Wednesday, October 29, 2008
U.S. Attorney Donald J. DeGabrielle, a former FBI agent and an assistant U.S. attorney for 20 years, was appointed by President George W. Bush.
Photo: Gary Fountain, For The Chronicle
Houston-based U.S. Attorney Don DeGabrielle announced this morning that he is resigning.
DeGabrielle, a former FBI agent and an assistant U.S. attorney for 20 years, said his resignation will take effect Nov. 8 and that he intends to go into private law practice in the Houston area.
He was appointed by President George W. Bush and, in March 2006, sworn in as the leading federal prosecutor for the Southern District of Texas, which stretches to Brownsville and Laredo.
He developed a reputation for fairness not only with his fellow prosecutors, but even with the defense attorneys whose clients his office prosecuted.
Several prominent defense attorneys told the Chronicle that they considered DeGabrielle the top prosecutor who did the least harm and who asked them most often what he could do better.
"Don has done a wonderful job providing the leadership needed in that office. From the Rio Grande Valley, facing major cartels, to other DOJ priorities like immigration issues, mortgage fraud and financial schemes, his leadership was what was needed to make sure the limited resources meet the needs of the district," said Harris County District Attorney Ken Magidson, who is temporarily at the county but worked with DeGabrielle in the federal prosecutors' office for many years.
It is customary for U.S. attorneys to leave their positions when a new president is elected, so DeGabrielle would be out of a job in January. He would not say what he will do next, but most former U.S. attorneys are considered hot prospects by large private law firms in Houston.
"Even though his appointment may be up in January, it is a shame to see him go early," said criminal defense attorney Kent Schaffer. "He was a guy who really seemed to care about doing a good job, which does not happen quite so much with government employees.
"He was concerned with being perceived not only as a tough prosecutor, but also one who was considered to be fair and honest," Schaffer said. "I also noticed that morale seemed to be pretty high, which is fairly unusual in the U.S. Attorney's Office, which is the sign of a good leader."
DeGabrielle served as the first assistant to his predecessor, the late Mike Shelby. An interim U.S. attorney was appointed from outside of the district to serve until DeGabrielle was appointed.
A prospect for DeGabrielle's post might be his first assistant, Tim Johnson.
DeGabrielle, who received his law degree from Louisiana State University, has been with the U.S. Attorney's Office since 1986.
He was an FBI special agent and was chief of trials in the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office in New Orleans.
He serves on the Terrorism and National Security and Border and Immigration Subcommittees to the Attorney General's Advisory Committee and chairs the Regional Information Sharing Working Group.
mary.flood@chron.com
VIP view: Bastille Day cocktail party in River Oaks
Lineup for Houston Restaurant Weeks (so far)
Popular Houston socialite celebrates her birthday
25 companies you might not know are owned by Disney
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1201
|
__label__cc
| 0.512893
| 0.487107
|
The Supreme Court Is Too Gun-Shy on the Second Amendment
By Ilya Shapiro and Matthew Larosiere
This article appeared in The Wall Street Journal on January 7, 2019.
Sometimes whether the Supreme Court decides a case is as important as what it decides. A case in point is the right to keep and bear arms. The justices decided that the Second Amendment protects an individual right in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) and that states as well as the federal government may not infringe it in McDonald v. Chicago (2010). But it hasn’t agreed to hear a single case since to define the scope of the right.
The court is supposed to give priority to “circuit splits” among the lower courts, along with the emergence of unresolved constitutional questions, when deciding whether to hear cases. Yet the complete judicial disaccord on gun rights in the decade since Heller has met with a deafening silence from the justices. The federal circuits can’t even agree on how to evaluate Second Amendment challenges, let alone what the result should be.
The Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found AR-15s—one of the most popular rifles in America—to be wholly without constitutional protection. The Ninth Circuit held that the Second Amendment “does not include, in any degree, the right … to carry concealed firearms,” even when a state also bans open carry. Earlier, the Seventh Circuit had held that “a right to keep and bear arms for personal self-defense … could not rationally have been limited to the home,” compelling Illinois to establish a concealed-carry permit system.
The justices haven’t clarified the law since 2010, causing confusion in the lower courts.
It’s high time for the court to begin making sense of Second Amendment law. That doesn’t mean making a sweeping judgment on “assault weapons,” concealed carry, or anything else, but equipping the lower courts with the tools they need to decide cases consistently. The high court said in Heller that laws implicating the Second Amendment must be subject to heightened judicial scrutiny—as opposed to the “rational basis” standard under which the government usually wins. But some circuits have disregarded even that simple directive. The Second Circuit has determined that “marginal, incremental, or even appreciable restraints on the right to keep and bear arms” necessitate no heightened scrutiny.
Some circuits have been asking for the high court’s intervention. The First and Fourth circuits have both indicated that they are waiting on the justices to decide whether the Second Amendment applies outside the home.
It’s understandable for the Supreme Court to be wary of disrupting longstanding state laws, but the court has refused opportunities to clarify the way these laws are to be interpreted even in the narrowest situations. Last year the court refused to hear Silvester v. Becerra, concerning the application of an arbitrary wait time to a firearm owner’s subsequent gun purchases, and Teixeira v. Alameda County, concerning the Second Amendment’s protection of the right to sell arms. Justice Clarence Thomas derided the court’s continued resistance to clarifying the Second Amendment in his dissent from the denial in Silvester—Justice Neil Gorsuch joined him on a similar dissent in 2017—pointing out that second-class treatment of the Second Amendment has encouraged the lower courts to codify their policy preferences.
The latest opportunity for the court to step in is Mance v. Whitaker, in which the Fifth Circuit upheld a pre-Heller federal law prohibiting licensed dealers from selling handguns across state lines. With Mance, the court could provide a meaningful framework for evaluating Second Amendment cases without directly affecting any state law.
Mance is the first Second Amendment appeal to arrive at the Supreme Court since Brett Kavanaugh joined the court. Justice Kavanaugh has a strong record of grappling with these issues; as a D.C. Circuit judge, he rejected an “interest balancing” approach that amounts to a policy analysis, instead focusing on the original meaning of the Second Amendment. To the extent that the court’s decade-long reticence can be explained by justices being unsure of Anthony Kennedy’s swing vote, that excuse has expired—and only four votes are needed to hear a case. Even if Chief Justice John Roberts wants the court to stay out of this gun fight, his colleagues could force his hand.
Regardless of how the court ultimately decides these cases, it should start deciding them. With its silence, the court gives license to judges around the country to rule that constitutional rights mean different things in different places.
Mr. Shapiro is director and Mr. Mr. Larosiere a legal associate at the Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1204
|
__label__wiki
| 0.594278
| 0.594278
|
Hands-on with Intel's Project Alloy untethered VR headset
It's a cool prototype, but the proof will be in commercially available headsets
Blair Hanley Frank (IDG News Service) 06 January, 2017 11:59
Intel offered me a chance to try out its new Project Alloy mixed-reality headset prototype on Thursday. For about five minutes, I tried shooting some digital flying robots from the comfort of a replica living room inside the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Project Alloy, which was first announced at Intel’s developer conference last year, is an untethered headset that blends virtual-reality content with information about the physical world around its wearer. It’s designed to give people more freedom of movement when playing games, and also save people from having to buy an expensive gaming rig to play VR games.
Based on my brief experience playing the same game that Intel showed on stage Wednesday, the prototype shows a lot of potential. However, it’s hard to know exactly how that will translate into what consumers will get later this year. Intel revealed Wednesday that it’s working with selected manufacturing partners to make Project Alloy devices available in the fourth quarter of 2017.
In the meantime, all we have is the Intel-made prototype. It packs in a pair of RealSense depth cameras positioned basically on either side of the user’s nose, along with two RGB cameras at roughly the user’s eye line, and a pair of fisheye cameras at the edge of the visor. Those sensors can be used to render the wearer's surroundings in virtual reality.
Its band design is fairly reminiscent of the PlayStation VR headset, with a curved forehead plate attached to an adjustable headband. There’s a large plastic pack on the back of the headband as well. The shooter game that I played lasted only a few minutes, and the headset seemed comfortable enough at the time.
It’s hard to know how comfortable the device would be for longer sessions. And again, because this is just a prototype, it’s possible that the commercial versions will feel completely different.
In order to get the game up and running quickly, Intel preloaded all the objects in the room onto the Alloy headset. Unfortunately, my headset’s model of the room I was in had drifted slightly relative to the actual objects in the room. That led to me slamming my shin into a coffee table in the center of the room that was supposed to be several inches away.
This problem is supposed to be fixed by using the RealSense cameras to detect the positions of objects in real time. In this case, the headset wasn’t set up to do that.
There’s still a lot we don’t know about the final hardware, like exactly when it will be available, how much it will cost, and more.
Eli Elhadad, the Intel RealSense studio manager, said during my demo that the shipping version of Alloy will have more powerful hardware than the prototype. It will feature a Kaby Lake-based processor, a 400-series RealSense camera and a graphics processing chip from Movidius, which Intel acquired last year. In each case, those upgrades are supposed to provide better performance.
It will also be interesting to see if Intel ends up working with Microsoft. The prototype offers untethered mixed-reality experiences, which would fit nicely with Microsoft’s vision for its Windows Holographic platform. The two companies previously announced that they were working together on Alloy, so it seems likely more will come of that.
Tags CES 2017
More about AlloyIntelLakeMicrosoft
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1206
|
__label__wiki
| 0.696064
| 0.696064
|
Arts-Life > Entertainment
Imagination into Art highlights Wilmot artists
Nancy Schlosser poses with some of her quilts. Courtesy
Visitors check out the different works at last year’s Imagination into Art weekend. Courtesy
Lisa Jelleme shows off one of her paintings at a past art weekend. Courtesy
By CHRIS BARNARD
Published: 6/21/2017 5:31:27 PM
Five years ago, Judy Hauck was searching for a new program for the Wilmot Community Association to start or promote.
She quickly realized that a new program would help solve a concerning problem in the area.
“I became very aware of how many unrecognized local artists there are,” Hauck said.
What she didn’t know is that her solution would end up becoming a popular annual tradition for her town.
Now, for the fifth year, the Imagination into Art show in Wilmot will provide local artists the chance to put their talents on display and community members the opportunity to bring some art home.
Put on by the Wilmot Community Association, the show will feature more than a dozen artists and their handiwork Friday and Saturday at the WCA’s Red Barn, 64 Village Road.
From 4:30 to 7 p.m. on Friday, there will be a reception, including an art exhibit with artist demonstrations, and a silent auction. On Saturday, the show will continue from 9 a.m. to noon with art workshops for children.
Wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served during the reception on Friday, and there’s a suggested $15 donation per person. Saturday’s show is free and somewhat more family-oriented.
While the format, style and location of the event are pretty much the same as it’s always been, there is one notable difference.
“The first event went really well,” said Hauck, “but now there are a lot more people involved, and we get new artists every year.”
There are 14 artists from Wilmot and the surrounding area featured in this year’s show, a number of whom are new to the event. The artists are skilled in a number of different crafts, from painting and water coloring, to sculpting and furniture making.
“It’s a rather intimate, but lovely event,” said Nancy Schlosser, a member of the WCA.
Schlosser is largely responsible for this year’s rendition of the show, organizing pretty much everything herself.
She’s also one of the artists featured in the show.
“I’ve been making quilts for about 20 years,” Schlosser said, who has been in the show the past four years. “If I see a piece of fabric that I love, I use it.”
Schlosser got started when she decided to try making a quilt for her bed, and she hasn’t looked back since, taking classes and quilting regularly with a group.
Her favorite type of quilt to make is a baby quilt, because “you can make them quickly and then start on a new one.”
She has about 15 pieces in the upcoming show.
To Schlosser, quilting is just a hobby, a mindset matched by a photographer featured in this year’s show, Vlad Chertikhin.
“I’ve been taking photos professionally since about 2009,” said Chertikhin, who has been a part of the show before, “It’s just something I do on the side.”
He primarily takes photos here in New Hampshire, such as landscape shots of Mount Kearsarge.
After seeing just how successful the Imagination into Art show can be, Chertikhin plans to bring extra pictures, a greater variety of prints, and plenty of copies of his favorite photos to this year’s show.
“There was a lot more interest than I expected,” said Chertikhin of previous art shows, “I met some locals, and there are so many people I didn’t know did art.”
Sue Finney, a watercolorist, has also been impressed by how well the show has gone in previous years.
“There’s an amazing turnout,” Finney said, who started painting regularly in 2012. “Every year, it’s just a wonderful reception.”
Finney, who has been in the show before, is bringing a variety of paintings to the approaching show. She has a pet portrait, seascape, still life, seasonal paintings, and a few others that will be on display.
For more information on some other artists in the Imagination into Art show, visit wilmotcommunityassoc.com.
Wilmot NH
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1207
|
__label__wiki
| 0.710039
| 0.710039
|
Lord Risby: Britain is open for Islamic business
By Lord Risby
Mohammed Amin: I don’t like the term “Islamophobia”. But since we’re stuck with it, here’s my own definition.
Suella Braverman: What Johnson learned from a London school amidst deprived communities
Fifteen years after I started writing about Johnson, one might almost think his time has come
WATCH: Burka comments were “very liberal”. Sunak defends Johnson from allegations of racism.
In praise of Conservative Party members
Lord Risby is the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Algeria
No doubt in part because of the current focus on energy suppliers, banker bashing has been in retreat. But the calming and measured influence of the Governor of the Bank of England and the new structural, tax and regulatory regime introduced by George Osborne have certainly helped. And even BBC interviewers sound weary when every new Labour spending idea is repeatedly and absurdly to be paid for by the same old proposed tax increase on bankers. It is almost unimaginable that since the dark days of the financial crisis here, brought on in large measure by Gordon Brown’s failed tripartite regulatory system, that the City of London could be bouncing back so strongly.
The opening session of the 9th World Islamic Economic Forum was brought to a close with a well-received speech by the Prince of Wales. But it was the Prime Minister’s speech in the morning which set the tone. The sheer delight of many British Muslim business people present was palpable, not only because of the increased business possibilities emerging for them, but also because it was something of an antidote to the embarrassment that a small minority of co-religionists here have caused them. Double tax on Islamic mortgages and extended tax relief on Islamic mortgages have already been removed, but recently new commitments have been made to open up student loans and business start-up loans to Muslims in this country, which had acted as a barrier to talented young Muslims being able to go to university.
Present were 19 Heads of State, five Central Bank Governors, and some 250 small businesses, amongst the 2000 delegates in the Excel Centre. Ten of the world’s 25 fastest growing markets are in Muslim-majority countries. In the last three years, UK exports of goods and services were up by 74 per cent to Morocco, 69 per cent to Saudi Arabia, 47 per cent to Qatar, 45 per cent to Indonesia, 44 per cent to Turkey, 39 per cent to the UAE and 29 per cent to Malaysia. UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) organised a British Business Pavilion which focused on four main sector themes – health, education, Islamic finance and infrastructure, and Smart Cities encompassing new technologies, sustainability and urban planning.
Just as the first renminbi bond issued outside China has been earmarked for Britain, so the welcome mat is now being comprehensively extended to other new potential investors in a more focused way. Much has been made of the ground-breaking issue of £200 million Sukkuks, a bond compliant with Islamic law. It is small, but a start. However, it sends out a further signal to the Islamic world’s £1.3bn investment funds that are available for funding large capital projects abroad. Muslim countries have enormous, well-established and admired sovereign wealth funds. Kuwait and Abu Dhabi have been long established here. They are highly professionally managed. The relatively new fund in Azerbaijan is run by a Harvard graduate.
In all of this, we should acknowledge the role played by Cameron and Osborne, plus Sayeeda Warsi and Sajid Javid, as well as Boris Johnson. He announced a £100 million Islamic finance fund for hi-tech start-ups, all externally funded. Eventually the London Stock Exchange will have an Islamic index. The challenge is to make sure the benefits of our national attractiveness extend beyond London.
Nevertheless, this conference was a real coup for our capital city. As we observe the agonies of internal devaluation and high unemployment, unsustainably high taxes and an anti-business environment which beset some of our neighbours, we have to look away from our traditional export markets to where growth and prosperity are clearly more evident. It is simply imperative for us to do so successfully, and this week has been part of this process.
Boris Johnson (Mayor) David Cameron MP George Osborne MP Islam Sayeeda Warsi (Baroness)
John Glen: Johnson has always stood up for the City. Which helps to explain why I’m supporting him.
Eddie Hughes: Allow our doctors to decide who needs hospital treatment
Elena Bunbury and Ali Fazel: Why we’ve switched to Hunt
Bob Seely: Scrap the automatic Right to Buy. And nine other ideas to make housing sustainable.
Ryan Shorthouse: How to boost integration
Iain Mansfield: Brexit by October 31. Stop using the Left’s language. And stand for skilled workers. Essentials for our next Prime Minister.
Tom Tugendhat: The last two men left standing in this contest must resist the temptation to slug it out
Peter Booth: Why I’m standing for Vice-President of the National Convention
John Jenkins: Too many excuses are made for Iran – especially by the EU. We must get real, stand with America, and take decisive action.
47 comments for: Lord Risby: Britain is open for Islamic business
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1209
|
__label__wiki
| 0.834353
| 0.834353
|
Conway One Designs were built between 1928 and 1989, the last two built in 1988 and 1989 were made of moulded GRP in a project sponsored by CYC in an attempt to keep the design racing whilst reducing the onerous task of maintaining a wooden vessel.
The first seven boats were built between 1928 and 1929, with Seriol, the first coming from the yard of Mathew Owen of Menai Bridge.
She was followed by Minnie, Kandahar, Bluebird, and Gwalch,built in the shed of the designer W H Rowlands, and Cymba and Kathleen which followed from the slip of Dickies in Bangor
Kingfisher, Margaret II (ex Mary) and Acushla were built between 1935 and 1936 by Rileys of Deganwy in the home village of the Conway Yacht Club. The defining characteristic of these boats is a hollow or curved sheerline and they are known as the ‘banana boats’.
In 1939 just before war broke out Dickies in Bangor completed Mayfly II and Morris and Leavett of Beaumaris built Mercury and Musetta.
Maryland was built in 1946, and was followed by the GRP boats, Phoenix and Swn-y-Don in 1998/9 from the yard of Eric Bergqvist of the Ferry Boatyard, Penketh.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1211
|
__label__cc
| 0.573234
| 0.426766
|
Main Office 888 Prospect Street, Suite 200 San Diego CA 92037 work Work Phone: (858) 274-8943work Work Fax: (858) 274-5185workfax Work Email: ca@constanceahrons.comINTERNET Website: www.constanceahrons.com
Constance Ahrons has over three decades of experience helping couples and families cope with divorce and its aftermath. She is a sought-out international speaker and expert, and the author of the bestselling books “The Good Divorce” (HarperCollins) and “We’re Still Family” (HarperCollins).
Dr. Ahrons was Director of the Family Therapy Doctoral Training Program and Professor of Sociology at USC. Prior to teaching at USC she taught in the School of Social Work at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She was the principal investigator of an National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) sponsored research project, The Binuclear Family Study, a 20-year longitudinal study of 98 divorced families.
Dr. Ahrons coined the term “binuclear family” and was an early champion of collaborative divorce and mediation. On a collaborative team she can be a divorce coach for one of the divorcing spouses, or a child specialist working with the children and helping parents work toward a healthy co-parenting relationship. In the one-coach model she can be the family specialist working with the whole family to help them achieve a good divorce.
In addition to her work on collaborative divorce teams, Dr. Ahrons maintains a private practice, which includes divorce coaching, confidential child custody mediation, family therapy and consultation to other professionals. As a private divorce coach she provides targeted advice and guidance around such issues as child custody, living arrangements, co-parenting, managing anger, how and when to tell children about the divorce. She also consults with divorced parents about issues that arise after divorce, such as problems with co-parenting, revisions in living arrangements, how to integrate a new partner in to the binuclear family and changes due to remarriage of one or both parents. She has been tapped for her expertise on radio and television shows, including The Today Show, CBS Morning Show, NPR, CNN, Good Morning America and Oprah.
For more information about Dr. Ahrons’ education, publications, lectures and professional memberships, please see her CV on her website: http://www.constanceahrons.com.
888 Prospect Street, Suite 200 San Diego CA 92037
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1214
|
__label__wiki
| 0.741891
| 0.741891
|
Michael Van Arsdale
Originally from Medina, OH, Mike Van Arsdale received both his undergraduate and graduate degrees in Music Performance and Music Education from the University of Akron, OH. He has studied with James Umble, James Hill, Richard Shanklin, and Kristina Belisle. He previously served on the music faculty at Ashland University and The College of Wooster in Ohio.
Mike joined the U.S. Air Force Bands in 2001 and was assigned to the Heritage of America Band, Langley Air Force Base, VA. In the summer of 2008 he joined the Air Force Band of the Pacific, Alaska, where he performed throughout the Pacific Rim. In 2011 he moved to Colorado Springs, CO, to become a member of the United States Air Force Academy Band. During his tenure with the Academy Band, Mike served as the group leader and musical director for the internationally recognized big band, The Falconaires. He retired from the Academy Band in February, 2001.
Some of his professional accomplishments include a World-Premiere Performance of "Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano" by Gunther Schuller. Mike has extensive experience playing woodwinds in the professional musical pit orchestras. He’s performed regularly with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic. Mike has also shared the stage with such artists as Rosemary Clooney, The Four Freshman, The Four Tops, and many others. He is active as a performer throughout the Front Range Region.
Mike also works as the Chief Announcer for Jazz935 FM, Colorado Springs 24-hour, publically funded jazz radio station.
Mike is happily married to his wife, Tina. Together they have three daughters, Jordan, Elise, and Samantha, and one grandchild.
Location: Packard Hall, #136
Email: mvanarsdale@coloradocollege.edu
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1215
|
__label__wiki
| 0.5441
| 0.5441
|
Creating Collaborative Staff Relationships and Efficient Processes in the Emergency Department
by Editor | May 21, 2017 | Emergency Department, Healthcare, Profiles in Healthcare Leadership
A short-term acute care hospital in the Midwest with more than 300 beds contracted with Compass Clinical Consulting to provide interim leadership to fill the director vacancy in the approximately 80 FTE Emergency Department, as well as to deal with significant leadership changes, improve processes and overall staff and physician relationships, and stimulate an environment of change.
Over the last several years, the hospital had experienced a succession of ED managers and high turnover in leadership. Prior to beginning the engagement, the hospital’s ED leadership structure consisted of: one nurse manager, two assistant nurse managers, and a part-time educator. However, just prior to the start of the Interim’s engagement, the nurse manager and one assistant nurse manager resigned, and the second assistant nurse manager began a 12-week medical leave. Because of the lack of leadership, the Interim ED Director had to take a different approach to this engagement—instead of focusing initially on high-level concerns, she concentrated first on the day-to-day operations of the department.
Therefore, it was important that the Interim ED Director hit the ground running, be present in the daily operations of the department, and earn the trust of staff. The Director of Nursing served as the interim’s key contact to quickly assimilate into the department and get to know the staff and their systems.
Cultural Barriers in the ED
Immediately, the Interim encountered a conflict: the hospital’s traditional physician culture. Initially, the medical director was not the most collaborative leader, making decisions regarding the department that vastly affected nursing practice without input from nursing leadership. Different staff members needed to approve processes and plans before they could be implemented, and the Interim’s access to reports and materials was limited at the start of the engagement. As a result, the Interim had to develop a project plan to share with current leadership (the Director of Nursing and the CNO) to gain approval.
Another obstacle was earning the acceptance of the Emergency Department staff. Because they felt a lack of visibility with previous leaders, staff members did not immediately trust new leaders. In addition, the hospital had never used interim leadership before, which also caused initial distrust. A major barrier in previous leadership/staff relations was the failure to communicate why changes occurred. As such, it was important that the Interim Director proactively communicate changes to the staff to begin to open the lines of communication.
Recognizing the nuances of the hospital’s culture, the Interim worked to fit into the culture rather than challenge it or ignore it. This traditional culture did slow down the process, but the Interim’s approach helped her to earn the staff’s trust and acceptance.
Staffing Inefficiencies
In addition to the cultural barriers impeding the department’s efficiency, the Interim Director quickly identified another problem area: staffing. The department had a significant vacancy rate that stemmed from a large turnover of staff; typically, people inexperienced in the ED were hired to fill those gaps. Following a hire, there was no official education or onboarding process, so there was no mechanism to ensure competencies.
Furthermore, scheduling practices had been stagnated for many years, rather than being updated to be more efficient. Staff schedules did not account for patient volumes to ensure that the busiest times of day were fully staffed.
Data and Process Discrepancies
The Interim also identified discrepancies in the department’s data and processes. For example, the hospital was not collecting data points correctly according to the requirement from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that hospitals track their boarding times. The Interim was told their boarding hours were zero – a seemingly impossible number. However, following observations, the Interim realized staff members were entering the admission time as the time the patients left the department, not the time the admission order was written, resulting in times mistakenly being labeled as zero.
Emergency department staff members also suffered from a lack of accountability. For example, triage rapid improvement processes were developed, but no one had put these plans into action or monitored that this process had been accomplished.
To account for the organization’s more traditional culture and smaller leadership staff, the Interim ED Director worked to establish a tactful balance between following the existing policies while still making recommendations and illuminating areas of opportunity for improvement. The Chief Nursing Officer welcomed the Interim’s insight, and staff as a whole were ultimately extremely receptive.
Education and accountability were key in affecting sustainable change within the department. For example, the Interim discussed the collection of data points with the Director of Nursing and the CNO and provided education to them as to the correct process. With their approval, a group was pulled together including staff from the IT, Quality, and Medical Records departments to improve their understanding of the ED metrics and make corrections to the data points.
The interim took initiative in this engagement by creating an initial list of about 15 priority areas for improvement. Over the course of four months, the Interim ED Director met regularly with the Director of Nursing to discuss the engagement’s progress and reprioritize the project list as needed. This technique proved extremely effective in creating change.
Soon, improvements were seen throughout the department, including improvements in accountability, flow, triage, and throughput metrics, as well as door-to-doc time. The program for sexual assault patients was better organized, and patient care practices and processes were improved.
Relationships between leadership and staff in the ED and the interim improved through the gradual development of trust. The physician-nursing relationship became much more positive and conducive to a professional atmosphere, while the interim’s relationship with the medical director did improve through the engagement, and he expressed gratitude for the help and adopted a more receptive attitude towards changing some ineffective practices. Additionally, expectations were re-established, and overall department morale increased.
Following the Interim’s departure, the Emergency Department staff and leadership continued to achieve significant improvement in several processes. Additionally, the interim established a much smoother scheduling process, changing shifts and implementing self-scheduling guidelines that people began to follow. Staffing vacancies were filled, and overall scheduling of staff increased to account for patient load, as new guidelines were implemented.
Staff members responded positively to the open lines of communication the Interim had established. With an understanding of how changes would affect them and the benefits of the changes, staff became more receptive to new efficient processes and developed greater trust in leadership.
Both leadership and staff of the Midwest hospital were very receptive to recommendations that the Interim provided and changes the Interim initialized. The Director of Nursing has stayed in touch with the Interim following the end of the engagement to express appreciation and share the good news that staff and leadership alike continue to work on plans toward implementing efficient processes and safe practices in the Emergency Department.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1217
|
__label__cc
| 0.729979
| 0.270021
|
Architecture students' designs on display at Italian embassy in Washington, D.C.
The work of current and former Penn State architecture students who have taken part in the study abroad program at the Pantheon Institute in Rome went on display March 28 at the Italian embassy in Washington, D.C.
The exhibit features the designs, models and projects of U.S. architecture students who are (or were) enrolled in programs that are members of the Association of American College and University Programs in Italy (AACUPI). Penn State’s partnership with the Pantheon Institute through the Department of Architecture’s study abroad program is one of the longest-standing AACUPI programs in Rome, which is why Penn State was selected to take part in the exhibition.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1220
|
__label__wiki
| 0.595142
| 0.595142
|
Charles McDonald
Charles A. McDonald (Managing Director) will join Rice University in Fall 2019 as the Samuel W. and Goldye Marian Spain Postdoctoral Fellow in the Program in Jewish Studies.
Fellows from Mick Taussig’s 2017 ICSI seminar have collectively published a selection of articles inspired by their summer together. The special issue of New Writing (Volume 16, no. 4) will be officially released in November of 2019.
Fabiana Heinrich (ICSI Fellow, 2016) earned her Doctoral degree in Design from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) in April 2018 with the dissertation entitled Critique of experience as a commodity in the Design Field. She became an Assistant Professor of Visual Communication in the School of Fine Arts at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (EBA-UFRJ) in October 2018 and is currently working on an English version of the dissertation.
Nick Huber (ICSI Fellow, 2017) defended his doctoral dissertation in Literature at Duke. His publication “Secular Proletarianization” is forthcoming in Theory & Event, April 2019.
Carolyn Laubender (ICSI Fellow, 2016) has published “Empty Space: Creativity, Femininity, Reparation, Justice,” Free Associations, Vol 75 (2019); “Beyond Repair: Interpretation, Reparation, and Melanie Klein’s Clinical Play Technique,” Studies in Gender and Sexuality, Vol 20.1 (2019): 51-67; and “States of Security: John Bowlby, Child Psychology, and The Cold War,” Hidden Persuaders Blog, April 1, 2019. She is the Program Director, BA in Childhood Studies, University of Essex, 2018-Present; and Lecturer, Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies, University of Essex, 2018-Present.
Fernanda Magallanes (ICSI Fellow, 2016) has published Psychoanalysis, the Body, and the Oedipal Plot : A Critical Re-Imaging of the Body in Psychoanalysis. Routledge: London.
Kate Bermingham (ICSI Fellow, 2015) is the recipient of an Outstanding Graduate Student Teacher award from Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning and the Graduate School at the University of Notre Dame. She has published "Time for Arendt: Political Temporality and the Space-Time of Freedom", Amor Mundi, the blog of the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities at Bard College (March 29, 2019).
Liliana Gil (ICSI Fellow, 2018) is the recipient of grants from the Wenner-Gren Foundation and the National Science Foundation (STS/Cultural Anthropology) for her Dissertation Research Project “Make-do Innovation: Reconfiguring Technological Improvisation in Brazil.”
Kristin Moriah (ICSI Fellow, 2017) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.
Paramjit Singh (ICSI Fellow, 2017) published “The State and Accumulation under Contemporary Capitalism.”
Valentina Rozas-Krause (ICSI Fellow, 2018) published Disputar la Ciudad. [Dispute the City] Editorial Bifurcaciones: Santiago. Disputar la Ciudad deals with strategies of oppression, resistance and memory within varying urban contexts. The volume is divided into four themes: submission, resistance, memorialization and reparation. She is the recipient of a Mellon/ACLS American Council of Learned Societies Dissertation Completion Fellowship (2019-2020 academic year), for her dissertation "Memorials and the Cult of Apology." She is also Chair of the organization committee for the Global Urban Humanities Initiative University of California- Berkeley symposium “Techniques of Memory: Landscape, Iconoclasm, Medium and Power,” David Brower Center (Berkeley), April 17-18, 2019; and co-Chair of the paper session “Breaking the Bronze Ceiling: Memorials and Gender,” with Andrew M. Shanken, for the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) Conference 2020, Seattle, WA.
Dorothy Stringer (ICSI Fellow, 2015) published “Slavery and the Afrofuture in Samuel R. Delany's Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand” in “Speculating Futures,” Parnassus Award-winning special issue of Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora 42.1-2 (Fall 2016): 204-217; and “Scripture, Psyche and Women in Zora Neale Hurston’s Moses, Man of the Mountain,” Palimpsest: A Journal on Women, Gender and the Black International 5.2 (Fall 2016): 182-202.
Yossi David (ICSI Fellow, 2016) is a Visiting Scholar at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz. He received the top paper award by the Ethnicity & Race in Communication division at the International Communication Association (ICA) in 2019. He published “Too good to be true: The effect of conciliatory message design on compromising attitudes in intractable conflict” in Discourse and Society; “Reframing community boundaries: The erosive power of new media spaces in authoritarian societies” in Information, Communication and Society; “Gender-empathic constructions, empathy and support for compromise in intractable conflict” in Journal of Conflict Resolution, 62(8), 1727–1752; and “On resonance: A study of culture-dependent reinterpretations of extremist violence in Israeli media discourse” in Media Culture and Society, 40(4), 514–534.
Benjamin Hegarty (ICSI Fellow, 2015) will commence a three-year McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellowship in the School of Social and Political Sciences at The University of Melbourne in June 2019. His PhD thesis (Australian National University, 2019) won the Australian Anthropological Association PhD Thesis Prize, and was runner up for the Australian National University Gender Institute Prize.
Edgar Garcia (ICSI Fellow, 2017) published Skins of Columbus: A Dream Ethnography (Fence Books, 2019) and Signs of the Americas: A Poetics of Pictography, Hieroglyphs, and Khipu (forthcoming from University of Chicago Press, 2019).
Ankur Datta (ICSI Fellow, 2015) published “‘That was natural. This is just artificial’!”: Displacement, memory, worship, and connection at a Kashmiri Hindu shrine replica” in History and Anthropology.
Mayumo Inoue (ICSI Fellow, 2018) published Beyond Imperial Aesthetics: Theories of Art and Politics in East Asia (co-edited with Steve Choe, forthcoming from Hong Kong University Press in June 2019).
Andra le Roux-Kemp (ICSI Fellow, 2018) published ‘In Search of Common Values Amongst Competing Universals: An Argument for the Return to Value’s Original Meaning’ in International Journal for the Semiotics of Law 2018 Vol. 31, Issue 4, p. 877-903.
Joel Crombez (ICSI Fellow, 2017) is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Kennesaw State University.
Jessica Levy (ICSI Fellow, 2017) published "Black Power in the Board Room: Leon Sullivan and the Corporate Anti-Apartheid Response," Enterprise & Society, forthcoming; "Review of Winning Our Freedom Together: African Americans and Apartheid, 1945-1960 by Nicholas Grant," Black Perspectives, October 5, 2018; "Review of Building the Black Metropolis: African American Entrepreneurship in Chicago, edited by Robert E. Weems, Jr. and Jason P. Chambers," Business History Review, vol. 92, no. 1 (Spring 2018): 166-168. She is the recipient of the Robert W. Woodruff Library Research Travel Award, Atlanta University Center, 2018; and the Sam Fishman Travel Grant, Walter E. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University, 2018. She is a Postdoctoral Research Associate, Princeton University, Department of African American Studies.
Kayode Kofoworola (ICSI Fellow, 2016) published “Importance of Language Communication in Dramatic Performance” in Ziky O. Kofoworola et al ed. African Theatre : Studies in Theory and Criticism, Published by Dept. of Theatre Studies Methodist University College, Ghana and Department of Performing Arts, University of Ilorin, Nigeria 2017. He was a Lead Panelist on the topic “Is the Critic dead in Nigeria’s Literary Firmament?” at the 19th Lagos Book Festival organized by the Committee for Relevant Arts (CORA) Art and Cultural Foundation in Lagos, Nigeria, November, 2017. He also attended the 2nd Lagos Summer School in Digital Humanities (LSSDH-2018) organized by the Digital Humanities Research Unit, University Of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria, and Sponsored by Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation, Germany, September 30-October 6, 2018.
Sabine Mohamed (ICSI Fellow, 2017) published “Ethiopian Image: Face, Trace, Interiority,” New Writing: The International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing, Vol 18 (4): Special Issue, Convoluting the Dialectical Image. (forthcoming, November 2019); and reading list on “Afrofuturism & Counter-Futures” (December 2018) for the Network for Ethnographic Theory (NET) blog at the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA).
Nicholas Barron (ICSI Fellow, 2017) was awarded the Graduate Research Fellowship from Center for Regional Studies at the University of New Mexico for his dissertation "Applying Anthropology, Assembling Indigenous Community: Anthropology and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe in Southern Arizona" and will begin teaching anthropology at Mission College (Santa Clara, California) in fall 2019. He has published “‘We hope that you will continue to teach us how best to learn’: Assembling the Pascua Yaqui Tribe at the 89th Wenner-Gren International Symposium,” Histories of Anthropology Annual; and a review of The Small Shall Be Strong: A History of Lake Tahoe's Washoe Indians, by Matthew S. Makley, Native American Indigenous Studies Association Journal.
Older PostSeptember 2018
Institute for Critical Social Inquiry
Photos are up from our 2019 Summer Seminars with Achille Mbembe, Étienne Balibar, Nancy Fraser, and 65 fellows from… https://t.co/6nci3MQpm7
The Institute for Critical Social Inquiry (ICSI), New School for Social Research, 6 E 16th St, 9th Fl. New York, NY, 10003icsi@newschool.edu
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1223
|
__label__wiki
| 0.956325
| 0.956325
|
From laid off to Lockheed in 2 weeks: Why manufacturers in Texas are snapping up job seekers
Filed under Jobs at Aug 2017
Jill Cowan, Economy Writer
Connect with Jill Cowan
Less than two weeks ago, he was laid off from his job at Bell Helicopter.
On Tuesday, Michael Lawrence, a clean-cut 25-year-old without a college degree, walked out of a hotel in downtown Fort Worth with a letter of intent for a job at Lockheed Martin.
“I didn’t wait in a single line,” he said with a sheepish grin.
This is an example of a shifting reality for Texas’ high-tech manufacturers: They're in a candidate’s market with a widening gap between new jobs and people with the right skills to fill them.
As President Donald Trump continues to push big companies to make their products in the U.S., blaming other countries for what he’s described as a decline in American manufacturing, the Texas companies building some of the nation’s most complex (and expensive) exports are actually hiring. A lot.
As of July, Texas had added 29,800 manufacturing jobs in the past year — a growth rate of 3.5 percent.
Lockheed officials expected about 1,000 candidates to apply for some of the 1,800 jobs the aerospace giant expects to add to its F-35 fighter jet program by the end of 2018.
As of about 4 p.m. Tuesday, the company had made offers to 600 people.
But in places like Dallas-Fort Worth, unemployment is already low — economists say verging on too low.
What a labor shortage could mean for eateries in Dallas' booming suburbs
Which means that, like most industries across Texas’ growing, diverse economy, the biggest hurdle to growth for Texas’ manufacturers has become finding labor, said Emily Kerr, an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
The Fed’s August manufacturing outlook survey found that production by Texas manufacturers expanded for the 14th straight month. Employment grew in manufacturing for the eighth straight month.
Survey respondents, however, said they were having trouble staffing up enough to meet customer demand.
“One thing we’re seeing that’s definitely true this month is a lot of reports of difficulty of firms finding workers, or not being able to find qualified workers,” Kerr said. “We’ve been hearing this off and on for the past couple of years, and it’s picked up in recent months.”
Lockheed Martin to hire at least 1,800 in Fort Worth for F-35 jet program
The Lockheed job fair — where candidates who hadn’t applied online before they arrived could do so on 200 laptops set up in two ballrooms — was among Lockheed’s first mass hiring events.
Though eager applicants reportedly started lining up late Monday night ahead of the fair’s 7 a.m. opening, by about 9:30 a.m., the flow was largely down to a trickle. The roughly 700 applicants who had previously scheduled interviews made their way to their appointments.
Hiring managers interviewed applicants whose resumes seemed like a good fit. Hundreds got letters of intent like Lawrence’s. The letter means that, provided he passes drug, background and manufacturing aptitude tests, he’ll be in what Lockheed spokesman Ken Ross said is Lockheed’s green pool — a group of workers ready for a start date.
The new hiring processes, Ross said, have been a learning experience.
