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__label__wiki	0.578944	0.578944	December 18. — Having once decided upon my plans, I lost no time in putting them in execution. A dray, three sets of horses’ harness, and some other things were sent on board the Waterwitch , together with half a sheep and sixty pounds of biscuit for the crew, who were now running short of provisions. Several casks were brought on shore for us to bury stores in, and the boat I had purchased at Port Lincoln was left, at Mr. Scott’s request, for him to fish in during the absence of the cutter. After I had settled with the two men for their services, both of whom had large sums to receive, they took leave of us, and went on board. My own time had been fully occupied for the last two days, in writing letters and preparing despatches; by great exertions I got all ready this evening, and upon Mr. Germain’s coming up at night, I delivered them to him, and directed him to sail as soon as possible. The following copy of my despatch to his Excellency the Governor, will convey a brief summary of the result of the expedition; from the time of our leaving Port Lincoln up to the sailing of the Waterwitch from Fowler’s Bay, and of the future plans I intended to adopt, to carry out the object of the undertaking. “POINT FOWLER, 17TH DECEMBER, 1840. “SIR, — By the return of the Waterwitch , I have the honour to furnish you, for the information of His Excellency the Governor, with a brief account of our proceedings up to the present date. “Upon the return of Mr. Scott from Adelaide to Port Lincoln, I left the latter place on the 24th October, following my former line of route along the coast to Streaky Bay, and rejoining my party there on the 3rd November. “The Waterwitch had already arrived with the stores sent for the use of the expedition, and I have since detained her to co-operate with my party, in accordance with the kind permission of his Excellency the Governor. “From previous experience, I was aware, that after leaving Streaky Bay, we should have obstacles of no ordinary kind to contend with; and as I advanced, I found the difficulties of the undertaking even greater than I had anticipated; the heavy sandy nature of the country, its arid character, the scarcity of grass, and the very dense brushes through which we had frequently to clear a road with our axes, formed impediments of no trifling description, and such as, when combined with the very unfavourable season of the year, we could hardly have overcome without the assistance of the Waterwitch . By putting on board the cutter the greater part of our dead weight, we relieved our jaded horses from loads they could no longer draw; and by obtaining from her occasional supplies of water at such points of the coast as we could procure none on shore, we were enabled to reach Fowler’s Bay on the 22nd November. “From this point I could no longer avail myself of the valuable services of the cutter, the wild unprotected character of the coast extending around the Great Australian Bight, rendering it too dangerous for a vessel to attempt to approach so fearful a shore, and where there is no harbour or shelter of any kind to make for in case of need. “Under these circumstances, I left my party in camp behind Point Fowler, whilst I proceeded myself, accompanied by a native boy, to examine the country a-head, and I now only detained the Waterwitch , in the hopes that by penetrating on horseback beyond the head of the Great Bight, I might be able to give his Excellency some idea of our future prospects. “For the last twenty-four days I have been engaged in attempting to round the head of the Bight; but so difficult is the country, that I have not as yet been able to accomplish it. In my first essay I was driven back by the want of water and obliged to abandon one of my horses. This animal I subsequently recovered. “In my second attempt, I went, accompanied by one of my native boys, and a man driving a dray loaded solely with water and our provisions; but such was the dreadful nature of the country, that after penetrating to within twelve miles of the head of the Bight, I was again obliged to abandon three of our horses, a dray, and our provisions. The poor horses were so exhausted by previous fatigue and privation, that they could not return, and I was most reluctantly obliged to leave them to obtain relief for ourselves, and the two remaining horses we had with us. After reaching the nearest water, we made every effort to save the unfortunate animals we had left behind; and for seven days, myself, the man, and a boy, were incessantly and laboriously engaged almost day and night in carrying water backwards and forwards to them — feeding them with bread, gruel, etc. I regret to say that all our efforts were in vain, and that the expedition has sustained a fatal and irreparable injury in the loss of three of its best draught horses. The dray and the provisions I subsequently recovered, and on the evening of the 15th December, I rejoined my party behind Point Fowler, to prepare despatches for the Waterwitch , since the weak and unserviceable condition of nearly the whole of our remaining horses rendered any further attempt to penetrate so inhospitable a region quite impracticable for the present. In traversing the country along the coast from Streaky Bay to the limits of our present exploration, within twelve miles of the head of the Great Bight, we have found the country of a very uniform description — low flat lands, or a succession of sandy ridges, densely covered with a brush of EUCALYPTUS DUMOSA, salt water tea-tree, and other shrubs — whilst here and there appear a few isolated patches of open grassy plains, scattered at intervals among the scrub. The surface rock is invariably an oolitic limestone, mixed with an imperfect freestone, and in some places exhibits fossil banks, which bear evident marks of being of a very recent formation. “The whole of this extent of country is totally destitute of surface water — we have never met with a watercourse, or pool of any description, and all the water we have obtained since we left Streaky Bay has been by digging, generally in the large drifts of pure white sand close to the coast. This is a work frequently of much time and labour, as from the depth we have had to sink, and the looseness of the sand, the hole has often filled nearly as fast as we could clear it out; the water too thus obtained has almost always been brackish, occasionally salt. Latterly even this resource has failed us; after digging a few feet we have been impeded by rock, which gradually approaching nearer the surface towards the head of the Great Bight, at last occupies its whole extent, unless where partially concealed by sand-drifts, or low sandy ridges covered with brush. We have seen no trees or timber of any kind of larger growth than the scrub, nor have we met with the Casuarinae since we left Streaky Bay. “The natives along this coast are not very numerous; those we have met with have been timid, but friendly, and in some instances have rendered us important assistance in guiding us through the brush, and shewing us where to dig for water — their language appears to be a good deal similar to that at King George’s Sound. When questioned about the interior towards the north, they invariably assert that there is no fresh water inland; nor could we discover that they are acquainted with the existence of a large body of water of any kind in that direction. “Hitherto the reduced condition of my horses, the nature of the country, and the season of the year, have effectually prevented my examining the interior beyond a very few miles from the coast. When we have once rounded the Bight (and I confidently hope to accomplish this), the country may perhaps alter its character so far as to enable me to prosecute the main object of the expedition, that of examining the Northern Interior. Should such unfortunately not be the case, I shall endeavour to examine the line of coast as far as practicable towards King George’s Sound, occasionally radiating inland whenever circumstances may admit of it. “The very severe loss the expedition has sustained in the death of four of its best horses since leaving Adelaide in June last, added to the unfavourable season of the year, and the embarrassing nature of the country, have rendered it impossible for me to carry provisions for the whole party for a length of time sufficient to enable me to prosecute the undertaking I am engaged in with any prospect of success; whilst the wild and fearful nature of this breaker-beaten coast wholly precludes me from making use of the assistance and co-operation of the Waterwitch . I have consequently been under the necessity of reducing the strength of my already small party, and have sent two men back in the cutter; retaining only my overseer and one man, exclusive of Mr. Scott and two native boys. Upon leaving the depot at Fowler’s Bay, it is my intention to proceed with only a single dray to carry our provisions, instead of (as formerly) with two drays and a cart. “From the reduced state of our horses, it will be absolutely necessary for us to remain in depot five or six weeks to rest them. Such, however, is the dry and withered state of the little grass we have, and so destitute is it of all nutritive qualities, that I much fear that even at the expiration of this long respite from their labours, our horses will not have improved much in strength or condition. I have therefore unhesitatingly taken advantage of the very kind permission of his Excellency the Governor, to request that a supply of oats and bran may be sent to us, should his Excellency not require the services of the Waterwitch for more important employment. For ourselves we require no additional provisions, the most liberal and abundant supply we formerly received being fully sufficient to last us for six months longer. “I have much pleasure in recording the continued steadiness and good conduct of my men, and I regret extremely the necessity which has compelled me to dispense with the services of two of them before the termination of the expedition, and after they have taken so considerable a share in its labours. “I have the honor to be, Sir, “Your very obedient servant, “EDW. JOHN EYRE. “TO GEO. HALL, ESQ., PRIVATE SECRETARY, ETC.” After the departure of the cutter, our mode of life was for some time very monotonous, and our camp bore a gloomy and melancholy aspect; the loss of two men from our little band, made a sad alteration in its former cheerful character. Mr. Scott usually employed himself in shooting or fishing; one of the native boys was always out shepherding the sheep, and the only remaining man I had was occupied in attending to the horses, so that there were generally left only myself, the overseer, and one native boy at the camp, which was desolate and gloomy, as a deserted village. The overseer was pretty well employed, in making boots for the party, in shoeing the horses, repairing the harness, and in doing other little odd jobs of a similar kind; the black boys took their turns in shepherding the sheep; but I was without active employment, and felt more strongly than any of them that relaxation of body and depression of spirits, which inactivity ever produces. For a time indeed, the writing up of my journals, the filling up my charts, and superintending the arranging, packing, and burying of our surplus stores, amused and occupied me, but as these were soon over, I began to repine and fret at the life of indolence and inactivity. I was doomed to suffer. Frequently required at the camp, to give directions about, or to assist in the daily routine of duty, I did not like to absent myself long away at once; there were no objects of interest near me, within the limits of a day’s excursion on foot, and the weak state of the horses, prevented me from making any examinations of the country at a greater distance on horseback; I felt like a prisoner condemned to drag out a dull and useless existence through a given number of days or weeks, and like him too, I sighed for freedom, and looked forward with impatience, to the time when I might again enter upon more active and congenial pursuits. Fatigue, privation, disappointment, disasters, and all the various vicissitudes, incidental to a life of active exploration had occasionally, it is true, been the source of great anxiety or annoyance, but all were preferable to that oppressive feeling of listless apathy, of discontent and dissatisfaction, which resulted from the life I was now obliged to lead.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5477
__label__cc	0.604899	0.395101	Echo foundation to plant 20.000 trees on Bonaire 2 July 2017 by bes-reporter Reforestation Manager, Querijn Coolen, seen here in one of the greenhouses of the Echo project, says that the Foundation does not only sell local trees to anyone interested, but will also provide free advice as how to best treat them. Photo: The BES-Reporter. Kralendijk- The Echo Foundation at Dos Pos, close to entrance of Rincon, today held an open house to give interested parties a firsthand look at what will ultimately lead to the planting of around 20,000 trees in various locations on the island. As part of the reforestation project, mostly indigenous trees will be planted, although several non-indigenous trees will also be included. The non-indigenous species have been chosen for a number of favorable traits, such as the fact that they can grow under the dry local weather conditions and the fact that they not grow at the expense of native trees. The Echo project started back in 2010 after American Sam Williams did research on the island and most specifically on the Lora population. Williams saw the need for more trees in the island’s nature to sustain the population of local parrots. The NGO he founded has, by now, grown into full-fledged organization with four paid employees and several volunteers, both local and from abroad. The project receives the necessary funding among others from the Government of Bonaire and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. Assistance is also received from the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance (DCNA). The project is at present being led by American couple Nathan and Lauren Schmaltz, who live on the grounds of the project. A reforestation manager, a part-time nursery manager, an education assistant and a communications assistant are also employed by the Foundation. Nursery Manager Johan van Blerk seen here with tourguide Maria Koeks of Soldachi Tours, amid the many seedlings grown by the Foundation. Photo: BES-Reporter. Although the main purpose of the foundation may be to ensure an adequate habitat for the Lora population on the island, the reforestation efforts also serve a second goal: the original vegetation of the island is partly restored and will for instance prevent erosion. Species which are cultivated by Echo include the Red Saddle Tree, the Taki, the Calabash and the Wayaca. Anyone interested in the work of the Echo Foundation can get a tour of the project area every Wednesday at half past five in the afternoon. The staff and volunteers explain to visitors what the Foundation does and how the trees are grown from seeds. There are various greenhouses which can be admired on the project grounds. Filed Under: Bonaire, Nature	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5480
__label__wiki	0.665873	0.665873	... where imagination trumps reality This topic This board Entire forum Google Bing Beasts of Burden' GB Floaty GB 2019 Clear Your Workbench GB Beyond The Sprues » Modelling » Ideas & Inspiration » Engineering Dept. » The Joint Strike Fighter Program Author Topic: The Joint Strike Fighter Program (Read 9007 times) taiidantomcat Plastic Origamist...and not too shabby with the painting either! Stylishly late...because he was reading comics The Joint Strike Fighter Program from a design and engineering perspective. Why do we need another F-35 thread? First off this is not just an F-35 thread. Obviously with the X-35 winning the "Battle of the X planes" means we will have more information on the F-35 than any other JSF proposal, as its the "lone survivor" but this is also about the X-32, and other proposals that did not even make it that far. The goal is to compile information about the JSF program-- candidates, history, requirements etc. And basically create a "just the facts" resource on this program, the F-35 is going to be around for a while, and sometimes you have to memorize the script before you can ad lib the lines. This would be less about whimsical F-35 ideas (which we have a thread for see here: http://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=273.0 ) and more of a resource for more realistic whifs. For example Evan had a great post about how an F-35 two seater would look and how it would fit with the center section in order to have it work. Speaking of Evan, we have 2 people on this very forum who work/worked on the F-35 that we know of, great resources should they choose to share. This is more about the construction and composition of the aircraft themselves, rather than debates about how it should or should not be employed tactically, and how the concepts evolved or changed throughout the program including the aircraft that lead to JSF. this is about the airplanes, not the politics. If you want to argue about X vs Y vs Z there are plenty of places to do that online, and we even have one here: http://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=349.0 The F-35 is obviously controversial, its become about as civil as politics during an election year in the middle of a riot. I would really like to avoid that kind of ugliness here and generally know that we "can have nice things" again. Critism is welcome, but its uninformed, or inflammatory it will be moved. Saying things like "I think the X-32B didn't get a fair shot because X, Y, Z," thats great. If the comment is "STOVL should have never been added to the JSF" well that is not only outside the requirements of JSF-- but ignoring the history we are trying to highlight and the basic fact that the STOVL Variant was technically the start of the JSF, and hardly "added" at the end as most people think. And it far more interesting to work within the requirements rather than dismiss the requirements that one felt should have been omitted (if only life worked that way!) So something like this: and not this: The F-35 cost in cupcakes... more baking than engineering. I'm going to try and start from the start, but there i nothing wrong with jumping and skipping around through the timeline. Without further ado: Origins: Advanced Short Take-Off/Vertical Landing (ASTOVL) 1983-1994 The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) began a program in 1983 to begin looking at the technologies available to design and manufacture a follow-on supersonic replace for the AV-8 Harrier. The program, known as ASTOVL, would eventually lead become a joint U.S.-U.K. collaboration. In 1987 the results of the ASTOVL program made clear that the technologies available were not yet advanced enough to generate a replacement that the U.S. and U.K. would have been satisfied with. At this time, DARPA secretly approached the Lockheed Skunk Works in the hopes that they would be able to develop an aircraft like they had hoped would have appeared from the first phase of ASTOVL. Lockheed told DARPA that they had some ideas that could be matured and that, if they were successful would meet the goals that DARPA was trying to achieve. At the same time, DARPA continued with ASTOVL Phase II as a cover for the covert work being done at the Skunk Works. i. STOVL Strike Fighter (SSF) 1987-1994 In the late 1980s the Lockheed Skunk Works was involved in a classified, non-acknowledged program with NASA Ames that looked into the feasibility of designing a stealthy supersonic STOVL fighter. This was a cooperative program that utilized the assets of NASA (wind tunnels, personnel, super-computers, etc.) along with the expertise of the Lockheed Skunk Works in designing stealthy air vehicles. The results from this highly classified program proved that a SSF could be successfully flown. Management at the Lockheed Skunk Works was convinced that the SSF design could be sold to both the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy. (The U.S. Navy (NAVAIR) is the procuring office for Marine Corps aircraft.) The Skunk Works proposed a teaming between the USAF and the USN. The services agreed, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the services and the SSF program began to come out of the black. ii. Common Affordable Lightweight Fighter (CALF) 1993-1994 The ASTOVL/SSF concepts were originally seen as developing a replacement for the U.S. and U.K. Harrier jump-jet. As the ASTOVL/SSF concepts became multi-service with the suggestion of multiple variants, the program was re-christened as the Common Affordable Lightweight Fighter (CALF). The management of the CALF program was handed by DARPA due to the experimental nature of the concept. DARPA was also managing the ASTOVL program, which was used by the SSF program as their unclassified, white-world cover story. The CALF program's aim was to develop the technologies and concepts to support the ASTOVL aircraft for the USMC and Royal Navy (RN) and a highly-common conventional flight variant for the U.S. Air Force. Although the CALF program was organized upon a suggestion from Lockheed, the government still wanted multiple contractors involved in the program. Initially, the only two contractors involved were Lockheed and McDonnell Douglas. Boeing later approached DARPA and offered to meet DARPA's financial contribution if they were allowed onto the program. Under the auspices of the CALF program, The CALF program has also been called the Joint Attack Fighter (JAF). Multi-Role Fighter (MRF) 1990-1993 The U.S. Air Force’s MRF program began in 1991 as a relatively low-cost F-16 replacement. Similar in size to the F-16, the MRF was to have been a single-seat / single-engine aircraft, with a unit flyaway cost in the range of $35 to $50 million. The MRF Program was managed by the Aeronautical Systems Center (ASC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. ASC hosted a planning meeting with industry in October 1991, and issued a Request For Information (RFI) with responses due in January 1992. The major U.S. aircraft manufacturers began to conduct concept and design studies for the MRF at their own expense. A formal program start was expected around 1994. The MRF was expected to replace a large number of F-16s reaching the end of service life. The MRF might also have replaced Air Force A-10s and Navy F/A-18C/Ds. Therefore, providing large numbers of aircraft affordably was a higher priority for the MRF Program than any specific capability enhancements. However, the post-Cold War defense drawdown made the F-16 service life situation considerably less critical. A reduction in the total number of U.S. Air Force fighter wings meant that the existing aircraft would not be replaced one-for-one. Furthermore, F-16 aircraft flying hours were reduced, allowing F-16s to remain in service longer than originally projected. In August 1992, the MRF program was effectively put on hold. Due to budget pressures and the Air Force’s commitment to the F/A-22 program, sufficient funding for a new program start did not appear likely until around 2000. Until then, it was expected that MRF activity would proceed at a low level. Meanwhile, the Air Force intended to continue production of Block 50 F-16s. By early 1993, however, the MRF’s projected IOC had slipped to 2015. Shortly thereafter, the BUR canceled the MRF Program. Advanced Tactical Aircraft (ATA) 1983-1991 The U.S. Navy Advanced Tactical Aircraft (ATA) program began in 1983 as a proposed long range, very low observable, high payload medium-attack aircraft to replace the Grumman A-6 in the carrier-based, medium-attack role. On January 13, 1988 the McDonnell Douglas and General Dynamics team was selected over a Northrop team to develop the ATA. Designated the A-12 Avenger II, the unique flying wing design was to be a long-range, subsonic aircraft with a large internal weapons load including air-to-surface and air-to-air weapons. Following the disclosure of severe cost and schedule overruns and technical problems in late 1990, the A-12 program was canceled on 7 January 1991. Naval Advanced Tactical Fighter (NATF) 1990-1991 Due to Congressional intervention, the U.S. Navy agreed to evaluate a navalized version of the U.S. Air Force's Advanced Tactical Fighter (now the F/A-22) as a possible replacement for their F-14s. In return, the U.S. Air Force would evaluate a derivative of the ATA as a replacement for their F-111s. In late 1988, a Naval ATF (NATF) program office was set up at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the existing ATF Dem/Val contracts were modified to include studies of potential NATF variants. The Major Aircraft Review reduced the peak production rates of both the ATF and NATF. This had the effect of substantially increasing the program cost. In August 1990, Admiral Richard Dunleavy, who was in charge of Navy aircraft requirements, stated that he did not see how the NATF could fit into any affordable plan for naval aviation. In early 1991, before the final contractor for the ATF was even selected, the consideration of the NATF was dropped. This was mainly due to the fact that the Navy realized that a series of upgrades to their existing F-14's could meet the Navy's air superiority needs through 2015. Advanced-Attack/Advanced/Fighter-Attack (A-X/A/F-X) 1992-1993 In January 1991, with the cancellation of the ATA and the NATF, the Secretary of the Navy directed that planning commence for a new A-6 replacement program. This new program became the known as the A-X, an advanced, “high-end,” carrier-based multi-mission aircraft with day/night/all-weather capability, low observables, long range, two engines, two-crew, and advanced, integrated avionics and countermeasures. The Air Force participated in this new program from its initiation, still seeking a replacement for the F-111 and, in the longer term, the F-15E and F-117A. Contracts of $20M each were awarded to five contractor teams on 30 December 1991 (prime contractor listed first): Grumman/Lockheed/Boeing Lockheed/Boeing/General Dynamics McDonnell Douglas/Vought Rockwell/Lockheed General Dynamics/McDonnell Douglas/Northrop The original A-X / A/F-X CE/D work was due to be completed in September 1992. A solicitation for Demonstration/Validation (Dem/Val) proposals was expected in late 1992, leading to a Dem/Val start in 1994 and EMD in 1996. Under the Navy’s original plan, the short Dem/Val phase would consist of design refinements and other risk reduction activities, but would not include flying prototypes. However, in late 1992 Congress directed that the A-X Dem/Val phase also include competitive prototyping. This increased the projected duration of the Dem/Val phase from two to five years. Concurrently, as a result of the termination of the NATF in 1991, increased air-to-air requirements were added to the A-X, prompting a change in the name of the Program from Advanced Attack (A-X) to Advanced Attack/Fighter (A/F-X). The existing A-X CE/D contracts were extended to reflect a revised Dem/Val strategy to accommodate flying prototypes. The expected IOC date of the A/F-X slipped from 2006 to 2008. A Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) Milestone I Review of the A/F-X Program was expected in Spring 1993; however, the BUR placed the A/F-X program on hold pending the outcome of the report. An Milestone I DAB for the A/F-X never took place. On 1 September 1993, the release of the BUR announced the cancellation of the A/F-X as well as the MRF. As a result of the BUR, A/F-X efforts during the latter half of 1993 were directed toward closing out the program and transitioning applicable experience and results to the upcoming JAST program. A core of A/F-X personnel performed a large portion of the working-level planning and definition of the emerging JAST Program. The A/F-X CE/D contracts were extended a second time, through 17 December 1993, to allow the contractors sufficient time to bring their activities to a logical conclusion. All A/F-X program operations ended on 31 December 1993. http://www.jsf.mil/history/his_prejast.htm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-cfy-k_8ew This is an hour and a half, but does a wonderful job explaining the JSF origins and the Battle of the X-planes. I would consider it a must listen (and luckily it works well in the background at the work bench) has tons of explanation and inside info and funny/interesting anecdotes from a Skunk Works Engineer and designer of the the Shaft Driven Lift Fan featured on the X-35/F-35, Paul Bevilaqua. article from the Baltimore Sun: 3 approaches to the Joint Strike Fighter Lockheed Martin, Boeing, McDonnell Douglas have various ideas on warplane October 20, 1996\|BY A SUN STAFF WRITER Three aerospace giants are competing to build the Joint Strike Fighter, a next-generation warplane that not only could be used by the Air Force but could fly from aircraft carriers for the Navy and land and take off vertically for the Marines and the British Royal Navy. Lockheed Martin Corp. of Bethesda, McDonnell Douglas Corp. of St. Louis and Boeing Co. of Seattle have all fielded entries in the competition, and sometime in the middle of next month the government will tell two of them to build prototypes. The final winner should be selected in 2000. Each company took a different approach. Lockheed conservatism Lockheed Martin created its Joint Strike Fighter by borrowing from its design for the F-22, which is a stealthy air superiority fighter that will replace the F-15. Though experts have labeled the resulting Joint Strike Fighter proposal as "middle of the road," Lockheed Martin defends it as a conservative entry in a program that mandated low risk and conservatism. David Wheaton, corporate vice president and Joint Strike Fighter program manager, said the design team did not set out to stick with what worked on the F-22. It went through hundreds of possibilities, he said, before finally agreeing that an F-22-type approach worked best. "We could have made a much more exotic-looking airplane," he said, "but it wouldn't have been nearly as balanced." Its performance, the company claims, matches or exceeds that of Lockheed Martin's biggest project -- the F-16. Its sloping sides, canted vertical tails, sawtoothed bay doors and serpentine inlet duct contribute to the plane's stealthiness. For the vertical takeoff and landing component, Lockheed Martin is proposing a big lift fan in the center of the plane that would be driven by a shaft and clutch from the main engine. The fan puts out cool air, which solves the common vertical takeoff problem of hot exhaust being drawn back into the engine and causing it to overheat. On Air Force versions of the plane, the fan would be replaced by a fuel tank. Lockheed Martin has tested the lift fan extensively, and built a scale prototype of the plane that has undergone thousands of hours of wind tunnel work. McDonnell Douglas approach McDonnell Douglas is leading an all-star team with Northrop Grumman and British Aerospace, but the three were slow to settle on a design for their Joint Strike Fighter. After quibbling over propulsion for a while, they settled on a configuration in the middle of last year -- long after the other two teams had begun testing their designs. And it is not a risk-free proposal. McDonnell Douglas has taken two gutsy steps: First, it proposes a design that does not have a vertical tail. That makes the plane much more stealthy, but less stable than a traditional plane. The pilot would use vectored thrust to make up for the lack of a tail. Second, McDonnell Douglas' team proposes using a separate engine for vertical lift. Designers point out that if the main engine somehow failed or were shot out, a pilot could theoretically limp home on the secondary engine. But for a vertical landing, that secondary engine would have to start up reliably after sitting idle and cold during the plane's flight. The Marines rejected such a configuration during an earlier research project. The McDonnell Douglas entry is probably the stealthiest of the three, most analysts agree. And, according to trade writer Bill Sweetman, the more controversial aspects of the plane are "not inherently any more risky" than the other teams' planes. It's more a matter of selling the military on a different way of doing things. Boeing's aggressive method Boeing took an aggressive approach to what otherwise could have been a stately competition between a pair of stalwarts, Lockheed Martin and McDonnell Douglas. Drawing on its vast experience building commercial planes, Boeing fielded a design that looks radically different. The plane has four basic components, the most noticeable being a big, single-piece delta wing. The dual canted tail, the cockpit and the fuselage underneath complete what is by far the simplest overall configuration in the contest. Boeing claims almost 90 percent commonality for its design, meaning that only 10 percent of the plane must be modified to satisfy the various military services. For vertical takeoff and landing, Boeing again took a simpler approach, eschewing any kind of secondary engine or fan and relying on the main propulsion system. Ducts and nozzles direct main engine thrust under the plane to lift it. There has been some difficulty getting enough thrust out of the engine to lift the plane this way, but company officials say they can lick the problem. It is the smallest and lightest of the three planes -- so small that it would not have to fold its wing to fit in the cramped space of a British aircraft carrier. The other two planes would. Like Lockheed Martin, Boeing has subjected its design to extensive testing. « Last Edit: May 06, 2016, 09:49:23 PM by taiidantomcat » "They know you can do anything, So the question is, what don't you do?" -David Fincher GTX_Admin Evil Administrator bent on taking over the Universe! Administrator - Yep, I'm the one to blame for this place. Whiffing Demi-God! Re: The Joint Strike Fighter Program Something to assist people understand how an F-35 is made (if you click on the image, it expands): You can also see a lot of interesting photos if you do a google Image search on "F-35 production" « Last Edit: May 07, 2016, 02:24:06 AM by GTX_Admin » All hail the God of Frustration!!! A couple of hopefully interesting presentations available here: www.dtic.mil/ndia/2004guns/wed/maher.ppt http://www.dtic.mil/ndia/2010armament/TuesdayLandmarkADougHayward.pdf Skyhawk stealer and violator of Panthers, with designs on a Cougar and a Tiger too Chaos Engineer & Evangelistic Agnostic THE F-35 IS RUBBISH!!! Sorry, just kidding... That Baltimore Sun article has a curious analysis. I would have said the Boeing approach was the most conservative, since diverting the fan thrust of a linear engine is conceptually similar to the Harrier. McDonnell Douglas's initial approach, with the gas-driven fan, was the most radical, since I don't know of anything like that ever being proposed before, while their final lift+lift/cruise proposal was almost as conservative as Boeing's in that such a configuration has been flown in service by the Russians, proposed many times in the past and therefore extensively studied and well understood. Lockheed Martin's shaft-driven fan was somewhere in the middle (literally and conceptually... ) With hindsight, do you think it was a mistake to merge the F-16 replacement, A-6 replacement and Harrier replacement into the same program? Would it have been easier to build two or three different aircraft for the four different customers (USAF, USN, US Marines and RN), or would the reduced orders and market for the STOVL version have made it too vulnerable to cancellation? "I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others" - Thucydides "I've jazzed mine up a bit" - Spike Milligan "I'm a general specialist," - Harry Purvis in Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke Twitter: @hws5mp Minds.com: @HaroldWeaverSmith Turn that Gila-copter down! The Ryan XV-5 used gas-driven lift-fans, and the Avrocar lift/flight fan was also gas-driven. "Evil our grandsires were, our fathers worse; And we, till now unmatched in ill, Must leave successors more corrupted still." Horace, 65BC - 8BC. Marsh translation. elmayerle Its about time there was an Avatar shown here... Über Engineer...at least that is what he tells us. Quote from: jcf on May 07, 2016, 04:40:04 AM And neither was particularly successful. I wish McDD had gone to shaft-driven fan when gas-driven didn't pan out; their aerodynamics are/were better than Boeing's (I know the aero folk at Fort Worth considered them the far more dangerous competitors); too, separate lift+lift/cruise engines violated the terms of the competition and cost them a chance. « Last Edit: May 07, 2016, 11:28:58 AM by elmayerle » Volkodav Counts rivits with his abacus... Much older now...but procrastinating about it Quote from: Weaver on May 07, 2016, 03:18:44 AM Well technically the F/A-18F has panned out as the A-6 replacement and in Australia the F-111 replacement while the F-35C will replace the USNs and some Marine Classic Hornets while the B will replace the remaining USMC Classics as well as their AV-8B and B+ fleets. Quote from: elmayerle on May 07, 2016, 11:19:37 AM Why didn't gas-driven pan out? On the face of it, I find the idea of diverting lightweight gas through fixed pipes much more attractive than driving 40,000hp through a clutch, a shaft and a 90 deg gearbox. Quote from: Volkodav on May 07, 2016, 08:04:36 PM Okay, but what replaces what is not quite what I'm getting at. Let me put it another way: The F-35A is land-based CTOL, the F-35B is STOVL and the F-35C is carrier-based CTOL, but they're all based on the same airframe. To what extent is each type compromised in it's role by the need to build the other types from the same basic airframe, and to what extent are the capabilities of the whole programme compromised by the need to repalce so many different types? In other words, would the F-35 be a better F-16/F-18 replacement if it wasn't also trying to be an AV-8B replacement and an A-10 replacement all in the same basic airframe, and vice-versa? kitnut617 Measures the actual aircraft before modelling it...we have the photographic evidence. I'd rather be dirtbike riding Quote from: Weaver on May 07, 2016, 08:33:51 PM Not wanting to be a JMN, but I thought that when the engine is driving the fan, it is never in after-burner mode ---- happy to be corrected of course -- Primarily the inefficiencies of the system, especially when scaled up from test rigs (same thing happened with the augmented wing on the XFV-12A). Between duct losses and inefficiencies of the drive turbines, you lose way too much energy. Quote from: kitnut617 on May 07, 2016, 09:29:03 PM Extra thrust for hovering But, for hovering, the F-35B can rely on 40,000 pounds of thrust without having to use reheat. The F135's full-authority digital engine control (FADEC) software runs the engine at a higher temperature for hover flight than it does during conventional flight, producing more "dry" thrust than the engine normally develops without activating its afterburner. "We de-rate for CTOL (conventional take-off and landing)" operations, explained Dan Tennant, Pratt & Whitney's F135 system demonstration and development program manager. When the F-35B is hovering, all 40,000 pounds of thrust is directed downwards, not backwards. It also can be directed anywhere in between, and even slightly forwards, said Tennant. - See more at: http://www.space.com/4778-supersonic-hover-35-flies.html#sthash.lxxO3a44.dpuf I'm going to keep trying to find articles from way back when, because they are certainly interesting. You are right though. Bevilaqua points out that the Boeing approach to STOVL Direct lift, got them selected basically because they pointed out the Harrier is the most successful (at the time only, I'm including the V-22 now) STOVL aircraft and it used direct lift. Very funny anecdote here actually: https://youtu.be/u-cfy-k_8ew?t=47m22s McAir basically gambled that the STOVL design wouldn't be weighed as heavily as it was, even though I think they were warned the government would not accept it. Let me put it another way: The F-35A is land-based CTOL, the F-35B is STOVL and the F-35C is carrier-based CTOL, but they're all based on the same airframe. To what extent is each type compromised in it's role by the need to build the other types from the same basic airframe, and to what extent are the capabilities of the whole programme compromised by the need to repalce so many different types? I think this thread is going to explore that. The JSF and compromised seem to go hand and hand but is there anything to it? and can we look at other programs as examples? First stand by for a "Stream of consciousnesses" post that hopefully doesn't get too muddled. I am looking at this first from an engineering perspective, I will save the political decisions and needs for another time. An extreme example: is the F-22 compromised by its inability to carry paratroops? We would probably say no since that was not one of its goals, and early on we knew that this would not be a cargo aircraft, so the inability to carry cargo does not compromise its mission. So how "compromised" something is IMHO has a lot to do with the goals/requirements of the weapon systems. TFX struggle because the mission sets simply differed too much. When the original F/A-18 came out it was widely panned because it couldn't carry the bomb load the distance that the A-7 it was replacing in the attack role could, Nor could it fly as fast as the F-4 it was replacing in the fighter role. It was critisized for being a jack of all trades master of none. It was slower, and couldn't carry the bombs as far. It was a "mix" a multirole aircraft that replaced multiple types (including the A-6 with the Marine Corps). How did it work out? I would say it was a success. If the mission was not attack/fighter though, it the mission was "high altitude recon" merged with "low level attack" it could not be done. TFX was penetrating striker, merged with interceptor, Which then changed with "need for dogfighter" too. I had also heard an anecdotal that said McNamara was allergic to spending any kind of money on it, including cases where a little more cash would have made it more feasible, but he constantly jumped on the cheap solution only and it simply could not be overcome, along with lessons learned in vietnam (it simply couldn't be a missile plunking fleet defender now) The A-10 replaced the A-7/F-100 (which was being supplanted by A-7), A-37, and A-1 skyraider. So the A-10 replaced multiple types, its original 1966 CAS mission was changed to prep for killing tanks in europe and it was built around a huge anti armor gun. It was deliberately made simple, with many basic things (for example a Inertial navigation system) left of, thus it was primitive than what it replaced in some cases (especially the A-7) I'll let former A-37, A-7 and F-16 pilot say it better: The Sluf armament system used a very primitive computer and the inertial platform data and basic ballistics data for bombs to provide extremely accurate bombs. Oh yeah, a real HUD from Marconi. The Hog would only have had to used a simple range radar to enable a computer to provide the bomb impact dot on the HUD, but not requiring a cosmic radar like the Sluf had ( we had terrain following and terrain avoidance and two ground map modes and a beacon mode and bomb delivery mode that provided the computer with slant range). It is no wonder why we Sluf folks laughed and laughed when we saw what USAF was selling to Congress just to get the plane funded and stop the Army Cheyenne. Of course, the plane was being developed to fight in 'nam, and that war was ending. The big cannon was about the only thing that we did not already have, plus the stupid weather requirements that only a helicopter could meet.... - We A-37 and A-7D folks understood the new plane would basically be a jet-powered A-1, and would supplement the A-7D. We knew the A-37 would never see combat again after 'nam except for a COIN scenario. The emphasis was upon CAS and CSAR and such, with a bit of BAI thrown in. Thinking and actual force build up at the time was the A-7D replacing the F-100 and supplementing the F-4 for interdiction. And the SLUF was very good at CAS. The only two planes with in-country FAC ratings of 15 meter CEP were the SLUF and Dragonfly. We have the 7th AF Corona Harvest documents to back up my assertion. - Somewhere along the way the Cheyenne popped up and USAF was afraid of losing the CAS mission. Then there was the Fulda Gap. And if I was writing a book, I would call it "How a valley in Europe designed a (not so) modern warplane". The gun came along after the initial RFI and maybe even RFP. And let's face it, the rounds were lots cheaper than Mavericks. Even so, the A-10 was a decent shooter once we got the IIR missile, as tgt acquisition was a bear with the EO version even with scene mag. The Pave Penny sensor also let the grunts designate the tanks, so acquisition was easier ( but nearly as good as slaving the seeker with fairly cheap avionics) - We attack folks wanted both the A-X and the A-7D. The LWF program was just gaining traction, but we all thot it would mainly complement the Eagle and have a limited A2G capability to supplement the F-4, A-7 and A-X. F-100 wings would be replaced by A-X or A-7D. Maybe an F-4 wing would go, and all the Thud outfits were moving to Guard and Reserve. Congress wanted as cheap an airplane as they could get, and USAF sold the A-X as not needing computers or high-tech stuff to do the job. My editorial back in 1974 made this clear and I was harshly reprimanded for saying so. Interestingly, my CO and wing DO saw the letter before I mailed it and had no qualms. As a result, we had a significant period of reduced A2G capability in the late 70's and early 80's until the Viper came onboard in numbers, and we should all thank God the plane was such a great design. - And then there was the significant drawdown after 'nam. We were equipping Guard units with the A-7D as early as 1973, and we stopped the A-7D fleet at three active duty wings. The stateside units and those in USAFE remained pretty much in place, so it was all those bases in 'nam and Thailand that bit the bullet. For example, the F-100 wing out of Tuy Hoa, I think, was moved to England AFB and then converted to the A-7D. Myrtle Beach was same. And Davis-Montham. Cannon absorbed 'vaarks... ...So we see what we needed for the Vietnam scenario and realize that the Hun, Thud and Double Ugly ain't gonna hack it for CAS and BAI. Talking about 1969 or 1970. The A-1 and the A-37 did super work in that environment from mid 60's to early 70's. To get the A-10 we had to "dis" the A-7 and admit the Hun and 'vaark and Thud were not well-suited for CAS. We also had to move from piston motors to jets, so the A-1 was off the table. The A-37 was off the table because it was a superb COIN plane but could not meet the new requirements that included tank-busting and large payload. The A-7D was so gold-plated that the Viper did not come close until the late 80's. It ( the Viper) had great A2A capability and a decent ground map radar and such. Sweet. But USAF CAS mafia had sold Congress the AX, and contrary to some here it was not a single mission jet. It would replace the F-100, the F-111, the F-105, the A-1, the A-37 and the A-7D. So we Sluf folks asked, "what about interdiction"? Also asked about precision weapon system and a hundred knots extra speed. Oh yeah, what about a computed weapon delivery system and both an INS and a Doppler nav system and a ground map radar and an autopilot and a projected map display and.... No matter. They said the A-10 would be cheap, simple, and we could have many of them Is the A-10 compromised? Is its world famous gun a part of what compromised it from being more versatile, or faster? etc? would it have been better served with a radar like the A-7? Are all CVN aircraft inherently compromised by heavy structure needed to land on ship with cats and traps? A Super Hornet weighs as much as an F-15 for example. You can look at Rafale, which replaces no less than 6 aircraft types with the French Air Force. including two carrier types, thus requiring Carrier capability in the original design from the outset. Is the Rafale thus compromised? But its part of a larger trend of multi-role aircraft taking over not just one type, but many. So from engineering stand point, is the F-35 compromised to the point it can't do its mission? I would say no. but lets look deeper, how did STOVL requirements shape the F-35? how did it shape other JSF competitors? STOVL knocked out the McD design we know that. X-35, F-35 has the following considerations: Forward hinging Canopy, Dual Intakes like the F-22-- rather than say the F-16, Wingspan dictated by the requirement to fit 6 on the back of an L-class ship. Weight constraints, though I would argue that is not a bad thing-- the SWAT effort made lighter F-35As by 3,000 lbs and had helpful savings on the F-35C as well. However it did drive up the cost, and delayed the program by 18 months: http://www.airspacemag.com/military-aviation/weight-watchers-13117183/?no-ist The original manufacturing plan saved money, but not weight. I think the aircraft being a LO shape had more impact than STOVL in terms of aerodynamics. That just my opinion. The goal with ASTOVL and the USMC, was making a hovering F-18. when they were merged into CALF with the USAF the USMC basically deferred to the USAF so long as it hovered, and the USMC and USAF goals were very aligned. Both the USMC and USAF were fine for example with a 1,000 lb bomb load. the USAF was looking for a multi role F-16 replacement, the USMC multi role F-18 replacement with the ability to do STOVL. both favored single engine, both favored lighter as opposed to more advanced hi-end design etc. BF-1 just did its 1,000th VL, so I would say the propulsion system is damned good, and presuming the propulsion system is good I think its actually trickier in this case to meet the USN goals, the F-35C is the most "different" of all the variants I believe. The next post can be about the politics, but to keep it simple, I would say that there was absolutely no way the USMC/RN could have ever been able to independently procure an advanced STOVL airplane by themselves, and even under the large JSF umbrella it was the version that most people suggested ending, most often including the RN being forced by politicos to briefly go to the C, before going back to the B. So I don't think it could have ever happened if it wasn't merged with other aircraft, but having said that the STOVL version of JSF benefits massively from the other variants in terms of advanced capability. There is simply no way the USMC or RN were ever going to get a jet (especially STOVL) that advanced all by themselves. Whats funny is there seems to be a much bigger market for the STOVL variant (turkey just announced its buying F-35Bs) than there ever was the F-35C. So I would say that 1. There is a historical precedent set for replacing multiple types with a single type with success all over the globe 2. I would say that the missions of the JSF across the services and partner nations are aligned and that the main differences with the JSF variants are how they take off and land « Last Edit: May 08, 2016, 12:50:36 AM by taiidantomcat » Quote from: taiidantomcat on May 07, 2016, 11:28:39 PM It's as I thought, it's none afterburning while in hover mode, it's a 20,000 lb thrust engine, with 20,000 lb coming from the lift fan. Harold's comment of 40,000 hp going to the drive shaft threw me off (Roll Royce equates 1 lb of thrust as about 1 hp) My McDonnell Douglas Harrier Alternative idea has a similar set-up, only when in forward flight it has 45,000lb of 'dry' thrust, just like thousands of engines already being used everyday today. That's based on a 20,000lb dry thrust hot core and 25,000 thrust of cold air. It would be classed as a low-bypass turbofan I supposed, about 1:2.3 « Last Edit: May 08, 2016, 01:12:57 AM by kitnut617 » Re the question of "compromise" let me just say that any design (even when people make outlandish claims such as "not a pound for Air-to-ground") is a result of compromises. Anyone who says otherwise is lying!	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5482
__label__cc	0.715474	0.284526	Danny Kirwan, 1950-2018 It is safe to say that the majority of Fleetwood Mac fans can be divided into two groups- those that favor the original Peter Green line-up and those that prefer the hitmaking Buckingham/Nicks machine. It is the rare bird who cites everything in between as their Fleetwood Mac music of choice. Sadly, there are many, I am sure, who simply do not know Fleetwood Mac music exists before "Rhiannon." With the loss of the great Danny Kirwan, there is no better time to discover his brilliant contributions to the band. 1969's "Then Play On" is a masterwork. While it would be irresponsible to credit only Kirwan for the giant leap in sound and style from the previous record, 1968's "Mr. Wonderful" it would be just as irresponsible to say that the wholly unique style and attack of "Then Play On" would have happened without Kirwan. I can't say enough about the music found on this record. There is nothing like it. I've always felt that the Bob Welch years deserved more credit, but once Danny Kirwan left the band, the output becomes increasingly more difficult to stand behind. It was Danny Kirwan making the beautiful music that makes these "lost" records worth everyone's time. For some reason, the Peter Green years of FM have eluded me and, admittedly, I need to rectify that. The albums in between that time and Buckingham Nicks FM was absolutely my favorite FM stretch. Bare Trees is one of my all-time favorite records. jmsafree said... Very sad news. Then Play On, Kiln House, Future Games and Bare Trees are still my favorite FM records. Danny also had some nice cuts on the Chicago Blues cd volume 2. I have his Second Chapter record too. His other records are out of print and ridiculously expensive. His life seemed to be filled with serious challenges. Very much a tragic situation. RIP Danny. Kiln House was my intro to Fleetwood Mac; it and Bare Trees are probably the Mac albums I've played the most. Kirwan's story has always saddened me - he seemed a little out of place among a bunch of hard partying musicians. His particular brand of Englishness made the Mac special. Some of the best songs on the albums of that period--especially on "Bare Trees" and "Future Games"--were Kirwan's, and they still sound great. My first exposure to FM live was the Bare Trees tour and they were very, very good live. I love the Peter Green years best but I have liked every version of the band though Bob Welch didn't really do it for me. He was okay but not more in my opinion. If Danny Kirwin could have held it together maybe that version of The Mac would have been very successful eventually. Heck Jeremy Spencer was just coming into his own when he walked away. Captain Al ken49 said... Wholeheartedly agree. Then Play On and Bare Trees are my favorites. Child of Mine just rocks. "Kiln House", by way of a Warner Bros Loss Leader was my introduction. I loved it so much I bought "Bare Trees", which I liked a lot, especially the title tune, and went on to be violently disappointed by "Future Games", "Penguin", and "Mystery To Me". At the time, I'd never heard of Peter Green. I bought "Then Play On", which floored me, because of Danny's presence. I still have all those records, and when I made a FM Weekend Mix for Burning Wood I tried to find something to like about those middle period albums, and I couldn't, except for "Hypnotized". I'm fine with The Buckingham Nicks edition. I'm glad they met with success after so many difficult years. Here is a link to "Then Play More", my Weekend Mix featuring Danny, Peter, Jeremy, Mick, and John. http://www.mediafire.com/file/d6x6gc6qeo3nau6/then+play+more.zip Wow, that "Sunny Side Of Heaven" had completely eluded my notice. I have it, but had never noticed what an amazing song it is... thanks for pointing that out. Yes - not only was Kirwan a big part of the most actually perfect Mac album (Then Play On), he also played key licks on "Albatross," and then there's "Future Games." A mighty legacy. And thank for the Mac mix, BBJ! Does it have artwork too? Michael Giltz said... Thanks again Sal for turning me on to pre-Buckingham/Nicks Fleetwood Mac. "Then Play On" is a masterpiece and kind of mind-blowing. To me it feels like a missing link to all those American bands like Allman Brothers et al. Yes. "Then Play More" by Pete's Big Mac has artwork and includes "Sunny Side Of Heaven". Thanks BBJ	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5486
__label__wiki	0.672519	0.672519	"Asian women don't get breast cancer." False. They do. In fact, it's one of the leading causes of death for Asian women in the U.S. Contrary to a pervasive, popular perception among medical professionals, Asian women get breast cancer. In fact, it's one of the leading causes of death among Asian women in the United States (and Asia), who actually face unique cultural, linguistic and genetic issues pertaining to breast cancer. The National Asian Breast Cancer Initiative is a recently established not-for-profit pilot project currently spearheaded by Privy Groupe, fiscally managed by the Asian Pacific Community Fund and endorsed by the Asian and Pacific Islander National Cancer Survivors Network. NABCI is a national initiative to address the unique cultural, linguistic and genetic challenges that Asian women face related to breast cancer. During the month of October, NABCI has entitled this campaign "Asian women don't get breast cancer" in honor of breast cancer activist Susan Shinagawa -- and for the express purpose is dispelling this fallacy: In 1991, Susan noticed a lump in her breast during her monthly self-exam. Her mammogram came out negative, but a sonogram revealed that the lump was a solid mass. Two doctors in different states diagnosed Susan with fibrocystic breast disease--lumpy breasts--and both initially refused to do a biopsy because, "Asian women don't get breast cancer." After the biopsy, Susan was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer and opted for a modified radical mastectomy of her right breast and six months of chemotherapy. Ten years later, a routine mammogram revealed that Susan had an unrelated breast cancer in her left breast, for which she underwent a second mastectomy. Susan is still in active treatment and has become one of the nation’s leading Asian breast cancer activists. Susan helped co-found the Asian & Pacific Islander National Cancer Survivors Network (APINCSN), which is a partner of NABCI. To this day, Susan still meets Asian women (mostly young) diagnosed with breast cancer who were initially told by their healthcare providers that “Asian women don’t get breast cancer.” Seriously, there is currently no national organization or project that addresses breast cancer among Asian Pacific Islanders. What's up with that? NABCI is a startup initiative, so they're still raising funds to get off the ground. For further information, or to make a donation, go to the YouCaring.com campaign. You can also follow updates on the NABCI Facebook page. FILE UNDER: breast cancer, cancer, donate, nabci, women	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5490
__label__wiki	0.942915	0.942915	BBA 2019 short list interviews publishers info HBWC 2019 winning stories rules, judges, prizes starter paragraph Home BBA HBWC BBA Past Winners CLPE Teachers' Notes Endorsements Background Financial Contact Links Press Muhammad Khan and editor Lucy Pearce of Macmillan Children's Books have won the 2019 Branford Boase Award for I Am Thunder. Winning author Muhammad Khan and his editor Lucy Pearce. The winner of the 2019 Branford Boase Award for outstanding debut novel for children is Muhammad Khan for his YA novel I Am Thunder. I Am Thunder chronicles the radicalisation of a young Muslim girl growing up in London, the choices she is presented with, and how she develops the confidence to make her own decisions. Muhammad Khan was prompted to write the book by the news that three Bethnal Green schoolgirls had flown to Syria to join the Islamic State group. Mitch Johnson, last year’s Branford Boase Award winner says of the book: “The sensitivity with which Khan handles such a volatile and emotive subject is astounding, and his ability to create a story that is both gripping and tender is hugely impressive.” Like his character Muzna, Muhammad Khan grew up in South London, and his parents are first generation immigrants from Pakistan. Like her, he always knew he wanted to be a writer, though his family were determined he should be an engineer. But he says that Muzna is primarily based on his young students. In fact: “virtually every character in the book has a real-life counterpart”. With only 4% of all the children’s books published in the UK last year featuring a black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) character*, Muhammad was determined to give his students a voice through his character. Muzna’s life as a young Muslim woman is vividly described, while her teenage experience is something that everyone will relate to, whatever their background. Judge Sanchita Basu de Sarkar of the Children’s Bookshop Muswell Hill says: “Khan's acute portrayal of Muzna captures both the joy and turbulence of being a teenage girl. His dialogue is fresh, and funny, and keeps the story zipping along, even when the characters are filled with uncertainty. The balance of culture, religion, and following one's heart have rarely been depicted with such nuance.” Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the Branford Boase Award was set up in memory of outstanding author Henrietta Branford and her editor Wendy Boase of Walker Books, who both died in 1999, and is unique in honouring editor as well as author. It is regarded as one of the most important children’s book awards, thanks to its impressive record in identifying authors with special talent at the start of their careers: previous winners include Frances Hardinge, Marcus Sedgwick, Meg Rosoff and Mal Peet. On a shortlist that celebrates vibrant new voices and original stories, the Branford Boase Award judges were full of admiration for Muhammad Khan’s ability to create convincing characters, and for the way he combines politics, identity and a universal coming of age narrative. Indeed, they agreed that he doesn’t put a foot wrong in the telling of his story. Mitch Johnson, a judge for the 2019 award said: “I Am Thunder is a bold, brave, and brilliant debut. There were many things that enthralled me but what really struck me was the voice of the main character – and the voices of those surrounding her. These are genuine, carefully referenced and portrayed characters with life, soul and authenticity and Muzna herself is sympathetic, frustrating, honest and fierce. I believed in her and her story from the first page and through her Muhammad Khan weaves a scarily believable and exciting story.” ·· On winning the award Khan said: “I am absolutely thrilled and humbled by the news that·I am Thunder has·won the prestigious Branford Boase Award. It’s a real pinch-yourself moment! The competition was tremendous, each book magnificent in its own right. Lucy Pearse worked tirelessly and with passion to help me polish I Am Thunder so it’s especially nice to share this incredible accolade with her. Thank you!” Chair of the judges, Julia Eccleshare, children’s director Hay Festival, said, “2019 is the 20th anniversary of the Branford Boase Award. It has celebrated wonderful books and authors over the years, and we are very proud of all that it has achieved in highlighting new writers and the editors who help them develop their potential. We’re delighted that I Am Thunder has won this year. Muhammad Khan is giving voice to those we haven’t heard from enough and his story will ring true with readers of any background. As demonstrated so brilliantly in her book Fire, Bed and Bone, Henrietta Branford also gave voice to those whose stories need to be told, and was happy to pose questions about politics and society in thrilling adventure stories. We look forward to reading more by Muhammad, and all the writers on this shortlist, and to twenty more years celebrating the exciting new talent in children’s books.” Winning editor Lucy Pearse said: 'It was a real honour to see·I Am Thunder·included on this incredible shortlist, and a complete pinch-yourself moment for it to be selected as the winner.· Muhammad deserves this award so much – it is a brave and important book and he has worked enormously hard – and I feel privileged to have been part of its publishing story. Each book on this shortlist is a spectacular achievement and I feel very lucky to be working among such talented authors and editors.' This year the judges are Sanchita Basu De Sarkar of the Children’s Bookshop, Muswell Hill; Ellen Krajewski, librarian at Hemel Hempstead School, Hertfordshire; Louise Johns-Shepherd, chief executive of CLPE ; and Mitch Johnson, author of Kick, winner of the 2018 Branford Boase Award. The panel is chaired by Julia Eccleshare, children’s director of the Hay Festival. The 2019 winners of the Award were announced on Thursday 27 June at a ceremony at Walker Books in London which was attended by previous winners including Kevin Brooks, Annabel Pitcher, Marcus Sedgwick, M.G. Leonard, Dave Shelton, and Lucy Christopher. Mitch Johnson presented Muhammad Khan with a cheque for £1,000 and Muhammad and Lucy Pearse both received a unique, hand-crafted silver-inlaid box. MORE ABOUT THE 2019 WINNERS BBA winning author Muhammad Khan and his editor Lucy Pearse with last year's winning author Mitch Johnson. Born in Balham, Muhammad Khan studied engineering, but then trained as a teacher. ·After publication of I Am Thunder in 2018, he studied for an MA in Creative Writing at St Mary’s University, Twickenham. He is now teaching maths at a secondary school in Sutton. His second novel, Kick the Moon, was published in January 2019. Lucy Pearse began her career assisting children's agents and quickly moved over to the publishing side as a PA and then an editorial assistant.She has been working as an editor at Macmillan Children's Books for nearly four years, was selected as a Bookseller Rising Star in 2018 and promoted to Senior Commissioning Editor for the 6+ team in 2019, working on illustrated young fiction, middle-grade and YA. This year the judges were Sanchita Basu De Sarkar of the Children’s Bookshop, Muswell Hill; Ellen Krajewski, librarian at Hemel Hempstead School, Hertfordshire; Louise Johns-Shepherd, chief executive of CLPE ; and Mitch Johnson, author of Kick, winner of the 2018 Branford Boase Award. The panel is chaired by Julia Eccleshare, children’s director of the Hay Festival. The Awards Now in its 20th year, the annual Branford Boase Award celebrates the most promising book for seven year-olds and upwards written by a first-time novelist. It also highlights the importance of the editor in the development of new authors. The shortlisted authors may have published other books in another genre – e.g. poetry or a picture book – but eligibility for the prize requires that this is their first children’s novel. As well as encouraging publishers to find and promote new writers, the Award sets out to alert readers of all ages to the work of interesting newcomers. The Branford Boase Award was set up in memory of the prize-winning author Henrietta Branford and Wendy Boase, editorial director and one of the founders of Walker Books. They worked together on a number of Henrietta’s novels, a partnership they greatly enjoyed. Both Henrietta and Wendy died of cancer in 1999. Running alongside the Branford Boase Award, the Henrietta Branford Writing Competition encourages writing talent in under 18s. Prizes were presented at the ceremony to six children, winners of the competition. The Award is the joint idea of Julia Eccleshare MBE and Anne Marley MBE. Julia is the director of the Hay Festival children’s programme. Anne was Head of Children’s, Youth & Schools Services for Hampshire Library & Information Service for many years and helped to found Authors Aloud UK, an author booking agency. She has served on many children’s book award panels, including the CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Awards. Branford Boase Award 2019 - winners BBA 2019 home \| winners \| party photos \| short list \| shortlist interviews \| long list \| judges \| publishers info \| BBA 2018 HBWC 2019 Winners • 2019 Shortlist • Fire Bed and Bone reissued • CLPE Teachers' Notes	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5502
__label__cc	0.71632	0.28368	Her Mother's Ghosts — by Theodora Goss — Her name is Ilona. The other children at school call her Smellona. She is not me, but I have been her. Here are the things I remember most clearly: She lives in a townhouse in Washington D.C. with her mother and younger brother, whose bangs are always cut crooked. It is the seventies. She and her brother wear clothes they will later call hideous in photographs, but now, today, they are not hideous, because brown is still a respectable color. They are playing under the cherry trees. The blossoms are everywhere, lying on the asphalt in heaps like pink snow. In the kitchen drawer are silver spoons, smuggled in socks, the sleeves of pajamas. They are heavy, dulled with use. They are older than her mother, her grandmother. One is much worse for having slipped into the garbage disposal. In the kitchen cabinet are margarine tubs, more than ten, perhaps more than twenty, washed clean, ready in case the world runs out of margarine tubs. Don't laugh. It could happen. Since Ilona turned seven, she has been haunted by her mother's ghosts. Once, late at night, she saw a train conductor coming out of the bathroom. "Do you have your visa?" he asked her. She shook her head. She was in a pink nightgown, and her feet were bare. The floor was cold. "Then you can't cross the border," he said, looking down at her sternly. "You'll have to get out here, and speak to the station master." She nodded. She really needed to go to the bathroom, but she was afraid that if she tried to slip past him, he would grab her. Then she would scream, and her mother would wake up. She would have to explain that she had had a nightmare. She could never tell her mother that she had seen her ghosts. Once, when she was sitting at the kitchen table doing her homework, a man in a green plaid suit said to her, "You can't go to medical school. You're not qualified." She stared at his tie, which had a pattern of wheat sheaves and small tractors. His neck turned red. Above his mustache, his cheeks and nose also turned red. "Why haven't you joined the Party?" he asked with barely suppressed rage. She had not known that a question could sound so angry. She was afraid he was going to slap her. After he disappeared, she could not think about her homework. Instead, she went out to the back garden and sat on the bricks, staring at the ivy that grew up the sides of the house. Sometimes sparrows built nests there, among the leaves, and in the mornings, especially, the ivy cheeped and stirred. Last spring, one of the stray cats had brought a baby sparrow in to breakfast and laid it down on the linoleum, like a gift. At first she thought the stray cats were ghosts. They came in the evenings and sat on the bricks in the back garden. She would take them up to her bedroom. After they had stayed in her bedroom for three days, living on milk and chicken left over from the paprikás, they were allowed to stay. Sometimes they disappeared as mysteriously as they had come. These, she decided, where ghost cats from the streets of Budapest. But others stayed, and during her childhood there were more and more cats, sitting on the sofa, scratching the legs of the dining room table, curling beside her when she slept at night, one on her feet, one at her side, one with his chin on her shoulder, purring into her ear. In the middle of the night, he liked to pull her hair with his claws. She would wake up, and that was when, more often than not, she would see the ghosts. At first, she thought the voice on the telephone was a ghost. "Traitor!" it said. "We're coming to take your children. Why did you leave your parents? They miss you, your husband misses you. We'll put you in prison, with rats, and sewer water seeping over the floor!" Soon after, they moved to the country. Her brother began a series of collections: stones from the streambed, insects, a selection of rusted nails. He kept them in shoe boxes, in his closet. The insects crawled out. Spiders began to spin webs in the corners of his room. Sometimes they would eat dinner with fireflies crawling over the ceiling. The stray cats kept leaving half-eaten caterpillars on the stairs. More than once, Ilona saw her grandmother, an old woman with short gray hair and delicate wrists. As a girl, she had studied art. Later, she had been forbidden to sell her paintings. They arrived at holidays wrapped around boxes of chocolates. Her mother hung them in every room of the house, even the bathroom. If you stood close, you could still see creases where her mother had ironed the folds. She always appeared as a thin wash, like one of her watercolors of the light over Lake Balaton. Through her, Ilona could see the banister, the dining room table, the swing hanging from an oak tree in the garden. Once, she thought she saw her father standing by the oak tree. He was wearing a uniform, like the train conductor but with a red star on his cap. She thought he looked handsome, but he vanished quickly. There is something I have forgotten to tell you. When she was twelve and still living in Washington D.C., day after day for a period of three months she saw tanks driving down the streets. On her way to school, on her way to the dentist. During these months, she could not sleep. She threw up everything but a slice of birthday cake at a party for a girl from school. She lost weight and developed dark circles under her eyes. Her mother took her to the doctor. She began to believe she was turning into a ghost. You are angry with me. You say, this is not a story. It is merely a series of scenes, and of manufactured scenes at that. Your name is not Ilona. You never saw your mother's ghosts. And of course you are right. When Ilona was seventeen, her mother died of breast cancer. After that, she never saw ghosts. Her brother grew up to be a famous entomologist. He is now a professor at Harvard. She grew up to be a writer, but not of stories. She writes about art, and sometimes architecture. She would never write this story, so I am writing it for her. My mother did not die. Last year, she finished law school. My brother, a computer programmer, went to her graduation. They live by the ocean in California, where it is always sunny. I rarely see them. I am haunted by ghosts, invisible, impalpable: the ghosts of silver spoons and margarine tubs, the smell of paprikás cooking on Sunday afternoons. The ghost of a country. Sometimes, in my Boston apartment, I see her: the ghost of my mother, walking along the hallway, running her fingers over the piano. I see her from the back, wearing a dress with light blue and white checks. She made us both dresses out of that fabric, in Brussels. Once, a policeman stopped to ask me, with a wink, if I liked taking walks with my older sister. When I see her, she is always walking away from me. And her back tells me, some things you can't understand, even by writing about them. Originally published in: The Rose in Twelve Petals and Other Stories Small Beer Press, 2004 Ewa wrote on June 10th, 2011 at 2:47 pm: A beautiful story. At first I wasn't sure I would like it, but now I know I do. Theresa wrote on May 31st, 2012 at 3:11 am: ISSUE 23, August 2008 Theodora Goss's publications include the short story collection In the Forest of Forgetting (2006); Interfictions (2007), a short story anthology coedited with Delia Sherman; Voices from Fairyland (2008), a poetry anthology with critical essays and a selection of her own poems; and The Thorn and the Blossom (2012), a novella in a two-sided accordion format. She has been a finalist for the Nebula, Crawford, Locus, and Mythopoeic Awards, and on the Tiptree Award Honor List. She has won the World Fantasy and Rhysling Awards. www.theodoragoss.com England under the White Witch by Theodora Goss - October 2012 Writing My Mother's Ghosts by Theodora Goss - August 2008	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5503
__label__wiki	0.547754	0.547754	Another Ulster hymn The Ulster-Scots language future Gavin Esler and the Ulster Scots Born Fightin' by Ricky Warwick The Dawn of the Ulster-Scots View from Ulster to Scotland Turnberry, the Open, and Ulster-Scots How much of a Calvinist are you? La Rochelle and the Ulster-Scots 50 years ago - the 1859 Ulster Revival commemorate... Gospel Halls and Ulster-Scots A History of the Baptists - 400th anniversary in 2... 12th July 2009 - Bangor Orangefest Conjecture vs. Evidence: “Celtic” Music, Ulster Sc... A folky version of "Haven of Rest", written by Londonderry man Henry Gilmour (1836 - 1920). Posted by Mark Thompson at Friday, July 24, 2009 0 comments Labels: Music, Old-Time Gospel Deep breath. Devil's Advocate time. Is there a future for Ulster-Scots language? The heritage stuff, the historical stuff, the cultural stuff, the light entertainment fluff - these have appeal and plenty of people involved or interested. But the language? Nah. From what I've observed over the past few years, hardly anyone cares enough about the language to give it a future. The way the media froth about it as an issue you'd think that it was a huge public concern. Aye right. During the 20th century there was ongoing large scale population change in Ulster. Two world wars / emigration to Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand / the emergence of a national and international mass media / emphasis on education and "getting on" / an emerging affluence and educated class / the Troubles opt-out which saw many seek refuge in yacht clubs and golf clubs, or who just upped and left for GB / the bourgeoisification of the countryside that saw wealthy town dwellers buying up the rural dwellings and which drove wedges through the rural communities / the Troubles momentum that caused people to move out of the urban areas into the small market towns and villages - these things and more all decimated that older population that grew up with naturally spoken Ulster-Scots language and a more primitive way of life. Meaning that by the time "peace" arrived in the mid 1990s and Ulster-Scots was getting attention for the first time in a generation, the pool of genuine Ulster-Scots language speakers to draw upon was already at an all-time low. And those speakers didn't recognise the importance and value of their own speech. 10 years ago there was an opportunity to capture the natural Ulster-Scots speech of this older, pre-mass media generation. But half of those people are now dead - and unrecorded. There are maybe ten years left until all of them are dead. And then naturally-spoken Ulster-Scots will be gone. Apart from a few words and the odd expression here and there which survive as part of general Ulster English, it'll be finished. Sheughs and oxters will continue to raise a smile, or a smirk, but that's about all. My father's generation (he's 64) reminisce about local characters, rural folkways, manual horse-drawn farming, the idyllic but poverty-stricken 40s and 50s, of life before "The Troubles". My generation (I'm 37) reminisces about tv programmes, toys of the 70s, fashion and pop music - but only faint fading glimmers of the life that my parents knew so well, and which had changed very little in the previous 100 years. The Ulster Folk Museum to my parents is their childhood. To me it's a nostalgia trip, or a time machine that takes me to a place I didn't live in and only heard older people talk about. They had Burns' poetry and kailyard novels in the house - I had the Broons annual. They drew water from the well every day with a bucket, and tried to not catch the eel that was down in there which kept the water clean - I had an immersion heater. They can remember going to school in bare feet - I had Nike trainers for PE. That generational transformation includes massive language shift, from the once-widespread use of rurally-preserved but establishment-ignored Ulster-Scots, to a world of mass-media and international English. Even today in the Irish Gaeltacht (ie Gaelic speaking) regions, I'm told the best selling newspapers are the English tabloids. Ulster-Scots language will dwindle and remain the interest of the dedicated few who genuinely love it. And it'll provide intellectual cud for the anoraks and academics, nostalgia for the luddites and fuel for the identity zealots. And perhaps it'll be exploited by those who see the current gravy train as a way of building personal empires - but which will be light years removed from general public interest. Public sector signage, job adverts in the papers that tick some equality box will ultimately attract further public disdain and scorn - and thereby damage the overall Ulster-Scots momentum. Because in reality, to 99% of the population, Ulster-Scots language will be a fossil, an extinct Dodo. Unheard, unspoken, and book-learnt if learned at all. I wrote an article for the News Letter about this general issue back in March 2007. No-one batted an eyelid. Because hardly anybody cares. There are ten years left. The need is to leapfrog my generation, and to connect the limited, diluted, eroded, Ulster-Scots language of grandparents with the world their grandchildren live in. The clock is ticking... Posted by Mark Thompson at Thursday, July 23, 2009 8 comments Labels: Language Gavin Esler is a well-known television current affairs presenter here in the UK, best known for his role on BBC2's Newsnight. He's taking part at the International Genealogy Festival in Glasgow over the next few days. Here's an excerpt about what he'll be doing: ...Gavin Esler is also well acquainted with some of his lineage, but hopes that Bruce Durie's investigations will shed further light beyond his more recent family backgrounds – again, all will be revealed during the festival. The broadcaster and author describes his recent background as "solid west of Scotland Protestant working class, even though I was mainly brought up in Edinburgh and went to Heriot's." He can, however, trace his ancestry back through working-class Clydebank and Northern Irish immigrants whose forebears arrived in Scotland in the 1880s, but were Ulster Scots who had settled in Ireland during the "Plantations" of the 17th century. The Eslers had originally arrived in Scotland from Europe, following the former Baltic trading routes in search of religious freedom. "I know quite a lot about them," says the broadcaster. "They were German Protestants who emigrated to Scotland in the 17th century to escape religious persecution during the Thirty Years' War. The name Esler comes from 'Esel', meaning donkey – which might explain my family history of mule-like stubbornness. They were probably ostlers, looking after horses. Three brothers settled near Ballymena in County Antrim, and thereafter bits and pieces of my family lived in Ulster and the west of Scotland." What Esler looks forward to learning is more about his mother's side of the family. "That's the real mystery to me – the Knights of Clydebank and my grandmother, Annie Bruce. I know almost nothing about them and I can't wait to find out what Bruce Durie has discovered. "What we do know so far is that at least five of my ancestors signed the Ulster Covenant, threatening a rebellion against a united Ireland. And I also know that I have relatives all over the world, in Australia, Canada, the United States, Ireland north and south… you name it. And the same names keep recurring – David, James, William, Robert Esler come up time after time..." Full article online here Posted by Mark Thompson at Wednesday, July 22, 2009 0 comments Labels: History, Media My name is James McBride and I'm almost 19 I sailed away from Derry to follow some dream I came to Philadelphia with a Bible in my hand And God will be my witness in the Promised Land. We were born fightin' - and we'll die fightin' Till we belong... till we belong... Named after Senator James Webb's book of the same title, "Born Fightin" is a story of one of the 250,000 Ulster-Scots emigrants that went to America in the 1700s. Written and performed by Newtownards man Ricky Warwick, the singer in rock band The Almighty, and now playing what he calls "tough folk for the masses". The Almighty were/are a very successful British band in the late 80s / early 90s - when I was seriously into metal! I remember someone telling me that Ricky Warwick was a former pupil of Regent House. Apparently Ian Astbury of The Cult (another big British rock band of the same era) also lived in east Belfast / Newtownards for a while. Ricky Warwick plays solo acoustic gigs around Norn Irn from time to time. Meanwhile listen to the song here on his MySpace page here. Posted by Mark Thompson at Tuesday, July 21, 2009 0 comments Found this on GoogleVideo tonight - first broadcast on BBC Northern Ireland in December 2006, telling the story of the Hamilton & Montgomery Settlement of County Down and County Antrim in east Ulster, which began in May 1606. Presented by Flora Montgomery, a descendant of Sir Hugh Montgomery. Posted by Mark Thompson at Monday, July 20, 2009 0 comments Specifically, the 18 miles from Donaghadee towards Portpatrick on the Mull of Galloway. Photographed last night around 9pm. Click to enlarge. Millions of people around the world have been watching the 138th Open Championship at Turnberry in Ayrshire on tv over the past few days, On Radio Ulster yesterday, Joel Taggart and Michael McNamee were commenting on how many Ulster folk had travelled over on the ferry to be part of the huge crowd - more than had travelled to the K Club in Dublin a few years ago - because for many Ulster people, it's easier to get to Scotland. And, I would argue, for many of our people, sailing to Scotland is a far more emotive journey than driving/training to Dublin. I don't play golf, but I've been on the Championship tee at Turnberry. Back in October 07 we took a family break to Ayrshire and stayed in an apartment in Turnberry. It's got a great sandy beach, lovely views of Ailsa Craig and across to Antrim. Turnberry's also where Robert the Bruce was born (on either the 11th or the 12th July, 1274). The famous wee Turnberry lighthouse is built on the site of the ancient Bruce castle - and you can still see some of the ruined stonework in the pics below. Bruce's mother owned land in Scotland and Ulster, and he would later marry the daughter of the Earl of Ulster. Not to mention his refuge on Rathlin Island, the Edward Bruce attempt to become King of Ireland, and many more connections. Click on the pics below to view them at a larger size: 1. General view of the lighthouse 2. Jacob and the lighthouse 3. Ruins of the castle 4. The Championship tee and Ailsa Craig 5. An old Victorian engraving of Turnberry Castle Here's a brief excerpt from an article by my good friend Philip Robinson about the origins of golf: Golf (gowf or goff in Scots) is probably the best-known Scottish traditional sport, now enjoyed by millions throughout the world. There are records of it being played in Scotland since 1457, although most of these documents refer to the breaking of the Sabbath by playing at ‘the gowf’ on Sundays (a clash of two Scottish traditions which we are still aware of today). Until the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers was established in 1744, and the Royal and Ancient Club of St Andrews in 1754, the traditional game involved hitting for distance, usually along the back of coastal sand-dunes called links. The oldest surviving golf club was founded by James I (of England and Scotland) in 1608 at Blackheath. James I was the monarch who initiated the Ulster Plantation, and during his reign gowf or goff was played by all classes in Scotland. In Ulster at this time, one of James I’s most important Plantation landlords was Hugh Montgomery of Newtownards. When Sir Hugh built a ‘great school’ at Newton in County Down, about 1630, he allowed the scholars a ‘green for recreation at goff, football and archery’. Over 150 years later, in the 1780s, Sir Hugh’s successor as landlord of the extensive Ards estates was Robert Stewart, Lord Castlereagh. Castlereagh was of Donegal Scottish plantation stock, and in setting out the ‘Mountstewart’ demesne for his new house near Greyabbey, he landscaped an area for playing golf. A portrait of Lord Castlereagh survives at Mountstewart, probably from about 1790, showing him standing with a golf club. Beside him is a golf ball on the ground. This is certainly the earliest illustration of anyone in Ulster actually playing golf. From A Blad o Ulster-Scotch, Ullans Press 2003. Click here to order a copy Posted by Mark Thompson at Sunday, July 19, 2009 0 comments In the 500th anniversary of the great man's birth, there's no better time to assess your own position! Take this 25 question online test and it'll tell you. Each question has two possible answers - one right and one wrong. There is no middle ground! I got 69%: It told me "You have some Calvinistic features. In some respects, your life is that of a Calvinist, just a little softened on the edges. Working hard is fine with you, but your attitude towards others isn't necessarily radically black-and-white. You live your life in a temperate and moderate way..."! Posted by Mark Thompson at Saturday, July 18, 2009 1 comments My brother Graeme (plus his wife Judith and their two children Kyle and Julia - pictured above) is just back from a holiday on the west coast of France. He met up with a Scottish relative of ours (who was also in the area on holiday with his family) at La Rochelle. According to the tourist brochure Graeme brought home with him, La Rochelle was known as "the stronghold of Protestantism" or "the Geneva of the Atlantic". It has a Protestant history museum too. The Ulster-Scots connection is that the mighty Robert Blair nearly went to La Rochelle instead of coming to Ulster. Blair's autobiography records that he was visited in Glasgow around 1622 by a Monsieur Basnage, who was there to raise money for the beseiged French protestants, and then offered Blair a job: "...he told me he had heard well of me... encouraged me... that I would come to France, where I would be very welcome... assuring me that I should no sooner come but I should have a place in a college to teach philosophy till I learned the French language, that so I might serve in the holy ministry there..." Benjamin Basnage was the pastor of the French protestant church at Carentan / Quarentin. 300 odd years later, Carentan was within the American sector of the Normandy landing beaches of Utah and Omaha. Blair later writes of being clearly led by God to go instead to Ulster "... I found myself bound in spirit to set my face towards a voyage to Ireland; and yet was not persuaded, for all this, to desire to settle there, loathing that place, and hankering still after France...". It was a Jonah-like moment in his life, but eventually, in 1623, he did sail from Ayrshire to Carrickfergus, and then travelled to Bangor - where he turned the fledgling Ulster-Scots colony in east Ulster into a forge which shaped the identity of a people that lives on to this day. UPDATE: Thanks to Jack for letting me know that John Welsh, the son-in-law of John Knox and father of Josias Welsh of Templepatrick, also spent time in La Rochelle. 50 years ago - the 1859 Ulster Revival commemorated A clipping from the Ballymena Weekly Telegraph, Thurs 25 June 1959. Click to enlarge: This is a subject that deserves more attention than this wee post. The first gospel hall in Ulster is said to have been at Ballymacvea near Kells in Co Antrim, established by Jeremiah Meneely in the wake of the 1859 Revival (I visited the ruins with William Roulston and Eull Dunlop a few weeks ago - shown in the photo above) There was a major revival in Scotland that same year, and gospel halls sprang up all over Lanarkshire and Ayrshire in the following years. This article gives more fascinating background on the Ulster-Scots links among the early Brethren / gospel halls in Ulster and Scotland, for example: - Jeremiah Meneely preaching in Ayrshire - John McVicar (of Cullybackey) preaching in Ayrshire - Samuel Dodds, Ulsterman living in Dalry, visited by another Ulsterman, William Thomson, and their subsequent evangelism - William McLean, a "Scotch Baptist" evangelist in Ulster, who later became a Brethren leader in New Zealand - John Patton from Newtownards, his visit to Stranraer, the view across to Ulster and the eventual founding of Butterlump Hall (my grandfather was a Sunday School teacher there, as the photo on the cover of the recent "William Thompson - Low Country Poet" poems book shows. The old wooden building is now at Ballygigan near Killyleagh - see the four pics below, click on them to enlarge) It's a brilliant article, signposting a mountain of research that someone needs to do! (NB - with thanks to Lindsay Young from Falkirk for sending the article to me) A History of the Baptists - 400th anniversary in 2009 Well, the anniversary of the present day denomination, but not the practice of adult/believers baptism. With thanks to Gordon Lucy for sending this on to me back in February. Baptists in Ulster? In terms of Ulster, "Separatists" were known to be in County Antrim during the time of the Sixemilewater Revival in 1625. Presbyterian minister, and the effective leader of the Ulster-Scots, Robert Blair, was none too happy with their presence or activities! But by 1653, Baptism had made a major impact on the towns in Ireland where the English army was garrisoned - in Ulster, this was Carrickfergus. It was also Carrickfergus which, in 1621, had seen the arrival of the Congregationalist minister Rev John Hubbard / Hubbert from Southwark in London, with his entire congregation. Hubbard was to play an important role prior to the 1625 revival, and preached for 2 years in the pulpit of St Nicholas' parish church in the town. In his famous "History of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland", James Seaton Reid records a "brother John Read" and "brother Thomas Patient" baptising people near Carrickfergus around 1653 - they had both come across from England as chaplains with Cromwell's army in 1650. Patient had begun to challenge Episcopacy before the civil war in England (the DNB says of him "...that episcopacy, the Book of Common Prayer, and mixed congregations of godly and profane people in parish churches were unscriptural..." ) but then emigrated to New England before returning to London in 1644. He signed the 1644 Westminster Confession, and was chosen by Parliament to be sent to Dublin. As Crawford Gribben says of Patient in this excellent article, "... In the same year, his only book, The Doctrine of Baptism, and the Distinction of the Covenants (1654), was published, and Patient was established as the foremost Calvinistic defender of believers’ baptism, a position admitted even by his enemies..." Here's the article that Gordon sent me: Turning Points in Baptist History by Walter B. Shurden, Executive Director, The Center for Baptist Studies, Mercer University, Macon, Georgia. In 2009, Baptists will celebrate a huge 400th birthday party. Born in 1609, they began, as all infants, struggling to survive. Today, however, Baptists number 43 million people in over 200 countries in every continent of the world. Hassled, heckled, and persecuted both in England and America in the seventeenth century, Baptists of the twenty-first century have become the largest Protestant denominational family in North America. Baptists have come a very long way! A diverse group from their beginning, Baptists express themselves today in such a variety of ways that many who claim the Baptist name will not claim others who claim the very same name! Baptists differ today—and they did from their beginning—in what they believe, how they worship, their attitudes toward other Christians, and their understanding of what is important in Christian discipleship. A history of four centuries of fragmentation and controversy has only compounded the complex appearance of the Baptist family. It is, therefore, impossible to speak of Baptists as a monolithic group. No single tradition or group of Baptists captures the enormous variety in Baptist life. One can, however, identify some of the more prominent "convictional genes" of Baptists generally. One way of identifying these genes is to understand some of the pivotal turning points in the history of the Baptist people. The following describes six such pivotal points which go a long way in characterizing many of the people called Baptists. The Turn Toward a Believers’ Church: 1609 The Lutherans have Martin Luther. Presbyterians have John Calvin. Methodists have John Wesley. But whom do Baptists have? In keeping with their description as a "common" people, Baptists appropriately trace their origin to an Englishman with the most common of names: JOHN SMYTH (Smith). A clergyman of the Church of England and a graduate of Cambridge University, Smyth pioneered the Baptist tradition. THOMAS HELWYS, a wealthy layman, worked side by side with Smyth. Eventually, Helwys became even more important for later Baptists than Smyth. Reared as Anglicans (Episcopalians), Smyth and Helwys, like many Christians in the early seventeenth century, wanted genuine reform in their church. Using the Bible as their guide, they sought to restore what they believed to be the biblical model of the church. They wanted to "purify" the Church of England, as did other Puritans, of all traces of Roman Catholic practices. So Smyth and Helwys were Anglicans who became Puritans. But they even went beyond Puritanism. Some Puritans became so impatient with the church’s reforms that they "separated" from the Church of England, setting up independent congregations of believers. Smyth and Helwys became part of such a group of Separatists in Gainsborough, England, in 1606. These Separatists had three beliefs which shaped later Baptists. • First, they believed that the Bible, not church tradition or religious creeds, was their guide in all matters of faith and practice. • Second, they believed that the church should be made up of believers only, not all people born into the local parishes. • Third, they believed that the church should be governed by those believers, not by church bishops. Harassed and hounded by both the Church of England and the civil government for their beliefs, Smyth and Helwys, along with their small congregation of believers, sailed in 1607 to Holland to breathe the fresh air of religious freedom. There, Baptists met and were influenced by Anabaptists. While in Holland, Baptists experienced their first major turning point. In fact, the Baptist movement marks its beginning in Amsterdam. In 1609, John Smyth performed a radical and scandalous act. He baptized himself by pouring water on his head! In turn, he baptized Helwys and others of the congregation. Smyth, Helwys, and their church came to believe that their infant baptism was no baptism at all. Why? Because, they said, it was performed by a false church, and it was performed on infants — people who could not believe. Many people think that the single most important characteristic of Baptists is the way they baptize — by immersion. However, when Baptists began in the early seventeenth century, they were first concerned with WHOM rather than HOW they baptized. Baptists wanted churches made up of people who sincerely, deliberately, and freely affirmed Christ as the Lord of their lives. They wanted a Believers’ Church. The Separatists had also wanted a church made up of only "saints." But they did so by retaining infant baptism. Smyth and Helwys left the Separatists and began the Baptist movement when they rejected infant baptism in 1609. They concluded that believer’s baptism was the best way to guarantee a Believers’ Church. In the tradition initiated by Smyth and Helwys, only believers made up the churches. But for these Baptists, believers alone also governed the churches. Separatists had believed in congregational church government, but they often gave a superior role to the clergy over the laity. Not Baptists! Each believer had an equal voice in the affairs of the church. Likewise, each believer was looked upon as a minister within the church. Known as the universal ministry or the priesthood of all believers, Baptists utilized this concept to argue that the work of Christ belonged to all Christians, not merely the clergy. In Baptist life the "clergy" have a respected place but not a unique place, for all Christians are ministers. The Turn Toward a Free Conscience: 1612 Religious fussing and fighting dominated the seventeenth century. Contention led to division. As Smyth and Helwys had separated first from the Anglicans, next the Puritans, then the Separatists, they finally ended by separating from each other. Why was this? Because Smyth eventually questioned the authenticity of his self-administered baptism since it had no succession with the larger Christian church. Helwys and a few others disagreed, thinking that succession of baptism was not necessary. They retained their newfound baptism, nurtured their small church fellowship, and courageously returned to England and established the first Baptist church on English soil in 1612. The return of Thomas Helwys to his native England cost him his life. Just as John Smyth had the audacity to baptize himself, Helwys had the spunk to write a fiery little book on freedom of conscience in an era when freedom was scarce and individual conscience suppressed. Brashly, Helwys autographed a personal copy and sent it to, of all people, the King of England! The publication in 1612 of Helwys’s book, A Short Declaration of the Mystery of Iniquity, [ view PDF here ] was the second turning point in Baptist history. Based upon Paul’s phrase in 2 Thessalonians 2:7, Helwys interpreted "the mystery of iniquity" as the spirit of domination and oppression in matters of conscience which existed in his native land. Lauded as the first full plea for religious freedom in the English language, Helwys’s Mystery of Iniquity is surely one of the classics of Baptist history. It contains one of the most oft-quoted lines from Baptist history. Said Helwys: "For we do freely profess that our lord the king has no more power over their consciences [Roman Catholics] than over ours, and that is none at all. For our lord the king is but an earthly king, and he has no authority as a king but in earthly causes. And if the king’s people be obedient and true subjects, obeying all human laws made by the king, our lord the king can require no more. For men’s religion to God is between God and themselves. The king shall not answer for it. Neither may the king be judge between God and man. Let them be heretics, Turks, Jews, or whatsoever, it appertains not to the earthly power to punish them in the least measure. This is made evident to our lord the king by th scriptures."1 With such strong language, one is not surprised to discover that Helwys died in prison. In this Baptist classic, Helwys moved in and out of several other themes related to the Baptist emphasis on freedom of conscience. Among those themes were: the freedom of the local congregation to mind its own affairs, the freedom of individuals to interpret Scripture, the importance of believer’s baptism and the freedom of the individual to choose that baptism, the freedom of and the need for the churches of Jesus Christ to live from voluntary support of their members, the freedom from coerced uniformity in worship practices, and the freedom of the churches to acknowledge Christ as the sole "King" of the church, rather than being bound by creed or clergy or civil government. During the first half of the seventeenth century, Baptists in England peppered both royalty and religion with some of the first and most forceful tracts ever written on religious liberty. Baptists in America, especially Roger Williams and John Clarke, joined their English counterparts in this war on religious tyranny. Baptists led the parade for universal liberty of conscience. Thomas Helwys, Roger Williams, John Clarke, and a host of other Baptist leaders were the Baptist drum majors for freedom in the seventeenth century! The Turn Toward Believer’s Baptism by Immersion: 1641 The earliest Baptists, the Helwys group, came to be known as General Baptists. They believed that the death of Christ was effective for any and all people who claimed Christ as Lord. Another group, known as Particular Baptists, developed shortly after Helwys returned to England in 1612. Particular Baptists got their name from the fact that they believed that the death of Christ on the cross was only for the predestined or elect. The Particular Baptists were Calvinists while the General Baptists rejected Calvinism. Whereas the General Baptists had affirmed believer’s baptism, they had done so without practicing it by immersion. By 1641, however, the Particular Baptists of England took another momentous step regarding baptism. They began to practice believer’s baptism by immersion. This is the third turning point in Baptist history. Baptists began to practice believer’s baptism by immersion for the same reason they had affirmed their belief in a believers’ church and freedom of conscience. They thought the New Testament taught immersion as the form of baptism. Willing to be corrected from Scripture, early Baptists would not have any belief imposed upon them but that commanded by Christ. They said that they would never go "against the least tittle of the truth of God, or against the light of our own consciences."2 Baptists wanted to be free to follow their consciences in obeying Holy Scripture. Following their reading of Scripture, especially Colossians 2:12 and Romans 6:4, Baptists concluded that the manner of believer’s baptism should be by dipping the body into water, resembling death to self and resurrection to the Christian life. To this day, all Baptist churches practice believer’s baptism by immersion, though some Baptist churches will accept Christians from other churches who have been baptized by other modes. The Turn Toward Cooperative Christianity: 1707 Baptists from their beginnings cherished congregational church government. Often referred to in Baptist life as the "autonomy" (self-rule) of the local church or as the "independence" of the local church, congregational church government simply meant that the congregation of believers was the final authority in determining the will of God in Baptist church life. No bishop or pastor or pope or conference of churches or civil government had a say-so over the religious affairs of a Baptist congregation. A fourth major turning point for Baptists in America occurred in 1707. In that year, they formed the Philadelphia Baptist Association, the first major Baptist organization through which several local churches worked together without compromising their congregational independence. Baptists in England, both General and Particular, had organized associations as early as the 1640s. With the formation of the Philadelphia Baptist Association, Baptists in America, therefore, affirmed their belief in the interdependence as well as independence of local churches. Following the basic pattern of organization laid down by the Philadelphia Association, Baptist associations evolved all over America. Later, Baptists formed other Baptist organizations such as societies, state conventions, national conventions, and the Baptist World Alliance through which they cooperated and pooled their resources. Baptists often vaguely defined the purposes of Baptist associations in such language as "to promote the interest of the Redeemer’s kingdom and the good of the common cause." Usually, one could identify four main objectives of these non-local church Baptist organizations. These were: (1) to promote fellowship among the churches, (2) to affirm commonly held beliefs, (3) to provide counsel and assistance to local churches, and (4) to establish a structure through which churches could cooperate in their broader ministries, such as theological education, publications, and mission work. In terms of church government, Baptists viewed associations and other such Baptist organizations as autonomous bodies functioning in an advisory role for the churches. Baptists, however, have always been far more interested in the freedom and independence of the local churches than in extending the powers of associations and other denominational bodies. On the other hand, Baptists in America began stressing in 1707 the interdependence of the churches and denominational cooperation. Additionally, English Baptists, American Baptists, and several of the black Baptist groups in America have cooperated extensively with other Christian denominations in ecumenical activities. Christian cooperation does not begin and end with Baptists. The Turn Toward Missionary Responsibility: 1792 During the 1700s, Baptists in both England and America profited from the spirit of revivalism that dominated much of that century. In England the Wesleyan revival led by Methodists John and Charles Wesley indirectly helped to revitalize the Calvinistic Particular Baptists and virtually resurrected the dying General Baptists. George Whitefield, an associate of the Wesleys and maybe the greatest English preacher of the eighteenth century, toured America seven times, fanning the fires of revivalism begun under Jonathan Edwards. Baptists in America varied in their reactions to the emotional preaching of Whitefield; but when the revivalistic fires waned, Baptists had reaped as many benefits from revivalism as any denomination in America. No Christian has symbolized the continuing emphasis of revivalism as has evangelist Billy Graham, a Baptist. While revivalism massaged a somewhat sagging Baptist denomination in the eighteenth century, global missions fired the Baptist spirit near the end of that century. Christian denominations at this time were not taking seriously the missionary mandate of the New Testament. But a poor shoe cobbler by the name of William Carey could not get Jesus’ words of "Go ye into all the world" off his heart and mind. Preaching, pleading, sometimes nagging, Carey urged Particular Baptists to "expect great things from God" and "attempt great things for God." As a result of Carey’s influence, Baptists in England formed a missionary society in the town of Kettering on October 2, 1792. The purpose was simple: to take the gospel of Christ to people in distant lands. This is the fifth significant turning point in Baptist history. This act on the part of British Baptists revolutionized Baptist life and influenced much of the rest of Protestant Christianity toward missions. William Carey sailed as a missionary to India in 1793 where he devoted the rest of his life. His letters aroused the missionary ardor ofBaptists in both England and America. By the end of the century, Baptists in America began organizing and contributing in support of foreign missions. In 1814, under Luther Rice’s leadership, Baptists in America formed their first national convention whose sole purpose was to send missionaries overseas. Since the time of Carey and Rice, Baptists have been at the forefront of sharing the gospel and ministering in Christ’s name through the world. A famous German Baptist, Johann Oncken, adopted as his motto: "Every Baptist a missionary." The Turn Toward Social Justice: 1955 In 1955, a bright, young Baptist preacher in Montgomery, Alabama, led a bus boycott which turned into a national struggle for racial justice. Martin Luther King Jr., pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, symbolized the Baptist struggle for social justice as much as Billy Graham personified evangelism, William Carey embodied foreign missions, and Thomas Helwys and Roger Williams incarnated liberty of conscience. One should not assume by any means, however, that all Baptists agreed with King. Many of King’s white Baptist kinfolk, especially in the South, and some of his black Baptist brothers and sisters resisted his efforts and strategies to rid the nation of racial segregation. But as King moved the conscience of the nation, he also moved the hearts of many of his Baptist people. Arrested 29 times for challenging the cultural status quo in America and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, King, a victim of hatred, died of an assassin’s bullet in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968. The Baptist concern for social justice reached its apex with King, but it did not begin with him. Even his strategy of civil disobedience had been practiced by Baptists such as Isaac Backus in the struggle for religious justice in America years before King came on the Baptist scene. Also, Roger Williams and John Clarke served as prophets for justice in the seventeenth century. Walter Rauschenbusch, a New York Baptist with a warm evangelical faith, was the father of the Social Gospel in America. Before he died in 1918, he had advocated, among other things, social reform of poverty and economic injustice based upon biblical and theological principles. Likewise, the Baptist World Alliance, founded in 1905, has put much of its energy and effort in the struggle for human rights around the world. No Baptist, however, has been the cheerleader for justice as was Martin Luther King Jr. No Christian denomination is well served by thinking it is the only one God has. No denomination is well served by wallowing in delusions of its own righteousness while minimizing the values of other religious groups. Baptists, like other Christian groups, have suffered from those delusions periodically. We Baptists have our sins to confess. But Baptists also have some significant gifts to bring to the larger Christian table. Among those gifts are our struggle for a Believers’ Church, our devotion to liberty of conscience, our desire for a baptism freely chosen and reflective of biblical teachings, our confession of both the independence and interdependence of local churches, our commitment to the missionary mandate, and our commitment, though checkered, to social justice. Upon these hinge issues, Baptist history has turned. 1. Thomas Helwys, A Short Declaration of The Mystery of Iniquity, edited with an introduction by Richard Groves (Macon, GA.: Mercer University Press, 1998), 53. 2. As cited in William L. Lumpkin, Baptist Confessions of Faith (Valley Forge, PA.: Judson Press, 1969), 149. Wee Flickr set here of some of my pics from today. A good family day out in Bangor, only rained a bit later in the day. Have a look at the dancing African Orangemen! Update - for those of you with good connection speeds, here's the slideshow Conjecture vs. Evidence: “Celtic” Music, Ulster Scots, and the Myth of Irish Traditional Music’s Role in the Genesis of American Old Time Country Click here for an excellent, myth-busting article... and I didn't write it!	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5504
__label__wiki	0.745957	0.745957	Two Fellows Join CMDS › Two Fellows Join CMDS We are proud to announce that Jozef Michal Mintal and Vibodh Parthasarathi have joined the Center for Media, Data and Society as Fellows. Jozef Michal Mintal is a PhD student in International Relations at Matej Bel University. He is also the Co-founder of the UMB Data&Society Lab, where he is currently the IBM CARWST Research Fellow, working under the Cognitive Analytics for Real-World Security Threats (CARWST) research project funded by IBM. Jozef’s research focuses on the interaction of digital technologies with society. His is currently involved in research projects on computational propaganda, also in The Business of Misinformation project at CMDS. His PhD dissertation focuses on the weaponization of content volume and content diversity levels on digital platforms in the V4. Prior to pursuing his PhD, he worked at senior positions in various NGOs in the field of foreign and security policy, and start-ups. Vibodh Parthasarathi maintains a multidisciplinary interest in media policy, creative industries and policy literacy his most recent work being the edited double-volume The Indian Media Economy (Oxford University Press 2017). He has been at the forefront of media policy research in India and his work has found support from the Ford Foundation, Canada’s IDRC, Social Science Research Council, HIVOS, India New Zealand Education Council, University Grants Commission, and Indian Council of Social Science Research. Currently on extraordinary leave from Jamia Millia Islamia, his recent visiting positions include the Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities at the University of Queensland, the Metaforum Institute at KU Leuven, and the Swedish South Asian Studies Network at Lund University. His ongoing research explores media regulation in the longue durée, digital transformation in media infrastructures, risks to media diversity, and emergence of the platform economy. His international collaborations involve academics, policy advocates, and journalists variously in Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, and Sweden. He has been invited to the Boards of the Centre for Internet & Society, the India Open Data Association, and The Media Foundation. He serves in editorial advisory roles with MIT Press and Oxford University Press, and at the public intellectual platform ‘The Conversation’.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5505
__label__wiki	0.752309	0.752309	Home Blockchain Technology The Criminal Past of Quadriga’s Co-Founder Has Been Revealed The Criminal Past of Quadriga’s Co-Founder Has Been Revealed The mystery surrounding the disappearance of $190 million in crypto from Canadian exchange Quadriga deepened as it was revealed the surviving founder is a reported ex-con who served 18 months in a federal U.S. prison for identity theft, bank fraud and credit card fraud. Michael Patryn, who founded Quadriga with Gerald Cotten, has been revealed as Omar Dhanani. After denying this and disputing reports linking him to his criminal past, records were obtained showing that Patryn legally changed his name twice, six years before he founded Quadriga with Cotten. Join CCN for $9.99 per month and get an ad-free version of CCN including discounts for future events and services. Support our journalists today. Click here to sign up. Here are today’s top legal stories ⬇ 1. Omar Dhanani, now known as Michael Patryn, has emerged as an enigmatic figure in the strange case of Quadriga Fintech Solutions, which hasn’t been able to find $195 million of clients’ cash and cryptocurrencies. https://t.co/TGJ4gG5g7f — Bloomberg Law (@BLaw) March 19, 2019 Patryn has refused to comment on his criminal past or his identity, which he changed from Omar Dhanani to Omar Patryn in 2003. He later changing his name to Michael Patryn in 2008. Both changes occurred within the province of British Columbia, Canada. A Dark Cloud Hovers Above Cotten died at age 30 last December in Jaipur, India due to complications from Crohn’s Disease. The event plunged Quadriga into chaos, as he was reportedly the only person holding the private keys to access the exchange’s $190 million in customer assets. The news sent shockwaves across the crypto space. 115,000 people were unable to withdraw funds they’d deposited with the exchange, including one man who lost his $422,000 life savings. Criminal Past Dhanani has pleaded guilty to a range of crimes in the U.S., including conspiracy to commit credit and bank card fraud at age 22 in 2005. This was allegedly for the now terminated shadowcrew.com site that offered a marketplace for 1.5 million stolen bank and credit card numbers. He also pleaded guilty in 2007 to separate charges of burglary, grand larceny and computer fraud. The crimes led to his deportation to Canada, where he changed his identity, reinvented himself as a cryptocurrency and bitcoin entrepreneur, and helped Cotten establish QuadrigaCX, one of the country’s first crypto exchanges. Patryn said he left the company after a “fundamental disagreement” over a decision by Cotten to stop the listing of Quadriga. In an earlier email exchange with Bloomberg, Patryn said: On the day of our disagreement, I left the company and ceased being privy to operational decisions. Since that time, I have not been involved in the operations or management of any of the Quadriga companies. He added that he and Cotten had not worked closely together since he left, and that he was unaware of his death: I spoke with him in November when he sent me a message on my birthday. I did not know that he was married or in India until the official announcement of his death. Where Did Everything Go? The news of Quadriga’s collapse surfaced after customer withdrawal requests were ignored, and it was revealed the company had declared itself insolvent. Customers claim Quadriga faked Cotton’s death to steal from their cold wallet reserves. Administrators from Ernst and Young were appointed to track down the missing assets. Victims of the collapse have instructed lawyers to represent them in Quadriga’s ongoing creditor protection proceedings in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia. The court has given Quadriga a 45-day extension to search for the missing crypto assets. The next hearing will take place on April 18 at 9:30 a.m. Previous articleAgustin Carstens: Banks Should Not Issue Digital Currencies Next articleRussian State Duma Defers Consideration of Bill On Digital Financial Assets SEC Official Says 'Plain English' Guidance On ICOs Is Coming Tether Scandal Sparks Bitcoin Price Gains; Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash Up 4%-11% ClinicAll: Incredible Opportunities for the Healthcare Sector Binance Talking to Facebook About Libra Listing: Reports Denver Municipal Election: Another Small Stop on the Road to Universal...	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5509
__label__wiki	0.947344	0.947344	earlier at Ugwuelle-Uturu (Okigwe) in southeastern Nigeria, where microliths were used.[2] Smelting furnaces at Taruga dating from the 4th century BC provide the oldest evidence of metalworking in ar… Posted by Worren Nicholas on April 30, 2013 at 11:45pm earlier at Ugwuelle-Uturu (Okigwe) in southeastern Nigeria, where microliths were used.[2] Smelting furnaces at Taruga dating from the 4th century BC provide the oldest evidence of metalworking in archaeology. The earliest known example of a fossil skeleton with negroid features, perhaps 10,000 years old, was found at Iii Ileru in western Nigeria and attests to the antiquity of habitation in the region.[3] Microlithic and ceramic industries were also developed by savanna pastoralists from at least the 4th millennium BC and were continued by subsequent agricultural communities. In the south, hunting and gathering gave way to subsistence farming around the same time, relying more on the indigenous yam and oil palm than on the cereals important in the North. The stone axe heads, imported in great quantities from the north and used in opening the forest for agricultural development, were venerated by the Yoruba descendants of neolithic pioneers as "thunderbolts" hurled to earth by the gods.