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Shopping Behavior›
Consumers buying from ethical retail companies in the United Kingdom 2014, by age
Share of consumers agreeing with the statement "I try to buy products from companies that act in an ethical way, even if it means spending more" in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2014, by age
This statistic shows the share of UK consumers agreeing with the statement "I try to buy products from companies that act in an ethical way, even if it means spending more", by age. Looking at the results, those in the higher age brackets tended to agree slightly more than those in the younger age brackets. However the lowest response was from those aged 45-54 years old, with 32 percent saying they try to buy products from retail companies acting in an ethical way.
June 13 to 17, 2014
860 respondents
The survey asked participants to say to what extent they agreed or disagreed with the statement. The figures are the total of those who reposnded with 'strongly agree' or 'tend to agree'.
Fairtrade food and drink sales revenue in the United Kingdom 1999-2016
Attitudes towards ethical retail companies in the United Kingdom (UK) 2014
Ethical clothing sales revenue in the United Kingdom (UK) 2014-2017
Fairtrade retail sales value in the United Kingdom (UK) 2002-2013
Ethical retail in the UK
Everything On "Ethical retail in the UK" in One Document: Edited and Divided into Handy Chapters. Including Detailed References.
Statistics on "Ethical retail in the UK"
Ethical food sales
Ethical non-food sales
Fair trade sales
Consumer attitudes
Sales revenue from ethical food and drink products in the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2016 (in billion GBP)Ethical food and drink sales revenue in the United Kingdom 1999-2016
Sales revenue of Rainforest Alliance certified food and drink products in the United Kingdom from 2008 to 2016 (in million GBP)Rainforest Alliance certified food sales revenue in the United Kingdom 2008-2016
Sales revenue of Fairtrade food and drink products in the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2016 (in million GBP)Fairtrade food and drink sales revenue in the United Kingdom 1999-2016
Sales revenue of Freedom Food in the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 (in million GBP)Freedom Food sales revenue in the United Kingdom 2010-2016
Sales revenue of free-range eggs in the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2016 (in million GBP)Free-range egg sales revenue in the United Kingdom 1999-2016
Sales revenue of free-range poultry in the United Kingdom from 2005 to 2016 (in million GBP)Free-range poultry sales revenue in the United Kingdom 2005-2016
Sales revenue of sustainable fish in the United Kingdom from 2003 to 2016 (in million GBP)Sustainable fish sales revenue in the United Kingdom 2003-2016
Sales revenue of vegetarian products in the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 (in million GBP)Sales revenue of vegetarian products in the United Kingdom 2010-2016
Spending on ethical personal products in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2011 to 2016 (in million GBP)Ethical personal products: spending in the United Kingdom (UK) 2011-2016
Revenue from ethical clothing sales in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2014 to 2017 (in million GBP)Ethical clothing sales revenue in the United Kingdom (UK) 2014-2017
Sales revenue from ethical cosmetics in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2007 to 2016 (in million GBP)Ethical cosmetics sales revenue in the United Kingdom (UK) 2007-2016
Sales revenue of ethical cleaning products in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2005 to 2016 (in million GBP)Ethical cleaning products sales revenue in the United Kingdom (UK) 2005-2016
Estimated retail sales value of fairtrade commodities in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2002 to 2013* (in million GBP)Fairtrade retail sales value in the United Kingdom (UK) 2002-2013
Year-on-year growth in fairtrade retail sales value in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2002 to 2013Fairtrade year-on-year sales growth in the United Kingdom (UK) 2002-2013
Estimated retail sales value of fairtrade commodities in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2012, by category (in million GBP)Fairtrade retail sales value in the United Kingdom (UK) 2012, by commodity
Estimated retail sales value of fairtrade sugar products in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2002 to 2012* (in million GBP)Fairtrade sugar product retail sales value in the United Kingdom (UK) 2002-2012
Estimated retail sales value of fairtrade cocoa products in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2002 to 2012* (in million GBP)Fairtrade cocoa products retail sales value in the United Kingdom (UK) 2002-2012
Estimated retail sales value of fairtrade bananas in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2002 to 2012 (in million GBP)Fairtrade banana retail sales value in the United Kingdom (UK) 2002-2012
Estimated retail sales value of fairtrade coffee in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2002 to 2012 (in million GBP)Fairtrade coffee retail sales value in the United Kingdom (UK) 2002-2012
Estimated retail sales value of fairtrade tea in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2002 to 2012 (in million GBP)Fairtrade tea retail sales value in the United Kingdom (UK) 2002-2012
Share of consumers aware of different health and ethical food types in Great Britain in 2015, by typeAwareness of health and ethical food types in Great Britain 2015
Share of consumers aware of ethical products in Great Britain from 2007 to 2015Awareness of ethical products in Great Britain 2007-2015
Share of consumers aware of fair trade products in Great Britain from 2007 to 2015Awareness of fair trade products in Great Britain 2007-2015
What do you understand the term “Sustainably Produced” to mean?Understanding of sustainability among adults in Great Britain 2015
What do you understand the term “Carbon Footprint” to mean?Understanding of 'carbon footprint' among adults in Great Britain 2015
What do you understand the term “Food Miles” to mean?Understanding of the term 'food miles' among adults in Great Britain 2017
Proportion of British adults aware of the term “Food Miles” in Great Britain from 2007 to 2017Awareness of 'food miles' in Great Britain 2007-2017
Ethical consumption behaviors carried out at least once a year in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2000 and 2012*Ethical consumption: activities carried out in the United Kingdom (UK) 2000 and 2012
Share of consumers agreeing with the statement 'I only buy products from a company with whose ethics I agree' in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2008 to 2012Consumers who only buy from ethical companies in the United Kingdom (UK) 2008-2012
When, if at all, did you last make a buying decision that was influenced by the ethical standards of a retailer or a product?Influence of ethical standards on purchase behaviour in the United Kingdom (UK) 2014
To what extent do you check for country of origin, i.e. what country the food was produced in?Frequency of checking for the country of origin of food in Great Britain 2003-2017
How ethical do you think retail companies are nowadays?Public perception of how ethical retailers are in the United Kingdom (UK) 2014
To what extent are the ethical standards of retail companies and the products they sell an issue that matters to you?Importance of ethical standards and products in retail in the United Kingdom 2014
Consumer attitudes towards the ethical standards of retail companies in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2014*Attitudes towards ethical retail companies in the United Kingdom (UK) 2014
Share of consumers agreeing with the statement "I try to buy products from companies that act in an ethical way, even if it means spending more" in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2014, by ageConsumers buying from ethical retail companies in the United Kingdom 2014, by age
Share of consumers agreeing with the statement "I try to buy products from companies that act in an ethical way, even if it means spending more" in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2014, by social gradeConsumers buying from ethical retailers in the United Kingdom 2014, by social grade
Which of the following reasons, if any, make you LESS likely to buy products that are produced in an ethical way?Factors deterring consumers from buying ethical products in the United Kingdom 2014
Attitudes towards Fair Trade products in Great Britain in 2013 and 2015Attitudes towards Fair Trade products in Great Britain 2013-2015
Share of adults agreeing with the statement "I am more conscious of environmental issues in my choice of products today" in Great Britain from 2007 to 2017Environmental consideration on consumer product choices in Great Britain 2007-2017
Behaviour towards buying from ethical retailers in the United Kingdom (UK) 2014
HSBC clients who changed their habits or provider seeing unethical behavior UK 2014
Lloyds clients who changed habits or provider when facing unethical behavior UK 2014
NS&I clients who changed their financial provider due to unethical actions UK 2014
Barclays clients who changed or not their habits when unethical behavior UK 2014
Nationwide clients who changed or not their habits when unethical behavior UK 2014
RBS clients who changed their habits when facing unethical finances in UK 2014
Consumer attitude to ethical retail sourcing in the United Kingdom (UK) 2014
Consumers concerned with ethical retail sourcing in the UK 2014, by social grade
Consumers concerned with ethical retail sourcing in the United Kingdom 2014, by age
Importance of ethical standards in retail in the United Kingdom (UK) 2014, by age
Consumer attitude towards retailers' ethical claims in the United Kingdom (UK) 2014
Importance of ethical standards in retail in the United Kingdom 2014, by social grade
Food and drink boycotts: Value of affected spending in the United Kingdom 2010-2015
Agreement towards buying ethical products in Belgium 2014
Place for buying seafood products in France 2016
Purchase frequency of fishery or aquaculture products in France 2016
Most popular ways for consumers to show support for ethical brands U.S. 2018
Board games purchased for Christmas in France 2015
Trusting new products from familiar brands in European countries 2013
Digital Publishing Industry
Chewing gum market in the U.S.
Supermarkets and grocery stores in Canada
Shopping behavior trends in Germany
Millennials in the U.S.: Consumer goods and shopping behavior
U.S. online grocery retail
Millennials in the U.S.: Grocery shopping behavior
Food shopping behavior in the U.S.
Hispanics in the U.S.: Shopping behavior
Baby Boomers in the U.S.: Grocery shopping behavior
Pizza retail market in the U.S.
Generation X (Gen X) in the U.S.: Grocery shopping behavior
Food retail in Canada
Food shopping behavior in Canada
U.S. online grocery shopping consumer behavior
UK consumers: Online grocery shopping
Sales revenue from ethical food and drink products in the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2016 (in billion GBP)
Sales revenue of Rainforest Alliance certified food and drink products in the United Kingdom from 2008 to 2016 (in million GBP)
Sales revenue of Fairtrade food and drink products in the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2016 (in million GBP)
Sales revenue of Freedom Food in the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 (in million GBP)
Sales revenue of free-range eggs in the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2016 (in million GBP)
Sales revenue of free-range poultry in the United Kingdom from 2005 to 2016 (in million GBP)
Sales revenue of sustainable fish in the United Kingdom from 2003 to 2016 (in million GBP)
Sales revenue of vegetarian products in the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 (in million GBP)
Spending on ethical personal products in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2011 to 2016 (in million GBP)
Revenue from ethical clothing sales in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2014 to 2017 (in million GBP)
Sales revenue from ethical cosmetics in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2007 to 2016 (in million GBP)
Sales revenue of ethical cleaning products in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2005 to 2016 (in million GBP)
Estimated retail sales value of fairtrade commodities in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2002 to 2013* (in million GBP)
Year-on-year growth in fairtrade retail sales value in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2002 to 2013
Estimated retail sales value of fairtrade commodities in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2012, by category (in million GBP)
Estimated retail sales value of fairtrade sugar products in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2002 to 2012* (in million GBP)
Estimated retail sales value of fairtrade cocoa products in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2002 to 2012* (in million GBP)
Estimated retail sales value of fairtrade bananas in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2002 to 2012 (in million GBP)
Estimated retail sales value of fairtrade coffee in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2002 to 2012 (in million GBP)
Estimated retail sales value of fairtrade tea in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2002 to 2012 (in million GBP)
Estimated retail sales value of fairtrade cotton in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2005 to 2012 (in million GBP)
Share of consumers aware of different health and ethical food types in Great Britain in 2015, by type
Share of consumers aware of ethical products in Great Britain from 2007 to 2015
Share of consumers aware of fair trade products in Great Britain from 2007 to 2015
What do you understand the term “Sustainably Produced” to mean?
What do you understand the term “Carbon Footprint” to mean?
What do you understand the term “Food Miles” to mean?
Proportion of British adults aware of the term “Food Miles” in Great Britain from 2007 to 2017
Ethical consumption behaviors carried out at least once a year in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2000 and 2012*
Share of consumers agreeing with the statement 'I only buy products from a company with whose ethics I agree' in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2008 to 2012
When, if at all, did you last make a buying decision that was influenced by the ethical standards of a retailer or a product?
To what extent do you check for country of origin, i.e. what country the food was produced in?
How ethical do you think retail companies are nowadays?
To what extent are the ethical standards of retail companies and the products they sell an issue that matters to you?
Consumer attitudes towards the ethical standards of retail companies in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2014*
Share of consumers agreeing with the statement "I try to buy products from companies that act in an ethical way, even if it means spending more" in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2014, by social grade
Which of the following reasons, if any, make you LESS likely to buy products that are produced in an ethical way?
Attitudes towards Fair Trade products in Great Britain in 2013 and 2015
Share of adults agreeing with the statement "I am more conscious of environmental issues in my choice of products today" in Great Britain from 2007 to 2017
Share of adults agreeing with the statement "I prefer to buy from companies that are aware of the impact of environmental issues" in Great Britain from 2007 to 2017
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statement "I try to buy products from companies that try to act in an ethical way, even if it means spending more"?
HSBC customers who changed their consumption habits or their provider in response to unethical or unfair corporate behavior in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2014
Lloyds customers who changed or not their consumption habits or their provider in response to unethical or unfair corporate behavior in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2014
National Savings and Investments (NS&I) customers who changed or not their consumption habits or their provider in response to unethical or unfair corporate behavior in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2014
Barclays customers who changed or not their consumption habits or their provider in response to unethical or unfair corporate behavior in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2014
Nationwide customers who changed or not their consumption habits or their provider in response to unethical or unfair corporate behavior in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2014
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) customers who changed or not their consumption habits or their provider in response to unethical or unfair corporate behavior in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2014
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statement "it is important to me that retail companies are clear about where they source their raw materials, components or ingredients from"?
Share of consumers agreeing with the statement "it’s important to me that retail companies are clear about where they source their raw materials, components or ingredients from" in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2014, by social grade
Share of consumers agreeing with the statement "it’s important to me that retail companies are clear about where they source their raw materials, components or ingredients from" in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2014, by age
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statement "I don't think it is enough for retail companies to say that they are ethical, they need to prove it to me"?
Value of affected spending from ethical boycotts of food and drink products in the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2015 (in million GBP)
Do you agree with the statement: "I only buy products and services that appeal to my beliefs, values or ideals"?
Where do you buy seafood products?
How often do you buy fishery or aquaculture products?
Common ways U.S. consumers will change their behavior based on a company's corporate social responsibility 2018
Did you buy these board and card games for Christmas 2015?
To what extent do you agree or disagree? I am more likely to trust a new product if it's made by a brand I already know.
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Manufacturing of food products: production value in Latvia 2008-2015
Production value of the food products manufacturing sector in Latvia from 2008 to 2015 (in million euros)
by Dennis Schmid, last edited Oct 26, 2017
This statistic shows annual production value of the manufacture of food products in Latvia from 2008 to 2015. In Latvia, the production value of the food products manufacturing sector came to approximately 1.37 billion euros in 2015.
Production value in million euros
2009 1,109.2
The source adds the following information: "Production value measures the amount actually produced by the unit, based on sales, including changes in stocks and the resale of goods and services. The production value is defined as turnover, plus or minus the changes in stocks of finished products, work in progress and goods and services purchased for resale, minus the purchases of goods and services for resale, plus capitalised production, plus other operating income (excluding subsidies). Income and expenditure classified as financial or extra-ordinary in company accounts is excluded from production value."
Data coverage corresponds to Section C10 of NACE Rev2.
EU & Euro-Zone
GDP growth forecast: Eastern Europe, U.S., U.K. and Germany 2010-2024
Inflation rate in Latvia 2024
Gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in Latvia 2024
Unemployment rate in Latvia 2018
Statistics on "Economic Outlook Latvia"
Annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth projections for the U.S., U.K., Germany and Eastern Europe from 2010 to 2024*GDP growth forecast: Eastern Europe, U.S., U.K. and Germany 2010-2024
Latvia: Gross domestic product (GDP) in current prices from 2014 to 2024 (in billion U.S. dollars)Gross domestic product (GDP) in Latvia 2024
Latvia: Growth rate of the real gross domestic product (GDP) from 2014 to 2024 (compared to the previous year)Gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in Latvia 2024
Latvia: Distribution of gross domestic product (GDP) across economic sectors from 2007 to 2017Distribution of gross domestic product (GDP) across economic sectors Latvia 2017
Latvia: Unemployment rate from 2008 to 2018Unemployment rate in Latvia 2018
Latvia: Inflation rate from 2014 to 2024 (compared to the previous year)Inflation rate in Latvia 2024
Annual business confidence index for the industrial sector in the European Union from 2008 to 2022 (0 = neutral)Annual business confidence index for the industrial sector in EU 2008-2022
Annual business confidence index for the industrial sector in Latvia from 2008 to 2022 (0 = neutral)Annual business confidence index for the industrial sector Latvia 2008-2022
Industry revenue of »sawmilling and planing of wood« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of »sawmilling and planing of wood« in Latvia 2011-2023
Industry revenue of »manufacture of veneer sheets and wood-based panels« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of »manufacture of veneer sheets and wood-based panels« in Latvia 2011-2023
Industry revenue of »operation of dairies and cheese making« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of »operation of dairies and cheese making« in Latvia 2011-2023
Industry revenue of »processing and preserving of fish, crustaceans« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of »processing and preserving of fish, crustaceans« in Latvia 2011-2023
Industry revenue of »manufacture of metal structures« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of »manufacture of metal structures« in Latvia 2011-2023
Annual business confidence index for the service sector in Latvia from 2008 to 2022 (0 = neutral)Annual business confidence index for the service sector Latvia 2008-2022
Industry revenue of »rental and operating of own or leased real estate« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of »rental and operating of own or leased real estate« in Latvia 2011-2023
Industry revenue of »restaurants and mobile food service activities« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of »restaurants and mobile food service activities« in Latvia 2011-2023
Industry revenue of »advertising agencies« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of »advertising agencies« in Latvia 2011-2023
Industry revenue of »management of real estate on a fee or contract basis« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of »management of real estate on a fee or contract basis« in Latvia 2011-2023
Industry revenue of »buying and selling of own real estate« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of »buying and selling of own real estate« in Latvia 2011-2023
Annual business confidence index for the retail sector in Latvia from 2008 to 2022 (0 = neutral)Annual business confidence index for the retail sector Latvia 2008-2022
Industry revenue of »retail sale in non-specialised stores with food« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of »retail sale in non-specialised stores with food« in Latvia 2011-2023
Industry revenue of »retail sale of automotive fuel in specialised stores« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of »retail sale of automotive fuel in specialised stores« in Latvia 2011-2023
Industry revenue of »sale of cars and light motor vehicles« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of »sale of cars and light motor vehicles« in Latvia 2011-2023
Industry revenue of »retail sale of hardware, paints and glass« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of »retail sale of hardware, paints and glass« in Latvia 2011-2023
Industry revenue of »retail sale of clothing in specialised stores« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of »retail sale of clothing in specialised stores« in Latvia 2011-2023
Manufacturing of food products: production value in Bosnia-Herzegovina 2011-2015
Manufacturing of food products: production value in Slovenia 2008-2015
Manufacturing of food products: production value in Lithuania 2008-2015
Manufacturing of food products: production value in Estonia 2008-2015
Manufacturing of food products: production value in Turkey 2009-2014
Manufacturing of food products: production value in Slovakia 2008-2015
Manufacturing of food products: production value in Germany 2008-2015
Manufacturing of food products: production value in Italy 2008-2015
Manufacturing of food products: production value in Ireland 2008-2015
Manufacturing of food products: production value in Denmark 2008-2015
Manufacturing of food products: production value in Romania 2008-2015
Manufacturing of food products: production value in Croatia 2008-2015
Manufacturing of food products: production value in North Macedonia 2012-2015
Manufacturing of food products: production value in Sweden 2008-2015
Manufacturing of food products: production value in Hungary 2008-2015
Norway: enterprises manufacturing military fighting vehicles 2008-2014
Food market in Belgium
Food market in the Netherlands
Food and beverage manufacturing industry in the Netherlands
Food market in Luxembourg
Canada's Latest Food Manufacturing and Food Services Industry Outlook
Monitor Levensmiddelenindustrie 2018
HKScan Annual Report 2017
Beef market in the U.S.
Cheese market in Canada
Dried fruit market
Confectionery in the UK
Food waste in the U.S.
Chocolate market in Canada
Annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth projections for the U.S., U.K., Germany and Eastern Europe from 2010 to 2024*
Latvia: Gross domestic product (GDP) in current prices from 2014 to 2024 (in billion U.S. dollars)
Latvia: Growth rate of the real gross domestic product (GDP) from 2014 to 2024 (compared to the previous year)
Latvia: Distribution of gross domestic product (GDP) across economic sectors from 2007 to 2017
Latvia: Unemployment rate from 2008 to 2018
Latvia: Inflation rate from 2014 to 2024 (compared to the previous year)
Annual business confidence index for the industrial sector in the European Union from 2008 to 2022 (0 = neutral)
Annual business confidence index for the industrial sector in Latvia from 2008 to 2022 (0 = neutral)
Industry revenue of »sawmilling and planing of wood« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)
Industry revenue of »manufacture of veneer sheets and wood-based panels« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)
Industry revenue of »operation of dairies and cheese making« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)
Industry revenue of »processing and preserving of fish, crustaceans« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)
Industry revenue of »manufacture of metal structures« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)
Annual business confidence index for the service sector in Latvia from 2008 to 2022 (0 = neutral)
Industry revenue of »rental and operating of own or leased real estate« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)
Industry revenue of »restaurants and mobile food service activities« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)
Industry revenue of »advertising agencies« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)
Industry revenue of »management of real estate on a fee or contract basis« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)
Industry revenue of »buying and selling of own real estate« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)
Annual business confidence index for the retail sector in Latvia from 2008 to 2022 (0 = neutral)
Industry revenue of »retail sale in non-specialised stores with food« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)
Industry revenue of »retail sale of automotive fuel in specialised stores« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)
Industry revenue of »sale of cars and light motor vehicles« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)
Industry revenue of »retail sale of hardware, paints and glass« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)
Industry revenue of »retail sale of clothing in specialised stores« in Latvia from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)
Production value of the food products manufacturing industry in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2011 to 2015 (in million euros)
Production value of the food products manufacturing sector in Slovenia from 2008 to 2015 (in million euros)
Production value of the food products manufacturing sector in Lithuania from 2008 to 2015 (in million euros)
Production value of the food products manufacturing sector in Estonia from 2008 to 2015 (in million euros)
Production value of the food products manufacturing sector in Turkey from 2009 to 2014 (in million euros)
Production value of the food products manufacturing sector in Slovakia from 2008 to 2015 (in million euros)
Production value of the food products manufacturing sector in Germany from 2008 to 2015 (in million euros)
Production value of the food products manufacturing sector in Italy from 2008 to 2015 (in million euros)
Production value of the food products manufacturing sector in Ireland from 2008 to 2015 (in million euros)
Production value of the food products manufacturing sector in Denmark from 2008 to 2015 (in million euros)
Production value of the food products manufacturing sector in Romania from 2008 to 2015 (in million euros)
Production value of the food products manufacturing sector in Croatia from 2008 to 2015 (in million euros)
Production value of the food products manufacturing sector in North Macedonia from 2011 to 2015 (in million euros)
Production value of the food products manufacturing sector in Sweden from 2008 to 2015 (in million euros)
Production value of the food products manufacturing sector in Hungary from 2008 to 2015 (in million euros)
Number of enterprises in the manufacture of military fighting vehicles industry in Norway from 2008 to 2014
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Agriculture›
Farming›
Harvested area of citrus fruits in Italy 2008-2016
Total cultivated area for the harvest of citrus fruits in Italy from 2008 to 2016 (in 1,000 hectares)
by Dennis Schmid, last edited May 28, 2018
This statistic shows the total cultivated area for the harvest of citrus fruits in Italy from 2008 to 2016. In 2010, approximately 188.48 thousand hectares were used for the harvest of citrus fruits in Italy.
Area in thousand hectares
The source adds the following information: "Crop statistics use the following definitions: For cereals, dry pulses, root crops, industrial crops and plants harvested green the areas refer to the area under cultivation. Area under cultivation means the area that corresponds to the total sown area, but after the harvest it excludes ruined areas (e.g. due to natural disasters). If the same land parcel is used twice in the same year, the area of this parcel can be counted twice.
For vegetables the area refers to the harvested area. For many vegetables the cropping time is short so the same area can be used several times per year. For this reason the harvested are can be much bigger than the physical area (main area).
For permanent crops the area refers to the production area. All non-productive areas are excluded (e.g. young non-productive plantations, abandoned areas, etc.).
The concept of "main area" used in main land use data corresponds, in general, to the area of the land parcel. The crop/occupation linked to that area is the unique or main crop having occupied the parcel during the crop year. In the case of annual crops, the main area should correspond to the sown area.
For permanent crops it refers to the to the total planted area (including non-productive plants). In the case of successive crops (mostly vegetables) it refers to the main crop that occupied the parcel during that year. These special cases are described in detail in the Handbook (Annual Crop Statistics Handbook in Annex 1)."
Organic food sales in the U.S. from 2005-2017
Organic food market: leading countries 2017, based on sales
Leading 10 global organic food producing countries 2017, by number of producers
Organic farming in the U.S: number of certified farms 2016, by state
Statistics on "Organic farming in the U.S."
Organic farming area worldwide from 2000 to 2017 (in million hectares)Area of organic farming worldwide 2000-2017
Share of organic agricultural land worldwide in 2017, by regionOrganic agricultural land share in 2017, by region
Organic agricultural land area worldwide in 2017, by leading country (in million hectares)Organic agricultural land: leading countries worldwide 2017
Share of organic agricultural land area worldwide in 2017, by country Organic agricultural land area share worldwide in 2017, by country
Growth of organic farmland worldwide in 2017, by country ( in 1,000 hectares)Increase in organic farmland worldwide 2017, by country
Leading 10 organic food producing countries worldwide in 2017, by number of producersLeading 10 global organic food producing countries 2017, by number of producers
Organic food revenue worldwide in 2017, by country (in million euros) Organic food market: leading countries 2017, based on sales
Organic agricultural land area as a share of the total agricultural area in North America from 2013 to 2017Organic land area share as a share of total farming land in North America 2013-2017
Area of organic agricultural land in North America from 2000 to 2017 (in million hectares)North America: organic agricultural land area 2000-2017
Growth of organic farmland in North America from 2007 to 2017Organic farmlad growth in North America 2007-2017
Certified organic land in the United States from 2014 to 2016 (in 1,000 acres)*U.S. certified organic farming land 2014-2016
Operated certified organic land in the United States in 2016, by ownership (in 1,000 acres)Organic farming in the U.S.: operated certified land 2016, by ownership
Certified organic land in the United States in 2016, by type (in 1,000 acres)*Certified organic farming land in the U.S. 2016, by type
Number of certified organic farms in the United States from 2014 to 2016Organic farming in the U.S.: number of certified farms 2014-2016
Number of operated certified organic farms in the United States in 2016, by ownership Organic farming in the U.S.: number of operated certified farms 2016, by ownership
Number of certified organic farms in the United States in 2016, by stateOrganic farming in the U.S: number of certified farms 2016, by state
Number of operated certified organic farms in the United States in 2016, by typeOrganic farming in the U.S.: number of operated certified farms 2016, by type
Number of operated certified organic farms in the United States in 2016, by categoryOrganic farming in the U.S.: number of operated certified farms 2016, by category
Average organic certification costs per farm in the United States in 2008 and 2015 (in U.S. dollars)Organic farming in the U.S.: average certification costs per farm 2008/2015
Area of certified organic vegetables, potatoes, and melons grown in the Open Harvested in the United States in 2016, by category (in 1,000 acres)*U.S. area harvested of certified organic commodities 2016, by category
Area of certified organic vegetables, potatoes, and melons grown under Protection Harvested in the U.S. in 2015, by category (in 1,000 square feet)*U.S. Protection Harvested: area of certified organic commodities 2015, by category
Area of certified organic field crops harvested in the United States from 2014 to 2016 (in million acres)U.S. harvested area of organic field crops 2014-2016
Area of certified organic fruits, tree nuts, and berries in the United States from 2014 and 2016 (in 1,000 acres)*U.S. harvested area of organic fruits, nuts and berries 2014-2016
Organic food sales in the United States from 2005 to 2017 (in billion U.S. dollars)Organic food sales in the U.S. from 2005-2017
Growth of organic food and non-food sales in the United States from 2008 to 2018Growth of organic food and non-food sales in the U.S. 2008-2018
Sales value of certified organic products sold by farms in the United States from 2014 to 2016 (in billion U.S. dollars)Certified organic commodities sold by U.S. farms 2014-2016
Sales value of the leading certified organic products sold by farms in the United States from 2014 to 2016, by category (in billion U.S. dollars)Major certified organic commodities sold by U.S. farms 2014-2016, by category
Harvested area of oranges in Italy 2008-2016
Harvested area of small citrus fruits in Italy 2010-2016
Harvested area of asparagus in Italy 2008-2016
Harvested area of grapes for wines in Italy 2008-2016
Harvested area of apricots in Italy 2008-2016
Harvested area of cucumbers in Italy 2008-2016
Harvested area of almonds in Spain 2010-2016
Harvested area of grapes in Italy 2008-2016
Harvested area of pears in Italy 2008-2016
Harvested area of spinach in Italy 2008-2016
Area of cereals under cultivation in Italy 2008-2016
Harvested area of other fresh pulses in Italy 2008-2016
Harvested area of strawberries in Italy 2008-2016
Harvested area of almonds in Italy 2008-2016
Harvested area of radishes in Italy 2008-2016
Harvested area of rape, sunflower seeds & soya in Italy 2008-2016
Area of cultivation for pulses in India FY 2014-FY 2017
Area of root crops under cultivation in Italy 2008-2016
Area of cultivation for jute and mesta in India 2008-2017
Area of cultivation for sugarcane in India FY 2014-FY 2017
Agriculture industry in Europe
Potato industry
Cotton in the United States
World of wheat
Corn in the U.S.
Avocado industry
Organic food market in Canada
Organic food market in Latin America
Genetically modified (GM) crops in Canada
Avocado market in Latin America
Avocado market in Mexico
Organic food and beverage industry in Mexico
Fruits and Tree Nuts Outlook-2019
Organic farming area worldwide from 2000 to 2017 (in million hectares)
Share of organic agricultural land worldwide in 2017, by region
Organic agricultural land area worldwide in 2017, by leading country (in million hectares)
Share of organic agricultural land area worldwide in 2017, by country
Growth of organic farmland worldwide in 2017, by country ( in 1,000 hectares)
Leading 10 organic food producing countries worldwide in 2017, by number of producers
Organic food revenue worldwide in 2017, by country (in million euros)
Organic agricultural land area as a share of the total agricultural area in North America from 2013 to 2017
Area of organic agricultural land in North America from 2000 to 2017 (in million hectares)
Growth of organic farmland in North America from 2007 to 2017
Certified organic land in the United States from 2014 to 2016 (in 1,000 acres)*
Operated certified organic land in the United States in 2016, by ownership (in 1,000 acres)
Certified organic land in the United States in 2016, by type (in 1,000 acres)*
Number of certified organic farms in the United States from 2014 to 2016
Number of operated certified organic farms in the United States in 2016, by ownership
Number of certified organic farms in the United States in 2016, by state
Number of operated certified organic farms in the United States in 2016, by type
Number of operated certified organic farms in the United States in 2016, by category
Average organic certification costs per farm in the United States in 2008 and 2015 (in U.S. dollars)
Area of certified organic vegetables, potatoes, and melons grown in the Open Harvested in the United States in 2016, by category (in 1,000 acres)*
Area of certified organic vegetables, potatoes, and melons grown under Protection Harvested in the U.S. in 2015, by category (in 1,000 square feet)*
Area of certified organic field crops harvested in the United States from 2014 to 2016 (in million acres)
Area of certified organic fruits, tree nuts, and berries in the United States from 2014 and 2016 (in 1,000 acres)*
Organic food sales in the United States from 2005 to 2017 (in billion U.S. dollars)
Growth of organic food and non-food sales in the United States from 2008 to 2018
Sales value of certified organic products sold by farms in the United States from 2014 to 2016 (in billion U.S. dollars)
Sales value of the leading certified organic products sold by farms in the United States from 2014 to 2016, by category (in billion U.S. dollars)
Total cultivated area for the harvest of oranges in Italy from 2008 to 2016 (in 1,000 hectares)
Total cultivated area for the harvest of small citrus fruits in Italy from 2010 to 2016 (in 1,000 hectares)
Total cultivated area for the harvest of asparagus in Italy from 2008 to 2016 (in 1,000 hectares)
Total cultivated area for the harvest of grapes for wines in Italy from 2008 to 2016 (in 1,000 hectares)
Total cultivated area for the harvest of apricots in Italy from 2008 to 2016 (in 1,000 hectares)
Total cultivated area for the harvest of cucumbers in Italy from 2008 to 2016 (in 1,000 hectares)
Total cultivated area for the harvest of almonds in Spain from 2010 to 2016 (in 1,000 hectares)
Total cultivated area for the harvest of grapes in Italy from 2008 to 2016 (in 1,000 hectares)
Total cultivated area for the harvest of pears in Italy from 2008 to 2016 (in 1,000 hectares)
Total cultivated area for the harvest of spinach in Italy from 2008 to 2016 (in 1,000 hectares)
Total cultivated area for the production of cereals (used for the production of grain, including seed) in Italy from 2008 to 2016 (in 1,000 hectares)
Total cultivated area for the harvest of other fresh pulses in Italy from 2008 to 2016 (in 1,000 hectares)
Total cultivated area for the harvest of strawberries in Italy from 2008 to 2016 (in 1,000 hectares)
Total cultivated area for the harvest of almonds in Italy from 2008 to 2016 (in 1,000 hectares)
Total cultivated area for the harvest of radishes in Italy from 2008 to 2016 (in 1,000 hectares)
Total cultivated area for the harvest of rape, turnip rape, sunflower seeds and soya in Italy from 2008 to 2016 (in 1,000 hectares)
Total area of cultivation for pulses across India from FY 2014 to FY 2017 (in million hectares)
Total cultivated area for the production of root crops in Italy from 2008 to 2016 (in 1,000 hectares)
Area of cultivation for jute and mesta across India from FY 2009 to FY 2017 (in 1,000 metric tons)
Total area of cultivation for sugarcane across India from FY 2014 to FY 2017 (in million hectares)
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Metals & Electronics›
Vehicle Manufacturing›
Meritor: SG&A expenses 2016-2018
Meritor, Inc.'s selling, general and administrative expenses from FY 2016 to FY 2018 (in million U.S. dollars)
by I. Wagner, last edited Nov 28, 2018
This statistic represents Meritor, Inc.'s selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses between the 2016 and 2018 fiscal years. In FY 2018, Meritor incurred approximately 317 million U.S. dollars in SG&A expenses.
Expenses in million U.S. dollars
The 2016 figure was taken from a previous edition.
Market share of Class 8 truck manufacturers in the U.S. 2018
Vehicle Manufacturing
Class 8 truck manufacturers - sales 2007-2018
Total number of registered buses in the United states by state 2017
Light truck sales in the United States 1980-2018
Statistics on "Trucks and commercial vehicles"
U.S. industry figures
Heavy truck production worldwide from 2011 to 2018, by region (in 1,000 units)Heavy trucks - worldwide production by region 2011-2018
Heavy truck production in China from 2010 to 2017 (in million units)Heavy truck production in China 2017
Heavy truck production in the U.S. between 2011 and 2018 (in 1,000 units)U.S. heavy truck production 2011-2018
Production volume of heavy trucks in Japan between 2011 and 2018 (in 1,000 units)Heavy trucks production in Japan 2011-2018
Estimated heavy truck production in India in 2011 and 2018 (in 1,000 units)Heavy trucks - production in India 2011-2018
Light commercial vehicle production of the United States and worldwide from 1999 to 2018 (in million units)Commercial vehicle production of the United States and worldwide 1999-2018
Number of commercial vehicles produced in selected countries in Asia in 2017, by countryCommercial vehicle production in selected countries in Asia 2017
Number of light commercial vehicles produced in selected countries in North and South America in 2018Light commercial vehicle production in North and South America 2018
Global heavy duty truck* registrations in 2017, by key manufacturer (in 1,000s)Global heavy truck registrations by manufacturer 2017
Truck sales in China from 2005 to 2020China - Truck sales 2005-2020
Number of registrations of commercial vehicles in selected European countries in 2018 (in units)Registration of commercial vehicles in Europe by country 2018
U.S. light truck retail sales from 1980 to 2018 (in 1,000 units)Light truck sales in the United States 1980-2018
Class 3-8 truck sales in the United States from 2001 to 2017 (in 1,000s)Class 3-8 truck sales in the United States 2001-2017
Expected U.S. sales of heavy commercial vehicles and medium commercial vehicles from 2014 to 2024 (in 1,000 units)Truck sales in the U.S. - forecast 2014-2024
Value added of the U.S. truck transportation industry from 2000 to 2018 (in billion U.S. dollars)Truck transportation: U.S. value added 2000-2018
U.S. heavy duty truck manufacturing gross output from 2000 to 2017 (in billion U.S. dollars)*United States heavy duty truck manufacturing: gross output 2000-2017
Industry revenue of “specialized freight (except used goods) trucking, local“ in the U.S. from 2011 to 2023 (in billion U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of “specialized freight (except used goods) trucking, local“ in the U.S. 2011-2023
Industry revenue of “general freight trucking, less than truck-load“ in the U.S. from 2011 to 2023 (in billion U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of “general freight trucking, less than truck-load“ in the U.S. 2011-2023
Revenue of general local freight trucking (NAICS 48411) in United States from 2008 to 2020 (in million U.S. dollars)Forecast: revenue general local freight trucking US 2008-2020
Industry revenue of “general freight trucking, long distance, truck-load“ in the U.S. from 2011 to 2023 (in billion U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of “general freight trucking, long distance, truck-load“ in the U.S. 2011-2023
Industry revenue of “specialized freight trucking, long distance“ in the U.S. from 2011 to 2023 (in billion U.S. Dollars)Industry revenue of “specialized freight trucking, long distance“ in the U.S. 2011-2023
Class 8 truck manufacturers' market share in the U.S. as of December 2018Market share of Class 8 truck manufacturers in the U.S. 2018
Meritor: sales 2013-2018
Meritor: sales by segment 2018
Meritor: operating income 2013-2018
Meritor: net income 2013-2018
Meritor: total assets 2015-2018
Meritor: R&D costs 2015-2018
Meritor: commercial truck and trailer sales by region 2018
Import value of commercial vehicles to China 2002-2012
Age of vehicles on roads in Canada 1990-2016
Argentina: motor vehicles & auto parts export value 2011-2017
Argentina: motor vehicle export value 2011-2017
Age of U.S. light vehicles 1996-2016
Argentina: motor vehicle exports 2017, by country
Automotive Industry in China: Sales
Automotive Industry in China: Manufacturing
Meritor, Inc.'s 2018 Annual Report on Form 10-K
Heavy truck production worldwide from 2011 to 2018, by region (in 1,000 units)
Heavy truck production in China from 2010 to 2017 (in million units)
Heavy truck production in the U.S. between 2011 and 2018 (in 1,000 units)
Production volume of heavy trucks in Japan between 2011 and 2018 (in 1,000 units)
Estimated heavy truck production in India in 2011 and 2018 (in 1,000 units)
Light commercial vehicle production of the United States and worldwide from 1999 to 2018 (in million units)
Number of commercial vehicles produced in selected countries in Asia in 2017, by country
Number of light commercial vehicles produced in selected countries in North and South America in 2018
Global heavy duty truck* registrations in 2017, by key manufacturer (in 1,000s)
Truck sales in China from 2005 to 2020
Number of registrations of commercial vehicles in selected European countries in 2018 (in units)
U.S. light truck retail sales from 1980 to 2018 (in 1,000 units)
Class 3-8 truck sales in the United States from 2001 to 2017 (in 1,000s)
Expected U.S. sales of heavy commercial vehicles and medium commercial vehicles from 2014 to 2024 (in 1,000 units)
Value added of the U.S. truck transportation industry from 2000 to 2018 (in billion U.S. dollars)
U.S. heavy duty truck manufacturing gross output from 2000 to 2017 (in billion U.S. dollars)*
Industry revenue of “specialized freight (except used goods) trucking, local“ in the U.S. from 2011 to 2023 (in billion U.S. Dollars)
Industry revenue of “general freight trucking, less than truck-load“ in the U.S. from 2011 to 2023 (in billion U.S. Dollars)
Revenue of general local freight trucking (NAICS 48411) in United States from 2008 to 2020 (in million U.S. dollars)
Industry revenue of “general freight trucking, long distance, truck-load“ in the U.S. from 2011 to 2023 (in billion U.S. Dollars)
Industry revenue of “specialized freight trucking, long distance“ in the U.S. from 2011 to 2023 (in billion U.S. Dollars)
Class 8 truck manufacturers' market share in the U.S. as of December 2018
U.S. Class 8 truck sales from 2007 to 2018, by brand (in 1,000s)
Total number of bus registrations in the United States by state in 2017
Meritor, Inc.'s sales from FY 2013 to FY 2018 (in million U.S. dollars)
Meritor, Inc.'s sales in FY 2018, by segment (in million U.S. dollars)
Meritor, Inc.'s operating income from FY 2013 to FY 2018 (in million U.S. dollars)
Meritor, Inc.'s net income from FY 2013 to FY 2018 (in million U.S. dollars)
Meritor, Inc.'s total assets from FY 2015 to FY 2018 (in million U.S. dollars)
Meritor, Inc.'s company-sponsored research and development costs from FY 2015 to FY 2018 (in million U.S. dollars)
Meritor, Inc.'s commercial truck and trailer sales in FY 2018, by region (in million U.S. dollars)
Import value of commercial vehicles to China from 2002 to 2012, by type (in million U.S. dollars)
Average age of vehicles on roads in Canada from 1990 to 2016
Annual value of automotive exports from Argentina from 2011 to 2017 (in billion U.S. dollars)
Annual value of motor vehicles exported from Argentina from 2011 to 2017 (in billion U.S. dollars)
Average age of light vehicles in operation in the U.S. from 1996 to 2016
Distribution of motor vehicle exports from Argentina in 2017, by country and region of destination
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Boulder County nursing homes staff at average…
Boulder County nursing homes staff at average or above, but some still below what research recommends
Cliff Grassmick / Staff Photographer
Physical therapist Matt Nape works with Shirley Robba during an Aug. 21 physical therapy session at Flatirons Health and Rehab Center in Louisville.
Kenneth Brown, 97, relaxes is his room at Flatirons Health and Rehab Center in Louisville on Aug. 21.
Finding a facility for either long-term care for an aging loved one or short-term rehabilitation following a surgery or an injury can be a daunting task. While a number of factors come into play when choosing where to go for care, experts say staffing is chief among them.
Research shows staffing is one of the most important factors in quality care at nursing homes, but some experts say state and federal staffing requirements don’t meet the minimum standards that a 2001 study, along with subsequent research, determined necessary for basic quality care.
In Boulder County, most long-term care facilities surpass state staffing requirements, as well as state and federal averages for the number of direct nursing staff care hours per patient each day, known as patient per day, or PPD.
Still, most don’t meet the minimum staffing recommendation from a 2001 study conducted by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and later presented to Congress. New payroll data from Medicare also reveals inconsistent staffing levels at facilities across the country and, to a lesser degree, at some facilities in Boulder County.
New data, new ratings
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services provides ratings of nursing homes for consumers. Found at the website Nursing Home Compare, the ratings are based on staffing levels, health inspections and quality measures.
In the past, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services relied on staffing reports provided by nursing homes to determine that part of the rating. In November 2017, CMS began collecting and publishing payroll data for long-term care facilities, which was a requirement of the Affordable Care Act of 2010.
The change showed that the self-reported information wasn’t always accurate.
Kaiser Health News analyzed the new payroll data and found that some nursing homes had lower staffing levels than they reported in the past, as well as inconsistent staffing levels.
Starting in April, Medicare has been using the new payroll data on the Nursing Home Compare site. The ratings for more than 1,000 facilities changed as a result, Kaiser Health News found.
The rating system compares facilities to other facilities in the same state, meaning that the lowest performing 20 percent of facilities in each state receive a one-star inspection rating out of a possible five stars.
Five nursing homes in Boulder County — Frasier Meadows Health Care Center (Boulder), Life Care Center of Longmont, Manorcare Health Services (Boulder), The Peaks Care Center (Longmont) and Powerback Rehabilitation (Lafayette) — received overall ratings of five stars; Mesa Vista of Boulder received three stars; Boulder Manor received two stars; and Applewood Living Center (Longmont) received one star.
Accel at Longmont and Flatirons Health and Rehab (Louisville) are listed as “too new to rate.”
Boulder County average or above
The newly released payroll data provides a more in-depth look at nursing home staffing, as well as a more nuanced way to compare facilities based on staffing levels.
Kaiser Health News compiled the data from the first three months of 2018 to show the ratio of residents to nursing staff, as well as the ratio of residents to nurse aides, on each facility’s “best” and “worst” staffed days.
It included registered nurses and licensed practical nurses in the data, but excluded the director of nursing and other principally administrative nursing jobs.
Medicare also is now releasing ratings for staffing that take into account each facility’s level of resident need.
Overall, the data shows there is often a big gap between a facility’s best and worst days. But, for Boulder County, the analysis is more optimistic.
Most local nursing homes received average or above average ratings from Medicare using the new data set, for both total staffing and registered nurse staffing. The ratings range from “much below average” to “much above average.”
No facilities in Boulder County received a below average rating for total staffing. One, Powerback Rehabilitation in Lafayette, received a much above average rating for total staffing.
A number of facilities, though, had many more residents per staff on their worst days in the first three months of the year. For example, Applewood Living Center in Longmont had 22 residents for each nursing staff member on its best days, but 49 residents on its worst days. In contrast, it had only nine residents per aide on its best days and a relatively small increase to 14 residents on its worst days.
The facility disputes the data, saying that the calculation excludes administrative nurses who, at Applewood, do assist in patient care as needed.
Annaliese Impink, spokesperson for the facility, said in an email that the state has recognized the shortage of nursing staff in long-term care, “yet we continue to be diligent and to exhaust all efforts to recruit and retain staff.”
“Applewood’s management continues their effort every day to recruit qualified, competent and caring staff to care for the residents we have (the privilege) to serve,” she said.
Typically, nursing homes base their staffing decisions on their per patient daily needs, according to Stacey Love, administrator of Flatirons Health and Rehab in Louisville.
But Flatirons, partly due to the way the facility was built, staffs differently. To start with, a certified nursing assistant is assigned to each of its four “houses,” and another floats between each house.
Staffing is then assigned based on the facility’s maximum capacity, Love said, which is 45 residents. The facility can move residents between houses if one gets too full. According to the Medicare data, there are 12 residents per nursing staff on the facility’s worst days, and six residents on its best days.
Love, who has worked at both a locally owned company and a larger, nationwide provider in the past, said she thinks this approach to staffing is better.
“I’m never, ever concerned that the patients aren’t getting what they need,” she said. “It helps me sleep at night.”
In Boulder County, the median number of residents per nursing staff on facilities’ worst days is 23.5, and the median number for their best days is 17.5
“Not getting done”
Some experts say that many nursing homes are falling short of providing adequate care to patients because of low staffing levels.
A 2001 report presented to Congress found that facilities needed a minimum of 4.1 hours of nursing care per patient per day to meet federal quality standards. Within that 4.1 hours, the study found facilities should have a minimum of 0.75 hours of care from registered nurses and 2.8 hours of care from certified nursing assistants.
When per patient day hours dipped below 4.1, the study found “the care was not getting done,” according to Charlene Harrington, a registered nurse and a professor in the department of social behavioral sciences at the University of California San Francisco.
More recent studies show that while facilities are working to reach ideal hours per patient day, the need for intensive care might be increasing and placing greater demands on staff. Between 2002 and 2013, the number of resident days that Medicare classified as requiring intensive care increased from 29 to 79 days, according to a Medicare Payment Advisory Commission report.
The average hours per patient day in Boulder County is 3.8 hours, according to first quarter 2018 data collected by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, ranging from 2.9 hours at Mesa Vista to 5.3 hours at Flatirons Health and Rehab. The national average is 3.4 hours, while the average in Colorado is 3.6 hours.
A minimum standard?
UC San Francisco professor Harrington believes states should set minimum staffing standards for long-term care facilities.
“Staffing is the key to good care,” she said.
Currently, federal law requires nursing homes to have “sufficient staff” to meet the needs of residents, as well as one registered nurse on duty every day for eight hours and a licensed practical nurse for evening and night shifts. While 41 states have enacted tougher standards, Harrington said many still fall short of the recommended, but not required, 4.1 hours of nursing staff care per patient each day.
Colorado requires a director of nursing to work 40 hours per week, which is included in the requirement to have one registered nurse on-duty at all times, and one licensed nurse for each care unit at all times.
Facilities with up to 60 residents are required to maintain two hours per patient day, which includes hours submitted by the director of nursing or supervisory staff.
Larger facilities must maintain two hours per patient day, but cannot include the director of nursing or supervisory staff in that calculation.
Lori Smetanka, executive director for the long-term care advocacy group Consumer Voice, believes there should be a federal standard, with a minimum of 4.1 hours per patient day.
“Having adequate staff that are not only adequate in numbers, but also adequate in training, really is the core in providing quality care to individuals,” Smetanka said. “It affects everything else in a facility.”
Others say staffing hours should depend more on the residents in a specific facility, rather than the 2001 study and recommended patient per day levels.
Mesa Vista of Boulder, which has a total staffing rating of average and relatively minor differences between its worst and best staffed days, serves many people with behavioral health issues, according to Mario Nicolais, general counsel for Vivage Senior Living, which owns Mesa Vista.
Nicolais disputed the patient per day numbers taken from CMS data for the first quarter of 2018, which say Mesa Vista’s average is 2.9 hours. He said the facility averages 3.28 hours per patient day, but did not provide an explanation for how that number was calculated.
About 30 percent of the residents at Mesa Vista have only behavioral health needs, while 65 percent are there for long-term care, according to Nicolais. The remaining 5 percent of patients at the facility, which has more than 150 licensed beds, are there for acute care and rehabilitation after surgeries.
For this reason, Mesa Vista has a ratio of 26 residents to 1 social worker, when the state mandate is 100:1, Nicolais said.
“The sharp end of care”
While staffing is the key standard by which advocates and experts believe quality of care should be judged, more and more facilities are struggling to recruit and retain staff. Nurses in particular are in high demand and nursing homes often find themselves competing with higher paying hospitals for staff.
Colorado could have a cumulative shortage of 4,500 nurses by 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Nationally, the shortage is expected to hit 260,000 by 2025, according to a 2009 Health Affairs report.
“Nursing’s what we call at the sharp end of care, so whatever the work environment is, there’s a lot on the nurse in terms of coordinating care,” said Colleen Casper, executive director of the Colorado Nurses Association.
At long-term care facilities, nursing staff is often paid lower wages than they would be at a hospital; sometimes as much as 15 percent less, according to Harrington.
Love, at Flatirons, also said that staffing is “extremely difficult,” especially at the local level, but they have been able to get fully staffed since she joined the facility seven months ago.
Casper said that work is being done to prevent “caregiver burnout,” but it’s only just begun.
The National Academy of Medicine started the Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-Being and Resilience in 2017, a network of more than 60 organizations working to slow the rate of burnout in clinical professions. The group is studying the issue, as well as raising awareness around it and providing solutions for it.
According to statistics from the academy, 24 percent of intensive care unit nurses had symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and the prevalence of “emotional exhaustion” among primary care nurses was 23 to 31 percent.
The collaborative group is meeting through 2019 to identify ways to improve clinician well-being both nationally and locally.
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Sunny early with isolated thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High 94F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%..
Cairo council may put Sunday alcohol sales on November ballot
By Erik Yabor erik.yabor@gaflnews.com
CAIRO — Several Cairo City Council members appear open to allowing voters to decide if local restaurants should be able to sell alcoholic beverages on Sundays.
Council member Jerry Cox said at Monday's city council meeting that he has been approached by multiple restaurant owners asking what needed to be done to lift a ban on Sunday sales of alcohol.
With an upcoming city election approaching in November, Cox wanted to know if there was still time to include the question on the ballot.
City clerk Carolyn Lee said there's still time for the item to be included, though she was unsure of the exact deadlines which need to be met.
November provides an ideal time for presenting the issue to voters because the city is already slated to hold an election.
"If you don't put it on the November ballot, then you're going to wait two more years because it's too expensive to have a special election," said Council member Jimmy Douglas.
Douglas asked Lee to research the deadlines needed to be reached in order to place the question on the November ballot and to provide the information to the council members.
There are multiples ways in which the question could appear on the ballot, with the simplest being a resolution introduced by the mayor and council agreeing that the item should be included.
"And before you do that I think you'd want to know if there's enough interest so that you're not just out there in the cold," city attorney Thomas Lehman told the council members.
If the council were to decide not to follow that path, Lehman said another method of including the question would involve citizens filing a petition with the city.
Several restaurant owners have = submitted a request to the city asking that the question be included on the ballot.
Lee did not believe it was likely that such measures would need to be taken, saying she anticipates the council will introduce a resolution.
"It sounds that way to me, but I can't say what they'll do," she said.
Carolyn Lee
Jerry Cox
Thomas Lehman
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Times temporarily reduces editorial page publication
The daily Times editorial page will be temporarily reduced to two days a week.
Due to staff restructuring, the editorial page will be published Sundays and Wednesdays. It has been expanded to one full page and an additional half page to accommodate extra commentaries, editorial cartoons and letters to the editor. In addition, a partial editorial page and cartoon may be published on the remaining weekdays.
This is a temporary issue, with plans to resume its daily editorial offerings to its readers.
We thank you for your patience during this transition.
— Lisa Micco, executive editor
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Dirk Hayhurst: It's better than losing, but winning doesn't tell you who you are
Dirk Hayhurst
Minor league pitcher observes some life lessons in a high school weight room
In the winter, I spend a lot of time in high school weight rooms. I sneak in while conditioning for spring sports is in progress. It’s a free workout. No one seems to mind me as long as I don’t get in the way.
Coaches blow whistles, click stopwatches and shout instructions to a pack of young men as they hustle from station to station. It’s refreshing to see young athletes working hard. They don’t whine about money, contracts or big league time. They just work. Some merely for the chance to say they were part of a team.
One boy stands out. He carries himself with an arrogant confidence. The magic of hormones and the teenage body has made him mature faster than the others.
He is more physically gifted. He knows it. You can tell by the way acts. These winter workouts are just a formality to him, a hoop he must jump through to get his jersey. He doesn’t work hard, because he knows he’s already on the team. It’s a waste of his time. Just ask him.
The coaches protest. “All the way to the line,” they scream at him, “We are ALL going to do this again until you decide to do it right!” Only then, when all eyes are on him, will he showcase his talent.
The others resent his attitude, not only because it means more work for them, but also because he is so brash with his gifts. Gifts they would all love to have.
There is another boy in the pack. A weaker boy, small, slow, overweight. He is the opposite of the large, gifted one. For him, the workouts are as much torture as they are exercise. He has no gifts to show off. It’s all he can do to look in the mirror and tell himself it’s worth this mix of pain and embarrassment for another day. He is positive despite all odds.
I see great spirit in him. Despite a lack of physical talent he has become an icon of motivation to others. When they finish running, they encourage him to finish his, even if he is last. When they get their final rep on the bench, they chant his name until he gets his, even if it is far less weight.
I’d like to believe they push and support him because they see a teammate fighting to break the chains of his physical limitations. I would like to believe he will do just that. But, and everyone seems to know, he probably will not make the team. Though he is a warrior at heart, he just doesn’t have the talent to make a high school squad.
While the valiant young man will be cut, the arrogant boy will get his jersey. He’ll win many trophies and titles and excel in sports. He will be an asset to his team on the field.
Yet, unlike the valiant young man, this boy will never know what it’s like to be respected for who he is. He will only know what it’s like to be respected for the gifts he has.
I’d rather play with a team that cherishes its gifts and lose, than play with a team that cares nothing for its gifts and win. A trophy or a ribbon is just empty tin or cheap cloth but, to the team that reveres all of its privileges, a loss cannot erase their friendships, memories or heart. Those things are more important than what the scoreboard says when the games end.
The true success of sport is not in the moment we hoist a trophy but in the moment we reach into ourselves to put our best on the line. For some, that moment may come outside of a team. There is no trophy for fighting hard to finish laps. No one applauds when an athlete struggles to make it through practice. Accolades aren’t given to those who get cut.
Maybe they should be. For some, their effort in those moments are accomplishments on par with home run records and World Series rings.
The reality of sports says the best players take the field. That won’t change. Some of those players may not have the heart of the ones who didn’t make it. Some are just physically gifted, and sports come effortlessly.
To those players I ask: If success was measured by heart and teams put together based on desire, would you still make it over the ones who were cut?
Winning is fun, exhilarating, a whole lot better than losing. Yet winning cannot tell you who you are. It can only tell if you have won or lost. Those are just results, not the measure of a person.
Rather, the measure of a person rests in his heart, his desire and his gratitude for the chance to sweat, struggle and even lose.
To him, that chance alone is an honor, one worthy of all the obstacles he has overcome. Regardless of the outcome, no moment of it is wasted. To him, it is always a victory.
Editors note: Minor league pitcher Dirk Hayhurst, 26, is a 1999 graduate of Canton South High School. The San Diego Padres selected the right-hander in the eighth round of the 2003 draft out of Kent State University. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Hayhurst has a 3-2 record with a 3.89 ERA in 29 games with the San Antonio Missions of the Class AA Texas League.
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Megaceffone copernicano.
Tiziano Caviglia
L'ultima notte del Titanic 14.04.122012-04-17:19:43
Le celebrazioni per il centesimo anniversario dell'affondamento del Titanic in tutto il mondo.
From Titanic's birthplace in a Belfast shipyard to its resting place in the North Atlantic, thousands were gathering Saturday to remember the cruise ship that embarked on its maiden voyage as an icon of Edwardian luxury but became, in a few dark hours 100 years ago, an enduring emblem of tragedy.
The ship was traveling from England to New York, carrying everyone from plutocrats to penniless emigrants, when it struck an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on April 14, 1912. It sank at 2:20 a.m. on April 15, with the loss of more than 1,500 of the 2,208 passengers and crew.
17:19 Res publica Titanic
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‘This tragedy forced the light out:’ Toronto marks anniversary of van attack
TORONTO — As family members, friends and strangers braved the rain Tuesday to honour the victims of the Yonge Street van attack, one man stood by the memorial marking the one-year anniversary of the horrific event making sure the flowers laid there looked pretty.
Omar Hassan couldn’t help it.
The 25-year-old student didn’t witness the attack on April 23, 2018, and he didn’t know any of the 10 people killed and 16 others injured when a white rental van plowed into pedestrians along the busy street in north Toronto. But he took it upon himself to keep a growing makeshift memorial that popped up after the attack clean and tidy.
With the help of a few friends, he would spend time every night in Mel Lastman Square making sure flowers and tributes the wind had blown away were back where people had laid them. That went on for 40 days until the impromptu memorial was removed by the city.
“Even in the darkest of times, there’s some light that comes out,” he said. “This tragedy forced the light out.”
That hope and positivity was everywhere Tuesday as dozens of people wrote messages about love and inspiration in chalk on the sidewalk at the site of the attack. Others painted canvases with messages about peace, growth and restoration.
Esther Linetski placed an orange carnation by a temporary plaque. Linetski, who works in the area, said she meant to go out to the square for lunch on the day of the attack but was too busy to escape her office.
“I could have been out here,” she said, fighting back tears. “Thankfully I wasn’t one of the unlucky ones.”
Alek Minassian, now 26, is charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder. He is set to face trial next February.
For the neighbourhood of Willowdale, where the attack took place, the tragedy led to people like Hassan and others banding together to help the community with its healing process.
One woman donated hundreds of flowers so others could place them at two main memorial sites. Another woman came by every day to keep the candles lit and replace the ones that had burned down.
A year later, members of the community hope they can keep that small-town-style spirit going, which can be difficult in a busy city like Toronto.
Jesse James, a longtime community organizer, said he and his family have committed to learning languages spoken in the area in an attempt to further bring the neighbourhood together in the aftermath of the attack.
The 31-year-old had been sitting at a nearby library when last year’s attack took place. After hearing the news from the friend, he went to pick up an 11-year-old boy he was mentoring. As the pair walked home they agreed on one thing — they needed to get everyone together.
They put out a call out to various churches and Christian groups in the area. Seven of them got together that night and eventually started a Facebook group called “We Love Willowdale,” deciding to make music a central theme.
“We framed it as helping turn our cries of sorrow into songs of healing,” said James.
They asked Melissa Davis, the chair of the music and worship arts department at nearby Tyndale University, to co-ordinate a 100-strong choir that would get together for a vigil in six days. She also organized the choir for the one-year commemoration of the incident.
“I hope through music people will receive that hope and healing they’ve been longing for and wrestling with the last year,” Davis said. “I really believe that music is able to inspire, console and heal and really speak to the soul of human beings.”
Marion Goertz, a psychotherapist with the nearby Family Life Centre that provides counselling and mental health support, said she and her colleagues have spoken to many who were affected in one way or another by the events that day.
Eight therapists went out the next day and each day for the next two weeks to makeshift comfort stations. Most who stopped by were witnesses, she said.
“Many people just wanted to talk and tell us where they were that day,” Goertz said. “People like order in their lives and this has made people ask questions: How safe can I be? Can this happen to me?”
That feeling was so prevalent that the group decided to organize an event dubbed “Reclaim Yonge” — about 6,000 people walked Yonge Street six days after the tragedy to a vigil held at Mel Lastman Square.
On Tuesday, many continued to reclaim Yonge Street, determined not to let last year’s devastating attack hold them back.
Jim Ba was one of them. He credited the community with giving him strength to deal with ongoing visions of the dead and injured — lingering effects of what he saw in the wake of the attack.
“It’s important to be strong,” he said. “Not afraid.”
Liam Casey and Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press
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Seamus O’Regan faces calls to visit Attawapiskat during state of emergency
OTTAWA — Indigenous Services Minister Seamus O’Regan is facing calls from the federal NDP to visit the northern Ontario community of Attawapiskat First Nation.
Earlier this month, the community declared a state of emergency over concerns about chemical levels in tap water.
NDP MP Charlie Angus, who represents the federal riding encompassing the reserve, is meeting with the community today and says O’Regan needs to see the impacts of the issue first-hand, including that community members are worried about being able to safety bathe their children.
Attawapiskat has drawn national attention for its 2012 housing crisis and it has also faced issues with youth suicide.
Former chief Theresa Spence, who launched a high-profile protest over the housing situation, has also started a hunger strike over water concerns.
O’Regan’s office says that addressing the water issue in full partnership with the First Nation is a top priority, adding it knows recent test results have raised concerns.
MONTREAL — Lawmakers in France have begun their ratification of the comprehensive trade agreement between the European Union and Canada as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcomes the leaders of the 28-country bloc to Montreal on Wednesday.
Trudeau has been pushing hard for a win on trade and foreign policy after two difficult years marked by a rough renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement with the Trump administration and the deterioration of political and trade relations with China.
Trudeau will talk up the merits of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA, with European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in a series of events in Montreal over the next two days.
The group is to visit a pier in the bustling Port of Montreal, the gateway for European sea shipments into Canada.
International trade lawyer Lawrence Herman said that’s a welcome break from the resort-style backdrops that Trudeau and other prime ministers have preferred when they host international visitors.
“Appearing at the Port of Montreal in this era is much better than appearing at Lake Louise or Banff. The message we want to give is Canada is a leading economic force in the world,” said Herman.
“Meeting in Montreal or in any major urban centre gives that message much better than the typical image of Canada being a wilderness country full of mountains and streams.”
Wednesday’s legal development, the French National Assembly’s consideration of France’s CETA ratification bill, is also a prime focus for Canada’s Liberal prime minister, who will be fighting a federal election this fall.
Sources in France and Canada, who were not authorized to speak publicly about the talks, say Trudeau lobbied French President Emmanuel Macron for more than a year to introduce the bill, and that those efforts finally paid off last month in Paris during their most recent face-to-face meeting.
Almost all of CETA — in excess of 90 per cent — went into force in September 2017 under what is known as provisional application, but individual ratifications by EU member countries will bring it fully into effect.
That would mean a win for the international trading order that has been under assault by U.S. President Donald Trump.
“It’s an essential step. We’re very pleased with our co-operation with the French government,” International Trade Minister Jim Carr said in an interview.
Carr will be meeting his EU counterpart Cecilia Malmstrom in Montreal. He said the French move towards ratification is a significant step in Canada’s broader goal of diversifying Canada’s export markets.
Trudeau was in Paris in early June after attending the 75th anniversary commemorations of D-Day in France and Britain, and he and Macron emerged with news that France would move forward with CETA’s ratification. The introduction of the bill in the National Assembly is a first step in a process that the French government hopes will lead to full ratification by the end of 2019.
Macron and Trudeau have talked about the agreement repeatedly — in Paris in April 2018, in a telephone conversation a year later, and other face-to-face meetings. Macron is a staunch Europhile and open supporter of CETA, but he has had to tread cautiously because of populist opposition to trade deals in France and across Europe.
Canada has lobbied French lawmakers, businesspeople and farmers, an effort that included more than two dozen visits to various regions of France by Isabelle Hudon, the Canadian ambassador.
Trudeau also made a direct appeal to French lawmakers in an April 2018 speech to the National Assembly, the first time a Canadian prime minister addressed that body.
Earlier this week, Trump signed an executive order strengthening his protectionist Buy American Act, which requires federal agencies to increase their use of American-made products from 50 to 75 per cent.
Herman said Canadian companies need to be more aggressive in taking advantage of the new opportunities now open to them in Europe, especially its new “privileged” access to national and sub national government contracts in a sector valued at $3.3 trillion annually.
“As the U.S. turns inward and as protectionism raises its ugly face in the U.S. we have to look at other opportunities. And I think procurement is one of the areas where we have great possibility in Europe.”
CETA gives Canadian businesses preferred access to 500 million European consumers, and a $24-trillion market. In 2018, Canada’s exports to the EU increased by seven per cent to more than $44 billion.
But the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance offered mixed reviews on the deal, saying EU agri-food exports to Canada jumped 10 per cent in 2018, compared with the previous year, which increased Canada’s trade deficit with the EU to $3.5 billion.
Meanwhile, Canadian agri-food exports to the EU have dropped 10 per cent since CETA’s 2017 entry into force, the alliance said.
Mike Blanchfield, The Canadian Press
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3 get first-team All-Region in Women's Soccer
Mike Ekern photo
United Soccer Coaches news release
Three St. Thomas Women's Soccer seniors were voted onto the 12-player first-team on the United Soccer Coaches All-North Region team, it was announced on Monday.
Defender Tess Baier, forward Mallory DeBoom, and midfielder Brie Bourdage give the Tommies three first-team honorees. They helped St. Thomas go 61-15-6 over their four-year era.
All-District players advance onto the national ballot for All-America consideration.
DeBoom (Edina, Minn.), who has a 3.64 gpa while majoring in Exercise Science, was named MIAC Offensive Player of the Year for the second time in her career. She made All-America in 2016 and is now a three-time All-Region honoree.
DeBoom scored 111 points (44 goals) to move into No. 2 on the program's career scoring list. UST finished 47-0-4 in games on her career when she scored a point, and she had 19 game-winning goals.
The senior also became the Tommies' first four-time first-team All-MIAC honoree. She played in 82 contests over her four seasons, including starting the last 69 consecutive games.
Baier was the first non-goalie to receive the MIAC Defensive Player of the Year award since its creation in four years ago. Over the last three seasons, the Mount Horeb, Wis., native started 62 games, missing only one due to injury.
She played a lead role since 2016 as the defensive-minded Toms posted 39 shutouts and outscored opponents 74-11 in the second halves and in overtimes. She recorded one assist in her career.
Bourdage (Lino Lakes, Minn.), who has a 3.92 gpa in Marketing Management, is a repeat All-Region honoree and also made first-team CoSIDA Academic All-District. She played in 76 career games, starting her last 68 in a row, and contributed eight goals and 14 assists.
UST was 20-0-1 in games on her career when Bourdage scored a goal or an assist.
Strong Season
For the first time since a postseason MIAC playoff was added in 2003, St. Thomas swept the conference regular-season and playoff championships. UST claimed the conference regular-season title for the third time in four seasons. They had a national ranking as high as No. 13, and for most of the season held a No. 1 regional rank.
The 2018 Tommies (19-2-1) also:
set program records for wins (19) and for longest winning streak (14).
scored UST's most season goals in more than 20 seasons.
went unbeaten in the postseason (3-0-1);
posted the best record for any MIAC women's soccer team in the last 12 seasons;
finished 10-0 in play on its home field;
outscored opponents 10-0 in the last nine minutes of regulation and throughout overtimes;
outscored opponents 58-11 overall, with 13 shutouts.
Over the last four seasons, the Tommies recorded a conference-best 48 shutouts, and also posted a 28-10 record in one-goal decisions. Ten times in that span, they fell behind in games but came back to win or tie. In games they scored first, they went 55-0. In games when they scored two or more goals, St. Thomas went 41-0-2.
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» Loud and lazy but didn't chew gum: Ancient koalas
Loud and lazy but didn't chew gum: Ancient koalas
Monday, 21 December, 2009
Dan Gaffney
Skull fragments of prehistoric koalas from the Riversleigh rainforests of millions of year ago suggest they shared the modern koala's "lazy" lifestyle and ability to produce loud "bellowing" calls to attract mates and provide warnings about predators.
However, the new findings published as the featured cover article in the current issue of The Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology suggest that the two species of koalas from the Miocene (24 to five million years ago) did not share the uniquely specialized eucalyptus leaf diet of the modern koala (Phascolarctos cinereus).
The shift to a wholly eucalyptus diet by modern koalas was an adaptation that probably came later as Australia drifted north, causing its rainforests to retreat and Eucalypts to become the dominant tree of most Australian forests and woodlands.
Modern koalas - the sole living member of the diprotodontian marsupial family Phascolarctidae -are among the largest of all arboreal leaf-eaters. To attain this remarkable condition on a diet of eucalyptus leaves, a notoriously poor and somewhat toxic food source, the tree-dwelling marsupials developed unique anatomical and physiological adaptations including specialized chewing and digestive anatomies and a highly sedentary lifestyle. The dramatic differences between the skulls of extinct and modern koalas, especially in the facial region, are probably related to the change to a tougher diet of eucalyptus leaves.
Researchers from the University of New South Wales and the CSIRO have drawn these conclusions after making dozens of detailed anatomical comparisons between the brush-tailed possum, the modern koala and the two fossil species (Litokoala kutjamarpensis and Nimiokoala greystanesi).
The fossil species were unearthed from the Riversleigh World Heritage site in Queensland, Australia. The comparisons reveal similarities in the back of the skull between the modern and fossil koalas, but substantial differences in their teeth, palate and jaws.
Koalas are most closely related among living marsupials to wombats but the two species diverged some 30-40 million years ago. Among fossil koalas there are 18 named species representing five genera spanning the period from the late Oligocene (37 million years ago) to the present.
However, they are generally scarce in the fossil record and most species are only known from a few isolated teeth or jaw fragments. Therefore, it has been difficult to develop an accurate picture of their behaviour, diet and evolution.
The researchers believe that the prehistoric koalas also shared with their modern cousins the ability to produce loud "bellows" based on similar large bony prominences - the auditory bullae - that enclose structures in the middle and inner ear. However the auditory bullae of the extinct Nimiokoala and Litokoala species are not as exaggerated as in the modern koala, according to team member UNSW Professor Mike Archer.