“We’ve had very good success, first in June when we offered jobs to more than 600 and in July about 800,” Ross said.
At each fair, he said, the company has tried to let job-seekers know more specifically what kinds of skills they’ll need.
Why are Dallas builders pushing Trump for immigration reform? Your home price depends on it
“We’ve been getting people of any type — people working in restaurants who are saying, ‘Hey, I’ve always wanted to build airplanes,’” Ross said. “That’s great, but you need more training.”
He said Lockheed has worked with other aerospace heavyweights clustered in the Fort Worth area (like Bell Helicopter, and military operations) to structure training according to the skills their workers will need.
That clustering of similar businesses, Ross said, has been helpful in building the region’s talent pool.
Why Texas factories may be finally catching a break on the job front
The company’s past job fairs have drawn candidates from as far away as the Middle East, Ross said — though the farthest he’d heard this week was Waco.
But Brian Artis, a six-year Lockheed employee who’s now an F-35 production operations manager, said it’s become a priority to find workers who can come at manufacturing jobs with more creativity.
“When I interview, I’m looking for an attitude — a willingness to learn,” he said. “I’m not only hiring you to work on a manufacturing line, I’m hiring you to be a Lockheed Martin employee.”
Lawrence said he tried taking computer science classes at Tarrant County College, but he was making good enough money already and the courses were an unnecessary expense.
“I said, ‘I’m not going to waste my time,’” the Fort Worth native said. “I was already making great money.”
Jet stream: How Lockheed Martin's F-35 boosts the D-FW economy
Ross said the manufacturing jobs available paid between $40,000 and $55,000 to start.
Lawrence, who joined the Army Reserves four days out of high school, said he sees a long career in manufacturing, without having to move for a job. He shook off his layoff from Bell as just part of a project-based industry; when the contracts are there, so will he.
“I think a lot of it comes down to being able to adapt,” he said. “It might not be exactly what you’re doing now.”
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1227
|
__label__cc
| 0.662152
| 0.337848
|
Browsing History HOMEStatutesCivil Code §5800
...... 2013 DS Act
...... Conversion Charts
...... Commercial CID Act
...... Corporations Code
...... MISC Statutes (B&P, Civ, CCP, H&S, Labor, Vehicle, Federal)
...... Mobilehome Laws
...... California website
...... Legislation
Davis-Stirling Act History
< < Previous . . ADAMS|STIRLING . . Next > >
Civil Code §5800. Limitation of Officer and Director Liability.
[Old: Civ. Code §1365.7]
(a) A volunteer officer or volunteer director described in subdivision (e) of an association that manages a common interest development that is residential or mixed use shall not be personally liable in excess of the coverage of insurance specified in paragraph (4) to any person who suffers injury, including, but not limited to, bodily injury, emotional distress, wrongful death, or property damage or loss as a result of the tortious act or omission of the volunteer officer or volunteer director if all of the following criteria are met:
(1) The act or omission was performed within the scope of the officer’s or director’s association duties.
(2) The act or omission was performed in good faith.
(3) The act or omission was not willful, wanton, or grossly negligent.
(4) The association maintained and had in effect at the time the act or omission occurred and at the time a claim is made one or more policies of insurance that shall include coverage for (A) general liability of the association and (B) individual liability of officers and directors of the association for negligent acts or omissions in that capacity; provided that both types of coverage are in the following minimum amounts:
(A) At least five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) if the common interest development consists of 100 or fewer separate interests.
(B) At least one million dollars ($1,000,000) if the common interest development consists of more than 100 separate interests.
(b) The payment of actual expenses incurred by a director or officer in the execution of the duties of that position does not affect the director’s or officer’s status as a volunteer within the meaning of this section.
(c) An officer or director who at the time of the act or omission was a declarant, or who received either direct or indirect compensation as an employee from the declarant, or from a financial institution that purchased a separate interest at a judicial or nonjudicial foreclosure of a mortgage or deed of trust on real property, is not a volunteer for the purposes of this section.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the liability of the association for its negligent act or omission or for any negligent act or omission of an officer or director of the association.
(e) This section shall only apply to a volunteer officer or director who is a tenant of a residential separate interest in the common interest development or is an owner of no more than two separate interests and whose ownership in the common interest development consists exclusively of residential separate interests.
(1) For purposes of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), the scope of the officer’s or director’s association duties shall include, but shall not be limited to, both of the following decisions:
(A) Whether to conduct an investigation of the common interest development for latent deficiencies prior to the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations.
(B) Whether to commence a civil action against the builder for defects in design or construction.
(2) It is the intent of the Legislature that this section clarify the scope of association duties to which the protections against personal liability in this section apply. It is not the intent of the Legislature that these clarifications be construed to expand, or limit, the fiduciary duties owed by the directors or officers.
(Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 278, Sec. 2. (AB 1412) Effective January 1, 2018.)
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1228
|
__label__wiki
| 0.551021
| 0.551021
|
eBooks, Books, and more from ARUDOU Debito (click on icon):
////////////////////////////////////////
By ARUDOU Debito (debito@debito.org, www.debito.org, Twitter arudoudebito)
Freely Forwardable
NYT: Since taking over as Japan’s prime minister in December, Shinzo Abe and his conservative Liberal Democratic Party have been juggling a packed agenda of complicated issues, including reviving the country’s economy, coping with the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami and managing prickly relations with neighbors like North Korea. Stirring up extraneous controversy is counterproductive, but that’s exactly what he and his nationalist allies in Parliament have done. On Tuesday, a group of 168 mostly low-ranking conservative lawmakers visited the Yasukuni Shrine in central Tokyo, which honors Japan’s war dead, including several who were executed as war criminals after World War II. It was the largest mass visit by Parliament in recent memory…
Japan and China both need to work on a peaceful solution to their territorial issues. But it seems especially foolhardy for Japan to inflame hostilities with China and South Korea when all countries need to be working cooperatively to resolve the problems with North Korea and its nuclear program. Instead of exacerbating historical wounds, Mr. Abe should focus on writing Japan’s future, with an emphasis on improving its long-stagnant economy and enhancing its role as a leading democracy in Asia and beyond.
http://www.debito.org/?p=11408
You have to hand it to zealots in political power for their singlemindedness and clarity of message. The extreme-right leaders of the LDP are pursuing their agenda with messianistic fervor from both above and below, opening booths and putting in Prime Ministerial appearances at online geek festivals, and even enlisting the Emperor to push an overtly-politicized agenda of historical revisionism.
BBC: Japan has for the first time marked the anniversary of the end of the allied occupation, which followed its defeat in World War II. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the “restoration of sovereignty day” would give Japan hope for the future and help it become “strong and resolute”. The event is seen as part of Mr Abe’s nationalist campaign. He is also pushing for a revision of Japan’s pacifist constitution to ease tight restrictions on the armed forces… “I want to make this a day when we can renew our sense of hope and determination for the future,” the 58-year-old said in front of officials gathered in Tokyo. “We have a responsibility to make Japan a strong and resolute country that others across the world can rely on,” he said.
Yomiuri: Also behind the government’s decision to sponsor the ceremony is the perceived threat to the nation’s sovereignty, as well as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s pursuit of constitutional revision, observers said. Takeshi Noda, chairman of the LDP Research Commission on the Tax System… He believes it is necessary to give the people an opportunity to ponder why the nation lost its sovereignty by considering as a set the April 28 anniversary of the restoration of independence and the Aug. 15 anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II, the day the nation announced its acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration. He calls the Aug. 15 anniversary “the day of humiliation for losing [the nation’s] sovereignty.”… Abe … delivered a video message, saying: “[The nation’s] failure to thoroughly review the Occupation period right after sovereignty was restored has left serious problems. The next [task for us] is [to revise] the Constitution.”
Yomiuri then suddenly opines: Yet the nation’s territory and sovereign power have been threatened daily. China’s maritime surveillance ships have repeatedly intruded into Japanese territorial waters near the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture. Meanwhile, the Takeshima islands have been illegally occupied by South Korea, and Russia has been intensifying its effective control over the northern territories off Hokkaido. The current situation, in which the nation’s sovereignty is in unprecedented danger, also appears to have fueled Abe’s desire to hold the latest ceremony.
Comment: An even bigger surprise was that PM Abe found the time to put in an appearance at a local geek festival, sponsored by Internet snakepit of bullies and right-winger refuge 2-Channel’s corporate body, Niconico Douga a few days ago! Submitter JJS comments: “Wanted to point your attention to this as it seems like one of those things that will be passed up, glossed over, or completely go unseen by most people. I guess NicoNico video held some type of ‘Big Conference’ called 「niconico choukaigi 2」. It appears at first to be some gathering for tech-heads and geek culture of all kinds. But scroll down a bit to the section “jieitai ya zainichi beigun, kakuseito mo sanka” (SDF and American Military, and participation from each political party)and you’ll see that Abe came to participate…essentially campaigning at the event. Nico Nico played a big role in one of the debates he proposed be put online, live. But to outright be campaigning at this event seems out of the norm and certainly a bending of the rules. Even more disturbing is the show of military hardware with tie-ins to cute “moe” characters, etc. There is something rotten in Nagatacho and it all seems to be going ‘according to plan.’”
Quite. The zealots leading the LDP have melded nationalism, militarism, and naked political ambition. Something wicked is not only this way coming, it is already here. If the LDP gets its way and converts this tone of agenda into real public policy, Japan is heading for remilitarization all over again.
We now have the xenophobic public demonstrations talked about previously on Debito.org, which had slogans such as “Kill the Koreans!” in Tokyo and “start a Tsuruhashi Massacre like the Nanking Massacre!” in Osaka, being debated and decried in Japan’s political circles. Witness this article fresh from the Asahi (translation mine):
Asahi: On May 9, the issue of the Zaitokukai’s repeated demos containing hate speech, calling for people to “Kill the Koreans”, was taken up in the Upper House’s Judicial Committee. Justice Minister Tanigaki Sadakazu said, “I am filled with concern. This runs directly counter to the course of a civilized nation.”… In regards to next steps, Tanigaki limited his statement to, “This is extremely worrisome because it is related to freedom of expression. I wish to observe most carefully to see whether it leads to sentiments of racial discrimination.”
Comments have also come from the top.
Japan Daily Press: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed his concern on the increase of hate speech in the country in an Upper House Budget Committee session on May 7. The premier criticized the hate-mongering that has become rampant on the internet and in specific areas around the nation, adding that the hate these people show is dishonoring Japan… Abe concluded that those who are spreading hate speech – online or offline – do not represent the Japanese people. He also specifically said that it was his intention to restrict hateful comments posted on his official Facebook page. “It’s completely wrong to put others down and feel as if we are superior,” he said. “Such acts dishonor ourselves.”
COMMENT FROM DEBITO: Although I am happy that the LDP is saying that these hateful tendencies are a bad thing, there are two tendencies that should be noted. One is that these are reactive, not active, stances by the governing parties. These clear and powerful acts of hate speech happened months ago, and now we’re just getting to them during question time, in response to opposition questions? Far too slow. The LDP should have denounced this behavior immediately if it ran so counter to what PM Abe can so cocksurely say is not “The Japanese Way of Thinking”. (And given that these people are legislators, where is the proposal for a law against it?)
The other is Abe’s disingenuousness. Abe might now say that those who are disseminating this kind of hate speech “do not represent the Japanese people”. Yet these right-wing haters are precisely Abe’s support base. As I discussed in my articles in the Japan Times (“Keep Abe’s hawks in check or Japan will suffer”, February 4, 2013) and on Japan Focus (“Japan’s Rightward Swing and the Tottori Prefecture Human Rights Ordinance.” Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 11, Issue 9, No. 3. March 4, 2013), Abe has been intimately involved with the Sakura TV crowd, for years now advocating all manner of hateful invective towards NJ, particularly Japan’s neighbors and domestic NJ residents. Abe is thus talking out of both sides of his mouth here.
In sum, if Abe wants to keep harping on about “honor” (whatever that means), I think he should be looking at himself and his political activities in the mirror. These hate-speech activities are a direct result of the political machinations of his political ilk, if not him personally. That a man could exist in such a powerful position in government not once, but twice, says indicative things about Japan’s view of “honor”, and about the Japanese public’s tolerance of disingenuousness.
Economist: On April 17th New Zealand became the 12th country to legalise gay marriage, though the law will not come into effect until August. Uruguay, too, has passed a similar bill that awaits the signature of the president before it becomes law. And in late March the American Supreme Court began hearing arguments in a case on the constitutionality of the Defence of Marriage Act, which restricts marriage to a man and a woman. In all these countries—and indeed in much of the West—opinion polls show public support for same-sex marriages.
Debito.org applauds this trend of legalizing gay marriage. Meanwhile Japan, as you can see above, to its credit has no law criminalizing homosexuality. It, however, does not permit gay marriages due to the vagaries of the Family Registry (Koseki) System. In short, only a wife and a husband by gender can create a married family unit. But as has been pointed out here on Debito.org before, people find ways to get around this. Gay couples, in order to pass on inheritance rights, adopt each other into the same family unit on the Koseki. The problem is for international couples that non-citizens cannot be listed on a Koseki as husband or wife.
So here is how LGBT foreigners can get around it: Naturalize and adopt. As Debito.org previously suggested might be the case, famous naturalized Japanese Donald Keene has done it, and recently gone public about it. Congratulations. He provides the template: Gay NJ who wish to marry Japanese and get the same inheritance rights should naturalize and adopt one another. Or else, barring naturalization, go overseas to a society more enlightened about Same-Sex Marriage and get married.
Here’s something interesting for those of you working in Japan and intending to stay on until retirement. Those of you who have done the research (see also our HANDBOOK FOR NEWCOMERS, MIGRANTS, AND IMMIGRANTS TO JAPAN) will know that (aside from a quickie lump-sum you can withdraw if you’ve only paid in for a few years and are leaving Japan) you have to pay into Japan’s mandatory pension system for 300 months (i.e., 25 years) or you don’t get anything back. Further, you can’t collect it until the mandatory retirement age, which was 60, but now has been raised to 61 and soon will be raised to 65, according to the Japan Times. So that means that even if you want to stop work early even after paying in for 300 months, you simply cannot collect. This is also assuming that, given the decreasing population and increasing pensioners, Japan’s pension system will even be solvent by the time you reach retirement age. Something to think about.
JT: From next month, when the 2013 fiscal year begins, the revised Law Concerning Stabilization of Employment of Older Persons takes effect, and the mandatory retirement age, defined as the minimum age for payout of social security pensions — last raised from 55 to 60 years in 1998 — will go up to 61, and then increase incrementally at the rate of one year of age every three years, until 2025, when the mandatory retirement age reaches 65.
This JT article has been sent to me by lots of people and has stirred up quite a bit of debate in cyberspace. Frankly, I’m a little surprised (albeit happily) that this was in any way treated as news. I thought that this sort of thing was so normalized a practice that people largely ignored it, treated it as part of the background noise/inconvenience of living in a place like Japan. Kudos to the reporter and the Ryuugaku student for taking it up afresh.
It has always been to Debito.org’s great chagrin that we have no page (aside from some “pinprick protest” posts and solutions here, here, here, here, here, and here) dedicated to exclusionary businesses within the rental market. Partially because landlords don’t hang up a shingle saying “Japanese Only” that we can take a picture of to name and shame (like we can and have done for exclusionary businesses open to the public). Racist landlords can instead launder their discrimination through third parties like realtors, keeping incidents scattered and individualized and more or less on the downlow, and making Japan’s rental market a racialized minefield for NJ residents.
One thing that can be done (in the Ryuukoku University case mentioned in the JT article below) is for the university co-op to simply refuse to do business with or advertise apartments to anyone on campus for places with exclusionary practices or landlords. Deny them the lucrative student market. This has to be done systematically back to combat the systematic practices in place. This should be standard practice at all universities, and it is something students (Japanese and NJ) should push for. I know of one place that is considering doing so (more later). I look forward to Debito.org Readers sharing their stories of exclusionary landlords and realtors in the Comments Section. Do try to give names, places, and dates if you can. And if you have any visuals of clear exclusionary rules, please send them to me at debito@debito.org and I’ll find ways to include them with your comment.
Japan Times: After spending 2.5 years living the quiet life in buttoned-down Shiga Prefecture, Ryukoku University student Victor Rosenhoj was looking forward to moving into bustling central Kyoto, where things promised to be more lively and international. First, though, he needed to find a suitable apartment, so he picked up a copy of the student magazine, Ryudaisei No Sumai, from the cooperative store on campus… When he pointed to the apartment he was interested in, the shop manager told him that no foreigners were allowed to rent the place…
Rosenhoj said one of the things that surprised him the most was the “matter-of-fact way” the manager informed him that the apartment was off-limits to foreigners. After Rosehoj confronted the manager about the issue, he says he was somewhat apologetic about it, but at the same time dismissive of the idea that it could be construed as racial discrimination by a foreign customer.
Kyoto Shimbun: On April 10, the [Governor] of Kyoto Keiji Yamada made public his intentions to appeal to the government to award overseas students who graduate from Kyoto [universities] with the right to permanent residence. It is a proposal entitled ‘Kyoto University Special Ward’ and also incorporates other supportive measures for foreign students. With a decrease in student intake within Japan in recent years, it is hoped that by providing incentives for academically skilled overseas students, Kyoto will not only be able to compete with other cities like Tokyo but will also be able to add a new lease of life to its cultural city….
With air of conviction, Kyoto’s [Governor] put his proposition to the panel: “What I’d like to ask you to consider is whether overseas students who graduate from Kyoto [universities] and take part in the city’s job training program can be given permanent resident status. I’d like to work with everyone in producing an effective policy.”
COMMENT: Interesting and very positive proposal, but it will come to naught, of course. Still, it shows how local governments are much more responsive to the needs of NJ than the central government (which is dominated by the control-the-borders-and-police-foreigners-only mindset of the Ministry of Justice). Although the central government occasionally deigns to listen to the locals (especially when they band together and say, “Our NJ residents need this!” as per the Hamamatsu Sengen of 2001), ultimately the regular blind spots prevail, and I think they will in this case too (as awarding PR is the job of the MOJ, not local governments).
We have some more harbingers of Japan’s retreat into itself. International marriages are way down, and so are Japanese students studying abroad. First, check out this significant stat about international marriage: At last measurement, international marriage figures (in blue) have dropped by about 25% since their peak in 2006! (International divorce figures, in yellow, have crept up too.) I call it significant because it removes one of the fundamental means to Japan’s increased diversity. If Japan’s perennially low birthrate means fewer children, having fewer international marriages means probably fewer international Japanese children. And this will quite possibly lead to further marginalization of the “half” population as a temporary “blip” in international coupling (last seen as a “social problem” with the Postwar konketsuji mixed-blood children, publicly stigmatized for being “bastard children of prostitutes”; see Fish, Robert A. 2009. “‘Mixed-blood’ Japanese: A Reconsideration of Race and Purity in Japan.” Pp. 40-58 in Weiner, ed., Japan’s Minorities: The Illusion of Homogeneity. 2nd ed. Sheffield: Routledge.)
Next up, consider how Japanese students are not going overseas much (according to the Japan Times, they are being significantly outdistanced by, for example, the South Koreans and Chinese): That said, I’m a bit skeptical about whether this trend means a great deal, as I don’t think people who study abroad necessarily become more broad-minded or open to outside ideas (and Japanese society has structural mechanisms for marginalizing students who leave the system anyway). Moreover, the domestic discourse nowadays is finding ways to rationalize away the need, for example, to study a foreign language at all. Nevertheless, I would argue that these trends are not particularly good for Japan, as they are not only harbingers of insularity, but also encouraging even further insularity in addition to recent trends I have written about before.
JDG: “Saw this story on Japan Today (link): It’s a story about a poster campaign to advertise a TV show where NJ straight off the plane are asked why they came to Japan. In the poster, ‘talent(less)’ J-celebs, and a variety of caricatured NJ are proffering answers (‘maid’ cafes, lolitas, etc). I think that there are two ways of looking at this: The first is that they are proceeding from the false assumption that all NJ in Japan are visitors who must be here for some uniquely crazy ‘Japanese’ experience that they can’t get at home, and plays into the myth that there are no NJ long term residents who are here because of their jobs, or family connections. Whilst ignorant and not very helpful for understanding the wide variety of NJ identities, it is a common enough mistake for the Japanese to make.
“However, my second thought is that this poster is an inadvertent and unintended insight into a darker aspect of Japanese psychology on the NJ issue. What if we suppose that this poster is not the product of some ignoramus who genuinely knows nothing of NJ realities in Japan, and believes the myth totally? What if this poster simply reflects a more widespread and deep rooted opinion that NJ shouldn’t be living in Japan because they have families or business here? What if the poster is deliberately not offering reasons such as ‘I’m here because I’m on the board or directors of (insert J-company here)’, or ‘I’m here to get my children back’, or ‘I’m here with the IAEA to inspect your reactors’? These are exaggerations, of course, but the point that I am making is that this poster in itself is a tool of devision, disenfranchisement, exclusion, subjugation, and othering. All that, and created with a lack of self-awareness in the process? A frightening indicator of the extent to which discrimination is normalized in japanese society.”
COMMENT: I would concur in particular with the aspect of maintaining the dominant discourse in Japan of NJ as “guests”, i.e., “temporary visitors, not residents”, mixed in with the shades of “Cool Japan” that helps Japanese society revalidate and even fetishize itself through foreigners. But when you look back a bit historically, there’s more editorial subterfuge here…
Bignose: …So the three of us were round our friend’s place where she cooked a lovely dinner and then she introduced us to a “must watch” waraibangumi called “Kobito-zukan”. I was very interested because as a father I monitor Japanese kids programs my wife wants to show our child quite closely, avoiding programs that I think are problematical (too cute, squealing, gender stereotypes and having very young performers, especially young girls, performing adult routines…and it’s not only my wife and I that find groups such as AKB48 extremely disturbing and problematic on many, many levels). I always try to balance out any media experiences my child has with Japanese media with alternatives in English, either from the U.S. or the UK, for example. As I watched it, I thought fine, fine, it looks like a decent story, very entertaining. But I wondered, why is this kiddies program so entertaining for adults? Why is it such a hit? My friend’s eye were glowing, and she was clearly getting very excited.
By the second minute I started to find the patronizing tone grating, largely because it reminds me of how I am still sometimes treated by Japanese people dealing with gaijin, you know as if we are some sort of stupid alien pets. Before I go any further, I’d like readers to look at the other pictures from the set of characters for this series: Notice anything?
Bignoses! They all look like that older grumpy University English teacher you had that you didn’t really like and had to put up with, with his strange alien ideas and his attitude problem at not playing the game and being “yasashii,” i.e. entertainment. They even have blackfaced “kokujin” characters with even bigger flatter noses and big lips. Where are the Asian characters? There are none.
As I watched further, more things fell into place. The lovable western looking kobito is lured into a world thinking he’s going to get his nice juicy peach, not knowing in fact that he’s going to be completely controlled as a lovable pet that is going to be patted and taken care of until his part is played… this to me seems all about appealing to the control fantasies of othering gaijin. Controllable kobito lovingly lured into traps by their own stupidity to be cared for and controlled and as entertainment for Japanese.
Tweak the immigration debate and demand an upgrade to denizen class
BY ARUDOU Debito
The Japan Times, Just Be Cause Column 62, published April 2, 2013
Courtesy http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/04/02/issues/tweak-the-immigration-debate-and-demand-an-upgrade-to-denizen-class/
Version with comments and links to sources at http://www.debito.org/?p=11327
That’s all for this month! Thanks as always for reading!
ARUDOU Debito
debito@debito.org, www.debito.org, Twitter arudoudebito
DEBITO.ORG NEWSLETTER MAY 13, 2013 ENDS
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1229
|
__label__cc
| 0.594927
| 0.405073
|
Passionate about nature?
Do you have a child who is passionate about nature and would love to spend the day with BBC Springwatch’s Iolo Williams?
Cairngorms Nature and the RSPB have launched a UK-wide search to find a child who is passionate about nature and can inspire others.
The winner will get the chance to spend a day being filmed with BBC nature presenter Iolo Williams, in the Cairngorms National Park as part of an amazing 5-day Speyside Wildlife holiday for them and their family.
Iolo Williams said, “ I am delighted to be involved in this competition.
“The Cairngorms National Park, which is home to so much amazing wildlife, is the perfect place to inspire a love of nature.”
It’s so easy to enter the competition, all you need to do is film your child presenting something in nature.
It doesn’t have to be full of swish editing or great wildlife shots, it could be as simple as a smartphone and a flower, what is more important is enthusiasm and passion for the subject.
The competition is open to all 10-16 year olds who are UK residents, the film should be no longer than 90 seconds and the entrant must tell the camera why they would like to present Cairngorms Nature.
The entries must be uploaded by a parent or guardian and will be shortlisted by a judging panel.
The deadline for entries is 5pm October 31st and the prize will be taken Sat 13-Wed 17 February 2016.
For more information and how to enter visit www.rspb.org.uk/cairngormsnature.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1231
|
__label__wiki
| 0.514105
| 0.514105
|
Pedal for Scotland launches the country’s biggest bike event
Transport Minister Humza Yousaf is joined by STV presenter Jennifer Reoch and the Capital Radio's Des Clarke to launch Pedal for Scotland's 20th Glasgow to Edinburgh ride, which will take place on Sunday, September 9. (Photo: � Craig Watson)
Thousands of people are being encouraged to get on their bikes to raise money for charities at milestone event.
Transport Minister Humza Yousaf, STV presenter Jennifer Reoch and the Capital Radio breakfast team are all calling on families, friends and colleagues to take part in the 20th Pedal for Scotland.
The annual Glasgow to Edinburgh ride is Scotland’s biggest bike event and raises vital funds for local charities including Pedal for Scotland’s official charity partner, the STV Children’s Appeal.
Thousands of people from Scotland and beyond are expected to take part in the 45-mile Classic Challenge, with an optional 100-mile Big Belter or 10-mile Wee Jaunt for riders of all abilities.
Organiser Cycling Scotland is hopeful that more money than ever before will be raised at this year’s event on Sunday, September 9.
Cycling Scotland chief executive Keith Irving said: “Pedal for Scotland is one of the country’s biggest and best family events where riders of all ages and abilities get together to cycle an iconic route between Glasgow and Edinburgh.
“After a long hard winter, we are urging everyone to get out on their bikes and get training for the 20th Pedal for Scotland or come along and support those taking part on the day.”
Minister for Transport Humza Yousaf, who will be among the riders on the day, added: “I’m hoping many of this year’s participants will not only be inspired themselves but inspire others to integrate cycling and walking into their daily routines and so improve their health and wellbeing into the bargain.
“If we can encourage more people to embrace active travel and reduce the number of car journeys being taken, we can reduce pollution in our towns and cities for the benefit of everyone.”
Among the thousands of participants at this year’s Pedal for Scotland will be Capital Radio Breakfast Show stars Des Clarke, Amy Irons and Steven Mill.
It will be a big challenge for comedian Des, who only recently learned to ride a bike at the age of 37.
He said: “I’m really excited to be part of this year’s Pedal for Scotland.
“It’s a great way to get fit and have fun with friends while raising money for amazing causes.”
STV presenter Jennifer Reoch added: “The atmosphere at Pedal For Scotland is just incredible. I have done the Glasgow to Edinburgh cycle three times and the sense of fun and excitement has been unbeatable.
“There are a lot of miles to cycle but what’s great is you can take it at your own pace so you can fly along in a few hours if you’re a bit of a pro or take your time and stop at the many food and drinks stations along the way.
“On top of that you can raise loads of money for brilliant causes like the STV Children’s Appeal which make the miles that wee bit easier when your legs get tired.”
Registration for Pedal for Scotland on Sunday, September 9, is now available at www.pedal.scot.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1232
|
__label__cc
| 0.702364
| 0.297636
|
Approach Model
Out-of-School
SJLA
Diner Day
Domus operates three schools serving 350 Connecticut students who need a different educational environment to overcome barriers to learning and achieve success. Hear from staff and students about our approach and why it works.
STAMFORD ACADEMY 12TH GRADER “Steve”
(NOT HIS REAL NAME)
Steve is an example of a student who grew tremendously during just one school year. Steve started off his senior year at Stamford Academy with an NWEA (Northwest Educational Assessment) reading score of 191, which is equivalent to a 2.9 grade level. He struggled with learning disabilities and dyslexia as well as family financial and heath difficulties. These challenges made it difficult to succeed in previous educational institutions. At Stamford Academy, he worked on vocabulary, phonics, reading comprehension, and writing throughout the year. In past years, Steve had struggled to verbally explain his thoughts and frustrations about reading. Steve’s NWEA reading score at the end of the year was 215, which is equivalent to a 6.9 grade level. His growth of four grade levels in one school year was a result of the work of many professionals who never gave up on him: the Stamford Academy reading teacher, all his classroom teachers, and his special education teacher. Steve is extremely proud of his work and graduated Stamford Academy with new skills so he can achieve his life goals.
Lion’s Den after-school STUDENT “Susan”
(NOT Her REAL NAME)
Susan’s mother died when she was in 6th grade. At school, she was quiet and closed off. She attended Lion’s Den every day but didn’t participate in many of the program’s activities. Gradually, she began to trust the Lion’s Den staff and, by 7th grade, she started joining activities and eventually signed up for many more activities—cheerleading, knitting, walking club, cooking, Alvin Ailey dancing and the step team. She also developed more confidence and became the team captain of the step team in 8th grade. Additionally, her academics gradually improved over this time period and she graduated last June as an honor roll student and was selected by the entire faculty as “Lion of the Year,” an award given to the student who best exemplifies and embodies the values of Trailblazers. She was accepted into a competitive academic-based summer program and passed the assessments necessary to enroll at Wright Tech. She is now a freshman, and while she never played volleyball, she tried out for the team and made it. We’re proud of Susan and the confidence she gained in Lion’s Den; we know her time at Lion’s Den will propel her to succeed at new things.
Work and Learn Youth “CHERYL”
Cheryl (not her real name) lived in a shelter in Norwalk when she came to train in our culinary program. She was shy to the point of almost being nonverbal but loved to cook and enjoyed her time in our kitchen. Around the time she completed our culinary program, she was placed with a foster family, and when she returned to our bicycle repair shop, she rebuilt a donated bicycle that she then used to commute from Norwalk to the Work and Learn. She began to trust in our staff, believe in herself, and open up—becoming talkative and independent. We brought her back for a third cycle, this time as a student leader in our culinary program, where she instructed other youth in food preparation skills. Through this experience—and in no small part because of the independence she gained by riding the bike she built to and from our program—she matured into a young woman. She stays in regular contact with us, and so we know that: She has transferred to a comprehensive high school, where she is getting good grades. She found a part-time after-school job in a high-end retail store. And she was adopted by her loving foster mother.
A Film on Teen Violence By Students from The Stamford Academy
jobs staff access STORE donate
83 Lockwood Avenue, Stamford, CT 06902 * 203.324.4277 * info@domuskids.org
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1233
|
__label__wiki
| 0.832886
| 0.832886
|
By Jude Deveraux
Read by Alison Fraser
Jude Deveraux Simon & Schuster Audio
4.65 Hours • 10/01/2000 • Abridged
The year is 1909, and Temperance O'Neil is a woman ahead of her time. At 29, she is happily married to her work helping single mothers on the streets of New York. Unfortunately, Angus McCairn - her new stepfather - controls the purse strings to her substantial inheritance. Angus insists she quit her career and live in his house in Edinburgh. Temperance heads to Scotland with one mission - to drive Angus crazy. Angus asks that she pose as housekeeper to Angus' nephew, James, in a secret attempt to find him a wife. If she succeeds in matchmaking, she will be allowed to return to New York. Although James McCairn is Laird of Clan McCairn, he's no cultured gentleman - he's a strapping, rough-mannered giant interested only in farming. His stables are immaculate, his horses gleam with care, and he lavishes personal attention on his sheep - but there are pigeons roosting in the kitchens and chickens in the bedrooms. Temperance is determined to win her return passage at any cost. But the cost may be her heart...for as Temperance O'Neil attempts to open James' eyes to the wonders of love, it is she herself who is liberated - by the power of an overwhelming passion.
The year is 1909, and Temperance O'Neil is a woman ahead of her time. At 29, she is happily married to her work helping single mothers on the streets of New York. Unfortunately, Angus McCairn - her new stepfather - controls the purse strings to her substantial inheritance. Angus insists she quit her career and live in his house in Edinburgh. Temperance heads to Scotland with one mission - to drive Angus crazy. Angus asks that she pose as housekeeper to Angus' nephew, James, in a secret attempt to find him a wife. If she succeeds in matchmaking, she will be allowed to return to New York.
Although James McCairn is Laird of Clan McCairn, he's no cultured gentleman - he's a strapping, rough-mannered giant interested only in farming. His stables are immaculate, his horses gleam with care, and he lavishes personal attention on his sheep - but there are pigeons roosting in the kitchens and chickens in the bedrooms.
Temperance is determined to win her return passage at any cost. But the cost may be her heart...for as Temperance O'Neil attempts to open James' eyes to the wonders of love, it is she herself who is liberated - by the power of an overwhelming passion.
“Temperance is the hero that we all want to be, and Jude Deveraux’s work is an entertaining medium for inspiration.” —Amazon.com, editorial review
“Quite a treat, this is highly recommended.” —Library Journal
“A light and easy read that historical romance fans will enjoy.” —Booklist
Author Bio: Jude Deveraux
Jude Deveraux is the author of over forty New York Times bestsellers, including Moonlight Masquerade and A Knight in Shining Armor. She was honored with a Romantic Times Pioneer Award in 2013 for her distinguished career. There are more than sixty million copies of her books in print worldwide.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1234
|
__label__cc
| 0.696589
| 0.303411
|
The Power of a Thin Line Film Festival doc
About Arts/Culture, Dentoning, Festivals/Events, Uniquely Denton
Kim Phillips is Vice President of the Denton Convention & Visitors Bureau. A native Texan, she has headed tourism initiatives in Denton County for nearly 20 years. Kim believes that storytelling is the most powerful form of communication regardless of the medium used, from books and blogs to film and photos and everything in between. She loves promoting Denton’s original, independent spirit through the city’s sense of place and cast of many characters.
Published on: Sat, Feb 09, 2013
I have to be honest. When Thin Line Film Festival opened in Denton for the first time six years ago, I had never watched a documentary. Hold on before you gasp! Of course I sat through hundreds of documentary and educational films in school. I’m old enough that my academic life spanned that of film’s from flickery 8mm to high-def. So, I’ve watched my share of docs. What I mean to say is that it had never occurred to me to watch a doc for the fun of it.
Now don’t judge. This is not a creative or intelligent measurement – whether one opts for docs or not. I don’t even watch much TV in general. I’m a reader. But then along came Thin Line. Since our job in the Denton Convention & Visitors Bureau is to promote Denton and all of our happenings, I went, and let’s just say I finally got it. Last year for Christmas, our kids gave my husband and me Apple TV which is like Netflix on steroids. It still sometimes surprises even me when a doc is our pick over a box office flick for a relaxing evening.
So now six years later, I look forward to Thin Line and catch as many docs as I can during it its 9-day run in Downtown Denton. The 2013 festival opened last night with Blood Brother, an incredible story about a guy, Rocky, who falls in love with a compound full of HIV infected children in India, becoming a big brother who holds their hands, hugs them, tosses them playfully in the air, dries their tears. When visa problems send him back to America for a couple of months, he is unable to fit comfortably in the American landscape. His heart was in India and he spent his forced sabbatical getting himself back there.
My biggest take-away from the film? Foundational within American culture is the pursuit of happiness, an innocently, entitled expectation of happy endings. Rocky comments on the stark extremes between the children playing in his American neighborhood and the children making fun from dust in India. He reminds us that the rest of the world has no concept for happy endings. They don’t hope for anything more than what is. Today is enough. They cannot conjure the idea that a person might think of themselves as deserving more than what simply is. Why, that’s as foreign to their imagination’s experience as docs by choice were to mine until just a few years ago.
Today, I’m checking out a couple of films: Raid of the Rainbow Lounge at 4:00 and then Snark Puppy: Ground Up at 8:00. They’ll be different than Blood Brother. But then, isn’t that the beauty of docs?
By Kim Phillips
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1239
|
__label__cc
| 0.665221
| 0.334779
|
(-) Feb 2006 (9)
Doctors Without Borders Responding to Severe Cholera Outbreak in Southern Sudan
More than 1,800 cases recorded in two weeks in non endemic area Barcelona, February 22, 2006 - Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has started an emergency intervention in southern ...
News : Feb 22, 2006
Running for Their Lives: Civilians Violently Displaced in the DR Congo's Katanga and North Kivu Provinces
Read MSF's Speech about the Situation in the DRC at the UN Security Council © Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images Newly arrived refugees wait to be registered in a makeshift camp in Dubie, Katanga ...
Niger: What to do next?
In 2005, MSF teams admitted more than 63,000 children under five suffering from severe acute malnutrition to their therapeutic feeding programs in five regions of Niger. This is a chronic emergency ...
Research : Feb 12, 2006
Doctors Without Borders Staff in Colombia Released
Amsterdam/Bogotá, February 9, 2006 - The two staff members of the international medical aid organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) who were detained by an armed group in ...
News : Feb 9, 2006
Two Doctors Without Borders Staff Members Detained in Colombia
Amsterdam/Bogotá, February 9, 2006 – Two staff members of the international medical aid organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) have been detained by an armed group in the ...
Gilead's Tenofovir 'Access Program' for Developing Countries: A Case of False Promises?
MSF Briefing Note on Tenofovir Denver, CO, February 7, 2006 — As AIDS experts gather this week in Denver to discuss advances in treatment at the 13th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic ...
Water-and-Sanitation Engineer Barry Gutwein in DRC"The really desperate ones were surviving on manioc peels"
"The only thing separating the displaced people from life-threatening dehydration was a three-and-half inch diameter, exposed pipe that was snaking through the jungle to the town." says Barry Gutwein, ...
Story : Feb 5, 2006
Gilead's Tenofovir Access Program for Developing Countries
Research : Feb 1, 2006
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is alarmed at the lack of availability of a key antiretroviral to treat HIV/AIDS, Gilead Science's tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF), marketed ...
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1241
|
__label__cc
| 0.502077
| 0.497923
|
Research ⇨
Research Projects ⇨
Etal: An Early Medieval Cemetery in Context
A research project of the Department of Archaeology.
Anglo-Saxon Northumbria is widely known from 8th-century written sources and archaeological sites, particularly those related to the establishment of Christianity in the region. Despite their fame and recent overviews of the historical development of Northumbria, the early stages of Anglian cultural expansion and the political formation of the kingdom remain poorly understood. The cemetery site at Etal, identified by the discovery of a number of early medieval brooches, provides vital evidence for this early history of post-Roman Northumberland.
‘Anglo-Saxon’ material culture is rare in Co. Durham and Northumberland, representing less than 1% of artefacts found in the North East and reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme. Very few ‘early’ Anglian cemeteries north of the Tees have seen modern excavation. This project is thus significantly contributing to understanding society in what shortly afterwards became the most powerful early medieval kingdom in the British Isles.
This is a collaborative project bringing together the Portable Antiquities Scheme, the University of Newcastle and Durham University and is funded by the Society of Antiquaries of London and the Society for Medieval Archaeology, along with in-kind and actual contributions from the PAS and both University partners.