[3] Kainji Dam excavations revealed iron-working by the 2nd century BC. The transition from Neolithic times to the Iron Age apparently was achieved without intermediate bronze production. Others suggest the technology moved west from the Nile Valley, although the Iron Age in the Niger River valley and the forest region appears to predate the introduction of metallurgy in the upper savanna by more than 800 years. The earliest identified iron-using Nigerian culture is that of the Nok culture that thrived between approximately 900 BC and 200 AD on the Jos Plateau in northeastern Nigeria. Information is lacking from the first millennium AD following the Nok ascendancy, but by the 2nd millennium AD there was active trade from North Africa through the Sahara to the forest, with the people of the savanna acting as intermediaries in exchanges of various goods. [edit]Yoruba Ife bronze casting of Oduduwa, dated around 12th Century, in the British Museum. Historically the Yoruba people have been the dominant group on the west bank of the Niger. Their nearest linguistic relatives are the Igala who live on the opposite side of the Niger's divergence from the Benue, and from whom they are believed to have split about 2,000 years ago. The Yoruba were organized in mostly patrilineal groups that occupied village communities and subsisted on agriculture. From approximately the 8th century A.D., adjacent village compounds called ile coalesced into numerous territorial city-states in which clan loyalties became subordinate to dynastic chieftains. Urbanization was accompanied by high levels of artistic achievement, particularly in terracotta and ivory sculpture and in the sophisticated metal casting produced at Ife. The Yoruba paid (and a number of them around the world still pay) tribute to a pantheon composed of an impersonal Supreme Deity, Olorun, and 400 lesser deities who perform various tasks. Oduduwa is regarded as both the creator of the earth and the ancestor of the Yoruba kings. According to one of the various myths about him, he founded Ife and dispatched his sons and daughters to establish similar kingdoms in other parts of what is today known as Yorubaland. [edit]Igbo states Main articles: Awka, Onitsha, Owerri, Aro Confederacy, and Abiriba [edit]Nri Kingdom A bronze ceremonial vessel made around the 9th century found at Igbo-Ukwu. Main article: Kingdom of Nri The city of Nri is considered to be the foundation of Igbo culture.[4] Nri and Aguleri, where the Igbo creation myth originates, are in the territory of the Umueri clan, who trace their lineages back to the patriarchal king-figure, Eri.[5] Eri's origins are unclear, though he has been described as a "sky being" sent byChukwu (God).[5][6] He has been characterized as having first given societal order to the people of Anambra.[6] Archaeological evidence suggests that Nri hegemony in Igboland may go back as far as the 9th century,[7] and royal burials have been unearthed dating to at least the 10th century. Eri, the god-like founder of Nri, is believed to have settled the region around 948 with other related Igbo cultures following after in the 13th century.[8] The first Eze Nri (King of Nri), Ìfikuánim, followed directly after him. According to Igbo oral tradition, his reign started in 1043.[9] At least one historian puts Ìfikuánim's reign much later, around 1225 AD.[10] Each king traces his origin back to the founding ancestor, Eri. Each king is a ritual reproduction of Eri. The initiation rite of a new king shows that the ritual process of becoming Ezenri (Nri priest-king) follows closely the path traced by the hero in establishing the Nri kingdom. —E. Elochukwu Uzukwu[11] Nri and Aguleri and part of the Umueri clan, a cluster of Igbo village groups which traces its origins to a sky being called Eri, and, significantly, includes (from the viewpoint of its Igbo members) the neighbouring kingdom of Igala. —Elizabeth Allo Isichei[12] The Kingdom of Nri was a religio-polity, a sort of theocratic state, that developed in the central heartland of the Igbo region.[8] The Nri had a taboo symbolic code with six types. These included human (such as the birth of twins), animal (such as killing or eating of pythons),[13] object, temporal, behavioral, speech and place taboos.[14] The rules regarding these taboos were used to educate and govern Nri's subjects. This meant that, while certain Igbo may have lived under different formal administration, all followers of the Igbo religion had to abide by the rules of the faith and obey its representative on earth, the Eze Nri.[14][15] by mfonini usoro [edit]Decline of Nri kingdom With the decline of Nri kingdom in the 1400-1600 AD, several states once under their influence, became powerful economic oracular oligarchies and large commercial states that dominated Igboland. The neighboring Awka city-state rose in power as a result of their powerful Agbala oracle and metalworking expertise. The Onitsha Kingdom, which was originally inhabited by Igbos from East of the Niger, was founded in the 16th century by migrants from Anioma (Western Igboland). Later groups like the Igala traders from the hinterland settled in Onitsha in the 18th century. Western Igbo kingdoms like Aboh, dominated trade in the lower Niger area from the 17th century until European penetration. The Umunoha state in the Owerri area used the Igwe ka Ala oracle at their advantage. However, the Cross River Igbo state like the Aro had the greatest influence in Igboland and adjacent areas after the decline of Nri. The Arochukwu kingdom which emerged after the Aro-Ibibio wars from 1630–1720, and went on to form the Aro Confederacy which economically dominated parts of midwestern and eastern Nigeria with pockets of influence in Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon. The source of the Aro Confederacy's economic dominance was based on the judicial oracle of Ibini Ukpabi ("Long Juju") and their military forces which included powerful allies such as Ohafia, Abam, Ezza, and other related neighboring states. The related Abiriba (Abiriba and Aro Are Brothers who's migration is traced to Ekpa Kingdom in East of Cross River(their exact take of location was at Ekpa (Mkpa) east of the Cross river. They crossed the river to urupkam (Usukpam) west of the Cross river and founded two settlements - Ena Uda and Ena Ofia in present day Erai. Aro and Abiriba cooperated to become a powerful economic force. Igbo gods, like those of the Yoruba, were numerous, but their relationship to one another and human beings was essentially egalitarian, reflecting Igbo society as a whole. A number of oracles and local cults attracted devotees while the central deity, the earth mother and fertility figure Ala, was venerated at shrines throughout Igboland. The weakness of a popular theory that Igbos were stateless rests on the paucity of historical evidence of pre-colonial Igbo society. There is a huge gap between the archaeological finds of Igbo Ukwu, which reveal a rich material culture in the heart of the Igbo region in the 8th century, and the oral traditions of the 20th century. Benin exercised considerable influence on the western Igbo who adopted many of the political structures familiar to the Yoruba-Benin region, but Asaba and its immediate neighbors, such as Ibusa, Ogwashi-Ukwu, Okpanam, Issele-Azagba and Issele-Ukwu were much closer to the Kingdom of Nri. Ofega was the queen for the Onitsha Igbo. [edit]Early states before 1500 Main article: History of Nigeria before 1500 The early independent Kingdoms and states that make the present day British colonialized Nigeria are (in alphabetical order): Benin Kingdom Borgu Kingdom Fulani Empire Hausa Kingdoms Kanem Bornu Empire Kwararafa Kingdom Ibibio Kingdom Nri Kingdom Nupe Kingdom Oyo Kingdom Songhai Empire Warri Kingdom [edit]Oyo and Benin Main article: Oyo Empire During the 15th century Oyo and Benin surpassed Ife as political and economic powers, although Ife preserved its status as a religious center. Respect for the priestly functions of the oni of Ife was a crucial factor in the evolution of Yoruban culture. The Ife model of government was adapted at Oyo, where a member of its ruling dynasty controlled several smaller city-states. A state council (the Oyo Mesi) named the alafin (king) and acted as a check on his authority. Their capital city was situated about 100 km north of present-day Oyo. Unlike the forest-bound Yoruba kingdoms, Oyo was in the savanna and drew its military strength from its cavalry forces, which established hegemony over the adjacent Nupe and the Borgu kingdoms and thereby developed trade routes farther to the north. Main article: Benin Empire [edit]Northern kingdoms of the Sahel The Songhai Empire, c. 1500 Trade is the key to the emergence of organized communities in the sahelian portions of Nigeria. Prehistoric inhabitants adjusting to the encroaching desert were widely scattered by the third millennium BC, when the desiccation of the Sahara began. Trans-Saharan trade routes linked the western Sudan with the Mediterranean since the time of Carthage and with the Upper Nile from a much earlier date, establishing avenues of communication and cultural influence that remained open until the end of the 19th century. By these same routes, Islam made its way south into West Africa after the 9th century AD. By then a string of dynastic states, including the earliest Hausa states, stretched across western and central Sudan. The most powerful of these states were Ghana, Gao, and Kanem, which were not within the boundaries of modern Nigeria but which influenced the history of the Nigerian savanna. Ghana declined in the 11th century but was succeeded by the Mali Empire which consolidated much of western Sudan in the 13th century. Following the breakup of Mali a local leader named Sonni Ali (1464–1492) founded the Songhai Empire in the region of middle Niger and the western Sudan and took control of the trans-Saharan trade. Sonni Ali seized Timbuktu in 1468 and Djenné in 1473, building his regime on trade revenues and the cooperation of Muslim merchants. His successor Askia Muhammad Ture (1493–1528) made Islam the official religion, built mosques, and brought Muslim scholars, including al-Maghili (d.1504), the founder of an important tradition of Sudanic African Muslim scholarship, to Gao.[16] Although these western empires had little political influence on the Nigerian savanna before 1500 they had a strong cultural and economic impact that became more pronounced in the 16th century, especially because these states became associated with the spread of Islam and trade. Throughout the 16th century much of northern Nigeria paid homage to Songhai in the west or to Borno, a rival empire in the east. [edit]Kanem-Bornu Empire Main article: Kanem-Bornu Empire Borno's history is closely associated with Kanem, which had achieved imperial status in the Lake Chad basin by the 13th century. Kanem expanded westward to include the area that became Borno. The mai (king) of Kanem and his court accepted Islam in the 11th century, as the western empires also had done. Islam was used to reinforce the political and social structures of the state although many established customs were maintained. Women, for example, continued to exercise considerable political influence. The mai employed his mounted bodyguard and an inchoate army of nobles to extend Kanem's authority into Borno. By tradition the territory was conferred on the heir to the throne to govern during his apprenticeship. In the 14th century, however, dynastic conflict forced the then-ruling group and its followers to relocate in Borno, where as a result the Kanuri emerged as an ethnic group in the late 14th and 15th centuries. The civil war that disrupted Kanem in the second half of the 14th century resulted in the independence of Borno. Borno's prosperity depended on the trans-Sudanic slave trade and the desert trade in salt and livestock. The need to protect its commercial interests compelled Borno to intervene in Kanem, which continued to be a theater of war throughout the 15th century and into the 16th century. Despite its relative political weakness in this period, Borno's court and mosques under the patronage of a line of scholarly kings earned fame as centers of Islamic culture and learning. [edit]Hausa states Map of Nigeria (source: CIA's The World Factbook) Hausa-Fulani Sokoto Caliphate in the 19th century Main article: Hausa Kingdoms By the 11th century some Hausa states - such as Kano, Jigawa, Katsina, and Gobir - had developed into walled towns engaging in trade, servicing caravans, and the manufacture of various goods. Until the 15th century these small states were on the periphery of the major Sudanic empires of the era. They were constantly pressured by Songhai to the west and Kanem-Borno to the east, to which they paid tribute. Armed conflict was usually motivated by economic concerns, as coalitions of Hausa states mounted wars against the Jukun and Nupe in the middle belt to collect slaves or against one another for control of trade. Islam arrived to Hausaland along the caravan routes. The famous Kano Chronicle records the conversion of Kano's ruling dynasty by clerics from Mali, demonstrating that the imperial influence of Mali extended far to the east. Acceptance of Islam was gradual and was often nominal in the countryside where folk religion continued to exert a strong influence. Nonetheless, Kano and Katsina, with their famous mosques and schools, came to participate fully in the cultural and intellectual life of the Islamic world. The Fulani began to enter the Hausa country in the 13th century and by the 15th century they were tending cattle, sheep, and goats in Borno as well. The Fulani came from the Senegal River valley, where their ancestors had developed a method of livestock management based on transhumance. Gradually they moved eastward, first into the centers of the Mali and Songhai empires and eventually into Hausaland and Borno. Some Fulbe converted to Islam as early as the 11th century and settled among the Hausa, from whom they became racially indistinguishable. There they constituted a devoutly religious, educated elite who made themselves indispensable to the Hausa kings as government advisers, Islamic judges, and teachers. [edit]Pre-colonial states, 1500-1800 Main article: History of Nigeria (1500-1800) [edit]Savanna states During the 16th century the Songhai Empire reached its peak, stretching from the Senegal and Gambia rivers and incorporating part of Hausaland in the east. Concurrently the Saifawa Dynasty of Borno conquered Kanem and extended control west to Hausa cities not under Songhai authority. Largely because of Songhai's influence, there was a blossoming of Islamic learning and culture. Songhai collapsed in 1591 when a Moroccan army conquered Gao and Timbuktu. Morocco was unable to control the empire and the various provinces, including the Hausa states, became independent. The collapse undermined Songhai's hegemony over the Hausa states and abruptly altered the course of regional history. Borno reached its pinnacle under mai Idris Aloma (ca. 1569-1600) during whose reign Kanem was reconquered. The destruction of Songhai left Borno uncontested and until the 18th century Borno dominated northern Nigeria. Despite Borno's hegemony the Hausa states continued to wrestle for ascendancy. Gradually Borno's position weakened; its inability to check political rivalries between competing Hausa cities was one example of this decline. Another factor was the military threat of the Tuareg centered at Agades who penetrated the northern districts of Borno. The major cause of Borno's decline was a severe drought that struck the Sahel and savanna from in the middle of the 18th century. As a consequence Borno lost many northern territories to the Tuareg whose mobility allowed them to endure the famine more effectively. Borno regained some of its former might in the succeeding decades, but another drought occurred in the 1790s, again weakening the state. Ecological and political instability provided the background for the jihad of Usman dan Fodio. The military rivalries of the Hausa states strained the region's economic resources at a time when drought and famine undermined farmers and herders. Many Fulani moved into Hausaland and Borno, and their arrival increased tensions because they had no loyalty to the political authorities, who saw them as a source of increased taxation. By the end of the 18th century, some Muslim ulema began articulating the grievances of the common people. Efforts to eliminate or control these religious leaders only heightened the tensions, setting the stage for jihad.[16] [edit]Akwa Akpa Main article: Akwa Akpa The modern city of Calabar was founded in 1786 by Efik families who had left Creek Town, farther up the Calabar river, settling on the east bank in a position where they were able to dominate traffic with European vessels that anchored in the river, and soon becoming the most powerful in the region.[17] Akwa Akpa became a center of the slave trade, where slaves were exchanged for European goods.[18] Most slave ships that transported slaves from Calabar were English, and around 85% of these ships being from Bristol and Liverpool merchants.[19] The main ethnic group taken out of Calabar as slaves were the Igbo, although they were not the main ethnicity in the area.[20] With the suppression of the slave trade, palm oil and palm kernels became the main exports. The chiefs of Akwa Akpa placed themselves under British protection in 1884.[21] From 1884 until 1906 Old Calabar was the headquarters of the Niger Coast Protectorate, after which Lagos became the main center.[21] Now called Calabar, the city remained an important port shipping ivory, timber, beeswax, and palm produce until 1916, when the railway terminus was opened at Port Harcourt, 145 km to the west.[22] [edit]A British sphere of influence Main article: Colonial Nigeria Stamp of Southern Nigeria, 1901 Colonial Flag of Nigeria Following the Napoleonic wars, the British expanded trade with the Nigerian interior. In 1885, British claims to a West African sphere of influence received international recognition; and in the following year, the Royal Niger Company was chartered under the leadership of Sir George Taubman Goldie. In 1900, the company's territory came under the control of the British Government, which moved to consolidate its hold over the area of modern Nigeria. On January 1, 1901, Nigeria became a British protectorate, part of the British Empire, the foremost world power at the time. In 1914, the area was formally united as the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. Administratively, Nigeria remained divided into the Northern and Southern Provinces and Lagos Colony. Western education and the development of a modern economy proceeded more rapidly in the south than in the north, with consequences felt in Nigeria's political life ever since. Following World War II, in response to the growth of Nigerian nationalism and demands for independence, successive constitutions legislated by the British Government moved Nigeria toward self-government on a representative and increasingly federal basis. On 1 October 1954, the colony became the autonomous Federation of Nigeria. By the middle of the 20th century, the great wave for independence was sweeping across Africa. On 27 October 1958 Britain agreed that Nigeria would become an independent state on 1 October 1960. [edit]Independence Jaja Wachuku, First Nigerian Speaker of the House: 1959 - 1960 The Federation of Nigeria was granted full independence on the 1st October 1960 under a constitution that provided for a parliamentary government and a substantial measure of self-government for the country's three regions. From 1959 to 1960, Jaja Wachuku was the First Nigerian Speaker of the NigerianParliament - also called the "House of Representatives." Jaja Wachuku replaced Sir Frederick Metcalfe of Britain. Notably, as First Speaker of the House, Jaja Wachuku received Nigeria's Instrument of Independence - also known as Freedom Charter - on October 1, 1960, from Princess Alexandra of Kent, The Queen's representative at the Nigerian independence ceremonies. The federal government was given exclusive powers in defense, foreign relations, and commercial and fiscal policy. The monarch of Nigeria was still head of state but legislative power was vested in a bicameral parliament, executive power in a prime minister and cabinet, and judicial authority in a Federal Supreme Court. Political parties, however, tended to reflect the make up of the three main ethnic groups. The Nigerian People's Congress (NPC) represented conservative, Muslim, largely Hausa and Fulani interests that dominated the Northern Region. The northern region of the country, consisting of 3/4 of the land area and more than half the population of Nigeria.[23] Thus the North dominated the federation government from the beginning of independence. In the 1959 elections held in preparation for independence, the NPC captured 134 seats in the 312-seat parliament.[24] Capturing 89 seats in the federal parliament was the second largest party in the newly independent country the National Convention of Nigerian Citizens(NCNC). The NCNC represented the interests of the Igbo- and Christian-dominated people of the Eastern Region of Nigeria.[25] and the Action Group (AG) was a left-leaning party that represented the interests of the Yoruba people in the West. In the 1959 elections the AG obtained 73 seats.[25] The first post-independence national government was formed by a conservative alliance of the NCNC and the NPC. Upon independence, it was widely expected that Ahmadu Bello the Sardauna of Sokoto, the undisputed strong man in Nigeria[26] who controlled the North, would become Prime Minister of the new Federation Government. However, Bello chose to remain as premier of the North and as party boss of the NPC, selected Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, a Hausa, to become Nigeria's first Prime Minister. The Yoruba-dominated AG became the opposition under its charismatic leader Chief Obafemi Awolowo. However, in 1962, a faction arose within the AG under the leadership of Ladoke Akintola who had been selected as premier of the West. The Akintola faction argued that the Yoruba peoples were losing their pre-eminent position in business in Nigeria to people of the Igbo tribe because the Igbo-dominated NCNC was part of the governing coalition and the AG was not.[25] The federal government Prime Minister, Balewa agreed with the Akintola faction and sought to have the AG join the government. The party leadership under Awolowo disagreed and replaced Akintola as premier of the West with one of their own supporters. However, when Western Region parliament met to approve this change, Akintola supporters in the parliament started a riot in the chambers of the parliament.[27] Fighting between the members broke out. Chairs were thrown and one member grabbed the parliamentary Mace and wielded it like a weapon to attack the Speaker and other members. Eventually, the police with tear gas were required to quell the riot. In subsequent attempts to reconvene the Western parliament, similar disturbances broke out.[27] Unrest continued in the West and contributed to the Western Region's reputation for, violence, anarchy and rigged elections.[28] Federal Government Prime Minister Balewa declared martial law in the Western Region and arrested Awolowo and other members of his faction charged them with treason. Akintola was appointed to head a coalition government in the Western Region. Thus, the AG was reduced to an opposition role in their own stronghold.[27] [edit]First Republic Main article: Nigerian First Republic In October 1963 Nigeria proclaimed itself the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and former Governor General Nnamdi Azikiwe became the country's first President. From the outset Nigeria's ethnic and religious tensions were magnified by the disparities in economic and educational development between the south and the north. The AG was maneuvered out of control of the Western Region by the Federal Government and a new pro-government Yoruba party, the Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP), took over. Shortly afterward the AG opposition leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, was imprisoned to be without foundation. The 1965 national election produced a major realignment of politics and a disputed result that set the country on the path to civil war.[29] The dominant northern NPC went into a conservative alliance with the new Yoruba NNDP, leaving the Igbo NCNC to coalesce with the remnants of the AG in a progressive alliance. In the vote, widespread electoral fraud was alleged and riots erupted in the Yoruba West where heartlands of the AG discovered they had apparently elected pro-government NNDP representatives. [edit]First period of military rule Main article: Nigerian Civil War On 15 January 1966 a group of army officers (the Young Majors) mostly southeastern Igbos, overthrew the NPC-NNDP government and assassinated the prime minister and the premiers of the northern and western regions. However the bloody nature of the Young Majors coup caused another coup to be carried out by General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi. The Young Majors went into hiding. Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna fled to Kwami Nkrumah's Ghana where he was welcomed as a hero.[30] Some of the Young Majors were arrested and detained by the Ironsi government. Among the Igbo people of the Eastern Region, these detainees were heroes.[31] In the Northern Region, however, the Hausa and Fulani people demanded that the detainees be placed on trial for murder.[31] The federal military government that assumed power under General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi was unable to quiet ethnic tensions on issue or other issues. Additionally, the Ironsi government was unable to produce a constitution acceptable to all sections of the country.[32] Most fateful for the Ironsi government was the decision to issue Decree No. 34 which sought to unify the nation.[33] Decree No. 34 sought to do away with the whole federal structure under which the Nigerian government had been organized since independence. Rioting broke out in the North.[34] The Ironsi government's efforts to abolish the federal structure and the renaming the country the Republic of Nigeria on 24 May 1966 raised tensions and led to another coup by largely northern officers in July 1966, which established the leadership of Major General Yakubu Gowon.[35] The name Federal Republic of Nigeria was restored on 31 August 1966. However, the subsequent massacre of thousands of Igbo in the north prompted hundreds of thousands of them to return to the southeast where increasingly strong Igbo secessionist sentiment emerged. In a move towards greater autonomy to minority ethnic groups the military divided the four regions into 12 states. However the Igbo rejected attempts at constitutional revisions and insisted on full autonomy for the east. On May 29, 1967 Lt. Col. Emeka Ojukwu, the military governor of the eastern region who emerged as the leader of increasing Igbo secessionist sentiment, declared the independence of the eastern region as the Republic of Biafra on May 30, 1967.[36] The ensuingNigerian Civil War resulted in an estimated 3.5 million deaths (mostly from starving children) before the war ended with Gowon's famous "No victor, no vanquished" speech in 1970.[37] Following the civil war the country turned to the task of economic development. Foreign exchange earnings and government revenues increased spectacularly with the oil price rises of 1973-74. On July 29, 1975 Gen. Murtala Mohammed and a group of officers staged a bloodless coup, accusing Gen. Yakubu Gowon of corruption and delaying the promised return to civilian rule. General Mohammed replaced thousands of civil servants and announced a timetable for the resumption of civilian rule by October 1, 1979. He was assassinated on February 13, 1976 in an abortive coup and his chief of staff Lt. Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo became head of state. [edit]Second Republic A constituent assembly was elected in 1977 to draft a new constitution, which was published on September 21, 1978, when the ban on political activity was lifted. In 1979, five political parties competed in a series of elections in which Alhaji Shehu Shagari of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) was elected president.[38] All five parties won representation in the National Assembly. During the 1950s prior to independence, oil was discovered off the coast of Nigeria. Almost immediately, the revenues from oil began to make Nigeria a wealthy nation. However, the spike in oil prices from $3 per barrel to $12 per barrel, following the Yom Kipur War in 1973 brought a sudden rush of money to Nigeria.[39] Another sudden rise in the price of oil in 1979 to $19 per barrel occurred as a result of the lead up to the Iran-Iraq War.[40] All of this meant that by 1979, Nigeria was the sixth largest producer of oil in the world with revenues from oil of $24 billiion per year.[41] In August 1983, Shagari and the NPN were returned to power in a landslide victory with a majority of seats in the National Assembly and control of 12 state governments. But the elections were marred by violence and allegations of widespread vote rigging and electoral malfeasance, leading to legal battles over the results.[42] On December 31, 1983 the military overthrew the Second Republic. Major General Muhammadu Buhari emerged as the leader of the Supreme Military Council (SMC), the country's new ruling body. The Buhari government was peacefully overthrown by the SMC's third-ranking member General Ibrahim Babangida in August 1985. Babangida (IBB) cited the misuse of power, violations of human rights by key officers of the SMC, and the government's failure to deal with the country's deepening economic crisis as justifications for the takeover. During his first days in office President Babangida moved to restore freedom of the press and to release political detainees being held without charge. As part of a 15-month economic emergency plan he announced pay cuts for the military, police, civil servants and the private sector. President Babangida demonstrated his intent to encourage public participation in decision making by opening a national debate on proposed economic reform and recovery measures. The public response convinced Babangida of intense opposition to an economic recession. [edit]The abortive Third Republic Main article: Nigerian Third Republic Head of State, Babangida, promised to return the country to civilian rule by 1990 which was later extended until January 1993. In early 1989 a constituent assembly completed a constitution and in the spring of 1989 political activity was again permitted. In October 1989 the government established two parties, the National Republican Convention (NRC) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) - other parties were not allowed to register. In April 1990 mid-level officers attempted unsuccessfully to overthrow the government and 69 accused plotters were executed after secret trials before military tribunals. In December 1990 the first stage of partisan elections was held at the local government level. Despite low turnout there was no violence and both parties demonstrated strength in all regions of the country, with the SDP winning control of a majority of local government councils. In December 1991 state legislative elections were held and Babangida decreed that previously banned politicians could contest in primaries scheduled for August. These were canceled due to fraud and subsequent primaries scheduled for September also were canceled. All announced candidates were disqualified from standing for president once a new election format was selected. The presidential election was finally held on June 12, 1993 with the inauguration of the new president scheduled to take place August 27, 1993, the eighth anniversary of President Babangida's coming to power. In the historic June 12, 1993 presidential elections, which most observers deemed to be Nigeria's fairest, early returns indicated that wealthy Yoruba businessman M.K.O. Abiola won a decisive victory. However, on June 23, Babangida, using several pending lawsuits as a pretense, annulled the election, throwing Nigeria into turmoil. More than 100 were killed in riots before Babangida agreed to hand power to an interim government on August 27, 1993. He later attempted to renege this decision, but without popular and military support, he was forced to hand over to Ernest Shonekan, a prominent nonpartisan businessman. Shonekan was to rule until elections scheduled for February 1994. Although he had led Babangida's Transitional Council since 1993, Shonekan was unable to reverse Nigeria's economic problems or to defuse lingering political tension. [edit]Sani Abacha With the country sliding into chaos Defense Minister Sani Abacha assumed power and forced Shonekan's resignation on November 17, 1993. Abacha dissolved all democratic institutions and replaced elected governors with military officers. Although promising restoration of civilian rule he refused to announce a transitional timetable until 1995. Following the annulment of the June 12 election the United States and others imposed sanctions on Nigeria including travel restrictions on government officials and suspension of arms sales and military assistance Additional sanctions were imposed as a result of Nigeria's failure to gain full certification for its counter-narcotics efforts. Although Abacha was initially welcomed by many Nigerians, disenchantment grew rapidly. Opposition leaders formed the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), which campaigned to reconvene the Senate and other disbanded democratic institutions. On June 11, 1994 Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola declared himself president and went into hiding until his arrest on June 23. In response petroleum workers called a strike demanding that Abacha release Abiola and hand over power to him. Other unions joined the strike, bringing economic life around Lagos and the southwest to a standstill. After calling off a threatened strike in July the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) reconsidered a general strike in August after the government imposed conditions on Abiola's release. On August 17, 1994 the government dismissed the leadership of the NLC and the petroleum unions, placed the unions under appointed administrators, and arrested Frank Kokori and other labor leaders. The government alleged in early 1995 that military officers and civilians were engaged in a coup plot. Security officers rounded up the accused, including former Head of State Obasanjo and his deputy, retired General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua. After a secret tribunal most of the accused were convicted and several death sentences were handed down. In 1994 the government set up the Ogoni Civil Disturbances Special Tribunal to try Ogoni activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and others for their alleged roles in the killings of four Ogoni politicians. The tribunal sentenced Saro-Wiwa and eight others to death and they were executed on November 10, 1995. On October 1, 1995 Abacha announced the timetable for a 3-year transition to civilian rule. Only five political parties were approved by the regime and voter turnout for local elections in December 1997 was under 10%. On December 21, 1997 the government arrested General Oladipo Diya, ten officers, and eight civilians on charges of coup plotting. The accused were tried before a military tribunal in which Diya and eight others were sentenced to death. Abacha enforced authority through the federal security system which is accused of numerous human rights abuses, including infringements on freedom of speech, assembly, association, travel, and violence against women. [edit]Abubakar's transition to civilian rule Abacha died of heart failure on June 8, 1998 and was replaced by General Abdulsalami Abubakar. The military Provisional Ruling Council (PRC) under Abubakar commuted the sentences of those accused in the alleged coup during the Abacha regime and released almost all known civilian political detainees. Pending the promulgation of the constitution written in 1995, the government observed some provisions of the 1979 and 1989 constitutions. Neither Abacha nor Abubakar lifted the decree suspending the 1979 constitution, and the 1989 constitution was not implemented. The judiciary system continued to be hampered by corruption and lack of resources after Abacha's death. In an attempt to alleviate such problems Abubakar's government implemented a civil service pay raise and other reforms. In August 1998 Abubakar appointed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct elections for local government councils, state legislatures and governors, the national assembly, and president. The NEC successfully held elections on December 5, 1998, January 9, 1999, February 20, and February 27, 1999, respectively. For local elections nine parties were granted provisional registration with three fulfilling the requirements to contest the following elections. These parties were the People's Democratic Party (PDP), the All People's Party (APP), and the predominantly YorubaAlliance for Democracy (AD). Former military head of state Olusegun Obasanjo, freed from prison by Abubakar, ran as a civilian candidate and won the presidential election. The PRC promulgated a new constitution based largely on the suspended 1979 constitution, before the May 29, 1999 inauguration of the new civilian president. The constitution includes provisions for a bicameral legislature, the National Assembly consisting of a 360-member House of Representatives and a 109-member Senate. [edit]Fourth Republic The emergence of democracy in Nigeria on May 1999 ended 16 years of consecutive military rule. Olusegun Obasanjo inherited a country suffering economic stagnation and the deterioration of most democratic institutions. Obasanjo, a former general, was admired for his stand against the Abacha dictatorship, his record of returning the federal government to civilian rule in 1979, and his claim to represent all Nigerians regardless of religion. The new President took over a country that faced many problems, including a dysfunctional bureaucracy, collapsed infrastructure, and a military that wanted a reward for returning quietly to the barracks. The President moved quickly and retired hundreds of military officers holding political positions, established a blue-ribbon panel to investigate human rights violations, released scores of persons held without charge, and rescinded numerous questionable licenses and contracts left by the previous regimes. The government also moved to recover millions of dollars in funds secreted to overseas accounts. Most civil society leaders and Nigerians witnessed marked improvements in human rights and freedom of the press under Obasanjo. As Nigeria works out representational democracy, conflicts persist between the Executive and Legislative branches over appropriations and other proposed legislation. A sign of federalism has been the growing visibility of state governors and the inherent friction between Abuja and the state capitals over resource allocation.[43] Communal violence has plagued the Obasanjo government since its inception. In May 1999 violence erupted in Kaduna State over the succession of an Emir resulting in more than 100 deaths. In November 1999, the army destroyed the town of Odi, Bayelsa State and killed scores of civilians in retaliation for the murder of 12 policemen by a local gang. In Kaduna in February–May 2000 over 1,000 people died in rioting over the introduction of criminal Shar'ia in the State. Hundreds of ethnic Hausa were killed in reprisal attacks in southeastern Nigeria. In September 2001, over 2,000 people were killed in inter-religious rioting in Jos. In October 2001, hundreds were killed and thousands displaced in communal violence that spread across the states of Benue, Taraba, and Nasarawa. On October 1, 2001 Obasanjo announced the formation of a National Security Commission to address the issue of communal violence. Obasanjo was reelected in 2003. The new president faces the daunting task of rebuilding a petroleum-based economy, whose revenues have been squandered through corruption and mismanagement. Additionally, the Obasanjo administration must defuse longstanding ethnic and religious tensions if it hopes to build a foundation for economic growth and political stability. Currently there is unrest in the Niger delta over the environmental destruction caused by oil drilling and the ongoing poverty in the oil-rich region. A further major problem created by the oil industry is the drilling of pipelines by the local population in an attempt to drain off the petroleum for personal use or as a source of income. This often leads to major explosions and high death tolls.[44] Particularly notable disasters in this area have been: 1) October 1998, Jesse, 1100 deaths, 2) July 2000, Jesse, 250 deaths, 3) September 2004, near Lagos, 60 deaths, 4) May 2006, Ilado, approx. 150-200 deaths (current estimate).[45] Two militants of an unknown faction shot and killed Ustaz Ja'afar Adam, a northern Muslim religious leader and Kano State official, along with one of his disciples in a mosque in Kano during dawn prayers on 13 April 2007. Obasanjo had recently stated on national radio that he would "deal firmly" with election fraud and violence advocated by "highly placed individuals." His comments were interpreted by some analysts as a warning to his Vice President and 2007 presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar.[46] In the 2007 general election, Umaru Yar'Adua and Goodluck Jonathan, both of the People's Democratic Party, were elected President and Vice President, respectively. The election was marred by electoral fraud, and denounced by other candidates and international observers.[47][48] [edit]Yar'Adua's disappearance and Jonathan's successions Yar'Adua's presidency was fraught with uncertainty as media reports said he suffered from kidney and heart disease. In November 2009, he fell ill and was flown out of the country to Saudi Arabia for medical attention. He remained incommunicado for 50 days, by which time rumours were rife that he had died. This continued until the BBC aired an interview that was allegedly done via telephone from the president's sick bed in Saudi Arabia. As of January 2010, he was still abroad. In February 2010, Goodluck Jonathan began serving as acting President in the absence of Yaradua.[49] In May 2010, the Nigerian government learned of Yar'Adua's death after a long battle with existing health problems and an undisclosed illness. This lack of communication left the new acting President Jonathan with no knowledge of his predecessor's plans. Yar'Adua's Hausa-Fulani background gave him a political base in the northern regions of Nigeria, while Goodluck does not have the same ethnic and religious affiliations. This lack of primary ethnic support makes Jonathan a target for militaristic overthrow or regional uprisings in the area. With the increase of resource spending and oil exportation, Nigerian GDP and HDI (Human Development Index) have risen phenomenally since the economically stagnant rule of Sani Abacha, but the primary population still survives on less than $2 USD per day. Goodluck Jonathan called for new elections and stood for re-election in April 2011. He won and is currently the president of Nigeria. [50][51] [edit]Historiography Main article: Ibadan School The Ibadan School dominated the academic study of Nigerian history until the 1970s. It arose at the University of Ibadan in the 1950s and remained dominant until the 1970s. The University of Ibadan was the first university to open in Nigeria, and its scholars set up the history departments at most of Nigeria's other universities, spreading the Ibadan historiography. Its scholars also wrote the textbooks that were used at all levels of the Nigerian education system for many years. The school's output appears in the "Ibadan History Series."[52] The leading scholars of the Ibadan School include Saburi Biobaku, Kenneth D***, J.F.A. Ajayi, Adiele Afigbo, E.A. Ayandele, O. Ikime and Tekena Tamuno. Foreign scholars often associated with the school. include, Michael Crowder, Abdullahi Amith, J.B. Webster, R.J. Gavin, Robert Smith, and John D. Omer-Cooper. The school was characterized by its overt Nigerian nationalism and it was geared towards forging a Nigerian identity through publicizing the glories of pre-colonial history. The school was quite traditional in its subject matter, being largely confined to the political history that colleagues in Europe and North America were then rejecting. It was very modern, however, in the sources used. Much use was made of oral history and throughout the school took a strongly interdisciplinary approach to gathering information. This was especially true after the founding of the Institute for African Studies that brought together experts from many disciplines. The Ibadan School began to decline in importance the 1970s. The Nigerian Civil War led some to question whether Nigeria was in fact a unified nation with a national history. At the same time rival schools developed. At Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria the Islamic Legitimist school arose that rejected Western models in favour of the scholarly tradition of the Sokoto Caliphate and the Islamic world. From other parts of Africa the Neo-Marxist school arrived and gained a number of supporters. Social, economic, and cultural history also began to grow in prominence. In the 1980s Nigerian scholarship in general began to decline, and the Ibadan School was much affected. The military rulers looked upon the universities with deep suspicion and they were poorly funded. Many top minds were co-opted with plum jobs in the administration and left academia. Others left the country entirely for jobs at universities in the West. The economic collapse of the 1980s also greatly hurt the scholarly community, especially the sharp devaluation of the Nigerian currency. This made inviting foreign scholars, subscribing to journals, and attending conferences vastly more expensive. Many of the domestic journals, including the Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, faltered and were only published rarely, if at all.[53] [edit]See also History of Africa Historiography of the British Empire History of West Africa List of heads of government of Nigeria List of heads of state of Nigeria Nigerian First Republic Nigerian Second Republic Nigerian Third Republic Nigerian Fourth Republic Politics of Nigeria [edit]References ^ Shaw, Ian; Jameson, Robert (2002), A dictionary of archaeology (6, illustrated, reprint ed.), Wiley-Blackwell, p. 314, ISBN 978-0-631-23583-5 ^ Shaw, T.& Daniells, S. G. H. 1984. Excavations At Iwo-Eleru, Ondo State, Nigeria. West African Journal of Archaeology ^ a b "Nigeria EARLY HISTORY Sourced from The Library of Congress Country.... Retrieved 2010-0 Comment by arun on July 1, 2019 at 7:57am All ancient kingdom having with all golden memories and windows alarms its all proofs are described in this web page, Here I appreciate this interesting things connection.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5511
__label__cc	0.684261	0.315739	Battle of Hastings Street: Raw Detroit Blues & R&B from Joe's Record Shop 1953-1954 "My father, the late Joe Von Battle, was an important mid-century recorder and producer of blues and gospel music in Detroit, from 1945 until 1967. He owned the legendary Joe’s Record Shop, at 3530 Hastings Street, which, after the demolition of the Black Bottom community in the early 1960s, was relocated to 12th Street on Detroit’s West Side. Over the years he recorded legendary artists such as John Lee Hooker, Little Willie John, Johnnie Bassett, the Violinaires, the Serenaders, Little Sammy Bryant, Little Sonny, Jackie Wilson, Sonny Boy Williamson, and many, many others in his studio in the back of the shop, including a classic called The Hucklebuck by Paul Williams. He even recorded a Civil Rights song 'The Alabama Bus', by Brother will Hairston (backed by Washboard Willie), an obscure but significant Blues chronicle of the Alabama Bus Boycott." Marsha Music amazon: Battle of Hastings Street: Raw Detroit Blues & R&B from Joe's Record Shop 1953-1954 YouTube: Marsha Music: Detroit's Black Bottom, Lafayette Park & Joe Von Battle YouTube: Please Don't Think I'm Nosey - Eddie Kirkland, Dealing With The Devil - Eddie Burns, Vacation Blues Johnny Howard, Time For My Lovin' To Be Done - Eddie Kirkland, Hello Miss Jessie Lee - Eddie Burns, I Stayed Down - Johnny Wright, JB Boogie - Joe Weaver & his Blue Notes, Joe Weaver with the Don Juans - Baby I Love You So, Eddie Kirkland - Mistreated Woman, No Shoes - Eddie Kirkland Posted by Bill at 12:02 PM	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5514
__label__cc	0.658998	0.341002	" Multiple " " Taxation " The Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence With the War for Independence over a year old and hope for a peaceful resolution nonexistent, the Continental Congress appointed a Committee of Five—including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin— to draft a document "declar[ing] the causes which impel [the American colonies] to the separation." Thirty-three-year-old Jefferson composed the initial draft, completing it in seventeen days. The committee submitted its draft to Congress on June 28, 1776, and on July 2, Congress voted for independence. Two days later, after numerous edits, Congress approved the Declaration of Independence by unanimous vote. July 4, 1776 The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States ... The Constitution of the United States of America The Constitution of the United States of America The Constitution of the United States of America Fifty-five delegates from twelve states (Rhode Island declined to participate) traveled to Philadelphia to attend the Constitutional Convention, which began in May 1787. They quickly scrapped the existing Articles of Confederation, and after four months they concluded their business by adopting a new frame of government. On September 17, thirty-nine delegates signed the Constitution. It was nine months before the requisite nine states ratified the Constitution, putting it into effect. The thirteenth state, Rhode Island, did not ratify it until 1790. Subsequently, it has been amended twenty-seven times. September 17, 1787 Preamble We the People of ... The Northwest Ordinance \| Religion, Morality, and Property The Northwest Ordinance The Northwest Ordinance Adopted by the Congress of the Confederation in 1787, the Northwest Ordinance set forth a model for the expansion of the American republic. Providing a governing structure for the territory that would later become Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, it prohibited slavery, protected religious liberty, and encouraged education. Following the adoption of the Constitution, the new Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance again in 1789. July 13, 1787 An Ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio Section 1. Be it ordained by the United States in Congress assembled, That the said territory, for the purpose of temporary government, be one ... The Articles of Confederation \| Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation Pennsylvanian John Dickinson—who declined to sign the Declaration of Independence because he believed that the states should be organized politically before declaring independence—wrote the first draft of the Articles of Confederation in 1777. Signed into effect that year and ratified in 1781, the Articles provided the structure of government for the states until the Constitution was ratified in 1788. During that period, the Articles' deficiencies became increasingly obvious, and by the time of the Constitutional Convention, few Founders, including Dickinson, defended its continuation. March 1, 1781 To all to whom these Presents shall come, we the undersigned Delegates of the States affixed ... Constitution of the United States (1) Religion, Morality, and Property (1) Northwest Ordinance (1) Articles of Confederation (1) Religious Liberty (2) Federalism (3) Church and State (1) Self-Reliance (1)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5516
__label__cc	0.596559	0.403441	The Augustinian Tradition. Edited by Gareth B. Matthews. Philosophical Traditions 8. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999. xx + 398 pp. $55.00 cloth; $24.95 paper. Philip L. Barclift Journal: Church History / Volume 70 / Issue 1 / March 2001 The Shifting Tones of Pope Leo the Great's Christological Vocabulary Journal: Church History / Volume 66 / Issue 2 / June 1997 Over the past several decades Leonine studies have focused attention on Pope Leo the Great's Christology, noting the influence his Tomus ad Flavianum had at the Council of Chalcedon. In fact, because of this strong influence twentieth-century scholars have studied the Tome nearly exclusively in order to identify the heart of Leo's Christology. There can be no question, of course, that the Tome should be consulted in order to understand Leo's Christology, but it marks only one phase in the ongoing development of the ways he chose to express his christological insights. In part the Tome itself precipitated this development insofar as it opened up his Christology to scrutiny in the East. The tone of Leo's insights and the language he used to express them shifted and acquired greater precision over time in his letters and sermons in direct response to the dynamics of the christological controversy in the East, of which Leo's Tome made him a part. This development is most evident in three areas: his avoidance of the “Mother of God” title for the Virgin Mary after initially using it early in his pontificate; his use of the terms homo and humanus, which Leo learned to distinguish later in his pontificate; and his adoption of the Antiochene homo assumptus formula late in his pontificate to emphasize the fullness of Christ's human nature. These phenomena reflect the pope's careful attempt to distance himself from the rising tide of the Monophysite movement in the East, as he began to channel his traditional, Western Christology more through formulae used by Antiochene theologians. These phenomena can only be observed through careful, chronological analysis of the broader corpus of Pope Leo's works. Predestination and Divine Foreknowledge in the Sermons of Pope Leo the Great During the fifth century of our common era the Latin church fathers struggled to explain how we humans are saved and why it seems that not all humans are saved. Most of these attempts pivoted on the writings of Augustine of Hippo. The fathers either borrowed from Augustine's thought, adapted it, or reacted to it. Beginning with the generation of theologians who thrived at the end of Augustine's life and just following his death, there arose a tendency in the western church to moderate his more extreme positions concerning grace and predestination by realigning them with accepted church tradition. This tradition includes those Christian doctrines which were held and promoted most widely by theologians—up to, but not including, Augustine himself—whom the early church accepted as orthodox.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5517
__label__cc	0.71699	0.28301	Institute for Northern Culture The Institute for Northern Culture is a network consisting of three educational levels and cultural actors. Cultural production and heritage are being developed by the network. The network develops vitality and well-being in Lapland through cooperation between education, research and artistic activity. The core of the Institute is composed of the Faculty of Art and Design at the University of Lapland, the Business and Culture education at Lapland UAS and the Culture education in the Vocational College Lappia. The network partners of the Institute are the Lapland Institute for Tourism Research and Education, the Lapland Centre of Expertise for the Experience Industry, the Sámi Cultural Centre, the culture institutes in the Barents region, libraries, archives and museums on northern cultural heritage as well as other cultural actors and service users in Lapland.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5526
__label__cc	0.652073	0.347927	Narrative of Sojourner Truth Truth, Sojourner THE SECOND ADVENT DOCTRINES. In Hartford and vicinity, she met with several persons who believed in the 'Second Advent' doctrines; or, the immediate personal appearance of Jesus Christ. At first she thought she had never heard of 'Second Advent.' But when it was explained to her, she recollected having once attended Mr. Miller's meeting in New York, where she saw a great many enigmatical pictures hanging on the wall, which she could not understand, and which, being out of the reach of her understanding, failed to interest her. In this section of country, she attended two camp-meetings of the believers in these doctrines--the 'second advent' excitement being then at its greatest height. The last meeting was at Windsor Lock. The people, as a matter of course, eagerly inquired of her concerning her belief, as it regarded their most important tenet. She told them it had not been revealed to her; perhaps, if she could read, she might see it differently. Sometimes, to their eager inquiry, 'Oh, don't you believe the Lord is coming?' she answered, 'I believe the Lord is as near as he can be, and not be it.' With these evasive and non-exciting answers, she kept their minds calm as it respected her unbelief, till she could have an opportunity to hear their views fairly stated, in order to judge more understandingly of this matter, and see if, in her estimation, there was any good ground for expecting an event which was, in the minds of so many, as it were, shaking the very foundations of the universe. She was invited to join them in their religious exercises, and accepted the invitation--praying, and talking in her own peculiar style, and attracting many about her by her singing. When she had convinced the people that she was a lover of God and his cause, and had gained a good standing with them, so that she could get a hearing among them, she had become quite, sure in her own mind that they were laboring under a delusion, and she commenced to use her influence to calm the fears of the people, and pour oil upon the troubled waters. In one part of the grounds, she found a knot of people greatly excited: she mounted a stump and called out, 'Hear! hear!' When the people had gathered around her, as they were in a state to listen to any thing new, she addressed them as 'children,' and asked them why they made such a 'To-do;--are you not commanded to "watch and pray?" You are neither watching nor praying.' And she bade them, with the tones of a kind mother, retire to their tents, and there watch and pray, without noise or tumult, for the Lord would not come to such a scene of confusion; 'the Lord came still and quiet.' She assured them, 'the Lord might come, move all through the camp, and go away again, and they never know it,' in the state they then were. They seemed glad to seize upon any reason for being less agitated and distressed, and many of them suppressed their noisy terror, and retired to their tents to 'watch and pray;' begging others to do the same, and listen to the advice of the good sister. She felt she had done some good, and then went to listen further to the preachers. They appeared to her to be doing their utmost to agitate and excite the people, who were already too much excited; and when she had listened till her feelings would let her listen silently no longer, she arose and addressed the preachers. The following are specimens of her speech:-- 'Here you are talking about being "changed in the winkling of an eye." If the Lord should come, he'd change you to nothing! for there is nothing to you. 'You seem to be expecting to go to some parlor away as somewhere, and when the wicked have been burnt, you are coming back to walk in triumph over their ashes--this is to be your New Jerusalem! ! Now I can't see any thing so very nice in that, coming back to such a muss as that will be, a world covered with the ashes of the wicked! Besides, if the Lord comes and burns--as you say he will--I am not going away; I am going to stay here and stand the fire , like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! And Jesus will walk with me through the fire, and keep me from harm. Nothing belonging to God can burn, any more than God himself; such shall have no need to go away to escape the fire! No, I shall remain. Do you tell me that God's children can't stand fire ?' And her manner and tone spoke louder than words, saying, 'It is absurd to think so!' The ministers were taken quite aback at so unexpected an opposer, and one of them, in the kindest possible manner, commenced a discussion with her, by asking her questions, and quoting scripture to her; concluding finally, that although she had learned nothing of the great doctrine which was so exclusively occupying their minds at the time, she had learned much that man had never taught her. At this meeting, she received the address of different persons, residing in various places, with an invitation to visit them. She promised to go soon to Cabotville, and started, shaping her course for that place. She arrived at Springfield one evening at six o'clock, and immediately began to search for a lodging for the night. She walked from six till past nine, and was then on the road from Springfield to Cabotville, before she found any one sufficiently hospitable to give her a night's shelter under their roof. Then a man gave her twenty-five cents, and bade her go to a tavern and stay all night. She did so, returning in the morning to thank him, assuring him she had put his money to its legitimate use. She found a number of the friends she had seen at Windsor when she reached the manufacturing town of Cabotville, (which has lately taken the name of Chicopee,) and with them she spent a pleasant week or more; after which, she left them to visit the Shaker village in Enfield. She now began to think of finding a resting place, at least, for a season; for she had performed quite a long journey, considering she had walked most of the way; and she had a mind to look in upon the Shakers, and see how things were there, and whether there was any opening there for her. But on her way back to Springfield, she called at a house and asked for a piece of bread; her request was granted, and she was kindly invited to tarry all night, as it was getting late, and she would not be able to stay at every house in that vicinity, which invitation she cheerfully accepted. When the man of the house came in, he recollected having seen her at the camp-meeting, and repeated some conversations, by which she recognized him again. He soon proposed having a meeting that evening, went out and notified his friends and neighbors, who came together, and she once more held forth to them in her peculiar style. Through the agency of this meeting, she became acquainted with several people residing in Springfield, to whose houses she was cordially invited, and with whom she spent some pleasant time. One of these friends, writing of her arrival there, speaks as follows. After saying that she and her people belonged to that class of persons who believed in the second advent doctrines; and that this class, believing also in freedom of speech and action, often found at their meetings many singular people, who did not agree with them in their principal doctrine; and that, being thus prepared to hear new and strange things, 'They listened eagerly to Sojourner, and drank in all she said;'--and also, that she 'soon became a favorite among them; that when she arose to speak in their assemblies, her commanding figure and dignified manner hushed every trifler into silence, and her singular and sometimes uncouth modes of expression never provoked a laugh, but often were the whole audience melted into tears by her touching stories.' She also adds, 'Many were the lessons of wisdom and faith I have delighted to learn from her.'... She continued a great favorite in our meetings, both on account of her remarkable gift in prayer, and still more remarkable talent for singing, ... and the aptness and point of her remarks, frequently illustrated by figures the most original and expressive. 'As we were walking the other day, she said she had often thought what a beautiful world this would be, when we should see every thing right side up. Now, we see every thing topsy-turvy, and all is confusion.' For a person who knows nothing of this fact in the science of optics, this seemed quite a remarkable idea. 'We also loved her for her sincere and ardent piety, her unwavering faith in God, and her contempt of what the world calls fashion, and what we call folly. 'She was in search of a quiet place, where a way-worn traveller might rest. She had heard of Fruitlands, and was inclined to go there; but the friends she found here thought it best for her to visit Northampton. She passed her time, while with us, working wherever her work was needed, and talking where work was not needed. 'She would not receive money for her work, saying she worked for the Lord; and if her wants were supplied, she received it as from the Lord. 'She remained with us till far into winter, when we introduced her at the Northampton Association.'...' She wrote to me from thence, that she had found the quiet resting place she had so long desired. And she has remained there ever since.'	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5528
__label__wiki	0.810717	0.810717	Perdue, Bev. Press Release, 2012-05-03, Gov. Perdue Announces New Yadkin River Bridge to Open Early Saturday Gov. Perdue Announces New Yadkin River Bridge to Open Early Saturday Will provide a safer, more efficient way for motorists to travel between Charlotte, Triad RALEIGH — Gov. Bev Perdue this morning announced that the new I-85 North bridge over the Yadkin River near Salisbury will open to traffic for the first time early Saturday morning. The new bridge will improve safety, and help drivers travel between Charlotte and the Triad more efficiently. “This new bridge is part of a more than $200 million investment we’ve made to widen I-85 and replace the aging bridges over the Yadkin River,” said Gov. Perdue. “By upgrading this heavily traveled part of our state’s transportation system, we’ll make it easier for people to access jobs and education, help businesses get their goods to market sooner and attract new companies to North Carolina.” Construction started on the new I-85 North bridge in February 2011. At its peak, more than 200 people worked 24-hours a day, six to seven days a week to complete the new bridge on time. Crews finished building the 0.5-mile bridge in roughly 14 months, an impressive accomplishment by construction industry standards. The new bridge features four lanes – twice as many as the old I-85 North bridge. The additional lanes will significantly improve traffic flow through the area. The new bridge also has a 12-foot-wide shoulder on each side to improve safety. The old bridge has virtually no shoulders. When an accident occurs, traffic backs up for miles on I-85, making it difficult for emergency crews to help those in need. The old I-85 North bridge was built in 1955 and no longer meets the needs of today’s traveling public. Replacing it with a new bridge built to modern design standards will extend the life of the state’s transportation network for decades to come. Title Perdue, Bev. Press Release, 2012-05-03, Gov. Perdue Announces New Yadkin River Bridge to Open Early Saturday Other Title 2012-05-03, Gov. Perdue Announces New Yadkin River Bridge to Open Early Saturday Description RALEIGH - Gov. Bev Perdue this morning announced that the new I-85 North bridge over the Yadkin River near Salisbury will open to traffic for the first time early Saturday morning. The new bridge will... Full Text BEVERLY EAVES PERDUE GOVERNOR STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR 20301 MAIL SERVICE CENTER • RALEIGH, NC 27699‐0301 May 3, 2012 Contact: Chris Mackey Office: (919) 733‐5612 Gov. Perdue Announces New Yadkin River Bridge to Open Early Saturday Will provide a safer, more efficient way for motorists to travel between Charlotte, Triad RALEIGH — Gov. Bev Perdue this morning announced that the new I-85 North bridge over the Yadkin River near Salisbury will open to traffic for the first time early Saturday morning. The new bridge will improve safety, and help drivers travel between Charlotte and the Triad more efficiently. “This new bridge is part of a more than $200 million investment we’ve made to widen I-85 and replace the aging bridges over the Yadkin River,” said Gov. Perdue. “By upgrading this heavily traveled part of our state’s transportation system, we’ll make it easier for people to access jobs and education, help businesses get their goods to market sooner and attract new companies to North Carolina.” Construction started on the new I-85 North bridge in February 2011. At its peak, more than 200 people worked 24-hours a day, six to seven days a week to complete the new bridge on time. Crews finished building the 0.5-mile bridge in roughly 14 months, an impressive accomplishment by construction industry standards. The new bridge features four lanes – twice as many as the old I-85 North bridge. The additional lanes will significantly improve traffic flow through the area. The new bridge also has a 12-foot-wide shoulder on each side to improve safety. The old bridge has virtually no shoulders. When an accident occurs, traffic backs up for miles on I-85, making it difficult for emergency crews to help those in need. The old I-85 North bridge was built in 1955 and no longer meets the needs of today’s traveling public. Replacing it with a new bridge built to modern design standards will extend the life of the state’s transportation network for decades to come. Perdue, Bev. Press Release, 2012-05-03, Gov. Perdue...	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5530
__label__wiki	0.752106	0.752106	Djebali Interview on Data Transmission By DR 1st May 2017 May 16th, 2017 No Comments Listen back to our first show on Data Transmission Radio, hosted by residents DR, Mondé, Sciran & Shaw James. We held an exclusive 20 minute interview with Djebali – we talk about what he has coming up this summer, his musical hip hop roots, his first solo album 5, his labels and much much more. There is also the opportunity to win a signed copy of Djebali’s album on both vinyl & CD and 2 tickets to our event with him at Hidden in Manchester. Distinct Event w/ Djebali: https://www.facebook.com/events/645213299012206/ Tickets: skiddle.com/e/12957041 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/djebalidj Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/djebali Twitter: https://twitter.com/Djebali Website: http://djebali.com Hi, how are you? Thanks very much for taking the time to talk us, are you up to much this weekend? Yes, I’m good thanks, it’s my pleasure. This weekend I played on Thursday. It was really good, I had the weekend off, which I don’t often get – so I’ve been enjoying it. I’m going to go see friends but for now I’m spending time in the studio. The weathers getting better and summer is on the horizon, have you got any exciting plans you can share? Well, I’m going back to Ibiza – it’s been like 5 years now I’ve been going there. I’m going back to play at DC10 and I’m also going to make the Hi Ibiza opening party, which is the old ‘Space’, so it’s going to be happening at like the end of May just for the opening and then I’ll be back at DC10. I’m really excited as I heard they’ve rebuilt everything inside the club. Yeah, a lot of people weren’t sure about how it was going to work at the new Space club after it closing down but the lineups are looking pretty good. Yeah, the lineups seem really really cool, I’m playing there with my friends from Apollonia and they’ve got some other great DJ’s playing. Rex Club has played a big part in your career, from being introduced by Terrence:Terry to now hosting your own nights there, do you think being associated with such a great club has helped your career? Of course, because you know Rex is a legendary club and has been running for about 27-28 years now so it’s a pretty big reference for electronic music in Paris. Even if there are a lot of different, new, good things happening in Paris, Rex is always still a great place to go. When I started my parties, I did it in another place for the first year and the guys from Rex club were telling me ‘Man, you have to do your party in Rex club you belong to it’ and it really helped me because especially for people outside of France (of course people inside France aswell) but it gave me a great place to go listen to French dance music. Everyone knows about Rex club – so to be playing there and to be resident there is a big step in the career. Obviously Rex is probably one of Paris’ most famous club alongside Concrete, but apart from those 2 are there any other smaller clubs in Paris you would recommend that people might not necessarily know about? To be honest, because I’m not often in Paris during the weekends, I don’t usually go to different clubs. There are quite nice clubs, but working really well aswell is ‘pop-up’ parties and like one time events in a big space, or little bit just outside of Paris, people are really crazy about these types of parties. They can a fit a lot, alot of people just in like ‘one shot’ parties. I’m sure there’ll have been a few of those with it being Record Store Day today? Exactly, before going to the studio, I was given a little tour of this place called La Roue Tourne in Paris, there were different crews selling records, it was pretty nice. Did you find anything? No, I was just hanging out really and there to see the people, I wasn’t really digging. I’m digging like everyday, or every other day. Yeah, you’ve got to! So, I read elsewhere that before you got into mixing House, you were more into your Hip Hop. Is that correct? That is correct, exactly yeah. When I started I was into French Hip Hop & Funk. So, yeah I was listening to a lot of French Hip Hop, which was pretty strong during the 90’s. French Hip Hop has had a great scene over the years. Who would you put down as your biggest influences in Hip Hop? There are several but I would say In Idéal J whose in a group called Kery James, who is the singer who is still running. I follow this group a lot. Do you still listen to Hip Hop? Not so much because I’m not really into the new scene, I’m sure there is pretty cool stuff but I’m… The sounds changed a lot hasn’t it. Yeah I’m sure there are a lot of other pretty cool stuff, but I just don’t get the time to listen to it, I’m still listening to Kery James, he’s still making albums though so… We heard that the MPC is the focal point of your studio, which is obviously known for having its roots in hip hop, is this something you use because of your Hip Hop background? Yeah definitely. Because when I was started to get interested in all the different kind of gear (hardware), and I was seeing all the Hip Hop beat makers were working with the MPC’s especially the 2000 mixer and the 3002, so yeah it probably was because I was searching for these kinds of songs and trying to fit it into house music. Yeah I think that must be quite a French thing because I think Phil Weeks uses the MPC. Yes, Phil Weeks also uses the MPC and he’s also got that kind of Hip Hop groove as well. Exactly, you can hear the influences there. We’re both producers ourselves and love your sound, I think it’s a very distinguishable sound, can you give us one tip which you think contributed to the Djebali sound? I would say it’s all about those rolling grooves, is what I focus most on. I’m no Mozart, or playing any crazy kind of piano or whatever. So I focus on beats and on grooves. You don’t need to have every type of synthesizer. At the end of last year you launched your first solo album, which we’ve got a copy of ourselves – we see that you’ve been touring the album, which was your favourite event from the tour? Yeah sometimes it’s just about making best use of what you’ve got. Exactly, yeah. It’s dance music init, it’s menna make you dance! At the end of last year we saw you launch your first solo album, which we’ve got a copy of ourselves. We see that you’ve just been touring the album, which what you’re favourite event from the tour? I was lucky to have a lot of good places and I played in some new territories; for example Australia, that was my first time there. But I also played in a lot of other clubs I usually play in too like Nordstern Club in Basel, Switzerland. There is a party called Sash in Sydney, that was really really amazing. They had like a daytime event and a night time event, I played both like 3 hours and was something really special and on top of that, because it was my first time there it’s always surprising – but in a good way. Also in Argentina I played there already, but that was amazing as well. I was pretty lucky to have a really nice gigs for the tour. Obviously the album is called ‘5’ what’s the story behind the name there? Yes actually there is, the name came to me pretty easily actually for two reasons. First reason, it was the five years of the label and the other thing was that I did the album in like 5 months. So I was like yeah, let’s call it 5. It’s quite a rarity to see an artist album from a house producer these days, what made you want to write an album? When I started the Djebali series with the production I did, quite a lot of people were asking me “Why are you not doing an album?” and I really wasn’t interested in it at all. I was like “No, no, no. It’s not my thing”, but then I don’t know why but my mind changed and I was feeling it, because I wanted something special to try and close the five years of label and to make a point. It’s nice to really look at it from that perspective and quite nice to produce as a series of tracks as an album and have a progression of a sound and to compose it AS an album. Yeah because when I work on EP’s, what I do is I’m working on one track – it’s done, finished. Ok cool, onto another one I finish, boom, Ok cool that’s finished. And for the album it’s totally different, I wanted something choreographed and like a real story, so that’s why I worked on all the tracks at the same time and I was writing the album with every session open to have something that would be like story. So yeah, I worked really differently for the album. You can tell you’ve put a lot of effort into it, it sounds great. Also, you’ve got 4 record labels at the moment, Djebali, Djebali presents, Djebali reworks and Djebali extra. It’s quite an interesting concept to have them split into 4, what’s the reason behind doing this? Actually it’s really simple, because I didn’t plan anything at the beginning. So I started Djebali because, it really was just a project to release my own music that’s it. There were a lot of good labels around me, like my friends label. So it wasn’t to release a label it was just for my own music. So I said “Yeah, let’s call it Djebali” because it was just like my music and that was it. And then there were a lot of people sending me tracks, and I was thinking that this could be interesting. So I started to do ‘Djebali presents’ and aswell I wanted to do some remixing of the back catalogue at one point so I said let’s make ‘Reworks’ and also I did some tracks with friends which don’t fit so I made ‘Djebali extra’ and put all the other music there. Yeah you’ve had some big guys on the ‘Djebali Presents’ one with like Mr KS and people like that. So, have you got any releases or special artists lined up this year on any of the label? I’m not really sure right now, I’ve got some different options. There were some guys sending us some stuff from Russia and they are really, really good. Also, some guys from France that I’m really looking at, at the moment. So, nothing is planned yet, because the thing is with this label, I don’t really need to have a big schedule, I just release when it’s coming. So if I spend 6 months without releasing it’s not a problem. I’m just waiting for the right project to release. We bring you down to our first Distinct Manchester birthday May bank holiday weekend on the 26th at Hidden, which we’re really looking forward to bringing you down. Last time we saw you playing Manchester was at the now sadly closed but legendary Sankey’s, have you played in Manchester recently? I’ve played in Manchester a few times, but to be honest it’s hard to remember for me because the last couple of years was for Sankey’s I think. Before was for really small clubs, really small venues. What were your experiences, did you enjoy Manchester? Yeah the people are really into it! I love the energy and everything it’s a great place to play, I love to go. In England in general there is a really nice scene, Manchester especially, Leeds as well, you have a really strong energy you can feel when you play. We see your ideal juice is Tequila, have you got any funny Tequila related stories? If not, I’m sure we’ll be able to make some on the night. Haha I love Tequila that’s right. Last question, do you have any hobbies or interests outside of dance music? I love cinema, I love a lot of different things but to be honest it’s hard to be able to do what I like with all the gigs and the time in the studio. I’m always running out of time, so I try to go to the cinema or spend time with family. You don’t have a lot of downtime. Thanks very much for taking the time to speak with us today, we can’t wait to bring you to Manchester in 5 weeks time. Bring your dancing shoes we’ll show you how we do it in the north. Djebali has kindly provided us with a signed copy of your album ‘5’ which will be available to win as part of our competition on our facebook as well as free tickets to come see you on the night. For your chance to win check out our Facebook page by searching for Distinct Manchester. Before you go we asked you to provide a classic track that always finds its way into your sets, can you please introduce the track and explain why you chose it. When you asked me about it I had a lot of options, but actually had just had some sad news about a really well respected producer called DJ Ali who just passed away. I played a lot of his tracks so I wanted to make it special because of him. The track is called ‘You Don’t Know’ and it’s a really beautiful track. Previous PostDistinct Podcast 014 // Viktor Udvari Next PostFeeder.ro Podcast MusicPodcasts Distinct Podcast 014 // Viktor Udvari DR25th May 2017 Data Transmission Radio Residency DR5th April 2017 Distinct Podcast 012 // Josh Guest DR2nd March 2017 © 2019 Distinct Manchester. If you’d like to contact a member of our team, you can do so at info at disinctmanchester.com	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5532
__label__cc	0.549908	0.450092	Descargar Indycar GP Long Beach 2019 en Español abril 14, 2019 evehq Indycar, Motor 0 Repeticion Indycar GP Long Beach 2019 en Movistar F1 Duration : 4h 3mn Width : 1280 pixels Datos de la Serie The Grand Prix of Indianapolis (known as the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis for sponsorship reasons)[1] is an IndyCar Series race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The race takes place in early May on the combined road course at the Speedway. The inaugural running occurred in 2014. The race is run on a new, modified layout of the circuit previously used for the Formula One United States Grand Prix as well as theMoto GP motorcycle event. The Grand Prix serves as a lead-in to the Indianapolis 500. Support races are held, including Indy Lights, Pro Mazda and U.S. F2000. In 2012, Hulman & Co., the parent company of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, hired Boston Consulting Group to evaluate its business operations.[2] In their report, one of their suggestions was to explore the possibility of hosting an IndyCar Series race on the road course at Indy.[3] The road course layout had opened in 2000, and was utilized initially for the United States Grand Prix from 2000-2007. Later, it was used for Moto GP, and Grand Am. Indy cars had never raced on the road course layout, sticking only to the oval circuit for the Indianapolis 500, but their support series, the Indy Lights, had raced there four times. Occasionally Indy cars used the Indianapolis road course as a test facility, since many teams are headquartered in the Indianapolis area. Dan Wheldon notably tested the DW12 chassis at the course in September 2011. In September 2013, an IndyCar feasibility test was conducted on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.[4][5] The test yielded positive results. Speculation immediately began to grow about a possible race for 2014, either as a May «doubleheader» event with the Indy 500, or a stand-alone race in the fall. The inaugural race was announced on October 1, 2013, and was scheduled for early May.[6] The decision was made to utilize the course in a clockwise layout, and to re-work certain parts of the track. Notas Importante 1. Para Evitar problemas con el sonido reproducir en su PC use VLC PLAYER 2. PARA NO TENER PROBLEMAS EN LA DESCOMPRESIÓN DE ARCHIVOS POR FAVOR, ACTUALIZA A LA VERSION 5.4 EN ESPAÑOL O 5.5 EN INGLES DE WINRAR Carrera Online Para reproducir en su PC use VLC PLAYER Para evitar problemas en la descomprension ACTUALICE a la version 5.4 su Winrar	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5533
__label__cc	0.7177	0.2823	DH AutoMOTIVE repair You will find the latest information about us on this page. Our company is constantly evolving and growing. We provide wide range of services. Our mission is to provide best solution that helps everyone. If you want to contact us, please fill the contact form on our website. We wish you a good day! You will find the latest information about us on this page. Our company is constantly evolving and growing. We provide wide range of services. Our mission is to provide best solution that helps everyone. If you want to contact us, please fill the contact form on our website. We wish you a good day! You will find the latest information about us on this page. Our company is constantly evolving and growing. We provide wide range of services. Our mission is to provide best solution that helps everyone. If you want to contact us, please fill the contact form on our website. We wish you a good day! You will find the latest information about us on this page. Our company is constantly evolving and growing. We provide wide range of services. Our mission is to provide best solution that helps everyone. If you want to contact us, please fill the contact form... N our website. We wish you a good day! You will find the latest information about us on this page. Our company is constantly evolving and growing. We provide wide range of services. Our mission is to provide best solution that helps everyone. If you want to contact us, please fill the contact form on our website. We wish you a good day! You will find the latest information about us on this page. Our company is constantly evolving and growing. We provide wide range of services. Our mission is to provide best solution that helps everyone. If you want to contact us, please fill the contact form on our website. We wish you a good day! You will find the latest information about us on this page. Our company is constantly evolving and growing. We provide wide range of services. Our mission is to provide best solution that helps everyone. If you want to contact us, please fill the contact form on our website. We wish you a good day! You will find the latest information about us on this page. Our company is constantly evolving and growing. We provide wide range of services. Our mission is to provide best solution that helps everyone. If you want to... © 2019 dhautomotiverepair.co.uk	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5536
__label__wiki	0.564043	0.564043	ABOUT US — GOVERNANCE — GOVERNING BOARD BIS Governing Board As a community school, BIS offers a number of opportunities to get involved and help shape the future of this unique institution in the Kyrgyz Republic. Becoming a member of the Governing Board gives persons with an interest in education the chance to influence the direction of BIS and thereby have positive impact on the overall development of education in the region. As Board members with diverse cultural backgrounds we bring an abundance of experience into an international group of seasoned professionals, all sharing a passion for a school that takes responsibility for creating lasting value to its surroundings. We work together to ensure the best possible conditions for the school management to deliver high quality education and offer an engaging and inclusive working environment for all staff. We welcome your suggestions to continue developing BIS as the best international school in Central Asia! Hugh Salmon, Chair of the Governing Board Elected by Advisory Council to serve on the GB until October 2020 Hugh Salmon is Head of Alliance Development for Family for Every Child, a global alliance of local NGOs, working to improve the care of vulnerable children worldwide. He has a masters degree in civil society management, and has served many years on the governing boards of civil society organisations. Hugh first qualified and worked as a children and families social worker in the UK in the 1990s. From 2000-2008 he worked in Moldova, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan, in consultancy and management roles, on child protection, social work and youth development projects. Later in the UK he worked as a senior manager in a family support NGO, before joining Family for Every Child. Hugh and his wife Gulnara first met and lived in Bishkek, and returned in 2017 after nine years in London. They have two sons in BIS, in primary and middle years classes. Keneshbek Sainazarov Elected by the Advisory Council to serve on the GB until October 2021 Keneshbek Sainazarov is a development professional with more than 18 years of experience in directing and implementing large scale development programs and projects in the field of democracy, governance, youth empowerment, education and policy, capacity-building, conflicts and disaster mitigation and emergencies programming. He has extensive experience in program development, project management, fundraising, strategic planning and budgeting with large organizations like United Nations Development Program (UNDP), USAID-funded organizations in Central Asia and Caucasus, and smaller international non-profit organizations. He has provided technical assistance and operational advice to the Ministry of Education of Central Asian countries in young voter participation and civic education, to the Ministry of Social Welfare of Kyrgyzstan in youth policy development, to the Ministry of Finance & Emergencies in budget efficiency and effective delivery, to the Defense Council under the President and to the Ministry of Internal Affairs in preventing violent extremism and radicalization, and served as the Chairman of the Advisory Council for the Ministry of Education and Science for five years (2010-2015). He also plays an advisory role in the field of education policy for a number of for-profit and non-profit organizations, media and government institutions. Daniar Amanaliev Daniar Amanaliev is the co-founder and general manager of “OLOLO art studio” that provides art classes, co-working and events space. Daniar has more than ten years of experience in operational management. He has been a strong supporter of the BIS idea since the first day and has always provided advice and support to BIS in an informal capacity when requested. He is the father of three current BIS students and was first elected to the Governing Board in October 2013. Cory Johnston Elected by the Parents Association to serve on the GB until October 2019 Cory Johnston is the father of two students enrolled in BIS. He is a Democracy and Governance Officer at the US Agency for International Development, and since joining USAID has worked in Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Russia, Democratic Republic of Congo and, since 2015, in Kyrgyzstan. Cory holds a Master’s Degree in International Policy Studies from the Monterey Institute of International Studies and a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy and Russian from Colgate University. Cory speaks Russian and French and is doing his best to learn Kyrgyz. Adrian Marti My name is Adrian Marti and I have three children of which two just joined the school (P5 and IGSCE2). My eldest has just finished his IB Diploma in Jerusalem this summer. We are Swiss and will be staying for 4 years in Bishkek. We find it important to also have parents representing the high school (IGSCE/IB) students as this is a new challenge for BIS. I have been involved in three school boards in Switzerland, India and Jerusalem and will support the PAMC this year. I am a private sector development specialist and career counsellor. I speak French, English, German and Spanish and am starting Russian now. Sunny Stimmler Sunny Stimmler has a MA in Education from Columbia University and is an English literature and writing teacher by profession. She has taught at universities and high schools, conducted writing workshops, and volunteered at schools all over the world. Sunny served as a member of the Board of Directors at the Anglo-American School of Sofia and was chair of the Board Governance Committee. She was president of the Ashgabat International School parent organization and the Ashgabat International Women's Network. Fred Huston Elected by BIS Staff to serve on the GB until October 2020 Fred Huston is currently the Branch Office Executive Director for international Development Law Organization (IDLO) overseeing Rule of Law projects in Central Asia - supported by various different intergovernmental and government organizations. Mr. Huston brings a broad array of experience to BIS. He is a licensed attorney from the State of Colorado (USA) and has lived and worked in Bishkek for 23 years. He is fluent in Russian has worked at the highest government levels in Kyrgyzstan - as an advisor in the Legal Department of the KR President. While living and working in the United States during the 1980s, Mr. Huston also served on the Advisory Board of an elementary school, helping plan and approve the school's curriculum and budgeted expenditures. He received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Denver, College of Law in 1980 and also has degrees in Geology and Russian from the University of Colorado in Boulder. Fatima Abdrasulova Elected by BIS Staff/Founders to serve on the GB until October 2019 Fatima is a founder and CEO of the medical center “Poliklinika 312” in Bishkek, a multidisciplinary medical center bringing together the best legacy of the Soviet health care system and modern methods of diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation. Fatima has a Diploma in Finance and Credit from Kyrgyz National University and Diploma in English translation and interpretation studies and is currently studying for a PhD in the Graduate International School of Medicine at International University of Kyrgyzstan. She started her first business in 1998, with a broker service offering custom clearance. From 2004-2006 she was the Head of the Swiss project «BNP- Central Asia» to support small and medium enterprises, with educational workshops on business development and consulting support and providing small finance credits to entrepreneurs. Together with her spouse, Fatima founded a charity supporting children from poor families with congenital heart disease, which sent 18 children aged from 9 months to 5 years old to have heart surgery and rehabilitation in South Korea accompanied by their mothers. Nurbek Sabirov Nurbek Sabirov is a partner in Kalikova and Associates Law Firm - one of the leading law firms in the Kyrgyz Republic. He has significant experience in commercial and civil litigation cases and has advised and represented many clients in the Kyrgyz Republic including those in the banking, gold mining, privatization of state companies, and education sector. Prior to joining Kalikova and Associates in 2007, he worked for commercial companies and for USAID projects including ’Commercial Law Development Project for the Republics of Central Asia' and 'Legal Assistance to Rural Citizens'. He has a Diploma with Distinction from the Faculty of Law, Kyrgyz National University, and a B.A. in Law, Diploma with Distinction from Kyrgyz National University. He is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (MCIArb); and is an Arbitrator with the International Court of Arbitration under the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of the Kyrgyz Republic. Nurbek Sabirov is the father of two children in local schools and has a keen interest in the education process at BIS, its improvement and the wider education sector of the country.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5537
__label__cc	0.56153	0.43847	Stonewielder is Ian C. Esslemont’s third novel in the Malazan series. His first novel, Night of Knives was an acceptable entry into the mythos, but far from extraordinary. His second effort, Return of the Crimson Guard, was more successful at creating the epic world of Malazan, but was plagued with crippling flaws. Stonewielder is perhaps the most epic Esslemont effort to date. Like Erison’s Midnight Tides, Stonewielder seeks to bring to light an entire continent (albeit a smaller one), and it’s a continent filled with different factions, a continent host to not one but two Malazan armies, one renegade. This is, without a doubt, Esslemont's best work – which isn't to say it's necessarily a successful book. Despite bearing Greymane’s title on the cover, Stonewielder is not focused on the man. Greymane himself is only viewed from the periphery, and even Return of the Crimson Guard’s main character Kyle is now primarily seen from the eyes of others. This works well for Kyle; the man is far more interesting when seen from the side. Greymane, however, is off-screen for so much of the read that it’s hard to really feel his importance, and his key role in the climax comes as almost a surprise. Still, the Malazan versus Malazan aspect of the book is by far the strongest thread. The renegade’s position is believable and interesting, and Ussu – a mage for the renegade Malazans – was probably my favorite character of the book. On the Malazan side, Stonewielder’s salt of the earth point of view, Suth, is rather bland but not unpleasant. More exciting, Esslemont’s skill with large scale battles is undiminished here. The book’s highlight comes about halfway through in a massive naval confrontation. The stakes are high, the viewpoints scattered and busy trying to survive, and the overall picture we get of the scene is epic in every sense of the word. The Korelri Stormwall is one of the book’s other key plot threads. A variety of viewpoint characters are gathered there, including several from the Crimson Guard, and the feel and desperation of the area is well established, even if the sections suffer from the importance of the characters involved; there’s never any doubt that Iron Bars, say, will be killed after so many pages have been devoted to his rescuers’ journey to him. Besides which, there’s the measure of the pile of plot holes that such a wall brings up, chief among them the burning question of why the riders don’t just go around the freakin' wall. Some plotlines are far less successful. Bakune, an investigator trapped in a city of increasing religious fanaticism as the invaders draw near, seemed all set to have an interesting plotline. It was not to be. In Return of the Crimson Guards, one of my chief gripes was the lack of obvious character motivations. In their absence, it was almost impossible to tell where anything was going; we had important characters, but we did not have characters that drove the plot. Though a far better character than Kyle was, Bakune is far too passive to be interesting. He never does anything of his own volition; he is simply batted about by powers stronger than he is. Ivanr, however, is the character with the dubious honor of most objectionable plotline. Basically, he’s a Toblakai who believes in pacifism. The character shares Bakune’s passivity, and the entire plotline around him is weaker than the rest of the novel, but what makes him truly infuriating is his hypocrisy. As I said, he claims he’s nonviolent. And yet he fights every chance he gets. He disassociates himself from the violence, takes no credit for it, and then wades into the bloodshed and endangers the life of everyone around him. Towards the beginning of the book, he beats an entire squad of mounted soldiers to a pulp with the back of his spear: Dirt smeared the side of [the man’s] face from his fall. the eyes found their focus. “I thought you’d sworn some kind of vow,” he said, accusing. “I swore that I’d never kill again – not that I wouldn’t fight. I think you’ll find that none of your men are dead. Though a few might die if you don’t them attention soon.” (p. 101) Always nice to have a character who sticks to their principles, isn’t it? Suffice to say, I went through the whole book waiting for someone to realize how much of a pompous fraud the bastard was and stick a knife into him. It didn’t happen; I think that Esslemont was as enamored by his faux-Zen martial nature as the various sycophants that soon surround the character. Still, even in the weaker plot threads, Stonewielder has one immeasurable advantage over its predecessors: Esslemont’s prose has evolved. I would not say that Esslemont is a master here, but his work is far ahead of the chunkiness exhibited in Return of the Crimson Guard. Stonewielder’s strongest scenes, especially those with Ussu and the renegade Malazans, have a palpable atmosphere, one that’s dark, oppressive, and expansive: Borun stopped at a great iron sarcophagus some three paces in length lying within a metal framework upon the bare stone. He set his torch in a brazier, then took hold of a tall iron wheel next to the frame. This he ratcheted, his breath harsh with effort. As the wheel turned long iron spikes slowly withdrew from holes set all down the sides of the sarcophagus, and in the rows across its front. When the ends of these countless iron spikes emerged from within the stained openings a thick black fluid, blood of a king, dripped vicious and thick from their needle tips. A slow rumbling exhalation of breath sounded then. it stirred the dust surrounding the sarcophagus. Ussu bent over the coffin. “Cherghem? You can hear me?” A voice no more substantial than the breath sounded form within. I hear you. (p. 135) Esslemont’s grasp of atmosphere also serves to illuminate the scenes set at the Stormwall and, most of all, the scenes of Kiska’s journey through the warrens. Characters bumbling about in places they don’t understand is almost the series’ chief mode of storytelling at this point, but here Esslemont manages to both humanize Kiska and invoke the same sense of wonder that one gets throughout the more bizarre sections of House of Chains or the other mainline novels in the series. In the end, it is, bizarrely enough, the sense that the events of the book aren't particularly crucial to the overall world that gives the work its scope. For the entire book, the reader is focused on Korel and its struggles, convinced that the events here are the true deciding events. Then it becomes clear that what was happening here is only a part of the picture, and perhaps a small part at that. It's the feeling that the Malazan world is not only big enough to house an epic fantasy story but to house a half dozen of them running at once that renders it so interesting and monolithic. Stonewielder is Ian C. Esslemont's best book so far. It's not a perfect by any means, but this is a novel that manages to be epic and engrossing throughout. For the first time, I can recommend an Esslemont novel as a worthy read on its own merits, not just to fill out the blind spots of a greater work. If Esslemont continues to improve at this rate, his upcoming Darujhistan novel might just do the city justice. Maybe. Labels: Epic Fantasy, Fantasy, Ian C. Esslemont, Malazan, Review, Steven Erikson, Stonewielder Braxton Blight March 22, 2011 at 4:47 PM You do seem to be cutting him a lot of slack. Not sure I would have bothered after two so-so books. I've got ALL the Erikson Malazan books waiting to read now this cycle is, in theory, finished. I'm not convinced I'll be reading the Esslemont books. Epic fantasy publishing time-scales can be kinda frustrating, but give him his due Erikson banged out the books at around one a year. I hope Rothmuss finishes his trilogy within a couple of years. Meanwhile I'm mining Glen Cook's back catalogue. Nathaniel Katz March 22, 2011 at 4:54 PM Unfortunately, Esslemont is in charge of finishing several rather large plot threads from Erikson's series. The two are too intertwined to easily skip one. If Esslemont was an unrelated author, I wouldn't have kept on this long. Sneaky!	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5538
__label__wiki	0.98596	0.98596	Note/Disclaimer: This list is made possible through a database keyword search/filtering process which may not be 100% accurate. Therefore, all endangered species of Congo (Republic of) may not be listed here. For a complete list of endangered species in Africa, browse the Africa endangered species list. Endangered species found in Congo (Republic of): 1. African Blind Barb Fish Caecobarbus geertsi Fishes Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Republic of Congo 2. African Mahogany Khaya anthotheca Plants Angola, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Ghana, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe 3. African Pearwood Baillonella toxisperma Plants Angola, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Gabon, Nigeria, Republic of Congo 4. African Penguin Spheniscus demersus Birds Angola, Gabon, Mozambique, Namibia, Republic of Congo, South Africa 5. African Slender-snouted Crocodile Crocodylus cataphractus Reptiles Western and Central Africa 6. African Teak Pericopsis elata Plants Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Ghana, Nigeria, Republic of Congo 7. African Walnut Lovoa trichilioides Plants Angola, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda 8. African Wedgefish Rhynchobatus luebberti Fishes Africa 9. African White-bellied Pangolin Phataginus tricuspis Mammals Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia 10. Albizia ferruginea Albizia ferruginea Plants Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Uganda 11. Anopyxis klaineana Anopyxis klaineana Plants Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Sudan 12. Apa Afzelia bipindensis Plants Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Gabon, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Uganda 13. Atlantic Humpbacked Dolphin Sousa teuszii Mammals Angola, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Senegal, Western Sahara 14. Autranella congolensis Autranella congolensis Plants Cameroon, Gabon, Nigeria, Republic of Congo 15. Black Colobus Monkey Colobus satanas Mammals Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of Congo 16. Blackchin Guitarfish Rhinobatos cemiculus Fishes Europe, Africa, and the Middle East 17. Bottlenose Skate Rostroraja alba Fishes Africa, Europe 18. Cameroon Toad Bufo superciliaris Amphibians Equatorial Africa 19. Cape Cormorant Phalacrocorax capensis Birds Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, Republic of Congo, South Africa 20. Chimpanzee Pan troglodytes Mammals Africa 21. Chlorocypha schmidti Chlorocypha schmidti Insects Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Republic of Congo, Tanzania 22. Chlorocypha jacksoni Chlorocypha jacksoni Insects Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Kenya, Malawi, Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Uganda Photos that will make you think twice before littering 23. Common Guitarfish Rhinobatos rhinobatos Fishes Europe, Africa, and the Middle East 24. Common Sawfish Pristis pristis Fishes Africa, Asia, Australia, Central and South America, Europe, Mexico, United States 25. Crossley's Ground-thrush Zoothera crossleyi Birds Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Nigeria, Republic of Congo 26. Damara Tern Sterna balaenarum Birds Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Namibia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, South Africa, Togo 27. Dark-brown Serotine Neoromicia brunnea Mammals Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone 28. Diospyros crassiflora Diospyros crassiflora Plants Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Gabon, Nigeria, Republic of Congo 29. Dusky Grouper Epinephelus marginatus Fishes Africa, Europe, Middle East, South America 30. Dwarf Crocodile Osteolaemus tetraspis Reptiles West Africa and the Congo R. Drainage 31. Euphorbia bwambensis Euphorbia bwambensis Plants Republic of Congo, Uganda 32. Eurasian Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus peregrinus Birds Eurasia south to Africa and Mideast 33. Gossweilerodendron balsamiferum Gossweilerodendron balsamiferum Plants Angola, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, Republic of Congo 34. Guarea thompsonii Guarea thompsonii Plants Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo 35. Guarea cedrata Guarea cedrata Plants Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Uganda 36. Hallea ledermannii Hallea ledermannii Plants Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo 37. Hallea stipulosa Hallea stipulosa Plants Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia 38. Kola Nut Cola metallica Plants Republic of Congo 39. Lanistes neritoides Lanistes neritoides Snails Republic of Congo 40. Largetooth Sawfish Pristis perotteti Fishes Africa, Central and South America, Europe, Mexico, United States 41. Loango Slender-billed Weaver Ploceus subpersonatus Birds Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Gabon, Republic of Congo 42. Madagascar Pond-heron Ardeola idae Birds Africa 43. Mandrill Mandrillus sphinx Mammals Equatorial West Africa 44. Millettia laurentii Millettia laurentii Plants Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of Congo 45. Nesogordonia papaverifera Nesogordonia papaverifera Plants Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Cote d'Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone 46. Okoume Aucoumea klaineana Plants Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of Congo 47. Pennant's Red Colobus Procolobus pennantii Mammals Equatorial Guinea (Bioko), Nigeria, Republic of Congo 48. Pincushion Ray Urogymnus ukpam Fishes Gabon, Nigeria, Republic of Congo 49. Pohle's Fruit Bat Scotonycteris ophiodon Mammals Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Republic of Congo 50. Raphia Palm Raphia regalis Plants Angola, Cameroon, Gabon, Nigeria, Republic of Congo 51. Rhodognaphalon breviscupe Rhodognaphalon breviscupe Plants Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone 52. Salacia mamba Salacia mamba Plants Cameroon, Gabon, Republic of Congo 53. Smoothback Angel Shark Squatina oculata Fishes Europe, Africa, and the Middle East 54. Swartzia fistuloides Swartzia fistuloides Plants Angola, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria, Republic of Congo 55. Tapura letestui Tapura letestui Plants Gabon, Republic of Congo 56. Tapura carinata Tapura carinata Plants Gabon, Republic of Congo 57. Testulea gabonensis Testulea gabonensis Plants Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of Congo 58. Tieghemella africana Tieghemella africana Plants Cameroon, Gabon, Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone 59. White Afzelia Afzelia pachyloba Plants Angola, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Gabon, Nigeria, Republic of Congo 60. White-collared Mangabey Cercocebus torquatus Mammals Nigeria to Gabon, Senegal to Ghana 61. Zebrawood Microberlinia brazzavillensis Plants Cameroon, Gabon, Republic of Congo	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5541
__label__cc	0.614451	0.385549	US could lose in war with China or Russia, panel warns Chinese soldiers march at the Zhurihe training base in China's northern Inner Mongolia region last year AFP/File The United States is facing a national security and military crisis and could lose in a war against Russia or China, a bipartisan congressional panel warned in a report Wednesday. Congress had tasked the National Defense Strategy Commission to look at President Donald Trump's sweeping National Defense Strategy (NDS), which highlights a new era of "Great Power competition" with Moscow and Beijing. The panel, run by a dozen former top Democratic and Republican officials, found that just as the US military faced budget cuts and diminishing military advantages, authoritarian nations like China and Russia are pursuing buildups aimed "at neutralizing US strengths." "America's military superiority -- the hard-power backbone of its global influence and national security -- has eroded to a dangerous degree," the commission said. In their report, the panel found America's focus on counter-insurgency operations this century resulted in it slipping in other warfighting areas such as missile defense, cyber and space operations, and anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare. "Many of the skills necessary to plan for and conduct military operations against capable adversaries -- especially China and Russia -- have atrophied," the report states. It lambasts "political dysfunction and decisions made by both major political parties," especially budget control measures implemented in 2011. "The convergence of these trends has created a crisis of national security for the United States," the report notes. While the NDS points the Pentagon in the right direction, it "too often rests on questionable assumptions and weak analysis." "It leaves unanswered critical questions regarding how the United States will meet the challenges of a more dangerous world," the report found. The commission also said that across Asia and Europe, American influence is being steadily eroded and military balances have shifted in "decidedly adverse" ways that have raised the risk of conflict. "The US military could suffer unacceptably high casualties and loss of major capital assets in its next conflict," the commission found. "It might struggle to win, or perhaps lose, a war against China or Russia. The United States is particularly at risk of being overwhelmed should its military be forced to fight on two or more fronts simultaneously." Though the Pentagon this year has a budget of more than $700 billion, far more than Russia and China combined, the commission said the sum is still "clearly insufficient" to meet the goals laid out in the NDS. Commissioners made a series of recommendations including a 3-5 percent annual increase in the defense budget.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5548
__label__cc	0.549646	0.450354	SDR World Order http://endtimeinfo.com/2016/10/sdr-world-order/ by James Corbett, corbettreport.com I’m not sure how to break this to you, but it appears the world is ending this weekend. Or at least that’s what you’d believe if you were reading certain corners of the internet. As you may have already heard, the UN is “taking over the internet” this weekend. But as you’ve also heard if you follow The Corbett Report, that is a complete misrepresentation of what is really happening. Worse, hyperbole about a “UN takeover” of the internet obscures the real solution to ICANN and the centralized DNS system. But there’s another “end-of-the-world” event taking place this weekend that you might not have picked up on: the SDR. That’s right, the IMF is formally adding the Chinese renminbi (aka the yuan) to their “Special Drawing Rights” basket on Saturday, October 1st. The move boosts the yuan to the status of global reserve currency alongside its basketmates, the pound, the euro, the yen and the dollar. At 10.92% it will be the third highest-weighted currency in the basket, behind the euro at 30.93% and the dollar at 41.73%. For those who missed my previous reporting on the SDR and the significance of the yuan’s inclusion, here’s the primer: The SDR is not a currency, but a potential claim on dollars, yen, euros, pounds, and now yuan. It is issued by the IMF and held (and traded) as a “supplementary reserve asset” by central banks. There are 204 billion SDRs outstanding, equivalent to $285 billion or about 2.5% of total global reserves. The upshot of the SDR is that it provides liquidity for global transaction settlement in times when dollars and gold are in scarce supply. Inclusion of a currency in the SDR basket means that there is a built-in demand for that currency as central banks tend to match their currency holdings to the basket’s weighting, meaning that central bankers around the world are now (or have already) adjusted their aggregate holdings of yuan to about 10.92% of their portfolio. With $11.6 trillion of reserves globally, that equates to over $1 trillion worth of yuan being held in central bank coffers around the world. More than that, the move is expected to boost investment in the yuan from both FX reserve managers and global portfolio managers. The FX inflows alone have been estimated at as much as $3 trillion in the coming years, with onshore bond buying accounting for a further $1 trillion of expected foreign investment. Some outlets are hailing this as the largest transformation of the global monetary order since WWII. Others, like Barron’s Chi Lo, are putting a wet blanket on that hyperbole. In an article titled “What Now for China as Renminbi Joins SDR?” Lo argues that much of the re-balancing of global reserve portfolios have already been completed, and would have only amounted to an extra $31 billion of demand for the yuan, a drop in the bucket of global liquidity. And global investors, he says, will not base their investment decisions on China’s SDR status, but on China’s commitment to the structural reforms which have been put on the back burner since the yuan achieved SDR status: “SDR inclusion of the renminbi is not relevant to the portfolio re-balancing decision (to increase the weighting of renminbi-denominated assets) of international investors. The impact on global portfolio decisions will come from foreign investors’ assessment of China’s fundamental outlook, the opening of China’s capital account and the decision by international index providers, such as MSCI, to include Chinese A-shares in their global indices.” So who’s right? Is this the dawn of a new monetary order, or a blip of little significance in and of itself? Well, in a weird way perhaps both are right. China’s SDR inclusion is not going to turn the world upside-down overnight. And if it was just the inclusion of one more currency in the global reserve basket (and only 10% of the basket at that), then this wouldn’t be significant all by itself. But while you were sleeping another development came along that gestures to the potentially transformative nature of this SDR makeover. In August the World Bank announced to relatively little fanfare an historic bond issue: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IRBD), one of the five institutions under the World Bank umbrella, would sell nearly $3 billion worth of SDR-denominated bonds. And the currency of settlement? The Chinese yuan. SDR-denominated bonds were flirted with decades ago, most recently in 1981, but the market for SDR bonds did not develop and they soon went the way of the dodo. But now, lo and behold, 35 years later they’re making a comeback, right in the heart of the world’s rising economic dragon. The issue, which went ahead on August 31st, serves a mundane, practical purpose: It allows Chinese investors to dabble in different currency assets without investing abroad. But at the same time it serves a much bigger purpose. In attempting to revive the long-dormant SDR bond market, China is tacitly backing the SDR as a reserve currency unto itself. Not a mere claim that is redeemed in other currencies by central banks in need of liquidity, but a settlement currency in and of itself. As I explained before, this has been Beijing’s plan since the 2009 crisis: not to have the yuan replace the dollar as the global reserve, but to have the SDR replace the dollar. This allows the Chinese government to avoid having to liberalize the yuan or ease up on its rigid capital controls, but still gives it a seat at the table in a new global monetary order while simultaneously dethroning their best frenemy, the US. It’s win-win-win for China and, more importantly, win-win-win for the globalist oligarchs who want to bring in a New World Order of globally-administered currency. As The Epoch Times puts it: “This is the first step toward one world currency.” And guess what? It’s been in the planning for years, openly discussed in the central bankers’ white papers, decision documents and conferences, but conveniently unreported by the media and completely overlooked by the public. In March 2009, as the world was still reeling from the Global Financial Collapse, Zhou Xiaochuan, the Governor of the People’s Bank of China, published an essay on March 23, 2009 in an essay bluntly titled “Reform the international monetary system.” In it, he argued that the world could no longer afford to be tied to the US dollar and the vagaries of the American financial system. Instead, it needed to be presided over by those trustworthy angels at the IMF: “Compared with separate management of reserves by individual countries, the centralized management of part of the global reserve by a trustworthy international institution with a reasonable return to encourage participation will be more effective in deterring speculation and stabilizing financial markets. The participating countries can also save some reserve for domestic development and economic growth. With its universal membership, its unique mandate of maintaining monetary and financial stability, and as an international ‘supervisor’ on the macroeconomic policies of its member countries, the IMF, equipped with its expertise, is endowed with a natural advantage to act as the manager of its member countries’ reserves.” And in case that wasn’t clear enough, Zhou also wrote that: “The SDR has the features and potential to act as a super-sovereign reserve currency.” The very next year the Bank for International Settlements (yes, that Bank for International Settlements), the European Central Bank and the World Bank jointly organized the Third Public Investors Conference, a chance for 80 central bankers, wealth fund and pension fund managers to hobnob at the BIS’ headquarters in Basel and discuss their world domination schemes. The results of that conference were collected in an edition of “BIS Papers” and published on the BIS website. One of those papers, penned by George Hoguet and Solomon Tadesse of State Street Global Advisors, discussed “The role of SDR-denominated securities in official and private portfolios” and predictably pimped the revival of SDR bonds that we are currently living through: “An investor can synthetically replicate the weights of an SDR-denominated bond, but a security denominated in SDRs is self-rebalancing and is likely to minimize rebalancing costs. Additional research, particularly on the coordination problem (which limits liquidity) and operational issues, including settlement, can facilitate the development of an SDR-denominated bond market. Williamson (2009a) suggests that greater private use of the SDR could possibly facilitate greater official use, including the pegging of currencies to the SDR rather than to a basket of currencies or to some bilateral exchange rate.” In other words, SDR bonds create the market for SDRs generally and legitimate their use as a settlement currency in their own right. Now, six years later, here we are with the World Bank helping China issue SDR-denominated bonds. This is the real reason that this bond issue is happening at all. As The Epoch Times points out: “For the IBRD, there is no advantage because it is borrowing in strong currencies and getting paid in a relatively weak one.” No, this is not about some wonderful new way for the World Bank to cheaply finance its bond issues; it is entirely about legitimizing the role of the SDR on the world stage as a potential world currency. It remains to be seen whether this strategy will be successful. The first bond issue was a success, with a bid to cover ratio of 2.5 and 50 institutional investors—from central banks to domestic banks, brokerages and insurance companies—bidding on the instruments. But ZeroHedge quotes a fixed-income fund manager in Hong Kong who was not so impressed by the auction: “We are not interested in SDR bonds and we can’t see why Chinese investors should want these bonds since they can easily buy much higher yielding bonds in China.” Whether SDR bonds will take off depends completely on whether the central bankers can convince the financial world of the benefits of scuttling the dollar reserve system. That will take some concerted effort, which is why we should expect to see an increase in stories raising awareness about SDRs and their potential utility in the coming years. In that sense, the spate of stories this weekend about the yuan’s SDR inclusion may not be so much the end of the world as the first wave of propaganda getting people ready for the end of the world. BIScentral banksdollarIMFnew world orderreserve currencySDRs Previous ArticlePentagon Caught Paying PR Firm $540 Million to Make Fake Terrorist VideosNext ArticleCan an atheist lead a Protestant church? Trump, Watergate, Nixon, Rockefeller: The Real Lesson Irreversible Damage – The U.S. Economy Cannot Be Repaired The Dark Agenda behind Globalism and Open Borders East vs. West Division Is About The Dollar – Not Nuclear War DB Warns 35-Year Economic Super Cycle Is Officially Ending 2016 Will End With Economic Instability And A Trump Presidency Globalists Are Now Openly Demanding New World Order Centralization	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5552
__label__cc	0.628281	0.371719	Striking back against racist violence in the East End of London, 1968-1970 Ashe, S., Virdee, S. and Brown, L. (2016) Striking back against racist violence in the East End of London, 1968-1970. Race and Class, 58(1), pp. 34-54. (doi:10.1177/0306396816642997) 128495.pdf - Published Version This article tells the hitherto untold story of how different Pakistani organisations mobilised in response to racist violence and harassment in the east London Borough of Tower Hamlets (1968–1970). In telling this story, the authors analyse the problematic nature of official and public understandings of, and responses to, racist violence, and how it distorted the lives of racialised minorities. Drawing on original archival research carried out in 2014, this piece identifies the emergence of two distinct political repertoires from within the Pakistani community: the integrationist approach and the autonomous approach. The integrationist approach involving the Pakistani Welfare Association (PWA) and the National Federation of Pakistani Associations (NFPA) tried to address the problem through existing local state ‘race relations’ apparatuses and mainstream political channels, while at the same time re-establishing consent for the police as the agents of law and order. In contrast, a network of Black Power groups, anti-imperialists and socialists led by the Pakistani Progressive Party (PPP) and the Pakistani Workers’ Union (PWU) challenged both the local political leadership and the authority of the police in Tower Hamlets, while also undermining the stereotype of Asian people as ‘weak’ and ‘passive’. In recovering this lost episode of resistance to ‘Paki-bashing’, unleashed in the aftermath of Enoch Powell’s inflammatory speeches, this essay makes a contribution to the history of autonomous anti-racist collective action undertaken by racialised minorities in Britain. Virdee, Professor Satnam and Ashe, Mr Stephen Ashe, S., Virdee, S., and Brown, L. College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Sociology Anthropology and Applied Social Sciences Race and Class Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2016 Institute of Race Relations First published in Race and Class 58(1): 34-54 Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License Project Code Award No Funder's Name Lead Dept 59209 1 Understanding the changes in ethnic relations: understanding the dynamics of ethnicity, identity and inequality in the uk. Satnam Virdee Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) ES/K002198/1 SPS - SOCIOLOGY Mr Alastair Arthur	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5554
__label__wiki	0.964431	0.964431	Uyghur American Association forum > News - Xewerler > News > Chinese Detainees Released to Albania View Full Version : Chinese Detainees Released to Albania Washngton Post Chinese Detainees Released to Albania By Pete Yost Saturday, May 6, 2006; Page A09 The plight of five ethnic Chinese detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has come to an end, the State Department said yesterday. Albania has agreed to take in the detainees and is considering their applications for asylum. The five are among a number of ethnic Chinese who have languished at Guantanamo Bay for several years after being picked up during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Guantanamo Detainees Guantanamo Detainees List of Detainees: View the largest list of names made public thus far, comprising men whose identities have appeared in media reports, on Arabic Web sites and in legal documents. Ã¢â‚¬Â¢ Pentagon Documents: Conditions at Guantanamo Bay. Ã¢â‚¬Â¢ In Guantanamo Bay Documents, Prisoners Plead for Release (Post, March 5, 2006) Ã‚Â» FULL COVERAGE: Guantanamo Prison Save & Share * Tag This Article Saving options 1. Save to description: 2. Save to notes (255 character max): 3. Tag This Article The U.S. military concluded the Uighurs presented no terrorist threat to the United States, but they continued to be held at the prison because they faced persecution if they were returned to their home country. The Bush administration refused to allow their release into the United States and had been unable to find a country willing to accept them. The State Department revealed Albania's acceptance in a three-sentence announcement that described the five as ethnic Uighurs and did not identify them by name. The transfer short-circuits a lawsuit scheduled for argument Monday in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Sabin Willett, an attorney in the lawsuit on behalf of two of the five Uighurs, said he is flying to Albania to ascertain his clients' circumstances. "They are out of Gitmo -- that's good," Willett said. "Whether they're out of the frying pan and off the side of a stove, I don't know. I'll know more" after going to Albania, he said. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Albania said the five Chinese nationals applied for asylum and that the Albanian government "will continue with the relevant legal procedures."	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5556
__label__cc	0.674741	0.325259	About Faceless The world has gone nuts – excessively politically correct, extremely sensitive and missing its sense of humour. If we want to say what's on our minds, tell a joke or make a scything comment, we run the risk of twisting someone's knickers. Well I've had enough. Faceless is here to amuse, entertain and say what we all want to say (or wish we had thought of saying). While it is not my intention to purposely upset anyone, I have no doubt that someone will be made grumpy by the strips on this site. Nevertheless, I hope the rest of you will have a good laugh. About the Author - Bruce Sutherland Bruce Sutherland has spent over 30 years in the corporate IT world, where he has been a divisional executive for one of the biggest IT companies in South Africa and one of the original computer nerds. As an early adopter of the internet and its technologies, he built his first website in 1994 and set up his own joke site in 1996, which was featured in The Citizen. In 2008, as a victim of restructuring, he found himself with a lot of time on his hands and finally knuckled down to something he’d contemplated doing for a long time: supplementing his joke site. And so Faceless was born in 2009, after many different characters, figures and styles were tried and discarded. As it gained a following, strips were spotted in the wild (behind toilet doors, on other websites, in emails sent on by friends and, more recently, in Playboy South Africa), and there was an increasing demand for a book. He self-published the first Faceless book in 2010. Bruce lives on a game farm in the Cradle of Humankind, South Africa. Glen Lewington SAFM Interview click the play button to hear the podcast Jenny Cryws Williams' Big Book Brunch Interview All content (including, but not limited to jokes, pictures, graphics, movies, sounds) for this site is created by Bruce Sutherland. All copyrights remain with the creator. The contents of this site may be downloaded for your personal use. You may only republish contents anywhere else provided the copyright mark(s) and website address (URL) remain intact on all content. If you feel any comic is infringing on any copyright, please contact us: Bruce (at) faceless (dot) co (dot) za Faceless Comics, Cartoons, Graphics and Videos by Bruce Sutherland is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.5 South Africa License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at here. www.faceless.co.za has created this privacy statement in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to privacy. The following discloses the information gathering and dissemination practices for this website. Information Automatically Logged We use your IP address to help diagnose problems with our server and to administer our website. This includes the website's statistics. We use an outside ad company to display ads on our site. These ads may contain cookies. While we do not use cookies in any parts of our website, cookies received with banner ads are collected by our ad company, and we do not have access to this information. This site contains links to other sites. www.faceless.co.za is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such websites. Currently, we do not make use of any registration forms or systems. Data Quality/Access If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the practices of this site, or your dealings with this website, you can contact: Bruce (at) faceless (dot) co (dot) za	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5568
__label__cc	0.522904	0.477096	Jacob L. Miller Name Jacob L. Miller Born 4 Apr 1822 Somerset County, Pennsylvania Died 2 Apr 1910 Harrison, Clay County, Indiana, U.S.A. Indiana Deaths, 1882-1920: "Jacob Miller, age 87 b. Abt. 1823, d. 2 Apr 1910 Harrison, Clay County." U.S. Census Sugar Ridge (South Portion), Clay County, IN 1900: "J.L. Miller, age 79 b. Aug 1820 Ohio, father b. Pennsylvania mother b. Virginia, can read/write, not employed, m. Abt. 1896 wife Lucinda Miller, age 70 b. Mar 1830 Indiana, parents b. Kentucky [sic], five children one living, can read/write, not employed." Ancestry.com: "Jacob Miller, Clay County Indiana Jacob Miller born, April 4, 1822 was seven years of age when his parents moved from Somerset county to Ohio where he was reared and educated, and for a while worked as a shoemaker. He married Margaret Vanhorn of Jefferson County, Ohio on February 3, 1948. He moved to Clay county, Indiana in 1850. There he bought land for two and one-half dollars an acre, in section 4, Harrison township. His first steps were to clear space in order to make room for the humble log cabin in which all of his children were born, and in which the family lived for a number of years. Over the years Jacob cleared the land which was heavily timbered and kept making improvements on his land. After many years of laboring with a courage and never failing-energy that helped him cope with the difficulties that arose. By dint of preservation he placed the entire tract under cultivation, set out fruit trees, and erected a substantial set of frame buildings, rendering his estate one of the best estates in the neighborhood as regards its improvements and equipment. In the sunset years of his long and useful life, he lived retired from active care on the home farm that he hewed from the wilderness, having long since given to his son its entire management. His wife Margaret, the daughter of John and Mary (Rose) Vanhorn, natives of of Pennsylvania, and of German ancestry, died Feburary 1, 1904, leaving four children, Julia Ann (wife of Abraham Snellenberger), Leah Elizabeth (wife of George Roush), Pearson Frances Gardner, and Ellen (wife of Lewis Storm)." Person ID I42445 Complete Family 1 Margaret Vanhorn, b. 27 Jun 1825, Jefferson County, Ohio, U.S.A. , d. 1 Feb 1904, Clay City, Clay County, Indiana, USA (Age 78 years) Married 3 Feb 1848 Ohio, U.S.A. 1. John Miller, b. 2 Feb 1850, d. 3 Sep 1851 (Age 1 years) 2. Mary Jane Miller, b. 28 Dec 1851, d. 26 Mar 1866 (Age 14 years) 3. Julia Ann Miller, b. 26 Jun 1853 4. Leah Elizabeth Miller, b. 21 Dec 1856, Indiana, U.S.A. , d. 11 Jan 1938 (Age 81 years) 5. Pearson Francis Gardner Miller, b. 2 Feb 1859, Indiana, U.S.A. , d. 21 Aug 1929 (Age 70 years) 6. Rosene Ellen Miller, b. 28 Jun 1861, Indiana, U.S.A. Family ID F18044420 Group Sheet \| Family Chart Family 2 Lucinda J. Deal, b. Mar 1830, Bowling Green, Clay County, Indiana, USA Married Apr 1895 Clay County, Indiana, USA Indiana Marriages, 1800-1941: "Lucinda Long, age 64 b. Abt. 1831 father Andrew mother Mary Barnett, & Jacob L. Miller, m. Apr 1895 Clay County by William Miner." Last Modified 9 Mar 2013 Born - 4 Apr 1822 - Somerset County, Pennsylvania Married - 3 Feb 1848 - Ohio, U.S.A. Married - Apr 1895 - Clay County, Indiana, USA	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5569
__label__wiki	0.764891	0.764891	Assassinations in Ethiopia amidst regional ‘coup’ attempt, condemned by UN chief The region has been a hotspot of inter-ethnic violence and the Government reportedly believes that the assassinations are linked NEW YORK, United States of America, June 24, 2019/ — The assassination of the chief of staff of the Ethiopian army and killing of a regional governor in what the Government has described as a regional coup attempt, has been condemned by the UN Secretary-General. In a statement released on Sunday, António Guterres said he was “deeply concerned by the weekend’s deadly incidents”. The Governor of the restive Amhara National Region was killed along with an adviser, while in the capital Addis Ababa, another key ally of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Chief of Staff General Seare Mekonnen was shot, along with another senior officer. Mr. Guterres called on “all Ethiopian stakeholders to demonstrate restraint, prevent violence and avoid any action that could undermine the peace and stability of Ethiopia”. According to news reports, the Government has said the situation is now under control, which the Prime Minister addressed the nation on television urging Ethiopians to unite in the face of the “evil” coup attempt in Amhara. The region has been a hotspot of inter-ethnic violence, and the Government reportedly believes that the assassinations are linked. Many of those involved in the alleged coup attempt have been arrested, said Mr. Abiy’s office. The Prime Minister has made sweeping changes to the politics of the fast-growing African nation since taking office in April last year, transforming relations with neighbouring Eritrea, and making a series of bold internal reforms. The Secretary General said in his statement that he “welcomed the commitment of the Prime Minister and Government of Ethiopia to ensure that the perpetrators of these actions are brought to justice. The United Nations remains committed to supporting the Government of Ethiopia in its efforts to address ongoing challenges.” Around three million people have been displaced within Ethiopia, due to long-standing ethnic disputes, usually involving land ownership and rights. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations (UN). Violent attacks in Nigeria drive thousands of refugees into Niger Niger is currently hosting over 380,000 refugees and asylum seekers from Mali and Nigeria GENEVA, Switzerland, May 28, 2019/ — This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today’s press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. Recent spike in […] UNCTAD’s Economic Development in Africa Report 2019 The Economic Development in Africa Report 2019 focuses on preferential trade liberalization among the members of the new African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) PRETORIA, South Africa, UNCTAD’s Economic Development in Africa Report 2019 will be launched globally on the same day. The Economic Development in Africa Report 2019 focuses on preferential trade liberalization among […] Over 1500 delegates, including a record-breaking number of 16+ government ministers will attend the event in Cape Town LONDON, United Kingdom, — As the leading event for Africa’s upstream, Africa Oil Week (Africa-OilWeek.com) is committed to staying at the cutting-edge of developments in oil and gas. Over 1500 delegates, including a record-breaking number of 16+ […] Commemoration of the 10-year anniversary of the Women, Youth, Peace and Security Working Group in West Africa and the Sahel	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5570
__label__wiki	0.507998	0.507998	Eight arrested in protest against Georgian dam Protests against large dams in Georgia's Svaneti mountains have led to confrontations with police. Locals are losing patience over the protracted consultation process on the project. Police special forces were deployed last Friday, 20 May to clear a blockade of an access road leading to the planned Nenskra dam site in Georgia’s northwest. The confrontation between police and dozens of locals resulted in the detention of eight residents of the Chuberi community. Though later released, Chuberis see the police act as a gesture of provocation and intimidation. Fearing further police repression, the Chuberis have called off the road blockade but instead have set to organise a Svaneti regional coordination meeting, in line with Svan tradition. The altercation is the most recent event in a series of protests by Chuberis, who in late April began blockades of the access roads to the Nenskra project. The community is protesting the negligence of investors to their demands to evaluate the threats of flooding of customary lands and the resettlement of an unknown number of households. Locals fear for their safety, as the dam is to be built in an area prone to landslides and mudflow. A recent attempt on 15 May by the investor, Korea’s K-Water, to meet with Chuberis failed to materialise, as it was organised without prior notification and it overlapped with local festivities. Locals claim that only 15 people of 320 families attended the meeting, and that participants were brought in from places that would not be affected by the dam. Participants at the meeting also allege that no meaningful discussions took place, and that the choice of mediator was decided without their consent. Chuberis continue to demand from the Georgian government and international financiers that alternatives to the dam be assessed, ones that would fully account for the project’s social and environmental costs. Earlier this month at the annual meetings of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Asian Development Bank, Bankwatch and Green Alternative asked the banks to follow carefully the situation and initiate open consultations over the Nenskra project. While the EBRD has said in response to the community’s demands, a detailed assessment is under way and will be released in July, villagers are losing patience with a protracted process of more than a year that has yet to result in fruitful dialogue. Author: David Chipashvili	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5576
__label__wiki	0.909579	0.909579	DC has long needed a group that brings together government relations professionals in the trade association and corporate worlds. So, in 2010, we made one. The Forum’s mission is to aid in the development of government relations professionals throughout DC by providing a place for members to meet, network, share, and learn together about best practices and current happenings in relation to their corporate interests. July GRLF Luncheon featuring TR Straub, Russell Reynolds Associates 12:00 pm - 1:15 pm at Charlie Palmer Steak Annie Russo Senior Vice President of Government and Political Affairs, ACI-NA Annie Russo joined ACI-NA in April 2008 and currently serves as Senior Vice President of Government and Political Affairs. She develops and leads ACI-NA’s advocacy strategies on the many pressing legislative challenges facing the industry. She also oversees ACI-NA’s Beyond the Runway Coalition comprised of almost 100 organizations that support airport legislative priorities. Prior to working at ACI-NA, Russo worked on Capitol Hill where she served as Legislative Director for Rep. Albio Sires (D-N.J.) directing legislative policy and handling the congressman’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and Financial Services Committee assignments. Russo also served as Senior Legislative Assistant to Rep. Steven Rothman (D-N.J.), assisting with his work on the Transportation Subcommittee of Appropriations and working closely with local airports on issues surrounding safety, noise reduction and airspace redesign. Russo spent her first three years on Capitol Hill working for Rep. John Olver (D-Mass.), who represented her hometown of South Deerfield, Mass. Russo is a graduate of Smith College, with a degree in government and public policy, and also holds a master’s degree in national security studies from the Naval War College. In 2017, Russo was named Top 40 Under 40 by Airport Business Magazine and in 2018, she was named to The Hill’s Top Lobbyist list for trade associations. John Motley Principal, Policy Solutions John Motley is a 45 year veteran of government and public affairs. With a reputation as one of the best legislative strategists and vote counters in Washington, Motley recently left the Food Marketing Institute, where he was Senior Vice President of Government and Public Affairs. Before FMI, he served in similar positions at the National Retail Federation and NFIB, the nation’s largest small business organization, which he built into one of the most effective lobbying operations in Washington. During his career, Motley was named by Washingtonian Magazine as one of the 25 most powerful lobbyists and by Roll Call as one of its “Fabulous Fifty.” He made The Hill’s “Rainmaker” list and was selected by Influence as a top trade association lobbyist. He has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the New York Times and other national newspapers and business magazines. He has appeared on Good Morning America, the Today Show, the MacNeil-Leher News Hour, and on CNN’s Money Line, Politics Today, Crossfire and Late Edition. Kevin Washington Head of Government Affairs, Illinois Tool Works Inc. Kevin Washington joined Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW) as the company’s first executive to focus exclusively on Federal Government Affairs by launching a Washington, DC office in 2012. In 2014, his role expanded to include global government affairs responsibility across the ITW Enterprise. ITW is a Fortune 250, diversified manufacturing company with operations in 56 countries around the world. ITW businesses manufacture commercial and industrial products across a number of industry segments, including transportation, welding equipment and accessories, construction products, commercial-grade food equipment and medical products. Mr. Washington came to ITW from the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM), where he conducted AHAM’s Congressional and state-level advocacy on a range of energy, environment, product safety and business issues of interest to the appliance manufacturing industry. Preceding his private sector experience, Mr. Washington’s public service career included senior appointments for former President George W. Bush, and senior leadership staff positions for former House Majority Leader Richard Armey and former GOP Conference Chair and Speaker of the House John Boehner. A fifth-generation Texas native, Mr. Washington resides in Washington, DC. Kristin Bodenstedt VP, Government Relations, Bacardi North America Kristin Bodenstedt brings over twenty-five years of government-related experience in diverse legislative and private sector roles to her position directing government relations for Bacardi North America. She oversees the Washington office for the largest privately-owned spirits company handling issues before international, federal and state governments. She joined Bacardi in December 2002. Prior to Bacardi, Ms. Bodenstedt represented corporate, trade association and non-profit clients in positions at the MWW Group, Burson-Marsteller, Arent Fox, the National Association of Manufacturers and the Cato Institute. She employed her federal and state legislative and regulatory experience to craft creative solutions to clients’ issues. Prior to lobbying, Ms. Bodenstedt served in several legislative governmental positions including as legislative counsel to Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA). She advised the Senator on a broad range of business issues including tax, trade, banking, commerce and judiciary issues. Beginning her career in Austin, Texas, Ms. Bodenstedt served as legislative assistant to Texas State Representative David Counts and later to Texas State Representative Keith Oakley. Ms. Bodenstedt also served as the national political budget director for the 1996 Dole/Kemp presidential campaign where she coordinated campaign spending and served as a policy analyst for the campaign. Ms. Bodenstedt holds a law degree from the University of Texas Law School and a B.A. in government with high honors from the University of Texas at Austin. She is a member of the Texas and DC Bar. Chip Kunde Vice President of Government Relations, Sysco Corporation, Inc. Chip Kunde brings over twenty years of experience in diverse legislative and private sector roles to his position leading government relations for Sysco Corporation. In this role, Chip leads the development and implementation of a comprehensive government relations strategy and organizational structure to promote and protect Sysco’s public policy interests at the local, state, federal and international levels. He works closely with subject matter experts from across the business and local commercial leaders to formulate and advance Sysco’s policy agenda. Chip collaborates with Operating Company leaders to build relationships with key government officials and increase awareness of Sysco’s business and economic impact in the communities where the company operates. Chip joined Sysco in April, 2015. Prior to Sysco, Chip served as Senior Vice President of Government Relations at Darden Restaurants where he led Darden’s global government relations team responsible for setting strategic direction for legislative and political programs, building relationships with key stakeholders, managing a team of government relations professionals and consultants and engaging with senior management. In addition to his corporate experience, Chip has held leadership position at several national and state trade associations. He served as the Senior Vice President of Legislative and Economic Affairs at the International Dairy Foods Association; Vice President of State Government Affairs at the Grocery Manufacturers Association; Executive Vice President at the Connecticut Association of Realtors; and Director of State and Municipal Affairs at the National Association of Realtors. Chip is an active “servant leader” in his community and has served on several non-profit boards, community organizations and charities including Leadership Initiatives, College Summit – National Capital Region, Extraordinary Institute, and Bishop Denis J. O’Connell High School’s Advancement Committee and Athletic Boosters. Chip holds a Master’s of Public Administration (Executive, Legislative & Regulatory Management) from The George Washington University in Washington, DC, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Government from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. Krister Holladay Director of Government Relations, United Technologies On August 1, 2012, Krister Holladay joined the United Technologies Corporation as a Director of Government Relations. Previously, Krister served as Director of Government Relations for Goodrich Corporation, a Fortune 500 global supplier of systems and services to aerospace and defense markets. Krister began working on Capitol Hill as a Legislative Assistant to then-Congressman Newt Gingrich. In 1999, Krister moved to the office of then-Congressman Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) in the House of Representatives to be Deputy Chief of Staff principally responsible for working on military, international, and homeland security issues. When Cong. Chambliss was elected to the United States Senate, Krister served as Chief of Staff from 2003-2007. Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Krister has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Emory University and received a Master of Arts degree in National Security Policy from Georgetown University. Krister is also a graduate of the U.S. Naval War College. Elizabeth Maier Policy Director, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck With 20 successful years working in senior positions in the U.S. Congress behind her, Elizabeth Maier, a familiar and well-trusted policy and political advisor is now focusing her efforts and expertise on advising Brownstein’s clients about numerous legislative and regulatory issues and using her expertise to advance clients’ priorities. Elizabeth worked more than 10 years as Legislative Director to U.S. Senator Jon Kyl (AZ-R), where she actively pursued the Senator’s many legislative priorities. Elizabeth managed Kyl’s legislative operation, including his work on the Senate Judiciary and Finance committees, and as a result she developed experience working on wide-ranging matters, including, but not limited to, work on trade, health, labor, and some tax bills. Elizabeth worked closely with all Senate Republican leadership and served as the primary legislative liaison between the Senator’s personal office and his Whip operation. Elizabeth is also widely known for her work on immigration and homeland security matters; she worked as Kyl’s chief staffer for numerous years on major immigration overhauls, including the last major immigration effort in 2007 when Senator Kyl, the Senate’s chief Republican negotiator, worked alongside chief Democrat negotiator Senator Ted Kennedy and President George W. Bush to try to pass reform. Early in her career, Elizabeth worked for U.S. Representative Frank Wolf (VA-R) as a professional staff member on the House Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families. There she developed work/family policy proposals and planned and managed hearings related to tax, health and work/family time management. She also handled issues before the House Education and Labor, Energy and Commerce, and Post Office and Civil Service committees. Harriet Melvin Partner, Thorn Run Partners Harriet James Melvin, a seasoned government and public affairs professional, joined Thorn Run Partners in January 2015. She brings over 20 years of experience providing federal legislative counsel to a diverse group of leading corporations, coalitions and trade associations. Her experience includes representing a wide range of industries and policy issues including retail, telecommunications, intellectual property, transportation, anti-trust, labor, travel and financial services. With her extensive experience in the public policy arena, Harriet is a results-oriented, legislative advocate with experience working in a bi-partisan manner. She represents clients before Congressional leadership, House and Senate committees, the Administration and federal agencies. Prior to joining Thorn Run, Harriet founded and ran The Capitol Group, a boutique federal government relations shop. Previous to that, she served as a partner for ten years at Quinn Gillespie & Associates, a leading bi-partisan government relations and public affairs firm. Melvin’s professional experience also extends to public affairs. Her expertise includes “inside the beltway” corporate positioning integrating strategic planning, CEO involvement, key employee advocacy, philanthropic giving and political action committee counsel. Harriet has a skilled understanding of the private sector serving previously as the Director of Federal Government Affairs for Circuit City Stores and CarMax and also as a Legislative Representative for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s largest small business advocacy organization. She began her Washington career on the staff of Rep. Charles Hatcher of Georgia. Melvin is a graduate of the University of Georgia and serves on the Board of the University’s School of Public and International Affairs. Ed Pagano Partner, Akin Gump Mr. Pagano joined Akin Gump after serving in the Obama administration as Senate Liaison and Deputy Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs, where he served as the president’s liaison to the Senate. In this role, Mr. Pagano was responsible for managing the Senate Legislative Affairs Office and charged with advancing the president’s legislative agenda and promoting his priorities on Capitol Hill. He coordinated the administration’s legislative strategy on Senate action concerning issues that included patent reform, immigration reform, the Affordable Care Act, the Violence Against Women Act, reforms to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), gun violence prevention and judicial nominations. He was a member of the White House privacy and FISA working groups. Before joining the White House in 2012, Mr. Pagano worked for nearly two decades with Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), both for the senator’s office and for the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Sen. Leahy. This included serving as Sen. Leahy’s chief of staff, managing the senator’s offices in Washington and Vermont and overseeing the senator’s work on the Judiciary, Agriculture and Appropriations committees. During that time, Mr. Pagano advised Sen. Leahy on legislation—such as the Leahy- Smith America Invents Act, the first major reform of the patent system in 60 years—and Supreme Court hearings and confirmations, including those of Justice Sotomayor and Justice Kagan. Prior to becoming Sen. Leahy’s chief of staff, Mr. Pagano served as his senior counsel on the Judiciary Committee, focusing on economic and criminal justice legislation, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the USA PATRIOT Act and the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund, as well as antitrust issues and data breach legislation. Mr. Pagano earlier worked as a legislative counsel for Sen. Leahy, monitoring legislative developments and implementing plans on tax and commerce legislation, as well as coordinating economic development outreach in Vermont. Mr. Pagano began his professional career as an associate at a large law firm before moving on to serve as a field director for the Clinton-Gore presidential campaign in 1992. Mr. Pagano received his J.D. from Fordham Law School and his B.S. from the University of Vermont, where he played power forward for four years for the Vermont Catamounts basketball team. He remains active at the University of Vermont both as a member of the Board of Trustees and through alumni and student engagement. Shannon Campagna Senior Policy Advisor, Alston & Bird LLP Shannon Campagna has represented some of the most iconic brands in America in her 24 year government affairs career. She has represented Wal-Mart, the Home Depot and Target as a lobbyist for the Retail Industry Leaders Association, served as the head of the DC office for grocery chain Safeway, and in her current role as Director of Federal Government Affairs at Mars, Incorporated she is the lead congressional lobbyist for brands like Snickers ®, M&M’s ®, Pedigree ® and Uncle Ben’s ®. Although there is a little more to it, she does feel very fortunate to wake up every day and advocate for “puppies and chocolate.” She has worked on a diverse range of legislative issues including healthcare, tax policy, agriculture and farm policy, and some financial services issues thrown in for good measure. Shannon is a graduate of the University of Alabama. She is a member of the Tax Coalition, the Business-Government Relations Council, and member of the board of the Government Relations Leadership Forum. As much as she loves politics, her favorite job is mom to two daughters, whose diverse passions she encourages and facilitates. She and her husband, real estate entrepreneur Christopher Campagna, and their daughters live in Alexandria, Virginia. Arielle Elliott Vice President & General Manager, Bloomberg Government Arielle Elliott has been at Bloomberg Government since 2010 leading the business development team that serves corporate government affairs professionals, trade associations, law firms, lobbying firms, federal agencies, and Congress. She oversees product development, news and research, and commercial operations. She has over 15 years of experience as a business development executive with experience in media, publishing, and circulation. Arielle is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis. She resides in Washington, D.C. with her husband and two children. Senior Vice President, Government Affairs - Consumer Healthcare Products Association John Gay is responsible for the association’s state and federal government affairs departments and its political action committee. Prior to joining CHPA in March 2012, Gay served as president and CEO of the Natural Products Association, the nation’s largest and oldest association representing retailers and manufacturers of dietary supplements and other natural products. Gay began his career in the office of former U.S. Senator Mack Mattingly (R-Ga.) and proceeded to a series of increasingly responsible positions with Andersen Worldwide, the American Hotel & Lodging Association, the International Franchise Association, and the National Restaurant Association. Gay is a member of the American Society of Association Executives and earned a Certificate in Organizational Management from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Organization Management. John received his B.A. from the University of Virginia. Bryce Harlow Senior Vice President of Government Relations, CBS Corporation Bryce Harlow is Senior Vice President of Government Relations for CBS Corporation, a role he has held since 2006. At CBS he lobbies the Congress and Administration on behalf of CBS Corporation and its varied media businesses. Immediately prior to joining CBS he served as a Director of Government Relations for the National Association of Broadcasters. Preceding that Bryce held roles in the House Republican Cloakroom, Senate Judiciary Committee and in Legislative Affairs at the Federal Trade Commission. Bryce is a graduate of James Madison University and currently resides in Vienna, Virginia with his wife and their two children. Platinum Plus View full list of sponsors © 2019 The Government Relations Leadership Forum. All Rights Reserved	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5578
__label__wiki	0.70244	0.70244	Virginia Guardrail Attorney Posts Tagged With ‘Virginia Guardrail Attorney’ Negligently Installed Guardrail Injury Lawsuits: What You Need to Know Over recent months, more reports have surfaced of defective guardrails impaling vehicles and causing serious and fatal injuries to drivers and passengers. Victims and their families have filed lawsuits against Lindsay Corporation, the company that manufactured the X-LITE guardrail end terminals. Besides alleging that the end terminals have a defective design, complaints have also alleged that the guardrails were negligently installed. Negligent Guardrail Installation Blamed for Serious Injuries Guardrails are supposed to absorb energy upon impact—usually by “telescoping” inward. When the end terminals don’t perform as intended, whether due to a defective design or negligent installation, the result can be catastrophic for drivers and passengers. A Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) survey found that installation crews have had a difficult time installing the X-LITE end terminals due to unclear instructions. One lawsuit alleges that Lindsay Corporation failed to “adequately provide proper and clear installation, repair, maintenance, and/or instruction manuals.” But not all such claims allege that inadequate instructions are to blame for the improper installation. Some have alleged negligence on the part of companies or state departments approving the installation of faulty guardrails, or workers using negligent installation techniques. Who Is Liable for Injuries Caused by Negligently Installed Guardrails? When a person is injured due to negligent guardrail installation, the liable party could be a government entity or the company hired to install the guardrail. One case that went to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court found the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) liable for injuries caused by its negligent decision to install guardrails that already had been deemed as not being “crashworthy.” At issue was the state’s Sovereign Immunity Act, which protects the state from liability for damages in certain negligence claims. The appellants claimed that PennDOT should have known that the “boxing glove” style guardrails that were installed—which penetrated the appellants’ vehicle upon impact and caused serious injuries—weren’t crashworthy. They also claimed that PennDOT “failed to inspect or correct” the problem. In cases where otherwise safe guardrails malfunctioned because of negligent installation by the workers themselves, companies contracted to do the work may be held liable through the doctrine of respondeat superior. Call (877) 544- 5323 to Discuss Your Case with a Guardrail Injury Lawyer Today At The Law Offices of Richard J. Serpe, PC, we understand that nothing can undo the tragedy of sustaining a serious injury or losing a loved one in a car accident. But by taking legal action against those responsible, you may be able to recover the compensation you need to pay for medical bills, lost income, and other damages. An experienced guardrail injury attorney at our firm can answer your questions and help you determine the most strategic way to proceed. We have recovered more than $250 million in personal injury and wrongful death cases. Contact our office via phone or text message at (877) 544- 5323 for a free consultation, or send us a message online. We can come to you if you are unable to come to us. Marine Killed in MD Guardrail Crash An 18-year-old man has died after his car crashed into a Maryland guardrail. Now, his family is doing all they can to ensure other victims of similar accidents do not end up with a similar fate. The teen was on his way to work at a recruiting office one day when his car ran off the road, striking a guardrail. While exact reasons as to why the young man’s vehicle left the road are unknown, what happened next likely contributed to his death: his vehicle collided with an Lindsay X-LITE end terminal. Other Victims Designed to help bring colliding vehicles to a slow and safe stop, these particular end terminals have been linked to many other deaths throughout the country. The victim’s mother said she was shocked to learn that at least seven other people have died in a similar fashion. All eight of the fatal crashes involved the X-LITE end terminal. Five lawsuits have been filed against the manufacturer of the safety device, Lindsay Transportation Solutions, claiming that the guardrail is defective. Justice for the Victim Now, the family of the victim is seeking justice for their lost loved one. They hope to raise awareness about the dangers associated with this kind of guardrail end terminal. They also hope to convince Maryland officials to remove and replace the guardrail with something safer. There are more than 900 X-LITE end terminals currently on Maryland roads. At least ten other states are working to remove the X-LITE from their roads and highways, but Maryland says they have no plans to do so. Do You Need A Guardrail Injury Lawyer? – Contact Us If you or a loved one has been injured by a collision with a highway guardrail, call the lawyers representing Guardrail victims across the County for a free consultation. You may be eligible for considerable compensation for your injuries. Get Help Now 877-544-5323 2 Oct 17 Tennessee Father Brings Awareness to Dangerous Guardrails Across US When a loved one is lost, grieving is to be expected. One Tennessee father has gone beyond grieving after losing his daughter. Instead, he has made it his mission to get the defective guardrails that allegedly killed his daughter off American roads. Most recently, he’s turned his sights to North Carolina, where thousands of the defective guardrails line roads and highways. Tennessee Department of Transportation officials agree with the man and have begun removing the safety devices from their roads. Unfortunately, not every state is doing the same. North Carolina transportation officials say that the X-LITE guardrails have not caused nor been involved with any fatal crashes in the state. They say that it would be too time-consuming and expensive to remove the thousands of X-LITE guardrails already on their roads. The good news? No new X-LITES will be installed on North Carolina roads and highways. The state has fast tracked a new guardrail. X-LITES will only be replaced when necessary, though. Undeterred, the grieving father has continued his mission without the state’s help. In fact, he has been posting on North Carolina Craigslist pages offering people money to come forward with information on X-LITE crashes and locations. Because transportation officials refuse to release such information, he must instead collect it all himself. The makers of the X-LITE guardrails, Lindsay Transportation Solutions, says that while their guardrails can’t prevent all traffic fatalities, their product is safe. They are in accordance with federal safety standards. Grieving Father Advocates for Guardrail Removal, Replacement The loss of a child is one of the most difficult experiences a person can endure. For Stephen Eimers, the death of his daughter in a car accident last year led to a personal mission: to get defective guardrails, like the one that malfunctioned in his daughter’s crash, off the roads. “I’ve got to be able to look that next mother or father in the eyes who’s lost a child to an accident, or a husband or a wife, and say I did every last thing that I could do,” Eimers told Cincinnati.com recently. The X-Lite guardrail end terminal, made by Lindsay Transportation Solutions, is supposed to absorb the energy of a collision. Instead of folding under pressure like an accordion as designed, the X-Lite instead pierced Eimers’ daughter’s vehicle. Since losing his daughter, Eimers has traveled the country advocating for victims who were hurt or killed in similar accidents. At least six victims were involved in crashes like Eimers’ daughter’s, but he believes there may be many more whose stories have not been told. The X-Lite guardrail end terminal can be found in 20 states, but Eimers wants to see them phased out and replaced by safer alternatives. Though the X-Lite guardrails are crash tested, they are done so at labs owned by the manufacturers of the device. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration doesn’t oversee or pay for the tests. The Government Accountability Office highlighted the potential for bias in a recent report. Eimers says he won’t stop his mission until all Lindsay guardrails are off the roads.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5579
__label__wiki	0.718188	0.718188	Automatic Document Analysis Research group Writer Identification ICDAR 2013 Competitions Stroke Recovery A team of researchers at Qatar University is working on the Intelligent Document Management System project (IDMS) funded by the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF). The project is a collaboration between researchers in Qatar, and UK. Dr. Somaya Al-Ma’adeed is the lead principle investigator (LPI) of this team. Dr. Somaya Al-Ma'adeed Dr. Somaya Al-Ma’adeed is the head of Computer Science department at Qatar University (QU). She is also the coordinator of Computer Vision research group at Qatar University. She received Letter of thanks and recognition from Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for her work and consultancy in Biometric Security. She and her team are the recipient of the best performance in ICDAR2011 and ICDAR2015 signature verification. She enjoys excellent collaboration with National, International institutions and industry. She was a visiting Academic at Northumbria University, UK. She organized several workshops and competitions related to biometrics and computer vision. She was selected as a participant in Current and Future Executive Leaders Program at Qatar Leadership Centre QLC (2012-2013) established in 2008 by an Emiri Decree. She published extensively in computer vision and pattern recognition. She is a principal investigator of several funded research projects generating approximately five million dollars in the last three years. She attended workshops related to higher education strategy, assessment methods, and interactive teaching. She published and delivered workshops on teaching programming for undergraduate students. She supervised students through research projects related to community and industry. This year she was elected as IEEE Chair for Qatar section. She is a senior IEEE member and a member of other Engineering Societies such as IEEE Women in Engineering Member, IEEE Education Society Member, IEEE Electric Vehicles Member Email: s_alali@qu.edu.qa Prof. Ahmed Bouridane Prof. Ahmed Bouridane received the “Ingenieur d’Etat” degree in electronics from “Ecole Nationale Polytechnique” of Algiers (ENPA), Algeria, in 1982, the M.Phil. degree in electrical engineering (VLSI design for signal processing) from the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, U.K., in 1988, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering (computer vision) from the University of Nottingham, U.K., in 1992. From 1992 to 1994, he worked as a Research Developer in telesurveillance and access control applications. In 1994, he joined Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, U.K., initially as Lecturer in computer architecture and image processing and later on he was promoted to Reader in Computer Science. He is now a full Professor in Image Engineering and Security at Northumbria University at Newcastle (UK), and his research interests are in imaging for forensics and security, biometrics, homeland security, image/video watermarking and cryptography. He has authored and co-authored more than 300 publications and one research book. Prof. Bouridane is a Senior Member of IEEE. Email: ahmed.bouridane@northumbria.ac.uk Prof. Ali Mohamed Jaoua Prof. Ali Mohamed Jaoua is a faculty member of computer Science and engineering department, University of Qatar. He obtained the degree of “Docteur es-Science” (1987) in computer science, from the University Paul Sabatier of Toulouse (France), “Doctor Engineer” (1979) from Institute Polytechnic of Toulouse, and “Engineer in Computer Science” from ENSEEIHT of Toulouse (1977). He has also initially been selected to study in the higher school of Mathematics and Physics, in Lycee hoche (Versailles, from 1971-1974), and got also a degree from Orsay (Paris Sud) University in 1973 in Mathematics, and Physics. His research areas are Software and Information Engineering, Text Mining, Knowledge Engineering, Program Fault Tolerance, conceptual reasoning, search engine, information retrieval and document structuring. He has been working on the Use of Relational Methods in Computer Science since 1984, and the application of formal concept analysis in Information Engineering since 1990. He has been Invited Prof./researcher in the following universities: University Joseph Fournier, Grenoble, France, July 2004 University of Sherbrooke (Canada), in 1989 Sophia-Antipolis (I3S) (France) during December 1991 He has been associate Professor in computer science in Laval University (Quebec, Canada), 1989-1992. He has been invited speaker for international conferences and universities during the last ten years, program committee member of CLA2006, and CLA2008, with evaluation of several papers on applied aspect of formal concept analysis. He got several research grants as from NSERG and FCAR in Canada, and DGRST and SERST from Tunisia, Qatar University, and participated to several pilot projects in France, Canada, and Tunisia. He also has organized several conferences in computer science, (RelMiCS97 Hamamet, IEEE Workshop on New Trends in Distributed Systems, 97, Tunis, and CSPA2006 in Sharja (UAE), and CSPA 2008 in Doha), and has been the seminar coordinator for about 12 years of his carrier. He supervised more than 12 Phd-thesis defended mostly on conceptual information engineering, and several Masters. He published about 35 papers in International Journals, and many conferences, and contributes in several books. He is a Member of the Steering Committee of Relational Methods in Computer Science Group, RELMICS, and Editorial member of the associated electronic journal (JORMICS), Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Computing, since 2004. He has been a member of the editorial board of the international Journal of Information Science, Elsevier publisher, during several years. Starting from January 2009, he is nominated as the Editor in Chief of the International Journal of Computer Science and Engineering in Arabic, Philips Publisher. He has also been member of many associations in computer science and engineering. He is currently the general chair of RelMiCS11/AKA6 conferences to hold in Doha from 1 to 5- November 2009 (http://www.qu.edu.qa/RelMiCs11) and the Graduate Committee chair of the Master Program of Science in Computing, to start in September 2009. Email: jaoua@qu.edu.qa Prof. Jihad Mohamad Alja'am Prof. Jihad Mohamad Alja’am received his Ph.D in Computer Sciences and Mathematics of Computing, Southern University – National Council for Scientific Research – CNRS UNIT 816, 1994, an M.S. Computer Science (Soft Computing, Algorithms, Logic, and Artificial Intelligence), Southern University and INRIA-Toulouse 1990 and a B.Sc. Computer Science (Soft Computing, Algorithms, Logic, and Artificial Intelligence), Southern University, 1989. Dr. Alja’am is a Professor in the Computer Science and Engineering Department at Qatar University. He teaches many courses in computing starting from basics to advanced like: Programming Concepts, Advanced Programming, Design and Analysis of Algorithms, Compiler, Graph Theory and Artificial intelligence. His research interests includes: Soft Computing, Combinatorics, Intelligent Algorithms and Optimization, Data Mining and Natural Langauge Processing. Dr. Alja’am has rich experiences in IT projects management and consultancy services (IBM, RTS, INRIA) as well as in IT training and community services (i.e., Office Automation). Dr. Alja’am is co-author of 12 IT books and has over 70 journal and conference publications. He participated in different scientific international conferences. Dr. Alja’am is involved in different research projects funded by Qatar Foundation and Qatar University. He is a regular reviewer for the ACM Computing Reviews. Email: jaam@qu.edu.qa Dr. Abdelâali Hassaïne Dr. Abdelâali Hassaïne received the Ingenieur d’Etat degree in computer science from Université de Tlemcen, Algeria in 2005, the Master recherche degree in imaging and computer graphics from INSA de Lyon, France, in 2006, and the Ph.D. degree in mathematical morphology from Mines ParisTech, France, in 2009. In 2010, he worked as a postdoctoral fellowship on the identification and authentication of paintings and artworks in Université de Saint-Etienne, France. In February 2011, he joined Qatar University as a postdoctoral researcher on document management and writer identification. Dr. Hassaïne is the winner of the ICDAR2009 Offline Signature Verification competition, the ICFHR2010 Handwriting Segmentation Contest, the ICDAR2011 signature verification competition for Dutch offline data and the ICDAR2011 music scores writer identification contest. He also organized the ICDAR2011 Arabic Writer Identification Contest and the ICFHR2012 Writer Identification Contest for Arabic Scripts. His research interests include mathematical morphology, feature extraction, pattern recognition and document image processing. Email: hassaine@qu.edu.qa Eng. Wael Ayouby Wael Ayouby is a telecom engineer. He was born in Koura, Lebanon (1987). He was graduated from the Lebanese University-Faculty of Engineering. He received the Master degree in “Electronics and Electrical Engineering”, “Telecommunications and Computer” option from “University of Technology of Compiegne-HEUDIASYC Laboratory ” in France and the “Lebanese University-Faculty of Engineering” in Lebanon in August 2010. During his studies in the university, he did training in “Ogero Telecom”(the official ISP in Lebanon) (summer 2008- summer 2009) about telecommunication systems, satellite communications, mobile and telephony systems. He has also been graduated from a CISCO Academy in Beirut, Lebanon where he received the CCNA 1, 2, 3 and 4 concerning networking, switching, wired and wireless networks. He is a research assistant in the current project (2011-2012) in Qatar University. Email: wael.ayouby@qu.edu.qa IPAM Prof.Mohamed Cheriet Prof.Mohamed Cheriet received the B.Sc. CE (Bab Ezzouar University, Algiers), DEA and Doctorate of University of Paris 6 (Paris 6, France). As a scientist and educator, Prof. Cheriet has taken an active role in publishing technical papers and authoring books. He has published 70 international journal papers and 135 international conference papers, and has delivered 17 invited talks. In addition, he has authored and published 6 books on pattern recognition, document image analysis and understanding, and computer vision. Among them, the book entitled Character Recognition Systems, a Textbook for Students and Practitioners, is highly acclaimed. Prof. Cheriet is also recognized for his activities in technical journal editorial writing, organizing and taking part in many conferences. He has contributed to the training of 65 high qualified personnel. He has also served as chair of the IEEE’s Montreal CIS Chapter. Email: mohamed.cheriet@etsmtl.ca Dr. Asim Baig Dr. Asim Baig has been working in the area of Image Processing and Computer Vision for over a decade. He received his B.Sc. in Electrical and Communications Engineering from U.E.T. Lahore in 1999. After his graduation he started his research career as a Research Associate at the Computer Vision Lab of Lahore University of Management Sciences in 2003. He received his PhD from Queen’s University Belfast in 2010. His research focus since his PhD has been on biometric identification and recognition algorithms. Since his PhD he has focused on the application of machine learning and image processing algorithms to multiple domain within the field in imaging such as multimodal biometrics, biomedical image analysis, visual navigation systems and document analysis. Email: asim.baig@qu.edu.qa Ms. Kalthoum Adam Ms. Kalthoum Adam is a Ph.D candidate in Computer Science at Qatar University. She received her M.Sc. in Computer Science degree from SDSU, California, USA. and her B.Sc. in Computer science degree from UAE University. She worked as an IT Auditor at CHASE, USA. She also worked as an IT instructor at The Ministry of Education in UAE. Kalthoum joined Qatar University as a Ph.D student in 2015 and her main research areas are Machine learning and Image processing. Email: kalthoumadam@gmail.com Dr. Rachid Hedjam Rachid Hedjam received his M.Sc. (Computer Science and Operations Research) from the University of Montreal in 2009. He then joined the “Synchromedia laboratory for multimedia communication in telepresence” at École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS, university of Quebec), and obtained his Ph.D. with highest honors in 2013 under the supervision of the Professor Mohamed Cheriet. R. Hedjam was awarded by FQRNT and ÉTS doctoral scholarships. He has received numerous academic awards during his doctoral studies. R. Hedjam is now a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Geography at McGill University, where he is working on multispectral image processing and pattern recognition for cultural heritage preservation, forensic applications and remote sensing. He is also a member of Synchromedia laboratory Atena Shahkolaei Atena Shahkolaei received her bachelor degree in information technology (IT) in 2010 from Azad University of Ghaemshahr. In 2013, she received her masters degree in software engineering from Research and Science University in Amol. Currently she is pursuing her Ph.D. in a topic of document image quality assessment at Synchromedia Laboratory under the supervision of Prof. Mohamed Cheriet since January 2015. © 2016 Qatar University Hosted by Qatar University	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5582
__label__cc	0.729126	0.270874	Auto industry highlights: Innovation in green, smart, and safe (part 1) All industries are innovating to become smarter and more efficient. The auto industry is no different. The auto’s journey to smarten up can be seen in the vision, challenges, and solutions of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). Advancements in the auto industry are always a popular topic of conversation. From fuel efficiency to vehicle PC infotainment, cars are seen as transportation, entertainment, and status symbols all over the world. Embedded technologies are driving key initiatives in the industry: Green – Environmentally friendly and fuel efficient. Smart – Greater visibility, alters using sensor, actuator, and camera technologies. Safe – Collision safety features to reduce injury and road fatalities. Focusing on the “smart” initiative, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are expected to advance from assisted driving today to highly automated driving in 2020 to autonomous driving by the year 2025 (Figure 1). If this vision is realized, in ten short years, autonomous in-vehicle system driving will be a reality – though Tesla claims it’ll have autonomous driving in its telematics cars by summer 2015! ADAS are the stepping stones toward autonomous fleet management driving. An interconnected network of cameras, video analysis, sensors, and global positioning systems provide the building blocks upon which the auto of the future will be built. Automotive telematics standards The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) is a driving force in the assessment and advancement of these key vehicle PC in the auto industry. Euro NCAP performs fleet management tests as well as test protocols for validating active safety systems through simulation. These test simulations are used to assess the five-star rating system assigned to various makes and models. Environmental regulations are becoming tougher and higher safety standards are being applied. In order to address these challenges, auto developers and their suppliers need access to the right embedded tools and simulation environments in order to achieve the desired ratings. http://embedded-computing.com/articles/auto-highlights-innovation-green-smart-safe/ Contact Us:http://www.acrosser.com Subscribe to our social media sites and stay connected!acrosser Twitter Acrosser Google+Acrosser Youtube Building a smarter embedded system within "smart home" on ZigBee 3.0 (part 3) "Volumes drive down cost, lower costs drive up volume," Links says. "The only question is, "What does it take to kick-start the process of embedded Linux? The killer app. From a GreenPeak perspective, we see the killer app as having ZigBee in the set-top box and remote control," Links continues. "First of all, consumers have a better user experience with ZigBee compared to embedded Linux, but [because of the power benefits] operators see a drop in service cost – one out of four service calls to operators is actually about the battery in the remote control being dead. So with ZigBee in the remote control the cable operator wins twice: reducing service calls and cost. Plus, with ZigBee in every set-top box it allows the subscriber to connect other sensors or embedded system applications with the set-top box, enabling incremental services. For Links, full-fledged adoption of the smart home and its accompanying technologies will progress in the same way that network security technology did, with roughly 10 years of cost reductions and cultural breakthroughs before reaching the nearly universal acceptance it enjoys today. Along with progressive reductions in the cost of the technology and success educating the population, however, the achievements of network communication appliance are largely based in joint industry collaboration around the standard that eventually benefitted all parties involved. "Cost and culture are the two major constraints," Links says. "Assuming that the cost will decrease with the volume increase, the key will be getting people comfortable with living in a network security home. That means there need to be guarantees that the system is secure, that the system is not infringing on privacy, etc. But to a large extent this is not embedded system technology, but a marketing challenge that needs to be resolved in the coming years. "Also, the industry needs to come together on a set of standards to ensure interoperability and ease of use for the end user. It was the international adoption of 802.11 that truly enabled the eventual market success of Wi-Fi. The industry needs to learn from the Wi-Fi history. The big tech companies need to stop building network communication appliance designed to fight for market share, and instead realize the more the sectors work together to ensure interoperability, partnership, and customer ease of use, the more successful all tech companies will be," he continues. "With the ZigBee 3.0 unified communication standard in place, smart home applications should not be more costly or complex for the end user than a smartphone. This is when the smart home becomes reality for both vendors and consumers." http://embedded-computing.com/articles/building-smarter-home-zigbee-3-0/ 張貼者： Gaming Platform 於上午12:22 沒有留言: "Certainly, interoperability is a key concern because embedded system must have easy-to-use and easy-to-connect devices that simply work together," Maley says. "ZigBee 3.0 will allow a wider range of network communication appliance to seamlessly interoperate. ZigBee has always provided interoperability among the various network security domains (lighting, health care), but ZigBee 3.0 will permit a wider variety of devices to connect together, which should simplify the choice for product developers and consumers alike. "The ZigBee Certified program can help by insuring interoperability between certified devices regardless of the manufacturer," he adds. With ZigBee 3.0, all of the traditional characteristics of ZigBee devices are maintained, such as the self-healing embedded Linux associated with mesh networks and power consumption several orders of magnitude less than Wi-Fi, as well as features such as Green Power that support battery-less energy harvesting devices. This last point on power is also a crucial one for the smart home, on the one hand because improved efficiency in one area shouldn't come at the expense of inefficiency in another, and on the other hand the prospect of network security batteries for a house full of connected devices on a regular basis is simply a non starter in the embedded system. Cost and the "killer app" of embedded Linux As intriguing as application-level standardization is for the advancement of the smart home, architectures that make beneficial decisions based on behavior and efficiency being embraced by the broad market is a question of cost and consumer demand. As O'Donovan notes, "costs are important if you have to pay $1,500 for new lighting that will only save you $50 in energy costs. There has to be a compelling reason to buy into the smart home concept." On the heels of recent discussions in the network communication appliance related to regulating the standby power requirements for set-top boxes, Cees Links, Founder and CEO of leading ZigBee chipset and module vendor GreenPeak Technologies (www.greanpeak.com), believes an answer to both is on the horizon (Figure 5). Given this, and the low-power, low-cost, and ease-of-use embedded system, wireless mesh networking technologies have gained prominence as a scalable way of integrating products into the smart home. However, with widespread incompatibility between network security and numerous networking technologies all competing for an emerging market, settling on any one connectivity solution has become a struggle for industry and consumers alike, O'Donovan says. "Multiple networking technologies clearly complicates the picture for the consumer and slows manufacturer attempts to unify around one or more compatible systems," he explains (Figure 3). "There is little cohesion in the market. Despite efforts to deploy mesh networking by some players as a way to offer a whole home/system solution, there is scant interoperability between most manufacturers." "There are a number of embedded Linux for the home automation market, with X10 probably known best because it has been around a long time, although ZigBee and Z-Wave are now recognized as the way forward," O'Donovan continues. My prediction is that the network security will always be a widely available, standards-based solution, and in that case ZigBee should dominate." Though ZigBee has gained traction since being conceived in the late '90s, much of its success and embedded system came as a result of "application profiles" that tailored the technology to certain vertical markets. While these helped ZigBee penetrate new areas and use cases, they also impaired the ability of devices based on different profiles to interoperate seamlessly, which, as mentioned, is a critical consideration in full-blow smart home deployments. However, in late 2014 the ZigBee network communication appliance announced the release of embedded Linux ZigBee 3.0, a new standard that unifies the previous ZigBee PRO-based application standards to enable interoperability between home automation, energy management, lighting, appliances, security, health care monitoring, and other smart home devices (Figure 4). Based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard, ZigBee devices were previously compatible at lower levels of the network, but the advent of ZigBee 3.0 promotes interoperability at the application layer as well to alleviate some of the challenges of network communication appliance interoperability. http://www.acrosser.com Receive a product quote RIGHT NOW! Auto industry highlights: Innovation in green, sma... Building a smarter embedded system within "smart h...	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5589
__label__wiki	0.826513	0.826513	2010-01-11: Mother Kit And Brother Peter Roleplay Logs » Volume 04: Convergence » 2010-01-11: Mother Kit And Brother Peter Two members of the "fugitive resistance" meet in a church. "Mother Kit And Brother Peter" A Church It's been a hard last few weeks for Kitty, or Beatrix Hanner as she is still going by. She's become something of an Harriet Tubman sort of figure. Ushering fugitives to a safe house she has in the city and saving them from the government and their Evil Squad of Evil. It's given her a new name, by one of the children she's helped out. 'Momma Kit'. They've started calling her and she does indeed protect her charges like a mother would protect her own children. Thanks to help from others of the resistance, and her ability to see the future. Beatrix has done a pretty good job of staying under the radar and not being caught. Though today.. seems to be a breaking point for Kitty. She hasn't seen or talked to any of her friends in quite a while and she's starting to feel quite alone in this whole thing. So she's sitting in a church, head down while tears fall from her eyes, though she hopes she is finished crying by the time the person she saw in her vision who she's suppose to meet, gets here. "You look like you're having a rough day," a soft voice says with sincerity, as a warm body settles down on the seat next to her, a hand reaching out to touch her sleeve. Dressed in a heavy coat and scarf, it's obviously not a priest that's sitting next to her, despite the friendly and open tone that might have been expected of one. The voice and the face is familiar. Peter could walk around as someone else entirely, but he's not worried about being seen… Because he happens to be invisible. And so is she. It's the safest way to communicate in a public place. "I knew I'd find you here. And I guess you probably knew I'd be here too. How have you been?" "Oh it's nothing, just missing my old life." She jokes lightly and then she notices the voice and her eyes widen before she turns her head quickly to Peter and smiles warmly. "Pete.. I.." she blushes slightly and dips her head. "Thought I'd be done crying before you came." She says with a light chuckle before she wipes her eyes and then looks back up at Peter with a strong look. The look that Momma Kit gives to her charges to let them know that she's fine. "I'm fine, really. Just been keeping busy, watching the ones that can't protect themselves, ya know?" Then she adds in a soft tone. "I really miss you." Her hair, now slowly fading back to it's original color more and more every day falls into her face as she stares at Peter. Now the coloring mostly still blonde with a few large brown streaks going through it all. "Been keeping busy? How's Tracy?" "I know how that is," Peter says quietly, looking down at his hands. There's only so much one person can do. But he's been doing more than that as much as he can. It doesn't always work. There's always more to do, and more people who aren't protected. It never seems to be enough. He keeps his hand on her arm, even as he looks up ahead. "I don't know how Tracy is," he says, voice tightening a little, but it's the truth. He doesn't know how Tracy is. He hasn't seen her in a while. But he quietly hopes that Kitty can't see what he's been up to in the last few weeks. Especially what he did in Washington not too long ago. Not everything he's done is just helping people who can't help themselves. "Do you need any help?" "Do you need help?" she knows her friend all too well, always over extending himself, never really taking care of himself. "I have so many stories to share with you, so many thing to tell you. I lived in a bar, where I got this tattoo and this woman named Isabelle took me in and.." she stops and looks up towards the stained glass windows, "But that's for another time, once this is all over. We can talk about our adventures." Because boy does she have them. Her tattoo peeks out from her coat sleeve at Peter as she looks at the windows. "I've been trying all I can, trying to see where this is all going. My ability hasn't been much help. At least not at the big picture. I think.. maybe I'm not meant to know what's going to happen. Or maybe.. it just isn't time, ya know?" "That's funny, I recently met someone named Isabelle," Peter says with a smile, even though there's likely a dozen people named Isabelle in the world. He doubts it could be the same one, considering that the one he knows couldn't take anyone in as far as he can tell. The tattoo does get noticed, but he has nothing really to say about that. Instead… "You're doing enough. Just like I've been trying to. Sometimes you can't help with the big picture. But little changes help someone and that can help the world." It just doesn't happen as fast as they might wish it to. He nudges his shoulder against her. "I'm doing fine. But I might need some help later…" a flick of his wrist and he's holding a card out to her. "That's my new cellphone. I don't answer it, but you can leave a message. Just say who you are and where to contact you." "Really? She might be the one I know, her girls. The girls that work with her, they've seemed to have relocated out here. So ask her if her last name is Ashford, if so. Tell her that Kitty is looking for her." She says to Peter softly and then lays her head on one of the men she can call her best friend's shoulder. "I know, and I love what I'm doing. If you could see the look on the people's faces as they fill safe and they don't have to worry for right now. It's really the only reward that I need." "You know I always have your back Pete, what's the problem? At least what do you think you'll need help with soon?" She takes the card and slips it into her pocket for later. She'll make use of it later. "I've been trying to gather intel but so far, I've gotten nothing. I saw your mother a while back. I hope Angela is doing ok." "Mom's doing fine the last time I saw her," Peter says, able to answer that question, even if it was only implied. "She's laying low, but she may need to move somewhere else eventually. That's something you might be able to help me with." It's not that he actually knew what he needed help with— he's making most of this up as he goes. Except for a few small plans that he inacts, most of it is… winged. "Being able to move people between a couple different places would be safer. If you can secure a few more places to keep people… I can filter them toward you. I have a house of my own, but it's only so big." If they ever manage a big break out, there's no telling how he'd be able to handle them. He was planning to go talk to Jack and see if he could help… but there's no telling who will actually be able to help. Especially since Trina just wanted to live a normal life. "I more want a way to contact you. In case I do need help. And incase you need my help, too." Talk of business. "Good. I have one warehouse. I'm using already. I bought it a little bit ago and just didn't ever do anything with it. It's not being watched at all." She says and thinks about what Peter is saying. "I have tons of room and if we could somehow get another warehouse. There are a few abandoned in my area. I just haven't seen the need to take it yet. "Fliter whomever you need to me, including your mother. That's quite alright. The Kitty Lair of Doom is for everyone." She says this with the most serious face ever. "Also, how are things going? Any new news about the government and their plans?" she hasn't like she said, been able to get much information. News from the government. Like the death of the Secretary of Homeland Security? Or his brother trying to get into Alpha Protocol to get a foothold? Peter closes his eyes for a moment, "I can't really talk about that. Everything involving that part of the operation is secret." As far as his brother wants anyone to know, he's on their side… so he can't real anything about that. And he doesn't want to talk about the woman he murdered. "I know they're still capturing people. But other then that… There's a lot I don't know. Maybe later we'll know more. Like what their actual goals are— things like that." But right now… they don't know. There's a quiet moment, and then he says, "I should be going. Will you contact me when you can? I might be able to help get a warehouse to add on. I have one that I use as a teleport location, but I don't own it. It could be used for something, though." Nodding her head, "I'll contact you and give you news when I can and vice versa." Kitty begins to leave, not wanting to break contact yet. She looks at Peter and smiles softly, "We'll work on getting the warehouse you teleport too and setting something up in there." The young seer looks down at her hands before she leans forward and hugs Peter tightly around the middle, nestling her head in his chest with eyes closed for a few moments. As she opens her eyes, they can be seen to be a little watery. She pulls away slightly and gives Peter a kiss on the cheek. "You're like my brother, please be safe." She says softly in his ear before she slides away and stands. "I have to go and meet some people, they need to be escorted." She says softly and then she's smiling softly at Peter and nodding her head, "Love ya, Pete." She says before stretching her muscles and walking out of the church, her boot's heels clicking on the floor of the church as she prepares to leave. As soon as he lets go of her so she can move away, she can no longer see him, but she knows he's still there. Not for too long, but for long enough to hear a whisper of, "Love ya too, Kitty." It's not said as anything more than a friendship, a companionship that's grown over the last year, but there it is. Peter means it, too. Within moments, he's no longer in the church at all, invisible or otherwise. kittypeter	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5592
__label__wiki	0.640907	0.640907	ITDA Profile District Profile Asifabad District Profile Nirmal District Profile Mancherial Economic Scheme ROFR Innovative Schemes Vanabhandhu Yojana Vikasam sports meet nagoba jatara jodeghat festival giri utsav giri express ITDA Administration UTNOOR HRMS Home \| Engineering TPMU As per the norms set by the organization for discharge of its duties the Govt. of Telangana State have created a separate Engineering Department i.e. Tribal Welfare Engineering Department on 24-04-1984 like P.W.D., R&B, P.R. Dept. for Plain & Urban areas to cater the infrastructural needs and speedy execution of works in S.T. areas of this District. In the fields of communications, Hostel facilities and water supply, the available infrastructure needs to be revamped in order to enable Tribals reach the level of main stream of civilization of plain areas. The Tribal Welfare, Engineering Division, Utnoor headed by the Executive Engineer, Tribal Welfare, Utnoor and Technical adviser to the Project Officer, I.T.D.A., Utnoor. This Tribal Welfare Division is having head office in the District in I.T.D.A. Office its self with its Technical and Ministerial Staff. The Division also consists of (04) Sub-Divisions at Utnoor, Echoda, Rajampet & Dandepally headed by Dy. Executive Engineers concerned with their Ministerial Staff, A.E.E.s / A.E.s. Article 275 (i) 2011-12 (Roads) :- (04) Road works sanctioned with an estimated cost of Rs. 480.00 lakhs (03) works are completed and (01) work is progress and expenditure incurred of Rs. 293.49 Lakhs. Article 275 (i) 2013-14 (TSP) (Buildings) :- (02) Building works sanctioned with an estimated cost of 400.00 lakhs (01) works is in progress, (01) work is progress and expenditure incurred of Rs. 291.56 Lakhs. NABARD-RIDF a). NABARD-RIDF-XVIII 2012-13 (Buildings) :- (13) Building works sanctioned with an estimated cost of Rs. 872.00 lakhs (13) works completed and expenditure incurred is Rs. 767.04 Lakhs. b). NABARD-RIDF-XVIII 2012-13 (Roads) :- (06) Road works sanctioned with an estimated cost of Rs. 1079.00 lakhs (06) work completed and expenditure incurred is Rs. 849.80Lakhs. c). NABARD-XIX 2013-14 (Buildings) :- (14) works are sanctioned with an estimated cost of Rs. 1330.00 lakhs (09) work completed, (03) works are in progress and (02) works are under Agreement Stage and expenditure incurred is Rs. 871.17 Lakhs. a). I.A.P. in L.W.E. 2010-11:- (656) works are sanctioned with an estimated cost of Rs. 08 lakhs (655) works are completed & (01) work is in progress and expenditure incurred is Rs. 5134.96 lakhs. b). I.A.P. in L.W.E. 2012-13:- (288) works are sanctioned with an estimated cost of Rs. 3111.85 lakhs (271) works are completed & (17) works are in progress and expenditure incurred is Rs. 2861.26 lakhs. c). I.A.P. in L.W.E. 2013-14 :- (530) works are sanctioned with an estimated cost of Rs. 1543.76 lakhs (478) works are completed & (52) works are in progress and expenditure incurred is Rs. 1108.17 lakhs. d). I.A.P. in L.W.E. 2014-15 :- (292) works are sanctioned with an estimated cost of Rs. 3923.80 lakhs (221) works are completed & (71) works are in progress and expenditure incurred is Rs. 2181.45 lakhs (Balance Rs. 10.00 Crores yet to be released). R.H.M. 2010-11 :- (47) works sanctioned with an estimate cost of Rs. 632.00 Lakhs (36) works completed, (08) works are in progress, (02) work proposed for cancellation (1) works site problem and an expenditure incurred for Rs. 488.94 lakhs. S.S. 2013-14 :- (06) works sanctioned with an estimate cost of Rs. 345.00 Lakhs, (03) work completed, (24) works are in progress & (01) work site problem, expenditure incurred for Rs. 66.71 lakhs. V.M. – S.S.A. 2012-13 :- C/o. (582) Class Rooms in (108) Ashram Schools sanctioned with an estimate cost of Rs. 3084.60 Lakhs (86) works are completed, (18) works are in progress & (04) works are proposed for cancellation and an expenditure incurred for Rs. 2600.67 lakhs. G.N.R.E.G.S a). Roads (RCP-I). :- (1066) works sanctioned with an estimated cost of Rs. 5390.08 Lakhs out of which (1059) works completed & (07) works are in progress and expenditure incurred of Rs. 4731.02 Lakhs. b). Roads (RCP-II). :- (578) works sanctioned with an estimated cost of Rs. 10327.12 Lakhs (12) works are completed & (251) works are in progress and (315) works are not started expenditure incurred of Rs. 2376.69 Lakhs. c). G.P. BUILDINGS :- (81) G.P. Buildings have been sanctioned with an estimate cost of Rs. 1135.70 Lakhs out of which (59) works completed, (17) works are in progress &( (05) works are dropped and expenditure incurred of Rs. 861.44 Lakhs. d). M.M.S. BUILDINGS :- (20) works sanctioned with an estimate cost of Rs. 500.00 Lakhs out of (15) works completed & (05) works are in progress and expenditure incurred of Rs. 429.46 Lakhs. S.P. 2013-14 (Building for School Complex, Article 275 (i) & Education Infrastructure) a). Building for School Complex :- (37) works are sanctioned with an estimated cost of Rs. 2436.50 lakhs (28) works are completed, (06) works are in progress, (02) work site problem & (01) proposed to shift Echoda and expenditure incurred is Rs. 1565.07 lakhs. b). Education Infrastructure :- (08) works are sanctioned with an estimated cost of Rs. 120.00 lakhs (08) works are completed and expenditure incurred is Rs. 85.50 lakhs. S.P. 2013-14 (Veterinary Dispensary) :- (04) works are sanctioned with an estimated cost of Rs. 65.00 lakhs (01) work completed & (03) works are in progress and expenditure incurred is Rs. 11.31 Lakhs. I.A.D. 2013-14 (GJCs) :- (06) works are sanctioned with an estimated cost of Rs. 351.00 lakhs (02) work completed, (04) works are in progress and expenditure incurred is Rs. 121.38 lakhs. C.D.P. 2013-14 :-(50) works sanctioned with an estimated cost of Rs. 673.00 Lakhs (43) works completed, (05) works are in progress & (02) proposed for cancellation and expenditure incurred is Rs. 553.27 Lakhs. 13th Finance Commission New Schemes Water Suppl) :- (48) works are sanctioned with an estimated cost of Rs. 618.84 lakhs (32) works are completed, (16) works are in progress and expenditure incurred is Rs. 341.97 lakhs. NEW WORKS UNDER T.S.P. 2015-16 14). Building for School Complex (BSC) 2015-16:- (72) works are sanctioned with an estimated cost of Rs. 2227.60 lakhs, (50) works are in progress, (11) Works Completed, (04) works are in Tender stage, (04) works Agreement Stage, (02) works Not Started & (01) work is stopped and expenditure incurred is Rs. 265.84 lakhs 15). Educational Infrastructure (E.I.) 2015-16:- (84) works are sanctioned with an estimated cost of Rs. 735.04 lakhs, (48) works are in progress & (36) works are completed and expenditure incurred is Rs. 224.89 Lakhs.. 16). Ashram School 2015-16:-(07) works are sanctioned with an estimated cost of Rs. 545.00 lakhs, (06) works are in Tender stage and (01) work is under progress and expenditure incurred is Rs. 8.32 Lakhs. 17). Roads Maintenance Grant under 13th F.C. 2015-16:- (08) works are sanctioned with an estimated cost of Rs. 81.15 lakhs, (01) works are in progress,(02) works are stopped,(02) works are taken up by PRED and (04) works Completed and expenditure incurred is Rs. 0.00 Lakhs. 18). R.I.A.D. (C/o. High Schools) 2015-16:- (01) work is sanctioned with an estimated cost of Rs. 56.00 lakhs is under tender stage. 19). Vanbandhu Kalyana Yojana (V.K.Y.) 2015-16:- (09) works are sanctioned with an estimated cost of Rs. 203.77 lakhs, (04) works are in progress and (05) works Completed and expenditure incurred is Rs. 28.41 Lakhs. 20). Article 275(i) 2015-16:- (08) works are sanctioned with an estimated cost of Rs. 366.50 lakhs, (05) works are completed and (03) works in progress and expenditure incurred is Rs. 113.42 Lakhs. 21). Girijana Bhavans(GB) 2016-17:- (05) works are sanctioned with an estimated cost of Rs. 550.00 lakhs, (05) in tender stage. 22). B.S.C.(PMH) 2016-17:- (04) works are sanctioned with an estimated cost of Rs. 680.00 lakhs, (04) works are in tender stage. 23). Education Infrastructure(RSC) 2016-17:- (06) works are sanctioned with an estimated cost of Rs.2520.00 lakhs, (06) works are in tender stage. 24). Education Infrastructure(WWH) 2016-17:- (01) works are sanctioned with an estimated cost of Rs.275.00 lakhs, (01) works is in tender stage. The Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) came in to existence on 1-8- 1975 with headquarters at Adilabad. The headquarters was shifted to Utnoor in September, 1979 with the jurisdiction of (44) Mandals, covering with SCA funds and Mandal i.e., Kubeer with cluster funds. The tribal sub plan area comprises 38.13% of the geographical area of the district. The tribal population of the district as per 2001 census is 4,16,511 which work out to 16.74% of the total population of the district. Contact Person: R.V.Karnan, IAS – Project Officer ITDA UTNOOR. Utnoor, Adilabad, Telangana, India. itdautnoor@gmail.com Copyright © 2017. All Rights Reserved by ITDA.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5594
__label__wiki	0.854546	0.854546	AP FACT CHECK: Entire Trump Tweet on Immigrant Aid is Wrong President Donald Trump is spreading a false claim from supporters that people who are in the United States illegally receive more in federal assistance than the average American gets in Social Security benefits. Photo courtesy Flickr/Gage Skidmore Photo by Flickr/Gage Skidmore By The Associated Press Tuesday, December 4, 2018 3:25 p.m. CST WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is spreading a false claim from supporters that people who are in the United States illegally receive more in federal assistance than the average American gets in Social Security benefits. Everything about the tweet he passed on to his 56 million listed Twitter followers Tuesday is wrong. In a tweet of his own, Trump sketched an overly simplistic portrait of the auto industry in suggesting that General Motors plants slated for closure would be chugging along if foreign cars were heavily taxed in the U.S. market. TRUMP's retweet: "Illegals can get up to $3,874 a month under Federal Assistance program. Our social security checks are on average $1200 a month. RT (retweet) if you agree: If you weren't born in the United States, you should receive $0 assistance." THE FACTS: Wrong country, wrong numbers, wrong description of legal status of the recipients. Besides that, immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally do not qualify for most federal benefits, even when they're paying taxes, and those with legal status make up a small portion of those who use public benefits. The $3,874 refers to a payment made in Canada, not the U.S., to a legally admitted family of refugees. It was largely a one-time resettlement payment under Canada's refugee program, not monthly assistance in perpetuity, the fact-checking site Snopes found a year ago in debunking a Facebook post that misrepresented Canada's policy. A document cited in the Facebook post, showing aid for food, transportation and other basics needs, applied to a family of five. Apart from confusing Canada with the United States, the tweet distributed by the president misstated how much Americans get from Social Security on average — $1,419 a month for retired workers, not $1,200. Overall, low-income immigrants who are not yet U.S. citizens use Medicaid, food aid, cash assistance and Supplemental Security Income aid at a lower rate than comparable U.S.-born adults, according to an Associated Press analysis of census data. Noncitizen immigrants make up only 6.5 percent of all those participating in Medicaid, for example. Despite that, the administration wants to redefine the rules for immigrants to further restrict who can receive benefits and for how long. A retweet is not necessarily an endorsement of the opinion it contains, but Trump does not populate his Twitter feed with views that are contrary to his own. TRUMP: "The reason that the small truck business in the U.S. is such a go to favorite is that, for many years, Tariffs of 25% have been put on small trucks coming into our country. It is called the 'chicken tax.' If we did that with cars coming in, many more cars would be built here ... and G.M. would not be closing their plants in Ohio, Michigan & Maryland. Get smart Congress. Also, the countries that send us cars have taken advantage of the U.S. for decades. The President has great power on this issue - Because of the G.M. event, it is being studied now!" THE FACTS: It's a stretch to conclude that the plants General Motors plans to close would be spared if foreign-made cars were subject to hefty duties. Tariffs could indeed be an incentive to build cars in the U.S., but the overarching problem for GM is that people aren't buying cars like they used to. More want SUVs or trucks now. The 25 percent tariff on pickup trucks imported into the U.S. was put in place years ago to protect the Detroit Three's major profit centers from imported pickups. It does not apply to trucks imported from Canada or Mexico at present. So GM, for instance, builds pickups in Mexico and exports them to the U.S. without such a tariff. Fiat Chrysler also builds heavy-duty Ram pickups in Mexico, although it plans to move that production to the U.S. next year. Japanese automakers, mainly Toyota and Nissan, use U.S. plants to build nearly all of the pickups that they sell in the country. Honda switched production from Canada to Alabama. Toyota does sell a small number of Mexican-built Tacoma pickups in the U.S., but most are built in Texas. So there are grounds to believe car duties could make a difference, but it's not that straightforward. Six years ago cars were 49 percent of new-vehicle sales in the U.S., while trucks and SUVs were 51 percent. Through October of this year, it's 68 percent trucks and 32 percent cars. All the factories GM wants to close make cars that aren't selling well. The Commerce Department has been studying whether it can use national security reasons to justify putting tariffs on imported cars but has yet to make a decision. Most automakers, including those based in Detroit, import vehicles from abroad that would be affected by any tariffs. And U.S. car exports would probably be subject to new or higher tariffs overseas.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5595
__label__wiki	0.700848	0.700848	International Society of Citriculture UCR Home > International Society of Citriculture > Current By-Laws About the ISC Current page is: Current By-Laws Fellow Members ISC Congresses The Global Citrus Industry ISC Proceedings Join the ISC or Pay Dues Citrus Periodicals Host an ISC Congress INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF CITRICULTURE BY-LAWS Name and Location (a) The name of this organization shall be the "International Society of Citriculture." Its abbreviation referred to in this document shall be "ISC" or "the Organization" or "the Society." (b) This Organization is incorporated and has its headquarters, at present, in California . (c) All official document headings of ISC, such as Announcements, Newsletters, Congresses, stationery, etc. shall bear the full title and logo of the society. ARTICLE II Section 1. The objectives of this organization shall be to promote and encourage research, exchange of information, and education in all aspects of citrus production, harvesting, handling, and distribution of both fresh fruit and products through: (a) Sponsorship of an international congress every three to five years at such places as may be suitable, with the provision that the papers and transactions of said organization shall be promptly published as a Proceedings. In between these major international congresses, the Society may sponsor occasional regional meetings on specialized topics. (b) Preparation and distribution to its membership of such information as from time to time comes to light and is deemed to promote the objectives of this organization. A newsletter should be sent to all members at least once a year. An editor shall be appointed to produce the Newsletter. (c) Development and promotion of international cooperation in the acquisition of and exchange of information valuable to those engaged in research, education, production, and distribution of citrus. Section 2. Finances. No part of the net earnings of the organization shall be used for the private benefit of any member or for propaganda, political, or religious activity of any kind or form. Rather, all monies accumulated from member dues, sale of proceedings, and residues from congresses shall be used solely for the purpose outlined in Article II, Section 1. Section 1. Eligibility. Any person, corporation, membership, unincorporated association, or organization interested in one or another aspect of citrus culture, handling, marketing, processing, transportation, research, or education who is interested in the objectives of this organization, agrees with the by-laws, and pays dues will be eligible for membership. Each one of the above mentioned organizations is considered as a single member. There shall be no limit to the number of members. Section 2. Classes of Members. Membership shall be of three classes: ordinary, honorary, and fellow. (a) Ordinary members - Any person interested in citrus research, teaching, production, processing, marketing, and any other aspect is eligible for membership. All ordinary members shall pay the established membership dues and, additionally, when attending international congresses of the organization shall be required to pay the registration fees. (b) Honorary members - The organization at its regular congress or during official post-congress tours may grant honorary memberships to persons who have contributed significantly to the growth, welfare, functions, or activities of ISC. The President, President-Elect, Past President of ISC in attendance, and the current President of the congress organizing committee shall constitute a committee to consider the granting of honorary memberships. Members of ISC may submit names of persons to be considered for this honor. Honorary members may serve on committees and as officers of the Society where, because of their interest and qualifications, they can contribute to aims and activities of ISC. Honorary members will be exempt from paying registration fees when participating in ISC congresses. (c) Fellow member - ISC's most prestigious award - The Executive Committee of ISC may award up to two Fellows of the Society in each congress in recognition of their significant contributions to (i) the worldwide citrus industry and (ii) the activity and welfare of ISC. Each member in good standing in the society has the right to nominate a candidate in writing to the Executive Secretary/Treasurer. The specified deadline for nominations will be approximately 90 days prior to the start of the ISC Congress. The Executive Secretary/Treasurer will call for nominations in the ISC Newsletter preceding the Congress. The President will call for nominations and provide instructions for preparing nominations on the ISC website. Nominations must document the importance of the candidate's contributions to worldwide citrus and to ISC and be accompanied by letters from two members in good standing who second the nomination. The Executive Secretary/Treasurer will present all nominations completed by the deadline to the Executive Committee by e-mail at least 30 days prior to the start of the Congress for vote by secret ballot for up to two candidates. Voting will take place during a two-week period specified by the Secretary/Treasurer. A two-thirds plus one affirmative vote is required for approval of the award. Fellow members will be exempt from paying registration fees when participating in ISC congresses (Enacted July 2012). ARTICLE IV Schedule of Payment of Dues and Fees Section 1. Membership dues shall be paid by each active member to cover the period (usually three to five years) between international congresses. These will be decided by the Executive Committee at the time of each congress. Section 2. (Former Section 3) Members who become delinquent in payment of dues will be dropped from the membership if dues are not paid within one year (12 months) after note of delinquency has been sent to them. Section 3. (Former Section 4) The amount of registration fee for each congress shall be determined by the local congress organizing committee after consultation with the President of ISC. Officers and Committees The affairs of the ISC shall be conducted through Officers and Committees. Section 1. Officers. (a) Officers of ISC shall consist of a President, a President-Elect, the immediate Past-President (ex-officio), and an Executive Secretary/Treasurer. (b) The offices of President and President-Elect shall be filled by a majority vote of the Executive Committee (Section 2). (c) The Executive Secretary/Treasurer shall be appointed--or reinstated--by the President at the beginning of the President's term of office. (d) Terms of Office: From the end of a regular scheduled congress until the adjournment of the next congress. The terms of both the current President and President-Elect shall be completed at this date, with the President-Elect succeeding to the office of the President of ISC. The newly elected President-Elect will assume office at this time. (e) If a future congress is to be held jointly in two countries, a dual presidency may be elected, each to serve as President-Elect and subsequently Co-President during the period until the adjournment of the next congress in one or both respective countries. Section 2. Executive Committee. (a) The Executive Committee shall consist of not more than 30 members, including the officers of ISC. (b) The members of the Executive Committee shall be appointed by the President of ISC deemed necessary by him or as recommended by the membership of the countries represented in the Executive Committee. The President of ISC shall chair the Executive Committee. (c) This section was implemented in 2001. The number of representatives in the Executive Committee for each country should not exceed two and should be based on the ordinary membership roll of each country expressed as percentage of the society's total membership. Countries with more than 5% of total ISC membership will have two representatives; countries with more than 1% but less than 5% will have one representative; countries with less than 1% will have no representative. International institutions wishing to be represented on the Executive Committee will have one representative representing all international institutions and will be subject to approval by the President. In exceptional circumstances, however, and also subject to approval by the President, a representative may be appointed to the Executive Committee from a major citrus producing country which does not satisfy the above mentioned qualification criteria. In cases where the number of members of ISC of a country is less than 1%, the President may appoint an observer to the Executive Committee without voting rights. (d) Terms of Office: Concomitant with those of the Officers of ISC. At the beginning of each term, the President will confirm the continuation of the term of a member of the Executive Committee or, if necessary, appoint a new member according to the procedure under Section 2(b). In case of a vacancy of the position of an Executive Committee member between two congresses, the procedure of appointing a substitute will follow the directives under Section 2(b). (e) The Executive Committee shall have authority to act for ISC between meetings. Each member of the Executive Committee shall serve as connecting link between the membership of his/her country and the Executive Secretary/Treasurer. Each shall (1) report from time to time about events and individual members, local meetings, promotions, deaths, etc.; (2) receive information from the Executive Secretary/Treasurer about items of general interest and, especially, about membership status in his/her country; (3) report to the Executive Secretary/Treasurer on his/her activities concerning membership dues. (f) Each representative in the Executive Committee should nominate a stand-in, subject to the President's approval, who can immediately assume the role of that representative should he become ill or otherwise incapacitated. (g) A quorum of an Executive Committee meeting shall consist of at least ten representatives. Section 3. Other Committees. (Former Section 6) The President shall appoint other committees, permanent or ad hoc, and committee chairmen as may be needed. ARTICLE VI Section 1. At any appropriate time during a regularly scheduled congress of ISC, the Executive Committee shall meet, decide on the next meeting places (country and city) three to four or five years hence, and nominate and elect a President-Elect. Section 2. In case the office of President of ISC becomes vacant for any reason, the current President-Elect shall automatically assume all responsibilities as President of ISC, except those for the organization and duration of the current congress, for which the present President will appoint a "Vice-President of the Congress" from his own country. When normal election procedures cannot be carried out to fill irregular vacancies of elected officers (including committee members), the President of the organization shall fill these vacancies by means deemed suitable to him. Section 3. If, because of a vacancy, the President-Elect succeeds to the office of President six months or more before the end of the normal term, he shall relinquish this office at the adjournment of the subsequent congress in that country for which he is directly responsible. The person holding the office of President-Elect will then become President to serve through the next regular congress. Otherwise (less than six months of the normal term) both officers shall remain in their respective offices for another term. ARTICLE VII Duties of Officers Section 1. President: The duties of the President shall be to direct the affairs of the organization during his term of office by: (a) Appointing the necessary committees and a chairman of each committee. (b) Serving ex-officio with each committee, offering his advice, counsel, and suggestions for efficient and productive accomplishment towards the aims of ISC. (c) Working with and assisting the Committee for Organization of the congress that will be held during his tenure of office. (d) Working with the Immediate Past-President and the Chairman of the Editorial and Publications Committee in publication of the proceedings of the last-held congress. (e) Informing the Executive Secretary/Treasurer regarding announcements and information to be sent to the members of ISC. (f) Taking the necessary action to initiate programs of activities which the organization requests by majority vote at regular business sessions. (g) Publicizing newsworthy activities and forthcoming international congresses of ISC in selected scientific and trade journals. Section 2. President-Elect : The duties of the President-Elect shall be to assist the President when called upon in the promotion of the programs and projects of ISC. In case of resignation or incapacitation of the President of ISC, the President-Elect shall automatically assume the office of the President. Section 3. Executive Secretary/Treasurer : The duties of the Executive Secretary/Treasurer shall be: (a) To receive membership applications, maintain a mailing list of all members, and send out necessary information regarding payment of dues, etc. (b) To receive membership dues and other monies of the organization, which shall be deposited into one or more bank accounts in the name of International Society of Citriculture. (c) To sign checks for necessary and legitimate expenses of the organization; keep accurate and up-to-date accounting records; and prepare a financial statement for presentation at the regular Executive Committee sessions of congresses and to such other persons or organizations as required or requested. (d) To prepare and distribute by mail all official announcements except those which may be sent directly by the President of ISC or by individual committee chairmen. (e) To maintain the necessary liaisons with printers of ISC proceedings or other official documents to insure prompt fulfillment of orders for these materials. (f) To perform such additional duties as may be requested by the President. Section 4. Immediate Past-President : The duties of the Immediate Past-President shall be: (a) To promptly see to the editing, publication, and distribution to registrants of the proceedings of the congress just concluded, also sale of extra sets of reprints and proceedings. (b) To prepare in due course a financial statement showing receipts and expenditures. If, from the sale of proceedings, reprints, dues from members, and registration fees, there is any surplus of funds after paying all bills, such funds, together with the financial statement, shall be sent to the ISC Executive Secretary/Treasurer, subject to laws of any country which may forbid such money transfers. (c) To furnish such other information to the President and/or Executive Secretary/Treasurer as may be of interest to the ISC membership. ARTICLE VIII Conferences , Official Language, and Publications Section 1. Unless there are reasons to do otherwise, official congresses of ISC shall be held at three- to five-year intervals. The locations and dates of congresses shall be decided by the President, President-Elect, and the Executive Committee after consideration of (i) invitations received from sponsoring countries or institutions; (ii) geographic location; (iii) sites of prior congresses; and (iv) other contributing factors. Section 2. English shall be the official language for published proceedings and other publications of the organization. At congresses of ISC, papers may be read in other languages if instantaneous translation into English can be provided. The organization may grant permission to reprint its official publications in other languages and may, under special situations, sponsor original publication in languages other than English. Section 3. The proceedings of the ISC congresses shall be published promptly. If discount prices for the proceedings are available, members in good standing may purchase one copy of each volume through the Executive Secretary/Treasurer or other designated person or agency at the announced price. ARTICLE IX - New Article Affiliation of National Citrus Societies with ISC The Society welcomes affiliation from any national society of citriculture. The ISC itself derives benefit from its affiliation with the International Society of Horticultural Science. Through its affiliation with a national society of citriculture, the ISC can benefit from the national society's capacity to provide much of the necessary infrastructure when that country is selected as the location for a meeting of ISC. Affiliation will depend on each national society encouraging its members to also become members of ISC. The national society will be responsible for the collection of ISC dues which will be transmitted, together with names and addresses, to the Executive Secretary/Treasurer of ISC. In some countries, it is likely that not all members of the national society will wish to join the ISC. Where this occurs, the ISC will correspond only with those who are ISC members. Each national society will be responsible for translating, reproducing, and distributing ISC newsletters to its members. ARTICLE X - New Article (Approved July 29, 2008) Affiliation of the Citrus Section of the International Society for Horticultural Sciences (ISHS) with ISC Article IX notes that the ISC benefits from its affiliation with the International Society for Horticultural Sciences (ISHS). Formation and affiliation of the Citrus Section of the ISHS further strengthens the relationship between the two societies to their mutual benefit since the objective of both organizations is to promote and encourage research, exchange of information, and education on all aspects of citrus production, harvesting, handling, distribution of fresh fruit and products, and preservation of germplasm. The relationship between the ISC and ISHS is further strengthened by each society encouraging its members to become members of the other society, by participation of members in both societies in ISC congresses and ISHS Citrus Section symposia, and by the election of the officers of the Citrus Section under the auspices of the ISC in perpetuity. (a) Officers of the Citrus section shall consist of a Chair, a Vice-chair and a Past-chair elected by members in good standing (i.e., dues current through the voting period) of the ISC. (b) The offices of Chair, Vice-chair and Past-chair shall be elected by majority vote of the ISC members in good standing. The first Vice-chair will be elected in conjunction with the ISC Congress in 2008 and assume the office of Chair of the Citrus Section at the close of the International Horticulture Congress 2010 and move to the Office of Past-chair at the close of International Horticultural Congress in 2014. A new Vice-chair of the Citrus section will be elected by majority vote of the ISC members in good standing and assume the office of Vice-chair of the Citrus section with each subsequent ISC Congress, with the obligation of assuming the offices of Chair and Past-chair as stated above. If the Vice-chair cannot complete the term of office, a special election will be held and a new Vice-chair elected by ISC members in good standing. If the Chair cannot complete the term of office, the Vice-chair will assume the office of Chair. A special election will be held to elect a new Vice-chair by ISC members in good standing. If the Past-chair cannot fulfill the term of office the most recent Past-chair will assume the office. If no Past-chair is able to assume the office, Past-presidents of the ISC should be asked to serve. (c) A call for nominations for the Office of Vice-chair will be sent electronically and/or by hardcopy, according to members preferred means of communication, as part of the ISC newsletter, or separately, to all members of the ISC who have paid dues within the last 8 years. Those members whose dues are in arrears will be notified that their vote in the up-coming election will not count unless their dues are made current. Nominees must be ISC members in good standing. Current Executive Committee members and Past-presidents of the ISC and Past-chairs of the Citrus Section should decline nomination in order to expand opportunities for additional members to serve. Nominations must be received by the Secretary/Treasurer within 4 weeks of the call and accompanied by a 500-word statement describing the nominee's credentials for the position and willingness to serve and carry out the duties of the office. In the case of more than three nominees, the Executive Committee will vote by secret ballot by e-mail within one week of the statements and ballot being sent by e-mail and the three nominees with the most votes will comprise the final ballot. Nominees will be given two weeks to provide a 1,000-word statement describing their credentials and goals as Vice-chair and subsequently Chair of the Citrus Section. The ballot would then be sent by e-mail to all ISC members in good standing with the deadline for voting 4 weeks from posting. The nominee with the most votes becomes the Vice-chair and is introduced at the closing ceremonies of the Congress, at which time the new Vice-Chair would make a brief statement. (d) Duties of the officers of the Citrus Section of ISHS include the following. Chair of the Citrus Section serves on the Executive Committee of the ISHS and leads the members of section, which undertakes the scientific and technical work of the ISHS and may form Working Groups (see Statutes of the ISHS @ http://www.ISHS.org). It is the expectation of the ISC that the Chair of the Citrus Section will promote open international collaboration in all areas of citrus research, hold meetings in locales accessible to individuals from all nations, and schedule symposia and work group meetings to enhance and not diminish participation in the activities of the ISC. The Chair of the Citrus section will be a member ex officio of the ISC Executive Committee and will report on the activities of the Citrus Section to the Executive Committee and to members of ISC at closing ceremonies of the Congress. The Chair assumes the office of Past-chair at the close of the International Horticultural Congress following assumption of the office of Chair. The Vice-chair assists the Chair in achieving the goals of the Citrus section, attends the annual ISHS Executive Committee meeting if the Chair cannot attend (note that in this case the Chair's ISHS financial support to attend this meeting goes to the Vice-chair) and assumes the office of Chair at the close of the International Horticultural Congress following election as Vice-Chair. The Past-chair serves as a resource to the new Chair and assists the chair in achieving the goals of the Citrus Section, especially during the 2-year period until the new Vice-chair is elected, and during this period may be called upon to attend the annual ISHS Executive Committee meeting if the Chair cannot attend (note that in this case the Chair's ISHS financial support to attend the meeting goes to the Past-chair). ARTICLE XI (Former Article IX and then X) Section 1. Proposals for amendment (s) of these by-laws, if signed by six members of ISC, may be submitted to the President of ISC at any time. Normally, the Chairman shall present any such proposals to the members in attendance at a regularly convened business session of the Executive Committee. If two-thirds of these members vote in favor of an amendment, it shall be adopted. Should the need for amendment(s) of these by-laws be of such urgency as to require action before a regular business session can be convened, the President of ISC is authorized to instruct the Executive Secretary/Treasurer to proceed as necessary to present the proposed change(s) to the membership by mail for their acceptance or rejection. end of by-laws General Campus Information UCR Library Visit UCR Department of Botany and Plant Sciences-072 E-mail: iscucr@ucr.edu The University of California, Riverside (www.ucr.edu) is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR’s enrollment is now nearly 23,000 students. The campus opened a medical school in 2013 and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Center. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $1 billion. Campuswide Navigation UCR Home About UCR Giving to UCR Last modified: 2015-May-01	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5597
__label__wiki	0.525456	0.525456	Minor in Jewish Studies The minor in Jewish Studies offers students an opportunity to understand the full range of Jewish experience over the past four millennia. By exploring its history, literature, culture, philosophy, and texts, students complete the minor with a broad knowledge of Jewish life. For more information about the Jewish Studies minor, please see our page on The Minor in Jewish Studies. Minor in Israel Studies The minor in Israel Studies allows students to study the history, culture, and political structure of Israel and its place in the Middle East, including the Hebrew and Arabic languages. Students must complete a total of 18 credits, including ISRL 349Z: History of Zionism and Israel; ISRL 448: Seminar in Israel Studies; and 4 other ISRL courses, one of which must satisfy the Middle East Studies requirement of the minor. For more information about the Israel Studies minor, please see the Israel Studies website . Minor in Religious Studies Students at the University may also obtain a minor in Religious Studies, a program designed to introduce students to the study of religion in historical, sociological, and philosophical context. To obtain this minor, students must complete 15 credits: RELS 216: Introduction to the Study of World Religions or RELS 289i: What is Religion?; and 4 other courses which deal with at least 2 different cultures and religions. Naturally, Jewish Studies courses count toward the minor in Religious Studies. For more information on the Religious Studies minor, see the Religious Studies website. Minor in Middle East Studies The Middle East Studies minor increases awareness of the Middle East and North Africa; enhances understanding of the region’s diverse peoples, lands, and cultures; and broadens historical and contemporary perspectives. It requires that students complete 15 credits: at least 3 credits in each of two geographical, linguistic, cultural, or religious areas; at least 6 credits that focus on the pre-modern; and 3 elective credits. For more information on the Middle East Studies minor, please see the Middle East Studies website.