"Modern koalas are extremely sedentary and vocal animals," says Archer, who is perhaps best known for leading research into the extraordinary Riversleigh fossil deposits in Queensland, which led to the site being listed on the World Heritage Register.
"They produce low frequency vocalisations that pass through vegetation and can be heard up to 800 metres away - far exceeding the home range limits of male koalas. The fossil koalas share similar large bony ear structures to the modern koala and would have been well adapted to detecting vocalisations in the rainforest environment of Riversleigh in the Miocene epoch."
"In order to accommodate both the mechanical demands of their new diet, as well as maintaining their auditory sophistication, the koala underwent substantial changes to its cranial anatomy, in particular that of the facial skeleton," says Dr Julien Louys of UNSW's School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences. "The unique cranial configuration of the modern koala is therefore the result of accommodating their masticatory adaptations without compromising their auditory system."
Mike Archer: +61-423-553-333
Dan Gaffney: UNSW Media +61-411-156-15
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Can We Generate Electricity From Rainfall?
There are many unique ways by which we can generate energy from rainfall. Whether that is storing rainwater at heights for running turbines or using it directly for piezoelectricity, modern technology has made nearly anything possible.
Have you ever looked at falling rain and wondered about the untapped potential in those small drops of water? Well, if you have, then you have a good mind for science and physics. Researchers around the world are currently investigating the viability of using rainfall as a source of energy and have already made a lot of progress in this increasingly important area.
How much energy do raindrops possess?
Water in a cloud possesses potential energy as a virtue of its height. The gravitational potential energy of an object can be measured by multiplying its height (with respect to Earth’s surface) by its weight and the gravitational constant (9.8 m/s2). Let’s look at this in a more straightforward way.
Suppose that your city receives 100cm of rainfall annually (average annual precipitation in the USA is about 77 cm – climate report) and your house has a roof of about 200 m2 (standard size). This amounts to about 20 m3 or 20 kg of water. Considering that the raindrops come from stratus clouds, at about 2000 m in elevation, this amounts to roughly 400 MJ or 111 kWh of lost potential energy. The number seems small, but when considered over an area of about 1 km2, the amount of energy “falling” would be enough to power around 1000 houses.
What is the ultimate source of this energy?
Just like most other sources of power on our planet, rainfall derives its energy from the Sun. The Sun is the ultimate pump that fuels all forms of life and resources. At Earth’s surface, the energy density of the Sun is about 1,000 W/m2. To put this in perspective, if all the sunlight energy irradiating the Earth’s surface in Texas alone could be converted to electricity, the power generated would be equivalent to 300 times the total power produced by all the power plants in the world!
A major part of the solar radiation striking our planet is used to evaporate water from the oceans, seas and rivers. The temperature difference created in the atmosphere, again due to different parts of the atmosphere absorbing different amounts of solar heat, acts as a pump and pulls the evaporated water up, filling it with potential energy in the process.
Water cycle(Image Credit: Flickr)
Energy from storing rainfall
Hydroelectric power plants generate about 6.5% of the electricity consumed in the United States. That number rises to 13.5% for India. Hydroelectricity is the cleanest form of energy around and producing it is fairly simple. Water falling from a suitable height onto a turbine drives it into motion. The turbine is connected to a dynamo, which converts the mechanical energy into electricity.
Turbines at Hoover Dam (Photo Credit: CrackerClips Stock Media/Shutterstock)
By using a method similar to that used in hydroelectric power plants, scientists discovered that a large reservoir placed high above the ground collecting rain could then use that falling water to power turbines. This method would be highly effective in rainy seasons, when a relatively continuous supply of water is available.
Harnessing the kinetic energy of rainfall
Any object traveling at some velocity possesses kinetic energy. The same is true for raindrops. A large drop of rain, about one-quarter of an inch across, has a terminal fall speed of about 20 miles per hour or about 10 meters per second. Recent research has suggested that the kinetic energy of raindrops can be tapped using certain materials, such as PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride), which possess piezoelectric properties.
What are piezoelectric materials?
Piezo is Greek for “to squeeze or press”. Hence, piezoelectric materials are those that generate electrical voltage (or electricity) in response to applied mechanical stress. Materials demonstrating a piezoelectric effect also demonstrate the opposite effect, called the converse piezoelectric effect. This means that upon the application of an electric charge, they become deformed. These materials can be crystalline, ceramic or even biological matter, such as bones and proteins.
Pictorial representation of generating piezoelectricity (Photo Credit: Tizeff/Wikimedia Commons)
Piezoelectrics are standard crystalline materials with asymmetric structures. Still, they are electrically neutral, as the positive charges present are equal to the negative loads, and they balance each other out. However, when such materials are squeezed, their structure is deformed, pushing some atoms closer and others apart. This upsets the balance of positive and negative charge, thereby creating an electric potential. Quartz is one of the most common piezoelectric materials around, and small quartz crystals are used to keep time in clocks and electronic devices, such as laptops.
How do piezoelectrics convert rainfall into electricity?
The vibrations caused by water droplets falling onto piezoelectric materials will generate pressure. This pressure will result in an inelastic hiccup (difference in potential) above the surface of the piezoelectric material, such as lead zirconate titanate (PZT), thus converting mechanical energy from raindrops into electrical energy.
Piezoelectric materials are specifically useful for collecting and storing small electric charges, such as those produced by electrical instruments or, in our case, falling drops of water. By this point, you may be wondering…. if harnessing energy from rainfall is this easy, why isn’t it being used more frequently? Well, here’s why.
Problems with rain energy
The first issue is the conversion rate. Piezoelectric devices can extract only about 12 milliwatts of power from a raindrop. That is less than 0.001 kWh per square meter – basically enough to power a remote sensor. Furthermore, these devices are very expensive and require regular maintenance.
Solar panels are much more efficient than all the methods mentioned above. To match the efficiency of solar cells, we would need to construct reservoirs at the height of 1 km or more! Building a container that high off the ground is not economically viable, especially when compared to the cost of covering the same area in photovoltaic cells.
Solar panels contain photovoltaic cells. (Image Credit: Pixabay)
Recently developed materials, such as graphene solar cells, which capable of generating an electrical current through the breakdown of salts in the rain, suggest that there is more than one way of utilizing the potential of rainwater. And with new technology developing every day, the commercial use of rain energy doesn’t seem too far off.
In terms of the power being produced, raindrops will probably never be able to compete with a hydroelectric plant or solar cells. However, they do have one major advantage — they’re free. And who knows, with our ever-evolving technology, generating clean power could soon be as simple as taking a stroll in spring rain!
The University Of Tennessee System
The short URL of the present article is: http://sciabc.us/8pRSH
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Tags: Physics
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Magnetism Confirmed to Control the Flow of Heat
A validation of a long-predicted quantum effect points the way to tiny, highly efficient heat engines or information carried by heat exchanges instead of electrical ones
By Edwin Cartlidge, Nature magazine on December 20, 2012
The strange world of quantum mechanics just got a little stranger with the discovery that a magnetic field can control the flow of heat from one body to another. First predicted nearly 50 years ago, the effect might some day form the basis of a new generation of electronic devices that use heat rather than charge as the information carrier.
The research stems from the work of physicist Brian Josephson, who in 1962 predicted that electrons could 'tunnel' between two superconductors separated by a thin layer of insulator — a process forbidden in classical physics. The Josephson junction was subsequently built and used to make superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs), which are now sold commercially as ultra-sensitive magnetometers.
In the latest work, Francesco Giazotto and María José Martínez-Pérez at the NEST nanoscience institute in Pisa, Italy, measured the devices’ thermal behavior — that is, how the electrons inside them transfer heat. The duo heated one end of a SQUID several micrometers long and monitored the temperature of an electrode connected to it. A SQUID consists of two y-shaped pieces of superconductor joined together to form a loop, but with two thin pieces of insulating material sandwiched in between (see figure); as the researchers varied the magnetic field passing through the loop, the amount of heat flowing through the device also changed. The effect was in line with a theory put forward by Kazumi Maki and Allan Griffin in 1965.
The device worked by partly reversing the heat transfer, so that some would flow from the colder body to the warmer one. “This is completely unintuitive,” says Giazotto. “People are used to thinking of heat as disorder, so how can you impose quantum order on it? Amazingly, a device with Josephson junctions can do that.”
Legal violation
This apparent violation of the second law of thermodynamics — which states that heat will always flow from a hotter to a colder body — is, in fact, perfectly legal, says Giazotto, because only part of the total heat flow is subject to the phase variation. When you also take into account the heat transferred by single electrons, as occurs inside normal metals, the net flow is still from the hot to the cold end.
Like its electrical counterpart, this variation in the heat flow can be explained in terms of the superconductors’ 'phase' — the position of the peaks and troughs of the wavefunction that describes the superconducting electron pairs in the SQUID’s loop. The greatest heat flow occurs when the peaks inside one half of the loop line up with peaks in the other half, whereas the flow is at a minimum when peaks meet troughs. The magnetic field shifts those phases relative to each other, thus modifying the heat flow.
Teun Klapwijk of the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands describes Giazotto and Martínez-Pérez's research as “cute” but “not very surprising”. He also doubts that it will have significant practical applications. “The only possible area would be solid-state refrigeration, which would replace cryogenic liquids,” he says.
But Giazotto argues that the research could help to realize tiny but highly efficient heat engines. He also hopes it might form the basis of “coherent caloritronics”, in which information is carried by heat exchanges instead of electrical ones. In ordinary transistors, a voltage toggles an electric switch on and off, and the devices can be combined to form logic gates, the building blocks of computer chips; caloritronics would instead use 'thermal transistors' to switch on and off the transfer of heat. Previously, Giazotto and others have built devices that control heat exchanges using an electric rather than magnetic field.
This article is reproduced with permission from the magazine Nature. The article was first published on December 19, 2012.
Edwin Cartlidge
The Battle behind the Periodic Table's Latest Additions
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Nature magazine
Controversial Telescope Set to Begin Construction in Hawaii
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The Effect of Hydrazide Group on the Oxydation of Ferrocene at Two Different Electrodes Using Rotating Disk Electrode (RDE) in Organic Medium
DFT Studies on the Electronic Structures of 4-Methoxybenzonitrile Dye for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell
Minimizing Fluoride by Coagulation on Iron(III) Hydroxide in Drinkable Water from Oasis Region of Algeria
The Chemistry and Synthesis of 1H-indole-2,3-dione (Isatin) and its Derivatives
Theoretical Inversion of Amino Acids (Alanine and Aspartic Acid) by Semi-Empirical Methods
On the Quantum Theory of Impact Phenomenon for the Conditions of Elastic Deformation of Impacted Body
Total Alkaline Phosphatase Activity in Water of Rusalka Lake in the City of Szczecin
Total Alkaline Phosphatase Activity in Bottom Sediments of Rusalka Lake in the City of Szczecin
A Classical Approach of Unified Field
On the Groundless Use of Mathematics Concerning the d’Alembert’s Rule
Synthesis, Spectral Correlations and Antimicrobial Activities of some 2-Hydroxyphenyl-Styrylketone
Theoretical Ultrasonic Velocities in Binary Liquid Mixture Containing Aniline and Anisole at Different Temperatures – A Comparative Study
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ILCPA > Volume 12 > A Classical Approach of Unified Field
Photons contribute electromagnetic field that accompanies the gravitational field. These two fields may be, mutually, transformed through a kind of transformation matrix dependent upon the boundary conditions of the system. In this work trial would be made to find the nature of this transformation matrix considering a super system of photon in which both fields are unified.The unification of electromagnetic and gravitational fields leads to the concept of fundamental charge.
International Letters of Chemistry, Physics and Astronomy (Volume 12)
https://doi.org/10.18052/www.scipress.com/ILCPA.12.73
M. C. Das and R. Misra, "A Classical Approach of Unified Field", International Letters of Chemistry, Physics and Astronomy, Vol. 12, pp. 73-84, 2013
Mukul Chandra Das, Rampada Misra
Electromagnetic Field, Gravitational Field, Photon, Unified Field
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W. B. Bonnor, General Relativity and Gravitation 41 (2009) 77-85.
M. A. Grado-Caffaro, M. Grado-Caffaro, Optik-International Journal of Light and Electron Optics 123 (2012) 814-815.
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Chapter 1 Introduction to Science
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UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL EXAMINATIONS
General Certificate of Education
Advanced Subsidiary Level and Advanced Level
* 4 8 3 5 7 2 7 6 4 1 *
PHYSICS 9702/22
Paper 2 AS Structured Questions May/June 2013
Candidates answer on the Question Paper.
No Additional Materials are required.
READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST
Write your Centre number, candidate number and name on all the work you hand in.
Write in dark blue or black pen.
You may use a pencil for any diagrams, graphs or rough working.
Do not use staples, paper clips, highlighters, glue or correction fluid.
DO NOT WRITE IN ANY BARCODES.
Answer all questions.
Electronic calculators may be used.
You may lose marks if you do not show your working or if you do not use
appropriate units. For Examiner’s Use
At the end of the examination, fasten all your work securely together.
The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part
This document consists of 14 printed pages and 2 blank pages.
DC (LEO/CGW) 57982/4
© UCLES 2013 [Turn over
speed of light in free space, c = 3.00 × 10 8 m s –1
permeability of free space, μ0 = 4π × 10 –7 H m–1
permittivity of free space, ε0 = 8.85 × 10 –12 F m–1
( = 8.99 × 10 9 m F–1 )
4πε0
elementary charge, e = 1.60 × 10 –19 C
the Planck constant, h = 6.63 × 10 –34 J s
unified atomic mass constant, u = 1.66 × 10 –27 kg
rest mass of electron, me = 9.11 × 10 –31 kg
rest mass of proton, mp = 1.67 × 10 –27 kg
molar gas constant, R = 8.31 J K –1 mol –1
the Avogadro constant, NA = 6.02 × 10 23 mol –1
the Boltzmann constant, k = 1.38 × 10 –23 J K –1
gravitational constant, G = 6.67 × 10 –11 N m 2 kg –2
acceleration of free fall, g = 9.81 m s –2
© UCLES 2013 9702/22/M/J/13
uniformly accelerated motion, s = ut + at 2
v 2 = u 2 + 2as
work done on/by a gas, W = p ΔV
gravitational potential, φ =–
hydrostatic pressure, p = ρgh
Nm 2
pressure of an ideal gas, p = V
<c >
simple harmonic motion, a = – ω 2x
velocity of particle in s.h.m., v = v0 cos ωt
v = ± ω √⎯(x⎯ 0⎯ 2 ⎯ –⎯ x⎯ ⎯ 2⎯ )
electric potential, V =
4πε0r
capacitors in series, 1/C = 1/C1 + 1/C2 + . . .
capacitors in parallel, C = C1 + C2 + . . .
energy of charged capacitor, W = QV
resistors in series, R = R1 + R2 + . . .
resistors in parallel, 1/R = 1/R1 + 1/R2 + . . .
alternating current/voltage, x = x0 sin ω t
radioactive decay, x = x0 exp(– λt )
decay constant, λ =
© UCLES 2013 9702/22/M/J/13 [Turn over
Answer all the questions in the spaces provided. For
1 (a) Determine the SI base units of power. Use
SI base units of power ................................................. [3]
(b) Fig. 1.1 shows a turbine that is used to generate electrical power from the wind.
speed v
Fig. 1.1
The power P available from the wind is given by
P = CL2ρv 3
where L is the length of each blade of the turbine,
ρ is the density of air,
v is the wind speed,
C is a constant.
(i) Show that C has no units.
(ii) The length L of each blade of the turbine is 25.0 m and the density ρ of air is 1.30 in For
SI units. The constant C is 0.931. Examiner’s
The efficiency of the turbine is 55% and the electric power output P is 3.50 × 105 W. Use
Calculate the wind speed.
wind speed = ........................................ m s–1 [3]
(iii) Suggest two reasons why the electrical power output of the turbine is less than the
power available from the wind.
1. ...............................................................................................................................
2 (a) Define force. For
..................................................................................................................................... [1] Use
(b) A resultant force F acts on an object of mass 2.4 kg. The variation with time t of F is
shown in Fig. 2.1.
F/N
t /s
The object starts from rest.
(i) On Fig. 2.2, show quantitatively the variation with t of the acceleration a of the For
object. Include appropriate values on the y-axis. Examiner’s
a / m s–2
(ii) On Fig. 2.3, show quantitatively the variation with t of the momentum p of the object.
Include appropriate values on the y-axis.
p/Ns
3 (a) Define centre of gravity. For
.......................................................................................................................................... Use
...................................................................................................................................... [2]
(b) A uniform rod AB is attached to a vertical wall at A. The rod is held horizontally by a
string attached at B and to point C, as shown in Fig. 3.1.
8.5 N mass M
The angle between the rod and the string at B is 50°. The rod has length 1.2 m and
weight 8.5 N. An object O of mass M is hung from the rod at B. The tension T in the
string is 30 N.
(i) Use the resolution of forces to calculate the vertical component of T.
vertical component of T = ............................................. N [1]
(ii) State the principle of moments.
.............................................................................................................................. [1]
(iii) Use the principle of moments and take moments about A to show that the weight of For
the object O is 19 N. Examiner’s
(iv) Hence determine the mass M of the object O.
M = ............................................ kg [1]
(c) Use the concept of equilibrium to explain why a force must act on the rod at A.
..........................................................................................................................................
4 (a) Describe apparatus that demonstrates Brownian motion. Include a diagram. For
(b) Describe the observations made using the apparatus in (a).
(c) State and explain two conclusions about the properties of molecules of a gas that follow
from the observations in (b).
1. ......................................................................................................................................
5 Fig. 5.1 shows a string stretched between two fixed points P and Q. For
vibrator wall
A vibrator is attached near end P of the string. End Q is fixed to a wall. The vibrator has a
frequency of 50 Hz and causes a transverse wave to travel along the string at a speed of
40 m s–1.
(a) (i) Calculate the wavelength of the transverse wave on the string.
wavelength = ............................................. m [2]
(ii) Explain how this arrangement may produce a stationary wave on the string.
(b) The stationary wave produced on PQ at one instant of time t is shown on Fig. 5.2.
Each point on the string is at its maximum displacement.
Fig. 5.2 (not to scale)
(i) On Fig. 5.2, label all the nodes with the letter N and all the antinodes with the
letter A. [2]
(ii) Use your answer in (a)(i) to calculate the length of string PQ. For
length = ............................................. m [1]
(iii) On Fig. 5.2, draw the stationary wave at time (t + 5.0 ms). Explain your answer.
6 (a) Define charge. For
...................................................................................................................................... [1] Use
(b) A heater is made from a wire of resistance 18.0 Ω and is connected to a power supply of
240 V. The heater is switched on for 2.60 Ms.
(i) the power transformed in the heater,
power = ............................................. W [2]
(ii) the current in the heater,
current = .............................................. A [1]
(iii) the charge passing through the heater in this time,
charge = ............................................. C [2]
(iv) the number of electrons per second passing a given point in the heater.
number = ........................................... s–1 [2]
7 A polonium nucleus 210 84Po is radioactive and decays with the emission of an α-particle. The For
nuclear reaction for this decay is given by Examiner’s
210 W Y
84Po XQ + Z α.
(a) (i) State the values of W ...............
X ...............
Y ...............
Z ...............
(ii) Explain why mass seems not to be conserved in the reaction.
(b) The reaction is spontaneous. Explain the meaning of spontaneous.
Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Every
reasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, the
publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity.
University of Cambridge International Examinations is part of the Cambridge Assessment Group. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of University of
Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which is itself a department of the University of Cambridge.
Radioactive Decay
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Jedburgh Intergenerational Community Campus
November 7, 2018 by Agnes Jones
TGP was appointed by BAM Construction to deliver the external landscape designs of a new intergenerational school campus in Jedburgh. The new school will provide facilities for students from nursery to senior ages, including sports facilities, outdoor dining, outdoor learning areas and a special needs courtyard space.
The present condition of the site is defined by being of ‘Parkland’ character, with existing fields of rough grassland and small copses of mature trees. The landscape proposals for the new campus reflect this character by developing a strategy for the landscape that whilst being relatively formal in close proximity to the proposed building, loses its formality when moving away from the buildings, returning to a parkland character at the site boundaries. The landscape proposals were developed closely with the Architect and Engineer, working to positively manipulate the steep terrain in order to deliver a campus that meets the needs of a range of student ages and also providing community use of sports facilities.
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A New Theory for the Foreign-Policy Frontier: Collaborative Power
The power of many can accomplish more than any one can do alone -- and that distinction is different than the traditional classification of hard and soft power
Protesters wave Egyptian flags in Tahrir Square / AP
Shortly after Egyptian security forces detained well-known Egyptian-American blogger and columnist Mona Eltahawy last Wednesday night in the Egyptian Interior Ministry in Cairo, she managed to tweet five chilling words to her more than 60,000 followers: "beaten arrested in Interior Ministry." Her tweet went out at 8:44 pm Eastern Standard Time (3:44 am in Cairo). At 9:05 pm, I got a direct message on Twitter from the NPR strategist Andy Carvin, who covers English-language social media from Arab protests, telling me of Mona's tweet. After responding to him, I immediately sent an email to my former colleagues at the State Department. Within another hour, I'd heard back and was able to tweet that the U.S. Embassy in Cairo was on the case. Nick Kristof, citing his own contacts at the State Department,, sent out a similar message to his million-plus followers. By then, #FreeMona, a hashtag Carvin had started to help track the disparate efforts to help Mona, was already trending worldwide on Twitter. A few hours later, Mona was free, although with two broken bones and a traumatic story of sexual assault. Maged Butter, an Egyptian blogger who had been arrested with Eltahawy, was also released.
A debate about the role of Twitter and whether or not it helped win Mona's release has already been joined by Andrew Rasiej and Evgeny Morozov. The ever-perceptive and thoughtful Zeynep Tufekci wrote a long post reflecting on the nature of this intervention. Adrija Bose also wrote on the episode at FirstPost, as did Alix Dunn at the Engine Room. I will not join that debate directly here, but the incident provides the perfect hook for a piece that I have been wanting to write for a while about the nature of power.
This past fall, I gave the inaugural Joseph S. Nye lecture at Princeton. Nye is perhaps the world's pre-eminent theorist of power; he coined the term "soft power" for the power of attraction versus "hard power," the power of coercion. (Full disclosure: he's also a mentor and an old friend.) I used the lecture to contrast what I then called bottom-up power to what I argued was Nye's concept of top-down power. But, on reflection, I think "collaborative power" is a better and more accurate term for the phenomenon I am trying to capture.
Nye distinguishes between "resource power" -- resources that can produce outcomes, such as money, territory, etc -- and "relational power," which he defines as "the capacity to do things and in social situations to affect others to get the outcomes we want." Borrowing from various different power theorists and adapting their concepts of power to international relations, Nye then identifies three distinct "faces" of relational power. First is "commanding change": getting people or groups to do things they don't want to do. Second is "controlling agendas": the bureaucrat's favorite ploy of framing "agendas for action that make others' preferences seem irrelevant or out of bounds." And third is "shaping preferences": using "ideas, beliefs, and culture to shape basic beliefs, perceptions and preferences." This is hardly the place to engage Gramsci, Foucault, Giddens, and the many others who have examined the deep social and political structures of power. So, for present purposes, think of how soft power -- the attractive draw of Hollywood movies, American rock music, and the Declaration of Independence -- have shaped preferences around the world.
As with all of Nye's work, this analytical framework is elegant, compelling, and seemingly comprehensive. But where does the power that toppled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak fit in? The power, evident in ongoing protests despite months of bloodshed, that will not be silenced or stopped in Syria? The power that brought NATO to use force to protect Libyan civilians? Or the power that freed Mona Eltahawy?
One familiar distinction is "power with" versus "power over." The power that interests Nye is the power that a person, group, or institution exercises over other people, groups, or institutions, getting them to do something they would not have done on their own. "Power with," on the other hand, is the power of multiple actors to get something done collaboratively. (I first heard this distinction from Harvard Law Professor Lani Guinier, but have since seen it in many places.) That certainly seems to capture the phenomenon we are witnessing in so many different places -- the networked, horizontal surge and sustained application of collective will and resources.
I will call it collaborative power and define it as the power of many to do together what no one can do alone. Consider the power of water. Each drop is harmless; enough drops together create a tsunami that can level a landscape.
Collaborative power can take many forms. The first is mobilization; to exercise collaborative power through not a command but a call to action. The second form is connection. In contrast to the relational power method of narrowing and controlling a specific set of choices, collaborative power is exercised by broadening access to the circle of power and connecting as many people to one another and to a common purpose as possible. A third form (many more dimensions of collaborative power will likely emerge) is adaptation. Instead of seeking to structure the preferences of others, those who would exercise collaborative power must be demonstrably willing to shift their own views enough to enter into meaningful dialogue with others. The first step toward persuading others is often an evident and sincere willingness to be persuaded yourself.
But here's the most important difference between these two kinds of power. Relational power is held by an individual, group, or institution in relation to, as the name suggests, another individual, group, or institution. Collaborative power, on the other hand, is not held by any one person or in any one place. It is an emergent phenomenon -- the property of a complex set of interconnections. Leaders can learn to unlock it and guide it, but they do not possess it.
Many terrific thinkers in fields from computer science to business management and entrepreneurship to neurobiology and complexity theory are working on similar ideas. Through my Twitter feed, I have gotten many great links to thoughtful posts and articles making similar points to those above. It's time we apply these concepts and insights to foreign policy, both analyzing what we see and prescribing policy options -- much as the informal #FreeMona team did during Mona Eltahawy's detention in Cairo. Nothing about collaborative power suggests that relational power -- both hard and soft -- doesn't exist or isn't important. But it's only part of the story. Remember, drop by drop, water will wear away or wash away stone, sometimes far more quickly than we can imagine.
Anne-Marie Slaughter is the president of the New America Foundation and the Bert G. Kerstetter '66 University Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University. She was previously the director of policy planning for the U.S. State Department and the dean of Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
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in Disability, Education
How One Bangalore Based Organisation Is Working Tirelessly to Provide Blind Students with Braille Books
by Gayatri Manu September 24, 2016, 1:38 pm
While there are many schools for educating blind people, very few equip them with the skills that would enable them to become a part of the mainstream society and contribute to the economy of the country. Mitra Jyothi, a 26-year-old organisation based in Bangalore, works exclusively on this issue.
According to them, there are an estimated 45 million blind people in the world, out of which one in three live in India. This would mean around 15 million blind people across the country.
Uma Krishnamurthy, the Chief of Operations at Mitra Jyothi, spoke to us about how the organisation functions and how they hope to make reading more accessible to the visually impaired.
They run various programmes to empower blind people; one such notable initiative is the Computer Training Centre. They train around twenty students per batch, and start out with basic instructions on how to operate a keyboard or monitor. From this, they gradually move on to sending emails and simple text editing and eventually the usage of Microsoft Office Products . Students from all over the sub-continent live in dormitories during the six-month long programme. Uma says, “Learning these skills helps them become a part of the workforce with so much ease.”
Another admirable initiative taken up by Mitra Jyothi is a talking book library, which opened twenty years ago. The primary objective of the library is to store and supply audiobooks, which have been converted to recordings from printed books, by volunteers. The audiobooks are in the Digitally Accessible Information System (DAISY), which is the standard system of navigating through audio files for people with visual impairment. She explained further, “We make audio CDs in DAISY format out of books and store them as master CDs. We have a library catalogue available online, people can call up our library and place an order for a particular audio book. We make a copy of the CD and post it to them.
If we do not have a book, we take an order and attempt to convert the books to DAISY format. Most of the time, members send us a physical copy of the book which we use, and this helps our library grow.”
Their impressive collection has close to 3,000 books in English as well as four regional languages including Tamil and Hindi. A large number of the books are in Kannada, because a majority of their beneficiaries study in schools across Karnataka. They also provide audio books for students studying Economics and Psychology at the Masters level.
The Mitra Jyothi team decided to make reading more accessible to visually impaired people by collecting funds for publishing 30 braille books in Kannada. When we asked Uma why they picked the braille format when they already have a huge collection of audiobooks, she said, “We have around 7,500 primary beneficiaries who are currently using the audiobook service. But, the problem with audio books is that you have to have some exposure to digital media or need access to an audio player. The number of DAISY players given by the Indian Govt. as grants is very meager when one considers how many people require it. It is also important to keep in mind that DAISY players cost Rs. 11,000, hence not many people can afford them.”
Uma also stressed on the fact that all visually impaired children start learning and studying using only braille. She said, “The braille stylus and sheet are equivalent to our pen and paper. And only if children are financially well off do they get to access electronic media. To encourage reading among students, we need to give them books to read!”
With their braille books campaign, the organisation hopes to focus on children from the age of five to fifteen. Uma observed that in Karnataka, there are no books in braille for school children apart from textbooks, which are also most often delivered pretty late into the school year. She said, “Through a Government of India grant, we got two volume braille printing machines. So we decided to build small braille libraries in schools across Karnataka, with whom we have been working in the past that have partnered with us. We want to identify around three books per class or for various age groups, such as Ramayana, Mahabharata and Panchatantra and and other age appropriate general reading material.”
The number of books that are sent out will be dependent on the funds that they receive. Mitra Jyothi has started a campaign in order to achieve this goal.
Donate here, to help more blind children read books that not just enable them to live fully but also let them lend their lives to fantasy.
Like this story? Or have something to share? Write to us: contact@thebetterindia.com, or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter (@thebetterindia).
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Home Comforts in WWI through the Red Cross
What does the famous novelist Agatha Christie have in common with Elizabeth Lowes and Jane Smurthwaite of Middleton-in-Teesdale or Janet Amelia Dent and Mary Alice Smith from Barnard Castle? The answer is that they were all involved with the Red Cross during WWI.
Films, TV dramas and novels have shown us Red Cross and other nurses tending wounded soldiers in France, the Middle East and the Balkans. But the Red Cross also provided hospital care for military personnel in Britain –‘at home’ – particularly for convalescents. During the war The Bowes Museum provided tomatoes from its greenhouses to Red Cross voluntary hospitals in the north-east, only asking for the cost of transport.
Join us at The Bowes Museum for an inter-active session to find out more about the Red Cross and its hospital work. There will be talk with an opportunity to get your hands on nursing and hospital equipment from the WWI period. The session on Saturday 27th May starts at 2.30 and costs £3 including light refreshments (free with museum admission and for Friends). Please email info@thebowesmuseum.org.uk or telephone 01833 690606 to book.
Nursing was obviously a very important part of the work of the Red Cross during the war. But people were involved in a wide range of support work as well. We know of women from Teesdale who worked behind-the-scenes, providing clerical support, working as waitresses and housemaids in Red Cross institutions. We tend to forget the less ‘glamorous’ support work and we’d love to hear from you if you know anything about a relative or person from your community who was involved in any way.
Local Red Cross Societies were important fundraisers for the national society. There are many articles in the Teesdale Mercury during the war years, recording a range of events held in towns and villages throughout Teesdale to raise money for the Red Cross locally and nationally. A search on www.teesdalemercuryarchives.org.uk shows, for example, that in November 1915 Woodland Red Cross Society held a dance and supper with nearly 200 people present and raised over £10 – quite a lot of money in those days. Some of the money would provide Christmas parcels for three men from the village serving in the Dardanelles (W. Dewhurst and F. Finnigan) and in France (R. Anderson). Our Roll of Honour shows that Dewhurst and Finnigan were in the Royal Engineers and survived. Anderson, in the Black Watch, is listed on the Woodland war memorial among those who died.
posted by Michael Hoyle 25th May 2017
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New UGent museum to show the human side of science
Staff on strike at 11 Brussels hospital sites
Second patient dies from Legionnaires’ disease in Ghent
Air pollution problems should clear from Tuesday
Belgium in top five for best health care in Europe
Red Cross seeks volunteers to keep elderly people company
More than half of Belgians overweight, study finds
Investigators find one source of Legionnaires’ outbreak
Investigators believe they have found one source of the outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease that has killed two people and infected a further 30 in Evergem, the Agency for Care and Health (AZG) has confirmed.
On 9 and 10 May, samples were taken from 17 businesses in the port of Ghent for investigation; legionella pneumophila was found in five of them. “Results came in sooner than we had expected, but the lab has not yet finished its research,” said Joris Moonens of AZG (pictured above, centre).
“In one sample from one cooling tower of one business, a genetic similarity was found with the legionella samples taken from five of the 32 patients. There is a strong scientific argument that they were infected from this source.” The business in question has not been named as a legal process is under way.
It is likely that the other patients were also infected from this source, but a second source cannot be ruled out yet, Moonens added. “Samples from six other patients are being investigated. No samples have been taken from the other 21 because it is a stressful and invasive procedure, and sometimes too harmful to health.”
The prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation and appointed a judge. The name of the company involved will not be released until the investigation is complete. If it is found not to have taken sufficient precautions to prevent the spread of bacteria, there are likely to be legal consequences.
“It’s good that the likely source has been found,” said Evergem’s mayor, Joeri De Maertelaere. “The residents of Evergem, the victims and their families have the right to know the truth, but we cannot give the name of the source today. The investigating judge will provide this information in time in their report.”
Thirty-two people have contracted the illness, two of whom have died. The majority of patients have now been discharged from hospital, though two remain in intensive care.
All the cooling towers considered a potential source of the infection were disinfected by 15 May, to stop the spread of bacteria. Symptoms can appear up to 19 days after infection and there have been no new reports of possible cases since Saturday, 25 May. The company in question has been told to continue disinfecting its cooling towers each day.
Photo: Belga/Thierry Roge
Written by Flanders Today
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11:45 AM, June 23, 2019 / LAST MODIFIED: 11:50 AM, June 23, 2019
Ethiopia army chief of staff shot amid unrest
Map of Ethiopia. Photo: AFP
AFP, Addis Ababa
Ethiopia's army chief of staff has been shot, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced on television Sunday as the government said it had thwarted an attempted coup in a regional state of this Horn of Africa nation.
Abiy took to national television in the early hours of the morning dressed in military fatigues and announced that army chief Seare Mekonnen had been shot, an AFP correspondent said. His condition was unknown.
The internet was cut in Ethiopia, and more details were not immediately available.
The United States embassy issued alerts about reported gunfire in the capital Addis Ababa, and violence around Amhara's main city Bahir Dar.
"The embassy is aware of reports of gunfire in Addis Ababa. Chief of mission personnel are advised to shelter in place," the embassy said in one of its two alerts.
Earlier, Abiy's office announced that an attempted coup had taken place in Amhara, one of nine autonomous regions in the country.
A statement from his office did not give details on who was believed responsible for the attack, the latest blow to his efforts to stabilise and reform the Horn of Africa nation.
"The coup attempt in Amhara regional state is against the constitution and is intended to scupper the hard won peace of the region," said the statement.
"This illegal attempt should be condemned by all Ethiopians and the federal government has full capacity to overpower this armed group."
No details were given of the targets of the attack in the second-most populous state in the country, headed by regional president Ambachew Mekonen.
A journalist in the regional capital Bahir Dar told AFP shooting had begun shortly after sunset and continued for several hours before calming.
Since coming to power in April 2018 after two years of anti-government unrest, Abiy has been hailed for his efforts to end the iron-fisted rule of his predecessors.
He has embarked on economic reforms, allowed dissident groups back into the country, sought to crack down on rights abuses and arrested dozens of top military and intelligence officials
He also sealed a peace deal with neighbouring Eritrea, a longtime foe.
But he has battled a surge in tensions between ethnic groups in the diverse country -- usually over land and resources -- leading to deadly violence in the nation of more than 100 million people.
Over a million people have been displaced by the ethnic clashes, which analysts attribute to multiple causes, such as the weakening of the once all-powerful ruling EPRDF and different groups trying to take advantage of opportunities presented by the political transition.
The coup attempt comes a year after a grenade explosion at a rally Abiy was addressing left two people dead.
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Brian Hickerson Biography
Brian Hickerson is an American realtor and aspiring actor. Check out this biography to know about his childhood, family, personal life, relationships, etc.
Famous: Family Members American Men
Born in: South Carolina
Famous as: Business Manager
U.S. State: South Carolina
Sunday Rose Kid...
Helen Lasichanh
Linda Holliday
Jean Currivan T...
Brian Hickerson is an American realtor and aspiring actor. He hogged the limelight after he started dating the famous actress, model, and singer Hayden Panettiere. He has worked as a Business Solutions Manager for ‘Adams & Martin Group’ and as Business Development Manager for ‘HL Management.’ Hickerson made his feature film debut in 2017, when he played Officer Williams in the Natalia Leite-directed thriller film ‘M.F.A.’ He is currently working towards establishing a career for himself in the field of entertainment.
usmagazine.com
www.dailymail.co.uk
heavy.com
Brian Hickerson
Brian Hickerson was born in 1989 in South Carolina, United States of America. He grew up in South Carolina along with his sister Ann Stewart. After graduating high school, Hickerson joined the ‘University of South Carolina’ in 2007. He passed out of college in 2011, with a Bachelor of Science degree. Even before completing his graduation, Hickerson had started working in real estate. After completing his education, he started working for ‘HL Management’ where he eventually became the Business Development Manager. He then worked for ‘Adams & Martin Group’ as a Business Solutions Manager.
Acting Aspirations
Brian Hickerson moved from South Carolina to Los Angeles, California, in order to establish a career in the field of acting. After attending a number of auditions, he was finally roped in to play Officer Williams in the 2017 thriller film ‘M.F.A.’ In the movie he was seen along with actors like Clifton Collins Jr., Francesca Eastwood, and Leah McKendrick. He is currently living in Los Angeles and is trying his best to land more opportunities to showcase his acting skills.
Rise to Fame
Brian Hickerson started hogging the limelight in 2018, when he began dating actress Hayden Panettiere. Hickerson was introduced to Hayden Panettiere by a common friend and the two started dating soon after. They were first spotted together in August 2018, when Hayden was pictured holding Hickerson’s hands in Los Angeles. It was later revealed that Hickerson had helped Hayden cope with her previous break up. In fact, he was seen with Hayden prior to her break up with the famous boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko. Hickerson and Hayden then started making frequent public appearances, drawing the attention of many. In October 2018, they were once again seen holding hands on their way to a movie theatre in St. Augustine, Florida. Unsurprisingly, Hickerson’s relationship with the popular Hollywood actress increased his popularity. Even the number of his social media followers increased when he began dating the ‘Scream 4’ actress.
Before starting a relationship with Hayden Panettiere, Hickerson was dating a popular Instagram model named Baskin Champion. Baskin won the ‘Miss Alabama Teen USA’ contest in the year 2014. Even after breaking up with her, Hickerson continues to maintain a cordial relationship with Baskin. Hickerson has had his share of controversies as well. He had once left a trail of unpaid bills as the ‘Bank of Travelers Rest’ had lodged a complaint against him, claiming that he owes the bank more than $13,000. He is currently focusing on his career as an actor and is also doing well as a realtor. He is also active on Instagram, where he has more than 2100 followers.
Brian Hickerson Bio As PDF
- Brian Hickerson Biography
- https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/brian-hickerson-42626.php
Sunday Rose Kidman Urban
Jean Currivan Trebek
Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith
Libby Offutt
Alex Drummond
Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton
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Rafael Leonardo Callejas Romero Biography
Rafael Callejas is a former President of Honduras. He was in the office from 1990 to 1994. This biography of Rafael Callejas provides detailed information about his childhood, life, achievements, works & timeline
Birthday: November 14, 1943
Nationality: Honduran
Famous: Presidents Political Leaders
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Born in: Tegucigalpa
Famous as: President of Honduras
political ideology: Political party-National Party of Honduras
Spouse/Ex-: Norma Gaborit
education: Mississippi State University
Francis Lewis
Malcolm Turnbull
Rafael Callejas is a former President of Honduras. He was in the office from 1990 to 1994. Born in a landowning family, he moved to the United States for pursuing his graduation and post-graduation from Mississippi State University. After studying agricultural economy there, he returned to his country where he worked for a few years as banker and economist. At first, he was employed at the Council for Economic Planning, and was later made the Director of Agricultural Planning. He then worked in the department of Natural Resources and later became secretary of that department. Subsequently, he became the treasurer of the National Party of Honduras, and in the following years, acted as a member of the political commission of the party. After losing two consecutive elections, he was nominated as the presidential candidate by the party for the third time in the 1989 elections. This time, he earned the majority vote winning the presidential elections and took office for a period of four years. The primary goals of his mandate were maintaining sustained economic growth, improving the administration of justice and regaining the political and financial credibility of the country in the international arena. He served for four years and contributed significantly towards improving the economic and social conditions in his country
http://www.diariomas.hn/2013/08/21/espn-destrozo-a-callejas/
http://televicentro.hn/nota/2014/5/21/rafael-callejas-ratifica-informaci%C3%B3n-sobre-valdano
http://www.laprensa.hn/honduras/821661-410/callejas-yo-ya-fui-presidente-mi-deseo-es-ganar-para-servir
Male Leaders
Scorpio Leaders
Rafael Leonardo Callejas Romero
Rafael Callejas was born on November 14, 1943, in Tegucigalpa, in a family of landowners.
He received his elementary education from the American School in Tegucigalpa, and later completed his high school from the San Francisco Institute.
In 1965, he obtained his Bachelor of Science degree and later earned a M.S. degree in agricultural economics, both from the Mississippi State University, United States.
In 1967, he attended the Social Studies Institute in The Hague, Holland, where he studied agricultural development.
Scorpio Men
In 1967, Rafael Callejas was appointed on the Higher Council for Economic Planning, where he worked until 1971. In 1968, he was made the head evaluator in the Office of Agricultural Planning.
From 1972 to 1975, he served as the deputy secretary in the department of Natural Resources.
Between 1975 and 1980, he was appointed as the secretary of that department and later served as the director of agricultural planning during 1983-1984.
In 1980, he became a treasurer of the National Party of Honduras (NPH). The following year, when the military agreed to democratic elections, he was selected as the party’s presidential candidate, but lost to Roberto Suazo Córdova of Liberal Party (PLH).
Later, he became the head of the National Renovation Movement, a conservative faction of the National Party to advance his candidature in the 1985 presidential elections.
In 1985 elections, both the leading political parties allowed various candidates to stand, and while he gained the highest individual vote with 42.6 percent, the PLH candidates gained 51.5 percent of the total vote, which again resulted in his defeat.
In 1989, he was re-nominated as the presidential candidate of the National Party. This time, he won the election with an absolute majority of 52.3 percent. He assumed the office of President on January 27, 1990
As the President, he helped bring about certain economic improvements during the initial phases of his administration. He reduced government expenses and increased exports, especially of non-traditional maquiladora production.
Rafael Callejas faced severe economic challenges during his term. He followed the advice of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by devaluing the Honduran currency Lempira and cutting the public expenditure which resulted in many public servants being laid off. He also encouraged investment with lower taxes and tariffs.
He encountered opposition to his economic policies from organized labor as under his pro-business policies, many workers suffered from deteriorating living standards. Eventually, the global financial crisis and its enormous impact on Honduras crushed any hopes of economic revival.
This crisis also contributed towards his growing unpopularity and he decided to step back from nominating himself in the November 1993 elections. He stepped down from presidency on January 27, 1994.
Major Works
His government made significant contribution to the social arena, such as the establishment of the ‘Family Assistance Program (PRAF)’ and the ‘Honduran Fund for Social Investment (FHIS)’.
He followed liberal economic policies and tried to attract local and foreign investment. Under his tenure, steady economic growth was maintained, poverty was reduced and large investments were undertaken to improve the infrastructure.
In 1989, he was named an Honorary Professor by Mississippi State University.
In1993, Rafael Callejas was conferred with the Doctor Honoris Causa by the Mexican University of Guadalajara.
Rafael Callejas is married to Norma Gaborit and the couple has three children.
See the events in life of Rafael Leonardo Callejas Romero in Chronological Order
Rafael Leonardo Callejas Romero Bio As PDF
- Rafael Leonardo Callejas Romero Biography
- https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/rafael-leonardo-callejas-romero-5890.php
Ramon Magsaysay
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Altaf Hussain
(Pakistani)
(Cuban)
20th Century | 21st Century | Celebrity Names With Letter R | 21st Century Leaders | 20th Century Leaders | 21st Century Presidents | 20th Century Presidents | Male Celebrity Names With Letter R | 20th Century Political Leaders | 21st Century Political Leaders
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Home / Unlabelled / The Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, London
The Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, London
The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, usually referred to as Kew Gardens, are 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England.
The most famous attraction here is the Palm House which is specialised for the growing palms and other tropical and subtropical plants.
The Temperate greenhouse has twice the floor area of the Palm House and contains plants and trees from all the temperate regions of the world. It also houses the Chilean wine palm which is the worlds tallest indoor plant reaching a height of over 16 metres.
The Xstrata Treetop Walkway
This walkway is 18 metres (59 ft) high and 200 metres (660 ft) long and takes visitors into the tree canopy of a woodland glade. The floor of the walkway is made from perforated metal and flexes as it is walked upon. The entire structure sways in the wind. The view from the walkway is wonderful.
The Great Pagoda erected in the year 1762 stands in the South East corner of Kew Gardens. The pagoda's design is an imitation of the Chinese Ta. The lowest of the ten octagonal storeys is 49 feet (15 m) in diameter. From the base to the highest point is 163 feet (50 m).
The Chokushi-Mon is a four-fifths scale replica of the karamon (gateway) of the Nishi Hongan-ji temple in Kyoto. It was built for the Japan-British Exhibition in 1910 and moved to Kew in 1911, It is located near the Pagoda and is surrounded by a reconstruction of a traditional Japanese rock garden.
The Alpine House
Rare and unusual Alpine plants can be seen inside the Davies Alpine House
Inside the Evolution House
The Order Beds and Rose Pergola
The rose pergola was built in 1959 to mark the bicentennial of the Kew Gardens. It supports climber and rambling roses selected for the length and profusion of flowering.
Queen Charlotte's house
Within the conservation area is a cottage that was given to Queen Charlotte as a wedding present on her marriage to George III. Lovely little place.
The Water Lily House
It is one of the most hottest and humid glasshouses in Kew and is home to a host of tropical and ornamental aquatic plants
The museum near the Palm House
It was opened in 1857 and aims to illustrate humans' dependence on plants. It houses Kew's economic botany collections including tools, ornaments, clothing, food and medicines. The upper two floors are now an education centre and the ground floor houses the "Plants+People" exhibition which highlights the variety of plants and the ways that people use them.
The Princess of Wales Conservatory which was opened by Diana, Princess of Wales, houses ten computer-controlled micro-climatic zones, with the bulk of the greenhouse volume composed of Dry Tropics and Wet Tropics plants.
The Rhizotron
The rhizotron is essentially a single gallery containing a set of large bronze abstract castings which contain LCD screens that carry repeating loops of information about the life of trees.
The Sackler Crossing bridge is made of granite and bronze and is named in honour of philanthropists Dr Mortimer and Theresa Sackler.
Originally built of limestone in 1882 it is now constructed of Sussex sandstone from West Hoathly, Sussex. The rock garden is divided into 6 geographic regions: Europe, Mediterranean & Africa, Australia & New Zealand, Asia, North America and South America. There are currently 2,480 different 'accessions' growing in the garden.
The Badger Sett
Badgers are nightly visitors at the gardens and there were marked burrows at many places in the garden. There was also a simulation of a badgers burrow for the humans :) We went it and it was fun.
We were also lucky enough to be paid a visit by a peacock. After photographing some flowers near the Queens Cottage, as we turned around we saw this peacock right behind us - as though looking at what we were upto. Got to see it from really close quarters. Amazing...
"If you've just read this post somewhere other than UK Travel Blog, it's been plagiarized..."
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Government sets timeline for capital city relocation
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (third left), along with other officials, studies a map during a visit to Bukit Soeharto in Kutai Kartanegara regency, East Kalimantan, on May 7. Bukit Soeharto, is one of several areas that have been mooted as a new capital city. (Antara/Agus Salim)
The government has set a timeline for the relocation of the capital, showing its seriousness to realize the plan that was introduced by founding president Sukarno.
National Development Planning Minister Bambang Brodjonego said in Jakarta on Monday that the government would complete a series of studies, appoint the location and discuss the legal basis for the relocation with the House of Representatives this year.
The work to prepare the legal basis includes drafting a capital city relocation bill, said Bambang, who is also head of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas).
He said the study, which began in 2017, included an initial study on alternative locations, socioeconomic impact, capital city design concept and technical studies.
“In 2020, land preparation begins, assuring the status of the land and preparing the basic infrastructure,” he said in discussion at the Presidential Office as quoted in a press statement.
In 2021, he added, Bappenas would start drafting the details of the master plan, site plan, buildings and basic infrastructure.
Meanwhile, from 2022 to 2024, the government will focus on procurement, land acquisition, drafting a detailed engineering design, groundbreaking for the new capital city development and capital city expansion plan.
“In the initial phase, the new capital city will only accommodate 1.5 million people,” he said, adding that those people would consist of 195,500 civil servants, lawmakers and law enforcers; 25,600 military and police officers; 884,840 members of families and 393,950 businesspeople.
“The relocation of people will take place in the period of five to 10 years since the completion of the new capital city development.”(bbn)
capital-city-relocation timeline bambang-brodjonegoro
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All News School News Research & Insights In the Media Events For Journalists Social Media
Bringing It All Back Home
Leslie Robinson sheds light into the “black box” of foreign earnings.
by Michael Blanding
Research by associate professor Leslie Robinson shines some light into the “black box” of foreign earnings.
By the end of 2010, 90 percent firms in the S&P 500 owned and operated a subsidiary in a foreign country. Globalization in full flower, right? Yes, but it might not be so pretty for America’s tax revenue. With the increase in foreign business has come fears that offshore earnings will never come back to the U.S.—as with the recent controversy over Apple’s use of foreign entities to avoid paying taxes on $100 billion in profits and sales.
When overseas earnings are expected to be subject to U.S. tax, accounting rules generally require companies to include this tax as a liability on their balance sheets, decreasing their near-term profits. However, these rules provide an exception for earnings deemed by a company to be “permanently reinvested” abroad. “The intuition is that the actual tax will be paid so far out in the future that it’s too complicated to determine the appropriate amount of the expected liability today,” says Leslie Robinson, associate professor of business administration at Tuck.
Because permanently reinvested earnings (PREs) are exempt from the requirement to accrue a tax liability in the financial statements, industry observers worry that companies may be tempted to overstate their PREs to make their profits look better. But is that happening? Robinson addresses the question in a new working paper, “The Location, Composition, and Investment Implications of Permanently Reinvested Earnings,” written with colleagues Linda Krull of the University of Oregon and Jennifer Blouin of the University of Pennsylvania.
Companies are required to report so little about their overseas business that it’s difficult to ascertain their underlying motivation for asserting that their foreign earnings are PRE. “The notion of PREs is a bit of a black box to people,” says Robinson. “One firm may say earnings are PRE because they don’t want to accrue the tax liability, while another firm may have genuine long-term reinvestment plans.” Enforcement, therefore, is difficult.
Recently, however, the Securities and Exchange Commission has begun demanding PRE-heavy companies disclose the amount of cash they hold abroad. “They appear to believe, without having any evidence for it, that most companies are not genuine about the PRE assertion,” says Robinson. “The purpose of our paper was to try to provide evidence on this issue and state an opinion on whether the SEC’s action was warranted.”
Toward that end, the researchers studied a dataset from the Bureau of Economic Analysis that lists assets and earnings by companies in countries across the world. By comparing these numbers to a company’s PRE, they could tell more about how and where these earnings were actually being reinvested. They found that only 25 percent of PREs were invested in countries with tax havens. In addition, they learned that just 55 percent of PREs were held in cash—a far cry from assertions of critics who assumed the percentage was much higher. In fact, only 14 percent of funds, on average, were being stashed as cash in countries with tax havens. Moreover, more than a third of PREs is being reinvested in high-growth divisions of companies, where presumably it is growing a firm’s overseas business. Of course, some companies may still be misreporting those earnings, but the clear majority seems to be reporting them accurately. “Some firms have the wrong motivation, but I don’t think it’s quite as bad as some people think,” concludes Robinson.
And yet, another problem looms. When the researchers looked at firms’ internal capital markets, they found that companies with higher PREs were less able to fund domestic investment with foreign assets. “That suggests that the concern that cash is trapped abroad is somewhat warranted,” Robinson says, raising the worry that some of those earnings may be inappropriately identified.
Because of that, Robinson and her colleagues actually conclude that the SEC is justified in requesting more information about firms’ foreign cash. “We think that not only should they be disclosing the amount of foreign cash, but they should also be disclosing the amount of foreign cash with the PRE distinction applied to it. That’s the only way for investors to distinguish between firms that have great liquidity even though they have a lot of PREs, and those that don’t.”
Predictably, companies have complained that the new disclosure requirements are costly infringements on their business. But by providing evidence to support the SEC’s actions, Robinson and her colleagues make the disclosures more justifiable. At the same time, their findings push back against the criticisms of those who have painted all PREs as illegitimate “trapped cash.” “People who work in this area have fairly strong prior assumptions—thinking that firms are behaving so badly,” says Robinson. “Our findings weaken that assertion. Some firms may be behaving badly—but on average they are not.”
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Mental Health Care for the Military Over the Web
CLAIRE CAIN MILLER
Jul 31, 2009 at 12:01 AM Aug 3, 2009 at 4:18 AM
American Well, which offers online doctor visits, will deliver mental health services to military members over the Web.
When we first wrote about American Well, a start-up that offers doctor visits over a webcam, a number of the Bits readers suggested that the service seemed well-suited to visits with therapists.
The military will soon use American Well to do just that. It will be the first time that online care has been used to deliver mental health services, according to American Well.
Beginning Aug. 1 in Hawaii, TriWest Healthcare Alliance, which provides health care for a third of military service members and their families, will use American Well to put soldiers and their family members face to face with psychologists and psychiatrists over the Web.
The service is part of a program mandated by the Department of Defense to address soldiers' mental health. Accessing mental health services quickly, conveniently and privately is important for service members, said David J. McIntyre Jr., chief executive of TriWest.
"There has been a stigma that's associated when one seeks behavioral health care when they are strong and a warrior," Mr. McIntyre said. "Many in the senior levels of the military believe that individuals need to be able to seek that assistance in a private environment that is conducive to them getting the services rather than the stigma being a barrier."
Service members and their families will be able to log on as many times as they want for assessments, counseling sessions, psychotherapy and medication management. American Well enables doctors to access a patient's medical records while they are talking, add notes to the records and file prescriptions.
TriWest will begin using American Well in Hawaii because the state already makes doctors on American Well available to all residents through Hawaii Medical Service Association, the state's Blue Cross-Blue Shield licensee. TriWest will also provide lower-tech online care in the 20 other states in which it operates. Mr. McIntyre said he hopes TriWest can eventually offer American Well's services more broadly.
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Linden crushes Georgiana, advances to 1A semifinals
By Jeremy D. SmithSpecial to The Tuscaloosa News
LINDEN — Linden picked off a Georgiana pass on the second play from scrimmage and scored on the third Friday night to ignite a 52-12 rout in the Class 1A quarterfinals.
C.J. Robinson stepped in front of a Panther pass two snaps in before DeAntonio Williams ran the ball in from the 8, putting the Patriots up just 29 seconds into the game. The lead ballooned to 26-0 before the Panthers got on the scoreboard.
“Our defense played great. I’m proud of our guys, proud of our effort for playing fast and physical and trying to mix it up and doing it the right way,” Linden coach Andro Williams said.
Deauris Jones scored on a 15-yard run to make it 13-0. Dequan Charleston returned a punt 48 yards to make it 20-0 and then hauled in a 17-yard pass from Robinson to push it to 26-0.
Cameron Longmire got Georgiana on the board with a 3-yard run just before halftime. Linden then picked up where it left off in the third quarter as Charleston broke a 54-yard touchdown sprint to stretch the lead to 33-6. Christian Williams attempted to keep his team in it with a 56-yard touchdown run, but the Linden offense proved far too much.
Charleston scored on a 14-yard run and a 16-yard run with a 40-yard Isaiah Scott touchdown run sandwiched in between.
The Patriot offense managed 338 yards on 39 snaps. The production proved enough to overcome a pair of turnovers.
“I thought we executed for the most part. We made some mistakes. It’s part of the game,” Williams said. “We’ve just got to continue to stay focused and disciplined, stay focused on the task at hand.”
Charleston made his presence felt in all phases of the contest, running for 140 yards and three touchdowns on seven attempts in addition to the receiving and punt return touchdowns. He also intercepted a pass on defense. Bruce McIntosh paced the defense with 10 total tackles including five for loss.
Linden (13-0) moves to the state semifinals next week and will host Maplesville.
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A Way Out: The Union of Iraqi States
A managed partition of Iraq into a European-style union of three politically independent but economically linked states is the best scenario to reduce violence and allow a drawdown of foreign troops.
By Pauline H. Baker
In a June 27 article on “Saving Iraq,” Robert Dreyfuss argues that it is “a bridge too far” to conclude, as I do, that the way things are going, “the only choices for Iraq now are how, and how violently, it will break up.” He maintains that this is throwing up one’s hands and saying that “there is no hope for Iraq.” That is a strange way to characterize facing reality. It is like a passenger on the Titanic saying that the ship may still be able to float after it hits the iceberg, so everyone should stay on board. Hoping for the best does not make it so.
Few challenge the fact that Iraq is disintegrating violently. While there may be pockets of improvement from the “surge,” they are transitory achievements that are about four years too late. We do not have enough US or Iraqi troops capable of holding ground and building on these inroads. Nor have they diminished the level of violence in the country as a whole, encouraged reconciliation, limited militia activity or stopped the spate of vengeance killings that are occurring every day.
The breakup of the country is occurring, with ordinary Iraqis fleeing in fear of the violence. Two million refugees and 1.7 million internally displaced people have already left their homes. Roughly 50,000 to 100,000 more are moving each month to safety in other countries or to homogenous ethno-religious communities. As a recent report from the Brookings Institution put it, “The impetus for ethno-sectarian flight comes from the ethno-sectarian nature of the killing, rather than armed conflict per se…. [Iraqis] are seeking security…where militias of their own group tend to be in control.” Even the United States is unintentionally abetting the process in an attempt to quell the killing. US troops are creating “gated communities” in many Baghdad neighborhoods and erecting a three-mile wall to discourage intercommunal violence.
Dreyfuss exhibits two characteristics typical of US foreign policy analysts in denying the impact of these trends. The first is an unwillingness to face up to facts on the ground if they contradict preconceived ideas of what they think “should” be the right outcome–in this case, a multiethnic democratic society. As noble as this goal is, it is grasping for straws to believe that it is achievable in the chaos that reigns in Iraq today. When internal war descends into systematic vengeance-seeking violence against civilians, such policies can worsen the conflict by hardening group identities and fostering faster fragmentation.
A second characteristic of US foreign policy analysts is the tendency to “pick winners” who they believe are imbued with the power to miraculously save the situation. There is a school of thought that holds that leaders matter more than underlying social forces in critical transitions or crises. In truth, of course, both are important. But where exemplary leaders are not available, social forces take over. It is fanciful to think that we can find in Iraq the kind of nonviolent bridge-building figures of integrity, such as Nelson Mandela or Vaclav Havel, who can turn the situation around.
Dreyfuss is trying to pick winners nonetheless. He trumpets a “nascent bloc of Iraqi nationalists who, against all odds, are working to put together a pan-Iraq coalition that would topple the US-backed government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki” [italics mine]. Without citing evidence, he asserts that “outside Parliament the nationalists represent an overwhelming majority of rank- and-file Iraqis.” Former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi is the titular leader of this “emerging nationalist coalition” that could “oust Maliki,” although Dreyfuss does not spell out how this would occur. He warns, nonetheless, that this is “probably Iraq’s last chance to avoid civil war, collapse and fragmentation.”
There are three problems with this scenario. It is too late, it inflates the influence of the bloc and its leader, and it could strike the fatal blow that would push the country into total collapse.
Besides, we have already tried to pick winners in Iraq. The first time was when we picked Ahmad Chalabi, who had aspired to lead Iraq after he convinced the United States that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and that our liberation of the country would be widely welcomed. We all know what that produced. The second time was when we backed Iyad Allawi as prime minister in a short-lived term that failed to reduce the violence or advance political reconciliation. There is no reason to believe that he could do any better the second time around. Moreover, the Iraqi National List holds only 13 percent of the ministerial posts and 11 percent of the seats in Parliament; it garnered only 14 percent of the votes in the most recent parliamentary elections.
The third time we tried picking winners was when National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley contemplated a plan to replace Maliki in a memo that was leaked to the New York Times in November 2006. Cooler heads in the Bush Administration correctly recognized that this might result in the collapse of the central government entirely. Anyone picked by the United States to replace Maliki will automatically be deemed as illegitimate. Lacking any other new ideas, President Bush restated his full support of Maliki, despite Maliki’s failure to make progress on the benchmarks Bush said were required.
No amount of reshuffling the deck will save a disintegrating Iraq. We should put aside preconceived notions about preferred outcomes, such as a multinational democracy, and accept more workable if less desirable outcomes, such as partitioning the country into three states. This at least holds the potential to reduce the violence by offering a positive vision of how Iraqis can live side by side, if not together. Neither the Bush Administration nor the Baker-Hamilton recommendations offer such a vision. The former keeps trying to stay the course, while the latter formulated a way for the United States to get out, irrespective of what follows in the wake of our departure.
This is understandable. Domestic pressure for US withdrawal is coming to a head and the window of opportunity for leaving something behind that could be constructive is narrowing fast. The question is: Can we draw down the US military presence and simultaneously nurture a new political order that will bring stability?
It may well be too late, but there is one path worth exploring. Leslie Gelb, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, proposed partition shortly after the war began. Senator Joe Biden proposed a soft partition about a year ago. The Fund for Peace advocated a “managed partition” last year. Whatever we call it, separating the main ethnic-religious groups is now being considered seriously in the debate over the merits of “hard” (complete sovereignty for three states) versus “soft” (loose confederation) partition. What is important is that a carefully “managed partition” could reduce the ethno-sectarian violence and allow a reduction in the presence of foreign troops.
One version of a managed partition is a European-style “Union of Iraqi States” whose three component parts would have political independence but be linked economically, like the European Union. This would ensure that none of the major ethnic-religious groups would be dominated by any other, as each would have its own government and security forces. However, if they are linked in a larger economic entity, they will enjoy free trade and commerce and an attractive environment for international investment, and will endorse common principles such as protection of minority rights and free movement of labor and capital. The critical question of sharing oil revenues that is currently dividing the country could be resolved by an equitable formula negotiated with, and enforced by, the international community that would provide each state with a guaranteed share of the income based on criteria used in other oil-producing states such as need, population and derivation.
Iraq’s neighbors and other international stakeholders would have to be part of the bargain, guaranteeing financial support, border security, military nonaggression pacts (including preventing rebel activity) and diplomatic recognition. They, too, could benefit from this arrangement.
Iran would benefit because Iraq could never again be able to wage war against it. Turkey would benefit by getting guarantees from the international community to stop PKK infiltration. Jordan and Syria would benefit by being able to return Iraqi refugees flooding into their countries. And the United States and its allies would benefit by bringing their troops home without leaving chaos, civil war and regional disorder behind.
The losers would be the foreign terrorists, whose presence would no longer be necessary, a feature that would turn the populace against them. The rationale for fighting would likewise dry up for internal insurgents, with the occupation ending and self-rule on the horizon. Not all players are likely to jump on board, at least not at first. And there would be bitter-enders who would fight to the finish. But such forces would be marginalized as the majority of the local population grasps for a light at the end of the tunnel.
The three states would each be very different. We might not like all the outcomes. However, they would not be fighting each other, providing the seedbed for terrorist training, destabilizing the region, creating horrific violence every day or bleeding our forces on their battlefields. Indeed, if the recent shift of the Sunni tribal chiefs against Al Qaeda is real, then an independent Sunni-dominated state would probably deprive foreign terrorists of a base in their nascent state. Neither Kurdistan in the north nor a supra-Shiite state in the south would be hospitable havens. Managed partition could be a real setback for Al Qaeda.
Will there be difficult problems? Of course. But they would not be more complex than what Iraq and the region will confront with violent disintegration or the sudden departure of US troops, as US Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari recently warned.
Will it be easy? Not by a long shot. Such transitions never are. Although the negotiated partition of a state into separate entities is never ideal, it recently ended two wars. More than a decade ago, the international community helped to end the bloodiest war on the European continent since World War II by managing the partition of Bosnia into three separate entities with revenue- and power-sharing arrangements. Today that country remains at peace and is currently in negotiations to join the European Union, an outcome not thought imaginable at the end of the war in 1996. A managed partition was also negotiated to end Africa’s longest war in southern Sudan, with the southern region due to vote on independence in a 2011 referendum. If managed partition was successful in the Balkans and Eastern Africa, why not in Iraq?
Would it result in more violence? Probably no more than what Iraq is experiencing now or will likely experience in the future if current trends continue. Handled right, a managed partition would result in a sharp drop in violence.
How could such a solution be implemented? Henry Kissinger provided a framework in a recent piece for the Washington Post. Although he does not endorse partition outright, he contemplates it as a possible result, asserting that the internal parties that have been having blood feuds for centuries “need the buttress of a diplomatic process that could provide international support for carrying out any internal agreements reached or to contain conflict if the internal parties cannot agree and Iraq breaks up.”
Kissinger proposes a three-tiered international effort that includes intensified negotiations among the Iraqi parties, a regional forum and a broader conference to establish the peacekeeping and verification dimensions for the “eventual participation of friendly countries with a big stake in the outcome.” The foreign ministers’ conference that met recently at Sharm el Sheik, Egypt, and that will meet again in Istanbul at a date to be determined could kick off the multilateral diplomacy that Kissinger advocates, with managed partition as one of the options put on the table. Perhaps it would have the effect of driving internal parties to compromise more to avoid partition. But if not, then this and other versions of new political order should be considered.
Ultimately, of course, it is up to the Iraqis to decide the fate of their nation. We can ease that choice by mounting a multilateral diplomatic offensive based on fresh ideas. Rather than pick winners, stay the course or pull out–these being the only three options now being considered–managed partition could salvage something from this long ordeal. It could leave us with some influence in the area, contain terrorism, allow us to start bringing our troops home in a responsible way, avert a bloodbath in the wake of troop withdrawal and shift our role from war-fighting to state-building.
However, it would take strong and committed US diplomatic leadership to make this happen. Is the Bush Administration up to the task of shifting strategy at this late date? Let’s hope so. If not, then, as I said earlier, the way things are going, the only choices left for Iraq are how, and how violently, it will break up.
Pauline H. BakerPauline H. Baker is president of The Fund for Peace, an independent research and educational organization based in Washington, DC.
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Spurned wife poured boiling water on rival
Simon de Bruxelles
October 18 2017, 12:01am, The Times
Monika Fourie, right, had recently learnt that her husband was having an affair with Hannah Stokes
The spurned wife of a Royal Marine emptied a kettle of boiling water over the head of the younger woman for whom he was leaving her.
Hannah Stokes suffered “terrible burns” to her chest, neck and back in the attack, which left her scarred for life, a court was told.
Monika Fourie, 34, who was born in Poland, attacked her rival in the living room of her former home on October 24, 2015.
Fourie’s husband, Wouter, from South Africa, had told her a few weeks earlier that he was having an affair and they had agreed to separate. Fourie had moved out of the house. Her husband and his new partner were sitting in the living room when she let herself in using her own…
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Zimbabwe activists sue state for $500 million
The Supreme Court on Monday upheld an application by Mukoko, a former TV journalist and director of the faith-based rights group, Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) in which she argued that her constitutional rights to liberty, full protection of the law and right to freedom from torture had been infringed when she was abducted from her Norton home on December 3 in a pre-dawn raid.
Mukoko’s lawyer, Harrison Nkomo, of Mtetwa and Nyambira legal practitioners, said they served the summons to all the respondents.
“The financial damages sought are for illegal abduction, disappearance and torture at the hands of State players," said Nkomo.
Mukoko was held incommunicado in secret detention facilities until December 24, when she appeared in court charged with sabotage, banditry and terrorism.
During her detention, she says she was tortured by her abductors together with 23 other human rights and political activists.
Seven other people who were abducted around the same time with Mukoko are said to be still missing.
Handing down judgement in the matter Monday, Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku, sitting with Justice Paddington Garwe and Justice Luke Malaba, ordered a permanent stay of prosecution in the criminal case.
Mukoko is also demanding her bail deposit, passport and title deeds from the Attorney General (AG)’s Office following her acquittal.
In a letter written to the AG’s Office just after her acquittal, Nkomo said the AG’s Office should reimburse Mukoko her bail money of USd 600, return her title deeds and her passport which she surrendered in February as part of her bail conditions.
“We are fully aware that all these are in the custody of the clerk of court, but a letter from your office explaining the legal position to the clerk of court might expedite this matter,” read part ofNkomo’s letter.
Mukoko said she needs her passport to enable her to travel to Germany to receive a human rights award and to attend meetings in the United States of America.
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YouTube’s Viewer-Friendly Ad Experience Raises Bar for New Subscription Service
Thursday, October 22, 2015, 1:02 PM ET
What’s a viewer’s willingness to pay in order to have an ad-free video experience? The question is in focus yet again with yesterday’s announcement of YouTube Red, the company’s long-rumored $9.99/month ad-free service. Unfortunately for YouTube Red, in its case, willingness to pay is going to be heavily influenced by the fact that YouTube has arguably the most viewer (and advertiser) friendly video ad model, which will undoubtedly impact interest in paying for YouTube Red.
We’ve all had the experience of skipping a YouTube “TrueView” ad after 5 seconds in order to move to our desired content. YouTube highlights that the ads are skippable and even displays a countdown clock (3, 2, 1) so you know when to click to move on. Advertisers benefit too, by only paying for ads that aren’t skipped.
The TrueView format is far more viewer-friendly than preroll or midroll ads that aren’t skippable and increasingly show up in heavier loads when watching TV programs online. To be sure, YouTube runs plenty of unskippable prerolls as well, not to mention those pesky overlay banners. Conversely, there are plenty of great videos on YouTube that don’t have any ads (incongruously, see Jimmy Fallon’s videos, for example).
YouTube Red is beefed up with lots of other features in order to help drive interest (ad-free music service plus kids and gaming, originals by some of its most popular creators, downloads for offline viewing, background play to enable multi-tasking, etc.). The originals feature also has the added benefit of mitigating competition from Vessel, which is pursuing exclusive window deals with some of YouTube’s biggest stars.
Still, the fundamental question remains, will YouTube users - long accustomed to a free-viewing experience with minimal advertising interruptions - pay $9.99/month ($12.99/month if bought in-app on iOS) for a completely ad-free experience?
It’s the same type of experiment that Hulu is running by offering its new “No Commercials” plan for $12/month, an upcharge of $4/month vs. its “Limited Commercials” plan. And of course it’s the same “freemium” type approach that countless other services like Spotify, Pandora, etc. offer.
Netflix has become the poster child for success with ad-free subscription services, spurring many others to believe they too can succeed with the model. YouTube has a massive user base to promote YouTube Red to and it’s offering one month free starting next week, so it’s likely the service will generate lots of trial. But converting trial members into long-term paying members still looks like a steep challenge.
Categories: Aggregators, Commerce
Topics: YouTube
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Uncharted 3 - Does it Earning a Perfect Review Score Matter That Much??