Rob Collins (PAS, Univ. Newcastle), working together with Sarah Semple (Durham) and Sam Turner (Newcastle), are together leading a programme of field investigation that aims to set the remarkable metalwork finds from Etal into their proper archaeological context. This is not only adding to our understanding of the development of settlement and power networks in the early medieval North East, it also honing field approaches and methods suitable to exploring the archaeological context of a wealth of new Portable Antiquity Scheme data.
A geophysical survey undertaken by Archaeological Services at Durham University provided a basis for survey and excavation in 2013 by the Etal Project team. This produced interesting results suggesting the presence of early sealed deposits and a complex of features. A short report is in progress and a further season of fieldwork is planned for 2013.
From the Department of Archaeology
Professor Sarah Semple
Scottish Soldiers Project
View the latest news on the project
Cooperating with the Palace Museum in China
Learn more about our project with the Palace Museum
Palace Museum
Global and Intercontinental Projects
Asian Projects
African Projects
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1246
|
__label__wiki
| 0.519013
| 0.519013
|
Kim Kardashian's Surrogacy Reportedly Fueled By Robbery
By Jamie LeeLo
It has been a long day for Kim Kardashian. Today, Kim not only launched her KKW Beauty line, but news also broke that she and husband Kanye West will be using a surrogate to have their third child, People reports.
Elite Daily reached out to Kim and Kanye's teams for confirmation, but did not hear back by the time of publication.
According to E! News, this decision was fueled in part by Kim's life-altering Paris robbery back in October of 2016.
A source told E!,
Kim has been very focused on having another child ever since the Paris robbery. The robbery only made her more determined to expand her family, and Kanye is truly a partner in the process.
Elite Daily reached out to both Kim and Kanye's teams for comment on the source's report, but did not hear back by the time of publication.
Craig Barritt/Getty Images
The family has become notably even more close-knit since the tragic events in Paris, and it has been clear that they are relying heavily on the love and support they have for one another. It makes sense that something so extreme would shine light on the things that really matter, like family.
Kim also spoke candidly about how it all has affected her desire to grow her family in a recent episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians.
Kanye and I have always talked about having more kids, but after what I went through in Paris, the urgency is even greater. I'd just love nothing more than to expand my family and just know that I have this world at home that's safe. And if for some reason I left this earth sooner than I really wanted to, then my kids would have a support system at home so that I know that they would be OK if I wasn't here.
Additionally, she chatted with sisters Khloé and Kourtney about the potential of surrogacy, saying,
I'm definitely leaning more towards I want to try. After talking to Kanye, I think that I always knew that surrogacy was an option but I didn't think it was that realistic of an option. Now I feel like that's my reality.
Rich Fury/Getty Images
We're sending the whole Kardashian West family support and love during this sensitive time.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1251
|
__label__cc
| 0.714137
| 0.285863
|
Sperm Competition and Sexual Selection
Editors: Tim Birkhead Anders Møller
Published Date: 12th August 1998
Sperm Competition and Sexual Selection presents the intricate ways in which sperm compete to fertilize eggs and how this has prompted reinterpretations of breeding behavior. This book provides a theoretical framework for the study of sperm competition, which is a central part of sexual selection. It also discusses the roles of females and the relationships between paternal care in sperm competition. The chapters focusing on taxonomic development are diverse and cover all the major animal groups, both vertebrate and invertebrate, and plants. The final chapter provides an overview discussing the relationship between sperm competition and sexual selection in terms of both function and mechanism and how these translate into species fitness. This book will be of prime interest to behaviorists, ecologists and evolutionary biologists, suggesting new avenues of research and new ways of approaching old problems.
The only up-to-date summary of a central and popular subject
Well known editors and authors
Provides a theoretical framework for the study of sperm competition
Covers all major animal groups
Includes a chapter on plants
Advanced student and research behavioral ecologists and evolutionary biologists. Reproductive anatomists and physiologists.
General Themes:
G.A. Parker, Sperm Competition and the Evolution of Ejaculates: Towards a Theory Base.
A.P. Moller, Sperm Competition and Sexual Selection.
W.G. Eberhard, Female Roles in Sperm Competition.
J. Wright, Paternity and Paternal Care.
Taxonomic Treatments:
L.F. Delph and K. Havens, Pollen Competition in Flowering Plants.
D.R. Levitan, Sperm Limitation, Gamete Competition and Sexual Selection in External Fertilizers.
N.K. Michiels, Mating Conflicts and Sperm Competition in Simultaneous Hermaphrodites.
B. Baur, Sperm Competition in Molluscs.
M.A. Elgar, Sperm Competition and Sexual Selection in Spiders and Other Arachnids.
L.W. Simmons and M.T. Siva-Jothy, Sperm Competition in Insects: Mechanisms and the Potential for Selection.
C.W. Petersen and R.R. Warner, Sperm Competition in Fishes.
T.R. Halliday, Sperm Competition in Amphibians.
M. Olsson and T. Madsen, Sexual Selection and Sperm Competition in Reptiles.
T.R. Birkhead, Sperm Competition in Birds: Mechanisms and Function.
D.A. Taggart, W.G. Breed, P.D. Temple-Smith, A. Purvis, and G. Shimmin, Reproduction, Mating Strategies and Sperm Competition in Marsupials and Monotremes.
M. Gomendio, A.H. Harcourt, and E.R.S. Roldan, Sperm Competition in Mammals.
T.R. Birkhead and A.P. Moller, Sperm Competition, Sexual Selection and Different Routes to Fitness. Index.
University of Sheffield, UK
Anders Møller
Laboratoire d'Ecologie, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France
"Overall this volume is a marvellous summary of the current state of the field, and importantly for students and newcomers to this area of study, also contains a wealth of suggestions for relevant future research. It is well organized, and highly readable." --D.J. Hosken in ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR (1999)
"...an exceptional resource: an encapsulation of diversity, and in most cases a state of the art synthesis. This book will be heavily consulted by biologists at the cutting edge of research in this field, but at the same time can be read and enjoyed by anyone with even a passing interest in how evolution shapes animal diversity. There seems little doubt that it will become a new bible for students of sperm competition." --Ben Sheldon in IBIS (1999)
"...my main reaction is to praise the immense achievement. Two of the chapters ... are expert minibooks in themselves. The book contains large appendices and tables of data; background reproductive physiology made intelligible for behavioural ecologists; intelligent suggestions for future research; and original analyses which have not been published elsewhere. It is a one-stop first-step guide for anyone wishing to understand, add to, subtract from (critically), or multiply (synthetically) research on sperm competition, and should be compulsory equipment in any lab that works on sexual selection." --Mark Ridley in NATURE
"A major success of Birkhead & Moller's book Sperm Competition and Sexual Selection is to have captured something of the excitement being generated by advances in understanding the evolutionary significance of sperm competition. ...an essential reference text for anyone with more than a passing interest in sexual selection or reproduction." —HEREDITY
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1252
|
__label__cc
| 0.50881
| 0.49119
|
Budget surpluses to soar
Nadim Kawach
Published Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Gulf states are expected again this year to bask in a gigantic budget surplus that will extend a five-year financial euphoria reminiscent of their first oil boom 30 years ago when they kicked off one of the largest construction drives in history.
The surge in the combined surplus despite an expected increase in actual expenditure means the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries will push ahead with a campaign to slash debt, replenish their overseas assets, and construct projects that are needed for their economic diversification.
In their 2008 budgets, the six members forecast a combined surplus of $39 billion (Dh143bn) but it was based on an average oil price of only $40-45 a barrel.
With oil prices boiling over $115 last week and predicted to average a record $80 this year, the surplus is projected to increase many folds although most of them are expected to be tempted by high revenues to overshoot spending again.
“The actual forecast surplus in the budgets of the GCC countries assumed that surpluses will multiply this year because of the surge in oil prices… although Bahrain and Oman projected a deficit of around $1.1bn each, this deficit will turn into a large surplus at the end of the year,” the state-controlled Emirates Industrial Bank (EIB) said in a study on GCC budgets this week.
“The surplus will be achieved despite a sharp increase in projected expenditure and an expected growth in actual expenditure… this is because oil prices have sharply increased and GCC states have overcome all the negative repercussions of the low-price period as they began to record large surpluses in 2003.”
In 2007, the GCC states of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait projected a combined budget surplus of around $33bn but the actual balance shot up to nearly $110bn, half of which was recorded in Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter. The balance was slightly lower than the 2007 surplus of around $121bn.
The figures included only the federal budget of the UAE, which forecast equal revenues and expenditure in 2006, 2007 and this year. They did not include the Emirates’ consolidated financial account (CFA), which better reflects the country’s financial position as it involves the federal budget and the local spending of each emirate.
The UAE has so far published consolidated financial account figures for 2006, when it recorded its highest surplus of around $19.7bn because of a surge in revenues. Bankers expect the surplus to have remained high in 2007. “Our estimates are that the GCC surpluses this year will be almost equivalent to last year’s surplus, which was one of the highest in current prices,” Saeed Al Shaikh, chief economist at the Saudi National Commercial Bank, said.
Analysts said the surge in the GCC surpluses was because the growth in their actual revenues far outpaced that in their expenditure, which increased by between five and 15 per cent for some members. While they were projected at around $187bn in 2007, actual revenues rocketed by at least 90 per cent to nearly $360bn, including around $320bn in oil export earnings.
The surge in oil prices was underscored in Saudi Arabia, which had reeled from painful fiscal surpluses for many years before 2003. In 2006, the Kingdom recorded its highest ever budget surplus of $74.6 billion, which was expected to have eased to nearly $48bn in 2007. The surplus is projected to further slip to around $45bn but it remains far higher than the assumed surplus of nearly $5bn, according to Jadwa Investment company in Riyadh.
The cumulative budget surplus in the GCC countries over the past five years, exceeding $300bn, has allowed them to slash public debt, sharply boost their overseas reserves, and embark on a massive development drive with the participation of the fast growing private sector.
The present boom is in sharp contrast with the situation during the 1990s, when most of them suffered from record fiscal deficits, slow growth and high debt. The combined GCC budget shortfall peaked at nearly $35bn in 1991 after some of them were forced to sharply boost spending to finance a US-led multinational campaign to eject Iraq forces from Kuwait. “Gulf states are passing through a new fiscal era because of the massive fiscal surpluses, which have helped them overcome all the negative consequences of low oil prices during the 1990s,” EIB said.
“Some of them have managed to slash their public debt from 115 to only 19 per cent [Saudi Arabia] while high public spending has largely stimulated their economies… while the first oil boom era enabled them to complete most of their infrastructure projects, the current boom will allow them to carry out strategic development projects that will contribute to diversification of sources of income… this in turn ushers in a new stage in the GCC economies.”
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1254
|
__label__cc
| 0.739102
| 0.260898
|
Do You Check Your Work Emails While Commuting? Well Here's A Good News
A report shows why Internet access is as important for commuters as business travellers
Image credit: Pixabay
Long commutes to work can be a real pain, especially when you are relying on public transport. To use their time judicially, commuters respond to emails and clear off pending tasks. If you also use free Wi-Fi provision on your journey to catch up with work emails, then your commute time should be counted as work, says a study presented last month at the Royal Geographical Society Annual International Conference held at Cardiff University in the UK.
Free Wi-Fi Access
To reach this conclusion, researchers from the University of the West of England have been analysed the uptake of free Wi-Fi by 5,000 passengers in the UK on two of Chiltern Railways' major routes, London/Birmingham and London/Aylesbury.
“If travel time were to count as work time, there would be many social and economic impacts, as well as implications for the rail industry. It may ease commuter pressure on peak hours and allow for more comfort and flexibility around working times. However, it may also demand more surveillance and accountability for productivity,” researcher Juliet Jain, University of the West of England, said at the conference.
The interviews with customers showed why Internet access was as important for commuters as business travellers. Many respondents expressed how they consider their commute as time to “catch up” with work, before or after their traditional working day. This transitional time also enabled people to switch roles, for example, from being a parent getting the children ready for school in the morning to a business director during the day. The researchers looked to Scandinavia to see how commuting time could be measured differently and found that in Norway some commuters are able to count travel time as part of their working day.
New Measures
The after-hours work communication can damage workplace productivity. Taking this into consideration, countries like France have passed a law for banning work emails after work. The "right to disconnect" law is a proposed human right regarding the ability of people to disconnect from work and primarily not to engage in work-related electronic communications such as e-mails and messages during non-work hours. Several countries, primarily in Europe, have some form of the right to disconnect included in their law, while in some cases it is present in the policy of many large companies.
Joining France is the New York City that introduced a "right to disconnect" bill in March sponsored by the city councilman Rafael Espinal. The bill advocates for the rights of employees to stop answering work-related emails and other digital messages, like texts, after official work hours. Now, it would be interesting to see if other countries will also adopt the idea of giving their employees a break from work emails.
Email Killing Your Productivity? Here Are 9 Ways to Fight Back.
13 Dos and Don'ts of Business Email Etiquette
Three Things You Should Know About Work Emails
Your Email Might Be Preventing You From Being A Better Boss
Master Email Marketing With This $15 Course
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1255
|
__label__wiki
| 0.903493
| 0.903493
|
AAO-HNSF 2012: Challenging Vocal Fold Paralysis Cases
by Thomas R. Collins • October 1, 2012
Dr. Blumin said he wouldn’t be likely to order EMG because it wouldn’t change the management: “She’s still four months [out] so there’s still a potential for spontaneous recovery.”
Treatment Options for Vocal Fold Paralysis
Vocal Fold Paralysis Treatments
Laryngeal Reinnervation for Unilateral Vocal Fold Paralysis: Are We Ready
Dr. Johns said he used to do more diagnostic EMGs in cases like this, but he does fewer now. “It’s not a perfect test,” he said. Within the first two or three months of paralysis, an EMG wouldn’t change management, he added, and after about six months, recovery is not likely anyway. It’s that in-between period where an EMG may be valuable. “There’s that sweet spot in the two- to six-month period where maybe if there were unfavorable prognostic signs on a laryngeal EMG, we might consider early intervention with laryngeal framework surgery,” he said. But he said he’s stopped doing that—for the most part, anyway—because of recent studies showing that using a temporary injectable material leads to durable voice results in two-thirds of patients, regardless of recovery status.
Dr. Merati agreed. “An EMG may be helpful,” he said, “but just the act of relatively early injection laryngoplasty or medialization may reduce the rate of requiring permanent medialization later. I think that’s been a big change, particularly over the last couple years. I wonder if we’re all just sensitive now, just seeing the papers.” (Laryngoscope. 2010;120(11):2237-2240; Laryngoscope. 2012;122(10):2227-2233).
Dr. Johns said he would order a detailed voice assessment because that would be key in deciding whether to intervene at all. Dr. Simpson added: “I think it matters a lot what they do for a living,” and he’s more likely to intervene with a patient whose job involves using his voice a lot. He also cautioned against focusing too much on one vocal fold, because there could be subtle paresis on the other side, too. “That’s a mistake that I continue to learn from,” he said.
Dr. Blumin said that if the patient wanted treatment, he would see the patient with a speech pathologist, then come up with options. “This patient may do well with voice therapy alone,” he said.
Laryngoplasty
When doing an injection larygnoplasty—if that’s the course eventually taken—the panel said that, by and large, they perform the procedure without monitors. “In terms of precision of injection and fewer complications associated with the injection, there is decent evidence that doing these injections under general anesthesia, where you’ve got fine control, is more precise with fewer complications,” Dr. Johns said. “That being said, the complications of doing these awake is extremely low as well, about 5 percent.”
Pages: 1 2 3 4 | Single Page
Filed Under: Departments, Laryngology, Medical Education, Practice Focus Tagged With: AAO-HNSF, laryngoplasty, paralysis, technology, treatment, vocal foldIssue: October 2012
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1256
|
__label__wiki
| 0.626686
| 0.626686
|
5 secrets for rolling out a successful 1:1 initiative
By Dr. Gloria Ciriza & Dr. Matthew Tessier
California’s largest elementary school district shares key considerations for going 1:1
Classrooms have become increasingly tech-focused, though technology alone isn’t enough to change a classroom. Instead, it’s a mix of the right training, tools, and support. Powerful digital resources become transformative only when the teachers and students using them are engaged and understand how to use tech to its fullest potential.
Chula Vista School District is the largest elementary school district in California. Of our 30,000 students, 34 percent are English learners (EL), and 52 percent are students living in poverty. We’re located approximately five miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, making EL instruction a top priority in our schools.
Five years ago, we...
Dr. Gloria Elena Ciriza is a passionate, equity driven leader, committed to ensuring all students have access to a world class education and the opportunity to thrive in nurturing environments that support social emotional wellness. She currently serves as executive director of curriculum and instruction for the Chula Vista Elementary School District (CVESD), which is California’s largest K-6 district.
Dr. Matthew Tessier has been serving the educational community for the past 20 years, and currently serves the Chula Vista Elementary School District as the assistant superintendent of innovation and instruction services where he leads the Innovation Department, Research and Evaluation Department, and the Instructional Services and Support Division.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1258
|
__label__wiki
| 0.982842
| 0.982842
|
Clippers sign forward Simmons to 10-day deal
2696dArash Markazi
Clippers sign Bobby Simmons
Arash MarkaziESPN Senior Writer
Former columnist and writer after five years with Sports Illustrated
Markazi has also written for Slam, King, Vibe and Playboy
On board of directors for Jim Murray Memorial Foundation.
LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Clippers signed forward Bobby Simmons to a 10-day contract, the team announced Monday.
"Bobby has played in the league and he can make some shots and he can spread the defense for us," Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said. "I think he's a good team defender. I liked his workout. He was talking a lot on defense and we need our second unit to make some shots and give our first unit some rest. We'll see how he does. He's a good guy and a hard worker."
Simmons, 31, averaged 13.5 points and 7.6 rebounds in 21 games for the Reno Bighorns of the NBA Developmental League this season. He last played in the NBA during the 2010-11 season, appearing in just two games with the San Antonio Spurs.
The 6-foot-6, 220-pound swingman played two seasons with the Clippers from 2003 to 2005. He had the most productive season of his nine-year career in the 2004-2005, with career highs of 16.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists and winning the NBA's Most Improved Player award.
Simmons signed a free-agent deal with the Milwaukee Bucks in summer 2005, and his numbers have declined since. He averaged 13.4 points and 4.4 rebounds in his first season with the Bucks, but hasn't averaged more than 7.8 points and 3.9 rebounds since then and didn't register a single point or rebound in his two games with the Spurs in 2010.
"It's a transition between being a young guy and now a veteran," Simmons said. "You appreciate the opportunities a lot more. After I left here I went into free agency and didn't really understand what it was and what it was all about. The game doesn't change. I still love it, I still want to play and I can't wait to get back at it."
After losing Chauncey Billups to a season-ending Achilles tear earlier this month and failing to sign J.R. Smith, who chose to sign with the New York Knicks after returning from China, the Clippers have been looking to add a veteran swingman to the roster.
The Clippers had 14 players on the roster before signing Simmons, who will wear No. 21, so they did not have to make any moves to make room for him.
Arash Markazi is a reporter and columnist for ESPNLosAngeles.com.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1262
|
__label__wiki
| 0.882518
| 0.882518
|
Did Kit Harington Totally Spoil Jon Snow's 'Game of Thrones' Fate?
By Meredith B. Kile 11:00 PM PDT, September 15, 2015
Game of Thrones fans really, really don't want Jon Snow to be dead.
Since the North's favorite bastard died at the hands of his Night's Watch brothers in the finale of the HBO show's fifth season, fans have been scouring the internet, tracking production details, and even monitoring star Kit Harington's haircuts for a hint that the Lord Commander lives.
And now it seems they might have one.
COMIC-CON: Is Jon Snow Really Dead? Game of Thrones Gang Keep the Speculation Alive
While promoting his new film Testament of Youth, Harington gave an interview to Belgian magazine Humo, in which he talked about his time on the show. A Reddit user translated some of the actor's most interesting quotes.
"I had to pass on amazing parts because I was attached to Game of Thrones," Harington, 28, admitted to the publication. "So the show is like a double-edged sword to me: I owe a lot to it, but at the same time, it has almost completely drained me. Oh well, I try not to think about it too much. The important thing is that I now know exactly how long I am still under contract, and in the meantime..."
Here the interviewer interrupts to ask how many more seasons that might entail.
"Nice try," Harington replied with a laugh. "I can't talk about that. Let's just say that Game of Thrones will remain a part of my life for a while, I'll probably be in my thirties when it's over. One thing's for sure: the day I'm no longer on Thrones is the day I'll bury myself in movie projects."
PICS: New Photo of Game of Thrones Star Kit Harington Sparks Hope That Jon Snow Really Is Alive
GoT fans were quick to note the "in my thirties" comment, as Harington turns 29 this December. Two more years would line up nicely with the show's reported plan to run for eight seasons. It's far from a confirmation, but a definite change from Harington's claims that he wasn't returning, despite being spotted in North Belfast, Ireland, where the show was shooting in late July and being contractually linked to the show for seven seasons.
WATCH: Game of Thrones Star Kit Harington on Playing 'More Personal' Young Poet After Epic Jon Snow
Director David Nutter even told fans at Comic-Con that when he met President Barack Obama, who inquired after Jon Snow's fate, he told the Commander in chief, "Mr. President, Jon Snow is deader than dead."
One thing's for sure. When it comes to Jon Snow's true fate, we don't know much.
Kit Harington Talks the Major Difference Between 'Game of Thrones' and 'Testament of Youth'
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1263
|
__label__wiki
| 0.616325
| 0.616325
|
Richardson’s Job Boast
Democratic presidential contender Bill Richardson boasts of creating 80,000 jobs since becoming governor of New Mexico. Not yet, he hasn’t. The state has gained fewer than 76,000 payroll jobs since he took office, and official figures showed a mere 68,100 gain when he first started making his inflated boast last year. He bases his claim on a definition of “jobs” that includes unpaid workers in family businesses and freelancers who don’t draw a paycheck.
Richardson also claims he “made New Mexico 6th in job growth,” which is misleading at best. In fact, the state already ranked 6th for the 12-month period before he took office. It has ranked 6th for a few selected months since, but it currently ranks 17th.
We’ll start by saying that the truth about Richardson’s job record is actually quite respectable and hardly needs the sort of petty exaggeration we find in Richardson’s TV ads, interviews and stump speeches.
As can be seen in the chart below, the number of payroll jobs in New Mexico has increased by nearly 10 percent since Richardson took office Jan. 1, 2003. The state is far from being the standout in the fast-growing Sun Belt region, lagging well behind neighboring Arizona and nearby Nevada, each of which has experienced job growth more than twice as fast. Utah and Wyoming, to which New Mexico state labor officials regularly compare their growth, also outpaced the state handily. But New Mexico’s job growth is nicely above the 6.1 percent gain for the nation as a whole during the same period. The unemployment rate for the state is now 3.7 percent, substantially below the 4.6 percent rate for the nation.
Not true then …
The job picture is not, however, quite as rosy as Richardson keeps claiming. As early as Dec. 13, 2006, he said on CNBC’s “Kudlow & Company” program, “Our economy is growing. We’re – created 80,000 new jobs.” When he made that statement the most recent figures available from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics had been announced in a news release issued Nov. 21, covering the month of October 2006. The preliminary figures in that release showed a gain of 68,100. That was later revised upward to 69,000 and still later to 69,100. But the governor couldn’t have known that when he spoke, and even the revised figures fall far short of the gain he claimed.
[TET ]
Richardson for President “Focused”
Announcer: The New Mexico comeback, a model for the nation. Governor Bill Richardson started with tax credits for creating jobs that pay above the prevailing wage. He passed a permanent rural jobs tax credit and invested in brand new industries like wind and solar energy, aerospace and laser technology. Over 80,000 new jobs, up to 6th in the nation for job growth.
Richardson: I’m Bill Richardson and I approve this message because we need a president who is focused on good paying jobs again.
[/TET]
Nevertheless, Richardson has continued to use the 80,000 figure as a centerpiece of his presidential campaign. On Feb. 2, Richardson told the Democratic National Committee’s winter meeting: “We have created 80,000 new jobs.” He says the same thing on his Web site, in news releases and in TV ads, including a 60-second ad that ran in New Hampshire and Iowa during April and May, and a spot that started running in Iowa Aug. 14.
… And not true now
New Mexico has continued to gain jobs but still hasn’t caught up with Richardson’s inflated figure. The most recent BLS figures put the state payroll employment for July just 75,800 above where it stood the month before Richardson was sworn in. His recent ad would be stretching things only a little if it said “nearly 80,000 jobs,” but saying “over 80,000” simply doesn’t square with payroll figures.
Richardson’s definition of “jobs”
Here we should explain that the standard definition of “jobs” that is used by practically all economists, journalists and political leaders of both parties is payroll employment. This is the figure that journalists refer to in monthly stories about job gains or losses in the economy and that the Bureau of Labor Statistics posts prominently on its Web site as the prime indicator of job growth or loss. This figure (technically called “total nonfarm employment, seasonally adjusted”) is projected from payroll records of 400,000 business establishments nationwide, sampled monthly in what is known as the “establishment survey.”
When we asked Richardson’s aides to justify the 80,000 figure, they pointed to a different BLS survey, called the “household survey,” which is used to calculate the unemployment rate but not normally cited to gauge the number of jobs gained or lost. The household survey uses a much smaller sample, for one thing. It covers 60,000 households, while the payroll records of the establishment survey include millions of workers. But more importantly, the household survey counts as “employed” a lot of persons who don’t have payroll jobs. Included, for example, are unpaid workers in family businesses, domestic help and self-employed workers such as day laborers. The Richardson campaign makes a point of saying, as it did in an Aug. 17 news release, that “many” of the new jobs are “in high tech and other new industries that pay well.” That may be so, but they get their 80,000 figure by counting some unpaid workers, day laborers and others without a paycheck.
Weasel words
Richardson’s latest ad says New Mexico was “up to 6th in the nation” in job growth under Richardson’s governorship. This is highly misleading. The state ranked 17th in June, according to the New Mexico Department of Labor. It has ranked 6th in only three months out of the 41 months since Richardson’s first year in office. The most recent month it ranked 6th was August 2006.
Saying the state ranks “up to” 6th is therefore literally true, since it has ranked that high at least once. But the words “up to” are the sort of qualifiers that voters and consumers need to question. Such qualifiers are called “weasel words,” because they suck the meaning out of a phrase the way weasels supposedly suck the insides out of an egg. It would be equally true to say that under Richardson, the state has ranked “as low as 23rd,” which it did for one month, February 2005, according to the New Mexico Department of Labor.
We also find it misleading for Richardson’s Web site to proclaim that “we have made New Mexico 6th in job growth.” The fact is, according to BLS figures, the state already ranked 6th before Richardson took office. It ranked 2nd, 3rd or 4th for most of his first months in office. But a year after he was sworn in, it had dropped to 12th – and slipped to 16th the following month.
To be accurate, Richardson should say that “we briefly regained 6th place” under his leadership. And he could truly say, “We’re going to hit 80,000 additional jobs any month now.” We have little doubt that the 80,000 figure will be right, eventually. But then, you could say the same thing about a stopped clock.
– by Brooks Jackson
“Kudlow & Company.” “Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico discusses immigration reform.” CNBC News Transcripts. 14 Dec. 2006New Mexico Department of Labor, “Total Nonfarm Employment Growth Rankings, New Mexico and United States,” New Mexico Labor Market Report, issues of January 2003 through July 2006 inclusive; 7.
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment, Hours, and Earnings from the Current Employment Statistics survey (State & Metro Area), figures for New Mexico and various states downloaded from BLS website Aug. 16 – 22.
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, New Mexico unemployment rate downloaded 22 Aug 2007
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment From the BLS Household and Payroll Surveys: A Summary of Recent Trends. 5 May 2006.
Bill Richardson for President. TV Ad: “Candidates.”
Previous StoryThe Immigration Showdown
Next StoryLiberal Lobby Lacks Context
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1266
|
__label__wiki
| 0.550157
| 0.550157
|
Management, Strategy, Christian Leadership, Institutional leadership
L. Gregory Jones: Holding together networks, hierarchies and power
by: L. Gregory Jones
It’s popular to romanticize networks over against hierarchies. But thinking of the two together invites Christian institutional leaders into a more life-giving and sustainable vision.
We are living in perilous times organizationally. We are growing more skeptical -- even cynical -- about institutions. People are looking for alternatives to address problems of top-down hierarchies, concentrated power and authoritarian versions of leadership. Sometimes this gets expressed in romanticized desires for intimate communities that have no hierarchies, for technological networks that distribute power equally without rigid structures. The danger is that we will continually suffer from wide pendulum swings between overreliance on stultifying hierarchies or idealized notions of networks.
How might we think of hierarchies and networks together? What might this mean for institutions, and for leadership? Important clues are found in three recent books that highlight the importance of networks and “new” power while also acknowledging the importance of hierarchies and “old” power. Such clues challenge our temptation to think of networks and hierarchies in either-or terms.
It is now commonplace to describe the contemporary world as a “networked age.” The phrase is used both as a literal description of our hyperconnectivity and as a powerful metaphor for new patterns of relationships and distributions of power in a world of accelerating technological advances. These advances, and an increasingly interconnected world globally, are linked to growing distrust of established institutions and organizational assumptions about hierarchies. As a result, there is a growing chorus proclaiming that our “networked age” will result in the disappearance of hierarchies and a “new” era of democracy and health without the burdens of “old” power and bureaucracy. The social world, we have been assured for two decades, is flat.
Is that true? Do we need to just lean into networks, assuming that hierarchies are part of an old regime destined for the dustbin of history?
Niall Ferguson’s new book, “The Square and the Tower: Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook,” affirms the power of networks, acknowledges that we live in a networked age and challenges assumptions about the elimination of hierarchies. Ferguson argues that we will continue to need, and depend upon, hierarchies, even in a world in which networks play an increasingly significant role. Having researched and written an extensive biography of Henry Kissinger, Ferguson shows how Kissinger was able to have enormous impact because he mastered the art of developing informal networks even while he operated in a central role in the hierarchy of U.S. government.
Ferguson’s analysis is in many ways a defense of the importance of networks to innovation and their relevance to transformational political, economic and cultural changes throughout history. He notes that we tend to “overlook how widespread they are in the natural world, what a key role they have played in our evolution as a species, and how integral a part of the human past they have been.” They are important, further, not just as “transmission mechanisms for new ideas, but as the sources of the new ideas themselves.”
Ferguson cautions, though, that even as we need to recognize the power of networks, we ignore hierarchies at our peril. He suggests that tensions between networks and hierarchies are as old as humanity itself. Networks may now have the upper hand, because technological advances have led to their unprecedented size, speed and density. But he believes that networks require hierarchies if there is to be order and coherence, and he worries about the rhetoric of a “networked world” that fails to attend to the positive value of hierarchies.
Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms complement that analysis in “New Power: How Power Works in Our Hyperconnected World -- and How to Make It Work for You.” They highlight the contemporary and future importance of networks and “new” power while also acknowledging the continued importance of hierarchies and “old” power.
Heimans and Timms note, like Ferguson, that there has “always been a dialectic between bottom-up and top-down, between hierarchies and networks.” While their book title suggests that they are drawn to the possibilities of a new model of distributed power rooted in networks, they emphasize “the art of blending power.” They lift up organizations that have created models “that bring together old and new power in ways that reinforce each other,” noting that such organizations “have found that the combination of old and new power can be greater than the sum of the parts.”
The organizations they describe cut across ideological lines, including the National Rifle Association and the TED (technology, entertainment and design) movement. While the organizations themselves may have little in common intellectually (and few shared participants), the thing they do have in common is a blend of centralized authority and decentralized networks -- and their models point to their ongoing impact.
The art of blending power is an organizational as well as a leadership task. Heimans and Timms write: “Many of us understand how to speak old power -- after all, that is the world we grew up in. Rising generations may have new power as their mother tongue. But those who really change the world will become fluent in both.”
Heimans and Timms suggest a key image for leadership that blends power well: a “shapeshifter.” A shapeshifter is different from either authoritarian (hierarchical) or disruptive (network) leadership; the shapeshifter recognizes that leadership matters in moving organizations forward through networks while also drawing on the best of organizational structures. In contrast to the self-avowed “disruptive” leader they describe who urged people to just “break s**t” in order to address challenges, Heimans and Timms suggest that shapeshifters lead with more nuance and care: “Leading an old power organization through transition isn’t about ‘breaking [s**t].’ It requires a tricky blend of tradition and innovation, past and future. Those efforts need shapeshifters who can show -- by example -- how to get the best of both worlds.” Shapeshifters are leaders who practice traditioned innovation.
These shapeshifters also understand how to operate from both the center and the edge. Martin Dempsey and Ori Brafman’s new book, “Radical Inclusion: What the Post-9/11 World Should Have Taught Us About Leadership,” brings together as co-authors a quite unlikely pair: the former chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff -- a four-star Army general -- and a secular Jewish leftist leadership guru from Berkeley.
Yet together, they show how effective leadership requires both hierarchies and networks, both centralized “old” power and decentralized “new” power that offers the capacity to grow and learn. General Dempsey, they note, in the course of his military career, “realized that often -- perhaps even usually -- the most important piece of information that a senior leader needs is one that comes from the edge of the organization, not from its center.”
This doesn’t mean that generals should reject the authority they have in a hierarchy; rather, they need to think and lead in ways that also embrace networks at the edges. Similarly, General Stanley McChrystal’s emphasis on a “team of teams” provides innovative ways to ensure both centralized authority and alignment and decentralized networks of powerful agents operating on the edges.
What does this mean for Christian institutional leaders? First, leaders need to learn the practice of integrative thinking, holding together things that others put into opposition. This includes tradition and innovation, centers and edges, and -- especially in an era when social media and movements and “flat” organizations are the rage, and institutions are deeply distrusted -- networks, hierarchies and power.
Second, leaders need to focus more attention on “shapeshifting” leadership rather than either survival or disruption. This requires asking different questions, engaging different sorts of stakeholders, and prioritizing time with people in informal networks as well as more “official” reporting structures. It also requires developing network strategies as an integral component of the organization’s vision.
Third, leaders need to find ways to encourage and support their employees in developing and sustaining networks both within and across their organizations. This should be an expected part of people’s work, not just an encouraged “add-on” to their responsibilities. Networks are especially important for younger people in an organization, but not only them. Senior leaders need to attend more to, and participate in, informal networks across sectors, age groups and disparate roles -- more than has been the norm.
Thinking of networks and hierarchies together can’t be just “one more thing” to add to Christian institutional leaders’ already overtaxed schedules. Rather, this integrative approach is a way of re-envisioning the very vocation to which leaders are called, suggesting patterns that can offer more life-giving and sustainable understandings and embodiments of power, authority, trust and community.
Dean, Duke Divinity School
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1268
|
__label__wiki
| 0.859817
| 0.859817
|
HomeU.S. AgricultureTennesseeTennessee Local
A Look at the History Behind the Ellington Ag Center
A profile on this historic agriculture headquarters
By Kayla Walden -
Located just 10 miles south of the bustling city streets of Nashville, the Ellington Agricultural Center serves as a hub for the state’s agricultural industry. This historic property is home to the Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA), Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Tennessee Agricultural Museum, and acts as a branch location for many other agriculture agencies.
Although the center has been at the heart of the state’s agricultural interests since 1961, the story of this beautiful 207-acre property dates back to the 1920s.
Developed as A Private Estate
“Ellington Agricultural Center was originally a private estate known as Brentwood Hall, developed by a financier named Rogers Caldwell,” Tom Womack says. Currently serving as Deputy Commissioner, Womack has been with the TDA for 33 years and jokingly calls himself the unofficial historian of the group.
“Caldwell built his fortune in banks and bonding institutions,” Womack says. “He was a typical tycoon of the 1920s with investments in many things, including newspapers.”
In addition to owning the precursors of the Memphis Commercial Appeal and Knoxville News Journal, Caldwell fostered a close relationship with the publisher of The Tennessean. He even tried purchasing the Atlanta Constitution, though the deal fell through.
“It’s important to remember that if you controlled the message in the 1920s, you controlled the politics,” Womack explains. “And Mr. Caldwell was very active in social, financial and political circles.”
Rich in History
As Caldwell’s power and wealth continued to accumulate, he built and developed his estate on what is now the Ellington Agricultural Center.
Inspired by Tennessean and seventh president Andrew Jackson, Caldwell modeled his private residence after Jackson’s home, the Hermitage.
See Also: Fields of Innovation for Ag Entrepreneurs
Known as Brentwood House, the building itself was completed in 1927 and filled with beautiful European pieces – including elegant marble fireplaces, extravagant mantels and impressive gilt mirrors. Unfortunately, his legacy took a turn for the worse during the Great Depression. During the market crash of 1929, Caldwell’s empire crumbled.
“When Caldwell built his home in 1927, he used bank money and placed the estate on his father’s property,” Womack says. “The story gets complicated here because when the markets crashed, the state of Tennessee had holdings in Caldwell’s banks.”
The state tried to put a lien against the property, but because Caldwell had the property tied up in a spendthrift trust and used bank money to finance its construction, it was difficult for the state to recover their losses.
Over time, the state gained a judgment against the house to cover a portion of Caldwell’s debts. But the banking tycoon and his wife continued to live on the property, paying rent to the state, until they fell behind on payments in the late ’50s, sold all their possessions and moved to Franklin.
“The property became vacant around the time former Commissioner of Agriculture Buford Ellington was elected governor in 1958,” Womack says. “He decided to use Brentwood House as the location for operating his transition team.”
Governor Ellington dreamed of transforming Brentwood Hall into headquarters for the Department of Agriculture, which was previously stationed in cramped quarters in a state office building in downtown Nashville.
“As commissioner and governor, my father realized the Department of Agriculture needed a more central location to operate from,” says Ann Ellington Wagner, daughter of Governor Ellington and ardent participant in Ellington Agricultural Center activities.
See Also: How High-Tech Agriculture Increases Efficiency
When Brentwood Hall came on the market, the state legislature was asked to provide funds to purchase the property.
“As the story goes, the judge said if someone else offered a dollar more than the state offered, the estate would be sold for the highest price,” Wagner says. “Dad said he would carry a few extra dollars – just in case.”
The state purchased the property and honored Governor Ellington by renaming it the Ellington Agricultural Center. Today, the land serves as a working farm, hosts meetings and functions for various agricultural groups, and more.
“We’re proud to share this property with the state’s agricultural community,” Womack says. “We like to think of it as not only headquarters for the Department, but headquarters for all of Tennessee agriculture.”
Ellington Ag Center
Kayla Walden
Tennessee Ag Insider 2019
More in Tennessee Local
Tennessee Community Gardens Plant Seeds of Change
Community gardens empower local residents with food and education.
How Urban Community Garden Initiatives Help Tennessee Residents
How the Pick Tennessee Trade Show Helps Companies Grow
The Tennessee Milk Logo Promotes Local
Tennessee Department of Agriculture
Ellington Agricultural Center
440 Hogan Road
www.tn.gov/agriculture
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1270
|
__label__wiki
| 0.617794
| 0.617794
|
This is why your ScotRail service has been worse recently
Been let down by rail services recently? Picture: JPIMedia
Fifetoday.co.uk has received a growing number of concerns from the public in Fife recently regarding what they see as deteriorating train services from ScotRail.
In the last few weeks there have been reports of trains between Edinburgh and Fife being cancelled, or showing up with only two carriages during some of the busiest periods, meaning in some cases there isn’t enough space to passengers to get on even if the service does stop.
In recent weeks, passengers have been told by ScotRail that a lack of staff has been causing the problems.