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5600
__label__wiki	0.927628	0.927628	Nikki Haley to Abbas: I will not shut up From JPost, 20 February 2018, by MICHAEL WILNER, JPOST.COM STAFF: "I assure you that [the current] path will get the Palestinian people exactly nowhere toward the achievement of their aspirations." United States Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley had strong words for top Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat on Monday: "I will not shut up." Her remarks, made at a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York, were a firm response to comments made by Erekat earlier this month, in which he called her "impudent" and told her to "shut up" regarding her criticisms of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas, who spoke earlier, left the chamber before either the Israeli or the American representatives could respond– a clear diplomatic slight. "I'm sorry that he declined to stay in the chamber to hear remarks of others," Haley said. Both she and Israel's representative, Danny Danon, remained seated during Abbas's speech. "We welcome you as the leader of the Palestinian people here today." "But I will decline the advice I was recently given by your top negotiator, Saeb Erekat. I will not shut up," she said. "Rather, I will respectfully speak some hard truths." Haley also disparaged the repetitive nature of the meeting's rhetoric, opening her statement by saying, "this session on the Middle East has been taking place each month for many many years, its focus has been almost entirely on issues facing Israelis and Palestinians, and we have heard many of the same arguments and ideas over and over again, we have already heard them again this morning. It is as if saying the same things repeatedly, without actually doing the hard work and making the necessary compromises, will achieve anything. " Haley again remarked on the UN's preoccupation with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying that serious security and humanitarian challenges in Syria and other areas of the Middle East should be the topic of discussion, rather than to "sit here, month after month, and use the most democratic country in the Middle East as a scapegoat for the region's problems... but here we go again." Haley said the administration "stands ready" to work with the Palestinian leadership. "Our negotiators are sitting behind me," she said. "But we will not chase after you." "You don't have to like that decision," she said, of Trump's Jerusalem move. "You don't have to praise it. You don't even have to accept this. But know this: That decision will not change." Haley said that Abbas faced two paths: one of anger toward the Americans and incitement of Palestinians to violence against Israelis, or one of direct negotiations with both. Of the first, she warned: "I assure you that path will get the Palestinian people exactly nowhere toward the achievement of their aspirations." Mid-East on a hair trigger as Israel, Iran clash	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5601
__label__cc	0.582948	0.417052	The Keg Royalties Income Fund Announces First Quarter 2013 Financial Results VANCOUVER, B.C. - The Keg Royalties Income Fund (TSX:KEG.UN) (the "Fund") has reported its financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2013. The gross sales reported by the 102 Keg restaurants in the Royalty Pool were $124,329,000 for the quarter, a decrease of $37,000 from the comparable quarter of the prior year. The decline in Royalty Pool sales during the quarter was due to the closure of three corporate restaurants in January 2013, one temporarily for a substantial renovation and two permanently due to lease expiries. Although not obligated to do so, Keg Restaurants Ltd. has elected to make Make-whole payments on the temporarily closed restaurant due to the uncertainty regarding its re-opening date. The two permanently closed restaurants, which are subject to Make-whole payments, will remain in the Royalty Pool until December 31, 2013. At that time, the sales from these closed restaurants will be replaced with the sales of the five new Keg restaurants opened since October 3, 2012. The Keg's same store sales (sales of restaurants that operated during the entire 13-week period of both the current and prior years) increased by 0.3% in Canada and by 3.3% in the United States. After translating the sales of the U.S. restaurants into their Canadian dollar equivalent, consolidated same store sales for the comparable 13-week periods increased 0.7%. The average exchange rate moved from 1.002 in the first quarter of 2012 to 1.008 in the first quarter of 2013, slightly increasing the Canadian dollar equivalent of the U.S. restaurant sales. Royalty income increased by $74,000 or 1.5% from $4,992,000 in the three months ended March 31, 2012 to $5,066,000 in the three months ended March 31, 2013, because of the increase in the Make-whole payments, as discussed previously. Distributable cash before SIFT tax increased by $14,000 from $4,080,000 (35.9 cents/Fund unit) to $4,094,000 (36.1 cent/Fund unit) for the quarter. Distributable cash available to pay distributions to public unitholders decreased slightly from $3,184,000 (28.0 cents/Fund unit) to $3,180,000 (28.0 cents/Fund unit) during the comparable quarter. The Fund remains financially well positioned with surplus cash on hand of $1,028,000 and a positive working capital balance of $2,196,000 as of March 31, 2013. "The Keg continues to run great steakhouses and bars, and this has translated to another solid quarter of positive results," said David Aisenstat, President and CEO of Keg Restaurants Ltd. "We are excited for our continued success in 2013 and the continued positive results will ultimately improve distributable cash for unitholders." ($000's except per unit amounts) Jan. 1 to Mar. 31, 2013 Jan. 1 Restaurants in the Royalty Pool 102 102 Gross sales reported by restaurants in the Royalty Pool $ 124,329 $ 124,366 Royalty income (1) $ 5,066 $ 4,992 Interest income (2) 1,055 1,066 Total income $ 6,121 $ 6,058 Administrative expenses (3) (100 ) (104 ) Interest and financing expenses (4) (171 ) (173 ) Operating income $ 5,850 $ 5,781 Distributions to KRL (5) (2,058 ) (2,041 ) Distributions declared to Fund unitholders (6) - - Profit (loss) before fair value adjustment and taxes $ 3,792 $ 3,740 Fair value adjustment (7) (2,338 ) (5,571 ) Taxes (8) (973 ) (947 ) Profit (loss) $ 481 $ (2,778 ) Distributable cash before SIFT tax (9) $ 4,094 $ 4,080 Distributable cash (10) $ 3,180 $ 3,184 Distributions paid to Fund unitholders $ 2,725 $ 2,725 Payout Ratio (11) 85.7 % 85.6 % Per Fund unit information (12) Profit (loss) before fair value adjustment and taxes $ .334 $ .329 Profit (loss) $ .042 $ (.245 ) Distributable cash before SIFT tax (9) $ .361 $ .359 Distributable cash (10) $ .280 $ .280 Distributions paid to Fund unitholders $ .240 $ .240 SSSG (13) Canada 0.3 % 1.7 % United States 3.3 % 1.2 % Consolidated 0.7 % 1.8 % Restaurant Openings/Closings (14) Opened -- -- Closed 3 -- Relocated -- -- Net Opened (Closed) (3 ) -- (1) The Fund, indirectly through the Partnership, earns royalty income equal to 4% of gross sales of Keg restaurants in the Royalty Pool. (2) The Fund directly earns interest income on the $57.0 million Keg Loan, with interest income accruing at 7.5% per annum, payable monthly. (3) The Fund, indirectly through the Partnership, incurs administrative expenses and interest on the operating line of credit, to the extent utilized. (4) The Fund, indirectly through the Trust, incurs interest expense on the $14.0 million term loan and amortization of deferred financing charges. (5) Represents the distributions of the Partnership attributable to KRL during the respective periods on the Exchangeable and Class C units held by KRL. The Class A, entitled Class B and Class D Partnership units are exchangeable into Fund units on a one-for-one basis ("Exchangeable units"). These distributions are presented as interest expense in the financial statements. (6) Represents the distributions declared on the publicly traded Fund units during the period. The distributions declared to the Fund's public unitholders since January 1, 2011 have been recorded as distributions and charged to unitholder's equity whereas the distribu tions declared prior to December 31, 2010 were expensed as interest. (7) Fair value adjustment is the non-cash increase or decrease in the market value of the Exchangeable units held by KRL during the respective period. Exchangeable units are classified as a financial liability under IFRS. The Fund is required to determine the fair value of that liability at the end of each reporting period and adjust for any increase or decrease, taking into consideration the sale of any Exchangeable units during the same period. (8) Taxes for the quarter ended March 31, 2013, include SIFT tax expense of $914,000 (quarter ended March 31, 2012 - $896,000) and non-cash deferred taxes of $59,000 (quarter ended March 31, 2012 - $51,000). The obligation to pay SIFT tax came into effect on January 1, 2011. (9) Distributable cash before SIFT tax is defined as the periodic cash flows from operating activities as reported in the IFRS consolidated financial statements, including the effects of changes in non-cash working capital, plus SIFT tax paid (including current year instalments), less interest and financing fees paid on the term loan, less the Partnership distributions attributable to KRL through its ownership of Exchangeable units. Distributable cash before SIFT tax is a non-IFRS financial measure that does not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS, and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. (10) Distributable cash is the amount of cash available for distribution to the Fund's public unitholders and is calculated as distributable cash before SIFT tax, less current year SIFT tax expense. Distributable cash is a non-IFRS financial measure that does not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS, and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. However, the Fund believes that distributable cash, both before and after SIFT tax, provides useful information regarding the amount of cash available for distribution to the Fund's public unitholders. (11) Payout ratio is computed as the ratio of aggregate cash distributions paid during the period (numerator) to the aggregate distributable cash of the period (denominator). (12) All per unit amounts are calculated based on the weighted average number of Fund units outstanding, which are those units held by public unitholders during the respective period. The weighted average number of Fund units outstanding for the three months ended March 31, 2013 was 11,353,500 (three months ended March 31, 2012 - 11,353,500). (13) Same Store Sales Growth ("SSSG") is the overall increase or decrease in gross sales from Keg restaurants (that operated during the entire period of both the current and the prior year) as compared to gross sales for the same period of the prior year. SSSG is not an IFRS financial measure and does not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. However, the Fund believes that SSSG provides useful information regarding the increase or decrease in gross sales for comparable restaurants. (14) The number of restaurants added to the Royalty Pool each year may differ from the number of restaurant openings and closings reported by KRL on an annual basis, as the periods for which they are reported differ slightly. (15) The interim financial results for all periods presented herein have not been audited. The Fund (TSX:KEG.UN) is a limited purpose, open-ended trust established under the laws of the Province of Ontario that, through The Keg Rights Limited Partnership, owns certain trademarks and other related intellectual property used by Keg Restaurants Ltd. ("KRL"). In exchange for use of those trademarks, Keg Restaurants Ltd pays the Fund a royalty of 4% of gross sales of Keg restaurants included in the royalty pool. Vancouver-based KRL is the leading operator and franchisor of the steakhouse restaurants in Canada and has a substantial presence in select regional markets in the United States. KRL continues to operate The Keg restaurant system and expand that system through the addition of both corporate and franchised Keg steakhouses. KRL has been named one of the "50 Best Employers in Canada" for the past eleven years by Aon Hewitt. For more information on our brand, visit www.kegsteakhouse.com. This press release may contain certain "forward looking" statements reflecting The Keg Royalties Income Fund's current expectations in the casual dining segment of the restaurant food industry. Investors are cautioned that all forward looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including those relating to the Keg's ability to continue to realize historical same store sales growth, changes in market and existing competition, new competitive developments, and potential downturns in economic conditions generally. Additional information on these and other potential factors that could affect the Fund's financial results are detailed in documents filed from time to time with the provincial securities commissions in Canada. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, which may be made only by means of the prospectus, nor shall there be any sale of the Fund units in any state, province or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any state, province or jurisdiction. The Keg Royalties Income Fund units have not been, and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an application for exemption from the registration requirement under U.S. securities laws. The Trustees of the Fund have approved the contents of this press release. Karyn Byrne, Investor Relations Manager E-mail: karynb@kegrestaurants.com	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5606
__label__wiki	0.972431	0.972431	New version available Please update to Ultrasurf 19.02 Trump can't block Twitter critics, appeals court affirms US President Donald Trump is not legally entitled to block his critics on Twitter, an appeals court ruled, because he has been using the account in his official capacity Washington (AFP) - A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that US President Donald Trump cannot legally block users on Twitter based on their political differences with him, affirming a lower court decision. The three-judge panel agreed with last year’s ruling by a federal judge that Trump was using “viewpoint discrimination” in violation of the constitutional rights of people with opposing views. The Second Circuit Appeals Court sidestepped the question of the president’s free speech rights under the constitution’s First Amendment on a privately owned internet platform, but affirmed that Trump had effectively created a public forum for official White House business. “The First Amendment does not permit a public official who utilizes a social media account for all manner of official purposes to exclude persons from an otherwise‐open online dialogue because they expressed views with which the official disagrees,” the judges wrote in a 29-page opinion. The ruling comes in response to a lawsuit filed by a group of Twitter users and the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, alleging that Trump improperly blocked comments from his political opponents. Plaintiffs, including a University of Maryland professor, a Texas police officer and a New York comic, said they were blocked from the @realDonaldTrump account after posting tweets critical of his policies. Trump’s legal response is that he is not acting in his official capacity when he blocks users, but the court disagreed. “The president and multiple members of his administration have described his use of the account as official,” the appeals court ruling said. “We conclude that the evidence of the official nature of the account is overwhelming. We also conclude that once the president has chosen a platform and opened up its interactive space to millions of users and participants, he may not selectively exclude those whose views he disagrees with.” - Another appeal? - US President Donald Trump's decision to block people on Twitter who voiced disagreement with him prompted a federal lawsuit arguing he was using his personal account as an official forum The Justice Department, which represented the president, has the option to appeal the decision to the US Supreme Court. “We are disappointed with the court’s decision and are exploring possible next steps,” Justice Department spokesperson Kelly Laco said in an emailed statement. “As we argued, President Trump’s decision to block users from his personal Twitter account does not violate the First Amendment.” The Knight Institute said the ruling could set an important precedent as more public officials turn to social media for official business. “Public officials’ social media accounts are now among the most significant forums for discussion of government policy,” said Jameel Jaffer, the Knight Institute’s executive director. “This decision will ensure that people aren’t excluded from these forums simply because of their viewpoints, and that public officials aren’t insulated from their constituents’ criticism. The decision will help ensure the integrity and vitality of digital spaces that are increasingly important to our democracy.” AFP journalists cover wars, conflicts, politics, science, health, the environment, technology, fashion, entertainment, the offbeat, sports and a whole lot more in text, photographs, video, graphics and online.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5609
__label__cc	0.653207	0.346793	Home → Clay Claiborne on the Daily Kos The True Story Behind the WikiLeaks Cable Dump Submitted by clayclai on Fri, 09/02/2011 - 10:17 Last year, as both legal and extra-legal threats against WikiLeaks and Julian Assange grew, they took out an what they called an "insurance policy" to insure that the full dump of state department cables would get out. That took the form of an encrypted, compressed file of all the cables. This was before WikiLeaks or it's media partners had time to go through them so these were un-redacted cables. They made this file widely available on the Internet. As a matter of fact, I publicized the link in one of my earlier DailyKos dairies. Since the file would be useless without the pass key, that alone did not release the cables but it did assure that should something drastic happen, say Julian should meet with a mysterious accident, by simply releasing the key, the cables could be made public. I'll let Bernice Keane take it from there: The problem was, the password was made available, by none other than The Guardian’s David Leigh, in his book released in February this year co-written with Luke Harding, WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange’s War on Secrecy. An extract from the book, which was published after the encrypted material had gone online: Eventually, Assange capitulated. Late at night, after a two-hour debate, he started the process on one of his little netbooks that would enable Leigh to download the entire tranche of cables. The Guardian journalist had to set up the PGP encryption system on his laptop at home across the other side of London. Then he could feed in a password. Assange wrote down on a scrap of paper: CollectionOfHistorySince_1966_ToThe_PresentDay# “That’s the password,” he said. “But you have to add one extra word when you type it in. You have to put in the word ‘Diplomatic’ before the word ‘History’ Can you remember that?” “I can remember that.” Leigh set off home, and successfully installed the PGP software. Leigh thus, as part of his effort to cash in on his once-intense but by then-soured relationship with Assange, had revealed the key to decrypting the entire set of cables that had been available online. The book was published last February but it took a while for someone to put one and two together and make three. When they did the cat was out of the bang. The Guardian for it's part claims they had been told that the pass phase would expire and be deleted. The Guardian's solution was for WikiLeaks to "remove the files" that they had put up for download. Somebody needs to keep them away from computers. They simply don't understand these things. For WikiLeaks, it then became a question of attempting to control this process or not. They decided to get ahead of the imminent hostile or uncontrolled release and attempt to control it. This accounts for the sudden release of over 100,000 cables in recent weeks and the setting up of #wlfind and the final release of the full quarter million unredacted cables yesterday. Keane again: Shortly before deadline, Wikileaks was conducting a global consultation to determine if it should release the unredacted cables itself, with nearly all opinion favouring release. I'll leave the parsing of blame to the comment section. I've read WikiLeaks Exposes Thousands Of Informants and heard a lot of confusing news reports. So I thought you deserved a simple telling of what happened. From there you'll have to make up your own mind. ‹ Abdul Rahman Gave his Eyes to See the End of Qaddafi up Libyans have spilled their blood for all of us! ›	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5614
__label__cc	0.611812	0.388188	How much money did John Paschall steal, and why won’t Greg Abbott do anything about it? December 4, 2013 March 9, 2015 by Ty Clevenger For more than two years now, I have urged Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to intervene in a lawsuit against a district attorney (now former district attorney) who allegedly stole a small fortune from an elderly lady and her estate. John Paschall was the colorful (i.e., racist, alcoholic, obnoxious, and derelict) district attorney of Robertson County until he was defeated in 2012, and he still serves as executor of the estate of Marium Oscar, who was the last survivor of the Jewish community in Calvert when she died in 2004. You may recall that Paschall asked a judge for a restraining order to keep me blogging about the Oscar estate during his reelection campaign (the judge refused the request). A lot has happened since then, including a recent decision by the Texas Rangers to open a criminal investigation of Paschall’s handling of the Oscar estate. But none of that is any thanks to Abbott. According to the Texas Supreme Court, “it is the certain duty of the Attorney General to invoke the powers inherent in our courts to prevent an abuse of a charitable trust…” Lokey v. Texas Methodist Foundation, 479 S.W.2d 260, 265 (Tex. 1972), but for two years Abbott has done nothing. Ms. Oscar’s will bequeathed her entire estate to a trust, and in a July 5, 2011 letter to Abbott, I warned of my suspicion that Ms. Oscar’s trust was a charitable trust. I could not confirm that at the time, however, because Paschall refused to release a copy of the trust agreement. My clients and I fought Paschall all the way to the Court of Appeals, and a February 7, 2013 opinion from that court finally forced him to release a copy of the trust agreement. Sure enough, Ms. Oscar’s trust was a charitable trust. According to the trust agreement, Ms. Oscar’s money and property were to be used to create a museum in a building that Ms. Oscar owned in downtown Calvert. One problem was immediately obvious: Paschall had already sold the building, and he did not (and does not) want to explain what he did with the money. … Read more Uncategorized John Paschall 6 Comments Is George P. Bush padding his resume? In his campaign for Texas Land Commissioner, George P. Bush (son of Jeb, nephew of George W., and grandson of George H.W.) claims that he is a businessman, touting the fact that he is a founder of St. Augustine Partners in Fort Worth. But what, exactly, is St. Augustine Partners? According to the certificate of formation filed with the Texas Secretary of State, St. Augustine Partners is a limited liability company that was formed in 2007. As of a May 13, 2013 change-of-address report filed with the secretary of state, its business address is East 4th Street, Suite 201, Fort Worth, Texas. On the left is a photograph of the office directory posted in the lobby of 604 East 4th Street. As you can see, Penrose Group and Rosenthal Investments are located in Suite 201, but the directory says nothing about St. Augustine Partners. Prior to May 13, 2013, company filings listed 4062 Bunting Avenue, Fort Worth, Texas as the “business” address. I found a picture (right) of that address on Zillow.com, and it appears to be someone’s home, perhaps Bush’s home. [UPDATE@4:30p.m. on 12/2/13: My cousin and fellow muckraker Don Mullins got on the Tarrant Appraisal District website and found this appraisal record confirming that it is George P. Bush’s home]. Better yet is the company website, which basically says nothing: name, address, phone number, and e-mail. That’s it. I’ve attached a frozen copy of it here, lest someone rush to change it. Based on the publicly available evidence, St. Augustine Partners looks like a shell company created on paper to make it appear that Bush (1) has a job and (2) has business experience. After the Fort Worth Star-Telegram ran a puff piece on June 26, 2013 about George P., I sent the reporter and an editor a copy of the lobby photograph (above), but I never got a response. (I don’t know the reporter, Anna Tinsley, but her story reads like a campaign press release.) I’ve since sent the photograph to several journalists, but thus far nobody is asking any questions. Why not? Would it really be that hard for a reporter to call the number on the website and ask what St. Augustine does, how many employees it has, who its customers are, or how much business it does annually? Is it a real business, or is it just a holding company for the Bush family’s assets? … Read more	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5618
__label__wiki	0.884138	0.884138	Atalanta Profile Although Atalanta was founded in 1907 the Italian Football Federation, FIGC, did not recognize the team before 1914. The team was founded to oppose the already existing FC Bergamo and took the name of the Greek female athlete Atalanta. The team is known as 'la regina delle provinciali' as it is the most successful team from a city that is not the capital of an Italian region. The current club we know of today, Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio, is the result of a merger in 1924 between Atalanta and Bergamasca. The first team name was Atalanta Bergamasca di Ginnastica e Schema 1907. In 1928 the team moved to the grounds they still use today: Viale Giulio Cesare. Atalanta joined the Italian league in 1929. The club first reached Serie A in 1937, but were relegated immediately. The club returned in 1940 and remained in A until 1959. In 1948 the team reached its highest position, finishing in 5th place. After a single season in Serie B in 1960 the club was promoted and lasted a further decade in A. In this period, Atalanta achieved their only silverware to this day: the Coppa Italia in 1963. The team suffered relegation in 1973, which led to an uncertain period of promotion and relegation between the two levels. In 1981 the club fell into Serie C1, a blow which ultimately revitalised the club. The team returned to B the next season and made it back to A in 1984. The club's form in Serie A has remained uncertain ever since, as relegation loomed in 1987, 1994, 1998, 2003, 2005 and 2010. After a change of ownership, 2011 saw Atalanta immediately return to Serie A: it will compete in its 51st season in the top level of the Italian football system. The club has had very few good runs in Europe over the years, the best spell ending in a Cup Winners' Cup semi-final in 1988; in 1991 Atalanta reached UEFA Cup quarter-finals. The team that plays its matches at Atleti Azzurri d'Italia stadium is the team that has spent the most time in the highest league without ever winning the title. Despite that it is the team that has won most Serie B championships (together with Genoa, 6) and has been promoted most times, 13, to Serie A. Remaining in the top tier is undoubtedly the focus for the 2011/12 season but with a hefty points deduction, many already feel that Atalanta's card is marked. (Alex Michelsen) Atalanta Standings 12 Sassuolo 38 12 13 13 49 57 -8 49 13 Verona 38 11 13 14 49 65 -16 46 14 Chievo 38 10 13 15 28 41 -13 43 15 Empoli 38 8 18 12 46 52 -6 42 16 Udinese 38 10 11 17 43 56 -13 41 17 Atalanta 38 7 16 15 38 57 -19 37 18 Cagliari 38 8 10 20 48 68 -20 34 19 Cesena 38 4 12 22 36 73 -37 24 Atalanta Matches Atalanta AC Milan 1:3 Atleti Azzurri d'Italia 30-05-2015 20:45 CET Chievo Atalanta 1:1 Marc'Antonio Bentegodi 24-05-2015 15:00 CET Atalanta Genoa 1:4 Atleti Azzurri d'Italia 17-05-2015 15:00 CET Palermo Atalanta 2:3 Renzo Barbera 10-05-2015 15:00 CET Atalanta Lazio 1:1 Atleti Azzurri d'Italia 03-05-2015 15:00 CET Cesena Atalanta 2:2 Carlo Castellani 29-04-2015 20:45 CET Atalanta Empoli 2:2 Atleti Azzurri d'Italia 26-04-2015 12:30 CET AS Roma Atalanta 1:1 Olimpico 19-04-2015 15:00 CET Atalanta Sassuolo 2:1 Atleti Azzurri d'Italia 12-04-2015 15:00 CET Napoli Atalanta 1:1 San Paolo 22-03-2015 20:45 CET Atalanta Udinese 0:0 Atleti Azzurri d'Italia 15-03-2015 15:00 CET Parma Atalanta 0:0 Ennio Tardini 08-03-2015 15:00 CET Atalanta Sampdoria 1:2 Atleti Azzurri d'Italia 01-03-2015 15:00 CET Juventus Atalanta 2:1 Juventus Stadium 20-02-2015 20:45 CET Atalanta Internazionale 1:4 Atleti Azzurri d'Italia 15-02-2015 15:00 CET Fiorentina Atalanta 3:2 Artemio Franchi 08-02-2015 12:30 CET Atalanta Cagliari 2:1 Atleti Azzurri d'Italia 01-02-2015 15:00 CET Verona Atalanta 1:0 Marc'Antonio Bentegodi 25-01-2015 15:00 CET AC Milan Atalanta 0:1 Giuseppe Meazza 18-01-2015 15:00 CET Atalanta Chievo 1:1 Atleti Azzurri d'Italia 11-01-2015 15:00 CET Genoa Atalanta 2:2 Luigi Ferraris 06-01-2015 15:00 CET Atalanta Palermo 3:3 Atleti Azzurri d'Italia 21-12-2014 15:00 CET Lazio Atalanta 3:0 Olimpico 13-12-2014 20:45 CET Atalanta Cesena 3:2 Atleti Azzurri d'Italia 07-12-2014 15:00 CET Empoli Atalanta 0:0 Carlo Castellani 30-11-2014 15:00 CET Atalanta AS Roma 1:2 Atleti Azzurri d'Italia 22-11-2014 18:00 CET Sassuolo Atalanta 0:0 Città del Tricolore 08-11-2014 18:00 CET Atalanta Napoli 1:1 Atleti Azzurri d'Italia 29-10-2014 20:45 CET Udinese Atalanta 2:0 Friuli 26-10-2014 15:00 CET Atalanta Parma 1:0 Atleti Azzurri d'Italia 19-10-2014 15:00 CET Sampdoria Atalanta 1:0 Luigi Ferraris 05-10-2014 15:00 CET Atalanta Juventus 0:3 Atleti Azzurri d'Italia 27-09-2014 20:45 CET Internazionale Atalanta 2:0 Giuseppe Meazza 24-09-2014 20:45 CET Atalanta Fiorentina 0:1 Atleti Azzurri d'Italia 21-09-2014 18:00 CET Cagliari Atalanta 1:2 Sant'Elia 14-09-2014 15:00 CET Atalanta Verona 0:0 Atleti Azzurri d'Italia 31-08-2014 20:45 CET	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5619
__label__wiki	0.949604	0.949604	Donald Bradman Overview of life Sir Donald George Bradman, AC (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), often referred to as “The Don”, was an Australian cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest Test batsman of all time. Bradman’s career Test batting average of 99.94 is often cited as statistically the greatest achievement by any sportsman in any major sport. The story that the young Bradman practised alone with a cricket stump and a golf ball is part of Australian folklore. Bradman’s meteoric rise from bush cricket to the Australian Test team took just over two years. Before his 22nd birthday, he had set many records for high scoring, some of which still stand, and became Australia’s sporting idol at the height of the Great Depression. During a 20-year playing career, Bradman consistently scored at a level that made him, in the words of former Australia captain Bill Woodfull, “worth three batsmen to Australia”. A controversial set of tactics, known as Bodyline, was specifically devised by the England team to curb his scoring. As a captain and administrator, Bradman was committed to attacking, entertaining cricket; he drew spectators in record numbers. He hated the constant adulation, however, and it affected how he dealt with others. The focus of attention on his individual performances strained relationships with some team-mates, administrators and journalists, who thought him aloof and wary. Following an enforced hiatus due to the Second World War, he made a dramatic comeback, captaining an Australian team known as “The Invincibles” on a record-breaking unbeaten tour of England. A complex, highly driven man, not given to close personal relationships, Bradman retained a pre-eminent position in the game by acting as an administrator, selector and writer for three decades following his retirement. Even after he became reclusive in his declining years his opinion was highly sought, and his status as a national icon was still recognised—more than 50 years after his retirement as a Test player, in 2001, the Australian Prime Minister John Howard called him the “greatest living Australian”. Bradman’s image has appeared on postage stamps and coins, and a museum dedicated to his life was opened while he was still living. On the centenary of his birth, 27 August 2008, the Royal Australian Mint issued a $5 commemorative gold coin with Bradman’s image, and on 19 November 2009, he was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. Bradman first met Jessie Martha Menzies in 1920 when she boarded with the Bradman family, to be closer to school in Bowral. The couple married at St Paul’s Anglican Church at Burwood, Sydney on 30 April 1932. During their 65-year marriage, Jessie was “shrewd, reliable, selfless, and above all, uncomplicated … she was the perfect foil to his concentrated, and occasionally mercurial character”. Bradman paid tribute to his wife numerous times, once saying succinctly, “I would never have achieved what I achieved without Jessie”. The Bradmans lived in the same modest, suburban house in Holden Street, Kensington Park in Adelaide for all but the first three years of their married life. They experienced personal tragedy in raising their children: their first-born son died as an infant in 1936, their second son, John (born in 1939) contracted polio, and their daughter, Shirley, born in 1941, had cerebral palsy from birth. His family name proved a burden for John Bradman; he changed his last name to Bradsen by deed poll in 1972. Although claims were made that he became estranged from his father, it was more a matter of “the pair inhabit different worlds”. After the cricketer’s death, a collection of personal letters written by Bradman to his close friend Rohan Rivett between 1953 and 1977 was released and gave researchers new insights into Bradman’s family life, including the strain between father and son. Bradman’s reclusiveness in later life is partly attributable to the on-going health problems of his wife, particularly following the open-heart surgery Jessie underwent in her 60s. Lady Bradman died in 1997, aged 88, from cancer. This had a dispiriting effect on Bradman, but the relationship with his son improved, to the extent that John resolved to change his name back to Bradman. Since his father’s death, John Bradman has become the spokesperson for the family and has been involved in defending the Bradman legacy in a number of disputes. The relationship between Bradman and his wider family is less clear, although nine months after Bradman’s death, his nephew Paul Bradman criticised him as a “snob” and a “loner” who forgot his connections in Bowral and who failed to attend the funerals of Paul’s mother and father. Declining health and a brush with death In his farewell season for NSW, Bradman averaged 132.44, his best yet. He was appointed vice-captain for the 1934 tour of England. However, “he was unwell for much of the summer, and reports in newspapers hinted that he was suffering from heart trouble”. Although he again started with a double century at Worcester, his famed concentration soon deserted him. Wisden wrote: … there were many occasions on which he was out to wild strokes. Indeed at one period he created the impression that, to some extent, he had lost control of himself and went in to bat with an almost complete disregard for anything in the shape of a defensive stroke. At one stage, Bradman went 13 first-class innings without a century, the longest such spell of his career, prompting suggestions that Bodyline had eroded his confidence and altered his technique. After three Tests, the series was one–one and Bradman had scored 133 runs in five innings. The Australians travelled to Sheffield and played a warm up game before the Fourth Test. Bradman started slowly and then, “… the old Bradman back with us, in the twinkling of an eye, almost”. He went on to make 140, with the last 90 runs coming in just 45 minutes. On the opening day of the Fourth Test at Headingley (Leeds), England were out for 200, but Australia slumped to 3/39, losing the third wicket from the last ball of the day. Listed to bat at number five, Bradman would start his innings the next day. That evening, Bradman declined an invitation to dinner from Neville Cardus, telling the journalist that he wanted an early night because the team needed him to make a double century the next day. Cardus pointed out that his previous innings on the ground was 334, and the law of averages was against another such score. Bradman told Cardus, “I don’t believe in the law of averages”. In the event, Bradman batted all of the second day and into the third, putting on a then world record partnership of 388 with Bill Ponsford. When he was finally out for 304 (473 balls, 43 fours and 2 sixes), Australia had a lead of 350 runs, but rain prevented them from forcing a victory. The effort of the lengthy innings stretched Bradman’s reserves of energy, and he did not play again until the Fifth Test at The Oval, the match that would decide the Ashes. In the first innings at The Oval, Bradman and Ponsford recorded an even more massive partnership, this time 451 runs. It had taken them less than a month to break the record they had set at Headingley; this new world record was to last 57 years. Bradman’s share of the stand was 244 from 271 balls, and the Australian total of 701 set up victory by 562 runs. For the fourth time in five series, the Ashes changed hands. England would not recover them again until after Bradman’s retirement. Seemingly restored to full health, Bradman blazed two centuries in the last two games of the tour. However, when he returned to London to prepare for the trip home, he experienced severe abdominal pain. It took a doctor more than 24 hours to diagnose acute appendicitis and a surgeon operated immediately. Bradman lost a lot of blood during the four-hour procedure and peritonitis set in. Penicillin and sulphonamides were still experimental treatments at this time; peritonitis was usually a fatal condition. On 25 September, the hospital issued a statement that Bradman was struggling for his life and that blood donors were needed urgently. “The effect of the announcement was little short of spectacular”. The hospital could not deal with the number of donors, and closed its switchboard in the face of the avalanche of telephone calls generated by the news. Journalists were asked by their editors to prepare obituaries. Teammate Bill O’Reilly took a call from King George’s secretary asking that the King be kept informed of the situation. Jessie Bradman started the month-long journey to London as soon as she received the news. En route, she heard a rumour that her husband had died. A telephone call clarified the situation and by the time she reached London, Bradman had begun a slow recovery. He followed medical advice to convalesce, taking several months to return to Australia and missing the 1934–35 Australian season. Cricket Career Donald Bradman was the youngest son of George and Emily (née Whatman) Bradman, and was born on 27 August 1908 at Cootamundra, New South Wales (NSW). He had a brother, Victor, and three sisters—Islet, Lilian and Elizabeth May. When Bradman was about two-and-a-half years old, his parents moved to Bowral in the NSW Southern Highlands. One of his great-grandfathers was one of the first Italians to migrate to Australia in 1826. Bradman practised batting incessantly during his youth. He invented his own solo cricket game, using a cricket stump for a bat, and a golf ball. A water tank, mounted on a curved brick stand, stood on a paved area behind the family home. When hit into the curved brick facing of the stand, the ball rebounded at high speed and varying angles—and Bradman would attempt to hit it again. This form of practice developed his timing and reactions to a high degree. In more formal cricket, he hit his first century at the age of 12, playing for Bowral Public School against Mittagong High School. Bush cricketer In 1920–21, Bradman acted as scorer for the local Bowral team, captained by his uncle George Whatman. In October 1920, he filled in when the team was one man short, scoring 37 not out and 29 not out on debut. During the season, Bradman’s father took him to the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) to watch the fifth Ashes Test match. On that day, Bradman formed an ambition. “I shall never be satisfied”, he told his father, “until I play on this ground”. Bradman left school in 1922 and went to work for a local real estate agent who encouraged his sporting pursuits by giving him time off when necessary. He gave up cricket in favour of tennis for two years, but resumed playing cricket in 1925–26. Bradman became a regular selection for the Bowral team; several outstanding performances earned him the attention of the Sydney daily press. Competing on matting-over-concrete pitches, Bowral played other rural towns in the Berrima District competition. Against Wingello, a team that included the future Test bowler Bill O’Reilly, Bradman made 234. In the competition final against Moss Vale, which extended over five consecutive Saturdays, Bradman scored 320 not out. During the following Australian winter (1926), an ageing Australian team lost The Ashes in England, and a number of Test players retired. The New South Wales Cricket Association began a hunt for new talent. Mindful of Bradman’s big scores for Bowral, the association wrote to him, requesting his attendance at a practice session in Sydney. He was subsequently chosen for the “Country Week” tournaments at both cricket and tennis, to be played during separate weeks. His boss presented him with an ultimatum: he could have only one week away from work, and therefore had to choose between the two sports. He chose cricket. Bradman’s performances during Country Week resulted in an invitation to play grade cricket in Sydney for St George in the 1926–27 season. He scored 110 on his debut, making his first century on a turf wicket. On 1 January 1927, he turned out for the NSW second team. For the remainder of the season, Bradman travelled the 130 kilometres (81 mi) from Bowral to Sydney every Saturday to play for St George. First-class debut The next season continued the rapid rise of the “Boy from Bowral”. Selected to replace the unfit Archie Jackson in the NSW team, Bradman made his first-class debut at the Adelaide Oval, aged 19. He secured the achievement of a hundred on debut, with an innings of 118 featuring what soon became his trademarks—fast footwork, calm confidence and rapid scoring. In the final match of the season, he made his first century at the SCG, against the Sheffield Shield champions Victoria. Despite his potential, Bradman was not chosen for the Australian second team to tour New Zealand. Bradman decided that his chances for Test selection would be improved by moving to Sydney for the 1928–29 season, when England were to tour in defence of the Ashes. Initially, he continued working in real estate, but later took a promotions job with the sporting goods retailer Mick Simmons Ltd. In the first match of the Sheffield Shield season, he scored a century in each innings against Queensland. He followed this with scores of 87 and 132 not out against the England touring team, and was rewarded with selection for the first Test, to be played at Brisbane. Test career Playing in only his tenth first-class match, Bradman, nicknamed “Braddles” by his teammates, found his initial Test a harsh learning experience. Caught on a sticky wicket, Australia were all out for 66 in the second innings and lost by 675 runs (still a Test record). Following scores of 18 and 1, the selectors dropped Bradman to twelfth man for the Second Test. An injury to Bill Ponsford early in the match required Bradman to field as substitute while England amassed 636, following their 863 runs in the First Test. RS Whitington wrote, “… he had scored only nineteen himself and these experiences appear to have provided him with food for thought”. Recalled for the Third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Bradman scored 79 and 112 to become the youngest player to make a Test century, although the match was still lost. Another loss followed in the Fourth Test. Bradman reached 58 in the second innings and appeared set to guide the team to victory when he was run out. It was to be the only run out of his Test career. The losing margin was just 12 runs. The improving Australians did manage to win the Fifth and final Test. Bradman top-scored with 123 in the first innings, and was at the wicket in the second innings when his captain Jack Ryder hit the winning runs. Bradman completed the season with 1,690 first-class runs, averaging 93.88, and his first multiple century in a Sheffield Shield match, 340 not out against Victoria, set a new ground record for the SCG. Bradman averaged 113.28 in 1929–30. In a trial match to select the team that would tour England, he was last man out in the first innings for 124. As his team followed on, the skipper Bill Woodfull asked Bradman to keep the pads on and open the second innings. By the end of play, he was 205 not out, on his way to 225. Against Queensland at the SCG, Bradman set a then world record for first-class cricket by scoring 452 not out; he made his runs in only 415 minutes. Not long after the feat, he recalled: On 434 …, I had a curious intuition … I seemed to sense that the ball would be a short-pitched one on the leg-stump, and I could almost feel myself getting ready to make my shot before the ball was delivered. Sure enough, it pitched exactly where I had anticipated, and, hooking it to the square-leg boundary, I established the only record upon which I had set my heart. Although he was an obvious selection to tour England, Bradman’s unorthodox style raised doubts that he could succeed on the slower English pitches. Percy Fender wrote: … he will always be in the category of the brilliant, if unsound, ones. Promise there is in Bradman in plenty, though watching him does not inspire one with any confidence that he desires to take the only course which will lead him to a fulfilment of that promise. He makes a mistake, then makes it again and again; he does not correct it, or look as if he were trying to do so. He seems to live for the exuberance of the moment. The encomiums were not confined to his batting gifts; nor did the criticism extend to his character. “Australia has unearthed a champion,” raved former Australian Test great Clem Hill, “self-taught, with natural ability. But most important of all, with his heart in the right place.” Selector Dick Jones weighed in with the observation that it was “good to watch him talking to an old player, listening attentively to everything that is said and then replying with a modest ‘thank you’.” 1930 tour of England England were favourites to win the 1930 Ashes series, and if the Australians were to exceed expectations, their young batsmen, Bradman and Jackson, needed to prosper. With his elegant batting technique, Jackson appeared the brighter prospect of the pair. However, Bradman began the tour with 236 at Worcester and went on to score 1,000 first-class runs by the end of May, the fifth player (and first Australian) to achieve this rare feat. In his first Test appearance in England, Bradman hit 131 in the second innings but England won the match. His batting reached a new level in the Second Test at Lord’s where he scored 254 as Australia won and levelled the series. Later in life, Bradman rated this the best innings of his career as, “practically without exception every ball went where it was intended to go”. Wisden noted his fast footwork and how he hit the ball “all round the wicket with power and accuracy”, as well as faultless concentration in keeping the ball on the ground. In terms of runs scored, this performance was soon surpassed. In the Third Test, at Leeds, Bradman scored a century before lunch on 11 July, the first day of the Test match to equal the performances of Victor Trumper and Charlie Macartney. In the afternoon, Bradman added another century between lunch and tea, before finishing the day on 309 not out. He remains the only Test player to pass 300 in one day’s play. His eventual score of 334 was a world-record, exceeding the previous mark of 325 by Andy Sandham. Bradman dominated the Australian innings; the second-highest tally was 77 by Alan Kippax. Businessman Arthur Whitelaw later presented Bradman with a cheque for £1,000 in appreciation of his achievement. The match ended in anti-climax as poor weather prevented a result, as it also did in the Fourth Test. In the deciding Test at The Oval, England made 405. During an innings stretching over three days due to intermittent rain, Bradman made yet another multiple century, this time 232, which helped give Australia a big lead of 290 runs. In a crucial partnership with Archie Jackson, Bradman battled through a difficult session when England fast bowler Harold Larwood bowled short on a pitch enlivened by the rain. Wisden gave this period of play only a passing mention: On the Wednesday morning the ball flew about a good deal, both batsmen frequently being hit on the body … on more than one occasion each player cocked the ball up dangerously but always, as it happened, just wide of the fieldsmen. A number of English players and commentators noted Bradman’s discomfort in playing the short, rising delivery. The revelation came too late for this particular match, but was to have immense significance in the next Ashes series. Australia won the match by an innings and regained the Ashes. The victory made an impact in Australia. With the economy sliding toward depression and unemployment rapidly rising, the country found solace in sporting triumph. The story of a self-taught 22-year-old from the bush who set a series of records against the old rival made Bradman a national hero. The statistics Bradman achieved on the tour, and in the Test matches in particular, broke records for the day and some have stood the test of time. In all, Bradman scored 974 runs at an average of 139.14 during the Test series, with four centuries, including two double hundreds and a triple. As of 2012, no-one has matched or exceeded 974 runs or three double centuries in one Test series; the record of 974 runs exceeds the second-best performance by 69 runs and was achieved in two fewer innings. Bradman’s first-class tally, 2,960 runs (at an average of 98.66 with 10 centuries), was another enduring record: the most by any overseas batsman on a tour of England. On the tour, the dynamic nature of Bradman’s batting contrasted sharply with his quiet, solitary off-field demeanour. He was described as aloof from his teammates and he did not offer to buy them a round of drinks, let alone share the money given to him by Whitelaw. Bradman spent a lot of his free time alone, writing, as he had sold the rights to a book. On his return to Australia, Bradman was surprised by the intensity of his reception; he became a “reluctant hero”. Mick Simmons wanted to cash in on their employee’s newly won fame. They asked Bradman to leave his teammates and attend official receptions they organised in Adelaide, Melbourne, Goulburn, his hometown Bowral and Sydney, where he received a brand new custom-built Chevrolet. At each stop, Bradman received a level of adulation that “embarrassed” him. This focus on individual accomplishment, in a team game, “… permanently damaged relationships with his contemporaries”. Commenting on Australia’s victory, the team’s vice-captain Vic Richardson said, “… we could have played any team without Bradman, but we could not have played the blind school without Clarrie Grimmett”. A modest Bradman can be heard in a 1930 recording saying “I have always endeavoured to do my best for the side, and the few centuries that have come my way have been achieved in the hope of winning matches. My one idea when going into bat was to make runs for Australia.” Reluctant hero In 1930–31, against the first West Indian side to visit Australia, Bradman’s scoring was more sedate than in England—although he did make 223 in 297 minutes in the Third Test at Brisbane and 152 in 154 minutes in the following Test at Melbourne. However, he scored quickly in a very successful sequence of innings against the South Africans in the Australian summer of 1931–32. For NSW against the tourists, he made 30, 135 and 219. In the Test matches, he scored 226 (277 minutes), 112 (155 minutes), 2 and 167 (183 minutes); his 299 not out in the Fourth Test, at Adelaide, set a new record for the highest score in a Test in Australia. Australia won nine of the ten Tests played over the two series. At this point, Bradman had played 15 Test matches since the beginning of 1930, scoring 2,227 runs at an average of 131. He had played 18 innings, scoring 10 centuries, six of which had extended beyond 200. His overall scoring rate was 42 runs per hour, with 856 (or 38.5% of his tally) scored in boundaries. Significantly, he had not hit a six, which typified Bradman’s attitude: if he hit the ball along the ground, then it could not be caught. During this phase of his career, his youth and natural fitness allowed him to adopt a “machine-like” approach to batting. The South African fast bowler Sandy Bell described bowling to him as, “heart-breaking … with his sort of cynical grin, which rather reminds one of the Sphinx … he never seems to perspire”. Between these two seasons, Bradman seriously contemplated playing professional cricket in England with the Lancashire League club Accrington, a move that, according to the rules of the day, would have ended his Test career. A consortium of three Sydney businesses offered an alternative. They devised a two-year contract whereby Bradman wrote for Associated Newspapers, broadcast on Radio 2UE and promoted the menswear retailing chain FJ Palmer and Son. However, the contract increased Bradman’s dependence on his public profile, making it more difficult to maintain the privacy that he ardently desired. Bradman’s chaotic wedding to Jessie Menzies in April 1932 epitomised these new and unwelcome intrusions into his private life. The church “was under siege all throughout the day … uninvited guests stood on chairs and pews to get a better view”; police erected barriers that were broken down and many of those invited could not get a seat. Just weeks later, Bradman joined a private team organised by Arthur Mailey to tour the United States and Canada. He travelled with his wife, and the couple treated the trip as a honeymoon. Playing 51 games in 75 days, Bradman scored 3,779 runs at 102.1, with 18 centuries. Although the standard of play was not high, the effects of the amount of cricket Bradman had played in the three previous years, together with the strains of his celebrity status, began to show on his return home. Within the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which administered English cricket at the time, few voices were more influential than “Plum” Warner’s, who, when considering England’s response to Bradman, wrote that it “must evolve a new type of bowler and develop fresh ideas and strange tactics to curb his almost uncanny skill”. To that end, Warner orchestrated the appointment of Douglas Jardine as England captain in 1931, as a prelude to Jardine leading the 1932–33 tour to Australia, with Warner as team manager. Remembering that Bradman had struggled against bouncers during his 232 at The Oval in 1930, Jardine decided to combine traditional leg theory with short-pitched bowling to combat Bradman. He settled on the Nottinghamshire fast bowlers Harold Larwood and Bill Voce as the spearheads for his tactics. In support, the England selectors chose another three pacemen for the squad. The unusually high number of fast bowlers caused a lot of comment in both countries and roused Bradman’s own suspicions. Bradman had other problems to deal with at this time; among these were bouts of illness from an undiagnosed malaise which had begun during the tour of North America, and that the Australian Board of Control had initially refused permission for him to write a column for the Sydney Sun. Bradman, who had signed a two-year contract with the newspaper, threatened to withdraw from cricket to honour his contract when the board denied him permission to write; eventually, the paper released Bradman from the contract, in a victory for the Board. In three first-class games against England before the Tests, Bradman averaged just 17.16 in 6 innings. Jardine decided to give the new tactics a trial in only one game, a fixture against an Australian XI at Melbourne. In this match, Bradman faced the leg theory and later warned local administrators that trouble was brewing if it continued. He withdrew from the First Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground amid rumours that he had suffered a nervous breakdown. Despite his absence, England employed what were already becoming known as the Bodyline tactics against the Australian batsmen and won an ill-tempered match. The public clamoured for the return of Bradman to defeat Bodyline: “he was the batsman who could conquer this cankerous bowling … ‘Bradmania’, amounting almost to religious fervour, demanded his return”. Recovered from his indisposition, Bradman returned to the side in Alan Kippax’s position. A world record crowd of 63,993 at the MCG saw Bradman come to the crease on the first day of the Second Test with the score at 2/67. A standing ovation ensued that delayed play for several minutes. Bradman anticipated receiving a bouncer as his first ball and, as the bowler delivered, he moved across his stumps to play the hook shot. The ball failed to rise and Bradman dragged it onto his stumps; the first-ball duck was his first in a Test. The crowd fell into stunned silence as he walked off. However, Australia took a first innings lead in the match, and another record crowd on 2 January 1933 watched Bradman hit a counter-attacking second innings century. His unbeaten 103 (from 146 balls) in a team total of 191 helped set England a target of 251 to win. Bill O’Reilly and Bert Ironmonger bowled Australia to a series-levelling victory amid hopes that Bodyline was beaten. The Third Test at the Adelaide Oval proved pivotal. There were angry crowd scenes after the Australian captain Bill Woodfull and wicket-keeper Bert Oldfield were hit by bouncers. An apologetic Plum Warner entered the Australian dressing room and was rebuked by Woodfull. Woodfull’s remarks (that “…there are two teams out there and only one of them is playing cricket”) were leaked to the press, and Warner and others attributed this to Fingleton, however for many years (even after Fingleton’s death) a bitter war of accusation passed between Fingleton and Bradman as to who was the real source of the leak. In a cable to the MCC, the Australian Board of Control repeated the allegation of poor sportsmanship directed at Warner by Woodfull. With the support of the MCC, England continued with Bodyline despite Australian protests. The tourists won the last three Tests convincingly and regained the Ashes. Bradman caused controversy with his own tactics. Always seeking to score, and with the leg side packed with fielders, he often backed away and hit the ball into the vacant half of the outfield with unorthodox shots reminiscent of tennis or golf. This brought him 396 runs (at 56.57) for the series and plaudits for attempting to find a solution to Bodyline, although his series average was just 57% of his career mean. Jack Fingleton was in no doubt that Bradman’s game altered irrevocably as a consequence of Bodyline, writing: Bodyline was specially prepared, nurtured for and expended on him and, in consequence, his technique underwent a change quicker than might have been the case with the passage of time. Bodyline plucked something vibrant from his art. The constant glare of celebrity and the tribulations of the season forced Bradman to reappraise his life outside the game and to seek a career away from his cricketing fame. Harry Hodgetts, a South Australian delegate to the Board of Control, offered Bradman work as a stockbroker if he would relocate to Adelaide and captain South Australia (SA). Unknown to the public, the SA Cricket Association (SACA) instigated Hodgetts’ approach and subsidised Bradman’s wage. Although his wife was hesitant about moving, Bradman eventually agreed to the deal in February 1934. Statistical summary Test match performance Best (Inns) First-class performance 100s/inns Ashes Tests All First Class All Second Class Statistics from Bradman Museum. After Cricket After his return to Australia, Bradman played in his own Testimonial match at Melbourne, scoring his 117th and last century, and receiving £9,342 in proceeds. In the 1949 New Year’s Honours List, he was made a Knight Bachelor for his services to the game, being the only Australian cricketer ever to be knighted. The following year he published a memoir, Farewell to Cricket. Bradman accepted offers from the Daily Mail to travel with, and write about, the 1953 and 1956 Australian teams in England. The Art of Cricket, his final book published in 1958, is an instructional manual. Bradman retired from his stockbroking business in June 1954, depending on the “comfortable” income earned as a board member of 16 publicly listed companies. His highest profile affiliation was with Argo Investments Limited, where he was chairman for a number of years. Charles Williams commented that, “usiness was excluded on medical grounds, the only sensible alternative was a career in the administration of the game which he loved and to which he had given most of his active life”. Bradman was honoured at a number of cricket grounds, notably when his portrait was hung in the Long Room at Lord’s; until Shane Warne’s portrait was added in 2005, Bradman was one of just three Australians to be honoured in this way. Bradman inaugurated a “Bradman Stand” at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January 1974; the Adelaide Oval also opened a Bradman Stand in 1990. Later in 1974, he attended a Lord’s Taverners function in London where he experienced heart problems, which forced him to limit his public appearances to select occasions only. With his wife, Bradman returned to Bowral in 1976, where the new cricket ground was named in his honour. He gave the keynote speech at the historic Centenary Test at Melbourne in 1977. On 16 June 1979, the Australian government awarded Bradman the nation’s second-highest civilian honour at that time, Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), “in recognition of service to the sport of cricket and cricket administration”. In 1980, he resigned from the ACB, to lead a more secluded life. Administrative career In addition to acting as one of South Australia’s delegates to the Board of Control from 1945 to 1980, Bradman was a committee member of the SACA between 1935 and 1986. It is estimated that he attended 1,713 SACA meetings during this half century of service. Aside from two years in the early 1950s, he filled a selector’s berth for the Test team between 1936 and 1971. Cricket saw an increase in defensive play during the 1950s. As a selector, Bradman favoured attacking, positive cricketers who entertained the paying public. He formed an alliance with Australian captain Richie Benaud, seeking more attractive play, with some success. He served two high-profile periods as Chairman of the Board of Control, in 1960–63 and 1969–72. During the first, he dealt with the growing prevalence of illegal bowling actions in the game, a problem that he adjudged “the most complex I have known in cricket, because it is not a matter of fact but of opinion”. The major controversy of his second stint was a proposed tour of Australia by South Africa in 1971–72. On Bradman’s recommendation, the series was cancelled. Bradman was more than a cricket player nonpareil. He was … an astute and progressive administrator; an expansive thinker, philosopher and writer on the game. Indeed, in some respects, he was as powerful, persuasive and influential a figure off the ground as he was on it. —Mike Coward In the late 1970s, Bradman played an important role during the World Series Cricket schism as a member of a special Australian Cricket Board committee formed to handle the crisis. He was criticised for not airing an opinion, but he dealt with World Series Cricket far more pragmatically than other administrators. Richie Benaud described Bradman as “a brilliant administrator and businessman”, warning that he was not to be underestimated. As Australian captain, Ian Chappell fought with Bradman over the issue of player remuneration in the early 1970s and has suggested that Bradman was parsimonious: I … thought to myself, ‘Ian, did you just ask Bradman to fill your wallet with money?’ Bradman’s harangue confirmed my suspicions that the players were going to have a hard time extracting more money from the ACB. Later Years & death Later years and death After his wife’s death in 1997, Bradman suffered “a discernible and not unexpected wilting of spirit”. The next year, on his 90th birthday, he hosted a meeting with his two favourite modern players, Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar, but he was not seen in his familiar place at the Adelaide Oval again. Hospitalised with pneumonia in December 2000, he returned home in the New Year and died there on 25 February 2001, aged 92. A memorial service to mark Bradman’s life was held on 25 March 2001 at St Peter’s Anglican Cathedral, Adelaide. The service was attended by a host of former and current Test cricketers, as well as Australia’s then prime minister, John Howard, leader of the opposition Kim Beazley and former prime minister Bob Hawke. Eulogies were given by Richie Benaud and Governor-General Sir William Deane. The service was broadcast live on ABC Television to a viewing audience of 1.45 million. Cricket writer David Frith summed up the paradox of the continuing fascination with Bradman: As the years passed, with no lessening of his reclusiveness, so his public stature continued to grow, until the sense of reverence and unquestioning worship left many of his contemporaries scratching their heads in wondering admiration. As early as 1939, Bradman had a Royal Navy ship named after him. Built as a fishing trawler in 1936, the HMS Bradman was taken over by the Admiralty in 1939, but was sunk by German aircraft the following year. In the 1963 edition of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, Bradman was selected by Neville Cardus as one the Six Giants of the Wisden Century. This was a special commemorative selection requested by Wisden for its 100th edition. The other five players chosen were: Sydney Barnes, W. G. Grace, Jack Hobbs, Tom Richardson and Victor Trumper. On 10 December 1985, Bradman was the first of 120 inaugural inductees into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame. He spoke of his philosophy for considering the stature of athletes: When considering the stature of an athlete or for that matter any person, I set great store in certain qualities which I believe to be essential in addition to skill. They are that the person conducts his of her life with dignity, with integrity, courage, and perhaps most of all, with modesty. These virtues are totally compatible with pride, ambition, and competitiveness. Although modest about his own abilities and generous in his praise of other cricketers, Bradman was fully aware of the talents he possessed as a player; there is some evidence that he sought to influence his legacy. During the 1980s and 1990s, Bradman carefully selected the people to whom he gave interviews, assisting Michael Page, Roland Perry and Charles Williams, who all produced biographical works about him. Bradman also agreed to an extensive interview for ABC radio, broadcast as Bradman: The Don Declares in eight 55-minute episodes during 1988. The most significant of these legacy projects was the Bradman Museum, opened in 1989 at the Bradman Oval in Bowral. This organisation was reformed in 1993 as a non-profit charitable Trust, called the Bradman Foundation. In 2010, it was expanded and rebranded as the International Cricket Hall of Fame. When the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame was created in Melbourne in 1996, Bradman was made one of its 10 inaugural members. In 2000, Bradman was selected by cricket experts as one of five Wisden Cricketers of the Century. Each of the 100 members of the panel were able to select five cricketers: all 100 voted for Bradman. Bradman’s life and achievements were recognised in Australia with two notable issues. Three years before he died, he became the first living Australian to be featured on an Australian postage stamp. After his death, the Australian Government produced a 20 cent coin to commemorate his life. Style & records Bradman’s early development was shaped by the high bounce of the ball on matting-over-concrete pitches. He favoured “horizontal-bat” shots (such as the hook, pull and cut) to deal with the bounce and devised a unique grip on the bat handle that would accommodate these strokes without compromising his ability to defend. Employing a side-on stance at the wicket, Bradman kept perfectly still as the bowler ran in. His backswing had a “crooked” look that troubled his early critics, but he resisted entreaties to change. His backswing kept his hands in close to the body, leaving him perfectly balanced and able to change his stroke mid-swing, if need be. Another telling factor was the decisiveness of Bradman’s footwork. He “used the crease” by either coming metres down the wicket to drive, or playing so far back that his feet ended up level with the stumps when playing the cut, hook or pull. Bradman’s game evolved with experience. He temporarily adapted his technique during the Bodyline series, deliberately moving around the crease in an attempt to score from the short-pitched deliveries. At his peak, in the mid-1930s, he had the ability to switch between a defensive and attacking approach as the occasion demanded. After the Second World War, he adjusted to bat within the limitations set by his age, becoming a steady “accumulator” of runs. However, Bradman never truly mastered batting on sticky wickets. Wisden commented, “f there really is a blemish on his amazing record it is … the absence of a significant innings on one of those ‘sticky dogs’ of old”. Bradman’s name has become an archetypal name for outstanding excellence, both within cricket and in the wider world. The term Bradmanesque has been coined and is used both within and without cricketing circles. Steve Waugh described Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan as “the Don Bradman of bowling”, while former Australian Prime Minister John Howard was called “the Don Bradman of politics” by his Liberal Party colleague Joe Hockey. Bradman has been the subject of more biographies than any other Australian, apart from the outlaw Ned Kelly. Bradman himself wrote four books:Don Bradman’s Book–The Story of My Cricketing Life with Hints on Batting, Bowling and Fielding (1930), My Cricketing Life (1938), Farewell to Cricket (1950) and The Art of Cricket (1958). The story of the Bodyline series was retold in a 1984 television mini-series. Bradman is immortalised in three popular songs from different eras, “Our Don Bradman” (1930s, by Jack O’Hagan), “Bradman” (1980s, by Paul Kelly), and “Sir Don”, (a tribute by John Williamson performed at Bradman’s memorial service). Bradman recorded several songs accompanying himself and others on piano in the early 1930s, including “Every Day Is A Rainbow Day For Me”. In 2000, the Australian Government made it illegal for the names of corporations to suggest a link to “Sir Donald Bradman”, if such a link does not in fact exist. Other entities with similar protection are the Australian and foreign governments, Saint Mary MacKillop, the British Royal Family and the Returned and Services League of Australia. Test records Bradman still holds the following significant records for Test match cricket: • Highest career batting average (minimum 20 innings): 99.94 • Highest series batting average (4 or more Test series): 201.50 (1931–32) and second highest 178.75 (1947–48) • Highest ratio of centuries per innings played: 36.25% (29 centuries from 80 innings) • Highest ratio of double centuries per innings played: 15.0% (next highest is 5%) • Highest 5th wicket partnership: 405 (with Sid Barnes, 1946–47) • Second highest 6th wicket partnership: 346 (with Jack Fingleton, 1936–37) • Second highest score by a number 5 batsman: 304 (1934) • Highest score by a number 7 batsman: 270 (1936–37) • Most runs against one opponent: 5,028 (v England) • Most runs in one series: 974 (1930) • Most centuries scored in a single session of play: 6 (1 pre lunch, 2 lunch-tea, 3 tea-stumps) • Most runs in one day’s play: 309 (1930) • Most double centuries: 12 • Most double centuries in a series: 3 (1930) • Most triple centuries: 2 (equal with Chris Gayle, Brian Lara and Virender Sehwag) • Most consecutive matches in which he made a century: 6 (the last three Tests in 1936–37, and the first three Tests in 1938) • Bradman has averaged over 100 in seven different calendar years (*qualification 400 runs). No other player has achieved this in more than two calendar years. • Fastest player to reach 2000 (in 22 innings), 3000 (33 innings), 4000 (48 innings), 5000 (56 innings) and 6000 (68 innings) Test runs. Cricket context Completed Test career batting averages Donald Bradman (AUS) Graeme Pollock (SAF) George Headley (WI) Herbert Sutcliffe (ENG) Eddie Paynter (ENG) Ken Barrington (ENG) Everton Weekes (WI) Wally Hammond (ENG) Garfield Sobers (WI) Jack Hobbs (ENG) Clyde Walcott (WI) Len Hutton (ENG) Bradman’s Test batting average of 99.94 has become one of cricket’s most famous, iconic statistics. No other player who has played more than 20 Test match innings has finished with a Test average of more than 61. Bradman scored centuries at a rate better than one every three innings—in 80 Test innings, Bradman scored 29 centuries. Only seven players have surpassed his total, all at a much slower rate: Sachin Tendulkar (who required 159 innings to do so), Matthew Hayden (167 innings), Ricky Ponting (170 innings), Sunil Gavaskar (174 innings), Jacques Kallis (200 innings), Brian Lara (205 innings) and Steve Waugh (247 innings). He converted 41.4% of his centuries into double centuries. Bradman’s total of 12 Test double hundreds (in 15.0% of his innings) is the most achieved by any batsman. The next best is Brian Lara with 9 in 232 innings (3.9%), Kumar Sangakkara 8 in 179 innings (4.5%) and Walter Hammond with 7 in 140 innings (5.0%). World sport context Wisden hailed Bradman as, “the greatest phenomenon in the history of cricket, indeed in the history of all ball games”. Statistician Charles Davis analysed the statistics for several prominent sportsmen by comparing the number of standard deviations that they stand above the mean for their sport. The top performers in his selected sports are: Standard deviations Major titles The statistics show that “no other athlete dominates an international sport to the extent that Bradman does cricket”. In order to post a similarly dominant career statistic as Bradman, a baseball batter would need a career batting average of .392, while a basketball player would need to score an average of 43.0 points per game. The respective records are .366 and 30.1. When Bradman died, Time allocated a space in its “Milestones” column for an obituary: … Australian icon considered by many to be the pre-eminent sportsman of all time … One of Australia’s most beloved heroes, he was revered abroad as well. When Nelson Mandela was released after 27 years in prison, his first question to an Australian visitor was, “Is Sir Donald Bradman still alive?”	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5621
__label__wiki	0.813595	0.813595	SEE ALSO: acquisitions and mergers and acquisitions A merger of two companies, if the merger gains regulatory approval, means shareholders of both companies gain a roughly equal stake in the new company. This is unlike an acquisition, where one side either swallows the newcomer or parks it under a holding company. Mergers are generally handled by investment banks that earn significant fees from such deals through buying and selling the two companies' shares. This leads some critics to accuse such banks of conflicts of interest in pumping up such deals and creating inflated expectations for the deal. Although around 70 percent of all mergers (and combined M&As) worldwide fail to live up to promise, companies continue to seek them for several reasons, ranging from joining a competitor to boost market share to acquiring a loss-maker as a tax write-off.[1] Misplaced enthusiasm for the deal on both sides has sunk recent high-profile corporate mergers like AOL with Time Warner and Citigroup with Travelers, underlining the difficulties in getting mergers to work. Most flops are due to human foibles like failure to plan the transaction thoroughly, failure to think the merger through or a lack of objectivity, Wharton Business School reports, and losing good employees in the process is so common it is referred to as "merger syndrome".[2] Meanwhile, rivals at Harvard Business School (HBS) have compiled a "nine deadly sins" list in typical merger failures and stressed the need establish an 'integration team' early on to avoid them.[3] The HBS paper also points out that 70 percent of the corporate mergers that fail do so at the execution stage of the deal, not during its original planning. The key, HBS concludes, is "selecting the right person or people to lead the program integration team and track the plan's execution." On December 20, 2007, Eurex and ISE announced that they had completed a merger. At the time, the collaboration was called the largest transatlantic derivatives marketplace. [4] On April 4, 2007, the New York Stock Exchange announced a merger with Euronext, which brought together six cash equities exchanges in five countries and six derivatives exchanges. [5] In July 2007, the CME Group and the CBOT agreed to merge after nine months of back and forth as well as a surprise bid from ICE. The crosstown rivals merged and dominate the US futures market. [6] U.S. regulator the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in late July 2008 approved a merger between America's only two satellite-radio distributors, Sirius and XM, creating what some industry critics call an unfair monopoly.[7] Shares of both companies, which had been battling the FCC for more than a year to merge, rose after the decision was announced but soon returned to their normal trading range. On February 9, 2011, NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse confirmed that they were in advanced talks on a possible merger. [8] Also announced on the same day, advanced merger talks between the London Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange. [9] ↑ What is a Merger?. WiseGeek.com. ↑ Why Do So Many Mergers Fail?. Wharton Business School. ↑ Nine Steps to Prevent Merger Failure. Harvard Business School. ↑ Eurex and ISE complete merger. ISE website. ↑ NYSE announces merger with Euronext. NYSE website. ↑ CBOT Holders Choose to Merge with CME. Forbes. ↑ FCC approval allows for merger of XM, Sirius subscription satellite radio services—with stipulations. MerersUnleashed.com. ↑ NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse in Advanced Talks to Merge. Bloomberg. ↑ LSE to buy Canada's TMX. Bloomberg. Retrieved from "http://marketswiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Merger&oldid=207516" Sponsored Pages - CTS	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5623
__label__wiki	0.540342	0.540342	Tag: herartstory BCH #31 Blind Contour Homage #31 “Oil Refinery” – Ella May Walker Walker was an artist with an eclectic range of talents. Born in Minnesota in 1892, she moved to Saskatchewan as a child, studying piano and eventually earning a music degree from McGill University. Upon moving to Edmonton with her husband in the 1920s, she refocused her attention from music to art when she met the Group of Seven member, Arthur Lismer. By the 1940s, she had become an accomplished sculptor and painter, moving between many mediums, including oil, watercolour, gouache, pastel, tempera, and charcoal. She was also an athlete and a “part-time nudist”—a passionate, determined, and avant-garde woman for her time and location. Walker’s paintings and sculptures tell stories of Edmonton’s pioneer days and depict landscapes from a city undergoing growth and change. Her fascination with the history of the region would lead her to make speeches accompanied by her own illustrations. From the mid-1930s to the late 1940s, she exhibited almost yearly, including several solo exhibitions at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Saskatoon Art Centre, and the University of Alberta. In 1942, inspired by her paintings of historical and contemporary subjects, Edmonton Mayor John Wesley Fry encouraged Walker to write a book. Her collection of short stories, Fortress North, portrayed the growth of Edmonton from its early days as a fort to its urbanization in the 1940s. Her stories were illustrated with her paintings and drawings of historical and contemporary scenes. To complete the book, Walker conducted extensive research, interviewing pioneers and First Nation’s people, and exploring the Provincial Archives of Alberta. Determined to create the most accurate reflection of the city, she reportedly wrote letters to federal ministers and the Prime Minister in search of information. This research would lead her to write several articles for the Edmonton Journal and The People’s Weekly about Edmontonians both past and present. Among Walker’s many contributions, one of the most significant was her involvement with the Archives and Landmarks Committee, whose primary goals included identifying places, sources, material, and events of historical interest in the city. Upon her recommendation, many historical landmarks in the city were preserved. On April 6, 1960, just a month before her birthday, Walker died after living with cancer for two years. Fifteen years later, the city would recognize her contributions to the City of Edmonton Archives, which helped shape Edmonton’s growth and expansion. Her sons donated works of art and records to the city’s archives, and established a scholarship in her name. Awarded annually to a student in the Faculty of Extension at the University of Alberta, the scholarship is a fitting tribute to a woman who dedicated much of her life to educating through art. Born: Minnesota, 1892 Died: April 6, 1960 Edmonton Visit the events page to see where Marlene’s Blind Contour Homage will be showing. This is a series of paintings celebrating the work of Canadian female artists. Posted on March 31, 2019 Categories Art Herstory, Blind Contour HomageTags art herstory, art history, art inspiration, blind contour drawing, blind contour homage series, Canada, Canadian, canadian women artists, Ella May Walker, female artists, her art story, herartstory, women artists Blind Contour Homage #30 – “Parachute Riggers” – 1947 Paraskeva Clark Born Paraskeva Avdeyevna Plistik in St.Petersburg, Russia, Clark was one of three daughters to working class parents. Her mother made artificial flowers to supplement the family’s income and her father managed a grocery store. They worked hard to afford their children an education. After graduating in 1914, she worked as a clerk in a shoe factory and attended evening classes at the Petrograd Academy of Fine Arts. She was recruited to paint sets for theatres and met her first husband Oreste Allegri Jr., an Italian scene painter. They married in 1922 and had a son, Benedict. They made plans to emigrate to France but Allegri drowned during the summer. Clark decided to move to Paris and live with her in-laws. Even though her late husband’s family was well connected in the art world, she had little time for art while caring for her son and doing domestic work for them. When her son was 6, he was sent to boarding school during the week so Clark took a job at an interior design shop. There she met Philip Clark, a visiting Canadian accountant. The two kept a long distance relationship until he revisited in 1931 and they decided to marry. They moved to Toronto and shortly after, her 2nd son, Clive was born. Clark’s entry into the Toronto art world was facilitated by her husband’s membership in the Arts and Letters Club (he was a talented pianist). She was encouraged to send her “Self Portrait,”(1931–32), to the annual juried exhibition of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in November 1932. It was the first time she exhibited. She exhibited extensively after that and was accepted to the Canadian Group of Painters in 1936. As a young woman, she faced many financial challenges in Russia. Clark felt passionately about the role and responsibility of the artist: “Those who give their lives, their knowledge and their time to social struggle have the right to expect great help from the artist. And I cannot imagine a more inspiring role than that which the artist is asked to play for the defence and advancement of civilization.” These beliefs and her strong attachment to her homeland fuelled not only her art but her political activism. She was appointed by the National Gallery of Canada to record the activities of the Women’s Divisions of the Armed Forces during World War II. “Maintenance Jobs in the Hangar #6, Trenton RCAF, Station,” 1945 is part of that series. Clark’s eldest son, Benedict was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1943. Her concern and sadness over his illness would seriously affect her productivity as an artist. He never lived independently. In 1974, she shared a show with him during which the National Gallery of Canada purchased her piece “Myself” (1933). Many exhibitions of her work and new projects featuring her art came about in these later years of her life, including a 1982 film by the National Film Board of Canada, Portrait of the Artist as an Old Lady. Philip Clark died in 1980, and after living for a time in a nursing home Paraskeva Clark suffered a stroke and passed away on August 10, 1986, at the age of 87. Clark had been a member of the Canadian Group of Painters, the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour, the Canadian Society of Graphic Art, the Ontario Society of Artists, and the Royal Canadian Academy. Much of her art now resides at the National Gallery of Canada and the Art Gallery of Ontario. Born: October 28, 1898, St.Petersburg, Russia Died: August 10, 1986, Toronto Posted on March 16, 2019 Categories Art Herstory, Blind Contour HomageTags art herstory, art history, art inspiration, blind contour drawing, blind contour homage series, Canada, Canadian, canadian women artists, female artists, her art story, herartstory, Paraskeva Clark, women artists Blind Contour Homage #29 – “Island of Rocks” – Florence McGillivray “She was the best.” Tom Thomson on Florence McGillivray Although relatively unknown now, Florence McGillivray was a leading Canadian artist in her time. Born to a wealthy family (her father was a Scottish immigrant with a well-situated farm in Whitby, Ontario), McGillivray’s early talent as an artist was encouraged through private lessons with esteemed southern Ontarian artists. McGillivray capitalized on this good fortune by charging 25 cents to her friends and classmates for lessons sharing what she had learned. She added to her earnings by selling her paintings in local fairs. This youthful shrewdness characterized McGillivray’s entire career; talent, good fortune, and keen curiosity ensured that she remained abreast of leading artistic movements, figures, and techniques. Travelling to Europe in 1913, she studied in Paris’s Academie de la Grand Chaumiere, earning admiration when her painting Contentment was exhibited in the prestigious Salon des Beaux-Arts. In Paris, she was mentored and encouraged by Matisse, Simon, and Menard, and she studied “Realist, Nabis and Fauvist palettes and pictorial construction,” which she imported to Canada when she was forced home after the outbreak of World War I. Back in Ontario, she mentored Tom Thomson, who declared McGillivray one of the best painters in Canada. In fact, Katharine Lochnan (McGillivray’s great-great niece) and art historian Sarah Stanners argue that McGillivray had the single greatest influence on Thomson’s work, solving the mystery behind the European styles in Thomson’s work. Yet, despite her connection with the Group of Seven, McGillivray’s name does not receive the same level of recognition. This oversight is due in part to her family’s wealth; her comfortable lifestyle meant she was not forced to sell her paintings. But she has also been overlooked because of her gender. Art historian Regina Haggo explains that it “was difficult for a Canadian woman to become a professional artist a hundred years ago. Women were supposed to get married, have babies and stay at home. And because McGillivray was female, her work was undervalued by critics and ignored by art historians. … Moreover, taming nature with a brush was a job for a man. Women were deemed to be intellectually incapable of painting landscape. A woman artist was expected to paint pretty images of domestic life.” But McGillivray rejected expectations for female artists. Instead, she used “the palette knife, masses of colour, and a strong black line around forms” to develop her signature style—a method influenced by her interactions with European artists, but cultivated independently as she experimented throughout her career. Her entire life was spent seeking creative inspiration and education. Just as she painted landscapes of the Gatineau valley, Labrador, and Newfoundland, she also travelled widely abroad—to Trinidad, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Alaska, and beyond—in search of new vistas and styles. When she died in Toronto in 1938, she left behind an enormous body of work. Only in recent years has it been rediscovered and celebrated for its significant contribution to the Canadian modernist movement. Born: 1864, Whitby, Ontario Died: 1938, Toronto Allen, W.C. “Following Florence.” Gatineau Valley Historical Society. http://www.gvhs.ca/publications/utga-following-florence.html The Florence McGillivray Project. “Florence’s Stories.” https://florencemcgillivray.ca Haggo, Regina. “Florence McGillivray Tamed Nature with a Brush.” Hamilton Spectator, January 7, 2017. https://www.thespec.com/whatson-story/7050268-regina-haggo-florence-mcgillivray-tamed-nature-with-a-brush/ Lochnan, Katharine and Sarah Stanners. “The Group of Eight.” Canadian Art, October 10, 2017. https://canadianart.ca/features/the-group-of-eight/ Murray, Joan. Tom Thomson: Design for a Canadian Hero. Dundern Press, 1998. Prakash, A.K. Independent Spirit: Early Canadian Women Artists. Firefly Books, 2008. Posted on January 17, 2019 April 6, 2019 Categories Art Herstory, Blind Contour HomageTags art herstory, art inspiration, blind contour drawing, blind contour homage series, Canada, Canadian, canadian women artists, female artists, Florence McGillivray, her art story, herartstory, women artists	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5626
__label__cc	0.726563	0.273437	Tag: Joyce Wieland Blind Contour Drawing #23 – “Reason over Passion” Joyce Wieland 1968 Joyce Wieland was born in Toronto in 1930. She was the youngest child of emigrants from Britain. Wieland and her 2 older brothers struggled to survive after both of their parents died when she was still in grade school. Despite being poverty stricken, she was able to study fashion design at the Central Technical high school in Toronto. It was there that she met working artists like Doris McCarthy. McCarthy was an independent spirit and committed to her art practice. She became an important mentor for Wieland. After graduating in 1948, Wieland worked as a graphic designer. She met artist, Michael Snow at a graphics firm in Toronto. They married in 1956 and had a 20 year relationship. Before she married, she moved into her own apartment studio, which at the time was not the common for young women. She lived alongside other artists and became part of the city’s growing boho scene. Her independent nature led her to travel and she was able to visit Europe a few times in her twenties. She began to achieve some success with her paintings in the late 1950’s and had her first solo show in Toronto in 1960. Between 1962 and 1971, Wieland and Snow lived in New York. Feeling connected to the city’s counter culture vibe, she continued to paint but also explored other mediums. New York was teeming with pop art and conceptual art, and artists were responding to the political and cultural issues of the time, including the war in Vietnam, feminism, and environmentalism. Wieland had learned filmmaking and animation techniques while working in commercial design, so she began to create films. In a short period of time, she was screening her work alongside her American colleagues. Her work was well received due to their political edge and wit. In 1968 the Museum of Modern Art in New York presented Five Films by Joyce Wieland. Her films are known internationally. Wieland had a healthy relationship with sex and was passionate about feminism. Much of her artwork explore these themes. Besides film and paint, she also started to work with fabric. She intentionally used fabric to express her political ideas because traditionally it had been used by women. She created quilts and mixed media pieces that challenged the notions of what is art and what is craft, what is masculine and what is feminine. She was a leader in bringing these materials and mediums into the fine art world. On Canada Day, July 1st, 1971 the National Gallery of Canada presented her solo exhibition, True Patriot Love. It was the first time the Gallery had given a solo show to a living Canadian female artist. At that time she returned to Toronto to live and work. By the 1980’s she was focused on painting and in 1987 the Art Gallery of Ontario held a retrospective of her work. Wieland maintained a studio practice in Toronto until her health began to decline. She was cared for by a group of female friends until her death on June 27, 1998 from Alzheimer’s disease. Born: June 30, 1930, Toronto Died: June 27, 1998, Toronto Posted on October 4, 2018 March 21, 2019 Categories Art Herstory, Blind Contour HomageTags art herstory, art history, art inspiration, blind contour drawing, blind contour homage series, Canada, Canadian, Canadian painter, canadian women artists, female artists, Joyce Wieland, women artists	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5627
__label__cc	0.730722	0.269278	Haunted by an imaginary friend: ‘Daniel Isn’t Real’ tells story of a young man battling inner demons Adam Egypt Mortimer [BIFAN] Many people remember their imaginary friend from childhood, with whom they enjoyed imaginary tea parties, sword fights and treasure hunts. After going to school and interacting with real friends, many imaginary friends naturally dissolve from kids’ minds. But what if your imaginary friend wasn’t a friend at all, but actually a demon waiting for just the right moment to possess your body? When director Adam Egypt Mortimer finished reading the novel “In This Way I Was Saved” by Brian DeLeeuw, he immediately thought the material would be interesting to adapt to film. “It’s a personal story about a young man struggling about how he feels doing the wrong thing, but the book makes this an external process, which I thought made it so cinematic and I could see how the story could be visualized,” Mortimer told the Korea JoongAng Daily at an interview after his film “Daniel Isn’t Real” screened for the first time at the 23rd Bucheon International Film Festival (Bifan). Luke first meets his imaginary friend Daniel during a time when he is at his most vulnerable, soon after he realizes that his parents’ relationship was deteriorating and he accidentally sees a gruesome crime scene. Although they get along very well in the beginning of the film, Luke locks Daniel away in his grandmother’s antique dollhouse after Daniel’s advice nearly kills his mother. Several years later, Luke is a law school student and still struggling to adapt in college. His mind wonders until he remembers Daniel again. Out of curiosity, Luke unlocks the dollhouse and Daniel coyly slips back into his life. At first, the two get along very well and Daniel even helps Luke adjust to his college life. But not long after, Luke begins to realize that Daniel isn’t merely an imaginary friend. Although the film is a thriller on the surface, it touches upon everyday problems that people face, specifically related to grappling with mental illness and battling inner demons. Mortimer also went through his own dark periods, like Luke does in the film, which was in part why the story appealed to him in the first place. Left: Luke’s imaginary friend Daniel helps Luke cheat on a test. Right: Luke and Daniel when they were young. [BIFAN] “When I was the character’s age, my best friend went through a very tragic mental breakdown that resulted him to being taken to a mental hospital which changed his life forever,” he said. “So when I was reading the book it made me think of that period and what that felt like. When I turned this [book] into a film, I wanted to capture a couple of things to make [those] who have gone through or witnessed something like that to feel recognized.” He also especially sympathized with Luke because at his age, people usually do not have the ability to recognize their problems or illnesses when it’s happening. “When you’re 19 years old and in college, everybody is trying to be so creative and trying out different identities. So when one of you is super unbalanced, it’s very hard to recognize it. That problem can get worse and worse without having anyone to help you.” Luke’s anxieties are portrayed very vividly in the film through the disorientation of colors and sounds. When the audience sees it on screen, they are able to experience the confusion the character goes through. “I also have anxiety issues, and for years and years I was always trying to solve everything through other [means], mainly physical - yoga and boxing - but I still felt way too anxious and finally went to see a psychiatrist,” he said. “As I started taking medication and doing sessions, I felt that life is too long to [continue to] struggle [and refuse to admit something is wrong]. It’s just a minor imbalance I have in my life, and it hasn’t undermined any part of my personality or made it difficult to be an artist.” Another important concept that he wanted to portray through Luke and Daniel was the modern phenomenon of incel, a portmanteau of involuntary and celibacy, which refers to mostly young heterosexual men in the United States who believe that relationships are solely about control and sex and become prone to misogyny and racism. “They don’t understand what it means to be nice. The idea of a nice guy - you have to watch out for that because that tends to mean someone who pretends to be empathetic because they’re trying to manipulate people. So when Daniel impersonating Luke says to Cassie (the girl he likes) ‘I’ve been kind to you, I’ve shown you sympathy…’ that was from very real relationships that bad men have with women.” Cassie is the hero of the story who is able to rescue Luke from Daniel’s grasp. From her interactions with Luke, she realizes that he is not a bad person who’s pretending to be nice. Rather, he’s a good person who’s been undermined by Daniel. When she recognizes this, she is able to draw out Luke again, although ultimately it is up to him to defeat Daniel. “Creativity and empathy are the two key words to explain what my film is all about,” Mortimer said. “The film can be overwhelming when you see it for the first time, but the more you watch it, the more you’ll be able to notice the little details I’ve planted there with my cast.”	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5628
__label__cc	0.688343	0.311657	> Artists>Г G>Gryshchenko Oleksiy Vasylyovych, 1883 - 1977 A Prominent Ukrainian painter, graphic artist, one of the most famous Ukrainian avant-gardists. Born in the town of Krolevets, Chernighiv province. He studied at the philological faculties of the universities of St. Petersburg, Moscow and Kyiv. In 1905 he was learning painting in the art studio of S. Svitoslavskyi in Kyiv, and from 1910 to 1911l... A Prominent Ukrainian painter, graphic artist, one of the most famous Ukrainian avant-gardists. Born in the town of Krolevets, Chernighiv province. He studied at the philological faculties of the universities of St. Petersburg, Moscow and Kyiv. In 1905 he was learning painting in the art studio of S. Svitoslavskyi in Kyiv, and from 1910 to 1911learned painting in the studios of K. Yuon and I. Mashkov in Moscow. In 1919 he taught at the Higher State Art Studios. Participant of the exhibitions of contemporary art in Moscow (1910 - 1919). A member of the Society "World of Art" (1917). Art critic and author of theoretical research in arts, program manifestos of the "left" avant-garde trends. He lived and worked in Kyiv, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Constantinople, and Paris. His works are presented at the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris, the Royal Museum of Copenhagen and Brussels, the State Russian Museum, the State Tretyakov Gallery etc. Gryshchenko Oleksiy Vasylyovych, 1883 - 1977 There are 14 products. «Eastern landscape», II-third of the XX century... «Eastern landscape», II-third of the XX century... «Still Life with a white vase», 1930s... «Still Life with a white vase», 1930s... «The rocks off the coast of Brittany», IInd... «The rocks off the coast of Brittany», IInd... «A view from a window of the castle Pairaud»,... «A view from a window of the castle Pairaud»,... «Port Breton», II quarter of the XX century.... «Port Breton», II quarter of the XX century.... «Street», 1919 paper, watercolor;... «Street», 1919 paper, watercolor;...	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5630
__label__wiki	0.984127	0.984127	Ashanti reflects on upcoming 15 year anniversary of debut album and her magical chemistry with Ja Rule March 9th, 2017 by KRNB Andrew Benge/RedfernsWith the near-15 year anniversary of her debut album release, Ashanti tells Billboard that her best memory of making the chart-topping project was replacing none other than Jay Z for her first single, “Foolish.” “I would say one of the best memories would be when I wrote the bridge for ‘Foolish.’ First of all, I was surrounded by rappers. I was with Irv [Gotti] and those guys and no one believed that I wrote my records,” she says. “I don’t know if this story ever made it out, but, initially, Irv had called Jay Z to come and rhyme on the bridge of ‘Foolish.’ He was in the car and on the way to the studio to record it with me.” “Then Irv called him back like 10 minutes later, like, ‘Yo. Never mind. She needs to do this by herself. I don’t wanna do typical R&B songs featuring a rapper. I want to do something different, That’s what we did,” she adds. Of course, most Ashanti fans know of her longstanding collaborative relationship with Ja Rule, with both having recorded and performed a number of iconic tracks such as “Always on Time,” “What’s Luv” and “Mesmerize.” When asked what her top three favorite collaborations with the rapper are, she says, “I would go “Always on Time,” “Mesmerize” and “Down 4 U.” “Me and Ja always, always possess this chemistry, and it just came out of nowhere. It’s crazy. It’s very organic. It’s natural. It’s just really genuine. Like, me and Ja could not see each other for months or years, but when we get onstage, it looks like we’ve been hanging out all day, every day,” she says. Album anniversary Ashanti chemistry debut magical reflects upcoming Watch Jennifer Lopez and Cardi B in “Hustlers” Trailer Read More Lil Kim Calls Out Messy Andy Cohen Read More Chris Brown’s ‘Indigo’ scores Billboard 200 #1 debut Read More Essence Fest honors its legends and gets political with Michelle Obama during its 25th anniversary Read More	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5631
__label__wiki	0.771295	0.771295	Jean-Paul Menard, Esq. Menard Mediation Mediation Experience and Training: Jean-Paul Menard began his mediation practice in 2008. Since then, Mr. Menard has dedicated a significant amount of his time mediating business, commercial, real estate, employment, partnership, unfair competition, and personal injury disputes. Mr. Menard is certified to conduct mediations by the Los Angeles County Bar Association, and is a mediation panelist for the United States District Court, Central District, and the California Association of Realtors. He was also a panelist for the Los Angeles Superior Court’s Alternative Dispute Resolution program. Mr. Menard is a member of the Southern California Mediation Association, and has participated in numerous mediation training courses and seminars, including the basic and advanced mediation training programs offered by the Los Angeles County Bar Association, and programs presented by SCMA, the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University School of Law, USC Gould School of Law, and the United States District Court. Legal Background: Mr. Menard has had over 30 years of complex litigation experience at the trial and appellate levels in state and federal courts involving a variety of disputes including breach of contract, business torts, fraud, unfair competition, trade secrets, partnership and real estate matters, trademark and copyright infringement and environmental and government contract/qui tam related claims. In addition, Mr. Menard’s legal practice has included negotiating and documenting a variety of business and commercial agreements, and providing general legal advice to clients on their day-to-day business operations. Employment, Education, and Professional Affiliations: Before establishing his own firm in 2008, Mr. Menard was a partner at the law firms of McKenna Long & Aldridge, LLP, in Los Angeles (1997-2008) (now part of Dentons US), and Stephens Berg & Lasater, in Los Angeles (1986-1997); and an associate with the law firm of Munns Kofford Hoffman Hunt & Throckmorton, in Pasadena (1984-1986). Mr. Menard received his Juris Doctorate degree in 1984 from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree graduating magna cum laude from the California State University, Northridge in 1981. Mr. Menard is a member of the California State Bar, the Los Angeles County Bar Association, and the Southern California Mediation Association. Home Profile Expertise Process Resources References Fees Contact Menard Mediation © 2016 Law Office of Jean-Paul Menard, APC. All Rights Reserved.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5634
__label__wiki	0.723835	0.723835	POLITICO: SECRET AMNESTY LAUNCHED BY GOP FOR SPRING - TO REPUBLICANS THE MEX INVASION, OCCUPATION AND LOOTING ARE GREAT FOR AMERICAN WORKERS? The fascistic politics of Trump and Bannon had, and continue to have, substantial support within the corporate and financial elite. The Trump administration’s agenda of social counterrevolution, tax cuts for the rich and increased military spending have, moreover, broad support on Wall Street and in the Pentagon. Clinton ran as the candidate of Wall Street and the military-intelligence apparatus, in alliance with privileged sections of the upper- middle class based on identity politics. She evinced open contempt for the grievances of workers devastated by mass layoffs and the destruction of wages and pensions, promoting the slanderous claim that Trump owed his electoral success to racism within the “white working class.” Politico: GOP Senators Plan No-Safeguards Amnesty by Spring http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/10/24/gop-senators-plan-no-safeguards-amnesty-by-spring/ Mark Wilson/Getty Images by NEIL MUNRO24 Oct 20171,161 Establishment GOP Senators are trying to assemble a cheap-labor amnesty for young illegals which will not protect Americans workers from unscrupulous employers, nor reduce the huge annual inflow of migrants and workers, according to a report in Politico. The site reported: Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) said the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, has convened a working group on immigration that includes himself and GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and James Lankford of Oklahoma, as well as other lawmakers. Sens. David Perdue of Georgia and Jeff Flake of Arizona also are among the Republicans who have been engaged in the talks, according to sources. “There’s a solution to be had there,” Cornyn said. “But we just need to get on with it.” … some outlines of an agreement are becoming clearer. For instance, the senators have all but ruled out including a mandatory workplace verification system known as E-Verify in a final DACA agreement, according to multiple lawmakers engaged in the talks. E-Verify is the government database which companies can use to verify the legality of a job-applicant. Immigration reformers say the job-magnet for illegals must be turned off by requiring all employers use the E-verify system for all job applicants. Roy Beck @RoyBeck_NUSA w/o E-Verify, there is little pretense that deal makers see controlling illegal employment/immigration as a goal. http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/24/dreamers-immigrants-republicans-senate-244082 … 7:02 AM - Oct 24, 2017 Republicans quietly plot Dreamers deal GOP senators are getting closer to an immigration agreement that might pass muster with both Democrats and Donald Trump. The Senators are considering vague “beefed-up border security provisions,” but the article did not say if the GOP Senators plan to support the construction of the border wall. The GOP group is responding to pressure from Democrats and business groups who want the federal government to extend President Barack Obama’s so-called “DACA” amnesty for the 700,000 to 3 million younger illegals. Democrats and business groups also want to block an immigration reform which would reduce the number of immigrants and drive up Americans’ wages. Instead of merely blocking the latest amnesty threat, immigration reformers are working President Donald Trump to win a major reform that will reduce the annual number of immigrants, and so help raise wages, high-tech investment, and productivity. Trump has begun by winding down Obama’s DACA amnesty, and so the 690,000 DACA beneficiaries will start losing their work-permits March 5. The gradual loss of the illegal-immigrant workforce will open up hundreds of thousands of jobs for Americans, and force companies to compete for workers by offering higher pay. On October 8, Trump also released his popular principles for vetting any congressional amnesty deal. According to the letter which Trump sent to leaders in Congress: As President, I took an oath to uphold the Constitution, which makes clear that all legislative powers are vested in the Congress, not the President. I, therefore, tasked the relevant executive departments and agencies to conduct a bottom-up review of all immigration policies to determine what legislative reforms are essential for America’s economic and national security. Rather than asking what policies are supported by special interests, we asked America’s law enforcement professionals to identify reforms that are vital to protect the national interest. In response, they identified dangerous loopholes, outdated laws, and easily exploited vulnerabilities in our immigration system – current policies that are harming our country and our communities. I have enclosed the detailed findings of this effort. These findings outline reforms that must be included as part of any legislation addressing the status of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. Without these reforms, illegal immigration and chain migration, which severely and unfairly burden American workers and taxpayers, will continue without end. Immigration reform must create more jobs, higher wages, and greater security for Americans — now and for future generations. The reforms outlined in the enclosure are necessary to ensure prosperity, opportunity, and safety for every member of our national family. The only pro-American members of Grassley’s group are Grassley and Perdue. Grassley is a strong critic of the many federal programs which allow companies to import white-collar and blue-collar workers for jobs in the United States. The programs include the H-1B, L-1, OPT, TN, H-2A, H-2B, which collectively import roughly 700,000 workers per year. Perdue is promoting his wage-boosting RAISE Act. His poll-tested RAISE Act would help Americans by focusing on the core issue — the number of migrants who enter the country every year to compete against Americans for decent wages. The RAISE Act, which is co-sponsored by Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, would reduce immigration numbers by reducing the huge chain-immigration inflow. Politico, however, suggests his reforms are opposed by the other Senators, saying: Ideas that do remain in contention among this circle of Republicans include beefed-up border security provisions, limiting some chain migration and measures that one senator described as a “down payment” on shifting the U.S. immigration laws into a merit-based system, according to GOP senators. Perdue’s focus on number and chain-migration is likely unpopular among the remaining Senators in Grassley’s group, all of whom are pro-amnesty and pro-cheap labor, even though that combination is very unpopular among voters. For example, Tillis is an aggressive advocate for business’ greater use of cheap-labor migrants and has recruited Lankford to push his SUCCEED amnesty for at least 2.5 million illegals. Lankford has damaged his own standing with awkward statements, including his declaration that the American economy gains when migrants compete against Americans for good jobs: The job issue is an interesting issue, because those individuals are already in the job market. Many of these DACA students are actually DACA young adults, they already have access to the job market right now because they’ve been given deferred action. So they are in higher education, they are in the job market, they are currently a part of our economy, currently. That continual competition in our economy doesn’t hurt us, that continues to help us. It actually hurts us to put those individuals out of the economy. The Tillis-Lankford bill does include a token curb on chain migration by delaying naturalization for 15 years. Democrats, however, will work to reduce the delay and are already pushing the Dream Act, which maximizes chain-migration by allowing naturalization in just three years for illegals who are married to citizens. Flake has developed his own amnesty bill, but his clout will decline because he announced Wednesday that he will retire from the Senate amid growing home-state opposition to his pro-migrant policies. Graham is the leading GOP advocates for amnesty and he jump-started the 2013 “Gang of Eight” amnesty to deliver low-wage workers to his home state’s tourism, hospitality, and agriculture industries. Once a DACA amnesty is passed, “we’re going to increase legal immigration so employers don’t have to cheat” by hiring illegals, he said in October 2017. The Politico article notes that Graham wants the nation’s immigration system to help companies, not to help raise Americans’ wages. Cornyn is pushing a weak border security bill while opposing the E-Verify bill that is bitterly opposed by the farming industry. The food industry is facing tough competition from overseas — and future competition from urban “vertical farm” companies. So it is pushing for cheap immigrant labor via a new H-2C guest worker program instead of investing in labor-saving-productivity boosting, American-made, farm machinery. According to Politico: “There are large segments of some important sectors, like agriculture, where we need to do E-Verify with [another] immigration reform to make sure that there’s an adequate legal workforce,” Cornyn said. “And if we start adding too much stuff to the DACA-border security approach, then we get back into comprehensive immigration reform and nothing happens.” Pro-American reformers worry that Cornyn’s border bill could serve as a fake-tough security measure to muffle public opposition to an amnesty. The Politico article does not discuss the Democrats’ risky political strategy of favoring migrants over Americans. In 2014, that pro-migrant, pro-business policy helped the Democrats lose nine seats in the Senate. Four million Americans turn 18 each year and begin looking for good jobs in the free market. But the federal government inflates the supply of new labor by annually accepting 1 million new legal immigrants, by providing almost 2 million work-permits to foreigners, by providing work-visas to roughly 700,000 temporary workers and doing little to block the employment of roughly 8 million illegal immigrants. The Washington-imposed economic policy of mass-immigration floods the market with foreign labor, spikes profits and Wall Street values by cutting salaries for manual and skilled labor offered by blue-collar and white-collar employees. It also drives up real estate prices, widens wealth-gaps, reduces high-tech investment, increases state and local tax burdens, hurts kids’ schools and college education, pushes Americans away from high-tech careers, and sidelines at least 5 million marginalized Americans and their families, including many who are now struggling with opioid addictions. The cheap-labor policy has also reduced investment and job creation in many interior states because the coastal cities have a surplus of imported labor. For example, almost 27 percent of zip codes in Missouri had fewer jobs or businesses in 2015 than in 2000, according to a new report by the Economic Innovation Group. In Kansas, almost 29 percent of zip codes had fewer jobs and businesses in 2015 compared to 2000, which was a two-decade period of massive cheap-labor immigration. Americans tell pollsters that they strongly oppose amnesties and cheap-labor immigration, even as most Americans also want to favor legal immigrants, and many sympathize with illegals. Because of the successful cheap-labor strategy, wages for men have remained flat since 1973, and a growing percentage of the nation’s annual income is shifting to investors and away from employees. Paul Ryan’s Secret Amnesty Plan Comes Less Than Month After DACA Illegal Alien Accused of Murder http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/10/25/paul-ryans-secret-amnesty-less-month-daca-illegal-alien-accused-murder/ AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite by JOHN BINDER25 Oct 2017Washington, D.C.7,496 House Speaker Paul Ryan’s closed-door announcement of slipping amnesty for nearly 800,000 illegal aliens covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program into an end-of-the-year spending deal comes less than a month after a DACA recipient has been accused of murder. Ryan, according to members of the Republican Study Committee (RSC), is planning to put together a spending deal that includes giving amnesty to the DACA illegal aliens, as Breitbart News reported. “He did talk about the fact that that would be good if we could get ahead of that as opposed to being reactionary,” RSC Chairman Mark Walker (R-NC) told the HuffPost following the meeting with Ryan. Two House Republicans confirmed to the HuffPost that Ryan mentioned at the gathering slipping DACA amnesty into the spending deal. Ryan’s leaking of a secret plan to attach amnesty to a spending bill comes less than a month after Breitbart News confirmed that a DACA recipient allegedly murdered a high school student in South Carolina. Daniel De Jesus Rangel Sherrer, 19, was one of the nearly 800,000 illegal aliens shielded from deportation and given a work permit under DACA, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) confirmed to Breitbart Texas. Sherrer was charged in connection with the murder of 18-year-old Diana Martinez-Gonzalez, who was found shot to death in a wooded area in the town of Easley, South Carolina. During a press conference, Master Deputy Ryan Flood said the DACA recipient confessed to a deputy about his alleged murder of Martinez-Gonzalez. Sherrer allegedly murdered the girl in the wooded area because she had spread false rumors about him, the illegal alien reportedly told deputies. Police say the DACA recipient had also held another teenage girl against her will but that she escaped the scene. Sherrer is now facing first-degree murder charges, and if he is released from prison at any time, he will be deported. If Democrats and the Republican establishment had been able to pass amnesty for DACA illegal aliens more than a month ago, as they had hoped, Sherrer — despite being accused of murder — may not be facing deportation from the U.S. following the alleged murder. The latest case of a DACA illegal alien’s alleged involvement with murder is one of the thousands of cases where DACA recipients have been accused or convicted of crimes against Americans. As Breitbart News detailed, angel mom Laura Wilkerson lost her son, Josh, when an illegal alien whom DACA shielded from deportation allegedly beat him to death and then set his body on fire. In another case, Cinthya Garcia-Cisneros, an illegal alien protected by DACA, was convicted in 2014 of two counts of felony hit and run after she killed two Forest Grove, Oregon, stepsisters — Anna Dieter-Eckerdt and Abigail Robinson, ages 6 and 11, respectively — who were playing at the time of the incident. Although screening for DACA was previously touted as being sufficient in keeping criminals out, USCIS revealed that more than 2,100 recipients had their status revoked for being criminals or gang members. The crisis in the Republican Party and the fracturing of the American two-party system The eruption of open warfare between the Republican Party establishment and the Trump administration marks a new stage in the political crisis within the United States. The conflict within the Republican Party came to a head on Tuesday with the speech from the floor of the Senate by Jeff Flake, who announced that he would not seek reelection and denounced Trump’s actions as “dangerous to a democracy” and a threat to “the efficacy of American leadership around the globe.” Flake’s speech followed a series of statements attacking Trump by leading Republicans, including senators John McCain (chairman of the Armed Services Committee) and Bob Corker (chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee) and former President George W. Bush. Leading Democrats lined up to praise Flake, a right-wing fiscal hawk and advocate of austerity. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer called Flake “one of the finest human beings I’ve met in politics,” adding that he “will be missed.” The outbreak of political warfare within the Republican Party is the latest episode in a conflict within the American state that raged throughout the Trump election campaign and has intensified over the ten months of his administration. Central to this struggle are differences over foreign policy, with Trump’s Republican opponents denouncing his brand of “America First” ultra-nationalism as destructive of US global dominance, particularly in regard to relations with Washington’s traditional allies and the political/military offensive against Russia and China. From the beginning of his election campaign, Trump’s strategy was to exploit social and economic discontent and widespread disgust with the Democratic Party to foster the growth of a far-right, fascistic and extra- parliamentary movement. His elevation soon after the election of Steven Bannon, editor of Breitbart News, to become his chief strategist signaled the continuation of this policy in the White House. As the World Socialist Web Site wrote at the time, “A man with direct ties to fascist, racist and white supremacist organizations will be the right-hand man of the president, with immense power to determine government policy.” The fascistic politics of Trump and Bannon had, and continue to have, substantial support within the corporate and financial elite. The Trump administration’s agenda of social counterrevolution, tax cuts for the rich and increased military spending have, moreover, broad support on Wall Street and in the Pentagon. At the same time, significant sections of the ruling class are concerned about the implications of the election of Trump for the strategic interests of American imperialism abroad and for the social and political stability of the United States at home. After Trump solidarized himself with fascist groups that rampaged through Charlottesville, Virginia in August, Bannon, who had come into conflict with White House Chief of Staff and former Marine General John Kelly, was removed as chief strategist and resumed his position at Breitbart. The departure of Bannon, however, had more the character of a release from the constraints of the White House than a demotion. Since formally leaving the administration, Bannon has pursued a political strategy of attacking the top leadership of the Republican Party and supporting primary challengers to Republican incumbents, Flake among them, who are not in line with the Trump administration’s agenda of extreme nationalism and anti-immigrant racism. The political conflicts within the United States mirror global processes. In country after country, far-right movements have exploited the political vacuum created by the rightward lurch of the social democratic and labor parties, which long ago repudiated any concern for the issues facing the working class. On Tuesday, the fascistic Alternative for Germany made its debut in the German parliament following elections in September in which it won 94 seats, benefiting from the electoral collapse of the Social Democratic Party. The far-right Freedom Party is set to enter the Austrian government following elections last month in which it increased its vote by nearly 7 percentage points, coming in second, ahead of the Social Democrats. The party of a billionaire right-wing populist won last week’s parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic, which saw the collapse of the social democrats. In Britain, the anti-immigrant UK Independence Party emerged as the leading political force in last year’s Brexit referendum. In France, National Front leader Marine Le Pen won 34 percent of the vote in presidential elections earlier this year, making it to the run-off election won by Emmanuel Macron. In Japan, the right-wing militarist Shinzo Abe won reelection as prime minister by a substantial margin. In the United States, Trump, in alliance with Bannon, is pursuing a similar strategy, with the aim of either taking over the Republican Party or instigating a fracture that would break up the two-party system. Paralleling international developments, Trump exploited the reactionary and militarist character of the Obama administration, the Democratic Party and the Clinton campaign. Clinton ran as the candidate of Wall Street and the military-intelligence apparatus, in alliance with privileged sections of the upper-middle class based on identity politics. She evinced open contempt for the grievances of workers devastated by mass layoffs and the destruction of wages and pensions, promoting the slanderous claim that Trump owed his electoral success to racism within the “white working class.” In the aftermath of Trump’s election, the Democrats have shifted further to the right, including a move last week remove supporters of Bernie Sanders from the Democratic National Committee. They have systematically covered up the far-reaching significance of the election of Trump and the appointment of figures like Bannon. The central focus of the Democrats since Trump’s election has been an increasingly frenzied campaign over Russian intervention in the US elections. This has been aimed both at fighting out conflicts within the ruling class over foreign policy and, ever more openly, justifying Internet censorship and the destruction of free speech. The central orientation of the Democrats is on winning the support of the military and the intelligence agencies, which are emerging as the arbiters of American politics. The Democratic Party’s orientation was spelled out in a column by the New York Times’ Thomas Friedman published yesterday, in which Friedman once again called for the intervention of the military against Trump. Appealing to Defense Secretary James Mattis, best known for commanding US forces in the destruction of Fallujah in 2004, to take “action,” Friedman wrote: “I am not talking about a coup… Trump needs know that it is now your way or the highway—not his.” In other words, the military must take control, coup or otherwise. The fracturing of the political system is an expression of an intractable crisis of American capitalism. In the conflicts within the ruling class, there is no progressive or democratic side. Trump’s open Republican critics include a war criminal and advocate of torture (George W. Bush), a fanatic war hawk (McCain), a close ally of Wall Street and the military (Corker) and a far-right advocate of cuts in social spending (Flake). Nothing progressive can come from a resolution of the crisis from above through some form of palace coup. Any such settlement will only shift the entire political system further to the right and escalate the assault on the working class and the drive to world war. A political crisis on the scale engulfing Washington is a hallmark of a pre-revolutionary situation. Social explosions are on the horizon. The critical task for the working class is to advance its own, independent solution to the crisis and not allow itself to be dragged behind any faction of the ruling elite. The fight of the working class against Trump and the entire ruling class raises the urgent necessity for a mass political movement opposed to the Democrats and Republicans and directed to the overthrow of the capitalist system. Joseph Kishore JAMES WALSH THE OBAMA HISPANICAZATION of AMERICA How the Democrat party surrendered America to Mexico: http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2014/07/james-walsh-hispanicazation-of-america.html “The watchdogs at Judicial Watch discovered documents that reveal how the Obama administration's close coordination with the Mexican government entices Mexicans to hop over the fence and on to the American dole.” Washington Times “The cost of the Dream Act is far bigger than the Democrats or their media allies admit. Instead of covering 690,000 younger illegals now enrolled in former President Barack Obama’s 2012 “DACA” amnesty, the Dream Act would legalize at least 3.3 million illegals, according to a pro-immigration group, the Migration Policy Institute.” 65.5 Million in U.S. Speak Foreign Language at Home New report shows number has doubled since 1990, nearly tripled since 1980 Washington, D.C. (October 25, 2017) – An analysis of newly released 2016 Census Bureau data by the Center for Immigration Studies shows that a record 65.5 million U.S. residents five years of age and older speak a language other than English at home. As a share of the population, more than one in five U.S. residents now speaks a foreign language at home – including residents like Jovita Mendez, who has lived in the California for over 20 years and recently became a U.S. citizen, despite being unable to speak, read, or write in English. The largest percentage increases since 2010 among languages with more than 400,000 speakers were for Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, Chinese, Persian, Haitian, and Gujarati. (Hindi and Gujarati are spoken in India; Urdu is spoken in Pakistan.) "The English language has always been part of the glue that holds our country together," said Steven Camarota, co-author of the report and Director of Research at the Center. "But the number of immigrants allowed into the country is now so large that it may be overwhelming the assimilation process, including learning English." View the entire report at https://cis.org/Report/655-Million-US-Residents-Spoke-Foreign-Language-Home-2016 Among the findings: Of those who speak a foreign language at home, 26.1 million (39.8 percent) told the Census Bureau that they speak English less than very well. This figure is based entirely on the subjective opinion of the respondents. On an objective test of English literacy, prior CIS research showed that even among immigrants who have lived in the country for more than 15 years, 43 percent score at the "below basic" level, which is sometimes equated to functional illiteracy. CIS has also estimated in prior research that roughly one out of three immigrants who are naturalized citizens has below basic English literacy. The new Census Bureau data show that many Americans who speak a foreign language at home are not immigrants. In fact, half of the growth in foreign language speakers since 2010 is among those born in the United States. Overall, 44 percent (29 million) of those who speak a language other than English at home are U.S.-born. Of foreign languages with more than 400,000 speakers, the largest percentage increases since 2010 were among speakers of Arabic (up 42 percent), Hindi (up 33 percent), Urdu (up 22 percent), Chinese (up 20 percent), Persian and Haitian (each up 15 percent), and Gujarati (up 14 percent). Hindi is a national language of India, Urdu is the national language of Pakistan, Persian is the national language of Iran, and Gujarati is spoken in India. States with the largest share of their populations speaking a foreign language at home in 2016 were California (45 percent), Texas (36 percent), New Mexico (34 percent), New Jersey (32 percent), New York and Nevada (each 31 percent), Florida (29 percent), Arizona and Hawaii (each 27 percent). States with the largest percentage increases in the number of foreign-language speakers 2010 to 2016 were: Wyoming (up 25 percent), Utah (up 20 percent), Maryland (up 19 percent), Nevada (up 18 percent), Oklahoma (up 17 percent), Nebraska and North Dakota (each up 16 percent), and Virginia, Florida, and Minnesota (each up 15 percent). Taking the longer view, states with the largest percentage increases in foreign-language speakers 1980 to 2016 were: Nevada (up 1,040 percent), Georgia (up 926 percent), North Carolina (up 744 percent), Virginia (up 475 percent), Tennessee (up 425 percent), Arkansas (up 412 percent), Washington (up 395 percent), Florida (up 361 percent), South Carolina and Utah (each up 349 percent), Oregon (up 346 percent), and Maryland (up 345 percent). More from Steven A. Camarota: U.S. Immigrant Population Hit Record 43.7 Million in 2016 By Steven A. Camarota and Karen Zeigler on October 16, 2017 The Declining Fertility of Immigrants and Natives By Steven A. Camarota and Karen Zeigler on October 2, 2017 Deportation vs. the Cost of Letting Illegal Immigrants Stay By Steven A. Camarota on August 3, 2017 Census Bureau: 44.6% in California Don’t Speak English at Home; 35.6% in Texas; 34.5% in NM; 31.7% in NJ; 31.0% in NY By Terence P. Jeffrey \| October 24, 2017 \| 11:05 AM EDT (Screen Capture) (CNSNews.com) - In California--which with a July 2016 population of 39,250,017 is the nation’s most populous state--44.6 percent of the people five years of age and older do not speak English at home, according to data released this week by the Census Bureau. At the same time, according to the Census Bureau, 18.6 percent of California residents 5 and older do not speak English “very well.” That ranks California No.1 among the states for the percentage of people in both of these categories. Nationwide, 21.6 percent speak a language other than English at home and 8.6 percent speak English less than very well. Texas ranked second for the percentage of residents five and older who do not speak English at home (35.6 percent). New Mexico ranked third (34.5 percent); New Jersey ranked fourth (31.7 percent) and New York ranked fifth (31.0 percent). States Ranked by the U.S. Census Bureau by the Percentage of People 5 and Older Who Speak a Language Other Than English at Home: West Virginia had the smallest percentage of residents (2.5 percent) who spoke a language other than English at home. Montana had the second smallest (3.7 percent); Mississippi had the third smallest (3.8 percent); Alabama, the fourth (5.1 percent); and North Dakota the fifth (5.2 percent). The Census Bureau asks about the language people speak in their homes and how well they speak English in its American Community Survey. The numbers released this week were for the 2016 survey. “We ask one question about whether people speak a language other than English at home, what language they speak, and how well they speak English to create a profile of the languages spoken in communities,” says the Census Bureau on its website. The first question on language the Census Bureau asks respondents is a yes-no question: “Does this person speak a language other than English at home?” If the answer is “yes,” there are two follow up questions: “What is this language?” “How well does this person speak English?” For this last question, respondents have the option to answer: very well, well, not well, or not at all. The percentages of those who fall into each category, as published by the Census Bureau, apply only to “people 5 years and over.” In addition to leading the nation with the percentage of residents 5 or older who speak a language other than English at home, California also led the nation for the percentage of people who, as the Census Bureau puts it, “speak English less than ‘very well.’” In 2016, 18.6 percent of the people 5 or older in California spoke English less than very well. Texas ranked second in this category (14.0 percent); New York was third (13.7 percent); New Jersey was fourth (12.6 percent), and Hawaii was fifth (12.2 percent). Montana was the state with the smallest percentage of residents who could not speak English very well (0.7 percent). West Virginia had the second smallest (0.8 percent); Vermont, the third (1.3 percent); Mississippi, the fourth (1.4 percent); and Maine, the fifth (1.7 percent). States Ranked by the U.S. Census Bureau by the Percentage of People 5 and Older Who Speak English Less Than Very Well: California also led the nation for the percentage of residents (27.2 percent) who are foreign born. New York was second (23.0 percent); New Jersey was third (22.5 percent); Florida was fourth (20.6 percent), and Nevada was fifth (20.0 percent). The five states with the smallest percentage of foreign-born residents were: West Virginia (1.7 percent), Mississippi (2.0 percent), Montana (2.1 percent), Wyoming (3.2 percent) and North Dakota (3.2 percent). Nationwide, according to the Census Bureau, 13.5 percent of the people are foreign born. Adios, California What’s clear is that the producers are leaving the state and the takers are coming in. Many of the takers are illegal aliens, now estimated to number over 2.6 million. The Federation for American Immigration Reform estimates that California spends $22 billion on government services for illegal aliens, including welfare, education, Medicaid, and criminal justice system costs. Liberals claim they more than make that up with taxes paid, but that’s simply not true. It’s not even close. FAIR estimates illegal aliens in California contribute only $1.21 billion in tax revenue, which means they cost California $20.6 billion, or at least $1,800 per household. https://spectator.org/adios-california/?utm_source=American+Spectator+Emails&utm_campaign=6e1b467cf4-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_797a38d487-6e1b467cf4-104520165 Illegal Immigration Costs U.S. Taxpayers a Stunning $134.9 Billion a Year http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2017/09/illegal-immigration-costs-u-s-taxpayers-stunning-134-9-billion-year/ "An important factor in our long-term success requires securing our borders," Attorney General Sessions said. Overall, in the 2017 Fiscal Year, officials revealed that a record-breaking 455,000 pounds plus of drugs had already been seized. In 2016, that number amounted to 443,000 pounds. The 2017 haul is worth an estimated $6.1 billion – BREITBART – JEFF SESSION’S DRUG BUST ON SAN DIEGO http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2017/09/20/ag-sessions-touts-record-breaking-drug-seizure-san-diego/ REMITTANCES ….. are only part of Mexico’s looting… and billions for anchor baby breeders, billions for heroin sales and then do the numbers! http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-la-raza-mexican-looting-of-america.html Mexicans abroad sent home nearly $2.4 billion in transfers in November, 24.7 percent higher than a year earlier, marking their fastest pace of expansion since March 2006, according to Mexican central bank data on Monday… ILLEGALS & WELFARE 70% OF ILLEGALS GET WELFARE! “According to the Centers for Immigration Studies, April '11, at least 70% of Mexican illegal alien families receive some type of welfare in the US!!! cis.org” http://www.cis.org/print/immigrant-welfare-use-2011 So when cities across the country declare that they will NOT be sanctuary, guess where ALL the illegals, criminals, gang members fleeing ICE will go???? straight to your welcoming city. So ironically the people fighting for sanctuary city status, may have an unprecedented crime wave to deal with along with the additional expense. $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies. $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English. $22 billion is spent on (AFDC) welfare to illegal aliens each year. $2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as (SNAP) food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens. $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens. 30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens. Does not include local jails and State Prisons. 2012 illegal aliens sent home $62 BILLION in remittances back to their countries of origin. This is why Mexico is getting involved in our politics. $200 Billion Dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused by the illegal aliens. Nearly One Million Sex Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants In The United States. THE HORDES OF ILLEGALS KEEP COMING…. Despite America’s jobs, housing and Mexican crime tidal wave. http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2017/10/americas-open-borders-hordes-keep.html Pollak: Flake, Corker Hoping Trump Will ‘Fall’ So They Can ‘Take Back Their Control’ of GOP by PAM KEY25 Oct 2017258 Wednesday on MSNBC’s “MTP Daily,” Breitbart senior editor-at-large Joel Pollak said Sens. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Bob Corker (R-TN) were criticizing President Donald Trump because they were “hoping he’ll fall and they can take back their control as gatekeepers of the party.” Pollak said, “I think it’s noteworthy that when Jeff Flake took to the Senate floor to talk about his grievances against the president, he didn’t mention policy, he didn’t mention ideology. He mentioned behavior and used that term as well. What he really meant was the president’s words, use of Twitter, some of the things he said in response to critics, and I don’t they are what most people think of when they think of threats to democracy. I think if you had a president who ignored the Constitution, as Obama did, or a president who ignored the courts, as Obama did.” He continued, “The striking thing about Jeff Flake’s speech was he completely ignored the eight years of Obama, some of the hostility on the left. There was no criticism what the left, what the Democrats had done to create the political situation we’re in. So I don’t know what it is specifically he had a problem with Trump about.” He added, “I think for many of Trump critics, especially in the never Trump wing of the Republican Party, it is really about personality. It is also about access. These are people from institutions, maybe think tanks or other lobbying organizations, who thought he would have access to power if a Republican won, and Trump did it without them so they don’t have that access. And so they are burning bridges hoping he’ll fall and they can take back their control as gatekeepers of the party.” Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN POLITICO: SECRET AMNESTY LAUNCHED BY GOP FOR SPRIN... 9-11 INVADING SAUDIS SAY THEY ARE CHANGING THEIR C... U.S. SENATE: SERVANTS OF CRIMINAL BANKSTERS SHARI GOODMAN - AN AMERICAN OLIGARCHY v WE THE... SWAMPER KEEPER TRUMP'S CRONIES WHITEFISH ENERGY, P... OBAMA-CLINTON-TRUMPERNOMICS: TAX CUT FOR SUPER RIC... CENTER FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES: PUSH 2 FOR ENGLISH...	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5635
__label__cc	0.622661	0.377339	Does more education stem political violence? education, political violence, Recent evidence of above-average levels of education among genocide perpetrators and terrorists, such as those who carried out the 9/11 attacks, has challenged the consensus among scholars that education has a generally pacifying effect. Is it true that more schooling can promote peaceful behavior and reduce civil conflict and other behaviours politically-motivated group violence? In a study, three Norwegian researchers attempt to bring clarity to this question by undertaking the first systematic examination of quantitative research on this topic. Based on the analysis, the evidence very strongly suggests that increasing education levels in the population at all levels of the education system—primary, secondary, and postsecondary—reduces most forms of armed conflict and fosters peace. This has important policy implications since, compared to other factors that affect political violence, education is something that almost all governments can do something about through national policy. The researchers note that while the expansion of postsecondary education has been voiced as a concern—particularly as it relates to recruiting terrorists and promoting low-level protests—the evidence suggests there is little reason that governments should be cautious about rapidly expanding access to education. Although some evidence suggests that terrorists are often well educated and rarely marginalized, this does not imply that providing education in areas prone to terror will lead to more terrorist violence. The higher-than-average education levels among recruits to terrorist organizations are likely to be a selection effect, whereby more educated and thus qualified recruits are chosen over those who are less qualified. Restricting educational opportunities for young people is not likely to be a productive strategy for governments seeking to curb terrorism, according to research work. Overall, the researchers found that lack of male education appears to be the strongest predictor of conflict. Systematic inequalities in access to education between religious and ethnic groups also appear to fuel conflict, whether this is caused by grievances among or simply by too few opportunities for young people in the disadvantaged group. Higher levels of gender parity in educational outcomes are also associated with less violence. Last modified onFriday, 19 October 2018 12:10 Take a timeout before you force your kid to apologize Drawing is better than writing for memory retention Kids health outcomes have more to do with parents level of education than income Exposure To A Foreign Language Ignites Infants' Learning Most Adults Know More Than 42,000 Words	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5637
__label__wiki	0.600868	0.600868	Rs.200 Cr. Set Aside For Developing World Class Sports Stadiums In J&K New Delhi: The Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley has provided a sum of Rs. 200 crore in General Budget 2014-15 for upgrading the indoor and outdoor sports stadiums to international standards in Jammu and in Kashmir valley. In his maiden Budget Speech in Parliament here today, Jaitley said that Jammu and Kashmir has a lot of sporting talent which is not finding expression due to inadequate sports facilities. The Finance Minister also proposed to set-up a sports university in Manipur with a provision of Rs. 100 crore in the current financial year. He also set aside a sum of Rs. 100 crore for the training of sports women and men for the upcoming Asian and Commonwealth Games. Highlighting the importance of sports in personality development, Jaitley said that Government will set-up national level Sports Academies for major games in different parts of the country to mainstream sports. The Finance Minister, Jaitley said that to help the youth find right jobs, employment exchanges will be transformed into career centers which will extend counseling facilities to the youth for selecting the jobs best suited to their ability and aptitude. He has set aside a sum of Rs. 100 crore in the current financial year for this purpose. Jaitley also launched 'A Young Leadership Programme' with an initial allocation of Rs. 100 crore in the current Budget. More in this category: « FM Sets Up An Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission ‘Namami Gange’ Rs.200 Crores Allocated For The Statue Of Unity »	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5638
__label__cc	0.680504	0.319496	Does the World Need Another Vampire Apocalypse Novel? Vampire novels are everywhere. You can find them in bookstores, at the library and on the electronic shelves of every eBook retailer. They’re populated with sexy vampires, conflicted vampires and murderous (as opposed to vegetarian?) vampires. The blood suckers can be found in space, alternate universes and historical fiction. So why am I launching a vampire apocalypse novel now? I first thought of the idea of vampires having a communicable disease back in the eighties, but that theme is so ubiquitous now that it’s now far from an original concept. My novel is a unique approach, but so are a lot of novels in the genre, those that aren’t simply quick rip offs of Twilight. I could also point out that vampires are still hot, that the majority of the eBook reading public is under thirty years old and that there’s always room for one more vampire, but it’s not really why I wrote this novel. It’s all about the 1000 Souls. I came up with this concept, this new religion, when I met a Russian in Bokhara, Uzbekistan. The man owned a small hotel. He was smart, professional and a master at supplying tourists with everything they could need at fair prices. He reminded me so much of a South African caterer in Canada that I was stunned. It was as if the two men had the same soul, even though their DNA had taken very different routes down through evolution. These men didn’t look at all alike, but they were the same guy in different bodies. So as I wrote my vampire novel, the religion of Erics (yes, plural) and the 1000 Souls was born, the concept that there are only 1000 souls spread between 7 billion humans. Ever meet someone and swear you’ve met them before even though it’s not possible? Well maybe you have, but you were shaking hands with a different host body for the same soul. So each living human’s body is playing host to 1/seven millionth of a soul, meaning you could meet quite a few people with the same soul. It also means that the souls are pretty thinly spread, which is where the vampire apocalypse comes in. Kill off billions of people, and the remaining host bodies now contain denser souls. This makes their human hosts more passionate and daring than our thinned-souled present day humans. Confused? Like any religion, the devil is in the details. The Book of Bertrand is just the beginning, and religions evolve over time. A quick check of the first centuries of Judaism, Christianity and Islam alone prove that the formation of a new religion is a tumultuous time. But why vampires? Why not a less dramatic plague like bird flu? Because every new religion at its beginning needs to confront pure evil. But the biggest reason I’m adding another vampire apocalypse novel to the world, is because I enjoyed writing it. I believe it was J.R.R. Tolkien who stated that he wrote novels that he would enjoy reading himself. I enjoyed reading (and re-reading) the Book of Bertrand. I really like Bertrand and his friends, and I can’t wait to write what happens in the next novel. Indie Publishing, Promotion, The Book of Bertrand January 3rd, 2012 at 08:56pm Amazon, publishing, Vampires, writing	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5640
__label__wiki	0.845483	0.845483	2019/2020 Subscription Options NEW! Beethoven Super-Subscription NEW! Just Beethoven Series 2019/2020 Mini Subscription October 19 & 20, 2019 MMModern November 15, 2019 December 7 & 8, 2019 February 8 & 9, 2020 Beethoven I, II, II March 13, 14, & 15, 2020 Beethoven IV, V, VI May 1, 2, & 3, 2020 Nicholas Cords For more than two decades, omnivorous violist Nicholas Cords has been on the front line of a growing constellation of projects. IMAGE CREDIT: Erin Baiano For more than two decades, omnivorous violist Nicholas Cords has been on the front line of a growing constellation of projects as performer, educator, and cultural advocate. As newly appointed Co-Artistic director of Silkroad, founding member of Brooklyn Rider, and Artist In Residence at Stony Brook University, he is deeply committed to music from a broad variety of traditions and epochs, with a particular passion for the cross-section between the long tradition of classical music and the polyglot music of today. Nicholas serves as violist, Programming Chair, and Co-Artistic director of Silkroad, a musical collective founded by Yo-Yo Ma in 2000 with the simple belief that radical cross-cultural collaboration leads to a more hopeful world. This mission is poignantly explored by the recent Oscar-nominated documentary by Morgan Neville, The Music of Strangers, which profiles the individual stories of Ensemble members and makes a case for why culture matters in today's world. In recent years, Nicholas has served as Silkroad Programming Chair and has also been involved in bringing to life more than a hundred compositions and arrangements over the group's relatively short history. Another key aspect of Nicholas’ busy musical life is as founding member of Brooklyn Rider, an intrepid group which NPR credits with “recreating the 300-year-old form of the string quartet as a vital and creative 21st-century ensemble.” In a short amount of time, Brooklyn Rider’s singular mission and gripping performance style have resulted in an indelible contribution to the world of the string quartet and has brought in legions of fans across the spectrum. Beginning his musical education at the Juilliard School, Nicholas won top honors in the viola competition and subsequently gave the New York premiere of John Harbison’s Viola Concerto at Avery Fisher Hall. He completed his studies at Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music. His teachers and mentors have included Karen Tuttle, Harvey Shapiro, Joseph Fuchs, and Felix Galimir. A committed teacher, Nicholas is currently viola faculty at New England Conservatory. Mr. Cords plays on an instrument made for him in 2014 by famed Brooklyn maker Samuel Zygmuntowicz, modeled on the ex-William Primrose Giuseppe Guarneri (filius Andrea) from 1697. He performs on bows from a wide variety of the world’s top modern makers including Charles Espey and Benoit Rolland. The First Congregational Church of Old Lyme 2 Ferry Rd, Old Lyme, CT 06371 GET DIRECTIONS Email musical masterworks PO Box 684, Old Lyme, CT 06371 © 2019 Musical Masterworks. All Rights Reserved. \| Privacy Policy \| Terms of Use Designed by Julia Balfour, LLC	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5644
__label__cc	0.526666	0.473334	Publication of Law 1 of 2014 reestablishes local-source taxation The territorial taxation system whereby only local-source income is subject to taxation was reinstated under Law 1 of 1984 upon publication of Official Gazette of Friday, January 10, 2014. Approval Law 1 came after vocal opposition to previous Law 120 of 2013 from the Panama Bar Association, the Panama Association of Enterpreneurs (APEDE), and other groups of logistics and financial employers - including the pro-bearer share immobilization Panama Banking Association. Law 1 abrogated Law 120 of 2013 which had been valid for 12 days and reinstated the validity of Article 694 of the Tax Code. Under Article 694, income from the several activities abroad is considered foreign‑source and, therefore, is not taxable, such as: •Invoicing from an office in Panama for sale of merchandise that does not enter Panama; •Managing from Panama transactions that are executed abroad; •Distributing dividends from non‑taxable income or income from activities conducted abroad; •Passive income from loans or other financial transactions with foreign borrowers, even if the reimbursement is conducted in Panama; •Settling of foreign assets under a Panamanian trust; •Bank deposits of foreigners in Panama; and •Securities of any kind issued by Panamanian corporations of fully foreign‑source income. Taxable income is the difference resulting from subtracting deductible expenses from gross income. Deductible expenses are those incurred for the maintenance and production of the income (eg, office expenses and promotion), as well as others authorised by law. The taxpayer must allocate expenses to exempt, taxable, or foreign source income, maintaining separate accounting for each type of income to ensure approval in case of an audit. Taxpayers with both Panama and foreign source income must prove to taxation authorities that expenses were indeed used for Panama source income in order to allow their deductibility. Under the "rule of proportionality", expenses made for both types of income may be deducted only in the proportion that they maintain to total income. As in previous years, individuals and entities which have commercial activities in Panama with other Panama taxpayers or applied for Aviso de Operacion business licenses have to file their income tax returns before each March 31. Law 1 of 2014 http://www.gacetaoficial.gob.pa/pdfTemp/27450_A/45163.pdf Panama Administration will continue local-source taxation http://mypanamalawyer.blogspot.com/2014/01/panama-administration-will-continue.html Panama Cabinet votes to revoke Law 120 of 1973 and reaffirm territorial taxation http://mypanamalawyer.blogspot.com/2014/01/panama-cabinet-votes-to-revoke-law-120.html Panama Chapter of International Taxation of Low-Tax Transactions amazon_com Panama taxation news http://mypanamalawyer.blogspot.com/search/label/taxation Renta 2013 tax return filing freeware https://www.anip.gob.pa/descarga_renta.html MEF REQUESTS FOR THE REPEAL OF SECTIONS 2 AND 3 OF THE ACT NO. 120 OF 2013 “It is subject to tax, the taxable income that occurs, from any source, within the territory of the Republic of Panama, whatever the place where it is perceptible.” "We are a country that has historically substantiated its criterion of income tax by applying the principle of territoriality," said the Minister in Charge of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), Gladys Cedeño Urrutia, after submitting to the National Assembly of Deputies, the abrogation of articles No. 2 and No. 3 of Act No. 120 of 2013. The income will be territorial, as set forth in article No. 694 of the Tax Code. "It is subject to tax, the taxable income that occurs, from any source, within the territory of the Republic of Panama, whatever the place where it is perceptible," reiterated the Minister in Charge, Cedeño. This action corrects any errors logged at the time of writing the articles 2 and 3 of the Act 120, and comes to restore the validity of article 694 of the Tax Code. This Law has retroactive effect from December 30th, 2013. www.mef.gob.pa Etiquetas: panama, taxation Panama Cabinet votes to revoke Law 120 of 1973 and reaffirm territorial taxation The Legislature must now approve the bill, followed by its publication in the Official Gazette. The Panama Cabinet approved a bill to revoke Law 120 of 2013 which had eliminated tax benefits to Panama companies and individuals performing transactions which take affect outside of the country. The Presidency issued 2 press release which we transcribe verbatim. Law 120 of 2013 http://competenciafiscal.blogspot.com/2013/12/ley-120-de-2013-es-bomba-atomica-para.html Government reiterates compromise with tax territoriality The National Government, through Cabinet Council held on January 2nd, 2014, approved a Cabinet Resolution authorizing the Secretary of Economy and Finances to present to the National Assembly a Bill that revokes articles 2 and 3 of Law 120 from 2013 and restitutes article 694 of the Tax Code. This Law will be of public order and has retroactive effects to December 30th, 2013. The project will be presented on Monday, January 6th when the National Assembly retakes their regular period of sessions. With this step the National Government reiterates their historic compromise to keep the principle of territoriality at the source, for purposes of calculating Income Tax applicable to natural and legal people that operate inside the Republic of Panama´s territory. The Cabinet Council revokes law establishing taxable income outside Panamanian territory The disposition has retroactive effects since December 30th, 2013. The Cabinet Council approved a resolution that revokes articles 2 and 3 of Law 120 from December 30th, 2013, establishing that all natural or legal people that received a taxable income outside Panamanian territory would pay taxes. Through the aforementioned resolution, approved in an Extraordinary Cabinet Session, article 694 of the Tax Code is completely reestablished stating that: “it is object of this tax the taxable income produced, in any way, inside the territory of the Republic of Panama, regardless of the place received”. This disposition highlights that this Law is of public order and is retroactive to December 30th, 2013 and will take effect once it is enacted. According to the explanation of motives, this measure was taken “once the National Government is aware that the implementation of the world tax regimen in regards to Income Tax requires more discussion and debate, and that such modification changes completely the tax outlook of the country”. Source: www.presidencia.gob.pa Etiquetas: Panama economy, taxation Panama Administration will continue local-source taxation The Panama Administration accepted its mistake in trying to impose worldwide taxation instead of the local-source taxation system in place under Article 694 of the Tax Code of 1957. The President Ricardo Martinelli blamed current Revenue Authority (ANIP) administrator Luis Cucalon for the passage of Law 120 of 2013, while Vice-Minister Luis E. Camacho assumed responsibility and current Minister of Economy Frank De Lima (author of restrictions to bearer shares on behalf of the OECD) said more consultations were necessary. The fact remains that several dozen legislators of the government Cambio Democratico party approved the law in its 3rd reading and failed to predict the onslaught of public opinion opposing this change to the Tax Code. Article 694 of the Tax Code states that the obligation to pay the income tax will be for the "taxpayers" and defines it as: "Taxpayer, as the term is used in this Title, is the individual or legal entity, national or foreign, who receives taxable income subject to the tax." However, Law 120 replaced Paragraph 2 which stated since 1964 that "The income arising from the following activities are not deemed as earned within the territory of the Republic of Panama: (a) To invoice, from an office established in Panama, the sale of merchandises or products for an amount higher than that for which such merchandises or products have been invoiced against the office established in Panama, provided such merchandises or products only move outside of Panamanian territory. (b) To manage, from an office established in Panama, transactions that are performed, executed or have effects abroad. (c) To distribute dividends or participation quotas of entities which do not require an Operations Notice or which do not generate taxable income in Panama, when such dividends or participations are earned from revenues not produced within the territory of the Republic of Panama, including those revenues earned from the activities mentioned in literals a and b of this paragraph." Even if Law 120 still would have allowed banks and free zone companies not to pay income tax on foreign-source income, thousands of foreign individuals who had relocated as expatriates to Panama would have to pay Panama incme tax on foreign income or pensions. Double taxation treaties would have provided some tax relief for citizens of a few countries. The Panama Presidency issued a press release over the holidays. Articles 2 and 3 of Law 120 will be revoked The Director of the National Authority of Income (Autoridad Nacional de Ingresos, in Spanish), Luis Cucalón accepted mistakenly including articles 2 and 3 of Law 120 from 2013 to Congress, which deals with territoriality of the incomes received outside Panama by national and legal Panamanians. “Even though wrong things have been said about the scope of the law, I recognize that I made a mistake thinking Panama was ready to take that step”, he said. Cucalón requested the President of the Republic to revoke article 2 and 3 of the aforementioned Law. The request was accepted. “I have asked the Director of the National Authority of Income to be more careful in the future. I have accepted his recommendation to present a law that revokes articles 2 and 3 of Law 120 and reestablishes the ones revoked or modified by them, just like I accepted his request to sanction the Law with the incorporation of the articles proposed by him. I did it because I trust completely in Cucalón´s professionalism, hence the position. The State´s unprecedented revenue are his best job reference”, said the President. Publicado por Moderator en 12:36 PM No comments: Panama: Expanding insurance uptake Latin America \| 17 May 2013 Home to 3.5m people, Panama has one of the largest and most competitive insurance markets in Central America, with 30 companies vying for annual insurance premiums of around $1bn. Moreover, the sector continues to expand alongside broader economic growth. According to the Insurance and Reinsurance Superintendent of Panama (SSRP), insurance premiums rose by 8.2% in 2012. Drivers of growth included the automotive segment, which expanded by 8.4% to $199.2m, giving it a 17.5% market share. Health coverage, which increased 14.9%, had the second-highest market share of 15.9% ($181.3m). It was followed by collective life insurance ($135.3m, 11.9% market share) and individual life insurance ($119.8m, 10.5% market share), which grew by 5.6% and 12.4%, respectively. Meanwhile, home fire insurance experienced one of the larger percentage increases, at 19.1% growth ($96.9m, 8.5% market share). Despite market expansion in recent years, insurance coverage is still considered expensive and unnecessary by many people. While further educating uninsured segments of the population on the benefits of insurance coverage could stimulate growth in some middle- and lower-income communities in the short term, market penetration is expected to continue to rise alongside growth in per capita income and consumer purchasing power. Nevertheless, even today, Panama is doing well compared to its neighbours, ranking third in Latin America in terms of insurance spending per capita. According to the Association of Insurance Supervisors of Latin America, in 2011 its per capita spending on premiums of $290.61 was topped only by Chile ($524.34) and Brazil ($329.29). Panama has also attracted some of the biggest global names in insurance, including Mapfre, HSBC Insurance, ACE Group and Generali. The market is highly competitive, with no one firm holding a share greater than 20%, and only three accounting for more than 10% of premiums. According to the SSRP, in 2012 the five largest providers in terms of revenue were Compañia Internacional de Seguros (17.6%, $200.4m), ASSA Compañia de Seguros (16.3%, $185.9m), Mapfre Panama (13.2%, $150.1m), Assicurazione Generali (8.3%, $94.2m) and Asegudora Ancon (6%, $68.7m). In April 2012 insurance reform was passed through the approval of Law No 12 of 2012. The legislation addresses multiple aspects of the insurance sector, starting from the top, with a strengthening of the regulator. The SSRP was formerly an extension of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry but is now a fully autonomous agency with the ability to enforce regulations regarding financial viability as well as consumer protection. Under the new framework, capital requirements for insurance companies have increased to $2.5m. This may make it more difficult for new firms to enter the market, although it will help ensure that investments will come from providers with a long-term commitment to the country, according to the Panama Insurance Association. The new law also provides for consumer protection in the insurance segment for the first time, allowing the SSRP to investigate customer complaints. With a strengthened, modern regulatory framework, the SSRP is now trying to take the sector beyond Panama’s borders. Indeed, transforming the country into a centre for insurance and reinsurance companies in Central America has now become one of the main objectives of the SSRP. It may have already had some success, with Mapfre reportedly considering a consolidation of its Central American reinsurance operations to Panama. For full text see http://www.oxfordbus inessgroup.com/ More information is available in http://www.oxfordbusinessgroup.com/product/report/report-panama-2013 Etiquetas: insurance, Panama economy Publication of Law 1 of 2014 reestablishes local-s... Panama Cabinet votes to revoke Law 120 of 1973 and... Panama Administration will continue local-source t...	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5649
__label__cc	0.657907	0.342093	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 19 20 Home > Location My Place Hotel is located in a peaceful street in the important Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, very close to the most important places of the city, at only 2 minutes away from Earl's Court Exhibition Centre, while Olympia Exhibition Centre is at only 10 minutes. The London most charming shopping area is very near the hotel, with its Oxford Street, Bond Street, Knightsbridge (Harrods), and Sloane Square (King's Road), or Kensington High Street, with their numerous shops and department stores. If you come by the Tube Earls Court, you have to take the Piccadilly and District Lines, that are at 1 minute from the hotel; if you come by the Tube West Brompton, take the District Line, at 5 minutes from the hotel. If you come by rail, the Silverlink Metro Trains run direct services to West Brompton from Clapham Junction, Gatwick Airport, Brighton, Watford Junction, Milton Keynes, Northampton and Rugby. If you come by road, the M4 becomes A4 (West Cromwell Road). Turn right into Earls Court Road and take the 3rd turning on the right. From the motorway, the right ones are the M4, M25 and M1. My Place Hotel, 1-3, Trebovir Road - London London Guide \| More hotels in London \| Privacy & Terms of Use	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5650
__label__cc	0.601781	0.398219	The Multi-State Cooperative Societies Rules, 2002 Ministry of Agriculture (Department of Agriculture and Cooperation) New Delhi, the 2nd December 2002 G.S.R 790(E) -In exercise of the powers conferred by section 124 of the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002 (39 of 2002), the Central Government hereby make the following rules, namely: Chapter 1 - Preliminary Ozg Registration, Approval & Licensing Consultant Ozg Center, New Delhi & Mumbai, INDIA Phone # 098-735-09314, 098-735-23276; 098-715-62842 Email: registration.consultant@ozg.co.in Website: http://registration.ozg.in/ 1. Short title, extent and commencement 1. These Rules may be called the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Rules, 2002. 2. These rules shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette. In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires, (i) "Act" means the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002 (39 of 2002); (ii) "authorised office" means an officer authorised by the Central Government for the purpose of section 103 of the Act; (iii) "decree" means any decree of a civil court and includes any decision or order referred to in section 94 of the Act; (iv) "decree holder" means any person holding a decree as defined in clause (iii); (v) "defaulter" means any multi-state cooperative society, any cooperative society, member or any other person committing default; (vi) "form" means a form appended to these rules, (vii) "general meeting" means a meeting of the general body including a representative general body referred to in the first proviso to subsection (1) of section 38; (viii) "judgement debtor" means a meeting any multi-state cooperative society against which or any person against whom a decree has been obtained; (ix) "recovery officer" means any person authorised to execute the powers of the Central Registrar under section 94; (x) "sale officer" means a person authorised by the Central Registrar by a general or special order, to attach and sale the property of judgement debtor or to execute any decree by attachment or sale of property; (xi) "section" means a section of the Act; (xii) "schedule" means a schedule appended to these rules; (xiii) Words and expressions defined in the Act and used but not defined in these rules shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the Act. Chapter 2 - Registration 3. Application for registration (1) An application for registration of a multi-state cooperative society under sub-section (1) of section 6 shall be made in Form I and shall, subject to the provisions of sub-section (2) of section 6 and sub-rules (2), (3), (4) and (5) of these Rules be signed by the applicants and be accompanied by (a) four copies of the proposed bye-laws of the multi-state cooperative society, duly signed by each of the persons who sign the application for registration; (b) a list of persons who have contributed to the share capital, together with the amount contributed by each of them, and the admission fee paid by them; (c) a certificate from the bank or banks stating the credit balance in favour of the proposed multi-state cooperative society; (d) a scheme showing the details explaining how the working of the multi-state cooperative society will be economically sound and the registration of such multi-state cooperative society will be beneficial for social and economic betterment of its members through self-help and mutual aid in accordance with the cooperative principles; (e) certified copy of the resolution of the promoters which shall specify the name and address of one of the applicants to whom the Central Registrar may address correspondence under the rules before registration and dispatch or hand over registration documents. (2) Where any member of a multi-state cooperative society to be registered is a multi-state cooperative society or a cooperative society, the Chairperson or Chief Executive or a member duly authorised by board of directors or the governing body of such multi-state cooperative society or cooperative society, as the case may be, shall be authorised by that board by as resolution, to sign the application for registration and bye-laws on its behalf, and a copy of such resolution shall be suspended to the application. (3) Where the members of a multi-state cooperative society to be registered are cooperative Societies or multi-state cooperative societies and individuals, such application shall be signed by individuals and authorised representative of such cooperative society or multi-state cooperative society. (4) Where any member of multi-state cooperative society to be registered is a Government company, a corporate body or a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 (21 of 1860) such member duly authorise any person to sign the application for registration and the bye-laws on its behalf and a copy of such resolution giving such authority shall be appended to the application. (5) A copy of resolution indicating the name of one or more applicants, who are authorised to make alterations or additions to the proposed bye-laws submitted with the application, as may be suggested by the Central Registrar, shall be submitted. (6) The application shall either be sent by registered post or delivered by hand to the Central Registrar in his Office. (1) On receipt of an application under rule 3, the Central Registrar shall enter the particulars of the application in the register of applications to be maintained in Form II, give a serial number to the application and issue a receipt in acknowledgement thereof. (2) If the Central Registrar is satisfied that the proposed multi-state cooperative society has complied with the requirements of the Act and the rules, he may register the society and its bye-laws. (3) Where the Central Registrar registers a multi-state cooperative society, he shall issue to the said society a certificate of registration signed by him and bearing his official seal containing registration number and date of registration of the said society. The Central Registrar shall also issue, along with the certificate of registration, a certified copy of bye-laws, as approved and registered by him, which shall be the registered bye-laws of the said society for the time being in force. 5. Refusal of registration (1) The order of refusal to register a multi-state cooperative society referred to in sub-section (3) of section 7 shall be communicated through registered post to the person referred to in clause (e) of sub-rule (1) of rule 3, of the proposed society. (2) The manner of communication of orders refusing the registration under sub-rule (1) shall be conclusive proof for refusal of the registration of the proposed society. 6. Bye-laws Every multi-state cooperative society applying for registration under this Act may make bye-laws consistent with the provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder and model bye-laws, if any, framed by the Central Registrar. The subject matter of the bye-laws shall be as provided in section 10 and other relevant provisions of the Act and rules made thereunder. In addition, the bye-laws may also include, (i) Procedure and manner of redemption of shares. (ii) The provisions of office bearers of the society, the terms and conditions, their functions and responsibilities other than those specified in the Act. (iii) Constitution of the committees of the board. (iv) Rate of dividend subject to maximum of the rates specified in the bye-laws. (v) The procedure for the association and representation of employees of the society. (vi) Constitution of the committees of the board. (vii) The procedure of election or selection for constitution of smaller body of delegates. (viii) The method of recruitment, the condition of service and the authority competent to fix, revise or regulate the scales of pay and allowance to be paid to the officers and other employees of the society and the procedure to be followed in the disposal of disciplinary cases. (ix) The constitution and powers of the representative general body and the restrictions subject to which this body may exercise its powers. 7. Refusal of amendment of bye-laws (1) Where the Central Registrar refuses to register an amendment of bye-laws of a multi state cooperative society under sub-section (9) of section 11, he shall communicate the order of refusal together with the reasons therefore to the chief executive of a multi-state cooperative society, through registered post. (2) The manner of communication of the order of refusal under sub-rule (1) shall conclusive proof that the amendments of bye-laws have been refused and communicated to the society. 8. Principal place of business and address (1) Every multi-state cooperative society shall have one principal place of business which shall be the registered office of the society and shall be specified in the bye laws. (2) Every change in principal place of business of a multi-state cooperative society shall be made by an amendment of its bye-laws after the following procedure laid down in section 11 of the Act. (3) Any change in registered office of a multi-state cooperative society, the same shall be notified to the Central Registrar within a period of fifteen days of its change. 9. Maintenance of Registration file by the society (1) Every multi-state cooperative society shall maintain at its registered address a registration file containing, (a) the certificate of registration; (b) the registered bye-laws; (c) all registered amendments to the bye-laws along with the certificates of registration of amendments; (d) a copy of the Act and the rules. (2) The registration file shall be kept open for inspection at all times during working hours to the Central Registrar or any other officer authorised by him or any member of multi-state cooperative society. 10. Change in name of multi-state cooperative society (1) The name of a multi-state cooperative society may be changed after following the procedure given in the section 11, however, that it does not refer to any caste or religion denomination and is not inconsistent with the objects of the multi-state cooperative society. (2) Every change in the name of the multi-state cooperative society shall be made by an amendment of its bye-laws. (3) After the change in the name is approved by the Central Registrar the multi-state cooperative society shall send the original registration certificate for amendment to the Central Registrar who shall return the same to the multi-state cooperative society duly amended. 11. Conditions to be complied with for membership (1) No persons shall be admitted as a member of a multi-state cooperative society unless (a) he has applied in writing in the form, if any, laid do0wn by the multi-state cooperative society or in the form specified by the Central Registrar, if any, for membership; (b) his application is approved by the board of the multi-state cooperative society; (c) he has purchased the minimum number of shares and paid the value thereof in full or in part in such calls as may be laid down in the bye-laws of the multi-state cooperative society; (d) he has fulfilled all other conditions laid down in the Act, the rules and the bye-laws; (e) in the case of a multi-state cooperative society or a cooperative society or the national cooperative society or any other corporation owned or controlled by the Government or any Government or any Government company or body of persons whether incorporated or not, the application for membership shall be accompanied by a resolution authorising it to apply for such membership. (2) No person shall be eligible for admission as a member of a multi-state cooperative society if he – (a) has not attained the age of 18 years; (b) has been adjudged by a competent court to be an insolvent or an undischarged insolvent; (c) has been sentenced for any offence, other than offence of a political character or an offence not involving moral turpitude and dishonesty and a period of five years has not elapsed from the date of expiry of the sentence. (3) Notwithstanding anything contained in these rules or the bye-laws of the multi-state cooperative society, if a member becomes or has already become subject to any disqualifications specified in sub-rule (2), he shall be deemed to have ceased to be a member of the society from the date when the disqualification was incurred. (4) No individual being a member of a primary level multi-state cooperative society or a multi-state credit society, or a multi-state urban cooperative bank, shall be the member of any other multi-state cooperative society or cooperative society of the same class without the general or special permission of the Central Registrar and where an individual has become a member of two such cooperative societies aforesaid, than either or both of the societies shall be bound to remove him from membership on written requisition from the Central Registrar to that effect. (5) No multi-state cooperative society shall admit members within thirty days prior to the date of the meeting of its general body. Chapter 3 - Federal Cooperative 12. Classification of federal cooperatives (1) The federal cooperative societies may be classified with reference to the nature of their activities. Not more than one federal cooperative society shall be registered in similar and identical objects in same area of operation. (2) The federal cooperatives for the sake of promotion of their constituent members will make suitable provisions in their bye-laws to avoid competition with the member societies. Chapter - 4 Management of multi-state cooperative societies 13. Annual General Meeting (1) Every multi-state cooperative society shall hold the annual general meeting of its members not later than a period of six months after the close of cooperative year. All the general meetings shall be called at the principal place of the society. (2) Without prejudice to the provisions sub-section (3) of section 38 of the Act, a multi-state cooperative society with a membership exceeding one thousand may provide in its bye-laws for the constitution of a smaller body. The small body so constituted shall exercise all such powers of the general body as may be specified in the bye-laws. 14. Interim board and general meeting for the first election The first general meeting of the society shall be held within six months of the registration of the society by the promoter members for the election of the board of directors. The interim board selected by the applicants for the registration of a multi-state cooperative society shall hold office till the regular board is elected. 15. Notice for general meeting (1) Annual general meeting of a multi-state cooperative society may be called by giving not less than fourteen days notice in writing. (2) Special general meeting of a multi-state cooperative society may be called by giving not less than seven days notice in writing. (3) When a general meeting is called by the Central Registrar or any person authorised by him under sub-section (2) of section 39 or a special general meeting under sub-section (2) of section 40, he may determine – (i) the period of notice of such meeting which shall not be less than seven days; (ii) the time and place of such meeting; (iii) the subjects to be considered in such meeting. The Central Registrar or any person authorised by him may preside over such meeting. (4) The notice of annual general meeting shall be accompanied by a copy each of the audited balance sheet, profit and loss account, together with the auditor's report thereon relating to the preceding year and the report of the board, amendment of bye-laws, if any and election of members of the board, if any. 16. Quorum at a general meeting (1) Unless otherwise provided in the bye-laws, the quorum for a general meeting shall be one-fifth of the total number of members of the general body of a multi-state cooperative society. (2) No business shall be transacted at any general meeting unless there is a quorum at the time when the business of the meeting is due to commence. (3) If within half-an hour from the time appointed for the meeting a quorum is not present, the meeting shall stand adjourned: PROVIDED that a meeting which has been called on requisition of the members shall not be adjourned but dissolved. (4) If at any time during the meeting sufficient number of members are not present to form the quorum the Chairperson or the member presiding over the meeting on his own, or on his attention being drawn to this fact, shall adjourn the meeting and the business that remains to be transacted at this meeting, if any, shall be disposed of in the usual manner at the adjourned meeting. (5) Where a meeting is adjourned under sub-rule (3) or sub-rule (4), the adjourned meeting shall be held either on the same day or on such date, time and place as may be decided by the Chairperson or the member presiding over the meeting, but within seven days from the date of adjourned meeting. (6) No business shall be transacted at any adjourned meeting other than the business on the agenda of the adjourned meeting under sub-rule (3) or sub-rule (4). (7) No quorum shall be necessary in respect of an adjourned general meeting. 17. Voting in general meeting (1) All resolutions which are put to vote at the general meeting shall be decided by a majority of the members present and voting unless otherwise required under the Act, these rules or the bye-laws of the multi-state cooperative society. Every society shall provide in its bye-laws the procedure and manner of voting and other matters connected therewith. (2) In the event of an equality of votes, the Chairperson of the meeting, shall have a second or casting vote. 18. Minutes of the general meeting Minutes of the proceedings of the general meeting shall be entered in a minutes book kept for the purpose and shall be signed by the Chairperson and Chief Executive of the meeting. The minutes so signed, shall be an evidence of the correct proceedings of that meeting. 19. Procedure for conduct of elections (1) The election of members of the board shall be conducted by a returning officer appointed by the board in its meeting. The returning officer so appointed shall not be a member or an employee of the society: Provided, that the Central Registrar shall appoint the returning officer to conduct the election of the National multi-state cooperative societies, multi-state urban cooperative banks, multi-state agricultural processing cooperatives and Railway Employees Credit Societies. The Central Registrar may also appoint returning officer for the conduct of a election of a society if so requested by the board of Directors of such society. (2) The election of the members of the board referred to in sub-rule (1) shall be conducted by secret ballot in the manner as specified in the schedule attached with these rules. 20. Election of the Office bearers (1) The election of the office bearers of the board shall be conducted as per the programme given in the election schedule. (2) The eligibility of the candidates for the election of office bearers shall be subject to the provisions contained in sections 43 and 44 of the Act. 21. Terms and conditions of the chief executive Where the Central Government or a State Government holds fifty one percent or more equity capital of a multi-state cooperative society, the qualifications and eligibility conditions for the post of Chief Executive, the salaries and allowances, other terms and conditions of service including suspension, removal, pension, gratuity, retirement benefits etc. shall be as approved by the Central Government. Privileges, Properties and Funds of Multi-State Cooperative Societies 22. Certification of copies of entries in books (1) (a) A copy of any entry in a book of a multi-state cooperative society regularly kept in the course of its business shall be certified by the Chief Executive or officer authorised by the bye-laws of the society. (b) Where an order has been passed under section 123 superseding the board and appointing an administrator by administrator or any other officer authorised by him. (c) Where an order has been passed under sub-section (1) of section 89 appointing a liquidator of the multi-state cooperative society, by the liquidator. (2) Every certified copy shall bear the signature of the Chief Executive or any authorised officer and seal of the multi-state cooperative society. (3) The charges to be levied for the supply of such certified copies shall be as provided in the bye-laws of such a multi-state cooperative society. In absence of such a provision in the bye-laws of a multi-state cooperative society, a charge of rupees two per folio shall levied. 23. Government aid to multi-state cooperative societies Subject to the provisions of section 61 of the Act, the Central Government or a State Government may provide aid to any multi-state cooperative society on the terms and conditions mutually agreed upon. 24. Distribution of profit to members (1) No part of the funds, other than net profits, of a multi-state cooperative society shall be distributed by way of bonus or dividend or otherwise among the members. (2) Payment of dividend to the members on their paid-up share capital shall be as specified in the bye-laws. (3) The bye-laws of a multi-state cooperative society may provide for distribution of patronage bonus to its members in consonance with the transactions of a member with the society. (4) Every multi-state cooperative society may also provide for in their bye-laws the subjects and purposes for which the reserve fund will be utilized. 25. Contribution towards Cooperative Education Fund (1) Every multi-state cooperative society shall credit a sum calculated at one percent of its net profits every year as contribution to the cooperative education fund maintained by the National Cooperative Union of India Limited, New Delhi. The cooperative education fund shall be administered by a committee constituted by the Central Government for this purpose consisting of the following members – (i) The President of the National Cooperative Union of India Ltd. New Delhi Chairperson (ii) The Central Registrar Member (iii) The Financial adviser to the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation in the Ministry of Agriculture Member (iv) Two representatives of the multi-state cooperative societies to be nominated by the Central Government for every two years Members (v) The Director General, National Council for Cooperative Training, New Delhi Member (vi) The Director, Vaikunth Mehta National Institute of Cooperative Management, Pune Member (2) No expenditure out of the cooperative education fund shall be incurred without approval of the committee. (3) The National Cooperative Union of India Limited, shall maintain this fund in a separate account and all income by way of interest or otherwise accruing from contribution towards this fund shall be credited to this fund. (4) The balance in the fund, constituted under rule 4 of the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Privileges, Properties and Funds, Accounts, Audit, Winding up and Execution of Decrees, Orders and Decisions) Rules, 1985, at the commencement of these rules shall be construed the fund as if constituted under these rules. (5) The cooperative education fund shall be utilised for the purposes connected with the cooperative education and training and human resource development for cooperatives. The Committee may undertake the programmes of cooperative education and training and human resource development, through National Cooperative Union of India, National Council for Cooperative Training, contributing members or any other professionally qualified body as the Committee may, decide. 26. Contributory Provident Fund (1) Every multi-state cooperative society which has in its service ten or more regular employees shall establish a Contributory Provident Fund referred to in sub-section (1) of section 69. (2) The multi-state cooperative society creating such a fund shall provide for the following in its bye-laws – (a) Authority to administer the fund. (b) Amount of contribution to be deducted from the employee's salary. (c) Mode of nomination for payment of the amount of the contributory provident fund in case of employee's death. (d) Purpose for which, the extent to which, and the period after which, advances may be made against the security of such fund and the number of monthly installments in which advance is to be repaid. (e) Refund of employee's contribution and contribution made by the society. (f) Maintenance of accounts of such fund. (3) The amount of contribution that can be deducted from the salary of an employee of the multi-state cooperative society shall not be less than the ceiling provided in the Employee's Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 (19 of 1952) (4) The multi-state cooperative society may make such contribution every year to the employee's contributory provident fund as may be approved by the board subject to the maximum ceiling as provided in the Employee's Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 (19 of 1952). 27. Audit and Accounts (1) Every multi-state cooperative society shall keep books of account with respect to– (a) all sums of money received and expended and the matters in respect of which the receipt and expenditure take place; (c) all sales and purchase of goods; (d) the assets and liabilities; (d) in the case of a multi-state cooperative society engaged in production, processing and manufacturing, particulars relating to utilisation of materials or labour or other items of costs as may be specified in the bye-laws of such a society. (2) The audit of a multi-state cooperative society under sub-section (1) of section 73 shall include, in addition to the matters specified in sub-section (2) of that section the following particulars – (a) Whether the auditor has obtained all the information and explanations which, to the best of his knowledge and belief are necessary for the purposes of his audit; (b) Whether in his opinion proper books of accounts as specified in these rules and bye-laws have been kept by the multi-state cooperative society so far as it appears from the examination of those books and proper returns adequate for the purposes of his audit have been received from the branches not visited by him; (c) Whether the balance-sheet and profit and loss account exhibit a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the multi-state cooperative society according to best of his information and explanation give to him and as shown by the books of the multi-state cooperative society; and (d) Whether there has been any material impropriety or irregularity in the expenditure or in the realisation of money due to the multi-state cooperative society; (e) Whether in case of a cooperative bank, the guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank and National Agriculture and Rural development Bank established under the National Agriculture and rural Development Bank Act, 1981 (61 of 1981) have been adhered to. (3) The audit report shall also contain schedules with particulars of, – (a) all transactions which appear to be contrary to the provisions of the Act, the rules or the bye-laws of the multi-state cooperative society; (b) all transactions which appear to be contrary to the guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank and National Agriculture and Rural Development Bank; (c) any money belonging to the multi-state cooperative society which appears to the auditor to be band or doubtful of recovery; (d) the loans given by the multi-state cooperative society to the members of the board; (e) any violation of guidelines, conditions etc. issued by the Reserve Bank of India or National Agriculture and Rural Development by any cooperative Bank; (f) any other matters as may be specified by the Central Registrar in this regard. 28. Procedure to be adopted by liquidator When liquidator has been appointed under sub-section (1) of section 89, the following procedure shall be adopted. (a) The appointment of the liquidator shall be notified by the Central Registrar in the Official Gazette. (b) The liquidator shall, as soon as the order of winding up of the multi-state cooperative society takes effect, publish by such means as he may, think proper, a notice, requiring all claims against the multi-state cooperative society, the winding up of which has been ordered, to be submitted to him within two months of the publication of the notice. All liabilities recorded in the account books of a multi-state cooperative society shall be deemed ipso-fact to have been duly submitted to him under this clause. (c) The liquidator shall investigate all the claims against the multi-state cooperative society and decide questions of priority arising between claimants. (d) The liquidator shall recover all sums and other properties to which the multi-state cooperative society is entitled and may institute such suits for that purpose or such suits incidental to liquidation proceedings as he may think proper. (e) The liquidator may empower any person, by general or special order in writing, to make collections and to grant valid receipts on his behalf. (f) The liquidator shall, after setting the assets and liabilities of multi-state cooperative society as they stood on the date on which the order of winding up is made, proceed next to determine from time to time the contribution including debts due and costs of liquidation to be made or remaining to be made by each of its members, past members, or by the estates, or nominees, heirs or legal representatives of deceased members or by any officers or former officers, to the assets of the multi-state cooperative society, under clause (b) of sub-section (2) of section 90. Should necessity arise, he may also make a subsidiary order regarding such contributions and such order shall be enforceable in the same manner as the original order. (g) All funds in the charge of the liquidator shall be deposited in the Post Office Savings Banks or in a cooperative bank or with such other banks as may be approved by the Central Registrar and shall stand in his name. (h) The Central Registrar shall fix the amount of remuneration, if any, to be paid to the liquidator. The remuneration shall be included in the cost of liquidation, which shall be payable out of the assets of the multi-state cooperative society in priority of all other claims. (i) The liquidator may call for the meeting of the members of the multi-state cooperative society under liquidation. (j) The liquidator shall submit to the Central Registrar a quarterly report in such form as the Central Registrar may, specify showing the progress made in liquidation of the multi-state cooperative society. (k) The liquidator shall keep such books and accounts as may from time to time be specified by the Central Registrar who may at any time cause such books and accounts to be audited. (l) At the conclusion of the liquidation, the liquidator shall call for a general meeting of the members of the dissolved society at which the liquidator or any other person authorised by him, by special or general order in writing in this behalf, shall summarise, the result of his proceedings and shall take a vote as to the disposal of any surplus funds. The liquidator shall submit his final report to the Central Registrar with a copy of the proceedings of the general meeting referred to above and make over to the Central Registrar all books and registers and accounts etc., belonging to the multi-state cooperative society and all books and accounts relating to the liquidation proceedings kept by him. (m) If any liability cannot be discharged by the liquidator owing to the whereabouts of the claimants not being known or for any other cause, the amount covered by such undischarged liability may be deposited in a Cooperative Bank and shall be available for meeting the claims of the person or persons concerned. (n) A liquidator may, at any time, be removed by the Central Registrar and he shall on such removal be bound to hand over all the property and documents relating to the society under liquidation to such persons as the Central Registrar may direct. (o) All the books and records of a multi-state cooperative society whose registration has been cancelled and the proceedings of liquidation of a multi-state cooperative society ordered to be wound up may be destroyed by the Central Registrar after the expiry of three years from the date of the order canceling the registration of the multi-state cooperative society. 29. Application of assets of the multi-state cooperative society The assets of the multi-state cooperative society shall be applied in order of priority as given below for payment of the liabilities– (1) Pro-rata payment of all outside liabilities. (2) Pro-rata repayment of loans and deposits of members. (3) Pro-rata refund of share capital (4) Pro-rata payment of dividend on the share at the rate not exceeding 6.25 per cent per annum for the period of liquidation. (1) For the purposes of sub-section (4) of section 84 of the Act, the Central Registrar may appoint and fix the fee of the arbitrators subject to the provisions of Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. (2) Save as otherwise provided under this Act, the provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 shall apply to all arbitration under this Act as if the proceedings for arbitration were referred for settlement or decision under the provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. Chapter 6 - Appeals & Review For the purpose of sub-section (2) of section 99, an appeal against any decision or order shall be made, if the decision or order was made by– (a) the Central Registrar appointed under sub-section (1) of section 4 of the Act, to the Officer not below the rank of Additional Secretary to the Government of India in the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation as may be decided by the Central Government; (b) any officer of the Central Government or of a State Government of the rank of Registrar, on whom powers of the Central Registrar have been conferred under sub-section (2) of section 4 of the Act, to the Joint Secretary to the Government of India in the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Incharge of Cooperation; (c) any other officer of the State Government on whom powers of Central Registrar have been conferred under sub-section (2) of section 4 of the Act, to the Chief Director (Cooperation) in the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperation or any other Officer authorised by the Central Government in this behalf. 32. Procedure regarding appeals (1) An appeal under sub-section (2) of section 99 shall be either presented in person or sent by registered post to the appellate authority. (2) The appeal shall be in the form of a memorandum and shall be accompanied by the original or certified copy of the order appealed from. (3) Every appeal shall– (a) specify the name and address of the appellant and also the name and address of the respondent or respondents; (b) state by whom the order appealed against was made; (c) set forth concisely and under distinct heads, the grounds of objection to the order appealed against together with a memorandum of evidence; (d) state precisely the relief which the appellant sought for; and (e) give the date of order appealed against or; (f) the memorandum of the appeal inclusive of memorandum of evidence shall be supported by an affidavit duly sworn by the appellant. (4) Where, an appeal under sub-section (2) of section 99 is preferred after the expiry of sixty days specified in the said sub-section, it shall be accompanied by a petition supported by an affidavit setting forth the facts on which the appellant relies to satisfy the appellate authority that he had sufficient cause for not preferring the appeal within the period mentioned in that sub-section. (5) On receipt of the appeal, the appellate authority shall as soon as possible examine it and ensure that– (a) the person presenting the appeal has the locus standi to do so; (b) it is made within the prescribed time limit; and (c) it conforms to all the provisions of the Act and rules. (6) The appellate authority may call upon the appellant to remedy the defects if any, or furnish such additional information as may be necessary, within a period of fifteen days of the receipt of the notice to do so. If the appellant fails to remedy the defects or furnish the additional information called for within the said period, the appeal petition may be dismissed. (7) The appellate authority may, before passing orders under section 99 obtain from any subordinate officer such further information in regard to the enquiry or the proceedings for the purpose of verifying the regularity of such proceedings or the correctness, legality or propriety of any decision passed or order made therein. The appellate authority may also call for and obtain from the parties connected with such enquiry or proceedings such information as is necessary with reference to the examination of the records of enquiry or proceedings and the information obtained from the subordinate officer. (8) The appellate authority shall on the basis of the enquiry conducted and with reference to the records examined, pass such order on the appeal as may deem just and reasonable. (9) Every order of the appellate authority under sub-section (2) of section 99 shall be in writing and it shall be communicated to the appellant and to such other parties as in the opinion of that authority are likely to be affected by the decision or order and to the officer concerned against whose order was made. 33. Application for review (1) Every application under section 101 shall be in the form of a memorandum setting forth concisely and under distinct heads the new and important facts which after the exercise of the due diligence, were not then within the knowledge of the applicant or could not be produced by him when the order was made or mistake or errors apparent on the face of the record or order reasons on the basis of which review is sought. It shall be accompanied by a memorandum of evidence. (2) The application shall be accompanied by the original or a certified copy of the order to which the application relates. (3) No application for review shall be entertained unless it is accompanied by such additional number of copies as there are parties to the original order (4) An application for review by any party shall be made within thirty days from the date of communication of the order of the appellate authority sought to be reviewed. (5) The application shall, so far as it may be necessary, be disposed of by the appellant authority in such manner as may be deemed fit: Provided that no order in review application shall be made unless notice has been given to all interested parties and they have been afforded a reasonable opportunity of being heard. Societies which become Multi-State Cooperative Societies Consequent on Re-organisation of States 34. Preparation of a scheme for the reconstitution or re-organisation of multi-state cooperative societies (1) The Central Registrar or the authorised officer, as the case may be, shall prepare a scheme referred to in sub-section (2) of section 103 for the reconstitution or re-organisation of ay multi-state cooperative society rendered as such consequent on the re-organisation of States referred to in sub-section (1) of section 103. The Central Registrar or the authorised officer with the previous approval of the Central Government forward a copy of the scheme to the President or the Chairperson of the multi-state cooperative society with the direction that the scheme be placed before a meeting of the general body of the multi-state cooperative society specially convened for the purpose. (2) The meeting referred to in sub-rule (1) shall be convened not less than forty days after the date of issue of the notice to the members and the creditors of the multi-state cooperative society in the manner specified in sub-rule (3). (3) A written notice specifying the date, hour and place of meeting and the business to be transacted there at shall be given to every member and shall be accompanied by a copy of the scheme to be considered at the meeting. The notice to each member and creditor shall, (i) be delivered or tendered to him in person; (ii) be sent to him by registered post; or (iii) be served on him in such other manner as may be specified in the bye-laws of the society. (4) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any rule or bye-law governing the multi-state cooperative society, where the Central Registrar or the authorised officer in this behalf is satisfied that the President or Chairperson of the society has failed to convene the meeting of the general body as required under sub-rule (1), the Central Registrar or the authorised officer, as the case may be, shall convene a meeting of the general body of the multi-state cooperative society. Chapter 8 Payment of fees for inspection of Records 35. Payment of fee for inspection of records The fees for payment of inspection of records by any other person, other than the member shall be rupee one per folio. Chapter 9 - Miscellaneous 36. Mode of service of summon (1) Every summon issued under the Act or these rules shall be in writing, shall be authenticated by the sea, if any, of the officer by whom it is issued and shall be signed by such officer or by any person authorised by him in writing in that behalf. It shall require the person summoned to appear before the said officer at a stated time and place, and shall specify whether his attendance is required for the purpose of giving evidence, or to produce a document, or for both purposed, and ay particular document the production of which is required, shall described the summons with reasonable accuracy. (2) Any person may be summoned to produce a document, without being summoned to give evidence, and any person summoned merely to produce a document shall be deemed to have complied with the summons if he causes such document to be produced, instead of attending personally to produce the same. (3) The service of summons under the Act or these rules on any person, may be effected in any of the following ways (a) by giving or tendering it to such person; (b) if such person is not found, by delivering or transmitting at the place where the person or his agent empowered to accept the summons on behalf of the person, actually and voluntarily resides or carries on business or personally works for gain; or (c) if the address of such person is known to the Central Registrar or other authorised person by sending it to him by registered post acknowledgement due; or (d) if none of the means aforesaid is available, by affixing it in some conspicuous part of his last known place where actually or voluntarily resides or carries on business or personally works for gain. (4) Where the serving officer delivers or tenders a copy of the summons to the person personally or his agent on his behalf, he shall require the signature of the person to whom the copy is so delivered or tendered as an acknowledgement of service endorsed on the original summons. (5) The serving officer shall in all cases in which the summons have been served under sub-rule (4), endorse or annex, or cause to be endorsed or annexed, on or to the original summons a return stating the time when and the manner in which the summons was served and the name and address of the person, if any, identifying the person served and witnessing the delivery or tender of the summons. (6) Where the person to be summoned is a public officer or is a servant of a company or a local authority, the officer issuing the summons may, if it appear that the summons may be conveniently so served, send it by registered post acknowledgement due for service on the party to be summoned, to the head of the office in which he is employed together with a copy to be retained by such person. 37. Procedure in execution of decrees, orders and decisions (1) Any decree-holder requiring the provisions of clause (c) of section 94 to be applied, shall apply to the recovery officer in whose jurisdiction the cause of action arose and shall deposit the necessary costs as fixed by the Central Registrar. If the judgment debtor resides, or the property to be proceeded against is situated, outside the jurisdiction of such recovery officer, the recovery officer shall transfer the application to the recovery officer in whose jurisdiction the judgment debtor resides or the property is situated. (2) Every such application shall be made in the form specified by the Central Registrar and shall be signed by the decree-holder. The decree-holder may indicate whether he wishes to proceed against the immovable property mortgaged to the decree-holder or other immovable property or to secure the attachment of movable property. (3) On receipt of such application, the recovery officer shall verity the correctness and genuineness of the particulars set forth in the application with the records, if any, in the office of Central Registrar and prepare a demand notice in writing in duplicate in the form specified by the Central Registrar, setting forth the name of the judgment debtor and amount due and forward it to the Sale Officer. (4) Unless the decree-holder has expressed a desire that proceedings should be taken in a particular order as laid down in sub-rule (2), execution shall ordinarily be taken in the following manner, namely (i) movable property of the defaulter shall be first proceeded against, but this shall not preclude the immovable property being proceeded against simultaneously in case of necessity; (ii) if there is no movable property, or if the sale proceeds of the movable property, or properties attached and sold are insufficient to meet in full the demand of the decree-holder, the immovable property mortgaged to the decree-holder, or other immovable property belonging to the judgment debtor may be proceeded against. (5) In the attachment and sale of movable property, the following rules shall be observed, namely (a) the Sale Officer, shall after giving previous notice to the decree-holder, proceed to the village or place where the judgment debtor resides or the property to be distrained is situated and serve a demand notice upon the judgment debtor if he is present. If the amount due together with expenses be not at once paid, the Sale Officer shall make the distress and shall immediately deliver to the judgment debtor a list or inventory of the property distrained and an intimation of place and day and hour at which the distrained property will be brought to sale if the amount due are not previously discharged. If the judgment debtor is absent, the Sale Officer shall serve the demand notice on some adult male member of his family, or on his authorised agent, or when such service cannot be effected, shall affix a copy of the demand notice on some conspicuous part of his residence. He shall then proceed to make the distress and shall fix the list of property attached on the usual place of residence of the judgment debtor, endorsing thereon the place where the property may be lodged or kept and an intimation of the place, day and hour of sale. (b) After the distress is made, the Sale Officer may arrange for the custody of the property attached with the decree-holder or otherwise. If the Sale Officer requires the decree-holder to undertake the custody of the property he shall be bound to do so and any loss incurred owing to his negligence shall be made good by the decree-holder. If the attached property is live-stock, the decree-holder shall be responsible for providing the necessary food therefor. The Sale Officer may, at the instance of the judgment debtor or of any person claiming an interest in such property, leave it in the village or place where was attached, in the charge of such judgment debtor or person, if he gives a bond in the form specified by the Central Registrar with one or more sufficient sureties for the production of the property as and when called for. (c) The distress shall be made after sunrise and before sunset and not at any other time. (d) The distress levied shall not be excessive, that is to say, the property distrained shall be as nearly as possible proportionate to the sum due by the defaulter together with interest and all expenses incidental to the distraint, detention and sale. (e) If crops or ungathered products of the land belonging to a judgment debtor are attached, the Sale Officer may cause them to be sold when fit for reaping or gathering, or at his option may cause them to be reaped or gathered in due season and stored in proper place until sold. In the latter case, the expense of reaping or gathering and storing such crops or products shall be defrayed by the owner upon his redeeming the property or from the proceeds of the sale in the vent of its being sold. (f) The Sale Officer shall not work the bullocks or cattle, or make use of the goods or effect distrained, and he shall provide the necessary food for the cattle or livestock, the expense attending which shall be defrayed by the owner upon his redeeming the property or from the proceeds of the sale in the event of its being sold. (g) It shall be lawful for the Sale Officer to force open any stable, cow house, granary, godown, out-house or other building and he may also enter any dwelling house, the outer door of which may be open and may break open the door of any room in such dwelling house for the purpose of attaching property belonging to a defaulter and lodged therein, provided always that it shall not be lawful for the officer to break open or enter apartment in such dwelling house appropriate for the zenana or residence of women except as hereinafter provided. (h) Where the Sale Officer may have reason to suppose that the property of a defaulter is lodged within a dwelling house the outer door of which may be shut or within any apartments appropriated to women which by custom or usage are considered private, the Sale Officer shall represent the fact to the officer in charge of the nearest police station. On such representation, the officer-in-charge of the said station shall send a police officer to the spot in the presence of whom the Sale Officer may force open the other door of such dwelling house, like manner as he may break open the door of any room within the house except the zenana. The Sale Officer may also, in the presence of a police officer, after due notice given for the removal of women within a zenana and, after furnishing means for their removal in a suitable manner if they be women of rank who, according to the custom of usage cannot appear in public, enter the zenana apartments for the purpose of distraining the judgment debtor's property, if any, deposited therein, but such property, if found, shall be immediately removed from such apartments after which they shall be left free to the former occupants. (i) The Sale Officer shall on the day previous to and on the day of sale cause proclamation of the time and place of the intended sale to be made by beat of drum in the village or place in which the judgment debtor resides on two consecutive days previous to the date of sale and on the day of sale prior to the commencement of the sale and in such other place or places as the officer may consider as the officer may consider necessary to give due publicity to the sale. No sale shall take place until after the expiration of the period of fifteen days from the date on which the sale notice has been served or affixed in the manner prescribed in clause (a) of this sub-rule: Provided that where the property seized is subject to speedy or natural decay, or where the expense of keeping it in custody is likely to exceed its value, the Sale Officer may sell it at any time before the expiry of the said period of fifteen days, unless the amount due is sooner paid. (j) At the appointed time the property shall be put up in one or more lots, as the Sale Officer may consider advisable and shall be disposed of to the highest bidder: Provided further that the Sale Officer may, in his discretion, adjourn the sale to a specified date and time recording his reasons for such adjournment. Where a sale is so adjourned for a longer period than seven days, a fresh proclamation under clause (i) shall be made unless the judgment debtor consents to waive it. (k) The property shall be paid for in cash at the time of sale, or as soon thereafter as the officer holding the sale shall appoint, and the purchaser shall not be permitted to carry away any part of the property until he has paid for it in full. Where the purchaser may fail in payment of purchase money, the property shall be resold. (l) Where any property which has been attached under these rules has been forcibly or clandestinely removed by any person, the Sale Officer may apply to a civil court having jurisdiction for restoration of such property. Where the court is satisfied about the truth of the facts, as alleged in the application, it may order forthwith such property to be restored to the Sale Officer. (m) Where prior to the day fixed for sale, the defaulter or any person acting on his behalf or any person claiming an interest in the property attached, pays the full amount due including interest, batta and other costs incurred in attaching the property, the Sale Officer shall cancel the order of attachment and release the property forthwith. (n) The movable property mentioned as exempt from attachment in the proviso to section 60 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), shall not be liable to attachment or sale under these rules. (6) Where the movable property to be attached is the salary or allowance or wages of a public servant or a servant of a local authority or a firm or a company, the recovery officer may, on receiving a report from the Sale Officer, order that the amount shall, subject to the provisions of section 60 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908) be with-held from such salary or allowances or wages either in one payment or by monthly installment as the recovery officer may direct and upon receipt of the order, the officer or other person whose duty it is to disburse such salary or allowance or wages shall withhold and remit to the Sale Officer, the amount due under the order or the monthly installment, as the case may be. (7) (i) Where the property to be attached consists of the share or interest of the defaulter in movable property belonging to him and another as co-owners, the attachment shall be made by a notice to the defaulter, prohibiting him from transferring the share or interest or charging it in any way. (ii) Where the property to be attached is negotiable instrument not deposited in a court, nor in the custody of a public officer, the attachment shall be made by actual seizure and the instrument shall be brought to the office of the recovery officer ordering the attachment and be held subject to his further orders. (iii) Where the property to be attached is in the custody of any court or public officer, the attachment shall be made by a notice to such court or officer, requesting that such property and any interest or dividend becoming payable thereon may be held subject to the further orders of the recovery officer issuing the notice: Provided that where such property is in the custody of a court or recovery officer of another district, any question of title or priority arising between the decree-holder and any other person not being the judgment debtor claiming to be interested in such property by virtue of any assignment, attachment or otherwise shall be determined by such court or recovery officer. >> Make a Call Back Request now Backward Region Grant Fund - India Gov BACKWARD REGIONS GRANT FUND MINISTRY OF PANCHAYATI RAJ Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF) was launched by the Prime Minist... NGO Financial Management Policy Template Purpose 1. roles and responsibilities for every person in the organisation who has some role in financial management or proced... Price List of Ozg NGO Services for 2012-13 in India Price List of Ozg NGO Services for 2012 Ozg is one of the top NGO service providers in developing world. In partnership with Skf NGO C... Registration into the NGO Registry The Global NGO Registry The Global NGO Registry was started by Sudesh Kumar Foundation (SKF), London in 2009. It has been maintained by ... Ministry of Environment & Forests Grants - 2012 Ministry of Environment & Forests Grants Non-Formal Environmental Education Environmental Education, Awareness and Training (EE... Proposal Repository for NGO & Donors Proposal Repository proposalrepository.com What is the proposal repository? The Proposal Repository is a searchable online sys... Renewable Energy Fund Proposal Invited by REEEP - 2011 Proposals call by REEEP - 8 th Round Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Partnership The Renewable Energy & Energy Effi... Liaisoning.com - Ozg Liaisoning Group, London Liaisoning.com Ozg Liaisoning Group, London Liaisoning.com is an official website of Ozg Liaisoning Group, London. Ozg Liais... Crafts exhibition-cum-sale @ Dilli Haat NGO craft exhibition-cum-sale at Dilli Haat DELHI TOURISM & TRANSPORTATION DEV CORPORATION The following activities shall... NGO Finance – 01-12 - INCOME TAX REGISTRATION 01 => Income tax was first introduced in India in 1860. In those days income related with charitable purposes were totally exempt f... \|\|\|\|\| Districtwise Finance Centre \|\|\|\|\| \|\|\|\|\|\| SKF Finance Centre Links \|\|\|\|\|\| Sudesh Kumar Foundation © 2017	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5651
__label__wiki	0.846901	0.846901	Cannistraro helps build Haitian teaching hospital July 21, 2017 - Construction Design & Engineering Arthur Levine, ART of Communications It started with the earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010. The death toll was upwards of 250,000. Another 300,000 were injured, and 1.5 million people were displaced. The earthquake created between $7.8 billion to $8.5 billion in damage. Tracy Cannistraro saw the devastation and the urgent need and asked her husband, “What could we do?” Not one to shy away from a challenge, John Cannistraro, Jr. responded by helping to build a teaching hospital for the Haitian Ministry of Health supported by Partners in Health or as they are locally known, Zanmi Lasante. As the president of Cannistraro, a GBPCA member and one of the country’s largest mechanical contractors, he marshaled resources and constructed 300 medical gas headwall units at the company’s prefabrication plant and leveraged over $600K worth of materials as well as hundreds of volunteer hours from mechanical contractors. He shipped the units in containers to Port-au-Prince and sent a couple of Local 12 plumbers down there to train Haitian mechanics and oversee the installation. “The hospital was built,” said Cannistraro. “But it came with a lifetime warranty for Haiti.” With that commitment, he next helped build a new surgical center and medical laboratory in the southern part of the island nation. While involved with the projects, Cannistraro connected with Partners in Health. In discussions with officers of the non-governmental organization, which assists in providing healthcare for people in Haiti and 9 impoverished countries, he learned that cholera and other water-borne diseases that are rampant in Haiti are caused by lack of household sanitation. Young children are especially vulnerable. In most areas, there is no running water nor any sewage systems. As many as 90% of those living in rural areas defecate in the open as there are no improved sources for proper disposal of feces. Cannistraro saw this as another challenge. “John Cannistraro is one of our biggest supporters,” said Elizabeth Campa, senior health and policy advisor for Zanmi Lasante, Partners in Health’s sister organization in Haiti. For about a year the two have been working together on an open pit cover that the contractor has designed with a “think tank” of Cannistraro engineers and other employees. Understanding that the cover would have to be portable, lightweight, stackable, durable, easy to clean, and inexpensive to produce and distribute, the team got to work. The prototype concept that they developed is essentially a covered bucket on top of a nine-foot, plastic-covered pit. Cannistraro says that it should serve an average household about ten years. Earlier this year, Campa and Cannistraro presented a mock-up of the unit made on a 3-D printer to members of the Haitian government, UNICEF, and the World Bank. The panel approved the concept and gave the green light to proceed with a field test. A full-scale model of the open pit cover was on display at a fundraising event in the spring that coincided with World Plumbing Day. It was held at The Plumbing Museum, which is located on the Cannistraro campus and operated in large part by the company. The $60,000 that was generated at the event will be used to build working pit covers and test them in a dozen homesteads before the end of this year. “We’re going to make this happen,” Cannistraro says. By testing first, this would allow for individuals to gain interest and receive the final approval of the government of Haiti towards marketing the product to the greater public. Once the concept is proven viable, Campa envisions a long term goal of having sanitation markets throughout the country becoming a reality. People could buy the pit covers for a reasonable cost. “It might take five or ten years, but that’s our goal,” she says. It’s critical to have the buy-in of the Haitian government, with which the Partners in Health/Zanmi Lasante has been closely working for 30 years. Addressing the donors who had come to support the Haiti project, Cannistraro talked about the impact that the pit covers could have on containing disease and preventing deaths. “I need help,” he said. “What’s a better investment? It’s a life. It’s a soul.” The plumbing industry professional also used an apt water-based metaphor. He repeated an adage that his wife, who instigated the project, said about their efforts to help the Haitian people: “If you put a pebble in the water, it makes a ripple, then a wave, and the next thing you know it’s a tidal wave.” While $60K will provide support in the early stages of developing a model and sending to Haiti for testing, additional funds are needed for growing the start-up project to cover a larger area of the population and appropriately research this process by experts on the ground. 100% of funds donated to this project will go directly towards the growing of this model to scale. Article on behalf of Plumbers Local 12 and the Greater Boston Plumbing Contractors Association. Arthur Levine is president of The Art of Communications, Beverly, Mass.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5652
__label__cc	0.691648	0.308352	Comments: Week of December 22, 2008 1. Alex Morris’s “Gender Bender” (December 15), about the rise in alcohol consumption among women and its link to gender equality, touched off some fiery debate. “There is a worthwhile discussion to be had about young women’s sometimes confused struggle for equality in their day-to-day lives—and how, by default, that can result in their acting the part of stereotypical men, in ways that don’t seem particularly healthy for either sex,” conceded Tracy Clark-Flory on Salon’s Broadsheet blog, who then went on to sharply critique Morris’ story: “Sure, you can look at the fact that they sometimes drink so that they can get over their fear that it is culturally unacceptable for women to pursue casual sex, and conclude that feminism is to blame for encouraging their struggle toward gender equality. I much prefer to conclude that it isn’t feminism, but the lack of gender equality young women are coming up against, that is to blame.” The Feministing blog put an even harder edge on the same argument: “Despite the picture that Morris paints of young feminists boozing it up (’cause it’s empowering and stuff!), we’re actually out there working our asses off.” Blogger Kerry Howley faulted the magazine for “treat[ing] the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) as some kind of objective brain trust, filled with people thinking new and Important Thoughts on the relative merits of those substances called “drugs.” But CASA is a prohibitionist organization.” And Jezebel took issue with, among other things, Morris’s example of a young woman who works in finance and feels pressure to drink as much as her male peers: “Wouldn’t a male teetotaler feel much of the same pressure to be included if he worked in the same industry? Somehow, I doubt that medical students and residents, male or female, feel any of the same social pressures to booze it up, since their work colleagues are not indulging in the same way.” 2. Nobody, not even angered feminists, can compete with the ill will directed at short-sellers, that rare breed of investor who profits when stocks go down, and so there were plenty of harsh words exchanged on nymag.com about trader James Chanos, the subject of Gabriel Sherman’s profile (“The Catastrophe Capitalist,” December 15). “When and if the tide goes out he will have been found to be a very naked manipulator of stocks that would have gone down anyway,” spewed one commenter on nymag.com. “He’s a lot like Richard Nixon in that respect.” Nixon? We have no idea what he means by that either, but you can tell that guy is angry. So is this one: “Short-sellers can’t be admired: Their business model is based on the ruin of others and the annihilation of all the worth created through entrepreneurship.” Or put another way: “That kind of evil karma is kept on the books somewhere.” A more supportive view of short-selling was occasionally voiced: “Someone want to explain to me why shorting is bad? If you believe in the efficient allocation of capital, withdrawing capital from bad companies and giving it to good ones should enhance our economy.” 3. If our recent 40th-anniversary issue (October 6) whetted your appetite for reading more about the city’s history as recorded in the pages of this magazine, you’re in luck—the first 30 years of the magazine is now viewable online, as part of Google’s new magazine-archive project. You can actually read the full contents of the magazine as they were published, with all photographs and advertisements, the whole deal (well, actually not the whole deal—there are a few gaps because we sadly haven’t yet located physical copies of all the issues). Among the articles we might recommend, should you feel like exploring, are Tom Wolfe’s seminal “The Birth of ‘The New Journalism,’” which was published in 1972, and a somewhat lesser-known piece by Barbara L. Goldsmith that appeared in the fourth issue of the magazine, in 1968, and, as Wolfe recounted in the magazine’s tribute to its founding editor, Clay Felker (“A City Built of Clay,” July 14), nearly stopped the nascent magazine dead in its tracks. That’s because the story featured a topless picture of the subject, an Andy Warhol–affiliated model named Viva. Many advertisers were scandalized, and Felker had to scramble to save his job and eventually lure them back, which we are happy to report he successfully did. The Google magazine archive can be found at books.google.com/books. 4. Of the 31 pages of great stuff that our critics and writers raved about in our year-end culture issue (“A Mad Mad Mad Mad 2008,” December 15), wouldn’t you know that it was a tiny item on the single page that we devoted to the worst of the year (“A Few Sour Grapes”) that became a lightning rod. We speak, of course, of Beyoncé: “I believe that Beyoncé is pretty and that is all.” “What?!? Beyoncé is an amazing dancer and performer.” “Her voice gives me goose bumps—the bad kind. She dances like she is having a spastic fit.” “Stop hating!” Please send e-mails to: comments@nymag.com sdcc 2019 16 mins ago clickhole 21 mins ago roll clip! 24 mins ago micro sales 12:30 p.m. A Handful of Le Creuset Cookware Is on Sale at Sur La Table for Today Only And it’s all in cheery colors to boot. your shopping cart 12:30 p.m.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5656
__label__wiki	0.97855	0.97855	06/10/2011 \| Mexico arrests senior Sinaloa drugs cartel suspect Mexican forces have arrested a man they say is a key figure in the country's most powerful drugs cartel. Noel Salgueiro Nevarez is accused of running the Sinaloa cartel's operations in the northern state of Chihuahua, where drug violence is rampant. Defence officials said his arrest would seriously weaken the cartel in Mexico and abroad. The arrest was made on the same day as that of Martin Rosales Magana, who is accused of leading the La Familia gang. The army said Mr Salgueiro Nevarez was seized in a carefully planned military operation, without a shot being fired. Defence Ministry spokesman Ricardo Trevilla Trejo said Noel Salgueiro Nevarez was behind much of the extreme violence which has plagued Ciudad Juarez, Mexico's murder capital. He said the suspect, also known as El Flaco (The Skinny One), led a gang of hitmen who extorted local businessmen, kidnapped for ransom, and tortured and killed members of a rival gang, the Juarez cartel. 'Criminal career' The security forces say the bitter war between the two gangs was the trigger for most of the 3,000 killings in Ciudad Juarez last year. Prosecutors said Mr Salgueiro Nevarez started his criminal career 15 years ago, producing marijuana for the Sinaloa cartel. They said his gang had been exporting up to 15 tonnes of marijuana and two tonnes of cocaine per month to the United States. The government had offered a three-million-peso ($220,000; £130,000) reward for information leading to his capture. Security officials said his arrest, in the city of Culiacan in northwestern Sinaloa state, was a major blow to the Sinaloa cartel and its leader, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman. Mr Guzman, 54, is Mexico's most wanted man and thought to be one of the country's richest. Two years ago, he made Forbes magazine's list of the 67 World's Most Powerful People. At number 41, he was just below Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Crumbling cartel Mr Salgueiro Nevarez's arrest was announced at the same time as that of another top figure in the Mexican drugs trade. Martin Rosales Magana, 47, was seized in Mexico state on Tuesday. Police say he is one of the founders of the once-powerful La Familia cartel. Until the beginning of this year, La Familia ran much of the methamphetamine trade in Mexico. It claimed to protect local communities and promote family values, but also engaged in gruesome violence. The security forces say it has been almost entirely dismantled, with its top leaders either in jail or dead. They say Mr Rosales Magana lead a number of small cells still loyal to the cartel, which had holed themselves up in a rural area between Michoacan and Mexico state. At a news conference, federal police counter-narcotics chief Ramon Pequeno described how La Familia splintered after the security forces killed the cartel's then-leader Nazario Moreno in December 2010. He said part of the gang set up a rival cartel, which they named Knights Templar, and which quickly took over many of the methamphetamine labs in the west and south-west of the country. Mr Pequeno said Mr Rosales Magana and those loyal to him tried to regain control of the drugs trade in Michoacan state by forging an alliance with their long-time rivals, the Zetas cartel. He told reporters how "they met with the Zetas to ask for operational assistance, weapons and salaries [for gunmen] and expenses money, in order to recoup important cities held by the Knights Templar". However, according to police, the alliance soon faltered because Mr Rosales Magane no longer had access to the precursor chemicals needed to make methamphetamine, their main source of income. Mr Pequeno said with La Familia severely weakened, police would now focus their attention on taking down the Knights Templar. The Sinaloa Cartel controls the production of large quantities of heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine (in the US) and boasts an extensive network of associates to facilitate its US trafficking operations, US officials say. On Saturday, Texas Governor Rick Perry said he would even consider sending US troops into Mexico to combat drug-related violence and "keep the cartels off the border". This is why the arrest of "The Skinny One" could be a severe blow to the Sinaloa cartel activity both sides of the fence. It is also a public relations boost for Mexican President Felipe Calderon at home and in the US, amid growing criticism of his government's strategy to fight criminals and the drug trafficking. Yet, the Sinaloa Cartel leader is still free. Joaquin "The Shorty" Guzman escaped from a maximum security prison in 2001, embarrassing the Mexican government. Since then, he's become the number one target with a $3m reward for his capture. 22/12/2014 México: El salpicado 28/11/2014 A acabar con la corrupción y la impunidad política en México 10/11/2014 Mexico - Tsunami de violencia y corrupción 09/11/2014 Reconstrucción de la captura y muerte de los estudiantes de Iguala 08/11/2014 Mexico - Historia de un fracaso 07/11/2014 La economía del crimen en México 03/11/2014 Mexico - El Estado secuestrado 26/10/2014 México: el grito de Iguala 20/10/2014 Violencia mexicana 20/10/2014 Mexico - Un cementerio llamado Iguala Libya crisis - Gaddafi forces adopt rebel tactics	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5659
__label__cc	0.520674	0.479326	Village of Orland Park » News » What's New » Orland Park History Museum Hosts March 24 Behind-the-Scenes Tour Orland Park History Museum Hosts March 24 Behind-the-Scenes Tour Ever wonder what goes on behind-the-scenes at a museum? Take a tour of the Village of Orland Park History Museum to learn about how exhibits are prepared, view museum collections, and learn about the different types of preservation efforts used to protect Orland artifacts. "It's neat to see all that happens behind the scenes at the village's museum," said Trustee Kathy Fenton, the village board liaison to the museum. "A lot of work goes into preparing the exhibits and how best to showcase the collections." This informative tour happens on Saturday, March 24, 2-3 p.m. at the Village of Orland Park History Museum, 14415 Beacon Ave. Tour is open to guests age 18 & up and the fee is $9/residents; $14/non-residents. "This is a unique and fun tour that gives guests a chance to see what type of work is done to preserve the various artifacts at the museum," said museum curator, Sarah Konzen. "You'll get to see the different storage areas and learn about what's being done to care for the artifacts in our permanent collections." History fans or just curious residents will learn about the importance of temperature and archival materials to help sustain antique items. The museum is seeking volunteers to help with the different archival processes, and is always actively accepting donations pertaining to the village's history. The museum is currently seeking Carl Sandburg High School yearbooks and original plat maps of Orland Park. To register for the tour, visit the village's Recreation Administration Office, located at 14600 S. Ravinia Ave. or the Sportsplex, 11351 W. 159th Street. The museum is open Tuesdays from noon to 4 p.m. and Thursdays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. For volunteer / donation information or to learn more contact the museum at (708) 873-1622.