November 01, 2011 / Carlos Hernandez
Uncharted 3 is out tom(November 1) and game reviews from big gaming websites have been up for two weeks now. Drake's next adventure has been getting mostly near perfect score. Some gave it perfect scores, while some didn't. These near perfect scores, pissed off so many Uncharted 3 fans calling it BS, acting as if this hyped up game received a horrible score and thinks that the reviewer believes it's a bad game. Did we all want this game to be perfect that much???
I honestly don't care. I'm not buying Uncharted 3 because it's going to be a perfect game, I want it because it's Drake's next adventure. So it made me think, does that score towards the end of the review matter that much? does it actually give you second thoughts of the game when you haven't actually read the full review? or even played it? Let's face it, most of us do go straight to the end to see the score, I too have that urge. G4's Adam Sessler reviewed Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, is why some people think about the review score too much. The reactions on the game earning a 4/5 was hilarious. Everybody was shocked and some sounded like they don't trust G4's crew in reviewing games. Didn't you want their opinion in the game?
One comment said that G4 gave Dance Central a 5/5 while Uncharted 3 get's a 4/5 and says it's BS. huh? Those are two completely different games, why are you comparing a dancing game with an adventure game? I read the review coming from G4, and it was a good and honest review. He compared Uncharted 2: Among Thieves with Uncharted 3, and that's to be expected. Naughty Dog raised the bar so damn high that even after I finished Uncharted 2: Among Thieves I even wondered if a sequel can top this. For him, he believes Uncharted 2 was a better game and Uncharted 3 was overshadowed by the second game. there we're issues in the sequel that prevented him from giving it that precious 5/5.
An honest opinion coming from someone who played the game. It earned a 4/5 in the end of the review, a 95/100 for some. A near perfect score, and gamer's are still unhappy. The game isn't even out and people have their own opinion in the game. Most of their reactions are coming from the score rather from what the reviewer actually said about the game. It's completely different when you've actually finished the game and think you don't agree with the reviewer's opinion. When you haven't even played the game and insist it needs a perfect score, and he's wrong, well that's just dumb.
A game worth a perfect score. That's what people expect Naughty Dog to produce now thanks to Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. The bigger problem is people's trusting over that review score more than the actual review. Some gamer's at times don't have the attention span anymore to actually sit down and read someones opinion in the game - Where it lacks, what they love about it. A lot jump to the score and judge the game and the reviewer instantly based on it. The score is just a score, and we forget that. It's one of the factor's in one person's opinion towards the game. The purpose of actually opening a review to get someone's opinion sometimes get ruined thanks to the score at the end.
The reactions towards Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is a bit too much if you ask me. It still sounds like an amazing game. Don't let that score in the end ruin your need for Nathan Drake's next adventure. I will be on a hunt for a day one purchase of Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception tomorrow, hoping it comes out on time here in the Philippines.
November 01, 2011 / Carlos Hernandez/ Comment
Naughty Dog, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
The Big Game List - Games to look out for this month and the next[Part1]
October 18, 2011 / Carlos Hernandez
October is finally here. Actually, its been here for a while now, but it really hit me when I picked up Dark Souls on October 4 and went MIA for a week because of it. Why is October and November so important? well because these are the months that have a huge number of triple A titles coming to us gamers. In production for a long time, but announced a year ago, these are the games to look out for, or you should consider to buy if you have those extra bucks lying around your house.
August and September was pretty big too with titles such as Deus Ex, Gears of War 3, Resistance 3, Dead Island, and a couple more hitting the shelves, but I think this month and the next beats that completely.
RAGE - Playstation 3, PC, Xbox 360
Release Date: October 4, 2011 (Out now)
If you want a new game that isn't a sequel or has a number after its title, here ya go. It's a First Person Shooter(FPS) title worth giving a shot. If you like the classic FPS games such as Doom, Quake, and the really old Wolfenstein 3D, this is going to be a winner for you. Well, because the creators of those series is the makers of Rage. It's been awhile since Id Software has come out and created an entirely new title and they worked on it for years. First announcement? in Quakecon 2007 as a tech demo for id Softwares new game engine id Tech 5.
Now, compared to the tech video four years ago, the game had huge changes which looked and feels better each time they showed it up until release. id Tech 5 is a pretty amazing game engine and is fairly new. Rage is the first game to be released using this tech and if your thinking the graphics looks amazing, its thanks to this new engine.
The game is set in a post-apocalyptic world with mutants and thugs that roam the wasteland. The game is similar to Fallout and Borderlands and people have the confusion of what the game is thanks to this. It's similar to Fallout 3 and Borderlands because of the setting and its RPG elements, but it's not like those games. It's still an FPS at heart but borrowed some RPG elements to keep things interesting. There are no leveling and skills, but there is a currency system, inventory, and the ability to create and upgrade your weapons. Those are the RPG elements of Rage. The game looks like an open world but again its an FPS at heart, so it's not 'open' compared to Fallout 3 or Borderlands
Not everything went smooth during launch though. Because of it being a new game engine, the PC version witness a huge amount of issues like crashes, graphic glitches that frustrated a lot of gamers. Graphic card companies and id Software had to release an update to the cards drivers and patch up the game. Console versions had crashes and issues but not as severe as the PC version since they had to update their drivers too.
Game's already out around the world. I'd suggest PC gamers to get this game, but I think you should check if the coast is clear before grabbing a copy for yourself.
Should we consider it? - When we hear FPS, they're talking about Halo, Call of Duty, or Battlefield. FPS is really about the multiplayer aspect nowadays. I honestly miss FPS focused solely on the first player campaign. A lot will have the first impression of passing this game since it doesn't have a competitive multiplayer, but it does have multiplayer, just not the one you're expecting. They have car combat similar to Twisted Metal which I bet will be hard to swallow. The only FPS multiplayer they have is the co-op mode which is you and a friend survive waves of enemies. The shooting mechanic is the best in the genre and fans of the post-apocalyptic setting will appreciate how amazing the world of Rage looks. Rage is one of the best looking games out now. Don't get Rage because it reminded you of Fallout or Borderlands, buy it because you want an FPS focused on the single player campaign. In the end you never know, you might come out as a fan all of a sudden.
Dark Souls - Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Release Date: October 4(Out now)
This game is for gamers that WANT a challenge, and also to all those RPG junkies looking for a game that could grab 100 hours of your life. It's marketed as the hardest game you'll ever encounter in this generation, and It's true. Dark Souls' is an indirect sequel to From Software's Demon Souls. If you've played the first game, you have a big idea on what this game is all about. I've been playing it since last week and their not kidding with how hard this game wants you dead. You might think difficulty is a complete turn off, but for this game its the complete opposite. I've died 250+ times in my first play through, with 60+ hours spent, and while I was literally frustrated all throughout, I never had this much fun in an RPG in a long time, and I'm still going at it.
It has so many secrets, interesting bosses, and it's now an open world game. It's controls feel right and the customization of your character is deep. This game will not guide you to success, you'll have to figure it out on your own. The game literally is out to kill you, and the only help it gives you is pretty much those bonfires we're you can rest and do all your leveling. Working on my full review of the game so I won't say much about it. Instead, have a look at its latest trailer for the game.
Should we consider it? - It's really for those hardcore games. It might be too much for the casual since I don't think they want to spend their free time frustrated all night, unless they can take it. It's all about the challenge it brings at the same time it's pvp and co-op aspect is amazing. If you want a good story in your RPG that spends that much in-game time, look elsewhere. The story is there for the sake of just having one. but I'll say this - It may not have a story to 'wow' gamers, but its overall one of the best action RPG's you'll find in shelves today.
Batman: Arkham City - Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC
Release Date: October 18(NA), October 19(Aus), October 21(EU), PC version will be out a month after the console release.
Played the first game? great, you know what this sequel will bring then. If you don't, I suggest you pick up the first game and then get this game because this series will definitely be the best title based on a comic book character. Rocksteady just gets how Batman operates in the shadows, how he fights, and why he's just a badass character. The concept of this Batman game during the first game was just perfect, now their going all out with Batman: Arkham City by having a whole city as your playground instead of just an Asylum.
Voice acting is going to be amazing with Kevin Conroy(Batman) and Mark Hamill(Joker) on board. Fans of Batman and its animated shows know how big of a deal this is. The story is going to be just as dark as the first game, and the famous free flow combat system is back showing Batman take down 8 thugs all by himself with ease. It's engineered to being a stealth game and all the gadgets known in the first game will be present with of course new ones for Arkham City. You will also doing some detective work by finding special clues and information to find out specific tasks. They literally make you play as The Batman and show why he's considered "The World's Greatest Detective".
Should we consider it? - I believe anybody will have a blast playing as the Caped Crusader. Batman fans and fans of the first game are definitely looking out for this title. It's said to be quite a lengthy game and there will be challenge maps to test your skills in hand to hand combat. If you're not a fan of Batman, this game might just make you one.
New trailer to celebrate its release is already out for everybody to see.
Battlefield 3 - Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC
Oh I can't wait. Pre-order is all set and I'm just waiting for October 25 to hit. Battlefield 3 needs no introduction. As much as games like this make their single player campaign interesting, this game is all about its multiplayer. Players will be able to assume any role in the battlefield. Be a medic, a pilot of a jet, a gunner in a tank, it's up to you and your squad on how you want to help your team earn that win. DICE is working on Battlefield 3 and it's now famous game engine with destructible enviroment fits absolutely well with Battlefield 3.
Played the open beta on my Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 and they made a grave mistake in releasing an old version of the game, not to mention there's no vehicles to try out. Gamers who tried the open beta is forced to compare Battlefield 3 with old Call of Duty games because it was all infantry battles. Battlefield is all about the whole package: Vehicle combat, air combat, infantry combat, all mixed up into one game. The open beta made people forget that and it's bugs and broken issues is unforgiving for a game to be released in a month.
Should we consider it? - If you want a multiplayer game that you can hope in with some friends, do a couple of games, have fun and call it a night then do it again the next day, this is perfect. This game has the full package: single player campaign, of course multiplayer, and a co-op mode campaign with a friend. FPS fans are going to have a kick out of this game and this game will be around for months to come until the next Battlefield comes around. It won't be a game you'll shelve after a month. With its many roles you can master and the number of unlocks to earn in this game, it will be in your console/pc for months. Multiplayer is said to have 9 maps on launch.
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception - Playstation 3
Nathan Drake is back and is looking better than ever. I consider The Uncharted series a good reason to get a Playstation 3. It's not anymore about Gran Turismo, God of War, or even Final Fantasy. Uncharted is one of the best games to come out for the Playstation 3. Who would have thought a Tomb Raider-ish game with amazing story telling could be this successful. Action sequences from Uncharted feels like it comes straight out of a movie and the characters are instantly likable right from the start.
This is the third title in the series. All your famous characters are back and everybody(including me) is wondering if this third game can top Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Naughty Dog set the bar pretty damn high. If they managed to make Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception an even better game than the second, that will be an amazing feat. If you haven't played the first and second game, its fine. It's a sequel but has a completely different story in each game. Think of it as another episode of Uncharted. If you play Uncharted 3 and like it, you'll definitely get the other two games to get more Uncharted.
Should we consider it? - Definitely. If it will be at the same caliber as Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - Your going to love it, and even the people watch you play will love it. It's going to be like watching an action movie. Also a complete package; Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception will have Single Player, multiplayer, and co-op play. I was in the closed beta of Uncharted 3's beta and currently trying Uncharted 3's Subway multiplayer access and overall the multiplayer is pretty fun. Just like most multiplayer's nowadays, you can customize your character, pick your loadouts, perks, and even level up and unlock more stuff to use. If you have a Playstation 3, I suggest you ready some money for this game.
October 18, 2011 / Carlos Hernandez/ Comment
Misc, PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Batman Arkham City, Battlefield 3, Dark Soul's, Rage, The Big Game List, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
Uncharted 3 has gone gold!
Meaning, development is done. All that's left is mass production of the golden copy, ship it, and wait for November 1 to arrive. Nothing can stop it now. Together with the news of Uncharted 3 finally out of the development stage, they also announced that each copy will include early access to the upcoming public beta of Starhawk, another exclusive title.
Haven't tried Warhawk myself so not really excited for Starhawk, but I'm always open for any early access to a game. You never know, it might turn out in my 'must buy' list when the beta ends. Uncharted 3 will also include four behind the scenes of Naughty Dog hard at work on Uncharted 3 in the disc. Here's the latest in-game video showing its jaw dropping graphics and smooth gameplay. watch it in 720 HD too if you can.
I'm so hyped for this game, currently have early access from Subway and the multiplayer is tons of fun. Can't wait to tackle Nathan Drake's next epic treasure hunt. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is out on November 1, 2011 for Playstation 3.
[Source: Gematsu, Playstation Blog US
October 12, 2011 / Carlos Hernandez/ 1 Comment
News, PlayStation 3
Uncharted 3 Beta - So far so good...
July 04, 2011 / Carlos Hernandez
Since the release of the Uncharted 3 beta, I've been playing it none stop. Tried out all the game modes currently available for testing and reached the level cap of 25 for the beta. It's a solid beta, the changes done for Uncharted 3 is easily noticeable, showing a broader multiplayer compared to Uncharted 2. Some are great changes while some needs adjustments. Since they have a schedule of rotating other game modes and another map for testing, it's not over yet, but so far so good.
Broader Customization and new interface
When you connect to the beta, you see a better interface compared to uncharted 2's. Customization is bigger now with the option of changing your loadout, changing your character's appearance, creating emblems and which boosters or medal kickbacks to use. The customization may seem bigger, but the weapons, perks and medal kickbacks provided in the beta is currently limited. It's beta, and revealing everything could ruin the surprise on game release i guess.
Aside from the customization, at the bottom, you are given "Uncharted TV". Uncharted TV shows all the Uncharted 3 trailers and gameplay demos currently revealed and an introduction explaining the new stuff in multiplayer. It's a good touch, giving players something to look at while they wait for matchmaking get them into a game. Curious to what will be shown when the full game is released, but I hope its actual multiplayer gameplay from players showing cool kills, just to keep things interesting.
Buddy System
This is one of the best parts of Uncharted 3's multiplayer. If you have a friend in your group, you get paired up with him with the buddy system. The buddy system pretty much gives you the option to spawn right beside your buddy if you die. It's a great feature since it provides a sense of teamwork. you can also see where you buddy is located so that you can regroup with him.
When you kill an enemy with your buddy, a blue icon will appear and if both you and your buddy go beside the dead body and press down on the direction pad, you both do a high-five or a fist bump and earn a medal. it's pretty trippy, and it's a fun way to taunt your enemies.
Paid Boosters
These are an option at the beginning of a match. These are boosters that are supposed to give you an edge on your next match like an extra grenade slot or more bullet penetration, but for a price. These are really expensive and i only bought a paid booster once. The boost only lasts one match so if ever you want the same boost, it will have to cost you again and money isn't easy to come by. It's either the prices are too damn high, or they need to increase how much money we earn after a match. So far, it's a waste to get them.
Power Plays
These are what makes matches interesting. So far it's only seen in Team Deathmatch, but it gives the currently losing team an edge to catch up in kills. The first power play makes one player from the leading team a VIP, if the other team kills him, he is considered 2 kills. Even when he has died, he stays as the VIP until it runs out. If the team is still at the losing end, another Power Play will happen. This time the leading team will be revealed for the losing team which can be a pain. They can see the leading team's names through walls giving their position. And if the team just plain sucks and still doesn't take the lead in kills, you are given one last Power Play. The last Power Play gives the losing team double damage. If you don't catch up with that, then you really deserve the lose.
The Power Plays keep things interesting and keep the winning team in their toes making sure we keep the lead. I don't feel it as overpowered since my team was still able to win a lot regardless of them earning power plays. Plus the double damage power play usually happens towards the end, so it get's intense if the other team uses it properly. There is one more Power Play called "Cursed" but they currently took it out for unknown reasons.
Medal Kickbacks
They finally gave a reason to earn those damn medals in Uncharted. Whatever you accomplish, if it's a double kill, a stealth kill, killing someone on a turret etc. you are awarded a medal for it. If any of you have played Uncharted 2(if you haven't, you should), you'll know what I'm talking about. Well now there's this feature called Medal Kickbacks. earn x amount of medals during the match and your awarded with a kickback reward. The reward can either be 2 RPGs, a cluster grenade which make your one grenade split into multiple grenades or have the ability to disappear out of thin air.
It's a reward to give you an edge in the match. You can only pick one, and this can be changed when customizing your loadout. It's easy to obtain with all the different medals you can earn in a match. The RPG kickback requires 14 medals and while that seems a lot, it's actually easy. The kickbacks can also stack. Meaning, if you already have a kickback ready for use, you can still earn medals for another kickback. If you hold the RPG kickback and earned another 14 medals, you'll have 4 RPGs to wreak havoc.
There are only two maps at the moment in Beta, the third one will be introduced in a few days, but for now were stuck with Airstrip and Chateau. What's great about Uncharted 3's maps is that during a match, something changes in the map that opens up an area in the map or opens different covers. For example, Airstrip is the perfect example. Midway during the match in this map, an explosion happens bringing down this tower. Th debris of the tower let's us player use it to climb in this area with a turret placement. A place that we didn't have access yet in the start. There's also a wooden hut in the roof that can be used as cover but eventually gets blown up. There's also a plane than goes down and tries to shoot players, but so far I'm still waiting for a player to get killed by it. Because of the crazy life of players in the Beta, it takes a lot to kill one player.
The Airstrip also starts with a chase scene in a cargo plane. It was shown in the multiplayer trailer, with heroes on board the plane trying to fend off enemies attempting to board the plane before it takes off. it's great, but really short. I'm loving the idea but the length of it is too short for players to fully enjoy that experience. Just adding an extra minute or so will fix this and hopefully they make it longer and add more of that kind of gameplay in the final game.
The Chateau isn't as dynamic as the Airstrip though. There is only one part of the map that changes and that's the inside of the Chateau. Halfway into the match, the second floor walls start burning taking out the walls and floors giving a clear view at players coming from the opposite site. That's about it really. Aside from that, there's also a zip-line that players can use on the second floor to get out of the Chateau fast. Chateau i believe, needs a lot of work still. They need to give something more that just burning walls. Maybe make the whole place burning forcing people outside since most of the fights happen inside.
Game modes are as follows:
Team Deathmatch - This is pretty much your typical TD seen in almost all games with multiplayer. Heroes vs villains, and the first team to reach 50 kills wins the match.
Three Team Deathmatch - This is just like TD but with only 6 players running around. It's 3 teams of two and works well because of the Buddy System. All you need is 15 kills for you team in order to win. Love to taunt dead players with a buddy.
Free For All - I never liked this mode in any game but i guess this is self-explanatory. All you need is 20 kills to be the victor and is a real tester on how well the spawns are, so far the spawning in this game seems decent.
Hardcore - It's exactly like Team Deathmatch. Only difference is, you don't have Medal Kickbacks, powerplays and paid boosters. Just plain old TD.
Cooperative Arena - This is just like Uncharted 2's Co-op Arena. Three players against a wave of enemy NPCs with objectives in each wave. Each round has certain objectives; Survival - tasks you to kill all the enemies, Siege -tasks you have all players in this small position and hold it until captured, and plunder - which tasks players to grab a treasure and put it on a chest while fighting enemies.
These are the current modes available so far but their schedule says that they will be rotation new modes soon.
It's beta, and issues will present itself. Don't hate Naughty Dog just yet, they still have months to fix them. One major issue i hope they address though is the life of each player. It takes too damn much to take one person down. They need to either increase bullet damage or reduce life because Head shots are rare. Like, it needs 2 three burst shots in the head to kill a player.
Because of the ability to sprint, movement doesn't feel that smooth compared to Uncharted 2. It feels clunky for some reason and I'm not the only one to think so too. One of the best part of Uncharted 2 is the fact that everything felt right and smooth. It might be just for beta, but hopefully this isn't the case in the campaign.
Weapons currently available are limited in your loadout, but one weapon is too accurate to the point that all other guns are obsolete. The G-MAL for me is too accurate and overpowered. The AK-47 seems to be nerfed for this game giving it bigger recoil but because of the G-MAL's 3 burst shot, it's becomes easy-mode. What makes the G-MAL even stronger is the accuracy mode that makes it even MORE accurate. There's currently only 4 guns that you can pick for your loadout and so far G-MAL is all i need. balancing is needed.
on July 4, they will introduce Plunder and Co-op Hunter, and Team Objective, so will update this post to what I think about those modes. With that they have shown so far though, I'm more hyped for Uncharted 3. The multiplayer is a lot of fun and i can't wait to experience the final product. Connection seems very solid too, I live in Asia and for some reason connection has been playable. Any other beta players out there? let us know what you think for beta too by leaving a comment.
July 04, 2011 / Carlos Hernandez/ Comment
Misc, PlayStation 3
beta, Multiplayer, Nuaghty Dog, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
Uncharted 3 Multiplayer Beta Details
June 29, 2011 / Arlie David
Here are some FAQs answered by Naughty Dog regarding the upcoming multiplayer beta of Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception.
When can I start playing? Tuesday, June 28, for all Infamous 2 and current PlayStation Plus members, who all get early access to the Beta.
If you’re not an owner of Infamous 2 or a current PlayStation Plus member, we’re opening the floodgates to the Uncharted 3 Multiplayer Beta for EVERYONE on Monday, July 4.
What time EXACTLY can I start playing? We don’t have an exact time for when the Beta will be available for download from the PSN Stores – keep an eye out on the Naughty Dog Twitter and we’ll update as soon as we know it’s gone live.
Is the Beta available in my region/country? The Beta will be available in all current PSN Store regions, including Korea – except in Japan and the remaining SCE Asia stores.
When does the Beta end? The Uncharted 3 Multiplayer Beta will end on Wednesday, July 13.
What gametypes and maps are available? Throughout the three weeks of the Beta, we’ll be rotating through a variety competitive and co-op gametypes, along with access to three different maps.
June 28 to July 4
Gametypes:
Team Deathmatch, Plunder, Three Team Deathmatch, Co-op Arena
Airstrip, Chateau
July 4 to July 8
Team Deathmatch, Free For All, Team Objective, Co-op Hunter
July 9 to July 13
Team Deathmatch, Three Team Deathmatch, Co-op Adventure
Airstrip, Yemen
Can you tell me more about a specific gametype or map? They say a picture is worth a thousand words right? So a video is worth at least 24,000 words per second multiplied by… or something. Check out the video below for looks at most, but not all, of the Gametypes, Maps, and options you can experience in the Uncharted 3 Multiplayer Beta.
Uncharted 3 Multiplayer Reveal
[youtube=http://youtu.be/NcpanPnKHuM?hd=1]
Co-op Hunter Gameplay - Airstrip Map
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ7f-ekN4Cc]
Co-op Adventure Gameplay - Syria Map
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qykiPEt_9Uw&hd=1]
Chateau Multiplayer Map Flythrough
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVLiKiqqGk8&hd=1]
Airstrip Multiplayer Map Flythrough
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy6CphAeH_o&hd=1]
Can I upload videos and photos to Facebook or YouTube? No, that functionality is not available during the Beta.Will my Beta progress or unlocks carry over to the final game? No, what happens in the Uncharted 3 Multiplayer Beta stays in the Beta, however we’ve lined up some killer rewards for the retail version of Uncharted 3 if you keep playing in the Beta:
Download the Uncharted 3 Beta and receive the exclusive UNCHARTED 3 PSN Beta Tester Avatar!
Complete 10 matches in every Gametype of Competitive Multiplayer and receive the Exclusive Beta Decal Pack 1!
Complete 5 matches in every Gametype of Co-operative Multiplayer and receive the Exclusive Beta Decal Pack 2!
Complete 4 Treasure Sets and receive the Treasure Hunter's Starter Pack!
Rank up to level 25 in the Beta and receive a handsome reward of in-game cash on day one!
Is there a level cap in the Beta? Yes, it’s currently set to level 25.
Source: [Naughty Dog Blog]
June 29, 2011 / Arlie David/ 2 Comments
Multiplayer Beta, Naughty Dog, PSN, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
Arlie David
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John Legend's Fight for Criminal Justice Reform
Senator Cory Booker speaks with the Academy Award-winning musician about the campaign to end mass incarceration.
By Cory Booker
I listen to John Legend often. It’s not just because of his soulful voice, his insightful lyrics, his exciting ability to blend everything from gospel to pop to jazz to funk. It’s because, with all the work he does outside the recording studio—including his newest initiative, a fund that will seed businesses and nonprofits launched by formerly incarcerated would-be entrepreneurs—his music contains my own worries, my own disappointments, and my own hopes. In conversation, too, he’s as incisive, perceptive, passionate, and nuanced as his music would suggest. I’m fairly certain that, as an artist/activist/philanthropist, John has an impact on America that would hardly be improved by his taking public office. But I’m even more certain that he’s far more likely to one day be a senator than I am to ever score a record deal.
Cory Booker: Hey, John, it’s Cory.
John Legend: How are you doing, Senator?
CB: I’m doing all right. And please drop the title and call me Cory. How you holding up?
JL: I just got back from Europe, where I was preparing for my fall tour there, and we’re touring in the States this May and June.
CB: That’s great. One of the hardest things I did in 2015 was write a book, and I ended up on Spotify making this mix that I called the Legend Mix—it was 80 percent your songs. And more than you know, man, I would listen to that around the clock, just trying to motivate myself to get this book out of me. A lot of it, I think, was not just the music but knowing that you are a kindred spirit when it comes to a lot of issues I’m most passionate about.
JL: I’m glad that I could help inspire you, as you’re inspiring us by the work you’re doing.
Max Vadukul
CB: Thank you. You are honoring one of the greatest American traditions: the commitment for artists to be activists as well. During the civil rights movement you saw Joan Baez, Dick Gregory—so many people who showed a lot of courage, because whenever artists step out they risk their popularity. Is that something you worry about?
JL: Obviously, when you step out on anything that’s controversial, someone disagrees with you. And some people take that disagreement in stride and say, "You know, I don’t agree with you, but I like your music, so I’ll still buy it," or, "I’ll still come to your shows." Some people can’t separate the two and say, "If I disagree with you politically, you’re not going to make money off of me." And that’s just the price that we have to be willing to pay.
We can't worry more about being accused of being racist than we do about fixing the racist problem.
As you said, some of the greatest artists we’ve ever known have been willing to risk some social capital to try to improve the lives of other people. Nina Simone said it’s an artist’s duty to reflect upon the time in which we live. I don’t believe that every artist should do it, if they’re not mentally prepared, if they have not studied up on the subjects, if they’re not passionate about them. But don’t hold back if you are passionate about something. If you care about something, your fans want you to be authentic. I have a very successful career even though I’ve been very willing to speak up politically.
CB: Can you tell me where your conviction comes from? I read that as a kid you won an essay contest for a piece in which you talked about wanting to be an artist who gives back to his community.
JL: I read so much as a kid. My parents homeschooled us some years, and some years I was in private school, some years I was in public school. But no matter which school I was in, I was a reader. I loved reading about civil rights leaders, about presidents who did lasting things that made people’s lives better. I loved reading about leadership and people who made a difference. To me, living a significant life meant not just trying to make money but doing something to help somebody else, and doing something on as big a scale as I possibly could. I believed from a young age that that was part of what it meant to be an artist, and part of what it meant to live a significant life.
CB: One of my all-time favorite American artists was James Baldwin. He said that children are never good at listening to their elders, but they never fail to imitate them. Who helped shape your character?
JL: My family, who were at home but also at church. My grandfather was a pastor, my grandmother was a church organist, my mother was a choir director, and my dad was a deacon and taught Sunday school and played the drums at the church. So part of my ethic came from the Christian creed of caring about the poor, caring about your neighbor, the ideas of forgiveness and grace and redemption. I’m not very religious now, even though I keep all those lessons in my head. Other inspirations over the years have been artists who have used their art to make the world better. Stevie Wonder is one of those inspirations. Marvin Gaye is one of those inspirations. Nina Simone. Harry Belafonte, who is a friend and an inspiration. I’m friends with Bono, who has done so much great work over the years fighting AIDS and poverty around the world.
CB: Before we get into the details of your criminal justice work, I’ve observed that you’re very knowledgeable—you really seem to have done the work on complex issues—and you’re very humble in how you go about it. You go and listen to folks on criminal justice, whether it’s law enforcement people or people who are actually in prisons. Your attitude isn’t, Hey, I’m somebody here who is going to help you; you seem to want to learn and recognize their dignity, their value, knowing that you can benefit from it. You’re also fiercely pragmatic about what is actually working. How did you come to have this approach?
JL: My work-study job in school was at Upward Bound, which does educational programs for lower-income and first-generation kids who are aspiring to go to college. My first job out of college was at Boston Consulting Group, a major strategic consulting firm. One of the projects we did together was Management Leadership for Tomorrow, which is an organization run by Johnny Rice, the brother of Susan Rice. His organization works with minority kids, who are often not given the best positions in business and at business schools; it tries to improve their prospects by giving them training and mentoring and opportunities to succeed. At both of those organizations I learned the value of having a real plan and a real strategy, having goals that you are going to measure your progress against, and really being practical about what it means to change people’s lives.
Legend performs for inmates at Folsom State Prison, in California.
CB: Okay, let’s dig into your criminal justice work. In 2013, when I was running for Senate, I wanted to talk about criminal justice reform wherever I campaigned. I’m very passionate about it. But I was surprised to learn that it’s not an issue that polls high. It’s not something that’s top of mind for most people. So, I’m curious, why are you so passionate about it?
JL: Part of it is having seen the effects on my own family and neighborhood, and overall in the larger black and brown communities around the country. Having so many people in prison at a time, having so many people with criminal records, has been really devastating, not just to people of color in America but especially to them. For people who aren’t interacting with the criminal justice system, there’s often this distance—they just kind of ignore it. They assume that the law is the law, and if someone breaks the law then they’ll get into trouble, and it’s kind of a fixed sentence, and that’s that. They don’t feel like it affects them, and they don’t feel they can do anything about it anyway.
When I accepted the Oscar for “Glory,” for the film Selma, something that I wanted to highlight about the movement that encompassed Martin Luther King and other civil rights activists is that we are still dealing with issues of freedom and justice in -America in the 21st century. I specifically chose to talk about our mass incarceration problem, because if you want to talk about what is going on in America today that Dr. King would be concerned about, I think mass incarceration would be right near the top.
At that point I had also been reading people like Michelle Alexander and Bryan Stevenson, and I was instructing my team to put some more dollars behind it and start focusing some of our energy—almost all of which had been on education reform up to that point—on criminal justice reform. We started #FreeAmerica [a nonprofit awareness campaign]. We didn’t do it because we thought it was the most popular issue to talk about, but I’m in a position where I can help affect the conversation. You’re in a position where you can do that too, and both of us have chosen to do it. And I think people are talking about it more because of people like us, and people like Ava DuVernay, people like Jay Z doing the Kalief Browder documentary, the Black Lives Matter activists responding to specific incidents—all of us are helping to move these conversations to the forefront. I’ve seen real progress in the last few years. We’ve seen laws change, sheriffs change, and district attorneys change because of activism.
I think that having a kid automatically makes you think about your legacy and your own mortality.
CB: I was on my feet when you used that moment when you won the Oscar to talk to the American public. I remember exactly the data point that you used—it got gasps.
JL: Yeah, the data point was that there are more black men under correctional control in America right now than there were under slavery in 1850. I believe I got that fact from Michelle Alexander’s book The New Jim Crow. That has been fact-checked and shown to be true. The other statement I made was that our country has the most incarcerated people in the world, which was also fact-checked and proven to be true. That should make us feel ashamed, because you think of all the countries that we consider to be repressive, to be unfree in so many ways. How can we say we’re more free if we’re locking up way more people than all those other countries?
As people like Ava DuVernay and Michelle Alexander have talked about, the way the criminal justice system has been used to control black bodies and brown bodies has some of its ancestry in the system of slavery. It’s right for us to think about them as related to each other, and important for us to look at some of the parallels of the system and think about how we fight to end mass incarceration, just like we fought to end slavery.
John Legend making his speech after accepting the Best Original Song Award for "Glory" from Selma.
CB: The data point that I’ve heard you use is that America has about 4 to 5 percent of the globe’s population, but that 25 percent, or one in four, of the imprisoned people on planet Earth are here in the U.S.
JL: Yeah, it’s truly insane.
CB: Free America seems motivated to prick Americans’ moral core enough to make them move. Am I observing that correctly?
JL: Yeah. Part of it is really about changing hearts. We do that through storytelling. We have a documentary that we’re working on now called Walk with Me. We have scripted films. All of these things are meant to change the narrative, humanize folks who are involved in the criminal justice system, help people see that these folks are not dramatically different from those who don’t get caught up in the system. They’re human, they make mistakes; they’re often in situations where mistakes are exacerbated by the conditions in which they live. We are focusing on thinking about how to reinvest the money, resources, and societal energy we put into punishing and incarcerating people back into improving communities, giving people hope and opportunity before they ever get into trouble, and then giving those who have a record the opportunity to redeem themselves afterward.
CB: Here’s a quote from Free America’s literature: “Our goal is to restore incarceration rates back to their levels prior to the mass expansion of the prison and jail systems, and redirect savings to support concrete investments in education, rehabilitation, and reentry. In addition”—and this is a bold statement—“we support removing youth from all incarceration-type facilities.” I just want to put that in a global context. There are places like New Zealand that redirect the overwhelming majority of their kids from institutions, from courts, from prisons. So it’s not too far out of the mainstream of humanity.
JL: We are out of the mainstream of humanity with the way we do it now. We are radically punitive in America. We do really awful things to our young people, who shouldn’t even be in the same system as adults to begin with. We need to change the conversation so people realize that what we do now is radical. Reversing that wouldn’t be radical. It would be humane. The fact that we can try 14-, 15-, and 16-year-olds as adults is inhumane and ridiculous. The fact that Kalief Browder could sit in an adult prison as a juvenile for a backpack—he wasn’t even convicted of stealing it, he was just accused of stealing it—and just because he couldn’t pay the bail, he was sitting in jail for years. We lost his life because of it.
CB: We have had our prison population go up 500 percent since 1980, and we’re spending more than a trillion building prisons, incarcerating people, doing to children what other countries consider torture—things like putting them in juvenile solitary confinement, trying them as adults. You seem to be saying that we allow ourselves to do this by dehumanizing the people in this system.
JL: A part of it’s racism, to be clear. When it’s not your kid, and it doesn’t look like your kid, it’s easier to think the worst things about somebody. Part of it’s classism; you don’t comprehend the kind of situation these young people are growing up in, the neighborhoods they’re growing up in. You don’t understand the factors that contribute to them straying off the path. You assume they must be evil. You assume they must be irredeemable. In reality, the fact that kids make it out alive without getting in trouble is sometimes a miracle.
CB: You and I both know that it’s actually a fact that young kids in tough, inner-city environments are not breaking drug laws at rates different from kids on college campuses or kids in wealthy neighborhoods.
JL: That’s true. The rich kids are using drugs, and they are not getting arrested. Then we see the opioid crisis in certain communities, and people are saying, “You know what? We need to do something to help these kids and not lock them up.” I just want people to have the same level of empathy for black and brown kids in the ’hood that they would have for a rural kid growing up in West Virginia who is dealing with a painkiller addiction. These addiction crises are hitting a lot of communities, so let’s have empathy for all of them and see all of them as people who could be our own kids.
CB: You and I both have a devotion to Bryan Stevenson. You’ve quoted him before saying, “None of us should be judged entirely by the worst thing that we’ve done.” You really are a champion of this idea for even violent -criminals. A lot of people are too shy to say this. They just want to talk about the nonviolent drug users.
JL: That’s easy to get sympathy for. You have to realize that when people commit a violent act, there are a lot of factors that go into that. And the definition of violence is pretty wide. It can go from the worst things, like murder and rape, to getting into a fight. All of that is considered violent. We have to have a little bit more nuance when we talk about what it means to be locked up for a violent offense.
Bryan Stevenson Is Working To Transform How Society's Most Vulnerable Access the Law
CB: That point is so important. There are people who do nothing violent, who might just be driving a car, who can get convicted for a violent offense.
JL: Such as if you’re an accessory, if you’re involved in any way. A lot of times, if these people don’t have good representation, they’ll cop a plea to something just because they were scared that if they got the maximum they would be locked up for a really long time. They’ll cop a plea to something, a felony, when they probably shouldn’t even have been charged with that in the first place.
CB: Like a Ta-Nehisi Coates or a James Baldwin, you have this capacity to talk unflinchingly about racism in our society. What are the challenges of talking about race right now?
JL: People feel defensive around the subject of racism, and they shut down, because they feel like they may say the wrong thing and you’ll think less of them. But we have to deal with the fact that these issues have a real impact on people’s lives. There’s a real impact when they’re not getting called back after they’ve applied for a job because they have the wrong name. And there’s a real impact when a police officer assumes a person to be more of a threat because of the color of the person’s skin. We are dealing with these things every day, and the only way we are going to fix them is if we confront them, listen to one another, and empathize with one another’s concerns. We can’t worry more about being accused of being racist than we do about actually fixing the racism problem.
And part of my mission and politics is to make sure that more people have what they need to give their kids a chance to succeed in life.
CB: You’re launching Unlocked Futures, a fund that will provide grants and training for formerly incarcerated people to launch businesses. Can you explain how you decided to do this?
JL: We need to reinvest our resources from punitive things to actions that are restorative and edifying for the community. Part of that is investing in our young people before they ever get in trouble. But also, there is a huge population who have criminal records, and 60 percent of them, a year after being released, still don’t have jobs. We know that if they’re not working in the legitimate economy, then a lot of times they are going to be working in the illegitimate economy, and they’ll end up back in prison. So one of the things we have been focused on is developing ways to encourage entrepreneurship in those communities, so that these people have an opportunity to start their own businesses, start their own nonprofits, and start contributing to the community instead of being dependent on another employer to hire them. We are doing this project, which is a social venture fund, with New Profit and Bank of America, and its purpose is investing in business and nonprofit ideas for people who have been incarcerated.
Legend with his wife Chrissy Teigen and their daughter Luna on a walk in New York City.
CB: I know you are a family man. You and your amazing wife Chrissy became parents a year ago to a daughter, Luna. How has that played into your thoughts about making a lasting contribution?
JL: I think that having a kid automatically makes you think about your legacy and your own mortality. Another aspect for us was realizing how challenging it is to have a kid, even for somebody rich, famous, and successful and with the kind of staff that we have. Even we have challenges. It's stressful, and it requires a lot of energy and time and a lot of resources. I think it has informed my politics in a lot of ways, because I know that our daughter is going to have everything she will need, but there are so many mothers and fathers and children out there who don't have it. And part of my mission and politics is to make sure that more people have what they need to give their kids a chance to succeed in life.
Styled by Nicoletta Santoro; Grooming by Naivasha Johnson for Exclusive Artists using Chanel Sublimage. Set design by Philipp Haemmerle. Tailoring by Yasmine Oezelli for Lars Nord. Produced by Wanted Media.
This story originally appeared in the June/July 2017 issue of Town & Country.
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Posted at: Jun 20, 2019, 3:14 PM; last updated: Jun 20, 2019, 3:14 PM (IST)
Operations in JK being conducted in professional, dedicated manner: Army
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In response to a question, the Army commander said, “Wherever there are actions to be taken, those are taken at appropriate levels.” File photo
Srinagar, June 20 The Army on Thursday said its operations in Jammu and Kashmir are conducted in a professional and dedicated manner and the force had a code of conduct which valued human dignity.
“We have a very strong code of conduct which values human dignity and the values of society. So I wish to assure you that all the operations by the Army in Jammu and Kashmir are being carried out in a professional and dedicated manner,” Army’s northern command chief Lt Gen Ranbir Singh told reporters on the sidelines of a function at Wuzur in Anantnag district.
In response to a question, the Army commander said, “Wherever there are actions to be taken, those are taken at appropriate levels.”
Lt Gen Singh was at Army Goodwill School, Wuzur, which has been renamed after Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani, who was awarded Ashok Chakra posthumously in January this year.
Wani was killed in an anti-insurgency operation at Batagund in Kulgam district on November 25, 2018. Six militants were killed, three of them by the militant-turned-soldier, in the operation.
He was awarded Ashok Chakra for his role in the operation, thereby becoming the first person from the Valley to be awarded the highest peacetime gallantry award of the country.
“It is a matter of great pride for us today to be here at Army Goodwill School at Wuzur because today we have dedicated this school to pay homage to our martyr late Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani, who was a recipient of Ashok Chakra.
“He was also two-time recipient of the Sena medal for gallantry by the government,” Lt Gen Singh said.
On the functioning of the Army Goodwill schools in Kashmir, the Army commander said there are always some distractions which work against the interests of the country.
“It is to the credit of our children, their parents and our teachers that we have been able to ensure that there has been no disruption in the education, which we are trying to impart to the children in these schools,” he said.
“The children of Kashmir are our hope. We are sure that in the times to come they will work hard. They have a huge potential and they will become useful members of society and take us on the trajectory of growth and development as far as Kashmir and the nation are concerned,” he added. PTI
SMS from wife gets man a divorce for cruelty
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UK university helps make one of the biggest space discoveries of all time
Gravitational wave astronomy, observing ripples in space-time, could be used to study before seen cataclysmic events, such as this artist's rendition of a binary-star merger. Photo: NASA.
Published: 17:17 Thursday 11 February 2016
Scientists at Sheffield University have helped to make one of the biggest space discoveries of all time which looks set to herald a new type of astronomy and unlock wonders of the universe.
They have helped to prove the existence of space distorting gravitational waves - first predicted 100-years ago by Albert Einstein, but never before seen until now.
Gravitational waves are ripples in space-time, which carry information about space phenomena never before observed.
Boffins hope, unlike using a traditional telescope, Gravitational Wave astronomy will now help us to understand some of the most violent events in the cosmos, including exploding stars, colliding black holes, perhaps even the Big Bang itself.
When microwave observations first found faint imprints of the Big Bang, Stephen Hawking called it the “greatest discovery of the century, if not all time”. Today’s announcement is another giant leap for mankind.
Dr Ed Daw, of the University of Sheffield’s Physics Department, helped with the research leading to the history making global announcement this afternoon at simultaneous press conferences in Washington DC, Louisiana, London and Paris.
Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity first predicted the existence of mysterious gravitational waves in 1916
Before joining Sheffield he worked for five years at LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory), in the USA and for his PhD he worked on the American axion search experiment looking for dark matter.
Dr Daw has been working on gravitational wave data analysis, as a member of the LIGO scientific collaboration.
Explaining today’s announcement he said: “Today is a great day for the type of science I do.”LIGO and the collaborators working on it, including the University of Sheffield, are announcing the discovery of gravitational waves for the first time - from a source which went off more than 100 million years ago. We couldn’t be more thrilled with this great announcement. We look forward to the future of the science of the field.”
Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity first predicted the existence of the mysterious waves in 1916. He believed that cataclysmic events such as two black holes colliding would create the waves, which allow massive objects in space to become curved.
But only now has super sensitive equipment been developed to detect them.
LIGO uses 4km-long pipes to detect the waves, 3000 kilometres apart, in Washington and Louisiana. They pick up passing gravitational waves by measuring how space-time stretches and contracts – by as little as one ten-thousandth the diameter of a proton.
It confirms that massive objects like black holes and neutron stars warp space-time around themselves, and when two collide the distortions ripple outward at the speed of light.
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Home » News » Official U.S. Army Website Defaced by Syrian Hackers
Official U.S. Army Website Defaced by Syrian Hackers
On Monday afternoon, the official public website of the U.S. Army was taken down by hackers allegedly affiliated with the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA).
The group claimed responsibility for the hack on Twitter, posting several screenshots of the defaced www.army.mil website:
The #SEA hacks the official website of the US Army and leave several messages on it | http://t.co/Q93FQFg3cG pic.twitter.com/e8ZXp58oAY
— SyrianElectronicArmy (@Official_SEA16) June 8, 2015
According to a report published by Ars Technica, the website also served a message to visitors, which read: “Your commanders admit they are training the people they have sent you to die young.”
Ken Westin, Tripwire Senior Security Analyst, explained the hackers appeared to have gained access to the site by compromising the CDN that is used to distribute content from the website globally.
“The credentials for the control panel could have been compromised via a phishing attack or brute force,” said Westin.
“From the information provided at this point, it does not appear that this is part of a larger breach of an actual server or military network.”
Westin added that the damage inflicted appears to be limited to propaganda. However, Westin warned that if the email account that is tied to the administration of the Limelight CDN control panel is compromised, it could mean that other social media accounts may have been compromised, as well.
Defense officials have confirmed the hack, and assured the website does not contain classified information or private personal data of any Amy personnel, military or civilian.
Army Brig. Gen. Malcolm Frost, chief of public affairs, said in a statement:
“After this came to our attention, the Army took appropriate preventive measures to ensure there was no breach of Army data by taking down the website temporarily.”
At the time of this writing, no other mentions have been made regarding any further intrusions on the official Syrian Electronic Army Twitter account.
Tags SEA, Syria, U.S. Army
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Photo: Pixabay
Celadon to pay $42 million for accounting fraud
Trucking company admits hiding losses in aging trucking fleet; lied to investigators.
Michael Catarevas | Apr 25, 2019
Celadon Group Inc. (Celadon) has agreed to pay total restitution of $42.2 million for filing materially false and misleading statements to investors and falsifying books, records and accounts.
Celadon, headquartered in Indianapolis, IN, entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) in connection with a criminal information filed Thursday, April 25, in the Southern District of Indiana charging the company with securities fraud. The case was primarily focused on the fact that Celadon knowingly filed materially false and misleading statements to investors and falsified books, records and accounts with regard to the values of assets involved in four trade transactions that were recorded at inflated values and not fair market value.
“Celadon executives misled the investing public for a simple reason: profit,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski.
“Securities fraud harms all investors — from the most sophisticated to those everyday Americans saving for retirement, and the Criminal Division remains committed to investigating and prosecuting these complex crimes.”
“The fabric of American industry is woven together through innovation, work ethic and integrity,” said U.S. Attorney Josh J. Minkler of the Southern District of Indiana. “The government is charged with ferreting out misdeeds in corporate America, particularly when these violations of public trust result in financial harm to our citizens as is set forth in this matter. I would like to personally thank and recognize the Justice Department’s Fraud Section, SEC, FBI and USPIS partners whose collaborative work unearthed this criminal activity.”
“The message here is clear, those who commit financial fraud will be held accountable. Investors should expect nothing less than complete candor and truth from companies and their executives,” said Special FBI Agent in Charge Grant Mendenhall. “The FBI and our agency partners will continue to identify, investigate and pursue violations such as this.”
According to court documents filed as part of the DPA, Celadon provided trucking and transportation services in the United States, Mexico and Canada. Quality Companies LLC (Quality) was a wholly owned subsidiary of Celadon that leased tractors and trailers to owner-operator truck drivers. Between 2013 and 2016, Quality’s inventory grew rapidly, from approximately 750 tractors and trucks to more than 11,000.
Quality’s financial performance began to struggle in 2016 due in part to a slowdown in the trucking market. In addition, Quality owned a significant number of a truck models with mechanical issues, which many drivers did not want to lease. By 2016, many of Quality’s trucks were idle, unleased and overvalued on Quality’s books by tens of millions of dollars.
Instead of properly reporting Quality’s financial difficulties to investors, members of Celadon’s and Quality’s senior management team, all acting within the scope of their employment, participated in a scheme that resulted in Celadon falsely reporting inflated profits and inflated assets to the investing public through Celadon’s financial statements. Between approximately June 2016 and October 2016, Quality engaged in a series of trades as a means to dispose of its aging and unused trucks. In order to avoid disclosing the losses connected to these trucks, executives executed the trades using invoices purposely inflated well above market value. Celadon ultimately used these invoices and inflated truck values to hide millions of dollars of losses from investors.
In December 2016, after allegations of misconduct had arisen publicly, Celadon’s management approved a memorandum that falsely stated the trucks involved in the above-described transactions were purchased and sold at fair market value and were accounted for properly on Celadon’s books. Further, beginning in approximately January 2017, Celadon’s independent auditors conducted an investigation into the allegations of misconduct.
In response, multiple members of Celadon’s and Quality’s management falsely represented to independent auditors that the transactions were done at fair market value and that they were not trades. Celadon’s auditor ultimately withdrew its audit opinion for certain Celadon financial statements. The resulting disclosure by Celadon of the auditor’s withdrawal caused a significant drop in the price of Celadon’s stock, which resulted in investors losing tens of millions of dollars.
Under the terms of the DPA, Celadon is required to pay full restitution of $42.2 million to shareholder victims directly and proximately harmed as a result of the commission of the offense, which will be paid over a period of years. Celadon also agreed to implement rigorous internal controls and cooperate fully with the Department’s ongoing investigation, including its investigation of individuals. Under the DPA, prosecution of the company for securities fraud will be deferred for an initial period of approximately five years, subject to approval by the court, to allow Celadon to demonstrate good conduct.
The Department reached this resolution based on a number of factors, including Celadon’s ongoing cooperation with the United States and the company’s extensive efforts at remediation. Among other remedial efforts, the company no longer employs the executives involved in wrongdoing, and the company replaced its executive management team with experienced executives who display a commitment to building an ethical corporate culture. Furthermore, Celadon created the new position of chief accounting officer and hired an experienced internal audit staff member reporting directly to the company’s internal audit manager.
In addition, the United States filed an Information and plea agreement against Danny Williams, the former President of Quality, who was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, to make false statements to a public company’s accountants, and to falsify books, records and accounts of a public company in connection with Celadon’s crimes. The investigation is ongoing.
TAGS: Business
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¿Qué te gusta hacer?... / What do you like to do?...
“Encuentra algo que te apasione y mantén todo tu atención en ello.”
“Find something you're passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.”
Julia Child (15 de agosto de 1912, Pasadena – 13 de agosto de 2004, Montecito, California) fue cocinera, escritora y chef estadounidense responsable de la introducción de la cocina francesa en Estados Unidos.
Julia Child (née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 - August 13, 2004) was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for introducing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her subsequent television programs, the most notable of which was The French Chef, which premiered in 1963.
In 1996, Julia Child was ranked #46 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.
Éxito, felicidad, ser, vida alegría, Andrés Bermea, citas, éxito, felicidad, frases, Graciela Sepúlveda, inspiración, Julia Child, motivación, pensamientos, perseverancia, quotes, success, superación, UANL, vitaminas
¿Qué te gusta hacer?... / What do you like to do?....
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Syrian rebels battle regime holdouts in Raqqa
The Syrian conflict started two years ago as an uprising against Assad's rule.
Syrian rebels battle regime holdouts in Raqqa The Syrian conflict started two years ago as an uprising against Assad's rule. Check out this story on USATODAY.com: http://usat.ly/XPO7ft
By Zeina Karam, Associated Press Published 2:37 a.m. ET March 5, 2013 | Updated 1:12 p.m. ET March 5, 2013
A Syrian man sits on a fallen statue of former Syrian president Hafez Assad in a central square in Raqqa, Syria, on Tuesday.(Photo: AP/Aleppo Media Center)
Fighters battled pockets of regime loyalists for complete control of Raqqa
If successful, it would be the first time an entire city has fallen into opposition hands
Airstrikes raised questions about whether the rebels would be able to maintain their hold
BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian warplanes struck captured security buildings in Raqqa Tuesday, casting a pall over the northern city a day after euphoric rebels seized much of it and captured the provincial governor, one of the highest-ranking officials to fall into rebel hands, activists said.
Fighters also battled pockets of regime loyalists for complete control of Raqqa, a city of some 500,000 people on the Euphrates River. If the opposition succeeds, it would mark the first time an entire city has fallen into opposition hands, dealing both a strategic and a symbolic blow to President Bashar Assad's regime.
But airstrikes and intermittent clashes Tuesday raised questions about whether the rebels would be able to maintain their hold on the city.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said opposition fighters captured the governor of Raqqa province, Hassan Jalali, after clashes overnight near the governor's office in the provincial capital with the same name. The Observatory said the head of Assad's ruling Baath party in the province, Salman al-Salman, also was in rebel custody.
Several key regime figures have defected to the rebel side, but Observatory director Rami Abdul-Rahman said Jalali is one of the highest-ranking officials to be captured.
An amateur video posted online by activists from Raqqa appeared to show Jalali and Salman seated on chairs surrounded by a group of rebels.
"We just want to get rid of the regime," one of the fighters tells the pair. The video appeared consistent with Associated Press reporting from Raqqa. According to the state-run news agency SANA, Jalali, 62, was appointed Raqqa governor in September 2012.
An activist in the city who gave only his first name Amir said the two were detained by Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaeda linked group that the U.S. has designated as a terrorist organization, and other fighters who swept into the city on Monday.
"They are detained in a location secured by al-Nusra and are being treated well," he said.
The group has emerged as one of the best organized and most effective forces on the opposition side, leading successful rebel assaults on military installations around the country.
Fighting raged Tuesday near an intelligence building in the city as well as several other places, the Observatory director said, adding that "some of Raqqa is still under regime control."
The government also remained in control of military air bases outside the city and was using them to deploy warplanes to fight back against the rebel gains.
The Observatory said government warplanes carried out airstrikes on two targets in the city, causing an unspecified number of casualties. It also reported heavy fighting near an ammunition depot on the northern edge of the city. Abdul-Rahman said there were reports of more than 100 people killed over the past two days but the casualty toll could not be confirmed.
Another Raqqa-based activist, Mustafa Othman, said the warplanes struck several targets in Raqqa, including former security buildings now under the control of the rebels. He said regime elements also were holed up in two other security buildings — one in the south and the second in the north of the city.
Gunfire could be heard in the background as he spoke via Skype. He said at least six people were killed Tuesday.
He insisted Raqqa was completely liberated but said as long as the regime controls the skies "I don't know if I'll be alive in the next minute."
A Syrian government official in Damascus told the AP that the Syrian army raided "terrorist groupings" in Raqqa, causing many casualties. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
Rebels have been making headway in Raqqa province for weeks, capturing the country's largest dam west of the city. Anti-Assad fighters stormed Raqqa's central prison on Sunday, and swept regime forces from much of the provincial capital on Monday. That prompted cheering residents to pour into the main square and tear down a bronze statue of Assad's late father, Hafez.
The Syrian conflict started two years ago as a popular uprising against Assad's authoritarian rule, then turned into a full-blown civil war after the rebels took up arms to fight a government crackdown on dissent. The United Nations estimates that more than 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
The relentless violence also has devastated many cities and forced hundreds of thousands of Syrian to seek refuge abroad.
The U.N. children's agency said in a statement Tuesday that the fighting threatens the education of hundreds of thousands of Syrian children, and that 20 percent of the country's schools have been damaged in the war or are being used to shelter refugees.
"The education system in Syria is reeling from the impact of violence," said Youssouf Abdel-Jelil, the UNICEF Syria representative. "Syria once prided itself on the quality of its schools. Now it's seeing the gains it made over the years rapidly reversed."
A UNICEF assessment conducted in December determined that 2,400 schools have been damaged or destroyed and another 1,500 are being used to house displaced persons, the agency said.
Schools in Idlib, Aleppo and Daraa, where the fighting has been particularly intense, are among those most affected, the statement said, adding that more than 110 teachers and other school workers have been killed and many others aren't showing up for work anymore.
In Damascus, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad handed over to the Russian ambassador a man he said was a German journalist, Billy Six, who had been detained after entering the country illegally.
Mekdad did not provide any details or say how Six ended up in regime hands.
Six appears to have been working for a German conservative weekly publication, Junge Freiheit, which posted numerous articles written by Six in Syria until late November.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/XPO7ft
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Posts Tagged ‘Malkin Island Raid’
Lost Subs | Posted by Rebekah
We’ll return to the Pearl Harbor story in a bit. I love researching, and often find answers quickly to some questions, but the lead up to Pearl and resulting Blame Game have lead me down a bit of a rabbit hole and I’m really deep in. I haven’t forgotten, but today, I’m starting the new year on the lost submarines of the US Navy and some unique stories. I still will follow and bring to light more about Flier, but she had a number of remarkable sisters, whose stories also deserve to be told, and Pearl Harbor deserves a thorough post(s), and I have to thoroughly understand what I’m finding before I can write about it coherently, so I shall return to it soon
USS Argonaut was in a class by herself when she rolled down the ways on 10 November 1927. The largest submarine yet built by the US Navy (and still the largest non-nuclear submarine built by the USA), she was designed to lay mines and have more powerful engines. But like many good-idea-on-paper- projects, Argonaut and her sisters Narwhal and Nautilus, soon proved to be more problematic than they were worth. While the minelaying devices were “ingenious” they were also “extremely complicated”. They also took up the final two compartments of the submarine.
Diving slowly, and cumbersome underwater, Argonaut and her sisters quickly became the only submarines of their class, and the submarine designers moved on to the Cachalot class boats, and soon, the Salmon class boats, working their way to the classic Fleet style submarine which would become the workhorse of WWII.
With such difficulties, Argonaut was moved to Pearl Harbor, and carried out routine duties, patrols, and participated in the Navy games. A young officer, Richard “Dick” O’Kane came aboard in 1938 and qualified and served on Argonaut for four years. (If you’re new to submarine history, just Google his name, as well as the names USS Wahoo and USS Tang—he had an interesting career!)
At the same time, a young radioman named Walter Klock, commonly called “Bud”, was assigned to the Argonaut for his first sub assignment. Klock had a camera, and, prior to the WWII restrictions, photographed a bit of life on Argonaut, including what must have been a “Crossing of the Line” ceremony. This ceremony, which generally takes place any time a ship or sub crosses a main line, (Equator, Arctic/Antarctic circles, International Date Line, Prime Meridian, ect.) allows those men who have crossed said lines before to introduce the new guys, or “polliwogs” to it. Prior to WWII on a submarine, this ceremony could get quite…interesting…and Klock sent home the photos to prove it.
Anyone recognize your ancestor?
On the left, may I present, ladies of King Neptune's Court. (Not sure about the other two...or the "ladies"...or anyone in this series of photos...) In the center...at least he looks like he's having fun. On the right...I don't know, and I don't know that I want to. I've heard guys say it takes a special kind of person to be a submariner...this might be proof! The Crossing of the Line Ceremony was already well established by 1938 when these series of photos were taken, and continued though WWII on some surface ships, though submarines could not risk being on surface for long enough to do this. Some captains banned them, some did small things, I've only heard of one sub doing a full on Neptune's Court and gauntlet INSIDE the submarine during WWII. Sometimes I wonder if they still do this sort of thing. Then I re-look at these and the other photos and think,...maybe what happens at sea, REALLY ought to stay there. Photos courtesy of family of Walter "Bud" Klock.
There were other times. Shirley Temple visited the men of Argonaut as well, and Klock wrote to his mom about the many fine dances and other things to do in Hawaii. A native Minnesotan from St. Paul, he stayed in Honolulu so long he said 60 degree Januarys were freezing him to death!
Shirley Temple and Argonaut next to an older S-boat (possibly the S-28, or S-26, it's hard to see). From the collection of Watler "Bud" Klock. UPDATE: For more on Shirley Temple and this visit to the Argo, see my post here.
Klock eventually moved on to the S-28 and was in San Diego in November1941, but his old boat remained behind. The morning of December 7, she was on patrol near Midway Island, where she reported hearing many explosions. Fearing that the Japanese were attacking Midway in addition to Pearl, HQ ordered Argo to take a close look, where she discovered two Japanese destroyers bombing the island, but doing little else.
Argonaut, with her difficulties, was not as suited to do the same patrolling that her Fleet sisters were assigned, but the Navy had special plans for them. Shortly after Argo’s return following the attack on Pearl Harbor, she was shipped Stateside, where her minelaying equipment was removed, her troublesome engines replaced, and her new job revealed: troop transport. Her large size made her and her sisters ideal for getting troops and supplies in and out of enemy controlled areas, and her first mission was urgent. So urgent, that Argonaut had little time to drill before she, her crew, and their top secret guests headed out to sea.
On December 10, 1941, the Japanese invaded the small Makin Atoll (Now Butaritari Island) and took it over (no resistance made it easy). It would be a seaplane base, extending Japanese reach over Allied held territories, and was fortified with about 160 troops, planes, machine guns and a few ships. By August 1942, the US Navy, needing Japanese attention as splintered as possible during the initial landings on Guadalcanal and Tulagi, decided to send 211 Marines to Makin to destroy the fortification, take prisoners and gather intelligence. Such a surprise attack required a submarine landing and pickup and the Nautilus and Argonaut, were ready (though barely). 121 Marines boarded the Argonaut, 90 on Nautilus, and on August 8, they left Pearl heading for Makin, near (modern) Papua New Guinea.
Taken from Argo's sister Nautilus, the Marines exercising on the sub decks in preparation for the raid, and the Marines disembarking on the morning of 17 August for their rafts and Malkin. Photos from National Archives
For five days, they pushed hard without diving, trying to make the best time possible and allowing the Marines to exercise on the deck. But August 16, they sighted Makin, and at 3 am on August 17, the raid began. The men on the Argonaut couldn’t do much after the Marines headed ashore on their rubber rafts except lay low, watch, and pray. By 5:43 am they had their first message: “Everything lousy.” Four minutes later: “Situation expected to be well in hand shortly.”
Nautilus, relying an order from the Marines, asked Argonaut to fire on a ship in the lagoon, but most of the day was spent just watching.
By 7 pm, the Marines were straggling back. Initial information was good: they’d managed to destroy move of the Japanese garrison, and kill the vast majority of the soldiers stationed there. But in other ways, it was a failure: no POWs and little intelligence. Several boats were reported having trouble working against the waves to get out to the Argonaut and Nautilus, and the submarines decided to stay on station another day looking for stragglers. The next night, another four rubber boats, and a native boat with more Marines onboard came alongside. Some of these Marines were seriously wounded and transferred to the Nautilus who, for this patrol only, had a doctor onboard. Everyone arrived back in Pearl on 26 August. Argonaut’s hasty prep work, however, had shown. Between her arrival home and the 31st of August, her CO submitted over 58 work items that needed attention, including a serious leak from a fuel oil tank which would requite a 6-7 week repair.
On the left, a returning Malkin Marine shows off the Japanese rifle he took, and ended up using to defend himself with. Center, sailors of the Argonaut read their mail that accumulated the three weeks they were out at sea. It's one of my favorite photos of the crew together. On the right, the Malkin Raiders and Argonaut crew retuning to Pearl. All photos National Archives
After repairs, she was sent to Brisbane, Australia, and from there she went out on her third war patrol on 2 January, 1943. Before leaving Pearl, however, Argonaut’s crew decided to leave her bell behind, a move that would have interesting implications.
On 10 January 1943, Argonaut was in the Bismark Sea, and attacked five freighters and their escorts. An American Army plane spotted her attack, and saw one of the escorting destroyers take a direct hit from Argo’s torpedoes. The destroyers went on the offensive, launching a depth charge attack which apparently, destroyed Argonaut. This attack perhaps broke her back (or rather, broke her keel, breaking her into two or more pieces. ) forcing Argo’s nose to break the surface for a moment. The destroyers continued to fire at her until she slipped beneath the waves, never to surface again. All 102 of her crew remain with her.
The Army plane, returning to his station, reported what he had seen, and also reported her loss, leading to Argo’s loss being reported relatively quickly by 26 February. Due to his report, she was credited with damaging that destroyer, but after the war this score was revoked, since none of the ships in the convoy reported being damaged on 10 January. It’s possible the torpedo was a premature explosion, which plagued many sub commanders early in the war.
Klock heard about the loss of his old boat while serving on his new one, Flier, in New London. Since censorship of the war forbade all mentions of ship names, he normally could not tell his mother what had happened, but fate intervened. A friend of his was going on leave back home, and Klock wrote a letter to his mother in plain language, hoping his friend could sneak it out and deposit it in the civilian post without the censors intervening. It must have worked, for found among Mrs. Violet Klock’s papers was the following letter dated Easter, 1943: (Excerpt of full letter)
A friend of mine is flying out of the war zone tomorrow so I’m going to take a chance on getting this letter out. Don’t repeat any of this or my name will be mud. We are doing okay out here-the job gets rather tedious at times, but we are winning. We sank four ships on our last two runs out. We had one close call but nothing to become alarmed about. That made a total of six sunk for this particular ship. Not bad-huh?
There isn’t much chance of me returning to the states for quite a while as we are operating out of a pretty hot spot. But don’t worry about me—submarines are the safest thing to be on-we’ve only lost two or three. Incidentally, the one I as on for so long in Honolulu, the Argonaut got sunk. She sunk [sic] several ships first though so paid her way fully.
The raid on Makin had unusual ramifications: the Japanese returned and REINFORCED the island with nearly four times the original troops the Raiders faced, forcing the Marines to return in November 1943 and thoroughly clean the place out. The graves of the 18 Marines confirmed dead were found as well as the grave of one of the 12 Marines formerly listed as MIA. Of the other 11, they were never located. Eventually, records were found that show at least nine were captured by the Japanese and executed on Kwajalein Atoll. The fate of the other two remains unknown.
Nearly 20 months after Argonaut’s loss, a Submarine Memorial Chapel was built and dedicated on the Submarine Base in Pearl. (The story of how that got built is another whole post) The bell hanging in her steeple comes from Argonaut, and still rings today for services. As the bell is considered the “voice” or sometimes “soul” of a boat, it’s probably one of the more touching memorials a sub could ask for.
Finally, in honor of the lost Argonaut, a new Tench-class submarine was named in her honor: USS Argonaut (II) SS-475 was commissioned on 15 January 1945, just over two years since the loss of her older sister. Argo II actually made it to the Pacific theater for one patrol, rescuing a downed American pilot and sinking a 25-ton fishing vessel with her deck guns (for which she received no JANAC credit since they apparently didn’t consider anything lighter than 500 tons as a “ship”). Argo II later served in the Atlantic during the 50’s and 60’s with the occasional Medditerranean deployment. Sold to Canada in 1968, she served them a further six years as the HMS Rainbow before being scrapped in 1977.
After the war, Argonaut (I) and her crew were assigned to the state of California for their memorial. Dedicated in 2001, the USS Argonaut and USS Grampus combined memorial stands in the National Submarine Memorial West in Seal Beach, California.
The resting place of Argonaut and her crew has yet to be found.
Memorial page for USS Argonaut and the Malkin Raiders lost on Malkin
Tags: Crossing the Line Ceremony, Malkin Island Raid, Malkin Raiders, On Eternal Patrol, Richard O'Kane, Shirley Temple, USS Argonaut, USS Nautilus
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Topsfield, Massachusetts
Cheese Varieties
Where to find our Cheeses
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Elizabeth left its tranquility to study history at Bowdoin College and historic preservation at the University of Pennsylvania. Still very much involved in preserving the architectural heritage of New England, Elizabeth divides her time caring for sons Andrew and Henry and the goats, making and selling cheese and volunteering in her community to preserve and promote history, architecture, farming and life in a small town.
Peter grew up in neighboring Ipswich sailing and fishing. Always interested in machinery, carpentry and manufacturing, he saw farmstead cheese making as a way to a "renaissance" lifestyle. One part animal husbandmen, one part mechanic, one part carpenter, foodie and on and on. He also works off the farm as a registered Investment Advisor at Huntwicke Capital in Topsfield.
Elizabeth's mother Mary Brown is also a critical part of Valley View Farm. The actual owner of the farm, Mary helps keep life on the farm and in the house running smoothly. Her main responsibility is taking care of the annual crop of goat kids. They are treated to the "good life" by starting out in her kitchen, where most folks like to hang out when visiting the farm. Mary is also the main deliverer of Valley View's cheeses on the North Shore.
ANDREW & HENRY
Andrew is a sophomore at Bowdoin College studying chemistry and biology. He is greatly missed at the farm, but when he comes home he is right back to work with animal care, affinage in the cheese cave, gardening, beekeeping, haying and more.
Henry is a junior in high school, likes scuba diving, hiking, gaming, and mowing the lawn. He is working on his Eagle Scout project and hopes to become a vet or deep sea diving for sunken treasures.
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College Of William And Mary Physics
The new NMR Facility for The College of William & Mary supports research. the existing Small Hall/Physics Building specifically designed to accommodate two.
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High Energy Theory Group, Department of Physics, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795 (Dated: July 21, 2014) Abstract Holographic QCD is an extra-dimensional approach to modeling hadrons, the bound states of the strong interactions. In holographic models, the extra spatial dimension creates a waveguide for
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We examine the spatial distribution of electrons generated by a fixed energy point source in uniform, parallel electric, and magnetic fields. This problem is simple enough to permit analytic quantum and semiclassical solution, and it harbors a rich set of features which find their interpretation in the unusual and interesting properties of the classical motion of the electrons:.
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Department of Physics at The College of William and Mary provides on-going educational opportunities to those students seeking advanced degrees.
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Academia.edu is a place to share and follow research. Closed-orbit theory and the photodetachment cross section of H^{-} in parallel electric and magnetic fields
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A College of William and Mary geology professor at the time, Clement soon began playing tunes with a physics student. The duo kept adding musicians. "All of a sudden, we had a band," Clement said. And.
George Vahala of College of William and Mary, Williamsburg (WM) | Read 226 publications, and contact George Vahala on ResearchGate, the professional network for scientists.
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The College of William and Mary / Department of Physics is located in Williamsburg, VA, in a small setting.
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Theoretical and computational methods for materials physics and quantum chemistry; first-principles density functional theory and quantum Monte Carlo Methods.
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The College of William & Mary (aka William & Mary or locally at W&M) is a public higher education institution and research university located in Williamsburg, Virginia. It was established in 1693, making it the second-oldest higher education institution in the nation after Harvard University.
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Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth (WiiWare) Review
by Scott DowsonFebruary 9, 2012
Nintendo fans haven’t had a console Castlevania since way back in the days of the Nintendo 64.
The titles for that system had a huge budget and long development cycle between them, and the final products were very lacklustre. At the same time developer Konami instructed a smaller development team to make what was then thought to be the last 2D Castlevania. This game would become known as Castlevania Symphony of the Night, which is now regarded as one of the best titles in the series. It’s hard to not draw parallels between this situation, and that of Castlevania Judgment and Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth. Sure, Castlevania Judgment was a Wii exclusive with really high presentation values, but it was a fighting game spin-off of dubious quality at best. Meanwhile the comparably low-budget WiiWare title, Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth is a resurrection of the classic Castlevania gameplay, the likes of which hasn’t graced a Nintendo home console since Super Castlevania IV released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in November of 1991. Fans of the series, or indeed anyone who considers themselves a retro gamer, will definitely be interested in dropping the Wii points for this one.
Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth takes its name from the 1989 Game Boy classic Castlevania: The Adventure. While this modern title is sometimes referred to as a ‘remake’ or ‘re-imagining’ of its source material, it really only shares its narrative and characters. The level design is quite different, so much so that it warrants the game to be viewed as a standalone title. As with nearly all the games in the series, the story revolves around a member of the Belmont clan (a bloodline of vampire hunters) setting out on a quest to destroy the recently revived Dracula. This title features Christopher Belmont, great-grandfather of Simon Belmont and takes place 100 years before the events of the original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) game. It’s his destiny, like the Belmonts before him, to storm Dracula’s castle and defeat the Prince of Darkness yet again. It’s a pretty standard affair as far as Castlevania plots go. However, as the entire pitch of this game is to be a throw-back to a more retro-style feel, it wouldn’t make sense to have a deep, existential plot. Besides, this simple plot is given much more life through the game’s vivid graphics. These beautifully designed sprites are very reminiscent of the classic 16-bit games that inspired them, but they’re much more vivid and colourful tha n say, Super Castlevania IV. They’re aesthetically pleasing, and are complimented by simple menu interface. It’s sort of refreshing to not have a lengthy intro-scene, or a dynamic menu system. The sound follows a similar trend, feeling like the highest end of 16-bit sound capabilities and quality. All the sound effects feel fleshed out and full, such as when Christopher yells upon his death or the whip-crack of his Vampire Killer. In addition the soundtrack is comprised of high-quality remixes of tracks from previous titles, which is a great addition for fans of the series. The presentation definitely invokes the spirit of the old-school games, and this is equally represented in the gameplay.