With three Fife services cancelled yesterday morning, some frustrated passengers were told by ScotRail workers that staff were working to rule.
However, it has been revealed that the shortage comes as a result of an ongoing dispute which has seen a union ban on overtime - leaving ScotRail without enough workers to cover their services.
The RMT Union says that ScotRail relies on existing staff members to do extra time in order to keep services running.
ScotRail recently made an agreement with drivers to increase rest day working payments – extra pay for working on their days off – but the rail firm refuses to do the same with other ScotRail staff.
RMT’s Michael Hogg said the action involves about 3500 staff across Scotland.
He said: “We are in dispute with ScotRail over rest day working payments.
“ScotRail did a deal with the drivers through their union Aslef, so that every time they work their rest days they get £300.
“In the drivers case, if they were to work their rest days, they’d get around £180, because drivers are paid good salaries, it’s the same with any train operating company.
“The drivers, and what’s called a rest day working agreement, is reviewed every 12 or 18 months.
“Aslef have gone in with a demand for extra money for working their rest days and ScotRail gave it to them.
“Everybody else is paid £100. So on behalf of the people I represent I’ve had meetings with the company and they have refused point blank to entertain any rest day working payment in line with drivers, because we were seeking parity.
“We’re not saying the drivers shouldn’t get that £300, what we’re saying is if it’s good enough with the driver, it’s good enough for everybody else.
“ScotRail argue that they’re an equal opportunities employers, but that only applies when it suits them.
“Sunday’s not part of the working week. Abelio inherited that from First Group.
“It’s actually run on the overtime so if drivers other staff members don’t work overtime there’d be no trains running on a Sunday.
“We balloted all members for strike action and action short of a strike. We didn’t meet the threshold for strike but did for action short of a strike - and that’s a ban on overtime and a ban on rest day working.”
Michael said that an offer by ScotRail was put to members, meaning the industrial action was put on hold.
He added: “During the referendum we decided to suspend the action, and because the ballot rejected the offer, we’ve had to give the company a further 14 days notice for the action to be reinstated.
The 14 days notice expired as of 12.01am yesterday morning. So the action is back on.
“We remain available for talks, and ScotRail are not going to give us what we are looking for.
“They’re under the kosh big time, whether it be industrial relations, raw sewage being dumped on the tracks, they’re desperate to resolve this issue but they’re not prepared to actually come forward with a deal that is acceptable to the RMT.”
In August ScotRail launched a £4m recruitment drive in the hope of reducing the need for rest day working, however, with the ongoing industrial action it would appear that it hasn’t had the desired impact.
A ScotRail spokesperson said: “We are continuing to work with our people and their trade union representatives to resolve this.”
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1274
|
__label__cc
| 0.741049
| 0.258951
|
The Motley Fool Canada » Investing » Better Buy After USMCA: Linamar Corporation (TSX:LNR) or Magna International Inc. (TSX:MG) Stock?
Better Buy After USMCA: Linamar Corporation (TSX:LNR) or Magna International Inc. (TSX:MG) Stock?
Ambrose O'Callaghan | October 4, 2018 | More on: MGA LNR MG
After Canada and the United States announced a breakthrough in trade talks, auto stocks surged in response on October 1. The agreement included an “accommodation” that would protect Canada and Mexico from auto tariffs that the Trump administration may choose to impose going forward. President Trump praised the steel and aluminum tariffs and the threat of auto tariffs as effective instruments during negotiations.
Back in the summer, I’d discussed how auto tariffs could be a major force of destabilization for the Canadian auto sector. That they are now off the table comes as a relief for investors. Auto parts makers will also be celebrating as tariffs could have severely disrupted continental supply chains and put a dent in forecasts. The new agreement also allows Canada to send 2.6 million passenger cars to the U.S. annually compared to the current rate allowed of 1.7 million.
Today, we are going to look at two Canada-based auto parts makers. Which one is the better buy after this landmark trade deal? Let’s dive in.
Linamar (TSX:LNR)
Linamar stock surged over 10% in morning trading on October 1. Shares have since retreated and the stock is only up 0.61% week over week. Linamar leadership had reason for anxiety during negotiations as U.S. auto content demands had the potential to put a squeeze on its business. Currently, Linamar only has about a third of its operations in the United States.
In the third quarter, Linamar saw sales increased 22.1% year over year to $2.2 billion, which represented a new record. Net earnings surged 21.7% to $197.1 million and diluted earnings per share rose 21.6% to $2.98. The board of directors also declared a dividend of $0.12 per share, representing a modest 0.8% dividend yield.
Magna International (TSX:MG)(NYSE:MGA)
Magna stock also spiked over 10% in early morning trading on October 1 before retreating to levels seen in the previous week. Shares have dropped 2.9% in 2018 so far. Magna was in a better position in the event of a major shift in auto content requirements due to its significant U.S. presence.
The company released its second-quarter results on August 8. Magna also racked up record second-quarter diluted earnings per share of $1.77, which represented a 23% year-over-year increase. Sales rose 12% to a record $10.3 billion. The board of directors also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share, representing a solid 2.3% dividend yield.
Which should you buy today?
The stability offered by the deal combined with a higher cap for Canadian passenger car exports is great news for auto parts makers. Both Linamar and Magna have good potential to recoup losses in the coming months that were sustained due to trade anxiety, but the latter is still my top pick in October. Magna is set to release its third-quarter results in early November. The stock is worth monitoring ahead of the report.
The last time this stock went from the low point of its cycle to the peak… shares shot from $12 to $40 inside of 4 years. That’s an 300%-plus return. And if you missed out on that ride, today might just be your second chance.
Fool contributor Ambrose O'Callaghan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Magna is a recommendation of Stock Advisor Canada.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1279
|
__label__cc
| 0.651233
| 0.348767
|
Chart Industries (GTLS) Q1 2018 Earnings Conference Call Transcript
GTLS earnings call for the period ending March 31, 2018.
Motley Fool Staff
(the_motley_fool)
Chart Industries (NASDAQ:GTLS)
April 19, 2018 9:30 a.m. ET
Good morning and welcome to the Chart Industries Inc. Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year 2017 Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session.
As a reminder, today's call is being recorded.You should have already received the company's earnings release that was issued earlier this morning. If you have not received the release, you may access it by visiting Chart's website at www.ChartIndustries.com. A telephone replay of today's broadcast will be available following the conclusion of the call until Thursday, March 1. The replay information is contained in the company's earnings release.Before we begin, the company would like to remind you that statements made during this call that are not historical in fact, are forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statement. For further information about important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, please refer to the information regarding forward-looking statements and risk factors included in the company's earnings release and latest filings with the SEC. These filings are available through the Investor Relations section of the company's website or through the SEC website, www.SEC.gov. The company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statement.I would now like to turn the conference call over to Jill Evanko, Chart Industries' CFO.
You may begin your conference.
Jillian C. Evanko -- Chief Financial Officer
Thank you, Crystal. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. I will begin by giving you an overview of our fourth-quarter and full-year 2017 results, as well as our full-year 2018 guidance.
Then Bill Johnson will provide comments on current markets and order trends across the three segments as we start 2018. In order to facilitate the discussion on our 2017 results, and given the moving pieces from tax reform, we have included as an exhibit to this morning's press release a supplemental deck, which I will reference throughout the call. The deck can be located on our website under Investor Relations.Starting with our fourth quarter of 2017 results on Page 3 of the supplemental deck. Fourth-quarter sales of $306 million included $51.9 million from Hudson Products.
Fourth-quarter sales were 43% higher, or 19% higher excluding Hudson, compared to the same period in 2016. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2017 was $26.7 million, including the favorable impact of tax reform, compared to a net loss of $3.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2016. Fourth-quarter 2017 reported earnings per share of $0.85, compared to a loss of $0.11 in the fourth quarter of 2016. Adjusted EPS in the fourth quarter of 2017 was $0.46, compared to breakeven in the fourth quarter of 2016.It is important to note that adjusted 2017 earnings per share reflects several adjustments, including the impact of U.S.
tax reform, restructuring- and acquisition-related costs, refinancing debt extinguishment costs, and a one-time Chinese court-ruled litigation award. We will walk through the impacts to both the quarter and the full-year adjusted EPS shortly.First, I will provide additional details on the fourth-quarter 2017 financial results. Backlog excluding Hudson increased $52.9 million from the end of 2016 to $395.5 million, and inclusive of Hudson, ended at $461.3 million, with increases in both distribution and storage and energy and chemicals. This reflects the strong order activity we had throughout the year and our sequential order growth each quarter in 2017.
Bill will speak to more specifics around the order in market trends later on this call.Gross profit for the fourth quarter of 2017 was $82.9, or 27.1% of sales, and included $13.2 million from Hudson. This is sequentially down from the third quarter's 29.3% gross margin as a percent of sales, driven primarily by two lower-margin D&S projects. The first related to a prototype sale on a new product concept in test phase and the second related to a lower-margin large-customer project. We expect the first quarter of 2018 total charge gross margin as a percent of sales to increase over the fourth quarter of 2017 and increase compared to the full year of 2017.Moving to Slide 4, the full-year 2017 sales were $989 million, an increase of 15% over the full year of 2016, and included $58 billion of sales from the Hudson Products acquisition.
Net income for the year 2017 was $28 million, or $0.89 per diluted share, compared to the full-year 2016 net income of $28.2 million, or $0.91 per share. On an adjusted basis, 2017 full-year earnings per share were $0.96, the components of which we will walk through shortly on Slide 5.Before moving to Slide 5, let me briefly touch on order, gross margin, and SG&A results for the full year of 2017. Orders were $1 billion, $150 million higher than orders in 2016, and included $31 million of orders from Hudson in our ownership period. 2017 order strength was driven by increases in natural gas processing plant activity, resulting in the strongest order year in our E&C air-cooled heat exchanger product line since 2014, continued strength in packaged gas, European LNG vehicle tanks, and improved order intake in D&S China.
While we did not have any large LNG liquefaction projects in our E&C segment in the year, we did book approximately $6 million for engineering work on Tellurian's Driftwood project.Gross profit for the full year of 2017 was $272 million, or 27.5% of sales, inclusive of an unfavorable $5.2 million of restructuring costs. This compares to full-year gross margin as a percent of sales in 2016 of 31%. 2016 includes favorable impacts from the AirSep insurance settlement of $15.2 million and $38.7 million from several short-lead-time projects and contract expiration fees in our E&C segment, as well as an unfavorable impact of $4.9 million from restructuring charges. Normalizing for the above items and Hudson's $15 million of gross profit on $58 million of sales for our ownership period, 2017 gross margin as a percent of sales would have been 27.8%, compared to a normalized 26.3% for the full year of 2016.
With our restructuring actions complete as of December 31, gross margin as a percent of sales is expected to increase in 2018, with each of the three segments' gross margins as a percent of sales expected to expand over 2017.SG&A for the full year 2017 was $215 million, inclusive of $20.5 million of acquisition- and restructuring-related costs, $3.4 million of one-time charges from the Chinese court ruling and $5.7 million of Hudson SG&A. SG&A for the full year of 2016 was $196 million, inclusive of $6.9 million of restructuring costs. With the completion of our recent restructuring activities, we expect the full-year 2018 organic SG&A dollars to decline as compared to 2017 on 5% to 7% top-line organic growth.Moving to Slide 5 of the deck, you can see the adjustments for the fourth quarter and full year of 2017 and 2016. On an adjusted basis 2017 earnings per share were $0.96.
When comparing normalized adjusted EPS on a comparable basis, adjusted EPS grew from $0.65 in 2016 to $0.96 in 2017. While we do not adjust for short lead time replacement equipment sales and contract expiration fees in our energy and chemical segment, there was an unusually significant level of these in 2016 which contributed approximately $38.7 million of gross margin to 2016's result, compared to $6 million of gross margin related to these types of sales in 2017.Briefly walking through each 2017 adjustment as shown on Slide 5 and in order from A through D, restructuring- and acquisition-related costs totaled $25.7 million, or $0.57 of EPS. Restructuring costs were $15.6 million in the year and are expected to return $15 million of annual savings in 2018. These costs were related to the previously announced actions of the headquarter move from Ohio to Georgia, which was completed as of year-end; the Buffalo BioMedical Respiratory facility consolidation, which was completed at the end of the first quarter of 2017; the Chinese facility consolidations, which were substantially complete at year-end; and a reduction in force in all three segments in the third quarter of 2017.
Acquisition-related costs of $10.1 million for the full year were primarily related to the completion of the Hudson and VCT Vogel acquisitions, as well as costs associated with the acquisition of Skaff Cryogenics, which closed January 2, 2018. Bill will speak to the strategic nature of the Skaff acquisition to our distribution and storage segment later in the call.During the quarter, we refinanced our seven-year convertible notes, which were coming due on August 1, 2018, as well as our senior secured revolving credit facility. We issued $259 million of seven-year convertible notes, at a 1% coupon, while retiring $193 million out of a total of $250 million seven-year notes, at a 2% coupon, and amended and extended our $450 million revolver. We recorded $4.9 million of debt extinguishment costs, or $0.10 per share, as shown on line B.Over the prior five years, we were involved in litigation in China with a former external sales representative over disputed commissions.
In years prior to 2017, we accrued $4.6 million as our best estimate of the contingent liability. Based on a China court ruling that we recently received, the claimant was awarded $8.3 million. As a result of this ruling, we accrued an additional $3.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2017. The one-time EPS impact from this ruling was $0.11, as shown on line C.The final adjustment for 2017 on Slide 5 is $0.71 of positive impact to full-year EPS from U.S.
tax reform. Flipping to Slide 6, the left-hand side of the slide walks through our total tax benefit of $18.3 million in the fourth quarter and $15.9 million for the full year. The one-time benefit totaled $22.5 million, driven by $26.9 million from the revaluation of our deferred tax liabilities in the U.S. to the new 21% federal tax rate, which was nearly all in the Hudson Products entities.
Partially offsetting the one-time benefit was transition tax expense of $4.5 million related to the deemed repatriation of foreign earnings.Moving to our outlook for 2018 on Page 7 of the slide deck. The following guidance includes full-year impacts from the three acquisitions completed in 2017, as well as that of the Skaff acquisition completed January 2, 2018. The guidance also includes the anticipated impact of tax reform and the execution of our tax planning strategy. Additionally, the guidance includes the anticipated impact of the revenue-recognition accounting standard change, effective January 1, 2018, which we expect to be immaterial to the full year.Sales guidance is expected to be in the range of $1.15 billion to $1.2 billion for the full year of 2018.
We expect full-year adjusted earnings per diluted share to be in the range of $1.65 to $1.90 per share on approximately 31.5 million weighted average shares outstanding. This excludes any restructuring costs and acquisition-related costs and includes approximately 15% of the anticipated benefit from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, moving our normalized effective tax rate from approximately 34% to the range of 27% to 29%.Additionally, our expected 27% to 29% tax rate continues to reflect unrecognized tax benefits in China which when realized will reduce the rate to 22% to 24%. We expect that to occur in 2019. It should be noted that we do not expect any material restructuring costs in 2018, as our recent restructuring actions are complete.
While we do not give quarterly guidance, our EPS reflects typical Chart seasonality throughout the year with a normal slower first quarter. We expect our capital expenditures for 2018 will be in the range of $35 million to $45 million, inclusive of all completed acquisitions' capital requirements.Before handing the call over to Bill, I want to briefly touch on our capital-deployment strategy, in particular in light of our recent acquisitions and U.S. tax reform. With the net leverage of three times and continued strong cash-flow generation, we will remain focused on deploying capital to support internal investments for growth and productivity, making targeted strategic acquisitions that fit our core cryogenic engineering and manufacturing competencies, and pay down of debt.
In 2018 we expect to repatriate approximately $15 million of foreign cash under the new tax rules.I will now turn the call over to Bill Johnson to discuss each segment's results and the trends in our end markets.
William C. (Bill) Johnson -- Chief Executive Officer and President
Thank you, Jill, and good morning everyone. I will provide an update on each segment's fourth-quarter and full-year results as well as market trends as we are seeing early in 2018.In the LNG markets, we see momentum gradually building, supported by the following indicators: Spot prices on LNG are at their highest levels in three years, the Chinese LNG market added 12 million tons of imports in 2017. As we discussed on our third-quarter earnings call, I will touch on shortly in the D&S update, we continue to be cautiously optimistic on the Chinese market. We see an uptick in industrial gas consumers securing access to LNG from ISO tank LNG distributors, European LNG import levels were the highest in five years with France, Turkey, and Italy all showing strength.
Additionally, the fleet of LNG-powered vessels is expected to double in 2018, which will result in more marine bunkering terminals, an area we continue to drive to take market share in.Now, turning to our energy and chemicals business. E&C segment sales of $99.2 million in the fourth quarter included $51.9 million from Hudson. This was a sequential organic increase of 17% over the third quarter of 2017. For the full year of 2017, E&C sales were $225.6 million, $71.4 million above 2016's revenue and $13.4 million above 2016 for legacy E&C revenue.
During the fourth quarter, total E&C orders were $75.1 million, with seven orders above $2 million each. U.S. upstream oil and natural gas end markets have strengthened over the past 12 months, generating increased air-cooled heat exchanger demand for natural gas processing plants. A multiyear build-out of natural gas transmission infrastructure continues to drive improved air-cooled heat exchanger demand.
The Hudson acquisition, which closed on September 20, 2017, contributed $58 million in sales and $6.4 million of operating income to Chart for our period of ownership in 2017.On a full-year basis, Hudson performed as expected, with revenues of $199.2 million and 21% EBITDA. We expect our Hudson and Chart air-cooled heat exchanger business to be up 2% year over year compared to the pro forma full year 2017. As previously mentioned during our earnings call last quarter, we continue to anticipate that the forecasted global supply demand for liquefied natural gas balance will be driving LNG export facility orders in late 2018 and into early 2019. Our IPSMR technology continues to generate high-level interest in a number of mid-scale applications.
During the quarter Tellurian announced an agreement with Bechtel and Chart to proceed with utilizing Chart's IPSMR process technology and equipment on the Driftwood project. Additionally, Cheniere announced it intends to switch from two large-scale liquefaction trains to seven mid-scale modular trains on a Stage 3 expansion of the Corpus Christi project. Chart is working with its partners on a full feed and EPC proposal to complete by the end of fourth quarter 2018.2018 for E&C has started with slightly stronger-than-expected natural gas processing activity in brazed aluminum and air-cooled heat exchanger orders. Our Hudson Fans business performed above expectations in the fourth quarter of 2017, driven by orders in the Hudson Cofimco business related to power generation as well as strong aftermarket activity in our Hudson Tuf-Lite business.
We see continued strong performance in fans as these trends have continued into the first month of 2018.Now looking at the distribution and storage business. D&S sales increased $43.2 million to $540.3 million for the full year 2017 compared to 2016. Sequentially, compared to the third quarter of 2017, sales increased $10.9 million to $150.2 million in the fourth quarter 2017. The fourth quarter was the highest sales quarter for D&S since the fourth quarter of 2014.
Strengthened demand for mobile units for industrial gas, nitrogen, and oxygen combined with packaged gas increases in the Americas contributed to this quarter's sales levels. In our D&S business, we booked orders of $153.2 million in the fourth quarter, up 14% to the third quarter of 2017. Strong D&S order intake was driven by mobile equipment, industrial gas railcars, demand for beverage applications, and packaged gas.We received a 57-piece LNG trailer order in Europe totaling approximately $10 million. Additionally, we expect small-scale LNG terminal activity in Europe to provide opportunity in 2018.
We anticipate global demand growth in LNG fueled heavy-duty trucks over the next five years. This growth is driven by carbon emission regulations in some markets and the economics of LNG-to-diesel-price delta in other markets. Chart is expanding capacity in our Georgia facility to meet this growing demand for LNG vehicle tanks: a $3 million capital investment to double existing capacity by the end of the first quarter. Industrial CO2 activity is driving increased volumes of our bulk and MicroBulk products in the United States.
Applications such as industrial cleaning, dry ice production, food freezing, and beverage carbonation are leveraging Chart technology. Additional agricultural and pharmaceutical demand is increasing. D&S China continues to show signs of recovery, with the full-year 2017 orders up 9% over 2016. LNG-vaporization stations drove much of the order intake increases in 2017.We continue to be cautiously optimistic about the activity in China but do not expect it to near 2014 sales level in the next few years.
It is also worth noting that D&S China is nearing a full year of operating at EBITDA positive margins. We are pleased with the completion of the Chinese facility consolidation and expect that D&S China will achieve a positive operating income in 2018 while supporting 10% plus growth.As Jill mentioned, we completed the acquisition of Skaff Cryogenics on January 2. Skaff is approximately $7 million in annual revenue with projected EBITDA margins over 20%. Headquartered in New Hampshire, Skaff refurbishes and repairs stationary tanks, trailers, and portable tanks.
Until this point, Chart has had existing equipment contracts with major industrial gas players, yet lacked the geographic presence in the Northeast, where many of the tanks needing refurbishment are located.The strategic Northeast location of Skaff fills out an area of the country previously left to other providers and completes the majority of U.S. coverage for us. This acquisition also contributes to the global footprint of our repair capabilities, which was enhanced in August of 2017 by the acquisition of VCT Vogel in Germany. January of 2018 was a strong order month for the D&S segment in the United States and Asia.
The primary areas of a strength to continue to be LNG vehicle tank orders, industrial gas, MicroBulk orders.Finally, our BioMedical business. Fourth-quarter 2017 BioMedical sales of $56.6 million increased from the third-quarter sales of $54.7 million, driven primarily by the strengthening in cryobiological stainless steel tanks and on-site gas generation growth. Full-year 2017 biomedical sales grew 7% over 2016 with all product categories -- respiratory, cryobiological, and on-site gas generation -- growing 5% or more year over year. Cryobiological sales grew 9% in the year making 2017 a record revenue year in the product line.BioMedical SG&A for the full-year 2017 was $42.1 million, inclusive of $2.5 million of restructuring charges.
This compares to $45.7 million of SG&A in 2016, including $0.6 million of restructuring cost in that period. Reduction in year-over-year normalized SG&A was driven by facility consolidation completed in the first quarter of 2017 and the reduction in force completed in the third quarter of 2017.In 2018 we anticipate continued macroeconomic tailwinds across all product lines in biomed, in particular, aging population, pollution in China, and increased need for quality medical devices will contribute to our above-market forecasted organic growth in 2018.I will now open it up for questions. Crystal, please provide instructions to the participants to be able to ask questions.
How Chart Industries Could Be an Under-the-Radar Cannabis Stock
Check Out Chart Industries for Some Unique Energy Tailwinds
Things Are Heating Up for Chart Industries
Thank you. Our first question comes from Matt Trusz from Gabelli and Company. Your line is open.
Matthew Trusz -- Gabelli & Company -- Analyst
Good morning. Thank you for taking my questions this morning. So you discussed the shale gas strength in E&C and orders for 2017. Do you see these persisting through the whole year of 2018? What geographical formations should we model in for this, and how much of the increase in the E&C backlog was related to the domestic shale gas and T&G infrastructure?
Yeah, to answer the macro question, we do see continued strength in the shale gas, gas processing plants into 2018. In our comments, we said it was going to be 2% over 2017 levels but, yeah, we see that continuing in the future.
From a backlog perspective, Matt, we booked in 2017 orders related to that just under $30 million, of which about $10 million were shipped, so carryover into 2018 will be at $20 million from that.
Great. Thank you. Second, on margins, now that you've acquired Hudson and accomplished a lot of your restructuring objectives early on, what do you see as the go-forward incremental margin potential of the business either overall or if we look at it segment by segment?
So, if we look at 2018, I think we can look at it both overall and by segments, but we see total gross-margin expansion for 2018 in the 200-basis-point to 250-basis-point range over 2017 and full for Chart consolidated. In each of the segments, breaking it down, biomedical is the lowest of the three in terms of incremental from 2017 to 2018, primarily because we had three quarters of benefit from the restructuring consolidation in the first quarter. D&S and E&C both contribute equally to the Chart expansion of gross margin.
Thank you. Our next question comes from Martin Malloy from Johnson Rice. Your line is open.
Martin Malloy -- Johnson Rice -- Director
Good morning. On the LNG side, the mid-scale LNG, could you maybe talk about if any that's flowing through backlog right now, any of the feed work that you have and maybe timing expectations for when some larger bookings might occur?
Well, the Tellurium has already passed through and we talked about that for 2017. There are some other smaller LNG projects where we're doing some studies that are going into 2018. We do anticipate the Cheniere project, having some funds on that this year as well, but if we look at we look at it, that's pretty much the scope of it right now.
OL. And then the La Crosse plant expansion. Could you talk about how you expect that to impact capacity this year?
Yes. So the expansion will be done in the third quarter of this year and it really relies on what the order intake comes in. We don't anticipate it having a material effect on it and we don't need the additional capacity in 2018. It's really setting ourselves up for the future, 2019 and 2020.
Thank you. Our next question comes from Rob Brown from Lake Street Capital Markets. Your line is open.
Rob Brown -- Lake Street Capital Markets -- Analyst
Good morning. On the Hudson, maybe just update us on the Hudson integration. Where are you at on that, how much more is to go and what's your thinking as you've got into it this far?
I mean we're in very early stages of it right now, looking at things. Hudson was a stand-alone business was when we bought it, very profitable, excellent management team. There's a number of things that we wanted to look at in terms of supply. We think that we can improve on some of the supply base and some of the suppliers they had actually helping us with our Tulsa operation but when we did the acquisition, we said it was going to take about 18 months to get the effect of the synergies and I think we said around $7 million in synergies.
We're on track for that. I would say the nice part about it is, we haven't had any negative surprises with the acquisition, it's all been very positive and we're very pleased with where we're at today.
And, Rob, we expect as we announced after we closed Hudson, that the EPS accretion remains in line with the numbers that we announced in September and October for 2018.
OK. Good. Good update. And then, maybe just touching to your acquisition strategy of the service businesses Skaff completed, are you still looking at pieces there or are there pieces that you still need, or do you feel like you've got that business sort of running now?
Well, we certainly are in a better position than we were prior to Skaff. The Northeast was a big pool for us that we needed to fill. I would say that there are other opportunities out there that we're looking at, we will continue to look at and evaluate but we're certainly in a much better position than we were before January 2.
OK. Thank you. I'll turn it over.
Thank you. Our next question comes from Eric Stine from Craig-Hallum. Your line is open.
Eric Stine -- Craig-Hallum Capital Group -- Analyst
Hi, Bill. Hi, Jill. Maybe just turning to the LNG, the project pipeline, I don't know if you're willing to divulge this but maybe just the mix as you see it between projects where you're doing engineering work versus just supplying the equipment obviously given the big difference in content there?
Well, yeah, I would say, we do that whether we're providing equipment or doing engineering work. We're doing engineering work, right? So we have to do engineering work to supply the equipment. So I'm not sure that there's a distinction there unless you're talking about where we're doing the installation acting as a general contractor.
I'm talking more the mid-scale, where there's much more content on your end versus the traditional baseload where there is just not as much content. So, maybe I phrased the question wrong but maybe the mix versus what you've done traditionally in the past versus going forward are the markets move in more mid-scale?
So what I would say there is that we are getting a lot more inquiries about our IPSMR, modular mid-scale technology. People are very interested in that, and it really revolves around the off-take agreements and the ability for people to secure off-take. You saw, for example, that Cheniere just announced a $1.2 million dollar off-take agreement, or 1.2-million-ton off-take agreement, with China and I think that happened at that level that they're kind of seeing the off-take come in at and the modular mid-scale solutions that our IPSMR technology provides really bodes well into that arena. And so I think we are seeing a lot of inquiries from major players in the industry and to understand what benefits our technology brings to the table.
Got it. I mean, it sounds like that does make up a good portion of the pipeline.
It certainly will contribute at some point to the pipeline.
OK, fair enough. Maybe just turning to industrial gas. I know it's been a question for some time given the consolidation in that industry but given the positive trends you're seeing I mean is it safe to kind of give the all-clear in terms of that industry consolidation that we've seen from your customers that's really not going to impact you?
I think the Praxair-Linde merger is not done yet, all right? So, that will take some time in August. So, I think the jury is still out there to see what's going to happen. The Airgas-Air Liquide merger has been completed for quite a while and we continue to see good business from them. So I don't see that being a problem going forward but we'll monitor it.
OK. And then just one last one just to clarify something for Jill. Just did you say on the tax rate given what's going on in China, 2019, and did you mean your overall tax rate at 22% to 24%?
Correct, yes. Chart total tax rate.
OK. All right, thank you very much.
Thank you. Our next question comes from Tom Hayes from Northcoast Research. Your line is open.
Tom Hayes -- Northcoast Research -- Managing Director
Thank you. Good morning. Just wondering maybe, you teased it out a little bit, since it's been an area of focus is as far as, what was the level of service revenue in '17 and the expectations for '18?
The service revenue on [Inaudible] services after-market parts and service. It was 13% of our total revenue in 2017 and we expect that to grow to about 15% to 16% in 2018.
OK. And then maybe since Hudson is relatively new for us, how should we think about the growth rate within the E&C between the core business and then the Hudson business in 2018?
So we look at on the Hudson business combined with our Chart legacy air-cooled heat exchanger business and now we expect that that business to grow 2% in 2018 over 2017. And then, we would expect Chart legacy, excluding those product lines to grow around 5%.
Great. And then, just maybe lastly for Bill, you mentioned that in the marine bunkering opportunity. Could you maybe just tease that out a little bit as far as what kind of products that might apply to? And then, the order or the spec in time generally last a couple of quarters here or you're used to maybe tease that out a little bit?
Yeah. So in Europe, in particular, there's a lot of marine activity with LNG, and a lot of it's being driven by the regulations with sulfur emission regulations and standards that are going into effect. So, all the marine engines have to be either low-sulfur diesel or running some form of LNG in the near future. So, we see more of that activity in terms of a lot of the LNG, excess LNG right now is going to Europe.
And so, what we do is we provide the storage tanks for these smaller bunkering terminals up to a 1,000 cubic meters and there may be eight to 10 of these kinds of tanks at a terminal, and you have all the vacuum insulated piping and all the ancillary equipment that goes along with that for the bunkering.
Thank you. And our next question comes from Pavel Molchanov from Raymond James. Your line is open.
Pavel Molchanov -- Raymond James -- Senior Vice President
Thanks for taking the question. When I look at your backlog versus your 2018 revenue guidance, it's just over a third or covers just over a third of your projected revenue. And I think historically it used to be at least 50% sometimes well north of that. So has there been a structural shift in the business now toward more short cycle orders that are not included in the backlog?
Hi Pavel, yes there has. So the combination of the addition of the Hudson Sands business, which is a shorter cycle, the growth in our respiratory BioMedical side and then we have higher service in aftermarket revenue mix. So that drives the delta.
OK, understood. And thinking about the tax rates, so if the new federal rate is 21%, you're guiding to 27% to 29% that seems to imply your international tax rate 35% plus. Is that a fair representation of why you're at 27% to 29%?
That is correct. So it's primarily driven by the losses in China that we have that ordinarily would result in tax benefit and reduce our total tax expense. So we've concluded that the losses are not likely to be used in the future. So we haven't recognized any tax benefit, so your implied rate is correct for the international side.
All right. Appreciate it.
Thank you. And I'm showing no further questions from our phone lines. I would now like to turn the conference call back over to Bill Johnson for any closing remarks.
Thank you, Crystal. We are pleased to announce our Investor Day, which is scheduled to take place June 7, 2018, at the JW Marriott Essex Hotel in New York City. We will share our strategy, provide a three-year outlook for the business, and provide interaction with our segment presidents. An invitation and RSVP instructions will be distributed in the first week of March.
Our fourth-quarter and full-year 2017 results reflect recovery in certain markets, our reduced cost structure, and support our 2018 guidance. The combination of concluding our restructuring actions, refinancing our debt at lower cost, mid-single-digit organic growth in all three segments, and ownership of Hudson Products, VCT Vogel, and Skaff Cryogenics for the full year of 2018 supports adjusted EPS growth from $0.96 in 2017 to a range of $1.65 to $1.90 in 2018. Thank you, everyone, for listening today. Goodbye.
[Operator signoff]
More GTLS analysis
10 stocks we like better than Chart Industries
When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has quadrupled the market.*
David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Chart Industries wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.
*Stock Advisor returns as of April 2, 2018
GTLS
Chart Industries
NASDAQ:GTLS
Forget GE -- This Restructuring Industrial Giant Is a Better Buy
Fiat Chrysler Crashes on Goldman Sachs' Sell Rating
Here's Why Turquoise Hill Resources Tumbled Today
Chart Industries (GTLS) Q1 2018 Earnings Conference Call Transcript @themotleyfool #stocks $GTLS Next Article
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1280
|
__label__wiki
| 0.838539
| 0.838539
|
Home MAGAZINE BOOKS Beau Dick: Devoured by Consumerism
Art Books 2018
Don Proch
Beau Dick: Devoured by Consumerism
A companion book to the last show conceptualized by the late Kwakwaka’wakw artist tackles our unsustainable way of living.
by Portia Priegert
The cover of a companion book to the final show conceptualized by Beau Dick, the late Kwakwaka’wakw artist and hereditary chief, shows ceremonial masks engulfed by flames.
At first glance, the destruction of these cultural treasures seems a desecration akin to burning books. But as the contributors to Beau Dick: Devoured By Consumerism, make clear, the practice is anything but.
For the Kwakwaka’wakw, ritual burning is a tradition that signifies transition and prompts a new round of carving, a process that echoes the endless cycle of life.
In 2012, for instance, Dick removed some 40 masks from a Vancouver show, taking them to his home community of Alert Bay, B.C., where they were burned as part of a potlatch ceremony.
As Dick said at the time: “What we have to do is recreate them – and that keeps them alive.”
Candice Hopkins, an independent curator, explains in one of the book’s two essays that Dick’s action was “a means to short-circuit the commodification of Northwest Coast ceremonial objects, preventing them from becoming fetishes in the service not of ritual but of capital.”
Atlak’ima masks burn at Beau Dick’s potlatch, hosted in the ’Namgis Big House, Alert Bay, B.C., in 2012. (photo courtesy of Steve Calvert)
In potlatch, banned in the 1860s in Canada as a threat to colonial economic interests, status was not determined by how much someone had accumulated but by how much they gave away to others. The ban was lifted in 1951, although potlatches had sometimes been carried out in secret.
LaTiesha Fazakas, a Vancouver art dealer who opened the Fazakas Gallery in 2013, is showing some of Dick’s work from March 29 to May 11. Early Works includes 13 masks and objects created in 1979 and 1980 that have never been exhibited.
The show runs almost concurrently with Devoured by Consumerism, on view from March 16 to May 4 at White Columns, a non-profit gallery in New York City. Dick was planning the show when he died in 2017 at age 61. He wanted it to be his “most overt critique of a system that he knew was unsustainable,” Fazakas says in her introduction to the book, co-published by Vancouver’s Figure 1 and the Fazakas Gallery.
Noting that Dick cared deeply about the hardships facing Indigenous people, she writes: “Beau hoped to use the power of his appeal to bring awareness and change to a world that he saw devouring itself under the ravenous pressures of capitalism.”
Dick viewed the potlatch – essentially his culture’s economic and legal system – as a form of resistance. “Imagine saving up the piles of fives, tens, twenties, fifties and hundreds,” Dick once said. “To be wealthy? To have power? No, to give it all away in resistance to these values that Western society tries to perpetrate into us.”
Beau Dick, “Nu-Tla-Ma (Fool Dance), circa 1980
western red cedar, acrylic and horse hair, 26” x 11” x 8” (photo by Alex Gibson, courtesy of Fazakas Gallery, Vancouver)
Dick, whose work has been shown around the world, has participated in prestigious contemporary arts events like the 2010 Sydney Biennale and Europe’s Documenta 14 in 2017. He is also known for his political activities, including copper-breaking ceremonies undertaken to ritually shame the federal and B.C. governments for injustices perpetrated against Indigenous people.
The 96-page hardcover book is accompanied by colour photographs of Dick’s striking masks, along with brief textual descriptions that provide insight into their cultural significance.
Devoured by Consumerism is the second book about Dick in as many years.
The first, Beau Dick: Revolutionary Spirit, by Darrin Martens, a former curator at the Audain Art Museum in Whistler, B.C., is a finalist this year for a B.C. Book Prize. The 160-page hardcover book was also published by Figure 1. ■
Beau Dick: Devoured by Consumerism is published by Figure 1 in collaboration with the Fazakas Gallery in Vancouver. Early Works is on view at the Fazakas Gallery in Vancouver from March 29 to May 11, 2019.
Fazakas Gallery
688 East Hastings Street, Vancouver, British Columbia V6A 1R1 View Map
Hours Tues to Sat 11 am - 5 pm
Beau Dick Fazakas Gallery 9 April 2019 Figure 1 Publishing
Portia Priegert
Portia Priegert is the editor of Galleries West. A former news reporter at the Ottawa bureau of The Canadian Press, she has an MFA from UBC Okanagan and has taught at the University of Victoria.
Read more by Portia Priegert
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1282
|
__label__cc
| 0.508086
| 0.491914
|
LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens takes players deeper into the new film than any other game with all of the heroic characters from the movie, including Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron, Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and BB-8, as well as Kylo Ren, General Hux and Captain Phasma, while also exploring iconic Star Wars locales, such as Jakku and Starkiller Base.
LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens takes players deeper into the new film than any other game with all of the heroic characters from the movie, including Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron, Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and BB-8, as well as Kylo Ren, General Hux and Captain Phasma, while also exploring iconic Star Wars locales, such as Jakku and Starkiller Base. Show more Show less
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1283
|
__label__wiki
| 0.996505
| 0.996505
|
Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite's first batch of DLC includes Black Panther, Venom, Monster Hunter, and more
By Sam Prell 2017-09-18T21:10:45.26Z News
Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite launches tomorrow with 30 characters available to rumble it up with - 15 from the Marvel universe, and 15 from Capcom games. But of course, the roster won't stay at that number, with six more fighters coming to Infinite by the end of 2017.
Capcom announced on its Unity Blog today that Sigma, Black Panther, Winter Soldier, Black Widow, Venom, and a female Monster Hunter will be available later this year. It's not clear if these characters will be sold separately or as a bundle, but the combined value looks to be approximately $30 (that's the price difference between the standard version of the game and the Deluxe version, the latter of which includes these six characters as they're released).
Amazon Prime Day deals start Monday: find out more at TechRadar.
In my opinion, it's a little weird that the announced DLC gives Marvel the edge in total number of characters, with 19 to Capcom's 17. Historically, the number of characters from both companies has remained even. But then, I noted in my review that the game has an "MCU-friendly tone," often giving Marvel characters the spotlight in story mode. This sounds like a continuation of that, but maybe that's just me.
Capcom released promo images of Sigma and Black Panther (both of whom show up during the game's story, alongside a monster hunter from... well, Monster Hunter), while Winter Soldier, Black Widow, and Venom are a mystery.
Save for Venom, this will be a series debut for all of these characters. Hopefully they'll feel like worthy additions, and players will enjoy getting to take them for a spin.
oxm
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1284
|
__label__cc
| 0.70351
| 0.29649
|
Fort Lauderdale Police Using “Water” to Fight Crime
It truly sounds like a creative episode of CSI: law enforcement officials using “water bullets” to catch those suspected of crimes.
However, our Fort Lauderdale criminal defense lawyers have learned this is more than a good television show plot. As it turns out, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department has initiated a water marking pilot program that is being closely monitored by law enforcement agencies across the country.