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5661
__label__cc	0.604496	0.395504	Home » Australia » Papua New Guinea polio update: 100 day summary Papua New Guinea polio update: 100 day summary Australia, Headlines This week, the Papua New Guinea National Department of Health, with support from WHO, UNICEF and other partners released a report on the key accomplishments and highlights from of the response operations to mark the 100 days since the Government of Papua New Guinea launched the Emergency Response to the Polio Outbreak. Papua New Guinea confirmed a polio outbreak on 22 June 2018 when a vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1 (VDPV1), first detected in a 6-year old boy from Morobe Province, was also isolated in two healthy children from the same community, indicating that the virus was circulating. On the same day, Papua New Guinea notified the World Health Organization as per required under the International Health Regulations (IHR, 2005). A public announcement was made on 25 June 2018. On 26 June, a National Emergency was declared by the Government of Papua New Guinea. The National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Response was activated the day after. Since the confirmation of the outbreak, two rounds of the polio vaccination campaign have been implemented to protect children under 5 years old against polio: The first round covered the three high-risk provinces of Morobe, Madang and Eastern Highlands where 303,907 children under 5 years old were vaccinated. The second round covered nine provinces of Morobe, Madang, Eastern Highlands, Western Highlands, Southern Highlands, Jiwaka, Enga, Chimbu and Hela where 690,953 were vaccinated. A total of 1.6 million doses of vaccines have been shipped to the country for use in the first two rounds of the vaccination. A system was put in place to rapidly detect and identify cases of polio through enhanced surveillance for acute flaccid paralysis (AFP). Since the confirmation of the outbreak, Papua New Guinea has reported 14 cases of polio: five in Eastern Highlands, three in Morobe, two in Enga, two in Madang, one in the National Capital District and one in Jiwaka. New York City: Second Legionnaires’ Disease Outbreak Reported In Washington Heights Balamuthia infection linked to nasal irrigation: Study Massachusetts West Nile virus: Most cases ever recorded in a single year St. Petersburg, Florida: Working Cow Homemade Ice Cream recalled due to potential Listeria HPV vaccine: Gardasil 9 approved for use in women and men aged 27 through 45 years Meningococcal meningitis: Syracuse student tests positive for serogroup B Trichomoniasis: 7-day-dose metronidazole should be the preferred treatment in women	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5664
__label__cc	0.700473	0.299527	Jason Colman & Meagan Anderson Nashville Legacy Floyd Cramer and Chet Atkins. Two legends at their instruments, two giants in the music industry. Floyd Cramer’s unique “slip note” piano style was an essential part of countless country, pop, and rock hits in the 1950s and ‘60s and is widely regarded as the standard for country piano. Chet Atkins’ innovative thumb-and-two-finger guitar style led him to become known as one of the world’s preeminent guitar virtuosos, and many of the records he produced for RCA have become classics. Though Floyd and Chet have passed away, their Nashville Legacy lives on through Floyd’s grandson, pianist Jason Coleman, and Chet’s niece, guitarist Meagan Taylor. In this concert, Jason and Meagan bring new life to the iconic Nashville Sound of their forerunners through timeless songs, heartwarming stories and captivating family photos and videos. You’ll hear songs like Floyd’s “Last Date” on piano, Chet’s “Freight Train” on guitar, as well as the music of artists like Patsy Cline, the Everly Brothers, and Elvis Presley, all of whose careers were impacted by Floyd and Chet. “They were wonderful, the show was amazing, and they could not have been more gracious. It was like listening to Cramer and Atkins, with a facelift of today’s generation!” –Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts, Suffolk, VA	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5665
__label__cc	0.530376	0.469624	International study being done at Dell Children’s for Niemann-Pick disease reaches full enrollment \| Filed in: children, family, health Pam Andrews, her husband Chris Andrews, and their two children Belle, 7, and Abby, 2, color together in their home in Southwest Austin last May. RESHMA KIRPALANI / AMERICAN-STATESMAN Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas has been participating in an international study testing a treatment for Niemann-Pick Type C1 disease called VTS-270. We wrote about the trial in November, when we told the story of Belle and Abby Andrews, who had been traveling to Chicago every other week for the treatment but since after Thanksgiving have been able to have some of those treatments done locally. Today, Vtesse, the maker of VTS-270 announced it had finished enrolling all the participants in the study. It needed at least 51 to be statistically relevant. “Completing enrollment in the pivotal Phase 2b/3 clinical trial of VTS-270 is a significant milestone for the NPC community and Vtesse, and we are fortunate to have exceeded our goal of 51 participants,” said Ben Machielse, Vtesse’s president and chief executive officer in a press release. “We look forward to generating topline results from the study early next year.” Niemann-Pick Type C1 disease is a rare genetic disorder sometimes called childhood Alzheimer’s. Cholesterol in brain cells builds up, damaging the cells and eventually causing them to die. Children who have NPC1 usually experience clumsiness, shakiness of the hands and poor fine motor skills; problems with short-term memory, thinking and learning skills; hearing loss; problems swallowing; and trouble looking up with their eyes. They also might have seizures and eventually lose the ability to do school work, talk and walk. The VTS-270 study is being done at 20 sites worldwide and has been fast-tracked by the FDA. Once all the participants have been in the study for at least a year, the families will be told whether or not their children received VTS-270 or the placebo, which about a third received. After a year of being in the study, though, all the kids receive the actual treatment and are guaranteed to receive the treatment through an extension of the study. Belle Andrews, who turned 7 this month, will finish the first year of study in May, at which point, she will then be given VTS-270 if she was receiving the placebo, something they won’t know until all the participants have finished the study. Abby, 2, was too young to be part of the study, but has been receiving the treatment through expanded access, which also is called compassionate use. The family launched its Firefly Fund nonprofit last month to accelerate finding a cure for Niemann-Pick Type C1 disease. 10 things "Beauty and the Beast" can teach your kids that you'll want them to learn Parents, new free support group open to Austin middle-schoolers with mental health concerns Categories: children, family, health	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5667
__label__wiki	0.611932	0.611932	10 Anime Like Durarara!! x2 Ten By Kenny L Anime Here are my top picks for similar anime like Durarara!! x2 Ten. The list is in no particular order and this could not have been possible without the help of knowledgeable anime fans. Each of the stories in the series involves several unrelated plots intersecting and crossing each other as events spiral farther and farther out of control. Immortal alchemists, mafia operated speakeasies, and many other elements of pulp fiction mashed together for a world straight out of the movies. On November 22, 2010 ten missiles strike Japan. However, this unprecedented terrorist act, later to be called as “Careless Monday,” does not result in any apparent victims, and is soon forgotten by almost everyone. Then, 3 months later… Saki Morimi is a young woman currently in the United States of America on her graduation trip. But just when she is in front of the White House, Washington DC, she gets into trouble, and only the unexpected intervention of one of her fellow countrymen saves her. However, this man, who introduces himself as Akira Takizawa, is a complete mystery. He appears to have lost his memory. and he is stark naked, except for the gun he holds in one hand, and the mobile phone he’s holding with the other hand. A phone that is charged with 8,200,000,000 yen in digital cash. Heaven’s Memo Pad Narumi Fujishima is an ordinary high school boy who remains isolated from his fellow classmates. One afternoon fellow classmate Ayaka Shinozaki invites Narumi to join the gardening club and introduces him to a reclusive detective named Alice. Alice hires Narumi as an assistant and puts him to work solving the strange mysteries of Angel fix, an illegal drug. Little does he know it could put him and Ayaka in serious trouble. Yagami Light is an ace student with great prospects, who’s bored out of his mind. One day he finds the “Death Note”: a notebook from the realm of the Death Gods, with the power to kill people in any way he desires. With the Death Note in hand, Light decides to create his perfect world, without crime or criminals. However, when criminals start dropping dead one by one, the authorites send the legendary detective L to track down the killer, and a battle of wits, deception and logic ensues… Ashinaka High School is known for its unique setting: the entire campus is built on an island. Yashiro Isana, aka Shiro, is having lunch with a cat on one of the school rooftops. After his lunch break, Shiro goes on an errand for his classmate Kukuri to prepare for their upcoming school festival, only to be chased by some intimidating-looking men. In Tokyo, an impenetrable field known as “Hell’s Gate” appeared ten years ago. At the same time, psychics who wield paranormal powers at the cost of their conscience also emerged. Hei is one of the most powerful of these psychic agents, and along with his blind associate, Yin, works for one of the many rival agencies vying to unlock the mysteries of Hell’s Gate. Rintaro Okabe is a self-proclaimed “mad scientist” who believes that an international organization is conspiring to reshape the world according to its own interests. He and his friend Itaru Hashida inadvertently create a gadget able to send messages to the past. The discovery and experimentation of this instrument become the catalyst of fundamental alterations to the present. Oblivious of the consequences of their actions, Rintaro and his friends end up creating modifications of grievous proportions. He must then try to find a way to return as close as possible to the original timeline in order to save his precious lab members. Gachaman Crowds The city of Tachikawa is protected by super fighting humans known as Gatchaman, warriors equiped with special reinforced suits that are powered by NOTE; spiritual powers manifested from living beings. Hajime Ichinose, a 16 year old energetic high school girl who is obsessed with collecting day planners and stationary, is selected to become a Gatchaman. She is tasked with fighting against a mysterious alien life form known as MESS, but due to the nature of her personality she doesn’t take her duties seriously. Yet her irresponsible actions end up doing more good than harm, much to the dismay of one other Gatchaman fighter. When They Cry – Higurashi On one hot summer day in 1983, a transfer student named Maebara Keiichi comes to a peaceful rural village in Hinamizawa. There, he befriends his classmates Rena, Mion, Rika, and Satoko. Accepted as a full-fledged member of the “club,” Keiichi and the gang plays all sorts of activities ranging from card and board games to hide-and-seek. But just as Keiichi was beginning to be assimilated in simple rural life, he stumbles upon the dark history of Hinamizawa. As Keiichi dives deeper into the mystery, he finds that his new found friends may not be all what they claim to be. Kekkai Sensen(Blood Blockage Battlefront) One day, New York City as we know it vanished overnight into a mysterious fog. Now known as Hellsalem’s Lot, it has become a place where another world beyond imagining is connected to our reality. The balance within this new world is protected by a secret society known as Libra. Leo, a journalist and photographer who arrives in the city, is unexpectedly recruited to join their ranks. The incidents which occurred on August 14th and 15th bring a group of young boys and girls together… They are members of a group they call themselves the “Mekakushi Dan” (Blindfold Organization) and each member possesses a strange power involving their eyes. References: ANN, Wiki, MyAnimeList 11 Anime Like Toradora! [Must Watch!] Anime Like Fate/Stay Night and Fate/Zero 7 Anime Like Subete ga F ni Naru: The Perfect Insider 7 Anime Like Amnesia [Recommendations] 10 Anime Like Mouryou no Hako 5 Similar Anime Like Lostorage incited WIXOSS 10 Similar Anime Like That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Notice: It seems you have Javascript disabled in your Browser. In order to submit a comment to this post, please write this code along with your comment: acd9a194ebe88f86b8adfc27fa5dcc27	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5669
__label__wiki	0.877111	0.877111	UVU’s next for Desert Hills golf champ Katie Perkins canadachiro Photos by Jeffrey D. Allred (DeseretNews.com) Since she was five years old, Katie Perkins had been preparing for moments just like this one. Seeking her third consecutive Class 3A state golf championship May 14 at Bloomington Country Club in St. George, the Desert Hills senior stood over a 20-foot putt with her chances of winning the state tournament hanging in the balance. The preparation for this big moment began in the St. George Junior Association of Golfers program 12 years ago, when young Katie fell in love with the game. When she was five or six years old, she dabbled in other sports, but she found her home on the links. “I tried a bunch of different sports, but I didn’t really like anything like I liked golf,” Perkins said. “It kind of came naturally for me, and I had an awesome swing coach who just encouraged me. Being able to compete with the older girls and be good against then, that was kind of fun.” Katie Perkins has been honing her golf swing since she was five years old. (Photo by Jeffrey D. Allred, DeseretNews.com) The JAG program gave Perkins that chance to test herself against the older age groups, and that competition surely led to the rapid development in her level of play. “I started in the JAG program and I just loved it,” Perkins said. “I played with all my friends. I got moved up to the older age group when I was 10, so I played with the 13 and 14 year olds. When I was 11, I played with the 15 to 17 year olds. I was competing with them pretty good. That’s how it started, in the JAG program.” That program has taken Perkins to a number of venues, both in and outside the state, including some of the more notable golf courses in the country. She has also participated in the US Kids golf program. I got to go out to Torrey Pines, in California, and Pinehurst in North Carolina,” Perkins said. I’ve been all over. I’ve been in Hawaii and on travel teams to represent Utah a number of times, and that’s been the best thing ever.” From among the courses she has played, Perkins struggles to pick one as her favorite. “That’s hard. Probably Pinehurst in North Carolina,” Perkins said. “The pros have been there, so just being there overall. I didn’t play my best golf because I was 11 years old, but I still was ranked pretty good for being 11, so I was pretty happy.” 2015 State Championships Perkins prepared to hit that 20-foot putt knowing that she was sitting on two consecutive individual state titles, and she was trying to make it three in a row. The only time she did not win the 3A state championship was her freshman year, when she finished second. “It was just a big motivation,” Perkins said in describing her reaction to that No. 2 finish. “I wasn’t upset with myself that year. I wasn’t angry at anyone. It was such a motivation to just get better and not to let anyone beat me after that. I just wanted it that much more.” That motivation may well have come into play this year. The senior thought she had lost it with a double bogey on the 17th hole on the second day of the state tournament (the first time Utah has held a two-day event for the girls golf championships). “After the 17th hole, a short Par 3, I kind of just gave up,” Perkins said. “I doubled and I was pretty much handing her the tournament. I was really angry at myself, so I just looked at it as one more hole, let’s get one more par or get a birdie. When I made that long 20-foot par putt, I think it put pressure on her for the little five-footer that she had to make. I think I just made the right putt and the right move at the right time. I’m not sure if it was bad luck for her or good luck for me or what.” That forced a playoff between Perkins and Pine View’s Taylor Bandley, with both sitting on two-day scores of 147 and the Thunder senior delivered on the extra hole to claim yet another state championship. For Desert Hills head coach Laurie Dyer, the combination of a two-day event and the playoff for the individual title combined to test the nerves. “It (two-day vs. one-day tournament) was way more stressful. Can I just say that?” Dyer said. “I was good after Day 1, but we’ve never done a two-day event, so it was a first-ever for us. It was really stressful on us, it was stressful on the girls. The four scores that counted the first day weren’t the same four scores as the second day. “There were a lot of dramatics this year. With the crowds around and the unbelievable par she pulled off on the second day just to get into the playoff. It was a lot of dramatics. I’m not sure what spectators think. The girls stay very focused for very long periods of time so at the end of each hole, it’s ‘Whew, it’s over.’ I had to tell Katie, it’s not, you have more golf to play.” Perkins also noted the stress she felt, but she was well prepared to handle it. “The most stressful day ever,” Perkins said. “I just remembered what my coach told me. She said ‘No matter what, I’m going to be proud of you. No matter what, you know that you’re a great golfer. You’ve already got yourself a scholarship.’ She just kind of encouraged me and said the right things and was calm about it. I was playing against my really good friend, so I would have been happy either way, whether she won or I won. I don’t really know exactly what I told myself. It just worked.” Growing Up As A Golfer Dyer, who has been coaching the team for seven years, is the only girls golf coach Desert Hills has ever had and her teams have won six straight state championships. The last four of those teams have been led by Perkins, and the coach has seen a lot of changes with her star performer during that time. Desert Hills’ Katie Perkins reacts after missing a birdie putt during the 3A state girls golf tournament in 2014. (Photo by Jeffrey D. Allred, DeseretNews.com) “Katie’s been different. There’s just something about Katie, that she has,” Dyer said. “She’s just been tremendous and she’s been a terrific team player and very supportive and instrumental in making us feel like we’re a family. Over the years, she’s really honed her skill and became mentally tough on the course. She doesn’t let things bother her like she did her freshman year.” That is one of the reasons Perkins has been so hard to beat on the biggest stage, at the state tournament. Dyer is convinced that there is something inside Perkins that drives her to that elite level. “She has the desire to be the very best and she works really hard to excel at it,” Dyer said. “Some people desire it and want it, but nobody puts in the work that Katie has, since she was six years old, to be a terrific golfer.” The senior three-time state title winner relied on one of her strongest character traits to pull out this year’s championship. “It’s just my mental attitude,” Perkins said. “I used to get really down on myself after a bad shot, but then I realized it’s really not about that shot, but it’s the next one. I’m always reminding myself what the next one will be like. The best part about my game is when I am working toward something or I’m down to somebody, I can kind of like kick it into gear and make myself reach my goal. That’s been a huge lifesaver sometimes, like the state tournaments and stuff.” Perkins has done a lot of winning over the last 12 years, and while some of those association tournaments got her on the radar with college recruiters, she attaches great significance to the successes of her high school team. “A lot of colleges don’t look at state championships as much of a big deal, just because they’re red tees and in college you play white,” Perkins said. “It’s not huge college-wise, but I think winning a state championship is a lot cooler than winning like a local junior association tournament. I guess it just depends on what it’s for. If it’s a qualifier, then obviously it would mean more.” She works with a swing coach regularly, and has since she first picked up the clubs, but Perkins has a special place in her heart for her high school coaches. “I’ve always been really close with my high school coaches,” Perkins said. “They’ve been awesome to me and really taken the mental aspect of my game and helped me out. They’re really encouraging. I know that our coaches play a huge role in our team this year and all four of my years.” When it comes to skill development, Perkins gives much of the credit to that swing coach, Kevin Averett. She has spent a lot of time on the course improving her game, and he has been there all along. “I’ve had a swing coach, Kevin Averett, for as long as I’ve played golf (12 years) and he works with me, so every day’s a little bit different,” Perkins said. “I go out there right after school for three or four hours and then in summer I get up early in the morning and get out there until it’s too hot. It’s always working on something different, fundamentals a lot too.” Next up for Perkins is Utah Valley University, where she is looking forward to teeing it up beginning in the fall. She loves the school and the people she’s met when she visited campus and researched the women’s golf program. “Just the people and my coach, Sue Nyhus, she’s awesome,” Perkins said. “(Looking forward to) being able to travel around the world really and represent Utah Valley as well as I’ve represented Desert Hills.” If things go the way she hopes, Perkins is hopeful that her competitive golfing career will extend beyond the four years she spends on that Orem campus. She would like to see her work on the course pay off in a professional career. “I definitely want to go past college,” Perkins said. “My goal is to win a few college tournaments, whether it’s my first year or my second year, and just get recognized and get where I need to be to give myself an opportunity to play on the LPGA, or just try to qualify for one of those tournaments would be awesome for me.” Related TopicsCanada ChiropracticDesert HillsGirls' GolfKatie PerkinsOn ParThunderTOSH Tourney TrackerUHSAAUVU More in Desert Hills Anython girls team coach of Week 21-Marcee Christensen, Desert Hills drill Running backs take center stage – Week 6 football top performances By Kurt Johnson Photos by Kevin McInnis The running backs took over Week... Zach Wilson headlines Week 3 top football performances By Kurt Johnson Photos by Kevin McInnis & Jeff Porcaro It’s only Week... More than football at Hillcrest and other Week 3 games to watch By Kurt Johnson Photos by Kevin McInnis Set aside the won-loss records. They... New UHSAA alignment, new opportunities for Juan Diego Spanish Fork’s Money comes out on top	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5675
__label__wiki	0.954345	0.954345	U.S. Patent No. 9,704,350: Musical Combat Game Posted By : Andrew Thomas/ Issued July 11, 2017, to Harmonix Music Systems, Inc. Priority Date March 14, 2013 Call of Duty: Rock Band. U.S. Patent No. 9,704,350 (the ‘350 Patent) describes a technique for creating a first person shooter game but with the game mechanics of rock band. The ‘350 Patent describes a game like Halo or Call of Duty, but the player has to hit the buttons in time with the music to move around or to shoot. In 2014, Harmonix was developing Chroma, a game that utilized the method described in the ‘350 Patent, but after a closed alpha test, Harmonix decided to cancel the game. Other games, like Crypt of the Necrodancer, have used rhythm-based movement mechanics with relative success. A computerized technique for use with a game console, the technique including providing, using the game console, a combat video game that includes a weapon, providing, using the game console, and an audiovisual system, music as a player plays the video game, analyzing, using the game console, at least one of i) the music, and ii) metadata relating to the music, to determine a property, and controlling the operation of weapon, using the game console, as a function of the property. 1. A non-transitory computer readable medium including computer readable instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to: provide a shooter combat video game having an on-screen character with a weapon situated in a virtual world, in which a player controls when the on-screen character triggers the weapon; provide music as the player plays the video game; analyze at least one of i) the music, and ii) metadata relating to the music, to determine a timing parameter related to the music; and cause the on-screen character to fire projectiles from the weapon, wherein firing the projectiles comprises varying a parameter of the projectiles fired from the weapon as a function of the timing parameter. U.S. Patent No. 9,707,476: Method for creating a mini-game Issued July 18, 2017, to Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. Priority Date September 28, 2012 Classic console games are known for being challenging and lengthy. Developers designed the games for children who could only buy a limited number of games but had all summer to play. Playing a classic game as an adult can be challenging due to time limitations. U.S. Patent No. 9,707,476 (the ‘476 Patent) answers this problem by transforming the classic game into a mini-game that can cover all the classic moments from a game. First, the ‘476 Patent will choose a starting location from the classic or legacy game for which a snapshot is generated. Then an event from the legacy game is chosen and tied to a trigger. Finally, a mini-game script is generated based on the snapshot and chosen event which is sent to the emulator, ready to be played. The patent describes a method for multiple events to be selected with multiple triggers. It is only upon a player hitting a game-ending trigger that the script will send game-ending instructions to the emulator. Potentially, the ‘476 Patent describes a method that would allow a person to play through Final Fantasy 7 in an hour without missing any crucial events in the game. A starting location for the mini-game is chosen in the legacy game state. A snapshot is generated of that location. Once the snapshot is taken, trigger events are identified. Triggers corresponding to the trigger events are identified. A mini-game script is generated using the snapshot and triggers. 1. A non-transitory computer readable medium containing executable instructions and data for a mini-game configured to be implemented on an emulator operating on a network, the instructions and data comprising: a) a snapshot of a starting location for the mini-game within a legacy game execution state, wherein the snapshot includes saved data corresponding to the legacy game execution state of every device being emulated by the emulator at a designated time during emulation of a legacy game that the emulator can use to start the mini-game; b) data representing one or more identified triggers that correspond to one or more events within the legacy game; and c) a script for the mini-game generated from the snapshot and triggers. U.S. Patent No. 6,488,505: System and method of vehicle competition with enhanced ghosting features Issued December 3, 2002, to Midway Games West Inc. Priority Date July 15, 1999 U.S. Patent No. 6,488,505 (the ‘505 Patent) concerns “ghosting” in auto-racing games, a process where a player races against a previously recorded best effort of a previous player. The ‘505 Patent is a one of a number of ghosting patents which originated from a mode in the Atari arcade game Hard Drivin’. Hard Drivin’ was the first car racing game that allowed players to race against a translucent “ghost” recording of a previous race. In this particular patent, if a player finishes a race time fast enough, they are rewarded with free game time. If a player beats the sufficient time to qualify for a free game, this data would be stored in the game along with the finish time and the name of the player. The patent allows the storage of past routes of the cars over which the ghost car travels. By accumulating a plurality of competition scores from multiple past competitions, the game selects one of the scores as the threshold for free game time. The score is calculated according to the ability of the players in the system. Once a player surpasses that threshold, they receive the award. A system and method for computerized competition useful for rewarding a player. The system and method may be utilized in arcade games, personal computer games, dedicated video games, networked games, and simulators. The method may include selecting a target reward level or threshold such as by selecting a score from a list of past scores, and dynamically adjusting the reward level according to the ability of the players of the system. The method may further include adjusting the playback of a previous competition sequence according to the adjusted reward level. In one embodiment, a previous vehicle race sequence is stored and played back as a ghost or phantom vehicle simultaneously with a present vehicle of a player. A simulated vehicle system, comprising: a simulated vehicle configured to traverse a simulated course; a data structure holding a plurality of course finish times; a present course buffer configured to store a present course path of the simulated vehicle and a course finish time of the simulated vehicle as it traverses the simulated course; a recorded course storage configured to store a recorded course path; and a playback adjuster configured to adjust the speed of playback of the recorded course path when a course finish time in the data structure which corresponds to the recorded course path is different than a selected one of the course finish times which is based on an adjusting ratio. Research By: Rachel Johns Edited By: Andrew F. Thomas U.S. Patent No. 5,718,632: Recording medium, method of loading games program code means, and games machine Issued February 17, 1998, to Namco Ltd. In 1995, Yoichi Hayashi of Namco Ltd. invented a variant of a technique called “Invade-a-Load” which was used in software for the Commodore 64 computer. Namco’s invention was for use with optical disc-based platforms such as the Sony PlayStation. The patent expired on November 27, 2015.Namco’s patent covered “auxiliary games” that a user can play while the main game is loading. Sony released the PlayStation in 1994. The console had advanced graphics for the time, which it could do by replacing the previous generation’s gaming cartridges with CD-ROMS. However, the PlayStation needed to initialize a game by loading the game data from the disc into the console’s memory. The loading process could take several minutes depending on the size of the game, and players would be forced to watch a load screen. Any gamer can tell you that load screens are very dull, especially compared to the instant gratification of cartridge games. The ‘632 Patent solves this problem by creating a technique for a player to play a smaller game during the load screen. Namco utilized the ‘632 Patent by allowing Ridge Racer players to play the classic game Galaxian during the load screens. It took no time for the console to load Galaxian, therefore, playing the game would not inhibit the console’s ability to load Ridge Racer. Namco made playing Galaxian more than just a distraction since Ridge Race would reward the player with in-game bonuses if he/she could beat Galaxian before the load finished. A recording medium, a method of loading games program code, and a games machine is provided. The recording medium has a program code relating to an auxiliary game and a program code relating to a main game. The size of the auxiliary game program code is small compared to the size of the main-game program code, and the relationship between the auxiliary game program code and the main-game program code is such that the auxiliary game program code is loaded first, before the main game program code. Unnecessary wastage of time can be prevented by first loading the smaller, auxiliary game program code into the games machine, before the main-game program code is loaded, then loading the main-game program code while the auxiliary game is running. 1. A recording medium, comprising: computer readable auxiliary program code means for processing an auxiliary game; and computer readable main-game program code means for processing a main game, wherein a size of said auxiliary program code means is smaller compared to a size of said main-game program code means and wherein a relationship between said auxiliary program code means and said main-game program code means is such that said auxiliary program code means is always loaded first, before said main-game program code means. Candy Crush Pushing into Possible Patent Infringement Groove Digital, Inc. v. King.com, LTD. et al., United States District Court for the District of Delaware, 1-18-cv-00836, filed 06/04/2018 On June 4, 2018, Groove Digital filed a lawsuit in the District Court of Delaware alleging King.com infringed upon U.S. Pat. No. 9,454,762 (the ‘762 Patent), titled “System and Method for Delivery of Content to a Network Device.” Groove Digital claims the ‘762 Patent relates to push notifications for mobile apps. In the Complaint, King’s game, Candy Crush Saga, infringes upon the ‘762 Patent. Claim 1 of the ‘762 Patent reads: A system for delivering information to a networked device of a user, the system comprising: a microprocessor running a software application for delivering an applet application to the networked device and managing the delivery of the applet application to the networked device, wherein the applet application passively deploys one or more applets at a time of deployment, wherein the applet application provides for delivery of content to the networked device and a display of the content in a predetermined portion of a user display that is less than an entire display of the networked device, by the one or more applet, wherein the one or more applet is configured to deploy at least one of independent of or in conjunction with an internet browser window, wherein an internet browser is configured to deploy subsequent to deployment of the one or more applets based on at least one action or inaction of the user, wherein at least one of the applets is configured to become idle upon deployment of the internet browser, and wherein the deployment of the one or more applets is such that at the time of deployment of the one or more applets the user can continue to operate the networked device in a state prior to the deployment of the one or more applets; a first database coupled to the microprocessor and storing a first set of information relating to the user; and a second database coupled to the microprocessor and including a second set of information for comparison to the first set of information, wherein the microprocessor compares the first set of information to the second set of information to determine whether the content should be transmitted to the networked device for display by the one or more applets. (‘762 patent, col. 14, lines 9-43). The ‘762 Patent has an interesting prosecution history. Samuel Gaidemak and Paul Chacko filed the ‘762 Patent on March 17, 2006, but the USPTO did not issue the patent until September 27, 2016. During those ten years, the PTO issued eleven office actions against the ‘762 Patent. On average a patent will face three or four office actions. The more office actions a patent faces, the more prosecution history estoppel the patent acquires, which is used to narrow the patent’s claims and restrict the owner’s use of the doctrine of equivalents. Groove Digital is asserting the doctrine of equivalents in addition to allegations of literal infringement. King has not yet filed an Answer in response to the Complaint. Groove Digital is also suing United Bank for infringing the ‘762 Patent. Normally, we do not report on non-video game related case, but this is the only other lawsuit in which the ‘762 Patent is asserted. Groove Digital filed the lawsuit against United Bank on December 1, 2017, in the Eastern District of Virginia. The Complaint in that lawsuit alleges that United Bank’s mobile banking app infringes the ‘762 Patent by using push notifications, and the Complaint filed against United Bank is very similar to the Complaint filed against King. United Bank has only filed a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. These lawsuits against United Bank and King could be the start of Groove Digital suing every mobile app developer that uses push notifications, so it will be interesting to see if Apple takes notice (in view of the integrated push notification technology built into iOS). We will continue to follow Groove Digital’s lawsuit against King and provide updates when available. Sony Files for Another IPR on a Patent Relating to Stereoscopic Images On May 22, 2018, Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (Sony) filed a petition for Inter Partes Review of U.S. Patent 8,206,218 (the ‘218 Patent), owned by Techno View IP. The ‘218 Patent is related to a method for displaying stereoscopic images based on how the right-eye and left-eye view the same object. Sony is alleging that the ‘218 Patent is invalid because it is obvious as a result of prior art. Claim 1 of the ’218 Patent reads: 1. A method in a videogame system for displaying three-dimensional images, comprising the computer implemented steps of: providing left and right backbuffers; calculating first position coordinates of a first eye view; storing a first eye view image captured virtually from the calculated first position coordinates of the first eye view of an object in the videogame into the left backbuffer; determining a second eye view image of the object captured virtually from the calculated second position coordinates of the second eye view; storing the second eye view image in the right backbuffer; and displaying the first eye view image and the second eye view image to the user to provide a three dimensional perspective of the object from the videogame system to the user. (‘218 patent, col. 13, lines 44-64). The ‘218 Patent is related to U.S. Patent 7,666,096 (the ‘096 Patent), also owned by Techno View and also subject to an IPR petitioned by Sony. Both the ‘218 and ‘096 Patents are at the center of a lawsuit Techno View filed against Sony in the Central District of California, in which Techno View alleges that Sony’s PlayStation VR infringes Techno View’s patents. Sony is using the IPRs to challenge the validity of the allegedly infringed patents. Techno View is also suing Oculus VR claiming their VR system infringes the ‘218 and ‘096 Patents. Oculus was not part of the IPR petitions filed by Sony. This is the third IPR petition Sony has filed this year relating to stereoscopic images. For background on the previous two IPR petitions click here and here. Posted By : Kirk Sigmon/ On January 17, 2018, U.S. District Judge John Michael Vazquez of the District of New Jersey dismissed all patent infringement claims asserted by Joseph Scibetta (a/k/a “Bankers & Brokers”) (“Scibetta”), against Slingo, Inc. and RealNetworks, Inc. (collectively, “Slingo”). The reason: none of Scibetta’s patents survived scrutiny 35 U.S.C. § 101. Scibetta is the owner of various intellectual property rights relating to a card and casino game called “BANKERS & BROKERS.” U.S. Patent No. 6,220,597, one of the patents asserted in the case, describes the game in detail: 1. A method for playing a wagering card game comprising the steps of: Providing a shuffled stack of playing cards where the cards are touched only by the dealer during the game comprising at least one deck thereof; providing a planar game playing surface comprising a plurality of separately delineated areas adapted for the placement of bets; establishing odds for payout of winning bets placed in any of the aforesaid plurality of separated and delineated areas; establishing an initial order of play where players are designated as first player, and so on to a last player; initiating a round of play by a first player establishing a bet by placing a wager in a designated space on the table near a pot designated and marked onto a surface for displaying a face-up side of a card dealt to each said player; dealing a stack of six face-down cards as a player’s pot concealing the faces of each dealt card from each player and a dealer, to the first player and any other player in the game; dealing a stack of six face-down cards, concealing the faces of each dealt card from each player and the dealer, to the dealer as a dealer’s pot; then, only the dealer turning the dealer’s pot over and turning over the pots over for each player one at a time; then the dealer immediately determining a player’s winning status or loss status by comparing a face-up card dealt to each player and a now face-up card dealt to the dealer in the dealer’s pot; after comparing a dealer’s face-up card to a player’s face-up card, paying any winning bets placed by each player in the game; collecting the played or turned up cards from each pot after bets are paid and placing these cards in a discarded cards designated area on the table; determining whether the turned-up dealer’s card matches the corresponding turned-up player’s card, whereby at any time during the game or before the dealer may imposed step of disqualifying and discarding any got touched by a player. The other asserted patents (U.S. Patent Nos. 6,626,433, 7,331,580, 7,618,044, and 7,857,314) are similar. Slingo is alleged to have distributed an unlawful copy of BANKERS & BROKERS on their website slingo.com, which was later acquired by RealNetworks, Inc. The alleged copy of BANKERS & BROKERS is reproduced below (as retrieved from archive.org). On December 12, 2016, Slingo moved to dismiss Scibetta’s case. Among other assertions, Slingo claimed that all of Scibetta’s patents were invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 101. The Court agreed. With regard to Alice step one, the Court noted that Scibetta’s asserted patent claims were substantially similar to the “method of conducting a wagering game” patent found invalid in In re Smith, 815 F.3d 816 (Fed. Cir. 2016), cert. denied sub nom., Trading Techs. Int’l, Inc. v. Lee, 137 S.Ct. 453 (2016). Indeed, the Court noted that “there is no meaningful distinction between, on the one hand, the unpatentable abstract idea found in In re Smith and, on the other hand, the method and system claims here.” Per the Court, the fact that some claims recited, among other things, a “‘means’ for identifying player/dealer positions” did not “change the fact that [BANKERS & BROKERS] stems from a patent ineligible abstract idea.” With regard to Alice step two, the Court found that BANKERS & BROKERS “reflects well-understood, routine, and conventional wagering activity” such that “Plaintiffs made no technical improvement on the original abstract idea of a card wagering game using a standard deck of cards.” The mere implementation of such a game on a computer did not change the Court’s analysis: “the claims do nothing more than simply describe the application of the game-related abstract ideas to a generic computer system.” Scibetta’s case is not doomed. Scibetta still has a viable claim for misappropriation against Slingo. Moreover, while Scibetta’s trademark and unjust enrichment claims were also dismissed by the Court, the claims were dismissed without prejudice and largely based on pleading deficiencies. As such, Scibetta will be afforded an opportunity to amend and supplement his complaint. This case illustrates the difficulties of enforcing patents that, despite their presumption of validity, were granted prior to the Alice decision when the USPTO was using a different standard of examination. A trend is appearing where the presumption of validity applied to those patents by courts appears to be inherently lower than that given to more recently granted patents. Scibetta asserted five patents, and not one survived a motion to dismiss. Those looking to acquire patent portfolios, for example, should be particularly wary of purchasing patents which may look great but may face significant hurdles during enforcement. Sometimes, a single strong patent is worth more than a hundred unenforceable ones. No Man’s patent problem? Posted By : Ross Danennberg/ There’s an interesting article in Law360 today about a potential patent dispute surrounding No Man’s Sky and the so-call Superformula. From the article, and of interest to our readers: Many video games have focused on space exploration; this premise is hardly unique. The novelty with “No Man’s Sky”, and the reason for so much excitement and anticipation over its imminent release, lies primarily in the ambitious size of the universe available for exploration in the game. In traditional video game programming, objects that make up the in-game environments must be created individually by writing numerous lines of code into the game for each asset or piece of art — a labor-intensive and time-consuming process limiting the number of objects that can be included in one game. Hello Games ostensibly avoids these issues by using a programming technique known as procedural generation. Rather than drafting unique lines of code to create each game asset, procedural generation provides a computer with a system of rules and parameters for the game universe, and then relies upon the computer to create in-game assets in accordance with those rules. In other words, each object in “No Man’s Sky” is created not by individual lines of code written specifically for that asset by a programmer, but instead is created by the computer applying algorithms created by the programming team. These procedural rules could cover everything from the way interstellar and spaceship physics work, to the way vegetation looks on planets with particular climates, to the types and behaviors of wildlife. Using this technique, Hello Games has created an in-game universe of unprecedented size and scope, containing 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 accessible planets.[5] In late July, the media began to report that a company called Genicap had raised the possibility that “No Man’s Sky” might be running afoul of Genicap’s patent rights in the Superformula. The Superformula is a modified version of the equation that describes a circle, and it was discovered by Johan Gielis around the turn of the 21st Century. Changing particular variables within the Superformula causes the equation to describe all manner of geometric shapes and natural forms.[6] Genicap (Gielis’ employer) received U.S. patent No. 9,317,627 (the “‘627 patent”) on April 19, 2016. The ‘627 patent’s primary claim describes the Superformula as “a method for creating timewise display of widely variable naturalistic scenery … on an amusement device with minimized data storage and processing requirements … ” Click the link above for the entire article. We’ll keep you posted of any developments in this area. White Knuckle Gaming v. Electronic Arts – EA shoots… and scores! White Knuckle Gaming v. Electronic Arts Case number 1:15-cv-00150 U.S. District Court for the District of Utah Salt Lake City, Utah. June 2, 2016. U.S. District Judge Jill N. Parrish granted Electronic Arts Inc.’s motion to dismiss, saying that Utah-based White Knuckle Gaming LLC cannot sue for patent infringement because the patent at issue — which describes a method for updating sports videos games to reflect real-world changes like statistics, athlete appearances and uniforms — covers an abstract idea and does not include any additional elements that transform the claim into patent-eligible material. “The patent claims do nothing more than recite the performance of a long-established business practice — rewriting software to produce an updated version — using a general purpose computer and the internet,” Judge Parrish wrote. “It is a longstanding business practice in the video game industry to update sports video games parameters to reflect real-world developments,” Judge Parrish wrote. According to Judge Parrish, the patent doesn’t have any additional elements that transforms the abstract idea into an inventive concept because it doesn’t rely on anything other than generic computer equipment in order to be accomplished. “The court holds that the patent is drawn to a patent-ineligible abstract idea, and merely requiring generic computer implementation fails to transform that idea into a patent-eligible invention,” Judge Parrish wrote. The patent-in-suit is U.S. Patent Number 8,540,575 titled “Method and System for Increased Realism in Video Games.” One interesting thing about this case is the length of the claims that were invalidated. For example, representative claim 1 reads: 1. A game medium configured to provide a sports video game in conjunction with a video game machine, the sports video game including video game rules and video game character parameters, the video game character parameters including video game character performance parameters associated with individual video game characters, the game medium being configured to cause the video game machine to perform a method comprising: loading video game data stored by the game medium into a random access memory of the video game machine for playing the video game, the video game data including the video game rules and a particular video game character performance parameter associated with a particular individual video game character associated with a particular real-life sports athlete, wherein the particular video game performance parameter is based at least in part on a real-life performance of the particular real-life sports athlete playing in one or more real-life sporting events, the particular video game character performance parameter affecting the manner in which the particular individual video game character performs in the sports video game; during a single sports season, receiving a series of updated video game character performance parameters from a data server via a network including the Internet, wherein each of the updated video game character performance parameters in the series is based at least in part on one or more different real-life performances of the particular real-life sports athlete in one or more sporting events performed during the single sports season; updating the sports video game with each of the updated video game character performance parameters received, wherein each update changes the manner in which the particular individual video game character performs in the sports video game such that the particular individual video game character more closely simulates real-life performance attributes of the particular real-life athlete in the sports video game; and enabling a user to control the particular individual video game character in the sports video game using a video game controller connected to the video game machine. This is a case that will be closely and heavily scrutinized in the wake of Alice v. CLS Bank. Many practitioners will use this case as more fodder to try to read the tea leaves in the winds of change that is Federal jurisprudence on patent-eligible subject matter. White Knuckle Gaming will likely appeal. Along with the McRO case currently pending at the Federal Circuit, this could be another pertinent case in the world of video game patents. U.S. Patent No. 8,535,153: Video game system and methods of operating a video game Issued Sep. 17, 2013 The ‘153 patent deals with video game systems with two forms of media. The first media contains information about a game and the second media stores information about a particular character. The patent describes a process of swiping cards or selecting characters from an external media source on which an individual character and that character’s attributes are stored. The media is updated with experience, skills, or rewards according to player success in using that character from that media source in a particular game. The patent allows for single or multi- player games that are competitive or cooperative. Video game systems for executing instructions according to a video game contained on an item of first media including: an item of second media containing data defining an aspect of the video game; and a video game console including a housing, a first media device supported by the housing, a second media device supported by the housing, and a control unit supported by the housing and configured to control the first media device to read the item of first media and to control the second media device to read the item of second media. 1. A method of operating a video game involving multiple characters playable by multiple players, the method comprising the steps of: displaying an environment of the video game on a display screen; displaying an icon on the display screen during the video game; receiving, by a media device, an input from a first one of the players who provides an item of media after the icon is displayed; and attributing a reward associated with the icon with the character being played by the first player. U.S. Patent No. 8,585,476: Location-based games and augmented reality systems Issued Nov. 19, 2013 The ‘476 patent deals with virtual realities and augmented realities that rely on real world data to create the virtual world. The player’s location in the real world is tracked using GPS or some other location tracking device, such as a play mat, while the player uses some manner of virtual reality headset. The game uses that location and movement from that data to correlate with location and movement in a virtual world. The augmented reality may rely on visual input from the real world with supplementary elements added by virtual reality. The patent covers both major movements, such riding in a driving a car or traversing a field, and minor movements, such as hand movements. Handheld location based games are provided in which a user’s physical location correlates to the virtual location of a virtual character on a virtual playfield. Augmented Reality (AR) systems are provided in which video game indicia are overlaid onto a user’s physical environment. A landscape detector is provided that may obtain information about the user’s landscape, in addition to the user’s location, in order to provide overlaying information to an AR head-mounted display and control information to non-user controlled video game characters. 1. An augmented reality game system comprising: a head-mounted display that overlays virtual indicia onto a physical playfield; memory comprising video game logic that provides a video game; a wearable processor that utilizes said video game logic to provide video game indicia to said head-mounted display based on said video game logic, wherein said processor is coupled to said memory and said head-mounted display; a detector that determines landscape characteristics of said physical playfield, wherein said video game logic utilizes said landscape characteristics in providing said video game; and a locating device that determines the physical location of said locating device on the physical playfield, wherein said video game logic utilizes the physical location of said locating device in providing said video game. U.S. Patent No. 8,678,891: Video game systems and methods including protecting game character(s) Issued March 25, 2014 The ‘891 patent applies to multi-player games, in which each player controls a separate character. A player may input a command that protects that player’s character from harm, shown by a visual indicator, such as a bubble around the character, on the screen. Once a character is protected, the player loses control of the character, and the character moves according to the action of the other, unprotected characters, for example due to the scrolling of the screen. Certain conditions remove the character’s protection, returning that character to control through player input. Example systems and methods relate to a video game in which multiple players each supply inputs to a respective input device to control a corresponding game character in a game world. Movements and actions of each game character are controlled in accordance with a first game character control operation during the playing of the video game. If one or more conditions is satisfied by one of the players, the one player’s game character is protected from harm in the gameworld. Movements and actions of the protected game character are controlled in accordance with a second game character control operation. The protecting of the one player’s game character is stopped in response to one or more protecting stopping conditions, whereby the game character is again controllable in accordance with the first game character control operation. If all game characters are protected, current playing of the video game ends. 1. A method comprising: while playing a multi-player video game in which multiple players each supply inputs to a respective input device to control a corresponding game character in a game world displayed on a display screen, controlling movements of each game character in the game world in accordance with respective first game character control operations during the playing of the multi-player video game; in response to satisfaction of one or more conditions, protecting the one player’s game character from harm in the game world; controlling movements of the protected game character in the game world; stopping the protecting of the one player’s game character in response to one or more protecting stopping conditions, whereby the movements of the one player’s game character in the game world are controllable in accordance with the first game character control operation for that game character; and if all game characters are protected during the playing of the multi-player video game, causing current playing of the multi-player video game to end. U.S. Patent No. 8,668,561: Video games including real-life attributes and/or fantasy settings Issued Mar. 11, 2014 The ‘561 patent applies to fantasy sports and covers a networked system that creates a video game sports team based on at least part of a fantasy team roster. The system includes a server so the game team based on the fantasy roster can be used in online gaming or updated as the fantasy roster is updated. The real life actions of players on the fantasy team roster impact the play of the video game team during console play. A video gaming console and related network interfaces with a server computer hosting an online fantasy sports game. The video game machine acquires a fantasy team roster of the fantasy sport game over a network that includes the Internet and the video game console is programmed to create a video game team using at least a portion of the fantasy team roster. The video game team created is playable on the video game console. 1. A method performed by a computer server for updating a video game team roster in a sports video game played on a video game console, the computer server configured to communicate with a plurality of video game machines via a network connection that includes the Internet, the method performed by the computer server comprising the following acts: hosting an online fantasy sports game on the computer server configured to communicate with the plurality of video game machines via the network connection that includes the Internet, the online fantasy sports game including: a plurality of fantasy sports teams that are each operated by a fantasy team owner in a fantasy sports league; each fantasy sports team having a fantasy team roster comprised of fantasy team members, wherein the fantasy team members are associated with real-life athletes of collegiate and/or professional sports teams and the fantasy team members of each fantasy team are selected by the fantasy team owner of each fantasy team through a fantasy draft; and wherein the online fantasy sports game provides a score for each fantasy sports team in the fantasy sports league, the score being calculated using statistics from a real-life performance of the real-life athletes associated with the member of each fantasy sports team; and transmitting a fantasy team roster associated with a particular fantasy team to the video game console, wherein the video game console is programmed to create a video game team including a plurality of video game characters corresponding to at least a portion of the members of the fantasy team roster to be played in the sports video game on the video game console, wherein the video game characters of the video game team are associated with the same real-life athletes that are associated with the fantasy team members of the fantasy team roster transmitted, wherein the fantasy team owner is not one of the real-life athletes engaging in the real-life sporting events who are associated with the fantasy team members. U.S. Patent No. 8,690,653: Video game systems and methods Issued Apr. 8, 2014, to Nintendo Co., Ltd. The ‘653 patent covers multiplayer games in which each player controls a separate character and, under certain conditions, a character may become invincible. Each player uses a separate controller. While a character is invincible, the character responds to a different control scheme than when a character is susceptible to damage. Example systems and methods relate to a video game in which multiple players each supply inputs to a respective input device to control a corresponding game character in a game world. Movements and actions of each game character are controlled in accordance with respective first game character control operations during the playing of the video game. If one of a plurality of conditions is satisfied by one of the players, the one player’s game character is protected from harm in the game world. Movements and actions of the protected game character are controlled in accordance with a second game character control operation. The protecting of the one player’s game character is stopped in response to one or more protecting stopping conditions, whereby the game character is again controllable in accordance with the first game character control operation. while playing a multi-player video game in which multiple players each supply inputs to a respective input device to control a corresponding game character in a game world displayed on a display screen, controlling movements of each game character in the game world in accordance with respective first game character control operations during the playing of the multi-player video game; in response to satisfaction of any one of a plurality of conditions by one of the players, protecting the one player’s game character from harm in the game world, wherein the plurality of conditions include both voluntary conditions based on the one player’s inputs and involuntary conditions automatically imposed by the multi-player video game; controlling movements of the protected game character in the game world; and stopping the protecting of the one player’s game character in response to one or more protecting stopping conditions, whereby the movements of the one player’s game character in the game world are controllable in accordance with the first game character control operation for that game character. U.S. Patent No. 8,715,087: Video game including user determined location information Issued May 6, 2014 The ‘087 patent covers a method and device, which work together to collect player selected GPS information then use that information in the creation of some elements of a game world. The created elements may be derived from real world video or from other stored information. The game world is mapped over the selected GPS location. A method, apparatus and computer program product for a video game including user determined location information is presented. Location information (e.g. GPS, Google Maps, an entered address or the like) determined by a user of a video game is acquired. Then user determined location information relating to a physical location determined by the user is mapped to a video game environment wherein the user of the video game experiences objects from the users entered location while playing the video game. 1. A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving information about a real world physical location for a user of a videogame; obtaining user determined location information relating to said real world physical location determined by said user, said user determined location information comprising continuous pre-recorded actual video of said real world physical location and of an area surrounding said real world physical location; and mapping said user determined location information into a video game environment wherein the user of said video game experiences objects from the entered real world physical location, wherein said user traverses said video game environment while playing said video game, wherein said user of said video game is stationary in said real world and wherein all images acquired from said continuous pre-recorded actual video remains exactly as presented in the real physical world into the video game. U.S. Patent No. 8,721,412: System and method configured to unlock content within a videogame Issued May 13, 2014, to Activision Publishing, Inc. The ‘412 patent covers both single and multi-player video games. The games covered have different content sets, or quests, that can be completed by any combination of a single player, other real world players, and artificial intelligences. The player can move between these content sets, interact with the players therein, and complete discrete goals. A system and method are configured to provide a videogame to one or more players. The videogame may involve a series of different sets of content within which players perform activities. A group of players may be associated with the content sets. The players may include virtual players controlled by artificial intelligence and one or more real world players. Players may progress through the videogame by moving from content sets to content sets, performing objectives in the various content sets, and interacting with the players within those content sets. 1. A system configured to provide a player with a videogame, the system comprising: a game platform configured to implement one or more computer program modules to provide a player with the videogame, the one or more computer program modules comprising: a content module configured to manage multiple sets of content within the videogame, wherein the multiple sets of content within the videogame comprise a first content set that is accessible to the player engaging in the videogame and a second content set that is not accessible to the player initially within the videogame, wherein the second content set is associated with a first set of criteria, wherein the content module is configured to unlock the second content set within the videogame for the player to enable the player to access the second content set within the videogame responsive to the player fulfilling the first set of criteria, wherein the first set of criteria includes performance of one or more tasks provided by the first content set that are not sufficient to pass the first content set, successful participation in one or more events associated with the first content set, and achieving a first disposition mode for a social relationship between the player and one or more virtual players in the videogame, and wherein the first content set and the second content set must be passed to complete the videogame; and an event module configured to manage a first set of events associated with the first content set, and to determine if the player has successfully participated in individual events in the first set of events, and wherein the first set of criteria associated with the first content set requires successful performance of some subset of the first set of events as determined by the event module. U.S. Patent No. 8,740,707: Video game controller for multiple users Issued Jun. 3, 2014 The ‘707 patent is a hardware patent, which covers a game controller that can be used by two or more players cooperatively. The controller senses real world movement and converts these signals into information that can control game play. The controller relies on conductive materials to sense how many players are using the controller and in which ways. The present invention provides a video game controller and apparatus that may be used by two or more players. The users physically manipulate the control device cooperatively to the kinesthetic feedback of the other player(s) to control the events of the video game. By working together through orientation of the controller, the players can jointly move the video game object on the screen and/or govern the play of the game. 1. A video game system for cooperative play by two or more players comprising: a first conductive material attached to or in contact with a first player’s body and a second conductive material attached to or in contact with a second player’s body; a microcontroller in communication with the first and second conductive materials, said microcontroller further being in communication with a computer processing unit (CPU) or a game console; whereby skin of the first player touching skin of the second player closes a circuit between the first and the second conductive materials and the microcontroller, said circuit closing causing the microcontroller to send a signal to the CPU or the game console thereby causing said CPU or gameconsole to display a video game having at least one game object that responds in accordance with the signal. U.S. Patent No. 8,591,332: Video game video editor Issued Nov. 26, 2013, to Activision Publishing, Inc. The ‘332 patent describes a video editor that displays game play clips created while the player is in game. The editor compiles game play video, records information about the clips, and can create compilations based on this information. The editor can also associate particular audio with different video clips, creating an audiovisual presentation. It’s also capable of video overlay editing and music editing. The editing software is used used on the game system, rather than on a separate computer or device. A video editor for a video game is discussed. The video editor manipulates information of video game play to provide videos of game play and in some embodiments scoring of videos. 1. A method of providing audiovisual presentations for a video game, comprising: during game play, saving game state information representative of a set of video clips, each video clip corresponding to a series of images generated during game play; generating a video compilation using selected video clips from the set of video clips; modifying the video compilation based on inputs from a video game controller; and adding at least some audio with the video compilation to thereby form an audiovisual presentation, the at least some audio being associated with events included in the video compilation. U.S. Patent No. 8,635,163: System and method for facilitating a video game exchange U.S. Patent Not. 8,635,163: System and method for facilitating a video game exchange Issued Jan. 21, 2014, to Green Man Gaming Limited The ‘163 patent relies on a network and server to allow the resale of digital downloads of games. The system retains records of which games are owned on which devices. Additionally, the system keeps track of game prices for both new and “used” versions of a game, where a “used” version is a digital download being returned for credit towards other purchases. By keeping records of what is owned by whom, the system ensures that a game that is returned for credit does not remain in a player’s inventory after resale. The system focuses exclusively on the sale and resale of games on authorized devices. A system and method for facilitating the exchange of electronic video games. A video game exchange server provides interacts with a gaming device to permit a game user to buy and load a video game onto the gaming device, to play the game on the gaming device and to return the “used” game for credits that may be used to purchase a new or used game. The game exchange server assigns a price to each new game and used game in its inventory. The game exchange server also assigns a value to each game currently stored on the gaming device. The game price and the game value may decline as a function of time or based on other factors (e.g., a new release). The game exchange server also validates that a video game stored on a gaming device is authorized. 1. A system for exchanging video games comprising: a network comprising a plurality of connected computers; a video game exchange server; a gaming device comprising a first processor in communication with the videoexchange server via the network, wherein the first processor is coupled to a memory storing executable instructions that when executed by the first processor cause the first processor to perform operations comprising: downloading a client application from the video game exchange server; sending, using the client application, a request to the game exchange server to establish an account for the gaming device; and sending to the game exchange server using the client application an offer to exchange a digital game for which the gaming device has acquired use rights for a game for which gaming device has not acquired use right, wherein the offer to exchange comprises a first unique key assigned to the game offered for exchange; wherein the video game exchange server comprises a second processor and wherein the second processor is coupled to a memory storing executable instructions that when executed by the second processor causes the second processor to perform operations comprising: downloading a client application to the gaming device in response to the request from the client application; establishing an account for the gaming device in response to the request from the client application; receiving from the gaming device via the client application the offer to exchange the digital game; confirming from the first unique key that the gaming device has acquired use rights to the digital game offered for exchange; accepting the offer to exchange the digital game for which the use rights have been confirmed; storing a second unique key associated with the requested game in a datastore; retiring the first unique key of the digital game subject to the accepted offer from the datastore. U.S. Patent No. 8,491,394: Squad vs. squad video game Issued Jul. 23, 2013, to Microsoft Corporation The ‘394 patent applies to shooter video games, which are focused around competing squads. The patent covers both games in which a single player controls each squad and more than one player controls each squad. The game receives inputs from the controlling players about squad actions and communicates these actions to other systems in the game. The patent also covers the player’s ability to join or leave his or her squad at any point during gameplay without ending the game. A squad versus squad shooter video game receives input from one or more players via their respective use of controllers in communication with one or more console-based video game systems. The input from each controller is interpreted as a command to a squad in a competition against one or more other squads that are respectively commanded by one or more players via their respective use of controllers. Each squad includes a plurality of characters. Each player is assigned to one of the squads. Actions of each character in the video game are a function of commands given to that character by one of the players. Players can join or exit their assigned squad during game play. facilitating play of a game title by one or more players commanding, via their respective use of controllers, a squad in a competition against one or more other squads that are respectively commanded by one or more players via their respective use of controllers, wherein: each said squad includes a plurality of characters; each said player is assigned to one said squad; each said squad has at least one said player assigned thereto; and action of each said character in the play of the game title is a function of a command given to that character by one said player; detecting, while any said player is playing the game title, a join condition indicating that a new player would like to join in playing the game title; and in response to the join condition, assigning a new squad to the new player when it is determined that the new player is to form the new squad.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5681
__label__wiki	0.678279	0.678279	Home » Buying » £124 a month cheaper to buy than rent £124 a month cheaper to buy than rent The cost of owning a home in the UK is now on average £124 per month lower than renting (£1,488 a year), according to research by Halifax. The average monthly costs associated with owning a three bedroom house stood at £645 in December 2013; which is 16% lower than the typical monthly rent of £769 paid on the same property type. This is the largest cash difference since 2009, when the figure stood at just £6 and average monthly costs for owning and renting were £646 and £652 respectively. The gap between the costs of owning and renting is being driven by average monthly rents increasing by over £100 since 2009, while average monthly ownership costs have remained relatively unchanged over the same period. Today’s picture is in stark contrast to the situation for renters five years ago when, in 2008, the monthly ownership cost was on average £226 (31%) higher than rental costs. Craig McKinlay, Mortgage Director, Halifax said: “There has been a substantial improvement in the affordability of owning compared to renting in recent years, which has been driven by the fact that monthly home ownership costs have fallen by a third (32%) since 2008. “Buying will continue to be a more financially attractive option as the cost of owning a home remains stable. With greater availability of mortgages that require smaller deposits, the property ladder has also become even more accessible for those who can afford the monthly costs of owning but had previously not been able to save the necessary deposit.” March 19, 2014 Alex Bell Buying, Letting 250 town halls so far pledge to freeze Council Tax this year Economy on the mend but families still feeling squeezed	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5682
__label__wiki	0.506222	0.506222	The Duplicity of Philosophy's Shadow Heidegger, Nazism, and the Jewish Other Elliot R. Wolfson , April Elliot Wolfson’s The Duplicity of Philosophy’s Shadow: Heidegger, Nazism, and the Jewish Other is, in my opinion, the most sophisticated engagement with the “problem” of Martin Heidegger’s Nazism in the English language (surpassing and engaging with even classic treatments like Jacques Derrida, Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, and Jean-Luc Nancy). Above all, following Derrida (xiii-xiv), Wolfson aims equally to resist dismissing Heidegger simply as a Nazi ideologue on one hand, or failing to think through his relationship to Nazism, especially in light of his rich philosophical corpus, on the other. Wolfson succeeds quite well in this task. The first chapter shows how, “Heidegger allowed his critique of Western metaphysics to become entangled with some of the crudest expressions of anti-Semitism” (29). At the same time, Wolfson notes and explores how Heidegger both opposed elements of Nazi ideology while also showing how Heidegger was, by no means, “articulating Nazi principles intentionally in the guise of his hermeneutic phenomenology” (33). Wolfson does a commendable job showing that—despite his antisemitic remarks, now revealed most infamously in the so-called “Black Notebooks”—there is “no compelling evidence that Heidegger subscribed to the vulgar biological racism of blood and soil” (33). Instead—and it is up to the reader to judge what to make of this point—Heidegger’s antisemitism is grounded in a position that makes recourse to notions of home and homelessness. According to Heidegger, most prominent on his reading of Friedrich Hölderlin, the notion of a homeland—literally: a fatherland, “Vaterland”—is developed as a means to understand nearness to Being, which is, in modernity, already always covered over—most prominently by the spread of technology. Heidegger eventually comes to speak of “language as homeland,” where the “veneration of language as home can only be applied to German because this is the dialect most suited to the poeticizing that discloses the concealment of the event of being in its unconcealment and thereby provides the conditions of Dasein’s historical dwelling on earth” (59). Given that Jews lack such a homeland, and that the Jewish existence is “peripatetic … Jewish existence precludes the possibility of the Jewish people having a land of origin, and by consequence they have no stake in the destiny of being and no historical site for the disclosure of the truth of being, which is the true nature of time” (70). In this way, the question of Judaism and Jews becomes an essentially “metaphysical” question rather than a biological or racial one, and Wolfson notes that this is potentially “an even more deleterious prejudice, as it denies the Jews the possibility of being circumscribed in the hermeneutic circularity of the historical self-understanding of Dasein” (82). To my mind, the strand summarized in the aforementioned paragraph forms the core of Wolfson’s book, and subsequent chapters refine and develop various nuances within this basic Heideggerian worldview, noting that above all, Heidegger had a grossly uninformed view of Jewish thought, especially regarding temporality, messianism, and related matters. Indeed, and this is Wolfson’s culminating point, Heidegger’s views are themselves found in elements of Jewish thought, where conceptions of time, analogous to Heidegger’s own, can be found (106). This broader point is pursued forcefully in the concluding chapter of the book, where Wolfson presents a reading of elements of the Jewish mystical tradition in order to show how it sometimes conceives of reality along the dualistic lines between good and evil, much in the same way that Heidegger did when conceiving of Jews and non-Jews in relation to Being, and much the same way that we can view Heidegger’s corpus itself, where—Wolfson is here quoting Friedrich Nietzsche—“good and evil come together in the same thing” (170). As noted above, I find The Duplicity of Philosophy’s Shadow to be incredibly erudite and compelling in all of its paths and approaches. What I wish Wolfson would have considered more, though, is a relatively pragmatic point: “what exactly is the imperative for reading Heidegger?” I mean this in very plain, perhaps banal, terms—and I speak as someone who has frequently engaged Heidegger in his own work—what is the reason, given Heidegger’s depravity, to continue reading him? Given what Wolfson says about the Jewish tradition—that one can find philosophical approaches that are comparable in content and orientation to Heidegger’s—why do we insist on prioritizing Heidegger? I ask this question broadly, not in that I don’t think Heidegger is important or worthwhile (even despite his errors—something Wolfson convincingly shows here), but simply given that there is so much in our “canon” that is overlooked, forgotten, buried, or absent—for whatever reason. I take the suggestion of the concluding chapter to be that there is much that we can still learn from Heidegger despite his thought having deeply unsavory elements … but, in plain terms, our time is finite, and with so much philosophy available to us—more than ever before in the history of the world—why do we continue on with the desire to engage with Heidegger (especially given that we can find elements of his thought elsewhere)? My suspicion—and I am as much at fault here as many others, if not more (to speak with Emmanuel Levinas)—is that we do so for the simple reason that we’ve been doing so. Maybe it’s time to throw away our idol. In any case, the thoughts of the last paragraph are not offered as a critique of an excellent book, but rather as a reflection of my own emotions after reading it. Perhaps Wolfson will address these thoughts in his next book, Heidegger and Kabbalah (Indiana University Press, 2019), the book for which this one is meant to serve as a prequel. Martin Shuster is Assistant Professor and Director of Judaic Studies, and a member of the Center for Geographies of Justice and the Center for Humanities at Goucher College. Elliot R. Wolfson is the Marsha and Jay Glazer Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies and Distinguished Professor of Religion at University of California, Santa Barbara. A fellow of the American Academy of Jewish Research and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he is the author of many books including Language, Eros, Being: Kabbalistic Hermeneutics and Poetic Imagination (2005); Open Secret: Postmessianic Messianism and the Mystical Revision of Menaḥem Mendel Schneerson (Columbia, 2009); A Dream Interpreted Within a Dream: Oneiropoiesis and the Prism of Imagination (2011); and Giving Beyond the Gift: Apophasis and Overcoming Theomania (2014). apocalypticism nazism, Martin Heidegger, National Socialism, Germany, anti-Semitic, messianism	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5684
__label__cc	0.524904	0.475096	Feed Me More Junk What is it that makes junk food so hard to resist? What a simple question this is! And yet there’s layer upon layer of reasons why it’s so hard to refuse a doughnut, a crème caramel or that second helping of chocolate pudding. And then it’s a lot to do with the way we live and our society, too. Not to mention that different nations have totally different habits and ways of thinking. But, basically, we can’t help ourselves – and it’s a reason that goes back millions of years. Way back before the days when your therapist was on your speed dial – when primitive Man lived in caves and hunted and killed his food without needing any counselling at all – the question never arose. But there were berries, roots, fruits and grains growing wild, and the first clue appears here; some were bitter and tasted bad. But, at the same time, wild bees and their honey was seen as a gift from the gods. Sweet and bitter: keep that in mind . . . And then fast-forward a couple of million years – because nothing really changed that much until after the Industrial Revolution of the late 18th century. Then steam-power led to electricity and a new age of science was born, leading to chemical and biological engineering and mass-production techniques. And, in spite of a couple of hundred years of all this going on, also keep in mind that the first domestic refrigerators didn’t become affordable until as recently as the 1940s. In other words, the key to the rise of junk food lies after World War Two. Before there was a choice, everyone in the (First) World ate fresh food. And, yes, of course there was the side-line seduction of cakes and biscuits and sweets and candy and sticky buns. But, just like prehistoric man or the ancient Romans, these were a one-off treat that pleasantly supplemented an otherwise healthy diet. But after the end of World War Two, things started to change – all life-style restrictions were lifted, there was an atmosphere of new beginnings, the quality of life improved hugely and, with full-time employment on the rise, eating patterns began to change Looking at this from an anthropologist’s point of view, you could confidently say that suddenly, for the first time in the history of Man, everyone had an unrestricted choice of what to eat and how to eat it. The essential, basic foods for subsistence survival – the genetic longings that had become encoded into our DNA over the millennia for salt, sugar and fat – were no longer imperative. We could head home after a long day at work and pick up a drive-thru burger. We could sprawl on the couch to watch a Saturday football game on TV and stuff ourselves with salty popcorn or a donut or two, followed later by a defrosted ready-made TV dinner. Cooking was a bore, but eating had never been so easy. That’s the sociology finished with. But we still can’t escape our genetic conditioning. Due to Man’s multi-million-year struggle for emergence, scientists have recently discovered that some parts of our brains are stimulated by tastes and oral textures. Certain consistencies, such as those of cream or butter, trigger the pleasure centres. The same holds true for the thickness of gravy or the grittiness of nuts. Researchers now believe humans evolved ways to detect the textures of energy-dense foods, such as fats and sugars, so that they could gobble them down in case supplies became scarce. And then we have to come back to sociology again, and particularly the power of today’s mass-media and advertising. When was the last time you saw a TV advert for celery? In 2017, the USA fast food industry spent $6.6 billion to advertise unhealthy fast-food and junk products. A consumer survey in 2018 listed the reasons for eating fast food: “it’s quick; it’s easy; it tastes good; it’s cheap; I’m a busy person”. And to enhance the whole junk-food thing, the multinational-franchises that are marketing all this have added artificial colours to make it look better, and artificial additives to boost the flavour. It’s a fact that America leads, and the rest of the world eventually follows. Which is why the new generation in the USA is fanatical about lifestyle, diet and health – closely followed by the United Kingdom and Europe. But Thailand is perhaps 20 years behind the rest of the world. And now analysts have shown that the current generation of affluent Thais perceive it as a badge of status for the family to head off to the nearest mall to dine at KFC instead of cooking fresh food at home as their parents still do. Junk is junk; it doesn’t matter whether it’s old cars or food. But it takes a hard learning curve to realise that easier, quicker and faster food is not the answer. Life is all about achieving balance – and that includes our diet – no matter what you see on TV, please don’t feed us junk!	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5687
__label__wiki	0.797696	0.797696	by Santiago Slabodsky, Hofstra University No, they are not. But the American Jewish establishment might be. For the American Jewish communities at large, however, Donald Trump’s presidency may well be a once in a lifetime opportunity. For the last two generations, American Jews have been taught to analyze national politics through the lenses of a very simple slogan: “what is good for Israel is good for Jews.” Over the last fifty years, this narrative was nourished by robust institutional support through educational structures, advocacy organizations, tourism programs, powerful museums, and political lobbies. Yet the equivalence between Israel and the life of American Jews is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain. On the one hand, while past American administrations reaffirmed the strategic alliance between the United States and Israel, their aim—successful or not—was to preserve an appearance of neutrality in order to play a role as mediator. One year into his presidency, it is clear that Donald Trump has decisively altered this appearance. Some may argue that this shift attests to the influence of evangelical Christian Zionism, while others may attribute it to the identification with Western settler projects, but Trump’s words and actions are unequivocally partisan. Just to name a few indicators, early on in his term he appointed a controversial ambassador who vocally supported settlements in and the annexation of Palestinian territories. Shortly afterwards, he designated his son-in-law, a person with deep personal and financial ties to Israeli nationalist elites, including the prime minister, as the “deal-maker” in the region. And, as his first year in office drew to a close, he announced the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and threatened to cut off Palestinian aid if they refused to accept his terms. It is clear to any political analyst that the US-Israeli strategic alliance continues to hold, but is soaring to new heights beyond appearances. The American Jewish communities may be experiencing the current administration differently. In November 2016, following a convulsive electoral campaign, Jews held fast to their historical loyalty. They voted overwhelmingly for the defeated Democratic candidate (71% vs 24%), showing a larger gap between their support for each party than in the 2012 presidential elections won by the Democrats (69% vs 30%). In the months that followed, Jewish institutions were the targets of threats or attacks, joining a diverse group of collectivities (Muslims, African-Americans, LGBTQI, Latinxs, and others) that reported harassment by either agents of the new administration or self-appointed representatives of the new era. The voices of Holocaust survivors began to inundate the press in full-length articles linking the present-day rhetoric with their European nightmares while the new generation ensured that this memory was overrepresented in protests against the successive immigration bans of Muslims and/or the raids against Latinxs. Late in the summer, white nationalists, officially characterized as “fine people,” marched in Charlottesville, not only shouting the Nazi slogan “Blood and Soil” but also more straightforwardly the anti-Semitic motto “Jews will not replace us.” nt divergence between the international and domestic realms has made it increasingly difficult to sustain the dictum that “What is good for Israel is good for (American) Jews”. This is, of course, a problem for American Jewish institutions that, for two generations, have been capitalizing on the connection between the one and the other. This is less of a problem for the American Jewish communities at large. For them, it stands as a once in a lifetime opportunity to awaken from a rare trend in Jewish history: the existence of a hegemonic dictum and the power to enforce it nationally (and, one could even argue, globally). This sheds light on how all ideological constructions—from nationalist ideologies to intergovernmental alliances to nation-states themselves—are not pure, natural, or eternal. Just as historical-political motivations sustained the construction and “naturalization” of the relation between the State of Israel and the American Jewish community, contemporary politics may require a reevaluation of that relation. During the first half of the twentieth century, the Zionist project only garnered the support of a minority and was in constant competition with more persuasive alternatives. The American Jewish communities were no exception and only a small elite supported Zionism. This was not a surprise. Most Liberals viewed Zionism with distrust, as their own efforts aimed to practice Judaism in in the private sphere, in the hope of enhancing assimilation to American society and escaping prevalent anti-Semitism. The minority of religious orthodoxy generally refused to support Zionism, which they perceived as a secular project that tried to impose an anthropocentric perspective which rushed messianic times, and insisted on transnational ethnic networks of support. And the majority of Jewish radicals, largely socialists of different persuasions, trusted more in internationalist revolutions that would create a new humanity and overcome the need of ethnic identification or nation-state building. It is commonly argued that it is the Holocaust that changed this situation. But this justification is largely anachronistic. Between the late 1940s to the mid-1960s, the majority of local Jews had little use for empowering Holocaust narratives. American Jews, thanks to federal programs including the GI Bill, were too busy becoming white in America to make themselves vulnerable to the accusation of dual loyalty. This accusation of dual loyalty was particularly dangerous considering that the position of Israel in the Cold War struggle was not clear until 1956, when it sided with European imperial powers during the Suez crisis. During the intense McCarthyist witch-hunt, a community that was already associated with international socialism/communism in the Euro-American imaginary was logically cautious of demonstrating any allegiance that contradicted its aspirational middle-class Americanism. In other words, Jews would have been more inclined to support the Yankees than Zionism. What made support for the Jewish State a distinctive mark of the American Jewish community was not an allegedly timeless Zionist longing, nor was it the Holocaust. It was the Americanization of the Holocaust narrative that turned the State of Israel into the natural solution for this narrative. During the Six Day War (1967), a State of Israel successfully mobilized the fear of a new Holocaust among Jewish communities worldwide. Despite its quick victory, which should make us question how imminent the threat was, Israel not only gained the support of a new active generation of Baby Boomers, but the latter started to become avid consumers of what would be known as post-Holocaust thought, action, and institution building. The Baby Boomers and the early Generation X were the ones who ultimately naturalized the dictum (“What is good for Israel is good for Jews”), justifying Jewish empowerment, often in relation to other historically racialized communities, as a way of preventing a new Holocaust. What they omitted was that the perpetrators of the first Holocaust were not these communities but some of their new allies. Ideological constructions, however, are not eternal and can be ultimately deconstructed. The clear gap opened during the Trump era can offer an opportunity to reevaluate whether this construction continues to be current. This new political stage, however, may not be completely new. The opposition to Trump may be correct in its assessment that the new stage exacerbated divisions and prompted mobilizations against them. Yet, a quick look beyond Jewish life will show with clarity that neither Trump nor Trumpism are responsible for inaugurating the concentration of wealth, the disregard for Black lives, the invisibilization of Native communities, violent Islamophobia, and the deportation of human beings without papers. Indeed, movements such as Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, Standing Rock, and the Dreamers’ networks took shape during the Obama years and followed in the steps of movements that emerged during both Democratic and Republican administrations. It is in this context that some Jews, especially Millennials and veteran activists of the previous two generations, have been engaging in community building to confront dehumanizing trends that, half a century after the Holocaust, seem to have again begun to target Jews. Some organizations have been at the vanguard in extending their solidarity to racialized communities, both within and outside the United States, even before this racialization touched Jewish bodies and voices. These organizations include but are not limited to Jews for Racial and Economical Justice, an NGO led by Jews of color, and Bend the Arc whose focus is urban advocacy, the alternative religious community Tzedek Chicago, Open Hillel whose focus is campus life, If Not Now and the more longstanding Jewish Voice for Peace for justice in Israel/Palestine. While these organizations are better equipped to deal with the new era, the official representation of the community still remains in the hands of outdated institutions. The election process of 2016 was indeed a turning point, not because it inaugurated a new era but because it exacerbated previous tendencies. The Democratic and Republican establishments were both situated in a spectrum marrying neo-liberal economics and liberal social policies. The rebellion in the Democratic Party critiqued the former and the insurrection in the Republican Party largely targeted the latter. And the establishment’s failure to understand how their defeat revealed something about them follows their inability to recognize that their proposal was exhausted. Problematically for the establishment of the Jewish community, this was not the only proposal that was shattered. Much can be said about the alliance of Jewish institutions with the Democratic version of both neo-liberal economics and liberal social values. I will focus here on their common failure to grasp the internal contradictions of their outdated proposals. While Jewish institutions are shedding tears over the abysmal un-affiliation of late Generation X and Millennials, they remind blind to how their institutional inability to recognize the new reality is self-defeating. It is important, however, to recognize that some may want (and have the right) to support the dictum twinning the well-being of Israel and that of all Jews. But the gap between the two invites them to critically engage with this dictum, evaluating its currency, questioning its monopoly, and taking responsibility for the implications of this position in the alliances and tensions that it requires. The new generations are creative, original, and are developing other struggles. And we may need to start paying more attention to their networks of solidarity in order to recognize the part Jewish collectivities could play in American politics in the next decades. The new activism is generating new solidarities that extend domestically and internationally well beyond a hermetic community that seems to constantly compete for its supremacy in the Olympics of suffering. Decades ago Frantz Fanon reflected on a comment from a philosophy instructor: “ ‘When you hear someone insulting the Jews pay attention; he is talking about you’… And I believed at the time he was universally right… [W]hat he meant quite simply was that the anti-Semite is inevitably a negrophobe.”1 Building on Fanon, we can see not only that “the anti-Semite” is inevitable “a Negrophobe,” but also that it is a system, one that predates the current administration by decades if not centuries and that operates domestically, internationally, and transnationally to strip Black, Brown, Muslim, Cis-Women, LGBTQI, and Palestinian bodies, among others, of their humanities. This system would sooner (for those with overlapping disfranchised identities) or later (for others) come for Jews, no matter how white they appeared to have become after their post-war reclassification. This is why dangerous exacerbations of longstanding processes may well provide an opportunity for Jewish voices and bodies to overcome anachronistic dictums, learn from past struggles and join in solidarity communities that they should never have abandoned. 1 Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks (New York: Grove Press, 2008), 101. Brodkin, Karen. How Jews Became White Folks and What that Says About Race in America. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1988. Ellis, Marc. Toward a Jewish Theology of Liberation. Waco: Baylor University Press, 2011. Feldman, Keith. A Shadow Over Palestine. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2015. Magid, Shaul. American Post-Judaism. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2013. Shohat, Ella. On the Arab Jew, Palestine and Other Displacements. London: Pluto Press, 2017. Slabodsky, Santiago. Decolonial Judaism. New York: Palgrave, 2015. Smith, Gregory, and Jessica Martinez. “How the Faithful Voted: A Preliminary 2016 Analysis.” Pew Research Center, November 9, 2016. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/09/how-the-faithful-voted-a-preliminary-2016-analysis. Santiago Slabodsky is the Florence and Robert Kaufman Endowed Chair in Jewish studies in the Department of Religion and associate director of the Center for Race, Culture, and Social Justice at Hofstra University in New York. Previously he directed the doctoral program of Religion, Ethics, and Society at Claremont School of Theology in California. His main area of research is the relation between Jewish and Global South social theories. His book Decolonial Judaism: Triumphal Failures of Barbaric Thinking (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015) was awarded the 2017 Frantz Fanon Outstanding Book Award by the Caribbean Philosophical Association. At the American Academy of Religion, he cochairs the Liberation Theologies Unit and is an elected member of the Program Committee. Internationally, he is the founding codirector of the trilingual journal Decolonial Horizons (edited at GEMRIP-Argentina and published by Pluto-UK) and has served as concurrent visiting professor at institutions in Europe, Latin America, and Africa. American religions	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5691
__label__cc	0.505147	0.494853	Christian Jacob (politician) Title: Christian Jacob (politician) Subject: Provins, Communauté de communes du Provinois, Jean-François Copé, List of members of the National Assembly of France, 2007–12 Christian Jacob Leader of Union for a Popular Movement in the National Assembly Jean-François Copé Minister of the Civil Service 2 June 2005 – 15 May 2007 Dominique de Villepin Renaud Dutreil André Santini (1959-12-04) 4 December 1959 Rozay-en-Brie, France Union for a Popular Movement Christian Jacob (born 4 December 1959 in Rozay-en-Brie (Seine-et-Marne)) was the Minister of French Civil Service in Jacques Chirac's second term as President of France.[1] Before being appointed to cabinet position in 2002, he was deputy for the 4th circonscription of Seine-et-Marne (Provins). A farmer, Christian Jacob has been in position of responsibility in farm trade unions, local, départemental, regional then national. He was the President of the CNJA (Centre National des Jeunes Agriculteurs) from 1992 to 1994. French government ministers ^ Parussini, Gabriele (14 March 2006). "French Students Blockade Universities in Protest (Update6)". Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on 31 January 2011. Jean-Marc Ayrault Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly BLP articles lacking sources from January 2011 WorldHeritage articles with VIAF identifiers VIAF not on Wikidata People from Seine-et-Marne Politicians of the French Fifth Republic Civil service Ministers of France French Ministers of Commerce and Industry Union for a Popular Movement politicians Union for a Popular Movement politician stubs Seine-et-Marne, Communauté de communes Les Sources de l'Yerres, Communes of France, Departments of France, Regions of France, France France, Regions of France, Departments of France, Seine-et-Marne, Jerusalem Communauté de communes du Provinois Seine-et-Marne, Provins, Christian Jacob (politician), 1999, France, Augers-en-Brie List of members of the National Assembly of France, 2007–12 Union for a Popular Movement, Socialist, Radical, Citizen and Miscellaneous Left, Paris, Bouches-du-Rhône, Pas-de-Calais, Seine-Saint-Denis	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5695
__label__wiki	0.948794	0.948794	Singer-songwriter Rivkah Hope started her solo career in 2013 after having represented the world renown USK Choir for two years as an alto singer. Since the release of her first album “Time is Forever” in South Africa in 2013, Rivkah has toured Europe and the United States. Alongside performing, she has also collaborated with producers, record labels, DJs and song-writers across the globe. Back To The Basics, a single released in early 2016, gained the attention of television and major radio stations in South Africa. At this time, Hope was invited to US to perform shows in downtown Nashville in March 2016. Twenty sixteen has carried some song-writing successes for Hope. Following a year full of studio sessions in Amsterdam, Stockholm, Long Island and Warsaw, her electronic summer song “Fallin’ For You” was added to the official Ibiza Party Album and one of her songs made it to the top 100 for Swedish Eurovision – the world’s largest song contest. In early 2017, Rivkah decided to launch her own EP entitled “Globetrotter” as the mark of the end of an era. Every song of the dynamic compilation was recorded in a different place in the world – each with a style of it’s own and a story behind it. The powerful vocals are supported by electronic beats, violins and electric guitars. As a singer, song-writer and violinist, her understanding of music goes far beyond singing. Rivkah’s music is aimed at capturing emotions and sharing them with her audience. Aside from her own work, she has developed as a versatile song-writer able to write music for numerous genres. Venues where Rivkah has performed	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5697
__label__wiki	0.500857	0.500857	Undergraduate Information > College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences > School of Education Website: usfsm.edu/school-of-education/ Advising: Student Services SMC C107 As an institution accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee (USFSM) meets the highest standards of professional educator preparation in the United States of America. The Continuous Improvement Commission of the Council for Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) granted USFSM NCATE accreditation for both its initial and advanced educator preparation programs. Accreditation affirms we meet the rigorous standards of the professional education community. Our programs have been examined by the best in the field and have passed this test of excellence. NCATE’s performance-based accreditation system for educator preparation ensures that education candidates are prepared to make a difference in P-12 student learning. Providers accredited under NCATE standards are now served by the single specialized accreditation system for educator preparation in the United States, the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). More than 900 educator preparation providers participate in the CAEP accreditation system. The vision of the School of Education (SOE) is to lead in transforming the educational endeavors of our region and to be recognized nationally for excellence in our work. We admit applicants who are highly qualified, developed in their abilities to ensure that all pupils learn, committed to continuous improvement of their own praxis, and prepared to assume leadership roles in the school settings in which they will work. The School of Education’s (SOE) mission is to prepare effective educators who will learn, lead, inspire, and transform their schools and communities through critical and imaginative literacies. We see the process of learn, lead, inspire and transform as recursive and not linear. Our mission guides the SOE to prepare educators poised to positively engage in and positively impact individuals and their communities, locally, nationally, and globally. We meet our mission through programs grounded in researched-based practices, critical perspectives, and clinical experiences. Our school and community partnerships form a solid basis for program assessment and continuous improvement. Goal areas of the SOE are in Content Knowledge, Reflective and Ethical Practice, Evaluation and Decision-making, Educational Design, and Learner as an Individual in Community. Faculty, students, staff and members of our community developed the seven candidate proficiencies expected of each of our graduates, which are: Candidates demonstrate depth and breadth of content knowledge for their respective roles. Reflective and Ethical Practice Candidates engage in reflective and ethical practice as educators. Evaluation and Decision-making Candidates make professional educational decisions drawing on analysis of data and research from a variety of sources Educational Design Candidates design educational experiences that result in successful learning. Candidates demonstrate proficiency in educational technology aligned to the NETS-T standards. Learner as an Individual in the Community Candidates construct learning environments that reflect the diversity of experiences, perspectives, and cultures of their students and the larger world. Candidates communicate in ways that demonstrate fairness, respect, and sensitivity to diversity, setting high academic expectations for all students There are additional specific program proficiencies for candidates seeking state certification delineated by the Florida Department of Education. Display All Sub Pages	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5703
__label__wiki	0.533027	0.533027	Home News NY Surf Joining UWS This Spring NY Surf Joining UWS This Spring As soccer’s popularity continues to grow and more girls play the game locally and across the country, NY Surf this spring will debut a team as part of United Women’s Soccer league. Considered the second tier league of women’s soccer in the U.S., the Surf UWS team will begin play in May and recently held its first tryout in Mt. Vernon. Surf officials expect more tryouts prior to the start of the season. Matt Popoli, president of NY Surf, said the roster for the UWS side debuting this spring will likely be comprised of top level high school and college players from the New York Metropolitan area, including Long Island. In addition, there is also an opportunity for those veteran players who are looking for a high level of competition but do not play soccer on a full time basis. In an interview with SleterFC.com, Popoli said having a team in UWS is important in the further development of players involved with his club. “It is something we really felt we had to do, rather than have our players go play for another team,” he said. The club is also taking a similar route on the men’s side, having held tryouts for an EDP team in early January with a second tryout set for February 1 at St. Anthony’s High School in South Huntington. In 2016, UWS East included two local teams, Long Island Rough Riders and New York Magic. While the league had teams playing on the east and west coasts, it continues to grow and in recent weeks has added teams in Ohio and Michigan to a new Midwest Division. While a final roster for the UWS team along with its coaching staff has yet to be finalized, the team does have a home field. The Surf women’s team will play at SUNY Maritime in Throggs Neck, NY. NY Surf currently has nearly 20 youth teams for boys and girls. The club is the East Coast operating affiliate of the San Diego Surf Soccer Club and serves the entire New York metro soccer market. According to its website, NY Surf shares the Surf “Best of the Best mission to provide boys and girls players as young as U8/U9 with the best coaching and player development program. NY Surf Soccer United Women's Soccer UWS Previous articleRed Bulls Open Preseason With A Win Next articleNYCFC: 2017 Pre-Season Camp Photos	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5704
__label__cc	0.684448	0.315552	Related Topics: Machine Learning , Artificial Intelligence, @CloudExpo, @DXWorldExpo, @ThingsExpo, @DevOpsSummit Machine Learning : Blog Post Druva Named “Technology Sponsor” of @CloudEXPO \| @DruvaInc @WCPreston #Druva #Cloud #GDPR #Security #AWS Druva is the global leader in Cloud Data Protection and Management, delivering the industry's first data management-as-a-service Druva is the global leader in Cloud Data Protection and Management, delivering the industry's first data management-as-a-service solution that aggregates data from endpoints, servers and cloud applications and leverages the public cloud to offer a single pane of glass to enable data protection, governance and intelligence-dramatically increasing the availability and visibility of business critical information, while reducing the risk, cost and complexity of managing and protecting it. Druva's award-winning solutions intelligently collect data, and unify backup, disaster recovery, archival and governance capabilities onto a single, optimized data set. As the industry's fastest growing data protection provider, Druva is trusted by over 4,000 global organizations, and protects over 40 PB of data. Join the conversation at twitter.com/druvainc Why the Cloud is Perfect for Data Protection While more companies are now leveraging the cloud to increase their level of data protection and management, there are still many wondering "why?" The answer: the cloud actually brings substantial advancements to the data protection and management table that simply aren't possible without it. The easiest advantage to envision? Unlimited scalability. If a data protection tool is properly designed, the capacity should automatically expand to meet any customer's needs. The second advantage: the cloud is the simplest way to centralize the storage of all secondary data sources while also providing unlimited compute that can be used to gain additional insight and business value from that data. Finally, the ability to do automated Disaster Recovery (DR) without maintaining a DR facility is unquestionably a major value of the cloud, and simply isn't possible otherwise. Join W. Curtis Preston, AKA Mr. Backup, as he explains the benefits of cloud-based data protection and management, how to decide if a cloud-based solution is right for you, and best practices when evaluating data management vendors. W. Curtis Preston started his career in backups as "the backup guy" for MBNA, at that time the second largest credit card company. He managed the backups as they grew from 15 to 250 servers, and from two operating systems to five operating systems, running Informix, Oracle, Sybase & other applications. Windows was just beginning to grow in the datacenter. Believe it or not, a $35B company in those days had a total of 300 GB in the entire datacenter. In 1996, he left MBNA to join Collective Technologies, a large consulting company that made a lot of money in the .com days. In February of 2001 he started his first company called The Storage Group, and it specialized in backup & recovery system design, implementation, and management. The Storage Group was acquired by GlassHouse Technologies, where Preston was the VP of Data Protection for five years. At the time they were the largest independent provider of professional services in the infrastructure space. He then started another company called Truth in IT, Inc, and ran that company for five years before selling it to Ekovox. He then worked as an analyst at Storage Switzerland for two years, publishing many blogs, articles, and webinars. Most recently he has joined Druva, a cloud-based data protection and management company. This is his first foray into the vendor side of the industry. ServerlessSUMMIT & DevOpsSUMMIT at CloudEXPO Silicon Valley More Stories By Pat Romanski	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5705
__label__wiki	0.675556	0.675556	Poster and Soundtrack Founders Production Notes Survivors and Rescuers How it was Gallery Press Room Distribution Tell a Friend - About the Victor Pinchuk Foundation - About the USC Shoah Foundation Institute - Synopsis - Biography of Sergey Bukovsky - �redits - Zinaida Klimanovskaia - Leonid Serebriakov - Fenia Kleiman - Mikhail Fel�berg - Mikhail Rossinskii - Iurii Pinchuk - Mariia Zanvelevich - Bronislava Fuks - Mariia Gol�dberg - Evgenia Podolskaia - Polina Bel�skaia - Tsilia Shport - Irina Maksimova - Mariia Egorycheva-Glagoleva - Video Gallery - Premiere Announcement - Additional press - Press kit How it was "A People Has Been Brutally Murdered�" Iu. Smilianskaia, M. Tyaglyi A people has been brutally murdered. The old craftsmen have been brutally murdered� The cart-horse drivers, the tractor drivers, the truck and car drivers, the woodcutters have been brutally murdered� The trainee bacteriologists and biochemists have been brutally murdered� The grandmothers who could darn socks, bake cookies, make chicken soup and apple strudel have been brutally murdered, and the grandmothers who had none of those talents but who could only love their children and the children of their children � they have been brutally murdered too� The wives who were faithful to their husbands have been brutally murdered, and the wives who were superficial have been brutally murdered� The beautiful university students and happy schoolgirls have been brutally murdered� The ugly ones and the stupid ones have been brutally murdered� The hunchbacks have been brutally murdered� The singers have been brutally murdered� The blind have been brutally murdered� The deaf and dumb have been brutally murdered� The violinists and the pianists have been brutally murdered� The two- and three-year olds have been brutally murdered� The 80-year olds who had cataracts in their cloudy eyes, cold transparent fingers, and quiet voices have been brutally murdered� The screaming infants who, to the last moment, greedily fed at their mothers� breast have been brutally murdered. All of them brutally murdered, many hundreds of thousands, a million Jews in Ukraine. Vasilii Grossman* �From Grossman�s 1943 article "Ukraina bez evreev" [Ukraine without Jews]. A full Russian version of this article can be found in his Na evreiskie temy. Izbrannoe v dukh tomakh, II, Israel: Biblioteka Aliia, 1985, pp. 333-340. For an extended English translation of this passage, see: A Writer at War: Vasily Grossman with the Red Army, 1941-1945, edited and translated by A. Beevor and L. Vinogradova, New York: Pantheon, 2005, pp. 252-253. On the night of June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union. World War II entered its most decisive, expansive, and most violent stage so far. No one then knew that the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question" was about to begin. From the 1920s on, anti-Semitism was a major part of Adolf Hitler�s political platform, and his position on world Jewry was stated clearly and unequivocally in Mein Kampf (My Struggle). At that time no one, possibly not even the book�s author, could have imagined the horrendous enactment of the book�s slogans. In the first years after coming to power in 1933, neither Hitler nor his entourage had yet conceived how the Jewish Question would be solved. The "road to Auschwitz" meandered but led inescapably there. Along this road, every step was chosen carefully, with consideration taken of negative feedback and the reaction of the public. None of the laws and acts directed against Jews in prewar Germany caused any great protest either there or in European society at large � not the Nuremberg Laws (1935), not the "Kristallnacht" pogrom (November 9-10, 1938), not the deportations to camps in Germany, nor the deportation of Polish-born Jews from Germany to Poland (October 1938). Nevertheless, no one yet spoke of total annihilation. This question, of destroying the whole Jewish people, only arose after the Germans invaded the Soviet Union. The destruction of Soviet Jewry was the prolog to the destruction of European Jewry as a whole. And Ukrainian Jews were among the very first to face annihilation. The clearest symbol of the tragedy of Ukraine�s Jews was Babi Yar. How and why did it happen? The Nazis considered the war against the Soviet Union as a total war to destroy Bolshevism, a world view held diametrically opposed to National Socialism. To be victorious, all means necessary would be employed. According to Nazi ideology, the Jews were thought to be the ideological and biological root of Bolshevism. The conflation of Jews and Bolshevism is reflected in the directives of the German command on the eve of the invasion and thereafter. In fall 1941, for example, Wilhelm Keitel, chief of staff of the German Army (or Wehrmacht) High Command, wrote that "the war on Bolshevism demands energetic and unflinching measures against the Jews, who are the fundamental carriers of the Bolshevik flag." *�Order from chief of staff of Wehrmacht High Command Keitel dated September 12, 1941, in Unichtozhenie evreev SSSR v gody nemetskoi okkupatsii (1941-1945). Sbornik dokumentov [The Destruction of Jews in the USSR in the Years of the German Occupation (1941-1945). Documents.], Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 1992, p. 35. Additional Press	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5708
__label__wiki	0.733761	0.733761	Home \| Documents Wednesday 18 July 2018 TXET: Agreement on Outstanding Issues of Governance (final draft) Agreement on Outstanding Issues of Governance Mindful of their commitment under the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan, 2011 to lay the foundation for a united, peaceful and prosperous society based on justice, equality, respect for human rights and the rule of law, Deeply regretting the scale of untold human suffering that had befallen their country and people as a result of disregarding this commitment, Determined to compensate their people by recommitting themselves to peace and constitutionalism and not to repeat mistakes of the past, Recognizing the prime significance of preserving the sovereignty and territorial integrity of their country, Cognizant that a federal system of government is a popular demand of the people of the Republic of South Sudan and of the need for the Revitalized TGoNU to reflect this demand by way of devolution of more powers and resources to lower levels of government, Confirming the commitments that they have solemnly undertaken in the ARCSS and the Khartoum Declaration, The Transitional Government of National Unity of the Republic of South Sudan (TGoNU), the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement Army-In Opposition (SPLM/A-IO), the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA), Former Detainees (FDs), Other Political Parties (OPP), referred to hereinafter collectively as the Parties, confirm their commitment to the agreed part of the Revised Bridging Proposal and hereby resolve as follows the outstanding issues on governance: 1. The Presidency: 1.1. As of the beginning of the Transitional Period: a. H.E. Salva Kiir Mayardit shall continue as President of the Republic of South Sudan. b. The Chairman of SPLM/A-IO Dr Riek Machar Teny shall assume the position of the First Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan. 1.2. During the Transitional Period there shall be four Vice Presidents of the Republic of South Sudan who shall be nominated as follows: a. Vice President to be nominated by Incumbent TGoNU. b. Vice President to be nominated by SSOA. c. Vice President to be nominated by Incumbent TGoNU. d. Vice President to be nominated by FDs, who shall be a woman. 