Anyone who has played a classic Castlevania title will be very familiar with Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth’s gameplay. General gameplay revolves around successfully traversing through a stage (of which there are 6 in total). Along the way players must defeat enemies, avoid traps and obstacles, occasionally fight a mini-boss and then defeat a final boss at the end of each stage. Christopher is rather sluggish not only in his movement, but his rate of attack as well. This places an emphasis on planning an appropriate strategy for tackling the games enemies and hazards. The player is simply not agile enough to speed through the level, decimating everything in his path (unless you’re really good). The game is built around very solid level-design, in which Konami have provided players with a lot of set scenarios to work through. For example, the beginning of stage 4 there are chandeliers that hang from the ceiling. They’re not very noticeable as they blend quite well with the background. However if the player walks underneath them, they’ll fall, dealing considerable damage. Once aware of this though, the player can take advantage of this hazard. If enemies are nearby, approaching the chandeliers to make them fall and crush them is possible (and recommended). This is an example of how engaging the level-design can be, and there are many more similar scenarios, that highlight the design prowess of linear gameplay. That isn’t to say there is no exploration, although it mainly takes place in the form of branching paths. Players will always end up at the boss room, but the path they take may yield more points (useful for obtaining extra lives) or health (in the form of meat hidden in walls). These can be accessed among other means, by activating bridges and collecting keys to open doors. This promotes multiple playthroughs for those interested in ‘seeing everything’, as well as going for high scores or a minimal-death run. However there isn’t too much to this title’s longevity.
Aside from an initial playthrough and the aforementioned specialised runs, the game offers little in regards to re-playability. That being said, the amount of time players will dedicate to this game to even finish it will be substantial. As the general gameplay is based around memorisation of particular scenarios and strategising a method of approach, deaths and failed attempts are plentiful. Players who find this irritating need not apply. Those who are okay with doing the hard-yards and revel in the feeling of accomplishment that follows will be right at home. As Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth is a downloadable title, and one with boundaries due to the WiiWare memory limit, not much more can be expected. There is an option to play the game on a hard difficulty setting, as well as an option to revert the style of gameplay to “classic”. Basically this regresses the game even further towards its predecessors, with some of the numerous effects including being unable to change direction when jumping or limiting the availability of sub-weapons to the Holy Water and Crucifix. Players will be aware whether or not this option appeals to them, and utilise it or ignore it depending on their tastes and the level of challenge they’re seeking. However these are all the sort of options players will appreciate in a retro throw-back. There is little to complain about, and what little there is seems largely irrelevant.
Once again the game stays very true to its roots in that it doesn’t provide a save system. Purists won’t mind this, as it definitely still holds a genuine ‘arcade’ feel, but modern gamers will lament the fact that the game needs to be played in one sitting. Admittedly there is a stage select feature, but the fact that is hidden and you need to input a code to utilise it doesn’t cut players any slack. Additionally one of the game’s sub-weapons is easily the best choice in nearly every situation that the rest become quite superfluous. In that regard a little bit more balancing wouldn’t have gone astray. It’s important to note how minor these grievances are (almost to the point of pettiness), but it does stop the title from achieving a level of ‘flawlessness’, which is quite revered by today’s critics and consumers.
Konami have provided an excellent action-platformer in the form of Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth. The game is a wonderful rendition of classical Castlevania style and gameplay and one that fans of retro titles or indeed just the older games in the series will appreciate. A word of warning that this is not a game to be played casually; time needs to be dedicated to it, and frustration and explicit rambling will most likely go hand in hand. Players up to this challenge will find not only the definitive Wii Castlevania experience (excluding Virtual Console), but one of the best action games to grace the console. For 1000 Wii Points (approximately $15), this game is an excellent pick-up for retro gamers and those seeking a true challenge. Unfortunately due to its now (sadly) niche market, it can’t be recommended to the entire gaming demographic.
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Action Adventure, konami, Reviews, wiiware
Scott Dowson
22, Melbourne. I'm the most badass person you'll ever meet. I once fought a bear, with my bear hands. Yes, I actually have bear hands. Know thy enemy and all that. I also go by the alias Lucrei on the Vooks Forums, so if you see me, try not to be terrified by how amazingly good-looking I am. Hit me on the Twitterz @scottlucrei
Action Adventurekonami
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Pythagoras – Mad Shaman or Mathematician?
Christina Sarich, Contributing Writer
“Not only is the Universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think.” -Werner Heisenberg, Across the Frontiers
Buckminster Fuller has described himself as a modern Pythagorean. His geodesic dome has been recreated over 300,000 times according to www.bfi.org. Other visionaries have identified with Pythagoras too, such as Plato, Leonardo Da Vinci, Leary, and a slew of biologists, chemists, musicians, and futurists. While ancient societies used sound to heal, including the Babylonians, Israelites, Hindus, Persians, Egyptians, Sumerians, Chinese Taoists and Aboriginals, just to name a few, Pythagoras, the Grecian mathematician and musician obsessed with the lyre, was curious enough about music to propose an entire cosmology on the repetitive patterns of sound he found one day when walking by a blacksmith’s shop.
Listening to the blacksmith’s iron be forged on the anvil, he noticed that it had a certain musical quality, and upon further inspection, that dependant upon where the anvil hit the iron, there was a consistent note which played as it was made malleable. He later went home and experimented with making the one-string instrument, which became the workshop for his octave discovery and the ensuing cosmology he tried to create from his initial impression at the blacksmith.
“Do you know that our soul is composed of harmony.” Leonardo da Vinci, Notebooks (1451-1519)
“The highest goal of music is to connect one’s soul to their Divine Nature, not entertainment.” Pythagoras (569- 475 BC)
This premise for his entire philosophy and cosmologic portrayal was gleaned not just from the humble observance of a man at work, but also from his study of ancient teachings, which he then recast to Greece, in ‘modern’ terms. He was also the first Westerner to declare that the earth was round instead of flat. Make no mistake, the mathematician was spiritually in-spired. He built an ashram in Kroton, Italy and traveled extensively throughout Asia Minor, Egypt and India. He was inducted into Egyptian mystery schools. He developed a spiritual brotherhood that was vegetarian and devoted to social equality and yogic teachings he learned throughout his travels. He influenced even the likes of Plato with his spiritual take on mathematics and music theory. He was a history-changing figure who defies categorization.
“If you listen to Werner Heisenberg lecturing about Pythagoreanism in his own work on the quantum theory, you will hear him emphasize that the basic building blocks of nature are number and pattern, that the universe is not made out of matter, but music. The historians of science I worked with in the University regarded Pythagoras as a magician, a shamanic madman from the cults of the Near East; yet both Whitehead and Heisenberg regarded him as a genius of highest order who laid the foundation upon which our entire Western civilization is based” – William Irwin Thompson, Darkness and Scattered Light (London: Anchor Press Books, 1978. p. 110.)
Music as a Mathematical Formula
Pythagoras deduced that sound was based on a purely mathematical formula and later insisted that music could heal the non-virtuous thoughts of man, like anger and jealousy. He performed what were called ‘soul-adjustments.’ While many are familiar with the Pythagorean theorems taught in high school math classes, most are never introduced to the visionary’s larger ideas. This Grecian intellectual had more to offer than just equations to memorize for annual exams.
The Pythagorean (or Pythagoras’) Theorem is the statement that the sum of (the areas of) the two small squares equals (the area of) the big one.
In algebraic terms, a² + b² = c² where c is the hypotenuse while a and b are the legs of the triangle.
Pythagoras once told his students that you could soothe many human emotions with ‘musical medicine.’ He would often sit and play the kithara, a stringed instrument akin to a guitar or lyre, singing along with it. It is said that he could soothe both human and beast with his voice and playing. Pythagoras is also credited with discovering the seven modes of music and once dissuaded a drunken man from burning down his unrequited love’s house by urging a flutist playing nearby to change his tune to one of a more slow and even temperament. Aside from the emotional changes that sound can inspire, it seems that Pythagoras also used music to heal physical ailments.
When I am working on a problem, I never think about beauty but when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong. – R. Buckminster Fuller
Pythagoras is credited with curing sciatica, but also deformities of the body, citing that, beauty is nothing but a harmonious combination of elements. He believed that by making harmonious sounds, one could heal any disease or deformity. Even as many ‘modern’ societies were using music as a part of their spiritual or religious practices, Pythagoras unequivocally gave music therapy a mathematic and scientific basis upon which to be examined:
The therapeutic music of Pythagoras is described by Iamblichus (ca. 245-330) Preeminent Neoplatonist of his age) thus: “And there are certain melodies devised as remedies against the passions of the soul, and also against despondency and lamentation, which Pythagoras invented as things that afford the greatest assistance in these maladies. And again, he employed other melodies against rage and anger, and against every aberration of the soul. There is also another kind of modulation invented as a remedy against desires.”
It was by dissecting music as a mathematical subtext, that he was able to deduce what ancients knew intuitively, or what was passed down as sacred knowledge in their tribes and villages. The aboriginals, for example, even used the Digeridoo to heal broken bones, and when the sound of this instrument is examined from a theoretical perspective, you can see that it is the same harmonic ratios which Pythagoras demonstrated – one that he tied to all phenomena in nature, including the planets, constellations, and elements of the periodic table – which are responsible for the healing.
Infinite Eight
It is the energy of the octave, which has gleaned the most attention from every conceivable tradition. The Taoists base the I Ching on the eight trigrams, which compose the 64 hexagrams used to invoke wisdom in its pages. The yogic sage Patanjali is credited for writing the Yoga Sutras, but he gathered most of his material from hundreds of years of oral discourse from varied branches of yogic science and condensed it into the 8-fold path. Buddhists believe in following the middle way, or the Noble 8-fold path. Most mantras are repeated 108 times given the assumption that it takes this number in order to change the vibratory quality of someone’s emotional and spiritual state. Pythagoras likely noticed this number in his travels and observations of musical use in India and Asia in Taoism, Vedanta, Sufism, and Zen.
Furthermore, genetic scientists have studied the conversation between DNA and RNA, and found that is it ‘discussed’ in the language of eights. (Transmission happens in groups of 64 codons, or 8X8) Also, when we are stressed out, we change our bodies on the cellular level. The base letters which form our DNA (ACGT) will actually give a command to the immune system to crash when our stress levels reach toxic levels. This goes for thoughts based in fear and greed as well as physical toxins we take in via our food, air and water. In order to realign the DNA to God-mind we can listen music of 528 hz which supposedly heals DNA.
According to the sound pioneer, Horowitz, human beings are fundamentally “digital, bioholographic, precipitations, crystallizations, miraculous manifestations of Divine frequency vibrations” rendered hydrosonically and metaphysically. Besides all this mind-blowing evidence,Buckminster Fuller deduces that the entire Universe can be deconstructed down to three 8-dominant shapes: the tetrahedron, a 4-sided geometric form, the octet-truss (which has 8 sides), and the coupler (8 facets with 24 phases.) Nikola Tesla’s alternating current generator was supposedly based on the law of Octaves as well.
As Pythagoras suggested, the octave is present even in nature. For example, there are eight families of elements: Alkalis, Alkalines, Borons, Carbons, Nitrogens, Oxygens, Haolgens and Noble Gases. According to Dr. Bach, famous creator of flower essences, certain flowers in nature can resonate with qualities in the human body. Mimulus, for example, helps to develop courage in the human heart chakra. The idea that plants have messages for our bodies and minds is not strange voodoo, but based upon the same resonant frequency science, which Pythagoras first stumbled upon after learning the ancient teachings of the East.
When we resonate with something, after all, that simply means we have connected with something at a deep enough level that we can then hear its message – not unlike the way DNA resonates with the entire human cellular structure via an encoded language. When you then consider the various frequencies like languages with their own idioms and dialects, such as color, light, sound, tone, etc., it is understandable why scientists before and since Pythagoras have had a difficult time understanding the Cosmic Language completely.
Other examples of the magic number eight are in the colors of the seeable rainbow, in the days of the week, in the YinYang symbol (the 6 and 9 blend to make a perfect 8), in George Ivanovich Gurdjieff’s esoteric Christian teachings on the steps from an invertebrate reality to Cosmic Consiousness (also 8 steps), in a twisted zero – a closed spiral which circulates back upon itself, in the important eight meridians in acupuncture which represent the 8 extraordinary vessels. It is even thought that the next dimension we enter into is the eighth, an octave above the one we are experiencing now.
The number eight also stands for infinity, but musically, it is the foundation for multiple harmonics, which may have been the way Pythagoras realized the healing power of music. It was his idea that harmony was, in essence, the distilling of chaos into order, or a lack of discord as conducted through musical patterns.
“For his disciples he arranged and adjusted what were called ‘Preparations’ and ‘Touchings’ which were a mingling certain diatonic, chromatic and enharmonic melodies, through which he easily turned the passions of the soul in a contrary a direction whenever they had been afflicted by sorrow, rage, pity, over-emulation, fear, manifold desires, angers, appetites, pride, collapse or spasms. Each of these were corrected by the rule of virtue, through appropriate melodies, as though some salutary medicine”
In the Pythagorean concept of the music of the spheres, the interval between the earth and the sphere of the fixed stars was considered to be a diapason—a harmonic interval based on specific ratios of sound. For example, when the first and third strings were played on his self-made mono-stringed instrument fashioned with some wood, string and a 12-pound weight, it made a specific sounding chord. It is called the interval of the fifth and the circle of fifths is taught in most European music systems as a basis for understanding key signatures.
The interval between the earth and highest heaven is supposedly a double octave. The sun is considered the lower octave in this harmonic. Pythagoras believed that each planet and heavenly body, in turn had its own musical tone, which was created through aethereal diffusion.
“Having once established music as an exact science, Pythagoras applied his newly found law of harmonic intervals to all the phenomena of Nature, even going so far as to demonstrate the harmonic relationship of the planets, constellations, and elements to each other. A notable example of modern corroboration of ancient philosophical reaching is that of the progression of the elements according to harmonic ratios. While making a list of the elements in the ascending order of their atomic weights, John A. Newlands discovered at every eighth element a distinct repetition of properties. This discovery is known as the law of octaves in modern chemistry.”
The Supreme Wisdom (Prajna) is the Oneness of things; the Supreme Compassion (Karuna) is the Manyness of things (D.T. Suzuki, quoted by F. Franck. 1976. The Book of Angelus Silesius. New York: Vintage Books, p. 49).
The octaves of energy that Pythagoras popularized to western science are the remnants of age-old teachings. Sadly, Pythagoras and his spiritual brotherhood were victims of tyranny and oppression, the misplaced, but often-violent workings of men who wanted to possess his wisdom for profit. Not long after he arrived in Kroton, Italy, he aroused suspicion and Kylon, a wealthy ‘noble’ tried to gain access to Pythagoras’ community and was denied admittance. Kroton responded by murdering many of Pythagoras’ followers and forcing a nearly 100-year old Pythagoras to take asylum in the Temple of Muses were he starved himself to death after deciding not to take food, and to sit in meditation. Hopefully the legacy he leaves us, the incredible dissemination of music as medicine, will not be buried with his memory, even as we learn to understand the music of the Cosmos itself, a word, that Pythagoras coined.
Christina Sarich is a musician, yogi, humanitarian and freelance writer who channels many hours of studying Lao Tzu, Paramahansa Yogananda, Rob Brezny, Miles Davis, and Tom Robbins into interesting tidbits to help you Wake up Your Sleepy Little Head, and See the Big Picture. Her blog is Yoga for the New World.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/eso/sta/sta19.htm
http://www.harmonixhealing.com/htm/Phytagoras.htm
http://deoxy.org/eoctave.htm
Horowitz LG. Hydrosonically engineering freedom from infectious diseases. American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine International Congress. Las Vegas, NV, Dec. 12, 2008. See also: The LOVE CODE Seminar: Musical Healing Celebration, 2008, a DVD production based on the book LOVE The Real da Vinci CODE. Tetrahedron Publishing Group, 2007.)
Conversations with David Han, Mystic and Engineer
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Birthing the Divine Warrior
Don’t Be Afraid To Reflect or Daydream — It’s Critical For Health and Well-Being
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Sector Diversification
We are the second biggest grocery brand in the UK based on sales, after Coca-Cola.
We have doubled in size over the last decade and jumped from third to first most recognised bread brand in the UK in the last five years.
We produce more than 2 million of our famous wax wrapped loaves, wraps, crumpets, pancakes and bread rolls a day - accounting for a quarter of the total wrapped bakery market, which is worth more than £2.8 billion a year.
We deliver to 18,500 retail customers each week, a number which has grown by more than 1,000 since last year alone.
We currently operate 12 bakeries and 14 depots across the UK.
Since 2000, we have opened and upgraded seven of our bakeries across the UK with state-of-the-art technology, including our most technically advanced bakery in Bristol, which can produce more than 1.5 million products per week. The latest addition to the family is a dedicated gluten-free bakery at Newburn, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which opened in 2011.
We have invested more than £400 million in our business over the past decade, building new bakeries, refurbishing others and upgrading distribution networks to ensure our products are as fresh as possible when they arrive at the point of sale.
We have more bakeries in the UK than our competitors which enables us to ensure we always provide our customers and consumers with the freshest bread.
We are a family bakers founded by Thomas and Ellen Warburton in 1876 in Bolton.
In 1991, Jonathan, Brett and Ross Warburton inherited the business to become the fifth generation of dedicated family bakers to lead the organisation.
We operate with the support of over 4,500 employees and pride ourselves on an impeccable record for employee retention. We have a voluntary turnover rate of just 5.16% per year, and our overall employee engagement score is an encouraging 74%.
In 2011, we introduced a new look Warburtons brand that is simpler, more distinctive and easier to recognise to offer greater consumer appeal.
We offer a wide choice of products that cater for different diets and healthy balanced lifestyles, including our gluten free and Weight Watchers ranges.
Each year one per cent of our pre-tax profits are donated to grass roots projects aimed at having a positive effect on the aspirations, education, skills and employability of young people across the UK.
Sector diversification is at the core of our business, with a focus on expanding into new categories with quality products that can be enjoyed as part of a balanced diet and match the varied tastes of our consumers.
Free From, Newburn Bakehouse
We are also committed to ensuring that even those with food intolerances or allergies can enjoy our products. In 2011 we launched our Free From range, working closely with organisations and people who suffer from coeliac disease to perfect the products. With products including white and brown sliced loaves, sub rolls, fruity teacakes, delicious muffins and spiced fruit loaf we are now the number two Free From food manufacturer in the UK.
These products are available in Asda, Morrisons, Waitrose and Tesco stores across the UK and are also available on prescription.
Our gluten-free, wheat-free and dairy-free Seeded Wraps were named a Product of the Year 2015, chosen as the best new product in the Free From category by a survey of 10,175 people for TNS. You can find out more about our gluten free range here.
Free From Website
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Capital Business
DMI scoops up Pappas Group in $15M-$20M deal
By Thomas Heath
Thomas Heath
Local business reporter and columnist, writing about entrepreneurs and companies in the Washington metropolitan area
Bethesda-based mobile technology company Digital Management Inc. has purchased Arlington-based digital advertising firm Pappas Group for $15 million to $20 million.
The goal is to combine DMI’s technology prowess with Pappas Group’s experience in digital marketing and advertising.
“These guys are the tip of the spear, the digital and creative part,” DMI founder Jay Sunny Bajaj, 37, said.
DMI helps some 150 brands, including Discovery Channel, Geico, Anheuser-Busch Inbev and ESPN, move their operations to mobile devices. For example, DMI is under contract to manage 300,000 mobile devices for the Defense Department, handling basic tasks such as securing e-mails and running applications used on the battlefield. DMI has 1,800 employees and expects nearly $400 million in revenue this year.
Pappas Group was started in 2003 by Anthony Pappas, 41, a well-connected veteran of the Washington technology scene. Pappas is staying on with DMI. Pappas Group serves clients such as AARP, the African Wildlife Foundation, Rosetta Stone, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Blackboard and Audi .
DMI is “the perfect engine to help drive our growth,” Pappas said.
Pappas started work at Proxicom, a Reston-based Internet development company created and since sold by Raul Fernandez. Pappas, who at 26 became the youngest vice president at the company, made enough from the sale to start the Pappas Group.
He comes from a family of self-starters. His father is an independent art director in the film business. His mother, Virginia Pappas, is the chief executive of the Reston-based Society of Nuclear Medicine.
Bajaj, a Montgomery County native, also comes from a family of entrepreneurs. His parents have built three successful companies, two of which went public.
More meetings
Add another name to the list of Washington people getting into the conference business.
Local PR player Lauren Wesley Wilson is preparing her first Women of Color in Communications conference for this August at the Ritz-Carlton in Key Biscayne, Fla.
The 29-year-old businesswoman, whose day job is in public relations at Qorvis MSLGroup, has assembled an impressive group of sponsors, including Coca-Cola, Wells Fargo, Prudential, BET Networks, Toyota, Edelman, and Weber Shandwick. She also lassoed heavyweights such as former White House social secretary Desiree Rogers.
“I started working on this at the end of 2012,” Wilson said. “My social life has been dwindling ever since.”
Don’t feel sorry for her. She could turn a handsome profit on the conference.
The purpose of the conference is to help minority women more effectively network in the communication field, said Wilson, who started her own business, ColorComm . The start-up, which has about 300 members from Washington, New York and Chicago, has been hosting quarterly lunches.
The Buzz hears:
Paul Ruppert of Upshur Books has started a “founders club” at his new store at 827 (you guessed it!) Upshur St. NW in Petworth. Members can pay $250, $500 or $1,000 up front, which Upshur Books will match over five years. Who said print is dead?
thomas.health@washpost.com
Thomas Heath Thomas Heath is a local business reporter and columnist, writing about entrepreneurs and various companies big and small in the Washington metropolitan area. Previously, he wrote about the business of sports for The Washington Post’s sports section for most of a decade. Follow
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Illegal immigrant 'Dreamer' to deliver Spanish Dem response to Trump
Immigration activist Astrid Silva introduces then-President Barack Obama before a speech on immigration at Del Sol High School Friday, Nov. 21, 2014, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken) ** FILE ** more >
By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times - Friday, February 24, 2017
Democrats have tapped an illegal immigrant “Dreamer” to deliver the Spanish-language response to President Trump’s speech to Congress next week, elevating the fight over immigration policy that’s come to dominate the first weeks of the new administration.
Astrid Silva, who is in the country under protection of President Obama’s 2012 deportation amnesty, also spoke at Democrats’ presidential convention last summer.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi also announced that former Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear will deliver the English response.
Ms. Silva said in a statement released by the two leaders that her story deserves a voice in the debate.
“President Trump would have people believe that all immigrants are criminals and that refugees are terrorists. But like my family, the vast majority of immigrants and refugees came to this country escaping poverty and conflict, looking for a better life and the opportunity to reach the American Dream,” she said.
Ms. Silva was brought to the U.S. illegally at the age of 5. She’s been an activist in the community of Dreamers, the young adult illegal immigrants who have proved to be the most sympathetic figures in the debate.
Mr. Trump has said he would treat Dreamers with “heart,” and has exempted them even as he has announced policies to restore the list of people eligible for deportation to pre-Obama administration levels.
Indeed, Dreamers caught by immigration agents are being released, just as they were under the Obama administration — though one, in Washington state, has been detained after agents said he admitted to having gang ties, which would make him ineligible for the 2012 Deferred Action program.
His case has become a rallying point for activists, who say Homeland Security has fabricated evidence against the man and are demanding his immediate release.
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WTAS: Support For President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Orders On Energy Infrastructure Development
Issued on: April 12, 2019
Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R-AK): “State of Alaska is thankful for @realDonaldTrump EOs recognizing need for robust energy infrastructure, regulatory reform, and unleashing America’s vast energy resources.”
Gov. Brad Little (R-ID): “Thank you @realDonaldTrump for your leadership in promoting and streamlining efficient energy infrastructure development. #IDpol @WhiteHouse”
Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND): “Grateful for action by @realDonaldTrump to streamline permitting of essential energy infrastructure and ensure market access, allowing export states like ND to support U.S. energy dominance while protecting our clean air, water and land.”
Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX): “@POTUS executive action announced today in Crosby, TX will speed up oil and gas production and bring more jobs to Texas.”
Gov. Mark Gordon (R-WY): “I applaud @realDonaldTrump for his Executive Order directing the EPA to modernize guidance on the application of section 401 of the Clean Water Act. I stand with governors across the land in asserting states’ rights to access markets, as well as to protect the environment.”
Advocacy Organizations and Industry
American Chemistry Council: “New energy #infrastructure can help get #natgas to U.S. manufacturers who will use it to create jobs.”
American Council for Capital Formation Executive Vice President George David Banks: “Today, the President took an important step to strengthen the energy security of the United States and its allies and further economic prosperity.”
American Energy Alliance President Tom Pyle: “For America to operate from a position of strength, we must have the critical energy infrastructure to deliver affordable energy to power our lives. Today’s Executive Orders are an attempt to make necessary changes to ensure federal statute is properly interpreted and followed, and make certain that politically motivated delays blocking pipeline infrastructure come to an end.”
American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers: “The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) supports President Trump’s Executive Orders that will create clear pathways for the permitting process and support energy infrastructure development.”
American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers President and CEO Chet Thompson: “AFPM’s members are committed to protecting our nation’s water and air. By clarifying the roles of federal and state agencies in permitting decisions, today’s order will help promote investment in critical energy infrastructure development and associated good-paying jobs, while maintaining important environmental protections.”
American Gas Association: “The American Gas Association (AGA) applauds today’s executive orders aimed at speeding up the approval, permitting and construction of pipelines and other energy infrastructure.”
American Gas Association President and CEO Karen Harbert: “Today’s executive orders clear the way for development of new natural gas pipelines, enabling greater access to natural gas thereby benefitting American families and our environment.”
American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Mike Sommers: “We applaud the Administration for their commitment to building America’s pipeline infrastructure, enabling the safe delivery of energy and creating the jobs that working families and businesses rely on each and every day.”
Associated Petroleum Industries of Minnesota Executive Director Erin Roth: “We’re pleased that the Administration has made American infrastructure a priority, as pipelines are critical to ensuring that Minnesota’s consumers have the reliable and affordable energy they need, as well as being one of the most environmentally friendly ways to transport energy.”
Associated Petroleum Industries of New York Executive Director Karen Moreau: “We’re pleased the Administration is taking steps to put an end to the blockade on infrastructure projects in our state, while maintaining a robust and necessary environmental review process.”
Associated Petroleum Industries of Ohio Executive Director Chris Zeigler: “We’re pleased the Administration has taken steps to ensure the benefits of our state’s plentiful natural gas and oil resources can be enjoyed by Ohio’s consumers due to the construction of new and necessary pipelines.”
Associated Petroleum Industries of Pennsylvania Executive Director Catarino Wissman: “As pipelines are one of the most environmentally friendly ways to transport energy, this Executive Order will help the rest of the country enjoy the abundant, clean natural gas that has provided countless benefits, like more affordable electricity, to Pennsylvanians.”
Association of American Railroads President and CEO Ian Jefferies: “The private freight rail industry welcomes efforts by the Trump administration to enhance U.S. energy security and reduce infrastructure inefficiencies.”
Association of Oil Pipe Lines President and CEO Andy Black: “The President knows pipelines are good for the American economy, create good-paying jobs and help consumers.”
Duke Energy: “Duke Energy is committed to addressing the important issue of climate change. Doing so requires us to make substantial investments in critical infrastructure – including natural gas pipelines and electricity transmission lines to connect renewable energy to consumers. We applaud the President’s recognition of the need for change now.”
Edison Electric Institute: “EEI and its member companies thank President Trump for his commitment to achieving meaningful progress with our nation’s energy priorities.”
Energy Equipment and Infrastructure Alliance President and CEO Toby Mack: “The President understands the importance of adequate energy infrastructure to American consumers and businesses who need affordable and reliable energy, and especially to the men and women who build energy projects and support their families and communities with the great jobs these projects sustain.”
GPA Midstream Association President and CEO Mark Sutton: “I applaud this administration for taking a stand against this type of invalid action. Too often we see bureaucracies stopping growth; it’s great to see an administration promoting a pro-growth and pro-jobs agenda for the midstream industry.”
The Heartland Institute President Tim Huelskamp: “This executive order by President Donald Trump is just what is needed to create thousands more high-paying jobs in the energy industry, protect U.S. national security, and enhance the reliability and affordability of America’s energy supply.”
International Union of Operating Engineers: “[President Trump’s] executive orders today provide a clear pathway to building more energy infrastructure and creating thousands of new jobs. This is welcome news to the Operating Engineers who train and represent the most highly skilled pipeline construction workers in the world.”
Interstate Natural Gas Association of America: “We are pleased that the administration is building upon earlier actions to streamline the permitting and review process for critical energy infrastructure projects. Ensuring that our abundant domestic supply of natural gas can safely reach end users is critical if we are to fully realize the benefits of this clean-burning, job-creating resource and natural gas infrastructure is the foundation of that vision.”
LNG Allies President and CEO Fred H. Hutchison: “The Trump Administration has been a strong partner with the U.S. LNG industry and today’s order is further evidence that business, government, and labor can and will continue to work together to take advantage of America’s abundant energy resources.”
Marcellus Shale Coalition, President David Spigelmyer: “President Trump’s executive order will help ensure the energy infrastructure that delivers clean, abundant American natural gas is there when consumers, small businesses, hospitals, and manufacturers need it. We thank the President for taking action directly aimed at lifting the Cuomo’s administration’s energy blockade that has left the northeast starved for natural gas.”
National Association of Manufactures: “Together, these two executive orders will promote badly-needed development of infrastructure to meet U.S. energy demand, create and support jobs for U.S. manufacturing workers, and provide reliable and affordable energy to U.S. consumers.”
National Association of Manufactures, President and CEO Jay Timmons: “The President’s executive action to accelerate the energy infrastructure permitting process will boost job creation, energy security, the growth of U.S. exports and the expansion of manufacturing in America.”
National Hydropower Association, CEO Linda Church Ciocci: “The National Hydropower Association (NHA) applauds and supports President Trump’s executive order today… At its core, President Trump has sent a clear message today that it is no longer acceptable for our nation’s vital hydropower projects to linger in uncertainty for years – at times, a decade or more – without resolution.”
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, CEO Jim Matheson: “Today’s announcement paves the way for electric co-ops to enhance system reliability and reduce wildfire risk by improving access to maintain and upgrade electric systems located on federal lands.. By reducing bureaucratic red tape, today’s announcement helps prevent permitting delays and promotes the safety and reliability of our power supply.”
Natural Gas Supply Association, President and CEO Dena Wiggins: “We applaud this Executive Order, which takes important steps toward fixing broken parts of the state water certification process for pipelines without compromising on environmental standards…This order takes politics out of the process and allows states and federal authorities to do their jobs.”
North America’s Building Trades Union, President Sean McGarvey: “We appreciate this administration working to ease permitting delays on vitally important projects that create good jobs and ensure clean, safe and affordable energy for communities across this great nation.”
U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Energy Institute, Acting President Christopher Guith: “Today’s actions represent meaningful progress to address some of the most pressing issues that commonly result in permitting delays, and we applaud the Trump Administration for tackling this problem.”
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The Council of Economic Advisers, an agency within the Executive Office of the President, is charged with offering the President objective economic advice on the formulation of both domestic and international economic policy. The Council bases its recommendations and analysis on economic research and empirical evidence, using the best data available to support the President in setting our nation's economic policy.
HomeThe AdministrationExecutive OfficesCouncil of Economic Advisers
The Council of Economic Advisers was established by Congress in the Employment Act of 1946. The portion of the bill that authorizes the Council is presented below:
“There is hereby created in the Executive Office of the President a Council of Economic Advisers (hereinafter called the “Council”). The Council shall be composed of three members who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and each of whom shall be a person who, as a result of his training, experience, and attainments, is exceptionally qualified to analyze and interpret economic developments, to appraise programs and activities of the Government in the light of the policy declared in section 2, and to formulate and recommend national economic policy to promote employment, production, and purchasing power under free competitive enterprise. The President shall designate one of the members of the Council as Chairman.
It shall be the duty and function of the Council–
to assist and advise the President in the preparation of the Economic Report;
to gather timely and authoritative information concerning economic developments and economic trends, both current and prospective, to analyze and interpret such information in the light of the policy declared in section 2 for the purpose of determining whether such developments and trends are interfering, or are likely to interfere, with the achievement of such policy, and to compile and submit to the President studies relating to such developments and trends;
to appraise the various programs and activities of the Federal Government in the light of the policy declared in section 2 for the purpose of determining the extent to which such programs and activities are contributing, and the extent to which they are not contributing, to the achievement of such policy, and to make recommendations to the President with respect thereto;
to develop and recommend to the President national economic policies to foster and promote free competitive enterprise, to avoid economic fluctuations or to diminish the effects thereof, and to maintain employment, production, and purchasing power;
to make and furnish such studies, reports thereon, and recommendations with respect to matters of Federal economic policy and legislation as the President may request.”
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The Supreme Court: Judging is Unpredictable
At a time when the Supreme Court is experiencing personnel changes and therefore a potential shift in its equilibrium, the Woodrow Wilson Center organized several events to delve into the legacies of current and former justices. In October, The Division of U.S. Studies held two programs about biographies on Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and David Hackett Souter. Earlier this year, New York Times Supreme Court Correspondent Linda Greenhouse visited the Center to discuss her recent biography on the late Justice Harry Blackmun. One trait common to all three justices is that throughout their careers, they defied all predictions as to how they would rule, and each would evolve to shape the face of jurisprudence in unique ways.
Two sitting justices also gave talks at the Wilson Center this year. Antonin Scalia spoke on constitutional interpretation in March and Stephen Breyer addressed a closed session a few months later. In recent years, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist have spoken at the Center. And John Ferren, a senior judge on the D.C. Court of Appeals, received a literary prize this year for a biography, which he worked on while a fellow at the Center, of Justice Wiley Rutledge—President Franklin Roosevelt's last appointee to the Court.
When President Reagan appointed Sandra Day O'Connor to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1981 as its first woman justice, few expected her to become its most influential one—but O'Connor did just that.
Sandra Day O'Connor: How the First Woman on the Supreme Court Became its Most Influential Justice, by former Wilson Center Public Policy Scholar Joan Biskupic, explores Justice O'Connor's legacy as a politician, pioneer, and role model.
O'Connor had demonstrated her political prowess as an Arizona assistant attorney general and majority leader of the Arizona Senate. She then arrived at the Supreme Court "knowing how to count votes," said Biskupic. Over the years, as her influence grew in an increasingly polarized nation and as ideological divisions intensified on the Court, O'Connor managed to find the middle ground, taking an incremental approach to the law, while persuading her colleagues to accept her views. A painstakingly efficient worker, she knew how to network and how to deal with justices who were undecided on how they would vote.
For the last 15 years, anyone appearing before the Court focused on O'Connor and tried to tailor arguments that would appeal to her, said Biskupic. Commentator Richard Lazarus of Georgetown Law Center and a former Wilson Center fellow, warned that a justice's influence cannot be measured by examining the votes alone; equally important is that justices maneuver quite a bit behind the scenes to secure each other's votes and, he said, this is where O'Connor excelled. O'Connor concentrated on standards rather than rules, said commentator Marcia Greenberger of the National Women's Law Center. Less interested in fashioning rigid rules that would become the basis for future decisions than she was in the case before her, O'Connor developed a highly specific, fact-based jurisprudence, which made it difficult for attorneys to predict how she would vote.
O'Connor brought to the Court a sensitivity on issues of gender equality. Her opinions created a high standard in sex discrimination cases [Mississippi v. Hogan, 1982] and raised the standard of proof in sexual harassment cases [Jackson v. Birmingham Board of Education, 2005]. And, after consistently voting to uphold state-imposed limitations on the right to abortion, she wrote the plurality opinion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992) that upheld Roe v. Wade.
One passage in the book suggested the difficulty of assessing a sitting justice without the benefit of historical perspective. Citing the initial controversy over her appointment, The Nation commented that President Reagan "picked a person barely qualified for the post, almost entirely because of her sex and not on the basis of individual merit" and called her "not even close to Supreme Court quality." Hindsight has proven otherwise.
David Hackett Souter
When President George H.W. Bush nominated David Hackett Souter to the Supreme Court in 1990, the administration asumed he would be a justice in the mold of Justice Scalia and Souter's supporters assured conservatives that he was "a home run." But Bush, who reportedly chose Souter because he did not have a long trail of legal writings to dissect, did not look closely enough, according to biographer Tinsley Yarbrough, a professor at East Carolina University.
Souter had served on the New Hampshire Superior and Supreme courts much like "a traditional Republican" and on the U.S. Supreme Court he has not necessarily followed the conservative line. Instead, he has favored a common-law approach, often ruling based on precedent. Though a deeply religious man, he remains committed to the separation of church and state, often affirming decisions in that area handed down by the Warren Court.
Yarbrough, who discussed his recently released biography, David Hackett Souter: Traditional Republican on the Rehnquist Court, at a talk in October, contended that had abortion rights been a new issue, Souter might have voted against the right. Instead, he followed the precedent of Roe v. Wade and joined O'Connor as a co-author of the Planned Parenthood v. Casey opinion.
Commentator Mark Tushnet of Georgetown Law Center said if conservative activists had paid attention during Souter's confirmation hearings, they would have foreseen his common law, precedent-based approach toward decision-making. "The label ‘conservative judge' turns out to be [broader] than the conservative activists think it is," Tushnet observed.
Harry Blackmun (1908-1999)
Another man on the Court who evolved into a different kind of justice than initially anticipated was the late Harry Blackmun, nominated to the Court by President Nixon and appointed in 1970. His biographer, New York Times Supreme Court Reporter Linda Greenhouse, said the vast collection of personal and professional documents he left behind reveal a modest and thoughtful moderate who never intended to become the flashpoint for the Court's most controversial cases on matters such as abortion.
Greenhouse, who has covered the Court for the Times for more than 20 years, spoke at a Division of U.S. Studies book launch for Becoming Justice Blackmun: Harry Blackmun's Supreme Court Journey earlier this year and more recently at a Wilson Center Board and Council dinner in September.
Greenhouse said Blackmun at the outset was compared to Chief Justice Warren Burger, whom he voted with 87 percent of the time during the first five years of his term. That consensus waned over the next decade, however, and by the early 1980s, Blackmun voted with Burger just 32 percent of the time.
The turning point for Blackmun came during the 1973 Roe v. Wade case in which Burger assigned Blackmun the job of writing the majority opinion. Greenhouse emphasized that Blackmun was stunned at the public's reaction to Roe and found himself having to defend the opinion "He was the one who got the hate mail, letters by the tens of thousands, and he read all of them," Greenhouse said.
While Roe is currently viewed as a case about women's autonomy, Blackmun wrote his opinion as a defense of a doctor's right to treat patients. His defense of Roe and its logical extensions, however, gradually led him to adopt the position that abortion was a women's issue. It also led him to other positions quite different from those with which he arrived on the Court, and he came to champion the rights of women and the poor.
Blackmun and O'Connor each sat on the Court for 24 years. O'Connor, who has officially retired and will leave upon her replacement's confirmation, also does so as a different justice than when she first took the bench. The tenures of Blackmun, O'Connor, and Souter all reveal that, sometimes, looking at the Court in terms of party lines can be irrelevant. Only time will tell what type of justice each Court nominee will turn out to be.
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Obama and Netanyahu. Unwavering support
Obama: Killing of Israelis 'senseless slaughter'
Just day after deadly West Bank shooting, Netanyahu meets with US president at White House ahead of renewal of direct talks with Palestinians, urges all elements to practice restraint, obey law. Obama: Attack will not stop US from seeking Mideast peace
Attila Somfalvi |Last update: 09.01.10 , 23:48
WASHINGTON – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will be launching direct negotiations Thursday, just two days after a deadly terror attack in the West Bank, which left four Israelis killed.
US President Barack Obama said on Wednesday progress was being made at talks he is hosting at the White House. "We are making progress," he told reporters after meeting with Palestinian President Abbas.
In the shadow of attack
Nahum Barnea
Op-ed: Tuesday’s murderous terror attack boosts PM Netanyahu’s bargaining power
A spokesman for Abbas, Nabil Abu Redeineh, told reporters before the Palestinian leader went to the White House that negotiations with the Israelis will fail almost as soon as they begin unless Israel extends a moratorium on construction in Jewish settlements in the West Bank. The moratorium is to expire September 26.
Obama said during his meeting with Netanyahu, which lasted 90 minutes and described as "good," that Tuesday's killing was a "senseless slaughter" that would not stop the US from seeking peace in the Middle East.
"I want everybody to be very clear," Obama said. "The United States is going to be unwavering in its support of Israel's security. And we are going to push back against these kinds of terrorist attacks. And so the message should go out to Hamas and everyone else who is taking credit for these heinous crimes that this is not going to stop us."
Netanyahu applauded Obama's condemnation, saying the killings were carried out by people who do not respect human life and who "trample human rights into the dust and butcher everything they oppose."
He praised the US president for his support and for expressing the sentiments of "decent people everywhere."
Standing shoulder to shoulder with Obama, Netanyahu said Israel would a seek a peace accord "centered around the need to have security arrangements that are able to roll back this kind of terror and other threats to Israel's security."
The prime minister telephoned Defense Minister Ehud Barak earlier Wednesday and was briefed about the shooting attack. He said that the settlements were not a condition for the negotiations.
"We came here to find a real solution without any preconditions. There is no room to abandon the talks over an issue, which could be raised as part of the negotiations and solved as part of the permanent agreement."
Before leaving for his meeting with Obama at the White House, the prime minister said, "At this time, as the entire Israeli nation is united in its deep grief over the murder of four innocent people, I call on all elements to practice restraint and responsibility and honor the rule of law."
Palestinian President Abbas was due to arrive at the White House shortly thereafter, as were Jordan's King Abdullah and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Earlier, Netanyahu met at his hotel with the Quartet's Middle East envoy Tony Blair.
Obama and Netanyahu at White House (Photo: Reuters)
During his meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday night, the prime minister clarified that there was no change in the cabinet decision on the settlement construction freeze, which ends September 26.
Netanyahu told Clinton, "You cannot take the Judea and Samaria settlement issue, which belongs to the permanent agreement, and separate it from the other issues at the very beginning of the direct talks. Israel is not demanding that the Palestinian Authority take over the Gaza Strip as a condition for entering the peace talks, and is not presenting other excuses which may halt the negotiations. On the contrary."
Settler leader: We're not fighting Netanyahu
Yesha Council Chairman Danny Dayan, who is also in Washington, told Ynet: "We are not fighting Netanyahu, we are only working for the settlement blocs. The resumption of construction on September 27 is a positive thing, and aspiring to a Palestinian state is a bad thing."
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday condemned the shooting attack as a "blatant attempt" to undermine upcoming Middle East peace talks."The secretary-general condemns the killing of four Israeli citizens in the West Bank on 31 August," Ban's spokesman said in a statement.
"This attack must be recognized for what it is - a cynical and blatant attempt to undermine the direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations starting tomorrow," the statement added, extending the UN chief's condolences to the families of the victims and calling for swift justice for "the perpetrators of this crime."
Ban called upon both sides to show "leadership, courage, and responsibility to realize the aspirations of both peoples."
Yitzhak Benhorin, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report
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See all talkbacks "Obama: Killing of Israelis 'senseless slaughter'"
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Luis Suarez a notable omission from Ballon d’Or list
Barcelona’s striker Luis Suarez is a notable omission from this year's 23-man list of contenders for the FIFA Ballon d’Or award.
Luis Suarez makes his first appearance for Barcelona in a friendly match against Leon.
TAGS: FeaturedLuis Suarez
Barcelona’s striker Luis Suárez is a notable omission from this year’s 23-man list of contenders for the FIFA Ballon d’Or award.
The list was compiled by the FIFA Football Committee with the help of French magazine France Football. It will be trimmed to a shortlist of three on December 1, with the winner announced at a ceremony in Zurich on January 12, 2015.
The list features 17 players from Europe, five from South America and Yaya Toure from Africa. World champions Germany are the most represented with six entries.
All of the candidates play their club football in Europe, for only eight different clubs, with Real Madrid and Bayern Munich tied for the most with six each, followed by Barcelona with four.
Two goalkeepers were named to the shortlist: Belgium’s Thibaut Courtois and Germany’s Manuel Neuer.
The list contains no English players but includes five Premier League players on it, though conspicuous by his absence is Suarez, the division’s leading scorer from last season.
The 27-year-old Uruguayan scored 31 goals for Liverpool as they narrowly missed out on the English title, but his season ended in controversy after he bit Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini while playing for Uruguay at the World Cup.
He was served with a fourth-month ban by FIFA – a suspension which ended when he made his Barcelona debut against Real Madrid on Saturday.
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Hitting the Ice
WPI sophomores found women’s ice hockey club team
For some students, ten o’clock is bedtime (or time to down the second cup of coffee needed to finish that paper), but for the group of women who make up the WPI women’s ice hockey team, ten o’clock is ice time, and they spend all week waiting for the puck to drop.
Team co-captains Elleana Paradise ’21 and Emily Gordon ’21 (center and left wing, respectively) had played hockey for years in high school, and wanted to keep their passion going in college. They were both members of the men’s club ice hockey team for a while, but began to realize that a women’s team would be a better fit.
The team practices at a local rink shared with several area colleges and skating programs.
“It’s an entirely different game,” Paradise says, but, unfortunately, there was no women’s ice hockey team on campus for them to join.
So they took matters into their own hands—in this case, gloves—and created a club team of their own.
“Hockey’s just a part of who we are. It would’ve been really hard to have to give up the game after all this time,” Gordon says, adding that founding the women’s team has been an invaluable leadership experience and has given them the chance to meet fellow players they might not have run into otherwise.
“That’s been my favorite part, watching their development and cohesion as a group,” says team coach Jack Sweeney. “When we first started, I’d go into the locker room and the level of silence was deafening. Then it occurred to me—though these women go to school together, they don't know each other. It would take a bit of time for them to connect, and now I see what you’d see in any team—friendships, camaraderie, and a lot of fun.”
That camaraderie is already branching out to future players. There’s growing interest in the team from first-year students, and Paradise, Gordon, and the rest of the team have been in contact with them, answering questions and getting them excited about the future.
“We’ve had a couple girls ask us to hang out and talk with them when they visit campus,” Paradise says. “It’s really nice to hear.”
“We grew up with hockey. We’re just glad to be able to keep it going.” -Emily Gordon
Ask Gordon and Paradise about what it took to start a team from the ground up, and you’ll get humble responses—but associate athletic director Ann McCarron is there to give them the credit they deserve.
“I’m so proud of these young women,” she says. “A year ago they had a vision of starting a women’s ice hockey club—and they persevered and made it happen. It’s a lot of work to be a student leader in club sports, and they did a phenomenal job.”
Sweeney agrees, adding that the women have taken on something very profound. He and McCarron both believe the team will live on for years to come, and that the co-captains will be leaving a legacy behind them—although Gordon and Paradise had much simpler goals in mind when they founded the team.
“We grew up with hockey,” Gordon says simply. “We’re just glad to be able to keep it going.”
- By Allison Racicot
With an environment that empowers students to pursue their passions, there's a club or organization for everyone at WPI—from the Society of Magicians and pep band to underwater hockey and the cheese club. Get to know some of them.
Physical Education, Recreation & Athletics|Getting Involved|Student Activities
Profile(s):
Ann McCarron
The Month in Photos: February 2019
Ann McCarron Gets Day of Pampering, Courtesy Bob Kraft
Inline Fun
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Important Design Session 2 11 December 2007
Isamu Noguchi 1904–1988
Isamu Noguchi was the son of Yone Noguchi, a Japanese poet, and Léonie Gilmour, an American writer. He was born in Los Angeles in 1904 but lived in Japan from the age of two until 1918 when he returned to the United States to attend school in Indiana. In 1922 Noguchi moved to New York to study pre-medicine at Columbia University. He also took night courses in sculpture with Onorio Ruotolo and soon after, he left Columbia in pursuit of a career in the arts.
In 1927 Noguchi received a Guggenheim Fellowship for a trip to Paris and the Far East. For six months in Paris, he worked in the studio of Constantin Brancusi and his own work became more abstract as Noguchi explored working with stone, wood and sheet metal. Noguchi returned to New York and in 1929 he met R. Buckminster Fuller and Martha Graham, colleagues and friends with whom he would later collaborate. In 1938 Noguchi was commissioned to complete a work for the Associated Press building in the Rockefeller Center in New York. Marking his first public sculpture, this work garnered attention and recognition for the artist in the United States.
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Noguchi became politically involved. He started Nisei Writers and Artists Mobilization for Democracy, a group dedicated to raising awareness of the patriotism of Japanese Americans, and he volunteered to be placed in an Arizona internment camp where he resided for seven months. Following the war, he spent time in Japan exploring the issues highlighted by the conflict of war; the experiences culminating in sculptural works that were included in the exhibition Fourteen Americans hosted by the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1946.
Noguchi traveled throughout his lifetime and was inspired by experiences, artists and techniques around the world. Never confined by material or a particular movement, Noguchi’s aesthetic accomplishments covered a broad range including sculpture, furniture and lighting design, parks, gardens, theater and more. His first retrospective was held at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1968. He received multiple accolades and awards during his lifetime and in 1986 he represented the United States at the Venice Biennale. A testament to his commitment to public spaces, in 1985 Noguchi opened The Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum in Long Island City, New York (now known as The Noguchi Museum) and today his legacy lives on through the museum’s work. Noguchi died in 1988 at the age of eighty-four.
Auction Results Isamu Noguchi
Important and Unique Dining Table for Mr. & Mrs. Milton Greene
estimate: $1,000,000–1,500,000
result: $1,653,000
table, model #IN-62
estimate: $70,000–90,000
result: $630,000
estimate: $3,000–5,000
Rare and Important Chess table, model IN-61
estimate: $150,000–200,000
rare and important Rudder dining suite from the Hasting Estate
Rare cloud ottoman, model IN-71
Rare Rudder dining suite
Prismatic table
Chess table, model IN-61
result: $97,750
Pierced Table (IN82-2090)
Pierced Table (IN-82-2090)
Shaft & Root (IN82-2101)
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Detroit Radar
The Investigators
Quick links... News Weather Traffic Sports Getting Around Metro Detroit The Investigators Contests
Rapper A$AP Rocky remains locked up in Sweden, manager says his rights are being violated
Rapper A$AP Rocky remained locked up in a Swedish jail Tuesday, nearly a week after he turned himself in on assault charges following a concert.
A$AP Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was arrested on July 3 on charges of "serious assault," according to Swedish news outlet Expressen.
Earlier that day, A$AP Rocky posted a video to Instagram that showed him asking two men to stop following his crew.
In another video posted to Instagram, A$AP Rocky claimed a member of his crew had been struck by a pair of headphones. Video published by TMZ appears to shows A$AP Rocky throw a man to the ground and kick him.
John Ehmann, A$AP Rocky's manager told Expressen that he feels the rapper's rights are being violated.
Ehmann said he was told by officials at the US Embassy that the embassy was not immediately notified of A$AP Rocky's arrest.
On Monday, the Swedish Supreme Court rejected an appeal that would have set A$AP Rocky free while awaiting trial, according to AFP. The rapper can now be held in jail for two weeks while officials investigate, which can be extended following another hearing.
According to fellow rapper and crew member A$AP Ferg said on Instagram that A$AP Rocky is being held in solitary confinement with no visiting or telephone privileges.
A$AP Rocky has already canceled shows in Norway, Poland, Ireland and the UK. He was also scheduled to perform in Belgium, Germany and Italy before returning to North America at the end of the month.
Tyler, The Creator and ScHoolboy Q, two of A$AP Rocky's frequent collaborators, have said they will no longer perform in Sweden following A$AP Rocky's arrest.
no more sweden for me, ever
— Tyler, The Creator (@tylerthecreator) July 8, 2019
I’m not goin nomo eitHer... #FLACKO https://t.co/oL0BUAjLIz
— ScHoolboy Q (@ScHoolboyQ) July 8, 2019
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Zero Youth Detention
Getting to zero is essential.
The Road Map
Trainings, Workshops, and Events
The Sharing of Peace
Posted on June 22, 2018 November 1, 2018 by Zero Youth Detention
Ashley Mareld, Juvenile Programs Manager for King County’s Juvenile Detention Division
“For me, I went to my intro to peacemaking about a year after my father had passed away. And I was close to last on sharing our object, and I had brought a picture of him and me from high school,” said Ashley Mareld, recalling her first foray into the practice of peacemaking circles. “I obviously broke down talking about it—a lot of times people get emotional in circle.”
“And then, well, it was interesting, because…” Her voice trailed off as she paused on the memory of that moment. “I think, because I felt really…raw and vulnerable having talked about it. But because I did, it still was healing. It was like laying it down in the circle, and being able to move on in a good way.”
“Before, I didn’t really talk about my dad without crying, because the first year is always hard after a parent dies, and I had never lost anyone so close to me… But it was a totally different experience than I had ever had before, and just talking about it in that first circle was really healing,” says Mareld, the Acting Juvenile Programs Manager for King County’s Juvenile Detention Division. “I was able to use that experience and share my own healing story when I was participating in circles with youth. And I don’t know if it helped them or didn’t help them—but that’s what circle is about; it’s just sharing your own story and laying it out there, and if people get something from it, they can, and if they don’t that’s ok, too.”
Mareld was one of the first to join what Juvenile Division Director Pam Jones calls the “silent movement” amongst juvenile detention staff and other King County employees who work in juvenile justice. In just the Juvenile Detention Division, 100 percent of supervisors and senior staff have done at least the Introductory Peacemaking Circle training, 60 percent of all the juvenile division staff have taken the introductory training, and 20 percent have gone beyond the introductory course with the Circle Keepers training. Jones is a little more than halfway to her goal of having 100 percent of the Juvenile Detention Division staff being trained in the Peacekeeping Circle principles and methodology.
Bowl and candle in the peace circle centerpiece
The 100 percent goal may seem excessive considering that King County’s use of the Peacemaking Circle diversion program for juvenile offenders is still in its infancy. But Jones aims to use the power of the peacemaking method well beyond the confines of a handful of alternative sentences for youth. Her vision is one where peacemaking circles are the path where employees can rediscover healing, trust, and purpose amongst themselves first and foremost. “In order to have healthy kids, we have to have healthy staff. When we talk about trauma in youth… why would we think that’s different for adults?” says Jones. “So when staff come to work with a full bucket, as I call it, or even halfway full because they haven’t dealt with their own trauma, then they’re not serving our youth or our population the best way that they can. So we have to have healthy staff to have a healthy environment.”
Pam Jones listening to a presentation made by juveniles in detention
Jones has a clear vision of how the peacemaking circles can improve the internal working of the division and break down barriers and build up relationships between staff. But her silent movement is still young, and hints of skepticism still go hand in hand with hints of mystery about the practice. “Right now, some people still aren’t sold on peacemaking, and that’s ok,” says Mareld. “I think people are coming around to the idea, but there are still some people who are like, ‘ya, that Kum-ba-yah isn’t for me,’ but really, that’s because they don’t know about it. They haven’t gone, and there’s some misperceptions, so we’re just gonna have to slowly change minds, and that’s ok.”
“After they’ve gone through it, they say ‘oh my god, this is the best experience of my life.’ And I say, well, part of the reason she (Pam Jones) sent you here is because you are part of the organization of change, and she believes in you. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here,” says Saroeum Phoung, the consultant who leads the county’s peacemaking training and has been using the peacemaking circle methodology for decades in community building and crime prevention efforts, first in Boston, and now in Seattle.
Phoung says, “The system change work is to promote a healthy organization. Healthy organization doesn’t exist [sic] if the humans, the individuals, are not healthy. So that’s why peacemaking is that much more essential—because healthy organizations need healthy people. And if you have healthy staff and a healthy, functional way of life, then you can promote that with youth, families, and everyone who is a part of that organization. So that’s why this work is more essential than just singing Kum-ba-ya.”
Saroeum Phoung, Point One North Consulting
“And I’m so glad that Pam has prepared her staff to dance in this dysfunctional political time,” says Phoung. “I’m grateful to her and her staff and that they are doing circle work with the young people, because there’s a lot of benefit to this work.”
The proof for how deeply effective the peacemaking circle principles can be in addressing trauma, conflict and violence is in Saroeum Phoung’s own deeply moving story about how he came to peacemaking. A refugee from war-torn Cambodia, Phoung came to Boston in his early teens with his family, but the trauma and violence didn’t end with the move to a new country. The racism, economic hardship, and violent crime in Phoung’s neighborhood drove him to the gang life in his teens. Phoung himself has committed violent crimes and spent time in prison before finding solace and purpose with Roca, Inc., a Boston-area non-profit that does youth outreach and restorative justice work.
“I feel like I’ve been through in my own life lots of adversity, challenges, conflict, tension, and trauma. And doing this work helps me understand that basic fundamental—that healing is part of human life, it’s part of the essential human race. Because if we continue to perpetuate this way of life, there is so much great suffering coming our way that we’re not prepared for,” says Phoung. “But that’s why it’s a lonely job sometimes, to know that peacemaking is the way. Because we’re so addicted to conflict. Deeply addicted, like opium or coke, like a drug—we’re deeply addicted as a human species. And so am I. I love conflict. I have to do a lot of my own fighting internally to not be in that place. And it’s not an easy job. Fighting myself is never going to be a win or lose, because either way I still suffer.”
Part of Phoung’s teaching is that peacemaking is not a one and done affair, and those who come to it looking for a quick fix for the justice system, for their workplace, or for themselves personally, will not find it in the peacemaking circle method. Phoung himself can attest to the ebb and flow of peacemaking and conflict because he himself spent years floating back and forth between outreach work and the street life. Especially in an adversarial human system that has conflict built into its very core, like the American justice system, relapse and falling back into old habits are a natural part of the peacemaking journey.
“It’s a discipline, like any martial art, or art in general. It’s a discipline and practice,” says Phoung. “Sometimes I fail miserably, sometimes I’m great, and sometimes I’m just ok. So that’s why I say, if I’m at 51 percent today, then I’m moving towards the right direction. The discipline tells me, you’re ok, you’re human, and you did the best you can. Now, when it’s below 50, and there are many days like that, you know, it’s a struggle, because we’re living in a very conflict driven world, where conflict is seen as normal and ok.”
Phoung is a slight but fit man with the Zen-like presence of a Buddhist monk. His languid voice and calm demeanor can instantly quiet a room and draw you close with the refreshing coolness of a mirror-still alpine lake. It’s only natural that some people may conclude that his peacemaking training must have some kind of underpinning mysticism or strange and exotic faith lurking in the teachings. But for those who have experienced the Introduction to Peacemaking training and embrace the mindset of power sharing, selfless listening, and peacemaking, they find no hocus pocus; just mindfulness and a call to listen more and connect better with other people.
“When I was first introduced to it, ya, I was skeptical. But then it turned out to be the opposite of what I thought it was going to be,” says Juvenile Detention Officer Robby Delgardo. “I think it’s added patience and added understanding.”
Juvenile Detention Officer Robby Delgardo
Delgardo was inspired enough by his first experience to take the next step and volunteered for the Circle Keeper training. “I think it’s helpful, it works. You know, I think just talking period is a good thing. I don’t have a personal issue with anybody, so I’m not using it to work stuff like that out with anybody, but being able to talk about things and really listen, it’s always a good tool,” he says. “And the more you use, the better, right? You gotta practice. To me, it’s sort of like church. You know, you go to church on Sunday, and you feel great on Sunday, like you can conquer it. But then you get into your week, and things happen, and that feeling fades. So you gotta work at it, put your mind to it, and remind yourself every day of what you learned and remind yourself of that feeling, not just on Sunday.”
Even for those who are more reserved, there are still lessons and techniques that are fruitful in the peacemaking training. “There are some aspects of it that I really appreciate… I do like the idea of walking in another person’s shoes, and listening is always good,” said Juvenile Detention Officer Adam Hoppis. “I can see where it can be useful for our youth. It’s teaching you how to be empathetic and how to listen. Though I wonder if we have enough time with most of them for it to have a real impact. And, in my opinion, is this something that can substitute for detention? No. But incorporating some of it into what we do here? Yes.”
Ashley Mareld speaks with Juvenile Detention Officer Adam Hoppis
For Pam Jones, that’s enough. She says her goal has never been to force people to accept some new religion or faith or sing Kum-ba-ya. It’s simply to explore a different way of connecting with other people that’s focused on empathy, listening, and collaboration, so that people can rediscover what inspired them to work with youth, and show up better and engage better with their co-workers as well as the youth in their care. “But it had to be built on trust, and this common goal and understanding that together, this is a team running the show, not Pam,” she says. “It was really cool. Once they started believing they were setting the agenda, I could really feel things shifting. Once they grasped it, they really could feel how they were empowered, without having to rely on top-down directive.”
“I mean, yes, King County Juvenile Detention Division is using peacemaking as part of the County’s overall alternative sentencing model,” says Mareld, “but Pam has been implementing peacemaking as a way to promote organizational change. To promote empowerment from within staff.”
Mareld says that even if the peacekeeping training simply results in gaining fresh perspectives and a few new friendships, a benefit is still gained. “I think for some staff, it was really good for them to spend time hearing other people’s stories, because we don’t do that in society, really. We don’t spend time to really hear other people out,” she says. “I think for some people there is a comradery that forms between people who went to the circle groups together, because you’re sharing your story, as well as hearing other people’s stories. When I went to intro, there’s another staff person who went, and before, we didn’t really have the opportunity to talk with one another, but now every time we see each other we’re like, ‘oh, circle buddy!’ and there’s that extra comradery.”
Large peace circle gathering with King County Courthouse in the background—photo by Saroeum Phuong
Mareld’s experience is not unique. “There was also one of the prosecuting attorneys in my circle group,” says Delgardo, “and we knew each other before, but, you know, just kind of a passing thing. But now after that shared experience, we have a great relationship, we say hi every time we see one another, that sort of thing.” “What Pam and her staff are doing—it’s never been done on planet earth,” Phoung declares. “Now, there are a lot of people who do amazing programs, don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to take that credit from them. But to change the institution itself in this depth—there’s no one in the world who is doing this. I mean, sending 60 percent of their staff for three day training in peacemaking? No, the traditional system is, ‘I tell you what to do, and you do it.’” “But this is empowerment, this is about sharing power, and ownership and accountability. So when you talk about innovation and system change, I think it’s way long overdue,” says Phoung.
The remains of the burnt candle in the peace circle centerpiece
“I think a lot of people forget that being in this place and being in detention will cause some trauma… people are coming through the door and dealing with trauma on a daily basis, and that’s staff and kids,” says Jones, “So in order to create the best and healthiest environment, I have to work on staff first. They have to be able to identify their source of trauma. And we don’t ask staff to spill their personal lives to us, we don’t ask that. Because it’s also about trust, and that doesn’t come overnight. They need to believe that they’re not going to be judged by what they share, and that people are genuinely interested in and care about them—genuinely.” “So it really is about building healthy staff. They’re able to find their purpose, and feel comfortable that their being heard,” says Jones. “I mean, really, that’s it.”
Linda Robson,
story and uncredited photos,
Posted in Public Health ProgrammingTagged Peacemaking, staff training
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November 27, 2016 November 27, 2016 by Abdulmalik Zubailah
Thoughts: Somnus awakens.
Thoughts, Uncategorized
FFXV, Final Fantasy, Gladio, Ignis, Noctis, Prompto, Regis, Roadtrip, RPG, XV
These are my personal thoughts of Final Fantasy XV, which I managed to finish recently. This post is spoiler free, but if you’re sensitive about all kinds of information, and would want to avoid any kind of information regarding the game, please come back after you’ve played the game and finished it.
“This is a fantasy based on reality.” is one of the phrases that always stuck with me from the old trailers of Final Fantasy Versus XIII, which is something that I thought about quite a lot when the game moved on from being Versus XIII to XV. Is that concept still present? Does it still play a major part to what XV is all about? Now that I’ve played the game, I believe the answer is yes, the concept is still present, not just contextually within the game, but also realistically, as our dreams of finally experiencing the game was almost a fantasy, but it is now for sure, a reality… And reality never lives up to fantasy.
The world of Eos:
One of the major aspects of FFXV was the open world. You get to explore a rich world that is a hybrid between modern day technology and fantasy, and mostly it works very well both aesthetically and idealistically. The developers managed to deliver this concept properly, and it was showcased early on in the trailers and the movie Kingsglaive. It’s wonderful and distinctive, which is something that I appreciated very much. There just seems to be a lot going into the lore of the game, and how these small lore bits coincide within the world around you is nothing short of amazing.
How does exploring this world fair though? For the most part, it fairs great, but it does not give a very good first impression. The beginning area of the game felt empty, lacking the proper amount of interesting activities or encounters to make it fun to explore, and most importantly, no reward whatsoever, but that changes once the game truly opens up, mainly because the game presents challenges and interesting places once it does, some of these places include dungeons, tombs, and high level deamons roaming about, and while it might not be wise to engage with these interesting bits in the world, it peaks your interest enough for you to want to come back.
As much as the world is beautiful and engaging though, things can get pretty tedious. A huge portion of the game’s side quests are boring fetch quests with no real significance, and lack of cities can sometimes kill the immersion of feeling like you’re being in a live world.
The world can be explored by foot, but the game also offer a couple of other ways instead of just walking around. There’s the luxurious Regalia, and Chocobos. The Regalia can drive only on roads, and they often feels like a railway road with no proper control over the driving, which is totally fine by me. it just felt right with the design of the open world, since it would be weird to have it driving around the terrain. Chocobos also feels superb to control, and they can take you anywhere you want (Except inside dungeons or closed places) unlike the regalia. You could also fast travel to certain parking spots using the Regalia, and enjoy previous Final Fantasy music on the car.
All in all, the world is mostly interesting and engaging, but it just falls tedious when it comes to the countless tasks people seem to give you. Why would a royal prince go and collect food supplies for restaurants? I seriously have no Idea. There’s also the matter of cities, which was quite disappointing. There’s so much potential here in the world, cities mentioned, but never visited. It could have benefited more from that.
Stand Your Ground!:
Combat was a major concern for me, as I did not like it at all in both the platinum demo and episode duscae. However, that’s not the case with the final game, the combat has been tweaked and balanced to actually feel really good and has it’s variety, yet still having problems. Problems such as weird animation hiccups that usually makes a special move not hit an enemy. A lot of times, whenever I do a technique by any of the companions I have, this animation hiccup would occur, and I would lose two technique bars for nothing. When the combat works though, it works pretty well. Evading system is still as weird as the first time it was, but I got used to it with time.
Leveling up in the game is similar to Final Fantasy X, but dumped down a million times. You gain experience points as you finish quests and kill enemies, and they would raise your level alongside your stats, but there are Action Points (AP) that you manage to collect in the journey, and these action points are used in a grid like leveling tree called Ascension. It unlocks certain abilities and such, but never felt quite balanced or significant. it does start making a difference further on in it’s progress, but it’s not a necessarily a good leveling tree.
Magic is back in FFXV, but magic is bad in FFXV… Really really bad. I always had this vision that the magic would work kind of like Final Fantasy VIII, but sadly that was not the case. You can collect elemental powers throughout the world in specific places (Fire, Ice, Lightning) and once you do, you use these elemental powers to mix them together, mix them with items, or just craft them alone. It’s just an illusion of mixing though, as the only difference it makes is magic potency, and that’s not good for you, wanna know why? When you cast a magic spell, you also get affected by it alongside your companions, which does not make sense whatsoever. This made me forfeit myself from using magic a lot, the only times I had to use magic were moments were I had to use magic.
The Road trip:
Despite thinking that the road trip and all bro party wouldn’t work pretty well, I think it’s the highlight of the game and is executed pretty well. All party members are great, and the same goes for their usual banter. This works properly because of the game’s pacing, it takes it’s time to focus on them more than anything else. A problem with the pacing though, is that it takes it’s time… A lot! I was almost 8 chapters in, and there was nothing major happening in the story, other than character related stuff and fillers. I’m not saying nothing important was happening, it just that there was no basis for the story or sense of direction in the first 8 chapters, and that’s a lot, which is probably because of the open world design. It felt as if they had this plot they wanted to make, but did not know how to implement it in the open world, so what they did was put small little filler things in the open world part, and then let everything escalate quickly afterwards in the linear parts of the game. It felt weird, but at least what happens in terms of events afterwards was nothing short of greatness.
Another thing related to the road trip and the guys is the skills they have. Prompto is a photographer, Ignis is a cook, and Gladio is a survivalist. These skills level up and improve as you keep on doing them on regular basis, but their leveling does not have any impact. Though the moments in the campfires were pretty good, and sometimes would trigger some personal little quests with the guys.
Divine Astrals:
It ain’t Final Fantasy without proper summons, and yes FFXV has summons (Called Astrals), great summons too, not in terms of usability, but in terms of design. I never was a fan of how significantly changing the summons design and looks had to be done in FF games, because sometimes they would look over the top. But with the nature of FFXV’s lore, the summons almost look very abstract, and very reminiscent of their original concepts as summons, and while they’re not a lot in terms of quantity, they’re superb in terms of quality. Here’s the problem with summons though… You can’t call them whenever you want, they only trigger whenever you’re in grave danger, and even in that moment, you can’t choose who to call, it’s randomized every time it happens. The outcome is great, it’s superb, but being unable to call them whenever I want or choose to call just seems like a weird and irrational design decision. I didn’t like that, didn’t like it at all, but the summons themselves make up for it I guess, to an extent.
Yoko Shimomura is a hero, she’s a masterful composer, and because of that, FFXV has some of the best music I’ve heard in any Final Fantasy game for a while. It’s personal, it’s atmospheric, it’s intense, and it’s variable! I can literally say nothing bad about the music, except for the fixed dungeon and night combat music, other than that, what a stellar set of music to accompany you in your journey! Tracks like Omnis Lacrima, or Somnus just feel like a huge set pieces of the game, and I genuinely believe that the game wouldn’t have worked without them, and I’m not even mentioning some of the other amazing tracks out there too. If there’s anyone that make quality and emotionally powerful music for FF games other than Nobuo Uematsu, it’s definitely Yoko Shimomura.
Tale of light and darkness:
Story was the thing I always waited for the most, it’s the most important aspect for me, and Final Fantasy XIII was a huge disaster for me story wise (Actually in all aspects) so I really wanted a good story with XV, and the I think it delivered for the most part.
Without getting into spoilers, I mentioned before how the story doesn’t really go anywhere in the majority of the game, it’s all over the place, with no proper basis or sense of direction. Once you reach the linear part of the game though, the story really picks up and events start to unfold a lot more (except for one very tedious part). It’s a simple and subtle story, but it works with it’s simplicity, mainly because of it’s ending, which I loved! For me personally, the game ended perfectly, sticking to it’s core theme from the beginning, and avoiding the usual cryptic and ambiguous types of endings that some FF games have. It doesn’t compromise itself by simply wanting to be convoluted.