It’s not actually “water,” and it’s not just police who are being encouraged to use it. It’s a liquid substance called SmartWater CSI, and it leaves a semi-permanent mark on either a person or property that is visible only with the use of a special ultraviolet light. The idea is to arm store clerks, homeowners and property owners in general with these “guns.” The anticipation is that valuable property can be marked with the liquid solution for later proof of identification or that suspects may be squirted with the substance as later proof that they were the individual involved.
Primarily, city police have said, their goal will be to use it in efforts to combat property crimes. Patrol units will actually be carrying ultraviolet light detectors, while residents in certain neighborhoods will be given the liquid solution kits.
Administrators for the company that sells the product have already placed numerous signs in the area, warning that the technology is being used.
The liquid, comprised of certain earth minerals, reportedly contains microdots that hold identification numbers that a technician would be able to see under a special microscope. The markings last on a person or property for up to five years and may be next to impossible to remove during that time, company leaders say.
Yearly subscriptions are reportedly being sold for $200. For this, buyers would receive the liquid, registration information and warning signs. There are even special solutions available solely for boats and vehicles.
Businesses could also access sprinkler systems that would mark anyone who entered, giving police an option to identify an individual potentially weeks or even months after an incident.
Of course, our criminal defense lawyers would point out that if DNA technology has taught us anything, no technology is infallible. Theoretically speaking, an individual may be able to obtain another person’s spray solution and frame an innocent individual.
There are also Fourth Amendment considerations that haven’t been answered. For example, the U.S. Supreme Court is right now weighing whether police officers must first get a warrant before obtaining a blood sample from a suspected drunk driver. So what should be the protocol for putting a suspect under a UV light?
We know that officials in England have been using this technology for roughly 15 years now, and there has reportedly been a successful prosecution rate as a result. But local officials concede such technology has not yet been tested in the U.S. legal system – meaning it may be rife for challenges.
That position has some officials back-tracking to say it’s more of a deterrent than an actual crime-fighter. For example, the demand for stolen property may be decreased markedly if scrap yards and pawn shops are wary of buying SmartWater-marked items. (Though we would argue too that this could cut down on the ability of legitimate owners to hawk these items.)
Regardless, there are sure to be some test cases arising. If you are among those individuals arrested following the use of SmartWater technology, call us today.
Fort Lauderdale Criminal Defense Attorney Richard Ansara can be reached at (954) 761-4011. The Ansara Law Firm serves Broward, Dade and Palm Beach counties.
Smart Water CSI, fighting crime with water, Jan. 24, 2013, By Evan Axelbank, West Palm Beach, WPTV Channel 5
South Florida Synthetic Drug Sales Continue, Despite Crackdown, Feb. 1, 2013, Fort Lauderdale DUI Lawyer Blog
Posted in: Attorney Richard Ansara
Updated: February 12, 2013 11:47 am
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1286
|
__label__wiki
| 0.968346
| 0.968346
|
Editors' Choice Reviews
Computer Mice Reviews
Computer Monitor Reviews
CPU Reviews
Desktop Computer Reviews
Graphics Cards Reviews
Health & Fitness Device Reviews
Network Attached Storage (NAS) Reviews
Router Reviews
Scanner Reviews
Security Software Reviews
Smart Home Device Reviews
Streaming Device Reviews
VoIP Reviews
VR (Virtual Reality) Reviews
Wearable Device Reviews
Best CPUs
Best Web Hosting Services
How to Build Your Smart Home
How to Clear Cache
How to Delete Your Facebook Account
How to Download YouTube Videos
How to Edit a PDF
How to Hack Wi-Fi Passwords
How to Set Up Two-Factor Authentication
How to Set Up an Amazon Echo
How to Set Up and Configure Your Wireless Router
How to Set Up and Use a VPN
How to Speed Up Windows
Amazon Shopping Tips
Apple TV Tips
Gmail Tips
Google Chromecast Tips
Google Search Tips
Hidden iOS Tips
Netflix Binge Watching Tips
Roku Tips
Wi-Fi Booster Tips
The Why Axis
Fastest ISPs
Fastest Mobile Networks
Business Choice
IT and DevOps Tools
IT Watch
PCMag Shop
Subscribe: Subscribe
Search for Close
Arrow_Path
FacebookLibra
TrumpTweets
EchoVsHome
WhyAxis
Forward Thinking/
Facing the Industrialist's Dilemma at Fortune Brainstorm Tech
At last week's Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference, one of the big topics was the "digital transformation" that many big companies are going through, and how some of these old-line companies are moving into new digital areas.
By Michael J. Miller
July 20, 2016 2:00PM EST
PCMag reviews products independently, but we may earn affiliate commissions from buying links on this page. Terms of use.
At last week's Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference, one of the big topics was the "digital transformation" that many big companies are going through, and how some of these old-line companies are moving into new digital areas. I was interested in the thoughts of the leaders of General Motors, Disney, Toys 'R' Us, and Koch Industries, and particularly in a panel featuring leaders from Box and General Electric discussing "the industrialist's dilemma"—how big companies can be more innovative.
(Zimmer, Ammann)
In one panel, General Motors president Dan Ammann, and Lyft co-founder and president John Zimmer talked about GM's $500 million investment in the ride-sharing service, how it was indicative of a broader plan to collaborate going forward, and future changes in the automotive industry. Ammann said that GM has offered short term rentals of GM vehicles for potential Lyft drivers today, but in the long term envisions a network of autonomous vehicles in a ride-sharing context.
Ammann said GM believes there will be no single year when a major shift to autonomous vehicles occurs, but rather that we will see a gradual rollout of autonomous techniques, with fully autonomous vehicles initially used only in limited environments. While he wouldn't comment on the accidents reported by Tesla, he said "we believe that fundamentally car-based transportation will be much safer with autonomous vehicles." Initially, he said, he thought autonomous driving would happen in places with defined routes, areas, or conditions, but getting to a fully autonomous vehicle will take some time, though it will happen "faster than you might think." Zimmer believes it might take more than 10 years for fully autonomous vehicles.
Zimmer talked about how $2 trillion is spent annually on car ownership in the U.S., and said he expects most of this will eventually transform into "transportation as a service." He said that with the GM investment, the company believes it now has "more than enough money to get to break even," even though it is currently losing money.
(Charles Koch)
Charles Koch, CEO of privately-held Koch Industries, talked about growing the company from sales of about $200 million to more than $115 billion over his 50 years as CEO. Had this been a public company, he said, "I would have been fired," because many of his initial ideas about running the company didn't work. But over time, he said, the Kochs developed an approach based on a framework of five elements: vision, virtue and talents, knowledge process, decision, and rights and incentives. This involves first finding the right people based on their values, and then working to optimize every employee's role according to their skills. He said that "when we get all that right—the right people in the right roles with the right vision and the right values—then we really have great innovations."
Koch, who may be best-known for his spending on political causes, said he thinks that a lot of regulation is anti-competition and anti-innovation.
He said he thought that if we had "permission-less" or "open innovation," the growth rate would be beyond what anyone believes. Koch said that if we had the same kind of regulation as we do today when people invented automobiles and airplanes, it would have taken a lot longer and cost a lot more to create these things.
Koch said his company is based on innovation, and modeled around Michael Polanyi's concept of "The Republic of Science" where all the people working on a problem share knowledge. As he explained it, employees gather information in their fields and in other areas, and that each month new ideas are discussed, with many shot down—including his own.
As part of this, he talked about the importance of tests and failures, mentioning that Edison supposedly had 3,000 failures before inventing the light bulb. Koch said it's important to test your hypotheses and to try to disprove them.
In answer to a question of mine about the role of regulation and other factors on the slowdown in productivity over the past decade, he talked about how Holland in the 17th century instituted free trade, free speech, and welcomed dissidents from all over the world, and how this led to innovations that made it the wealthiest country in the world. Koch said he would like to see a world where people work together and feel liberated to take chances and innovate. "Throughout history, that's what raised productivity," he said.
On another subject, asked about whether he would vote for Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, he compared it to voting for cancer or a heart attack.
(Robert Iger)
Walt Disney Company CEO Robert Iger described Disney as "a storytelling company that has embraced technology from the very beginning, since Walt Disney." He said that this vision guides the company and also its investment philosophy. Iger explained that when the company bought Pixar and Lucasfilm, it was primarily for their intellectual property, but that the technology which enables them to tell stories in a better way was also important. Iger said Disney is "not primarily a technology company," but views itself as being the most aggressive of the storytelling companies in using and embracing technology.
Iger talked about how the new Disney World in Shanghai took 18 years to realize, but was the biggest thing the company has done in theme parks "since Walt assembled 30,000 acres in Central Florida to create Disney World." Iger said the goal was to build something that was "authentically Disney, distinctly Chinese." In the few weeks the park has been open, he said it was safe to assume almost 1 million people have experienced it.
Iger talked about how most of the technology used to build the park hadn't been used before; this included VR and simulations done at the company's Glendale, CA, headquarters, as well as the technology used in creating the Pirates of the Caribbean and Tron rides, and the nighttime show, which projects images onto each surface of the castle at the center of the park.
Iger talked about VR currently being more of a marketing technique, but said he thought the combination of technology and storytelling could be quite powerful. In particular, he was very bullish on Magic Leap's technology to create the experience of taking a walk on Tatooine or interacting with Star Wars characters.
Asked about whether the company would offer a pure direct-to-consumer offering of ESPN, Iger agreed we are seeing a change in media, powered by shifts in technology, and that this is changing the business models underneath many businesses, such as ESPN. He said the company still believes the multi-channel bundle will survive, but said he knows people will want choices, so eventually the company will do a direct-to-consumer offering for ESPN where it acquires user data. But he said, "we don't want to disrupt too far ahead."
Toys 'R' Us
(Dave Brandon CEO)
Toys 'R' Us CEO Dave Brandon talked about his time as CEO of Domino's Pizza, how he led the digital transformation of that company, and how he hopes to do the same at Toys 'R' Us.
For Domino's, he talked about innovating "the whole customer journey," from the quality of the pizza to improving the ordering process. (For more on Domino's, see my post from earlier this year.)
Brandon said the same kind of transformation is needed at Toys 'R' Us, and said that while "everyone is selling stuff over the Internet," the company "wants to become partners" with its customers. As an example, he said 80 percent of pregnant women in the U.S. will make at least one trip to a Babies 'R' Us store, but that most don't get services such as prenatal care or training. Brandon said the company wants to help such customers "through their journey with their first child."
Brandon said that currently the firm's digital stores are "clunky" and need to be updated, and that he sees the stores and the digital elements working together. For instance, he talked about designing new stores so it is more efficient to ship from the back end of the store, and he noted that the company can do things in-store which simply can't be done online, such as letting a child test-drive a bike or assemble it for the parent. "We're a specialty retailer," Brandon said, and that means the company can do things that Amazon and the "Big Box" guys can't.
Brandon said Toys 'R' Us, which had $12 billion in sales last year, is the only global toy and baby specialty retailer. The firm invests heavily in international growth, he said, but can't be successful unless it is successful in the U.S. He talked about the importance of getting the management team out of the company's Wayne, NJ, headquarters and into the stores, saying he gives his management team trophies of a cheetah or a tortoise, reflecting most and least visits to stores.
Industrialist's Dilemma
(Levie, Comstock)
All of these ideas were summed up in a panel featuring Box CEO Aaron Levie and GE Vice Chair Beth Comstock, moderated by Fortune's Alan Murray, which focused on "the Industrialist's Dilemma," as described by Levie, and the subject of a course he is teaching at Stanford.
Levie said he spends a lot of time talking to big companies, and that obviously a large percentage of the Fortune 500 is going through numerous changes. He said the idea resembles Clayton Christensen's well-known Innovator's Dilemma in that the incentives for change are distant, even though change needs to happen regardless. He said that maybe 5 percent of the Fortune 500 has really adapted to the changing world of business, with companies like GE "at the top of the list."
Comstock said GE wants to be at the intersection of digital and industrial, embedding software and control in all the technology it builds, while at the same time learning how to create software to manage these products and perform analytics. "We want to be big but act small," she said. (I wrote more about GE's strategy and more specifically about the digital changes here.)
Levie said it's easier to get a manufacturing process than to figure out a digital ecosystem. Comstock said that both are hard, and pointed to materials science, but noted that the company has been working on its Predix IoT software platform for five years.
One issue is that at big companies, "the cost of failure is more public," Levie said. If a Detroit company had had the autopilot failure that Tesla recently experienced, he said, it would have brought such innovation in Detroit to a halt. Companies known for being at bleeding edge have permission to do far more innovative things, he said.
Comstock, who was at NBC when it was part of GE, said NBC saw disruption there, though they missed YouTube, but said bigger companies are improving in understanding the need to make more bets and see more failures. For instance, she noted that iVillage didn't work for NBC, but its investment in Hulu did.
Levie concluded by emphasizing that innovation starts with organization and culture, rather than technology. Comstock agreed, and pointed to accountability and simply delivering on goals. "You just have to do it," she said.
Michael J. Miller
Michael J. Miller's Forward Thinking Blog: forwardthinking.pcmag.com Michael J. Miller is chief information officer at Ziff Brothers Investments, a private investment firm. From 1991 to 2005, Miller was editor-in-chief of PC Magazine, responsible for the editorial direction, quality, and presentation of the world's largest computer publication... See Full Bio
More From Michael
Living with a Google Pixel 3a
The Insta360 EVO Camera: 360-Degree Action with Special Extras
Living with a Dell Latitude 7400 2-in-1
Code Conference: How Traditional Media is Adapting
Code Conference: Changes Coming for Delta, Harley-Davidson, Goldman Sachs, AWS
Get Our Best Stories!
Subscribe to What's New Now
This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.
44 Google Maps Tricks You Need to Try
Amazon's Echo Lineup: What's the Difference?
PCMag Digital Edition
PC Magazine and PC PCMag.com are among the federally registered trademarks of
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1287
|
__label__wiki
| 0.876133
| 0.876133
|
Brewers offer arbitration to Fielder, Rodriguez
By | Sports Network
Milwaukee, WI – The Milwaukee Brewers have offered A free agents -- first baseman Prince Fielder and - prior to Wednesday's deadline.
Fielder, 27, has played his entire seven-year career in Milwaukee, but made waves last year by publicly announcing that it would most likely be his last year with the club.
Last season, the burly infielder played in all 162 games while hitting .299 with 38 home runs and 120 RBI for the NL Central champs.
Should Fielder decline arbitration and sign with another team, the Brewers would be in line to receive draft compensation.
Rodriguez, 29, was dealt to the Brewers prior to the trade deadline last season by the New York Mets. He appeared in 42 games last season for New York, recording 23 saves.
Once he arrived in Milwaukee, he became a setup man for closer John Axford, going 4-0 with a 1.86 earned run average in 31 appearances.
He spent the first seven years of his career with the Los Angeles Angels, where he helped them win the World Series in his rookie season of 2002.
Rodriguez also set a new major league record for saves in a season by recording 62 for the Halos back in 2008.
Milwaukee would again receive draft picks if Rodriguez declines arbitration and signs with another team.
The Brewers also declined arbitration on Type-B free agent shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt.
Betancourt hit .252 with 13 home runs and 68 RBI last season, his first with Milwaukee.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1288
|
__label__wiki
| 0.97356
| 0.97356
|
Source Says MLB Is Forcing Astros Out of National League
Major League Baseball told Houston businessman Jim Crane it would not approve his purchase of the Astros unless he agreed to move the team to the American League, The Associated Press has learned.
Crane was forced to agree to move the sale along, a person familiar with the negotiations said Wednesday on condition of anonymity because no official announcement has been made by MLB or the Astros. Approval of the sale could be announced as early as Thursday at a meeting of baseball executives in Milwaukee.
Crane reportedly agreed to the move in exchange for a drop in the sales price valued earlier this year at $680 million. The person who spoke to the AP could not confirm the sales price.
The MLB Players Association believes two 15-team leagues would create a more proportionate schedule and has urged baseball to make the switch. With schedules for next season already completed, the earliest such a move could take place is 2013.
Time is running out for approval of the deal: Crane has said that his offer, which was announced on May 16 expires Nov. 30.
An MLB spokesman did not immediately return messages seeking comment, though Commissioner Bud Selig addressed an Astros' move during a Twitter chat on Monday.
"For 15/15 realignment, Houston would be the team moving to AL West. Would create more fairness in baseball," Selig tweeted via the Colorado Rockies Twitter feed. He also added that "15 teams in each league would necessitate interleague play every day but it will be better schedule overall."
The Astros currently play in the six-team NL Central. The AL West is the only league in the majors with four teams (Rangers, Angels, Athletics and Mariners).
The Astros would be in a division with in-state rival Texas. But fans are unhappy that the other three teams are all on the West Coast, meaning many road games would routinely end past midnight Central time.
Drayton McLane bought the team in November 1992 for about $117 million and put the franchise up for sale in November. He turned down an offer from Crane to buy the team in 2008.
The $680 million sale price is the second-highest in major league history, trailing the $845 million purchase of the Chicago Cubs by the Ricketts family two years ago. The $660 million sale of the Boston Red Sox in 2002 currently is second. Like the Astros' deal, the Cubs and Red Sox transactions included related entities.
A major selling point in Houston was the Astros' share in a new deal with the NBA's Houston Rockets to create a regional sports network that will begin airing Rockets games in 2012 and the Astros in 2013.
Crane has said the team's 30-year lease at Minute Maid Park, which is owned by the Harris County Houston Sports Authority, will remain intact under his ownership.
Crane, who founded a Houston-based logistics company in 2008, is also the chairman and chief executive of Crane Capital, a private equity fund company. In 2009, he was in the running to buy the
Cubs and last summer teamed with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in an unsuccessful bid to buy the Texas Rangers.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1289
|
__label__wiki
| 0.955403
| 0.955403
|
France celebrates Bastille Day, awaits World Cup final
Date created : 13/07/2018 - 07:51 Latest update : 14/07/2018 - 14:25
Ludovic Marin, AFP | French President Emmanuel Macron (centre left) takes part in the annual Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Élysées avenue in Paris on July 14, 2018.
Text by: FRANCE 24 Follow
Video by: FRANCE 24 Follow
Security has been tightened ahead of a weekend that France hopes will bring back-to-back celebrations of Bastille Day on July 14 and a victory in the 2018 World Cup final, with 110,000 members of the security services deployed across France.
Paris Police Chief Michel Delpuech earlier this week announced that 12,000 officers and 3,000 rescue workers would be mobilised in Paris and its suburbs for France's national day on Saturday and on Sunday, when France meets Croatia for the World Cup final match in Moscow.
Around 110,000 law enforcement officers will be deployed across France.
"Everything is being done so the French can live these festive moments with peace of mind, despite the terrorist threat which remains at a high level," Interior Minister Gérard Collomb said at a press conference ahead of the weekend.
Saturday’s pomp-filled Bastille Day military parade down Paris’s Champs-Élysées suffered a couple of glitches, as two police motorcycles crashed during a performance and there was an apparent colour miscalculation in the blue-white-and-red smoke sprayed by fighter jets zooming over the capital's skyline.
Overall however, the event was about celebrating France’s security forces. While thousands paraded through central Paris, around 110,000 others fanned out around the country to protect Saturday’s celebrations, on alert after a Bastille Day truck attack in 2016 in Nice.
Macron presided over the Paris parade, which commemorates the storming of the Bastille prison in Paris on July 14, 1789, and the beginning of the French Revolution. Macron signed a new military budget on the eve of Saturday’s parade aimed at lifting defence spending to 2 percent of gross domestic product, as promised to NATO.
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was the guest of honour at Saturday’s Paris events, and troops from Singapore joined the parade. Last year’s main guest was Trump, who later said he wanted to stage a similar parade in Washington.
In addition to military units marching in the Paris parade, participants included rescue workers who helped French Caribbean territories devastated by hurricanes last year. Popular French astronaut Thomas Pesquet was to be among the pilots flying warplanes for the overhead show.
Security measures for Saturday’s events include limits on alcohol and fuel sales in Paris and other big cities, and stepped-up identity checks.
‘Real terror threats’
Bastille Day celebrations will be followed the next day by public viewings of the World Cup, including at a massive fan zone around the Champ de Mars park near the iconic Eiffel Tower. Around 4,000 police officers will be deployed around that park, where an expected 90,000 fans will gather to watch the match on giant screens.
The measures come exactly two years after a truck, driven by an Islamic State (IS) group sympathiser, rammed into a crowd watching the July 14 celebrations in the southern French city of Nice, killing 86 people. Paris has also experienced a number of attacks as well as foiled bomb plots following the January 2015 “Charlie Hebdo attacks”.
“Let's never lose sight of the fact that we're living in a context of very real terror threats. Our goal is to ensure that these events take place without any problem,” said Delpuech.
Security measures at public World Cup viewing sites would mirror those put in place during the 2016 UEFA Euro tournament, which France hosted months after the deadly November 13, 2015, Paris attacks.
Monitoring access points
The French interior ministry has given clear instructions to town and city authorities: open-air broadcasts of the match may only take place in areas where entry points can be heavily monitored.
In the eastern French city of Lyon, up to 20,000 football fans are expected on the famous Place Bellecour, which will be completely sealed off for the match. Vehicles will be prohibited around the site with anti-vehicle blocks set up at each entrance.
These are now standard measures in a country that has been exposed to terror threats.
“There's no such thing as zero risk,” said a Lyon resident. “But I think the authorities know what they're doing, and will do whatever's necessary.”
(FRANCE 24 with AP)
French team's World Cup rise sparks joy, without 'real message'
Battle-scarred Croatia 'ready for France' in World Cup final
Croatia to meet France in World Cup final after 2-1 win over England in extra-time
French lawmakers approve controversial bill to rebuild Notre-Dame
No bargain for workers: Amazon employees stage strikes during 'Prime Day' sales
Protesters, police clash around Paris's Champs-Élysées after Bastille Day parade
French MPs call for Tour de France to join UNESCO cultural heritage list
As it happened: European leaders join Macron for Bastille Day parade
Macron announces creation of French space force
Belgium's De Gendt wins Tour stage 8, France's Alaphilippe takes back yellow jersey
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1290
|
__label__cc
| 0.706243
| 0.293757
|
Radcliff dance bands
Looking for a band that will get your guests up and on their feet? GigMasters has a wide selection of Dance Bands that you can book for live performances at weddings, birthdays, clubs, and more. Bust a move and see who’s available for shows in the Radcliff, KY area.
Dance Bands /
Kentucky /
Radcliff, KY Dance Bands
Please note these Dance Bands will also travel to Big Spring, Vine Grove, Fort Knox, Rineyville, Muldraugh, Elizabethtown, West Point, Lebanon Junction, Cecilia, Ekron, Guston, Brandenburg, Laconia, Glendale, Eastview, Summit, Clermont, Boston, Custer, Garfield, Shepherdsville, Irvington, Brooks, Constantine, Sonora, Elizabeth, White Mills, Hodgenville, Central, White City
Are you a dance band looking to book more events? Get more dance band events today.
Top Dance Bands Near Radcliff, KY
(549)({{searchCtrl.fullFilteredResults.length}}) REFINE
Are you planning a wedding in Radcliff, KY? We can help you find the best vendors and entertainers for your upcoming wedding.
Big Black Cadillac - Funk & Soul Band
Dance Band from Bardstown, KY (25 miles from Radcliff, KY)
So you want to get people up and DANCING???!!!! Then read on and hire this perfect 5 Star Gigmaster rated band! Big Black Cadillac, a 6 piece cover band (WITH HORNS!) based in the Bourbon Capital of the World, Bardstown Kentucky, was formed in 2002 by a group of seasoned musicians with a love for funk, soul, & blues. The band features amazing vocal harmonies led by drummer, Patrick Dillard, and a tremendous horn section. The rest of band is as talented as you'll find anywhere. BBC's... (more)
The Company Band
Dance Band from Louisville, KY (24 miles from Radcliff, KY)
The Company Band is Kentucky's premier party band known for its versatility and talented members. The Company Band is putting its own spin on the music industry by giving people a combination of music genres creating delectable sounds the ear can only imagine. These incredibly talented musicians all come from different musical backgrounds to form one of the most requested bands. They offer an eclectic blend of Motown, R&B, pop, current hits, dance classics, oldies, beach and jazz. With horns... (more)
The Hiding
Variety Band from Louisville, KY (30 miles from Radcliff, KY)
The Hiding has a concert type performance that is bar none and a MUST SEE and HEAR! They are a band of seasoned professional performers that are ready to keep you engaged and having a ball! With performances at many events across the region such as Weddings, Concert Series Events, Family Friendly Fairs & Festivals fun for all ages, Private events, Corporate events, Clubs & Bars, Acoustic events, Casino's, Benefits for great causes, Original performances and so much more they have experience... (more)
KUDMANI - Louisville Wedding Band
Cover Band from Louisville, KY (38 miles from Radcliff, KY)
Thank you for your interest in planning and executing an experience of a lifetime. Our clients have awarded us with Hall of Fame honors on the Knot and "Couples Choice" on Wedding Wire based on their experiences. Leo has named us "Reader's Choice" and the Voice Tribune has awarded us with "Dance Party of the Year" honors. We will engage your guests and cater to their love of the classics, the sing alongs, and the greatest dance hits of all time. We are relentless in our pursuit of being... (more)
TOP TIER - Live Music At The Highest Level
TOP TIER is live music at the highest level! We provide the best of both worlds—a fun, high-energy party band and a smooth, light jazz band all in one! So whether you just want a great dance band, or you also want some relaxing dinner/cocktail music before the party really heats up, look no further. Top Tier has 5 vocalists and an incredible repertoire that spans 7 decades and encompasses almost every genre of music. Top Tier consists of top notch, experienced musicians with a passion... (more)
Usual Suspects Band
Variety Band from Simpsonville, KY (42 miles from Radcliff, KY)
The Usual Suspects Band is this Region's Best Wedding and Party Band, earning a 5 STAR Rating by Weddingwire, Gigsalad, Gigmasters and Facebook.com!!! They have been called "Kentuckiana's Premier Wedding and Dance Band" by Barn Party USA Editor Tim Martin!!! Together they are an immensely talented and experienced group of professional musicians that have become highly sought after for client's entertainment needs. USB has performed all over Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Tennessee,... (more)
Bourbon Revival Band
Verified Booking
Bluegrass Band from Louisville, KY (30 miles from Radcliff, KY)
The Bourbon Revival Story: Bourbon Revival formed in 2018, when a few of Kentucky's top bluegrass musicians began their mission to fuse bluegrass instruments with Classic Rock, Pop and Country. Their core objective was to preserve the original nuances and dynamics of their popular song selections while accenting the beauty of acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo and bass. The end result is a high energy band that is quickly emerging as Kentucky's favorite band for local venues, festivals,... (more)
Artie Dean Harris Band
With professional entertainment credits including Broadway theater and Hollywood films, Artie Dean can entertain any audience. Variety is this band's specialty. A complete package including a live DJ, live MC and live band! Located in Louisville, KY, The Artie Dean Harris Band consists of five professional musicians with music degrees from Bellarmine University and the University of Louisville. This line-up gives the show a ton of variety including musical styles of Motown, pop, dance,... (more)
Diamond Empire Band
"The ""Diamond Empire Band"" is the function band that is not a ""Function Band"". With regular showcase performances and a free demo CD you can see and hear them live before booking them, and pick and choose the size and configuration of your dream band. These full-time professional young musicians focus squarely on getting your night up and jumping, but without the cheese. Best of all, they are self-managed, so they are much less expensive than other bands in this quality bracket – you are... (more)
The Respectables- Louisville Wedding Band & DJ
WHO WAS VOTED BEST LIVE PARTY BAND IN USA? WHO PLAYS THE CMA AFTER PARTY? THE RESPECTABLES BAND...and we are ready to BRING THE PARTY to your event! _______________________________________________________________ Tired of hearing the same ol' local bands at every Louisville event? Bring in Nashville's finest to wow the crowd! CANT DECIDE ON EITHER A BAND OR A DJ? ...WELL NOW YOU CAN HAVE BOTH ! The Respectables have been packing dance floors and winning awards as the... (more)
DownStage Live - Wedding Band
DownStage Live is a professional live band that provides awesome entertainment that has the dance floor packed from start to finish! The 5-piece band is made up of top musicians with over 20 years of experience performing at weddings and events and will guarantee you a “Night of Entertainment to Remember”!!! Along with the main entertainment for your reception, we offer packages that include live music for your ceremony as well as for the dinner and cocktail hour. Wedding and Event... (more)
The band ENCORE Of Lexington
Dance Band from Lexington, KY (83 miles from Radcliff, KY)
Do you want to experience live entertainment that leaves you saying, " Can we get an ENCORE?" If you love music that moves the soul, then you need Encore Of Lexington at your next event. Encore was established with the purpose of providing wide-raging quality music that transcends age. We pride ourselves in giving high-energy, interactive performances that keep our audience engaged and on the dance floor. We provide a dynamic set for weddings, corporate entertainment, private parties... (more)
The Ranahans
Country Band from Lexington, KY (80 miles from Radcliff, KY)
The Plan B Band
Dance Band from Clarksville, TN (118 miles from Radcliff, KY)
The Plan B Band delivers quality live entertainment in each show to Memphis, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Tampa, & throughout the Southeast. Tailoring to your needs, Plan B can perform a variety, everything from your jazz cocktail hour to the large corporate dance event. We include music from Motown, Soul, R&B, Disco, Rock & Roll to today's Top 40's. We will invite you to pick any three special dance songs played during your wedding reception! With Plan B... (more)
2nd Wind Band
Show Band from Cincinnati, OH (117 miles from Radcliff, KY)
2nd Wind is one of Cincinnati's most sought after show bands, giving concert level performances at every stop! This amazing group has opened for numerous national acts including Eric Benet, The Whispers, Fantasia, Charlie Wilson, John Legend, Klymaxx, Con Funk Shun, SOS Band; gospel artists, Hezekiah Walker, Kurt Carr & the Kurt Carr Singers, BeBe and CeCe Winans and many others. 2nd Wind was the featured local act for the 2009 Macy's Music Festival sharing the stage with many of today's... (more)
Casino Players Orchestra & Sinatra Tribute Show
Booked 1 Day Ago!
Jazz Orchestra from Cincinnati, OH (117 miles from Radcliff, KY)
We are excited to report that in our first four full years on GigMasters, we were awarded their Most Booked Jazz Orchestra honor for all of the U.S.A. and Canada for 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018! We perform music from the Great American Songbook with various ensembles ranging from a pianist/keyboard artist only, to the classic 17 piece Big Band. Our featured vocalist is the Nation's Longest Running, Top Rated, Most Booked Frank Sinatra Tribute Artist, Matt Snow! Matt's been performing on... (more)
Saffire Express Band
Cover Band from Cincinnati, OH (112 miles from Radcliff, KY)
Our band was voted by "Cincy A-list" as one of the top 3 bands in Cincinnati and Several of our Weddings have been profiled in " Cincinnati Magazine!"We love what we do and it shows!! What you hear on our recordings is what you get live!For years we've been serving up our unique blend of current and vintage tunes ranging from Adele to Pharrell , Stevie Nicks to Stevie Wonder, with a dab of MoTown, Etta James, and Sinatra on the side!! We are a tight 6-piece band that features outstanding... (more)
The Springs
Country Band from Hendersonville, TN (110 miles from Radcliff, KY)
What do you get when you pair Stewart Halcomb and Holly Helms together? Along with tight harmonies, sure-footed songwriting direction, high energy shows, authenticity, and undeniable chemistry, you ultimately get - The Springs. At just 23 and 26, the driven pair is carving out a place of longevity in Music City. Featuring both male and female vocals, The Springs come packed with an always growing fan base. The versatile multi-award winning duo delivers Country, Southern Rock, Pop, and... (more)
Buzz Bin
Buzz Bin is a high-energy all-90's cover band from Cincinnati, Ohio. 90's music rocks! BUZZ BIN will take you there, playing your favorite hits from the decade by such bands as Gin Blossoms, Smash Mouth, Sublime, Goo Goo Dolls, Green Day, Backstreet Boys, Semisonic, Third Eye Blind, Blink 182, Hootie & The Blowfish, Spice Girls, Sugar Ray, Weezer, Foo Fighters, and many more. We're available for festivals, weddings, bars, parties...even breakfast (at Tiffany's). We can provide sound and... (more)
Naked Karate Girls #1 Party Band in the Midwest!
Unique, professional, experienced and highly danceable, NKG is the Midwest's most popular live party band! Afraid to dance? Fuggedaboudit. We make you shake like a love machine with funny choreography, props and outfits that encourage everyone in the audience to participate wit us. We even have a dance pole on stage just so the ladies can get up and express themselves. Dis is a world class show! The Naked Karate Girls can be seen and heard cuffing-and-stuffing audiences throughout the... (more)
12 South Band
Dance Band from Nashville, TN (129 miles from Radcliff, KY)
The 12 South Band is one of the most sought-after Dance bands in the Country! The band is known for it's highly choreographed, wireless show featuring multiple singers, costume changes, premium lighting, and exciting crowd interaction! Our players have shared the stage with artists like Usher, Lady Gaga, Lee Brice, Nicki Minaj, and more and have been featured entertainers on shows like American Idol, cruise lines around the World, and the famous stages of downtown Nashville. From current... (more)
Stretta is a high energy dance band that plays the best Pop and Rock music of the past five decades. Stretta can also add an additional female vocalist, saxophone player, full horn section and DJ services to accommodate the needs of the client. The band has played at many high profile shows over the last few years, including the City of Nashville's Fourth of July Bash and as an opening act for Bruce Springsteen at the Meadowlands in New Jersey. Stretta was also picked by the Saturn Corp.... (more)
The Downtown Band
Voted “TOP 10 BEST PARTY BAND in UNITED STATES” and “BEST LIVE BAND in TENNESSEE” by the Industry Expert Awards! Constantly living up to its reputation as one of the best live bands in the country, this award-winning 10-piece party band performs for corporate events, weddings, and private parties all over the world. The Downtown Band has performed for the Prince and Princess of Monaco, celebrities such as Kevin Costner, Bono and Nicole Kidman, and opened for Elton John, Sting, Enrique... (more)
Pink Cadillac (Nashville Wedding & Party Band)
Pink Cadillac is Nashville's #1 Wedding, Corporate Party Band - "The Party Never Stops!" Pink Cadillac is Nashville's party funk, rock, rhythm & blues, soul dance all-professional band featuring a smoking rhythm & horn section! They top it off with our powerhouse choreographed female vocalists and rock/soul male lead vocalists that will shake you right out of your shoes! Five-star Gig Masters rating. We're flexible, and will cater the band to fit your event's needs. There are seven GREAT... (more)
Dance Band from Indianapolis, IN (135 miles from Radcliff, KY)
The Company Band is one of the Midwest's premier bands known for their versatility and talented members. The Company Band is putting its own spin on the music industry by giving people a combination of music genres creating delectable sounds the ear can only imagine. They offer an eclectic blend of Motown, R&B, pop, current hits, dance classics, oldies, beach and jazz. With horns on the left, the very best vocalists on the right, and a killer rhythm section holding it all together, "The... (more)
The Music City Sound
Nashville's Premiere Corporate and Wedding Band! Thanks for checking out The Music City Sound, comprised of some of Nashville's finest musicians and dancers! We offer a one-stop shop for all of your entertainment needs. From weddings to corporate events, The Music City Sound provides the highest quality entertainment while guaranteeing memories that will last a lifetime. The band, lead by artist C.T. Blackmore, and professional touring musician Will Elliott is one of the hottest new... (more)
The Flashbacks Show Band Review/Lite
UPBEAT - FUN – FUNKY – COST EFFECTIVE... A GROOVIN' DANCE-SOUL-TOP 40-ROCK N' ROLL-BAND The Flashbacks Show Band Review/Lite is an Ala Carte version of our 10 pc show band. The Flashbacks Show Band Review and Lite versions offer a cost effective alternative to our budget minded clients. The Flashbacks Show Band Review/Lite create a reincarnation of the funky, soulful, smooth and groovin' sounds of decades spanning from the 60's to today's Top 40 hits. A power-packed, fun-filled, variety... (more)
VENDORS 1 - of 549 {{searchCtrl.fullFilteredResults.length}}
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1293
|
__label__cc
| 0.515162
| 0.484838
|
Home / Awards & Honours / MPEDA bags Rajbhasha Keerti Award
MPEDA bags Rajbhasha Keerti Award
Admin September 18, 2017 Awards & Honours
The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) has been awarded National Rajbhasha Keerti Award.
MPEDA has bagged the award for the third consecutive year.
Rajbhasha Keerti Award is presented by Department of Official Language which is under the Ministry of Home Affairs
This award was introduced to encourage the implementation of the official language policy of the department.
MPEDA Chairman A Jayathilak received the award from President Ram Nath Kovind
This award has been given for the best Implementation of Official language in the organization.
About MPEDA
It was set up by an act of Parliament during 1972.
Former Marine Products Export Promotion Council established by the Government of India in September 1961 was converged in to MPEDA on 24th August 1972.
It is the nodal agency for the holistic development of seafood industry in India to realise its full export potential as a nodal agency.
It focuses is mainly on Market Promotion, Capture Fisheries, Culture Fisheries, Processing Infrastructure & Value addition, Quality Control, Research and Development.
MPEDA bags Rajbhasha Keerti Award Reviewed by Admin on September 18, 2017 Rating: 5
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1294
|
__label__wiki
| 0.845694
| 0.845694
|
Bad reputation: America’s Top 20 most-hated companies
Many companies on this list are struggling with discrete incidents that may be remedied with time and strategic public relations campaigns.
Bad reputation: America’s Top 20 most-hated companies Many companies on this list are struggling with discrete incidents that may be remedied with time and strategic public relations campaigns. Check out this story on Freep.com: https://usat.ly/2FCHdUF
Samuel Stebbins, Evan Comen, Michael B. Sauter and Charles Stockdale, 24/7 Wall Street Published 9:05 a.m. ET Feb. 1, 2018 | Updated 9:02 a.m. ET Feb. 12, 2018
24/7 Wall Street published a list of the most hated companies. Elizabeth Keatinge (@elizkeatinge) has more. Buzz60
Ramifications continue to unfold for Harvey Weinstein, who stands accused by dozens of women of sexual assault and harassment.(Photo: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
A company can live or die by its reputation.
Year after year, the vast majority of familiar companies and brands maintain — or build — their bond with the American consumer by offering dependable products and services and by cultivating a clean image.
Maintaining the public’s confidence is not a foregone conclusion. A single misstep — such as a price hike or tone-deaf tweet — can be enough to keep corporate public relations departments scrambling.
In other cases, corporate blunders rise above the threshold of an honest mistake. Public perceptions of an internal scandal, a toxic work environment, lax security, or unethical business practices can be enough to garner disdain from a large segment of American consumers — and in recent months there was no shortage of such revelations in the business world.
Reviewing a range of information, including major news events from the last year, customer survey results from the American Customer Satisfaction Index, employee reviews on Glassdoor, as well as our own annual customer satisfaction survey, 24/7 Wall St. identified America’s most hated companies.
It's about building relationships with others. Time
More: U.S. economy: A rundown of the poorest county in every state
Many companies on this list are struggling with discrete incidents that may be remedied with time and strategic public relations campaigns. For others, problems appear much more deeply ingrained within the company’s culture or business model.