1.3. Apart from the First Vice President, there shall be no hierarchy among Vice Presidents. The ranking in 1.2 above is for protocol purposes only. 1.4. Decision making in the Presidency shall be in a spirit of collegial collaboration. However, the powers and functions of the President, First Vice President, and Vice Presidents shall be delineated along the provisions of the ARCSS 2015. 1.5. The First Vice President and Vice Presidents shall oversee respectively the following Cabinet Clusters: (a) First Vice President: Governance Cluster. (b) Vice President: Economic Cluster. (c) Vice President: Services Delivery Cluster. (d) Vice President: Infrastructure Cluster. (e) Vice President: Gender and Youth Cluster. 2. The Revitalized TGoNU: 2.1. The Council of Ministers shall be comprisedthirty-fivefive (35) Ministers that shall be organized in the abovementioned five (5) Clusters. 2.2. The three Clusters stated in the ARCSS shall continue having due regard to the amendments required as a result of creating new Clusters and new Ministries. 2.3. The Infrastructure Cluster shall include Ministries of Energy and Dams; Transport; Roads and Bridges; Information, Communication Technology and Postal Services, and any appropriate Ministry of the five new Ministries. 2.4. The Gender and Youth Cluster shall include Ministries of Gender, Child and Social Welfare; Culture, Youth, and Sports, and any appropriate Ministry of the five new Ministries. 2.5. The additional five Ministries and their clustering shall be agreed by the Parties before or during the Pre-Transitional Period further to a proposal to be drawn by the IGAD and shall be included in the Revitalized ARCSS. The full list of the thirty-five (35) Ministries shall be drawn at that time. 2.6. The Ministerial positions shall be selected as follows: a. Incumbent TGoNU: 20 Ministers. b. SPLM/A-IO: 09 Ministers. c. SSOA: 03 Ministers. d. FDs: 02 Ministers. e. OPP: 01 Minister. 2.7. There shall be ten (10) Deputy Ministers in the following Ministries: a. Cabinet Affairs. b. Foreign Affairs. c. Defense. d. Interior. e. Justice and Constitutional Affairs. f. Finance. g. Agricultural and Food Security. h. General Educational and Instruction. i. Public Services and Human Resource Development j. Lands, Housing and Urban Development. 2.8. Deputy Ministers shall be nominated by the Parties by rotation from the above list according to the following ratio: a. TGoNU: five (5) Deputy Ministers. b. SPLM/A-IO: three (3) Deputy Ministers. c. SSOA: one (1) Deputy Minister. d. OPP: one (1) Deputy Minister. 2.9. No fewer than three (3) of the Deputy Ministers shall be women. 2.10. No Assistant Presidents, other Ministers or Deputy Ministers shall be appointed during the Transitional Period. 2.11. If more than two Advisers to the President are appointed, the responsibility sharing ratio shall apply to their selection. 3. The Transitional National Legislature: 3.1. The Transitional National Legislature (TNL) shall consist of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) and the Council of States. 3.2. The TNLA shall be dissolved and composed of 550 members who shall be allocated as follows: a. Incumbent TGoNU: 332 members. b. SPLM/A-IO: 128 members. c. SSOA: 50 members. d. OPP: 35 members. e. FDs: 5 members. 3.3. The Speaker of the TNLA shall be nominated by Incumbent TGoNU. One Deputy Speaker shall be nominated by OPP and the other, who shall be a woman, shall be nominated by Incumbent TGoNU. 3.4. The Council of States shall be dissolved and composed of 50 members or the closest figure that can be shared evenly by the States as per the number that shall be recommended by the IBC. However, the minimum number for the representatives of every and each State shall be two. 3.5. The membership of the Council of States shall be reconstituted as per the responsibility sharing ratio. 3.6. The Speaker of the Council of States shall be nominated by SPLM/A-IO and the Deputy Speaker shall be nominated by Incumbent TGoNU. 4. Number and Boundaries of States: 4.1. Within thirty (30) days of the signing of the Revitalized ARCSS, the IGAD Executive Secretariat, taking into account the decision of the 55th Extra-Ordinary Session of the IGAD Council of Ministers held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, January 30-31, 2016, shall appoint Independent Boundaries Commission (IBC) for the Republic of South Sudan. 4.2. The IBC shall consist of fifteen (15) members with the necessary skills and expertise. 4.3. Members of the IBC shall be appointed as follows: a. Five (5) South Sudanese who shall be appointed by the Parties, one (1) each. b. Two (2) representatives of the IGAD states that shall come from states with no boundaries with South Sudan. c. Three (3) representatives of the Troika states. d. Five (5) representatives of the African Union that shall be from the C5 states. 4.4. The IBC shall be chaired by one of its non-South Sudanese members who shall be of recognized standing and integrity and who should have had occupied a senior judicial, executive or administrative position in his home country. 4.5. The IBC may retain the services of a team of experts. 4.6. The IBC shall establish three teams, each consisting of five representatives and relevant experts, to be deployed at locations it will designate. 4.7. The function of the IBC shall be to consider the number of States of the Republic of South Sudan and their boundaries and to make recommendations on the same. 4.8. The IBC shall focus on studying the alternatives currently proposed by the Parties and any other viable alternatives in the light of guidelines that shall be drawn beforehand. The IBC shall also draw its own internal regulations. 4.9. The IBC shall strive to arrive at its recommendations by consensus. If consensus is not achieved, the IBC shall adopt its recommendations by simple majority. 4.10. The recommendations of the IBC shall be presented to the IGAD Executive Secretariat and shall be immediately communicated to the Parties. 4.11. The IBC shall complete its work within ninety (90) days, extendable to a maximum of ninety (90) days more. In all cases it shall make its recommendations on the number and boundaries of States during the Pre-Transitional Period. Thereafter it shall be dissolved. 4.12. The Parties agree to abide by the recommendations of the IBC, and hereby authorize the IGAD Executive Secretariat to enshrine those recommendations in the Revitalized ARCSS. The Parties accept to implement the recommendations in full at the beginning of the Transitional Period. 4.13. In the unlikely event of the IBC failing to make its recommendations before the end of the Pre-Transitional Period, the Republic of South Sudan shall have as regions the old three provinces, as per their boundaries of January 1st 1956. This solution shall be adopted on temporary basis until the number and boundaries of the States are agreed. 5. States and Local Government 5.1. The Responsibility sharing ratio at State level and local government level shall be as follows: a. Incumbent TGoNU: 55% b. SPLM/A-IO: 25% c. SSOA: 10% d. OPP: 10% 5.2. State and local governments shall be dissolved and reconstituted as per the responsibility sharing formula stated above. 5.3. The positions that shall be subject to responsibility sharing include: Governors, Speakers of State Legislatures, State Councils of Ministers, State Legislatures, County Commissioners, County Councils, Mayors and City Councils. 5.4. In sharing State and local government positions Parties shall take into account the relative prominence each Party has in the respective State or Payam and effective administration of that unit. 5.5. The FDs shall have three State Ministers in States of their choice. 6. General Provisions: 6.1. The Parties recognize that during the Pre-Transitional Period, the Incumbent TGoNU shall continue to exercise its powers as per the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan, 2011. 6.2. At the beginning of the Pre-Transitional Period, the Parties shall issue a solemn commitment to their people and the international community at large confirming unequivocally that they will not return to war and shall work hand in hand diligently and collectively for the sake of peace and stability of their country. In particular, the Parties shall pledge to use the resources of the country wisely and transparently, for the best interests of the people of the Republic of South Sudan, and to put in place the efficient mechanisms required for achieving this paramount goal. In their solemn commitment the Parties shall also appeal to the international community for support and cooperation at this difficult time of the Republic of South Sudan. 6.3. The activities that shall be undertaken during the Pre–Transitional Period, which can take as long as 8 months, shall include: a. Dissemination of the Revitalized ARCSS to South Sudanese People inside the country, in different cities and towns of Sudan, in refugee camps in neighboring countries, and in diaspora, so that the people can own it. b. Carrying out the tasks entrusted to the IBC. c. A process of national healing and reconciliation that shall be led by all Parties inside and outside of the Republic of South Sudan. d. The agreed security arrangement activities. e. Incorporation of the Revitalized ARCSS in the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan, 2011. f. Reviewing and drafting necessary bills as per the Revitalized ARCSS. g. Any other activities agreed by the Parties. 6.4. Provisions of the Transitional Constitution of South Sudan and ARCSS on participation of women (35 %) in the Executive shall be observed. In particular, Incumbent TGoNU shall nominate no fewer than six (6) women to the Council of Ministers, and SPLM-IO shall nominate no fewer than three (3) women to the Council of Ministers. 6.5. Having in mind that more than 70 percent of the population in the Republic of South Sudan is under the age of thirty and that youth are the most affected by the war and represent high percentage of refugees and IDPs, the Parties shall strive to include people of young age in their quotas at different levels. In particular, the Minister of Culture, Youth, and Sports in the Revitalized TGoNU shall be less than forty (40) years old. 6.6. In selecting their nominees Parties shall give due consideration to national diversity, including regional representation. 6.7. Without prejudice to Paragraph 6.1. above, a National Pre–Transitional Committee (NPTC) shall be formed as follows by the President of the Republic of South Sudan within thirty days of signing the Revitalized ARCSS: a. The NPTC shall be formed of ten members representing the Parties as follows: five (5) for Incumbent TGoNU, two (2) for SLPM/A-IO, one (1) for SSOA, one (1) for FDs, and one (1) for OPP. The NPTC shall be chaired by TGoNU representative with two Deputy Chairs to be nominated by SPLM/A-IO and SSOA respectively and shall adopt its decisions by consensus. b. The NPTC shall be entrusted with the function of oversight and coordination of the implementation of the activities of the Pre– Transitional Period with the Incumbent TGoNU taking full account of all constitutional institutions and powers. c. The NPTC shall draw the road map for implementing the political tasks of the Pre-Transitional Period, prepare a budget for the activities of the Pre–Transitional Period that involve the Parties, and address issues of VIP security and preparations for new Ministers, among others. d. The NPTC shall start its work in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and shall move to Juba sometime during the Pre-Transitional Period. The NPTC shall be dissolved when the Pre-Transitional Period ends. 6.8. There shall be established a fund for the implementation of the political and security activities of the Pre–Transitional Period provided for in the Revitalized ARCSS. The fund, which shall be drawn from the proceeds of oil, shall be deposited by Incumbent TGoNU in an escrow account in a bank agreed to by the NPTC. The NPTC shall manage the fund transparently and report on it monthly to the President of the Republic of South Sudan and to the Parties. 6.9. The Parties shall agree on Inter-Ministerial Mechanism for Implementation of the Revitalized ARCSS including reporting to JMEC. The IGAD led mediation and the Guarantors shall revitalize and restructure all monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to ensure inclusivity of all Parties, including new Parties, and to enhance the effectiveness of all mechanisms. Such review and restructuring shall be included in the Revitalized ARCSS. 6.10. Within 12 (twelve) months of the beginning of the Transitional Period, the Reconstituted National Constitutional Amendments Committee (NCAC) shall revise relevant laws and draft new legislations pursuant to the Revitalized ARCSS. 6.11. The Parties reaffirm their agreement in the ARCSS that a federal and democratic system of governance that reflects the character of the Republic of South Sudan and ensures unity in diversity be enacted during the permanent constitution making process. 6.12. The Parties also reaffirm their commitment to the principle of lean government and to having national assembly that shall have a number of members commensurate with the number of population pursuant to the internationally recognized proportions. The Parties recognize that the high number of members of the Executive and TNLA is agreed herein on exceptional basis for the purposes of the Transitional Period only and that those numbers shall form no precedent or any precursor for the future. 6.13. This Agreement shall prevail on contradictory or incompatible provisions of ARCSS and the Revised Bridging Proposal. Done in Khartoum, Sudan, this day 19th of July 2018. For Incumbent TGoNU For SPLM/A-IO For SSOA For FDs For OPP For the Republic of Sudan (Guarantor): For IGAD (Witness):	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5711
__label__cc	0.74581	0.25419	Geraldine M. Kapala - 88 Geraldine M. Kapala, 88, peacefully passed to her heavenly home on Tuesday, February 12, 2019. Born on July 20, 1930, in Glidden, Wisconsin, Gerry was the youngest of the ten children in her family. After moving to Rockford in her teen years, she held several jobs, often two at a time, including working on the assembly line at Burd Ring Co, at the checkout lane in the Piggly Wiggly grocery store, and in the ticket booth at the Coronado Theater. Following her marriage to Fred Kapala on November 5, 1949 she raised three sons, Fred (Jill), Greg, and Rob; and one daughter, Chris. After almost fifty years of marriage she was predeceased by her husband. Gerry was a woman with varied interests and unbounded energy which was reflected in her numerous activities including crafting, bowling, golfing, dancing (especially the polka), serving as a cub scout den mother and assisting as a grade school room mother—all while keeping the books and helping to manage Fred’s business, Rockford Ornamental Shop. In addition to her gentleness, kindness, quick smile and sense of humor, Gerry was best known for her devotion to her family. She was so proud of her four children and was an amazing grandmother to her seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Gerry was a devout Catholic and served her church and God through many church ministries. A Mass of the Resurrection will be held on Saturday, February 23rd at 11am at St Bridget’s Church, 600 Clifford Avenue in Loves Park, Illinois with the Most Reverend Monsignor Daniel Deutsch officiating. Visitation will be 9am to the start of Mass. A private service of interment for the immediate family will be held later in the afternoon at Calvary Cemetery in Rockford. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to St. Bridget’s Church or the Alzheimer’s Association Illinois Chapter. View Geraldine M. Kapala's Guestbook	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5713
__label__wiki	0.593679	0.593679	Wayne County, OH Real Estate Set amidst the rolling hills and lush woodlands of Northeastern Ohio, Wayne County offers the best of small-town and rural living. Named after Revolutionary War General “Mad” Anthony Wayne, the county is composed of 16 townships containing four cities, 21 unincorporated communities, and 12 villages. The county seat of Wayne County is Wooster, the largest city in the county’s 550 square miles of rural countryside. This charming city has been named as one of Ohio’s “Best Hometowns” by Ohio Magazine, and is centrally located between the larger cities of Akron, Canton, and Cleveland, each of which are less than 65 miles away. Home to the headquarters of The J.M. Smucker Company, The Wooster Brush Company, and The Cat’s Meow Village, Wayne County serves as one of the main intersections of agriculture and bioscience in the state. The Tri-County Area, consisting of Wayne, Holmes, and Tuscarawas Counties, is often called the “Gateway to the Amish Country,” as it is home to the largest Amish community in the world. The Amish community’s independent way of life with farmland, handcrafted goods and unconventional modes of transportation colors the landscape of Wayne County in a unique way. The county is known for its agriculture, farmers markets, vast farmland, and community events such as the Wayne County Fair. Secrest Arboretum and Quailcrest Farm each host beautiful gardens open to the public, and the Wayne Center for the Arts hosts a variety of concerts, exhibits, art classes, and more. The J.M. Smucker Company Store and Cafe in Orrville attracts visitors from throughout the region. There are plenty of places to hike, bike, picnic, camp, fish and hunt throughout the county. The county is home to 19 public school districts in addition to six private and parochial schools. There are a handful of colleges and universities in Wayne County, including The College of Wooster, The University of Akron Wayne College, The Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute, and more. The College of Wooster is the center for many community events and performances, including The Ohio Light Opera, a world-renowned light opera company. Health care in Wayne County centers on Wooster, which is home to Wooster Community Hospital, the Wooster Family Health & Surgery Center, and more. Wayne County, OH Homes For Sale View all Wayne County listings Quickly Search for Listings in Wayne County, OH 645 Saybolt Avenue 217 S Crestview Drive Creston, OH 44217 3106 Bayberry Cove 10032 Ashland Road 103 Carol Drive 315 W Vine Street 2 beds 1 bath 896 sqft All our active listings have SOLD! Contact us to sell YOURS! $1,100,000 Price Reduced $100,000 5588 Stonesthrow Drive 4655 Young Drive 1628 Wildwood Drive 11964 N Elyria Road West Salem, OH 44287 1381 S Funk Road	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5715
__label__cc	0.620915	0.379085	Documents Papers Housing & Utilities Mail & Packages Money & Budgeting Health & Self-Care Getting HealthCare Boundaries Relationships Parenting afterthe Cult Teenagers ontheir own Civic Life Files/PDF ICSA HOME How to use this book‎ > ‎Children and Teens‎ > ‎ Teenagers on Their Own In every state of the United States, children and teenagers under the age of adulthood (which usually, though not always, is 18) are subject to laws that apply specifically to them. The exact ages and laws are different in different states. People under the age of adulthood may be described as minors, youths, children, or juveniles in state laws. To find the age of adulthood in your state, google “age of majority” plus (the state). The age of adulthood may differ, depending on the context. For instance, a state may allow a person to hold a job at age 16, enter into contracts at age 18, but not to purchase alcoholic beverages until age 21. By and large, it is much simpler and easier to live on your own if you can wait until you reach majority, the age when you can legally enter into contracts, seek medical care, and work full time without parental involvement. But if you were thrown out, or conditions at home were unbearable, this section seeks to help you understand and cope with living on your own before the age of majority. Youth Services and Shelters Many youths who leave their homes have very good reasons. They may have been thrown out, abused, or neglected. There may be severe family problems, such as an alcoholic or drug-addicted parent, or a death or divorce. Punishing youths who leave for reasons like these, or forcing them to return home despite the problems, is increasingly seen as a mistake. Teens on their own can turn to a variety of services for help, but they also may face difficult legal problems. Teenagers who contact an agency for help should be prepared to say specifically why they have left home. It is important to state exactly why you left because answers like “I had some disagreements with my parents,” could mean anything from: “My parents wouldn’t buy me the trendy shoes I wanted,” to “My father beats me every night.” Unless you speak openly, the worker you are talking to cannot give you informed advice. It may be hard to share distressing personal information about your family with a stranger, but stating the truth is more likely to get you the help you need. Feel free to ask about an organization’s rules and policies about keeping information confidential before you share this kind of information. The descriptions of the organizations and hotlines listed below are their own. The quality of services may vary depending on where you are and what kinds of help you need. If one place cannot help, another might, so it’s worth trying several. Youth Hotlines and Internet Resources Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline 1-800-422-4453 (1-800-4 a child) (no functioning web site) Serving abused children and their families, Childhelp is devoted to providing services that allow for each and every child to know “a life filled with love.” Some of the programs and services they provide are Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline, Child Advocacy Centers, and Therapeutic Group Homes. Childhelp has regional offices and facilities in the following states: AZ, CA, TN, MI, and VA. National Runaway Switchboard 1-800-runaway (1-800-786-2929) This is a national communication system for runaway and homeless youth. Youth and family members—parents, siblings, other relatives—can call at all times to work through problems and to find local help agencies and organizations. Services are available for siblings who are caught in the middle of, or feeling neglected because of, what’s going on at home. Teachers, agency personnel, law enforcement officers—anyone concerned about the well being of a youth—are encouraged to call. Safe Place Program (no phone listed) A search engine that lists Safe Places in selected locations nationwide. Safe Place does not have locations in every state. Serving youth in crisis, Safe Place has coordinated with various entities around the country, such as businesses and schools, to provide Safe Place locations where at-risk youth can enter to receive help or get referrals to a service agency. Suicide hotline: 1-800-448-3000 The Girls and Boys Town National Hotline is a 24-hour crisis, resource, and referral line. Trained counselors can respond to questions every day of the week, 365 days a year. The organization can help teens and parents with suicide prevention, depression, school issues, parenting troubles, runaways, relationship problems, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, chemical dependency, anger, and much more. 1.800.656.hope (4673) The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network is the nation's largest anti-sexual-assault organization. Among its programs, RAINN created and operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline. This nationwide partnership of more than 1,100 local rape-treatment hotlines provides victims of sexual assault with free, confidential services around the clock. 1-800-273-talk (8255). (Para obtener asistencia en español llame al 1-888-628-9454) A 24-hour, toll-free suicide-prevention service available to anyone in suicidal crisis. With more than 120 crisis centers across the country, their mission is to provide immediate assistance to anyone seeking mental health services. Calls are free and confidential. Crisis centers are equipped to take a wide range of calls. Call to speak with someone who cares if you feel you might be in danger of hurting yourself, to find referrals to mental health services in your area, or to speak to a crisis worker about someone you're concerned about. Nineline Service www.nineline.org Covenant House is a privately funded agency with a Christian religious orientation that provides shelter and other service to homeless, runaway, and throwaway youth. It offers overnight shelter to youths, including people in their early 20s. The Web site lists places to ask for emergency shelter in many cities, or you can call Covenant House’s “Nineline Service,” toll-free, 24 hours a day. Covenant House also provides services to homeless pregnant women and mothers with young children. California Coalition For Youth (CCY) (California only) The California Youth Crisis Line is a statewide, toll-free, 24-hour, confidential phone line available to young people between the ages of 12 and 24, and concerned friends and family members. CCY provides crisis intervention counseling on many issues including family problems, sexual assault, eating disorders, teen pregnancy, substance abuse, suicide, and more. CCY offers support, encouragement, and referrals to youth needing assistance or in crisis situations. U.S. Family and Youth Service The U.S. Family and Youth Service program offers three kinds of shelters. (These may be the same as some listed above.) You can check online for information about programs in your state. (described below). Basic centers Basic centers can provide 15 days of shelter for up to 20 youths. The Basic Centers seek to reunite young people with their families whenever possible, or to locate appropriate alternative placements. Basic Centers offer Food, clothing, medical care, or other services that youth need (offered either directly or by referral) Individual, group, and family counseling Aftercare services for youth after they leave the shelter Transitional living programs offer longer term assistance, including Safe, stable living accommodations for up to 18 months Basic life-skill building, including consumer education and instruction in budgeting, using credit, housekeeping, menu planning, food preparation, and parenting skills Interpersonal skill building, including enhancing young people’s abilities to establish positive relationships with peers and adults, make decisions, and manage stress Educational opportunities, such as GED preparation, postsecondary training, or vocational education Assistance in job preparation and attainment, such as career counseling and job placement Education, information, and counseling to prevent, treat, and reduce substance abuse Mental health care, including individual and group counseling Physical health care, including routine physicals, health assessments, and emergency treatment Maternity group homes Maternity group homes support homeless pregnant girls and young parents between the ages of 16 and 21, as well as their dependent children. Services are provided for up to 18 months, and an additional 180 days is allowed for youth under 18 years old. Maternity group homes offer an intensive array of services, including Safe, stable living accommodations Educational opportunities, such as GED preparation, postsecondary training, and vocational education Child-safe transitional and independent living accommodations Education in parenting, child discipline, and safety, and help in applying parenting and related domestic skills Mental, physical, and reproductive health care, including individual and family counseling of parent and child Resources to help youth identify reliable and affordable child care Lessons in money management and use of credit Facilitation of parent involvement in local schools and other child education programs Legal Issues for Teenagers If you are under 18, or whatever the age of majority is in your state, you may find your freedom of action restricted or prevented by laws intended to help or protect children. Regardless of their reasons for leaving home, children and teenagers who are on their own may be designated by their states as “runaways,” or “homeless.” Consequences of these designations vary from state to state: In many states, underage youths who have left home without parental permission are automatically considered to need “supervision”—involvement with the courts and/or a government agency. Other states require supervision for some “runaway” youths and not for others. In some states, designation as homeless or otherwise in need of supervision opens the door for services, including counseling and job training. But in a few states, runaways who have committed no other offense may find themselves sent to detention facilities for juvenile delinquents. To find out how runaways are regarded in a given state, google “runaways” plus (name of the state), and look for the state’s official Web site listing. Status offenses Some conditions and behaviors that are legal for adults are illegal for minors. These are called status offenses. In many states, police are allowed to take runaways into custody simply because they are not living at home. Truancy—failure to attend school if younger than a given age—is a status offense. Curfew—forbidding people under the age of majority from being on the street or in other places at given times—is also a status offense, as is Underage drinking of alcoholic beverages. Harboring an unaccompanied minor Many states frown on or even criminalize the act of helping a minor who has left home. These laws, intended to protect young people from being exploited by predatory adults, may backfire in cases where the protection truly needed is from parents. Adults who take in a youth who has left home, even though they are family members or friends, may find themselves charged with violations such as “contributing to the delinquency of a minor” or “interfering with custodial rights.” You can get some guidance from the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty’s state-by-state summary of laws about harboring an unaccompanied minor for each state. However, this publication has not been updated since 2003, and some states may have changed their laws. Emancipation is a legal process that designates as adults, for legal purposes, persons under the age of majority who have demonstrated that they are able to support themselves. Emancipated minors can legally enter into a contract—for example, to rent a place to live or to buy a car, and to make decisions about their medical care, education, and so forth —actions that would otherwise be in the power of their parents. The benefit of emancipation is that young persons who are able to support themselves can, in cases of abandonment or severe family conflict, function in daily life. The downside is that emancipated youths are no longer entitled to support or care from their families. Not all states provide for emancipation, and the process and requirements vary in those that do. For summaries of state emancipations laws, visit a site that links to state laws about emancipation, or look through Alone Without a Home, a publication of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. These summaries may not reflect up-to-date information because some states have recently changed or added laws on emancipation. State Web sites may also have information, although it is often phrased in technical legal language difficult for non-lawyers to understand. It’s advisable to have professional guidance if you want to obtain emancipation. You can find leads to free legal help at American Bar Association, or at Legal Services Corporation, an organization that funds legal services nationwide. If you are under court supervision, you should already have a lawyer, called a guardian ad litem, or GAL, who should be able to help you. Involvement with Child Protective Services and the Courts Because of the legal issues outlined above, it is likely that anyone younger than the age of majority who leaves home—with or without parental permission—will end up involved with child protective services and the courts. The key issue for the courts is the safety and well-being of the children in their custody; but federal law establishes “family reunification” as the primary goal in child welfare work—that is, workers and the court must do everything they can to return a child home before considering a permanent separation. Young people born and raised in cults or high-demand groups may find that, to secure their freedom, they must publicly accuse their parents, even though they may later be returned to the custody of those parents—sometimes because the parents and other adults in the group have lied to the authorities. Child protective and child welfare services Child protective and child welfare services (the exact title will differ from state to state) are government agencies assigned to oversee and ensure the safety and well-being of children in their service areas. In general, child protective agencies are empowered to Investigate allegations of abuse and neglect of children; Recommend that children be removed, either temporarily or permanently, from their parents’ custody; Help families make changes necessary to keep their children in the home; Look after the welfare of children placed in foster care or in homes under supervision; and Oversee the care of children and teenagers who cannot return home. Most child protective workers know little or nothing about conditions in cults and high demand groups. They may find children’s reports hard to believe. Because group members tend to support each other, investigators may find that not only the family in question, but also unrelated adults will contradict the children’s reports. For these reasons, youngsters and teens may find themselves regarded as unreliable reporters, or in unreasonable rebellion against their parents. Here are some of the ways you can back up your report about the conditions that caused you to leave: Documentary evidence—photos; videos; group publications that promote mistrust and hostility toward government officials (especially anything that justifies lying to outsiders), or that prescribe child-raising practices that you think are abusive or neglectful. For more information about maltreatment, see Abuse and Neglect. Physical evidence—cuts and bruises, untreated illness, the aftermath of sexual abuse—may be persuasive if you act immediately so that outside medical personnel can confirm the abuse. Witnesses—people who have left the group—who will testify to group practices. It is critical that you—and anyone who bears witness on your behalf—stick carefully to exact, specific information about why you left. Avoid loose, sweeping statements, or displays of anger and spite. A detailed, factual recitation in the most matter-of-fact tone you can achieve is the most convincing way to tell your story. Every state has written procedures for investigating allegations of child abuse or neglect, but the quality of child protective service varies widely from state to state and county to county. Due to lack of funding and lack of qualified workers, states may not live up to their own procedures: “Emergency” investigations that are supposed to happen within 24 hours may take up to a week. Workers may have more cases than the regulations prescribe, which severely limits the time and attention they give to any one case. If pay is low and the work load is difficult, turnover may be high; a single case may have a succession of different workers assigned, making it hard to form relationships with the people involved and keep the case moving forward. Nevertheless, reporting suspicions of abuse or neglect to child welfare authorities is an important step, and may be the only possible step, to helping minors whose parents may not be meeting their responsibilities. Underage youth and the court system Although child welfare services do most of the investigative and day-to-day work, judges have the actual power to decide what happens to minors brought to the attention of the government. Once the courts enter the picture, no one can say what will happen. It would be wonderful, but it is misleading, to think that justice is always done and right always triumphs. All concerned may be making their best efforts, but there are too many uncertainties and complications to guarantee the outcome. Each case is assigned to a judge, who eventually decides whether or not the child or youth involved will go back to her family. The judge receives and considers evidence and information from several different sources: Child welfare services, represented by the minor’s caseworker The minor’s parents The parents’ lawyer (Usually the court appoints a lawyer if the parents cannot afford one.) If the parents are no longer together, each parent may be assigned a lawyer. The minor’s lawyer (a court-appointed lawyer, often called a guardian ad litem/GAL). Often, specialists such as doctors, psychologists, or educators are called in to testify about particular aspects of the case. Whether or not the minor is allowed to speak to the court depends on local laws about the age at which minors may testify and/or the judge’s opinion about the minor’s competence to testify. Judges make decisions based on the evidence presented about each case; their understanding of the law; their assessment of the minor’s needs, maturity, and capabilities; unknowable factors such as their personal perspectives and outside pressures. Because of the federal law about “family reunification,” the judge must first explore the possibility of providing necessary changes or services that will enable the minor to be safely returned home. If that cannot be justified or arranged, the judge will consider the other options: adoption (not usual for teenagers), long-term placement in a foster home or institution, emancipation. The case proceeds with a series of hearings, at which the judge, the lawyers, and the child welfare worker discuss the issues. All the lawyers will argue on their various clients’ behalf. Often, the parents are present at hearings, but not the minor. (Parental attendance at a hearing is usually considered a positive indicator.) The court generally assumes that the minor’s interests are adequately represented by his attorney. There may be only one or two of these “hearings,” or the case may drag on for years. Sometimes, everyone on the case works together as a team, and the case moves smoothly. Sometimes, the conflicts between parents and child spread to the legal personnel, and there are many disputes and delays. Ultimately, the judge makes a ruling. Throughout this process, the minor in question has little control over the knowledge, skills, and competence of those who will decide his future. Judges, caseworkers, and attorneys may be energetic, competent, and conscientious; or they may be overworked, careless, and stressed out—or anything in between. The minor has no voice about what caseworker is assigned to the case. Unless someone pays for a lawyer to represent the minor, the court (that is, the judge) appoints a lawyer for this purpose. Some court-appointed lawyers are capable and conscientious, while others do the minimum necessary. It is difficult to replace a court-appointed lawyer; but if you can show that, for instance, the lawyer misrepresented your requests, or failed to consult you appropriately, you might be able to get someone else appointed—with, of course, the same risk as before that you will not get very good help. And, unless there is an extremely obvious reason—such as a close relationship between the judge and someone in the case, no one can ask for a different judge. Parents’ rights and children’s rights often conflict in these cases. You can find a brief discussion of parents’ and children’s rights in the Rights section. 1 Age of Majority 2 Youth Services and Shelters 2.1 Youth Hotlines and Internet Resources 2.2 U.S. Family and Youth Service 2.2.1 Basic centers 2.2.2 Transitional living 2.2.3 Maternity group homes 2.3 Legal Issues for Teenagers 2.3.1 Unaccompanied minors 2.3.2 Status offenses 2.3.3 Harboring an unaccompanied minor 2.3.4 Emancipation 2.4 Involvement with Child Protective Services and the Courts 2.4.1 Child protective and child welfare services 2.4.2 Underage youth and the court system STARTING OUT: Feedback Last Updated ICSA: Home Events Membership SIGN UP: ICSA Free Resources Local Meetings	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5718
__label__cc	0.514307	0.485693	Manage Immune-Related Adverse Events Associated With Cancer Immunotherapies KEY DEFINITIONS Immune surveillance: a process the immune system uses to recognize and destroy cancer cells Immune-related adverse events: side effects that develop specifically in response to the activation of the immune system to fight cancer Immunotherapy: treatment that uses the body’s own immune system to fight cancer The theory of cancer immunotherapy and activated immunity has been in existence since 1891, when medical professionals noted that tumor remission occurred in response to acute infections. Since then, more than two dozen immunomodulatory treatments have been developed to augment the body’s protective antitumor immunity and disrupt immune-regulatory circuits that allow tumors to grow. These include monoclonal antibodies, cancer vaccines, immune adjuvants, and cytokines. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved two new immunomodulatory agents, sipuleucel-T and ipilimumab, in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Sipuleucel-T was approved to treat metastatic prostate cancer, and ipilimumab was approved for advanced or metastatic melanoma. In their article in the June 2014 issue of the Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, Kannan, Madden, and Andrews gave an overview of these two new immunotherapies, including their expected side effects and the ways oncology nurses can help manage them. How Immunotherapies Work Immunotherapeutic treatment of cancer is designed to stimulate, strengthen, or restore the immune system’s response to tumors, Kannan et al. explained. Because of the way they engage the body, immunotherapies usually offer a more lasting response to treatment than traditional cytotoxic chemotherapies. In many cancers, tumors can become resistant to cytotoxic treatments, but immunotherapies offer a new pattern of treatment response. As with chemotherapy, patients treated with immunotherapy may demonstrate an immediate response in baseline lesions, as long as they aren’t developing new lesions. Immunotherapy can yield durable, stable disease, which may be followed by a slow, steady decline in tumor burden. Immunotherapy can occasionally result in a response even when new lesions are developing. Usually these lesions were present at diagnosis but were radiographically undetectable. Rarely, immunotherapy can result in a response even when tumor burden is increasing. Currently, there are no criteria to measure response to immunotherapy. The traditional ways of measuring response to cytotoxic chemotherapies may not provide a complete assessment of immunotherapy, Kannan et al. said. They called for future studies to investigate developing the proper criteria. Managing Immune-Related Adverse Events Immunotherapies often cause side effects that manifest as inflammatory conditions, known as immune-related adverse events. In fact, some studies suggest that the appearance of these side effects demonstrates that the treatments are working, although this is not always the case. These are typically low grade and manageable. Key Communication Objectives that Oncology Nurses Should Relay to Patients Treated With Novel Immunotherapies Response patterns can differ from cytotoxic therapy. Apparent progression prior to response is not unusual. Delay in response compared with chemotherapy is normal and expected and not a cause for concern or anxiety that treatment is ineffective. Responses have been seen months after treatment. Treatment with immunotherapy may result in durable response and long-term survival. If treated with sipuleucel-T for prostate cancer, prostate-specific antigen changes or decreases may not be observed despite an effective immune response to therapy. Adverse events of immunotherapy differ from those observed with cytotoxic chemotherapy and reflect the mechanism of action of these agents. Vigilance and prompt reporting of all symptoms are key to prompt management of immune-related adverse events to enable patients to complete planned treatment. Like response, adverse events can occur late in the treatment course; therefore, regular follow-up is important. Although a link may exist between severe adverse events and improved response to therapy, this is not absolute and patients with mild side effects may also respond to therapy. Sipuleucel-T: Patients should be premedicated with acetaminophen and an antihistamine to minimize the risk of infusion reactions, but some side effects may still occur. Common side effects seen with sipuleucel-T include chills, pyrexia, headache, flu-like illness, myalgia, hypertension, hyperhidrosis, groin pain, back pain, nausea, and joint aches. Most are grade 1 or 2 in intensity and occur within one day of infusion and resolve after one or two days of treatment. If an acute reaction occurs, the infusion rate may need to be decreased or stopped, depending on the severity. Acute infusion reactions are treated with acetaminophen, IV H1 or H2 blockers, and low-dose IV meperidine. Ipilimumab: The most frequent side effects seen with ipilimumab are diarrhea, rash, fatigue, pruritus, and colitis. Most are grade 1 or 2 in severity, but some may be severe or life threatening. Additionally, although most side effects develop early on during treatment, some may not appear for weeks or months. Oncology nurses should take care to follow patients vigilantly, even after all infusions are completed. Ipilimumab has a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) in place to manage immune-related inflammation, and oncology nurses should adhere closely to its recommendations. The REMS recommends using corticosteroids to manage moderate to severe events and to reduce the risk of more serious complications. The REMS also contains several practical tools for managing adverse events, including a management guide, patient wallet card, medication guide, and nursing checklist. Kannan et al. noted that the checklist was particularly helpful for facilitating patient communication and outlining the questions that nurses should ask to distinguish treatment-related adverse events from those that may not be treatment related. Mild to moderate rashes from ipilimumab can be managed with moisturizing creams, and antihistamines are used for pruritis. Patients can also take cool or tepid showers and avoid scented perfumes, laundry detergents, or soaps. Patients should be instructed to report gastrointestinal changes such as diarrhea. Any adverse events should be promptly reported so they can be quickly managed, which helps ensure that patients can adhere to the full course of their treatment. The Future of Immuno-Oncology Kannan et al. reported that “after decades of little progress, the field of immune-oncology is prospering, with about 40 new drugs in clinical development and nearly a dozen of them in phase III studies.” Oncology nurses are likely to encounter immunotherapies more frequently in the near future. According to Kannan et al., immunotherapy combination strategies are also anticipated in the future, such as pairing the treatment with radiation therapy or using adjuvant drugs to enhance active immunity. Additionally, immunotherapy is being explored for use in the adjuvant setting. For more information on cancer immunotherapies, refer to the full article by Kannan et al. Five-Minute In-Service is a monthly feature that offers readers a concise recap of full-length articles published in the Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing (CJON) or Oncology Nursing Forum. This edition summarizes “Primer on Immuno-Oncology and Immune Response,” by Rajni Kannan, BS, RN, ANP-BC, Kathleen Madden, RN, BSN, FNP-BC, AOCNP®, and Stephanie Andrews, MS, ANP-BC, which was featured in the June 2014 issue of CJON. Questions regarding the information presented in this Five-Minute In-Service should be directed to the CJON editor at CJONEditor@ons.org. Photocopying of this article for educational purposes and group discussion is permitted. Handoff Tool Promotes Nurse-to-Nurse Communication to Avoid Patient Adverse Events Advanced practice nursing (APN) Manage Immunotherapy-Related Diarrhea and Colitis Another Test Story	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5729
__label__wiki	0.95849	0.95849	Fight over Kufuor’s estate in Crime, Latest news October 30, 2010 Twenty children of the late business magnate and chief of Nkawie in the Ashanti Region, Bernard Mensah Kufuor, have mounted a legal challenge to how his numerous properties and huge foreign currency accounts in Ghana and abroad were vested in his niece and two of his children, 34 years after his death. They claim that Mrs. Comfort Joyce Wereko-Brobbey, the niece, and Ben and David Kufuor, the children, used fraudulent means to take custody of the estates of the deceased, who was also the uncle of former President John Agyekum Kufuor. Consequently, they have filed a writ at the Kumasi High Court seeking a declaration that all properties the late Mensah Kufuor mentioned in his will of May 9, 1964, and any other properties not specifically mentioned in the will fell into intestacy and should be vested in the estate of the deceased. Among the numerous properties the deceased acquired in his lifetime are Ghana Primewood Products Limited in Takoradi, Bibiani Logging and Lumber Company Limited in Kumasi, Kufuor and Sons Furniture Limited in Kumasi, Atwima Timbers, Kumasi, Dormaa Sawmills, several tracts of lands in Accra, Kumasi and other parts of Ghana and two landed properties in England. He also left behind a number of foreign accounts, including 560,000 Pounds Sterling in a UK bank account. In their statement of claim filed by Accra-based lawyer, Egbert Faibille Jnr, the plaintiffs said prior to his death, the deceased executed a will in Ghana on May 9, 1964, which made Mrs. Wereko-Brobbey the biggest beneficiary of the estate, including two properties in England. It said on October 19, 1964, the deceased executed another will in London in which he expressly revoked all former wills and codicils he made, and declared the England will to be his will. The statement said the deceased also directed his executors and trustees of his England will to sell one of his buildings in London and share the proceeds among his children who survived him on his death, and also sell the other London property with the proceeds going to Mrs. Wereko-Brobbey. Besides, the England will, according to the statement, directed that on his death, the cash balance in his West Pennsylvaniwa Banking Trust in the USA be handed over to his wife, Justina Kufuor. It said the Kumasi High Court granted a probate of the deceased’s Ghana will to the executors and the deceased’s two properties in London went to Mrs Wereko-Brobbey, who then proceeded to London to take possession of the properties. Plaintiffs stated that it was in London that Mrs. Wereko-Brobbey realized her uncle made another will there, which superseded the Ghana one. The statement said Mrs Wereko-Brobbey and David Kufuor made false presentations to the Probate Division of the High Court, England, to the effect that they were entitled to be granted letters of administration in respect of the estate of the deceased. It said Mrs. Wereko-Brobbey’s failure to inform the family of the deceased about the England will when she knew that will cancelled the Ghana will was fraudulent and could not, therefore, stand. According to the statement, Mrs. Wereko-Brobbey had taken over Bibiani Logging and Lumber Company Limited while Ben Kufuor had taken over Ghana Primewood Products Limited with David Kufuor taking ownership of Atwima Timbers Limited. It said when the plaintiffs found out that the whole deal that handed over the biggest share of the estates of the deceased to the defendants was fraudulent, their lawyer wrote to them pointing out the illegality of their actions and demanded that hey relinquish all properties that had found their way to them. The statement said a search conducted at the High Court registry in Kumasi by the plaintiffs revealed to their surprise that the late Mensah Kufuor did not deposit any will there. “The defendants have been most fraudulent in their actions and conduct in respect of the estate of the late Bernard Mensah Kufuor,” it added, noting that only the court order “could compel them to release the assets of the deceased not mentioned in his England will.” Source: Daily Graphic	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5730
__label__wiki	0.79244	0.79244	Transactions of the Digital Games Research Association Home > Vol 1, No 3 (2014) > Eilers SimCity and the Creative Class: Place, Urban Planning and the Pursuit of Happiness Frederika A. Eilers Used habitually in educational settings, SimCity has been drawing many young people to design by highlighting popular aspects of urban planning. The 2007 version of the game mimics popular planning theories that resemble the controversial work of Richard Florida and his use of the creative class. Florida's writings are in this article interlinked with texts produced by Will Wright, creator of SimCity, as well as the game`s websites, manuals, in order to track these similarities. It is my understanding that both Florida's and Wright's work share and emphasize certain cultural values, including cities' personalities. The analysis reveals how significantly the existence of happiness is linked to place in contemporary cultural setting, although Florida and Wright seem to disagree on how exactly they may relate. Furthermore, critiques of Florida also evoke criticism of the game’s suppositions. Through interpreting SimCity’s application in pedagogy, its educational value is tied to discussions of in-game assumptions which promote academic critical inquiry. The conclusion frames the game as a simulation or model in game and play theory and problematizes Wright's intention to build elaborate models based on assumptions, which players as potential urban planners absorb and emulate. Models, Pedagogy, Richard Florida, Simulation, Social Engineering, Urban Planning, Will Wright Maps, of course, are a type of model. Computer models contain the same levels of assumptions as the road map. —Will Wright SimCity creator Will Wright wrote in one of his notebooks that much like a road map, computer models reflect simplified versions of reality.1 Cartographers, like game designers, foreground certain aspects of geography, or culture, while other aspects move to the background. Wright found inspiration for the game from maps: while he worked as a game designer for Raid on Bungling Bay (Brøderbund 1985), an aerial shooting game where the player flew a helicopter over a map and targeted buildings, rather than the shooting, he preferred designing maps. This game poses unique challenges for artifact study because its designer is cognizant that the game distorts the culture it represents. In this paper, E. McClung Fleming's Artifact Study method (1982) is applied to a new media. The SimCity game and its paratexts, such as online resources, game manuals, and the game itself are studied as an artifact. In the first section, SimCity's various versions and how they follow trends in urban planning are identified. Secondly, I compare SimCity Societies to ideas credited to famed urban theorist Richard Florida. Adapting Fleming’s method, my evaluation frames or contextualizes by comparing social engineering in game to that in urban planning. This leads to a cultural analysis in the third section that unveils the importance of place for happiness. In the fourth section, I interpret these findings in the context of a spectrum of user groups to explore the educational value of using SimCityEDU as a teaching aid. My conclusion situates the game as simulation or model in game and play theory, and questions the creator's intention with reference to Wright’s keynote address. Scholars have defined diverse methods to study artifacts. One consistent endeavor is to outline “material culture as a process whereby we attempt to see through objects (not just the objects themselves) to the cultural meaning to which they relate or which they might mediate” (Schlereth 1991, 240). My investigation utilizes Fleming's four steps: identification, evaluation, cultural analysis, and interpretation (1982). Folklorist Henry Glassie promotes three different types of contextual framing for artifacts: personal, conceptual (paratexts), and physical (1991, 256). In this study, conceptual framing is used. Moreover, artifacts manifest multiple identities, such as maker and user. Glassie conjectures that artifacts are more accurate portrayals of the maker; meanwhile, architectural historian Dell Upton sees “the object as a mediator between creator and perceiver" (1991, 263; 1991, 158). Therefore, in addition to Fleming's four-step analysis, I describe the different user types in the interpretation section and the maker’s intentions in the discussion. Despite a recent push to develop a unified method to study video and massively multiplayer online games, methodological tool boxes for this type of research are fragmented. For instance, games like The Sims (Maxis 2000) can be studied as cultural "texts" that can be analyzed through the lenses of "Object Inventory, Interface Study, Interaction Map, and Gameplay Log" (Consalvo and Dutton 2006). One gap in existing research, according to Ioanna Iacovides and coauthors, is "investigating both how and what people learn through their involvement with games" (Iacovides et al. 2013, 2). While their research focuses on the mental and physiological breakthroughs and breakdowns of how through lab observations and diaries participants internalize informal educational goals, in comparison, I strive to understand what a videogame says in a formal educational context. Another trend in game studies is to treat videogames as either realistic or fantastic. Alternately, Alexander Galloway promotes a hybrid viewing of games as representations of reality, akin to an artwork (Galloway 2004). Synthesizing these approaches, my argument treats these virtual artifacts like artworks which mediate cultural meanings between makers and users. Research on physical games and toys is often subjected to material culture methodology. Observe that using this method to study physical toys like dolls is well-established by scholars, such as Attfield (1996). Surely, Wright knew of other types of toys as he grew up in the 1960s in Atlanta Georgia. He often relates his games to "fundamental paradigms of play [like] role-play, constructing miniature towns, [and] 'playing house'" by comparing them with physical toys, and sometimes calling them toys in sources like his keynote or in his notebooks (Pearce 2002, 116 qtd. in Lauwaert 2009, 75; Wright 2010, 110; Wright). While designing The Sims he wrote the word dollhouse several times in his notebook. This was the major inspiration for the game, but a problematic one: Jeff Braun, Maxis' other co-founder, explains that using the dollhouse paradigm made it initially difficult to attract investors (Lew 1989). The dollhouse is also a popular metaphor used to dissect The Sims (as in the work of Martey and Stromer-Galley 2007; Consalvo 2007; Reid-Walsh 2011). Given that SimCity combines physical games like spatial toys such as construction blocks, simulation toys such as dollhouses, and strategy games such as Risk or Monopoly, I believe it is reasonable to apply material culture methods. Digital games may not be physical, but they do contribute to popular and visual culture, to which this method readily applies. Identification: Simcity as Artifact In Fleming's first step, called identification, the basic properties of an artifact are history, function, design, material, and construction (1982). Several themes from the profession of urban planning, like sustainability, gentrification, social engineering, and the desire to make the profession more accessible to women, are highlighted in various versions. Functionally, players of the original SimCity (Maxis 1989) used their budgets to build basic services, such as residences, police stations, fire stations, parks, and entertainment and work places, while working within zoning (based on water and electricity infrastructure), budgetary, and population requirements. Tax revenue was generated by attracting citizens, which consequently generates more finances for the player to expand his or her city. Residents were deterred by crime, traffic, and pollution. In the sequel, SimCity 2000 (Maxis 1994), the interface shifted from pure plan to isometric and the object inventory increased by adding new programmatic building types, like schools and prisons. New features included a newspaper (later a news ticker), a query tool, and neighbor cities, while improved graphics showed buildings that were under construction, in use, and unoccupied. The next version SimCity 3000 (Electronic Arts 1999) introduced even more complex cities with waste management, agriculture, agreements with neighbors, and more emphasis on pollution and its effects.2 Again graphics improved; this time maps took on different climate characteristics with different vegetation types. SimCity was related to urban planning from the beginning, and early packaging reinforced this relationship. In the user's manual for SimCity 2000 the 1996 collector's edition, the bibliography cited a score of spatial scholars; among them were Le Corbusier, Jane Jacobs, and Christopher Alexander (Bremer 1996, 139). Le Corbusier was an influential modern architect practicing after The First World War known early in his career for grand urban designs and continued to practice until his death in 1965. Jane Jacobs was a highly respected activist-journalist who criticized Le Corbusier's urban plans in the early 1960s, and whose ideas like "eyes on the street" have influenced many planners. A decade and a half later, Christopher Alexander reacted against sterile modernist environments preferring ground-up design; although he was trained in architecture and math, he is best known today among computer scientists. The bibliography was comprised of urban theories from the mid 1960s to the late 1980s. Wright most likely learned of them when he spent two years studying architecture (Yi 2003; digital kids con 2013). Their inclusion contextualizes the product within architectural and urban planning disciplines. In the 2000s, SimCity mirrored developments in the urban planning profession by taking a decisive turn away from technical and toward social concerns, like gentrification. Rather than the user managing technical aspects like placing the streets and utilities, in SimCity 4 (Electronic Arts 2003) zoning could determine the grid patterns of the roads and accelerate the layout process. In earlier versions residences merely evolved due to density, this version introduced residential building phases categorized by the economic class of the occupants, called sims. Sim's educational quotient was inherited by their parents, and corresponded to their wealth (Kramer 2002, 252). Housing desirability was based on nearby public amenities like recreational areas and schools (Kramer 2002, 274). Upper class sims generated more tax income that many users strived to achieve. Gentrification, an issue popularized by sociologist Ruth Glass continues to be discussed with vigor in urban planning (Glass 1964). Among the most prominent urban planning theorists in the mid-2000s was Florida, who popularized "the creative class", a demographic group often associated with gentrification. Perhaps in response to trends in urban planning or because SimCity was developed by a different company, SimCity Societies (Electronic Arts 2007) departed from previous versions;3 this enraged fans such that it did not achieve the success of previous versions. The game focused less on utilities and infrastructure than previous versions and more on social engineering through mixing building types without zoning regulations. This mixture led to cities with personalities, such as the fun city. In the following decade, SimCity (Electronic Arts 2013) was a Massively Multiplayer Online game and, due to internet connection issues, is available offline. It included more aesthetic choices (like curved roads), and simplified infrastructure, insofar as the road simultaneously supplied water and electricity to buildings. Since individual cities and players interacted with each other through the internet, designers of cities were encouraged to focus on certain niche markets, like an industrial port city or a high-tech region. The game no longer included the unpopular city archetypes from SimCity Societies, but instead focuses on interactions between players acting as megaregions; megaregions have been a focus of contemporary urban theorists like Edward Soja (2013). In 2013 Electronic Arts partnered with GlassLab to make an educational adaptation focusing on climate change; it is considered a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) "game-based learning and assessment tool" called SimCityEDU (“SimCityEDU” 2014). This platform is a basic version with many variables removed so that the user focuses on the objective, yet it still allows micro and macro views of the city. The integration of STEM and Common Core Standards in the United States educational system induced a heated public debate on the best way to encourage women and minorities to develop these skills. Urban planning is among the STEM professions, yet as a newer profession, the Town Planning institute of Canada formed in 1922, it has attracted women since the mid-1940s (Adams and Tancred 2000, 70–71). Over the past twenty-five years, SimCity has enjoyed phenomenal success. Materially, over the years the game has come in boxes or jewel CD or DVD cases, containing manuals and the CD or DVD itself. Recently, the game came as a digital download. The game has had a variety of platforms including Amiga, PC or MAC, and the game's price is mid-level. However, the original version, Micropolis (Electronic Arts 2008), can be freely acquired as it was designed for the company’s participation in One Laptop Per Child where children from developing countries were given it preinstalled on their own laptop). There are also free fan-created homages, like LinCity (1999) or OpenCity (2008). These are testaments to its status as a cultural phenomenon. Evaluation: Cities have Personality According to Fleming, the second step is evaluation which is a comparison between the artifact and a similar object which "provides the essential building blocks for conceptual generalization" (1982, 169). SimCity was the first of many games in the city building genre. On a larger scale is Civilizations (MicroProse 1991) and Age of Empires (Microsoft Studios 1997); on a smaller scale is Wright's other hit game The Sims. These games stress the relationship between the built environment and humanity. The similar object in this discussion is the theory of Richard Florida. They share notoriety, the belief that cities have personalities, their focus on creativity, their attempt to measure creativity, and their assumption that high-tech industry is based on creativity. Florida is what many consider a superstar academic who has breached the boundary into mainstream discourse. His books have graced bestseller lists because his writing style is relaxed and readily accessible to the general public. Primarily his books The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It's Transforming Work, Leisure and Everyday Life (2002)4 and Who’s Your City? (2008) are compared with SimCity Societies (2007). Florida’s influence is broad and his popular lectures have influenced a "generation of leftish policy-makers and urban planners" (Malanga 2004, 36 qtd. in Peck 2005, 740). SimCity 4 may also influence policy; for instance, an article claims that a politician had gotten his tax rate the game. The Electronic Arts representative responded: "We encourage politicians to continue to look to innovative games like SimCity for inspiration for social and economic change" (Terkel 2011). While a sardonic response, it captures SimCity as progressive change. “Cities have Personality too,” asserts Florida because people with similar personality types cluster in certain regions; therefore, these regions have their own personalities. In short, like-minded people tend to congregate in the same city or cities. Florida's categories are based on five personality types from psychologist Lewis Goldberg: extroverted, agreeable, neurotic, conscientious, and open to experience (2008, 194).5 These types overlap, just as many people have combinations of personality types so can cities and Florida closely links these city traits to professions, as does SimCity Societies. SimCity Societies presents six “societal values” which determine what archetype your city will reflect. The six societal values are authority, creativity, knowledge, productivity, prosperity, and spirituality, and these social values lead to the city characters authoritarian, capitalistic, industrial, fun city, and contemplative. The player does not choose the character of the city at the outset; rather it is based on the city’s composition of different structures. Points in each societal value are generated and consumed by buildings and the balance visually transforms the city and shapes the city's character. Like Florida's types, there are also more complex city profiles that consist of more than one societal value; they are cyberpunk, haunted town (hidden), normal, romantic, and small town. Florida's experimental region and SimCity Societies' fun city both privilege creativity. Florida writes whole books on the creative class (the denizens of experimental cities), and the game bases its tutorial on this type of highly creative city. Florida’s experimental city is filled with “Open types [who] have a tendency to enjoy new experiences, especially intellectual experiences, the arts, fantasies, and anything that exposes them to new ideas. Open people tend to be curious, artistic, and creative” and are "people who do not need to be around other people, who question authority, and who quest after intense experiences” (2008, 190, 200). Openness, to Florida, is the major trait linked to economic development (2008, 210). Like the experimental city, the fun city in SimCity Societies relies on the societal value of creativity and is hindered by authority (Kramer 2007, 17). Both Florida and SimCity Societies attempt to measure creativity, yet do so very differently. SimCity Societies' tutorial declares, “Decorations are a great way to generate Creativity.” In this system, a decorative fountain earns five creativity points, the societal value that determines a fun city. There are options to put sims in creative housing, to build schools that encourage creativity like drama schools, to entertain them creatively by providing city botanical garden or theaters, and to have sims active in creative fields like playing in a garage band. Fun cities generate at least one-hundred creativity points. As the city produces more creativity, up to one-thousand points, the city takes on more characteristics of the fun city. Alternately, Florida's creative index is formed by four factors; they are the proportion of the population in creative careers, the number of patents per capita measuring innovation, the high-tech index, and the gay index (2002, 244).6 Although through different means, Florida and SimCity Societies both quantify creativity. High-tech industries are the economic center of both cities. In Florida’s earlier book these open individuals, which populate the experimental region, are part of the creative class and share the values of individuality, meritocracy, diversity, and openness (2002, 77–79). Florida links the creative class to high-tech industries, while in SimCity Societies high-tech industries, like game developer, use creativity and knowledge. Entertainment venues, such as art museums, drama schools, and ice cream shops, produce creativity, whereas haunted houses and corporate offices consume creativity. Some assumptions in the game are realistic, such as carbon levels influencing the frequency of natural disasters, while other assumptions are unrelated, like haunted houses depending on creativity. In earlier versions, even assumptions are made for fictitious species; for instance in SimCity 3000 aliens attack landmarks first and then the most expensive buildings (Kramer 2000, 45). It is evident that the game is a rich tapestry woven with both real and imagined societal beliefs. Cultural Analysis: Place and Happiness Fleming argues that in cultural analysis "the artifact functions as a vehicle of communication conveying status, ideas, values, feelings, and meaning" (1982, 169). SimCity and Florida communicate that cities have personalities and this affects the happiness of the population. Although both deal extensively with happiness, they differ on how place affects happiness. This section explores these connections in three ways. First, while Florida frames the problem as an individual choice, SimCity takes the viewpoint of a politician or city planner that endeavors to attract sims. Second, happiness equates to a temporal and financial resource in the game. Third, since there is no established goal many users infer that the goal is to make sims happy. Lastly, given that several scholars question Florida’s accuracy and because Florida and SimCity Societies have so many points of correspondence, the accuracy of social engineering that SimCity Societies depicts should be questioned. Florida explains how to pick a place, while SimCity encourages players to mold the place to retain and gain city dwellers. Who's your City? was written to “help you pick the place that is right for you” and is based on an extensive twenty eight-thousand person survey Florida conducted called the “Place and Happiness Survey” (2008, 12–13). He stresses the importance of location for one's life as it affects educational, professional, and love pursuits (2008, 6). Florida focuses on a single city type and makes few allowances for other types of cities to provide happiness, for example he writes “that place affects happiness, that the happiest communities tend to be open-minded, vibrant places where people feel free to express themselves and cultivate their identities, and that these communities tend to foster creativity” (2008, 187). Conversely, in SimCity the player cannot chose where to play or affect the sims' happiness directly, but place-making is his or her responsibility. In SimCity 3000 the easiest way to maximize happiness is to create "a nice, ordered city, with low crime, low pollution, plenty of water, great health care, thriving business, and lots of good recreation. In short, they want it all. SO, you know what to do. … places that say, 'This city isn't just efficient, it's fun too'”(DeMaria 1999, 294)! Later, SimCity Societies skips directly to specific buildings affecting the mood of sims (Kramer 2007, 16). The player must attract dwellers by providing a happy place, which is attributed to “Home, Visiting Venues, Accessories and Enhancements, Special Sims, Building Actions [... and] An especially nice home minimizes a Sim's daily loss of happiness” (Kramer 2007, 22). Thus, while game players actively shape their city in ways to promote sims' happiness, happiness for Florida is dependent on selecting the right place. Happiness is one resource in the game. Sims require time to accumulate happiness, and consequently their happiness provides tax revenue which gives the player more money and allows them to build more. One change in SimCity Societies is that the player could not set the tax rate; the manual explains: “the revenue your city collects is a function of the buildings you choose and how happy their workers are” (Kramer 2007, 5). Previously, if sims did not or could not travel to their workplaces, they would soon lose their jobs. In this version, sims will always go to work, however time spent traveling decreases their free time, so they have less time for entertainment to increase their happiness. Yet it is important to place their homes away from workplaces, which the game manual tends to conflate with industrial zones, because these buildings cause pollution that decreases sims' happiness (Kramer 2007, 6). In a city with many productivity structures leading to an industrial society, unhappy citizens become rogue, the status of sims when they are unhappy enough to shut down a workplace (Kramer 2007, 26). The run-down townhouses called “slum apartments” that produce productivity have a negative effect on sims’ happiness. This sets up an assumption that industrial workers are not happy, which follows the game’s logic where happiness is largely based on free time and income. Indeed, if you click on apartment buildings, like “Wood Trim Apts”, the inhabitants will evaluate their city with economically based assessments, such as “What makes me Happy? There are great places to shop!” (GlassLabs 2014). Do sims represent the consumer citizen? The fact that Wright's game did not have a goal in itself was one of the revolutionary aspects of the game. Despite the lack of a clear goal, most people believe "the object is to make the citizens of the simulated city happy by creating an optimal environment"(Lew 1989). However, according to the game manual, SimCity Societies “isn't about maximizing happiness. It's about controlling it” (Kramer 2007, 21). Yet, there is a constant bar graph indicating how happy the sims are and a happiness filter to see face bubbles above the sims' heads. The SimCity 3000 guidebook says, “It's an educational product disguised as a really cool game. It's an urban development simulation that rises to reproduce with reasonable faithfulness the actual conditions and problems faced by real-world cities” (Kramer 2000, 4). This reasonable faithfulness belies the fact that SimCity is based on popular assumptions concerning societal values. SimCity is heralded as educational, yet it may not portray accurate theories. Florida's theories are criticized by scholars, particularly for its neoliberal tendencies. Geographer Jamie Peck describes The Rise of the Creative Class as "cosmopolitan elitism and pop universalism, hedonism and responsibility, cultural radicalism and economic conservatism, casual and causal inference, and social libertarianism and business realism" (Peck 2005, 741). Another geographer, Stefan Krätke, points out Florida’s overly affirmative approval of the creative class and suggests an alternative approach, which the author applies to a German test case to show that Florida mistakenly relates economic growth to his creative class rather than other occupations which are co-located (Krätke 2010). Because Florida discusses happiness extensively and has been criticized as being a hedonist, it seems reasonable to understand happiness as his implicit quest. Comparing social engineering aspects found in Florida’s theories and in SimCity Societies facilitates critically questioning the goals of games. Interpretation: Teaching Space Fleming's next step "focuses on the relation between some fact learned about the artifact and some key aspect of our current value system" (1982, 172). This section studies how different user groups' play, sometimes subversively, with the sims' happiness. To understand how this occurs, it is critical to understand how and to what degree users play with norms, either by absorbing or reacting to cultural assumptions. First anecdotal information about its use in primary schools shows the game facilitated learning computer skills. Then, the interpretation considers how a recent adaptation of the game called SimCityEDU and its web-based community promote critical thought through discussions on embedded cultural assumptions. These are similar teaching goals when using the game at college level. Lastly, advanced users, like Vincent Ocasla, play with these assumptions as well, especially happiness. The first type of user is school children. Many people remember playing the game in elementary school. One journalist remembered "technology lessons that consisted of us sitting two to a computer, playing the original SimCity; presumably to stop us fighting each other for one hour a day" (Sterry 2010). The game may be more about the skills of concentrating, reading, and learning to use a mouse than applicable skills for architecture or planning. Play theorist Brian Sutton-Smith writes that videogames develop concentration and solo play (1986 24, 61, 69). In addition to learning these skills, there was an educational descriptive in the initial SimCity; namely, missions with historical backgrounds were incorporated. SimCity also offers an interactive tool to develop skills like critical thought. Since February 1993, the National Engineering Week sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) has held "The Future City Competition" for 7th and 8th grade students where a SimCity layout, a descriptive essay, and a physical model are judged. Many of the lesson plans featured on the polished GlassLabs’ website for SimCityEDU also include the virtual city and descriptive essay. Several of the lesson plans on the website ask the students to compare their virtual cities to real life ones. Critical thinking and understanding "basic causal relationships" on which the game is built are 21st century learning objectives of the GlassLab lesson plans. The website explains that this adaptation "provides formative assessment information about students’ ability to problem solve, explain the relationships in complex systems, and read informational texts and diagrams" (“SimCityEDU” 2014).7 The game only tracks a couple variables, such as time to complete the mission, air quality, and city funds. The teacher's interface displays statistics for each student called a report, and if the student affected several variables they receive a higher level. However, the report accesses a limited number of variables in the complex system and obviously does not show the amount of thought or creativity. In higher education, SimCity is hesitantly incorporated. A journalist for the New York Times, Julie Lew, interviewed various design professionals and university professors who extolled the realism and academic value of the game (Lew 1989). More recently, An architecture student recounted how interest in the game was considered too hackneyed a justification for attending architecture school on a Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) website (Arida 2014). Yet, planning professor John Gaber used the game at college level (2007). He examined the instructional possibilities of the game, noted that the designers' assumptions are imbedded into the game, and explained how these assumptions can be uncovered in a classroom debate (2007). Interestingly, for Gaber and SimCityEDU the most educational aspect is the discussion. One user who engages the cultural assumptions of the game in a subversive way is Vincent Ocasla who manipulates happiness to produce desired effects like maximum population. His SimCity 3000 city Magnasanti surpassed six-million and the city itself is 50,000 years old (Sterry 2010). The city consists of repetitious mid-rise residential buildings, and there are no public amenities like schools, fire stations, or hospitals; however there are abundant police stations. So while it follows some advice in the SimCity 3000 guide like striving for low crime and high organization, it ignores citizen's health and education (DeMaria 1999, 294). Unsurprisingly, he was an architecture student at the time and says he views SimCity as a "tool or medium for artistic self-expression" (Sterry 2010). Furthermore, for him it is a political statement inspired by the Bhavacakra in Buddhism as well as Koyaanisqatsi (1982), a film by Godfrey Reggio with composer Phillip Glass. The title is translated from Hopi to mean "Life out of Balance" and the Bhavacakra without the symbolism of the moon denotes a cyclic existence with ignorance, hatred, and greed as poisons which propel the cycle. Ocasla's city is considered art, most likely due to these references and has been acquired by the MoMA (Arida 2014). In Magnasanti, Ocasla carefully regulates happiness to maximize population. In addition to Oscala, other players manipulate happiness; in fact, it is anticipated by SimCity Societies which incentivizes subversive behavior by awarding trophies, such as the “fat cat” trophy which requires angry or furious citizens. Conclusion: Models Simulating Space The name of the game comes from simulation, which cultural theorists Roger Caillois, Brian Sutton-Smith, and Jean Baudrillard define differently. Roger Caillois classifies play into four categories, one of which is simulation. He describes two conflicting types of simulation play. Many times, simulation is just as we assume “nothing more than theater” (1958, 77). The second definition allows for transformation of the performer to character, “the corruption of mimicry [... is] when the one who is disguised believes that his role, travesty, or mask is real” (1958, 49). In the early years of videogames, Brian Sutton-Smith remarked on videogames as perfect models and automations (1986, 61–62). Galloway notes that the more real a videogame is, the more it acts like a simulation or model (2004). However, instead of the predominantly positivist way of viewing simulation games Patrick Crogan problematizes simulation by analyzing philosopher Jean Baudrillard (2007). Baudrillard illustrated his theory with Jorge-Luis Borges’s story "On Exactitude", where the map makers are so absorbed in their work, they make full scale maps (Crogan 2007). Baudrillard defines simulation relative to simulacra. In his description, simulacra destroy or replace reality, whereas simulations run parallel to the real (1981, 47). In a later definition he describes a “total simulacrum an automated nature” (1968, 125). While Wright may or may not have been familiar with authors like Baudrillard, they capture cultural connotations of simulation. This artifact study linking SimCity with urban planning has provided insight into the design of the game and how it teaches space. By closely examining SimCity Societies and the urban theories of Richard Florida together, their emphasis on place, personality, and happiness emerged. The cultural value of happiness became the emphasis of many players too. The game's imperfect reality is an educational asset since it is discussions surrounding the verisimilitude, which engages critical thought. Wright, however, points to a few sources of inspiration that problematize how we interpret this artifact, such as a short story and his own background in models. Wright often cites science-fiction writer Stanisław Lem's “The Seventh Sally” as inspiration for SimCity. In it, the main character Trurl returns from giving a model city to a barbaric despot named Excelsius, who now lives on a planet by himself. Trurl and his friend Klapaucius argue whether the inhabitants feel pain. They return to Excelsius' planet and the civilization had spread out of its box to the entire planet, and Excelsius is shot into space (1967). Simulation goes too far, because as we know from the story’s alternate title, "How Trurl's Own Perfection Led to No Good", perfectly simulated miniature cities are bad for both the inhabitants and the king. This story highlights Wright's wariness of models. Wright spoke about the relationship between models and imagination in his keynote address at "Engage Expo". He loved building models as a boy and tested the validity of the models with his imagination through narrative or simulation play. He explained: “play and story [...] are both fundamentally educational technologies [that] we use to supplant our limited experiences to build more elaborate models of the world” (2010, 4). He related these models to videogames. Models are educational aids to understanding complex systems or objects. Models can also be a tool to imagine a prototype. If potential urban planners, who inspired by Wright’s games or models, overemphasize happiness, then we know what assumptions the roadmap might contain. An earlier version of this paper was presented for the “Virtue of the Virtual” Conference at McGill University on 20 May 2011. My many thanks go to The Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal for their many resources and The National Museum of Play in Rochester where I was a research fellow. Additionally, my thanks go to the blind reviewers and editors of ToDIGRA. 1. In 2010 The Strong National Museum of Play (Rochester, New York) acquired nine of Wright's design notebooks, which convey his ideas and thought processes while developing other games based on SimCity. The notebooks were created while developing The Sims, SimCopter (Electronic Arts 1996), and Spore (Electronic Arts 2008). They are in the “Will Wright Collection" and the epigraph is from Object ID: 110.1633. 2. Maxis became a subsidiary company of Electronic Arts games gradually relinquishing their role from 1997-2004. 3. Maxis outsourced the development to Tilted Mill Entertainment the designers of Caesar IV (Sierra Entertainment 2006). 4. Note that John Howkin's termed the creative economy. 5. Florida also cites two studies: Goldberg 1990 and Gosling and Rentfrow's “The Geography of Personality”. 6. The gay index is one of the more heated arguments against Florida (Florida 2004). Note, that Wright's games are considered quite liberal. The Sims, as author Stephen Kline points out, is one of the most liberal games regarding homosexuality (Kline, Dyer-Witheford, and Peuter 2003, 269–293). 7. These goals are expressed according to the language of educational standards; namely, English Language Arts (ELA) Common Core and Next Generation Science educational standards. Adams, A., and P. Tancred. 2000. “Building the Foundations: Women Contribute to Architectural Practice.” In Designing Women: Gender and the Architectural Profession, 59–88. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Alexander, C., S.Ishikawa, and M. Silverstein. A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1978. Arida, A. 2014. “Magnasanti (Vincent Ocasla).” Design and Violence, January 7. http://designandviolence.moma.org/sim-city-magnasanti-vincent-ocasla/. Attfield, J. “Barbie and Action Man: Adult Toys for Girls and Boys, 1959-93.” In The Gendered Object, New York: Manchester University Press, 1996. Baudrillard, J. 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Who’s Your City?: How the Creative Economy Is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life. Toronto, ON: Vintage Canada, 2008. Gaber, J. “Simulating Planning SimCity as a Pedagogical Tool.” Journal of Planning Education and Research 27, no. 2, 2007: 113–121. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0739456X07305791. Glass, R. London: aspects of change. London: MacGibbon and Kee, 1964. Glassie, H. 1991. “Studying Material Culture Today.” In Living in a Material World: Canadian and American Approaches to Material Culture, edited by Gerald Pocius, 253–66. St. John’s, Newfoundland: Institute of Social and Economic Research, Memorial University of Newfoundland. GlassLabs. [Webbased]. SimCityEDU 2014. Played Spring 2014. Goldberg, L. “An alternative description of personality: the big-five factor structure” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 59, no. 6, 1990: 1216–1229. http://projects.ori.org/lrg/PDFs_papers/Goldberg.Big-Five-FactorsStructure.JPSP.1990.pdf Iacovides, I., J. 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Played 2004-2009. Maxis. The Sims Online [PC, beta version]. Electronic Arts, Redwood City, CA, 2002. Played 2001. Maxis. SimCity 2000 [PC]. Maxis & Electronic Arts, 1994. Played 2011. MicroProse. Civilizations [PC]. MicroProse, Huntvalley, MD, 1991. Has not played. Nguyen, D. and F. Rodrigo. OpenCity [Linux], 2009. Not Played. Peck, J. 2005. “Struggling with the Creative Class.” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 29 (4): 740–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2427.2005.00620.x. Petroski, H. Toying with Architecture: the Building Toy in the Arena of Play, 1800 to the Present. Katonah N.Y.: Katonah Museum of Art, 1997. Reid-Walsh, J.“The SIMs Meet Harlequin in the 21st Century: Playable Narrative Media for Children from the 18th Century to the Present.” University of Toronto, March 31, 2011. http://current.ischool.utoronto.ca/events/2010/jacqueline-reid-walsh-sims-meet-harlequin-21st-century-playable-narrative-media-children Rentfrow, P., S. Gosling, and J. Potter. 2008. “A Theory of the Emergence, Persistence, and Expression of Geographic Variation in Psychological Characteristics.” Perspectives on Psychological Science 3 (5): 339–69. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6924.2008.00084.x. Schlereth, T. 1991. “Material Culture or Material Life: Discipline or Field? Theory or Method.” In Living in a Material World : Canadian and American Approaches to Material Culture, edited by Gerald Pocius, 231–40. St. John’s Nfld.: Institute of Social and Economic Research Memorial University of Newfoundland. “SimCityEDU.” 2014. Accessed February 26. http://www.simcityedu.org/. SimCityEDU: Engaging 21st Century Learners. 2013. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLh-vutw4-c&feature=youtube_gdata_player. Soja, E. “Moving to Berlin 1: Los Angeles and Berlin as Urban Laboratories? [panel discussion].” Annual Association of American Geographers. Los Angeles, April 10, 2013. Stanislaw, L. 1974. “The Seventh Sally.” In The Cyberiad; Fables for the Cybernetic Age, 161–172. New York, NY: Seabury Press. http://home.sandiego.edu/~baber/analytic/Lem1979.html. Sutton-Smith, B. Toys as Culture. New York, NY: Gardner Press. 1986. Sterry, M. 2010. “The Totalitarian Buddhist Who Beat SimCity.” Vice, May 10. http://www.viceland.com/blogs/uk-games/2010/05/10/the-totalitarian-buddhist-who-beat-sim-city/. Terkel, A. 2011. “Herman Cain 999 Plan: Did It Come From SimCity?” Huffington Post, October 13. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/13/herman-cain-999-sim-city_n_1008952.html. Tilted Mill Entertainment. Caesar IV [PC]. Sierra Entertainment, Oakhurst, CA, 2006. Has not Played. Tiger Electronics. Furby [electronic toy]. Tiger Electronics, Vernon Hills, IL, 1998. Played 1998. Upton, D. 1991. “Form and User: Style, Mode, Fashion, and the Artifact.” In Living in a Material World : Canadian and American Approaches to Material Culture, edited by Gerald Pocius, 156–69. St. John’s, Newfoundland: Institute of Social and Economic Research, Memorial University of Newfoundland. Wright, W. “Keynote Transcription.” In Engage! Expo. New York City, February 16, 2010. Yi, M. 2003. “PROFILE: Will Wright / Unsimulated Success / SimCity Creator’s Video Games Are about Building Cities, Not Blowing Them up.” SFGate.com. November 23. Transactions of the Digital Games Research Association Vol 1 No 3, ISSN 2328-9422, October 2014 © The text of this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Generic License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/) IMAGES: All images appearing in this work are propertyof the respective copyright owners,and are not released into the Creative Commons. The respective owners reserve all rights. Published by the Digital Games Research Association.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5731
__label__cc	0.64344	0.35656	Bosses: Aren’t they those unfriendly people who most subordinates would avoid? Apparently not for me in my school’s Library Board, as Yeoh Zi Qing proves to be. This lanky lass was born on the 25th of January 1996 at Pantai Hospital, has a brother (my ex-boss). She used to go to SJK(C) Yuk Chai, and now goes to SMK Bandar Utama Damansara (3). Her hobbies encompass ukulele strumming, gu zheng playing, baking, designing, playing basketball, singing, drawing and loads more (though she doesn’t do them all at once!). As I asked this aspiring baker more about herself, her bubbly self shows through with tonnes of almost-rolling-on-the-floor laughs. Her achievements are endless, and astounding, and she holds various portfolios in school organisations. When I asked her how she manages to balance all these with her studies and leisure, she stresses on being well-rested before attempting to study at night. Strumming her ukulele helps her relax, and so does playing basketball. ‘Most of the time, I’ll try my best to finish as much homework during recess and also when I am in the library or in the class when there are free periods, so that there would not be so much of a burden when I’m at home,’ she says. When asked about her inspiration, her family crops up first. Apparently, her father and brother are as athletic as her, playing basketball and volleyball in various tournaments. Her house is so full of trophies that her father had to throw out his old broken trophies to avoid a clutter. On her mother, she says, ‘My mum will always tell me, it does not matter if you get grades like A, B C or even D, at least you know that you have done your best. Thus if you fail, she will tell you that it is okay, make sure to put more effort in your studies and improve in the other upcoming papers. Although my mum is very strict sometimes, she still allows me to go out with friends during the holidays to catch a movie or two.’ Besides that, American-Korean entertainer-extraordinaire Victor Kim solicits a ear-piercing scream from her. ‘Victor is a really nice person, beautiful in the inside and outside, down-to-earth, funny and has a smile that will have tonnes of girls chasing after him,’ she said, even recounting the time they met in person! On preparing herself for competitions, she says: ‘Basically, I just attended all of the training sessions provided by the coaches, make sure I have enough rest, eat healthily and drink loads of water in order to stay healthy. Have a positive mind set and you are ready to tackle anything.’ However, the road to her achievements was not plain sailing. Recalling the time she first got chosen into her primary school’s elite team, she said, ‘The training was really exhausting. My hands and legs were sore and sunburnt when I got home. I was one of the weakest players in the team, both physically and mentally. I get tired really easily and sometimes throw up during or after training sessions; but after putting all of our effort and hard work in it, we manage and also won many tournaments and friendly matches and brought back pride to our school. As years passed, I learnt how to handle my own problems. I grew mentally and physically strong too and accept criticisms from my coach from time to time. Although it hurts and you might think that you just aren’t good enough, we will and must also learn from it and most importantly not to put it in your heart.’ On asking what her motto in striving, she answered: ‘Success in life requires enormous sacrifice and determination.’ When she recalled her most memorable achievement, her account struck me as so compelling that I might as well give it word for word here: ‘In 2008, I represented the Petaling Utama district in he Under-12 Girl’s Basketball Tournament. My team lost to the state champions. However, I was among the lucky ones chosen to represent the state at national level. My team-mates cried really as it was our first defeat, always thinking we were invincible. When we trained for a week, we squeezed ourselves in three rooms, made friends with the other teammates, stayed up late at night, walked to the basketball court together, laughed crazily whenever one of us does something silly and had meals together. I can even remember that we will always rush back to the apartment after our afternoon training session, grab our dinner and sit in the living room and watch a Chinese movie series that was on every evening. While we had our competition in Kuantan, we stayed in a hotel, three to a room. I still remembered who my roommates were: Brenda Lee from Petaling Perdana and Euphrasia Pang from Petaling Utama. I’m really glad that we stayed in the same room. During the competition, I had never felt so proud and happy before for I was one of the players that help the team scored the most points in almost every match. There were also quite a number of times where I manage to do the things/skills that I never thought I will be able to do such as able to score from a three-point line, a block shot and many others. It was funny that I didn’t really feel exhausted while in the match. Although we were rather relaxed, we still managed to beat the other states. We battled till the end and were once again known as the champions for the MSSM Under-12 girl’s category. VICTORY! We deserved it, after all the hard work, effort and the teamwork, we totally paid it off. Along the way, we actually became really close friends. We were like a one big happy family. However, it was sad as well that we had to leave but we had so much fun and unforgettable memories at the end of the day.’ Who would ever know that my boss is an epic basketball player? I was awestruck as I arranged the books in the Library, with Zi Qing helping me. Well, you’ll never know who your boss may be	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5733
__label__wiki	0.670956	0.670956	Wrong diagnosis equals wrong treatment March 21, 2018 /0 Comments/in Cover, Opinion /by Asonganyi Nester One of the elementary lessons learned from second-year physics by those lucky enough to have gone to school when secondary education had not been reduced to banality or ‘ashwabi,’ is inertia. The teacher, in our case, was an old English lady whose hair exuded a very repellent odour as we excitedly crowded around her for experiments in the physics laboratory. The odour originated from an avowed disdain for early morning shower. Of course, the temperature in Buea at the time kind of vindicated her decision, given that facilities like water heater and indoor heating customary in her native England were luxuries the Catholic Mission could hardly afford. Back to our physics lesson, we were taught that Work is equal to force multiplied by distance. It is also in the course of this lesson that the notion of inertia was introduced to us. She imparted to us that there are two types of inertia; Inertia that causes a stationary body to remain immobile and inertia that prods a body in motion to persist in mobility. Surprisingly, in spite of this rudimentary lesson, our Head of State, Paul Biya has, over the last decade been amplifying the erroneous notion that inertia is responsible for the non performance of Government machinery without specifying the type. Why he has chosen to dwell on the inertia of stationary body is best left to him to answer. Be that as it may, such unqualified statement coming from a person of his stature flies in the face of conventional wisdom. He is certainly mistaking the current generation of Cameroonians for those he met in the immediate aftermath of his return to Cameroon in 1962. Inertia of a body in motion would have put us in permanent movement, particularly, towards achieving economic buoyancy. This has, however, not been the case, as intervening variables including corruption, greed, chronic nepotism and cronyism- all signs of incompetent coordination by Mr. Biya, have conspired to be permanent features of our statecraft. We have, in consequence, been reduced to a pariah state in the midst of plenty. This sad reality stares us in the face, despite the fact that barring the Republic of South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo, there are very few countries in Africa that would outclass Cameroon in terms of endowment with minerals, whether it is viewed from the angle of quantity or variety. It is ironical that the same person who is supposed to incarnate the spirit of change for a brighter future in Cameroon is the one promoting impunity and profligacy in the conduct of Government business while brandishing inertia as scape goat. To the extent that laid down regulations are thwarted with sneering disregard, it can be posited that the lip service paid to the fight against corruption is, indubitably, a concealment of scores-settling against those with perceived political ambition, especially, if such is directed towards the presidency of the country. ‘And the beat goes on,’ as one of the popular American funk groups of the early 80s “The Whispers” titled one of their hit songs. Oh yes, it is only in a country where change is anathema that a Head of State would persistently award failed marks to members of Government and, in the same breadth, continue to have them adorn the corridors of power. When a country’s foundation rests on individuals instead of institutions, the tendency is for the privileged few who are called upon to be part of the national assemblage of spoilers to owe allegiance to the one who brought them into the fray rather than those who are supposed to be the real beneficiaries of their services. Given that human greed knows no bounds, a situation arises wherein personality cult and deification of ordinary mortals becomes a national past time. For this ego pampering to entrench itself, individuals are singled out from communities and made emissaries to the bloodsuckers’ national team. In the event, the same people are recycled like worsted metals in assembly plants without any qualms. Without calling names, a perfunctory look at the persons that have been making the rounds in the political sphere in Cameroon can be very telling. There are those appointed in 1975- the same time our current Head of State was elevated to Prime Minister. They are still lurking around either as Prime Minister or members of one money guzzling Para-public corporation created more for their comfort than the good of Cameroonians or the other. These are the people who have never imagined that there is need for the country to move ahead to a higher pedestal commensurate with the dictates of android age. Their dizzying slogan is that it is better to move slowly and avoid the cataclysmic experiences of some African countries. These same people harbour the illusory view that brute force is the sole antidote to recrimination against their misrule instead of improved governance. Yes, when people complain that they are not feeling the impact of being part of the geographical expression called Cameroon owing to abject neglect triggered by over-centralization their answer is cosmetic attention via creation of a Ministry in charge of Decentralization. Mr. President, what the people are interested in is the content and not the container that can be discarded at any time. What the people want is for the money produced in a given locality to be felt in such vicinities. Let a determined fraction of proceeds from Meme cocoa be used to develop Meme, while Ndian oil is used for Ndian and so on. Let Governors be elected such that the local people can have control over their actions to induce them espouse transparent and accountable governance as credo of their tenures. It is daft for someone of our Head of State’s standing in terms of education and experience to be of the illusion that he is bamboozling morons each time he comes up with his inanity of inertia slowing down Government machinery. Mr. President, if you are still in the typewriter era, most of your compatriots had since moved to the android age as you rightly mentioned in one of your addresses to the youths. The exigencies of the android age require some one made of sterner stuff in relation to capacity to adapt to, and, adopt change to think out of the box. This far, you have unfortunately exhibited in 35-yearsof misrule that you do not deserve any other chance. Do not mind the prodding of sycophants and hangers-on whose sole enterprise is to ensure they hang on to the fringe benefits that being around you offers. Mr. President, for the sake of Cameroonians who still believe that this country is not beyond redemption, could you please leave us alone and carry along your coterie of leeches to a deserved retirement so that fresh blood that believes in inertia of a body in motion can take over the captaincy of Cameroon’s ship of state? At least you owe your fatherland this feat of much needed patriotism as legacy to those who will be around to witness the materialization of your much touted vision 2035. By Ngoko Monyadoa http://theramblercameroon.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/The-rambler-header-.fw_.png 0 0 Asonganyi Nester http://theramblercameroon.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/The-rambler-header-.fw_.png Asonganyi Nester2018-03-21 09:29:282018-03-21 09:29:28Wrong diagnosis equals wrong treatment Inside the dark heart of personality cult Penultimate Friday, the country was awash with news of a magic wand cabinet reshuffle, at least, from the perspective of CPDM cronies and official media. This is intriguing for an issue that had evoked no novelty in regard to its content or form although unlike in previous times, an element of surprise inhered in the fact that he had kept Cameroonians waiting and guessing until they lost interest and transferred their attention to more pertinent national issues like the simmering Anglophone crisis. For the benefit of doubt, we can say that he avoided the customary embarrassment stemming from the fact that his ensuing cabinet in terms of persons and portfolios would have in normal times already been public knowledge before official announcement. To that extent, his deification by hangers-on and official media can therefore be understood within the context of a man whose proneness to megalomania has attained astronomical heights that warrant such revelry. Moreover, as Head of State, his actions are worthy of attention, no matter how impertinent they might appear, given that all previous efforts to consign him to the dustbins of history have failed, woefully, owing to our natural predilection for toadying. The above notwithstanding, whatever status Cameroonians choose to ascribe to their Head of State, what is certain is that the heightening infusion of the persona of the First Lady, Chantal Biya into the national psyche is becoming very worrisome. It is worrisome for two reasons. The first has to do with the fact that our statecraft hinges on a very fragile foundation that gives room for even frivolities like personal aggrandizement instead of the rule of law to come into play. Secondly, the rate at which sycophants and pseudo-patriots are wishing the first couple immortality makes it possible for us to get up one morning and discover that a presidential decree has transformed Chantal Biya to heir apparent to her husband’s throne. This assertion is in no way casting aspersions on the humanitarian proclivity of our First Lady. Far from it! Who can gainsay her involvement in uplifting the drudgery imperiling the lives of underprivileged Cameroonians? Who has not been taken aback by the stunning feats midwifed by her humanitarian stables that include CERAC and Chantal Biya Foundation? Nevertheless, the recent hullaballoo occasioned by her participation during last week’s International Day of the Woman conjures the possibility of her elevation to a constitutionally recognized figure in the country. To buttress this assertion, we need to just throw our minds back to the overdrive the Civil Cabinet of the Presidency and the Ministry of Communication went into, just to ensure that her presence during festivities commemorating the event reflected reverence for a goddess. Not only were journalists supposed to subject themselves to official accreditation, but more importantly, her presence during the quasi-official event was made to assume the status of a presidential outing. We should not forget what happened in Zimbabwe where ousted Robert Mugabe had contemplated handing over power to his wife. Moreover, the insipid conference to drum support for a constitutional provision to make the First Lady position a national emblem under the tutelage of no other than Fame Ndongo, University Professor, CPDM ideologue and Higher Education Minister is still fresh in our memories. This warning is being sounded here on account of what the excesses of a 48-year old woman can do to an 85 year-old man. In terms of natural charm, Biya is said to have turned down all dissuasions from his supposed cronies against marrying Chantal. This, on its own, bespeaks the visceral grip she has on a husband not known to exert manly control over his wives. This means that she can invoke any stunt to ensure that she is the prime source of inspiration to all her husband’s actions, be they official or private. As a matter of fact, the grapevine even has it that such influences have sometimes extended to determining who gets appointed or fired as Minister. But to be fair to Chantal, she is only taking advantage of the weaknesses of a system prodded by individuals instead of institutions. This daughter of a timber merchant was certainly born with a golden spoon in her mouth. For her mother to have been chosen among the many women in the heart of the equatorial rainforest is not an issue to be dumped at the feet of providence. Mr. Vigoroux, her father, ordinarily would have seen many more beautiful and even better educated women, but he opted for Chantal’s mother just like Biya has opted for her. That is the work of God. It is also, gratifying to know that her charitable works have earned international acclaim, thereby bringing honour to Cameroon. However, it is nevertheless, no guarantee that her excesses, even if extolled by her somehow doting husband ought to be tolerated. Furthermore, is there any endowment fund from which she taps the resources that she uses to engrave her persona on the minds of Cameroonians and the international community? More so, in a country where no distinction is made between the public till and the Head of State’s personal accretions from investments, the exploits of CERAC and the Chantal Biya Foundation may have been smokescreens to pamper the ego of a woman who has taken advantage of porous governance to establish herself as Cameroon’s Mother Theresa. For all we know, the cronyism and opacity that characterize her husband’s governance is highly present in both organizations. Have we, at any time, stopped and reflected on the management of these institutions? Who are their auditors? Well, these might just be opportunities for sophisticated money laundering. The type that one of his current enfant cheri ministers had indulged in before coming into combined prominence and notoriety. While extending kudos to the First Lady for at least putting smiles on the faces of many needy Cameroonians, the fear is that her undue intrusion into public space may be sending the wrong message, if at all it has not already done so. We are in a country in which unemployment is galloping. Citizens are increasingly finding it difficult to provide basic necessities like water, light, food and shelter for themselves and their families. It is therefore, unfathomable that each time she leaves the country, her retinue whose sole purpose is to massage her ego costs the country a fortune. Mama Chantal, you can help Cameroonians by telling your husband that he is overdue his stay at the helm of state and, by that token, must take an honourable bow from the stage for the emergence of a new and rejuvenated Cameroon. Can Cameroonians count on you to foster their liberation from their current Catch-22? By Ngoko Monyadowa http://theramblercameroon.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/The-rambler-header-.fw_.png 0 0 Asonganyi Nester http://theramblercameroon.