The story is complemented with a good set of characters, but some of the characters just seem to have no role in the story whatsoever, even though they were shown in trailers and promotional stuff a lot as if they were important, but seriously, they don’t even exist, and that was just straight cheap for me.
All in all, I genuinely believe the story was great, with a perfect ending! but lacked proper pacing in it’s open world part, and had meaningless characters.
Stand by me:
Is Final Fantasy XV a great game? the answer is yes, but it’s also a flawed game. It’s not a masterpiece by all means, but it’s miles better than XIII. The problem with FFXV is that it wasn’t successful in avoiding the usual problems most modern RPG’s try to avoid these days, such as the tedious and boring fetch quests, and having weird design decisions that hold it back. But on the other hand, it has a great story, an enjoyable combat system, spectacular music and visuals. I loved it, but it is nonetheless flawed.
With this, I bid you farewell. Till next time…
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FatMa November 28, 2016 at 8:30 pm
This is beautiful 😦
KeithRes June 10, 2018 at 5:43 am
MarcusDum December 3, 2018 at 10:51 pm
взлом переписки телеграм – как взломать мессенджер фейсбук, как взломать мессенджер фейсбук
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Canadian Author Censored & Deemed "Security Risk" by Concordia University
Reprehensor Thu, 08/31/2006 - 3:58pm
CANADIAN AUTHOR CENSORED AND DEEMED A SECURITY RISK BY CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY
University Risk Assessment Committee Revokes Approval for September 11 (5th anniversary) Reading of Canadian Novel, North of 9/11.
On September 11, 2006 author, David Bernans (who is also a Concordia graduate student, a former part-time Concordia Political Science professor, a recent Concordia Graduate Student Association president) planned a Concordia University reading from his historical novel, North of 9/11 (Cumulus Press, 2006). The event was approved then later revoked by University security, deeming Bernans a security risk.
David Cozac of PEN Canada, an international association formed in 1926 to defend freedom of expression and raise awareness of that right, is quoted in Concordia University Student Newspaper, The Link, as stating, “It seems to us at this point that [Bernans] is being silenced. The University hasn’t come out clearly as to why the event was cancelled.”
The fictional plot of North of 9/11 is set against the backdrop of actual events at Concordia University in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks as seen from the perspective of student characters active in anti-war politics and Palestinian solidarity organizing.
As a member of the University community, Bernans wants to read from his novel and share his thoughts about the five years Concordians have lived through since September 11, 2001. The reading event failed a risk assessment by Concordia’s Risk Assessment Committee, headed by Vice President Services, Michael Di Grappa.
On June 13, 2006, Bernans filed the room-booking request for September 11, 2006. On July 20, he was sent an email informing him that security had approved the event. Four days later, Bernans received another email informing him that security had changed its mind and denied approval for the event (no reason was given). Apparently, a risk assessment had been done over the weekend to see what risks were involved in students and faculty hearing readings from a novel about 9/11.
There is a growing public campaign in support of Bernans. The University’s Graduate Students Association has passed a motion in support of Bernans’ freedom of speech and is calling for a review of the Risk Assessment Committee’s procedures, and for a seat on that Committee. York University professor, David Noble, has said that by officially blocking Bernans’ scheduled Fall reading, “the university, already an embarrassment of academic servility, has dramatized both the power of art and its own fear of that power. Another proud victory of art over authority. Bravo Bernans!”
Bernans still hopes to hold the event at Concordia and seeks to raise awareness about other draconian constraints on freedom of speech at the University. The event has recently been included in the McGill Public Interest Research Group’s September 11 memorial: 9/11 - 5 YEARS AFTER on the McGill University campus.
An excerpt from North of 9/11 (chapter 2: September 11, 2001) is available online at:
http://www.cumuluspress.com/pdf.files/9-11_chap2.pdf
Contact info: David Widgington, publisher
http://www.cumuluspress.com — 514.523.1975
(This act of censorship inspired PEN Canada to fire off this letter.)
Michael di Grappa
Vice-President, Services
Montreal QC
E-mail: michael.digrappa@concordia.ca
Dear Mr di Grappa,
I am writing in my capacity as President of PEN Canada, an independent, nonprofit organization that works to defend freedom of expression both in Canada and internationally.
It has come to our attention that David Bernans, an author, Concordia graduate student and a Concordia-based researcher, has been prevented from holding a reading of his recently-released novel North of 9/11 at the Concordia University campus on September 11, 2006. This, in spite of a successful book launch at the Simone de Beauvoir Centre at Concordia University on May 17, 2006.
According to our information, Mr Bernans sought to do some readings from his novel and share his thoughts about, in particular, the five years that the Concordia community has lived through since 11 September 2006. In mid-June, Mr Bernans filed a room booking request for September 11, 2006. He filled out all necessary applications fully. The following month, on July 20, he received an e-mail informing him that security had approved his event. On July 23, Mr Bernans was sent another email informing him that security had denied approval for his event. No reason was given. When he enquired about which e-mail to believe, Mr Bernans was told that his event had been approved “by mistake”. Apparently, it had failed a risk assessment by Concordia’s risk management team. The assessment had been done to see what risks were involved in students and faculty hearing readings from a novel about 9/11.
To date, Mr Bernans has yet to receive an explanation for the decision by Concordia not to allow him to hold his event on campus. We find it troubling that a risk assessment committee exists – one that has the power to silence individuals, especially critical voices, who wish to speak freely in an academic setting, where it is generally expected that a range of opinions is allowed. The action taken against Mr Bernans would constitute a violation of academic freedom and freedom of expression in general.
PEN Canada respectfully asks that you provide a written explanation for the decision to reject Mr Bernans’s application to hold a public reading. PEN Canada would also request that the mandate of the risk assessment committee be reviewed such that the possibility of silencing other individuals at Concordia University not be repeated.
Constance Rooke
President, PEN Canada
CC: Claude Lajeunesse, President, Concordia University
David Bernans
(Mr Bernans' poison pen retort to his censorship.)
Confession of a 9/11 terrorist
We terrorists are a resourceful lot, sharing tips and networking via the Internet. My network extends beyond Concordia to as far away as McGill.
by David Bernans
Because I believe so strongly in my cause, I didn't recognize it until now. But recent events have forced a stark realization upon me: I am a terrorist. This is my confession.
Since the events of September 11, 2001, I have been secretly plotting. My evil plan would have brought an explosion to the downtown Sir George Williams campus of Concordia University in Montreal. And to add insult to injury, the terrorist act was to occur on the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in New York.
Luckily for the innocent youth of that great university, my terror plot was foiled by a crack team of investigators. Concordia's risk assessment committee saw through the literary veil of the event booking request. The title, “9/11 Retrospective” sounded innocent enough. But they read the event description and saw that I would be reading aloud from my so-called “novel” (or, as security experts refer to it, a “blueprint of terror”).
The historical novel, North of 9/11 (Cumulus Press), takes place during and in the immediate aftermath of September 11, 2001. It is the story of Palestinian solidarity and anti-war activists who face repression at the hands of Concordia's draconian administration and become the targets of an RCMP counter-terrorism investigation.
How authorities allowed Cumulus Press to publish this terrorist propaganda escapes me. But the madness came to an end when Concordia's risk assessment committee put its foot down and decided to ban the public reading of the book I had secretly plotted for the fifth anniversary of 9/11.
Concordia students, staff and faculty are no doubt breathing a sigh of relief now that they have been saved from my criminal scheme. They need not fear being subjected to critical perspectives on a day when only jingoistic patriotic slogans should be heard.
But we terrorists are a resourceful lot, sharing tips and networking via the Internet. My network extends beyond Concordia to as far away as McGill (a full five city blocks from Concordia) where security measures are much more lax. With a new title and new event sponsors (QPIRG McGill), we were able to conspire to do another explosive book reading. This time, authorities were not nearly as vigilant.
“Troubling Directions North of 9/11” will be taking place in McGill's Leacock building from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. And it will be taking place precisely as I had originally calculated for maximum impact, on the fifth anniversary of 9/11.
Once the explosion hits McGill there will no doubt be a flurry of new security measures. International flights will ban all reading material except the National Post, universities will close down their libraries and book-sniffing dogs will be used by the RCMP's counter-terrorism unit.
But they cannot stop the coming battle between critically minded people and the war on terror machine. If we cannot read our books publicly, we will circulate articles and reviews clandestinely on the Internet. We will form secret book-reading societies with secret handshakes and decoder rings.
I did not write this confession because I have any remorse for my actions. In fact, I am more convinced than ever that the most dangerous terror we face in the world — from Afghanistan to Canada, from Lebanon and Gaza to Israel, and from Iraq to the U.S. — is war on terror terror. That is why I wrote North of 9/11.
I chose to write a fictional confession instead of an article because the new post-9/11 reality is so surreal that fiction is the only way to really make it understandable. That is also why I wrote North of 9/11.
David Bernans is the author of North of 9/11 (Cumulus Press, 2006). He is a graduate student at Concordia University and a former President of the Concordia Graduate Students Association. He is currently engaged in a campaign for free speech at Concordia. More information on the campaign will be available at Cumulus Press.
-1 vote
Since when is reading a book
Since when is reading a book a security risk?
These are strange days...
imgstacke on Thu, 08/31/2006 - 4:04pm.
Ever since military police
Ever since military police with machine guns stand in airports making sure we don't take face wash onto the plane.
Time to Rock and Roll (not verified) on Thu, 08/31/2006 - 4:14pm.
this is retarded just like
this is retarded
just like that fake shill new hampshire professor
RANDKILLER (not verified) on Thu, 08/31/2006 - 4:34pm.
Do you agree with President Bush when he likens the struggle against Islamic fundamentalism with the fight against Nazis and communists? * 169234 responses
Yes. Bin Laden and others are the Hitlers and Stalins of our times.
Maybe. But I'm going to need some more convincing one way or the other.
No. This is just dishonest, warmongering designed to scare voters about national security in time for this fall's elections.
Not a scientific survey. Click to learn more. Results may not total 100% due to rounding.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14602723/?GT1=8404
Chris on Thu, 08/31/2006 - 4:35pm.
Exactly what is retarded?
'this is retarded just like
Submitted by RANDKILLER (not verified) on Thu, 08/31/2006 - 5:34pm.
just like that fake shill new hampshire professor'
very interesting post. What exactly is retarded? To whom do you refer in you accusation: "just like that take shill new hampshire professor"? Every time I hear a 'shill-ish' post, I just can't help asking the purported shill to explain herself,himself. I have no tolerance for actual shills. In this case 'purported' looks much like substantiated.
medicis on Thu, 08/31/2006 - 5:12pm.
This guy Confessed! See his
This guy Confessed!
See his CONFESSION OF A 9/11 TERRORIST here
Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 09/01/2006 - 11:14am.
Cumulus Press Author to Defy Concordia 9/11 Security Ban
Bernans Boycotts Risk Assessment Committee for Public Reading of Novel, North of 9/11
Controversial Canadian author, David Bernans, has accepted an invitation to read from his novel, North of 9/11 (Cumulus Press, 2006), at the Concordia Community Solidarity Co-op Bookstore despite the University Risk Assessment Committee’s refusal of his original room-booking request.
Bernans says that he refuses to submit a second request for the September 11, 2006 event “because the first one was filled out properly and I’m boycotting Concordia’s Risk Assessment Committee.” He questions the committee’s legitimacy because “it doesn’t give reasons for its decisions, its membership is secret and it really appears to be accountable to nobody except itself.”
Bernans is challenging the University to meet the following conditions before his boycott is lifted:
1. All Risk Assessment Committee past and present membership must be made public.
2. There must be a public review of the Risk Assessment Committee’s policies, procedures and past decisions.
3. The committee must offer reasons for the decision made immediately following each negative risk assessment (none have been given so far in Bernans’ case).
4. Undergraduate and graduate students, full and part-time faculty and university staff should all have representation on the committee appointed by their respective representative
associations.
Cumulus Press supports the author’s decision to follow through with the public reading of his novel.
Publisher, David Widgington, agrees that the Risk Assessment Committee’s policies, procedures and past decisions should be reviewed. “The way the Committee dealt with our author’s request,” Widgington says, “with the decision reversal and without providing a reason, proves its arbitrary nature and unveils its capacity to censor events its members don’t like. I challenge the University PR department’s denial of the Committee’s role in the decision.”
Cumulus Press acknowledges the support of organisations like PEN Canada, which is dedicated to freedom of expression, and The Public Service Alliance of Canada for writing letters to Michael di Grappa, head of the Risk Assessment Committee, questioning the committee’s decision in Bernans’
case, as well as its role and decision-making process.
Bernans, a Concordia student, is calling for a general boycott. “Until these reasonable demands are met,” he says, “I encourage Concordia community members to refuse to fill out the booking forms.”
Bernans filed an access to information request on July 26 regarding Concordia’s actions in his dossier, but the University has failed to respond within the required 20-day deadline.
Bernans’ satirical “Confession of a 9/11 terrorist” is proliferating through the blogosphere, confirming a fatigue of ‘war on terror’ hyperbole.
An excerpt from North of 9/11 (chapter 2: September 11, 2001) is available online.
Cumulus Press (not verified) on Mon, 09/04/2006 - 2:48pm.
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Behind the Black Curtain: Union Station's Elegant and Forgotten Dining Hall
image courtesy The Chuckman Collection
A while back, we came across the above postcard of a lunchroom at Union Station that looked like, if not one of those urban myths, at least an image with substantial visual enhancement. My history with Union Station goes all the way back to before the Concourse was destroyed for one of the most mediocre office buildings in Chicago, and my only memory of anything involving dining was a sitdown restaurant called the Red Lion, and a Fred Harvey coffee shop whose ‘modern’ glass walls extended in front of the columns in the Great Hall waiting room. Then I came across this photograph . . .
click images for larger view
. . . A less romanticized but very real space. But it was only yesterday I came across this . . .
photograph courtesy Ryan Griffin-Stegink, Metropolitan Planning Council
. . . from a Flickr photoset, Behind the Scenes at Chicago Union Station taken during a recent tour by Ryan Griffin-Stegink of the Metropolitan Planning Council.
We recently wrote about the MPC's current Activate Union Station 2013 Placemaking Chicago Contest, and its goal of finding projects “that best draws people in to activate the space with ideas that are engaging, low-cost and temporary.” Two winners will receive $5,000 each to make their idea a reality for ten days, August 24th through September 2nd. Wednesday, July 24th is the deadline for submitting entries. You can find all the contest guidelines here.
Activate's interventions are, of course, temporary, but as Griffin-Stegink's photographs indicate, there's a lot of room for more permanent enhancements in areas that have long been secreted from view. Many years ago, there was a general clean-up at the station, and I what I remember most was how the stone of the tall Corinthian columns had seemed to take on a gentle pink accent. Unfortunately, not long after, in July of 1980, a major fire swept through the westernmost part of the ‘Headhouse’ structure that holds the Great Hall, with lots of smoke damage that made returning back to normal a long haul. By that time, the pink quality I had noticed in the stone had somehow vanished, and not only was the Fred Harvey coffee shop gone, but also the pair of columns that fronted it. They've yet to be replaced, leaving the space once occupied by the restaurant an unbalanced gap-toothed hole in the Great Hall, usually hidden behind a curtain.
So that grand space behind the walls, complete with its coffered ceiling . . .
. . . and large, if uninteresting, murals . . . .
has remained forgotten and unseen, save for a small portion that's become a kind of gallery that never seems to be open when I'm visiting . . . .
Union Station was completed in 1925, at the then astronomical price of $75,000,000, by CUSCo, the consortium that had been formed in 1913 to own and run Union Station on behalf of the five intercity railroads that controlled its traffic - you can still see all their names on the wall of the Canal Street arcade. The station served 300 trains and 100,000 passengers each workday.
Over time, CUSCo sold air rights over the station tracks, for the Daily News Building in the 1920's, the Post Office on Van Buren in the 30's, and the first two Gateway Plaza Buildings in the 1960's. Then, as a lovely parting gift, it demolished Union Station's Grand Concourse - Chicago's answer to New York's Penn Station - for the numbingly mediocre 222 South Riverside, forcing commuters into barely finished concrete passageways that had all the charm of chutes in an abattoir.
In 1984, the station was sold to Amtrak, which in 1991 initiated its first major renovation, including removing the black-out over the glass of the 300-foot-long barrel vault skylight that had been in place since World War II, allowing natural light to again stream into the Great Hall . . .
. . . and bringing in architect Lucien Lagrange to upgrade the commuter passageways into something that actually looked as if it were designed for humans.
Back in the 1920's, architect Pierce Anderson had engineered the Headhouse of Union Station so that it could be expanded in the future. In 1998 and again in 2006, there were grand plans to construct an 18 to 25 story tower atop the original station's 8 floors. The 2006 proposal was a quarter-billion dollar project envisioning a 300 room hotel scheduled to open in 2009, plus 10 floors and 600,000-square-feet of office space, with the American Medical Association as anchor tenant. Both proposals managed to be timed just before major real estate crashes, and sunk without a trace.
Instead, last year Amtrak finished a $25,000,000 upgrade that included spending $7 million to dismantle and remove a Terry-Gilliam-like array of over a half-century's worth of obsolete equipment from the station's basements, the lowest of which are below the city's water table. Facades were repaired. As part of upgrading the mechanicals, radiator heat was finally eliminated, and fully-functioning air conditioning was brought back to the Great Hall for the first time in 40 years. Sprinklers and fire alarms were updated to conform to current code. A switch to more efficient lighting is projected to bring savings of $1 million a year.
Amtrak has moved back into the office portion of the complex, saving $2 million in annual rent, and is said to be retrofitting long-empty office floors as lodging for crews staying overnight between runs. Former retail space is being converted into a passenger lounge, and Jones Lang LaSalle continues its long-term relationship with Amtrak working to rent out the balance of the office space, find useful functions (valet parking?) for the now mostly empty basements, and re-invigorate the retail space.
Why can't Union Station be be revived as Grand Central has in New York, as both a functioning rail station, and a great civic hub? One comment on the Flickr photoset imagines fine dining returning to Union Station, with tables set up behind the columns of the arcade . . .
. . . although we'd probably have to figure how to give diners something better to look at than a perpetual line-up of CTA buses, and the featureless 222 South Riverside across the street.
Let's hope somewhere as a part of that process, they find a way to return the missing columns to make the Great Hall whole again, and to re-integrate and restore the long-hidden dining room, opening up bricked-in windows of the currently long blank wall along Clinton to the re-invigorated and booming West Loop.
Behind the Scenes at Union Station, Flickr set by Ryan Griffin-Stegink of the Metropolitan Planning Council
Activate Union Station 2013 Placemaking Chicago Contest
Labels: Activiate Union Station, Amtrak, Chuckman Collection, Flickr, Fred Harvey, Jones Lang LaSalle, Metropolitan Planning Council, Ryan Griffin-Stegink, Union Station
But it looks like the room in the modern photo with the coffered ceiling isn't the Fred Harvey coffeeshop, but the Women's Lounge in the northwest corner of the station. Note how the old Fred Harvey images show a plain ceiling, not a coffered one. How sad to see how much this once-majestic building has mostly gone to waste. The last image on that Flickr photoset shows a 1955 layout of the station - I'm particularly intrigued by the east end of the concourse, and the Iron Horse Lounge and Semaphore Luncheonette, where the center of Amtrak's passenger area is now.
Lynn Becker said...
You're probably right about the space. It's likely the Fred Harvey area was burned out in the fire. It would still be worth saving and adapting the former lounge.
It also appears that the dining room shown in that last postcard is now the gallery space that you mentioned - I never even noticed the gallery until this morning (and yes, it was closed). Based on the historical images, it looks like the kitchen was located beneath the balcony in the Fred Harvey lunch room. The 1955 layout map also shows a barber shop in the extreme southeast corner of the building, next to the dining room.
The area with the iron horse lounge was the original concourse. The connection from the Great Hall to the tracks. It was demolished in the 70s. Replaced with an office tower. A smaller concourse is now the lower levels of the office tower.
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Carter: US Partnership With UK Continues Despite Brexit
—Brian Everstine9/8/2016
Defense Secretary Ash Carter greets Brig. Gen. Christopher Short, the defense attache in London, upon his arrival in London, Sept. 6, 2016. DOD photo by USAF TSgt. Brigitte N. Brantley.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter this week is meeting with leaders in the United Kingdom to ensure the British vote to leave the European Union doesn’t impact the future security situation or global contributions to NATO. “Even with all the change in the world—the inherent logic of our countries’ special relationship still stands—economically, politically, and militarily,” Carter said during a Wednesday speech at the University of Oxford. “That was true the day before the Brexit vote, and it is true today. The United States respects the decision of the British people, and we’re committed to partner together in the months and years ahead.” Carter said he opposed the Brexit vote, but the decision “does not change all that we have to do together,” such as the counter ISIS fight and deterring Russian aggression. US officials, including the former commander of US Air Forces in Europe, have said the vote will have no impact on US operations with Britain.
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REPUBLIC OF TURKEY TURKISH EMBASSY IN BEIRUT
Mission History
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No: 333, 12 December 2018, Press Release Regarding The “symbol Act” On Symbols Of Extremist Organizations That Has Been Passed By The Austrian Parliament
Republic Of Turkey Ministry Of Foreign Affairs 12.12.2018
The law on amendments to the “Symbol Act” from 2014, prohibiting the symbols of extremist organizations in Austria, was adopted after the voting in the Austrian National Council yesterday (11 December 2018).
The inclusion of the symbols of the PKK terrorist organization into the law is a positive step in the right direction in the fight against terrorism, albeit a late one. We will closely follow how this particular part of the regulation will be implemented.
On the other hand, the said law includes the “bozkurt” (“Grey Wolves”) sign, which is a symbol of a legal political party in Turkey and the “rabia” sign that is widely used by Muslims in many countries as well as in Turkey. We do not accept this and we strongly condemn it.
These political and religious symbols are not even remotely related to extremism. It is disappointing and worrying that a legislative effort that began with an august objective, such as cooperation in the fight against terrorism, has deviated from its aim and has been trivialized through such a political and populist maneuver. It is clear that the said Act is inconsistent with democratic values, it imposes limitations on legitimate political ground and targets not only those using these political symbols but also the politics and democracy as a whole.
If the Austrian authorities sincerely wish to tackle extremism, they should first look to their own country. They should stop turning a blind eye to the ever-increasing extreme right and racist tendencies that have infiltrated even mainstream politics and take effective measures through an exercise of soul-searching. Yet, xenophobia and racism are phenomena that foreigners living in Austria unfortunately face on a daily basis. In a country with hundreds of thousands-strong Turkish community this situation disturbs the social peace and renders impossible the integration which local authorities attach importance.
This development, which deeply offends Turkey, the Turkish community in Austria and Muslims, will not contribute at all to the ongoing efforts towards normalizing our bilateral relations in the recent period. We expect the Austrian authorities to rectify this grave mistake.
Hakan Çakıl Ambassador
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1532 Master Blaster.
I was certain I’d used this title before, but apparently I never have. It seems so obvious, maybe that’s why I thought I had. I checked though.
Eagle eyed readers will recognize the beanbag as Jo’s nemesis from page 741. It’s one of my favorite moments in the comic with Jo. It also leads to Jess passively asking her out. She plays it like it’s just casually going for food, but in retrospect…
It’s kind of fun to think about what might have happened if she never borrowed that camera. She might have ended up bonding with Ed more, or in a different way. It’s safe to say that she’s attracted to both of the twins, but Ed is so much more reserved I don’t think he would ever have made a move on her. He may not have even looked at her in that way since he’s always been so drawn to Nina. Jo might have ended up with John too, although I like him finding himself drawn to Alex more. Since he’s a bit shallow it makes it more fun to write him trying to figure out being attracted to someone who isn’t his “type”.
It would have been really fun to pair Jo with Mike. They would have been an adorable couple, and it would have been a real problem for Mike since he’s the manager. With Carol and Thomas they’re technically equal as far as the store hierarchy goes, so the question of coercion isn’t as big a deal if things go wrong. They don’t have any power over each other, although Thomas defaults to her being in charge because he prefers not being in control, or responsible for making choices. I wrote some ideas for Reggie and Jo being a thing, but ultimately decided not to do it. I think it could have been really good especially in light of some of the future stuff that’s coming, but it never seemed to play out right. I think they could be good friends again, but something about them doesn’t seem to work right wen you pair them off. I feel like at best they could go as far as a drunken mistake, except Reggie wouldn’t get drunk and he’d also never have sex with a drunk girl, as it goes against his code. Something would have to happen that made him want to get drunk first and engineering the whole thing would have been a mess. At the same time I never take any idea off the table. You don’t always know what characters will want to do until they’re sitting on a park bench in the rain, so to speak.
Ability-King-KK on 2016/05/02 @ 9:05 am Reply
I feel like Jess has no idea how to truly go about this and just think Let’s Plays are an easy way to make money.
Par on 2016/05/02 @ 9:43 am Reply
I do think they might possibly have something good on their hands. I’d personally definitely listen to a Let’s Play hosted by Jess & Jo, and adding Ed might just broaden their appeal, as he could easily be the grump to offset all the rays of sunshine the girls will be blasting up everyone’s collective rear-end. XD
oak on 2016/05/02 @ 10:44 pm Reply
To be fair, we say this after already being entertained by this trio for years in a different capacity. So in this sense, they have already became the brand that we trust.
Wow, I didn’t even realize that myself until I’d typed it…
steveha on 2016/05/02 @ 9:56 am Reply
A Let’s Play with not just one, but two cute girls? And one is brash and confident and vivacious, and the other one is shy and has interesting ways of talking (“in the before times” and similar)? I think they have a chance.
I don’t follow Let’s Plays but the hook that they are playing old games that are hard to find seems like it would work both for them and against them. On the other hand, playing the hot new games *and* playing old rare games would only serve to give them depth.
I agree with Par: adding Ed would liven things up considerably, and he would accrue a few fans of his own. Having him around would make Jess seem even livelier, just by the contrast, and some grumpiness might be like adding salt and pepper to the stew.
I don’t know that they would make it super huge, but I could see them getting enough money to buy more games, making it a self-sustaining business. They probably won’t get rich enough to retire but they could have a hobby that pays them, which isn’t a bad thing.
Very interesting….What the hell are”Let’s Plays?”
And yes, I realize I could google it, (auto-correct doesn’t like google) but I’d like some knowledge imparted from elsewhere for a change.
Videos of people playing a game like, Let’s Play Bomberman, or whatever. Sometimes there is commentary, like with Game Grumps, or just someone playing. There are other versions of essentially the same format as well.
steveha on 2016/05/02 @ 10:05 am Reply
I do think that Jo and Reggie can and should repair their friendship. I think Jo moved the needle a bit with her impassioned speech about wanting her old friend back.
Reggie’s thing about taking over and building his empire could be partly because he really feels like everyone is out to get him; of course they really aren’t, and his defenses keep pushing them away. If he were to drop the chip off his shoulder and relax a bit, he could wind up in a state of friendship with all of his co-workers. Of course, that might happen the day before the store closes forever.
Par on 2016/05/02 @ 10:33 am Reply
Reggie to me seems like he comes from a family / background / upbringing where he really got kicked around a lot. He came from money, then he had to prove himself and be the bottom guy in the totem pole with the job in construction, which went so very poorly for him, and then he got kicked out of even *that* when the nail gun incident happened, and all of that just led to a desperate need to prove himself. He *wasn’t* going to be the small fry anymore, and he was going to prove himself *however* he could. It’s also why he was so surprised when he was talking to Nina (gunfight in the store) that people could still be friends *and* technically subordinates. I don’t know. Reggie is a jackass, if a lot less so as of late but I feel like if life hadn’t happened to him, he’d be a lot more of a good guy.
I couldn’t agree more, except that I’d point out that Reggie isn’t a bad guy anyway. He’s technically a pretty good guy, he just makes an ass of himself a lot because, like you said, he’s trying to prove himself. He’s just trying so hard he goes too far and often loses sight of everything else.
heroesofcrash on 2016/05/02 @ 3:54 pm Reply
I have a sneaking suspicion that this is leading toward finding an audience for Jo’s movie-making ambitions…!
David browie on 2016/05/02 @ 4:49 pm Reply
Why do I think Jess’s plan will fail harder than Starscream at a Megatron convention.
Overkillengine on 2016/05/03 @ 11:29 am Reply
A few more (empty) buzzwords and she’d be giving an investment seminar.
qka on 2016/05/06 @ 8:38 am Reply
red paperclip
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Make a tax-free donation to C4CE today
About C4CE
C4CE and Embark join forces
Webinars 2018
Community Energy Research
Small-Scale Community Solar Guide
National Community Energy Strategy
Memery bank
02/06/2014 /0 Comments/in General, News /by Cameron Love
“I’ve been very lucky I’ve got to work on a whole lot of different projects across different scales of wind energy, so over a number of years I’ve been able to pick up a pretty broad and deep knowledge of that; so as well as the regulatory, policy and grid connection side of things [I offer] a bit of subject expertise in wind energy and also in solar.”
Craig Memery might well be a community energy treasure. As an energy industry professional now with the Alternative Technology Association, he brings to the sector an enviable knowledge of energy markets and mechanisms, regulatory and policy frameworks, as well as alternative technologies’ feasibility, installation, grid connection, project development, resource assessment and resource management. Add to that power performance testing and demand side management and there’s little wonder he’s taught wind energy at TAFE.
As a consumer advocate, Craig works at energy market and policy reform, his efforts yielding tremendous results on behalf of community energy groups in overcoming regulatory barriers – “there are rules that have been changed to assist proponents of distributed energy” – as well as resource-based challenges. “We’ve built some fantastic tools recently to help communities do feasibility studies on solar to find sites without having to spend thousands or tens of thousands of dollars on consultants. We give them these tools to do it themselves.”
Craig sees the Community Energy Congress as an ideal opportunity to gel the sector, allowing relationships to strengthen and thereby deepen its capacity to bring about change. He would like to see the Congress steward a coordinated and positive advocacy from the sector, to achieve recognition by energy market decision makers equal in status to, and thereby building on, existing consumer advocacy.
He envisages a desirable outcome for all as the sector matures to allow us to learn from one another so projects are delivered with greater efficiencies and to better effect.
Craig would like the Congress to convey a message to the energy market institutions and energy businesses for cooperation and support of the sector in recognition of the potential which exists for demand side participation to create new efficiencies and build a mutually beneficial, more sustainable energy sector.
Let’s help craft it.
http://c4ce.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/C4CE_logo_long.png 0 0 Cameron Love http://c4ce.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/C4CE_logo_long.png Cameron Love2014-06-02 00:39:322015-09-13 04:49:18Memery bank
“It’s so much fun!”
Cultural, sociological and political science expert with Japan’s Institute of Sustainable Energy Policies (ISEP), Shota Furuya, says this is his main message to potential supporters of the community energy sector. “I have been working with this sector for 10 years and every time I go into communities I see wonderful cooperation and collaboration between many interesting people.”
Established in 2000, ISEP has helped pioneer community energy projects in Japan. Personally inspired by community energy stories from Germany and Denmark, Shota quietly states “Especially since Fukushima, we have many, many initiatives and I have supported several successful community projects. My role is to set up the forum for multi-stakeholder engagement, then facilitate consensus, project planning and development.” Then, when communities successfully start their process, he will work with them on dialogue between stakeholders. “I introduce skilled experts to practitioners and build networks among them.”
“Fukushima is very divided since the nuclear accident and communities are very sensitive to energy issues. Most people are interested in renewable energy but don’t know how to do it so we go to the communities and talk with people and advise how to start the process and how to plan and develop their projects with multi-stakeholder participation.”
“My main objective for the Congress is to share inspiring community energy stories from Japan with the Australian people. My second objective is to build a network between Australia and Japan. Renewable energy is essentially decentralised and distributed, so individuals, organisations and communities are often isolated, but sometimes international connection between those players brings unexpected new ideas, so I hope we can inspire each other.”
And with inspiration comes motivation.
http://c4ce.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/C4CE_logo_long.png 0 0 Cameron Love http://c4ce.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/C4CE_logo_long.png Cameron Love2014-06-02 00:31:592015-09-13 04:49:26“It’s so much fun!”
Pingala Plans Solar Farms for Sydney
05/03/2014 /0 Comments/in CE Projects & Offers, News /by C4CE
The community energy group Pingala sees a future where solar power will play a vital role in providing Sydney’s energy requirements. Tom Nokolds, the secretary of Pingala, says the organisation has plans to develop “many solar farms … owned by the community … right here in Sydney”.
Nokolds feels that the Community Energy Congress in Canberra will be an opportunity to share experiences and skills amongst the growing community owned segment of the Australian energy sector.
Find out more at pingala.org.au.
http://c4ce.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/C4CE_logo_long.png 0 0 C4CE http://c4ce.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/C4CE_logo_long.png C4CE2014-03-05 00:22:242015-09-13 04:49:33Pingala Plans Solar Farms for Sydney
ARENA helping put power in the people’s hands
25/02/2014 /0 Comments/in News, Policy /by C4CE
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) became a key supporter of the emerging Australian community energy sector in November 2013 when it announced substantial funding for the Coalition for Community Energy (C4CE), led by UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures, to help catalyse community renewable projects around the country.
The ARENA funding will go to develop a Community Energy Strategy for Australia. The strategy is currently under development. As part of the Strategy development process, the Coalition for Community Energy is organising the inaugural Community Energy Congress, to be held in Canberra from 16 to 17 June, 2014.
ISF project leader Nicky Ison said community renewables encourage regional economic development, create local jobs and represent an opportunity for Australians to play an active role in where their electricity comes from.
“Community-owned renewable energy projects put power in the hands of Australian towns and suburbs, providing an exciting opportunity, particularly for renters, to get involved in Australia’s renewable energy future,” Ms Ison said.
“ARENA’s support will help us develop a strategic approach to take this promising and committed part of the Australian renewable energy sector forward.”
ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht said community renewables projects are of national benefit as they encourage community support for renewables, helping the development of other projects across Australia.
ARENA is providing $165,280 for C4CE to investigate funding models, skills and regulatory barriers for community renewable projects through research, workshops and the inaugural Congress,” Mr Frischknecht said.
“This project brings key players in the sector together to investigate the challenges and opportunities of community renewable projects and chart a pathway for the sector to tap into its potential.”
http://c4ce.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/C4CE_logo_long.png 0 0 C4CE http://c4ce.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/C4CE_logo_long.png C4CE2014-02-25 08:15:292015-09-13 04:49:46ARENA helping put power in the people’s hands
CE Projects & Offers
© Copyright - C4CE: C4CE does not endorse or assume any responsibility for members, community groups or their initiatives. See ‘Role of C4CE’ for details.
C4CE is an unincorporated collaboration and initiative of the Alternative Technology Association.
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Post-partum September 4, 2018
Have a C-section? You still have to wait 6 weeks to have sex
Postpartum Care, Postpartum Sex, sex
Raising a newborn means living on practically no sleep, while simultaneously keeping a tiny human alive. After giving birth, you probably aren’t ready to leave the hospital to jump straight in the sack, but you might wonder when you’ll be able to resume a normal sex life. If you’re expecting, or just curious about the process, here’s how the body heals postpartum.
Whether you give birth vaginally or have a cesarean section, you’ll need to give your body about six weeks to heal to protect the uterus. “A lot of the precautions that we give about avoiding sex, not swimming, or taking a tub bath, it’s because we’re worried about the risk of infection when the cervix is more dilated,” says Dr. Anna Reinert, a fellow in minimally-invasive gynecological surgery and chronic pain at Dignity Health in Phoenix.
“It’s easier for bacteria to climb up into the uterus if the cervix is dilated,” says Dr. Reinert. “Normally — when people are not pregnant, not postpartum, not having their menses — the cervix is very tightly contracted and so it would be hard to pass even like a thin straw up through it.”
What to expect after giving birth
“For both the vaginal delivery and the c-section, your uterus is emptied of the pregnancy, so the placenta, amniotic fluid, and the baby come out,” says Dr. Reinert. The typical patient will experience bleeding that is heavier than a period, regardless of the delivery method, explained Dr. Reinert. The blood starts out bright red and will gradually lighten over the course of two to six weeks.
This vaginal discharge, called lochia, includes amniotic fluid, blood, bacteria, and immune cells. During the healing process, patients will shed small amounts of fluid daily, losing up to a half a liter total, according to Dr. Reinert.
Dr. Reinert explained that the cervix tends to be dilated a few centimeters for a few days after delivery. It will contract down to about one centimeter after about a week, for both vaginal deliveries and c-sections and remains dilated to allow blood and fluid to pass. The uterus also gets much smaller post baby. It contracts to detach the placenta, close off blood vessels, and shrink back to its normal size. This process, which reduces the uterus by about a fifth, can also lead to cramping.
Some things take longer to heal if you have a c-section
During a c-section, the abdominal wall is cut open and the muscles are pulled apart to get to the uterus and the baby. Patients experience pain during recovery because the skin and muscles that were cut need to repair themselves, not because the uterus was lacerated, says Dr. Reinert.
Most physiological changes of pregnancy reverse in about six weeks, but if you have a major abdominal surgery like a c-section, it might take more like eight weeks to heal, says Dr. Reinert. And patients may still have pain and decreased muscle strength even three months after the delivery, she says.
“Your body is still going to be healing the abdominal wall for a longer period of time.” says Dr. Reinert. “You want the uterus to heal well before getting pregnant again.”
While everyone heals on their own timetable, your flow should lessen and the blood should become lighter over time. Around one to five percent of women experience a postpartum hemorrhage, so if you experience major bleeding — like having to change your sanitary pad every hour — or your discharge gets heavier after a period of getting lighter, call your doctor.
“There still could be an infection risk without there being pain,” says Dr. Reinert. “The greatest risk from sex comes from having sex. The tissues aren’t quite as resilient to pathogens when they’re still healing.”
Even if you aren’t experiencing pain and feel like your body is healed, make sure your provider gives you the green light before engaging in sex.
How to take the pressure off vacation sex
What relationship expert Shan Boodram thinks about...
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The 'Lion And Sheep' Quote by Mussolini; Misquote??
The Lion and the Sheep
Why they hate Trump
by Justin Raimondo, February 29, 2016
On June 14, 1918, a nineteen year old Italian soldier by the name of Bernardo Vicario was ordered by his commander, Carl Rigoli, to carry out a curious task. Outnumbered and outgunned, the Italian forces would soon be hit with a furious bombardment that would mean the death of most of them. Rigoli clearly knew this, which is why he told young Bernardo to write an inscription on the ruined wall of a home in the village of Fagare, where they were holed up:
“Better to live one day as a lion than a hundred years as a sheep.”
Rigoli perished in the battle: Bernardo lived to tell the tale. And almost a hundred years later, a researcher looking for ways to smear GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump stumbled across a reference to it and attributed it to Benito Mussolini, the Italian dictator.
A reporter for Gawker, the notorious gossip site that’s been sued for libel more times than I care to discover, had set up a parody Twitter account named “Il Duce,” and the reporter, one Ashley Feinberg, tweeted the not-said-by-Mussolini quote at Trump, who promptly re-tweeted it. Shortly afterward, Trump was confronted by reporter Chuck Todd, who wanted to know why he was re-tweeting something said by Mussolini. Trump wouldn’t back down: “It’s a great quote,” he said, quite correctly. That refusal, and the content of the quote itself, underscores and explains why he is winning and why the hysterical smear campaign directed at him and his campaign is failing big-time....
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2016/02/28/the-lion-and-the-sheep/
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2006 CT Coaches Soccer Assoc. Coach of The Year Award: Artur Branco
2011 Cheshire High School Boys Soccer Staff
Head Coach Artur Branco
Coach Branco is the Boys Head Soccer Coach at Cheshire High School. In ten years with the program he has led the Rams to ten straight State playoff appearances and to three SCC Housatonic Championships and the Class LL semi-final in 2001. Coach Branco holds a combined record of 124-41-16. In 1998 he received the league's Coach of The Year Award. Coach Branco played collegiate soccer at Southern Connecticut State University and was a member of the Owls first National Championship Team. Prior to coming to America, Coach Branco played soccer in Portugal. There he played for Benfica and for the Portuguese Youth National Team. Coach Branco is the creator and founder of the Ultimate Soccer Academy. A Soccer Academy devoted to teach and develop a player's knowledge and skill of the game of soccer. Currently, Coach Branco is a Spanish teacher at Cheshire High School and is Chairman of the World Foreign Language Department.
Durval Pereira, Asst. Varsity Coach
Nicholas Mongillo, Asst. Varsity Coach
Coach Mongillo has been a resident of Cheshire since 1970. He began playing soccer for the newly formed Cheshire Soccer Club in 1974. Throughout his high school years, he participated at the varsity level, lettering all four years, and attaining Housatonic League recognition in each of those years as well. He was also honored as an all-state player during his junior and seniors years. He graduated ranked 5th in his class and was named Cheshire's recipient of the New Haven Register Youth of the year award in 1978.
During the summer months, he played, coached and refereed for the Cheshire Soccer Club. His association with fellow Cheshire resident, Sunil Gulati, allowed for further involvement in soccer at the district and state level as an assistant coach for nationally renowned head coaches.
Chronic leg injuries plagued his participation in soccer at the collegiate level at Boston University. He did however organize and develop a successful intramural soccer program for the school. Graduating with honors in biology and Italian studies, he chose to pursue a career in medicine. He maintained contact with soccer throughout his four years of medical school. He managed and played for a championship regional team in Grenada, West Indies. Also while completing his residency in pediatrics at Yale New Haven and Bridgeport Hospitals, he was a member of the Waterbury Zimitti Soccer Club of the Connecticut Soccer league premier division. His other coaching experiences included junior varsity at St. Regis Boys High School in New York City and assistant head coach at Amity High School in Woodbridge, CT. He has also played and coached for the Cheshire Azzurri over-30 and over-40 men's teams for many years.
Coach Mongillo has been a member of Coach Branco's staff since 1996. His responsibilities include technique training, field strategies, team psychodynamics and fitness advisor.
Ian Wilderman, Junior Varsity Coach
This is Coach Wildermann's first year as a member of the CHS boys soccer coaching staff. Coach Wildermann played high school soccer at Branford High School. He went on to play soccer at the college level at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island. He previously coached in the Branford Soccer Club as well as the Branford High School summer league team and continues to play competitively in various leagues, including the SASL men's league. Coach Wildermann's is a great addition to the high school staff
Coach Wildermann is in his second year as an English teacher at Cheshire High School.
Joe Testa, Freshman Coach
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Minus the Bear prepping ‘Acoustics II,’ playing Metro on tour
By BrooklynVegan Staff July 11, 2013 10:35 AM
Minus the Bear @ NYC’s Webster Hall in 2010 (more by Matthew Eisman)
Minus the Bear are currently working on a follow-up to their 2008 Acoustics EP. This new one, aptly titled Acoustics II, will be a full-length and is set to feature two new songs. You can preorder a copy of the album + a slew of exclusives via the band’s PledgeMusic page.
MTB will also be embarking on an extensive fall U.S. tour. That tour includes a performance at Metro on October 17 with openers INVSN and Slow Bird. Tickets for the Chicago show go on sale this Friday (7/12) at noon CST.
All Minus the Bear dates and a few videos lie after the jump…
Minus the Bear – “Knights” (LIVE)
Minus the Bear – “My Time”
Minus the Bear — 2013 Tour Dates
09/08/13 – Sacramento, CA at Launch Festival
09/09/13 – San Francisco, CA at Slim’s**
09/10/13 – Los Angeles, CA at The Fonda Theater**
09/11/13 – Solana Beach, CA at Belly Up Tavern**
09/12/13 – Las Vegas, NV at The Pool at the Cosmopolitan
09/13/13 – Phoenix, AZ at Marquee**
09/14/13 – Santa Fe, NM at Railyard (Tera Melos only)
09/16/13 – Austin, TX at Emo’s East**
09/17/13 – Houston, TX at House of Blues**
09/18/13 – New Orleans, LA at Tiptina’s**
09/19/13 – Dallas, TX at Granada**
09/20/13 – Lawrence, KS at Granada**
09/21/13 – Denver, CO at Riotfest
09/22/13 – Salt Lake City, UT at The Depot**
09/24/13 – Pomona, CA at Glass House**
10/10/13 – Minneapolis, MN at Varsity Theater##
10/11/13 – Milwaukee, WI at The Rave##
10/12/13 – St Louis, MO at Plush##
10/13/13 – Indianapolis, IN at Vogue##
10/14/13 – Dekalb, IL at Otto’s##
10/15/13 – Cleveland, OH at House of Blues##
10/16/13 – Grand Rapids, MI at Intersection##
10/17/13 – Chicago, IL at Metro##
10/18/13 – Detroit, MI at Majestic##
10/19/13 – Niagara Falls, NY at Rapids Theatre##
10/20/13 – Toronto, ON at Opera House##
10/22/13 – Pittsburgh, PA at Mr. Smalls##
10/23/13 – New Haven, CT at Toad’s##
10/24/13 – Boston, MA at Royale##
10/25/13 – New York, NY at Best Buy##
10/26/13 – Philadelphia, PA at Electric Factory##
10/27/13 – Baltimore, MD at Soundstage Live##
10/28/13 – Lancaster, PA at Chameleon Club##
10/29/13 – Richmond, VA at The National##
10/30/13 – Asheville, NC at Orange Peel##
11/01/13 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL at Revolution##
11/02/13 – Orlando, FL at Beachum Theater##
11/03/13 – Atlanta, GA at Masquerade##
11/08/13 – Seattle, WA at Showbox
**w/ Tera Melos and The New Trust
##w/ INVSN and Slow Bird
Filed Under: INVSN | Metro Chicago | Minus the Bear | Slow Bird Category: Music | tour dates
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Experts optimistic of apartments market
Saturday, Aug 30, 2014 11:21
A view of the Sai Dong Urban Area in Ha Noi's Long Bien District. Viet Nam's real estate market is expected to continue its recovery despite challenges. — VNA/VNS Photo Tuan Anh
HA NOI (Biz Hub)— The domestic apartments market is expected to continue recovery by year-end and beyond because of the increasing number of advantages for it in market and state policies, experts said.
Savills Viet Nam, a foreign property consulting service provider, revealed that in the second quarter of 2014, an estimated 1,900 apartment units were sold in the capital city, representing a 54 per cent quarter-on-quarter increase resulting from strong sales in Grade B projects.
The average primary price was approximately VND28 million per square metre, representing a 15 per cent quarter-on-quarter increase.
In HCM City, the overall absorption rate was estimated to be 17 per cent, representing a quarter-on-quarter increase of seven per centage points QoQ and a year-on-year increase of nine per centage points. An estimated 2,500 apartment units were sold, representing a 60 per cent quarter-on-quarter increase and a 115 per cent year-on-year increase.
Real estate traders have continued doing business in the seventh lunar month in spite of the belief about it being an unlucky month for activities such as moving into new homes, getting married and opening new businesses.
A number of companies are offering properties for sale this month, especially low-cost apartments that have attracted customers. These include the Bac Ha Tower of Bac Ha Construction and Trading Joint Stock Company, the CT9 apartment building under the Van Phu Victoria project of Van Phu Investment Joint Stock Company, the Ehome3 project of Danh Khoi A Chau Real Estate Joint Stock Company, and the 8X Plus project of the Hung Thinh Property Company.
The Dien dan Doanh nghiep newspaper quoted property expert Do Minh Duong as saying that a survey on proposed amendments to nine real property laws was conducted at a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee this month.
The National Assembly is expected to approve the amendments to such laws as the Investment Law, Enterprise Law and Housing Law.
Also, the Prime Minister recently asked the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and concerned ministries and sectors to implement land administration reform, Duong added.
"These are factors that have a direct effect on the domestic real estate market. If the state implements these reforms, they will have a positive effect on the market and boost the confidence of investors and customers who want to purchase property," the expert said.
Property experts agree that Viet Nam's real estate market will recover further, though a number of challenges remain as a result of high market demand, market recovery following a recession and active monitoring of the market by investors.
In previous years, domestic demand for real property remained high, resulting in a significant number of successful transactions in the property market.
Based on official figures, Viet Nam has an average housing area of 25 sq. metres per capita and needs 2.5 billion sq. metres of housing area for an estimated total population of 100 million by 2020. The nation now has 1.4 billion sq. metres of housing area and needs 100 million sq. metres more per year for the construction of new houses and apartments.
In previous years, land area for housing and apartment construction reached 80 million sq. metres.
Therefore, demand for housing and apartment construction remained high, and enterprises should maximise every opportunity to develop property to meet market demand, Duong said.
Experts noted that in Viet Nam and the rest of the world, the property market followed a cycle of development and recession, with each cycle lasting five years.
Viet Nam experienced recession in its property market from 2009 to 2013, when leasing and selling prices for property were reduced. But, recently, the property market had been experiencing a resurgence amid positive signals such as the reduction in interest rates for loans on real property and high demand for certain kinds of real estate.
Experts also noted that domestic and foreign and investors had become more active in monitoring developments in the real estate market.
Figures from the Ministry of Planning and Investment showed that the country attracted US$5.7 billion in disbursed foreign direct investments (FDI) in the first half of the year, showing a one per cent increase year-on-year. FDI poured into the property sector accounted for approximately 10 per cent of the total, mainly through merger and acquisition (M&A) activities.
Savill Viet Nam said M&A activities in Viet Nam's real estate sector were expected to continue surging, given the perception that the country remained one of the most promising growth markets.
The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement should be signed soon and would support the growth of the national economy and increase FDI flows into Viet Nam, Savill said.
"The New Land Law, which took effect last July 1, allows foreign-invested enterprises to be allocated land for residential housing projects. This regulation amendment is expected to ensure transparency and offer equal opportunities to local and foreign investors, making Viet Nam's real estate market more attractive in the eyes of investors," it added.
"The market continues to see residential development projects changing hands, including the apartment sector, landed property sector and township projects. Investors also have a strong appetite for operating assets with stable yields and lower risks," Savill noted
"The interest of Japanese and Korean investors, who have accounted for the majority of M&A activities in the last two years, is expected to remain strong," the property consulting service provider said. "Besides, there is growing demand from Singaporean and Taiwanese groups for both residential and commercial office buildings. There will be continued activity in these sectors over the coming months and in 2015." — VNS
Kinh Do Corp aims for higher market share with new food products
Vinacomin reports low turnover
Japan Desk assists Japanese investors in Ha Noi
Tags Vietnam real estate savills vietnam
Terms of home loan repayments extended
CBRE to manage V+ commercial centre
VN property market worth $21b
Da Nang housing construction falls in H1
Brokers undeterred by August fears
Capital seeks permission to make buildings taller
Ha Noi plans new urban areas
Property price indices rise in major cities
Foreign investors prefer operational assets in VN property market
Companies search for offices in Ha Noi
Property sector in need of financial services
An Phat Group accelerates investment in the US
HCM City promotes IC, semiconductor industry
Concerns persist over taxation of foreign e-commerce firms
Only 32% of Vietnamese consumers trust personal data security
Most new landed property in eastern Ha Noi
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Are biofuels to blame for agflation?
The UK's consumer prices index showed annual food price inflation of 6 per cent in April, the highest level in almost six years and well ahead of overall inflation of 2.8 per cent. In the US, prices have risen by 6.7 per cent, seasonally adjusted, since the beginning of the year, compared to 2.1 per cent for all of 2006.
There are some proximate factors driving food prices. Florida promises the smallest orange crop in 17 years. Swine fever in China has pushed up local pork prices. Coffee prices have been pushed up by adverse weather affecting production in Vietnam and Brazil, the two largest producers.
Of course, the relationship between food prices and inflation in general has been weakening. In the late 1940s food accounted for 43 per cent of the US consumer price index. By 1975 it was down to a quarter and its weight in the basket is now just 14 per cent.
Biofuels are gradually taking over as the main growth driver of agricultiral demand, Goldman Sachs says that if government policies are adopted in full, global demand for biofuels could increase from 10bn gallons a year to 25bn gallons by 2010. In the US ethanol production accounted last year for 16 per cent of the corn (maize) crop. If farmers are to fill cars as well as stomachs, then there is an argument for structurally higher prices of some agricultural commodities.
Of course, one response in a market system is to increase production, although this is ultimately limited by the availability of suitable land. Indeed, global grain production will rise by 6.2 per cent to a record 1.666bn tonnes in 2007-08, according to the International Grains Council. However, this will not match global consumption forecast at 1.680bn tonnes.
China's Communist rulers are worried and have announced a moratorium on the production of ethanol from corn and other food crops. In China grain security has been at the top of the party's political priority list and a 43 per cent increase in the price of China's staple meat - pork - triggered concern at the highest levels of the party.
The European Commission argues that its 10 per cent 2010 target for biofuels will not put a great strain on food markets. Their analysis suggests that prices for agricultural raw materials in the EU would rise by 3-6 per cent for cerals and 5-18 per cent for the major oilseeds as a result. As the cost of cereals makes up only 1 to 5 per cent of the consumer price of bread, which means that bread prices would increase by less than 1 per cent.
Although concerns have been expressed that planting biofuel crops may contribute to deforestation, biofuels do have clear environmental benefits. Corn-based ethanol gives 35 per cent more energy than it takes to produce. Greenhouse gas emissions per gallon of fuel used are 18 to 29 per cent lower with ethanol than with fossil fuels.
Biofuels are politically popular in the States because they give an income boost for farmers in the electorally marginal Mid West and also seek to address the country's security concerns about energy dependence on the Middle East. President Bush wants the country to produce 35 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol, a goal that will require an additional 129,000 square miles of farmland, an area the size of Kansas and Iowa combined.
What are implications for the CAP? In an ideal world, the promise of improved market returns should mean that farmers, particularly big grain farmers, would have less need of subsidy. Farmers would no doubt argue that they are recovering from a long period of low incomes and that indeed their real incomes has been falling for a century (although in practice this is offset by much larger scale operations that secure economies of scale).
A real concern is that the rush to biofuels will boost food security discourses. These are seen as the best bet by those who want to return to discredited productionist orthodoxies and to make the claim that farming cannot function as a normal commercial activity but should be subsidised.
posted by Wyn Grant at 2:28 AM
Name: Wyn Grant
Location: East Stand, The Valley, United Kingdom
I started supporting Charlton in 1953 when my father took me to a game (my mother came sometimes as well). My father was born in North Woolwich in 1908 and had been a Charlton supporter since the 1920s when an older cousin took him. He raised the admission fee by looking after horses while deliveries were made. I now live in Leamington in Warwickshire, but remain a season ticket holder, as was my late wife. Visitors to my CAP blog may be confused by this but, as well as being a Charlton supporter, I am expert on the CAP and the political economy of the food chain. I am also a frequent commentator for UK and international print and broadcast media and wire services on British politics, hence my new blog on the subject.
New French farm minister is not good news
COPA to smarten up its act
Sarko's hard line could have a paradoxical end
Water is not just an issue for Australia
Is there hope in France?
Wine reform will lead to job losses
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose
Scrap CAP says Commons committee
Wine lake threatens to overflow
Sugar reform hits trouble
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Blackstone’s half-price Ideal World channel sale
Blackstone is poised to sell off the Ideal World home shopping channel for less than half the price it paid for the business.
The world’s largest private equity firm has appointed advisers from Deloitte to find a buyer quickly for the channel’s parent company Ideal Shopping Direct.
The business has previously exploited the rapid growth of the “crafting” market, yet its trading is said to have been suffering more recently following the launch of Hochanda.
Companies House records show that Michael Hancox, 52, the chief executive of Ideal Shopping Direct since 2008, left the business on May 30.
Staff at Peterborough's Ideal Shopping Direct are facing an uncertain future, based in Newark Road, where it employs about 500 people.
A spokesman for Blackstone confirmed the company was for sale and it was talking to potential buyers.
He said: "Following a review of their portfolio priorities, and a number of approaches, Blackstone have decided to run a formal process to seek expressions of interest for Ideal Shopping Direct Ltd."
Ideal Shopping Direct comprises Ideal World, Create and Craft, Craft Channel Productions, Ideal Sourcing and Deramores, selling on-line and through broadcast TV on Freeview channels 22 and 23, Freesat, Sky and Virgin in the UK and the DISH satellite network in the USA.
Ideal Shopping Direct was bought by Blackstone after it had been put on the market by former owner private equity company Inflexion, which had priced it at £200 million. Blackstone has always refused to say how much it spent on the purchase.
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Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Says Territorial Integrity Cannot Be Traded
YEREVAN (Armenpress)–According to Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Vilayat Quliyev–Azerbaijan believes that the French parliament’s decision to recognize the Armenian genocide was a mistake. He also noted that there was no doubt Azerbaijan’s position would be made clear to France.
The adoption of such a bill by one of the co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group–France–cannot be considered permissible–Quliyev said on Azerbaijani TV. This could certainly have a negative impact on the settlement of the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict. A country which is a cochairman’should not take up any position on such an issue.
The foreign minister believes that chance of improvement depends on the proposals put forward at the meeting between Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents scheduled for January 26 in Paris. The minister said there would be an improvement in the negotiations if there are proposals for a just settlement of the conflict.
Touching upon Azerbaijan’s proposals for this meeting–Minister Quliyev said: "We are not intending to make any proposals–because Azerbaijan has already made all possible proposals. We are expecting proposals from the Armenian side and from France–which is a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group and initiated the holding of this meeting in its capital."
Quliyev said that compromises are needed to resolve any conflict–however–Azerbaijan can make no compromises to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict which could violate Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized laws or its territorial integrity. Compromises can only be made on the status of Nagorno Karabakh and the rights of the Armenian minority in this enclave. The foreign minister said that there was nothing more Azerbaijan could concede.
Tags Azerbaijan
EDITORIAL: No Other Option Except Independence for Artsakh
Russia Addresses Armenian Concerns over Arms Sales to Baku
Stepanakert Calls Sentencing of Citizen in Baku ‘Groundless’
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Satan's Great Counterfeit
Jeremiah wrote, "Learn not the way of the HEATHEN ... for the customs of the people are VAIN" (Jer. 10:2). "The prophets prophesy LIES in my name" (Jer. 14:14; 23:26). "In VAIN do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" (Matt. 15:9), "making the Word of God of NONE EFFECT through your TRADITION" (Mark 7:13). "For the mystery of INIQUITY doth already work" (2 Th. 2:3,7). "Let no man DECEIVE you by any means; for that day shall not come except there come a FALLING AWAY first" (2 Th. 2:3). "Take heed that no man DECEIVE you. For MANY shall come in my name, saying I am Christ; and shall DECEIVE MANY" (Matt. 24:4-5) -- "speaking PERVERSE things" (Acts 20:30) "and MANY shall follow their PERNICIOUS ways" (2 Pet. 1:2) "turning the grace of God into LASCIVIOUSNESS" (Jude 3,19) "and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto FABLES" (2 Tim. 4:3-4). The inhabitants of the earth "have been made DRUNK" with confusing doctrines (Rev. 17:2) and their minds have been "BLINDED" (2 Cor. 4:4). Did Satan "CHANGE times and laws" (Dan. 7:25)? Does Satan DECEIVE "the whole world" today (Rev. 12:9)? Did he create COUNTERFEITS -- "another Jesus" and "another gospel" (2 Cor. 11:3-4) pretending to be an "angel of light" (2 Cor. 11:14) but really a LIAR (John 8:44)?
Adam Obeyed Satan and Became His Servant
Satan is a "DECEIVER of the whole world" (Rev. 12:9). Adam and Eve OBEYED Satan in the Garden of Eden and thereby became his servants. "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to OBEY, his servants ye are to whom ye OBEY, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness" (Rom. 6:16). It is in memory of Adam's TURNING ASIDE from the right way that the pagan priests of Baal supplicated their god to hear them (1 Ki. 18:26) by LIMPING (turning aside) at the altar, for LIMPING (turning aside) is the exact meaning of the Hebrew word rendered "leaped". We must "Prove all things: Hold fast that which is good" (1 Th. 5:21).
Ten Antediluvian Kings Corrupted By Cannibalistic Giants
There were TEN generations from Adam to Noah (Gen. 5:1-32). "In Chaldea Berosus enumerates TEN antediluvian kings (from Alorus to Xisusthrus). The legends of the Iranian race commence with the reign of 'TEN Peisdadien kings, men of ancient law, who lived on pure homa (water of life), who preserved their sanctity.' In India we meet with the nine Brahmadikas who, with Brahma, their founder, make TEN, and who are called the TEN Petris or Fathers. The Chinese count TEN emperors, partakers of the divine nature, before the dawn of historical times; and finally the Germans and Scandinavians believed in the TEN ancestors of Odin, and the Arabs in the TEN mythical kings of the Adites, the primordial people of their peninsula." (Lenormant, Ancient History of the East, vol. 1 pp.12-13)
Rebellious angels ("sons of God" -- Job 1:6; 38:7; Ps. 82:6) DISROBED (oiketerion) from their heavenly bodies. This term is used only twice in the Bible (2 Cor. 5:2 & Jude 1:6). These angels then assumed human form (Gen. 19, Mark 16:5, etc.) and appeared as males when they DESCENDED (Heb. "Jared" means "descend") in 3500 BC. Then they had sexual relations with human women in Genesis 6:1-4. The children from these unions were giants. Jude 14-15 quotes 1 Enoch 1:9 which says, "Behold, he comes with ten thousand saints ...". But more than that, Jude 6-7 and 2 Peter 2:4 allude to the SEXUAL LUST of fallen angels for human women. "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah ... GOING AFTER STRANGE FLESH" (Jude 7). Evil angels before the Flood left their proper abode (i.e. heaven) and came to Earth and had children by human women. For this reason, these particular angels have now been bound in Hell ("Tartarus" -- used by Enoch and 2 Peter 2:4). The resulting children became the Nephilim – a cross between angels and the human species. They were the mighty tyrants of "the world that then was." The mixing between fallen angels and women was so extensive that by the time of the Flood only Noah (Gen. 6:9) was found to be "perfect in his generations" (i.e. PUREBRED IN HIS ANCESTRY). "All flesh" had "corrupted" its physical genetics. These angels taught humans "potions and spells" "to make swords and armour" "cosmetics" and jewelry, "astrology" "divination" and "lewdness" and after this, "the giants began to devour the flesh of men" (cannibalism) (Synkellos Chronography 1:12-13, 25). The birth of the giants, according to 1 Enoch, is the reason for Noah's Flood -- to destroy the angel-human hybrids. Greek "mythology" records that the Titans were a threat to the rule of Zeus and so Kronos and many Titans were banished to Tartarus.
The Pagan Gods Were Merely Deified Mortal Men
Hesiod says that "the gods were the souls of MEN who were afterwards worshipped by their posterity, on account of their extraordinary virtues" (Hesiod, Opera et Dies 1:120-125). Hermes Trismegistus asserts that "Aesculapius, Osiris and Thoth were all holy MEN, whose souls were worshipped after their death by the Egyptians" (Herm. Apud. Mede's Apost. of Later Times 1:4). The Egyptian priests expressly taught "that Cronus, Osiris, Horus, and all their other principal deities were once mere MEN, but that after they died their souls migrated into some one or other of the heavenly bodies, and became the animating spirits of their new celestial mansions" (Plutarch De Iside, p.354). Diodorus Siculus says that "Osiris, Vulcan, and other cognate deities were all originally SOVEREIGNS of the people by whom they were venerated" (Diodorus, Bibl., book 1, pp.13-15). Herodotus also relates that the Egyptian priests admitted that their gods had once been KINGS of Egypt and that the last God king was Horus, the son of Osiris, who had deposed Typhon (Herod. 2:144).
Tubal-Cain, the metal-smith, became VULCAN, the god of the forge (Gen. 4:22). Naamah, his sister, became NEMESIS (Gen. 4:22) the goddess of retribution and revenge. Jubal, "the father of all such as handle the harp and organ" (Gen. 4:21) became APOLLO, the god of music. Japheth, son of Noah (Gen. 6:10) became JAPETUS, one of the Titans; or JUPITER, father and king of the gods. Ham, the son of Noah (Gen. 6:10) became Jupiter HAMMON, the god of the Libyans. In Egyptian mythology, Ham's son Phut (Gen. 10:6) became PTAH, god of craftsmen and architects. Mizraim's son called Naphtuhim (Gen. 10:13) became NEPTUNE, god of the sea. Nimrod became MARDUK, the god of Babylon. Asshur became THOR, the hammer-wielding god associated with thunder storms. Javan is JANUS the ancestor of the Greeks. Etcetera.
Noah's Three Sons Mentioned in Secular History
After the Flood, Noah was "a preacher of righteousness" (2 Pet. 2:4-5) and therefore preached the commandments since "All thy commandments are righteousness" (Ps. 119:172). In India, Vishnu the Preserver is celebrated as having saved one righteous family when the world was drowned. He is identified with Noah himself since Vishnu is the Sanskrit form of "Ishnuh" -- "The Man Noah."
The Sibylline Oracles speak of Cronus (Ham), Japetus (Japheth) and Titan (Shem) as the three sons of Noah (Cory's Fragments, p.52). Similarly, in the Hindu Mythology, "Sama," (Shem) "Chama," (Ham) and "PraJapeti" (Lord Japhet) are said to be born of Menu (Noah) (Asiatic Researches, vol.8 p.255; Moor's Hindu Pantheon, p.173). Saturn "divided the universe among his three sons; alotting the heaven (northern regions) to Jupiter (Japhet), the sea (maritime middle regions) to Neptune (Shem) and hell (southern regions) to Pluto" (Ham) (p. 382, Patriarchal Age by Smith). Bochart produces fourteen points of resemblance between Noah and Saturn (Faber's Horae Mosaicae 1:142). The Persian account of the three sons of Noah are Oromasdes, Mithras and Ahriman. They are again repeated in the mythology of the Scandinavians where Bore was the great father, and the three sons Odin Vile and Ve (Edda, fable 3). The son of Ham (Ammon) was Cush (Saturn) and the son of Cush was Nimrod (Marduk).
Was Naamah the Wife of Ham? Did She Make Noah Drunk? Did Ham Castrate Noah?
Cain was a sun-worshipper (p.236, Cumberland's Sanchoniathon's History). Naamah is singled out as a direct descendant of godless Cain and sister of Tubal-Cain (Gen. 4:22). This is because she is the wife of some person of importance. Ham is identified as Chronus (Diodor. Sic. 4:108). Plutarch says the wife of Cronus (Ham) was "Nemaus" which would be just the Greek form of the Hebrew "Naamah" (p.107, ibid.). Perhaps originally she was Noah's wife (Bereshit Rabba, sect. 23, fol. 20.3 Jarchi in loc. Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 1.2). But she made him drunk (Gen. 9:21; Rev. 17:4); and became his Naamah-Isis or NEMESIS as the wife of Ham. Supposedly Ouranus (Noah) was "injurious to his wife, and that she therefore excited Cronus (Ham) to avenge her quarrel on his father" (p.153, Sanchoniathon). Saturn (Ham) CASTRATED Ouranos (Noah) (pp. 34, 103-104, Sanchoniathon) and as a result, Noah bled to death (p.341, ibid.). Ham committed "slaughters and murders ... against his brother and children, yea and his own father, and observing that from hence arose a pestilence, and the death of his subjects ... Cronus (Ham) offered up his only begotten son a burnt offering to the offended Manes (Noah) of his father" (p.149, ibid.). He began the practice of HUMAN SACRIFICE. Cain's religion of IDOLATRY was "RESTORED by Ham after the Flood" (p.259, ibid.). He "apostasized" from Noah's religion (p.236, ibid.). NEMESIS preserved IDOLATRY, MAGIC and OCCULT knowledge through the Flood so men could communicate with the spirit world. She corrupted the post-flood world (Rev. 17:4) just as Solomon's wives corrupted him (1 Ki. 11:4). "Ye shall not go in unto them, nor they to you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods" (1 Ki. 11:2; Ex. 34:16; Deut. 7:3-4). Ham's descendants were cursed (Gen. 9:25) because of their moral corruption. They practised religions that were SHAMELESS, REVOLTING, OBSCENE and DEPRAVED.
Naamah-Isis may have been known as Astarte (p.332, Sanchoniathon) (Astarte in Greek is Ashtereth in Hebrew), mentioned in Genesis 14:5 where Chederlaomer and his allies smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Carnaim (from Cronus which is Ham), and the Zuzims in Ham. These giants were Ham's children, or descendants from him, and their two cities seem to bear their father's and mother's name. Thus they both -- Ham (Cronus) and Astarte (Naamah?) -- must have lived before Abraham's time.
Cush Caused Chaos at the Tower of Babel -- He Bred Giants and Practised Cannibalism -- Resulting in Confusion of Tongues
Saturn (Cronus or Cush) is said to have obtained the kingdom of Coelus or Ouranos (Noah's world empire), by the consent of his brother Titan (Shem or Set), on the condition that he did not bring up any more male children, and that, in order to conceal them, he DEVOURED them as soon as they were born. We know that it was the universal custom for the priests to EAT the sacrifices. "Are not they who EAT of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?" (1 Cor. 9:12-13; 10:18). In order to saftisfy his demon gods, and probably in obedience to their teaching, he offered his sons in sacrifice to them, and since he was the sacrificing priest, ATE the sacrifice thus offered. HUMAN SACRIFICE and CANNIBALISM originated with Cush (p.37, Sanchoniathon) and spread to the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Hindus, Mexicans and Celtic nations. The author of Nimrod says, "The tyrant Zoroaster (Nimrod), of the line of Cham (Ham), was one of the founders of the Tower of Babel; he sacrificed innumerable victims to the demons" (Nimrod, vol.1, p.146). Therefore we find that the sacrifice of the FIRSTBORN to the Sun-god Osiris (Nimrod) was one of the most notorious of the Egyptian rites (Transactions Victoria Institute, vol.14, p.113). Baal and Moloch were other names for Nimrod. The Greek story of Saturn devouring his CHILDREN goes on to say that Rhea (Naamah), the wife of Saturn (Cush), in order to save her CHILD, gave him a stone instead of Jupiter (Nimrod), when he was born. Jupiter, like Osiris, was the son of Saturn. Since babies were first killed, then burned, it was not difficult to deceive the father. She presented Cush with a stone bound in swaddling bands to represent a CHILD. (Hesiod Theogonia, lines 485, etc. pp.,38,41). When Shem discovered the birth of Nimrod, he made war against Nimrod and overpowered him (Lempriere, Titan). Cush lost his kingdom and escaped to Latium, Italy
The first two kings of the Egyptian monarchy, Menes "the Thebanite" (in south Egypt near Ethiopia) (Cush or Mizraim) and Athoth (Nimrod), were also the first two kings of Babylon, and founders of a great Cushite Empire. They began a dynasty of Theban kings (p.81, Sanchoniathon). Menes (Cush or Mizraim) was worshipped as a god called Meon (Nu. 32:38; 1 Chr. 5:8; Ez. 25:9; Jer. 48:23). Meon was the first king of Lydia and Phrygia (Diodorus; p.468, Sanchoniathon). Manes was the founder of the Lydian monarchy (Herodotus, p.45). Minos was the first king of Crete also. Every nine years he made king Aegeus pick seven young boys and seven young girls to be sent to the labyrinth to be EATEN by the Minotaur. All these "Menes" were the same person (p.471, Sanchoniathon). Cush was also known as Belus, Hermes, Cronus, Seb, Saturn and Janus. Berosus calls the founder of the first dynasty of Chaldea Evechous (man of Cush -- p. 349, Lenormant). Nimrod was known as Ninus, Osiris, Tammuz, Bel Merodach, Marduk, Bacchus and Mars. According to Herodotus, "The priests said that Menes was the first king of Egypt" (Hist. 2:99). According to Syncellus, "The first king (of Egypt) was Mestraim, also known as Menes" (p.127, Chronography). Diodorus and Eupolemus also call Misraim by the name Menes. Josephus calls the first Pharaoh, the founder of Memphis, Minaeus. The Turks call Memphis by the Hebrew name Mitzir rather than to the Greek Menephis (p.452, Sanchoniathon) (see also Herodotus 2:99).