20. The Weinstein Company
Once the darling of the American independent film movement in the 1990s, and the producer or distributor of over 80 Oscar-winning films, Harvey Weinstein is now one of the mosted hated public figures in the United States. Weinstein has been engulfed in controversy since an October 2017 New York Times expose revealed multiple accounts of sexual abuse committed by the disgraced movie mogul. Since the story was published, dozens of other sexual assault victims have spoken out against Weinstein.
Much of the public outrage over the growing scandal has been directed at The Weinstein Company’s leadership, which may have been complicit in Weinstein’s actions. One complaint filed with the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York alleges that the company knowingly enabled the criminal behavior of its co-founder Weinstein. The board of TWC fired Weinstein three days after the Times’ expose, after several board members had stepped down themselves. The Weinstein Company will likely be forced to completely rebrand or dissolve as a corporate entity.
United Continental's Q4 unit revenue outlook has improved significantly. (Photo: United Airlines)
19. United Airlines
The video of a passenger being forcibly removed from his seat on an overbooked United Airlines flight went viral last year, sparking outrage across the country and triggering a public relations crisis for the Chicago-based company. United’s handling of the incident only made matters worse as many perceived CEO Oscar Munoz’s apology as half hearted and dismissive.
United’s stock dropped 4% in the days following the incident, wiping as much as $1 billion off the company’s market value. The company has since made considerable efforts to regain investor and customer confidence. Munoz announced measures that include increased monetary incentives to leave an overbooked flight, reduced overbooking, additional employee training, and reduced paperwork for lost luggage reimbursement. Still, the company ranks near the bottom among airlines for customer service. United Airlines scored a 70 out of 100 on the 2017 American Customer Satisfaction Index, well below the average score of 75 among U.S.-based airline companies.
(Photo: Facebook)
18. Facebook
Since the 2016 presidential election, Facebook has been scrutinized by lawmakers and media outlets for acting as a medium for fake ads and news designed to be incendiary and divisive. While initially downplaying its role, in mid-2017 Facebook’s chief security officer made public that the company was paid some $100,000 for ads connected to 470 inauthentic Facebook pages that were likely operated out of Russia. A Facebook official also noted that the vast majority of these ads appeared aimed at amplifying political and social divisions — often specifically targeting Muslims and the Black Lives Matter movement. In a reversal of his position from one year prior, in September 2017 Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg pledged to make it much harder for such manipulation to occur on the social media platform.
More: The world’s 50 most innovative companies
Currently, American consumers are relatively dissatisfied with Facebook. The company has a score of 68 out of 100 on the ACSI scale, nearly the lowest of any social media platform and well below the industry average of 73.
The lobby of the CenturyLink building in Monroe, La., with dynamic View Glass. (Photo: View Glass)
17. CenturyLink
Telecom company CenturyLink is one of the largest internet and telephone service providers in the United States. It is also one of the most widely disliked in an industry of companies with poor reputations. The company’s ACSI score of 59 for its internet service is among the worst of any company in any industry. In the customer service poll commissioned with Zogby, nearly 43% of respondents reported a negative customer service experience, one of the largest shares of any major company.
In addition to low customer satisfaction, CenturyLink receives a subpar rating from employees — less than half of all workers submitting reviews on Glassdoor would recommend the company to a friend. Employee satisfaction may fall even further in near future. In early January 2018, the company announced it was suspending merit-based raises for all employees.
File photo taken in 2016 shows the Monsanto logo in Lillo, Belgium near the company's manufacturing site and operations center in Antwerp. (Photo: JOHN THYS, AFP/Getty Images)
16. Monsanto
Few companies have garnered as much public ire as Monsanto, or for as long. Over the past century, the company has been behind some unambiguously harmful chemical products, including DDT, PCBs, and Agent Orange — a herbicide used extensively in Vietnam that has been blamed for 400,000 deaths and half a million birth defects. The use of DDT and PCBs was banned in the 1970s. Many also take issue with the company’s production of genetically modified organism seeds, or GMOs.
Capping off a long rap sheet of chemical products that have posed grave public health threats, Monsanto is the subject of a class-action lawsuit alleging that exposure to the company’s popular weed killer, Roundup, caused cancer in hundreds of consumers. While the National Cancer Institute recently announced that the product is not conclusively carcinogenic, California is fighting to require cancer warnings to be printed on the weed killer.
This March 29, 2017, photo shows a sign outside the Comcast Center in Philadelphia. The company said Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017, they are opening more than 137,000 Xfinity Wi-Fi hotspots in Florida so residents and emergency personnel can stay connected after Hurricane Irma. (Photo: Matt Rourke, AP)
15. Comcast
The industries in which Comcast works – internet service, subscription television service, and fixed-line telephone service – are hotbeds for customer dissatisfaction. Yet Comcast does even worse than its competitors. On the American Customer Satisfaction Index, consumers rate Comcast just 60 out of 100 for its internet service, 58 out of 100 for its subscription television service, and 65 out of 100 for its fixed-line telephone service — lower than the industry averages of 64, 64, and 70, respectively.
Comcast’s poor standing is not a recent development. The company was rated America’s most hated last year, based on similar metrics. Some 47% of customers who responded to 24/7 Wall St. and Zogby’s customer satisfaction survey reported a negative experience with the company – the largest share among all companies considered. The company was forced to pay a $2.3 million fine in 2016 over allegations that it charged customers for unauthorized services and equipment.
An exterior view of the headquarters of Uber in San Francisco. A group led by Japanese technology conglomerate Softbank has acquired a major stake in Uber. In a tender offer that expired Thursday, Dec. 28, SoftBank acquired a 15 percent stake in Uber while the remaining members got about 3 percent, according to a person familiar with the situation who was not authorized to publicly discuss details. (Photo: Eric Risberg, AP)
14. Uber
Few companies had a worse year in 2017 than ride sharing app Uber. An essay published by former Uber employee Susan Fowler in mid-February detailed a prevailing culture of sexism and sexual harassment at the company. Less than a month later, a video of then company CEO Travis Kalanick getting into an argument an Uber driver surfaced, prompting him to make a public apology. Uber also faced a number of lawsuits in 2017, including one filed by Alphabet, Google’s parent company, for alleged theft of intellectual property related to self-driving car technology. As a result of the myriad of lawsuits and investigations into sexual harassment, 13 company executives resigned in the first half of 2017 alone, including the June departure of Kalanick.
The company’s trouble’s did not end with Kalanick’s departure. A Wall Street Journal article published in September revealed the company is the subject of an FBI investigation for illegally interfering with rival company Lyft. Later that month, the company lost its license to operate in London due to a lack of corporate responsibility.
(Photo: Sears)
13. Sears Holdings
Over one-third of respondents in a Zogby’s poll conducted in partnership with 24/7 Wall St. reported a negative customer experience with Sears, one of the largest shares of any company. Sears also has one of the lowest customer satisfaction scores of any department store in the ACSI. Consumers rate Sears just 77 out of 100, lower than any department store other than Ross and Walmart. Sears’ falling sales are another indication of the company’s declining popularity among consumers. The company reported $22.1 billion in sales in fiscal 2017, less than half its $53.0 billion revenue in 2007. The number of Sears and Kmart stores — both owned by Sears Holdings — in the United States fell from 3,467 to less than 1,300 over that time, and the company plans to close over 100 more stores through the spring of 2018.
More: Workplace fatalities: 25 most dangerous jobs in America
Declining revenue and imminent store closures likely do little to boost employee morale. Only 33% of Kmart employees and 28% of Sears employees would recommend the job to a friend, according to Glassdoor reviews.
Police stand guard outside of Trump Tower on Aug. 4, 2017, in New York City. Following a dispute with the Trump Organization over a lease, the Secret Service, which protects all U.S. presidents, has moved to a small trailer on a side street outside of Trump Tower. The federal agency had been renting office space in Trump's Midtown Manhattan skyscraper since 2015 before a disagreement over the terms and costs for rent for a command post. (Photo: Spencer Platt, Getty Images)
12. The Trump Organization
Donald Trump is the least popular president in the history of the United States — at least at this point in his presidency. Trump’s approval rating sat at only 35% at the end of December. Before Trump, the lowest approval rating of any president one year into his term was Ronald Reagan’s 49%. For many of the majority of Americans who disapprove of the president, anything bearing the Trump name is equally disliked.
The commander in chief is also the former head of The Trump Organization, a conglomerate controlling golf courses, a hotel chain, international real estate investment, and a winery. The company is now under the microscope of Democratic lawmakers. Earlier this year, 17 Democratic members of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee signed a letter addressed to the panel’s Republican chairman urging the organization to further investigate potential conflicts of interest between Trump’s corporate interests and his obligations as a public servant.
File photo taken in 2017 shows a Wells Fargo sign outside one of the bank's branches in San Francisco, California (Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images)
11. Wells Fargo
Following revelations that bank employees created millions of fake accounts without customers’ knowledge in an effort to meet quotas handed down from the top, John Stumpf stepped down as Wells Fargo’s CEO in 2016. The company’s problems related to the scandal did not stop there. In mid-2017, the bank revealed that the fraud was more pervasive than initially thought, and that employees may have created as many as 3.5 million accounts, up from the 2.1 million reported in 2016.
Compounding the public relations crisis, the bank was also found to have charged over half a million customers for car insurance they did not ask for and did not need. As many as 20,000 of those customers may have had their vehicles impounded for defaulting on the unnecessary insurance charges. Further, in October 2017 news broke that the bank charged over 100,000 customers late fees on mortgage payments when the delays were in fact the fault of the bank. Wells Fargo ranks as the worst American bank with a rating of just 74 out of 100 on the American Customer Satisfaction Index — well below the 81 industry average.
Undated illustration shows logo for health insurance firm Cigna (Photo: Cigna)
10. Cigna
Few industries are as widely detested as the insurance industry, and American consumers appear to dislike health insurance giant Cigna the most. In a Zogby poll commissioned by 24/7 Wall St., some 34% of respondents reported a negative customer experience with Cigna – the largest share of any other company in the industry. Additionally, the company scored only 66 out of 100 on the American Customer Satisfaction Index, well below every other American health insurance company.
Allegations of fraud do not help the company’s public image. In recent years, Cigna has been the subject of multiple lawsuits alleging the company artificially inflated medical costs, causing some customers to pay as much as 10 times the true cost of their medical services. Even many of the company’s own employees are dissatisfied. Negative employee reviews on Glassdoor regularly cite inadequate health insurance benefits.
(Photo: Spirit Airlines)
9. Spirit Airlines
Because flying can often be stressful, many airlines attempt to make the experience as comfortable as possible for their customers. Spirit Airlines follows a different philosophy, aiming to strip air travel down to its basics by ensuring no frills, inexpensive flights.
This business model, however, is not always appreciated. Spirit has the absolute lowest customer satisfaction score among airlines, according to the ACSI, with a rating of 61 out of 100, compared to the industry average of 75. Additionally, 44.4% of respondents in the customer service poll commissioned with Zogby reported a negative experience with the company. This is the third largest share among all the companies considered.
More: America’s 24 dying industries include sound studios, textiles, newspapers
Andrew Creighton, left, President of VICE Media Group and Shane Smith, Founder of VICE pose for photos during the Vice.com Launch Party at Skylight One Hanson on September 15, 2011 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo: Astrid Stawiarz, Getty Images)
8. Vice Media
Known as a cutting-edge — and deliberately edgy — media organization largely aimed at the millennial market, Vice has been a disruptive force in the world of digital news content. Like a number of other better-established competing news organizations, including NBC and Fox, Vice has recently been embroiled in a public relations crisis due to allegations of systemic sexual harassment.
A New York Times investigation published in late December 2017 uncovered multiple settlements in sexual harassment lawsuits dating back to 2003. The accounts detailed a toxic culture of sexism and sexual harassment, permitted and often carried out by senior members at the company. During the course of the Times’ investigation and amid the company’s own probe into the allegations, Vice fired three employees. The sexual misconduct outlined in the Times expose also led to the suspension of two senior executives — president Andrew Creighton and chief digital officer Mike Germano.
(Photo: Sprint)
7. Sprint
Some 44% of respondents in Zogby’s poll conducted in partnership with 24/7 Wall St. reported a negative customer experience with Sprint – the fifth largest share among the 150 companies included in the survey. This is a higher share than all other mobile telephone companies surveyed such as AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless.
Poor customer experiences are likely due in part to lackluster service. According to wireless network performance insight company RootMetrics, Sprint ranks behind all of its competitors in speed and data, and second to last in calling, texting, and overall reliability. The company’s customer service may be improving, however. According to data from the American Customer Satisfaction Index, satisfaction with Sprint has increased 4% from 2016 to 2017.
In this file photo taken on May 22, 2010, visitors to a job fair walk past the Foxconn recruitment area in Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong province. (Photo: AP)
6. Foxconn Technology Group
While the name Foxconn may not be as familiar as some of the other names on this list, the company is responsible for manufacturing and assembling consumer electronics for some of the biggest brands in the world, including Apple and Nintendo. The company captured the world’s attention in the last decade with a series of employee suicides and suicide attempts that were apparently driven by poor working and living conditions on the company’s compound in Shenzhen, China. In what most considered to be a tone-deaf response to the suicides, which were mostly carried out by workers throwing themselves from the building where they worked, the company installed safety nets.
The company has recently made headlines once again in the United States. Currently, homeowners in Wisconsin are suing the company for improperly using eminent domain — the power to take private property for public use — to build a complex in Mount Pleasant. Foxconn wants to build the complex in an area where multiple homeowners will lose their land. By some estimates, the new complex will cost taxpayers and state and local governments $4.5 billion in road improvements and tax incentives for the company.
Electronic Arts' FIFA 17 Ultimate Team Championship Series in Berlin, Germany. (Photo: Electronic Arts)
5. Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, or EA, has been making highly successful video games for decades. EA has produced dozens of wildly successful franchises, including “The Sims,” “Battlefield,” and “Need for Speed,” and the annually-sold, fervently-purchased sports titles, Madden and FIFA. While it has helped shape the face of gaming, EA has also unfortunately earned a reputation as the industry’s evil empire. There are many examples of EA buying up smaller studios or operations for a specific game and then either stripping the game of its originality or running the studio into the ground.
The company added to its infamy recently during the early release days of the latest installment of another of its big franchises, “Star Wars Battlefront II.” EA released an early access version of the game, and immediately drew widespread ire from gamers, who discovered that unlocking some of the more popular characters required over 40 hours of gameplay or spending hundreds on in-game purchases. The public outcry surrounding the perceived greed led the studio to temporarily suspend in-game purchases.
More: America’s 25 thriving industries include goat farming, breweries
SCHAUMBURG, IL - JULY 30: A sign marks the location of the University of Phoenix Chicago Campus on July 30, 2015 in Schaumburg, Illinois. The university, the nation's largest recipient of veteran educational funds, is under federal investigation for possible deceptive or unfair business practices. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 567761799 ORIG FILE ID: 482409796 (Photo: Scott Olson, Getty Images)
4. University of Phoenix
The University of Phoenix is perhaps the most well-known for-profit college in the country. In recent years, the school’s parent company, Apollo Education Group — as well as a number of other for-profit colleges — has been the subject of a series of state and federal investigations that allege the company used for their aggressive and deceptive recruiting, advertising, and financial aid practices. After alleging that the University of Phoenix preyed upon veterans with little chance of graduating in order to receive federal aid money, the Department of Defense briefly barred the school from recruiting on military bases.
Negative perceptions of the University of Phoenix may be one factor contributing to the decline in enrollment at the school. In 2012 the university announced it would be closing 115 locations and laying off 800 employees — approximately 5% of its workforce. Between 2010 and 2017, student enrollment fell by 70%. The downsizing is likely doing little to boost employee morale. According to data obtained from Glassdoor, only 32% of University of Phoenix employees would recommend working at the school to a friend.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell speaks after Wednesday's owners meeting in Texas. (Photo: LM Otero, AP)
3. NFL
Despite growing concerns and evidence, it has taken the NFL more than two decades to finally acknowledge the link between head injuries and their long-term effects — and to initiate concussion protocol policy. The NFL’s conduct in this matter has garnered significant criticism from the American public. The growing politicization during games this season gave even more Americans a reason to dislike the organization. President Donald Trump tweeted in September 2017 that the league should fire or suspend players who kneel during the national anthem — a trend that started in 2016 by now unsigned quarterback Colin Kaepernick to raise awareness of racial inequality in the United States. The act of kneeling is itself controversial, garnering support from some who claim it is a protected form of free speech in support of a righteous cause, while others claim it is disrespectful to the flag.
Though it remains the most popular professional sports league in the United States, the NFL’s viewership dipped considerably in 2017, due in part to boycott movements driven by the kneeling controversy. Nationally televised games in the current season averaged only 15.1 million viewers, down from 16.6 million last season.
Posters featuring Fox News talent including one of Bill O'Reilly, second from right, are displayed on the News Corp. headquarters building in Midtown Manhattan. Bill O'Reilly lost his job at Fox News Channel following reports that five women had been paid millions of dollars to keep quiet about harassment allegations. (Photo: Mary Altaffer, AP)
2. Fox Entertainment Group
Fox Entertainment Group is the parent company of Fox News Channel, one of the most popular cable channels in the United States — and also one of the most divisive. The network has a blatant right-wing slant, and politically conservative Americans overwhelmingly comprise its viewer base. As a result, the media outlet is either ignored or disdained by a large share of Americans with left-leaning political beliefs.
This past year, Fox may have estranged even more Americans. The company — like many others on this list — was embroiled in scandal in 2017. Revelations that Bill O’Reilly — then anchor of “The O’Reilly Factor,” which was once the most popular news show on cable — had settled multiple sexual harassment allegations to the tune of $13 million led to the show’s cancellation. Similar allegations of sexual misconduct led the late Fox News CEO and founder Roger Ailes to resign in 2016.
The signage at the corporate headquarters of Equifax Inc. in Atlanta. Credit report company Equifax said Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, that an additional 2.5 million Americans may have been affected by the massive security breach of its systems, bringing the total to 145.5 million people who had their personal information accessed or stolen. (Photo: Mike Stewart, AP)
1. Equifax
Consumer credit reporting agency Equifax became the target of one of the largest data breaches of all time last year. Between mid-May and July 2017, criminal hackers infiltrated the company’s servers and accessed personal data — including driver’s license numbers, Social Security numbers, and birthdays — of more than 145 million Americans, potentially exposing them to the threat of identity theft.
Perhaps even more troubling than the security flaws exposed in the hack itself was the way the company handled it. Despite discovering the breach on July 29th, the company waited a month and half to make a public announcement. The public was further outraged when the company forced consumers to agree not to join a class-action lawsuit in order to see if their information was hacked. Lawmakers have yet to take action to reduce the likelihood of such incidents from happening again.
More: Alcohol abuse: The drunkest city in every state
Detailed findings and methodology
To identify the most hated companies in America, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed a variety of metrics on customer service, employee satisfaction, and financial performance. We considered consumer surveys from a number of sources, including the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) and a Zogby Analytics poll created in partnership with 24/7 Wall St. We also reviewed employee satisfaction based on worker opinion scores on Glassdoor — this is not a Glassdoor commissioned report. We also accounted for current events that have impacted the public’s perception of companies. For more on how this list was determined, click here.
24/7 Wall Street is a USA TODAY content partner offering financial news and commentary. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.
Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2FCHdUF
Judge: Mike Morse 'at the very center' of scheme
How Fiat Chrysler is honoring Lee Iacocca
July 3, 2019, 4 p.m.
Remainder of 2019 could be rocky for Detroit automakers
How you can benefit from unexpected shift in interest rates
Lee Iacocca gave people what they wanted
Lee Iacocca dies: Father of Mustang, rescuer of Chrysler was 94
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1295
|
__label__wiki
| 0.813979
| 0.813979
|
Updated on : 21 July 2017, 07:13 AM IST
Akshay Kumar’s Toilet: Ek Prem Katha is inspired by real life stories of these women
Akshay Kumar and Bhumi Pednekar starrer Toilet: Ek Prem Katha is making news for its unique storyline and controversies. There have been reports stating that the film’s storyline is copied from other films. But, it is now emerging that the film is based on someone else’s life story. The film talks about the sanitary issues in India where people still defecate in the open due to lack of toilet facilities.
Well, even if the storyline is being taken from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swacch Bharat Abhiyan, but the film’s storyline is connected with the stories of real women in India’s rural area. Most especially, the angle of the couple’s blissful married life taking a turn for the worse and bringing about a revolution is inspired by these courageous women’s stories of grit, determination, and dedication.
Also read: “Akshay Kumar is behind every CREATIVE Idea of Toilet Ek Prem Katha” – Prernaa Arora of Kriarj
According to NDTV.com, in 2011, Anita Narre was married into a family hailing from a village in Madhya Pradesh. Once at the husband’s home, she realised that they do not have a toilet at home and defecate in the open. It took her two days to make up her mind, muster her courage and leave husband Shivram’s house. She had laid her condition loud and clear. Eight days later, she returned to her husband’s house after he built a toilet, just for her.
Also read: Toilet: Ek Prem Katha gets embroiled in a Copyright issue! Here are all the details!
Moreover, there is and another woman called Puja Devi’s story is also similar to some extent. According to Mid-Day, in 2014, Puja, then in her early 20s, left her husband’s house when her repeated demand to build a toilet was ignored by her husband and in-laws. It took her six-months to finally take the step. While all this time she waited for her new family members to understand her concerns and challenges of not having a toilet in the house, she could wait no further when she realised that her pleas were falling on deaf years. Despite the intervention of the village panchayat in Bihar that directed her husband to construct a toilet, the deed wasn’t done and therefore Puja decided it was better that she stayed at her parents’ house than going to the open field every day before dawn to defecate.
Well, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha seems like an inspiring story for the entire country. The film is all set to hit the screens on August 11.
Toilet Ek Prem Katha
Swacch Bharat Abhiyan
Toilet: Ek Prem Katha cast
Anita Narre
toilet ek prem katha full movie
Toilet Ek Prem Katha story
Toilet: Ek Prem Katha release date
Toilet: Ek Prem Katha movie
Puja Devi
Toilet: Ek Prem Katha cast and crew
Toilet: Ek Prem Katha movie copied
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1296
|
__label__wiki
| 0.892465
| 0.892465
|
Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed remains in incommunicado detention
About Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mohamed
About the situation
Despite a judgement on 9 November 2017 by the Appeals Court in Nouadhibou which should have resulted in his immediate release, human rights defender Mohamed cheik ould Mohamed remains in detention with his whereabouts unknown to his lawyer and family. On 9 November 2017, the Appeals Court in Nouadhibou overturned the death sentence of the human rights defender, instead replacing it with a two year sentence and a fine. As Mohamed cheik ould Mohamed had already served nearly four years in prison prior to his sentencing, he should have been released immediately.
About Mohamed Cheik Ould Mohamed
Mohamed Cheik Ould Mohamed is a slavery abolitionist, blogger, and freelance writer who often contributed to online news sites in Mauritania before his arrest, detention, and conviction.
Meet Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mohamed
29 November 2017 : Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed remains in incommunicado detention despite judgement by court
10 November 2017 : Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed's death sentence overturned
13 December 2016 : A decision on Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed’s case postponed
18 November 2016 : Final hearing in Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed’s trial
Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed remains in incommunicado detention despite judgement by court
The Mauritanian authorities have told the human rights defender’s family that he remains in detention for his own protection. At the time of the judgement, human rights defenders raised concerns about the blogger’s safety upon release and reported that fundamentalist Islamist demonstrations had been taking place in Nouadhibou to protest the reduction of his sentence.
Front Line Defenders expresses serious concern at the ongoing detention of Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed who is entitled to contact with his family and lawyer. Front Line Defenders strongly urges the Mauritanian authorities to release the human rights defender and to take steps to ensure his safety upon his release.
Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed's death sentence overturned
On 9 November 2017, the Appeals Court in Nouadhibou, Mauritania, overturned the death sentence of blogger Mohamed cheik ould Mohamed, instead replacing it with a two year sentence and a fine. As the human rights defender has already served nearly four years in prison, he will now be released.
Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed (also known as Mohamed cheikh ould M’khaitir) is a blogger and freelance writer who often contributed to online news sites in Mauritania before his arrest. On 31 December 2013, he submitted an article to the online site “Aqlame”, entitled “Religion, religiosity, and craftsmen”. This article critiqued the caste system in Mauritania and compared Mauritania’s societal structure to societal structure at the time of the Prophet Mohammed. Although the human rights defender had written many articles of this nature, this particular article was seen as an insult to the Prophet Mohammed. On 2 January 2014, Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed was arrested, charged with “apostasy” and “insulting the Prophet Mohammed” under Article 306 of the Penal Code and detained in a prison in Nouadhibou. He was sentenced to death in December 2014.
On 15 November 2016, the Supreme Court in Nouakchott held a hearing on the blogger’s appeal of the death sentence for the crime of “apostasy” and the case was sent back to the Appeal Court for review.
On 9 November 2017, the Appeal Court in Nouadhibou, Mauritania, overturned the death sentence issued against the human rights defender. He was instead sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and received a fine equivalent to 145 Euro. As Mohamed cheik ould Mohamed has been imprisoned for nearly four years, he is to be released on the basis of time already served in prison. Human rights defenders have reported fundamentalist Islamist demonstrations taking place in Nouadhibou to protest the reduced sentence of Mohamed cheik ould Mohamed and fears exist for his safety on release.
Front Line Defenders welcomes the release of Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed, however, it believes that the conviction against him should be quashed in its entirety as it is the result of the blogger’s legitimate and peaceful work in the defence of human rights. Front Line Defenders also strongly urges the Mauritanian authorities to ensure the safety of Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed once released from prison.
Front Line Defenders continues to express serious concern regarding the continued detention of human rights defenders Abdellahi Matalla Saleck and Moussa Bilal Biram who were arrested in Mauritania on 30 June 2016. Front Line Defenders urges the authorities to cease targeting all human rights defenders in Mauritania and guarantee in all circumstances that they are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment.
A decision on Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed’s case postponed
A decision on Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed’s case will not be rendered on 20 December 2016 as planned, due to changes in the judges’ panel of the Supreme Court.
One of the Supreme Court judges was transferred to another court position elsewhere in Mauritania, and therefore a new appointee will replace them.
Following the transfer and replacement of one of the Supreme Court judges, it is reported that Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed’s trial will recommence, from the beginning, before the Supreme Court, although the date for the new trial has not been set.
Final hearing in Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed’s trial
On 15 November 2016 in Nouakchott, the Supreme Court held the final hearing in Mr Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed’s appeal of his sentence to the death penalty for the crime of ‘apostasy’. The Supreme Court will release its decision in the case on 20 December 2016.
Download the Urgent Appeal (PDF)
From 2 January 2014 to 23 December 2014, Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed was held in prison in unsanitary conditions, awaiting his trial. On 24 December 2014, after a two-day trial, he was convicted for the crimes of ‘blasphemy’ and ‘insulting the Prophet Mohammed’ under Article 306 of the Penal Code and sentenced to death. During the trial, the court forbid any discussion of the content of the articles published by Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed during the trial without explaining why.
Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed filed an appeal of his sentence in October 2015. The process was delayed on several different occasions by the Appeals Court, and during the trial there were several inconsistencies. The most significant was the fact that the Appeals Court judge confirmed his sentence to the death penalty, when, legally, the Appeals Court does not have the authority to do so. The final decision was granted on 21 April 2016. Following its decision, the Appeals Court referred the case to the Supreme Court so that the sincerity of Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed’s repentance could be assessed. On 15 November 2016, the hearing to review the Appeals Court decision was held at the Supreme Court and the final decision will be announced 20 December 2016. The Supreme Court has the power to cancel or reduce, to two years, Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed’s sentence, if they determine that he has sufficiently and sincerely repented.
Immediately following his arrest, and during his detention, Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed has repented on several occasions in writing and verbally. This included when the writer repented during a recorded interrogation in the prison by police. In court, police declared that they had lost the recording of Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed’s repentance. Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed has also repented in the presence of the investigating judge, the Criminal Court and the Appeals Court.
Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed is still being held in a prison in Nouadhibou where his health has deteriorated significantly since 2014. It is reported that he does not have access to adequate portions of food, potable water, or medical care. Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed suffers from malaria and is not receiving treatment for this condition.
Front Line Defenders wishes to express its serious concern about the pattern of persecution of human rights defenders in Mauritania, including ongoing instances of threats and harassment of Mohamed Ccheikh ould Mohammed’s defense lawyers and about the inconsistencies in trial.
Front Line Defenders urges the authorities in Mauritania to:
1. Immediately quash the conviction against Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed, as Front Line Defenders believes that it comes as a result of his legitimate and peaceful work in the defence of human rights and religious of thought;
2. Ensure that the treatment of Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed, while in detention, adheres to the conditions set out in the ‘Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment', adopted by UN General Assembly resolution 43/173 of 9 December 1988 to which Mauritania is a signatory;
3. Provide the necessary medical treatment for malaria while Mohamed cheikh ould Mohamed is in prison;
4. Cease targeting all human rights defenders in Mauritania and guarantee in all circumstances that they are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment.
Activate your network and share this story
Meet the Human Rights Defenders
HRDs in the News
#Rights
#Violations
#Location
Tools for HRDs
Protection Grants
Risk Analysis & Protection Planning
Digital Protection
EU Advocacy
Rest & Respite and Fellowships
Dublin Platform
HRD ID Cards
EU HRD Mechanism
UN Special Rapporteur
Resources for HRDs
About Front Line Defenders
International Advisory Council
Recruitment & Volunteering
HRD Memorial
FLD in the News
Violations #Arrest / Detention / Imprisonment
366 Defenders-at-Risk Active Cases
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1298
|
__label__wiki
| 0.574097
| 0.574097
|
About Fukuoka Now
Welcome to the Fukuoka Now website! The site debuted back in 1999 as a companion to our print magazine, Fukuoka Now which was first published on Dec. 25, 1998 and is still going strong. This latest version of our website carries over much of the contents from the previous website plus a few new sections.
Background on Fukuoka Now magazine
Fukuoka Now was first published on Dec. 25, 1998. Back then, it was a mere single sheet of A1-size paper printed on both sides and folded into 16 A5 pages. One side featured a map of the city and an event calendar. The other side ran reports on restaurants, bars, and places to visit in Fukuoka. Fukuoka Now was always bilingual, English and Japanese. In our third year, we added Korean and Chinese, and later years saw special pages in French, Spanish and Portuguese. At one point in time, we regularly had articles in six languages! From April 2011 to March 2012 Fukuoka Now was published in an English and Korean bilingual format. From April 2012 we return to our earliest roots as a 16 page English and Japanese bilingual monthly magazine. The next big change was in July 2015. Reflecting the enormous increase of visitors from overseas we rebuilt the magazine to become an excellent resource for tourists with all contents in English, Chinese and Korean.
Up until the renewal in July 2015 Fukuoka Now’s goal was to provide non-Japanese and kokusai-jin (internationally-minded Japanese) with practical, timely, and entertaining information about the Fukuoka and Kyushu area. Since the renewal, the printed magazine focuses squarely on being a resource for visitors, while the website continues to carry contents of interest to the local non-Japanese community and visitors from overseas.
Fukuoka Now magazine and this website are owned published by Fukuoka Now Ltd., a privately owned and registered company in Fukuoka. The owner and founder, Nick Szasz, is a native of Toronto, Canada, and has lived in Japan for thirty years. The magazine and this site are financed entirely from advertising revenue. Support and recognition to our advertisers is a great way for readers to support and enable us to create and share more information.
Another way for readers to assist or participate is by sharing information to us, participating in our events, or by telling others about Fukuoka Now magazine, website, facebook page, twitter or Instagram. We hope Fukuoka Now will continue to bring both Japanese and non-Japanese outtogether and provide a means of discovery to the many treasures of Fukuoka and Kyushu.
Feel free to contact us with suggestions and comments using this contact form.
Now Map
Our trilingual (English, Chinese, Korean) free city map which debuted in 2009, and is still the most popular foreign language printed tool for tourists and residents with over 300,000 copies distributed annually. Published twice a year, you can find copies at all tourist information centers and most hotels in Fukuoka City.
Now Events
Three or four times a year Fukuoka Now produces large-scale social events. Attendance ranges from 300 to 1,100. Usually, 30~40% of the attendees are non-Japanese while and the rest are local Japanese. They’re a great chance to make new friends and meet Fukuoka’s international community.
As of May 2019 the Fukuoka Now facebook page has 37,000 fans. We update the page daily with current events and local news. Check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/fukuokanow. We also publish website update announcements on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FukuokaNow, and our Instagram account is here: www.instagram.com/fukuokanow/.
When we aren’t working on an upcoming issue or updating this website, Fukuoka Now offers a full range of media production services. We offer planning, editorial, graphic, and photographic services for both print and online projects. Our clients include some of the largest companies and government offices in the area. As media specialists, we also offer professional translation, editing, and proofreading for English, Korean, Chinese and other languages. Feel free to contact us.
Fukuoka Now Magazine – Profile
First issue: Dec. 25, 1998
Cycle: Monthly (around the 28th of each month)
Price: Free!
Copies: 15,000/issue
Pages: 24~64 (varies)
Languages: English, Chinese, Korean
Contents: Restaurant, shop, cafe, nightlife reports, feature articles, seasonal guides, event listings, city map, travel guides, editorials, and more.
Target Readership
Visitors from overseas, who can read English, Chinese or Korean.
Secondary: Local non-Japanese residents and internationally minded, multilingual Japanese.
15,000 copies are made available for free at over 300 locations in Fukuoka City. Including Fukuoka Airport, Hakata JR Station, Nishitetsu Tenjin Fukuoka Station, Kokusai Hiroba, at over 100 hotels. Copies also available at select locations in Sasebo, Nagasaki, Kitakyushu, Kurume, and other parts of Kyushu.
Display ads in Fukuoka Magazine cost as little as ¥20,000/month! We also offer ads on our online media including banners and paid publicity mentions and pages. Contact a sales representative in English or Japanese for more details.
Fukuoka Now Ltd.
5F Towers Tenjin Bldg.
3-7-3 Tenjin, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka 810-0001
Tel.: 092-762-2505, Fax: 092-762-2509
Office hours: 9:30~18:30 (Mon. ~ Fri.)
Email: Click here for form
www.fukuoka-now.com/
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1299
|
__label__cc
| 0.704349
| 0.295651
|
Putting the ART in TRAnslation
Von Noline Roucou in Blog
Kommentare: 0 comments
Translating his first text at only nine years old, Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges had an incredibly precocious start to his translation career. He also held a very controversial point of view; according to him, a translation need not only be faithful to the source but should also improve on the original, and therefore contribute to the wider field of literature as an artform.
More than simply relaying a message, or “copying” the original text, the art of translation has several implications:
Although many artists seek beauty, not all of them do. On the other hand, rare are those who do not wish to express an idea or convey a message. Contrary to what many might think, translation also has this ability!
Let’s take, for example, Homer’s Illiad. Historically, these epic adventures have been translated only by men. Translation is a discipline based on an interpretation of the source, and each translator brings with them their own sensibility, experiences and opinions. As a result, each translated piece has the potential to be thoroughly different from one another. Providing a new feminist point of view, Emily Wilson’s new take on the Illiad highlights aspects of the original text, such as slavery, which had so far been glossed over by previous translators. In the same way as a piece of art, a translated text is able to make its audience think about important issues, evoke feelings, or give rise to debate.
Skill and creativity.
It takes time to become a good translator and, not unlike an artist, a translator needs to study and practice their craft. A translator is not only required to convey the meaning of the source text, but also its nuance, feeling and symbolism into a different language, and sometimes a different culture. This is what we call “transcreation”.
A good example of the use of transcreation is in publicity, especially when it comes to slogans. You might know the confectionery brand Haribo, as well as its slogan:
“Kids and grown-ups love it so – the happy world of Haribo”.
Looking at the Spanish version of the slogan, it becomes clear that the translation is not a literal one:
“Vive un sabor mágico – ven al mundo Haribo”.
(Live a magical flavour – come to the world of Haribo.)
While keeping in mind the general meaning, the slogan has been adapted to suit a Spanish-speaking audience without losing the rhythm or rhyme of the original.
In translation, and especially in the literary field, the beauty of the written word is as important as the content. Compare it to journalism: journalism has a main goal of transmitting a message. In most cases, the form is of lesser importance. In translation, the manner in which the message is being transmitted is as important as the message itself. The choice of words, puns and underlying cultural connotations all contribute to the beauty of the work.
Some translations are even superior – either in terms of style and artistic sensitivity, or in terms of the feelings they generate in the reader – than the original work itself. Although far from perfect, there are those who believe that Baudelaire’s version of Poe’s work constitutes as better examples of writing!
In some instances, the beauty of the text is more important than the precision of the translation. For example, it is interesting to see the approach Disney has chosen for translating its songs. Disney’s songs tend to stray far from the original, in order to keep the original poetic feeling of the song. For instance, in The Little Mermaid’s “Part of Your World (Reprise)”:
Where would we walk?
Where would we run?
If we could stay all day in the sun?
And I could be
Part of your world
Loin de la mer (Far from the sea)
Et pour toujours (And forever)
Vivons sur Terre (Let’s live on Earth)
Rêvons au grand jour (Let’s dream in the open)
Ne m'oublie pas (Don’t forget me)
L'amour est là, pour toi et moi (Love is here, for you and me)
Translation is not always an easy exercise. The work must be able to stand on its own while remaining faithful to the source, and a good translator will need to make the most of their skills and instincts in order to strike the correct balance. It is only by achieving said balance that the translation becomes a real piece of art.
French Linguist at GlobaLexicon
* Erforderliches Feld
Bitte aktivieren Sie das Kontrollkästchen, um Ihr Einverständnis zur Speicherung Ihrer Daten gemäß den in unserer Datenschutzrichtlinie aufgeführten Vorgaben zu erteilen. *
The ‘Art’ of Transcreation
Translation’s Biggest Challenges!
The Language of Translation
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1301
|
__label__wiki
| 0.557668
| 0.557668
|
What Is Trump’s Middle East Doctrine and How China, Russia and Iran Are Dealing with It
By Federico Pieraccini
Strategic Culture Foundation 30 May 2017
Region: Asia, Middle East & North Africa, Russia and FSU, USA
Theme: Global Economy, Militarization and WMD, Terrorism, US NATO War Agenda
In-depth Report: IRAN: THE NEXT WAR?, SYRIA
Donald Trump‘s first foreign visit has begun to define America’s foreign-policy posture. After almost two years of words and rhetoric, Trump has began to reverse his electoral promises with diametrically opposed actions. The most recent meetings with the King of Jordan and President Erdogan, in addition to the trips to Saudi Arabia and Israel, represent the foundations of a great alliance that seems to be directed towards halting the advance of the Shiite arc in the Middle East that is led by Iran and Syria (as well as Hezbollah) with the assistance of Russian military power and Chinese economic power.
Over the past 30 days, Donald Trump has been able to meet with the most important allies of the United States in Middle East. First of all, King Abdullah of Jordan, and then Erdogan of Turkey, were received at the White House. Then Trump went on a trip numbering several days to Saudi Arabia and Israel. In each of these meetings, major points of friction between parties were discussed in an effort to find a shared outcome in the interest of everyone.
With Jordanian King Abdullah, the issue of the southern border between Syria and Jordan has been dealt with, and attempts are being made to influence the conflict, although there are few men and resources available. It would appear that Trump has agreed to supply the Jordanians with armored vehicles and trained proxies (FSA, but in reality anti-Assad militias recycled with other terrorist groups) with the intention of preventing the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) from taking control of the borders between Jordan, Iraq and Syria. In this sense, the town of al-Tanf is a good example of what the US and its allies want to avoid. Conquering the town would let Damascus link Baghdad to Iran, reactivating one of the major road-supply lines between Syria and Iran. This is precisely why the US and its proxy fighters decided to attack the SAA and bomb its convoy when it was approaching the town to reconquer it.