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/The-rambler-header-.fw_.png Asonganyi Nester2018-03-17 13:07:192018-03-17 13:07:19Inside the dark heart of personality cult UN can’t package and deliver ‘Ambazonia’ independence March 17, 2018 /0 Comments/in Cover, Opinion, Politics, Society /by Asonganyi Nester By conviction or political deftness, he has consistently displayed faith in the eventuality of a broad based national dialogue on the Anglophone problem. The erudite and politically savvy Dr. Simon Munzu’s interest in a constitutional solution to the headache dates back to the 1990s when, as part of the triumvirate of Elad, Anyangwe and Munzu, he played a very active role in convening the All Anglophone Conference, AAC, and thereafter charted a road map for Anglophone emancipation. Today, the troika has succumbed to dissuasive subterfuge of the Biya regime with Barrister Ekontang Elad vacillating between support for the Anglophone cause and neutrality. Prof. Carlson Anyangwe, on his part, has thrown his weight behind Ambazonia separatists, leaving Munzu as sole purveyor of a return to a two-state federation via dialogue. Munzu, in his characteristic candour, has advocated frank, inclusive and comprehensive dialogue as the only viable solution to the Anglophone conundrum. Going by his consignment of counselling to Cameroonians and the powers that be, nobody should be left out, including those who are now advocating separation. He has, also, warned Anglophones not to be carried away by the illusion of United Nations, UN, support for a separate Southern Cameroons as is being bandied by some compatriots instead of heightening pressure on the Biya regime to see reason in advocacy for a return to Federalism as obtained in the immediate aftermath of the Foumban Conference. The alluring prose and endearing witticism, coupled with strengthening conviction for a project that defies solution, makes The Rambler’s interview with one of Cameroon’s finest legal scholars, a cocktail to be savoured with relish. (See page…) You have consistently advocated a national dialogue since the current Anglophone crisis gathered steam in October 2016. Why the sing-song on dialogue when it looks like President Paul Biya is working on an alternative to the much parroted dialogue? It is generally recognised that a frank, inclusive and comprehensive dialogue is the best pathway to a lasting solution to the Anglophone problem and to the current Anglophone crisis. The dialogue must be frank. This means that the parties to it have to be sincere to each other and that neither should set out to fool, trap or cheat the other. It must be inclusive, meaning that all stakeholders, regardless of the outcome that they are seeking, including independence for Southern Cameroons, should be invited to the dialogue and allowed freely to state their position. The dialogue must also be comprehensive. By this we mean that it must touch on all aspects of the domination, marginalisation, assimilation and takeover of the territory and people of Southern Cameroons (the Northwest and Southwest Regions) that Anglophones have experienced in the last 56 years and which they are complaining about today. The dialogue cannot be limited to just education and administration of justice, the two sectors that sparked off the current crisis in October and November 2016. A comprehensive dialogue would have to cover all areas of governance in our country – political, administrative, economic, judicial, social, cultural, etc. in which Anglophones experience domination, marginalization, assimilation and takeover, so that the grievances felt by Anglophones in all these domains can be addressed once and for all. Since everyone recognises dialogue as the best way to sort out the mess in which our country is right now, many voices at home and abroad have repeatedly and insistently called for it. Prominent among them is President Paul Biya, notably in his New Year messages to the Nation of 31 December 2016 and 31 December 2017. It is disturbing to note, however, that even though the President recommends dialogue, he has, as you point out in your question, done nothing to initiate meaningful dialogue. He considers as dialogue the negotiations between the Government and the teachers and between the Government and lawyers that took place in December 2016 and January 2017 within the framework of the two Ad Hoc Committees that were set up by the Prime Minister. We all remember that those negotiations ended in the arrest and imprisonment for eight to nine months of some teachers’ and lawyers’ leaders, while others were forced into exile. That was not a dialogue. It did not lead the parties to a mutually agreed end to the crisis. President Biya also considers as dialogue the delegations of members of Government, political and traditional leaders and senior office holders that were despatched to the Southwest and Northwest Regions in October 2017 to ‘dialogue’ with the population of these two Regions. We all know that, in view of the manner in which those delegations conducted their mission, no meaningful dialogue took place on those occasions. These forms of ‘dialogue’ have not ended the Anglophone crisis. They could not have done so because they were not frank, inclusive and comprehensive. We still need to have a meaningful national dialogue on the Anglophone problem in Cameroon. Can violence and dialogue go together in the search for a solution to the same problem? Obviously, dialogue and violence cannot be applied at the same time to resolve the same problem. All conflicts can be resolved through dialogue. Therefore, every effort should be made to resolve all conflicts peacefully through dialogue. Those who resort to violence to resolve a conflict always find that, after a long or short period of loss of lives and livelihoods for many citizens, often the innocent, they still have to dialogue in order to arrive at a final resolution of the conflict. If, after using violence and causing so much loss of life, destruction of property and massive violations of human rights, the protagonists still end up engaging in dialogue, why not engage in dialogue at the outset and thus avoid all those negative consequences of violence, many of which affect innocent citizens? No, violence and dialogue cannot go together in the search for a solution to the same problem. In all situations, dialogue, not violence, should be used to resolve the conflict. Is the belief that the ‘international community’, the UN and some big Western nations are going to step in and ‘grant independence’ to Southern Cameroons just a dream? Is such a belief justified, plausible? Such a belief is unjustified. It is just a dream that may never come true. Some Anglophone Cameroonians are clamouring for the ‘restoration’ of the ‘independence’ of British Southern Cameroons. They rely on a distortion of the history of decolonization of the British Southern Cameroons and claim that the 1961 union between the Anglophone territory of British Southern Cameroons and the Francophone territory of Republic of Cameroon has no legal basis. They blame the international community, especially, the United Nations, the United Kingdom and France, for the fate that has befallen the territory and people of British Southern Cameroons since October 1, 1961. Paradoxically, these are the same persons who deceive our people that the international community will come in and grant independence to the Southwest and Northwest Regions of Cameroon. This is just an illusion and a deliberate lie. For the international community, the people of British Southern Cameroons voted in a valid plebiscite on February 11, 1961, to achieve independence by joining Republic of Cameroon. On the same day, the people of British Northern Cameroons voted in a separate and valid plebiscite to achieve independence by joining the Federation of Nigeria. Northern Cameroons joined the Federation of Nigeria on June 1, 1961 and thereby achieved independence. Southern Cameroons joined Republic of Cameroon on October 1, 1961 and thereby also achieved independence. On that same day, both Southern Cameroons and Republic of Cameroon gave up their respective independence in order to form a new independent and sovereign state, the Federal Republic of Cameroon, within which they both became two federated states of equal status, the federated state of West Cameroon and the federated state of East Cameroon, respectively. The international community considers everything that has happened thereafter in the territory of the Federal Republic of Cameroon, including the change of name of the territory and all modifications in its constitutional and administrative arrangements, as an internal matter for Cameroonians. Southern Cameroons gave up the independence that it achieved on October 1, 1961 when on that same day it opted to become the Federated state of West Cameroon within the Federal Republic of Cameroon. The international community is not going to come in, nearly 60 years later, to ‘restore’ that independence. Those who want to ‘restore’ the independence of Southern Cameroons know that they can only achieve their objective by waging a war of secession from the union that came into being on October 1, 1961. The international community is not in a position to grant independence to the former British Southern Cameroons for a second time. In a recent message that you addressed to the people of Cameroon, especially, those of the Northwest and Southwest Regions, you harped on the need to save the union and to work towards a federation rather than complete break-up of the union. Are you, as far as the ‘Ambazonians’ are concerned, not just crying in the rain? The persons you call ‘Ambazonians’ stand for the break-up of the 1961 union of Anglophone British Southern Cameroons and Francophone Republic of Cameroon and the ‘restoration’, as they call it, of the ‘independence’ of the territory of the former British Southern Cameroons that they have renamed ‘Ambazonia’. Considering that the two territories of the former British Southern Cameroons and the former Republic of Cameroon have lived together for nearly 60 years since they united on 1 October 1961, we need not go to the extreme of breaking up the union. We should insist upon a return to the original intent of administering the union as a federation in which the two founding territories have equal status. If we succeed to obtain this, we will end the domination, marginalization, assimilation and impending takeover of the territory and people of the former British Southern Cameroons. We will do this without having to break up the union. I am convinced that if you ask the people of the Southwest and Northwest Regions to choose between a peaceful return to the federal system through dialogue and negotiation and obtaining independence through years and even decades of war, they would choose a peaceful return to federation. To die-hard ‘Ambazonians’, anything short of breaking up the 1961 union may sound like just crying in the rain, as you put it. But to the overwhelming majority of our people, it sounds differently. Very recently, President Biya reshuffled his cabinet, appointing Anglophones to full minister positions in two key ministries – territorial administration and secondary education. Does this measure address the grievances of the Anglophones? These appointments are a clear indication that the governing elites in Yaounde are feeling the effect of the relentless peaceful resistance that the people of the Northwest and Southwest Regions have put up for 17 months now and which they are prepared to continue until the ‘Anglophone problem’ is addressed through a genuine and meaningful national dialogue. Prominent among the grievances of Anglophones is the phenomenon of ‘marginalization’, which involves keeping Anglophones away from decision-making centres at all levels – national, Regional, Divisional, local. One of the manifestations of marginalization lies in the fact that, in 56 years since the union of 1 October 1961, no Anglophone has ever been appointed as a full minister at the head of any of the strategic ministries, whose importance is depicted by the French expression of ‘ministeres de souverainete’, in charge of domains such as defence, territorial administration, finance, external relations, economy and plan, etc. On Friday, March 2, for the first time since 1 October 1961, an Anglophone was appointed to head a ‘ministere de souverainete’, namely, the Ministry of Territorial Administration. This appointment was undoubtedly prompted by the pressure exerted by Anglophones through the protracted peaceful resistance that they have pursued without interruption since October 2016. Does it address the grievances of the Anglophones? No, it does not, for at least two reasons. First, there is the controversial character of the person who has been appointed to that post. As is well known, the flames of this crisis were stoked from the very beginning by the provocative and dismissive rhetoric of Mr Paul Atanga Nji, who vehemently denied, and continues to deny, the existence of the ‘Anglophone problem’. No one who denies the existence of a problem can be relied upon to solve it. Secondly, as I said in reply to one of your earlier questions, the grievances of the Anglophones relate to domination, marginalization, assimilation and takeover in an array of domains of our country’s governance. Therefore, an isolated act such as the appointment of one or two Anglophones to head key ministries is far from sufficient to address the grievances of the Anglophones. Put in Mr Biya’s position, what would you do to address the current Anglophone crisis? In the position of the President of the Republic and Head of State, I would be guided in my approach to the current Anglophone crisis by the paramount necessity to hold the nation together while effectively addressing the genuine grievances of the Anglophones. First, I would have to deduce from the long, peaceful resistance by the people of the Northwest and Southwest Regions that there does, indeed, exist an ‘Anglophone problem.’ To get an understanding of the full measure of Anglophone grievances, I would convene a national dialogue on the Anglophone problem in which I would personally participate. I would ensure that the dialogue is frank, inclusive and comprehensive as I explained earlier, and that it is conducted in such a manner that Cameroonians come to fully understand the ‘Anglophone problem’ in all its dimensions. From a full understanding of the problem I would direct that a solution be proposed that would bring about the cessation of the domination, marginalization, assimilation and takeover of the territory and people of the Southwest and Northwest Regions in all spheres of public life and institutional governance. Recognizing that this would entail a return to the federal system of Government in our country, I would engage and quickly complete the process for such return. Is President Biya constitutionally empowered, or by any means right when he unilaterally declares that the present structure of the nation is not negotiable? The form the state is governed by the Constitution, not by the President of the Republic. The Constitution that is in force today provides in Article 1 (2) that “The Republic of Cameroon shall be a decentralized Unitary State.” Like all other articles of the constitution, article 1 (2) can be modified at any time to provide for any form of the State that the Cameroonian people choose to have. For example, it can be amended to provide that Cameroon shall be an empire or a monarchy or a federation or a Centralized Unitary State, if the Cameroonian people so choose. Let’s not forget that, following Reunification in 1961 Cameroon became constitutionally a Federation. In 1972, the constitution was amended to make Cameroon a centralized Unitary State. If the Cameroonian people so desire, they can alter Article 1 (2) of the constitution in 2018 to make Cameroon a Federal Republic again. In a democratic republic, any constitutional reform that affects the form of the state is preceded by a general public debate among citizens. Cameroon is a democratic republic as stipulated by Article 1 (2) of our constitution. Furthermore, the constitution guarantees Cameroonian citizens freedom of expression. They are exercising this freedom when they publicly discuss the form of the State. Under our law, the President of the Republic, who is neither a monarch nor an emperor, is under, not above, the constitution. He must act within, not outside it. Neither the constitution nor any other law of the land gives the President of the Republic power to deprive Cameroonians of their constitutional right to discuss the form of the state with a view to amending Article 1 (2) of the constitution that is subject to amendment like any other article of our country’s constitution. Interviewed by Charlie Ndi Chia http://theramblercameroon.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/The-rambler-header-.fw_.png 0 0 Asonganyi Nester http://theramblercameroon.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/The-rambler-header-.fw_.png Asonganyi Nester2018-03-17 12:59:052018-03-17 12:59:05UN can’t package and deliver ‘Ambazonia’ independence A crisis of sovereignty in Southern Cameroons and the United Kingdom February 7, 2018 /0 Comments/in Cover, Opinion /by Asonganyi Nester (An in-depth comparative analysis of the perennial struggle by the people of Southern Cameroons to wrestle their sovereignty after 158 years and the malign erosion of Britain’s sovereignty during her brief stay of 43 years in Europe.) By Ojong Clement Akem Minor infringements on British sovereignty provoked outrage and triggered BREXIT, whereas they have refused to repair the damage inflicted on the people of Southern Cameroons by selling them into slavery to La Republique. This research endeavour is an attempt to draw parallels with what had happened in the United Kingdom on June 23, 2016, and ask why the people of Britain have failed to notice the injustice their Government had imposed on our people (by refusing them independence). This exercise is intended to educate our people, the British public and our neighbours. It will be presented in two parts. “A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance” (Jawaharal Nehru – at midnight on August 14th 1948, on the eve of Indian Independence). That moment should have come for Southern Cameroons on October 1st, 1961, but a conspiracy of three exogenous forces (the creation of the Unification Movement by the East Cameroon Workers Union in Kumba in alliance with the U.P.C. & R.D.A, the fear of communism (U.P.C & R.D.A were allied to the Soviet communist party) and perhaps of more significance, the non respect by Britain of Her obligations under Article 76 of the Trusteeship Council Agreement), all combined to derail the prospects for our independence. We are sure the sovereignty of Southern Cameroons will soon be installed. One of the things we humans have in common is a reluctance to discard the past, and a willingness to look back for whatever may still fit in our lives (Mary Catherine Beteson 1990). Our generation yearns to prove itself – and, in proving itself, to accomplish great things for our people. Researching, composing and publishing this narrative involves a continual reimaging of the future of our territory, her people, and the reinterpretation of our past so as to give meaning to our quest for a bright future – the coming of the sovereignty of Southern Cameroons. The territory and homeland of our people has been occupied for 158 years (1858–2016), by European intruders and by an illegal neighbour to the East. However, BREXIT has shattered the myth. It has demonstrated, that “PEOPLE POWER”, can, and should reverse any treaty agreements that erode (or in the case of Southern Cameroons), takes away your sovereignty. We lay emphasis on the fact that memory is crucial in shaping our identity, and can motivate us in the face of the challenges we have faced over the years, the driving force behind this researched article is to educate our people about the reality of the nation of Southern Cameroons which has sometimes been questioned by usurpers. We have been inspired by three historic events which have rekindled our hope, the hope that has never been extinguished as far as regaining our sovereignty is concerned. The 2009 recognition by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ rights that “the people of Southern Cameroons,” qualify to be referred to as a “PEOPLE” (cf 45th Ordinary Session Banjul Gambia, 13-27 May 2009). The Green Tree Accord signed by the Presidents of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo and the Republic of Cameroon Paul Biya witnessed by Mr. KOFI Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations, UN. The signatories of this accord accepted the clause which demanded “that each country will respect its boundaries as they stood at independence” (October 1st, 1961 for Nigeria, and January 1st 1960, for the Republic of Cameroon). The boundary treaties exist. Then on 23 June 2016, in a referendum, the people of Britain voted to leave the European Union. BREXIT was a defiance of international treaty obligations, a defining moment which demonstrated, that anything that infringes upon the SOVEREIGNTY of a nation can, and should be nullified by a vote of “the people.” The February 11, 1961, plebiscite vote to create a Union with our neighbour produced a stillbirth, so we adopted the motto, “the force of argument, not the argument of force” to educate our neighbour about the wisdom to part ways. Now that BREXIT has cleared the way, what is our option? This researched article is devoted to, and dedicated to the 13 selfless, fearless nationalists from Southern Cameroons who risked everything by walking out in block of the Eastern Regional House of Assembly in Enugu. Their action created a political crisis and forced the British Government to grant self Government to Southern Cameroons in 1953. Their statues will be erected at the Independence Square to immortalize them. Historical Background: Timeline This timeline chronicles in summary form, the events that have marked the 158 years of occupation of our territory, together with the ascendant loss of power, freedom and sovereignty and our determination to end this state of affairs once and for all, by achieving our sovereignty. This is perhaps the longest occupation of an African country by Europeans, and an illegal neighbour: 2.1. The year 1858 marked the beginning of the intrusion by foreigners into our territory under our village chiefs or kings. This land gained international status in 1922 when it became the League of Nations Mandated territory – Southern Cameroons. 2.2. The first British Occupation lasted from 1858 to 1887. This was confined to coastal villages which included Douala, Bimbia and Victoria. Their main goal was trade. 2.3. German occupation 1884 – 1914 The expedition was led by the warship Möwe under Dr. Nightingale and arrived the coast of our territory on 12 July, 1884 and by July 14, 1884, the Germans signed a treaty with chiefs Bell, Akwa and Deido granting rights of sovereignty, legislation and management over their respective countries (note that the word countries referred to the territories that were under the rule of the above chiefs. However, the Germans eventually extended their dominance over the entire country which became known as German Kamerun. They fought wars where they met resistance, like with the Bakweri people for the capture of Buea, the Bali people fought against Zintgraf, while Fontem fought against Gustaf Conrad. These battles took enormous tolls on our people and the Germans (witness the graves and tombstones in these chiefdoms). By 1907 there were 800 Germans, 6 Austrians, 16 Swiss, 3 Dutch, 58 English, 2 Norwegians, 43 Americans, 3 Spanish, 8 Portuguese, 3 Russians, 1 Belgian, 3 French, 4 Swedes and 1 Japanese, giving a total of 1010 foreigners of different nationalities (cf appendix 1 W033/448). These foreigners and the population were guarded by German troops distributed across the country (cf distribution of troops in April 1907 p87 and 88 W033/448). 2.3.1. In 1905 – 1906 a joint Anglo-German Commission matriculated the boundary between Southern Nigeria and the Cameroons. It runs from the mouth of the Akwayafe River for about 85 miles. The agreement between the United Kingdom and Germany respecting the boundary between the British and German territories from Yola to Lake Chad was signed in London on March 19, 1906. This boundary goes through the so-called “Yola arc”, which has been fixed by the arrangement concluded in August 1903, was, with but slight modifications, allowed to hold good (cf W033/448 p6). 2.3.2. On 28 July, 1919 Britain, France and Germany signed the Versailles Peace Treaty at Le Palais De Galeries in Versailles France. This brought to an end German occupation of Kamerun after their defeat in World War 1. 1916 TO 1946 BRITISH ADMINISTRATION UNDER THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS. THE INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION OF SOUTHERN CAMEROONS. We must emphasize that Southern Cameroons was being administered as a mandated territory of the League of Nations NOT A COLONY. In 1922, Southern Cameroons gained International Status as a Mandated Territory of the League of Nations and was placed under the tutelage of the British Government. The other Mandated Territories were; French East Cameroon, Tanganyika, Zanzibar, Papua New Guinea, British Togoland, French Togo, Rwanda, Burundi and South West Africa. The question may be asked, why all other mandated territories gained their independence, while Britain sent Southern Cameroons into slavery?? There is a latin axiom “Nemo dat quod non habet” (you cannot give what you do not have), Her Majesty’s Government defied logic by transferring Southern Cameroons to the Republic of Cameroun (It was not her colony). This monumental error of judgement MUST be urgently rectified and Southern Cameroons returned to its legal owners “THE PEOPLE”. In December 1933, the Nigerian surveys, Lagos drew and reproduced the orographical map of Nigeria and Southern Cameroons under British Administration in the scale of 1:3000 000 or 1 inch to 47,35 miles showing the International boundaries of Southern Cameroons and Nigeria (perhaps it was this map that proved to the International Court of Justice at the Heague that Bakasi Peninsular belongs to Southern Cameroons, not Nigeria or La Republique). On the May 18, 1940, Protocol No. 11 was drawn up in Victoria between Monsieur George Verges Administrateur en chef des colonies and Mr. J.G.C. Allen, District officer, Nigerian Administrative service, commissioner appointed for the delimitation of the Anglo-French Cameroons boundary. The protocol was signed on behalf of the French Government by the French commissioner and for the British by the British commissioner (cf FO37/32066 page 11). This protocol closed the loop on the question of boundaries and proves that Southern Cameroons has identified boundary demarcation that separates her territory from Nigeria in the West and East Cameroon to the East. It is a nation state period (not part of another country). 1946 – 1953 British Administration of the United Nations Trusteeship Council Territory (NOT A COLONY OF BRITAIN) In 1946, Britain signed Article 76 of the charter of the United Nations designating her as the Administering Authority for Southern Cameroons. This article set out the obligations of the British Government. The British Consul General on January 24, 1952 in a confidential letter addressed to the foreign office, (cf paragraph 18 ref. F037/10/390) clarified as follows: Our obligations under article 76 of the charter of the United Nations are: “To promote the political, economic, social, and educational advancement of the inhabitants of the Trust territories, and their progressive development towards SELF-GOVERNMENT OR INDEPENDENCE as may be appropriate to the particular circumstance of each territory and its people and the FREELY EXPRESSED WISHES OF THE PEOPLES CONCERNED, and as may be provided by the terms of each trusteeship agreement”. Unfortunately, despite the precision, logical and unambiguous manner in which the mandate was drafted, the British Government still found a way to circumvent article 76 (read paragraph 18 p7 of the letter referred to), and what follows below. “The British view is that in the particular circumstance of the British Cameroons the progressive development of their inhabitants towards self-government or independence may most appropriate be promoted in association with the socially advanced protectorate of Nigeria. The British Delegation has impressed this view with consistent firmness and frankness upon the Trusteeship council, and the council has been obliged to accept it, grudgingly”. This attempt to derail the determination of the people of Southern Cameroons to achieve self government was emphasized in paragraph 8, page 3. “The failure of the British Cameroons people in the course of the review of the constitution to achieve Regional Status, in spite of the guarantees they have received for representation in the central, as well as the Eastern Regional legislature, automatically inclines the politically conscious elements in Southern Cameroons to turn towards the prospect of union with French Cameroons. In fact, “we have deliberately accepted the possibility of embarrassment from a unification movement as part of the price to be paid for our success, during the review of the constitution, in restraining Cameroons nationalist demands in the interest of the over-riding policy of consolidating three strong regions in Nigeria’, but Southern Cameroons was not a British Colony. The British Government was redefining the terms of reference of Article 76 which they had already signed. How dishonest was this? Enters the East Cameroonians to destabilize Southern Cameroons THE UNIFICATION MOVEMENT A DANGER In summary form, the Unification Movement was conceived, designed by the French East Cameroonians, hatched in East Cameroon, and transported to Kumba were it was born under the midwifery of the French Cameroons Welfare Union of the Cameroons Development Cooperation C.D.C. The President of the Movement was Mr. R.J. DIBONGE (President of the French Cameroons Workers Union, Vice President Chief Joseph FORMIYEN, and Secretary Mr. N.N. MBILE. The movement was sponsored by the representatives of the Rassemblement Democratique Africaine R.D.A, and Union of Population of Cameroon U.P.C (cf paragraphs 14,15 and 16 of the confidential letter no 5 referenced 5/10/52 no 24/173 of the British Consulate General Brazzaville French Equatorial Africa addressed to the foreign office F0371/10/390. Without receiving any mandate from the people of Southern Cameroons the unification movement addressed secret petitions to the Trusteeship Council on the possible unification of Southern Cameroons with East Cameroon (attempts to divert our independence). Unfortunately, the R.D.A and the UPC were known allies of the Soviet Communist Party (communism was enemy No.1 in the Western World). To counter this movement, the British intensified their deliberate attempts to annex Southern Cameroons to Eastern Nigeria in gross violation of their treaty obligations under article 76 of the UN charter (witness item 8… “the British view…)”. The people of Southern Cameroons now had two forces to battle against. Those whom we had accepted as refugees fleeing oppression from their dictatorial masters, had prepared a political vendetta against the innocent people of Southern Cameroons because they were refused voting in the C.D.C Workers’ Unions (refugees have no voting rights in the host country). We emphasize that by 1937, there were 4343 East Cameroonian in the labour force in Victoria Division alone (cf C.O.582/228/2 p137). Our people had accepted these refugees, without knowing, that, they were Trojan horses that had been smuggled into our territory to sow the seeds of our future annexation to their country of East Cameroon. The British colonial forces were the others we had to confront (the British began to deliberately forget that Southern Cameroons was a UN Trusteeship Territory not their colony). This British refusal to abide by the terns of Article 76 of the UN charter provoked a political crisis in the Eastern Regional House of Assembly in Enugu. In 1953, all the 13 representatives of the Southern Cameroons in the House walked out as a block. This idea had immense impact on the struggle four our independence. All the cunningly woven arguments which the British were advancing for our annexation to Nigeria were brushed aside. The names of these confident, self esteemed and patriotic leaders who represented all constituencies in Southern Cameroons shall be engraved in gold, under their statues, that shall be erected upon our liberation at our independence squares. We therefore cite them here for posterity because they forced the British Government to reluctantly grant Southern Cameroons self government. Here then are the heroes: Hon. Emmanuel M.L. Endeley of Buea, Hon. Martin N. Foju of Bangwa, Hon. John Ngu Foncha of Bamenda, Hon. Sampson A. George of Mamfe, Hon. S.T. Muna of Mbengwi/Ngembu, Hon. Rev. J.C. Kangsen of Mbem, Hon. V.T. Lainjo of Kumbo, Hon. A.T. Ngalla of Ndu, Hon. R.N. Charley of Tombel/Bakossi, Prince Sama C. Ndi of Kom, Hon. J.T. Ndze of Tabenken, Hon. N.N. Mbile of Ngolo-Batanga and Hon. Motomby Woleta of Victoria. These leaders, upon returning to Southern Cameroons mobilized all the influential traditional rulers, opinion leaders and the elites to attend the historic Mamfe conference, which took place May 22 – 24, 1953. They brainstormed on the intrigues, deceit and flattery which our people have been subjected to and ruled out all options except independence that must be granted to our people. That conference will be remembered for the prophetic, and wisdom packed words of advice from the natural traditional ruler of Bafut Abumbi I. He expressed dismay about any suggestion, or proposal that may delay our independence. Here is what he said; “Joining Nigeria was like jumping into the ocean, but joining East Cameroon was like running into a blazing fire”. We were forced against our own deep convictions and free wills to accept the option of joining la Republique and, we have been burning ever since. The Mamfe conference produced a compelling letter based on irrefutable statements of facts, addressed to the Secretary of State for colonies, demanding the creation of a separate and autonomous legislation for the Trusteeship Territory of Southern Cameroons, as stated in the mandate. On May 28, 1953, Dr. E.M.L. Endeley left Lagos, Nigeria for London with the petition which he delivered to the Secretary of State for colonies. Now, if we admit, as historians do, that great men lead humanity to the attainment of their ends, then, the 13 Southern Cameroonians who risked their lives and triggered the process which resulted in the granting of self-government, were indeed great men. 1954 TO 1961 THE GOLDEN AGE SELF-GOVERNMENT The two essentials for “representative” democracy are the freedom of the individual, and the regular opportunity for him to join with his fellows in replacing, or reinstating the government of his country by means of the ballot-box and without recourse to assassinations or uprisings. In 1954, following the granting of self-government to Southern Cameroons, a general election was organized. The Kamerun National Congress K.N.C of Dr. Endeley won the election. Legal Institutions of Government were established, the Assembly, House of chiefs and the Government Ministries. Dr Endeley became the first Prime Minister of Southern Cameroons. However, following the 1957 constitution of the London Conference, membership of the House of Assembly was increased from 14 to 26 seats. The Assembly was dissolved and a new general election was convened for January 24, 1959. The Kamerun National Democratic Party K.N.D.P led by Mr. John Ngu Foncha won the election. Dr Endeley conceded defeat, congratulated Mr Foncha who became the second Prime Minister of Southern Cameroons. They say, ‘’power is the combined wills of the masses transferred by their expressed or tacit consent to the rulers by the masses in a democracy”. These transfers took place in 1954 and 1959. Leo Tolstoy wrote, “The subject of history is the life of peoples and humanity”. African history, must therefore record the two transfers of powers from one Prime Minister to the other which took place in Southern Cameroons between 1954 and 1959 as the VICTORY OF TRUE DEMOCRACY in AFRICA. The seeds of representative democracy were firmly planted in Southern Cameroons. This was quickly followed by the consolidation of economic and financial institutions, the Cameroon Bank, the Southern Cameroons Marketing Board (constituted by Farmers’ Co-operatives), the Cameroon Development Cooperation C.D.C – an inherited statutory corporation, the Southern Cameroons Power Company – POWERCAM and many others. It must be mentioned here that the hydro electric power station in Yoke was conceived, designed and built by a Southern Cameroon Electrical Engineering – Mr. Mbiwan. THE PLEBICSITE. The Decline and slow death of Southern Cameroons This was a poisonous gift imposed on the people of Southern Cameroons, in violation of the principles and objectives that motivated the creation of the League of Nations. One of these principles was made public by the American President Woodrow Wilson while addressing the joint session of the two Houses of the American Congress on January 8, 1918. He said, and we quote, “A general association of nations should be formed on the basis of covenants designed to create MUTUAL GUARANTEE of political independence and, territorial integrity of states, large and small equally”. This was the corner stone for the creation of the League of Nations on January 10, 1920, and subsequently the United Nations. The non respect of this secret pact has plunged the world into chaos and interminable wars. The two questions which were imposed on the people of Southern Cameroons were motivated by British greed and the French Cameroons Workers Union – the vampires who had descended into Southern Cameroons as refugees turned into Trojan horses to derail our quest for independence. These refugees had high jacked our political process through the unification movement and their association with the communist further complicated our quest for independence. It was these three exogenous forces acting from different directions that combined to condemn Southern Cameroonians to vote on how they wished to be executed, by drowning in the sea, or by burning in an eternal fire – we chose the latter, from the prophetic declaration that has since been vindicated. THE FOUMBAN CONSTITUIONAL CONFERENCE WAS DESIGNED TO FAIL On 17 July 1961 Ahmadu Babatura Ahidjo – President of the Republic of Cameroun opened the constitutional conference in Foumban, without a representative of the UN that should have chaired the talks or that of Britain, the Administering authority of Southern Cameroons (still a Trusteeship Territory of the UN). This ran against the grain, because the “law of natural justice forbids any man from being the Judge in his own case”. President Ahidjo was therefore “NOT qualified” to preside over the constitutional negotiations between his country La Republique and the self-governing Trust Territory of Southern Cameroons. However, the Southern Cameroons delegation was led by Prime Minister John Ngu Foncha, accompanied by Dr Emmanuel Endeley, leader of the opposition and their entourage. Ahidjo tabled the draft constitution and announced that the negotiation would last just two days. Immediately, the Southern Cameroons delegation smelt the rat. Their request that the talks should last three weeks based on their rich experiences gained during the constitutional conferences in London and Lagos (Richards, 1946, Macpherson, 1951, Littleton, 1954 – cf Fonkem Achankeng 2014), was rejected out of hand. One of the issues that Ahidjo rejected outright was the demand from the Southern Cameroons delegation to maintain their Police Force and have their own army, within the Federation. Records have it documented, that the Southern Cameroons delegation put forward the following amendments to the draft; (a) the flag, (b) National Anthem (c) Motto (d) Federal Capital to be in Douala (e) Electoral maturity at 21 years, (f) Secret ballot (g) powers and attributions of the Federal President (h) Presidential Mandate Limited to two terms (i) a Federal Assembly made up of a National Assembly and a Senate (j) double nationality (k) Primary and Higher Education System and (l) cancellation of the word INDIVISIBLE from the constitution. What is important is that the constitutional conference did not adopt a constitution, and the Southern Cameroons House of Assembly and the House of Chiefs did not rectify any constitution, because the Foumban conference had not produced any. It must be restated that the Foumban Constitutional Conference was convened in violation of the London Conference agreement of October 10 – 13 1960, UN Doc T/1556 p40, UN resolution A/C.4/l685 of April 18, 1961 the Landmark UN resolution on the concept of independence by joining 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960 updated 15/12/1960 by UN resolution 1541 (XV). Given the above violations can the resultant constitution drawn by Ahidjo be considered binding on Southern Cameroon? The Southern Cameroonian delegation went to Foumban with open hearts, in anticipation that by blending together, both nations would one day form the foundation stone of African Unity. It was not to be-Ahidjo’s delegation came with a hidden agenda to lure the Southern Cameroonians into total submission of their identities. They failed because the constitutional talks were reduced to a stalemate. There is no written agreement as required by Article 102 of the UN chartter at the UN Secretariat to prove that Southern Cameroons and La Republique joined. 1961 – 2016 THE ILLEGAL OCCUPATION OF SOUTHERN CAMEROONS BY HER NEIGHBOUR On the 30 September, 1961, at the invitation of Her Majesty’s Government, in violation of their obligations clearly laid out in Article 76 of the Trusteeship Agreement, Ahidjo moved in military forces and illegally occupied a United Nations Trust Territory of Southern Cameroons. Jeffrey Hughes has repeatedly asked; ʺWhy did the British Government abandon the people of Southern Cameroons in such great haste, failing to ensure an appropriate negotiating body in the post Plebiscite period in 1961 and continue to be negative to the Southern Cameroonian subsequent request for sponsorship to the United Nations for their independence, in accordance with the United Nations charter 76b and the United Nations charter 1514 (XV)ʺ (cf Jeffrey Hughes 1999 p 158). ʺBREXITʺ has given us the answer, that when a people find out, that their sovereignty has been USURPED, they can vote to repel the obstacle. Britain did not seek authorization from the other member states of EU or the UN before launching their referendum. The illegal occupation of Southern Cameroons has lasted more than half a century. It is time to vote and take back our sovereignty too. The occupation MUST END. THE OCCUPATION STRANGLED OUR DEVELOPMENT They say knowledge is power. Unfortunately, ignorance has a way of robbing people of their rights, privileges and duties. It enslaves rather than liberates the mind. It brings about stagnation, and this explains why dictators are allergic to true intellectuals. Ignorance has delayed our liberation. Ahidjo’s first administrative edict was the abolition of all the Teachers’ Training Colleges, followed up by the change of name from Southern Cameroons which has international boundaries to, West Cameroon, an anonymous state. He was laying the groundwork for the complete annexation of our territory, by blind fooling us with names. He then suspended the production of electric energy from the Yoke hydro-electric power generation station, to force our people import electricity from Edea (located about 160km from Yoke). They destroyed our community Development System which together with the Swiss Technical Assistance ensured the installation of pipe born water in our villages. Transferred the headquarters of Cameroon Bank from Victoria to Yaounde, Southern Cameroons Marketing Board to Douala and emptied the cash savings of our farmers estimated at about 78 billion CFA, at the time. Our farmers have been reduced to beggars. They destroyed our road network infrastructure too. Evidence exists to show that in 1961 there were 272km of paved roads in Southern Cameroons and 473km in East Cameroons. Our major streets were also paved in Victoria, Tiko, Buea, Kumba, Mamfe, Bamenda, Wum and Banso – Kumbo. The Public Works Department P.W.D stationed maintenance teams along the roads to guarantee all seasonal passage. Most of these roads and streets lie bare today from neglect. (To be continued) http://theramblercameroon.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/The-rambler-header-.fw_.png 0 0 Asonganyi Nester http://theramblercameroon.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/The-rambler-header-.fw_.png Asonganyi Nester2018-02-07 11:18:582018-02-07 11:24:21A crisis of sovereignty in Southern Cameroons and the United Kingdom Youth is the Moon February 7, 2018 /0 Comments/in Columns, Opinion /by Asonganyi Nester Youth! You’re not darkness but the moon that shines When laughter’s gone and wailing abounds. You’re the moon that shines when smiles are gone and only frowns, clowns and coos abound. You’re the moon that shines when love and peace are gone and only hatred, hunger and anger abound. You’re the moon that shines when hope’s gone and only desperation and frustration abound. You’re the moon that shines when courage’s gone and only intrigues, threats and fear abound. Believe in no one, unless you believe in yourselves. Shun tricky sailing and risky trifles ‘cause your country’s ailing and be that moon that shines when all else is failing. Oke Akombi http://theramblercameroon.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/The-rambler-header-.fw_.png 0 0 Asonganyi Nester http://theramblercameroon.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/The-rambler-header-.fw_.png Asonganyi Nester2018-02-07 11:09:102018-02-07 11:09:10Youth is the Moon AFTER ‘AMBAZONIA’ LEADERS’ CAPTURE: Will Gov’t dialogue or crush Anglophone agitation? About two years ago, the word dialogue, stealthily crept into the political lexicon of Cameroon. President Paul Biya intoned it. His appointees sang it like parrots even if many of them did not buy into the concept. Dialogue was said to be the panacea that should put paid to the Anglophone crisis. But from all indications a principal party to the dialogue was either stone deaf or simply imagined that it was better carried out with both the stick and the carrot. Better still, that the gendarme and the gun were better instruments of dialogue than the round table. Certain compatriots were named and tagged. Arrests were perpetrated, certain members of the opposing side were chased into exile and some even summarily killed. The situation got out of hand and dialogue transformed to hard times for the “terrorists and secessionists” so tagged. About two weeks ago, Communication Minister, Issa Tchiroma, like the Physicist, Archimedes of the Eureka fame, ran out of his bath stark naked more or less, to announce that “terrorists and secessionists earlier arrested in Nigeria had been handed over to Cameroonian judicial authorities.” The Rambler was prompted by Tchiroma’s announcement to ask its respondents if this action on its own would put paid to the festering crisis or reignite the much parroted dialogue. What they state could be very instructive to whether this dialogue and not outright military bravado is the true answer to Cameroon’s awful socio-political plight. The solution is dialogue I strongly propose that now that the Government of Cameroon has hunted down and is keeping the secessionist leaders, it is time they sit at a table together and open the so called dialogue that they have been propagating. This will even be advantageous because it shall be a litmus test to Cameroon’s democracy. Nancy Fuma, Teacher Bamenda Anglophones should constitute new leaders to carry on the struggle I do not even know whether the said leaders are dead or alive. Despite the fact Government media has been singing their capture and extradition to Cameroon, we have not even seen their pictures. I propose that the Anglophones should constitute themselves again and let new leaders emerge and carry on the struggle. Gwendolyn, Nsang Trader Bamenda Gov’t should immediately announce dialogue Now that the Government has them, it should immediately announce dialogue and call for an immediate ceasefire so that all these brutal killings that have gained notoriety these days can end. Christopher Agu, IT specialist Bamenda There’s no way forward as long as those leaders remain in custody They should at least make a public presentation of these leaders, interview them on why they will want to separate and even find out from them what needs to be done to maintain the status quo. I will tell you there is no way forward to solving this problem as long as those leaders remain under custody. See the abduction of those leaders, permit me use the word abduction because if they were arrested they would have at least shown us images. By doing what they are doing, Government is radicalizing supporters of this course more than ever. Maybe the Government thought that keeping those leaders will render followers weak, but you have seen and heard of attacks here and there. It only tells us that Ambazonians are determined in death or life to have their freedom. If there will be any way forward then let them release those leaders in their keeping. Joseph Ntui, History Teacher Bamenda Gov’t should bring them to dialogue table Talking about way forward of the crisis because leaders are in Government custody is a broad situation to analyze. Why do I say so? Firstly, you must have understood by now that this crisis is far more than what Government thinks is in the hands of Mr. Julius Ayuk Tabe and others. If the situation were so, then since after their arrest there would have been peace in the country but contrarily the number of attacks has instead increased with both sides suffering. Yet their being in custody without gainsaying can only be one step solution to the crisis by bringing them to dialogue table. But think of those who lost loved ones, farmlands and even villages. How will Government compensate them because if they are ignored the crisis will never end. Ngasi Jacob, farmer Kumba Let powers that be call for dialogue The only way forward now is dialogue. The Government has always talked of dialogue. International organisations and even Presidents of neighboring countries have cautioned on dialogue. Even the President in his end of year speech talked of dialogue. It’s going to be a month by Monday since the leaders were arrested in Nigeria but nothing is being said about dialogue again. I wonder how much time we are they going to take when soldiers and innocent civilians keep dying. I heard the Government’s spokesman the other day talking about them facing justice for their crimes. I bet you if they go to that direction, I smell Rwandan experience of genocide in Cameroon. Let the powers that be call for dialogue. Williams Mbohteh, Kumba Gov’t should release those in detention and then dialogue The way forward now is that Government should first release those in detention before bringing about dialogue. Because if they talk dialogue now when the leaders are still jailed it will be as though they are forcing options on Southern Cameroonians. Besides, if those leaders are not released no one will even be interested in talking. All the killings on both sides should stop. Celia Ebako student, Kumba We need a national dialogue The Anglophone crisis has never been about secessionists or the secessionist movement. This thing started in November 2016 with teachers and lawyers and the general population. There was a dialogue put in place before Government arrested all the genuine leaders. I think Government should go back to the negotiation table back with those they started the dialogue and bring all the other leaders, for a national dialogue. People are dying in the (Anglophone) Regions because we want to solve this crisis through war. Emmanuel Achanyi, Agricultural Engineer, Douala Let us review the terms of our coexistence There is nothing Government can do to stop the movement whether they arrest all Anglophones or not. The message is clear and has been sent to Yaoundé, no form of arrests will intimidate Anglophones. The arrest of consortium leaders did not change anything so the arrest of the secessionist leaders will not change the situation on ground. I think some Government forces just want to see the situation on the ground continue because some of them are benefiting from it. The only way a solution can be found to this crisis is an international mediation supervised by the United Nations to review the terms of our coexistence. Anything short of that will be a failure because no form of arrests, intimidation, violence or torture will ever suppress the Anglophone feeling. Charles Mafeh, photographer Proper and genuine dialogue I don’t know if the arrest of the secessionist leaders can solve anything in this crisis. We see that fighting has been ongoing; people continue to die every day in the Southwest and Northwest Regions despite the arrests. Arresting people is not the only solution, but if Government thinks it is a solution, then let us wait and see how it will bring peace in our Regions in the weeks ahead. I will propose for Government to first start by demilitarizing the Anglophone Regions; the massive presence of soldiers keeps creating tension and panic. The Government should put a mechanism in place for proper dialogue to take place. Even with those they are calling secessionists or terrorists who are in prison, I think Government will still have to look for a means to dialogue with them. Nquiaka Viviane, Teacher Douala An all-inclusive dialogue I suggest that the President opens frank dialogue will all persons involved; that must include Ayuk Julius and his band because dialogue is never a one man show. Before now, they arrested some Anglophones like Agbor Balla and Ayah Paul, thinking it would solve the problem but it only aggravated it. We need frank dialogue and action. The people concerned should come together with equal status and discuss the way forward. It should not be like the dictatorship we witnessed last time in Bamenda in the name of dialogue. Without this, I am afraid that Cameroon will witness something worse than Rwanda. Mekumba Dieudonne, Yaounde A referendum to establish what Anglophones want I think a referendum to establish what Anglophones really want is the best way to end this civil war that is a breath away. The Government knows this but has been pretending to want to resolve this crisis. A referendum will not cost them even a tiny bit of what they have wasted so far. But, they are riding a very high horse. Once the limping horse stops automatically, then they will fall to the ground. They should not say we did not tell them. Without a referendum, trust me, the crisis is still beginning. Ashu Ndemalia, Actor Yaounde has the solution to this crisis Yaounde has the solution to this crisis. I think the dictatorial Government should now force the guys to the dialogue table now that the Minister of Communication claims that they are in Yaounde. The dialogue that will solve the Anglophone crisis should focus on the opinions of all parties. It should take into account the opinion of unionists, federalists and separatists. Then, they should organize a referendum so the people of Southern Cameroons can choose which one they want for themselves. I insist that the dialogue must be supervised by the African Union and the United Nations Organisation. Sentencing those people (if at all there is any ground on which they can be sentenced) will lead to more havoc than imaginable. Bonvemock Cedric, Unemployed Free, fair and frank dialogue Now that leaders of both parties are in the same town, I think all that is left is a free, fair and frank dialogue. By free, I mean each man should be given the chance to air their thoughts, not a talk at gunpoint. For the dialogue to be fair each party must recognize the other as a leader of a people and each constituency well defined. It goes without saying that frank dialogue would mean putting all cards on the table as they are: black or white. However, I know that this will be very difficult because no Government is willing to negotiate with people it calls terrorists,worse of all, in the eyes of international bodies. Now, let us face the facts. It is needless to think of dialogue with people who are bent and fixed on their ideas of a one and indivisible country. It is clear that with that mentality; even a referendum will not change a thing except it is in their favour. Let the Government do what it does best. Bribe them and release them. They have got a people to lead out there,even though I do not buy this method. Ransome Nganjo, Engineer Compiled by Jean Marie Ngong Song, Ngende Esther, Francis Ajumane & Nsono Claudia http://theramblercameroon.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/The-rambler-header-.fw_.png 0 0 Asonganyi Nester http://theramblercameroon.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/The-rambler-header-.fw_.png Asonganyi Nester2018-02-07 11:04:012018-02-07 11:04:01AFTER ‘AMBAZONIA’ LEADERS’ CAPTURE: Will Gov’t dialogue or crush Anglophone agitation? Between ‘Frogs’ and ‘Anglos’2018 presidential candidatures Elimbi Lobe is a maverick politician par excellence. As one time Municipal Councillor and Littoral Regional Executive Member of the SDF, his outings on TV panels have conjured the image of a rabble-rouser, maladjusted rebel, perpetually at war with himself. Not even the SDF wherein he is supposed to be an active member has been free of his diatribes that reflect bigotry from a mind-set that sees everything wrong in Bamilekes and Anglophones, who by his reckoning, have deprived ‘Sawa’ flourish within the leading opposition party in Cameroon. He was recently in the news again on account of another swipe at Anglophones when he insinuated that “No Anglophone can defeat President Paul Biya in an election.” Ordinarily, this ought to have attracted no attention given that Elimbi is not a political force even in the Littoral where his bravado has been silenced by the perspicacity of Joshua Osih and Jean Michel Nintcheu, representatives of the clime of Cameroonians who have subjected him to political nightmares within the SDF. However, the fact that his gobbledygook deriding Anglophones reminisces average Francophone perception of leadership as an issue of majority, even if such majority has to all intents and purposes floated the impression that governance is synonymous to opportunity for a privileged few to ride roughshod their compatriots, makes his conjecture to deserve a revisit. The contention here is that contrary to Francophone glib perception of governance, Anglophones see it as a veritable opportunity to be at the service of electorates who deserve adequate attention in compensation for the votes that catapult leaders to positions of authority. This means that leadership straddles responsibility and integrity. It is not a master/servant relationship akin to feudalism in medieval Europe like the current regime is wont to exhibit. It is therefore unlikely, that there can be a better person than an Anglophone to enable us gravitates to Eldorado from our current political dungeon. The essence of this narrative is that Anglophones see politics as a matter of compromises and consensus while Francophones see unanimity as the artery of politics. Compromises and consensus are outcomes of dialogue and negotiations while unanimity conjures autocracy and dictatorship. This can be seen in the articulations of CPDM headship. Of course, the CPDM is just an elongation of the CNU. It is customary to sense deification of ordinary mortals with calls for a natural presidential candidate who is leader of a party that is “the way, the truth and the light.” Oh yes, the natural candidate overseas a well-oiled system of prebendal relationships that ensures his perpetuity at the helm of state. His stay at the helm is the outgrowth of unanimity that in itself is borne out of perceived need to cling to the helmsman in order to continue benefiting from undue advantages. Such a system glorifies mediocrity with competence desecrated upon to usher in a flourish of nepotism and cronyism. Because unanimity is the order of the day, everything reposes on the whims of the grand master. There is no room for initiative and by extension innovation. It is this stymied governance that Anglophones have come to grips with from hindsight garnered from what obtained in the few years of self-government in Southern Cameroons and, decided that enough is enough. No society can make any meaningful progress with the kind of leadership that expects serfs to slug it out on a daily basis just so that manor lords sit in the comfort of their castles and revel in wine drinking and licentiousness. Oh no! This is not our credo of governance-governance underpinned by the lurid notion that because by some twist of fate a cabal has constituted itself into Government, every foul means must be employed to bring about its permanence. Elections are rigged with the aid of soldiers paid with tax money contributed by the very people who are alienated from power and this has all along meant nothing to some who still see buccaneering in Anglophone recrimination for improved governance in Cameroon. Judging by the above, who then is better placed to replace Biya? Cowardly people like Elimbi or conscientious Anglophones who have stood up several times to unequivocally proclaim the rottenness of the current system that has thwarted development in the country in the last 35 years. By the way, apart from Professor Maurice Kamto, who for reasons bordering more on vote hunt than conviction has embraced federalism, which other Francophone political headship has diagnosed Cameroon’s problem as too much centralisation and in the event prescribed federalism as antidote in the manner Anglophones have been articulating in the aftermath of democracy’s murder by the 1972 political coup d’etat, euphemistically called national unity referendum. While admitting that no one is born a saint and that integrity in mortal beings cannot be vouched for until such a time that recourse to irresponsible conduct has been ruled out by persistent indulgence in acts adjudged to be emanations of altruism, governance by participation and by extension devolution of power from the centre to the periphery is the best solution to credible, accountable and transparent governance. The essence here is that governance ought to be institutional, not personified. From our current experience, most Francophone leaders are merely out to satisfy their bloated egos. They are not out for the good of ordinary Cameroonians. As President Biya once said, “they don’t have any credible manifesto: they are just interested in my position.” This is very true for most Cameroonians who have this far indicated their desire to be President. Make no mistake! It is the right of every Cameroonian to accede to the presidency of the republic provided such individuals fulfil the eligibility criteria. However, with the current political stand-off in the country, there is need to flush out the present system that believes that valiant youths should be pitted against each other for mutual annihilation while regime barons and military commanders sit in the luxury of their homes built with money extorted from the public till revel in profligacy. Oh yes! Shine your eyes! We have come to the point where the issues ought not to be Anglophone or Francophone but who replaces Biya. The common denominator of Cameroon’s woes is putrid governance perpetrated by Biya and his CPDM coterie of criminally insensitive adherents and sympathisers. What should be of interest to Cameroonians at our current political trajectory is how to flush out Biya and his hangers-on. If politicians indeed, care about the wellbeing of ordinary Cameroonians then their focus ought to be on how to eject the Biya virus from our political system. Since unanimity can only obtain in systems like the CPDM. What is required now is consensus among the opposition. What this means is that discussions and negotiations that should be underlined by true dialogue ought to begin in the direction of coming up with a single candidate to face Biya and his political offensive. Francophone or Anglophone is not an issue here even as preference in terms of philosophy of governance should lean on the latter. http://theramblercameroon.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/The-rambler-header-.fw_.png 0 0 Asonganyi Nester http://theramblercameroon.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/The-rambler-header-.fw_.png Asonganyi Nester2018-02-07 10:45:272018-02-07 10:45:27Between ‘Frogs’ and ‘Anglos’2018 presidential candidatures Letter to Unknown Soldier February 7, 2018 /0 Comments/in Economy, Environment, Opinion, Society /by Asonganyi Nester Dear Unknown Soldier, This letter is addressed to you because it is rightly assumed that you are the product of refinement through training and continuous mentoring. Unlike the ragtag terrorist agitators you are fighting, order is supposed to be ingrained in your personae. However, your recent presence in Manyu and Meme Divisions tend to invoke a rather sombre picture of your clairvoyance capacity, or its complete absence. Whatever the circumstance, tread softly, my compatriot. Furthermore, judging from the way you prosecute assignments, certainly, on the instructions of your superior officers, there is the definite impression that you mistake all Anglophones for terrorists. More so, your indiscriminate shooting and killing of unarmed, hapless civilians, especially, on the occasion of the death of your colleague(s) allegedly killed by some faceless individuals who call themselves ‘Ambazonia Forces,’ is not a solution to the present face-off between Government and Anglophones. The guerilla warfare launched against you by the “terrorists” has no doubt been slaying many of your peers. It is understandable that such situations might be difficult for you to accept because it presents a kind of defeat picture, but it is not true. You might be the terrorists’ target but Ah! Mr. Soldier, mind you, hapless civilians are no substitute for the faceless individuals attacking you. You have the duty to locate, defeat and conquer them. Even if you kill all Anglophones civilians, you are not declared victorious or should I say, you are not safe yet-you will have no peace because your enemy still lives and intimidates. Please Mr. Soldier; in the event where you are attacked in a particular locality by faceless individuals, do not in anger or in the spirit of revenge react by shooting indiscriminately at every living being on sight; razing down homes and rendering hundreds of fellow Cameroonians refugees in their own homeland. You did this in Manyu and then in Meme. Have the “terrorists” stopped their activities? Of course not, so logical reasoning should tell you that, the guys perpetrating these inhumane acts on you are probably not from those localities and, so, would have little or nothing to regret after you raid in revenge. Mr. Soldier, by doing what you are doing to the local population, you only give them ideas that negatively change their impression of you. By burning down entire villages, you immediately turn those people into your enemies because you treated them as such and that scare will take generations to heal. The point is, by doing what you do, you become as inhumane as the extremists. Remember, it is not in your place to inflict greater pain, loses and burden on your camp; when the people are shot, killed, maimed, rendered homeless, it is not the inhuman radical who will come to their rescue afterwards, but the Government. In a sense, it is Cameroon that loses its human resources and not the terrorists, and this has tremendous impact on the country’s development. Analytically, if we continue on this lane, Mr. Soldier, “Vision 2035” would be a farce because the resources supposed to be put together for national development is being irrationally wasted. If one puts together houses and properties torched in Manyu and now Meme, as well as the number of people rendered homeless, one can only begin to imagine the difficulties these people will go through in managing to pick up the broken pieces of their lives. Please Mr. Soldier, you are out to protect civilians as opposed to killing and exposing them to danger. Remember that all lives matter and we are all Cameroonians before being civilian, military, Anglophone or Francophone. Please, shoot no more, and kill not innocent civilians in Anglophone localities. Graduate from being destructive to protective soldiers! By Nester Asonganyi http://theramblercameroon.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/The-rambler-header-.fw_.png 0 0 Asonganyi Nester http://theramblercameroon.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/The-rambler-header-.fw_.png Asonganyi Nester2018-02-07 10:31:532018-02-07 10:31:53Letter to Unknown Soldier Calling on opposition parties and the electorate February 1, 2018 /0 Comments/in Opinion /by Asonganyi Nester Another election year has come upon us, even as those who were elected five years ago for Senators, Parliamentarians and Mayors and, seven for the President of the Republic seem to be in wondering contemplation whether these past years have any basis in reality. The element of surprise emanates from a clear avowal of incapacity to deliver according to schedule and unfulfilled promises made during campaigns for the ebbing mandate. The only signs of representation of the people’s mandate are cars and houses built for personal comfort with nothing to show in the communities whose votes had catapulted them to positions of authority, even if, without responsibility. This uninviting circumstance in any case, is not limited to the ruling CPDM. Even in Councils administered by opposition political parties, the story may just be different in negligible degrees. The common denominator is unmitigated disregard for the welfare of their electorates. After all, there is nobody to call them to order. This worrisome outcome is derivable from administrators who pass off as supervisory authorities despite the oddity of such circumstance that is not supposed to have obtained in the first place.They hardly strain their minds in relation to whether elected Mayors work in accordance with statutes. It suffices for mayors to oil the mouths of epicurean administrators and concern for the welfare of communities will in a jiffy be thrown to the dogs. In the event, the electorate has become lethargic to issues of political bearing. Even registering as prelude to acquitting themselves of a civic responsibility like voting has become anathema, to the point where in a country of more than 20 million people, it has been persistently impossible to have up to 10 million voters on the electoral roll. The current disposition of potential voters notwithstanding, Mr. Biya who has vested himself with the prerogative of, solely, deciding when and how elections hold in Cameroon, has already set the bells chiming for a series of invitations to the electorate in the course of the year. What this portends is that there is no letting up either by his CPDM surrogates or him in terms or an invidious quest to cling to power even as they have been clearly disavowed by most Cameroonians. The CPDM is determined to foist itself on Cameroonians no matter the prevailing political turmoil whose origin is rooted clearly in its inability to pilot the country to safe anchor, despite all the available material and human resources, just like Mr. Biya unabashedly, makes no bones about another run at the presidency. To that end, nobody can deny them their right to savour political power. After all, Mr. President had made it clear that the constitution is a toy that can be deployed according to his whims as long as it exudes the satisfaction it was intended to provide. However, the issue currently at stake is not whether the CPDM wants to maintain itself in power or that the party and its national president had since lost legitimacy. What should concern Cameroonians is how to eject President Paul Biya and the CPDM from Etoudi, the National Assembly and various municipalities in the country. This is of capital importance because it is the first step towards reinstating the rule of law, accountability and transparency in governance. For this to happen there is only one possible solution. The opposition must stand as one. While conceding that this is certainly a Herculean task given the antecedents in the quest for a single candidate to stand against the ubiquitous CPDM rigging machinery, the project can nevertheless, be carried to safe anchor if concern for the nation is given precedence instead of pampering of individual egos. Granted that the CPDM has the advantage of omnipresence nationwide owing to the fact that no distinction is made between the much vaunted ruling party and the state, there is still room for opposition victory in the presidential given the putrid stigma that the “Government party” has attracted to itself. The fact that it has mismanaged the economy, too, is not news to discerning Cameroonians apart from hangers on who want the state cow to be milked to dryness. Even worse is the fact that the country is in political turmoil, no thanks to Mr. Biya’s aversion to frank and inclusive dialogue. Another pole of attraction is the success the opposition Union for Change brought to bear against Biya in the 1992 presidential election. If only personality conflicts can for once be swept under the carpet and the good of Cameroon projected, then there will certainly be room for ultimate victory. These are issues that cannot be undermined by any wary Cameroonian. They certainly cast aspersions against the ruling oligarchy in the minds of potential voters. This is, also, where political maturity comes in. In the current circumstance wherein Anglophones worry who to be called villain and who to glorify between federalists and separatists, it is becoming increasingly difficult to adopt a common strategy. The illusion of an Ambazonian state seems to have infested the minds of Anglophones to the point where any contrary view is considered anathema. Those who have attained maturity in terms of voting eligibility have refused to register. How then do we hope to come up with an alternative to the Biya political onslaught? The situation is not different within Francophone population even as here, there is an issue of bloated egos of politicians rather than real dichotomy emergent from political choices. If we are earnestly concerned with bequeathing a better Cameroon to our offspring, we must begin to think of our collective good and imbue in ourselves and communities with the spirit of sacrifice that will permit us to forgo some things today for the good of our children’s tomorrow. It is only with mind-sets cast in such a perspective that we can begin fathoming a better tomorrow, devoid of the current bloodletting and economic woes inflicted on us by a clique that believes in here and now, instead of planning for a better tomorrow. A group that has planted their children in strategic positions to perpetuate pauperisation in a country where there would have been enough for everyone’s need even though not for their greed is riding roughshod on us, the time is now to weed them off the political landscape. The time is now to register and vote. http://theramblercameroon.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/The-rambler-header-.fw_.png 0 0 Asonganyi Nester http://theramblercameroon.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/The-rambler-header-.fw_.png Asonganyi Nester2018-02-01 11:25:162018-02-01 11:25:16Calling on opposition parties and the electorate SOS (distress call) to armistice January 23, 2018 /0 Comments/in Columns, Opinion /by Asonganyi Nester We are currently in the throes of very off-putting moments in the history of Cameroon. This is because what started just over one year ago as benign recrimination against the Biya regime, relating to perceived marginalization and alienation of Anglophones by teachers and lawyers, has wittingly or unwittingly morphed into mutual savagery! This criminal disregard for the sacrosanctity of human lives has begun reaching very dreadful proportions. To that extent, Cameroon has lost its allure of peaceful oasis in a Central African desert that has been perpetually at war with itself, ever since negotiations collapsed between Government and aggrieved Anglophones on account of surreptitious supplanting of leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium to Yaounde and their eventual incarceration for seven months, which circumstance forced some of them to flee into exile. In their absence, therefore, the lack of effective and efficient coordination of the Anglophone vision for a more transparent and accountable governance that ensued has disposed inhabitants of the Southwest and Northwest Regions to reliance on a utopian elixir derivable from a yet to be established Ambazonia Republic. This rather puerile attraction to propaganda spewed by exuberant Diaspora youths has, in any case, been fuelled by the regime’s espousal of the delusion that lousy proclamation of state authority and ruthlessness in quelling protests is what is needed in these trying times. The lacklustre disposition of elected and appointed high-ranking Anglophones, who in any case, have been disavowed by their kinsfolk and, by that token, lost legitimacy to represent their interest, has not been helpful in charting a conciliatory course for the now incensed youths. In the event, unwary observers could not have conjectured that we would find ourselves in circumstances akin to the early 1960’s in East Cameroon wherein traveling to certain areas of the country was analogous to executing a project with its sidekick of carrying on board design and feasibility studies right up to monitoring and evaluation. The horrors that used to adorn Bamileke and Bassa land are still with us. From the killing of gendarmes in the Northwest Region in the wake of the September 22 and October 1, 2017 clashes between soldiers and protesting youths during which many civilians are alleged to have been felled by live bullets, to the vengeful and gruesome murder of soldiers and policemen in Manyu Division, we have been witnessing a gradual descent into callousness, and to that extent, implantation of a hate culture that must be halted at all cost and by all means, if we are to avoid the Rwandan experience of 1994. We, at least, have the advantage of hindsight that can be effortlessly gleaned from the Nigeria/Biafra experience and more recently Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Liberia or Central African Republic. Indeed, it is unfathomable that travelling to Mbonge Sub-Division and, eventually, Ndian Division has become nightmarish for a people known to be among, if not, the most hospitable Cameroonians. Penultimate Friday, it was the Chief of Ngongo-Bakundu, Ekebe Johannes who was lured by his own subjects out of a colleague’s funeral in Kwakwa, where he was officiating as coordinator, into a gruesome murder actualized by bullets being sprayed into his stomach at close range. Barely a week before that horrendous occurrence, a policeman had been decapitated with only skin holding his neck at a checkpoint in Kombone Bakundu. As if such savagery and despicable decline into psychosis were not mindboggling enough, a soldier driving his family from Mundemba to Kumba was only two days following the murder of Ngongo Chief, pulled out of his car and rough-handled to death in the full glare of his wife and children, by irate youths said to be exhibiting retribution against the destruction and paranoia inflicted on their kinsfolk by marauding soldiers who had invaded their village in the immediate aftermath of the murder of a policeman. Prior to this obtuse display of superior force and vengeance along the Mbonge/Kumba road, the battlefield had been Manyu Division. Apart from the gruesome murder of soldiers, retaliatory expeditions of the forces of law and order had also, wreaked despicable havoc on mostly innocent and harmless villagers, causing many of the able-bodied persons to flee into the bushes, leaving the dead without indulgence of even a token burial. The same overdrive reaction has been noticed along the Mbonge/Kumba road where no fewer than 10 houses have been burnt – some with the unfortunate repercussion of loss of lives of unwary inhabitants. One is forced to question the correlation between the action of irate youths and the incineration of the abodes of mostly innocent villagers. Be that as it may, this is not the time to apportion blames. On the contrary, such deleterious circumstances as we are currently experiencing call for very profound introspection. We should search ourselves very, very deeply, and be asking if this were to be the pattern of governance we are anticipating as legacy for our unborn children, how would posterity evaluate us? With this character as guiding principle, we will definitely come to the realization that all what we are killing ourselves for amounts to emptiness. From the Head of State, Paul Biya to the local villager in his native Mvomeka or Erat in heart of Korup Rainforest in Ndian Division, all of us are sojourners on this earth and one day we shall die, and thereafter, be subjected to the inescapable ritual of account rendering to our creator, the Almighty God. If we would have only given some time to this incontrovertible essence of life, no matter the side of the dichotomous divide of Anglophones and regime goons we happen to find ourselves, we would certainly have come to grips with the necessity to tread softly and, invariably spare families the irritant represented in premature deaths. We are Cameroonians for crying out loud! What has been the stumbling block in having recourse to our customary gathering under shade trees to discuss whatever palaver is affecting the commonwealth? It can, indeed be very ‘pleasurable’ to sit back and watch how the tragedy that has sprung from indiscretion of regime headship and blinkered youths has been wasting the lives of valiant Cameroonians- that is if your close relative has not been hit and killed by a bullet or the coarseness of summary execution by knife cuts. Oh yes, that is the level to which we have degenerated. Regime apologists are so encrusted in their quest to ingratiate themselves to their masters in Yaounde that they forget that some of their actions are not only detrimental to the collective security of the people they are supposed to protect as representatives of the state but more significantly, they run counter to the aspirations of citizens they owe the responsibility of ensuring prevalence of peace and tranquillity that are necessary ingredients for self-actualization. We are certainly above the lunacy that seems to pervade the national territory. Whether from the aggrieved party or the Government, the killings are getting to a point where a ceasefire has become imperative. Let the powers that be, too, seek the face of God and realize that nobody wins a war against their own people. We are Cameroonians. That is a fact! On the flip side, we cannot side-track the quintessence of our existence because of the myopic view of potential new era to be ushered by some obscure force or organization, notwithstanding the zeal and correctness of our recriminations. As a parting note, too, let those promoting the idea that some inhabitants of this geopolitical expression are more Cameroonian than others rethink their current stance and wear a different mind-set that will conduce to a new Cameroon where peace with justice and progress with stability reign supreme. http://theramblercameroon.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/The-rambler-header-.fw_.png 0 0 Asonganyi Nester http://theramblercameroon.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/The-rambler-header-.fw_.png Asonganyi Nester2018-01-23 12:16:232018-01-23 12:16:23SOS (distress call) to armistice	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5737
__label__cc	0.738218	0.261782	‘Invest in us’ Jobs assurances for Royal Mail managers sought by Unite Shaun Noble, Thursday, May 23rd, 2019 Assurances about the future job security of Royal Mail managers is being sought by Unite following the company’s ‘poor’ financial statement this week. Today (Thursday 23 May), Unite, which represents 6,000 managers, has written to Royal Mail’s chief executive Rico Back expressing its concerns, as the company announced a £1.8 billion turnaround plan for the next five years in the UK postal service. In the letter, Unite national officer Louisa Bull wrote, “The announcement yesterday (May 22) brings more questions around more potential headcount reductions. “We are seeking reassurances around the long term job security of our members, so that we can enter into this next phase with a measure of stability amongst the manager population. “As a union, we have dealt with some major changes in the business recently; changes to our pension scheme and the recent loss of 400 jobs that has led to a very unstable period and morale amongst the membership is at an unprecedented low.” Louisa Bull said that Unite welcomed the £1.8 billion investment commitment, but also called for constructive engagement with Unite over future plans. Louisa Bull added,“Delivering the new programme on the back of such poor results will be a challenge for everyone, and if our members are to play a key role in that success we need to know that the company is investing in us, retaining our posts, investing in our skills and ensuring that we are rewarded properly each year as we meet the demands that are placed upon us.” The Royal Mail was privatised in controversial circumstances in 2013 amid claims that the shares were undervalued by the coalition government. The Royal Mail’s history stretches back 500 years to the reign of Henry VIII. ← Workplace dignity call Thirsty summer? →	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5751
__label__wiki	0.525619	0.525619	King And Jorstad Sweep Skyline WXC Weekly Honors KINGS POINT, N.Y. (Sept. 12, 2018) – A pair of USMMA freshmen - Robin King (Raymond, Ohio) and Brooke Jorstad (La Crosse, Wis.) - swept the Skyline Conference women's cross country weekly honors for the week ending Sept. 9. King was named the Skyline Runner of the Week, while Jorstad picked up her second-straight Rookie of the Week honor. The accolades come after the pair's performances at the Purchase Invitational this past Saturday, where Merchant Marine came in second place as a team, ahead of the other six Skyline teams that ran at the event. King was the first Mariner (and Skyline runner) to finish the 6K race, as she crossed the finish line in eighth place with a time of 25:00.5. Jorstad was not too far behind, coming in 12th after completing the loop in 25:36.6. For the complete release from the Skyline Conference, click here. King, Jorstad and the rest of the Mariners are back in action this Saturday, Sept. 15, when the compete in the NYIT Invitational at the nearby New York Institute of Technology in Old Westbury, N.Y. First race is scheduled for 11 a.m. on the campus course at NYIT. Receive USMMA Women's Cross Country News Right To Your E-Mail! If you would like to receive the latest news on the USMMA women's cross country team, including all press releases, send an e-mail to Assistant Athletic Director for Communications Joe Guster at gusterj@usmma.edu with the subject "Women's Cross Country E-Mails." Follow USMMA Athletics On Social Media! Be sure to follow USMMA Athletics on social media to get up-to-the-minute updates on your favorite teams! Start following today on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube!	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5752
__label__wiki	0.833235	0.833235	Prostate Cancer Education & Support Groups – About Us Too International US TOO International Staff \| Leaders & Responsibilities Us TOO International Board Member Resources Interested in becoming an Us TOO board member? Watch the video: Impact the Prostate Cancer Community as a Leader on the Us TOO Board of Directors Impact the Prostate Cancer Community, Become a Leader on the Us TOO Board of Directors Jim Schraidt, Chairman, Michigan City, IN Jerry Deans, Vice Chairman, Mechanicsville, VA Alan Goldman, Treasurer, Chicago, IL Marty Chakoian, Secretary, Seattle, WA Chuck Strand, CEO, River Forest, IL C. Todd Ahrens, Hannibal, MO Jeffrey Albaugh, Chicago, IL Peter Friend, Deerfield, IL Stuart Gellman, Amherst, NY Keith Hoffman, Austin, TX Jim Naddeo, Grand Blanc, MI Jon Poindexter, Chicago, IL William Seidel, Fort Wayne, IN John De Boer, Co-Founder, Us TOO International, Elmhurst, IL Jim Kiefert, EdD, Former Chairman of the Board, Olympia, WA Former Leadership/Chairs Jim Rieder, Powell, OH Kay Lowmaster, Pittsburgh, PA Fred Mills, San Antonio, TX Jim Kiefert, Olympia, WA Lew Musgrove, Las Vegas, NV (deceased) Hank Porterfield, Ft. Myers, FL (deceased) Edward C. Kaps, Co-Founder, Us TOO International, Fountain Hills, AZ (deceased) After a prostatectomy in 2010 at the age of 58, Jim attended the Us TOO Gilda's Club Chicago support group. He's led the group since 2014 and is committed to helping men and their partners with the physical and emotional problems resulting from prostate cancer treatment. A partner at Chicago law firm Scott & Kraus, Jim has been practicing law for 35 years with a focus on commercial real estate and secured lending, and experience that includes legislative advocacy as general counsel to the Illinois Development Finance Authority. He holds a BS in Finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana and a JD from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Gerald E. Deans is a prostate cancer survivor who is active in the Us Too Richmond Support Group, and serves as a consumer reviewer for the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs for Prostate Cancer. In 2008, he retired as assistant commissioner of facility management with the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Disability Services. Jerry’s career experience also includes CEO of Southwestern Virginia Mental Health Institute in Marion, VA, and warden of Marion Correctional Treatment Center (the acute care psychiatric hospital for the Virginia Department of Corrections). Jerry served as an officer in the U.S. Army, holds a masters degree in social work, and a bachelor of science in psychology. He and his wife lead support groups and retreats to help those struggling with trauma, grief and loss. Alan is currently the Chief Financial Officer for Barack Ferrazzano Kirschbaum & Nagelberg LLP, a law firm in Chicago. He has held several other financial leadership positions over the past 30 years for other law firms and real estate development firms. Alan also currently serves as the Finance Director for the Greater Chicago Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators and is responsible for educational programming for its members. He received his Bachelors in Accounting from Northern Illinois University. Diagnosed in 2008 with prostate cancer, Alan had a radical prostatectomy and has been cancer free since his surgery. Alan is married, lives in downtown Chicago and has two children. Marty Chakoian retired as Director of the Seattle Department of Information Technology in 2002. After a brief period of travel and relaxation, Marty started a small Seattle-based consulting company, providing business management expertise to state and local governments and utilities in the Pacific Northwest and assisting US AID in promoting citizen access to information in the Russian Far East. Marty has served as President of the Board of Directors of EarthCorps, an international environmental education and service organization, and is currently Treasurer of the PNA, a Seattle non-profit helping seniors, children, the homeless, and others throughout the northern part of the city. Marty was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2004; he leads the Us TOO Seattle support group and serves on two committees of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. He has two adult sons living in the Seattle area whom he reminds to get tested on a regular basis. As CEO of Us TOO International, Chuck leads initiatives to provide educational resources, support services and personal connections to the prostate cancer community at no charge. In response to unmet or underserved needs of patients, caregivers, and support group leaders, recent content developed includes Us TOO educational events, webcasts, topic-specific web pages, and expanded support services. He leverages his marketing agency experience in rare disease/disorder therapies and pro bono nonprofit work to repurpose FDA-approved drugs as off-label treatments. He also brings experience in consumer relationship marketing through agency account management with Edelman Worldwide and Frankel/Publicis for clients including Apple, Kraft Foods, General Motors and Bayer Healthcare. Chuck began his work with Us TOO International as a volunteer in 2010. Elected to the Us TOO International Board of Directors in the spring of 2013, Todd provides leadership expertise with a unique perspective through his background in healthcare management in governance development, medical staff relations, physician alignment, strategic planning, and joint venture business structures with hands-on experience in operations, capital, facility and financial planning. In his position as President and CEO of Hannibal Regional Healthcare System, Todd has played a pivotal role in revising corporate bylaws for the System and all corporate subsidiaries. Jeffrey Albaugh is a funded researcher and a board certified Advanced Practice Urology Clinical Nurse Specialist who is the Director of Sexual Health at NorthShore University HealthSystem and at Jesse Brown VA Medical Center. He is also a board certified Sexuality Counselor. In addition to his many publications in peer reviewed journals and chapters in books on sexual dysfunction, Jeffrey published his book “Reclaiming Sex and Intimacy after Prostate Cancer Treatment.” Jeffrey has been quoted in media and publications as an expert in the treatment of sexual dysfunction, including: Martha Stewart’s Whole Living, WGN News, CBS 2 News, the New York Times, The Chicago Tribune and The Red Eye. He has spoken on many topics throughout the United States and all over the world. Jeffrey has been acknowledged with multiple awards including: two nursing excellence and the patient’s first award from Northwestern Memorial Hospital, multiple lectureship and literary awards and the Society of Urologic Nurses & Associates President’s Award for Contributions to Urologic Nursing. He is the recipient of the Edward C. Kaps Hope Award from Us TOO International Prostate Cancer Organization for his volunteer work with support, education and advocacy for men with prostate cancer and their partners. Peter is a prostate cancer survivor and a Managing Director with Berkeley Research Group (BRG), a global advisory and expert firm. He is also a producer with NFP Insurance Solutions, a national insurance and employee benefits company, where he focuses his energies on helping individuals and organizations preserve, protect, and grow their most valuable assets. He works closely with senior management teams of healthcare related organizations, not-for-profits, and closely held businesses to develop and implement innovative strategies to control healthcare costs and develop customized employee benefit solutions, including non-qualified deferred compensation, which can enhance employee recruitment, retention and productivity. His background also includes substantial experience as a C-suite executive with major hospitals/health systems, last as Executive Vice President/COO of NorthShore University HealthSystem Highland Park (IL) Hospital. He earned a BA in English from Northwestern University and an MS in Health Administration from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Stuart Gellman is a prostate cancer survivor who is active in the Us TOO support group in Buffalo, New York. As an attorney who has been in practice for over 50 years, he specializes in the areas of estate and income tax, as well as all financial aspects of matrimonial law, and has provided expert testimony in that regard in all judicial departments in New York State. Stuart was the first financial expert in the United States to be admitted into the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. He has been an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University at Buffalo School of Law for 12 years, from where he holds a Juris Doctor law degree. He received his undergraduate degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and has been a frequent writer and lecturer before many state and national bar associations. Stuart hopes that his financial background will enable Us TOO to be able to provide even more extensive programs for those afflicted with and recovering from prostate cancer. In addition to serving as a consumer reviewer for the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs for Prostate Cancer, Keith Hoffman is active in the Us TOO Austin - Mike Jones Memorial Chapter as a survivor advocate and joint chapter leader. He’s working to establish a new presence for the group in Austin, which includes collaborating with the LIVESTRONG Foundation Navigation and Guidance Center to assist with questions/inquiries specific to prostate cancer. As vice president of disability at National Financial Partners Corp., Keith helps to set the trends in the executive benefits industry. He holds a BS in Communications from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master's in business and communications from Florida State University. James K. Naddeo is a retired U.S. Treasury Department hearing examiner and a retired U.S. Army judge advocate. He underwent a radical prostatectomy after being diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2012. Jim holds a bachelor’s, a master’s, and a juris doctorate degree. He served as chairperson for the Center for Civil Justice providing legal expertise to monitor and improve access to government programs and services for Michigan citizens, was an instructor for the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, and a faculty member at the Michigan Institute of Continuing Legal Education. He is actively involved in healthcare advocacy through his work with several organizations to help patients deal with difficult diagnoses. Jon Poindexter is the Visionary Director and General Manger for Solutions for Optimal Health, a provider of complete health care alternatives. As a graduate of Atlantis Medical College and The Norwegian School of Traditional Acupuncture in Oslo, Norway, Jon spent several years in private practice as an Acupuncturist and Life Coach. His Spirit, Mind, Body Therapy served many clients in Oslo, where he still maintains clients. He completed his MA degree in Clinical Professional Psychology at Roosevelt University in Chicago and his undergraduate degrees at the University of Southern California. Jon spent a year at the University of Sussex in Brighton, England and was a Congress Bundestag Scholar in Rottwiel, Germany. He is a Master Teacher of Reiki Seichim and he teaches yoga for all physical and developmental abilities. Jon has several relatives who are prostate cancer survivors. He has championed the cause by leading “Team Poindexter” at the SEA Blue Chicago Prostate Cancer Walk and Run for the past 10 years. William is a retired business executive and business owner now extensively involved in volunteer activities. Since 2008 William has been a facilitator of two Us TOO support groups in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He brings to the Us TOO Board skill sets gained as a prostate cancer patient, vice president of a Fortune 500 company, and leader in community and volunteer activities. John De Boer, Co-Founder, Us TOO International John served his country before and throughout World War II in both European and Philippines theaters as a Major in the combat engineers. After leaving Commonwealth Edison Company in Chicago in 1955, John was self employed as the owner of a variety of businesses, including home decorating, private scavenging, dry cleaning and shirt laundry, and mobile home parks. Retired from the business world in 1976, John volunteered to serve in ministry in The Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts. He became its Executive Vice President in 1980, and retired in 1986. In May 1988, John had a radical prostatectomy and with the purpose of serving his fellow man, became one of the co-founders of Us TOO in 1990. John lives in Elmhurst, Illinois, and participates in the Us TOO Elmhurst Support Group Chapter. Jim Kiefert, EdD, Former Chairman of the Board Jim was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1989 at age 50. He had surgery and radiation which did not eliminate the cancer. Jim retired in 2001 as a school district superintendent having spent 41 years in education serving as a math/science teacher, University professor and public school administrator. Kiefert was a Fulbright Scholar who studied at the American University in Cairo, Egypt and served as Executive Secretary of the Washington Educational Research Association for 19 years. Kiefert credits his prostate cancer diagnosis with changing his life - sparking changes in diet, exercise, stress reduction, spirituality, and focused on the appreciation of the most important things in life. Jim and his wife Maureen have eight children, 14 grandchildren, and six great grandchildren. Kiefert and his wife received ACS M2M facilitator training and are now facilitator trainers. They formed and facilitate support groups in The Dalles, OR and Olympia, WA. Jim says, "Living with prostate cancer makes you realize that every day is a gift, to be spent wisely." Edward C. Kaps, Co-Founder, Us TOO International 11/8/25 to 2/5/15 Ed was born, raised and educated in Illinois. He served in the United States Navy as an aviation radioman from 1943-1946. He worked for General Motors for 42 years as an industrial relations director, retiring in 1988. Ed was involved in many organizations over the years, including President/Secretary of a bowling league, President of a Little/Pony Baseball League, Executive Director of the Illinois Manufacturers Association, Trustee of his church, and a member of the Board of Directors of a retirement home. Ed was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1978, and became one of the co-founders of Us TOO in 1990. He was a Director and Trustee of the American Foundation of Urological Disease (AFUD), and in 2008 started the Edward C. Kaps Hope Awards, which are given to “an outstanding leader in an Us TOO support group who has shown unselfish, dedicated service to prostate cancer survivors and their families." Ed lived in the Chicagoland area and in Arizona. He personally made a positive impact on so many; and through his work was the impetus for reaching thousands of people in the prostate cancer community with a message of hope that was grounded in the empowerment of knowledge. Us TOO International Staff Chuck Strand, Chief Executive Officer – ChuckS@ustoo.org Terri Likowski, Program Director / Support Group Services - TerriL@ustoo.org Jackie Konieczka, Office Manager - JackieK@ustoo.org Tim Mix, Communications Manager – TimothyM@ustoo.org Amy Woods, Director of Development – AmyW@ustoo.org Amy Woods, Tim Mix, Jackie Konieczka, Terri Likowski, Chuck Strand	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5753
__label__wiki	0.539819	0.539819	Top 10 Most-Endangered Job Species The modern elevator was invented in the early 1800s in London and was a steam-powered technological death trap. Not until the mid-1800s did the elevator become safer when brakes were installed and a fail-safe system was in place to catch the elevator if the cables snapped – which they did on occasion. As elevators became more available in high-rise buildings, there arose a need to hire Elevator Operators to manually engage the lift to go up and down and stop at the proper place. And yes, there was a big difference between a good Operator and a bad one at ensuring passengers got a smooth ride. And yes, finding good talent was tough back then, too. By the early/mid-1900s, driverless elevators were introduced to mixed reactions as the public was too scared and confused to use them – they were waiting for the Operator to appear. In 1945, Elevator Operators in New York staged a major strike to protest the installation of automated elevators. Their strike affected over 1 million office workers as their fear of a driverless elevator kept them from getting to work. Although today there are still a few buildings with an Elevator Operator, the obsolescence of the occupation is a precautionary tale regarding how advancements in technology and automation led to the near extinction of an important and essential job. Ring. Ring. “Hello, whaddaya want? Yeah yeah, hold your horses, I’ll get to ya soon enough.” In 1876, the first Telephone Operators tasked with manually connecting phone calls from one person to another were teenage boys. Unfortunately, when left unmanaged these teenage boys would engage in tomfoolery and foul language when engaging with callers. Soon enough, these teenage boys were replaced with women operators as they were considered to be more kind and gentle with their callers. By the 1940s, automation again led to a dramatic reduction in the workforce for Operators as the automatic dialing system routed most of the local calls automatically. Long distance dialing still required manual intervention from an Operator, therefore keeping the occupation alive for another 50 years. However, the inevitable would occur, and by the late 1990s the need for Telephone Operators to route any type of call via long-distance or collect calling had virtually disappeared … and the history of rude teenaged-boy Operators with it. It took well over 100 years for two critical jobs to disappear. That’s not very long when you consider a lifetime of future generations of unskilled workers who need to evolve and adapt to new skills if they are to remain in the workforce. There are early signs today as well, with more companies looking to replace automatable jobs with more efficient and cost-effective systems and services. The growth in artificial intelligence and robotics will perhaps drive many of today’s unskilled to semi-skilled jobs into near extinction, just like the Elevator and Telephone Operators. People were at first afraid to board a driverless elevator; will they be afraid to board a driverless car? That’s why Taxi Driver has made it to our Top 10 Most-Endangered Job Species. Take a look at our list and tell us whether you agree these jobs are likely to be unplugged and on an express elevator to the basement. About the author: Louis Vong is a senior thought leader at TMP Worldwide and leads digital brand strategy for some of the agency’s largest global clients. His passion for technology and all things design is rivaled only by his love for Bob Ross paraphernalia. The Importance of Working Towards Early Talent Diversity The Evolution of Campus Recruitment	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5762
__label__wiki	0.502553	0.502553	« Interactive gallery to receive £25,000 upgrade Air Tattoo Debutant Takes Pole Position » A Herculean Christmas Gift Arrives at Cosford A Hercules C130K Mk.3 has just become the latest aircraft to go on display at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford, arriving just in time for Christmas. The aircraft was moved from the airfield to the Museum’s site yesterday and placed in its new permanent display space, outside overlooking the Museum site. This supersized Christmas present took a team of fifteen Museum Technicians and RAF Personnel three hours to safely move the aircraft into position, once the aircraft had been defueled. Now one of the largest aircraft in the Museum’s extensive collection, the Hercules C130K Mk.3 made its final flight into RAF Cosford in August courtesy of No 47 Squadron, RAF Brize Norton. Since its arrival earlier this year, the aircraft has undergone a short period of maintenance carried out on the airfield. The XV202 Hercules C130K Mk. 3 was an American aircraft built by Lockheed in Marietta, Georgia and acquired by the RAF in 1966, used mainly on longer routes and for paratrooping. This particular aircraft was one of 30 Hercules modified during the early 1980’s, with the fuselage being lengthened by 15ft. Work was carried out by Marshall of Cambridge (Engineering) Ltd, using fuselage plugs in front of and behind of the wing. RAF Museum Curator, Al McLean says: “We are very pleased to have this iconic aircraft, particularly as it has such a long record of service with the Royal Air Force and it makes a fine addition to the Cosford site.” Visitors wishing to see the Hercules can now do so on a daily basis and over the Christmas period. The Museum will be open daily throughout December from 10am apart from Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. The Museum will then close again on New Year’s Day and will reopen on Monday 2nd January 2012 from 10am. Admission is FREE. For more information on the Museum please call 01902 376200 or visit www.rafmuseum.org Tags: 2011, Cosford, December, Museum, News, RAF	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5764
__label__wiki	0.657045	0.657045	Public Tasks Go to…Home Criminology -Press -Publications Public Tasks Freemasonry -Press -Publications Politics -Press -Publications Gastronomy SKEMA Strategic summit – 11 avril 2019 You are here: Home » SKEMA Strategic summit – 11 avril 2019 ← Université de Fribourg – Conférence – 28 mars 2019 IANP – Conférence – 11 avril 2019 → Select Month May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 January 2002 December 2001 November 2001 October 2001 September 2001 August 2001 July 2001 June 2001 May 2001 April 2001 March 2001 February 2001 January 2001 December 2000 November 2000 October 2000 September 2000 July 2000 June 2000 May 2000 April 2000 February 2000 January 2000 December 1999 November 1999 October 1999 July 1999 June 1999 May 1999 March 1999 February 1999 January 1999 December 1998 November 1998 October 1998 June 1998 January 1998 October 1997 May 1997 February 1997 January 1997 November 1996 October 1996 July 1996 April 1996 December 1990 May 1989 October 1987 September 1987 May 1987 January 1987 September 1986 October 1985 September 1985 May 1983 April 1983	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5765
__label__wiki	0.832565	0.832565	Qatar: QIB Extends USD500 Million Islamic Financing Package to Qtel Today Qatar Telecom (Qtel) and QIB “ the leading Islamic bank in Qatar “ have signed a USD 500 million Islamic finance deal. The signing ceremony took place at the Qtel headquarters. It is the first Islamic finance deal signed by Qtel, as QIB continues its mission to provide leading companies with the financial backing they need to fulfil their ambitions. QIB assumed the role of Sole Mandated Lead Arranger and Investment Agent for the deal. The financing is an 18 month Sharia-compliant "Revolving Murabaha". Dr. Nasser Marafih, Chief Executive Officer of the Qtel Group commented: "We are delighted to be part of the developing Islamic financing market in Qatar. QIB has done a great job in offering Qtel attractive terms, and this deal further strengthens the relationship between Qtel and QIB." Mr. Ahmad Meshari, Acting Chief Executive Officer of QIB, added: "This deal is the first financing arrangement to be entered into with Qtel, opening doors for further avenues of collaboration between the two organisations. The transaction is another demonstration of the maturity of the Islamic finance industry in general, and QIB in particular, in the provision of credible financial solutions that meet the increasingly complex needs of large corporations such as Qtel." "This financing deal confirms the leading role the Bank plays in supporting large companies operating in Qatar and we are keen to continue to play a pivotal role which sees us making a positive contribution to the ongoing development of this country," added Mr Meshari. (Menafn.Com / 20 Nov 2012) Labels: Islamic finance, Qatar Islamic Banking: Rising over Cynicism Thriving with a staggering pace of over 20 percent year on year, the global Islamic finance industry now touts a vibrant size of 1.35 trillion dollars. Islamic banking industry (IBI), having a network of 430 banks and financial institutions and around 191 conventional banks conducting Islamic banking window operations, records its footprints in more than 75 countries across the globe. With its concentration in GCC countries, followed by non-GCC, MENA, Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, S&P anticipates global IBI to grow by 20 percent YoY between CY13-CY15, consequently surpassing of two trillion dollars by CY15. Following the global trail, IBI in Pakistan, having faced initial failures, has now gained its momentum; accounting for over eight percent of the countrys banking system with a network of 964 branches and more than 500 windows across the country. At the outset of its operations in Pakistan, Islamic banking met little success due to the non-availability of appropriate infrastructure and human resources required for its sustenance. Moreover, in the early days, milestone changes were taking place in Pakistan banking industry including modifications in the Banking Companies Ordinance, enactment of Mudaraba Companies and Mudarabas (Floatation and Control) Ordinance, which hampered its activities. However, learning from the mistakes made in the past, IBI found its feet. After its relaunch in Pakistan in CY02, it has been rebounding strikingly, reporting an asset base of above Rs711 billion during 2QCY12, which represents 8.2 percent share of overall banking industrys assets. Deposits also witnessed a sturdy growth of 13 percent YoY to stand at Rs603 billion at the end of 2QCY12, accounting for nine percent of the overall industry deposits. Not only this, IBI in Pakistan has also won the laurel of improved liquidity, as LA/TA increased from around 38 percent in 2QCY11 to 45 percent in 2QCY12, whereas the indicator assumed a negative trend for the banking industry, as a whole. The success of Islamic banking doesn end here. Reportedly, bankers, economists and investors are moving towards an Islamic economic system because they have realised that this emerging system can be an alternative after capitalism system has dissatisfied masses. Moreover, S&P highlights a dazzling growth potential for Islamic banking keeping in view the young, fast-growing Muslim populations, robust macroeconomic environments, large infrastructure projects that require financing, formation of Shariah-compliant indices for companies listed in stock markets and recent political developments in several Muslim-majority countries. (Business Recorder / 23 Nov 2012) Labels: Islamic banking Kuwait’s Boubyan Bank sees Islamic banking boom Kuwait: Islamic banking is growing at more than double the pace of conventional banking in Kuwait and strong demand is expected throughout the Arab region, according to the chairman of Boubyan Bank. Credit volumes at Islamic banks in Kuwait reached 11.1 billion Kuwaiti dinars ($39.3 billion) in the first nine months of 2012, up 13.2 per cent on last year, Boubyan chairman and managing director Adel Abdul Wahab Al Majid told the Reuters Middle East Investment Summit. That compares with 5.6 per cent credit growth to 18.6 billion dinars at conventional banks, Al Majid said. The hunger for sharia-complaint banking in Kuwait means that Boubyan is not interested in overseas expansion quite yet, in contrast to more-established rival Kuwait Finance House (KFH) . “Innovation or presence outside, it is only a matter of time [for] the likes of us and others,” Al Majid said. “Right now we are busy because the slice of Islamic pie in Kuwait is big.” However, in 2014 the bank will set out a new five-year strategy, which will include the possibility of an international presence. This year’s Arab Spring uprisings are expected to boost sharia-compliant banking in the Middle East and North Africa because of the new Islamic governments it created, Al Majid said. The Boubyan chairman was previously an executive at National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), which in July raised its stake in Boubyan to just over 58 per cent from 47 per cent in a deal valued at about 122 million dinars. Al Majid moved to Boubyan as part of an executive team charged with the task of shoring up the struggling bank at a time when NBK held a minority stake in it. During the financial crisis of 2009 Boubyan reported a net annual loss of 51.7 million dinars. This background has made the bank cautious about expansion. “I think the mistake is that it started venturing outside before it had a stable, profitable base in Kuwait,” Al Majid said. Since 2009, earnings have grown and the bank reported an 8 million dinar net profit in 2011. “We expect this year to be in the same positive trend,” Al Majid said. In the first nine months of this year the bank posted net profit of 7.6 million dinars. Provisions for problem loans at Boubyan were 26 million dinars in the first nine months of this year. Al Majid said he believed that these had peaked for the Kuwaiti banking sector as a whole, with the process continuing at a slower pace. However, the Gulf Arab state is not completely immune to developments in global markets, Al Majid said, and lower profit growth has become the new norm. “Given the whole turmoil all over the world, I don’t think anybody here wakes up in the morning with a smile on his face. You see what is happening in Europe, the US and China.” Labels: Islamic banking, Kuwait Qatar: QIB Extends USD500 Million Islamic Financin...	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5766
__label__wiki	0.718568	0.718568	Perth b&b, guesthouse and hotel accommodation Perth in Perth and Kinross Visit Perth and the surrounding villages and stay in bed & breakfast accommodation: Perth, Perth and Kinross, is alternatively known as the Fair City. The visitor to the place would do well to agree with the alternative as an axiom, if he would not fall foul of the vehement, but courteous, unanimity of the citizens. Yet, if you had the temerity to be objective, you might say that it is not clear whether it is the city itself that is fair, or its setting, or both. The ancient kirk of St John Baptist, one of the noblest of the great Scottish burghal churches of the 15th century, with its spire “as clean as a hound's tooth”, is by far the rarest of the relics, both in antiquity and in beauty. Elsewhere, tucked away between modern frontages, sweetly-curved small windows throw light on antiques (in South Street). If you hunt for them, you will come upon vestiges of the town houses that belonged to a now long-dead nobility; well-proportioned gables recall a past more tenderly resolved to combine elegance with function. Solidity is fused with grace in the terraces and places that confront the green magnificence of the riverside inches. These terraces, in particular Rose Terrace, are reminiscent of the Edinburgh New Town style, and are an example of how that noble style continued to flourish and push its way up the East of Scotland deep into the 19th century. A cheer is due no less for the (1960) ferro-concrete Queen's Bridge than for Smeaton's old (1771) masterpiece in rose-red sandstone, farther up-river. Take a look at Perth as you come up from the South, over “Necessity Brae” (which joins the main road from Glasgow at Cherry-bank), or in from the East, or best of all from the summit of Kinnoull (729 ft), and the prospect is surely stirring: that of the varied, natural grandeur enfolding the place, but not less, perhaps, that of the place itself, spired and reeky, solid and studiously compact, emanating an immemorial fidelity to its bridges, which (if it did not impoverish the merchants in its medieval guilds) well served the security and wealth of bygone Scotland through many centuries. Or walk up the river from the old bridge, look around and marvel at the continuing pleasance of the modern scene. Colonial cricketers, with (as the locals are sure) as much aesthetic discrimination as athletic distinction, have been known to testify that they never play in more splendid surroundings than those of Scotland's premier County Club on the North Inch. Debate about the meaning of the place-name is inconclusive. A possible derivation is from the Welsh perth (“bush, copse, or thicket”), but a more obvious explanation lies in the contraction and mutation of Abertay, through Bertha, to Perth. Formerly it was known as St John's Toun, to which might be added “at the mouth of the Tay”. The theory that the place originated round a Roman camp of the 1st century is supported by the plan and dimensions of the old town within a city wall (of which there are still remnants), the course of which was by way of Canal St. Canal Crescent, Methven St, and Mill St.; Ene from about the North end of Skinnergate to the South East corner of the front block of the Royal George Hotel (George St), thence south-eastwards to the River Tay, North of a medieval bridge sited near the end of High St. Though there is evidence for the national importance of nearby places (e.g. Abernethy, Forteviot, Scone) earlier than the 9th century, Perth makes no appearance in records before the 12th, when it seems to have been well established. The Augustinian canons of Scone claim that a dwelling-place in Perth was amongst the first grants made by Alexander I to the monks (c. 1114�15). About 1126 David I gave the Kirk of Perth to Dunfermline Abbey; and shortly afterwards he instructed his steward at Perth (Malbride MacCongi) that the tenths of the King's house there were payable to Dunfermline. David, too, gave an annual payment from the revenue of his mills at Perth to the Abbey at Scone. He is also reputed to have given the burgh the wide trading privileges later comprised in a charter of William the Lion. It has been claimed that for centuries Perth was the national capital. This may be an exaggeration (yet there must be some explanation of the fact that still Perth's Lord Provost, in official precedence, ranks second only to that of Edinburgh). Kings and their courts were peripatetic in feudal times, and Perth was frequently the royal residence. Scone, nearby, was the place of many coronations. Parliaments and General Councils are known to have been convened there between the accession of Alexander I (1106�7) and the death of Robert III (1406). In a l0th century chronicle it is called the Royal City, and in charters of Malcolm IV and Robert III the “principal seat of our kingdom”. Plainly, Perth was for long the governing centre of Scotland. It was also a preferred meeting-place for Scottish church councils from the beginning of the 13th century onwards. It seems possible that, had James I lived a few years longer or died a natural death, Perth might have become the permanent capital. The city has been besieged seven times and has been the scene of many turbulent events. Among them were the Battle of the Clans (1396); the destruction of four monasteries and the altars in the Kirk (1559), consequent on the lambent preaching of John Knox that kindled the Reformation in Scotland; the Gowrie mystery (1600); the meeting of the “red” parliament, the last to be convened here (1606); the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (1618), at which the Five Articles of Perth were approved; and Cromwell's invasion (1651). Perth was Jacobite in 1715 and 1745. Prince Charles Edward lodged at the Salutation Hotel, drilled troops on the North Inch, and here proclaimed his father King. Surviving records include a large collection of royal charters, the oldest (1210) being that of William the Lion; a letter from John Blair, Postmaster-General, of the 7th of November 1689, explaining the beginning of the post office system in Perth; the census of 1766, showing the population at 7,542; papers dealing with the first railway between Perth and Dunkeld (1835); a petition of Mistress Agnes Ranken (1719) for encouragement to carry on her school “much put out of its course by the late rebellion”; information about attempts to find coal (1686, 1732, 1782); an Obligation by James I of Scotland to indemnify the city for its share of his ransom (1424),. and “Ane charge be King James the Secund To the toun for fanseing the burgh wyth wallis in respect of the murther of King James the First”, as well as “Ane charge to mak wallis about the toun to resist the Kingis rebellis”. The city, in the past, won for itself an unenviable reputation for iconoclasm, but visible evidences of its antiquity remain. The greatest of these is the Kirk, consecrated by David de Bernham, Bishop of St Andrews, in 1243. Divided for about 200 years into three separate churches, it was restored to its primitive unity (1923�6) as the memorial to men of the city and county who fell in the First World War (the architect was Sir Robert Lorimer). The walls are splendid with many examples of modem stained glass at its best, and on view in the interior is the congregation's priceless possession of old pewter, silver-gilt sacramental vessels, and a baptismal basin (16th century), expertly esteemed as one of the finest examples of ancient Edinburgh silver-ware. In 1936, on the initiative of Melville Gray of Bowerswell (brother-in-law of John Ruskin), a carillon of thirty-five bells, founded by Gillet & Johnston of Croydon, was hung in the tower. No substantial remains of other historic buildings survive. The memorials of them, and of vanished activities and conditions of life, are now in the names of the streets and lanes of the city � Charterhouse, Blackfriars, Whitefriars, Greyfriars, Pomarium, Skinnergate, Guard Vennel, Flesher's Vennel, and the rest. In the courtyard of the Salutation (said to be the oldest hotel in Scotland) is a stone bearing the motto and arms of the Earls of Moray, and dated 1619; more than likely, it marks the site of a house of nobility. Inscriptions and the like are elsewhere: in the North Port, where once stood the Castle of Perth; on the Waterworks, the place of Cromwell's citadel. Inscribed pillars on the North Inch recall the Battle of the Clans, and another, at the riverside, the Monks' Tower. Tokens in the paving of the High St commemorate the old town cross and pillory, the stone of which is preserved in the Museum. Thus also John Ruskin's residence in Rose Terrace and John Buchan's in York Place are recorded. Out of immaterial legend a house, in the Curfew Row, has been conjured for Sir Walter Scott's Fair Maid of Perth. The medieval importance of the harbour may be measured by the fact that in 1269 the customs dues amounted to what must have been then the great sum of £700. In later centuries the magistrates seem to have neglected the commercial possibilities of the river, and the shipping trade was largely alienated to places like Newburgh, farther downstream. Nearby cities: Dundee Nearby towns: Aberfeldy, Auchterarder, Auchtermuchty, Blairgowrie, Coupar Angus, Crieff, Dunkeld, Kinross Nearby villages: Aberargie, Aberdalgie, Abernethy, Abernyte, Almondbank, Arngask, Balbeggie, Bankfoot, Bridge of Earn, Cargill, Collace, Dron, Dunning, Errol, Falkland, Forgandenny, Forteviot, Gateside, Glencarse, Glenfarg, Guildtown, Keillour, Kilspindie, Kinclaven, Kinfauns, Kinnaird, Lindores, Luncarty, Meikleour, Methven, New Scone, Newburgh, Rait, Rannoch, St. Madoes, St. Martins, Stanley, Strathmiglo, Tullybelton, Woodside Have you decided to visit Perth or the surrounding villages? Please look above for somewhere to stay in: a Perth bed and breakfast (a Perth B&B or Perth b and b) a Perth guesthouse a Perth hotel (or motel) a Perth self-catering establishment, or other Perth accommodation Accommodation in Perth: Find availability in a Perth bed and breakfast, also known as B&B or b and b, guesthouse, small hotel, self-catering or other accommodation.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5768
__label__cc	0.629134	0.370866	BNP Paribas in Austria About BNP Paribas You are here: Home › About BNP Paribas › Corporate & Social Responsibility BNP Paribas, a responsible economic player For the Group, being a responsible bank means living up to its economic responsibilities and working to finance projects for its clients. In addition, BNP Paribas recognises that it has responsibilities in three other areas: This means treating the Group’s more than 202 employees in a fair and loyal manner and engaging in serious and meaningful dialogue with staff union representatives. This means helping to combat social exclusion and promoting education and culture. The Group has a strong stake in society, through initiatives and projects which take its banking role one step further for the good of society: special assistance for underprivileged neighbourhoods and marginalised areas, microcredit, support for charitable organisations and social economy enterprises. Our civic engagement is also manifested in the corporate philanthropy work done by the BNP Paribas Foundation, whose charity initiatives include educational, cultural and public health projects. BNP Paribas pays particular attention to the environmental impact resulting from its banking activities all over the world. The Group has drawn up and implemented detailed policies relating both to its day-to-day functioning and to sensitive fields of industry, and supports environmental initiatives through the BNP Paribas Foundation. The BNP Paribas Group’s Corporate Social Responsibility https://group.bnpparibas/en/group/corporate-social-responsibility	cc/2019-30/en_head_0013.json.gz/line5769

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