But this empire was overthrown. Manetho wrote, "There was a king of ours whose name was Timaus (Tammuz -- Cumberland's Sanchoniathon, p. 359-360). Under him it came to pass, I know not how, that God was averse to us, and there came in a surprising manner men of ignoble birth out of the eastern parts, and had boldness enough to make an expedition into our country, and with ease subdued it by force, yet without our hazarding a battle with them. (This parallels the overthrow of Osiris by Typhon, who overcame him "not by force or open war" -- Wilkinson's Egyptians 4:330-332) So when they had gotten those who governed us (Tammuz and his father) under their power, they afterwards burned down our cities and demolished the temples of the (false) gods (cp. Num. 33:52; Deut. 7:5, 25-26), and used all the inhabitants in a most barbarous manner, nay, some they slew and led their children and wives into slavery. The whole nation was called Hyksos, that is, Shepherd Kings" (Manetho, from Josephus, Contr. Apion 1:14-15) whose domination is said to have lasted 518 years (Against Apion 1:14-15) from Shem who was the first Shepherd king till Apophis who was the last. "The king Apepi (Apophis) chose the god Sutekh (Set or Shem) as his Lord, and did not serve any other god in the whole land" and also commanded a vassal king to repudiate his gods (Sallier Papyrus in Br. Museum). Thus Apophis warred against Osiris (Plutarch S.36; Cumberland's Sanchoniathon, p.165). Syncellus says that it was a tradition, "received by the whole world," that Joseph ruled the land in the reign of King Apophis or Apepi" (Brugach, Hist. of Egypt, 1:260). Therefore Apepi (Agag) was being grateful to the God of Joseph and Shem who saved Egypt from famine. Incidentally, the Israelites who later joined these Shepherd Kings in Egypt were also "shepherds" (Gen. 47:3).
"For many ages men lived under the government of Jove (Jehovah) without cities and without laws, and all speaking one language. But after Mercury (Hermes means "son of Ham" -- Cush) interpreted (divided) the speeches of men, the same individual distributed the nations. Then discord began" (Hyginnius, p. 114). Thus the name of Cush became synonymous with "CONFUSION" -- Chaos. Proof that Cush was also known as Bel can be found in Jeremiah 1:2 where we read, "Bel is confounded" or "CONFUSION is CONFUSED." This father of the gods, also known as Janus, says, "The ancients called me CHAOS." (Ovid, Fasti book 1, verse 104; vol.3 p.19). "CHAOS is CHAOTIC" (Jer. 1:2).
"There were FALLEN ONES in the earth in those days (before the Flood), and also after that (after the Flood), when the sons of God (the FALLEN ANGELS) came in unto the daughters of men (temple priestesses) and they bare children to them; the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown" (Gen. 6:4). How did this happen? Is there any secular historical confirmation? According to Herodotus, on top of the tower of Belus at Babylon was the temple of Belus (Cush) in which was "a handsome couch and table of gold." "No mortal" he says, "passes the night there, except one woman chosen by the god (FALLEN ANGEL) out of the whole nation. He adds that the priests "assert that the god (FALLEN ANGEL) himself comes to the temple and reclines on the bed in the same manner as the Egyptians say happens at the temple of Thebes in Egypt, for there also a woman lies in the temple of the Theban Jupiter, and both are said to have no intercourse with men." So also he says that the priestess of the oracle at Paterae in Lycia is "shut up during the night in the temple with the god." (FALLEN ANGEL) (Herodotus 1:181-182). The purpose of these tower temples may have been to BREED nephilim GIANTS -- "greater in power and might" (2 Pet. 2:11). "The angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day" (Jude 6). They "went after strange flesh" (Jude 6). Greek "mythology" is full of accounts of affairs between gods and mortals. Babel originally meant "Gate of God." Pausanius mentions in his Attics finding men's bones in Milesia that were 15 feet long. Anciently Milesia was called Anactoria after the Anakim (p.477-478, Sanchoniathon).
The resulting CONFUSION produced certain strange races of GIANTS in Palestine, the Rephaim, Enim, Anakium and Zuzim. They were not Canaanites, as there is no mention of them in the geneologies in Genesis 10:15-19. They were the result of intercourse between fallen angels and women of Canaan. They were irredeemably evil since "the man that wanders out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the Rephaim" (Pr. 21:16) and the woman "which forsaketh the guide of her youth and forgetteth the covenant of her God, inclineth to the Rephaim" (Pr. 2:17-18). Spiritually dead. "The Rephaim shall not rise" (Isa. 26:14). The KJV doesn't do justice to these verses. Look in a Hebrew-English Interlinear.
HUMAN SACRIFICES were offered to Baal and the word "CANNIBAL" is derived from Cahna Bal -- the priest of Bel (Cush). Cush was the originator of HUMAN SACRIFICES. Belus (Cush) was the first king of Babylon and Assyria (Cory's Fragments, pp. 65, 70-71). "The tyrant Zoroaster, of the line of Cham (Ham), was one of the founders of the Tower of Babel; he sacrificed innumerable VICTIMS to the demons" (Nimrod vol.1, p.146). "It was the custom among the ancients in time of great calamity, in order to prevent the ruin of all, for the rulers of the city, or nation, to SACRIFICE to the avenging deities the most beloved of their CHILDREN as the price of redemption" (Sanchoniathon, from Porphyry, Cory, Fragments pp. 16-17).
Nimrod (Marduk) Was An Ethiopian Giant and A Tyrant Who Rebelled Against God
Varro reckons the interval between the Flood (2304 BC) and the first Olympiad (776 BC) to be about 1600 years (p.84, Sanchoniathon). Josephus also says that "more than one thousand three hundred years" elapsed from Menes (Cush or Misraim) until Solomon (Ant. 8:6:2). If Solomon was born in 990 BC, then 1300 years before that, brings us to 2290 BC. and Cush or Misraim reigned 62 years making Nimrod's accession about 2228 BC. More precisely, several independent methods of reckoning place the beginning of Nimrod's reign at 2234-2233 B.C. (Garnier's Worship of the Dead, pp. 280-285; see also Pliny NH 7:56 and Rawlinson's Herodotus vol. 1, essay 6, pp.434-435). Callisthenes, a relation and disciple of Aristotle, who accompanied Alexander the Great on his eastern expedition, was told by the priests of the temple of Belus in Babylon, that they had preserved a series of Chaldean astronomical calculations, which extended over a space of 1903 years before that time. Alexander conquered Babylon in 330 BC. These records therefore must have begun 2233 BC. From Ninyas (son of Nimrod and Semiramus) to Sardanapalus, the Assyrian Empire continued 1360 years (Diodorus Siculus 2:77). Since Sardanapalus died in 747 BC, that would place Ninyas reign at 2107 BC. There were in fact two Assyrian Empires: Ninyas to Sardanapalus was the first. It was divided between Arbaces of Media and Belesis of Babylon; and from then till the destruction of Nineveh by Nabopolassar was the second. Diodorus Siculus 1:29 says that after the time of Menes (Misraim) 52 kings reigned a space of over 1400 years (actually 1370 years from Menes to Sesostris according to Sir John Marsham's tables of the Theban Kings) where nothing historically noteworthy occurred. That time period ended with Sesostris or Shishak raiding Jerusalem (2 Chr. 12:9) in the fifth year of Rehoboam (926 BC) since Diodorus says Sesostris performed the most illustrious actions, far exceeding all before him (1:34). For Herodotus says "the other kings, they gave no account of their deeds, nor ... were in any degree of renown, except one, the last of them, Moeris" (2:100-104) -- who constructed a lake. Moeris was the immediate predecessor of Sesostris. Then Herodotus talks in detail about the conquests of Sesostris. Josephus agrees that Sesostris was Shishak (Antiq. 8:4 p.368).
Syncellus (and Ctesias -- 400 BC) says the reign of Ninus or Nimrod (Athothes) was 52 years. Manetho gives Athothes (Nimrod) a reign of 57 years, and Eratosthenes gives him a reign of 59 years. If we subtract 57 years from 2234 BC we get 2177 BC for Nimrod's death and the accession of Shem as Shepherd king. Scaliger, speaking of the Babylonian kings, says that "Belus reigned sixty-two years, Ninus fifty-two years, and Semiramis, called Rhea, on account of her manifold atrocities, forty-two years" (Cory, Fragments, p.76). In accordance with this, we find in the list of Egyptian kings, that both Manetho and Eratosthenes give Menes, like Belus, a reign of sixty-two years, and Athothes, who must be the same as Ninus, is given a reign of fifty-seven years by Manetho and fifty-nine years by Eratosthenes (Egyptian Dynasties, Cory, pp.84,94).
The Semitic root "marah" (MR) in Hebrew means BITTERNESS as well as DISOBEDIENCE. From this root is derived "marad" (MRD), or REBELLION, which is the original both of Nimrod (the Babylonian Nin-Mir-Rud), or (NMRD), as well as Marduk/Merodach (MRDK). Nimrod (or Marduk) conquered all nations as far as Libya (Bryant, Mythology vol.2, p.377). This means that Egypt was included since it was between Babylon and Libya. Nimrod protected the Sumerians (Miller's Ancient History in Bible Light, p.51) from wild animals by building walled cities (Gen. 11:4). One such city was NINEVEH meaning "the habitation of NIN" (Gen. 10:11). "Ninus is Nimrod" (Appollodoros, Fragments 68). He also protected the Egyptians by building THEBES. "Osiris having married Isis, in many ways promoted the good of that (Egyptian) kingdom, but especially by building the chief city thereof, called by the Greeks Diospolis (THEBES), but called by the Jews 'Hamon No,' and erected a temple to his parent, whom the Greeks called Zeus and Hera, but the Egyptians Ammon, and the Jews Hamon and HAM" (History of Sanchoniathon, p.99).
Josephus says, "Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an AFFRONT and CONTEMPT of God. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah, -- a bold man, and of great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God, as if it was through his means they were happy, but to believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness. He also gradually changed the government into TYRANNY, -- seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a CONSTANT DEPENDENCE upon his power. He also said he would be REVENGED on God, if he should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would BUILD a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach! and that he would AVENGE himself on God for destroying their forefathers!" (Ant. 1:4:2)
Notice EIGHT PARALLELS between Nimrod and Gilgamesh. Just as (1.) Nimrod or Gilgamesh was "11 cubits tall" (16 feet) (tablet 1) -- a "GIANT" (Gen. 10:9), (2.) a "king of URUK" (tablet 1) or Erech (Gen. 10:10), (3.) "two-thirds god and one third man" (tablet 1) (one of the NEPHILIM -- Gen. 6:1-4) (4.) "OPPRESSING his people" (tablet 1) (a tyrant -- Gen. 10:8-9) (5.) by "FORCING men to labor" (tablet 1) on BUILDING projects ("builded" -- Gen. 10:11) and (6.) "RAPING WIVES on their wedding nights" (tablet 1) ("they took them wives of al whom they chose" -- Gen. 6:2). (7.) He HUNTED lions (tablet 9) -- a "mighty hunter" (Gen. 10:9), and (8.) claimed to have VANQUISHED the one who sent the Flood (tablet 5) according to the Epic of Gilgamesh. He was "against the Eternal" (10:9).
Ninus and Semiramis were the first rulers of the Babylonian Empire (Cory's Fragments p.66). "Ninus is Nimrod" (Appollodoros, Fragments 68). He became the HUSBAND of his MOTHER (Bunsen's Egypt vol.1, pp.438-439; Rawlinson's Herodotus vol.1 essay 10, pp. 625,626). Persians say he (Ghemschid - Nimrod) married the daughter of a demon implying Semiramis had a Nephilim father, and that from this marriage sprang "the BLACK and IMPIOUS RACE" (Smith's Dict. of the Bible, "Giants"). Egyptian tradition shows that their god Osiris (Nimrod) was BLACK (Plutarch's De Isid, et. Os. vol.2, p.359), not reddish like the Misraim population generally. He was clothed in LEOPARD skin (Bunsen vol. 1, p.425). The name "Nimrod" means "subduer of the LEOPARD " -- from Nimr, a "LEOPARD", and "rod" "to subdue." This name seems to imply that Nimrod subdued the LEOPARD and used it in hunting (Hislop, p.44). In India hunting with leopards has been a custom (Wilkinson vol.3, p. 171). Persian legends show that Hosang (Cush) the father of Tahmurs (Nimrod) who built Babylon, was the "first who bred dogs and leopards for hunting" (Sir William Jones' Works vol.4, pp. 341,353). The Egyptian high priest's robe of office was the LEOPARD'S skin. Nimrod, by the same spotted covering, is identified as being the Greek god Bacchus (Bar = son + Chus = Son of Cush). Leopards were employed to draw Bacchus' chariot. He was represented as attired in leopard skins and his priests were attired in the same manner or with the spotted skin of a fawn. This latter seems to have come from Assyria (Vaux's Nineveh, ch. 8, p.233).
The rites of the Egyptian Osiris and the Grecian Bacchus are the same, and those of the Egyptian Isis (Semiramis) and Ceres (the Grecian Semiramis) exactly resemble each other (Bibliotheca book 1 p.9). Nimrod instigated the discord and the apostasy after the Flood. "He was a MIGHTY (Heb. "gibbor" meaning "TYRANT" or "GIANT") hunter BEFORE (Heb. "paniym" means "AGAINST") the Eternal" (Gen. 10:8-9). Nimrod was AGAINST God. The Septuagint calls him a GIANT. Conspiracy and sedition were carried on by Nimrod (Epiphanius book 1 vol. 1, p. 7). He was a "hunter" of men's souls (cp. Jer. 16:16).
Diodorus Siculus says, "Ninus, the first of the Assyrian kings mentioned in history, performed great actions. Being naturally of a warlike disposition, and ambitious of glory that results from valour, he armed a considerable number of young men that were brave and vigorous like himself, trained them up a long time in laborious exercises and hardships and by that means accustomed them to bear the fatigues of war and to face dangers with intrepidity" (Diodorus, Bibl. vol.2, p.63). Trogus Pompeius says, "Ninus, king of the Assyrians, first of all changed the contented moderation of the ancient manners, incited by a new passion, the desire for conquest. He was the first who carried on war against his neighbors, and he conquered all nations from Assyria to Lybia, as they were as yet unacquainted with the art of war" (Justin's Trogus Pompeius, Hist. Rom. Scrip. , vol. 2, p.615). Nimrod invented MAGIC arts and ASTROLOGY used them to impress his converts (Epiphanius Adv. Heres. 1:1:1: p.7; Justinius Historia book 1 volume 2, p.615).
Nimrod Taught Serpent Worship (Demon & Satan Worship)
When Nimrod got the Sumerians and Egyptians under his control in cities, they "changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like ... CREEPING things" (Rom. 1:23). They worshipped the SERPENT remembering the Garden of Eden in which the SNAKE had "enlightened" mankind in the knowledge of good and evil just as the sun enlightens the physical world.
Satan is "the god of this world" (2 Cor. 4:4) and 'the prince of this world" (John 14:30). He showed Christ "all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them" and then said, "All these things will I give unto thee, for that is DELIVERED UNTO ME, and to whomsoever I will give it. If therefore thou wilt WORSHIP ME, all shall be thine" (Luke 4:5-7). Satan is described as "that OLD SERPENT" which "deceiveth the whole world" (Rev. 12:9). Babylon was the central seat of Cushite idolatry, as implied by the the apocryphal book of Bel and the Dragon, where it is said, "In that same place was a great DRAGON which they of BABYLON worshipped." (1:23) "It is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols" (Jer. 50:38). The same word which denotes "DIVINATION" in Hebrew, Arabic and Greek, also denotes "a SERPENT" (Deane, p.228). The etymology of the word "Ethiopian" (Cushite) appears to be "the race of Ophe," or "race of the SERPENT," from "ethnos" or "ethos" (race) and "ophis" (serpent). The Arabians call the Ethiopians "Nagashi" (serpents) from "Nahash" or the Indian "Naga" a SERPENT. If this is literally true, then they are claiming Nephilim descent from the giants like Nimrod (Gilgamesh) (Gen. 6:1-4).
On the capture of Babylon by Cyrus, the Chaldean priesthood fled to Pergamos, where Aesculapius has ever since been worshipped under the form of a SERPENT (Barker and Ainsworth's Lares and Penates of Cilicia, ch. 8, p.232; Hislop, p. 278-279) -- "where Satan's seat is" (Rev. 2:13). From BABYLON, the sacred SERPENT of the Canaanites was called "Oph," "Ob," "Oub," and "Eph". In Hebrew, the word for "FAMILIAR SPIRIT" in Deuteronomy 18:11 is "Oph". The word for "WIZARD" in Lev. 20:27 is also "Oph." Also the WITCH of Endor is called an "Ob" or "Oub." When the Canaanites were "scattered abroad" (Gen. 10:18) they took this SERPENT-worship to AFRICA, as did the Cushite (Ethiopian) race also. SERPENT-worship still exists in AFRICA to this day and, until recently, human victims were required to be offered. In Egyptian hieroglyphics a SERPENT is the symbol for God or King (p.306, Ancient History of the East by Lenormant). The title of the Egyptian kings -- "Pharaoh" -- is a compound of Aphe (SERPENT) and Ra (sun), by which they claim descent from the Sun and SERPENT god. The name "Amenoph," by which some of the Theban kings were known, is a compound of Amon (Sun) and Ophe (SERPENT).
In GREECE, at Delphi, Apollo was worshipped under the form of of a PYTHON, and a hymn was sung to it every seventh day. The symbol for Mercury was a Caduceus -- a winged wand entwined by SERPENTS. In ROME at the time of great pestilence, Aesculapius, the child of the Sun was brought to Rome in the form of a huge SERPENT and became its guardian deity (Ovid Metam. book 15:736-745; Lactantius, De Origine Erroris p. 82 and 2:16:108; Hislop pp. 236-237, 280). In consequence of the worship of the SERPENT god in Rome, SERPENTS became sacred, so that in nearly every house a SERPENT of a harmless sort was kept, and they multiplied so fast that they became a nuisance (Pompeii, 2:114-115; Hislop. p.237). In MEXICO a huge figure of a DRAGON was placed on the summit of the pyramid temple on which human victims were sacrificed to the sun. It is said that 50,000 victims were sacrificed every year. At Topira, in PERU, there was a temple with a vast image of a SERPENT with its tail in its mouth, like the Egyptian representation of the SERPENT of the sun. A man was sacrificed to it every year. Satan was a murdered from the beginning (John 8:44). In INDIA, Juggernaut is the Indian Moloch, and like him, required human victims. He was sometimes worshipped under the form of a seven-headed DRAGON, and the "Naga," or five-headed hooded SERPENT, is constantly represented as the object of special adoration in Indian scriptures. Buddha was also represented by a SERPENT, and a SERPENT was the sign of his worshippers. In CHINA the great DRAGON was the banner of the Empire, and indicated everything sacred in it. It was the symbol of royalty, and was sculptured in all temples. They believe their good fortune depends upon the great DRAGON. They call him the father of happiness and erect temples to him. In BRITAIN, the Druids worshipped the SERPENT. The Celtic Hu was called "The DRAGON Ruler of the World," his car is represented as drawn by SERPENTS, and his priests were called ADDERS. The word for "royal palace" or "church" is BASCILICA which comes from BASILISK meaning a royal SERPENT. (see Worship of the Dead by Garnier, pp. 235-242). Truly "Babylon hath been a golden cup in the hands of the Lord, to make all the earth drunken. The nations have drunken of her wine, therefore the nations are mad" (Jer. 51:7).
But SERPENT worship has been disguised. The names on the idols have been changed. "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works." (2 Cor. 11:13) Neither give place to the devil" (Eph.4:27) by worshipping statues of "Mary" and praying to images of "saints". That is actually DEMON worship. Buddism teaches that the idol, or other symbol, which has once become the habitation of a god, will always remain so. Spiritualists find that chairs, tables, etc., which have been used as mediums of communication with spirits, are always more susceptible of their influence than similar articles which have not been so utilized. Augustine quoted Hermes Trismegistus as stating "that visible and tangible images, (i.e. idols), are, as it were, only the bodies of the gods, and that there DWELL IN THEM CERTAIN SPIRITS which have been invited to come in them, and which have power to INFLICT HARM, or to FULFILL THE DESIRES of those by whom divine honours and services are rendered to them" (De Civitate Dei 8:23). Paul also said, "the sacrifices of pagans are offered to DEMONS" (1 Cor. 10:20). Moses confirmed this by saying "they shall no more offer their sacrifices to DEVILS" (Lev. 17:7; Deut. 32:17; Ps. 106:37; 2 Chr. 11:15). "These SPIRITS lurk UNDER the STATUES and consecrated IMAGES. These inspire the breasts of their prophets with their afflatus, animate the fibres of the entrails, direct the flight of birds, rule the lots, give efficiency to oracles, are always MIXING up FALSEHOOD with TRUTH, for they are both deceived and they DECEIVE. They disturb their life, they disquiet their slumbers. Their spirits also CREEPING into their bodies, secretly terrify their minds, distort their limbs, break their health, excite diseases, to force them to the worship of themselves, so that when glutted with the steam of the altars, and the piles of cattle, they may unloose what they had bound, and so APPEAR to have EFFECTED A CURE. The only remedy from them is when their own mischief ceases; nor have they any other desire than to call men AWAY FROM GOD, and to win them from the understanding of the true religion to superstition with respect to themselves; and since they themselves are under punishment, to seek for themselves COMPANIONS IN PUNISHMENT whom they may by their misguidance make SHARERS IN THEIR CRIME" (Cyprian on "The Vanity of Idols"). So also Clement of Alexandria, speaking of the Pagan oracles, says, "It is evident, since they are DEMONIAC SPIRITS, that they know some things both more QUICKLY and more PERFECTLY (than men); for they are not retarded in their learning by the heaviness of a body, and therefore they, as being spirits, know WITHOUT DELAY, and WITHOUT DIFFICULTY, what physicians attain after a long time and by much labour. It is not wonderful therefore if they know somewhat more than men do; but this is to be observed, that what they know, they do not employ for the salvation of souls but for the DECEPTION of them, that by means of it they may indoctrinate them in the worship of FALSE RELIGION".
The fear of the Eternal is the beginning of wisdom (Ps. 111:10). But Nimrod "emancipated" the people from the fear of the Eternal. Nimrod was the first DESPOT after the Flood to form a religious, economic, social and political civilization contrary to the Bible. His Babylonian apostasy excluded God. His followers' minds were "not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be" (Rom. 8:7). They practiced ABORTION and CANNIBALISM by eating "the sacrifices of the dead" children (Ps. 106:28). They also practiced obscene PHALLIC WORSHIP, SACRED PROSTITUTION and CELIBACY. Then God scattered these people (Gen. 11:8).
As Plutarch says, "First Tammuz (Nimrod) was worshipped as the bruiser of the serpent's head ... Then the DRAGON himself, or SATAN, came to receive a certain measure of worship ... and last of all the DRAGON, or Teitan or SATAN, became the supreme object of worship, the Titania, or rites of Teitan, occupying a prominent place in the Egyptian Mysteries" (De Iside, vol. 2, p.362,364). "The SERPENTS were the supreme of all the gods ... No wonder that it came at last to be firmly believed that the Messiah, on whom the hopes of the world depended, was Himself the "seed of the SERPENT"! (Eusebius Proeparatio Evang., vol.1, p.50). "In Greece ... Bacchus (Tammuz) was brought forth in consequence of a connection on the part of his mother with the father of the gods, in the form of a 'speckled SNAKE'. Thus the (devil) ... got himself almost everywhere recognized as in every deed 'the god of this world'" (ibid.). In Pergamos was "Satan's seat" after Belshazzar's time (Hislop, p.240). Its serpent worship took the name of Aesculapius, "the man-instructing SERPENT" (Macrobius Saturnalia book 1, p.650). This Devil-worship was transferred to Rome when Pergamos became a part of the Roman Empire. Remarkably, the name Saturn (Nimrod) in Chaldee (Babylonian) is STUR and S=60, T=400, U=6 and R=200 and the original name of Rome itself was Saturnia -- the city of Saturn. This is vouched alike by Ovid, by Pliny and by Aurelius Victor (Hislop, pp.269-270). A woman "possessed by "a spirit of divination" -- literally "a spirit of Python" -- lost her power which "brought no small gain to her masters" when Paul cast the demon out (Acts 16:16-40). Israelites were commanded to put to death wizards, witches and those possessed of familiar spirits (Ex. 22:18). "And if they say unto you, seek unto them whose speech is in their belly (demon possession), and those that speak out of the earth (ventriloquists? -- Isa. 29:4), those that utter vain words, that speak out of their belly, should not a people seek unto their God" (Isa. 8:19; Septuagint Version). In the temple of Isis at Busiris the goddess herself, according to Diodorus Siculs, appeared to the sleeper in a dream and prescribed remedies. "Numbers are thus cured after they have, through the malignancy of their diseases, been given up by their physicians, and many persons who have been absolutely deprived of sight, or disabled in any other part of the body, are restored to their previous soundness as soon as they have recourse to this goddess." (Dio. Sic. 1:25). Do demons have power to heal? No, they simply release what they themselves have bound, to make it appear like a cure. As Cicero argues, "Would that oracle at Delphi have ever been so celebrated and illustrious and so loaded with such splendid gifts from all nations and kings if all ages had not had experience of the TRUTH of its predictions? Let this fact remain -- which cannot be denied, unless we will overthrow all history -- that that oracle has told the TRUTH for many ages" (Cicero, De Div. 19).
But Croesus , king of Lydia, found the oracle's truth to be DECEPTIVE even though correct. Croesus, who disliked the growing power of Persia, consulted the oracle of Delphi about going to war with Persia, and enquired how long the empire of Lydia would last. The answer was, "That the war would subvert a great empire, and that Lydia should subsist till a mule came came to possess the throne of Media." Croesus considered this to be an assurance of the perpetual duration of his kingdom. But Lydia was the empire to be subverted, and Cyrus was the mule; inasmuch as he was born of parents of different nations, the mother a Mede and daughter of Astyages king of Media; and the father a Persian -- subject to the Medes.
Can demons predict the future? No, they simply influence future events to some extent and therefore get it right some of the time (Deut. 13:1). Thus it came about that one of the commonest symbols of the SUN-GOD is a disc with a SERPENT around it (Bunsen's Hieroglyphics, vol. 1, p. 497). The conditions required for receiving a prophecy and magical powers wielded by the pagan priesthood and the Buddhist ascetics, are ABSTINENCE from MARRIAGE, wine and MEAT which Paul says is giving "heed to SEDUCING SPIRITS and the doctrines of DEVILS" (1 Tim. 4:1-4). Remarkably, the Roman Catholic Church has adopted CELIBACY and ABSTINENCE FROM MEAT as the highest forms of holiness.
Nimrod Taught Sun Worship
There was a golden image of the SUN in the temple of Belus in BABYLON (Maimonides, More Nevochim, p. 426) and a similar image of gold was found in the temple of Cuzco in PERU (Prescott, Conquest of Peru 3:41). Brilliant metal reflectors, or "SUN Images," were placed over the altars of Baal, the SUN god of the CANAANITES (2 Chr. 34:4). Similar disks of the SUN were also placed for worship in the EGYPTIAN temples, and in a grotto near Babian, in Upper EGYPT, a representation has been found of priests worshipping an image of the SUN placed above the altar (Maurice, Indian Antiquities 3:309; Hislop, p. 162). Amenophis III and his family are represented worshipping an image of the SUN (Wilkinson, Plate XXIII). The obelisks and minarets and spires of Christian churches were originally symbols of the SUN'S rays, and also of the Phallus, as representing the same principle of generation.
In EGYPT, "The thin, round, cake occurs on all altars" (Wilkinson's Egyptians 5:353 note) representing the SUN'S disk and the seed. Round cakes were offered on all the GRECIAN altars and were called "Popana" (Grecian Antiquities, Potter and Boyd 2:4:217). ISRAELITE women offered cakes to the Queen of Heaven called Ashtoreth (Jer. 7:18). In ROME they were called "Mola" -- a word derived from immolare, "to sacrifice". This sacrifice was said to "efface the sins of the people" (Pollux in Onom 1:1:25).
Churches meet together on a counterfeit rest day called SUNDAY. This is the "Lord's day" since Baal means "Lord." "Constantine's famous edict (321 AD) definitely enrolled SUNDAY among the holidays of the Roman state religion. The change from Saturn's day to SUNDAY must have further commended the planetary week in Christian circles, where the Lord's day ... beginning the week, had long been observed as the day on which Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, rose from the dead. Thus a pagan institution was engrafted on Christianity" (Webster's Rest Days, p.222). What was Constantine's own religion? "Constantine ... persevered till he was near forty years of age in the practice of the established religion (paganism) ... But the devotion of Constantine was more peculiarly directed to the genius of the SUN ... The SUN was universally celebrated as the invincible guide and protector of Constantine." (Gibbon's Decline & Fall, pp.636-638). What were the words of Constantine's famous edict of 321 AD? "On the venerable day of the SUN let all magistrates and people ... rest" (Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, article "Sunday Legislation").
Churches honor saints with HALOS around their heads. But the heads of all the images of Buddha, Kwanyin and other deities are surrounded by the “AUREOLE,” or “HALO,” which was also a particular symbol of the SUN god in other nations. It was placed round the heads of the images of the gods and heroes in ROME and GREECE, and also round the heads of the Roman Emperors, to whom divine honors were paid after death. It was regarded as the token of the divinity of the person represented, that is to say, of his being a son of the SUN god, as implied by the lines: — “Twelve golden beams around his temples play, To mark his lineage from the god of day” (Dryden, Virgil, book 12. pp.245-246; vol.3, p.775; Hislop p.237).
“The ceremony of TONSURE was an old practice of the priests of Mithra (the sun god of Persia), who in their TONSURES represented the SOLAR disk.” (Maurice, Ind. Antiq. Vol.7, p.851). The priests of Isis likewise shaved their heads (Lempriere, Isis and Isiaca). So did those of Osiris (Macrobius, book 1, cap. 23); so did those of Pagan ROME (Tertullian vol.2, Carmina, pp.1105, 1106). “The ARABIANS acknowledge no other gods but Bacchus and Urania, the Queen of Heaven, and they say their hair is cut in the same way as Bacchus’ is cut. Now they cut it in a CIRCULAR form, shaving it round the temples (Herodotus 3:8). Sakya Muni is said to have shaved his head and directed his disciples to do so in obedience to a command of Vishnu (Kennedy, Buddha in Hindu Myth, pp. 263,264; Hislop, pp.221-222).. Hence their title, “The shaved heads.” The antiquity of the custom is shown by the commands given to the Israelites forbidding it (Lev. 19:27-28; Deut. 14:1).
Babylonians celebrated the birth of the Unconquered SUN at the winter SOLSTICE (December 25th) just when the SUN begins to wax strong again (Giesler's Ecclesiastical History, vol.2, p.42). The son of Isis was born at the winter SOLSTICE (Wilkin's Egyptians, vol.4, p.405). Horus was born on the winter solstice, December 25th (Plutarch De Iside, 2:377-378). Osiris was identified with Apis, the sacred bull, and was worshipped as "Sar Apis" or Serapis" (Wilkinson, 3:87,89) who was identified with the Sun (Macrobius, Saturn 1:25; Wilkinson 3:97). "Yule" was the Chaldee name for "infant" long before Christ's time. Jesus never commanded us to celebrate His birth -- which occurred before winter (Luke 2:8). The mother of Adonis (Nimrod) was changed into a tree (Jer. 10:1-4). While in this state she was said to have delivered her "divine" son (Ovid Metam. book 15:500-513). This makes the son "a branch" (cp. Jer. 23:5) -- another counterfeit. Thus people acknowledge Nimrod as their "savior" who "saved" them from following God's laws at the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:6). What blasphemy.
Lady Day is celebrated on March 25, nine months before the "savior" was born to celebrate the "miraculous" conception. It honored the Babylonian "messiah" long before Christ's time (Ammianus Marcellinus book 23 ch.3, p.355). Churches celebrate Easter (Assyrian name of Semiramis was Ishtar) SUNRISE services to honor the rising SUN and face east at its rising. "An egg of wondrous size is said to have fallen from heaven into the river Euphrates ... out came Venus, who afterward became the Assyrian goddess" (Hyginus' Fabulae, pp.148-149). This Ishtar Egg (or "Ashtaroth" -- Judges 2:13) commemorates the birth of Semiramis. Jesus never commanded us to celebrate His resurrection this way. At communion, many churches still serve ROUND wafers with a SUNBURST image on them that came from pagan SUN-worship. Yet our Lord said, "I am that bread of life" (John 6:48) and he "broke it" (Luke 22:19). The unbroken wafer is adored in Rome. They actually pray to a biscuit: "Bread-corn of the elect, have mercy upon us" is one of the appointed prayers of the Roman Litany addressed to the wafer host.
The Feast of the Nativity of St. John is set down in the Papal calendar for the 24th of June -- Summer SOLSTICE. The very same period was equally memorable in the Babylonian calendar for one of its grand original festivals -- to commemmorate the death and reviving of Tammuz, or Nimrod (Stanley's Sabean Philosophy, p.1065). Tammuz actually means "perfecting fire" (tam ["to make perfect"] + muz [fire]) (Hislop p.245 note). In Ireland they leap through the St. John fires (Toland's Druids, p.107) just as Israelites caused their children to "pass through the fire to Molech" (Nimrod) (2 Kings 23:10; Jer. 32:35; Ez. 20:31). John in Latin is "Joannes" and Nimrod was called "Oannes" (Bunsen's Egypt, vol. 1, p.707) so they appeared superficially similar allowing a clever counterfeit.
"The early Christians had at first adopted the seven-day week with its numbered week days, but by the close of the 3rd century A.D. this began to give way to the planetary week. The use of planetary names (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, etc.) attests the growing influence of astrological speculations introduced by the converts from paganism" (Webster's Rest Day, p.252). Yes, as Pope Gregory advised, the Roman Catholic Church should MEET THE PAGANS HALF WAY and so bring them into the Church (Bower's Lives of Popes, vol.2, p.523). No wonder then that the woman (church) sitting on the beast in Revelation 17:3 has the name "Mystery Babylon The Great, The Mother of Harlots" (17:5).
Instead of asking how the pagan nations served their gods, and participating in their customs, God says, "Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God" (Deut. 12:30-31). "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Ex. 20:3). "Why call you me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46). I hate, I despise your feast days, and ... your solemn assemblies ...Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity" (Amos 5:21-27). "Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you" (Gal. 4:10-11). "My sabbaths they greatly polluted ... I lifted up My hand that I would scatter them among the heathen" (Ez. 20:8,13,23). Israel "worshipped all the host of heaven and served Baal ... therefore the Eternal was angry with Israel and removed them" (2 Kings 17:16-18). "Our fathers would not obey ..." (but instead worshipped) "the host of heaven ..." (so were transported) "beyond Babylon" (Acts 7:39-43). "These things were our EXAMPLES ... they are written for our ADMONITION" (1Cor. 10:6-11).
Shem (Melchizedek) Executed Nimrod (Marduk) for Idolatry
At the Tower of Babel different ethnic groups were given different languages. Since nobody could understand eachother, Nimrod, Semiramis and Horus were each given a different name in each different language. What thereafter appeared to be polytheism was actually just the same ruling family of Babylon under multiple names. Many nations around the world -- Japan, China, India, Scandinavia, Ireland and Iceland -- each WEEP for their dead god (Marduk, Osiris, Balder, Tammuz, Bacchus, Nin, Mithra) hoping for him to be restored to life. This practice is still found today in the LENT season. Bacchus actually means "the BEWAILED One" or "LAMENTED One" (Hislop, pp. 55-57). Even Israelites in their time wept for the death of Tammuz: "There sat women WEEPING for Tammuz" (Ez. 8:14).
Shem was regarded as the foe of Osiris and all the gods of Egypt (Bunsen's Egypt 1:456). "When the false prophet named Thammuz (Nimrod) preached to a certain king that he should WORSHIP the seven STARS and the twelve SIGNS of the ZODIAC, that king ordered him to be put to a terrible death ... And hence arose the custom every year, on the first day of the month Thammuz, to mourn and to weep for Thammuz" (Maimonides, More Nevochim, p. 426).
Who executed this giant Nimrod? His name was "Sem" (Wilkinson, vol.5, p.17) who killed him "by the power of God" and then cut his body into pieces (vol.4, pp.330-332) or tearing him limb from limb (p.81, Sanchoniathon). Shem was also known as "Sheth" (Num. 24:17). Typho was called Seth (Epiphanius, Adv. Haeres., book 3). Plutarch gives to Typhon the titles of "Seth" and "Smy", and the latter in Greek would be "Smu" which is evidently the same as "Semu". Therefore, another account reads: "Set, the brother of Osiris, rebelled against him and cut his body in pieces" (Rawlinson's Egypt and Babylon). Both Seth and Shem are synonymous and mean "the appointed one" (p.65, Hislop). He was called Sydyc (Melchizedek -- p. 47. Sanchoniathon).
As further proof that Typhon was Titan, or Shem, it is related by Plutarch that when Typhon was subsequently conquered, he fled away and begat Hierosolymus and Judaeus (Plutarch De Iside, S. 31; Cumberland's Sanchoniathon, p.108). That is Hierosalem, or Jerusalem, and Judea. This is a mystical way of saying that he was the founder of Jerusalem and the ancestor of the Jews. This tends to identify Shem with Melchizedek, whose name means "righteous king," and who was king of Salem or Jerusalem. As "priest of the Most High God" (Heb. 7:1), he was evidently the origin of the name Jerusalem, or Hierosalem, "Hieros" or "Hiereus" meaning "priest."
Typhon overcame Osiris "not by force or open war, but, having entered into a conspiracy with SEVENTY-TWO of the LEADING MEN of Egypt, he got him into his power and put him to death, and then cut his body into pieces and sent the different parts to so many different cities throughout the country" (Wilkinson's Egyptians 4:330-332). This agrees with Diodorus who reported that Egypt was divided into SEVENTY-TWO Nomes and each had a JUDGE (Diodorus 1:48-58; Hislop, p.64 note).
How Did Tree-Worship Originate?
After Osiris had been executed, his coffin was discovered enclosed in a TREE trunk, and he is spoken of in the inscriptions as "the one in the TREE" or "the solitary one in the ACACIA." The rites too, by which his death and burial were annually celebrated appear to couple him closely with Tammuz, Adonis, Attis, Dionysus and other gods whose worship was associated with a similar ritual. (Frazer, Golden Bough 1:307) TREE GODS die and are revived annually with vegetation. Tammuz was represented as originally dwelling in a TREE (Sayce, p.238, Religion of Ancient Babylonians). Adonis, beloved of Aphrodite, was born from a MYRRH-TREE. Attis, the favorite of Cybele, was represented in Phrygia in the form of a decorated PINE TREE, to which his image was attached. Dionysus was worshipped throughout Greece as "Dionysus of the TREE." The SIAMESE at the present day frequently make offerings to the TREE-dwelling spirits, and HANG GIFTS on any TREE whose deity they desire to propitiate (Tylor, Primitive Culture, 2:196). Druids of Britain worshipped the OAK TREE. (Pliny Natural History, 16:95). Xerxes decorated a PLANE TREE with golden ornaments in Lydia (Her. 7:31). The custom of adorning TREES "with jewels and mantles" was very ancient and universal (Aelian V.H. 2:14; Theocr. Id. 18; Ovid Met. 8:723, 745; Arnob. adv. Gentes 1:39) and even today exists. "The Saturnalia, like Christmas, was a time for giving presents. Small DOLLS were a popular gift -- though for an unpleasant reason. They commemorated a myth that Saturn ate all his male children at birth, to fulfill a pledge that he would die without heirs" (The United Church Observer, "Santa's Family Tree," Dec. 1976, p. 14). "All classes exchanged gifts, the commonest being waxed tapers and CLAY DOLLS ... These DOLLS were especially given to children. Varro thought these DOLLS represented original SACRIFICES of human beings to the infernal god" (Encyc. Brit. 24:231, 11th ed.). "When ye offer your gifts ... ye pollute yourselves with all your idols" (Ez. 20:31). The Puritan Long Parliament in April, 1644, decreed the removal of the MAYPOLE as "a heathenish vanity greatly abused to superstition and wickedness." Thus saith the Eternal, Learn not the way of the heathen ... For the customs of the people are vain; for one cutteth a TREE out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They DECK it with SILVER and with GOLD; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright like the palm tree, but speak not" (Jer. 10:2-5). “Little children, keep yourselves from IDOLS” (1 John 5:21). “A CORRUPT TREE bringeth forth EVIL fruit” (Matt. 7:17). "Thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon ...The Lord has broken the rod of the wicked ... All the lands are at rest and at peace; they break into singing. Even the PINE TREES and the cedars of Lebanon exult over you and say, ' Now that you have been laid low, no woodsman comes to CUT US DOWN'" (Isa. 14:5-8).
Semiramis Created Mystery Religions With Pilgrimages, Relics, Shrines, Celibacy, and A False Messiah
Ancient traditions relate that Nimrod was slain in Rome by Shem and his dead body was cut into pieces as a warning not to apostasize (Wilkinson's Egyptians, vol. 5, p.17; Hislop, p.63, 232). Plutarch describes the search Semiramis made for these pieces. "Isis set out ... in search of the scattered members of her husband's body ... and one reason assigned for the different sepulchers of Osiris in Egypt is that whenever any one of his scattered limbs was discovered she buried it on the spot. Not only were these Egyptian RELICS sacred themselves, but they consecrated the very ground in which they were entombed" (Plutarch vol.2, pp.358-359). This led to PILGRIMAGES to worship RELICS and SHRINES. This ancient practice of cutting a body into pieces was even found in the Bible (Judges 19:29; 1 Sam. 11:7). Thereafter idolaters were afraid to practise their apostasy in the open. They didn't want to be executed. So they developed the "Mystery Religions" to disguise their idolatry (Hislop, p.66). Men whose "deeds are evil love darkness rather than light" (John 3:19). The story of Typhoeus relates that the gods were so frightened that they fled away to Egypt where Pan (Cush) advised them to assume the shapes of various animals to conceal their identity (Lemprierre, Typhaeus, Typhon, Pan, Gigantes; Ovid Fasti book 1, lines 393-404; Diod. Bibl. 1:16; Hyg., Poet. Astron., 2:28; Hyg. Fab. 196; Eratos., Catast., cap 27; Faber vol.2, p.406).
Semiramis had heard of the woman's prophesied seed who was to come and through whom mankind might obtain eternal life. "He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise your heel" (Gen. 3:15). This gave her a daring idea. She portrayed her dead husband, Nimrod, as the benefactor "savior" of mankind whose death would redeem mankind from eternal death. She combined his sun-serpent worship with Noah's prophecy of the Savior who would die for mankind. She claimed to "supernaturally" conceive and cause Nimrod to be reborn -- by means of one of her many illegitimate children -- called Horus. She palmed herself off as the virgin mother and made her dead husband the resurrected savior -- over 2000 years in advance. The Bible refers to the couple as "Baal and Ashtaroth" (Judges 2:13). Those who explained the meaning of the Mysteries to initiates were called "PETER" in the primitive Chaldee, the real language of the Mysteries. This means "INTERPRETER" (Parkhurst's Hebrew Lexicon, p.602). It was one of these interpreters or "PETERS," who was in pagan Rome long before Christ. He was confused with Peter the apostle of Christ. "The mystery of iniquity" continues to this day (2 Th. 2:7). Isis (Semiramis) established a priesthood, bound to secrecy and CELIBACY. The worship of Cybele, the Babylonian goddess, was introduced into pagan Rome, with its CELIBATE clergy (Pausanias 7:17:566). This was adopted by the Papal priesthood. Words with double meanings and mystic symbols and secret rites were employed to create "the Mysteries" for the purpose of resuscitating IDOLATRY while avoiding exposure. In this way, Horus finally defeated Typhon. IDOLATRY was triumphant. One body part that Semiramis was unable to find was his PHALLUS, so she made a wooden representation of it, and paid it special honor (Lemprierre, Isis, Phallion). That is where PHALLIC worship came from. There were several cities in Middle Egypt called "Busuris," meaning the burial place of Osiris (Osburn, vol.1, pp.328-329).
When Nimrod was executed, his Cushite followers fled to Ethiopia, but Saturn (Menes or Cush) fled to Italy (Lempriere, Saturn), and not only do the ruins of the two cities, Saturnia and Janicula, mentioned by Virgil (Aeneid, book 8:2 467-470, vol.3. p.608) attest to the fact, but Latium is also said to have received its name from
"latere," "to lie hid," because Saturn was supposed to be hidden there (Ovid Fasti book 7, l.238, vol.3. p.29; Aeneid, book 8, l.319, etc., p.384). Latinus, or Lateinos, the ancient king of Italy and father of the Latins, may have been Saturn. For Saturn signifies "the hidden one," and this also is the meaning of "Latinus," which is evidently derived from "Latere," which is itself derived from the Chaldee "Lat," "the hidden one" (Hislop, p.270, note). Aeneas represents Latinus to be the grandson of Saturn (Aeneid book 7:45-49; Hislop, p. 271 note), but this may be only to make a distinction between god and man. Latinus was also deified as a son of the Sun god (Dryden, Virgil book 12:245,248, vol.3, p.775). This fact together with the fact that Saturn, Latinus and Latium have all the same meaning and that Italy was formerly called "The Saturnian Land," seems to indicate that the ancient Latins were a Cushite colony founded by Cush. The most ancient people of Italy were called Etrurians and were of Accadian or Cushite origin which tends to confirm this.
The complete defeat of Semiramis by the king of India and the destruction of her army prevented any assistance from Babylon (Lenormant, Ancient Hist. of the East 1:364, 367). But she represented Nimrod's death as voluntarily suffered for the good of mankind, and that he was none other than the "promised seed of the woman" -- the messiah -- the redeemer -- who destroyed the serpent but suffered death. Therefore Nimrod was called Zoroaster (Zero [seed] + ashta [fire or woman]) whom Suidas says was the founder of Babylonian idolatry (Suidas 1:1133; Hislop, p.59 note). Both the "seed of the woman" and "fire god." "Osiris" may mean "The seed" also (Wilkinson's Egyptians 4:103, note) and therefore Typhon (Shem) was portrayed as the evil serpent. Nimrod is then reincarnated as Horus, Apollo or Chrishna to slay the "serpent" Typhon, Pytho or Calyia.
Semiramis Taught Sacred Prostitution and Phallic Worship
Herodotus claimed all Babylonian women were required to PROSTITUTE themselves once in their life for religious purposes (Hist. 1:199). In ancient Greece, sacred PROSTITUTION was known in the city of Corinth where the Temple of Aphrodite employed a significant number of female servants (Strabo Geographica 8:6:20). Sacred PROSTITUTION was common in Egypt, Greece, Phoenicia, India and Babylon in ancient times. Micah 1:7 condemns "the hire of an HARLOT". Fertility rites, sexual orgies, eunuchs and priests wearing female attire, maypoles, obelisks, bells, round towers, lingam (phallus) and yoni (vagina) can all be traced back to Babylon since Semiramis was unable to find Nimrod's PHALLUS, so she made a wooden representation of it, and paid it special honor (Lemprierre, Isis, Phallion). That is where PHALLIC worship came from. Osiris was the PHALLIC god, and at his SHAMELESS and OBSCENE festivals huge figures of the PHALLUS were carried in procession (Herodotus 2:48-49). Osiris was also known as PRIAPUS (p. 88 Sanchoniathon). Plutarch says that the festival of Pammylia in honor of Osiris resembled the Phallophoria, or PHALLIC festival in Greece, and adds that "from the manner of celebrating it, it is evident that Osiris is in reality the great principle of FECUNDITY" (Plutarch, De Iside S. 12, s. 36; Wilkinson 3:83). Valentine's Day is a modern continuation of this tradition.
It is true that Abraham erected PILLARS (Gen. 21:33: "grove" Heb. eshel -- tamarisk) and Jacob set a STONE "up for a PILLAR, and poured oil upon the top of it" (Gen. 28:18). But what Moses condemned was the PILLAR worship of foreign gods (Deut. 12:1-4: "grove" Heb. asherah -- shrine) since Yahweh likens himself to a STONE or PILLAR (Ex. 13:21; Deut. 32:18,37; Josh. 24:26; 2 Sam. 22:32; Ps. 18:2; Ps. 92:15; Ps. 95:1). Asa destroyed an idol in a "GROVE" (1 Ki. 15:13). Baal, says Inman, means "My Lord the OPENER " and Peor signifies "the OPENING of the maiden's HYMEN" (Thomas Inman, Ancient Faiths, 1:325). Thus Baal-Peor claimed from man the sacrifice of circumcision and from woman the sacrifice of her MAIDENHEAD. The name Baal-Peor, says Iarchi, was given to the god because his followers "distended their POSTERIORS before him and offered to him the deposit"; while the female worshippers of the idol uncovered the MONS VENERIS before it. In Syria, says St. Jerome, the image of Baal-Peor had a PHALLUS protruding from its mouth. The Hebrews viewed this deity as obscene, filthy and abominable. As Hosea said, "They went to Baal-Peor, and separated themselves (STRADDLED) unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved." "The adoration", says Maimonides, "made to this idol called Pehor, consisted of discovering the SECRET PARTS before it. The law therefore commanded the priests to WEAR DRAWERS when they sacrificed, and forbade them to get up to the altar by steps, lest their NAKEDNESS should happen to be uncovered." (Thomas Lewis, Origines Hebraeae 5:71). Yet the reality is that "God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and OPENED her womb." He is the real OPENER.
It was the universal custom for anyone making a vow to place his hand upon either his own SEXUAL MEMBER or upon that of the other person concerned. Apparently the PENIS represented Yahweh. "Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh (on my CIRCUMCISED PENIS): and I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven, and the God of earth" (Gen. 24:2; 47:29). Also "We have given the hand to the Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to get enough bread to eat" (Lam. 5:6). God himself reviles Pharaoh for breaking the covenant when "he had given his hand" (Ez. 17:18) and when Solomon was made king of Israel, "all the princes, and the mighty men, and all the sons likewise of King David, submitted themselves unto Solomon the king" (1 Chr. 29:24). This is a euphemism for the literal Hebrew which reads, "gave the hand under Solomon."
Semiramis Counterfeited the Virgin Mother
Semiramis was first the wife of Oannes, king of Syria (Assyria), who was Cush, the story being in exact accordance with the Grecian myth of Vulcan (Cush), Venus (Semiramis) and Mars (Nimrod). (see Lempriere Vulcan, Mars, etc.) Nimrod had many titles as did his wife also (Wilkinson, vol.4, p.179). The images of Semiramis and Nimrod were worshipped and adored as Madonna and Child (Isis and Osiris). The Egyptians imagined that there were two chief gods, the Sun and the Moon, called Osiris and Isis (Diodorus 1:11). Macrobius calls Osiris the Sun and Isis the Earth or Nature (Macrobius, Saturn 1:26). Plutarch says that Osiris represented "Masculine nature, or the prime cause (creative power of Sun), and that Isis represented the Earth "the feminine part of nature, the second cause or the receptive power" (Plutarch, De Iside S. 38, S. 56). In Babylon, Baal and Beltis meant "My Lord" and "My Lady". In Latin, "My Lady" is "Mea Domina" which is "Madonna" in Italian. "Alma Mater" means the "Virgin Mother." Both Justin and Castor state that Ninus was the second king of Babylon and the son and successor of Belus, and that, after the death of Ninus, his wife Semiramis succeeded him on the throne of Babylon (Justin Historia, p.615; Castor Cory's Fragments, p.65). This is also testified to by Eusebius and Africanus in their dynasties of Assyrian kings (Cory, pp.70-71).
According to Ovid and Justin, it was Semiramis who surrounded Babylon with a wall (Ovid Opera Metam. book 4. fab. 4.1.58, vol.2. p.177; Hislop p.308). Megasthenes says it was Belus who built the wall (Cory, pp.45-46). She finished what Nimrod started. Thus Rhea, known also as Cybele, is represented with a turreted crown, and Ovid says that the reason why she wore this crown was because "she was the first who erected towers in cities" (Ovid op. vol. 3; Fasti 4. 219-221; Hislop p.30) which further identifies her with Semiramis. Diana or Artemis is is also represented with a turreted crown (Hislop. p.29). Astarte actually means "Woman turret" in Hebrew.
Alexander the Great found the name of Semiramis inscribed on the frontiers of Scythia with the inscription: "I ruled the Empire of Ninus, which reaches eastward to the River Hinaman (Indus), southward to the land of incense and myrrh (Arabia), northward to the Saces and Sogdians. Before me no Assyrian had seen a sea; I have seen four that no one had approached, so far were they distant. I compelled the rivers to run where I wished and directed them to places where they were required. I made barren lands fertile by watering them with my rivers. I built impregnable fortresses. With iron tools I made roads across impassable rocks. I opened roads for my chariots where the very wild beasts had been unable to pass. In the midst of these occupations I have found time for pleasure and love " (recorded by Polyenus, Lenormant 1:367). It is well known that Semiramis was famous for her beauty and immorality, and was a fitting original for the goddess "Venus Aphrodite." The history concludes by saying that Semiramis abdicated in favor of her son, and disappeared, being changed into a dove (the symbol of Juno), and was worshipped as a goddess.
These accounts are confirmed by Strabo, who says that Ninus built Nineveh, which he describes as much larger than Babylon, and that Semiramis built the latter city. "These sovereigns were masters of Asia. Many other works of Semiramis besides those at Babylon are extant in almost every part of the continent, as, for example, artificial mounds which are called the mounds of Semiramis, and walls and fortresses with subterranean passages, cisterns for water, roads to facilitate the ascent of mountains, canals communicating with rivers and lakes, roads and bridges" (Strabo vol.3. book 16. ch. 2-3).
The Bible doesn't mention SEMIRAMIS by name. But in Acts we read that "all Asia and the world worships" DIANA (Acts 19:27) -- under a variety of names. DIUNE is the Chaldee for "DOVE" (Hislop, pp.78-79). DOVES were sacred to JUNO; and in a medal given by Layard (Nineveh and Babylon, p.250), the Babylonian goddess is represented with two DOVES on her head, while on the reverse there is a DOVE bearing an olive BRANCH in its mouth. Now the name "SEMIRAMIS" signifies "the BRANCH bearer": Se (the) + emir (branch) + amit (bearer). On another medal or coin (Bryant, 3:84), the goddess CYBELE, or RHEA, is represented with a conventional BRANCH in her hand and DOVE by her side. According to Hesychius, Semiramis was the name given by the Greeks to wild PIGEONS or DOVES (Hesychius, Semiramis). Diodorus Siculus and Athenagoras both say that Semiramis after her death was worshipped by the Babylonians and throughout the East as "RHEA," "the great goddess mother" (Diodorus Siculus book 2, p.76; Athenagoras, Legatio, pp.178-179; Pascal Chronicle, vol.1, p.65). She was also known in Greece as "AMMAS" which is the Hellenic form of the Chaldee AMA, "the mother." Rawlinson, speaking of the Great Goddess Mother, says, "She was ASTARTE in Phoenicia who is even said by Sanchoniathon to have had a cow's head, like Athor, the VENUS of Egypt, whence called ASHTORETH KARNAIM (Horned). She was VENUS URANIA, said by Pausanias to have been chiefly honoured by the Assyrians." He also identifies her with "ANAITIS, with CERES, with the QUEEN of HEAVEN, the MOON, RHEA, or CYBELE, JUNA, DIANA, LUCINA, ISIS, and ATHOR, the Phoenician TANITH, MINERVA and the Egyptian NEITH" (Rawlinson's Herod. vol.2, essay 1. pp.537-539). The Bible also mentions the "QUEEN of HEAVEN" (Jer. 7:18). Furthermore, the women of Judah offered "cakes (or Hot Cross Buns) to the QUEEN of HEAVEN " (Jer. 44:19). "The Greeks offered such sacred cakes to ASTARTE ... (which) they called bous (ox), in allusion to the ox-symbol marked on it, and from the accusative boun it is suggested that the word 'bun' is derived" (Encyc. Brit. 4:796). Therefore ASTARTE was the "QUEEN of HEAVEN." ASTARTE was the wife of BACCHUS and "The rites of OSIRIS and BACCHUS are the same" (Herodotus 2:42; Diodorus Siculus Bibliotheca 1:9). If BACCHUS and OSIRIS are the same, then ASTARTE and ISIS, their wives, are the same. This is confirmed when we learn that ISIS, the wife of Osiris, was also known as "the QUEEN of HEAVEN" (Lucius Apuleius The Golden Ass, book 11 ch.47). Thus BACCHUS and OSIRIS were names for Nimrod, and ASTARTE and ISIS were names for SEMIRAMIS. Furthermore, the lamentations for TAMMUZ (Ez. 8:14) during lent were the same as those for ADONIS and OSIRIS (Lucian De DeaSyria, vol.3, p.454; Bunsen vol.1p.443). That means that their wives -- ISHTAR, APHRODITE and ISIS -- were all names for Semiramis. According to Sanchoniathon, CERES is ISIS who is also PERSEPHONE (p. 206, Sanchoniathon). The pagan goddess of Egypt and Babylon was called "Dea Myrionymus" meaning "the goddess with ten thousand names".
"Semiramis, that ancient queen who was the first person to CASTRATE male youths of tender age" (Ammianus Marcellinus book 14). Her beauty is said to have once quelled a rising rebellion among her subjects on her sudden appearance among them (Valerius Maximus 9:3, p.2).
The Book of Revelation is a mirror image of Genesis. Therefore when we read about "the great whore" with "a golden cup in her hand" who commits "fornication" with "the kings of the earth" and has made them "drunk" with intoxicating false doctrine and who has a name "Mystery Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the earth" (Rev. 17:1-5), we think immediately of Naamah and Semiramis. Semiramis was the mother of harlots because "The foulest Babylonian custom is that which compels every woman of the land to sit in the temple of Aphrodite and have intercourse with some stranger at least once in her life" (Herodotus Histories 1:199). Her golden cup is defined as "Babylon" which "hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, that made all the earth drunk" (Jer. 50:1). What is this "mystery of iniquity" (2 Th. 2:7)? The kings in Nimrod's day supported the counterfeit religious Mysteries of Semiramis (Rev. 17:5) -- a mixture of Noah's teaching combined with Nimrod's sun-serpent worship. The object of these Mysteries was "to bind all mankind into BLIND and absolute SUBMISSION to a hierarchy entirely dependent on the sovereigns of Babylon" (Hislop, p.5). "Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the Lord" (Jer. 17:5). Just as Semiramis demanded obedience from the kings who fornicated with her around 2000 BC, so also the Roman Catholic Church requires SUBMISSION from civil powers today. Semiramis pretended to be a virgin who miraculously conceived and brought forth a savior. She used an illegitimate son for this purpose. Other names for Semiramis include Astarte (Syrian) or Cybele (Roman) or Isis (Egyptian). She also bore the name "Mylitta" (Mediatrix), but Scripture says "there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 2:5).
From Babylon to Egypt to Greece
The similar religious rites and beliefs of of different nations so widely separated from eachother indicates "they must have all sprung from some COMMON ORIGIN" (Faber's Origin of Pagan Idolatry 1:59). Josephus says Abraham told the Egyptians about "arithmetic, and delivered to them the science of astronomy; for before Abram came into Egypt, they were unacquainted with those parts of learning; for that science came from the CHALDEANS into EGYPT, and from thence to the GREEKS also" (Ant. 1:8:2). This is also confirmed by Scripture, which likens the effect of the idolatry to drunkenness, and states: "Babylon hath been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord to make all the earth drunken. The nations have drunken of her wine, therefore are the nations mad" (Jer. 51:7). Zonares writes, "It is said that these (arithmetic and astronomy) came from the CHALDEES to the EGYPTIANS and thence to the GREEKS" (1:6:34). Bunsen concludes that "the religious system of EGYPT was derived from Asia and the primitive ermpire in BABEL." (Bunsen's Egypt 1:444). Layard also says, "Of the great antiquity of this primitive worship, there is abundant evidence ... having preceded that of EGYPT. The identity of many of the ASSYRIAN doctrines with those of EGYPT is alluded to by Porphyry and Clemens" (Layard's Nineveh and It's Remains, 2:440). Birch says concerning the Babylonian inscriptions: "The Zodiacal signs show unequivocally that the GREEKS derived their notions and arrangements of the Zodiac, and consequently their mythology, which was intertwined with it, from the CHALDEES." (Layard's Nineveh, 2:439, 440). Ouwaroff says that "the EGYPTIANS claimed the honour of having transmitted to the GREEKS the first elements of Polytheism" (Ouwaroff's Eleusinian Mysteries, sect. 2, p.20). Herodotus also says that the names of almost all the gods came from EGYPT to GREECE (Herodotus Hist. 2:50). Professor Rawlinson remarks, "In the Pantheons of GREECE and ROME and in that of CHALDEA the same general grouping is to be recognized; the same geneological succession is not unfrequently to be traced; and in some cases even the familiar names and titles of classical divinities admit of the most curious illustration and explanation from CHALDEAN sources. We can scarcely doubt but that, in some way or other, there was a communication of beliefs, -- a passage in very early times from the shores of the Persian Gulf to lands washed by the Mediterranean, of mythological notions and ideas" (Rawlinson's Five Great Monarchies 1:7:111-112).
Counterfeit "Christianiy" Before Christ
At the time of Jesus, there were temples dedicated to gods like Apollo or Dionysus among the Greeks. Hercules among the Romans. Mithra among the Persians. Adonis and Attisin Syria and Phrygia. Osiris, Isis and Horus in Egypt. Baal and Astarte among the Babylonians and Carthaginians. Notwithstanding great distances, and racial differences, their CREEDS and CEREMONIES were IDENTICAL. (See Forerunners and Rivals of Christianity by Legge; Bible Myths and Their Parallels in Other Religions by Doane; Pagan Christs by Robertson and The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors by Graves)
1. They were all born on or very near December 25 (winter solstice).
2. They were all born of a Virgin-Mother.
3. In a cave or stable.
4. They led a life of suffering for mankind.
5. They were labelled "Light-bringer," "Healer," "Mediator," "Savior," "Messiah," "Redeemer," "Lord," and "Deliverer."
6. They were "crucified for the sins of the world" or defeated by the powers of darkness.
7. They descended into Hell.
8. After being slain, they rose again from the dead after three days and ascended into heaven at Easter (Ishtar).
9. They founded churches into which disciples were received by baptism.
10. They were commemorated by eucharistic meals -- of literal flesh and blood (cannibalism).
11. Many of these savior-gods were believed to have a second coming.
There have been many counterfeit "Saviors". Many other Madonnas with child and many other crosses long before the New Testament account took place. "The SIMILARITY of ancient pagan legends and beliefs with Christian traditions was so great that they excited the attention and undisguised wrath of the early Christian ... not knowing how to explain it, they fell back to the theory the devil, centuries before, caused the pagans to adopt certain beliefs and practices." (Edward Carpenter's Pagan & Christian Creeds, p.25). Tertullian (160-220 AD) said, "The devil, by the mysteries of his idols, IMITATES even the main part of the divine mysteries." "Cortez, too, complained that the devil had possibly taught the Mexicans the SAME THING that God taught Christendom." "The Christian Church has kept itself severely apart from discussions of heathenism ... few people nowadays realize that it has sprung from just the SAME ROOT as paganism and that it SHARES by far the most part of its doctrines and rites with the latter" (pp. 11-12). Paul warned in 2 Thess. 2:7, "The mystery of iniquity doth already work."
What is Babylon?
Revelation 14:8 speaks of a BABYLON which will be destroyed in our day. Revelation 18:4 tells us to come out of BABYLON lest we receive of her plagues today. Nobody will receive eternal life while they are in this modern BABYLONIAN system. But what is BABYLON? BABYLON can be summarized as deciding for yourself what is good and what is evil -- and breaking God's law in the process. Since only God has the right to decide right from wrong, it is becoming "as gods" (Gen. 3:4-5) and self-deification to decide for ourselves. Do we presume to take God's prerogative? "Every man did that which was right in HIS OWN eyes" (Judges 21:25) -- instead of obeying the Bible. Humans counterfeited God's laws with their own laws that take the place of God's laws. BABYLON was the source from which all idolatry flowed (Herodotus History 2:109). Isaiah 47:1 describes the system which rules the earth today as the DAUGHTER of the original BABYLON and Revelation 18:3 says all nations have drunk of the wine of her spiritual fornication or false doctrine. "In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" (Matt. 15:9). "There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Pr. 14:12). Notice that CASTRATION and CANNIBALISM, HUMAN SACRIFICE, PHALLIC WORSHIP and SERPENT-SUN-IDOL WORSHIP are just some of the fruits of this way.
Vain Repetitions in Prayer By Using a Rosary
Jesus said, "When you pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do" (Matt. 6:7). Yet the Rosary -- a necklace of beads to count prayers -- was used as a sacred instrument among the ancient Mexicans (Humboldt's Mexican Researches, vol.2, p.29) and also among the Brahmins. Hindoo sacred books refer to it often. The Rosary was used by the heathen of ancient Tibet, China, Greece and ancient Rome (before the time of Christ). The name "Rosary" itself seems to be from the Chaldee (Babylonian) "Ro" (thought) and "Shareh" (director) (Hislop, p.188) indicating that it came from Babylon. Prayer must be from the heart.
At the feast of Isis at Busiris, after the ceremonies of sacrifice, many thousands of EGYPTIANS assembled and SCOURGED themselves (Her. 2:61). Callimachus spoke of sailors who visited the GREEK shrine of Apollo by saying, "Nor do the crew presume to quit thy sacred limits till they have passed a fearful penance, with the galling WHIP LASHED thrice around thine altar" (Callimachus v. 318-321, vol. 1. p.137). Similarly, in ISRAEL the priests of Baal, to appease their god, "cried aloud and CUT themselves after their manner with knives and with lancets until the blood gushed out" (1 Ki. 18:28). The Corybantes, or priests of Cybele, the priests of Bellona, and the Balluses in their nightly processions also SCOURGED themselves" (Lactantius, lib. i. cap. ii. p. 52; Hurd's Rites and Ceremonies 3:251). Speaking of the penances done by "Fakirs" of INDIA, Nightingale says, "some vow to continue for life in one unvaried posture, others undertake to carry a cumbrous load, or drag a heavy chain, some crawl on their hands and knees for years, some swing during their whole life in this torrid clime before a slow fire, others suspend themselves with their heads down for a certain time over the fiercest flames. They imagine that the expiation of their own sins and sometimes those of others consists in the most rigorous PENANCES and mortifications" (Nightingale, Religions and Ceremonies, ch. 10, p.398). In pagan ROME, Juvenal, describing a woman seeking to expiate her sins, says, "She will break the ice and go down into the river in the depth of winter; she will dip herself three times in the Tiber and bathe her timid head in its very eddies, then naked and shivering she will go and crawl on bleeding knees over the whole extent of the Campus Martius" (Satires 6:522-526). So also Tibullus says, "I would not hesitate, if I had done wrong, to prostrate myself in the temples, and to give kisses to the consecrated floors and thresholds. I would not refuse to crawl over the floor on my knees and to BEAT my wretched head against the holy door posts" (Tibullus 1:2:83).
Initiation into the Greater Mysteries was preceded by fasting and by CONFESSION to the priest, making the initiate subject to the priest. "All the Greeks from Delphi to Thermopylae, were initiated into the mysteries of the temple at Delphi. Their silence in regard to everything they were commanded to keep secret was secured, both by the penalties threatened to a perjured revelation, and by the general CONFESSION exacted of aspirants before initiation, a confession which caused them greater dread of the indiscretion of the priest, than gave him reason to fear their indiscretion" (Eusebe Salverte, Des Sciences Occultes, ch. 26, p. 428; Hislop p. 9).
Paganism Infiltrated the Church
How did the perversion of the gospel come about? "The jewish converts who laid the foundations of the church, soon found themselves overwhelmed by the increasing multitudes that from all the various religions of polytheism enlisted under the banner of Christ" (Gibbon, vol. 1, ch. 15). Professing Christians "found a new occupation in the government of the church.... The ambition of raising themselves or their friends to offices of the church was disguised by ... laudable intention" (Gibbon vol.1, ch.15). Faithful members were ex-communicated. "Worship, at first very simple, was developed into elaborate, stately, imposing ceremonies having all the outward splendor that belonged to heathen temples.... The Imperial church of the 4th and 5th centuries had become an entirely different institution from the persecuted church of the first three centuries. In its ambition to rule it lost and forgot the spirit of Christ" (Halley's Handbook, p.671). "If, in the beginning of the fifth century, Tertullian or Lactantius (early Catholics) had been suddenly raised from the dead, to assist at the festival of some popular saint or martyr, they would have gazed with astonishment and indignation on the profane spectacle which had succeeded to the pure and spiritual worship of a Christian congregation" (Gibbon, vol.5, ch.27). "In exact proportion as paganism has disappeared from without the church, in the very same proportion it appears within it" (Geisler's Ecclesiastical History vol.2, p.40,45).
In the Millenium, "He will destroy ... the face of the (HEATHEN) COVERING cast over all people, and the VEIL (of PAGAN IGNORANCE) that is spread over all nations (Isa. 25:7). The "nations shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have INHERITED LIES, VANITY, and things in which there is NO PROFIT" (Jer. 16:19). Any nation which "loves and practices a LIE" will be kept out of New Jerusalem (Rev. 22:15).
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Photo: nike.com
McIlroy Versus Rooney. It's On.
Ian Caplan April 1, 2014
There’s a new sport that fuses soccer with golf—and it’s catching on like crazy in the U.S. and around the world.
Imagine Tiger Woods squaring off with Ronaldo. Watching Messi go head to head with Mickelson. Pitting the skills of Mcllroy against the moves of Rooney. We mean on the golf course, not the soccer field. That’s what the game of FootGolf is all about. No joke. It’s an inventive fusion that combines golf and soccer into a single sport. Sounds crazy but it’s true. And while you might find it hard to believe, this hybrid game – deemed an “official sport” in the Netherlands in 2009 – is catching on as fast as a New York cronut.
The way it works is simple. Instead of kicking a small dimpled ball around an 18-hole course, you kick a soccer ball down the fairway aiming for a cup. Yes, an extra large cup, big enough to accommodate a soccer ball. You score the game just like regular golf, with each shot counting as a stroke and the lowest number of shots being the ultimate goal (pun intended). It’s a great opportunity to let your country club style athleticism shine without having to choose between all those woods, irons, wedges and putters. Now you just need to figure out if you’re kicking with your right or left foot.
Want to see FootGolfing in action? Check out this video of a new course that just opened in Texas.