President Donald Trump greets Jordan’s King Abdullah II during a joint news conference at the White House in Washington on April 5, 2017. (Source: Yuri Gripas / Reuters)
With Erdogan, the main thrust concerns the joint effort between Washington and the Kurds to conquer Raqqa, though the bigger issue for Washington is the hidden offensive to seal the eastern border with Iraq, thanks to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The problem remains that Trump and Erdogan seem to have different ideas about the role of the Kurds in the offensive in Syria. At the same time, Washington’s notorious duplicity in its intention to fight terrorism shows that the offensive on Raqqa has intentionally left open two roads south of the city linking the capital of Daesh with Deir ez-Zor, a strategic city still partially controlled by Assad’s troops. The intent, as in Mosul, is clearly to relocate terrorists to another city under Assad’s control so as to continue the work of destroying Syria.
The tour in Saudi Arabia and Israel, in addition to the usual assurances concerning the sale of weapons — Trump has secured nearly 400 billion dollars of sales to the Saudi kingdom — coincided with the new American project in Syria to directly or indirectly control all the country’s borders. The goal is to seal the border to the south and southeast with Jordanian-led Free Syrian Army (FSA) troops, as well as seal the border in the north and northeast border with Iraq and Turkey through the SDF, or even alternatively, a mix of Turkish troops linked with the Nusra Front, as seems to have been the case with Euphrates Shield. What remains is the western border, which is the most complicated to decipher. The southwest, bordering Jordan, is firmly in the hands of the SAA. The other is the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights a safe place for daesh and al-Qaeda terrorists. In the west, the Mediterranean laps on SAA-controlled land, as with the border with Lebanon. Finally, to the northwest, the border with Turkey is in the hands of terrorists funded by Ankara, currently halted by the agreements from Astana, or in the hands of the Syrian Kurds allied with Damascus.
As one can easily see, the American objective in talks with regional allies is to find a common strategy that can guarantee a semblance of victory in Syria. With Assad’s army pushing more and more against the terrorists, thanks to the forces freed by the Astana accords, it is easy to foresee that the Jordanian and Iraqi borders will be attractive targets for Damascus. The northern border, controlled in part by Turkey, is currently frozen in terms of movements and will be discussed in future negotiations; it is difficult to see any military effort to change the situation.
Trump’s journey to the Middle East has thus had the goal of boosting the sale of weapons, the confidence in the US as an ally, and the organization of a strategy in Syria.
President Donald Trump and King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia sign a Joint Strategic Vision Statement for the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, during ceremonies, Saturday, May 20, 2017, at the Royal Court Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Official White House Photo Shealah Craighead)
The intention is to create an Arab NATO that can coordinate key events in the region more easily than can the current international coalition. The plan envisaged is essentially that of employing all resources available to prevent Assad from controlling the borders between Syria and Iraq and Syria and Jordan, effectively freezing the situation in Syria. Washington’s desperate wish is to prevent a union between Syria, Iraq, Iran and Hezbollah, for such would spell the creation of a Shiite arch that is clearly opposed to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Qatar and Turkey.
It is likely that Trump, the Saudi’s and Israel are looking to a strategy that could justify in the eyes of the Arab world an open cooperation between the Riyadh and Tel Aviv, something that could also earn points for Trump before the international community. The first thing on the list is a negotiation between Israel and Palestine in order to resolve this historical conflict. The point is that if this operation were to succeed, the divisions between Israel and a part of the Sunni world could be overcome in order for them to face their common enemy, which is of course Shiite Islam that is most prominently represented by Iran, Hezbollah and Syria.
If the strategy is to avoid the emergence of a Shiite arc dominated by Iran, the US has made clear that countries like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Israel and Jordan set aside their strategic differences regarding the future of the region in order to unite under an American leadership in the region. Trump’s biggest incentive to negotiate a peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians is to be seen by the world as “the best negotiator ever”, building his legacy. From the Saudi perspective, the resumption of a leading role by the United States is a welcome relief after the Obama presidency. Moreover, Riyadh’s closeness to Beijing has generated some anxieties amongst US policy-makers, who see the role of the Saudi-controlled petrodollar and OPEC as the only way to continue to fuel their wars thanks to the economic hegemony of the dollar.
For Israel, this is a long-awaited shift of policy from Washington. Secret talks and meetings with Riyadh, with the common goal of limiting Iranian influence in the region, have been going on for years, and from their point of view, Washington is finally completely on board. Another aspect to consider is the role of Qatar, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood (very close to the Erdogan Turkish faction, as well as enjoying a presence in the former Obama administration through Huma Abedin) and the financial hand behind many Palestinian factions such as Hamas. Although the wounds between Riyadh and Doha were patched up after the Egyptian affair (Morsi was supported by Qatar, and el-Sisi received more or less indirect support from Riyadh) some outstanding issues remain, above all the competing ideological roles in the Middle East played by Wahhabism and the Muslim Brotherhood.
The intention of Washington and Riyadh, with the blessing of Tel Aviv, is to bring together all the opponents of Tehran and Damascus under a single banner renamed Arab NATO. In this way, co-ordination between the parties to take control of the Syrian borders, the last option left to influence events in Syria, could be given a realistic shot.
The final strategy for Washington is as simple as it is difficult to implement, namely, to isolate Iran while preventing the emergence of a link between Iran and the Mediterranean, something that is connected to the export of gas and oil from Tehran to Europe, in sharp contrast to the Qataris’ plan to export gas through Iraq and Syria in Europe. In addition to the energy corridors and the domination of the region, there is a much wider picture to consider.
Beijing intends to rebuild Syria at the end of the conflict, and the same intentions will likely extend to all those countries needing money and funding following years of war. The Chinese idea is to intervene economically to revitalize the region once the wars are over, something that will happen sooner or later. Moscow’s leadership role from a military point of view continues to expand in co-operation with Iran and Egypt. In Syria we know of the massive Russian presence, but in Iraq there is coordination with Moscow in terms of information sharing, and the same with Egypt in Libya. Russian armaments and specialists are at the disposal of these countries for the purposes of defeating terrorism, but also as a means of expanding the Russian presence in the Middle East and North Africa.
Summing up these situations, it is easy to imagine how Iran intends to drive the Shiite arc in the Middle East, with guaranteed economic support from Beijing and a military umbrella courtesy of Moscow, consolidating a region that has been living in chaos for decades.
Beijing, Moscow and Tehran are faced with the ultimate challenge of resisting the foreign intervention of powers aligned with the United States by ending the Syrian quagmire through diplomatic and military efforts. If this operation can be accomplished in a relatively short period of time, it may be that neocon-Israeli-Wahhabi efforts will vanish into nothing.
Syria, as well as the whole of the Shiite arc, is destined to dominate the region thanks to industrial development and security, something that currently seems unachievable but ultimately will be the norm. Beijing and Moscow are aware that in order to achieve a full integration of the Eurasian continent with its Middle-Eastern, Persian and North African neighbors, something is needed beyond territorial problems like in Syria or Libya. The region needs a wide-ranging project that can revive countries where poverty abounds, where the average age is very low, and where there is a lack of education. These factors are primary ingredients for the recruitment of extremist terrorism.
Tehran, Beijing, and Moscow are struggling to extirpate the seeds of hatred from the region in order to give a radiant future not only to their peoples, but to all nations that want to be part of a new world order based on mutual respect and dialogue, not imposition and strength.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L), Chinese President Xi Jinping (C) and Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani attend the Expo Center before the opening ceremony at the Expo Center at the fourth Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) summit in Shanghai on May 21, 2014 (Source: AFP 2017/ ALY SONG / POOL)
The dollar is the symbol of the financial domain that feeds the Western war machine. The Arab NATO is the latest attempt by a number of countries to stop the inevitable in Syria and the Middle East. It is no coincidence that Riyadh focuses on two very different scenarios. The approximation between Beijing and Riyadh is a factor underestimated in the West, just as is Moscow’s fruitful dialogue between Turkey and Israel. While Ankara, Tel Aviv and Riyadh are central to Washington’s strategy, these contacts with Beijing and Moscow indicate that even amongst the sworn opponents of Tehran and Damascus, there is lack of confidence that the plan elaborated by the Israelis, Neocons and Wahhabis may succeed.
Once US efforts in the Middle East and North Africa eventually fail, it is likely that the dollar’s role will also begin to be affected by a diversification towards non-dollar-based sales of oil. The reality that Washington faces is much more complex and negative than it does not seem. If the Shiite arc really succeeds in dominating the region, with Beijing’s economic protection (linked to One Belt One Road and the Maritime Silk Road, as well as institutions such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank), Washington will be unable to hold back even her closest allies, who are already eager to talk with their Russians and Chinese counterparts.
The deep state in Washington, and Trump to a lesser extent (he is interested in creating a legacy based on the solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict), realized that a last attempt was to be made in Syria with the takeover of Raqqa and the conquest of the borders between Syria and Iraq and Syria and Jordan. All future projects of the Wahhabi-neocon-Israeli alliance depend on the military success of these operations.
If Assad will be able to secure his country by defending its borders, the Shiite arc will finally come to life and at that point it will only be a matter of time before Beijing can inject money into the country’s economy to stabilize it while Moscow continues its security work in the region targeting extremists in Libya, Egypt and Iraq.
There is a ruthless struggle in various areas of the Middle East and North Africa on which the future of millions of people will depend. A victory for Assad and Syria today is a defeat for the American-Israeli-Saudi war machine and a triumph for the future the evolving multipolar world.
Federico Pieraccini is an independent freelance writer specialized in international affairs, conflicts, politics and strategies.
Featured image: Strategic Culture Foundation
The original source of this article is Strategic Culture Foundation
Copyright © Federico Pieraccini, Strategic Culture Foundation, 2017
Articles by: Federico Pieraccini
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1302
|
__label__wiki
| 0.86564
| 0.86564
|
The Farr Side: MixTape tour does not disappoint
David T. Farr More Content Now
Fun! Fun! Fun! The MixTape Tour was a blast from the past. The two-plus hour trip down memory lane, headlined by the New Kids On The Block, dazzled fans last week at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The sold-out show featured an array of who’s-who ’80s and ’90s stars, including Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, Salt-N-Pepa and Naughty By Nature joining the fab NKOTB.
The show got off to a grand start with DJ Illtown Sluggaz getting the crowd on its feet for well over 20 minutes. I’ve attended more than 100 concerts and I’ve never seen anything like it. It was so much fun to see and hear everyone jamming to Sluggaz spin the hits of the best decade for music.
When the lights dropped and New Kids took the stage, the noise level doubled. The guys performed an eight-song set that featured “The Way,” “My Favorite Girl,” “Dirty Dancing,” “Summertime,” “You Got It (The Right Stuff),” “Remix,” “Block Party” and “Games.” Judging by the crowd’s reaction, they still got “the right stuff,” even 30 years later.
In true mixtape fashion, the show played out just like the ones we used to make. Tiffany was up next to perform her No. 1 cover smash of the Tommy James & The Shondells classic, “I Think We’re Alone Now.”
Then, it was Debbie Gibson’s time to shine. Dressed in a skin-tight hot pink jumpsuit she belted out “Out Of The Blue,” “Shake Your Love,” and “Electric Youth” on a stage shaped like a compact disc on the opposite end of the arena. It was pretty cool to see the contraption lift high up in the air as she sang.
NKOTB returned for “Didn’t I Blow Your Mind,” “Valentine Girl,” “If You Go Away,” and “Please Don’t Go Girl,” a song that Joey McIntyre just sang the heck out of.
As much as I liked the show to that point, I was waiting for what was to happen next.
Salt-N-Pepa took the stage and took command. The group never sounded so good. “My Mic Sounds Nice,” “None Of Your Business,” “Expression,” “Whatta Man” and “Let’s Talk About Sex.” They jammed!
NKOTB came back again for “Tonight,” “Boys In The Band” and “Cover Girl.” “Tonight” has always been a great song, but this time it was even better. Donnie, Jordan, Jonathan, Joey and Danny road the compact disc to its highest peak yet high above the floor.
Naughty By Nature returned the hip hop vibe started by SNP with a rousing three-song set including “O.P.P.,” “Feel The Flow,” and “Hip Hop Hooray.”
With her piano ascending from the mainstage, Gibson returned to perform her No. 1 “Foolish Beat,” and “Only In My Dreams” before going into her massive hit “Lost In Your Eyes,” which was joined by NKOTB’s McIntyre.
“Shoop” from SNP followed before Tiffany’s amazing return for “All This Time” and a performance of her second No. 1, “Could’ve Been.” That was another shining moment, and not just because of the massive disco ball that appeared as she made her way through the crowd to the other stage.
New Kids No. 1′s “I’ll Be Loving You Forever” and “Step By Step” were big moments, but, for me, it was the song I came to see: “Push It” by Salt-N-Pepa. What a rush! That is one of the songs that defines the ’80s, for sure.
The show would not have been complete without “Hangin’ Tough,” the title track and No. 1 song from NKOTB’s mega-selling album that made them global stars. Donnie Wahlberg and the guys totally pleased the audience of mainly 40-year-olds.
The close brought all of the MixTape performers back for the fun, ”’80s Baby.” What a great moment to witness.
I came away from this show with such a good feeling. I’m so thankful I grew up when I did. Especially, when you can see this kind of show now and feel as good as you did when you made your own mixtapes from the radio then.
David T. Farr can be reached at farrboy@hotmail.com.
Iowa Missing Persons
Hamburg Facts
Hamburg on Wikipedia
News Press
Penny Press 1
Journal Democrat
Rant and Rave
Hamburg Reporter - Hamburg, IA ~ 1009 Main St., P.O. Box 99, Hamburg, IA 51640 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1307
|
__label__wiki
| 0.561923
| 0.561923
|
You are here: Home Ministries Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality News European Commission gives green light for dairy cattle phosphate system
European Commission gives green light for dairy cattle phosphate system
News item | 19-12-2017 | 16:38
The European Commission has agreed to the introduction of phosphate rights in Dutch dairy farming. This system and the legislation in which it is enshrined satisfy the applicable guidelines for state aid, European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager reported to the Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality Carola Schouten. The House of Representatives and the Senate previously assented to the phosphate system. This system will ensure that the quantity of phosphate produced by cattle as a constituent of manure is kept below the European maximum. The system is set to come into force on 1 January 2018.
Schouten꞉ “Now that Brussels has confirmed that the legislation does not constitute state aid, we can be certain that the phosphate rights system will go ahead. Moreover, this decision is also key for the purpose of obtaining a new derogation, a special exemption on the basis of which the Netherlands will be entitled to use more animal manure. Dairy farmers are waiting anxiously for this decision. I can now say to the entire sector: ‘We’re not there yet, but this achievement is already significant’”.
From 1 January 2018, dairy farms will be allocated an amount of phosphate rights based on the number of cattle kept as at 2 July 2015 (the date on which the system was announced), less the previously announced generic reduction of 8.3%. Land-based farms with plenty of land in proportion to the number of cattle are exempt from this reduction, which is necessary to keep phosphate production below the European maximum. The phosphate rights are tradable. Farmers wishing to keep more cattle will have to purchase rights to this end from dairy farmers who are reducing their livestock or terminating their company.
The system of phosphate rights follows the Phosphate Reduction Scheme, which saw trade associations and the Government agree to curb phosphate production in 2017. Considerable reductions in livestock have already been made over the past year through this plan. The most recent figures (October 2017) indicate that the Netherlands is on course with its ambition to reduce phosphate production below the national ceiling again by the end of this year.
The Netherlands is striving to secure a decision from the European Commission granting a new derogation for the 2018–2021 period around April 2018. In this regard, it is important for phosphate production to be brought back below the European maximum by the end of 2017 and for the phosphate system to come into force on 1 January 2018. It is also imperative that agreement has been reached on the Sixth Action Programme of the EU Nitrates Directive. In the unfortunate event that the new derogation is not granted, farmers would be forced to incur additional expenses such as for the responsible disposal of manure and for the supply of extra fertiliser.
Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1313
|
__label__wiki
| 0.832072
| 0.832072
|
Monday, 3 June 2013, 1:00PM
From Grub Street to Fleet Street: The Development of the Early English Newspaper
Bob Clarke
Download this lecture
From the broadsides of the sixteenth century to the broadsheets of the 19th century, taking in the Civil War newsbooks, the gutter press of the 18th century, the rise of the Sunday papers full of sex, sport and sensationalism, and the birth of the popular press, Bob Clarke describes the journey of the English newspaper from Grub Street to Fleet Street. The lecture will vividly portray the way the news was reported, providing a colourful, if often gruesome, picture of the social history of the past.
This is first of the Mondays at One series of lectures, From St Paul's Cross to Hyde Park Corner: Public Oratory in London from the Middle Ages to the Present Day. The other lectures in this series are as follows:
The Suffragettes
The Mosley Riots
Free Speech and State Control
Bob Clarke has been collecting early newspapers for the past forty years and has built up a collection of 1,000 newspapers and other news publications printed before 1800. He is the author of From Grub Street to Fleet Street: An illustrated history of English newspapers to 1899 (Ashgate 2004; Revel Barker 2010) and The Basingstoke Riots: Massagainians v the Salvation Army 1880-1883 (Basingstoke Archaeological and Historical Society, 2010).
Word Transcript
London history History - other History
From Grub Street to Fleet Street:
The Development of the Early English Newspaper
Grub Street was both a geographical location and a metaphor. Grub Street, the place, ran just north of here from Chiswell Street to Fore Street. It was renamed Milton Street in the 1830s. Only a couple of hundred yards have survived. The rest lies buried under the Barbican.
Grub Street was outside the City walls. It was in an area of poverty and vice, teeming with disreputable tenements, mean courts, low alehouses and dark alleys.
Samuel Johnson said Grub Street was much inhabited by writers of small histories, dictionaries, and temporary poems.
We know that some of the more destitute writers and printers lived in the area around Grub Street. Journalists too: Defoe was born just round the corner in Fore Street . He died in Ropemakers Alley, one of the many dark passages that fed into Grub Street. At least one Civil War newsbook was published from Grub Street.
In the 1640s and 1650s with the explosion of newsbooks and other unlicenced publications, the warrens surrounding Grub Street were the hiding places of fugitive printers lugging their moonshine presses from one garret to the next, trying to keep one step ahead of the authorities.
The term, Grub Street, was first recorded in its non-geographical sense in 1630. It became more prevalent during the Civil War when both sides paid the authors of newsbooks to fight a paper war on their behalf. With the formation of political parties after the Restoration, the term became established to describe journalists, political pamphleteers and other writers of ephemeral publications who, with neither a private income nor a wealthy patron, had to write for money in order to survive.
Grub Street is a metaphor for the hack writer.
The word ‘hack’ derives from Hackney, originally meaning a horse for hire and later a prostitute, a woman for hire. Finally, it was applied to a writer for hire. Paid by the line, scratching a precarious living from the lower reaches of literature, including journalism, the Grub Street hack received no public acclaim. Instead he received the sneers and jibes of his more successful contemporaries who, by a mixture of ability and flattery, had found the security of a patron. His life was pictured by Hogarth in the Distressed Poet. His condition was described by Ned Ward as,
“very much like that of a Strumpet ... and if the reason be requir'd, why we betake our selves to be so Scandalous a Profession as Whoring or Pamphleteering, the same excusive Answer will serve us both, viz. that the unhappy circumstances of a Narrow Fortune, hath forced us to do that for our Subsistence.”
In the eyes of the establishment, journalists were a semi-criminal class. Their uncertain way of life, with its irregular payment and vulnerability to the law, compelled them to live in the lower quarters of the city, such as the Grub Street area. They could only make their living in a hackney kind of way by prostituting their pens to the highest bidder: Tories one day, Whigs the next, and all the time suffering harassment from authority.
Although maligned, venal and brimful of human failings, the men and women of Grub Street are the heroes of my book. Risking prison, the pillory and even death to publish the events of the day, they entertained and informed their readers. They enraged the Establishment by having the audacity to criticise the powerful, and by having the audacity to behave as if the conduct of government was any of their business. The pioneers of Grub Street laid the foundations of Fleet Street and the modern newspaper.
Almost from the time that Caxton first introduced printing to England in 1476, the State regarded the printing press as a dangerous weapon. The printing of news was doubly dangerous: it would lead the people to question the authority of the State.
In 1538 Henry the Eighth decreed that all printed matter had to be approved by the Privy Council or its deputies before publication. Even “spoken news or rumour” was prohibited by Edward the Sixth’s proclamations of 1547 and 1549. By 1581 the publication of seditious material had become a capital offence.
The only form of printed news that was permitted was either government propaganda, such as the first recorded newsbook, Hereafter ensue the trewe encounter or Batayle lately don between Englade and Scotlande, a contemporary account of the Battle of Flodden in 1513; or broadsides of “wonderful and strange news” of witchcraft, murders and strange monsters. Titles like, Hevy newes of an horrible earthquake; or A straunge and terrible wonder wrought in the parish church of Bungay (“…in a great tempest of violente raine, lightening and thunder … a horrible shaped thing was sensibly perceived of the people then and there assembled, which in the twinkling of an eye, mortally wrung the necks of several worshippers”).
When the Thirty Years War started in 1618 it was of intense interest to the London merchants who had dealings in Europe. Recognising this market for news, printers in Holland started producing English language newsbooks that were smuggled into this country. Fearful of losing control, the government licensed the first of a series of regular and numbered English newsbooks in 1622. These were known as corantos and were translations of continental newsbooks. But, due to Star Chamber censorship, they were forbidden to print English news.
The abolition of the Star Chamber, the collapse of Crown authority and the breakdown of censorship on the onset of the English Civil War marked the true beginnings of English journalism.
The first weekly newsbook of the newly freed press was started in November 1641 by Samuel Pecke. Pecke can therefore be described as the father of English journalism. He was described as “a bald-headed buzzard, constant in nothing but wenching, lying and drinking.”
During the 1640s and 1650s, over 300 different titles came into existence. Some were short-lived, for one or two issues only, while others continued for several years. They mixed eye-witness reports of skirmishes and battles with conjecture and propaganda, each claiming victory for battles they had lost.
Unlike the news in the corantos, which were of direct importance to a very restricted group, the events recorded in the Civil War newsbooks affected everybody. At a penny or twopence a copy, they were read by a wide class of reader, especially in London where male literacy in the 1640s was between 70 and 80 per cent.
The importance of the Civil War newsbooks cannot be overstated. Newsbooks of all sides demonised the other with stories of atrocities. By recording the divisions between King and Parliament, Independent and Presbyterian, Army and Parliament, Grandees and Levellers, no one, however detached, who read the newsbooks could imagine that England was a nation at peace with itself. The reader was compelled to take sides. And the reader had developed a thirst for news.
Not everyone was in favour of this new found freedom of the press, however. One pamphleteer described journalists as:
This filthy Aviary, this moth-eaten crew of News-mongers, Every Jack-sprat that hath but a pen in his ink-horn is ready to gather up the Excrements of the Kingdom.
The leading journalist during the Civil War and Interregnum was Marchamont Nedham. Contemporaries said he had “a publique brothel in his mouth.” Despite changing sides twice, he wound up as Cromwell’s chief spin doctor, editing the two official newspapers of the Protectorate.
After the Restoration of Charles the Second, censorship was reimposed. The 1662 Printing Act restricted the number of presses and re-introduced pre-publication licensing. A particularly obnoxious character called Roger L’Estrange persuaded the King that he was the best person to enforce the Act. He caused John Twyn to be hung, drawn and quartered for publishing unlicensed material.
All other papers were suppressed except the London Gazette, which was published by the Government – the 17th century English equivalent of Pravda. From 1665 it enjoyed a monopoly of printed news. The late Stuart regime used the London Gazette to help maintain social and political order. The Gazette largely avoided domestic news, apart from Royal Proclamations. It projected the image of a nation at peace with itself again after the upheavals of the Civil War and the uncertainties of the Interregnum.
Unlike its predecessors, that were pamphlets of eight or sixteen pages that needed turning, the London Gazette was printed in double columns on both sides of a single sheet of paper. This enabled the busy merchant to see at a glance the events in Europe on which his business depended, and could be held in one hand by the man about town in the coffee houses that were springing up all over London. It gave rise to the word, “newspaper”, which was first recorded in 1670.
After William of Orange became King, his continental campaigns of created such a hunger for news that the existing controls became increasingly untenable. There was an attempt to redraft the Printing Act in 1695. However, they ran out of Parliamentary time and the Act simply failed to be renewed.
The importance of 1695, meant that anyone could set up a printing press and issue publications without permission. News would no longer be restricted to the information in the London Gazette that the state decided the public could be allowed to know. It would embrace a much wider selection of material – material that journalists thought the public should have the right to know, and material that journalists thought the public would also enjoy reading.
The demand for newspapers in the 18th century was stimulated by the political, social and economic conditions of the times: an expanding middle class; an increasingly literate artisan class; a developing party political system that needed an active press to further the battles between Whigs and Tories; and a thriving club and coffee-house culture whose participants prided themselves on being well-informed.
In 1712 the government introduced the Stamp Act, one of the first taxes on knowledge, which taxed each sheet of paper used to make up the existing two- or four-page newspapers. The tax meant governments were now dependent on newspapers as a source of revenue. So the fears receded that pre-publication licensing would be re-introduced. Opposition papers included the Craftsman, Common Sense, and Mist’s Weekly Journal, which continued as Fog’s Weekly Journal after Nathaniel Mist fled to France after a particularly foolhardy attack on the government in 1728. Those involved with the opposition press led a fairly precarious existence thanks to the law of seditious libel and the general warrant.
The law of seditious libel taken to its logical conclusion would have prevented any political comment in the press. Sedition was defined as anything that was likely to incite disaffection against the King, his heirs, the government, the Houses of Parliament and the administration of justice, even when the comments were based on the truth. The responsibility for determining whether an article was seditious lay entirely with the judge. The jury’s function was limited to deciding whether the accused bore some responsibility for the article’s publication.
The general warrant was the main weapon used to intimidate the press. They were called general warrants because they specified the offence and not the offender. They were used to hold in custody large numbers of people who had only the remotest connection with the publication in question. The warrants were enforced by the King’s Messengers, a gang of hired thugs, who had the power to arrest anyone they wanted, to seize property and destroy printing equipment. Many journalists and printers faced heavy fines and imprisonment, some dying in jail.
However, because the anti-Ministerial papers trod dangerously and were generally more fun, they enjoyed higher sales than those papers that were simply dull apologists for the government, reacting to the agenda set by the opposition press.
The influence of the opposition press was such that Robert Walpole spent over £50,000 bribing journalists to support the government. The newspapers entertained their readers with a glorious display of Grub Street abuse, hack versus hack, in the columns of the Ministerial and anti-Ministerial papers.
However, in the space of eight years, from 1763 to 1771, three important victories for the freedom of the press were won:
General warrants were declared illegal;
It became up to the jury to decide whether a publication was a libel, and not an establishment judge as hitherto;
Newspapers won the right to publish the proceedings of parliament.
The story of these battles for the freedom of the press are well documented. John Wilkes was involved in most of those battles. And, as the theme of this series of lectures is oratory, it is worth quoting John Wilkes’ declaration in the first issue his paper, the North Briton:
The Liberty of the Press is the birthright of a Briton, and is justly esteemed the firmest bulwark of the liberties of this country. It has been the terror of all bad Ministers; for their dark and dangerous designs, or their weakness, inability, and duplicity, have thus been detected.
Of all the non-political weekly journals of the 18th century, the Grub-street Journal, ‘Sold at the Pegasus (vulgarly called the Flying-Horse) in Grub-street’, was the most notorious for its propensity for starting quarrels with other writers and generally stirring up trouble.
It is thought that the Grub-street Journal was founded as a vehicle for Alexander Pope to attack his many enemies - a continuation of the Dunciad by other means. We don’t know the full extent of Pope's involvement with the Journal. He contributed numerous verses to the early issues, and the paper went out of its way to pick a fight with anyone he did not like.
Gradually Pope's influence, or interest, in the paper began to decline and the paper began to develop its own character, expanding the range of its satire beyond the confines of Pope's literary squabbles to cover a much wider range of material, including medicine, theology, the theatre, the administration of justice and other social issues. It attracted a large number of correspondents who used the paper to carry out their squabbles in public while the editors sat back and enjoyed the spectacle, prodding the antagonists into action where necessary. Whenever one controversy looked like running out of steam, the Journal would invent a new one to keep up the excitement.
Journalism was one of its main targets. The preface to the collected essays of the Grub-street Journal explained:
To furnish materials for the Daily Papers, Collectors are sent all over the City, suburbs and surrounding villages, to pick up articles of News; who being payed according to the length and number of them, it is no wonder that so few of them are true ... All News-papers ... may be justly looked upon as the productions of Grub-street ...
The Grub-street Journal printed contradictory accounts of the same event taken from the preceding week's newspapers, with sarcastic remarks on their discrepancies and inaccuracies. The frequent premature reports of deaths prompted this comment:
There is no privilege in which the authors of our daily and weekly papers may more justly glory than that of the power of life and death. Whom they will they send to the grave, and whom that they will they restore to life again ... The Archbishop of Canterbury, who, God be thanked, is still living, has often with pleasure and surprise read in these papers the account of his own death.
‘We writers of diurnals are nearer in our styles to that of common talk than any other writers’, wrote Richard Steele in the Tatler in 1710. And those common talkers were providing the social backcloth to their times. In compiling their hastily produced paragraphs of news, the news writers were unknowingly writing for posterity. Those few newspapers that have survived from two or three hundred years ago can tell us more about what was important to their readers, and the pleasures and dangers of the life of their times, than any other source. If Hogarth painted the picture of 18th century life, the newspaper supplied the text.
It is reckoned that each copy of a newspaper was seen by up to 40 persons, many hearing the news read aloud in alehouses or on street corners. Yet the type of news in the papers of the early 18th century (foreign news and politics) was only of interest to a small elite. Recognising the wider market, the printers began a gradual shift towards home news. At a time when there was no effective police force and crime was fuelled by a plentiful supply of cheap gin, newspapers from the 1720s onwards were full of stories of highwaymen, housebreakers and footpads; smugglers, prostitutes and pirates; their trials, and their eventual fate on the gallows.
Daniel Defoe was one of the first crime reporters, writing for Mist’s and Applebee’s Weekly Journals. He knew many of the underworld characters, including Jonathan Wild and Moll King. He interviewed Jack Sheppard in the condemned cell, and he was said to have “stood at the scaffold to collect the dying words of convicts”.
The newspapers spared no details to illustrate the cruelty of judicial punishments. Here is a report from Read’s Weekly Journal of the execution of Catherine Hayes, who was burned at the stake in 1726 for murdering her husband:
The Fuel being placed round her, and lighted with a Torch, she begg’d for the Sake of Jesus, to be strangled first; whereupon the Executioner drew tight the Halter, but the Flame coming to his Hand in the Space of a Second, he let it go, when she gave three dreadful Shrieks; but the Flames taking her on both Sides, she was heard no more; and the Executioner throwing a Piece of Timber into the Fire, it broke her Skull, when her Brains came plentifully out; and in about an Hour more she was entirely reduced to Ashes.
On a lighter note, the newspaper readers probably enjoyed the report of the woman in Glasgow who was indecently assaulted and robbed of six shillings and a bottle of whiskey. When asked in court why she didn’t mention the assault, she said that she was so concerned about the shillings and the whiskey, that she clean forgot the rape.
Reports of deaths were a staple fare of the 18th century press. I like the moralising at the end of this report:
Lately died at Dunston Green, Oxon, after twelve days painful illness, Mr. C. Langford, formerly an eminent farmer and grazier of that place. His death was occasioned by eating a large quantity of cherries, and very imprudently swallowing the stones, which produced an obstruction in his bowels terminating in a mortification. Thus fell a hearty, hale constitution, a woeful sacrifice to the incautious use of fruit.
Inserting a moral at the end of a news item was a common device in the 18th century. Following the report of an explosion and fire in 1769, the Northampton Mercury felt it was necessary to advise its readers,
“This ought to be a caution not to keep Gunpowder near a Forge.”
Here’s a contender from 1779 for the title of the World’s Most Inefficient Suicide:
Yesterday Morning Capt. Bruce, of Cavendish-square, (as is supposed in a Fit of Insanity) drew a Pair of Pistols from his Pocket, and shot himself in the Head, but finding that he did not immediately expire, he drew his Sword and fell upon it, which struck against a Bone and broke. His Groans alarmed his Footman, who in vain attempted to force open the Door of the Room, but was obliged to get in at the Window and alarm the House: a Surgeon who lived next Door was sent for, who drew the Part of the broken Sword from the Wound, dressed him, and put him to Bed ... But as soon as he found himself alone, he took a large Knife and stabbed himself, and, strange as it appears, the Blade of the Knife broke; the Surgeon again dressed those Wounds, and after a Time he was left as before. He then got to his Pocket, took out a Penknife, cut his Throat, laid the Knife by his Side, and laid himself down and died.
This report from 1767 combines both death and marriage:
Cambridge, Sept. 18.
Last week died the wife of one Goodwin, a labouring man, at Little Shelford in this County. The sorrowful widower, unable to bear the thoughts of a single state, set off the next morning, and was married to a woman at Linton. At their return in the evening to Shelford, the dead wife was removed from his bed into a coffin, to give way for the new-married couple to celebrate their nuptials. The coffin continued in the room all night.
And in the last two months of 1726 the newspapers were full of the story of Mary Tofts, the woman who gave birth to rabbits.
Mist’s Weekly Journal reported on November 19, 1726.
From Guildford comes a strange, but well attested piece of News. That a poor Woman who lives at Godalmin, near that Town, was, about a Month past, delivered by Mr John Howard, an eminent Surgeon and Man-midwife, of a Creature resembling a Rabbit ... About 14 Days since, she was delivered by the same Person of a perfect Rabbit; and, in a few days after of 4 more; and on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the 4th, 5th and 6th instant, of one in each Day; in all nine.
John Howard moved Mary from Godalming to Guildford and sent letters to various eminent medical men, inviting them to Guildford to see for themselves. Nathaniel St Andre, surgeon and anatomist to George II, and Cyriacus Ahlers, another royal surgeon, both came down and delivered rabbits on separate occasions. St Andre went back to London and published a 40-page pamphlet, A Short Narrative of an Extraordinary Delivery of Rabbets, while John Howard lectured to the Royal Society. Soon the King and the government began to take notice.
We hear that a very strict Enquiry is going to be made into the Story of the Woman’s being delivered of 17 Rabbits at Godalmin in Surry by Order of the Government.
The Post-Boy, November 26 to November 29, 1726
(Despite the clumsy construction of the sentence, it seems unlikely that the government would have ordered Mary to have given birth to rabbits.)
On 29 November, Mary was brought to London where, according to the London Journal of December 3, 1726, “great Numbers of the Nobility have been to see her and many Physicians have attended her, in order to make a strict Search into the Affair”.
It was only when a porter admitted smuggling a rabbit into Mary’s chamber, and Mary was threatened with having a very painful operation to get to the truth of the matter, that Mary confessed to having manually inserted rabbits into her vagina and then allowed them to be removed as if giving birth. Mary was prosecuted under the statute of Edward III as a vile cheat and imposter. She was detained in Tothill Fields Bridewell where vast crowds flocked to see her. In the end, as the Weekly Journal for April 15, 1727 reported:
Mary Toft, the Godalmin Rabbit Woman, was last Saturday discharg’d from her Recognizance at the Quarter Sessions, Westminster, there being no Prosecution.
By and large, the public and the newspapers were satisfied by this outcome. Mary had entertained the public, provided the newspapers with several weeks’ of sensational material. She had given rise to a host of pamphlets, cartoons, rude songs and poems on the subject, including one about sending a chimney-sweeper’s boy up her fallopian tube, And she made the medical profession look a bunch of incompetent fools.
The second half of the 18th century saw the dominance of the daily paper. There were daily newspapers in the first half of the century, starting with the Daily Courant in 1702, but their circulation was mainly restricted to London. By the middle of the century investment by booksellers and other shareholders provided the capital to print newspapers on a continuous basis. The introduction of daily posts in the 1740s and the growing appetite for news, stimulated by the weekly and tri-weekly papers, encouraged the growth of the daily press.
The newspapers derived their income from a combination of sales, Treasury bribes, monies paid by theatrical agents in return for favourable reviews, suppression fees (advising the subject that a damaging paragraph was in type, but could be taken out if a certain fee was paid), and contradiction fees (when the subject had responded too late and the paragraph had been printed, a fee could be paid to have the paragraph contradicted in the next day's paper).
Edward Topham, the editor of the daily paper, the World, turned his paper into a vehicle for blackmail. His most famous exploit was to threaten to expose the Prince of Wales's marriage to Mrs. Fitzherbert. The Prince offered to buy the paper outright for a down payment of £4,000 plus an annuity for Topham of £400. Topham refused, but accepted a subsidy from the Prince instead. This was on top of a Treasury bribe of £600 a year. It was said that, by 1780, there was scarcely a paragraph in the Morning Post that had not been paid by someone.
However, in most cases, the greatest contribution to the newspaper’s income came from the sale of advertising space. Newspapers were the dominant vehicle for advertisements. No other medium could offer such wide circulation and regular appearance. And no other medium could offer extensive distribution all over the country.
The quack medicine advertisements must have kept whole armies of Grub Street copywriters occupied. My guess is that they were composed in taverns with the whole company laughing at the next excesses they managed to dream up.
Advertisers often inserted testimonials from satisfied customers, real or imagined. During the 1750’s, readers of the General Evening Post were entertained by advertisements for Doctor Henry's Nervous Medicine. Each week Doctor Henry would publish a testimonial from a customer who had suffered from wind they couldn’t expel, including one from the woman with “a windy convulsive Disorder in her Bowels [who was] obliged to sit up in Bed to discharge the Wind.”
In 1774 one sufferer testified to the Reading Mercury that Speediman's Stomach Pills, ‘by the blessing of God dispersed the wind in a very surprising manner’.
In the newspapers of the first half of the 18th century, there was almost a symmetry of cause and effect with the sellers of aphrodisiacs, like the Cordial Quintessence of Vipers, plying their wares next to cures for venereal disease “without Hindrance of Business, or the Knowledge of a Bedfellow”. Their copy mainly consisted of long lists of symptoms, including, “scaly Pustules, old Gleets, Buboes, Shankers, Tumify'd Testicles, Ulcers on the privates”.
In 1734 one advertisement boasted that in 19 years his medicine had “cured 673 Gonorrheas or Claps,” and promised to cure “all the dismal attendants of impure embraces ... nay, even if you piss thro' a Dozen Holes.”
The most successful morning paper for most of the 19th century was the Times. It outsold its competitors thanks to John Walter the Second’s investment in printing technology, which meant that late news, which other papers had to leave till the following day, could be printed shortly before the Times was due to hit the streets. His refusal to take government or opposition bribes meant the Times was valued for its independence. His investment in foreign correspondents, notably Crabb Robinson who reported the death of Sir John Moore at Corruna and William Howard Russell during the Crimean War, gave the Times an authority no other paper had. Russell’s descriptions of the mismanagement of the Crimean War brought down the government. This is an extract from the Times's leading article on December 23, 1854:
The noblest army ever sent from these shores has been sacrificed to the greatest mismanagement.
Incompetency, lethargy, aristocratic hauteur, official indifference, favour, routine, perverseness, and stupidity reign, revel and riot in the camp before Sebastapol, in the harbour of Balaklava, in the hospital of Scutari, and how much nearer home we dare not venture to say.
The Times’s success was also due to the appointment of William Barnes as editor from 1817 to 1841 and his successor, John Delane. Barnes instructed his local correspondents to keep him in touch with middle class opinion and Barnes used this to determine the paper’s policy on the issues of the day. It was during Barnes’s campaigns in favour of the Reform Bill that the Times acquired its nickname, “The Thunderer”.
Under Delane, the Times articulated the concept of the newspaper as the Fourth Estate. Instead of simply being the mouthpiece of ministerial and opposition groups, as the London press was in the 18th century, the press, and the Times in particular, was now perceived as an independent and powerful channel between public opinion and the governing institutions. Since non-electors were more numerous than electors, the press considered itself to be more representative of the people than Parliament. The duty of the journalist was to disclose to the people what those in power wanted to keep secret.
Stamp Duty was abolished in 1855. This, combined with rapid advances in printing technology, the introduction of cheap wood pulp paper, the new electric telegraph and news agencies such as Reuters that enabled foreign news to be gathered cheaply, helped to bring down unit costs and usher in the age of the penny newspaper.
The penny newspaper, increased literacy, the rise of the lower middle class – thousands upon thousands of Mr Pooters in the expanding London suburbs - the development of railways as a fast means of distributing newspapers across the nation, all these factors should have resulted in a massive increase in sales.
However, this did not happen because the daily papers were targeted squarely at the upper and middle classes who had the leisure to plough through acres of unrelieved newsprint reporting turgid political speeches. The only form of entertainment was provided by reports from the divorce courts, where the Victorian newspapers treated their readers to the salacious details of juicy divorce cases.
These included the Crawford v. Crawford case in 1886 where Sir Charles Dilke, who was tipped to become Foreign Secretary in the next Gladstone administration, was accused of having three-in-a-bed sex with Mrs Crawford and a girl named Fanny; and, in the same year, the Campbell v. Campbell case where Lord Colin Campbell was accused of adultery, cruelty and giving Lady Campbell venereal disease, while he accused her of adultery with a duke, a doctor, a general, and the Chief of the London Fire Brigade.
The reports of the Campbell case, described by the Pall Mall Gazette as “the filthiest divorce case on record”, took up 74 columns of the Daily Chronicle, 46 columns of the Standard, 44 columns of the Daily News, 43 columns of the Daily Telegraph and 26 columns of the Times. The Pall Mall Gazette pointed out that the Daily Chronicle had devoted about 180,000 words to the Campbell case, which it compared to the 181,258 words in the New Testament.
A case in 1863 where a man named Kane claimed his wife had committed adultery with Lord Palmerston, then in his 78th year, inspired the joke, “She was Kane, but was he able?”
The only newspapers that appealed directly to the working class were the Sunday papers, with their diet of sex, sport, sensationalism – and ‘orrible murders.
Sunday was the only day when the working man had the leisure to read a paper,or, if he could not read, the only day where he couldlisten to one being read out loud in alehouses and barber shops. Thanks to the taxes on knowledge, newspapers costsevenpence or more in the 1820s and 1830s. For the working classeseven one newspaper a week was a luxury, so people used to club together to buy a newspaper on a Sunday.
The first Sunday newspaper was the royalist newsbook, Mercurius Aulicus in the 1640s. It was published on Sundays to annoy the puritans. Apart from that, the first Sunday paper was E. Johnson's British Gazette and Sunday Monitor. It was founded by Mrs Elizabeth Johnson in 1779. Apart from a column of religious instruction on the front page, its character was entirely that of a daily paper that just happened to appear once a week on a Sunday.
Mrs Johnson's paper inspired a number of competitors, the most famous of which was the Observer, which still continues to this day. When it beganin 1791 it was a reactionary Tory paper. A leading article in 1792 defending the slave trade, said:
“Let not false pity abolish a trade, upon which the great leading interests of this commercial country, its wealth, and its security, so immediately and essentially depend --- A continuation of which trade, POLICY DEMANDS, and HUMANITY JUSTIFIES.”
The staff of the Observer included Vincent Dowling. Dowling also acted as a government spy, reporting political meetings, passing copies of his shorthand notes to his masters in the Home Office, and roaming around the pubs taking notes of the conversations he had overheard, to keep the government informed of the "tone of the mobocrosy." The Observer was the last known paper to receive secret service subsidies, which continued to 1840.
It’s also worth mentioning that Rachel Beer, Siegfried Sassoon's aunt, who owned -- and edited -- the Observer, and its rival, the Sunday Times, simultaneously from 1893 to 1897.
The first Sunday paper that had any pretensions of being anything other than a one day a week daily paper was Bell's Weekly Messenger in 1796. Unlike the four-page Observer and Sunday Monitor, its eight pages of small print offered more than one day's reading and covered the events of the previous week, not just the previous day.
The Weekly Dispatch, founded in 1801, the forerunner of the Sunday Dispatch which died in 1961, became the first Sunday newspaper proper when it fell into the hands of an Irish barrister named Robert Bell in 1815. Robert Bell introduced the now familiar formula of sex, sport and sensationalism that owed much to the working class traditions of the chapbook and the broadside. The sports news was written by Pierce Egan in a style that made liberal use of the ‘Flash’ slang of the sporting underworld.
Pierce Egan started his own Sunday newspaper market in 1824 with Pierce Egan’s Life in London and Sporting Guide. This specialised in lurid descriptions of bare-knuckle boxing matches, cock fighting, bull and badger baiting, and reports from the London police courts.
The Sunday papers took much of their material from the penny-a-liners, an anonymous tribe of semi-literate bohemians,the lineal descendants of the Grub-street Journal’snews collectors. The penny-a-liners haunted the police courts for their low life material. They reported fires and minor casualties, and attended Coroner's Inquests. The Inquests must have been convivial affairs for the penny-a-liners as they were usually held in a pub.
Armed with what material they could find, and padded out with descriptive embellishments and exuberant verbosity -- the longer the piece, the greater the profit - the penny-a-liners hawked their stories from newspaper office to newspaper office, hoping to find a buyer.
One of the most enterprising of the tribe was ‘Fire’ Fowler who lodged with a fireman and became something of a mascot with the brigade. The firemen let him travel to the fires on their fire engine, so whenever there was a fire, Fowler was always first with the news. Unlike the other penny-a-liners, his monopoly of London fires assured him a steady income.
Sunday newspapers had their opponents. The respectable press looked down their noses at them. Bulmer-Lytton described Sunday journalists as ‘Broken-down sharpers, markers at gambling houses and the very worse description of uneducated blackguards”.
The greatest opposition to Sunday newspapers came from religious groups. This was partly because the papers were distributed on Sunday mornings by ‘horn boys.’With trumpets and shrill voices they shouted their wares to the annoyance of churchgoers.But the opposition was mainly because the newspapers were seen as defiling the Sabbath with murders, low life and sporting stories.
As early as 1799 a Bill was introduced for ‘the suppression of newspapers on the Lord's Day’. This was defeated on the grounds that to prevent the employment of people on Sundays, Monday papers would also have to be banned. Subsequent attempts to introduce laws to stop the sale of Sunday papers were made in 1820, 1833, 1834, 1835 and 1838. The 1820 attempt was made on the grounds that the increasing circulation of Sunday papers was most injurious to public morals, not only for the manner in which they employed the printers and the publishers on the Lord's Day, but for distracting people from attending Divine Service, encouraging drunkenness by driving them into the public houses where the Sunday papers were kept, and contaminating morals with their blasphemous and seditious contents. Towards the end of the century, one clergyman divided the working class into sheep and goats - those who went to church on a Sunday, and those who read Lloyd's Weekly News.
Within a period of less than ten years, three new titles were started which were to dominate the Sunday market for the rest of the century: Lloyd's Weekly News in 1842; the News of the World in 1843; and Reynolds's Newspaper in 1850. Lloyd's Weekly News was the most popular of the three. In 1896 when the Daily Mail boasted of its sales of 397,215 and the Times was only selling about 35,000 copies, Lloyd's Weekly News became the first newspaper to sell a million copies.
Lloyd's and the popular Sunday papers did not attract much advertising. Their readers did not have as much disposable income as the middle class readers of the respectable dailies. Advertising accounted for between 11 and 37 per cent of the content of the Sunday papers compared with around 60 per cent for the dailies. For the daily papers, advertising was more important than circulation as the cost of printing an advertisement remained constant irrespective of the number of papers produced, whereas the cost of materials and the cost of distribution increased with the size of the circulation.
To most advertisers, who were mainly private individuals, circulation also did not matter. A family seeking a servant or an auctioneer selling a country estate were interested in making a single transaction only. The class of reader was more important than the numbers of readers. This held true for ‘public’ advertisements. People who might be interested in buying shares in a new railway company or tendering for a government contract would be more likely to read the Times or the Morning Post than Lloyd’s Weekly.
Unlike the dailies, which were only able to survive as a result of their advertising revenue, Sunday papers were able to make a profit from their sales alone. This was partly due to their cheapness. They were cheap to purchase - only once a week, after pay day - and cheap to produce. The expense of collecting material from the police courts was far less than that of maintaining a string of foreign correspondents in gentlemanly style in the capitals of Europe and beyond, and meeting the costs of telegraphing their reports. The Sundays could be printed at a leisurely pace in off-peak periods during the week, rather than in an expensive rush in the middle of the night, at premium rates, to meet the daily deadline of the early morning edition.
Lloyd's, Reynolds's and the News of the World maintained the mixture of crime, scandal and sensationalism which was a much more popular diet than that supplied by the middle class dailies. They were also written in a more accessible style, derived from the traditions of street literature and the popular radical and unstamped papers where many of the Sunday journalists, including Edward Lloyd and G W M Reynolds, had learned their craft.
One of Lloyd's managers explained the method of selecting material for inclusion in the paper:
We sometimes mistrust our own judgement and place the manuscript in the hands of an illiterate person -- a servant or machine boy, for instance. If they pronounce favourably upon it, we think it will do.
A contributing factor to the success of Lloyd's and its rivals was that their readers were encouraged to accept the papers as part of their lives. The papers would answer queries from correspondents on all matters of concern to their readers. Unlike the more patrician daily papers, they adopted the role as the people's friend. When Matilda Wood was searching for a stage name that would be remembered in the music halls, she chose the name Marie Lloyd because she knew the name Lloyd was well known and popular with her audiences.
It was not until the end of the 19th century that the gap in the market for popular daily papers was filled, initially by the Star, a halfpenny evening paper, in 1888, which promised “to do away with verbose and prolix articles”, and the Daily Mail in 1896, a halfpenny morning paper featuring clear headlines and short and easy to read paragraphs. The Daily Mail paved the way for the Daily Express in 1900 and the Daily Mirror in 1903.
Also by the end of the 19th century, Fleet Street had become synonymous with the newspaper trade. By the 1880s, all the major national dailies and Sunday papers had their main offices in Fleet Street, or close by.
The papers of Grub Street evolved into the papers of Fleet Street, there were tremendous differences: up to the end of the 18th century printing presses were only capable of printing 250 sides an hour. Yet by 1896 the Daily Mail could boast that its presses could produce 200,000 complete papers an hour, cut and folded; In 1815 news of the Battle of Waterloo took five days to reach the papers; in 1896, thanks to the electric telegraph, a telegram from the paper’s Washington correspondent arrived at the Times in London within two minutes; Journalism in the Grub Street era was a mere appendage of printing. The printer’s task, sometimes delegated to a paid editor, was simply to collect material from correspondents, arrange it in some coherent form, whether by themes or in date order, and possibly, to write an essay, or leading article, on the front page;By the time the paper arrived in Fleet Street, the craft of journalism extended to include parliamentary reporters, law reporters, city staff, foreign correspondents, book reviewers, theatrical and music critics, leader writers, as well as sub-editors and general reporters.
Fleet Street had also grown more powerful. The power of the press to influence public, and even parliamentary, opinion, which Tudor monarchs, Roger L’Estrange and even Whig reformers had feared, had come to fruition. The campaigning and pioneer investigative journalist, W T Stead, editor of the Pall Mall Gazette, may have been deluding himself, but only slightly, when he wrote in 1886:
I am but a comparatively young journalist, but I have seen Cabinets upset, Ministers driven into retirement, laws repealed, great social reforms initiated, Bills transformed, estimates remodelled, Acts passed, generals nominated, governors appointed, armies sent hither and thither, war proclaimed and war averted, by the agency of newspapers.
By 1900, 30 newspaper proprietors had seats in the House of Commons, and journalism was the largest occupational group in Parliament after law and the military.
When Edward Levy-Lawson of the Daily Telegraph became the first Baron Burnham in 1903, and Alfred Harmsworth and his brother Harold became Lords Northcliffe and Rothermere, the Age of the Press Baron had arrived.
Finally, why Fleet Street?
Almost since Caxton first introduced the craft of printing in this country, Fleet Street has been associated with the printing industry. In 1500 Wynkyn de Worde moved from Caxton’s house in Westminster to set up his own press in Fleet Street opposite Shoe Lane. In the same year Richard Pynson, who later became the King’s printer, opened his printing office at the corner of Fleet Street and Chancery Lane. Thereafter, Fleet Street and the Strand, and the alleys and lanes that ran off those streets, became home to an emergent printing industry that served the aristocratic, legal and ecclesiastical houses that were dotted like a string of pearls along the Thames from Somerset House to Whitefriars.
Fleet Street was also the ideal place for gathering and exchanging news. Situated in the no man’s land between Westminster and the City, hard by the law courts, close to the red-light district of Drury Lane and Covent Garden; news of national politics, City politics, trade and finance, and crime and sex converged in Fleet Street. It was no coincidence that many of the first coffeehouses were started in Fleet Street. Coffeehouses were centres of news and gossip where, according to contemporary accounts, the common greeting was ‘What news have you?’
However, I was amused the other day to come across this comment, “Its observable, that Fleet-street abounds ... with more Whores and Thieves than any other street in London.” This was not written by a member of Hacked Off, but appeared in the Ipswich Journal for February 28, 1736.
Whether they are the newspapers of Grub Street or Fleet Street, the beauty of old newspapers is that they give more of an immediate sense of past experience in all its complexity, humour and humanity than almost any other kind of literature. To paraphrase theNews of the World: All human life was there.
© Bob Clarke 2013
The Weimar Republic: Germany's First Democracy
Professor Sir Richard Evans FBA
Tuesday, 18 June 2019 - 6:00PM
Sir Thomas Gresham 1519–2019
Dr John Guy
Thursday, 13 June 2019 - 6:00PM
The Treaty of Versailles: A Hundred Years Later
Professor Margaret MacMillan
Tuesday, 4 June 2019 - 6:00PM
Aristotle's Lyceum
Professor Edith Hall
Thursday, 30 May 2019 - 1:00PM
The Cockney Romantics: John Keats and his Friends
Professor Sir Jonathan Bate CBE FBA
Tuesday, 14 May 2019 - 6:00PM
Why Do You Use The Word Victim Rather Than Survivor?
Professor Joanna Bourke
Wednesday, 22 November 2017 - 6:58PM
From 1911-31, To What Extent Do You Think There Was A One-Way Conversation Between Western and Chinese Art and Why?
Professor Craig Clunas
Monday, 20 November 2017 - 1:58PM
An architect points out a possible contradiction...
Professor Simon Thurley CBE
Wednesday, 1 February 2017 - 6:59PM
Most Buildings We Revere Are Designed By Craftsman And Not Architects
Why Is Sir Walter Scott Not In Popular Culture Today?
Dr Juliet Shields
Tuesday, 17 January 2017 - 1:59PM
The English Image of Scotland Prior to Sir Walter Scott's Writing
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1314
|
__label__wiki
| 0.671289
| 0.671289
|
Chillicothe in Ross County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Ohio
By William Fischer, Jr., December 21, 2008
1. Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Ohio Marker
Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Ohio. On this site, on January 4-7, 1808, the six Masonic lodges then existent in the state met and formed the Grand Lodge of Ohio. General Rufus Putnam of Marietta was elected the first Grand Master. Because of advanced age and failing health, he declined the honor and Governor Samuel Huntington was named in his stead. . This historical marker was erected in 1978 by The Seventh District Masonic Association and The Ohio Historical Society. It is in Chillicothe in Ross County Ohio
On this site, on January 4-7, 1808, the six Masonic lodges then existent in the state met and formed the Grand Lodge of Ohio. General Rufus Putnam of Marietta was elected the first Grand Master. Because of advanced age and failing health, he declined the honor and Governor Samuel Huntington was named in his stead.
Erected 1978 by The Seventh District Masonic Association and The Ohio Historical Society. (Marker Number 2-71.)
Marker series. This marker is included in the Ohio Historical Society / The Ohio History Connection marker series.
Location. 39° 19.994′ N, 82° 58.96′ W. Marker is in Chillicothe, Ohio, in Ross County. Marker is on Main Street (U.S. 50), on the left when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is on south side of courthouse. Marker is at or near this postal address: 21 W. Main Street, Chillicothe OH 45601, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Court House Renovation (here, next to this marker); Donald E. McHenry (a few steps from this marker); Site of Ohio's First Statehouse
County courthouse in background.
(within shouting distance of this marker); A Replica of Ohio's First Capitol (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Historic Site in Journalism (about 400 feet away); The Chillicothe Gazette (about 400 feet away); Banking Crisis of 1819 (about 500 feet away); Scioto Lodge No. 6 F. & A. M. (about 700 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Chillicothe.
Categories. • Fraternal or Sororal Organizations • Notable Events • Notable Persons • Notable Places •
More. Search the internet for Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Ohio.
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. This page originally submitted on December 24, 2008, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania. This page has been viewed 839 times since then and 17 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on December 24, 2008, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1316
|
__label__wiki
| 0.944372
| 0.944372
|
Pickerington in Fairfield County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
The Carnegie Library
By William Fischer, Jr., March 15, 2009
1. The Carnegie Library Marker (Side A)
The Carnegie Library. Side A:. This Carnegie Library was built in 1916 with funds from the Carnegie Corporation. It was constructed and furnished from a Carnegie Corporation grant of $10,000. Pickerington was one of the smallest of the 1,946 communities in the United States to receive a grant from Andrew Carnegie to build a public library. The building was dedicated September 4, 1916, as the Violet Township Public Library. At that time, Carnegie grants were not available to municipalities of fewer than 1,000 population and required local governing bodies to give their official support to the project. According to the 1910 census, Pickerington was a village of 310 people and Violet Township had a population of approximately 2,000. Thus, with the population requirement met, the Library Board of Trustees, the Pickerington Village Council, and the Violet Township Trustees passed a joint resolution in 1915 pledging financial support for the maintenance of a Carnegie Library. This site for the building was provided by the Village of Pickerington. E. S. Matheny was the architect, and J. D. Van Gundy was the contractor. The building was constructed of Flemish bond red brick with limestone trim. Its design was typical of many other Carnegie Libraries. Originally the building had gas lighting, gas heat, and running water supplied by a cistern. (Continued on other side) Side B:. (Continued from other side) In 1961, the library name was changed to Pickerington Public Library. This building has always been a source of community pride. For over 77 years the building served as Pickerington's public library. When it became apparent, in the late 1980s, that the Carnegie Library building would not be able to meet the needs of the growing community, a bond issue was passed by residents of the Pickerington Library District to construct and equip a new library building. In April 1993, all library services were transferred to the new library building at 201 Opportunity Way, and this building was closed as a library. In September 1993, the deed for the Carnegie Library building and land was turned over to the City of Pickerington with the stipulation that the city would lease the building to the Pickerington - Violet Township Historical Society to be used for educational and historical purposes. This building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service of the Department of the Interior on September 2, 1993. . This historical marker was erected by City of Pickerington. It is in Pickerington in Fairfield County Ohio
This Carnegie Library was built in 1916 with funds from the Carnegie Corporation. It was constructed and furnished from a Carnegie Corporation grant of $10,000. Pickerington was one of the smallest of the 1,946 communities in the United States to receive a grant from Andrew Carnegie to build a public library. The building was dedicated September 4, 1916, as the Violet Township Public Library.
At that time, Carnegie grants were not available to municipalities of fewer than 1,000 population and required local governing bodies to give their official support to the project. According to the 1910 census, Pickerington was a village of 310 people and Violet Township had a population of approximately 2,000. Thus, with the population requirement met, the Library Board of Trustees, the Pickerington Village Council, and the Violet Township Trustees passed a joint resolution in 1915 pledging financial support for the maintenance of a Carnegie Library.
This site for the building was provided by the Village of Pickerington. E. S. Matheny was the architect, and J. D. Van Gundy was the contractor. The building was constructed
2. The Carnegie Library Marker (Side B)
of Flemish bond red brick with limestone trim. Its design was typical of many other Carnegie Libraries. Originally the building had gas lighting, gas heat, and running water supplied by a cistern.
(Continued on other side)
(Continued from other side)
In 1961, the library name was changed to Pickerington Public Library. This building has always been a source of community pride. For over 77 years the building served as Pickerington's public library.
When it became apparent, in the late 1980s, that the Carnegie Library building would not be able to meet the needs of the growing community, a bond issue was passed by residents of the Pickerington Library District to construct and equip a new library building. In April 1993, all library services were transferred to the new library building at 201 Opportunity Way, and this building was closed as a library.
In September 1993, the deed for the Carnegie Library building and land was turned over to the City of Pickerington with the stipulation that the city would lease the building to the Pickerington - Violet Township Historical Society to be used for educational and historical purposes. This building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service of the Department of the Interior on September 2, 1993.
Erected by
3. The Carnegie Library and Marker
City of Pickerington.
Marker series. This marker is included in the Carnegie Libraries marker series.
Location. 39° 53.037′ N, 82° 45.212′ W. Marker is in Pickerington, Ohio, in Fairfield County. Marker is at the intersection of Columbus Street (Ohio Route 256) and Center Street / Lockville Road, on the right when traveling east on Columbus Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 15. E. Columbus Street, Pickerington OH 43147, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 4 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Pickerington Veterans Memorial (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); Union Veteran Legion Sherman Monument (approx. 2½ miles away); Francis H. Game Cemetery (approx. 2.8 miles away); Pvt. Alfred Cannon (approx. 3.8 miles away); Canal Winchester (approx. 3.9 miles away); Prentiss School No. 8 (approx. 3.9 miles away); Canal Winchester Veterans Memorial (approx. 3.9 miles away); Canal Winchester Vietnam Veterans Memorial (approx. 4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Pickerington.
Also see . . . Pinkerington Historical Society website. (Submitted on April 1, 2009, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.)
Categories. • 20th Century • Arts, Letters, Music • Charity & Public Work • Education • Industry & Commerce • Notable Buildings •
4. The Carnegie Library Dedication Marker
Dedicated to the Citizens of Pickerington. Olde Downtown Pickerington Village Revitalization. Dedicated this 19th Day of September, 1993.
More. Search the internet for The Carnegie Library.
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. This page originally submitted on March 28, 2009, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania. This page has been viewed 863 times since then and 13 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on March 28, 2009, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1317
|
__label__cc
| 0.683307
| 0.316693
|
The Drentsche Aa
17 out of 23 visitors find this information valuable.
The Drentsche Aa is the last stream of the Netherlands that has, for centuries, freely meandered through the landscape. Follow the Drentsche Aa and you will pass through a valley landscape full of woods, heathlands, sand dunes and hayfields. In this region, you will also encounter various cultural and historical monuments including dolmens, prehistoric burial mounds and ancient Saxon farms.
National Park and Landscape
The Drentsche Aa valley has long been used for agriculture, and between the nature and the fields there are sixteen villages and hamlets to be discovered. Because of this, it was impossible to declare the Drentsche Aa a National Park for a long time. Finally, the solution was found in the form of a special National Park, the National Stream and Esvillages Landscape of the Drentsche Aa. An esvillage (esdorp in Dutch) is a village that is built around or next to an es, which is a naturally higher lying field that was communaly cultivated by the villagers. Within these ten thousand hectares, about one third is a protected nature reserve. In 2007, the Drentsche Aa was additionally declared a National Landscape.
Archaeological reserve
Bike or hike through the meadows and along the streams in the valleys of the Drentsche Aa and you will be amazed at the beautiful vistas and how harmoniously these blend with modern agriculture. Would you like to visit archaeological finds, such as ancient burial mounds and Celtic fields? Be sure to make a detour past the first archeological reserve in the Netherlands, the Strubben-Kniphorstbosch.
More information about Natural Area The Drentsche Aa.
Find out what's nearby
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1319
|
__label__wiki
| 0.976653
| 0.976653
|
Retail apocalypse to impact shoppers in Holland, Grandville
Cassandra Bondie @BizHolland
HOLLAND — More than 5,000 closings have been announced by national retailers in 2019, and the fallout will soon affect local shoppers.
The largest closing announcement came from Payless Shoesource in February, when it shared it will close all 2,100 stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Sales immediately began in local storefronts, including a location at 2279 N. Park Drive in Holland.
At the Holland location, all shoes are 30-50 percent off. It’s unclear how long the store will remain open.
“What we can say as far timeline, at this point in the process, is we do expect all stores to remain open until at least the end of March,” Lauren Jeffords, senior director of communications at Payless, told The Sentinel in February.
Shopko is also closing all locations after failing to find a buyer, including a store at 540 Jenner Drive in Allegan County. According to employees, the store will remain open until May and sales are ongoing.
Other stores with locations in West Michigan — such as Christopher and Banks, Victoria’s Secret, Gap, Chico’s, White House Black Market and Dressbarn — have announced significant closings, but have not shared a list of affected locations.
Gap has an outlet store in The Holland Town Center, while Chico’s and White House Black Market have locations in downtown Holland.
J.C. Penney has announced that 24 stores will close in 2019 — though a list of specific locations has not been released. The nearest store is located in Rivertown Crossings Mall in Grandville, which lost anchor department store Younkers last fall.
Other stores closing in RiverTown Crossings include Gymboree and Charlotte Russe, which will close all of their remaining storefronts in 2019.
The Shops at Westshore in Holland lost its J.C. Penney location in July 2017, followed by its Younkers location in August 2018. The closings served as a major blow for the shopping center, which is currently anchored by Dunham’s Sports and Burlington Coat factory.
— Contact reporter Cassandra Bondie at cbondie@hollandsentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter @BizHolland.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1321
|
__label__cc
| 0.730028
| 0.269972
|
Carpentersville Foreclosures
125 South Lincoln Avenue CARPENTERSVILLE, IL 60110
$114,900 | Auction
Listing provided courtesy of Owners.com
2 Valentine Street CARPENTERSVILLE, IL 60110
Listing provided courtesy of Infinity Realty Services 1 Inc
3024 Wakefield Drive CARPENTERSVILLE, IL 60110
Listing provided courtesy of Keller Williams Success Realty
The data relating to real estate for sale on this website comes in part from the Broker Reciprocity program of Midwest Real Estate Data LLC. Real estate listings held by brokerage firms other than are marked with the Broker Reciprocity logo or the Broker Reciprocity thumbnail logo (a little black house) and detailed information about them includes the names of the listing brokers. © Midwest Real Estate Data LLC. All rights reserved. Information Deemed Reliable but Not Guaranteed. Listing information from this property search is provided exclusively for consumers' personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing. NOTICE: Many homes contain recording devices, and buyers should be aware they may be recorded during a showing. Based on information submitted to the MRED as of . All data is obtained from various sources and has not been, and will not be, verified by broker or MRED. MRED supplied Open House information is subject to change without notice. All information should be independently reviewed and verified for accuracy. Properties may or may not be listed by the office/agent presenting the information.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, 17 U.S.C. § 512 (the “DMCA”) provides recourse for copyright owners who believe that material appearing on the Internet infringes their rights under U.S. copyright law. If you believe in good faith that any content or material made available in connection with our website or services infringes your copyright, you (or your agent) may send us a notice requesting that the content or material be removed, or access to it blocked. Notices must be sent in writing by email to DMCAnotice@theMLSGRID.com.
The DMCA requires that your notice of alleged copyright infringement include the following information: (1) description of the copyrighted work that is the subject of claimed infringement; (2) description of the alleged infringing content and information sufficient to permit us to locate the content; (3) contact information for you, including your address, telephone number and email address; (4) a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the content in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, or its agent, or by the operation of any law; (5) a statement by you, signed under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that you have the authority to enforce the copyrights that are claimed to be infringed; and (6) a physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or a person authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf. Failure to include all of the above information may result in the delay of the processing of your complaint.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1323
|
__label__cc
| 0.553794
| 0.446206
|
SHOP BAGS & Crystals Stores IACOBELLA X MISSONI
Video | Campaign 2019 VIDEO | Campaign 2018 Video | How they are made NIRMALA'S TALE
Lookbook 2019 Lookbook 2018
SHOP BAGS & CrystalsStoresIACOBELLA X MISSONI Videos Video | Campaign 2019 VIDEO | Campaign 2018 Video | How they are made NIRMALA'S TALE Lookbook Lookbook 2019 Lookbook 2018 AboutPress
Luxury Leather Goods | Designed & Handmade in Italy
This website regulated under license by IACOBELLA SRL – having its registered office in Via Lisbona 30 – 50065 PONTASSIEVE (Florence - Italy) and governs all of the personal data transmitted through the website. Registered in the Registry of Enterprises of Florence REA FI N. 665265, VAT and FISCAL CODE N. IT06908160481, legal owner of the trademark “IACOBELLA” registered in Italy in various commodity-related classes such as, but not limited to, international merchandising classes 3, 14, 18, and 25 as part of the international classification of goods (Accordo di Nizza).
We invite our customers to carefully read our General Terms and Conditions of Use that govern the access to and navigation of our site www.iacobella.com, as well as access to the services offered and the purchase of products bearing the trademark “IACOBELLA”. By accessing and navigating on this website, as well as purchasing products on www.iacobella.com, the customer is agreeing to accept and comply with the present General Terms and Conditions of Use.
In any event, the customer may always contact our company to contact@iacobella.com.
For any further legal information, we invite our customers to consult the sections General Terms and Conditions of Sale, Return Policy, and Privacy Policy on www.iacobella.com.
The Provider may modify or simply update, in full or in part, these General Terms and Conditions of Use. The changes and updates of the General Terms and Conditions of Use will be made known to the users on the Homepage of www.iacobella.com becoming effective upon publication. We, therefore, invite the customers to regularly access this section to verify and remain updated of any modifications of the General Terms and Conditions of Use on www.iacobella.com.
The access to and use of www.iacobella.com, including viewing the web pages, communicating with the Provider, the possibility to download information about the products and make purchases on the website, consist of activities conducted by our customers exclusively for personal use unrelated to any trade, business, or profession.
Each user is considered completely and solely liable for their use of www.iacobella.com. In fact, the Provider will not be held liable of use that does not abide with the applicable law of the website and its contents by each user; protecting the Provider from fraud or grave negligence.
More specifically, each user will be held solely liable for the incorrect communication of information and data that is false or regarding third parties, without having given their expressed consent, and it will be also be taken into consideration any incorrect or illegal use.
Lastly, since every material will be downloaded or otherwise obtained through the use of a service chosen and at risk of the customer, every liability for eventual damages to the computer system or the loss of data resulting from the downloading operation fall upon the customer and cannot be attributed to the Provider. The Provider declines every liability for eventual damages resulting in inaccessibility to services on the site and eventual damages caused by viruses, corrupted files, errors, omissions, interruptions, deletions of content, network problems to the telephone provider, unauthorized accesses, data alterations, and failure or malfunction of the electronic equipment of the user. The user is responsible for the protection and the correct use of their personal information, including the credentials that grant access to confidential services, as well as any damages or detriments that may affect the Provider or other third parties as a result of incorrect use, loss of, or removal of such information.
The Privacy Policy properly informs the customer about the collection and the use of personal data through www.iacobella.com.
The contents of www.iacobella.com, such as but not limited to, images, photos, dialogues, music and sounds, documents, designs, logos and every other material, in any format, published and disseminated to thirds parties through www.iacobella.com, including menus, web pages, graphics, colors, patterns, tools, fonts, web site design, diagrams, layouts, methods, processes, functions, and software that are part of www.iacobella.com, are protected by copyright and by any other intellectual property right of the Provider and other right holders. The reproduction, in full or in part, in any form, of the website and its content is prohibited without the expressed consent of the Provider in written form. The Provider has the exclusive right to authorize or prohibit the direct or indirect reproduction, temporary or permanent, in any way or form, in full or in part, of www.iacobella.com and its contents. Therefore, the customer is only authorized to view the website and its contents, besides execute all of the other acts of temporary reproduction, deprived of economic significance, that are considered transient or incidental, integral and essential of the same viewing of www.iacobella.com and its contents and all of the other navigation operations on the website that may be executed only for the use conforming to the applicable law of www.iacobella.com and its contents.
The users of our website, on the other hand, are not authorized to perform certain reproductions, in any form, in full or in part, of www.iacobella.com and of its contents. Any act of reproduction will be, from time to time, authorized by the Provider or, when appropriate, by the creators of the individual works contained on the website. Such reproductions shall be, however, carried out for lawful purposes and in respect of copyrights and the intellectual property rights of the Provider and the creators of the work contained in the website. The creators of the individual work published on www.iacobella.com have, in any moment, the right to claim authorship of their works and to oppose any change, in any form and by any entity, of the relevant works including any act of damage of the works, of which is detrimental to their reputation and their image.
The users of our website are, therefore, obliged to respect the copyrights of the artists in which we have chosen to publish their works on www.iacobella.com or whom have collaborated in the creation of new expressive forms and artistic works to be published, also not exclusively via the website, of which form an integral part.
All other distinctive symbols that distinguish the products sold on www.iacobella.com and present on the website are registered trademarks of IACOBELLA SRL that are owned exclusively, and that are utilized within www.iacobella.com with the sole purpose of distinguishing, describing, and advertising the products for sale on www.iacobella.com. The Provider, as well as the owner of the registered trademark “IACOBELLA”, has the right to the exclusive use of its trademark. Any use of these above said trademarks that does not conform to the law, as to being unauthorized, is prohibited and entails serious legal consequences of which IACOBELLA SRL, eventually, reserves the right to take action to legally protect their pecuniary and non pecuniary rights. It is not consented, in any way, to use the above mentioned trademarks and any other distinctive characteristic present on www.iacobella.com to take advantage of the character or reputation of these brands or to cause detriment to them or their owners.
www.iacobella.com contains hyperlinks to other websites that do not have any affiliation with www.iacobella.com. The Provider does not control nor monitor such websites and their content. The provider may not be held liable for the content of these sites and the regulations adopted by them in regards to your privacy and the processing of your personal data during navigation. We, therefore, invite the customer to pay attention during the connection to these websites through the presented links on www.iacobella.com and to read carefully their terms and conditions of use and regulations on privacy. We remind you, in fact, that these General Terms and Conditions of Use and Privacy Policy of www.iacobella.com do not apply to websites regulated by parties different than the Provider.
www.iacobella.com provides hyperlinks to other websites exclusively for the purpose of facilitating its users in search and navigation and for solely convenience purposes. The providing of such links does not imply a recommendation to navigate on such third party site from the Provider nor do they give any guarantee of their content, services, or goods provided and sold to Internet users.
5. CONTENT WARNING
The Provider has made all necessary efforts to prevent the publication of content describing or representing situations of physical or psychological violence on its website; or of which, according to the sensitivity of the users of www.iacobella.com can offend the civil beliefs, human rights and personal dignity, in all its forms and expressions. In any case the Provider does not guarantee that the contents of the website are appropriate and/or lawful in other countries outside of Italy. The Provider has also taken every precaution to ensure users that the contents of www.iacobella.com are accurate and do not contain incorrect or out of date information, in respect to their publication date within the website. However, the Provider does not assume any liability about correctness and completeness of the content published on www.iacobella.com towards its users, except as otherwise required by law. The Provider can also not guarantee users that the website will operate continuously, without any interruption, errors or malfunctions due to the Internet connectivity. For any problem regarding the use of our website, contact Customer Service or the following email: contact@iacobella.com.
Although the Provider will seek to do everything possible to ensure continuous access to its website, the dynamic nature of the Internet and its contents may not allow www.iacobella.com to operate without suspensions, interruptions or discontinuity due to the necessity to run updates on the website. The Provider has adopted technical and organizational measures to safeguard the security of its services on www.iacobella.com, the integrity of data of relevant traffic, and of electronic communications, in regards to utilization methods or knowledge not consented, as well as to avoid the risk of dispersion, destruction and loss of private data and information and not, regarding its users, present on www.iacobella.com; in other words, unauthorized access, or not conforming to the law, to the data and information itself.
6. COMMERICIAL POLICY AND PURPOSES
The Provider of this website adopts a trade policy primarily aimed at selling products through its services and its website to the “consumer”, the latter meaning a person/persons acting through the use of the website www.iacobella.com for purposes unrelated to their trade, business, or profession. The Provider, therefore, reserves the right not take into consideration purchase order forms coming from parties that do not assume the role of “consumer” according to the above indicated legal definition and any other purchases that do not conform with the General Terms and Conditions of Sale and with the present General Terms and Conditions of Use.
7. APPLICABLE LAW AND CONTROVERSY SOLUTION
The present General Terms and Conditions of Use are regulated by Italian Law and, moreover, are subject to the regulations contained in the Legislative Decree no. 206 of 6 September 2005, Consumer Code. In the event of disputes arising from the interpretation, execution and/or application of the General Terms and Conditions of Use between IACOBELLA SRL and any of its end users, it will be under the exclusive jurisdiction of local Court of Florence.
Be the first to know about Iacobella’s latest arrivals, news and special projects.
contact@iacobella.com
Follow us @iaconakedandsacred
©2017 - 2019 IACOBELLA Naked & Sacred
All rights reserved • P.IVA/VAT#: 06908160481
IACOBELLA X MISSONI
Video | Campaign 2018
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1325
|
__label__cc
| 0.670806
| 0.329194
|
» STAGEHANDS RATIFY CONTRACT WITH FISERV FORUM, JOIN IATSE LOCAL 18
STAGEHANDS RATIFY CONTRACT WITH FISERV FORUM, JOIN IATSE LOCAL 18
MILWAUKEE, WI — Stagehands reached and ratified a collective bargaining agreement with Fiserv Forum.
IATSE Local 18 Business Manager Thomas Gergerich stated, “We’re happy to join Fiserv Forum’s winning team in facilitating the needs of a world-class arena and we’re excited to play a “behind the scenes” role in Milwaukee’s new era of arena entertainment.”
IATSE Vice President Craig Carlson said, “This agreement illustrates that both parties believe in the dignity of hard work, the honor it instills and the respect it commands. Our agreement rewards all workers with safe working conditions, fair wages and meaningful benefits. I commend Fiserv Forum’s Management and Local 18 for putting together an agreement which will lead to the future success of both workers and management. We look forward to a wonderful relationship.”
“We are proud to team with IATSE and Local 18 in bringing skilled union stagehands and riggers to Fiserv Forum, as we continue our mission to provide family-supporting jobs,” Bucks Senior Vice President Alex Lasry said. “We are looking forward to this positive workplace development partnership.”
Fiserv Forum is a brand new, state of the art arena that serves as the home of the Milwaukee Bucks, as well as a concert venue for some of the most popular touring performances. Fiserv Forum was selected to host the 2020 Democratic National Convention, and this agreement ensures that the DNC will be produced using union stagehands.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0011.json.gz/line1326
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.