How popular is this relatively unknown sport? Way more popular than you can imagine. FootGolf already held the first ever World Cup competition in Hungary in 2012, in which eight countries including the U.S., Mexico, Argentina and Italy took part. Ever since, the sport has drawn lots of attention and grown like gangbusters around the world and in the North America.
According to the American FootGolf League founder Roberto Balestrini, “the first official U.S. tournament that happened in Northern California had only 144 players” and then took off fast with, as he puts it, “more than 3,000 playing in the next three months.” Balestrini is not overstating the draw of the game. With over 60 official courses in the U.S. expected to be open by the end of 2014, and tournaments scheduled in San Antonio, Washington D.C. and New Jersey, it appears this sport is here to stay.
But don’t stash away your pleated pants and golf shirts so fast. FootGolf still follows the same dress code as traditional golf. Except now, you’ll be hearing “nice kick” from your foursome buddies instead of “nice swing.” And we’re guessing you’ll have to book kick time instead of tee time—not sure about that.
Bottom line, it’s a crazy sport meets sport world we live in and everyone wants to be part of the action. So don’t be surprised if you’re 27th on the waiting list for the hot new FootGolf club everyone wants to be part of. It’s only a matter of time.
Ian Caplan talktous@the18.com | @the18com
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Whenever I think of Tiger Woods, I think of that Public Enemy line about Elvis. Tiger was a hero to most...y'all know the rest. Tiger, except for his historic win at the Master's in '97, has never really meant much to me. As a matter of fact, Tiger is one of the most boring public figures in recent memory. Say it loud, I am Tiger Woods, devoid of funk!
Well, at least he was boring. Once the news hit the fan that Tiger, like Luda, has a gang of 'em "in different area codes," it seems that the fun just won't stop. Tiger Woods is what my Dad would call a "hoemonger." This would all be his own business were it not for the fact that he has willingly played the role of the good guy all the way to the bank. Mr. Squeaky Clean has been gettin' his dirty freak on something fierce it seems. Tiger Tiger Woods y'all!
Again, I have no love for Tiger. He dominated his sport, for sure. He has made a mockery of that sport's racially restrictive past, no doubt. But what else has he done other than make boatloads of money endorsing products? Not a damn thing! When will people stop thinking that just because someone excels at a sport and can speak in complete sentences that they are somehow above reproach? I guess Kobe's Eagle, Colorado problems weren't proof enough for ya?
Every since American sports started becoming more and more racially diverse, the issue of image has become more pronounced. Much of the sports media and many of the sport's loving public has clamored for non-threatening figures who comfort their own sense of identity. In perhaps the most extreme case, OJ Simpson, a hustler if ever there was one, sensed this back in the 70s and literally ran with it. OJ was always thug life personified, but like most hustlers, he could shape shift and conform to whatever the situation called for. Naive, simple-minded fools believed OJ's hype and the next thing you know the man who proudly said "I'm not black, I'm OJ" had become Willie Horton, literally.
Michael Jordan once stated that "Republicans buy Nikes too," yet when he gave his HOF acceptance speech earlier this year, the true Michael Jordan showed up and no one wanted to hear what he had to say. The truth was too hard to reconcile. For a long time, Michael played his role to perfection, but now that other younger figures like LBJ and Tiger have come to fill his shoes, he probably felt tired of wearing that costume. Once you put that costume on though, people don't want you to take it off.
Tiger has been wearing this costume for most of his celebrated career. The self-proclaimed "Cablanasian" had the Midas touch for a long time. Now he is paying the price for perpetrating a fraud of immense proportions. Yet I feel that the public played a role in all of this. If people didn't want an unrealistic image from their sports celebrities there would be no need for public figures to cater to such an expectation.
Just because Tiger is a "curly-head" Cablanasian who can hit a golf ball doesn't mean that he's perfect or even decent, for that matter. It just means that he can hit a golf ball. Just because he had the benefit of a good education and has the ability to speak in an articulate manner doesn't mean that he's a saint, it just means that he's had a good education and can speak in an articulate manner.
Let me clear, I could care less how many women Tiger has on the side. That's his business. Well it was his business, now it's the world's business. The problem here is that the media and the public often elevate people beyond where they should be and then when these elevated people demonstrate that they are indeed human, the negative response is unrelenting.
Tiger was never a saint. Most men in his position have more woman than they can fully account for, while many other men who aren't in that position, wish that they were. The spouses and partners of these uber athletes often know about their exploits too, and they implicitly accept this as part of the deal. Yes infidelity is generally what it means to be married to someone so rich and so famous. It's like these other women are an occupational hazard, but a hazard to be tolerated relative to the financial incentives to be had. It's when squares like Tiger behave in such a raggedy, irresponsible fashion, exposing themselves and embarrassing their significant other that drama starts to arise.
Tiger is now in a prison of his own making. If there is a crime here, it is the fact that Tiger would be so square as to leave his name on home girl's voicemail. Square as a pool table and twice as green! It's probably redundant for me to say that ain't pimpin', but it most certainly ain't.
Tiger, if you're gonna do dirt, step your game up Dog. Leave them underachievers alone. Please. Nothing good can come of it. And while you're at it, stop trying to be something that you're not. At least now you've might have a sliver of street cred. Don't spend it all in one place.
And to all those out there who want their heroes to be perfect, stick to the holy books. Because as long as you seek perfection in others, you deny the reality within yourself.
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Polar lights in the vicinity of Saturn’s north pole
by space · September 2, 2018
Astronomers with the help of the NASA / ESA Hubble Space Telescope (“Hubble”) made a series of spectacular images of “fluttering” auroras in the vicinity of the north pole of Saturn. These observations were conducted in the ultraviolet range, and the resulting images show a detailed view of the northern aurora on Saturn.
In 2017, for a period of seven months, the Hubble Space Telescope surveyed auroras over the north pole of Saturn with its on-board spectrograph, Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. These observations were conducted respectively before and after the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere of Saturn. During this period, the most convenient conditions were provided for observing auroras in the northern hemisphere of the planet with the help of the Hubble.
On Earth, auroras are mainly formed by the action of particles ejected from the surface of the Sun in the composition of the solar wind. When this flow of electrically charged particles comes close to our planet, it interacts with a magnetic field that acts as a giant “shield”. And although this “shield” basically deflects the particles of the solar wind, it can also detain a small part of them. Particles held in the magnetosphere-a region of space around the Earth in which charged particles are affected by a magnetic field-can be accelerated and move along magnetic field lines to the magnetic poles of the planet. There they interact with the oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the upper atmosphere, creating a flickering, colored glow in the sky, observed in the circumpolar regions of the globe.
However, auroras are not unique to the Earth phenomenon. On other planets of the solar system, auroras have also been recorded. Among these planets are four gas giant of the Solar system: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Since hydrogen dominates in the atmospheres of these planets – not nitrogen and oxygen, as in the gas shell of the Earth – the auroras can not be seen with their naked eye when they are observed – it is observed in the ultraviolet region in which the picture presented here was taken with the help of ” Hubble. “
Next story Great compression of the universe does not threaten
Previous story Scientists create a new method for predicting geomagnetic storms
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Kendall Jenner ‘Happy’ With A$AP Rocky
May 4, 2017 by TeamCLEO
Kendall Jenner is "happy" with her boyfriend A$AP Rocky after the pair went public with their relationship at the Met Gala.
#asaprocky #bellahadid #kendall #wizkhalifa
A post shared by A$AP Rocky (@asaprockyphotos) on May 3, 2017 at 12:44pm PDT
The 21-year-old model finally went public with the ‘L$D’ hitmaker when they were spotted together at the Met Gala on Monday (01.05.17) following months of speculation of a romance between the pair, and whilst sources claim it’s unlikely there will be a “public announcement” on the matter, they say the brunette beauty is enjoying her time with her beau.
A source told ‘Entertainment Tonight’: “I don’t think you will be seeing them make a public announcement anytime soon, but there is something going on there for sure. It’s been going on for a while. Kendall is happy.”
The news comes after it was reported the pair also made “no secret” of their romance last month whilst watching The Who perform at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
A source said at the time: “Kendall and A$AP Rocky went to the Royal Albert Hall and made no secret of the fact they are a couple. There was a lot of touching going on. It wasn’t the behaviour of two people who are just friends. Kendall seems very into him.”
And the ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’ star is thought to have asked the 28-year-old rapper – whose real name is Rakim Mayers – to temporarily move in with her after having her home robbed in March.
A source said: “Kendall’s anxiety has gone through the roof since the robbery and she feels she doesn’t know who she can trust.
“It’s put new pressure on her fledgling relationship with Rakim, who she’s been leaning on heavily for support.
“She’s even suggested he move into her house temporarily because she’s scared to be there alone at night.
“Friends are worried they might be moving too fast.
“They’ve been seeing each other for nine months but it’s been very hot and cold.”
*Sourced by Bang Showbiz
Tags: #cleo, a$ap rocky, asap rocky, boyfriend, cleo malaysia, date, dating, girlfriend, happy, hollywood, jenner, keeping up with the kardashians, kendall jenner, met gala, public, rapper, relationship
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Gal Gadot To Bank Huge Bonus For Wonder Woman
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Beyoncé’s “Homecoming” Gives A Closer Look At Her Coachella Performance
An Egg Dethrones Kylie Jenner As Instagram’s Most Liked Picture
Cannes Film Festival 2017: The Looks We Love
James Corden Lines Up Christmas Number One Single
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A Question of Ethics
Are you prepared to face investigation dilemmas?
By Donna J. Popow
As insurance professionals, we encounter ethical dilemmas in all phases of our work, including fraud investigations, which can prove to be especially challenging. Because each situation is unique, it is imperative to know ahead of time how you will approach an investigation. Having a methodology to identify and resolve dilemmas is an important and useful tool. In preparation to face these challenges, see if you can identify and resolve the following dilemmas.
Sally is the special investigator assigned to work a suspicious fire with Bob, the claims adjuster. The insured, XYZ Jewelers, has offered Sally and Bob copies of the financial records and inventory that Bob has requested in return for an agreement that Bob will not do a Google search or a court record search. Bob agrees to these terms in order to get the claim moving, and the insured turns over the requested documents. Bob confides in Sally that he is under pressure from the agent to pay this claim quickly, which is why he made the agreement to get the records.
Does Sally have an obligation to inform anyone about the information that Bob has confided to her?
First, determine if this is an ethical dilemma. It is obvious that Bob made a bad decision when he agreed not to do the search in return for information he was entitled to receive under the terms of the policy. Was it a mistake in an effort to expedite the claim or an intentional act to derail a fraud investigation? Are there enough facts to make a decision? One of the preliminary questions we have to ask ourselves when faced with a situation is if we’re facing an ethical dilemma or if there are laws, regulations, or rules that tell us what should or should not be done.
Second, make sure that you have all the facts needed to make a decision. When ascertaining the facts, make sure to look to all possible stakeholders for information, then consider the reliability and accuracy of your sources. If you do not have sufficient information, how do you go about getting it?
After reviewing the financial records, Sally’s suspicion that the insured was involved in starting the fire grows stronger. She decides to call in a favor with Detective Thursday and ask him if there has been any recent suspicious activity in the vicinity of the insured’s location and whether the principal at the insured location, Milton Gusst, has an arrest record. Det. Thursday advises that Milton Gusst does not have an arrest record, but his son, Zachary Gusst, has a prior felony conviction for burglary. The detective also tells Sally that the son is currently on parole and employed at a local gas station.
Should Sally have used her contact to get this information, and now that she has it, should she use it?
Humans are masters of rationalization. This is something to be aware of when facing an ethical dilemma. There are several ways Sally can rationalize her decision to get the police records:
Bob made the agreement; she did not.
Bob made a mistake in making the agreement, so it is not really valid.
Bob may have some incentive to hinder this investigation, so the agreement is not valid.
Technically, Sally did not do the search; Detective Thursday conducted the search.
The decision has turned up valuable evidence, so the breach of the agreement is justified.
However, beware of self-serving rationalizations for behavior; they can be used as an excuse for unethical behavior. It is not a valid argument that the wrongdoing by Bob outweighs the wrongdoing by Sally. Additionally, the ethical or unethical nature of an act should be considered before it is committed, not based on the results of the act.
Should Sally use this information now that she has it? It certainly suggests that there is a need for further investigation, but how will she explain the way she obtained the information? Will she admit the breach of the agreement in order to conduct a proper investigation?
Further, does it seem as though Sally and Bob’s intentions with regard to this claim are not in alignment? If so, should Sally discuss the problem with Bob first? Should she go to his direct supervisor? Does she have enough information to say anything?
A few days later, Sally is back at the claims site reviewing the scene with the fire marshal. The fire marshal shows Sally two spots that appear to be the origin of the fire and indicates that he will be testing for possible accelerants. Sally mentions to the detective that the insured’s son has a felony conviction and works at a gas station, so she’s pretty sure he will find an accelerant.
Keeping It Proper
While this may have been nothing more than an offhanded comment, it leads one to question the impartiality of Sally’s investigation. It could be seen as a means of suggesting a conclusion to the fire marshal. Insurance professionals should ensure that their conclusions are based on all of the facts of a case, including exculpatory facts, before making public statements. It is possible that such a comment could be used as the basis for a bad-faith argument. Investigators must be very careful not to falsely accuse anyone of fraud or to create a perception that fraud has occurred.
The investigation of any claim, with or without the element of fraud, can create ethical dilemmas. Often a situation will occur that does not seem right. That is the time to go through your checklist, not after the action has been taken.
Does this situation involve a core ethical principle?
Is there a law, regulation, or rule that addresses the situation?
Do I have all the facts?
Is the source of the facts credible and reliable?
Do I understand the situation from the perspective of all stakeholders?
Am I rationalizing to justify what I want to do?
Can I publicly defend the action I am taking?
Remember the words of Albert Einstein, “Relativity applies to physics, not to ethics.”
Donna J. Popow, JD, CPCU, AIC, is president of Donna J. Popow LLC, and has more than 25 years of experience in the property and casualty insurance industry. She has been a CLM Fellow since 2007 and can be reached at (215) 630-0829.
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What If Uber and Zipcar Had a Baby?
Ethical Leadership and Organizational Culture in Claims
The Pitfalls in Ethical Decision-Making
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Understanding the evolution of the Apple TV.
Kenny Bunch | October 13, 2015
It has been a few weeks since the marketing machine we all know as Apple announced their plans for the TV. Given that space of time, I think that people can now look at the announcement a little bit more objectively and try to make true judgement calls on it. Everyone is asking, what can we expect from this product?
I think to truly have insight into any product announcement, you have to ask a few other questions first:
Is this what they set out to build?
What are their future plans?
If you answer these questions, you can begin to answer the larger question of what to expect.
As someone who builds his business around platforms like Apple’s, my mind has been guessing and evaluating the possibilities for quite some time. With the new announcement, we now have a tangible picture of what they’ve done for the Apple TV and can draw some conclusions about where it’s going. Since I have pondered the what ifs a lot longer than most, I’m going to give you a little dive into how my brain has deconstructed it all and you can take from that what you will. A forewarning, I think about this a lot. I have a lot to say, but I think it will help you draw valuable insight into Apple’s new product and how they operate.
So let’s jump into our first question, “Is this what Apple set out to build?”. It is important to note, products typically don’t pop up overnight. They are planned well in advance and evolve over time. Inside discoveries and outside market forces tend to shape the direction. I like to think that Apple has product visions that stretch over multiple years rather than operating on quarterly reactions. Other forces effect it, but I believe more than other companies they have very strategic efforts that they carry out. Let’s take a trip back in Apple’s timeline to see what I mean.
Here are some key dates that we can use to potentially understand Apple’s TV initiatives.
Each of the dates above play a role in my mind to the evolution of the product. Some were initial inspirations and others were planned initiatives around the TV itself. If you look at what happened on each of the dates and focus on how they relate to video, the timeline starts to tell a story.
The iPod and iTunes
There have been many influences over the years, but what can we point back to as the original spark? I’m going to pick the iPod and iTunes. It is common knowledge that iTunes and the iPod changed Apple and the entire music industry forever. Apple hit a sector of the entertainment industry that was falling apart and desperately needed a solution. Apple offered it, and in turn became the the main broker of music entertainment. This introduced a completely new outlet to their business, selling content. This obviously opened their eyes and filled their pocket books. I don’t think many people saw it coming, not even them. It was the beginning of a shift in their thinking.
Media Centers and the Mac Mini
Over the course of the next few years, Apple really prospered. Obviously anyone at the helm of a ship like that starts asking what other things can we apply this winning formula to. It seems like a no brainer, TV shows and movies right? They are consumable media just like music. At the time of iTunes, video content wasn’t very digital yet, but people were exploring its potential. In 2002 Microsoft introduced a Media Center Edition of XP that was a play into the space. Their OS sought to provide access to movies, TV, pictures, music and more in a “leanback” experience. This really got the conversation going about a computer for the living room that brought all media in digitally.
Fast-foward to January 22, 2005, and Apple introduces the Mac mini, an extremely compact version of their desktop computer. At the time, the market was saturated with monster computer towers that took up enormous amounts of space and had 50 different components thrown into them. This was a great move by Apple on many levels. It started to remove a lot of excess in desktops, reducing both cost and size. At the time, people had become accustomed to desktop beasts they were forced to live with, so it didn’t innovate that market overnight. It was good for it, but it wasn’t a game changer. However, if you look at it from a different perspective you can see a bit more genius in it. As people began exploring “media centers” in their living rooms, the giant towers weren’t accepted there. Consumers weren’t going to be OK with putting some massive brick beside their TV. The Mac mini was the perfect form factor for that room. If you compare it to the modern Apple TV, the two look almost the exactly same. I’m sure a lot of the components, tooling, and manufacturing capabilities used to create the mini were able to be leveraged to produce the TV.
At this time, I believe Apple had a vision of getting into the living room, but they weren’t sure what it was going to look like yet. They knew video content still hadn’t made a huge shift to digital, but it was gaining a lot more traction than ever before. Flash video had been introduced in 2003 and was updated in 2005 to actually be more viable. People were starting to explore the potential of this technology, both large media companies and startups. The biggest player to the movement, YouTube, went live on February 14, of that same year. This time period provided the biggest spark for digital video movement. It started to make it more viable.
Front Row and Purchasable video content
Apple was reading all the signs, and the mini provided them a vessel to explore with early adopters. They were playing it safe, because they still needed to determine consumer behaviors around the space before they jumped into it. It was still evolving. Unlike Microsoft and Google who are quick to get their ideas out, Apple tries to make sure they don’t make a play at something until they feel the play is solid. They do explore, but are calculated in their explorations. Jumping to October of that same year, you can see this. Apple announced new software Front Row and introduced TV show purchases to iTunes. For those not aware of what Front Row was, it could be seen as Apple’s first “media center”. When announced, their computers started shipping with small remotes. When used with the Front Row software, it turned your desktop computer into a leanback experience. You were able to browse photos, listen to music, and watch videos. The introduction of TV show purchases to iTunes, along with movies the next year in September of 2006, marked their desire to bring the same model they had applied to music to video. Even if it was an exploration play, it showed Apple had interest in the living room.
Apple TV (v1)
The original Front Row, remote, and iTunes purchases probably got very small usage, but I believe this taught Apple a lot. It illustrated, that the living room was a different experience. Consumers weren’t going to just move their desktops into that room. They weren’t going to spend a fortune for that experience. They didn’t need a powerful beast to just consume things. They just needed the simple things that front row provided on a less expensive device. It could be very focused and lean. Fine tuning their software and hardware, on January 9, 2007, Apple brought out their answer, the original Apple TV. With its launch and for years to come, they also made a very strategic note that it was a pet project for them, an experiment. They knew the market wasn’t completely there yet and they didn’t want the product to be viewed as a failure. This type of marketing definitely buffered them from getting criticism over the years as their other products had more stellar sucess stories. I also truly believe that they understood how complex the TV and movie business was. Unlike the music industry, the TV and movie business wasn’t in dire distress. The relationships and how it was run made for a huge hurdle as well. It has many layers, which I’ve mentioned before. Apple wasn’t going to be able to take that market as easily as they had with music. Knowing it was eventually going to happen, their approach was genius.
The iPhone distraction
The next 8 years, I consider years full of learning and distraction. The distraction came from Apple’s second modern blockbuster, the iPhone released on June 29, 2007. In a world full of people looking at their smartphones every 5 minutes, it is hard to imagine a world that existed without them. Being in the industry, I remember the promise for years of how insane the market could be. The number of people who owned phones vs computers, the rate at which they acquired new devices, everything showed promise. It wasn’t until the delivery of the iPhone that anything ever delivered on it.
Personally, my guess is Jobs was more interested in the space of personal computing than small handhelds. He was a creator. I think what we saw the iPhone become, he originally had planned for the laptop/tablet. In a way the phone was a distraction for him from creating a device to create. It was a device to communicate and consume. I tend to wonder if it went against his grain a bit, given I feel he desired one on one communication.
If you back up to September 7, 2005, 2 years prior to the iPhone launch, Apple announced an attempt with Motorola to put iTunes on one of their phones. It made total sense, given the closeness in form factor and the ability to have the iPod morph into a connected device. I see the Motorola venture as another experiment. Apple was looking for what that experience might be. They knew the potential for smartphones, but had to figure out how to approach the industry first. I think the experiment showed them how underserved the market was. It probably also ate at Jobs up that it was so bad.
A year passed after the launch of the phone, and in July 2008, Apple announced the App Store on the phone. This was a monumental game changer for computers in many ways. Up to this point, the software industry was either shrink wrap or purchased direct from the creator digitally. The phone proposed interesting issues of “how do you get apps on it?” and “how do you ensure they don’t wreak havoc on the device?” Since iTunes and music were the original motivating factors to move to the phone, Apple took a play from its own book. They created the App Store to be iTunes for apps. Not only were they able to sandbox the things being deployed to the phone, they became the curators and brokers of what went on the device. It wasn’t a new concept, but it was the first time someone was able to pull it off. With the ability to have an instant market for what you create, this brought developers in swarms to the platform. It transformed the device into something entirely new. It became a brain and game console in your pocket.
Even more so than the iPod, I don’t know that Apple saw how big this would become. Their company focus shifted again. The phone was their golden goose and would hold the company’s main focus for years. Everything that hadn’t been fully developed got pushed down in priority.
The one thing that didn’t lose priority was the device that I believe Jobs originally wanted to create, the iPad. In April 3, 2010, the first version was released. In watching Jobs present it, I feel that it was very evident, this was one device he had envisioned for a long time. In many ways, the iPad was just a big iPhone. Some people mocked it as such and couldn’t see the need for it. What they weren’t seeing was that it lended its self to consuming content that wasn’t as suitable for the phone, from both a connection and form factor perspective. One of those was video. If you are going to be in a place that has wifi, sitting instead of standing, would you rather watch a movie on iPhone or iPad? The larger form factor also gives you more room for control. It filled a gap that the phone and laptops didn’t.
Purchase vs Rental
As I mentioned, while the iPhone revolution was going on, Apple was still learning. The TV took a backseat, but I think it needed to. The market was still too complicated. Apple originally approached it with a purchasing model, applying the same logic to video content as they had to music. The problem with that approach was people don’t consume TV shows and movies in the same way they do music. Typically unless you have kids and you just throw a movie in and hit repeat, you aren’t going to watch the same thing over and over again. With music, you do. Coming from a behavior of purchasing albums and having the desire to listen to the content over and over again, people were willing to buy. They wanted the ability to own their content and take it with them. The iPhone and apps like Spotify and Pandora have since changed this behavior, but coming off of CD sales and Napster, it was what people expected.
If you look at the video market, it was dominated by rentals, VHS and later DVDs. DVD sales existed, but it wasn’t the dominate choice. Apple later realized this and 3 years after introducing purchasing, announced rentals on January 15, 2008. The market for the TV was still very niche though.
AirPlay and one device to rule them all
With the massive success of the iPhone and iPad, I bet Apple’s thinking shifted. Apple started asking the question, what if the iPhone is the center of everything? If I have access to all my content thru that device and I carry it with me everywhere, why not make it be the brain? September 1, 2010, Apple started with another experiment: AirPlay. AirPlay is the ability to mirror or broadcast content from one device (iPhone, iPad, or Mac computer) to another device like the Apple TV. This is a powerful concept and requires that you really only have one smart device and anything it broadcasts to merely needs to be a receiver. Bill Gates outline it in his book “The Road Ahead”, written in 1995. I explain this point because many people don’t know what it is or that it even exists. That is part of its issue, it requires multiple unified elements and an understanding of how they all tie together.
I’ve longed for this concept to become true. In presentations I gave back in 2005, I talked about the iPod becoming just that. Even back then, it was evident that it could become a handheld super computer. Google made a go at this too with Chromecast a simple TV receiver/dongle priced under 40 dollars that introduced on July 24, 2013. More recently there have been attempts on Android and Microsoft to take the extra step and make the device change its UI based on the context of the receiver. Microsoft labels it Continuum. It will come, but the complexity of that market will take time to evolve.
The complexity of the TV market
AirPlay illustrated Apple was trying to look at different approaches to the TV market. In addition, I think they were trying to figure out a much harder issue, how to enter it from a content perspective. Apple tried both purchase and rental models with content. Traditional media companies were fine with this approach since it was more of a secondary market. What I think Apple came to realize is that consumption behavior for video is all about first run and being the original distributor. This made their job much harder.
Like I mentioned in the Apple TV (v1) section, there have been huge barriers if you were going after the premium content tier (movies, tv shows). We know from 2014 FCC Filings by Comcast and Time Warner that Apple had approach them about jointly developing a set-top box. The relationships with content providers and MSOs (AKA multiple-system operators like Comcast, DirectTV, etc) is so hard to break, I believe Apple realized that a strong play would be to work directly with the MSOs. The problem with that is that the MSOs knew they still had a good thing and saw what happened to the music industry. I think they may have strung Apple along. Why let them in if you are doing well and your wall is high?
TV starts to break down
If you read my article “What is happening to the entertainment industry?” , you’ll see that the walls that were once so high have broken down. It didn’t happen overnight like the music industry, but the entertainment industry is slowly entering into an initial state of distress. One of the largest catalyst to this movement is Netflix. They originally copied the cable companies subscription model and applied it to DVDs, then transitioned that success to online distribution in 2007. One of the keys was convenience and paying a small monthly fee. Consumers were used to subscriptions, it was expected and welcomed. The cost played a huge role too. In comparison to DVD rentals or cable subscriptions it was more approachable. Netflix could arguably be labeled the first online cable company..
Whats the cheapest way to get Netflix on TV?
As Netflix became more popular online, people began to have the desire to watch it on their TV. This fueled what I like to call the “how can I get Netflix on my TV” phase. Netflix was incredibly smart about trying to get it on anything and everything that could land them on the TV and in your living room. Whether it was a smart TV, Xbox, Apple TV, or some random device like a Boxee the public started to seek out the cheapest way to get Netflix on their TV.
In the spring of 2014, both Google and Amazon introduced versions of their OS for the TV. However, I think the real tide turned in November 19, 2014 when Amazon introduced a small dongle for the TV known as the Fire Stick that ran their TV based OS. The kicker was they sold it for only $19 originally for Prime members. From a cost perspective, it made this a no brainer. It was so cheap, why would you not buy one? What was surprising was the device and OS were actually nice. It entered in for most people as the cheap way to get Netflix (and Prime) on the TV, but the man behind the curtain knew it had an app store and was running Android. If you jump forward to today, a lot of content companies like HBO, Showtime and others have applications running on the device.
Is the new Apple TV what Apple wanted?
Finally, let’s talk about the new Apple TV (v2) that was announced on September 9, 2015. I think we can look at all of the points mentioned in this article and see how this product evolved. We know Apple has had an interest in the TV space all along, they knew the promise of it. I think they have been cautious of how they approach it both from a device and content perspective. They experimented with different approaches, but I think very early on realized they need a relationship with content providers in the same way that MSOs had. I believe they also realized that because the industry was relatively stable that it was going to be hard to accomplish that. Their attempts to get an insider advantage by working directly with MSOs failed. However, the industry has also taken a significant turn. Netflix and Amazon have started to illustrate there are approaches that work.
Another key point that we haven’t discussed is games. Games have been a staple of the living room since the days of the Atari 2600. With the iPhone, Apple owns the handheld gaming market. They have instant distribution. Why would they not take on consoles like the Wii? I suspect this was one of the other pushing points for the Apple TV.
I feel Apple really wants to be a distributor like the cable company. From a revenue perspective, it is a market they aren’t capturing like they could. I think they’ve always wanted to be there. How they approached it has changed and evolved, but their underlying goal has been consistent.
With the TV market shifting how it has, other devices seeing success, Apple’s desire to compete with consoles, and most importantly consumer awareness and desire to bring interactivity to the TV experience laid out a perfect time for them to make a play.
The product isn’t exactly what they wanted but it holds to the essence of what they’ve been striving for. Time will tell, but I believe it is missing a big key component they desire: a subscription/distribution outlet.
What are Apple’s plans?
So, if we consider that Apple’s original plans are incomplete, do we think they are still going after them? Absolutely.
Apple does hardware and OS level software extremely well, but they tend to trail a bit behind companies like Google or Amazon who excel at cloud based software. Netflix’s success has come from their cloud based subscription/distribution platform for video content. To compete and do well in this market, you have to have that. On May 28, 2014, Apple acquired Beats Music which did just that. For those who only see things at a surface level, one might expect the acquisition was done in order to get their line of physical headphone products. I think that was just an added bonus. In buying Beats, they got multiple elements that could play critical roles in their business. The most important one was the subscription service. We have already seen this take form with Apple Music. Their once dominant position in the music industry has faded with Pandora and Spotify. The service helps them address that AND it helps them with a future setup for TV. They will have an app just like Netflix or their own Music app that is a subscription service. My guess is they are still trying to work thru content relationships and they want it to be done right. In addition, having the device in the market will help drive discussions around those relationships.
Talk to me like “Her”
You may be asking, what about the software on the device itself? Is that what Apple intended. For years I’ve felt like one of the hardest pieces to tackle with the TV is the interaction model with it. Directional based navigation controls, ugh! Apple stayed the course there with the small addition of a swipe face for a little more control. Why do you think that is? Apple showed you why, it is voice. They understand that the living room interaction is limited (outside of games). Really you want to just find and consume something. The goal isn’t interaction as much as it is getting to the content and consuming it with as little effort as possible.
Siri has become more and more powerful over the years. It is no where near the level that we see in the movie Her, but that reality is coming. Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Apple all understand that, for consuming information and media, the best interface is non tangible interface. Think about how much easier and efficient a natural language conversation can be. What’s the weather today? What was the score for last night’s Braves game? Can you find that movie with Robert Redford about baseball? This is Apple’s true play for the future of consumption based interaction with computers. The TV environment lends itself better than any other to a voice interaction model.
The problem with basing interaction on voice is exposing content in applications that by their very nature hide it. How do you say I want to watch Orange is the New Black and the only place I can consume it is in the Netflix app. Unlike the web that was indexed by Google and liberated with its search, mobile apps have been silos. Google and Apple have both approached this problem recently with their App Indexing and Universal Link solutions. We finally have indexing of applictions. Just how search transformed the web, this level of content awareness will take OSs to an entirely new level.
How important are applications?
If you paid attention to the keynote and how content was structured within the OS, something also stuck out. Not only was Apple providing an easy way to jump into content from search, they curated the results in a similar fashion to how Google does on the web. To see what I mean, do a search for Big Bang Theory. Rather than simply list out various apps that might provide the show, they created a buffer page with show details too. If you are using voice as your interaction model and your goal is to just consume content, applications start to become less important to an extent. It should be very interesting to see what impact this has.
The Apple Gaming console
My particular interest with the TV obviously is how it relates to media. As I mentioned the other driver for Apple is games. It is the highest revenue stream they have in the App Store. Games and the living room have been like milk and cookies, a perfect match. It boggles my mind that Amazon and Google haven’t put more emphasis on growing this on their TV based platforms. I know it is in their sights, but it seems they haven’t put a large focus on it yet. Obviously the big draw for them has been the cheapest way to get Netflix on the TV, but man theres a huge opportunity there. Apple consumers will expect it there and developers will see the potential. It is going to happen. If you jump back to Apple’s WWDC conference in the spring, you will see they have big plans. As they were showing off new games being developed in Metal (their programming answer for taking game graphics and processing to the next level), it was obvious the level of games being shown were on a level that didn’t make sense for the casual expectations of handhelds. Apple is looking to take on the Xbox and Playstation.
Should we be excited?
Apple has always been great about entering a market at the right time and using their marketing and approach to transform it. When Apple makes a play, the general public accepts it more than any other companies attempts, because they perceive it as a ground breaking and are made more aware of it thru stellar marketing. They aren’t doing that much more than the others out there, but the public’s attention to it and the developers willingness to get behind it will open this market up.
I have a feeling that it probably scares the MSOs. I would not doubt if content companies put their TV Everywhere apps on the platform, you don’t see some choice providers missing from the list. Once the general public starts to understand that they can have the same ondemand experience on their TV as they have had with their other devices, it changes everything. It exists now, but for the mass public it’s not there. That perception shift will make people question cable boxes. Change is inevitable though.
I personally am excited. I’m not an Apple Fanboy, but a fan of progression and the ability to create great things. Apple tends to open up doors and that makes me happy. I’ve been waiting for a long time for the TV to change. In the background, it already has. It has died little by little, but there is hope.
Just like Apple, at Dreamsocket we’ve experimented thru the years. In November 2006, we worked with Playstation prior to the PS3 launch to dream of what a TV and game experience might look like merged. When asked why the project was important to me, I used the opportunity to try to throw my ideas at them. I noted that for me as a developer, I wanted Sony to create a rapid development model that could allow anyone to publish to their device. I also mentioned that there was no need for discs, digital distribution over the internet direct to the device made a lot more sense. I just wanted to see the opportunity to be in the living room. I’ve always wanted it. There is something about your having your app on a big screen.
Over the course of the next 9 years, we took other projects here and there to test the waters. When the Google TV came out, we built apps for it. Getting an opportunity to help create the actual interface for a gaming device itself, we jumped on it. Exploring how a phone could interact with TV, we made a play at it.
TV has been waiting to be modernized for years. Knowing that the new Apple TV was coming out, we developed new applications for some of our media clients on the Android and Amazon Fire TV devices. They were actually strategically targeted to come out the week after the Apple announcement and a few days before the Amazon one. They haven’t released yet, but they are coming down the pipe.
Why did we do this? Knowing that Apple has gone from experimentation to going after the TV market, I knew that unlike anyone else, they have the capability to be a catalyst for the space. I’ve hated to see TV living in legacy for years. Even though the living room is less dominate now, it still is the first and final frontier for entertainment. Most importantly developing for the TV is fun.
If you managed to read all of this, congrats and thank you ;). I could go into much deeper levels on many different points, missed a lot of things that I also feel are relevant, but it gives you a peek into my brain. That peek may be right or wrong on things, but it shows the importance of trying to understand the big picture. If you can do that, you can see how things emerge and you can spot opportunity. I’m excited about the Apple TV.
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You Won’t Believe What Evolutionists Believe
Evolutionists argue about many things but one thing they agree on is that their idea is a scientific fact. It is the one, definite, consensus position within evolutionary thought. Evolutionists say their idea is as much a fact as is gravity, the roundness of the Earth and heliocentricity. These claims began shortly after Charles Darwin’s book on evolution was published, and they have only grown stronger since. These claims are like a flashing red light indicating a problem. For, of course, evolution is not a scientific fact. Indeed there are tremendous scientific problems with the notion that something comes from nothing, or in the case of biological evolution, that nature’s millions and millions of species, with their profound designs, arose spontaneously strictly according to natural law. Evolution, in one form or another, may somehow be true. It is a difficult question, for who really knows how the world and all of biology actually arose? What isn’t a difficult question, however, is whether the idea is a scientific fact. For the claim that evolution is a fact is not a claim about the distant past, it is a claim about our knowledge of the distant past. We may not know with certainty what happened in the distant past, but we do know for certain what we know about it. And we do not know evolution to be a fact. Not even close. If anything, we know that the idea is greatly challenged by science. It certainly is not a scientific fact. And so the evolutionist’s certainty that evolution is a fact is a sign of the underlying metaphysics. When people believe in things that they don’t understand and, furthermore, insist they are right and everyone else is wrong, and anyone who dares to question must be blackballed, then there is a problem. Unfortunately, that precisely describes evolution. Here then is a small sampling of the evolutionist’s “fact” claims which you won’t believe.
About 30 years after Darwin’s book was published evolution professor Joseph Le Conte wrote this:
Evolution is certainly a legitimate induction from the facts of biology. But we are prepared to go much further. We are confident that evolution is absolutely certain. Not, indeed, evolution as a special theory—Larmarckian, Darwinian, Spencerian—for these are all more or less successful modes of explaining evolution … but evolution as a law of derivation of forms from previous forms; evolution as a law of continuity, as a universal law of becoming. In this sense it is not only certain, it is axiomatic. …
So also, the origins of new organic forms may be obscure or even inexplicable, but we ought not on that account to doubt that they had a natural cause, and came by a natural process; for so to doubt is also to doubt the validity of reason, and the rational constitution of organic Nature. The law of evolution is naught else than the scientific or, indeed, the rational mode of thinking about the origin of things in every department of Nature. … the law of evolution is as certain as the law of gravitation. Nay, it is far more certain …
More recently, evolutionist R. C. Lewontin wrote this in a scientific journal:
It is a fact that all living forms come from previous living forms. Therefore, all present forms of life arose from ancestral forms that were different. Birds arose from nonbirds and humans from nonhumans. No person who pretends to any understanding of the natural world can deny these facts any more than she or he can deny that the earth is round, rotates on its axis, and revolves around the sun.
Evolutionist Neil Campbell wrote this in his biology textbook:
The term theory is no longer appropriate except when referring to the various models that attempt to explain how life evolves … it is important to understand that the current questions about how life evolves in no way implies any disagreement over the fact of evolution.
Here’s another example textbook example from Douglas Futuyma:
A few words need to be said about the "theory of evolution," which most people take to mean the proposition that organisms have evolved from common ancestors. In everyday speech, "theory" often means a hypothesis or even a mere speculation. But in science, "theory" means "a statement of what are held to be the general laws, principles, or causes of something known or observed." as the Oxford English Dictionary defines it. The theory of evolution is a body of interconnected statements about natural selection and the other processes that are thought to cause evolution, just as the atomic theory of chemistry and the Newtonian theory of mechanics are bodies of statements that describe causes of chemical and physical phenomena. In contrast, the statement that organisms have descended with modifications from common ancestors--the historical reality of evolution--is not a theory. It is a fact, as fully as the fact of the earth's revolution about the sun. Like the heliocentric solar system, evolution began as a hypothesis, and achieved "facthood" as the evidence in its favor became so strong that no knowledgeable and unbiased person could deny its reality. No biologist today would think of submitting a paper entitled "New evidence for evolution;" it simply has not been an issue for a century.
Even the National Academy of Sciences states that evolution is a fact. They explain that in science the word “fact” can be used “to mean something that has been tested or observed so many times that there is no longer a compelling reason to keep testing or looking for examples. The occurrence of evolution in this sense is a fact. Scientists no longer question whether descent with modification occurred because the evidence supporting the idea is so strong.”
In his book What Evolution Is evolutionist Ernst Mayr wrote:
However, throughout the nineteenth century whenever people talked about evolution, they referred to it as a theory. To be sure, at first, the thought that life on Earth could have evolved was merely a speculation. Yet, beginning with Darwin in 1859, more and more facts were discovered that were compatible only with the concept of evolution. Eventually it was widely appreciated that the occurrence of evolution was supported by such an overwhelming amount of evidence that it could no longer be called a theory. Indeed, since it was as well supported by facts as was heliocentricity, evolution also had to be considered a fact, like heliocentricity. …
Evolution is a historical process that cannot be proven by the same arguments and methods by which purely physical or functional phenomena can be documented. Evolution as a whole, and the explanation of particularly evolutionary events, must be inferred from observations. Such inferences subsequently must be tested again and again against new observations, and the original inference is either falsified or considered strengthened when confirmed by all of those tests. However, most inferences made by evolutionists have by now been tested successfully so often that they are accepted as certainties.
Mayr also concludes:
It is very questionable whether the term “evolutionary theory” should be used any longer. That evolution has occurred and takes place all the time is a fact so overwhelmingly established that is has become irrational to call it a theory. …
Evolution is not merely an idea, a theory, or a concept, but is the name of a process in nature, the occurrence of which can be documented by mountains of evidence that nobody has been able to refute. Some of this evidence was summarized in Chapters 1-3. It is now actually misleading to refer to evolution as a theory, considering the massive evidence that has been discovered over the last 140 years documenting its existence. Evolution is no longer a theory, it is simply a fact.
And in his book Why Evolution is True, evolutionist Jerry Coyne writes:
Now, when we say that “evolution is true,” what we mean is that the major tenets of Darwinism have been verified. Organisms evolved, they did so gradually, lineages split into different species from common ancestors, and natural selection is the major engine of adaptation. No serious biologist doubts these propositions.
These are representative quotes of the evolutionist’s consensus position. It would be difficult to find more obvious examples of misrepresentations of science.
Posted by Cornelius Hunter at Thursday, May 03, 2012
Labels: Evolution's religion, Fallacies
bornagain77 May 3, 2012 at 10:44 AM
A fact of science with no substantiating evidence???:
Louis Savain May 3, 2012 at 10:55 AM
There is only one way to silence evolutionists and that is to falsify common descent. IDers must show conclusive evidence that organisms in distant branches of the tree of life share identical genes (or huge sections thereof) that could not have been inherited via common descent. The discovery of horizontal genes (or sections thereof) would obliterate Darwinian evolution once and for all and revolutionize biology.
As a Christian, I am 100% certain that it can be done. And it can only be done via computational biology. That's your area of expertise, isn't it, Cornelius?
oleg May 3, 2012 at 11:01 AM
Don't hold your breath, Louis. When creationists start publishing their own "research," hilarity ensues. Hunter is too well aware of that, so he will continue to poo-poo evolution, thank you very much.
Louis Savain May 3, 2012 at 12:13 PM
Cornelius Hunter and the folks at the Discovery Institute are not the only Christians or creationists in the world. I, too, am a Christian and I am not exactly sitting on my butt. And there are many others like me. Contrary to what you've been led to believe, atheists and evolutionists do not have a monopoly on science. Christians, too, are experts in scientific fields like biology and computer science.
Besides, in the not too distant future, due to the advent of powerful cloud servers and parallel computers, computer gene analysis will become very cheap and very fast. So, don't be too cocky. It will happen, whether you like it or not. I can already hear the weeping and gnashing of teeth. :-D
velikovskys May 3, 2012 at 12:28 PM
And physics won't be far behind biology when the ax falls,be afraid,be very afraid ,Oleg.Your days are numbered. I,for one,welcome our new creationist overlords. Wielders of powerful cloud servers and masters of the parallel computers.
No offense,Louis,but I couldn't resist. Faulty design,no doubt.
mynym May 3, 2012 at 12:38 PM
IDers must show conclusive evidence that organisms in distant branches of the tree of life share identical genes (or huge sections thereof) that could not have been inherited via common descent.
More evidence of convergent evolution, did you forget?
That's the only conclusion allowed by the rules of the game. But good luck anyway...
The discovery of horizontal genes (or sections thereof) would obliterate Darwinian evolution...
Not necessarily... after all, when Darwinian memes emerged from the babble of the occult they didn't need evidence in the first place. Generally all those involved in secret societies needed was the work of a cabal to establish a sort of cartel of knowledge to control the rules of the game. Their "by the numbers" game is rigged.
It's true though, as new technology comes about which decentralizes information the old ways don't work.
But for now it seems that we must hear the plaintive cries of "How could there ever be a conspiracy?" among those who work with the "out of chaos, order" creation myths given to them by the illuminated.
Louis Savain May 3, 2012 at 3:04 PM
And physics won't be far behind biology when the ax falls,be afraid,be very afraid ,Oleg.Your days are numbered.
Funny. You are much more prescient than you think. But it could be the other way around. The revolution may start in physics before jumping to biology. Or it could be concurrent. One never knows. :-D
Sure, evidence for the choir, i.e., the usual bozos. But not everybody sings in the choir.
Not necessarily... after all, when Darwinian memes emerged from the babble of the occult they didn't need evidence in the first place.
'Occult' simply means hidden from view or hidden from public scrutiny or understanding. Even the Bible deals with the occult. The entire book of Revelation and various books of the old testament are occult books. If someone tells you they understand the meaning of the book of Revelation, you can be sure, he/she is lying. Revelation is a book of powerful hidden scientific knowledge. Whoever decodes it will be in a position to yield awesome power.
Louis, I think you're right, but a major problem for evolutionists is that they have no objective measurement of when to call it quits for calling far fetched similarities "convergence". We could find miniture microscopic elephants in a pond with the same set of genes as the large land elephants and at best it would present a "challenge" to the theory of evolution... not the fact. Who knows, maybe a new generation will take pride in exposing the greatest scientific fraud of all time. Most evolutionists educated in the 20th century won't let go of arguments that are past their expiration date, but who knows.
The folks at biologic institute are doing some very good research...
http://www.biologicinstitute.org/
mika April 1, 2014 at 11:31 AM
Yep.evolutionists never try to consider or embrace new theories which hold merit.evolution is absolutely inadequate in some areas and yet they still bang the ancient Darwinian drum.theistic evolutionists confuse the issues and the true message of the Bible.
Scott May 3, 2012 at 11:49 AM
Again, you seem to be suggesting that science is somehow held hostage by any and all rival interpretations, including those that are religious in nature.
However, never speak of the existence of dinosaurs, millions of years ago, as an interoperation of our best theories of fossils. Rather, we say that dinosaurs are the explanation for fossils. Nor is the theory primarily about fossils, but about dinosaurs, in that they are assumed to actually exist as part of the explanation.
And we do so despite the fact that there are an infinite number of rival interpretations of the same data that make all the same predictions, yet say the dinosaurs were not there, millions of years ago, in reality.
For example, there is the rival interpretation that fossils only come into existence when they are consciously observed. Therefore, fossils are no older than human beings. As such, they are not evidence of dinosaurs, but evidence of acts of those particular observations.
Another interpretation would be that dinosaurs are such weird animals that conventional logic simply doesn't apply to them.
One could suggests It's meaningless to ask if dinosaurs were real or just a useful fiction to explain fossils. (Which is an example of instrumentalism as found in the Copenhagen interpretation of Quantum Mechanics.)
None of these other interpretations are empirically distinguishable from the rational theory of dinosaurs, in that their existence explains fossils. But we discard them because they all represent a general purpose means to deny absolutely anything.
You, and others here, selectively appeal to these same sort of generalizations on a regular basis.
Since you often close your posts with the phrase "religion drives science, and it matters." is it safe to assume you are claming this is a fact?
If so, what about the infinite number of rival interpretations that accept the same evidence, but imply that religion has nothing to do with evolutionary theory, let alone science as a whole?
For example, there is the rival interpretation of quantum mechanics that indicates material things such as books, papers and documentation regarding scientific theories only come into existence when they are consciously observed. Therefore the contents of books, papers and documentation regarding scientific theories are no older than the human beings that first observed them. As such, they are not evidence that anyone actually developed these theories based on some sort of prior influence, but are merely evidence the acts of those particular observations.
There is the rival interpretation that human consciousness is so unique that conventional logic simply doesn't apply to it. As such, the logic that a majority of human scientists could be falsely influenced by the religious ideas of others simply does not apply. Note: This is the same sort of rival interpretation that claims human will is so unique that it's immune to determinism.
And there's the interpretation that suggests It's meaningless to ask if Darwin, or anyone that supposedly influenced him with "evolutionary thought", was real or just a useful fiction to explain the acceptance of evolutionary theory in science. This is similar to the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, in that the wave theory is not thought to actually represent reality, sometimes known as : "Shut up an calculate."
And let's not forget the rival interpretation that some designer created the world we observe 30 days ago. As such, all of the scientific discoveries before then, including those attributed to Darwin, weren't authored by human beings, but authored by this designer when he created the world we observe 30 days ago.
In other words, given the existence of an infinite number of rival interpretations that accept the same evidence, yet suggest something completely different happened in reality, one could deny just about anything, including your own claims about evolutionary theory.
Scott May 3, 2012 at 1:33 PM
Scott: And we do so despite the fact that there are an infinite number of rival interpretations of the same data that make all the same predictions, yet say the dinosaurs were not there, millions of years ago, in reality.
Almost forgot: there is the interpretation that some abstract designer with no defined limitations chose to create the world we observe 30 days ago. As such, dinosaurs coudlnt be the explanation for fossils because they never existed millions of years ago. Rather the explanation for fossils would be the designer that created the world we observe 30 minutes ago.
In other words, a claim that dinosaurs are *the* explanation for fossils must exclude a designer that chooses to create the world we observe 30 minutes ago.
What about this rival interpretation?
Robert Byers May 3, 2012 at 10:51 PM
Excekllent thread here.
If evolution was a fact and a fact thats surely a fact then why do evolutionists not prove evolution and confound the great opposition by presenting the facts and not just thats it a fact.
its as if they really are uncomfortable with making a case.
So they assure you they are convinced and so should you be.
What other subjects in human knowledge (called science) need to invoke to audiences that their conclusions are settled truth??
Whats the problem with origin subjects?
Why is not obvious to the public or with YEC/ID thinkers that evolution etc etc is well established by the evidence?
This is because the evidence, upon relection, is not very good relative to the enormity of the claims.
They havn't proven anything after all.
If evolution is wrong then it couldn't possibly have worthy evidence behind it.!!!
Therefore creationists don't need to prove evolution wrong but first prove it has no scientific evidence behind it.
Its conclusions are not from good scientific investigation but from something else that mimics it.
Scio-mimicry
Enézio E. de Almeida Filho May 4, 2012 at 6:35 AM
Now in Portuguese, in a blog that has almost 500.000 visitors worldwide:
http://pos-darwinista.blogspot.com.br/2012/05/voce-nem-vai-acreditar-no-que-acreditam.html
Eugen May 4, 2012 at 8:29 AM
Enezio
May the fourth be with you!
velikovskys May 4, 2012 at 10:56 AM
Eugen May 4, 2012 at 11:39 AM
Since Ritchie gave YOU post of the week award on another thread, I need to crank it up.
velikovskys May 4, 2012 at 5:28 PM
It is a tie.
Sam Peters October 27, 2015 at 8:12 PM
It has been my experience that any proposition that has it's origins in England should be discarded out of hand. Darwin thought himself a fraud throughout his life.
De Ha January 7, 2016 at 6:36 PM
"Evolutionists believe their idea is fact..."
Yeah yeah yeah blah blah blah get to the point.
"Something came from nothing"
You idiot! You're getting TWO unrelated fields of Science completely wrong! That's almost impressively stupid. That's not just asking "where is the any key" stupid, that's looking at the back of the computer for the "any " key stupid.
"Arose spontaneously"
That's not only not evolution, that's the exact opposite of the word "Evolution" in the general sense that people say cars evolved and stuff. Even the dumbest creationist in the world knows evolution is about things slowly improving over time. Well, except you. You don't seem to know that.
"Blackballed"
You know, the only group of people I have less respect for than creationists is conspiracy theorists.
Mark Jordan December 22, 2016 at 1:35 PM
Quoting as you did from Ernest Mayr and, in fact, using part of the quote you used:
"Evolution as a whole, and the explanation of particularly evolutionary events, must be inferred from observations. Such inferences subsequently must be tested again and again against new observations, and the original inference is either falsified or considered strengthened when confirmed by all of those tests. However, most inferences made by evolutionists have by now been tested successfully so often that they are accepted as certainties."
This is not a dogmatic assertion that evolution is a fact and, in fact, any scientist who yields to dogmatism is not doing science.
The quote is pretty much a description of the scientific method applied to evolution and the one thing about the scientific method is that nothing is taken on faith or just because it's the consensus, it's tested over and over again. All scientific theories are, in principle, provisional, but if a vast mass of data is tested and fails to come even remotely close to falsifying the theory, to all intents and purposes it becomes a fact as the chances that it is wrong are astonishingly small. That is not to say that thdere is not still a great deal to learn and there's certainly room for lots of disagreement, but not over the central thesis which has absolutely withstood every test.
Thomas Askew July 25, 2017 at 6:37 AM
Evolution is a proven fact. Proof is by cogency: if an argument is accepted, that is the proof. The scientific community accepts evolution. Attacks on it, primarily by fundamentalists, stunt the intellectual growth of the entire world.
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NARRATIVE OF LOUIS ASA-ASA, -- A CAPTURED AFRICAN.
NARRATIVE OF LOUIS ASA-ASA,
A CAPTURED AFRICAN.
The following interesting narrative is a convenient supplement to the history of Mary Prince. It is given like hers, as nearly as possible in the narrator's words, with only so much correction as was necessary to connect the story, and render it grammatical. The concluding passage in inverted commas, is entirely his own.
While Mary's narrative shews the disgusting character of colonial slavery, this little tale explains with equal force the horrors in which it originates.
It is necessary to explain that Louis came to this country about five years ago, in a French vessel called the Pearl. She had lost her reckoning, and was driven by stress of weather into the port of St. Ives, in Cornwall. Louis and his four companions were brought to London upon a writ of Habeas Corpus at the instance of Mr. George Stephen; and, after some trifling opposition on the part of the master of the vessel, were discharged by Lord Wynford. Two of his unfortunate fellow-sufferers died of the measles at Hampstead; the other two returned to Sierra Leone; but poor Louis, when offered the choice of going back to Africa, replied, "Me no father, no mother now; me stay with you." And here he has ever since remained; conducting himself in a way to gain the good will and respect of all who know him. He is remarkably intelligent, understands our language perfectly, and can read and write well. The last sentences of the following narrative will seem almost too peculiar to be his own; but it is not the first time that in conversation with Mr. George Stephen, he has made similar remarks. On one occasion in particular, he was heard saying to himself in the kitchen, while sitting by the fire apparently in deep thought, "Me think,--me think--" A fellow-servant inquired what he meant; and he added, "Me think what a good thing I came to England! Here, I know what "God is, and read my Bible; in my country they have no God, no "Bible."
How severe and just a reproof to the guilty wretches who visit his country only with fire and sword! How deserved a censure upon the not less guilty men, who dare to vindicate the state of slavery, on the
lying pretext, that its victims are of an inferior nature! And scarcely less deserving of reprobation are those who have it in their power to prevent these crimes, but who remain inactive from indifference, or are dissuaded from throwing the shield of British power over the victim of oppression, by the sophistry, and the clamour, and the avarice of the oppressor. It is the reproach and the sin of England. May God avert from our country the ruin which this national guilt deserves!
We lament to add, that the Pearl which brought these negroes to our shore, was restored to its owners at the instance of the French Government, instead of being condemned as a prize to Lieut. Rye, who, on his own responsibility, detained her, with all her manacles and chains and other detestable proofs of her piratical occupation on board. We trust it is not yet too late to demand investigation into the reasons for restoring her.
The Negro Boy's Narrative.
My father's name was Clashoquin; mine is Asa-Asa. He lived in a country called Bycla, near Egie, a large town. Egie is as large as Brighton; it was some way from the sea. I had five brothers and sisters. We all lived together with my father and mother; he kept a horse, and was respectable, but not one of the great men. My uncle was one of the great men at Egie: he could make men come and work for him: his name was Otou. He had a great deal of land and cattle. My father sometimes worked on his own land, and used to make charcoal. I was too little to work; my eldest brother used to work on the land; and we were all very happy.
A great many people, whom we called Adinyes, set fire to Egie in the morning before daybreak; there were some thousands of them. They killed a great many, and burnt all their houses. They staid two days, and then carried away all the people whom they did not kill.
They came again every now and then for a month, as long as they could find people to carry away. They used to tie them by the feet, except when they were taking them off, and then they let them loose; but if they offered to run away, they would shoot them. I lost a great many friends and relations at Egie; about a dozen. They sold all they carried away, to be slaves. I know this because I afterwards saw them as slaves on the other side of the sea. They took away brothers, and sisters, and husbands, and wives; they did not care about this. They were sold for cloth or gunpowder, sometimes for salt or guns; sometimes they got four or five guns for a man: they were English guns, made like my master's that I clean for his shooting. The Adiny�s burnt a great many places besides Egie. They burnt all the country wherever they found villages; they used to shoot men, women, and children, if they ran away.
They came to us about eleven o'clock one day, and directly they came they set our house on fire. All of us had run away. We kept together, and went into the woods, and stopped there two days. The Adiny�s then went away, and we returned home and found every thing burnt. We tried to build a little shed, and were beginning to get comfortable
again. We found several of our neighbours lying about wounded; they had been shot. I saw the bodies of four or five little children whom they had killed with blows on the head. They had carried away their fathers and mothers, but the children were too small for slaves, so they killed them. They had killed several others, but these were all that I saw. I saw them lying in the street like dead dogs.
In about a week after we got back, the Adiny�s returned, and burnt all the sheds and houses they had left standing. We all ran away again; we went to the woods as we had done before.--They followed us the next day. We went farther into the woods, and staid there about four days and nights; we were half starved; we only got a few potatoes. My uncle Otou was with us. At the end of this time, the Adiny�s found us. We ran away. They called my uncle to go to them; but he refused, and they shot him immediately: they killed him. The rest of us ran on, and they did not get at us till the next day. I ran up into a tree: they followed me and brought me down. They tied my feet. I do not know if they found my father and mother, and brothers and sisters: they had run faster than me, and were half a mile farther when I got up into the tree: I have never seen them since.--There was a man who ran up into the tree with me: I believe they shot him, for I never saw him again.
They carried away about twenty besides me. They carried us to the sea. They did not beat us: they only killed one man, who was very ill and too weak to carry his load: they made all of us carry chickens and meat for our food; but this poor man could not carry his load, and they ran him through the body with a sword.--He was a neighbour of ours. When we got to the sea they sold all of us, but not to the same person. They sold us for money; and I was sold six times over, sometimes for money, sometimes for cloth, and sometimes for a gun. I was about thirteen years old. It was about half a year from the time I was taken, before I saw the white people.
We were taken in a boat from place to place, and sold at every place we stopped at. In about six months we got to a ship, in which we first saw white people: they were French. They bought us. We found here a great many other slaves; there were about eighty, including women and children. The Frenchmen sent away all but five of us into another very large ship. We five staid on board till we got to England, which was about five or six months. The slaves we saw on board the ship were chained together by the legs below deck, so close they could not move. They were flogged very cruelly: I saw one of them flogged till he died; we could not tell what for. They gave them enough to eat. The place they were confined in below deck was so hot and nasty I could not bear to be in it. A great many of the slaves were ill, but they were not attended to. They used to flog me very bad on board the ship: the captain cut my head very bad one time.
"I am very happy to be in England, as far as I am very well;--but "I have no friend belonging to me, but God, who will take care of me "as he has done already. I am very glad I have come to England, to "know who God is. I should like much to see my friends again, but "I do not now wish to go back to them: for if I go back to my own
"country, I might be taken as a slave again. I would rather stay here, "where I am free, than go back to my country to be sold. I shall stay "in England as long as (please God) I shall live. I wish the King of "England could know all I have told you. I wish it that he may see "how cruelly we are used. We had no king in our country, or he "would have stopt it. I think the king of England might stop it, and "this is why I wish him to know it all. I have heard say he is good; "and if he is, he will stop it if he can. I am well off myself, for I am "well taken care of, and have good bed and good clothes; but I wish "my own people to be as comfortable."
"LOUIS ASA-ASA."
" London, January 31, 1831."
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Guide to the Research Collections
APPENDIXES -- PUBLISHED CATALOGS OF THE RESEARCH LIBRARIES' COLLECTIONS
PUBLISHED CATALOGS OF THE RESEARCH LIBRARIES' COLLECTIONS
An impressive number of the catalogs for the various collections found in the New York Public Library's Research Libraries have been produced in book form either by the library or in cooperation with other publishers. The divisions, collections, or subject areas represented are: American History Division; Arents Collection of Books Relating to Tobacco; Arents Collection of Books in Parts; Berg Collection of English and American Literature; Government Publications; Jewish Division; Manuscripts and Archives Division; Map Division; Music Division; Oriental Division; Rare Book Division; Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; Slavonic Division; Spencer Collection of Illustrated Books and Manuscripts and Fine Bindings; Theatre: Drama Collection, and Books on the Theatre; World War I Collection; and, more recently represented, the Dance Collection and the Local History and Genealogy Division. Only the following major subject areas are left uncovered: art and architecture, economic and public affairs, science and technology, prints, nonbook-form material in the Theatre Collection, phonorecords, and other audiovisual materials. All but the last four of these categories will, however, be included in the projected "Dictionary Catalog ... 1911-1971."
GENERAL CATALOGS
Dictionary Catalog of the Research Libraries, 1911-1971 (projected)
This will be a photographic reproduction of the approximately 11,000,000 entries under author, title, and subject in the main Public Catalog of the Research Libraries, which was established in 1911 with the opening of the Central Building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street and located in Room 315. Incorporated into the catalog at that time were entries representing the holdings of two predecessor libraries, the Astor Library (founded in 1848) and the Lenox Library (established in 1870). Excluded from this catalog are entries for books in non-Roman alphabets (Cyrillic, Oriental, Hebrew); entries for some special collections (such as Arents Collections and the Berg Collection); and some nonbook-form materials (such as manuscripts, maps, phonorecords, prints, and the like). When issued, this will be the only dictionary catalog (authors, titles, subjects) of a major research collection ever published. It will contain, moreover, many references to periodical articles.
Dictionary Catalog of the Research Libraries, 1971-
This catalog (New York: The New York Public Library) is a cumulative list of authors, titles, and subjects representing books and book-like materials (including microforms and music scores) added to the collections since January 1, 1971. The first official issue of the catalog (January 1972) includes a selection of materials added to the collections during 1971. Some materials cataloged in 1971 were added to the Public Catalog only; other materials cataloged in 1971 appear in both the Public Catalog and the Dictionary Catalog; still others appear in the Dictionary Catalog only. Therefore, readers should consult the Public Catalog for titles published before 1972 that are not found in the Dictionary Catalog. The first issue of the Dictionary Catalog was followed by various cumulations and supplements which were superseded by a basic set cumulating all previous issues: there are bimonthly supplements to the basic set, and each segment of the basic set is cumulated on a rotation basis. The underlying principle of the cumulation cycle is to prevent the necessity of searching for an item in more than two sources--a cumulated basic volume and the more recent cumulative supplement.
New acquisitions in certain areas excluded from the Public Catalog are being or will be covered by the Dictionary Catalog. New materials from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (newly designated a part of the Research Libraries) have been covered since October 1972, and Cyrillic materials (with the entries in Romanized forms) have been covered since January 1973. From mid-1973 new book acquisitions of the Arents, Berg, and Spencer Collections have been cataloged in the Dictionary Catalog, and from January 1974 data for nonbook materials (e.g., sheet maps, motion pictures, and phonorecords) have been included on a selective basis, coverage to be systematically expanded. Since 1974, Hebrew works have been cataloged according to the ANSI Z39 Committee's computer-compatible transcription. See the introduction to the latest volume of the catalog for information on new cataloging policies. Oriental works will be covered in the future, along with manuscripts and prints at a later point.
DIVISION, COLLECTION, AND SUBJECT CATALOGS
Except where noted, the following catalogs published in book form were produced by G.K.
-------------------------------------------- page 304
Hall & Company of Boston; these are arranged alphabetically by the name of the division, collection, or subject area:
The Arents Collection of Books in Parts and Associated Literature: A Complete Checklist, by Sarah Augusta Dickson (The New York Public Library, 1957); A Supplement ... 1957-1963, by Perry O'Neil (The New York Public Library, 1964).
Tobacco, Its History; Illustrated by the Books, Manuscripts, and Engravings in the Library of George Arents, Jr. (New York: The Rosenbach Company, 1937-43; 1952 [index]), 5 vols.
Tobacco; A Catalogue of the Books, Manuscripts and Engravings Acquired Since 1942 in the Arents Tobacco Collection at The New York Public Library (The New York Public Library, 1958); Parts I-VII (1507-1672) by Sarah A. Dickson and VIII-X (1673-1724) by Perry Hugh O'Neil have been published to date.
Dictionary Catalog of the History of the Americas Collection (1961), 28 vols.; Supplement (1964), 9 vols.
Dictionary Catalog of the Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature (1969), 5 vols.; Supplement (1975), 1 vol.
Dictionary Catalog of the Dance Collection of the Research Libraries (The New York Public Library and G.K. Hall & Co., 1974), 10 vols.
Catalog of Government Publications in the Research Libraries (1972), 40 vols.
Catalog of Hebrew and Yiddish Titles of the Jewish Collection (1960), 3 vols.
Dictionary Catalog of the Jewish Collèction (1960), 14 vols.; Supplement (1975), 8 vols.
Dictionary Catalog of the Local History and Genealogy Division (1974), 18 vols.
Dictionary Catalog of the Manuscript Division (1967), 2 vols.
Dictionary Catalog of the Map Division (1971), 10 vols.
Dictionary Catalog of the Music Collection (1964), 33 vols.; Supplement 1 (1966), 1 volume superseded by a final Supplement (1973), cumulating material cataloged in the 1966 supplement with new materials acquired through 1971.
Dictionary Catalog of the Oriental Collection (1960), 16 vols.
Dictionary Catalog of the Rare Book Division (1971), 21 vols.; Supplement (1973), 1 vol.
Dictionary Catalog of the Schomburg Collection of Negro Literature and History (1962), 9 vols.; First Supplement (1967), 2 vols., Second Supplement (1972), 4 vols.
Dictionary Catalog of the Slavonic Collection, 2d ed. (1974), 44 vols.
Dictionary Catalog and Shelf List of the Spencer Collection of Illustrated Books and Manuscripts and Fine Bindings (1970), 2 vols.
Catalog of the Theatre and Drama Collections (1967), 21 vols.: Part I. Drama Collection: Listing by Cultural Origin, 6 vols.; Drama Collection: Author Listing, 6 vols.; Part II. Theatre Collection: Books on the Theatre, 9 vols.; Supplement (1973), 3 vols.
United States Local History Catalog (1974), 2 vols.
Subject Catalog of the World War I Collection (1961), 4 vols.
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Tours to Ukraine
Ukrainian Pianist Wins Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Vadym Khodolenko, 26, became the winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, which took place in Fort Worth, Texas. Young pianist, who shares
residence between Kiev and Moscow was awarded the USD 50,000 prize for best chamber music performance and best performance of a new piece. The second and third prizes were awarded to 20-year-old pianist from Italy Beatrice Rani and to Shean Chen, 24, from the Unites States respectively. The other three finalists were Fei-Fei Dong, 22, from China, Nikita Mndoyants, 24, from Russia and Tomoko Sakata, 19, from Japan.
In addition to the prize money the winner of the competition received three seasons of management and concert bookings throughout the U.S. and the possibility to produce studio and concert recordings by the American branch of the independent music record label Harmonia Mundi. The second and third prize winners received USD 20,000 each, while the three finalists were entitled to USD 10,000 each.
The competition lasted for 17 days featuring over 30 pianists from Australia, Chile, China, France, Italy, Japan, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, UK, Ukraine, and the United States. The piano competition takes its roots from Fort Worth (Texas) when it was first launched by Harvey Lavan "Van" Cliburn, Jr. back in 1962. He was an American pianist who became famous in 1958 after winning his first quadrennial International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow during the times of the Cold War, wrote the Wall Street Journal. He extensively toured in the United States and overseas playing for royalty, heads of state, and every U.S. president from Harry S. Truman to Barack Obama, reads the article in online encyclopedia.
The great pianist died on February 27, 2013, at the age of 78 after suffering from bone cancer. This year the event was held for the first time without its founder and was dedicated to his memory. (c) WNU-Ukraine
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Financial Morning News 15/04/2014 15 April 2014
The General Index in Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) closed at 1,207.82 posting heavy losses of 3.44%, in a turnover of €149.26mn.
The general government deficit reached €23.1bn or 12.7% of GDP in 2013. The general government debt at a nominal value amounted to €318.7bn or 175.1% of GDP (ELSTAT).
The Deputy Finance Minister Mr. Christos Staikouras said that the central government posted a primary budget surplus, before interest payments, of €1.6bn in the first quarter, widening by more than three times from the same period last year. The reading was also far above an interim €878mn surplus target for January to March.
Greek Banks: ECB funding to Greek banks fell further in March to €57.81bn from €59.42bn in the previous month, while emergency liquidity assistance from the Bank of Greece (ELA) dropped to €2.88bn from €8.57bn over the same period.
Eurobank Properties: The General meeting approved the distribution of a dividend of €0.18 per share.
NBG: The BoD may convene today to announce the EGM (reported date is May 9-10) for a share capital increase of around €2.5 bn. The bank is expected to submit to BoG today its capital plan targeting to cover the €2.183bn capital requirement.
FTSE 25 April future:
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1st University of Islamic Denominations Magazine to be Released in October
The first edition of University of Islamic Denominations’ magazine will be released in October 2019, announced the university’s head of Public Relations.
According to an ISCA report, this magazine, which is called The Journal of Islamic Ummah Studies, will be published in an English version in October, 2019.
Ghaffar Mehrdoust explained that the magazine will be in a form of 2 quarterlies with a focus on Diplomacy Studies Unity of the Ummah, Future of the Ummah Research, Ummah and Media, Women and Family Issues in Political, Cultural, Legal, Security, and Governmental Areas, and Problems in the Islamic world.
University of Islamic Denominations The Journal of Islamic Ummah Studies magazine
IAU to Run IT & Mechatronic City
Establishing IAU Branches Can Further Academic Development
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Industries > Consumer Products and Services
Hainan Airlines to launch direct flights to Israel
Hainan Airlines will begin direct flights between Beijing and Tel Aviv in Israel on April 28 next year, the airline announced Tuesday.
New flight to link Chengdu, Paris
Air China will begin direct flights between Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, and Paris on Dec. 12.
Total output value of China's animation industry exceeds RMB100 bln
Chinese animation industry's total output value exceeds 100 billion yuan by the end of 2014.
60 pct of high-emission vehicles removed from China's roads
From January to August, China removed 696,500 high-emission vehicles from roads nationwide, accounting for 60 percent of China's high-emission cars.
China's microcomputer output falls 13.5 pct on yr in Jan.-Aug.
China's electronics and IT manufacturing industry produced 189.19 million units of microcomputers in the first eight months of 2015.
China's color TV output grows 4.5 pct on yr in Jan.-Aug.,to 98.02 mln units
China's electronics and IT manufacturing industry produced 98.02 million units of color TV sets in the first eight of 2015.
China's mobile phone output drops 1.3 pct on yr in Jan.-Aug.
China's electronics and IT manufacturing enterprises produced 1,046.54 million units of mobile phones in the first eight months of 2015.
Shenzhen to subsidize NEV buyer with maximum 500,000 yuan
Shenzhen will subsidize the citizen who buys a new energy vehicle.
China to speed up construction of charging facilities
Construction of charging facilities is a key to development of the new energy vehicles.
Air China to launch direct flights between Beijing and Montreal
Air China will begin direct flights between Beijing and Canada's Montreal on Sept. 29 this year, the airline announced on Monday.
China's stationery goods manufacturing revenue up 8.7% on yr in Jan.-Jul.
China's stationery goods manufacturing generated 53.24 billion yuan of main operating revenue in the first seven months of 2015.
China's sport goods manufacturing revenue up 7.6 pct on yr in Jan.-Jul.
China's sport goods manufacturing generated 74.84 billion yuan of main operating revenue in the first seven months of 2015.
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ZTE obtains 25 commercial contracts in 5G globally
New Zealand ranks world's second most peaceful country: report
Spotlight: U.S. energy sector to suffer amid trade disputes
Tariffs on cell phones, computers harm U.S. consumers: report
Tariffs to harm U.S. semiconductor sector: testimony
China strongly opposes using rare earth resources against its development
World's population to reach 9.7 bln in 2050: UN Report
China raises anti-dumping duties on alloy-steel pipes from U.S., EU
To Sort Anbang’s Assets, Chinese Authorities Create Dajia
UBS: The globe is headed for a recession if U.S-China trade talks fails
Is There a Big Short in Bitcoin?
China’s Risky Move To Boost Domestic Oil Production
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Exiled Iranian cartoonist fights Islamists with drawings
Iranian dissident cartoonist Mana Neyestani says drawing has been his salvation and a weapon to combat his own personal demons as well as Tehran's hardline Islamist regime
AFP, Sunday 12 Feb 2012
Neyestani's autobiographical comic book "An Iranian Metamorphosis," a Kafkaesque story recounting his jailing in Iran over a cartoon depicting a cockroach that sparked riots in 2006, is due to hit stores on February 16.
"With this book, I wanted to share my experiences but also to forget my worst nightmares, when I was arrested in 2006," said Neyestani, who has been in exile for the past five years and last month applied for political asylum in France.
"I protest against the regime with my drawings."
"An Iranian Metamorphosis", the latest graphic novel by the Tehran-born 38-year-old, will be published in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and there are also negotiations for its publication in the United States.
"I always loved to draw, since my childhood," the award-winning illustrator told AFP at the world's biggest cartoon strip and comics festival in Angouleme in western France last month.
Neyestani was jailed in Tehran's notorious Evin prison in 2006 over a cartoon published in the children's section of the governmental Iran newspaper which showed a boy repeating the Farsi word for cockroach in different ways -- while a cockroach in front of him asked "What?" in Azeri.
The cartoon triggered riots between Iran's large Azeri minority -- people of Turkish origin living mainly in the north of the country -- and the majority ethnic Persian population.
Neyestani, who is not Azeri, says he was picked up and flung into solitary confinement in Evin along with the newspaper's editor, accused of sparking tensions between Iranian communities and threatening state security.
Amnesty International said in a report in 2007 that 19 people were reported killed in the unrest and hundreds arrested.
"Every day they told me 'Look, You killed this or that number of demonstrators.' It was a moral torture," Neyestani said of his time behind bars.
"I've never been physically tortured, but political prisoners are tortured since 2009," he said, in reference to those jailed since the massive protests against the controversial June 2009 re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
After three months in jail, Neyestani says he managed to secure a temporary release and decided to flee his homeland.
"With my wife, we bought tickets for a three-day trip to Dubai," he said, adding that the couple were on tenterhooks while leaving, praying that the authorities would not latch on to their plan to skip the country.
But the "Emirates didn't support me," he said.
"So a very long trip began, taking him to Turkey, China and then to Malaysia, where he lived from 2007, doing illustrations for dissident Iranian websites, until his move to the French capital a year ago.
His move was sponsored by the International Cities of Refuge Network, which offers "persecuted writers a safe haven where they can live and work without fear of being censored or silenced", according to its website.
Neyestani, an architect by training, began working as a cartoonist and illustrator in 1990 for a variety of magazines in Iran and with the rise of reformist newspapers in Iran he became a political cartoonist.
He published his first book in 2000 but was then confined to working for children's magazines as his work was deemed to be overtly political. He has won numerous Iranian and international awards.
France is also home to the Iranian-born Marjane Satrapi, who directed the film version of her autobiographical work "Persepolis" that tells the story of the Iranian revolution and the Islamic regime of Ayotollah Ruhollah Khomeini through the eyes of a precocious young girl.
The French edition of Neyestani's book defiantly features cockroaches on both the front and back covers and is a theme throughout the work.
"My next book will focus on 2009 protests. I will not appear in it. I'm not a big fan of autobiographical books," he said.
Neyestani's mother and one of his two brothers still live in Iran. "So far my family in Tehran has not been harassed by the authorities but the Iranian regime is unpredictable. Anything could happen."
As for an eventual return to his homeland, he said: "I could go back to Iran... but it will end by me being thrown in jail."
Mana Neyestani
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Monday, May 04, 2009 0
New TV Show by Zennie62's On BART and Oscar Grant
On Saturday, May 2nd, my new television show starts. It's called "The Blog Report With Zennie62" and features the use of my video blogs in a weekly 30-minute format broadcast and co-produced by CoLoursTV in Denver. The start time is 3:30 PM Pacific Time, 6:30 PM Eastern Time and the show is replayed at 11:30 PM and 2:30 PM respecfully.
If you don't have a TV you can see the live stream at CoLoursTV.org. or Zennie62.com
The first show focused on selected events that occured after the shooting of Oscar Grant by BART Officer Johannes Mesherle on New Year's Day. It opens with my walk through a riot-ravaged downtown Oakland where I talked with many people about what happened, including a group of kids who were some of the rioters. Then we focus on the words of "DaveyD", America's foremost hiphop reporter and voice of the street, who shares his observations of how Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums handled the situation. And finally we hear from Dellums himself. This is not the last time I will visit this issue, but it's a good place to start the show.
The standard format is to present politics, news, sports, and tech in some combination for each show. Sometimes it's me talking about an issue; other times it's me talking to someone else, and with this show we will feature the work of other video-bloggers. It's a vloggers' playground.
The show will have a deliberate vlogger feel. Videos that you see on my channels at YouTube, Blip.tv, and other places make up the show. There's no studio; the camcorder is the star instrument. That means we can go anywhere at anytime and quickly make a video. It also means I can share what's happening in the news on the blogsphere in video form and show it on "The Blog Report". A lot of ground we can cover considering I never dreamed of having my own television show, but this whole road I've taken has been totally unplanned by me.
"The Blog Report" all started last year when I met Art Thomas who's the Executive Vice President with CoLoursTV at a media walk-through for the Democratic National Convention in Denver. He lived in Oakland before moving to Denver and so we had a lot to talk about. I was looking for a sponsor for our show at the time, so I sent a proposal to Thomas. That exchange turned into an idea for placing our videos on CoLoursTV and that became the concept called "The Blog Report With Zennie62".
Our first concern was how to get the videos up on television without a loss of at least the quality that is seen on Blip.tv and Viddler, which have the sharpest video uploads (that written, I love YouTube and the quality's really improved over time such that it's competitive with the two, but YouTube's best system is the website design and its "viral" nature as well as The YouTube Partner program.) I think we solved that problem and I understand the TV version looks even better than what you're going to see here.
I look forward to your feedback and questions. We're seeking sponsors and there are some organizations we simply want to establish strategic partnerships with, so please contact me. The possibilities for this are many and should serve as an example for a possble future for newspapers as well.
If you're a video-blogger located anywhere in the World and have material that's not longer than 4 minutes tops, notify me via email at zennie@sportsbusinesssims.com and we'll go from there. I prefer the video is already uploaded on some site, Brightcove, Blip.tv, YouTube, etc, so I can see it.
I wish to thank Art Thomas, Damon Purdy, and Tracy Winchester of CoLours TV, as well as Steve and Bernard who made me look good in the promo. I also wish to thank Google / YouTube for their support and encouragement and specifically Chad, Emily, and Hunter. A big loud shot-out to the iReport team at CNN: Lila, Henry, Rachel, David, Nicole Saldi, and the rest. And thanks to the team at CNN Special Projects, Errol and Jessica, and to Roland Martin and his staff at CNN for discovering me. Finally, thanks to the San Francisco Chronicle for seeing the value in how I do what I'm doing and providing a platform. To the National Football League and Commissioner Roger Goodell, Greg Aiello, and Frank Supovitz ("Mr. Super Bowl") And of course, thanks to my Mom and my relatives in Chicago and Tennessee.
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22/12/2015 - EFRAG's comment letters in response to the IASB Exposure Drafts on the Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting
EFRAG has submitted it comment letters on the IASB Exposure Drafts ED/2015/3 Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting and ED/2015/4 Updating References to the Conceptual Framework.
On 29 May 2015 the IASB issued the Exposure Drafts ED/2015/3 Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting ('the ED') and ED/2015/4 Updating References to the Conceptual Framework ('ED/2015/4').
On 8 July 2015 EFRAG issued a Document for Public Consultation on the ED which was updated on 8 November 2015 to reflect EFRAG's preliminary views. EFRAG has considered the comments received in response to its Document for Public Consultation and has submitted its comment letter to the IASB.
EFRAG is of the view that the ED provides solution to some current problems. It therefore represents an improvement compared with the current Conceptual Framework. Unfortunately, however, there are still many, and probably too many, areas where the ED does not provide the necessary principles that could effectively direct future standard setting. These areas include measurement and the use of OCI although the development of such guidance was one of the main objectives of the revision of the Conceptual Framework. In others, such as prudence and stewardship, EFRAG is not yet satisfied with the IASB's proposals.
In its comment letter in response to the proposals on how to update references to the Conceptual Framework, EFRAG expressed its concerns about possible unintended effects resulting from the proposed amendments - other than amendments to IAS 8 Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors - and considers that the amendments should remain editorial in nature and therefore not require any transition provision. EFRAG further questioned the feasibility and the enforceability of the amendment to IAS 8 as many different factors may have influenced the design of accounting policies, i.e. analogy to existing IFRS or other GAAP, and the exclusive link to the Conceptual Framework may be difficult to establish. It therefore recommended that the IASB perform an effects analysis before making any changes as a result of the revised Conceptual Framework. Furthermore, EFRAG could not support retrospective application without the possibility of assessing the practicality of the requirement.
Please click on the following links for EFRAG's final comment letters to the respective Exposure Drafts: ED/2015/3; and ED/2015/4.
EFRAG letter on ED/2015/3 Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting is available here.
EFRAG letter on ED/2015/4 Updating References to the Conceptual Framework is available is available here.
Related project: Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting
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Edgar Allan Poe Poetry
by Edgar Allan Poe
Resonant with themes of love, loneliness, and death, the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe continues to appeal to modern readers more than 150 years later. Spanning the breadth of Poe’s career, this collection of poetry follows the master from his early works through to poetical achievements such as “The Raven” and “Annabel Lee.” One of the best-known American writers, Edgar Allan Poe’s poetry influenced the American Romantic and French Symbolist movements in… (more)
Resonant with themes of love, loneliness, and death, the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe continues to appeal to modern readers more than 150 years later. Spanning the breadth of Poe’s career, this collection of poetry follows the master from his early works through to poetical achievements such as “The Raven” and “Annabel Lee.” One of the best-known American writers, Edgar Allan Poe’s poetry influenced the American Romantic and French Symbolist movements in the 19th century.
HarperPerennial Classics brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperPerennial Classics collection to build your digital library.
Fiction Classics
$ 1.99 For EPUB 26 loans, 1 at a time
26 loans 1 loans Unlimited 59 days
From the same author
Publisher: HarperPerennial Classics (April 17, 2012)
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An Institute of Shared Governance
Susan S. Silbey
"A university, like all other human institutions – like the church, like governments, like philanthropic organizations – is not outside, but inside the general social fabric of a given era," Abraham Flexner wrote in his classic 1930 text, Universities. Flexner continued, "It is … an expression of an age, as well as an influence operating upon both present and future." American universities developed in their present form – a unique synthesis of German and British predecessors – alongside the expansion and institutionalization of American democracy, simultaneously embedding both the openness and exclusions of the larger society. Over the last century, our universities have experienced a dramatic shift away from what during the nineteenth century had been the absolute power of presidents and trustees. We have moved toward what Jonathan Cole, sociologist and former provost of Columbia University, calls "a company of equals."
Of course, we are not all equal; notably, university presidents still command the greatest authority within the university and also garner much public notice, serving as intellectual and moral leaders for the nation. Thus, the company of equals does not describe an empirically quantifiable balance, nor even assert formally equivalent power.
The university is a company of equals through a model of shared governance in which, as MIT Corporation Chairman Bob Millard recently remarked, each of the participating authorities, working within distinct, entwined, and sometimes overlapping jurisdictions, can exercise a veto. Loosely coupled organizations, universities are also loosely governed organizations. How does this shared governance work?
A list of the meetings that your faculty officers attend, individually or as a group, is an obvious first observation about how this shared governance works: weekly meetings of the faculty officers, Academic Council, Dean's Group; bi-weekly meetings of the Faculty Policy Committee, Committee on the Undergraduate Program; a monthly meeting with the President, Provost, Chancellor, and Senior VP/Secretary of the Corporation to set the agenda for the monthly Institute faculty meeting (which few faculty – often a bare quorum of 30 – attend); and monthly department heads' lunches, random faculty dinners, and meetings of the Committee on Graduate Programs, Committee on Race and Diversity, International Advisory Committee, MITx Faculty Advisory Committee, and Enrollment Management Group. In addition, there are bi-weekly or monthly one-on-one meetings with the Provost, the President, the Chancellor, the Vice President, and the Chairman of the Corporation; quarterly meetings of the MIT Corporation, and the Corporation Joint Advisory Committee on Institute-Wide Affairs; semi-annual meetings of all faculty committee chairs and staff, and the Academic Appointments Subgroup of Academic Council; and annual meetings for new faculty orientation and new Corporation members orientation. Of course, there are also one-off meetings scheduled in response to requests to talk or desires to gather information, such as our recently initiated visits with School councils. Clearly, it is not possible for every officer to attend every meeting, as there are many conflicts. We divide the labor.
A Communication Link
Going from one meeting to another every day over these last two months, I have learned one lesson thus far about how shared governance works: I am a channel of communication, a link carrying information among various nodes in the MIT network.
Like the transport of electronic excitation from one molecule to another that initiates chemical reactions, light harvesting or other energy transfer, I inject information from one node into another, perhaps with less predictability than the exciton, but nonetheless pushing conversations to consider alternative points of view and possible directions of action – at least in our presence; what happens afterward, I have not yet learned.
Of course, none of this is driven by the laws of physics, nor is it yet automated; it is coordinated by the wizardry of Tami Kaplan, the Faculty Governance Administrator, who is herself an extraordinary repository of institutional memory as well as wise judicious guidance that shepherds the process.
What goes on in these meetings? Discussion topics range from petty annoyances of one kind or another to significant challenges to the future of the American university, some raised by students, others by members of the faculty, and some by members of the administration. Less often, a query may come from a Corporation member. During the first two months of this semester, discussions addressed some of the following topics repeatedly and some less often: new faculty orientation, freshman adjustments, parking procedures in Stata, closing of Senior House, costs of graduate education, graduate housing, computational thinking, construction plans for Kendall Square as well as the Volpe site, students' emotional well-being, the academic calendar and the week between final grades and Commencement, consensual sexual relations among adults and sexual harassment training, freedom of expression on campus, federal challenges to the research overhead rate, competitiveness of graduate student stipends, inclusion of instructional staff as respected members of the Institute, expansion of kinds of degrees such as MicroMasters, MIT's historical relationship to slavery, the progress of the MIT Campaign for a Better World, revisions to Rules and Regulations of the Faculty to eliminate repeated amending and editing, COUHES procedures (the Committee on the Use of Humans as Experimental Subjects), instituting dinners for women faculty, a year-end retreat to discuss curricular changes, overlapping jurisdictions among some committees, housing costs nearby MIT, improving external recognition and perception of SHASS, analysis of undergraduate majors, communications requirement, classroom renewal and innovative design, faculty benefits, curricular experiments and, finally, the particular as well as general aims of an MIT education.
The Limits of Shared Governance
Clearly, shared governance does not mean that everyone is involved in everything. In the division of labor, there are topics the faculty officers have not discussed and about which our advice is not normally sought, for example, the Institute budget. There are also issues in which faculty are generally happy not to be involved, for example routine housekeeping, maintenance of vehicles, perhaps negotiations with Cambridge. Just as clearly, there are matters about which the faculty are passionate and would not only expect to discuss but to demand active participation in making the decisions. For example, this Faculty Newsletter began 30 years ago, in March 1988, in response to an administrative decision to close an academic department without faculty deliberation. In comparison, 30 years earlier, the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences was formed through an extended period of committee deliberation (i.e., The Report of the Committee on Educational Survey [also known as the Lewis Commission], November 15, 1949). Around the time of the Lewis Commission and the founding of SHASS, Alfred P. Sloan made a gift to MIT to establish a business school – the Sloan School of Management – but this was done without extensive prior faculty consultation. Just recently, The Tech published faculty letters calling for a new School of Computing at MIT. This proposal apparently followed tumultuous Visiting Committee sessions in which some members of EECS wished to divide the department. The peaceful resolution appears to not have satisfied everyone. What role does the MIT faculty as a whole play in such deliberations and decisions? What are the roles of the administration and the Corporation? The students?
Too narrowly defined, shared governance ignores the division of interest and labor, insisting on collaboration of all stakeholders, at every stage of a decision. Too broadly understood, the term becomes meaningless, ranging from assertions that faculty govern and administrators implement – without any notion of who is exchanging what with whom – to the opposite extreme where the administration sends out notices informing faculty of plans, processes, and decisions discussed with no others.
At one end of a spectrum, the governance system might put a high premium on autonomy, with policies and programs designed and driven from the bottom up with the messiness and inconsistencies that come with that. At the other end of the spectrum, a governance system might value the formalism, constraint, and consistency that come with managerial initiatives, policies, and programs from the top. With its flat organizational structure and relative autonomy among the Schools, departments, labs, and centers, MIT seems to have chosen the more autonomous end of the spectrum. Yet, shared governance cannot be every boat on its own bottom, as some institutions practice. As Gary Olson wrote in The Chronicle of Higher Education some years ago, ". . . it is a delicate balance between faculty and staff participation in planning and decision-making processes on the one hand, and administrative accountability on the other."
How does MIT's particular organizational structure and culture achieve this delicate balance? How do we steer through what can often seem disordered hyperactivity? Although shared governance begins with the legal authority vested in the Corporation, it embraces the faculty, administration, and students (who across generations become alumni and may have the opportunity to join the Corporation). This model ensures, Bob Millard described in conversation with me, that all members can exercise a form of ownership. This is not the usual kind of material property; rather, this is an intangible form of ownership where each group has a vested interest in the excellence of the Institution. Thus, through shared governance, "It is run by the people who care about its long-term success, those who fund, identify, are invested in it for the long term, for long after any of us are here."
So, how does this work? Through talk, talk, and more talk. Alas, the talk rarely leads directly or immediately to decisions; the most common result of our conversations are more conversations where we speak with others to collect yet more information, to hear what the others know and can contribute to the conversation. This is what governance consists of; eventually, after lots of talk at many meetings, a decision may emerge. Emerge is the right word. We recognize emergent properties when actions, patterns, entities develop through interactions among participating entities but do not belong to any of the components alone. Of course, departments, groups, individuals – MIT components – come to faculty committees and administrative offices with proposals, such as the current discussion of a possible new GIR in computational thinking or a new School of Computing. These proposals are merely the impetus for myriad discussions, which will ultimately shape a decision and course of action (or inaction).
This tedious process is the source of many faculty members', students', and administrators' complaints that faculty governance is an obstacle to change and innovation. It is also, I would assert with Millard, the means of assuring long-term excellence, but not only because of a virtuous circle of mutual commitment, identity, and investment. Other institutions, such as museums, national trust properties, and archives, display similar features of shared governance. We share with those institutions trust in the plurality and diversity of the governing participants. However, museums, parks, etc. are not fundamentally knowledge-making organizations as we are.
The independence of universities as knowledge producing organizations is a major historical achievement, of which our governance processes are a piece. If history is a story of wresting control of knowledge-making, as well as public power, away from the monarchical and religious authorities who claimed a monopoly to understanding the great chain of being, it is because of the scientific as well as democratic revolutions of the past 400 years.
The specific kind of trust that characterizes shared governance at MIT derives from the interdependence between the openness of our intellectual life and what might be considered the conservatism of our methodological demands. We can discuss any idea, no matter how threatening or radical it might appear, how abhorrent and offensive, because we demand evidence for those ideas to be accepted, validated, and acted upon – empirically valid and sound evidence. We set a high bar for knowledge, and we do the same for our policy and program decisions. These practices may produce more inaction than change, perhaps accounting in part for the longevity of universities, as compared, for example, with businesses more dependent on fickle markets. Our methods may feel unduly cumbersome and uncertain when there are so many calls for change, here and in the wider public arena, perhaps even threatening our ability to practice fully open debate. Nothing is more hazardous to the future of governance, no less to MIT itself.
The democratic and scientific revolutions brought universities to this current place of shared governance. No one ever said democracy was efficient, neat, orderly; indeed many have noted its inadequacies. As Winston Churchill famously remarked, ". . . democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others. . . ." Contemplating the sluggishness of shared governance, our colleague Haynes Miller in Mathematics reminded me recently that Winston Churchill also remarked: "Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." Here is one of the consistent pleasures of this work. Faculty governance is not only about communicating, but fundamentally about connecting with colleagues across the Institute, and in so doing sustaining enthusiasm.
MIT Faculty Newsletter, Vol. XXX No. 2, November/December 2017
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Stay It Ain’t So
Could New York have done more to keep the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants?
Jason ZaskyAug 09, 2009
Walter O’Malley, left, and Horace Stoneham. Image used by permission. Copyright 2009 Robert E. Murphy, Sterling Publishing Co.
On opening day in 1957, New York had three beloved major league baseball teams—the New York Yankees, Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants. A year later, only the Yankees remained in New York, the Dodgers and Giants having departed for Los Angeles and San Francisco, respectively, leaving behind countless distraught fans.
In the intervening years, much of the blame for the loss of the teams—the Dodgers especially—has been assigned to Robert Moses, a New York “power broker” and one of the most polarizing figures in the history of urban planning. In the new book “After Many a Summer: The Passing of the Giants and Dodgers and a Golden Age in New York Baseball” (Union Square), author Robert E. Murphy offers a balanced and comprehensive account of the events that led to the departure of both clubs, one that assigns responsibility in an even-handed manner.
In the following Failure interview, Murphy explains why he took on the ambitious task of telling the Dodgers-Giants departure story.
Why did you write “After Many a Summer”?
I wanted to provide a historically accurate account of the events that transpired. Others have written about [the Dodgers and Giants] and skewed things in one direction or the other. Although it’s hard to be completely fair if you were born in Brooklyn in 1949 as I was. I’ve always had it in my gut.
In the book you note that the standard interpretation of events bothers you.
What I have tried to do is revise the revisionists. The historical tendency has been to blame Robert Moses for the Dodgers leaving. In his biography of Moses [“The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York,” 1974], Robert Caro tries to establish that Moses was a brilliant man who started off on the side of the little guy and gradually got power hungry and became ruthless. I believe that when Neil Sullivan [author of “The Dodgers Move West”] went back to look at why the Dodgers left Brooklyn, he was very much under the influence of Caro and was all too willing, in my opinion, to blame Moses, without balancing all the people involved. Then another book was written [“The Last Good Season,” by Michael Shapiro], which again said it was Moses’ fault, and then HBO did a television special, which quoted Caro and Shapiro liberally. By 2007 everyone who had an opinion on the subject was convinced that Moses ran the Dodgers out of New York.
What role did Moses play?
Moses wasn’t as uncooperative and uncaring about the fate of the Dodgers as the above-named authors suggest. He simply didn’t feel it was appropriate to let [Dodgers owner] Walter O’Malley get exactly what he wanted for the purpose of getting rich. And I think he was right about that. The responsibility has to go back to O’Malley, who was single-minded about getting the best ballpark and making himself the most successful sports owner in America.
Could the city of New York have done more to keep the Dodgers and Giants?
You could make the case that the city of New York failed to keep the teams. But it was a battle between forces that were completely different. What Los Angeles was willing to do to steal a team from another city was very different from what New York was prepared to do to keep one.
But another way to look at it is that New York almost had to fail because what Los Angeles offered was so attractive that O’Malley—being the person that he was—would have to have taken it. What ultimately happened is that Moses put up his hands and said, “If that’s what we’re up against, what are we going to do? We can’t offer that. We’d be voted out of office.” No other city could do what Los Angeles did because its motivation was different. Los Angeles swapped 300 acres in downtown L.A. for a minor league ballpark that was on two or three acres. So in his own way, Moses was very principled. He said, “There are things we can do and things we can’t do. We are more than willing to work with you on things that we can do.”
Take me back to 1956-57. Did Dodgers fans recognize that their team was going to move?
I think most Dodgers fans had a fatalistic attitude. They recognized that O’Malley was going to go where he could make more money and that they were going to lose their team. In April 1957 they started the Keep the Dodgers in Brooklyn committee, but for the most part they treated it like any other season. Attendance didn’t spike in that last year. I don’t think they felt it would make any difference.
Which team was missed more, the Giants or Dodgers?
The answer is the Dodgers. Being that they were the Brooklyn Dodgers they were more closely associated with their fans than other teams. They were the only thing that presented Brooklyn—by itself—on a national stage. But this is not to underestimate how much the Giants were missed.
Tell me about O’Malley’s dream park. Did he really envision a domed stadium in Brooklyn back in the early 1950s?
Definitely. O’Malley was very forward looking and he envisioned things that other people in the game didn’t. He understood the value of a domed stadium, because he was concerned about the amount of money he lost from rained out ballgames. But as wise as O’Malley was about modern baseball facilities, maybe if he got the stadium he wanted—a domed stadium—that would have backfired, because there hasn’t been a domed stadium that has been an attractive place for baseball. On the other hand, a dome in Brooklyn might have been considered so revolutionary that it would have been considered a wonder of the world.
Going, Going, Gone: For fans of defunct baseball teams, the future ain’t what it used to be
Quirkiest Golf Failures—From the PGA and LPGA tours, and the ‘worst avid golfer’ contest.
Soccernomics—Journalist Simon Kipur and sports economist Stefan Szymanski team up to dispel myths about the worlds most popular sport.
Quirkiest Football Failures III—Part three of a three-part series.
Olympic Collision—Mary Decker, Zola Budd and “The Fall” re-visited.
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Kenneth Cope
Kenneth Cope:
'Jeff! Wake up, Jeff!'
I'm including Kenneth Cope on here, although I'm aware that to a lot of TV viewers who are British and over 40, he's probably a bit of a star. For you youngsters and non-UK types, lovable rogues are a speciality of this popular Liverpudlian actor. His knack for combining cheeky confidence and nervous agitation has stood him in good stead in roles that have made him a UK cult favourite and a primetime perennial. Playing the ghostly Marty Hopkirk in the unique '60s detective show 'Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)' imprinted his face on the British psyche forever – an immaculate mod-suited spirit with childish emotions tempered by deadpan humour. He was the perfect foil to hard-boiled, two-fisted investigator Jeff Randall, as played by the late Mike Pratt.
As superstitious property developer Jack Victor in 'Catweazle'
Before that, he'd made a bit of a splash as the likeable petty villain Jed Stone in 'Coronation Street' in the very early days of the series, appearing first in 1961 and making comebacks in 1966 and 2008. That was followed by a period on the legendary satirical series 'That Was The Week That Was', which further ensured his '60s credentials. Other cult TV connections are 'Catweazle' ('Touch not the Wogle Stone...'), 'Doctor Who' (Tom Baker era story 'Warrior's Gate'), and two episodes of 'The Avengers' in 1967 and '68. The '80s and beyond saw him much in demand for the likes of 'Minder', 'Bergerac', 'Lovejoy' etc, and a stint on 'Brookside'.
In the Small Faces pop/crime caper 'Dateline Diamonds' (1965)
As shop steward Vic Spanner in 'Carry On at Your Convenience' (1971)
In 'Miss Marple Investigates'
His movie roles include a bunch of late-'50s teen b-pictures and swinging '60s efforts where his Beatle-esque accent (often accompanied by a Beatle-esque wig) was a bonus. See for example: 'Naked Fury' (1959), the Tony Newley vehicle 'The Lady Is A Square' (1959), 'Jungle Street' (1960), 'The Criminal' (1960) with Stanley Baker, Joseph Losey's 'The Damned' (1963), and playing the Small Faces' manager in the pirate radio heist movie 'Dateline Diamonds' (1965). Later would come a string of 'Carry Ons' ('...Dick','... Matron' and '...At Your Convenience'), and the inevitable saucy comedies 'She'll Follow You Anywhere' (1971), 'Rentadick (1972) and the movie version of 'George and Mildred' (1975).
Kenneth Cope-imdb
Labels: actor, Carry On, Catweazle, Coronation Street, Doctor Who, Jed Stone, Kenneth Cope, Randall and Hopkirk Deceased, Rentadick, Small Faces, Tom Baker, Warriors Gate
Veronica Doran
Veronica Doran:
Back in 1983, Veronica Doran's character, Marion Willis, was part of several key storylines in the ever-popular UK soap, 'Coronation Street'. Engaged to be married to lovable dustbin man Eddie Yeats, and caught in the battle of wills between her floozy flatmate Suzi Birchall and their fading femme-fatale landlady Elsie Tanner, she led 15 million viewers on a rollercoaster ride through rough-diamond romance and backstreet bitch-fests.
But apart from that little twinkle in the prime-time firmament, she has tended to blend a little into the background in a string of mousy comedy and dramatic roles in popular shows like: 'The Liver Birds', 'Man About the House', 'Crown Court', 'Upstairs Downstairs' and 'The Pallisers'.
Longer stints include a recurring part in the Thora Hird comedy 'In Loving Memory', as Cynthia, bigamous bride of the hapless Billy (see Christopher Beeny, Colin Farrell). She was also in the hardly-remembered nostalgic comedy 'Funny Man', with veteran comic Jimmy Jewel as head of a music-hall family in the '20s.
As Marion, the future Mrs Eddie Yeats in 'Coronation Street' circa 1983
A rather regrettable scene from 'Escort Girls' (1975)
Movie-wise, she was in the enjoyably 'groovy' Tigon gorefest 'Horror House' (1969) with Frankie Avalon, and the movie spin-off of the Irene Handl series, 'For the Love of Ada' (1972), before popping up in a couple of lame '70s smutbombs 'Escort Girls' (1975 - see also David Dixon) and 'Sex Thief' (1974 - see also Diane Keen).
Veronica Doran-imdb
Labels: amicus, Brittas Empire, Coronation Street, Eddie Yeats, Escort Girls, For the love of Ada, Haunted House of Horror, horror, In Loving Memory, Marion, Sex Thief, tigon, topless, Veronica Doran
A very dependable British actor with a look somewhere between Bob Hope and Droopy, He's possibly best known as eternally on-the-wrong-track Inspector Slack in 'Agatha Christie's Miss Marple', but his lugubriously expressive style has found a place in 'The New Avengers', 'Bulman', 'Boon', 'A Touch of Frost', 'Just William', 'Drop the Dead Donkey', 'Peak Practice', 'Foyle's War' and dozens of others.
The results of sneaking up on Steed at the billiard table in 'The New Avengers'
Listening to Miss Marple explain where he went wrong yet again.
On the silver screen, he's been much less ubiquitous, but can be spotted in the Disney sequel '102 Dalmatians' (2000) as Cruella DeVile's shrink, and in the odd British-set Woody Allen movie 'Cassandra's Dream' (2007) with Ewan MacGregor and Colin Farrell.
Something a bit different in the star-studded 1983 series
'The Cleopatras' as Chickpea, one of the many Ptolemys
In a long and distinguished theatre career, including work with the RSC and Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre, he's covered much of the canon, from 'Charley's Aunt', 'An Inspector Calls' and 'The Importance of Being Earnest' to Ibsen, Sheridan, and of course Shakespeare.
David Horovitch-imdb
Labels: 102 Dalmations, Agatha Christie's Westbeach, Boon, Bulman, Cleopatra, Drop the Dead Donkey, Foyle's War, Horovitch, Just William, Miss Marple, New Avengers, Peak Practice, Slack
Peter Blake:
† Dec 8 1948 – Jul 21 2018
The tall dark and handsome type, from the same shelf as Paul Nicholas and David Essex perhaps, but not destined for top billing. Peter Blake is probably most remembered as the insufferably cocky Kirk St Moritz in the lonely hearts sitcom 'Dear John' with Ralph Bates and Belinda Lang. I seem to remember it being a genuinely jaw-dropping plot twist when Kirk was revealed to be the alter-ego of a timid sad-sack who lived with his elderly mother at the end of the series.
Other solid TV credits include 'Minder', 'The Professionals', 'Shoestring', 'Out', 'Bergerac', 'Agony' (as sleazy DJ Andy Evol), 'A Very Peculiar Practice' and a short stint in 'EastEnders' in 2010, playing Peggy Mitchell's love interest Ken Tate.
With Belinda Lang and the late Ralph Bates in 'Dear John'
With Barabara Windsor in 'EastEnders'
After drama school he started out in trendy stage productions like 'Jesus Christ Superstar', 'Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' and 'Rocky Horror', while snagging TV extra roles and working as a stage manager in Soho strip clubs. Perhaps his contacts there led to his first film part in the sex comedy 'Intimate Games' (1976) a typical affair with the usual mix of goose-pimpled dollybirds and veteran character actors (in this case, Mary Millington meets George Baker, Hugh Lloyd, Queenie Watts, and Johnny Vyvyan).
Probably seeing some bosoms in 'Intimate Games' (1976)
In the forgotten office sitcom, 'Fiddlers Three'. A re-jigged version of 'The Squirrels'
An interesting aside: He was Eddie, the rock'n'roll revival Pepsi drinker in their successful '70s advertising campaign. Like this one.
There was even a spin-off single… here's his performance on 'Top of the Pops'… Lipsmackin'
Peter Blake - imdb
Labels: Agony, Andy Evol, Dear John, EastEnders, Fiddler's Three, Kirk St Moritz, Pepsi, Peter Blake, Peter Denyer, Ralph Bates, Taggart, The Bill
Yvonne Romain
Yvonne Romain:
The delightful Ms Romain (billed as Yvonne Warren pre-1960) appeared in a number of mid-fifties to mid-sixties movies and TV shows, impressively handling 'icy and sophisticated' as easily as 'sultry and sensual'. Sadly, there are few classics among them, with Hammer's 'The Curse of the Werewolf' (1961) probably the best known. Her character doesn't live to see her son grow up into the werewolf (played by a young Oliver Reed) but the marketing appeal of her curvy figure ensures that she is shown cowering from his fangs on all the publicity material anyway.
A young Ollie Reed prefiguring the middle-aged Ollie Reed
in 'Curse of the Werewolf' (1961).
She's teamed up with Oliver Reed again in 'The Night Creatures' (1962) a retelling of the Dr Syn/Vicar of Dymchurch smuggling yarn starring Peter Cushing and Patrick Allen. Other interesting cinema parts include the Boris Karloff drug-addict/bodysnatcher shocker 'Corridors of Blood' (1958), Melina the lion-tamer in Circus of Horrors' (1960), b-movie fare like 'Devil Doll' (1964), the Ann-Margaret permissive society comedy 'The Swinger (1966). And then of course, there's the even-worse-than-usual Elvis Presley movie 'Double Trouble' (1967) with a rapidly declining Elvis involved in some silly European skullduggery.
In the Peter Vaughan insurance mystery 'Smokescreen' (1965)
Twistin' in the shlocky ventriloquist horror 'Devil Doll' (1964)
On TV she shows up in 'Danger Man', 'Top Secret' and 'The Saint', but she fades from the screen after that making a last brief movie appearance as the corpse in the star-studded 'The Last of Sheila' in 1973.
Just about to be mauled by a lion in 'Circus of Horrors' (1960)
She's married to the Oscar-winning composer and lyricist Leslie Bricusse, so perhaps appearing in these lack-lustre productions lost its appeal. In some ways it's a shame, because she came perilously close to stardom - who knows what the rest of the '70s and '80s could have had in store if she's carried on acting.
Yvonne Romain-imdb
Labels: Ann-Margaret, Boris Karloff, Curse of the Werewolf, Devil Doll, Elvis Presley, James Mason, Lesley Bricusse, Oliver Reed, Romaine, The Swinger, Yvonne Romain
Diane Langton
Diane Langton:
A successful belter of stage musicals who has made a few forays into TV and movie roles since the early '70s. She was in a few moderately saucy movies during the depressing drizzly decline of the old school British cinema industry: 'Confessions of a Pop Performer' (1975), 'Carry On England' (1976), and one slightly surprisingly example of its renewal, 'The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover' (1989).
With Linda Regan (right) as the Climax Sisters in
'Confessions of a Pop Performer' (1975)
As Private Easy in 'Carry On England' (1976)
On the small screen, she's been in the 'Carry On Laughing' TV spin-off, as a sort of ersatz Barbara Windsor, 'Only Fools and Horses' as Del's old flame June, and in the revival of 'The Rag Trade' in the '70s. She's also had some regular drama roles, in 'Heartbeat', 'EastEnders' and 'Hollyoaks', for instance.
As Ruby Rowan in 'Heartbeat'
Diane Langton-imdb
Labels: Bergerac, Boon, Carry On England, Confessions of a Pop Performer, Diane Langton, EastEnders, Heartbeat, Hollyoaks, Only Fools and Horses, Rag Trade, She Loves Me, The Bill
John Flanagan:
Firm of jaw and steely of eye, John Flanagan has played a lot of coppers in his acting career. He had his own series in the early '70s, 'Parkin's Patch' in which he played keen young PC Moss Parkin, but he also pounded the beat in 'The Sweeney' (as DS Matt Matthews), 'Softly Softly: Task Force', 'The Bill', 'Casualty' and films including 'The Naked Civil Servant' (1975) and 'The Medusa Touch' (1978).
In Alan Plater's 1973 TV play, 'The Land of Green Ginger'
Rather older and more serious in 'Inspector Wycliffe Mysteries'
I enjoyed the Play for Today from 1973 that he stars in with Gwen Taylor – Alan Plater's 'The Land of Green Ginger'. It's a real period piece, but can be found in its entirety on YouTube: Click here.
He's also in Terry Gilliam's 'Brazil' (1985), but I had play around with the pause button to find him.
John Flanagan - imdb
Labels: Brazil, Casualty, Heartbeat, John Flanagan, Parkins Patch, Softly Softly: Task Force, Sweeney 2, The Bill, The Land of Green Ginger, The Medusa Touch, The Naked Civil Servant
Hugh Walters:
† March 2nd 1939 - February 13 2015
Compact, birdlike actor with a knack for careful speech patterns. He has turned these to good use playing officious, prissy and occasionally camp comedic roles. In drama, he sticks in the memory for his bravura turn as the wheelchair-bound Vic in 'Survivors' which was neither funny nor fussy, and he was in several 'Doctor Who' stories ('The Chase', 'The Deadly Assassin' and 'Revelation of the Daleks'), as well as episodes of 'Z Cars', 'The New Avengers', 'A Fine Romance', 'The Miss Marple Mysteries', 'Rumpole of the Bailey', 'All Creatures Great and Small', 'Lovejoy' and 'Boon'. He was also Alison's father in the clever Simon Callow/Brenda Blethyn comedy 'Chance in a Million'
In the Miss Marple TV mystery 'The Body in the Library'
With Eleanor Bron in the 1985 'Doctor Who'
story 'Revelation of the Daleks'
He appears in a few interesting movies: '1984' (1984), 'Brimstone & Treacle' (1982), 'The Missionary' (1982), the floppy Alan Price sequel to 'Alfie', 'Alfie Darling ' (1976), right back to the Terry-Thomas steampunk romp 'Rocket to the Moon' (1967), 'and the Dave Clark Five movie 'Catch Us If You Can' (1965).
In 'The New Avengers'
Hugh Walters-imdb
Labels: Alfie Darling, All Creatures Great and Small, Chance in a Million, Daleks, Doctor Who, Heartbeat, Hugh Walters, Lovejoy, Miss Marple, Rocket to the Moon, Rumpole, Survivors, The Missionary, The New Avengers, Z Cars
Madge Hindle
Madge Hindle:
A modern archetype of the frumpy Northern busybody, largely thanks to the Lancastrian actress's two longest-running roles: as Renee Roberts (Bradshaw as was) in 'Coronation Street' and as Hylda Baker's stooge Lily Tattersall in pickle sitcom 'Nearest and Dearest' with her mute, infirm husband Walter ('Has he been?') played by Eddie Malin.
As Lily in the film version of 'Nearest and Dearest' (1972)
Since poor Renee met her end in a car crash in 'Coronation Street' in 1980, Madge Hindle has appeared in a sprinkling of roles on TV, such as the modern melodrama 'The Rector's Wife', and better than average comedies 'All Quiet on the Preston Front' and the Gwen Taylor vehicle 'Barbara'.
Renee Bradshaw weds Councillor Roberts in 'Coronation Street'
Trivia corner: Madge's daughter, Charlotte Hindle, was co-presenter of wacky 1980s Saturday morning schedule-filler 'Get Fresh', with Gaz Top and oozing alien puppet Gilbert. Gilbert was voiced by Phil Cornwell and made by 'Spitting Image' duo Fluck & Law. As part of the design, they recycled the lips from a discarded Ringo Starr puppet.
Madge Hindle-imdb
Labels: All Quiet on the Preston Front, Barbara, Bradshaw, Casanova 73, Charlotte Hindle, Coronation Street, Gaz Top, Gilbert, Lily, Madge Hindle, Nearest and Dearest, Open All Hours, Renee Roberts, Walter
Donald Sumpter
Donald Sumpter:
Severe-looking character actor offering broken-nosed toughness combined with an aura of intelligence, which allows him to play parts that depict deep wisdom or low cunning with equal veracity. His only cinema starring role was as real-life murderer Dennis Neilson in the rather tasteless 'The Black Panther' (1977), but he also appears in better-known movies like the Hammer monster romp 'The Lost Continent' (1967), the sexploitative 'Groupie Girl' (1970), 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' (1971), 'Stardust' (1974), 'Enigma' (2001), 'The Constant Gardener' (2005), and 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' (2011). He's also in the early Mike Leigh film 'Bleak Moments' (1971) and the strange-looking David Hemmings movie 'The Walking Stick' (1970).
In sleazy rocker mode in 'Groupie Girl (1970)
In spiritual mode in 'Meetings with Remarkable Men (1979)
His TV portfolio is substantial, and ranges from the sublime to the ridiculous, or from 'Black Mirror', 'Our Friends in the North' and 'Jesus of Nazareth' to 'Merlin', 'Game of Thrones' and 'Holby City'. A fine all rounder.
In the teen horror series 'Being Human'
Donald Sumpter - imdb
Labels: actor, Black Mirror, Bleak Moments, Boon, Donald Sumpter, Groupie Girl, Jesus of nazareth, Meetings with Remarkable Men, Midsomer Murders, Minder, Queen's Nose, The Bill, Wallander
Gary Waldhorn
Gary Waldhorn:
A suave, thoughtful-looking actor, probably best known these days as grumpy squire David Horton in 'The Vicar of Dibley', Mr Waldhorn actually made his TV debut in the trendy drama series 'Take Three Girls' in 1969. Although his episode is now lost, he went on to make a solid career in television through the '70s, appearing in 'Softly, Softly', 'The Sweeney', 'Space: 1999', 'The New Avengers', 'Brideshead Revisited', 'The Professionals', 'Minder', 'Robin of Sherwood', 'Rumpole of the Bailey' and 'Lovejoy'. Before 'Dibley' he was a front-room fixture in the '80s sitcom 'Brush Strokes' as Carl Howman's nemesis, Bainbridge.
In 'Space 1999'
In 'The Professionals'
He's a very well-respected stage player, with links to the RSC and English Touring Theatre, and has graced the West End in performances alongside John Gielgud, Peter Wyngarde, Eleanor Bron and Paul Scofield. Film work has been less forthcoming (or sought for), but he does appear in Vivian Stanshall's legendary 'Sir Henry at Rawlinson End' (1980), which is a good thing in my book.
In 'Doctor in Charge'
Gary Waldhorn-imdb
Labels: Brideshead revisited, Gallowglass, Gary Waldhorn, Heartbeat, Minder, Professionals, Robin of Sherwood, Rumpole of the Bailey, Softly, Space 1999, The Bill, The New Avengers, The Sweeney, Vicar of Dibley
Christopher Godwin
Christopher Godwin:
The pinched and narrow features of this very familiar character actor seem to have often found themselves used as a shorthand for petty bureaucrats, jobsworths and sniffy middle-class executives, but a glance at his track record shows some surprising highlights.
Perhaps fans of TV comedy will be most conscious of his presence, as he turns up in a lot of forgotten '80s schedule-fillers: 'The Other 'Arf' with Lorraine Chase, 'South of the Border', 'Roger Doesn't Live Here Any More' and 'Nice Work' with Edward Woodward. He was in 'Holding the Fort', the sitcom with Peter Davison and Patricia Hodge as a role-reversal army couple with live-in slob, Fitz, played by Matthew Kelly. There was a starring role in the unfunny 'Astronauts', written by Bill Oddie and Graeme Garden in 1981. More interesting was the satirical north/south series 'Snakes and Ladders' from 1989. A Marks and Gran creation with Celia Imrie and John Gordon Sinclair.
Only here for the beer. With Mr McKay in
the film version of 'Porridge' (1979)
On the drama front, see him in: 'Z Cars', 'Softly Softly', 'Thomas & Sarah' and the sun-drenched 1987 TV adaptation of 'My Family and Other Animals', as well as 'The Bill' and the Daniel Radcliffe drama 'A Young Doctor's Notebook'.
Film work includes: 'Porridge' (1979), 'A Handful of Dust' (1988) and the infamous Handmade Films debacle 'Bullshot' (1983).
In 'A Handful of Dust' (1988)
Christopher Godwin-imdb
Labels: Astronauts, Bullshot, Christopher Godwin, Handful of Dust, Holding the Fort, My Family, My Family and Other Animals, Porridge, Return to Waterloo
Alan David
Alan David:
A dour bollard of an actor with hidden depths. This trim, ascetic-looking Welshman has had a long career in television, but I first remember him in 'The Squirrels', an office sitcom created by 'Rising Damp' writer Eric Chappell (although some episodes were written by Phil Redmond and others by Kenneth Cope). He played the unlikeable Harry, a snarky expert at office politics, forever putting one over on his fellow workers, Ken Jones, Bernard Hepton and Patsy Rowlands among them.
'The Squirrels'
Giving a medical opinion to Trevor Eve in 'Shoestring'
Other TV work includes a full house of 'Coronation Street', 'EastEnders' and 'Emmerdale', 'A Perfect State', the Boycie and Marlene spin-off 'The Green Green Grass', and the '60s-set 'Foxy Lady' as a chauvinist foil to Diane Keen's lady reporter. To that you can add 'Bulman', 'Inspector Morse' and 'Cracker' as well as the Eccleston-era 'Doctor Who' story 'The Unquiet Dead', a Dickensian spooker written by Mark Gatiss.
Did I mention 'The Sweeney' and 'Minder'? No need really, but of course he was in both.
In 'The Painted Veil (2006)
As Clement Atlee in the time-travel
dram-com 'Goodnight Sweetheart'
He's been in a few films (see imdb link below), but perhaps has a stronger liking for the stage. He was in the 2009 West End hit 'Jerusalem' with Mark Rylance, and has previously appeared in RSC productions of 'Coriolanus' and 'Richard II'. He also took part in the legendary 1970 art/theatre happening 'Come Together' at the Royal Court Theatre with the Alberts and performed with the Ken Campbell Roadshow.
In 'Inspector Morse'
Alan David-imdb
Labels: Alan David, bald, Diane Keen, Doctor Who, EastEnders, Eccleston, Gatiss, Harry, Jerusalem, Morse, Painted Veil, Rylance, Squirrels, Sweeney, Welsh
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The 4P or Large Ford Ferguson
Posted on February 27, 2017 by Paul Hoehne
I am familiar with the Ford Fergusons, the 9N and the 2N, what is the “Large Ford Ferguson”?
The Large Ford Ferguson or 4P was developed by Ford and Ferguson with the first proto-type being built in 1944. The tractor was designed by two teams, the Ferguson team working in the UK, and the Ford team working in the US. It was powered by a Continental engine, and appears to have category 2 three point hitch like the LTX later developed by Ferguson.
Four additional prototypes were built after the first one was completed. One was sent to the Ferguson team at Coventry in the UK to evaluate, and one was evaluated by the US team. Not sure if that meant one for the Ferguson team in the US and one for the Ford team. The tractor also appears to have a 1 3/8 ” PTO shaft.
After the split from Ferguson, the Ford team in the UK developed the Fordson 5035 which seems to be similar to the 4P. A wooden mockup was built and shown in pictures at the Ford UK plant in Rainham. There are some in the Ford camp, including Ford tractor engineer Harold Brock, that say the 4P was the basis for the Ferguson LTX. Brock was on the team that designed the 9N. Brock continued with Ford and is largely responsible for the Ford Commander which became the 5000 after the rebuild program.
The 5000 was years ahead of its time and had many innovative features, but was rushed into production against the wishes of Brock. Brock argued the tractor was not ready for production, but Ford management pushed it into production. The result was a massive recall requiring everyone of the tractors to be rebuilt and modified. The stigma of the recall and continued problems with the Selecto Speed automatic transmission pretty much killed it. Today it remains a tractor sought by collectors, particularly in its original Commander trim.
Brock lost his job as a result of the problems, and was hired by John Deere where he headed up the team that designed the New Generation 4-cylinder John Deere’s. The highly popular 4010 and 4020, which became the standard larger tractors were judged by for many years, incorporated the innovations that first appeared on the Ford Commander. The difference is John Deere did not put the new generation tractors into production until they were thoroughly tested and ready for market. As a result Harold Brock is considered the engineering genius who designed a modern line of tractors for John Deere.
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← 1 1/8″ PTO Shaft and 1 3/8″ PTO Shaft
Broken Hydraulic Cylinder on 35 →
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Note on Editing Items/Tiddlers with Firefox
"Recent updates to Firefox and Chrome include tighter default security settings that can interfere with the operation of TiddlyWiki. The main cause is restrictions on the ability of TiddlyWiki running from a file:// URI to obtain permission to access local files as well as files stored remotely on other servers.
"Previous versions of Firefox asked the user for permission to access the local file system, both for reading and writing files, with an option to retain and re-use that setting whenever the associated TiddlyWiki document is loaded into the browser. Unfortunately, as of version 15.0, FireFox no longer allows requests to access the local file system, and produces an error instead (note: existing TiddlyWiki documents that were already approved for local file access in a prior version of Firefox will continue to work as before)."
This is an issue for users of ACP who use Firefox (v15 and greater) and expect to edit item/tiddlers. "Fortunately there is a fix for this problem: Jeremy Ruston [creator of TiddlyWiki] has written a small, easy-to-install FireFox extension called TiddlyFox that provides replacements for the necessary file I/O functions, allowing new TiddlyWiki documents to be saved locally."
You can obtain the TiddlyFox extension here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tiddlyfox/
[This from a note from Eric Shulman posted at http://tiddlywiki.com/ -- look for "TiddlyWiki Browser Compatibility" on 16 Sep 2012.]
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The Board and Management
Survey of Attitudes of COSATU Shop Stewards
Wednesday, 18 September 2013 14:15
In 2013 the FPD released the results of a national survey of COSATU shop stewards. This project was a longitudinal follow-on to a similar study commissioned and funded by the COSATU Communications Department in 1991, which was carried out by the Community Agency for Social Enquiry (CASE), the Sociology of Work Unit (SWOP) and the Culture and Working Life Project. The political setting at the time of the 1991 study was influenced by the multiparty negotiations taking place within the context of the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA). The aim of the original study was to understand how COSATU shop stewards received information. Results of the 1991/1992 study included the publication of a book, Beyond the Factory Floor, and the launch of COSATU's flagship journal, The Shop Steward, which is still distributed nationwide 20 years later.
The objective of the 2012/2013 national study, in which interviews were confined exclusively to shop stewards, was to gain a better understanding of the transforming labour market, in particular the views of a sample of 2 052 COSATU shop stewards (from an assumed total of 30 000 shop stewards in the country) on a range of issues related to the economy, politics and society in general. The Findings Report produced by FPD and CASE was completed in mid-2013.
FPD in the News
Many believe workers’ party could help solve SA’s issues
Business Day 15 July 2014 Many believe workers’ party could help solve SA’s issues The existence of a large industrial working class, strong civil society organisations and an independent trade union movement makes the survival of a workers’ party in SA more likely, write Edward Webster and Mark Orkin…
Will a labour party split the SA vote?
The Sunday Independent 15 September 2013 Will a labour party split the SA vote? On the face of it, debate in the tripartite alliance is alive and well. Dig deeper and fractious counterevidence with much consequence for the ANC's electoral fate rattles through the portals of power. Never in the…
Tyd ryp vir nuwe party
Rapport 1-7 September 2013 Tyd ryp vir nuwe party - Cosatu-lede neig links van ANC Daar is 'n gaping so groot soos 'n waenhuisdeur onder Cosatu-lede vir 'n politieke party links van die ANC.Dít is die resultate van 'n gesaghebbende peiling wat die Community Agency for Social Enquiry (Case) onder…
All set for a leap to the left
City Press 1 September 2013 All set for a leap to the left Cosatu survey shows its members would back a more labour-centric party The door is wide open for a political party to the left of the ANC, according to a long-awaited – and already controversial – survey of…
What do shop stewards really feel?
The Sunday Independent 1 September 2013 What do shop stewards really feel? A controversial study of the divisions in Cosatu’s support for President Jacob Zuma has been released this week as the federation and its allies met for its summit discussing the state of the alliance en route to the…
Copyright © 2013 The Forum For Public Dialogue
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“Stop Torture in Moldova”
The most wide spread forms of the Human Rights violation in Moldova are torture, other ill-treatment and unlawful detention. The Project "Stop Torture in Moldova" aims to contribute to the realization of the freedom from torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in Moldova (including Transnistrian region). This will be achieved by raising legal awareness and consultancy on protection mechanisms for victims of torture and arbitrary detention among general public and victims of human rights violations. The relevant Moldovan authorities will also be targeted, being monitored for taking measures on increasing and observing safeguards against torture and other ill-treatment in police custody and penitentiary system, combating impunity, and preventing further violations.
Project objectives will be achieved through the establishment and maintenance of a specialized website, which should become a comprehensive informational resource for wider Moldovan public (on both banks of the Dniester river), as well as for victims of human rights violations in terms of rights and effective tools for the defense of victims of torture and other degrading treatment at the national, regional or international levels.
We look forward to establishing a helpful informational resource for victims and/or potential victims of human rights violations, as well as for legal professionals working on torture, other ill-treatment and unlawful detention cases, who will be guided towards efficient combat of torture and prevention of that in Moldova. The site will not only state the existence of and describe the problem of torture and other forms of inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in Moldova, but also provide solutions for solving this systemic phenomenon.
The site will assist the public in identifying torture, discerning the concept of torture from other forms of degrading treatment or punishment; it will also provide practical advice for victims of torture, degrading treatment and unlawful detentions for the defense of their rights. The site will contain information about national, regional and international mechanisms that permit rights defense of victims of torture and degrading treatment; institutions that should be addressed to defend victims of torture; how to protect your rights in Moldova and exhaust the effective ways of defense; how to lodge a complaint with the European Court of Human rights or the UN Committee for Human Rights.
Nonetheless important is information about methods of documenting torture cases, the correct usage of medical check-ups, reports and other medical documents in national and international courts. The site will accumulate all necessary information about organizations that deal with the problem of torture; results of their work; information about lawyers who work on torture cases, etc. Finally, the site will let users know what the recommendations international organizations have addressed to the Government for torture to be ended, and follow-ups on government action for implementation of the recommendations.
During the project implementation period a group of experts (lawyers / defence lawyers) will lead extensive practice in legal aid providing pro-bono consultations and writing applications for project beneficiaries for their defense before national courts. All these cases and experts work / consultations / practical advice and applications will be placed on the website (without confidential information and personal data of the victim).
Relevance of Project
Torture and other ill-treatment by the police remains widespread and conditions in police detention facilities and prisons are still serious sources of concern. This was confirmed by launching of a second round (follow-up) of at least two key international projects in Moldova – "Atlas of Torture" project (funded by the European Commission) and "Reinforcing the fight against ill-treatment and impunity" project (joint program funded by Council of Europe and European Union).
Amnesty International 2012 Report "Unfinished Business: Combating torture and ill-treatment in Moldova" reiterates problems exposed by the traumatic events of 7 April 2009: excessively long preliminary detentions, poor detention conditions, failure of prosecutors to examine complaints about police behaviour promptly and effectively, failure to suspend police officers under investigation, who keep their jobs even after being convicted, a practice of lenient sentences for police officers.
The Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) is urging the Moldovan authorities to "continue to implement anti-torture measures with determination, reinforcing the mechanisms for the investigation of alleged ill-treatment."
General causes of torture infliction: imperfection of the national legislation, impunity of torturers, insufficiency of Moldovan lawyers' knowledge on effective legal ways for their clients' protection against torture, disbelief in possibility to protect victims of torture effectively, as well as low awareness of general public and victims of human rights violations on their rights and protection mechanisms for victims of torture and arbitrary detention.
Strategic goal of the project: To contribute to the practical implementation of the right to physical and mental integrity in Moldova (including Transnistrian region).
Operational goal of the project: To raise legal awareness and consultancy on protection mechanisms for victims of torture and unlawful detention among general public and individuals suffered from human rights violation.
The main expected results of the Project are:
Short-term results
- the level of public legal awareness and consultancy on protection mechanisms for victims of torture and unlawful detention raised;
- the level of torture and unlawful detention victims' legal awareness and consultancy on protection mechanisms for the defense of their rights raised;
- the motivation (and skills) of torture victims on defending their rights raised;
- the level of torture and unlawful detention victims' protection raised.
Long-term results
- the level of torture and unlawful detention victims' protection effectiveness in Moldova raised;
- the impunity level for torture infliction in Moldova decreased and it should consequently lead to the decrease of the level of torture infliction in Moldova;
- the respect of the right to liberty and security increased.
Project target groups
Target audience: since the overwhelming majority of the citizens does not know the ways of effective protection against torture infliction the project target group and direct beneficiaries are general public and torture victims, detained persons, suspects and accused (potentially, any individual on the territory of Moldova, including Transnistrian region).
The indirect beneficiaries are: defence lawyers (on 3 October 2011 "Human Rights Embassy" signed the Agreement with the Bar Association of the Republic of Moldova on cooperation for raising lawyers' skills in human rights sphere and mechanisms of human rights protection). After participation in the training course selected defence lawyers will multiply their knowledge and expertise by offering on-line consultations to the projects' direct beneficiaries.
Since one of the working languages of the created website will be Russian, which is common language for all post soviet countries, the indirect beneficiaries can also be general public and torture victims, detained persons, suspects and accused on the territory of CIS region and other post soviet countries.
Project sustainability
For site's activity after the end of the project, the site will be attributed a sub domain with an independent, autonomous access to it, and also with access from the organization's webpage. For example, if website of the organization "Human Rights Embassy" is called www.humanrightsembassy.org, then website of project "Stop Torture in Moldova" – www.stoptorture.humanrightsembassy.org. This will give beneficiaries the possibility to reach the specialized project site directly, or through the organization's site. Moreover, after the end of the project the site will continue its existence indefinitely and will be periodically updated within the organization's site, the fact which will insure the sustainability of the project.
The Project "Stop Torture in Moldova" is implemented by Human Rights Embassy with generous support from the "Atlas of Torture" projects' small grants program, funded by the European Commission.
Human Rights Embassy is an international human rights nongovernmental organization established on the basis of voluntary membership, community of interests and the principles of the international community in preventing and ending grave abuses of human rights worldwide.
The goal of the Human Rights Embassy is to contribute to the promotion and respect for human rights worldwide. To achieve this goal, the task of the Human Rights Embassy is taking measures to combat and prevent human rights violations through effective action for the individual victim, development of a democratic society and to provide support and promote the rule of law and human rights.
Human Rights Embassy was registered in March 2011 by longstanding human rights lawyers and activists who have from 5 to 20 years of human rights experience. Human Rights Embassy is not affiliated with but is a national partner from Moldova for the Human Rights House Network (Oslo), Front Line Defenders (Dublin), Ukrainian office of the Council of Europe (Kiev), the Norwegian Mission of Rule of Law Advisors to Moldova (Chisinau), and Bar Association of the Republic of Moldova (Chisinau).
We cooperated with UNICEF Representative in the creation of the didactic documentary film "Psycho-social necessities of families adopting children in Moldova". With UNDP we conducted professional development event for lawyers on "International practices on the mechanisms of ensuring the quality of publicly funded legal services". Relevant UN staff members in Moldova are subscribed to our human rights mailing list "EmbassyLawyer". We participated in the 2012 UNDP Partners Survey as UNDP's partner.
We have 5 implemented and 2 ongoing projects focused on professional development trainings on human rights standards and mechanisms for legal professionals, NGOs and Mass-Media, legal aid, litigation of human rights violation cases and raising awareness on human rights protection mechanisms. All our projects are nationwide and one project is regional.
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Taiwan gun group joins global fight to bear arms
TAIPEI TIMES: Taiwan gun group joins global fight to bear arms
(Click above link to read the story from the Taipei Times)
The Taiwan Defensive Firearms Association (TDFA) earlier this month became a member of the International Association for the Protection of Civilian Arms Rights (IAPCAR), a global gun rights association working to protect and expand the ability to keep and bear arms around the globe.
In a press release, IAPCAR said the TDFA was joining 16 other groups from nine countries on five continents that represent millions of firearm owners and citizens concerned about civilian gun rights.
“The IAPCAR coalition defending gun rights worldwide continues to grow and we are proud to have Taiwan join with us,” IAPCAR executive director Philip Watson is quoted as saying.
“The Taiwan Defensive Firearms Association is an important addition in our battle to protect the human right of self-defense,” Watson said.
The TDFA is reported to be Taiwan’s highest profile gun advocacy association, which according to its Web site opened its office in Taipei in May last year, with Boris Yang acting as chairman.
Its Web site states that it is a group of gun policy researchers who wish to allow qualified Taiwanese to legally bear firearms to “provide them with the ability to refuse to be a victim and to make most of Taiwanese middle class become a steady power of the social order.”
The organization says that while police and the judicial system are the first line of defense, law-abiding citizens bearing arms constitute the second line.
The group says authorities tend to embellish statistics about serious crime offenses and “unscrupulous” and “corrupt” officials often allow serious offenders to get away unpunished.
“When the time is right, we wish to apply the method of referendum to change this defenseless civilian situation that has last [sic] for decades […] To let Taiwanese qualified citizens to have the option to freely own semi-automatic defensive firearms,” it says.
The TDFA’s goal is to see 35 percent of the Taiwanese population, or 8 million people, own a gun and 25 percent of the population, or 5 million people, obtain a license to carry concealed firearms.
As an umbrella organization, IAPCAR opposes any UN Arms Trade Treaty that infringes on national sovereignty and an individual’s ability to keep arms and serves as a vehicle to unify gun advocacy groups against “international threats to the human right of self-defense and the legitimate use of guns” against “grave threats” including crime, civil unrest and terrorism.
According to IAPCAR’s Web site, it has more than 650,000 members and supporters in the US.
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BARS-114
Brit-Am Research Sources (15 October 2017, 25 Tishrei, 5778)
1. PHOENICIANS IN SCANDINAVIA
2. Minoans, Mycenaean and Scandinavia
Prehistoric connections Crete / Norway
3. Ancient Swedish Axes from Cyprus. Isotope Analysis
Ancient rock carvings in Sweden evidently aren't of local boats but show ships bringing the metal from the Levant.
4. Vikings from Coastal Areas in Scandinavia Pushed out by New Invaders
5. Megalithic Migration Trail of Jeremiah 31:21 Acknowledged!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.il/2013/09/phoenicians-in-scandinavia.html
The E-shaped boat, inscribed to the right of the ZQQ ('to be refined') inscription, resembles the later Viking and Venetian vessels, and more significantly it may be compared with the Uluburun shipwreck from the Mediterranean and the Bronze Age. It was carrying a cargo of metal (copper and tin ingots).
I already have a collection of Canaanian syllabic inscriptions from Syria-Palestine (the oldest from the Early Bronze Age), Sinai, Egypt, Trieste, Jamaica (a copper cup with an inscription including the words "a copper cup"), and here we see inscriptions and pictorial evidence from the region now known as Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Sweden).
It is said that the Phoenicians went to Britain (Cornwall) for tin, and it now emerges that Mediterranean seafarers went northwards up the Atlantic Ocean as far as Scandinavia in the Bronze Age, and also westwards on the same route that Columbus took 3,000 years later.Â
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
https://araenil.wordpress.com/2011/06/26/evidence-of-prehistoric-connections-crete-norway/
 English version.
Resume of the researches:
In the Bronze Age an advanced culture had suddenly arisen in the southern Scandinavian countries with clear influence from the countries of the Aegean; first the Minoans, later also the Mycenaeans and the classical Greeks. The researchers concluded that it was most likely not only that the areas were visited by people from the south, but also that the population had visited the southern countries over a period that lasted about 1000 years! According to Kristiansen, inscriptions in both Minoan and Mycenaean Linear A and B have been found.
Philippe Bohstrom May 11, 2016 3:38 PM
 http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/archaeology/1.719125
The evidence is piling up now: 3600-year-old Swedish Axes Were Made With Copper From Cyprus;
3600-year-old Swedish Axes Were Made With Copper From Cyprus
Bronze tools found in Sweden dating from 3,600 years ago were made using copper from the Mediterranean, archaeologists have shown. They now also believe that rock carvings of ships found in Bohuslan, Sweden were visual documentation of trade between ancient Scandinavia and the Mediterranean.
Most of the copper circulating in Bronze Age Europe apparently originated from Sicily, Sardinia, the Iberian peninsula - and Cyprus, going by isotope analysis.
The precious copper was exchanged for Nordic amber, which was as cherished as gold in Mycenaean Greece and in the prehistoric Middle East. And, it seems, cultural and religious influences joined on the ride.
Isotope analysis of some 70 bronze daggers and axes from Bronze Age Sweden by scientists from Sweden's University of Gothenburg, headed by Dr. Johan Ling, proved that at least some originated in Cypriot copper mines. Most probably, it was traded for amber.
Amber was used not only to pay for copper, which was turned into bronze weapons, but also for fripperies, such as glass beads imported from the Levant. A separate study of 271 glass beads found in Danish Bronze Age graves found they dated to around 1400 BCE and that 23 of them originated in Egypt and Syria.
Thousands of elaborate rock carvings dating to the Bronze Age have been found in Scandinavia, mostly in the region of Bohuslan, on the Swedish west coast. A recurring motif on the rock carvings is ships, and intriguingly, most of these ship carving sites also have images that resemble Mediterranean oxhide ingots.
A copper ingot found at Torsbo is the same in shape as ingots excavated in Crete, at the palace of Hagia Triada, Tylissos and Mochlos, and is just like the copper ingots found in the Uluburun shipwreck. And a markedly similar depiction of a copper even appears on the Tomb of Rekhmire.
Another peculiar feature of these carvings in Scandinavia is large bulls by the ships, and scenes of bull-leaping, a common motif of Middle Bronze Age figurative, notably of Minoan Crete and also found in Hittite, Anatolia.
The ancient Scandinavian art also features horned figures also found in southern Turkey, usually attributes of the Hittite weather god Tarhun.
The appearance of rock art depicting ships and oxhide ingots around 1600 BCE in Scandinavia is accompanied by Aegenized depictions of warriors, weapons, chariots, omega symbols and also, symbolic representations of Mesopotamian sun disks and ornaments on jewelry and sword hilts.
Identical spiral ornaments appear on a piece of jewelry found in the tomb of 'the distant traveller' at Simrishamn, Sweden, and in the necropolis of Asine at Argolis in Greece. The "Kings Grave" in Kivik, southeast Sweden, dating to around 3000 years ago, has numerous images and religious symbolism also found in the Mycenaean world.
Kaul Flemming, a researcher from the Danish national museum who studies beads in Danish Bronze Age burials, is convinced that there was a cultural transfer between the Aegean and Scandinavia. 'The motifs from the Kivik grave may well been taken from Mycenean Greece,' he tells Haaretz, adding, 'The chariots, the light two-wheeled cart, can also be seen on the Mycenaean grave steles.'
Chariots were common in the Bronze Age Mediterranean, where they were employed as fast and prestigious military vehicles, and were often depicted in art.
If the Vikings were so strong, why were they annihilated so quickly?
Lars Evensen
https://www.quora.com/profile/Lars-Evensen
I want to present this with a different point of view. Before the Viking Age, traditionally described as beginning with the attack on Lindisfarne in 793 A.D there was a time of great upheavel and unrest in the Nordic countries, at least in what became Norway and Sweden. A lot of people moved in from the east, i.e what they called 'stora Svithjod' (Greater Scythia). This increase in population caused 'overpopulation', as odd as it sounds today because the population wasn`t that big after all. It caused internal migrations in Scandinavia (little Scythia) and fertile land was scarce for the increased population. The newcomers are called the 'Battle Axe Culture' by historians because they used a particular kind of battle axe and also cremated their dead among other things.
This battle between the older inhabitants and the newcomers might be reflected in Norse Mythology by the three different kind of 'gods', namely the Jotner (Jotnir), Vaner (Vanir) and �ser (Aesir). It seems the Aesir were the newcomers conquering former lands of the oldest inhabitants Jotner and also the Vaner, pressuring them westwards on the peninsula just like Celts were pressed westwards by the Anglo Saxons on the British Isles.
So it might therefore be absolutely plausible that the Viking Age started as a campaign to get new land both in the east and west because of 'overpopulation' and internal pressure in Scandinavia. Eventually a large part of the population must have emigrated elsewhere (presumably predominantly the Vanir and Jotnir part of the populace); to the British Isles, Iceland, Greenland, Normandy, Sicily and different parts of Eastern Europe. The pressure on the homeland was relieved and it became less important to seek new homelands to conquer. Of course another factor like Christianity like some point out was important too, and surely the tactics of Vikings over time became obsolete as the natives got more skilled in defending themselves against such attacks.6. Vikiongs from Coastal Areas in Scand
In conclusion the 'Vikings' were never annihilated as such but of course one can claim that the Norwegian loss at Stamford Bridge in 1066 marked the end of the Viking era. It would have ended anyway with or without this battle because as I said occupying new territory became less essential and Scandinavia could never sustain a population large enough to conquer all of Europe anyway.
5. Megalithic Migration Trail of Jeremiah 31 Acknowledged!
[Forwarded by Mark Williams]
http://www.eupedia.com/forum/threads/33448-Southern-Neolithic-route-brought-Megaliths-from-the-Levant-to-Western-Europe
There is ample archaeological evidence that megaliths originated in the southern Levant (Israel) and Egypt and spread via the south coast of the Mediterranean to Malta, Andalusia (La Almagra Pottery culture) and southern Portugal (Algarve), then spread north along the Atlantic coast of Europe to Brittany, the British Isles, and east to inland France, Corsica, Germany, Belgium and Denmark.
Jeremiah (KJB) 31:
21 Set thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps: set thine heart toward the highway, even the way which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities.
Dolmens and the Bible
http://hebrewnations.com/articles/biblical-proof/attributes/roledolmen.html
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